AN: Thank you for reading!

Chapter 4

Dusty Ties

"Yuffie should have been back with my bike by now." Cloud was recovering, but still bedridden. Tifa sighed at the former swordsman, increasingly annoyed by the unhealthy obsession he had with that motorcycle of his.

"If you`re so worried about that bike of yours, why don`t you just call her?" Tifa suggested. Cloud grunted lazily in response. A sudden vibration of Cloud`s phone on the wooden bedside table demanded their attention. The blond man reached out sluggishly.

"It`s Cloud," he greeted. "Right. What do you mean 'super-secret spy stuff' for Reeve? He never mentioned anyth-… I see. Fine, see you in a couple of days." He put the phone down and sighed deeply before pulling his eyes up to Tifa. She cocked her head to the side, and patiently waited for an explanation.

"That was Yuffie," Cloud said. "Reeve has her doing something secret for Rufus. She`ll be back in two days." The childhood friends gazed at each other for a moment. Tifa was the first to crack a smile, eyeing his phone suspiciously.

"I wonder what`s really going on," she wondered out loud. Cloud also gave the phone a sceptical look, as if it had just lied to them.

"Hmph. I`ll find out."

"After resting," Tifa reminded him gently.

"What`s this?" Reno poked distrustfully at the food before him, his brow furrowed. Yuffie tutted disapprovingly and took a seat by the simple, yet pristine, white dinner table. Gee, I wonder who picked out this boring furniture, she thought. Yuffie shot an accusing stare across the table at Rufus, who looked confused as to why he was suddenly receiving said stare.

"It`s just an omelette with bacon inside, topped with a load of cheese," she said as she turned her attention back to Reno.

"Geez, Turkey, have you never had, like…food?" She rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to know. Sensing, and clearly seeing their suspicion, she tucked into the food on her plate, resembling a starving savage. Reno, Rude and Rufus, having been satisfied that their food was not poisoned, gingerly took a bite out of their own portions. Reno`s apprehensive expression was immediately replaced with delight, and he praised Yuffie`s food between mouthfuls.

"Mmf, effin' amazing," Reno said, chewing vigorously and pointing unnecessarily at his plate. Pieces of omelette escaped his mouth as he spoke, and Yuffie cringed at the half-chewed egg landing on the table. She didn`t need to look at Rufus to know he also winced at the sight of food touching his immaculate piece of furniture. What did he have to complain about, anyway? She`d be the one who had to clean it up.

Throughout the evening, there were several occurrences of Yuffie storming into Rufus`s office to tell him she wouldn`t be doing any more work around here and that he could wash his own damn underwear, thank you very much. That didn`t mean the former de facto world ruler relented at all. Each time Yuffie burst in, she would also end up leaving sullenly, muttering Wutaian curses at him as she stomped out. All he needed to do was pat the ancient device next to him on his desk; for now, it was the natural Yuffie-repellant. For now. He wasn`t sure how long she would go along with serving him and his Turks. Her 'logic', if one could call it that, could change its tune at any moment, and she could suddenly decide that coming clean to Cloud about her disregard for client confidentiality was the better option… but for now he was enjoying this little charade in his own, twisted way. Who said Rufus Shinra didn`t have a sense of humour? They were sorely mistaken; his humour was just more unorthodox than most people`s.

"Hey, brat," Reno called out as she passed the living room, where he had carelessly placed his limbs at odd angles on the sofa. She stopped in her tracks, signalling that she was listening. Barely.

"Clean my ties for me, will ya?" he drawled, and although Yuffie was not looking directly at him, she could hear his obnoxious grin. She dropped the basket full of laundry she`d been carrying and snapped her head around to give him a wild, feral stare.

"You don`t wear ties!" She barked. Reno`s grin deepened as he winked.

"They could still do with a good clean. Shoulda gathered a good amount of dust by now."

With utmost restraint she never knew she had, she managed to not go over there and strangle him with one of his own dusty ties.

That night, Yuffie collapsed in a shattered heap onto the large single bed. Upon impact with the fluffy pillow, her face burrowed into it and she moaned in pleasure. Soft things were great; they made her forget about the things she hated. Like housework. And Shinra. Oh, well… She would just have to endure.

In in the bedroom next door, a horizontal Rufus Shinra had to divert his attention from the riveting contents of his book to focus on a noise coming from the other room: a low rasping sound that pierced through the wall. Apparently, Yuffie Kisaragi was a snorer. He thoroughly contemplated whether feeding his own ego and humouring his sadistic self could really outweigh the repercussions of this inevitable insomnia. The prospect of cleaning his own house suddenly seemed tolerable. Oh, how he longed for tomorrow evening, when his real help would return and Yuffie could disappear from his life. He could let her go earlier than that of course, but that would indicate she had 'won', or certainly she would take it to imply she had won, and he couldn`t have that. He would just have to endure.

The next morning, Cloud assembled his Avengers. That is: AVALANCHE. Operation Find-out-what-Yuffie-is-hiding and operation Rescue-Fenrir were now active. Well, it would have been AVALANCHE, except Reeve was excluded lest he found out Cloud gave the delivery to Yuffie, and he certainly couldn`t risk having the former Commissioner find that out. Barret was also missing from the usual crew, as his response had been a loud, booming laugh through the phone when Cloud attempted to enlist him. Vincent said it was none of his concern, and added that Cloud had no right to call his phone. A disgruntled Cloud mumbled something about not treating him like Yuffie, but Vincent had already hung up. Nanaki was busy with some confidential business with the Elders in Cosmo Canyon involving 'an ancient artefact' that he had no authority to discuss with Cloud, to which the blond-haired man shrugged disinterestedly. This left Cid, who agreed for the sole reason that he needed a few hours off from Shera and her pregnancy hormones. Cid was currently not adjusting well to the impending responsibility of fatherhood, but there was still time for him to suddenly do a 360. At least, that`s what Tifa kept telling him. The buxom brunette was busy watching Marlene and Denzel at the bar, and therefore declined the offer, or plea, to come with. Thus, the entire group consisting of Cloud and Cid arrived at Cliff Resort, hovering above the Shinra cabin.

"My bike!" Cloud shouted as he frantically waved at Cid to lower the airship.

"Looks like it`s in one piece. It`s your lucky day, Spikey. Hold on to your drawers!" bellowed Cid, as he steered the Shera closer.

Yuffie gathered up the bursting rubbish bag, almost her own size, and was unaware of Rufus watching her from the doorway until he cleared his throat to get her attention. He couldn`t help but smile slightly at her appearance. A patterned scarf around her head pushed her black hair carelessly out of the way, and he couldn`t help but notice the green apron she wore, embellished with several yellow chocobos in various stages of gallop. In her bright yellow, latex-gloved hands, she struggled with the nearly erupting bag of rubbish. The only thing that kept him from releasing a chuckle was her very serious expression, which promised him a world of pain if he dared utter a single word. Instead, Rufus thought it much safer to settle for a compliment and remind her that her duties are in fact almost over. He reckoned he could survive without a maid for a few hours until his regular help returned that evening.

"Very good, Yuffie. Your assistance has been invaluable. In return, I shall of course let Cloud know the parcel arrived in a perfectly satisfactory manner," Rufus said with a curt inclination of his head. Yuffie was about to retort when they both heard the doorbell. She met the former president`s steely eyes, urging her to check who it was, and with a reluctant groan, the young ninja dragged the rubbish bag with her to open the door. With a less than amused expression, Yuffie tore open the door, only to come face to face with Cloud, who looked similarly unamused. Having clearly expected one of the Turks to greet him with a nightstick or a fist to the face, Cloud already had his hand ready by the hilt of his sword, body positioned in a battle stance. A moment passed between the two of them, during which time Cloud`s eyes scanned her appearance up and down, before he finally blinked. He formed his mouth to speak, only no words escaped. Instead, he opted to point a brazen finger at Yuffie, his finger nearly touching the vibrant chocobo-adorned apron she wore. Yuffie, annoyed, batted his finger away.

"Trying to cop a feel, perv?" she accused teasingly, though partially in an effort to divert attention from her appearance. Her efforts were futile, however, as Cloud finally stuttered a response.

"Yuffie, have you been cleaning?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Clever you. And they say you saved the world… twice," she deadpanned. Cloud adopted his usual serious look and marched in, ignoring her jibe.

"Shinra," he greeted impassively upon seeing Rufus.

"Strife," Rufus replied.

"What`s Yuffie doing here, in…that?" Cloud waved a nonchalant hand at Yuffie`s get-up. She dropped the bin bag and raised her arms in indignation.

"Hey, don`t act like I`m not even here!" she whined.

"She has been helping around the house this weekend," Rufus said. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked of Cloud, attempting to divert the swordsman`s attention and clearly not considering it a pleasure at all.

"How did you get her to clean…well…anything?" Cloud ignored Rufus`s inquiry in favour of another question. The corners of Rufus`s mouth twitched upwards, and he glanced at Yuffie, a smug glint in his eyes. She stood frozen, unsure if he would actually rat her out or lie for her. She hoped he would make something up. Anything.

Rufus`s smirk grew into a very satisfied smile. "I simply have that effect on her. We share a special bond."

Correction; anything but that. Yuffie was seething, and Cloud`s eyebrow perked up as he turned his quizzical face towards her. Her face had quickly turned a beetroot red, and she made sure to avoid eye contact with Cloud entirely.

"Wait outside, Cloud," she said, her lethal gaze still fixed on Rufus and his annoying smirk. Could he not stop smirking? Wasn`t he supposed to be this impassive, taciturn, Ice Prince?

"Go!" She moaned and attempted to shove him out the door. "And take this with you. I`ll be out in a jiffy, ok?" She pushed the sack of rubbish into his arms before shutting the door in his face, taking great care to avoid the questioning looks he gave her.

She spun on Rufus, sending a livid stare of doom straight at him, which would make any normal person spontaneously combust and would definitely make Vincent proud. He awaited her lecture with patience.

"Great, just great," she hissed, jabbing a finger into his suited chest. "Now they`re all gonna think I`m hot for you, or something. That we`ve been…you know!"

"I see," Rufus replied thoughtfully. He leaned closer and reached around Yuffie`s waist. She held her breath as his fingers traced down her back until they found the apron knot. He tugged at it lightly, and the strings fell down. As he leaned closer still, she felt his hot breath against her neck as he whispered in her ear, sending warm shivers down her body.

"I believe my maid will need this back."

She tilted her face barely an inch to the side, and her nose nearly touched the skin on his neck, right above his suit collar. Once more, she was close enough to catch a whiff of his cologne, or was it his aftershave? Whatever it was, his masculine musk made her lose focus for a brief moment; all she could think about was how good he smelled, how much she wanted to give up all pretences and thoroughly sniff him, ruffle up his neatly combed back hair, like some wild animal.

"Yuffie."

"Huh?" She soon realised she`d been staring unblinkingly at Rufus for a good few seconds. He had long since pulled away from her ear.

"Yuffie, are you feeling unwell?" He placed his hands on her hips to hold her steady. Hands she was painfully aware of, all of a sudden. In a slight panic, she wriggled free of his light grasp, and pulled the apron off.

She found herself panting, though she attempted to conceal it by breathing through her nose. However, all that resulted in was her nostrils flaring up like an enraged bull.

"Yeah," she said, annoyed at herself, and a little more breathy than she`d intended. "Here. Cloud`s waiting." She thrust the chocobo-festooned apron into Rufus`s hands and made for the door.

He let out a pompous hmph as Yuffie reached for the doorknob.

"I shan`t be lying for you next time, miss Kisaragi," he warned, his tone even. Yuffie turned her face just enough to see him through the corner of her left eye.

"And I shan`t be putting your broken body on a rescue helicopter next time, Mr Shinra," she spat, doing her best posh Midgarian accent imitation, and observing his reaction. His mouth opened slightly, though if he was shocked at all, he masked it quickly and composed himself.

"So," he said, straightening his back. "That was you, then." It was a statement, not a question. The twist of a doorknob later, and she was gone.

Rufus stood in solitude for a brief moment, gazing at the door. The sound of the airship`s engine roaring brought him to the realisation that Yuffie had left. She had left his house. Left his life. The life he apparently owed to her.