Saturday 21st October,
5:23 a.m. Kalm Town Outskirts

The Nightmare seemed to twist itself around her soul, invading her mind and body until it drowned out her silent scream. She stood shaking, her body rigid in a sickening horror as she plummeted into insanity.
She had been at the party? Had she gone to Lucrecia’s party?
What was it for? She didn’t know. She had developed an annoying habit of gatecrashing over the years.
What had changed? she thought. Five years ago... things were different. Back then, she had friends. People she cared for.
The Nightmare pulled her back from the recesses of her consciousness, forcing her to witness her act of final evil.
There was a crack... a crack, yes she remembered that. A crack of the glass on the wall. And sobbing...
The gun floated into her hand, but it didn’t seem to fit. Her heart racing, Yuffie saw the door open before her and she stepped into the Living room.
Lucrecia stood sobbing against the wall. A few metres away a dark stain lay spread over the wallpaper as the wine she had thrown at the wall dribbled down to the skirting board.
“Hello?” called the frightened woman. “Is anyone there?”
Her hand moved up to shoot, and Lucrecia darted and ran.
Yuffie screamed. The fear ran coarse in her veins as she moved swiftly after the woman.
No. Not her. It was someone else... someone evil... wasn’t it?
The sinuous voice returned. Haunting her nightmares to the point where she could taste the terror.
Yes, Yuffie. You killed Lucrecia. Watch as you slaughter an innocent woman.
Yuffie stayed silent, the despair almost overwhelming her senses.
There was no sound. Lucrecia stopped so suddenly that Yuffie thought the vision had ended. Then she saw the red liquid bloom out from her back. She heard the splintering of bone as the spine fractured.
Slowly...
Slowly, Lucrecia slid to the floor.
Dead.
Dimly, as if another world, she could feel herself throwing up... then it all became real.
She returned from sleep just as the acid sick spewed from the corners of her mouth. Choking, she coughed out as the vomit soaked into her clothes. Gasping for breath, she sat upright. The vision, the fit, whatever it was, faded.
But it was not gone. It would never go away.
She looked up, alerted by a scuffling at the front of the alley. A pair of policemen stood twenty metres away, both holding flashlights in the dim light. One of them made a face as he turned to the other.
“Sweet Jesus, what the hell is that?”
“Dunno.” shrugged the other. “Who knows who’ll your find in these shit holes. Come on, Jen. I ain’t goin’ in there on my own.”
“Yeah, I know.” replied Jen, holding his nose with one hand and the flashlight with the other. “But, Freed, what are the chances of finding a famous-hero-turned-murderer in a dump like this? I got a new uniform this week, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna make trouble for Barbara by fuckin’ it up.”
Freed smiled bemusedly. “The misses givin’ you trouble, Jen?”
Jen backed away from the alleyway. “Look, all I’m sayin’ is that we won’t find anything, and this’ll probably be searched in another ten minutes by some more cops. You see where I’m headin’?”
Freed took one look at the alley, and then reluctantly nodded. “Alright. Let’s go look for some cleaner places the little bitch could have gotten herself into.”
The policemen left the alleyway, their conversation fading into silence.
Yuffie got up slowly, the smell of her clothes making her head spin. Quietly, she walked over to the edge of the alley and peeked her head out.
Looking for something.
Anything.
She never knew if it was a miracle, or if it was luck. Or even if it was a curse. But Tifa and Cloud’s house found itself into her mind and she ran towards the door, knocking wildly.
“Open up...” she whispered feebly. She knocked again.
The door opened, and Yuffie smiled. Then she collapsed on the floor and sank into sleep again.
The Nightmares returned, stronger than before.

10:41 a.m. Kalm Town, Tifa and Cloud’s House
The dream coalesced into reality. Yuffie found herself sprawled naked across a bed. She moaned sleepily, rubbing her eyes and inhaling the deep, aromatic smell that seeped into her pores.
She was clean.
She raised her head for a few minutes, and then flopped it down satisfyingly. She was safe. For the moment.
Her clothes lay neatly folded on a chair a few metres away. Sliding the sheets over her in case someone came in, she got up and hastily put on her clothes.
The door opened hesitantly and Tifa pulled her hand through the crack.
“You’re not naked, dear? I’m sorry... you’re clothes... so we had too give you a bath... gosh, you slept for ages...”
Yuffie nodded sullenly. She had almost forgotten what it was like to talk.
“Thank. Thank you.” she stammered.
Tifa stood for an awkward second before asking something else.
“Well? Can I come in?”
Yuffie puzzled over the question, trying to remember what it meant. It had been so long since she had spoken to someone. Hadn’t it? She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t remember a lot anymore.
Only that Tifa was a friend.
“Come in.” she said.
Tifa opened the door and walked in. Yuffie found it hard to suppress a smile as the fighting beauty she knew from so long ago gazed at her with concerned eyes. That face... it brought back memories from a forgotten world. Sweet sixteen back then, and not a care. She grinned as Tifa’s laughter rang sweet in her ears. For a brief second she knew happiness as reminiscent feelings flooded back to her. The past brought joy. And sadness. She didn’t care, the feelings made her human, giving her a comforting warmth she had longed for.
Tifa held out her arms, and embraced her briefly.
“How are you know?” she asked.
“I’m fine.” It was the truth. At least, at the moment it was.
Tifa nodded and took her downstairs. “Glad to hear it. Cloud’s waiting. He wants to talk to you.”
He sat in the chair by the fire, the same serious expression on his face as always. He gave her a lopsided grin as she came in, and placed the tiny child  gently on the floor.
“Run along, Cherrie. Go play in the garden, right?”
“Yes, Daddy.” came the reply as the three year old ran clumsily to the back door.
Yuffie gasped. “Gawd, it has been a long time. Last time I saw you was at the wedding. And that was...”
“Four years ago, I think.” answered Cloud, gesturing to the seat next to him. “We’ve been blessed twice since then. Liol came along a few months after the wedding, and Cherie soon after that. Hey, Tifa, why don’t you come join us? Let Liol look after Cherie for a few minutes, she’ll be okay.”
“Alright...” answered Tifa as she came back in. “So, Yuffie, how are you?”
“Fine...” she mumbled. But deep inside she felt a sense of numb shock. This really showed how everyone else had moved on and she hadn’t changed.
“Still single?” asked Cloud.
She snapped out of her daydreaming. “...Yeah. I did meet this one guy...”
Tifa chuckled. “Uh-huh. And what happened?”
Yuffie sighed heavily. “He stole all my materia and ran off. I should have been more careful, really.”
Cloud burst into laughter. Yuffie looked surprise. He never used to laugh... ever.
“But, how is everyone else, do you still keep in touch?” she asked, changing the subject.
She realised how little touch she’d had with all of her other friends over the past five years. She had last seen Reeve about two years ago, when he opened Neo Midgar for the refugees of former Midgar. She didn’t know, but she thought he was President there, now. And she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen Cloud and Tifa when they had lived so close.
Cloud shrugged. “About the same, really. Reeve’s President of Neo Midgar, the virtual capital of the world. Barrett went back to Corel and built it up again. Cid flew off with the Highwind and hasn’t been back since. And Nanaki drove the Tribes of the Gi back from Cosmo Canyon. We still go on adventures, but since the kids have come along things have settled down a bit more. And Vincent...”
Yuffie shuddered. “I know. He’s a Turk.”
“No.” said Tifa firmly. “Not a Turk. Not any more. He quit them now, and he’s looking for you.”
It hit her like a ton of bricks. She let out a strangled cry and dropped to the floor, shaking. He’s looking for me... to avenge the death of his wife.
“I didn’t do it!” she sobbed. “I didn’t, I swear!”
Yes, you did. You killed Lucrecia.
“NO!” she screamed. “Get away from me!”
Tifa ran to her, shocked by the violent and sudden outburst. She shook Yuffie hard as she slipped further away.
“Cloud!” she cried. “We’re losing her, do something!”
“Yuffie!” he shouted in a piercing voice. “Listen to me, you are at Cloud and Tifa’s house. You are safe, here. Listen to my voice, Yuffie! Listen to your heart, not your mind! Is there anything alive that can drown out it’s beating? Focus on your heart, Yuffie. Focus on me.”
Slowly, she came round. The vision dissipated in a flurry of tears as she flung herself upon Tifa, burying her face in her chest and sobbing wildly. Tifa held her close, murmuring a song softly.

Saw my sanity by the river side.
Across the stream, the stream was wide.

I fetched a boat to make me sane.
The boat was holed. I wait again.

I fixed the hole, but it was night.
I go to sleep and wait for light.

Sun came up and day was long.
The stream was crossed, my mind was gone.

Cloud sat down, exhausted and disturbed: what had happened to Yuffie? The sly and selfish young woman he had met so many years ago?
What had the relenting passage of time done to her? And what is yet to come?
Yuffie looked up into Tifa’s brown eyes, feeling a deep sense of fear.
“I should go.” she whispered, getting up and stumbling for the door.
“Wait!” called Cloud. “Where will you go?”
Yuffie looked at him, eyes wild. “I’ll get to Corel. Give Barrett a hand building the town back up again...”
“What about Vincent?”
She was silent.
Tifa shook her head gently. “There’s nothing we can do, Cloud. Let her go.”
Cloud grunted. “Yuffie?”
“...Yes?”
“Take this.” he said, taking a materia globe from his pocket and tossing it to her.
The summon glowed brightly in her hand. “What is it?” she asked.
“It’s Leviathan. I figure you’ll need it. And it’s yours anyway.”
She took the materia and left the house.
She never saw Tifa or Cloud again, but years on she would often wonder what had happened to them and their children.

To Chapter 5