Chapter Three: Ninja Instincts
The fire was probably the smallest one they'd lit on their whole journey. With the only other wood around outside and soaked with rain, the little flames were fueled by the remnants of the support beams from near the entrance. They gave off just enough warmth to keep everyone from shivering.
Aeris stuck a marshmallow on the tip of Cid's spear and awkwardly held it out over the fire. Her arms shook a little with the weight of the weapon and the marshmallow dipped into the flames. She quickly pulled the spear back toward her and blew on the flaming ball of sugar, tentatively popping it in her mouth once it was out. Cloud could barely make out her smiling at him across the fire as she chewed. "Mmph, 's not bad."
Cid passed Aeris his lighter. "Use that for your next one." He leaned forward and slowly reached toward the fire with a cigarette, quickly pulling back when flame licked the tip and set it alight. Yuffie whistled.
"Ooh, cool. Lighting it that way, I mean." She pulled a marshmallow from her bag and stood over the fire, carefully lowering it with her fingers. A piece of firewood suddenly cracked and a small tongue of flame shot up. "Aaah!" Yuffie stumbled backward, frantically shaking her hand. Her marshmallow flew over the fire and Red snapped it out of the air.
The ninja tripped on a tin of food, spun and fell heavily onto Cloud, knocking him into his bedroll. "Sorry!" she said sheepishly. Across the fire, Aeris couldn't help but giggle, and looked away. Yuffie reached down to lift herself off Cloud, one hand going straight to the ground and the other quickly sliding along his leg as she moved it to the cave floor. Knowing her body blocked the others' view, she met Cloud's surprised eyes with a sly look before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and rolling off him in one smooth motion.
Cid and Barrett were laughing at whole scene, even as Yuffie made a show of massaging her slightly singed fingers. "Ow…" she muttered. Cloud sat up, crossing his legs and leaning forward a bit as Yuffie looked up. "Oh well, woulda been worse without my ninja instincts." She winked at Cloud, the small motion imperceptible to the rest of the party.
"'Ninja instincts'!" Barret couldn't stop laughing now. "Congrats, Yuffie – you managed to cheer me up." He let out a contented sigh and considered for a moment. "Cid, you got a spare cigarette?"
"Be my guest. Just make sure you light it on the side of the fire, not the top!" Cid chuckled as he passed the pack to Barret.
"Real funny, guys. At least Cloud respects my skills." She looked down at him, her mischievous eyes seeking confirmation.
Cloud was absently rubbing his cheek, still somewhat taken aback, and he raised his eyebrows at her. "You're the most dexterous person alive, Yuffie."
Cid coughed as he started laughing again. "Good one, kid!"
"Ugh." Yuffie got to her feet. "I'll be back."
"Hey, where you goin'? Don't go off alone now."
"Call of nature, gramps." She walked down the tunnel.
Barret chuckled. "How long you all think it'll be before she realizes she can't see a damn thing?"
As if on cue, Yuffie's voice came echoing down the tunnel. "Um, Cloud, can you bring me the Fire materia or something? I can't see anything!"
Cloud didn't think he had it on him, but checked his pockets anyway and was surprised to find a glowing orb. He stood up and held it out in front of him for light as he followed the path Yuffie had taken. "I'm coming," he called, a little warily.
He found Yuffie a couple hundred feet up the tunnel, leaning on the wall next to an alcove that had been the start of a branch tunnel and rhythmically tapping her foot against the edge of some wooden planks that lay on the floor. "Hey, thanks!" she said loudly, taking the materia. Cloud turned to head back to the fire, but she grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, standing slightly on her toes to kiss him.
Their lips pressed together and Yuffie slipped an arm around Cloud to draw him closer. For a second Cloud didn't move. His eyes closed at the feeling of her warm body against him before he composed himself and pulled away. "Yuffie… this isn't… where is all this coming from?" he asked under his breath.
She smiled as she whispered back, her teeth glimmering faintly in the pale glow of the materia and Cloud's eyes. "I don't know. Watching you fight, you're always so cool, so stoic. Honorable, sorta. They say opposites attract, you know." She leaned into Cloud again. "C'mon, relax."
"You planned that fall earlier, didn't you?" He wasn't moving away and Yuffie felt she could pause to answer.
"Uh, not exactly. But I made the best of the situation." Her lips were closing in on his now. "Same thing here."
Cloud sighed as put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away, her feet moving back until her heel bumped the edge of one of the boards on the ground. "Come on, we don't have time for this. What were you planning on doing, making out until someone wonders why I'm taking so long to bring you a light?"
Yuffie's smile didn't falter. "That's your only objection?" Cloud could feel little puffs of her warm sugary breath on his face and he tried to articulate to himself why he shouldn't go along with whatever Yuffie wanted. She slipped between his arms and he reflexively closed them around her. "Thought so."
Through her brown strands Cloud saw the rock wall behind her and he thought of Tifa, lost somewhere in the mine. His arms fell and he leaned away.
"It's… not a good time." Yuffie's grin faded. She took a step back from him and half-turned away. "You're not going to sulk now, are you?" Cloud took two steps toward the ninja, not really knowing what he intended to do.
His first step made a hollow sound on the planks below them, but before Cloud had time to consider what that meant, his other foot came down and went straight through the wood. He heard Yuffie start to say something before the whole floor collapsed from under them.
The two fell down a small mine shaft for a few feet before landing on steeply sloped ground, where their fall turned into a slide down the earth and rock. Cloud tried to brace himself against the tunnel wall, but only managed to slow down a little. Ahead of him, he saw Yuffie lose her grip on the materia, and it rolled ahead of them, out of view.
After a few seconds the steep slope turned into a gentle incline and their descent slowed until the tunnel opened with a slight dropoff. Yuffie tried to land on her feet, but stumbled and ended up facedown underneath Cloud as he followed her trajectory.
He raised his head to look at their surroundings. The stray Fire materia lay in a corner somewhere, its glow showing rough rock forming a small cavern around them. Beneath him, Yuffie coughed once before speaking. "I wasn't sulking."
Cloud shifted his weight to one side so it wasn't all pressing into Yuffie. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked – she wasn't moving from where she was sprawled on the ground and that worried him. Yuffie coughed again.
"Don't think so. I definitely didn't break anything, anyway."
"Can you move, just to make sure?"
She let out a breath with a hint of exasperation as she rolled onto her side, resting her back on Cloud's chest. "I'm sore. But hey, you're soft…"
"Yuffie…" Cloud tried to sound serious, at first thinking that now really wasn't a good time to go through this again, but he as he thought about it he quickly realized their situation wasn't that bad. They could probably climb back up the way they'd come. The others would soon start looking for them, and the two of them could always try yelling up the shaft, though that risked triggering another cave-in.
At worst, they might have to try and find another way back up, but Cid had been right that Tifa and Vincent could handle themselves; couldn't he and Yuffie do the same? Everyone would be alright.
So here he was, alone with Yuffie. No shared childhood trauma, no talk of destiny and eternity, no cryptic references to the past or prophecies about the future. Just a confused mercenary-turned-rebel and a hyperactive, mostly trustworthy, semi-reformed materia thief. Was it that simple?
She had nestled back against him and Cloud shifted to look down at her. It seemed like she was about to fall asleep, but she felt his slight movement and turned her head around to look at him. They stayed like that, eyes locked, for a long, long moment before Cloud leaned down and kissed her.
Yuffie eagerly returned the kiss, lifting her head from Cloud's arm and pressing her body into him. Cloud ran his hand down her leg, feeling a few scratches marring the otherwise smooth skin. The ninja twisted a bit, not moving her lips from his but making room for to Cloud to slide his other arm under her. His fingers just brushed the fabric of her shirt before their lips broke apart as they heard gunshots from somewhere nearby.
Author's Note: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Tifa and Vincent – they'll be in the next chapter.