"What in Gaia's name are those?!" Yuffie demanded to know as Storm and Tina followed Cloud and Tifa into the bar for Cloud's 'official' birthday party.
"This is Yuffie." Tifa told the dolls.
"Hello, we're very pleased to meet the Princess of Wutai." Storm said to Yuffie.
"I'm not really a princess." the astonished Yuffie managed to say after hearing the doll talk in Cloud's voice.
"You told us she was!" Tina snapped at Tifa.
"I said she was the daughter of the ruler, but…um…yeah, she's not really a princess." Tifa clarified with burning cheeks, hoping they hadn't heard her actual comment about Yuffie sometimes being snobby enough like a real princess. "These are the presents I got Cloud for his birthday. His Storm doll is to keep me company when he's away, and Tina is for him so he won't get lonely on his deliveries/missions."
"That's…um…nice." Yuffie idly wondered how Cloud felt about his present, then decided she didn't want to know. "Where'd you get them?" she asked Tifa, catching sight of Vincent hiding in a dark corner of the bar as usual.
"I got an email about how to not be lonely, and it was an ad for these dolls. The company is called Tokia Toys. You can get regular stuffed dolls for kids, or you can get robotic ones like these, with the voice of whoever you want and you can program their personality too, but they're not cheap." Tifa replied.
"Money's not an object for me." Yuffie smiled as she watched the unsuspecting Vincent drink his wine. She'd make his life very interesting….
"Um, when did you get a stalker?" Cid asked Cloud as Tina followed him into the men's bathroom.
"It's my birthday present from Tifa." Cloud said blandly. "Do you mind waiting outside?" he asked Tina.
"I'm just a robot, and I'm here to make sure you don't get lonely for Tifa." Tina replied indifferently.
"The bathroom is where I'm supposed to be alone!" Cloud exclaimed. "And I need to go, so please leave!"
"Oh, it's not like I care about seeing you naked, but if this is a modesty thing…" Tina walked to the closest corner and faced it, covering her eyes to humour Cloud, who sighed in defeat.
"Why are we even here?" Reno asked Rude as they entered the bar with Elena and Tseng.
"To keep good relations with our new allies." Tseng coldly reminded his second-in-command.
"Whatever." Reno said as Tifa approached them.
"You're almost in time for the cake, and there's only soda available to drink. The bar is off limits." Tifa smiled at them without rancor. "Vincent has his own wine."
"Who are these people?" Storm asked, peeking at them from behind Tifa's legs.
"These are the Turks. Tseng is the leader, Reno is second-in-command, and the other two are Rude and Elena." Tifa identified them to Storm, who stared hard at all of them, so he could remember them again..
"And what the hell is that?" Reno wanted to know. "Did you shrink Cloud down to doll size so you could play dress up with him? Why isn't his voice all high-pitched?"
"This is Storm, half of my birthday present to Cloud." Tifa explained through clenched teeth as Storm walked up to Reno and kicked his ankle as hard as he could, his robotic body packing a punch belied by his small size and Reno flinched in pain..
"You should have the one named Rude, you weird-looking scarecrow!" the robotic doll retorted.
"How charming!" Elena smiled beatifically at the scene before her. "Wherever did you order Storm from?" she asked Tifa, with a brief calculating glance at Tseng.
Ellie Beasley sat down at the lunch table with the other members of the Stitching Bitches. "Well, the boss was right. We're starting to get swamped with orders."
"You know what the worst part is?" Sandra Mullens asked.
"That these men we're modeling the dolls after weren't around 40-50 years ago?" Elizabeth Turner
"Exactly!" Ellie said. "At least we get to make the dolls as an anatomical as we want. And until someone complains, we can keep on doing it."
Two weeks later
Yuffie woke up to a knock on her door. "What? Who's there?"
"Special delivery for Yuffie Kisaragi." A voice called out through the door.
"Well it's about time!" Yuffie knew immediately what it must be, and she grabbed a kimono and threw it on before hurriedly answering the door. "Thanks, have a nice day!" she said after signing for her package, and slammed the door shut in the delivery man's face. Putting the box down on her kitchen counter, she grabbed a knife and carefully sliced it open. "They got his cape and my wedding kimono right!" Yuffie was extremely pleased as she looked at her dolls. "Now to program my doll before I give it to him."
Vincent stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the box in front of his door. It was addressed to him, but he had requested that he remain classified when he agreed to Reeve's offer of a job at WRO. He carefully approached, shocked when he heard screaming.
"I hear footsteps…let me out of here! Don't you know who I am?!" Yuffie's voice rang out from inside the box.