Cloud went limp in his chair. Sephiroth? Sephiroth saving Yuffie? Sephiroth saving anyone?

Something—an emotion—that looked like grief passed over his face, only angrier. Nothing made sense. And yet Cloud knew that Yuffie would never lie about something like this. He and Yuffie stared at each other for a long time, until Cloud nodded, urging her to continue. He needed to hear more.

"Sephiroth dragged the first SOLDIER into the living room while he fought and screamed, his uniform still half undone. I obeyed what Sephiroth told me to do—I stuck my fingers in my ears as far as they could go, but I could still hear it all happen.

At first, there was just begging and pleading, until something thudded to the ground. The thing didn't sound heavy, but it was still enough that I could hear. As I layed there, exposed and bleeding, the SOLDIER screamed again and again and started sobbing. Four more… things…fell to the floor. I counted. It all took awhile. There was so much crying. Eventually, the SOLDIER's screaming grew louder than I ever thought possible. He sounded like an animal, until his voice died out completely and something bigger than before hit the ground."

Then Yuffie shrugged to herself, as if to say, it was what he deserved.

"I couldn't make sense of it until I was older. Five things in total. You just have to count to understand." Yuffie inhaled deeply.

"Sephiroth hacked off the SOLDIER's limbs, one by one… as well his… you know. Those were the things I heard falling to the ground. Sephiroth dismembered my attacker as slow as he could, while he was still alive."

A wave of emotions washed over Cloud—shock, disgust, disbelief, anger, and underneath, a fierce satisfaction. He couldn't figure out which one was the strongest, or the most moral, or if that even mattered. Still, Cloud had never heard of such punishment before. It was well-deserved, yes, but what kind of a person could do that to someone else? Who could bring themselves to actually cut someone into pieces?

Apparently, Sephiroth.

"Even though I heard it all, I still had my eyes closed. Then I heard a strange, ripping noise. I felt something light and airy—a sheet—being draped over me. Sephiroth snatched it from my bed with so much force that it tore." Yuffie cocked her head to the side as she remembered, and Cloud couldn't help but admire her resilience while she did. "Even that—the light touch of fabric—felt like daggers on my body.

It startled me. I didn't know that he had even come back into my room, because as I said, he moved like a shadow. As he took my hands away from my ears, I opened my eyes.

Sephiroth—in all his glory I suppose—was kneeling beside me, and he looked absolutely pissed. I knew that my savior was not a gentle person. He looked menacing and dangerous and like he could make anyone do anything if he wanted them to… and yet, the way he handled me suggested otherwise. I was so confused."

Cloud desired to shake his head no, to topple over this table at the thought of anything good being inside Sephiroth, but he just clenched his hands and forced the urge away. Yuffie wouldn't finish the story if he wrecked the place.

"Sephiroth looked me over, so much so that I thought he was going to repeat the first SOLDIER's attack. Now, I think it was because he was hesitant to interact with me, as if he'd never talked to a child before. I was so scared of him but so relieved at the same time—all I could do was look up at him. We've all seen him, so we know what his eyes look like. Bright and glowing, with pupils like a cat. They were chilling. He looked furious as he spoke to me again.

I know what it is like to have something done to your body against your will. This must never happen to you again.

I didn't know what he was going to do to me, but I nodded. To be honest, I would have agreed to anything he said. Obviously, I was in no position to resist anyone.

I began to feel tired and lethargic… I'd lost a lot of blood. It soaked the blanket upon me, revealing evidence of the attack." Yuffie clicked her tongue. She looked distant, like she was caught up in analyzing her own memories. "The blood was everywhere—all over my legs, thighs, knees, ankles… it flowed down like streams."

Instinctively, they all glanced at Yuffie's knee, still covered in Larbeight's gore. Cloud shivered. Yuffie watched him carefully, as if the rest of the story included him, which only made Cloud more afraid of what was to come next. Why did she look at him like that?

"Sephiroth took notice, of course. He still looked angry, but he placed one hand on my brow and one on my belly. I immediately recoiled from the contact, but Sephiroth glared at me with such authority… I forced myself to stay still. I can remember how gentle his hands were, how his gloves felt on my skin, with the sheet separating him from my body. He didn't make sense."

Yuffie looked at Cloud for confirmation, and he shrugged, equally confused as to why Sephiroth would help anyone other than himself.

"He used Curaga or something like it—even at ten years old I could sense how different he was. Whatever he did… it wasn't normal. It didn't look or feel like materia. It felt more like… pure power. I mean, it practically radiated off him. Warmth enveloped me as I felt all of my insides being knit back together. Now, I know that without him, I would have bled to death on my own floor. There'd been so much internal damage… I wouldn't have survived on my own."

Yuffie raked both hands through her sweaty hair, combing the sleek waves with each finger as if she desired to put it up.

"The whole process didn't take long. When Sephiroth was done, he rocked back on his heels and balanced himself on one knee. Then he spoke again.

Get dressed.

He wasn't mean or accusing or demanding—his voice was just full of... control. Slowly, he stood up and grabbed the pile of clothes next to me. He looked at me again—like he knew me—eyes bright and luminous. Then he walked out of the room, my clothes in hand. I didn't understand why he took them if he wanted me to get dressed, but now I see that he didn't want me to dress myself with the clothes I was attacked in. It was… a severe kindness."

At this, Yuffie stopped. Her eyes glistened with tears, shocking Cloud. Yuffie didn't cry… ever. He felt sweat dew upon his own neck and scalp and with distant disgust, remembered that he hadn't bathed at all today. Well, did the ocean count?

"Hold on," Yuffie said—more like choked—out, before heading towards the bartender. They all watched her leave but then turned back around and sat in silence, their gazes flickering from friend to friend. Cloud in particular studied Tifa and Aerith and could see the dry patches on their cheeks where tears had been earlier. The tracks of grief shined like pale snakes on their faces. He shook his head at them, not wanting to disrupt the silence, but needed to do something to convey his confusion.

I don't understand, his gesture read. Tifa leaned her head back against the wall behind the booth while Aerith looked meditative. So many emotions churned inside him. Rage for Yuffie, shock at Sephiroth's involvement, then rage again at anything Sephiroth-related, and more. He did feel sick, like Yuffie warned, but he also felt dangerously awake, like he could topple a mountain over if he tried. This didn't change anything about their quest, but it complicated things.

What did Yuffie feel for Sephiroth now?

Would… no, could she kill him? Or would she hesitate and chance all of their lives in the process?

While he deliberated, Yuffie slipped back into her seat, another bottle of bourbon in her hands. She poured it into her glass, past the appropriate measure, until it was filled to the brim. Afterwards, she set the bottle in the middle of the table, but nobody reached for it.

She drained her drink until she needed to breath again and Cloud's brow tightened. He wanted to take the alcohol away from her, but knew that it was her right to drink as much as she wanted. And if there was anything Cloud learned by hearing her past, it was that trying to force Yuffie into anything but was a terrible… and cruel idea.

"I felt completely healed, so I got up off the ground while clutching the sheet to my body. Blood still covered most of me and I wasn't too sure what to do about it… I ran to the bathroom as fast and as silently as I could, so Sephiroth wouldn't see," continued Yuffie. Her voice was steady once more, her eyes dry and focused—despite her inebriation.

"It took so long to wash all of it off. Once I did, however, I ran back into my room and put on whatever I could find. My clothes may have been backwards for all I knew. I was in shock, and I assume that's why I was able to do what Sephiroth told me without falling apart, even after what happened. In a way, being instructed was helpful because it gave me something else to focus on. I also remember feeling… light, as if I wasn't really inside my body at all, but was watching everything happen from the back of my head.

I walked out of my room, past the bathroom, and was almost to the living room when Sephiroth suddenly blocked my way. I tried to look around him… I spotted blood and the blue of a SOLDIER uniform somewhere behind him, but Sephiroth put one hand over my eyes. I couldn't see anything else. He pushed me towards the kitchen, past the living room, so I wouldn't see my attacker's mutilated body."

The hour must have been so late… the glow of the bar seemed to dim with every passing moment, so it was harder to read Yuffie in such little light, but Cloud could still see that talking about Sephiroth rattled her more than anything about her attack. Why was that? Was it because of fear? Idolization? ….. Love?

Several cracks pervaded the air as Yuffie popped her neck, rolling it from side to side. "Neither of us spoke for a long time. I climbed into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and wordlessly, Sephiroth found a cup on the counter and filled it with water from the tap. Then he sat opposite me at the table, nudging the cup towards me."

The more he heard, the more Cloud wanted to SCREAM. Sephiroth, saving anyone? Sephiroth, nurturing a child? No… he couldn't take this. Cloud closed his eyes. He didn't want to see Yuffie straining to relive all of this anymore, nor the expressions of pain and worry on Tifa and Aerith's faces.

Everything was so, so wrong.

But still, the story continued.

"I wasn't thirsty, but I drank the water anyway, trying not to stare at Sephiroth and failing miserably. He never took his eyes off me, and once again, he looked at me like he knew me or remembered me from somewhere. Why else would he stare so openly into my face? I think he was trying to see something. I think… now… that he was trying to see himself in… me."

I know what it is like to have something done to your body against your will. That was what he'd said to Yuffie. So, Sephiroth sympathized with her? That would make more sense than Sephiroth randomly growing a conscience, Cloud thought. Vicariously trying to save himself was more of a motive for this senseless saving than anything else Cloud could think of. Unexpectedly, a strange, soft sensation began to bubble towards the surface of his mind. It almost felt like… pity.

Cloud mentally slaughtered the emotion without another thought.

"This is when things get strange," Yuffie started, and Cloud wanted to laugh out loud. Things weren't strange already?

"We started talking to each other. Sephiroth even initiated the conversation.

How do you feel?

There wasn't a trace of gentleness in his voice—which, at that moment—I desperately, desperately needed. But, he was all I had, so I ignored the urge to cry and focused only on his words.

Tired.

Sephiroth leaned back in his chair and tapped the surface of the table with one, gloved finger. His eyes were unfocused, and switched from gazing at his hand and then back to me again, like he was thinking. Questions by the thousands raced through my mind and I eventually spoke without even thinking of what he would do to me if I angered him.

Why… aren't you fighting?

Everyone knew he was Shinra's best SOLDIER. The strongest, the toughest, the quickest. So, why did he bother with me at all? How did he know what was happening? How did he know which house was mine?

Sephiroth stared at me a long time, his finger paused and hovering above the table. He looked like a statue or something. Pft. Might as well have been for as cold and as beautiful he was."

Cloud, with his eyes still shut, cringed as she used the word beautiful to describe any part of his mortal enemy.

"He didn't do anything, though. Just stared at me and answered after awhile.

Good question. I ask myself a similar query all the time, except it's not 'why am I not fighting', but rather, why am I fighting at all?

His honesty surprised me. Obviously, there were many rumors in the Planet about Sephiroth and his amazing abilities, but none of them suggested that he could be… normal. Blunt.

But… you fought….. him.

I knew that he knew what I meant. Sephiroth nodded extremely slowly, and his eyes seemed to burn brighter than even before.

He deserved worse. He had a reputation in SOLDIER for harboring… vile… urges. Sephiroth paused there, scanning me up and down like I was a big bug or something. Nothing to want or desire like the other one.

I saw him approach this house, so I followed.

That answered a lot of my questions. Still… I was lucky."

Extremely so, Cloud thought to himself.

"I would have killed him anyway. If not today, then the next time he sought to satisfy himself.

He sounded as if he was debriefing me, as if nothing was odd or violent about his statement. I remember feeling… a lack of surprise at his words. I still felt like I was watching everything happen from a dark corner of my mind. At ten years old I should have been repelled by him… but I wasn't."

And you still aren't, Cloud added quietly. With his eyes closed, it was easier to imagine the scene. The house, the kitchen, little Yuffie in mismatched clothes sitting across the table from Sephiroth. Her expression of ambivalence and his aura of power and fear. Together, they looked like a team. A weird partnership.

Ugh.

Yuffie's voice interrupted the fresh nausea cooking in Cloud's stomach.

"A long time passed before we talked to each other again. He started.

You're weak.

He said this like it was obvious. I think I felt really mad at that, but the shock of the attack and the subsequent fatigue still overwhelmed me. So, I replied without thinking, as if the words were alive on their own.

I'm ten."

Now that seemed right. Even as a child, Yuffie had a sharp tongue, huh? Was it wrong to want to laugh?

"I'll never forget it, but he smiled. It was so fast—so so fast, I barely saw. But I think I caught him off-guard. It was… the only time I've ever seen anything like happiness in his eyes."

Sephiroth, smiling?

What .. the .. fuck?

"Naturally, I was pleased with myself. Then he said—

Still. You need to be stronger. Learn to defend yourself. Men—all humans—are easy to dispatch if you know how. They all have the same weaknesses, the same frailness in their bodies.

I was confused… well, more so than before I guess. He spoke about humans as if he wasn't one of them, but I wasn't about to argue that. Sephiroth is different, that's a fact. And why did he care so much about my safety? The only thing I can think of it what I said before. He must have saw himself in me and craved to change the outcome." Yuffie's voice suddenly dropped so low, Cloud had to strain to hear what she said next.

"Maybe… deep down, he always knew he was a monster and he didn't want me to turn into one, too."

Something… dangerously like truth settled over them. Cloud could feel it without looking. It was… still. Quiet.

"Either way, I didn't really know what he meant, but again, I would have agreed to almost anything.

How do I get stronger?

After I said that, his eyes slackened. It didn't look like he was tired, but that's the only word I can think of to describe what that softening was. Sephiroth tapped the table three more times and then slapped his palm flat against the surface. Looking back at it now, it's weird to think that someone like him has ticks… tells, whatever. He brought his free hand to his lips, tracing the lower one back and forth for awhile with his index finger. Why do I even remember all of this?

A pause. "Hm… maybe because it was so… surreal. Less like a memory and more like something branded into my mind. The attack was one thing, but my interactions with Sephiroth are still as clear as the day they happened…you guys can't imagine what it was like…

… Anyway, he'd made such a habit of studying me, it was easier to hold his gaze. I was getting used to it. Then he answered my question with confidence, like what I'd asked was stupid. It probably was.

You fight."

Cloud thought about that. Was fighting really the only way to be strong? What about Aerith? She's no warrior, and she's the farthest thing from weak he's ever seen. Weren't there different types of strength? Does physical strength matter more than the other kinds?

Yuffie sighed, long and slow. It sounded like it was the first time she seemed exhausted by her own story.

"Then he got up from the table and eyed me like I was about to throw a tantrum or something. Because of that, I knew our conversation was over and he was about to leave.

Don't leave the kitchen, he told me. Stay here until your father comes for you.

How did he know who my father was? Stupid question. He knew everything. He had to—it was strategy.

I'm going to assign a SOLDIER to guard this house.

I opened my mouth to protest and tears filled my eyes at the thought of any Shinra operative being near me, but Sephiroth interrupted me before I could say anything.

They won't come inside. I'll also issue another order declaring this house off-limits. As long as you stay here, you won't see another SOLDIER ever again. Do you understand me?

I understood. And I cried as the shock slowly wore off on me. Sephiroth watched the tears slide down my face, neck, onto my shirt until his eyes flicked up to mine again. God, they were so alien and foreign and bright… To be honest, I didn't want him to leave. His frigidity was better than having no one, but I could tell that Sephiroth was not someone you begged to, so I kept my mouth shut. He looked at me for a long time, until I thought I'd pass out. Then—

Be strong.

But… it's not what you guys are thinking. It wasn't encouragement at all. It was a command. The anger had returned, hardening his eyes, his mouth. He started towards me and I thought he was going to hit me or kill me, but he looked down, blinked once, and touched his fingers just underneath my chin, gently jerking my head up as if to say, hold your head up high… or remain weak."

Cloud stifled another scream.

"Then he was… gone. Afterwards, my skin kind of burned where he touched it. I slipped back into my chair at the table and put my head down, blocking out all of the noise of the battle outside. It had seemed so quiet when Sephiroth was there, but without him, noise and fear and pain returned. I fell asleep like that, until my father came home and… well, I told him everything. I had to. With all of the blood in my room and then living room… he was… inconsolable."

Of course he was, Cloud thought. I can't even begin to imagine the pain of that happening to my daughter.

"Apparently Sephiroth had cleaned up the SOLDIER's corpse before he'd left, though I hadn't heard anything to suggest it. I only learned this later on when I made a passing comment about it to my father, who then said that the body wasn't there when he got home. Just the blood and gore."

Cloud heard a scraping sound on the table's wood and then the clink of a glass being brought down on it again. Yuffie must have taken another drink. She had consumed so much alcohol by now… how was she still awake? And… lucid? Articulate?

"That was a really long story, I know. It's almost done," she said. She sounded as tired as Cloud felt, like they could both fall into comas and not have one care in the world. Cloud vehemently wished that this would happen. Like, right now.

"My father was reluctant to ever leave me alone after that, so he stationed Wutai warriors near the house, although, whenever Shinra attacked, one lone SOLDIER inexplicably always showed up with orders to guard the front door. Father was furious—he even tried attacking some of the SOLDIERs, but no matter how much he ranted and raved, one always returned the next time. So, he stationed more Wutai warriors near me just in case. I basically had an entire battalion protecting me.

The war lasted forever, or so it seemed. I guess in reality, it didn't, did it? Eventually, though, and completely out of the blue, a mercenary showed up at the house, scaring my father so much I thought he was going to kill the guy. He was tall and silver-haired and pale and had a long scar down the right side of his face. The mercenary explained that he also had orders to be there, to 'train the young girl until she becomes strong.' Yeah, it's what you think… Sephiroth sent him."

Cloud's eyes snapped open, blurry and unfocused—he thought he was looking at the leftovers of their dinner on the table but he couldn't be sure. He felt something wet cover his hands—blood had blossomed on Cloud's palms. He must have been clenching them so tightly that his nails broke the skin. Saving someone was already out of character for Sephiroth. But remotely overseeing the safety and ability of Yuffie as she trained?

Cloud wished he was dead, wished he would keel over and hit the floor so he wouldn't have to hear any of this and pretend like he wasn't about to punch literally everybody in sight. Reluctantly, he looked over at Yuffie, who already had her gaze fixed on him, like she could sense how much he was struggling.

Well, he thought, I guess she could, considering she'd warned me that I would be "shocked."

"So, I got private lessons. I never actually knew the guy's real name—he just had me call him Teacher. Every single day after that, he came to my house and we sparred. He never failed to show. Years went by. Slowly, but they did. I spent countless hours doing drills—drills to increase stamina, drills for strength and speed, drills to sharpen focus—and it didn't matter how young I was. If I messed up or failed a drill, I was disciplined. Teacher was never cruel… but he was firm. Annoyingly unrelenting. At first, I just hated him. Hated how he never let me give up or even just skip a day to rest.

My father had been suspicious about the entire arrangement, so at first, he sat in on the lessons. Soon enough though, even he could see how much I was improving—how complex and amazing Teacher's lessons were, which in turn, allowed me to learn how to defend myself from pretty much anyone. Father stopped supervising pretty quickly after that because it was obvious Teacher's methods were impeccable. He must have been the best mercenary around, I don't know, but under his regiment, I actually got… strong."

Cloud's eyes automatically raked over Yuffie's shoulders and her arms, and her legs, still propped on the table. There was no contesting what she said. Yuffie was strong, and it showed in every single battle, in every single muscle that defined her slight, athletic body. Momentary visions of Cosmo canyon passed through his mind, and he remembered the power in her body as she moved.

"Teacher is also the reason why I'm so much faster than all of you," she said, smiling. "He saw that my body was growing into that of a runner's, and he used that. I'm much faster than every warrior in Wutai too. On some days, Teacher had me race them from dawn until dusk, or until either one of us fainted."

Mostly everyone smiled with Yuffie, except for Cloud and Barrett. One look at Barrett told Cloud that he was completely shaken by her story, and he suspected that was because of how close it hit home for him. Barrett probably ached to rush home as fast as he could and scoop Marlene into his arms, just to make sure she was safe. He must really suffer being apart from her for so long…

"Sparring with Teacher is when I found out that I'm absolutely awful at using most weapons, like I told you—" and she nodded towards Tifa and Aerith, who outright grinned, though Cloud didn't know why, as he hadn't been there for that particular conversation. "—and was the one who suggested that I try a shiruken. The results were instant. Whether the shurikens were large or small, they felt like an extension of my limbs. I became proficient with throwing weapons of all kind. Daggers, darts… but the shuriken was still my favorite. I settled for a large one because it can be used for close-range combat as well, like chakrams.

At some point, and many years later after our weird introduction, Teacher told me that he was leaving. I was outraged, having bonded with him for so long—although he was nearly as cold and as distant as Sephiroth was—and demanded why. It reminded me of how I felt when Sephiroth left after our conversation in the kitchen.

Teacher simply said, 'You are strong enough now.' Which was true… because even in my late teenager years I could sometimes—though… rarely—best him in combat, but I guess the thought of having to be "strong" on my own without him was terrifying. The way he left was exactly like Sephiroth. No hugs or tears or anything like that, but he touched me on the chin with one hand, nodded at my father—who had come to see him off—and, poof. Gone. I never saw him or Sephiroth again."

Was there a note of longing in Yuffie's voice? Or had Cloud imagined it, scared that she still cared about him?

It was as if Yuffie had heard his thoughts. Like before, she directed her entire attention on him, making sure he knew that her next words were specific to their friendship.

"I know what Sephiroth did to you, and to Tifa," she said. Her voice was low and dark… it didn't sound like her at all.

"I know he killed your parents. I know how he ruined your lives. Still… don't ask me to hate him, Cloud. Ever. I know what we have to do, and I'm willing to do it. I understand that the Sephiroth we chase now isn't the one who saved me so long ago, and I'll help you kill him. I won't hesitate. You have my word. But, regardless of what we do to him and when, do not expect me to think of him in the same way you do, because I can't, and I won't."

Cloud bit his lip, wanting to shout at her, but stopped himself. He understood her position and why she maintained it, but it was so FRUSTRATING. Sephiroth was EVIL.

Yet… he had saved Yuffie. And in a strange, demented way… sort of… raised her.

Yuffie released Cloud from her attention and fixed it back on the rest of group. She ignored their expressions of disdain and incredulousness. Tifa, in particular, looked offended.

"You dumb-dumbs know the rest. Wutai turned into a tourist attraction and eventually, I set off on my own, refusing to be a part of it. Then we met, we fought, and… here we all are."

Finally. The end of the story, of the horror and blood and monsters. It came abruptly, but it was oh so needed.

Everyone was visibly relieved. They all sagged in their chairs, exhausted from the inside out, and even Yuffie for all of her resilience looked a little shattered. Dark shadows had grown underneath her eyes and she was paler then normal. She leaned forward, eyeing her glass as if it were prey and she was the huntress, but wordlessly made the decision to leave it be. Good. Any more of the bourbon and she would probably pass out.

… Which might not have been the worst thing in the world, as Cloud suspected that no one would get any sleep tonight. Still, he would have to carry her back to the hotel and Cloud didn't think he could lift himself out of his own chair, never mind someone else.

The bar was completely empty, save for the bartender at the other end of the room. The last call must have been hours ago, although he'd made no move to kick them out. He simply sat on a stool and thumbed through a thick novel he laid flat on the long surface in front of him. Had he somehow figured out that they were in the middle of something important? Did he overhear any of that? Anxiety nipped at Cloud's nerves. No… he was too far away. Perhaps he just saw their expressions as the story went on and knew to leave them be.

Yeah. That was it.

Minutes had passed, and still, no one said a single word. Yuffie had devastated them all with her past, creating an un-holy atmosphere that ripped any thought of words or remarks from their minds, only to dissolve them into the air above.

Aerith, who was separated from Yuffie by Tifa's body, slowly reached over her and placed her palm on Yuffie's nearest forearm. The gesture was meant to be comforting, but Yuffie flinched, jolting so hard in her seat as if she'd been punched. Aerith's brows lifted, surprised, and she removed her hand from Yuffie's skin, letting it hover above instead.

Everyone watched as Yuffie thought to herself, deliberating, perhaps, if she could tolerate Aerith's touch. It seemed like the most important thing in the world, whether or not she would, and they remained silent, staring at the two girls with a crazed intensity. If Yuffie noticed, she didn't say anything.

Slowly, hesitantly, Yuffie took her other hand and encircled Aerith's, bringing it back down onto her forearm as if to say, it's okay. I'm okay.

A smile began to form on Aerith's face, but she must have saw something in Yuffie's that upset her, because Aerith politely extracted herself soon after, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. Yuffie swiftly looked away, her jaw clenching and unclenching.

Cloud guessed that Yuffie thought Aerith pitied her, and hated Aerith for it.

Exhaling smoothly, Yuffie straightened her spine and glanced at each one of them for a long time. Was she looking for something? A reason to stay with them, maybe?

Or even worse, a reason to leave?

Yuffie slid out of her booth with a grace that betrayed the fact she must have been annihilated by her inebriation. The familiar mask of ambivalence slipped over her face, and Cloud idly wondered if the perfection of the mask was a result of the trauma she'd faced as a child. She'd mentioned, during the attack, that she had somehow separated her attention away from the SOLDIER, and then during her conversation with Sephiroth, how she'd felt nothing but a physical lightness. Or did Teacher instill this defense mechanism in her—an unbreakable fortress of politeness that shut everyone else out, so she could protect herself from probing or unwanted attention?

Yuffie paused, taking time to look at them all in the face.

"Now you know," was all she said to to them. Yuffie promptly walked away and out of the bar completely. Cloud, praying for silent intervention, hoped that she was going back to the hotel and didn't desert them altogether.

He would miss her, he thought.

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A/N: so... just watched an entire playthrough of crisis core on youtube, and okay. i wrote this chapter before watching CC, so i suppose it's canon that Genesis hasn't been a dick yet and told Seph that he's a mutant. like i've stated in previous chapters, though, let's just make this up as we go :) xoxo