Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII.
Thirty Six
-No Choice-
Yuffie's gloved fist hit the debris one last time before it crumbled over and the sound of grinding, rusted metal filled her ears. She stared at the chunk of wall until the dust settled, before inhaling sharply and clenching her fists again. It wasn't enough, demolishing already ruined buildings and piles of rubble did little to calm the fury boiling inside her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to show that pigheaded, self-righteous father of hers exactly how far she'd come and what she could do. She'd beaten him once before, on the top floor of the pagoda. But it still just wasn't enough. As long as he could leech materia from her for his own selfish gain, there was nothing she could do to be good enough in his eyes. As far as she could tell, he might as well not even have a daughter. She gritted her teeth. Good luck finding another heir.
She sighed before turning and walking away down the winding path through the ruins. Several people watched her with wide eyes, but already knew better than to try and talk to her. She watched the warily from the corner of her eyes, bent over their campfires and digging through rubble. Scavengers, all of them. That was all that was left of the people living in Midgar's slums. These were the dregs of society that had no where else to go. Just like her. It was the first time in over a year that she really felt like she belonged.
It was a hard life, for everyone but her. When she was hungry she found a monster to kill and cooked it over a campfire. When she was tired she found a quiet, secluded place in the ruins to sleep. It was a good place to go to hide from the world, she didn't have to worry about anything but what was going on right now. There was no tomorrow, and there was no yesterday. The only trial she faced now was keeping her mind off Vincent.
She sighed again when her thoughts finally betrayed her. She could see the disapproving look on his face, glaring down at her. She knew what he would say; "Yuffie, what are you doing here? You should have stayed in Wutai with your father. This is a disgusting life, I thought you were above such childish things".
He wouldn't understand. She knew he wouldn't. He seemed to think her life was so simple, like Wutai really needed her or something. It was like he thought her father really cared about her…
It was too late now. She couldn't even fulfill his one request. She'd fled Wutai, yet again, and here she was hiding from everything in the most depressing place on the planet.
She kept trying to tell herself she didn't need him. She could take care of herself, she didn't need anyone to babysit her ever again. Especially not some man that didn't think she was good enough for him. She wasn't going to change for him.