Just Your Average Fairytale...

With a twist of fate, irony can set in...

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Her eyes were so bright and full of life, his were dark and lonely. How they came to met, they could never remember. It was almost as if they had known each other for all their lives, which wasn't very long considering he was ten and she was five. But their age didn't make a difference, they knew they were destined to end up together, they could see it in each others' eyes. So, in the quiet town of Wutai, the two played, enjoying the innocence of their youth.

But it was not to last, the two were split apart by fate. They promised each other they would find one another again...

Once they had found one another, fate had deemed them on opposing sides, good against evil. He believes that the other is dead, whilst she feels betrayed and knows not what to do.

The trust the two had is now crushed into a thousand pieces.

Will some simple glue just fix the problem?

Or is it a lost cause?

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It was just like that one time-

Watching her prey-

White coat-

Golden Hair-

The word "Rufus" escaped her lips as she held back her tears. No, she had to forget about him. She would never see him again.

Closing her mind to the subject of love, Yuffie spied upon the group she was following. Three people. Well, she at least thought one of them was a person. The guy was built strong, tall, with a dark complexion. Yet, his right hand was missing. What was there was a machine gun. Yuffie, in all her years of traveling, had NEVER seen anything like that. Not liking the look this guy had, she quickly moved to the others in the party.

The only female in the group had long brown hair, braided. Her lengthy pink dress was very covering, not revealing an inch of her figure. Bleh. Her outfit was just so girlie... Yuffie's focus turned to the other in the group, who appeared to be the leader of the whole fiasco.

That was when the blonde one's eyes fell upon her.

His eyes-

They were just like Rufus'....

Yuffie stood there in awe while the group walked passed her, not even noticing her presence.

"Rufus..." She whispered as she arose from her hiding position, "Why do you have torment me so?" She paused for a moment, letting the group pass. For a moment, she was going to let them win, and not attack them... but...

His eyes are the same blue...

"I- I won't give into it!" Yuffie charged after the group, trying to ambush them from behind. "I WON'T!" She shouted, as she attacked each person in the party with her fire attack.

The group was, not only unprepared, but shocked. They had not been expecting to be attacked by a ninja so far into the woods. The blonde one gave orders for the group to attack at will. The battle did not last long, and Yuffie was left lying on the ground.

"Man... I can't believe that I lost..." Yuffie muttered, trying to push herself up.

As the feeling of hatred filled her body, the strength began to grow in Yuffie's body. Finally she pushed herself out and quickly swung her fists at the blonde one. She wasn't going to be defeated so easily. "You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"

The blonde one looked to the other members of his group. They returned a shrug. "Not interested." He calmly said.

Feeling the adrenaline flow through her body, she began to swing at the others, trying to show off her skills. "Thinkin' of running away? Stay and fight! FIGHT I said!" No Rufus, you won't defeat me. I WILL win. "C'mon... what's the matter?" She paused. "You're pretty scared of me, huh?" Yuffie glanced over to the big thing with the machine-gun arm and smirked. He returned a glare, making her even cockier.

At a loss for words, the blonde one looked at Yuffie as if she was pathetic. He spoke in a sarcastic tone, "......petrified."

Insulted, Yuffie made a face to the leader. She didn't have to take this. "Hmm, just as I thought. What do you expect with my skills? Good luck to you guys too. If you feel up to it, we can go another around. Later." She began to walk away from the group. All that wasted time for nothing, she didn't even get to steal their materia, and just because he had Mako eyes. Yuffie paused in her walk and shouted back to the others. "I'm really gonna leave! REALLY!"

The girl looked to the blonde one and motioned for him to keep talking. Silently protesting, the blonde one gestured towards Yuffie and shook his head. Finally, the female glared at the blonde one, making him speak. "Wait a second!"

A wry smile appeared on Yuffie's lips as she turned her head to face the group. "What is it, you still want somethin' from me? Hmmm... so that's it. I know you want my help because I'm so good! You want me to go with you?"

The blonde one nodded. ".....That's right."

"Heh heh... thought so. You put me in a spot. Hmm, what should I do?" What should I do? Yuffie thought to herself. Maybe a little side trip would do her good; help her get her mind off of... other matters. Besides, she may get some materia out of the whole thing. Yes, this trip may help her get back to being herself. "But... if you want me that bad, I can't refuse... All right. I'll go with you."

The others began to walk away. The blonde one muttered something about "Hurrying on".

Angered, Yuffie stomped her foot hard on the ground. "Huh? Hey... HEY!!"

As the others continued to leave, Yuffie chased after them, "Wait! I haven't even told you my name!! I'm Yuffie! Good to meetcha!" The three still walked on.

Yuffie turned her back to the departing group. "Heh heh... Just as planned. Now all I have to do is a little of this..... and a little of that...." And you will be forgotten Rufus. Goodbye...

She turned back to the group and ran towards them. "Hey, wait up! Wait for me!!"

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And so Yuffie joined the famous AVALANCHE group. Yet she had never heard of them. The female traveling with them, who she later found out was named Aeris, explained that they were after the great Sephiroth. Now that was a name Yuffie was familiar with.

The great Sephiroth, who had un-measurable powers.

Yuffie decided then that she would leave the group before they had their confrontation with Sephiroth. She had no wish to die while she was still 16.

The group was on its way to Junon, where Sephiroth had been rumored to be. Nightfall came upon the land, and the air became cold. With Junon in their sights, the group decided to make camp outside of Junon and head there in the morning.

As Cloud set up the tent, Aeris and Yuffie sat by the fire. Barret, the psycho with the gun grafted in his arm, had left earlier to check on "the res' of th' group", which was fine by Yuffie since Barret scared the hell out of her.

Aeris scooted in closer to Yuffie and poked the fire with a stick. "So.. What's your story Ms. Yuffie?"

"Yuffie's fine, Aeris." Yuffie corrected. She had enough with former titles for a LONG time. All that she was ever called was 'Ms. Yuffie' or 'Mistress Yuffie' or something stupid like that. She didn't want to be higher than anyone. She just wanted to be normal.

"Okay then.. Yuffie." Aeris smiled as she looked to Yuffie, silently telling her to talk.

Yuffie let out a hard sigh. "Well, where should I begin?" She let out a short laugh. "I am a wandering ninja who has a bandaged up heart. Yeah..." A tone of regret appeared in her voice. "A bandaged heart..."

A frown slowly developed on Aeris' face. "Oh I'm sorry Yuffie. I didn't know. I won't ask you to explain if your un-comfortable with it."

"S'okay Aeris, you couldn't have known. But if it's details you want..." As Yuffie looked up to the stars Rufus' image entered her mind. "I can't give them to you." She quickly said. "I'm trying to forget."

The sudden change of Yuffie's mood frightened Aeris a bit, but she still succeeded in making a smile. "Memories are what makes a person. Forgetting them isn't going to solve anything."

"Whatta you know?" Yuffie snapped back.

"Oh!" Shocked, Aeris scooted away from Yuffie.

Yuffie immediately backed down, regretting what she had done. "I-I'm sorry. It's just a touchy subject."

"Love always is." Aeris murmured as she watched Cloud finish putting up the tent.

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That night Yuffie dreamt of the night before Rufus and her were separated. It hurt so much for her to see him again. His lips, his smile, all the memories she was trying to suppress and had for the past month.

"Oh Rufus..." She said passionately as she slipped off his shirt.

"I am a monster.." Rufus whispered as he began to make love to her.

"What?" Yuffie questioned, stopping Rufus from going any further.

"I said.." A horrible voice came out from Rufus' mouth. "I am a MONSTER!" Rufus looked directly at Yuffie, but it wasn't Rufus anymore. He now had the face of an evil demon, ugly and green. His tongue now stuck out at least a foot out of his mouth. The tongue, covered in slobber licked Yuffie on the shoulder. She screamed.

"Rufus STOPPPPPPP!"

"Yuffie are you okay?!" Aeris put her hand on Yuffie's shoulder, trying to comfort her.

Yuffie looked around. She was no longer at ShinRa Headquarters. She was back in the tent with Aeris and Cloud. Breathing hard, Yuffie nodded to Aeris. "I'm fine... just a bad dream."

Aeris smiled in return. "Okay, as long as you're all right." And with that Aeris laid back down on her sleeping mat and went back to sleep.

Yuffie was far from going back to sleep. Her forehead was covered in sweat. Slowly she dragged her hand across her forehead to wipe it off. It was then she noticed that her shoulder was wet also, in the same place that the demon in her dream had licked her.

She also wiped her shoulders off, and then looked down to her hands. The slobber was an oozing green with the pale background of her hands. Shivering, she wiped her hands on the ground and walked out to the near-by ocean.

The water swept over her hands, trying to erase the memory of the horrifying dream. But Yuffie could not forget it. Rufus with the face of a demon... The dream was a sign.

"What... what does this mean?" Yuffie whispered as she looked upon the night lights of Junon, the ocean waves crashing in the background.

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The next day the group proceeded to Junon. Yuffie still felt uneasy from her nightmare the night before, so Aeris did her best to keep Yuffie cheerful. It didn't work. The town, or slums as they should be called, below Junon was dirty and polluted. Tale had that once ShinRa had built the harbor, the sun was blocked out making the air and water polluted.

Weary of her dream, Yuffie asked Cloud if he would use the PHS and call one of the other members of the group. She couldn't focus on the time at hand since the dream was still vivid in her mind. A busty girl named Tifa replaced Yuffie and gave her instructions to stay with the old lady at the beginning of the town. It wouldn't be long before the others would catch up to the group and they would then plan how to attack the ShinRa part of Junon Harbor.

The next day, after Cloud and the group saved a dolphin trainer named Priscilla, Yuffie met the rest of the AVALANCHE members.

Red XIII, a lion sort of thing, who spoke very proper. It was kind of insulting to Yuffie since an animal spoke better than she did.

Barret, the scary guy with the gun graphed into his arm. Yuffie prayed that she would not be spending much time around him.

Yuffie had since blocked the dream from her mind, she was now set on kicking some monster butt. But she wasn't aware of what monster's butt they would be kicking until the group began to make plans.

Priscilla informed the group that the music that they heard loudly in the background was the rehearsal for the new ShinRa president.

Yuffie's heart sank.

It couldn't be...

"Rufus!? I gotta pay my respects!" Barret shouted.

The image of Rufus' smiling face came into Yuffie's mind. So, he had become president. Why? Why did it have to be this way?

"You think Rufus is thinking about crossing the ocean from here too?" Aeris spoke in her quiet tone.

Does this mean that they were after ShinRa as well? No one had mentioned ShinRa.... just Sephiroth....

Red XIII looked at Cloud quizingly, "Cloud, didn't you finish Rufus off?"

WHAT?!

Everything quickly became a blur to Yuffie. Now that she was part of AVALANCHE, did this mean she would have to fight Rufus? Her- No. NO! She did not love him. He had tricked her into loving him by lying. So what if he was her prince from long ago, he was no longer that kind, good-hearted boy. He was now a cruel and twisted......

Monster...

He had warned her. But she had refused to see it. Fate was so cruel. Yuffie spiraled deeper and deeper into memory and thought. If it were not for Aeris shaking her, she would have never snapped out of it.

"Hey Yuffie! Come on!" Aeris said, shaking Yuffie by the shoulder.

"Wha?" Yuffie said, lost to what was going on. She looked around and saw that the group meeting was now over and Cloud was nowhere to be found. "Hey- Where'd everyone go?!" Yuffie said as she blinked.

Aeris shook her head. "Weren't you paying attention at all? Cloud left for Junon via dolphin backside! We're gonna catch up with him on the boat since we believe that Sephiroth has already crossed the ocean."

"When'd this all happen?" Yuffie said, lost.

Aeris smiled as she tossed Yuffie a sailor outfit. "While you were dreaming of Prince Charming. Now come on, it's time to go."

Yuffie scrambled to catch the outfit. "Ekk! Okay I'm coming, I'm coming." She quickly slipped off her armor and put the sailor outfit on top of her clothes. Yuffie then caught up with the others who were going up to Junon thanks to the nearby lift.

"By the way," Yuffie said, itching her new uniform. "Where did you guys get these things?"

"We're borrowin' dem from the local ShinRa asses." Barret said, a smirk forming on his face.

A sweatdrop appeared on Yuffie's forehead. "Oh. I see."

The doors to the lift opened, revealing the upper city of Junon. Barret signaled for the others to follow him. "Come on, let's get movin'! That ship ain't gonna wait forever." The group ran, following Barret's lead.

Breathing heavily, Yuffie struggled to keep up with the others. After passing the second section of the city, Yuffie prayed that they would soon reach their destination, even if it was a boat.

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Yawning, Rufus diverted his attention from the SOLDIERS giving their demonstration. These things were always so boring, especially when the troops had no idea what they were doing like the one on the far left. It was people like this SOLDIER that gave ShinRa a bad name. Pretending to pay attention, a smile formed on Rufus' face as he stared off into space.

What would happen now that he was president? Could it be possible for him to achieve happiness?

No that would never happen. Not after he had lost his one dear thing. He wondered; if Sephiroth had attacked a day sooner, then Yuffie would still be alive, and she would still be with him. Or would she? Shaking out the thoughts in his head, Rufus drew his attention back to the arms display, which was now over.

Heidegger nudged Rufus, it was his cue to say something.

"Well done. Keep up the work for ShinRa Inc." Rufus nodded to the SOLDIERS.

From behind some of the various cargo popped Yuffie's head. It was him! He was here! Ducking low down, once more she decided to stay hidden. If he didn't know she was here, then she wouldn't-

She swallowed hard, praying that she had the strength to get through this.

Rufus, of course, was oblivious to his love only being feet away from him once more. His mind was no longer on the subject of love. Pushing his hand through his hair, he turned to the ship's loading chamber and walked towards it, Heidegger in toe. "Once the word gets out that Sephiroth's here, Cloud and his friends will show up, too."

Smiling, Heidegger reassured the President. "We'll crush them as soon as we find them."

Rufus turned to Heidegger and glared, just to make sure he understood. "We can't have them get in our way."

"Leave it up to me sir," Heidegger loudly laughed in his horse laugh.

Rufus glared harder at Heidegger as he again pushed his hand through his hair, "I thought I told you to stop that stupid laugh." Heidegger immediately cut of his laugh. Rufus nodded in approval and walked into the dark loading hanger of the boat.

A near-by barrel fell to the ground, drawing Rufus' attention.

Yuffie cursed herself for being clumsy and quickly tried to get out of sight once more.

Rufus stepped towards the fallen barrel. Movement was visible, something was near the barrel. His eyes narrowed as he took a step closer. "Is someone there?"

Gasping, Yuffie hid her head lower, praying that he would just go away.

Rufus' eyes grew wide. "I know that-"

"Is there something the matter sir?" Heidegger interrupted, his arms resting on his bloated belly.

Rufus shook his head no. "Nothing Heidegger, I just dropped my pen. I'll be along in a minute."

Nodding Heidegger spoke, "Very good sir, I'll see you in the meeting room." Heidegger then turned and walked away, Rufus' eyes following him.

As soon as Heidegger was out of sight, Rufus turned his attention back to the barrel. "It's all right." Rufus spoke in his rare gentle tone. "Heidegger is gone."

"No it's not all right." Yuffie said, her back still against the crate she was hiding behind.

"Yuffie?!" Rufus said. His voice was full of joy and happiness. "You- You're alive."

"I feel like I'm dead. In fact, I'd be better off dead, President Rufus." A bitter tone rang through Yuffie's voice. She turned to Barret, who was also hiding. He was just a few feet away, giving her an accusing look. Yuffie shook her head, and motioned for Barret to be ready.

Rufus' heart sank. She had not forgiven him. But she was alive- and here- That had to have meant something. "Yuffie I-" The President stumbled on his words. If she would only show her face to him.

"You have all ready said yer sorry Rufus, I mean- President Rufus." She said, trying to be as cruel as possible. "And you all ready know my response to it. I hate you."

"Can you look me in the eye and say that Yuffie, for I do not believe you are speaking the truth." Rufus requested.

Yuffie again turned to Barret and nodded. He nodded in return and quietly loaded his weapon. Peeking her head out from behind the crate, Yuffie looked directly into Rufus' eyes.

Those soft blue gems. Even in the dark they could be seen easily, brightly shining. Once again, those blue eyes turned Yuffie into jelly, and the words that were about to come out of her mouth slipped away. "I- I-"

The sound of a gun cocking came from Yuffie's left. Out from behind another crate Barret appeared. "She means, get moving upstairs, little-boy." Barret glared at the President as he got a clear shot of his head. Rufus returned the glare and reached inside his jacket. Barret took a step forward. "I wouldn't be doing that if you value your life. Now go up deck. And don't be tellin that shit head that we's here neither."

Rufus closed his eyes and laughed to himself. "I get it. You must be one of those so-called heroes of AVALANCHE." Barret flinched as Rufus' eyes once more locked onto Yuffie's. "So you've joined AVALANCHE Yuffie? Today has just been a day of discoveries."

Barret took another step forward, growling. Scared, Yuffie shouted, "Just go Rufus!"

"Very well." Rufus said nodding. "I will leave. But I wouldn't expect to get off this ship alive..." He said turning towards the exit. "Either of you." Adding as he walked away.

Barret closely watched Rufus as he vanished to the upper deck. After Rufus had left, Barret turned to Yuffie and glared. "What in the hell was dat?! You almost got us both killed!!"

"I'm sorry!" Yuffie shouted, trying to over-power Barret's voice. "Rufus knows me from my home place, okay?! At home, we're friendly with ShinRa, therefore I had to make nice-nice with him. It was all a ploy, kay?"

"Allright, allright." Barret said, waving his hand in the air. "You don't have to be so damn uptight about it, JEEEZ! I jus', wanna know. You are loyal to us right? No spyin' or nothin'?"

Smiling with a silly smile, Yuffie nodded and brushed herself off. "Of course I'm loyal with you guys. Come on, let's go find the rest of the group."

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For many weeks afterwards Yuffie had been pretty much ignored in the group. Barret had told the others what had happened, therefore no one really trusted her. The odd-looking stuffed animal Cait Sith, who had just recently joined the group after a trip to the Golden Saucer, was trusted more than she. If it weren't for her getting called in on this day, she probably would have left the group before the end of the week. She could tell where she was not wanted.

But she had received a call. Cloud asked her to come join the group and take Aeris' place right outside of Gongaga Village.

Once arriving she was greeted with a hug by the smiling Aeris. "Yuffie, it's good to see you're okay. I'll be leaving for a while, so you can work with Cait Sith and Cloud." Aeris nodded and then began to run off. "Bye-bye everyone!" She said, as she waved to the group.

An un-enthusiastic Cloud waved back to Aeris. Yuffie turned and smiled at Cloud, who replied with a grunt. Cloud then walked on, without saying a word.

"Don't take it too harshly," Cait Sith said as he patted Yuffie on the back. "It just takes him awhile to warm up to people." The two began to walk, trying to follow the quickly moving Cloud.

Yuffie glared at the over-sized stuffed animal. "He didn't with you." She said coldly.

Laughing, a smile appeared on the cat of Cait Sith. "Well I'm a different matter, Miss Kisaragi."

Now suspicious of the thing, Yuffie stopped walking. She narrowed her eyes as she spoke, "Your voice... I could have sworn I've heard it before."

Ignoring the accusations, Cait Sith simply laughed and continued to walk on. Yuffie followed closely in toe, she wanted to know what was going on.

Although, they did not have to go far to catch up with Cloud. He had been attacked by the two Turks Reno and Rude. Yuffie and Cait Sith quickly came to Cloud's aid, and after the battle was over Reno and Rude retreated.

"Yuffie." Cloud spoke in a monotone, "Go after them and make sure that they really did leave."

"But-" Yuffie opened her mouth. Why was she getting such a stupid assignment unless- Oh. She got it. Cloud still had his doubts for her working for ShinRa. "Okay, I'll be back in a flash." Yuffie quickly chased the two.

Once Yuffie was out of sight, Cloud turned to Cait Sith. "They were waiting here for us."

"How could they know we were coming here." Cait Sith questioned.

"They followed us... But there weren't any signs of it. Then that means...."

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Yuffie gasped for breath, trying to catch up with the Turks was no easy task. At least it was not that jerk Tseng, or Yuffie would have not been able to keep her cool when fighting against them. Ohh if she ever saw Tseng or that bitch Scarlet again, she would give them a piece of her mind. Yuffie turned her attention back to the running Turks, who had now stopped and were waiting for her.

Slowly approaching Yuffie asked the two, "What's going on here?"

"Are you Kisaragi Yuffie?" Rude asked in his tough tone.

Yuffie paused her walking, staying two feet away from the two, just in case she had to get away quickly. "Who's asking?"

Reno stepped forward, a cocky smile formed on his lips. "We have a message for a Kisaragi Yuffie from President ShinRa. Are you Miss Kisaragi? You match the description."

Yuffie backed away another step.

"Look kid, we ain't gonna hurt you. It would probably cost us both of our jobs if we did. President ShinRa gave us explicit orders not to do any harm to you. Why do you think we didn't attack you, just the others?"

Yuffie had found it odd. The two Turks, during the battle a few minutes ago had never even attempted to attack her. They were just after Cait Sith and Cloud. "Fine, tell me what Rufus had to say and leave."

"Rufus?" Reno and Rude spoke in unison.

Reno began to chuckle, "Jeezzus. This is worse than I thought. But I can understand, since your so cute and all..." The smirk on Reno's face grew wider. "Why don't you and me go have some fun?"

Rude grabbed Reno's arm and pulled him away from Yuffie.

"Alright, I get the picture Rude, you don't have to be rough. Anyways, Miss Kisaragi: Your message is that Shin still exists, and no matter how badly you want him to disappear, he's not." Reno's smile turned into a confused look. "Do you mind translating sweetie?"

"Sweetie?!" Yuffie questioned, thoroughly disgusted. "Get the hell outta here before I call Cloud over saying that you guys are trying to attack me."

Brushing himself off, Reno frowned at Yuffie. "Yeah okay, we get the picture. But just be careful. Rude and I may not be so careful to follow orders next time we see 'ya" He said as Rude and himself walked away.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Men."

Running quickly to return to the group, the words of Rufus' message ran through Yuffie's head-

Shin still exists, and no matter how badly you want him to disappear, he's not.

As she returned to Cloud and Cait Sith she walked in the middle of their conversation. Cloud turned to Yuffie and smiled. "I don't even want to think there's a spy... I trust everyone."

Yuffie returned the smile as she slowly approached the two. "They left Cloud. Reno and Rude left without saying a word."

"Okay then," Cloud said, nodding. "Let's head for the village and rest up."

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"...To wake me from the nightmare" A shadowy voice echoed through the room.

Yuffie flinched. It had been at least two months since she had even heard the mention of ShinRa, so long that she had almost forgotten about the past. But now, they were temporary residents in the creepy ShinRa mansion where they had suspected Sephiroth to be.

After the whole Turk incident, Cloud's trust for Yuffie came to no end. She had remained by his side ever since then. And even though she was semi-attracted to his strength, the obviousness of Aeris' love for Cloud kept Yuffie at bay.

As Cloud approached the dark coffin in the middle of the room he shot Yuffie a look, asking her whether he should approach the thing or not.

"Just be careful." Yuffie warned aloud. Seeing as the coffin was visibly shaking, it was a fair warning.

Tifa bit at her lip as Cloud approached the coffin, worrying for Cloud.

Just as Cloud was about to touch the coffin, the top flew off, revealing a man dressed in red and black. "Who is it!?" The man looked at the group, focusing on Yuffie and Tifa, and then Cloud. "..Never seen you before." His eyes narrowed, "You must leave."

Cloud shrugged. "You were having a nightmare," he said, as if he was justifying his presence.

Backing Cloud up, Yuffie spoke. "Man, you really WERE having a bad dream. Even I feel bad!"

"Hmph... a nightmare?" The vampire questioned. "My long sleep has given me time to atone." The look in his eyes were of pure death. Yuffie was frightened by this. This man had seen much pain and suffering in his life.

Cloud stepped forward, "What are you saying?"

The man closed his eyes and turned away. "I have nothing to say to strangers. Get out." The man then opened his eyes, now narrowed, and looked directly into Cloud's. "This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare."

"...you can say that again." Cloud replied.

Grunting, the man shot Cloud a wry look. "Hmm? What do you know?"

"Like you said, this mansion is the beginning of a nightmare." Cloud paused. "No, it's not a dream, it's for real. Sephiroth has lost his mind. He found the secrets hidden in this mansion."

"Sephiroth?" The man questioned.

"You know Sephiroth?" Both men spoke simotaniously.

Cloud jumped back as the man arose from his coffin and did a backflip in mid-air, landing in the head of his coffin. It was almost like he was floating. "You start first," He said, his cold voice again echoing though the cave.

Quickly Cloud related the story to the stranger. He finished his story saying, "And that's how it was.."

"So..." The stranger rubbed his face in thought. "Sephiroth knows he was created five years ago? And about the Jenova Project? ...He was missing, but has just recently reappeared. He has taken many lives and is seeking the Promised Land." There was a bitter tone to his voice, it was almost- sad.

Yuffie yawned at all this re-capping. She really didn't understand why Cloud was telling this guy all of this information, since he didn't look all that friendly. His left arm was completely made out of metal, and his legs.. although he tried to hide it, were very apparently the legs of a monster. She wanted to get out of here, and out of Nibelheim as soon as possible.

"Now it's your turn." Cloud replied.

The man shook his head. "Sorry... I cannot speak."

Now Yuffie really wanted to leave. She was beginning to suspect this guy more and more. She turned to the door and motioned for Tifa to do the same. "Oh, that's okay. It was probably depressing anyway."

As Yuffie took a step towards the door, the stranger spoke again, "Hearing your stories, has added upon me yet another sin. More nightmares shall come to me now, more than I previously had." The man laid back in his coffin. "Now...please leave." The top to the coffin began to float in the air, and fell back upon the casket, sealing it.

Relieved Yuffie began to head for the door, but Cloud reproached the casket. Yuffie figured that it was in Cloud's nature not to let someone just destroy themselves like that.

The coffin's top flew open once more and the stranger sat up. "...You're still here."

"At least tell us your name." Cloud pleaded.

The man his head away and looked into space. "I was with... the ShinRa Manufacturing Department in Administrative Research, otherwise know as- the Turks."

Yuffie's eyes grew wide, as did Cloud's.

"Vincent." The man continued, revealing his identity.

Stepping towards the casket Cloud exclaimed, "The Turks!?"

"Formerly of the Turks." Vincent corrected. "I have no affiliation with ShinRa now..."

Feeling her heart grow warm, Yuffie placed her hand on her chest. ShinRa had hurt him too... She wasn't the only one....

"....And you?" Vincent questioned Cloud.

"Cloud, formerly of SOLDIER." He spoke, trying to sound as graceful as Vincent had.

Vincent stepped forward in his coffin, "You were also with ShinRa..? Then do you know Lucrecia?"

"Who?" Cloud blinked.

Vincent's eyes became sad again as he replied, "....Lucrecia." Cloud shook his head no. "The woman who gave birth to Sephiroth." Vincent explained.

"...gave birth...?" Cloud questioned. "Wasn't Jenova Sephiroth's mother?"

"That isn't completely wrong, but just a theory." Vincent continued, "He was born from a beautiful lady. That lady was Lucrecia." Reading the confused look on all three of his visitor's faces, Vincent explained further. "She was an assistant to Professor Gast on the Jenova Project. Beautiful.... Lucrecia."

Cloud raised his eyebrow, "... A human experiment?"

"There was no way to cancel the experiment," Vincent said, closing his eyes. "I couldn't stop her. That was my sin. I let the one I loved, the one I respected most face the worst."

Yuffie could feel her heart began to pound. She swallowed loudly. Cloud and Tifa turned to her. Panicking, Yuffie pretended not to care about this. "OK. Boring story no. 1."

Insulted Vincent laid back down in his coffin and once more the lid flew atop of it, sealing the casket. "Let me sleep..." He said in his nightmarish voice once more.

Cloud turned to the others and shrugged. "We should get going then. Sephiroth is on the move and we have to find him."

Both Yuffie and Tifa nodded as they began to move out.

Just as the group was about to leave the ShinRa basement, a figure jumped out from behind them. The group turned to find Vincent.

"If I go with you will I meet Hojo?"

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno. But we're after him and Sephiroth. So, I guess sooner or later..."

Turning away Vincent clenched his fist tightly in vengeance. "Lucrecia..." Without even taking a moment to change his mood, he turned back to the group and nodded. "All right. I've decided to go with you."

"Huh? Oh great just what I needed." Yuffie spoke aloud. This was not what Yuffie wanted. After all, she had just about completely forgotten about her past, and now comes this guy who's obsessed with his. And their paths had been so... similar...

Both had been betrayed by ShinRa, both had betrayed their own love....

"Being a former Turks, I may be of help to you." Vincent said, taking a step forward. He could sense how his girl was not very trusting of him.

"All right, then." Cloud nodded.

Yuffie sighed as Vincent walked forward and Cloud sent Tifa to join the others. Fooling Vincent was not going to be as easy as it had been with the others. When Yuffie looked directly into his eyes it made it so hard to lie to him....

Shin still exists, and no matter how badly you want him to disappear, he's not.

Reno's words still rung in Yuffie's head. As she pushed them out, Vincent approached her, shaking her hand. "And what's your name miss?"

"Kisaragi. My name is Kisaragi Yuffie."

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Author's Notes:

^.^ Bad Vincent-kun, what are you going to do to poor Yuffie-chan?! So what do you guys think? o_O Incorporating the game is very hard and is a very long process. I'm lucky that I like the game so much O_x

This chapter was more focused on Yuffie than anything else, hence the title Her Complications.. meaning that the next chapter, called His Complications is gonna focus on.. you guessed it!

Rufus: Cloud.

Hikaru: *bangs Rufus over the head with a purple trout* NO NOT CLOUD! YOU, STUPID!

All: *sweatdrop*

Seeing as there's only 2 more chapters, and the last chapter is going to be an epilogue, chapter 4 is going to be a very long chapter indeed, since it will be covering more than half of the game. Hooray! (she sarcastically states)

I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter of JYAF and I hope you continue to read it :D And if you like my FFVII writing, and you're a fan of FFIX, may I suggest reading my new series They're Playing Our Song, due out mid February.

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Legal Mumbo Jumbo:

Final Fantasy VII is owned by the RPG Gods, Squaresoft! *Hikaru bows* Oh mighty Gods of Square, do not sue me! I'm a poor otaku who can't even afford a PSX 2! *goes and cries in a dark corner*

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