Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, but then again, neither does Square-Enix so blllllllllllllppppppppppp!

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"FIRE!!!" Screamed Jason. The rest of them stared at the door as it burst into flames.

Megan panicked. "Oh beautiful idea, Jason, burn us. Kill us all through incineration."

"TIDAL WAVE!!!" Jason yelled. The waters of the leviathan filled the room, doused the flames and brought the smoldering remains of the door crashing into the hallway. When the others stared at him, he could only show off his Enemy Skills Materia. "So I faced a Leviathan, big deal."

They continued to stare at him in amazement. "Aeris was with me." Understanding creeped into their faces.

"And you just reaped the benefits."

"Well, Yeah."

"Where would Buffie have run off to?" Harold asked more to himself as they ran into the hallway. The party ran outside. "Wait!" Harold stood in the doorway as the other three were suddenly caught in a net by Buffie who was above. Before Harold could reach for his knife, a shuriken was imbedded in the ground at his feet. Buffie had leapt off the roof and landed opposite Harold, with his friends in between them. Harold pulled out his rifle.

"Go ahead, Harold." Buffie's make-up had nearly all come off. She was looking like a 16-year old girl more and more. "I can use your buddies as cover all day."

Think Harold think. She has the upper hand, she's taunting you. Your friends are immobilized. What do you do? How do you handle this situation? He reached in his pockets again for the knife. A shuriken imbedded itself in his shin.

"Ah ah ah, no cutting your friends free." He pulled the knife from his pocket and threw it across the opening away from anyone. As Buffie stared at the knife Harold grabbed one of his grenades, pulled the pin and tossed it to Buffie. She barely had time to react to the oncoming explosive.

"AERO!!!" She let fly a tornado that sailed the grenade high above the buldings before it exploded. When the winds died down, Harold fired at Buffie, having taken careful aim while she was distracted with the grenade. She fell to her knee. Harold had shot into her left shin. "That hurts, Harold. It really does." She jumped high and let fly 3 shurikens at him. He deflected two of them. The third glanced off his gun and scraped along his arm.

Harold fired more rounds at Buffie. All to no avail. She was too quick. But she could be caught with a spell.

"ICE!!!" Harold let fly a shower of icicles from his hands. Buffie dodged all of them except one. The one that she didn't miss, she caught. She threw it right back at Harold who easily sidestepped it.

"C'mon, Harold, is that all you've got? Surely you can do better." Harold's frustrated look betrayed his lack of new ideas. She was very capable of darting around, even with that damn bullet imbedded into her knee. She had some sort of agility spell or something. No one was that nimble. Then it struck him, the necklace she was wearing. That had to be the key. If he could only get at it.

He dashed toward her. Her laugh penetrated his rage, infuriating him even more. His dash became more determined. If he could reach the necklace...

She leapt up and away from the oncoming bull. Her hands reached for the small shurikens that she had been using. But a better idea flashed across her mind. An insane smile escaped her lips. She grabbed the huge shuriken strapped to her back and let it fly. It imbedded itself into Harold's leg. The pain shot through him like a huge bullet.

"Aaaaaaah!" his yell pierced Jason like a spear. How could he sit there and do nothing while his friend suffered at the hands of this twerp?

How do I get us out of this situation in one piece?

"Is that ALL you got, Buffie?" Jason's yell were heard clearly from under the net.

"What?"

"Your puny shurikens, and weak spells? You couldn't beat anyone in a fair fight."

"SHUT UP! I'm tired of people telling me that I'm too weak. That I can't win because I'm too small. Well, not anymore. I'm going to take your map and then find the treasure for myself."

"Treasure? You're crazy. Weak, stupid and crazy, what a mix."

"I told you to shut up. One more time and I'll..."

"You'll what? throw a shuriken at me? Maybe 7? OOOOOHHHH, I'm scared. You're such a wimp. Look, Harold's already recovered from the shurikens you've thrown." Harold did his best to stand straight without wincing.

"That's it! You asked for it! COMET!!!" For a split-second, the sky darkened, and a giant comet came blazing for the net that held Jason, Megan, and Gary. Harold shot at the giant rock blazing towards Jason.

"REFLECT!!!" The comet slammed into a great big wall of green. It pushed against the wall, but to no avail. As it sunk deeper and deeper, Harold became more and more worried. Suddenly the comet bounced back into space creating a dimming effect as before. Through the dim, the old one didn't just disappear, but a new appeared heading straight towards Buffie.

"SHELL!!!" Buffie screamed the spell as the comet came ripping through the clouds. It passed through a multi-colored sheet then proceeded to clobber Buffie and the ground. When it impacted, it shattered into a thousand pieces leaving an unconscious Buffie lying helpless on the ground.

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"What should be done with her? ... I heard she's only 16. ... How could she? ... Why? ... What is Aeris decision? ... Will she be sentenced to something gruesome? ... Buffie, I don't trust a name like that." The crowd's murmurs filled Jason's head. Would Buffie really be sentenced? I mean she did steal the materia, but only because she was never invited to do anything.

Aeris stepped out of her tent along with the three voted officials of the town. "We have come to a decision!" The crowd shut its collective mouth to listen to the sentence she was going to deliver. "She will be locked up for the duration of Jason's journey!" The crowd murmured its agreement and wisdom. The guard grabbed a bound, screaming Buffie.

"You can't do this to me! I'm far too young! Don't do this! Show me mercy, oh great Aeris!"

"Your pleas fall on deaf ears."

"Not completely deaf." Shot Gary. The crowd fell into a shocked silence. The guard stopped his steady advance and even Buffie stopped struggling and screaming.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The true custom of Wutai is to grant one request of each member of the party leaving. It is customarily the materia that is placed before them that is requested, hence the origination of the passing of the materia. The request is repealed once the heroes return. The traditional returning of the Materia was born from this. Now, you have already sentenced Buffie so I cannot request for her to be let go; however, I formally request that you let her imprisonment be under my care." The crowd looked at him like he was crazy.

"You would let her join you? For the whole adventure? May I inquire why?"

"Never in the history of Wutai's heroes has there been a successful party without an experienced thief. I realized that we were missing one. And I assumed that because Buffie was so desperate to go that she would actually steal the materia to prevent us from leaving (successfully, I might add) that I can only assume that Buffie is our perfect choice for the position."

"Very well, you're request is granted. But Buffie, you will not recieve any materia for your journey."

"Thank you Elder. Your kindness knows no bounds."

This party is meant for either great rewards. The sacrifice made by it's team is noble. Or, it is doomed to failure. The sign of one being imprisoned is not a pleasant omen. Aeris thought this as Buffie was being released to Gary. We will just have to wait and see the outcome.

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"Adventurers from Wutai, be careful on your journey, remember that the easiest course is not always the most successful." After giving the other three their materia, Wutai sent their party off. The crowd cheered the group as they headed south. Jason's smile could be seen from the mountains off in the distance.

"A new adventure awaits us on this road. Let's make the best of it." Jason's words inspired them as they headed towards the mountain range.

Gary was bringing up the rear of the group, until Buffie fell back to join him. "Thank you." She leaned over and kissed his cheek in gratitude. He turned a bright red as a smile joined his ears.

"You're welcome." He nodded his acknowledgment. She smiled back at him.