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The blond astronaut glared at the Shinra executives. "You can't do this!" he told them. "This project has taken billions of dollars and thousands of hours. You can't just take it away from me!"
"It wasn't *yours* to begin with," President Shinra reminded Cid. "Shinra must do what's best for the people."
"You mean for Shinra." Cid grumbled, his voice roughened by years of chain-smoking. At the age of thirty-five he was a very outspoken individual. It had been his aggressiveness that had gotten him the job as Shinra's first astronaut. They'd wanted someone fearless, someone who could lead without Shinra looking over their shoulder all the time. But now that aggressiveness was working against him.
"...and that includes letting go of all unneeded personel," President Shinra concluded his statement, closing Cid's file and dumping it into the trashcan.
"WHAT?!" Cid was livid. "You will regret this! I promise!" He turned and stormed out of the room. As he stomped down the corridor he heard sounds coming from one of the offices. One of these was the sound of someone being struck. He recognized it from when he'd lost his temper and Shera had slapped him for using a rather interesting word at her. Even Shera had her limits. He walked up to the room and listened at the door:
*****
"...lazy sack of shit!"
The silver-haired teenager was sprawled on the floor, blinking up at the man who stood over him; the man who had just slapped him across the face and knocked him down. Tears trickled down from his shining aquamarine eyes.
"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" the man glared down at him with a look of disgust and annoyance on his face. He'd trained this boy from childhood and the boy's refusal to obey his latest orders had really frosted his proverbial biscuit. "You're *WORTHLESS*!"
The boy got to his feet, rubbing his cheek and glaring back at the man who'd struck him. "I HATE YOU, HOJO!" he screamed as he headed for the door. "I *HATE* YOU!"
*****
Cid crossed the hall and pretended to drink from the drinking fountain across the way. He turned as the silver-haired teenager exited the office and went over to him.
"He hit you," he accused, stopping the pale youth and checking his face. He saw the red mark where Hojo's hand had struck. "Are you okay?".
The young man nodded, sniffling back his tears and wiping his nose with his forearm. "Yeah. I guess. I just want to get out of here."
Cid didn't need to think it over. He couldn't let this beautiful youth be abused any more.
"You're welcome to come with me," he told the boy. "But I warn you, I'm going to be living somewhere far away, and it's not going to be easy."
"I can handle it," the youth told Cid, smiling up at the slightly taller man with a look of confidence.
"Well then, welcome aboard," Cid offered his hand, "Cid Highwind. Pleased to meetcha."
The boy extended his own hand, uncertainly, and Cid shook it. The boy withdrew his hand and looked at the exit. "Let's get out of this rat-hole." the boy complained.
Cid nodded, wondering why the boy hadn't told him his name, and led the boy out of the building.
At the gate, the guard stopped them.
"Where are you taking him?"
"He's not taking me anywhere," the young man told the guard. "I've chosen to go with him."
"You do not have permission to leave this compound," the guard told the boy.
"I didn't ask you for permission." the boy shrugged, as something silver flashed through the air in the sky above then came arcing down and through the guard.
"What the fuck?!" Cid's eyes went wide.
"Oh, there you are!" the boy smiled and pulled the long, slightly curved blade from the guard's now-lifeless body. He hugged the sword for a moment, then grasped it in his left hand and turned to Cid, "Okay, let's go."
"Wait a minute..." Cid called after the boy who was now running from the Shinra Inc HQ as fast as he could, which was very fast in spite of the overly long sword he now held. "Hold on! I can't run that fast!" Despite this last statement, he managed to somehow catch up with the boy.
After running for some time, Cid glanced back and saw that most of SOLDIER was following them. "What the fuck did *I* do?"
"Last warning, Cid Highwind," the person in command of SOLDIER's troops told the astronaut, "release the hostage and turn yourself in?"
"Do I *look* like a hostage?"
The pale youth sent a spell back at their pursuers, turning them to stone, even as he and Cid kept on running..
*****
Halfway to Rocket Town, Cid came to a stop. "Okay, hold on, stop. Wait a moment. I need to catch my breath."
The boy looked up at the dark sky. It was late and the stars now twinkled in the heavens above them. The constellations looked down at them, and in the distance, beyond all of these things, he sensed a dark presence, destructive in nature, a destroyer of worlds. Perhaps if he could learn to control it, Shinra would never abuse him again.
"So, those are the stars," he mused, thoughtfully. "I've never seen them before. They're so beautiful." He did not speak of the dark stranger he sensed amongst the brilliant beauty of the stars. No one would know of his plan. He couldn't risk Shinra finding out.
"That's where we're gonna live." Cid told the boy. "I'm gonna fix up Shinra 26 and take her up there. We'll find a good planet to live on. One where there is no Shinra."
"That sounds like fun." the boy smiled and Cid found himself realizing just how truly beautiful his companion was. It was a realization that manifested itself in physical form, and made the astronaut feel rather uncomfortable.
"It will be." Cid promised, placing his hands over his lap to hide his erection. He wondered why this young man was having such an effect on him. "It will also be hard work."
"I don't mind." the young man decided. "I'd rather deal with that than with Hojo. Let's go!" he stood up and ran toward Rocket Town with Cid behind him, desperately trying to keep up.
*****
Shera heard the knock and stood up from the kitchen table. She opened the door and smiled in delight when she saw Cid. Then, she remembered what had happened and the smile left her face. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I am so sorry. I had no right to hit you. It was all my fault."
"Yeah, it was," Cid agreed.
"Don't be mean to her." the young man with Cid told Cid. "You're acting like Hojo."
Cid realized this was true and swore under his breath. "You're right." he told the teenager. He turned back to Shera. "I'm sorry, too. Look, I need your help. I'm taking Shinra 26. Can you help me make sure Shinra can't control it?"
Shera nodded. "I sure can." she agreed. "If you'll agree to let me come with you."
"Shera..." Cid hesitated. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say. His feelings were still not entirely clear to him.
They were clear to Shera, however. She'd been working with and for Cid for as long as she could remember and had a pretty good grasp of his moods as a result of this.
"I know you're in love with this young man," she told Cid, smiling at his startled reaction. "I can see why. He's very handsome. But if we're going to move to a new world, you might as well have some women along. It simply won't do to build a whole new world and then have it fall apart for the simple lack of children."
This was one of those situations in which the moral need to treat women as more than just breeding stock was complicated by the practical need for women to be that as well as whatever else they were currently being. It wasn't a comfortable thing for anyone to deal with, but it was something they had to address.
Cid had to admit Shera was right about that. They'd need others to help keep the new colony going.
She was also right about how he felt about the young man who stood at his side. Perhaps one day she would become the mother of their child. His heart, however, belonged to the still-nameless youth who was now his constant companion.
The young man in question had his own reason for wanting to leave the planet. If he could get nearer to the presence he sensed, he realized he might be able to put his plan to work. Shinra would regret ever having harmed him.
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