To everyone that has reviewed, favorited, or followed: You guys are the best. I really mean it. Your reviews especially make me smile and are extremely helpful in giving me needed feedback for what I'm doing right with this story. So again: thanks, everyone!

Vincent shadowed the path to the Ghost Square. Three steps and a slide. He didn't particularly fancy waiting for Yuffie to come out of the Battle Square. All afternoon she had signed up for fight after fight, gathering battle points to trade for a load of materia. The Gold Saucer remained one of the few places left on the planet selling it, and Yuffie intended to get as much as possible before returning to Wutai.

Yuffie's cause was noble, yes, but that did not mean Vincent had to stay and listen to her crow about her victories. Nanaki had promised to keep an eye on her, after all, so no worries.

Since Tifa called the previous night, Yuffie had acted slightly off. Cid suspected she was pouting about having to wait, but Vincent suspected the reason went deeper. Perhaps so deep, Yuffie herself could not name it.

Yuffie missed them.

Vincent didn't guess at this; he knew.

With constantly running away from home and fighting with her dad, their little band of vigilantes became her family. That's why she needed everyone together again. The White Rose of Wutai had experienced much in her lifetime, but the highlight easily rested around her time spent with her true friends – the ones she could banter with and play jokes on and still know they wouldn't string her up on a tree…most likely.

Now Yuffie had to patiently wait till the rest of their friends arrived. When all her skills, talents, and various abilities were laid out, patience was not in her deck of cards. She wanted them here, now. Vincent supposed she was uncomfortable sitting around with the homesick, loneliness that had taken hold of her. So while she fought for glory, honor, and materia, the fighting simply aided her in coping with these unwelcome emotions.

He motioned to enter the tube leading to the Ghost Square, but a voice cried out, halting him.

"Yo! You jus' gonna leave us here without sayin' hello?"

He turned. "Barret."

Barret grinned, and behind his massive bulk, two young eyes filled with wonder poked into view.

"This place is…" Denzel turned in a circle for a panoramic look at the bright yellow room. "…wow."

Trailing behind, Tifa and Cloud followed with bags filled with their clothes and necessities.

"Tifa." Vincent acknowledged. "Cloud."

Cloud only blinked in awareness that Vincent stood before them, but Tifa beamed. "Hello, Vincent. How have you been?"

"Busy," he replied.

Barret grunted rhetorically, "Ain't we all?"

"We are staying in the Ghost Square," Vincent informed, turning away from the entrance to fully face them. "Yuffie became anxious about waiting so she has employed herself in the Battle Square for the past six hours."

"Six hours?!" Tifa exclaimed. "Come on, guys," she pushed the stunned children forward, urging Barret to lead them along. "Let's get our stuff put away and get Yuffie out of there."

Vincent let them go first, watching the children gaze down the dark hole apprehensively at first before grinning at each other in a dare and hopping in with enthusiastic joy. Barret squeezed in next followed by Tifa. As Cloud's blond hair disappeared, Vincent felt the smallest of emotions stir in his heart. He allowed a brief smile before following them down.

Yes, it was good having them back.

"A-and we have to show them the Speed Square too, can't miss that!" Yuffie practically floated around the rented room, and it would have been endearing if her enthusiasm didn't have her knocking their possessions off the bed as she gestured wildly with her arms.

"Y–" Tifa tried to interrupt, but she just couldn't make herself stop the overwhelming joy pouring from Yuffie's countenance. Shaking her head, Tifa just sighed with a half-smile and snatched up the fallen stack of Marlene's clothes from the floor.

"And do you think it would be alright if I took them to the Battle Square too?"

Tifa stopped. "Um…" Marlene and Denzel were no strangers to monsters and death, but that didn't mean she wanted them watching it for enjoyment. "I don't think Barret would approve…" she began slowly, using Barret's protective tendencies as an excuse for her own feelings.

"Aw, I could convince him," Yuffie collapsed backward on the bed, toppling the stack of Marlene's shirts once more. She stayed silent for a minute – never a good sign. As Tifa began refolding and putting away the clothes in the drawers, Yuffie suddenly gasped, her face illuminated with insight. She reveled in her thoughts for a second before suggesting, "He, he! It wouldn't matter if Barret never found out…"

Tifa frowned in disapproval, although she still had to force the frown. Yuffie may have grown older, but her trickster tendencies had stuck with her. "Why don't you take the kids around the Wonder Square for now and find out if there is a play showing at the Event Square tonight. It's already evening, and I don't want anyone cranky tomorrow. There's plenty of time for them to explore during the rest of the week."

Yuffie grinned and rushed for the door so she could locate the kids in one of the guys' rooms. At the door, however, she paused. In a revelatory tone, she voiced her sudden realization. "You guys are staying the whole week?"

Tifa nodded with a small smile. "We should really be back by Friday since Denzel has a paper due in class, but Mrs. Juboski allowed an extended deadline in return for a higher quality paper. So, yes. We can stay the whole week."

Yuffie giggled once, then was gone.

"…she's got us all on our toes here," Cid complained from a chair. He watched Barret, Cloud, and Denzel stowing away their clothes in the dresser drawers. Barret more or less shoved them in. Cloud at least made an effort to keep his spare outfit folded; Denzel, emulating his hero, followed Cloud's example…until getting frustrated with the way they kept crumpling of their own will and he merely shoving them in with an irritated so there! attitude. Marlene observed with eyes open only to the spooky details of the room.

"Anyhow…" Cid crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair, "We haven't gotten much rest with the squirt hauling us around to different events and playing tricks on us whenever we blink." A bit sourly he grumbled, "I swear I had more than 5,000 gil on me when I first arrived."

"Daddy," Marlene broke the negative atmosphere. "Are all the places like this?"

Barret turned to answer her, but as he opened his mouth, the door flew open, slamming against the wall. Yuffie marched in confidently.

"Yikes! Be careful! I ain't gonna pay for property damage youcause." Cid exclaimed. "And learn to knock, would ya!"

In a slight huff, Yuffie deflated, "I didn't hurt anything." Turning a sly grin on the two kids, she announced, "We're going to the Wonder Square. It's not as fun as the Speed Square or even the Chocobo square, but Tifa thinks it's the best place to start. So let's go!"

Denzel stepped forward and Marlene sprung from the bed.

"Can I go, Daddy?" Marlene asked with extra softness in her voice in case he was thinking of saying no.

Barret didn't even hesitate in warning Yuffie, "If you take her near the Ba–"

"Aw, don't you worry," Yuffie tugged on her short jacket. "I won't get on your bad side," she promised, and to show she meant it, she rushed Cloud and hooked an arm around his and dragged the surprised blond with her to the door. As the door closed, Yuffie's voice echoed back, "At least not today!"

Cid shook his head as Barret frowned. "Don't worry about it. Cloud cares enough about them kids; he won't let them go where they ain't supposed to."

The afternoon exhausted Cloud, and he was a man of high stamina.

First they got gil from Tifa – 500 for Denzel and 500 for Marlene. Next, the Wonder Square. Yuffie laughed at the expressions donning the children's faces as they stared at all the alluring bright colors and various game machines. The woman at the front welcomed them as they came in and offered to recommend the best operating games, but Yuffie waved her off.

Marlene and Yuffie ended up dragging each other to different places, Yuffie showing her a machine, letting her try it, and then having to resist the urge not to intervene and win for her. Then Marlene took Yuffie's hand and pulled her to another lit-up corner and asked questions about the games in that area. Cloud, not too eager to browse the low-quality entertainment section of the Gold Saucer, let Denzel tug him around to various corners, asking questions as they went.

"Have you ever played this one?" Denzel hadn't asked a personal question until they reached the back room with a motorcycle mini-game displayed for use.

Surprisingly, Cloud shook his head. "It can't make up for the real thing," he answered simply.

"What about this one?" Denzel observed a late teen jumping off a mounted snowboard. "It looks kind of fun."

"Go ahead," Cloud urged.

"Is it any good?"

"Not the same as the real thing, but good enough if you never plan to snowboard for real."

The answer satisfied Denzel and he jumped up.

… … … …

"What's this?" Marlene pointed to a small clear ball mounted in the corner, almost out of sight.

"It's a fortune teller, but it's really lame," Yuffie rattled off unimportantly, simultaneously winning a second match against the wrestler near the front entrance. "It just says stuff like 'your lucky color is blue'. Or was that one of Cait Sith's old fortunes…?"

Marlene glanced at the large enticing glass ball.

"Anyway," Yuffie paid up for another round of arm wrestling. "It's not worth wasting gil on."

Marlene watched Yuffie concentrating on her pretend opponent's arm muscles. Looking back at the ball, Marlene quickly slipped gil into the slot and waited as the paper scrolled out. She only managed to quickly stuff it into her dress pocket before Yuffie began walking toward her. Bringing her most innocent look forward, Marlene listened attentively to Yuffie's suggestion of finding the boys. She'd have to read it later.

Finding the boys didn't take long.

Cloud and Denzel had the whole second floor on edge.

Once Yuffie saw the tension, she broke into cheers. "Come on, Denzel!"

Marlene cocked her head, trying to understand just what had happened to the spiky haired blond and his young emulator. They stood frozen on two converged platforms and held controllers in their hands – that being the only part of them moving. However, in front of them stood projected duplicates that faced each other. The doppelgangers threw punches with dodging and blocking. Neither was hitting the other. And even more confusing, a little number flashed in front of Cloud's and Denzel's controls – "9".

"Yuffie, I don't get it," Marlene asked tentatively. Now, Marlene had a lot of education and common sense filling her mind, but in all honesty, she never used nor was exposed to too much high-level tech. More importantly, she didn't know how the game worked so she didn't know how to tell who was winning.

Marlene tried asking Yuffie again, but her attention was long gone, focused on jumping up and down while yelling commands to Denzel. An attendant noticed the confusion in Marlene's eyes as she squinted at the "9" flashing on the control center.

"You want to know how this game works, honey?" the attendant offered, crouching beside Marlene.

Marlene nodded. Cloud had told them earlier that of all the workers at the Gold Saucer, the ones in the Wonder Square were the kindest because they specialized in working with the hundreds of vacationing kids passing through and had to have a soft temperament to not lose their cool when stressful situations arose. So Marlene felt safe enough with this woman speaking to her. And anyway, she had Cloud nearby and Yuffie right next to her if anything happened.

"It's a projected boxing match, although only punches are allowed. From the controls, players manipulate the actions of their avatars. You see the little red 9 next to their hands?"

Marlene affirmed with a simple nod.

"That counts how many times they have been hit. They each have a nine by their controls. If you are hit ten times, you are out of the game."

"So it's a tie?"

The woman smiled and straightened. "Yes." Glancing down at Marlene, she asked, "You know them?"

Proudly, Marlene smiled, "Uh-huh!"

"See the one with blond hair? I used to know him. A couple years ago I worked in the battle square at the register. He was a real regular, that one." She smiled almost fondly. "I asked him once why he came back so often and worked so hard on the monsters." She smiled tenderly at Marlene. "You know what he told me?"

Marlene frowned and slowly shook her head.

The attendant gazed back at Cloud and watched the traces of a smile escaping onto his lips as the tie continued unbroken, undeterred. "He told me he was looking for something. Something to make him stronger. Better. He said he had a feeling he'd find it here. So he fought and fought. And one day he registered for battles through the whole night. Some competitors do that if they are trying to rack up points for the top prizes, but most run out of stamina before long. Not him." She shook her head with a sad, reminiscent smile. "He fought through all the battles. My shift ended that evening, but I– I got worried he was pushing himself too hard so I stayed through the whole night and waited for him to come out… I didn't need to worry." She gave a strange little laugh. "He came out looking like death itself, but he marched straight to the prize machine and traded every last battle point for a specific item, like he'd had his eye on it for a long time. I didn't see what he got, and he left right after obtaining it. I suppose he found what he was looking for." She glanced down at the floor. "You see a lot of people go through that arena. Sometimes people don't even come out alive. Your friend," she nodded at Cloud, "I haven't seen him since that night, but I haven't forgotten him. People like that…you can't forget those ones who grab a challenged and then never let go till it's through."

Beside them, Yuffie screamed angrily. "Denzel, no! You have to get his left. Not that way, the other– NO, NO, NO! You're doing it all wrong!"

Marlene liked Yuffie, but to be safe, she stepped a bit closer to the attendant in case Yuffie decided to jump into the brawl. "Hey," Marlene asked. "Not to be rude, but why tell me this?"

The woman closed her eyes a moment before taking a deliberately long look at Yuffie to assure that the hyperactive girl was preoccupied. Leaning down to Marlene's ear level, the lady whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

Marlene sobered her expression.

"When I was younger, I lived in Midgar. You know where that was?"

"Yes."

"Good. It was only a few years before I decided to get a job here. At the time, I was doing some small grocery deliveries for my mom on the plate. I was walking along with my arms full of bags when a squadron from the militia ran by. They were all young, rambunctious boys. Maybe they didn't see me, or maybe they didn't care. Either way, I ended up on the ground with my produce scattered on the streets. It had been a long day and I felt like crying or screaming. But then, this boy separated from his unit and came back to help me. He acted like such a gentleman and kept on apologizing and asking if I was alright. After we picked up all the vegetables, I tried to thank him. He interrupted and asked if there was anything he could do more to help me. His troop was far ahead by now, and I knew he would likely be punished for doing the right thing, but I so wanted to know…" she again gazed at Cloud with a wistful look. "I asked to see his face. So he took off his helmet, and as soon as I saw those gold spikes, I fell for him. His job demanded he do his duty as a soldier, but he instead went against the rules to help me. That's the kind of person he was, and I fell hard for him. But…I never told anybody. I suppose I just…wanted someone to know, because he's not mine, you understand?"

Marlene nodded, getting it, but not really.

"Can you do me a favor and not tell him anything I said?" She smiled ever so sweetly, half desperation in her eyes.

Marlene crossed her heart. "Promise." Although, looking at Cloud again, she wanted to tell him. To remind him of a girl that he had made a difference for.

"How did you know I was going to win?" Denzel asked Yuffie as they swaggered down the steps from the Wonder Square to the tubes.

Yuffie scoffed and crossed her arms. "Easy. Cloud wasn't trying to win. He was just trying to make it harder for you to win so you could feel good about your victory."

Cloud denied, "No, I actually tried my hardest. That game isn't my style."

"Honest?" Denzel grinned up at him. The victor didn't really matter to either of them. Playing had been the best part.

"Okay, then," Yuffie stepped in front of them, walking backwards to face Cloud. "If pretend hand-to-hand combat isn't your style, what do you really like here?" She knew, but she wanted to hear it.

"Yuffie," Cloud's face reddened, a phenomena in itself. Nobody could embarrass Cloud.

"What?" Marlene and Denzel asked in unison.

Cloud seemed to shrink and look six years younger as Yuffie crowed, "What else! He's the best chocobo racer the Gold Saucer has ever seen. He even beat Joe in the S class races."

"What's so bad about that?" Denzel prodded Cloud. A motorcycling ex-SOLDIER that can manage six swords while travelling high speeds liked chocobo racing? That wasn't very embarrassing.

Yuffie blocked the entrance to the Ghost Square with two firmly planted feet. "It's bad cause the race announcer always thinks Cloud falls off his chocobo at the starter line because he can't tell Cloud's hair apart from the chocobo feathers and Cloud's racing get-up blends in with the saddle!"

Marlene giggled at the image, but Denzel requested, "Do you think you could race while we're here? I've never seen a chocobo race."

"Yeah!" Marlene chimed in.

Cloud shook his head almost wearily. "We'll see."

Yuffie chuckled and jumped down the tube.

At the Ghost Square, Marlene lagged purposefully behind, dragging Denzel back with her.

Denzel inquired. "Something wrong?"

Marlene removed the fortune strip of paper from her pocket. "I got this from a fortune teller machine."

"Really?" Denzel took the paper and read it in one sweep of his eyes. "That's lame," he handed the paper back. "It's almost like parental advice or something."

"What does it say?" Marlene frowned at the paper.

"You don't know?"

Presenting a moue, she reiterated, "I didn't have time to read it." The words on the little strip read simply: Avoid dark places. Marlene gazed at it disappointedly. "Well, Yuffie did say the fortune teller wasn't real."

Denzel shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it." He moved up ahead with the others, leaving Marlene to her pensive pace.

Shrugging she dropped the paper on the lawn to the side of the path. Denzel was right. Don't worry. She was just trying to make up for her disappointment. That was all. Just another generic fortune. Right?

This is the third re-write and the first time I've had to completely rewrite an entire chapter. Every time I rewrote it kept getting longer and longer, and now I believe this is the longest chapter. Yikes! Anyway, sorry for the wait. And here's my apology in advance for next week. I am working on a Christmas giftfic for a friend in the Merlin fandom so I will either not have a chapter out next week or it will likely be later like this time.

Anyway, next time we're gonna have some fun! (Ooo! I've been waiting for this next chapter for a while now! Hehe!)

-Dante