Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't make any money from this.

A/N: So, I re-wrote this, and with the help of my wonderful beta, Rikku the bluefirevixon, improved it a lot.

Thanks to those who reviewed the first tie around, I really appreciate it!

Chapter 1:

"Ugh," Yuffie harshly grunted, pulling some of her dark hair, which now slightly brushed her shoulders, out of her eyes.

At the current moment, she was extremely indecisive. Her obligations required her to return to Wutai…she just didn't want to (not to mention that she didn't really have anywhere else to go).

Flashback

"Taking off again you irresponsible child?" her father asked her from the doorway, making Yuffie freeze in the midst of preparing to exit through her bedroom window.

What was he doing up so late? It was well past midnight, and no one should have been awake.

"Oh, come on, old man! It's not like I'm needed here. You're the ruler and as far as I know, you're not going to drop dead or give up your throne anytime soon," Yuffie snapped impatiently, turning to Godo.

Her father raised his eyebrows, "I never did say I was going to stop you. However, I do have my doubts about you ever returning."

"Why would you think that?" the princess asked, putting on her façade of innocence.

"You're every bit as restless as I was at your age," Godo replied. There was a hint of wistfulness in his voice.

Yuffie scrunched her nose, disdaining the thought of being compared to him. "You make me sound like a rebellious teenager," she muttered with a slight glare. Figuring that this might take a while, she moved over to her bed and sat down.

"You are. Although you aren't a teenager any more, which means you'll need to start taking more responsibility." He sat down next to her.

I'm feeling a lecture coming on, she thought dryly.

"Soon, you'll need to settle down and prepare for your turn to rule," her father continued, ignoring his daughter's obvious annoyance.

"I know all this," a slight edge entered her voice, "Can I least enjoy freedom while I still can?"

"As long as you return…and when I say return, I mean sometime within this year," Godo said, not putting it past Yuffie to twist his words. He then stood up, the long robe that was customary for Wutai's rulers to wear trailing behind him.

Shrugging off the rare father-daughter moment, Yuffie decided to take her leave.

"See ya, old man," She went back to her window and jumped out of it, leaving her home and her father behind her.

End Flashback

It was nearly a month ago that she had left her home. Since then, she had occupied her time by wandering from place to place, never staying in any one location for very long. Yuffie had begun to find it a bit tiresome, yet she still wasn't quite ready to return home.

"Something wrong, Yuffie?" Tifa asked, noticing her friend's fidgeting.

"Uh, not really," Yuffie replied from her barstool. She had decided to visit Tifa at Seventh Heaven, hoping it would distract her from her dilemma. Clearly, it wasn't working.

"You know, you're usually much more convincing when you lie," the martial artist responded dryly with a dark eyebrow raised. She put down the glass she had been cleaning and rested her hands against the bar she was standing behind. "Really, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing's wrong, really," the petite ninja insisted. She couldn't even remember why she didn't want to tell Tifa anymore, but her prominent stubborn streak prevented her from giving in.

Tifa narrowed her eyes at the younger woman and waited for her to crack.

Yuffie rolled her eyes, "Tifa, you know that won't work. I'm a ninja, remember? We're trained to deal with much worse than that."

Tifa sighed and picked up another glass to clean. "Well, if you really don't want to tell me...I just wanted to see if I could help."

Thinking that she had hurt Tifa's feelings and secretly wanting to talk about it anyway, Yuffie decided to give in. "It's not that big of a deal." She shrugged, "I mean it's not really a problem…I just haven't decided whether I'm going back to Wutai or not." She looked down at the bar, tapping her fingers against the wood.

Tifa set down the glass she was cleaning, "Why wouldn't you go back?"

"It's boring there," Yuffie responded simply. It might not have been the whole truth, but it was true enough. Since she had grown up with no siblings and hardly any friends, she wasn't used to sharing her thoughts and feelings with others. Quite frankly, she didn't find it very comfortable.

The martial artist had a strong feeling that there was more than her friend was telling her, but she didn't press the grey-eyed ninja about it. Instead, she told her, "If you like, you can stay here for a bit. It may be a little crowded though, with Denzel and Marlene here, but I'm sure we could find room."

Yuffie was tempted to take that offer, but she didn't like being a burden on anybody.

"As much as I appreciate that, Tifa, no thanks," Yuffie replied with a small smile.

As Tifa was about to insist, the door creaked open. Tifa gave a surprised smile, "Long time, no see."

Yuffie twisted her head around and instantly recognized the person the minute she saw the ragged crimson cape.

"Vincent?" Yuffe asked, staring into his red eyes. "What are you doing here?"

She was glad to see him. He had dropped off the radar a couple of weeks ago, as was typical of him, and had shown no signs of resurfacing anytime soon.

Ignoring the ninja's question, Vincent's eyes searched the room. "Is Cloud here?"

"I'm right here," Cloud's voice accompanied the sound of him descending the wooden stairs. "Is something wrong?"

"Possibly," Vincent replied, his deep voice resounding throughout the room. "I've recently heard a rumor about another Sephiroth clone."

Cloud's vivid mako-blue eyes opened a fraction wider. It was a movement that was virtually undetectable.

"Whoa! Wait! You mean like a repeat of what happened with Kadaj?" Yuffie cried, jumping off the bar stool with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Not quite, but perhaps something similar. I do not know how much of this information, if any, is valid," the crimson-eyed gunman replied, briefly glancing at Yuffie.

Yuffie blinked in surprise. Vincent was actually speaking in complete sentences that consisted of more than a handful of words for once.

"For now, we should keep an eye out until we know for sure," Cloud determined after a brief moment. "I'll get in contact with the others to let them know what's going on.

As Cloud left the room, Tifa turned to Yuffie, "Sephiroth, again. When will it end?" She shook her head in exasperation. "Yuffie, are you sure you don't want to stay here? Really, I'd make room for you. I'd feel much better knowing that you're here, safe."

"She's not returning to Wutai?" Vincent asked.

Yuffie frowned; he was speaking as if she wasn't sitting right in front of him. "No, I don't want to go back there yet, especially considering what you've just told us."

"If it is a matter of finding room, I'll allow you to stay with me. There is more than enough room at Shinra mansion."

Yuffie blinked a few times, unable to respond. This just wasn't quite registering with her. First Vincent was speaking in actual sentences and now this? What was he going to do next? There was definitely something strange going on. "Um…okay," she finally responded, still somewhat dumbfounded.

Tifa gave the two an odd look. As relieved as she was that Yuffie would be somewhere safe, she was having trouble shaking the shock from Vincent making such an offer.

This, however, would pale in comparison to what the next couple of months would bring.

A/N: So there it was. Hope you all liked it!

FEEDBACK WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!