Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one except for Caine Stokes
"Wha- what happened? Aerith? Aerith?" The confused shinobi sat up, holding her head, and looked around. She was in the familiar Green Room, on the bouncy bed. Squall never used to like it when she'd bounce on the bed. Squall... the memories came flooding back to her and she quickly tried to locate him in the room. He was leaning nonchalantly against the door to the Red Room."What the hell happened, Squall Leonhart?" Yuffie demanded, her voice shrill. He shook his head and ran his hand through his thick russet mane."We saw each other on the street and you fainted. Only after mentioning you that you thought I was dead, however. And why are you wearing my belts?" Squall asked."That's not what I meant and you know it!" She exclaimed angrily. "I thought you were dead because I woke up after two weeks of being out of it and you weren't there! Where were you?""I was-""There's no excuse! You left me without protection. I felt so insecure without you, Leon! How could you?" Tears poured out of her indigo orbs and she turned away from him. "Why?""I thought I had killed you. I was convinced that you were dead at my hands," he whispered."And so you ran?! The fearless Squall Leonhart ran?" She asked incredulously. "Where in the universe did you run to?""Hollow Bastion. I stayed with the few remaining survivors," he said. Yuffie was suddenly excited."Who's alive?" She questioned."Zidane, Tifa, Vincent-""Vinnie's alive? I KNEW IT! VINNIE!" She clapped her hands happily, then paused. Squall hadn't finished with his list of people. "Who else?""Rinoa Heartilly."Yuffie jumped off of the bed, enraged. She pounded her fist into the wall. "What?! You left me with Caine," she spat out his name bitterly, "to go and live with Rinoa Heartilly?" Yuffie grabbed the pouch of shuriken Aerith had strictly said was off limits and strapped it around her waist. "I'm disappointed in you, Squall Leonhart," Yuffie whispered coldly before slipping quietly out the door to the alleyway. All that was left was her angry words.
"I'm disappointed in you, Squall Leonhart." Squall banged his head against the wall, knowing, of course, that Yuffie was right.
Yuffie threw shuriken against the wall of the Waterway, using her right arm. Her shoulder throbbed after a few moments of throwing, but she ignored the pain. There was more pain in her heart.Squall left me. He ran away, she thought angrily. And he stayed with Rinoa, his former love. Tears welled up in her eyes. There was no way you could ever hope that he'd have feelings for you. Her hopeless love would go unanswered forever, then.Caine lied, a part of her piped up. It was true. Caine had told her that Squall had killed himself. He's probably also had some part in making Squall think Yuffie was dead. What had Caine said that was the truth? Certainly not the whispered declarations of undying love, or anything else he had told her ever.But Squall didn't love her. Would she be stuck with the likes of Caine Stokes forever? Or men like him? The mere thought disgusted her and she threw shuriken at the rock wall with renewed vigor."He'll never love me," she sobbed out as she blindly whipped throwing stars at the wall. "Never, never, never." Her sobs were sad and full of hurt. "I'm not good enough. Not good enough." Her tears were interrupted by a loud cry of pain. The scabbed-over scar on her shoulder had reopened, spilling her fresh, crimson blood. She clutched her arm, overcome by mind- numbing waves of pain. "My punishment," she sobbed.She wondered briefly what would happen to her if she didn't stop the bleeding. Eventually, loss of blood would make her black out. Then, if she lost more blood, she could die. No one came to the cavern anymore. Squall was the only one who could bear the gross green water. So no one would come along to save her. She weighed the different choices. Yuffie could mumble a quick Cura and then scurry over to Aerith, who would scold her. On the other hand, she could die and be free of this whole sticky situation. The second choice appealed to her more.The welcoming, foggy clouds of darkness already lurked around the edges of her mind. Yuffie leaned against the rock wall and closed her eyes. She heard the pitter-patter of rain; it was coming down hard. Green water lapped against the pebbly shore in the Waterway. Her attention started to wane and she was suddenly so sleepy. She barely registered the sound of someone coming through the deep water."Yuffie!" Squall exclaimed, pulling himself out of the water swiftly and clomping over to her. He quickly took off his relatively dry white t-shirt and wrapped it tightly around her arm. Yuffie opened her eyes slightly, and the life was almost completely out of them. Almost. "Curaga," he murmured, using the most difficult of healing spells. Warm green light flooded out of his palms and over the nearly dead ninja.Her eyes fluttered open, the life back. But they held none of the vivacity that Squall was so used to seeing. Instead, they were dull and dim. This worried the Gunblade wielder."Come on," he deadpanned, grabbing her left arm and pulling her out of the cavern. Squall had to get her to the Hotel so Aerith could heal Yuffie properly. She followed silently, and Squall was a little more than curious. But he chose not to ask. He didn't think she'd appreciate that question at the moment.The rain came down in sheets and both of them were instantly soaked. Squall shivered and felt bare without a shirt on. Yuffie didn't seem to notice much. She stared right up into the sky."You want to know why, don't you?" She asked suddenly, her voice distant. Squall nodded mutely. The ninja turned to him. "I thought it would release me from this mess I'm stuck in. It would ease my suffering. It would all be over," she whispered. He was bewildered, and had to sort what she said out in his head. Yuffie wanted to die to escape from a mess? The mess, he assumed, had a lot to do with him. She also mentioned suffering, but Squall wasn't sure what she meant. But he had to do, to say, something."And now I have a question for you. Curaga is a difficult spell, and to bring someone back from near-death is even harder. You've never been good with magic. What, did you pity me enough that it worked for me?" She questioned apathetically.Squall swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. "Not pity. Aerith once told me that... love would work as well.""You thought of Rinoa, then?""No," he replied, shaking his head and spraying water everywhere. But it was all already soaked and it was still raining. "I don't love Rinoa. The love that I used for that spell was my love for you, Yuffie."She turned and looked him right in the eye. "You love me?" Yuffie asked, her throat tight and her voice tinny."Yes."Yuffie became acutely aware of their proximity. She also found that Squall was still holding her hand. The rain pounded down on them, but there was only she and Squall in that moment. Hesitantly, she removed her left hand from his and put it behind his neck. Standing on tiptoes, she brought Squall's lips down to her and kissed him softly.Squall wrapped his arms around her and brought her as close to him as physically possible. She grabbed handfuls of his hair as their kisses grew in intensity and passion. "I love you too," she said in between kisses.I found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you
Eventually, Yuffie became aware again of the pain in her arm. "Squall," she said, pushing away from him. "I don't think you'll be able to work another miraculous healing, so you'd better get me to Aerith soon." He nodded and picked her up, bridal-style, and carried her through the doors to the Second District."What are you doing? We could have just climbed up to the balconies," she said protesting."I could climb up the balconies. You only have use of one arm. We're just going the long way around." Yuffie sighed and settled into his arms, knowing that they made quite a spectacle. A man without a shirt on, carrying a young woman, who was bleeding, to the Hotel. Luckily, it was raining so no one would be likely to see them.Squall was busy thanking the gods for allowing him to find her in time. If he hadn't gotten to the cavern at just that moment, then she might have already been dead before he found her. He shuddered at the thought, and Yuffie trailed one arm across his cheek. He smiled at her and kicked open the Hotel door. Once again, there was no one at the desk, but it was better that way. One less person to gossip about what they saw the two doing.Squall carried Yuffie to the Red Room, where he was sure Aerith would be. He lightly knocked on the door and was admitted by the Flower Girl. She looked stunned and almost afraid.Aerith wondered if she was dreaming. This was all too like what should have happened that night several weeks ago. Squall was dead. That's what Caine said. But here he was, in the flesh, carrying an injured Yuffie. Part of her said to keep out the ghost, but the sensible part of her knew that Yuffie needed healing."Come in," Aerith said. "Set Yuffie on the bed and I'll check out her arm." Squall proceeded into the room and gently placed Yuffie on the crisp, clean bed. The young woman smiled at him, and closed her eyes, a slight grimace crossing her face.Aerith bustled over and pushed Squall out of the way. She carefully untied the rough tourniquet of Squall's shirt and viewed the damage underneath. She sighed and murmured a few different healing spells. The bleeding stopped and the spot was scabbed over once again. Aerith handed the bloody shirt to Squall and he just held it, looking at Yuffie's sweet, angelic face."She's sleeping, Leon. I put her to sleep with one of the spells. So, get changed and then we can talk. And believe me... we need to speak with one another. There's something very wrong here." Squall nodded and exited the room through the adjoining door.Aerith patted the shinobi's head and sank down into a chair near the bedside. What was going on? Why was Squall alive? And more importantly, what was up with Caine? She didn't know what to do, but knew that she was now the one everyone would look to for a decision. That is, if Squall couldn't get his act together. He had seemed haunted when he brought Yuffie in.It was times like these that Aerith wished Cloud was around. He'd help her. And while they had only been young teenagers when they parted, she loved him. Back then she hadn't known enough about love to feel that way. But after each passing day that she didn't see him, she knew that there was something in her heart for Cloud that no man would ever be able to claim. And, strangely enough, it was almost as if she could see him. The man he would be if he were still alive.It was a strange picture, for sure, but she kept it close. He was tall, and his spiky blonde hair was still spiky and gravity defying. He wore a deep red cloak, and his Buster sword was covered in wrappings. He had more armor, and now had a metal hand. But she put all of the strange things down to her rampant imagination and only loved to see him as he could have been.Squall entered the room in dry clothing, carrying some clothes for Yuffie as well. Aerith sent him a grateful smile and tucked the clothing away for when Yuffie woke up."Now, we need to talk, Leon. I have quite a few questions for you, and I need to figure some things out. So bear with me, okay?" Leon nodded and Aerith took a deep breath before continuing. "Yuffie and I heard that you had killed yourself after you hurt her. We heard that from Caine. Now, you show up, and it's like I'm seeing a ghost. What happened?""I went off to Hollow Bastion to be alone. I saw a long-lost friend there, and he convinced me to come back. Yuffie and I found each other on the streets and she fainted. When she woke back up, she was angry with me and left to vent her frustration in the cavern. When I found her there, she was close to death and I healed her. Then I brought her here. That's the basics of the whole grand adventure." Squall paused and looked up at the Flower Girl. "Caine Stokes is a loser and a fool. Years back, he was arrested for sexual harassment. That's why I argued with him that night so many days ago. I didn't want him anywhere near either of you. And he seemed intent upon Yuffie. And now I hear that he told you I had killed myself."Aerith had tears in her eyes and she stood and hugged Squall. "I'm so glad you're back, Leon." Then she moved away, blushing, a small smile on her face. "I knew something was wrong with Caine. Yuffie was getting more and more uneasy and Caine always had that disgusting smile on his face. But Yuffie never told me anything, so I just assumed that she was missing you. She always had a crush on you, you know.""Oh, we sorted out those things after I healed her," Squall replied with a mischievous smile creeping its way across his face. Aerith laughed but didn't ask."But what are we going to do with Caine?" The Flower Girl asked, suppressing their good mood. Squall frowned and shook his head, unable to decide."It should be Yuffie's decision," he finally said. "She's the one who has been the most involved with him. But if I get a chance to meet him again, I won't hesitate to run him through with my Gunblade." Aerith gasped, but then nodded. That was the only way to get rid of someone as bad as Caine. That or jail...Just then, someone knocked at the door. Aerith glanced at Squall, who nodded and quickly exited to the Green Room. "Who is it?" she called out to the visitor."It's Caine," the visitor said. Aerith wanted to scream right then, but cordially opened the door for him. He entered the room, his glasses slightly askew and his hair wet and messy. "I've been looking for Yuffie and I can't find—oh my, what happened?" He asked, seeing Yuffie out like a light on the bed."She got injured from using her shuriken. She'll be okay, though, it was only minor. Do you need anything, Caine?" Aerith asked, slightly angry."Well, I just wanted to know if she would be able to go out with me tonight. If she's feeling up to it, would you ask her?""As her official healer," Aerith said, plastering a fake smile across her features, "I'm going to insist that she stay in tonight. I'm sorry; I know she'll probably fight me over this.""Well maybe tomorrow, then?" Caine asked hopefully."Yes, I'll ask her about tomorrow. Is that all, Caine?""I just wanted to mention how lovely you look today, Miss Aerith. And how lovely you look everyday," he said, his ugly, gruesome smile coming out.Her murderous look told him everything and he quickly scurried out of the room, closing the door behind him. As soon as Aerith was alone, she plopped down in a chair and sighed.Squall crept back into the room, anger evident in his face. He wanted to kill Caine now, Aerith noted. At the moment, it didn't seem like such a bad idea."What are we going to do?"
AN: Well? Was it worth waiting for so long? I apologize for the long wait, but my muse abandoned me. This was written muse-less, with only my limited creativity. Please review! And here are notes to a few reviewers:
Natsumi Akimoto: Heehee, I guess you don't have to stick me in that uncomfortably small room with nothing but a computer with Microsoft Word, now do you? Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like this story
TiFa4ClOuD4EvEr: Well, since your life depended upon it, I wrote this as quickly as was humanly possible Thanks for reviewing!
Angel-Shellz: The bold and italic can be added with ff's Quick Edit. I had the same problem as you do because I have Internet Explorer and that takes out the extra little things like that. Try editing a little in Quick Edit and you can get the bold and italic and such Thank you for your reviews!
And of course, thank you to: Deplora, October Breeze, Hotaru170, and Miss Da Qiao for reviewing!
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