A/N: Hola! Sorry for the wait, I have a reason for it, but I sense no one really cares. And I try not to make these notes too long so you don't have to wait so long. So the only news I have is that the new chapter is much shorter than I hoped it would be. Whoops. But the good news is Yuffie dances a baby to sleep in this one :)
(P.S. Nanaki's cubs are an assumed addition from the sighting of him with two cubs in a cutscene. I assume he mated with Deneh and 'boom', babies, but I'm not forcing the fact.)
DISCLAIMER: I own a Pittsburgh Penguins pillow pet and a ruptured eardrum. But not Final Fantasy or 'Bubbly' :/
Yuffie woke up to the sound of whimpering from one of the cribs next to her. She glanced at the clock next to her: 3 o'clock. She frowned, sitting up and pushing the slightly longer bangs out of her face and rubbing her eyes. After she was confident she could see straight, she got up and moved to the familiar spot between the two cribs sat next to each other. Lily, Cid and Shera's daughter, wiggled a bit when she saw Yuffie staring down at her, her striking blue eyes wide. Yuffie smiled and reached down to take the little girl in her arms, placing her on her hip like any other woman.
"You wanna come dance with me, don't you Lil'?" She whispered, making the little girl giggle and tug at her aunt's hair. Yuffie scowled. "No, none of that." And she begun moving towards the door on the tips of her feet, carefully to not make a lot of noise. Who knows what would happen if Vincent or Cloud woke up. Usually she wouldn't care, but with her luck they would probably get their weapons and scare Yuffie into dropping poor Lily on the hard wood floor. A very bad turn of events. So it's better to just not wake them up in the first place.
She padded carefully down the stairs and into the bar. Tifa, as always, had moved all the tables to the other side of the room and away from the television. She knew that one of the babies would probably fuss in the night so she clears the floor for Yuffie's tactics. The ninja moved over to where the stereo was and turned it onto a low volume, but her and Lily could still hear it. She picked through the stack of CD's she left here at the bar for this purpose, looking for a song for her and the light haired baby. She found one that would work for Lily, who was still pulling at her hair.
I've been awake for a while now, you've got me feeling like a child now.
'Cause every time I see your bubbly face. I get the tingles in a silly place.
It starts in my toes, and I crinkle my nose, where ever it goes, I always know.
That you make me smile, please stay for a while now.
Just take your time, where ever you go.
Yuffie twirled around the polished floor as she sung quietly along, rocking the baby on her hip a bit making the child smile and let go of her hair, instead wrapping her little arms around Yuffie's neck. She shifted the baby so she was holding her in front of her to make it easier for the girl to hold onto her before continuing the song.
The rain is falling on my window pane, but we are hiding in a safer place.
Under covers staying dry and warm, you give me feelings that I adore.
They start in my toes, make me crinkle my nose, where ever it goes, I always know.
That you make me smile, please stay for a while now.
Just take your time, where ever you go.
Yuffie felt the little girl's breathing start to even out and smiled, knowing her dancing always got the little tykes to sleep.
But what am I gonna say, when you make me feel this way.
I just, mm.
And it starts in my toes, makes me crinkle my nose, where ever it goes, I always know.
That you make me smile, please stay for a while now.
Just take your time, where ever you go.
Yuffie hummed on, knowing that Lily was fast asleep now, but still continuing just in case.
I've been asleep for a while now, you tucked me in just like a child now.
'Cause every time you hold me in your arms, I'm comfortable enough to feel you warmth.
It starts in my soul, makes me lose all control, when you kiss my nose, the feeling shows.
'Cause you make me smile, baby, just take your time now.
Holding you tight now.
Where ever, where ever, where ever you go.
Where ever, where ever, where ever you go.
Always know, that you make me smile, even just for a while.
Yuffie smiled and turned off the stereo, popping the disk out and placing it where it belonged. She crept back up the stairs and into the bedroom with the cribs. Laying Lily down in hers, and pulling the blanket over her, she suddenly wondered what it would be like to have her own baby. She shook her head. She saw Tifa during her pregnancy, she was crazy. Yuffie didn't know how crazy she would be, or who would be crazy enough to have a kid with her in the first place. She sighed and looked at the glowing numbers on the clock that mocked her.
"If only dancing got me to go to sleep too." She muttered. Unlike the infants, once she was up and awake, she wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. She made a sure that Zack didn't wake up in the course of her putting Lily to sleep before quietly walking out of the room and back down the stairs.
She walked over to the bar and took a mug down from the cabinet and filled it with water. Getting a tea bag that said it was a Wutain tea, she sat down on one of the bar stools, dipping the bag in the hot water and spinning it around. She watched the water turn a dark color and immediately knew it was going to taste nothing like the tea in Wutai, which was a light color, but it would have to do. She threw the tea bag out and took a sip of the drink. She shook her head.
"Have these people ever been to Wutai? This is awful." She growled and dumped it in the sink on the other side of the bar, spitting out the weird tea.
"It is an acquired taste, I suppose." A voice behind her spoke smoothly. Yuffie clenched her eyes shut, willing herself not to jump at the new voice in the room.
"You're really not proving to me that you're not a vampire by sneaking around, Vinners. Plus, who acquires a taste to that?" She spat, not turning to look at the gunslinger that walked over and pulled a bar stool out for himself. "It's worse than Bourbon." She added, while getting a new mug down and filling it with hot water again. She then turned and grabbed a water bottle from the counter and threw it behind her to Vincent, whom caught it easily.
"Thank you. And I think comparing a generic Wutain tea to a strong liquor is hardly fair."
"Life's not always fair." Yuffie shrugged, searching the cabinets for a packet of hot chocolate mix. Vincent caught a deeper meaning to her words, like something was troubling her by saying them. His red orbs traced her expression, looking for a crack and found one, very sama
"How is Wutai?" He asked in a soft voice. Her eyes snapped up at him and she bit her lip.
"It's fine. Just a little hectic."
"Would it have anything to do with you arriving 2 days later than usual?" He pressed on. He didn't like the thought of Yuffie having a burden, but he supposes when you rule a country there's nothing you can really do about it.
She was quiet for a few moments, stirring her hot chocolate, before finally speaking in a heavy tone. "It's nothing to worry about, Vincent. Just Godo being his usual self."
Vincent could tell she wasn't quite telling the truth, but not lying either. He didn't push it any further this time, but if he saw an opening another night, he'd take it to get that burden off her shoulders. "And these troubles woke you up at 3 in the morning?"
A smile spread across her face, and Vincent felt happier just knowing her got her mind off problems in Wutai. "No, Lily is to blame for that. Sadly, I never found a way to get myself to fall asleep, only infants."
"There's always materia." He offered, tilting his bottle to the side and raising an eyebrow at her.
She shook her head. "I.. I don't have any."
Vincent's eyebrows rose in surprise, turning his head to look at her fully. "Yuffie Kisaragi, traveling without materia?"
She shrugged, "I only have Leviathan and a few Cures. All the rest stays in Wutai. Plus that stuff is too heavy to be carrying around all the time now."
He nodded briefly and took a drink of his water. He was wrong in assuming that Yuffie hadn't changed after seeing her last night. Just the fact of her traveling without a large quantity of materia showed how much she had grown up in the past year. It was a big change from the teenager that could rob you of the magic orbs in seconds. The sound of her getting up broke him out of the thoughts and moved his view up. Her slightly longer black hair swung behind her as she rinsed out her empty mug and let it sit in the sink. She turned around and stretched, yawning quietly. Her black t-shirt lifted up a bit and showed her flat stomach. Vincent's eyes wondered down and caught sight of a jagged scar on her abdomen. It was a darker color than her skin, but it was still old by the looks of it.
"Look Vin, I know I have an amazing body but you don't have to stare so openly at it. It's not like i wear that many clothes anyways. Stare later, when I'm not paying attention, but still know you're doing it because who wouldn't. I swear even the old man check me out once in a while." Yuffie begun rambling, making Vincent smirk lightly and reach slowly into his pocket, feeling around for what he needed. He watched Yuffie go on and on, now about how good the tea was back in Wutai. He wasn't sure how she went from the pilot 'checking her out' to her Wutai tea (although, the pilot did favor tea, if there was no beer) but he was positive it was something only Yuffie would understand. He made sure she wasn't looking at him as he pulled what he needed out of his pocket. ONce he was ready, he cleared his throat. "Yuffie."
"-and I don't even want to talk about- Huh?" She turned to look at the gunslinger and her gray eyes then focused on the lilac sphere in his palm. Her eyes widened.
"Sleep." He said and the materia lit Yuffie's face. The ninja's eyelids begun to droop down, Vincent's cue to get up for the fall. And fall she did, with Vincent there and ready to catch her. He fumbled a bit at her weight, not expecting her to be so light. She must not have gained a pound since Deepground because she felt the same as when he got her out of Nero's Darkness. But that was almost four years ago, so maybe he was fooling himself. He flipped off the dim light in the bar and walked back up the stairs and into the room she was staying in. The bed at the end of the room looked promising to be her's: her shuriken and a small bag placed next to it. He felt a smile come across his face. Her large weapon was placed so she could hold in while she sleeps, alert as ever. He set her down on it and moved her arm to when it touched the cool metal of the Wutain weapon. Her hair fell across the pillows and she had a serene expression on her face. He looked at her for a few moments, thinking about how long it had been since he had seen that look on her face. Most recent was probably five years ago after AVALANCHE defeated Bahamut SIN and Cloud killed Sephiroth for the second time. In Aeirth's church was the last time the look crossed her face before a grin broke through, and she started jumping around again.
He turned away from the girl, and begun walking out the door. He paused at the door handle and glanced back at the 23-year-old.
"Goodnight, Yuffie" He murmured, walking out and into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
A/N: Alright, so this one marks up to 2,300 some words, but the lyrics counted in, so I still think it's pretty short. Anyways, tell me how you liked the story so far, again: Constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. See you next update :)