The Great Ninja Yuffie - Chapter 1: Boiling the Kettle for Tea
At first glance, Yuffie didn't recognize these private apartments. But after scanning the area and locating the Da-chao mountains, she knew exactly which direction she should head for home. It took no more than an hour for her to once again meet the familiar paths of Wutai Village.
Yuffie thought about the kind of responses she will receive from the people of Wutai. She remembered two years ago when they blamed her for spreading the Midgar disease. Now that everyone was cured, she was certain to be welcomed peacefully this time.
It was late afternoon. Yuffie's father was in the kitchen, boiling a kettle for tea.
"Dad, I'm home." Godo turned around when he heard his daughter's voice.
"Y-yuffie!? You're back."
"How is everyone?"
"Good, good... the disease is gone. Everyone cured."
"Once again, I took part in saving the world!"
Godo nodded, and laying a heavy hand on her shoulder, he thanked her. "Thank you, Yuffie. I am glad to see you're back safe."
"Was I on TV?" Yuffie asked curiously, but her father just smiled.
Yuffie and Godo talked a bit more about the war. Godo told her that he did not see much action on TV, just chaos and injured people in Midgar. Yuffie, despite being extremely tired, wasn't planning to sleep yet; she wanted to see everyone in Wutai welcoming her back first.
After a long hot shower, she entered her father's room where he was filling some papers out. Glaring at the papers, she squinted her eyes and asked, "Where is everyone?"
"Mmm," Godo sipped from his cup. "I don't know. Why do you ask?"
"They'd expect me back by now. Will there be a welcoming party?"
"No." With that response, Yuffie raised her brow and gave him a dubious stare. Then Godo continued, "Yuffie, haven't you realized that the people are apathetic about your return? They won't feel your presence, unfortunately."
Yuffie put both hands on her waist, displeased with his answer. "Dad, everyone knows what I've been through! The patients-"
"You've been out of Wutai too often for too long. It's great that you're back, but no one cares or should care, really. "
"That's not true..."
"Mmm," Godo muttered, taking another sip of tea. "This tea. Try some."
Yuffie backed away at his offer. "Umm... no thanks."
"There's hot water in the kettle."
After putting some thought, Yuffie realized that Godo was right. Being his daughter, she had always been praised and respected; however, she never returned the favor. It surprised her that she couldn't even name many people from her hometown. Even though she admitted to being selfish, she knew that wasn't the reason that no one cared for her.
During the Geostigma crisis, Yuffie spent a year taking care of the infected people at a small hut outside of the village. She offered them hope and taught them martial arts, and made plenty of friends in the process. Now with everyone cured, she had no idea where they had run off to.
Yuffie was now in bed, imagining herself being surrounded and honored by a crowd of people. Cuddling inside some blankets, she glued her eyes on her mobile phone, scanning through her contacts list out of sheer boredom.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she remembered him: Yuri.