Before we begin:

To mitsuko and Emma: Yes, Cid is Rikku's father. HOWEVER! The Cid that lives on Spira and the Cid that was in Traverse Town are different Cids (mostly because I can't think of any good reason for them to be the same person for the purposes of this fic :P )

………………….

In silence, nine people approached Cid's shop. Again, first district was completely deserted. This time, however, the group was much more ill-at-ease. They stood for a few moments in front of the closed door, each wondering what they would find inside, but each also not sure that they really wanted to go in and find out. Before anyone got the chance to say anything, though, the doors swung open, and there stood Yuffie, grinning and in all her glory. She looked just fine. Everyone stood completely still for a moment, shocked. Her grin ever-widening, she tackled Leon in a hug, giggling.

"Hey Squall!" She greeted him in her usual bubbly tone of voice. Leon was too surprised and happy to see her to even correct her.

"Hey Yuff." He replied, hugging her back. She kept her arms tightly around his neck and refused to let him put her down. Suddenly, Leon frowned, and with a sharp tug, put her down on her feet on the floor. He crossed his arms. "Where've you been? You can't just get up and leave like that!" He told her. She shrugged. This was rather surprising. She usually got defensive when Leon was upset with her. Instead, now she didn't seem to care.

"I've been hanging around first district." She replied simply. Sora frowned.

"But we were just here. Where were you then? There was ten of us, so you couldn't possibly have missed us." He observed. Yuffie shrugged again.

"I was probably upstairs." She replied, motioning to the ladder that led into the moogle shop above. She grinned again, and tackled Leon again.

"AWW, I MISSED YOU SQUALLY!" She announced. He made no attempt to get her off him, but rolled his eyes.

"It's Leon." He muttered, knowing she either wouldn't hear or wouldn't care. Sora sighed. Despite the odd way Yuffie'd been acting, at least she was still her normal hyper self deep down. Suddenly, without any warning, Kairi walked up to Leon and Yuffie, grabbed Yuffie's dangling legs and pulled her back to the ground. She glared at the ninja and pushed her roughly away from the group. Immediately, Sora, Yuna and Paine all grabbed Kairi to hold her back.

"Kai! What are you doing?" Sora asked, sounding worried. Kairi pulled gently away from him.

"Trust me on this one." She muttered. Yuffie was sitting on the ground, glaring up at Kairi, looking angry. Sora watched, helpless. Yuffie stood back up and looked Kairi in the eye.

"What was that for?" She demanded. Kairi glared back at her, just as intensely.

"Don't play stupid. You're not Yuffie." She replied coldly. Yuffie, or the not-Yuffie as Kairi seemed to believe her to be, put her hands on her hips.

"What are you talking about? 'Course I'm Yuffie!" She answered, indignant. However, there was something in her voice that made Sora believe Kairi. Leon heard it too, and it was the only thing holding him back from stepping in to protect his little ninja. It was the same fearful tone of denial that is often in the voice of someone trying desperately to lie convincingly. Kairi frowned.

"I told you already, don't play stupid! You're not Yuffie!" She insisted. Yuffie sighed, sounding angry.

"I really am Yuffie!" She replied. Kairi nodded.

"Yep, just like you really were Cid when we were here fifteen minutes ago." She replied, her voice slightly sarcastic. Yuffie took a step back and smirked.

"That's good, Kairi. You must be good. I was so sure that my act was convincing enough to fool you." The not-Yuffie replied, her tone almost mocking.

"Hm, you really thought a dead thing could pass of as living? And around someone who can pick up emotion? Nice try." Kairi retorted. The not-Yuffie frowned.

"What do you mean? I have emotion. That can't be how you figured it out." She said. Kairi shook her head.

"Any emotion you've convinced that you can feel is just thinly masked resentment." Kairi replied. Yuna joined Kairi now.

"That's right, the only thing a restless dead can feel is resentment. You're nothing more than a fiend." She said. At this, Tidus, Rikku, Gippal, Paine and Baralai joined her. They all knew the truth of what Yuna and Kairi were saying. Sora, digging the end of his Keyblade into the ground, glared at the not-Yuffie.

"So, what are you really then?" He asked. The not-Yuffie didn't answer. Leon was tense with anger.

"You're the shape-shifter. You're the one who brought all the Beasts here." He said through clenched teeth. Sora looked around First District at all the destruction.

"This is all you're fault!" He asked. The not-Yuffie smiled mockingly, nodding. Sora raised his Keyblade, but Kairi, the one standing closest to the not-Yuffie, beat him to it, lashing out and sinking her claws into the not-Yuffie's stomach. It froze, then stumbled backwards. Its skin seemed to melt in on itself, and in a few moments, it was changed. It looked human, sort of. It had an albino human body, but it seemed almost genderless and it was faceless all except for two beady black eyes. It clutched its hand over the gash in its stomach and stumbled backwards again. It growled, and launched itself forward. Kairi dove out of the way just on time. However, it caught her shirt and in a surprising and terrifying show of strength, it flung her through the trap door in the roof and into the moogle shop. There was a muffled crash.

"Kairi!" Sora called, running towards the ladder. The shape-shifter got to the ladder first, smashing it into a million little bits. Using the momentum he had, Sora ran straight at it, slashing at it. He missed by barely an inch. It threw a punch. Sora ducked, and only just. He could feel the attack graze his ear. Yuna shot, the bullet deepening the wound of its stomach. Paine was changed into her Trainer dressphere, and was edging, more or less unnoticed, towards the trap door.

"Go check on Kairi, make sure she's alright, got it?" She whispered to her bird, Flurry (?). The bird lifted from her arm and glided silently up through the trap door.

"Paine!" Baralai's voice got her attention. She spun. The shifter was right behind her. She dropped to the ground, kicking out with both legs. She caught one of its knees and tripped it. It fell hard, its legs flying up from under it, falling on its shoulders and head. Baralai dealt it a final blow to the head and helped Paine up.

"Thanks." She muttered, half smiling. Baralai nodded, smiling back.

"Anything for my dear Paine." He said, grinning. Paine gave him a funny look. There was a thump from upstairs. Everyone looked up. There was silence for a moment, as everyone waited to see if anything else was to be heard from the floor above. Rikku tiptoed over until she was underneath the trap door and stared up into it, trying to see through the darkness. Suddenly, she gasped, her attention turning to the ground. The shape-shifter still had some life in it apparently, and had taken hold of Rikku's ankle with an iron grip. She tried to pull her foot away, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Why won't you die?" She shouted, flailing her leg. Gippal looked like he was prepared to take the thing's arm off, but before he could do anything, a little blur of colour and fury swung out of trapdoor above, landing square on the shifter's back, shouting furiously.

"THAT'S FOR TRYING TO HURT SQUALL AND SORA AND KAIRI AND ALL THEIR FRIENDS!"

……………………………

Wham. Ohhhh…my poor back… Kairi thought, wincing as she flew through the air and slammed into the roof. That thing threw her hard. Not pleasant. She hung there for a moment, but inevitably, the hang time must end, and so she began to fall. Here we go, she thought, bracing herself and expecting to fall back through the trap door, to the ground two floors below her. She jarred and came to a sudden stop much earlier than she expected. So she wasn't going to fall back through the trap door after all.

"Ow." she muttered, groaning. Am I dead? She wondered. No, I hurt too much to be dead, she decided, groaning again. Her mind wandered a moment, and she recalled the last time she'd had thoughts similar to the ones she was having now. Slowly, she began to open her eyes, hoping that she'd find Sora sitting next to her again, so she could fall asleep in his arms again. Sounds pretty good about now, she thought, smiling slightly. Once her eyes finally focused, however, she found she had no such luck. She was lying on a hard, dust covered wooden floor. She started breathing again, only just aware that she'd been holding her breath. Almost immediately, she sneezed, dust filling her nose. She sat up and stuck out her tongue.

"That's gross." She said outloud to no one in particular. As if in reply, she heard a scuffling sound. She looked around, trying to see in the lack of light, expecting to find some sort of beast. She sneezed again, shook her head to clear it, and kept squinting into the darkness. Then, she heard a muffled voice that joined the scuffling sound. Kairi stood up, looking around more earnestly now. "Hello? Is someone here?" She asked. There was a dull thump, almost too quiet to hear, and then a crash. Whoever it was just knocked something over. Kairi had seen the movement and heard the sound, and started to approach it. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the light, or lack thereof, and could see a figure huddled in a corner. It looked like the person had been behind a pile of boxes, but they'd kicked most of them over. Kairi bent down to look at the person. "Are you okay?" She asked, worried.

"No I am not!" The person replied, her voice muffled so much that her words were nearly incomprehensible. Kairi knelt down and was suddenly able to see the predicament. This was definitely Yuffie, but in much rougher shape than the fake one downstairs. Her wrists and ankles were tied, and she was gagged. It looked like her mouth had been bleeding; her gag was covered in it. Gingerly, Kairi removed the gag. Once it was off, Yuffie licked her lips, and coughed. Kairi frowned, and jumped when a bird lighted on a box next to her. She stared at it, and it stared back at her. After a moment, the bird turned its attention to Yuffie, as did Kairi. She untied Yuffie's wrists, cringing at the raw skin left underneath.

"There." She said, letting the bonds drop to the floor.

"Hey!" Yuffie shouted. Kairi looked up. The bird's feathers were greatly ruffled, and Yuffie was glaring at it. She licked her lip again, as they would have been badly dry after going so long without food or water. She paused. They weren't dry at all. And the blood was gone! She stared at the bird in awe. Kairi, not understanding, watched in confusion at Yuffie's expression.

"What?" She asked slowly. Yuffie grinned, working at the knots that were around her ankles still.

"That bird fixed my mouth! That nasty whatever-it-was hit me good and hard in the mouth, so I was bleeding, but the bird fixed it!" She announced, dropping the ropes from her ankles and standing up. Once she was on her feet, her knees gave out and she had to catch herself on the box. Kairi grabbed her arm, holding her on her feet.

"We should get you back. You're weak from not eating." Kairi observed, helping her towards the trap door. As they reached it, they discovered the ladder was smashed.

"A lack of ladder is a bit of a problem, hm?" Yuffie said, dropping to her knees and trying to get a look at what was going on below. She frowned. "Whew, that thing's ugly." She said. Kairi grinned.

"It really is gross looking." She agreed. Below, it looked like the creature was beat, lying face down on the floor almost directly below the trap door. As they watched, they saw the others relax, and the beast stir. Both girls held their breath. It reached out, grabbing at Rikku and Leon. Leon stepped just out of the way, but it caught Rikku, who gasped. There was a stir of movement below. Yuffie frowned. Without warning, she pushed herself through the trapdoor, jumping feet-first down onto the monster. Kairi gasped, reaching out to grab her but to no avail. Yuffie shouted as she landed, and Kairi swung down to the ground next to her a moment later. Yuffie stood triumphantly on the completely defeated beast, while Sora came up behind Kairi, one arm around her waist, while the he ran his fingers through her hair with the other.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. Kairi, grinning, nodded. Leon was approaching Yuffie, who threw up her hands, grinning.

"SQUALL!" She squealed, giggling. She stepped towards him, but her leg gave way underneath her and she started to fall. Leon caught her, ignoring the fact that she'd just called him Squall, and helped her back to her feet. She grinned sheepishly and tried to walk toward the door, only to collapse again. Leon bend down and swept her legs out from under her. She shrieked and grabbed at him, her arms going tightly around his neck. Moments before she hit the ground, he caught her and picked her up, laughing silently at her reaction.

"I thought ninjas were supposed to always land on their feet." He observed as she slowly let go of his neck. She glowered at him.

"We do, but not when we're sick!" She announced, struggling to get him to let go of her. He started as if he was about to drop her. She squeaked and her arms went around his neck again. A moment later, she let go of him again and scowled. "Stop doing that!" She told him, frowning convincingly. Leon shrugged.

"Why?" He asked simply. Instead of replying, she started to struggle again.

"Let go!" She commanded. Leon shook his head, kicking the door open and stepping outside. Sora and the others had already made their way outside. Yuffie continued struggling until Leon shifted her weight and settled her into his arms to that she couldn't move.

"You're in no condition to walk, so I'm going to carry you." He told her, following a few feet behind everyone else as they made their way back to the Magician's house. Yuffie frowned again.

"I can so walk!" she argued.

"For about two steps before you collapse." He replied. Yuffie didn't argue, but instead started muttering foul things about him, but quietly so he couldn't hear just exactly what it was she was saying. Leon rolled his eyes and made as if he was going to drop her again. She squeaked, clutching at his jacket and burying her face in his shoulder. When she lifted her face again, she glared at him.

"SQUALL!" she cried scoldingly. Leon sighed.

"It's Le-." But before he could finish, Yuffie interrupted him, smiling sweetly.

"I love you." She said, grinning. Forgetting what he was about to say, he smiled back and kissed her. Everyone else was already through the door into the Alley before they realized that Leon and Yuffie weren't following. Sora looked around.

"Where'd they go?" He asked, confused. He knew Leon was not one to fall behind, no matter the circumstances. Rikku, who was standing closest to the door, skipped over to it and pulled it open a crack, about to look through it and yell for them to hurry up. Instead, she peeked through, shut the door slowly and turned to face everyone else, grinning. The rest of them stared at her, unsure of what had made her so inexplicably happy. Without warning, she tackled Gippal and started kissing him. He jumped, surprised, knocking her away.

"What the hell?" He asked, surprised. Rikku crossed her arms, trying to frown, but grinning instead.

"What?" She asked innocently, walking over to him so they were standing inches away from each other. Gippal shrugged.

"Eh, I ain't complaining." He decided, scooping her up and kissing her back. Yuna started to laugh helplessly. Sora grinned at Kairi and started towards her. She smiled innocently back at him, but when he got close enough, she pushed him into the water. To her own surprise though, he managed to grab on to her and pulled her in with him. She yelped as she fell, her voice cut off as she dropping into the water. Both of them surfaced. Sora was laughing. Kairi smirked and started splashing him. Trying helplessly to block her attacks, Sora grabbed at her and managed to catch her wrist. He pulled her to him, ignoring her protests and continued attacks. Grabbing her waist, he made to kiss her. She resisted, giggling.

"You're not getting away with that this time!" She announced, kicking away from him and kicking up a fountain of water as she did so. Sora grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him, trying again. This time around, she barely resisted, letting his lips take hers and relaxing completely. When they broke the kiss, they notice Tidus watching them with mild interest.

"Genius." He said. The pair gave him a funny look. He grinned at Sora. "Kissing soaking wet girls. Absolute genius." He explained. Sora grinned back. Kairi rolled her eyes, half-smiling. Tidus grabbed Yuna by the waist and pulled her to him. To her surprise, he turned a little and, scooping her up, tossed her cleanly into the water. She surfaced and glared at him, trying to hide a grin. Sora nodded, impressed.

"So, that's how you do it without getting wet yourself then." He observed. Yuna grinned mischievously.

"Oh, don't think for a second he's going to get away with it." She said, kicking up water at Tidus. He tried to block it, and got only a bit wet. He grinned triumphantly at her, but a moment too soon. She sprang out of the water, grabbing his jacket and letting herself fall backwards into the water, pulling him in on top of her. He reacted, but it was too late.

"Hey!" He shouted, his voice cut off when he hit the water. After a few seconds, both of them broke the surface, gasping with laughter. Paine, Baralai, Rikku and Gippal were all watching them, extremely amused. Baralai looked at Paine, still grinning amusedly. Paine smiled back at him, daring him.

"Just try it." She said. Baralai shrugged, not making any move. Gippal sighed.

"You're a chicken." He said, pushing Baralai in. He surfaced, glaring up at the Al Bhed.

"What was that for?" He asked. Gippal shrugged.

"I told you, you were being a chicken. That's what chickens get." He said. Paine was trying to keep from laughing. Gippal glanced at her. "And you're no better." He said. Paine watched him curiously.

"How so?" She asked. Gippal grinned evilly, but didn't do anything. Paine only realized what was going on a second too late. Baralai had already scrambled out of the water behind her and pushed her in. She yelped, landing not-so gracefully. Gippal grinned.

"Nice." He said, high-fiving Baralai, who grinned back. Rikku, who was standing on the other side of Gippal from Baralai, raised her eyebrows at Baralai, who smirked. Gippal still had his attention on Baralai. Rikku lifted her hand and counted to three on her fingers. On three, she smirked.

"GO!" She shouted. Gippal jumped, not expecting the sudden flurry of movement.

"WhaaaAAA!" He shouted, stumbling as Baralai and Rikku shoved him forward from either side, sending him even more ungracefully into the water than Paine, who was floating lazily, smirking as she watched.

"That's what you get." She told him as he surfaced. He didn't pay much attention to her, but turned to where Rikku and Baralai were standing, killing themselves laughing. He climbed out of the water, glaring at them. Rikku stuck her tongue out at him. Gippal crossed his arms, glancing at Baralai, who was smiling mischievously. Rikku thought Gippal was going to get mad at her, but instead, he looked her up and down, lazily.

"You're the only one not wet yet." He noted, sounding as if he didn't care. Rikku grinned triumphantly.

"That's right!" She announced, sounding very pleased with herself. Gippal smirked.

"Won't be that way for long." He said. Rikku started to back away from him, watching him suspiciously. She backed right into Baralai, who grabbed her by the wrists. She tried to turn around to face him, but found she couldn't as Gippal grabbed her ankles, lifting her.

"Hey!" She shouted, completely helpless as she hung between the two of them. Baralai grinned.

"Ready?" He asked. Gippal grinned back.

"Ready. 1, 2, 3!" With each count, they swung her higher and higher until they hit three, when they sent her flying over the heads of everyone, shrieking and flailing, to hit the water. Laughing, they both dove in. Baralai surfaced a few feet from the edge, but Gippal kicked himself forward, gliding underwater toward Rikku. She surfaced and glowered up at the edge of the water, where she expected Gippal and Baralai to be, but weren't. She glanced around and caught sight of Baralai, but where was Gippal. Her eyes searched the water, but to no avail. She was on edge, expecting him to pop up any time, but was still surprised when she felt a pair of gloved hands on her shoulders, pulling her down under the water's surface again. She came up gasping. Gippal was floating beside her. She pushed down on his stomach, sending him under the surface momentarily. When he surfaced again, she was gliding towards the edge. She climbed up on the ledge and sat on it, beckoning for him to come over. He did, pulling himself up onto the ledge next to her. Tidus was sitting on the ledge a little ways down a moment later, Kairi and Sora soon followed. After a few moments, everyone was sitting on the ledge, talking and laughing quietly. The creaking sound of the Alley door opening drew everyone's attention. Yuffie and Leon were both standing in the doorway. Yuffie was walking, but only with support from Leon. They were both staring openly at the group. There was a moment of silence, in which the eight wet people grinned sheepishly and the other two people stared in confusion. Leon finally spoke.

"What were you doing?" He asked, still staring. Sora shrugged.

"We, uh, went for a little swim." He said, standing up. Leon decided he just wasn't going to ask. Yuffie, on the other hand, looked disappointed.

"You went swimming without me?" She asked, frowning. Rikku tried to keep from laughing. She spoke slowly, her voice full of mirth, teasing.

"You were…busy…"

……………..

RnR! Much love, not much to comment on. I hope this chappie wasn't too confusing for ya! Anywho, please please please review, it really is incredibly inspiring and can occasionally (if I be having a bad day) can make my day! It's so awesome to know people are reading my fics! Don't mind the swimming thing, it just kinda…happened.