Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Of Them All ❯ Chapter 1

Of Them All

By Ezri-Candy

Summary: Avalanche is working with Reeve and the Turks under the new GRO to rebuild and expand the planets cities after meteor. While working together Cloud and Yuffie realize their feeling for each other and Cloud tells her in an original way.

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Great joy was felt by all that inhabited the planet. The immediate threat of meteor was no more. Now, every time they looked towards the heavens, they no longer saw their impending deaths, but beautiful blue skies. There was still much work to be done.

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The Highwind sat in the grassy fields outside of Gongaga as its eight weary occupants sat in front of a blazing fire under the stars.

Cid and Barret were arguing over a hand of poker as the handsome Reeve laughed at the pair. Reeve was now command of Shinra's engineer corps, the Shinra guard platoons as well as the remaining members of SOLDIER and had been traveling with Avalanche for the past three weeks.

Nanaki was curled up near the fire, occasionally opening his amber eye when the gun-armed man and the spear wielding pilot's voices became too loud.

Surprisingly, Vincent was sat propped against a tree with Tifa leaning against Vincent's warm, firm chest partially under his cloak for warmth. She also watched the poker game as he held her hand in his. Over the past few weeks they had grown closer and quickly fell in love. No one was quite sure of how it happened, but all were genuinely happy for the new couple.

Yuffie was lying on her back a few yards away from the group with her head pillowed by her hands. Stargazing had always been a favorite pastime for her. The beauty of it all never ceased to leave her breathless. Each star shone against the black depths of space like diamonds that made her want to reach to the heavens and pluck one from its resting place.

She turned her head slightly and watched as Vincent gently kissed Tifa on her forehead and pulled her closer to him. She had to smile. Vincent had warmed up to her and when she spoke with him, he actually answered her questions with more than one or two word answers and participated actively with the conversation. 'He's a good guy once you get a chance to sit and talk with him.'

The ninja was truly happy for her two friends and knew that Vincent and Tifa were truly meant to be together. She couldn't help but feel a slight pang in her heart when she looked at the two.

She turned her head back to the sky. 'Will I ever get a chance to have what they have? Who would want someone like me?' She thought sadly to herself. Everyone still saw her as 'just a kid.' After midnight tomorrow, she would turn seventeen but she knew they would always consider her a child. 'Gods, I'd be surprised that anyone even remembered my birthday.'

Yuffie feared that the one person that she wanted to see her as more than a child, would always think of her that way. The one she loved with such fervor would never see her as more than his young friend.

From the first moment she saw him when she leapt from that tree branch in the forest outside of Junon, her heart began to race. 'He is so hot!' she remembered thinking.

She remembered how rich his voice was when he spoke, how the SOLDIER uniform slightly clung to his nicely muscled arms and abdomen, and how one of his unruly blonde locks fell into is eyes. His eyes where what had pulled her heart to this man, she could stare into those glowing blue pools for all eternity and never grow tired of them.

'Love couldn't happen between us. Why would he love a tomboy like me when there are thousands of beautiful women all over the world are pining for him? Damnit, Hojo would stand a better chance of attracting Clouds attention than a beast like me would.' She thought sorrowfully as she felt a warm tear escape down her lightly tanned cheek.

'Maybe if I told him…' She quickly banished that thought. It would never happen…she could never tell him that she loved him. He would probably think that a child could never know what love is like, so she kept her love of him hidden within the very depths of her soul.

Cloud Strife had stolen her heart and he didn't even know it.

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The object of a certain ninja's affections was slowly making his way back towards the fire after taking a short walk to clear his head. He had been experiencing feelings and emotions as of late that were so intense, it was hard for him to think straight.

Right now, Avalanche's main goal was to assist Reeve with coordinating and directing the engineers and soldiers with expanding existing towns and villages and, with the help of the elders of Cosmo Canyon, set up new, planet friendly, energy sources to power them. Midgar was in ruins. The survivors of the fallen city were now over crowing villages that were once quite sanctuaries built for a few hundred of people. All over the world, there was a desperate need for housing and Shinra, under Reeve's tutelage, would provide that for the people.

Until more permanent accommodations could be made, Shinra or the GRO (Global Restoration Organization) as it was now know, was being operated from the refurbished Mansion in Nibelheim. Currently the company was being headed by Reeve, with Avalanche and astonishingly, the Turks aiding him. Rude, Elena and Reno were on their way to Mideel in Cid's Tiny Bronco to assess the damage there.

Outside of the town, there was a large base set up, complete with barracks to house the SOLDIERS, guards and engineers that were being dispatched all over the planet. Three similar bases were set up, each the size of a town, outside of Kalm, Bone Village and Mideel to house the 35,000 men and women who were trying to rebuild the destruction caused by their company.

Cloud just could not get his focus fully on this matter. Something else…No, someone else had been occupying his mind. Over the past few weeks, he had been working very closely with this person as they paired off to go over the different issues. He had the chance to get to know and talk with this person. This person was smart, had a great sense of humor and every time he looked at them, his heart pounded in his chest.

Yuffie Kisaragi had managed to do what no other woman had ever managed to do…

She had managed to make him fall in love with her.

Tifa and Aeris were both people that he loved, but he considered being like sisters to him, but nothing more. Yuffie could make his heart stop simply looking at him with those breathtaking stormy gray eyes. Her voice was sweet as honey…it was something that he simply loved to hear.

He knew that people still viewed the ethereal pixie as a child. Her sunny personality, seemingly endless energy and mischievousness were like a siren song to him. She was no child, and he knew that it upset her that people that saw her as such. Quite simply, he loved everything about her.

He loved her.

===

As he approached the fire he saw the young woman staring at the sky. He altered his path and walked to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Yuffie jumped, startled at the sound of his voice. "Cloud…geez you scared the crap outta me!" He heart was pounding, but not because she was scared.

He smiled as he sat next to her on the soft grass. "I didn't mean to scare you." He saw her slightly wet cheeks and frowned slightly. "Are you okay?"

She sniffed and gave a small smile. "I'm okay, I was just thinking."

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Naw, it's nothing major." Yuffie looked over and saw something in Cloud's eyes as he looked down at her. "Did you have a nice walk Cloudy?"

He laughed at the nickname that she gave to him long ago. "Yeah…it helped." The moonlight poured down on her face making her look like one of heavens angels. He knew what he had to do. "I just have to do something about it now."

"Well, its getting late, we should hit the sack. We're going to Corel tomorrow, the engineers will be meeting us there at ten. You and I have a lot of scouting to do in the Corel Mountains for sites for the new windmills and solar plates."

Cloud stood and offered his hand to the young ninja; she grabbed his hand he pulled her to her feet. He felt fire race through his veins and felt slightly lightheaded. 'Gods, if she only knew what she does to me.' He thought as they returned to their sleeping bags near the fire.

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Cloud and Yuffie made their way down the train tracks leading from the Corel Mountains and into the small shantytown. Their trek had been enjoyable for both. They talked, joked, and even looked lovingly at one another when they knew that the wouldn't be caught as they made measurements and took wind readings while enjoying the cool Mountain air.

Trucks and equipment were being moved to and fro as Reeve and Barret overlooked the plans for the city. Corel was completely decimated during Shinra's reign and what should have been done years ago, was finally starting. The pair walked over to Reeve and Barret as they pointed to the map where the new main waterline would go to service the city that was now under construction.

Reeve looked up from the map and greeted the pair. "Hey Yuffie, Cloud, were you guys able to find the sites for the power generators?"

Yuffie unrolled their map as Cloud nodded and spoke. "These in red," he pointed to seven red marks on various areas on the map. "are the areas that would be best for the wind based generators. Based on what the engineers told us about the size, around forty to fifty mills can be placed in each area."

Yuffie pointed to four yellow markings on the map. "These will be the best places for the solar panels. We were thinkin' that with the four large panels, the small panels that will be built into the roof of each building, and the let see…" she paused, doing the math quickly in her head. "350 mills, that should be enough to light this city up like a Christmas tree!" She said excitedly.

Reeve smiled at her enthusiasm. "Good work you two. We've done all that we needed to do for today. The engineers and construction workers are going to start the first area of homes today so there won't be much for us to do until tomorrow. I've reserved rooms for everyone at the Ghost Hotel at Gold Saucer." Yuffie's eyes lit up at this. "The others are already there so you can go up and join them. Barret and I'll be up in about an hour or so."

Barret looked up at the ninja who was now bouncing with excitement. "Yuffs, do go takin' yer ass up there and beatin' up the guys in the Chocobo costumes again. I'm not gonna come get yer ass outta Corel Prison this time."

Yuffie put a fake frown on her face. "Aww, Barret!! You take away all my fun, besides, that perv in the costume pinched my butt! He deserved what he got! I don't need ya anyway, Cloud will come bust me out if I get in trouble, right Cloud?"

Cloud laughed and nodded. "We'll see you both later." He called over his shoulder as she blew a raspberry at Barret and then walked to the tram that would take them to the theme park.

===

Could had been watching the ninja as she looked out of the window and watched the desert sands pass by hundreds of feet below. She looked so sweet; it was as if she was seeing it all for the first time.

Last time they were at the Saucer, she didn't get to see much of the place. Because of that incident with the Chocobo actor, Dio had her confined to her room at the hotel after Barret paid her fine.

He had the funniest feeling lingering in the back of his mind…it was almost as if he was forgetting something. He looked back to the ninja and his eyes widened when he realized what that feeling was. 'Her birthday! I can't believe I almost forgot!'

"Cloudy, are ya okay? You look kinda ill." She said with her head tilted as she gazed at him with concern.

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

"If you say so. Maybe you should rest when we get to the hotel. I think I'm gonna take a nap, after all that hiking, I'm beat!"

"I just might do that." He said as she turned back to the window.

'I wonder why she hasn't said anything about her birthday? She probably thinks that no one will remember.' He thought sadly.

'I want to do something special for her and let her know how I feel.' He came up with some ideas for her birthday something special as station at the saucer grew closer. 'I want tomorrow night to be perfect. Maybe I should run my ideas by someone and get their opinion…Hey, I'll ask Tifa!' He sighed as the tram docked at the station. The made their way to the hotel and escorted Yuffie to her room and made the short walk down the hall towards Tifa's room.

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He paused outside the door her room with his arm raise to knock but paused. Vincent and Tifa were together now and he didn't want to interrupt the two new lovebirds. He walked away from her door a short distance and pulled out his PHS and pressed the white button that was assigned to Tifa's PHS.

<Ring, Ring>

"Hello?" Tifa cheerful voice came through the line.

"Hey Teef."

"Hi Cloud, what's up?"

"Well, I have something that I need some advice on, are you free?"

"Yep. I'm in my room with Vincent. He's on the balcony meditating…these damn sound effect in here make it kinda hard to clear your mind."

"Are you sure that now is a good time? I don't want to interrupt."

"It's no problem Cloud. If you don't feel comfortable with Vince around, I'm sure he'll go to the battle square for a while."

"No, I don't mind. He might have some ideas that I can use too."

"So where are you?"

"Hehe, I'm out in the hall."

Tifa's confused voice came over the line. "Why didn't you just knock?"

"Because, I didn't want to intrude." He said as a door opened three doors down.

She smiled at him. "Well come on in, that is unless you want to talk about this in the hall."

Cloud made his way to her and gave her a quick brotherly hug as he walked in. "Thanks. Hey Vince." He called over to the gunman who had just come in from the balcony.

Vincent nodded with a small upturning of his lips as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Greetings Cloud."

"Vince, Cloud needs a little advice. Maybe you can help us out." She said as she sat grabbed a pillow of the bed and used it as a cushion as she sat on the floor in front of the raven-haired man.

Vincent nodded. "I don't know if I will be of any assistance but I will listen." He gestured to the chair against the wall.

Cloud sat nervously. "Thanks."

Tifa's eyebrow arched slightly. She had never see Cloud this nervous before. "So what did you want to talk about?"

He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his golden locks. "Well…I…um…" He sighed again. 'Damn. I didn't know it would be this hard…'

"Cloud?" Vincent prompted.

'Come on, just say it!' His mind encouraged. "Ya see, I'm in love with someone…I want to tell her tomorrow."

Tifa hopped from her spot on the floor and threw her arms around Cloud's neck. "Cloud I'm so happy for you!" She squealed.

Vincent gave the swordsman a smile but remained silent. 'So he's lovesick…' He thought with some amusement. 'No wonder he has been so distracted lately.'

"Uh, Thanks Teef…" he said turning slightly blue from the martial artists' strong hold.

Vincent pulled his love back away from Cloud by the waist, allowing the man to breath. Tifa flopped back on to her pillow and looked up sheepishly. "Sorry Cloud…Anyway, are ya gonna tell us who?!" She had a pretty good idea, but wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.

Cloud picked at his gloves as he spoke. "Yuffie."

"I knew it!! So you are going to tell her tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow is her birthday and I want to make it special for her."

Vincent and Tifa's eyes grew large. "Oh my gods! Cloud, if you hadn't reminded us, she would have been devastated that her friends didn't remember her birthday! We've all been so busy since meteor that time has just flown by."

"Cloud, what did you have in mind for Yuffie's birthday?" Vincent asked.

He smiled at the couple. "See, this is what I had in mind…"

After explaining his plan, Tifa looked slightly teary eyed.

"Cloud, that's beautiful. She is going to love that."

Cloud sighed. "The only problem is, I don't know how she feels about me. I don't even know if she thinks of me that way."

Vincent looked up at this. He had seen the love clearly evident in the young ninja's eyes when she looked at the blonde. "Cloud, I assure you that you do not have to worry about that. Your plan will surely get you're message across."

Tifa and Cloud both looked at the gunman as if he had gone insane.

Vincent looked back at the two with a smile. "What?"

"Uh, nothing…thanks you guys. I really appreciate your help."

"No problem. Come on Vince, we got shopping to do and people to inform. Cloud, don't worry, it will go off without a hitch. How bout we all take her out to lunch tomorrow? Your plans don't start until dark right?"

"Yeah, that will throw her off even more. She won't be expecting tomorrow night and Tifa; you already know what you have to do. Well, I better be going, I have some shopping of my own to do, and some arrangements to make with Dio."

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Yuffie was absolutely giddy as she finally made her way out of the lobby of the hotel. Her friends had been so wonderful to her today. She had thought that they had all forgotten about her birthday and was ecstatic to wake up this morning and find her room full of gifts. She and Tifa had spent all day shopping.

Tifa had bought her a new outfit, which she wore to lunch. It was a pair of light khaki colored cargo pants, a rich blue button up short-sleeved blouse and a pair of black, heeled boots that felt as if they were made especially for her. It didn't hurt that it added an inch or so to her height either.

Vincent had found a golden Chocobo plushie with spiked feathers that she jokingly named 'Cloud' and a very high quality metal polish for her shuriken.

Cid gave Yuffie his mastered Bahamut Zero materia and as a gag gift, a barf bag that said 'Use me, not the Highwind.'

Nanaki had given her some feathers from his headdress that Bugenhagen had given him and a book on start gazing and various legends behind them.

Barret got her a set of new headbands, all varying in color and sown with great detail. Marlene, who had arrived at the gold saucer with Elmyra that morning had drawn her a lovely picture of herself and her 'Auntie Yuffie.'

Reeve didn't know what to get so he gave her a stuffed moogle with a cat sitting on top. It looked almost exactly like Cait Sith but the moogle was a light blue color. In its paws, were gift certificates to some of the shops around the saucer amounting to a few thousand gil.

Cloud hadn't given her gift to her yet. Instead he told her to meet her outside of the hotel at seven, which is here she was headed now. She stepped down the stairs outside of the hotel at paused at the sight that awaited her. Cloud stood before her with his hands behind his back, wearing a pair of black dress slacks and a navy blue dress shirt giving him a semi casual, semi formal look. His hair was still unruly which made her want to run her fingers trough it.

She walked up and looked up at the man of her dreams. "Wow Cloud! You clean up very nicely!" She winked at him.

Laughing, Cloud bowed slightly. "Why thank you Lady Kisaragi." He held his arm out to her. "Shall we?"

She felt her heart flutter as she wrapped her small arm around his muscular one. "We shall." The walked over to one of the cheesy fake tombstones and hopped through the opening leading to the restaurants.

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Dinner was perfect. They laughed the whole time, simply enjoying being with one another. Her cheeks were flushed in slight embarrassment after the waiters sang happy birthday to her and the rest of the customers in the restaurant applauded her.

Everyone in the establishment already knew who they were from the news feeds and newspaper articles that show the numerous interviews with the saviors of the planet. It seemed as if everyone personally had managed to wish her well on her birthday and even asked for their autographs as they made their way out of the fine restaurant.

They made their way to each of the various saucers of the amusement park. Yuffie had even managed to win big at the Chocobo racing arena. Cloud heart began to pound as they made their way to the last stop of tonight's festivities…

The gondola.

===

They exited the tube and began the short walk to the ticket counter. Cloud stopped and turned to the beautiful ninja. "Yuffie, close your eyes and wait right here. I promise I won't be long."

'What does he have up his sleeve. Tonight has already been so wonderful, what more could he have planned?' She looked slightly confused but closed her eyes and waited.

Cloud walked over to the woman at the ticket counter and she grinned at him. "Ah, Mister Strife. Dio told me that you would be coming tonight. Everything has been prepared as you wished. I was also told by Dio to give you this," she handed him a velvet pouch. "he said that it came out perfectly."

"Good. Thank you for helping out."

"It's been my pleasure. Good luck!"

Cloud made his way over to the ninja. "Okay Yuffs, keep your eyes closed." He walked her forward by her elbow and the heels of her boots clicked against the wooden floor of the gondola. "Okay sit right there." He gestured out of the window to the operator and the car started moving away from the ground.

"Open your eyes Yuffie."

Yuffie opened her eyes slowly and gasped. It was so beautiful! 'I can't believe that he went through all of this trouble!' Tears formed in her eyes as smile lit up her face.

The interior of gondola car was sprinkled with red and white rose petals. In one hand, Cloud held a bouquet of a dozen long stem roses of blood red and the purest white she had ever seen, and in the other were two crystal champagne flutes filled with the sparkling golden liquid. He handed her the bouquet as they ascended higher into the night sky.

She closed her eyes inhaled the wonderful fragrance of the roses and opened them to find Cloud gazing at her with smoky blue eyes. "Cloud, everything is so beautiful. I don't know how I could ever thank you for this wonderful evening."

The car slowly came to a stop at the highest point of its course as he handed her one of the flutes. "Yuffie, there is absolutely no need for you to thank me. You deserve it all and more."

His glass rose and she brought the rim of her glass to his. "To you, Yuffie Kisaragi. I wish you a happy birthday and many, many more to come."

Yuffie took a sip of the bubbly liquid and smiled. "Thank you Cloud."

She continued to sip from the glass as she watched his hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out a red velvet pouch. She placed the crystal on the bench and watched Cloud with wide eyes. "Yuffie, there's something I need to tell you."

She nodded but remained silent wit her heart racing.

He looked her in those beautiful gray eyes. "Yuffie, I think that you are the strongest, most intelligent and most beautiful woman on this world. For the last few weeks I have been searching for words to describe how I feel about you. But for all the poems and songs that exist that say it, nothing can come close to the feeling you get when actual hear those three little words.

"Yuffie, I love you. I love you more than life itself." He said as he lifted her small hand to his lips and gently kissed it.

Tears were falling freely from her eyes as she sat her roses on the bench and moved to sit on his lap. "Oh gods Cloud, I have loved you since the day that we met. I've wanted for so long to tell you, but I thought that you could never love someone like me."

He looked up at her confused. "Someone like you? What do you mean love?"

"There are thousands of beautiful women who deserve your attention more than I do. I don't understand how you can love me, the tomboy, the child, the-" he placed his finger to her lips.

"Yuffie, you are beautiful and you will forever be beautiful. By the planet, I love everything about you." He kissed the top of her head. "Your chocolate brown hair."

He kissed the smooth skin between her eyes. "your gorgeous stormy gray eyes."

His lips moved lower and brushed against hers as he spoke against them. "Your sweet," he kissed her gently.

"warm," kissed her again intertwining his hands with hers.

"Soft lips." He kissed her with the pent up passion that he had been feeling for what had seemed like an eternity. They broke the kiss, both breathless with slightly swollen lips.

"Cloud I love you. I can't see myself ever being with anyone else."

"You won't have to love." He reached to the side and brought the bag up and gently untied the velvet draws and pulled out a stunning platinum necklace. He heard the sharp intake of air from her as he unclasped the necklace and placed it around her neck before leaning back to admire the fine piece.

The were four gems that graced to elegant platinum chain, two were of the bluest Sapphires you could ever hope to see and the remaining two were rare Mythril diamonds sought throughout the world for the small, perfect sphere of gray found within each stone. Each diamond reminded him of her eyes.

"Cloud its absolutely beautiful."

There was a burst of light outside that bathed the interior of the car in a warm red light. The fireworks continued their dance in the sky as Cloud watched the beautiful display with Yuffie still on in his lap.

"Yuffie…I love you."

"And I love you too. You know what Cloud?"

"What's that love?"

"Out of all of the gifts that I received today, your love was the greatest of them all."

She brought her lips to his as he tightened his grip on her waist.

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Six months after they confessed their love to each other, Cloud Strife asked Yuffie Kisaragi for her hand in marriage with their family, Avalanche there to witness the moment.

The End

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AN: This is a one shot, but if I get enough requests, I may consider doing a sequel or something that deals with the wedding and maybe a little honeymoon lemon or lime.

Reno: Ooh…lemon….Can I be in it??

Ez: No Reno…Maybe I will write you a story where you can actually shag someone but it will NOT be Yuffie.

Reno: {=Pouts=} Aww! Why not?

Ez: You guys just don't belong together! Besides, you belong to me {=Grins Evilly=}

Reno: Eep! Uh, Ezri-C doesn't own Final fantasy 7 or any of its character…Square-Enix does. She does own the rights to the Mythril Diamond though. I better high tail it outta her before she rips me limb from limb. {=Starts running=} Come on Tseng! If you wanna continue living I suggest you run right now!

Tseng: Shit! {=Runs off after Reno=}

Ez: Damn! Well they won't get far… {=Starts up a gas powered scooter that appears out of thin air and laughs like a maniac.=}

Ez: See ya! Don't forget to read and review or I will come after you next…this scooter gets damn good gas mileage! Woo Hoo! {=Pops a wheelie and chases after Tseng and Reno=}