New Ways
Chapter 1
Everything Changes
"I'm back!!!" Yuffie cried, as she ran into the streets of Wutai after Cloud and his teammates saved the world from being destroyed by Meteor. She ran hysterically, holding her shureiken tightly and forcing all of her energy into her legs as she headed towards the Wutai Pagoda. As she got there, she headed straight for the Pagoda Tower, and ran into it.
"I'm home, Gorky!" she cried, then before he could do anything, she charged up stairs, and headed to the second level. "Shake!!! I'm back!"
Shake stared at Yuffie oddly, as Yuffie kept going like she never greeted 'hi', stampeding loudly to the next level.
"Chekhov!!! I made it back!!! ALIVE!!" she cried.
"M-Miss Yuffie! You're... back..." Chekhov replied, her voice shaking nervously.
"Yup!" Yuffie cried, oblivious to the nervousness the woman emitted, then headed up to level four.
"Hey, Staniv!!! I'm back!!!" Yuffie called, charging up the stairs, then continued going. Staniv frowned, then jogged down to the level which Chekhov guarded while Yuffie continued up.
"Dad!!! Dad!!!" Yuffie called, feeling so giddy, but her smile and hyperness faded as she saw Lord Godo laying on the ground, hyperventilating with blood gushing out of his stomach.
"Yuffie... You made it back," Godo gasped.
"Dad! What the hell happened?!" she cried, kneeling down and using her left arm (the one with the shield) to support her father's head.
"You're here..."
"DAD!!! What happened?!" she cried, her voice breaking. Her dark eyes were red and moist now, as she forced tears back.
"Take... Take over Wutai... Make the Da-Chao Statue proud..." Godo whispered in his last breath.
"No! I can't!" Yuffie cried hysterically. She buried her head in her father's chest, and for the first time since she was born, she cried. "I brought Materia back for you, Dad, just like you wanted," she whispered, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably in sobs.
* * *
"Why didn't you guys stop her?" Staniv asked, "Why?"
"I was too stunned. Shake and Gorky didn't even bother to fight her," Chekhov replied.
"She ignored us after saying 'hi'! She was too fast!" Gorky whined.
"So?" Staniv snapped, "You could've just took your sword and ran it through her from behind when she's not looking! And even if you do it from the front, she's too energetic to realize anything was happening until it happened!"
"Well, then, why didn't you?" Gorky yelled.
"I... I went downstairs to ask Chekhov what happened, before she yelled at me to run back up."
"See? I'm not the only one that was stunned," Chekhov said in her defence.
"Either way, the plan didn't work. It's time for Plan B," Staniv said, a confident glare in his eyes. A scary glare.
* * *
Yuffie breathed deeply as she prepared herself to break some news to the citizens of Wutai. She wasn't wearing her normal clothes anymore, but instead, a traditional kimono like everyone else was wearing. For Dad, she thought, It's gotta be for Dad, if not for me. If not for Wutai. If not for the Da-Chao.
"P-people of Wutai," she stammered, "A week ago, a devastating event took place in Wutai. My father, Lord Godo, was killed in the Pagoda Tower. He... He told me to take over Wutai just before he passed away, so it is with a heavy heart that... I... become the next leader of this city. I only hope I'll be as good of a leader as my father," she said, and she meant it. She had yelled at her father countless times for letting Wutai lose its dignity, and its purpose, but now as she thinks back on it, her father was a very good leader indeed, even if he did shame Wutai.
The people were silent, as she expected them to be. They're judging me, she realized, They're wondering if they should let a sixteen-year-old girl take over Wutai, especially after the way I've behaved. Well... I'll change. I'll change for Wutai. For Dad. Yes, everything's for Dad.
Yuffie stared up, and lifted her hand to blow a kiss to the heavens as silent tears ran down her cheeks and dampened her silk kimono.
This kimono... It belonged to Mom. Dad wanted me to have this... He showed it to me a few days before I left Wutai. He wanted me to wear it. God, I was so Goddamn rebellious back then...
*Flashback*
"Yuffie, I want you to wear this. It belonged to your mother," Godo said to a fourteen-year-old Yuffie.
"Ew! No! I ain't wearin' that, and I don't care if it was Mom's! I'm not looking like some bundled up marshmallow like everyone else in this city," Yuffie complained.
"But it would make her so proud," Godo said to Yuffie.
"What do you know about making people proud? You turned Wutai into a tourist attraction, instead of the fighting city it used to be! You did everything but make people proud, so why should I?" Yuffie yelled, "You probably made Mom feel the very opposite of proud, so don't you tell me about pride."
"Don't talk that way to me! I am your father-"
"Yeah, some father you are," Yuffie snapped, then ran out of her house.
Godo watched his daughter slam the door shut, and sighed, shaking his head. He stared up at the ceiling, and said, "What did I do wrong?"
*End Flashback*
God, Dad, I'm so sorry. But look! I'm wearing it now, aren't I? I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry... Yuffie thought, more and more tears flowing out. Stop it, Yuffie, she told herself, you have to be strong. Strong. Stand up straight. Good posture. That's what everyone expects you to do. At least, that's what everyone wants you to do. You have to prove to people that you're not the stupid girl you were when you left. You have to. You can't shame Wutai. You can't shame the Da-Chao. You can't shame yourself. You can't shame Mom. You can't shame Dad. Not ever.
Yuffie stared up at the sky once more, and whispered, "I love you, Dad."
* * *
Yuffie sat in her room, wearing her mother's kimono, thinking. Her mother had died when she was very young, too young to remember anything, and now her father. I'm an orphan, she realized with horror, I'm an orphan. A sad, lonely orphan. Just like Tifa, Red XIII and Cloud. I wonder if anyone else are orphans.
She stared at her old outfit that she had given up and was laying on the bed. A green head-band with a white strap and a blue piece of string, with its green fabric braided into two braids. A dark green turtleneck tanktop that went so far above her belly-button, and was tied off near her side. Tanned-color shorts with its top button undone to show her navel, and the pant-legs rolled up so it was extremely short on her. Dark gloves that only covered half her fingers, and on her right arm, a metal band with dark see-through fabric plastered onto her skin. On her left leg, a very similar thing- metal band with dark cloth wrapped tight around her leg. Baggy socks acompanied her lower part of her shins, and sneakers kept her feet company. On her left arm, there was a large shield-like thing, protecting her, or giving her extra strength.
"Bull," she said aloud. All the reckless behavior was just a cover. Something to mask her true feelings, to mask her "hatred" for her father's ways, to mask her frustration at the fact that she can't remember a thing about her mother. She was her true self now. A follower of tradition. A passive flower, swaying with the wind, instead of a wolf, struggling to walk into it.
What about the guys? she thought, Do they hide their feelings, too? She knew that Tifa hid her love for Cloud, and although she has tried to tell him many times before, she never succeeded. Red XIII hid the fact that his real name was Nanaki pretty well, and same with Cait Sith pretending to be a true member of the team instead of a spy, and then going in-between. Aeris... Aeris pretty much kept her feelings on the surface, and same with Barret, although there was so much she never knew about him and his hometown until he told people. Cid also had no secret feelings, but what about Cloud and Vincent? She never understood what was happening with Cloud, even though he explained it pretty good and was pretty nice to her, she just felt that he had some feelings that he would die before telling anyone other than his closest of close friends. And Vincent? She wondered if he was even human. He was so mysterious, so cold yet so wise and obviously had a big passion for Lucrecia, but something about him never clicked in right. Maybe he was just another clone, or an experiment of Professor Hojo's. Maybe.
"Dammit," Yuffie whispered, realizing that she has wasted too much time. She headed to the Pagoda Tower, and went up to the very top level. No one else was occupying the tower at this moment, and she felt kind of bored. What do people do in this tower? Do they just sit here all day and wait for people to challenge them? What do they do?
Your feelings for Wutai are the same as Lord Godo's, a voice clicked in her head, Keep that in mind.
"Staniv..." Yuffie whispered, remember who it was that told her that. She had just defeated her father, and gave him another one of her lectures about how he had changed Wutai so much, and he had told her that he was sorry. Her teammates left, and she had a quality talk with her father for once. It was then that Lord Godo told Yuffie to go and steal some Materia, then bring it back to Wutai to help it become the city it once was. When she had ran downstairs, Staniv had told her that phrase.
"Dad... I'm sorry, but... Unfortunately, Wutai will never be the same," she whispered to no one, "I'm not as good of a leader as you are. I can't ever change... anything."