Slight Reprieve
Yuffie skipped through the portal and back into the giant office through the portal. Her heart was overflowing with boundless joy. She had managed to help Vincent in the form of that small boy, and the feeling from it felt wonderful. She knew that she was a quarter of the way there to escaping this place, and now she might actually have Vincent's confidence, should something else ever come up. But something felt wrong. For a moment she stopped, closed her eyes and felt for the foreboding feeling that was invading her. Then a moment later she began skipping again and called out behind her: "Something wrong Chaos?" Yuffie sat on the desk and faced the doorway she had just entered through. Chaos just stood next to one of the portals, a frown across his face staring steely daggers into her gaze.
"Nothing..." he sighed. "You seem to have had quite the positive effect on our young friend. I can feel it even here. The lights are somewhat brighter, the air not as stale. There is fruit on the table. Almost as if you managed to convince him that his mother's death wasn't his own fault."
Yuffie looked up. "But it wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could do about what happened to his mother."
"I told you once already, there is no need to lie to him and make him feel better. All you have to do ease his discomfort somewhat. If he is still relatively unhappy, or somewhat depressed, it's still enough to get us out of here. So next time, would you stop wasting time. It felt like its been years in here waiting for you to convince that little boy to be happy."
Humph "whatever." Yuffie scoffed at him. Yuffie had no sense of time in this place. And neither did he. But it felt more like a half-day. She wasn't sure where she got that conclusion. Picking up a banana, she began to eat but felt his eyes on her again.
"Yuffie! Timeliness is of great importance here. Get in, do it as quickly as you can, then get out. His happiness is not essential to escaping this place. Whatever issues he has you can work out with him after this is done."
"You've been trapped in his mind for decades, but maybe I know Vincent better than you do. He'll never open up again once this is finished," Yuffie exclaimed to Chaos. And in a whisper said: "Not yet anyways."
"He will, you'll see. Now you'd better hurry to the doorway, lest the ride start without you," Chaos jested.
Yuffie jumped off the table and began skipping towards the second doorway. "Don't wait up, I have a date with an adolescent Vinny!" 'Ohmygod, I can't believe I just said that' she thought to herself.
Chaos stepped in front of her. "I will wait up, because this won't take very long now will it?" He stared right into her eyes.
Yuffie remembered his speech about timeliness. "Nope, just joking around." With that she walked around him and exited through the portal.
"Good," he called after her. After the door closed Chaos walked back to the desk and tapped his fingers for a moment. Then said out loud to himself: "For your sake I hope so Yuffie. You're forcing me into a scenario I'd rather enjoy." With that final comment he picked up a bright red apple much bigger than his hand could cover, and he squeezed it so quickly and with such force that it exploded through the cracks between his fingers.
Na: This one is pretty short. So I thought i'd post it now.