A/N: Man… this part went up fast, ne? I thought about this a couple of times… and, I guess this is where the "romance"-ish part comes up? Yeah, I didn't see this coming. :gasp: Such a shock… and I thought up the story. Is that like… normal? Hm…

Oh! And, thanks for reviewing! I have a lil… :narrows eyes: extra… at the end of this story. I don't normally do it, but maybe I should start… huh? Hehehe… eh.

Disclaimer: FF7 stuffs in the following story don't belong to me. Only the idea of the story does… because… eh… BECAUSE.

Human Years
Part 2

Realization

"Hmm… red-brownish hair, one eye and a tattoo on his left shoulder…" Grandfather gasped and shook me around rapidly, giving me headache. "ARE YOU SOME KIND OF COSPLAYER?"

I fell off the bed and grunted at his stupidity. How can my own grandfather not recognize his own grandson? Well… besides the fact that I'm a human. After Cid practically went around the whole canyon looking for people to tell of a 'naked boy,' my grandfather obviously heard the racket and came rushing in. And, no matter how many times I've told him that I'm his grandson, he just wouldn't believe me.

I gave off a loud sigh before yelling in front of my grandpa, "I'm, RED! NANAKI! YOUR GRANDSON!"

"My goodness! Aren't you the frisky one? Now, have you seen… a lion-like creature lately?" My mouth practically dropped to the floor at that. Nothing… absolutely NOTHING was going to convince him that I was not a stranger. "He was supposed to be sleeping right in this bed," he added.

I frowned and looked away. "… no."

He sighed to himself and patted my head. "Okay, but, if you see him…"

"I'll tell you."

"Thanks. I'll leave you alone to dress."

As he slowly floated down the ladder, I could have sworn I heard him snicker. … wait a second. I looked at myself, paused, then quickly hid underneath the blanket. 'Damn! I forgot! I'm still naked!'

"Red?"

My head perked up, and I shifted to where the sound came from. Through the blanket, I can sort of see that it was Yuffie, holding what seemed to be shorts. She looked around and finally fixed her eyes upon me, suspecting that the big lump was supposedly, me, Red. She walked over and poked my head. I grunted.

"Look, I know your little situation. You don't need to hide it from anyone anymore."

As much as I hated to admit, she was right. Thanks to Cid, there was no point in hiding. I sighed then shook my head around until the sheets covering my head flew off. My eyes immediately made its way towards Yuffie, who just stood there with an amazed look on her face. I would be quite shocked if I saw something that looked out of the ordinary. The ninja then gave out a big smile and leaned towards me as I felt a hot blush spread across my face.

"Omigosh! Look at you! You look so cute!"

'… cute?' I repeated to myself. Did… I really look that bad? But, I resisted the urge to actually look at myself in the mirror. I combed my hand through the smooth hair covering my right eye before responding, "How… did I become like this?"

Yuffie tilted her head. "It was from that monster's fume attack. It, apparently, caused your body to paralyze, and, somehow mess around with your DNA."

"… is that even possible?"

She shrugged.

I remained silent and took another good look at myself. Absolutely no fur, no sudden urges to scratch where it itches, and my breathing definitely seemed different from the way I used to breathe with my 'big nose.'

Yuffie patted my bare shoulder and smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry… it was my fault that you got into this situation." I looked at her with an apologetic look on my face. "I promise I won't do something like this." At that, she bowed her head and placed the pair of shorts on my bed before climbing down the ladder.

"…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ho ho ho! I got you there, huh?"

I pouted and stopped myself from beating the stuffing out of the old man for playing such a rude joke on me. I was really worried that he would see me as a total stranger and not his own grandson! Sighing at his odd laughter, I sat up from the bed and decided to put on the pair of shorts Yuffie had brought me earlier. I was well aware of how bad I was with pants, but, I somehow figured out how to… 'zipper' them up.

I sighed once again and collapsed on the bed. "Grandpa? How long do you think I'll be stuck like this?"

"Hm… not quite sure. This is the first time I've ever seen such a thing."

"… in other words, forever, right?"

Grandpa patted my head and floated down the ladder. "I'll leave you alone for a while."

I stared at the wall for who knows how long? Several hours… or something? Everything was silent, giving off this eerie feeling I have never felt before. I guessed that everyone was outside in the fresh air having fun and frolicking with the locals. As much as I wanted to go out, I couldn't. What will everyone's reaction be? They'd probably stare at my… new body and give me weird looks. I never really enjoyed the comfort of people staring at me. I was mostly a… be-in-the-back kind of person.

Just then, Cloud and company made their way up to my room. I widened my eyes and backed away from them. W-Why the heck were they up here for? Cloud leaned towards me and gave me a look.

"Wow… is that really you?"

I felt cold stares aim right towards me from all directions. I grabbed my head and brought my knees up to my chest. "D-Don't…"

"Hey! Bugen said that in human years, Red's actually sixteen, right? Heh. I can see that. You're like that little brat Yuffie!" Cid joked. Though, I took that seriously, but I didn't show my anger. I was too busy being embarrassed.

"Hey! Don't say that!" Yuffie hissed at the pilot who just laughed it off.

"Aw! You look so cute, Red!" Tifa snickered and patted my head. I shook her hand away and tightened my grip to my head.

"Whatcha' doin'? Don't tell me yer embarrassed!" Barret said, which suddenly brought a cold chill down my spine.

"Red," I peeked through my arms and spotted Vincent with a serious face on. "We're currently searching for a remedy to return to your normal self."

Before I could say or… mumble out anything, everyone headed out of the room, except for Yuffie who stayed and sat on my bed. I was still grabbing onto my head tightly with my eyes widened.

'N… normal… self? That means… I'm not… normal?'

"Alright, you!"

Yuffie pulled me up to my feet and pushed me towards the window, soon realizing what she was trying to do. I tightly closed my eyes, hoping her little plan would backfire. She was trying to make me look at my own reflection of my human self… which I had no desire to see whatsoever. I can tell from everyone's reaction and looks, that I… I was…

"Look at yourself," Yuffie said, cutting my thoughts short. I shook my head fast. She grunted and grasped onto my shoulders tightly. "Just look!"

"Stop, Yuffie! I know I look bad! So, it's pointless to even bother looking-"

"… AHH! IT'S SEPHIROTH IN THE SKY!"

"H-Huh!"

My eyes immediately opened and looked out the window… seeing nothing but the dark sky and my own reflection. I closed my eyes for a second… then slowly opened them, staring back at the young and, I have to admit, handsome figure before me. Messed up red-brownish hair that stopped just above my shoulder, tan colored skin painted all over my body… My hand brushed against the cold glass as the reflection copied.

"… is… that me?"

Yuffie happily nodded and tugged my hand. "Yep! So, there's no need to be embarrassed over something that's not true!"

"B-But…"

"Geez! This is so ironic! You're worried over a human body instead of that beast body!"

"… I'm not used to… being human."

"Well then!" She tugged me towards the ladder and pushed me down, making me land on the ground really hard. "It's time to learn a thing or two about being human!"

'W-Why do I get the feeling that… this will not be easy…?'

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"C'mon! You're so slow!"

"I'm trying!"

"Well, do it faster!"

"WHOA!"

I clumsily tripped over my own feet and tumbled right into Yuffie. We both fell to the bottom with a loud 'thud.' She grunted and pushed me off of her as she stood up and neatly brushed herself off. I slowly stood up and lost my balance and fell over again. I heard Yuffie sigh then snicker at that. Walking on two feet… was DEFINITELY harder to do than walking with four feet… might as well start using my hands too…

I lifted my head and shook it around. "What?" I growled, trying to get up without stupidly falling over again.

"Hehe… I'm sorry… it's just… seeing a teenager walk like that is just priceless."

I snorted and slowly walked towards her, carefully examining my feet closely. She smiled and clapped her hands with much enthusiasm. I couldn't help but smile at that, but that smiled soon faded as I stopped in my tracks.

"So… besides the walking, what else do I have to know about being 'human?'"

Yuffie paused then stared into my eyes. I guess… I would be kind of shocked hearing myself say that. But, I actually was interested in learning more about being human. After all, it could be several days, or even months until I can return to my original body.

Yuffie smiled and hugged my arm, pulling me towards the Cosmo Candle. "Time for lesson two!"

Before I realized, we already made it to the Cosmo Candle, where all our friends were seen sitting and relaxing in front of the bright fire that burned brilliantly. Yuffie made her way past Cid and Barret… and I followed close behind. Cid tugged the back of shorts, causing me to fall right onto his lap.

"Hey, hey! You're finally out of the cave!" he joked.

"I have legs, you know," I grunted back at him and scrambled up to my feet.

"Betcha can't run any faster than when you had four!"

Ignoring his last rude comment, I brushed past him and sat down between Yuffie and Cloud. Now, I know how Yuffie feels when she's teased by Cid. I think he has a little issue with people that are younger than twenty years old. I sighed loudly, realizing that Cloud was nudging my arm back and forth.

"So," he started, whispering inside my ear, "how's the human life?"

"Ugh… harder than I thought. How can you humans possible live with only two feet?"

He chuckled softly and responded, "Don't worry about it. We'll find a remedy for you soon enough."

"Ooh! Look!" A quiet gasp escaped from my mouth as I quickly turned towards Yuffie who was staring up at the sky.

"What's wrong?" I said looking up.

She pointed up. "A shooting star!"

As I gazed through the various bright stars that were occupying the sky, I hadn't realized that Yuffie had been leaning on my arm. The sudden weight made me fall backwards, as her head was now resting on my stomach. A felt a slight blush escape onto my face as I blinked and jerked my head around, wondering if this was noticeable to anyone else. And… from their expressions, it was.

"Yuffie!" I hissed at her. "H-Hey! Wake up!"

"Aw! I should have brought a camera!" Tifa smiled as she tugged Cloud up to his feet. "Let's leave them alone for awhile, hm?"

She gestured for everyone else to leave Yuffie and me alone. My heart started racing as each of them stepped away from the Cosmo Candle.

"W-Wait a minute!" I tried calling out to them, but they ignored me as they made their way towards my grandfather's lab.

'Damn them!' I growled to myself. 'They should know I… don't know how…'

I stopped then looked down at the sleeping Yuffie. A smile formed on my face as I watched how innocent she looked when she was sleeping. I guess… I didn't really mind this at all… now that we were alone and no one else was looking…

"Hehehe…"

I widened my eyes and stared back down at the… now-awake Yuffie. She smiled at me brushed her hand gently on my neck.

"It's fun to tease you." I lifted an eyebrow at that as she started giggling uncontrollably. I rolled my eyes and turned away. "… why is your heart beating so fast for?" she continued.

I looked away and responded with a surprisingly shaky voice, "I-It's not! You're just-"

"… I'll leave."

I looked at her as she lifted herself off me, but, before she had a chance to stand up, I tugged her arm and bowed my head down, trying to hide the blush that formed on my face. I couldn't believe what I was doing, but, I would feel kind of guilty that her high spirited personality would be put down because of me. I peeked my head up and smiled slightly.

"Maybe… a few more minutes?"

Extra
(That has nothing to do with the story whatsoever! Rah rah!)

FF7 Blooper

Barret: When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk. Cloud, you set the bomb.

Cloud: Should you do it?

Barret: ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Last time I did that, my arm exploded right off!

Cloud: O.O

Director: CUT! Barret! What the CRAP are you saying! That's not in the script!

Barret: IT'S TRUE! Look what happened to my arm!

Director: MORON! YOU LOST THAT ARM 'CAUSE THE SHINRA SHOT IT OFF!

Barret: … they did?

Cloud: D-Do I… still have to set the bomb?

Director: Yes you do, Cloud.

Cloud: B-But...

Barret: Tee hee...

A/N: End of Part 2… and Extra! It was just a randomness blooper I thought of one day 'cause I was extremely bored. I found this in my folder today… and I was like, "Holy crap! I remember this!" So, I decided to share… one of them. :cough: Sorry. :dodges tomatoes: Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and extra… and please tell me how you thought of them!