A/N: Well it seems that things are finally going my way for once, I might actually finish a story for once...isn't that cool.
Disclaimer: Don't own it...and (sigh) never will...
Ch.5 Searching For The Cure: Part 2
Leon searched the room frantically for the missing girl. He could feel himself getting more and more aggravated by the minute.
'Where is that girl...? Leave it up to Yuffie to go missing at a crucial time like this'
He quickly made his way into the cockpit to see if anyone else had seen her only to find Kairi and Sora talking to each other rapidly in excited tones.
"What's going on?"
Sora looked as if he was about to burst with excitement, but Kairi was actually able to answer him first. "We're home"
"What?"
"The Destiny Islands, it's our home, it's where the cure is..."
"I'm sorry to ruin the mood but..."
Just then, Cloud finally arrived in the cockpit; it was pretty easy to see that he had just woken up.
"Could you to quiet down? You could wake up the dead with all the noise you're making" Apparently they didn't wake up everybody, Yuffie was nowhere in sight. "By the way Squall, Where's Yuffie?"
"That's what I was trying to tell you before I was so rudely interrupted." He stated while glaring at Cloud, "She's missing"
----------------
Riku looked over at the girl sleeping peacefully on his bed.
'How had she gotten there?' he wondered 'People didn't just randomly land on the Destiny Islands, not recently anyway.' He had been pretty much alone for a while now, and he was actually kind of excited at the prospect of having someone to talk to. 'If only she would wake up...' A noise coming from the direction of his bed startled him, and he looked up from his thoughts to find the girl snoring softly on the floor. 'I have a feeling that this is going to be an interesting day.' He thought as he walked over to put her back into the bed.
------------ Meanwhile...------------
They had split up into two groups to look for Yuffie, Leon and Sora, and Kairi and Cloud.
At the moment, one of the groups seemed to be lost, seeing as they had passed the same tree three times.
"Sora, are you sure you know where you're going?" Leon asked feeling more than a little irritated.
"Of course I know where we are, I'm the one that used to live here remember..." Sora replied.
"Cause I could've sworn that we just passed this tree five minutes ago."
"Now that you mention it, that tree does look kind of familiar..." Sora said grimacing. Leon was beginning to wish that he had been put into the group with Kairi.
------------And Back Again------------
The girl shifted in the bed and finally sat up, looking around until her eyes finally met with Riku's.
"Hi" she said as she got out of the bed an extended her hand to him, "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie...What's your name?"
-------- In the middle of nowhere...--------
"Cloud!!" Kairi yelled, "Come over here, I think I found something..."
Cloud stepped through the bush and looked where Kairi was pointing.
"Footprints" he said, half to himself, half aloud, "and here another set of footprints meet these, but only one set walks away. I think we should follow them, I'll radio Leon and tell him what we found."
He walked over and leaned against a tee, the radio in his hand. Suddenly he yelled out "What do you mean you're lost?...Sora's with you right?...He's lost too?...Didn't he live here?" He finally slid the radio back into his pocket, shaking his head, "Kairi, there has been a little change of plan, I need you to take this radio and find Sora and Leon, while I follow these tracks to see if they might lead me to Yuffie."
Kairi nodded her head in agreement and they went there separate ways.
---------I find myself---------
"So you're Riku, that's a nice name." she said smiling at him.
Riku blushed a little, "So, umm...where did you come from...and why are you here?"
"Well, I'm originally from Hollow Bastion, but my home was destroyed when two political factions rose up against each other and divided it in two. I was one of the spies, but my partner was captured and I followed her and got captured too, by these two guys Cloud and Squall. Cloud and Aerith used to date, and Squall...well he's just a big meanie so I'm not going to waste my time talking about him." But Riku caught the way her voice got softer and her eyes shone as she said that. They were both silent for a moment until she began again, "Anyway I was training and I got hurt and now I'm here looking for some plant. Yep that's pretty much everything."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
---------Wondering how---------
"Leon, Sora, I found you" Kairi said breathlessly as she pressed her way through the brush.
'So there is a god' Leon thought as he saw Kairi walk over to them.
"Did you find Yuffie?" He asked as soon as she had gotten close.
"Not exactly, we did find some footprints, Cloud's following them now. Come on, follow me, I'll take you there"
As they walked away, Sora asked Kairi, "Did you notice that no one is here?"
"Yeah, I was wondering where everyone was too...I hope they're alright." She said with a worried look on her face.
"I'm sure that everyone's o.k. ... but until we find them, at least we have each other right." He said smiling and blushing slightly.
"Right" she answered, smiling back.
--------I get myself- --------
Riku stood up and walked over to the door. When he answered it, he found himself looking into the eyes of a man about two years older than him, with blonde hair that defied gravity, and strikingly deep, blue eyes.
"Cloud" the girl behind him yelped as she jumped up out of the bed, pushing Riku out of the way, and giving the man a hug. Apparently he wasn't the only one who was a little surprised, Cloud had a startled look on his face also.
--------Into these Situations --------
Kairi, Leon, and Sora followed the footsteps until they reached a small hut.
"Do you think we should knock on the door?" Kairi asked Leon
"That would probably be a good idea," he said as he raised his hand and began to knock on the door.
This time, it was Yuffie who answered the door.
"Squall!" she shouted as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"umm...Yuffie.." he said looking very much uncomfortable as he patted her on the back. Everybody was looking at them.
"Oh." Yuffie said letting go just as quickly as she had latched on, her face flaming red.
The feeling in the room was tense for a while, until Kairi and Sora finally broke the silence at the same moment. "Riku!"
---------After a little nostalgia---------
All of the yapping, Leon finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Will you three shut up?! Remember why we're here guys, we are on a mission."
Cloud woke up from his nap, "Leon's right," he said as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. "We don't have much time" he then saw the look on Yuffie's face and added, "If it gets too dark we won't be able to search" Yuffie let out a sigh of relief.
As they set out to find the plant, Squall noticed that he seemed to have lost his shadow. Not that it bothered him to not have Yuffie following him; it was just unusual for her to be spending so much time with someone else. Actually, this was the first time he had heard her really laugh since their little accident. It was nice to see her happy, but somewhere deep inside he got the feeling that he wished he had been the one to do it.
The group actually didn't get much done before night had arrived, and Yuffie found herself in bed, thinking back over the day, with her diary sitting in her lap.
Dear Diary,
Today I met this amazing guy named Riku. He's really smart and funny, and he actually seems to like me...unlike a certain someone.
Yuffie paused in her writing and looked up at the ceiling, sighing softly. She then returned to her writing.
It's kind of nice to have someone like you back...but...I still have feelings for Squall. I just wish he had feelings for me too. Who do you think is better D? Riku or Squall?
Yuffie leaned over her bed tucking her diary back into its box, before pushing the entire package back under the bed.
Yuffie climbed up the tree to find herself looking over into the backyard of her best friend, next-door-neighbor, and baby-sitter.
Aerith and Cloud were sitting on a bench in between two rose bushes. He was holding her hand and they were smiling at each other. This must be what love is like. She smiled softly at him and blushed as he leaned in to kiss her. Unfortunately, he missed and kissed her eye, to which they both stated laughing.
This must be what love is like...
Leon silently closed the door to the room of the sleeping girl and sighed.
'I'm in big trouble'
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