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3. Yuffie

Yuffie hadn't even wanted to come on this stupid trip. She was only in this stupid country because stupid Daddy didn't trust her to stay home in the palace in Wutai's capital. He listened to the stupid vizier too much, that was the problem. The vizier made it sound like she was evil, when really all she was guilty of was having fun. Was it her fault other people didn't always get out of the way in time? Could she really be blamed when things went wrong and she was left in the middle of the aftermath, waving cutely and pretending it wasn't going to cost a fortune to fix whatever had broken this time?

At least the vizier couldn't blame her for this. She would never, ever, EVER make up anything as nasty as the Heartless. Her pranks were funny. Nobody ever died, either.

She wished the man in the pilot goggles would slow down. She gripped her saviour's hand, but she was too little to drag him properly, and looking out for junk he might fall over slowed them even more. This would be much easier in her regular clothes, but Daddy always made her wear stupid frilly dresses when they visited other courts. Apparently it wasn't appropriate for princesses to wear shorts and tee-shirts, or run around screaming, or eat with their hands, or say hi to anyone below a duke, or...

Her saviour grunted in pain. She looked at him and quickly looked away. His face made her feel nauseous, but she hadn't actually thrown up, which she thought was pretty good. He was really brave, she thought. He wasn't crying, or whimpering, or anything like that. She'd be bawling if their positions were reversed – or maybe not, since his tear ducts weren't where they should be anymore. Every so often he gave a weird half-moan, but considering the damage done by the claws of that last Heartless, she figured that was allowed.

"You kids still there?" Pilot Goggles called over his shoulder.

"How far is it to this hangar place?" Yuffie yelled back.

"Not far now, darlin'."

"My name isn't 'darling'. It's Princess Yuffinella Amirah Suri Himeko of the Eternally Blessed Nation of Wutai."

He stopped for a moment to stare at her.

"But Yuffie is fine. I won't even make you bow or kiss my hand or nuthin'."

"Much obliged, I'm sure," he muttered.

Yuffie swallowed her fear. "Are there… any more of those… Heartless monsters?" she asked tentatively.

Her saviour's grip on her hand tightened. He didn't say anything – he hadn't said much when he followed her screams to her room and saved her then, either – but the feel of his hand was comforting. Which, actually, was totally wrong, because she was meant to be saving him now! He was all cut up and hurting and blinded because of her. It wasn't fair for him to go on comforting her and her not doing anything significant in return.

She bent down and, one-handed, slipped the kunai from the holder around her leg (Daddy may be old-fashioned about dresses, but Wutai was still a nation of ninjas). With the kind of dexterity Radiant Garden kids didn't develop until their teens, she cut off the majority of her skirt.

"Here. Wrap this around your, um, head. Your… eyes," she said awkwardly. "Instead of that pillowcase." He had used it to stanch the blood pouring from his wound, but it was sopping and icky now. Her petticoats would be much more absorbent.

Wordlessly, Pilot Goggles returned to help apply the makeshift bandages. Her saviour had refused to leave behind that big gun-sword weapon he had used on the Heartless, even though there was no way he could use it anymore.

"Thank you," he said – the first words she had heard him speak.

"You're welcome," she said.

"Likewise," added Pilot Goggles, though he sounded uncomfortable saying it. "Now c'mon."

They resumed their flight through the chaos.