Author's Note: Hey there everybody! Here is chapter three! My thanks to Wrath-Oathkeeper and to PennStGuy for the reviews! Chocolate for you!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and anything related to it is not mine! The name Lakia is and Matthias belongs to Hapkido Master.

—Chapter 3—

Five days after the conversation on the PHS found Yuffie, wearing her usual garb, saying goodbye to her best friend and hello to her gold chocobo, Lakia. She twisted around and made sure her small pack was secured before nudging the bird into motion. She was heading for Neo Midgar.

Lakia flew past and over any obstacles that got in the way. Yuffie loved the bird dearly and had practically spoiled her rotten. Soon the beach was in sight, and after that came the worst part of the trip, in Yuffie's opinion anyways.

They hit the water at a dead run. At first she winced and hung onto the big bird harder than she should have. Lakia warked to bring her back to her sense and to release the death grip she had on her feathers. Yuffie laughed nervously to herself and released the feathers, patting the chocobo on the neck in affection.

They raced across the blue water. Every once in a while, Yuffie would catch a glimpse of some kind of fish that was racing along beside them. It wasn't even forty five minutes before Lakia touched the sand of the beach of the continent. Yuffie slowed her to a trot.

She grinned as they passed Rocket Town. She would have to come up with a few tricks to play on Cid the next time she saw him. Maybe she could get some materia from him? It was an idea.

She turned Lakia to the outskirts of the Nibel Mountains. For some reason she didn't like having to go up and down and up and down…she shook her head. Just thinking about the motion sent her stomach to revolt against her. So when she came to them, she also skirted the Corel Mountains. She went past Costa Del Sol and they hit the ocean, back at a run.

Crossing the ocean wasn't bad this time. It only took about a half hour before they came ashore on the beach. Before them loomed the Midgar Ruins. For a moment, Yuffie made Lakia stop. She gazed at the Ruins with mixed emotions. It was sad that many people had died there. It was scary that monsters now lived there. It brought back memories of the events from five years ago.

She shook her head and continued on. Tifa was expecting her for dinner after all. Though…she still had a few hours yet. An idea came to her. Sure, she had helped build Neo Midgar, but she had been more preoccupied with rebuilding Wutai. It was time to do some exploring.

Neo Midgar had been built about a mile or two from the Midgar Ruins. Neo Midgar was a much better place. Here every house was in the bright sunlight and everything had color. At first, it started out as homes of all shapes, sizes, and colors set along streets that crisscrossed in all directions.

Soon, the houses gave way to small business and stores. The streets become more crowded, laughing people were everywhere it seemed. Without knowing just how she got there, Yuffie found herself sitting on Lakia's back in front of the Final Heaven Bar. It was a four story building. The first floor was the bar/café area. The second floor was rooms that could be rented for a few days. The third floor was more rooms but these were especially reserved for members of either the Turks or Avalanche. The top floor was where Cloud, Tifa, and their son Matthias were going to live now that the building was completely finished. Barret and Cid were going to arrive the next day to help them start moving their things. And yes, Yuffie was going to help too.

She must have been sitting there for a few minutes because Cloud was walking down the front stairs toward her, a smirk on his face.

"What are you doing? Having a staring contest with the window?" he asked jokingly.

Yuffie rolled her eyes and jumped down from her perch on Lakia. "Whatever, chocobohead!" she teased. His hair was as spiky as usual. And really, it did look like the tail feathers of a chocobo.

He narrowed his eyes at her and was about to say something when he was stopped. Yuffie was nearly tackled to the ground, Tifa ran into her so hard.

"Yuffie! It's so good to see you again!" Tifa, always happy, was positively beaming at her young friend.

"Geez Tifa! It's only been about a month and a half!" Yuffie laughed but she returned the big hug her friend had given her.

"I know that, but still." Tifa shrugged. "Come on inside. Cloud will take care of Lakia and your things for you."

"Okay." Yuffie, of course, had no problems agreeing to that.

Cloud gave her a dark look and she made a face at him. "Oh sure, I'll take care of her stuff…" he said.

"Thanks, Cloud." Tifa kissed his cheek and ushered Yuffie inside, leaving him staring after her with a dazed look on his face. "I've got the second room on the right of the stairs made up for her.

Yuffie smiled and waved to him as the door closed. She turned and looked around the bar, which, surprisingly, wasn't occupied by hardly anyone.

"Where is everyone? I thought this place would be packed full." She asked with a confused look.

"Everyone's at work. That's what I like about Neo Midgar. More people have jobs. It's just such a better place than Midgar was." Tifa sighed. "Sure there are still the usual drunks and slums, but it's not as noticeable as it was."

"Cool. Hey, what time is supper?" Yuffie asked looking around some more.

"At about seven or so. Why?" Tifa tilted her head to the side a bit.

"Well, since I haven't really seen everything here I thought I would look around some. I'll be back by dinner time though!" Yuffie promised.

"Cloud could give you a tour the day after tomorrow if you wanted though." Tifa suggested.

Yuffie paused with a thoughtful look on her face. "Yeah he could but we'd probably end up arguing the whole time!" she grinned.

"That's true." Cloud said as he came into the room from coming in the back door. "We more than likely would."

"Well. I suppose so then. If you want. Just be sure you are back in time. We're having fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner!" Tifa called after the retreating form.

Yuffie turned and gave her her best smile before the door closed behind her and she was gone. Tifa sighed as Cloud wrapped an arm around her waist.

"She'll be fine. She can take care of herself if anything comes up. Plus she's got her PHS if she needs to contact us." He stated.

"You're right. And speaking of contacting, have you called Cid and Barret yet to confirm our plans for tomorrow?" she asked turning to face him.

Cloud winced. "I knew I had forgotten something!" he gave her a sheepish grin.

"Why don't you go do that now while you're thinking about that then?" She smiled and brushed her hand against his cheek.

"Sure." He watched as she headed back towards the bar to serve a customer. He sighed and pulled his PHS out of his pocket, dialing a number. "Hey, Barret? It's Cloud…"

Yuffie skipped down the streets, eyes looking everywhere at once. This place was so much better than stinky old Midgar. It was cleaner! For several hours she just aimlessly walked down street after street.

Soon it started to get dark and she looked up. The sky was black from the night and a storm was coming. She could barely see the gray clouds above her. She looked at the time on her PHS.

"Oh my gosh! I've got to get back!" it was fifteen minutes to seven. She turned and started back up the street she was on, just as rain began to pour from the sky above. Lightning flashed and thunder followed instantly. Yuffie stopped at the entrance to an alley. There was something in there.

Lightning flashed again, brighter. She caught a glimpse of the outline of, what she thought, looked like a person. She looked around but the street was practically empty now. Cautiously, she walked towards the dark figure and knelt in front of them. Again there was a flash a lightning. Yuffie caught her breath for a second.

"Vincent?"

Well, well, well! What do you think? A bit of a cliffhanger, eh? Like it? Feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks! Juzu