Author's Note: Well, I'm actually pulling myself away from the PS2 and my new copy of FFVII to write this chapter. So, be proud of me. Anyways, I want to take this time to give a big thank you to all of my reviewers for giving me an unbelievable amount of support. Thank you guys!!

There's a lame joke about halfway through this chapter that I just HAD to put in. I couldn't help myself. Really, I tried not to put it in, but I had to. I apologize for the utter lameness of the joke in advance.

[Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do not own them, Sam I Am. Although I dream of owning Squall someday and keeping him locked up in my room with no escape. But, until that day comes, I'll allow Yuffie to keep him.]

Chapter Ten: Happy Trails

"Hey Squall, Aerith isn't around here, is she?" the young ninja breathlessly asked as she ran into the waterway, the two styrofoam cups of coffee perched precariously upon the box of takeout breakfast from the café. Not waiting for an answer, she waded into the green water and held the box high above her head to prevent the sludge from contaminating their food.

At the far end of the cavern, near the steps to Merlin's house, Squall swung his Gunblade, swiping at invisible enemies only he could see. "No, Yuffie. Aerith's not here. I think she slept in this morning," he told her in between the broad slashes of his weapon of choice. He lowered his weapon to the ground as he heard the girl loudly splashing towards rocky shore, all the while loudly grumbling about the 'grossness' of the water.

"Good, 'cause I don't really want to see her right now. I'm afraid she might force me to listen to 'the talk' all over again." She curled her lip in disgust at the thought of her flower obsessed friend trying to 'educate' her about the facts of life. "Anyways, here's breakfast," Yuffie said as she placed one of the coffees in his left hand and opened the box to reveal their breakfast.

The aroma of bacon, eggs, and biscuits drifted towards Squall's nose as he took a sip of the bitter liquid, scorching his throat in the process. "That's hot," he sputtered as quickly brought the cup away from his mouth.

Yuffie stared incredulously at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Of course it's hot, Squall. It's coffee. Did you expect it to be cold?" she replied sarcastically as she picked up one of the bacon and egg stuffed biscuits, quickly opening it and scraping out the egg as she had found at an early age that she could not stomach them.

"Must you be so incorrigible, Yuf?" Squall muttered as he took another sip of his coffee, this time more cautiously than earlier.

"Wow! A big word for Mr. Big-and-Bad-Gunblade-Wielder," Yuffie teased as she took a bite of her egg-free biscuit. "I mean," she paused to count on her fingers, "five syllables. It must be a nice change from your normal 'whatever' response."

"At least I know the meaning of the word unlike you," Squall retorted as he leaned against the back wall of the cavern and slowly slid down to the ground.

Yuffie arched a lone eyebrow and glared at him, noticing how the white bandages over his eyes seemed to almost glow in the dimly lit room. "Y'know, I was going to give you one of these biscuits, but now that you insulted me, I think I'll just eat them both myself."

Squall lurched to his feet and stepped towards her, listening to the soft sounds of her breathing to pinpoint her location. "Is that so?" he questioned cryptically as he took another few steps towards her as he heard her take a few steps back.

"Yes and you can't do anything about it 'cause you can't see me and you can't st--" She was suddenly cut off as she tripped over a rock and landed with a splash in the murky water behind her. Sputtering, she broke the surface and glared daggers at the man who was now standing at the water's edge laughing like a maniac. Squall? Laughing like a maniac? Never thought I would see that, she mused as she pulled herself out of the water.

The thought of what was supposed to be a graceful ninja falling unintentionally into a pool of water ran through Squall's mind, causing his guffaws to become louder instead of fading away. The only thing he wished he could change about the situation would be his blindness. Yuffie falling into the water was a sight he dearly wished he had been able to see. "So, are you going to give me my breakfast now?" he asked as his laughter finally died down.

Yuffie looked down at the now soggy biscuit in her hand and grinned devilishly. "Sure. Here you go, Squall."

Holding his hand out, he felt a wet, soggy something shoved into his hands, the excess water dripping between his fingers and falling to the rocks below. "Yuffie, what is this?" he asked suspiciously as his fingers curled around it, gently squeezing it.

"It was a bacon and egg biscuit. Now, it's a waterlogged mess. Have fun eating it," she finished, looking up at his face and smiling brightly, knowing, or at least believing she knew he wouldn't eat it since it fell with her into the pool.

Squall stood stock-still for a few moments, the ruined breakfast still in the palm of his hand and still dripping water. With one swift motion, he brought the biscuit to his mouth and took a bite, his teeth ploughing through the mush as he chewed, all the while listening to Yuffie make sickened choking noises in the background. Forcing himself not to grimace at the taste, he swallowed the bite and shrugged. "I've had better."

"Gawd, Squall!! I can't believe you ate that! I mean, it fell into that green water!" She covered her eyes and gagged at the thought of him actually eating it. And not only eating it, but swallowing it as well. Without even making a face! "See if I ever let you kiss me again," she muttered as she choked down on another gagging fit.

"Really?" he questioned, an eyebrow arching over his bandages as the teasing look came over his face. "We'll just see about that." He reached out, finding her arm which he then traced to her body and wrapped his arm around her waist, quickly and roughly pulling her lithe body against his firm, muscular one. He lowered his face to hers, his mouth so close to hers that she could feel the heat radiating from his lips. And his hot breath softly puffing on her skin wasn't helping matters.

Yuffie raised a gloved hand and placed in on the back of his neck, using it to both pull his face lower and herself higher. She felt the hand on her waist move to her lower back, pushing her even harder against his chest, if that were possible, and his other hand moved to cup her cheek. Unable to take the close proximity of their lips any longer, she upturned her face and kissed him with what started as a soft meeting of lips but soon turned to something much deeper and more fiery than any of their previous kisses.

Stopping for breath, the ninja lay her head against Squall's chest and sighed while he rested his chin in the mess that was her wet hair. "I thought you weren't going to let me kiss you?" he asked, letting out a low chuckle as he felt her pull away, leaving his t-shirt wet as the water from her clothing seeped into his.

"Yeah, but you cheated!" Wildly shaking her head, a spray of water droplets flew from her hair, most of them landing on Squall's already damp shirt. "Just come on. We need to get cleaned up 'cause I don't know about you, but I do not like having this green water all over me." She grabbed his hand and dragged him through the murky water, out the grate, up onto the balcony, and into their hotel room without giving him a chance to stop her.

"In a hurry, were you?" Squall inquired, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to her rummage around in the various drawers of the dresser. A drawer was slammed shut and something was thrown across the room, landing on his face. Upon examination, it turned out to be a clean shirt.

Yuffie looked down at her filthy shorts and halter-top, grimacing when she noticed her stomach even had a slight green tinge to it. "Yes, I'm in a hurry. The stupid sewer water is slowing turning me turtle. In a few more minutes I'll be a ninja turtle."

"A ninja turtle?"

"Yes, a ninja turtle."

"A teenage ninja turtle?"

Turning to look in the mirror across the room, Yuffie realized that the green actually looked like it was spreading to completely cover her skin. "A teenage mutant ninja turtle," she muttered as she left him alone in the room and headed for the bathroom to take her shower. As soon as the water was warm enough, she jumped in and hurriedly scrubbed at the green spots. Although she liked the color green, the thought of it being her permanent skin color caused her to shudder in disgust. Especially given the fact that the green came from the nauseating water of the cavern. It was bad enough having to wade through it daily, but completely submerging oneself in it was another matter entirely.

Opening the shower curtain to grab a towel, Yuffie realized that she had forgotten to bring her clothing into the room with her. She had left if lying on the top of the dresser while examining the green in the mirror. Mentally slapping herself, she wrapped the towel around her body and opened the door a crack, finding that Squall was now sitting at the small table and polishing his Gunblade with a white cloth. She bit her lip before finally deciding that since he couldn't see anything anyways, it would be alright to just get dressed in the room.

No sooner had see put her underwear on then the connecting door to the Red Room opened, revealing a once yawning, but now shocked Aerith standing in the doorway. "Yuffie, what do you think you're doing?!" she demanded as she watched the ninja quickly pull her shorts and halter top on.

"Getting dressed. And, Aerith, you really need to start knocking. This is getting to be a bad habit of yours," Yuffie said as she rolled her eyes and ignored the flower girl as she towel dried her hair.

At the table, Squall dropped his head in his hands and groaned as he sensed another minor battle with Aerith coming on. "Aerith, if it means anything, I had no idea she was getting dressed in here," he stated calmly as he went back to methodically running the cloth over the smooth blade of his weapon.

"Besides, Pinky, he can't see anything, so what does it matter?" Yuffie demanded, calling her friend the name she most abhorred. "And, what goes on in this room is really none of your business." She quickly strode across the room to the bathroom and began combing her hair, proud of herself for taking this so calmly.

While Yuffie was silently congratulating herself, Aerith tiredly massaged her temples with her fingers. "Squall, can you leave Yuffie and me alone for a minute?" she finally asked, her voice vibrating with anger.

As Squall stood up to leave, Yuffie ran across the room and stopped him by placing her hand on his arm and gently pushing him back down to his seat. "No, don't leave, Squall. Anything she wants to say to me, she can say in front of you. Or," she paused as she looked out the window, "she can try and find me to tell me." Without another word, the ninja leapt out the window with cat-like grace and disappeared before Aerith could catch sight of her.

"She's getting really good at that," Aerith mumbled as she walked over and sat down across from Squall.

"Maybe she wouldn't be getting so good at it if you would just leave her alone," Squall answered back, his mind off with his ninja, wondering where she was off hiding this time and how long she would be gone.

Ignoring his comment, Aerith stood up. "Well, while I'm here, I might as well do your eyes."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After Aerith left, Squall stepped out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing as he faced the Green Room door. "She's gone. You can come down now, Yuffie," he called softly, hearing her scuttling across the tiled roof of the hotel.

"How did you know I was up here?" Yuffie asked as she sat on the edge of the roof, her legs dangling and swinging.

"I heard you moving around up here while Aerith changed my bandages," he stated nonchalantly as he heard the ninja jump down from the roof and land gracefully on her feet. Well, at least he assumed it was gracefully since he didn't here her fall.

As soon as she was on the balcony, Yuffie immediately ran into the room and began rummaging through the closet in search of something. Finding what she was looking for, a large suitcase, she began throwing clothing into it, both hers and his. "Squall, we're going on a trip," she announced as she continued to throw things into the suitcase.

"We are?" he questioned as he came into the room and listened to her open and close dresser drawers. "Where are we going and why?"

"I don't know where yet, but I have to get away from Aerith. She's driving me insane. And I assumed you would want to go, too." Seeing that the suitcase was now full, Yuffie closed it and tried to zip it up, having to sit on it in the process.

Squall nodded his assent and leaned against the wall, going over in his mind the many worlds they knew of and which would be the best to visit. "Let's go to the Coliseum. At least there I can continue to practice with a relatively low chance of being hurt." Besides, he added to himself, Sora has just been itching to fight me again.

Yuffie thought about it for a moment, realizing that the Coliseum was probably the safest place to go as the other worlds were being invaded by stronger and stronger Heartless every day. "Okay, the Coliseum it is." She picked up the suitcase and started for the door, but stopped when she noticed that Squall wasn't coming. "Well, come on."

"Aren't you going to leave Aerith a note?" He knew that Aerith would be mad enough at them for just up and leaving, but that would be nothing compared to her fury over them leaving without leaving a note for her.

"Yeah, I guess." Yuffie looked around the room in search of pen and paper, only to find a pen, but no paper. "Or, at least I would if I could find some paper," she muttered as she continued her search.

"We could always just write it on your underwear," Squall suggested from his position against the wall. Although he meant the suggestion as a joke, it came out, as all things do with him, in a serious tone.

Snorting, the ninja rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement. "Yeah, I'm sure that would work just fine. She already hates the fact that we're together and that would just make her think more is going on than what really is." Still searching the room, Yuffie finally found a pad of paper in the bottom drawer of the dresser, letting out a loud "ah-HAH" when she discovered it.

She quickly scribbled out a note telling Aerith that she and Squall had needed to get some time away from Traverse Town and not to worry about them. A soft 'coo' from across the room reminded the ninja about their dove Yoshi, and she quickly added a line asking Aerith to take care of him while they were gone. She made sure to not mention where they were going as she was positive the flower girl would get in her own Gummi ship and drag them back home, scolding them the whole way.

Finished with the note, Yuffie found a roll of tape and hastily tore a piece off to tape the note to Aerith's side of the connecting door. That done, she grabbed Squall's arm and pulled. "Come on, let's go."

"Impatient, aren't we?" Squall teased as they walked down the hotel hallway and out into the Second District, where she broke out into a near run with the suitcase in one hand and his arm in the other.

"Yeah, we've got to get out of here before Aerith finds us 'cause she'll sure as hell try to stop us," Yuffie explained as she pushed through the First District doors, stopping to look around before continuing on. They quickly dashed in front of the café towards the World Exit doors, only to find that Aerith was sitting in the café drinking her coffee. Luckily for the two of them, she was also reading a paper and didn't notice when they ran past and out the doors to the Gummi Garage.

Author's Note: Okay, my muse left me about halfway through this chapter. You can probably tell where. Hopefully, she'll come back someday and let me write again. And, actually, I didn't get as far as I wanted to with this chapter. I was planning on having the actual trip in this chapter, but it didn't happen. So, that'll be in the next chapter. Whenever I write it. Anyways, give me a review, please.