Having gotten rid of the annoying Roche, Alex turned toward the technical tunnel in order to finally end this exhausting ride. The moment he turned, the others immediately followed him. Slowing a little to draw level with the group, Alex looked at Jessie. She was looking at him with such feigned offense, as if he had abandoned her right in the middle of a romantic date.
In response to this ostentatious reproach Alex laughed lightly, because of which Jessie also could not hold back and blossomed warmly. None of them could even imagine that an ordinary trip would turn into a mad chase with shootouts, explosions, and a final duel against the insane racer Roche. But more than anyone, Yuffie, Biggs, and Wedge were glad of this shake-up — for this company the mad adventure became an excellent reason to brag to their friends upon returning.
Listening to the joyful exclamations of his comrades, Claudia, sitting behind Alex, also awarded him a soft gaze. Holding onto his shoulder with one hand, she did not even suspect that she was capable of fighting with someone in such a perfect tandem — when a partner understands her absolutely without words and immediately reads every action. Claudia could not deny it: this was an extremely interesting and completely new experience for her. Thinking about the fact that in the future she would most likely still have a chance to fight shoulder to shoulder with Alex, Claudia snorted slightly and patted him on the shoulder.
Feeling the touch, Alex turned and met Claudia's green eyes. She merely waved her chin forward briefly, making it clear that they were practically there. Turning around, Alex saw that they were indeed entering the technical depot. Dropping speed, he smoothly braked at the steps leading to the upper streets. Alex shut off Fenrir's engine and dismounted the motorcycle right after Claudia. And he had not managed to take even a couple of steps before Jessie bounced over to him with a radiant smile.
"Excellent! You successfully passed the test!" Jessie cried with a smirk, raising a thumb right in front of Alex's nose.
"What test?" Alex asked with a chuckle, gently moving Jessie's hand away from his face.
"The test for the ideal romantic ride in the company of a beauty like me! And you passed it with flying colors!" Jessie answered without stopping smiling and playfully punched Alex in the chest with her little fist.
"So this was a test? And all these Grunts on combat motorcycles were something like a sudden crowd of extras to add spice to the ride?" Alex drawled with feigned surprise, slightly gesturing with his free hand.
"You guessed it! And since you passed the exam with excellent marks, you've earned a small reward," Jessie sang in a cheerful tone, gracefully rising onto her tiptoes and carefully catching the mask on Alex's face with her finger, intending to pull it off.
Not giving Alex time to figure things out, Jessie with a sly smirk quickly lowered the black mask onto his chin. And before anyone managed to come to their senses, she tightly hugged Alex around the neck and loudly kissed him on the cheek. Standing right nearby, Biggs and Wedge immediately discreetly turned away, beginning to whistle slightly with an imperturbable air, as if noticing nothing.
But Yuffie, who was watching this scene, immediately distorted: the kunoichi's face contorted, and she spat onto the concrete with complete disgust toward all this sentimental romance. Grumbling under her breath, Yuffie kicked the motorcycle wheel out of annoyance and began demonstratively loudly stamping her feet, climbing the metal steps. The only one whom everything that was happening did not touch in the slightest was Claudia.
She awarded Alex and Jessie an absolutely empty, indifferent gaze. For her such manifestations of feelings remained something distant, alien, and completely unnecessary in her current life. Ceasing to examine the pair, Claudia simply silently walked past, ignoring both of them. Having finished the kiss on the cheek, Jessie slightly pulled away but still continued to hug Alex around the neck.
"Consider this a small advance for arranging such an unforgettable ride for me!" Jessie said with a radiant smile, placing her index finger on Alex's lips.
"So there will be another reward?" Alex asked, slightly tilting his head to the side and looking at Jessie with narrowed eyes.
"Who knows… Maybe yes, and maybe no! Who knows? And for now be content with this," Jessie answered laughing and playfully tapped her finger on his lips.
"You could have just treated me to something tasty. That would have been quite enough as payment," Alex responded with a light sigh, amusingly rolling his eyes and returning the mask back onto his face.
"Ugh, why are you so cold at such a moment?! You were supposed to tightly hug me, pull me to yourself, and we would have melted into a passionate kiss… And then to gentle music we would have ridden off with you straight into the sunset on your black steed!" Jessie exclaimed with feigned drama, hugging herself and beautifully spinning in place.
"I don't want to interrupt your romantic tirade… But maybe we should already go? Although I'm actually not against listening to the continuation — what other romantic plot have you fantasized for yourself?" Biggs's cheerful voice suddenly rang out; he was watching this scene with laughter.
Hearing Biggs's words, Jessie stopped spinning in place and froze, still hugging herself by the shoulders. Slowly lowering her arms, she fixed Biggs with a furious gaze — as if he had ruined the most important moment of her entire life with his untimely interference. In response to this searing gaze Biggs coughed dryly into his fist and indefinitely pointed a finger at the door behind himself, hinting that it was long past time for them to go further.
Compressing her lips and narrowing her eyes, Jessie walked past Alex, not taking her intent attention off Biggs. Climbing the steps, she stopped for a short moment and awarded Biggs an incredibly tender, angelic smile. Seeing this expressive face, Biggs immediately felt in his gut: something very unpleasant was about to happen right now. And in that same second he received a sharp sweeping kick to the shin, followed by a flash of acute pain.
Hissing, Biggs grabbed the bruised spot and looked at Jessie offendedly; she merely snorted contentedly and proudly walked past him. Rubbing his leg, Biggs did not stop quietly grumbling about how he had completely not deserved this and had simply wanted them to finally get out onto the upper streets. And while Biggs was sincerely suffering, none of his friends even thought of helping him — on the contrary, Yuffie and Wedge were openly going into fits of laughter.
Yuffie went even further: she laughed at the top of her lungs, bent double and holding her stomach, continuously pointing a finger at Biggs. Seeing such total betrayal, Biggs was already seriously thinking of fighting Wedge when he suddenly saw a hand in a white glove extended in front of him. Looking Alex over with a gaze, Biggs noticed that although the latter was chuckling together with everyone, he was still sincerely offering help.
"Thanks… At least someone here has a concept of the Bro Code!" Biggs spat irritably, grabbing Alex's strong hand and rising to his feet.
"The Bro Code? What's that?" Yuffie asked with lively interest, wiping away tears after the prolonged laughter.
"It means: even if your friend is in pain and it's terribly funny to you because of it, you still have to extend a hand of help to him," Alex explained with a kind chuckle, releasing Biggs when the latter finally stood on his feet.
"Oooh, so that's how it is! Cool! Are there any more rules or something like that?" Yuffie nodded with an understanding air, folding her arms over her chest.
"There are many… I'll tell you sometime later," Alex answered with a smile, walking past Yuffie and gently patting her on the head.
Hearing Alex's words, Yuffie nodded understandingly, deciding to herself that this Bro Code was absolutely no different from the Ninja Code — there are also plenty of various rules there that she had never in her life learned. Climbing the steps to the massive doors, Alex looked at Jessie with a smile. She proudly raised her chin, with her entire demeanor making it clear: this is how it will be with everyone who stands in her way!
Chuckling, Alex pushed the heavy leaf and together with Jessie began climbing the stairs while the others followed them. When they were already approaching the gates leading into the residential district, a ringing and loud slap rang out behind. After it immediately followed Wedge's plaintive howl and yet another fit of Yuffie's deafening laughter. Looking back, Alex, Claudia, and Jessie saw how Wedge was frantically rubbing his bruised backside with his palms, and Biggs with a satisfied smirk was lowering his foot to the floor.
It was obvious: Biggs had delivered a solid kick in the rear to his friend as punishment for the fact that the latter had laughed so loudly at him. Looking at this pantomime, Claudia merely sighed heavily and averted her gaze, decisively not understanding how she was supposed to react to such childishness. Jessie, for her part, laughed quietly, covering her lips with her little palm. Shaking his head, Alex took hold of the heavy hydraulic lever and looked over his companions.
Having made sure that everyone was ready to go further, he without particular effort pulled the lever down, and the gate leaves began to slide apart to the sides with a hum. The doors had not managed to open completely before Yuffie was the first to jump out into the tunnel, not waiting for the others. Going out after her, Alex merely sincerely hoped that the hyperactive kunoichi would not run off anywhere and would not find trouble for her own head.
Passing through the connecting tunnel, the group finally emerged into the residential district of Sector Seven located on the Plate itself. Finding themselves on the streets, Alex was slightly surprised: this place was practically no different from ordinary residential quarters that he was used to seeing in America. The only exception was the huge, thick pipes stretching through the entire district straight to the factory complex rising above the houses.
"And how come the locals didn't wake up from all this chase of ours?! We literally flew right under them!" Yuffie cried, hanging on the metal railings and pointing a finger down at the overpass of the main highway for trains.
"No idea… But personally I'm already simply at the limit. Right now I could literally eat anything," Wedge said with a sigh, dejectedly stroking his round belly.
"Don't worry, we'll refuel you soon! Or else your drum is melting right before our eyes," Jessie answered with a giggle, lightly patting Wedge on the rounded belly.
"If it's melting so fast, that means Wedge is a slime! Heh, cool," Alex picked up cheerfully, taking a thin cigar out of his pocket and lighting it, playfully poking Wedge in the side with his finger.
"A slime?! So he's a slime?! How cool! Can I touch him too?!" Yuffie gasped and immediately began enthusiastically clapping Wedge on the round belly.
"I'm not a slime at all! And leave my belly alone, it's not a toy for you!" Wedge cried offendedly, desperately trying to fight off Yuffie's clinging hands.
Wedge was futilely trying to fight off the kunoichi's clinging hands. The kunoichi deftly dodged his clumsy swings and continued cheerfully drumming on his belly, tapping out a rhythmic melody. Loudly complaining about the injustice and proving that his belly was not a musical instrument, Wedge tried to escape, but Yuffie tirelessly pursued him on his heels.
Observing how Wedge was running in circles, escaping from the laughing kunoichi who did not miss a chance to clap him at every convenient moment, Alex chuckled slightly. He was unhurriedly smoking a thin cigar, lazily leaning his back against a lamppost. Jessie and Biggs also had absolutely no intention of helping their friend — they were merely cheerfully encouraging him, shouting for him to run faster. Only Claudia cast a short, indifferent gaze at all this noise and stepped a little farther away, stopping near a poster calling for service in the Shinra security.
Peering at the sign, she sharply jerked her head — before her eyes the familiar painful ripple floated again. Pressing a palm to her temple, Claudia could not understand at all what exactly this time had provoked the sudden attack. Tightly squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she opened them only when Yuffie's ringing laughter rang out nearby again, helping her distract herself from the frightening and strange images in her head.
Rubbing her forehead, Claudia looked away from the poster and sighed wearily, intending to tell the others to behave more quietly. Alex, who was standing nearby at the lamppost, immediately noticed that Claudia had just had a new attack. Sighing heavily, he bounced over to Yuffie and deftly grabbed her by the scruff of the neck like a naughty cat, stopping her race after Wedge.
Finally rid of the kunoichi's annoying hands thanks to Alex, Wedge bent double and, breathing heavily, gave Alex a thumbs-up as a sign of deep gratitude. Yuffie, for her part, merely exaggeratedly rolled her eyes at that gesture and began swinging, hanging on Alex's outstretched arm. Having gained the needed amplitude, Yuffie deftly twisted and with one elegant jump climbed right onto Alex's shoulders.
"Wow! And you're much taller than I thought! From such a height I'll definitely see a pile of interesting things!" Yuffie cried with delight, sitting on Alex's shoulders and curiously looking around.
"I'm sincerely glad that you like it… All right, Jessie, lead us. You know every corner here, after all," Alex answered with a smile, patting Yuffie on the leg and turning his head to Jessie.
"No problem! Follow me!" Jessie responded with a radiant smile and cheerfully beckoned the team after her.
Following Jessie, who led the team toward her house, Alex more comfortably adjusted Yuffie on his shoulders so that she would stop fidgeting while examining the surroundings. Drawing level with Claudia, Alex attentively looked into her eyes and quietly inquired whether everything was all right with her. Instead of an honest answer Claudia merely waved him off with an imperturbable face, dropping a couple of unconvincing phrases about Shinra recruitment.
Looking at the poster, Alex pretended that he had accepted her explanation, although in reality that was not the case at all. He knew for certain that there were no Jenova cells inside Claudia, and all his suspicions came down to the Lifestream itself, capable of causing such effects. But in his head there still remained the main question: why had Gaia freed Claudia from the fate of becoming a will-less puppet of Sephira, but at the same time had not cured her completely, leaving her to suffer from the severest Mako poisoning and constant attacks because of confused memories?
Understanding that he would not receive an answer until he asked Gaia herself directly, Alex merely shook his head mentally. Over these couple of days of acquaintance with Claudia a whole pile of hypotheses had already surfaced in his head. Sighing heavily once more, Alex approached the others. Jessie was leaning against a wall not far from a cozy house on the porch of which a soft light was still burning.
Looking at the familiar threshold, Jessie simultaneously felt both bright joy and a piercing sadness from returning to her native walls. It was truly hard for her to come here, realizing that absolutely nothing had changed at home. Trying to drive away the gloomy thoughts, Jessie turned to Alex and smiled slightly, trying to hide the latent sadness.
"I suppose every night the light is still burning for a daughter who visits her home only once in a blue moon… For some reason Mom is terribly old-fashioned in this regard," Jessie said with a light smile, looking at the lantern burning on the porch of her house.
"So that's who you got all this theatricality and drama from!" Alex responded with a chuckle, slightly moving his head and trying to push Yuffie's hips farther away from his face.
"Possibly, honey… Although more than anything in the world my mom loves to cook," Jessie answered coquettishly chuckling and headed toward the porch.
"Do you think she'll treat us to her signature pizza?" Wedge asked with latent hope, dejectedly stroking his empty belly.
"I really hope so! She's an amazing cook. Even in the middle of the night she can create such dishes — you'll lick your fingers!" Biggs picked up with a smirk, also beginning to fantasize about tasty food.
"And she simply adores guests who ask for seconds… Okay, we're going in. And you wait here for now. Alex, you know what to do, right?" Jessie said with a smile, casting a slightly embarrassed gaze at Alex.
"No problem. And no need to be embarrassed. We're not so desperately eager to burst in as guests," Alex reassured her, carefully removing Yuffie from his shoulders; the latter nodded with an understanding air and folded her arms over her chest.
Hearing Alex's words, Jessie still experienced slight embarrassment. In reality she was sincerely not against inviting him as a guest and introducing him to her mom. But it was clear to Jessie that it was better to do this another time — when a free minute appeared and there would be no extra witnesses around. In that same instant she recalled Aerith, who always was somewhere near Alex.
Thinking that first it was worth talking with Aerith herself in order to temporarily "borrow" Alex, Jessie smiled slightly and took the keys out of her pocket. Waving her hand, she pointed a finger at the corner of her house where Alex, Claudia, and Yuffie could calmly wait while she together with Biggs and Wedge distracted her mom. Wishing Jessie luck, Alex with annoyance pushed away Wedge's face from himself; the latter had managed in the brightest colors to describe what incredibly tasty pizza Jessie's mom cooks.
Before Alex gave Wedge a deserved slap on the back of the head, Biggs deftly grabbed his comrade by the scruff of the neck and dragged him to the door, saving him from the blow. Shaking his head, Alex together with Claudia and Yuffie approached the corner of the house to wait for the agreed signal. Climbing onto the fence, Alex lazily sprawled out, relaxedly dangling one leg down. Claudia out of habit leaned her back against the wall, folding her arms over her chest. Yuffie, for her part, without unnecessary ceremonies jumped right onto Alex's stomach, lowering her legs and slightly swinging them in the air.
Not knowing how much time they would have to wait, Alex decided to simply rest. And while he and Claudia were calmly waiting for the signal, Yuffie very quickly grew bored and began thinking about what to occupy herself with. Continuing to sit on Alex's stomach, the kunoichi turned her head and looked around until her eyes latched onto a group of stray cats. Catching sight of the fluffy creatures, Yuffie immediately jumped off Alex and raced at full speed toward the cats, burning with the sole desire — to stroke them.
But the moment Yuffie approached, the frightened cats scattered in all directions. Without thinking long, Yuffie began arranging a real chase after them, tirelessly repeating that she simply wanted to show tenderness. Hearing the noise, Alex and Claudia opened their eyes slightly and with a smile observed how the kunoichi was running after the alley cats. After a couple of minutes of chaotic races Yuffie nevertheless managed to catch one little beast, and she returned insanely pleased with herself.
"And why did you catch it?" Alex inquired with a sigh, looking at Yuffie returning with her catch.
"To stroke it! Look how cute it is! Don't you yourself want to stroke it?" Yuffie brought the cat's snout right up to Alex's face with a radiant smile.
"I love animals, but there's no need to catch them by force. Especially cats. If it wants to, it will come itself. Look," Alex answered, slightly yawning, and pointed a hand at the fence along which several fluffy creatures were lazily walking right toward him.
"This is completely unfair!" Yuffie muttered offendedly, noticing that the little beasts themselves were nuzzling up to Alex.
"Life in general is an unfair thing. Resign yourself to it," Claudia responded in a calm tone, looking at Yuffie.
"Oh, come on, you two! You're such… ugh! I'd rather stroke the cat than talk to you!" Yuffie snorted and with pleasure rubbed her cheek against the soft cat snout.
Observing how Yuffie was offendedly rubbing her cheek against the snout of a displeased cat, Alex laughed slightly, feeling how the street pack of fluffballs lazily settled right along his body and immediately synchronously switched on their famous vibration mode. Noticing the contented faces of the cats who had comfortably settled on Alex, Yuffie experienced an acute attack of jealousy.
She was offended not only because the cats had come to him themselves, but also because they had treacherously occupied her place, which she had already managed to consider her own by right from the very moment of joining the group. Ignoring Yuffie's offended expression, Alex continued to relax, receiving an amazing massage from the purring fluffballs. Claudia, who was observing this picture, merely smiled slightly, looking at how Alex had meekly turned into a cozy pillow for the animals.
Having lain like that a little longer, Alex felt how the cats one after another suddenly jumped off his body. Opening his eyes, he saw that the lantern Jessie had spoken about had finally lit up. Rising from the fence, Alex looked at Claudia and nodded briefly, making it clear that it was time to act. Claudia answered with a nod and slightly tugged Yuffie by the scruff of the neck.
Not wanting to release the cat from her hands, Yuffie almost with tears in her eyes nevertheless unclenched her fingers. The moment the little beast broke free from her clinging grip, it immediately took off, not forgetting to discontentedly flick its tail in farewell. Jumping down from the fence, Alex carefully headed toward the back door of Jessie's house, trying not to catch anything noisy on his way. Reaching the entrance, he smoothly pressed the handle and heard a barely perceptible click.
Turning to Claudia and Yuffie, Alex put a finger to his lips, calling on them to behave extremely quietly as soon as they crossed the threshold. Yuffie and Claudia immediately nodded synchronously, confirming readiness. Having received the response, Alex opened the leaf toward himself and carefully entered the premises first. Finding himself in the corridor, he was pleasantly surprised by how incredibly warm and cozy Jessie's house seemed.
"We need the left door," Claudia said in a quiet, barely audible whisper, pointing a finger at the passage.
Raising a thumb, Alex approached the left door, trying to step as carefully as possible on the creaking wooden floor. Listening to the voices coming from the kitchen, he timed the needed moment and smoothly pulled the leaf toward himself. The moment the door opened, a already familiar, monotonous sound of a working ventilator apparatus reached Alex's ears. Entering the room, Alex saw Jessie's father: the head of the family was lying motionless on the bed, connected to life-support systems.
Entering after Alex, Claudia and Yuffie also immediately noticed the heavy condition of the master of the house. It was clear to them without extra words from what ailment he was suffering. Seeing this, Yuffie experienced extremely unpleasant feelings: this picture immediately reminded her of the tragedy in her native Wutai, where many compatriots had found themselves in a far more terrible position because of the bloody war with Shinra.
Looking at the condition in which the parent of her new friend was, Yuffie became even more convinced that the rule of Shinra needed to be overthrown at any cost. Narrowing her eyes, Yuffie tightly clenched her fists, burning with resolve. Noticing how Yuffie's gaze had changed and ignited, Alex lightly patted her on the head, gently reminding her what they had penetrated here for in the first place.
Nodding with understanding, Yuffie immediately began carefully examining the room in search of the keycard. Claudia, for her part, at the sight of Jessie's father again for a short moment felt a jab of acute headache. However, the attack quickly receded the moment she felt Alex's warm hand on her shoulder. Turning, the Claudia made it clear with her eyes that she was fine, and also proceeded to the examination.
While Claudia and Yuffie were busy with the task, Alex approached the pictures hanging on the wall and noticed a beautiful photograph of Jessie in a lush white dress during one of her theatrical performances. Recalling that her cherished dream had always been to become an actress, Alex looked over his shoulder at Gilbert lying on the bed. Sighing heavily, Alex approached the bed and slightly turned the Death ring on his index finger.
He distinctly felt that Jessie's father was still alive and was in a certain frozen, suspended state — one step from finally dissolving into the Lifestream, and one step from returning to his own body. Ceasing to rotate the ring, Alex sat on the edge of the bed and carefully touched Gilbert's forehead with two fingers.
"What are you doing?" Claudia asked in a quiet whisper, noticing Alex's strange manipulations.
"Rendering a small service to Jessie's family," Alex answered with a barely noticeable smile, turning his head to her.
"Are you… do you want Jessie's father… well, that… you know?" Yuffie began speaking in a nervous tone, expressively depicting with her hands the gesture of a noose tightening around the neck.
"No…" Alex answered in an absolutely dry tone, awarding Yuffie a heavy gaze.
The moment Alex finished speaking, Gilbert coughed heavily, and his eyelids frantically trembled. Seeing that the head of the family was beginning to awaken, Alex quickly waved a hand to Claudia and Yuffie, showing them to hide immediately. Still not fully understanding what exactly Alex had done, Claudia lightning-fast dragged Yuffie after her, and the two of them hid behind a wardrobe standing nearby. Gilbert's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Feeling heaviness in his head and strong cloudiness in his eyes, Gilbert was having difficulty realizing what was happening. Complete emptiness reigned in his head: he absolutely remembered nothing and did not understand where he was. Blinking several times, Gilbert managed to make out the silhouette sitting on the edge of his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he made out the unfamiliar face of Alex with a strange, captivating color of eyes, who was looking at him with a benevolent smile.
Gilbert was having difficulty grasping the essence of the situation and tried to rise, but the moment he made a movement, a pressing weakness rolled over in his arms. And before his head again heavily struck the pillow, a strong hand tightly caught him. Helping Gilbert sit up and lean against the headboard of the bed, Alex continued to maintain the professional and soft smile of a doctor.
Leaning his back against the headboard of the bed, Gilbert felt strong dryness in his throat and began looking around in confusion. And in that same instant a glass of cool water appeared right in front of his nose, which Alex held out to him. Nodding slightly as a sign of gratitude, Gilbert took several greedy gulps, and the burning in his throat immediately receded. Taking another gulp, he looked around again and finally noticed the working ventilator apparatus next to him, which confused him even more.
"What… what is happening? And who are you?" Gilbert asked in a cautious, hoarse tone, gripping the empty glass a little more tightly in his hands.
"Oh, please forgive me, Mr. Rasberry. I am Doctor Voldigoad… How are you feeling? Does your head not hurt? Is there no weakness in the entire body?" Alex began speaking carelessly, flawlessly inhabiting the role of a caring doctor.
"Doctor?.. But why are you here? And what even happened to me?" Gilbert asked in shock, becoming more and more confused about what was happening.
"You must completely not remember what happened to you?" Alex said sympathetically and, slightly shaking his head, poured water into Gilbert's glass again.
"And what happened to me?" Gilbert asked in confusion, taking another gulp of water.
"Several days ago you slipped on the steps and strongly hit your head right during your work. From that very moment you were in a coma. And only now you have finally come to," Alex explained in a soft tone, inventing a convincing legend on the fly so as not to shock Gilbert once more.
"Hit my head… So that's why all my memories are so blurred and the back of my head is splitting so much," Gilbert muttered, embarrassedly touching his head with his palm.
"Exactly so. I think you should talk with your wife and daughter as soon as possible. All these days they literally could not find a place for themselves and had already despaired, thinking that you would not wake up anymore. Help you stand up?" Alex proposed benevolently, holding out a hand to Gilbert.
"No-no, no need. I'll manage myself. There have been worse things in life. The main thing is to tell Eleanor and Jessie as soon as possible that everything is fine with me," Gilbert answered with a restrained smirk and carefully pushed away Alex's hand, intending to rise from the bed independently.
Noticing how stubbornly Gilbert was trying to get up from the bed despite the pressing weakness in his entire body, Alex nevertheless helped the head of the family rise to his feet. Helping Gilbert reach the doors, Alex turned to Claudia and Yuffie who were hiding behind the wardrobe and noticed that in the kunoichi's hands the needed keycard was already gleaming with a victorious air. Alex smiled and with gestures showed Claudia and Yuffie that they needed to get out of the house unnoticed as soon as he led Gilbert out.
Claudia calmly nodded, still with deep amazement asking herself the question: in what way had Alex managed in a matter of seconds to awaken Gilbert, who was suffering from the severest Mako poisoning and had clearly been lying in a coma for more than one year? Leading Gilbert out of the room, Alex continued carefully supporting him under the arm, with anticipation imagining how shocked the faces of everyone in the kitchen would be right now.
Opening the door, Alex led Gilbert toward the sound of animated voices. Finding himself in the doorway, Alex gently pushed Gilbert in the back, giving him the opportunity to go further independently. Leaning on the doorjamb, Gilbert with a warm smile stepped into the kitchen. In that same second the cheerful conversation broke off — a deafening, shocked silence settled in the kitchen.
The eyes of everyone present literally popped out of their sockets from contemplating Gilbert standing on his own feet. At the sight of her revived husband Eleanor gasped and dropped from her hands the tray with teacups, which crashed to the floor with a clatter. Jessie with mute shock stared at her father, and then looked behind his back — there, where in the darkness of the corridor the familiar white gloves of Alex flashed, forming an neat heart with the fingers.
Biggs and Wedge simultaneously dropped the unfinished pieces of pizza, remaining in no less of a stupor than Eleanor and Jessie. Gilbert himself was only slightly surprised, noting how strongly his daughter and wife had changed. For a moment it even seemed to him that he had been unconscious not for a couple of days, as the young doctor had said.
"What's with your faces? You look as if you've seen a real ghost!" Gilbert said with a slight smirk and, holding onto the wall, walked deeper into the kitchen.
"Dad…!" Jessie cried and raced at full speed toward Gilbert, very tightly hugging him around the neck.
"Darling… I'm so glad! My God!" Eleanor sobbed, no longer able to hold back the tears that immediately streamed from her eyes.
"Why are you crying? I only lay unconscious for a couple of days. You remember, there have been worse things in the past," Gilbert answered with a chuckle, affectionately wiping the moisture from his wife's cheeks.
"Darling… You were unconscious…" Eleanor began disjointedly, intending to lay out the entire truth to her husband.
"Yes, Dad! You lay on the bed for literally a couple of days, and now everything is completely fine with you!" Jessie quickly interrupted her, having absolutely no intention of dumping the shocking truth on her father at such a touching moment.
"The main thing is that now I am with you again. Only… what is this outfit on you, Jessie? Is this your new stage image? And these two guys — from your acting troupe?" Gilbert inquired, curiously examining his daughter's unusual equipment.
"Something like that! This is Biggs and Wedge, we perform together in the theater. Dropped by for a short visit right after rehearsal," Jessie lied with a radiant smile, introducing her two friends.
"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Rasberry!" Wedge and Biggs cried in one voice, still remaining in deep shock from the miracle that was occurring.
Smiling at Biggs and Wedge, Gilbert once more shifted his gaze to his wife and daughter, sincerely believing that their turbulent reaction was a little exaggerated for a case like this. Biggs and Wedge had absolutely no idea what was going on. It simply would not fit into their heads how Jessie's father, who had lain in a deep coma for long years, had suddenly woken up all by himself. And in that same second the exact same name surfaced in both of them at once — Alex.
No matter how hard they tried to search for rational explanations, believing in a coincidence like this was impossible: the moment Alex had found himself in Jessie's house, her hopelessly ill father had immediately risen from the bed! Now they were dying to find out how Alex had managed it at all and by what means he had been able to bring back to life a man who, it had seemed, was never destined to wake again.
However, all these questions instantly receded into the background the moment they noticed Jessie's radiant, boundlessly happy smile as she tightly hugged her father. Biggs was holding back the tears that were rising with enormous difficulty at such a touching sight and quickly turned away to the side, just so as not to spoil his stern and cool image. Wedge, on the contrary, had no intention of hiding his emotions at all: with a huge smile on his face he was freely wiping away tears of happiness, emotionally nodding his head.
At that moment Biggs suddenly recalled the recent night — that very one several days ago when two bright shooting stars had fallen from the sky. He clearly remembered how Jessie had then made her one and only cherished wish: that her dad would finally wake up. With a warm feeling Biggs thought to himself that her dream had been destined to come true after all — thanks to Alex, who had become their friend only a couple of days ago.
"This is truly a real miracle…" Biggs said with a warm smirk, brushing away a single tear that had rolled down his cheek.
"Yes… a miracle! God, how cool this is!" Wedge responded, sniffling and shedding tears of joy, fully agreeing with his friend.
To be continued...
(Here's a little miracle for Jessie and her family. I wanted to do this from the start, and I did it. There should be a long rant here about how I'm thinking about the plot, about the next events. But my head hurts so much right now that I just want to lie down and relax in silence for a while. Otherwise, I'll really go crazy from this heat and noise. But first, I'll tell you that there will be an infiltration into the plant, yeah. And now I can go eat and rest. Peace, love, and miracles don't just happen in books.)
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