Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet & Salty ❯ Chapter 3

Knock, knock, knock. A loud banging pierced into the dark depths of her awareness. She groaned, covering her head with her pillow, trying to evade the persistent noise. Knock, knock, knock. It was in vain, as images of giant yellow birds and flying ships made of metal fled back from whence they came. Knock, knock, knock. Stubbornly, she kept her head covered, hoping the noise would go away.

At last, the banging stopped, and Yuffie sank back into her pillow. Knock, knock, knock. Just before she drifted back into sweet, sweet, slumber, the annoying noise returned. Knock, knock, knock. Growling, she cracked an eyelid, irritably brushing at some blanket that was sticking up. It popped back up, so she lifted her head just enough to see over it.

Too early, she thought after looking at the clock. She closed her eye and turned over, pulling the sheets tighter around her. Knock, knock, knock. Grumbling as the noise continued incessantly, she rolled to the other side -- and straight off the edge of her bed. She grunted as she landed on the hardwood floor with an audible thump.

Eyes wide open, Yuffie stared at the ceiling in surprise. Of course, now that she was awake, the knocking had stopped. Shivering in the morning chill, she hugged Nanaki tighter to her body. At last, she stood up. She was awake now, but not yet ready to give up the fight -- she sat on the edge of her bed, preparing to roll back into it, into a slumber even a thousand roiling storms couldn't have disturbed. Knock, knock, knock.

That's it! she thought. Cloud or Leon or Cid or Whoever-the-Hell-It-Is is going to get it now! Pulling down her knee-length yellow shirt, Yuffie stomped as loudly as she could with bare feet over to the door. Her stuffed red lion still hanging from one arm, she angrily yanked on the door. It didn't budge, which pissed her off even more; she unlocked it and flung the door open.

Squinting in the sunshine, Yuffie let loose with a barrage of invectives so scathing and abusive that even Cid himself would have blanched. At least, she started to, until she realized who was in front of her. "Oh no," she gasped, covering her mouth. "Aerith, I'm so sorry!" The brown-haired woman was standing there in absolute shock, green eyes wide.

Turning red, she asked, "Um, why are you here, Aerith?"

Yuffie heard a slight shuffle on the right. "Uh, good morning, Yuffie," Sora said hesitantly.

Gasping in shock, Yuffie jumped back and slammed the door. How could he see her like this? She hadn't had a bath, or shaved her legs, she hadn't even brushed her hair...she wasn't even dressed! Yuffie went to her dresser, pulling out a pair of purple panties and pulling them up her bony legs.

She tried to straighten her hair a little with her fingertips. Cautiously, she opened the door just enough to look outside. "Do you have any idea how early it is?" she asked in an angry whisper, as if it would make up for the shouting she'd just done.

Sora looked up, putting his hands behind his head. "Well, the sun's up." He looked her way. "You did say you wanted to learn magic, right?"

He was really going to do it? She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and hug him -- but not in front of Aerith, and certainly not while only in her night-shirt. "Yeah!" she said with a grin. "Just let me get cleaned up and put some clothes on."

Before she closed the door, Sora asked, "Why not just go as you are?" He smiled at her.

Yuffie opened the door just wide enough to punch him in the gut, and then ducked back inside, locking the door behind her.

---

When she finally came outside, Yuffie saw that Aerith had gone. Sora was sitting against the wall near the door; he smiled and stood up. Yuffie had put on a pair of khaki shorts with her blue belt, a green tank top, and her short orange boots. She left her leather vest and her yellow scarf inside. She was still tying on her favorite long-tailed black bandana.

"Ok," she said, "I'm ready now." She yawned loudly.

"Let's get going, then!" Sora said with a grin. "How about we start with the Cure spell?"

Yuffie glared at him. "How can you be so energetic this early, after how late we were up last night?"

Sora shrugged, still grinning. "There's a lot for us to do today."

Yuffie sighed. He still wasn't saying anything about last night. She smiled, then. He was in a great mood this morning, so things weren't as awkward as she'd feared they might be. Maybe he's just shy about that kind of thing, she thought.

Yuffie almost leaned over to kiss him again, but then saw a couple walking towards them. Losing her nerve in front of the strangers, she instead asked, "How about some breakfast first?"

At the mention of breakfast, Sora's stomach grumbled slightly. "Uh sure," he said, with a red-faced smile. "Who's cooking?"

"Cooking?" Yuffie asked. She thought about that briefly. "Well, I could, I guess but...maybe we should see if Aerith will forgive me for earlier." She glanced over at Sora. "Why did you bring her with you?"

"I didn't know where you lived," he said simply. "I had no idea you'd be that grouchy, either." They started walking over towards Merlin's house, hoping Aerith would be there.

Yuffie balled a fist and grinned evilly at him. "Just remember that the next time you think about waking me up at the crack of dawn." She dropped her fist when he smiled back. As an old lady passed them on the road, Yuffie thought of something. "After breakfast, I know a great place for us to train. It's got this great waterfall, and it's really easy to concentrate there. I used to go there a lot for my ninja training." There also wouldn't be anyone else around....

---

"Yuffie...."

"Hmm?" she asked, still trying to follow the trail.

They were now far to the south of Radiant Garden, in a forest valley she had been taken to as a child. As a little girl, she had come here often, but she hadn't been back since the heartless had invaded. After eleven years, it was hard to remember the way.

"We've been here before," Sora told her.

Yuffie looked back at him in surprise. "Huh? No we haven't!" She was sure of it...pretty sure anyway.

"At least once before," he said, pointing. "I kicked that rock last time we passed by this boulder."

Stunned, Yuffie look from the rock to the "trail" she'd been following and then back to the rock again. "We're totally lost, aren't we?" Sora asked.

They were totally lost.

Yuffie smiled sheepishly. "Maybe a little," she said quietly, holding her thumb and forefinger slightly apart.

Sora laughed and shook his head in disbelief. He lowered his pack to the ground. "How about we set up camp here? We can find your waterfall tomorrow, but let's go ahead and get a little training in today."

Yuffie nodded, setting down her own pack. She averted her eyes. "I'm sorry, Sora."

"Don't be. We'll find your waterfall after you've had a little time to get your bearings. For now, let's work on turning you into a first-rate magician girl!" His smile warmed her up inside, and she couldn't help but return it.

By the end of that first night, Yuffie still hadn't been able to cast the Cure spell. She was frustrated, but Sora assured her that no other spell he knew was as draining. If she could learn this one, he said, she should be able to learn all of them. At least part of what he said was true, and she was exhausted by the time they called it a night. She crawled into the tent and was fast asleep in seconds.

Yuffie woke to the sound of a crackling fire. Yawning, she realized she had a blanket draped over her. She smiled happily, realizing that Sora had given it to her -- she'd been so tired she'd just curled up on the bare floor. Slowly, Yuffie rolled out of the blanket, standing up and stretching.

The teenage girl ducked out of the tent, not realizing till she stepped outside that she was barefoot. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, but she couldn't remember for sure; had he taken her shoes off or did she?

"Hey, sleepyhead," Sora called. Yuffie looked over and saw him sitting in front of a fire and waving. She blushed -- he was only wearing his shorts, and his hair was completely wet. Yuffie had never seen him without a shirt on before. She ran over toward him, watching carefully for sharp rocks.

"Good morning, Sora," she said cheerfully. Sitting to his right, Yuffie saw that he had two fish cooking in the fire. "You caught fish?" she said, amazed.

"I grew up next to the sea," he said, smiling proudly. "I'm pretty good at catching fish." Sora looked at the fish, adding, "I think they're almost ready."

He was full of small surprises, Yuffie thought. She turned to look at the fish, then gasped and snatched the closest one out. She looked at it sadly, but she didn't want to hurt Sora's feelings. Seeing her grab one, he picked up the other and started blowing on it.

Whatever kind of fisherman he might be, Yuffie thought, he's definitely not a cook. Even so, she brought the charred fish up to her mouth, taking a crunchy bite. She forced a smile as she swallowed. Next to her, she heard another loud crunch. "Thanks for breakfast, Sora," she said when she saw him about to apologize.

She'd have to be sure to do the cooking next time.

They finished their fish and tossed the bones in the fire. Sora stood up, then looked down at her apologetically. "I'm sor--," he started, then yelped in pain and jumped back.

"Sora!" Yuffie cried out, jumping to her feet. He'd stepped into the fire with his bare foot. On impulse, the ninja called out, "Cure!" Green light enveloped them both, bringing with it a comforting feeling that welled up from within. It was similar to before, although not near as strong.

The two teens stared at each other in puzzlement for a moment, Sora still standing on one foot. Finally Yuffie let out a whoop and jumped up, yelling "I did it, Sora!" She then bounded over and threw her arms around Sora's neck, squeezing tightly.

Stunned by what she'd just done, Yuffie let him go and stepped back. Both of their faces were bright red and they looked away. "Way to go, Yuffie! I knew you could do it," he said proudly. Yuffie glanced over to him and saw him smiling, even though his face was still red.

"Which spell is next?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, let's be sure you can cast Cure again before moving onto another," Sora responded.

"Sure thing!" Yuffie said, then started to cast it, "Cu--." The young ninja suddenly felt light-headed. She landed hard on her bottom as her legs started wobbling.

Sora was suddenly right there, pulling her back to her feet. "You have to give it a minute," he said. "Cure completely drains you, so you can't cast any more spells for a little while. That's why I said if you could learn this one you could learn them all -- no other spell takes as much out of you."

"So it's all downhill from here, then?" Yuffie asked with a grin. "Pretty soon I'll be the Great Ninja-Mage Yuffie!" She jumped up, letting out another triumphant whoop -- almost falling on her rear again except for Sora catching her hands.

"How about we do a little more searching for your waterfall while you recover?" Sora asked. Feeling embarrassed, Yuffie nodded.

They didn't find the waterfall that day either, but they found a better campsite close to the river where Sora had gotten the fish. Yuffie managed to cast Cure two more times without a hitch, and Sora spent the evening showing her Blizzard. Once she figured out the trick to it, Yuffie became an expert at that spell -- it was like an ice shuriken.

After that first morning's breakfast, Yuffie made sure to do all the cooking. She made an excuse that she couldn't catch the fish (a lie), and she didn't want him to do everything. She loved watching him try to catch the fish -- the nut ball seemingly had never heard of a fishing pole. He'd use his Keyblade, his magic, or even his bare hands...but he always caught something. If that wasn't fascinating enough by itself, she loved the excuse to see him shirtless.

On the fourth night, Sora suggested they have a short duel. Thus far, she'd learned all the basic attacks -- Blizzard, Fire, and Thunder -- as well as Cure, and she eagerly accepted. To her chagrin, though, Yuffie used too much magic too quickly, causing her defeat.

As she lay on the ground, head spinning, Sora held out his hand to her. "I used to do the same thing," he said. Yuffie took his hand and he yanked her up on her feet.

Feeling humiliated, despite what he said, Yuffie declared, "I won't ever do it again!" She was starting to get a real feel for her limits now, and she wouldn't go past them anymore.

Sora squeezed her hand encouragingly. "You'll be better than me before long." He beamed at her. "Imagine how those Heartless would have fled if they'd seen the two of us coming at them!"

Yuffie's face turned pink and she tried to turn away. She was still dizzy from the spell-casting, though, and fell against Sora's chest. He let her lay there, and she thought she could hear his heart-rate quicken. The girl hated this feeling, hated being so weak. Yet, anytime she felt weak, it seemed like Sora was right there, and that made her feel warm inside. Yuffie wanted to be strong with him, but she couldn't help loving it when he was strong for her.

The two of them together, battling beside each other...she would give anything for that.

Finding a little strength, the kunoichi grabbed his shoulders and stood up straight.

"Let's get some rest, Yuffie." She nodded and the two of them started walking toward the tent. "I bet we'll find your waterfall tomorrow."

He hadn't mentioned that in a while, and she wondered what made him say that all of a sudden.

They kicked off their shoes and then curled up into their blankets. Yuffie lay there thinking to herself. She still wondered how Sora felt toward her. He hadn't mentioned Kairi again since that night in Radiant Garden. In fact, he hadn't said anything at all about what happened that night -- not what they talked about, not what she did.

Sora might have been scared off by her directness. But then, why was he the one to come get her for magic training? The teen got the feeling that Sora still wasn't sure what he felt, but she didn't know how to convince him. If she was too forward, she might drive him away, but if she didn't do anything, he might lose interest.

He hadn't encouraged her feelings at all while they'd been out here...but he definitely had not discouraged them either.

Yuffie sighed, pulling the sheet tighter. It didn't really matter, since it could never be. Eventually he would find out, and then he wouldn't want anything to do with her.