When Yuffie awoke she couldn't even see the noise in front of her face. She was tied up and had a bandage wrapped around her mouth denying her freedom of voice. She felt herself in a box, she tried to struggle the bandages free but each time she cause the box to shift. From the outside world she heard motors and voices. Using all of her strength she head button the wall in front of her and caused a side of the box to detach.

To her horror she was leaning head first over the cliff-face about a hundred feet in the air. She screamed through the gagged cloth but it was nothing more of a whisper. Hearing footsteps she tried to struggle again but the box, which she now identified as a coffin because of the inner padding, jolted downward and she almost fell out would it not have been for the rope around her feet.

"Rinoa, where are you?!" she recognised the voice immediately as Squall's.

I may not be Rinoa but I have to do something! I need to let them know I'm here! She thought

"…can I take a message?"

Remy! That bitch…they need to be warned!

Using the last of her courage she started to jump up and down inside the coffin; causing it to jolt and crash making as much noise as physically possible. With luck the bandaged around her mouth loosened and soon she could breath and speak with ease. Or so she thought. To her dismay a Silence spell had been cast upon her and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't say a single word or cast any spells. She once again found herself bashing her head against a side of the coffin.

"…ahhh! The coffin's moving!" she head a high, female voice say

Yes! They've noticed me! Now for my master plan.

"Rinoa? Is that you?!" She heard footsteps and the sound of Squall's clinking boots.

Uncomfortably she cranked her neck toward her left arm and pulled off the red ribbon tied around it. Moving it in her mouth she made sure she only held the end letting the rest wave out of the small entrance she created.

"Yuffie!" The voices were definitely Vincent and Tifa's.

She jumped up and down in the coffin almost choking at the ropes strong grasp but she didn't care as long as she was free. But soon too her horror she'd bounced too much.

X X X

"Rinoa? Is that you?!" Squall ran over to the coffin despite the glares from the purple haired maiden

Everyone stood waiting for a reply and when Squall saw the red ribbon fly out his heart sank.

"Yuffie!" Tifa and Vincent started to run over to the coffin.

It kept jolting up and down and soon to everyone's surprise they heard the sound of a rope snap and Yuffie falling out of the end plummeting down the cliff.

Vincent spared no time at tall as he grabbed the rope holding up the coffin and swing onto it letting it fall. Tifa grabbed the other end using all of her strength to keep it up. Irvine and Zell ran over to help. Remy, Honda or Karin didn't seem the bit concerned whether it was about Yuffie falling or the friends trying to save her. Each one kept their eyes on Squall.

Feeling there gaze in his back he turned around to face them; drawing his gunblade.

"Enough games, tell me where Rinoa is or-"

"Or what?" Karin stepped forward and poked the tip of his sword "You'll stab us with this toothpick?"

Squall snarled under his breath. By now Selphie had climbed aboard a hover bike and followed Vincent to Yuffie's rescue.

X X X

Vincent had never been happier to be wearing gloves. But as he watched Yuffie's doll-like figure fall down the cliff he wouldn't have even cared about rope burn. He was falling at a phenomenal pace and soon he felt Yuffie almost in his grasp. He spread his fingers out and stretched as far as he could go. He even started swinging the rope for a better reach. Lucky for him in no time at all he had grabbed a strand of rope and had come to a halt; Yuffie swinging below him.

But unfortunately for the pair the worst wasn't over. The sudden stop and extra weight had made it too much for the others to hold and to their dismay they let the rope fall through their fingers.

Vincent gripped onto Yuffie tightly and closed his eyes but not scared for his life…he couldn't get killed by a mere fall. But Yuffie wasn't as lucky and could easily be taken from him.

But someone must have been shining on him that day as just as he thought the end was near he felt someone grab him by his cape and looking up he saw Selphie riding a hover bike as if she'd been doing it all her life. He chuckled outwardly for the first time in a while and although he was extremely uncomfortable he waited patiently for the ride to end and once again they were at the entrance of the cave.

Untying Yuffie as quickly as he could he knew there would be no chance of escaping her death grip. But this time he returned it as tightly as he could physically managed without hurting her.

"Yuffie are you ok? Are you hurt?" He now held her by the shoulders looking her directly in the eyes

"……."

"What's wrong? Say something?!"

Yuffie patted her throat gently.

"Oh…Esuna" He held up his hand and stroked her neck softly.

"Yay! My voice! My beautiful voice!" In that moment she found a speck of cheerfulness before she remembered the situation. Helping Vincent off the floor she ran over to Squall's side "Hey Bitches! Now you're done for, prepare for pain!" She looked around for her shuriken before realising it was no where to be seen.

"Looking for this?" Honda swung the spiky weapon in front of her

"ARGH! TELL ME WHERE RINOA IS!" Squall couldn't control it any more and ran toward the three girls. It wasn't what he meant to do as he strongly believed in never harming women (the whole Ultimecia thing aside) but he knew these girls were evil and he knew they had Rinoa.

All three females laughed and in a blink of an eye disappeared. Squall fell forward and landed face forward on the floor. He roared aloud not caring who was around. Picking himself up he gripped his gunblade and ran into the cave; the others following closely behind.

X X X

Rinoa awoke with a start. The sound of a man yelling had intercepted her dreams and had disturbed her from the spell enhanced slumber. She found herself lying against a damp wall. She wasn't tied or gagged but she did have a chain around her wrist stopping her from straying to far.

She tried screaming for help but not a single sound came out. Then she tried casting a spell but once again her efforts came up short. She felt incredibly weak and leaned against the wall with a thump. Glancing down at her wardrobe she was utterly shocked at the fact she was no longer in her 'mission' clothes but now in a long white dress. It had long angelic arms and the neckline went across the top of the breasts. The main dress had a long slit and now she realised she was also wearing different shoes; pure white strapped high heels. She would have congratulated their fashion choices had she not been so caught up on how they had managed to change her…or more like who had managed to change her. Despite everything she prayed to Hyne it was the girls. Looking around she noticed she was alone.

"Yuffie…you there?!" but as she expected it came out as a mime, she stood up and tried to walk away from her chained prison. She needed to get someone's attention even if it was the people she wanted to see least of all.

Rolling her chained hand into a fist she hit it against the wall letting the thick, metal shackle clang against the hard stone. She kept going ignoring her fatigue until she heard a door open. Looking over she saw Desmond enter the room; he had now taken off his coat and wore a woollen vest accompanied by his leather trousers. He smirked as he became nearer. Rinoa took a few steps back until her back was straight against the wall. Desmond stretched his hand forward until his fingertips brushed past her cheek. Rinoa shivered at his cold touch as his hand moved down her face and behind her neck. He pulled her off the wall and moved behind her; his hand now moving to the front of her throat, his spare arm encircled her waist. He sniffed her hair deeply,

"I felt it to be such a shame stabbing such a pretty face," he moved his head down to her neck as he left a train of kisses. Rinoa started to hunch up; she closed her eyes in hopes to transport her inner self somewhere else.

"You should join us you know," he said between his light touch "You would be the greatest Sorceress of all. You're obviously powerful and have mastered your abilities quickly for having them for such a short amount of time,"

"No!" Rinoa screamed, using her unchained hand she instinctively grasped her throat only to be blocked by Desmond's hand.

"I removed the silence spell long ago…it was just your fear that stopped you from speaking,"

"Please leave me alone," She gasped trying to stop herself from crying.

"Now what type of Knight would leave his Sorceress in such an awful state?"

With anger she managed to pull away from him; although still attached from the wall.

"You are not my Knight!" she screamed

"Rinoa?!" She heard Squall's voice from outside the room

"Squall, I'm in he-"

She was cut off as Desmond forced his lips upon hers. The shock momentarily made her freeze. Then her blood began to boil. She dug her nails into his bare shoulders and pried him off her. Her nails began to grow longer and longer cut into Desmond's skin causing him to bleed. She pushed him onto the floor as she began to feel her nails grow. She lifted her hands into view and watched as they shifted back into their normal shape.

"Rinoa!" Squall appeared at the entrance of the room

"Squall!" Rinoa started to run toward him; only to be pulled back by the chain around her wrist. She yelped in pain as the metal cut into her skin. Squall ran over and held onto her tightly

"Agh, I'm so mad at you," he said quietly.

Rinoa gripped onto his jacket as hard as she could. Silent tears started trickling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, it thought I could handle it but I…"

"Shhh"

Squall didn't want her to feel like a child talking to her parents. He just stood there holding her before a gruff voice from behind them caused him to react.

"How touching…and me without my hanky," Desmond arose from the floor rubbing his shoulders. Squall turned; drawing his gunblade.

"Rinoa, get back as far as you can," He whispered

She immediately obeyed.

"Who are you?!" He yelled

"How nice of you to remember me, Commander," Desmond then stood up straight and performed a SeeD salute. Then slowly he morphed into the fifteen year old boy Rinoa had been attacked by.

"You!" Squall once again felt his temper rise. He didn't have a chance to kill him the day he hurt Rinoa so he wasn't going to miss this opportunity. Running forward he held his gunblade high in the air. Strangely enough Desmond wasn't prepared and couldn't defend himself as the gunblade sliced through his torso. He hollered in pain and let his guard drop and clung onto his wound. In that moment Squall pulled the trigger repeatedly sending out multiple shots of Pulse Ammo. Each one engorged itself in Desmond's chest causing him to bleed rapidly. Rinoa was too scared to carry on watching she turned to the corner and covered her ears and closed her eyes. She kept hearing shots and battle cries. Her hands were shaking as she pictured the massacre made by her boyfriend. She didn't know how long she stayed there but soon enough she felt a hand rest upon her back. She immediately looked up to see a sweaty faced Commander smiling subtly down at her. He gestured for her chained hand and pulling out a pen knife managed to unpick the lock. As soon as the clasp was free she wrapped her other hand around it a cast a cure spell sealing all of the wounds. Going against her better judgement she peered over Squall's shoulder. She saw Desmond drowned in his own blood and lying motionless on the floor. Sure enough he started to fade away as he made his way to the life stream.

Squall didn't look her in the eye. He knew she hated violence and only used it as a last resort. But in his eyes he deserved to die as painfully possible. Taking her by the hand he lead her out of the room and back to the group; confused as to why there were no more attacks.

"Rinoa you're ok!" Yuffie ran over and leapt on her friend almost knocking her to the ground

"Yuffie, I was so scared! I didn't have a clue where you were!"

"Sorry we're late," Cloud, Barrett, Cid, Red and Cait Sith entered the cave "Turns out it was harder to get here from the Shera then we thought,"

Cid gave a small smile and shrugged. Red paced the ground and then eyed Rinoa up and down.

"Nice dress,"

"Uhhhhh…yeah, thanks," She blushed slightly ignoring Yuffie's 'how-did-you-get-that?' look.

"Well looks like we're all here," Cloud said leaning against the wall "Except who we're after,"

"Wait, where's Quistis?" there was a hint of concern in Rinoa's voice.

"She's outside on the Ragnarok," Selphie pointed

"No! I'm here," Quistis appeared at the cave entrance; a rope around her waist, "Turns out this hole is too small for the Ragnarok to enter. I had to abseil down,"

"Well, now that we're all here…shall we press on?" Cloud pushed himself off the wall and walked over to everyone "Now or never by my guesses,"

Everyone nodded in agreement…except Rinoa.

"There's something very important we have to do first,"