Warm up scene
A soft breeze floated across the hill, brushing her hair from her face, caressing her cheeks. Her eyes filled with longing at the scene before her. Rustic mountains and evergreen grass reflected in her grey eyes and glistened as the tears fell from her joy. She was home.
Present time
A great, boundless ball of energy hurtled through the doors and into the surprised arms of the bartender. Her shock quickly passed as she returned the exuberant hug, "It's great to see you Yuffie! It's been so long," said Tifa. "Too long..."
"Gawd, I know! I missed you guys sooo much! I can't believe my old man finally let me come. Then again, I didn't give him much choice," Yuffie said, flashing a mischievous grin at her friend. "Sooo, when are the rest of the guys getting here?" Bouncing up and down with excitement Yuffie eventually plopped herself down on one of the chairs in the empty bar.
"Well, Cloud's out on a delivery and Barrett's taken Marlene and Denzel out to the park for some fun 'cause he hasn't seen them in so long. Cid should be bringing Red and Shera later. Reeve said he could come as soon as he finishes off his work today at the WRO and that he'll bring Cait Sith with him. I'm not too sure about Vincent, I didn't hear back from him but knowing Vincent he'll turn up if he wants to."
Yuffie deflated a bit at the last part of Tifa's statement and her eyes clouded over, but she quickly feigned a look of happiness and replied, "Well I guess it's just us 'till the others get here." Jumping up, the ninja looked at Tifa eagerly, "So what can I help with for the party?" Shaking her head, Tifa laughed, "Well I hope you know how to cook. I haven't finished preparing everything yet."
"Course! What are we waiting for, to the kitchen!" Disappearing in a whirlwind of arms and legs, Yuffie sprinted off into the kitchen. Laughing heartily, Tifa followed with a widening grin.
Later on
"I can't believe you know how to cook!" exclaimed Tifa.
"Well, living on your own for long periods of time does that to a person." Yuffie's jovial attitude faded slightly as she spoke, but it was quickly restored as the oven chimed at them. Bounding over to the it, Yuffie grabbed a pair of oven mittens from Tifa and extracted a wonderfully enticing cake.
"Yumm! I can't wait to eat this." Yuffie said, grinning enthusiastically at Tifa. Laughing, Tifa replied, "Just make sure there's enough for the others."
"Pfft. Others shmethers. This cake is mine!" Laughing, Yuffie placed the cake on a table before extracting her hands from the mittens. Leaving the cake to cool they walked back to the main room.
Sitting down, Yuffie asked with a teasing glint in her eyes, "So, anything going on between you and Chocobo head, hmmm?" Laughing at the blush spreading across Tifa's face, Yuffie clapped her hands excitedly, "Don't tell me he finally got the guts to ask!" Sighing dejectedly, Tifa shook her head, "No, but I'm not giving up just yet. Ever since the Kadaj incident he's been staying around more and opening up to us. I just hope he can let go of the past."
Tifa looked out the window sadly, only to be surprised by the reply that followed. "I know how much you want this to work, and I hope it does. You deserve this more than anyone else I know." Sitting back in her chair Yuffie let out a thoughtful sigh and continued, " I think that you've waited long enough...but if you really love him then maybe it's worth the wait, no matter what anyone else thinks, because at the end of the day it's your happiness that matters." With a sudden laugh Yuffie leapt up and, striking a determined pose, stated, "but that doesn't mean that we can't help him along!"
Recovering from the shock following Yuffie's statement, Tifa looked at the ninja in astonishment, then gave her a look of gratitude. "You've really grown up, you know that Yuffie?" Tifa stated. Casting her eye over her friend, Tifa realised the changes in the 20-year-old gir...woman before her. Her body had filled out and now showed the curvier figure of womanhood that it now possessed. Although still slim and fit, softer curves had replaced the lankiness that was once there. Her new outfit covered more than the last one had. Mid thigh length baize pants that were surprisingly baggy, at least compared to her old ones, with green and white shoes that reached her knees. An orange singlet with a loose, purple jacket that was cut off at the shoulders. A green and white arm warmer was sported on her left arm and a purple fingerless glove on her right hand. Overall less revealing but no less Yuffie.
Though smiling with gratitude, Yuffie huffed in reply, "Thanks for noticing, but it took you long enough." An instant later, the hyperactive ninja was on her feet and bounding over to her previously discarded bags, saying, "Now where am I dumping my stuff? Can't let plunderers steal my precious materia now, can I?" Turning to face Tifa again, Yuffie let out a huge smile, "It really is good to see you again. I can't believe how much I missed you." Without waiting for a response, the bubbly girl grabbed her stuff and bounded up the stairs, shouting, "Are you gonna show me to my room or what?!" Grinning at Yuffie's antics, Tifa stood up and hurried after her friend to make sure she didn't do anything silly.
Later on
After settling Yuffie in and having a nice chat to catch up, Tifa and Yuffie descended down the stairs to investigate the loud noises that were shaking the bar. Upon opening the door the pair was greeted by a gruff voice exclaiming, "It's about &% time you got here. With the amount of stuff Shera carries my #&^$ arms are about to fall off!" Stomping into the bar, a disgruntled Cid carried the bags over to the counter and dumped them rather unceremoniously onto the ground. "Now Cid, I need those clothes. Just because you can live off a lot less doesn't mean you can criticize others, especially females, for needing more stuff," said a chiding Shera as she followed her husband into the bar. Sulking slightly, Cid grumbled something about women before turning to Tifa and Yuffie. "It's great to see you again Teef. You too brat." Pouting slightly, Yuffie promptly launched herself into a hug with the gruff pilot, yelling, "It's good to see you, old man." Slightly embarrassed but begrudgingly happy at Yuffie's show of affection, her victim patted her head awkwardly while muttering "I'm not that old". In spite of this, he allowed a slight smile to appear on his face.
Though the two fought a lot, Cid had accidentally managed to swear and stomp his way into the role of a father figure. He would have never admitted he liked it, but it had been dragged out of him by Shera after a few threats in relation to cigarettes and their immediate disposal coupled with aggressive waving of a frying pan. Even then, Cid had only caved in and muttered it after she had promised to never tell the ninja, because he "didn't want her to get a big head and all." Soon after, he had stomped off, muttering something about needing a drink.
Entering behind Shera, Red slowly sauntered into the room to see Cid's awkward hug. Making himself known, he said calmly, "Good afternoon Tifa, Yuffie. I hope you are both well." Leaping out of the hug, Yuffie bounded over to Red and threw her arms around him before exclaiming, "It's great to see you too!" Touched by her affection he gently nuzzled her head with his nose.
Little bit later
Everyone had turned up, save the two more silent members of the group, and were now sitting down at the bar, drinks in hand, happily talking and relaxing. Cloud had yet to return from his delivery and Vincent had not appeared, if he was even going to. Barret and Cid were avidly gulping back drinks in an impromptu, but expected, drinking contest. Yuffie, Denzel, Cait Sith and Marlene were laughing and running around the bar as they played an enjoyable game of tag. Tifa, Red and Reeve were watching while holding a quiet conversation.
A quiet knocking was heard at the door and, in the middle of careening around a table, Yuffie went leaping across the room and over to the door. Flinging it open, the ecstatic ninja yelled "Vinnie!" before promptly throwing herself into the arms of the man before her. Utterly surprised by the ninja's yell, Vincent was unprepared for the hug but, being Vincent, remained upright and immobile as Yuffie tried to hug the stoic man to death, admittedly failing utterly. A quiet "Hello Yuffie" escaped the caped gunslinger before Yuffie reluctantly released him. Happy that he hadn't stiffened at the contact, but blushing slightly as well, she bounced over to the others. "Hi Vincent," said a smiling Tifa, followed by a chorus of greetings from the others, except Barret and Cid who were both too engrossed in their competition. Uncomfortable at the attention, he made his way over to the bar, positioning himself in the corner of the room. His cape swished as he sat down, a slight nod of acknowledgement directed at them.
"Well Vincent, it is nice that you could join us for the party. I hope you can stay a while," said an anxious Tifa, knowing that Vincent rarely stayed after any celebration, if he even arrived. Since the Deepground incident he had been slightly more talkative and present at events, yet expressionless, as always. Tifa noted with a small smile that he did open up to Yuffie more than the others, and it warmed her to know that they were close. Thinking back to the blush that had flushed Yuffie's cheeks at the gunslinger's arrival, she couldn't wait to approach the ninja about it. Curious about the smile on Tifa's face, Reeve spoke up, 'What are you smiling about over there, Tifa?' "Hmm, oh, just thinking." Though raising his eyebrows slightly at the reply, he turned back to the others and the night continued.
Later that night
After everyone had retired to their appointed rooms, Tifa had made her way to the room she and Yuffie were sharing. Opening the door, she saw her roommate bouncing up and down on the bed, already in her nightclothes. Turning as the door opened, the ninja greeted her fellow Avalanche member with a smile. Sitting down on the bed, Tifa looked at Yuffie, and with a mischievous smile said, "Sooo, what's going on between you and Vincent, huh?" Blushing a deep crimson, Yuffie started frantically waving her arms in front of her while shaking her head vigorously. "N…nothing! Why?' "Just that you were blushing as you hugged him. So, one, you hugged him and he's intimidating even at the best of times, and two, you were embarrassed. No secrets, so spill." Leaning forward, Tifa looked eagerly at Yuffie. Scratching the back of her head awkwardly she blushed even deeper while quietly mumbling, "I kinda like him…a lot." Looking nervously around the room she waited.
"That's wonderful Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed. Thinking a bit further, she asked, "Does he know yet?" "NO! I couldn't possibly tell him; he's still probably hung up over that Lucrecia chick." Hanging her head dejectedly, Yuffie continued, "You probably have a way better chance of getting Chocobo head to admit his undying love to you than I have a hope of getting Vince to even like me, let alone anything else." Sighing, she lay back on the bed. Looking down herself, Tifa muttered, "I think we have about the same chance of getting those two to admit to anything other than friendship. Cloud is still so closed and..." "Emotionally constipated," suggested Yuffie. "Yeah." Laughing, Tifa commented, "We're both hopeless cases, aren't we?" Snorting in response to Tifa's thoughts, Yuffie sat back up and looked at her friend, "Well at least we're hopeless together, huh," Smiling at her, she continued, "Well, we can't stop trying to get their attention, or start trying in my case." Pouncing on the martial artist in an attempt to cheer her up the two were soon in fits of giggles and feeling slightly less depressed.
"When is Cloud coming back anyway?" "He said that he should be back either tonight or tomorrow morning." "Well then Teef, I'm going to bed. The sooner I sleep, the better. The trip here was tiring; I'm exhausted." Flopping back on to the bed and pulling the covers up, Yuffie snuggled down. Following suit, Tifa got into bed and turned the lights off.