A/N: If sorry if any characters are OOC, or if I've got any grammar points wrong, please remember that this is unedited…

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except Yuki. I do not own the airship, I do not own Wutai, I do not claim ownership to any part of the Final Fantasy world except the plot of this story. Thank you.

Chapter 10: Overcoming Emotions

Yuki hunched down in the engine room of Cid's beloved ship, running her hand across the warm iron. The workers, alerted to her presence, had left the room just minutes before, obeying warily Cid's command that she be left alone. Yuki closed her eyes, remembering the conversation all too well.

'I don't understand... something's not right.' Barret turned to her with a concerned look upon his normally aggressive face. 'You know you can talk to us... I mean, I don't normally hold with any of that womanly crap, but y'know, if some guy is annoying you...'

'Yeah!' Cid pounded his fist into his hand enthusiastically, his face lighting up with violent anticipation. 'If someone... if any of those emo bastards are putting you through shit, you let me know!'

Yuki had attempted a smile, and failed. 'It's alright,' she told them miserably, 'I just want to be left alone. I'm sorry for being so selfish.'

She had found herself her, four days later, aboard Cid's airship with the whole crowd, staying mainly where she hoped nobody would look. It had been hard to avoid them, no doubt about that. She could still see the look of hurt that played across Yuffie's face, the grim exchanges of Cid and Barret, the feigned indifference of Vincent, the worry painted on Tifa, the wise understanding of Red XII... Her eyes flew open at the thought of the seventh face, the one who she had not seen now for over two days, and the one she did not dare look at during mealtimes.

She did not need to look at his face to know the changes he would be going through. First, she knew, he would have felt mild uncertainty at the change in her mood. As the hours dragged on he would have become more confused, and then, finally, he would have descended into the realms of hurt, where misunderstanding coupled with rejection would work together in a final, menacing attempt to crush him. She did not need to talk to him to know that he was beginning, yet again, to hate himself, to blame himself for whatever had occurred to her.

But it's not his fault... Is it?

Well, no, it was not his fault that to glance into his eyes meant looking into the pain of her past; and it was not his fault that she could not cope with what she had seen. However, she was forced to admit that if she had never met him, she would not have to deal with the returning memories that haunted her, of that one night her dream of escaping Hojo's sick grasp had become reality... so, in a way, it was his fault that she remembered the horrifying day of her departure.

No, I can't think like that

How, then, was she supposed to think? How was she supposed to feel?

She turned, and pressed her cheek against the steaming engine, letting the puff and noise of the room drown out the buzzing thoughts that circled around her head. For a while she remained like this- then, becoming aware of another presence in the room, turned to face Red XII, his powerful legs rippling under his earthy red coat as he padded towards her.

'It seems the employees are becoming scared of you,' he remarked quietly. A slight tinge of amusement coloured his otherwise serious tone. Yuki turned towards him and sighed heavily. As though the sigh were tangible, it rippled down to the ground and buried itself silently in the floorboards.

'Hey, Red.'

'How many times have I told you to call me Nanaki?' There was slight reproach in his tone. She attempted a smile.

'If it's what you truly want.'

'No.' Nanaki's nose swung from side to side as he shook his head. 'What I truly want is the truth.'

'About what, Reddy?'

He swung his massive head up to gaze at her piercingly. It was disconcerting, she noted dimly, how such a powerful creature could hold such intelligent and gentle eyes.

'You know what I mean.' His voice was a low growl, barely audible. 'And I don't want you to tell me, either. I want you to tell who really matters. Who this horror truly concerns.'

He fell silent for a moment, and then added quietly, 'He's been shut up for days. In his room. We don't know what he's doing. Every time one of us walks in, he glances up, briefly, and we can tell that he's waiting for somebody. But when he sees it's just me, or Vincent, or one of the girls, he looks back down at the floor.'

Yuki glanced away. 'I'm sorry, Nanaki.' Her voice emerged as a whisper. 'I want to be left alone.'

Hours later, she emerged and headed towards the mess room. Normally, she avoided contact with the others as much as possible, but after days of continuing without food, she was forced to admit that even her enduring body could feel deep hunger. As she wolfed the food down, she gave a quick scan of the table, and sure enough, there was no spiky beacon of hair to alert her to his presence. Swallowing quickly, she left without acknowledging the people that sat around her.

A few minutes later, she lay in bed although it was only seven at night, staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Somewhere nearby, she could hear voices, and knew that he was close.

'Go away, Yuffie.' His voice was a low murmur. 'I don't want to talk to anyone.' 'Huh! Don't think that you're the only one hurt by Yuki!' Yuffie's voice, unusually scornful, cut through the walls of the cabins easily. 'Just because she's sulking doesn't mean that you have to sulk too! Honestly, I'm getting sick of the both of you! Why should everybody else have to pull around your weight just because you're too damn miserable'-

'Yuffie, go away.' Cloud's voice had risen slightly now, and it had a dangerous edge to it Yuki had not heard before. She heard the slide of the electric door, followed by a muffled sob as Yuffie departed.

Silently, she slid out of bed, got changed and walked around to the cabin next to her. She looked at it for a long time, before finally punching in the code that would make it slide open and admit her.

Cloud's back was to her, and as she entered he did not turn to face her. He gave a low, irritated noise in the back of his throat, before snarling 'Look, just go away, will you!' He spun angrily around to confront the intruder- and stopped, the anger of his face giving way to confusion, and hurt. Then a new anger; harder, colder than the previous one, invaded his features.

'I'm sorry, Cloud.' Yuki felt as though she could hear her voice emerging from somewhere far away. 'I can explain.'

He tried to glare at her. 'Explain, then.' His voice was struggling to maintain its coldness.

'That's the thing... I don't want to explain. Not right now.' She suddenly moved forward and caught his hand gently in hers. His face was inches away- she looked into his eyes without flinching.

These are not the same eyes I remembered. She told herself firmly. Those eyes belonged to a different person, and he's dead, this is not him...

'Cloud, please, don't make me tell you,' she whispered. 'I will tell you if you want, but don't ask me...'

Cloud leaned towards her. Their noses brushed together. There was an unspoken promise in the air, as though they had know this would happen since they had fist met, as though he understood completely.

'It's OK' he whispered softly. 'I don't need to know. I...forgive you.'

Their lips brushed together gently, touching only for a brief moment before they parted. She could feel the warm beat of his heart against her chest, the softness of the hand that caressed her face, and she raised both her hands to guide his quietly joyful face towards her mouth again.

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