Disclaimer: I own nothing except the story line, and all the twist and turns that make it as it is.

Distance

Chapter 12: Waking Nightmares

Yuffie laid on the bed staring at the ceiling. Sleep was eluding her for some reason. Even though she was thoroughly exhausted, for some reason sleep just wasn't taking her into the oblivion of unconsciousness. She frowned when a face materialized on the ceiling. She turned her head to look at the balcony window only to find that said window was gone. Yuffie bolted upright and looked around. This wasn't her room. There were no windows, no furniture, only light from a single candle. Why did this place seem so…?

"Oh no…!" Yuffie whispered.

She quickly scrambled backwards on hands and feet until she was within the light of the candle. Things slithered about in the darkness, neither hearing nor seeing, but moving and sniffing, huffing and hissing. Pebbles from decaying cement blocks grated along the ground as whatever lurked within the darkness, slithered this way and that, trying but never succeeding in getting any closer than what the light of the candle allowed. Whatever was there, wanted her desperately, but couldn't attain her. Heavy but silent footfalls caught her attention, drawing her attention to the darkness in front of her, while the smells of mildew and decay, sweat and stale air enveloped her nostrils. The stone was cold and damp beneath her naked limbs, sending shivers down her spine as something prickled at her senses. Dread was no new emotion to her, neither was fear. But this prickle that was going down her spine was associated with only one thing.

Immediate danger.

One she wasn't equipped to fight nor anticipate at the moment.

"You didn't think I'd allow you to be tainted by anyone else other than myself… did you?" Came a velvety voice that made her skin crawl. Piercing blue eyes shone within the darkness, silvery strands reflected the candle light with malicious intent.

She backed away from those haunting eyes, her own eyes shooting sparks of defiance as she pushed herself to a stand with the candle in hand. There was no way in hell this was going to happen. Not even to her cold dead lifeless corpse. "You're not going to do anything to me." She hissed as she moved away from those eyes. "If you kill me, you'll never learn how to unlock The Door." Yuffie growled as she stepped back quickly.

"Who ever said I wanted to kill you? What I want… is to bind you to me for all eternity, and then fatten you with my seed."

Those eyes glinted with malicious amusement, trailed down her form wantonly, making her hyper aware that she was not clad in anything more than a long sheer fitted night gown. Those eyes trailed back up to her own, and she could see the intent without it being spoken. The voice chuckled darkly, as it drew near, and those haunting eyes turned terrifying. She swallowed hard as she backed away, fighting to keep her fear from overcoming her. She would not be subjugated to a low life piece of scum, such as him. She'd never let anyone walk over or take advantage of her before, she sure as hell wasn't about to let anyone do it now. She didn't give a damn how much this bastard terrified her, she wouldn't be anyone's trophy-bitch! As if sensing her thoughts, the dark voice chuckled again, those eyes with so much hate, also held something in them that she really didn't want to see in the eyes of the likes of him. Love was not an emotion creatures such as him should be allowed to have. When creatures such as him thought they loved something, they usually destroyed all in their paths to get it and keep it for themselves.

And almost always destroyed the object of said love in the process.

"I don't know who… this "Master" is, nor do I care. But he will not get you. You're mine. Mine and mine alone and I'll kill ALL who think to lay claim upon you." the voice growled out, the sound rumbling over everything, bouncing off of each echo and making the room tremble with the sheer animosity of the statement. She moved back, her back hitting wood and metal. She groped behind her until her hand grabbed hold of a knob and turned.

"You'll never claim me! I submit to no one, least of all you Sephiroth!" Yuffie barked as the door fell open, causing light to erupt through it.

The bellow that erupted was one of rage, not pain, as the door slammed closed and disappeared from sight. Yuffie breathed rapidly, and pushed herself into a standing position and froze upon seeing the horizon. There was a large moon high in the sky ahead of her, the sun to her back. But it was the ground upon which she stood, that had her frozen in place. Buildings lay in ruins at her feet, weapons cast about carelessly. There were deep gouges in the stone pillars, as though something dense and sharp had clawed straight through them. Dead soldiers littered the ground, all in armor, some wearing black armor, some wearing red, some in orange, others in green or white. All colors were allies, from what Yuffie could gather, merely for the fact that there was a crest upon, which all the armors bore.

Carefully, she moved about the battlefield/graveyard. The smell of old blood and decaying flesh was gag worthy, it made her stomach churn with unease. These soldiers were not fighting one another, that's for sure. Their wounds were jagged and uneven. The swords, knives and even guns that littered the field couldn't leave such a messy heap. Then, the smell of burning meat and smoke invaded her senses, and made her stomach roll harshly at the sickening stench. The further she got, the more pungent the smell. She happened to look down, and stifled the urge to scream when she saw a soldier lying on his back, his face eaten away. His jaw was hanging open, blood still oozing out. But what had nearly made her scream was the fact that his eyes were still moving. They flickered from one side to the other quickly, as though in a state of confusion as to how he came to be lying there in so much pain. She flinched away from his extending hand, and winced when he pointed off into the distance, where a low eerie hum was coming from.

Why did that sound, why did everything about this place seem so… familiar?

Yuffie looked back down at the soldier and noticed his eyes kept veering towards the gun that was just out of his reach. Yuffie picked up the gun, and swallowed hard when she noticed his eyes take on a thankful expression. She couldn't stop the tears that sprang forth as she cocked the gun and pointed at his exposed skull. No one should live through such events like this, or survive for so long after said event had happened. Yuffie stifled a sob and closed her eyes as her finger squeezed the trigger. The shot echoed in the empty air, and the sense of pain that had been coming off the mutilated soldier, dissipated instantly. Yuffie dropped the gun as though burned, but didn't open her eyes to look at the soldier. She turned her attentions ahead over her, and opened her eyes and quickly began to move through the carnage. This wasn't a battle… it was a massacre. These pour souls never stood a chance.

She couldn't stop the sobs that were now falling from her lips. She had seen her fair share of war, but nothing like this. The residual terror, the residual pain was strong enough for her to pick up on. It made her heart ache at the loss of so much life. Made her weep almost uncontrollably. She didn't understand why she felt such pain. Such carnage didn't usually affect her as much as the sights before her did. It was as if… she had experienced this once before. She covered her mouth as the sight she came upon made her cry out. Dead and naked women littered the ground, their forms mutilated beyond recognition. But what was worse, were corpses of bodies that were much, much too small to be women or men, litter the ground in heaps. She whimpered behind her hand as she quickly ran through the bodies, all the while careful not to touch nor step on them. She refused to look down, refused to stop moving. If she stopped moving she'd collapse, if she looked down she'd break down crying and wouldn't be able to stop. No one of such innocents deserved this kind of fate.

Yuffie skidded to a stop once the bodies were no longer in sight, and braced her hand on a ruined pillar to calm herself. Why was all of this so painfully familiar? This was too vivid to be a dream! You couldn't feel this type of pain in dreams! You couldn't see things with such clear precision like this in dreams! Yuffie wiped her face on her shirt and continued on, weary of the sights to come. A pond came into view, there were red painted beams sticking out of it's surface, and the water was still a sharp red color. She moved closer to the pond and peered into the ruby water. But the reflection she saw, was not of who she was now, but a little girl no older than five years old. She jerked away from the water and stumbled. Before and after images flashed before her eyes, and she refused to believe what her eyes were trying to tell her. She took off running, bobbed and weaved through rubble and jumped over wounded ground. She skidded to a stop, hands flying to her mouth as she came upon a lone woman. She was strung about like a some kind of morbid marionette doll. The body bore no wounds, unlike the millions of others. She was hanged. Yuffie realized as she got closer. The woman had been left to strangle to death as she watched her Kingdom being destroyed. Yuffie's hands didn't move from her mouth as she drew closer. The wind picked up, and Yuffie's eyes widened. Angular face, beautiful even. Angular chin, noble nose, graceful cheekbones, long dark hair that glistened blue in the sun… all facial features frighteningly similar to her own. This woman was… this woman….was….

Yuffie whipped around and ran for the destroyed path leading past the destroyed ruins of what looked like a palace, and up the mountain. She ran as fast as she could go, jumping over fallen trees, ducking under broken limbs and climbing over large boulders. She skidded to a stop when she came to a cliff face over looking the sea, and felt her blood curdle when she realized the sea was as red as the pond had been. She gasped at such a disturbing sight, and whipped around, only to have her stomach sink to the ground like a stone sinking to the bottom of a vast lake. There were statues carved into the mountain, and from one of the outstretched hands, dangled a long chain, with a man dangling from it. His robes were shredded and torn, bloodied beyond all compare. Yuffie trembled as she took a few hesitant steps towards it. The face was covered in blood, but it was one face she could never, ever force herself to forget.

"Daddy…." Yuffie whispered as her steps began to become less weary and more frantic. Smiling faces flashed before her eyes, and she reached for the body, but it continually got farther away. "Come back!" Yuffie said, louder this time as the image got further away. "DADDY!"

The image disappeared, and she was left alone again. "Daddy, come back! Daddy please!" came a dark mocking plea. "Hehe, daddy's not coming back princess…" the dark voice laughed.

Yuffie looked above her, and gasped as her eyes took in a large black dragon. It's scales were dull and dusty. It's scales on it's face were a bit misshapen from the rest of the organized scales along the rest of it's body. The scales on it's forehead were a light gray color, running in a diagonal fashion from left to right. Something about it brought back an eerie sense of déjà vu. The dragon could see her mind trying to piece things together, trying to connect the dots, and growled. It's blue eyes glowed maliciously and it growled at her even more when her eyes landed on the misshapen scales of it's forehead. Then it lunged at her, rows of reddish-yellow teeth snapping at her.

….

Yuffie bolted upright, drenched in sweat and held in strong arms.

"Shhhh, I've got you. Shhhh," came a soft whisper.

Yuffie winced and found that her back was pressed to a muscular chest, long lean legs were at her hips and there were hands rubbing her arms. She swallowed hard and looked up, only to find worried blue-grey eyes. She leaned back into his chest, and closed her eyes as she shook off whatever it was, that she had just been having. Leon's left arm wrapped around her shoulders and gently stroked her bare shoulder while his free hand kept hold of her trembling ones. Once she had calmed, she leaned her cheek onto his shoulder.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked softly, and closed her eyes and relaxed completely when he enveloped her in his arms.

"You were crying in your sleep. The only reason I heard was because you left your window open." Leon said. Yuffie's eyes trailed to the window, and saw that it was indeed open. She inhaled deeply, relishing the cool clean breeze as it softly billowed the drapes and allowed him to move her head until their eyes met.

"You were dreaming." He stated softly.

"Yes, of things I'm not sure I want to remember." Yuffie said softly.

Leon sighed deeply and searched her eyes, as though trying to see what she had been dreaming. All he saw in her eyes at the moment was deep sorrows and unfathomable pain. He pressed his forehead to hers briefly before he slid down until he was lying comfortably on his side. Her back was still pressed to his chest, but she found that her butt was shoved directly and snuggly into his groin. On any other occasion she would have tried to move, but she was exhausted mentally and physically, so she remained as she was. Leon wrapped his arms around her waist after pulling her blanket up to her elbows. Yuffie sighed as she relaxed into her pillow, and looked at the clock on the table. It was 2:36 a.m., and yet she felt like she hadn't had any sleep days.

"Stop thinking and go to sleep." Leon whispered into her ear.

"I don't think I'll be able to fall back asleep." Yuffie yawned.

Leon chuckled softly. "Oh, I think you can. Just close your eyes, and stop thinking. Relax." Leon murmured.

Yuffie felt warmth envelope her body, tiredness making her eyes slide closed. Her lips curved when Leon pulled her closer, and she laid her hand on his arms. Her eyes opened briefly when she felt that same movement in Leon's chest settle further and still. Her eyes slid closed again as something flashed befor her eyes. "Don't ever leave, Squall." Yuffie murmured softly as she began to drift.

Leon looked down at the petite beauty in his arms. Heaven and hell would have to collide and divide a million times over before he would even consider thinking of the concept of leaving. Nothing in any plane of existence would be able to tear him away from her. He was willing to fight to keep her at his side. Even if it meant fighting against people of his past that were once friends. He placed a soft kiss on the soft skin of her neck, just below her ear. Her breathing had become deep and rhythmic, smooth and peaceful. She had entered a dreamless sleep, or so he hoped. "Nothing will make me leave you," he whispered and kissed the same spot again. "My love."

….

Outside the door, Tifa leaned against the stone. She had been standing there ever since she had spotted Leon's door open. She had been well aware of Yuffie's crying in her sleep, and had been about to go comfort her friend, but had abandoned the idea when she spotted Leon leaving his room from her spot at her cracked open door. She swallowed hard and moved away from the door and flinched to a stop when she spotted Cloud leaning against the wall a few doors down from where she stood. Tifa shot Yuffie's door one last glance, and blinked before touching her cheek, feeling warm moisture trail downwards. She looked down, eyes hidden beneath her bangs as she touched the wall, and then moved to her door. She quietly opened her door, and shut it behind her just as silently.

Silence reigned as Cloud leaned against the wall, staring at Tifa's door. The cat like blonde sighed silently and stepped back into his room. There was more to the situation than what was before his eyes. It made him wonder what would happen when this came to a head. It also made him feel a fear that was foreign to him. Just what was Yuffie's role in this whole twisted game of chess? And how far would it stem before everything took a turn, in a direction that could be devastating for all of them?

…..

Oh if he only knew! Sorry for the long update. Put simply I had a bought of writer's block. But I'm back on the draw! R&R!