The next few months are a teensy bit blurry in my mind. Mainly they consisted of people asking "So Sephi, you gonna cut your hair short now that you got a fur coat?" and me saying "Nooo!" in various ways. I didn't know, back then, why I still couldn't bear the thought of having my hair cut short, especially now that I had my own fur coat to wear. I kept telling myself, "Hey, why not?", but every time I went to go tell mom she could finally cut my hair to a more regular length, I chickened out and ran back to my blanky-nest clutching my hair in a panic. Then I would stare up at my poster of the Sephiroth and get this feeling almost like...I couldn't cut my hair because then I wouldn't be like HIM. But that didn' t make any sense, because I really wasn't like him at all! I mean, come on, I was raised by Fluffs! If I believe what they said, then I AM a Fluff. Fluffs and Sephiroths just...aren't the same.
So I basically remember spending January and February curled up comfortable and drowsily and half-consciously in my blanky-nest, even though my fur coat kept me warm enough that I was able to go out and play about once a week, by the time I was un-grounded. I could've gone more often but I preferred to stay inside. I felt like a hibernating creature.
But then spring floated in and melted the ice and the trees threw the snow off and a whole bunch of other really fun-to-describe-in-pretty-words things happened that all have to do with spring. Like flowers and stuff. I don't really know how to say it. I'm sure Rae could, but this is supposed to be my story, so I have to write it myself. The main thing I remember about that spring is that just like every spring, it had this weird smell to it...the kind of smell that's warm and drags you out of wherever you're hiding. It's really frustrating to people like me when their nose is sensitive and can catch that smell. I wanted to stay in my blanky-nest, but that smell tickled my nose again and again and even made me sneeze a few times. So finally, sniffling, I dragged myself out of my blanky-nest and out into the very very yellow sunshine that was probably half the source of the smell.
Round Island is...well, round. Circled in a mountain ridge with a forest area inside. Lots of space for caves, but the adventurers who came to KOR island never came to our caves...they only had eyes for the famous one, the one that had (until they took it) the Knights of Round materia.
Actually, the smell wasn't the only thing that dragged me out of the home cave. Mom and Dad said that since we were two-digit Fluffs now, Cait Sith, Reno, Yuffie, and me, were all going to take lessons from old Teff, the wise Fluff of the island. Back then, some young Fluffs could be excited about learning from Teff, and some hated it. I had no idea. I wanted to sleep.
But I couldn't stay in bed, so it was both the smell and Teff that dragged me out. So there I was, standing out in the sunshine and watching other Fluffs run around through the trees, Fluffs from the other side of the Island who I barely knew and hadn't seen for months. I yawned and stretched and wandered around, feeling a little too warm with my fur coat on. But I didn't take it off because I wanted the other Fluffs my age to see it.
"Hmm...la la la...springy...ooh butterfly..." I mumbled to myself and yawned again, still wandering around feeling a little self-conscious with my fur coat on but not in the same way I had when I wasn't wearing it. It was funny to see the looks the other Fluffs gave me. Two boys playing tag slowed down for a sec to blink at me, then grinned and went on playing. A pink girl Fluff who was wandering around stopped to stare at me. I blinked and she looked away because everyone knew staring wasn't polite, and Fluffs are all about politeness.
I giggled silently and ran off to find out where Yuffie and the others were.
The first compliment on my coat came from Teff himself. That's where I found my siblings, they'd all gotten to the meeting-spot early. When I ran to meet them, Teff came forward, beamed and said in a creaky deep (or deep for a Fluff, that is) voice, "Why, young Sephiroth, you have certainly grown a fine adult coat this winter."
I stopped in my tracks, looking silly. "Huh?" I said, not sure what he'd actually said for a moment. "...Oh! Yeah!"
Yuffie grinned. Reno snickered. I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or proud. He had called it an adult coat after all. I guess that meant he thought I was more grown up than I was when he'd seen me last year. So I took it as a compliment.
"Thank you sir!" I grinned hugely.
Teff smiled and turned to talk to a tiny little yellow fluff who had just run up to ask him a question. Reno tried to ruffle my hair but I jumped out of the way. I didn't like people touching it, heh...even it if was out of affection. But I got the feeling he was teasing me too. Yuffie started bouncing up and down going "Heeheehee...hee...heehee!". Cait Sith just hugged his moogle.
I sat down on a log and looked around. Reno didn't seem to want to sit down. Yuffie had but was still bouncing, probably nervously. I didn't really feel all that nervous. Okay, maybe a little. And hot. I thought maybe I should take my coat off...but I was still glowing after what Teff had said. The other Fluffs all came in after a while and found their seats. Then I started feeling kind of claustrophobic. Wow. I never knew there were this many other Fluffs my age on the island. And alot of them were looking at me. Needless to say, I didn't get out much. No wonder my parents were so set on my going to these things, even more than the others. I definitely needed practice socializing.
I tried to hide behind Cait Sith and his moogle but that didn't keep a couple people from trying to talk to me. The first one was the little yellow fluff from before. He grinned at me, leaning way far around my brother so he could see me, and held out a paw.
"Hiya! I'm Tilo. What's your name?"
"Uhhhhh..." I said, startled.
"You're Sephiroth, right? I've heard about you."
"Uhh...y...yeah I am." I blinked, kind of nervous and wondering what exactly he'd heard.
"Well anyway, I think your coat's pretty cool, and the way you keep your hair all long like that. And your eyes are neat too!"
"..uh...thanks," I said, a little shook off by all these...interesting comments. "Who are you again?"
"Tilo, from Teff's family. He's my grandpa."
"Oh." I blinked at him. "...so that's why you're here?" I couldn't believe he was a two-digit Fluff. He was way too small.
"Oh, well, sort of. My tenth birthday was yesterday too."
"Oh." I said. Well...there went that idea! My mind was still going "No way!" at Tilo being 10 years old, but I shrugged anyway, especially when I looked at his grandpa and realized that they were both pretty small. Teff could just get away with it because he was old and wise looking.
Teff coughed and everyone looked at him. Yuffie restrained her bouncing and started tapping her foot really fast instead. It made a funny noise like a woodpecker. I hunched down in my coat and set my glowy green catty eyes on the old Fluff.
"Welcome everyone!" he said cheerfully. "It's so wonderful to see your smiling faces here in front of me. There are some of you I know and some of you I don't, but hopefully I can remedy that before the year is over. I look forward to getting to know each of you better!"
Hearing him talk about smiling faces made everyone smile, I noticed. It was funny. So I smiled too.
"I've thought all winter of what to tell you or show you for our first lesson. I decided that this year we'll start out with what I normally save for later. I will take you somewhere special."
Everybody was probably thinking "OOOH! What? WHAT?". I know I was. Teff definitely had our attention! Tilo was the only one who didn't lean forward eagerly, but he still looked a little excited when I looked. He seemed to know what was going on.
"So if you'll all stand up and follow me in a single-file line, I'll show you where we're going."
Everybody got up and got into a line. It wasn't very single-file at first, but once we started moving it spread out so only a few people were walking side-by-side. I got in somewhere between Reno and Tilo. Yuffie was behind Tilo and attacking him with lots of questions about where we were going but Tilo wouldn't really say anything. He just smiled and shook his head.
We walked through the trees and toward the cliffs and I watched the other Fluffs in the line. Reno turned around and started walking backwards so he could talk to me. I didn't notice him at first because I was in too much awe about how many of us there were, and how different they all were. I realized a while later that my family's a little different, even by Fluff standards. For one thing, most family groups keep the first letters of their children's names the same as their own, or at least try to keep the children names similar to one another. My mom and dad are a funny coincidence because they both come from families with B names and their names are very similar: Bof and Boeff. They never really said why they decided to break tradition and name us all after the main people in the Meteor legend. But maybe that was just a...different version of the tradition! Our names weren't similar because of the first letter, but because we were all related through that one story. So I guess we were different but not really that different.
"Hey Seph! What're you thinking about?"
"Huh?" I blinked. "Oh. Just wondering where we're going."
"Yeah I know! I mean...for it to be special it'd have to be off the island, wouldn't it?"
"I guess." I'd never really thought of that before. That kind of made me sad. Nowhere special on our island, huh? I guess some people thought that way. Now that I know better I'm kind of surprised nobody knew that day where we were going except Teff and Tilo. How could they not guess? But I guess I didn't guess either so I can't blame them for not guessing.
This next part I don't remember very well. I mean I remember what it felt like but the details, pretty much all of them, just aren't there. I remember we went into the cave, and you could tell we were somewhere special. Everyone went really quiet. We spread out in a circle around the place where Teff was standing, staring in a weird kind of awe at the place he was looking at. I kind of knew before he told us what it was.
"This is where the Knights of Round materia grew," he said solemnly.
We all looked at the empty spot for a long time. Teff didn't say anything while we looked at it, he just let us look and think about it. Tilo was smiling in a funny way. I think maybe he'd been there before. I looked around to see the others' reactions. Yuffie was actually not moving for once, she was standing really still and staring with big wide shining eyes at the place. Cait Sith looked solemn. Reno was watching the other people like I was. You could tell there was something special here, you really could. It took everyone a while to realize that the empty spot wasn't really empty. There was a glint of something in there, a shining something. A couple of the Fluffs pointed eagerly at it and said "oh!" in quiet voices. Teff smiled and finally spoke.
"Yes, that's right. A new materia has started growing! Which brings me to my point: why do so many Fluffs live on this island? We as a species are scattered throughout the world in tiny groups, all except for here, where we live in abundance. Why here?"
Tilo looked like he wanted to answer but was waiting to see if anybody else knew, first. I was trying to think what the reason could be. It was a good question!
When nobody said anything, either because they didn't know or they did know and were too shy to say, Teff finally broke the silence.
"We're here to protect this place. To make sure each materia can grow to its fullest each time before anyone removes it."
You could practically hear everyone's light bulbs turn on! I kind of got this weird shiver- I dunno if I was excited or scared or what. I think everyone felt the same too, but of course I couldn't be sure. I was different after all. But I think they did. Their expressions all seemed to mirror how I felt.
It's really pretty strange to see a room full of Fluffs, all who weren't smiling, all except Teff and Tilo. Kind of creepy but kind of cool too.
Teff's smile grew really big. "I'll let you all think about that while you eat your lunch. Then we'll talk."
We all just kind of stood there for a minute and then started floating off to different parts of the cave. I found Cait Sith. He's the one mom decided should be in charge of the lunch-pack thing. He's actually the oldest and probably the most responsible out of all of us, even though you wouldn't really guess it when you meet him at first. Probably because he likes stuffed animals so much and is so quiet and kind of looks like he's scared of stuff half the time and amazingly hyper the other half. But he really isn't. He just really likes his fuzzy friends. Most people actually guess that Reno's oldest, but he's only second oldest.
So we all wandered over to a corner of the cave and sat down while Cait Sith took off his backpack thing and started digging out the grub. Mom had made us some really yummy lasagna with meat sauce and a little bit of salad. I nibbled on the lettuce and looked around. Tilo was eating with his grandpa. It was interesting to see which Fluffs belonged with each other. There were alot of funny pairs, like a huge black Fluff with his fur so long it covered his eyes eating with a miniature shorthaired peachy-colored one. And they were both really hyper, obviously, since most Fluffs are. I finished up my salad and started on the lasagna. Most of my siblings only ate certain things out of their salads, since they didn't really like greens in the first place. I didn't mind them.
"Eww sephi how can you eat that spinach stuff...it's so gross!" Yuffie said, wrinkling her nose and holding up a piece.
I shrugged. "I'll eat yours too if you want."
"Please!" Everyone said and piled it in front of me. I blinked at the mound of green stuff and slowly began working my way through it, much to the slightly disgusted wonder of my brothers and sister.
"What?" I said through a mouthful of it. "It's not that bad!"
"Yegh," Reno said. "Whatever." And he took a huge bite out of his lasagna.
It took me a while to finish the spinach off and by then I was really happy to get to my lasagna. I liked spinach but I didn't like it THAT much. And I sure loved mom's lasagna.
While I was eating the spinach though, a funny thing happened. The pink girl fluff I'd seen earlier came over clutching a bowl of ramen noodles. She looked a little nervous but she grinned at us and we all looked up and Reno hastily licked a bit of sauce off his arm. Yuffie whispered, "Hey, no washing at the table!" and he shot her a look that said "Don't boss me around!" Cait Sith just hugged his moogle and kept eating his lasagna.
"Hi!" I said, trying to be friendly, once I'd swallowed another bunch of spinach.
"Um, hi!" she said, flashing a grin. "Can I sit with you guys?"
"And girl!" Yuffie said.
"Oh," the pink Fluff said. "Guys and girl. Can I? Please?"
"Sure!" Reno said quickly. I nodded. Cait Sith hugged his moogle.
"Thanks!" She sat down, started eating her ramen, then stopped and looked at my pile of spinach, which was almost gone. "Is that...spinach?"
"Yeah," I said, picking up a leaf to nibble.
"Can I have some?" she asked timidly.
Ha-ha. The others sure didn't know what to say or think or even look like. Reno looked like he'd swallowed an egg. I grinned. "Sure!"
She looked relieved. "Thanks!" She grabbed some. "I really love it and my mom never gets any for me."
"Yeah it's good isn't it!" I said, really surprised and glad there were other Fluffs beside me who liked green things. She nodded happily.
Reno reached forward and grabbed some, grinning in a weird way. "Yeah, this stuff is like, my favorite," he said, and stuck a piece in his mouth with only a second's hesitation. Yuffie looked at him like he'd lost his mind. He chewed it quickly and swallowed really hard and said. "Y-yeah..sure is good stuff..."
The pink Fluffette blinked. "...Wow, I've never met any Fluffs beside me who liked it! This is cool!"
Reno beamed. I wondered how long it'd be before he excused himself to go find something to get the taste out of his mouth so he wouldn't gag. I wondered even more why in the world he would pretend to like spinach just because the Fluffette did.
"So what's your name?" Cait Sith finally spoke up. The Fluffette looked startled.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself...how rude of me!" she looked embarrassed. "My name's Woffia."
"Nice to meet you!" Reno choked out. "Pardon me for a moment."
I laughed and watched him run over to see if anybody had a cookie or something he could wash down the spinach with. Then I waited until Cait Sith and Yuffie had introduced themselves before I had my turn.
"I'm Sephi...roth. You can just call me Sephi or Seph, everyone does," I grinned.
She tilted her head. "Sephiroth...isn't...you all have names from the Meteor legend, right? So Sephiroth was the one who called Meteor down, wasn't he?"
I nodded, not sure what I should say to that. Should I be proud of my name? Should I be ashamed? I didn't know, so all I did was nod and say "Yeah, that was him!"
She turned to each of the others. "Cait Sith was the double agent between Shinra and Cloud's party...Yuffie was the ninja from Wutai, and Reno was one of the Turks," she concluded, as if to herself, while Reno was coming back.
"Sorry, just had to go talk to a friend!" he lied, sitting down in the circle again. Woffia leaned over to eat her ramen, which was probably getting cold.
"How do you know so much about the legend?" Yuffie asked, bouncing now that the air wasn't so solemn. Woffia looked a little embarrassed again, but grinned politely.
"Well...my dad says he traveled alot during that time..he wasn't at Cosmo Canyon when Nanaki came home but he was there afterward and the others there told him all about what was going on. My mom doesn't talk about it much though. I always thought it was interesting." She chewed on her noodles thoughtfully and lapped up a little of the broth. I held out the last of the spinach to her, a couple leaves.
"You want the rest? My lasagna's getting cold."
"Oh, yes!" she said, and took it. "Thank you!"
"Sure!" I giggled.
Reno gave me a mean look. I don't know why. He sure was acting weird! Cait Sith nudged him and shook his head slowly when Reno looked at him, and Reno blinked and made a little grunt that sounded like "Fine..."
I just lowered my head and ate my lasagna quietly while Woffia finished up her ramen and the others just sat there giving each other weird looks. Most of them were in response to Reno's tail twitching in an irritated way. The others seemed to be trying to calm him down. I wondered if maybe Reno had a fleabite or something. Why else would he be acting so weird? Mom always said no scratching at the table, but he could've excused himself again...
Finally, Woffia was done, and cleared her throat. "So...you...all lived here for a long time?"
"Course!" Yuffie said. "Our great great grandparents were here, and probably their great grandparents, too..."
"Wow!" she said. "I didn't know it went that far back. I just came here last winter from the eastern continent."
Now everyone else looked amazed. "Wow...you're from a CONTINENT?"
Woffia giggled. "Yep...and lemme just say...your winters are COLD."
I immediately started nodding my head off, but the others were too amazed at her being from off the island to do anything more than stare.
"They're sooo cold!" I agreed. "I could hardly go outside before Yuffie got me this," I said, taking off my fur coat and hugging it. Ohh that felt better. Way too warm for fur...
Woffia blinked at the spectacle of a Fluff taking off its fur. I realized how weird that must've looked, even though it was probably obvious to most that the fur wasn't really mine (though it DID match my hair pretty well), since it didn't cover the rest of me, just the top. I grinned nervously. She grinned back.
"That's cool. I like your eyes too."
"Uh..I-" I started to say, then stopped, suddenly blushing. I'd never blushed before. This was weird...I didn't know then, of course, how much I'd get used to blushing later. But this was probably my first time, and I had no clue what was going on. And then Reno flicked a pebble at me.
"Ow!" I burst out, rubbing the spot on my cheek where it had hit. Then I stopped when Woffia blinked and said "Uh..thank you!"
"You okay? You get a fleabite or something?" She asked.
"Um-" I began, but Reno cut in laughing.
"Oh don't worry, he probably just has a stomachache or something. Too much spinach, you know?"
Woffia blinked. Hard. Reno grinned cheesily. I felt a weird sensation and realized that was the third lie Reno'd said today. He never lied. Fluffs just don't lie! Lying is bad. Bad bad bad. And as we'd learn later that day, if a Fluff became bad, then the world was in for trouble.
Cait Sith tapped Reno on the shoulder. Reno looked at him. Cait Sith stood up and motioned for Reno to do the same, squishing his moogle with his other arm.
"Excuse us," Cait Sith said to Woffia, then walked away and Reno followed looking kind of...nervous.
Yuffie stood up and bounced around the both of us. "Heehee..hee..."
Woffia giggled at Yuffie. "Is she always this hyper?"
I nodded cheerfully. "Yep. Always always."
We all looked up when Teff whistled sharply and started calling everyone back around where the materia grew. We all got up and followed everyone else. Cait Sith and Reno walked slowly a little ways away, talking. I could see them a little. Reno was nodding and looking kind of...I dunno the word for it. Guilty? Maybe. Cait Sith looked serious, but then he said something and both of them laughed nervously. Teff talked and everyone looked at him.
"Now that you've all had some time to think about what I said, and rest and eat, I have one last thing to tell you before you all return to your homes."
I blinked. Wow. That was short. I didn't expect it to be short. Oh well.
"We Fluffs are meant to be pure creatures. We're taught from when we're very young to never lie, or cheat, or say anything bad in any way, or do anything wrong like that. We are to be cheerful as often as we can."
Reno looked pretty humble right about then. I also felt kind of guilty about the cheerful part.
"We're taught that way because we have to be. If a Fluff guarding a materia goes bad, it can attract bad people to come and take it, it can attract our sworn enemies, the Floofers, and it can even affect the way the materia grows!"
There was a shiver that ran all the way around the group. Everybody had heard stories of how awful the Floofers were. They came in swarms and ripped things to shreds with their teeth and claws, and ate them, including Fluffs. It was pretty scary to even think about. They also really liked burning things.
"So we must all be the best we can be. Everything anyone does, doesn't just affect them, it affects everyone on the island. So that's what I wanted you all to think about on the way home. Be the best you can!"
Everybody nodded alot and a few went "Yeah!" or "Okay!". Teff grinned and dismissed us. I blinked at the materia while everyone else was walking away. Wow...it could even change how the materia grew? That was something to think about. I wasn't sure I believed him, actually. But he was pretty old and knew alot of things, so I figured I probably should. When I looked up Reno was the only one near me who hadn't left the cave. I blinked at him. He was looking at the materia too. He sighed a huge sigh and then looked at me and grinned.
"Hey, what're you waiting for? Everybody's leaving!" He turned to go.
"Uh yeah!" I said, and trotted after him.
The sun was a little bright and funny looking after being in the cave. Reno ran ahead of me and pounced on Yuffie, who giggled and bit his ear. Woffia laughed at them, and Cait Sith didn't look solemn anymore. He ran circles around Yuffie and Reno while they play-fought. I caught up and yawned loudly, stretching.
"You still tired, Sephi?" Reno teased, during a pause.
"Y-yeah maybe," I said, finishing up my yawn. "It's warm today!" I sat down and put my fur coat in my lap and started petting it, beaming at its shiny silverness.
Woffia plopped down next to me and blinked at my coat, then grinned. "So your sister got it for you?"
I nodded cheerfully. "Yuffie's good at finding cool presents. She got Reno a headdress like Nanaki's!"
"Cool! You're related to Nanaki? That's awsome!"
I nodded even more. "Mmhm! On my dad's side I think. My dad came from a continent too, now that I remember. It's mom's family that's been here for forever."
"Woww...that's so cool! I could be related to Nanaki...but I dunno. It's probably distant."
"Mm. Sooo do you like it here?" I nudged.
She nodded. "I didn't when I came because it was so cold and snowy, but it's really pretty now that everything's warm and nice."
I nodded. We both probably looked silly nodding our heads off like that. It was funny. We both laughed.
"So you're ten?"
"Mmm eleven in a month, actually." She beamed. "You wanna come to my birthday?"
My eyes widened and I didn't know what to say. "Uh...um...your birthday? W...when is it?"
"In a month, silly. I just said that! It's actually exactly a month from yesterday."
"Oh...so...you want me to come?" I blinked.
"Yeah? I just said I did!" She giggled. "And your brothers and sister can come too."
Reno got tackled by Yuffie pretty bad. He wasn't looking.
"Gack! Rawr!" He threw her off and came over. "Did I hear right? We can all come to your birthday?" He looked really excited, especially since he was panting from the fight.
Woffia nodded. "Yep! The more the merrier."
"Well we'll come then!" Cait Sith said, grinning and bouncing a little. Yuffie hopped up and down like a bunny.
"Yay birthday!"
Reno shoved her. "Don't do that, Yuffie! Mom says it makes you look like a crazy Floofer."
Yuffie immediately stopped, but she did look kind of put out. "But it's fuuun."
I turned to Woffia. "So how many brothers and sisters do you have? We should get presents for them too, right?"
Woffia smiled. "Oh, I don't...have any siblings."
Our jaws dropped. "No siblings?" Yuffie squealed. Cait Sith poked her. Reno looked kind of shocked.
Woffia slowly shook her head. "I'm an only Fluff."
"Wow..."
This was really something. Only Fluffs were really rare. My own family was actually pretty small. Fluffs were known to have tons and tons of kids. Four was a small litter.
Woffia looked a little uncomfortable so we all had to stop staring because that was just rude. Reno scratched behind his ear, since we weren't eating anymore, then pounced on Yuffie again, who was very unprepared, so he got the best of that match. Cait Sith jolted out of his awe and cheered them both on, then joined in. Woffia grinned, glad she wasn't being stared at anymore. She nudged me with her head.
"Aren't you gonna join in?"
I laughed. "Ahh probably not. I'm not very good at those games."
"Neither am I," she giggled. "Maybe we should practice together."
I barely had time to blink before she pounced me.
"AH! No! Rawr! Aaah!" I yelled and struggled to throw her off, but she just giggled and pinned me down.
"Waa..that wasn't fair! Anyway, I can't bite back! I don't have claws and my teeth aren't very sharp!" I whimpered.
She sighed a sigh that was kind of a laugh and rolled over me so she was lying on her back. It looked funny, but she just grinned up at the bottom of the tree branches.
"Sorry. I didn't think about that."
I sat up. "It's okay."
She rolled onto her side and lifted her head to look at me. "So...how come you don't have..."
"Fur? Teeth? Claws?" I giggled.
"Yeah," she blushed.
"It's okay," I said again, scratching my head. "I dunno why, but people actually don't ask me alot! It's kind of weird!" I laughed.
"They don't? Weird," she murmured.
"Yeah. Well...I'm not sure exactly...but y'know...how the real Sephiroth was...the way he was I guess kind of because of something a scientist did. Nanaki almost had some of that stuff happen too."
I lay down on my stomach with my chin on my hands. I guess it made me feel more like a Fluff, y'know, how they put their heads down on their paws.
"Anyway, some of that happened back in our family somewhere, and I guess it didn't show until a long time later, when I was born."
I fiddled with some weedy little flower-things.
Woffia was quiet. "Oh..."
I grinned. "It's nothing to be sorry about anyway. I mean, no harm done, right?"
"Yeah!" she said, nodding. "You're right. I like you the way you are!"
"Yeah!" I blushed a little and beamed. "Yeah! OOF!"
I blinked up at Reno who was grinning down at me, both his front paws on my chest. He snickered. "You're never gonna get good at play fighting if you don't practice, little brother!"
"Grrrrr," I tried to growl, but it didn't come out quite right. I grabbed his front legs and tried to push him off, and managed to roll us both onto our sides, but he grabbed my ear.
"Ow ow!" I yelled. "That's not fair!" I grabbed Reno's ears and jerked his head away. He yelped and reached up a paw to rub tenderly at them.
"Ahh...good one!" he said.
I stood up, giggling excitedly. "I just did what you did!"
Reno laughed, still rubbing his ear. "Maybe you do have claws after all."
I beamed, just before he threw me to the ground again.
"Ow!"
"Aah! Help me! Help, Yuffie! I dunno what to do waahaa...!"
I'd never seen Reno so pathetic. He was running around in circles chasing his tail and frantically trying to think at the same time. He changed course and pounced on Yuffie.
"Waa! What should I get her!" He wailed, shaking Yuffie repeatedly.
For once she looked kind of annoyed, though she laughed just the same. "You've been asking me for the last hour! I only had one idea for a present for Woffia so I don't have any others!" she whacked him on the head with her pencil, which she was using to write more verses to the "Yay, Presents, Yay!" song.
Reno whimpered and rubbed his head and lay down with his head on his paws. His tail was all droopy like it would've been if he'd just fallen into the water or something. He HAD gone swimming earlier that day. I never really caught on to the idea of how to swim. Swimming is hard. He kept whimpering like a lost puppy until Yuffie threw her pencil at him and it bounced off his nose.
"Gosh Reno! Go for a walk or something, maybe you'll get some ideas if you look around!"
I snickered from where I was fixing up my blanky-nest. I probably shouldn't have. To tell the truth, I was kind of panicking too. It was a day and a half until Woffia's birthday and I didn't have an idea for a present either. Reno got up and walked gloomily out of the cave. Cait Sith was helping Dad make some repairs on the bathroom. Mom decided she should brush my hair. She liked doing that. So I didn't complain when she came over and started doing it.
"How you doin' Sephi?" she asked me. I felt a funny prickling in my neck and bowed my head.
"I'm doin' good, mom!" I said as cheerfully as I could.
"Good," she said, and I could hear her tail swishing. "You getting along well with everyone?"
She always asked me that. "Yep."
"Good," she said again. "Was your romp with Woffia the other day fun?"
I think I blushed a little. I could probably tell what mom was thinking. But we were still only ten! Anyway, everyone else had been there too. Tilo was there. It's not like it was just me and her.
"Yeah, it was pretty fun," I said slowly.
"You and Reno are having trouble thinking of a present for her, aren't you?"
I sighed. "Yeahhh. It's really hard! I don't know what she would want, that's all!"
"So you haven't had any ideas at all?" she said, tugging on a piece of my hair.
"Ow. Not any good ones," I pouted.
"Well if you still can't think of anything by the end of the day you come ask me, okay? And bring Reno."
"Huh? Okay!" I said, cheering up a bit. That meant mom probably had something in mind! Maybe I wouldn't have to apologize to Woffia for not getting her a present after all!
"I think Reno's pretty smitten," she said, giggling a little. I blinked.
"Sm..itten..? What's that?"
"He likes Woffia," she said in a serious tone of voice.
"So? I do too. So does Yuffie and Cait Sith." I blinked. "She's fun."
My mom laughed. "Oh Sephi...you're so cute. I meant he likes her in a different way."
"H-...ohh. Like that?" I did know...I was just playing dumb I think. I do that alot. It's fun. Because then people explain things and you don't have to guess at the little details.
My mom was laughing. "Maybe when they're both old enough, her parents and I and your father can arrange something."
"Hmm..." I said. "Yeah maybe! So you really think Reno...y'know..."
"I do. Isn't it obvious?"
I didn't say anything. Obvious? I guess it was. Cait Sith said once that Fluffettes make guy Fluffs act funny. Reno sure was acting funny. I mean what was that whole spinach thing about? And why was he giving me mean looks? Was that what Cait Sith meant? And he threw a rock at me and lied three times. If that's what Cait Sith meant, then I sure didn't want to be that way...but Woffia didn't make me act like that. Neither did any other girl Fluffs I knew- wait...I only knew Yuffie. But still. I didn't understand. Why would Reno act like that just because he liked Woffia? And why was it all aimed at me? I sighed.
"Sephi?" My mom bumped me with her head. "What's wrong?"
I tried not to look sad. "Oh, I'm fine!" I said, waving my hands and trying to show that I was by grinning.
"Didn't old Teff say you young Fluffs shouldn't lie?" My mom said slyly. "You sighed."
"I wasn't...lying...okay maybe. Well I just was wondering why Reno is mean to me sometimes!" I giggled and scratched my head. My mom pulled my hand away.
"You're messing up your hair. Reno's mean to you? How?"
"Well not really mean!" I said quickly. "Ahaha...I mean...he's just been acting funny! Yesterday when we were playing tag he kept pushing me out of the way. And when we went to the materia cave he lied three times and ate spinach and kept looking at me weird and then he threw a rock at me and I don't knowww!" I whimpered. "Why is he being so weiird?"
Mom looked startled. I felt guilty for telling on Reno. He hadn't lied since we went to the materia cave, and he hadn't done anything really mean like rock-throwing either, but still...
"Hmm...I don't know, Sephi. Maybe he's jealous," my mom chucked.
"Huhh?" I turned to look at her. "But that doesn't make any sense! Why would he be-"
"Did all these things happen when you were with Woffia?"
I still didn't get it. "Um...yeah...I think so. Except...for a couple times. But what does that have to do-"
"Those other times, were you talking about her?"
I blinked and went quiet for a minute to think. "...yeah...?"
"Then it's obvious. Reno is afraid and jealous, and that's why he's doing those things!" she laughed.
"But...but...I don't get it!"
My mom smiled and put the brush down. It was a nice one. Reno had payed for most of it, and it had come about two months ago. Good thing, too, or else I would've looked really awful when I went to my first day being taught by Teff with the other two-digit Fluffs. She stroked one of my funny bangs and laughed softly.
"Do you think Woffia likes you?"
"Huh? Uh..n.." I started, then immediately clapped my hands over my face and bowed my head so my mom couldn't see when the blushiness started. Why! Why did I have to blush? Again! I was afraid mom would take that as a yes. She did. She fell over giggling.
"Ohh Sephi, I love you. You're so sweet."
"Moooom," I groaned, still hiding my face. I grabbed a pillow to help hide me. "Stop iit!"
"But you're turning all red, Sephi! That's obviously a sign!"
"No!" I shook my head frantically. "It's not it's not! It's just because you think it is! You think she likes me and it made me blush that you think that!" I dived into my blanky-nest and curled up.
"Aww Sephi...don't hide in there. You'll make your hair all funny again."
"I like it! And I don't think she likes me like...like you think she does! So..." I sniffled, huggling my pillow so it made my voice all muffly. "IM ONLY TEN MOM!"
"And so was I when I met your dad. We were good friends until we turned sixteen and got together."
I poked my head out. "Yeah! Friends! Exactly! Frieeends! I'm friends with Woffia! I like being friends! I don't wanna do stupid things like throwing rocks at people. So I'm never liking someone like that!" I said stubbornly, rubbing my eyes. "Why does Reno..."
I huggled my pillow and whimpered.
She sat down and her tail thumped against my side. "I don't think you'd act the same as Reno does even if you did like Woffia the way he does," she said quietly. "You're different Sephi. You may not have fur but you're a pure Fluff through and through."
My eyes got big and shiny and made my mom melt. "W...weawwy?" I said in a voice that I knew was cute only because everyone said it made them want to squeeze me to death. My mom beamed.
"Weawwy," she said and licked me on the cheek.
"ACK! Mooom!" I sat up and rubbed at it. "Yucky!"
"It's just a motherly kiss!" she giggled.
I giggled. "Okay okay. So anyway, I'm just Woffia's friend! So there!"
"I know," my mom said. "I just don't know if Reno does."
I nodded slowly. "You think Woffia likes Reno back?"
"We'll see, I'm sure."
It felt funny to be talking about this with my mom. I guess it would've felt funny with anybody though. I grinned at her. "I'll go see if I can find Reno."
"You do that."
It was getting dark. I wandered around through the woods and it was creepy. I could hear the frogs and crickets. They were really loud and the moon was really bright but it was cloudy and the moon made the clouds all purply blue and smoky looking. It made me feel nervous.
"Renooo..." I called quietly. I heard a crackly noise and spun around. "Wa..."
It sure was dark. The shadows were moving around a little here because of the wind in the trees. I shivered.
"Reno...!" I scurried into a patch of moonlight, feeling like something was reaching at me. "This is scary!"
I stopped when I heard a weird whistling howling sound. Was it the wind? It probably was. I was just really nervous. I turned around slowly, looking for the eyes I thought were watching me. I took a deep breath and suddenly twitched.
"R...Reno!" I breathed out. I could smell him! Just barely...wait, where did it go? I crouched down and sniffed. There it was again! I ran forward, sniffing and sniffing and pausing to find it again when it got lost. I'd never tried this before, except once when I was little and we were playing hide and seek. I wasn't sure. Was it just my imagination? Or could I actually smell things out like other Fluffs? I got excited. It hadn't worked so well that day when I was little. I panted in the warm wind and kept running until I saw where I was actually going.
"Hey..." It was the materia cave. I sniffed. Okay...so he was in there? I crept toward it carefully. It was even darker in there...except for a tiny glow from the materia. I went in slowly.
"R...Reno?" My voice was really tiny. I heard a little shuffling noise. My neck prickled and I could almost feel my hair rising like a cat's. "Reno..! You here?"
"Hey Seph," Reno sounded nervous.
"Where are you?" I squeaked. "It's too dark, I can't see you."
The wind sounded funny from in here, especially. I felt something touch me and yelped.
"Sheesh Seph, it's me! Don't freak out!"
"A..a...oh..." I fell over in relief. Reno tripped over me.
"Ow! Seph! What are you doing?"
"I was looking for you?" I squeaked again, like a mouse.
"...oh." He got up and dragged me up with him. "Well let's go home then."
"Yeah," I trembled. "Yeah let's go!" I shouted.
Reno squeezed my wrist where he held it. "Shh."
"Huhh?" I said dumbly. He gave my arm a little shake.
"Be quiet a sec. I thought I saw something."
I felt really nervous now! I reached out and clung to Reno's fur. "What is it? What is it?" I hissed.
"SHH! It was over there!" He pointed, but I could only barely see his arm.
"What was?" I whispered. "...AAH!"
We saw it. Bright, reddish pink eyes in the dark, and looking at us. Whatever it was stepped into the light and we saw that it wasn't very big...about the size of a rabbit, and almost the shape of one too, except for a few little things, and one major difference- it had fangs and huge claws. It would have looked cute if it didn't look so evil. I didn't know what it was at first but Reno guessed and screamed, running and nearly yanking my arm out of its socket.
"IT'S A FLOOFER! RUN!"
I screamed along with him and we ran for our lives, probably waking every Fluff family on the island. Which was a good thing. I could hear the Floofers' horrible squealing howls behind me and it just made me run faster. I didn't even dare to look behind me. I was running with all I had, and eventually I was the one in front dragging Reno, since he couldn't run with all four paws when he was holding my wrist and neither of us wanted to let go for fear of losing each other in the dark.
Soon the other Fluffs were pouring out of their caves and tearing along ahead of us. A big one ran right into Reno and me and we both accidentally let go and fell over. I scrambled out of the way so the big Fluff wouldn't step on me but then I stopped because Reno was crying out and it sent chills up my back.
"SEPHI!"
I turned around and got my feet frozen to the ground. Reno wasn't on his feet, and I could barely see his red fur through all the Floofers that were on top of him. I stood there for a few long seconds of shock, but when Reno called out for me again and he sounded so scared, I ran forward blindly and jumped into the middle of the mass of Floofers and found Reno's fur...it was wet. I grabbed him and tried to drag us both out of there, but there were claws and teeth everywhere I turned, slashing and biting at me. I stumbled around and tried to shield my face and eyes from it mostly, but that didn't keep it from hurting alot. I'd never been really attacked by anything before. This was awful. I couldn't even think. And Reno was yelling for me over and over. I couldn't fight back. It was horrible! All I could do was throw myself over Reno and bury my face in his fur so the Floofers couldn't scratch my eyes out. They pulled my hair and bit through my clothes. I couldn't stand it! I felt a weird tingly all over. A second later I couldn't see anything.
The next thing I knew I was being half-carried, half-dragged across the ground. I started whimpering. "Ow...ow ow ow."
It stopped. I heard my mom's voice. "Sephi! It's alright, just hang on!"
I closed my eyes and climbed on her back she carried me the rest of the way. I didn't know where I was or how I got there. I just knew I hurt alot and suddenly I remembered.
"I...Is Reno okay!" I asked frantically. I heard my dad's voice.
"He's still asleep."
I clung to my mom. "Wh-what happened?" I felt strange. Wet. Especially my face and arms.
"Shh, we'll talk once we're on our way."
I noticed that mom and dad were running now. I looked behind us. Something was...glowy. Red and glowy. Orange and red and yellow. I couldn't see the moon anymore.
"Where are we going?" I whimpered.
My mom didn't say anything. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the weird wet hurting feeling. There was a rushing crackling noise somewhere. I couldn't hear the frogs and crickets anymore. And then all I could hear was the ocean. I didn't open my eyes, and then I fell asleep.