A/N: This part's a little serious. (loud gasp) Except maybe in the ending but... hehe. It feels like I haven't written stuff in like… a bajillion years! (panicks)

Thankies for reviewing everybody!
Hehe, Vinnie-chan is hiding… (covers mouth)
Yusa Kenta. (ponders) I probably heard it in some animes before but I just never noticed. (sweatdrop)
Hehe, thank you for your forgiveness (bows) And, yes. Damian does sound demonic. O.o Oh dear.
I'm glad you like my Marlene story! (smile)

Disclaimer: Noothhiinng beelloonnggss too meee… except for Damian because he's really adorable! So is Marlene but she doesn't beelloong too meee… ah, poopy.

My Little Star
Chapter Five

Don't Leave Me (Part 2)

The riverbank was filled with hundreds of pretty Koi fish! Everywhere you looked, you would see them in different colors. There were yellow, black, white, red colored fishes (there were even more than that, too!). I don't even remember the last time I've seen something really pretty. For the next thirty minutes or so, we had been feeding the Koi fish. I even had the chance to pet one. I got splashed a few times, but that was all right. My new friend, Damian, and I splashed each other with water too. After we were finished, we decided to walk around just outside of Wutai. That gave us time to get to know each other better. I started first.

"Well, right now I'm living in Kalm. My Papa is a very great person and he likes to travel a lot. He just came back from his travels with his friend… but he had to go help his other friends in North Corel. He left his friends to look after me."

Damian placed his hands behind his head. "Really? I wish my father were like that. But, he would always sit around and talk about how sad his life is."

"Sad?"

"Yeah. My mother died when I was just born. So, I don't remember anything about her. But, my older brother would always tell me how wonderful she was. He told me that the moment she saw me, she cried with joy."

I frowned at that. Mama… I would always bring it up to Papa, but he would always shake his head and change the subject. I always thought that I had a Mama… but… why wouldn't Papa want to talk about it? Was it something too painful to talk about? That got me to wonder if… I even had one.

I tugged my sleeves and bit my lower lip. I didn't want to think or even talk about that now. Now wasn't the time to cry. After a deep breath, I finally responded, "Do you live around here?"

He shook his head. "I come all the way from Cosmo Canyon."

My eyebrows skyrocketed at that. "Wow! All the way there?"

"Hehe, I thought you had a little hint that I came from there?"

I blinked and stared at him. Well, I wasn't sure how a… 'Cosmo Canyonian' looked like. Damian had really tan skin, his hair was pretty dark, and he had a little mark on his right cheek. The mark kind of looked like one of Cloud's friends'… I think his name was… Red? I shrugged my shoulders.

"I should really go there some time," I paused. "So, that means you are visiting someone here?"

That seemed to annoy Damian. He just turned away from me and replied, "Yeah. My brother's 'friend'. This all happened last year when we went to Wutai for the festival. She was one of the dancers at the opening ceremony and he just fell in love with her. Since then, he's only been thinking of her nonstop. He hasn't been paying much attention to me. He's been constantly sending mail to her from home. And I read one of the letters about spending this year's festival alone. I don't even know why my brother took me here anyway."

I tilted my head and patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I guess relationships are like that. It's obvious that they both like each other… possibly love each other. It's very strong to break."

"…I hate it. I hate their little relationship. And I hate their stupid love!" he turned to me at that. "I just want to run away from them forever! Live somewhere far away from them!"

"D-Damian…"

"Is that why you decided to run away from your parents?"

I gave him a dirty look. "I don't run away from my Papa! I love him very much!"

"Then, why are you out here? Wouldn't your mother be worried about you right now?"

'Mama…' "What about you! Your brother's probably worried about you!"

"I TOLD YOU! He doesn't care… even if I died he still wouldn't care! He only cares about his little 'friend'!" he clenched his fists. "Answer me! What about YOUR mother!"

I clenched my fists and bit my lower lip hard. I could feel a small leak of blood from that. "I-I… I don't… have… one."

Damian scowled. "You lie! You're probably like me!"

I couldn't take it anymore! I wasn't sure what I should do. The only thing I could do was… cry. Damian could actually be right. Since I don't remember my Mama at all, then she probably died a very long time ago. Maybe that was why Papa would never talk to me about it? And, the only reason why I'm here alone was because Tifa and Uncle Vincent seemed to be having fun with each other. I didn't want to break that. They probably… liked each other. But… I thought that Tifa liked Cloud first? Things didn't make any sense to me anymore.

I didn't realize that I had been crying for some time now. Luckily, there weren't any people nearby. I didn't want anyone else to know that I was such a crybaby. For some reason, I kept telling myself that I shouldn't cry. Papa never showed one single teardrop to me, so I shouldn't either. I wanted to be strong just like he was. Damian placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned forward. He seemed like he was crying as well. I looked up as he smiled his sweetest smile.

"We have a lot in common. We try our hardest not to cry, but we can't help but do it anyway."

I wiped my tears away. "U-Uh huh…"

He helped me up to my feet and gestured towards a big mountain. "Let's go there! I'm sure no one will find us there!"

Before we could even move, there was a distant voice calling out something. It sounded like 'Damian'. The voice soon got louder, and that made Damian really nervous. He tugged me towards the mountain and ran as fast as we could. We finally arrived at the mountain, the one shaped like people. There weren't as much people there, but we still made our way through. The trail was really steep and at one point, I lost one of my slippers (I really hoped Yuffie wasn't going to be angry about that…). We hid inside one of the caves and sat in the dark for a very long time. It started to get really dark and scary. I tugged on Damian's sleeve. I just wanted to go home to Papa…

"We should be fine here," Damian said, taking a breath of relief.

"C-Can we go back? I don't like this place…"

"And have those 'lovers' look for us and continue ignoring us? NO WAY."

I frowned and sat back. What was I doing? Damian had definitely convinced me that no one cared about us at all. Why did I fall into such a trap? Papa always said that no matter what the situation was, he would always love and care for me. I should have realized that Tifa and Uncle Vincent showed that to me already. I just wished that Damian would realize that too. I'm sure his brother and his 'friend' cared about him dearly. They were probably worried about him right now. And… I think Tifa and Uncle Vincent were as well. I clenched my fists at that and stood up.

"Damian," my voice was so firm… it actually hurt… "we shouldn't hide like this anymore! There are people out there that are worried sick about us! If we continue like this, we could get in serious trouble!"

"And who's gonna get us in trouble? We're running away, remember? Whatever happened to them leaving you out? They only think about themselves! Adults are so greedy!"

His comments were getting really ridiculous. I raised my hand and slapped him across his cheek. "Don't you DARE say that again! Everything you say are lies! YOU'RE the liar! I don't know where you get these ideas from, but I'm going to show you that all you said are lies!"

I tugged him to his feet and dragged him out the cave. The moment we stepped outside, I couldn't see anything for miles. The only things I could see were the bright lights of Wutai. I didn't even realize that we climbed so high! I shook the thought out and finally made our way down.

"W-What are you doing!"

I tugged his arm tighter. "We have to go back to them! We both know they care for us deeply!"

"B-But!"

"Be q-"

I suddenly slipped and found myself hanging over a bajillion feet above Wutai! Luckily, Damian was alright… but he seemed really shocked. I tried reaching my arm out so he could help me up… but… he just ran away! I couldn't believe it! He was still trapped in his own little world. I felt warm tears running down my face as I closed my eyes tightly. I was sorry for running away from Tifa and Uncle Vincent… and I was especially sorry that I thought that Damian was right until now! I just made things worse! I was losing my grip…

"I… I'm so sorry!"

"MARLENE!"

I shot open my eyes and spotted Tifa, Uncle Vincent and… Damian. I thought he would never come back! I was so happy… but how did he know I was with them? I kicked my feet against the wall of the cliff as Tifa scooped me up into her arms. I wrapped my arms around her neck and cried again. I couldn't help it…

"Marlene! Don't you ever run away from us again! We were so worried!" Tifa pulled me in front of her. Her face was completely red from crying. "Do you hear me, young lady?"

I nodded my head really fast and took a deep breath. "I-I'm s-sorry! I-I didn't m-mean it!"

"Marlene," Uncle Vincent lifted me out of Tifa's arms and into his. His usual expressionless face actually showed signs of fright and worry. It wasn't something anyone could see, but his eyes revealed it all. I sniffed loudly and wiped away my tears. "Marlene," he repeated. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"I didn't mean it! Y-You guys were having so much fun and I didn't want to interrupt! Uncle Vincent, I've never seen you having so much fun! That's what I wanted this festival to give you!" I looked away. I still remembered the other reason why I ran away (though, I still shouldn't have done so…). That gunshot… I thought I heard a noise similar to that one before. And it wasn't my Papa's gun. He never used it in front of me before. I rested my chin against Uncle Vincent's shoulder. I was too tired to do anything now. He patted my back and finally said,

"Marlene, if there's something that is bothering you, you should always tell us."

I blinked out my tears and buried my face into his shoulder. "I… I let down Papa…"

After that moment, we decided to stay over at Yuffie's place for the night. I had a very strong feeling that I ruined our so-called 'fun' night into a… "not-so-fun" night. I wasn't in the mood to talk about what was bothering me, but I would probably do so in the morning.

That night, I couldn't sleep at all. There was still the little problem with Damian. After he brought my friends over, he just disappeared again. I really hoped he wasn't hiding from his older brother and his 'friend' again. I slowly stood up from my bed and tip-toed across the room. I had a feeling he was going to be awake around this time. As soon as I opened the sliding door, Uncle Vincent stirred.

"Marlene?"

I froze and quickly shut the door. "Y-Yes?"

"Where are you going so late?"

I sighed and dragged myself to him. Guess I couldn't hide what was bothering me now. "Well… my friend, Damian, and I were talking and he says that his older brother and his 'friend' have been ignoring him since last year. His brother is always thinking about his 'friend' and nothing else. Damian thinks that no one cares about him anymore." I paused. "And… I kind of felt that way when you and Tifa were having fun without me."

Uncle Vincent sighed and offered me to sit on his lap. "I'm sorry about what happened before. You were right. I was… having a little… fun. And Tifa wanted me to have fun as well. But, you make it even better."

I felt my face burning up. "I-I… eh… hehe…" Well, I sure was embarrassed now...

"We didn't mean to leave you out."

I shook my head. "I-I know. I realized that before… after Damian almost convinced me that no one cared about us."

"Damian. He was the one that was yelling, 'Marlene's in trouble'?"

I gave a weak smile. 'So… that's how he did it.' But… what should I do? I really want him to know that his older brother still cares about him!"

He helped me to my feet as he stood up. "Let's go."

The lights from the festival were still burning brightly as ever outside. The festival sure left Wutai in a garbage heap. There were even people outside sleeping! This place didn't have enough hotels or something? I hopped over a bunch of streamers and spotted Damian on one of the cross bridges. I tugged Uncle Vincent's sleeve and told him I wanted to talk to him alone. He nodded as I made my way towards my friend.

"Damian!"

He turned and smiled weakly. "O-Oh, hey."

"Thank you so much for what you've done. That really means a lot."

"Y-Your welcome. I just had to. I could have helped you before, but I had a feeling your friends should help you instead. What you said before… was true," he turned away. "I went back to my older brother. And, like you, he was really worried. He already knew why I ran away. He and his friend, Trinity, said that we would get along with each other from now on."

I smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I thank you for everything and I'm sorry I got you in trouble."

"Hey, we both got in trouble, right?"

We both giggled at that. Damian turned to face me. "Well, I'm going back to Cosmo Canyon now."

"Aw, so soon?"

"Yeah. This time, my brother is going to take Trinity with us. Now I know what not to think. They'll always care for me no matter what," he leaned forward and gently dabbed his lips onto my cheek. He smiled and took off. "Thanks for everything again!"

…that was my first not-Papa-kiss I ever had… and from someone that I barely even knew! I blushed and waved good-bye.

I slept peacefully that night. And about that gun and Mama thing? I forgotten all about it the next day…

"Peachy! Peachy! Peeaacchhy!"

I stuffed a slice of peach in my mouth. For some reason, I was full of energy that morning. I even woke up yelling, 'good morning!'. I accidentally woke up Uncle Vincent, but he wasn't angry. After we got dressed, he said he had to deal with something at the Pagoda. I just shrugged and followed Tifa to grab me some breakfast. An hour has passed and Uncle Vincent still wasn't back from… whatever he was doing. So, I decided to check up on him (Tifa followed me).

As we walked out, there was a crowd of people right in front of the Pagoda. It kind of looked like someone was performing some tricks. I spotted Yuffie coming out from the crowd, gesturing for us to come in. We followed her to the front and I spotted Uncle Vincent, Yuffie, and the knife throwers.

"Attention everyone!" Yuffie yelled. "As a special treat, my good pal Vinnie will be performing some amazing tricks!"

He sighed. "Yuffie, I don't know how to use these things…"

"Hah! Don't be so modest!" she slapped his back and laughed. "You just throw them!"

Uncle Vincent threw the knives across very weakly. Yuffie picked them up and threw them back to him. He quickly ducked and gave her an annoyed look. She laughed again and threw her very huge knife to him.

"DODGE! DODGE! DODGE! VIINNIIIIE!"

He took out his small blue bag and threw something round to the ground. In just a few seconds, smoke exploded right out of it. It was impossible to see anything passed it. As soon as it died down, he was nowhere to be seen. Yuffie stomped her foot.

"AUGH! VINNIE!"

Suddenly, several small star things appeared and stapled Yuffie and the other guys straight to the ground. I looked up and spotted Uncle Vincent jump down from the top of the Pagoda (veeery high…). He smirked and placed the star things back in his blue bag.

"Thank you for the equipment," he bowed.

Yuffie growled. "Lemme go!"

The whole crowd began to cheer loudly. Uncle Vincent… sure surprises me sometimes.

"Wow! I never knew you could do that, Vincent!" Tifa smiled and leaned forward. "And to think this comes from a gunslinger."

He just shrugged his shoulders at that. Suddenly, his cellphone rang. He picked it up and said, "Yes?" he paused and handed it to me. "It's for you."

I blinked and took his phone. "Hello?" I smiled. "Papa! How is North Corel d… w-what? O-Oh… n-no… Y-Yes… I'll be fine. I hope to see you really soon. I love you, too," I handed the phone back to Uncle Vincent.

"What's wrong, Marlene?" Tifa asked, patting my head.

"…Papa says that he won't be home for another month or so."

A/N: End of chapter five! Aw! I was like… practically crying when I wrote this chapter. It's so mushy mushy. I'm sure a lot of kids can relate… (blows nose) Anyways, the ending's a comic relief! Whooo hoooo… hehe. Ew, I left you with a stinky cliffhanger. (dodges knives) Oh dear! Barret's not coming home yet? What will Marlene do! Where will their next adventure be? Find out next chapter! Hope you enjoyed reading and please tell me how you thought of it!