Chapter 04

Cloud swung the giant buster sword around, testing it's weight as he felt his muscles stretch comfortably. It had been far too long since he'd just gone out to do some training. During all his moping around after his break up hadn't been feeling up to it, but with the fresh air out here, he'd be a fool to pass up the chance to take on some of the local, slightly aggressive wildlife. He'd woken up early that morning and took his bike out into the surrounding forests, enjoying getting some exercise for the first time in a while. Pushing himself was always rewarding, and he clambered up the awkward paths, feeling himself break a comfortable sweat. The air out here was so much fresher than what he was normally used to. He could almost feel it clearing out his lungs. This was what he needed, he was sure of it.

He stepped a bit further into the forest undergrowth, brushing away some of the stray branches. As he entered a small clearing, he saw a strange creature looking back at him. It resembled a red lizard, with blue fins – he'd never seen one before, but the way it was aggressively glaring at him, he was certain it wasn't too friendly. Carefully, he held his weapon out in front of him, and no sooner had he moved, the creature lunged for him.

His instincts kicked in immediately, and he deflected the attack with ease, opting to roll away to put more ground between them. He was on his feet immediately, back into a defensive posture. There was a strange kind of thrill in fighting an unknown enemy, even if this creature no where near as dangerous as some of the fights he'd been in before. Not knowing how to predict attack patterns and having to figure out tells was exciting, and it was these kind of fights that helped him to develop those skills – something that had helped save his life many times.

The creature leaped at him again; this time Cloud brought his sword upward to catch it off guard. He struck the creature back and it fell to the side. He didn't give it chance to retaliate, and struck it down quickly. The fight had probably only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed to give him a renewed sense of energy. Part of him had really missed this. He couldn't help but smile faintly as he placed his sword back into it's sheathe and continued on the walk ahead.

He proceeded to take on many of these creatures as he ventured further into the forests, growing more comfortable with the combat during every fight. It really had felt like an age since he'd last done something like this, and the surrounding scenery just made it all the more relaxing. After a while, he paused in his walking and took a moment to really look at the forests surrounding him. Having spent much of this recent year in Edge and travelling dirt roads, the excess amount of greenery was a refreshing sight. Present relationship condition aside, travelling out to Wutai was actually turning into a much needed break. He glanced upwards, looking as the sunlight broke through the canopy of leaves above him and smiled slightly, despite himself. It was nice that places like this were still around, mostly untouched from outside influence.

He found his peaceful surrounding suddenly disturbed by the faint sound of...combat? Frowning, Cloud followed the direction of the noise, hand on his weapon just in case. Yet as he stepped into the clearing, ready to aid whoever was in trouble, he paused in surprise at the sight in front of him.

It was Yuffie that was locked in combat, hurling a giant shuriken at some of the lizard creatures he'd been fighting earlier. Cloud took a hesitant step forwards to assist her, but in truth, it looked as though she didn't really need his help. She was moving around the battlefield with an effortless grace that was surprising for the seemingly klutzy woman, and launching her weapon around with deadly accuracy. Instead, Cloud simply watched as she easily dispatched the creatures, impressed by her skill.

When the last one fell, she turned to look at him, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm starting to think you're stalking me," she stated, and Cloud blinked, taken aback by her comment. Yuffie elaborated, her expression deadpan, "Why else are you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"I was out getting some exercise," he explained, before gesturing to the sword on his back, "Haven't had the chance to get some training in for a while and I thought it'd help clear my head." Yuffie looked unimpressed as she folded her arms.

"Uh huh, and you just happened to find my secret training spot completely by chance. That's convenient," Cloud just met her expression for a moment, before shrugging. He wasn't really interested in ruining the relaxed mood he'd been in all morning.

"Believe what you want," he replied, before glancing down at the monsters she'd defeated, "You seem like you can handle yourself pretty well though."

"Well, duh," Yuffie replied, attaching her shuriken onto it's holster slung across her back, "I'm the best ninja in all of Wutai."

"And the most modest," Cloud commented, but Yuffie just smiled sweetly at him.

"One of my most admirable traits, I think," she commented, before glancing around the forest clearing with a slight frown on her face, "That's odd...there's usually more of them."

"More what?"

"Tail Vaults," Yuffie turned around then, tilting her head slightly, "Wait, can you hear that?"Concerned, Cloud focused for a moment, trying to pick out whatever Yuffie was hearing. Sure enough, there seemed to be a strange, low rumbling coming from somewhere behind them. He turned around slowly, still concentrating on sourcing the noise, before glancing at the dark haired girl, who was tentatively reaching for her weapon again. Following suit, Cloud went to unsheathe his buster sword when a loud, ear splitting screech suddenly assaulted his ear drums. Cloud tensed, but as he looked upwards, he saw something hurtling towards the two of them through the forest undergrowth at an alarming speed.

"Oh shi-" Yuffie exclaimed but she didn't get to finish her sentence as the two of them quickly dived to one side, avoiding whatever it was that burst out of the forest towards them. Cloud rolled as he hit the ground, springing straight back to his feet with his buster sword drawn out in front of him. He looked up, finally seeing that the creature who'd attacked them was in fact a giant bird. A large red horn protruded from it's head and sparks of electricity rippled along it's powerful wings. His grip on the handle tightened – this looked like it'd be a worthy foe to test himself against.

"Hoo boy, he is a big Thunderbird!" Yuffie exclaimed from somewhere behind the creature, her voice laced with excitement – it seemed like she agreed with him. Suddenly, he saw the giant shuriken flying through the air, striking the beast directly across the face. It let out a roar of fury and spun around to attack the ninja, but she was already running around the other side of the creature, grinning like some kind of mad woman, "Try to keep up, Spikes!" Spurred into action by her jibe, Cloud launched himself forwards whilst the beast was distracted, and struck a blow to the creature's flank. It lashed out behind it, but Cloud easily avoided the attack, sidestepping away as Yuffie's shuriken came spinning out from the other side. The bird shot a blot of lightning in the general direction of the ninja, but she laughed as she launched herself upwards, spinning away from the deadly strike. Wanting to take the heat from her, Cloud ran forwards, diving underneath the bird and bringing his sword upwards to strike the underside. The creature gave a screech of pain, before lashing out at him. Cloud dodged the attack but Yuffie was already there to back him up with another deadly throw of her shuriken.

The fight continued this way for a while, with the two of them alternating their attacks and weaving around the creature like they'd been fighting side by side for years. Cloud was surprised by the synergy he felt fighting alongside the ninja – it had been a long time since he'd felt so in tune with somebody during combat. He knew that she was feeling the same way, if the grin on her face was anything to go by every time she flew past him to reposition herself. She was being unnecessary acrobatic at times, but he realised that was just because she was having fun, so he followed suit, allowing himself to be a little more showman like with his strikes than was necessary. To his amusement, he found it was quite enjoyable to let loose for once and when they finally cut the creature down, he couldn't help but smile. He turned to look at his companion to see that she was also grinning, despite panting slightly.

"Not bad, Spikes," she commented, swinging her weapon back into it's sheath again, "You even managed to keep up with me. That's a feat in itself."

"I was going to say the same about you," Cloud replied, and his comment caused Yuffie to chuckle slightly as she placed her hands on her hips.

"So where does a delivery boy learn to fight like that, huh?" she asked, but Cloud just shrugged as he too sheathed his weapon.

"I wasn't always working in delivery," he told her and Yuffie looked at him for a moment with a thoughtful expression, before folding her arms.

"Military, right?"

"It was a long time ago," he replied evasively. It wasn't really a topic he wanted to talk about, but he could tell that she was curious to know more. Yet to his relief, she just shrugged at him, obviously realising that he didn't want her to press point.

"Fair enough," she said, before stretching her arms over her head in an exaggerated manner, "Man, I really worked up a sweat with that one. I need to head back and get changed." Thankful for the subject change, Cloud nodded his head in agreement; he too was feeling suitably exercised after that ridiculously showy fight. He suddenly realised how clear his head was feeling too and his muscles were tingling warmly. Amazingly, this was probably the best he'd felt since the break up.

Suddenly he realised that Yuffie had been talking, and she was looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"Gaia to Cloud? Are you done being a perv and imagining me getting changed?" Cloud blinked in surprise at her words.

"W-what?" he stuttered when he realised what she'd just said. Yuffie rolled her eyes at him, calling him a 'perv' again under her breath. Feeling the need to defend himself, Cloud continued, "I was just thinking how I hadn't felt this relaxed for a while." To his relief, Yuffie just grinned at him.

"Yeah, that fight was pretty good fun, huh?" she agreed, before pouting slightly, "Really worked up an appetite though, so I'm probably gonna head back home."

"I brought my bike with me, if you wanted a lift back?" he offered, feeling like it was probably quite a walk back to Wutai at this point. To his surprise, Yuffie just pulled a face at him.

"I know you're probably looking forwards to me holding onto your manly frame, tightly, but I will have to pass," she grimaced slightly then, "Me and fast transport don't really get along that well."

"Travel sickness?" he asked but Yuffie just muttered some incoherent swear words under her breath.

He and Yuffie had walked to the edge of the forest together before they'd parted. She'd taken one look at his motorcycle and shook her head, saying she'd probably catch up to him in a bit. Cloud had headed back to his hotel then, grabbing a quick shower to freshen himself up after the exercise. He kept catching himself thinking about that fight and how the two of them had worked so well together. It had been fun, there was no denying that, and he felt so much better now that he'd managed to work off some of the stress that had been weighing down on him. Once he was changed, he'd grabbed some food from one of the stalls for quick bite to eat but was feeling a little at loss as to what to do, so he'd found himself back at the Turtle's Paradise. He'd bought himself a beer and was drinking it slowly, watching the world go by from one of the outdoor tables. The atmosphere here was so peaceful, that it simply felt nice to just sit and enjoy the moment – something he didn't take the time to do very often.

"Oh, hey Cloud!" Upon hearing his name, Cloud glanced behind him to see the familiar red haired Reno making his way over towards him with a drink in hand.

"Hey," Cloud greeted with less enthusiasm. He had nothing against the guy, but he wasn't really the type of person Cloud would normally want to be all paly with. Reno didn't seem to notice this however, as he took the seat next to him and set his drink down on the table.

"I'm surprised to see you here again," Reno noted, causing the blonde to arch an eyebrow, "You were pretty sloshed the other day, muttering about how you were never going to drink again."

"Yeah, I'm just taking it easy today," Cloud replied, recalling the hangover he'd been suffering the previous day. He had no intention of repeating that. Reno smirked slightly in response.

"Well, this is the place to be for taking it easy," he agreed, before leaning backwards in his chair and crossing his legs, "I have to say though, I'm glad you took my advice on board. I'm surprised you moved as quickly as you did though." Cloud frowned at him then, wondering what the hell the red head was talking about. Upon seeing Cloud's expression, Reno elaborated.

"You know, enjoying the single life and hooking up with new people for fun," he continued, before frowning slightly, "Although I have to admit, I question your taste in the opposite gender."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked, feeling confused by his observation. Reno turned to look at him then with a knowing smile on his face.

"I saw you and Yuffie leaving the forest this morning looking all smiley and sweaty," he answered, before his smile turned more sly, "So was that your idea or Yuffie's?"

"What were you even doing out there?" Cloud asked, feeling his mind whirring from the red head's statement.

"Bird watching," Reno answered, causing Cloud to arch an eyebrow.

"Bird watching," he repeated, sounding unconvinced.

"Yeah," Reno replied evasively, before shaking his head, "Anyway, you didn't answer my question."

"That's because you're reading into this completely wrong," Cloud told him in an annoyed tone, "I went out there to do some exercise and to test myself against the local wildlife. I bumped into Yuffie, who was also doing some training, and we took on a giant thunderbird together."

"Is that some sort of euphemism where your from?" Reno asked, but Cloud just shook his head at him.

"Nothing like that happened, Reno," Cloud repeated, "It's just all up there in your head." Reno pouted then, turning back to look at his drink.

"Huh, that's disappointing. Thought I'd got myself some juicy gossip there," he stated after a moment, before shrugging, "Though I guess it's not surprising - this is Yuffie we are talking about." Cloud said nothing in response to that. He took another mouthful of beer, looking out at the scene in front of them, just taking in the atmosphere.

"Hey, Cloud," a familiar voice reached his ears and he felt his stomach instantly and violently knot. Slowly he turned around to see Tifa was indeed making her way over towards him. There must have been something about the relaxed nature of this place, but she seemed to look even more radiant than ever, positively glowing underneath the brilliant Wutain sun.

"Tifa," Cloud returned the greeting once he'd managed to find his voice. It was then he realised that she was on her own – there was no sign of her attractive new boyfriend. This caused him to frown slightly, "No Reeve?"

"No," she answered, looking a little awkward from his blunt question "He wanted to try the fishing here, but I felt like taking a walk. I noticed you sitting here and thought I'd just, you know, see how you are." Cloud's stomach lurched again – had she been concerned about him?

"I'm fine," Cloud replied. It was simple answer for an incredibly complicated feeling but he simply couldn't get his brain to work properly when she was here with him. He looked up at her for a moment, feeling his body aching slightly. What he'd do to just be able to hold her again, to apologise for the way things had been between them. The saying rang true he supposed – you just don't know what you had until you lose it.

"I'm glad," Tifa said with a smile, "You look at lot more relaxed than you did the other day, although it was a surprise to see you." She gave a little laugh as she spoke.

"Yeah, I've been trying to take some time to myself," Cloud replied, hating the way everything he said to her just sounded stupid and uncaring. He mentally shook his head then, but before he had the chance to correct himself, he felt a sharp jab in his ribs. Glaring, he turned to see Reno grinning at him.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Reno asked innocently, ignoring the heated look Cloud was casting him.

"Tifa, this is Reno," he begrudgingly said after a moment, "Reno, Tifa."

"It's nice to meet you," Tifa said, holding out her hand to Reno had gotten to his feet by that point, but as Tifa extended her hand to shake his, Reno leant forwards and kissed it instead.

"It's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman," he replied, causing Tifa to smile awkwardly at him. Cloud, however, looked like he wanted to kill the red head.

"Oh, thank you..." Tifa said, looking embarrassed by his words and gesture, "It's nice to see Cloud's making friends."

"He's not my friend," Cloud spoke up before Reno had the chance to say anything. Tifa chuckled at the typical response and Cloud felt his heart ache all over again.

"Well, I don't want to interrupt you any further," she said, causing a strange wave of panic to wash over him.

""You're not interrupting anything," he said, sounding a little more desperate than he'd actually intended. If she picked up on that, Tifa chose to tactfully ignore it.

"It's fine, I've got a few things I need to sort out anyway. I just thought I'd pop over to say hi," she smiled then, looking at Cloud with genuine warmth, "I'm glad you're doing ok. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, see you," Cloud replied, and Tifa turned, walking away from the two of them. As soon as she left, Cloud felt...empty. Like the sun had disappeared behind a mass of grey clouds, leaving him cold and the world around him a little duller. He sighed inwardly – how do you let someone like that go, let alone get over them?

Reno's wolf whistle broke him out of his thoughts.

"Damn, she was something else entirely," he commented, and Cloud turned to give him the darkest look possible. Reno didn't notice, "Hey Cloud, how do you know that fine specimen of feminine beauty?"

"Tifa's my ex girlfriend," Reno nearly spat out his mouthful of beer.

"What?!" he exclaimed, finally turning to look at Cloud and, still ignoring the look Cloud was giving him, shook his head in disbelief, "She's your ex?!"

"Why do you look so surprised?" Cloud said through gritted teeth, annoyed by Reno's manner. The red head laughed, slapping Cloud hard on the back.

"I didn't know you had it in you," he commented, grinning, before his smile faded slightly, "I can see why you're so beat up though. I'd be kicking myself in the ass hard if I let someone like her go!"

"Thank you for your support..." Cloud muttered, before grabbing hold of his drink and necking it in one go. Reno watched him in amusement.

"I thought you said you were taking it easy?" he commented, but Cloud ignored him. Giving a little chuckle, Reno waved the barman over, "Two more beers please...in fact, make it three. My friend is mourning being a complete idiot and letting a serious beauty go. I mean, did you see her? Dude was punching way over his weight-"

"Shut up, Reno..." Cloud interrupted, causing the barman to laugh at the two of them.

"Three Whipping Turtles coming right up."

Cloud felt weird. Like, his head felt incredibly light as though it had been disconnected from the rest of his body, yet simultaneously, it weighed more than the rest of his body combined. He remembered sitting in his seat, face planting the bar, and he didn't think he'd moved since. His limbs didn't feel like they were attached to him any more, and as he slowly tilted his head to the side, it was like being present in someone else's body. But glancing down proved it was definitely his arms, and definitely the clothes he had been wearing.

"Cloud?" a familiar voice could be faintly heard, but it was difficult to pick out anything from the way his head was whirring. He heard someone say his name again, and glanced upwards. The fuzzy outline of a small, dark haired woman had appeared next to him.

"Tifa...?" his voice was slurred, even just trying to pronounce one world.

"No, it's Yuffie, you idiot," the figure put her hands on her hips in what Cloud guessed was annoyance, "What the hell happened to you?" But all Cloud did was give a groan and look away from her, closing his eyes. The lights in here were too bright anyway.

"Hey Yuffie, we're about to close up," he heard another voice from somewhere far away.

"You hear that Cloud?" Yuffie spoke up again. Cloud said nothing in response, but then he felt a very sharp prod somewhere in his side. He gave an involuntary groan, "Come on, let's get your drunk ass out of here." Someone grabbed hold of his arm then and yanked him upwards. Cloud sat upright in the chair for a moment, looking as the whole room span violently around him.

"Dammit..." he muttered.

"Exactly, now come on! Get on your feet," Unsure where the voice was coming from, Cloud decided to do as he was told for now. He felt really disorientated, but slowly managed to get himself off the seat. Yet, it seemed his legs weren't working as they usually did, and he stumbled forwards, falling into whoever was stood in front of him.

"Dammit Cloud..." Yuffie spoke through gritted teeth as she propped him up, "You weigh more than I thought you would. Maybe lay off all the cakes." Cloud turned his head and saw Yuffie standing next to him, his arm around her shoulder and hers around his waist.

"Oh, hey Yuffie," he greeted and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's just get you back to your hotel..." she said with a sigh, "The Golden Leaf, right?" The two of them began to make their way out of the bar, but it was difficult for Cloud to get his legs working in coordination. Yuffie was doing an admiral job of holding him up, but she was quite a bit shorter than Cloud was, so she struggled to keep him standing upright at times.

"What the hell happened...?" she asked, practically dragging him along with her as they made their through the now quiet market place.

"It was Reno..." Cloud slurred, causing the ninja to snort and shake her head in response.

"Of course it was," she murmured, "So much for 'never drinking again' huh? You're so weak, Cloud." To Cloud, it felt like the two of them had been walking forever. The fresh air was doing wonders to his head, but he still didn't feel totally like himself. Yuffie continued to support him for the walk and, somehow, she managed to get him back to the steps of the familiar looking hotel.

"Come on..." she told him, making her way up the steps with the blonde in tow. Cloud followed, not completely aware of what was going on still, but knowing that following after her was probably a good idea. It felt like his body was moving a million times slower than his brain was telling it too – he stumbled on the steps a few times, causing the ninja to smirk at him.

"You're not as coordinated now as your were during that fight earlier, I see," she teased, before pushing the door open and leading Cloud back inside. The warmth of the hotel was a nice change to the coolness of the night air he'd just escaped from. As he looked around at his surroundings, he thought back to the fight earlier. It had been pretty fun, fighting alongside her like that. It took him a few moments to realise Yuffie had been speaking to him, so when he turned around to look at her again, he gave a little 'hmm?'

"Your room key?" she repeated, folded her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, "I'm not going to go routing through your pockets. At least, not unless you have any materia hidden away in there." Cloud frowned but said nothing as he reached into his pockets to find his key. His phone fell out in the process, but after a few moments he managed to find what he was looking for. Rolling her eyes, though looking amused, Yuffie took the keys from him and then swooped down to pick his phone up off the floor. Yet Cloud stumbled forwards at this point, and as she straightened up, they ended up having their faces closer than they'd intended. Yuffie looked straight into his eyes - Cloud's vision was still a little hazy, but even he noticed the warmth he suddenly felt from under her gaze. No sooner had it happened, Yuffie glanced away and took hold of his sleeve.

"Come on you," she said, pulling him along with her. Cloud followed, doing as best as he could to walk in a straight line. He nearly collided with one of the vases at one point, but Yuffie was able to swerve him out of the way just in time.

"Can't believe I'm having to look after you like this," she muttered as they finally came to a halt in front of his hotel room. She unlocked the door for him and pushed it open, propping it with her foot momentarily, "Here." She passed the keys back to him and Cloud took them, growing increasingly aware of how close they were again. He glanced upwards but his eyes rested on the ninja's lips before they had a chance to travel further up her face. There was something pretty inviting about them, he had to admit, and right now, all the sensible parts of his brain were too intoxicated to tell him that this probably wasn't a good idea. Without realising he was doing it, he leaned forwards. However, Yuffie moved her head back before he had the chance.

"Easy there, Spikes," she said with a laugh. Cloud was too drunk to feel the total embarrassment he would have felt were he sober, so he just glanced away with a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah, sorry," he said, looking over at the suddenly really inviting bed, "I'm gonna go over there now, so I'll probably see you tomorrow."

"Sure," Yuffie replied, still chuckling slightly, "And just so you know, I am going to have absolutely no sympathy for you tomorrow when you wake up with the most ridiculous hang over."

"Ok..." Cloud said sleepily. The alcohol was beginning to make him realise just how tired he was actually feeling. Without waiting for Yuffie to respond, he stumbled into his bedroom and over towards his bed. He didn't even remember his head hitting the pillow before falling asleep.