Author's Note: I am in complete and utter shock. I mean, 24 reviews for one chapter?! I'm so glad the story was that well received. I never dreamed it would be. I LOVE YOU, GUYS!!!
By the by, I'm taking artistic license with Godo Kisaragi and probably making him out of character. Please don't kill me.
[Disclaimer: No, I do not own the characters portrayed within this story unless they are unusually one dimensional, which would signal them as being my original characters. My lovely Squall is still owned and probably will be forever owned by Square. The same goes for Yuffie, who I must say is my absolute favorite female video game character of all time.]
Chapter Two: Dampened Spirits
Peaking around the doorway of her parents' bedroom in their small house, a four year old Yuffie watched as her mother and father fought once again. Even though it was a regular occurrence in their household, the child couldn't help but realize that it wasn't right. Her friend's parents never fought like this. As her father's voice rose in anger, she clutched the small teddy bear more tightly in her arms.
"Amaya, I refuse to allow you to leave again," Godo Kisaragi bellowed, swaying slightly as he stood in front of the bedroom doorway with his arms crossed. He glared angrily at his wife, who was busily throwing her clothing into a suitcase where she had already placed most of her daughter's clothing. Godo drunkenly stumbled across the room and grabbed his wife by her shoulders and spun her around. "Are you listening to me, Amaya?!"
Amaya roughly pushed her husband's hands off her shoulder and continued to pack her suitcase. Yuffie noticed the large purple bruise already forming around her right eye from the fight that had occurred earlier in the day. "Godo, you are drunk. You promised me you wouldn't do this again. Yuffie and I are leaving," she said rather calmly, her tone low and even. As she bent over to pick up the suitcase, her waist length black hair cascaded around her face where she hastily brushed it to the side. "Now, move Godo."
In slow motion it seemed, Yuffie watched in terror as her father stalked to the closet and threw open the door. Reaching in, he pulled out the pistol and aimed it at his wife. "Amaya, I'm telling you one more time to unpack that suitcase and get this crazy idea out of your fool head. You can't leave me. I will not allow it."
Turning her back on her husband, the woman calmly walked to the door and took one step out into the hallway. That one step cost her life as Godo cocked the gun and pulled the trigger. As the gunshot rang out, Yuffie cried out while she watched her mother fall to the floor, her eyes already glazed over and lifeless.
Jolting awake, Yuffie sat up on her makeshift bed and drew her knees up so she could wrap her arms tightly around her legs. She gently rocked back and forth in the bed as the memory of her mother's death replayed over and over in her mind. Beginning to shiver, she realized that not only was she covered in the sweat that normally accompanied her nightmares but also that her clothing was still soaked from the rain earlier. A drop of water falling on top of her head caused her to look up and grimace when she realized that the roof was beginning to leak.
"Perfect," she muttered, slowly standing up and dragging her pallet across the dusty floor to the other side of the room. This was the fourth leak in the past week her 'home' had developed and if they kept showing up, she knew she would have to find another place to stay.
Climbing back onto the bed, she dug around in her various threadbare blankets until she found what she was looking for: an old bedraggled teddy bear, nearly falling apart at the seams. Its once fluffy brown fur had become a flat, matted mess and it stared lifelessly at its owner through one lone button eye that was barely hanging on by a mere thread. Yuffie hugged the bear to her chest and lay down upon her bed, silent tears welling up in her eyes before spilling their dams and streaming down her pale cheeks. "Goodnight, Moosh," she whispered to the bear, ignoring the chiding voice in the back of her mind that told her she was too old for stuffed bears. Another violent shiver racked her frame and she curled herself into a fetal position, pulling the blankets tighter around herself and praying to whatever gods would listen for a dreamless sleep for once.
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Covering her mouth as another hacking cough erupted from her lungs, Yuffie stumbled down the crowded sidewalk. Her feverish eyes began to burn and she rubbed them with the sleeve of her once white sweatshirt, struggling not to fall as she swayed to the left. As she leaned into something, she felt rough hands shove her away and heard a disgusted voice telling her to watch where she was going. Closing her eyes momentarily, she regained her balance and began her trek down the block once more, ignoring the prickling feeling in her skin. It felt as though the hairs on her arms and legs had turned into tiny needles and were simultaneously digging their way into her flesh.
Even with the sun glaring down upon her back, shivers still raced through her body. And while those around her were shedding their jackets in the unseasonably warm October weather, Yuffie wrapped her sweatshirt around her even tighter and wished she had been able to find a pair of pants instead of the short shorts she wore. Her head lowered and nearly buried in the collar of her shirt, she wished she could just curl up in her bed and try to sleep. But, given the fact that she had been unable to find a victim that met her standards since a few nights before and the fact that she had splurged this morning when she bought that cup of coffee from the gas station, she really needed to grab at least one wallet today.
Lifting her head, she spotted a suitable victim. The man wore a pinstriped blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and carried his designer jacket on his left arm. On his right wrist, Yuffie spotted a gleaming gold watch that signified, in her mind, that he would be able to spare a little cash. Casually strolling up to him, she carefully reached into his back pocket and pulled out the leather wallet only to sneeze right as she was placing it into her own pocket.
The man turned, giving her a disgusted sneer that turned to an enraged scowl as he eyed his wallet still in her hand. "Shit," Yuffie muttered quickly before taking a deep breath in her aching lungs and began to run down the street. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the man was quickly gaining on her and she silently cursed the illness that had caused her to become so weak. Her legs ached more with each stride and her stomach began to churn, nearly causing her to stop and vomit right then. But, choking down on the bile rising in her throat, she forced herself to go on.
She turned to the left and stopped suddenly, blinking when she realized that this was the same alley where she had escaped the scarred man only a few nights before. Gasping for air, she turned to see her most recent victim confidently striding up the alley, throwing his jacket to the side where it landed atop a few wooden crates. Yuffie slowly backed up to the end of the alley, clutching her violently churning stomach while she silently calculated her best course of action. One look at this man's face told her that any lies she could come up with would be proved useless.
Finding her back pressed against the back fence, she began to slide across to the dumpster, planning on escaping like she had earlier. Just as she was about to jump, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her and caused her to fall back against the fence and sink to the ground, her eyes clenched shut.
"Well, well," the man began, his slick voice seeming to drip oil as he spoke. "Looks like you've no where to go, bitch." He continued to steadily approach her, his bright green eyes narrowing as he watched her squirm under his gaze.
Yuffie reached into the pocket where she had stuffed his wallet and shakily held out her hand to give it back to him. "Please don't turn me into the cops, mister," she pleaded, her head and stomach ganging up on her and causing her vision to swim. When she realized he wasn't going to take his wallet back, she scooted over to where she was in the narrow space between the dumpster and the fence.
Eyeing her, the man licked his lips and casually pushed her hand holding the wallet away from him. "Since you're so intent on getting my money, perhaps you should do something to earn it," he said lecherously, beginning to unbuckle his belt. "And then I won't turn you into the cops."
Her eyes widening in shock and fear, Yuffie lurched to her feet and frantically began trying to climb atop the dumpster. Hundreds of thoughts flew through her head, most of them involving her being raped in broad daylight in this crowded city and no one coming to save her. After all, she was only a street rat, vermin, worthless, like she had been told her whole life. And even if the man killed her after he had his way with her, no one would care. It would only be one less person in this already overcrowded metropolis.
A hand grasped her calf just as she reached the top of the dumpster and dragged her back down to the ground. A scream pierced the air and she looked around in shock, only realizing it was her own scream when her victim-turned-assailant clamped his hand down over her mouth. "Now, listen, bitch," he spat at her, his hand on her mouth pushing down so hard that her teeth cut into her lips. "We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way. Your choice."
Her indigo eyes wide with fright darted around the alley, looking for anything to help her. And somewhere in the back of her mind, she was silently telling herself to just give in. She had always known it would come to this one of these days. It was just a matter of time until she was caught and forced into it.
Bile began rising in her throat, both from her illness and the thought of what was about to happen to her. Hearing her beginning to choke, the man removed his hand from her mouth and then immediately started cursing as she vomited on his blue pinstriped shirt. "You bitch!" he bellowed, raising his hand to slap her.
In fear, Yuffie cringed, expecting the blow to come but never feeling it. Instead, she heard the loud 'smack' as something else was struck and her assailant's loud groan of pain. Opening her eyes, she saw the man she recognized as Squall Leonhart from his driver's license leaning over her now unconscious attacker.
Too weak to run, Yuffie shakily sank to the ground, her eyes closed tightly as she awaited the attack she was sure to come from her rescuer. After all, she had robbed him and lied to him only a few nights before. He had probably only saved her so he could have the pleasure of raping her himself. A dark shadow fell over her and she wearily opened her eyes, staring up into his own stormy blue ones. "Please," she whispered, unable to get her voice to work as another coughing fit set in.
Squall kneeled down in front of her, eyeing the vomit present on her shirt and on the ground with disgust. Taking his eyes off of that, he finally got a good look at her and recognized her as the girl who had taken his wallet a few nights before. "Yuffie, right?" he asked, sighing as he remembered her parting words as she jumped this very fence.
Yuffie mutely nodded, slowly pushing herself to her feet and using the wall behind her to help steady herself. "I... I... still have your wallet," she stammered, pushing herself off the wall and gently pushing past him. "Follow me and I'll give it back." Wrapping her arms tightly around herself as another shivering fit set in, she looked over her shoulder to see if he was following her. Indeed he was. In fact, he was watching her with hawk eyes it seemed to make sure she wasn't going to try to escape again.
Quickening his pace, Squall began to walk beside her, his strides matching hers. "What happened back there?" he finally inquired, giving her a questioning glance as they passed through the crowds of people, who were, no doubt, on their lunch breaks.
"Oh, that." She took a deep breath, ignoring the wheezing sound her lungs made as she did so. "I happened to pick the pocket of the wrong person this time," she stated nonchalantly, lowering her gaze to the ground. "I seem to be losing my touch." Her stomach turned against her, causing her to pause mid-step and try to keep the nausea down to minimum. She ignored the few disgusted glares she was receiving from passersby who noticed her vomit stained shirt. She was used to glares like that.
"Maybe you should get a new profession then," her companion of the moment suggested sarcastically, stopping to wait for her to continue on their trek. He leaned against the wall of the building behind him with his arms crossed and his head slightly lowered so that his russet bangs fell across his eyes as he glared at her.
Yuffie bit her lip, wincing when she accidentally bit down on a place where her teeth had cut it just moments before. "Look," she said calmly. "You don't know me. You don't know what happened to me. You don't care what will happen to me. So let's just go get your wallet so you can get back to your life and I can get back to mine." She began stomping off, not waiting for him to join her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him trot up to her side and she briefly wondered what use a short sleeved leather jacket like the one he wore would have. In the winter, it wouldn't keep out the chill and in the summer, it would only add to one's discomfort. Shaking her head, she chased the thought out of her head and began to concentrate of more important things, like how she was going to get over this cold that seemed to have settled in her body.
She sniffled loudly as her nose began to run and then groaned as it started to stop up, forcing her to begin breathing through her mouth. Why was it that colds seemed to just jump you all at once? One minute, you can be breathing fine and the next, it feels like you have a brick wall blocking your nasal passages. "You're sick, aren't you?" the man beside her asked.
"Gee, what gave it away?" she asked sarcastically, her voice coming out slightly nasal.
"Maybe you should see a doctor about it."
She turned to glare at him, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Look, genius, I don't need to see the doctor. I'll be fine in a couple of days." Bringing her eyes back to what lay before her, she muttered, "besides, what would I pay him with? I don't think they'll accept IOU's."
They walked in silence the rest of the way to her warehouse, and Squall eyed her curiously as she began to crawl through broken window that served as her door. He continued to stare until she finally beckoned him in. Carefully avoiding the broken glass, he managed to make it through the opening without tearing either his clothes or his skin only to find himself inside a dusty room. Curling his lip in disgust, he followed her up the stairs as she shakily climbed them, pausing as she coughed a few times.
Finally reaching the attic, Yuffie gestured over to her makeshift table where his wallet still lay. "Everything's still inside it." She watched in slight amusement as he obviously didn't believe her and began to flip through the few things which it contained. Seeing his satisfied smirk as he placed it into his back pocket, she quickly sat down upon her bed as a wave of dizziness swept over her. "Now, I hope you don't mind me not escorting you out, but I'm feeling a little dizzy and I don't think I can make the stairs again."
Squall stepped over to her and placed a hand flat against her forehead. "You're burning up," he hissed, taking a closer look at her feverish eyes. "You really should get to the doctor or a hospital or something."
"I told you before, I don't need to see the doctor and there is no way in hell I'm going to the hospital," she muttered tiredly, clenching her eyes shut as the dizziness grew and was soon joined by a pounding headache. Her eyes jerked open when she felt arms go around her and pick her up. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm taking you to the hospital. You're sick."
Kicking and screaming with all her might, Yuffie tried to get out of his grasp, screaming incoherently about hospitals killing people like her. The headache in the back of her head grew painfully until, thankfully, she blacked out and fell limply in his arms.
Author's Note: Okay, there it is. So, did it live up to your expectations? I hope so. I would be really shattered if you guys didn't like it. Anyways, drop me a review please.