A.N. I would just like to use this space to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this story so far… CloudzACutie, Ah-Choo, Rokusan, Ditto Chick, Fushigi-Heart and Clara, Thank you for reviewing. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update… (I have a huge laziness problem) but chapter two is finally here. I hope you enjoy it as much as the last one. Thanks Again,

Teef ^_~

Disclaimer: Today my cat ate a Christmas tree light while the power was switched on. I tried to warn her but would she listen?

Beneath the Sea of Stars

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by

Teef

Chapter 2: Friends, Enemies and One Hell of a Concussion

"Good God man, I think it's alive!" Yuffie Kissaragi

7.42pm – Midgar Standard Time – Sector Two Exit

The small object whizzed through the air before thudding into the signpost … followed by another, and another, and another, and another… each one hitting the signpost with a greater force than the last, and each one chipping off chunks of wood and paint on impact before falling lifelessly to the ground to join their predecessors.

Yuffie threw the stones with pinpoint accuracy, one after another, only stopping when the innocent signpost finally gave up against the entirely unprovoked rock assault and clattered to the floor in a miserable, splintery heap.

She sighed and kicked at the pile of wood before her. Now that her only distraction was broken, she was painfully aware of how cold and dark it was getting. She looked at her watch again. 7.45pm. At this rate, she was never gonna get back to the camps.

Wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to fight off the cold, she walked over to the huge gateway that once marked the entranceway to Sector Two Slums. All that remained of it now was half a thick steel wall and two stone gateposts. The gates were long gone now. Yuffie was currently standing on the outside of the broken wall, and Cloud, she knew, was somewhere on the inside. After his bump on the head, and the long walk back to the Cid's truck, her twenty-one year old leader-friend was feeling 'a little bit worse for wear', to understate the fact.

"Cloud?" she called in one of those annoying tones she was so good at.

"Uh-huh!"

"Are you done?" She asked shortly.

Her answer came in the form of an unintelligible groan.

"Would you like me to call Tifa and get her to bring the buggy?" She asked him, not so much out of concern but because she wanted to get back to the camps sometime tonight.

He didn't answer.

She huffed and peeped round the corner of the wall. In the darkness she could just make out the dark silhouette of Cloud Strife crouched down beside the wall with one hand pressed over his mouth. It was a similar position to the one Yuffie herself had spent most of her time in whilst riding on the Highwind, she noticed, and for a moment she considered teasing him, but decided against it, seeing as during the Sephiroth mission, Cloud had been the only person other than Tifa to have shown the young ninja any kind of sympathy when she got airsick.

"I'll take that as a yes then?" It was more of a question than a statement.

The shadow by the wall shifted.

"Whatever…"

So she'd decided she wouldn't tease him, but poor Yuffie just couldn't resist it.

"Oh my god, it speaks!" she cried in feigned exasperation, dramatically clutching her chest with one hand.

Bracing himself against the cold steel wall, Cloud slowly rose to his feet and started heading towards the two sixteen-year-old wutainne heiresses, trying to get them to blend back into one.

"And it moves too!" she added.

Cloud ignored her. The ground was spinning and his head was pounding, but at least he didn't feel like he was gonna throw up anymore. It took all of his concentration to just walk in a straight line.

Yuffie Kissaragi, not one to give up teasing someone until she at least got a rise out of them, carried on.

"Good God man!" she started, in a very B-movie-esque voice. "I think it's alive!"

Cloud glared at the dark haired teenager with bleary eyes. Perhaps if he could see straight he would have thrown something at her. Instead he just settled for a rather pitiful…

"Yuffie… shut up!"

Yuffie just grinned widely at him, about to start another witty comment when the PHS rang.

"That'll be Tifa wanting to know where her lover boy is!" she sang, ignoring the 'you're seriously pushing your look girl' glare Cloud was giving her as she picked up the PHS and answer it sweetly. "Hello?"

"Yuffie, where are you? Cid and the others just got back here in the truck with Reno. Reno of all people? I was expecting you back with them. He said they'd had to leave you behind. What's going on?"

"Tifa!" Yuffie exclaimed loudly, nudging Cloud in the ribs and giving him an 'I told you so' look. Cloud reached his hand out for the PHS but Yuffie just carried on speaking.

"Ya Tifa, we would have been back by now but Cloud was too busy tossing his cookies all over the Sector Two slums…"

"HEY!" Cloud tried to grab the PHS but Yuffie swung away from him.

"So I had to wait for him while Cid and the others took that stupid Turk back to the camp, 'cause the dweeb just would not shut up moaning…"

Cloud made another failed attempt at getting the PHS off Yuffie.

"Honestly Teef, that guy has absolutely no manners whatsoever. I mean, we busted our butts walking all the way up there to get him. And poor Cid and that fireman guy had to carry him all the way back to the truck on a stretcher cos the dumbass couldn't walk, and do we get any gratitude? No! But we do get to listen to him winge and gripe all the way back about how he 'don't want to be rescued by no stinking terrorists!' In the end Cid had me cast a sleep spell on him just to shut him up! If it was my choice I would have just left him up there to starve to death."

Yuffie finished her mini-rant and turned around to come face to face with a very stern, albeit somewhat nauseated looking Cloud Strife.

"Yuffie, give me the PHS…" And he held his hand out patiently, never once breaking eye contact with the mischievous Wutainese ninja. At the same time Tifa spoke…

"That's nice Yuff, but you can tell me all about it when you get back, yeah? Right now I'd like to speak to Cloud if that's okay?"

Yuffie could here the sound of an engine coming through the PHS. She guessed Tifa was driving.

Cloud was still waiting.

"Yeah sure… just a sec…" she said to Tifa.

Yuffie pulled the handset away from her ear and held one hand over the receiver. Holding it out for Cloud she whispered…

"It's for you…" and the mischievous grin was back as Cloud angrily snatched the phone away and turned his back to her.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cloud. Cid told me about your accident. How are you feeling?" Tifa's gentle voice was so clear on the other end of the line.

Cloud didn't mince with his words…

"Like crap." Well it was an honest reply at least.

"Aww… you poor baby!" The woman teased. "Bump your head did ya?" And then she laughed.

"Yeah hardeharharhar…" Cloud didn't think it was funny in the slightest which of course only made her laugh more.

"Where are you anyway?" She was still giggling.

Cloud squinted his eyes and dimly looked around him as if he had no idea where he was before replying.

"We're at the Sector Two gateway."

Tifa sounded surprised. "Still? Cid said that's where he left you forty-five minutes ago? I thought you'd be heading back by now."

"Nope, were still here." He was suddenly aware of a presence behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to find Yuffie hovering close behind him, leaning her ear towards the handset of the PHS, obviously trying to hear what Tifa was saying. Cloud rolled his eyes and started walking away, ignoring Yuffie's whining when he did so.

"Are you driving?" he asked when he heard the sound of an engine through the PHS, a little bit confused as to where Tifa would be driving to at this time of night.

"Yeah…" she answered. Then "I thought I might as well drive out and pick you guys up. I wasn't doing anything anyways"

Cloud smiled, relieved that he didn't have to walk and put up with Yuffie's whining all the way back.

"I should be there in about ten minutes actually," Tifa continued.

"Great…well I'll see ya soon then!" The Cloud Strife version of 'thank-you'.

"Yup… see you in a mo!" And then the line went dead.

He flipped the PHS closed then turned to hand it to Yuffie, who strangely enough was standing directly behind him again, and sporting a disturbingly cheerful grin on her face. She took the PHS from him, still smiling. Cloud suddenly felt extremely paranoid.

"What?" He asked her dubiously.

"Tifa coming to pick you up, is she?"

"…Yes?"

The grin was still there.

"Feeling better are you?

"A little…" He hadn't even noticed, but speaking with Tifa had taken his mind off his ailments for the time being. Then he wondered where this line of questioning was leading. "Why?"

Where was she going with this?

Yuffie pointed accusingly at him, the smile growing to an impossible new level.

"You like her!" she exclaimed, hopping up and down like what could only be described as a demented pogo stick.

"What?!?"

"I said You… Like… Her!" she repeated, emphasizing every word for him as if he were stupid.

He was suddenly very grateful for the darkness, as it meant she couldn't see him blushing.

"And how do you work that one out?" He asked her, sounding as cynical and un-interested as he possible could.

Yuffie let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

Cloud just looked blankly at her.

"Hey, I'm not!" She yelled.

Cloud still just looked blankly at her.

"I said I'm not!" She could sound so childish at times.

Cloud raised his hands defensively, a small smirk playing on his lips, then shrugged and started walking away.

This infuriated Yuffie beyond all reason. Of course, Yuffie had never been the most cool-tempered person anyway. You just had to sit her in a room with Cid and Barret for a couple of minutes to see that. She stomped behind him, a scowl etched on her features and murder in her eyes.

"It's like totally obvious that you fancy her! We all know…"

Who's 'we all?" he thought, feeling that blush coming back to haunt him. The feeling of embarrassment was soon replaced by another feeling though. This one a feeling he'd already felt many times tonight. The feeling of something moving in his stomach… The feeling of something rising in his throat… The feeling of…

A hand clamped over his mouth as he rushed passed Yuffie, back through the gateway to his little spot by the wall.

Yuffie laughed and called out behind him.

"HA!!! That's what you get for calling me stupid" She did actually feel a little sorry for him…

…Moments later the beam of two headlights could be seen coming up the bank…

And within another fifteen minutes they were all in the buggy on their way back to the camp. Tifa drove, Yuffie sat next to her in the passenger seat. Cloud lay curled up on the back seat. When Tifa had arrived she'd given him a hi-potion (thank god) for the nausea and headache and told him to lie down. Cloud hadn't put up much of a fight. He hadn't really wanted to. Besides, he knew better than to get into fight with Tifa when she was in her 'mother' mode.

He could hear the two girls chattering away in the front of the buggy.

"I mean… What kind of idiot 'looses' one million Gils worth of Materia? One million Gil! Ya know Tiff, if six months ago I had told myself that I would be the proud owner of a super-rare, mastered Restore materia, and that I would drop it down a crack on the Sector Eight Plate…"

Correction… he could hear Yuffie chattering away in the front of the buggy.

"…I would have hung myself! I wouldn't have considered it worth living! Honestly Tifa, if he hadn't been feeling so ill when he told me I would have slapped him, I swear!"

Tifa laughed affectionately.

"Oh Yuffie it's not that bad is it? You could always go out and master another one yourself!"

Yuffie's face darkened.

"Do you know how long that would take?" she asked stonily, then realised that yes, Tifa would know how long it would take. She had mastered a few materia herself during the Sephiroth fiasco.

Tifa just smiled.

She drove at a steady pace, carefully negotiating the dips and trenches that littered the ground between Midgar and the refuge camp, her current home.

She wondered briefly what Cid and the others were up to, if they had even finished with Reno. She had been so shocked when they had brought the Turk back to the clinic, where she was awaiting their return. The last time she'd seen the Turks was in the Midgar Sewers, just before their encounter with Hojo. She'd presumed they'd all been killed in the attack on Midgar by Weapon.

"I wonder what he was doing up there?" she muttered to herself, not realising she was talking out aloud.

Yuffie gave her a strange look.

"Huh?"

Cloud opened his eyes and looked up at the woman driving the buggy. From is vantage-point on the back seat all he could see was the back of her head.

"That Turk…" she clarified; a little bit of animosity seeping into her usually serene voice. She chanced a quick glance at Yuffie. "What was he doing up there? I was wondering."

"Who cares?" Yuffie said nonchalantly, turning her head to look back out of the window at the ever-nearing refuge camp. Cloud didn't really care too much either, but he did wonder…

He sat up and poked his head in between the two girls in the front; already feeling a little better thanks to that potion Tifa had given him.

"Why do you ask?" he asked her softly. If there was one thing he had learned over the last year, it was to listen to Tifa and take notice of what she said. She was almost always right.

"Oh nothing really… I just find it a bit hard to believe that he's been up there the whole week since Meteor hit."

This time it was Yuffie who spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on you two, I know you're not that dumb." she continued. "You were both up on the Highwind that day. You saw what Meteor did to Midgar. Do you really think someone on the upper plates could have survived that? And then, even if by some godly miracle he did manage to survive that…"

"… Seven days is a long time to be trapped in the rubble without food and water." Cloud finished for her. "That is strange" he mused. "What do you think he was doing up there?"

"I wouldn't like to say." She really didn't have a clue.

"Well, whatever it was…" Yuffie began, thoughtful for once. "You can bet your life he was up to no good…"

Silence fell between the three until Tifa spoke up.

"Well, we can always go and ask him when we get back?"

To Be Continued…

Authors Note: A short chapter I know. Sorry everyone for the huuuuuuuuuuuge delays in writing this (I know it's been like a WHOLE year), but chapter three IS on the way. Expect to see an update sometime soon.

Teef ^-^