Cloud watched Aeris and Tifa go swimming. He sat on a deck chair and looked out on the ocean. If he was to fight Sephiroth, he knew he'd have to get stronger. He also thought about what Hojo said and wondered about it. Something wasn't calling him and he had no intense desire to go anywhere so he just shrugged it off. Aeris got out of the water and ran up to him.

Aeris: "Hey Cloud! Come on in! The water's fine!"

Cloud: "Hmmm, I don't know. I'm not wearing a pair of trunks."

Vex: (Sitting in a deck chair Wearing star shaped shades and trunks and holding a tall long island ice tea.) "Go buy some trunks! We've got cash!"

Cloud: (Gets up.) "Where did you get that drink!?"

Vex: (Cheeks were a little flushed.) "Oh this! I found it just sitting on some table. I've had two already, they really hit the spot...hic!"(Hiccups)

Cloud: (Puts his hand on his forehead and groans.) "You shouldn't be drinking those! They've got booze in them! Put it down!"

Vex: "So that's where they get their ZIP! HIC!! (Hiccups loudly and slurps up the ice tea.) "Wow that's good..."

Aeris: (Stomps over to Vex.) "WHAT are you doing?"

Vex: (Slightly slurred) "You're a perrrdy gurl! What's your name, beautiful?" (Hiccups)

Aeris: "Oh my god! You're DRUNK!" (Turns to Cloud) "How could you let this happen?!"

Cloud: "Huh?"

Aeris: "He's just a kid!"

Vex: (Looks at her and glares.) "What did you just say, you balony?!" (Hiccups and groans.) "Ugh, me go sleepy now." (Closes his eyes and starts snoring.)

Aeris: "Remind me never to let you look after him again!" (Stomps back in the water.)

Cloud: "Huh?"

Yuffie: (Walks onto the beach, dressed in a little black bikini.) "Hey guys! Wassup?"

Cloud: "Don't wake Vex up, he's going to have some headache tommorow?"

Yuffie: "Vex got hammered? Ha! Love to see what he'd do!" (Frowns and sulks a tiny bit.) "Wait, how come he got some booze? I want some too!"

Cloud: "No."

Yuffie: "Pleeze?! I'll just have a little."

Cloud: "No."

Yuffie: "Damn!"

Cloud: "Hey! Why are you here anyway?"

Yuffie: "I'm on a heat brake! It's too hot for the shop to stay open. I have to go back there tonight." (Gets into the water.) "Wow! That's cooool...I'm going to bug Tifa to make me some booze."

Cloud: "Good luck, she's more moral than everyone thinks."

 The afternoon went on like that. Yuffie spent the whole time bugging Tifa to make her drinks and Aeris visited the souvenier shops and looked around. She went to a music store and looked around. There were tons of tapes and CDs for any music for any sort of person. The store was dimly lit and there was a cheesy disco ball circling overhead. Aeris took a look at the discmans bought a diskman from the store. "I have no idea what music he likes so I just bought a couple of mixed CDs. Hope he likes them." On the way back to the beach she saw Red 13 lying in the shade. "Hi Red 13."

Red 13: "Hi Aeris. What'cha got there?"

Aeris: "A present for someone I care about." (Looks into the bag.)

Red 13: "That's nice. Is the person you care about, me?"

Aeris: "No."

Red 13: "That's harsh." (Looks away from her.)

Aeris: "Oh I care about you Red, its just this presant you wouldn't be able to use. It'll dull your sharp cat-like reflexes." (Smiles and pets him on the nose and he grunts.)

Red 13: "Who's it for?"

Aeris: "It's for Vex. It's an 'I'm Sorry' Present."

Red 13: "You guys had a fight?"

Aeris: "Um no. It's an 'I'm sorry for letting myself put your life in the hands of a nameless irresponsible spiky headed so and so.'"

Red 13: "I'm sure he'll like it."

Aeris: "Thank you!" (Walks to the beach with her gift in her hands.)

Tifa: (Walked up to her, looking irritated and wearing a blue swinsuit.) "Hi Aeris, what's the gift for."

Aeris: "It's for Vex."

Tifa: (Blinks once and smiles.) "Oh, okay! I'm sorry too, Cloud has a lot to learn about raising kids."

Aeris: "I know."

Tifa: "Well! Cloud has checked us into the inn so we're sleeping here until tommorow. Thank god Yuffie's back to work in the store, she's been driving me nuts to make her a long island ice tea."

Aeris: "Don't mention that drink again!"

Tifa: "Yeah, I know...Vex is...well...fine."

Aeris: "What?"

Tifa: "Vex is swimming and he isn't drunk anymore. He complained a bit about a headache but he isn't flushed and he can walk a straight line and all that stuff. Believe me, I see a lot of drunks because of my former job."

Aeris: "That's not possible!"

Tifa: "Well he's fine now and now he wants to go to the bar tonight and sing karioke."

Aeris: "Karioke!?"

Tifa: "I'm gonna sing Karioke too! I'm going to sing the Titanic song, "My heart will go on!"

Aeris: "You're going to sing the Titanic song?!"

Tifa: "And Cloud's going to sing the song "What's new pussycat?"

Aeris: "Cloud's going to sing?!"

Tifa: "Let's see how good a singer we all are."

Aeris: "Well, this is a performance I don't want to miss."

 That night, there was the bar performance. Apparently Vex was allowed in despite his age. Aeris guessed that there weren't any age restrictions there. She kept a careful watch on Vex to see he doesn't get drunk again. Vex went onto the stage dressed in a tuxedo and he sung his song and totally stole the crowds. By the time he was done, people had flung coins, flowers and unmentionables. He smiled as he scooped them all up and walked to Cloud.

Vex: "That was fun!" (Checks out the cash he got.) "Wow! Check out the loot! I got some money and other junk and Lingere'" (Hands the Lingere to Cloud) "Here you take them. I heard you were into that sort of thing."

Cloud: "What?!"

Vex: "Aeris told me all about it! She also gave me this cool discman!" (Shows him the discman)

Cloud: "Wait! You were the one who got drunk right? So how come Aeris REWARDED you?"

Vex: "Maybe she rewards stupid behaviour!" (Shrugs) "Maybe I'll get drunk again and she'll give me some more CDs for my collection!"

Cloud: "Sometimes I hate you..."

Vex: "And sometimes you're detestable as well! Well, you're on so sing your heart out. I did and guess what that got me?"

Cloud: (Shakes his fists) "If that tiny Super Mario can sing then I'll have the Audience eating out of my sweaty hand!"

Vex: (Blinks) "What a nice thing to say, I'll go be sick over there now."

Cloud: "Hush!" (Cloud gets on the stage and starts to sing "What's new Pussycat?" and he only gets halfway through the song when he's booed off of the stage. Cloud groans and walks off and up to Vex.) "What's their problem?"

Vex: "You're a crappy singer, that's what their problem is."

Cloud: "Right...hey!"

Tifa: "Well! Here I am!" (Walks on dressed in the exact dress she used in the dons mansion, the sparkly blue one that shows off her legs.) "How do I look?"

Vex: "Dressed to kill!"

Cloud: "Umm...you look real nice."

Tifa: "I'm going to try my best."

Vex: "Break a leg!"

Tifa: "Excuse me?!"

Vex: (Sighs) "That's showbiz talk!"

Tifa: "Here I go!" (Walks onto the stage and all the men hoot and holler, throwing dollar bills at her.) "HEY!! YOU PERVS! I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT SORT OF THING!" (Shortly after she said that, all the men left.) "What did I say?"

Vex: "Oh Darn!"

Tifa: "Shut up!"

Vex: "Whipped..." (Makes a whipping gesture)

Tifa: "Shut up even more!"

Aeris: "I'm tired...I think I'm going to go to the Inn." (Walks out the door but then stops dead in her tracks.) "Hmmm, wait a minute..."

Vex: "Now's my chance to be bad!" (Runs over to the bar counter.) "Gimme 4 long island...Ow!" (Vex gets dragged out of the Bar by his ear by Aeris.) "Hey! There's gonna be designated drivers..."

Aeris: (When they get into the Inn, she turns to him.) "Are you gonna be a boozer for the rest of your life?"

Vex: "Nope. Why do you care anyway?"

Aeris: "You mean a lot to me...I don't know why but...you and I seem linked somehow."

Vex: "Yeah, you're like a big sister. Well, see you tomorrow morning!" (Strips down to his underwear and jumps into bed. Within minutes he was snoring softly.)

Aeris: "...Good night." (Goes to bed.)

The next morning, everyone was waiting at the gates of the city. Cloud and Vex were the last to approach them and they were on the verge of annoyance. Vex ran up to them and smiled.

Vex: "Rise and SHINE!" (Whips out his discman and puts a CD in.) "Thanks again, Aeris."

Aeris: "You're welcome. So who's going to go in the main group today?"

Cloud: "Well, I think I'll take Barret, Tifa and you, Vex." (Smiles and looked kind of annoyed.) "I'd better keep an eye on you. It'll be an education for me."

Aeris and Tifa: "?"

Vex: "What-EV...well let's get outta here!" (Marches out of the city limits.)

Barret: (Turns to the girls and nodded.) "I'll look out for him too."

They left the city limits and they were looking around. The Corel Mountains were in the distance and the oceans were on the other side. Barret seemed a little preocupied and Vex just hummed along with his music until it got out of hand.

Vex: (Dancing wildly along the path.) "Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo brother! Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo brother! Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo brother! Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo brother! Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo brother! Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo brother! Right about now, the funk's yo brother! Check it out now, The funk's yo..."

Tifa: (Red in the face as a tomato, freaking out.) "WILL YOU STOP SINGING THAT!?!? MAN! It's getting on my nerves!"

Vex: "You want me to switch to a different song? Fine, I will." (Switches his track and starts singing and wildly dancing.) "Who let the dogs out!?"

Tifa: "NOT THAT ONE EITHER!!"

Vex: (Frowns and sticks his tongue out at her.) "You're no fun."

Cloud: (Walking with Barret) "So, what's up?"

Barret: (Sighs and grunts in reply.) "Nona yo damn business..."

Cloud: "Okay, fine. It's just that you seem a little preoccupied..."

Barret: "I just...what the hell?" (Looks ahead and Vex runs up to it. It appeared to be a huge monster that looked like a huge egg with a face painted on.)

Vex: "Cool! It's a huge toy!" (Pokes at it.)

Barret: "Wait! No, don't touch it! It's a Grangalan! It's a monster!"

The grangulan jumped back and leapt at Vex and knocked him clear into Tifa. Barret loaded his gun arm and shot the egg like creature. It just rolled back and shook it's egg body and opened itself up, releasing a giant silver wheel that flew up and almost sliced through the group. Cloud slashed the egg with his sword and it broke in half. They all sighed in relief but their relief turned into an annoyance when two smaller Grangalans hopped out of the large one's body. Tifa ran over and applied her kung fu on the eggs and they jumped over her. They rammed Cloud and Barret and knocked them sprawling to the ground. Vex jumped forward and countered with a tackle of his own and crunched one of the Grangalan Jr. The other one opened up and released another shiny silver wheel to slice up Vex but he jumped back and fell to the ground. He got up and everyone saw that the Grangalan Jr. opened itself up and released three smaller versions of itself.

Cloud: (Sliced one in half and destroyed it.) "Hate these things! Hate em' so much!"

Tifa: (Takes out an Ice and an All materia) "I'll stop them! Ice 2!" (Begins to glow and summons a globe of spiky ice to enshroud themall and they were frozen up.)

Vex: "We did it!"

Cloud: "Let's get moving before we get attacked by more Grangalans..."

 Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Vex all begin up the mountain path and trek along. They saw that they were travelling the way Sephiroth was headed by the old man they were approaching.

Old Guy: (Sitting there on a rock.) "Thanks! You actually stopped to talk to me!"

Vex: "You just seemed so interesting..."

Cloud: "Did you see a man with a black cape?" (Looks him over)

Old Guy: "He did pass through here, but he didn't even stop to say hello!"

Vex: "Imagine that..."

Tifa: "So did he go through this Valley?"

Old Guy: "Of course! I'll bet he's on his way to the Gold Saucer to get some serious winnings." (Nods.) "The only thing is that this road is swarming with monsters."

Vex: "Let's go to the Gold Saucer too! I wanna have some fun!" (Jumps up and down.)

Barret: "..."

Tifa: "I don't think so..."

Cloud: "It's too late..." (Sighs and everyone notices Vex was already gone.) "You can't stop him...he's so stubborn..."

They followed Vex to some mine tracks that were high above the grimy water below. They found him standing there, not moving a muscle. They ran up to him and he cried out as the track snapped below them. They fell down to the water and they managed to grab the mine supports before landing in the murky water.

Barret: (Started climbing to the top.) "Why the hell were you just standing there?!"

Vex: (Climbing up the supports.) "Because if I moved, then the track would snap. Thanks for removing all doubt."

Tifa: "Look what I found!" (Throws a bag to Cloud.) "A wizard staff..."

Cloud: "For Aeris...?"

Vex: "It's amazing what you find in some places...let's search some more and maybe we can find a nice new pair of Boots for me!"

Barret: "I did, they're called Mining Boots." (Throws them to Vex when they got back up to the tracks.) "Here..."

Vex: (Puts them on and smiles but then blinks when he sees three grooves along the back of one.) "What're these?"

Tifa: "Materia slots, not like you need them..."

Cloud: "Put these extra materia on anyway." (Throws a Fire, an ice and a long range Materia to Vex and he puts them on.) "Any equipment with a double growth rate should be filled with Materia."

Vex: "Okay, see? I AM helpful after all!"

Tifa: "I wouldn't go that far..." (Laughs) "Just kidding..."

Barret: "Can we go already?"

They continued to the path to the end of the line. The section of the track ahead was lifted up as a drawbridge. They all looked over it and Cloud, Barret, Vex and Tifa went the high road instead and ran to the control center on the other side of the tracks. They saw that Aeris and Yuffie and Red 13 were where they were, cheering them on.

Aeris: (Jumps up and down and waves) "Oh Cloud! Go for it!"

Red 13: "Help us out!"

Vex: (Runs to the control box and sees a button inside. He goes in an pushes it. The raised section of the tracks lower and Aeris, Red 13 and Yuffie all run across the track to the next area.) "Yes! I am the hero! Shower me with praise!"

Barret: "...Good work..."

Tifa: "Right, good thinking!"

Vex: (Looks peculiarly) "That's it? Oh well!"

On the way down, they hear chirping and tweeting. Vex climbs up the wall and everyone sees a nest with two chicks in it. They were nesting on a box with 10 phoenix downs. Cloud looks them over and frowns.

Tifa: "Oh! They're so cute!"

Barret: "Damn! They are!"

Vex: "So what's gonna happen now?"

Cloud: (Thinks for a minute) "...It's got nothing to do with us. Let's go."

Tifa: "Right, that was really admirable."

Barret: "So you DO care about the planet...!"

Vex: "... ... Really? I'm beginning to respect you after all..." (Smiles and laughs.)

They jumped down and jumped to the tracks below. They ran down the tracks and they encountered a Mako Reactor. The reactor was huge and still was operational. Vex looked this huge structor over and turned to them.

Vex: "This thing's a mako reactor."

Barret: "Right, and next you're going to tell me that what's next to my foot is a rock." (Glares at the reactor.) "It's the reactor...Dammit!! I hate it!" (Shoots at it with his gun arm.)

Vex: "...?"

Tifa: "Barret..."

Cloud: "Let's get moving." (Barret left first and everyone followed right after.)

They ran down the road track and they finally came up to what looked like a bunch of Trash and Tents. They saw Barret there and he was confronted by everyone in that town. One stepped up and punched him right in the face which shocked Cloud Tifa and Vex.

Minor: (The one who punched him.) "Lookey here, never thought I'd see you again. You get kicked out of another town or something?" (Glares at him.) "You destroy everything you touch!"

Barret: (Looks down at his feet.) "...sorry..."

Minor: "??? Dammit! You ain't worth it, you techno freak!" (They all leave him alone. Cloud and everyone run up to him.)

Tifa: "What was that all about?!"

Vex: "You should have kicked his ass!"

Barret: "...No, it's my fault...ALL my fault!" (Runs away from them.)

Cloud and everyone entered the town or former town and they heard grumbles and gripes from everyone around. There wasn't any houses around, just a bunch of trash. Cloud bought some things like weapons from a guy selling stuff there. They saw a sign for Gold Saucer and they went to the ropeway center.
 

That's the End of Chapter 15. I liked writing about Costa Del Sol, what did you think of it?