---

Tifa paced back and forth inside Yuffie's small living room, her mind whirling as she thought back to her conversation with Cloud minutes prior. She frowned slightly, how on earth was she supposed to tell Yuffie about the conditions sprung on them if she was to return with them. She shook her head, her brown hair falling into her eyes as she paced, drumming her fingers against her arm.

"What am I supposed to tell her now?"

Pausing at the window frame, she sighed, staring out the content town. The sun had risen over the mountains, shining brightly down on the small oriental town. Resident's of the other small houses opened up their shops, while others made their way down to the early morning Market. Tifa smiled, watching the people go about their business; Wutai didn't seem like a bad place . . . it was too bad Lord Godo was too stuck up.

"Tell who what?" Tifa jumped at the sound, whirling around; eyes wide. Yuffie blinked, eyebrows raised. She laughed lightly, smiling sleepily from the stairwell. "You're kind of jumpy Teef, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine." Tifa said, smiling awkwardly as she followed the teenaged ninja into the small kitchen. "I just went for a walk around Wutai, it's really beautiful, you know? I'm glad that I got to see the town before, well, you know . . ."

"Is that why you got so jumpy?" Yuffie asked, opening the fridge. "Did you eat yet?"

Tifa shook her head, no. Yuffie smiled, recalling her attention to the open fridge. "Cloud called me," Tifa said slowly, biting down on her lip. She couldn't tell Yuffie the reason behind it. "He said Cid almost got the supplies for the Dragon Fly's almost packed and ready. So, he and Red XIII will probably be here soon, we've just got to wait for a call now."

Yuffie placed too cups on the table. "But . . .?"

"But what?"

Yuffie frowned, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't lie to me, Tifa. I'm not a child."

Tifa nodded, running a hand over her face. "I know that Yuffie . . ."

"Then, tell me," Yuffie commanded, placing a frying pan on the burner. "I don't need you to protect me . . . "

"I know you don't, but I don't like the circumstances," Tifa shook her head, raising her hand up to stop Yuffie from interrupting her with questions. "Cloud told me that a news crew from Junon came to Edge late yesterday, they want to interview us all. He said they wanted to interview us all separate before they do the group interview. They want to know the truth behind AVALANCE, why we do what we do, motives and the like. They're just waiting for us now, but they're very interested in you . . ."

"Why?" Yuffie interjected, eyes narrowed.

"Cait – while booted up on his automatic circuits, he told the press the vague story regarding Vincent and yourself –"

"I'm going to kill Cait!"

Tifa laughed, shaking her head. "You have to be prepared for that Yuffie . . . can you handle talking about him?"

Yuffie nodded absently, watching the eggs fry quietly in the frying pan. "Sure, I mean, it's not like Vincent's dead. He's just gone away for a little while, you know? Oh, I'm not going to that group interview thing you were talking about – no offense – but I'm leaving right afterwards, I've got to cover my grounds! So, that means, my interview has to be first."

"You're taking this better then I thought," Tifa mused, frowning slightly.

Yuffie shrugged, picking up the spatula and picking the eggs up from the frying pan. "I have to be, it won't help me if I get all depressed, right? Besides, I know that I'll find him. We've been all over the world together, and since I know him the best of us all, I'll be able to find him – I know the places he likes. You know, he's easy to read after a while."

Tifa nodded slightly, Vincent wasn't easy to read, not by a long shot. She shook her head, smiling as Yuffie sat down across from her, pushing a plate across the table. "You're optimistic, I'm glad. Now, we just have to wait for Cid to call us."

Yuffie nodded, jabbing her fork into her eggs. "He better come soon, I've got things to do."

"You sound so grown up," Tifa laughed, taking a bit of the egg. "You better pack up then."

Yuffie grinned cheekily. "I packed my stuff while I was waiting for you. Oh, you mean the rest of my stuff? Um, I didn't think that far ahead . . ." Yuffie shook her head, her storm grey eyes looking across the open rooms. "I have more then enough money to start over, it doesn't really matter. I mean sure – a lot of this is my mother's things, but, you can't have everything you want."

"Yuffie . . . please don't exile yourself. There has to be another option."

"Marrying Chekov," Yuffie bit out, narrowing her eyes. She shook her head, pushing her chair away from the table. Grumbling to herself, Yuffie grabbed her plate, shoving her chair back in. Tifa watched silently as Yuffie opened the garbage can, angrily dumping her eggs inside.

"My minds made up, Tifa. I can deal with the consequences myself."

Tifa blinked, watching Yuffie start for the staircase. "Yuffie . . . I'm sorry."

Yuffie stopped, one foot on the staircase, one hand on the railing. She shook her head, smiling at Yuffie. "I know Tifa; it's just . . . one of those days."

Tifa nodded knowingly. "I bet you wish Aeris was here . . . I know I'm not here, but you can talk to me . . . I'll try my best."

"Need any help packing, Tifa?"

"Sure," Tifa said slowly, noticing the change in Yuffie's tone. "I don't have much, but sure."

Yuffie nodded, smiling brightly as she ran up the stairs. Tifa smiled at the loud thumping Yuffie's feet made on the flooring above. Pushing herself away from the table, she made her way over to the garbage can away, dumping the remainder of her breakfast away.

Ring, Ring

Tifa smiled, now recognizing the ring of her small phone. Placing the plate on the counter, she fished her cell phone from her pocket, flipping it open and brining the phone to her ear.

"Cid?"

"Hey Teef, how's everything going?"

"Fine," Tifa shrugged, leaning against the counter with a sigh. "Yuffie's coming back with us, she's going after Vincent."

"She's going after Vince?" Cid questioned, an eyebrow raised. "Where's she going to look? She better not think that I'm going to take her around the world. I've got better things to do with my time."

Tifa laughed lightly. "Don't worry Cid, Yuffie liked to do things on her own. I think she's planning on heading out to Nibelheim. She wants to look around the mansion –"

"Form my materia, right?" Cid interjected.

"Cid, stop it, it's not all about the materia anymore . . . not now, anyways. Our little Yuffie's all grown up!" Tifa laughed, shaking her head. "She'll probably try and go to that cave where Lucrecia was."

"Where Vincent and her got into it? How's she going to get up there? Climb?"

Tifa shrugged. "Who knows, it's Yuffie."

"Tifa!" Yuffie called from upstairs, a thump following the shout. "I've got your stuff all packed!"

"Thanks," Tifa called in Yuffie's general direction. "Well, Yuffie has my things already packed up. Are you and Red coming soon?"

"Soon," Cid responded. "We're in the hanger in Rocket Town. Give us about five, ten minutes."

"Okay," Tifa nodded, hearing a door slam from upstairs. "Where do you want us to meet you?"

"Outside of Wutai, near the bridges I dropped you off at. Think you can make it there?"

"We're more then ready." Tifa said, stressing her words to the pilot. She smiled slightly as Yuffie tossed a few bags down the staircase followed by the thumping of her feet back into one of the bedrooms.

Cid laughed through the receiver, shaking his head in the process. "Sounds like Yuffie's itching to get out of there, either that or she's destroying things – probably both, right? Anyways, we'll be there soon."

Tifa nodded, saying her goodbyes and hung the phone up, placing the small device back into her pockets. "Yuffie," she called, starting up the staircase. A thump sounded in response. "Cid just called . . . Red and him will be here soon. Are you ready to go?"

"Ready!" Yuffie called, voice muffled by the other room. "I've got the last of our stuff!"

"That's good," Tifa called back, the stairs creaking under her weight. "What're you bringing with you?"

"Just a few things," Yuffie shrugged, opening up her closet. "Some clothes, ninja supplies, some photos of my family and you guys, and just some other things I can carry."

"I see," Tifa mumbled, crossing into the room, stopping behind the ninja, grabbing some of the bags the ninja pushed at her. "Sounds like you thought everything through."

Yuffie nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, say; when's Cid coming?"

"In a few minutes, he and Red are in the hanger; they're just getting ready to leave."

"Really? Then what are we doing here?" Yuffie chirped, shooing Tifa out of the room. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

---

"Hey Cid, Red! Long time no see!" Yuffie called brightly, starting up the metallic ramp that had lowered itself down to the ground beside the closest wooden bridge to the oriental town.

"Thanks for coming at such a short notice," Tifa called up, picking up the remainder of their bags scattered along the cliff.

Red nodded in response, his fiery tail swishing back and forth as he came down the ramp towards the two females. "Hello to you both too," he fixed his golden eye onto Yuffie. "How're you holding up?"

"Fine," Yuffie smiled, freeing a gloved hand from the bags she was holding, and ignoring Red's low growl, ran her fingers through his mane. "I just can't wait to get this interview over with! You know what though? Tifa said I could go first!"

Red blinked, watching Yuffie pass him by, disappearing into the airship. Shaking his head, his mane going in every direction, he fixed his eye on Tifa as she stopped beside him. "She doesn't seem as distraught . . ."

"She's good at hiding behind that mask of hers, isn't she?" Tifa sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's almost believable . . . she doesn't shot it on the outside, but on the inside she does wonder what went wrong between the two of them. No doubt, she'll track him over the entire planet if she has too. I don't know why Vincent bothered leaving though; we all know Yuffie's stubborn when it comes down to something she wants."

Red chuckled in agreement, their footsteps echoing off the metallic surface as the two started up the ramp after Yuffie. "I figured as much," Red replied, nose curling up.

Tifa laughed, the warmth of the airship surrounding her as they entered the structure. "That must get annoying sometimes," Tifa mused, looking pointedly down at Red's nose. "Aeris used to that to you too."

Red nodded, his tail swishing back and forth. "Its fine, Tifa, it's easily ignorable."

Tifa laughed, the noise getting drowned out as the whirling of the ramps' gears started to whirl as it retracted, the ships' engines starting up one by one.

"I'll just place these bags in the conference room, they're kind of heavy after a while," Tifa laughed, shaking her head as she started for the conference rooms' doors. "I'll meet you all on the bridge in a few minutes."

Red nodded, descending the small staircase before Tifa, padding silently over to the door leading into the bridge. Tifa followed Red down the staircase, heading over to the conference room instead. The automatic doors whirled open to allow the bartender entrance, remaining open as she paused in the middle of the threshold, turning around to look at the red beast.

"Oh Red," she called. Red stopped, looking questionably around at her. "Be careful around Yuffie . . . I doubt she's over her fear of heights."

Red laughed, his head dress rattling slightly with the movement, "Cid won't like that . . . remember that last time?"

Tifa nodded, letting out a small laugh. "Yeah, but, last time she had Vincent help her get better."

Red nodded; silence ensuing between the two momentarily. "He always had that kind of effect of her."

"Yeah," Tifa shrugged, shuffling her bags once more in her arms. "Back in a few, Red; this stuff's getting heavy!"

Red laughed at her words, the conference door whirling shut behind Tifa. Shaking his head, he started down the ramp leading into the bridge, the door whirling open to allow him entrance. His gold eye rested upon Cid as he stood at the steering wheel, moving the Highwind towards Midgar. Meanwhile, Yuffie sat with her back against the semi-circular console on the lower level.

"How much longer till Edge?" Yuffie moaned, closing her eyes as the ship swayed violently from the air currents. "Uh, I forgot about how much I hated flying."

Cid laughed, casting a glance down at the airsick ninja. "Calm down Yuffie, it'll only be five minutes top."

"Okay – wait!" Yuffie's eyes flew open, raising an eyebrow at the pilot. "Did you just call me by my name?"

Cid shrugged, casting a glance back at the young ninja. "That's your name, isn't it?"

Yuffie blinked, surprised. "I'm just . . . you never have called me that before!"

"Awe, come on Yuffie," Tifa said, entering the bridge. "Don't knock it, that's one less thing you have to worry about."

Yuffie laughed, nodding. "But, seriously Cid, why?"

Cid shrugged, turning back to the task at hand. "You ask too many questions."

"Thanks," Yuffie chirped, smiling bright. "When we land, I should hug you."

"I'll make sure I keep flying then."

"I take it back – you're still mean!"

Tifa laughed, leaning against the railing. "You two will never change, will you? I wonder how the interviews will go . . . I'm kind of nervous."

"I'm not," Cid responded. "After all I've been through, news crews are nothing!"

Yuffie laughed. "I agree with him – I can take them!"

Red shook his head, smiling at the comment. "That would make for an entertaining interview."

"Good idea, Red," Yuffie mumbled, locking her arms around her torso as the airship swayed once more. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Red!" Tifa huffed, hands on her hips as she looked down at the red beast. "Don't give her those ideas! God knows she'd do it."

Cid laughed, breaking the tension creeping its way into the bridge. Shaking his head, he lowered the altitude of the ship, Edge's shape vaguely coming into view through the clouds. "Edge is up ahead, you guys head over to the ships' ramp. We'll be docking in the hanger soon. Oh, and Yuffie . . ." he noticed the ninja starting up the small staircase behind him. "Don't throw up."

"Ha, ha," she muttered, passing him by. "Don't jerk this around too much and we'll see."

Cid laughed, the automatic doors whirling open for the three. "Keep an eye on her, Teef."

Tifa smiled, grabbing Yuffie's arm, nodding at Cid. "Will do captain."

"Ah, don't be smart," Cid retorted, the automatic doors whirling shut behind the three. "Kids . . ."

"So, what does Edge look like?"

Tifa frowned, letting go of Yuffie's arm, clasping her hands behind her back instead. She paused, her eyes staring up at the airships' ceiling before slowly casting her wine coloured eyes at Yuffie. "Well, so far it's mostly rubble. Like I've said before, Edge is going to be located right next to Midgar; it's the closest we dare to get those people to Midgar. Other then the rubble from the destruction of the Sister Ray, charred grassland covers everything else. We have a small base outside of Sector Four though."

"I see," Yuffie shrugged, leaning against the wall, closing her eyes. "It sounds like a mess; ohh, I just knew you'd need my help! Ha, just wait until I come back with Vincent too. I bet if we used Chaos, you can clear the area out in no time!"

Tifa laughed at Yuffie's explanation, the ninja could be pretty naïve about some things. "Yes, I suppose that would help."

"You know it!"

The intercom crackled to life, Cid's voice booming through the ship. "We're landing, Yuffie – you better hold on to your breakfast."

Yuffie groaned as the airship started to descend, the frame of the ship shaking from the rate of descent. Tifa smiled vaguely at Yuffie's response, and staggered slightly from the rocking ship, she crossed over to Yuffie, pulling the small girl close to her. Tentatively, she brought her hand up from Yuffie's shoulder; she placed her hand on the ninja's head, running it through the short locks. The airship shuttered once more as the engines started to shut down, the ground creeping steadily up to meet them.

"Vincent used to do that," Yuffie mumbled, the airship coming to a stop with one final shudder. She pushed away from Tifa, staggering slightly against the stationary flooring, the ships' machinery whirling to release the ramp. "Oh, I can't wait to get there, see everyone and get on my way!"

Red snorted, shaking his head from Yuffie's comment. "Everyone probably heard us approach anyways. No doubt they'll all be waiting out there for us."

Tifa laughed lightly at the comments, winking down at Yuffie. "Well, you said you wanted to go first," Tifa placed her hand on the small in Yuffie's back, pushing the teenaged ninja forward. "Have fun!"

Yuffie stumbled forward from Tifa's not-so-nice push, catching her balance at the mouths' opening of the ramp. She threw a glare over her shoulder, her storm grey eyes narrowing as she glared at Tifa. The brunette merely smiled big, waving cheekily at Yuffie from her farther back position.

"That's mean, Teef," Yuffie bit out, shaking her head.

"This is Junon News crew, channel six's six o'clock news station, reporting to you live from the new renovation area outside of Midgar, affectionately called Edge. Currently, an airship known as the Highwind – piloted by Cid Highwind from Rocket Town – has landed in Edge's base of operations. On board are the remaining four of the Jenova War Heroes, back from an impromptu visit to Wutai heir Yuffie Kisaragi was in place. Although one of the crew has been deemed missing in action; we are pleased to give you the first true interview with the surviving members of AVALANCE since Meteorfall.

"Ah, what is that? Yes, the ramp for the airship is descending. I see three figures standing; who are they? . . . I see, it is Yuffie Kisaragi of Wutai, Tifa Lockheart formerly of Nibelheim and Midgar, and Red XIII – as his friends affectionately call him – of the Cosmo Canyon."

Cloud shook his head, passing the reporter and her news crew aside – reporting on every move the small group made – make his way up to the group, his eyes resting on the brunette bartender, smiling widely at him.

"Hey Cloud!" Tifa shouted, waving a hand at the ex-mercenary, as she picked up her pace to meet him.

"Welcome back, Teef," Cloud replied, grasping Tifa and roughly bringing her into a hug. Tifa smiled leaning against him, resting her arms along his waist. "The news crew has been waiting here since early morning – I think Reeve said it was around six am they staked out their spot. The reporters' having a hard time staying still down there, she's been commenting every movement to the camera, you know – in case someone can't see you all walking down the ramp."

Tifa laughed, pulling away from the blonde, noticing the reporter and the camera lens are pointed in the direction of her and Cloud. She heard Yuffie laugh slightly in the background at their unwanted attention, making Tifa scowl up at her. Yuffie paused, smiling cheekily as she went silent with an equally cheeky wave. She knew what was coming . . . her dreaded interview.

"Thanks for the warning, Cloud," Tifa whispered, nodding as she backed away from Cloud, and appearing at Yuffie's side, looped her arms with hers. She smiled at the bout of protests Yuffie made as Tifa dragged her down the ramp. Tifa shrugged off Yuffie's protests, dragging the ninja quicker. "C'mon Yuffie, you wanted this."

Yuffie laughed awkwardly, trying to pull in the opposite direction of Tifa. Her feet skidded on the metallic surface to no avail as the bartender quickly overtook her. Her eyes locked onto the news' reporter as she talked into the camera – probably talking about the remaining, upcoming interviews to psyche the viewers up.

"You . . . uh . . . can go first, Tifa."

Tifa laughed, throwing her head back at the response; classic Yuffie response. Her eyes glinted, shaking her head at Yuffie. "Nope, you wanted to go first, their all yours." Yuffie frowned, turning around in Tifa's grasp to look over at Red. She frowned upon seeing the red beast engaged in a conversation with Cloud and Cid, paying no attention to the ninja. She sighed, no luck there. "Don't worry about it Yuffie," Tifa said, picking up on Yuffie's nervousness. "It'll be over quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid – okay, bad analogy – besides, then you can go and find Vincent."

Yuffie nodded slowly. "I guess you're right," she took in a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Tifa nodded, taking her arm away from Yuffie's, placing her hand on the small of Yuffie's back – and, like the last time, gave her a little push in the direction of the news crew.

"Wah!" Yuffie stumbled slightly. She looked over her shoulder at Tifa, who smiled at her, before turning on her heel to see Cloud, leaving Yuffie to her own devices.

"Miss Kisaragi,"

Yuffie stopped, turning around to face them, the camera stuck in her face, the microphone held out to her. "Um, yes?"

"This is Emi Saffron of Junon News crew, channel six's six o'clock news station – you've probably heard of me before, yes?" Yuffie blinked. She never listened to the news stations from the mainland. Hell, she hardly ever listened to the Wutai news stations either. News never really had interested her. Emi shook her head at the lack on response. "Moving on, we heard you were part of the AVALANCE group and had a candid affair with a fellow member, one who dropped you for another woman."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed; what?! She gritted her teeth together; she'd kill Cait when she found him! She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "How is this any of your business?"

Emi laughed conversationally. "The world loves a love triangle, darling. We're just getting everything out first, setting the record straight."

Yuffie nodded offhandedly. "Sure, so where are you doing this? I doubt you want to do it publicly like this. Why; there might be other camera crews in the crowd . . ."

Yuffie smirked inwardly as Emi Saffron and the rest of her camera crew look around the crowd gathered around the Highwind's ramp hoping to see the famed AVALANCE group. She frowned, mumbling something to her cameraman who nodded. Her eyes rested back onto Yuffie, looking at the airship. "How about that airship you arrived on? Everyone knows where the headquarters are located; so, no one would disturb us there."

Yuffie shrugged. "I don't know, Cid hates people messing around with his airship. God knows it's like his baby." Yuffie rolled her eyes, looking over at the small group. "Hey Cid, can we use your airship for the interviews?"

Cid looked over, shrugging. "Anything goes wrong or missing, you're dead Yuffie."

"Ha, ha," Yuffie muttered, rolling her eyes. "Che, whatever, go set up."

Shrugging, Yuffie moved away from the small group, making her way back up to Cloud and other. Smiling, she clasped her hands behind her back, barging into the small circle they had formed. "Hey Cloud, where's everyone else?"

"Back at the headquarters, around town, they're around," Cloud shrugged, casting a sideways glance at the ninja.

"Cool," Yuffie grinned.

Moving away from the group, Yuffie sat heavily down on the ramp's edge, her legs swinging off the edge. Pulling her PHS out of her pocket, she flipped the device open, scrolling through the numbers. She grinned as she came across Reeve's number, and clicking the talk button, brought the device to her ear. Yuffie rolled her eyes as the ringing tone, smiling when she heard the PHS pick up on the other side.

"Hello?"

Yuffie smiled. "Hey there Reeve," She heard muffled voices being picked up by the speaker, smirking as she heard her name and Cait's in the same sentence. "Say Reeve, where are you?"

"Out battling the crowd; massive amounts of people showed up to see the rest of you arrive."

"Don't I know it," Yuffie responded, eyes sweeping the crowd for the dark haired male. "Is Cait with you?"

Silence then; ". . . Yes."

"I have to go for my interview first," Yuffie explained, curling her nose up in annoyance, nodding at Tifa who motioned that the news crew was all set up and ready. "Tifa's making me go first, she doesn't want to trade with me because I agreed to this arrangement in Wutai."

Reeve laughed. "Have fun."

"Oh yeah," Yuffie rolled her eyes, her feet echoing through the nearly deserted Highwind. "Tons . . ."

"You sound so enthusiastic."

Yuffie shrugged, slowing her steps as she approached the conference room. "I try to be; but I've got to go, my time's up. Tell Cait I want to see him later."

Reeve nodded. "See you later, Yuffie." The PHS clicked off.

Yuffie sighed, pocketing the phone in her shorts. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she moved forward, the motion sensors picking up her movement, the automatic door springing open.

"Alright, I'm here."

Emi Saffron grinned, looking up from the papers in front of her. "Good to see you've arrived, Miss. Kisaragi. Please, have a seat; I'm dying to talk to you." Emi smiled, motioning to seat across from her.

Yuffie nodded, trying to avert her eyes from the camera's on her as she pulled out the chair, sinking down into it. "So, I heard you were waiting for us to arrive . . . so, fire out your questions – I've got other things to attend too."

Emi nodded, frowning slightly from the cool brush off. She cast a brief look over her shoulder, the cameraman flashing her a thumbs up to show that the cameras were rolling. Shuffling her papers in front of her, she laid them flat on the table, folding her arms across the table, looking intently at Yuffie.

"I'm glad you could join us here in Edge, Miss. Kisaragi – can I call you Yuffie? It must have been a long journey from the small island of Wutai."

Yuffie blinked at the formalities, unconsciously shifting to be straighter in her chair, mirroring Emi's pose. "I suppose you can call me Yuffie, Miss sounds to proper. No it wasn't all that far actually, I have business to attend to here. Cid was passing through and said he'd give Tifa and me a ride here."

"Tifa Lockheart and Cid Highwind are other members of the JENOVA War Heroes," Emi pointed out to the camera, before looking back to Yuffie. "Now, did the rest of AVALANCE find you in Wutai? What make you join their cause, an unrequited love perhaps?"

Yuffie's eyes narrowed slightly at the last comment. "I ran into them at the beginning – they were such a ragtag team then! – just between Fort Condor and Junon," Yuffie smiled at the memory, boy how wrong she had been. Steal their materia and escape from them in the middle of the night . . . boy, everything really turned around. "We ambushed each other; we thought the other was a monster."

Emi Saffron laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "You said they were a ragtag team then, who was part of the group?"

"Well . . . there was Cloud and Tifa, Barret was here, Red too . . ." Yuffie paused, thinking of the pink flower girl. "Aeris was there as well."

Emi nodded, casting her eyes at the paper in front of you. "What made you join them, did you have something against Sephorith too?"

"At the time; no, I had no idea who Sephorith was. I tried not to get too close to them. I didn't want to know them. Originally, I plan was to steal travelers materia – I didn't care who it was – and then escape in the night. I did that once with their materia, it was after we had stolen Cid's Tiny Bronco, but they followed me. I was surprised to see them – well, I figured they'd come, but I didn't know that he, I mean they, cared."

"He?" Emi picked up, eyebrows raised. Yuffie inwardly cursed herself at her mistake. "What happened in Wutai?"

"We ran into Don Corneo, he took me and Elena from the Turks. They came, I was saved – I was supposed to be his girl for the night – yuck! They took me back, that surprised me."

"I see, and what made you decide to continue adventuring with them? It sounds like they would have liked you not to come with them."

"Excuse me?" Yuffie glared, looking over at Yuffie. "That's none of your business, and that's out of line."

"Sorry, just curious," Emi amended, vaguely shrugging. "Now, what made you continue adventuring with them?"

Aeris . . . and Vincent . . . Yuffie's mind screamed out. "I found out that Sephiroth had taken part in the ShinRa – Wutai war, he was the General. I had my reasons."

"I see; that's interesting; a personal grudge. You're much like Cloud Strife then; he too had a personal grudge. However, Sephiroth taking part in the war; wasn't the only reason, was it?"

Yuffie shook her head, focusing her eyes onto the table. Aeris . . . she knew it would lead to this; Tifa had mentioned that in passing, Vincent too. She rolled her eyes, she could handle talking about Vincent, he was alive – somewhere.

Emi's eyebrows rose at Yuffie's silence, laughing awkwardly. "We're on television, Yuffie, we can't have silence."

"This isn't live," Yuffie shrugged, trying to keep her emotions in check. "You can edit this piece out."

Emi sighed, shaking her head as well. "Okay then, back to the idea of Sephiroth and your anger towards him. You all traveled to Bone Village together, chasing after Aeris Gainsborough, the last of the fabled Ancients. What I – and our viewers would like to know – is why? Why would you go after her? She wasn't like you – she ran away and didn't take the materia with her. From what Mr. Strife said, you were all excavating in the Temple of the Ancients where you found the startling facts of Sephorith's plan and the birth of Meteor. Miss. Gainsborough ran away when you were all brought to the Gongaga infirmary."

Yuffie brought her eyebrows together, trying to keep her anger under control. How the hell could this woman sit across from her, talking about Aeris like that . . . they were only still here because of Aeris's sacrifice. Shaking her head, Yuffie curled her fingers up into a fist, slamming it hard into the table.

"Why? Why did we go after Aeris?" She yelled, glaring at the reporter. "She was our friend – we're all only here because of her."

Emi nodded. "Now, would you care to explain what happened between Aeris and Sephiroth?"

"No." Yuffie bit out, huffing loudly as she fell back into her chair, arms crossed over her chest. "That's none of your business."

Emi sighed, this one was harder then all the others; talk about stubborn. "When everyone arrived at Bone Village, Aeris had managed to catch up with Sephiroth, they were –"

"Stop it!" Yuffie yelled, glaring across the long table. "That's not what happened."

Emi extended her hand towards Yuffie, a smirk playing across her lips. "Care to tell us the truth then?"

Yuffie took a deep breath, slowly exhaling, her eyes closing as she spoke. "Aeris knew how to stop Sephiroth. She could hear the planet speak to her – it was her gift – she knew if she could call Holy, she would stop Sephiroth. She didn't want us to come; we wouldn't be able to help her call it. Past Bone Village was a place of rest for the Ancients, the City of the Ancients; she went there to get help from her ancestors. She did manage to call Holy, but while she was doing that, Sephiroth sought her out.

"We went after Aeris too when we realized that she had gone off to stop Sephiroth. Cloud knew where she was, he had seen her in his dream, and Sephiroth was there too. We managed to get there with no problem, and we even found her. She was on the altar . . . she didn't hear us approach, she was praying – praying for a way to end the sadness. Then . . . Sephiroth came, and stopped her. He . . . he . . . plunged his sword through her, the blade . . . it came out the other side."

Yuffie shook her head, the images coming back to her as she tried to suppress them.

Sephiroth appearing out of nowhere, his sword glinting ominously; Aeris was praying to her ancestors for Holy, oblivious to what was going.

Cloud standing beside her, Buster Sword rose up, Tifa shouting at Cloud, latching herself onto his waist to snap him out of his trance.

The others were halfway across the podiums submerged in the water, while she stood on the staircase, frozen by her own foolish fear.

Sephiroth's sword plunged mercilessly into Aeris, piercing her heart as Aeris didn't scream, her emerald eyes closing for the final time as she slumped forward.

The white materia fell from her ponytail, rolling past them, disappearing into the deep water below; their final hope.

Sephiroth . . . he smirked widely, pulling his sword out effortlessly as Aeris slumped to the ground, her own blood pooling around her.

A cold laugh surrounded the empty altar, Cloud yelling at Sephiroth.

She remembered crying – the first time since her mother had died years ago – her vision blurring.

This wasn't happening again . . .

Then the arrival of JENOVA.LIFE

She remembered sitting that battle out, she couldn't see straight through her tears.

She felt so helpless . . . she had broken her promise; she didn't want too see anymore death.

That was the first time he had shown any indication that she was part of the ragtag party too.

"I see . . . so Miss. Gainsborough went off to gallantly die for the sake of the planet."

"Aeris planned on coming back, she was always talking about the next time, the future and what amusement we could find in the next town. She did not run away to die on her own."

"I see this is a touchy subject for you," Emi Saffron muttered, casting a wary glance at the camera then back at the ninja. "On a lighter note; tell us about your relationship with a fellow AVALANCE member. The audience always likes a romantic twist . . ."

"That doesn't concern you, that is, after all, a private matter."

Emi nodded, casting the statement aside. "I heard from a fellow member that he left without you, never wanting contact with you ever again. That must be sad; can you tell us your feelings?"

"I feel fine; it's not like Vincent's dead or anything."

Emi nodded, turning her attention back to the camera. "Vincent Valentine, another member of AVALANCE – and a former Turk at that – was rumored to be romantically linked to Miss. Kisaragi."

"Stop that," Yuffie muttered, rolling her eyes. "That's really stupid, rattling stuff off to the camera like that – talk about unprofessional. People can find out that stuff on their own – read the tabloids – they'll tell you all the untrue junk."

"Untrue junk . . . care to tell our viewers the truth then? You can set the record straight." Emi probed, leaning across the table.

"I suppose so . . ." Yuffie said at length, trailing off.

"Great," Emi clapped her hands together happily with a smile. "Tell us a little bit about him, how did you meet?"

"In Nibelheim," Yuffie grinned at the memory. She had thought he was creepy at first, who the hell would want to willingly sleep in a coffin for thirty years. Talk about something that just screamed out vampire. "He owned the big mansion there . . . we kind of walked in unexpectedly; it was raining pretty badly; the eye of the storm, Cloud had called it." – Yuffie let out a small laugh at her lie – "He wasn't too happy that we were there, he tried to kick us out, but he eventually let us stay, I don't know why though. The mansion was huge though! I think it was Tifa who talked to him first, she tracked him down – after he let us stay for the night, he disappeared to the basement – and, well, they talked about stuff. He then joined us – he seemed to know Sephiroth from somewhere – but he ignored us all."

Now, I just have to warn Tifa before her interview, Yuffie thought, shaking her head.

"I see . . . now, you mentioned he ignored everyone; yourself included, I suppose? What changed?"

". . . He was so uncaring about everything; Cloud and the others were wondering if he was even on our side. Tifa, she seemed to know what his motives were, but she wouldn't mention it; all she said was: it's not my story to tell. I didn't really spend a lot of time with him; I thought he was strange, I guess you could say I was influenced by Cloud and Barret's opinions. Aeris tried to talk to him a few times – she made some progress, he answered her questions – and, I guess from what she told me, he seemed to grow on me. I really didn't know what I thought, some days he was alright, other days he was kind of strange."

She suppressed a shudder, thinking of the first time she had ever seen Galian Beast all the way up to Chaos. That was always unexpected . . .

"What made him change?"

"Huh?" Yuffie's head snapped up, her thoughts on a whole other page. "Oh . . . that. My opinion changed of him when we were in the City of the Ancients, right after," – her eyes dropped down to the table, her fingers tracing patterns in the wood – "Aeris died."

"Uh huh," Emi nodded, briefly looking down at her papers for something more to say. "Is that where you guys hooked up and became a couple?"

Yuffie laughed, throwing her head back. "Nope, we were just tolerating each other then."

She smiled, sure, that was when she started to develop her crush on him, but the world didn't need to know that detail. "Tolerating each other?" Emi echoed; an eyebrow quirked. "I see, that's an interesting development, what made you dislike him so?"

Yuffie shrugged, frowning slightly. "I'm not sure, he didn't really seem to care about anything . . . he was just there. He never really spoke to anyone; he spoke to Tifa and Reeve a bit and myself sometimes."

Emi perked up. "What did you two talk about?"

"Um . . ." At first, Yuffie drew a blank, what had they talked about? It was a blur, she had just been happy that he actually spoke to her. "Lots of things; the past, the future, generic topics; you know, boringly dull things."

Emi sighed, that wasn't any juicy gossip! "You must have done something together . . . you make it sound like the two of you don't like each other –"

"We didn't," Yuffie bit in with a shrug.

Emi frowned, trying to make sense of the ninja's confusing words. "If you didn't hate each other . . . what brought you two together?"

Yuffie blushed slightly, her eyes looking anywhere but at the reporter, her eyes focusing on the wall instead. "I ran into a few personal problems that I needed help getting out of," Yuffie held up her hand, shaking her head at Emi. "No, I do not wish to discuss my past problems on the news – or anywhere afterwards." She added as an afterthought.

"I heard that wasn't icing on the cake though," Emi probed further, making Yuffie raise an eyebrow. "The robotic Cait Sith told us you had a major encounter, knocking yourself out for a whole week, that Mr. Valentine watched over you; did that change your opinion at all?"

Yup, she was going to kill Cait when she saw him.

"First off all, it wasn't a week – it was three days. Yes, he was there for me during that time, Tifa had mentioned that he came to see me every night, that he was worried about my condition." Yuffie smiled briefly. "I suppose that's what changed my mind. Before, he had seemed kind of cold, he didn't want to get too close to the rest of us. He never wanted to speak to us, when he did; it was simple one-word answers. He opened up a bit to me, we were able to have some good conversations about different things – I confided in him.

"After Tifa told me what had happened while I was out cold, my opinion changed. I mean, if he didn't care about me, he wouldn't have done anything. The fact that he seemed worried; ended up staying with me in the Mideel hospital and didn't partake in the last battle against the calamity of JENOVA just to make sure that I was okay . . . it struck a nerve. He must have cared for me a bit to do that. I approached him about it – I actually told him my feelings; I asked him to kiss me goodbye –"

"Goodbye? Then you knew this romance was to be ill fated?"

"I thought we'd die – I didn't think we could beat Sephiroth . . . I just wanted him to know my feelings, I didn't want to die with that as my secret." Yuffie shrugged off. "Surprisingly, he thought it over quick, he was finally ready to let go of his past dilemmas with relationships. Well, a long story short, the idea of facing Sephiroth and realizing that if we did die . . . we'd die alone, without anyone there beside us."

Emi nodded. "A tragic love story" – she clasped her hands together – "both of you had lost people close to you, correct? And there you are, moments before the imminent destruction of the planet."

Yuffie nodded. "I suppose so, but the 'happy ending' eluded us."

Emi nodded again, a slight frown appearing. "As I have heard, when you returned to your hometown of Wutai, you took Mr. Valentine home with you? From what I know of Wutai traditions, the reigning princess is to marry one of the five gods of the pagoda to bring harmony and peace to your lands, correct? Your father, he didn't agree on your choice did he?"

"Nope," Yuffie scowled, arms crossed as she sunk down into her chair. "My old man doesn't listen to anyone but himself – so, I planned to run away. I did it once before, I could do it again. Besides, like I'd marry someone old like that!" She conveniently left out the fact that technically, Vincent should be around sixty. "But my father interrupted my master plan . . . before we could run off into the night, my father spoke to Vincent . . ."

"What did your father say?"

"Does it look like I know?" Yuffie snapped, eyes narrowing. "If I knew, I wouldn't say anyway – it's none of your business."

Emi blinked, offended by the tone of voice, people were interested in this information; it was her job to uncover the truth! "Alright . . . so in the brief time you left Mr. Valentine alone with your father, something happened?" Yuffie nodded in agreement. "Did you ever think that you're just casting the blame? Maybe there was someone on the side? Could there be someone prettier, better then you, perhaps? Could it be that your relationship was simply one sided?"

"Excuse me?" Yuffie's eyes narrowed at the accusations, leaning on the table to get a better look at the reporter. "How dare you say that to me? What the hell do you know – nothing!"

"That may be," Emi shrugged Yuffie's comments off. "Which this brings us full circle; he did go off on his own, never wanting contact with you again."

"Lie," Yuffie hissed, shaking her head. "The last thing he said was I'll be right back."

"But, he never came."

"Obviously."

"Is it true that there was another woman he was interested in?"

"There was someone . . . another scientist that worked for ShinRa" – she didn't bother mentioning Lucrecia's name, it was unimportant now – "But he didn't run away with her, he wouldn't be able to. You see, she died many years ago; the only place he could go would be her final resting place. I don't think he'd go there though . . . he said he wanted to let go of the past." Alongside the disaster that happened when we visited there. "But, whatever happened between him and my father made him rethink his words."

"Any ideas on what they said?"

"Like I've said, I don't know. I presume that I was involved in the conversation . . . why else would this happen? Probably Vincent's past too . . ."

That was it! Why didn't she think about that sooner! Her father hated the Turks and ShinRa; Vincent was a Turk, he probably took part in the ShinRa – Wutai war as well. Inwardly, she cursed herself, how could she not have seen that? It had to have been some kind of misunderstanding . . . that had to be it. She flicked her eyes back up to Emi, who was staring at her, obviously waiting for an answer to another silly question of hers.

"Well, I've given you enough of my time already, I've got to get going," Yuffie said breezily, standing up from her chair.

Emi blinked confusingly a few times, before standing up quickly – the camera's following her – as she trailed behind Yuffie. "But we're not finished with our little interview, Miss. Kisaragi, the viewers have a lot more questions to be answered –"

"Give the paper to Tifa or someone, I'll pick it up later," Yuffie shrugged, not breaking her stride.

"Our reviewers want answers though."

"They'll get them," – Yuffie shrugged, the automatic doors of the conference room – "Whenever I'm next in Junon."

Emi huffed, rolling her eyes as she tossed her hair over her shoulders. "We need answers before we air on the weekend."

"Well, deal with it," Yuffie shook her head, her footsteps echoing against the metallic floor as she reached the airship's ramp. "Tifa!" she called, seeing the brunette leaning against the ramp talking to someone. "You're the next victim – have fun!"

Tifa nodded, pushing herself off the ramp, starting up it. "How'd it go?"

"Fine, I suppose. Oh – about Vincent, the story got changed a bit; we stayed at his mansion in Nibelheim through a huge rain storm, okay? Oh, they might give you a sheet of more questions regarding my relationship; you can give it to me whenever I next see you. Anyways, wish me luck!"

"Good luck, Yuffie," Tifa called with a wave, deciding to throw the sheet of questions away. "Call me when you find him – or don't find him – call me for anything."

"I will." Yuffie nodded, waving over her shoulder, before descending down the ramp, disappearing into the thinning crowd.

Letting out a sigh, Tifa shook her head, starting back up the ramp, heading for the conference room.

---

A/N: I was going to add where Vincent was at the bottom, but then I decided against that idea, next chapter though! The interview was a pain to write, I had no clue what to write.