Disclaimer: Unless we have a three year old attempting to read a PG-13 rated story, I don't think we all need a disclaimer. Three year olds can't read many words. So there.

Note: Please review after reading my story! I promise I won't threaten Yuffie anymore like I have been. I swear it!

*lets Yuffie run away*

*A police voice calls out, "Then drop you weapons and raise your hands in the air!"*

*drops weapons and raises hands in the air. "Like you just don't care!"*

*The policeman nods his head and waves his hands in the air. "Put ya hands in da air, like ya just don't care!"

*runs away and the policeman entertains himself by repeatedly waving his hands in the air and singing at the top of his lungs*

*smiles and cackles evilly*

Easy as pie! Anyway, like I said, I let her go, and I escaped being in jail for holding her hostage, so REVIEW! R-E-V-I-E-W! It's not that hard!

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Yuffie leaned against the wall of the hotel, shaking her head. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She had hugged Squall, twice, and he let her. She laughed nervously and waited for Aerith and Cloud to come back.

The moon shone in the sky like a beacon and dropped its beam of milky light across Traverse Town. Tiny little stars glittered away in the distance, winking at her and waving. She had grown used to never seeing sunlight. She wondered if she ever found a way to leave Traverse Town, would her eyes become blind from seeing the sun after it left her view for so long?

Aerith and Cloud walked up the stairs to the hotel, hand in hand. They saw Yuffie and stood in front of her.

"So how is he?" Aerith asked.

"I think he'll be fine. You know him..." Yuffie said.

"Uh-huh, well, that's good. Yuffie, I think you need to call it a night. It's 4:00 in the morning and the bags under your eyes look like lemons."

"Lemons?" Yuffie rolled her eyes. She pushed open the door and went into the Green Room. Squall was still sitting on the couch, staring out the window. If he could, he would sit there and think until he grew a beard and wrinkles.

She crawled into bed and curled under the covers. The light was already turned off. She closed her eyes and tried to count sheep.

One...she thought after she envisioned a fluffy white lamb jumping over a fence.

Two...

Three...

Four...

Five...

Six...

Seven...

Yuffie opened her eyes and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and pushed the layered blankets off of her body and pulled her legs over the side of the bed and slipped her feet into fuzzy pink slippers.

She stood up and almost tripped over Squall in the process.

"Watch it..." she heard him saw groggily.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

She stumbled through the darkness and over to the dresser. The moon supplied just enough light for her to see. She pulled a drawer open and took out a pair of khaki shorts and a black floral tank top. A piece of crumpled up paper fell from her bundle of clothes.

"What's this?" Yuffie murmured as she bent down to pick it up. A flashback from yesterday ran across her mind. Before she talked to Squall, he had been looking at a piece of paper and swearing under his breath.

She held it out into the light and squinted her eyes and tried to read it.

I'll come back for you. Whenever you think I'm not around, I will be. Whenever you think you're safe, be afraid. I'll never forgive you for what you did to me. You ruined me. I'll come back for you, that's my oath to you. And the irony of it: I'll be in one of the most innocent forms of all.

Damien

Yuffie quickly stuffed the piece of paper into the dresser. She shouldn't have been reading Squall's personal letters. She should have known better. But...what was that note all about? Who was Damien? She was starting to become more and more confused by the second.

She left the dresser and walked into the bathroom with a towel draped over her shoulder. Once she turned it on, the steamy mist covered the bathroom mirror and made her cold body have goose bumps.

She washed as quickly as she could and hopped out and dried off with her towel. She pulled on the khaki shorts and black, floral tank top and put her white headband in her hair without bothering to wait for it to dry.

When she opened the door of the bathroom, Squall was already up. He was sitting on the bed in a pair of sweats and nothing else. Yuffie blushed, and for once was glad that Traverse Town was dark. He raised his eyes and when he saw her he stood up and pushed past her to get to the bathroom.

She released her breath without realizing she had been holding it.

Get a hold of yourself, Yuf. Control your emotions and everything will be fine.

~~~

Yuffie sat in the café with a tired Aerith. She gripped her hot chocolate with both of her hands like a little kid would. Aerith took a swig of her black coffee and sighed.

She smiled at Aerith. She was so happy that she would have time to spend with her. Ever since Cloud came back, Aerith had no time for her and spent every waking minute doing everything with Cloud. Yes, everything. You could just imagine the possibilities.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" Aerith said softly.

"Yes. We have."

"I'm proud of you, Yuffie."

Yuffie have her a puzzled look. "Why?"

Aerith looked at her hands. "You've grown so much. I know everything must have been so hard on you. The Heartless, growing up, then falling and getting injured, and dealing with life. You have become less selfish and much more tolerant."

She blushed. Was all of that true, or was it just a conversation?

"Thanks, I guess," she said. She took a sip of hot chocolate so she wouldn't have to say anything.

Aerith tilted her head and played with her long, auburn hair that fell over her shoulder in a long braid.

"What do you want to do for your eighteenth birthday?" Aerith asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

Yuffie slapped her forehead. Of course! Her birthday was less than a week away.

"Don't tell me you forgot!" Aerith exclaimed.

"Yes, I guess I did," she replied weakly. Then she cheered up. "Wow, I can't wait! What are you going to get me?!"

She laughed. "Well, if I told you, what kind of surprise would that be?"

Yuffie groaned. "That spoils everything."

Aerith clicked her tongue against her teeth.

"Well, it does!"

Aerith sighed and took another sip of coffee. "Gosh, I don't know the last time I was this tired, but I hope this coffee kicks in soon..."

"I feel fine. Did you go to bed when I did?"

Aerith looked like she was trying to choose her words carefully and averted her eyes.

"No."

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you were...!"

"No! Yuffie, stop thinking like that!"

"So what did you do?"

"Ermm..." Aerith blushed. "Well, not really anything serious, I mean...we just..."

A sly grin spread across Yuffie's face. She winked at Aerith.

"Oh, Yuffie, I take the whole growing up thing back! I'm an adult, and I should be able to kiss my lover without people making a big deal about it!"

"Kiss? I wasn't thinking that," Yuffie said in a disappointed tone. "I thought you were planning me a surprise party all night. But thanks for telling me, anyway."

Aerith flushed. Yuffie giggled and sipped up some whipped cream from her beverage.

Cloud approached them, his spiky blonde hair fluttering over his deep blue eyes. He stopped next to them and kissed Aerith's cheek.

Aerith looked flustered.

Cloud passed her a bewildered look. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. Yuffie snorted and got whipped cream up her nose.

"Ahh!" She took a napkin and blew hard.

"Oh, Yuffie, that is disgusting!" Cloud said.

"Well, how would you like it if you snorted whipped cream up your nose?"

He grinned and sat next to Aerith. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Yuffie stared on enviously. She had never had a special someone in her life, before. She usually scared off any guys that seemed remotely interested. Cloud stroked her hair.

She looked away. Something rubbed against her leg. She felt a rumbling sound. "Oh!"

She looked under the table and saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at her. She reached in and pulled up Meow.

"Look, it's our little friend!" she said happily. Aerith opened an eye.

"I forgot to fix Meow's little paw..." she said absently. She yawned and took his paw in her hand and murmured a few words, and a green light filtered out of her fingers. Meow purred contently. When Aerith pulled away, his paw looked as good as new.

"Can we keep him at the hotel? The hotel manager wouldn't mind!" Yuffie pleaded.

"You would be keeping him in your room, and I don't think Squall would enjoy that," Cloud reminded her.

"I KNOW, but I think I can persuade him to let me. Especially since my birthday's coming up..."

Cloud's eyes widened.

"Did you forget?" Yuffie asked.

"No, I...uhh..."

"Don't worry," she said. "I forgot, too!"

She smiled happily. She loved it when this happened; for no reason at all she would get happy mood swings where virtually nothing bothered her. She would shout and jump around and just be...euphoric.

Yuffie stood up and drank the last of the hot chocolate, which had turned lukewarm after hanging around the café for too long. But now what to do?

She left the glass on the table for the busboy to clean it up and left Aerith and Cloud to spend some time alone. Not that they needed it.

Her boots clapped onto the pavement. A small smile graced her lips and didn't leave. People who spared her a passing glance might have thought she was thinking about an inside joke; or even planning to do a mischievous thing, like pull a prank on someone.

She heard a small meow from behind her. She turned around. It was Meow. She knelt down and held out her hands and made small, welcoming noises.

"Here, Meow, here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" she called out in a sing-song voice.

Meow padded forward, his graceful paws touching the ground for only a split second. He rubbed his head against her hand and purred. She grinned and picked him up.

"It doesn't really matter what Squall says. You are going to be my cat no matter what. I can't let you go!" she whispered to him while scratching his head.

She stopped in front of the hotel and let the cat go.

"I'll come back for you," she said softly.

She walked into the lobby and opened the door of the Green Room.

She glanced around the room. Funny. He wasn't there.

"Where could he be?" she said with a scowl.

She ran out of the hotel. Meow was no where in sight. She sighed and started walking with a steady pace down the strip, glancing into shop windows to see if Squall was in one.

"Not this one..." she said absently. "Or this one...or this one...or this one...or—"

Yuffie stopped in front of Vanera's Armor and Weaponry. Squall was inside, talking to Vanera, the owner of the shop. Vanera was one tough chick and had been through a lot of adversity, although she was only about twenty-two. She was down to earth and would say it like it is, even if it might hurt someone's feelings. Yuffie respected her greatly.

She didn't know much about her, only that she had lived in Traverse Town long, long before the other people came, after the Heartless destroyed their worlds. She also knew that Vanera's parents had started the shop, but they were killed later on and Vanera, already at the age of fifteen, had to live on her own.

The last thing she knew was that Vanera had a strong will to prove herself and had done many dangerous jobs for people. She was surprised that she hadn't even come out with a scratch.

She walked into the shop. The little bell jangled. Squall and Vanera turned and looked at her.

Vanera grinned when she saw her.

"Yuffie! I haven't seen you for the longest time! Why haven't you come to visit me?" she scolded and ran over to her. She wrapped her in a warm hug and pulled away, gripping Yuffie's shoulders and studying her.

"How has life been treating you?" she asked before Yuffie could get in a word.

"Good, I'm really good. How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been good. This store has had a lot of customers lately. Leon over here was just asking for an upgrade and full clean-up for his Gunblade," she replied.

Yuffie nodded. "It looks like you've had your hands full."

Vanera had her long brunette hair up in a ponytail. Strands fell out and framed her face. She had a long red streak of paint across one cheek and a splash of blue paint on her loose khaki overalls. A huge stain of blue was on her white tank top. Although she was messy looking, her blue eyes looked as clean and clear as ever.

Vanera laughed. "I've been trying to repaint the place," she said with a laughter rich tone and held up a broken paint brush, "But I haven't been having much luck. I thought this would be easy, but look at me! I'm wearing overalls and I have paint all over me."

She slapped her forehead. "Oh my gosh! You're birthday is in less than a week! When's the party?"

"I'm not really sure if I'm having one or not. But...in a way, that's why I came here. I wanted to ask Leon something."

"Okay, well, I'll just be organizing some shelves over here," she replied. Dismay was written all across her face in black marker. You could read her facial expressions as easily as a book. Obviously, organizing was a job she hated.

Yuffie clasped her hands and slowly walked to Squall. He was examining a rack of fighting gloves carefully.

"Leon?" she asked.

He turned around, holding a pair. He put it down and looked up. "What is it?"

"Well, you know how...how we sleep in the same room?"

He didn't answer her.

"Well, okay, you know. But that cat that had the broken paw, well, my birthday is coming up and I was hoping you would let me keep him."

Throughout the sentence his face grew darker.

"No," he said.

"No? But why? My birthday is coming up and he is adorable!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No, Yuffie!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I said so."

"You're not my father, or my brother! I can do what I want!"

"I might as well be. You are NOT to bring that cat into the hotel under ANY circumstance, do you hear me?" he said and gripped her shoulders roughly.

Yuffie squirmed and couldn't get away. A loud, involuntary cry escaped her throat. He let her go and narrowed his eyes. "Do you hear me?"

Vanera came running over, looking concerned. "What's going on over here? Why are you two fighting?"

Squall shook his head. "It's none of your business."

Yuffie rubbed her shoulders and felt a stabbing pain. She would be bruised up for forever, if he hadn't broken it. Vanera pulled Yuffie's tank top sleeve down and examined her shoulders. They were red and puffy already. Vanera gave Squall a look.

"Why would you do that to someone?" she asked.

"It's none of your business, as I stressed before. She doesn't know when to stop asking for something when I say no."

Vanera arched her eyebrows. "All Yuffie was asking for was a cat. Why do you have to raise your temper?"

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"No, you were being very loud."

"Look, my business and Yuffie's business is none of your concern."

"Yuffie is a good friend of mine, and I don't want her getting hurt."

"She won't be."

Vanera pushed a few strands of brunette hair out of her eyes and without a word, walked over to the shelves she was arranging.

Uh-oh, Yuffie thought. Now Squall is going to be pissed at Vanera. One of the only people he usually gets along well with.

Squall watched as she walked away and clenched his fists. Although he didn't talk much, when people did something like that, he got extremely angry.

"Why can't I keep the cat?" she persisted.

He ignored her and walked down the aisle to a set up of different plaited boots. He picked up a pair and studied them. Yuffie walked up to him again and poked his ribs.

"I'm talking to you!"

"Go ahead."

"Stop this! What the hell is wrong with keeping a cat?"

"It's not what you think! It's not that simple!"

Squall stormed out of the store, gripping his Gunblade.

"Hey...I thought I was...fixing that up for you...?" Vanera said as he walked out of the store. "Guess not..."

Yuffie sighed. "Vanera, what am I doing wrong? What? I thought everything was going well, but now he is getting mad at me over wanting a cat!"

"Yuffie, you're not doing anything wrong. Just try to ignore him."

"It's not that simple..." Yuffie covered up her face with her hands and then straightened up.

Vanera pulled her into a warm hug. She smelled like wet paint and mint.

"Thanks, Van. I think I need that."

She hugged her back then pulled away. "Everything is happening so quickly...I feel like I don't know what's going on."

Vanera nodded slightly. "I feel like that sometimes. Trust yourself, and trust me. Everything will work out in the end...it always does."

Yuffie nodded and walked out of the store, feeling downhearted. It is true...she had grown up. She wasn't the same peppy, cheerful Yuffie at all. She was acting like a serious blob of an adult.

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Hey...I have writer's block and decided to end the chapter here. So, I still haven't answered most of the questions of my last chapter but it might become clearer in the next chappie. Anyways...keep reading and reviewing! It's that little go button...down there...to the bottom left. There, that's it!!!