Beyond Paradise
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, the characters, or the places in the game. Squaresoft/enix does. So, no point in attempting to sue me now!
Author's Note: Yes! I'm starting on a chaptered story for a Yuffentine. I've had this one planned for a long time, as well. If you don't like the pairings of CloTi and Yuffentine, then you won't like this story, so I don't recommend it to you. Unless you can suck up your pride, then you can read it anyway. :D Have fun! Enjoy! I know I will. :3
Would you like to hear
Of the terrible night
When I bravely fought the—
No?
All right.
The Battle
-- Shel Silverstein
- Chapter 1: The Saviors In Between
AVALANCHE had won. AVALANCHE had saved the planet. The saviors fled from the sight of the crumbling Midgar, only to stop at Rocket Town. The large airship landed a mile from the town due to Cid's consistent yelling that it would "flatten the town into no more than a piece of shit on a chocobo's foot" if they had landed too close.
Yuffie gladly leapt from the airship, landing ungracefully on Barret's shoulders. "Hey, big guy! Thanks for the catch." She grinned and hopped off as he started swinging his good arm around in hopes of swatting her off as if she were a bug. She gave him a short bow and skittered to hide behind Tifa as he began to yell about her being impolite and uncaring of others feelings. The ninja merely laughed this off and remained in the protective shadow of Tifa.
The rebellious group gathered on the empty plains, each finding a comfortable spot for themselves. Cloud stood at what was supposed as the head of the circle – though Yuffie couldn't see how that made sense – with Tifa by his side. Barret stood off to the side, arms crossed over his hulking chest and head held high with pride. Nanaki, as the group had become accustomed to calling him, lay quietly in the grass by a pile of stones, head resting on crossed forepaws. Yuffie sat on that stone pile, legs swinging back and forth just above Nanaki's still figure. Cid stood by Vincent, cigarette hanging loosely from his lips and hands placed firmly at his hips, whereas Vincent did nothing but stand there, gaze locked on the nothingness in the distance. Cait Sith had been left on the Highwind after Reeve shut him down from his place in the refugees escape route.
The only one truly missing from the group was Aerith.
"She's the one that saved us all, you know," Cloud started quietly, feeling the sympathetic look he received from Tifa.
Barret let out a 'humph' and looked off to the side. "That girl... Really did a lot, yeah?" Despite his appearance, the tone of his voice turned gentle when he was thinking of the deceased flower girl. It was the same with all the members of AVALANCHE.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the adventurers and a few shuffled their feet in the awkwardness of the moment. Finally, Cid spoke up.
"Well, where does everyone want to be dropped off?"
Yuffie shot up from her position on the rocks and waved her arms around. "Wait, what? Dropped off? Shouldn't we be having some sort of celebration or something? We just saved the whole freaking world!"
"She has a point, Cloud," Tifa helped out. Yuffie smiled at the older woman, glad that she had someone on her side. But even Cloud wasn't going to take it.
"There's nothing to celebrate. We may have stopped Sephiroth, but Aerith stopped Meteor. Even so, we killed or have been the reason to the deaths of many people. There's nothing to celebrate," he repeated.
Yuffie felt her spirits fall, but she hid it well. Frowning, she put her hands on her hips and stuck her nose up into the air. After this, each member gave their destinations to Cid and he gave a nod.
"Alright everyone, back to the—"
"Wait one second!"
"Yuffie, god dammit, not again. What is it now?" Cid frowned at the young girl as she ran into the center of the circle. Immediately, she pointed at the red caped man distancing himself from the group.
"You! Vincent Valentine!"
He turned to her sharply as she shouted his name, crimson eyes boring into her own stormy hues. She felt herself getting nervous under the intense gaze and cleared her throat before continuing.
"Don't go back to your coffin, you hear me?"
Tifa's eyes widened in remembrance and she came to Yuffie's side, arms crossing beneath her bust. "She's right. Don't go back to your coffin."
The older man remained silent, waiting for everyone else to gang up on him. When it didn't happen, he decided to respond. "Where do you intend on having me go?"
Tifa blinked at the question, clearly not expecting it. She turned to Yuffie and gave a light shrug. "I don't know. Yuffie, where do you intend on having him go?" she echoed.
The little ninja frowned slightly, thinking about it carefully, then finally, "Costa del Sol!"
Everyone nearly fell over.
"Costa del Sol?" he repeated.
"Costa del Sol. You need a tan!" she countered, grinning more to herself than to him. There was a long pause as he appeared to be thinking about it, though she didn't truly believe that he was.
Vincent suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Everyone was watching him, expecting him to give a yes, no, or to simply walk away and never be seen again.
"I'll think about it."
Another near heart attack for the members of AVALANCHE.
--------------------
Yuffie felt it was unfair that they dropped her off first in Wutai. She wanted to see where Vincent decided to be left, but she had no choice. She said her heartfelt goodbye to Tifa, gave her nose-pat to Nanaki, a good swat upside the head to Cait Sith, she took Cid's pack of cigarettes and threw them over the side of the deck ("What the hell d'ya think you're doin', brat!?"), gave Barret a big hug around his gun arm, waved a little goodbye to Cloud, and warned Vincent one more time to stay away from the coffin.
Then, with a startled cry from Tifa, she leapt over the edge of the railing, freefalling into the arms of a rather surprised Staniv who caught her and swung her around before setting her down on the ground, which she then made a dramatic deal of dropping down and kissing the grass. She laughed and stood back up, waving to them as the Highwind ascended into the sky and took off like a blazing bullet.
And she didn't hear a word from them for a month.
--------------------
Yuffie Kisaragi,
The members of AVALANCHE are gathering in the home of Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart in Kalm for a meeting of secret matters. It would be appreciated if you would come to this meeting to discuss it. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cloud Strife
Tifa Lockheart
Yuffie read the smaller print further down the paper.
P.S. Sorry about the formalities, Yuffie. Cloud thought it was best written this way. With Love, Tifa.
The little ninja laughed at the letter and folded it again. A month and now they needed her again? She decided it would be better if she didn't think too much about it.
Just then Gorki came rushing in, a confused look on the old man's face as he looked over the smiling Yuffie. "What is it, Yuffie? What is so funny in here?" Yuffie giggled at the older man and shook her head.
"It's nothing. Hey, tell pops I'm leaving, 'kay?" Yuffie stood up and started going through her closet, pulling out the comfortable things she could wear and throwing them into a duffel bag.
"Leaving? You know very well that Godo will not permit that. He believes that—"
"There is no reason for me to leave if materia is gone now, right? I know, I know." Yuffie finished for him. Gorki frowned slightly, opening his mouth again to protest the young ninja's leaving.
"Your father doesn't want you to leave." It was his last hope at keeping Yuffie home.
"I know."
It didn't work.
"It's the main reason I'm leaving," Yuffie continued before zipping the bag up. She hooked the Conformer to her back and the Oritsuru to her side before sliding her orange sneakers on. "See ya around, Gorki!" She smiled and gave the old man a quick hug before dashing out to the chocobo stalls to grab her beloved Green.
The old man sighed and hung his head low. "Godo will not be pleased."
Yuffie pulled the stable doors open and calmly walked to the stall in the back. "Levia," she whispered softly. The Green ruffled its feathers and cooed softly to her mistress. Yuffie smiled and reached out, a handful of greens held tightly in her grip. "C'mon, Levia. We're leaving. We'll catch a ferry to the closest continent and get out of here," she continued to her faithful bird. The chocobo stood and stretched its neck out, snatching the greens from Yuffie's hands and swallowing them quickly.
"That's a good girl," she pulled the reigns up and over the oversized bird's neck then lifted herself up and onto Levia's back, tying the straps of the duffel bag around her waist before giving the chocobo a small kick into the side to get her moving. Levia warked quietly and trotted out of the stable, stopping by the doors to allow Yuffie to close and lock them before heading off into a run towards the shore.
She had made it far enough to save herself from hearing Godo's enraged roar after Gorki told him Yuffie was gone.
--------------------
Tifa was pacing worriedly in the living room of the house she shared with Cloud. Nanaki had arrived with Cid and Barret not too long ago, the latter two complaining about the attitudes people were giving them, and the only ones to wait upon were Yuffie and Vincent. "Are you sure they got the letters?" She turned to Cloud, eyes pleading with him.
He held his hands up and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I sent them both. One to Wutai and the other to the ShinRa Mansion in Nibelheim."
Tifa stopped her pacing to rush up to Cloud, hands clasped in front of her as if she were praying. "To the ShinRa Mansion? But don't you remember Yuffie telling him not to go back there? What if he really isn't there?"
"Tifa, calm down. Cid dropped him off at Nibelheim at his own request. And even if he doesn't show up, at least we know Yuffie will. She isn't the type to avoid—"
There was a knock at the door. Tifa ran for it, stumbling over Nanaki on the way. She threw the door open with such a force that the members of AVALANCHE were surprised that it didn't fly off its hinges. There, in the doorway, stood Cait Sith with a little note in its hands. "Hey, Tifa! Long time no see, huh? Reeve fixed me all up, and he gave me this to give to you," and with that, the black cat handed the note over to Tifa.
She looked over it and gave a sigh. "Reeve is busy with the refugees of Midgar, so he couldn't make it. But it says that he remade Cait Sith's program to give it its own mind." She stared questioningly at the black cat and the fat moogle beneath it, then shrugged. Quickly, she gave a good look around the outside before closing the door again. No sign of Yuffie or Vincent...
--------------------
Vincent sat quietly in his living room, staring quietly down at the small piece of paper held in his hand and claw. He folded it and carefully placed it into a small box filled with many other papers, each having their own oriental design, hand drawn.
Slowly, he stood, leaving the box by the chair, and made his way to the back of the ShinRa Mansion where he held the black chocobo that AVALANCHE had given him after Choco Billy began helping other travelers with their chocobo's. When the Black had been born, AVALANCHE – Yuffie more than the others – threw it at him and told him to raise it "because it resembles you." Of course, much to Yuffie's frustration, he never named it.
Vincent sighed at the memory.
He quickly mounted the black bird and gave it a light squeeze with the heel of his boots. The bird dashed off in a flurry of feathers and dust, leaving the ShinRa Mansion as empty as it had ever been.
While riding off the land and into the shallow waters, Vincent couldn't stop his mind from wandering to the month before.
"You! Vincent Valentine!"
She had suddenly looked scared. The girl had guts to continue.
"Don't go back to your coffin, you hear me?"
She had wanted him to go to Costa del Sol. Even Tifa had helped her. He hadn't seriously thought about it, but telling her he would had made her happy. Yet he didn't crawl back into his coffin either, and he couldn't figure out why.
It didn't take long for the black chocobo to come trotting into Kalm. People stared in both wonder and hate as the dark-clothed man and his bird walked around the town. Since the Meteor incident, Kalm had expanded. There were more houses, a paddock behind one of the houses, and a stable for the chocobo's of random travelers opposite of it.
"Vincent!" He heard his name and turned to see Tifa rushing out of the house, smiling happily. She looked around, as if expecting more than just him standing there.
"Yes?"
She shook her head and let her smile grow.
"Oh, nothing. Come on. You can put your chocobo in the paddock with the others and then join us inside. We're just about ready to start," but someone is still missing "so hurry." She quickly turned and led him to the paddock, then returned to the house.
Vincent frowned slightly, then removed the reigns from his black chocobo and watched as it trotted to the Blue, Yellow, and two Gold chocobo's off on the other end. When he was sure that it was safe, he entered the household.
--------------------
Yuffie let out a deep breath, then sucked in another. "Gawd, Levia. Aren't you glad we got off that stupid ferry? All those waves and the rocking..." she put a hand over her mouth and held her stomach with her free arm. "Ugh..."
Levia warked to her mistress and started trotting towards Kalm, knowing it wasn't too far off now that they had landed by the ruins of Midgar. Yuffie leaned against the neck of her Green and let out a sigh. "It'll be nice to sit down on a nice couch or sleep in a bed once I get there."
The bird seemed to take this as an insult and warked unhappily. Yuffie smiled and patted her crest lightly. "You know you want to get some rest, too," she chided, laughing softly before straightening herself up again. "Alright, Levia. Let's get there as fast as we can!" She whooped and kicked the chocobo in the side while leaning forward, urging the bird into a fast run for the town, for her friends, and for some rest and a nice cup of hot chocolate if Tifa was up to it.
--------------------
"Has anyone heard from Yuffie in the past month? Anybody?" Tifa glanced around the group of misfit friends, hope evident in her wine-colored eyes. The silence that responded dropped her heart to her stomach.
"I have."
Tifa's gaze shot up to stare in wonder at Vincent. It didn't make sense that Yuffie would keep in contact with him, and yet – at the same time - it strangely did. "How is she? Do you know where she is? Maybe she really wasn't in Wutai..."
"She was in Wutai," he responded flatly. "I am sure she'll show up eventually, to steal from us if not for the meeting."
He figured that what the young ninja had written him wasn't their business, and he knew they wouldn't ask. While watching Tifa begin her pacing again, he thought back to the box in his home, filled with the oriental papers. All of which were addressed to him, from Yuffie. He must have had about twenty of them that simply read 'Hi!' Exactly that. Nothing more. Just 'Hi!'
His thoughts were interrupted by shouting from outside. AVALANCHE all quieted down to listen. It sounded as if the mob looking for Frankenstein had come to grab Vincent, and nobody would be surprised if that was what stood outside their door.
Tifa slowly opened the door to see a circle of townspeople, all yelling in jumbled words, and Yuffie on her green chocobo in the middle, yelling back. It was a sight for sore eyes. Tifa grinned and waved her arms in the air. "Yuffie! Yuffie come inside!"
And Yuffie did just that, steering Levia to either walk through or over the angered townspeople.
It was to everyone's surprise, sans Vincent, that she brought Levia in with her.
"Erm, Yuffie. You can put your chocobo in the paddock with the others," Cloud grumbled as the bird tracked in mud from outside. Yuffie smiled and started leading Levia away when Tifa suddenly stepped in front of her.
"Actually, Vincent, could you take Yuffie's chocobo? I need to talk to her," the woman said with a smile towards Vincent. The older man frowned slightly then nodded.
As Vincent reached for the reigns, Levia's head reared back and she warked for her mistress. Yuffie was immediately at her side, fingers brushing over the glossy feathers. "It's alright, Levia. Vincent here is a nice guy, aren't ya Vinnie?" she glanced over to him at her question and he simply stared back.
"Er, yeah... Like I said. Vinnie's a nice guy..." she grumbled as Levia calmed down. Yuffie took the reigns and put them in Vincent's claw. "Be careful with her. She gets jittery," she warned before returning to Tifa.
Vincent stared at Levia. Levia stared back. Slowly, the two made their way to the paddock in the back, where Vincent removed the reigns and let her go to the others. The first to meet Levia was his very own Black.
Levia nipped at the Black's neck then ran on to join the others, the Black following behind to then join with the Blue.
--------------------
"Alright, now for rooming... I believe it would be safer for you all to stay with us instead of going to the Inn," Cloud started. The sun had already begun to set, calling for the moon to take its shift. "Barret, you and Cid will be sleeping in the room closest to the stairs. Nanaki, you can sleep in mine and Tifa's room since your ears are sensitive and we're furthest from Barret's room,"
"You sayin' I snore?" Barret interrupted, gun arm waving through the air, narrowly avoiding Cait Sith's shut down figure.
"Yes, Barret. I am. You and Cid both. And loudly."
Cid snorted and lit another cigarette, stuffing it between his lips while he flicked the recent one out the window.
Cloud took this as a sign to continue. "Yuffie, you can have the room closest to the bathroom—"
Another interruption. "What? But that room is right next to Cid and Barret's! I'll never get to sleep!" Cloud ignored this and continued.
"Vincent will be in the room across from Yuffie," Cloud paused, as if waiting for another argument. When nothing came, he let out a relieved sigh and pointed towards the kitchen. "Tifa will have breakfast ready for you guys sometime around eight, right?" He glanced to the busty woman with a smile.
She nodded and made her way over to Yuffie, gently taking the fuming girls hands and giving them a light squeeze. "It's alright. I'll give them coffee so you'll be sure to go to sleep long before they do, how about that?"
Yuffie sighed in defeat and nodded.
Soon, the two older men had their coffee and AVALANCHE was on their way to bed.
--------------------
Despite what Tifa had said, Yuffie wasn't able to even close her eyes. The walls shook with every snore that came from the other room, and if Yuffie hadn't been with AVALANCHE for as long as she was, she would have thought that the Planet was opening beneath them to suck them all into the Lifestream.
With a frustrated growl, she rolled out of the bed, straightening the oversized shirt and shorts she substituted as pajamas. The wall between her room and the two men's shook again and she grumbled a few insults before leaving her room to suffer alone.
Yuffie found herself standing uncomfortably in the hallway, arms wrapping around herself at the sudden chill of the open area. She stared at the two doors she could choose from. What's behind door number one? Her mind took on the voice of an announcer and she giggled to herself.
Slowly, she moved up to the door and knocked lightly on it. She waited for what felt like forever in the cold hallway before the doorknob turned and the door opened. Storms stared into cold scarlet.
"Mornin' Vinnie, I can't sleep," she explained hurriedly. Vincent stared down at her silently, glanced back to the digital clock, then glared down to her again.
"Yuffie, it's three in the morning."
"And I'm surprised that you sleep at all, what with being asleep for thirty years, huh?" She smiled as innocently as she could up at him. Might as well get to the point, she thought to herself.
He beat her to it.
"You would like to switch rooms." It wasn't a question. She nodded meekly up at him and he ran his human hand through his hair. "Fine." And with that, he walked past her to her abandoned room. Glancing back, he noticed her still standing by the door, stormy hues watching him.
His claw hovered by the doorknob, but he stopped at the doors vibration from the snores nearby. As if to give it a second thought, he stepped back to stand beside Yuffie, both staring at the rooms across from them.
"You know, we could easily just stay in this room for the night... I can get a room at the Inn in the morning, don'cha think?" Yuffie spoke softly, her gaze still locked on the rooms ahead. She didn't see it, but Vincent nodded in agreement and he slowly shut the door.
Vincent made his way back to the bed and carefully began to fix the covers he had thrown to the foot of the bed. "You may sleep here."
As if I need his permission, she grumbled in her mind. She climbed into the bed and lay her head on the pillow. "Where are you gonna sleep?" Vincent looked to her momentarily, then pulled the chair from the desk and leaned it against the wall, as if it would answer her question.
"Fine, Mr. Moody. But don't complain to me when you wake up with a stiff neck," she mumbled and pulled the blankets up to her chin, burying herself into her dreams.
Vincent gave no response and sat in the chair, right ankle crossing onto his knee and his arms folding over his chest as he returned to his nightmares.
A/N: This chapter was for the characters, as you can see. The main plot of the story (yes, I have one) will be revealed in, maybe, the next chapter. So, until then, review for this one and wait patiently. Thank you.