It was one of those sunny afternoons, the ones that have really clear blue skies with nice cotton-ball-like clouds and sunrays in your eyes if you're not careful. When all the colors around you seem brighter and more cheerful and the air just feels cleaner and you can he happy.

It was giving me a headache.

Okay, rewind. It really was my fault. Despite Zexa-what's-his-face's warning, I continued to Kisoz Cliffs without really having a good rest like I should have. And by rest I mean sleep and a good, healthy meal. I was given two days to deliver this thing, and he had even said that the trip was rough...but it wasn't like I didn't know that. I've done the route before. That wasn't the problem.

I was already rethinking my decision to do this mission early on, but I kept going. Now I'm almost there, and I know that I won't last much longer. It can't be earlier than about seven or eight and the sun is already up. I wanted to shoot the damn thing and be surrounded in the sweet darkness that wouldn't make my eyes burn or my head pound. Didn't help that the last few miles – because I knew I was almost there – were mainly uphill. However, I could see the quaint little city, barely more than a pair of towns kinda mushed together at the clifftops, and that made my muscles groan even more in protest. The route here isn't even that hard – it's just terribly, terribly long.

Finally I was at the city limits, and buildings began to evolve and grow larger, red and cream-colored stone making up most of the structures. The colors made my vision throb, and it felt like I could barely keep my eyes open. This really wasn't a great idea after all. Once I was in the heart of the city, I headed for the organization's office there...but I didn't really make it. It had taken me the better part of two days to get into the city, but I was finally here. At the first chance I got I sat down on an unoccupied bench in the shade of a tree, rolling up my sleeves and taking off my hood as well as taking off the backpack. Whatever that magical item was, it had been digging into my back pretty hard for the past two days.

I swung my legs up onto the bench, stretching out in the little pool of darkness in the otherwise bright city. Don't get me wrong, it was a great day – I just wasn't in a great mood to enjoy it. With the bag at my feet, I gave a long sigh before closing my eyes. A nap wouldn't hurt. In fact, I was already yawning at the idea. Just an hour – no, just half an hour – and then I'd deliver my package and lay low for a couple days. Yeah. That sounded good...

In a state of half-unconsciousness, I felt myself beginning to wake up. Mmmm, whatever that was, it smelled really, really good. My stomach gurgled in agreement and I shifted, though my eyes were still closed. It was really comfortable and I debated whether or not I really wanted to get up. Who knew a bench could be so soft and cozy?

I jerked upward as soon as my muddled brain could process that thought. I looked around in shock – I was on a couch, in someone's house! I really, really hoped no one had thought I was homeless or something and just took me somewhere. More importantly, why hadn't I woken up earlier?! And where was the bag!

My heart skipped a beat, but I immediately noticed the black bag on the floor next to the couch. It was a pretty nice couch, thought it looked really fancy – floral patterns and all that, though a blanket had been thrown over me. As I scanned the room I got an eerie sense of familiarity, like I'd been there before. I squinted at the pictures on the mantle and caught a glimpse of red hair. As jumbled as I currently was, it wasn't hard for me to put two and two together. Who else did I know that would have such obscenely girly floral-printed couches?

"Yuffie, you're awake!"

I could only give the girl a smile as I turned to her, although I was a bit confused, "Err, hi...Kairi. Um, thanks for letting me use your couch."

The redhead laughed, rubbing the back of her head. Huh. She must have picked up that habit from-

"I hope you didn't freak out too much," she apologized, still grinning, "The four of us were walking through the city after getting ice cream, and we spotted you on the bench. Well, Roxas did," she added as an afterthought, "But you looked pretty bad. They helped pick you up and bring you here, since you couldn't stay with any of them."

"Thanks," I chuckled, "You have no idea how rough this one was."

"Delivery again?" Kairi looked like she was trying to suppress a groan, and she pulled it off pretty well, "Yuf, you're going to overwork yourself. Look at you already! You had really bad bags under your eyes when we found you, and you look like you haven't gotten a good nights' sleep in a week!" I winced. That was actually pretty accurate. Did I really look that bad?

She sighed, but turned back to what I was assumed was the kitchen, "You should really take more care of yourself. Are you hungry?"

Grinning, I slid out of my makeshift bed and hurriedly followed Kairi into the kitchen, "Well, since you offered..." She laughed again, and I smiled. Kairi has always been sort of a younger sister to me, kinda like Aerith's my adopted older sister. The two have never met, but I bet they'd get along great. They both nag me and worry about me! I mentioned it to Kairi and she tried not to snort with laughter while she continued flipping pancakes. Seriously, though, they need to meet. But then again, I feel like that with all the friends I've made on my trips. Someday I'll have a big party or something and invite everyone...but for now, I just share stories.

"What is it this time?" Kairi asked, not even turning around. I shrugged.

"Can't tell you. I haven't deli-"

She did turn around at my sudden silence, "Yuffie?"

"Shit," I snarled, mostly at myself, "Kairi, I'll be right back! Don't wait, don't worry, I just gotta drop this damn thing off!" I dashed back through the living room, scooping up my bag and breezing out the front door as fast as I could. How the hell could I have forgotten?!

My run through the city ended when I arrived at the office doors, the guard leaning against the opposite wall smirking with quirked eyebrows. Dammit. After slightly catching my breath, I opened the door with as much calmness as I could conjure. Already I could feel the icy adrenaline in my veins. I was late.

"Osprey, how nice of you to join us," the secretary said as soon as I entered, and I almost froze to the spot. Luckily, I was closing the door at the time, and I shut it quietly before taking a few nervous steps forward.

"Well, I'm s-"

He held up his hand, silencing me. His eyes were amused, and they had that 'don't give me some sniveling apology' look. I sighed, slumping my shoulders and placing the bag on the table.

"Can I have my forms?" I asked tiredly, "Or do I not get them because I was late?"

"Chill, chill," he grinned, "It's a long way from Yemac-Til. You're not really that late, anyways – it's only a couple...hours...late."

I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut and slapping my forehead. How long had I been sleeping?! It couldn't...it couldn't be tomorrow, could it? ...Or would that make it today?! My brain started to ache a little, and I massaged the bridge of my nose.

"Hey, really – it's cool. He's not even here right now," the man said, and my head snapped up.

"Not here as in not in the office?"

"Yeah. You were supposed to check in here anyways, and then head over to the exact address. He was supposed to stay here and wait for it, but he kinda went off last night and hasn't been back," the secretary explained, leaning back in his chair, "The address is on that card right there – you can head over now, if you want, and just say that you were held up with paperwork."

"Okay," I said, uncertain, "But the paperwork-"

"Zex already sent something ahead. You're getting a few days off, no penalty. And no paperwork today. Just drop that off and you're good until you wanna get another mission."

I was speechless for a moment, surprised at the consideration Zexion had put into making sure I didn't overwork myself. Kairi was right. Maybe I did look that bad...even the higher-ups were noticing how hard I was working. And the effects of it too, apparently.

I picked the bag up off the desk, grabbing the card and said a quick thanks and goodbye before heading out. The address was pretty close, in the opposite direction of Kairi's, but I'd be fast. I had gotten rest so I was feeling better, after all, and it would only take about fifteen minutes.

The city really was pretty, and now that I was (more) rested, I could appreciate it better. The city is on a hill, and there are two levels – the upper one and the lower one, connected by cable cars...well, they're more like trains. The lower one is built right up to the cliff's edge, a nice big wall protecting the city from the ocean below. I imagine it isn't pleasant when the weather is bad.

Instead of taking the cable cars – they weren't running, so either it was too early or they didn't run on weekends (it was the weekend, right?) – I took the stairs down to the lower part of the city. Weaving through the neat, orange brick streets, I finally came upon the correct address. I didn't hesitate in knocking.

There wasn't any reaction, but after a moment there was a muffled thump and what sounded like a string of curses before the door opened. I didn't move my raised eyebrows, and the man in front of me looked at me with a slight frown.

"What?" he said, obviously rather annoyed.

"I have a delivery," I informed him curtly, pulling the bag off my back and opening it to pull out the smaller bag that had been given to me by Zexion. When I held it out to him he took it cautiously, like it was going to bite him.

"Err," I paused, trying to remember, "Zexion said that...it's something that you lost and had been retrieved..." Trailing off, I watched as he undid the drawstring and opened the bag, pulling out a rather strange key...with, what else, a key chain dangling off the end of it. It was sort of black and red and white, curling and intricate in design, the pattern of flames. The tall, red-haired man looked shocked but a grin soon spread over his face. He looked up, probably to thank me, but when he saw my face for the first time, really looking closely, I mean, a slight frown creased his face.

"Have we met?" he asked, curious if not a bit suspicious.

"Yes," I said bluntly, not surprised at all that he didn't remember exactly, "You were with that traveling group back on the road between Shimrae City and Yemac-Til with that musician guy. I had to deliver something for him and I ended up watching the show and staying the night with the camp, remember?"

He ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed, green eyes narrowed in concentration as he scanned my face again.

"Right!" he said finally, "You're the Runner, I remember now. Yu-something, wasn't it?"

"Yuffie," I corrected, though I couldn't help but smile. This guy was an odd character, all right, but you couldn't help but like him. I guess that's why he was dangerous. "Right," he said again, "I'm-"

"Axel; believe me, I couldn't forget if I tried," I laughed, heading back down the steps in front of the house, "Oh, and Zexion also said to tell you...that he beat Luxord in poker. And that Larxene almost killed a priest when he groped her." The smile never left my face, and I saluted once I reached the bottom of the steps. "If you see me again, don't forget to stop and say hi!" He nodded, smirking slightly and telling me to do the same. We waved goodbye and I practically sprinted back up the stairs and all the way to Kairi's house. Not because I was afraid or nervous, quite the opposite; I just didn't want to keep her waiting and worrying. I swear, exactly like Aerith.

The bell on the door jingled when I shut it, having let myself in. It wasn't like Kairi would be mad at me – I've stayed at her house tons of times. Usually I just didn't dash off like that. I took a few steps backwards, making sure I didn't accidentally hit the bell again, and jumped about a mile when Kairi snorted.

"You could have warned me before you ran off like that," she frowned, arms crossed as she leaned against the wall.

It was my turn to sheepishly rub the back of my head, "Err, well...I totally forgot about delivering the package. I should have dropped it off sooner, but I decided to take a little nap, and then you found me and..." I stopped talking at Kairi's melting frown, and she sighed, much like a mother would. (More Aerith, I tell you!)

"Come on, you're still hungry, right?"

"Yes!" I grinned, already itching for some pancakes. Kairi's gotta be the best cook in Kisoz Cliffs...except maybe Sora's mom. Then again, she taught Kairi since she had no daughter of her own and Kairi was close enough. I had forgotten how much I love visiting this place.

"Yuffie!"

I barely had enough time to turn around before I was clobbered by the boy rushing towards me. The force of the hug almost knocked me over, but I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Sora!" I ruffled his chocolate-colored hair just for the sake of doing it; ever since I've known him I've loved to do that just to annoy him. He pulled away from me and pouted, though the bright smile returned quickly.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" he bubbled, "What have you been up to? Still busy with missions and stuff?"

"Just dropped one off," I answered casually, "All the way from Yemac-Til. Oh, by the way – I picked something up for you! Catch!"

As always, he caught the little gift-wrapped package with ease. It was kinda messy, since I wrapped it on the way (at night, I might add) and the bow was a little lopsided, but I don't think he really cared. He ripped the paper off rather quickly, an excited gleam in his eyes, and a look of glee passed over his face when he was finished.

"Yuffie," he gaped, "Where did you get this? It's beautiful!"

In his hands he held a wooden compass, different kinds and colors of wood inlaid in the cover and back, the face of the compass delicately painted on white stone with a glass covering over it.

I shrugged modestly as Kairi leaned over to peer at the compass as well, "Oh, y'know, on my travels I always come across things like this-" Sora hugged me again, pulling away only to spin in a circle, experimenting with finding North with the new instrument. I never told them the truth; how much the things I bought them cost, or how I obtained them. Nothing illegal, but it added more to the mystery. My parents wanted me to move out, and I was well paid...but I found it more important to buy things like this for my friends. It makes the short and infrequent visits all the more pleasant.

"Man, I have to show this to Roxas and Riku!" Sora said, the grin on his face never leaving. Kairi giggled, muttering 'showoff', at which Sora once again pouted. I sighed; it was great being with friends again.

"I'm sure they won't be hard to find," Kairi's voice brought me out of my thoughts, "But maybe we should do what Yuffie wants...after all, she probably has to leave soon, right?"

I scuffed me feet against the ground, hands behind my back as I smiled, "Actually, I'm off for the next three or four days. So we can do whatever for a while," After a moment I hastily added, "But I would like to see Roxas and Riku, though."

"They're probably down training," Sora said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the lower city. Kairi nodded, and we headed down the stairs as I had done earlier, though this time much slower.

The place where the local boys trained was a large arena-like area of sand, with benches around the edges of the ring...well, okay, it was a square. Still, whenever there were tournaments they were held in the small arena and the boys could almost always be found practicing there, with a few of their friends and some girls watching from the sidelines. When we arrived, the two friends we were looking for were busy in the center, duking it out as usual. They were really going at it too – for a moment I was surprised at the ferocity, but as I watched, I began to smile. They really hadn't changed a bit.

"Roxas! Riku!" Sora shouted, waving his arms fanatically. The two paused in their sparring to glance at him, giving each other weary looks as if to say 'he's interrupting us again?' The grimaces disappeared quickly once Sora started motioning at me, and I waved a little at them. Roxas's trademark grin appeared, along with Riku's smirk. As they headed towards the edge of the ring, I bounced forward to greet them.

"Yuffie!" Roxas smiled, half-hugging me from where he stood on the slightly elevated ring, "How long have you been here? I didn't expect to see you for a while!"

"It has been a while," Riku reminded him, rolling his eyes and smiling at me, "What have you been up to?"

"Ahh, same-old same-old," I said unenthusiastically, leaning on the platform and looking up at them, "What's up?"

"Training," they both said at the same time. "There's a tournament coming up in a few weeks, and we want to make sure we qualify," Riku clarified, "We figured that if we both get in, the trophy will go to one of us in the end and it would be better than someone else getting it."

I wrinkled my nose, "How scheming of you. Anything interesting going on around here?"

Roxas and Riku exchanged looks, and the former shrugged, "Not really. New guy moved into town about a week ago and we've been hanging out, but really not that much," the blond explained.

"Axel, you mean? He's a riot. Good with weapons, too. You should ask him to practice with you guys," grinning, I backed away from the ring to the benches where Kairi sat, "I'm just going to watch for now, okay?"

"What? You're not joining?" Sora complained, having gotten up onto the ring himself.

"Sora, I'm exhausted from my trip. You'll live if I don't train today!"

As Sora sighed the other two boys faced him, ready to begin again. They started their fighting rather quickly, and I turned to Kairi to talk.

"What's been bothering you?" she asked before anything could even come out of my mouth. I think she's getting telepathic waves from Aerith or something. Honestly. I should have seen that coming. With a sigh I leaned back again the bench, my arms over my head as I watched the boys sparring. How was I going to explain?

"Well," I began, "It's kind of a long story."

"We have time," the redhead reminded me, "And you're going to be here for a few days, right?"

I bit my lip and shuffled my feet, already feeling defeat. Man, she was quick to get to the point.

"Okay, I guess I have to start the story from when I had a mission to Lasbruck..."

A hazy pink and orange color was painted across the sky, and at my side Kairi sighed deeply. We were still sitting on the bench while the boys took a water break across the ring from us at the fountain. The day had gone from clear and bright in the afternoon to warm and lazy-feeling at dusk, and now the sun had almost set.

"That's quite a story," Kairi commented, uncrossing her legs and shifting on the wooden bench. We had been sitting there for a while.

"Yeah," I admitted, "Even though Cid told me a little about him, I have a feeling that he knows more about him than he lets on. I'm just going to have to find out!"

We stood, stretching, and found Sora, Riku and Roxas heading back over to us. "Want to get some ice cream?"

"What?" Kairi gaped, "Roxas, we haven't eaten yet! It's only four, if we eat now it will-"

"C'mon, Kairi," Sora begged, "Just this once. If we get hungry later...I'll cook something, okay?"

"Fine on all accounts except that you will be cooking," Riku said with a smirk, "Last time you blew up-"

"I thought we weren't going to mention that again!"

"Guys, let's just get going and-"

"But ice cream, now?! Really, it's just-"

I sighed, looking at Roxas who only gave a sheepish shrug as the three continued arguing. With a nod I started back towards the stairs with Roxas in tow, leaving them to bicker. We were halfway up the steps when they realized we had left and hurried to catch up with us. I, for one, wanted ice cream – even after Kairi's food, nothing compares to the delicacy that is Kisoz Cliff's famous sea-salt ice cream.

"Don't forget to get me something!"

"Sora! That's really impolite!"

"But Kairi-"

"Guys," I said in warning, and they quieted down. Together we were walking towards the edge of town, to the road I would take back to Autui. The days I had off went by very quickly, having spent them with my friends. I was reluctant to leave, but as always I knew that I had to – it was part of the job. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have made friends in almost every city I visited. It was always hard leaving since I never knew when or if I'd return, but I always promised I would anyways.

Finally we came to where the buildings finally stopped and the wrought-iron gate into the city stood at the edge of town. The small parade stopped and I turned to face them, giving each a hug before once again shouldering the pack I placed on the ground.

"You'll be back, right?" Sora asked. I nodded and promised as I always did.

"Good luck," Kairi said with a soft smile, and Riku added, "And stay safe!"

"What? You don't think I can handle everything on my own?" I smiled in mock-offense.

"Of course you can," Roxas laughed, "Just be careful out there."

"I will," nodding, I waved as I passed under the city gates and out of the city.

"Make sure to write!" Kairi called, and I shouted back that I would. After that I hurried along the path, not because I wanted to leave but the sooner I was out sight of the city, the less sad I would feel. The road to Autui wasn't nearly as long as the road to Yemac-Til, but I hastened regardless. I wanted to talk with Aerith.