I'd just like to say this is rated "R" for a reason folks. .

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--- Shift in PoV

' ' Thoughts

" " Dialogue

::: Flashback

/ Suggested Soundtrack

( ) Disc – Track Number

/--/ No Music, Silence

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/Tell Me – FFVIII OST (1-17)/

Aeris knew he was upset, but knew he would understand why she had to do this. She was aware of Cid following her to within a short distance of where he lay, watching over her shoulder. Kneeling beside him, Aeris carefully lifted Squall's heavy form so that she was able to cradle him in her right arm, taking care not to jostle him too much. But despite her care, he had begun to stir and she kept still, not wishing to encourage anything from him. She knew he would try to say something if he figured out where he was before she could heal his injuries, and that would be quite painful for Squall; something she was trying to spare him. But the inevitable happened and he began to open his eyes. Turning his head to view her, Aeris could see the thought in his eyes and tried to stop him before it was too late.

"No, Squall!" she said. "Don't try to--!" His head flew back, and while he was unable to articulate his pain through words, the formless guttural scream did it well enough. It did sound particularly pained, and while she noticed Cid's agreement by way of his cringe, she knew it was no where near the level Cloud had faced earlier. And for that, she was thankful. She didn't want to think Cloud would actually do someone that much harm over such a ridiculous thing…yet. "…talk," she finished in a quieter voice.

His beautiful blue eyes were locked onto hers as she stroked the side of his face with her left hand; the glistening tear tracks running sideways down his face and the intensity of his eyes the only physical sign he could give of his pain. She had heard that that was one of the most painful non-lethal injuries that could be sustained. And from what she could see in Squall, that seemed so. Calmly caressing his cheek, she spoke, "Let me heal you first, hmm?" And giving her trademark smile with accompanying closed eyes, she projected outward through her hand.

Squall could feel warmth flowing into his cheek from the person across from him. It entered through his cheekbone and traveled the length of his jaw, wrapping around his chin to hook back the other way, ending when it reached the joint on the other side. There, the healing wave spidered out, following all the flaming caverns he could feel in his face and down his neck to leave a cooling menthol mist in its wake. His eyes softened as the pain was dispelled and he sat up. Looking to Aeris as she sat back slightly herself, his own hand came up to rub his jaw. "Man," he started, with the smallest of sheepish smiles, "felt like he broke my jaw." The barely classifiable, slightly bitter chuckle died quickly when he saw Aeris look away briefly before meeting his eyes again.

"He did," she said, looking away again to Cid, then to a far off corner.

"Oh." His hand had paused in its soothing, but resumed haltingly as he looked away in thought.

"Shattered it, actually," she said as she slowly pushed up from the floor, lightly brushing her skirt.

"Yeah! We could hear every, single, ricocheting piece from even over there," Cid said with a disgustingly smug face. "You're lucky your neck didn't snap from the force."

He had jumped in a little too enthusiastically for Squall's tastes and he scowled, thinking as he got up, 'No wonder it hurt so much. I've never felt pain like that before…' Though he did realize the truth in Cid's statement, however reluctant he was to acknowledge it. The hand that had stilled against his face trailed to his chin before dropping away altogether, arm falling cross-wise his chest to hang by his side, his eyes once again finding Aeris.

Scowling to Cid at his remark, Aeris eased her face into one of seriousness as she let her hands slide from the fabric of her dress on one last brush, meeting Squall's open eyes. "Please, Squall," she said, voice sad and worried with eyes pleading, "don't challenge him like that."

Squall's eyebrows drew together. "What do you mean?"

She sighed softly, undecided on whether Squall was just playing dumb or really didn't know… "I mean physical combat," she said meeting his eyes. "You…should've known you wouldn't have been able to…beat him. Surely, you had to have known that," came the quiet whisper. "You've seen him fight…"

Squall was stunned, really. How had she known that? Had Yuffie told her? 'Most likely,' he thought. What was he supposed to tell her? That he knew Cloud was a stupendous fighter? That he didn't think Cloud would have been that difficult an opponent? That he didn't think he'd go that far nor have that much strength? …He didn't know what to say, to tell her, other than that he had obviously severely underestimated the man, perhaps misjudged him, as well. He really didn't think Cloud would have been that…well, good. It hurt his warrior pride to admit that he'd just been, how did Yuffie phrase such overwhelming defeats…spanked.

As for the misjudged factor, he really didn't believe Cloud would have fought back so…readily, or fiercely. The experience had taught Squall that he really knew nothing about the other man. All his perceived insights were…false? Inaccurate? Whatever they were, he knew that the other man was completely closed to him. And he was also finding that as this flight continued or neared its end, however one chose to look at it, that he knew very little about Aeris herself.

But whatever may be, he must've taken too long in his ponderings because Aeris broke him from his unknowingly runaway train of thought. "I don't think even I will be able to save you next time, Squall. So please, just…let him have his way," she implored softly, head bowed over fidgeting fingers. "Or I'm afraid that something worse will occur if this happens again."

'The audacity of that girl!' Squall thought. How could she stand there and say that to him when she hadn't exactly pushed him away! The clenched fist began to slacken as he really thought, on how he'd acted and how Aeris had. While she hadn't pushed him away, she hadn't…encouraged him, either. He didn't think so, at least. She had just stood there, not encouraging him to continue. Squall became frustrated. She was so confusing! By remaining unresponsive, he couldn't tell if she liked it or not. Maybe she did like it, but it was unwelcomed…? He shook his head. He didn't know what to make of this, really. But he did know that he was lost, and in deeper than he knew how to get out. Squall sighed, his frustration partially leaving him, and said quietly, "And if I refuse?"

The rare sight of Aeris's angered face turned up to his, tense arms shooting downwards and frustrated breath leaving her. "Don't be stupid!" she said, upset eyes glaring at him. "He said he could kill you and he can!" She huffed again before continuing. "And don't think he won't! You wouldn't be the first person he's killed," she ended somewhat more quietly than when she had begun.

Squall couldn't stop the disbelief at her statement from widening his eyes. "He's…killed because of something like this?"

Sighing again in exasperation, though with what or whom she didn't know, Aeris brought both hands to rub at her face. "No, that's not what I meant…not for something like this." Calming herself with a few deep breaths, she looked over to Cid who was still watching all of this with the acute senses of a town gossip. "But he has killed before, and not just the few stray guards here and there." She looked Squall in the eye as her body remained mostly towards the window.

"I just want you to be aware of what he's capable of. Don't think you're safe just because you watched after me for a time." Looking into her eyes as she talked, Squall knew she was serious. "And while he's grateful for that, and he is," she emphasized, "it does not absolve you from your recent…transgressions." Her eyes were strangely alight, intense with her passionate feelings.

Fuck, he was confused…and pissed. Holding up a hand to her and closing his eyes as he thought, he voiced them to her. "Wait. Wait just a damned minute here," he said, hand waving slightly. "You're telling me that you've had nothing to do with this?" The scorn in his eyes was impossible to miss. "You're just as much at fault as I am, Aeris," he hissed. She bowed her head, indicating that she knew that to be true. "If you felt I was 'transgressing'," he said vehemently, "then you should have done something to stop it!" Ironically, for as upset as he was, he didn't yell. His voice had maintained that normal volume, something he wasn't sure how he was doing. He was so hurt…and upset. How could she just turn on him like that?

"I know," she started, somewhat timidly, of all things, Squall thought. "I…should have done something, said something. But what?" she said, looking up at him with those beautiful eyes. "How could I push away something I wanted when I didn't know if what I'd lost was ever coming back?" He swore he could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes… Cid had shifted at that statement, grimacing and looking away. The movement had drawn Squall's attention shortly before he angrily refocused on Aeris and the argument at hand. "I was so happy to feel wanted like that again that I became lost in the feelings invoked within me. I didn't, couldn't push that away when it looked like he was lost to me."

The previously floating hand had been resting on his hip, and he brought that up to his face as he grimaced. The fingers had begun to dig into his forehead just before the bitter chuckle evolved into a full blown laugh. "A replacement," he snorted contemptuously. "A fucking replacement." He looked at her from behind his hand, eyes peering out from above his fingertips. "That's all I was to you, a fucking toy while he was gone!" He expelled his resentment through another laugh, holding his head. "I don't believe this… I really don't believe this…"

"You weren't, Squall," she said seriously, watching him and waiting to catch his eyes when he once more looked at her.

"Wasn't what?" he hissed. "Wasn't him? Is that it?" He flopped his arm to his side in disgust; with her, with himself, with the situation he now found himself in. "Yeah, I know that. You're all making that very clear to me."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," she said with a glare. "You both can be so stubborn at times," she reflected as her expression gained a more pouting aspect. "Look," she began, calming her voice and herself, "I…promise you that it hadn't been like that…at that time. But when he just suddenly came back from the--from wherever he was," here her hands once again occupied themselves, "I…yeah. That's…what you became, I guess."

She looked up at him, sorrow written into every little crease on her face; around her eyes, her dazzling mouth, her forehead. "And for that, I'm sorry. How ever unintentional it was, I never meant for that to happen. And all I can say is 'I'm sorry', Squall." Her entire demeanor softened with regret and guilt as she added, "I know it's not enough, but that's all I can give you, now."

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Yuffie couldn't move even if she had wanted to. She couldn't leave Cloud like this, not when he looked like he did; so peaceful and relaxed, for once. And she hadn't wanted to leave him, anyway. Never on their journey had he looked like this. Not while she was in his party, at least. There had been a few times where he and Aeris had been separated from the others, so she didn't know. There's so much that could have happened between them, even though their separations never lasted long, really. But I guess she had just thought it to be like any of the other groups when they were sectioned off from the core. Cloud and Aeris weren't the only ones to be isolated at times, oh no. In fact, it happened way too often. Sometimes in remote locations where even the PHS's signal failed to transmit and they were forced to wait until they could travel further along and try again.

She loved the feel of his hair, the weight of his head on her lap, the movement of his breathing… Yuffie sighed. This was perfect, even if the circumstances leading up to it weren't. She hugged him with her left arm a little more and felt more than heard the noise he made, the vibrations from his throat traveling up her leg, making her shiver. 'Damn, the man was sexy!' she thought gleefully, and squeezed him even more.

But her delirious moment was interrupted as she felt the presence of someone standing not too far from her. Looking over to them, Yuffie's adjusted eyes could make out some of the person. And from the way they were standing and the light that revealed some of the footwear, she sighed in disappointment as she saw it was Aeris. 'There goes my happy moment,' she thought dejectedly, pulling away from Cloud a bit and sitting up. She looked down at Cloud's peaceful, sleeplike face once more before craning her neck up to look at Aeris's. "What do you want?" she asked quietly.

Taken aback at the question and her tone, Aeris inquired bewilderedly, "…What?"

"I said," Yuffie sighed, "what do you want?"

Aeris's eyebrows drew together in thought. She wasn't sure she liked the way Yuffie was acting. It was almost like the younger girl was talking down to her. "I…just wanted to talk with Cloud," she said vaguely. Not that she didn't like Yuffie or was upset with her, there were just some things that she wanted to remain between Cloud and herself.

"And why should I let you?" Yuffie asked, quietly defiant. She noticed the shock on the older woman's face and took some amount of pleasure from that. She didn't know why, but she guessed she was looking at this as a sort of payback for hurting Cloud earlier.

"Because," she started with a touch of indignity, "I want to."

"Well, you shoulda done that first, then, instead of walking over to Squall!" Yuffie hissed back quietly. "Do you know how much you hurt him!?" She looked away in frustration but turned back to Aeris to vent the rest of her anger. "Damnit, Aeris, I've never seen him cry before! Never even heard of it from him. That's unthinkable." To drive this last point home, Yuffie met the green eyes above her, telling her how mad she was at Aeris for this. "And you did that to him. You did, Aeris. Do you even realize the implications behind that?" she asked with a shake of her head.

Yuffie knew what it meant, and was pretty sure Aeris was aware of the level of betrayal Cloud read from her, especially now that she knew of his reaction. "Why should I let you?" Yuffie huffed, looking out into the stars. "You obviously didn't think it was important earlier."

"Yuffie."

Aeris's tone was stern and actually commanding, two qualities Yuffie'd never heard from her before. Sighing, she glanced at Cloud briefly from the viewport. She saw that he'd been listening, which was illustrated by his partially opened eyes. "And what if I won't let you," she asked rhetorically as Cloud's eyes looked up to hers before returning to stare out the window. Still watching Cloud's face, Yuffie spoke again, "Fine. But only if he wants to." Cloud said nothing but closed his eyes and barely nodded his head.

The only movement Yuffie could discern was that the slow blinking of his eyes was the nod itself. Sighing in defeat, she gave Cloud's head one last pat to let him know she would move. Letting him sit halfway up first, she withdrew her legs and pushed herself up, shaking them a little to get the blood circulating a bit faster. Walking along, she stopped next to Aeris and eyed her, letting her silent glare do all the talking. Then she continued on her way and up the ladder none too quietly, heavy shoes clunking and hands slapping on each rung.

/The Successor – FFVIII OST (4-10)/

Turning her head from watching Yuffie go up, Aeris looked to Cloud, his frame still propped up by his right arm, the position he'd been in since he lifted away from Yuffie. The weak glow from the window backlit everything about him, but only so very faintly. His crown of hair was just glowing at its very edges, and his wings' own edges only hinted at as the left hugged close to the body and the right hid his shoulder from her. She couldn't decide if she should approach any closer or not. He hadn't turned or even looked in her direction at all. And he didn't exactly have that welcoming air about him that she was used to feeling; something she knew was reserved for her.

"Cloud," she voiced softly, waiting. No reaction. 'Okay,' she thought, 'he's really upset.' She moved the few steps forward required to place her hand on his hidden shoulder, her bare feet padding lightly. But just as she would have connected with it, he suddenly moved. She knew the action for what it was; he had used the pretense of standing to avoid her touch. Even now he wouldn't look at her, staring forward with arms crossed. So she turned to face the viewport as she stood beside him, her own hands clasped in front of her, intending to give him some more time. Still looking at the stars, she said just as quietly as before, "You know why I had to go to him." And she turned her head only enough to watch Cloud's reaction.

He had 'tched' and threw his head to the side away from her, bringing it forward-facing again with the angry snarl still on his face. "Damnit, I know that! I know why! But it still hurt!" Aeris looked down at her clasped hands, her feet, then back to gazing at Cloud from the side. Head swaying around a bit as the pain he still felt made its way onto his face, Cloud's hands planted themselves on his hips. "Damnit, Aeris, I…" Trailing off, he brought his right hand up to bury his face in it. Sliding it down to rest momentarily over his mouth, he let his completed thought be muffled, "I love you." His fingers then moved to rub at his eyes.

Dropping his hand away from his face, he brought his other up to once again intertwine his arms across his naked chest. "And just having you walk away from me like that for…for…for him, hurt," his quietly pained voice said as he looked off to his left, away from her. His hands moved slowly up and down his biceps, as if the slight chill of the room bothered him. "You're the only person who could have hurt me like that," he said softly, hands rubbing at his arms insecurely, still refusing to show his face to her. "And the last I thought ever would," was the even quieter tail end.

Aeris's own face scrunched up at that comment. She had known she'd had that power. A guy like Cloud doesn't just give himself fully to anyone, and the girl on the receiving end almost always knows exactly what she holds. And she had known…but she'd thought he would have taken it better than this. Coming to stand in front of him, she placed her hands on his arm, fingertips resting on the folded one underneath. She stared at her fingers as they sat on his hard forearms and squeezed a little; partly to feel how hard they really were and partly to try and get him to look at her. They really were quite solid, but she knew they had to be from his swords.

He didn't, however, look at her, so she had resorted to softly saying his name once more. And when that failed to make him turn, she had to stop herself from stamping her foot and the slight pout from taking over. "Come on, Cloud," she said, unable to keep the motherly exasperation out of her voice, "you're beginning to act like a child." That had gotten his attention, and he'd turned to give her an indignant glare, only softening at the combination of her closeness and the soothing motions of her hands on his arms, but only after a time.

Watching her fingers, she slowly let them begin to crawl up his chest, peeking up at his expression. He was watching her a bit warily, unsure of what she was up to. She returned to watching her fingers play their way to his neck, traversing up its side and then smoothly sailing down his jaw to grab his chin. His eyes were locked on her and she met them briefly before firmly securing him. Standing on the balls of her feet, she stretched up as she pulled his face down, pressing against his unresponsive lips. Standing again, she puffed out an annoyed breath and looked up at Cloud. His eyes were unreadable, but his body posture still spoke of his unrelenting countenance, and she knew a simple kiss was not going to dissuade him or make amends.

She reassumed her position and touched his chin this time, letting it linger after barely pursing. She then moved just to the right and planted another. As she continued to trace the path her fingers had traveled, she could feel the muscle there first tighten and then began to ease as she progressed. The point of joining at the end of her trail, just before she would have hit his ear, seemed to be the magic spot. Because as soon as she planted the feather-like touch, the arms that had been slowly loosening fell away completely to grab her own upper limbs, and she braced against his chest as he turned into her, kissing the identical place on her. It was only so long before both found each other's lips, and everything escalated downhill, or uphill, from there.

They were kneeling on the floor so suddenly that neither had time to realize who caught whom and who was sitting on whom. Aeris was more on Cloud than the floor and Cloud was too busy trying to inhale her through his mouth while pulling her the rest of the way in with the arm around her shoulders than to pay attention to anything else. His body was beyond his control now, and the right arm had her halfway to the floor from their sitting position before he'd separated his mouth from hers.

Cloud pulled back, holding himself up by his right arm, hand planted solidly on the floor next to her waist. He wanted to look at her from here, just for a moment. He wanted to remember the passion in her eyes, the desire, the unsure and nervous biting of her lip as she looked up from underneath him. But his eyes must have had their fill of it because he couldn't stop them from trailing down her body, returning to her face only after they had reached the end of her trail at his own hip.

He moved in so very slowly, first resting on his elbow then using his chest to direct her where he wanted her, flat on the floor. But as he watched the oncoming of his goal, she had so completely surprised him by turning her head to the side, baring her neck to him. Cloud whimpered. 'Such a submissive act,' he thought, mind clouded with lust, body lecherous intentions, and vice versa. And the labored, anxious exhalation forced out of his lungs at that action rammed into that bare skin.

The heated, emotion-laced breath caused Aeris to jerk her left arm back, smacking into his own right arm, digging her fingers into his bicep as she involuntarily arched up into him. The continuing attention he then gave to her offered skin only made her dig in farther as she tried to get a grip on her emotions, body, or maybe just him. He would have moved on to other areas, but her other hand gnarled in his hair kept him from moving as soon as the intention struck him, and he'd lavished her some more.

He eventually kissed and sucked his way along her jaw line to once again take her lips for his own. Still leaning solely on that right elbow, he brought up that hand to cradle her head as he continually pushed and dived and worked on and in her mouth, reaching everywhere he could. The arching of her body so sharply into his was driving him insane! He had to do something about that…! Placing his left hand on her hip, he –froze. Push down or pull up!? His mind warred with his loins and he knew which would win if this kept up. But the next plunge into her mouth and resulting arch made his decision, and as her hip pushed against his once more, the previously indecisive hand grabbed tightly and forcefully pulled her into him.

As her mouth and hands remained occupied with him, his slightly freer hand began its wandering over the curve of her hip, burdened with intent. Reaching to just above her knee, his hand felt as if it had traveled far enough and refused to wait any longer. So bunching up the lightly colored fabric, his hand pushed it out of its way. Only when there was no longer anything between it and her skin did it feel inclined to journey once more, and so it did.

Gliding along the soft and rounded form of her leg, it came to rest once more atop her hip, this time unhindered by the cloth even as it draped over it. Hidden by her dress, his hand had somehow gained newfound courage and proceeded to pull at her even more intensely, the fingers curving around the bone there and sinking into the wonderful softness of her cheek as his own hips thrust singly into hers. Repeated instances like this… The heat building there needed to be dealt with now.

Cloud had been completely covering her, and once he severed their mouths, he moved to lean on his elbow again. He wasn't thinking at all, not with his brain, and the heady look that could be seen from under his half-lidded eyes and felt through his ragged breath were proof enough of that. He was distantly aware of her expression; wonderment, a bit of fear that he'd pull further away and leave her in this torture. But it was the need from her that he was all too acutely aware of, and to frustrate matters, his own treacherous body returned it fully.

'Yes…dealt with,' was the fragmented thought. Glancing down her body to where his hand still pressed her into him, the not so unknown solution pulsed within him. He exhaled roughly as he pressed his lips to hers quickly and would have been amused as he warded off her answering tongue, but he was too far gone to feel anything other than what he was attempting to reach.

Looking up into her eyes, he slid along her body and maneuvered his left leg between hers. Sitting upright a bit more, he grabbed her other hip, lifting her so that he could slide the remaining leg under as well, propping her at a most enticing angle on his lap. She had placed her feet flat against the floor and her bent legs lightly hugged him, but they were begging for at least one pass of momentary attention. His eyes lingered on hers a bit longer, but jumped down to watch his hands as he slid them down her legs and up towards his sides.

Hands reaching the apex of her knees, he moved them back up, fingers diving under the cloth that still stubbornly clung to them, pushing it along and bunching it around her hips. His eyes were full, and he looked to hers one last time, searching for any disagreement. He knew, somewhere in his jumbled head, that this was the last chance out. And finding nothing foreboding across from him, the fingers that had already buried themselves under the straps, wrapped around them and pulled.

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/--/

Yuffie had been standing guard, so to speak, in front of the ladder chute. Just to make sure no untimely interruptions were made, from a certain storm or cigarette. While she was extremely pissed at Aeris for earlier, she knew that…Cloud still loved her, so she had to give them the chance to repair the damage. And like her mentor had said, a healthy relationship has fights. And as long as they make up, it will only become stronger. She sighed, somewhat dejectedly. It really was better that they resolve this right away before it became too deep, she knew. But Yuffie herself felt as if Aeris had betrayed her, too, in some way, by hurting Cloud like that. Although, she had no reason why she might feel that…

Thinking that this should have been enough time for them to mend the earlier tear, Yuffie decided to do a quick check up on them. 'They really should have come up by now,' she knew. She was far too lazy to actually go back down that ladder for only a simple check. So employing her shinobi skills, she climbed onto it and descended until she would be able to see around the chute hood. Hooking her knees around a rung, she let herself fall backwards. She didn't fail to impress herself with her mad shinobi skills, she told herself; she could see just under the metal hood encircling the ladder. It was there to prevent people from being thrown from the ladder in an emergency. But in this case, it just slightly hindered her efforts to be lazy.

Blinking a few times to force her eyes to adjust, she looked towards the viewport, the last place she had seen them, and just about fell off the ladder, hood or not. Struggling to hook the other leg back around the rung, she jerked herself up pretty damned fast, abs bitching at the effort, and scrambled back to her station. She hugged herself, embarrassed, and tried to force the blush from her face and the sight from her mind. But she found that both were proving hard to do. For such a short time, the scene had burned itself pretty damned deeply into her mind. And the resulting action of continually seeing that over and over and in such detail only made the blush brighter. 'How could there be so much detail when there had been practically no light?!?!?' she asked disgustedly. But no matter which way she went about it, the image of their backlit black shapes was all too clear.

They had to have both been kneeling, with an opposing Aeris leaning sharply away from Cloud. Her hands had been gripping his shoulders, at least she thought so. All she was sure of were the shadows of arms locked straight as Aeris supported her reclining form by holding onto Cloud, head and hair thrown back. When Yuffie thought about how that position could be physically possible, she had to put Aeris… above Cloud, so he could sit between her legs and have the freedom of movement to—'Iyada!!!!' she screamed mentally, hands holding her head as she shook it vigorously back and forth.

'Still,' she speculated more cautiously, 'that had to have been what he was doing. That region had been moving rather… obviously,' she remembered through a slew of emotions. But while most of that experience held varying degrees of discomfort for her, Yuffie did have to admit she loved the image of Cloud's silhouette with his wings back like that… If only they hadn't been doing what they were doing, she would have held that as a precious memory.

Squall came out from the kitchenette just off to her left and up a few paces. Seeing his brooding posture, Yuffie's senses heightened as her eyes narrowed. 'Trouble,' she knew. 'Well, as long as he turns down the other—Nooooooo! Damnit!' She cursed to herself. But at least this would temporarily distract her mind from other matters. 'He would come this way!'

She crossed her arms and puffed out her chest, throwing her head back as she'd seen her father do so many times, trying to come across as intimidating. Something she knew was impossible with only being barely over five feet. And as Squall finally got close enough to even notice she was there, 'almost crushing the promising ninja super star soon to be queen of the world insert evil mental laugh under his foot,' she ranted to herself, her eyes strained upward, delivering a menacing glare. "Yes?" she asked commandingly.

After overcoming his surprise of the sudden emergence of Yuffie from practically underfoot, his mood had dampened quickly. He was not in the mood for her antics now. "Move."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed a tad more. She could read his voice quite well, but alas, even eye candy, here, was not getting past her. Not until those two came up…if they did tonight. "You don't want to go down there," she warned him, although unknowingly to Squall.

Squall snorted quietly, temper flaring. "Yes, I do. Now move," he grumbled, ready to smack her out of his way if he had to. He would be 'returned' in several hours, and he didn't want to leave with this between them. He had to see Aeris now, if only to apologize, since he now knew wasn't going to win her from…Cloud.

Yuffie's voice took on a tone of condescendence. "I told ya you don't," she huffed, shaking her head.

Squall was upset, now. She had pushed his already low tolerance beyond its limit, and he'd had enough. "Damnit, Yuffie," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, gathering force to shove. "Move!"

And just as he was about to remove the obstruction, it spoke. "Fine, then," she relented darkly, "have it your way." Looking up to stare him down, 'yeah right,' she thought, she informed him, "You're not getting through. How about that?"

At Squall's infuriated growl and encroaching shove, Yuffie grabbed his offending hand with both of hers. She then pulled his arm further across his chest and past the shoulder he'd grabbed, setting him off balance. With him teetering and trying to regain his footing, he was an open target. But she didn't really wanna hurt him and it wasn't necessary yet, so she would settle for movements designed to discourage him. His arm still under her control, Yuffie yanked even harder and further, pulling up at the right time, forcing him to either flip with the motion or suffer a broken arm. 'Don't get up, Squall. Don't get up.' She knew the mental command was futile.

If anything, Squall was a fighter and would fight even when he was down. And true to her expectations, he slowly rose, rubbing his shoulder. Yuffie suddenly remembered that was the one Cloud had dislocated earlier. 'Man,' she thought, stunned, 'I bet he woulda been pissed if I'd gone ahead and broken it.' The glare currently directed at her was enough to make her second-guess her actions, but she was saved from further penalties as Cloud emerged behind her, thank Da Chao. She thankfully moved out of the way and turned to face him. His back was to her as he was currently helping Aeris step up and out of the chute. But her mouth fell all the way open and her body assumed her 'what the fuck happened to you' pose upon his turning around.

His chest was marred with…scratches! And they were deep! And still very new, too, for she could see they still glistened with the distinction freshly drawn blood had. It almost looks like someone had flattened their hands against him and just clawed inward…!!! Yuffie's mind went numb as she put the image from before and the proof in front of her together. When she had seen Aeris's arms out like that, and now the marks on Cloud… She had done this! Looking from Aeris to Cloud's chest, to his face, she repeated it again, the second time her and Cloud's eyes meeting.

A definite blush rose to his cheeks and he jerked his ahead away to blankly stare down the hall. But Yuffie had seen just what was in those eyes. Everything left unfinished from before not only lingered there, but remained insatiated. But, as if by magic, he suddenly became aware of Squall and the subject was forgotten, for now. Squall, for his part, had put the puzzle together, it seemed, without even needing the help of the semi-disturbing images. He looked like he was about ready to puke right there all over all of them. But being the fighter Yuffie knew him to be, he somehow managed to keep it all down.

Forcing back everything unpleasant that had just made itself known to him, Squall opened his eyes once more and turned to Aeris. "I want to speak with you," he said as calmly and undisgustedly as he could, eyes begging of her. He knew that while she had wanted that, the knowledge of just what had happened between the two of them and what that meant Cloud had done repulsed him to no end. But the other man would not have it, and stepped in to prevent any agreement she may have given, placing an arm between them and grasping her shoulder.

"We're currently busy, sorry," Cloud delivered with venomous glare. And breaking contact from Squall's assessing irises, he used his arm to direct Aeris to move with him down the hall.

Yuffie couldn't help but catalogue the additional puncture wounds on his right bicep as he passed by. 'Gee,' she wondered, 'where did those come from? He must be some wild ride.' Embarrassed at that thought that jumped into mind following that statement, she jerked her blushing face to watch her fidgeting hands and fingers.

Closing his eyes in realization, Squall thought on what he had seen in Cloud's eyes. Seen too well, and had to fight off another momentary wave of nausea before he gave the most damaging insult he could think of. Although, admittedly, not very in his mind. "Off to finish up, eh?" he began, reopening his eyes to see Cloud slowing to stop. "Couldn't get off earlier, could you. So you're off to make sure you do, is that right?" He knew he had hit the mark by the twitch in the other man's wings.

Cloud had looked down, playing it as an angered gesture. 'Was it that obvious?' Quickly closing his eyes, he snapped them open and his head up. 'No. It didn't look like it.' Turning around, he gave Squall a look of death, half-facing him. "If it is the case, it's none of your business. Now back off." That said, he hugged Aeris a little and continued on his way.

He gave a bitter laugh, refusing to back down just yet. On a roll, he voiced, "So, the mighty 'Demon of the Coliseum' is just a sexually frustrated, bad ass wannabe, know-it-all punk who gets all pissy when he can't jerk off."

Cloud froze so suddenly and Yuffie thought Squall was dead this time for sure. She had noticed that neither she nor Aeris could believe that had just come out of Squall's, their Leon's, mouth. Cloud turned, fist a compact weapon of deliverance by death, and looked at Squall. "Fuck off," he said, spacing his words for stress.

Squall had been about to make the perfect comeback to Cloud's fully, openly baited taunt, but withheld, the combination of the glare from Aeris and Yuffie's cement foot on his and iron fist in his side discouraging him. But it was the remembrance of pain that flashed throughout his body as he caught sight of Cloud's balled fist that convinced him it was not wise. His hand agreed with him as it rubbed his jaw. Dropping the damned thing for showing his unconscious recalling, he looked to Cloud briefly before dropping that, too. "This time," he agreed quietly, looking at his feet until they were out of sight in their chamber. There would be time later, to say goodbye.

And turning to glance at Yuffie's unreadable expression in her wary posture, he made his way to his thinking spot, the viewing room, to contemplate life as it was, is, will be, and may be upon his arrival home.

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OMG. This long ass chapter is finally done!!!! XD w00000000000000000000000000000000000000t! Only ONE chapter left and man will it be good! XD I will also include an epilogue in the last chapter to cover the FF7 vague-ish ending this story will have. ;; I guarantee no one will see this ending coming. Well, maybe the outcome, but not the method! XD

I couldn't decide if I should have made the sex scene full or not, as sparse or not. I wanted to say more, but felt that it was right for the time. I'm planning, at the very least, implications in the next chapter. Hmmmm. Did anyone get the 'obvious' comment? LOL. I thought it was freaking hilarious, but I may be the only one. I'm easily amused that way. ;;;;; Well, that was my longest chapter yet, but for those who actually like this story, I'm sure you'll feel treated. I've not given it it's subsequent revision upon writing, and I know it's bad of me, but I wanted to upload it immediately after writing. So if there are grievous errors, I apologize. Til next time, folks!

SHIT. It won't let me use asterics or plus signs for divisons! So sorry about the format change!