A/N: Not much dialogue here so… this might be a boring chapter. But, I put a lot of detail into that… 'pre-festival' thing, so it should be quite interesting. Keep in mind that I'm not really good when it comes to traditional fancy-type clothing so.. if you picture the characters looking really awkward… that's my fault. :nervous grin: I'm only good with medieval-type clothing for some reason…

Thankies for reviewing! Yes… chapter two actually did come up quickly. O.o; So much free time…

Disclaimer: FF7… no mine. Festival… mine. Oog.

Back To Those Human Years
Chapter Three

From Within (Part 1)

Torches surrounding the Pagoda suddenly lit up, revealing red colored flames that danced in unison to the women's ritual dance. Everyone lifted their arms in the air and let out silver colored particles that sparkled in the air. I watched in amazement how each particle shimmered individually… it was as if I could practically count them all. A soft horn sounded off in the distance as all the women finally departed out of the Pagoda. I assumed it was over so I made my way outside, hoping I would spot Yuffie. And, like I predicted, Yuffie came towards the Highwind and waved her fancy red colored fan at me. I smiled and made my way down.

"Did you watch? Huh! Huh! I decided to make a ritual this year!" she happily exclaimed, twirling around in her traditional kimono.

I tilted my head at that then answered her question. "Yes, I watched. How was it?"

"Fun as always!" She then lifted her head up to the Highwind and yelled out, "Hey, you guys! It's your turn!"

"Ah, damn! That was fast!" Cid yelled from above, "Just a fricken second!"

Yuffie snickered at that then patted my head. "You going?"

Was she toying with me, or something? I thought she knew I couldn't join in. I cleared my throat and looked away. "What about your father?"

"Tch! He can't do a thing! 'cause he'll be stuck inside the pagoda! An' he can't get out 'cause it's tradition!"

"How come?"

She shrugged at that. "Parents these days never seem to tell their kids anything. But, I do know that he won't bother you unless you go inside!"

Yuffie giggled then started to push me inside the village. I kicked my feet hard against the ground, trying to stop her, but she seemed stronger than I thought. I growled and looked up at her who had that mischievous smirk on her face.

"Yuffie! I don't want anyone t-"

"Everyone will be in costume! So they'll think you're in costume!" she happily pointed out, feeling dead confident that nothing would go wrong, but I thought otherwise. "You just need to look more… 'traditional!'" she continued.

"What?"

Before I could question her more, we made our way inside a small building that had no storeowner managing it. Yuffie grinned and jumped over the counter, taking out several pieces of colorful cloth and a necklace with dangling symbol that… I couldn't understand. She smiled and dragged me to the back of the room, 'fixing' me up for the ritual dance. I had a feeling… this would be kind of awkward.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I slowly made my way to the Pagoda with my… 'outfit.' Two black sashes with white cranes embroidered in it were neatly tied around me; a white headband that had symbols which represented, peace and happiness; the necklace around my neck; on my wrists and ankles had white tassels tied around; and for some reason… Yuffie decided to tie a bell around my tail. I felt kind of silly every time my tail swung back and forth and the jingle of the bell kept playing. But, that seemed to make all the children and their parents smile. I guess… I was safe for the ritual after all.

When I finally arrived outside the Pagoda, I noticed that all the men were dressed up in their traditional outfits and had the same features as mine. I sighed in relief, knowing that I wouldn't be the only ones with the sound of jingling during the ritual.

My ears perked up as I spotted Cid having trouble putting his outfit on. I gave him an annoyed look while he was trying to tie the sash around his head. I shook my head around, loosening my headband and finally made my way towards Cid. He grunted as two men helped him with the sash.

"Having fun there?" I asked, holding in my laugh.

"Be quiet! This crappy outfit's new to me!"

"Quit complainin' foo'!" Barret called out in the back, waving a white tassel around in his hand. "This is actually pretty comfy," he grinned, checking out his gray hakama pants.

Vincent slowly revealed himself from out of the crowd, fumbling around in his sandals. He grunted and stopped in front of Barret who seemed really amused by this. I had to admit… I would have never guessed Vincent would actually wear something so… not in his style. I held in my snicker and turned away.

The horn suddenly sounded off. All the men gestured for everyone to form a circle around the center. A person gestured me to stand with the other 'costume' people, so… I had no idea where Cid and the rest were. I ended up somewhere in the back.

Just then, low frequency chants filled the air, creating a peaceful hum that gave such a nice feeling deep inside me. All arms were raised as the center of the Pagoda streamed out a huge beam of white light that made its way high above the village. I gasped in amazement. The women didn't do this sort of thing… I guess the men's ritual was more intense than the women's but… they're both equally good.

The beam of light soon returned to the center of the crowd as a huge bonfire was suddenly created. That's when the crowd of people formed a long path towards the center… just for the people who wore costumes. I nervously looked around as the men from behind pushed me forward. I had no idea what to do… so I tried my best to stay calm and… that… sort of worked for a few seconds.

As we made it to the center, we formed a circle around the bonfire and began chanting the same low frequency sound from before. I couldn't make out what they were saying so I just bowed my head. Luckily, there were little kids who didn't know the words and bowed their heads also… so, I knew that I wasn't doing anything rude.

After the long chants, the whole crowd chanted in different frequencies, sending out a powerful vibe throughout my body. It seemed like the people in costumes felt the same as I did.

Soon, we began the ritual. Several pounds on the drums sounded off in the back and one man chanted out words with a low voice. The people in costumes began the dance first. I had no idea what happened, but it was like I knew what the moves were without looking at the other people. I guess I was so into it, the dance just sort of popped in my head. I grinned back at the other kids who were dancing as they twirled around in their outfits. The drums pounded twice in unison and we stopped our dance. I waved my tail around and jingled my bell, which seemed to make the whole crowd jingle theirs as well.

After we made our way towards the back, the rest of the men, who decided to dance in the ritual, made their way to the center and began to dance in different patterns, similar to what I did. I perked my ears as I spotted Barret and Cid who were trying to pull Vincent towards the center. I smiled and watched as the night was filled with music and laughter.

Several hours have passed and all the men who danced in the ritual were scattered about in front of the Pagoda. For those who didn't, entered inside the Pagoda. I made my way through the crowd and managed to find my friends near it. Cid noticed me and gave out a smirk.

"Hey, nice dancing, tiger."

I smirked also. "Same to you, sport."

"C'mon, we're goin' inside the Pagoda," Barret said, pointing to the building. "I wanna do me some serious ritual stuff."

"What do you do in there?" I asked in a very curious tone.

"For those who danced or didn't," a young man answered behind me, "have the option to make a special ritual chant… calling forth a deep desire from within. Usually for happiness or peace throughout life. And those kinds of honest desires can come true."

Cid rubbed his hands together. "Can it bring me something I truly desire?"

The man lifted an eyebrow. "Sure, but… it won't come true for you."

"…damn."

"You must be honest with the great spirit of Leviathan. Leviathan watches over us more closely when the festival day arrives tomorrow. You don't want to upset the spirit." At that, he bowed and entered inside the Pagoda.

"A special ritual chant, huh?" I swung my tail around and jingled my bell. "Sounds interesting."

"We don't know any chants!" Cid grunted.

"You jus' hum and grunt," Barret shrugged.

Vincent sighed. "And that's being honest with the spirit?"

"Let's jus' go."

As several people exited out of the Pagoda, we slowly made our way inside the building. It was dark and it gave it that spooky feeling… yet, it was quite peaceful at the same time. The doors behind us closed shut, causing the candles next to it to burn brightly. We stood around, quite confused. Then we finally noticed several pillows on the ground. We kneeled and bowed our heads, (I just bowed my head) in front of a big candle that revealed a shape that looked like a dragon. I closed my eye, now deep in thought. Everything went silent, only my thoughts filled my mind of what deep desire I had within.

'I want to make someone special to me happy… and enjoy the festival of our lives…'

In unison, we opened our eyes, stood up and bowed. As the candles burned out and the doors opened for us, a deep voice called from behind.

"HEY! It's YOU again!"

I widened my eyes and turned my whole body towards the angry figure before me. How could I have forgotten about Yuffie's warning! I narrowed my eyes and backed away from him.

"…Godo."

A/N: End of Chapter three! If you noticed throughout the whole story… I didn't mention Cloud or Tifa once... especially Cloud. O.o; Sorry Cloud/Tifa fans! I'll make it up next chapter! Also, if you're curious… the women's ritual started sometime in the afternoon while the men's took place at night. Yeah. Thought you'd like to know. :nervous grin: Left you guys a lil' cliffhanger. Hehe… :dodges tomatoes: Hope you liked and please tell me how you thought of it!

Traditional hakama pants are for men, usually striped or solid in subdued colors. Hehe… imagine Vincent in that… Sorry Vinnie!