It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friiiday...
Get down and read my story.
CHAPTER THREE
So I made the Raisin Bran Flakes without fail, you guys, so you shouldn't worry about that. It was sort of perfect and awesome at the same time, too, because I had filled the bowl three quarters the way full with the nasty flakes and then finished off the carton of milk exactly. It was like god wanted me to stop trying to cook and do something I actually knew how to do.
I didn't have anyone's bowl to spit the raisins into so I had to maneuver around them and it actually provided to be quite difficult. They ended up sliding to the bottom of my spoon and out of my line of sight by some strange force of gravity. And that made them end up into my mouth to my great displeasure. It was gross but at the same time it added something sickeningly sweet to the otherwise tasteless cereal.
But other than that my life returned to the boring and kinda anxiety filled way it was. The anxiety was new addition, though, because of Cid's flying of the ship to Wutai. I had to bite my lip every time they said a word containing my home village and after awhile I couldn't tell if it was excitement or fear.
My mind kept telling me to run away run away run away from it all because I knew that going to Wutai would just be bad for everyone involved. But my heart was telling me that it was time to visit my father again.
Cracking my knuckles became a new anxiety releaser, simply because it took my mind off of the whole situation. I'd wake up in the morning and snap my neck and curl my toes. I'd do every finger individually and turn my back to the side and hear the satisfying 'snaps' they produced.
I'd find myself walking around the Shera and cracking my knuckles almost every hour. It kind of got annoying after awhile, and after another while my fingers began to hurt and not pop anymore. So I bit my nails.
It didn't really help at all and only made me a bit more nervous, like every time I popped a joint or nibbled on my finger nails the image of my father's ancient face crept into my mind.
I found myself picking up my Conformer, too, ever since we had to beat up that Allemagne. It was as if my ripped apart fingers wanted to return to the slashing they were so used to only four years ago. And I really wanted to, too, because I missed burning off so much steam in such little time.
I guess that's why I had been so emotional lately, that or I was on my period. When was the last time that little sucker had come around, too? I could hardly remember and I guess that was a good thing even though oh my god what if I was pregnant.
And then I remembered that the last time I had ever seen a man's wang was back in the ninja academy when I was seven and they decided to teach us about male anatomy at the age of seven years old. But I guess Wutai always was for growing up early.
So I couldn't be pregnant because no man had ever even touched me in a way other than a hug. Or a carry, like Vincent did with the whole Deepground incident. And boy did I enjoy that.
Right then I was sitting with my back against the wall in the hallway just by the main door to the command room. I held my ultimate weapon in my hand, letting my fingers run over the edges affectionately. I was thinking about how I would walk up to Cid and tell him to park this GOD DAMN ship of his and drop me off. Or just drop me off. Let me fly all the way to the ground and magically not die from the speed I'd hit the ground.
I'd fight the bitching monsters and save the bitching people and get the bitching money. Just like all ninjas should. Maybe I should make that my ninja way: Do it Like A Bitch. Or: The Bitch Way. Or: Dude, Where's My Bitch?
Even though the last one didn't really make sense.
But Tifa was being a bitch enough as it is, and I knew exactly where she was. (Today: snuggling up next to Cloud and vomiting her guts out. Not at the same time, I hope to god. Cloud's a strong man, but not even Leviathan could deal with being covered in pregnant woman barf.
I heard footsteps all around me; let it be workers or Red's four paws working away. It seemed as if everyone was working except for me.
Cid was flying the freaking ship, Reeve was organizing the WRO, Barrett was spending quality time with Marlene, and Vincent was working on showing his emotions more. And it was sorta working! I was proud.
Red and I were kinda just chilling, lazing about until we made our next stop. (Well, not anymore.) My routine changed from waitwaitwait HELP PEOPLE! Waitwaitwait to PEE PANTS waitwaitpopjoints. I guess it wasn't a good transition but I could deal with it for now.
And then I think the best day of my life came when the intercom beeped above me and I slid my Conformer back into its rightful place….which was my back. I waited for the timid voice of the worker to come on.
"All right, listen up retards," and I was kinda shocked because Cid usually leaves public speeches to the scared and wimpy, "Today is very GOD DAMN important. If ya'll had forgotten already, it's me and Shera's first year."
I heard Tifa's long and high pitched, "AWWWWWWWW," from down the hall.
"And that means we're throwin' a muther fuckin' party!"
I heard Barrett's grumbled angry reply and could imagine him covering Marlene's ears. It was useless though, cause I think Marlene knows more about vulgarity than I do even now. That's a lie.
And then I stopped. A party. Wutai throws old people and rice pudding parties. I would never see Cid there.
"So hold onto your britches cause we're stopping in my hometown for a lil' bit to see Shera. This better be okay with all of ya'll, because if it isn't I don't give a fuck," and with that the intercom went off.
Rocket Town? We were going to Rocket Town.
THANK YOU GOD.
And I said that out loud, really, really loudly, and I bet if Vincent were there he'd be all like "Are you okaaaay?" because that seems to be the only time he ever talks to me.
Actually, Vincent has gone all mystery man the past couple of days. Meaning only yesterday and today, of course. But the only time I see him around is when I get into my mope-y fits and I guess he has a 'Yuffie-Is-Being-Emotional Radar' because he seems to detect it pretty well.
Other than that, he's never around. I never see him eating meals or watching T.V. (but he rarely did that anyways.) or talking to Reeve through the stupid cat. I had wondered where he went and once went on a quite serious 'Lets-Find-Vincent!' treasure hunt but came out empty handed.
I had asked Cloud, I had asked Tifa, I had asked everyone. But they all just thought that he locked himself inside of his room like usual. And I guess that was really plausible because that's what he's always done when we're flying around and I was actually really, really more shocked at the fact that he was trying to (badly) comfort me than when he actually did it.
But right now I was happy so there was no need to Vincent to be concerned.
I stood up and made my way back to my bedroom. I walked past my bed and to the window that was across from the door on the other wall. I made sure not to look out it, simply because I didn't want to upchuck all over my Conformer, which I was setting down. I propped it up against the wall and almost waved goodbye to it. But in these past few days I was trying super duper hard to not be a kid anymore and more like the adult I was.
Maybe I was doing this because of Wutai. Maybe I was doing it for myself. Maybe I was doing it for Aerith. Who knows?
But as I was walking back to the hallway to go give Cid the biggest bro-hug he'd ever receive in his entire life (and the loudest 'GET SOME!') I caught my reflection in the mirror.
My hair was still like it's always been, short and black with a headband tied around my forehead. And I was still wearing pants. Other than Cid and Shera being married for a whole year, (I don't know how she puts up with him.) I thought that was a cause for celebration. Maybe, with a little bit of bartering and a long 'But I turn 21 in ten months!' I'd be able to drink that night!
That's what also sucked. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in our group was over 21. Except for Red but he doesn't count because he's a cat. But we'd go out to bars for celebrations and let's not forget that Tifa and Cloud lived in one and they'd all have a whiskey or wine and they'd plop me with a Shirley temple.
And by midnight they'd all be wasted, (except for Vincent who would casually sip at his beer yet stay completely normal; see my argument on him getting drunk in chapter one) belting out old songs from their childhood or talking about if Sephiroth was gay he'd be much easier to fight because Cloud was so sexy. And I'd just sit there in the back, trying to join in, but I wasn't drunk enough and I wasn't drunk at all.
It was upsetting, to say the least.
Maybe I should change, too, because I think these pants were beginning to stink. So I peeled them off and threw them onto the floor so I would clean them up later (even though that would never happen.) and picked out a white skirt. It was short, duh, but I was Yuffie Kisaragi and ninja's can't wear much clothing.
I pulled my sneakers back on (the orange ones from when I was sixteen, still love them, to this day.) and made my way to the command room. I saw the other's gathered there as well.
"Okay!" I said loudly, making myself known, "When we landing?"
"Don't piss your pants!" Cid said from above me, "It takes awhile to land this son of a bitch."
"But isn't Shera a girl?" I asked.
"Well of course she's a girl! She's my GOD DAMN wife!"
"But you said son-"
"Yuffie, please," Tifa said, smiling at me and waddling into the room with Cloud right behind her. I gasped.
"Tifa!" I exclaimed, "You're coming to party with us!" Sweet! Drunken pregnant ladies are always the best!
Tifa just laughed, "I'll be joining you in the sober side, tonight, Yuffie," and my happiness ended. My face dropped.
"About that…," I started, lacing my hands together. I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"You ain't getting a single drop of alcohol, tonight, Yuffie. If there's one person I'd never wanna see drunk in my entire life, it'd be you! Considering you act like you just drank (drunk, dranked, drunken?) a six pack of beer erryday of your life," Barrett said from behind me, Marlene close behind and oh my Marlene I'd have to sit at the kiddy table with her and Tifa oh my god this is so sexist.
"What if a six pack was actually called a sex pack, doesn't that sound more appealing? Buy a sex pack and begin to get down and dirrrrttty," I said.
"Sometimes I wonder what fucked up thins' go on in your mind," Cid mumbled.
"I think everyone wonders that," Cloud said, giving me a mocking smile. I stuck my tongue out at him. I hated them all.
"I hate you all," I told them.
"We hate you, too," Reeve said from Cait Sith and I smiled. And then I knew we were a family.
We always were one, ever since that day that Cid joined our team. We were all one, big, complete thingamabob. That's the worst description ever but I didn't care because it described up perfectly. And we all had our faults, yes, sometimes Cid couldn't start up the Shera and something Cloud didn't know which way to go. And Barrett wouldn't know how to be angry anymore. And sometimes Tifa didn't know the right things to say and I forgot how to kick ass. (This was rare.) And Vincent forgot to be quiet and would actually talk (which was a good thing.) and Red wouldn't have any wisdom left in him. And Cait Sith would forget to be stupid and I'd actually like him for a little bit.
But all of these faults made up love (or hate, but in a loving way) each other more and more. Because none of us were perfect in anyway, we all had cracks and we were all stupid but I preferred it that way.
And honestly, I think we were the stupidest people to ever try and save the world. Because, who woulda thought, that this random group of people who were all so different from each other could ban together and do something great? I wouldn't have if I wasn't a part of it.
So I smiled and punched Cait Sith in the face.
"Ouch! That hurt, ye wench!" the cat said, holding its nose.
"That was for Reeve, not you," I told him, folding my arms across my chest.
"So what! That doesn't mean it din't hurt like a beo-"
Cid cut him off, "Will ya'll stop with your babbling? We got parties to plan!"
I cheered, "Amen to that!"
We all burst into one, loud speech bubble that consisted of 'how long will we be there?' and 'we need to make our way to Wutai' (NOT from me.) and 'beer beer beer!' and especially: 'let Yuffie drink beer!' although I said that in the deepest voice I could muster to make it seem like Cloud or Barrett or even Vincent said it so people would agree.
No one seemed to acknowledge it so I was sad.
Cid cleared his throat, "Okay, so here's the deal. We're gonna land in Rocket Town, I'm gonna go get Shera and ya'll are gonna go into the pub, and I hope ya'll remember where that is because if ya don't and end up breaking into someone's house and I'm gonna be super pissed off. But ya'll are gonna go and order as much beer as possible and I'm gonna bring in Shera and ya'll are gonna be all happy and fuck. Okay?"
"You mean it's a surprise party!" I said, excited.
"Shouldn't you take into consideration that three of us cannot drink alcohol?"-Tifa
"Well then you can have a fucking Coke, okay?" -Cid
"But what if Shera doesn't even drink!"-Me
"She's my GOD DAMN wife; I think I know what she fucking drinks!"-Cid
"What if she's cheating on you!"
"JESUS CHRIST, Yuffie, can you try to think about positive things?" Barrett said this, still behind me, Marlene on his shoulders.
"Like how Cid and Shera have been together for a year now!" Marlene said happily from on top of her father, laughing.
"Actually, I'm sort of surprised-"
"Shut your mouth, Kisaragi," Cid growled.
"You just wanna get Shera drunk so you can do her tonight!" And then I realized this has gone entirely too far and stopped.
"Best of luck to you both, though," I said before Cid or Tifa or anyone slapped me over the head.
Cloud facepalmed, "Can we just land this thing?"
All Cid did was grunt and spin the steering wheel wildly and I felt the airship turn drastically. And then I felt the knee-buckling feeling of the descent.
"Oh sweet lords of Wutai, have mercy on me," I said, clutching my stomach. My legs were shaking and I grasped onto the rail that was near the glass wall at the end of the room. My stomach was flopping around and threatening to empty itself in front of everyone. It wasn't like they weren't used to it, I mean, I think I was the person they have seen the most of, simply because they've seen the inside of my stomach over fifty times.
"Girl, can you hold your shit for five minutes? Then you can upchuck all over the ground, just not on my GOD DAMN ship," Cid said, obviously caring about his airship more than my comfort and wellness.
"It's not shit, Jesus, Cid, it's-" and I stopped to hold my mouth. Hold it, Yuffie, you got this. Five minutes. I've gone two hours, once, feeling absolutely miserable like this. But then I threw up over Marlene's bed and made her cry. Oh well. It was revenge.
"I know what it is," Cid said and it was the simplest sentence I've ever heard him utter.
So I spent the next five minutes forcing my stomach to be calm and to cooperate, only to make sure Cid doesn't get pissed off on his anniversary. Even though he's pissed off every day of his life. And I think that was the nicest thing I've ever done for him.
Eventually, the ever-present feeling of dropping stopped and the world became stable. I gave out a sigh in relief and unlatched my hand from the railing with some difficulty due to my extremely strong grip on it because I'm a badass.
"Uuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhh," I let out when everyone was beginning to make their way to the hatch while I tried to take a step forward with great difficulty. I envied their ability to stand so straight.
Red hopped out of the hatch and landed safely on the ground and I thought that if I had done that I would explode. He brought Cait Sith with him. Then Barrett with Marlene on his shoulders, balancing her on his shoulders while he jumped down. Next was Vincent (who had actually been watching me this whole time although it wasn't obvious. He just stood against the wall with his arms folded over each other and out of the corner of his eye he was looking at me. I could feel it.) who simply just leaped down to the ground.
No one went next. I wondered why.
Then I felt the stares. I was still by the railing, trying to make my legs move but failing miserably. I looked up and saw Cloud look at me expectantly and Cid with a grumpy look on with face that was even grumpier than normal. I wondered what all the fuss was about.
"What?" I said, barely picking up my legs and moving towards them.
"Ya might wanna get a move on, cause we're waiting for your skinny little ass to get off this ship!"
My first thought was: He called me skinny!
My second thought was: Why don't they just let me go last?
"You know….you can just go ahead of me," I said like it was the stupidest thing in the world.
Cid snorted. "No, we can't, cuz Cloud's gotta help Tifa off the airship and me, bein' the captain, has to get off last," and this made absolutely no sense to me because, hell, I could wait for Tifa to get herself off of the airship! I just really, really, really, didn't want to barf all over her.
I clenched my teeth, "I'm gonna barf on you guys."
Cloud stared at me, "Just get off the airship, Yuffie," and I felt so, so, so annoying at that one moment because I was holding everyone up and no one was progressing at anything except for learning how to stand better and ageing.
So I complied and slowly slipped off the hatch, my stomach tossing and turning with every second I was in mid air. Which was only about two, but those two seconds absolutely sucked.
Everyone looked at me like I was a parasite when I got off of the ship, well, everyone except for Vincent. I blushed and scratched my head and cracked my knuckles. I walked away from the hatch and almost kissed the solid ground I was standing on.
It took Tifa like, ten minutes to get off of the hatch, simply because Cloud was really overprotective and didn't want her to get hurt, at all. I was about to suggest him just picking her up and jumping down but decided that I had spoken enough that day as it was.
All of us got safely to the ground and Cid closed the hatch, leaving all of the workers inside to suffer and well, work all day while we got our party on. Well, as much party that you can get on when you're not totally wasted.
It was around five in the afternoon when we got there and the bar was just opening. Cid said nothing, only jabbing with his thumb to the direction of the pub while he made his way over to his house. I smirked and waited for him to get about five yards ahead of me until I began to tip toe behind him.
The others were starting to make their way to the pub and no one noticed me get all sneaky behind Cid. (That's what she said!) I could see a grin grow on his face and I smiled myself, feeling his excitement and happiness because I was happy for him. He deserved to see his wife after so long.
It was cute, really, when he opened the door and I heard Shera shriek in happiness. It was really out of character, for both of them, but I guess that's what love makes you do. I wouldn't know for sure, though.
I heard them talk for a little bit and in the beginning it was all laughs and then random silences for kissing (who would want to kiss Cid's tobacco mouth, I wouldn't know.) and it was adorable. And then I felt like I was intruding when their voices got hushed and more intimate so I left before the others noticed I was gone.
By the time I made it to the bar, Tifa was already kicking the owner out from behind the counter with her enlarged hormones. I laughed at her authority when she said, "I have been an owner of a bar for six years I know what I'm doing," and at the face the previous worker had. I think he pissed his pants. What a pansy.
So Tifa was cleaning out glasses like she always did and I almost burst into tears because it reminded me of old times. Cloud was giving the owner a sack of gil to rent out the place for the night and the amount of gill he offered was so high and owner took it and promptly yelled, "SHOP'S CLOSED!" to which I laughed because this wasn't a shop.
Red was already lying out on the floor and I sorta felt bad for him because he couldn't really enjoy any of this. All he could do was sit and watch because, hey, who would want a lion to sing karaoke and drink beer with them? So I sat down next to him and patted his head.
"We gotta stick together, tonight, Red," I told him, looking off to the wall.
"And why is that?" He asked in his deep and cat-ish voice.
"Cause neither of us can really enjoy this whole party tonight!" I said while I watched Marlene hug the shit out of Cait Sith. Hahhahahahaha, he deserved it. And I didn't really know why but he did.
"I was actually planning to take a nap," and I gave him another look that resembled this- O.O
"How the hell are you able to sleep when they'll be talking about their sex lives all night? And you know that it gets more disturbing every night they do," and he didn't seem to disagree with me.
And then it got boring because all he did was swish his tail around and try not to catch things on fire. See, if he actually did catch things on fire then it would get exciting. We could have a bonfire party instead of a bar party and all of the booze would burn down and make the fire even BIGGER and I'd go buy marshmallows. And then we'd have s'mores.
But none of that actually happened and then he did really fall asleep. Before the party even started.
So I just sat there, ignoring Tifa's blabbering about how I should be helping out because I knew she'd get over it in like five minutes. And Barrett dropped a glass in the kitchen when he was trying to swat a fly with his muscles and Cloud went into overprotective daddy mode, forcing Tifa out of the kitchen and sweeping up all of the debris.
Vincent stood by the wall and set up the streamers. It was amusing.
They were red and blue streamers, the manliest colors of them all. It was starting to look like Cid's 36th anniversary with himself than his first with Shera until Tifa broke out the pink.
Since she was away from the bar due to Cloud's cleaning she took the opportunity to go buy some flowers from the flower shop and oh my god Cid was going to be soooooo pissed off. This made me get up off of my ass and while I was doing that I wondered why no one was yelling at Red to do anything. But that thought left me when I went to go grab vases to keep the flowers in.
They were bright pink lilies and totally girly. Shera wasn't girly. We didn't care.
"They're so cute!" Tifa and I chimed in together which led us to looking at each other and then bursting out into giggles. After our laughter died down Tifa looked at me.
"Be my sober partner tonight, Yuff?" She asked me in her sweet voice and it was impossible to reject.
"I guess I have no other choice," and I guess that wasn't the nicest way to reply and I guess I guess I guess. I never knew, did I? Back then I wasn't so sure of myself.
So we waited for awhile, and by awhile I meant like ten minutes until Cid came busting through the door suddenly and with no hints to his arrival. This made the whole bar so absolutely silent except for Cid's incredibly loud "TA-DAAAA!"
We all stood there completely still. Cloud gripped onto his broom with an open mouth and Barrett kept his arms locked on Marlene's legs. Tifa and I stood still. Red slept. Vincent breathed. It was really awkward.
All of us realized this at the same time.
"Happy anniversary!" we all said except for Barrett who said, "Happy birthday!"
And when we all ended our chorus of 'happy whatevers' Cid let out a shaky laugh and Shera just giggled. I mean, it's all she really could do, for the girl never really showed that much emotion other than striking obedience and stubbornness.
Someone was smart and handed Cid a beer and it all got out of hand from there.
They all ended up sitting at the main table (they being all of the men. Oh and Shera.) with a drink in hand and music in the background. Cid kept laughing, the beer going straight to his head already.
"Man, did you guys rent this place out? Ya'll didn't have to do that!" and for the first time EVER Cid was being nice but I take back the EVER because he's been nice before. He seriously is just a smoking teddy bear, I swear.
Cloud reassured him that it was no problem and Tifa went back behind the bar to cook some food. I offered to do it because Tifa should have gone and had some fun and not do all of the work. It wasn't because she was pregnant; it was because I was tired of her just sitting on the sidelines. Everyone was forgetting how to kick ass these days.
But she assured me it was fine and I was left as the only conscious one not at the table. Even Cait Sith had been radio intercepted by Reeve and Cid was now having a long conversation with him about how Reeve hadn't gotten drunk in ages.
"Fly out here, man, we've got room!" Cid bellowed his arms around Shera. It was a weird sight considering he used to verbally abuse her.
"Ah, well, um," Reeve started and I could imagine him stretching the collar of his dress, "You see, I'm in Edge and that's quite far from Rocket Town. I don't believe I could get there in time."
I kinda wanted Tifa to start saying 'dilly-dally shilly-shally' over and over again because it was so much fun to say but she didn't.
"Bullshit!" Cid said and that was close enough.
I sat down next to Vincent and glanced at the condensation on the beer he had in his hand. I almost groaned. Why could everyone else have fun and I couldn't?
I know what you're thinking. You don't need beer to have fun in all of your nerdy little voices. But I'll tell you right now to shut the hell up.
I decided to test this theory and poked Vincent on his metal arm. I wondered if he could feel it and when he didn't turn from looking in Cid's direction to mine I kept poking it. I also wondered if he had a thing for Cid and almost burst out laughing because what was I thinking. Maybe I was drunk from secondhand drinking. But that didn't make sense.
I poked and poked until I moved from his metal arm to his actual, squishy arm. And on the first poke he turned around slowly and looked down on me. I felt scared for a moment.
"Are you having fun?" I asked, almost in a whisper. I didn't know why (I never knew anymore) I was whispering simply because Barrett was screaming at the top of his lungs for Cid to chug his beer and then later to make out with Shera. It was sorta disturbing if you think about it. Do near 40 year olds make out anymore? I think if Cid had sex he'd break his back.
Vincent like, squinted at me and I grinned wildly as a response. I hope he didn't think I was being annoying like the rest of them.
When he didn't reply and just kept staring at me like he did on the ship I slowly said, "This doesn't seem like…..your kinda scene, ya know?" And I hope he knew.
He nodded, "I am not one for these types of events," and I sighed, "But that does not mean I can't enjoy it," he said and then took a sip of his beer.
I gaped, "You…uh…wanna gimme a sip of that?" I asked him, nudging him in the side with my elbow. He didn't look amused.
"I don't think so," he said and took another sip. I deadpanned. What a dickface!
"Dickface. Pussy. Ass bitch ninnymuggins," I said angrily and crossed my arms. He didn't seem to care at all that I called him all of those names and continued to be silent like always.
I looked around me. Tifa was sitting across from me, a fruity drink in front of her that looked like alcohol but I knew wasn't. Very sneaky, Tifa, I complimented in my mind. Cloud was sitting next to her with his arms on the table, both hands wrapped around a bottle of beer. Barrett was at the end of the table, arms waving around sporadically, causing beer to fall into Cid and Cloud's hair. Cloud winced but Cid just tried to catch it with his tongue.
Shera sat next to Vincent and tried to act like she was having a good time but was failing miserably. She was sipping the tiniest sips in the entire world out of her fruity but probably spiked drink. Her glasses were crooked and she was laughing timidly. This wasn't her scene, either.
Like I said before, this was more like Cid's 36th anniversary with himself than anything else.
Marlene was with Red on the floor. She looked upset. This wasn't any of ours scene.
Was Vincent mad at me? Or was he just being silent like usual? I mean, if someone called me the names I just called him I'd be pissed off beyond belief. Especially the ninnymuggins. But then again, Vincent was handling being previously encased with demons pretty well. I guess. I mean now he was, previously…not so much.
I huffed and poked him again.
"I'm bored," I said.
He let out one of his deep Vincent laughs and set his bottle down, "Count the ceiling tiles," he said grimly.
"You're shitting me, right?" I told him.
"I've done it twice," he spoke with such seriousness I almost burst into laughter if it weren't for Barrett's beer finally reaching me.
"Ey! Watch it!" I snapped at Barrett and turned back to Vincent, "I am not counting the ceiling tiles. That's for wussies," I stopped. Another name calling.
His mouth twitched, "You're quite insulting today," he said and my brain soured.
"I'm always insulting. Psh, watch," and just to be a bitch I said, "Ey, Cloud, your hair looks like a chocobo," and that was the worst insult I had ever dished out at someone and he didn't even hear me because of the pounding music in the background.
"That….was terrible," Vincent said from next to me and I hissed in response.
"I want to see you do any better, Vinny-boy," I told him. He squinted his eyes and took a long sip from his beer. He still had a lot left.
"I'd rather not," He told me.
"Yeah, because you don't enjoy verbally abusing people like Cid does. Or giving out orders like Cloud does. Or comforting people like Tifa does. Or being awesome like I do. You enjoy being the silent one who has really good ideas and is smart and shit but never says anything because he feels like he doesn't need to. But me, I don't have a filter. My brain thinks of stuff and instead of processing it, it just spits straight out my mouth. And that's what makes me, me. And your brain is like, the police force of thoughts, because if one thing you think of is too happy or too positive, it'll shoot it down. And that's what makes you, you," and with that I grabbed his beer and took a long sip from it.
It tasted horrid and it tasted bitter. I had his saliva in my mouth. It was sort of like kissing. (SEE! IT DID HAPPEN, BITCHES.)
Vincent didn't seem shocked that I took a sip. I think he was expecting it.
"That's….not true," he started, "I don't say much simply because it'd be pointless. I do not enjoy wasting my breath. If something I was to say has a positive incantation, I'd say it if it adds to the conversation," he said and I nodded. I was seeing his point.
"So many people see me as some sort of dark being. I'll admit that I am…in some ways. But my mind is…lighter, now."
I smiled. I thought of Shelke and what she was doing right now. She harbored the only last remaining thoughts of Lucrecia Cresent and he was here, with us. She was the one that helped him release his dark thoughts and yet he wanted to be with us.
"Maybe you should stop wearing black, then. Kinda gives off the impression that you are, well, dark," I told him, ignoring the glare Tifa was giving me when I took another sip of the nasty beer. Vincent didn't stop me.
I swished it around in my mouth while waiting for him to reply.
"People just have to get to know me, then," and I spit my beer all over the place, meaning in front of Tifa. She didn't notice and was talking to Cloud.
"Vincent, that was the girliest thing I've ever heard a member of AVALAN-" I stopped, "DOWNFALL, by the way that name is stupid, say. Other than the time Cloud got gum stuck in his hair and Tifa used peanut butter on it and he was complaining about how he just washed it," I said.
There was a puddle of beer in front of me and I refrained from licking it up from off of the table.
His mouth twitched and he grabbed the bottle back from my side of the table. He took a sip, not a gulp. It was like we kissed again.
"Hmm," he hummed and I left it at that. I had just had the best and longest conversation in the history of the relationship of Yuffie and Vincent. Well, I had at that time.
I didn't take his beer back. I left it with him and asked Tifa for my own. She said no, of course.
Red had woken up by then and was talking quietly to Marlene on the floor. She was clutching his fur and lying across him, nearly his size by then. She was growing up so fast and it was hard to believe. Barrett probably didn't like it. Barrett probably didn't like anything except for Cid and beer right now.
I wanted to go and turn down the music. I wanted to take a beer and chug it so I could join the party. I wanted it to be ten months later so I would be 21 and had already dealt with going to Wutai.
"Vincent," I said, looking at the wall past Tifa. He moved his gaze from the same wall to me, "Do you think…my father will be happy to see me?"
What was I asking him? Why would he know the answer? It wasn't like Vincent knew absolutely everything in the entire world but I wasn't expecting him to. I just wanted some reassurance.
It took him awhile to respond.
"Being your father…my immediate answer would be yes…," he said but his eyes gave off some sort of glint when I looked into them. I sighed at his answer.
"But..," my ears perked up, "there's something else, isn't there? This isn't going to be…normal for you, is it?" and I nodded, my lips wiggling. I couldn't cry, Jesus Christ I was Yuffie Kisaragi! I don't cry, ever!
I took a deep breath and slowly, I whispered, "I don't want to go."
He kept looking into my eyes. His red ones were thoughtful, hard, and narrowed. I felt like I could see my entire soul inside of them but in reality all I could see was my reflection. A girl with a headband and a smile.
He blinked and I blinked, "I know," was all he said and I turned away.
I took a deep breath. Someone knew that I didn't want to go. And suddenly a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.
I let the breath out.
We didn't talk for the rest of the night and it was okay. I sat there quietly while Cloud and Cid talked about the rise of DOWNFALL (that was funny.) and Shera talked about her hopes of going off to Kalm to go to the small university they had there. Shera didn't get to talk much, though, because Cid had a bigger mouth.
Marlene ended up falling asleep after we finished the dinner Tifa had prepared. It was some sort of chicken smothered in broth and was very, very good in everyone's opinion. She gave some raw meat to Red who hadn't said a word this entire time. Cloud was getting tired. Shera was fed up. Anxiety was eating me alive.
Eventually, this all had to end. It reached about one o'clock and the bar owner came barging in, demanding that we leave before he calls the cops. We were all unsure why but at the word 'leave', Tifa and I stood up, pushed in our seats and began to gather people around the door.
Cid was wasted beyond belief and couldn't even properly argue with the guy who owned the place. His words were just garbled sounds with harsh points indicating anger. He stumbled into the arms of his wife. She guided him out the door.
Barrett wasn't much better and ended up almost dropping Marlene when he tried picking her up. This resulted in her crying her eyes out and me having to hold her hand. I patted her head and told her that her dad was just being retarded.
Cloud was fine because he could hold alcohol like no one I've ever met. He stood up straight and made a beeline to the door with Tifa straight behind him. He spoke with complete precision, "Thank you for letting us-"
The owner didn't want to hear it, "Just let me go to sleep," he said sleepily.
I felt bad right then, because I had kept a tired man from his home. All he wanted to do was sleep but we had to have a party. And even though we were the saviors of the world and everyone was indebted to us…..that didn't mean we had the right to invade someone's home.
Shera took Cid back to their house for the night. I wished her luck. He was probably horny.
I also felt bad for Shera, too, because she didn't seem to enjoy that night at all. I frowned, wishing that Cid would make changes for her. She didn't deserve that.
The hatch was wide open when we came back.
"What….the fuck?" I said to myself when I was the first one to see it.
I was chorused by Barrett's, "WHAT THE FUCK!"
Our breath's hitched and our minds slowed. I could feel Cloud's anger from behind me.
"Who did this?" He asked, jumping to conclusions.
I stumbled, but not from the alcohol, "What if the workers got hungry?"
Cloud grunted and Barrett bellowed, "There's some food in the ship! Someone was in here!"
We all hurried inside, our muscles tense. None of us had weapons.
Luckily, we found all of the workers safe and totally alive. Cloud let out a sigh of relief. He interrogated them about if they heard anything. They all seemed pretty shocked when they saw us and said that they heard the hatch open at midnight and thought it was us coming back.
Someone had entered the Shera and it wasn't us. It wasn't the workers. But one thing was for sure: whoever did it was fucking retarded because they had left the hatch wide open. So they wouldn't be much of a challenge, even if they caught us off guard. We had killed Sephiroth. There was nothing to worry about.
Cloud grabbed Marlene, not trusting her with Barrett, and made his way down the main hallway with Tifa following behind him as fast as she could while waddling.
I went off on my own, shimmying down the hallway to my bedroom with ninja expertise. I had my fist clenched, my head constantly turning from side to side to look for a humanoid figure on either ends of the hall.
I kicked open my bedroom door, pausing after it was open to listen for any sudden movement. I heard none and slowly walked in, my fists in front of me. I ran quickly past my bed and grabbed my Conformer. I held it above my head and flipped on the lights.
With Conformer still above my head I grabbed for my knapsack besides my dresser. My eyes were still glancing around the room, mostly into the darkness of my bathroom. I wasn't looking when I flipped open the top of the knapsack that housed my materia.
I dug my fingers into the pouch that I kept reserved for my mastered Ice materia, ready to turn my room into Icicle Inn at any moment. My fingers were met by the soft leather texture of the bag. I assumed it had fallen out of the small pocket and my fingers left that part of the bag. I reached into the main holding space of my materia bag.
My hand sunk too low. It was too light and I didn't even notice it at first. My fingers met the bottom of my bag and I looked down. It was all empty except for my one star Demi materia. I always hated that one.
I stopped breathing and turned the bag inside out. I dumped its contents onto the floor, the one materia meeting the ground with a soft clunk. My eyes searched the ground for some hidden compartment. This had to be some cruel, sick joke.
I fell to my knees and started searching. I looked under the bed, in the dresser, threw all of my clothes onto the floor, and tore the covers off of my bed. I ripped my bedroom curtains from the railings and pulled my shower curtains to the side. The bathroom cabinet was empty.
It was silent. My breath shuddered. My whole life's work, every last bit of it was gone. My obsession, my love, my hobby was now wrenched out of my hands. My heart broke for all of the wrong reasons and my fists clenched.
"FUCK!" I screamed, so loudly I felt my lamp shake on the bedside table. I looked at it hopefully, thinking that my hundreds of materia would fall out from its lampshade and be returned to me.
Not only was my materia stolen, but some of everyone else's, too. Sure, I had stolen from my friends, but I always, always promised to give it back. Well, maybe not out loud I said that, but I always thought it. I always knew it, too, because I couldn't be that mean to the people that loved me.
I slammed my fists down on the ground, "Fuck you, whoever you are! I hope you die! I hope you feel the pain you're giving me right now. You are the sickest fuck I've ever had the displeasure of meeting! What kind of fucked up, psycho shit goes and steals someone materia? That shit is personal. You just tore down whatever pride I had for myself!" and I said all of this out loud because I knew no one was listening. It would be the same as saying them in my head.
Pride. The only way I had gained it in myself was when I let my Conformer fly during our last battle and that night I stayed up until three in the morning in Wutai. I had sat on my knees for three hours when I couldn't sleep in my basement. I opened my old, rickety chest and had grabbed my knapsack of my favorite materia. My chest was overflowing, almost, with the materia I had been collecting since a tender four years old.
I sorted them into groups, by colors, names, powers, attributes, and came out at 1,179. It was a rainbow of magic lying out in front of me, my entire life staring me straight in the face. I had cried because I realized I had done something that made me happy. I knew I had gotten these from stealing and bartering and dirty, dirty things but they gave me a feeling I had never felt before.
And just like that it was gone.
My nails dug so deep into my skin that my blood began to drip to the wooden floor. I could hear Tifa and Cloud talking in their room. They hadn't heard me.
I ducked my head towards my chest. My chin touched my collar bone and I focused on breathing deeply. In. Out. In. Out. Maybe this would all go away. Maybe I was drunk. Maybe if I never moved ever again then God will forgive me.
"Are you okay?" and I'll have to admit that I was expecting that. It was going to happen eventually and I was just curling up in a ball, waiting for its arrival.
But I hadn't thought about what to say.
"It's gone," I whispered to my chest, loud enough for him to hear, "He took it all."
I heard him picking up my knapsack and the soft clank of his metal hand picking up my Demi. I shot up and yanked it out of his hands. I pressed it into my face, feeling its magical warmth against my cheek.
"All of it?" Yes that's what I mean by he took it all.
"Mhmm," I let out. I began to rock on my heels, my eyes burning. They weren't wet.
His eyes shot around me room, under my bed. I touched his shoulder, "Don't," I started, "I already tried."
He swallowed at look at my face. I musta looked pretty fucked up, curled up in a ball in the corner of my bedroom. He must have thought I was going into hysterics.
My hand stayed on his shoulder until he grabbed it and took it off. He laid it back onto the ground and his eyes were wide.
"Cloud found him, dead, in the chocobo room," he said and my ears waited for more, "Said he heard us arrive and he stowed away there. Cloud discovered him and punched him out of invasion of privacy, but the man ended up hitting his head on a bucket that was in there. He died of brain damage, Tifa says."
I gaped.
"He also said there was a large amount of non-human waste in there."
I forgot to clean up Attaboy's shit. I had forgotten to pick up the bucket and take it back to my room. I had left it there and it was the cause of death of the man who stole my life's work.
Was it wrong to be happy?
"You mean….he's dead!" I exclaimed.
"That is what I meant when I said he was dead," and I almost laughed.
My eyes shone and I was about to make my way to the chocobo room when Vincent's hand touched my shoulder, mimicking my previous movements. I stopped in my tracks.
"Cloud also said that he had nothing on him," and I growled. Did the fucker leave and come back? I mean, I did have a lot of materia and he didn't take my knapsack. So he must have it stashed somewhere I mean…," I trailed off.
"He wasn't holding anything, Yuffie," Vincent told me and my lip twitched.
"Well….at least he's dead…," and can't go stealing other ninja's materia. They were important to ninja progress and maturity. (This kind of worked in a reverse effect.)
"I'm sorry, Yuffie," Vincent said, his eyes narrowing again, but this time in a sort of affectionate way. I guess he really did care.
"It's….okay….I mean….I'll just have to raid Cloud when he's not looking for another 400 materia," I said and almost laughed again. Vincent gave me a slight slightslightslight smile.
"I think he'd notice," and he got up and made his way to the door. I stood up too, holding out my hand.
"Oh, wait, Vincent…," I stopped him, making sure he heard me. He turned around, looking at me over his shoulder.
I wiggled my foot, "Um, well, I'msorryaboutwhatIsaidatthebar. You're not really a dickface. Or a pussy. Or a bitch ass ninnymuggins," and that was the most romantic thing I've ever said to him.
His slight smile stayed on his face, amusing and kinda mocking. I think he thought I was a child.
"It's fine," he said and with a wave of his hand he was gone from my room, metallic boots echoing off the walls of the hallway.
My mouth was dry again and my eyes stopped burning. A stir began in my stomach and it wasn't from motion sickness. (Mostly because we weren't even flying.) It was a flutter, soft and short; something a princess would get in fairytale. It gave my bodies shivers and my mouth an upward curve. It made me feel like a girl.
This is the first and last chapter to have one consecutive scene with no breaks.
I'm updating early this weekend because...well...my school had an early release so I'm home at three in the afternoon with nothing to do. So hehe!
I really, really love this chapter. I really, really love The Postal Service. I really, really love not having world history homework.
Thank you guys for reading and your feedback. You all are completely fabulous and you are the ones that keep me writing. :) I'm gonna go write the epilogue RIGHT NOW because I love all of you guys so much.
Ahhhh...love...there is so much of it...especially at my school...so many people disregard the PDA rules there. It's quite gross haha.
I've been rambling oh no! Review please :) It will make my day.