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The Sparrow Sings
Chapter Seven
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Yuffie jumped excitedly up and down, tugging on Squall's arm, bouncing from one foot to the other, a grin plastered on her face despite her anxiousness to get on the road to pick everyone up.
"Come on, Squall, Cloud is waiting in the van just for you! Why couldn't you have packed yesterday?!"
"Because there was no point in it. Besides, at least I didn't pack the very same day that we decided we were going."
"Did you call work and make sure to tell them that all of us won't be at work for a week?"
"Yes."
"Good. I am just so excited!" she gushed, tugging harder on his arm. He groaned and slammed the suitcase's lid shut and let himself be dragged across the living room and onto the driveway. Yuffie kept a firm grip on his arm until they reached Cloud's van, almost empty except for his own suitcase and himself in the driver's seat. They had yet to pick everyone else up.
Yuffie climbed in first, followed by Squall. She sat down in one of the seats and buckled herself in, a sigh forming on her lips.
"I'm so hot," she breathed, waving a hand in front of his face.
Squall, from the passenger's seat, rolled his eyes. "Maybe because you're wearing a coat and gloves in seventy degree weather."
Cloud raised his eyebrows and stared at Yuffie from the mirror as he was pulling out. "Why?"
Yuffie scowled. They were making an evident joke of her. "Because! It will be freezing when we get there and then you will be just begging me to lend you my coat."
"THAT coat? I highly doubt it," Cloud replied, keeping his eyes on the road. Yuffie turned her eyes to look down at her coat. It was fluorescent pink and yellow, and rather outdated. She had just never had the time to go and buy another one.
"Now…is this the apartment?" Cloud asked. He bit back his words when two waving girls standing in the middle of the parking lot jumped in front of the car, waving frantically, one red haired and the other a mahogany brown.
"God damnit!" he hissed, pressing on the brakes. Both girls screamed then broke into fits of giggles. "What the hell is that? They are laughing when they could have been killed."
Squall shook his head. "I can't believe those are your friends."
"Speak for yourself!" Yuffie snorted, thinking back to Riku and Sora.
The van door opened and Kairi and Aerith, both still giggling and holding their suitcases, squeezed in next to Yuffie. Kairi threw her arms around Yuffie's shoulders and squeezed them, followed by an over-excited Aerith.
"Think you could call once in awhile?" she scolded, then looked to Squall, then to Yuffie, then back to Squall and Yuffie again. She made a motion with her hand, signifying they were together, and a slow smile crept onto her face. "Oh, I get it. It looks like we might actually lose, huh, Kai?"
"Uh-oh," Kairi added, playing along. Yuffie blushed and shoved them, too embarrassed to see Squall's reaction.
"We will win, but that doesn't mean we're a pair," she said with a sigh.
"Sure," they both added, and broke into more giggles. She could see Squall rubbing a hand over his face, as if he couldn't believe he was about to spend multiple hours in a cramped van with three giggling girls.
They weren't really on the road until Sora and Riku climbed into the farthest seats in the back, and they were on the freeway.
"It smells like moldy tacos back here!" Riku complained, kicking away a container of half rotten nacho cheese with a disgusted look on his face.
"You can handle it. After all, that's what your place smells like everyday, isn't it?" Yuffie asked with mock innocence, turning around in her seat and batting her eyelashes.
"Bitch…" he muttered under his breath.
"Hoe!" Yuffie shot back, sticking her tongue out.
"Slut."
"Man-slut!"
"Douche."
"MAN DOUCHE!"
"Whore!"
"STUPID FUDGE LICKING MAN LOVING BOOGER EATING MAN WHORE!" Yuffie screeched at the top of her lungs, her face red and boiling hot. Riku backed away, holding his hands up.
"Please…don't hurt me…" he whispered.
"That's enough!" Aerith shouted over the noise of the car. "Yuffie, sit down. Riku, leave her alone!"
"She started it!" he shot back after Yuffie had turned around, still fuming.
"I did not!"
"Did too."
"Just. Shut. The. Hell. Up," Cloud hissed from the driver's seat, making a swift turn to the far right lane. "I cannot concentrate with all of your screaming. If I have to come back there…" he warned, shaking his head, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
Yuffie sighed and grabbed her pillow and squeezed it to her chest. The past few hours had been absolute horror for her. Leaning into the pillow, she asked, "Are we there yet?"
"No, for the final time," Squall replied for Cloud, who had remained surprisingly quiet during the whole trip. "You'll know when we're there."
"Well. We must be close. I think I see a mountain!" Yuffie said, her sentence turning from stubborn to excited again. She pressed her nose to the window which was starting to grow frosty from the ever growing cold.
"Really? Where?" Kairi asked, scooting closer to the window towards Yuffie, her eyes anxious.
"Look! Just above that bridge. It looks like there's snow on top!"
"Oh I see it!" she said happily, staring at it as if it were some sort of circus for a few seconds, then turning her attention back to Sora and starting some small talk. Yuffie rolled her eyes and turned away as well, closing her eyes and leaning against the seat.
'Not much longer now…' she thought, yawning lightly.
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"Yuffie. Yuffs. Yuffie…wake up!"
"Huh…?" Yuffie mumbled, struggling to open her eyes. Everything around her looked white and blurry. She sat up slowly, keeping one eye shut in her tiredness. "Whaddya want?"
"We're here," Aerith said, shaking her shoulder slightly, as if she didn't believe that Yuffie was up yet.
Yuffie yawned and nodded, her vision slowly growing clearer. Aerith climbed out of the car, dragging her suitcase with her. Kairi, Riku, Sora, Cloud, and Squall were all waiting outside the car for her. Realizing that she was stalling them, she jumped out of the car, taking her suitcase with her, and locking the car door behind her.
As her foot stepped onto the ground, she felt coldness surround her foot and a chilled powdery substance drop into her shoe.
"Ah!" she hissed. "Cold!"
Smiling, she stared at the sparkly, sugary white snow surrounding her shoes. "Look! It's snow!" she stated happily, bending over and picking up a handful and stuffing it into her mouth.
"Mmm… it even tastes good!" she mumbled, eating more, her cheeks flushed from the cold.
"C'mon, it's cold and everyone wants to get into the hotel," Squall said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. "Don't act like a three year old, all right?"
She pulled away from him. "I told you! I told you you'd be cold. Look who's right," she said with a smirk, a hand on her hip, staring at Squall and the rest who were dressed in pants and T-shirts.
"We know, you were right. Let's get going; we can't stay out here all day," Cloud said, starting forward towards the ski resort doors, dragging his feet through the snow.
Yuffie followed begrudgingly, lifting one foot at a time to take another step forward. The snow reached the middle of her calves, and she was finding it almost as hard as trying to walk through a shallow swimming pool.
"Don't they ever salt this or… or something?" Kairi said, who was slightly farther ahead than the rest.
"Evidently not," Riku muttered, picking himself up, his face plastered with snow and his clothes looking rather… white.
Yuffie snickered secretly to herself. 'Serves him right,' she thought, turning away and reaching the sidewalk, jumping onto it triumphantly.
Noticing everyone but Riku and Sora were entering the sliding doors to the ski resort, Yuffie sprinted towards them, trying hard to breathe in the cold weather. It was making her lungs feel odd. She coughed and stepped inside, pausing to take in the lobby.
It was wood flooring, but there was a large deep red rug covering most of it up. On one wall was a large stone fireplace and a sitting place, and next to it stairs and elevators. On the other wall was a long counter of staff members, though only two were working at the moment.
"Why didn't you guys wait for me?" Yuffie breathed, arriving at Aerith's side, tugging on her sleeve slightly.
"I don't know," Aerith blushed, her eyes flickering at Cloud for a brief moment and then returning to Yuffie, looking sorry for not thinking of her. Yuffie rolled her eyes and rested her arm on the counter, but once again, everyone else was ahead of her, and Squall had already passed out the room cards.
"Wait… who am I roomed with?" Yuffie questioned, looking around.
"You're with Kairi and Aerith," Squall replied.
"Wait," Sora interrupted loudly. "You and Yuffie are supposed to be in the same room together."
Squall scowled. "No, we're not. I'm rooming with Cloud."
"No, Sora's right," Cloud added, stepped forward with the key. "If you're going through with this bet, then you have to be in the same room.
"But that room only has a queen sized bed, not two double beds," he protested, his voice firm.
Cloud's jaw dropped. "What? Were you expecting me to sleep in the same bed as you? No way, man."
"I was going to make you sleep on the floor, idiot."
"Oh. Wait… hey!"
"Yeah, well, according to the Squall-man over here, me 'n' Sora've got an extra roll out bed on the couch," Riku said with a grin, slapping a hand on Squall's shoulder.
"Leon," he corrected.
"Well, that settles it. I'm rooming with Riku and Sora, Kairi and Aerith are rooming together, and you and lovey-dove Yuffie get the suite together," Cloud said with a grin.
Yuffie stomped her foot. "I wanted to room with Aerith and Kairi! You guys are taking this bet way too far."
"Only for our enjoyment," Riku said with a sly smile.
"Ugh! Don't talk to me, you little twerp. Now we can't stay up late all night and talk about girl stuff," she replied, crossing her arms and throwing a dirty look at Squall. "This is all your fault!"
"How is it my fault? They're the ones who are switching all this shit around," he said, looking down at her.
"It-it just is!" she said, huffing. "Let's get to our room before I punch someone."
"Settle down, Yuffie," Sora said, laughing. He had never seen her so irritated before. She turned her back to him and pulled the key card of hers and Squall's from Cloud's hand and stalked off towards the stairs instead of the elevator, where she made it a point to make loud stomping noises as she went.
"Moody," Cloud muttered, shaking his head. "I feel for you, Leon."
"Yeah. We send our sympathies," Sora chimed.
Kairi rolled her eyes and flicked Sora's ear. He grabbed it, doubled over, and grumbled, "Ouch! That hurt you know."
"Let's go to our room, Aerith," Kairi said, ignoring him and pressing the elevator button. Cloud shrugged and the men followed the two women to the elevator.
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Yuffie stuck the key into the keycard, which answered her by spitting it out and a blinking red light on the door handle. "Ugh! This is the right key, stupid, now work."
She stuck it again, with the same result. Frustrated, she pushed it in again before feeling a hand grip her wrist.
"You're putting it in the wrong way."
Yuffie turned, looking up at Squall's face with a scowl.
"I knew that."
Squall remained silent as she fumbled with the key and stuck it in again, and sighed as the green light blinked into her eyes. "Finally."
She swung the door open and searched for a light switch, her hand patting at the walls until she felt a plastic knob and flicked it on. Dim lights flooded the room.
"Oh!" she squealed, clapping her hands together. The room had white carpeting, and down the hall she could see a large, white blanketed bed. "This is so pretty! You shouldn't have spent so much money for the suite," she chided, stepping farther into the room down the hall.
There was an entertainment center on her right, directly in front of the bed. She pulled off her shoes and examined the room closer. In the entertainment center's cabinet, a bunch of candy was arranged on the shelf.
"Look, they gave us candy!" Yuffie said, picking one up.
"They didn't 'give' it to us. You have to pay for what you eat," Squall replied, the sides of his lips twitching upwards. Yuffie put it down and closed the cabinet.
"Oh well. Say, when're we going to go on the slopes?" she asked, sitting on the bed and pulling off her coat and gloves.
"Tomorrow. It's too late now," he replied, walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. Yuffie smiled and stood up, looking outside. It was starting to get rather dark. The sky had a purplish tint to it and the road outside wasn't as busy as it had been before.
She opened her suitcase and pulled out her pajamas, eyeing the bathroom door. She didn't hear any noise coming from in there. She shrugged, thinking, 'Oh, whatever.'
She unbuttoned her jeans (the only pair of jeans she could find that wasn't from when she was six) and pulled on her pajama bottoms, then pulled off her shirt, the cold air of the room raising goose bumps on her bare skin.
At the same moment, she heard the door click and swing open, and out walked Squall, shirtless and dressed in a pair of silk pajama bottoms.
Dropping her pajama shirt in surprise, she screamed and covered herself up, stumbling backwards.
"What the—"
Get OUT!" she screamed, darting into the closet and slamming the door shut.
Taking deep breaths, she dropped her arms, which had been wrapped around her chest, and groaned. She had dropped her shirt and left it on the floor. Opening the door slightly, she stuck her hand out and searched for the shirt.
Feeling its satiny corners, she grabbed it and pulled it into the closet and slipped it on. Once she was sure she was in order, she opened the closet door and picked up her dirty jeans and shirt and dropped them in her suitcase, blushing and avoiding eye contact with Squall.
"You could have warned me."
"You were in the bathroom."
Yuffie sighed and sat on the bed, pulling the covers up around her. The lights were off and the TV was on. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."
"…'Night."
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That was a classic scene, huh! That's happened multiple times in Squffie history. Oh well, when I realized I was making her change her clothes I just couldn't resist! Not much fluff in this chapter, but it's Christmastime! (for them anyways) And you know what that means!
Note to OrangeTabby: Oh, thank you!! Your review really made me happy!! . I'm glad you like Squffie!