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[xdevilrushx]

"Close call. You all right?"

Artist: DecoponMAGI | XenoXss

[xdevilrushx]

Art by Kim Poor (1980s)

[xdevilrushx]

"It was just practice. So… so don't go thinkin' it means anything, okay!?"

[xdevilrushx]

Disrepair

Cloud glanced out through the window again, peering out at the wild blue yonder. The Tiny Bronco soared high over the ocean, fast approaching the northern continent. They would soon reach their destination. After that...

He shut his eyes for a moment, stopping himself from thinking about it too much. "One step at a time," he reminded himself.

Opposite him, on the starboard aisle, he saw Tifa sleeping peacefully in her seat. He was relieved to see her getting some much-needed rest at last. She'd hardly spoken a word since they had left the Ancient Capital. No doubt she was in shock, still processing Aerith's death. It had hit her especially hard, given their closeness. He just hoped her dreams were pleasant ones.

He looked around the plane, checking in on the others. It was obvious that they were all exhausted from their journey, completely drained both physically and emotionally. He couldn't quite tell with Vincent whether he was asleep or merely pretending to be. In any case, he'd kept his eyes closed for most of the flight, either deep in thought, or in a deep slumber. Similarly, Cait appeared to have temporarily switched himself off, sitting slumped in his seat, unmoving. Again, it was hard to tell.

Red XIII lay curled up on the floor next to Tifa, his fiery tail swishing back and forth in his sleep. He'd agreed to stay near the centre of the aisle to keep it from coming into contact with any of the fuselage's more sensitive equipment. Meanwhile, Barret had moved up to the front of the plane and was busy chatting with Cid. Cloud couldn't make out their conversation over the noise of the engines, but it seemed like he was occupied with picking up on some of the finer points of instrumentation from their pilot in order to kill time during their flight. Or maybe he was just trying to keep his mind off things.

Cloud suddenly noticed that Yuffie was missing from her seat. Concerned, he unbuckled his belt and got up to look for her. It didn't take him long to find her, given the small, cramped space they were in. She'd disappeared into the far corner at the back of the plane and was curled up in a fetal position, head down, slowly rocking back and forth. Motion sickness again, he assumed.

He got out a small box of tranquilizers, something that he'd picked up on the road to help her combat her nausea, just in case it got to be too much for her to handle. He was about to offer her some when he realized that she was sobbing quietly. Growing worried, he knelt down in front of her.

"Hey... you okay?" he asked, his voice soft.

Yuffie shook her head without looking up. "It's not fair... Why her?"

"Why any of us, for that matter?" he thought. "It wasn't her time. Or anyone else's."

"It'll be okay, Yuffie," he said, trying to reassure her in spite of his own misgivings about their situation. "We have to keep going."

She finally raised her head to look up at him, her expression turning to anger. "How can you be so calm?" she chastised him. "Aren't you pissed off?"

"I..." Cloud paused. For a moment he was lost for words, troubled by turbulent thoughts. She was right. He had been feeling strangely elated, even sanguine, after they had left the capital. Now, the realization was beginning to sink in.

Aerith was gone.

Wasn't she?

He didn't know what he had seen, exactly. What he'd experienced. She was... alive. And then, she wasn't. It dawned on him that, somehow, in his mind he still hadn't accepted the fact that Aerith was dead. He knew that he should feel something, anger, sadness, guilt... but right now, he simply felt numb.

"I don't have a choice," he said at last, struggling to find the right words. "I'll... mourn Aerith when it's time. I have to stop Sephiroth first, or else... everything she did will be for nothing."

Yuffie's expression softened. He could tell that she was still upset, but she seemed to understand his reasoning.

Cloud gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "And I'm gonna need your help to do it. You with me?"

Yuffie wiped away her tears, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Still feeling sick?" he asked.

"Just a bit."

"Here, these might help," he said, slipping the medicine into her hands. She quickly downed a couple of pills, then put the rest away in her pocket.

"Thanks, Spikey," she said, her voice weak.

"Any time."

Seeing the usually energetic and carefree young girl in such a state of disrepair ate away at him. Her bravado, he knew, didn't make her invincible, but this was an especially harsh reminder. He wished he could do more for her, but as far as he could remember, he'd never suffered from motion sickness. Flying was especially bad for her, and now she was not only airsick, but heartbroken as well. He couldn't imagine how rough it must be for her, having to struggle with both at the same time.

"She must be going through hell," he thought. Still, he reminded himself, she had put up with every bumpy ride and ramshackle vehicle they'd come across so far, in spite of her discomfort. A reminder of just how tough she was, how determined to see things through until the end. Even this torment couldn't extinguish her fighting spirit. Though she was down and out for the moment, he had rarely felt more admiration for the young ninja girl.

He sat down next to her, intent on staying with her until she was feeling better. The two of them rested together in silence for a minute, looking out into the front of the plane. There wasn't much to see, save for the pale blue sky, given the way the pilots' seats obscured the windshield.

"You know, Cloud," Yuffie finally said, "for being such a jerk, you're an awfully nice guy."

"Just don't get used to it."

His reply elicited a chuckle from her, followed by some more sniffles. "Don't worry, I won't."

Cloud leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes, sensing the vibrations of the engines reverberating throughout the plane's body. The slow, rhythmic thrum was enough to lull anyone to sleep, and he began to doze off as the sheer, unbridled fatigue from the past few days finally caught up to him.

He was ever so slightly startled when he felt Yuffie wrapping her slender arms around his forearm, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yuffie?"

She held onto him a little more tightly, entreating him not to pull away from her. Despite the chill of their surroundings, her body felt warm pressed up against his.

"Just... until the ride's over. Okay?"

He looked at her, a little taken aback, hearing her echoing Aerith's request from that night on the Skywheel. Could her choice of words merely be a coincidence?

She peered up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. Not the puppy-dog eyes she sometimes hit him with when she wanted something more frivolous from him like a Gold Saucer token or a new piece of materia, but a sincere plea not to leave her side. He could count the number of times that he'd seen Yuffie allow herself to be vulnerable like this on one hand, and he considered himself fortunate to even know this side of her.

She held his gaze, fighting back fresh tears even as she gave him her best effort to smile at him through the pain.

He smiled back at her.

"Okay."

[xdevilrushx]

~Rapturous~

-Some time after Dirge of Cerberus-

"Happy twentieth, Yuffie," Cloud said placing the precious orb in the young ninja's hands. He'd gone out of his way to find something special for her birthday. A new summon, completely unknown and untested. He could only hope that she'd find it worthwhile.

To his utter surprise, however, she simply grinned, then threw it across her shoulder. "I'm good, thanks."

The blond swordsman was dumbstruck. "…Are you feeling all right? You're not sick, are you?"

"Nah," Yuffie said. "It's nice and all, but I've got my eyes on somethin' more important."

"More important? Like wh-"

She quickly shut him up as she roped him in for a kiss, tiptoeing slightly to make up for their difference in height.

Their friends, as well as the other Gold Saucer patrons, whooped and cheered them on in the background, which did little to alleviate Cloud's shyness. Yuffie, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered in the slightest by all the attention.

They'd both been dancing around the subject for more than a year, denying the mutual attraction they felt for each other. Leave it to Yuffie to make the first move in such a bold, unexpected manner, Cloud thought. She was no stranger to taking what she wanted, of course, but he was surprised to find himself foremost among the objects of her desire.

She giggled as they broke away. "Sorry. Going too fast for ya?"

Cloud, already intoxicated from their first kiss, gently cupped her face before pulling her in for a second.

"…Not at all."