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To Save Her Smile

"Vincent…"'

The tall vampiric man looked up from his cup of tea. He was in the kitchen of the Shera and was enjoying a nice warm comforting drink before bed. But now he stared at two of his companions, Cloud and Tifa, standing him in front of him in their nightwear, looking concerned and worried. He narrowed his eyes and set down his cup.

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking between the two.

"Where's Yuffie," Cloud demanded, his bright mako blue eyes clouded with worry. Vincent looked at them. "She told me that she was going to bed." His young companions exchanged worried glances with each other.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked impatience and concern leaking in his voice. After another glance with Cloud, Tifa spoke, "We think…well, we think that there's something wrong with Yuffie." Vincent felt a sharp tug in his chest at this statement; though he ignored it as he stared his friends down.

"Like what?" Tifa flinched, mistaking his concerned tone for harshness, though she stared him right in his crimson eyes.

"We think she's hurting herself," she whispered.

A cold, icy chill quickly spread over Vincent's body at her words. Shocked, he sat back in his chair.

"What…?" He breathed; adverting his gaze. He stared into his cup, not knowing what to think.

"She's hurting herself!" Cloud cried, making Vincent and Tifa jump. "We're sure of it! We've—" his voice died as he looked at the floor, "We've seen it."

"Seen it? How?" he asked.

"She's cutting herself Vincent," Tifa said, looking up, "And she's hiding it."

"Obviously, but how?" Vincent whispered.

"With a knife…?" Cloud said bluntly, giving Vincent a strange look. Vincent gave him a blank stare before turning more towards Tifa.

"I meant," he began again, "How do you two know?" Cloud blushed.

"Her hips, it was an accident. He shorts dropped a little bit too low," Cloud looked at Tifa, "We don't' think she knows we saw."

Vincent sighed. Yuffie…of all people. He would have never expected that his happy, obnoxious, loud, slightly rude, and happy-go-lucky friend would be hiding something so dangerously serious. He obviously wasn't alone; Cloud and Tifa were as equally troubled. It shone as clear as glass in their eyes.

"What do you suppose we do," he asked quietly. Cloud and Tifa looked at each other and fidgeted nervously.

"Well…we were hoping…that, well, that you would do something?" Tifa asked, quickly adverting her eyes when his narrowed.

"Me? Why me?"

Cloud shrugged. "Well, you two are always together…"

"But wouldn't Tifa be a better choice in the matter?" he asked, thinking Yuffie would rather talk to another women. He knew could be a little imposing at times. But Tifa winced and held her arm self-consciously. "I don't think Ill be able to get her to admit it to me…"

"And you can't deny that you have feelings for her," Cloud blurted out. Vincent snapped his head towards him, as the entire room went silent.

Tifa, trying to save Cloud's hide, quickly added, "And we know she has feelings for you." Vincent fought the blush that threatened to color his cheeks, extremely grateful for his high collar. He tried to keep his tone as icy as he could manage.

"What does that have to do with the situation?" Tifa's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you care!" she snapped, glaring at him. He held her gaze for a moment, before lowering his eyes.

"Of course I care," he admitted quietly; Tifa smiled widely as she got the full gist of his statement; "I'll talk to her."

"Thank you, Vincent!" Tifa lunged towards him, throwing her arms around his neck. Cloud, too, walked over to him, smiling a giant relieved smile.

"Who knows," Cloud hopefully stated, "Maybe Tiff and I were wrong…maybe we saw something else?" Tifa and Vincent looked at the ground…neither of them finding any hope in Cloud's words.

Vincent walked up the steps to the room he shared with the young ninja, all the while going over the relationship he had with her. They did spend a lot of time together; Cloud always put them together on missions. They roomed together all the time, and they were usually forced to share the bed. Neither of them ever really found it awkward, after the first couple of nights of course. He sighed, he did have feelings for the young girl…and he was shocked when Tifa said that Yuffie returned them…

The more Vincent walked, the more his concern and worry was masked by anger. It was more towards himself, for not catching this earlier, but it was anger all the same. By the time Vincent reached their room, the atmosphere around him was thick and dangerous.

He opened the door to find Yuffie sitting on their bed, staring at the window as the massive airship flew silently in the calm night sky. It was a rare evening, for she wasn't plagued with air sickness. The young ninja shivered in her night shirt and turned towards the door.

"Hi Vince!" she chirped, "I almost thought you weren't coming." The tall man looked imposing in the shadows, illuminated only but the hall light. He shut the door, eyes narrowed.

"Yuffie," he almost growled, "We need to have a talk." Finally noticing how her friend was standing and the anger in his eyes, Yuffie gulped.

"W-w-why? Is there something wrong?" She cursed herself mentally at the stutter, but this was one of the rare times Vincent looked dangerous and deadly outside of battle. And she could lie to the others, but this side of her quiet, solemn friend frightened her a little.

"Yes," he rumbled, making his way over to the bed, and sitting on the edge. Yuffie crawled over to him like a puppy, noticing that he didn't take his shoes off, nor change into his pajamas.

"What's wrong?" she asked, managing to keep her voice steady. He turned his stern gaze towards her and she unconsciously leaned away a little.

"Yuffie," he said, his voice deep and firm, "Are you hurting yourself? Purposely?"

All the blood drained from Yuffie's already pale face and she flinched as if he physically hit her. She nervously scooted away from him, looking down, frantically shifting her gaze from one corner of the room to another, anything to hide from Vincent's unyielding stare.

"N-NO! W-w-why would I d-do something l-like that?" She asked, mentally cursing herself again, her stutter only getting worse, "No-no…of-of-of course not…I would never…" Vincent narrowed his eyes.

"Look me in the eye, Yuffie," he growled, "And tell me that you don't."

"V-Vince.." she whimpered, looking at her covers.

"Look at me." He demanded, his tone firm and solid. Yuffie slowly raised her gaze, and stared into his crimson eyes that glowed slightly in the dark. Her eyes filled with tears, and they started to run freely down her cheeks.

"Vincent…I…I…" she choked before jerking her head down, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.

Vincent closed his eyes and bowed his head for a minute. He felt painful tugs at his heart as he looked down at his friend. Her head was bowed and she was holding herself, crying. But he wasn't done. He needed proof…needed to make sure nothing was too serious.

"Show me," he demanded, keeping his tone firm. She looked up, her eyes wide with fear.

"N-n-no! Vincent! Pl-please! I'm sorry! Please no," she begged backing away from him further. His heart flinched but his eyes were still cold.

"Yuffie show me," he growled, "I need to see."

"No! Please, j-just leave it alone…I-I can deal with it..."

Vincent growled, lunging on top of her, grabbing her flailing hands with his golden claw, pinning them above her head. He shut his heart off to her cries begging him to stop. He swung one of his long legs over her, straddling her above her knees, immobilizing her. Vincent looked her over; raising her long-sleeved nightshirt just high enough to reveal the pair of shorts she also wore to bed. Ignoring her whimpers and cries, he gently tugged her shorts low enough to reveal her dark secret.

Vincent gasped at the sight that met his eyes, his heart dropping past the pit of his stomach. He felt his body go numb as he stared at the tiny girl underneath him. Angry, red dashes danced across both of her hips. He could see scars from older cuts, and the deep swollen welts of fresh ones. They sliced across her bones, and her tender skin was shone red against the rest of her pale body. The cuts crossed each other and some were long, reaching from her hips then down her pelvic bone. Some of her cuts were raw and open, dripping a little blood. Others were very deep and off color, and to his horror, oozing a cloudy fluid.

He looked at the girl he had pinned underneath him. Yuffie's eyes were tightly shut though tears still ran freely down her cheeks. She had stopped struggling under him, though her body was still tense. He released her hands, and they slowly dropped to her sides, her eyes still shut.

"Is there anywhere else?" he whispered, hoping that she didn't…but that little speck of hope shattered when after a pause, she lifted her left arm; the one that was always covered by her armor; and pulled down her sleeve, revealing another massacred limb.

Vincent climbed off her and Yuffie turned on her side, curling herself into a tight ball. Her choking sobs racked her small frame.

"Why, Yuffie?" he asked, his voice threatening to break, "Why would you do this?"

"You don't understand," she choked, "Everything!"

"'Everything' what, Yuffie?"

"My father…" she started, "He…he's abu—...not nice…and makes me feel like I don't exist…I needed something to cling to my humanity…I need something else to feel other than all this…emotional pain…something to take it away…sometimes it's like I'm in a dark hole…and it's the only way to free myself…sometime..It-its punishment…"

"Punishment?" He gasped, startled, "Why would you ever want to punish yourself?"

"To make sure I don't forget," she sobbed. Vincent felt his heart break. He stared at his friend, her small shoulders shaking with racking sobs. He saw a young girl…broken and shattered…and made a grave, horrible mistake trying to pull herself back together.

Vincent leaned over and gently pulled Yuffie's limp form out of its ball and up and over to him. He sat her down in his lap and wrapped his long arms around her. The broken girl only cried harder, hiding her face in his chest.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm so sorry…"

Vincent held her tighter and began to gently rock her. "Shhh," he whispered, "It's okay. You're gonna be alright." They stayed like that for a few moments, Vincent tenderly rocking her and whispering comforting things to her sobbed, muffled apologies. It took a little time, but soon Yuffie's choking sobs died into hiccups, and then into shaky breaths. Vincent stopped rocking her and switched to rubbing her back in small circles. It was when he felt her totally collapse against him, that he gently pulled her away from him.

He laid her back down on the bed gently, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from her eyes.

"Just lay there Yuffie," he whispered, "I'll be right back." She sniffled before nodding her head. He didn't go far, just to the corner of the room where his things were. He got his medical kit and walked back to the bed.

"I need to treat some of your cuts…" he said, getting bandages, ointments, and alcohol out, "Some really don't look good."

"O-okay," Yuffie swallowed. He tugged down her shorts again, revealing the young ninjas handiwork.

"Sorry," he apologized when he doused her hips with alcohol, making her hiss in pain.

"S'okay," she whimpered through clenched teeth, gripping the sheets tightly. After drying the cuts which stared angrily and open back at him, he rubbed some antibacterial ointment on them and placed the biggest band-aid he had on them.

"May I see your arm?" he asked. She lifted her mutilated arm to him and he repeated the process, though using a long bandage to cover the cuts.

The doctoring done, he got up and put his supplies away, changing into his pajamas as well. Vincent got in bed beside her and pulled her close to him.

"Yuffie, he whispered, "Please promise me, you'll never do this to yourself again." She didn't say anything but buried her head in his chest.

"Yuffie, please," he begged leaning back a little. He gently grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting it up, her tired, swollen eyes meeting his. "Promise me." She cast her eyes down for a minute, and then raised them back, fresh tears threatening to show.

"I-I promise," she choked, her tears spilling. Vincent leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you," he whispered, drawing her as close as he could to him. He felt her nod into his chest, and it wasn't long before the emotionally and physically exhausted ninja fell asleep.

Vincent laid there for a little, in the solitude of darkness, never loosening his hold. He just held her vowing that from now on he would make sure to protect and help his love.

Well, there we go...this was meant to be a one-shot, but there's always room for more. Let me know what you think! Pardon for any grammar mistakes, its late and my editors in bed. Till Next time!

EDIT: This chapter is now fully edited...I hope....ANYWAY, I will be continuing this so stay tuned! Thanks to all who reviewed!