Masking The Pain

Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of it's characters

"No! My oatmeal! This can't be real. The forces of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing. My oatmeal is gone. My oatmeal will no longer laugh, no longer cry, or get angry. What about Us? What are We supposed to do? My fingers are tingling, my mouth is dry, my eyes are burning," Yuffie said as her oatmeal fell to the floor.

Vincent shot her a glare and said, "That wasn't funny."

Yuffie blinked and let a tear fall down her face. Wait… was she really crying. It had been so long she had last cried; not since her mother had died, not since she was five. "I know I just…" she gave a quivered breath and let another tear fall down her face, "I miss her so much Vincent!"

It had been a year since Aerith's death, a year since Cloud had killed Sephiroth.

"We all do."

Yuffie felt a pain constrict in her chest and let out a small cry.

Cloud walked in and sat down next to Yuffie. "What's wrong?" he asked wiping away a tear from her face.

"I miss her, I miss Aerith," Yuffie sobbed, giving into the pain.

Cloud leaned over and hugged Yuffie, "So do I, but it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Sephiroth's."

"I know," Yuffie said still sobbing. "But it still hurts. She was such a great friend. I miss her."

"I know," Cloud said still holding Yuffie in his embrace.

She pushed away from him and wiped away a tear. She hung her head down with her arms crossed. "But what are we supposed to do? Live life like we have the past year, masking our pain?"

"We must repent for our sins," Vincent stated grimly. Cloud and Yuffie shot him confused looks and Yuffie laughed.

"What?" Vincent asked frowning, "I was serious."

"Oh," Yuffie said standing up, "I'm going to bed."

She walked out of the room and into her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and slid to the floor. She sat with back to the door and thought. Just thought. About her mom and dad, Aerith and Cloud, Avalanche, everything.

Yuffie heard a knock on the door and opened her eyes. Had she fallen asleep? "Come in," she said and the door creaked open. Yuffie fell backward, her head resting on Cloud's feet.

"Hi," she waved up at Cloud.

"Hey, are you O.K.?" Cloud asked, looking down at Yuffie who was now grinning from ear to ear.

"Absolutely," Yuffie said jumping up.

"Ok, Goodnight," Cloud said and turned to walk away.

"Cloud," Yuffie said catching his arm. "Thanks."

"For what?" Cloud asked.

"For being there, as a friend."

"Yeah," Cloud said and walked away.

"Night," Yuffie called down the hall.

Marlene walked out of her room and rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?"

Yuffie opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She found she had no idea what to tell Marlene. "Nothing," is what she finally thought to tell her. "Go back to bed ."

"What were you guys talking about?" Marlene asked innocently. "Why did he ask if you were ok?"

"Because I wasn't feeling good earlier," Yuffie said, "Now go back to bed."

"It's her isn't it?" Marlene asked looking at her feet. "It's Aerith."

"Yes, Now please go back to bed," Yuffie said, "It's late."

"But I'm not tired," Marlene whined.

"Let's go make some hot cocoa," Yuffie sighed, pulling Marlene into the kitchen.

"Ok," Marlene replied eagerly, allowing herself to be dragged into the kitchen.

They arrived in the kitchen and Yuffie made the hot cocoa. When everything was done she sat next to Marlene and sipped her drink. "How are you doin' Marlene?" Yuffie asked ruffling Marlene's hair.

"Good," Marlene said, taking a drink. "You guys were talking about Aerith, weren't you?"

"Yes," Yuffie smiled feeling the pain she had felt earlier grow in her chest. "You…" she started, "Are you ok? I mean… how are you feeling about all this?"

"I'm sad," Marlene whispered.

"Yeah, me too," Yuffie sighed. "You know, Vincent says we should repent for our sins," Yuffie giggled.

Marlene laughed "We probably should. How though?"

"I say we steal all the materia and use it to take over the world through total annihilation. Then we make everyone repent for their sins, therefore, living through them, we repent for ours," Yuffie smiled.

Marlene giggled, "Yeah, but we can't tell no one ok?"

"Ok, it's just us," Yuffie laughed, "We start tomorrow."