Inspired by so many, such as the Cloud/Yuffie friendship scene in Promising Entirely by mystic-angel1, Let's be Us Again by Deplora, Jade-Stellar's What's in a Name? and all other Squall/Yuffie fics out there.

Trust/Betrayal 1/?

"Aerith is pregnant with my child."

It's been almost two weeks since Squall uttered those words, but to Yuffie, it seemed like it was just a second ago. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath and began to knock on the door. She waited for a few minutes before she tried again. The door opened, and Yuffie saw the hope die in Cloud Strife's eyes when he saw her.

"Oh... hey,"

"I brought your favourite." Yuffie said as she raised a box of Cloud's favourite doughnuts. "Can I come in?"

Cloud didn't say anything as he let the girl in, wondering what could Yuffie want from him.

"So, how are you?"

Cloud locked the door and leaned back against it and watched the young woman place the box on the coffee table. "You tell me."

"I just wanted to check up on you. You've been calling in sick, everyone's worried about you."

"Haven't been feeling well."

Yuffie watched as Cloud walked past her and towards the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of beer. "Want one?"

Yuffie shook her head. "It's only ten, Cloud."

Cloud ignored her and sat on the couch, twisting the bottle cap open before tossing it on the table. "Suit yourself."

"Vinnie's been taking charge... he doesn't mind, but he's worried that you might not like some of the decisions he's made. There's been a whole load of things happening that required to be actioned, and we couldn't reach you."

"I trust Valentine. He won't do anything to hurt the company." Cloud answered after a drink, not looking at Yuffie.

"Yeah... but he feels like he's overstepping his bounds sometimes."

The blond man shrugged as he finished the rest of his beer. "He's more than welcome to. Is there any other reason why you're here?"

Yuffie tried not to flinch at the harsh tone of her boss and friend. "We're worried about you, You haven't answered our calls, look around you, everything's a mess! I know... I know how you feel, Cloud... but don't shut us out..."

"My girlfriend just dumped me after telling me she's been having an affair and she's now pregnant with his child... tell me how the fuck am I supposed to react?" Cloud snarled as he slammed the bottle on the table. "I don't need anything, I don't need anyone's pity!"

"It's not pity! We're worried about you!" Yuffie repeated her voice rising as she felt Cloud's anger, his eyes were red, his spiky hair unkempt, and it was obvious that shaving wasn't in his priority. He looked like a broken man, so different from the young entrepreneur she looked up to, and the friend that she adored.

"I don't need that either, and I don't need anyone, I certainly don't need you. Get out!"

"Nobody does." Yuffie whispered as she stood up, unable to do or say anything else to make Cloud feel better. She clenched her fists as she walked out. She had survived without crying, and she wasn't going to cry now.

Alone in his apartment, his self disgust grew. He knew she was only trying to help, but his pride couldn't, wouldn't accept any. It was easy to forget that Yuffie was also hurt, also betrayed by the man she loved and trusted. He snorted in disgust. He could never understand why Aerith would choose that bastard Leon, Squall or whatever he called himself. Most of all, he could never understand what Yuffie saw in the older man. It was more of a one-way relationship, Yuffie giving everything, with Leon barely giving the younger girl a glance.

He looked at himself in the mirror and didn't like what stared back at him. Yuffie was only being a good friend, and how did he treat her? Not better than Leon. He sighed as he looked around the mess he created for the past few days, and knew that there so much that he needed to do. He wanted to cry, to scream, to hit something, anything. He closed his eyes as he slumped to the floor and leaned his back against the wall. He loved Aerith so much, from the moment he saw her, she was his life. Now she was gone, he was lost.

"What the fuck am I going to do?"

There was nothing but silence, and Cloud expected no answer. There was no one to answer him, and if he wanted one, he'd have to answer that question himself.

That night, Yuffie practically dropped her body on her couch completely exhausted. Her whole body hurt, and after spending three hours kickboxing, two hours on weights, two hours rowing and an hour swimming, it was a miracle she was still alive. But she needed to move, to do something to the point of complete exhaustion. She'd be too busy thinking, and she'd be too tired to remember, and nights were filled with dreamless sleep, and by morning comes, she'd start the whole routine all over again. She groaned as she heard a soft knock on her door, and Yuffie practically crawled to her door. "Who is it?"

"It's me."

She opened the door and looked in surprise to see Cloud, still unshaven, but his hair was washed and he looked as if he'd finally gotten some sleep. "Can I come in?"

"Sure Cloud... are you..."

"I just came by to apologise." He said as he walked inside. "I was wrong this morning."

"No biggies." Yuffie replied as she gave him a smile. "How are you? Really?"

"Me? What about you? You looked like you've lost weight." Cloud replied as he looked at Yuffie, attired in a dark blue jogging pants and matching top. She's always been a little scrawny, even at eighteen, but the Yuffie he saw now, was thinner.

Yuffie shrugged. "You just haven't seen me in a while. Take a seat."

"I'm not going to be here for long, I just wanted to apologise from my behaviour. And before you can say that it's alright, it's not. You... you're involved in this too, you were hurt, but you don't go around acting like a complete bastard to your friends. What I did was unacceptable, Yuffie. Especially to you."

Yuffie gave a genuine smile as she gave Cloud a small hug. "Hey, I understand..."

Cloud sighed as Yuffie pulled away from him. "How do you do it? Wake up and go on with your life as if nothing happened?"

Yuffie shrugged. "I... I just keep myself busy so I don't have to think about it... you know?"

"To each our own, I guess." Cloud said softly as Yuffie sat back on the couch. "I should go."

"Wait. Are you... planning anything next week?"

"No." Cloud replied as he looked at the hesitant Yuffie. "Why?"

"Well, a month ago I booked this cruise. It's a one week trip from Costa del Sol to Destiny Islands. It was supposed to be for Squ--Leon and me, but well, that's not gonna happen now... I still have a ticket spare, and if you want, you can come with me. I can try to change the room reservations... if not, I'm sure we could order a cot or something and we could take turns, and I was planning to go on my own anyway, but I just thought you might want to go..."

Cloud was amazed at how many words Yuffie just said, and it was only because he'd known her for so long that he understood everything she just said. Could he really do it? Just leave for a holiday? Yuffie wasn't looking expectantly, as if she knew he'd say no. It was still next week, he can tie a few loose ends in the office... "When exactly do we leave?"

Yuffie looked completely surprised. "Thursday night. We fly to Costa del Sol and sail at 6 am on Friday."

"I'll have time to finish a few things at work then."

Yuffie nodded, still in shock. "Yeah, I'm sure Vinnie and the others would love to see you. I'll call the travel agency and see if we can arrange something about the room..."

"I'll sleep on the floor, I'll bring a sleeping bag with me. I don't want you going to any trouble at all."

"We can try, right?" Yuffie replied and looked at Cloud who was pulling out his wallet. "My treat, Come on, Cloud. We both need to get away, consider it as an early birthday gift."

"It's not right, Yuffie.. Let me pay half."

"It's fine... you can just take me to dinner some other time then." Yuffie offered and Cloud winced.

"I think I'm better off paying for the cruise considering how much you can eat, Yuffie."

The young woman would have been offended if she didn't realise that Cloud had actually cracked a joke. She smiled and punched Cloud lightly on the arm. "You said it, mister."

Cloud rolled his eyes and was shocked when Yuffie embraced him. He returned the embrace, and Yuffie's body shook, trying to stop the tears. "I'm going crazy... one minute I'm happy... then..."

"Let it out, Yuffie. Just let it out."

And after two weeks of bottling everything inside, the tears started to fall freely from Yuffie Kisaragi's face, and Cloud held on to his friend, allowing her to let everything out. It was time for them to get over it, and as much as it hurt, they would both move on.

End chapter 1