From the moment he'd met her, she had started taking. Sure, he hadn't really ever been a SOLDIER first class, but he was still a mercenary and there was absolutely no reason he shouldn't have felt her hands in his pockets, or the gust of wind always that seemed precede her. But it was windy that day in the forest, and all he could see was the mission. All he could see was Sephiroth, billowing silver, smoke and ash and he could see himself, which as it turns out, was someone else entirely. So when he'd discovered his materia was gone, for just a moment his musings had been completely interrupted. Like a scream of laughter in the midst of a deep dream, he'd opened his eyes to something else for an instant. An instant in which he found himself chasing her, through the wet forest and past an orange dusk somewhere in Wutai. The others followed faithfully at his heels, cursing and trying to catch their breath. Barrett had said that it wasn't worth it, that it was a waste of time.
Cloud was certain, even now in hindsight, that Barrett was right. They could have saved the world without her. But he'd gone after her anyway. She had taken his materia, his concentration and now his time. He convinced himself that it was better that he find her and take back what was his. Though the materia she'd taken had been some of the least important ones. Who needed Sense anyway, he was plowing through groves of monsters in no time at all, and found he liked just doing the job. He didn't think he was cocky, just certain about some things. And that was hard to come by.
Hard to come by because he'd been so incredibly mixed up, and because he'd been scared. Some people procrastinate by not doing anything at all, some chase thieving ninjas through forests. He wondered if anyone had seen his pretense, his fear. But of course, when everything surrounding the girl started to fit in with his own mission it just got too convenient. He still didn't understand how she'd ended up joining them, he sure hadn't wanted that. He didn't need anymore people to follow him, because he already had a lot on his plate and he wasn't trying to collect anymore ghosts.
But she joined, and he didn't think he'd have to bother with her, he was sure she'd just get tired of it and leave eventually, but she never did. He wondered a lot about that, especially when she was aboard the ship. Even after Sephiroth came back to the forefront of his mind, every so often he'd see her huddled in a corner with her head between her knees, or lying flat and sliding with the ship. One day she looked like she was suffering so bad, he went to her.
"You should go inside." he said, already on edge. He didn't exactly have time for this, but he knew how hypocritical that was. Yuffie moaned and clutched her stomach, her mouth salty.
"Can't." She breathed. "Air...in there...sucks." Not really having anything to say to that, he made to go back to the control room. He felt bad for having to leave her like that, but there was really nothing he could do. For a moment he thought about Cure, but figured that was a stupid idea, and they didn't have items to waste like that anyway. So he left.
The next morning she stumbled into one of their seldom had breakfasts, and sat down right across from him.
"Feeling any better?"
"Huh?" she asked, grabbing a travel sized jelly and a piece of toast. He blinked.
"Last night."
"Oh that, psh, I was just doing my meditation." she said simply. Her eyes briefly locked on his croissant, and then on him. "Where is everyone?" she asked, for they were the only two people in the whole compartment. He shrugged. He was usually the first to rise. "Oh, holy crap. It's five in the morning?"
He actually hadn't thought it was that early, and he glanced at his watch.
"Yeah." he said, breaking his pastry in half, pieces of crust fluttering down onto his shirt like snowflakes.
"Why're you up so early?." He wondered why she talked so much.
"I don't know." She just stared at him, and he noticed how big her eyes were even with their almond shape.
"You don't talk much do you?" she said. Cloud felt like both Tifa and Aerith had said the same to him at one point or another. It wasn't something he had actually noticed. He didn't talk when he didn't have anything to say, and he really didn't ever have much to say.
"I don't like the quiet, makes me antsy, ya know?" she bent the toast in half and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. "Uwanat?" Cloud looked at her again. And Yuffie almost hit her head on the back of the seat. With such blue eyes, even when you were expecting it that gaze was like a sudden flash of light in the dark.
"What?" he asked.
"I said, do you want that?" she rolled her eyes. Cloud frowned. He wouldn't have had it in his hands if he didn't want it. "I mean, after just leaving me like that last night, I think you owe me." A blonde eyebrow raised.
"I thought you were meditating."
"And you believed that?" she said, leaning into her hand. He blinked, and noticed that her mouth had a kind of natural curve. Even when she wasn't, it looked like she was smiling. No, smirking more like.
"There was nothing I could do." he said honestly.
"Sure there was. I'm going to let you in on a secret, Ice materia calms the stomach."
"No it doesn't." he said.
"It does! I swear to Leviathon." He actually considered it. "Tell you what. If I prove it, will you give me that pastry?" He really wasn't in the mood, but he was one hundred percent sure she was bluffing.
"Alright."
"Okay, hand over the Ice." he thought twice about that one. She saw the hesitation and snorted.
" We're on a ship, where am I gonna go?" he still didn't hand it over. "I'm not gonna steal it, I promise." And when he handed it over, he wondered why he would ever believe a thief. Because there really was no way for her to prove it, and he only thought about that until after he'd handed it over. He only thought about that until the chair in front of him was empty. And for the first time he really thought there might be some credibility to her claims of being a ninja. And that made him wonder if she hadn't wanted him to catch up with her in the first place.
Sighing, he finished his pastry and went to the control room. He didn't have time for her games, he very rarely had time for breakfast. And today he hadn't really had much of one. About a couple hours later when they had just passed over Bone Village, he was lying in his own bunk at the gracious request of Cid, who had told him to 'stop fucking hovering' because they would 'fucking be there' when they 'fucking got there.' But he was anxious, and even if they met with another dead end, he really just wanted to slice through something big and nasty.
He had talked to Tifa, but she had started acting very strange around him. And he might've talked with Aerith, but after that ride at the Golden Saucer, she had been acting just as strange. He looked up when his door slid open. Yuffie stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
"You're no fun." she said, pouting. He turned his head on his pillow. "You were supposed to chase after me." He frowned.
"Haven't you had enough of that?" he asked.
"Well yeah. But I'm bored. There's nothing to do but barf on this ship." he had absolutely nothing to say to that. He turned his eyes back to look at the ceiling.
"Use the Ice." he said, without looking at her. There was almost an ounce of humor in those words. She pursed her lips and came forward. His door swung closed.
"Doesn't work. You gave me a dead one." she looked at him still lying there. "Though I'm sure you knew that."
"It works." she shook her head and held it out to him. He extended his arm, still without looking at her and she dropped it into his hand.
"Doesn't." And just like that the bunk was momentarily filled with frost, and he'd done it without having to look at her or the orb. He'd done it with a sweep of his thumb. All was silent for too long and he finally turned his head to look at her. She looked the most scandalized he'd ever seen anyone look.
"What." he said, now sitting up, sliding his legs off of the bed. His boots hit the floor with a loud thump. He might as well get up, since she wasn't leaving. Besides he'd been alone with his thoughts for a too long anyway. When he thought too much, he started getting confused. He could hear distant voices, faint memories. And not the kind of memories that just pass easily through your mind, the ones that scape by, get caught wherever memories get caught.
"You gave me a trick materia!" she said crossing her arms. "That's not fair!"
"I didn't." he said, frowning. Though technically, he did have a few of those and he should have done just that.
"But I did...what you just did." she bit her lip, and he watched her.
"Which was?" he said. And when she hesitated to answer, he understood.
"You don't know how to use materia." he was genuinely shocked for the first time in ages. A materia thief, who couldn't use materia.
"Of course I do!" the color was high in her cheeks. He stared at her. And she fidgeted. "I do. I just...have always had trouble with the Ice, okay?"
"It's easy." he said. She frowned.
"If it's so easy then how come-"
"Look." he stood up and held it at her eye level. She rolled her eyes and looked.
"Kay, now what?"
"What is it?" he asked quietly. She scrunched her nose.
"Uh duh, an Ice materia?"
"Right, so how do you approach it?"
"Huh?" Cloud turned it around in his hand.
"Can you use Fire materia?"
"Of course I can!"
"And how do you approach that?"
"What?"
"You approach it like a fire materia. You can't just have the same approach with different materia." And in that moment he experienced the most potent deja vu he'd had in his life. He almost felt as if someone had once said the exact same words to him. He saw the frustration and the concentration mingling together in the ninja's eyes, and he felt like not so long ago, he had been where she was standing. But he couldn't actually remember an instance.
"I know that."
"Try then." He handed it over, not without glancing at the door to see if it was closed, and she snatched it. She tried immediately and it didn't work.
"I can't do it with you watching me like that."
"Use your energy, and think of Ice." again, that deja vu. He watched her focus, and squeeze the orb. That wasn't exactly what he meant, but in the silence something prickled at his skin. He felt goose bumps raising and when she opened her eyes and exhaled, he saw her breath.
"Yeah!" she laughed and raised her arm to make a muscle. "Told you I knew how to do it!" He nodded and through her excitement she started repeatedly activating the materia, cold sprays of frost and bits of ice bursting forth like parade glitter. He then took the materia back, and pocketed it. She crossed her arms over herself. "Well, I'm gonna-" The ship suddenly rocked and tossed her back and onto the floor. He only went forward a few steps. He offered his hand, but she got up on her own. "I-" she started again, only to this time be thrown the opposite direction and right into Cloud. This time he caught her and stopped them both from falling to the floor. He reached one hand back to stable them both with the bed post. He wondered what the hell Cid was doing at the controls. He looked down to find Yuffie looking up at him. He exhaled and he could still see his breath. She had done a pretty good cast. "Uh, thanks." she said. He nodded. She exhaled then, and the fog wasn't quite as visible. The silence started to stretch out. True to her word (for once) he saw her start to get antsy. He wondered why she hadn't left yet. There was nothing else for them to do. She had cast the Ice, and he had his materia back. And right now, since he couldn't do much until they reached their destination, he thought he might check on Cid and see what was going on up front, and...and that's when Yuffie kissed him. He was still, and didn't dare kiss her back (she was just a kid and what reason or time did they have for this) but her mouth was cold and soft, and no more than a couple seconds passed before she pulled away, looking sick.
"I think...I'm gonna meditate again." And that's when she barfed on his shoes.
A trip to the sick room and a couple of weeks later it was forgotten. He wasn't going to say anything about it, and she wasn't either. There were much more important things to be thinking about. Sometimes she still joined him for breakfast early in the morning, but didn't ever ask for his croissant again. He didn't mind the company, because more and more often being alone with his thoughts left him uneasy. He didn't understand, he didn't have time to understand. He could almost feel in his blood how close Sephiroth was.
"Where are we going?" she said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Cid said we're going to see Aerith's parents or something." He guessed in a way they were. "I don't understand, but hey we're all here to take him down." That got his attention.
"Who?" Yuffie rolled her eyes.
"Duh, Sephiroth?" He blinked.
"Right." he said, and she sighed and started flipping through the magazine she'd brought with her. All was silent for a good while. "Why are you here?" it fell out of his mouth almost on it's own, sounding a lot harsher than he'd meant it. She stopped and looked up at him, her natural smile gone. Flipping her magazine closed, she slammed her toast down on the plate and left. Some other time, he might have gone after her and tried to explain that he hadn't meant it like that at all, but now there were more important things to be doing. So he sat, and tried to eat the rest of his breakfast. But it wasn't very good, and he wasn't very hungry.
Then, about ten minutes before landing, she came up to him. She took his hand and put something round and cold into it, then stalked off. It was that same Ice materia. Now he could've sworn he'd had that equipped, but sure enough the orb in his last slot was Cure instead. Something about this made him go after her. He wasn't going to pretend he didn't feel eyes on him. He saw her in the hall, and when she saw him she ran. She actually ran. Nine minutes until landing.
He ran after her, now annoyed. He couldn't believe it, but she was elusive even in the ship and when he finally caught up with her, he was almost out breath.
"What is wrong with you?" he said, unable to veil his frustration with her.
"Wrong with me? You're the one chasing me around the ship."
"You ran."
"So?" she said, breathing hard as well.
"Look, if you're going to be on this team you have to stop this."
"Stop what?"
"This, Yuffie." He motioned around them. "And this." he opened his hand to show the Ice materia. "I thought you were done with that, we're on the same team. We can't have any distractions like this."
"You wouldn't think so." She said.
"What."
"You wouldn't think we're on the same team. None of you even talk to me, I mean Aerith does, but she talks to everyone so that doesn't really count. I know you didn't really even want me to join the team." He didn't say anything to that. " And I know you guys just think I'm a kid."
"Yuffie."
"I have reasons too Cloud." He nodded.
"Fine, but this has to stop." he said, holding out the materia again.
"It stopped weeks ago." she said. "I've been good for about two weeks now." Cloud frowned.
"So when did you take this?" Yuffie looked at him like he was stupid, and then laughed.
"Cloud come on, you serious?" She saw that he was. She went on. "I took it when I kissed you." He was taken aback, he hadn't even noticed, or thought to notice. "Did you think that I...seriously Cloud? I was bored and I just thought it would be funny when you noticed later what I did. But you never noticed did you? I promise I wasn't trying to put the moves on you. But hey, that kiss was a pretty good cover wasn't it? And I'm sorry for barfing on your shoes. I can't believe you never noticed your Ice was gone though..." He didn't know what to say.
"...I had more." he said.
"So can I keep this one?" she asked, grinning. And he gave it to her. He watched out of a window behind her head as the green of the forest rose above them.
"We're here."
But as it turned out, it wouldn't be the only time that day he would hand over materia.
"The kid is freaking the fuck out."
"What in the hell was happening to him?"
"I should go talk to him."
"Tifa, that's not a good idea right now."
"Yeah, after what happened, he might want to be left alone." Yuffie listened to the conversation from afar. What were they talking about? Yet again, she hadn't been in the main party, so she hadn't the faintest what was going on. Except for maybe that Cloud was bugging out. Other than that, all the other things she was hearing she couldn't bring herself to believe. Because even though he was kind of dense and humorless, he was a good guy. She was sure of that. So she decided to do some detective work, and she snuck off to his room. She would find out from the horse's mouth.
When his door slid open for her, it was dark inside. She stepped in, and the door slid closed behind her. She didn't know where the light switch was.
"Cloud?" No answer. She started to wonder if anyone was in the room at all. "Cloud, what happened today?" The silence stretched so long, she was about to turn and leave. Even if he was in there, it was starting to get a little creepy.
"I...I don't know." his voice made her jump.
"No one will tell me what they're talking about. I don't know what's going on." she said. He snorted.
"Neither do I." it was bitter, self-loathing.
"Was that almost a joke? Wow, you are buggin."
"This isn't a joke. I almost..." he left off and she heard him shift on his bed.
"You almost what?" she went and sat on the edge of the bed.
"None of you should be following me."
"Huh?"
"I gave it to him." Yuffie's eyes went wide, so that part was true. "I don't even remember how that happened...I just..maybe he's right." Yuffie was starting to get freaked out.
"Who now?"
"Sephiroth."
"Oh, right." Cloud sat up and moved his feet to the floor, so that they were sitting next to each other.
"You think I'm crazy."
"A little, yeah." Yuffie looked over at him, and holy crap his eyes glowed in the dark. "But not because you saw Sephiroth. He had to be there for you to give him the materia right?" Cloud nodded, not mentioning how many times he'd seen him before he was actually there.
"You don't understand. I am a puppet."
"What?"
"This could happen again."
"It's not." she said.
"It could."
"Well, it's not. We all know you'd never really hurt any of us." Least of all Aerith.
"But-"
"We're going to beat him Cloud."
"It's not that simple."
"It is."
"You don't understand."
"What is it with you people? It is that simple. Maybe you have a couple of years over me, but if all that means is that you make things more complicated than they gotta be, than I'll stay a kid, thank you. Because even after I've told you I'm not one, I know you think I am. And you know what, so what if I am? I understand things just fine." Yuffie shook her head. "I just don't understand you."
"Join the club." He said, and she smiled.
"Already have. Tifa's in charge of membership, didn't you know?" He looked at her, wondered how she could be so cheerful at a time like this. And as much as it annoyed him, confounded him, he was grateful for it. "In fact, your club is almost as popular as Vincent's." Another silence ensued, and he could see her looking at him and she could feel him watching her in the dark, and talk about deja vu, that's when she kissed him again. Her mouth was just as soft, but much warmer than he remembered. She pulled away. He wasn't sure what to do.
"I thought you said that was a joke." he said. She laughed.
"God, you're so gullible."
"Then why did you take the materia?"
"So I could kiss you, stupid. Pretty good cover right?"
"Why?"
"I guess I just like you."
"This isn't a good time."
"I know."
"You should go."
"Do you want me to?"
"What I want doesn't matter."
"But what do you want?" Too many answers for one simple question.
"I...want to stop Sephiroth."
"Now, that's more like it!" Yuffie got up. "We're going to do it Cloud, I know it." She went to leave, and just like what had happened to him mere hours before, his body moved nearly of it's own accord. And he had Yuffie's wrist in his hand, and his mouth pressed hard against hers. Her hands were as fickle as the girl herself and they were everywhere at once, sliding down his back across the broadside of his sword, in his hair, around his neck, and around his waist. She was just full of energy, and truthfully he was probably in no state to be doing this, but he would learn later the crazy things that grief could lead you to.
He hoped Yuffie hadn't known that then, because that would mean he'd yet again walked into one of her calculated traps. But down to the core, the things she pulled on him were either harmless or accidentally beneficial. So he didn't complain. Things between them never got any farther than that, and to this day he isn't sure if that was her decision or his. Because couple days later, after Aerith died, there was more than enough grief to result in quite a few stupid things done.
But they did beat Sephiroth, and she'd called it. And things might've been more painful for a bit, but they did get simpler. It made him wonder if they had been in the first place. It made him wonder if she was right about them making things more complicated than they had to be. Eventually , he and Yuffie just settled into being friends. In fact, he hadn't seen her for a year, and then one day Vincent stopped by the bar. He'd said something about her calling his phone incessantly, and seemed genuinely annoyed, but in the same breath had asked about her whereabouts.
He was already in her game, and he had no idea.
Cloud was okay with that. He had moved on and apparently so had Yuffie. To another puzzle. Because now he realized that she didn't actually think that things couldn't be complicated, but that they could always made to be simple instead. He couldn't imagine her ever settling down, he imagined she would be full of energy until the moment her heart just decided to stop. He imagined she would be running around always finding new things to get into, always playing new games, that were usually pretty much the same.
Yuffie Kisaragi, a better thief of hearts than of materia. And you never knew that she'd stolen it until she was handing it back to you.
(Author's note : So yeah, I've definitely never written anything like this. But man those bunnies sure are insistent. I hope you enjoyed if you read. Now, it's homework time. Oh, and reviewing is awesome. Just saying.)