"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it." - John Steinbeck ---------- A bright and sunny morning. Delicate observations brought to light changes in weather pattern. Thin strips of clouds streaked the sky like prison bars and a heady warmth carried on the soft breeze-humidity had gone up. A storm was approaching. Roland's green pickled eyes lay shaded beneath his furrowed brow as he stood with broom in hand at the entrance to his clothing shop. He could see the horizon, the shimmer of the ocean beneath the glare of the sun. In his head, he imagined a world where confusion ruled and chaos threatened to destroy. ...He imagined the ones he loved caught in that struggle. The wooden shop sign squeaked as it swung on its iron post, and it earned a look of annoyance from the startled young man. Roland loved his store. He loved designing clothes and making people feel good about themselves. It was almost a compulsion on his part, to interact and to help. He knew this quality made him somewhat meddlesome and perhaps even a little pushy-like an IV needle shoved capriciously into a vein. Of the ones who made a difference and the ones who were the difference, Roland didn't care which he belonged. So long as he belonged to something good. "Mason is like me. He wants to do what is best. I know he does." With a cursory sweep of the welcome mat set before the door, Roland turned to enter his store. A short sigh escaped his lips as his hand gripped the brass door knob, "But sometimes I wonder if either one of us are making any progress at all." He crossed the threshold as his hand gently began to close the door behind him. He heard the sign squeak again, and with an irritated click of the tongue, Roland glared back at it, a man besmirched. But the sign was still, and so was the breeze. Roland blinked and stepped back out onto the welcome mat, his long neck craning this way and that as he looked to see where the source of the sound was. "Roland! Roland!" The man stopped, his brows pressed together in great bafflement as the squeak became a harried hiss that slithered up from below. Without moving his head, the man entertained the notion that the ground was indeed talking, and let his gaze drop down to the street ahead of him. What he saw made him drop his jaw in an uncharacteristic show of ungracefulness. "Roland," Tifa said from beneath the barely lifted manhole covering, "I know this is sort of...erm...absurd, but do you think you could come a little closer so that I don't have to talk so loud? It defeats the purpose of my being in here if I speak any higher..." Roland lifted a hand and pointed at the woman, whose face was largely shadowed save for the streak of light across her chocolate brown eyes. "What are you doing?" the man asked warily, uncertain of how to handle such an odd encounter. Anxiously, he looked around him, to see if anyone was watching. "Roland, I'm serious, come closer! I don't have much time-" Tifa hissed urgently. "Let me up! Let me up!! I can't breathe! My lungs aren't working!" The manhole shut with an abrupt clang and Roland started forward, alarmed. "T-Tifa?" he called uncertainly. He stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, his broom held worriedly with both hands, and crouched down as a muffled ruckus of yelps and shouts seeped through the holes of the manhole lid. Then, the lid popped open again, this time raised much higher with Yuffie squeezed on one side and Tifa squeezed on the other. "Oh gawd, thank you! AIR!!" the teenager said with a relieved sigh. Her face was flushed and sweat plastered her hair to the sides of her face. Her arm shook as she supported one side of the manhole cover. Tifa, next to her, gave her a scandalized look, "You didn't need to shove me, y'know..." she grumbled irately. Her arm held up her side of the lid steadily. "I was going to let you up as soon as I saw everything was safe..." "I cracked," Yuffie said with a weak and breathless voice, "I'm sorry, Rusty. The dark, the stench, the shut off tunnels...I thought I could make it but I couldn't. I just didn't want to say anything because-" "-Because of Baxter, yeah," Tifa said with pursed lips, "I know." "You still haven't answered my question, Tifa," Roland said as he rubbed his temple dubiously, "What are you two girls doing!?" "We're on the lamb." Yuffie responded dryly as her dark eyes rolled to meet his. Tifa shrugged wearily. "I dunno if you've heard, but we've been outed by a tabloid newspaper. Apparently we're now in danger-" "-From reporters and religious wack-jobs." Yuffie interjected. "So, uh..." chagrined, the brunette bit her lip and looked to the side, "So we're leaving the city." "With our tails in between our legs." the ninja added. Tifa elbowed her roughly. "We were going to be going soon anyway," Yuffie amended sullenly. Roland looked between the two of them with his eyebrow raised. "And you need to travel by sewer in order to leave safely?" he asked disbelievingly. "Something about a 'low-tech, low profile' method." Tifa explained with another weary shrug. "It was Reeve's idea." "Reeve? The engineer behind the restoration of-" "Mideel and Midgar, yeah," Yuffie cut in unpleasantly. "That nut case. He's a psychiatrist's wet dream." "He means well." Tifa said, her voice lacking confidence. "So this is good-bye then?" Roland said, his expression genuinely disappointed. Both women were lost in their own respective vexations when they heard the shop owner's melancholy tone. Both promptly discarded their problems in favor of comforting their new friend. "Hey, it's not like we can't visit!" "Yeah! Roland, you've been good to us, do you really think we'd just never speak to you again?" "Gawd you've, like, been our personal guidance counselor or something." "I'd say more than a guidance counselor." "Oh, to-tally!! I mean, we wouldn't go out of our way through the city's sewer system just for ANY ol' person!" Roland smiled gratefully and jovial wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. He placed a hand warmly on his chest as he shouldered the broom stick with the other. "That is sweet of you to say, ladies. It makes me feel so," he turned his head and his face grew ashen, "DOWN!" the man screamed frantically with a wild wave of his hand. Yuffie and Tifa stared at him, confused for a moment before the sound of an automobile approaching reached their ears. The brunette grabbed the teenager by the shoulder and yanked her down as the lid crashed shut over them. In the shadows, both women heard the roar of a motor as the car passed and the manhole cover trembled twice as the wheels ran over it. Below, in the dark, Baxter covered his face in exasperation. When the vehicle had gone, both Tifa and Yuffie's ears rang in the ensuing silence, their chests falling and rising in unison as they pressed their knees painfully into the ladder they stood on and pressed their shoulders into the cement wall behind them. In order to duck quick enough, the two had to crouch, but in their panic and cramped space, they nearly fell back down to the sewers from whence they came headfirst. Yuffie was the first to speak. "Tifa, I think I'm gonna puke." the girl said weakly. The hot and foul air of the sewer made her head swim. She shut her eyes and tried to keep from retching. "Try and hold it in, Yuffie." the woman said, sounding equally as weak. "Or I'll puke too." "Girls?" Roland's voice drifted in from overhead. "Are you all right?" "We're fine." Tifa called as she re-emerged. Yuffie followed her, her face a pale shade of green. "That just scared us." "Me too," the man said with a shaky voice, "Really, though, isn't this a bit risky for you two? Coming all the way out here just to say goodbye to me?" "That's what Baxter said, but I don't like him. So I don't care." Yuffie said contumaciously. "We were hoping to say goodbye to Mason as well," Tifa said, with an affectionate but equally exasperated look toward her love. "Is he with you?" she asked hopefully. Roland opened his mouth as his light eyebrows pushed up and caused wrinkles along his forehead. At first it seemed he would speak, but then he shut his mouth again and averted his eyes to the ground with a shake of his head. "No...no, no, sweetheart. I'm afraid Mason's left town early this morning. An urgent business matter. Something dull like that..." "Oh..." Tifa's face fell in disappointment. "I was really hoping to see him." Yuffie quirked her eyebrow as a thought occurred to her, "Say...did he tell you where he was going? We might see him!" Roland blinked and ran a hand through his strawberry blond hair. "Ah, he didn't actually. I'm afraid he didn't have time." "Didn't have time?" The ninja said incredulously, "But it only takes a-" Tifa elbowed her again, this time with a pointed glare. Yuffie let out a grunt and tongued her cheek. "I don't think a teacher would leave so suddenly like that for 'business'..." the girl muttered. Roland frowned. "Pardon?" Tifa cleared her throat. "Uh...well, y'see, Mason never told us what he did for a living, so me and Yuffie both took guesses as to what he does. I guessed he was a bartender, and she guessed he was a teacher." She quickly raised a hand and waved it frantically, "Not that it's any of our business!" "You mean he hasn't told you?" Roland said with a blank look that seemed off-color for the spriteful young man. "No." Yuffie said with a shake of her head. "He never told us." The blond man bit his lip and rubbed his chin. His other hand, still holding the broom, rolled it back and forth on his shoulder as he thought. "Well," he began, "It's true that he used to be a bartender... I don't know about teaching formal classes, but he was a paid tutor for a time at a community center up on the Northern Continent, too." "And now?" Yuffie pressed. "What does he do now?" "To be honest, even I'm not sure." Roland said with a shrug, "Not really." "But he's told you what his job is right?" Tifa said with a tone of disbelief. "I mean, you have to know! You both live under the same roof!" "Well, yes. I have a vague idea." Roland said with a delicate gesture of his hand, "I mean, he told me the title of his position and all of that. But it still eludes me just all the responsibilities that position entails. It's one big complex mess, you see." "So," Yuffie said impatiently. "What does he do, then?" Roland gave her a sympathetic smile, "If he hasn't felt the need to tell you, dear, then I'm sorry." "Lame!" The teenager exclaimed, her expression put-out. The man only chuckled in response. A short, low whistle from the dark of the sewers made both girls look down. Tifa sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, "Well, I guess this really is it then." "Yes, for the positions we're in at the moment, we really have stretched it on a bit haven't we?" Roland said, once again looking downcast. "We're lucky it's so early, or else we wouldn't manage this at all." "Roland, have you got a card or something? So we can call you?" Yuffie asked. The blonde's eyes lit up, "Oh! As a matter of fact I do!" He reached into his back pocket and procured a sleek silver card case from which he pulled out one card with a swipe, like a piece of gum. He held it out to Yuffie, who took it with a grin. "Since you've got that, I expect you to call me, Ms. Kisaragi." The girl gave a shudder, "Eyech! Don't call me that!" Tifa began to climb down the ladder, her eyes misty, "Bye Roland." Yuffie followed suit, and the manhole cover settled shut as they descended completely into the dark of the sewer system. Roland stared at the place where both girls had been for a long while before he stood and returned to his store. The sign squeaked obnoxiously as the door shut behind him. ---------- "Yuffie, would you just quit being so stubborn and take my hand! Please!? You're unsteady, you're sick-" "I said I'm all right! I don't need help Tifa, I mean it." "Why are you being so pig-headed? You could hurt yourself, and-no offense-we could get through here faster if you'd just take my hand!" "NO!!" The shout echoed up and down the slimy walls of the dark sewer tunnel, punctuated only by the dull roar of overhead traffic. Her face shadowed and her hand still extended, Tifa felt her face grow hot and her jaw tighten. With a body that had become stiff, she turned and continued forward to where a silent Baxter stood with his stark white eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. To their left was a wide current of bubbling sewage water. The odor it emitted filled the air, and the heat trapped by the walls made it thick and worse. The walk path they stood on was narrow and wet. It was difficult keeping steady for the sewer wall curved and forced them to duck some to prevent their heads being scraped. The small flashlights Baxter gave made it easier to see where one was going, but being able to see was only part of the problem. It was what made Tifa worried. It was what put Yuffie on edge. The girl in question was at the rear of the three, and she stood rooted to the spot with a horrified expression on her face when she realized what she had done. "Tifa," the girl said weakly. Her face was green and words came on labored breath. With one hand insecurely keeping to the wall, Yuffie stumbled forward, her haste making her gait even more unsteady than before. Both Baxter and Tifa had already continued walking a few yards. "Tifa, I'm sorry!" Yuffie called again, her brow pressed together in remorse. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that! I just, y'know, I-I mean the whole thing, THIS whole thing, is really sort of...um..." The girl gave a frustrated growl, "Oh, GAWD!! It's like Hades cursed my tongue or something!" When Tifa didn't stop or turn her head, Yuffie's head dropped, "It's...it's just...it's everything," she said in a low voice. "I can't take it. This couldn't have happened at a worse time." Tifa finally came to a stop. Baxter, with a brief glance over his shoulder, and after he took a few steps forward, stopped as well. He muttered something under his breath and knelt to fish something out of one his large pant pockets. The fighter, with her moist eyes hidden by the dark, tried to seem as calm and unaffected as she could as she turned to face the girl behind her. "Well I can't take it when you can't take it." she said, and managed a weak smile. "So there." Yuffie didn't smile back, she only bowed her head and sighed inwardly. "I know," she thought to herself. "And as much as I'd like to keep that from being a problem, I'm not sure I can." "Ladies." The rough voice came as a shock to both women, and they jumped in unison. Baxter, with his subtle smile, approached them. "Ifrit, can't you, like, not be a creep?" Yuffie snapped, her patience once again depleted. The man silently held up a small, black, square shaped pad. From it's surface, a pale-colored 3D projection blossomed. The technical map seemed to depict Costa Del Sol as a whole. With his glove back on, the special operative poked the image and it zoomed in to reveal a specific street, which Tifa immediately recognized. "Hey!" she exclaimed, pointing, "That's where we first arrived in the city, as Avalanche! The ship port!" Baxter nodded. He poked the projection again, and it once again zoomed in to reveal the underground sewer system. A small glowing orb was located at the edge of the map. "As you might guess, the red dot is us. Based on this scale, we're approximately half a mile from the port. The street we'll be re-emerging in is three blocks away from the guarded gate. The area past that gate is restricted, safe from all unauthorized personnel and civilians. Our boat is there." "Why can't we leave by plane?" Tifa asked, her face falling, "Wouldn't that be faster?" She looked at Yuffie worriedly, whose lips went thin. "Believe it or not, it'd be faster to go by boat." Baxter responded. "Well I don't believe it." Yuffie said contrarily. She approached them carefully along the walkway, then stopped and steadied herself against the wall. The ninja glared with great loathing at Baxter. "Why couldn't Reeve get Cid to help?" she asked. "And have him do what?" Baxter asked, with a solid frown. "Get in his airship and pick you up like a taxi? As if a flying behemoth in the sky isn't something to notice?" The special operative shook his head with a small derisive snort. "Highwind is the only man on the planet with a plane fast enough that can carry five people. He also happens to be one of the few Avalanche members left in the public eye. Now with all this journalistic chaos going on, don't you suppose that he'll be a little hard pressed to go anywhere? To do anything?" Tifa stared at him, affronted. That was the second time the soldier's professionalism had given way to crass attitude. Yuffie's jaw became visibly tight, and she snapped back before the fighter could even gather herself. "You don't seem to like this job much, do you?" She asked. The small quake in her face hinted toward a desire for violence. Tifa picked up on it, and with a worried expression, she placed her hands on the girls shoulders. "Yuffie. Take it easy. This isn't the place to argue." she said quietly. The ninja only craned to look around Tifa, her anger narrowing her capacity for reason. "You hate babysitting us. You pompous, low-down,sleeze-ball. Quit with the brainwashed, 'Do as you're told,' shtick. You suck at it. You've been sucking at it since you first showed up on our balcony!" Baxter only gazed back at her, his blank white eyes like a dull beacon in the dark. He blinked once. Twice. Then turned and continued walking. "If we keep losing time," he said without turning his head, "Then all of this will be for nothing. I don't think either of us want that to be so." Yuffie stumbled recklessly past Tifa, her unsteadiness worse with her growing agitation. Tifa, flabbergasted, moved out of the way, but reached out a hand to keep the girl from falling into the sewage water. She managed to catch Yuffie's right arm, but in the act, she lost grip of her flashlight, and it clattered into the foul stream of water. Even in her ill state, Yuffie's movements contained a burning ferocity that demanded immediate relent. Startled by it, the fighter obeyed without question. "Hey!" the ninja snapped, her voice suddenly sharp with her anger as she glared at the dark, shrinking form of Baxter. "Don't just walk away like that, jerk! I'm still talking to you! HEY!!" Though her face was covered in sweat, and nausea threatened to take her over, Yuffie bellowed as loud as she could with her stomach cradled and her spine curved. "Come back here!! You yellow-streaked idiot! You think you're better than me? HUH!?" She started to walk forward, her mind not on caution but retribution. Tifa, her eyes wide, felt her grip on the girl's arm slowly slip away. "You're just a mindless tool, you hear me? You're a worthless toy soldier and I don't have to take any of your crap, you big-shouldered baboon! COME 'ERE!! You goddamn coward! You goddamn gun-totin' ugly faced loser! I HATE YOU PEOPLE! You frickin' soldiers, you're all just ants screwing around with peoples lives! But I'm not a chump, you hear me? I'm not a chump! You come back here! Get back here and fight me, you coward! I'll knock that weird face of yours inside out! Do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Tifa stood and stared at her. There was something frightening about Yuffie's fighting spirit. It was obstinate, reckless, and...unbearably open. Tifa had seen it before. Had seen it at least a few times in her life. When Yuffie had been kidnapped by Don Corneo, for instance, she had fought rabidly, tooth and nail, to be freed. At the time, the others had been mad at her, but even then, the fighter was disturbed at how desperate and unwieldy she had become. It were as if the very flames that made her what she was threatened to destroy her and everything around her. Some nagging voice in the back of Tifa's head, however, said that she shouldn't be so uncomfortable with it. That it was a well known trait of the young ninja worldwide. But as the woman finally moved from where she stood, and hugged the ninja from behind with her lips against the girl's cold, damp neck whispering the words, "Calm down. Relax. It'll be all right"-the brunette thought with an anxious churn of her stomach, "I never had her so close to me as she is now..." "...I've never been so close to the sun." ---------- Baxter was the first to head up the ladder toward the manhole, where morning light washed down in shafts through the ventilation holes and lit small spots of their upturned faces. He pulled himself up onto the street deftly, and his blond head turned this way and that in search of danger. When he stood fully out into the open and signaled for the two women to come up, Tifa turned to Yuffie and gestured toward the ladder. "Go on. You first. I wanna make sure you climb up all right." she said. Yuffie smiled weakly, her eyes shadowed in the dark. If the fighter could see them, she would have noticed the shame that haunted their gaze. "Thanks, Rusty." Carefully, she began to climb up the ladder, and when she was up three steps, Tifa followed close behind. The sudden light forced them both to squint their eyes. Baxter quickly replaced the sewer lid, and with a look at Tifa, who was next to him, he began to walk away. Ahead of him in the distance was the mentioned gate, two armed guards watching them with weapons aimed in preparation. The street was located in an area all ready separate from most of Costa Del Sol's activities. There were no businesses or homes here. Just pallid colored warehouses, left quiet and forgotten. No one came here without a purpose. Baxter held up a badge of some sort that glinted with the sunlight. The soldier's apparently saw it through their scopes, for they lowered their weapons some. Yuffie was doubled over next to the sidewalk, her duffel bag at her feet. She had just vomited onto the sidewalk. She gave a harsh cough and spat on the ground. With a shaky hand she wiped at her mouth, sweaty tendrils of hair blocking her face. Tifa, sighed as she approached the ninja with a sympathetic gaze. The brunette knew that the girl had over-exerted herself when she screamed after Baxter the way she did. Tifa could understand that the man was a bit disagreeable, but she wasn't sure why Yuffie disliked him so much. The teenager seemed testier than usual, and the fighter could guess that she was mostly the cause, despite their emotional 'reconciliation' the night before-Reeve's attempt at help didn't improve matters either. ...But the level of loathing toward Baxter seemed gratuitous, even with all things considered. On the other hand, Tifa thought, it had gradually been made clear that while Baxter planned on carrying out Reeve's orders, he didn't like it any more than Yuffie did. He could be unforgiving and caustic, which bothered the fighter as well, but to a lesser extent. Soldiers, especially those of higher position, tended to be that way. The woman had learned this long ago from her dealings with Shinra soldiers and Sephiroth. Baxter probably was exasperated with the entire thing, wondering why two world-renowned heroes couldn't handle something as infinitesimal as bad publicity. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed to Tifa as well. "But we've sort of passed the point of no return," she thought wearily. "To go back now could exacerbate things even further. Even Yuffie knows this. I know she does." Tifa took Yuffie's duffel bag from the ground and slung it over her left shoulder. Then with her right arm crossed along the ninja's back, Tifa took hold of Yuffie's right side. "Come on, love." Tifa breathed. She gently steered Yuffie toward the gate, where Baxter had all ready arrived and now conversed casually with the guards. "I can't believe we're going by boat," Yuffie rasped lowly. She leaned against Tifa as much for comfort as need. Her legs felt heavy and impotent. "Did I ever tell you, Tifa?" the girl said, with a glazed frown at Baxter, "That I haven't gotten over my sea sickness yet?" Tifa ducked her head as she pulled Yuffie's left arm over her shoulders. "No," she responded with a shake of her head. "So the bike riding hasn't cured that yet, huh?" "Not a bit." the girl snorted, "Y'know my entire heritage, my entire culture, is based on living in harmony with the ocean. Isn't that lousy? I can't even go on a fishing boat a mile off shore without ralfing." Yuffie gave a sardonic laugh. Tifa winced at the sound of it. "Why did we accept his help, Rusty?" the girl asked, her glassy eyes still fixed on Baxter. "What do we need that dopey knucklehead for?" The man in question turned and gazed back, his face solemn. Behind him the gate to the port opened. Tifa's brows pressed together as the glint and glitter of the ocean was made clear to her from where she and Yuffie approached. "I don't know, Yuffie." the woman whispered, "Maybe because we aren't the heroes anymore?" The girl's head turned slightly away at this remark, and the fighter felt her spirit sink as the fear set in that she may have upset Yuffie further. Quietly the two, like an awkward loping creature, followed Baxter as he proceeded to lead them toward one of the docked boats. The boat he stopped at looked to be a fishing trawler. Printed along the back in bold but curvaceous letters was the name, "Severe Whisper." It was wide, the top of the boat a good thirteen feet from the water. The bow raised high into the air, proud and pristine. The ship was new. Two people, a man and a woman, were busy with preparations toward the forward part of the deck when they neared. The man was the first to look up. He had ruddy brown hair that was overgrown and limp. His round and young freckled face brightened from its look of concentrated somberness when he saw Baxter. He straightened and gave a respectful nod, the baggy sleeve of his burgundy sweater falling to the crook of his arm as he did so. "Sir, it's good to see you back in one piece." he said with a mirthful grin. His voice was tinged with a lyrical quality that befitted the alacrity in his tone. The woman straightened as well and gave the same respectful nod toward Baxter. "Sir." she said. Her voice was low and scratchy, as if from lack of use. Tifa, noted with a small shudder that the female soldier also had odd eyes, as if a soul were absent behind their azure stare and hungrily sought a replacement. Her mocha shaded skin seemed golden with the morning sun, and her long inky black hair rivaled Tifa's. The fighter avoided making eye contact. Baxter turned to Yuffie and Tifa. "Henley and Lenna," he said, first indicating toward the man than the woman. "Henley is our tech man. He invented the device I used to navigate my way back. He'll be working with our people on the Eastern Continent to create a secure route through Junon. ...He'll also be sailing the boat for most of the time." "Hello," Henley said, his friendly smile odd and incongruent given the situation. "Lenna," Baxter continued in his rough voice, "Is our medic." The woman didn't say anything. She only stared at Yuffie and Tifa. Baxter crossed his arms and his eccentric smile spread across his slim face. "She's also our extra muscle." "Super." Yuffie said lowly. "Can we hurry and get this show on the road? The less time I spend you with you crazies the better..." "Let me show you where you'll both be sleeping," The special operative said as he walked up the loading ramp to the boat. Both women followed him. Tifa had to let Yuffie's side go and settled for just holding her hand, for the sides of the boat's cabin were no better than a catwalk. Stern-side, Tifa and Yuffie entered the interior through the two doors Baxter went through. Inside, the ceiling was five inches from their heads, and the space of the cockpit seemed oddly spacious considering how small it looked outside. Baxter knelt on the floor and lifted a hatch that revealed a small ladder to the boat's small sleeping quarters below. "It isn't a boat meant for long-term use," the man explained, his pale gaze turned up to their faces. "Our trip to Junon will take two days at most. All of today. All of tomorrow." "What'll we eat?" Tifa asked. "Packaged food. We've also got a microwave up here," he pointed to a space next to him. Tucked in a corner was a small fridge and next to it a cabinet with a microwave on the counter. Baxter pointed to the two doors at either side of Tifa and Yuffie. "The door to your right is a storage closet. We keep some of our equipment and supplies there. The door to your left is the head." "The head?" Tifa asked, puzzled. In the back of her mind she noted that Yuffie failed to make a quip or remark about the term, which was out of sorts for the girl. She glanced nervously at her from the corner of her eye. "The toilet." Baxter said as he rose. He pointed down. "You can store your things in the containers above and below the cots. Don't leave your items lying around. The waves will knock them around." "And Yuffie's bike?" Tifa felt the weight of the conversation with Yuffie's silence. She wished the girl would say something. She didn't like being the only one dealing with Baxter and his team. "We left it at the inn." "We had to leave it in order to keep from arousing suspicion, but we can send someone to get it if you'd like." "Um, yeah, that'd be good." "I suggest shipping it somewhere other than Junon. You can't take that out of the city without bringing the media down on your head. We can send it to another coastal city, and have it arrive at Olus, which is an inland town South-East of Junon. You can pick it up there." "Uh..." Tifa glanced at Yuffie, who said nothing. She was busy staring down the hatchway to the place they would be sleeping. The fighter sighed, "Yeah. That'll be fine." "She doesn't look good." Baxter stated, with a nod toward the ninja. "No...Is there anything Lenna can do for her?" "She can take some Dramamine." The fighter jumped slightly and turned her head. Lenna stood behind her, hands over the door as she leaned in. Her eyes bored into Tifa's disconcertingly. "It'll put her to sleep within the hour." she shrugged, "Aside from that, there isn't much to do." "F-Fine." The woman said, perturbed. She looked back at Baxter, her nerves thin. "When are we casting off?" "Few minutes." he leaned to the side and raised an eyebrow at Lenna. "Right?" The female soldier nodded mutely. She brushed past the two women at the door and headed toward the fridge, where she knelt and looked inside. Tifa set Yuffie's duffel bag down. "Do you want to try and lie down?" she asked the girl, her gaze anxious. "I wanna go outside." Yuffie said faintly. "It's worse in here." "Okay," Tifa said with a heavy sigh. "Do you need me to walk you out there?" "No." The curt reply made the fighter wince and turn away. "Um, all right. I'll just put our bags away, okay?" Without looking at the ninja, the fighter dropped down into the hatchway. In the sleeping quarters, she found the space was dark and cold. Tifa rose and moved forward two steps. After that she stopped and let her chin drop to her chest. Yuffie stared with dark-ringed eyes at the place where the older woman disappeared. She did it again. She didn't mean to. Her head swam and she felt her throat tense as bile fought to reach her mouth. Like a drunk person, the girl stumbled out of the cabin toward the stern and vomited again. Baxter watched her from his place inside the ship. His white eyes lowered to the ground before he turned and sat himself in the navigator's chair. Yuffie felt her chest throb as she leaned against the guard rail. "Here." The ninja turned her head and saw Lenna behind her with her hand held out. "The Dramamine You'll go to sleep fast with this. You should probably go back inside and lie down." "And you should probably forget it." Yuffie returned, her usual bite of insult subdued by her sickness. "I'm staying here." Lenna shrugged. The girl held up her hand and Lenna dropped the white, oval shaped pills into her palm. The soldier then walked away without another word. Sullenly, the girl dry swallowed the pills and leaned against the rail completely. A heavy breeze ruffled Yuffie's hair. She recognized it immediately and shut her eyes. The clear skies did nothing. The sun was no ward. Rain would come over them soon. Within the day, most likely. Storm clouds, when caught in a fervent, knew no restraints. For all her waywardness, Yuffie knew this. The people of Wutai were children of the storm. They had been born from the furious waves of Leviathan, the almighty sea god, and sensed rather than saw the approach of one of His tantrums. But she was ill and she was lost. Her sense was dulled. Perhaps if she had been given a better opportunity to realize things earlier that morning, she could've avoided this trip and opted for air travel instead. She still got sick in planes, but planes were quicker and didn't throw her off as much. As it stood, she was stuck with heading East by boat. "Babe, you're toast. ...Darn it, you're toast!" the ninja said miserably to herself. ---------- Tifa massaged her temples, subdued and strangely comforted by the pitch black that curtained around her body. She felt it coat her skin, like an exoskeleton. A defense. "My little defense." she breathed. "Are you talking to yourself?" Tifa looked up with a jerk of her head, her eyes wide as she saw Henley stick is head through the hatch. "Wha-? Oh. Yeah. Sort of." The man grinned his odd grin. "Dark'll do it to ya. Y'know there's a light switch over-" "Yeah. I know. Thanks." "All right. Just trying to be of help." he slipped out of view, then ducked back down again. "Oh! Hey! Geez, I forgot. Your sweetheart is up on deck still, and she doesn't look like she's going to move. She should probably come in and try and rest all ready. Waves are getting a bit choppy outside and wind's picking up. That drug should start kicking in soon. She won't have the strength to hold on." He sucked in air resignedly as he rubbed his neck. "I'd get her myself, but she threatened to steal my family jewels if ya know what I mean..." "I'll get her." Tifa said as she rose quickly. "I was afraid she'd do this. Her fear of closed in spaces is making her stay outside." "She's claustrophobic?" The fighter looked up into the man's face. "Yeah." "Holy smokes, didn't know that one!" "Uh, huh...hey, can you move? I can't get out while you're there." "Whoops, sorry about that...here lemme..." The man pulled back up and Tifa climbed the ladder to the main cabin. "Thanks." she said. She turned and went out onto the deck. At the bow of the trawler, Yuffie hung pitifully over the edge, her face pale and her eyes distant as they watched the the slate-colored ocean. The girl shut her eyes and tried to squeeze some comfort from the gusts of wind. They were frigid and heavy. A cold front. "Leviathan...did I anger you?" she asked quietly of the sharp crests of waves that crashed and swirled about the hull of the boat. Rain droplets began to splatter the top of her head. Listlessly, the ninja's eyes rolled up toward the sky. "Yuffie!" The teenager turned her head slowly in the direction of the voice with her face turned down, as if her neck found it hard to support the weight. Tifa gazed at her worriedly from her place near the cabin. "Yuffie, come inside. It isn't going to be safe up here once the storm kicks in full swing." "I feel better out here." Yuffie rasped, barely audible over the roar of the wind. "I don't feel trapped out here." Tifa gave her a sympathetic look, "I know, sweet heart." she came closer, her arms held out, "But the pill Lenna gave you is all ready taking effect. You can barely hold yourself up now, don't you see? We can sleep until morning. You'll feel better then." Yuffie lifted her head higher and gave Tifa a look so uncharacteristically despondent that the fighter's heart wrenched and she immediately swept the girl into her embrace. "I can't get up," The ninja managed to say. "I need...help..." Tifa slung the girl's arm over her shoulders and with her other hand gripping her waist, hefted Yuffie from the floor of the deck. "I need help getting up, Rusty..." the ninja said quietly. "It's the sea sickness. You might be suffering from a bit of vertigo along with your nausea..." Tifa said. She recalled how Aeris, once long ago, had helped the ninja with her illnesses. Dredging up her memory of how the gentle healer had taken care of the matter, she carried her lover down to the cabin. "You won't suffer much longer." Inside, Tifa laid her down on their cot gently. The girl seemed to pour onto the mattress like liquid, her body weak and her limbs too uncertain of their environment to provide any stable support. Yuffie let out a rush of air, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as another wave of nausea rushed over her. She rolled toward the wall and hugged herself, as if trying to protect herself from some outside influence. Tifa sat on the edge of the bed as her teeth bit into her lower lip. "I hate this space." Yuffie said quietly, her eyes covered by her hair. "It makes it a little harder to breathe..." Tifa sighed heavily and reached her hand over to brush the girl's hair away from her face. "I know, Yuffie." The woman took the blanket from beneath the pillow and laid it over the ninja. She then scooted further onto the bed and laid back onto it, her right arm propping up her head as her feet dangled off the edge of the cot. She rubbed Yuffie's arm, which felt cold. "Is it okay if I lay with you?" she asked tentatively. She sensed some distance between herself and the girl, and feared making things worse by encroaching on the girl's need for independence. It made the fighter anxious and depressed. Yuffie didn't answer for a moment. Tifa wondered if that invisible line had been crossed and the girl would shut her out in favor of salvaging her wounded pride. "This entire situation has turned out to be a nightmare for her. And her being sick doesn't help." Tifa thought, her eyes turning downcast. "I don't want her to feel like she's failed. I don't want her to feel like it's out of her hands. ...And I don't want her to feel like she's alone in this. But how do I do that if she doesn't trust me to help? If that's the case, then maybe I'm no real help at all?" Then Yuffie rolled onto her back, her gaze lidded and her breathing deep. She was all ready beginning to feel the affects of sleep. Her mind doing turns, the girl mumbled, "Hold me?" Tifa, with a long warm smile, leaned forward and kissed the girl's brow as her other arm came to pull Yuffie close to her. The girl snuggled close, her eyes falling shut at the feel of the fighter's embrace. "...Thank you." she said. "These close walls...freak me out..." she buried her face into Tifa's neck, and the woman squeezed her tenderly. "If...I'm going to be...crushed...let it be by something...I...like..." Yuffie's voice trailed away. Tifa closed her eyes, waves of joy rolling over her that her attempts at comfort were not rejected. The girl had been on the verge of sleep for a time. Now that she had allowed herself to relax, the exhaustion that had haunted since early morning came to claim its body. The fighter, as the boat rocked and the sound of rain thundering on the deck rang about her, found herself headed toward the same path. Quietly and with her mind on simpler things than scandal and social decadence, Tifa fell asleep. ---------- When the fighter woke again it was to the sound of a pen being scratched on paper. A light across from Tifa and Yuffie's cot burned, and threw shadows along the wall. Groggy and a little sore from the stiff mattress, she turned her head to see who it was. Lenna looked up at her, her azure gaze illuminated by the small flash light clipped onto the clipboard she wrote on. A slim silver pen in her hand, she halted her writing. "Did I wake you?" she asked. Tifa shook her head quietly. "No, s'okay..." she propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at Yuffie, who was deep in sleep. With her hand, she gently traced the side of the girl's face, and her eyelids fell half-shut. "I wish she could stay this way..." the woman whispered, more to herself. "It's been an ordeal, hasn't it?" Lenna asked her. Tifa turned her head slightly, her eyes still on Yuffie. "It's been rough." she replied quietly. The ship rolled over a particular high wave. The ninja's body pressed against hers, and the woman held her closer as she pressed her lips against the girl's head. Yuffie stirred slightly, her hands gripping at the front of Tifa's shirt and her face nuzzled her neck. Perhaps she had become lucid for a moment, for she mumbled against the woman's skin before she quieted again. Tifa sighed and laid her head back so that she stared at the cot above them. The mattress over head had sunk in somewhat. Someone was asleep above. Most likely it was Baxter. Lenna watched all this, the tip of her pen at her lips. "I like watching couples." she said suddenly. "They seem good. Like fun." Tifa, with a small frown, twisted her upper body to properly stare at the female soldier. "Pardon?" The other woman tilted her head and stared up at the ceiling. "I find it hard to relate sometimes." she shrugged. "That's all." She pointed at her paper with her pen. "I've got a doctor who tells me to write things down. Ideas I get." She grinned, but it seemed off somehow, like she were only doing it for the purpose of communicating an idea. "I think this one sounds right." Tifa blinked. "Um...you have to see a doctor?" Chills went up the woman's skin. She resisted the urge to shiver, despite the warmth she received from Yuffie and the blanket over her legs. Lenna looked at her. Tifa sat up stiffly. "Didn't I just say I did?" the soldier said. She tapped her pen against her chin. "Y'know, this mission was really dull. Normally our jobs are more exciting, but I can't say this was very fascinating...You really didn't need us at all, I don't think." Tifa shrugged, her gaze wary. "Maybe not." she replied. "You don't seem as upset as your partner." "Well, I am upset. But...I don't know. I think this whole running away thing makes Yuffie feel ashamed. And," the woman tugged anxiously at her ear, "Well let's just say I might've put her in a sour mood before hand." Lenna nodded, then pointed at Tifa. "So...it's your fault she's such a mess?" The fighter first nodded her head, then did a double take. "Wait, what? No! I mean, well, not entirely!" she slumped. "I guess..." "Your uncertainty doesn't make sense." Lenna said matter-of-factly. She circled something on her paper. "Just what do you have to see a doctor for, anyway?" Tifa asked, sore at Lenna's obtrusive judgment. "You say you find it hard to relate, but that could mean a lot of things. I'd think that soldiers, especially those working in such a delicate field as you do, would have to be mentally sound." "I am mentally sound." "So why the doctor?" "Because a part of my brain was cut away by Hojo's scientists when I was sixteen years old. My capacity for fear, anger, and happiness was taken out of my skull forever." Lenna made another scribble on her paper, her tone casual and uninterested as if she had explained her situation hundreds of times. Tifa's face, meanwhile, went slack with shock. Of all the answers received from na‹ve questions, years down the line, she would rank that as one of the most harrowing. "They captured me during a skirmish at Fort Condor," Lenna went on to say. "Environmentalists and Shinra troops never did get along, so I doubt the reason for the conflict was very big. My mother, father, and older sister were taken to a prison in Junon and were charged as terrorists. They were executed one by one. I was the next to be killed when an executive order came from Midgar that I was to be sent alive to Shinra HQ. Apparently I was the youngest prisoner the company had at the time and they wanted to use me for an experimental study. Something about the stage of my brain development made me a prime candidate. Details elude me even now, I'm afraid." She gave a noncommittal shrug. "...I'm always asked how it is that I can continue living-and I cannot say that Shinra's experiments did not leave something to be desired, I suppose-but how do you miss what you feel you've never had?" Lenna shook her head, "Because of what was done to me, I can't even remember what it was like to have emotions. I remember being like everyone else, but the actual concept of feeling is beyond my capacity to recall. It would be like..." Lenna paused and her gaze turned upward. "...Like trying to explain to a person born blind what 'colors' are." She nodded. "Exactly like that." The soldier continued writing on her paper, unaware or uncaring of the effect she had had on her listener. Tifa sat rigid in her place, now no longer from fear of Lenna, but of horror for what had been done to her. "Oh Shiva...I didn't..." she turned her head and stared at her hands, as if some blame lay tainted in the folds of her palms. "I didn't know Hojo did anything like that...as far as I knew he was only interested in Jenova-" "Oh he was," Lenna explained, and her pen once again halted. She looked at Tifa with another fixed smile. "But after the incident with Sephiroth, President Shinra ordered for Hojo to look into ways to prevent that from happening again. He wanted the chaos variable removed completely from the equation. Jenova inflicted madness, and madness largely affects emotion. Take away emotion, and the fire that fuels chaos simply becomes a new perception on things-and that is easily controlled." Lenna shrugged, "But Professor Hojo wasn't very interested. That's why he never dealt with me directly. I think he admired and adored Jenova just as it was, and didn't want to change it's way of function." "But did they inject you with Jenova's cells?" Tifa asked, her eyes wide and her skin pale. She imagined Lenna, as old as Yuffie when the fighter first met her, trapped and violated inhumanely. Unnerved at some people's capacity for evil, the brunette hugged herself. "They were going to, but Hojo's specimen hunters captured a new plaything shortly before the procedure. It was something his small staff couldn't resist-a creature of an undocumented species. Hojo called him Red XIII. You knew him as Nanaki. Because of him, the injection was put off." "Nanaki..." Tifa breathed. It occurred to her that none of the team had ever asked exactly how long their friend had been held captive by Shinra, or exactly what had been done to him. It had gone unsaid that what had happened was never to be inquired about. Whenever the proud beast happened to mention his time there, it was with hackles raised and fangs bared. Tifa didn't consider, or perhaps did not wish to consider, the horrors Nanaki had faced while imprisoned by Hojo. "At any rate, in the brief time of distraction, I was able to escape thanks to a lab assistant and a soldier." She pointed up at the cot over Tifa and Yuffie's. "Baxter. He used to be with Shinra, but when he saved me he deserted the military and we escaped to the Northern Continent." "And the lab assistant?" "She was discovered and killed." Lenna said. She tapped her pen once on the clipboard, then wrote a small note at the top of her paper. Tifa stared up at the cot over them, surprised at this revelation and sorely wishing Yuffie had been awake to hear it. Perhaps if the ninja realized this side of the man, she wouldn't despise him so? "So Reeve knows about your condition?" the woman asked the female operative, her face now somber and respectful. Lenna nodded. "Yes. He's actually paying neurologists to see if they can help me somehow. I don't think it's possible. That science is beyond our present capabilities, and I doubt I'll see it achieved in my lifetime." "You never know. Things could turn out well." "What's to say they're so bad now? I think my life is interesting." "You didn't tell me how it was you get by without being able to feel anymore. What keeps you going from day to day?" "Not being bored." Tifa stared at her. Lenna glanced at her with a quirked eyebrow. "I mean it," she said. "While I may not feel anything, my mind still works. My body still functions. I try to keep myself preoccupied at all times. In down time, I play puzzles and video games. They keep my reflexes sharp. When I'm not doing that, I write. I've observed lots of things since I escaped Shinra, and have viewed great dilemmas as one truly impartial. I figure I could write a book about my ideas and realizations some day. I think that'd be fascinating." "And so one of the things you think interesting are couples?" "Yes." "Maybe you recall what it's like to love, then! Maybe seeing others together makes you happy?" Lenna shrugged, "I've come to find that perhaps, in my own way, I know something of happiness and love...but not in the ways you define it. I don't feel things that way anymore." "Then how is it that you've remained with Baxter this long? Maybe you actually love him?" "It has been mostly through his efforts that we've remained together as long as we have. I don't know what it would be like without him...but the idea of him not being near me doesn't really bother me. I'm not sure if that is because of my condition, or because I really don't feel I need Baxter." Lenna leaned back against the wall as her eyes turned glassy. "I never considered that." the woman said in a low voice. "Oh..." Tifa said, as she leaned forward onto her bent knees. She was afraid she may have inspired a negative idea in the soldier's head. She tried to think of how to correct this mistake when Yuffie stirred again next to her. The ninja gave a small shiver and curled toward Tifa's body, seeking her warmth. The woman stroked the girl's hair. "I can't believe that happened to you. I didn't even know that something like that was possible..." the woman shook her head, her gaze dark. "Even with Shinra gone and Jenova destroyed, their legacy echoes on around us like an invidiouswraith..." the woman hissed beneath her breath. Lenna looked at her, her eyes wide. "Hey, that's really good." she pointed at her paper. "Can I write that down?" Tifa blinked and stared at her, her cheeks pink. "Um..." she scratched her head, "You really want to? I was only thinking out loud." "But it sounded nice. 'Invidious' is a good word." "For some reason Jenova reminded me of it...because it was a big veiny monster, and the 'vidious' part of 'invidious' sorta sounds like 'veins'...I guess. Don't you think it does??" The fighter looked at Lenna uncertainly, her brows pressed together in confusion. Lenna stared at her. "...Can I write down what you said or not?" ---------- "Wake up." Tifa felt a hand shake her. She sucked in air sharply, annoyed that her rest was once again disturbed. After Lenna and Tifa's conversation finished, the soldier had gone up to the cabin above to relieve Henley of his post and allow the man time to rest. Not interested in speaking anymore, the fighter had gone back to sleep. At the present, she wasn't sure what time it was or how long it had been since she last had been awake. Groggily, the fighter squinted her eyes at the blurred face that peered down at her. The light in the sleeping quarters had been turned on. Tifa rubbed at her eyes, in an attempt to clear them. "Wuzgoinon?" the fighter mumbled. "It's been twelve hours. You need to eat. Ms. Kisaragi too if she gets up." The fighter's eyes opened again, and she was able to make out Baxter as he turned to leave. He still wore his special white contacts, which Tifa thought strange. "Mm'kay." She turned to her side and looked at the ninja. The girl didn't seem any closer to waking. Careful the fighter disentangled herself and turned off the lights. She used the ladder to ascend to the main cabin, where the others were seated and all ready eating. Henley sat in the navigator's chair with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel egg sandwich in the other. Bits of egg littered the floor around him. Baxter leaned against the counter near the hatch a bowl of oatmeal in his hands. Lenna sat in a low cushioned chair in the corner next to the closet. She ate toast with jam. Outside, through the windows, the fighter could see the rain had stopped. "Morning." Tifa said as she shut the hatchway carefully. The others mumbled responses, preoccupied with their meals. Henley pointed at the microwave and cupboards. "We've got bread, microwavable stuff, and coffee. Help yourself!" Tifa nodded, her hunger suddenly voracious. She knelt next to the cupboard and opened it. Inside on the first shelf were plastic bowls, plates, and cups. The second shelf held boxes and bags of microwavable goods, as Henley said. And at the bottom shelf there was the toaster, bread, and coffee mugs. "The mugs are on the bottom," Tifa noted aloud. "To keep them from breaking," Lenna answered, now eating a banana. "Sometimes things fall out of the shelves, even when we keep them secured with racks and tie the cupboards shut." she gestured toward Henley. "He doesn't know how to tie a proper knot." "Yeah," Baxter said, with a glance at Henley. "How'd you get into our division if you can't even manage a proper knot?" Henley, who was about to sip his coffee, lowered his hand and made an indignant noise with his tongue. "I know how to tie knots, all right fellas?" Suddenly he screwed up his face in confusion. "But y'know...I never got how ship cook's managed to keep all their stuff all right. How d'you figure they manage in a storm? You can't tie it all down...can you?" "Maybe they do." Lenna said with a shrug. "Maybe they actually know how to tie knots." "Why do you care?" Baxter asked the man, "You don't have to cook." "What do you mean!? I get the coffee done and make that toast you like so much...AND I keep the cupboard lookin' neat!" he looked to Tifa and jerked his chin toward the cupboard, "Isn't the cupboard neat??" Tifa, who was preparing herself a bowl of cereal, paused and gazed at him like a deer caught in the headlights. "Um...I guess so?" she answered uncertainly. Henley looked at Baxter proudly, "See!! I handle the responsibilities any ship cook does. I got a right to wonder and worry about that sort of stuff." "Like that is so hard. Did you pull something rearranging the plastic bowls or did the packets of instant oatmeal do you in? Or wait, wait...did you get coffee grounds in your eye? Was the tie for the bread bag too difficult? Should we put you down for worker's comp?" Baxter took a bite of his oatmeal as his subordinate sputtered disbelievingly. "That hurts my feelings!" Henley cried. "That cuts me so deep I think I'm going to die!" He looked at Lenna sympathetically. "Len! Don't you think I'm the ship cook? Don't you think I've got a right to wonder about how to go about my job?" Lenna frowned at him. Again, it was more for the purpose of communicating an idea versus there being any feeling behind the action. "But you didn't make my breakfast. If you were ship cook, you'd have made my breakfast. ...And you'd know how to tie a decent knot." Henley was struck silent by this shocking betrayal. He looked at Tifa, who was about to pour her milk into her bowl of cereal. "WAIT!!" he screamed. The fighter shrieked and nearly dropped the carton as some of the flakes from her cereal bowl spilled to the floor. "What?" She cried as she looked around in bewilderment. "What is it!?" Henley sprang from his seat and crossed over to her. He set his coffee down on the microwave and took the milk and bowl from her hands. "Let me pour that for you. I'm ship cook, after all." he said pleasantly. Tifa stared at him, exasperated. Baxter let a chuckle rumble deep in his throat, and as he did so, a full honest smile spread across his face. The fighter saw this and was caught off guard by it. What she had seen of the man had been cold and even unnerving. Despite Lenna's story the night before, the woman still found it difficult to imagine Baxter as anything but a hard-edged soldier. But here, he was relaxed, allowing his attention to be occupied by something simple and frivolous. The fighter marveled at this show of ease. She looked at the three soldiers individually: Lenna quiet and detached-but sincere (perhaps to the point of being gratuitous); Henley, humorous and upbeat even when it seemed inappropriate; and finally, Baxter, whose cold exterior barely contained the dark person within. On their own, one couldn't see how they would manage for long. Each in their own way would succumb to the dangers of life in solitude. But together... And it was then, all at once Tifa realized- "They're a family." She blinked as Henley handed her bowl of cereal back with a spoon. "Bon appetit, my sweet! You'll never taste a bowl of cereal as good as one made by Henley Inwell!" "How do you make a bowl of cereal? You can put together one, but you don't make one." "Darn it, Len, why do you all ways insist on your stupid semantics!?" ---------- Yuffie turned in her bed. She felt her head was thick and swollen, and her body ached from staying in the same position so long. With a mouth that felt dry and disgusting, she slowly rolled to the edge of the cot where she sat slouched with her face buried in her hands. She was still on the boat. The ordeal wasn't over yet. But the girl felt better. For the moment. It wouldn't be long before her sea sickness would catch up to her. The hatchway opened and the ninja looked up to see Tifa climb down the ladder. When the older woman saw her, she smiled. "Hey! You're awake!" she said. "Unfortunately," Yuffie grumbled, ill-tempered. Tifa sat next to her. "You don't think you'll make it? We're only a half-hour off-shore." "Really?" the ninja perked up, glad to hear of solid land so near. "Yeah. I was worried. You pretty much slept two days without getting up or eating anything." "Two days? Really!?" "Yeah, it's about six o' clock in the evening right now. I think we left Costa Del Sol yesterday a little after six in the morning." "Oh man...I think I woke a few times, but I just made myself go back to sleep when I did." Yuffie rolled her shoulders once, then rubbed her neck. "I'm stiff as heck for it, but at least I didn't ralf all over the place, I guess." Tifa scooted back further onto the bed and massaged the girl's shoulders. Yuffie sighed and closed her eyes, "That feels good..." "So you'll be fine till we dock?" "I'll be fine once I get up deck, I think. If I stay in this sardine can any longer, I think I'm gonna go totally nuclear!" The ninja looked back at Tifa with a blank face and grabbed the fighter's knee. "Come up deck with me?" Tifa gazed back at her for a moment, then nodded. "Sure." Yuffie stood from the cot and the fighter followed her, ready to steady the girl should she find herself dizzy. The ninja did indeed sway a bit, and she closed her eyes as she tried to steady herself. But with a deep breath, she managed to make it to the ladder with little to no trouble. Relieved to see the girl stronger, Tifa followed her up the ladder. Outside, on the deck, Yuffie tilted her head back and breathed in deep. The sky was gray. The wind was cold and sobering. She spread out her arms and fanned her fingers, felt the sweat in her palms cool and dry to nothing. Her hair blew in a disorderly tangle; the speed of the boat pushed it from her face, but a strong southern wind made her hair chaotic. Her dark eyes fixed on the dark looming titan that was Junon. She hugged herself and scowled. Tifa came up slowly behind her, aware that the girl was preoccupied. She carefully wrapped her arms around the ninja's slim mid-riff and nuzzled her ear. "What're you thinking?" Tifa asked gently. Even so close, the fighter's voice seemed frail against the howling gusts that swept around their bodies. Carefully, the fighter pulled Yuffie with her to the railing, where they both leaned to the side against it. "Nothing," Yuffie said automatically, but she quickly closed her eyes and ducked her head. "Uh, I mean..." Tifa kissed the back of her exposed neck. The ninja squeezed her hands and leaned back in to the woman. The fighter squeezed her tighter at the action and savored the feeling. A fire crept up her legs. "I was just thinking-it's been three years since we came back to Junon...but on what terms are we going? Our heads are going into the sand, so just what the heck can we do there? Can we even manage to see Priscilla?" "We will." Tifa said with lidded eyes fixed forward toward the nearing coast line. "We'll figure something out." "There were things I wanted to do, but I guess that's outta the question..." "Yuffie, this is temporary, remember? We're just doing this to keep them from gaining control of-" "Our coming out of the closet?" Yuffie grinned. "That's funny. I thought they all ready kicked us out." "Well, we can still get a handle of the situation. I'd prefer doing that over allowing them to poke at my right as a human being." "Point taken. But gawd-that goofy phrase! 'Coming out of the closet'...what closet do you suppose we tumbled out of?" "I think I came out of a broom closet." "Nah, I bet you came out of a walk-in closet, like me, with lots of stylish numbers hung up on polished wood hangers." "You think?" "Rusty, please. You're with me. I'm high-class." A laugh burst out of Tifa at this exclamation, and Yuffie, pink cheeked, turned to give the fighter a look of indignation. "Hey!" she exclaimed. When the older woman didn't stop laughing, she gave Tifa's hand a small pinch. "Ouch!" the fighter exclaimed between giggles. She turned Yuffie around and held her close by the waist. "That hurt you know..." she said with a pouted lip. Her humor threatened to spread a smile across her face, but the woman fought the urge so that only the corners of her lips twitched. "That's a lip to bite, Tifa. That's a lip to bite. I'd be careful if I were you, cowgirl." "Aren't you going to kiss it to make it better? It's still stinging..." "Yeah? Well I've got an ache I've been meaning to ask you about, Tifa..." Yuffie smirked and tilted her head to the side. "Think you can help me with it?" The fighter blushed bashfully and softly brushed her nose against the ninja's. "I don't know...can I?" she asked carefully. Thoughts like ink black fear blossomed on her mind, thin and fragile, and spread through her consciousness against a stark white background charged with excitement. The mixture was strange but scintillating. Tifa thought of the night before and tried desperately to decide what she really wanted. Intensely aware that her words had caused the woman's humor to fade, Yuffie reached up a hand and traced the fighter's jaw line. With her other hand, she ran it through Tifa's hair and let it stop at the base of the woman's head, where she carefully pulled her closer for a kiss. Tifa's eyes fell shut when their lips met. When the ninja pulled away, she did so with a smile. "I think you can. But I'm a big girl. I can suck it up and wait. They tell me good things are worth waiting for, y'know? I was bound to do it someday." Tifa giggled nervously and lowered her gaze, her hair spilling over her shoulder and curtaining her face. "Are you telling me you're gonna work it out yourself?" she jested, relieved and in a small way disappointed. Yuffie caressed the woman's back and grinned mischievously. "Cripes, Tifa! I didn't think you talked that way. It's sorta hot!" the ninja poked her side. "Come on, say something else. Whisper it in my ear, Rusty." "Don't poke there!" Tifa exclaimed with a small jump. "It makes me tickle! Hey, HEY!!" "Whoops, sorry, a chill ran through me. Gawd! It came again! ...And again, and again, and again-" Tifa pulled away from Yuffie, laughing hysterically. "No stop, I can't breathe!" "Sorry to interrupt your tickle-fest my sweets, but I'm afraid Baxter wanted to talk to you before we arrive at the dock." Henley's round face beamed at them from where he stood near the cabin. His eyes widened when he pointed at Yuffie. "Oh, hey! You look a lot better!" he gestured at Tifa slyly, "Guess she's enough to keep your mind preoccupied from the waves huh?" He winked with a small chuckle. Tifa turned beet red. Yuffie grit her teeth at him, "Vanish, beach-ball head. You're bringing my nausea back." Truthfully, she seemed a little paler than when she had woken up. Her conversation with Tifa really had kept her mind from thinking about how the boat rolled, or how the horizon never seemed to stay still, or how she felt like she were moving even when she wasn't... The ninja placed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. It had been in the back of her thoughts, but her distraction had allowed her to defy her condition and successfully keep from drowning in it. But suddenly, that magic seemed gone. Tifa immediately noticed how the ninja gripped the guard rail and how her face now went from pale to green. She reached out a hand with an uncertain grimace. "Yuffie?" she said tentatively. Yuffie, with one hand on her stomach and her lips paper white, turned toward the water quickly and retched. Tifa face-palmed and sighed wearily. Henley cringed and looked away. "Cripes, I don't think even Hades himself can take credit for what you've got, sister!" he exclaimed with a shudder. Both women imagined throwing him overboard.
Back to Vagrants Rhapsody Index - Back to Final Fantasy 7 Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction