Lean On Me (FF7)

~Yuffie's POV~

Day three of Cloud's return and he's still hurting from everything, even after daily Cure materia. Of course, running around after me on the Highwind didn't help yesterday. It was like a game of manhunt, only we didn't kill each other. Kinda. I might've pulled his hair once and then bit his arm... But still, he loves meh. We send more time together, knowing that at any moment Sephiroth could appear again for his revenge and take anyone of Avalanche's people away. He has that snazzy teleporter he always uses to get what he wants, and what he wants is Denzel's staff. Denzel is still unaware of how he practically holds what decides mankind's fate in his hands everyday.

"Yuffie? Are you even listening to me?" Cloud asks, waving a hand in front of my face. I jolt out of my thoughts and flush red.

"Yeah. I was just thinking about how we'd have to change your bandages today."

"Crap... But you didn't catch any of that?"

"Not really, no," I shake my head, a little embarrassed that I was just sitting there and staring at his face.

"Ugh," he groans. "Well I'm not repeating it all, but long story short, Shawn called and asked me if you'd want to go to the palace for dinner tonight or not."

"Are you invited?" I frown, looking down at the deck.

"I don't know," he shrugs.

"I'm not going without you."

"Yuffie, I know I just got back and all, but you don't always need to be with me."

"I know I just... I'm not a distancey person."

"Hey," he ducks his head down to meet my eyes. "I'll be fine. I won't leave Vincent's side. I promise."

"Promise?" I glare at the wooden floor. "Every time anyone has promised me anything, they've always broken that promise."

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

"You promised you would be there when I woke up at Fort Condor. Instead I found you outside and drunk as heck."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't..."

"They always have silly excuses. They couldn't do this, they couldn't do that," I continue to rant. "When really, they were only thinking of themselves." He remains silent and listens to me as he stares out at the land we fly over. "I know it sounds stupid, but when you're a kid, you always make your parents promise they'll be there forever. When you're older, you at least expect them to try and fight for their lives. My dad didn't put up a fight, he just let it happen. Makes me wonder if he was even living for something when he was alive."

"I know what you mean," he finally speaks up. "After my dad died... I told myself I would make my mom proud of me, make her realize that not all men are failures. When I didn't make it into SOLDIER, I didn't send her any knowledge of my life. She couldn't have known if I'd been killed or not. Then Nibelheim burned down and I just... I couldn't save her and she died with the knowledge that both the men in her life had failed her." He chuckles in a somewhat angry tone. "Sometimes I wish I could've just been Zack. His family was proud of him, he had the perfect life, he made it to the top. I mean, I know his parents would die trying to bring glory to his name, but my mom didn't even try to escape the house when it caught fire. She didn't have anything to live for anymore."

"Two orphans huh?" I say bitterly, cursing Shiva for making all our lives suck.

"Two orphans," he agrees, hugging me to his side. Then after a moment of silence, he clears his throat. "It finally hit you huh?"

"He's gone for good," I nod. It's weird how this morning when I woke up, the hurt hit me like a total wave. It's almost been two weeks and his death hasn't hit me til now. He's gone. I won't ever see my daddy again.