Like The Sun, Like The Moon

Chapter Two

"Yeah, the war is over. But, Sephy, why did there have to be a war at all?" nine-year-old Yuffie Kisaragi asked her latest friend as they were on their way to Wutai.

She could see traces of a frown forming on his forehead as he considered an answer. How to explain something there is no reasonable explanation to?

But he had to give it a try anyway, he owed her that much. "From time to time, people disagree," he finally responded in a rather detached manner, "And sometimes, the people disagreeing are the heads of two nations. As they are representing their whole state, a conflict between two people can quickly turn into one between two whole nations. And if it cannot be settled peacefully, it has to be solved…less peacefully."

Watching her out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her observing her feet in a depressingly sad manner. "You know, a war is never a good thing," he continued after a while, "But in a way, it might help to prevent another one, as well as those to follow, and therefore also got its positive aspects." Still watching her, he found a look of utter bewilderment directed at him. "You might consider it a rather cruel concept," he admitted, "But with ShinRa having taken over Wutai, another war between them is quite unlikely to arise, don't you agree?"

By now, the girl was obviously getting the idea. "But what if the dizz-egree-mend isn't solved by the first war?" she pointed out, "Then there'll be another one."

"Not if the president does his job. After all, he is supposed to rule his terrain to everyone's satisfaction," he responded, more to set the child at ease than out of his actual conviction, "But believe me, even if he doesn't do his job, someone will…take care of him before anybody will even think of starting a new war."

"Obviously the president hasn't been doing his job very well lately," sixteen-year-old Yuffie Kisaragi muttered absentmindedly as she was sitting on a random tree, skimming through the latest Junon Times while devouring one of those tasty red apples that only grew in the Junon area.

"President ShinRa stabbed in his office," said the huge headline visible on just about every page of the newspaper in one way or the other. Yuffie had never really been interested in high society and the like; however the ad placed conveniently next to a picture of the rather voluminous, balding man, definitely amused her. "Swords by Brick – break even the thickest shells!" it said.

Nice one.

She wondered briefly whether the high-ranking officials at ShinRa would notice the slightly macabre prank. If they carried even the tiniest bit of brain in their heads, they would have a hard time missing the sarcasm. And if they only remotely cared about their company's reputation, they'd at least have the heart to scold whoever had pulled off this joke. But then again, she had heard the strangest things about said officials.

Maybe they really gave a damn about ShinRa's image. Maybe they were really incompetent. Maybe they were really just as dumb as bread.

No, these were not what you'd call reassuring thoughts. Later on I'll really have to check what's become of the editor of this newspaper, she decided as she jumped off the tree and stretched. Then, after accidentally dropping the apple's remains as well as folding and storing her Junon Times, she made sure all her equipment was still in place – she really couldn't afford losing anything in the middle of the wilderness.

Weapon? Her 4-ponit-shuriken was loosely fastened to her back, ready to be used immediately in case of an ambush. Check.

Money? 671 Gil tinkling happily in her money back. Check. Even if she didn't exactly bother counting them.

Materia? The ones she had, well, gained on her travels were stored safely in her backpack, whereas those she liked to utilize in battle were attached to her Carbon Bangle. She made no use of the spots in her shuriken as it was far smoother to handle without the additional weight. Beyond that, there were only two materia she ever used anyway. Thinking about it, it was actually only one: her precious, prized, good-for-everything Enemy Skill materia. No matter how big, strong or peculiar her enemy, this certain piece of condensed Lifestream would always provide her with a wonderful little spell to defeat it.

Ironically, the other materia she had always equipped was a plain, simple All. At first, she had merely intended to master it and sell it for a nice sum of money afterwards. But with the time, she had grown to love it for its sheer hilarity. It just wouldn't cooperate with her other favourite materia in any way. And still, somehow she couldn't imagine her almighty Enemy Skill without its useless counterpart anymore. They were such a nice couple.

And maybe, possibly, but only under certain circumstances, her precious All might come in handy after all. For example, what was she to do if she ever ran out of MP? Right, she would take out her good, ole friend All and knock her enemy out by tossing it right between its eyes.

Granted, not the most promising one, but at least she had a Plan B.

Satisfied with her equipment – everything was where it was supposed to be – she wept some dirt off her clothes and checked the sky. It was as blue as it could ever get, which was great, because that meant the sunny weather would last at least a little while longer.

And Yuffie loved the sunny weather. Walking Through A Green Sunlit Scenery On A Warm Summer's Day was her second most wanted scenario, and it was only outmatched by Walking Through A Green Sunlit Scenery On A Warm Summer's Day With An Adorable Boyfriend At Her Side. But as the latter wasn't very likely to occur in the near future, she was just as satisfied with her second choice.

You see, she really loved sunny days, and she sincerely hoped the weather would stay that great for, say, the next seventy years. At least that's what she decided as she averted her glance back from the lovably blue sky to her immediate surroundings – and recognized with an ear-shattering scream the massive form of a Zemzelett standing only several meters away from her.

And then it started moving.

Towards her.

But it wasn't flying as you'd expect from an eight feet tall and twice as wide, green-whiteish bird. No, it was stomping.

Stomping.

On its feet.

And although it was stomping, it had its wings spread wide.

But not in a dangerous way – no – the way it held its wings made it look as tough it was about to hug her every moment now.

Which freaked her out.

A giant bird with feet and a craving for affection certainly wasn't something you would like to be, well, threatened by on a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. Especially not if it caught you by surprise.

Actually, a Zemzelett could be assessed as a rather nice fellow. Being the weak, fluffy creature it undoubtedly was, it might not qualify as a dangerous fiend, but definitely as a nice pillow. Or rather as a bed, considering its size.

Yet in order to befriend it as an ersatz pillow, you would have to get over some of its rather intimidating qualities. Like its feet, for example. Or its size. Or maybe its habit to emerge right in front of you without giving even the slightest kind of warning.

With all three of these unique features, Yuffie was currently having her problems. This feathery fellow had almost given her a heart attack after all.

And it was still approaching her. Fortunately, stomping wasn't the fastest way of moving, which provided her with all the time she needed to regain her composure.

Naturally, once her initial shock had finally subsided, she was getting angrier and angrier by the second. She absolutely hated being caught by surprise like that.

Hence she eventually put all her anger into a disastrous attack as she hurled her shuriken at the Zemzelett. And hit it right in the belly.

It must have hurt a lot, but apparently she hadn't defeated the monster yet.

"You're a tough fella, ain'tcha," she muttered as she prepared her next attack – only to find out her shuriken hadn't returned. She blinked and observed her birdy foe. Of course. The shuriken was stuck in its belly. She'd have to pull it out afterwards.

How had she ever expected it to come back to her anyway? Once she even remotely hit her enemy, it just had to be stuck. Another reason never ever to attach any materia to it. Once she needed it, it wouldn't be available anyway.

Heaving an irritated sigh, she touched her Carbon Bangle which caused the Enemy Skill in it to glow in its nice amber colour. This wouldn't take much longer. Thanks to a quick Trine the fiend was crushed immediately. Then, in the mysterious and actually rather impossible way every monster tended to leave this world, it glowed red for a second and finally disintegrated into thin air, leaving nothing behind but a Hi-Potion, 165 Gil and, fortunately, her 4-point-shuriken.

Leisurely walking towards the Zemzelett's remains, she sighed once again. This had been quite a bothersome encounter. Well, at least she had earned herself some easy money.

But just in the moment she was about to pick up her rewards, another birdlike monster tackled her several steps backward.

A Formula, she realized while coughing out some blood.

She couldn't believe how hard that bird had hit her.

Just another reason to hate birds. Which she already did anyways. Never would they leave her alone, and never would they miss a chance to ambush her. Oh, she really hated birds!

Mentally cursing her still absent 4-point-shuriken, she prepared to cast a nasty Flame Thrower at her enemy. Yet the blue-violet fiend wouldn't give her a chance to do so as it rapidly thrust her into the very same tree she had just been resting on.

I'll really have to buy a scarecrow sometime soon, she told herself as she struggled to keep the Formula's claws away from her.

As luck would have it, she managed to protect her face from being deformed by defensively holding up her arms, but happened to lose her only hope of success in the process when the bird hit her bangle, causing her Enemy Skill to hop out its spot and roll away from her.

Gradually, her disbelieving stare shifted from the crazily kicking fiend in front of her to the fleeing piece of materia in the distance, then to the empty hole it had inhabited until a moment ago and finally to the only protection she still had left: Her omnipotent All.

Time for Plan B then, she thought bitterly as she removed the white orb from her bangle and aimed. She knew it was a hilarious attempt to turn the tide, but it might at least serve as a distraction. Hence, she waited for the right moment and – There! – flipped the materia right between the fiend's eyes.

It would have hit.

But it didn't; possibly on instinct, the Formula caught the materia with its beak as though she had tossed it some cookie. Unable to break the All, it blinked with confusion and continued trying to eat it, the helpless girl in front of it completely forgotten.

This was her chance, and she seized it without hesitation. Jumping up rapidly, she tried to reach her Enemy Skill while the bird was still occupied with her materia. Unfortunately, she stumbled over her own leg even before she had gotten up completely and fell back against the tree, cursing furiously.

Naturally, that directed the Formula's attention back to her. Without further ado, it dropped the All, screeched loudly and rose in the air, as it evidently prepared to lunge at her.

Leaning against the tree in a position that wouldn't allow her moving whatsoever, Yuffie didn't have much of another chance but to admit her defeat. That fiend was going to crush her.

But she didn't want to die!

Not yet! And not in a battle with a goddamned bird!

It was so unfair!

Awaiting her soon demise, Yuffie couldn't help but sniff. Quickly her eyes began to water, and she closed them in the vain attempt to hold back her tears. Well, this way she at least wouldn't need to see the bird's final attack.

Which, strangely enough, never came.

When she heard a loud thump just above her, she dared opening her eyes again and gazed in the only direction her current position would allow her to. Diagonally upward.

What she saw relieved and puzzled her at the same time. The bird had been stabbed neatly, pinned against the tree by a seemingly endless, silver blade wielded by a mysterious black-clad figure.

Looking closely, she meant to recognize some strands of silver hair as well as those haunting green eyes she had oh so often found herself staring at in her dreams.

She didn't quite know whether she was hallucinating or not. And it didn't really matter at the moment anyway. Her HP had been in the yellow for quite a while now, and she was tired. Exhausted. Worn out.

Even if her knight in shining armour was a mere hallucination, she was about to meet him in the Land Of Dreams anyway. And she needed that nap. She needed it badly.

"I really hate birds, y'know," she finally mumbled and allowed her head to drop in exhaustion.

And then she fainted.

For the first time in five years, Sephiroth felt refreshed.

Even though it hadn't necessarily been a part of his mission, killing the president must have been just about the best idea he had ever had. All frustrations that had been growing inside of him during his forced vacation in the Lifestream had expired once he had seen the red liquid emerging from a neatly stabbed wound in the old geezer's torso.

And you really couldn't blame him. Half of the Planet's population would feel the same way after murdering the president. The man had deserved this punishment, if not a much more painful one.

Just to point out some facts, he had started a completely useless war to enhance his company's influence even further. He had affirmed the whole Jenova Project for being able to take advantage of the Ancients' powers. He had been manipulating the whole world for several decades already and would have gone on doing so if nobody had stopped him.

No, President Shinra had definitely not been a very honourable man.

And that is exactly why Sephiroth doubted anyone had really minded him killing off the man. Actually, he'd bet quite a lot of ShinRa's employees had already been planning a quick assassination anyways, being constantly mistreated by him. Still, Sephiroth had had as much right to murder him as anyone. He had been suffering thanks to the president's orders as well.

And his revenge had been…sweet.

In fact, it had boosted his mood infinitely. Even the battle with a Midgar Zolom, which had been a hassle in every way you looked at it, couldn't keep him from humming 'One Winged Angel' permanently while arranging the fiend's corpse in a most fashionable way and passing the Mithril Mine afterwards.

He might have continued his little hymn forever if he hadn't been interrupted by a shrill shriek originating somewhere in the woods.

For a moment, he stood wondering whether to have the courtesy of helping the damsel in distress whose exhilarating voice he had just perceived or whether not to do it.

He was in somewhat of a hurry after all.

On the other hand, he hadn't performed any good deeds since the murder of president Shinra.
Honestly, aiding some vulnerable woman couldn't take too much of his time, could it?

This decision being made, he approached the scream's origin in several swift yet soundless strides and reached it just in time to watch his Damsel in Distress flip a white piece of materia at a Formula hovering right above her. This rather inventive use of an otherwise useless support materia as well as the bird's reaction to it certainly amused him.

However he wasn't willing to risk the girl's life – she really was merely a girl, not quite a woman yet – by waiting for this little game to finish. Instead, he put an end to it himself by simply yet effectively thrusting his Masamune straight through the monster into the tree behind it.

A second later, the fiend disintegrated and he pulled his sword back out of the wood.

It was then that he heard the girl mutter something. She spoke so quietly he wasn't able to understand her. However, her voice sounded vaguely familiar, he couldn't quite put his finger on it though.

Maybe she was a part of that AVANLANCHE group? Hm. Not that mattered right now anyways. The girl had just fainted and he would have to make sure she'd survive it. A quick glance at the Stat-O-Meter strapped around her wrist like a watch told him in blinking yellow numbers she had only ten HP left.

This situation screamed for a Cure spell. Unfortunately, as he didn't need them anyway, he currently owned neither materia nor potions, which unnecessarily complicated things.

He'd have to use some of the girl's possession, but Looking Through A Barely Clothed Girl's Pockets wasn't his most favoured course of action.
He might tend to slaughter people without any reason whatsoever, but checking their possessions, which meant actually touching them, was a completely different matter. And he didn't particularly like touching others.

Unfortunately, he might eventually have to do it this time. But he'd only lay a hand on the girl if it couldn't be avoided.

While eyeing her critically, he noticed once again how little clothing she was wearing on her skinny body. She had short, brown hair and a youthful, Wutainese face.

It was weird: not only did he seem to recognize her voice, but she also looked familiar. Awfully familiar.

…………

……………

………………Damn.

The girl lying half-dead in front of him was Yuffie.

Yuffie.

The only person on the whole planet he hadn't intended to ever meet again. Not because he couldn't stand her, no, but rather because he didn't wish her to get involved with him and his mission any more than she already was.

It was then that he realized just how trivial his train of thought currently was and mentally slapped himself. Don't think about that now. You've got to cure her as soon as possible.

All phobias momentarily forgotten, he quickly checked her bangle for any materia.

Nothing.

But he remembered her tossing an All at the Formula. That meant she must also have had some materia to go along with it. Maybe she had lost it?

Checking his immediate surroundings for anything shimmering, he soon noticed a yellow orb some metres away. My old Enemy Skill materia? he wondered as he strode towards it and picked it up, So she kept it after all, which also explains what she was trying to accomplish with her little stunt.

Once he had returned to her unconscious form he cast a White Wind as well as, just in case, a Big Guard at her and placed the materia in one of her bangle's slots afterwards.

Then he lifted her up to lean her against the tree in a far more comfortable position than sprawled on the ground with all her limbs spread out in impossible and most likely painful ways.

He'd prefer carrying her to the next inn and leaving her there instead of a potentially dangerous forest, but considering those meddlesome turks had their noses everywhere nowadays, he didn't have much of a choice. If he was seen carrying Yuffie around, they wouldn't stop pestering her.

No, he really didn't need that. Furthermore there was still that tiny possibility she hadn't even recognized him.

I might use Jenova's powers to keep her from following me around… But no. Not today, not on Yuffie, he mused whilst watching the girl's sleeping form. She sure had grown a lot, which reminded him once again just how long he had been away. Five years. Quite a long time indeed. Especially if you spent them floating in the Lifestream.

Oh well.

At least the girl had to have gotten over his absence by now. Just another reason not to reveal his resurrection to her. Granted, 'resurrection' wasn't quite the right word to describe his comeback from the dead, but as it sounded much nicer than the truth he'd simply use it anyway.

Judging by her earlier exhaustion, Yuffie would still be sleeping for another ten minutes at the very least. He'd prefer making sure she wasn't attacked again until she awoke, nonetheless Sephiroth decided it was time to set out for Junon. Missing the next ship to Costa del Sol wasn't an option. He absolutely had to move on without any unnecessary delay.

As he carefully checked the area for any threats that might try hurting the girl he was about to leave behind defencelessly, he didn't find any monsters, but instead a small, white orb sparkling from the ground near his feet. Obviously, that was her All materia. "Just what do you need it for if there is no way it would ever cooperate with your Enemy Skill?" he asked her, completely aware that she was still dreaming but still mystified by her peculiar habit.

Yet once he considered the way she had used to act five years ago, he was quickly able to comprehend her reasoning. "There is no cause at all, is there?" he stated with a somewhat amused smirk.

When he continued his monologue after a long moment of silence, however, he did it in a quiet, almost sad voice, "Then I believe you won't mind me keeping it as a reminder." Once he had placed the All in his Gold Armlet, he looked one last time at the girl he had developed a bizarre fondness of all those years ago.

"Farewell, Yuff. For your own sake, I hope we'll never meet again."

End of Chapter Two

A/N: So after all those years, their paths have finally again. Even if Yuffie was unconscious most of the time. Ahem.

Hopefully I could live up to your expectations (I myself rather like this chapter), so please don't decapitate me for having another materia taken from Yuffie. Just couldn't resist. If she keeps carrying around one of his materia, he should be entitled to carry around one of hers as well, right?

At least that's my opinion. If you happen to think otherwise, if you happen to think likewise or if you don't have an opinion at all, you are very welcome to tell me in form of a review!

At this point, I'd like to thank some great people for their great reviews:

Thank you, Magenta Rain, saharasfury, Music Lover Always, ShadowSessMarlfox, yournamehere (great nickname, by the way :), Gining and JPStone (That's the one you've got to blame for the whole All materia affair, just to let you know) You guys are amazing!

The next chapter shall be up by the weekend. Unless the incredible mountain of homework I've stil got to do doesn't bury me alive, that is.

So thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Greetings,
Linnya