To Be No.1

Cloud strode confidently into the ‘staff only’ room of the Chocobo Races. It was plain but clean, lit by lamps hanging from the ceiling. Four men, wearing jockey uniforms, were sitting around a table in the center of the room playing cards. They didn’t look particularly short, like jockeys were supposed to. Good, because Cloud was pretty tall himself. And he had absolutely zero experience in handling racing chocobos.

"You new?" a voice asked from his left.

Cloud spun around. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed the young man beside him. First of all, because he was about three feet away from him, and secondly, because his appearance was something else. The man had tanned skin, straight, dark hair, and lazily dramatic looking eyes. On his head was a black boater, and he wore a bright red riding habit over an otherwise completely white outfit. His arms were crossed and he was leaning back casually against the wall.

Ester followed Cloud in. "Hi, Joe," she said, not overly enthusiastically.

"Hey, Ester, you’re looking pretty as usual," the man said in a smooth voice.

"Thanks," Ester replied, a bit coldly. She carefully neutralized her tone and turned to Cloud. "Let me introduce you, Cloud. This is Joe, one of the top Chocobo Jockeys."

Joe made a deep, elegant bow toward Cloud. "Nice to meet you, Cloud." He straightened up. "If you’re with Ester, then. . ."

"Right!" Ester said. She knew what Joe had just realized, and there was a slight challenge in her voice. "He’s an up and coming jockey. He’d only been down there a day and already he made it up here!!"

"What?" Joe said, surprised. This Cloud guy didn’t mess around. Either he had been freed by a pardon, or he was extremely dangerous. Joe bowed his head. "Oh, I see... So why did you get put down?"

Cloud seemed to be looking uncomfortably for a delicate way to explain. Joe quickly decided he didn’t want to piss him off.

"Sorry. . . we’re not supposed to ask about the past here. Pretty interesting. . . I have a feeling that we’ll meet again." He brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen free from his hat. "Then, until we meet again, Cloud."

Cloud watched Joe walk out of the room. Hmm. A bit of a strange character. Half of the things he said he seemed to be saying to himself. He wondered what was up between Joe and Ester. They spoke civilly to each other, but even Cloud could feel the tension between them. Old lovers, maybe. . . but it was none of his business. Like Joe had said, it was better not to ask about the past.

"The next race will start in a few minutes. Will the jockeys for the next race please proceed to the paddock."

Joe was already there. A few other jockeys arrived to prepare their chocobos, all dressed in the standard riding uniform complete with hoods and visors to hide even their faces, with no differences between the men except for slight color variations in their suits. It was only a measure of Joe’s skill that he was allowed to wear his own riding costume.

Stable hands unlatched the doors, and the jockeys entered the stable. Delighted warks and coos emanated from the stalls at their entrance, and the brightly colored chocobos bounced up and down excitedly as their masters greeted them.

All except for one. The black chocobo in a far stall stood silently, watching with his regal eye the immaturity of his cousins. Joe stepped up to the black chocobo, cooing softly to keep the bird’s temper down. He held up a bridle so that it clearly knew his intentions.

"Hello, Teioh," Joe whispered. He stroked the bird’s neck with a black-gloved hand. "Time to race again. Time to win again."

The jockey in the stall next to them overheard. "Don’t be too sure, Joe," he sneered. "I hear there’s a new guy here. A real tough one. Straight up from the prison."

Joe looked at the man evenly. "It’s very rude to eavesdrop on someone’s conversation with their bird."

"I think that was a little one-sided to call a conversation, technically, but whatever."

The man snorted and ruffled his blue chocobo’s head feathers. Teioh cringed, and Joe nodded. No one touched Teioh’s head feathers. They all knew the consequences.

"Anyways, Joe, you might want to fuel ‘er up with some extra Mimmett, you never know. Some of these felons are pretty quick."

"I’ll keep that advice in mind," Joe said. NOT. Teioh was on a strict diet of carefully measured greens, and his current intake of Mimmett had never failed him before. "But I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about."

"Oh, really?"

"I never lose."

Joe fastened the lead onto Teioh, and led the chocobo out of the stables.

After all preparations had been made, the six racers began to line up at the starting line of the holographic track. Joe was about to mount, when Ester ran up and tapped his arm.

"Why, hello, Ester," Joe said cooly. "Nice of you to visit, even though spectators are not permitted on the track."

"Spectator my ass, Joe," Ester spat. "I’m a manager, and don’t you act like my superior."

"Apologies." Joe rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, I came to. . ." Ester took a deep breath, knowing how ridiculous this sounded. "I came to ask a favour."

Joe quirked an eyebrow, incredulous.

"I know, I know. But look, this is for everyone’s good."

"I’ll be the judge of that, once you tell me what you want me to do."

"I want you to let Cloud win."

"Hmm. . . judging, judging. . ." Joe slowly nodded, considering. "No."

Ester sighed in exasperation. "Let me explain. Cloud was framed for those murders-"

"Murders? You mean the ones two nights ago?" So that’s what he was in for.

"Yes. It was someone else, not Cloud and his friends. So he shouldn’t even be here, racing for his freedom. Just let him win and get him out of here as soon as possible, and he’ll pay you."

"My dear, this isn’t boxing. I’m not so easily bribed. I have an impeccable reputation to keep up."

"Joe, ten thousand gil!! That’s what he’s offering!"

Joe felt that number like a punch in the gut. He put an arm against Teioh in an effort to stay upright. "Ten- ten thousand?"

"That’s right!" Ester said excitedly. "That’s more than you’ll ever win from a race. Now I have no idea what you do with all your money, but whatever it is, think how much you can do it with ten thousand gil!"

Joe cleared his throat. Prospects were whirring through his head. They would be so happy. . . But he would have been beaten. Beaten by an outsider, a lousy criminal who had never raced before in his life. His rep would go down the toilet. People would probably catch on that he had been bribed, manipulated, and Dio would fire him. His whole career would follow his rep down the can. And what if the ten thousand wasn’t enough to. . .

He forced a self-assured smile. This was the hardest thing he had ever turned down. "Sorry, Ester, but I’ve got my honor to think of."

"But-"

"Now please remove yourself from the track, dear, the race is starting."

Ester steamed off, probably already plotting revenge. Joe shrugged it off and jumped onto Teioh.

The chocobo sensed his disturbed mood and bucked a little.

"Shh, Teioh, it’s okay. Concentrate on the race."

The black chocobo settled down and tensed its legs, ready to bolt at first command.

The laser starting ribbon disintegrated, and the chocobos were off.

Teioh pulled into an early lead by starting with a short dash. With stamina as high as his, he could afford to. He ran passed the directional sign and into a long, upward spiral of rainbow tiles, hugging the center. But by the end of the spiral, he noticed someone close on his tail.

Joe risked a glance behind him. It was a yellow chocobo, ridden by Cloud. He didn’t know what that bird had eaten, but it was gaining. Joe tightened his knees on Teioh’s back and went into a dash again, but one of the decorative strobe lights hit him full in the face, totally blinding him. Fuckin’ hell? he thought. The track was especially designed so that the lights didn’t do that. Teioh had been blinded as well, he could tell from the way the chocobo was weaving all over the track.

When the bursting stars disappeared and Joe’s sight returned, Cloud was ahead of him. Gritting his teeth, Joe urged Teioh into a burst of speed. Teioh flapped his wings, lifting slightly off the ground, and dashed up to meet Cloud. "Come on Teioh, we aren’t gonna be beaten by any yellow chocobo."

They were neck-and-neck, both dashing at top speed. The chocobos were side by side on a narrow rope bridge, so close that their wings were knocking together. Joe looked at Cloud on his left. The criminal was glaring back at him, no longer the quiet, laid-back man he had met before. Joe smiled back.

It was obvious that Cloud was an amateur, because he wasn’t paying attention to his chocobo’s stamina. By the time they got to the rainbow-walled tunnel, his chocobo was exhausted. It hung its head and slowed to a crawl. From there, the race was already won. Joe and Teioh sauntered across the finish line. Still the best.

Cloud hardly recognized him in civilian clothes.

He was heading toward the ropeway station, counting his money as he walked, wearing a plain outfit of jeans and a black coat. Could knew him by the black boater hat on his head.

"Hey! Joe!"

Joe turned around and nodded his head once. "Cloud. Nice racing back there. You did good for a rookie. Not many do. . ."

Cloud caught up to him. "Yeah, thanks. Listen, I really am innocent."

"You’ve never hurt anyone, huh?"

Cloud wasn’t prepared for such a broad question. It made him nervous. "I’m not a murderer."

"Good. It’s nice to know that I’ll be safe if I have to kick your ass again."

Cloud clenched his fists. "Look, Joe, you might be a good racer, but outside of the track, you’re nothing."

"Is that a threat?" Joe asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cloud opted to change the subject. This wasn’t getting him anywhere. "I suppose you’d never take a bribe? No? I didn’t think so." He put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. "Listen. I know that I can’t beat you. So when I race again tomorrow, I don’t want it to be against you. Got it?"

Joe removed the hand on his shoulder. "Cloud, I’m not the one who chooses the racers. Dio is the one who you should be threatening," he sighed. "Now please let me go. I have business to attend to."

Cloud backed away. "Business, huh? Such as blowing your cash on booze and whores so you can fill your wallet again tomorrow? Don’t let me stop you, you selfish bastard."

Cloud stalked away. Joe watched him go, then shook his head and boarded the ropeway.

It was a cold night in Corel. At least, what was left of Corel.

Where the peaceful town once stood, all that remained were piles of junk, shattered railroad tracks, and a small village of tents and shacks. A dry wind blew through the ghost town, spreading its chill through the place to add to the misery of its inhabitants. He entered one of the tents.

"Gramma? It’s me."

The old woman opened her eyes. "Joe! Oh, it’s good to see you, dear."

"Joe!! You won again dincha? Dincha dincha!"

Gramma laughed. "Your brother missed you. You haven’t been home for a while."

Joe hoisted the small boy into his arms as he shrieked with delight. "Of course I won, Terry, I always win! Look what I brought ya."

He set the child down to produce something out of his coat pocket. It was a toy airplane, made of shining chrome. Terry’s eyes widened. "Oooh!"

"I picked up some groceries, too, Gramma. And the rest I put into the savings."

Gramma pulled her shawl around her shoulders. "Oh, thank you, Joe. How much more do we need? And take off your hat while you’re indoors, even if it is just a tent."

Joe took off his hat and rubbed his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on. "Travel fares are growing every day, but we’re getting there. If I race for about six more months, that should bring in enough. Assuming I keep winning."

"Which you will, of course."

"Of course," Joe said, forcing a cocky grin. "And then I’m moving you out of this shithole to Costa Del Sol."

"Yay!"

"Joe, please don’t use language like that around your little brother."

"Sorry, Gramma. Look, you’d better get some sleep. I’ll put Terry to bed."

The old woman closed her eyes again, settling back into her chair. With a lot of struggling, Joe managed to get Terry into his pajamas and get his teeth brushed. He tucked the boy into bed, piling on an extra blanket to protect against the cold night. Terry got sleepy very quickly.

"Y’know, my friend Bobby wants your autograph," Terry mumbled sleepily.

"Oh really?" Joe said, sitting at his little brother’s bedside. "You told your friends about me?"

"You bet!"

Joe chuckled tiredly. "What exactly did you say to make me sound so great?"

"I told him the truth. My brother races his black chocobo up on the Gold Saucer, and wins every time, and he’s gonna make lots of gil and take us to live in Costa Del Sol." Terry just didn’t shut up. "Is it nice there, Joe? What’s it like?"

"I’ve told you a hundred times before-"

"Tell me again, or I won’t go to sleep."

Joe sighed and caved in. He launched into the rehearsed speech. "Costa Del Sol is a village built by the ocean, where there’s beaches and sun. It’s always warm there. Everyone is healthy, and lives in nice houses just like the ones Corel used to have. You can do fun stuff like sailing and swimming and playing in the sand. There’s big boats that..."

Joe trailed off when he saw that Terry was fast asleep. It had been a long day, and tomorrow would probably be even longer. In six months he would have enough money. But the winter was coming in one month. His grandmother was tough, sure, but could she survive another winter living in one of Corel’s tents? And how long would this winning streak of his last? Joe felt his headache returning in full force and swallowed a couple of painkillers. He lay down on the floor with a blanket and went to sleep himself.

"Man, just once, I’d like to see that Joe lose a race."

"Yeah, he’s a self-centered, egotistical-"

Ester and the jockeys shut up abruptly as Joe walked into the ‘staff only’ room. He cooly surveyed the faces of the jockeys, then went to lean against the wall, waiting for his race to begin. Ester was looking at him rather strangely, a little smug, maybe. He had no idea why. She had probably arranged it so that he wouldn’t be in the same race as Cloud this time. Fine with him.

"The next race will start in a few minutes. Will the jockeys for the next race please proceed to the paddock."

Joe rode Teioh around the paddock for a bit. Something was a little off. Teioh was as silent as ever, but his head wasn’t held as proudly. His feathers sagged a little. His blue eyes were dull.

"Are you sick, Teioh, boy?" Joe murmured. "Just before a race?"

But they were out of time. The race was starting. He couldn’t back out now without the act being dubbed a ‘forfeit,’ and that was the same as a loss, paywise. So he led Teioh up to the starting line. The spectators in the stands raised a huge cheer as he appeared.

Joe had been so distracted with Teioh’s condition that he hadn’t even looked to see who he was up against. He looked down the line of racers and almost fell off his chocobo. There was Cloud, on his yellow bird that Ester had prepared.

How about that. He was going to have to beat Cloud again. So then what did that look that Ester gave him mean? Joe shivered. He shook off any outside concerns he might have, and went into race mode. Nothing mattered but the track.

The starting ribbon disappeared with a bang, and the race was on.

Joe and Cloud pulled ahead right away. But something was definitely wrong, and Teioh was lagging. Joe tried a dash to catch up. They left the pink and blue and white birds behind, in one-on-one competition. They reached the spiraling ramp, and the uphill seemed to bother Teioh. But Joe kept her close to the inside and passed Cloud.

He had run this track more times than he could count. He knew where to hug the turns and where to speed up for a straight dash. Teioh wasn’t performing very well, and neither he nor Cloud was ever ahead by more that a few inches. They reached the narrow bridge, shoving at each other to get through it.

Then Cloud did something totally unethical. He got really close and kicked Teioh.

Teioh got flustered. They broke out into the openness of the Space Tunnel, and Cloud got ahead. Teioh angrily bucked and swayed, and Joe had to grab his neck just to stay on. He managed to get the black chocobo back under control and they crossed the finish line.

Where Cloud’s chocobo was bouncing victoriously.

Joe timidly entered Dio’s private office, where the owner of the Gold Saucer was standing at the window.

Joe cleared his throat. "You wanted to see me, Dio?"

Dio turned around. Jeez, put some fuckin’ clothes on, man, Joe thought. Dio’s greased and muscular body was clad only in a leopard-print bathing suit type thing, as usual.

"You aren’t getting paid today, Joe," Dio said grimly. "Do you know why?"

Don’t make me say it, please. Joe felt his eyes heat up and stayed silent. He couldn’t speak over the lump in his throat anyways. He felt something close to panic rising in him.

"Because you lost. For the first time ever," Dio said harshly. He sat down at his desk. "You, the Big Time Winner, lost a race to an amateur who’s fresh from the prison. An amateur that you seemed to beat easily only yesterday. Do you know what this makes me think?"

"I think. . . I can guess." This was getting worse and worse.

"When one of the top Chocobo Jockeys loses to a rookie, there’s something not right."

"I agree."

"He offered you a bribe, didn’t he?"

"Yes, but I didn’t take it."

Dio laughed humorlessly. "You decided to lose the race of your own free will! Right. Our security cameras show you meeting with Cloud last night at the ropeway station. And if that isn’t enough proof, Ester herself confirmed it with me."

"Ester? That lying bi-"

"I’ve heard enough from you!" Dio bellowed, like an insane father. "My jockeys do not take bribes! You can pack your bags, mister, and now you should have enough money to retire from the sport! You are no longer a champion, Joe, and I am not going to fund you any more. Now get out!!"

"But I didn’t take-"

"Get out!!"

Dio hefted a vase dangerously, and Joe ran out of the office. He slammed the door behind him and heard the vase smash against it. Shit, I might as well have taken the real bribe.

It was time to say goodbye to Teioh. Then he was out of here.

Joe didn’t know where he would go. He couldn’t go back to Corel tonight, he would never be able to face his grandmother empty-handed. He took off his hat and ran a hand over his hair.

The colored chocobos watched him from their stalls as he walked past. It was nighttime, and nobody raced at night. What was the human doing here? Teioh had dozed off, but woke when Joe approached him.

"Hey, Teioh," Joe whispered. "I’ve come to say. . ."

The black chocobo looked at him expectantly. He could tell something was wrong.

Joe patted Teioh’s neck. "How are you feeling, boy? Better? Are you gonna run fast for your. . . new owner?" He sniffed. "Man, I’m gonna miss you, Teioh. We’re a team."

Joe was suddenly aware of someone standing behind him. He whirled around, and there was Cloud.

"I heard you lost your job," Cloud said expressionlessly. "Too bad, you were good."

"What are you doing here?" Joe growled.

"Just taking a look at the birds. Dio freed and apologized to me, you know, and I’m thinking of buying a chocobo for myself." Cloud looked Teioh up and down, and the bird flinched. "This one looks pretty good."

Joe gritted his teeth. "Don’t you lay a fuckin’ hand on my chocobo or I’ll-"

"You’ll what?" Cloud said with a smile, putting a hand on the giant sword on his back. Joe fell silent, seething.

Cloud turned to Teioh, clumsily cooing. "Hey boy, you’re a pretty one, huh?"

He scratched Teioh between the ears. Uh oh.

Teioh flapped his wings furiously, and brought his powerful beak down on Cloud. The peck would have been powerful enough to smash his skull, but luckily for Cloud, the chocobo’s beak glanced off of his shoulder armour. "Shit!!" Cloud jumped back before Teioh could hit him again.

"It broke my arm!"

Joe nodded. "I forgot to tell you. Teioh doesn’t like people to touch his head."

"That’s it, that bird is chickenburger! When I own him. . ." Cloud stalked out of the stables, muttering and rubbing his arm.

Any satisfaction that Joe might have felt was quickly wiped out when he remembered his situation. He chuckled grimly. "Thanks for the last memory, Teioh."

He went into the stall and wrapped his arms around the chocobo, something he had never done before. Teioh’s body stiffened at first, then he softened and allowed Joe to hold him. Joe was crying, another thing he had never done before. Teioh lowered his head and nuzzled him with his forehead.

"Teioh. . . you’re touching me with your head."

Yeah, yeah. Shut up and bond, Teioh seemed to be saying. Joe carefully reached up and stroked the soft black feathers on his head. The chocobo was uncomfortable with this display of affection, but liked it. However, Joe knew that the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to leave.

"Don’t forget me, Teioh, boy."

He picked up his hat and left, Teioh looking silently after him.

"And we have a spectacular lineup for today’s race!!" the loudspeaker announced. Assembled at the starting line were chocobos of every color of the rainbow. . . but no black. "Racing are Edward, Marie, Rica, Aimee, Dario, and Rober. This should be exciting, folks!"

But if the announcer had been expecting a delighted cheer, he was wrong. The audience in the full stands sounded disappointed. Several people started chanting:

"Tee-oh! Tee-oh! Tee-oh!"

"Uh. . . sorry, people, but Teioh hasn’t been behaving very well lately since we discovered his owner was a cheater. It’s time to crown a new champion!!"

Dio switched off the microphone in his office, watching the race spectators on a TV monitor on his desk. No one was standing. No one was cheering. Even when the race began, the response was low. What was going on?

A secretary dressed as a bunny rushed into Dio’s office. "Sir, some somewhat alarming news. We’ve sold only a fraction of the tickets for the next race, and no one is placing any bets."

"What?" Dio roared, sending the secretary scampering to the back of the room. "Is this all because I fired Joe? Damn, I knew it was a mistake from the start, but people won’t tolerate racers who take bribes. They’re unreliable. Unpredictable."

"Yes, sir."

"This’ll cool down after a while, you’ll see. We’ll discover a new champ, the audience will pick a new favourite, and they’ll forget all about Joe and Teioh. Right?"

"Right, Dio."

There were no real bars in the family-fun Gold Saucer, or else Joe would have been at one getting drunk. It was probably for the better. Instead, he sat in on the Event Square and started coming up with alternate sources of income, completely ignoring the play that was going on.

He couldn’t leave the Gold Saucer without having to pass through Corel, and there was no way he was going to face his family. How could he tell them that he lost his job?

He had to find another job. But what could he possibly do? He had been brought up with chocobos, and raced them all his life. He didn’t know about anything other than chocobos. He supposed that he could try to sneak back into the Chocobo Square, and place bets on the races. That might last him a while. Joe sighed and headed off to the Chocobo Square.

It was a weekend, and there were throngs of people surrounding the racing tracks. Joe bumped into someone, and apologized before he saw who it was. It was Ester.

"Well! Fancy meeting you again, darling, it’s been a while," Joe said evenly. He had been taught to always be courteous, no matter how bluntly he had to fake it.

Ester sighed. "What are you still doing here, Joe? You’re nothing but a has-been."

"Many thanks to you."

"The score is even."

Joe struggled to contain himself. "What did you do to Teioh, Ester? And what did you do to Cloud’s bird, for that matter?"

"Nothing," Ester said innocently. "I just gave them both healthy doses of Sylkis."

Joe was shocked. This was. . . despicable. Even more indecent than when Cloud had kicked Teioh. "You what?! Teioh is allergic to Sylkis greens!"

"I’m aware of that."

"How could you, Ester? Have you no sense of sportsmanship?" People around them stared as he continued to raise his voice, but Joe ignored them. "An act this vile belongs in the Battle Square, maybe, but not on the chocobo tracks!"

Ester grew serious. "It was hardly fair what you did to me, Joe."

"But- I was only. . ."

Joe put a hand to his forehead as the people and lights around him began to swirl. Memories that he had tried to bury came flooding back to him. Not again. . .

Joe chuckled. "I won’t be a rookie for long."

Ester was shaking him.

Joe opened his eyes and realized that he was sitting on the ground, his back to the wall of the racing building. A crowd was gathering around him and Ester. "I’m fine, I’m fine," he mumbled.

"I wasn’t concerned," Ester said loftily. "But you’re making a scene."

"If you didn’t like attention you wouldn’t dress like an easter egg," Joe said under his breath. He stood up. "Why did you have to bring that up?"

Ester shook her head. "My knees were shattered after that accident. I was never able to kneel on a chocobo again, much less race one. I had to turn to managing. Managing, Joe. You think this is what I want to be doing? I lost my lifetime dream because of you and your cheap win."

Joe knew that she was right. There was no excuse for what he had done. Of course he had wanted to win, but so had everyone else. There was no excuse. He looked Ester in the eye. "Then you’re right," he said. "The score is even. I’ve lost everything as well."

He turned to walk away, when a small form ran up and grabbed him around the knees. It started sobbing. "Joe Joe Joe!"

Joe winced as he noticed Ester watching out of the corner of his eye. He carefully detached Terry from around his knees and knelt down in front of him. "What are you doing here, kid? Where’s Gramma?"

Terry buried his wet face in Joe’s chest. Although his voice was muffled, Joe could still make out his words. "She’s dead! She was sick, and all of a sudden she just- she fell over-" Terry started sobbing uncontrollably. Joe wrapped his arms around his brother. "You never came back!"

Joe felt an incredible wash of guilt. If I had only gone back last night. . . if I had been able to face her. . . if I hadn’t lost. . . this is all my fault. "I’m so sorry, Terry. But you have to understand that she was old, and. . ."

Joe was afraid that he would start to cry if he said anything more. Now Terry was his responsibility, and his alone. They would have to stay at the Ghost Hotel that night, but he didn’t know what he would do after that. Waves of pain stabbed through his temples.

Ester walked up behind him. When she spoke, her tone was different from anything Joe had ever heard from her. "I didn’t know you had a family," she said softly.

"It’s none of your business," Joe snapped.

"Is- is there anything I can do?"

"Oh, I think you’ve done more than enough, thank you." Joe stopped himself when he realized that his attitude was only upsetting Terry more. He sighed. This wasn’t the time to think of pride. He turned to Ester again. "Yeah. You can get me my job back."

"How? By telling Dio-" Ester shook her head again. "I can’t do that."

"Look," Joe said. He took Terry’s hand. "This guy has never done anything to you. I’ll do whatever it takes to repay you, but just. . . let me race again."

Ester, for once, was tongue-tied. "I’ll- I’ll see what I can do."

"Thanks a bunch," Joe muttered. He led Terry away to the transport.

Joe had trouble sleeping that night. Partly due to the ceaseless fireworks and delighted screams of the Gold Saucer, and party due to everything that was on his mind. He had just dozed off when there was a banging at the door of his hotel room. Joe groaned and got up to answer it. Terry suddenly jumped out of bed to join him. Apparently he hadn’t been sleeping, either.

It was Marissa, one of the other chocobo jockeys. Her eyes widened to the size of lightbulbs when she saw Joe standing there in his boxers.

"Can I help you?" Joe yawned.

Marissa tore her eyes off his pecs to answer. "Uh, yeah, champ. Ester asked me to deliver this to you. Seemed like she was too embarrassed to do it herself." She winked. "Hell, I woulda been, too, if I’d known you were dressed like that."

Joe ignored her and opened the letter that she handed him. It was in Dio’s heavy writing.

"Joe,

Joe stared at the note for a few seconds, then crumpled it and ran into the room to put on some clothes.

"Where are you going?" Terry asked, panicked.

Joe shoved his feet into his sneakers, and ruffled Terry’s hair. "I’ve gotta go see Dio. Marissa, could you watch Terry for a couple minutes?"

"Sure thing, champ."

Joe ran out the door.

He reached the Chocobo Square just as Ester was heading out the door, and he bumped into her again.

"Ester!"

She was sniffling pathetically. "Joe?"

Joe grabbed her arm to stop her. "You can’t leave yet."

"Oh yes I can," Ester said. "I quit racing because of you, and now I have to stop managing because of you. Maybe I’m just not cut out to work with chocobos."

"Bullshit, Ester. You know you’re a good manager."

She didn’t seem to hear him. "Well, I’m leaving. I don’t know where, but I’m never coming back. Ever. I hope you’re happy."

"Look, I feel guilty enough already. I don’t want you to lose your job. I’m gonna go talk to Dio, and see if I can get it back. I’ll explain that it was an act of vengeance. I’ll tell him what I did to you when I first came here."

Ester snorted. "You don’t think he knows? I told him about it years ago, as soon as it happened! He doesn’t care! He chose to overlook it because you’re such a good jockey, he wanted you around."

Joe started. "You. . . told him?"

"Yeah, I ratted on you," Ester said, smiling through her fading tears. She was beginning to act a bit more like herself. "And don’t you dare get started on me with all your ‘honor’ crap. Ramming me with your bird was a bit less than honorable."

Joe winced. "Yeah, yeah. Just promise you’ll stick around until I’ve talked to him."

"Oh, fine. I suppose it’s worth a shot." Ester fixed him with a meaningful glare. "We all know how good you are at smooth-talking people."

With a cocky grin, Joe vanished into the Chocobo Square.

"No. I’m sorry, but no. We can’t have people like her around."

"Please, Dio! She screwed up this once, but it was partly my fault. You don’t have to punish her on my account."

Dio sat down at his desk, a sign that this argument was stretching on for too long. "I’m sorry, Joe. But word travels. No one’s gonna hire Ester after a scandal like this."

Joe took a deep breath. "I’ll hire her."

"Yeah, nice try, Joe," Dio laughed. "I like you. But too bad, you already have a manager. Me. I own Teioh’s papers."

Joe paced around the small room for a little bit, as Dio watched him with an amused smile. This was a lot harder than he had expected. Dio evidently didn’t like Ester much.

"But you can’t fire her!" Joe said suddenly, inventing his words as he spoke. "She’s got a client."

"Yeah? Who?"

"Cloud Strife!" Joe said triumphantly.

Dio rolled his eyes. "He’s just the latest jailbird up from the prison. His kind never come back. I think we can safely say we’ve seen the last of him."

"But if he did come back-"

Dio sighed impatiently. There was good chance that they would spend the rest of the night arguing in his office. When Joe set his mind on something. . .

"All right, Joe," Dio said, deciding to humour him, if only to get him out of his hair. "We’ll give it forty days. If Cloud decides to come back, and I don’t see any reason why he would, then Ester can have her job back. Permanently. But she is suspended until then, got it?"

"Got it," Joe nodded. "Thanks, Dio."

On his way out of the office, Dio’s voice stopped him. "Oh, and I’m glad you two finally made amends. The tension was creating bad vibes. Can’t have that in a place like this."

Joe smiled to himself and walked out.

When Joe greeted Teioh again, the bird was ecstatic.

Teioh bounced and warked like a complete fool, making a spectacle of himself even in front of the other chocobos, but remembered his dignity by the time they rode up to the starting line of the track. The people in the full stands went wild. Joe waved and sent them into a frenzy.

He won, of course. He always won.

* * *

A month passed.

Ester had been hanging around the Gold Saucer, not really expecting Cloud to return. When he actually did, she couldn’t believe it. At first she wasn’t sure it was him, but who else carried a giant sword around on their back? Who else had severe bed-head day in, day out?

Ester ran up to him at the Chocobo Square. This time he was with his friends, a girl and some hulk of a guy. Ester paid no attention to them.

"Cloud! Remember me?"

"Yeah," Cloud said in a monotone. "Ester, right?"

"That’s right!" Ester said. "Do you want to race?"

Cloud shrugged. "Actually, I just came here to place a few bets on the races. . ."

"Aw, come on! Go for it," Ester said. "What have you got to lose?"

The girl giggled and tugged Cloud’s arm. "Do it, Cloud. I want to watch."

"Uh. . . I guess," Cloud seemed a bit reluctant. "I’m not racing against Teioh, am I?"

Ester coughed. "I can’t say anything for sure. But what have you got to worry about? You kicked his ass last time."

"That’s true," Cloud smirked. "All right, let’s go."

"Win me something nice, Cloud!" the big man called. The girl stared at him. "I mean, uh. . . win Aeris something nice. . ." he trailed off.

"Cooo. . ."

Teioh cooed happily as Joe sprayed his feathers with distilled water, perfumed slightly with strawberry.

"That’s it, boy. You like that huh?"

The stable doors banged open as Dio made his entrance.

"Joe! You’ll never guess who’s here!"

"Cloud?" Joe asked hopefully, only half-serious.

"That’s right!" Dio started making rounds of the stalls, examining each of the birds with excess energy.

Joe was shocked, but not in a bad way. "So Ester gets her job back!"

"Sure, why not! The point is that this will be the race of the century! Two champions, head to head! One on one! The final showdown! The battle of the big birds. . ."

Joe tuned out at that point. He shook his head and smiled to Teioh as he patted down the chocobo with some fleece. "No worries, right, Teioh?"

Marissa nodded, barely able to stay awake. "Uh huh. What kind of signs?"

"Well, he always picks me to travel wit. An’ he gives flowers to muh little gurl. Y’all know these are signs there’s somethin’ goin’ on there, huh?"

"Oh yeah. Sounds like it." Marissa stood up. "But look, the race is about to start. Maybe we can talk some more later."

The big guy stood up too. "Y’know, I’m thinkin’ of askin’ him out. F’only that damn Aeris would take her cute l’il ass and march off-"

"Yeah, I get you. But I’ve really got to go. See ya."

The starting line, stands, everything, were decorated with ribbons and flags. Return of the Champs banners were plastered on every inanimate surface. Glitter and confetti poured down from above as Teioh appeared, Joe on his back. There was even a fanfare. Oh for fuck’s sake. . . Joe thought. But the spectators were eating it up.

Joe’s only opposition was Cloud, on some no-name yellow chocobo.

"Nice to see you again, Cloud," Joe said amiably. Just to annoy the guy.

"Blow me."

"Now you won’t pull anything, will you? That sort of thing is hell to sort out afterwards."

"I don’t need to pull anything," Cloud scoffed. "I’ve had some experience with chocobos. Even caught a few."

"Oh. Well then," Joe said.

Cloud, dullard that he was, didn’t catch his sarcasm. He smirked.

Dio had been using the last five minutes to make an impressive speech over the loudspeaker. He finally wrapped it up. "...So stand and cheer for your favourite hero! Because this isn’t just any race. It’s a race between the two greatest chocobo champions the Gold Saucer has ever welcomed!!!"

Then, with some sort of drumroll, the starting ribbon vanished. The stands raised a deafening cheer.

The two chocobos took off. Feathers flew everywhere as both of them leaped into a heads-down dash, each struggling to gain on the other. Joe practically flattened himself against Teioh's back, not paying any attention to Cloud's position, just concentrating on his own speed. Wind rushed past his head and his hat flew off. He laughed with exhileration.

"Faster, Teioh!" he yelled, but they were already moving at such a speed that his words were left hanging in the air behind him. Teioh's feathers were getting hot and his wings were spread for a little extra lift. Joe had to squeeze hard with his knees just to stay on. Whether he won or not, he was sure that he was breaking some kind of record. . .

Then suddenly he noticed that Teioh was tossing him up and down, the wind had stopped, and the stands were cheering insanely. Cloud's chocobo ran up beside him a half-second later. He had won. Just like he always did. So why did he feel so thrilled?

Cloud's chocobo was hanging its head in defeat, as was Cloud. For some reason Joe felt a bit sorry for him.

"Don't feel bad, Cloud," Joe said. "After all, you did make second place."

Cloud shot him a withering glare. Joe chuckled to himself as he rode away on Teioh. He didn't feel that sorry for him.

"Hey! Joe!"

Joe halted on his way into the Staff Only room. "Ester. A pleasure, as always."

Ester cleared her throat. "Say, thanks for getting my job back. Although I have lost my good name. I suppose I can't blame anyone but myself," she said reluctantly. "So I'll probably be getting most of my clients from the prison. They aren't picky."

Joe tried to appear sincerely sympathetic, but had a feeling that he failed.

And Ester was growing uncomfortable, not entirely sure of the terms they were on. "Marissa's really taken to Terry, you know."

"I hoped so," Joe said, this time meaning it.

"She’s even gonna name her new bird after him." Ester’s eyes flickered over Joe’s face. "You like her, huh?"

"She’s a nice girl," Joe said non-commitedly.

There was a brief and somewhat tense silence. It was eventually broken by Joe.

"We're back where we started, you realize that," he said. "I'm still one up on you. I'm racing and you're not. And I said I would make it up to you."

Ester giggled, trying hard to make what Joe said silly and herself mature. "I think after all this, I’ve learned to let bygones be bygones. Nothing I do to you will change the fact that I can’t race."

"That’s a refreshing outlook." Joe would have left it at that, but he was afraid Ester would think he was being cool to her. So he tossed in a contribution to the conversation. "I believe Terry and I will be staying here at the Saucer."

"What about Costa del Sol?"

"Screw Costa Del Sol. I have to keep racing. I owe it to myself, and to you," Joe said. "And to my adoring fans, of course."

Ester stared at him incredulously for a moment, then laughed. "Damn straight, Joe."

He grinned back at her.

Things weren’t perfect, by any means. . . but he was back in his place.

END-?