Chapter Seven

…

The little ship floated high above the Planet.

"How small it looks." Yuffie said to herself.

From up here, she could see the broad curve of the world, and it felt as if she were floating in space itself. The stars were so much brighter and the moon, she felt, she could almost touch. Around and beneath the ship, Vincent formed a cloud, as she sped through the night sky in silence. The adrenaline rush of her recent adventure had subsided and now she was very, very sleepy.

"How long to Wutai?"

"Six hours at current speed and altitude." The synthetic voice replied.

Yuffie let out a great sigh and snuggled into her seat, and soon, she was asleep…

…

She was sitting on a terrace in the royal palace. The bright sun warming her face and a cool gentle breeze blew the cherry blossom across the garden. How content…she felt. She turned. There was her mother, beautiful and radiant, smiling at her.

"We made it!" Yuffie cried. "We made it!"

"You made it." Hyun-Hee replied. "I'm very proud of you. You are a very brave little girl. You remind me much of myself."

"How?"

Her mother laughed. "You are willful, and headstrong. And you let yourself ruled by your emotions sometimes."

"That'a it?"

"You're kind and courageous too. What's more, you have a good heart. And that counts very highly in my books."

"Did he really hurt you?"

"He told you that?" Hyun-Hee remained silent for a moment.

"He said you cried out."

Hyun-Hee gave a sad little laugh. "Oh no, dear. It wasn't me that cried out. I stabbed him hard. I knew there was no way out. And if I made him angry enough, he would end it all very quickly."

The mother rose, and stroked her daughter's hair.

"Where are you going?" Yuffie cried again. "Please don't go!"

"Don't worry. I'll always be here for you." She put her hand to her heart. "We can never be separated now. Tell your father I love him when you see him."

And with that, Yuffie's mother gracefully walked back into the palace. The bright sun seemed to blind her as she looked on after her. It was very bright now, almost too bright.

…

Yuffie opened her eyes, and saw high up in the sky, the sun climbing over the horizon. It had been a dream, although she had felt the presence of her mother to be very real. She looked around, rubbing her eyes and noticed that the little ice cloud that had been accompanying her was gone. On the cockpit's window, some words had formed in the condensation.

It was a parting message from Vincent: "Remember me."

It was all too much for the little princess, and she burst into tears, overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude, love and sorrow, all mingled into one.

"Estimated time of arrival: forty minutes" The synthetic voice announced.

Yuffie dried her eyes. She was almost there. And in her excitement she stood up in her chair and looked down at the world beneath. The sea had gone and below she could just make out the fields and villages of her homeland as the ship slowly began its descent.

…

The last embers of the fire in Godo's great bedroom went out. He glanced up from his chair and saw through the shutters, the unmistakable violet light of dawn. Chekov sat patiently at a respectful distance from Godo looking over him, watching for any signs of his recovery.

"I am tired, Chekov." Godo said.

"Then respectfully, sir. I suggest you must go to bed."

"Must?" Godo roared with anger. "Must is not a word for Emperors!" He then softened, but remembered that his only daughter had run away from him because he told she must change her costume. How alike they were.

Chekov saw her master's thin frame quietly sob. "Sir, you must eat, you must rest."

"I must hope the gods return Yuffie to me."

"Sir," Chekov continued. "you must attend to affairs of state. The crops were not good this year and your people grow hungry."

Yet Godo said nothing.

…

Standing on top of one of the tallest towers in Wutai, the court astrologer was gazing into the early dawn through a lens. He gave a sudden gasp, as there in the sky was a bright point of light, which was travelling at an angle through the skies, growing brighter with a help of a gauge fixed on the lens. He measured its angle of descent. His heart began to beat.

"An omen!" he cried, and he excitedly ran down into the palace as fast as his podgy feet could take him.

There was a knock on Godo's chamber door. He remained silent. The knocking grew louder. "An omen, my lord! An omen!" Came the cry again.

Chekov rose and opened the door. "Shhh! What is all this racket? You know the Emperor's in meditation."

"You must let me in. I must speak with the Emperor now." The court astrologer pushed Chekov aside and ran in breathlessly. "My lord, my lord! There is a great omen in the sky! A bright shining light that may have been a star made the sacred degree."

There was a sudden commotion as something whizzed by above the palace. Godo got up, strode over to the shutters and threw them open. It seemed all of Wutai were looking into the sky, amazement on their faces. Above them was a shiny craft, sparks flickering off it. It seemed headed for the imperial park.

"My lord!" The astrologer said, leaping up and down with joy.

"What does this mean?" Godo demanded.

"My lord, it signifies return."

…

The descent of the little ship began smoothly enough. It seemed the computer flew it all by itself. That was very reassuring. What, she wondered, were all the buttons for? A voice somewhere at the back of her head said: "Whatever you do, don't press the red button."

"Huh…" Yuffie wondered. "…the red button, eh? Nyuk, nyuk…"

Thank Leviathan that the computer was flying her, not her. Another voice in Yuffie's head said: "Go on, press it! You know you wanna!"

"Ah, well." She thought. "The computer can fix anything."

Suddenly, the synthetic voice announced: "Override granted. Computer shutting down. Controls to manual."

There was adorning noise as various circuits began to shut down. "Um, computer?" Yuffie hesitated. "Hey, can you please switch back on?" But there was nothing apart from the descending drone of systems disconnecting. "Oh, gawd."

She looked around wildly, when through the console and floor, a set of instruments began to extend. What looked like a wheel, extended towards her as the ship started to spin and bump along as if the air was full of stones, as if she rode a boat through dangerous rapids. She could see parts begin to rip off the outer shell. She was going to crash. "I haven't come this far not to make it now." she said, taking a couple of deep breaths and grasped the controls.

After much tugging and pulling, the ship seemed to stop spinning and its flight became smoother, but it also went downwards. There was nothing she could do. She could see the imperial park of Wutai, coming quickly towards her. She offered up a quick prayer and held her breath as the ship came hurtling into the park.

Godo was already at the gates of the park when it happened. In a blaze of multi-colored light, the craft plunged into a shallow willow pond that broke its fall. Godo ran towards the craft with all his might, Chekov stumbling at a distance. He could clearly see now that this was no star. This was a sophisticated sky craft, although not one of his, that was for sure.

All the birds in the trees stopped singing, and there was silence in Godo's ears. He strode forward to give the ship a closer inspection. Suddenly, after much banging, a door on the side thudded open. And there, standing there, was the most bedraggled looking bird he had ever seen. Yuffie looked up at her father with wide tearful eyes. Godo didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Yuffie ran up to him, and he picked her and lifted her off her feet, holding her tight.

"I'm sorry for running away." Yuffie whispered in his ear.

"No…it is me that is sorry. I drove you away, and I can only thank the gods that you have been returned safely."

"I promise I'll never leave you again."

"And I promise I'll never talk to you that way again."

As they embraced, Chekov looked up and saw the first bud of spring burst forth in a single cherry blossom.

…

Epilogue

…

Seven years passed…

Yuffie was now part of a company called AVALANCHE, on a quest to rid the Planet of an evil named Sephiroth. At this moment, they were currently in an abandoned mansion in a small town, called Nibelheim, searching for clues to their enemy's whereabouts. AVALANCHE had split up to search different parts of the mansion. Yuffie had found herself in a bedroom. She was well trained by now in looking for concealed doors, safes or strongholds (not to mention Materia). She ran her fingers under the lip of a desk and found what she was looking for, a button. Something in her head said: "Go on, press it! You know you wanna!"

And as she did so, there was a faint click in one of the bookcases. She moved over to it and prized it open. There was a door behind it, which led down to a basement with an old wooden spiral staircase. She had to cry out: "Hey, guys! Look what I found!"

After descending down the steps and walking through the darkening caverns, Yuffie and the group found themselves in an old abandoned laboratory. Dusty instruments and research books lay everywhere. They each began searching different corners of the room. Yuffie noticed some old shelving and a few books that lay in a little alcove of the main room. As her expert hands searched eagerly for clues (or Materia), she came across a photograph. She blew the dust from it, and noticed a face that seemed very familiar, staring back at her. It was a standard mug shot in black and white, of a handsome young man around his twenties, with a serious face.

Yuffie gave a little gasp. One of her friends, Tifa Lockheart, approached her, asking: "What's the matter, Yuffie? Are you okay?"

"I know this guy, Tifa. I don't know why, but do you ever get that funny feeling you know strangers that you've never even met?"

Tifa thought for a moment. "Maybe. The closest thing I can think of there, off the top of my head, is déjà vu…but that's a little different."

A flood of memories surfaced Yuffie's mind, and she knew from that moment, exactly who the man in the photo was. "I know him. But when I knew him, he was…something else."

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked.

"Well," Yuffie sighed. "you're in for a long story, Tifa. It all began when I was nine, gazing out my window, watching the snow fall upon Wutai…"

…

The End

…

Author's Note: Yay, another story finished! (Does a Final Fantasy victory dance: DA-DA-DA-DA, DA-DA, DA-DA-DA!).

Hope you enjoyed reading, guys. It seems that life is becoming far too busy for me to continue writing on with more fics, and you may or may not have noticed in the past few years, I've been writing much less. But that's not to say I'm quitting. 'Mind's Eye' was something I wrote in a different step in comparison to all the corny and campy song fics I've written for Yuffie and Vincent (lol). I might return to doing more song parodies if requested. Otherwise, maybe I'll think of something different again for my next Yuffentine story (whenever that'd be).

It's been fun writing, everyone, and it's been even more fun reading your reviews. All my hugs and kisses to my fellow readers. And hope to have another Yuffentine story to share soon.

Thanks, and all the best.

Chuck