Loose Ends

Chapter 1

The rain against the windows, the intermittent sounds of thunder; that was tonight's weather. The inky, black feeling of anticipation had laid dormant for too long and it was time to act upon it.

I took a deep breath and looked around the room; the kitchen. Clean as ever, all thanks to Tifa, not a speck of dirt in the vicinity, except for one. The one I made; the coffee stain I recently had the pleasure to ascertain.

Of course I was scolded; the kitchen table was ruined and it was my fault. Maybe that was the final straw; the final blow that made me come to this decision. That and amongst other things that I had no courage to say..

With the cup in my hands; I took a sip from my tea.

“I'm leaving.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow night the latest, tonight possibly.”

“I'm not going to stop you, but besides the obvious why?”

I looked away from Nanaki. This wasn't what I had in mind.

I had thought he understood the circumstances better. That because he was the “Great Nanaki”, my peer, he wouldn't have asked. I guess foolishness can be confused with bravery and in my situation, I believe I did exactly that.

It was hard enough to say my farewell; now explaining it was nearly impossible.

“Pride and nobility; that's why.” I smiled.

It was a very vague sense of way of saying the truth and even I almost believed it. Almost.

“Yuffie, don't forget jealousy.”

I had to smile at that, so he did know me better than I thought. My brother Nanaki, not by blood, or relation, and we definitely were not the same species, but he did listen. The only being of this house that took me seriously, the one who didn't consider me a brat. Nanaki didn't lie to me, like an adult does to a child to not say the cold truth. What I wanted to hear was the truth, instead of being lied to, in efforts to keep me from not knowing what was happening. I liked that about Nanaki, his concern was to tell you the truth.

“To be scorned by someone you care about and evidently being told to change, well that's a knife embedded in the back. Then compared to the person you most hate; it's twisting the knife even more. I wouldn't want to stay either, this must be a hell house for you.”

“It wasn't that way before. I chose a different direction from this place, somewhere I can flourish.” He nodded.

I trembled; she ruined this for me. Shelke.

In comparison to her, I was scum of the earth. Why shouldn't I be? I had no talent in cooking, I was not smart enough to hold my ground in an intellectual conversation, and I had no creativity whatsoever.  She was the victor, and I was the looser.

Shelke even had the influence to attract the attention of someone, who I had tried for so long to so.

Vincent.

The bond between them was so incredibly strong and I had no chance entering it. There wasn't anything special about me that could compare with her. Shelke was everything I couldn't be, and it hurt knowing that.

“You can try to garner his attention, Yuffie.”

With quivering lips, I laughed. If anything, I would miss the late night conversations with Nanaki. It would be the only thing that would keep me here in Kalm.

“Don't let her win.”

He was already halfway upstairs when I looked up to see him. I closed my eyes, hearing him walk away as I stayed in the kitchen.

“She already won.”

That was the very last time I cried in that house.