A/N: THANK YOU MYSTIC 777 for your help. Please, please review everyone and tell my favorite beta thanks. :D

Chapter Fourteen: Chill Out Cold Feet

"Why is everyone so pushy about this love business lately? I'm not sure I'm in love, and it's none of their business!" Yuffie asked herself as she wiggled through the ventilation shafts and paused over an open space. The ship bucked as the vessel groaned to a stop dropping anchor. 'We must have reached Costa del Sol.'

She adored her Avalanche pals, but things were different with Genesis. Starting with Cloud, that guy stood out like a beacon of what a person should be. Tifa was the older sister and mother she had missed out on when growing up. Nanaki served more as an annoying little brother even with his advanced years. Vincent was simply her partner, the one she relied on to get her out of jams when on missions with the WRO and her oldest crush. There was Barret, the one who reminded her the most of a father who litterally did anything for his child. Cid was the one who challenged her, gave her a reason to fight back with more then shuriken. Maybe he was just fun to piss off… It was times like this that she really began to miss Aerith. That woman knew what to say and how to say it.

The real deal with Genesis though… He didn't treat her like a child. He certainly wouldn't take no for an answer. Laughing to herself, Yuffie remembered his reactions to her vomiting on his precious coat after their initial meeting. Genesis would recite that horrid poetry every time she confused him or challenged his views.

So how could that be love?

At least, that's the way it went until she had partnered up with Vincent for the World Regenisis Organization. Life in the WRO was pretty sweet after that. Then she went on vacation looking through the ruins of Midgar for materia.

That's when she had met him.

The red haired man that was going to give her father a heart attack when they met.

"Ugh." she groaned, disgusted with herself even more when she managed to get stuck for the tenth time since she began her exercises. "I miss being out in the field. Training sucks, big time."

(break)

The creaks and groans from the air vents had many a crew member looking up in concern when they heard a familiar voice cursing in Wutaian. The people who had built the narrow ship vents exchanged worried glances and in some cases a change of coin was made. A pale hand reached up to cover red glowing eyes as Vincent groaned. Raising a brow in surprise Genesis felt his mouth drop open when the vent above their heads gave an ear shattering screech and suddenly gave way. The dust and debris that came down with the metal raised a few questioning coughs before a female voice loudly proclaimed her displeasure with the aged material.

"Damn it. How can I practice my awesome ninja skills if my materials are out of date? And don't you dare give me that speech about taking care of my materials, Cloud Strife! If anyone should be lectured, it's Cid since this is his rust bucket!" Yuffie snarled, giving her former leader a death glare that merely had him smiling back.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Just peachy." Yuffie snapped. "The ship is in motion, my stomach is acting like a seesaw, and the ventilation shaft just broke. A bird hasn't pooped on me yet, but I haven't gone outside yet..."

"Ah." Cloud answered smirking at his clumsy friend.

The ninja and the warrior merely shared glances before Yuffie plucked herself up from the debris and stalked from the room with as much dignity as her newly discovered limp allowed. Genesis let out a long hiss of breath and made to stand up when Vincent dropped a hand to his shoulder.

"Give her some space." The gunner advised.

"What has her so out of sorts?" The red haired man questioned, eyes still staring at the vacant door way before Red XIII answered him.

"That would be you and Vincent." The feline-like creature answered him. "Yuffie is confused about the things that have happened recently and is trying to sort them out. Unlike being out on land, there is no place to run from the problem on this ship."

"Unless she convinces Cid to take her elsewhere." Cloud pointed out earning a startled look from the others. "Yuffie is resourceful. Remember when she made off with all of our materia and ended up getting captured by Don Corneo?"

Vincent gave a low growl at the mention of episode. If the Turks hadn't eliminated the fat man, he would have enjoyed making the former criminal pay for his crimes. "I remember."

"It seems there is more to your story then I previously thought." Genesis observed.

"Indeed." Vincent agreed.

(break)

"Stupid men and their stupidness." Yuffie continued to mutter lowly to herself. "Can't even build a stupid ship right."

Stalking the hallways until she found herself in the kitchen, the ninja had settled herself onto a narrow counter with a spoon and a large container of chocolate ice cream. Snacking on the frozen dessert, the gray eyed princess continued to loudly express her displeasure with the world in general. The chefs and other kitchen staff wisely gave the shuriken hurling assassin a wide berth as she continued her ranting about the general lack of free space on the entire ship. Stabbing her spoon into the container, Yuffie swiped a lock of black hair from her eyes as she stared out the circular port window.

"Hey, cook, are there any life boats on this tug of boredom?" she asked in dully. If she couldn't get out of here soon, she was gonna hurl.

"Yes, my lady. Of course there are. Your personal vessel was loaded on board with the rest of the supplies when we came form Wutai." the man answered shrinking in on himself as his Princess grinned like a cat in a fish store.

"Really…" she drawled, scooping a spoon of ice cream from the container. "Does anyone else know about my baby?"

"No, my lady. As ordered, no one dares breathe a word about it." The cook shot a horrified look at his assistants when Yuffie leapt off the counter. Passing the cook her container of ice cream, the princess planted a large wet kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks. I'll get you a raise when I get back to Wutai. Later." she called out, hurrying from the room.

"Master, what did you just do?" One assistant asked softly.

The chef shook his head. "The princess needs her space." he answered firmly. "For all of our sakes, I did the best thing by telling her. With her temper it's just a matter of time before she starts practicing on moving targets."