Disclaimer: You know the drill, FF7 and the characters of FF7 belong to Square.

"So I guess it's official," Gigio began while adjusting his glasses, "We're a team from this point on?" He asked while extending his hand out to Cloud. The ex soldier stared for a minute before taking a glance at Yuffie who was nodding slightly with a smile.

"Yeah," Cloud replied accepting Gigio's hand, "I'll just have to let Reeve know in the morning."

Gigio nodded, "Very well," he began before looking at his watch, " it's late I better go, just contact me tomorrow."

"Where are you staying?" Yuffie asked.

"Well I haven't checked into a hotel yet, but that's the plan," he explained.

Cloud shook his head, "No you can stay here for the night. It's the weekend and its Midgar, it'll be impossible for you to find a vacancy now," he explained.

"I suppose you're right, are you sure it's okay?" Gigio asked.

" Yeah it's no problem. Teef you'll stay too right?" The blonde asked turning his attention towards her.

"Y, yeah of course, thanks," she replied a little caught off guard.

" Okay, you can take the couch if Gigio doesn't mind taking the floor," he explained with a smile.

"I'm perfectly fine with that," Gigio replied. Yuffie went and got some blankets for the two before saying goodnight to them. She was a bit on edge with Tifa, they ended up just giving each other a look that wasn't too friendly. She went to the room and fell onto the bed. 'This day had the potential to be so good,' she thought to herself 'what happened?' A second later she sat up when she heard the door close. There Cloud stood leaning against the door and rubbing his temples.

Yuffie smiled, "Interesting evening huh?"

Cloud rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it." The shinobi looked out the window and ran a hand through her hair. Things were going so well, they just couldn't be ruined. It was obvious that she didn't like the brunette's presence right now. She knew that Cloud and her had a history so she wasn't sure what to expect.

"Hey," Cloud began with a raised eyebrow, "What's the matter?"

Yuffie shook her head and let out a laugh, "Nothing, just thinking."

The blonde walked over to her and sat down on the bed. He could tell there was something on her mind, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

"Yuffie?" He asked. She was looking down and picking at a string that was sticking up out of the comforter.

"I don't want to ask but...Tifa came here for a reason...and that reason is you, so what's going to happen?" She asked hesitantly.

"Nothing," Cloud replied softly. Yuffie looked up at him with a questioning expression.

The ex soldier let out a deep breath, "I obviously have a lot to talk to her about. The last time we saw each other it was..." he began but trailed off when Yuffie looked away. "Yuffie, what you saw that time at the bar...I was confused. I'm not going to lie because I did have feelings for Tifa, and I still do but it's not the same. At that time I had already felt something for you but I wasn't sure what to make of it." The shinobi turned her focus back to the blonde as he continued. "But I knew that it was strong. And even then right after that moment when you had left all I could think about was you and how upset you looked. I went looking for you right after that. So believe me don't worry about Tifa...she's not the one I want. The one I want is sitting right here in front of me."

Yuffie smiled as tears welled up in her eyes. He couldn't have made her happier than he did at that moment. She wanted so bad to tell him right there that she had fallen for him practically since he arrived in Wutai and that she loved him with all of her heart. But she didn't want to ruin this, it was too soon. Wasn't it?

She let out a small laugh as she placed her hands on the sides of his face. She leaned in and kissed him passionately wanting him to feel how much she actually loved him. They broke a second later for air with smiles on both of their faces.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," Cloud said quietly, "don't worry."

Yuffie nodded, "I'm not worried about that if you're not worried about Gigio," she explained.

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, I think I can trust him. We'll see."

Yuffie smiled, "Thanks," she whispered.

"Better get some sleep," the blonde said quietly while kissing her on the forehead.

The shinobi nodded, " Yeah, long day tomorrow," she said in a somewhat nervous voice.

"Don't worry," Cloud began while settling next to her in bed, "Everything will be fine."

"So you use to live here right?" MeiLin asked while taking a sip of her coffee. It was the next day and MeiLin had taken Yuffie and Tifa out to eat. Cloud and Gigio had went to Shinra Inc. to talk to Reeve about their situation, and MeiLin thought it would be best to go out somewhere rather than have the two women stay together alone inside the apartment. It was no secret that there were definitely tensions between the two women, maybe even anger.

"Yeah I lived here a long time ago, well actually when I was about fifteen. It's changed a lot, but its for the better," The brunette replied while taking up another forkful of salad.

"Yeah it's definitely changed, the improvements are unbelievable...right Yuffie?" MeiLin asked nudging Yuffie who was staring blankly out the window.

"Huh? Oh yeah sure unbelievable," she said quickly as she began to gulp down her water. A silence fell over the table for a while and all that could be heard was the clatter of utensils. Yuffie tried hard to avoid Tifa's gaze but she could feel her eyes on her and it was driving her crazy.

"So um.... Tifa what brings you back to Midgar?" The doctor asked but quickly regretted it once it had already escaped her lips. The ninja shot her a look while kicking her from underneath the table.

Tifa laughed and took a sip of her drink. "Well it's kind of a long story, but I was basically here to see Cloud...but that kind of took another turn," she said as she glared at Yuffie.

The ninja stared back at her before smiling, "Well uh are we ready for dessert?" She asked while slapping the table with her hand.

"Oh yeah!" MeiLin chimed in, "I think I can go for some ice cream!"

Tifa shook her head, " Actually no I don't really want any dessert. But what I do want is for Yuffie to tell me why she stabbed me in the back like she did!" She said with a sarcastic smile.

'Oh gawd,' Yuffie thought, 'this is exactly what I was afraid of. This is what I was trying to avoid until Cloud talked to her.'

"Uh..." MeiLin started before Yuffie spoke up.

"I didn't stab you in the back Tifa, just listen and maybe you'll understand," the ninja began calmly.

"Listen? Listen to what!? Listen to how you stole him away from me? Listen to how you took away the one person who actually meant something to me? The one person who actually made me happy!" She yelled.

"Please just listen to me, I'm sure..." Yuffie began but was cut off by Tifa.

"NO! There is nothing you could tell me that would make me understand this! It's not fair that you're just using Cloud to get over Reno!" She said louder while slamming her drink on the table, causing some heads to turn in their direction.

"Reno!?" Yuffie uttered in shock. Nobody else in Avalanche had known about her dating Reno except for Tifa. She couldn't believe that she would throw that in her face after she knew everything that happened. "That is not true! Reno and me are so in the past and you know that! It's not about him!" She shouted back.

"You are such a liar!" Tifa yelled as she stood up out her chair.

"Oh please!" Yuffie shouted back as she stood up out her chair as well. "You're just upset about me and Cloud. I'm sorry that you feel that way because I thought we were best friends, but there's nothing that I can do to make you stop being angry!"

"Hey," MeiLin said while tugging on Yuffie's sleeve and looking around at all the people who had now focused all their attention onto the two girls before them.

"Actually there is! Break it off with him!!" Tifa shouted while leaning across the table.

"You're not serious," Yuffie replied in a shocked tone.

"Yes I am," Tifa said seriously.

A silence fell over the restaurant as everyone waited for the ninja to reply. But instead she just turned and walked out of the place.

"Yuffie!" MeiLin shouted running after her once she left the restaurant.

"Can you just take me back please?" Yuffie asked once she had stopped walking. A second later Tifa came out of the restaurant and walked over to MeiLin and Yuffie.

"Please no more arguing," MeiLin said holding Tifa back at arms length.

"I don't have anything else to say," Tifa said quietly.

Yuffie shook her head and began walking back to MeiLin's car.

"Let's just go Mei..." She started out but was cut off when a strong force knocked her back. A loud explosion was heard along with the sound of metal clattering. Screams were heard from every direction as the young ninja slowly picked herself up from off the ground.

'What the hell just happened here?' She thought to herself as she tried to focus her vision. Her eyes widened when she saw smoke and fire surrounding what use to be one of Shinra Incs. Company cars, or rather MeiLin's car.

"Yuffie!!" MeiLin shouted as she ran up to the girl. "Oh my gawd are you okay!?" She asked while inspecting her.

"Your car," Yuffie said in disbelief.

MeiLin stared at the burning vehicle, "Yeah I know," she replied worriedly. She turned her gaze to Tifa who looked completely shocked and terrified. She walked over to Yuffie and MeiLin in complete silence. MeiLin looked around at the crowd of people that had formed. "Is anyone hurt? I'm a doctor," she began while moving through the crowd.

Tifa looked at Yuffie who was still staring at what was left of the car. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

Yuffie nodded still not taking her gaze off of the sight.

"Come on, let's get away from here," she said softly while grabbing the ninja by the arm and leading her away from the scene. "MeiLin!" She called a second later and the doctor ran over to the two. "I think we should call the others," the brunette said still guiding a shaken Yuffie.

MeiLin nodded, "I'm on it."

"Then this person is in Midgar, they must have followed from Kalm," Gigio explained while pacing the room.

"Try Wutai," Reeve said, "This person has been on the path ever since the beginning...I just wish I knew who," he finished with a sigh as he took a seat on the couch.

"Well obviously this person is sneaky, this person is smart and seems to always be two steps ahead of whatever Yuffie is going to do or where she is going to be, their definitely doing their homework," Tifa explained from her seat on the floor.

"Inside Connection?" MeiLin asked.

"Who knows," Reeve replied while running his hand over his face. MeiLin took a seat next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe were just looking too hard, maybe the answer is right in front of our faces," Gigio spoke again.

Cloud was silent as he held Yuffie in his arms. He was thinking hard about who it could be, but he couldn't come up with an answer and it was driving him crazy. He couldn't take much more of these threats on her life, he couldn't take much more of her being scared, of her being unhappy.

"They must have been watching me ever since I got here. I mean how else would they know that I ride in that car. They must have been watching me and MeiLin's every move," Yuffie explained quietly, "It's one thing that their after me but now I've involved MeiLin. She could have been in that car when I wasn't even around, and..."

"Hey don't worry about me. It's not your fault, and besides I wasn't in the car so that's all that matters," MeiLin explained with a smile.

"I'm tired, I just want to go to sleep, forget about this whole day," Yuffie said quietly.

Cloud kissed the top of her head, "Yeah that's a good idea," he replied softly.

MeiLin sighed, " Yeah perhaps we should all try to get some rest, it's been a pretty horrible day."

Everyone got up and said their goodbyes before leaving. Gigio and Tifa had found a hotel and were heading back there for the night while Reeve was going to stay over at MeiLin's. Since she only stayed a few doors down from Cloud he thought it would be a good idea to stay nearby that night just in case anything happened.

"Uh Tifa," Cloud began before the brunette left.

"Yeah?" She asked turning around to face him.

"I kind of needed to talk to you about some things," he said while scratching the back of his head.

Her crimson eyes sparkled as she smiled, "Yeah I know. I needed to talk with you too."

The blonde nodded, "Yeah I figured that much. I was going to talk to you tonight but....I think it would be best for me to stay with Yuffie, I mean after this day I don't really want to leave her by herself."

"Yeah I understand," She said quietly, "We'll talk later?"

"Yeah," he replied.

She smiled before turning to walk away, "Goodnight," she said softly before catching up to Gigio.

Yuffie let out a sigh before entering the bedroom. Her day had been complete crap. She couldn't believe that whoever this person was that wanted to kill her was actually going to such great lengths to do it. Following her around from place to place and watching her every move. She was growing tired of it. She just wanted to be able to go back to Wutai and lounge around her house or enjoy the night air on Dao Chao.... well maybe not Dao Chao ever since her nightmare. She sighed, now even the place that she loved the most she was afraid of, and all because of this person, this stupid cowardly person. Tears stung at the ninja's eyes. Crying? What was the point of crying? She seemed to be doing a whole hell of a lot of it lately and all it did was make her feel even more miserable. But there was nothing she could do, they just came freely. A sob escaped from her throat as she walked over to the window and looked down at the city. She should have been enjoying the city nightlife with Cloud instead of wallowing in misery. She should have been laughing or gossiping with MeiLin. She should have been.... Yuffie. Not some distressed girl. Another sob escaped from her as tears streamed down her face. She wanted nothing more than to go back eight years ago when she had nothing to be afraid of. When she was just a young kid. When her father "Lord Godo" was ruler over Wutai, and everyone feared him. She always felt safe having such a powerful father. But now what did she have? She was ruler now and she had nobody. Sure she was surrounded by people day in and day out, but who could she really trust? At this time she couldn't trust anyone, and she hated feeling this way. So confused, so alone, so helpless.

"Yuffie?" A voice asked from behind her. She kept her focus on the city outside although she could barely see anything because of the tears in her eyes. "Yuffie," the blonde said again placing a hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes as tears continued to run down her face. Cloud's heart ached to see her like this. He knew she was going through hell, and it was killing him that he couldn't put a stop too it. She turned around and walked to the other side of the room trying to regain her breath from all of her crying. She looked at Cloud who had a concerned expression on his face. She looked away as fresh tears began to fall down her face.

Cloud walked slowly over to her as her cries became louder. A second later she crumpled to the floor as a deep sob erupted from her throat. The ex soldier hurriedly dropped down to her side and took her into his arms as he rocked her slowly. "Everything's going to be okay," he whispered to her. Her hair was covering her face now and she shook violently every time a cry escaped from her.

"No it's not, it's just going to get worse," she said in between cries, "anyone could have been in that car. Me, MeiLin, Tifa. . I would never forgive myself if anything happened to someone else. This person is after me, not them. Nobody else should have to suffer." Cloud closed his eyes as he held her tighter. She was so worried about anyone else getting hurt that she was making herself miserable.

"Yuffie that's not going to happen. They can try but their not going to win. Believe me. I promise you," he said quietly to her.

"No!" Yuffie shouted as she pulled away from Cloud and stood up. "You're not always going to be able to be around me, or MeiLin or anybody else that knows me. And I don't expect you too, because its impossible," she began, "Bottom line is everyone is in jeopardy until this person gets what they want!"

"Well their not going to get what they want," Cloud replied firmly.

"Really... maybe it would be a lot easier if they did. At least everyone else would be safe!" She shot back.

Cloud jumped to his feet and stood right in front of Yuffie. "Don't say that!" He said loudly while grabbing her by the arms, "Don't ever say that! You think you'll be solving the problem just by giving up and dying? That's not the answer! And it's never going to be! Yuffie if something happens to you, what happens to everyone else who cares about you? This isn't just about you!"

The ninja stared wide-eyed at the man before her. She wasn't expecting that kind of reaction.

Cloud sighed, "It's not just about you...its about me. It's about us," he started quietly. Yuffie blinked a few times in shock before he continued. "What would happen to us? Or me.... I wouldn't be the same without you, I need you. Don't you understand that?" He said quietly as his eyes filled with tears. Yuffie's heart broke to see him so upset about the thought of losing her. And at the same time she was touched to know that he cared so much. "I love you," he said softly. Yuffie's heart began beating crazily once she heard that.

"What?" She asked still a little unsure.

Cloud nodded as he brought his face closer to hers, "I said I love you," he said calmly. Yuffie's head was spinning. She didn't know how to react to this. She always imagined the moment when he would tell her, but it just seemed like a far off dream, she wasn't expecting it to happen so suddenly.

"Oh Cloud," she began quietly, "I love you too," she said inching closer to him.

The blonde shook his head, "Then don't give up. Or else you're giving up on us," he started, "and I'll be here for you every way I can. But I need you to be strong it WILL be over soon. I promise. But you can't give up."

Yuffie nodded, "I won't," she said quietly before collapsing into his arms. Cloud held her tight before she pulled away and stood on her tiptoes to seal his lips in a kiss. Tears continued to fall from her eyes, but this time around they weren't really tears of sorrow. She was happy to know that she had Cloud with her through all of this, and that he loved her. If it wasn't for him she wasn't sure if she would be able to handle this.

"I love you so much," he whispered to her once they had broke from their kiss. Yuffie stared back into his deep blue eyes and could tell he really meant it. She looked down as he placed his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him.

"Do you really?" She asked quietly while still keeping her focus on the floor beneath them.

"You know I do," he replied softly while holding her tighter.

She looked back into his eyes. They looked even more beautiful in the moonlight. "Prove it," she said quietly never leaving his gaze.

The blonde's eyes widened. "What?" He asked a little surprised.

Yuffie nodded, "Yeah," she replied "I need you to take away all my sadness, just make me forget about all this, You're the only one who can do that. "She said while searching his eyes for an answer. "I need you," she said in barely a whisper.

Cloud stared back into her stormy gray eyes before he leaned down and kissed her more passionately than he ever had before. Yuffie threw her arms around his neck as she returned the kiss in full. Her mind was reeling and her heart was beating crazily. A moment later her back was pressed against the wall as the blonde continued to kiss her passionately. He traveled down to her neck as she let out a sigh and ran her hands through his soft blonde spikes. He made his way back to her lips as his hands roamed over her body.

The ninja closed her eyes as she enjoyed every moment of her loves touch. She let out a slight moan as one of his hands traveled up her shirt. She felt herself turn a shade of red, but she quickly dismissed it once she looked into the blonde's deep blue eyes again. She wanted nothing more than him and the look in his eyes sent her overboard.

"Cloud," she whispered in a staggered breath. She gasped in surprise when he picked her up with ease and walked over and laid her on the bed. Her breathing quickened when he settled on top of her.

"Do you trust me?" He asked breathing heavily.

Yuffie nodded as she placed her arms around him pulling him closer on top of her. "You're the only one I trust," she whispered before entering the most wonderful night of her life.

Authors Note: Oooo I am so sorry if this chapter sucked. I was going to make this a slight lime but....I don't know I didn't want to mess it up so I decided to leave the rest to the imagination, hehe. Don't hate me.