Gamerz Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus

Personal Disclaimer: And now here’s the conclusion of the storyline that started in parts 3 and 4 of Gamerz Fantasy VII. I’ve been writing these Gamerz Fantasy stories in the order of my top five hottest Final Fantasy girls. Tifa, Yuna, Selphie and Agrias have had their turns…so now it’s gotta be Yuffie. Now, I realize that since this is based off of Dirge of Cerberus that it should probably star someone specifically from there…but Rosso, while very hot, wouldn’t work (terribly sorry, but I just don’t see her on all fours waiting for a Dual Horn to mount her…even though that’s a totally hot image and I sooooo wish I could make it work!), Shelke is too young and Shalua…just no. Besides, Yuffie’s interaction with Vincent in DoC will help with the way I’m gonna write this. So, without further ado, let’s get the next Gamerz Fantasy story underway! BTW, MAJOR SPOILERS!!! There’ssexinherenounderagepeopleallowed…

Gamerz Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus
By The Playing Mantis

Being the one who kept everyone in touch was difficult and painful. It was difficult because while Tifa and Red XIII made an effort, Reeve, Barret and Cid were normally too busy and Vincent and Cloud just disappeared for months at a time. And it was painful because she talked to Red XIII often and even managed to talk to Vincent every now and then. When she talked to them, she remembered how she felt for them both and it hurt, because she still wasn’t sure. Red XIII would invite her into his home when she visited Cosmo Canyon and they would have tea and chat and laugh, and she would often end up falling asleep with her head resting on his flank. He was so calming and she always felt relaxed and soothed when he was around. Meanwhile, when she was with Vincent she had to hold herself back to keep from bouncing around, trying to put a smile on his face. She didn’t succeed very often, but when she did, and he gave a small laugh because of her antics, she felt her heart soar.

But then, something happened that changed it all. Two years after the defeat of Sephiroth, three men, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz appeared and tried to resurrect Sephiroth so he could finish what he started. Suddenly everyone was together again and when it was all over, everyone agreed to stay in touch more. Vincent even bought a cell phone, even though he was still difficult to find half the time. Yet that was when the doubts started to set in. Since she was seeing Vincent more often, he was less likely to smile at her antics because he was getting used to them. She hated thinking that he was getting bored with her, so she pulled away. It was probably a bad move on her part, but she didn’t know what else to do. She thought about talking to Tifa, but decided against it in the long run, hoping to be able to solve her troubles on her own.

While she was staying away from Vincent, she decided that it would only be fair to do the same with Red XIII, but unlike Vincent, who never once called anyone, including her, Red XIII was concerned by her sudden lack of communication. It was a day just like any other for her and she was talking to some friends when she felt a presence behind her and saw him padding up to her. “Hey Red,” she said cheerfully. “What brings you here?”

“You do, Yuffie,” said Red XIII calmly as he sat down. “I was worried when you missed our monthly meeting in Cosmo Canyon.”

“Right, sorry about that,” said Yuffie as she scratched the back of her head and grinned with embarrassment. “I guess I just lost track of time. I’ve been kinda busy lately.”

“Oh?” asked Red XIII, “What has been going on?”

“Oh, uh…” stammered Yuffie. “Nothing really important; just the usual tourist thing. But, there have been a lot more than normal. Plus, I’ve just recently given myself a new training regimen, so that probably did it too. I’ve got to keep in shape or else I won’t be able to keep being a ninja!”

“I understand,” said Red XIII with a smile. “Well, as long as you’re okay, I guess that’s all that matters.”

Yuffie blushed a little, suddenly feeling bad for avoiding him before. “Hey…um…wanna come over to my place? You know, to make up for me being a ditz…”

“I would be honored,” said Red XIII. “In all honesty I was about to ask. I even brought your favorite type of tea with me.” Yuffie smiled and hugged him, if only so that he wouldn’t see the tears of shame trying to escape her eyes. As the two headed to Yuffie’s house, Red XIII asked, “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing me around town.”

“But…you’ve been here before, right?” asked Yuffie curiously.

“Yes, well, there was only the one time,” said Red XIII with a grin, “and as I recall we had a few things going on that made sightseeing a little difficult.”

“Ah ha ha!” laughed Yuffie as a sweat drop formed on the back of her head. “I have no idea what you might be referring to…” After dropping Red XIII’s bag of at her house, the two walked around the town. Yuffie did her best at being a tour guide, showing him the sites and giving him the rundown of the history of Wutai. Her heart swelled with pride as she told him about things that were so ingrained in her that if she was telling anyone else about it she would sound bored, but Red XIII listened with actual interest. He really cared about what she was talking about, and it made her happy. It was getting dark as they came back down from the Da-Chao, so they retired to Yuffie’s house where they sat and chatted and drank tea and had a fun time together and, as always, she ended up falling asleep on him. The next morning, she saw him off. “I’ll be sure to be at Cosmo Canyon on time this time!” she said with a soft smile.

“And I will endeavor to show up here the month after,” said Red XIII. “It is quite pleasant here, I can understand why you love it so much.”

Yuffie smiled a little more boisterously, knelt down and hugged him. Red XIII responded by wrapping one of his paws around her. “That was new,” said Yuffie with a blush as she pulled away from him.

“This whole day has been new, but you know what?” asked Red XIII.

“What?” asked Yuffie.

“It was nice,” replied Red XIII. “Farewell Yuffie.”

“Bye Red…” said Yuffie quietly as he turned and padded away. She stayed at the entrance to her village until he was out of sight, then she turned and went back to her house before suddenly exclaiming, “Wait a second! How the hell did he get here?!”

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A few days later, Yuffie was visiting Tifa and Cloud when she saw Vincent walk past the building without a second glance. “Hey Vince!” she called as she threw open a window and waved at him. He slowly turned to look at her before looking up at the building, as if he only just realized where he was.

“So…you’re here, Yuffie,” was all he said before an awkward silence filled the area.

“Um…you wanna join us?” asked Yuffie slowly.

“… … …very well,” replied Vincent after a time. He slowly turned and entered the building, nodding at Cloud and Tifa before sitting down at the bar.

“Uh…can I get you something to drink?” asked Tifa.

“No thanks,” said Vincent.

“So, what have you been up to?” asked Cloud.

“Avoiding human contact for the most part,” said Vincent. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, or I would have avoided this area.”

“Vince!” shouted Yuffie. “We’re your friends! Don’t talk like that!”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” said Vincent. “I’m still not used to the idea…”

“Well, I’m going to change that right now!” said Yuffie as she grabbed him by the arm and started to drag him from the building. “We’re going to the Gold Saucer!” Vincent shot a long-suffering look at Cloud and Tifa who merely shrugged and giggled respectively.

“Do we really have to do this?” asked Vincent.

“Yes!” said Yuffie angrily. “And you’re gonna have a good time dammit!” Vincent winced a little and sighed internally, merely letting the ninja drag him along.

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Yuffie used her Gold Pass to get them into the Gold Saucer without any fuss. “What do you want to do first?” she asked excitedly.

Vincent looked around before saying, “Leave…”

“What’s that?” asked Yuffie. “The roller coaster? Great idea, Vince!”

“I didn’t…” was all Vincent managed to get out before Yuffie grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hole to the Speed Square.

“Woo Hoo!” she yelled as she ran ahead to the ticket station. “You’re good with a gun! Win me a prize!”

“I thought this was a roller coaster,” said Vincent.

“It’s a roller coaster and shooting gallery!” said Yuffie. “And you’re gonna win me something!”

Vincent grumbled and looked over at the girl in the ticket booth. “If you get over 5000 points, she can pick out anything she wants,” said the girl as cheerfully as she could manage under Vincent’s dark glare.

“Fine, let’s go,” said Vincent finally, causing Yuffie to cheer and the girl at the ticket booth to sigh with relief. The two got into one of the cars and Vincent absently looked at the gun he was supposed to use.

Yuffie was, at first, uncertain of whether he would even try until the first Ghost showed up. He took it out without even looking at it, and then he proceeded to do that with everything else that moved and even a few of the targets that didn’t. “Watch out!” cried Yuffie as they came near the end of the ride. “This one is the hardest to beat!”

Vincent didn’t even blink as the huge UFO appeared and started wavering in front of them. He merely fired at it over and over again until it exploded into stars. After that, there were a few extra targets, which Vincent easily took down, before the ride slowly came to a stop. The two got out of the car and Vincent slowly walked up to the girl at the ticket booth, asking, “How many points was that?”

“Y-Y-You hit everything!” stammered the girl. “It’s never been done before! Not even by the people who programmed the ride!”

“So it’s over 5000 points then,” stated Vincent. “Pick out your prize, Yuffie.”

“Woo Hoo! Vincent Valentine saves the maiden once again!” cheered Yuffie as she looked through the prize counter. Vincent merely grunted and looked away. He listened to Yuffie yammering with the ticket booth girl and was seriously wondering why he was still there when he felt Yuffie tapping him on the shoulder. He turned and looked down at her grinning face as she held out a small scrap of paper.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Since you got the highest score possible on the ride, she let me get two prizes!” said Yuffie. “So, I got us both a free meal at the restaurant here in the Gold Saucer.” She blushed a little and kicked her feet a bit before saying, “We don’t have to go together mind you, they’re good for whenever…so you could just go some other time…”

Vincent looked at the ticket and then at Yuffie before mulling things over. “I guess food wouldn’t be such a bad thing right about now,” he said finally. He saw Yuffie’s face light up and couldn’t help but allow a ghost of a smile to grace his lips, but it was hidden from view by his cape.

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The two looked rather out of place in the semi-fancy restaurant, but no one seemed to mind. Yuffie was absolutely entranced by the atmosphere and squealed when their food was set in front of them. Vincent, on the other hand, sat quietly and stoically, barely listening to Yuffie’s babbling. In fact, he didn’t even notice at all when she slowly trailed off and stopped talking. “Hey, Vince?” asked Yuffie quietly.

“Hmm?” asked Vincent, the tone of her voice catching his attention. “What is it Yuffie?”

“I don’t think I ever properly thanked you and Red for saving me back then, not really…” said Yuffie. Vincent’s eyes narrowed, but he remained silent. “I know I thanked you guys for being there for me afterwards…but if you two hadn’t been there…” She trailed off and shuddered. “So, thank you…”

“Why did you bring that up?” asked Vincent. “You didn’t just think about it because I’m here…”

“No,” said Yuffie sadly, “It’s just that…I guess I’m not really a maiden anymore…am I?”

Vincent stiffened a little, remembering how she looked three years previous when they saved her. “I saved you at the crater, you saved me at Midgar…it’s what we did and what we do…you don’t need to thank me…”

“I suppose…” said Yuffie, sounding slightly hurt, ‘but I heard that you let Chaos loose back then…you used up a limit break for me…and I wanted to thank you…” Vincent grunted and closed his eyes. Yuffie peered at him, unsure of what he was thinking. “Vince?” she asked quietly.

“I accept your thanks…” said Vincent gruffly. He quickly bowed his head to keep from getting throttled as Yuffie sprang from her chair and threw her arms around him from behind.

“You’re the greatest, Vinny!” said Yuffie happily. She sat down and the rest of the meal continued like nothing had happened.

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“I’m really glad you let me drag you around today,” said Yuffie as they were riding the gondola back from the Gold Saucer. “You didn’t have to and I had a lot of fun.” Vincent merely nodded as he stared ahead. Yuffie sighed and quieted down for the rest of the trip. When the gondola landed, Yuffie quickly dashed up to him, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, “Thanks again! See ya!” She ran away before he could react and didn’t stop until she got to the Gongaga forest. “I can’t believe I actually did that…” she muttered in embarrassment before heading back to Wutai.

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She didn’t see Vincent again for almost a year, during which time Reeve requested her help with the WRO. He didn’t ask for her specifically, but he requested the help of the ninja with the highest espionage training. It just so happened that Yuffie, while being clumsy, childish and flamboyant, was still the best all-around ninja in the village. “So, what is it you want me to do, Reeve?” she asked as the two left the village.

“We’re trying to understand what Deepground is after,” said Reeve. “I’m trying to get Vincent’s help, but it seems like they have a vested interest in him. I needed someone to help us find out exactly what they want from him.”

“So, of course, you came to me! The Great Yuffie Kisaragi!” said Yuffie proudly.

“Yes,” said Reeve with a smile. “You seem to have a good connection with him, so I was hoping that you could look into his past some, see if there’s some sort of connection with any of the members of Deepground.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folder. “Here’s the dossier with all of the major members. They’re called the Tsviets.”

“Okay!” said Yuffie. “So, am I supposed to go dig up some extra dirt on these jokers?”

“No,” said Reeve, “I want you to work alongside an operative named Shalua. She’s one of our best scientists and is researching Vincent along with the Tsiviets.”

“Okay! Let’s do this!” cheered Yuffie, making Reeve laugh.

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After getting over the initial shock of Shalua’s impressive amount of synthetic body parts, she and Yuffie got along extremely well, even though Yuffie couldn’t understand half of the things that Shalua was talking about. There was still one thing that was bothering Yuffie. “Why were we paired up like this?” she asked one day. “I can’t really help you with all of that technobabble that you’re always looking through.”

“Maybe not,” said Shalua, “but I think that Reeve paired us up because of my search.”

“Your search?” asked Yuffie. “What are you looking for?”

“My reason to live…” said Shalua.

“Uh…what?” asked Yuffie.

“Ten years ago, my sister was taken from me by Shinra,” said Shalua. “She ‘had potential’ they said. I haven’t seen her since, but there are rumors that she was involved in the Deepground project.” She turned toward Yuffie and held out a file. “You may have read about her. Her name is Shelke…”

“Shelke?” asked Yuffie as she scratched her head and took the file. “Why does that name ring a bell?” She opened the file and saw the name right in front of her. “Shelke the Transparent?! Your sister is a Tsviet?!”

“I don’t know,” said Shalua. “There’s no real data on Shelke, the Tsviet. At least, nothing about who she was before or even any photos. Shelke the Transparent is just one big mystery to us…”

“Well, you just leave it me!” said Yuffie as she hopped off of her perch. “I’ll find out what’s going on! Just tell me where a good place to start searching would be!”

“Well, in that case, I’d like you to go to Cosmo Canyon,” said Shalua.

“Uh…what?” asked Yuffie.

“It was one of the places that Shelke really loved when we were growing up,” said Shalua. “Besides that, you might want to consult with some of the sages there. I know it’s unscientific, but I’ll take any help I can get.”

Yuffie blinked and scratched the back of her head. “Um…I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but could you send me somewhere else?” she asked.

“Why?” asked Shalua. “I thought you had a friend there.”

“Well, that’s just the thing,” said Yuffie as a huge sweat drop formed on the back of her head. “I kinda forgot to tell him that I was working for you and missed our monthly get together because of it.”

“Do you think he’ll be mad at you?” asked Shalua.

“No, even worse than that…he’ll be disappointed…” sighed Yuffie. “I’ll go….but I want you to know that I’m doing this under distress!”

“That’s duress,” said Shalua with a grin, causing Yuffie to stick her tongue out. “Good, after you’re done there, I want you to look around Nibelheim.”

“What? Why there?” asked Yuffie. “The town is a fake, you know.”

“True,” said Shalua. “But I’ve been looking up information on Lucrecia Crescent, and she had a lab in the town at one time.”

“I know the one you’re talking about…” said Yuffie, “I’ve been there before…”

“You have?” asked Shalua, surprised.

“It’s where we met Vincent…” said Yuffie.

“I see…” said Shalua. “I didn’t think that lab was the one…” She tapped her finger on the keyboard in front of her before saying, “Definitely check it out when you have the chance. This might help us find out why Deepground is interested in him. In the meantime, I’m off to Edge to look into some things. I’ll see you when you get back.”

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“Yuffie!” said Red XIII as she walked into Cosmo Canyon. “I was worried about you!”

“Hi Red…” said Yuffie with a sheepish grin. “Uh…long time…?”

Red XIII sighed and shook his head. “Reeve told me about you joining the WRO…the question is why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“Well, I…” stammered Yuffie.

“I would have been fine with you not showing up since I would have known about your duties, but you didn’t say anything,” said Red XIII. He sounded hurt.

“Red…you know I…” said Yuffie haltingly before running up to him and hugging him. “I’m sorry!” she said. “I’m so sorry! I’m sorry for being a total bitch to you! Please forgive me!”

“You’re not a bitch…” sighed Red XIII gently. “But you really have to think about others before you do things. I’ve really come to look forward to our monthly meetings, but with the way you keep missing them, it makes me feel like you don’t care about them.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I swear,” said Yuffie. “I’m gonna be here for awhile anyway. So why don’t we have our night together tonight after I’m done with my work?” She pulled back and ruffled his mane. “Let me make this up to you, okay?”

“I don’t know…” said Red XIII until she started scratching behind his ears. “Agh!” he cried in mock anger, “You know my weakness! I am thwarted!” He gave her cheek a quick lick before saying, “All right. Just make sure that you tell me if things are going to be changing from now on, okay?”

“I promise,” said Yuffie. Red XIII grinned before turning and heading up to his room. As soon as he was gone, Yuffie put her hand on her cheek and blushed.

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Yuffie was only in Cosmo Canyon for a few days before realizing that it was a complete dead end. So, bidding goodbye to Red XIII, she moved on to her other assignment: Nibelheim. She knew that there were still enemies in the town, so she wrapped a traveling cloak around herself and snuck in under cover of darkness. She had figured that the Shinra Manor would be heavily guarded, but as it turned out, there weren’t any guards at all. She was still cautious as she entered and started looking around, but nothing there really made all that much sense to her. “Maybe upstairs…I think the entrance to the lab was up there…” she mumbled to herself. She quickly ran up the stairs and was searching the upper rooms when she heard gunshots. Lots of gunshots. She dashed back to the main room and watched in awe as Vincent slowly put his gun away and turned from the huge mech that was disintegrating in front of him. She was about to call to him when she noticed a red blur run up behind him. She gasped as the woman that she recognized as Rosso the Crimson jabbed her hand into his chest!

“I’m sorry, were you not expecting that?” asked Rosso with a strange accent as she pulled her hand from Vincent. Yuffie stopped when she saw that Rosso was holding a strange materia. It was a kind she’d never seen before.

“What is that?” she thought as she silently dropped to the first floor and hid behind the stairs, waiting for her chance. She watched in horror as Vincent, twitching horribly, started glowing red and turned into Chaos. But he didn’t stay that way for long. “He must have passed out.”

“So, you cannot control the beast without this,” said Rosso calmly. “Well, there will be no need for it when I am done with you.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” thought Yuffie as she watched Rosso carefully. As soon as she crouched down to finish off Vincent, Yuffie dashed out of her hiding place and tossed her shuriken toward Rosso. Rosso easily dodged the attack and her shuriken went through the door, but Yuffie was undeterred as she dashed forward. Rosso snarled and ran toward Yuffie until Yuffie’s shuriken came crashing through the door again, whirled around Rosso and landed in front of her. In the split-second that Rosso stared at the shuriken, it suddenly emitted a bright light, blinding her. “Come on Vinny!” thought Yuffie as she grabbed Vincent and quickly dragged him away.

“Wutai flea!” was the roar she heard from inside the manor as she got Vincent into the WRO truck that was waiting for her and told them to book it.

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She watched him carefully. It tore her up inside, knowing that he wouldn’t survive. There was no way he could survive the gaping hole in his chest. At least, that’s what she thought until it suddenly started healing itself. So, she watched him carefully. Waiting for him to open his eyes. Hoping to whoever listened that he would still be him when he did. She heard him groan and slowly open his eyes. He looked the same and she let out a silent sigh of relief before cheerfully saying, “Morning!”

“Where…?” groaned Vincent slowly as he looked around. When his eye lit on her, he asked, “Who are you?”

She was about to scream for a doctor before realizing that she still had her traveling cloak on, so she decided to play with him instead. “Well, I’m glad you asked!” she said proudly as she stood up. “I am the champion of the earth and the sky! I am the conqueror of evil! The single white rose of Wutai!” She grabbed her cloak and whipped it off, revealing her true identity to Vincent and shouted “Yuffie Kisaragi!” Now fully into it, she leapt on the bench that she had been sitting on and said, “Feast your eyes on…Whoooaaaa!!!” The truck took a sudden turn, making her lose her balance. Her arms pinwheeled ridiculously before she fell back and banged her head against the console behind her with a resounding ‘bonk’. “Oooowwwww!!!” she moaned as she grabbed her head in pain.

“So, where are we?” asked Vincent coolly.

“C’mon! Aren’t you at least a little concerned?” demanded Yuffie angrily.

“Oh, Yuffie…” said Vincent as if just seeing her for the first time. “How’s your head?”

And here she was worrying about him! He hadn’t changed at all! “You…could you at least pretend to by sympathetic?!” she fumed. Vincent grunted a little before trying to sit up, but a sudden jolt of pain shot through him, making him clutch his chest. “Hey, take it easy!” said Yuffie as she gently pushed him down again. “That was a big hole you had in your chest.”

“A hole in my chest?” asked Vincent.

“I seriously thought you were a goner,” said Yuffie as she spun around the small compartment, trying to rid herself of her nervous energy, ‘but then the wound healed itself right up. You were always different, but I guess that’s why you’re still breathing.” She smiled down at him even though she was desperately hoping that she didn’t go too far.

“Yuffie, what are you doing here?” asked Vincent slowly.

“Me? I’m just helping out Reeve and his gang!” said Yuffie off-handedly. If she was hoping for some praise, she was severely disappointed, so she continued. “I was poking around Nibelheim and I found you looking all corpselike in Shinra Manor. So I saved you.” She blushed a little as she said, “Imagine that! Me, saving the great Vincent Valentine! Do I get any thanks?” She giggled a little, knowing that he’d never do anything of the sort.

“Thanks, Yuffie,” said Vincent.

Yuffie blinked in mid-giggle. He really meant it! She quickly waved her hands and shook her head, saying, “I didn’t mean for you to take me seriously! Anyway…Reeve wanted us to contact him as soon as you woke up.” She scooted back onto her bench and started tapping buttons on the console. “Yo, Reeve! It’s me!”

“Vincent has come to? Excellent!” came Reeve’s voice from the console, although the screen was still dark, so Yuffie gave it a swift kick and the screen started working again. Reeve smiled at them both before saying, “I have some good news! Using you-know-who, I was able to infiltrate Midgar.” Yuffie snickered at the mention of Cait Sith. “However, what I saw wasn’t the prettiest of pictures. Omega…” Vincent quickly shot up, ignoring the pain at the name. “I should have known…” muttered Reeve. “We can not let them sacrifice the lives of any more people. Once we’ve gathered our forces, we’ll launch a full offensive. Of course, we’ll require the help of you two as well. Please hurry back to headquarters.” He looked like he was about to cut the connection before looking at Yuffie and saying, “Oh. I’m analyzing the data files you sent earlier. I should have results soon. Tuesti out.”

“There you have it,” said Yuffie as the monitor went black. “I don’t know what’s going down, but it sounds big. I’ve been waiting a long time to get my hands on those Deepground punks! They’ve had their way long enough! Now it’s time to give them a taste of Pain a la Yuffie! Just give me three minutes with them. No! Make that two! Well…maybe three or four. I guess it really depends on how many there are. If there are five of them definitely two!” She continued to ramble on as Vincent slowly groaned and laid back down.

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Yuffie was meditating on her bench, barely aware that Vincent had gotten up and was sitting on the other bench, staring at nothing in particular. But she did look up when she heard a voice over the intercom saying, “We’ll be arriving shortly.” She was about to get up when she heard the same voice again shouting, “What the hell?!” She felt something hit the truck before it suddenly careened and crashed, sending Yuffie flying. The world rotated quickly as she tumbled across the floor before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and then all became blackness.

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When she woke up, Yuffie was back in the WRO headquarters, the hospital wing to be exact. “What happened?” she moaned as she got up and held her head.

“From what Vincent Valentine says, you were knocked out when your transport was attacked,” said a drab voice behind her. “Fortunately, you were otherwise unharmed.”

Yuffie whirled around, weapon at the ready, but stopped when she saw a young girl standing in front of her. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Shelke…” said the girl simply.

“Shelke?!” gasped Yuffie, “As in Shalua’s Shelke?!” She hopped and clapped her hands a little before grabbing Shelke’s hands and hopping some more. “She’ll be soooooo happy to see you! Where is she?!”

“She’s in there,” said Shelke as she pointed to a doorway. “However, I do not believe that you will like what you find.”

“Huh?” asked Yuffie. Shelke took the small hesitation in Yuffie to extract her hands and slowly walk away. “What a weird girl,” muttered Yuffie. She walked through the door and almost screamed when she saw Shalua in one of the regeneration tubes.

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She was sitting in the infirmary, watching Shalua solemnly. She had been told bits and pieces about what happened by the hospital technicians. She heard the door open behind her and heard the familiar clank of metal boots on the floor. “They say she won’t wake up…” she said quietly, the tears entering her voice even though she refused to let them fall from her eyes. “She suffered too much trauma to the head. Unless there’s some kind of miracle, she’s not…” She slammed her hands on the table and hopped up, rounding on Vincent angrily. “Vincent! You were there! Why couldn’t you save her!” She immediately felt bad about yelling at him, and didn’t feel any better when he suddenly looked away.

“Sorry,” was all he said with a hint of true sorrow in his voice.

Yuffie winced. “No…” she said quietly, “I didn’t mean to…” She clamped her mouth shut and shook herself. She knew that she shouldn’t have snapped at him for something that wasn’t really his fault.

She was about to apologize to him when the door suddenly opened and Shelke walked in. She was about to give the girl a hug when she suddenly said, “She was a fool…”

Yuffie stiffened and stomped up to the young girl before slapping her across the face. “You have no right to call her that!” she said angrily. “You don’t know what…!” She would have continued, but Vincent grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. She looked back at him and he gently shook his head.

“Why would she do that?” she heard Shelke say before running out of the room before she burst into tears.

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The next couple of hours went in a blur of excitement and near-vomiting as Cid, piloting his new airship, The Shera, picked them all up and transported them to Midgar, which was to be the site of the final confrontation with Deepground. The meeting about Deepground’s plan was pretty cool looking and it was an absolute blast para-surfing down to the battleground. What really surprised her was when she ended up fighting alongside Red XIII. “I didn’t know you were part of this operation!” she said (poor guy wasn’t, and I can’t stand that!)

“I would feel bad if I were the only member of our team that didn’t help at all,” said Red XIII with a grin before pouncing on a soldier and knocking him out. He looked up just in time to see her shuriken whiz over his head and take out a soldier who was sneaking up on him. He nodded his thanks before the two got back to back and scanned the area.

“I can see about ten guys over here,” said Yuffie, “how about you?”

“Not as many,” said Red XIII. “But I can smell more…”

Yuffie paled slightly as more and more deepground soldiers slowly appeared and marched towards them and slowly surrounded them. “Not good…” she muttered.

“Climb on,” hissed Red XIII.

“What?!” asked Yuffie.

“Climb on!” repeated Red XIII. “I can move faster than you!” Yuffie blushed as she scrambled onto Red’s back and quickly whipped her shuriken around like a boomerang, taking down a few of the soldiers who were in front of them. Red XIII roared, “Hold on tight!” as he leapt over the heads of the soldier, pouncing on the ones in back and taking off at top speed. Yuffie held onto Red XIII’s mane tightly and buried her face in his fur as they dashed away amidst a hailfire of bullets.

“There should be a squad of WRO soldiers coming up on the right!” shouted Yuffie. “Let’s regroup and then take these bastards down!”

“I don’t think…I’ll be able to help…” hissed Red XIII as he turned the corner and collapsed.

“Red?!” cried Yuffie. “Hey Red! Nanaki!!” She quickly got off of him and saw that he had been hit by two bullets: one in the leg and one in his thigh. “Hold on! Don’t you die on me!”

“I won’t die,” said Red painfully as he looked up at her. “Hey…”

“Yeah?” asked Yuffie quietly.

“That’s the first time you’ve called me by my real name…” said Red XIII. He whimpered a little as he laid his head back down.

Yuffie looked up and saw that a med team was rushing towards them, so she stood up and quietly said, “Take good care of him.” As soon as she was sure that he would be okay, she turned and slowly walked out into the open, directly into the line of fire of about 50 deepground soldiers. “You sons of bitches!!!” she screamed as she brought her shuriken up to her face and quickly channeled her rage into it before whirling around and firing off a huge beam of chi energy that blasted the entire group of soldiers into ash. She slowly turned and walked around the corner before leaning against the wall and panting heavily. “Damn…” she huffed, “I haven’t done that in over three years…” She waved away the paramedics that came to help her. “I’m just winded,” she said gruffly, “take care of the wounded!”

After she was able to catch her breath again, she searched for Red XIII and found him inside one of the small tents. He had his entire hind area wrapped up in bandages and Yuffie had to fight to keep from laughing. “Are you okay?” asked Red XIII when he saw how tired Yuffie was.

“I’m fine,” said Yuffie. “But you should be more worried about yourself. Here…” She gently placed her hand on the wound on his thigh and closed her eyes, allowing the green Heal Materia in her Shuriken to increase his body’s natural healing process. “I’m sorry that this is all I can do for you.”

“It’s fine,” said Red XIII with a smile. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Yuffie smiled and blushed. She was about to say something when a WRO soldier burst into the tent and said, “Yuffie! We found Vincent!”

“What?!” asked Yuffie as she whirled around. “Where is he?! Is he okay?!”

“He’s fine,” said the soldier. “He helped out some of our men in the Train Graveyard and was seen going through the Shinra Building. Reports that he’s already defeated Rosso the Crimson and Azul the Cerulean are flooding in.”

“Well…where is he now?!” demanded Yuffie. “Is he still in the Shinra building?”

“Technically, yes,” said the soldier. “He’s in the ruins of Deepground, deep below the Shinra building, but we’re not sure where.”

“Get Shelke to locate him then,” said Yuffie as she turned back around and went back to healing Red XIII’s wound. “I’m sure she’s been keeping tabs on him.”

“Uh…that’s a problem,” said the soldier. “I tried to ask her for help, but she’s apparently vanished from the Shera completely.”

“What did you say?!” demanded Yuffie. “Dammit!” She looked down at Red XIII and grimaced before saying, “Sorry, Red, but I’ve got to go find him.”

“It’s okay,” said Red XIII. “I know you care for him. Go. I’ll be fine…”

Yuffie winced slightly before smiling. She leaned in and gave Red XIII a kiss on the head before turning and quietly saying, “He’s not the only one…” and running from the tent.

******************************************************************

It took all of her ninja training to actually find Vincent, and when she did, he was talking to someone. “It’s Nero The Sable…” she hissed as she scrambled up a tall rock. She couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but she saw Shelke laying on the ground next to Vincent. She was unconscious. “Time to go to work!” she said as she tossed her shuriken down in front of Nero just as he was generating that dark cloud stuff he was famous for. Both Vincent and Nero looked up at her just as she got her traveling cloak on. “Even in a world where fear and despair reign over the heavens, you must never forget—where there is shadow, there is always light!” she shouted. “That’s right! Bask in my rays, evildoers! Feel the radiance of Wutai super-ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi! Back and ready for action!” She whipped her cloak off and held her hand out in the classic ‘V for victory’ pose.

There was a tense moment, really pulse pounding, she thought, before Nero suddenly looked at Vincent and said, “My brother calls…” before suddenly merging with his darkness and vanishing.

“Huh?!” thought Yuffie even as Vincent completely ignored her and looked over at Shelke.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I…I don’t know…” moaned Shelke. “Maybe I was dreaming…”

“Hey!” shouted Yuffie angrily as she started jumping up and down on her rock, waving her hands. “Over here guys!!! Whoa!” She yelped as she stumbled on the edge of the rock and fell face first onto the ground next to Vincent and Shelke. She heard him grumble a little as she got up and rubbed her head.

******************************************************************

The two were rather solemn as they helped Shelke into a regeneration tube. Yuffie was still embarrassed about her most recent face plant, and Vincent…well, he was always like that, but Yuffie noticed that he was starting to show a little more emotion the more he was around Shelke. Most wouldn’t notice it, but she did. She watched as the door closed and the pod filled with Mako energy. They both watched Shelke in silence until she slowly opened her eyes. “Will you be alright?” asked Vincent.

“Yes,” replied Shelke quietly. Yuffie could tell that while she would be fine, it would take a while before she was able to leave that tube.

“Okay!” she suddenly said, trying to brighten the mood a little. “Now, let me see if I’ve got this. You keep going, find Nero and Weiss, and smack ‘em into next Tuesday. And while you’re cleaning house, I sneak into the reactor and shut her down.” She twirled around as Vincent nodded. “Sounds like a plan!” She wanted to say or do something nice for Vincent like she’d done for Red XIII. Even a simple peck on the cheek could work…but in the end all she said was, “So, see you around, Vince!” and bolted before her awkwardness was noticed.

******************************************************************

“Pathetic…” scoffed Yuffie as she snuck past guards left and right. She was sure she was nearing the reactor core when she heard a huge explosion coming from almost directly behind her. She quickly leapt up to the pipes hanging from the ceiling and waited.

She blinked when she saw Vincent walk into the hall, look up and calmly say, “Yuffie.”

She smiled as she jumped down and landed next to him. She chucked him on the shoulder and said, “You don’t look too roughed up.”

“Neither do you,” replied Vincent.

She actually thought she saw a ghost of a grin on his face for a split second before they both looked down the hallway to the ominous door that lead to the core. “In there, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah, come on,” said Vincent. He led the way as they both entered the reactor core before stopping dead. “This is Weiss?” asked Vincent incredulously as the two stared at the muscular man sitting slouched in a chair in the middle of the room. He looked rather young, other than the shock white hair that stuck out all over the place. He wasn’t moving.

“It’s—he’s—it’s dead?” asked Yuffie.

“But not for long,” said a calm voice behind them. They both turned and saw Nero slowly walking up to them.

“Not for long?” asked Yuffie.

“A new life breathes in him,” said Nero as he brushed past them. “Just as one does in you, Valentine.”

“Huh?” asked Yuffie as she looked at Vincent.

Vincent slowly looked from Nero to Weiss before saying, “That’s what you’re doing.”

“What’s he doing?” asked Yuffie in confusion as she waved her hands in frustration and circled Vincent. “What’s he doing? What’s going on? I don’t get it.”

“Soon, my dear brother will awaken,” said Nero placidly. “It seems like an eternity since I was granted the knowledge of rebirth.”

“Granted?” asked Vincent.

“By who?” asked Yuffie.

Nero didn’t answer. He merely looked on as the reactor started up. The energy surrounding Weiss was becoming brighter and brighter as the entire building started rumbling and shaking. “What?!” hissed Vincent.

“Omega?!” yelped Yuffie. The two looked at each other before nodding and bringing out their weapons.

They were about to fire on Weiss when Nero hollered, “Stay away from my brother!” and fired a wave of pure darkness at the two.

Yuffie found herself floating in what looked like endless blackness. There was nothing around her, nothing in front of her, nothing behind her. Only pure black. And yet, there had to have been something there, because she heard something whispering in her ears. It whispered all of her secret shames, all of her doubts, all of her fears. She tried to cover her ears, to blot out the sound, but the whispering still got to her. And the worst came when it hissed to her that if she was truly in love with either Red XIII or Vincent then she would have chosen one of them by now. Her inability to choose between them only meant that she didn’t really love either of them. “NO!!!” she screamed just as a pure white light flashed in front of her eyes. She watched in shock as Vincent emerged from the light, grabbed her up and leapt from the darkness.

He gently sat her down against a wall as he asked, “You alright?”

“What the heck was that?” huffed Yuffie, trying desperately to hold back tears.

“Oblivion perhaps,” said Nero as the darkness slowly vanished, leaving him standing there in front of them. “My darkness,” he said with a degree of fondness. “It can absorb as well as extract almost anything.” Yuffie almost vomited at the look of joy in his eyes before he turned his eyes towards Vincent and they, once more, became harsh and cold. “However, some things remain—things as black as the heart of a daemon. The essence of death. It’s ululations are like a luluby.”

“How can you…?” asked Yuffie as she started to get up, but Vincent pushed her back down and looked her in the eyes.

“Yuffie, stay here,” said Vincent as Nero surrounded himself in darkness. Vincent didn’t even blink as he dove into the darkness himself. Yuffie could do little else but let out a soft sob before passing out.

******************************************************************

Yuffie grinned as the mako reactor that she, Reeve and Shelke were working on went up in smoke. She watched as Cid, Cloud, Tifa, Barret and all of the others did their parts too. “Alright!!!” she cheered as she watched the lines that were sending energy to Omega sever and fall away from the beast. “Vincent!” she shouted as she saw him, in his Chaos form, shooting towards the huge creature. “Yeah!” She watched as he slammed into the monster’s shield, easily puncture it and burrow into the huge weapon. And then, all contact was lost. Cid, Cloud, Tifa and Barret slowly joined her, Reeve and Shelke in their silent vigil. Even Red XIII was brought out, even though he was still wounded. “Here, let me,” said Yuffie as she gently placed a hand on his flank and used her heal materia again. “If this goes the way it should, I don’t really think I’ll need to save my energy anymore.”

“Thank you,” said Red XIII. Yuffie patted his head and he licked her hand in return.

“Hey, you two,” said Tifa as she walked up and sat next to them. “How are you feeling, Nanaki?”

“I’m feeling much better thanks to our young friend here,” said Red XIII.

“Good to know,” said Tifa. “And how are you doing with your problem, Yuffie?”

Yuffie blushed and blustered a little before hissing, “Now is not the time for that!”

“What is the matter?” asked Red XIII.

“Nothing that concerns you!” snapped Yuffie. Tifa cleared her throat, making Yuffie wince and say, “Fine. Nothing that needs to be discussed now.” She grabbed Tifa’s arm and dragged her away. “What is the matter with you?!”

“Sorry,” said Tifa apologetically. “I seriously thought you had figured things out by now, you know what with going on that date with Vincent.”

“It wasn’t a date!” snapped Yuffie. Tifa gave her a look and she blushed. “Alright, maybe it had that feel to an outsider…but when I’m with him, I don’t really feel like it’s clicking that way…”

“What do you mean?” asked Tifa.

“I’m not really sure,” said Yuffie. “I mean, I know I like him…a lot…but…”

“Look at that!” shouted Barret, causing everyone to look at Omega. The beast was slowly crystallizing and turning to stone before their eyes.

“Is it dying?” asked Cid.

“Vincent must have done it!” cried Yuffie. She grabbed Tifa’s hands and jumped up and down before rushing over to Red XIII and giving him a hug. “Alright Vinny…huh?!” Everyone looked on in shock as Omega started flapping it’s wings, breaking through the rocky outer shell and slowly taking off.

“Omega’s ascending!” said Reeve. “But that would mean…”

“Aw hell…” muttered Barret.

Yuffie watched as the huge weapon slowly ascended into space before slumping down on the ground. “We failed…” she whispered.

“It’ll be okay,” said Red XIII soothingly.

“How?” asked Yuffie quietly. “If Omega ascends with all of the life of the planet…how?”

“I don’t…” started Red XIII before he looked up and gasped. “Everyone! Cover your eyes!” he roared just as a blinding flash of pure white light exploded above them.

The light lasted for a few seconds before Yuffie slowly opened her eyes and was blown away by the beauty in front of her. “The lifestream…” she said in awe, “It’s coming back…” Pure green life energy was slowly falling back down to the planet’s surface like snowflakes. “It’s beautiful!” She started cheering and dancing until she saw three small globs of red energy slowly falling down along with the green energy. “Vincent?” she said uncertainly until she saw the metal charm that was always hanging from Cerberus, hanging from a broken metal pole. “Vincent!!!” she screamed as she started running towards it, but Tifa grabbed her arm.

“Yuffie, calm down!” she said.

“How can I calm down?!” demanded Yuffie. “He’s my best friend!!!” She pulled away from Tifa and turned before stopping dead.

“Yuffie?” asked Tifa quietly.

“He’s my best friend…” whispered Yuffie as tears came to her eyes before she whirled around and curled up in Tifa’s arms, sobbing.

******************************************************************

A week passed without any word on whether Vincent was alive or not. Yuffie ran into Tifa’s Seventh Heaven, nodding at Shelke and walked up to Tifa. “Have you heard from Cloud?” she asked and grinned when Tifa nodded.

“He hasn’t heard anything,” said Tifa sadly.

“Ain’t going to make this easy for us, is he?” grumbled Yuffie. She sat down at the bar and sighed again.

“Are you gonna be okay?” asked Tifa.

“I’ll be fine!” said Yuffie off-handedly. “Vinny’s a survivor. We all know he’ll show up later on as if nothing happened. Then I can talk to him and clear things up.”

“When are you going to talk to Nanaki?” asked Tifa.

“After I’ve talked to Vince…” said Yuffie. She turned as Shelke slowly got up and walked outside, sitting next to Red XIII. She winced as the 20-year-old in the 10-year-old body absently patted his head. “Then…I can talk to him…” She grumbled a little more before growling, “But he’s got to show up first!!!”

******************************************************************

Vincent returned as if nothing had happened. Admittedly he was a little more pleasant to be around, but then again, so was Shelke. Yuffie wondered what would happen between them once Shelke was able to grow up. They seemed to truly enjoy each other’s company, even beyond the fact that Shelke still had remnants of Lucrecia’s memories and personality implanted in her. So it was with a satisfied smile that Yuffie went to go visit Vincent at his new home in Kalm. Shelke was visiting already, which made Yuffie slightly nervous. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to bare her heart in front of the small girl, even if she was technically older than Yuffie. The three chatted for a while. Well, Yuffie yammered on with Shelke occasionally saying things and Vincent just listening. After an hour of aimless chatter, Yuffie finally got up the gumption to quietly say, “Hey, Vince…could I talk to you…alone?”

Vincent looked over at Shelke, who merely shrugged, before saying, “Sure,” and getting up. The two slowly walked outside, closing the door behind them. Vincent leaned against the door before quietly asking, “What’s wrong?”

“I…I’ve got something important to tell you, and I want you to just listen to me…okay?” asked Yuffie. Vincent nodded, and so she told him everything: about how she started feeling like she had a crush on him, about how her feelings for him were conflicted when she started having feelings for someone else at the same time, and how, after years of mental torment, she finally realized that while she really cared for Vincent, it was only as a friend. She was nearly vibrating with nervousness when she finished and swallowed before saying, “I had to get that off my chest…I’m sorry if I bored you…”

“How long have you thought about me and this other man?” asked Vincent.

“It really started after Sephiroth got the black materia and summoned Meteor…” replied Yuffie. “I had a nice long talk with Tifa about it but then I was so caught up in thinking about you and him, that I got caught by that Malboro…” She shuddered slightly. “I decided then that I would wait to tell you two about it all until I made my decision…and I made my decision.” She smiled and bowed. “Thanks for listening to me.”

“Is that what that trip to the Gold Saucer was all about?” asked Vincent, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Oh gawd, don’t remind me!” groaned Yuffie as she covered her face in her hands and turned redder than a cherry tomato, “I was acting like a little girl going out with the man of her dreams! I’m sorry…”

Vincent shook his head. “Whether you believe me or not, looking back on it, I had a pleasant time,” he said.

“Really?” asked Yuffie as she scratched the back of her head. “Thanks for saying that…” The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Yuffie cleared her throat and said, “I hope that this doesn’t make things weird between us…”

“That all depends on you,” said Vincent. “My feelings won’t change.”

“Thank you,” said Yuffie as she slowly walked up to him and gave him a tentative hug. “I’ve got to go…I’ve got someone that I’ve got to have an even more difficult conversation with…”

“You’ll do fine,” said Vincent. “I won’t ask who he is, but I hope that you bring him over the next time you visit.” He nodded to her before heading back inside.

Yuffie sighed happily as she bowed to the door and said, “Thanks Vinny…”

******************************************************************

Yuffie slowly walked up the stairs, leading to Cosmo Canyon. She was more nervous than she’d ever been in her life. Maybe if Red XIII had been her own species she’d have been a little less nervous…but probably not. “How do I even start talking about this…” she moaned as she stared up at the huge building, built into the mountain.

“Start talking about what?” asked Red XIII. Yuffie jumped and let out a little squeak. “Sorry,” he said with a grin. “I didn’t think you were so focused that you wouldn’t hear me walking up to you.”

“Yeah, well…I…uh…” stammered Yuffie before gritting her teeth and shaking her nerves away before opening her mouth and trying to come up with a decent rejoinder. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of anything so she ended up weakly saying, “Hi Red…”

“Hello Yuffie,” said Red XIII with a smile. “What brings you here? It’s not time for our monthly get together.”

“Yeah, I know…but…I wanted to see you…” said Yuffie quietly. “I’ve got something to tell you…”

The smile vanished from Red XIII’s face when he saw that she was being serious. “Oh, well, come on then,” he said, “We can talk up in my room.” Red XIII led the way up the stairs, being forced to remind Yuffie that she was supposed to be following him a few times when she’d stop dead in her tracks. “Are you okay?” he asked after the two finally made it to his room. She seemed hesitant to actually enter his room and was merely standing in his doorway, looking pensive.

“I…I don’t know…” said Yuffie. “No, that’s not true…” She slowly entered the room and closed the door behind her before sitting down on the floor. “I know that I’m not okay…I feel shy and nervous and hopeful…just like Tifa said… I’m a real mess actually…”

“Well…maybe if you told me your problem, I could help you out,” said Red XIII.

“That’s the thing…” said Yuffie, “If I tell you, and you can’t…I don’t know what I’d be able to do about it…”

“You’ll never know until you try,” said Red XIII. “You might be surprised by the results.” He slowly turned in a circle three times before laying down next to her and saying, “Now, just calm down and say what you want to say.”

“Um…I was…just thinking…you know, if you were okay with it…if we could…take our…um…relationship to the next level…” said Yuffie nervously. “I mean…unless you don’t…I’m sorry!” She shot up and would have run out of the room if Red XIII hadn’t gotten in front of the door.

“You have to give me the chance to answer before you run away,” said Red XIII as he sat down in front of the door.

“Forget I said anything!” said Yuffie desperately, “Just let me leave!”

“No,” said Red XIII, “I want to talk about this.”

“I can’t!” wailed Yuffie as she slumped to the ground and started to sob. “I don’t want to say something only to have you say that you don’t feel the same way! I couldn’t take it! Not after all this time!”

“Yuffie, please, calm down,” said Red XIII as he padded up to her. “Those tears do nothing for you.” He gently licked a large tear from her cheek, making her shudder. “Would it surprise you to know that I’ve also harbored feelings for you for quite some time, as well?”

Yuffie sniffled a little before asking, “Really?”

“I’ve been enjoying our monthly get-togethers quite a bit, and had, on more than one occasion thought of telling you how I felt, but I thought that you liked Vincent and I figured that you would prefer someone of your own species…” said Red XIII.

“Oh gawd…” moaned Yuffie as she started to cry again.

“Please, don’t do that,” said Red XIII.

“You don’t understand!” sobbed Yuffie. “I’ve been agonizing over this for the past three years!”

“What do you mean?” asked Red XIII. And so, Yuffie told him the whole truth, from when they’d had their accidental encounter to the present. Red XIII was silent for awhile before quietly asking, “You chose me over Vincent?”

Yuffie blushed before quietly saying, “Yeah, I guess I did. Are you happy with that?”

“I’m surprised…and very pleased,” said Red XIII. Yuffie blushed and smiled.

“So…uh…where do we go from here?” asked Yuffie quietly.

“We could just play it by ear and see where we go,” suggested Red XIII as he slowly laid his head in her lap, something that they had always done before but that now had a deeper meaning.

“I think I’m okay with that,” said Yuffie quietly as she softly stroked his head. The two chatted nervously and had many false starts and embarrassing stops before they finally just decided to try cuddling a little.

“This is nice,” said Red XIII quietly, his head resting in her lap.

“Yeah,” said Yuffie as she gently stroked his fur. “I’m really sorry…”

“What for?” asked Red XIII.

“For being really awkward…” said Yuffie as she blushed bright red.

“What do you mean?” asked Red XIII.

“I mean…I…I’ve never really…I mean…” stammered Yuffie, her face slowly turning the shade of a cherry tomato.

“Yuffie,” said Red XIII quietly. “Have you ever made love before?”

“I…I’ve only had two partners…” said Yuffie quietly. “One of them was a woman…but I was with her a few times…”

“And the other?” asked Red XIII.

“You and Vincent killed it…” said Yuffie dully.

“Ah…yes…sorry…” said Red XIII. “I myself have only been with a human once…other than that I was with a few girls of my own species before I was captured by Hojo.”

“Have you ever thought about searching for them?” asked Yuffie. “I mean, you can’t be the only one left…can you?”

“I fear I am…” said Red XIII. “That was why Hojo was trying to get me to mate with Aeris back when I first met Cloud and the others…”

Yuffie winced at the thought. “Would you have if they hadn’t been there?” she asked quietly.

“Absolutely not!” said Red XIII. “I didn’t even know the young lady at the time. I have never been a barbarian. Although I fear that I had to put on a little show when I saw that there were others there who seemed interested in helping her escape.”

“I kind of wish I had been with you guys at the time,” said Yuffie.

“With your personality at the time, it’s probably best that you weren’t,” said Red XIII with a small grin. “You probably would have tried to steal the two rare specimens of a nigh-extinct species.”

“I would not!” said Yuffie as she stuck her tongue out. “I was a materia thief, I never would have even thought about it.” She grumbled a little until she heard Red XIII laughing happily. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

“You’re rather cute when you’re trying to defend yourself,” replied Red XIII.

“I think I’m rather cute anyway!” said Yuffie defensively.

“That you are!” laughed Red XIII. Yuffie blushed a little before slowly leaning down and giving Red XIII a kiss on the top of his head. The kiss was halted, however, when she got a nose full of fuzz, making her sneeze. Red XIII chuckled a little before laughing out loud as Yuffie started to tickle him. “All right! All right! I give!” he laughed as he tried to squirm away.

“I don’t think so!” said Yuffie with a grin as she tackled him and started to tickle him again. The two struggled and laughed together until Red XIII finally managed to get on top of Yuffie and pin her hands to the floor. “Hey!” pouted Yuffie as she stuck her tongue out at him, “that’s not fair!”

“Sorry, but it was the only way to stop you,” said Red XIII with a grin.

“You know, if I were a crueler girl, I would say something about the position that we’re in now,” said Yuffie with her own grin.

Red XIII looked a little embarrassed as he got off of her and muttered, “Sorry…”

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that…” said Yuffie guiltily. “I was only…”

Red XIII smiled kindly. “I know,” he said, “I wasn’t offended or anything, but you were right. The position was a little wrong.” He slowly got on top of her again and licked her face a little before gently batting her with his paws.

“What are you doing?” asked Yuffie even as she allowed him to turn her over onto her stomach. She blushed a little as she realized what he was thinking and, after a moment of hesitation, raised herself up onto her hands and knees. “Is this what you want?” she asked quietly.

Red XIII slowly lowered his head so it was right next to hers and whispered into her ear, “Is it what you want?”

Yuffie was breathing heavily as she hissed, “I’ve wanted it ever since that time that you came all over me!”

“Is that right?” asked Red XIII.

“I’ve been in denial of that fact for three years now,” moaned Yuffie. “Please, I know I don’t have Tifa’s body, but take me…like you took her!”

“Hush now,” soothed Red XIII. “You don’t have to worry about your looks. I think you’re quite attractive just the way you are.”

Yuffie blushed as she let her head hang down. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “Um…Red…I mean, Nanaki?”

“Yes?” asked Red XIII.

“I think you’re really attractive too…” mumbled Yuffie, tears in her eyes, “so please… I want this…” She reared back and suddenly gasped as she felt Red XIII’s cock slide along her butt and up her back, causing her to whimper and arch her back.

“Shhh…” said Red XIII quietly. He leaned his head in and licked her ear slowly. She gasped again as she threw her head back, giving him the opportunity to run his tongue over her cheek.

“Please…” hissed Yuffie as she turned her head and licked his tongue. He responded by slowly sliding his tongue into her mouth and running it all along the inside, making her moan loudly. “Nanaki…” she gasped as Red XIII continued to slowly rub his cock back and forth over her ass.

“I love hearing you say that name,” growled Red XIII.

“And I love you!” sobbed Yuffie. She reached down with trembling fingers and unsnapped the catch on her shorts before looking back at Red XIII pointedly. He grinned as he slowly got off of her, making her moan in disappointment, before reaching up with one of his paws and running a single claw down her spine. She gasped quietly and arched her back when the claw brushed past the small of her back just before catching on her shorts. She felt Red XIII’s claw tug a few times and she had to fight to keep from wiggling her butt. After a few more tugs, she felt her shorts start to give and slowly slide over her hips and down her legs, taking her panties with them.

“I can’t do much more, I’m afraid,” said Red XIII apologetically.

“It’s enough!” moaned Yuffie. “Please…”

Red XIII smiled a little just before his nose was hit with the scent of her arousal. It was strong. Really strong. His nose followed the scent to it’s source before giving it a tentative lick. The effect was immediate. Yuffie screamed loudly as her muscles gave out on her, causing her to collapse flat on the ground. Red XIII grinned as he nosed at Yuffie’s crotch, trying to get her back on her knees. “Stop it!” she wailed, “Your nose is cold!”

“Well, just get up on your knees and I won’t touch you with it anymore,” said Red XIII. Yuffie whimpered as she slowly pushed herself up on quivering legs. But, as soon as Red XIII’s tongue touched her, she collapsed in spasms again. Red XIII looked down at Yuffie, who was panting heavily with tears in the corners of her eyes. “This isn’t working,” he said before gently batting her side, making her roll onto her back. “This will do.” He grinned before lowering his head down to her core and licking it slowly. Yuffie cried out as she grabbed at Red XIII’s head, but whether she was trying to push him away or keep him there was unknown to anyone. Regardless of what her wishes were, however, Red XIII continued to lick at her folds, savoring the taste of her arousal.

“R-Red…N-n-nana…kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!” cried Yuffie. “Oh My GAWD!!!!!!!!!” She panted and sobbed as she came down from her orgasm. She trembled as she felt Red XIII pull away from her. She looked at his face and shuddered at the amount of fluid that was dripping from his fur. She tried to push herself up, but found that her muscles weren’t all that interested in doing what she told them to. Instead, she found her eyelids drooping before she passed out. When she woke up she found that Red XIII had curled around her to keep her warm. “Hey there,” she said sleepily.

“Welcome back,” said Red XIII with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” said Yuffie as she sat up and stretched. “How long was I out?”

“Only a few minutes,” said Red XIII. “That must have been some orgasm to make someone like you pass out.”

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him before smiling and saying, “Well, you gave me one…I guess I should look into giving you one too, huh? Would you like that?” Red XIII merely smiled and slowly rolled over onto his side, finally exposing his large member to her eyes. It didn’t look like any penises she’d seen before, admittedly they were only in magazines, but still. Instead of the tapered head to help ease the penetration, the tip had a small point at the bottom and the rest was just flat…almost concave. And there was a small ball of muscle at the end of it that she knew would cause a lot of discomfort. “Um…are you sure it’ll…I mean…seriously!” she stammered as her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

“I have been led to believe that while I may cause a little discomfort, I will be able to…fit…” said Red XIII slowly.

“I guess I shouldn’t press that subject,” said Yuffie slowly before adding, “Uh…if I do anything wrong, don’t hesitate to stop me…okay?” Red XIII merely chuckled to himself, causing Yuffie to make a face at him. She slowly reached out her hand and grasped his member, slightly surprised by how warm it was. Just her touch was enough to get it to start oozing a clear sort of precum that trickled down the tip and onto her hand. She slowly pulled her hand away and brought it up to her face before licking it. She seemed unsure of whether she liked it or not but slowly got down on her hands and knees, closed her eyes and slowly ran her tongue along the bottom of Red XIII’s cock.

“Oh, that’s nice,” rumbled Red XIII.

“Really?” asked Yuffie. She thought about it for a second before smiling and doing it again.

“Oh yes,” shuddered Red XIII. “You can do that as often as you want.”

Yuffie smiled again before giving Red XIII’s cock another slow lick and then running her tongue around the tip. She swallowed a little before opening her mouth and engulfing the tip of his member and gently sucking on it. She smiled internally as she watched Red XIII’s toes curl and continued doing that for a few seconds before pulling back and looking at his member. She held it in her hand, actually feeling the weight of it, before leaning in and running her tongue around the large ball of muscle at the base. Red XIII whimpered at this so she did it again. She was loving the sounds that she was managing to pull from him. It made her feel like she was doing something right, and that made her happy. She closed her eyes and gently exhaled before slowly trying to get as much of his cock into her mouth as she could. She opened her mouth as wide as she could but just couldn’t seem to fit his knot. She tried a few times before pulling off of him and gasping, “I can’t do it!”

“Don’t feel so bad,” said Red XIII. “I’m rather…large down there. You don’t have to strain yourself.”

“But…” stammered Yuffie before she felt his tail gently stroking her head. She moaned happily and leaned in, burying her face in his flank. “I’ll work on it, you know,” she mumbled into his fur, making him laugh.

“I’m sure you will!” said Red XIII as he slowly stood up. Yuffie looked up at him and quickly got onto all fours in front of him. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked quietly.

“Do it,” was all Yuffie said in response. She looked back at him and gave him an approximation of a ‘come hither’ stare. He grinned as he padded up to her front and stared down into her eyes. They merely stared at each other for exactly a minute as lines were drawn and positions were determined.

He gently licked her face as he said, “As you wish, my mate.”

Yuffie sighed happily at the word ‘mate.’ It wasn’t the word she had ever really expected to garner that reaction from, but it didn’t matter. It was now a word that she would accept and wear with pride. She reached up a hand and ran it through the tuft of fur at the top of Red XIII’s head. “Nanaki…my mate…my lover…please, have me…” she whispered.

Red XIII howled with delight before scrambling up behind Yuffie and practically leaping onto her back. He thrust his hips forward and his member seemed to find her entrance but it slipped off and slid between her legs, causing them both to groan. “Help me enter you,” he huffed into her ear after a few more failed attempts, making her shudder.

“How do I…?” whimpered Yuffie.

“Just point me where I need to go and I’ll do the rest,” grunted Red XIII. Yuffie swallowed as she slowly reached back with a trembling hand and gently gripped Red XIII’s member and slowly guided it to her slit. She shuddered as she slowly rubbed the tip along her slit until she found her opening and pulled his tip inside of her body. Her mouth gaped as she tried to grab a spare breath that wasn’t there, but then Red XIII heaved his hips forward and she found her lungs to be working again as she inhaled sharply before managing a small wail. “Are you okay?” asked Red XIII.

“Oh my gawd, I’m so okay,” moaned Yuffie. “Go ahead! I can take it!” She looked back at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes before adding, “I am a super-ninja, you know.”

Red XIII chuckled a little before slowly pushing the rest of the way into Yuffie, only stopping when his knot touched her lips. “I may not be able to last very long this time,” he said, remembering that he was still riled up from the blowjob.

“It doesn’t matter!” sobbed Yuffie, “Go as long as you can! All that matters is that it’s you!”

Red XIII grinned as he pulled back and slammed into Yuffie, still not getting his knot into her. She was rather tight around him and he suddenly wondered if his knot would even fit in her. “Only one way to find out,” he grunted as he slammed his hips forward and pushed. He heard Yuffie moan and cry out as her lips held his knot out for a few seconds before they slowly weakened and finally gave out. He growled savagely as his knot forced it’s way into Yuffie’s tight channel, making her yelp, before continuing to push deeper and deeper inside of her.

“Oh gawd! Oh gawd!! Oh Gawd!!!” screamed Yuffie as she felt her passage stretch further than it was ever meant to, but for some reason, it felt wonderful. Her channel squeezed down on the invader inside of it as she let out soft sobs and moans between her screams of joy.

“Yuffie…” growled Red XIII. “I’m almost…there…”

“Nanaki!” cried Yuffie. “Cum in me! Please!”

Red XIII howled at her request and his name before slamming his hips as far forward as they could go and letting loose his load into his first human female, ever. And he couldn’t be happier with who it turned out to be. Yuffie screamed and trembled as she had another orgasm from the feeling of his cum shooting into her body. Her entire body went taut before it suddenly went limp and she flopped to the floor. Red XIII had to quickly lower his hips to keep from hurting her. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.

“Better than okay,” sighed Yuffie. Her hips twitched a few times involuntarily before she looked up at Red XIII and asked, “You won’t be able to pull out of me any time soon…will you?”

“No,” said Red XIII with a hint of embarrassment in his voice, “No, I won’t…”

“Good,” was all Yuffie said in reply before pulling him down to the floor with her and rolling them onto their sides. She then wrapped one of his paws around her waist and fell into a contented sleep.

To say Red XIII was shocked by this would be an understatement, but he took it in stride as he chuckled and slowly fell asleep next to his new lover.

******************************************************************

Seven Months Later

“Look, I don’t want to know the gender!” shouted Yuffie into the phone. “I just want to know what it’s gonna be!” She listened into the phone for a few seconds before growling and hanging up.

“Problems?” asked Tifa with a smile on her face.

“The doctor doesn’t seem to understand what I’m asking!” snarled Yuffie as she tried to flop down in a chair. Tifa cleared her throat calmly, making Yuffie remember herself and she slowly sat down.

“Yes, well, you’re not really giving them much to go on,” said Tifa kindly. “Maybe if you would explain the circumstances…”

Yuffie blushed a little. “I suppose,” she said quietly. “But they’re gonna think I’m some kind of weirdo!”

“And you’re not?” asked Tifa pleasantly. Yuffie growled before gasping and gripping her stomach. “What’s wrong?” asked Tifa, suddenly alert.

“Nothing,” said Yuffie, “it just kicked a little.” She softly stroked her pregnant stomach and closed her eyes before leaning her head back and giggling, “I wonder what the doctor would say if I just came out and asked it?”

“Asked what?” asked Tifa.

“I just want to know if I’m gonna be having a baby…or a puppy,” said Yuffie before the two started laughing.

The End

(Right, that’s that one complete, and I’m sorry it took so long, but I had a bit of a dry spell there for a bit and drama reared it’s ugly head at me (which you would think would be fine for an actor…but…) at any rate, I’m happy with this one and want you all to enjoy it, as well as the omake on the next page. Take care and I’ll see you all again in my next Gamerz Fantasy. Next up will be X: starring Lulu because it was specifically requested of me by someone who I traded e-mails with a year or so ago. Take care all!)