A/N: Ah! The long awaited "sequel" has finally arrived! This YuffiexNanaki story will be different from the others. It won't exactly concentrate on romance. I wanted to try something different. But… I might stick a few lovey lovey scenes later. (smile) Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: FF7 and all it's characters, places yadda yadda etc etc doesn't belong to me. HOWEVER! Only the cave does. Oooo…

Reveal Your True Eyes
Chapter One

Somewhere Deep Within
"Wow… great going, genius." -Yuffie

What was going on? One minute my tail was there… and the next it vanished. And then I turned into my original form. I was so shocked. I stared down at my red paws, making sure it was actually for real. I shifted my body around and stared at my brightly lit tail. Everything was real. But… how did I return to my regular body? Whenever I changed, I would feel this incredible pain flowing throughout my body. But this time… nothing. I felt nothing at all. It was like I found some way to prevent the pain from returning. Was it because of what happened before in Wutai? I shook my head around. Everything was confusing.

And now, there was an even bigger problem. Not only have I changed into my beast form… but it seemed that Yuffie had changed into it as well. The color of her fur was brown with a bit of dark green in it, she was slightly smaller than I was, and her headband was slanted over her right eye.

I blinked in shock as her small brown eyes sadly looked up into mine. Her whimpering noises made me back up against the wall of the Highwind.

"Y…Yuffie!" I finally said.

Her small paws gently scratched against my side. "NANAKI! WHAT HAPPENED! WHY DO I LOOK LIKE THIS!… WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THAT?"

"I-I don't know! I'm just as confused as you are!"

"What if the others find out!" Yuffie squealed. She bumped her green lit tail to the side of the Highwind.

"Why not? This is serious! They might know how to help us!"

"But… But look at me! I look like… like…"

I made a face. "…me?"

"YES!"

I sighed at that. "Now's not the time to joke around. Come on, let's tell Cl-"

Yuffie slammed her tail hard on the ground at that. "NO! C'mon! You're smart! Think! This is so sudden… I'll be so embarrassed!"

"But-"

She made a sad face at that.

I groaned to myself and plopped my bottom back on the ground. The best option was to tell someone about this… but I guess we could think about it for a while. I knew how Yuffie felt. When I suddenly changed into a human, I was too embarrassed to show myself to anyone. But, thanks to her, I felt comfortable with my new body. Perhaps I will teach her her own lesson later or something.

But, putting that aside for a second… I had to think about our situation. Before I changed… there was a bright light. I didn't feel anything weird while that happened… in fact, I don't really recall anything when that happened. Only… I felt something different inside. That bright light… it must be some kind of clue.

"Nnnnn… did you figure it out yet?" Yuffie whined, rocking back and forth on her tail.

I grunted. "Before you changed into… eh… me… what happened? Or… what were you doing?"

"Well… I was outside saying goodbye to my Wutai. After that, I picked up my necklace to admire it. Then… I think I stared into the bright sun or something and the next thing I knew… I was… THIS!"

I tapped my paw on the ground. "I don't think there was a bright sun. Because I was engulfed in a bright light as well."

Yuffie gasped. "Do you think… it was our necklaces' doings!"

"Our necklaces'?"

She nodded. "Yeah! My father said that our necklaces' have an unknown power deep within."

I lifted my head. I remembered that. But, what did this have to do with our courage and determination? Were we determined to be with each other and that we could take in whatever entered our path? I rubbed my head. I still didn't understand… but it somehow made little sense.

"So… our necklaces' have the power to change our forms whenever we want?" Yuffie said, knawing at her necklaces' chain.

I shrugged. "I guess… but… how do we change back?"

"Eh…"

We both turned to the door. Someone was coming. I turned to Yuffie who was now under a panic attack. I looked around then to my necklace. I rubbed the chain back and forth.

"We want to change our forms!"

"Come ON! I'm not ready to show everyone how I look!" Yuffie scratched the chain harder. "Work, work, work, WORK!"

"Yuffie! Calm down! Panicking won't help in this situation!"

"B-But! I-I don't wanna! EH! EEE!"

A soft knock was heard from behind the door.

"Yo, Red!" Cid happily said. "What's all the commotion in there? Was that Yuffie? Are you two making out?"

I turned red at that. "NO! I'm… eh…" I ran up to Yuffie and pushed her underneath the bed. She grunted at that. "I'm… by myself."

"Hooo?"

The door opened, revealing a rather tired-looking Cid. He crossed his arms on his chest and lifted an eyebrow.

I smiled nervously. "Uh… is there something you want to talk about?"

"Shyeah, we're headin' over to some cave Cloud wanted to see."

"A cave?"

"Yeah, but it's not on the map."

"Is it safe?"

"Dunno, but! I'm willing to explore new places anytime!" He paused and looked at me with a weird face. "…and… why are you back to looking like that?"

I grinned nervously. I totally forgotten about my current situation. "It's a long story."

Cid shrugged and turned his back to me. "Okay, whatever. Oh, and… Yuffie… I know you're under the bed."

Yuffie pounded the ground with her paw. "Be quiet! I'm sleeping!"

"Tch. Whatever. Just be at the usual place in a few."

I nodded and watched Cid close the door behind him. I sighed as Yuffie's head sprung right out from under the bed.

"Naanaaakiiii! What 'em I going to do!"

I frowned and looked up. "Maybe… there's something we need to do… or say."

"Like what?"

"Eh… uhm… maybe… if we say the name of our little symbol things…?"

Yuffie made a face at that. "Well… mine's 'ai'" She paused. Nothing happened. "Wow… great going, genius."

I grunted. "Well! Maybe if I say mine! … 'chikara'!"

We both paused for a while. Nothing happened.

"…oh wow… that sure did something," Yuffie grunted. "Noooow whhaaaatt?"

"Hmm… maybe if w-"

A burst of bright light suddenly shot out from both our of necklaces'. The lights began to intertwine with each other as we were engulfed inside. A few seconds have passed and the lights died down. I opened my eye and found that I was back to being human. Yuffie grabbed her shoulders and smiled big.

"Yay! I'm human again! Ah! I love me!"

I smiled.

Perhaps… the necklaces' had a mind of their own?

We headed straight for the cockpit after that. Everyone was present inside. I made my way next to Cloud and stared out the big window. We just passed Nibelheim and soon made our way east from there. The Highwind landed near a cave that seemed camouflaged within the steep cliffs.

Cloud turned to the team with a determined look on his face. "Alright, everybody! This cave is well known for its dangerous monsters and obstacles. This will be a very good place for some training. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Barret started. "How did ya hear 'bout this cave? It's not on da map!"

"I remember seeing this cave when I was little… but I never had the chance to explore it. I've heard that people tried going through… looking for something that was hidden deep within the cave. No one knows what it is. They've seen glimpses of it before the monsters in the chased them out."

"Ooh! Treasure! Materia?" Yuffie squealed happily. "I want it!"

"The chances are slim," Cloud responded. "Besides, we're just here to train for a couple of days. We still have to deal with Sephiroth later."

That made Yuffie's smile disappear. "Aww… fine then."

As soon as we climbed out of the Highwind, I sensed something strange from that cave. An evil aura was present inside, spewing out black fog from the entrance. I don't think anyone noticed this. Maybe… this was something that humans could not see? I ran up to Cloud before he had a chance to move.

"Cloud… I don't think this cave is safe." I said, shaking my fists to my sides.

He grinned at that. "I know it's not safe. We just have to be careful."

"No! I mean… I feel an evil presence from within this cave. It's nothing like the monsters we've been fighting all this time."

Cloud stared at the cave. "Yes, I felt this aura when I was little also. But, over the years, this aura has been rotted down to its core. I'm pretty sure that… whatever is in there has no chance against us. Trust me. We'll be fine."

I frowned then nodded my head.

Cloud turned to the rest and gestured to everyone that we were ready to enter.

A couple of steps inside the cave was like hell to me. The foul stench of rotting corpses clogged up my senses. Everyone seemed like they weren't affected at all. Yuffie turned her head to me.

"Are you alright, Nanaki?"

I pinched my nose shut and nodded. "I'm fine. It's just… my senses seem to be stronger than anyone else here. I can smell rotting corpses right when I entered."

"Eew!" Yuffie gagged. "That sucks for you."

I grunted.

We came across a three-way path. All seemed unwelcoming. The first path showed no signs of light and it was really narrow. The second path led to the bottom of the cave. It was surrounded by tiny glowworms that dimmed every time you made a sound. And the third path had a very suspicious style to it. The walls were smoother than the rest and the ground had a cobblestone path.

Tifa stepped towards the third path. "It's like this was carved by people."

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Alright. Me and Tifa will take the third path. The first path is too narrow for any of us… so, Yuffie and Red will take it."

"Oh, sure. Just because we're small…" Yuffie muttered to herself.

"And the middle path will be Cid, Vincent, and Barret." Cloud continued.

"WHAT! But! That's the creepy path! I rather take the suspicious-looking one!" Cid complained.

Vincent sighed at Cid's childish behavior. "Think of it as the basement in your house."

"Shows how much you know! I don't have a basement!"

"Quit complainin' already!" Barret roared. "Let's go so we can get outta here!"

'So much for exploring new places, scaredy-cat.' I chuckled in my mind.

Barret pushed Cid down the path while Vincent stopped in front of the path. He turned to Cloud. "We will notify you if we find anything."

Cloud nodded. "Thank you." He turned to us now. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. "Yes, but… where will we meet?"

"…I'm… not entirely sure. But, I feel that we will meet up somewhere."

I hesitated. I wasn't too happy with that plan. "Okay," I finally said.

Yuffie stomped her foot hard on the ground. "ALRIGHTY! LET'S GO, NANAKI!" She pulled me towards the first path. "See you later, Cloud!"

"…I hope." I whispered to myself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ew, ew! Sticky, gooey, mushy stuff!"

"Just ignore it, Yuffie."

Of course, the narrowest cave always led to some sticky situation. And I meant that for both reasons. We haven't come across anything out of the ordinary… maybe because it was dark and we couldn't see anything. But, I managed to dodge a lot of low ceiling back there. I had no idea why… but lately, my beast senses seemed to be kicking in at the right moments.

I heard Yuffie fall on… whatever gooey stuff was on the ground. She shrieked and grabbed my arm, making me fall right next to her.

"GROSS-NESS! That's it! It's waaaaay too dark in here! Nanaki, can't you turn into your original form so your tail can be our little flashlight?"

"Yuffie, I can manage through the dark with my keen eyes already. You just follow close behind, okay?"

"O-Okay…"

We both held hands and continued our journey through the dark path. My surroundings seemed so clear to me now. The gooey stuff we were walking through was just wet soil. Wet soil… so… that meant there was some kind of stream flowing through?

I paused. I could hear a faint noise of a flowing stream nearby. I tugged Yuffie's arm towards the direction. I immediately stopped in front of a cliff. The stream was flowing out of the rock and down a slope.

"Yuffie, be careful. There's a steep slope that-"

"Slope?"

Yuffie stepped forward, causing both of us to lose our balance. We began to slide down, ramming against the rough stonewalls. I quickly looked around, noticing glowing yellow eyes surrounding us.

Our so-called, 'water slide ride' ended with us landing right in a puddle of mud. I lifted myself up and stood in front of Yuffie. She looked up, unsure about what just happened.

"N-Nanaki?"

"Yuffie… don't move."

"Why not?"

The glowing yellow eyes closed in on us. I narrowed my eyes, trying to make out who these figures were. Unfortunately, my vision was not working right. All I could see was a blur.

"…we have company."

A/N: End of chapter one! Ah! I knoooow where I am going with this thing. (evil laugh) Don't worry. Nothing bad. The next chapter might come in late. I might push it to like… a week or something. I have testing going on this week and 2 next week. So… the… post-chapters-ever-other-day will be changed for the time being. I ish sorry! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and please tell me how you thought of it!