Yuffie ran and never looked back; the sounds of combat slowly fading behind her. That ambush had been more then a little fortuitous; running into two Shinra goons seconds after her most audacious heist ever. Her bags clanked as the Materia collided, the faint chiming noises they produced was music to her ears. Her biggest prize still remained gripped in her left hand. Checking ahead of her and seeing the ground was even for a good distance, she parted her fingers slightly, looking at her new treasure.

The minute, pure white Materia bounced across her palm, prevented from tumbling to the ground by the cage of her fingers. She caught it between finger and thumb, bringing it closer to her eye. She'd never seen anything like it before she met Aeris. Materia types were usually distinguished by colour; each indicating the type of spell held within. Even though no one could know precisely what knowledge each sphere held before they touched it, there was at least this rough classification scheme. This materia defied the conventions; it was something else entirely. She'd never even heard rumors of a white Materia and therefore didn't have the first idea what it did. There was a certain rightness that this Materia had been found in the possession of the last of the Cetra. She had found herself thinking of it as simply the White Materia, unable to resist the juxtaposition with the rumored Black Materia that they'd heard Sephiroth was pursuing. Was there a connection between the two? How hard would it be to gain the other she wondered. Both rarities would be better still.

She couldn't help but relive those tense moments as her fingers had teased open the ribbon that sat around Aeris's braid just enough to let the tiny sphere drop into her hand. The more prosaic Materia she had lifted from her companion's bags as they had disembarked the Tiny Bronco. The remainder she had plucked from bangles and weapons as she danced around the party, playing the part of the hyperactive brat. The vast majority of the Materia she would deposit in a heap in front of her father when she arrived home, impossible to ignore evidence of her successes away from her country and the fulfillment of her vow.

She glanced at her clenched hand, imagining again the intriguing marbled rarity it held. This one she would keep as a memento however. As much as Aeris carefully guarded the sphere, as much as she insisted it was Materia but contained no knowledge, Yuffie had never truly believed her before now. If Aeris hadn't been so adept at casting the entire library of magic they collectively held, the ninja would have been more willing to believe that Aeris simply owned a pretty rock with an uncanny resemblance to Materia. Certainly she wouldn't have put any stock in the idea she had something so super-rare hidden in her hair. However, the first touch had been enough to dismiss that notion. There was a visceral feel when contact was made with Materia, when suddenly calling up fire out of nowhere was as simple as snapping your fingers and calling an ice goddess up from another plane of existence was as natural as talking.

But upon touching the white Materia nothing new entered her mind. She felt the Materia on her skin, felt that strange sense of knowing more somehow but nothing came of it. No invocations revealed themselves as simple shortcuts in an otherwise complex ritual. No oblique phrasing or gestures that defied memorization sat on the tip of her tongue or as an endlessly rehearsed sequence of movements. She experimented as she ran, carefully dropping the tiny sphere into her pocket and securing it. Sure enough there was the familiar tug as she separated her mind from the Materia. And then there was the same familiar feel of her mind expanding as she touched it. But she was still learning nothing new from the sphere.

She wouldn't worry for now. Maybe there was a knack to this type. Maybe it had some unusual way to use the knowledge. Maybe only the Cetra could use it. Yuffie shook her head. She refused to accept that was the case. This was her Materia now and she was determined to make good use of it. She'd figure out to use it.

It was only now, with Wutai distantly visible ahead of her, that Yuffie realized that she really had missed home over the last year. Sure she'd stormed from her father's house vowing to give them the means to rebuild, but even with all the excitement the world had offered, there was something comforting about being back here. No need to concentrate on that foreign language she needed to employ to get by. No need to halt herself from doing those stuffy Wutai customs with the others. No more need to spend every night in a tent with two girls who couldn't be more obvious about where their affections lay then if they were wearing t-shirts with captions. How could Cloud be that oblivious?

She'd miss him though she now realized. Even though he had a tendency to stare off into space, said some amazingly dorky things and basically couldn't choose between either of his would be girlfriends, she did like him. Argh! No not like that. Well perhaps a little. Not that she would ever tell him. She'd had crushes before, short, harmless fixations which usually ended with the boy getting weirded out that the princess insisted they go climb the Da Chao instead of playing nicely with either the high born or the demure daughters of the court. Parents had fits when they saw Godo's daughter clambering across any surface she could get at and hastily put an end to any fledgling romance. There'd been guys on the road interested in her; perverts all of them. Cloud though, Cloud never treated her as anyone other then Yuffie. He wasn't interested in her heritage or her future prospects. He was simply her friend.

Now she thought of it, they all treated her as herself. To given values of herself and with a sliding scale of opinion. Aeris was always nice to her, Tifa too. Nanaki, she suspected, was polite to anyone and everyone, and Vincent barely said three words; she'd never quite got a handle on what his story was. Well, aside from the boring as hell tragic former love story. Honestly. Cait Sith had been weirdly formal the whole time. Almost respectful. She didn't think anyone else had noticed, but the cat while joking and pally with the others always seemed to behave a little stiffly around her. Cid she'd only known for just over a day, and had yet to be addressed in any way that didn't involve an expletive every other word. Barret just didn't seem to know how to deal with her.

Had she made the right decision in the end; stealing all their Materia? Well, that had always been the plan since she'd ingratiate d herself into their group a few days outside of Junon. But now, she kind of regretted it. They'd be mad back there, but did that matter? How did her guilt stack against the revival of Wutai? While Avalanche were fighting Shinra like Wutai should, her country needed to stand united against their enemy. No, she'd made the right choice. She was sick of Wutai the cultural oddity. She was sick of Wutai the resort town. She wanted the Wutai that claimed half the world's power for it's own back. And she carried with her the means to that end.