Okay here’s chapter 2 of my Final Fantasy VII fanfic. I still haven’t thought of a title. Dave’s review post inspired me to keep up the activity here. Note that the song in this works into the story later on. Cloud plays it for Yuffie later as a kind of impromptu jam. It’s sort of Vai inspired although I’m not claiming that I play like him. I’ve been doing some tremolo stuff. Bought a new guitar recently, a Charvel. Sorry about the noise.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters or any aspect of Final Fantasy VII

Cloud sought shelter under a canopy at an abandoned turnpike between Junon and Midgar. It was late afternoon and the rain had just started up again. He was on delivery. Early that morning he had crept back into Seventh Heaven before Tifa had awoken and collected his messages. “What am I doing?” he asked himself. The fantasy of her black tresses over delicate shoulders sliced clean through his heart and he buried his face in his hands as waves of nostalgia broke over him. An old friend, who had been shadowing him since his last stop, watched from a distance for a while, before it simply became too pathetic a sight to bear.

“What are you doing?” a lilting female voice asked. He hadn’t heard her approach. He looked up to see a familiar face peering up at him from underneath a cloak. Young ninja Yuffie Kisaragi was crouched on the grass in front of him, smiling.

“Yuffie?” Cloud asked confused.

“None other. It’s me, Yuffie Kisaragi! The apple of your eye, the ants in your pants, the White Rose of Wutai.”

Cloud tried to think of something to ask her, “I…” he trailed off. Yuffie made a face.

“Uh…yeah, I was in the area, so I stopped by the bar,” said Yuffie. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “You were nowhere to be found, and Tifa looked like somebody forgot her birthday or something.” She pointed at Cloud and intoned, “What did you do this time?”

“What did she say…Tifa,” asked Cloud.

“Wouldn’t you like to know…actually I can’t repeat it in polite company,” she chortled.

As usual, the young ninja wasn’t being entirely generous with whatever she knew. He secretly liked this aspect of her personality. But he was too emotionally bereft then. He sighed and rested his forehead in his palms and then got up to leave.

“Hey…Cloud,” said Yuffie with a hint of real concern in her voice. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Wait, where are you going?” He halted with his back to her. Standing in the downpour he turned to face her, liking the idea that he could storm off and leave her thinking her cruel words pushed him over the edge.

Seeing the tiny smirk on his face, “Don’t I at least get a ride on your sweet bike?”

Cloud looked to the sky and back to Yuffie. “Do you want a ride somewhere? It’s raining.”

“What, am I too good for that but you aren’t?”

He cocked his head, “I guess not.”

Cloud mounted Fenrir and started the engine, and waited patiently for Yuffie as if he’d already made it clear it was all right to join him. It took her a moment to read the invitation, and then she ran over eagerly and hopped on behind him.

As she was getting on Cloud asked, “You’re the strangest princess I’ve ever known.”

“Cloud, that’s hitting pretty low,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Besides, how many other princesses do you know?”

‘Tifa,’ he wondered to himself.

“Hold on tight now.”

“Oh Cloud, give me a break.”

He intentionally gunned the accelerator and peeled out pretty aggressively, making her clutch his sweater. “Tell me when you’re going to do that,” she shouted in his ear. He felt Yuffie’s arms wrap around his waist and her body press up against his back. As they rode together, Cloud couldn’t help but feel a sense of comfort in her touch and the warmth of her body, faint through their damp clothing. ‘Tifa,’ he thought guiltily.

When they hit a long stretch of road that ran along the coastline Cloud opened up the throttle. The rain hadn’t let up but it didn’t bother either of them, they were used to being out in the elements. She rested her face against his back and looked out at the breakers forming in the ocean under the tranquil gray skies. Holding him was the strangest feeling, like a wolf that you aren’t sure that it’s all right to pet. She wondered if he was wound this tightly all the time.

–

Mosey

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