Ice3
I grinned at Cloud. "Gamuku!"
Cloud groaned as he crossed out another line of x's. "I should never have taught you this game."
I rolled my eyes and grabbed the pile of gil. "No, you should never have allowed me to bet on this game. You are a very poor man, Cloud Strife."
Vincent sighed. "For the last time, Yuffie, we have shared funds. Which we don't need, because we live in a cave."
I shrugged. "Fine. Wanna play some Katamari?" I dove across the cave to the TV.
"Yuf, I still really, really want to know how you got electricity in a hidden cave. Surrounded by mountains. Accessible only through a lake."
"And Gold Chocobos," I protested, selecting make the moon.
Cloud threw his hands in the air. "We own the only Gold Chocobos there are!"
"Heyla, I don't think Chiki and Ipsen consider us owners. And I don't think Kiora, Kaida, or Tokala even know what owners are!"
"Kiora, Kaida and Tokala?" Cloud repeated, confused.
"The hatchlings," Vincent replied wearily.
"The...hatchlings...? But...Ipsen and Chiki...they're siblings!"
"Oh yeah," I mused, "Cid bred the chocobos...You realize, Cloud, that getting a Gold Chocobo in the first place requires an insane amount of inbreeding?" I laughed at Cloud's expression.
My laughter was cut short when Tifa appeared in the cave's entrance. She looked absolutely maniacal. Before any of us could react, she'd marched right up to the podium, drew back her arm, and punched.
I screamed. I felt like I was being broken in half. Tifa dragged my body off the Mako fountain and just kept hitting it single-mindedly, completely ignoring everything else.
I fell as my vision started to blacken. Vincent caught me, or tried to. I was flickering rapidly from being fully materialized to semitransparent to fully transparent and then cycling back through. Vincent lowered me to the ground cautiously and looked up to see Cloud charge Tifa, Ultima Weapon swinging down. It cleaved the ground between Tifa and my body, leaving a deep gash in the earth. She sprang away, fists still clenched, chest heaving in fury and her eyes gleaming madly.
I knew none of this, clawing for life on the floor of the cave. Or half-life. Or whatever the hell it was I had. I found out later.
"What are you doing!" Cloud screamed at Tifa.
"If she's dead...you'll come back to me..." And Tifa lunged for my body again, launching into Final Heaven.
And all the attacks which precede Final Heaven.
My vision went completely back, then went white.
"Yuffie!"
"Who...?"
"Yuffie!"
"Me...I'm here. I'm right here."
"Yuffie!"
I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again. Wherever I was, it was brilliantly, blindingly white. Then my name was called again.
"Yuffie, you have to go back! They need you!" My eyes flew open and I stared.
"Aeris!"
The flower girl leaned over me, worry etched on her pretty face. "Yuf, you can't stay here! Cloud and Vinnie need you!"
"Can you send me back?" I was on my knees. I braced my hand on the daunting emptiness and stood up. Aeris nodded briskly.
"Yes, but you have to go now!"
We stared at each other a moment, then Aeris rushed forward and through her arms around me. Considering we were both dead, it was a surprisingly substantial hug. We sprang apart. "There's an opening for you, go!"
I had the oddest sensation, like I was being pushed and pulled at the same time. "Aeris, we miss you!" I called. Laughter drifted back.
"I'll come back to you! Don't worry, the Lifestream always continues!"
And then reality slammed back into me jarringly, and I gasped at how much it hurt. Something heavy clattered to the ground near me and suddenly Cloud was holding me tightly, Vincent kneeling beside me with his hands on my shoulders and his crimson eyes wide in surprise.
"Yuffie, you're alive!"
I groaned and stretched, wincing. "And I felt healthier dead..." I froze. "Where's Tifa?"
Cloud dropped his eyes and wouldn't meet my gaze. Vincent looked silently past me, and I turned my head to see.
Tifa, dead. Both hands clutched Ultima Weapon, driven through her chest.
I tried to speak and couldn't. I tried again.
"Cloud, you..."
Vincent shook his head. "No. We attempted to retrieve your body from her, and Tifa ran up the blade trying to continue her attack." The light n his eyes dimmed, and it was only then that I realised my sight still glowed with Mako.
I glanced down and flexed my fingers. My right hand was broken, but it was healing already. "Huh. I guess I'll still be around a while, huh?"
Cloud looked puzzled. I held up my healing hand. "Gonna live forever, huh guys?" I smiled weakly and slipped out of their combined grasp to stand up carefully. "That means...we can do anything. We'll never run out of time."
Finally, finally Cloud smiled. Barely, and it was a sad smile, but he smiled all the same. "Guess so." Then he looked at Tifa's body and his eyes dimmed again. He looked so sad.
Aeris' words to me rang in my head.
"'I'll come back to you...!"
