DISCLAIMER: Nope, nope, nope... but my birthday is coming up, maybe then i will.


"Well, at least you still have other guys to pick from, right?" Tifa's voice drifted through the phone.

"Yeah, Yuffie. Hopefully one of them will be decent," Elena chimed.

The first thing Yuffie had done after getting back to her room was three-way her friends.

"I guess," she said listlessly. "I hope one of them is nice, at least."

"Yuffie, don't worry about... RENO! STOP IT!"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeello?" a new voice asked.

"Hi, Reno," Tifa and Yuffie chorused.

"Oooh, a three-way. I can do that," Reno told them, his voice seductive.

"Reno, shut up and give the phone to Elena," Yuffie told him with a sigh.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried. "You don't sound right."

Distantly, they heard Elena still yelling for her phone. Yuffie felt a smile spreading across her face.

"Nothing's wrong, Reno," she assured him. "Hey, guys? I gotta go. Aina is trying to tell me something. Bye." The princess hung up her phone and put it on her bedside table. "I miss them, Aina."

Aina smiled sadly. "I know, milady. At least you'll see them eventually, right?"

Yuffie sat down on her bed with a sigh. "Are all the guys like that? Have you met them all?" she asked hopefully, looking at her friend.

"Sorry, ma'am, but no, I haven't met any of them."

Yuffie sighed again and allowed Aina to help her out of the beautiful kimono and under kimono. Yuffie slid into the waiting nightgown and climbed into her bed.

"Aina," she called after her maid had turned the lights out.

"Yes, milady?" she replied.

"Can you wake me to see the sunset please? I want to go for a walk."

"Of course, milady."

--r-e-e-f-i-e--

As promised, Yuffie was awoken in time to see the sunrise. Yuffie tried to convince Aina to let her wear her shorts, but she was not allowed. Instead, Yuffie found herself outside in a knee-long informal kimono. She smoothed the deep purple fabric as she walked, and she was grateful for the shorter length.

...She still wanted her shorts though.

Yuffie stopped suddenly. "Leave me," she commanded the guards softly.

"Milady?" the pair asked, surprised. Yuffie wanted to rub her temples. These two weren't her regular guards, and they didn't understand her yet.

"I am perfectly capable at taking care of myself, boys. I need some alone time."

They looked at each other, mystified, but an order from the future empress was an order, so they left. Yuffie stood, frozen, for about a minute before continuing forwards.

She wandered through the garden. She had missed this, she found. Yes, Yuffie had enjoyed the freedom of traveling with AVALANCHE and being with Tifa, Reeve, and Marlene... but this was her home. She glanced over the trees to see the sunrise and crashed into someone.

"I'm so sorry," the man instantly said apologetically. "I should watch where I'm walking." Yuffie glanced up at him and saw a typical Wutain man with short dark brown hair that flopped over his eyes. Typical good-looking man anyways.

"It's fine," Yuffie told him, starting to get to her feet. A hand fell into her line of vision, palm up. She gently took it and was pulled to her feet. A soft gasp escaped her mouth when she tripped over her own feet and landed against his chest.

She felt the rumble of his laugh through his chest as a blush covered his face. She straighted to see a pair of gray-green eyes staring at her intensely.

"Are you all right, Miss?" he asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him. "Would you like to walk with me?" she asked suddenly. A surprised expression crossed his face, and Yuffie was shocked with herself. Why did she just ask that? she mentally berated herself.

"I would love too, but I have to go. I apologize, really. Perhaps we'll run into each other later?" he suggested hopefully. Yuffie smiled at him.

"All right. Sounds good," she said cheerfully. He took her hand and kissed her fingers gently before taking off again.

--r-e-e-f-i-e--

"Okay, Miss Yuffie," Aina started as Yuffie was dressed in a more formal kimono for lunch. "You're meeting another suitor with your father for lunch, then you have to go pick out your design for your wedding kimono, then you have to go review wedding plans, and finally you have dinner with your father and different suitor."

"Oh, wow," Yuffie murmured. "Thats pretty packed. Dad really wants me to pick out my guy, doesn't he?" she asked.

"I prefer to think that he wants you meet them all quickly so you have more time to choose," Aina corrected. "All done," she told her triumphantly. "Off to lunch with you."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and smiled, heading into the hallway. Her guards, Haru and Juro, smiled their approval at her clothing. She remembered them distantly from before she left. They had been her guards then too.

"Lets go, boys," she ordered playfully. She took off down the hallway. Her kimono for today's lunch was red with white butterflies on it and a white obi with red designs.

Before she went in the door, she took a deep breath to compose herself. Her posture straightened, her shoulders pulled back, and she lifted her chin. She was a princess, she might as well look like one.

--r-e-e-f-i-e--

Yuffie fiddled with the edge of her obi as Aina collected different kimonos from around the shop. Her maid finally set down a stack of them on the chair next to the princess.

"So how was lunch, milady?" Aina asked as she laid out the kimonos for Yuffie pick from. "I like the last one one the left best," she added, motioning to the beautiful white kimono with gold flowers on it.

"It was terrible," Yuffie replied, examining the kimono in question. "Lord Saito was better at least. He was very quiet until Godo started talking about, get this, accounts. The guy is obsessed with accounting. Like that's not super boring, or anything."

Aina stiffled a giggle in response. "One of them will be decent, milady," she assured her.

"I hope so," Yuffie sighed. "I like that kimono best too," she agreed finally.

"All right then!" Aina declared. "Put it on, and I'll pin it."

--r-e-e-f-i-e--

"All right, Miss Yuffie," the wedding planner, Ito-san, started. "We're just picking who you want to invite today. Emperor Kisaragi has already provided me with a list of lords and such to invite, so all that is left are your personal guests."

"All right, I would like to invite Tifa Lockheart, Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace, Vincent Valentine, Nanaki of Cosmo Canyon, Cid and Shera Highwind, Rufus Shinra..." Yuffie paused. The woman looked shocked. "What?"

"You want to invite Shinra?" she spat out the name like a curse.

Yuffie eyes narrowed. "Yes. I do. He was become a far better person then his father ever was, and he is making an effort to fix the problems he created. Do not speak badly of him again." Yuffie expression instantly became more pleasant. "Anyways, I would also like to invite Reeve Tuesti. Tell them that they are all allowed to bring whomever they wish."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, Princess?" the woman said with forced politeness. "They might bring people who... do not belong at a royal wedding."

Yuffie gave her a icy smile in return. "They will not. If it makes you feel better though, you may put that they can bring family only."

The woman nodded unhappily. "That is all today, Princess."

Yuffie nodded and left.

--r-e-e-f-i-e--

"Hey, Aina?" Yuffie asked as the maid was styling her hair.

"Yes, milady?"

"How many suitors did my father pick?"

"Originally," the woman started, "he had wanted ten. He wanted you have someone your age, give or take five years, they had to be the eldest son, they had to be decent looking, and they had to be a lord. Apparently it is extremely hard to find someone like that who isn't already married or engaged."

"So how many do I have to pick from now?" Yuffie asked again.

"Three. There were five, but one of them was banished from his family. The other died in a crash."

"So you're telling me that the guy I meet tonight is my last choice?"

"Yes. You're hair is done, and you're ready to go!" Aina said finally. "Ooh, I do love that kimono!"

Yuffie smiled. It was light blue with a darker blue dragon on it, and the obi was the same color blue as the dragon. "I like it too, Aina. Wish me luck!" she called as she walked out the door.

--r-e-e-f-i-e--

"Hello, Father," Yuffie greeted formally as she walked into the room. Godo was facing her as he talked to the suitor, who was faced away fromt the princess.

"Ah! My lovely daughter!" he greeted. "I would like to introduce you to Lord Kato."

The man turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. It was him, Yuffie thought as her own eyes widened drastically.

"You're the princess?" he asked in shock. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so rude," he hurriedly corrected. "I was just surprised, but I suppose those were the Royal Gardens and..." He closed his mouth once he realized he was babbling.

"Oh, you've met my daughter before?" Godo asked with a frown.

"Yes, Father. We bumped into each other in the gardens this morning. It is lovely to see you again, Lord Kato," she said brightly. He smiled shyly back at her. She missed her father's delighted look. "Shall we have dinner?" she suggested.


A/N: Hello again! Oh, I like this guy. Oh, and btw, I haven't forgotten about Marlene's bday party in case anyone was wondering. It will come up next chapter. Reeve will be in the next chapter as well. Oh, and MedliR found me a song that fits this story PERFECTLY. It would be Yuffie singing it to Reeve and it's called "One Way or Another" by Kate Voegele. You should look it up. Thanks to my two new alerters, but if you could review, it would be wonderful. I'm aiming for over a hundred reviews for this baby. Hope you enjoyed. thanks for reading, please review!