Instinct: Chapter 2
The field was filled with flowers, and sunshine radiated from the cloudless blue sky. Feather-like pollen caught in the wind danced above the blossoms and tangled themselves in Red XIII's fur. He felt peaceful in this place: the air, the earth under his feet, the flowers- all seem warm with familiarity. It beckoned to a more youthful part of him he did his best to suppress even in his dreams, and he chased after that call through the floral maze.
He was breathless from the sudden burst of energy when he found himself at the foot of a small grassy hill. A girl sat on top of it with her back to Red XIII, she laid in the grass on her back propped up on her elbows. For a moment he thought it was Yuffie because of her short brown hair, and it wouldn't have been the first time she had been in his dreams. But her baby pink dress, and the strangely fitting scuffed leather combat boots told him differently .
"Aeris?" he called.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "Nanaki!" she giggled. They ran to each other and she embraced him around the neck. Then, still resting her hands between his shoulder blades, guided him to her spot on the top of the hill. "It's been a long time," she said as they sat down.
"Yes, not since..." she nodded in understanding.
"Let's not talk about that," she said smiling," Tell me about Wutai." He began to recount his time on the island. All the adventures he had had with Yuffie. They talked for a long time when Aeris asked finally "Nanaki, would you mind helping me with something?"
"Sure, anything," he said, fighting the urge to grin maniacally. He was so filled with warmth and tranquillity, she could have asked him to follow her off a cliff and he was positive that he would follow her.
"It's kinda selfish. I'm... looking for someone, and I need a way to go find him."
"I'm sorry, I'm still not quite sure what you're talking about," he answered, perplexity beginning to tamper with his euphoria.
"Oh don't worry I don't need you to find him or anything. I have no clue how I am, so how would you even know where to begin?" she reassured him.
"Who is this "he"?" he asked. He frowned, "It's not Cloud is it? He and Tifa are married."
Her face darkened for a moment, then returned to its previous cheeriness, "I know that. And no, it's not Cloud that I'm looking for. I'm looking for the man I'm meant to spend my life with," she finished dreamily.
"You fall in love a lot," he commented dryly.
"I cared about Zach and Cloud, but I think he's reason I did. I've always searched for him in men, and fortunately I've just ended up with other heroes." she replied, there was no reproach in her voice despite the small jab. "But will you help me?"
He rested his head in her lap, an action he would only consider in his current un-self consciousness. "Of course, anything," he purred.
She stroked his fur gently, "Thank you, Nanaki." The Cetran craned her head down to smile a final time at him before she murmured, "This is where you close your eyes."
Then, his vision started to fade, and his only companion was the intoxicating smell of the wildflowers.
~~~~~*~~~~~~
Red XIII awoke the next morning having the happy feeling of wonderful dreams. He left his eyes closed as he tried to remember what was so wonderful, and all that came to mind was the smell of flowers.
He opened his eyes and sat up to find a very pissed looking Yuffie pointing her Conformer at him. "Who the hell are you, and where is Nanaki?" she asked coldly.
"Yuffie, quit playing. It's way too early," he said pushing the shrunken away. Then caught a glimpse of his hand? He stared at his hands in disbelief. "Holy shit," he breathed.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" she demanded pushing the shrunken to his throat vehemently.
"Yuffie it's me! Except I'm... human!" he said in an uncharacteristically high voice.
She lowered the Conformer, looking closer at the strange man and gasped. He was right: the man had the three parallel lines running up his cheek. He had two tattoos on his olive complected arms- one the Roman numeral thirteen, and the other a village insignia on his left arm. Then there was the shag of red hair, beaded in front, that was unmistakably the same color as Red XIII's fur. And the scar where his left eye should have been.
She had missed all these details in her rage at finding her friend missing. The Conformer clattered to the floor. "Oh my gods," she said covering her mouth in shock. "this is incredible."
"I agree," he said, his voice had returned to its normal pitch, but it held just as much disbelief.
She frowned and turned her head away blushing, "Not to ruin the moment or anything, but, uh, Nanaki you're gonna need some pants."
He looked down at himself and shrugged, "I don't have any pants. Why would I?"
"Listen. It's okay not to when you're, umm, four-legged. But now that you're human you can't go around au natural, catch my drift?" she answered still avoiding eye contact.
"I don't have any pants," he repeated.
"Well, I guess you could borrow some of mine." she suggested. "How 'bout I give you my spare ones? You can figure 'em out yourself, right?" She said as she removed a pair out of her bag.
"I believe I'm intelligent enough to figure out a pair of shorts Yuffie," he snapped, snatching the shorts from her.
"Ok then, see you in a little bit," she waved and walked out to the beach.
Red XIII stared at the shorts like a man surveying a mountain he was going to climb. The task couldn't be all that daunting, Yuffie and millions of other humans did it everyday. He took a deep breath and still sitting down slipped them over his feet. It all went well until they had reached about mid-thigh. He tugged desperately at the shorts to pull them over his muscular quadriceps, but to no avail. He bucked back and forth on his back trying to work them over his legs, his long legs flailing in the air.
After a second unsuccessful attempt (and much swearing) he resolved to rip the seams of shorts to the waistband. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. He was also positive that he shouldn't be so out of breath from putting on shorts.
By the time Yuffie had arrived he stood precariously at the mouth of the cave in the cutoffs. The unevenly cut shorts, small on her, looked like underwear on his longer muscular legs. He took a few steps towards her then immediately groped for at the wall beside him, overstepped and collapsed in the sand. She looked at him and began to say something when Red XIII growled, "One word, and there will be no one that can save you."
"I wasn't going to say anything," she said innocently.
He sighed and said, "I had no idea that walking was this hard." He picked himself up, "See, if I just stand here I'm fine, but the moment I actually move." He took a wobbly step and promptly fell back into the sand. "This is horrible," he said miserably.
Yuffie started laughing, until tears began rolling down her cheeks. He glared at her, that was really the last thing that he needed. He tried to stand again, and caught the wall this time to balance himself. Yuffie collected herself enough to offer him a hand.
"No," he said. "I can do this on my own."
"Uh-huh, sure, now stop being a baby and give me your hand."
"What? So you can laugh at me again," he said, then tried to push her hand away with his free hand promptly unbalancing and falling onto Yuffie. She caught and held him, "See, this is what happens when you're mean to people who are just trying to help," she said in a mock-scolding tone. "I laughed because you are so adorably helpless, not because you can't walk."
He righted himself so that they were facing each other, and she took his hands into hers. It was then he noticed how much taller than she he had become. He guessed that he was at least as tall as Vincent, and from his new height Yuffie seemed even more petite. Petite, but never delicate, he was sure that even if he was twelve feet taller than she he would feel the power she radiated no less.
"Ok, let's teach you how to walk," She said as she started walking backwards, forcing him to walk with her. They moved slowly at first, stopping when he stumbled occasionally.
"Hey 'Naki, not to break your concentration or anythin' but why do you look my age instead of like 50 or somethin'?"
He kept his head trained on the ground, "I dunno, I guess this is my appearance according to my true age, rather than human years."
"Ah. That makes sense, I guess." They continued walking, keeping conversation to a minimum.
It wasn't long before the grace he had gained from years of fighting and training began to slowly show in his steps, and he no longer needed Yuffie's help. "See, that wasn't so terrible, was it?" she grinned.
"No, it wasn't," he admitted.
"Thank god you're a quick study."
"No, I just had an excellent teacher," he said. She rolled her eyes and they both laughed. "Yuffie, I'm sorry about this morning. Even when I had to wear that stupid sailor suit on the Shinra boat I wasn't this self- conscious, but even then I was still... me." he explained.
She waved away the apology, "I'd be stressed out too, if I woke up and wasn't me anymore," she said. "Don't worry. We'll head back to Wutai, and you and Cloud can swap cross dressing stories over the phone. Whadda ya say?"
He nodded, "Yes, it would probably be better if we waited to talk about this when we get back to your house. And when did Cloud start cross dressing?"
"Oh his cross dressing days are long behind him. It was just a funny story that Tifa told me once. I'll tell you on the way home."
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~
"It's a good thing we got in so late. I don't think that the people of Wutai are ready for you in cutoffs." Yuffie said as she put down her pack.
Red XIII pulled at his shorts again and muttered, "I don't think that I was ready either." Yuffie laughed.
"I'm sure dad's clothes will fit better. Yay! We get to go shopping tomorrow!" she exclaimed as she walked to her father's room.
"Uhh, I don't remember anything about shopping." he muttered.
"Well you can't borrow clothes forever, can you?" she asked.
"I guess not, but-"
"Yay! Shopping!" He sighed and shook his head.
"Oh yeah, be sure to do a quick Cure on yourself to take care of all your scrapes and stuff!" she called from down the hall.
Red XIII had never felt so tired in all his life. He still had had to rely on Yuffie to walk for the last leg of the trek back, because fatigue had begun to reclaim his quickly learned balance. He had never felt more like the 50 year old man he was until he had to hobble his way home. How embarrassing.
And even worse was the fact that his senses had been considerably dimmed in his transformation. Well, his eyesight had actually improved, but his sense of hearing, smell, and even taste were hardly half of what they had been. He felt so cut of from everything, as if the whole world had lost some of the vibrancy that it once had. Everything about being a human seemed to disorient him.
He collapsed into a chair that was located in the main breezeway to cast the Cure on himself. It felt nice to finally be off his feet. When he had finished his eyes fell on a note stuck onto one of the shoji screens. "What's this, Yuffie?"
"What?" she called from the hallway that led to her father's bedroom. He took the note off the wall and read it.
Yuffie
I can't begin to describe the dishonor you have brought to this family by not attending your own Henkan ceremony. I have reminded you every day since your 18th birthday that this was to be the weekend your ceremony was to occur, and yet you still manage to disappear. Your disrespect for not only the Shinobi clan, but bring the entire village is shame. But as I have told you before, the corporal body of the person to be changed is not needed and so
"Whatcha got there, Naki?" Yuffie asked as she began to read over his shoulder. Her body strickened and she snatched the letter out of his hands.
"What's that all about, Yuffie?" he asked. "You never said anything to me about some Henkan ceremony."
"You're right, because it has nothing to do with you," she said cooly, crumpling the note in her hand.
"Is that why you were so insistent that we did a long patrol this weekend? Because of this ceremony? Yuffie?" he demanded.
She crossed her arms and stared out to the courtyard in the center of the house, "So what if it was? This Henkan ceremony is the first step in becoming one of the Pagoda Masters, and that is the LAST thing I plan on doing. I'm NOT gonna get stuck here forever like my dad did, no way."
Red XIII understood the sentiment completely. He had struggled with the conflict of what he wanted to do versus what he knew he should and eventually must do. It hadn't been until his time with AVALANCHE that he realized that there was a difference between the two. "Someday Yuffie, we're not going to have a choice."
"I know," she said, then her eyes lit with defiance again. "But, I'm not going out without a fight. So let's go into my old man's room and steal his clothes! Whaddya say?" He smiled, "Okay, Yuffie."
~~~~*~~~~
Yuffie flicked on the light of her father's room. She knew that even though she had missed her ceremony, her father and the rest of the Pagoda masters would remain in the mountains for prayer and meditation until the following day. So there was no one to stop her from opening his wardrobe, pushing through the clothes until she found a pair of drawstring pants and a shirt that would fit Red XIII.
She threw the clothes at Red XIII, but continued going through the wardrobe. She winced as she heard him shred the shorts, and the fabric fall to the floor. But she kept digging until she had found what she was looking for. She held her treasure in her hand. "I knew Godo had my Power wrist! That kleptomaniac prick! Don't you just hate when people take things that don't belong to them? Nanaki? Nanaki?"
She heard a loud thump from behind and whirled around. He had somehow managed to put both legs into the same pant leg then lost his balance and had fallen flat on his side. "Help," he said simply.
She stifled a giggle. "Two legs, two holes. You made this mess, you figure it out. That's all I have to say. This one's on you pal," she said stepping over his legs.
He reached out and yanked one of her legs hard, causing her to fall flat on her face. "Ow!" she said rubbing her leg.
"I said 'Help', listen next time," he said smirking.
"Maybe I won't," she said crossing her arms indignantly, head turned away from him.
"I think you will, seeing as I still have your leg."
"So." she answered, her head still turned away.
He shrugged, "Ok then, we can wait. Here. All night. On the floor. Until Godo gets back tomorrow, and sees that not only have you missed your Henkan ceremony, but you have his Power Wrist, too."
"But it's mine!" she cried in protest. "But why were you in his wardrobe anyway?" "Red. I really hate you right now."
"I know you do." he said pulling her closer to him with a quick tug of her leg. "Now get me out of here!"
Later, Yuffie sat in her room carefully removing Materia from the slots in the Conformer. She was so preoccupied she didn't notice Red XIII enter, then take a seat in the chair across from her bed. "Yuffie, While we were traveling I thought a lot about my... transformation."
"Yeah, me too," she said distractedly as she concentrated on a piece of blue Materia she was retrieving.
"And I think I came up with a possible explanation pertaining to what might have cause it," he continued," I'm not sure, but I believe it had to do with the kiss you had given me last night."
"My kiss? That little peck on the cheek cause you to become an entirely different species? I don't think so Nanaki," she said snapping her brown eyes from her work and looking right into his light yellow ones.
"Well what else could it have been? That was certainly not the first time I've been hit by a monster, or even been exposed to the Mako in the Adamantaimai's blood. It must have crossed your mind once," he said pacing her room.
"Sure, but it's just insane. I mean, that sort of thing only happens in fairy tales. Like the Frog Prince or something."
He stopped pacing the room, "Frog Prince?"
Yuffie rolled her eyes, "You know the story about a prince who's cursed by some witch to be a frog until he finds true love. Then a princess comes along and finds this frog, kisses him, and he becomes a hot prince. I guess it would be DOG prince in your case, but whatever."
"The point is there are stories where this kind of thing happen," he interrupted.
"Yeah," she shrugged.
"Is there ever a way to reverse the transformation?" he asked.
"Well, usually the frog is happy living as a hot guy with a princess in a palace for the rest of his life."
"So, no." he said disheartened.
She frowned, "Do you really hate being a human that much?"
"I used to dislike two-legged things, but now I don't mind them quite so much. Though I still find humans to be a relatively weak species."
"Thanks," she grumbled. "I'm just being truthful, besides I couldn't let that dog prince comment slide, could I?" Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him.
He scratched the back of his neck while he thought, "I need to talk with Bugenhagen. I hear that Mideel's got a lot of Oracles where you can go and contact the dead nowadays."
"Fine, kinda weird, but if you think it'll work," she said putting the Conformer to one side, then leaped off the bed and landed right in front of him, "and seeing how my hot lips got ya into this, I'm goin' with ya!"
"You are?" he quirked a red eyebrow in disbelief, "but you hate traveling."
"Thought about it, but I'm willing to take one for the team," she said with a wink.
"Of course it has nothing to do with not wanting to be left alone with your dad and the other four "Mighty Gods" when I leave, right?" he asked sarcastically.
"Wha? No way! So, uh, when do we leave?" she asked sitting back on her bed.
"As soon as we can get a ride."
"Leave that to me," he gave her a incredulous look. "What? If I said I'm gonna do it, then I'm gonna do it."
"Fine, I trust you," he said as he started for the door. "Good night, Yuffie."
"G'nite, 'Naki," she called after him down the hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~
Red XIII sprawled across his bed. That night the minutes were like hours, and the hours felt like lifetimes. A tree outside his window manipulated the moonlight, making it cast a disjointed spotlight across the room.
It flashed his comforter languishing over the footboard, then illuminated his sheets cascaded over the mattress like cloth waterfalls, and finally came to rest on RedXIII sighing face before he crossed the cold floor to the mirror for the hundredth time that night.
He sat, lotus-position, in front of the mirror completely still, mesmerized by his reflection. He brought a hand to his face and gently probed his cheeks, soft and hairless to the touch. He pulled his hand away and slowly opened it and closed. Like an infant- balling and stretching the human digits experimentally. He placed his hand back into his lap and watched his reflection, halfway between disgust and fascination with what he saw.
He didn't know why he was so surprised if he knew that becoming human was always a possibility. But for Yuffie of all people to have broken the Curse of Shiva, that was something he could have never imagined. He gave a short ironic, "Heh," before getting up and heading to the kitchen.
Cooking had always been very cathartic for him, even back when he lived with his grandfather. The smell of spices, the sound of popping oil, the taste of his own cooking, it all relaxed him in a way that nothing else could. And tonight he really needed to take his mind off of things.
He searched through the freezer and pulled out Thunderbird legs and some Tailvault tails. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out every single fresh herb he could find. Then he went to the cabinets pulling teeth- grooved spice bottles off the shelves. He surveyed his implements. If this didn't take his mind of it, nothing would.
Yuffie woke the next morning, and padded to the kitchen. She passed the shower to hear water running, and when she reached the kitchen she found a four course meal waiting on the kitchen island. She shook her head as she guessed their origin, and opened the refrigerator, pulled out the carton of orange juice, and took it with her back to her room.
She put the carton on the night stand next to her bed and looked at the clock. 12:45 it read in bright neon digital numbers. "If it's 12:45 here then it's..." she counted on her fingers, "9:45 at the Ranch! They better not be at Saucer this weekend."
She dialed the Strife's number, and waited impatiently until she heard a man's voice on the other line. "Hello? Cloud speaking, who is this?"
"Hey, Cloud! It's Yuffie, I'm surprised I thought you would be at Gold Saucer racing," she said.
"Sorry to disappoint you," his voice falling deadpan. "What do you want?"
"Weeeelll, I was calling to see if you knew Cid's number."
"You want Cid's number?" he scoffed. "Isn't he a little old for you? And I don't think you're his type anyway."
"It's not for me you jerk," she said agitated. "It's for Nanaki." And then proceeded to launch into an account of the events of the past two days.
After she finished, he said. "Wait, so let me get this straight. You kissed RedXIII, and now he's human?"
"Pretty much sums it up," she answered. After a silence she took to be pensiveness Cloud finally asked. "On the mouth?"
"Cloud!!!"
"Sorry, had to check. Hold on, Tifa just got home, she'll talk to you in a sec," there was a click as he hung up the phone. Tifa held the cordless in her hand as she listened to her husband tell her the news Yuffie told him.
"Really?" she said when he had finished, "it wasn't... on the mouth was it?" she asked concerned.
"Apparently not, but hey," he said throwing his hands up. "What was she doing kissing RedXIII in some secluded beach cove anyway?"
"Cloud, you know her and Nanaki have been close for sometime now. And I'm sure it wasn't anything like your making it out to be," she scolded.
"Make out, hehe," he said mischievously.
"Sometimes I think I've married a perverted thirteen-year-old boy," she said disapprovingly.
"No. I actually just have a nice buzz and therefore have regressed to a perverted fourteen-year-old boy." he corrected her.
She looked at him, nonplused. "I knew it! Cloud Strife you know how giddy you get when you drink, and sometimes it's cute and other times it's just- STOP KISSING MY NECK!" she shouted and rapped him on the forehead.
"Alright, sorry," he said apologetically as he weaved out of the room. She could hear him in the hallway saying something that sounded like he was heading to the stables. She rolled her eyes and continued to dial the number.
"Hello," Yuffie answered.
"Yuffie? Hi, it's Tifa. Yeah it has been a long time.... Cloud told me already, that's really amazing... Oh that, you know how big of a dork he is, we all knew you wouldn't kiss him on the mouth, you didn't right... Calm down! I was just checking."
"Red says he want's to go to Mideel to see Bugenhagen and see if he can find out what's going on," Yuffie said. "I mean, I would call Cid, but I don't have his number, and I haven't seen him since that last night on the Highwind. But I know you keep in touch with almost everyone (with the exception of me apparently), so I figured you would."
"Oh c'mon Yuffie!" she said exasperated." I called you last month on your birthday." "Yeah, yea, I know. I was just kidding."
"Well ok. Umm, let me think," she paused for a moment. "I think that he's taking time off his cargo business to spend more time with Vincent. So, it would be a perfect time to get a hold of him. I got his number right here." She gave Yuffie Cid's home number. "Got it?" she asked when she finished.
"Yeah, thanks. But did you say Mr. Let's-see-if-overexertion-will-kill-me- before-emphzema-will has taken time off?- wow. Cid's really committed to him. Never the ones you expect to turn out, you know..." Yuffie mused.
"Yeah, but they are cute together. And it's good to see them both find someone to love them. You'd be amazed in the change its made in both of them. Vincent was like a whole 'nother person last time we saw them, and Cid's...well... Cid's still Cid," she answered.
"Do you mind if I talk to Red?"
"I wouldn't mind at all, but he has been in the shower since before I woke up. Guess he still hasn't figured out how everything works yet."
"Heh, well then, talk to you later Yuffie."
"Bye, Tifa." she said, and hung up the phone before dialing Cid's number.
~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~
Vincent woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. He burrowed deeper into the covers, sandwiched his head between the pillow, and listened to the bedsprings creak as Cid rolled over to answer the phone. "Hello," he answered in a gruff voice. "Who? What the fuck do you want at twelve fuckin' o' clock?"
He cringed at Cid's choice of words, he had recently been trying to refine his lovers speech and break him of some of his more gaudy habits. He gave him a nudge with his knee in warning, and Cid rephrased his question. " Sorry, whadda ya want?" he didn't speak for a while and then said "Yeah well what the fu- uhh- what do you want me to do about it.... What?! You want me to do what for your ditzy materia stealing ass?!"
"Cid," he said warningly pulling his head from under the pillow, but Cid ignored him and continued talking. "How is it not for you? You made him that way! You fix it! I'm on vacation va-ca-tion. I didn't take time off so I could... What the fuck do you mean a better pilot? I'm the best goddamn pilot in the world!" Vincent slapped his forehead realizing exactly where this conversation was going. "What are you talking about too old? I ain't that goddamn old!... Tomorrow? Wutai? To go to Mideel?... You're damn right I'll be there... Fine! Tomorrow!" he said slamming down the receiver. "We're going to Wutai tomorrow!" he announced to Vincent, who could only shake his head.
"Well, I don't really love your for your brains, do I?" he said in his usual soft sarcastic tone.
"What does that mean?!"
"Nothing, dear. We'll worry about the language tomorrow," he said settling back down into the sheets.
"Language my ass," Cid muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothin' Vince." he said draping an arm around him and falling back to sleep.
~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Yuffie hung-up the phone with a triumphant grin on her face and leaned back into the pillows. She took a swig of the orange juice as the bathroom door slammed shut. She looked up to see Red XIII in a towel around his waist. He had taken the customary beads and feathers out of his hair so it hung wet to his shoulders.
Hard muscle that once rippled under a layer of red fur now translated into one of the most beautiful bodies she had ever seen on a guy, definition without that overdone muscleman effect that some guys had.
Yuffie almost choked on orange juice, but eventually swallowed and made a gasping noise like a dying fish, he looked on with a puzzled expression. "Are you ok?" he asked, pushing some wet strands of hair from his face.
"Yeah, I'm great," she said clearing her throat. "I've got us a ride. Cid's taking us to Mideel tomorrow. That's ok, right? I know you wanted to leave as soon as possible."
"Thanks a lot Yuffie," he said smiling brightly. She noticed that even as a human his canines were still pointed slightly. "It means a lot to me."
"Hey! It's the least I could do considering," she said waving him off.
"Yeah, considering," he repeated and started walking to his room.
"Don't forget shopping!" she called.
"How could I forget shopping?" he said sarcastically.
"Beats me!" she answered. She waited until he was out of sight then sighed dreamily, her thoughts drifting to... Oh no. She gave her self a quick mental slap in the face. We do not sigh dreamily about Nanaki, she reminded herself. Nor do we fantasize about him, nor do we drool or lose the ability to communicate when he's in a towel, wet, and all glistening and.... NO!
"Above all, we do not crush on best friends," she mumbled to herself and collapsed back on the bed, forgetting about the orange juice that was still in her hand.
"OH SHIT!"
The field was filled with flowers, and sunshine radiated from the cloudless blue sky. Feather-like pollen caught in the wind danced above the blossoms and tangled themselves in Red XIII's fur. He felt peaceful in this place: the air, the earth under his feet, the flowers- all seem warm with familiarity. It beckoned to a more youthful part of him he did his best to suppress even in his dreams, and he chased after that call through the floral maze.
He was breathless from the sudden burst of energy when he found himself at the foot of a small grassy hill. A girl sat on top of it with her back to Red XIII, she laid in the grass on her back propped up on her elbows. For a moment he thought it was Yuffie because of her short brown hair, and it wouldn't have been the first time she had been in his dreams. But her baby pink dress, and the strangely fitting scuffed leather combat boots told him differently .
"Aeris?" he called.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "Nanaki!" she giggled. They ran to each other and she embraced him around the neck. Then, still resting her hands between his shoulder blades, guided him to her spot on the top of the hill. "It's been a long time," she said as they sat down.
"Yes, not since..." she nodded in understanding.
"Let's not talk about that," she said smiling," Tell me about Wutai." He began to recount his time on the island. All the adventures he had had with Yuffie. They talked for a long time when Aeris asked finally "Nanaki, would you mind helping me with something?"
"Sure, anything," he said, fighting the urge to grin maniacally. He was so filled with warmth and tranquillity, she could have asked him to follow her off a cliff and he was positive that he would follow her.
"It's kinda selfish. I'm... looking for someone, and I need a way to go find him."
"I'm sorry, I'm still not quite sure what you're talking about," he answered, perplexity beginning to tamper with his euphoria.
"Oh don't worry I don't need you to find him or anything. I have no clue how I am, so how would you even know where to begin?" she reassured him.
"Who is this "he"?" he asked. He frowned, "It's not Cloud is it? He and Tifa are married."
Her face darkened for a moment, then returned to its previous cheeriness, "I know that. And no, it's not Cloud that I'm looking for. I'm looking for the man I'm meant to spend my life with," she finished dreamily.
"You fall in love a lot," he commented dryly.
"I cared about Zach and Cloud, but I think he's reason I did. I've always searched for him in men, and fortunately I've just ended up with other heroes." she replied, there was no reproach in her voice despite the small jab. "But will you help me?"
He rested his head in her lap, an action he would only consider in his current un-self consciousness. "Of course, anything," he purred.
She stroked his fur gently, "Thank you, Nanaki." The Cetran craned her head down to smile a final time at him before she murmured, "This is where you close your eyes."
Then, his vision started to fade, and his only companion was the intoxicating smell of the wildflowers.
~~~~~*~~~~~~
Red XIII awoke the next morning having the happy feeling of wonderful dreams. He left his eyes closed as he tried to remember what was so wonderful, and all that came to mind was the smell of flowers.
He opened his eyes and sat up to find a very pissed looking Yuffie pointing her Conformer at him. "Who the hell are you, and where is Nanaki?" she asked coldly.
"Yuffie, quit playing. It's way too early," he said pushing the shrunken away. Then caught a glimpse of his hand? He stared at his hands in disbelief. "Holy shit," he breathed.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" she demanded pushing the shrunken to his throat vehemently.
"Yuffie it's me! Except I'm... human!" he said in an uncharacteristically high voice.
She lowered the Conformer, looking closer at the strange man and gasped. He was right: the man had the three parallel lines running up his cheek. He had two tattoos on his olive complected arms- one the Roman numeral thirteen, and the other a village insignia on his left arm. Then there was the shag of red hair, beaded in front, that was unmistakably the same color as Red XIII's fur. And the scar where his left eye should have been.
She had missed all these details in her rage at finding her friend missing. The Conformer clattered to the floor. "Oh my gods," she said covering her mouth in shock. "this is incredible."
"I agree," he said, his voice had returned to its normal pitch, but it held just as much disbelief.
She frowned and turned her head away blushing, "Not to ruin the moment or anything, but, uh, Nanaki you're gonna need some pants."
He looked down at himself and shrugged, "I don't have any pants. Why would I?"
"Listen. It's okay not to when you're, umm, four-legged. But now that you're human you can't go around au natural, catch my drift?" she answered still avoiding eye contact.
"I don't have any pants," he repeated.
"Well, I guess you could borrow some of mine." she suggested. "How 'bout I give you my spare ones? You can figure 'em out yourself, right?" She said as she removed a pair out of her bag.
"I believe I'm intelligent enough to figure out a pair of shorts Yuffie," he snapped, snatching the shorts from her.
"Ok then, see you in a little bit," she waved and walked out to the beach.
Red XIII stared at the shorts like a man surveying a mountain he was going to climb. The task couldn't be all that daunting, Yuffie and millions of other humans did it everyday. He took a deep breath and still sitting down slipped them over his feet. It all went well until they had reached about mid-thigh. He tugged desperately at the shorts to pull them over his muscular quadriceps, but to no avail. He bucked back and forth on his back trying to work them over his legs, his long legs flailing in the air.
After a second unsuccessful attempt (and much swearing) he resolved to rip the seams of shorts to the waistband. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. He was also positive that he shouldn't be so out of breath from putting on shorts.
By the time Yuffie had arrived he stood precariously at the mouth of the cave in the cutoffs. The unevenly cut shorts, small on her, looked like underwear on his longer muscular legs. He took a few steps towards her then immediately groped for at the wall beside him, overstepped and collapsed in the sand. She looked at him and began to say something when Red XIII growled, "One word, and there will be no one that can save you."
"I wasn't going to say anything," she said innocently.
He sighed and said, "I had no idea that walking was this hard." He picked himself up, "See, if I just stand here I'm fine, but the moment I actually move." He took a wobbly step and promptly fell back into the sand. "This is horrible," he said miserably.
Yuffie started laughing, until tears began rolling down her cheeks. He glared at her, that was really the last thing that he needed. He tried to stand again, and caught the wall this time to balance himself. Yuffie collected herself enough to offer him a hand.
"No," he said. "I can do this on my own."
"Uh-huh, sure, now stop being a baby and give me your hand."
"What? So you can laugh at me again," he said, then tried to push her hand away with his free hand promptly unbalancing and falling onto Yuffie. She caught and held him, "See, this is what happens when you're mean to people who are just trying to help," she said in a mock-scolding tone. "I laughed because you are so adorably helpless, not because you can't walk."
He righted himself so that they were facing each other, and she took his hands into hers. It was then he noticed how much taller than she he had become. He guessed that he was at least as tall as Vincent, and from his new height Yuffie seemed even more petite. Petite, but never delicate, he was sure that even if he was twelve feet taller than she he would feel the power she radiated no less.
"Ok, let's teach you how to walk," She said as she started walking backwards, forcing him to walk with her. They moved slowly at first, stopping when he stumbled occasionally.
"Hey 'Naki, not to break your concentration or anythin' but why do you look my age instead of like 50 or somethin'?"
He kept his head trained on the ground, "I dunno, I guess this is my appearance according to my true age, rather than human years."
"Ah. That makes sense, I guess." They continued walking, keeping conversation to a minimum.
It wasn't long before the grace he had gained from years of fighting and training began to slowly show in his steps, and he no longer needed Yuffie's help. "See, that wasn't so terrible, was it?" she grinned.
"No, it wasn't," he admitted.
"Thank god you're a quick study."
"No, I just had an excellent teacher," he said. She rolled her eyes and they both laughed. "Yuffie, I'm sorry about this morning. Even when I had to wear that stupid sailor suit on the Shinra boat I wasn't this self- conscious, but even then I was still... me." he explained.
She waved away the apology, "I'd be stressed out too, if I woke up and wasn't me anymore," she said. "Don't worry. We'll head back to Wutai, and you and Cloud can swap cross dressing stories over the phone. Whadda ya say?"
He nodded, "Yes, it would probably be better if we waited to talk about this when we get back to your house. And when did Cloud start cross dressing?"
"Oh his cross dressing days are long behind him. It was just a funny story that Tifa told me once. I'll tell you on the way home."
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~
"It's a good thing we got in so late. I don't think that the people of Wutai are ready for you in cutoffs." Yuffie said as she put down her pack.
Red XIII pulled at his shorts again and muttered, "I don't think that I was ready either." Yuffie laughed.
"I'm sure dad's clothes will fit better. Yay! We get to go shopping tomorrow!" she exclaimed as she walked to her father's room.
"Uhh, I don't remember anything about shopping." he muttered.
"Well you can't borrow clothes forever, can you?" she asked.
"I guess not, but-"
"Yay! Shopping!" He sighed and shook his head.
"Oh yeah, be sure to do a quick Cure on yourself to take care of all your scrapes and stuff!" she called from down the hall.
Red XIII had never felt so tired in all his life. He still had had to rely on Yuffie to walk for the last leg of the trek back, because fatigue had begun to reclaim his quickly learned balance. He had never felt more like the 50 year old man he was until he had to hobble his way home. How embarrassing.
And even worse was the fact that his senses had been considerably dimmed in his transformation. Well, his eyesight had actually improved, but his sense of hearing, smell, and even taste were hardly half of what they had been. He felt so cut of from everything, as if the whole world had lost some of the vibrancy that it once had. Everything about being a human seemed to disorient him.
He collapsed into a chair that was located in the main breezeway to cast the Cure on himself. It felt nice to finally be off his feet. When he had finished his eyes fell on a note stuck onto one of the shoji screens. "What's this, Yuffie?"
"What?" she called from the hallway that led to her father's bedroom. He took the note off the wall and read it.
Yuffie
I can't begin to describe the dishonor you have brought to this family by not attending your own Henkan ceremony. I have reminded you every day since your 18th birthday that this was to be the weekend your ceremony was to occur, and yet you still manage to disappear. Your disrespect for not only the Shinobi clan, but bring the entire village is shame. But as I have told you before, the corporal body of the person to be changed is not needed and so
"Whatcha got there, Naki?" Yuffie asked as she began to read over his shoulder. Her body strickened and she snatched the letter out of his hands.
"What's that all about, Yuffie?" he asked. "You never said anything to me about some Henkan ceremony."
"You're right, because it has nothing to do with you," she said cooly, crumpling the note in her hand.
"Is that why you were so insistent that we did a long patrol this weekend? Because of this ceremony? Yuffie?" he demanded.
She crossed her arms and stared out to the courtyard in the center of the house, "So what if it was? This Henkan ceremony is the first step in becoming one of the Pagoda Masters, and that is the LAST thing I plan on doing. I'm NOT gonna get stuck here forever like my dad did, no way."
Red XIII understood the sentiment completely. He had struggled with the conflict of what he wanted to do versus what he knew he should and eventually must do. It hadn't been until his time with AVALANCHE that he realized that there was a difference between the two. "Someday Yuffie, we're not going to have a choice."
"I know," she said, then her eyes lit with defiance again. "But, I'm not going out without a fight. So let's go into my old man's room and steal his clothes! Whaddya say?" He smiled, "Okay, Yuffie."
~~~~*~~~~
Yuffie flicked on the light of her father's room. She knew that even though she had missed her ceremony, her father and the rest of the Pagoda masters would remain in the mountains for prayer and meditation until the following day. So there was no one to stop her from opening his wardrobe, pushing through the clothes until she found a pair of drawstring pants and a shirt that would fit Red XIII.
She threw the clothes at Red XIII, but continued going through the wardrobe. She winced as she heard him shred the shorts, and the fabric fall to the floor. But she kept digging until she had found what she was looking for. She held her treasure in her hand. "I knew Godo had my Power wrist! That kleptomaniac prick! Don't you just hate when people take things that don't belong to them? Nanaki? Nanaki?"
She heard a loud thump from behind and whirled around. He had somehow managed to put both legs into the same pant leg then lost his balance and had fallen flat on his side. "Help," he said simply.
She stifled a giggle. "Two legs, two holes. You made this mess, you figure it out. That's all I have to say. This one's on you pal," she said stepping over his legs.
He reached out and yanked one of her legs hard, causing her to fall flat on her face. "Ow!" she said rubbing her leg.
"I said 'Help', listen next time," he said smirking.
"Maybe I won't," she said crossing her arms indignantly, head turned away from him.
"I think you will, seeing as I still have your leg."
"So." she answered, her head still turned away.
He shrugged, "Ok then, we can wait. Here. All night. On the floor. Until Godo gets back tomorrow, and sees that not only have you missed your Henkan ceremony, but you have his Power Wrist, too."
"But it's mine!" she cried in protest. "But why were you in his wardrobe anyway?" "Red. I really hate you right now."
"I know you do." he said pulling her closer to him with a quick tug of her leg. "Now get me out of here!"
Later, Yuffie sat in her room carefully removing Materia from the slots in the Conformer. She was so preoccupied she didn't notice Red XIII enter, then take a seat in the chair across from her bed. "Yuffie, While we were traveling I thought a lot about my... transformation."
"Yeah, me too," she said distractedly as she concentrated on a piece of blue Materia she was retrieving.
"And I think I came up with a possible explanation pertaining to what might have cause it," he continued," I'm not sure, but I believe it had to do with the kiss you had given me last night."
"My kiss? That little peck on the cheek cause you to become an entirely different species? I don't think so Nanaki," she said snapping her brown eyes from her work and looking right into his light yellow ones.
"Well what else could it have been? That was certainly not the first time I've been hit by a monster, or even been exposed to the Mako in the Adamantaimai's blood. It must have crossed your mind once," he said pacing her room.
"Sure, but it's just insane. I mean, that sort of thing only happens in fairy tales. Like the Frog Prince or something."
He stopped pacing the room, "Frog Prince?"
Yuffie rolled her eyes, "You know the story about a prince who's cursed by some witch to be a frog until he finds true love. Then a princess comes along and finds this frog, kisses him, and he becomes a hot prince. I guess it would be DOG prince in your case, but whatever."
"The point is there are stories where this kind of thing happen," he interrupted.
"Yeah," she shrugged.
"Is there ever a way to reverse the transformation?" he asked.
"Well, usually the frog is happy living as a hot guy with a princess in a palace for the rest of his life."
"So, no." he said disheartened.
She frowned, "Do you really hate being a human that much?"
"I used to dislike two-legged things, but now I don't mind them quite so much. Though I still find humans to be a relatively weak species."
"Thanks," she grumbled. "I'm just being truthful, besides I couldn't let that dog prince comment slide, could I?" Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him.
He scratched the back of his neck while he thought, "I need to talk with Bugenhagen. I hear that Mideel's got a lot of Oracles where you can go and contact the dead nowadays."
"Fine, kinda weird, but if you think it'll work," she said putting the Conformer to one side, then leaped off the bed and landed right in front of him, "and seeing how my hot lips got ya into this, I'm goin' with ya!"
"You are?" he quirked a red eyebrow in disbelief, "but you hate traveling."
"Thought about it, but I'm willing to take one for the team," she said with a wink.
"Of course it has nothing to do with not wanting to be left alone with your dad and the other four "Mighty Gods" when I leave, right?" he asked sarcastically.
"Wha? No way! So, uh, when do we leave?" she asked sitting back on her bed.
"As soon as we can get a ride."
"Leave that to me," he gave her a incredulous look. "What? If I said I'm gonna do it, then I'm gonna do it."
"Fine, I trust you," he said as he started for the door. "Good night, Yuffie."
"G'nite, 'Naki," she called after him down the hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~
Red XIII sprawled across his bed. That night the minutes were like hours, and the hours felt like lifetimes. A tree outside his window manipulated the moonlight, making it cast a disjointed spotlight across the room.
It flashed his comforter languishing over the footboard, then illuminated his sheets cascaded over the mattress like cloth waterfalls, and finally came to rest on RedXIII sighing face before he crossed the cold floor to the mirror for the hundredth time that night.
He sat, lotus-position, in front of the mirror completely still, mesmerized by his reflection. He brought a hand to his face and gently probed his cheeks, soft and hairless to the touch. He pulled his hand away and slowly opened it and closed. Like an infant- balling and stretching the human digits experimentally. He placed his hand back into his lap and watched his reflection, halfway between disgust and fascination with what he saw.
He didn't know why he was so surprised if he knew that becoming human was always a possibility. But for Yuffie of all people to have broken the Curse of Shiva, that was something he could have never imagined. He gave a short ironic, "Heh," before getting up and heading to the kitchen.
Cooking had always been very cathartic for him, even back when he lived with his grandfather. The smell of spices, the sound of popping oil, the taste of his own cooking, it all relaxed him in a way that nothing else could. And tonight he really needed to take his mind off of things.
He searched through the freezer and pulled out Thunderbird legs and some Tailvault tails. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out every single fresh herb he could find. Then he went to the cabinets pulling teeth- grooved spice bottles off the shelves. He surveyed his implements. If this didn't take his mind of it, nothing would.
Yuffie woke the next morning, and padded to the kitchen. She passed the shower to hear water running, and when she reached the kitchen she found a four course meal waiting on the kitchen island. She shook her head as she guessed their origin, and opened the refrigerator, pulled out the carton of orange juice, and took it with her back to her room.
She put the carton on the night stand next to her bed and looked at the clock. 12:45 it read in bright neon digital numbers. "If it's 12:45 here then it's..." she counted on her fingers, "9:45 at the Ranch! They better not be at Saucer this weekend."
She dialed the Strife's number, and waited impatiently until she heard a man's voice on the other line. "Hello? Cloud speaking, who is this?"
"Hey, Cloud! It's Yuffie, I'm surprised I thought you would be at Gold Saucer racing," she said.
"Sorry to disappoint you," his voice falling deadpan. "What do you want?"
"Weeeelll, I was calling to see if you knew Cid's number."
"You want Cid's number?" he scoffed. "Isn't he a little old for you? And I don't think you're his type anyway."
"It's not for me you jerk," she said agitated. "It's for Nanaki." And then proceeded to launch into an account of the events of the past two days.
After she finished, he said. "Wait, so let me get this straight. You kissed RedXIII, and now he's human?"
"Pretty much sums it up," she answered. After a silence she took to be pensiveness Cloud finally asked. "On the mouth?"
"Cloud!!!"
"Sorry, had to check. Hold on, Tifa just got home, she'll talk to you in a sec," there was a click as he hung up the phone. Tifa held the cordless in her hand as she listened to her husband tell her the news Yuffie told him.
"Really?" she said when he had finished, "it wasn't... on the mouth was it?" she asked concerned.
"Apparently not, but hey," he said throwing his hands up. "What was she doing kissing RedXIII in some secluded beach cove anyway?"
"Cloud, you know her and Nanaki have been close for sometime now. And I'm sure it wasn't anything like your making it out to be," she scolded.
"Make out, hehe," he said mischievously.
"Sometimes I think I've married a perverted thirteen-year-old boy," she said disapprovingly.
"No. I actually just have a nice buzz and therefore have regressed to a perverted fourteen-year-old boy." he corrected her.
She looked at him, nonplused. "I knew it! Cloud Strife you know how giddy you get when you drink, and sometimes it's cute and other times it's just- STOP KISSING MY NECK!" she shouted and rapped him on the forehead.
"Alright, sorry," he said apologetically as he weaved out of the room. She could hear him in the hallway saying something that sounded like he was heading to the stables. She rolled her eyes and continued to dial the number.
"Hello," Yuffie answered.
"Yuffie? Hi, it's Tifa. Yeah it has been a long time.... Cloud told me already, that's really amazing... Oh that, you know how big of a dork he is, we all knew you wouldn't kiss him on the mouth, you didn't right... Calm down! I was just checking."
"Red says he want's to go to Mideel to see Bugenhagen and see if he can find out what's going on," Yuffie said. "I mean, I would call Cid, but I don't have his number, and I haven't seen him since that last night on the Highwind. But I know you keep in touch with almost everyone (with the exception of me apparently), so I figured you would."
"Oh c'mon Yuffie!" she said exasperated." I called you last month on your birthday." "Yeah, yea, I know. I was just kidding."
"Well ok. Umm, let me think," she paused for a moment. "I think that he's taking time off his cargo business to spend more time with Vincent. So, it would be a perfect time to get a hold of him. I got his number right here." She gave Yuffie Cid's home number. "Got it?" she asked when she finished.
"Yeah, thanks. But did you say Mr. Let's-see-if-overexertion-will-kill-me- before-emphzema-will has taken time off?- wow. Cid's really committed to him. Never the ones you expect to turn out, you know..." Yuffie mused.
"Yeah, but they are cute together. And it's good to see them both find someone to love them. You'd be amazed in the change its made in both of them. Vincent was like a whole 'nother person last time we saw them, and Cid's...well... Cid's still Cid," she answered.
"Do you mind if I talk to Red?"
"I wouldn't mind at all, but he has been in the shower since before I woke up. Guess he still hasn't figured out how everything works yet."
"Heh, well then, talk to you later Yuffie."
"Bye, Tifa." she said, and hung up the phone before dialing Cid's number.
~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~
Vincent woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. He burrowed deeper into the covers, sandwiched his head between the pillow, and listened to the bedsprings creak as Cid rolled over to answer the phone. "Hello," he answered in a gruff voice. "Who? What the fuck do you want at twelve fuckin' o' clock?"
He cringed at Cid's choice of words, he had recently been trying to refine his lovers speech and break him of some of his more gaudy habits. He gave him a nudge with his knee in warning, and Cid rephrased his question. " Sorry, whadda ya want?" he didn't speak for a while and then said "Yeah well what the fu- uhh- what do you want me to do about it.... What?! You want me to do what for your ditzy materia stealing ass?!"
"Cid," he said warningly pulling his head from under the pillow, but Cid ignored him and continued talking. "How is it not for you? You made him that way! You fix it! I'm on vacation va-ca-tion. I didn't take time off so I could... What the fuck do you mean a better pilot? I'm the best goddamn pilot in the world!" Vincent slapped his forehead realizing exactly where this conversation was going. "What are you talking about too old? I ain't that goddamn old!... Tomorrow? Wutai? To go to Mideel?... You're damn right I'll be there... Fine! Tomorrow!" he said slamming down the receiver. "We're going to Wutai tomorrow!" he announced to Vincent, who could only shake his head.
"Well, I don't really love your for your brains, do I?" he said in his usual soft sarcastic tone.
"What does that mean?!"
"Nothing, dear. We'll worry about the language tomorrow," he said settling back down into the sheets.
"Language my ass," Cid muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothin' Vince." he said draping an arm around him and falling back to sleep.
~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
Yuffie hung-up the phone with a triumphant grin on her face and leaned back into the pillows. She took a swig of the orange juice as the bathroom door slammed shut. She looked up to see Red XIII in a towel around his waist. He had taken the customary beads and feathers out of his hair so it hung wet to his shoulders.
Hard muscle that once rippled under a layer of red fur now translated into one of the most beautiful bodies she had ever seen on a guy, definition without that overdone muscleman effect that some guys had.
Yuffie almost choked on orange juice, but eventually swallowed and made a gasping noise like a dying fish, he looked on with a puzzled expression. "Are you ok?" he asked, pushing some wet strands of hair from his face.
"Yeah, I'm great," she said clearing her throat. "I've got us a ride. Cid's taking us to Mideel tomorrow. That's ok, right? I know you wanted to leave as soon as possible."
"Thanks a lot Yuffie," he said smiling brightly. She noticed that even as a human his canines were still pointed slightly. "It means a lot to me."
"Hey! It's the least I could do considering," she said waving him off.
"Yeah, considering," he repeated and started walking to his room.
"Don't forget shopping!" she called.
"How could I forget shopping?" he said sarcastically.
"Beats me!" she answered. She waited until he was out of sight then sighed dreamily, her thoughts drifting to... Oh no. She gave her self a quick mental slap in the face. We do not sigh dreamily about Nanaki, she reminded herself. Nor do we fantasize about him, nor do we drool or lose the ability to communicate when he's in a towel, wet, and all glistening and.... NO!
"Above all, we do not crush on best friends," she mumbled to herself and collapsed back on the bed, forgetting about the orange juice that was still in her hand.
"OH SHIT!"