Never End...
LAST TIME
"No," she replied. "I saw him yesterday and I wanted to ask him about something." She helped Leon up the steps and out of the First District. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Leon checked to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one, he shoved her gently against the wall, a hand planted firmly on either side of her against the wall, and brought his mouth down on hers. Her unwrapped arms wound themselves around his neck. "Just couldn't behave yourself, could you?" she asked with a grin as he pulled away.
He shrugged. "Just had to do that."
She looked up at him. "I need to get my hands re-wrapped and can't do it myself."
"Why not Aerith?"
She gave him a look that said 'Are-you-kidding-me?'. "She'll shoot me if she finds out that I unwrapped them." Leon nodded and wondered where he would get the gauze until she handed him two rolls. "Snatched 'em," she stated with a shrug.
Rolling his eyes, he wrapped her swollen, cut, and bruised hands gingerly. When they were finished, she looped her arm in his. "Come on, we need to get to Merlin's."
CHAPTER FIVE
"Ow... Damn monkey..." - Yuffie Kisaragi
Cloud watched the two, then sighed. "Aerith..." She looked over at him expectantly. "What could cause Yuffie's head aches?"
The flower girl looked thoughtful. "I really don't know, Cloud. Maybe some of the books back at Hallow Bastion could tell us. I may need to take Yuffie there."
The blonde nodded. "Which would leave Leon and myself here to watch over Traverse Town, correct?"
"No, of course not. Cid can fight really well, so can Sora and Riku. They're supposed to be coming later tonight as a surprise for Yuffie's birthday."
"But they may need help, Aerith," he said softly. "Leon and I can stay here and we'll send Cid with you in case your gummi breaks down."
Reluctantly, she nodded. "Alright, Cloud. I'll tell Yuffie and we'll leave tomorrow."
Leon watched the ninja hop across the moving rocks as if it were walking. "Yuffie, I'm going to go through the Water Way, okay?"
She stood on the other side with her arms crossed. "It's okay, just go back to our room. I'll only be a few minutes!" Seeing his hesitation, she laughed. "I'll be fine, Squall, I mean it."
"It's Leon," he called back to her, then watched her disappear to the other side of the house. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose. "I hope she'll be alright..." With that, he turned and walked back to their room.
"Merlin? Hello? MEEEERRRLLLIIIINNNN!?" She cringed. "Ow... Damn monkey..." Yuffie's grey eyes searched the quiet house and noticed a note on a pile of books. On the top, it read 'YUFFIE'.
Curiosity overtook her and she had to read it.
Yuffie,
I knew yesterday that you would hurt yourself fairly bad, however, the concussion was worse than I expected. Your head aches, I fear, will keep getting worse. Make sure that Aerith takes you to Hallow Bastion, for the books there will be the only ones that can help you. I apologize for not seeing this earlier, young one, but I am ensuring your safety by asking you to go to Hallow Bastion.
Sincerely,
Merlin
Yuffie stared at the note, rereading it a few times, then tucked it into the pocket of her faded blue jeans and turned to walk from the house. That was when it hit her. Nausea, dizziness, and a monkey playing with white hot pokers, poking her brain repeatedly. She collapsed to the floor and crawled to the exit, not trusting herself to walk.
'Gotta get to someone... Ow... Anyone... Please...'
She saw a silhouetted figure before she blacked out.
Aerith knocked on the door of the Green Room and Leon opened the door. "Hey, Leon, where's Yuffie?"
"She went to see Merlin," he replied in his normal monotone. "She said that she saw him yesterday before the incident."
The flower girl's emerald eyes were suddenly worried. "LEON! She's got a concussion! What if her head aches come back suddenly and she's on her way back across those moving rocks!? What are you going to do then, huh!?" He realized that she was right. "Come on!"
He followed her as quickly as he could, the cut on the back of his leg causing him to limp still. Aerith go through the water and made it into the Water Way quickly, then waited for Leon on the slab of rock that would take them to Merlin's house. 'DUMBASS!'
Stormy eyes looked up at the blonde who had her held close to his chest. "Wh-Where are we going?"
"Back to the Green Room," he replied in a monotone. She whimpered pitifully and his eerie, MAKO enhanced blue eyes looked down at her. "Where are those pills that Leon gave you?"
"Uhh.. I think he grabbed them... Gawd, just make this pain stop!" The one-winged caped man picked up his pace, running swiftly and kicking open the door to the hotel. He kicked open the door to the Green Room as well, causing the handle to break and Yuffie to cringe.
"Okay, Yuffie. Stay awake until I get back, alright?" She squeaked and he took that as an understanding.
"She's not here," Leon said with an arrogant air about him. "Yuffie's probably wondering where I'm at right now."
Aerith looked at him curiously as they headed back down on the block. "Do you... like her?" He raised an eyebrow, his heart throbbing painfully against his chest at the thought that Aerith might find out. "You DO!" she shrieked joyfully. "You like Yuffie! Oh, and I know that she likes you! That's why Cloud's all upset! He doesn't want his little sister to grow up!"
"Little sister?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow.
The flower girl sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what!?"
Her perfect green eyes stared at him in disbelief. "Cloud practically adopted Yuffie when he came to Hallow Bastion. To everyone else, she was just you, Cloud, and Sephiroth's annoying shadow, but she was his reason to protect everyone. She was why I thought he was dead, because he tossed her into the gummi and ran back to save the others. Yuffie was more than a sister, she was almost like a daughter to him, Leon! Don't you remember anything!?"
FLASH BACK
"Squall! Hey, man!"
The teen smirked at his older blonde friend. "Hey, Cloud. Hey, Shadow," he said to the little girl behind his friend. "Sephiroth's gonna be here in a few."
As if on cue, the tall, arrogant, and smirking Sephiroth walked toward the trio. "Correction, I am here."
The sixteen-year-old Squall chuckled, then looked at Yuffie. "You're not coming, Shadow."
"Why not!?" the seven-year-old shot back.
"Because you are too young," Sephiroth replied evenly. Though he was one year younger than Squall and two years younger than Cloud, he still looked the oldest.
The blonde shook his head. "No way, guys. She's coming, okay? I'm watchin' out for her, y'know." The little girl blew a raspberry at the two guys that did not want her to go and Cloud shot her a look. She immediately apologized and smiled up at Cloud, who put a hand on her head and ruffled her short ebony locks. "So, to the movies, then?"
Squall shrugged. "I originally wanted to invite Rinoa and Aerith, but since Shadow's coming.."
Yuffie looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Fine," she choked out, not allowing her emotions to casue her voice to faulter, "I'll go back to our room then." With that, she turned and walked away.
"At least she didn't run," Squall muttered.
Cloud's blue eyes widened. "She didn't run," he said softly. "And she hasn't been running..." Sephiroth and Squall exchanged looks, then the blonde ran after his younger friend.
A few hours later, the girl glared at Squall, a cast on her foot. "It's YOUR fault, ya big jerk! If ya hadn't made me mad, Cloud wouldn't of known!" With another glare, she dropped her crutches and stormed out of the Infirmary.
"Yuffie!" a pretty brunette called out, chasing after her.
"Let her go, Tifa," Sephiroth said, snickering at the dumbfounded look on his pal's face. "She's just going to throw a fit either way. Just like a baby!"
Nobody had time to react to his words when he found himself at the wrong end of the Buster Sword. "Take it back, Sephiroth." The silver-haired man raised an eyebrow, but Cloud refused to move. "You know that I'm raising her, Sephiroth. She's my kid, so take it back."
MAKO enhanced green eyes glared at the older teen in front of him. "Yeah, you're a proud papa, aren't you? She probably is your damn kid, Cloud. We don't know all that much about you. Tell us, how did you meet Little Miss Yuffie, huh?"
The blonde kept his sword at Sephiroth's throat. "She was here before I was, you tell me who her parents really are. I came three years ago because I have nowhere else to go. She was a little kid out on her own when I got here. A fucking FOUR-YEAR-OLD out on her own!"
Squall watched the two, then lowered Cloud's sword for him. "Break it up, you two. Tifa, Aerith, Rinoa, could you three go check on Yuffie, please?"
"Don't," Cloud comanded the three girls. "I'll go sit with her." After a final glare, he stomped out after the girl.
END OF FLASHBACK
"I forgot," Leon said softly.
Aerith's green pools fell to the ground ."Yeah... She was the only person that liked him for at least a year. Then, Sephiroth would give him hell about having a kid, even though she wasn't his."
They stepped off the block and saw Cloud wading through the water. "Thanks the gods! Aerith, Yuffie collapsed at Merlin's, so I got her back to her room. Leon's got her pills!"
The lion's eyes widened and he hurried toward the entrance. He felt a warm wave wash over him and knew that Aerith had cast Curaga on him to lessen the pain in his leg.
She laid on the bed sobbing and clutching her head. 'Make it stop,' she silently begged, 'Please, just make it stop.'
The door burst open as she started to black out. The last thing she saw was a silhouetted figure rushing toward her, his long hair a mess and a definite limp, making him favor his left leg.
YK2: If you love me, you'll at least READ a friend of mine's FF7 fic!
Dracon: It's a fairly well-written story and has the Turks and a certain ninja in it.
YK2: PLEEEEEEEEEEASSSSSSSSEEEEEEE!? It's called Only An Aimless Traveller and is by Rogue Mistress! PLEASE READ! She's so upset because it's her first ficfic and only I've reviewed! If you've read my other stories, I've mentioned Hacker the Thief, well she change her name to Rogue Mistress OOB. (OOB = Out Of Boredom)
Surka: If you don't like Yuffie, Reno, or drama, then I wouldn't recommend it!
YK2: Oh, and if you haven't played FF7, ignore the MAKO enhanced bits, I'm a freak and love FF7 and think I'm a bit too into the game, but OH WELL! ANYwho! Thankies to:
tonkeli
Sqully
Starling 94
Rednight-rider
Zarrel's Darkside
AND to my reviewers that have read my other stories! (I love you guys!)
Hotaru170
Deplora
Neko-Yuff16
Ezri-Candy
YK2: YAY-NESS! Twenty reviews! ALL GOOD!
Surka: Well, that's enough to make someone happy. What's your all-time highest so far?
YK2: 66 on Not Your Average 'Vinnie's A Vampire' Story... And 49 on Tell Me I Was Dreaming. All my others were flops, but I'm thinking about re-posting The Original And the Clone, but that's seriously debatable! grrr.. This is anoying! I LIKE HAVING MY PARAGRAPHS INDENTED, LOSERS! Eh heh... Sorry, had to babble for a moment...
Dracon: Once again, thank you for reading, you're our job-insurance!
YK2: And please, read Rogue Mistress's Only An Aimless Traveller! Till Next Time! AUDI!!!
-Yuffie Kisaragi2, Surka Sokyu, and Dracon Fira-