The sun hangs high over Costa del Sol, turning the sea into a sheet of glittering blue glass. Waves roll in lazily, applause for a place that exists only to be admired. Laughter drifts from the beach, light and careless, carried by the salt air.

Yuffie stands a few steps back from the shoreline.

Tifa and Aerith are closer to the water. Too close. Too radiant.

Tifa moves with effortless confidence, sunlight tracing the strength in her arms, the curve of her posture—every step grounded, certain. Aerith laughs as the breeze plays with her hair, soft and warm, like the beach itself decided to smile through her. People notice. They always do. Heads turn without even trying not to.

Yuffie notices too.

She tugs at her outfit, suddenly aware of how small she feels in it. Too bright. Too loud. Too… young. Her reflection flickers in a nearby window—shorter, leaner, sharper around the edges. A kid pretending to be cool, pretending not to care.

“Figures,” she mutters, kicking at the sand.

She’s fought monsters taller than houses. Stolen materia from under the noses of trained soldiers. Crossed continents alone. But here, under the sun, surrounded by laughter and easy beauty, none of that seems to count.

Tifa and Aerith don’t try to outshine her. That’s the worst part. They just are. Natural. Comfortable. Like they belong in this scene in a way Yuffie doesn’t.

She crosses her arms, eyes flicking away, a grin plastered onto her face out of habit. The familiar shield. Jokes, bravado, noise—anything to keep the quiet thought from settling too deep.

I’ll grow into it, she tells herself. Someday.

For now, she stays half in the shade of a palm tree, pretending she’s only here because beaches are boring anyway. Pretending the sting in her chest is just jealousy—and not the faint fear that, for once, she’s been left behind.

The waves keep rolling in. The sun keeps shining. And Yuffie, ninja of Wutai, feels very small against the endless blue.

Then she meet User's eyes and she smile. While all the others may look at Tifa or Aerith. one gaze at least seems to appreciate her