Chapter 43

"Yuffie... Yuffie!"

Jessie was shaking her by the shoulders, and Yuffie pushed weakly at her hands. "Quit it..." Then she remembered, and jolted upright. "Nanaki?"

"He's all right," Jessie assured her, directing her attention to where he lay nearby. His side rose and fell evenly, his breathing unlabored.

"What... happened?"

"I think you summoned a god," Jessie said. "But we can get back to that later. Sephiroth's dead, but we need to move. The Shinra showed up."

Yuffie followed her nod to see that airship from Icicle Inn, moving in over the crater. She twisted to look down into the hollow, taking in the scene. Tifa, Aeris, and Zack all clustered around Barret. Cloud lying nearby.

And Sephiroth... looking not quite right anymore. A huge gash in his side, his head lying slightly separate from his body. His stillness unnerved her, and made her look again at the others. She swallowed.

"Is Cloud...?"

"No one's dead," Jessie said quickly, the kind of quickly that said she was worried that wouldn't stay true for long. "But we... can't fight the Shinra. And we can't let them have the Black Materia."

Yuffie's hand fell to the pouch at her side, the heavy orb cold against her skin even through layers of fabric, and she realized that Jessie only meant escape for the two of them. She looked ahead at the slope of the crater, the rim of which looked so far away right now. And that was the easy part.

"I can't do those cliffs again," she said, shaking her head.

"I know," said Jessie. "Me neither. I've got something else in mind. Remember Junon?"

Jessie grabbed their packs from where they'd left them, and they dug out the old uniforms. As much as she could, Yuffie pulled hers on over her clothes, but her body wouldn't move as quickly as she wanted it to, and she watched the approach of the Highwind with mounting trepidation.

It came to a stop over the hollow, and a cluster of figures appeared on deck. Yuffie got her helmet on just as they threw a ladder over the side.

If she'd been in better shape, this would have been easy. Just wait for the right moment and blend in with the real soldiers as they began to swarm over the scene. But back on her feet, she felt like a stiff breeze could bowl her over. She couldn't carry anything, and Jessie had to hide her shuriken beneath her pack. The rest, they had to leave behind for the Shinra to collect along with everything else.

She followed Jessie's lead this time, and they had to wait a while, watching as the Shinra surrounded their friends, relieving them of their weapons and handcuffing even those who were unconscious. Aeris and Zack resisted being pulled away from Barret, but Yuffie couldn't hear their protests. Her jaw clenched as they muzzled Nanaki, like he was nothing but an animal. She could bite people, if she wanted to. She kind of did, right now.

The belly of the airship opened, and a platform descended on cables, and Yuffie and Jessie joined the first group returning to the ship.

Zack was the only one among their friends who could still walk, and he was brought with them. He glanced at them, but turned his look of recognition into a grimace of disgust, and looked away again. They made it inside undiscovered.

She and Jessie stayed in the back of the group, and broke away when they could. Yuffie thought it would've been a good idea to follow them, and find out where they were taking Zack, but she realized she was out of breath just from walking. They followed a few corridors away from the sound of troops, and Jessie ventured through a door.

"No one in here," she said, motioning Yuffie inside.

It was a small room, a storage closet, Yuffie realized, and that was fine. She sank down gratefully onto the floor.

"You gonna be all right to hide here?" Jessie asked her. "I wanna get the lay of this ship, see if I can figure out where they'll be keeping our friends."

"No, you should definitely do that," said Yuffie. "We're gonna have to bust 'em out later."

Jessie nodded. "Yeah. Okay, just sit tight."

And then she was gone, leaving Yuffie alone in the dark, the insistent thrum of the engine coming from somewhere nearby.

They'd done it, she thought, so where was the fanfare? How come they had to be sneaking around like this while the Shinra took all their friends prisoner? What was going to happen to everyone?

Yuffie wrapped her arms around her knees. She'd seen Barret as they passed by. He hadn't looked good. None of them did, really, and why would the Shinra do anything to change that? What if they just let Barret die?

And all she could do was sit here in this stupid little room feeling miserable, even though they'd done everything they'd set out to do and saved the Planet. Her throat felt tight, and she buried her head in her arms. Pressed against her thigh beneath her uniform, the Black Materia seemed to leech the warmth from her. She wished she could get rid of it.

She felt it when the ship got moving, but worry had already tied her stomach up in knots. How long would they be on this ship? she wondered. Where were they even going?

"Can I... help you?"

Yuffie jerked her head up. She hadn't noticed the door open or the light come on, but it wasn't a soldier who'd entered the room. It was a chubby woman in an ugly green jumpsuit and white coat who peered down at Yuffie through a pair of large round glasses.

"Uhh, no," Yuffie said, struggling to her feet. "I just needed a minute. Got a little seasick. I mean, airsick." That had to be a thing, right?

The woman chewed on her lip, looking her over, and she pushed her glasses up her nose. "You... aren't really a soldier, are you?" she asked.

"What? Is this about my height?"

The woman shook her head and pointed down. "Your boots aren't regulation."

Yuffie glanced down at her feet. Shit. She'd forgotten to change them, and Jessie hadn't noticed either. Was Jessie wearing the right shoes?

"Don't worry," the woman went on. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"You're not?"

She shook her head again. "It's not really my job, to deal with intruders."

Yuffie was confused. "Aren't you with Shinra?"

"Well... Technically speaking, I suppose I am. But I only came aboard because this ship needed repairs. It used to belong to someone very important to me, and I... couldn't let them ruin something else of his."

"What?" That hadn't really explained anything.

The woman pushed at her glasses again. "Sorry. I mean to say, I'm a mechanic, that's all. My name is Shera."

"...Yuffie," she answered cautiously.

"You're with those people we just picked up, aren't you? AVALANCHE, I think they're called?"

"What do you know about it?"

"Well," said Shera, "I've overheard some things. They say you killed Sephiroth... Rufus has been chasing him for a while now. It sounds like you did him a favor, but... I don't expect he'll be thanking you."

Yuffie snorted. "Yeah, he's sure as hell not gonna do that." She eyed Shera thoughtfully. "Listen... If you're a mechanic, you must know a lot about this ship. Like, the layout and stuff?"

"You want to know where your friends are being held," Shera concluded.

"That'd be a good start. And then we'll need a way off this ship. Where's it even headed?"

"Midgar. I heard we're going back to Headquarters."

"Midgar..." Yuffie had only seen it from a distance. A dark tangle of metal across the wasteland that surrounded it. "Is there any way off before we land there?"

"Well..." Shera looked doubtful. "They store parachutes aboard. But, are your friends really in any condition for that?"

Good question. Yuffie wasn't sure if she was in any condition for it. But if they made it all the way to Midgar... Tifa and the others had escaped Shinra Headquarters before, but it was in the middle of Sephiroth's massacre. How would they get a distraction like that this time?

"You look exhausted," Shera went on when Yuffie didn't answer. "Why don't you rest a bit? I'm sure you'll need to before you try anything."

Yuffie glanced around. "Does anybody else come in here, or just you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean here. You're welcome to use my room; no one will bother you there."

"...yeah?"

Shera adjusted her glasses. "If I were going to turn you in, it wouldn't make any difference whether you were here or there, would it?"

Yuffie thought about it for a minute. If Shera was going to report her, her only chance was to refuse her help and find a new hiding spot. But then they'd be looking for her, and she was too tired to keep on the move.

"All right," she decided. "But have you got some paper or something? I gotta leave a note."

"A note?" Shera repeated, and then she smiled, looking oddly relieved. "Then you aren't on your own?"

"Uh, not quite. But my friend, he'll worry if I'm not here when he checks." She wasn't about to blow Jessie's cover, just in case. Let them look for a guy in their ranks who didn't belong.

"I'm glad," said Shera. "I mean, that you're not doing this alone. You seem so young, and... I'd be terrified if I were you."

After a beat, she remembered Yuffie's request and pulled a small notepad and pencil from the pocket of her coat. The note Yuffie left was brief, nothing to incriminate Shera either. Hopefully she'd find a way to meet up with Jessie again later, but sticking around here wasn't looking like an option.

Shera poked her head out the door first, and then motioned Yuffie along after her. They did run into a couple soldiers in the stairwell up from the basement levels, but they barely glanced at Yuffie, and Shera might as well have been invisible. Maybe she should've disguised herself as a mechanic, she thought, although it wouldn't have hidden her face. The Shinra had to know what she looked like by now, right?

Shera's quarters were small, but there was a bed, and that was all that mattered. Yuffie collapsed onto it, and shoved her helmet off onto the floor.

"You'll be safe here," Shera promised. "I'll... I'll see what I can find out about your friends, without making anyone suspicious."

"Thanks," Yuffie managed. "You actually seem pretty cool."

Shera blinked. "O-oh. Well, thank you."

She probably didn't get that very often, Yuffie figured. She looked like a real nerd.

Yuffie shut her eyes as Shera left the room. The Black Materia dug into her side, and she shifted to find a more comfortable position. Maybe with some sleep, she could figure out how to get everyone out of this mess.

Weird. When had she become the kind of person to worry so much about anyone else? A couple months ago, the plan wouldn't have gone any further than staying in disguise, and waiting for the right moment to get away, somewhere in Midgar. But the thought of bailing on them hadn't even occurred to her until now.

Which was really stupid of her.

But she thought of Nanaki, taking on Sephiroth like that. Barret, stepping in front of her to block his sword. She sure hadn't thought that was stupid, in the moment. They'd protected her. They'd been brave.

Maybe she just wanted to call stuff like that stupid so she didn't feel like a coward. That was really what it would've been, right? If she'd bailed.

So she didn't regret sticking around. Even winding up here.

Yuffie fell asleep in Shera's bed, out cold for a while in a dreamless black.

She jolted awake to alarms blaring. Fumbling for her helmet, she toppled out of bed and hit the floor with a grunt. As she pushed herself up, she regained enough conscious thought to realize that she hadn't been discovered. No one had come for her.

Did that mean they'd found Jessie? Were they blaring a ship-wide alarm just for her? Or... had the others found some way to escape?

Yuffie wasn't sure how long she'd been out. She didn't exactly feel rested, but when she picked herself up, she didn't feel about to fall right back over. She settled the helmet back on her head and stepped out into the corridor.

It was empty, but she could hear boots running on the level below. On the way down, she nearly collided with Shera, hurrying up.

"Oh! Oh, thank goodness," Shera exclaimed, and then she remembered to lower her voice. "I thought they'd found you."

"It's not me," said Yuffie. "You don't know what's going on?"

Shera shook her head.

"Whatever it is... we might need to get out of here in a hurry," Yuffie reasoned.

"Right." Shera tore a few sheets from her notepad and handed them over. "I made these for you. That's where they're keeping most of your friends, where the parachutes are stored, the way out on deck."

"You can't show me?"

Shera carefully replaced her notepad as she glanced around. "If you escape now... They can stop the airship and come after you. Unless, of course... it won't stop."

"You're... gonna sabotage the brakes?"

Shera smiled wryly, and Yuffie was pretty sure airships didn't have brakes. "Something like that," she said.

"You're really cool," Yuffie decided. "I don't know if I get why you're doing this, but thanks."

"The Shinra... don't really care about anyone's lives. I don't want to be party to anyone's execution."

Yuffie nodded, and she held out a hand. Shera took it. "Don't get caught either, okay?" she said.

"I'll try. Now, find your friends."

Shera disappeared back down the stairwell. Yuffie glanced over the scribbled map she'd been handed, and pressed on to the next level down.

Lights flashed red, and soldiers ran past with rifles held at the ready. Her instincts told her that was not the way she wanted to go, but that was where her friends probably were, so she ignored her gut and followed.

She didn't have to go far before the source of the commotion burst into view. A monster, the size and shape of a man, but with massive red wings whose full span was too big for the corridor.

A monster, wearing Vincent's clothes.

He quickly dispatched the soldiers ahead of her, hurling one against the wall and piercing the other's chest with the tip of one wing. He set his eyes on her, and she realized to him, she probably looked just like them.

"Vincent, wait, it's me--"

He charged her, and her helmet clattered to the floor just as his hand met her chest. He shoved her against the wall, and she grunted, but it wasn't the same force he'd used with the soldiers. He stood staring at her, and something in those eyes still looked like Vincent. He was still in there, right?

"Yuffie!" It was Jessie's voice. She skidded to a stop a few paces away when Vincent's head snapped in her direction. He released Yuffie and started to turn.

"Jessie, helmet off, quick!" said Yuffie, and Jessie hurriedly complied.

"Easy, Vincent. We're all friends here."

The monster narrowed his eyes at her but stayed put, folding his wings halfway closed.

"Where are the others?" Yuffie asked Jessie. "If Vincent got out--"

"They were keeping him separate; I guess Elena said something about... well, this. I found where they are, but there's a keypad lock. I can't get past it."

"What're we gonna do? Fight?"

Jessie shook her head. "I don't know. These transformations don't usually last that long..."

A pair of men appeared around the corner, carrying swords and in different uniforms. SOLDIER? Yuffie wondered. Vincent turned and snarled at them, his wings flaring.

"I think we gotta go," said Jessie. "Our cover's blown anyway."

"But Tifa and--"

"I know, I know-- But we can't help them if we get caught now. We'll figure something out later."

The two SOLDIERs charged towards them, but Vincent gestured, and a grey smoke swirled up around their feet. They collapsed to the floor unconscious.

"All right, come on!" said Yuffie, running past them.

"You know where you're going?" asked Jessie.

"Parachute storage," Yuffie answered. She glanced behind them; Vincent was following. She reached the locker, pulled it open, tossed one to Jessie, and took another for herself. The deck wasn't much farther, just back up one more level.

But when they got there, she realized there was an entirely different obstacle.

"I've never done this before," she said, staring out at the open air as she settled the straps over her shoulders.

"Me neither," said Jessie. She sounded as nervous as Yuffie felt. How far was it to the ground?

The door behind them opened, and soldiers opened fire. Vincent grabbed Jessie and dove over the railing, and Yuffie ran after them. There was no cover, nothing for it but to just-- jump.

The sound of gunfire swiftly fell away behind her, lost to the wind in her ears. Her heart was racing, and she could see the ground far below, but it didn't feel like it was rushing up to meet her. For the first few seconds, she almost forgot she was falling at all. It was kind of like flying.

Vincent was still in a dive ahead of her. He was the one with wings, so she hoped he knew what he was doing. When he finally flared them out and snapped up out of her sight, she pulled the cord on the parachute.

The rushing in her ears gave way to a sudden hush. The world was silent, the earth laid out small below her. Only now did she think to wonder how far they'd come in their route. She'd lost her sense of time in the crater, but the sun over the eastern horizon told her it was morning, the day after. Its light glittered over the ocean, and she remembered...

Leviathan. It had come when she called. Answered her in an instant, like it had already been there, waiting on her word. Why had it come for her, and not for Wutai? Or had it come for the Planet? From the Planet? If it was all of a piece, like Aeris said, then maybe it had something to do with the energy in that place, so concentrated it was almost like a presence, like voices...

Maybe it was voices. Aeris heard them. Yuffie... still wasn't sure. She wondered if the water god was one of them, if she just listened hard enough. But, whether she could get an answer or not, she needed to thank it, anyhow.

The ground was starting to come up faster, a grassy plain beneath her. Yuffie didn't know anything about jumping out of airships, but she knew about falling. The moment her foot made contact, she let her body roll to soften the impact. The relief she felt on touching solid ground was quickly smothered by the parachute collapsing on top of her, burying her in heavy fabric. She fought back a sense of panic as she unbuckled herself and tugged at the chute, trying to find the edge.

Someone was helping her, and at last she found her way free.

"You okay?" Jessie asked breathlessly, leaning her hands on her knees.

"Yeah, thanks." Yuffie picked herself up and looked around. "Vincent?"

Jessie pointed over a low rise. "Human again. He passed out after we landed."

She led the way back to him, and the short walk cost her visible effort; Yuffie wondered if she'd found any chance to sleep on the airship. And as for Vincent, who lay unconscious in the grass in his torn clothes, did he even know what had happened? Did he know they'd killed Sephiroth?

"Doesn't look like they're coming after us..." Jessie remarked. Yuffie followed her gaze skyward to see the Highwind, continuing on its way southeast.

"Guess she did it," said Yuffie. Either that or they didn't really want Vincent back in custody.

Jessie looked back at her. "Whoever it was who helped you, huh?" But before Yuffie could answer, she shook her head. "You can tell me about it later. Right now, as long as we're out of danger... I need to pass out for a while myself."

"Yeah. You look like you need it. I'll... keep watch for a while. Don't even worry about it."

Jessie smiled gratefully, and in moments she'd made a pillow out of her pack and fallen asleep on the ground.

So, Yuffie thought. This was what they had to work with. Jessie, she would've picked in a heartbeat. She was smart, and she could be pretty sneaky, which was something they'd need if they were going to rescue their friends out of the heart of Shinra territory. But Vincent... was a wildcard. If he came back to himself, that was fine, but what if he didn't? They didn't know anything about this other monster, and how it affected him.

While they were both out, Yuffie scouted the immediate area, and kept her eye on the sky. But the Highwind never turned back, and there was nothing around to threaten them.

She was getting super hungry though, and she eyed Jessie's pack longingly, wondering if there was anything left of their provisions in there. Would it disturb her that much if Yuffie just slid it carefully out from under her head? She came real close to trying it, but Jessie mumbled something in her sleep and Yuffie backed off.

With a sigh, she lay on her back, figuring she could at least get in a nap herself, but the damn Black Materia pressed cold and heavy into her side. Frustrated, she pulled its pouch off of her belt and shoved the thing away from her. She wanted to hurl it into the sea, but arms length would have to do for now.

She shut her eyes, and it was a little easier falling asleep this time.

It was after midday when all three of them finally found their way to consciousness at the same time. Vincent drew his cape around himself and studied their surroundings with a frown.

"...how are you feeling?" Jessie ventured.

Vincent seemed unsure how to answer. "Tired," he said at last. "A little... disoriented."

"We're around the southern tip of the continent, I think."

"Yes," he said. "It's... returning to me. We were on an airship... But, what of Sephiroth?"

"...dead," Jessie answered cautiously. "But the Shinra caught up to us, after we defeated him."

Vincent nodded slowly. "Then the others are still...?"

"Back on the ship," said Yuffie. "They're headed for Midgar. It's up to the three of us to go rescue them."

"Not just the three of us," said Jessie. "Remember, we've got a woman on the inside."

"Lucrecia..." Vincent murmured.

"And," Jessie went on, "I think maybe it's time to call in back-up."

"What back-up?" Yuffie asked her.

But Jessie just smiled as she pulled out her phone and stepped away to make a call. "Hey, Wedge," Yuffie heard her say, "how fast can you make it to Midgar?"

Wedge? Yuffie wondered. She'd never met the guy, but he'd been stuck on babysitting duty for as long as she'd been with AVALANCHE. What kind of back-up was that? But... maybe it was better than nothing. Lucrecia kind of gave her the creeps, too, even if she had helped them.

While Jessie explained their situation to Wedge, Yuffie reached for her pack and started sorting through it. Jessie had repacked it in a hurry after finding her uniform, and Yuffie had to toss out a lot of junk to find anything edible. Vincent watched her, but he looked more curious than judgmental.

"You hungry, too?" she asked.

"...yes," he admitted. "That, too."

She followed his gaze to the clothes she'd discarded. "Oh," she realized. "You must really be wanting pants that don't have a tail hole about now. Y'know, you are pretty skinny, and I don't think Jessie'll mind."

Vincent nodded, retrieved one of the looser pairs, and walked off until he'd disappeared out of sight over the rise.

"Is that all the food we've got left?" Jessie asked her. She'd just finished up her call.

"Seems like it," Yuffie said, offering her one of the two measly granola bars. She unwrapped and bit into the other. "So's your friend comin'?"

"Yeah. He's gonna borrow his brother's truck-- so he'll probably get there before we do."

"How're we getting there?" Yuffie wondered. "We're still on the wrong continent."

"There used to be a village," said Vincent as he rejoined them, "on the southern tip, where the sea narrows. Does your map show it?"

"Um... I'm not sure," Jessie admitted. She broke off half her granola bar to hand to Vincent, and stuck the other half in her mouth as she unfolded the map on the ground.

"I don't see anything there," Yuffie observed doubtfully.

"This one doesn't show all the smaller villages," said Jessie. "So... I don't know. But Vincent, you knew this area?"

He nodded. "I used to live in Baldheim."

"Baldheim?"

"I believe it's fallen beneath Midgar's northernmost sectors."

Yuffie stared at the large circle on the map that represented Midgar, for the first time thinking about the towns that had already been there before the city was built. "Hey, so, does that mean you might know someone there?" she wondered. "Like, the old people?"

"Yeah," said Jessie. "You've never asked about them, but even after thirty years... Did you have family there?"

"We had a falling out," said Vincent.

"Oh," said Jessie, her expression falling into a frown. "Because of...?"

"My choice in profession," he finished smoothly, a counter to whatever she'd been about to suggest. "Besides, I heard they returned to Wutai."

"What?" said Yuffie. "You're from Wutai?"

"My parents were, originally."

"Valentine's not exactly a Wutai kind of name," she noted skeptically.

"I changed it, when I decided on 'Vincent.'"

"You changed your whole name? What'd it used to be?"

"Yuffie," Jessie interjected, as though she were being rude.

"What? You're the one who wanted me to get to know 'im."

Vincent and Jessie exchanged glances, and she was clearly missing something. At last Vincent said, "I am transgender, Yuffie."

"Oh. So it was a girl's name?"

"Yes."

Yuffie thought about that for a second. "Man, good on you for changing it," she decided. "I can't imagine having to call you 'Akiko' or something. It wouldn't suit you at all."

Vincent blinked at her. "...thank you," he said.

"What, were you worried I'd take it bad?" Yuffie wondered, and they probably had been. She wasn't exactly notorious for her sensitivity. But... "This is the one thing about you I think I get. But if I had my choice, I'd pick like a none-of-the-above option."

"You do have a choice," said Vincent.

"Huh?"

"In who you are. It's entirely up to you."

"There's really only the two options," Yuffie pointed out. Vincent had done what suited him, but she didn't want to be a boy. Boys were stupid.

"Traditionally, perhaps. But you've never struck me as eager to follow rules or traditions."

He had a point there. Yuffie had never felt much like a girl, but she'd always figured it was because the people around her had such a limited definition of what it was to be one. But Jessie and Tifa and Aeris, they didn't fit that narrow definition either, and they were still women, in a way that Yuffie... wasn't, maybe.

But what the hell would you call that?

"I guess it's worth some thought," she said aloud. "Thanks, Vinny."

"'Vinny'?" Jessie repeated, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah. 'Vincent' is so stuffy. It's sooo not my style."

"It's his name."

Yuffie shrugged. "So if he doesn't like it, let him have a feeling for once and tell me off." She fixed Vincent with a challenging look. "Way I see it, I'd be doing you a favor."

She could've sworn he almost smiled. "I suppose it's... fine," he said.

"Uh-huh." Yuffie retrieved her shuriken from where Jessie had left it and picked herself up off the ground. "Anyway, we should probably get going. I don't... really wanna keep them waiting."

Her eyes fell on the Black Materia as she stood, but she didn't reach for it. Jessie followed her look.

"I guess I can take that for a while," she said.

"Thanks," said Yuffie. "I hate that thing."

"...do we have a plan for it, in the long term?" Vincent wondered.

Jessie shook her head as she fastened the pouch onto her belt. "No. I haven't had time to think beyond playing keep-away. Which means we'll need to stash it someplace before we hit Headquarters."

"What if we just... got rid of it?" Yuffie wondered.

"Well... If the Ancients turned it into that whole Temple, I don't think it can be destroyed. We could throw it in the ocean, and that might hide it for a while, but I don't know. Shinra's already got the technology to search for it. Who knows about the future?"

"You think it requires a guardian," Vincent concluded.

"Maybe," said Jessie. "With something this dangerous, I think it'd be better to put all our heads together. Maybe talk it through with the elders at Cosmo Canyon."

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah... Those nerds can probably think of something."

She hoped they could anyway. They'd gone through a lot of trouble over it, and Yuffie didn't want to have to do any of it again. She wouldn't really wish it on anyone in the future either, but that was a thought for another day. They still had their own problems to deal with.

Vincent took up Jessie's pack, and the three of them started south.


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