Fever
"Still running a high fever," Cloud said, examining the thermometer. "That's five nights in a row, now."
It was the dead of summer, and the Avalanchers were resuming their journey north through the western continent, having just returned from their misadventures in Wutai. Sometime during their three-day trek through the south-western jungle, Yuffie had come down with a fever. At first, she had dismissed it as nothing to fuss over, but during the second day, the young ninja had collapsed in a heap as they traversed the sun-baked plateaus near Cosmo Canyon, having been brought down by sheer exertion, compounded by a mild sunstroke. As a result, the young ninja was left bedridden and feeble, and the rest of the group was left stuck in what was possibly the world's tiniest inn, in some podunk village out in the middle of nowhere.
The other members of Avalanche took turns each night looking after her, to ensure that her fever didn't worsen, thus prolonging their stay. Tonight was Cloud's turn to watch over the young ninja, and to his dismay, she seemed to be getting worse, not better.
Although this meant spending another night at the inn, he was not altogether displeased by this turn of events. He was loath to admit it, but some downtime was perhaps what the group needed most right now. They had been on the road for what felt like ages, and everyone was becoming weary and unhinged. They were starting to get on each others' nerves, the result being a marked increase in shouting matches, petty squabbles over minor matters, and other distractions in the same vein. And humble though it was, the inn offered hot showers, decent meals and warm beds to sleep in, which was a welcome change from the hard cots and canned food they had to make do with on the road.
"Aren't you ever going to get better?" Cloud said, putting the thermometer away. "You're not faking being sick so you can get out of travelling, are you?"
Yuffie shook her head, going into another coughing fit as she did. Feigning illness to get out of something she didn't want to do seemed very much like the sort of deviousness that the young ninja might get up to, but she seemed to be genuinely ill, more so than he would have expected. He was starting to get worried, though he did his best not to betray his concern to his friends.
"Bury me with my materia," Yuffie said in between coughs.
"You're not dying, Yuffie," Cloud said. "Not on my watch."
The seriousness in his voice made her chuckle, despite her failing health. "I'll bet you say that to all the kleptomaniac ninja princesses," she said, grimacing as she smiled.
"Sure," Cloud replied. "Every last one I come across."
He replaced the damp cloth on her forehead, now warm and stained with sweat, with a fresh, cold one. For the next couple of hours, he kept an eye on the young ninja, watching for any signs of her health improving or declining. Tifa came in to check on her every now and again, and Aerith brought her a bowl of chicken soup, which she did her best to consume, albeit noisily, slurping it down through a straw.
"Well, maybe you'll feel better tomorrow," Cloud said, as the clock struck midnight. He got up, and headed for the doorway.
"Hey, Cloud.." Yuffie said, sitting up in bed. "I know this might sound like a weird request, but... would you read me a story?"
"A story?" Cloud asked. "What are you, five?"
"Please?" Yuffie asked. "Pleasy pleasy pleasy pleeeaaaseee? I'm so bored. I've been stuck in bed for almost a week now. Being sick blows."
She moaned and pleaded, giving him the puppy eyes, the ones that she employed whenever she really wanted something, looking both pitiful and extremely cute at the same time. Cloud sighed, realizing that he couldn't say 'no' to her.
"All right," he said, picking up one of the dusty, dilapidated books off the bedroom's broken-down bookshelf. He cracked the book open, only to be met with what looked like an alien language. "What the hell is this?" he thought, frowning, turning the book sideways, unsure of which way the unfamiliar glyphs were even meant to face.
Yuffie looked at him expectantly, waiting to hear her story.
"Well, I'll just make something up.." Cloud thought. Clearing his throat, he pretended to read. "'Once upon a time, in an ancient and faraway land, there lived a beautiful, blonde princess..'"
"Brunette," Yuffie interrupted him.
Cloud paused, raising an eyebrow. Apparently, story time, to his friend, meant mad-libs. Having nothing better to do, however, he decided to play along.
"'..with sapphire eyes..'" he continued.
"Brown!"
He started again, appending Yuffie's injection as though nothing had changed.
"'..with brown eyes..'"
"And lots of materia," Yuffie added.
Cloud sighed. "If you insist."
"Is that what it says?" Yuffie asked.
"Sure," Cloud said, flipping over to the next page.
They continued like this for a while, with him inventing new scenarios, and Yuffie interjecting from time to time with embellishments or opinions of her own about how the story should go. Any time there was a lull in the storytelling, as he paused to consider the next development or scene, she would prompt him with an "..And?"
"'There, she met a wise wolf, who told her to seek the valley of the tree folk, where she would meet a band of warriors who would help her on her quest..'"
"A talking wolf?" Yuffie asked. "That sounds kinda far-fetched."
"It's a fantasy story," Cloud pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but..." she replied. "Some things are just kinda hard to swallow, y'know?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but then thought the better of it. If she hadn't yet noticed, then he wasn't about to point out the blindingly obvious. Flipping over another page, he continued to 'read'.
"'There in the valley, she came across a group of travellers, which she quickly joined..'," he trailed off, trying to come up with the next development.
"And..?" Yuffie asked, for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Cloud sighed yet again. It was getting way past midnight, he was tired, grouchy, and the made-up story was dragging on and accumulating more characters and plot twists than he could keep count of. Enough was enough, he decided. It was time to bring the story to a close.
"And she got on everyone's nerves, and stole all their stuff and slept in till well past noon every day, and constantly moaned and complained while they were travelling, and then one night she wandered into a pitch black cave all by herself, where she was gobbled up by a big, ugly monster. The End," he finished, slamming the dusty tome shut.
A brief silence ensued, as the young ninja assessed the climactic finale of their co-authored literary masterwork.
"Wow," Yuffie said. "That story sucked."
Cloud shrugged, dropping the book on the nightstand. "Fairy tales used to be pretty grim, y'know," he said. "Not all cute and cuddly like they are today."
"No, seriously, Spikes," Yuffie said. "That was so bad, I think you gave me cancer."
"Well, I wouldn't want that on my conscience," Cloud replied. "I don't think you have to worry about that, though," he added, tousling her hair as he got up.
"So... same time tomorrow?" Yuffie asked, sitting up in bed as he made to leave.
"It's Barret's turn tomorrow," Cloud pointed out.
"I know, but... I kinda liked the story," Yuffie said, looking away, her face growing red as she spoke. "...Even though it sucked.."
"You know, I don't think I'll ever understand you," Cloud said, scratching the back of his head. "You hated it, so you want me to read for you again?"
"Do it for me?" she asked, looking at him again. Once more, he was greeted by the puppy eyes. He decided to save himself the trouble of caving in after an hour's worth of pleading and simply assented to her request.
"All right," he said, nodding. "If you insist."
"Yay!" she said, smiling, raising her fist in the air as best she could, given her poorly state.
"By the way.." she said, as he headed toward the door. "I'm sorry about the other day."
Cloud halted in the doorway for a minute. He figured she must have been apologizing for trying to steal everyone's materia the other day. Though she had returned it to them, after leading them on a chase through half of Wutai, she had never officially apologized for her actions. And it was highly unusual to hear the young ninja apologize for anything. Maybe she really did have a fever, after all..
He thought back to the incident in question, remembering their last exchange.
She crammed all of their materia back into her friends' hands, hurriedly and without rhyme or reason. The others grumbled about having to sort through it all again as they departed, leaving just the two of them. As he made to leave, she tapped him on the shoulder, dropping one more coloured orb into his hands. He recognized it, having seen her wield it before in battle.
"This is... Leviathan?" he said, confused.
This was not merely another summon. Leviathan, he knew, was a symbol and protector of Wutai, and had been for time immemorial. The young ninja was reluctant to part with even the humblest of her materia at the best of times. Now she was handing him one of her most treasured possessions.
"And I expect you to take good care of it," she said, before heading out the door, leaving him the last person in the room.
"I will," he thought. "And its owner, too."
Just when he thought he had her figured out..
"Don't worry about it," he said, reaching for the light switch.
"Wait," Yuffie said, sitting up again. "Come here."
He walked back over to her bed, expecting another silly request. Instead, he was surprised when she pulled him down closer to her, giving him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Same time tomorrow, okay?" she said, looking up at him.
"Same time tomorrow," he said, nodding.
She smiled at him. Feeble though her constitution was, the brightness of her smile was undiminished.
"Good night," he said, switching the light off.
"G'night," she replied, turning over on her side, coughing lightly as she tucked in for the night.
As he headed back to his own bedroom, he realized that his cheeks were flush, and he felt hot under the collar, unusually so.
He wondered if he was coming down with a fever, too.
Author's Notes
Just a quick story idea that I decided to scribble down while working on some other things. Suffice it to say that I thought it was cute, and that was justification enough for me.
Let me know if you guys liked it, or if you have any preferences regarding what I should be working on or updating next. Cheers.