A/N: Chapter 7 is finally up! It took me a good full day to finish this. :stretches: This was suuuuuch a hard chapter for me to write/think about. I had to study my previous chapters and mention stuff from there to here. So, if you spot anything that doesn't make sense, I apologize. :sigh:

Thankies for reviewing my story! Originally, the Yuffie meets boy thing wasn't supposed to be happening, but then I decided to put a little twist in the story. It was mean, but I wanted some other conflict to happen. I'm sorry! Must hug Nanaki… But, I had a reason for it. :points: You shalt understand soon enough! Aha.. I hate writers block. :grunts loudly: Ow.

Disclaimer: Glooriiooosaaa Geennnaarooosaaa… SEPHIROTH! FF7 doesn't belong to me! Eh, I'm running out of jazzy stuff to say here. :continues singing:

Back To Those Human Years
Chapter Seven

It Begins

I slammed the bottle of sake hard against the table. "Another one," I said flatly to the owner of the stand.

"B-But sir… that's your third one… are you sure you w-"

"ANOTHER ONE," I repeated with a growl. He slowly nodded at that and passed another bottle over. I grunted and took another sip of the bitter tasting drink. Cloud and the rest watched in shock as I took another sip.

"H-Hey, easy with the sake, Red." Cloud placed his hand on my shoulder. "You're gonna get sick."

I pulled away from him and grunted in response. "I don't care!" I sipped my sake again and slammed the bottle on the table again. "ANOTHER O-"

"Allll right, foo'!" Barret roared as he pulled me away from the stand. "You had enough! Ya'know that Cid is da only one to have more than four bottles of sake!"

"Shyeah, dude," Cid hiccupped.

"LET GO OF ME!"

"What has gotten into you?" Tifa asked.

I stopped struggling from Barret's grasp and bowed my head down. My red-brown hair blocked my eyes from everyone as hot tears streamed down my face. What I saw before… was that what Yuffie was trying to tell me? Why didn't she say anything when she had the chance! If she told me before, I wouldn't be in this much pain! Not only hurt, but… something else, too.

Soft sobs escaped through my shivering lips. Barret's grasp was released a while ago as I fell down to my knees. This feeling… felt like it just wanted to come out from deep inside me. I clutched my chest tightly. What was it…?

"…Red, please tell us what is wrong." Tifa kneeled in front of me and patted my back. "We'll help you."

I leaned forward and rested my head against Tifa's chest. "This feeling…" I managed to say through my sobs. "... I'm still not sure what it is…"

"…Red…"

"You will find out soon enough." I looked up at Vincent's shimmering red eyes. "Your determination will unlock that feeling. Everything you went through to make it to where you are now was all done by you. And I can tell that all of your hard work and determination will never be left in vain. It'll be worth it."

I took a few seconds to understand what Vincent just said. Everything he said… was true. No matter what, I was determined to come to the festival, even if that meant taking a big risk to change into human. I wanted to make someone special to me happy and enjoy the festival of our lives.

I slowly got to my feet and smiled. "…thank you."

Cid folded his arms and grunted. "Like I said before, 'they tend to hesitate at the most awkwardest of moments'! You know… people these days I'm tellin' ya…"

"Like you ta Shera, 'Captain'?" Barret grinned, making Cid bop him several times on the head.

Tifa placed her hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "I'm even more determined than ever!"

I turned around and looked up at the evening sky. The sun had already set, revealing different shades of blue, orange, red, and yellow in the sky. It was such a beautiful sight. I smiled to myself and made my way over the cross bridge closest to the Pagoda. I stared up at the tall building. I clenched my fists tightly next to my sides. I was still thinking about Yuffie with that boy. But, I felt that that wouldn't stop me from being near Yuffie… ever.

I took one final glance to the building and noticed someone in blue running away from it. The 'someone in blue' soon formed into Yuffie. She smiled at my appearance and quickly made her way up the bridge.

"Heyyee! Where were you? I've been looking for you!"

"Y-You have?"

"Yeah… in front of the Pagoda." She tilted her head at that. "Where were you?"

I hesitated. So… she was waiting for me and not her father? I was confused. "I was just… here looking for you all afternoon. I… was worried."

"Worried? You shouldn't be worried about me!"

"B-But…"

Yuffie leaned over so that our noses were practically touching each other. "Well, I'm here now, right?"

I blushed. "Yeah… b-but…"

"What?"

"A-About what you sa-"

"Yuffie!"

We both turned at that and spotted the boy that was with Yuffie and her father. I widened my eyes and stepped back. They made their way to the bridge and stopped next to Yuffie. Now that I saw the boy up close, he looked like the guy that talked to me during the ritual yesterday. He placed his hand on Yuffie's shoulder. She turned away with a blush on her face.

"Geez, where were you? You just ran off in the middle of the song I was playing," he told Yuffie who didn't bother to look at him.

"S-Sorry, Shougu."

I noticed that Godo had been staring at me for some time. I looked around nervously then bowed halfway. "G-Good evening."

Shougu finally noticed me and gave me a dirty look. "Who's that?" he asked Yuffie.

Yuffie looked up at me. "He's…" She paused and took one good look at her father. He just glared at her then turned away. Yuffie bowed her head down and continued. "…just someone."

"Tch. Don't waste your time with this small boy. Come on. Let's go back to the Pagoda."

I clenched my fists. There was no way he was going to bring her back. Just when they were departing, I stepped forward and tugged Yuffie's arm back and held it tightly. She turned around, looking surprised.

"I… I…"

"Release her!" Godo immediately swiped my hand away from Yuffie. He glared down at me then turned to follow Shougu and Yuffie.

"I… I need to talk to her for a second." I managed to say.

"…let us go." Godo responded, gesturing the boy and girl to continue on to the Pagoda. Yuffie's father turned and followed close behind.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was only an hour away before the men's ritual would finally begin. I was a little nervous. Obviously, I had no idea what was going to happen or even knew what to do. But, I knew that it had something to do with 'calling forth' something, but that was all. There was so little I knew about the festival. It would have been nice if Yuffie could have explained everything to me. I sighed and tugged my yukata sash from side to side.

Another thing that was bothering me was Shougu. Since when had he been in this picture? Did he somehow fall head over heals with Yuffie the minute he saw her? I was going to ask Yuffie about that a few hours ago, but it was interrupted by him and Godo. Now that I mentioned Godo, he was always around him and Yuffie. I wondered if he had something to do with this little conflict. But, I shouldn't lead to conclusions so quickly. I sighed once again.

At this point, my friends and I were making our way towards the Pagoda for the ritual. However, there was an extremely long line of people heading towards there. If I could take a guess… it would probably take us three hours just to walk up the stairs at this extremely slow pace.

I lifted my head and spotted Yuffie waving her hands from the top of the stairs. I smiled and slowly waved back at her. Shougu suddenly placed his arm around Yuffie and tugged her inside. I frowned.

Surprisingly, the so-called 'three hour wait' turned into the 'ten minute' wait. The line finally started moving and we were on our way up. At the top, several people passed out small, neatly tied up, blue bags to all the men. They mentioned that the blue bags held some sort of purpose during the ritual, but I wasn't exactly paying attention. I placed the blue bag inside my yukata and began wandering around.

As I made my way through the huge crowd, I noticed Godo and Yuffie sitting on the stairs of the Pagoda. And, for the first time ever, (to me at least) they weren't fighting. Yuffie seemed bored for some reason while her father was having the time of his life. He nudged her arm and pointed at Shougu. Yuffie just nodded and turned her head away. The band was playing some sort of traditional music right in front of the building. It sounded so mysterious and it gave the atmosphere an innocent feel to it.

I frowned to myself. "Guess I can't see Yuffie now."

Suddenly, the gong sounded off. Everyone's attention was now to the Pagoda. Godo stood up from his chair and lifted his arms in the air. He crossed them over each other as small silver particles fell out from the sleeves of his outfit. The torches surrounding the area suddenly lit up. All the men carrying their blue bags took it out and opened it. I quickly copied their action. As I opened it, my whole body started glowing a bright blue color as everyone did also. I stared at the open bag that revealed flower petals. They soon glowed a bright blue color and created a small orb of fire. Everyone kneeled down in unison and, just like the ritual dance, I somehow knew what to do. As everyone did this, their orbs headed straight for the sky. I bowed my head down and closed my eyes.

'For you…'

The gong sounded off once again. The bright orbs twinkled in the sky and made their way to the ground. All the women that were present opened their hands as the orb gently landed right on it. They clutched it close to their chest and smiled. I opened my eyes, only to find that I was still glowing. I quickly stood up and looked around. Everyone but Shougu and I stopped glowing. We glared at each other, then to Yuffie who had two orbs in her hands. Shougu turned to me with anger in his eyes.

"Hey!"

'So, we both made a special ritual to the same person.' I said to myself.

The boy pointed at me. "That ritual was only between ME and YUFFIE!"

"You can't claim!"

"She's mine!"

"What's going on here!" Godo roared. I narrowed my eye at him. "You back there! Explain yourself!"

I growled and made my way to the center of the Pagoda. The crowd of people formed a path for the 'one responsible.' I stopped and stared Godo in the eye.

"My own ritual is my own ritual. No one, not even you… can stop me."

A/N: End of chapter seven! Ooh! Big bad Nanaki right there! Hmm… I might have rushed through a few parts. Like, the beginning. Buuut, I didn't want to spend the whole chapter with poor Nanaki thinking about Yuffie and Shougu. That's like… so not Nanaki. He has a strong heart. :hugs him: You're probably wondering, "Where the heck did this Shougu dude come from!" or "Whaaaaaa?" Hehe, don't worry. You'll find out soon enough. Maybe not in the next chapter, but SOON! Anyways! I hope you enjoyed and please tell me how you thought of it!