Breathless

A lone figure ran through Wutai and passed quickly through the outskirts. Fragments of a festive kimono lay in scattered heaps as she kept running, never to look back once. Smirking, she yanked off the remaining bits and stopped to breathe heavily.
"Festivals..." Yuffie spat out the word and leaned on her knees for support. Luckily no one had wanted to waste their time chasing her passed the outskirts. She shook her head as if to dispell the nasty thoughts and looked over herself. Her usual attire simply spoke for its self in stead of the loathed kimono.

"No weapons or equipment. It could be worse. Naw, this is about as worse as it could get." Yuffie talked to herself in hopes of some company while she waited for her breathing to calm. Finally, she stretched out the kinks of having to stand still for too long, before pacing herself in a random direction.

The Turk sat at the bar counter, ording himself vodka on the rocks: His sixth one. He guzzled it down and looked around the bar hazily, searching for the door before making an effort to stand. It was a bit too early to be drinking, but that didn't matter to him. 'Anytime was a good time to drink.' After spotting the door, the man stood up slowly and staggered over to it. His blood-red unkempt hair was spiked in all directions. Small spiked bangs flopped over his signature pilot's goggled placed on his forehead. He wore his usual Turk uniform: Loose dark pants, an open jacket to match, dirty boots, and a white long-sleeved suit shirt underneath that was unbuttoned a few down at the top, letting his chest slightly show. The shirt was untucked, which Rufus had let him get away with. He stumbled out of the bar after making it out the door and turned his head toward the beach that was filled with beautiful women. A sly grin slipped onto his thin lips as his aquamarine, mako, eyes glinted in the sun. The Turk walked to the beach, managing not to trip, while making his way over to a woman who was standing by the water, wearing a very skimpy bikini. He smiled at her after saying a pick-up-line and slid his hand down to her lower back, getting lower, ready to grab her. She slapped him and he chuckled, turning away, walking around the beach, rubbing his red, finger-marked, cheek, near one of his scars. His long ponytail flung side to side as he walked.

Time slowly passed on the peaceful beach, with its calming waters and salty breeze. Sand lightly filled the air and...Yuffie sneezed and rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands. Near insanity from lack of doing something, she huffed. The young warrior sighed. Yuffie came to a slow stop, her gaze casting in different directions. She thought she saw a glimpse of a familiar face from the corners of her eyes and heard some worthy oaths, but shrugged and walked into the water until it was up to her knees.

The Turk glanced at a girl in the water who seemed familiar; then again everything was a blur to him. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his calloused hands, and then looked back at the girl. He thought to himself,'Waaaait a minute...Short black hair, gray eyes, eh, ninja headband. Aw, dammit to hell, it's that AVALANCHE ninja. That little material stealing princess!' The man stared at her closely; narrowing his eyes in thought and leaned,"Yuhee?"

Yuffie turned around curiously as she heard a voice and frowned as she saw who it was. "Well...I see you're drunk again, as usual, Turkey," she smirked and walked to stand in front of him with her hands on her hips. The ninja ignored the water streaming down her legs as she grinned at the drunken Turk. "Jeez Reno, you can be such a dumbass sometimes. How many shots did you have this time? No, wait...don't tell me. You can't count either."

Reno let one corner of his lips curl upward,"Yo, c'mon, you know you can't resist me, princess." He allowed his smirk to form into a sly grin as the teasing began. It was always fun to taunt the ninja girl.

The raven haired girl gave a scoff, "Mhmm…I shuuuure do like cold-blooded killers. Right up my alley." Yuffie rolled her eyes and poked him somewhat hard on the chest. Better than slapping him on his already reddened face, she thought to herself. "Listen, bucko, if I catch you doing anything with my stuff, I'll skewer you and have a turkey barbeque. Got it? Even better, I'll pound you to a pulp until all that alcohol gets out of your system to where you'll never have feeling to do it again. No, first I'll barbeque you, AND THEN I'm gonna pound you..."

"Hows about I act like you and steal all of yer materia. See how it feels for once, Yukkie," he said with a grin, then snatched her hand that poked him.

"I gave it back, though," she pouted innocently and tried to pull her hand away. The warrior had a sense to kick him, but refrained herself and slowly breathed out her mouth. No use wasting a time –that she could use by running further from her strict father- over a drunken Turk. "Can I have my hand back now...? I kind of, ya know. Need it..."

"Need it to steal some more materia, yo?" he questioned, one corner of his mouth curling heavenward. He stared at the annoying ninja girl, awaiting her answer. He loved to out-annoy the brat.

"Not yours, it's worthless," she sneered in response. The young ninja glared at him furiously and tugged her hand again. Yuffie grit her teeth together at his grip and calmed herself once more from screaming. "I should have burned your materia..."

The Turk grinned at her and let go,"Why don't you run back home to Wutai and stay with daddy Godo so you don't get into anymore trouble, little girl?" He smirked and turned around, looking for his inn from a distance,"...shit." In his drunken haze, he had forgotten where the inn was.

Yuffie couldn't hold back a scream to that. She pulled back and kicked him with as hard as she could muster. Glaring at him lethally and not enough satisfied, she wrapped her elbow around his neck and pulled him down into a sitting position upon the sand. "Take it back," she whispered deadly quiet into his ear. "Take it back or I swear I'll snap your neck in two." Her lock tightened for emphasis.

"AGHHHH! Crazy bitch!" Reno coughed and grabbed her fore arm with his firm hands. He held on to her tightly and leaned forward quickly, flinging her back-down in the sand. He stood up and dusted off, looking down at her, smiling smugly, "Don't deny your love for me, yo!"

Yuffie growled at him and rose from her small sandy grave, "Riiiight…Uh-huh, whatever gives that universe size ego of yours a little boost." She dusted off the sand and smirked up at him, awaiting his witty comment.

The red-head grimaced. Is that what she thinks of me? An ego-tistical jackass? Well, I can understand jackass, but- WAIT! What are you thinking here! This is YUFFIE! The little brat that steals everyone's materia! He growled and pushed her aside, "Go back to Godo, princess." At that, he turned and wandered hazily around the town, looking for directions back to the inn.

Yuffie squirmed uncomfortably as her father raved and ranted about her misdeeds of ditching the outfitting for the great festival. She smiled and nodded as he pointed at her accusingly before continuing his sputtering and pacing, even though she longed to race through the plains and surprise any passing travelers. Inwardly, she grinned and half-listened to her father's speech.
"Yes father, I ran away. Yes father, I'm sorry. No, I won't do it again. You're right, if it hadn't been for the generosity of Wutai and them going out to get me, I would have never survived in Wutai at all." She responded obediently in the right moments just to end the usual conversation. Finally, Lord Godo sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders wearily as he realized in every other conversation he had with her that he wasn't receiving any attention.

"Yuffie, my child and only daughter, each passing year I grow more and more tired. Soon, it will be your turn to pass on the Kisaragi name with honor. Please, as your father, I only ask of you to do it with pride and to abide with the customs at least once while I still have life to live it."

He lifted her chin gently and searched her face for any signs of her listening even though he knew it was a battle he lost long ago. Yuffie couldn't meet her father's demanding eyes. They seemed to pierce her soul far too deeply. She pulled away from her father and turned to leave. At the door, she inclined her head slightly and said softly," If it means that Wutai and the Kisaragi name will be remembered, and then I will." With that, she left her forlorn father to stand alone in the house and headed towards the temple.

Yuffie paused at the foot of the temple and cast a wary glance about her. Seeing she was the only one in the area, she slowly pushed a concealed button before vanishing into the darkness.

A dark figure stood on the roof of the temple. It was a person, a man. He had his arms crossed, gazing downward with deep, curious eyes. His eyes narrowed when he saw the young black haired girl approach the temple. A small 'Hmmm...' passed his concealed lips. The Turk stepped back quietly and walked over to the edge of the temple roof, where he stood, looking down. The goggles his red bangs from covering his eyes. The rest of the hair, was let down to mid back length and feathery. He rarely let it down…come to think of it he never let it down in public. It tossed lightly in the gust.

If she was paying attention, she might have noticed a disturbance in the air; if she was paying attention Yuffie would have felt the sense of being watched, but her thoughts were else where as she trudged gloomily down the winding steps.

Reaching the lair, Yuffie allowed a sigh of relief to escape her lips as she saw that here too, no one was here. Only here did she seem to find peace and refuge within this somewhat secretive domain. No one besides the elite came to train, and she felt an odd bonding to pass between them. She winded around the various tables before coming to an old battered crate in the back of the room. With a smile, she upturned the crate to reveal a rusty age ridden metal box. This she opened and her smile turned to a grin as her eyes lit up with all the materias shimmering with their own light.

Running her hands over the smooth small orbs, she sighed and measured them with a skillful, calculating eye. Yuffie nodded to no one in particular and closed the chest as she finalized everything was still there. Concealing it once more, she walked over to a hastily made-up bed and collapsed down onto it. Yuffie wrapped her hands behind her head and turned to look at the crate. Closing her eyes, she smiled faintly and laid back down.

The stealthy man leaped down from the roof gracefully, unfolding his arms as he did so. He landed on his feet and the dust under him went in all directions, along with dead leaves. His eyes fixated over at a window. One eyebrow raised, as he slowly walked over to it, with his arms by his sides. Hidden in the shadows, he looked inside at the same girl that he had seen before. He stepped closer and examined the young woman with great interest. What am I doing! Why do I find myself drawn to this- This immature girl!

Yuffie covered her eyes with her hands as she fought to sleep. Memories pounced on her and she didn't try to stop this fight.
She thought back to when Wutai wasn't so desolate. How people lavished in the wealth and the prosper of the once famous town. Yuffie was an idol, loved and cherished; Pampered unendlessly. With a snort, she banished the lingering memory and grinned as a thought of later times when Avalanche was together.
Barret: with his undying temper. How easy it seemed to make him so pissed. Yuffie stifled a snicker as her memory scanned to all her old friends and moments they shared upon their journey.

Reno sighed and watched her grin and snicker. He spoke quietly,"Little miss Yuffie." He felt a small bug crawl up his pants leg and grunted at it biting him. He let out an uncontrollable shout," AGH! Dammit! Fucking bug! I HATE bugs!" Realizing he was louder than he thought, he darted off, back in the direction to the inn.

With her dagger at hand, Yuffie instantly pulled herself from her reverie and looked suspiciously at the window. She kicked the crate away into the shadows and threw a tarp over it for good measure.
Expecting some signs of movement, Yuffie also moved into the shadows until her figure was barely a shimmering outline. She belted on her shoulder guard and picked up two daggers laying on the floor. Picking up her boomerang, she readied herself for the attack she soon expected. With an expert eye, she aimed for the bottom left and right of the window and threw the two daggers deftly. That voice…so familiar. Shit…it was Turkey, what the hell was HE doing here!

Yuffie sipped the fiery liquid and slid her head onto the table with a soft thud. She groaned and gritted her teeth angrily as her mind wasn't going to buzz so easily. She ordered another vodka and laid her head onto the table.

Why does he look at me so? Reno seems just the same, yet slightly different. Hell, he's Reno. Probably thinks of me as an easy fuck to add to his collection or something.

With another groan, she readily accepted the drinks just arriving and laid her head back on the table.

Yuffie, extremely drunk and suddenly dangerous, waved one of her daggers about as she tried to make a slurred conversation with a sign post. "And sos, he said that I like him...wutever that meants..." she hiccuped slightly and staggered to lean heavily on the post. "Sorry old chap...kinda clumpsy...clumpy..." she giggled and took another swig from the bottle while throwing the dagger to the ground in a heap.
Suddenly, a dark figure loomed in her dizzy vision, swaying violently.
Yuffie squinted to try and balance the figure, when she hiccuped nervously as she realized who he was. Trying to hide the bottle, she clumsily hid it behind her back until it flew out of her hands and went crashing on the ground.

"Yuffie! What the fuck!" Reno shouted at her as if she were his child.

"Yes Reno, it is me, Yuffie! Your pal! Now piss off, ya buzz kill!" Yuffie giggled giddily and fell as the world jerked violently beneath her. "Clumsi-loopsie me..."

"Come Yuffie, you can sleep in my room at the inn tonight. You obviously cannot survive tonight alone," And that was the last she remembered as darkness claimed her in her former enemy's arms.

Yuffie slowly woke as she felt the coldness of a wet cloth against her head. lmmediately alert, her heart sped along with breathing. She cracked up her eyes and opened them wide as it was pitch dark. Her fingers twitched as she thought this was another training sequence.

"Lower your dagger right now, dammit! I helped you, the least you could do is not stab me! So ungrateful! I should have left you on the street to get mugged," A firm but warm voice said by her. She felt the prescence of someone moving and was blinded unexpectantly by the lit lamp.

"I--" Yuffie stopped herself as she saw that she had her dagger pointed to Reno's chest. The previous events rushed back into her mind and Yuffie felt the familiar taste of bile fill her mouth. Forcing the dreaded alcohol down, she looked at Reno incquiringly at the room, not daring herself to speak and dropped the small weapon to the floor with a small clutter.
"You've been asleep for half the night. It's bout to be sunrise. That means for you to get your ninja ass out of my bed," she watched him as he moved the ringing P.H.S. from his pocket to his ear.
"Thank you... " she automatically started up her usual fake apologies like she did when she stole the material from AVALANCHE, until he waved them away with his hand, talking to Elena.

Reno sighed and combed his fingers through his nappy hair, standing up, walking tword the bathroom, "Yeah, 'Lena. I know. Just got a little side-tracked is all."

Elena: "Reno, you better not screw up this mission! Rufus is counting on us, so that means no drinking and no women, got it!

Reno flung his hand in the air with a scoff, "Yeah yeah! I CAN manage to not fuck up a mission for once, you know!" He scowled and hung up in her mid-sentence. His gaze turned back to Yuffie who was staring at him questionably. "Turk business," he muttered, dryly.

Yuffie nodded understandably and held her stomach that growled uncontrollably.

"There's food in the fridge," he muttered, turning around with his back to her. He walked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Reno made sure to bring his materia with him and tossed it on the floor on his clothes that he just shed. After undressing, the Turk made his way to the shower, turning the nozzles to hot, stepping inside.

For many more hours, Yuffie curled under the small blanket on the floor and stared into the almost extinguished light. Should I forgive...myself? Forgive myself for being rude to him? Maybe he's right. Maybe they're all right. "That's all I am to them…and ungrateful little brat who steals material."