A/N- Beaute d'un Ninja, thank you so much for the wonderful review. It made me very happy to hear such kind words about my writing. This chapter is dedicated to you.

Chapter 4

The air was muggy and smelled like death and musk. The humidity caused the long silver strands of his hair to stick to his face and neck like glue. The air made his aquamarine eyes sting and he blinked to clear them as he focused on the figure ahead of him.

'I really don't want to be here!' he thought to himself as he continued to follow the cloaked form.

Once they had reached, what looked to be a small office in the very bowels of the cave, the cloaked individual stopped and gestured for him to be seated. He did so and watched as the man threw back his hood revealing a mass of spiky red hair. A cocky smile was on the redhead man's face as he flung himself into the large office chair and crossed his legs atop the desk.

"So... what can I do for you Riku?" he asked, the cocky grin never leaving his face.

"I need you to find someone for me," Riku replied firmly. He watched as the ruby haired man turned to a nearby laptop and began to type.

"What's the name?" he questioned. His bulk of crimson spikes swayed lightly as he cracked the stiff joints of his neck.

"Axel… I want you to find my brother," Riku said, his eyes turning to examine the reaction of the red head.

Axel ceased typing the moment the word brother was uttered. He slowly turned his head to look at the silver haired boy, the cocky grin no longer on his face.

"Are you crazy?" Axel asked, his voice rising in volume with each word, "Do you want to die?"

Riku shook his head as an arrogant smirk made its way to his face. Axel looked at him warily, knowing that good things never came from that smirk.

"What are you planning?" he asked hesitantly, eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Riku's smirk grew wider at Axel's words; his friend really did know him too well.

"I won't be the one who fights him," Riku said calmly, the smugness clearly displayed in his voice.

"What? Who could…" Axel began.

"Someone who wants him dead as much as I do," Riku interrupted. He watched as the confusion on Axel's face slowly turned to understanding.

"Do you mean, Strife?" The red head asked, his voice sounded astounded. Riku answered with another nod.

Riku could see the question was still on Axel's face; the man was dumbfounded about the whole situation. Riku let out a sigh and began to explain.

"He is a friend of my girlfriend and her brother," Riku began. Axel let out a sharp laugh and Riku looked at his quizzically.

"You let a guy like Cloud Strife near your girlfriend?" the scarlet haired man asked amused, "Do you know how many girls chased after him when he worked at the organization? They wouldn't leave him alone!"

Riku let his annoyance display openly on his face as he gave Axel a threatening glare.

"Do you have any information on Sephiroth or not?" Riku asked irritated. Axel's cocky grin came back to his face.

"No need to get so angry Riku, I was just joking with you," Axel said as he began to type again. Riku sighed heavily and relaxed in his seat. The sound of the computer keys echoed eerily in the hollow caverns of the cave. Riku wiped a sticky lock of silver hair off his forehead as he waited for Axel to finish searching.

"That's strange," Axel said, more to himself than to Riku.

"What is it?" Riku questioned, not liking the sound of Axel's comment. Axel picked up his laptop and began walking to the exit.

"I'm going to have to link up to the main computer system in the lab. Stay here and out of trouble," the red head said without taking his eyes off the computer screen. Riku watched him leave and groaned loudly.

'Great, leave me alone in the creepy cave that smells like corpses,' Riku thought to himself spitefully. He made himself more comfortable as he waited for Axel's return.

XXXXX

He could hear the loud music coming from inside as he stepped up to door. The windows of the house would shake lightly during every bass note. He noticed that the nearby houses all had their windows covered as if they were trying to block out the sound. The line of cars nearby confirmed that the house must be full to the brink. He took a deep breath as he stepped up to the door and knocked loud enough to be heard over the music.

He knew that Leon's parties were practically notorious among the locals and had denied all invitations to come up until now. He was not really the partying type and preferred solitude over crowds any day. He contributed that to the fact that he had very few friends while younger and he had never been completely comfortable around others. Not many people wanted to be close to the greatest assassin of the infamous Organization XIII. Fear was an ally when you worked in the shadows.

He heard footsteps as they approached the door and he was suddenly feeling doubtful about coming at all. He began to wish that he had turned the offer down like all of the others. As the doorknob turned, he began to wonder what had made him say yes in the first place. Why would someone like him put himself in a situation where human contact was inevitable?

'No escape now,' he thought to himself as the door opened and he was greeted with a pair of curious gray eyes. He watched as the curious look was replaced with one of absolute joy and he remembered his reason behind coming. He couldn't explain the way he felt when she looked at him like that. He had never been around someone who felt happy for him just being around, no strings attached. Everyone wanted something in return, that's what he always thought. However, when he looked into the stormy gray depths of her eyes he saw pure, unadulterated elation simply by his presence.

"Cloud! I'm so glad you're here!" she practically yelled as she opened the door wide for him to enter. He looked around the room as he stepped through the threshold and noticed that the house was in fact, packed. He looked back to Yuffie as she closed the door. He felt the heat rise to his cheeks as she grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him into the kitchen.

"Squall is making out with Rinoa, Sora is making a move on Kairi, and Riku is on some stupid trip!" she all but yelled out, exasperated, "Thank god you showed up, I was about to go crazy!"

Cloud gave a shy smile and watched as she dug through the numerous bottles of alcohol on the counter. She gave a cry of delight when she found something worthy and began to poor herself a glass.

"What are you drinking?" she asked gesturing at the mass amount of beverages lining the cabinet.

"I'm fine," he said while shaking his head. She shrugged and took a large gulp of her drink.

One hour later…

Yuffie was drunk. Not the normal drunk where you slur words and stumble over imaginary objects, but the kind of drunk that has everyone's attention focused on you.

Cloud sighed as she continued to laugh hysterically over some comment he had made on his anatomy class with Leon. She was drawing everyone's attention to them and he was beginning to regret not putting a stop to her drinking earlier. People were giving him dirty looks as if it was his fault she was so intoxicated. He groaned loudly as she continued to laugh.

"Cloud, I swear, you are the funniest guy in the world!" she said through her hysterics. He reached to grab the bottle of vodka that she had in her hand but she moved it out of reach at the last moment.

"Yuffie, give me the bottle," he said through grinding teeth. She looked at him with a lopsided grin and shook her head.

"Get your own," she told him as she stuck her tongue out. Cloud sighed again; the situation was beginning to get extremely annoying. He watched suddenly as her face lit up and a she began to clap her hands happily.

"This is my most favorite song in the whole world!" she shouted loudly and began to stumble into the living room. Cloud followed her in fear of what she was going to do next. His face paled drastically when she climbed onto the coffee table and proceeded to dance quite suggestively.

'This is not good,' he though, panicking, 'Where the hell is Leon at a time like this!'

Catcalls could be heard coming from most of the men in the room and a crowd seemed to have materialized around her. Cloud struggled to get through the multitude of bodies that were surrounding the dancing girl. He was pushed back by an overly hormonal man and he lost sight of Yuffie through the mob. He began to push through again but stopped when his face was covered by some kind of fabric. As he examined the cloth closer, he felt all of the color drain from his face when he recognized the object. He was holding Yuffie's shirt. Panic overtook reason as he forced his way through the horde and gaped at what he saw.

Yuffie was dancing on the table, in her bra, and still holding the vodka. When she saw Cloud, she waved and reached her hand out to him. She obviously wanted him to join her.

'As much as I would love to dance with you, especially while you are moving your hips like that, I don't think the end result would be very good for either of us,' Cloud thought to himself.

He groaned in exasperation as he grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her down of the table and into his arms. There were cries of protest from the gathering and Yuffie was struggling in his arms.

"Cloud," she said in a whiny voice, "I want to dance!"

He shook his head wordlessly and began to walk out of the room, carrying her effortlessly in his arms. He walked up the stairs and into her bedroom, kicking the door closed as he stepped in. He gently sat her on the bed and yanked the bottle out of her hands before she could retaliate. She gave a whine of protest as Cloud relocated the vodka out of her reach.

"Meanie," he heard her mumble under her breath. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a huff of displeasure.

"Yuffie, I think that you have had enough to drink tonight," he said to her in an attempt to reason with the drunken girl. He sat down next to her on the bed and put a comforting arm around her shoulders, "You need to go to bed and sleep off the alcohol. Tomorrow you're going to have a hangover from hell," he gave a light chuckle in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Take two Advil in the morning, eat some toast for breakfast, and drink plenty of water," he advised her. She gave no indication that she had heard anything he had said and he heaved an irritated sigh.

'Why am I even bothering to tell her this,' he thought to himself, 'It's not like she is going to remember anything tomorrow.'

He felt her shift under his arm and he turned to her quizzically. She was a lot closer to him then he would have expected. Her breath was warm on his cheek and smelled vaguely of the alcohol that she had consumed. She moved her hand to rest on his far cheek and brought her face even closer to his. He was at a loss for words as he gazed into the depths of her gray eyes. Even with the haze of alcohol clouding the stormy gray orbs, he found they were still completely breathtaking.

He rested his forehead against hers as he tried to gather himself and his self-control. She was so captivating in the darkness of her room, the only light coming from the window and the streetlamp outside. The pale skin of her body seemed to glow divinely and drew him like a moth to a flame.

"Yuffie, don't…" he didn't get to finish as she silenced him with her lips.

The kiss was fiery and passionate, her mouth exploring his in a lust filled frenzy. He found himself pushed on his back and her tiny body resting atop him, continuing to kiss him fervently. Her hips were pressed into his and he moved his hands to her waist to hold her closer. He knew every bit of this was wrong. She was drunk beyond belief and had no idea what she was doing.

It's not like she is going to remember anything tomorrow

His previous thoughts came back to him as he fell deeper into the desire she was igniting in his body. She moved her kisses to his neck and he turned to the side to give her better access to the tender skin. His eyes landed on her dresser as she nipped lightly on his flesh. Her dresser was a complete mess, littered with clothing and books. The thing that caught his interest, however, was the 8x10 framed picture of a silver haired boy holding his girlfriend as she looked at him with all the love in the world. He felt a deep, throbbing pain in his heart and he pushed Yuffie away before she could succeed in unbuttoning his pants.

She looked at him quizzically as he got up from the bed and turned away from her. He could not look at her, he knew that if did he would forget everything and jump back into the daze of lust without any remorse. He walked to the door and paused, his hand resting on the doorknob.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing he said before walking out the door, leaving Yuffie alone in the darkness of her room.

A/N- Chapter 4 is done! Review please.