My name is Yuffie Kisaragi.

I'm 17 and a half years old, of Ancient Wutaian decent and I've been called many things in my short life; thief, brat, ninja, a member of AVALANCHE, the most notorious rebel group known to mankind, to name a few. I'm practically a celebrity…or would have been if I hadn't made up my mind sometime ago to 'disappear'.

I guess I should explain….

It's been over a year and a half now since the combined threat of Sephiroth and Meteor had been abolished….all thanks to me I might add. …uh I guess the others sorta helped a little but the majority of the ass kickin' was mine. Yeah, heh… I totally whooped that one winged asshole's butt and at the same time saved the entire planet from complete annihilation!

Right…

Problem was…no one seemed to appreciate this at all and it really pissed me off. It was always Cloud their eyes strayed to with admiration and awe, always his hand they practically tripped over themselves to shake first. I mean, how hard is it for a girl to get a little hero worship around here?

For a while it really irritated me but then, like everything else that ever happened to me, I got over it. There were bigger, more important things in life, like….oh let's say…MATERIA.

Gawd I love the word, the sound of it gives me shivers even…okay I'm not that pathetic but you understand what I'm tryin' to say, right? I love Materia the same way Cid loves the Highwind, Barret loves Marlene and Tifa, poor Tifa, loves Cloud. That's what got me into this big mess in the first place…well more about that later….

In the months after saving the planet (oh wow, it's just so cool to actually be able to say that and not be lyin'!) we all spent some time together celebrating and, for a small while on my part, helping to salvage what we could from the ruin of Midgar.

It was pretty depressing. There were barely any survivors and all their homes had been completely crushed. I felt sorry for them but at the same time a part of me felt it was their own bloody fault for supporting ShinRa and living under mindless control in the first place….not that I voiced any of these thoughts out loud. I doubted anyone else would agree.

No one knew for sure what had happened to President Rufus but I was pretty certain the guy was dead. Deader than shoulder pads. You'd have to be superhuman, or maybe a cockroach to survive Diamond Weapon blowing up your headquarters with you inside and then meteor practically sitting right on your face.

So yeah, he was dead and we were all sooo glad. Tch…..biiig surprise there.

I guess the Turks probably missed him, though whatever happened to those goofs no one knows and frankly I really don't care. They could all go to hell…well maybe not Reno, he was kinda cute, heh...

Eventually we separated and attempted to pull the pieces of our lives back together. I tried to get everyone to 'donate' their materia for the 'good of Wutai' before I left but they wouldn't buy it. I knew I should have been a lot more forceful about that contract…They just looked at me with real suspicious eyes and told me to 'get lost'.

Get lost?

Well I did, ha!

…. well, sort of….I mean for a while, about 3 long, boring months to be exact, I lived in my little house in Wutai, bonding with my gazillion cats, which seemed to have multiplied in my absence, and suffering the endless lectures about propriety and succession from my moronic father.

It reached the point where I couldn't stand it anymore, around the same time that I was to be prepared to receive leadership from my father….uh yeah, just a coincidence…heh heh….okay maybe not. Seriously though, 16 was too young to be ruling a country, even if it was some crappy, washed out tourist resort. It all boiled down to this: Responsibilty, Practicality and Captivity, three things I felt I definitely was not ready for.

Lady Kisaragi did sound kinda cool though…..hmm…

So I snuck out the night before the inauguration ceremony, maiming several guards and high priests in the process and have been on the run ever since, which will be precisely a year and two months exactly, next Tuesday.

I spent my 17th birthday 4 months after my escape alone in a small forest south of Gongaga, singing the traditional Wutaian birthday song quietly to myself so as not to disturb any grumpy, hungry monsters and then treated myself to a chocolate shake I'd stolen from Gongaga town earlier that day. Not the most memorable birthday I'd ever had but I was still proud to be a year older and completely independent. And how many people could honestly say they'd helped save the world when they were 16?

For a while I wandered aimlessly, no real direction in mind, though I avoided any places that might result with encounters with any of my former comrades. I had no burning desire to see any of them, they'd never been very buddy-buddy…well at least not with me and I was terrified they'd somehow learn about my running away and tell my enraged father where I was.

So I kept to remote areas, always on the move, never stopping for long and even then it was usually just to replenish supplies and sell off any extra Materia I'd collected during my travels, which wasn't much.

It was a kinda lonely existence but then I've always been that way, it was nothing new to me.

A loner….

Sure, I could be a social butterfly when I felt like it, could talk for hours (this really irritated my friends) and make myself at home with complete strangers when necessary…but ultimately there was only one person I truly trusted in life and that was ME.

If I did make friends, I left before we got too close, never allowing myself for one moment to regret my decisions or feel any remorse; it wasn't a helpful frame of mind to be in when you were trying to run away from your responsibilities and your own identity.

Idenitity….

Now that became a problem...

Being a member of the famous AVALANCHE came with a baggage of its own. Due to our early television appearances and public speeches my face was pretty well known and early on in my travels I'd learnt it was necessary to disguise the fact that I was Yuffie Kisaragi of House Kisaragi of Great Wutai.

That irritated me no end.

I'd loved being able to strut into a town and throw around my authority if it held any sway. If people hadn't believed me, which they never did, I just pulled up my shirt on my back and showed them the cool Leviathan tattoo snaking up my spine that marked me as a member of the Kisaragi tribe and they immediately bent over backwards (well, not literally) to accommodate me.

No longer...

Now I had to apply a whitish paste to my skin to make myself look paler and wear an intricate, cool looking, if slightly cumbersome green headscarf that obscured half my face from view. I felt like Vincent, was half afraid I'd start spouting melancholy prose and blanch whenever the name Lucrecia was mentioned.

It took a while to get used to, especially in tropical heat but it was necessary nonetheless. I let my hair grow out which was an absolute nightmare. I had to restrain myself several times from hacking it back to a more manageable length. I hated the ticklish ends prickling the back of my neck under the scarf, creating an almost constant need to scratch and fidget.

No one recognised me though and for a long time I lived like that, moving as easily and unobtrusively as a shadow from place to place. Although I was heartened by the fact that I never once bumped into any of my father's honour-bound Samurai guard, it also worried the hell outta me. I knew first hand that Wutai's Samurai did not give up easily, were trained (and paid) to accomplish any task set, or die trying… It made me very nervous….

Present time now…ish.

I took a risk last week and wandered into Costa Del Sol, a place I'd always wanted to visit again after AVALANCHE had split. Sure it was a resort town and Gawd did I HATE resort towns but…it was quiet, lazy and full of people who really didn't give a crap who you were or where you came from so long as you chilled like the rest of them and enjoyed life to the max.

Which, after a year and a bit of wearisome, tedious travel I fully intended to do.

A few days ago I quit wearing the headscarf, combed out my hair, now sitting comfortably on my shoulders, and didn't bother to apply the sickly paste. I was shocked when I saw how faded my tan was after wearing the paste so long and promised myself to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

I was nervous the first time I went out but in the end I realised I was being stupid. No one blinked an eye lid, they gave me the same slow, lazy smiles they'd given me before and life went on.

I just spent the last few days either in the cool atmosphere of the Tiki bar, downing fruit cocktails like there was no tomorrow, (or before the scantily clad girl behind the bar realised I was underage and carded me) or down the beach, surfing, sunbathing and working on my tan.

It was pleasant to sit under my beach umbrella in no more than a skimpy bikini, watching the white surf roll in and out without a care in the world and exchanging appreciative glances with the surfer guys behind my tinted sunglasses as they zoomed past on their brightly coloured boards.

Yesterday I looked in the mirror in my little rented room at the inn and was consumed with glee when I noticed the renewal of my tan. I looked like I'd been dipped in chocolate. My eyes sparkled, my hair shone and I was perfectly toned from travelling and fighting. I felt absolutely fantastic, so good in fact that I almost, almost, forgot I had major problems. I was pleasantly surprised to see my boobs had grown too. I jumped up and down briefly on the bed after that, shouting about the fact that I had boobs and not caring who heard because…well..

I HAD BOOBS!

Finally, I mean they took their sweet time about getting there! Blah anyway, all beside the point….

I've been building up to something pretty important now, you know, that little something that I mentioned earlier that happened to ruin all of this?

Yeah well, it happened today and it changed my life forever……

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I could have recognised the sparkle a mile off. Soo familiar, like the scent of cherry blossoms floating in the balmy breeze in spring near the old Pagoda, or the magnificent, awe inspiring stone features of Da Chau, etched in my memory forever. The gleam was unmissible, it drew me like a moth to a flame, helplessly I went to it.

Materia…

I hadn't seen any new Materia in months and my own supply was small and unimpressive due to the fact that I'd been working my way through most of it in order to finance my little vacation here.

I wasn't too bothered really.

Yeah, it was /Materia/ and I loved /Materia/ but the thing was after the Meteor incident Materia had become scarce and if you did happen to find any it was usually just junky stuff. People no longer used Materia for spell casting or trade, they'd taken to lining their mantle-pieces with the stuff as though it were some kind of decorative ornament. It seriously pissed me off.

There was only a very small amount of Materia in the world now that was true and pure in form and I hazarded a guess that Cloud probably owned half of it.

Back to the object of my desire...

I itched to know what kind of Materia it was, (Summon? Restorative? Support?) and what exactly it was capable of (Healing? Status Effects? Blowing things into teensy weensy bits?).

I walked toward the Materia stand like a zombie, mouth almost watering as I closed the distance between myself and the precious ore, shouldering random tourists roughly out of my way in my determination to reach my target.

When I reached the stand I placed my hands on the edge and leaned way over, nose almost touching the beautifully twinkling stone, mesmerised. It was a clear icy blue with an inner swirl that was only slightly darker in colour. I'd never seen a Materia that colour before and I just knew it had be extremely rare. How it ended up here was beyond my understanding. I made up my mind then and there. I wanted it.

And NOTHING was going to stop me.

I glanced up as a shadow fell across me and half the table, meeting the beady black eyes of the overweight shopkeeper. I pointed at the stone desperately, trying to voice some sort of question about the wonderful orb but no coherent words would form. My mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. I was vaguely aware that I looked like a complete idiot.

"Gah…issi…pre…pretty….huh…?"

The shopkeeper blinked, his greedy gaze narrowing slightly. He could obviously tell I wanted it badly because he suddenly smirked ingratiatingly. His awful breath washed over me in a sickening wave. I clutched the table edge in a white knuckled grip to stop myself from passing out. "Pretty huh? Make a nice ornament feature on your fireplace –" (I so could have thumped him when he said this) "-It's Chakra Materia Miss, VERY rare, 'posed to harness inner emotions of others and manipulate them or somethin'.-" (ugh…soooo cool!) "-Sooo….you interested?"

Do bears poop in the woods?!

Of course I bloody was…in the Materia that is, but I had absolutely no intention of buying it. I tried a tactic then that had worked many times for me in the past when I needed to steal and quickly. I licked my lips in anticipation.

"Hey look! It's Sephiroth!!"

The shop keeper blanched and turned wildly , arms flailing with panic. "Arrhhh!! Where?! Where?!"

Nyuk nyuk nyuk…..

I reached out across the table to nab the Materia…….

"…Yuffie, is that you?"

………….and jumped about ten feet into the air with surprise before falling flat on my ass on the dusty pavement instead.

"Ow! Ow! Owww!!!!!"

The moment was lost forever. The shopkeep, releasing he'd been had, turned back immediately, eyeing me with ill disguised distaste over the stand. "Damn punks, playing stupid pranks…!" I heard him mutter as he pocketed the wondrous orb of Materia and heaved his large bulk away, putting painful distance between me and the one thing I most desired.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Wretched despair turned to fierce rage instantaneously. I was soooooo gonna kick the ass of whoever had broken my concentration.

I looked up from where I was sprawled, shading the sun out of my eyes with one hand as I squinted, trying to make out the figure standing a few feet away. The fierce sun was right behind whoever it was, turning them into a dark silhouette, face overshadowed. That meant nothing though, I recognised the silhouette of spiky hair instantly.

"CLOUD?!"

"Sheesh…no need to shout Yuff." He shifted slightly and suddenly was in full glorious view, handsome face smiling that little half smile of his, eyes like the ocean, calm at times but then also capable of being equally turbulent.

I very nearly suffered a heart attack as all those repressed emotions from my AVALANCHE days came crashing back with all the grace and subtlety of a high-speed locomotive. I turned absolutely beet red, heat emanating off my face as I gaped moronically up at him.

Oh uh…yeah, I forgot to mention before that I'm completely and helplessly in love with Cloud Strife, didn't I?

Oops…heh…

Oookay let me explain this…

When we first met Cloud and I didn't get on at all. I thought he was a complete ass, with no personality and hair like a chocobo and he, well, he thought the same as everyone else pretty much, that I was a bratty kid with an unhealthy and slightly worrying obsession with Materia.

So, not a great start.

But as time passed and he started to feel more comfortable around everyone I began to notice little things about him that really made me see him…in a way that made my pulse escalate and the blood rush to my face everytime he so much as entered a room or his name came up in a conversation.

It didn't help matters that he was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, standing there exuding confidence, looking so deadly and desirable at once. He was one big walking contradiction and it fascinated me. What got me was the fact that he seemed to have no comprehension of how gorgeous he was! Possible HOW?!

I used to zone out when he was talking sometimes, watching the way he ran a hand unconciously through his hopelessly unruly hair or sometimes scratched the back of his head when he was feeling confused or uncertain. I catalogued the flicker of emotions in his eyes, sometimes clear and bright with enthusiasm, sometimes clouded with troubled thoughts.

Yeah, I guess I got pretty good at reading his moods through watching him so much. Of course this also meant that half the time I hadn't a clue what was going on because I never listened to his mission briefings and I was too damned proud to ask anyone else.

We started to talk more and spend more time together, sometimes he'd even let me tag along with Aeris or one of the others when he went off to find out some important info about Sephiroth or the planet.

I loved times like that, you have no idea how much it sucked having to travel about with a stuffed robot toy and a sentient, unbearably patronizing lion-thing (who was the same age as me no less) all the time.

It was so depressing.

Cloud and I still argued all the time but I didn't mind it at all, most times it was just a game between us, a distraction to keep our minds off the approaching battle with Sephiroth and also it meant I got to spend time with him.

Sometimes Cloud would give me tranquillizers when I got motion sickness, or sit with me for a while and talk, about anything, just to keep my mind off the nausea because he understood. He suffered the same as I did. No one else had ever given a crap. Sometimes I received the odd, pitying look but no one ever attempted to comfort me the way he did. Plus, he looked so cute when he did his little stretching routine. 'You gotta keep moving around Yuffie, honestly it helps…'

Exercise? Plah! I only 'exercised' when I had to, namely fighting and travelling, so whenever he said this to me I just laughed and tripped him up, or at least attempted to because it's impossible to catch Cloud off-guard, you know.

And then there was the whole commotion over the Materia, namely my stealing it.

I hadn't wanted to betray him, any of them like that but it was for Wutai and my desperation to help my country had far exceeded the guilt I felt over stealing my friend's Materia.

The thing was, even though I could see at the time he was clearly angry and disappointed in me for doing it he forgave me without hesitation when my idiot father asked him to and accepted me back into the group despite everyone else's protests.

So yeah, I love him. But I will NEVER EVER tell him that.

EVER.

Period.

Uck……waaay too embarrassing anyway.

And why you might ask..?

Well here's the thing…..although confident in every other aspect of life, romance and men are two things I definitely lack in experience and knowledge of. I'm a fish out of water, as the saying goes. The one and only time a boy had ever kissed me had been back when I was seven and I had promptly kneed him in the nuts, punched him in the face and then pushed him into the Leng Shu river that ran through Wutai for his trouble. He'd never walked properly again. Boys in my village had left me alone after that and that was the way I preferred it.

I mean, I had my Materia, what the heck did I need boys for?

Bottom line here: I was a total relationship retard.

I'd rather suffer silently, Vincent-esque, with unrequited love than be totally and utterly rejected by Cloud as I completely expected to be. I mean why would someone as amazing as him see anything in me when he had a beautiful, sweet, devoted girl like Tifa simpering over him.

And they had HISTORY.

History makes a lot of difference. As do large boobs, which she also happened to have.

Gawd, the girl had everything going for her! How could a bratty, foul mouthed little Ninja possibly compete?

Easy. I just didn't. Full stop.

He was probably here on his honeymoon with Tifa right now, most likely making lots of little Tifas and Clouds.

Urgh….grossness.

"Yuff? Hey, Yuffie! Are you alright?" Cloud sounded a little concerned.

"Uhh…??" Yeah. Real smooth. "C-cloud w-what are you doin' here?"

"Phew, you vegged out on me for a while there Yuff, I was starting to worry... " He smiled, eyes crinkling pleasantly round the corners. I all but melted into the ground. "Me? I was just passing though, picking up a few supplies is all…." He held out a gloved hand which I took numbly, almost squeaking as he lifted me with ease to my feet. (Woah…forgot how strong he is…umm muscles….hehe…)

Supplies…. Uh huh….wait, no mention of Tifa yet. Were they here together? If not then where was she? At home with the.. (uck…) ..baby? Baby supplies? (Ugh….) Should I ask him myself? Wait, that'd be a little blunt….he might think it rude.....oh, man-

"So what are you doing here then?" He asked of me, looking so intent that I was almost convinced he was interested. His eyes did a quick scan of my body, a blonde brow arching slightly when his speculative eyes finally met mine again. "You look good."

Huh?

Did Cloud just….compliment me? On my appearance of all things? I glanced down at myself and nearly had another heart attack when I realised I was still clad in nothing but my bright pink bikini, showing off copious amounts of flesh ….EVERYWHERE. Urgh….the embarrassment, I'd be lucky if I died right here.

Hang on a sec....

He just said I looked good…heh, that changed everything.

I couldn't help but grin. The sudden appearance of it when I'd looked so shell shocked before must have startled him because he took a step back instinctively, eyes widening a little with surprise.

"Why thank you Cloud! I've been soaking up a little sun, relaxing, you know…" I burbled merrily and then trailed off, blushing and lowering my eyes.

I really didn't want to lie to him but I had to be careful about the situation with my father, which, judging by his reaction up until now, he had no clue about. Good. I was gonna make sure it stayed that way.

"I'm on vacation." There, I'd said it and it wasn't exactly a lie right? I was here for a break and I hadn't exactly lied about what was going on, I'd just omitted the truth slightly.

"Cool….you really do look different you know." I tensed, my heart pummelling my chest, as he reached out a hand and twisted a lock of my dark hair between forefinger and thumb. He seemed fascinated by something….I couldn't be sure. The change in me? Something more? "I barely recognised you at first."

Part of me wished he hadn't recognized me at all, at least then I'd have been saved from this awkward situation. Plus I'd now be the owner of a brand new, highly rare, extremely desirable new Materia.

I sighed mentally.

Jeez…I really was a selfish brat.

"Uh, thanks….Cloud." I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, hating myself for my feelings. I really had changed. I couldn't remember ever feeling self conscious in my life and yet here I was, blushing like a little girl with a hopeless crush, hardly able to meet his eyes.

"…Yuffie, you cut yourself…." He reached out and took my right hand in both of his gloved ones, inspecting a small cut across the callused flesh of my palm. I must have grazed it on the ground when I fell. I sucked in a breath sharply and had great difficulty releasing it again when he started rubbing one thumb around the cut gently, a little frown of concentration on his face. "Hmm…."

I was just about to point out that it was nothing and snatch my hand back to the safety of my side when something awful happened. The graze chose that moment to ebb, no, ooze blood. Oh great water god it was practically flowing!

"A-ahh! C-cloud do somethin'…!" I managed to blurt , fixated with growing horror upon the open wound. All he did was release my hand and eye me with mild amusement.

"Do…what exactly?" He blinked, squinting down at my palm as though he was having difficulty seeing the huge gash right there on my hand, spilling my life juice everywhere (Oh Gods I'd probably lost a year already…urk…), practically spelling out 'Helloooo!' In blood. It was sooo gross and icky, I wondered how he could possibly not be panicking.

"Yuffie It's just a scratch, you've had worse than this…you're over-reacting-"

"Am not!" I was absolutely disgusted with Cloud's lack of sympathy and understanding, just standing there like a great, totally attractive, lump, watching me with the same apprehension and disbelief one eyes a bloodthirsty dragon with. "Come oooon you moron! " When in doubt: insult people. "Surely those ShinRa goofs in SOLDIER taught you some kind of basic emergency aid??!"

He frowned.

Oh dear, I'd hit a sore spot. Get over it! I wanted to shout. He was as bad as Vincent and Cid sometimes with regards to his past. Always either moping, cussing or clamping up like a mussel everytime someone mentioned something linking to times they'd much rather forget. The past was the past, things that had happened that you couldn't change. Biiiiig deal. Deal with it.

You can probably tell I get a little tetchy when I'm hurting.

"Of course they taught me it Yuffie, but…." Cloud sighed and shook his head as though his thoughts weighed a ton. When he spoke he spaced out his words as though I were hard of hearing. "It's – just – a – graze. You're starting to act like a child, and just when I was beginning to think you might have matured a little…"

I couldn't believe it.

He was lecturing me – now - when I was clearly bleeding to death as we spoke. This was one thing about Cloud that had always grated on me. He always thought he knew best….well, usually he did, but that's beside the point, I was mortally wounded here and he was being entirely unhelpful about it.

I zoned back to reality, my eyes narrowing upon his, watching as he just stood there, arms folded over his chest, completely unconcerned, maybe even a little bored. Gawd, I could be dead in an hour, minutes, seconds…oh Gods what if it was happening right now and I was too pissed off to notice?!

"You're completely ruinin' my death!" I blurted out stupidly. Not a good thing to voice your thoughts when you are me. My brand of thought was better off inside my head rather than hanging in the air between us like a bad smell. It tended to scare people.

"What the hell are you talking about…?" Cloud looked utterly confused and slightly disturbed, scratching the back of his head; something I knew from experience he always did when he was uneasy.

I zoned out again. I couldn't help myself. He looked so cute and adorable with that confused, wide eyed look on his face, muscles poking out in such interesting ways, sunlight catching in his eyes and making them sparkle distractingly…

WOUND Yuffie! Concentrate! Might be dying remember!

"Yuffie there is no way you're going to die from a little graze." There was a slight undertone to his voice. He didn't think this was….funny, did he? "Just let me rub a little potion into it and it'll be fine…"

He sounded so goddamn sure of himself, hooow could he be so calm?!

"There's no time for that!" I squeaked, blowing on the gash and hopping urgently from one foot to the other.

Okay, stop that. It's not soup you're currently oozing all over yourself and you're not standing on hot coals either so quit the hopping…I did, at the same time as a thought struck me like a brick to the head.

Blood…..

Gurk…………suddenly I didn't feel so great. I'd never dealt with blood very well.

Blood, motion sickness and Materia: my three weaknesses.

"Gwah…..Cloud….!" I swayed dangerously, lurched forward without warning, clumsily grabbing a hold of something, anything, to stop myself from falling. It just happened to be the front of Cloud's shirt, with his lean abdominal muscles pressing themselves up against my hands distractingly beneath the dark, slightly ribbed fabric. "Urhh…."

Gawdammit! Is it NORMAL for a teenager to have this much of a hormonal overload??! Surely not…

"Yuffie, get a grip." Frowning worriedly he clasped my shoulders either side with his gloved hands and attempted to steady me up on my feet once more. With my body being so uncooperative and sagging all over him unattractively like a sack of potaoes I felt his grip adjust around my waist instead, supporting me against him and nearly toppling us both over backward in the process. (Ohohoh…thrills of excitement coursing all through me…!) "Yuff..ie..I can't hold you like…this, forever…you know…"

I didn't care.

Forever. In Cloud's arms. /sigh/ Heaven.

God, puberty is such a sickening and depressing thing. Fancying the pants off of your former leader, who was like 5 years older than you, and who was soooo unbelievably, 'hands off, he's mine!' taken already by his bestest, childhood-friend-with-huge-boobs was just downright pathetic. I couldn't help myself though. I couldn't help who I loved. It was outta my hands, beyond my control…

I leant into him dazedly, smelt dust, secrets and excitement, saw eyes of the truest blue. His face was fading in and out of focus, perspective titling alarmingly.

"Uhhrrmm……what's ya star sign…?" I mumbled incoherently with a goofy smile, catching one last glimpse of his surprised face before passing out in his arms.

In his arms…uhhhhmmm….

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When I woke up I was pleasantly surprised to see that my unsympathetic though undeniably lush ex-leader and friend hadn't just left me lying unconscious in the street to roast quietly in the midday sun…eww….or dragged my limp body out into the grassy wilderness and buried it in a shallow grave….double eww. Yeah, yeah, I know he'd never do anything like that, he's the good guy, the hero, saviour of the planet, whatever….

But then again….

…….You could never be sure of anything when it concerned Cloud, he was about as emotionally and mentally stable as a jenga tower, I was constantly afraid that something tiny and insignificant might topple whatever delicate force held him in check, turn him into a salivating beast, not unlike one of Vinnie's monster transformations.

On the outside he seemed so calm, self assured and pleasant to be around, your all-round average, cool guy…but underneath it all I knew he had more layers than an onion, more volumes to his personality than a library, more depth than the ocean…yeah I know, all terrible analogies but I never claimed to be a genius at expressing myself.

There was no telling what a person who'd experienced his hometown being burnt to the ground before his eyes, himself and his best friend being experimented on, said best friend being murdered right in front of him, taking on the personality and living the life of the aforementioned best friend (Zack, for those of you who just aren't getting my subtle hints), being used liked a puppet……urgh the list was endless, more angst there than a jilted prom Queen.

You get the picture though….he was capable of anything.

Despite this it was a comfort nonetheless to see instead that he'd hauled my limp carcass into the nearest inn, (the one I was staying at coincidently) and laid me across my bed (once he'd discovered which room was mine, I suppose) and pulled a chair up beside me. I found him that way when I eventually woke, watching me intently, hands clasped under his chin, as I blinked the world around me back into focus.

For some reason I blushed.

Unfortunately Cloud noticed, and half smiled or smirked (I couldn't be 100% sure through the steam rising up off my cheeks) as though he thought he guessed the reason why.

Yes, Cloud you are utterly hot and I can barely control my baser instincts when I'm around you, now if only I could say this toyou out loud instead of only in silent inner monologues to myself.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, overwhelmingly relieved when I felt my blush begin to fade back to some semblance of normality. He shrugged and brushed a lock of hair out of his face, leaning back casually into his chair, arms folded comfortably upon his chest, regarding me with calm, appraising eyes.

I suppose the reason I blushed so rosily was due to the fact that I was lying on a bed half naked, symbolism there for you, with Cloud watching me like a prisoner under his guard. (Heh…kinky.)

I'd love to say that the look was possessiveness but I knew, with due regret, that it couldn't be anything more exciting than plain old concern for my welfare. The thing was we'd never really been alone in a room together, there had always been one or more of our comrades mooching around in the background.

Sure, we'd shared rooms as a group before, it had been necessary during our journey. Not all inns had the capacity and space to cater for eight (nine if you included poor, sweet Aeris) people, so more often than not we'd had to squeeze into a single room together.

After the usual tussle over who got the bed (with Cloud always winning and then immediately offering it to Aeris and Tifa and taking the ground instead) I almost always found myself on the floor with the least desirable bed companions.

I still have nightmares sometimes you know….

Can you imagine it?

Barret's thunderous, deafening snores from one side, the threat of combustion from Red's tail on the other, not to mention Cid cussed more in his sleep than he ever did when he was awake.

Vinnie wouldn't lower himself to share a room and just disappeared after sunset and reappeared again at dawn, and Cait….well I pretty much ignored him most of the time so I haven't a clue where he crashed. Heh….

Aeris and Tifa, I give them credit, slept like angels, looked like angels, all curled up delicately in their bed covers.

I'd been consumed with jealousy at the time, aware more than ever of how thin and awkward my arms and legs were, how underdeveloped my chest and how I must've looked like I was suffering from a gender identity crisis in my dusty khaki shorts and green tank rop, my hair an unruly mop on my head, barely held at bay by my bandana.

It just wasn't fair!

Cloud….he used to talk in his sleep a lot, and I used to listen on those nights when sleep was a stranger to me. None of it made any sense but I knew instinctively that it couldn't be very pleasant.

Well, to the point, Cloud and I had shared a room but NEVER alone and lying here now with him watching me so closely made me very aware of differences between us, differences between men and women, our bodies to be more exact….yeah, I know I'm just one big horn-beast but reeeally, can't a girl fantasize about her heart's desire without any hope or hidden agenda?

Why am I talking about sleeping patterns anyway…..? Hmm….

"Nice to see you finally woke up." Cloud commented smoothly from his chair. He ran a hand unconsciously through his hair, the familiar half smile returning. "Feel any better? …it was pretty disturbing you know, you collapsing on me in the street like that, though I guess it was kinda flattering too in a way…. "

He was teasing me…..right?

"Oh…I'm so sorry! " I exaggerated, playing along to his little game, humouring him. "Next time I'll just bypass you completely and flatten my face on the cold, hard pavement." I rolled my eyes. "Perhaps if I'm really lucky I may even break a few bones."

A full smile, so rare and sooo worth it. It faded again quickly and he shook his head, eyeing me seriously from beneath arched brows. "You're such a weirdo Yuffie…" My heart faltered a beat. "But I wouldn't have you any other way." (Have me? That left room for so much interesting interpretation…) And then quickened once more. "I'm really glad we bumped into each other..."

I barely heard what he said, I was still savouring the entirely too pleasant sound of my name on his lips, waay better than some others I'd been called in my time; Brat, punk,, short ass, little &%!

Yeah, thank you Cid, really, thanks….asshole.

"Shame I can't stay, it would've been nice to catch up on things…" He shrugged apologetically and rose to his feet, scratching his neck absently as he glanced down sideways at me. "Seeing as you're feeling better, I'd really better make a move…"

"Uhh…umm…errrm…." I mumbled unintelligibly.

Inside my heart was screaming 'Don't go! Oh Gods don't go! I cannot beat without you near!' and lower, in my abdomen, my insides were churning with disappointment and hunger pangs. I hadn't even thought that he might be leaving so soon after meeting him again….but there he was, adjusting his pack on his shoulder, strapping his sword firmly across his back….he really was going to leave.

I wished he wouldn't…

He must have noticed something different about me because he paused in his little ritual of preparation and gazed at me silently for a few moments, face set in that little frown of his. I wondered, through my misery, what he was thinking as he stood there staring so unashamedly at me. I guessed I must really look as wretched as I felt.

"Bye Spikester...." I tried to sound cheerful, using my little nickname for him that I knew he hated. I sounded pitiful more than anything else, the cheesy smile I'd forced with difficulty onto my face was so obviously fake to anyone with even half a brain. "Maybe our paths'll cross again someday…." I sighed sadly, I couldn't help it.

He didn't reply, still holding my eyes, trancelike almost.

Without warning he closed the distance between us, unhurried, closer to me that he'd ever been. He cupped one side of my face gently with one gloved hand, pressed a soft kiss to the other cheek, lips lingering a fraction longer than I knew a friendly peck should have before he pulled away. His hand lingered a moment longer before falling back to his side once more.

Where it had been my cheek felt cold and empty, I wanted it back again immediately.

I was speechless with shock, slack jawed and wide eyed as I gazed up at him from my cross legged position ont he bed.

"Bye Yuffs…" He smiled one last time, for one moment made me the centre of his world, and then turned away, striding out of the door, out of my life without a glance back, leaving me to compose myself.

I stared into space for a while after he'd left, unable to speak or process coherent thought.

Ooookay……breathe.

Good……

……..WHAT THE HELL??!!

"He kissed me!" I blurted out loud to my empty, uncaring room.

My mind finally caught up with my vocal cords and I was able to think once more.

Sure, it was just a harmless peck on the cheek…BUT STILL, it was a kiss! I reasoned this to my numb brain, thoughts trying to prod it awake once more. I reached up one hand and touched that special space on my cheek …yes, right there, where the magic had happened.

I was NEVER going to wash that cheek again.

I didn't care if people avoided me in the street because that area stank or called me mean names like 'sewer cheek' or 'stinky' I had made up my mind. I'd also realised something too. One little peck on the cheek was nowhere near enough…

I wanted more….

Much more.

With a manic grin I leapt off the bed and hunted around for some clothes, pulling some shorts on over my bikini in my haste and shouldering my way into a pale green T-shirt before dragging my boots over to me from across the floor and buckling my feet into them. I could still feel sand between my toes. I swept all my possessions roughly into my knapsack and raced out of the room, snatching up my Shuriken which lay against the wall by the door as I passed by.

I couldn't just let Cloud disappear like this…who knew when we might meet again? I hadn't seen him in so long and I definitely wasn't prepared to wait that long for another chance meeting.

Pfft forget that!

It was clear now that he was just as much of a wandering vagrant as I was. By following him around I was just fulfilling my sworn duty as his friend…

Yes, that's it….. The clogs of my mind churned merrily.

Cloud was just going to have to get used to having me around….hehe!

But first, before I followed him off to God knows where I had a little unfinished business to attend to…..

I rubbed my hands together briskly as I stepped out onto the dusty street, my eyes narrowing purposefully upon my unsuspecting target.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk….