Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

FIVE

And now, my dear reader, it's time for Wutai's famous white rose to take you further along in this incredible story of ours. That's right! You now have the honor of listening to me, the one and only Yuffie, tell you more about how my friends and I ended up saving the world from that crazy psycho Sephiroth. But that's still a bit further on. So, um... where were we? Oh, right! I'd just met Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Lena and had graciously allowed them to join up with me.

Well, okay... I agreed to help them protect Fort Condor after Jessie beat me in a fight. I hate to admit it, but it's true. And I guess that's why we're here. To tell you all what really happened back then. Still, what's a good story without a little embellishment? But I guess Cloud does have a point. So I'll try not to get too carried away.

Ahem! So me, Jessie, and the rest of her little group were all in that wooded clearing that day, getting ready to head out. She and I drank a potion or two—those things are seriously gross, especially the stronger ones—as we saw to the cuts and scratches we'd given each other in our fight. She wasn't so bad, really, now that I was getting to know her. And her friends were okay, too. As they packed up their things, I realized I'd actually seen them before, back in Midgar.

"Hey, Jessie..." I said. "Been a long time, hasn't it?"

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

I grinned, hands on my hips. "Don't you remember? From that day in Midgar? We talked in front of that bar."

"I don't think..." Jessie started. Then her eyes widened. "Wait just a minute! That girl in the moogle cloak... that was you? I never did get a good look at your face until today. Wow!"

"Yep! Yours truly!" I bowed.

She laughed. "Small world, isn't it?"

"Sure is!" I agreed. "So, anyway... did that guy you were waiting for ever come over to see you? If he did stand you up, I'll be happy to help you kick his ass the next time we're in Midgar."

"Oh, he did, alright," Jessie smiled, blushing a little.

I admit, I did tease her about it a little that day. I'd been wandering around town, getting the feel of the place—I still didn't get how people couldn't stand that terrible mako smell—and had spotted her sitting on the porch of this big bar. Jessie had been working on some kinda tablet, and she'd had a cloth and a bottle of what looked like wax or cleaner on the table next to her, probably for that nifty motorcycle I'd seen parked nearby. She'd seemed really worried about something, looking up every now and then to gaze expectantly across the slums.

And so, like any self-respecting heroic young ninja would do, I had decided to see what I could do to cheer her up a bit. She hadn't been in the mood to take my jokes about her being stood up, so I'd had to take a different approach. I'd noticed the pack of cards on the table with the rest of her stuff and had challenged Jessie to a game. I'd had time to kill anyway since my partner hadn't shown up yet, so she and I had played a round, and I'd made sure to let her win.

That had definitely improved Jessie's mood, so we had played a few more hands together, and I'd done my best to keep on losing. But I did win eventually, and I hadn't been able to resist boasting about it when I did. I'd just been having fun with her, but I'd forgotten how worried she was about whoever she'd been waiting for, so it hadn't gone over all that well. Losing to her some more had cheered her up again soon enough, though. I hadn't wanted to leave her feeling sour.

Eventually, I'd had to move on, and she'd walked down the stairs in front of the bar with me. I'd waved at her, wondering if I'd see her again before I finished my mission and left town, and she'd done the same as she'd started polishing that cool motorcycle.