Tail Light

14

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When Yuffie finally had the strength to lift herself from under the shadow of coconut trees, she found that the shadows themselves had spread over the entire island. Twilight was breaking and it was late. Yuffie, in no rush at all, made her way to the adjacent side of the island where the boats were docked, but saw nothing there. Riku and the others had left without her. Still, even though she didn't want to go back, she knew she couldn't say there either.

Before swimming back to the main island, Yuffie tended to some business she had in the cave, then took that cold dive. It was strenuous, swimming to shore just like last time, but the ache in her muscles hardly perturbed her. Not when there was a greater pain swelling inside her chest.

When Yuffie walked in the door to Riku's household, she was surprised to see only Mai, Riku's mother, sitting on the couch. She had been reading quietly, so when Yuffie opened the door, sopping wet and shivering, Mai all but launched out of her seat in alarm.

"Yuffie!" she cried. "Oh my God, what happened?" She let the now forgotten book to drop onto the couch cushion and ran to place her hands on Yuffie's damp shoulders, looking her up and down frantically.

"I'm not hurt or anything," Yuffie lied with a weak smile. "I went for a swim in the ocean."

"With your clothes on, sweetie?" she exclaimed.

"You make it sound like I wouldn't do it," Yuffie replied, restoring a little bit of that lost humor.

"Gosh, Yuffie," Mai sighed, exasperated. "Just take your clothes off here while I go get you a towel. Don't worry, Riku's not here; he went out."

"He did?" Yuffie asked surprised, already shedding her drenched shirt.

"Yes. I was surprised he wasn't with you when he came home. He asked where you were, in fact, and when I told him you weren't here he rushed off. I think he might be out looking for you."

Mai then ran upstairs to retrieve the towel, leaving Yuffie to absorb the information. So he's out looking for me…Yuffie thought dryly. I guess that means I'll have to go track him down now.

After Yuffie dried and changed clothes, she headed out to search for Baby-Toy-Baka against Mai's protests. Yuffie was, again, in no rush. In fact, she wasn't even sure she wanted to find Riku, but what had to be done had to be done. Who knows how late he'd be running around until he decided to come home. Riku was, if nothing else, determined and ambitious.

Yuffie kept pace on the cobblestone walkway weaving through the main land. There weren't many cars where Riku and the others lived, and not a lot of tourists or people in general. Yuffie doubted that there would even be crime in a place as heart-breakingly peaceful as this. She was still sore from the swim from the other island, and so her movements were slower than usual. It was only when she decided to finally head home she heard someone call her name.

"Yuffie!" yelled a familiar bubbly voice. Sora.

Yuffie turned and saw him beyond the white picket fence of his house, taking out the trash. He was waving enthusiastically, a smile so plain on his face you'd think it was stuck that way. Sora effortlessly hopped over the fence and ran over to her. Yuffie couldn't help but smile back. What a sight for sore eyes. Sora was, in fact, the only person who had inquired about her whereabouts on the island after all.

"Yuffie, what are you doing here?" Sora asked grinning; the kind of grin one gives when being received with an unexpected surprise. A pleasant surprise. "Looking for your idiot friend," Yuffie replied happily, slightly rejuvenated by Sora's energetic disposition. "Um…" Sora mumbled, ruffling the back of his head. "Okay, which friend is that?"

Yuffie laughed. Of course no one ever considered the infamous Riku an idiot. Well, besides herself. "Riku," she verified.

"Oh, heh heh. Nope, I haven't. Why? He's not at home?"

"Nah, I think the moron may be out looking for me or something. We came home at different times today, so…" Strange. Some time ago Yuffie would have lied about that, thinking it was none of his business. In fact, when was the last time she had lied…?

"Oh, right, we thought you may have gone home already, but I guess not," Sora stated. "But do you want me to help you look for him?"

Yuffie was about to say yes, then remembered she was going home. "No, but thanks anyway, Sora. I was just going home anyway. Eventually Riku will show up if I just stay in one place."

"Oh, well okay then!"

Yuffie waved good-bye to him, turning in the opposite direction, but Sora stopped her by the shoulder.

"Um, Yuffie," Sora started, a sudden melancholy in his voice. Yuffie was alarmed and puzzled.

"What is it?" she asked with worry.

"Yuffie, is…" he looked down, resisting the urge to bite down on his lower lip. "Is there anything going on between Riku and Kairi?"

Yuffie widened her eyes, taken completely off guard, and stuttered when she spoke. "N--Uh--Why? Why would you ask that?" she said stupidly. Hopefully Sora would just write the stutter off as an effect of surprise. Which he did. "It's just," he continued, lifting his eyes up to meet hers, "they've been acting weird around each other lately and…every now and then I find them together, just the two of them. I want to know what's going on."

Ah, so it seemed he wasn't ignorant of his feelings after all. Yuffie didn't know what to say to him. Sora looked so sad. She wanted to tell him he was just imagining things, more than anyone could ever imagine, and have it be true. But that wasn't the case. Still, for Sora, she would lie.

"I'm sure you're just imagining things," she told him, willing the words to be true. "You do remember that we'll be setting sail very soon, and Riku and Kairi have always been the most organized out of everyone. I'm sure they've just been regrouping plans and…I don't know, checking supplies." A perfectly reasonable conclusion, and by the looks of things, Sora thought so too.

"Oh," he responded, eyebrows lifting, "Yeah…Yeah! I guess you're right!" His grin returned naturally, just as it always does. Even though Yuffie knew she had lied, it still made her feel relieved. Sora's personality is just infectious, that's all, and Yuffie knew that the second they separated she would feel horrid again. It made her hesitant to leave.

"Hey, Sora," Yuffie said with a smile, "Do you want to--" She cut her sentence off, spotting a figure at the end of the road from the side of her eye. The figure was at a crossroad, whipping his head in all directions, chest heaving and brows glistening with sweat as if he'd been running for hours. He turned then, doing a double take, and met Yuffie's eyes from down the road.

Who else could it have been but Riku.

It seemed as if he'd finally found her, but his expression was far from relieved. He looked absolutely furious.

Riku twisted his mouth down into half a snarl and sprinted in her direction. "Ooh, doesn't someone look pissed," Yuffie muttered under her breath, crossing her arms. Sora heard and cast her a quick and confused glance, then looked at Riku, startled.

Riku stopped sprinting after a few seconds and closed the rest of the distance with long, angry stalks. Sora was about to say something, but Riku turned on him abruptly, silencing him with a wild and enraged look, and snapped his head back to Yuffie. He waited till his breathing slowed a fraction before continuing.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned lowly, keeping the anger in his voice tight and well controlled.

"I was looking for you," Yuffie said defensively, arms still crossed.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Riku exploded.

Sora cringed back, but Yuffie made no reaction at all.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you?! You'd better tell me why you're here," he cast Sora a quick angry look, "instead of being home like you're supposed to!"

"I'm not supposed to be anywhere," Yuffie said, her tone dangerously low. "I'm not some little kid who grew up carefree on a happy little island where everyone has a bedtime. I go and do whatever I want. I would have come back when I felt like it and I don't need your permission to do otherwise."

Riku looked at if her as if he were about to erupt out of his skin, his cheeks flushed from running, eyes threatening, but instead he shook his head vigorously. "Yuffie, it's not about permission or doing what you feel like," he explained, struggling for control over his voice. He brought his hand to his head, masking his eyes. He squeezed the bridge of his nose between them and said calmly, "It's about courtesy."

"Courtesy?" Yuffie repeated, puzzled.

"Yes, courtesy. It has nothing to do with you, but us, Mother and I, and…" He took a futile glance toward the sky and dropped his gaze upon he ground before meeting her eyes again. "I was worried about you, Yuffie," he admitted roughly. He took a small step foreword, leaning in towards her face and said in a course and urgent whisper, "I was so scared you'd left."

Yuffie didn't know how to respond or react. Never in her life had anyone ever been worried about her. It created a very conflicted feeling. Extreme guilt…and extreme happiness. "Let's go home," Yuffie said, eyes tight, staring at the ground. Riku nodded and turned to Sora. He smiled at him as if to wash away the impression of the previously foul encounter and said lightly, "Thanks Sora, for keeping her in one place for me."

"U-Um, sure. No problem," he replied, forcing a smile. Riku looked as if he felt guilty, and he should, but he knew as well as anyone that Sora would forget all about this tomorrow.

Yuffie waved a wordless goodbye to Sora and together she and Riku headed home. They said nothing to each other for a long time, only matched each other's steps, keeping pace with one another. The sky was dark and shining with stars by now, and a breeze from the ocean had kicked up. It was Riku who finally broke the silence. "Oh, look," he said gently, but with a certain urgency, "a shooting star."

Yuffie turned her gaze upward to where he was pointing and just caught sight of the star's tail light before it melted back into the night sky. "Aren't you going to make a wish?" Riku asked, smiling softly and gazing at her with tender eyes.

"No," Yuffie replied with a tiny smile. "I don't make wishes on falling stars anymore."