Come What May

Chapter Eight

She felt jitters dance up and down her skin as she slowly started nearing the surface. There were a billion other things she could be doing right now, but she stupidly decided to play hero and went off to find where Roxas and Sora had gone. She'd been travelling by herself for over three days now, avoiding the Royal Guard to make sure she wasn't caught and sent immediately home to her father- who was surely furious with her by now.

Naminé weaved in between the shelter of the coral reef, ducking under some coral bushes as the patrol passed. The sea was becoming awfully dangerous. She turned to her side, releasing a sigh of relief when she noticed a fish staring at her.

"You're Lady Naminé! What are you doing this far from the Palace?" the fish exclaimed. Naminé, quick as lightning, pressed the pad of two fingers to the fish's forehead before taking them away and swimming away as fast as she could, ignoring the fish's indignant cries of 'Where am I?' and 'What was I doing?'

The blond mermaid had a special gift in comparison with the rest of her species, and that was the alter and twist, even obliterate the memories of anyone she wished. She'd tried to erase King Sephiroth's memory concerning his boys, but unfortunately she didn't have the permission to completely wipe out his memory of having children. She had to make sure it was okay with Cloud, Sora and Roxas first, but they had gone missing, so she went after them. Besides, after the first time she had tried, King Sephiroth had been extra careful to keep her away from him at all times.

Oh Roxas, you're lucky you're worth the trouble, she thought as she finally caught site of Captain Leonhart's ship.

"Oh, what am I going to do?" she muttered to herself, attempting to form a plan in her head. "What if they try to harpoon me?"

She swam in a small circle, gulping before rising to the surface. She kept close to the ship's hull, pressing her hand against the side.

What magnificent craftsmanship, she thought as she examined the sides of the ship. There was an amazing carving of a mermaid at the end of the ship.

"Oh how did Roxas and Sora board this vessel?" she thought out loud, too distracted to notice a curious head of black hair pop over the ship's railings. "What if pirates are as unfriendly as King Sephiroth makes them out to be?"

"Hello?"

Naminé ducked under water immediately, startled by the sound of a human voice. It was a lot rougher than she'd immediately thought. Was that still a female voice?

The blond mermaid slowly rose out of the water again, examining the young woman who was leaning over the deck, "Um, hello human. I come unarmed."

The black-haired girl clicked her fingers, placing her chin in her hand, "You're Naminé right?"

"How did you know that?"

"You're just as beautiful as Roxas said you were," she grinned, making Naminé flush bright pink.

"Roxas said that about me?" a fluttery, weightless feeling rose within her chest. Up until now, she didn't know if Roxas was interested at all, but he thought that she was beautiful. "Um, what is your name?"

"I'm The Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi! Friends of Cloud can just call me Yuffie, though," she disappeared for a little bit, and then came back with a rope ladder. "Here! You can climb up, and I'll give you some clothes."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because I'm the best friend of Cloud's mate. I can't harm any of his friends."

"Mind, sorry. This is going to look very unlady-like, so please don't tell Roxas."

After a quick scrabble to get Naminé on deck, she watched in fascination as her tail started to shine, and split in two. There was no one else around, but Yuffie was adamant about clothing Naminé in a small frilly white dress, unlike the ones normal human women wore, except much shorter. A dressing gown perhaps? She'd seen images of these women, in a grotto owned by her friend Ariel.

Yuffie clothes her new legs with a pair of socks, and boots, items that were very new to the mermaid. She was having a lot of fun inspecting her legs.

"I simply must draw these magnificent appendages later."

"You've got to learn how to walk with them first."

"Oh yes, humans do use these for transportation, don't they?"

Yuffie spent the next half an hour teaching her how to walk like a human. She told Naminé in this time that Sora and Roxas were exploring Port, and she had absolutely no idea where Cloud and Leon were.

"Tell me, Lady Kisaragi-"

"There's no need for the formality, although I will admit that being called a lady for once is nice, you can just call me Yuffie."

"Alright, Lady Yuffie, how is Cloud faring in this new environment? Is he happy?"

"Oh yeah," Yuffie nodded her head rigorously, "the only time I've ever seen him upset is when Seifer flirts with Leon, then he gets angry."

"Seifer? Oh, and Leon is the captain?"

"Yes, I've never seen someone that jealous. But it's only because Leon is Cloud's mate, right?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," Naminé said, wobbling on her newly found feet. "One Lady of the Court, named Tifa, has been friends with Cloud since they were little, and she said when she met both Cloud and his best friend at the time; Zack, he was incredibly protective. Nevertheless, Cloud while he is jealous, is definitely a sight to behold."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Yuffie laughed, flushing.

Naminé was still trying to get the hand of walking when Sora and Roxas made their way on board. The blond mermaid was amazed, "You guys look so different with legs."

"Naminé!" the both of them yelled, running up to her.

"Wow, you're both so steady on your feet," she said, with a note of envy.

"I'm sure you're doing fine," Roxas assured, gifting her with a gentle smile.

"Not really," she said, stepping forward only to stumble forwards once again. This time, she didn't land on the floor, but in Roxas' arms. She looked up, her face blushing bright red as she leant back and readjusted herself. "Thanks for that."

"No problem," he replied, his voice a little bit uneven. In the background, Sora and Yuffie giggled at how adorable the both of them looked.

"So do the both of you know where Cloud is?" she asked both mer-boys.

"Both Cloud and Leon are on the wharf, can you see them?"

They rushed to the banister, waiting for Naminé to catch up before pointing to the two. Cloud also looked very different with legs, but he wasn't using them right now. Both he, and the brown-haired Captain Leonhart were dangling their legs over the wharf, speaking about something. The blond was smiling.

"Wow," she murmured, "Cloud looks really happy."

"I know, right?" Sora said. "Back at the palace it's so hard to get him to smile, but ever since he met Leon, he hasn't been able to stop."

"And it goes both ways," Yuffie explained to the mer-folk. "It's also very hard to see Leon happy too. He's such a sourpuss. But he can't help smiling and laughing at Cloud."

"They are so cute together," Naminé swooned.

Cloud said something to Leon with an animated expression on his face, and Leon flushed scarlet before growling and pushing the blond merman into the water.

"Oh, no. Cloud said something cheeky again," Roxas sighed.

"Ah, but how could he treat the crown prince like that?" Naminé asked them, surprised at the way that Leon just pushed him in the water without thinking about the consequences.

"Are you kidding?" said Sora, "It's that cold behaviour that made Cloud fall in love with Leon in the first place."

"Really?" Naminé watched as Cloud, now a merman swimming in the water, briefly jumped out to catch Leon's leg and drag him into the ocean as well. She couldn't help but smile. In the water, the pirate captain emerged from the water, splashing Cloud in the face angrily, but the merman returned the hostile movement with a cheeky-quick peck to the lips. She watched in fascination as the 'fearsome and terrible' Captain Leon blushed crimson and angrily splashing Cloud again, trying to swim to the edge of the wharf.

"Aww, he's adorable," Naminé said, finally understanding why Cloud would choose such a mate. He seemed like a handful, with his wintery-cold exterior, but Prince Cloud always liked a challenge.

"So, Naminé, why are you here?" Roxas asked her.

"Why, to figure out if you three were alright, of course."

"You mean if Roxas was okay," Sora giggled, Yuffie joining him when both blonds blushed scarlet.

"I seriously meant all of you," Naminé protested, but Sora was shaking her head. She pouted at the both of them, "Honestly guys, I came here to warn you that your dad is really angry at all of you. He's using the guard to track you down."

"Nami," Roxas said, "doesn't that mean that he's using the guard to track you down as well?"

The blond mermaid thought about that for a second before groaning, "Oh Triton, you're right! I'm sorry; I've just made you a bigger target."

"It won't happen if we keep you safely hidden," Roxas said.

"Well," Yuffie said, "normally we're supposed to ask Leon about these matters, but what the hell?" The ninja stretched her arms, "He's probably going to say yes anyway. It should be fine, as long as no more of you show up."

"Riku didn't follow you, did he?" Roxas growled. "I know you're really friendly with him. What if he decided to go looking for you?"

Naminé tilted her head to the side, "What? No, I don't think so."

"Who's Riku?" Yuffie asked.

"None of your concern," Roxas said, waving him off.

"Okay, we're just going to have to wait for Leon and Cloud to get up here before we figure out what to do, so you guys can just go play until then. Roxas, maybe you should go show Naminé around."

"Sure!" Roxas replied, holding the crook of his elbow out so Naminé could loop it with hers. "So Nami, what's your favourite colour?"

tbc.


So sorry about the wait. Hope this chappie cheers you up, cuz the next one won't. Still I'll try and have it out faster.

Review: It was good. It made me laugh at how Namine saw the fearsome Captain Leon! Looking forward to the next chapter!

I did. Now you? Review?