Me: Who's gonna give the disclaimer this time!

Critic(probably CloudLov3r): Boo! You suck! Get off the stage!

Me: WHAT DID YOU SAY! (draws scythe) I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!

Critic: Whoa man… let's all be cool… I was just joking…

Me: DAMN RIGHT YOU BETTER BE JOKING! (slashes straight through a steel pillar with scythe) UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE!

Audience: (stares and sweatdrops)

Sera: (tugs sleeve) I think you're scaring them…

Me: Oh… am I?

Sera: (nods)

Me: Oh… well… since you're here… give a disclaimer please!

Sera: Shikaku Zetsumei does not own any of the game characters, ideas, weapons, etc. He does, however, own everything else.

Me: Yay! Now, you readers… GO READ EXILE! IT'S A GOOD STORY FEATURING SERA HERE! (gestures wildly at Sera)

Sera: (looks disturbed) Erm… I think they would like to read the chapter now…

"You can always say you are fine, but you never truly forget…"

Final Fantasy VII – The Undead

Chapter 4 – Memories

Vincent awoke due to something hitting him on the side of his head.

"What the…?" He bolted upright.

Yuffie was thrashing about on the snow. Tears flowed unchecked down her flushed face.

"Yuffie! What's wrong!" Vincent grabbed her and held her still.

"No…Aeris! Sephiroth, why did you kill her! Wha? Get away! I won't do it! You hear me!" She struggled and continued to moan and mumble.

She was obviously hallucinating. Vincent checked her up and down. No markings of being bitten by anything. He lowered his human hand to her head. It was hot enough to make the snow on his hand melt into water.

"Dammit! Yuffie! How long did you stay in the cold!" Vincent growled.

He wrapped her in the cape and stood up. Fierce winds howled as Vincent started west. There was no chance of flying to Icicle Inn. Yuffie's struggling made it very dangerous to even attempt getting airborne. Yuffie continued to mumble incoherently. Vincent wondered vaguely what she was dreaming about. She had been captured around mid-morning and he had awoken around midnight.

'Damn, she was out in the cold for over twelve hours.'

'It's not your fault…' Chaos provided little comfort.

Yuffie's fever was getting worse. She fell between consciousness and unconsciousness. During moments of unconsciousness, she cried in pain and anguish at whatever hallucinations she was having. These cries pierced Vincent's heart and made him walk faster. When she was conscious, she managed to struggle out of his arms and attempted to walk.

"Yuffie!" Vincent shouted.

"Hey, Vinnie. Let's go to Midgar now… Just wait… You'll get your revenge on that bastard, Hojo…" Yuffie panted, her face pink.

"Yuffie, we're in the northern continent!"

"Oh, is that so?" She stumbled a bit and collapsed into the snow.

Vincent scooped her up again and continued west and slightly north. Yuffie curled up in his arms and trembled.

"Hold on…"

"Vinnie…it hurts…"

"We're almost there."

Vincent picked up his pace as he started east. By nightfall, he could see the lights of Icicle Inn in the distance.

"Yuffie?"

She stirred slightly but continued her fitful sleep. Vincent felt her head again.

"Shit…" he withdrew his hand.

He ran the remaining one half mile to the town. He burst into the inn.

"I need a room…"

"I'm sorry, sir. We're all booked." The man looked shocked at the man that had just burst into the inn carrying a girl.

"Dammit!"

Vincent rushed out of the inn and went to Professor Gast's house. He laid her on the bed and covered her with the blanket. She shivered and instinctively grabbed the blanket. He shook her awake as gently as he could.

"What?" She muttered

"You need to get your wet clothes off. Your fever will get worse if you don't."

She fumbled a bit under the blankets and tossed the sodden clothes to Vincent.

" 'night Vinnie…"

"Rest now, Yuffie."

Vincent went to the selves and pulled off a book. He began to read as Yuffie mumbled and turned.

"Gast's logs…" Vincent opened the book to a page with a small fold at the top.

X Month, X Day, X Year

Today we had a new helper today. His name was Hojo. He's obsessively into gene splicing. He's a really nice guy. Or at least he was. He started doing random experiments. Since he had no test subject, he did them on himself. He's starting to do some scary things…

Gast

Vincent sighed. So this was when Hojo met Gast…

X Month, X Day, X Year

We have a new guard today. He's a member of the Turks. Vincent Valentine, if I remember correctly. Strange man. He's cheerful and seems to like my assistant Lucrecia. Then again, who doesn't? I think Hojo does too… I guess that's why he did it… He injected Valentine with one of his crazy experiments. Dreamweaver I think it's called. It takes the thoughts and dreams of people or objects around him and turns them into dreams or nightmares. Hojo sat next to Valentine all night. He seemed pretty spooked out when he awoke. I guess Hojo spent the whole night feeding evil thoughts into his mind. I hope they don't try to kill each other…

Gast

This came as a shock to Vincent. He had thought all his nightmares were based on his love for Lucrecia. So it was Hojo, again.

"That would explain why the nightmares stopped when Cloud opened my coffin…" Vincent thought.

He put the book away.

"Dreamweaver huh?"

Vincent sat gazing at Yuffie. Her face was tinged with pink as the fever continued. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Cloud watched the landscape speed by. The Highwind seemed quiet without Yuffie's loud comments.

"Cloud, what are you doing?" Tifa walked over and rested a hand gently on his shoulder.

Cloud did not answer. They had spent the past day and a half soaring aimlessly over land and sea.

"We all miss Yuffie and Vincent." Tifa said.

"I know…"

Tifa let out a sigh.

"I wish they were still here." She sniffed a little.

"It's a terrible loss. I swear I'm gonna kill whoever planned this whole game."

Tifa lay back on the bed.

"I'm going to sleep." Tifa said, "I'm tired."

Cloud stared out the window once again.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Nanaki lay with Moonlight.

"Strange how you become so unnaturally attached to these people." Moonlight said mournfully. "I actually miss them."

"It was the same way when Aeris died."

"Hmm…"

"There's something wrong with the situation we're in."

"What is it?" Moonlight asked.

"I felt some presence within the building."

"?"

"It was strange, almost as if it was controlling the creatures and the wall that blocked me from following Vincent."

Nanaki stared at the wall blankly.

"I don't understand." Moonlight prompted.

"When we got out, the presence disappeared and then Cloud got the phone call."

"That does sound strange."

"Nonetheless, I hope we meet the host of this game soon. I will tear out his heart."

"Not if I get there first."

Nanaki chuckled. Moonlight was very competitive.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A man stood before him. Only, it wasn't a man. A feather stuck behind each ear. His fingers were sharp steely talons. Looking the man up and down, he also noticed several feathers sticking out of his arms. His deer skin shirt was covered with runes and symbols. He wore deer skin moccasins that had holes at the tips where his claws poked out. Three in the front and one in the back. He gave the appearance of some tribal god. He was smiling at Vincent.

'Who are you?'

The man grinned at him, golden eyes gleaming.

'Dreamweaver.'

'You! You're the one…'

'Yes.'

'Why don't you ever battle?'

'Isn't it obvious? I am that of a spiritual and mental guide.'

'You create my nightmares!'

'I am easily sidetracked.'

'Why?'

'The coffin you were sleeping in for nearly forty years was cursed.'

'Is that why I don't have them anymore?'

'Yes.'

'What are you doing here?'

He grinned again.

'To guide you.'

The world around Vincent melted and reshaped itself.

'This is my dreams?'

'In a sense.'

'What does that mean?'

'These are more informative than random figments created by that pitiful thing you call a brain.'

'Where are we?'

'We shall see…'

The man chuckled again. The surroundings came into sharp focus. It appeared to be Wutai. But at different time. Men still carried swords with practiced ease and some buildings appeared to be burnt.

'Excuse me, where is this?' Vincent asked.

The person paid no attention to him. In fact, when he tried to stop the person, he passed right through him.

'Vincent! You are an idiot.' Dreamweaver's voice chuckled. 'This is a memory…'

'But whose?'

A strange force pushed him towards a small house next to a giant pagoda. A young girl ran out.

"I don't want to marry, old man! I want to become a ninja!" She appeared to be about seven as she stuck her tongue out at the man standing in the doorway.

"You have no choice!" The man bellowed.

Vincent identified him as a younger version of Godo.

'That must mean that the girl is Yuffie…'

'Yay! Vincent figured something out!'

'Shut up, Dreamweaver.'

The young Yuffie ran off in tears. Godo sighed, rubbing his temples.

"What am I going to do with you, Yuffie?"

Another lady came out. Vincent had never seen her before.

'Who is she?'

'So many questions, Vinnie…'

'Don't call me that…'

'You let that brat…'

'Don't call her that…'

Dreamweaver chuckled.

'You're more annoying than Chaos.'

'Well, I am his cousin's, brother's, wife's, sister's, cousin's, aunt's, sister's…'

'Shut up.'

'Fine, be that way.'

The lady walked off, presumably after Yuffie. Vincent was forced to follow.

"Yuffie, are you there?"

"What do you want," came the muffled reply.

Yuffie had her face pressed into arms as she sat near the coast.

"Please, try to understand."

"Understand what! He wants me to marry that brat!" She sobbed.

"It's for the good of Wutai." She said, sitting down. "We're in a war right now and if your father dies, who will continue as ruler? You need someone by your side if you are to rule as Lady Kisaragi."

"I know there's a war. Stop treating me like a kid!" Yuffie looked up. "I want to become a ninja so I can protect mother!"

'So this is Yuffie mother.'

'Wow, Vincent. You seem to be getting smarter by the minute!'

Vincent ignored him. A loud bell was ringing.

"Yuffie! We have to go!" Her mother seemed worried.

She scooped up her daughter and began to run back to Wutai. There was a whizzing noise. Yuffie's mother gasped.

"Mother!" Yuffie cried in shock as her mother stumbled a bit, arrow protruding from her stomach.

Persistently, she continued to run as flecks of blood splattering as she climbed into a hidden cave. Wutai was too far to run to. The opposing troops had almost reached its gates.

"Mother! Hold on!" Yuffie fumbled through her bags.

She dumped out the contents. A shuriken, a cloak and some small orbs. She picked up each or the orbs and looked intently at them. She moaned and threw them back in her bag.

"I don't have a Cure!"

"It's okay Yuffie." Her mom gasped. "My…my time is almost up anyway."

"Don't say that!" Yuffie cried, tears forming. "I'll go back to Wutai and get a Cure materia!"

"Yuffie…"

"Yes, mother?"

"Follow your dreams, wherever they may lead you…"

"Yes."

"May Leviathan take my soul…"

"No, mother, don't…" Yuffie sobbed.

"…"

"Mother!" Yuffie cried as she hugged her dead mother.

Inside, Vincent wept as well.

'So this is why she steals materia. Because she couldn't get one in time to save her mother…'

'Yes, she's been keeping that secret from everyone in AVALANCHE. That's why she puts on the happy-go-lucky facade.'

The surrounding began to melt again.

'Looks like her dream's changing…'

'Wait! These are her dreams!'

'Did you think they were yours?'

'No, but…'

The landscape changed.

'Fevered dreams can go anywhere in time…'

They were at the pagoda. Yuffie looked older now.

"Sorry, Miss Yuffie. Try harder next time."

Gorkii looked at her sadly. Yuffie walked off. Chekov came down next and stood next to him.

"You held back?"

"Yes, though she's doing pretty good for the age of twelve."

Yuffie entered her house

"Hey, old man."

"Yuffie, come here."

"Whatddya want, old man?"

"You should get married soon, I'm not going to live much longer…"

"Good! Then die! I don't care! I'm not getting married."

"Why you insolent little…"

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever, you will marry Rukazi soon."

"HIM!"

"Yes."

"I'M NOT GONNA MARRY THAT BRAT!"

"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!"

"I'D RATHER DIE!"

"GO AHEAD!"

Yuffie ran out of the room. Vincent was forced to follow. He stopped as the scenery started to fade again.

'Why do I have to watch these things?'

'Wanna blame someone? Blame that freak Hojo. He put me in you in the first place. I'm just doing my job. I can't do anything about it unless you wake up.'

'How do I wake up?'

'Your body will have to decide that.'

They were now back at Godo's house. Yuffie was a few years older now. Probably about sixteen.

"This is Rukazi. He is your fiancé." Godo left the room

The man was indeed handsome. Vincent wondered vaguely why Yuffie seemed to dislike him so. He had bright golden eyes coupled with a cascade of silvery hair. He was dressed in the traditional gi and hakama. They were both made of fine material and appeared to be woven with golden string.

"Hello, Lady Kisaragi."

"BURN IN HELL!" She spat in his face.

"My, my, what a temper. I think I have a cure for that."

He leaned forward and tried to kiss her.

SLAP!

The bright red handprint glowed as he jerked back.

"Why you little bitch!" He leapt forward to punch her.

Almost ten years of ninja training caused her to duck and score a kick directly in his gut. Rukazi gasped and staggered back.

"Yuffie! What are you doing!" Godo roared as he reentered the room.

"I'M LEAVING!" She yelled as she punched Rukazi once more in the stomach and pushed her way past Godo.

Yuffie ran off into the distance. Later she would sneak onto a Shinra boat that was docked nearby for supplies. The scenery began to flash as if it was on fast forward.

A man with yellow spiky hair, a strange wolf-like creature, and a girl with fighting gloves. They seemed to have good materia. They defeated her and she joined up with them, hoping to get more materia.

A sealed coffin, a pale face. Red eyes flashed open as the 'vampire' had leapt out of his coffin. The scene slowed slightly at this but continued its relentless pace.

The dreadful reunion with her father. More shouting. An ugly fat man, worse than Rukazi. At least Rukazi was decent… She watched as her friends fought the beast called Rapps. They managed to defeat it. Two suited men came and killed the fat man…

A man in black and silver armor. A giant sword sliced through a young girl's back. Yuffie was screaming.

"AERIS!"

During this particular scene, flashes of her past flew by. An arrow protruding from her mother's stomach. Her dying words…

A giant red beast looming miles above her. The dreadful pull of the whirlsand… She had lain in the hospital for days on end, teetering between life and death.

A giant Meteor in the sky, stopped by huge streams of green. A terrible screeching sound as the Meteor was destroyed. Cheering. Too bad they wouldn't let her have the materia…

The surroundings slowed down. It wasn't too long ago. Only four years to be precise.

"VINNIE!" Yuffie jumped up and down as he walked closer.

"…" Vincent stared as she began to run in circles around him.

"Let's party!" She dragged him off as the real Vincent followed.

The talked vividly about her past year here.

"…and then that idiot Rukazi tried to come back again. I kicked his little ass halfway around the Planet! All I had to do was use All Creation and he was crying like a little baby." She laughed. "So Vinnie, what have you been doing?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right! You can't do nothing unless you stood in one place for a whole year! And then… you still are doing something… unless you don't breathe… but then you're holding your breath…"

"I was looking for Lucrecia."

"Oh."

Vincent didn't notice it then, but he did now that he was looking back on the memory. A small wave of disappointment spread across her face. She managed to regain her happy composure.

"Well?"

"She's dead."

"I'm sorry Vinnie…"

"It's alright."

"Well, it's past midnight… I'm going to bed. You can sleep here. You don't mind cats do you?"

"I'll be fine."

The images blurred and then focused again. This time, she was rushing out of the pagoda.

"VINNIE!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT!IDIDIT! I PASSED! I'M AN OFFICIAL NINJA NOW!" She jumped up and down repeatedly.

"…Congratulations."

"Let's go celebrate!"

"…"

Yuffie dragged Vincent off again as the real Vincent watched, remembering.

'She's a hyper one…'

The pictures blurred again, but stayed the same.

'?'

'I dunno. It's not my doing. She must be doing something.'

"Vinnie? What are you doing in my dreams! And who's that creepy falcon guy?"

"I thought you said she couldn't see me…"

"Yeah. Hey girl! How'd you do that?"

"First answer who you are!"

"I am the spirit Dreamweaver."

"He's like Chaos."

"Weird. How are you here Vinnie?"

"It's his talent."

"You haven't answered my question." Dreamweaver said irritably.

"Oh, it's a ninja thing. I can see my dreams if I concentrate hard enough. It takes some time though."

"Interesting."

"So what happened? I don't remember much."

"You have a fever."

"Oh…"

"You should rest for a couple days."

"Okay."

"Vincent."

"…"

"Hey, Vincent."

"What?"

"I think you're waking up."

"I see…"

"Well, see yuh, Vinnie…" Dreamweaver sniggered.

"Whatever…"

"Nice meeting you Mr. Dreamweaver."

"You should keep resting."

"Yes, sir." Yuffie said sarcastically.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The PHS rang.

"Reeve speaking."

"Mr. President!" The deep voice of Dorsin said through the speaker. "There's a big problem!"

Reeve sat up.

"What is it?"

"Look outside. Do you notice anything different?"

It was snowing. Reeve was about to say no when something clicked. They were somewhere over Mideel right now! SNOW!

"What the…!"

"Aye sir. It's strange. Right now, we're getting over a foot of rain here! It never rains in Midgar!"

"It's strange indeed. I'll check it out. In the meantime, you take care of things. There's been a problem with where I am."

"I see. Are you in trouble?"

"Not immediately. Possibly later. I'll discuss this climate shift with Cloud."

"Okay."

Reeve hung up.

"Climate shift?" Rude muttered.

"Look for yourself!" Reeve pointed out the window.

"!"

Reeve ran out of the room and pounded on Cloud's door. He opened it and glared at him.

"Tifa's sleeping. What's the matter?"

"It's snowing in Mideel!"

"What!"

"It's strange! It's raining in Midgar, too."

"Hmm…"

"Cloud, what's the matter?" Tifa yawned sleepily.

"Something weird is happening to the weather."

Cloud's PHS rang.

"What did you do to the weather!"

"Game five. Stop the weather changer."

"What did you do!"

"Tell me. Do you know what an ice age is?"

"Yeah."

"Well, see the temperatures changed dramatically from what organisms were used to. It could be from warm to freezing or vise versa."

"So!"

"Do you know what happened to the organisms when that happened?"

"What?"

"They died."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Me: Yess… who's gonna die… INNOCENT TOWNSPEOPLE!

Crowd: YOU'RE CRAZY! GET HIM!

Me: AHHHHH! (runs away) READ AND REVIEW! AND READ EXILE!