Chapter 24: Out and About
(Same tags apply as in Chapter 1)
Vincent had been sitting deep at his spot outside of the Gi caves since he left the clinic. The last few days had been taxing to say the least for everyone in Avalanche. There were certain things that had been happening over few days that left him confused. He had managed to work out some of his confusion, but one thing still puzzled him.
'Chaos?'
'Vinnie?'
Vincent gave the demon a familiar sigh of displeasure at his nickname the demon tormented him with. It just didn't sound right coming from anyone but Yuffie. 'How did you know that Yuffie was going to collapse?'
Chaos was silent for a moment. 'I do not know. I remember getting a strange sensation coming from the ninja, then everything began to fade.'
'It is believed by some that there are certain illnesses and injuries that can show in a person's aura, maybe that is what you sensed. Are you getting anything from her now?'
Chaos was silent for a moment. No.
Vincent sighed as he reached into his pocket and brought out a handsome silver pocket watch. '5:45. I should head back.' He stood from his ledge and began the trip back through the caves knowing that Tifa was headed to the clinic to help Yuffie prepare.
.::-o-::.
Yuffie's eyes slowly opened as the drugs began to leave her system. Her limbs felt heavy as she brought her hand up to rub the sleep out of her slightly red eyes and pushed the irritating mask off her face. With the help of the medications, the pain in her head was now bearable but still made its presence know by causing a dull throb behind her eyes. She gave pretty good imitation of a cat-like stretch considering all the wires and tubes she seemed to be tangled in but winced when her abs began to ache.
For ten minutes, she stared at the door in front of her, willing someone to come through it. Yes, she had only been awake for a few minutes but she was already bored. The only sounds in the room were the sound of the steady beeping of the heart monitor she wore and the very faint hiss of the oxygen being pushed through the tube leading to her recently discarded mask.
The ninja rolled her eyes and sighed. 'When I told Vinnie that I wanted to come back to the Canyon, this is not how I pictured my stay.' Her stomach rumbled and her brow furrowed. She glanced at the clock on a nearby table. '5:35…Gods I'm starving! I don't even remember the last time I ate! What's a ninja gotta do to get some food 'round here?'
Yuffie tossed the blankets off her legs and grimaced at the embarrassingly brief exam gown she was now wearing. "We'll that's attractive." She said with a raspy voice as she sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed and began to shiver as the air hit her clammy skin. She placed her hands on the bed on both sides and gingerly put weight on legs testing their stability when a voice rang out behind her.
"Yuffie! What are you doing trying to get out of bed by yourself?" The gray-eyed girl looked up to see Tifa standing with her hands on her hips and Salis standing behind her with a smirk.
The two women walked over and helped Yuffie sit back on the bed. Salis pulled her stethoscope from her pocket. "Yuffie, you really shouldn't move around by yourself yet, you need to have someone with you at all times." She said as she placed the bell of her stethoscope on Yuffie's back to listen to her lungs.
"I know, but I got bored." She sighed. "Hey, is there any food around here."
The auburn haired healer carefully disconnected the tube from Yuffie's IV and covered it with a small roll of gauze. "You'll have to be cautious not to bump your hand, it might dislodge the IV and we'll have to replace it."
Yuffie frowned at the thought at the thought of being jabbed with another needle, but nodded.
Tifa's face brightened. "Yuffs, I brought you some clothes and we're going out. Everyone is meeting at the restaurant in about thirty minutes, its gonna be so much fun!" Yuffie flinched but smiled at her friend's enthusiasm.
With Tifa's assistance, Yuffie was showered and quickly dressed in a pair of thick black pants and a navy blue sweater to keep her warm. Yuffie looked down at the ensemble and nodded approvingly before her eyebrow quirked. "Teef, I don't remember having anything like this packed."
The martial artist smirked. "I know, I bought it for you." Yuffie opened her mouth to protest when Tifa raised her hand. "Yuffs don't worry about it. You needed something warm and all you really had in your bag were shorts." She said, sitting next to the ninja on the bed.
Yuffie reached over and hugged the brown-haired woman. "Thanks Teef. Now can we get outta here? I'm gonna go crazy if I have to look at these walls for one more minute."
"One second, Yuffs." Tifa turned to the auburn healer. "Can we have a moment?
The older woman gave a slight smile before turning for the door. "Of course. I'll wait outside for you."
"Yuffie…" She said quietly. "When we brought you in, I was so afraid that we were going to lose you." Tifa took a deep, shuddering breath and gave the ninja a tearful smile. "When they said that you would be okay…I was just so grateful."
Yuffie now had tears slowly trailing down her cheeks as Tifa continued. "They said that you were okay, but I had to see for myself. You see, my mother died in the hospital after the nurse told me she was going to be fine. I never got to speak to her before she…left. I just couldn't leave the clinic without talking to you first."
The ninja squeezed her hands. "Tifa, what did you say to me?"
"I said 'Yuffie, I know you probably can't hear me but I just wanted to let you know that I thank the planet that we found you in that forest. You have to be alright…I know you will be alright but I just wanted to let you know that you mean so much to me…I love you, my little sister."
"Tifa…I-I…" Yuffie stuttered before looking in Tifa's burgundy eyes. "Thank you for being there for me. I will always be here for you when you need me." She stated firmly and caught the martial artist in another hug.
They sat like that for a moment before Tifa hopped from the bed and stood before the teen. "Are you ready?"
"Yes! Lets get out of here please!" The ninja said with desperation.
Tifa laughed at the stir-crazy ninja, wrapped her arm around Yuffie's and helped her hop from the bed. Yuffie swayed a little but quickly recovered. Tifa lead her through the door and turned to the other woman. "Someone will bring her back later."
Salis gave Yuffie a mask to wear and nodded. "One of us will be here. Don't forget to wear the mask when you're outside. Have a good time."
.::-o-::.
Tifa and Yuffie slowly made their way to the restaurant with their arms still locked to prevent the ninja from falling should her shaky legs give out on her. Yuffie let out a relaxed sigh. The stars hung high in the heavens as the cool November winds kissed her slightly pale cheek. She shivered and was grateful that Tifa had brought her warm clothing.
Tifa felt her companion shiver and looked at her with concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Teef, you worry too much, I'm just a little cold, but we're almost there." Yuffie said as they approached the entrance.
The pair walked in and was met with laughter. Eight people sat at a large table covered in food. Yuffie felt her heart warm at the sight of her friends. As she scanned the faces at the table, she came across three she didn't recognize and gesture for Tifa to lead her in their direction.
Vincent saw the pair approach and smiled. "Yuffie, I am pleased to see that you could make it." The others turned and voiced their agreement.
"Thanks Vince." Yuffie pulled off her mask and walked over the little brown haired girl sitting in Barret's lap. "You must be Marlene." She lightly pinched the girl's cheek.
Marlene smiled up at the ninja. "Yup. You're tha ninja right?" Yuffie nodded and gave the girl a sunny smile and Marlene hugged her. "Papa told me you were sick. Are ya feelin' better now?"
Yuffie looked up to Barret with a playful expression. "Well ol' Marsha here shoulda told you that I won't let bein' sick hold me back." The laughter rang out again in the restaurant as Barret glared at her and Marlene looked up to her with an innocent look.
"Why d'ja call Papa Marsha? Isn't dat a girls' name?"
Barret growled once more and mumbled under his breath. "Brat."
Yuffie stuck her tongue out at the big man before turning her attention to the little girl. "Haven't you ever noticed that your Papa is big and squishy like a Marshmallow?"
Marlene poked her papa in the stomach with a little finger. "I guess he is!" Cid covered his mouth with his napkin to hide his laughter but the redness of his face gave him away and Cloud turned his face away but his shoulders were shaking with unheard mirth.
Barret ran his hand through his daughter's hair as she poked his stomach in a different spot then glared daggers at the ninja. "Auntie Yuffie is crazy honey…it's all muscle."
Yuffie turned to the woman with kind, bright green eyes sitting next to the father and daughter. "Miss Elmyra, its nice to meet you." She bowed respectively to the older woman.
Elmyra looked into the gray eyes of the ninja and smiled. "Hello Yuffie, please call me Elmyra. I am glad you're feeling a little better." She clasped Yuffie's hands gently in her own, mindful of the bandaging. "When I was told that one of my daughter's closest friends was ill, I prayed for your quick recovery."
"Thank you very much. I truly appreciate it." She bowed once more before turning to the last new face.
The man was around six feet tall and had dark brown hair, similar to Tifa's hair color, deep green eyes, and a neatly trimmed goatee. She saw that he was dressed casually in tan khakis and a blue button-up shirt as he stood from his seat at the table and gave her shy smile. "Hello Yuffie, its nice to finally meet you." He held out a hand for her to shake.
Yuffie looked up at him with a grin. "You think that after all the joke exchanges, the practical jokes we played on each other and the weird fortunes you had Cait give me that I'm gonna shake your hand?" He looked at her with confusion clearly written on his handsome face, and then green eyes widened as she quickly got out of Tifa's grasp and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. "It's nice to meet cha Reeve!"
.::-o-::.
Vincent was amused as he watched the scene play out. He saw Reeve blush beet red, though some of the redness in his face could be from the lack of air. 'Poor Reeve…'
.::-o-::.
"Oof! Yuffie," Reeve grunted slightly. "You've got some grip on you!"
She released him as Tifa moved back to her side. "Whaddya expect, I AM the greatest female ninja on this planet!" They laughed as their ninja was lead to her seat, which Tifa had saved next to Vincent and Tifa went to her seat next to Cloud.
.::-o-::.
There were several conversations going on around the table as the food was quickly devoured. Yuffie pushed around the remnants of food on her plate with her fork as she listened to Barret and Reeve talk about plans to completely rebuild Corel. She began to shiver again slightly.
"Here." Vincent's cape found its way around her shoulders once again as his claw disappeared under the table. Her senses were flooded with his scent. She inhaled deeply and quietly sighed.
Tifa looked up from her place across the table. "Yuffs, are you still cold? Do you need to go back?"
"No. I'm good." She said as she place her hand on Vincent's claw.
He looked down at her when he felt the slight sensation of her touch. "Are you enjoying yourself Yuffie?"
"Definitely. It is so nice to be here with everyone. I tried to escape from my room earlier but got busted by Teef and the healer lady. I would've made it outta that drab room if they hadn't shown up when they did." She said as a waiter came to the table carrying two nearly identical bottles.
The man went around the table and filled the elegant wine flute that had thus far, gone unused. He poured a sparkling amber liquid into Yuffie's glass and she frowned. 'I don't think it would be good to drink when I'm like this.' Her eyes widened as she watched him pour some into a regular cup for Marlene.
Cloud saw her reaction and chuckled. "Don't worry Yuffs, the bottle he used for you, Marlene and Elmyra only has sparkling cider in it, no alcohol.
Tifa took her spoon and gently tapped it against her glass. The table grew silent as they waited for her to speak. "Thanks. I just wanted to propose a toast. We've all been given a second chance. Everyone has the opportunity to overcome the pain and loss they've endured in the past to start anew." She looked around the table. "Never forget what has happened in your lives because those trials and tribulations only made us stronger. To new beginnings."
A round of "Cheers" rang out and glass clinked against glass.
Yuffie stood and lifted her glass. "One of our dearest friends can't be here with us today but is close by, standing by our sides and watching over us. We will always miss her but will forever remember the good times we had with her. To Aeris."
"To Aeris." Everyone said as the table was quiet and everyone thought of the fond memories they had of the flower girl.
Marlene's little voice broke through the thoughtful silence. "I wanna make a toast too!!" The group laughed at her as she whispered in her papa's ear. Barret smiled and whispered something back.
Cloud smiled at the sweet little girl. "Go ahead Marlene."
"I wanna po-pose some toast." She hopped off of Barret's lap with her little glass clasped in her hand. She walked over to Elmyra.
"To Miss Elmyra, she took good care of me while my papa was helping the planet." She stood on her tip-toes and kissed Elmyra on the cheek.
She moved to Reeve next. "To Uncle Weeve (Reeve), he brought me to see daddy and let me play with Cait today! Plus he's really funny." She brought her glass up. -clink-
"To Auntie Yuffie, she's funny and the bestest girl ninja ever! Someday I wanna learn some ninja stuff too."
Yuffie hugged the little girl before tapping their glasses together. -clink- "Someday I'll teach ya, Mar."
Marlene gave her a sweet smile before moving to Vincent. She shocked him by setting her glass on the table and climbing onto his lap. "To my Uncle Vinnie, who has very pwetty red eyes," she reached down to his claw. "a shiny golden hand an' long hair. He's very quiet but he's nice!"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He returned the hug to the sweet little girl as he felt the warmth flow through his heart. She looked up into his eyes. "Can I play wit your hair one day?"
The people sitting around the table smiled and laughed as he nodded his head.
She hopped off his lap and grabbed her glass going to Cloud next. "To Uncle Cloud, he's nice 'cause he gave me a flower when we got here and he got hair like a Chocobo." She said as she touched his blonde spikes then brought her glass to his. -clink-
Yuffie and Tifa's laughter filled the air as Cloud's cheeks turned red.
Tifa lifted the girl into her lap and kissed her on the cheek. "To Auntie Tifa, who let's me play wit her hair, and bought me this pwetty dress. Oh! And she taught me some mat-chal arts kicks!"
Tifa grinned at the little girl. "That's martial honey." She said as she sounded out the word for her.
"To my Grandpa Cid," Barret and the others burst out in laughter as Cid glared at Barret. "You say more bad words than Papa but you're really nice and you gave me piggyback rides today."
Cid smiled at the little girl. "Kid, I'm not that old…your pops and me are almost the same age."
Her eyes widened a little. "Really?" He nodded. "Wow…" she hugged him and went to Nanaki, who was lying on the floor.
She scratched his head; he purred at her and she giggled. "To Red, He's really smart and taught me about the planet today…he also let me ride on his back and showed me the canyon. He's like a big kitty cat." He purred as she stroked his mane then hopped into her daddy's lap.
"And to my papa…'cause I love him." She kissed his cheek.
Everyone's glasses rose one last time after they clapped for the cute little girl. "Cheers!"
.::-o-::.
Conversations were still going an hour after Marlene's toast. The little girl was sleeping in Barret's arms as he spoke in hushed tones to blushing Elmyra. Yuffie yawned, exhausted from her evening out.
"Are you ready to return to the clinic?" Vincent asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm so tired…" she yawned again.
"I'll take you back."
He turned to Tifa. "I'm going to take Yuffie back then I am going to retire for the evening."
Tifa nodded. "Okay Vince, we'll see you both tomorrow. Night Yuffie."
Yuffie donned her mask and Vincent helped her stand by locked his arm around hers. "Night Teef."
They made their way back to the clinic and Vincent helped Yuffie back onto her bed. She looked up at him with a tired smile.
"Marlene really likes you. You two looked so cute when she hopped on your lap."
He smiled. "She is a good child."
"Would you like me to bring you something for breakfast or do you want to go to one of the Cafés?"
"Surprise me."
Salis entered the room from the small office area. "Did you have a good time? How do you feel?"
"Yes and Very tired." She said sounding winded.
"Well, I'll get you hooked back up." The healer looked into Yuffie's eyes and listened to her lungs when she saw the slight discoloration of the ninja's lips. She reached for Yuffie's oxygen mask and placed it over her face. "I'm going to help her get ready for bed. Feel free to visit her tomorrow Mr. Valentine."
He nodded. "Goodnight Yuffie."
"Night."
o-o-Author's Notes-o-o
Reno snuck out of the house this morning and two-way paged me to tell me he's off visiting Torahiko and Yuffie, but he left me Sephy and Tseng with me, so its all good!!
Okay…I've been REALLY bad. I started writing two more stories in addition to the two that I am already working on. Ya see, its been really frustrating cause I've been having problems trying to write a part for this story, but I keep getting ideas for others. I also had to sit and attempt to translate something for the story but you'll have to wait to find out what it is.
The chapter that I am working on is being extremely stubborn, but I have to thank the members of the Squffie love community on livejournal for helping me out and giving me a few ideas. They are all so great!!! You should check out the site if you read Kingdom Hearts fics.
Anyway, I know that it has taken a little longer to get this chapter out, but I wanted to wait until today to post it. There are reasons, but I won't get into them. Hopefully, I will have the next chapter up by Sunday or by this time next week; it all depends on how the current Chapter I'm working on goes.
This week has been EXTREMELY stressful. -Snaps her fingers and couch appears-
Tseng: -grabs Ez's hand and leads her to the couch with- Let Sephiroth and I take over Ezri, you relax.
-Cuddles up between Sephy and Tseng and starts to doze.-
Tseng: -looks at Sephiroth- I'll do the reviewers and you do the other part.
Sephiroth: Okay.
Tseng: Ezri just wanted to say thank you to:
· Angel280
· Torahiko
· E. Eerian Sadow
· Deplora
· G. Zan
· Shadowkeepre
· Sephiroth2021
· Nightcrystal
· Shadow Reaver
· Konie Hime
· Lone Gunmen
· YuffieKisaragi2
· Hotaru170
· TheEvilOne69
· Amerowolf
· Kitty persona
· Princess Starseed-1987
· Charlie
· Kidbuux256
· X the dark Knight
· Shadow beast 1
Ezri thanks you and everyone else who have review this story and kept her motivated to write.
-Ezri rests her head on the pillow in Tseng's lap and rests her legs on Sephy.-
Ezri: These guys make the bestest pillows…
Sephiroth: I guess it's my turn. I just wanted to let you know what the pairings are for her new stories. Of course she told you of the Reno/Aeris, but she has also started another Squall/Yuffie and a Squall/Selphie that has hints of Zell/Rinoa and Quistis/Irvine.
She also is coming up with ways to expand "Of Them All" "Emerge" and the "Unexpected Visitor" stories.
Ezri: -Opens an eyes- Thanks again you guys for all of your support. I really appreciate all of you and you're all great. Now, I'm gonna go have some fun with these guys…they owe me my presents. Reno said he was gonna bring mine back with him and he said it was gonna be a good one. I can't wait!
Bye gal and guys!!!
Edited 1/14/07
7/26/07
Edited because of change in formatting. Also re-numbering chapters. Minor content edits.