Author's Note: Geez, my precious reviewers get kinda vicious sometimes, don't they? ^_^ Anyways, I'm starting the chapter now that I have two out of the three papers done.
By the way, for some reason, fanfiction.net isn't allowing me to see all of my reviews. There's 4 reviews not showing up on the review page, so it might be yours, I don't know. You might want to check and see if your review did show up or not. So, if you reviewed the previous chapter, I might not have gotten it. In other words, if you asked a question or something, I didn't see it and that's why I'm not replying to it.
Note to Pingpong867: You had best and better let Squall go or I might have to resort to holding one of your bishies hostage in return...like, Orlando Bloom, maybe? Or Josh Hartnett? Not that I wouldn't mind holding to really hot guys hostage though. ^_~
[Disclaimer: I own Pierce Maradei and Amaya Nariko Leonheart and any other character that I randomly create. Everything else belongs to Square and Disney....even my precious Squallikins. Oh, and I'm using a short little line from this movie called "The Man in the Moon," not the Jim Carrey one, but the one that stars Reese Witherspoon.]
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Chapter Eight
Thinking about all that had happened in the day that she was supposed to be married, Yuffie found herself unable to sleep and listening to her young daughter's steady breathing as she lay next to her on the bed they shared in the Green Room. Ever since she had given the jacket back to Squall, she had locked the doors and refused to allow anyone into her room, even Aerith. Of course, Pierce had tried to insist that she open the door, but he was the last person in Traverse Town she wanted to see at the time. Or almost the last person as she still felt an immense rage at the man sleeping in the Red Room.
Just the idea of all she had been through without him while he was off gallivanting around the universe made her infuriated at him all over again. And that dumbass lie about being gone a month? You would think someone like him could come up with something better than that, she thought caustically as she glared daggers at the connecting room, imagining said daggers doing bodily harm to him. Flying his Gummi ship to think! she silently scoffed, not wishing to awaken Amaya. No one flies a Gummi ship to think... unless... it's too noisy in the town for a walk... She gently shook her head, not wanting to give him a good excuse for taking his ship that night.
Giving up on sleep for the night, Yuffie carefully slid out of the bed, making sure that Amaya was still asleep before walking across the room. It was times like these when Yuffie found that just staring at the moon and stars kept her calm, cool, and collected. In fact, she vaguely remembered her mother telling her when she was still a child living in Hollow Bastion that you could tell the man in the moon all of your problems and he would help you solve them while you slept. Of course, she believed it at the time, but now that she was grown, the story had little affect upon her.
Yuffie shrugged her shoulders at the memory. "Wouldn't hurt to try," she muttered as she opened the balcony door and stepped out into the cool night air. Sitting on the small table, she leaned back until she could see the heavenly bodies directly above her, the craters of the moon revealing the fabled 'man in the moon.' She sighed softly as she tried to gather her thoughts into some coherency before even trying to tell the moon any of her problems.
Quickly looking over to the Red Room balcony, she made sure that Squall's door and windows were shut. The last thing she needed would be for him to hear what she was about to say. "Okay, Mr. Man-in-the-Moon, lets see you try to solve this one," she whispered so softly that even she could barely hear herself. "What's a girl to do when the father of her child comes back on her wedding day without a good excuse?"
She continued to sit there in silence for a few minutes, as though waiting for an answer to come down from the heavenly body. The man in the moon kept shining his soft light down upon her skin, as if ignoring her quiet questions. Sighing and sitting up straight, Yuffie rubbed her small hands across her face. "Nope, I didn't think you'd know what to do either," she replied the moon in response to his muted answer.
Climbing off the table, she entered the Green Room and closed the door softly behind her while she stood in thought momentarily, her brows furrowed as she remembered her conversation with Squall earlier.
"Yuffie, I know you won't believe me, but I only thought I was gone a month. My ship crashed on some strange planet where everyone was completely carefree. I couldn't find anyone to help me fix it, so it took me a month to get it in flying condition."
"You're right, Squall. I don't believe you. Even if you aren't lying, why did you leave in the first place? You told me you were going for a walk. A walk, Squall! And contrary to popular belief, a walk does not involve Gummi travel."
"Damn it, Yuffie! I left to think. I was coming back to tell you when I was pulled into that goddamned blackhole!"
"Tell me what?"
Yuffie leaned the wall, processing the conversation in her head over and over again. Aerith came in before he answered, she reminded herself, wondering what he was going to say. She spared a glance to the connecting door between the Red and Green Room, trying to see if any light was showing at the crack underneath the door to signal if he was still awake. Grimacing at the obvious lack of light, she silently deliberated whether or not to awaken him and ask her question again to satisfy her curiosity.
In the end, curiosity won out, causing her to curse her curious nature. Curiosity killed the cat, Yuffie... but, then again, satisfaction brought it back, she argued in her mind. Using her stealth skills, she soundlessly crept across her room, stopping at her bed to make sure Amaya was still sleeping before continuing across to the Red Room. She slowly eased the door open, using a shoe to prop it open so she could listen for Amaya while she was in Squall's room.
Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his bare back peeking from beneath the blankets, revealing what appeared to be a not quite healed wound. Padding across the floor, she softly sat down on the edge of the bed and gently ran her fingers over the wound. The shape of the wound appeared vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it, so she pushed it out of her mind and decided to awaken Squall when she realized he wasn't asleep.
"It still hurts, you know," Squall muttered as he rolled over to face her, the only light in the room the moonlight that shone through the window. He studied her expression in the darkened room, trying to figure out what she was thinking, remembering that before he left, he prided himself on being able to do that.
"You're awake?" Yuffie asked, biting her lip in nervousness. She briefly wondered why she should be nervous with him. After all, she did have a child with this man. There shouldn't be anything to be nervous about.
Raising his eyebrows, Squall continued to gaze upon her, drinking in the beauty he had been deprived of since he left. "I never could get to sleep."
Yuffie nodded, realizing that she never did get to sleep either. "So, where did you get it?" she inquired, gesturing to the wound on his back.
Squall sighed. "You don't remember, do you?" Confused, Yuffie shook her head. "Think, Yuffie. The day before I left, we were training in the Waterway, remember?" he prodded.
Wrinkling her forehead while she thought, Yuffie suddenly recollected what had happened. "You didn't block my shuriken," she finally stated. "But, that should have healed by now. It's been over two years..."
"I've been trying to tell you, Yuffie. I was only gone for a month. I don't know how it happened. I don't know if it was a time warp or if the place I crashed had a different time system, or what, but I was only gone for a month." Sitting up from his prone position, he took a deep breath. "Please, Yuffie, you have to believe me."
"Let me see it again," she demanded as she reached over and turned on the overhead light, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness in the room. Squall turned around while she leaned over and examined the wound, noticing the places where her shuriken's point had entered the skin. "You didn't do this to yourself, did you? When you realized that I didn't believe you?"
"Yuffie, I can't even reach the spot where it's at." Putting his arms behind his back, he showed her he was speaking the truth. He heard a choking sound and spun around to face her, seeing she had a hand over her face in an attempt to silence the sobs threatening to overtake her. Pulling her back down onto the bed, he held her, stroking her hair and back. "Shh, Yuffie, it's okay," he murmured into her hair.
Pulling away, Yuffie looked at him and shook her head while the tears streamed down her face. "No, it's not okay. I didn't believe you. I accused you of lying to me. And..." she trailed off and looked down at the floor, not wanting to continue. As she stared at the floor, she felt a gentle thumb wipe away her tears.
"Yuffie, it's okay," Squall reiterated as he lifted her face to meet his gaze. Seeing her eyes begin to fill with tears again, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his warm and loving embrace. "I probably would have reacted the same way, Yuf. It does sound unbelievable. And, I apologize for leaving you here..." he stopped when he felt Yuffie press her finger against his lips.
"Squall, I know you're sorry about it. But, we have to go over this. I need to know why you left in the first place," Yuffie said softly as she pulled out of his embrace to where she could see his face.
Pushing his russet bangs out of his face, Squall sighed. "Okay, do you remember what you said to me that night? Right before you went to sleep?" he questioned.
Nodding, Yuffie whispered, "Yes, I told you that I loved you."
Squall winced at the hurt tone in her voice. "Well, I'll admit that it scared me. No one had ever said those words to me before. And I couldn't think properly with you pressed up against me. I had to clear my head and think."
"Why didn't you just take a walk, then? Like you always did," Yuffie accused.
"It was the night of the Celebration, Yuf. There was no place quiet in Traverse Town. Everywhere I went, there were crowds of people." Squall paused for a moment, to let this sink in. At her nod, he continued. "So, I decided I would take a short drive in the Gummi, where I could have some peace and quiet. And, then, when I was coming back, the ship went out of control and was sucked into a blackhole."
"When Aerith interrupted us today, you mentioned you were coming back to tell me something," Yuffie began, curiosity getting the better of her. "What was it?"
Squall reached over and took her hand out of her lap, holding it gently in his own. "While I was flying around, I thought about what you had said. And, I realized that I love you, too. I was coming back to tell you."
A few tears rolled down Yuffie's cheeks. "Squall, I have a confession." He looked at her expectantly. "When you asked me if I loved Pierce and I told you no, that I only loved Amaya, well, I lied."
The man across from her dropped his face into his hands. "I understand," he muttered. "I'm too late."
"Squall, you didn't let me finish. I don't only love Amaya, because I love you, too. As much as I've tried to tell myself that I didn't, I knew deep down that I still did." She smiled as he slowly lifted his head to look at her.
Rubbing his forehead, he gazed at her in disbelief. "Yuffie, how can you still love me when I left you while you were pregnant? I don't deserve--" She stopped him when she threw her arms around his neck.
"It's not your fault. You didn't know and I didn't know. But it's going to be okay now because your back," she whispered into the crook of his neck where she had buried her head, breathing in his the scent of him that she had missed these past years.
Squall rested his chin atop her head, rocking her gently while he rubbed her back. With her still in his arms, he carefully lay back on the bed and pulled the blankets around them. "Where's Amaya?" he finally asked quietly.
"She's asleep in our bed," Yuffie answered back, just as quietly as she snuggled into his side. "She'll be okay, the door is open."
Nodding, Squall reached over to turn out the light before falling asleep with the woman he loved in his arms, not realizing they were being watched from the balcony window.
In the darkened alley, a figure jumped off the Red Room balcony and strutted back into the Second District to his family's restaurant. "I will have her," he muttered into the night. "I'll just have to make her an offer she can't refuse." Walking under a streetlight, an evil smile graced the face of Pierce Maradei.
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Author's Note: Hehe...you guys really hate me now, don't you? Not only did it take me 5 days to update, but I also left you at another cliffhanger. I feel so evil. But, luckily, I only have a 7 page paper left, and 2 finals and then I'm through with this semester. So, anyways, read and review, like always.