Hold Me Against the Light (I had a really scatterbrained moment and didn't type the whole title into the threat title...and now I don't know how to fix it 
)
Description:Two years after Deepground the members of Avalanche are finally creating lives for themselves when a new force emerges that threatens to tear down everything they've worked for and take away everything they are. Yuffe-centric. High probability of eventual Yuffentine.
First of all, here are the things you need to know for the set up of the story. (There may be more but this is all I can think of right now, I'll add any others I think of in later)
1. Set two years after DoC, this would put Yuffie at 20 years of age.
2. Yuffie left the WRO a year after DoC so a year before the beginning of this fic.
3. This will most likely be Yuffentine. However, I am not going to force it if it doesn't seem to be happening.
Anyway, I love feedback and comments so if anyone has anything to say (or catches any errors!) feel free!
*Note*: I tried to space it out but it still looks pretty hard to read to me...if you're having real problems with how it's spaced there is a link to this story on ff.net in my signature. Hopefully it won't be a problem.
“Are you sure you wish to leave tomorrow? You're welcome to stay for a few days.” Red XIII stated as Yuffie continued to stroke his fur wondering whether or not he could purr.
“Yeah, I need to be in Edge soon and I want to go see Cid's kid first.” Yuffie yawned.
“Oh yes, I think Tifa may already be planning a get together so that everyone can see the child together.” Red stated, settling into a more comfortable position.
“Probably, my bet is that Cid asked her to do it so that everyone could brainstorm for a name. I mean seriously, two weeks old and no name? I bet it can already swear up a storm though.” Yuffie yawned again, louder this time, as Red chuckled.
“Do you wish for me to accompany you to Rocket Town? You'll have to cross mount Nibel and traveling is much more perilous without the aid of materia.”
“Nah, I'll be fine, I've been traveling for a while now. It's not as bad as you would think.”
“As you wish.” He paused for a moment as Yuffie toyed with his fringe before continuing. “We were all surprised you left the WRO, what have you been doing since then?” He felt the girl stiffen slightly though she tried to hide it.
“Aw, you know; this and that.” She grinned suddenly holding his fringe between two hands. “You know, you're mohawks gotten a lot mohawk-ier. Is our little Nanaki growing up?” Red rolled his eyes and shook the girl off as she continued to make 'awing' noises and resettled himself a few feet from her.
“Apparently I'm the only one who has grown up.” He stated once he had found a comfortable position once more and the girl stuck out her tongue at him. The two carried on discussing what the others in the group has been up to lately before settling into a comfortable silence until the two said goodnight and Yuffie promised to visit again soon.
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The next morning Yuffie woke up a little before dawn to get ready for her journey. She wanted to get to Rocket Town by dark since there was absolutely no way she was staying in Nibleheim, she didn't care how long at had been those clones in the black cloaks still freaked her out and she had no desire to be anywhere that they had. She pulled on her shorts and green top as well as her boots before strapping on the rest of her equipment, arm guards (that were looking a bit ragged) and a carrier that strapped diagonally across her chest that would hold her conformer on her back (The metal that held her weapon was beginning to rust). She winced looked over herself in the mirror, realizing it was definitely time to invest in some new equipment. Stifling a yawn she grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair, that had now past her shoulders, and scooped it up into a ponytail that brushed the nape of her neck before tying a headband around her head to keep the front layers of her hair out of her face. After one last look in the mirror she hooked her conformer onto her back and headed outside.
Yuffie had to shield her eyes as she headed down the steps from the canyon, the harsh morning light painful to her. When she was almost at the bottom she paused, checking her equipment once more, when a flash in the corner of her vision caught her eye. She spun quickly only to see a figure retreat back into the main body of the camp and she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the feeling she had gotten upon seeing them. It was just early and she was being paranoid. Deciding not to waste anymore time she took a deep breath and ran off into the desert towards Nibleheim.
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Yuffie practically shouted with joy upon seeing the outline of Rocket Town in the distance against the setting sun. She had practically run half of the way there in order to make it by nightfall and had come into a run in with bomb fiends a couple times. She had forgotten how much she hated them. Well, he certainly remembered now she thought as a relatively minor burn on her arm twinged once again. She set of at a sprint towards the town, searing that if Cid didn't treat her good and proper she would flush his cigarettes again, he hated that.
Finally reaching Cid's house she opened the door and half tumbled in without knocking.
“Never fear! The great ninja Yuffie, single white rose of Wutai, savior of the people and champion of light is here!” She proclaimed in a stage whisper as she waved her hands in, what she believed, was a very dramatic manner. Shera and Cid, who were sitting at the kitchen table merely stared at her open mouthed and Yuffie waited for Cid's cigarette to fall out and burn him. Finally Cid broke the silence.
“What the hell are you doing here kid and why the fuck are you whispering?” He said loudly as Shera shushed him, glancing down the hall.
“Uh, well, I'm just going to ignore the first one since I know you are all absolutely overjoyed to see me and I was whispering because I assumed the baby would be asleep. It is asleep isn't it?” Yuffie glared at him suspiciously.
“Oh yeah, he's asleep.” Cid said, looking guilty as Shera glared at him. “Well come in and sit down, you look wiped.” He said, waving at her to come over and she complied practically collapsing into one of the chairs.
“I am, I left Cosmo Canyon this morning.”
“Oh, Yuffie, what happened to your arm?” Shera had gotten up and noticed the burn on her left arm.
“Oh, it's nothing really. Had a little run in with a couple bombs.” She grimaced and Cid mirrored her expression.
“I'll go get you a potion and a bandage.” Shera said as she quickly left the room.
“Just a potion will be fine!” Yuffie called out to her but there was no reply. “She really liked to take care of people doesn't she?” The ninja asked Cid and the pilot nodded, a small smile on his face.
“Yeah, she's pretty gifted that way.” He continued to smile and Yuffie couldn't think of anything to say, shocked with the pilots moment of truthfulness. Eventually Shera came back and handed Yuffie a potion, which she promptly drank and felt the effects of immediately, and began to unroll the bandage when a cry tore through the house.
“Oh, he's up again. I'll be right back.” Shera left the room and went down the hall.
“Loud, takes after you I see.” Yuffie grinned as the older man shot her a look. Soon the cries died down and Shera came into the room, holding a small bundle in her arms.
“He just needs be rocked for a bit. Yuffie, would you like to hold him?” Shera asked, kindly, and Yuffie shook her head quickly.
“Uh, not really my thing but thanks, hand him to grumpy over there.” She cocked a thumb towards Cid before beginning to rummage around in her pockets. “That reminds me, I brought a gift!” She said, excited.
“You didn't have to do that.” Shera said as the same time that Cid stated “It'd better be damn good kid!”
It took Yuffie a few moments but finally she pulled the object out of one of her pockets. Shera and Cid stared at it, both with different expressions on their face.
“But, I thought you didn't use materia anymore?” Shera asked, confused.
“Normally no but I think there are some exceptions.” She put the string around the infants head and his small hand clutched at the mastered enemy away materia that dangled from it. Cid just smiled down at his son and nodded his head.
“It keeps enemies away Shera, it's definitely an exception.” He paused for a moment, rocking the infant a bit. “Thank you Yuffie.” Yuffie smiled back, thinking of something.
“He's a bit small to have it as a necklace right now but you guys can do what you want with it. It's no big deal really, I had it around and I thought it would be more useful here than wasting away in a box somewhere.” There was a pause for a moment before Yuffie continued, a grin on her face. “So, what are you guys gonna name him?” Yuffie laughed as Shera rolled her eyes, exasperated, and walked away from Cid.
“What?” Cid asked, annoyance clear in his voice. “I told you we're not naming him after your grandfather. What kind of name is Winston?” He shot at her and Shera whirled around to glare at him.
“Well I am not naming him Cid jr. How egotistical can you get?”
“Egotistical-” Cid's temper began to rise before a wail form his son cut him short. In an instant both he and Shera were over him, crooning away, until he calmed down. After a moment Shera continued calmly.
“We haven't decided yet.”
Yuffie lay awake in bed that night despite her exhaustion. She would stay with Cid for a day, maybe two, then her next stop was Edge and more importantly the WRO. Had it really been two years to the day since then? She rolled over, trying to expel the thoughts from her mind. Two years though, it should be easier by now. Maybe she had been too hard on Vincent all those times if this is what it was like. She let out a moan of frustration, the two situations had nothing to do with one another. Though the thoughts stayed with her she finally drifted off into a troubled sleep.
“Hey brat!” Cid's voice cut through the air and woke Yuffie who had been dozing off on the deck. “You said you were heading to Edge?”
“Aw, you listened, I knew you cared.” She winked at him and he scowled.
“Why don't you bring Cloud's chocobo back to him. He's been on my ass to bring him back but I don't really feel like going that far away right now.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the golden chocobo that was corralled off the side of the house.
“I'm your girl smoky! Plus as an added bonus with all the time you've just cut off my trip I can stay here a few more days.” She grinned up at him as he muttered to himself for a moment before taking a seat next to her.
“So you just saw Red? How's the old fur ball doing?”
“Red, furry, pretty much the same. They found a whole secret room a few weeks back that was filled with all these old records on the planet and stuff so he's been going through them and organizing them and stuff.”
“I figured he must be busy, he hasn't visited in a while.”
“Yeah, well I think he's itching for some company. Hey, I know!” Yuffie jumped out of her chair with enough force to cause Cid to yelp and drop his cigarette. “Why don't you take Shera and the nameless wonder and fly down there for a day or two! I bet Red would love to see him!” She said, spinning around to clutch the guard rail of the porch as Cid pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
“That's not a half bad idea.” He said, the sound muffled by the cigarette between his teeth. “I'll see what Shera thinks. Might be nice to get out of the goddamn house for a while, I miss the airship.”
“So what's old Reeve been up to without his star pilot anyway?” She said, looking out across the town.
“Probably about as well as he's done without his head of espionage, what the fuck happened there kid? You just up and left, no one even heard from you for months. You had Tifa scared shitless.”
“Sorry about that, I guess I'll have to tell her that in person. I did call her though, after a bit. I just got distracted, you know? It had been a while since I got to just travel and go whee I wanted to, haven't been able to do that since before meteor.”
“You still haven't said what happened.” Cid said flatly.
“Nothing really, it was a” Yuffie paused, searching for the words “Mutual decision between me and Reeve. I might go back, someday.”
“Right” Cid snorted “For a ninja you're one hell of a crap liar kid.” He got up to leave and Yuffie spun to glare at him.
“Hey, why don't you believe me?” She half yelled, her face red. “You know what? I'm going to go right now and tell Shera that I think Winston is a lovely name and not to back down.” The ninja ducked by Cid to run into the house and the pilot sped after her, yelling threats.
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A few days later Yuffie was making her way across the continent on the golden chocobo. A few hours in she had decided to try and amuse herself by coming up with a name for it.
“Buttercup, Kibble, Spiky. Hey, Spiky, I like it; maybe I should just call it Cloud. Kind of looks like him, just prettier.” Suddenly the sound of her phone going off cut into her ramblings and she answered it after seeing Tifa's number on the caller ID.
“Hey boobs!” Yuffie said cheerily and she could practically feel the scowl from the other end.
“Hey Yuffie, nice to see you haven't lost your charm.” The older woman said sarcastically.
“It is nice to know that some things are always constant, isn't it?” Yuffie replied, happily ignoring the sarcasm and Tifa chuckled slightly.
“Cid called, he said you're bringing the chocobo?”
“Yup, I'm riding Cloud as we speak.” There was a pause and Yuffie spoke again “Tifa?”
“You're riding Cloud?”
“Yeah, I named the chocobo Cloud and” Yuffie paused as her words registered and her next reply was so violent it startled the poor chocobo. “Oh gross-ness, Tifa!”
“You're the one who said it, I'll let Cloud know when he gets back.”
“Tifa, don't you dare!” Yuffie practically whined through the phone as the older woman laughed.
“Alright, alright. I just called to make sure you're staying for a while right?”
“Yeah, a few days at least.”
“Nope, a while. We've hardly seen you in the last year so you'll have to make this a long visit alright? At least stay until I can get everyone together to see Cid's new kid, was he cute?”
“The cutest, he's got Shera's eyes and Cid's lungs.”
“Har har, when are you going to get here?”
“In a while, I have another stop to make first.”
“Where?”
“Er, the WRO. Just something I need to do there.”
“Oh, that's right. It's been two years now hasn't it?”
“Yeah, anyway, I'm about to hit Costa de Sol so I'll see you in a while.”
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Yuffie slipped through the hallways of the WRO headquarters weaving her way in and out of the many corridors expertly thought she hadn't been there in almost a year. Finally, descending into the lower levels, she reached her destination. She walked slowly into the room, despite it's high ceiling it's somber colors made it feel small. There were candles lit all around the room, some had flowers next to them or notes. The wall on the furthest side of the room bore what seemed to be an endless list of names. The words engraved at the top were hard to make out in the shadows but the words 'In memory' and 'Deepground' could be made out. She stepped up to the wall and placed her hand over a name, her finger running over the familiar curve of the 'J'.
“Hey again, sorry I haven't visited in a while” She stood there for what could have been hours or maybe only minutes before taking a deep strangled breath. “I wanted to tell you-” She broke of, hearing footsteps behind her and whirled to see Reeve standing in the doorway.
“Yuffie” He stated, shock evident in his voice. His eyes flicked to where her hand was placed and he looked down as she quickly stepped away from the wall.
“Hey Reevey, How's it going?” The ninja said through a forced smile.
“Yuffie” Reeve began slowly but more footsteps approached and Vincent Valentine appeared next to Reeve.
“Yuffie.” He sated flatly upon seeing her, no surprise just acceptance.
“Well if it isn't Vinny Valentine. Still hanging around here are you?” She said, actually somewhat glad to see him despite the timing. She walked over to the two of them, hoping that they could all move to a new location.
“It appears so. You haven't been around much.” He said, peering at her over the edge of his cloak, something about the gaze was searching and she caught him glance over to the spot where she had previously stood.
“Yeah, I've been traveling. I'm visiting now though, aren't you all so lucky?” She nudged them each in the ribs. “Tifa's planning a get together anyway, so we'll have the whole gang together soon!”
“That sounds like fun.” Reeve supplied while Vincent merely nodded.
“I just came to get you Reeve, Shelke wants you to come with me and visit.” Vincent stated simply as he turned to Reeve who glanced at Yuffie quickly before replying.
“Well, I'm free so we can leave when you want.” He said with a note of unease in his voice as Yuffie looked down, her hands clenched into fists.
“Yuffie, do you wish to come?” Vincent asked, staring down at her once more with a look that quickly turned to confusion when he saw her stance.
“No” She snapped at him before shaking herself and looking up at him with a smile plastered onto her face. “Sorry, I just meant I need to be getting to Tifa's, she's waiting. I'll see you guys later.” She waved as she sprinted away from them, already halfway down the hall.
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“Yuffie!” Tifa partially yelled as the young ninja walked through the door of seventh heaven. The older woman ran to her and hugged her before leaning back to get a god look at her. “You're letting your hair grow out! You look so pretty!” Tifa smiled at her and Yuffie blushed at her looking away and mumbling that it was nothing special. “Did you get here alright?”
“Yeah, Cloud's tied up in the back, do whatever you want with him.” Yuffie winked at her and Tifa looked confused until she remembered the chocobo and glared at Yuffie.
“Not funny.”
“So where's Marlene? No excitement to see me? I'm heartbroken.” Yuffie sprawled dramatically across the counter.
“She's not here. Barrett brought her to see Corel, he's been doing a lot to help them fix it up you know.” Tifa picked up a dish rag and began drying off some glasses.
“That's good, he didn't get to see her for a while.”
“Yeah, he's really happy about that. They should be coming back soon though.”
“What about Denzel?”
“Out with Cloud. Cloud had a delivery to make to the market to Denzel thought he might be able to talk Cloud into buying him a sword.” Tifa rolled her eyes and Yuffie laughed.
“Still set o joining the WRO I take it?”
“Dead set.” Tifa sighed. “I suppose someday he will but he's still to young right now.”
“Well, he's what? Eleven or Twelve. That's a little young but I was fifteen when we went after Sephiroth remember? It's not that far away.”
“I guess you're right.” Tifa sighed again. “At least Marlene doesn't want to fight?”
“Really? Here I always thought she would be a warrior princess. Now who am I going to teach all my ninja skills to?” Yuffie pouted as Tifa laughed.
“Nope, she said she wanted to sell flowers actually.” The two women sat in silence for a moment, soft smiles gracing their features.
“I could see her doing that.” Yuffie said softly and Tifa nodded.
“Me too” Just then the door swung open and Denzel came crashing in.
“Tifa, Tifa! Cloud got me a sword, a real sword! He's going to teach me how to fight, right Cloud?” Cloud stepped in, holding a long wrapped package over one shoulder and looking surprised to see Yuffie.
“Hey Spiky!” Yuffie waved happily.
“Oh hey Yuffie!” Denzel said quickly before turning back to Cloud. “Come on Cloud!” With that Denzel ran into the hallway, presumably to go out the back door.
“Cloud Strife!” Tifa hissed and Cloud shot the barmaid a sheepish look.
“It's a really simply weapon Tifa besides if he's so dead set on fighting I should at least teach him how.” When Tifa looked unimpressed he continued. “I'm only going to teach him simple moves alright? Mostly defensive, everything will be fine.” Finally Tifa sighed.
“You're right.”
“Oh hey, Cloud, I tied Cloud up in the back for you.” Yuffie grinned at him and he shot her a confused look as Denzel came tearing back into the room.
“Cloud, come on!” He yanked on the mans sleeve and began pulling him down the hall.
“She named the chocobo Cloud.” Tifa supplied as he continued to look confused causing his look of consternation to turn into nothing more than a very strange look directed at Yuffie.
“Right, thanks.” He paused, looking at her strangely again before finishing. “Yuffie.”
“Cloud, come on!” Cloud sighed and the two women listened as they moved down the hall.
“Alright Denzel, let's mosey.”
“Barret says that's a lame ass thing to say.”
“Denzel!” When the back door slammed Tifa shook her head and looked back at Yuffie who was laughing hysterically.
“Aw, I've missed it around here.”
“Well you should visit more, you're even behind Vincent.” Tifa said, eying the younger woman.
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah, well I mean it's not like he's mister chatty or even sociable by normal standards but for him there's been a real change. He drops in every now and then or calls. He's around the area a lot more now though since Shelke lives in Kalm. He and Reeve kind of see it as their responsibility to take care of her.”
“Right, Shelke.” Yuffie muttered and Tifa shot her a look.
“What's so bad about Shelke?”
“Nothing, it doesn't matter.” When Tifa continued to look at her she shook her head. “I guess I just don't get along with her that much, just because Vincent is so crazy about her doesn't mean I have to be.”
“Vincent's not crazy about her like tha-” The phone let out a wring and Tifa cut off to answer it.
“Seventh He-” She paused, her brows knitting. “Cid? Wh-” Tifa's hand flew to her mouth and she nodded a few times before resetting the phone and beginning to dial another number.
“Yuffie, go get Cloud. Red's been attacked.”
)Description:Two years after Deepground the members of Avalanche are finally creating lives for themselves when a new force emerges that threatens to tear down everything they've worked for and take away everything they are. Yuffe-centric. High probability of eventual Yuffentine.
First of all, here are the things you need to know for the set up of the story. (There may be more but this is all I can think of right now, I'll add any others I think of in later)
1. Set two years after DoC, this would put Yuffie at 20 years of age.
2. Yuffie left the WRO a year after DoC so a year before the beginning of this fic.
3. This will most likely be Yuffentine. However, I am not going to force it if it doesn't seem to be happening.
Anyway, I love feedback and comments so if anyone has anything to say (or catches any errors!) feel free!
*Note*: I tried to space it out but it still looks pretty hard to read to me...if you're having real problems with how it's spaced there is a link to this story on ff.net in my signature. Hopefully it won't be a problem.
Chapter 1: The Long Road Home
The stars were beginning to appear one by one over Cosmo Canyon as the last light of day faded on the horizon. The smell of charcoal filled the air as the bonfire was stoked to keep the small group lingering around it warm. On one side a young ninja stretched out, wiggling her bare toes in front of the warmth of the fire as she lazily lay back and stroked a large red animal.“Are you sure you wish to leave tomorrow? You're welcome to stay for a few days.” Red XIII stated as Yuffie continued to stroke his fur wondering whether or not he could purr.
“Yeah, I need to be in Edge soon and I want to go see Cid's kid first.” Yuffie yawned.
“Oh yes, I think Tifa may already be planning a get together so that everyone can see the child together.” Red stated, settling into a more comfortable position.
“Probably, my bet is that Cid asked her to do it so that everyone could brainstorm for a name. I mean seriously, two weeks old and no name? I bet it can already swear up a storm though.” Yuffie yawned again, louder this time, as Red chuckled.
“Do you wish for me to accompany you to Rocket Town? You'll have to cross mount Nibel and traveling is much more perilous without the aid of materia.”
“Nah, I'll be fine, I've been traveling for a while now. It's not as bad as you would think.”
“As you wish.” He paused for a moment as Yuffie toyed with his fringe before continuing. “We were all surprised you left the WRO, what have you been doing since then?” He felt the girl stiffen slightly though she tried to hide it.
“Aw, you know; this and that.” She grinned suddenly holding his fringe between two hands. “You know, you're mohawks gotten a lot mohawk-ier. Is our little Nanaki growing up?” Red rolled his eyes and shook the girl off as she continued to make 'awing' noises and resettled himself a few feet from her.
“Apparently I'm the only one who has grown up.” He stated once he had found a comfortable position once more and the girl stuck out her tongue at him. The two carried on discussing what the others in the group has been up to lately before settling into a comfortable silence until the two said goodnight and Yuffie promised to visit again soon.
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The next morning Yuffie woke up a little before dawn to get ready for her journey. She wanted to get to Rocket Town by dark since there was absolutely no way she was staying in Nibleheim, she didn't care how long at had been those clones in the black cloaks still freaked her out and she had no desire to be anywhere that they had. She pulled on her shorts and green top as well as her boots before strapping on the rest of her equipment, arm guards (that were looking a bit ragged) and a carrier that strapped diagonally across her chest that would hold her conformer on her back (The metal that held her weapon was beginning to rust). She winced looked over herself in the mirror, realizing it was definitely time to invest in some new equipment. Stifling a yawn she grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair, that had now past her shoulders, and scooped it up into a ponytail that brushed the nape of her neck before tying a headband around her head to keep the front layers of her hair out of her face. After one last look in the mirror she hooked her conformer onto her back and headed outside.
Yuffie had to shield her eyes as she headed down the steps from the canyon, the harsh morning light painful to her. When she was almost at the bottom she paused, checking her equipment once more, when a flash in the corner of her vision caught her eye. She spun quickly only to see a figure retreat back into the main body of the camp and she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the feeling she had gotten upon seeing them. It was just early and she was being paranoid. Deciding not to waste anymore time she took a deep breath and ran off into the desert towards Nibleheim.
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Yuffie practically shouted with joy upon seeing the outline of Rocket Town in the distance against the setting sun. She had practically run half of the way there in order to make it by nightfall and had come into a run in with bomb fiends a couple times. She had forgotten how much she hated them. Well, he certainly remembered now she thought as a relatively minor burn on her arm twinged once again. She set of at a sprint towards the town, searing that if Cid didn't treat her good and proper she would flush his cigarettes again, he hated that.
Finally reaching Cid's house she opened the door and half tumbled in without knocking.
“Never fear! The great ninja Yuffie, single white rose of Wutai, savior of the people and champion of light is here!” She proclaimed in a stage whisper as she waved her hands in, what she believed, was a very dramatic manner. Shera and Cid, who were sitting at the kitchen table merely stared at her open mouthed and Yuffie waited for Cid's cigarette to fall out and burn him. Finally Cid broke the silence.
“What the hell are you doing here kid and why the fuck are you whispering?” He said loudly as Shera shushed him, glancing down the hall.
“Uh, well, I'm just going to ignore the first one since I know you are all absolutely overjoyed to see me and I was whispering because I assumed the baby would be asleep. It is asleep isn't it?” Yuffie glared at him suspiciously.
“Oh yeah, he's asleep.” Cid said, looking guilty as Shera glared at him. “Well come in and sit down, you look wiped.” He said, waving at her to come over and she complied practically collapsing into one of the chairs.
“I am, I left Cosmo Canyon this morning.”
“Oh, Yuffie, what happened to your arm?” Shera had gotten up and noticed the burn on her left arm.
“Oh, it's nothing really. Had a little run in with a couple bombs.” She grimaced and Cid mirrored her expression.
“I'll go get you a potion and a bandage.” Shera said as she quickly left the room.
“Just a potion will be fine!” Yuffie called out to her but there was no reply. “She really liked to take care of people doesn't she?” The ninja asked Cid and the pilot nodded, a small smile on his face.
“Yeah, she's pretty gifted that way.” He continued to smile and Yuffie couldn't think of anything to say, shocked with the pilots moment of truthfulness. Eventually Shera came back and handed Yuffie a potion, which she promptly drank and felt the effects of immediately, and began to unroll the bandage when a cry tore through the house.
“Oh, he's up again. I'll be right back.” Shera left the room and went down the hall.
“Loud, takes after you I see.” Yuffie grinned as the older man shot her a look. Soon the cries died down and Shera came into the room, holding a small bundle in her arms.
“He just needs be rocked for a bit. Yuffie, would you like to hold him?” Shera asked, kindly, and Yuffie shook her head quickly.
“Uh, not really my thing but thanks, hand him to grumpy over there.” She cocked a thumb towards Cid before beginning to rummage around in her pockets. “That reminds me, I brought a gift!” She said, excited.
“You didn't have to do that.” Shera said as the same time that Cid stated “It'd better be damn good kid!”
It took Yuffie a few moments but finally she pulled the object out of one of her pockets. Shera and Cid stared at it, both with different expressions on their face.
“But, I thought you didn't use materia anymore?” Shera asked, confused.
“Normally no but I think there are some exceptions.” She put the string around the infants head and his small hand clutched at the mastered enemy away materia that dangled from it. Cid just smiled down at his son and nodded his head.
“It keeps enemies away Shera, it's definitely an exception.” He paused for a moment, rocking the infant a bit. “Thank you Yuffie.” Yuffie smiled back, thinking of something.
“He's a bit small to have it as a necklace right now but you guys can do what you want with it. It's no big deal really, I had it around and I thought it would be more useful here than wasting away in a box somewhere.” There was a pause for a moment before Yuffie continued, a grin on her face. “So, what are you guys gonna name him?” Yuffie laughed as Shera rolled her eyes, exasperated, and walked away from Cid.
“What?” Cid asked, annoyance clear in his voice. “I told you we're not naming him after your grandfather. What kind of name is Winston?” He shot at her and Shera whirled around to glare at him.
“Well I am not naming him Cid jr. How egotistical can you get?”
“Egotistical-” Cid's temper began to rise before a wail form his son cut him short. In an instant both he and Shera were over him, crooning away, until he calmed down. After a moment Shera continued calmly.
“We haven't decided yet.”
Yuffie lay awake in bed that night despite her exhaustion. She would stay with Cid for a day, maybe two, then her next stop was Edge and more importantly the WRO. Had it really been two years to the day since then? She rolled over, trying to expel the thoughts from her mind. Two years though, it should be easier by now. Maybe she had been too hard on Vincent all those times if this is what it was like. She let out a moan of frustration, the two situations had nothing to do with one another. Though the thoughts stayed with her she finally drifted off into a troubled sleep.
“Hey brat!” Cid's voice cut through the air and woke Yuffie who had been dozing off on the deck. “You said you were heading to Edge?”
“Aw, you listened, I knew you cared.” She winked at him and he scowled.
“Why don't you bring Cloud's chocobo back to him. He's been on my ass to bring him back but I don't really feel like going that far away right now.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the golden chocobo that was corralled off the side of the house.
“I'm your girl smoky! Plus as an added bonus with all the time you've just cut off my trip I can stay here a few more days.” She grinned up at him as he muttered to himself for a moment before taking a seat next to her.
“So you just saw Red? How's the old fur ball doing?”
“Red, furry, pretty much the same. They found a whole secret room a few weeks back that was filled with all these old records on the planet and stuff so he's been going through them and organizing them and stuff.”
“I figured he must be busy, he hasn't visited in a while.”
“Yeah, well I think he's itching for some company. Hey, I know!” Yuffie jumped out of her chair with enough force to cause Cid to yelp and drop his cigarette. “Why don't you take Shera and the nameless wonder and fly down there for a day or two! I bet Red would love to see him!” She said, spinning around to clutch the guard rail of the porch as Cid pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
“That's not a half bad idea.” He said, the sound muffled by the cigarette between his teeth. “I'll see what Shera thinks. Might be nice to get out of the goddamn house for a while, I miss the airship.”
“So what's old Reeve been up to without his star pilot anyway?” She said, looking out across the town.
“Probably about as well as he's done without his head of espionage, what the fuck happened there kid? You just up and left, no one even heard from you for months. You had Tifa scared shitless.”
“Sorry about that, I guess I'll have to tell her that in person. I did call her though, after a bit. I just got distracted, you know? It had been a while since I got to just travel and go whee I wanted to, haven't been able to do that since before meteor.”
“You still haven't said what happened.” Cid said flatly.
“Nothing really, it was a” Yuffie paused, searching for the words “Mutual decision between me and Reeve. I might go back, someday.”
“Right” Cid snorted “For a ninja you're one hell of a crap liar kid.” He got up to leave and Yuffie spun to glare at him.
“Hey, why don't you believe me?” She half yelled, her face red. “You know what? I'm going to go right now and tell Shera that I think Winston is a lovely name and not to back down.” The ninja ducked by Cid to run into the house and the pilot sped after her, yelling threats.
======================================================
A few days later Yuffie was making her way across the continent on the golden chocobo. A few hours in she had decided to try and amuse herself by coming up with a name for it.
“Buttercup, Kibble, Spiky. Hey, Spiky, I like it; maybe I should just call it Cloud. Kind of looks like him, just prettier.” Suddenly the sound of her phone going off cut into her ramblings and she answered it after seeing Tifa's number on the caller ID.
“Hey boobs!” Yuffie said cheerily and she could practically feel the scowl from the other end.
“Hey Yuffie, nice to see you haven't lost your charm.” The older woman said sarcastically.
“It is nice to know that some things are always constant, isn't it?” Yuffie replied, happily ignoring the sarcasm and Tifa chuckled slightly.
“Cid called, he said you're bringing the chocobo?”
“Yup, I'm riding Cloud as we speak.” There was a pause and Yuffie spoke again “Tifa?”
“You're riding Cloud?”
“Yeah, I named the chocobo Cloud and” Yuffie paused as her words registered and her next reply was so violent it startled the poor chocobo. “Oh gross-ness, Tifa!”
“You're the one who said it, I'll let Cloud know when he gets back.”
“Tifa, don't you dare!” Yuffie practically whined through the phone as the older woman laughed.
“Alright, alright. I just called to make sure you're staying for a while right?”
“Yeah, a few days at least.”
“Nope, a while. We've hardly seen you in the last year so you'll have to make this a long visit alright? At least stay until I can get everyone together to see Cid's new kid, was he cute?”
“The cutest, he's got Shera's eyes and Cid's lungs.”
“Har har, when are you going to get here?”
“In a while, I have another stop to make first.”
“Where?”
“Er, the WRO. Just something I need to do there.”
“Oh, that's right. It's been two years now hasn't it?”
“Yeah, anyway, I'm about to hit Costa de Sol so I'll see you in a while.”
=======================================================
Yuffie slipped through the hallways of the WRO headquarters weaving her way in and out of the many corridors expertly thought she hadn't been there in almost a year. Finally, descending into the lower levels, she reached her destination. She walked slowly into the room, despite it's high ceiling it's somber colors made it feel small. There were candles lit all around the room, some had flowers next to them or notes. The wall on the furthest side of the room bore what seemed to be an endless list of names. The words engraved at the top were hard to make out in the shadows but the words 'In memory' and 'Deepground' could be made out. She stepped up to the wall and placed her hand over a name, her finger running over the familiar curve of the 'J'.
“Hey again, sorry I haven't visited in a while” She stood there for what could have been hours or maybe only minutes before taking a deep strangled breath. “I wanted to tell you-” She broke of, hearing footsteps behind her and whirled to see Reeve standing in the doorway.
“Yuffie” He stated, shock evident in his voice. His eyes flicked to where her hand was placed and he looked down as she quickly stepped away from the wall.
“Hey Reevey, How's it going?” The ninja said through a forced smile.
“Yuffie” Reeve began slowly but more footsteps approached and Vincent Valentine appeared next to Reeve.
“Yuffie.” He sated flatly upon seeing her, no surprise just acceptance.
“Well if it isn't Vinny Valentine. Still hanging around here are you?” She said, actually somewhat glad to see him despite the timing. She walked over to the two of them, hoping that they could all move to a new location.
“It appears so. You haven't been around much.” He said, peering at her over the edge of his cloak, something about the gaze was searching and she caught him glance over to the spot where she had previously stood.
“Yeah, I've been traveling. I'm visiting now though, aren't you all so lucky?” She nudged them each in the ribs. “Tifa's planning a get together anyway, so we'll have the whole gang together soon!”
“That sounds like fun.” Reeve supplied while Vincent merely nodded.
“I just came to get you Reeve, Shelke wants you to come with me and visit.” Vincent stated simply as he turned to Reeve who glanced at Yuffie quickly before replying.
“Well, I'm free so we can leave when you want.” He said with a note of unease in his voice as Yuffie looked down, her hands clenched into fists.
“Yuffie, do you wish to come?” Vincent asked, staring down at her once more with a look that quickly turned to confusion when he saw her stance.
“No” She snapped at him before shaking herself and looking up at him with a smile plastered onto her face. “Sorry, I just meant I need to be getting to Tifa's, she's waiting. I'll see you guys later.” She waved as she sprinted away from them, already halfway down the hall.
=======================================================
“Yuffie!” Tifa partially yelled as the young ninja walked through the door of seventh heaven. The older woman ran to her and hugged her before leaning back to get a god look at her. “You're letting your hair grow out! You look so pretty!” Tifa smiled at her and Yuffie blushed at her looking away and mumbling that it was nothing special. “Did you get here alright?”
“Yeah, Cloud's tied up in the back, do whatever you want with him.” Yuffie winked at her and Tifa looked confused until she remembered the chocobo and glared at Yuffie.
“Not funny.”
“So where's Marlene? No excitement to see me? I'm heartbroken.” Yuffie sprawled dramatically across the counter.
“She's not here. Barrett brought her to see Corel, he's been doing a lot to help them fix it up you know.” Tifa picked up a dish rag and began drying off some glasses.
“That's good, he didn't get to see her for a while.”
“Yeah, he's really happy about that. They should be coming back soon though.”
“What about Denzel?”
“Out with Cloud. Cloud had a delivery to make to the market to Denzel thought he might be able to talk Cloud into buying him a sword.” Tifa rolled her eyes and Yuffie laughed.
“Still set o joining the WRO I take it?”
“Dead set.” Tifa sighed. “I suppose someday he will but he's still to young right now.”
“Well, he's what? Eleven or Twelve. That's a little young but I was fifteen when we went after Sephiroth remember? It's not that far away.”
“I guess you're right.” Tifa sighed again. “At least Marlene doesn't want to fight?”
“Really? Here I always thought she would be a warrior princess. Now who am I going to teach all my ninja skills to?” Yuffie pouted as Tifa laughed.
“Nope, she said she wanted to sell flowers actually.” The two women sat in silence for a moment, soft smiles gracing their features.
“I could see her doing that.” Yuffie said softly and Tifa nodded.
“Me too” Just then the door swung open and Denzel came crashing in.
“Tifa, Tifa! Cloud got me a sword, a real sword! He's going to teach me how to fight, right Cloud?” Cloud stepped in, holding a long wrapped package over one shoulder and looking surprised to see Yuffie.
“Hey Spiky!” Yuffie waved happily.
“Oh hey Yuffie!” Denzel said quickly before turning back to Cloud. “Come on Cloud!” With that Denzel ran into the hallway, presumably to go out the back door.
“Cloud Strife!” Tifa hissed and Cloud shot the barmaid a sheepish look.
“It's a really simply weapon Tifa besides if he's so dead set on fighting I should at least teach him how.” When Tifa looked unimpressed he continued. “I'm only going to teach him simple moves alright? Mostly defensive, everything will be fine.” Finally Tifa sighed.
“You're right.”
“Oh hey, Cloud, I tied Cloud up in the back for you.” Yuffie grinned at him and he shot her a confused look as Denzel came tearing back into the room.
“Cloud, come on!” He yanked on the mans sleeve and began pulling him down the hall.
“She named the chocobo Cloud.” Tifa supplied as he continued to look confused causing his look of consternation to turn into nothing more than a very strange look directed at Yuffie.
“Right, thanks.” He paused, looking at her strangely again before finishing. “Yuffie.”
“Cloud, come on!” Cloud sighed and the two women listened as they moved down the hall.
“Alright Denzel, let's mosey.”
“Barret says that's a lame ass thing to say.”
“Denzel!” When the back door slammed Tifa shook her head and looked back at Yuffie who was laughing hysterically.
“Aw, I've missed it around here.”
“Well you should visit more, you're even behind Vincent.” Tifa said, eying the younger woman.
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah, well I mean it's not like he's mister chatty or even sociable by normal standards but for him there's been a real change. He drops in every now and then or calls. He's around the area a lot more now though since Shelke lives in Kalm. He and Reeve kind of see it as their responsibility to take care of her.”
“Right, Shelke.” Yuffie muttered and Tifa shot her a look.
“What's so bad about Shelke?”
“Nothing, it doesn't matter.” When Tifa continued to look at her she shook her head. “I guess I just don't get along with her that much, just because Vincent is so crazy about her doesn't mean I have to be.”
“Vincent's not crazy about her like tha-” The phone let out a wring and Tifa cut off to answer it.
“Seventh He-” She paused, her brows knitting. “Cid? Wh-” Tifa's hand flew to her mouth and she nodded a few times before resetting the phone and beginning to dial another number.
“Yuffie, go get Cloud. Red's been attacked.”
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