1!

Disclaimer: Jeez people get it through your heads, I DON'T OWN!! Sadly.

On Monday, Namine was leaning against the check-in booth as they came up the path from the parking lot. It was a horribly hot day; Yuffie already felt tired and sweaty from the bike ride. But Namine looked cool and crisp, like a tall glass of evil lemonade. She was wearing her lacy bikini, with a white sarong looped around her waist and white slip-on sandals on her feet. Her sunglasses were giant and reflected the light in a metallic way, hiding her eyes. Even so, Yuffie could feel them on her, a grim stare full of scheming and revenge plans, as she walked closer.

"Oh, hi, Yuffie," Namine said with a sweet smile as they walked up. "Can I talk to you for a second-just us girls?" she wrapped her hands around Riku's upper arm and leaned playfully into him. "You don't mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute, do you Riku?"

"Uh," Riku said. Yuffie could tell he was as confused as she was. Were they supposed to pretend the fight with Tifa on Friday night hadn't happened?

"Just for a minute," Namine said, tousling his hair. "I'm sure you two can be apart for one minute without your cuteness dropping to dangerously low levels." She linked her arm through Yuffie's. "Wee need some girl time."

Riku stepped forward as if to pull Yuffie away, but Namine marched her off down the path toward the tennis courts too fast for either of them to object.

"Yuffie," Namine whispered with fake enthusiasm. "I heard a rumor that Riku's birthday is this Wednesday! Oh my God! You must be so excited. What a great opportunity to show what a terrific girlfriend you are, right? I'm sure you have some thing really amazing planned, don't you?"

Yuffie's heart sank. She had managed not to think about it all weekend, but now Riku's birthday was only two days away, and she still didn't have a present for him. Namine had zeroed in on her biggest worry.

"Um," she said, "well, I-"

"I just wanted you to know," Namine said, "that I am here to help. I love party planning and I am so good at it. I mean, you are throwing him a party, right? Guys love parties, especially surprise parties. Is it going to be at your house? Because if you want, we could have it at my house. My house is enormous and my parents are never home so they won't care."

"Oh, I don't -" Yuffie started.

"We have a ton of food, so don't worry about that. And I can take care of inviting everyone. I'll make sure it's the right guest list. All you have to do is find a way to get him to my house. You're clever; you'll think of something." Namine shook her hair back from her face and smiled, the sunlight glinting off her sunglasses. "And by him a perfect present, of course. But I'm sure you already have that covered."

"But wait," Yuffie said. 'What if- I don't think he-"

"Wednesday, six o'clock," Namine said brightly. "Everyone will be there, so don't forget. It's going to be a great party. He'll feel so lucky to have you for his girlfriend." she patted Yuffie once on th head and turned and swept back down the path. Tifa passed her on the way, but Namine tilted her nose up and looked away as if Tifa were too insignificant to notice.

"What was that all about?" Tifa asked, coming up to Yuffie. "Are you okay? You look kind of pale."

"Can I borrow your cell phone?" Yuffie asked.

"Sure." Tifa fished it out of her bag and Yuffie dialed her home number quickly.

Her mom answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mum. Can I talk to Zack?"

"He's not here, dear. What's wrong?"

"He's not there? Where is he?" Yuffie was puzzled. Zack never got up that early on his own, and as far as she knew, he didn't have anywhere to go. She wondered if this had anything to do with whatever he'd been hiding from her the other day.

"I can tell him you called," Mrs. Kisargi said. "But maybe I can help with something?"

"No, that's okay," Yuffie said. "I'll talk to him when I get home. Bye, Mum."

Her mum sighed. "Bye, Yuffie."

Yuffie handed the phone back to Tifa. How could Zack not be there? She needed his advice so badly. Or Kairi's. That was who Yuffie really wanted to talk to- a girl who understood how complicated this was. What was Yuffie supposed to do now? She didn't want to lure Riku to Namine's for a surprise party. But if they didn't show up, it would be weird and embarrassing. And she had to come up with an idea for a present-an idea that said "girlfriend," not "best friend's sister."

"Come on," Tifa said, slipping the phone into her bag. "Tell me all about it as we walk. What's Namine done now?"

Yuffie found herself explaining Namine's whole party scheme. By the time they reached the tennis courts, Tifa was shaking her head.

"That is so typical Namine," she said. "She thinks she's being generous, but she ends up being controlling and scary." Yuffie somehow doubted that Namine was trying to be generous with this plan, but she didn't say anything. Tifa and Namine might still make up and be friends again, after all.

"And don't even try to tell her you want to do things your own way," Tifa continued. "She can't comprehend people disagreeing with her." Tifa put down her tennis racket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "I don't know, Yuffie, you might have to go."

"Seriously?" Yuffie said. Somehow, she'd expected Tifa to tell her not to go.

"Well, unless you want to tell her yourself that you don't want to," Tifa said. "Or just let her plan it, and not show up, which would be kind of rough. But listen, it won't be that bad. Her parties always have great food and they have Ping-Pong and foosball in the basement. You could show up for a couple of hours and then take Riku out for ice cream afterward, just the two of you."

Yuffie felt ill. That sounded like some serious concentrated Namine time, which meant a ton of opportunities for Namine to do something mean to her.

"Don't worry," Tifa said. "Namine's crazy, but she's not evil."

I'm not so sure about that, Yuffie thought.

"Hey," Leon said, slouching up to them. "I had fun on Sunday," he said to Yuffie.

Tifa raised her eyebrows.

"Washing my parents' car," Yuffie said quickly. "With Riku and Zack."

"Yeah, too bad," Leon said. "We might have had more fun just the two of us." He gave her arm a quick squeeze and then meandered away.

"What a flirt," Tifa whispered. When Yuffie's eyes widened, she added, "I mean him, not you. Like, she's taken, pal, back off. Right?"

Yuffie rubbed her arm and stared at Leon's retreating back. Did he really like her that way? He seemed to... but why? He thought she was with Riku, so he shouldn't be flirting with her. It was all very confusing.

That afternoon they began the water volleyball tournament that Ariel had been talking about. Yuffie's team won their game, which made Riku splash around triumphantly in a totally adorable way.

As he dropped her off at home, Riku said, "Hey, Yuffie, ask Zack about watching those anime movies this weekend, okay?"

"Sure," she said. She watched him pedal away, waving when he looked back right before turning off onto his street.

To her surprise, Alanna and Thorn were on the porch. Their leashes were tied to the railing, and their squashed little faces were pressed against the screen door as if they'd been yearning to go back inside for days and days.

"Hey, guys," Yuffie said, crouching down and unclipping them. "What are you doing out here?" She scratched them behind their ears, and they both tried to climb on her knees and snuffle at her face.

The instant she swing the door open, both pugs bolted toward the living room. There was a yelp and then a thud. Yuffie ran after them and found her mom in a contorted position on the carpet with the dogs clambering all over her.

"Mom?" she gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Kisargi said, untangling herself. She reached for the remote and paused the DVD. Yuffie realized that the people on-screen were all in leotards and were now frozen in the same weird position.

"What are you doing?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm trying to do yoga," her mother said. "But certain dogs were making it very difficult." Alanna snorted and wagged her tail triumphantly.

"Yoga?" Yuffie said, dropping her bag inside the door. "I thought you went for a class for that."

"Well, I got this DVD, so I thought I'd try it. It's very good if you can get through it without having your face licked off." Her mom gave Thorn a stern look, but the pug just sat there with a goofy expression.

"Can I watch?" Yuffie said. "Maybe I can distract the dogs."

"Of course," her mother said delightedly. "You can even join me if you like. I just started."

"Um... okay," Yuffie said. She had to admit she was curious. She sat down on the carpet next to her mother as Mrs. Kisargi skipped back to the beginning of the DVD.

"So how was tennis today?" Mrs. Kisargi asked.

"The same," Yuffie said. She imitated her mother's cross-legged position, trying to sit up tall and keep her back straight. The woman on the TV was yammering about breathing.

"Anything exciting happening?"

Yuffie debated with herself for a minute and then decided to share a small part of her problem with her mom.

"It's Riku's birthday on Wednesday," Yuffie said. "and I have to get him a present."

"Ah." her mother shook her head. "I made the same mistake with your father."

"Mistake?" Yuffie repeated.

"Starting to date him right before his birthday. Trying to come up with the perfect gift when you barely know a guy- it's terrible!"

"I wouldn't say I 'barely know' Riku," Yuffie pointed out.

"Of course dear. And he must be easier to shop for than you dad. I can't even get that man a tie without earning a lecture on appropriate colors for the office."

"Well, I thought the orange was cool," Yuffie said loyally. Dad had to buy all his own ties since that Christmas.

"Think about what Riku likes," Mrs. Kisargi said, "and what he's interested in. Something personal is always better than something expensive."

Then they had to stop talking because the woman on-screen was explaining a position called the 'downward dog,' which, as far as Yuffie could tell, was named that because it brought her mom's face down close to the floor, where Thorn and Alanna could easily lick it.

She thought about what her mother said. What did Riku like?

If only the answer was me...

Ah! That was short! Again! Ah!

A fresh, out of the oven, big, delicious chocolate chip cookie to:

Warriorcat's Spirit

brisFH28

SecretAgent99

Ink

hikari-kasumi

I promise I'll try to get the next one up soon! But, that might be a problem, I've got homecoming this weekend. Sigh Great.

O! I have a question and I need your help, speaking of homecoming. I need help with my hair. Like, I have no idea what to do with it. I have brown hair, um, hmm, a little past shoulder length. And I usually have it either up in a pony tail, or down and straight. Ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Forever Yours,

Erin

ReviewsLove