Title: Forget Me Not
Summary: Sometimes, you've just got to know when to leave the past behind and embrace the future. That is a concept Rude's always had trouble with. At least, until he met someone who could help in move forward.
Pairing: Rude/Yuffie
Rating: T
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Romance, Drama
Warning: Graphic Scenes, Language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters and I am not making any money off of this work of fiction.
Chapter Two
"Where's Reno when I need him?"
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The air was cold, dark and cold. A sharp breeze blew swiftly through the night, piercing skin to the core. However, despite her scantily clad appearance, Yuffie was as warm as she'd ever been.
Her bare skin nuzzled lightly into the red robes that enveloped her body; keeping her warm in the night sky. A light sigh of content escaped her girl's throat as she wrapped her arms tightly around the other individual's body, hugging the man securely as her cheek dug deeper into his collar bone, trying to pull every piece of warmth from his body she could.
Strong arms wrapped equally tight around her own body, pulling her compactly against the man's chest. The corners of Yuffie's lips turned upwards at the feeling. This was the feeling she'd been waiting so long for. This was the thing she'd dreamt about, fantasized about. This was the thing she'd been wanting for four long years, and now she knew exactly how it felt.
"You're cold?" A strong voice asked Yuffie in the dark. The young ninja simply smiled and shook her head, burying her face in the crook of the man's voice.
"Not like this." She whispered back quietly before taking in a deep breath. She'd always enjoyed the smell of the man that now held her so tightly, "Just stay like this? With me?"
The man was silent for a long moment, but that didn't bother her. Yuffie had long ago grown used to the man's awkward silences, they'd just become another part of him. Finally, his head nodded curtly, "As long as you'd like."
That was all Yuffie needed to hear. The smile on the girl's face grew wider as she sat up slightly, pulling herself up to peer into the angelic face that her lover owned. Her eyes traced up every ridge and edge the face had, finally landing on his eyes. Those dark, crimson pools of desire. How long had she longed to peer into those pupils, only to be forced to look away in embarrassment whenever she caught herself doing so?
This time, however, the man didn't look away. Yuffie blinked a moment before leaning in slowly and placing a light kiss on the man's lips. She smiled as she pulled away and once again buried her face in the man's chest.
She was happy.
Suddenly, a cool breeze blew through, whipping Yuffie's hair and cutting into her bare skin. She grumbled lightly as she reached for the man's red robes, but found none. Confusion marred Yuffie's face before she finally cracked open her eyes.
The dark night terrain was now replaced with one of daylight. Beams of sunlight littered the area she now occupied, landing on grassy land and on the sides of trees. The breeze still blew, although it was far from chilling. Instead, it carried with it a feeling of warmth. It was that familiar breeze Wutai always held.
Yuffie blinked hard, a feeling of drowsiness in her eyes. Had she been sleeping? Was that all a dream? The young ninja's lips formed into a frown, until her hands felt the familiar feeling of fabric underneath her. She was still lying on top of someone, the person's chest serving as her pillow.
Perhaps… she hadn't been dreaming? Was he really there with her?
Slowly, Yuffie moved her eyes to look over at the person she now rested on. Her eyes landed on a strong, rigid face, somewhat similar to that of the man of her dreams, but still completely different. The strong face held a deeper tan and light bristles of a goatee stood out on his chin. Gone was the angelic, nearly feminine one of the dark-haired man, replaced with a much more masculine one. Perhaps the strongest contrast to the man of her dreams, however, was the fact that this man had no hair. His shaved head glistened in the daylight.
Finally, Yuffie sat up curtly, looking down at the man she rested on. His black suit was dirty and slightly torn in spots, and no glasses sat on the man's nose. Suddenly, all the events of before rushed back to Yuffie and she sighed, rubbing her now throbbing forehead.
"It was all a dream after all." Yuffie whispered quietly, her frown remaining, "Vince…"
With a deep sigh, Yuffie crawled off of the fallen Turk and sat herself on the ground before turning to look at the man she'd been sleeping on earlier. The older male's chest rose and fell slowly, but he was obviously pretty hurt from the fall they'd taken together. She could briefly remember what happened.
Rude had ruined her daring escape. The plan was for her to dive off of Da Chao, then use to expert ninja training to land safely in the trees below. However, the bald dumby had ruined that when he grabbed her arm, forcing her to use her Fire materia to escape. She hadn't expected the force of the explosion to momentarily knock her unconscious, and send her and Rude plummeting to the ground together.
Yuffie frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. She could remember Rude pulling her into his arms tightly. If it wasn't for that, things could have been a lot worse. He'd taken the brunt of the fall, and she could tell.
He'd protected her?
"Dumb bald idiot…" Yuffie mumbled quietly as she crawled over to sit by his side. Her hands gently reached out and touched the man's chest and arms, feeling along him for breaks. A light blush fell over Yuffie's face as she did so. It's not like this was the first time she'd treated men's wounds. She'd been forced to do a lot more than this when she'd been traveling the globe with her AVALANCHE friends. She'd seen the near naked frames of Cloud, Barret, and even Vincent more times than she could remember. Still, they were friends. This… was Rude.
"I shouldn't even be bothering." Yuffie grumbled to herself as her hands continued to move over Rude's chest, feeling each rib to see if there were any broken ones, "You did this to yourself, you know? If you'd just had left Wutai alone then you wouldn't be in this shape right now. Idiot."
Yuffie finally finished her check-up and sat back, crossing her legs as she sat in the grass. Rude was a tough guy and had survived the fall with no breaks or anything. Still, he wasn't in real great shape. With a sigh, Yuffie looked at her arm guard and began checking the four round sockets that were built into it, and the four round objects inside.
Her eyes landed on the green orb that sat in the first socket and she nodded, holding her hand out towards Rude. The ninja closed her eyes and concentrated her energy on the green orb. She felt the quick surge of magical power run through her body then watched as green sparkles fell over Rude's body.
It wasn't an overly strong Cure spell, but it was enough to at least help Rude regain some of his strength. He was still unconscious, but at least in less pain than he probably was before.
"There, you owe me, baldy." Yuffie grumbled at the unconscious Turk, "I don't use my materia on just anyone, you know."
Yuffie stared at Rude for a few moments more, as if expecting the bald man to reply, then simply rolled her eyes and lay back in the grass, sighing deeply.
"Well, this is a fine mess you've found yourself in, Yuffie." The ninja whispered to herself, "Stranded at the foot of Da Chao, deep in the Wutai Woods, with probably the worst company one could find."
The young girl sighed as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her coveted cell phone. Just as she'd expected, there was no service this far into the forest. A light pout stood out on the girl's lips as she closed the phone and returned it to her pocket, only to feel another thing inside. Yuffie blinked before pulling out the folded piece of blue paper, suddenly remembering what it was.
"Oh, yeah. Shinra's blue prints." Yuffie thought quietly as she slowly unfolded the design. She flattened the blue paper out on the ground and looked into over thoughtfully.
The design printed on the blue parchment was very familiar. It looked exactly like one of Shinra's old Mako Reactors. However, at the bottom of the paper, printed in bold letters, read 'Planet Friendly."
Yuffie rolled her eyes as she began folding the paper up again, "'Planet Friendly' my right leg!" The ninja huffed as she climbed to her feet and returned the paper to her back pocket before crossing her arms and looking around at her surroundings. "Now what?"
A light rumbling in Yuffie's stomach quickly answered her question and she sighed, "Guess I'm going hunting?" She asked before turning to look at her fallen company. Rude still lay there, motionless save for the steady rising of his chest. Yuffie shrugged her shoulders as she turned on her heel and marched off into the woods, hoping she could find something edible.
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The sound of birds chirping filled Rude's ears as he slowly began to wake from his sleep. A throbbing pain immediately filled the Turk's head as his eyes cracked open, only to shut tightly as bright light rushed in and stung his irises.
Had Reno taken him out drinking again?
"Fuck…" Rude muttered quietly as he slowly forced himself into a sitting position. He finally cracked open his eyes and peered around at his surroundings. He was deep in some forest, lying in a clearing of the trees. The bald man looked up and could clearly see the hole in the trees overhead where he'd crashed through earlier. How he'd survived with so few injuries, he'd never know.
The Turk sat up straight and looked himself over. He appeared to be in pretty good shape save for a few cuts in his favorite suit and a lack of sunglasses on his nose. "Guess I'm tougher than I… wait… the girl…"
Rude blinked as he looked around. Just as he'd expected, Yuffie was nowhere in sight. He'd surely protected the girl from the fall, shielding her body with his own as they crashed through the trees surrounding Da Chao, and now she was gone. And with her, the Mako Reactor prints.
"Ungrateful brat…" The Turk muttered quietly to himself.
Slowly and achingly, Rude forced himself to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. Other than a bit of soreness in his joints, he was tip-top. The bald man jumped on the balls of his feet and few times and tested his arms by throwing a few punches in the air, before placing his hands on his hips and nodding.
Rude cracked his knuckles before peering around, "Now, to find a way out of here."
Instinctively, Rude reached up and placed a finger on the communicator in his ear. He cleared his throat and spoke, "Tseng, come in."
There was no response in his ear and Rude blinked a bit in confusion, "Tseng?"
The Turk frowned as he pulled the Shinra-made communicator from his ear and looked at it. The small device gave him no response as he pressed a few of the small buttons and Rude sighed, "Broken…"
Rude tossed the communicator into the grass and crossed his arms. He was stranded, alone and with no means of getting a hold of the others. What a fine mess he'd landed in…
"Well, look who's up."
The sound of a familiar voice caused Rude to spin around and stare in mild surprise at the sight before him. Standing next to one of the large trees was that familiar little ninja. Yuffie stood there with a small smirk on her youthful face, a mild twinkle in her chestnut eyes as she beamed at Rude. Both her arms held a small amount of fruit and berries, which she tossed on the ground in front of them before placing her hands on her bare waist.
"Feeling better?" Yuffie question as she stared at him.
Rude crossed his arms over his chest as he looked from the fruit to the ninja, then rose a confused brow at her, "You're still here?"
"Well, duh!" Yuffie rolled her eyes as she grabbed a berry from the pile and popped it into her mouth, "You know, I was thinking about using my wings to fly out of these woods and go home, but I thought I'd wait around for you to wake up."
Rude ignored the sarcasm in the girl's voice and shrugged his shoulders, "Figured you took off when you woke up."
"Figured wrong, huh?" Yuffie shrugged her shoulders as she sat herself down on the ground and grabbed another berry, "The woods 'round here are pretty dense. Not only that but-" Yuffie paused as she threw another red berry in her mouth, chewing in between words, "-this is the most dangerous part of all of Wutai Woods. We're at the base of Da Chao, not exactly a friendly place."
The bald man nodded slowly before clearing his throat, "Do you still have the blue prints?"
Yuffie rolled her eyes as she stared up at Rude with a dark frown, "I do and you're not touching'em! I think we got a little bit more to worry about right now than your stupid Shinra nonsense. In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of in a predicament here, baldy."
Rude crossed his arms as he looked down at the girl, "And whose fault is that?"
"Not mine!" The ninja shouted as she scampered to her feet. She marched over to the much taller Turk and slammed a finger into his chest, "If you hadn't grabbed onto me during my escape, this would have never happened!"
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you stole Shinra property." Rude commented coolly, looking down at Yuffie with a furrowed brow.
"Shinra property?!" The younger girl growled as he placed her hands on her hips defiantly, "What?! You expect me just to sit back an' let you stupid Shinra dummies come around and try to turn Wutai into even more of a joke than it already is?! Besides, what the hell are you thinking anyways? Trying to bring back Mako Reactors? Are you kiddin' me?!"
Rude frowned deeply, "The President is-"
"Blah, blah, blah!" Yuffie rolled her eyes as she turned away from Rude and marched back over to the pile of fruit, "President this, President that. He's not even a president anymore, you know. Shinra is over. He's just a normal guy now." The young ninja stretched before spinning around and addressing the Turk once more, "Just count yourself lucky, bucko that you survived with as little injuries as you have. Not many do after terrorizing the home of Yuffie Kisaragi, the mightiest warrior in all of Wutai!"
A skeptical brow rose at Yuffie as Rude reached into his jacket and pulled out one of his spare sets of sunglasses before placing them on his nose.
Yuffie watched Rude in shock before crossing her arms, "Are you serious? You carry around spares?"
"Why not?"
"You're weird." Yuffie wrinkled her nose at Rude as she shrugged her shoulders, "Who carries around spare sunglasses? Seriously?"
"I do." Rude stated coldly as he straightened the glasses on his nose then surveyed the pile of food before him before plucking a yellow-ish fruit from the mix, "and my thanks for the food but after I'm done, I'll be taking Shinra's prints and making my way out of here."
Yuffie's mouth opened in a mix of shock and anger at Rude before stomping forward once more, "Hold it right there, baldy! You ain't going anywhere. Not with those blue prints and not without me! Besides, what makes you think you can find your way out of here alone?"
Rude shrugged his shoulder as he took a bite from the fruit, "Tseng and the Turks should be coming for me shortly."
The young ninja rolled her eyes, "Well, they're not the only ones. I'm sure Wutai's mightiest warriors are already scouring the woods for me." Yuffie nodded proudly as she turned away from Rude, smirking to herself.
The bald Turk was quiet a moment as he chewed his fruit before quietly questioning her, "I thought you were Wutai's mightiest warrior."
Yuffie blinked a moment before spinning around to address Rude once more, "I-I am! I mean Wutai's other warriors!" The young girl shouted, chestnut hues glaring at the taller individual.
Rude nodded slowly, "If you're so mighty, why don't you just find your way out of here on your own then?"
"Well, I would if it weren't for the fact that thanks to someone I'm currently without my shuriken!"
"Someone? You mean me?" Rude blinked in confusion as he looked up into the accusing eyes of Yuffie as she nodded slowly, "How is that my fault? You threw the damn thing at me."
"Well… you're the one that jumped over it. If you hadn't done that, I'd still have it."
"Because it'd be buried in my chest…"
Yuffie shrugged her petite shoulders, "A minor consequence."
Rude shook his head as he finished his fruit and began reaching for another one. Yuffie slowly sat herself down next to the pile and began digging in herself.
"Besides, you owe me." Yuffie spoke once more, "If it weren't for me and my materia, you'd be in a whole lot of pain right now."
"So, that's why I'm in such good condition…" Rude thought quietly to himself as he began munching on what looked like an apple, choosing not to say anything to the ninja girl.
Yuffie stared at Rude as he chewed the rest of her food, trying to figure the bald man out. She rolled her eyes at his silence, "Great. How do I always get stuck with the loser quiet guys? First Cloud, then Vince, and now this baldy. Hell, he's worse. At least Cloud and Vinnie had pretty hair…" Yuffie frowned as thoughts of her black-haired fantasy once again filled her mind.
The young ninja quickly shook the thoughts of Vincent Valentine from her head and stretched leisurely on the grass as she finished eating, "Have you come to terms with not leaving me alone yet, Mr. Baldy? You couldn't leave a poor, unarmed, defenseless little girl out in the woods alone, could you?"
"Shit…" Rude thought quietly as he tossed the last of his apple in his mouth. She was hitting him right where it counts. His chivalry. "Damn kid…"
Yuffie could tell she had found Rude's weak spot and sat forward, "I just… I don't think I can make it out here all alone. It's so… scary." The ninja forced her lips into her best pour and crawled forward towards Rude, "Won't you… help me?"
Rude frowned deeply as Yuffie crawled towards him, taking a step back from the girl and putting his hands up. Why was he always so weak when it came to girls? Kids and girls, and Yuffie was a mix of both.
"Sure, fine." Rude finally stated before trying to regain his cool composure, "I suppose I can't really leave you anyways. Not when you have the blue prints."
Yuffie smiled broadly as she jumped to her feet, throwing her hands up in victory, "Ha! I knew you'd come around, baldy!"
Rude sighed as he re-adjusted his glasses and turned away from the girl, "Where's Reno when I need him?"
The younger girl was still busying herself with her celebrations as Rude brushed the dirt from his suit and set off into the woods, simply grunting to get the girl's attention. Yuffie finally turned her head to watch as Rude left and quickly stumbled after him, "Hey! Wait up, bald stuff! Remember, you can't leave me alone!"
Rude sighed deeply as he heard Yuffie sprinting after him. This was going to be a long trip.
To Be Continued…