Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet & Salty ❯ Chapter 4

The youthful ninja woke early the next morning, after a fitful sleep. Sitting up with the blankets wrapped around her waist, she looked over and drowsily watched Sora. Unlike her, he was sleeping peacefully, mouth partially open and drooling. Yuffie giggled quietly, and then rolled her blanket up.

Lifting his head slightly, Yuffie slid her rolled up blanket underneath to serve as a pillow.

She snatched up her pack and tiptoed outside, into the predawn gloom. Taking advantage of the brief privacy she now had, she went downriver a bit. Pulling out a bar of soap, the girl undressed and cleaned up a bit in the frigid water. Unable to do much more than shake herself dry without a towel, Yuffie put on her last set of clean clothes: dark red panties and bra, yet another pair of khaki shorts, and a forest green flower-print tank top.

Opting not to put on her bandana just yet, Yuffie quickly ran back to the campsite, eager to start up a fire and dry off.

Sitting on her knees front of the fire, Yuffie watched the river flow by and wondered what it would have been like fighting against the darkness beside Sora. She would fight to defend those things important to her, but she'd never thought of herself as a hero. Watching Sora, though, chasing after fish with his bare hands, burning them to a crisp in a campfire, drooling in his sleep...Yuffie knew she wouldn't have thought the boy could be a hero, either, if she hadn't known him.

If nothing else, if another shadow loomed over, she wanted to be there beside him, to help protect him. The girl wanted to be with him, but if she couldn't have that, then she at least wanted to be near him.

The sun finally crested over the trees, brightening the morning skies. As if on cue, Yuffie heard some rustling in the tent, and Sora ducked out of the tent. With a loud yawn, he stood straight and stretched out. Seeing her by the fire, Sora waved with a, "Mornin', Yuffie!"

"Ohaio! " she responded brightly.

"You're pretty and cheerful today," Sora said with a grin. Yuffie's eyes widened in surprise, not sure if she'd heard him correctly. Did he say "and?" He thought she was pretty?

Yuffie smiled longingly at him as Sora waded into the river, leaving his shirt on the bank. Even though he was a long ways off, the girl was sure to face her body away as she watched. If that water hadn't been so cold, she might've done a little more with the private time she had earlier.

As they cooked and ate the fish, the two of them talked about different things. Mostly they told funny stories from their childhood. When they finished, they both pulled on their shoes and then packed up the tent. The pair started walking further upriver, mostly listening to the sounds of the forest and the river.

The young ninja realized that the trees were starting to look a little more familiar. Remembering Sora's words from last night, the sprightly young girl ran on ahead, rounding the next bend in the river. "Sora!" she called, beaming as she looked ahead of her.

Sora caught up to her and she heard him gasp. Up ahead was the waterfall she remembered. It wasn't huge, only perhaps a hundred feet high, but it was breathtaking. Midway down, the falls hit a protruding spike of rock, dividing into two smaller falls before crashing into the crystal clear pool that fed into the river they'd been following.

"Wow," the Keyblade master said simply. He looked at her beaming face. "This place is beautiful, Yuffie -- I guess this is why you wanted to see it again, huh?"

"Race you to the cliff!" she responded, taking off running, ignoring his protests. Easily reaching it before Sora, Yuffie cheered and started doing a victory dance. When he caught up with her, he laughed and called her a cheater. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Sora looked up at the falls, smiling. "This'll be a perfect place for you to learn Reflect."

That got Yuffie's attention: the spell he had beaten her with. She stopped her dancing. "Why's that?"

Pointing, he replied, "Because you're going to use the spell to reflect the water while you jump across the rocks from one side to the other."

Yuffie laughed. "Yeah right!" She grinned mischievously, deciding to tease him. "You just want to get my shirt wet, don't you?"

"What? No! That's not it!" he protested, face turning crimson. He's so cute when he blushes, Yuffie thought. "Here, I'll show you." Sora lowered his pack.

Starting on the nearest bank, Sora started leaping across the rocks sticking up -- almost slipping on one -- until he'd reached the first waterfall. Bounding straight through it, Sora called out "Reflega!"

The sphere-shaped barrier flashed into existence, but it didn't move with Sora's momentum. Instead, it held Sora in place for the few seconds it was there, leaving Sora to get completely drenched by the falling water.

Landing with a splash in the water beneath the falls, Sora eventually swam his way back to Yuffie. As he climbed out of the water, shoes squelching with each step, he told her, "Don't say a word." Yuffie had been covering her mouth with one hand, trying not to laugh, but she couldn't resist any longer. When Sora turned back to look at her, she tightly closed her mouth and made a zipping motion across her lips.

By the time they sat down for their evening meal, Yuffie had managed to successfully cast Reflect five times. While blowing on her fish to cool it, Yuffie suddenly thanked Sora. "For everything," she said earnestly. "You're going way out of your way to help me."

"Don't worry about it," Sora replied. "I'm really having fun hanging out with you. Besides," he added, "one day I might get you to teach me some of that ninja stuff!"

Unable to help it, Yuffie burst out laughing.

"What? Why's that so funny?" Sora asked, looking a little hurt.

"I'm sorry," she said, still laughing. "It's just hard to imagine you as a ninja."

"Couldn't be much harder than you as a mage," he sulked, taking a bite out of his fish.

"Aw, c'mere," she said, before getting up and going to him instead. Kneeling behind him, she smiled down at him when he looked back at her. She gently turned his face back toward the fire and then pulled her bandana out of her pocket. Yuffie unrolled the long strip of black cloth and positioned the center of it on Sora's forehead.

Tying it tightly, Yuffie went back to her original seat, giggling when she saw how Sora looked with it on.

Hearing her snicker, he smiled. "Is it that bad?"

"No," she said honestly, "but it's very different."

"I bet," Sora replied. "You look really different, too." She wanted to ask if she was prettier without it, but he went on. "You always look kind of cute and mischievous, but right now you look a lot more playful than devious." He grinned.

She grinned back. It made a similar difference on him.

"Hey Yuffie," Sora said to get her attention, then summoned his Keyblade in a rain of sparkles and tossed it to her. Reflexively she caught it; it was the original Keyblade, the one she'd first seen him with in Traverse Town. It was heavier than she thought it would be, and she wasn't sure why it didn't flash back into Sora's hands.

The ninja lifted the Keyblade in both hands, and Sora started laughing. She felt awkward holding a sword, and she knew that she must look silly. Still, she decided to play the part. Trying to mimic Sora's combat stance, she quoted him from one of his stories, "Kingdom Hearts is Light!" Neither of them could keep a straight face after that one.

Yuffie offered the Keyblade back, and it zipped to his open hand just before Sora put it away. When Sora reached to untie the bandana, Yuffie asked him not to. "It looks cute on you," she said, causing his cheeks to redden. He kept it on while they ate their fish.

After they'd tossed their bones in the fire, Sora got a playful glint in his eye. "Feeling lucky tonight?" he asked.

"You bet!" Yuffie replied, picking up her favorite shuriken. Sora pulled out his lion's head keychain. Inwardly, Yuffie both cringed and grinned. Although she was afraid of that Keyblade, she also knew what to expect from it.

It was good for single shots, but it was too heavy to do continuous attacks with. If she dodged it quickly, she'd have a second or two to get out of range before he could manage another swing.

"Up top?" Sora asked.

Yuffie nodded, and the two of them started ascending the face of the cliff. Standing at the top of the waterfall, the sky was like a dome all around them. The full moon shone brightly, granting them plenty of illumination for their competition.

After spinning the keychain around his finger a few times, Sora finally summoned the hulking Keyblade. He had done the toss the night before, so Yuffie pulled out another small munny ball. She smiled as she watched the bandana flapping in the breeze, then tossed the ball high into the air.

Swiftly she pulled out three ninja stars and a smoke bomb in her left hand. Yuffie hoped to end the fight quickly, this time. Sora rested the tip of his Keyblade on the ground, both hands wrapped tightly on the hilt.

At last the munny ball hit the ground, and the fight was on!

Yuffie jumped in a vertical spin, launching her three shuriken and casting two Blizzard spells. She paused for a second, and then threw her smoke bomb followed by her big shuriken.

As expected, Sora deflected the first two attacks and then cast Reflega. The barrier deflected her next three attacks -- but disappeared just before her smoke bomb got there, blinding Sora. There was a loud hiss of pain, and then Yuffie's shuriken was thrown back at her.

"Curaga!" she heard from Sora's direction. The ninja couldn't believe he was casting a healing spell so soon. She'd never had a chance to see him overcast his spells. Easily catching her shuriken, her eyes widened in shock as Sora came rushing out of the dissipating smoke toward her, Keyblade held in one hand.

Wobbly though he was, Sora was undeniably fast. He reached Yuffie almost before she could react, swinging the bandage-wrapped Keyblade at the spot where'd she'd been standing seconds earlier. Stunning her as she watched from mid-flip, the Keyblade master lived up to his moniker by swinging his blade two more times, faster than the ninja thought should be possible.

On her feet several yards back, Yuffie puzzled over this new development. She didn't know how he was doing it, but Sora had managed to take the dizziness from overusing his magic and turn it into strength. If she was right, then all she needed to do was avoid his attacks until he recovered.

That was easier said than done.

Dodging underneath a high swing, Yuffie kicked out with both feet, hitting Sora in the shins. She rolled quickly to her feet, and then leapt backwards, throwing several stars into the ground between him and her to slow him down. Sora got to his feet quickly and jumped after her, completely bypassing the trap.

Desperately, Yuffie cast a Thunder spell just before his blade hit her in mid-air. The blast knocked him back down to the ground, and Yuffie threw two smaller shuriken and her bigger one at him. Sora took the hits from the smaller shuriken and batted aside her signature weapon.

Out of weapons, and without many spells left to cast, Yuffie watched in fear as the Keyblade master rushed at her. His movement straightened up, though, and he slapped his second hand back onto the hilt. Recognizing what might be her last chance, Yuffie called out, "Reflect!" just as Sora attempted the same thrusting move that finished their first duel.

The blade went straight through her barrier, slamming into her stomach again. At the same time, though, the barrier did as its name implied and reflected a huge chunk of the damage back to Sora. The two of them were sent flying in opposite directions, both knocked senseless.

Yuffie's eyelids slowly drooped closed as she lay facedown near the river bank. Getting hit so hard right after casting a spell had her head spinning, and she felt like she was going to throw up. The ninja girl wanted to stand up, but moving at all made her head throb.

She heard slow shuffling footsteps coming toward her. Opening one eye, all she could make out was a shadowy figure holding its side. Inwardly, Yuffie sighed: she guessed this meant she had lost the duel...again. Sora leaned down, sliding one arm under her knees, the other supporting her shoulders.

Always strong for her when she was weak. Yuffie closed her eye again.

Sora carried her back down to the camp, where the fire was still burning strong. Yuffie felt him lay her down on the ground next to the fire, resting her head in his lap as he leaned against a large rock.

"Curaga," he said quietly, the powerful calming sensation filling Yuffie. After a moment of silence, Yuffie cracked open her eyes, planning to thank him. Sora was fast asleep, though. With the waterfalls splashing down, the fire crackling nearby, and her head resting in Sora's lap, Yuffie was thinking that might not be such a bad idea. Her eyelids slowly drooped closed once more, and she sighed contentedly.