-08-
By the time he got back from Gongaga, the sun had long since set on Edge. There was a note of justifiable irritation in Tifa's voice when she met him in the garage, but they both managed to go to bed without a fight.
That night, he dreamed again.
The walls eventually pulled away to reveal a large clearing and an equally large building. Cloud slowly, cautiously made his way up to the front steps when a voice cried out, "One! Avoid unnecessary training!" He skidded to a halt, scanning the environment for the source of the... unusually spirited voice. "Two!" He felt the muscles in his legs tighten, ready to spring backward in the case of an ambush. The trees and bushes surrounding the clearing were especially thick. "Protect Wutai at all costs!"
Yes, whoever possessed the voice was most definitely a... younger person.
"Three! Ugly Shinra SOLDIER dudes... must be punished!" Cloud relaxed considerably at the youthful declaration of war and kept his gaze locked on one of the stone statues fortifying the entrance.
Just as he had predicted, the person who leapt out from behind the cover of the statue and stood proudly at the top of the stairs was no more than a young girl. "Who are you?" he asked, perplexed.
That unabashedly... cute… girl glowered at him and threw her hands on her hips as if incensed. "I'm Wutai's greatest warrior!" she proudly pronounced. "If you wanna go further, you have to go through me!"
All pretenses of combat were now lost on him, and Cloud simply stared at the young ninja girl. She sported the headdress of a Wutai warrior, though he had a strong urge to believe that she had likely acquired it through less than honorable ways.
"A kid...?" he muttered, ignoring the headband. "Look, you shouldn't be playing here. It's dangerous! Go on home to your parents!"
At those words, she made a leap – a rather impressive one, at that – to catch his back and shouted, "You're the one who's going home! If you intend on going any further, you'll have a fight on your hands!" That said, she dashed forward and made as if to attack him.
Cloud considered his options for a moment, but the mysterious little girl stopped just shy of him and vigorously pumped her fist back and forth, shouting out recited battle cries all the while. He couldn't help but grin at the effort and enthusiasm with which she attacked him. It was charming, at least.
If only he knew her name.
He woke up an instant later, with that name front and center in his mind. There was no way...
Yuffie.