Okay, this is my very first fanfic so be easy on the criticism. Oh, and just so you know, Yuffie has never met Avalanche and the Sephiroth incident never happened. Warning for a little OOC-ness.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
Chapter One: Once Upon a Snowy Midgar
I just HAD to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Yuffie thought irritably as she fought against the snow-filled wind that threatened to blow her straight out of Midgar.
I mean, I'm not a weather man or anything, she continued her mental ranting, but whoever heard of a winter thunderstorm happening here, of all places?!
She stopped in the middle of the deserted, snow covered street to pull her coat more tightly around her freezing body and looked at her surroundings. There were no lights on in any of the buildings that loomed over her, but she was sure that the residents that occupied them were there: cowering in the amazing force of the demonic fury of the storm.
She pulled her short black hair out of her chocolate colored eyes with a sigh and continued on. The wrath of the icy wind was incredible. She was using all of her strength and will power to not topple over into the snow.
This is bad, she panicked as she squinted into the white blinding darkness of the city, I need to get out of this wind before I freeze to death!
She looked to her right, then to her left and practically cried out in relief. To the left turn-off down the street was a small two-story building. It's lights were on.
Yes! She thought as she stumbled toward the light as if it was a beacon of hope in the terrible darkness.
After spending five minutes, which seemed to her like five hours, she finally stood before it in the street.
"The Seventh Heaven" read the name of it on the front of the building.
"The Seventh Heaven" huh? Well, I don't care what kind of heaven it is, as long as it's nice and warm I wouldn't care if it was eight, nine, or ten! Yuffie thought giddily as she ran up to the entrance and rushed inside, more than happy to get out of the blizzard.
The first thing Yuffie noticed was that she was not alone. When she turned around she saw roughly four to five people looking at her. The second thing she noticed was that the large room she was in was a bar.
Oh, crap, she thought in dismay as she realized this, I hope they don't decide to kick me out because I'm underage!
Though, as she walked over to the bar counter and everybody quickly lost interest and went back to what they were doing, a positive side in her, that she didn't even know she had, spoke up.
Maybe they won't even ask, It said making her perk up as she sat down on a bar stool.
Just then, a woman came out of a door behind the counter.
She was very beautiful and looked to be about in her early twenties. She had long black hair that reached all the way down to her waist and brownish-red eyes that were acutely concentrated on a glass she was drying.
Suddenly, she looked up at Yuffie and smiled.
"Hello, would you like something to drink?"
"Um, yeah thanks." Yuffie said, a little dazed from the lady's sudden question.
"Wait a second," She said observing Yuffie a little more closely.
Uh oh. Yuffie thought with a gulp.
"How old are you?"
"Um, nineteen."
The lady crossed her arms and looked at Yuffie, obviously amused at her inability to lie.
"Okay, I'm only six-teen, but please don't kick me out." Yuffie begged, not wanting to go back into that frozen Hell.
"Don't worry," the lady laughed, "I wouldn't even dream of sending you out into that awful stuff. You just can't have anything with alcohol in it, that's all."
"Oh," Yuffie said with both surprise and relief, "then I'll just have some water, please."
"Okay, then. I'll be right back." And with that said, she disappeared out the door.
Yuffie, having nothing else better to do, decided to take this chance to observe where she was.
The room had a nice homey feeling to it that reminded Yuffie of a living room, rather than a bar.
There were four tables, two on either side of the doorway, in the large room.
One on the right side was occupied by a few old geezers playing poker, while the one beside it had some kind of drunk guy. On the left side, however, one was completely empty and before she could get a good look at the person who was at the other table, she noticed the lady coming through the door with a glass of water.
"Here you go." She said, handing it to Yuffie.
"Thanks," Yuffie said as she took a sip, "I really needed that."
"No problem."
Yuffie was about to take a second sip, when she realized that the lady was staring at her.
"What is it?" Yuffie asked, puzzled.
"Oh, nothing, it's just that, well…are you new here?"
"Yep. I came all the way from Wutai." She answered, proudly.
"No wonder I didn't recognize you. What's your name?"
"Yuffie Kisaragi."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Yuffie, I'm Tifa Lockheart." She said shaking Yuffie's hand with a friendly smile on her face.
"It's nice to meet you too." Yuffie said, feeling an answering smile spread across her face.
"Uh, oh." Tifa said as she dropped Yuffie's hand and hurried toward the door.
"What is it?" Yuffie asked, worried about her new friend.
"It's nothing," She calmly assured Yuffie, "I just remembered that we've run out of beer and I have to get some in the back." And she left.
Yuffie shrugged to herself and took another sip of her water.
"Hey there, sugar." A disgusting, slurred voice said beside her.
She looked to her right and saw the drunk guy looking at her like she was a fine slice of meat.
"Er, hello." She muttered not at all pleased with his lustful gaze.
"Hey, you look awfully cold, baby. Want me to warm you up?" He asked moving closer.
"No thanks."
"Aww, c'mon. I won't bite."
"I said 'no', okay?" she said a little more forcefully.
Just then, he "accidentally" pushed her backpack into the floor, which she had laid upon the counter.
"Oops, I'm such a klutz." He said, his voice still slurring.
She glared at him and bent down to pick it up. While she was bent over and couldn't see him, he quickly pulled out a tube full of a powder-like substance and poured some into her drink. The powder disappeared quickly.
Yuffie, not knowing this, raised herself back up and put her backpack on the other side, away from him.
"How' bout a little kiss instead?"
"No!" She said angrily.
"Why not?" He asked leaning in close with a dangerous look in his eyes.
"Um," She said nervously then she suddenly came up with a plan.
"Because it would make my boyfriend mad." She said simply, crossing her arms casually.
"Really?" He asked, obviously not buying her bluff, "Where is he then?"
"He's right over," she gazed around quickly and found her fake boyfriend, "there."
She gestured towards the man who was sitting alone, reading a coverless book. He had a pair of black baggy pants and a black button up shirt, both fitting him snuggly enough to make out the lines of his muscles. He also had long black hair, like Tifa's, except that his locks seemed softer and darker. He had a pale, yet, unbelievably beautiful face that seemed to glow in contrast to his dark outfit. His eyes, seemingly intense on whatever story he was reading, had a beautiful crimson shade that almost looked deep enough to be considered blood-red.
In other words, he was the most beautiful thing that she ever saw.
"He ain't your boyfriend." The drunk guy said, sounding totally convinced that he was right.
She took one last sip of her water, still unaware of what he did to it, and looked at him straight in the eye.
"You think so?" She asked with the same brimming confidence that he had, and yet, deep down, she could hardly believe what she was going to do.
She put her water on the counter and sauntered toward the dark, yet beautiful man.
Each step she took felt like an eternity, giving her pessimistic side time to try and talk her out of it.
You won't have time to tell him what's going on and he might think you're crazy or something, it said, making her silently clench her teeth.
And even if he does help you, he's a total stranger and might try to come on to you too.
Shut up! She silently willed it and it ceased just in time for her to walk the rest of the way over to him until she was finally standing right in front of him.
He noticed her presence without surprise as he lowered the book low enough to stare at her with his lovely crimson eyes.
"Um." She started but was interrupted by his voice.
"I know." He said simply.
It didn't surprise her so much that his voice, like everything else about him, was both dark and beautiful.
What did surprise her, though, was what he said.
"You….know?" She asked, slightly puzzled, but she suddenly remembered that she had to make this quick. The drunk guy was watching their every move.
He seemed to realize this before her.
"Yes, I heard," he spoke quickly but his tone was quiet and gentle, "and I know what you were planning. It's fine with me."
He laid the book down on the table beside him and positioned himself to where she could comfortably slide into his lap.
If the circumstances were a little different she might have hesitated. But not now.
She quickly but carefully curled up in his lap and burrowed her face into his chest.
She was afraid that if she leaned too much on him he wouldn't be able to hold up her body weight. But as she lied there feeling his slim muscles ripple every time he breathed softly and smelling the mouthwatering scent that practically bounced off his body and into her nostrils, she leaned closer and closer into him until she realized that her body was completely limp against his. But he didn't seem to mind, so she stayed like that a while, during which he gently placed a hand on her back and rubbed it soothingly.
Probably just hamming it up a little, She thought nervously as a blush rose to her cheeks.
Just then, she suddenly felt dizzy and was thankful that she wasn't standing up. Everything in her vision started to blur and a horrible exhaustion overwhelmed her, and then, everything went black.
Well, I gotta say this chap turned out better than I thought! And like I said before, THIS IS MY FIRST FIC, so don't expect anything too grand! However, I'll probably go back and make corrections and stuff without changing the storyline much. R&R!!!!!