Thanks to Pied Flycatcher for spotting the typos!
Yuffie ran over to the general store and crouched behind a large crate standing next to it. Slowly she peeked over the rim. Her target was well within range. Suddenly it looked up. Yuffie cursed silently. Had it seen her? She didn't dare breathe. It leaned back against the wall of Turtle's Paradise and lit a cigarette. It hadn't noticed her! She smirked; it was time to pounce. Yuffie leaped over the crate and charged.
She stopped mere centimetres in front of the Shinra infantryman. The cigarette tumbled out of his wide open mouth.
"I'll kick your sorry Shinra ass right out of Wutai!" Yuffie punched the air a few times to illustrate her point.
The infantryman groaned. Why did this brat find it necessary to ruin the only thing that even came close to a holiday? Then he saw something. "Say, is that a heal materia you're holding?"
Yuffie held her right hand behind her back and quickly shook her head. She wasn't lying. It was a barrier.
"You're definitely holding some sort of materia, don't deny it," the infantryman said.
"So what if I was?" Yuffie folded her arms and pouted.
"Do you have a license?"
It took a moment to register. Then Yuffie spluttered, "A license? For materia?"
"Of course. Did you think Shinra would just allow anybody to use materia?
"But I've never needed a license before!"
"Bet you've never been challenged before either, right?"
"I forgot it at home!"
"Then I've to confiscate your materia," the infantryman said.
"No way!" Yuffie jumped back and clutched the materia to her chest.
The infantryman grinned. He unclipped his baton and swung it menacingly. "And how should I take that? As resisting the orders of a Shinra law enforcer?" he asked in a deliberately loud voice. Several passers-by turned to watch.
"Take it however you want!" Yuffie activated the materia and pulled several small shuriken out of her pocket.
"Do you want to get us killed, you crazy kid?" a man on the other side of the stream shouted.
"Just do what he says!" someone else joined in.
Yuffie gave them a withering glance. She considered whether the huge row her father would give her for beating up an infantryman in public would be worth keeping the materia. Even if she kept it for now, her father would probably confiscate it the moment he heard. She threw the materia towards the infantryman and stalked off.
"You can get it back if you show me that license of yours!" he yelled after her, laughed and lit another cigarette. Once she was out of sight, he picked the materia up.
Five minutes later, Yuffie arrived at her father's house. After kicking her shoes off, she went inside.
She leant on the low rail that ran around the fish pond and gazed in. As always, the carp were swimming in their small, endless circles. They probably hadn't been fed yet. Yuffie picked a can of fish food off a nearby shelf and shook some of it into the pond. They swam up to the surface and greedily gulped it down. She didn't particularly care for the fish, neither did her father, but they kept them there for old times sake.
She pushed herself up and went into her father's study. Godo was lying on a mattress on the floor and seemed to be asleep. Just to make sure, Yuffie kicked him. He grunted something and rolled over.
"How can you be asleep at this time?" Yuffie shook her head. She sat down at his desk and switched on his computer. After logging on to the internet, she typed "Materia" into a search engine.
The first hit was the main Shinra store. They had some pretty good stuff on offer. Yuffie made a mental note to visit them on her father's next diplomatic trip to Midgar. She laughed quietly. As it was Shinra, she wouldn't even feel slightly guilty.
Getting back to business, she went to their main site. Suddenly, she felt really angry. Why was she grovelling before them? "So that if anybody finds my stash of materia they have to prove that I stole it before they confiscate it," her more rational side reminded her.
Finding where to apply for the license was really hard. All that seemed to be available was driving licenses. It was easier to find one for a submarine than for materia. But after what seemed like an absolute age, she managed.
It was made clear that the license would cost an absolute fortune, five thousand gil to be exact. That didn't particularly bother Yuffie. Her father would gladly lend her the money, particularly if he didn't know about it. Shinra wouldn't keep it for long either, of course. She'd steal it back from them, a thousand times over.
Then she saw the minimum age requirement. "Seventeen," she whined, "I don't wanna wait four more years!"
"Did you say something?" Godo mumbled.
Yuffie froze. She closed the website and turned around slowly. He was still lying on the mattress with his eyes shut. It was obvious that he didn't want to get up. "Nothing, dad."
She leant back. What should she do? It was urgent, as only the very rich stayed in Wutai for more than a few days. Clearly she'd have to fake one.
She printed a picture for reference. Then, she collected what she thought she needed to make one. Namely a cereal box, some scrap paper and watercolours. About three-quarters of an hour later, she had made a license that looked somewhat convincing, assuming the inspector was drunk. That was good enough for Yuffie. Only really stupid people worked with Shinra.
All she needed now was an identification photograph.
Yuffie went to her room. Looking around, she saw her camera lying on a shelf. She picked it up and held it at arms length, trying to judge whether or not her face would be on the picture. Once satisfied, she pressed the button and got blinded by the flash. Yuffie stood there, blinking, for several seconds. Then she took two more, just in case she'd closed her eyes the first time. She removed the film and stuck it into her pocket.
She put the camera back and pulled a spare shuriken out of the cookie jar on her desk. One can never have too many of those. Then she left the house.
The general store was only a short stretch away. Once inside, Yuffie ran up to the counter. She dropped the film and a five gil note on to it. The cashier picked them up.
"How long will it take for it to be developed?" Yuffie asked, hopping from one foot to the other.
"A week or so."
"So long? Isn't there a quicker way?"
The cashier shrugged. "There's Express, but that's ten gil extra. You'd get the pics tomorrow through."
"Okay…" Yuffie pulled a grubby ten gil note out of her trouser pocket.
She walked home again. When she was standing at the front door, she glanced over to the pagoda. It was only two o'clock or so. Deciding to go and harass Gorky for a bit, Yuffie ran over to the Pagoda.
It wasn't as if she had improved or anything since the last time he had beaten her, but she was hoping that he would have a bad day. If she beat him just once, she could always go up to the second floor unchallenged. It wasn't the most honourable way to do it, but one doesn't win by playing fair, after all. And she would be a step closer to officially being Wutai's greatest warrior.
Yuffie climbed the steps to the entrance slowly. Doing so was always an empowering feeling. It almost made up for the world of pain that tended to follow moments later.
She slid the paper door open and stepped inside. The soles of her trainers squeaked on the highly polished wooden floor. Gorky was sitting in the middle of the room. He looked up. "You're trying to beat me again, Miss Yuffie? This would be the seventeenth time."
A high pitched voice shouted from upstairs, "Her again? I'm not refereeing that brat!"
"Shut it, punk!" Yuffie yelled back. Shake was so annoying. Why did they let him into the Pagoda?
"Then, let's begin." Gorky stood up and assumed a fighting stance in a fluid motion.
"He's not even bothering with the transformation anymore!" Yuffie thought, pulling a face. She clenched her fists and charged. "I'll get you this time!"
He sidestepped neatly and threw a punch, but she ducked just in time. She turned to face him, leapt forward and kicked him squarely in the gut. Clutching his stomach, Gorky staggered backwards.
"Ha!" Yuffie folded her arms. "I've won now, right?"
"I don't think so." Gorky looked at his shirt. "Even if you don't remove your shoes in this sacred building, it would be appropriate to wipe them."
Yuffie frowned. She pulled two small shuriken out of her back pocket and hurled them at him. Gorky barely managed to dodge. They soared past him and embedded themselves in the opposite wall. He hadn't expected her to use weapons.
Taking her chance, Yuffie lunged at him. She yelped in surprise as Gorky grabbed her wrist. He whirled her around a couple of times and let go again. Yuffie flew through the air and crashed into the wall. She collapsed onto the ground. She just lay there, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity.
Suddenly she heard Gorky ask, "Are you alright, Miss Yuffie?"
"Sucksville," she moaned.
"Ah, yes. Nice try, Miss Yuffie. But mind your language."
To prove that she didn't care, Yuffie swore some more. Then she stood up and limped back to her house.
She went to her room. Yuffie picked up her pillow and undid the buttons that held it closed. She held it up.
A rain of materia fell to the floor. Yuffie grinned. The mere sight of it cheered her up no end. Now the only thing left to do was find a restore among dozens of other, pretty much identical, green orbs. Yuffie started digging.
She actually found one pretty quickly. Yuffie picked it up between her thumb and index finger. She focused solely on it, trying to coax it into unleashing its magical powers. It shone brightly for a moment, and then the glow started fading, as did the worst of Yuffie's pain.
Even so, she felt wiped out. Activating a materia took its toll and it didn't even heal her completely. Her teacher had explained why, but Yuffie couldn't remember the reason. The question of what she'd do for the rest of the day was solved. She'd stay in bed.
Around six o'clock, Godo brought Yuffie's supper to her room. He sat down and handed her a dish of rice balls. Yuffie pushed them around the plate for a while, then half-heartedly started eating, using her fingers. He chose to ignore that.
Godo absentmindedly ruffled her hair. "Are you sure you're okay Yuffie? You might be concussed or you could have broken something."
"I'm fine."
"Really? Perhaps you should see a doctor…"
"I really am fine, dad," Yuffie said in the voice all teenagers use when grown-ups persistently fail to get it.
Godo pressed on. "You know, I didn't even attempt the Pagoda until I was sixteen."
Yuffie nodded sagely. "And the sky is bright purple… Sure dad, but everyone knows you tried at ten." Seeing the look on his face, she added, "Everyone listening to you and Staniv getting drunk, anyway."
"Exactly why were you- Forget it. Times have changed, okay?"
"Oh. In what way exactly?"
"Gorky is much better than the one who was there in my day and let's leave it at that, shall we?" Not waiting for an answer, Godo stood up and left the room. Yuffie stuck out her tongue.
Early next morning, the alarm clock rang with a hellish insistence. Yuffie opened one eye and groaned. She forced herself to sit up. Her head throbbed. She reached for the clock, but jerked her hand back as a surge of pain ran through it. Gingerly, she touched her right shoulder and winced. Bruises tended to be worse the following day. She decided that it would be a good idea to cast cure again.
After a couple more fumbled attempts, she managed to switch off the alarm clock. Yuffie staggered to her feet and got dressed. She decided that a bar of chocolate would constitute a healthy, nutritious breakfast and went to fetch one. On the way, she risked a peek into the study. Her father was still sleeping. Yuffie shrugged and tiptoed back out.
She fetched her fake license and headed off, finishing off her chocolate on the way to the store. After dropping the rapper into the sidecar of a motorbike, she went in. Ignoring the queue, she went straight to the counter. She demanded that the cashier should hand over her photos that instant. He groaned and started rummaging behind the counter. "Kazuki, Kinoe, here it is, Kisaragi." He handed Yuffie a paper envelope.
She opened it to make sure her photos really were there. "I'll borrow glue and scissors too, okay?"
"Does this look like a library? We're trying to make a profit here!"
Yuffie pulled a face. He muttered something under his breath, pulled a glue tube and a pair of scissors out of a drawer and handed them to Yuffie. He waved the next customer forward.
She carefully cut the photo to size and stuck it onto her license. Then she handed the stuff back to the cashier, who was looking at her disdainfully. After wiping away the excess glue, she left the shop.
She ran over the bridge to Turtle's Paradise. Yuffie tried to kick the door open dramatically, but failed. She opened the door in the conventional manner instead.
Inside, she saw an infantryman sitting at a low table in the middle of the room. He was holding a cup in both hands and taking a tiny sip out of it every so often.
Taking a chance, Yuffie walked up to him, brandishing her license. "Sucks to be you. Now give it back!"
The infantryman spun round, spilling coffee over his uniform. "What do you mean?"
"That means give back my materia, loser!"
He looked around nervously. "I don't have anything that belongs to you! Perhaps you mean someone else? We all look the same in our uniforms…"
Another infantryman stood up from the bar and walked over. "Don't worry, it's only a brat I met the other day." He turned to Yuffie. "So you're back and you've actually got a license. Let's see..."
He prised it out of her fingers and ripped it to shreds.
Yuffie jumped back. "What?! How did you know it wasn't real?" She clenched her fists.
"Being almost twice as big as the real thing was a slight hint, brat. Run off and play something safer, will you? I'm trying to finish my drink in peace!"
Yuffie started sobbing and ran out of the pub. She waited outside, hoping that the infantryman would feel guilty and hand the materia back anyhow. After a while it became clear that he wouldn't, so she stopped the act and walked home.
Losing the materia didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. She had that hidden stash inside her pillow, after all. Besides, the coffee drinker would take a while to realise what had happened to his fire and restore.
Upon arrival she heard a noise coming from her room. She wasn't worried that it might be burglars or monsters. She was sure that she could handle them. Except the one that lurked under her bed, but it only came out at night. No, what worried her was that her father might find some of the stuff that various Shinra officials had filed as "missing". Godo certainly wouldn't report her, but she could see her pocket money going up in smoke.
Yuffie opened the door. "What are you doing?"
"Tidying? This place is a tip." Godo picked up a random wrapper and dropped it again to prove his point.
Yuffie ran behind him and started pushing him out of her room.
"What are you doing, Yuffie?" Godo didn't budge.
"Nothing at all. I'll do the tidying myself, later. Don't you want me to be independent?"
Godo turned and shoved Yuffie to the ground. "First I want to know why you want me out of your room so urgently! Judging by your record you'll have Anti-Shinra documents in there or something!"
"Hey! I'm not stupid enough to hide those in my room! They're- oops…" Yuffie grinned nervously. Godo sighed.
"They're over a year old, anyway," Yuffie said, hoping to save the situation. She groaned quietly.
"Let's pretend I didn't hear any of that. Just tell me what's really up."
Yuffie looked at the floor. That dumb tale about the materia license would be a perfect cover up. If she left out a bit, she would come out as totally blameless. And she wouldn't even really be lying. She took a deep breath. "A mean Shinra dude pocketed my materia just because I don't have a stupid license."
"And you didn't provoke him at all?"
"Of course not!"
"Then why don't you get one?"
Yuffie stood up. "They cost five thousand gil and you have to be seventeen, unless you work for Shinra, then fourteen's enough!"
Godo touched his chin. "I'm sure that's negotiable. I am the Lord of Wutai, after all."
"So you can pull a few strings?" she asked, hopefully.
He shrugged. "And flip a couple of levers too, if you want."
"Then why aren't you-"
"Not that topic again, thank you. Do you want that license or not?"
Yuffie didn't hesitate. She leaped forward and hugged him. "I'll take the license. When I've got enough materia, I'll kick Shinra's ass!"
Godo smiled weakly. "It's a bit more complicated than that," he said, prising Yuffie off, "But I'll write them a letter right now."
"You can apply online, dad."
"Some things work better on paper, Yuffie." Godo started walking out of the room. At the doorway, he paused and turned round. "Do me a favour and burn those documents, will you?"
Yuffie nodded.
"You also said that you'd tidy your room."
Yuffie sighed. Then she grinned again. She hadn't specified when later, had she?
Godo sent the letter in the afternoon. The next two days, Yuffie checked the mail several times, hoping that she'd get a reply. She also checked several other people's mail. Mistakes in the post were known to happen, after all. Most of the time she was looking for more materia, but that's another story.
It was the late morning of the third day, when the highly anticipated letter finally dropped on the doorstep. Yuffie slipped it out of her father's grasp, leaving him staring at his empty hands for several moments.
She sliced the envelope open with her shuriken. After briefly scanning the enclosed letter, she chucked it over her shoulder. It was only the Terms of Service and who bothers with them? Her father did, as he quickly picked it up and started studying it in detail.
Then Yuffie pulled out the real prize: The license.
As it was laminated, it was just a little bit shiny. Yuffie thought it would have been rather pretty, if it weren't for the ugly Shinra logo on the back.
With it in hand, she ran over to Turtle's Paradise. She walked up to the counter and clambered onto one of the stools. "Do you know where the guy with my materia is?" In the meantime everyone knew who she meant.
The bartender didn't stop cleaning the glasses. "I do not."
"You see, I've got that dumb license now."
"He has left."
"He wouldn't have left my materia for me, would he?"
"No."
"Pity." Yuffie sighed. "It's really mean that he steals materia from a little girl like me…"
The bartender spluttered a laugh. "You? You really shouldn't complain!" He lowered his voice. "Quite a few of the tourists lose more money to you than they spend here!"
"Really? That's so cool!"
The bartender leaned on the counter. "Don't get too cocky, young lady. They don't spend thatmuch. Shinra pays everything for them."
He glanced around conspiratorially. "Talking about them, all the infantrymen left in a real hurry, right in the middle of the night. They were picked up by a helicopter just outside town…"
Yuffie leant closer.
"They say that there's trouble brewing. But this is Shinra, so everything's top secret and I'm not telling you this," he whispered.
"I'm not listening."
"That's good. Then you didn't hear that their Gongaga Reactor exploded."