Falling Rain

Author: Spellspinner Vincent Valentine

Rating: T

Pairing: hinted Vincent/Yuffie Post AC Pre DoC (about the time of the Junon disappearances mentioned in DoC)

POV: Yuffie Kisaragi

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my computer and my random ideas.

AN: This story is a oneshot. I hate writing oneshots but I can't make chapters out of this (trust me I tried). I know it's short and kind of scatterbrained, but that's how Yuffie gets sometimes.

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There is something about Vincent that I have never been able to understand. He wants to move on, but he won't let himself. He tries to be a part of the present but he clings to the past. Why does he do it? What about his painful past makes him cling and what about the present makes him live for a future? Why do I even care?

We are worlds apart Vincent and I. I am cheerful and happy. He is…well…

I suppose the best way to put it is that Vincent couldn't be any more different from me if he tried. Well ok, I suppose if he tried…

I guess all my poking and prodding for answers finally drove him off though. The others keep asking me where he disappeared to and to be honest I have no clue, though I could always venture a guess. Not that I could spare the time to look for him anyway. I work with the World Regenesis Organization, more commonly known as the WRO, and since I began working, I haven't had the time for anyone.

If I could spare someone the time though, I would want to see Vincent. If we leave him alone too long, he takes to brooding and then he gets all gloom and doom on us. More than anything I've wanted to see him smile and laugh without it being in a dark, morbid, and slightly creepy way. Cloud kind of set me on that task. He said something along the lines of 'If anyone can make him laugh it's probably Yuffie.' I'm not sure if I was supposed to take that as a compliment or an indirect insult since the others were laughing at my last antic gone wrong. It had been a last ditch effort to make Vincent smile, I mean, since Cloud smiled for the first time in ages it certainly seemed like a lucky day.

Turned out me seriously losing my train of thought and tripping over a broken church column was funny, even when I don't intend it to be. I had been walking over to set up some stupid booby trap…thingy…that would probably make Cloud look bad for half a second but was likely to make anyone laugh….then I tripped. The others called me a klutz and laughed, and I won't deny it was pretty clumsy of me, but Vincent just shook his head slightly and helped me up. No smile, no laugh, nothing.

That was only nearly a year ago, and I guess I kind of miss being around everyone and at least trying to get Vincent to come out of his shell. Times have changed though. I grew up a lot since that day and I learned along about the kind of person I am.

I am someone who thinks they can make anyone see the light. I can change people, or so I keep telling myself. For some reason, I just decided to make Vincent Valentine my personal mission. He would have to wait though…

Our planet is still recovering from Meteorfall and the people are still trying to build a future that will benefit both mankind and the planet. Even as we do that though, things seem to happen. People are vanishing and it worries me. I must have called Vincent a billion times just to ask him what he thinks. He always seemed to know when something bad would happen and I greatly valued his opinion. Sort of like the reason to my madness, or at least that's what Cid said once. He also said it's why we made such a good team. Vincent was cautious and reasonable, and I was impulsive and stubborn. If I got into trouble, Vincent could get me out. If Vincent was wasting time worrying about what could go wrong, I made something go wrong so he would have to fix it.

I did not mind being treated like a problematic child by the others, because Vincent never treated me like that. He always said the others saw me that way because I was young, and they forgot that they were once the same. He said he too was like that…he was irrational, impatient, impulsive, and bold. I refuse to believe it completely, but I guess I could see it…I mean the guy did run up a mako cannon only a day or so before Meteorfall with no regard what so ever for his safety.

Back to the point though, people are vanishing and it's happening everywhere. It would be one thing if it were the usual number. The usual number meaning, two people or so in the course of half a year, but twelve hundred in a night…that is something to worry about. It seems to be everywhere. Twelve hundred people vanished from Junon, even though our reports say twenty to thirty, and we can not find them anywhere. If Vincent were here, he would probably have a lead already. He'd be questioning the people in Edge, Kalm, Wutai; I doubt he'd care where! He would just ask and ask and maybe threaten until he got the information he needed. He isn't eluded by rain that vanishes when it hits the sand. He could follow any lead, even useless ones, and still get the job done.

I'm not so lucky. I get lost, confused, and afraid. What if I can't find those people before it's too late? What if I get captured in the process? Will anyone be able to find me? Would anyone save me? Or would I be lost like falling rain on the sand? Would I sink beyond the reach of my friends?

Maybe…but then again, maybe Vincent would come to my rescue again. Maybe he'd pay me back for saving him or something. Hell maybe he'd come look for me because he actually gives a damn about me. Guess I couldn't care about the reason, but it would mean more to me than anything if he saved me.

Maybe I'm in love with him in some weird way, or maybe I just feel closer to him than anyone else, because he's just as alone as I am. Maybe I just understand him a bit better than anyone else, and maybe, just maybe, he understands me too. Now that I think about where he might be hiding, I bet he's in that damn cave again.

Each time I think about what could go wrong, I think of Vincent. He's brushed off on me, whether I like it or not. Each time I think things through before acting, I think of Vincent. If he were here with me right now, he'd tell me to take things one step at a time, don't get ahead of myself, be careful, watch my back, don't drop my guard…he'd let me know he was trusting me to watch his back.

That just might be why he's not here with me now. He trusts me and the others to keep things in line, and when we need him, he'll be back, just like always.

That is why I keep going, keep searching, keep digging for answers. My work with the WRO isn't for me, it isn't for Wutai, it isn't for the planet, and it isn't for Reeve. I'm just trying to do what Vincent would do if he were here right now. I'm just trying to find answers where there are none, and catch the falling rain before it vanishes.