A/N: Oh good, Yuffie is now in the picture…how will she react to news of getting a fiancé? By the way, sorry for the long update, school had to come first.

Wutai University…

Yuffie and Tifa had hurried out of the classroom to get to the parking lot as soon as possible. The cousins have agreed to meet their friends Carys and Zack at the parking lot so that they could go on over to the airport to meet up with Yuffie's father and Tifa's uncle Godo. He had been out for a while doing some trading while supporting for their education. Yuffie's mother had died in a traffic collision when she was twelve, and Tifa lost her parents in the same car at age fourteen—the driver, one Weiss Schwartzwald, the man who had caused the accident he died in had a blood-alcohol concentration of .2%.

Running down the grass, they had finally caught up with panting breaths. "Hey, what took you guys so long?" asked Zack, inserting the key into his pickup truck.

Tifa was still panting as she spoke. "Sorry…Professor Tuesti…he had to keep us behind for a bit…and…and…my god Yufs, how is it that you always have more energy than me? I swear…you are a bouncing sugar ball even today…" Yuffie was panting as she spoke as well. "Well at least I'm not the one who's ogling at Sephiroth Crescent all day long!"

"Hey, I'll have you know that Sephiroth is not the guy I was ogling at…you should follow your own advice when it comes to Reeve."

"Oh stop it, Professor Tuesti is way too old for me…although he is a hottie for thirty…too bad that he's got the band around his finger."

Zack cleared his throat, turning their attention to him. "Ladies, if you'll please, we have a destination to make. So if you don't mind, please get inside the car so that you can fight some more inside there." At that, the two of them stopped their arguing, and got into the car. Zack and Carys have been dating for a few months now, and so it would not be surprising that he wants to get this done quickly so that he can get back to ogling at his girlfriend: chestnut hair held up by a green headband, eyes the color of the sky behind a pair of small rectangular glasses, and a healthy tan fitting in on a slender pear-shaped body type…she was sort of the middle ground between Yuffie and Tifa's banana and hourglass shapes respectively.

"So what do you really think of Kadaj?" asked Tifa, "Okay, so I think he's a probable candidate," admitted Yuffie, as she buckled her seatbelt, "but it's been a while since we last dated…he hasn't even given me a call back since he went off into the Shin-Ra Soldier program. I don't know if he will ever find it in himself to step up."

"Give him some time Yuffs, maybe he'll come around."

"I know I should give him some time, and that he's a good guy and all; really sexy, really nice, but something tells me that he's not my Flying Demon."

The Flying Demon was a popular story among girls from ages 12 and up. It was the tale of a man that was cursed by the woman he loved to sail for eternity, for having broken his promise—now, every seven years, the Flying Demon comes from the Sailor's Hell to the mortal plane to search for a bride. "In that case, trust your instincts…but always keep him on mind."

"I'll do that Teef."

"So how was your test today?" asked Carys, running her hand up and down Zack's thigh subtly.

"It was easy," said Yuffie with pride in her voice, "Mr. Tuesti was covering the Western War." The Western War was a war that had ended not more than thirty years ago…it started when the Western Continent attacked the Eastern islands. For nearly thirty years, the war had raged on, and thirty years later, peace had come, the ravages of the war started healing themselves back again. However, it was like the beginning of the Edo period—many battleships were decommissioned and sent to the scrapyard to be torn apart and remade into civilian vehicles, although a handful have turned to petty banditry and piracy. It just so happened to be Yuffie's favorite history subject because it was around the time of the Flying Demon legend—a legend that she still favors more than any other.

"I swear, if you keep studying such subjects like that with a passion, you'll never get a guy to go out with you!" said Zack, stopping the car. "We're here!" With that, the two girls got out of the car, and walked into the airport, waiting at port number 7...

Moments ago: Highwind Mess Hall…

Godo simply walked around in the cafeteria with a tray in hand, carrying a bowl of barbecued chicken strips on rice. Something about him seemed familiar, and even Cid had mentioned that he had seen his ship before…perhaps he's just a regular old nameless pirate? No, something about Captain Valentine bothered him…he just couldn't put his finger on it. The surname of Valentine alone sounded familiar, but who was he? He simply walked on towards the mess hall and found that it was populated with the crew from both Valentine's ship, and the crew of the "Highwind". As he looked around, he found one familiar face among everyone enjoying their lunch…it was the woman who was checking up on and healing all the injured parties. Godo walked on, and found a seat in front of the auburn-haired beauty of roughly 25 years of age. "Can I help you?" she asked, wiping her mouth as she took a gander at her visitor.

Godo could not be more stunned when he looked into her emerald eyes. "I was wondering…out of concern for my daughter…what kind of person is your captain, Miss…?"

The woman offered her hand to shake with Godo, giving a slight smile as she did so. "Gainsborough, Doctor Aeris Gainsborough. I'm the ship's doctor."

Godo released his hand from hers as he took his seat in front of her. "Well it's a pleasure doctor. Anyway, what can you tell me about him?"

Aeris sighed and looked to her food. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you much about him because I'm one of the newer members of his crew, but I will tell you something, your daughter will be in good hands. I mean, yeah, I know he's a pirate, and yeah I know that he's got this debt over my head for sparing my life, but something about him tells me that I don't want to pay my debts back to him…it's like if he disappears from my life, he'll disappear for good, and I'll never have these good times with him again…it's like he's become a permanent part of my life in a good way. What do you think of him?"

Godo went to work thoughtfully on his charbroiled chicken strips, picking the pieces up with his chopsticks and putting them into his mouth before picking up his bowl and pushing a bit of rice with each piece he ate. "From what I could tell on day one, he's a very formidable opponent—I wouldn't want to be on the business end of either that revolver of his or that power claw…in fact, I believe it would be foolish to resist him when he has so much of a tactical mind about him. Judging from my analysis of him, and getting my response from you, I'd say he's a man that deserves a good deal of respect. Although something bugs me about him."

"How so?"

The confusion in his face was noticed by the ship's doctor. "I don't know, but I feel as if I've seen his face somewhere…and call me crazy, but he seemed to have this scent of death wafting off of him—and it's mixed in with this burning sensation about him like the air was very hot only in his presence."

Aeris looked to her acquaintance with some surprise in her eyes before she calmed herself. "No, I don't think you're crazy, especially not with the heat about him. I may not have your sharpened senses as a ninja to tell if he's really dead or not, but I get this feeling that he's alive when he's supposed to be dead…it's as if whenever I have a meeting with him, it's like I'm talking to a ghost…like he's here, and yet, not here. You know what I'm saying?"

"I know that feeling…from the few times that I've been speaking to him, he seems to have this look in his eyes…something is troubling him. I'd call it nostalgia, but it's probably a more extreme form of it…where he sees visions of the past, and it seems to slow him a bit in the present. It's probably just that, but either way, I doubt my daughter would take the news of her marriage without kicking and screaming first."

Aeris laughed…whatever for, Godo could not tell. "I doubt it'll matter—if I managed to get along with him in a short amount of time, then it won't take long for her to get along with the captain at the very least. Like I said, she'll be in good hands if she marries him—and she'll see just how much she'll like him in due time."

The Highwind: Guest's Quarters

Captain Valentine slept in his bunk after his lunch—it was a small and modest cabin meant for guests of the captain and the boss, which he was, but he was used to it…normally, he avoided sleep anyway due to the many nightmares that had attacked him but this time, it was as if they had nobody else to bother, but he honestly didn't have much else to do except to sleep. As a result, he was almost always found near a decanter of coffee in the morning…he needed the caffeine to snap himself back into reality from his attempt to sleep at night. His curse was not the nightmares for they have plagued him even when he had gotten out of Hell, but what happens when he steps into the moonlight—he becomes something that is not of this world…and then he no longer simply becomes a ghost…he becomes much worse than that…

His dreams made him remember what had happened; they made him remember how he and the original crew died, how bad all the tortures were in Hell's jailhouse, how he had to watch from his place in the afterlife as Lucrecia cursed him for breaking his promise while the rest of his crew was tortured—everyone else managed to pass on or leave after settling their debt to him free of damnation…no, until he fulfills his promise to find a woman who would be loyal to him, he will be forever damned…it's actually a wonder that nobody except Reno, Rude, Tseng, Elena, and Shelke know of his secret. Reno, Rude, Tseng, and Elena were all part of the original crew who chose to stay with him after they died and so it's no surprise that they know; Shelke was brought back as well when the "Crimson Princess" was renovated upon his parole from Hell, and so even she knows his secret. Among the members of his crew that are not aware of his condition are Aeris and Shera, in addition to everyone else who has not died yet or settled their debt to him by then.

Halfway in the middle of his nightmare, Valentine woke to the sound of knocking on the metal door. "Come on in," he said with his eyes half-closed, and the door opened to reveal a blond man somewhat younger than himself with gravity-defying spiky hair, "Cloud, you rarely ever need to come on up to me personally to make a request—what can I do for you today?"

The look of concern on the younger man's face as well as the hurt was evident as he closed the door behind him. "Captain, I overheard from your four most-trusted members about this 'secret' of yours. Now know this; I just joined in because I thought that Aeris would be safe as long as I paid our debt to you, and what I want to know before I even consider leaving you is this; will it be dangerous when 'it' comes out in the presence of moonlight?"

Valentine was surprised—for once, someone outside of his small group knew of his secret. He simply sighed. "You do realize that eavesdropping is rude don't you? Anyway, there will be no danger when 'it' comes out…but people tend to run in fear when they do see 'it'. Why do you think I stay locked up in my own quarters? I don't want 'it' to be known about me…I do suppose you can be trusted not to tell any of the crew about it?"

"Who would believe me if I did? Besides, in all the time I've been in your debt, I actually took a liking to you…I don't think I can bring myself to tell anyone even if I didn't, especially after I looked even deeper into your past. It just hurts me that you never told any of the crew your secret when you know that they are your family. We trust you, just as you trust us and you don't even tell us why you stay away from us at night—can you blame me feeling that way?"

"No…I doubt I would…ah yes, before I forget Cloud, yours and Aeris' debt with me has already been settled, and so the two of you may leave whenever you wish…but if you do want to leave, I would recommend that you do so as soon we are landed in Wutai, for the trip back to the base would begin in a few weeks. If you want to stay, that's fine, but I would prefer if you left—I feel bad because the two of you would be wasting your time here to comfort me when you should be out in the world living out your lives and being happy without me in it…there's no need to worry about me, I'm already used to goodbyes after seeing so many members of my crew leaving and passing on."

"I really don't know what to say Captain."

"Don't say anything then. Is there anything else you wish of me?"

"No. But I will consider what you tell me."

"Godspeed then Cloud…and may the gates of heaven open for the two of you."

As he watched his newest crewmember bow and leave, Valentine reclined back into his seat. His next trip would be to Sailor's Hell—the part of Hell where sailors, good and bad, have died breaking a promise, and still have regrets on breaking those promises. If he does not stay there for seven years, then his disguise will be chipped away and his true form would be revealed…for he is no longer a human, nor is he a ghost—he is a demon now…

Wutai Airport, Dock 7…

Yuffie and Tifa sat around at the waiting area for almost half an hour now. They were getting anxious. "You still nervous?"

"Of course I am; Dad just called yesterday and said that he'd be coming home with a new friend. Why wouldn't I be nervous? I just hope that this new friend of his isn't just some prick who's just using him for money…I remember that Scarlet bitch…" Scarlet was Godo's last wife—and like she had said, she was a bitch…she abused Yuffie and Tifa, made them do all the chores, and all so that she could go on out and date other guys using Godo's money. She really made him believe she was a good person…now he knows better. From that day on, Godo never married again.

"I won't argue with that."

The sound of the Highwind landing and the beep that signaled that it had docked had sounded off. Yuffie and Tifa ran towards the door as soon as it opened, and both closed their eyes as they ran to hug Godo. "Dad! I've missed you!" As Yuffie grabbed her target, she realized that her father had gotten thinner—as if he had turned into a woman overnight. She opened her eyes, and found herself looking into the prettiest red eyes she had ever seen…

A/N: Captain Barbossa's curse inspired Vincent's curse, only Vincent's curse won't turn him into a zombie pirate.