Chapter 1: Reunion

The early morning rays of light lit the marble room, Renvia, Yuffie's servant, drew back the curtains letting the light escape into Yuffie's room. The light reflected against Yuffie's beautiful face as she lay asleep in her bed, she groaned as the light shone in her eyes. Sitting up straight, she rubbed her eyes furiously, trying to get rid of the sleep in her eyes. Yuffie looked at her servant.

"Good morning, Miss Kisaragi," said Renvia, bowing politely, Yuffie rolled her eyes, she hated having servants in her house but her father suggested it would be a good idea since after all, Yuffie being a typical 19-year-old, she never really tidied her room. Yuffie managed to put on a smile, since Renvia has been good to her and works twice as hard as her everyday. Yuffie had gotten fired from her last job at a pub, not that the money was good enough anyways, she still had a tough time looking for another one. Hopefully someone would need help sooner or later.

"Morning Renvia, thanks for the wake-up call," Yuffie grinned, Renvia smiled, then bowed before exiting the room, Yuffie shifted herself off the bed and went off to the bathroom to get washed. Then after that she could continue looking for a job, she thought she saw some help wanted in the outskirts of Wutai, seeing as she was old enough to go out on her own, travelling to the outskirts didn't seem like such a bad idea. Her father's old complains started ringing in her head. "Yuffie-san, when are you going to go out and find yourself a lovely man to bring back home with you, you're young and talented and very pretty so stop wasting time and go out there girl!" she made a choking sound, her father could be very exasperating at times. So what if she didn't have a boyfriend yet, she's nineteen for god's sake! She's still young as it is! Yuffie quickly finished up washing her self, droplets of water still clinging to her long black eyelashes, she rubbed them away and combed her short black hair, then she put some moisturiser on her face. Thank god she went past the stage of puberty spots. Yuffie exited the bathroom and searched her closet for something to wear, she eventually ended up wearing her blackish outfit, the one she wore when she worked with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, Yuffie smiled. She really missed working there, especially learning more about the Heartless, Nobodies and Organisation XIII, those times really set Yuffie working hard to save her new home world after she had moved out of Midgar; especially after Meteor destroyed half the towns, killing thousands of people.

So many lives were at risk when the Heartless emerged in Traverse Town, since she worked with Leon, Aerith, Cid and Geoffrey, she helped protect the refugees that came to Traverse Town because their worlds were taken over by the shadows (Heartless). During those years, fighting hard to protect people really seemed worth it, it wasn't anything ordinary, it was exciting and adventurous. But just as things got worse in Traverse Town, Sora, the keyblade wielder, arrived in Traverse Town. Leon found out that the Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade but it also attracted more to come to Traverse Town. Yuffie smiled broadly to herself, she really missed that kid, Sora, though he wasn't a little kid now, he was a teenager probably sixteen or seventeen, same as Kairi but as for Riku, he'd be about seventeen or eighteen considering he was the oldest in the group along with Wakka. Yuffie exited the house, grabbing a buttered roll from the kitchen telling Renvia that she'll be eating it outside, she walked across the wooden bridge and out the giant gates. The sun shone proudly over Yuffie's head, it was 35 degrees outside and it was a good thing Yuffie chose to wear the black outfit since it had no sleeves. She wandered lonely along the river bay, the Flerras, a flower only grown in Wutai, danced gracefully in the breeze. They lay abundantly across the fresh green grass, Yuffie stopped to admire the Flerras, looking at them reminded her of her mother, how they used to spend their time out walking on a Friday afternoon and every time Yuffie and her mother passed the flowers, Yuffie, being only six years old would say: "Look mama, the Flerras have turned pink this year and not red, how come?" Yuffie's mother, Yin, would laugh and tell her: "Because the great gods of Wutai have changed the time of the month, it is now spring so the Flerras have changed their colour to pink in honour of the third god Vella, but don't worry Yuffie-san, they will change to red again when Summer comes." the six year old Yuffie nodded at this, but still didn't understand up until now. Yuffie stared away from the flowers, tears prickling her eyes, she rushed away from the flowers, wanting to run away from the memories of her mother's death. It was because of them!

Those Turks! They killed thousands of people from Midgar, including my mother who had recently moved there after the invasion! Those bastards! I hate everyone of them! Even though this was 13 years ago, I will never forgive them!

Yuffie was running so fast that she wasn't thinking or looking where she was going, she found herself stopping in the middle of the city of Wutai right in front of a pub, a Help Wanted list was visible on the window, she went inside and asked the manager about applying for a job. The manager looked at her.

"Mmm, sorry you don't look the part for what we need," he said flatly.

"What do you mean "The part for what we need"?" Yuffie asked, her voice becoming stern.

"Well, we're looking for a waitress that's willing on being a bit…revealing," said the Manager, smirking at Yuffie's shocked look.

"Revealing? What kinda pub do you run here?" Yuffie asked him, outraged about what he said.

The Manager pointed at the rusty sign hanging above his head on the ceiling, it read:

The Strip Pub open from 9:00-12:30 People under eighteen not allowed.

Yuffie flushed deep red, she turned to the manager.

"I-I didn't see…oh god did you think I was going to apply to be a revealing waitress?" Yuffie asked him appallingly. The manager nodded.

"Even if you were interested I still wouldn't recommend taking this job, you should try somewhere else, have a good day," said the Manager turning his back on Yuffie and dealing with a customer. Yuffie didn't wait there long, she bolted right out of the pub just in case some of the men in there thought she was the new waitress, oh if she had been accepted! What would her father think of her? Yuffie closed the door behind her and went far away from the pub, she hadn't known that they would have something like that in the city of Wutai. Two and a half hours wasted and she still hadn't found any jobs that would accept her that day, Yuffie looked at her watch, 12:30, she sighed irritably.

"Maybe I should travel to Midgar, they might have more jobs than this shit of a place!" Yuffie mumbled angrily, casting an angry look at the pub, which was still visible even a mile away. She took out the roll and ate it gratefully, Renvia was too good to her, making her breakfast in the morning was just too much for Yuffie but it didn't seem to bother Renvia that much. Her and Yuffie grew like sisters over the past eleven years of looking after Yuffie. Renvia had taken the job as a servant when she was sixteen and Yuffie was eight, after those years everything seemed fine. Yuffie stopped at the train station, the train from Wutai to Midgar was leaving in five minutes, Yuffie quickly paid for her ticket and went on the train. An hour went by and she was safely in Midgar at half one, she tossed the tin foil from her roll into the bin, then headed for Sector 8 to see if anyone wanted help there. There was one feeling that kept her from going to Sector 8, wasn't that a bad place? Maybe it had changed after those years, she had heard news that they were rebuilding some parts of Midgar, would Sector 8 be one of them, she thought it over and decided she would chance it. Yuffie walked nervously through Midgar, as she reached Sector 8, she stopped hesitantly. Then carried on walking, despite some shifty looking strangers covered in dark brown heavy jackets, keeping a close eye on her. She ignored the shady looks they gave her and continued walking forwards, as she walked halfway through the dark alley of Sector 8, she saw the town, to her disappointment; the town was still the same. Plucking up the courage, she looked around at the shops. Nothing much was there, she sighed and walked on further into the outer part of Sector 8. This time, Yuffie was surprised, the town here had changed dramatically. More shops had come in and it seemed less impoverished than the part of Sector 8 she had past, Yuffie, smiling to herself, started to check the shops to see if help was wanted. Four shops didn't recommend Yuffie and she became more desperate than before.

"O for god's sake! Where can I find a friggin job in this feckin place?" she cursed under her breath, she then spotted a pub not far from her, sensing hope, she walked towards the pub and stepped inside, feeling a bit shy and stupid. The pub didn't seem at all that bad, a bit dusty but not like that dump of a place back in Wutai. The bartender was dealing with some pissed customer, obviously refusing to accept whatever the offer was that the drunken customer had asked for. She sent him out of the pub, pushing him towards the exit. After that, she went back to the counter and spotted Yuffie standing shyly near the door. She smiled.

"Hello there sweetie, and what can I do for you?" she asked her kindly, Yuffie crept up feeling small and looked at the bartender.

"Er…can I speak to the manager please?" Yuffie asked her, the bartender blinked and laughed. It wasn't in a rude way, but a sort of high, cheerful laugh that made you want to smile.

"You're looking at her," she said pointing at herself. Yuffie raised her eyebrows.

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know, I…well, I was just wondering, if-well…is there any help needed?" Yuffie asked her calmly, but inside she felt scared and hoped that this one person would give her the job. The bartender smiled and got out some forms.

"I was hoping when someone would ask, it's hell working in a pub on your own, ever since my divorce with my husband, things have turned upside down. He used to take care of the fights that broke out, and now I have to deal with it, but I suppose there is an advantage to it, I've built up my strength from all that!" she said flexing her muscles, she placed the forms in front of Yuffie, Yuffie smiled broadly, hardly able to believe her luck; even if it was in Sector 8. She passed Yuffie her blue gel pen.

"Now, sign here please and I'll accept you and we'll get cracking!" she said cheerfully, after Yuffie had finished filling in the form, the bartender looked at her grades in her junior cert.

"You're a very bright girl I see from your junior cert results, it's a good thing you came along today, I'm Natasha and it's a pleasure to have you working in…er…my pub!" she said hastily, Yuffie looked at her.

"Have you a name for this pub?" she asked her curiously. Natasha looked at her.

"Sadly no, my ex was going to name it after the battleship he fought in during the war, but it never happened, this was a week before our divorce," she said, her voice wobbling a bit. Yuffie looked at her pityingly.

"We could call it "The Red Serpent,"" said Yuffie confidently. Natasha finished putting away the shining clear glasses in the cupboard and turned to Yuffie.

"Put that name on hold, it just might be a good idea, we'll leave it as the Local pub of Sector 8 for now, but when the time comes, we'll use that name mkay?" she said, retreating into the kitchen behind the counter. Yuffie stayed where she was, not really sure what to do. Natasha returned a few minutes later, with a dirty tea towel.

"Sorry, about leaving you here, I was just changing the water in the tank, god it's awful messy that damn tank," she said folding over the tea towel. "Now, ok, so you're the waitress yes?" Natasha added putting the brown towel on the counter.

"Yup," Yuffie answered, getting ready to work.

"Well, I have a no uniform policy so feel free to wear whatever you like then, that's the first rule. Secondly, no stealing but you obviously wouldn't. Thirdly, I don't want you quarrelling with the customers if they're drunk, but you may get tougher with the situation when necessary. Fourthly, no taking breaks when it's not time to take one. Fifthly, don't leave during working hours and sixthly, let's get back to work! Oh and one thing I should warn you about, careful with the suspicious people; I had a few disturbing encounters with them, so watch out in case they might get a chance to grope ya in unpleasant areas!" she whispered, putting on a heavy cardigan over her large front, and placing the apron over it. She smiled as Yuffie watched her confusingly. "Just for extra protection," she told Yuffie, Yuffie nodded and watched Natasha deal with a customer. Yuffie wasn't expected to do much on her first day, so Natasha let her take her breaks earlier. The working hours was from 8:00am-12:30pm and the wages were 830 gil. At twenty-five minutes past eight, Natasha turned to Yuffie.

"Well, that's it for you for today, tomorrow you'll work the normal hours ok?" she said, giving Yuffie her payment for the day.

"But I haven't worked the full hours!" said Yuffie, trying to give the money back to Natasha, she raised her hands in astonishment.

"Oh no, no, take it, it's just something for being a huge help! I'll take it from here on, you go home and rest up for tomorrow then, I'll see you bright and early!" she bid Yuffie goodbye and went back to her duties. Yuffie exited the pub and started thinking about travelling back here from Wutai again, she then decided it would be too frustrating, getting up even earlier and getting the train to go back to Sector 8 and travel even further down to the outer part. Yuffie thought hard, and suddenly remembered that Cloud lived in Midgar now! At least she hoped he did, she knew where his house was so she could just go and have a peek to see if he's there. Couldn't she? Yuffie took the path from the left of the pub and started walking towards the way out of Sector 8 and into Sector 7, from there she could find the estate he lives in and see if the house is still there and if Cloud's there too. Yuffie reached Sector 7 and strolled anxiously into the estate, she looked around wildly, desperate to find his house. To her relief, it was there, beside an old abandoned cottage house that no one would ever want to live in. The lights were on, but she stopped halfway towards the front door. What if Cloud had moved and someone else was living here? She chanced it and knocked on the door, she heard voices and then the door handle clicked. Yuffie held her breath and was relieved when she saw the familiar spiky blonde headed man she worked with in AVALANCHE, Cloud was surprised to see Yuffie.

"Yuffie! When did you get here? I haven't seen you since that last battle in Midgar, how have you been?" said Cloud, smiling happily. Yuffie never saw him so cheerful before and couldn't help smiling.

"I'm fine, but I have a job here now!" she announced proudly after Sora had jokily picked on her about losing her last job two years ago. She felt a pang in her heart, she really missed Sora and his naïve attitude. She heard more voices from upstairs and then huge laughter bursting through the house, Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry it's just the lunatics creating mess up there, or at least I think they are," said Cloud. Yuffie looked surprised, she hadn't known Cloud has children! Or does he?

"Who?" she blurted out suddenly. Cloud smiled and invited her in.

"You'll see, I was surprised to see them anyways," said Cloud, going up the stairs Yuffie followed him, curious about the noise upstairs. Cloud entered the room where the noise was situated, Yuffie entered it as well and was shocked to see Sora, Riku, Kairi, Violet, Aurora, Geoffrey, Tifa, Cid, Red XIII, Roxas, Naminé, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Barrett, Marlene, Denzel, Snowdrop, Violet, Elaine, Grace, Aerith, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Merlin, Leon, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Stefie, Isabelle, Siera, Rebecca, Jason, Ducan, Niall, Crystal, Rhianne, Zack, Vincent, Donald and Goofy. Yuffie stepped inside the crowded room, Sora smiled enthusiastically.

"We are united!" Sora sang idiotically, causing everyone to start laughing. Yuffie smiled at Sora. Everyone greeted her warmly, Yuffie felt like crying with happiness.

"It's so good to see you all again!" said Yuffie, she hugged Sora and Kairi, then started hugging everyone in the room. Sora started to try and catch Red XIII's tail. Red XIII growled and shot off behind a flower pot, what Sora didn't realise is that Red's tail has flames and Sora's glove had caught fire by trying to catch his tail. Sora didn't notice and combed back his hair with the fiery hand, he set his hair on fire and Barrett noticed straight away.

"Hey Sora your hair is on fire!" Barrett shouted, getting the flower pot and tipping it down Sora's head. Sora shouted and fell over, with water running down his cheek. Kairi laughed and helped Sora up, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Yuffie grinned at Kairi.

"Ooh, you're boyfriend and girlfriend now I see!" said Yuffie happily, Sora got up from the floor.

"You have a boyfriend, do you Yuff?" Sora asked her, raising one eyebrow and looking at Yuffie with dreamy eyes.

"Wha? No, no I don't, but my father is always nagging me to go and bring back a husband and grandchildren, stupid old geezer, I'm only nineteen and it's MY decision if want one or not!" said Yuffie sounding annoyed, Kairi looked at Yuffie shockingly.

"And do you want a boyfriend?" Kairi asked her, hanging onto Sora's arm.

"Well…yeah, I wouldn't mind, but I haven't anyone in mind. I don't think I'll ever find love!" said Yuffie. Kairi put her hand on her shoulder and smiled sympathetically.

"You will Yuffie, I'm sure you'll meet you're dream guy just right around the corner of life!" said Kairi, Yuffie beamed.

"I might meet someone at work, maybe," said Yuffie hopefully, Sora looked at Cloud, Donald and Goofy.

"What do you think they're on about?" Sora asked Goofy, Goofy scratched his head confusingly.

"Garsh Sora, I dunno," Goofy replied lamely. Donald stood up on a stool and whispered to Sora:

"What do you suppose they mean "The corner of life"?" Donald asked him.

"I think they mean the corner of a house," Sora answered back naively.

"It's just a figure of speech," said Cloud, he looked at his girlfriend, Aerith and smiled at her, he had been with Aerith for a year and a half now. Cloud walked over to Aerith and whispered something in her ear, she nodded and they both exited the room. Sora looked at them leave and twisted in Riku's direction.

"Where do you think they're going, Riku?" Sora asked Riku who was flirting with Sora's sister, Violet.

"Cloud and Aerith are going on a date today, remember?" said Riku, turning away from Violet, who started talking to Tifa and Rhianne.

"Oh ya, they'll probably get up to no good after we leave eh Riku?" said Sora mischievously.

"Ah Sora, you have a dirty mind!" said Riku, shoving Sora away from him jokingly.

Yuffie went over to Rhianne, Violet and Tifa and started talking to them. She told them about her job and how she wanted to stay somewhere in Midgar to avoid going from Wutai to Midgar. Rhianne suddenly had an idea.

"There's a little house not far from here, it's close to Sector 8 and it's dirt cheap since no one's bought it for 14 years, the cost of the house is 1,000 munny, nothing in Sector 7 is dear now anyways, only the posh places but you're not going to live there," said Rhianne, Yuffie hugged her delighted with the idea.

"I'm so glad I can afford it, I can pay it by cheque and then pay the bank back for the munny I've used, oh Rhianne thanks for telling me!" Yuffie alleged, hugging Rhianne tightly, she looked and her, Tifa and Violet. "I'm so glad I got to see you guys again, could we keep in touch more often now and let me know if anything happens in Hollow Bastion or Traverse Town ok?" said Yuffie.

"Sure, we will Yuffie!" said Violet going over to Riku and chatting non-stop to him.

"We'll give you the contact number to the agent if you like?" Tifa said, handing the agent's number to Yuffie.

"Ok, so will I ring now?" Yuffie asked them, they nodded.

"Just ask that you're interested in buying the house today, and tell him you'll send the cheque, easy as that!" said Tifa, handing Yuffie the cordless phone.

"Just like that, he won't come down to discuss paper issues and stuff like that, you know, the mortgage!" said Yuffie not believing what she's hearing.

"He'll come with the paper work tomorrow, today you'll need a place to stay and get comfortable, right? So forget the paperwork and he'll just come with the keys to the house and you'll give him the cheque for 1,000 munny, that's it!" Tifa explained carefully.

After the phone call, Yuffie left the house saying goodbye to her old friends, she headed off towards the new house she was going to stay in, the agent said he'd come there. When Yuffie arrived, the agent had just come. He handed Yuffie the keys and took the cheque, he then explained that he would be coming tomorrow with the paperwork at around twelve and with that, he left without another word. Yuffie unlocked the door to her new home, she entered the house and looked around. Thank goodness there wasn't any insects or rats crawling around, the must have had the place fully protected against the rodents and insects. She opened the door to her bedroom and lay on the pink sheets, wrapping them around her comfortably. She got out her mobile from her pocket and text Renvia, telling her about everything. When Yuffie had finished sending the message, she checked her watch. 12:00, Yuffie rubbed her eyes tiredly, settled her handbag down on the ground and slept in the bed with her clothes on since she hadn't any pyjamas with her, she told Renvia to send them tomorrow if she didn't mind. The day had past so fast, they job, meeting her old friends, just like her dream come true. Her next dream was to meet someone she would love forever, someone that would love her for who she was, not because she was Yuffie Kisaragi, the hero of AVALANCHE and a member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. She also wished her life was anything but ordinary, going back to those adventurous days would be good enough for Yuffie, who was now fast asleep, her black hair laid out around the pillow as she drifted off to sleep in her dreamland.

Ok, I know there might be some spelling mistakes but I'm not really bothered on checking them right now ^^; Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1. R&R please :3