Chapter 25: Adieu
(Same tags apply as in Chapter 1)
The next four days flew by quickly and Yuffie's health continued to improve and thanks to the antibiotics, she was pneumonia free.
Yuffie plopped on her bed and fell back. She was so bored! Reeve had left an hour ago after exchanging dirty jokes with her and Vincent was coming to check her out of the clinic in fifteen minutes so they could meet with the others. She had already counted all of the holes in the ceiling tiles so all she could really do is think.
'It has been so nice to have everyone together. We've been through so much together its kinda depressing to know that we'll be splitting today.' She thought. She wasn't sure what the meeting for today was going to be about, but she was looking forward to getting outside of the confines of the clinic. Sure she was allowed out for meals, but she was beginning to feel like a hermit.
She had begun to doze slightly with her arm over her face when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
Xander and Vincent entered the room while Yuffie pulled herself back into a sitting position. "Hey guys."
Xander smirked at the ninja. "I take it you are ready to get out of here?"
Her eyes brightened at the thought. "Can we leave now…pleeeeease? Its so boring in here!" She whined.
The healer laughed at her before continuing. "Mr. Valentine has told me that you're returning to Nibelheim with him so I need to give you both some last minute instructions."
The both nodded.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out three bottles of medication and held up a lightproof bottle. "These are the pills for your migraines. They are the same ones that go under your tongue." Yuffie groaned remembering the horrid taste. "Take one and if that doesn't work, you can take the every half hour for a maximum of five hours. Keep them out of the light or they'll lose their potency."
He picked up the second bottle, which was filled with green and white capsules. "This is for your nausea that usually comes with your migraines…" Yuffie's eyes glazed over as he continued with his long explanation of each medication.
"…and she might have some minor memory problems…nothing serious thought. She might forget things like the day of the week it is or even taking her medication, but that will go away soon.
"I have some business to attend to in Nibelheim in two months so I will check up on you then. In case of emergency, or say your migraine doesn't go away after five hours, just go straight to the nearest doctor and have them contact Salis or myself. Any questions?"
Yuffie hopped off the bed and walked over to Xander and held out her hand. "Nope. Thank you for everything that you've done for me."
The healer shook her hand with a smile. "No thanks is necessary but it is appreciated. Despite your cabin fever, you only tried to escape once. You were an excellent patient."
Vincent also shook his hand. "Please give Salis our thanks. We will see you in two months."
They started for the door as Yuffie glanced over her shoulder and waved. "Bye!" When the door to the room closed behind them, she leaned over close to Vincent and looked up to him. "Did you get all that?"
He nodded and smirked under the collar of his cloak.
The pair walked out of the clinic and Yuffie let her eyes fall closed and turned her face to the sun, feeling the suns warm rays bath her face as the cool wind blew through the Canyon. Vincent looked down at the pixie beside him. When he realized he was staring, he shook his head slightly to clear it.
Stormy gray eyes opened slowly and she smiled. "Gods, is sooo nice to be outta that place!" He nodded. "So, where is everyone meeting up at?"
"Everyone should be waiting at the restaurant inside of the inn."
They made their way to the inn with Yuffie doing cartwheels every once in a while in her excitement of being outside. He was grinning at her slightly regained energy as they walked into the small eatery.
"Hey guys, bring yer asses over her!" Cid waved them over from his seat.
They plopped down in their seats as the waitress walked over. Tifa looked over at the pair. "We've already ordered. Your turn."
The ninja thought for a moment. "I'll have a toasted bagel with cream cheese and a slice of cantaloupe."
The waitress wrote down her order before turning to Vincent. "And you sir?"
"I will have toast and a cup of Wutain peppermint tea please."
"Your orders will be up soon." She said as she walked away.
Yuffie was fiddling with the paper of her straw. "So what's up?" She brought the straw up to her mouth and blew hard into it launching the paper at Reeve, who smiled when it fell short. He balled it up and sat it on the table before flicking it and hitting Yuffie square in her forehead.
The others laughed as she rubbed the spot on her forehead. "Geez Reevie, you've got good aim."
He gave her a boyish smile. "Years of practice, young Shinobi…"
"Well now that Reeve's aim accuracy has been established…" Cloud said with a smile. "There are a few things we should talk about. First off, Reeve's workers will be going from city to city doing expansion and setting up power supplies."
Reeve nodded. "We'll be starting in Corel since the whole town needs to be rebuilt then, move on to Gongaga. We're planning to destroy the Mt. Corel reactor in three weeks, that will give us enough time to build housing for the current residents and begin building for those who will be transported there from Midgar. The remaining reactors will be destroyed soon after.
"The elders of the Canyon have given me plans for building renewable power generators, similar to the ones they use here. They will be built around the various towns. I'll be dispatching members of SOLDIER and the ShinRa guard to act as a police force for each area.
"Once we start rebuilding the other cities, I want to form a advisory committee that will work to protect the people and the planet. I would like for you all to act on this committee, you don't have to answer me now but please think about it."
Barret looked over to Reeve. "I can give ya my answer now. Bein' in on this, I'd be protectin' the people at Corel. I'm in, and I'd also like to help ya in the plans for Corel."
Reeve shook Barret's hand as the waitress brought back their orders. "Any assistance you can offer will be greatly appreciated."
"I think the rest of us will need to think about for a while. Shit, I don't even know what else to do besides repair my ship." Cid said.
Cloud nodded and he glanced at those who haven't decided. "I think that the rest of us will be able to give you our answers within the next few weeks."
Reeve nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "That will be fine. This kind of thing requires a lot of thought."
Tifa was swirling her straw in her strawberry lemonade. "We'll all be leaving the Canyon today," she said sadly. "So I want to know where everyone is going. We already know that Barret and Marlene are going back to Corel, but what about the rest of us?"
Elmyra took a bite of her sandwich and smiled. "If its okay with Barret, I would also like to go to Corel. I don't think I could leave his little darling."
Barret smiled at her. "We'd love to have ya 'Myra."
Marlene clapped. "Yay! Miss Elmyra's comin'!" They laughed at the little girls excitement.
Cid pulled out his cigarette pack and tapped it on the table. "Well I'm takin' my ass back to Rocket Town…Shera would be lost without me."
Barret gave an evil smirk. "Are ya sure it's not the other way around?"
Cid looked away and did something they never saw him do before…he blushed. "…"
"HA! I knew it! You know ya love the woman!" Barret gloated.
Cid turned ever redder. "Uh yeah…whatever. So Tifa," He said trying to divert attention away from himself. "Where are you headed?"
"Well…" Cloud looked at her and nodded with a smile. "CloudandIaremovingintomyparentshouseinNibelheim!" Her excitement made her answer come out at warp speed.
"Teef, Cloudy I'm so happy for you!!" Yuffie said bouncing in her chair. Vincent and the others nodded in agreement after they were able to process Tifa's words.
"We know, Red is stayin' here so it your turn Reevie! Where are ya goin'?"
"Well, I will be traveling for a quite a while to get everything in order. My next stop is Gongaga…a few of my assistants will be here tomorrow to pick me up so we can head out, then we'll be heading back to Corel to start rebuilding in about three days. After things calm down a little, I think I will be staying in Costa for a while, Yuffs."
Yuffie nodded and took a bite out of her cantaloupe.
"Vincent, where are you going?" Cloud asked before taking a sip of his coffee.
"I am returning to the Shinra Mansion."
The all nodded and finished their brunch. 'Hey, Yuffie didn't say anything…' Tifa thought and sent questioning look the ninja.
"Hey Yuffie, you didn't say where you were going…"
She smiled. "Well no body asked…where do you think I'm going?"
"Um…Wutai?" The fighter guessed.
"Nope…"
"Gold Saucer?" Cloud asked.
"Wrong. Guess again…"
"Icicle Inn…I know you like ta snowboard, even tho' you ain't that good at it." Barret said with a smirk.
Yuffie glared at the big man. "Noo…Geez, I did better than you did! It just took me a while to get the hang of it!" She turned her glare into a look of smugness. "After all the times you fell, you looked like some sort of snow beast."
Barret narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Aww, come on kid! I need to know where in the hell I'm droppin' ya off." Cid said.
"Well, since you guys aren't very good at guessin', I guess I'll tell ya." She finished her meal while everyone sat waiting. Vincent watched her slow movements with amusement.
"Planet to Yuffie!!" Tifa waved her hand in front of her face. "You gonna tell us sometime today?"
She gave her friends an innocent smile. "Oh yeah…I must have forgotten. I'm staying in Nibelheim for a while."
"Really?!" Tifa did an imitation of Yuffie and bounced on her seat. "Where are you staying? I'm sure that Cloud would let you stay in his old house."
"Thanks for the offer, but I already have a place to stay in Nibelheim." She said cryptically.
They were all extremely confused as they tried to figure out what she was talking about. Cloud finally gave up. "Spill it Yuffs…trying to figure it out is giving me a headache."
She looked over to Vincent. "I think I better tell them, that vein on the side of Cid's head looks like it's about to pop." He looked over to Cid and nodded.
"I'm staying at the Shinra Mansion too." She said nonchalantly as she sipped her water.
Everyone's (with the exception of Marlene and Elmyra) jaw dropped and Yuffie laughed. "Vince, I think we'll have six new fly traps if the don't close their mouths soon."
"I do believe so Yuffie." Vincent said as she reached over to Cloud and closed his mouth.
"Um…uh…why are you going to Nibelheim anyway Yuffs? I thought you'd want to return home." Cloud asked.
"You'll find out why I'm not returning later. The main reasons I'm going is to help Vince with some things and remodel the mansion."
Tifa was grinning from ear to ear. "I'm so glad you'll be around, Yuffs. We'll be able to do so much together."
"Yeah!" The ninja agreed.
Cloud cleared his throat. "Well, um, now that that's settled, the is one more thing to talk about then well head out."
"Reeve and I got together last night to discuss some things and realized something. Do you all realize how much gil we collected during our travels?"
They shook their heads.
"Do you all remember when Yuffie won that Gil plus materia when we were at the Gold Saucer?" They nodded. "Well, turns out, Reeve had it Cait Sith equip it. That, with those extra all materias we sold when we needed the gil, it all added up after we ventured into the Northern Crater." Cloud smiled at the group.
Reeve pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "We counted it up last night and in total, there is over 58 million gil in your stores."
"Holy Shit!" Barret and Cid yelled with wide eyes.
Yuffie covered her mouth. "Wow..."
Tifa smiled. "Guys, there's no way that we would ever be able to spend that much on ourselves. I think we should donate a large chunk of it and split the rest. "
"I agree." Vincent said and Nanaki nodded as Reeve pulled out a calculator.
"There were a lot of kids who lost their parents in Midgar, let alone the other orphanages planet wide. I think we oughta give it to them." Yuffie said thoughtfully.
"I think that's an excellent idea Yuffs." Tifa said. "None of us was in this for the money. It feels good to know that children who have lost so much, will benefit from our effort." They all voiced their agreement.
Reeve punched a few more numbers and wrote down a number. "Well if you want to donate some of it, how bout this; If you split the money seven ways and donate a little over 25 million-"
Tifa interrupted him. "Wait, why only seven ways? Did you include yourself and Elmyra?"
Elmyra's eyes went wide. "Me? Why?"
Vincent's eye showed sadness. "It is only fair that you get Aeris' portion, besides, she would want you to have it." The group nodded in agreement.
Elmyra had tears in her eyes as she slowly nodded.
Reeve shook his head. "Why would I get a portion? I only joined you four days ago."
"Reevie, that's not true. You controlled Cait, and thought you couldn't be there personally, the help you gave us through him was invaluable." Yuffie said with a smile.
"Reeve, I think ya better do those calculations over again and take out 35 for the orphans." Barret said.
He punched a few numbers into his calculator. "Well, lets see…hmm…35 million to the orphans…that works out to…hmm…so approximately 2.55 million to each person. You can donate it or do what you see fit to do with it."
The table was dead silent.
Yuffie took a deep breath. "Wow." She said again.
Cid rubbed his eyes. "Well," by his voice, one could tell that he was still taking all this news in. "I think that we should get going. Is everyone packed?"
"Yes. Is the Highwind still going to pick us up?" Tifa asked.
"They're waitin' for my call." He picked up his PHS and pressed a button.
Nanaki walked forward. "Well I guess this is goodbye for now…" He said with sadness.
Tifa and Yuffie had tears in their eyes as they kneeled to hug the crimson lion.
"You will come and visit us in Nibelheim, right Red? Yuffie asked.
"Of course. Just let me know when you want me to visit." He said, giving a feline grin.
Tifa wiped the tears out of her eyes. We all have the PHS so we can keep in touch."
The men walked forward and said their goodbyes. As the other began to head to their rooms and grab their bags, Vincent and Reeve stayed behind.
"Nanaki, is there anywhere you want your portion sent?"
"I will be giving 35 of my portion to the elders to expand the libraries here in the canyon and fund their research. 45 to will go into a fund to help the less fortunate families here in the Canyon. The rest I will use to expand my grandfathers observatory. I will let the elders know my wishes so you can send it to them."
"Will do. I'll see you later Nanaki."
Vincent watched Reeve walk to his room before getting to his knees before the crimson lion. "My friend, I will hope to see you again very soon."
"You will Vincent. It has been a pleasure working with you."
"You too. I will see you soon." Vincent stood and returned to his room.
.::-o-::.
Thirty minutes later, Vincent climbed the rope ladder with his and Yuffie's bag draped over his shoulder. Six members of Avalanche stood on the deck as Vincent hopped to the deck. Nanaki, Reeve, Mr. Wolpert, Salis and Xander stood on the ground below waving as the Highwind slowly headed towards the Corel Mountains.
o-o-Author's Notes-o-o
This is gonna be quick, I gotta get to work. I just wanna thank all of you who reviewed that last chapter. It's really encouraging to see all of your positive feedback for this story.
Tseng: Ez is glad that you all liked Marlene's part. She also wants to let you all know that she has two new stories posted. One is the story that we have been talking about called "My Light," her Reno/Aeris story. There is also a story the she wrote for a contest for the Squffie Love community on livejournal. It's called "Now I See." Right now, it's a one shot but she will be continuing it later.
Yuffie runs into the room, fresh from Torahiko's house
Yuffie: Hey Ez! Ooh, you got new stories out!! Make sure you guys go check out her new stories and review the! She loves reviews!
Ez: Its true, Its true!
Tseng: Ezri does not own final fantasy or any of its characters, Square-Enix does.
Yuffie: We come to her cause she's fun!!!
Ez: Til next time peoples!!
Tseng: Good day.
Yuffie: Bye All!
Edited 1/14/07
7/26/07
Edited because of change in formatting. Also re-numbering chapters. Minor content edits.