Author's Note: Okay, I have no idea when I'll finish this chapter or how far into the story I will get either. So, just bear with me. I have an idea of where I want to get with it, so I may have to just keep writing until I get to that point. Anyways, enjoy!
Y'know, I keep thinking about the last chapter's title, "Follow Your Instincts," and for some reason I want to say "Follow your nose, where ever it goes," instead. You know... like Toucan Sam from the Fruit Loops commercials? And I have no clue why I shared that with you. It must be this strange mood I'm in...
Forgive me if I get the layout of Hollow Bastion messed up. I always get lost there when I'm playing. And I'm taking poetic license with some aspects of the world.
[Disclaimer: I haven't owned them for the past twenty chapters, so why would I own them now?]
Chapter Twenty-One: Midnight Encounter
The bright Bastion sun shining through the large window of her chosen bedroom awoke Yuffie, who was momentarily confused as to where she was and wondered why Squall wasn't lying next to her on the bed. That is, until she became fully awake and remembered her secret departure from Traverse Town and that she had just arrived at the Hollow Bastion fortress the night before as the sun was setting. Shivering, she noticed that she could see her breath in the air and a glance at the fire place showed that the logs she had lit the night before were no more than ashes now. She made a mental note to search for more firewood in the castle bedrooms today, for if this bedroom had a fireplace ready to light, the others should as well. It was just a matter of gathering it.
She wrapped the blanket more tightly around her and arose from the hard, stone floor, her back groaning in protest at having slept there for the night. Looking around the room, she noticed a door off to the side that she could only hope was a closet. And, if luck was with her, she would find it full of winter clothing. She quickly crossed the room and yanked the door open, desperate for warmer clothing since the blanket was unable to keep the chill of the air off her.
As the door opened, something jumped out at her, causing the ninja to jump backwards and screech in both surprise and terror before she realized what it was. On the floor, scurrying along the baseboards of the room, ran a small gray mouse. "Perfect," Yuffie muttered in disgust with herself. "The so-called 'Great Ninja Yuffie' is scared of a harmless little mouse."
She adjusted the blanket better around herself and reached an arm out of her makeshift robe to reached into the dark closet to see if she could find anything, only to find that the closet was almost completely empty save for a box of clothes at the bottom. For a brief moment, she was elated to find some warmer clothes, but her spirits quickly dampened when she found said box to not only be full of clothes, but also baby mice.
"Grossness," she said under her breath as she closed the box and hastily shoved it back into the closet. "There is no way in hell I'm going to wear something that baby rats have been peeing on." Disappointed and disgusted, she slammed the closet door shut and left the room, having decided that she would have to systematically search each room for not only firewood, as previously planned, but also warm clothing.
She entered the room next to hers, finding it decorated in light blues and greens. Slowly looking around the room, she noticed that this closet was already open and had quite a few things hanging in it. As she walked to the closet, the ninja fervently prayed that there would be no mice this time and it seemed her wish was granted as nothing jumped out at her.
Pulling out the first item in the closet, she quickly dropped it and let a small gasp escape her throat. Yes, she had found warmer clothing, but apparently this room had been Squall's when they still lived at Hollow Bastion. She stared at the jacket she had dropped, tears filling her eyes as she noticed the familiar red wings embroidered on the back. But, unlike his current jacket, this one had long sleeves and would prove to be much warmer than the one he wore in Traverse Town.
Yuffie slowly backed out of the room, shaking her head and wiping away the tears that had spilt their dam. "No. I'm here to get over him," she insisted as she turned her back on the room and shut the door behind her, deciding that no matter how cold she was, she would not wear that jacket. It brought back too many images of her and Squall in Traverse Town, something she just couldn't deal with right now.
Reentering her own room, she walked to the middle and simply stood there, taking big heaving breaths as she tried to calm herself. But, with Squall's old room, full of his belongings, right there next to her own, she found it hard to keep the tears in check. "Okay, Yuffie. Calm down and think this out," she commanded herself, her voice raspy from her unshed tears.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes closed as she pushed all thoughts of Squall out of her mind. "Okay, this is the West wing of the Bastion. And, if I remember correctly, there were rooms in the East wing as well. So, it's simple, Yuffie. Just move to the East wing and then you'll be away from all his stuff," she decided, realizing somewhere in the back of her mind that she was quickly getting in the habit of talking to herself.
Dropping the blanket from around her shoulders, she shivered but quickly became adjusted to the cool air as she crossed the room to pick up both the box and her duffel bag that she had carried in the night before. She strode out of the room and down the hall, hoping she was heading in the right direction. After all, it had been nine years since she had been here last and time had a way of making one forget some things.
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Having been unable to find the entrance to the Gummi docking bay in the upper levels of the Bastion, Squall assumed it had been destroyed and slowly brought his ship down in the waterway docking bay. It had taken him longer than anticipated to reach the Hollow Bastion world due to unforeseen attacks on his ship by the Heartless, making it a three day trip instead of the one he had planned for. That, in turn, had made it about a week since his ninja had run away from him. And it was a week spent in hell for him.
As he flew through the waterway docking bay, his disappointment grew as he was unable to find Yuffie's familiar Gummi ship. And he would have left the world as soon as he had arrived if it hadn't been for that nagging feeling tugging at the back of his mind. So, remembering Cloud's advice of following his instincts, Squall decided he could at least take a look around the palace and see if maybe she had been here in the past few days.
He stepped out of his ship and stopped to look around the familiar area. Yes, it was darker and danker than it had been nine years ago, but that was to be expected since no one had been here to take care of things. Squall strode across the waterway, glancing around and looking for the lift stop that he knew was nearby. But, unable to find it, he simply walked out of the waterway and spotted a transport crystal near the ice walls of Rising Falls, unconsciously rubbing his arms in the chill air.
Just as he reached out to touch the glowing blue crystal, he heard an oh-so familiar sound behind him and he spun around to find a small group of Darkballs preparing to assault him. Drawing his Gunblade, he lowered himself into a fighting stance and waited for the onslaught. It didn't take long for their attack to begin as one lone heartless decided to break away and charge towards the swordsman.
Squall swung his blade around in an arc, feeling it connect and slide through the creature as it disappeared in a cloud of purple and black smoke. The other two Darkballs immediately attacked, only to find themselves meeting the same fate as their brother.
Seeing that no other heartless had appeared to take these three's place, the Gunblade wielder lowered his weapon and touched the crystal. He shook his head as he was transported from the lower regions of Hollow Bastion and to the entrance gates. It was something he could never get used to, no matter how much he had done it as a child. And the transportation process always left him with a slight heady feeling along with the tingling sensation in his limbs.
He walked across the narrow walkway to the entrance gates, hoping they would be unlocked as he really didn't want to have to go back down to the waterway and unlock them. He silently cursed himself for not thinking of that while he was down there. But, luck was with him for once in his search for Yuffie, and the gates opened easily for him, allowing him access to the entrance hall.
It was just as he remembered it. The fountain in the center of the room still flowed with a soft gurgling noise, the gargoyle statues still stared out at intruders with their eerie eyes, and the candles along the walls were lit. That part threw him, for it had been nine years since someone had been here and the candles should have gone out long ago. Well, Sora and his companions had been here recently, but Sora had mentioned that they were finished with this world when they had met at the Coliseum. So, the lit candles could only mean that the Bastion had had a more recent visitor than Sora, and Squall fervently hoped that the visitor had been one Yuffie Kisaragi and that she was still here.
He slowly made his way up the staircase, refraining from calling her name as he was afraid she would take flight once she heard him. At the top of the staircase, he stopped, trying to decide whether he would explore the library first or delve deeper into the Bastion hallways. He finally decided on the library without even knowing why exactly he chose it. But, choose it he did and he would follow through with his choice.
His footfalls echoed across the entrance hall as he purposely made his way to the library doors, pausing before opening them. The last time he had been through the Hollow Bastion library, he was being chased by the strange shadows he had later learned were the Heartless. Shaking his head to clear his mind of the painful memories, he pushed through the doors and entered the library.
The hinges of the doors groaned in protest as they opened, causing Squall to wince. "Well, if she's in here, then she's knows I'm coming," he muttered softly under his breath as he strode through the maze-like layout of bookshelves. He finally reached the stairs and ascended them to upper floor, where a small green couch sat in front of an equally small table. Odd, he thought, I don't remember that from before. But he shook the thought off and instead stared at the open book lying on the table.
He sat on the edge of the couch, noting the blanket that was piled up at the end, and picked up the book. "Honor Amongst Thieves," he murmured, reading the title aloud. "Sounds interesting." Before he even read the first page, the scent of orange blossom drifted to his nostrils and he instinctually turned his head toward the aroma, his eyes falling once more on the blanket. He picked it up and sniffed it, glad that he was alone in the library as he knew how moronic he appeared as he did so. But, all thoughts were pushed out of his head when he realized that the blanket was literally steeped in the familiar scent which meant that either Yuffie had been here or someone else had acquired the same flowery scent as the ninja.
Squall dropped the blanket and book onto the couch as he arose from his seat and continued in his search for the ninja that he was fairly certain was here, even if he hadn't found her Gummi in the docking bay below. He could only surmise that she had managed to find the upper one that he, himself, had been unable to find.
He quickly left the little alcove he had found, descended the stairs, and returned to the entrance hall, having made up his mind to search the rest of the Bastion. Hopefully, he would find the ninja soon and make her understand how much he loved her and explain to her about the pictures. So, pushing through the middle door in the back of the entrance hall, Squall began his search of the castle, starting with the West wing.
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Yuffie threaded her way through the twisting halls of the Bastion, wearing the new winter wardrobe she had procured from various rooms. With the baggy blue jeans and two sweatshirts, not to mention the t-shirt she wore beneath them, the ninja could barely feel the cold air of the Hollow Bastion winter. And, by keeping fires going in the rooms she used the most, she was able to stand still without shivering.
But, right now, she just wanted to get back to her book. Even though it was getting late and the sun had set hours ago, she hoped to finish the book tonight. She was still slightly miffed that there wasn't a fireplace in the library that she could light, but she did keep a blanket down there to wrap herself in while she read. So, everything worked out fine. Of course, she still didn't know why she insisted on reading down there and not just bringing the book up to her chosen bedroom. She finally surmised that it was just one of the many quirks in herself and she would have to deal with it.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she quickly spun around, candle in one hand and shuriken in the other. She laughed quietly when she realized there was nothing there and quickly put away her ninja star. The past three days she had spent on this world had proved to be rather uneventful. It was only occasionally that she would meet any Heartless at all, and, then, it was something relatively easy to defeat, such as a Shadow or a Darkball.
So, having been bored on her second day here, she had wandered into the library and picked out a book to read, to take her mind off things she didn't want it dwelling on. Namely, Squall. It seemed that the more she tried not to think about him, the more she did. And it killed her inside every time. At one point, she had nearly decided to return to Traverse Town and just forget about the picture and the name he had muttered while he slept. But before she had even made it to out the door of the her bedroom, she talked herself out of it and forced herself to stay.
Arriving in the library, she trotted up the stairs and started to plop down on the couch when she noticed that her book wasn't lying on the table where she had left it earlier. Instead, it was laying on the end of the couch and partially covered by her blanket. "Okay, I know for a fact that I left that book on the table," she muttered to herself as she stared at it.
She nervously looked around the room, wishing her candle produced more light than it did so she could peer into the shadowed areas. "Is someone here?" she called out, deciding that she would have to search every inch of the library to satisfy herself. After descending the stairs, she began to weave through the bookshelves, checking behind each one for whoever had moved her book. However, she was unable to find anyone in the room with her and she left the library to search other regions of the castle.
Stealthily creeping through the halls, she kept both her eyes and ears open for the tell-tale signs of whoever the intruder was, not to mention any rogue Heartless that thought it might be a good idea to attack her. Hours later, her search still proved to be fruitless and she was ready to give up. She stifled a yawn as her body told her that it was way past the time for her to be in bed and she readily agreed with it until she noticed a faint light coming from beneath the dining room door.
"Ah-HAH!" she whispered-yelled quietly, trying to keep her voice down and have the element of surprise with the intruder. She quickly pulled out four shuriken, placing them in between the fingers of her right hand, prepared to attack whoever was behind the door, and set the candle down upon the small shelf near the door. Slowly twisting the doorknob to the right, she pushed through and let out a slight gasp at what she saw.
Across the room, with his back to her, stood Squall, staring out the darkened window and into the night. The flickering candles in the room cast strange shadows, making it hard to see anything. But, even in the little bit of light in the room, she was able to make out the red wings upon his jacket and the way his mahogany hair fell across the nape of his neck.
Trembling, she began to quietly back out of the room in an attempt to make her escape, only to find she was too late. He had already turned to face her, his stormy blue eyes locked onto her own indigo ones.
Author's Note: Okay, that chapter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. Not at all. Anyways, there will be at least one more chapter, possibly two. And I have no clue when I'll get them written. I really need to focus some on "Honor Amongst Thieves." I haven't updated it in nearly two weeks. Oh well... I'll get to it when I get to it. Anyways, leave me a review and I'll be a happy author.