Disclaimer:  I don't own anything from FFVII, just this idea… which has probably already been done, but that is beside the point.

A/N: There comes a time in every author's life where she is overcome by an urge to write inane fluff. This particular author is obviously very weak-willed, as she has given into the temptation, oh, a hundred times or more. *grin* Pretty pointless Yuffentine, here. But it does examine His Ellipsis-ness's past. Whee!

Lonely Miracle

The Beginning or the End?

Yuffie waved her arms and shouted as loudly as she could, but it was no use. Through the green mako mist and the rumbling of the Lifestream, there was no way the rest of AVALANCHE could hear her, nor see clearly enough to notice her. Even she could barely see them. She swore loudly, throwing down her Conformer in disgust, and instantly regretting this as it disappeared into the Lifestream with a hiss and a gurgle.

"Dammit! No! We just beat Sephiroth! I can't die like this!"

"There is no point trying to fight it, Yuffie. They cannot hear you."

The ninja turned to her normally silent companion, tears of rage filling her eyes. Of all the people she had to get stuck with in a situation like this, it had to be one who was completely resigned to death, and prepared to welcome it with open arms. "No, Vincent, no. I refuse to go out like this. I won't… I can't do it! It's just too damn unfair." She stomped her foot angrily, a child throwing her last tantrum. The Planet roared again and she covered her head with a frightened cry as rock, ice, and the Highwind rained down from above. She ran the few steps to where Vincent stood and pressed her back to the cliff face.

"Not all things end the way you want them to." Vincent remarked. His red eyes were narrowed slightly, just to shield them from the dust. Yuffie thought he looked a little sadder than usual, weighed down by death despite his aloof words.

"Nothing has ever ended the way I wanted it to." She said coldly, insulted by the insinuation even as she huddled closer to him for added protection. "Not even a damn cartoon." She let out a sound of horror as the rock she stood on began to crack and slide away. "Oh Leviathan!"

Vincent caught her with his claw and held her in front of him, turning away from the falling debris and hunching his shoulders to try and shield her as well as he could. The Highwind roared to life and made a miraculous and explosive reverse out of the crater. Its fractured hull split with a shriek of rent steel, swallowing Yuffie's cry of despair as it disappeared through the mist. She slumped, hopeless.

"…how could they just leave us here?" She mumbled brokenly. "How could they just leave us here to die…?"

Vincent had no comforting words for her. "They believed we were dead, so they stopped searching." His throat tightened. Just as I did. Yuffie had obviously heard the same thing in his words, for she looked at him.

"Maybe… maybe you'll be with her now… Lucrecia…" There was a slight pause as she considered something else. "…maybe I'll get to see mama again… even though there is no Promised Land, really…" She scowled. "Damn Shinra. They ruin everything."

Vincent chuckled. As the rocks beneath their feet began to crack and crumble, he bent slightly to kiss her hair. "Farewell, brave ninja."

Yuffie shifted nervously as the warm green Lifestream lapped at her ankles. A great shuddering roar arose from the Planet. She squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the end to come. "Could you at least call me by my name before we both die in this hell hole, Vincent Valentine? No one seems to call me my name. Ever. It's always been 'kid', or 'brat' or 'my child'. And while yours is a lot nicer than all of those… I like my name a lot better." Ropes of green began to twine up towards the darkened sky as she watched, petrified.

"..goodbye, Yuffie. It was pleasant knowing you." The Lifestream was hungrily devouring her, lapping already at her shoulders.

"Don't lie. You're desperately in love with me, you know it. It's been pure ecstasy, every single moment of it." She rebuked him, a lame joker to the last. When he didn't respond, she held her face up out of the Lifestream. "It was real good to know you, too, Vincent."

He lifted her so that she was his height, not wanting her to die before he did. But the rock shelf collapsed entirely and they disappeared beneath the gentle undertow as the Lifestream surged upward.

~*~

A/N: Well, there you have it. It's entirely plausible, too. =P I mean, did you see Yuffie and Vinnie anywhere at the end there? Nope. Didn't think so. ^^