The warm breeze blew against Yuffie's face and into her hair and she glanced over her shoulder at the deep orange creature gazing at her frame.
"We're almost there, Red!" she shrieked, excitedly. "We're almost in Wutai!"
He smiled. He had never seen her so happy, shining like competing with the sunlight as Highwind neared the Wutai mountain line and then, if you watched closely, you could see the green grass fields and the odd houses as the Ancient city of Wutai peaked behind the mountains. Yuffie beamed at Cid, who had come to the deck to admire the view. There was no denying it; Wutai was beautiful.
As they landed, Yuffie saw the faces of the people, all of them smiling happily as she waved at them. They're all here to welcome me, she thought. Yuffie Kisaragi is back home. She jumped down to meet the familiar faces, she greeted her old friends in her native language, she hugged her former nanny, Shiri and did a traditional Wutain greeting among the company of her father's pagoda's Masters. The woman, who ran the cathouse, Yirike, gave her a kitten she had named after her and the little Yuffie-kitten meowed sweetly. Then, the honourable Lord Godo of Wutai, walked towards her daughter and Yuffie beamed at him, as people stepped aside. Godo wore a smile much like the one he had after Yuffie had beaten him in the last floor of the pagoda.
"Yuffie," he said with a Wutain accent.
"'Sup Pops," Yuffie greeted and winked at her old man, which shocked some of the older village folk. The younger just smirked. They knew what to expect from her. And so did Godo.
"You spunky little brat," he laughed and walked to hug his daughter. Yuffie hugged back. I'm home...
"Oh, dad! I almost forgot!" She let go of her father and turned around hastily. "Father, this is ...My friend. Nanaki," she smiled at Nanaki, who walked slowly towards Godo Kisaragi. Yuffie was glowing, but Godo didn't seem too thrilled. He eyed Nanaki very suspiciously.
"A friend, huh?" He turned his eyes on Yuffie.
"Will there be a ceremony later this evening, dad?" Yuffie changed the subject quickly. She knew exactly what her father's words would've been next. He's so... Racist sometimes. She huffed angrily. I wish he wasn't. So prejudiced, he hasn't even gotten to know Red yet. He doesn't know, I- she paused and gulped. Love him? Do I?
"Yes, the gold fish ceremony will be held tonight, Yuffie..." Godo glanced at Nanaki disapprovingly once more. "I shall... see you there then. Get some rest." And so Lord Godo walked back to his apartment, as Yuffie and Nanaki were directed by the villagers to Yuffie's own house, where they could stay and rest for a while.
Nanaki sat in Yuffie's house, gazing into the air, wondering how he'd gotten here. Yuffie's father certainly wasn't too friendly, he thought to himself. But why should I care about his opinion about me? To many people I'm just an animal, an odd creature. He felt something stung his chest. A freak. And on that moment, he hoped more than anything that even if the whole world thought of him as something unnatural, Yuffie wouldn't. For Holy's sake... When did she become so important to me? And... Why does it feel so ...natural? Like I've always- he paused. Loved her?
"Red?" a voice suddenly asked. He turned around.
"Yeah, Yuffie?"
Yuffie snickered. "You did it again!"
"What?!" Nanaki seemed confused.
"You said 'Yeah'. You're picking up a habit, I'd say," she teased. Nanaki flushed a little.
"I'm not!"
"Hehe, whatever. The ceremony's just about to start, you want to come?"
"Of course," he replied and Yuffie beamed.
"It's going to be so beautiful."
And he was sure it would.
A girl in a traditional Wutain outfit carefully put her hand in the water and picked up two small goldfishes, which she put inside her shining clean bowl filled with fresh water. The night sky of Wutai was lit with stars and dozens of brightly coloured lamps were hung above houses as people gathered around the river to watch the ceremony. Wutain music was playing on the background, but right after all of the 13 girls had picked up their goldfishes, the music stopped and the girls kneeled on the pillows in front of them. The first contestant, a plump girl with long, black hair, cleared her throat and muttered some Wutain words into her bowl. Then an older lady came to her with a cup of what seemed like white dust and the small girl took a handful of the dust and sprinkled it into her bowl.
Yuffie gasped as the memories came flooding back into her mind. She saw herself in her goldfish ceremony-kimono, kneeled down on the pillow, whispering the spell into her bowl.
Then the singing began. It was like Ancient spirits had woken up, and they sang in Old Wutain. They sang of Leviathan, the Water God and the pagoda. And the ancient wars and... Yuffie blinked. Cetra. She nudged Nanaki, who looked at her, quizzically.
"They sang of the Cetra! They actually sang of the Cetra!" she told him excitedly and he smiled. She smiled happily and listened to the next contestant's goldfishes. They didn't sing nearly as long or as beautifully as the first girl's had, but overall, the second participant was good also.
Nanaki was absolutely blown away by the ceremony. He hadn't even paid attention to Yuffie's excited squeals on most part, or Godo Kisaragi's angry glares, being too concentrated on the singing and the sounds and the scenery of this beautiful event. He was struck by all of it. How could something so amazing as this exist on the Planet and not we written about? Not be studied in the Library of the Canyon? Why hadn't the Elders told him? Didn't they know? And then he looked at Yuffie and saw how beautiful how beautiful she looked against the multi-coloured lights and he just knew he loved her. I want to be with her. Forever. I don't care where, he thought. I have my duties at the Cosmo Canyon, but I also love this place... I wonder if she ...feels the same?
On that moment, she happened to look at him and he hastily turned his eyes away.
"You want to go to bed?" Yuffie asked with a yawn. The ceremony was over.
"I don't see why not," he responded and they paced calmly to Yuffie's house. As they reached the door to Yuffie's bedroom, he couldn't keep it secret anymore.
"Yuffie..."
"Yes?" Her eyes glittered with hope. He's going to tell me... She held her breath. Probably that he doesn't want to stay and that he'll be leaving tomorrow.
"I..." Nanaki began, but the words didn't come out easily.
"Y-yes?" Yuffie frowned at him.
"I l-love you," he blurted. Yuffie was taken by surprise.
"Love me?" she repeated, dumbfounded.
"Yes." His growl was barely a whisper.
"So do I," she said hastily.
"What?"
"I think I love you as well," Yuffie said shyly and smiled. The genuine smile, the one he loved more than anything. And then she bowed down and gave his furry forehead a small kiss. He purred and nudged her face gently with his nose.
"I want to be with you, Nanaki," she whispered into his fur. "I want to be with you now and forever."
"I want to—" Nanaki began, but he trailed off as he saw a large, shadowy figure near them.
"Dad!" Yuffie gasped.
**************
Author's Notes; Ahh, yes. A cliff-hanger. I'm sorry, I just had to. How you liking it? Not too fluff, is it? I know, I made the whole goldfish-thing up. I'm freely using my imagination here and making up things we do not know about the Wutain culture. :) Please review.
