Bring Me To Life

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, locations, and all the other crap.

Chapter Nine

 Teasing Death

 A/N: I am sorry for not updating for a while. When I said I was going on a trip, I thought it would just be to Las Vegas for four days. But my mom obviously didn't tell me we were going to LA right after, so I ended up staying a lot longer. Then when I came back I got a writers block so this chapter might be REALLY crappy. It's mainly just everyone acting OOC and freaking out.

~*~*~*~*~

 Yuffie rolled around on the Red Room's bed, more than happy to smell the familiar scent of Aerith and Cloud on it. Even if they did the nasty on it, she really didn't give a whiz. The comfort of being in the rooms with her friends was good enough for her.

 "Hey!" Yuffie yelled playfully as Sora jumped on the bed with her, making her side inflate a little. "Geez Sora, you get fatter by the minute."

 "I do not!" he said derisively. "Riku said I was as skinny as a beanpole!"

 They heard an unpleasant snort come from the corner. "You are a beanpole," Riku muttered, quickly turning his head away when Yuffie looked at him. He was still hesitant to be near her after she had mercilessly assaulted him with hugs and kisses once she found out that he was the one who gave the information on where she was. He really didn't think they'd figure it out. Or to be more specific, he never thought it would be Squall to crack it. Of course Squall got his own friendly hug, but unfortunately unlike his, she was more modest and embarrassed to hug the older man. Riku silently cursed the brunette for slipping out of the crazed teen's affections so easily.

 "I think I've scared your friend," Yuffie whispered to Sora on the bed. Sora grinned childishly and glanced over at the fifteen year old.

 "With what you did to him, I wouldn't blame him if he was scarred for life," Of course Sora knew that Riku would never so fazed by such a thing, but it was nice to imagine him cowering against the female species.

 "He'll probably become gay then.." Yuffie did a fake gasp and looked at Sora with wide eyes. "Be careful Sora, he might have a crush on you!" And then she made this big show of laughing wildly when Sora's eyes grew as wide as saucers until they looked like they were going to bulge out of his head. Poor boy, so gullible.

 "That's not funny Yufyuf! Now I'm scarred for life!" Sora shivered at the thought another man in love with him. Even worse, his best friend. Now Riku was going to think he was crazy whenever he kept his distance from him.

 "Yuffie are you terrorizing Sora again?" Aerith asked, walking over to them. Yuffie looked as innocent as possible, giving her best I'm-a-perfectly-good-angel smile.

 "Now why would I do such a thing. Right Sora?" She quickly pinched Sora's leg when he opened his mouth to start his complaints about her teasing.

 "Owwww….." Pinch. "YEAH! YUFFIE WOULD NEVER TEASE ME!" Aerith sighed, shaking her head as she watched the teens pinch and slap each other mercilessly. She wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being brother and sister.

 "Stop Sora!!" Yuffie yelled. "Don't make me laugh! I still have to go to the bathroom!"

 "You have to go that bad!?" the Keyblade master asked, his voice slightly higher than normal.

  "I'VE BEEN HOLDING IT FOR A WEEK!!"

 "Awright enough getting horny on Blondie's and Pink's bed," Cid said as he walked into the room. Yuffie and Sora faces flushed with embarrassment. Cid had a very narrow mind when it came to friendship brawls.

 "We are not getting horny!" Yuffie snapped.

 "Yeah, that's what dey all say," Cid muttered.

 "Oh shut up ya old coot," Yuffie countered, narrowly missing the cigarette he threw at her. "Whaddaya doing!? You wanna burn a hole in my forehead, Smokey?" Yuffie mentally added those names to her ever-growing list of things to call Cid.

 "Smokey?! AT LEAST I DON'T GOT A MUSTACHE!"

 Yuffie's eyes widened, her hands instinctively flying to her face. Did she have a mustache!? She new everyone had some really short hair on his or her face, but was hers that obvious? She felt around furiously, almost blowing her top when she felt nothing. That fat old liar. Crummy bastard was trying to phase her, but he would NOT get the last laugh.

 "Yeah you don't have a mustache! That's the only place you don't have hair! You'd think you would shave some of it off and put it on your balding head!!" But instead of replying, he just vociferated a myriad of curses, and walked out of the room, grumbling about immature kids. Yuffie silently patted herself on the back for another victory. No one won against her.

 "I should go see Kairi," Sora said, his eyes full of mirth. It was so amusing watching Yuffie have a verbal spar, mainly because she said the funniest and wildest things on the planet.

 "Ok. See you at the butt crack of dawn," Yuffie called after him, testing out the new term. She had heard a couple say it out in the streets, and she thought it sounded so damn cool she just had to use it. Sora shot her a incredulous look as he let himself out. Riku quickly followed after him, not wanting to be in the same room with the ninja. Without Sora to keep her occupied, he feared she would start 'attacking' him again.

 Yuffie laid on the king-sized bed for a while, but almost instantly became bored. It was quickly remedied though as Aerith and Cloud came to sit on the bed, followed by a reluctant Squall.

 "I have an idea."

 "What?" Aerith asked the ninja, who practically had a light bulb blinking over her head.

 "We can all have a sleep over and sleep in the same bed!"

 "Yuffie I think that's a bad idea…" Aerith.

 "No." Squall.

 "Are you crazy? We can't all fit in one bed." Cloud.

 "Oh yeah," Yuffie said, remembering something. "That wouldn't be a good idea because Cloud might get excited." Cloud glanced at the younger girl.

 "So?" he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly when a vulpine look splayed across her features. She snorted and started to speak as if the blonde wasn't there.

 "When Cloud gets excited he starts to fart uncontrollably."

 "WHAT!?" Yuffie continued, even though Cloud was trying to strangle her and she was almost gasping with peals of laughter.

 "And you know how much it smells when you fart under the sheets. It gets all smelly, especially when you lift them."

 While Aerith was busying trying to control Cloud, Yuffie took this time to glance at Squall, who was laying horizontal to her. Surprisingly, his face was red. At first, Yuffie wondered why he would be blushing, then realized it was because he was trying to hold in his laughter. She internally sighed. It's not like they were going to deride him for actually loosening up.

 "Squallie you shouldn't get so red. It attracts mosquitoes," she informed him, only watching as he seemed to grow redder. Okay, that can't be healthy. "Just let it out. You might explode. I don't think Cloud and Aerith want your guts painting over the room."

 "Oh Yuffie, that is just gross," Aerith fumbled out as Cloud tried to grapple for Yuffie's neck. Yuffie stuck out her tongue and moved farther away. It was funny watching him get all angry.

 "Cloud calm down. I was just joking. Geez, you'd think that you would just shrug it off…of course…" Yuffie's eyes gleamed once more. "Unless it really is true!" Cloud practically fell off the bed.

 "Ok Yuffie, fine. I give up. You are impossible. Now just shut up," he snapped, resting his head against the carpeted floor.

 Squall watched the two of them 'converse'. Yuffie was pretty ardent today. She seemed especially happy to beleaguer Cloud with pointless jokes. He didn't know why Cloud was going along with her, and getting so worked up, but he suspected it was because Cloud probably felt it was in his best interest to do so. The only way to forget about their recent happenings, was to just laugh it off. Or at least, that's what all those proverbs and sayings stated in Merlin's old smelly books. Reading through all of them, and the only thing you got out of it was a bunch of nonsense advice.

 But either way, he was glad she was better. A little insane, but it was better than being angst-ridden. Or at least he thought. He remembered how she had looked only a few hours ago.

 She had looked so serene sleeping. Sitting in that seat had been a total pain in the ass, but watching her was something he didn't mind. It had been an automatic response. Right after Luxina had fallen, he had rushed to the unconscious Yuffie. He knew that Luxina was dead, but the thought that Sephiroth might capture the youthful ninja again stayed evident in his mind. He had picked her up and taken her inside the ship, laying her horizontally in a row of seats. After than came Luxina than his beloved Gunblade.

 In truth, he had almost had a heart attack when she had awoken. He had looked calm and groggy, but inside he was screaming and leaping. In some sense, since he couldn't even picture himself doing such things. Unlike the others, he believed she would awaken. He knew that she wasn't that weak. She wasn't one to submit her life up so easily.

 For one week he had sat by her side, unable to leave. He felt some sort of force pulling him to be there. How would she feel if she woke up, and no one was there to fill her in? She would have a fit, or even worse, start crying again. So he had stayed with her, putting some wet clothes over her head now and then once she started to break into a sweat. It had beleaguered him to see her thrashing around in the bed, moaning as if she was being tortured. And maybe she was, but did she not realize that watching her tortured him too?

 When he had found her in Sephiroth's room, he had felt something inside of him crumble. Before then, he had never seen her cry since that fateful day nine years ago. Nine years ago. Not once had she cried. She had gotten hurt on several occasions, but she had brushed it off, and after a few minutes she was up and running again. She had come close, but whenever they asked her, she would deny it, saying that the Great Female Ninja never cried. And for some time they had believed her. After nine years, they had come to believe that she was impervious to such an emotion. But she wasn't, and Squall had proof.

 He couldn't quite remember when it had begun, but he soon heard small whimpers emitting from her room, furiously trying to be muffled. At first he thought it was just a passing phase, something she would eventually get over, like a child and his/her candy craze. But she didn't. Every night, always past twelve, he would hear her deprived moans from her room, until it became like a broken record player repeating in his mind. At the very least, he hated the repetition.

 Sleep had long since become irrelevant to him. How could he even think to close his eyes when Yuffie's cries sounded like a tormented creature? He couldn't even comprehend what kind of thoughts she had that would antagonize her so much.

 "Squall?" Yuffie asked softly, waving her hand in front of his face. "You zoned out there."

 Squall shook his head, staring at the minute hand moving back and forth in front of his gaze. How could she even hold anything with those hands? They were so thin and delicate looking, it was hard to believe that they belonged to the "Great Ninja Yuffie."

 "So what do you want to do?" Aerith asked the group. When everyone gave her confused looks she added, "To pass the time, I mean."

 "Let's play poker," Yuffie suggested.

 "You're too young to play poker," Cloud told her with a sideways glance.

 "I am not!" Yuffie retorted. "I'm seventeen!"

 Squall stared at her. "Seventeen?" he blurted before he could stop himself. She was sixteen not seventeen, right? Maybe she thought she had been with Sephiroth for a little too long.

 "Umm…yeah…" Yuffie trailed off, feeling hurt on the inside. "It was my birthday on November 20," she added quietly.

 'Oh shit.' Squall felt like kicking himself. No wonder she had been so miserable those past days! He had forgot about her birthday. 'Stupid stupid STUPID!' She probably thought he was a total jerk. And he was. He vaguely remembered promising her to get her something for her birthday, after he had accidentally swung too hard and broke her wrist. She had been dying to get something from him for on special day.

 He didn't say anything when Yuffie drooped her head downwards. How could he? 'You're an idiot Leonhart,' his mind taunted him relentlessly. 'How could you forget it!? Imbecile!' That question played over and over again in his mind. He barely knew how he had accomplished such a feat. Yuffie usually went wild when it neared her birthday, singing and dancing around the house. It was hard to ignore her. But those past few days had been uncomfortably quiet. She hadn't said a word about it. 'After she saw us come out from that meeting,' his conscience reminded him.

 "It's ok that you…forgot," Yuffie fumbled for words. She really didn't believe that he would just forget like that. She had just consoled herself with the fact that he had a lot of things to deal with, mainly being Luxina. Even now the name sounded mournful upon her ears. "Y-you…had a lot on your mind." Of course she knew that wasn't true, she wasn't a mind reader. He could've just purposely chose to ignore her birthday, but she knew that Squall wasn't like that.

 "I didn't forget." Squall lied. Then he wished he shouldn't have. What was his excuse? He had absolutely none. None that would be plausible anyways.

 "You didn't?" Yuffie's eyes were ones of hope. That just made him feel even worse. The tenacious screams in his head didn't make the matter any easier. But then, why tell her now? If she found out he really had forgotten, she would sink into depression again, and who knew how long that would last.

 "OK!" Yuffie's gung-ho attitude had returned with renewed vigor. Meaning that she would later question Squall about the whole birthday thing. Great. "We need some to do!"

 "Maybe we should find a nice place to eat," Aerith suggested. "It would be nice for Kairi and a time to relax for all of us."

 "We can do that later," Yuffie brushed it off. Although a nice restaurant sounded wholly tempting. "I mean something to do now. Some thing fun and kick-ass!"

 Squall and Cloud watched helplessly as the two women huddled together, giggling and talking about some inside joke. God knows what they were planning. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence between the two men, Yuffie and Aerith finally broke apart, smiling as if they had invented the microwave. (A/N: Crappy analogy, I know. -_-;; I seriously couldn't think of anything else to say.)

 "We're going to play a game of gold fish!" Yuffie yelled proudly. Squall and Cloud stared incredulously at her.

 "Gold fish? Yuffie, that's a child's game!" Cloud groaned, covering his face with his hands. This was so ridiculous!

 "We know. But it's funny." Aerith was already pulling out a pack of cards and laying them out on the bed.

 "Aerith I really don't think…" Cloud was cut short as Aerith picked up the lamp near the table and hit him with it. Cloud let out a strangled noise as the hard, carved cement made contact with his head. He figured that the world was ending, because Aerith, or anyone for that matter, never picked up a twenty pound source of light and used it to hit their boyfriend with it after they refused to play a game of cards. If this continued, Cloud feared that Aerith would need some serious anger management counseling.

 "I wish I could do that," Yuffie sighed, trailing off. Squall moved away on instinct. Yuffie was known for spontaneously losing it, and he preferred not to be close to her when it happened. Suddenly, an odd look came across her face. Squall almost shot through the roof as Yuffie made the loudest and most disgusting noise in the world. It sounded like she was trying to laugh, scream and burp at the same time. Cloud probably would've fainted from laughter at that point, but he was too busy trying to get back on Aerith's good side.

 "Yuffie..are you ok?" he awkwardly asked, as he watched the seventeen year old roll around on the bed from side to side, screaming with laughter. Several times she came near to falling off the bed, something that made Squall very edgy. And what about that obscene noise? She had sounded about ready to burst. He wouldn't put it past her if she decided to make the noise again, except it wouldn't come from her mouth.

 "Don't worry," Aerith assured Squall as Yuffie got a hold of Squall's shirt and started to shake him wildly. 'Easy for you to say,' he thought miserably. She didn't have a ticking time bomb screaming and grabbing at her. "She used to do that a lot. I think I learned that she did it when she was in some kind of pain…." She stopped, thinking. "Yeah…like when she had her head stuck in the waterway bars for a day…she laughed the whole entire time. People even stopped to watch the girl who was stuck in the bars laughing her head off. Some even took pictures…I don't know why though….all it would've shown was her back and butt…"

 Aerith was now in her own world, humming to herself happily. Cloud was staring at the girl on the bed, who had stopped moving, just to listen to Aerith's reminiscence. Yuffie got her head stuck in between two bars for an entire day? For some reason it sounded extremely hard to believe. Ninja's just weren't the type of people who got their heads stuck in closed off waterways. Yuffie caught Cloud staring at her, and started to move from side to side again, much to Squall's disgruntlement.

 "Hey Squall?" Yuffie asked loudly. Squall glanced at her. For some reason he just knew she was going to ask something unreasonable. "Why are turds pinched off at the end?" That was not a picture Squall needed in his mind.

"Uh Yuffie-"

 "Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your ass?"

 "Where do you get these…"

 "Why do old men have hair in their ears? Do fish get cramps after eating? Why do they call it your bottom when it's really the middle of your body? What would you do if your snot froze in you nose? W-"

 "YUFFIE! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I DON'T KNOW!" Yuffie looked shocked and somewhat wounded, but quickly recovered.

 "I know why old men have hair in their ears…." A loud thud was heard as Squall fell off the bed.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~

 He had made a mistake.

 At first he had figured it would've been a good idea. At the time, it had seemed like a great idea. But to every beginning there was an end. And the result of his fatal sin was a worse punishment than he had expected.

 Yes, it was him that had taken down the barriers. It was him that had resurrected the Heartless. The beseeching voices in his head told him that it was the right thing to do. He supposed that he was more venal than ever to believe such a atypical screeches. His asinine move might have well cost the lives of the only one that had corrupted him to do it in the first place.

 Where was she now? How he longed to tell her he was sorry. Asking to be condoned would not be easy, be she would give it. Anything to hear her dulcet voice that told him that she had put it behind her, and that she didn't hate him. Of course, his illicit dream was far off, he would never get within fifty miles of her. But that one time…

 It didn't matter now. No matter how much it pained him to live with such remorse, he wouldn't stay dormant wallowing in his self-pity. He was completely useless if immobile. Now if only he knew how to warn them…to warn her.

 The Heartless were made out of things beyond anyone's comprehension. To bottle such substances…was unforgivable. As was he. For he added another to his growing list of sins, a list he couldn't seem to halt even if he tried.

 It was inside of her. He hadn't realized it at first, but that was only because of improper research. But now…she was in danger… 'Must warn..warn…w…'

 He was weakened. Terribly weakened. His body cried out for rest, but he fought to shake off the weariness. He had to finish this. He would be no use to her if he showed her only half accurate findings. She needed the whole truth. It had to be laid before her, the way obvious in her beautiful eyes. Yes..he would save her..if she could just forgive him enough. If she wouldn't, then she would die.

~*~*~*~*~

  After some horribly descriptive stories of Yuffie's theories of why old men have hair in their ears, they managed to get halfway through the card game without her doing anything else unpredictable. Of course there was that one time that she had tried to cheat and gone to the bathroom to throw away her extra card but ended up coagulating the toilet with the wrong one. Cloud had figured out what she was doing, and before she could go back to try and get it, he had gone to the bathroom himself, flushing the card down with the rest of his…contents. So now Yuffie sat with one unmatched card, her hand getting more filled up by the minute of newly picked ones.

 "I think one of you is lying," she whined. "How can I have all these cards and no matches?"

 "Tough luck?" Aerith asked innocently. The young shinobi glared at her in childish distress.

 "Tough luck my ass," she shot back under her breath.

 Meanwhile, Squall thought this was about as fun as watching paint dry. True, he was winning, but it didn't seem like a victory. He was bored out of his mind, longing to do anything but this aggravating game of hell. He could've been training right now, but no…

 Yuffie had started to get a nasty habit for outbursts because at that moment she yelled so loudly it almost made Squall just throw his cards down and leave the room.

 "YOU GUYS HAVE A WATERBED!?" she demanded, pushing down on the squishy mattress obviously. "Squall why don't we have a water bed?"

 "Because they have a suite," he answered, taking the first thing that came into his mind. So he didn't know if they had a suite or not, it was enough to get her calm again. Hopefully.

  "I've never heard of a suite with a waterbed," she muttered. "I want a suite," she added, tugging on Squall's arm. He just shook his head, hoping she would take the hint. She didn't.

 "Why are you saying no? Is it because it costs a lot? Or is it only for couples?" she forced herself not to blush on this one, something that had become more challenging as she hung around the man more. "Or do you have a thing against waterbeds?'

 "We already bought a room, we don't need to buy another one just so you can have a waterbed," Squall informed monotonously. Her persistent questions were tiring him out.

 "Ummm ok…."

 Yuffie retired the cards onto the table, and climbed up onto the moving bed, pushing her weight down in several areas. Squall was right. They didn't need another room, she was just being selfish. She stood up shakily, and started to jump on the bed, her mind slowly opening to random thoughts. Her ebon hair (A/N: I changed it so that Yuffie has black hair and black eyes, since that's what it looks like in KH. Besides, it has been hard having Cloud the only one without brown hair.) bounced in a wild rhythm around her head as she swung her arms unconsciously.

 Why did she feel so tired? It was a foreign feeling to her. She found herself gasping for breath as she jumped, clutching her self for support. Her hands flew up to her chest, which felt tight and constrained. She couldn't breath. She couldn't see either. Her vision was blurring horribly, leaving only faded out colors of her friends. Her ears became conscious of the slow breathing echoing through out her pained body, and suddenly she couldn't stand anymore. She couldn't do anything. She felt paralyzed, alive, but unmoving. She let out a suppressed sigh and fainted.

~*~*~*~*~*~

 Squall

 What was I supposed to do? She was hurt, now more than ever. And we didn't even know how badly. I hadn't really noticed it at first. She had seemed so laidback as she jumped onto that bed, hopping around on it like it was air. It had been a simple, innocent act. And it led to…this.

 Was she hurt? Dying? I had to know. I would never forgive myself if I lost another person in my life. Once again she was driving me past the brink, leaving me, too, gasping for breath. She was like a sister to me. At times I longed to shut her up and make her go away, but once she'd gone, I longed to have her back. It was a constant turmoil that I faced everyday, gnawing turbulently at my insides. I hated her…I…loved her?

 Love. It was such a complicated thing. A tangible feeling that people often sought to indulge in. One of the reasons that I had chosen to block out such a feeling. I did not feel the need to return anyone's ardour, for I forced back any who openly showed it to me. Luxina had been one of them. I had no attachment or chains binding me to her. She, on the other hand, had believed in something in me that wasn't there. My heart had been blackened by the Heartless themselves. I had long considered myself incurable. But even as I fought to keep my mental barriers from shattering, I should've known that they had already been broken by someone years ago.

 Yuffie…her name struck a cord deep within me. She had done something to me, something that made even me fear. Sometimes I thought I had figured the young paradox out, but then she would do something totally atypical, that I would be left to figure her out again. She would often act like she had feelings for me, although I never mentioned to her how obvious it was in my eyes. I had come to think that she had a crush on me, which grew from petty to serious. But other times she acted rudely, ignoring me completely and choosing her own instincts. She would yell at me, then go off, forcing off her angry tears. So I really had no idea how she felt.

 Cloud had called me blind once, something that shocked me. I hadn't understood it, and I still didn't. How could I be blind, when I was doing everything in my power to see? But he insisted that I wasn't looking at the bigger picture, and I was only looking at the world the way I wanted to see it. But that wasn't completely true. Because if I was looking at the world in my way, then I would be so miserable.

 Yuffie. I couldn't get her out of my mind. Something was wrong with her. She was sick, I knew that. But with what, no one could figure out. I had pestered the doctor with enough questions. He had already sent me out to the hall to "calm down". If I went barging back in, asking questions, he would surely exile me from her room completely. Wait wait wait…

 I watched, a stoic look on my face, as Cloud and Aerith emerged from the room, shutting the white, clean door behind them. They looked like they had seen a ghost. I examined both of their pallid faces, silently demanding an answer.

 "Tell me," I whispered, my words coming out more strangled and harsh than expected. My lungs felt constricted, and I wouldn't be able to relax until I heard her condition.

 "Yuffie.." was the only thing that Aerith whispered, covering her face in her hands. She was sobbing. That was a bad thing. No one sobbed when someone was sick. Distressed a little, yeah, but not sobbing. But somehow I knew why. I didn't want to admit it, thinking if I didn't form the thought than it wouldn't be real. Maybe I really was looking at the world the way I wanted it. I didn't want to face the truth, the bitter irony.

 "Squall…I…don't know what to do," Cloud let out a heavy sigh, wrapping his arms around Aerith. What? I felt like screaming, breaking into an uncontrollable rage. But I forcefully withheld it. If Yuffie was hurt that badly, she would freak out even more if I showed how weak I was being.

 "Just tell me." It was an order. I hated suspense. It was just a pathetic way to make the ending seem more surreal. But it didn't work with me. I wanted to answer, now. Or so I thought.

 "Yuffie is dying."

 ~*~*~*~*~*~

 A/N: Aww…another cliffhanger. That just sucks. But I am exhausted and I had to get this chapter out. ::cackles maniacally:: The story hasn't even begun yet…