Taking Flight
A Final Fantasy 7 Rufus/Yuffie fanfiction.
Disclaimer: Not mine, rights to Square-Enix.
"Shin-Ra Company is proud to present, the first ever, clean energy airliner," Rufus spoke clearly into the microphones, his voice recorded and transmitted to every person in the world. The gleaming body of the sleek aircraft was much less gaudy than what the Shin-Ra company used to make, but it was the insides that made the difference.
After the events of Meteor, the Geostigma, Deepground and a string of other scuffles in the ruins of Midgar, Rufus Shinra was finally able to restart the vision of rebuilding his family's company. Nothing was as grand as it used to be. Most of the money that Rufus owned was divided to the building of the new towns all across the countryside. All energy was focused on that; energy.
Digging back into his roots, Rufus and his team of Turks started the company in a new light. Less world dominance and more financial stability in an industry the cities desperately needed in order to maintain a semblance of their old lifestyle. It wasn't easy. Mako was no longer an option as a power source, so Rufus was forced to create new reactors. Electricity was now being harvested by whatever land resource was best for the city it was based in; for Junon, it was a hydro reactor, Nibelheim had wind turbines. Most of the new cities were using solar power and getting by on what little energy they could store from chocobo powered motors.
Life was not the same glamorous ways of old for Rufus and the Turks, but they managed to keep their noses clean. And before long, Rufus had managed to wrangle enough stability into some research for the smoothest aircraft.
"I present to you, Heaven's Cradle. It guarantees a ride so smooth, you won't even know you're moving. No more struggling through motion sickness. You'll never have to travel by boat again," Rufus promised, his arms outreached to the television cameras trained on him.
Halfway around the world, Yuffie scoffed at the small screen in the corner of the busy room. Patrons of the Turtle Paradise were jeering loudly, still sore that Rufus had remained in power of the company that destroyed their country. Truthfully, Yuffie was surprised that more people weren't surprised that he was still alive. Nobody mourned the death of Rufus Shinra and he definitely wasn't celebrated when he came back.
It was only through a brief sigh that Yuffie was able to show her relief that the blonde arrogant bastard was still alive. Enemy that he was, there was always something more to the son of her country's conqueror. And try as she might, even years later, Yuffie could still feel the scorching feeling of Rufus's proximity in the hold of the ship as they raced around the world following Sephiroth.
Yuffie missed the manly leather wallet she had stolen out of that white jacket. She had held onto that particular piece with its two important messages for quite some time before their paths crossed again. But when she slipped the wallet back into his pocket as he was rushed out of the ruins of his headquarters and into a medical heli, Yuffie wasn't even sure if he'd be alive to see what she had returned.
There was no way to tell from his expression on the television if he ever received the note and package, but he was certainly keeping to his promise to make a mode of transportation that would keep her motion sickness at bay.
She kept the television in the corner of her eye and her ears perked to his deep, commanding tone as she continued to drink. The bar was not nearly as cozy as Tifa's Seventh Heaven in Edge, but Wutai was home and home meant fruity tourist trap drinks at the Turtle's Paradise.
After cleaning up the mess that the Deepground animals left in Midgar, Yuffie bid Reeve and Vincent a goodbye. She was always willing to be on call for them, but it was time for her to go home. And she nearly regretted that decision every day.
Wutai was not getting better. She might have witnessed that the other side of the world was nearly destroyed, that the Midgar residents had their entire lives turned upside down by an unholy disaster, but the people in her nation didn't even notice. The Wutaians thought that their lives were continuing like normal, like crap. Ever since the end of the war, they thought that survival meant running little shops with irrelevant gifts and putting on shows that demonstrated perfectly acceptable cultural aspects of their once proud nation.
Yuffie tried her best. They could start their world over again. Go back to a way of life that actually held meaning for everyone. Wutai was not under Shin-Ra's boot any more. No one was. If Rufus's speech meant anything, it showed that the once towering power was now just the same as anyone else.
"I wish that blonde bastard would just die already," one drunk man yelled at the tv. "He's a waste of space. I say he shouldn't even be buried, the Planet would probably spit him back out!"
There were other drunken yells of agreement and Yuffie just frowned. How could they have forgotten so much in so little time? The Geostigma was the Planet's curse, the poison Jenova and Sephiroth left to taint the world; their last grasp at victory. The tainted Lifestream was not something to joke about, drunk or sober.
Slamming her glass down hard enough for the other dishes on the table to rattle, Yuffie stood up. Not many noticed, since she was still shorter than most people seated, so she took it one step further and climbed onto the table with loud purpose. She was glad she wore her heavy boots that day. The echo as she walked over the table grew louder as the patrons of the bar hushed. Everyone knew Yuffie. Daughter of their leader, they should know her.
Jumping nimbly from her table to the noisy drunk's, she landed squarely in front of the perpetrator.
"It sounds like you've had a little too much to drink, Tabe-san," Yuffie leaned down and gracefully peeled the nearly empty glass from the man's hand. "Time for you to call it a night."
The man swallowed thickly as he looked up at the princess. Nodding dumbly, he stood, bowed wobbly, then tried to make it to the door on his own. Halfway there, he pitched to the side and his friends braced him up for a speedy retreat.
"Let's all remember one thing," Yuffie turned her stormy gray eyes across the crowd of her people. "Life is precious. We might not like another person, but to wish worse than death on them, then you are condemning us all to the same fate. Remember those who we have lost and strive for a life of which we can all be proud."
There was polite applause from the people sober enough to understand Yuffie's words and cheering from the people who just liked to watch Yuffie give rousing speeches. With a final scan across the room, Yuffie nodded to herself. If anyone was actually listening, then that was good, but she had said it aloud, and that was all that really mattered to her. Dropping off some gil on the counter for her drinks, Yuffie jumped off the table and headed home. All the while, the blue stare of Rufus Shinra looked through the television at her disappearing back.
Somewhere high up in Junon, Rufus paced through his living room. He had finally accomplished a long standing goal, but he wasn't feeling nearly as triumphant as he thought he would. The reason was clear in his mind, even if he refused to admit it aloud.
Yuffie Kisaragi.
Princess of Wutai, the White Rose, the Great Materia Thief. Whatever she wanted to call herself, Yuffie was on his mind. Had been for the last decade of his life really. Even when his father was taking over the world, when Rufus had taken over the company, when the world was ending, Yuffie was always on his mind. She might not have been the first or the last thing Rufus thought of in the day, but she was always there, hovering in the edges of his mind.
When he was younger, Rufus only saw the annoying brat that would throw things at him and call him names in her native tongue. Then he grew up, saw the wit and the cleverness in the gray depths of her eyes. And now, all he could see was those big eyes wide with anticipation, smell the sandalwood and tea infused in her hair, feel the heat radiating off her body.
Giving up on pacing in the living room, Rufus stalked into his bedroom and went to the nightstand. Ripping the drawer open, he looked down to see the lone item inside. An old, worn leather wallet, empty of money, but full of promise.
Rufus ground his teeth together before letting out a strangled sigh. The damnable ninja was trying to unravel his sanity. "Don't use it for some tramp," she wrote. He almost went and did just that as soon as his injuries had healed and he was in a position to do such activities. But then, he couldn't. Those few one night stands he did entertain required new products, even though his thoughts were on a girl thousands of miles away instead of the women he pinned beneath him.
When he realized that no matter how much sexual tension he tried to release, in whatever method he tried, Rufus decided to focus his attention on how to get her attention. And the surest way to her was to keep his promise. It might not have even been a promise, all those years ago, but it was a promise he made himself.
So he built it; the smoothest ride in the world.
The Turks didn't understand why he wanted such a public announcement for the project. They had been working hard at keeping out of the spotlight. Do good work and earn respect that will last. That was their aim. By making large showcases of their achievements, some of them didn't understand how it lined up with their new policies. Tseng understood, though, sharp as he was.
"Will she see it?" the Turk asked his boss before the broadcast.
"If she doesn't see it, she'll hear of it," Rufus responded with confidence.
Now, that confidence was nowhere to be found. The wallet stayed in the drawer, a promise for another night. Rufus closed the drawer softly and sat on the bed. Maybe she didn't remember or, even worse, didn't want to remember.
With all his second guessing, he nearly missed his phone ringing.
"About time you picked up," a female voice snapped when Rufus finally wrangled the piece of technology open and answered the call.
"Yuffie?" Rufus breathed, almost afraid that he was right.
"Yea, who else would call you in the middle of the night?" Yuffie ran her hand through her hair and winced as she hit a snag. "Goddammit."
"Excuse me?" Rufus was confused. It really wasn't what he had anticipated in any of his million scenarios that went through his head the last few months.
"Snagged my hair, ugh," Yuffie groaned and gave up on trying to fix her hair. "Nice airship you built, by the way."
"I wasn't sure if you saw the broadcast," unable to sit still, Rufus started pacing again.
"Oh, I saw it. Along with all the other people at the bar. Why broadcast, though? I thought you were going for the 'starting over from scratch' crap approach," Yuffie reached for a glass of water. All that drinking at the bar was starting to settle in her temple.
"I wanted you to see it," Rufus replied with conviction. He felt like he was trying to convince himself more than Yuffie, but there wasn't much he could do now.
"Well, I saw it."
"And you called me," Rufus wasn't sure if it was a statement or some sort of question.
"It wasn't easy for me to find the right number, you know. I had to talk to Elena," Yuffie scrunched up her nose. "I don't like Elena."
"Should I even wonder why?" Rufus didn't think he said it very loudly, but Yuffie's ninja ears picked it up.
"Two words: Don Corneo," Yuffie spat out the words a little louder than she expected and winced at her own tone. "Sorry, whatever. Yes, I called you."
"Why?" Rufus decided to focus on the more important conversation.
"To ask you why you did it. All that time and resources could have been used elsewhere. Why build an airship?"
"For you, Yuffie. I wanted to make it for you. So now you can travel wherever you want, without getting sick."
"And where exactly would I be going?" Yuffie sat down on her spread out futon.
"Anywhere you want. Visit your friends, go on vacation," Rufus suggested.
"How about going to you?" Yuffie raised an eyebrow, listening to the silence crackle over the phone.
"That," Rufus swallowed carefully, "is another possibility, yes."
"I don't like lower Junon. I hope you are rich enough to be above the ground," Yuffie commented. She wasn't always a snob, but when she was, she was.
"I'm considerably above ground. I have what some people would call, a view."
"Sunset?"
"And sunrise," Rufus said, ignoring how his voice dropped.
"I prefer sunset, but maybe I'll have to experience both before I put in a final verdict," Yuffie mused. She could hear the subtle change in Rufus's tone. His velvety smooth voice was deeper and had a faint trace of a growl to it now and Yuffie had to bite her lip to silence herself.
"When can I pick you up?"
"How fast does your ship go?"
"It will be there when you wake up in the morning."
"I'll pack a bag," Yuffie replied and hung up before he could say anything else. She was both kicking herself and jumping for joy.
Life was boring without a little blonde thorn in her side. Knowing that he was still alive, that he was rebuilding his company, it irked her. She didn't like the things she was feeling, the tightness in her chest and belly, knowing that he was building a life for himself. And without sending one message to her. How was she supposed to know if he got her note? But now, having spoken with him, she could tell, he had gotten it. And her bold teenager self was the one who set up this game, it was now time for the older Yuffie to play it.
And she wanted to play. Yuffie wanted to play hard and to win whatever prizes she could get her hands on.
Life as a princess was hard. Being a thief was easier, but Materia was not going to save her country any more. Everything she had done for her country was tossed aside and she had lost a small part of herself. Reeve kept an open door for her to join the WRO, but she knew that wasn't what she wanted. But what she wanted was taken up mostly by who she wanted.
And she was about to get him. Maybe not all of him forever, but Yuffie wasn't necessarily looking for that. After all the years of fighting and waiting, putting everything out on the table was the best option for her to move on. If it came down to it, Yuffie was just going to use Rufus to clear up her past, release her tension that had only built up over the years. And once she was free, then she could move on. She was going to have the most liberating one night stand a princess could ever hope for.
Exhaustion and hangover alike disappeared from Yuffie as she packed up a small bag of essentials and prepared for a whirlwind of confusion with Rufus Shinra.
Sure enough, the next morning, right before the sun crested over the horizon, Yuffie woke up to a knock on her door. She bolted up from her bed, hair mussed and sleeping clothes askew. Hastily fixing herself, she yanked open the door in breathless anticipation.
And was met with the inane smile of Reno.
"Oh gawd," Yuffie groaned, the excitement leaving her faster than air from a balloon. "Why is it you, Turkey?"
"Hey, I flew all night to pick you up, Princess," Reno shoved his way into her small house and went straight for the kitchen. "You have anything to eat?"
"There's some stuff in the fridge. Eat all you want, but remember," Yuffie followed the Turk, "you're the one piloting. How many pit stops do you really want to take?"
"Oh, I brought Elena with me. She wasn't too thrilled, but it means she'll fly faster heading back," Reno gobbled up some cold leftover noodles Yuffie made the day before for her dinner
"And I thought it couldn't get worse," grumbling to herself, Yuffie went back into her room to prepare for her trip. The brief thought of letting her father know that she was leaving fluttered quickly out of her mind. There wasn't much that they talked about those days, and he usually called her anyway. Nothing they did required close contact anymore. Godo wouldn't miss her.
"All packed? Let's go, I've got work to do," Reno spoke as he sidled away from a white cat purring at his feet, consequently getting fine white hairs all over the hem of his pristine slacks.
"Did you wash the dishes you left in the sink?" Yuffie asked as she disappeared into the bathroom. She figured the answer was 'no' when she heard him shuffle back into the kitchen and turn the water on. Calling out she told the red-head, "The white towel is for drying dishes, the blue one is for your hands."
"Yeah, don't worry about your stinkin' towels, Princess!"
"Don't call me Princess, Turkey!"
"Shhh! Some people are trying to sleep in this country, noisy woman."
Yuffie just rolled her eyes and stashed away a few extra weapons on her person before picking up her pack and heading for the door. Her cats would be fine. They spent tons of time on their own, so Yuffie just made sure that their escape route out of the house was still in order before shoving the Turk out and locking it up tightly.
"Burning daylight now."
"Who would have guessed that you would be so excited to see the boss?" Reno barely got a snicker out before Yuffie's well-aimed boot knocked the back of his knee just enough for him to buckle uncontrollably.
"Stop gobbling, Turkey, and walk like a normal person," Yuffie strode out of town to where she saw the sleek new airship parked.
Even if Rufus promised a smooth ride, Yuffie wasn't sure if she wanted to be awake for the whole time if she was going to have to be in close proximity to Reno and Elena. It wasn't that she was annoyed only in the Turks' presence, but the lack of Rufus's. Did she really expect Rufus to come pick her up himself? No, not really, but the idea had crossed Yuffie's mind. And it wasn't a terrible feeling. The bittersweet taste of reality was a little more on the bitter side that morning, but Yuffie had to shore up her feelings. Whatever those feelings were, she herself didn't really know what it was she was feeling. At the easy base, it was lust. And she was sure to put a definitive end to that; and soon.
After a brief, nearly civil, greeting to the blonde Turk, Yuffie settled into the body of the ship where there were luxurious seats and plenty of space to relax. There was a Tranquilizer bottle at the top of her bag where it could easily be found and drunk if necessary. It wasn't like Yuffie didn't trust Rufus's word on the matter, she was just prepared for whatever moving vehicles would throw at her.
"Relax, we'll be in Junon in no time. Take a nap, enjoy the flight, hold onto your marbles," Reno found a seat out of Yuffie's punching and kicking range and hunkered down for a nap. Within minutes of take-off, the man was snoring so loudly it drowned out the sound of the engines.
With nothing else to do, the ninja settled herself even deeper into the chair and faced hours of listening to the human chainsaw and her own thoughts of what was about to unfold.
They arrived safely in Junon without any mishaps of vomiting, incessant yelling, or murder. All three deemed it an astounding success. The last time Yuffie and Elena were in close proximity, they were screaming obscenities as they hung unceremoniously off the cliffs of the Da Chao. Since then, the female Turk and the ninja refused to get along.
"We're here," Elena left the cockpit and kicked Reno awake. Turning to Yuffie, the Turk said, "I'm glad to see you didn't puke everywhere. It is a brand new ship."
"Yes, I seem to have managed to not vomit everywhere. But seeing your face is starting to make me feel ill," Yuffie retorted to the smug look on the other woman's face.
"Now, now," Tseng said as he entered the ship. "That's no way to be feeling if you're about to meet the boss. Maybe you would like a minute to freshen up before you see him?"
Yuffie scoffed and picked up her pack. Without a thanks to the pilots, the ninja gave a gracious bow to their leader and led the way off the plane.
The sun threatened to blind her as Yuffie exited the ship. Salty sea air assaulted her nose and eyes and she took in the sight of the metal city cut into the cliffs of the continent. It only took a moment before her attention settled on the figure at the edge of the landing platform. Standing serenely in his pristine white suit, his hair perfectly styled, his clear blue eyes trained perfectly on her, Rufus Shinra looked even better in person than on the small, fuzzy screen of the television.
"Yuffie Kisaragi," Rufus greeted her as she finally neared him. "I'm glad to see you looking so well. I hope you had an enjoyable flight?"
"Thank you, Rufus Shinra," Yuffie replied amiably. "I had a perfectly smooth flight. The only indigestion I felt came from elements not built into the machine itself. Some of the organic elements of the experience caused minor discomfort, but it's nothing I haven't already experienced."
"Let me take your bag," Rufus held his hand out. "Junon has changed since you were last here and I thought that you might like to stretch your legs after being on the airship for so long."
"Thank you," Yuffie held out her bag towards the man and savored the way his fingers subtly slid over her skin before he relieved her of her luggage. She didn't let her smile show on her lips, but her eyes looked up at the tall man in a half lidded gaze that told him that the electric shock that he felt was shared on her part as well.
"Are you hungry, Princess?"
"Famished," Yuffie replied, ignoring the squawk of annoyance behind her. Clearly, Reno believed that Yuffie didn't like anyone to call her 'Princess,' when in fact, there was only one person who she allowed to use that term. And now that she was next to him, she reveled in hearing him say it.
"Reno sounds surprised about something," Rufus observed.
"Oh, he's just jealous, I'm sure."
"Jealous? I'm intrigued even more."
They reached the large elevator that would take them to the mid-levels of the city and as Rufus stepped on, he offered his elbow for Yuffie to take. The mechanic was old and jerky, causing Yuffie to clutch the proffered limb for extra stability. While they descended, Rufus continued to speak, giving the girl something to focus on.
"I would be surprised if Reno could even feel jealousy. He usually gets what he wants. Rude is always so forgiving to his partner. It's amazing that those two don't get into more trouble than they do."
"You seem to forget how much trouble those two caused me and my friends a few years back," Yuffie reminded him. "And Rude isn't forgiving. He's a pushover when it comes to Reno being a whiny bastard."
"If you were partnered with Reno-"
"I would have ended his life or his ability to speak a long time ago. Rude would be the kind of dad that would give into his child the moment that tantrum started. Poor parenting skills," Yuffie had to pause in her critique of the Turks to fight off a wave of nausea. "It's a good thing Tifa stuck with Spike."
Rufus had no idea what Yuffie was referring to, but didn't really care. He was enjoying the feeling of her arms wrapped around his and how every time the elevator bumped, she would press herself a little closer to him.
Their rattling journey came to an unpleasant faltering stop, jolting and grinding until the stopping mechanism finally held the elevator still. Yuffie gallantly held onto her stomach contents, but did nothing to hide the sigh of relief upon leaving the elevator shaft.
"I don't know how you do it," Yuffie recentered herself, taking deep breaths of the steel and salt air.
"And I don't know how you can run up vertical walls and jump off of them without the same affect."
"That's different. And how do you know I do that?" Yuffie leaned away from him, giving him an incredulous look, but maintaining her hold on his arm.
"I may have seen a certain fight against a certain large monster in Edge a few years ago."
"Yea, that was a good one," Yuffie's gaze got a far-away look to them as she reminisced about the battle that Kadaj and his brothers instigated in the still new city of Edge. The summon was quite the beast, all wings and gigantic body, destroying everything in its path. It was good fighting for the ninja.
"I fell off a building that day," Rufus recalled himself. Purposely baiting Kadaj was an enjoyable act, but so was free falling and shooting his trusty shotgun.
"So did I," Yuffie murmured, still in the past.
"You jumped," Rufus led the half dazed girl through the streets.
"So did you."
"I fell."
"I'm sure it was your fault. Did you make fun of his mother or something?"
"Actually, I believe I did."
Yuffie came back to the present and gave Rufus a knowing smile. They might have been on opposite sides of the war, back between their parents, and then with the whole Sephiroth, then Jenova, deal, but they knew more about the other than they let on.
They walked in silence for a few blocks, it was weird, but not unwelcome. Then Yuffie started to snigger.
"Do you remember your parade here? That music was gawd-awful."
"Do you mean the parade that was held after my father was murdered, I became President, and your rag-tag group of activists stowed away on my boat?" Rufus raised a sarcastic brow down to Yuffie. "Yes, I remember."
"Yea," Yuffie let the briefest of looks show her minute guilt on the matters he listed, then moved on to say, "But that music!"
"It was terrible. And I should have pushed Heidegger off of the boat just for that," Rufus commented.
"As I recall," Yuffie paused as Rufus gestured to a set of stairs off the side of the road, "you were busy doing something else on that boat."
Rufus had a hard time focusing on their conversation all of a sudden because the staircase was too narrow for both to walk comfortably side by side, so Rufus got a great view of Yuffie's backside as she climbed the steps.
"Uh, I guess I was," Rufus paused and swallowed back some extra saliva, "a little distracted."
"Are you calling me little?" Yuffie turned abruptly, spinning on the step to face Rufus. Her angry face was mostly for show, but meant to throw Rufus off his game.
"That remains to be seen," Rufus purred deeply, not swaying to her tactics. He advanced on the steps, forcing Yuffie to continue her ascent. "We're almost there."
Sure enough, a few more flights up and they reached a balcony for a house on top of the cliffs. Rufus unlocked the door with a click, and led Yuffie into a surprisingly relaxing home. Lush carpets warmed the inside what looked like a frigid building from the outside. The steel gray of the outside looked dull and lifeless next to the clean, professionally chosen color palette of the interior, warm reds and oranges that spoke more of the sunset over the beach than the metal city carved into the cliff face.
"Nice place," Yuffie commented, not ignoring the fact that Rufus's home was completely devoid of clutter, dirty dishes, cats, or weaponry. All things her place had more than its fair share.
"Not really," Rufus placed Yuffie's bag by the front door next to where the girl kicked off her shoes. Even in the Eastern style houses, it seemed that Yuffie's Wutaian teachings of removing footwear was too much to overcome.
"Do you tell all your girls that?" Yuffie only half conciously asked as she went to stare out the window that had a fantastic view of the ocean. Squinting, she tried to see if she could see Costa de Sol.
"No."
"Ah, too busy to let them look around?" Yuffie flitted around, her curiosity too intense to focus on her real reason for being there. Even stronger than when that reason started taking off his outer coat.
"No one else has been here, Yuffie. Only you," Rufus went to hang his jacket in the closet. Clearly, the girl wasn't forcing him into a position where his favorite coat would end up in a terrible wrinkled mess on the other side of the room, all night, all sad and pathetic. What she was also doing, was ignoring his subtle meaning that she was the first and the only woman he ever planned on bringing to his living space.
Unbeknownst to Rufus, Yuffie's heart did a little flip and she covered it up by looking at a lone picture of a black cat on a side table.
"Who is this cat?"
"Her name was Dark Nation."
"Kinda ominous for a name, doncha think?"
"Yes, but it was fitting at the time."
"What happened to her?"
"Cloud Strife happened."
Yuffie turned, confused and concerned. There was no malice in Rufus's tone, instead, it was a statement of fact. More than anything, there was a note of remorse, the resurfacing pain of a friend long gone and the memory of her passing. Even as Yuffie contemplated on saying something vaguely reassuring, Rufus was already composed again, back to his relaxed, controlled, and tantalizing stare.
"I didn't know you were a cat person."
"I wasn't, at first, then," Rufus strode to her and leaned in close to pick up the picture from behind her. "Then, I met you. Cats around you all the time. Never dogs, always cats."
"There really aren't many dogs on Wutai," Yuffie said lamely as the inhaled the smell of Rufus's well tailored suit as he stood toe to toe with her.
"It gave me lots of time to watch cat behaviors. And I agree with their policies."
It wasn't just the cats he was watching, but the girl that they so intently adored. The normally aloof cats would swarm to Yuffie, demanding pets and belly rubs and any kind of physical contact they could get.
"Do you mean their, 'don't mess with me or I'll fuck your shit up' policy? I could see how you might agree with that one," Yuffie gave him a wry smile, loving the way he cringed delicately at her crass language.
"You've been around those ruffians for far too long," Rufus leaned around Yuffie again to put the picture back in its place. He was sure to take an extra long time so he could smell her new shampoo, he couldn't quite place the scent.
"I learned that one from Reno," Yuffie turned her head slightly, her hair brushing over her shoulder and allowing Rufus another guess. "It's jasmine and vanilla. They stopped making the one I liked; go figure."
"You wear it well," Rufus drank in the aroma again, almost burrowing his nose in her shoulder-length hair. He was also wondering what it would be like for that smell to be the only thing she was wearing.
"Are you insinuating that I don't wear anything else well?" Yuffie baited him. And he bit.
"I don't know, maybe we'll have to see."
"Good," Yuffie turned her head in time for Rufus to lever his lips over hers in a long, much needed kiss.
The room suddenly skyrocketed in temperature and Yuffie felt like she was back in the heart of the world fighting a legion of dark dragons. Her breath completely abandoned her and all strength to her limbs seemed to have an appointment elsewhere. Rufus's arms wrapped around her waist and back, giving her all the support to remain upright as he continued to ravish her with delightfully hot kisses and playfully light nips.
"I'm glad we're both on the same page as to my being here," Yuffie managed to gasp out when her mouth was finally released.
"Not just for this much needed verbal sparring?" Rufus didn't let her answer because he saw her lick her lips and decided that verbal sparring would be tested against a different kind of sparring that required their quick tongues.
After her initial shock to the new sensation of someone else's tongue darting through her mouth, Yuffie decided that she liked the game and she was going to learn how to play to win. Her eyes fluttered as she explored the delightful new territory and she barely registered when her breathing turned into soft demanding moans.
The caressing hands that started out soft and delicate became heavier and more possessive as Rufus pulled Yuffie tight against him as he wrapped his longer limbs around her. His fingers clenched almost painfully in her hair as he pulled her head into all different angles so he could treat her to all new waves of delightful heat.
"Don't stop," Yuffie moaned when he pulled his treacherous mouth away from hers.
"I don't plan to," Rufus kept her flush against his body and managed to walk both of them into his bedroom.
He kept her mouth free to breathe, since her heaving chest demonstrated that as fit as she was, this activity fell in a completely different genre of stamina. Instead, he allowed himself to experience everything that chest had to offer. The shirts she chose always left little to the imagination, showing off her well-toned stomach, the curve of her back, and the small swells of her breasts. The fire trails he left with his feathery touch left Yuffie heaving for breath even more and she was leaning into his touch wherever he went.
In doing so, she discovered that the friction between them caused an ethereal sound to escape the usually composed man. So, like any smart girl, Yuffie decided to roll her hips into his even more and with carefully measured deliberation. He groaned something that might have been her name, but she couldn't tell when his hands slid up her shirt to cup her breast.
And with that chain reaction, they tumbled onto the bed, Rufus pulling Yuffie atop him as they landed, allowing all her soft curves to press into all the right places for him to moan again and pull her in for another kissing session. Wrestling in trying to outdo, or undo, the other, they managed to discard most of their clothing, cleared the bed of pillows and most of the crisply made blankets, and ended up in a heap of sweat and heat.
"Wait," Rufus spoke over Yuffie. He had her pinned between his arms and under him when he managed to surface from the sea of passion.
"No more waiting," Yuffie's hands were already sliding off his boxers, the last of his clothing, when he rolled off of her, breaking all contact and leaving her furious at his abandonment. "What are you trying to pull here?"
A string of uncomplimentary names were on the tip of her tongue as she reached out for him again. She hadn't been waiting her whole life to have sex with the man, just for him to tease her out of all her clothing and dignity without getting what she wanted.
"Don't worry, love," Rufus reached out to touch her face lightly. With the other he opened a drawer beside the bed and pulled something out. Once he had the item, he returned to drape himself over Yuffie. "Remember this?"
"Psh, how could I forget?" Yuffie's anger dissipated with the sight of the wallet. She wriggled underneath Rufus's weight so she could press herself against him the way she wanted before asking, "Did you use it?"
"Of course not," Rufus pulled out the item in question. "I didn't have the right woman with me."
Yuffie smiled at that and gave a few parts of Rufus a good rub down for his sensible answer.
"But unfortunately, I can't use it for you either," Rufus placed a kiss on her nose that she wrinkled at his words. "It's not the right size."
"So, what are we going to do?" Yuffie continued to let her hands roam, showing her clear intent that condom or no, she was in for the whole job.
"Use a different one," Rufus reached for a different drawer and removed a different item.
"Teach me," Yuffie demanded and rolled over with him so he could give her a lesson.
She caught on quickly and she was soon writhing with ecstasy as waves of pleasure crashed around her. Proper condom usage wasn't the only thing Rufus taught her as they continued her lessons throughout the evening and all through the night. Years' worth of fighting and build up left both members breathless and sated. After a particularly tender session, Rufus wrapped Yuffie close to him in a soft embrace. He brushed the hair out of her hazy eyes and pressed a soft kiss to her temple.
"I'm sorry, Yuffie."
"Hm?" Half asleep already, the ninja barely heard the quiet words he murmured into her hair. "For what?"
"It hurt, didn't it?"
"It wasn't that bad," Yuffie stretched and reattached herself to his side. "I might not have had sex before, but I read that riding a chocobo can cause it to tear too."
"I wasn't talking just about your virginity," Rufus said. "About us. Our history."
"It was less you, and more the circumstances around us that was painful," Yuffie surmised. "Sure, I loathed you as a child. Hated you as I got older. But look at us now. Ass naked and covered in sex."
"You," Rufus paused as he ran a hand over said naked buttock, "are very eloquent and make a good point. But, I never hated you."
"Too bad. I despised you," Yuffie replied bluntly. Then caught his blue gaze with her gray eyes. "But, lucky you, I changed my mind."
"Lucky me, indeed," Rufus let his hand continue to do what it wanted and he felt Yuffie respond to his probing demands.
"And lucky me, to have someone who would build a plane specifically to target my motion sickness."
"Now you can visit any time," Rufus felt her ready agreement before she spoke.
"Just give me a call. I'll be on the next flight."
With a smile and a kiss, Rufus took Yuffie, emotions soared and their minds flew away as they let go their worries of what their future might hold. There, in that moment, all they needed was each other.
Yuffie decided later, lying in his embrace, flying with Rufus wasn't so bad.
The End.
March 9, 2015