AN: Hey everyone just want to tell you that "italicized" words in quotations are when someone is remembering something Yuffie said and bolded only is Vincent thinking.

Cloud could tell it in the nervous movements she made, the way she would accidently mix up orders and would sometimes stare off at her phone. It was clear that Tifa was worried about Yuffie. It wasn't too long ago that the Wutainese princess said she was leaving and would be back in a couple of days. Tifa even tried to call her friend, only to have the operator to say the number was no longer available. What made it worse was Yuffie never said where she was going.

"I'm only going to be gone a couple of days! This place is like a treasure trove! I've got to get to it before others sniff it out!"

When she said it like that the place was likely full of materia and accessories. Cloud stood from his seat at one of the empty tables as Tifa mixed up two customers' orders. Everyone from AVALANCHE knew that Yuffie's couple of days could be between two and twenty, but after a week of not being able to contact the ninja was nerve wracking; she always answered her phone.

"Tifa," She turned at the sound of her name coming from the monotone voice. "Go rest up, I'll take over." The wine-eyed woman gave her boyfriend a grateful smile. Cloud's lips twitched up as Tifa walked up the stairs to their room. He turned to the five costumers that sat at the bar. "We're closed." They moaned in displeasure as they downed the last of their drinks then filed out of Seventh Heaven. Cloud fallowed them to the door then flipped the green open sign over to show Edge they were closed for the day.

With a sigh he locked the door and pulled out his cell phone. There was only one person Cloud could think of that Yuffie might drag with her on a materia hunt. He quickly went down to the V's in his contact list and hit call on his name. The other phone rang four times and just as Cloud was about to hang up a gruff voice greeted him.

"Cloud." At least Vincent answered his phone this time.

"Is Yuffie with you?" There was a long pause that seemed to stretch on. If Yuffie was with him Cloud would have been able to hear her over the phone in the background.

"Who's on the phone?"

"No, she isn't." Vincent answered. Cloud let out a frustrated sigh as he grabbed at his hair with his free hand.

"Have you seen her in the past week, or has she even called?" If the gunslinger wasn't with her then something could have happened to her that they didn't know of.

"No." Now that was troubling to the Buster wielder. She didn't even call Vincent. When ever she went somewhere she would always visit him or drag him with her. Yuffie would call him, just to remind him that she had his number, but this was a very ominous sign.

"Thanks Vincent. If you see her tell her to call Tifa, she's been worrying about her." There was a grunt of acknowledgement before Vincent hung up.

Vincent closed his phone with a soft click sound. Even if Cloud didn't say it out loud he could feel as if he was telling him that Yuffie was missing. He felt something inside him urging him on to look for the missing 'White Rose', as she called herself. He quickly gathered what he bought with him to this inn before leaving to check out.

It didn't take long before Vincent found a quite, little town nestled off the map he had. There was no signs hinting at what it was called but it was a good place to start. He walked up to a young woman tending to some plants outside a motel. Since it was the only motel it was the best place to ask if she'd seen Yuffie.

The woman seemed to be in her early twenties with a dirt covered sundress and apron. Her brown hair was pulled back loosely. She raised an eyebrow as her green eyes took in Vincent's clothing.

"Can I help ya stranger?" A heavy county accent lace her voice as she stood from the dirt. Vincent calmly reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a picture. Yuffie forced him to take one, just before the DEEPGROUND events. He held up the picture in his in-between his claws for the woman to see.

"I'm looking for the girl in the photo." The motel owner smiled at the photo. The girl had a large smile on her face as she held tightly onto the man that was showing her the picture. He didn't look too happy at having his photo taken but he did look at who ever was taking it.

"Aw, she ya girlfriend?" The woman asked chuckling as a very faint pink dusted what she could see of his cheeks. "Yeah, I've seen the girl." Vincent was actually surprised, he didn't think the first town he'd go to and the first person he asked would have seen Yuffie.

"When?" He asked tucking the photo safely back into its reserved pocket, Yuffie probably thought he got rid of it or lost it a long time ago. The motel owner crossed her arms in thought then smiled at him.

"About five days ago. She booked a room for two days, but never checked back in. Asked me where to find Dink's Materia Store. I pointed her on her way. Haven't seen her since." Vincent added up the days in his head.

"Where is Dink's?" Vincent asked, from there he would most likely find Yuffie. The woman pointed southwards, away from the main entrance into the town.

"On the other end of town. Can't miss it, only store that's closed. Don't see why she wanted to go there, place hasn't been open in four years. Good luck finding ya girl."

"Thanks for you're help" Vincent said ignoring what she said at the end before heading towards Dink's.

The motel owner was right; Dink's looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Vincent looked through a few uneven wooden boards that blocked the window. A few dust covered materia rested on the floor but other than that nothing seemed out of place. There was no sign that Yuffie had been in there either. His crimson eyes flashed to the door, noticing a worn, yellowing paper. Vincent jerked it off the nail that was holding it up and read the fading print.

Sorry... Closed... Moved... Cave... Stay Out... Own Good... Mov… erries ... Taken Over... Seen aster To... Safety... Closed Cave... Materia... Too Risky... Stay Out!

Dink.

That was all Vincent could read. Most of it was faded; smudge and a few letters were missing out of a few of the words. He looked around, not seeing any cave openings. On a whim, the gunslinger walked around to the back of the store, immediately noticing the old, rusted railroad tacks leading from the store's back to a boarded up cave entrance.

Yuffie's in there. Vincent thought as he approached the entrance. The bottom two boards were broken and cast aside, leaving an opening just large enough for the Wutainese princess to crawl through, there was even marks in the dirt showing where she wiggled to get in. If he wanted to fallow the trail Vincent would have to make the opening much bigger.

There seemed to be no monsters and Yuffie wasn't leaving a trail to fallow, showing just how much of a ninja she could be on her feet. Vincent let his Cerberus gun hang at his side. His steps stopped at seeing a cave in. Three large rocks nearly the height of Vincent formed the base and smaller rocks fell around them, blocking a majority of the path. His dark red wine eyes caught a flash of something metallic poking out from under the rocks.

"No..." He whispered seeing half of a crushed phone, with two charms dangling off it. The gunslinger bent down and jerked it free from the rubble. A Wutai panda charm and a small, fake, green-blue materia charm hanged off the broken top half. This was Yuffie's phone, well half of it. He nearly flinched at the thought; the only sign that she wasn't crushed along with the other half was the fact Vincent didn't smell any of her blood. With the thought Yuffie was still alive he stood and started to move the rocks out of his path.

Yuffie hissed as she clutched her side. She pressed herself tightly to the cave wall, listening closely for any sound that would give away to the monsters fallowing her. Content that there was no shuffling or bouncing the Wutainese princess looked down at her wound. Yuffie nearly threw up what little she had in her stomach at the sight of it.

The cut was clean across her stomach and it seemed to have a green tint to it. It was slightly burnt from the Flare attack she barely escaped. She knew there was other marks on her body, bruises from where the Mover's physically attacked her and the slight sting of the Delta attack was still there. What made this cut different was that it was a Tornberry that did it. It was like they were tag teaming now!

"I wish I had my phone." Yuffie whispered if she had her phone then she could call for help. The wall just HAD to fall and crush it. The White rose promised to murder all those rocks, that panda charm was a gift from Vinnie, Vin, Vinster, Doctor V, otherwise known as Vincent. "If he was here he would have brought more potions and some healing materia."

Sure, she did bring a few high potions but they were gone fast after the first three Master Tornberries. It was like a Mover and Tornberry convention in this cave! The few materia that she was able to nab were some rare ones but now Yuffie was second guessing coming here in the first place.

"Some treasure trove-" The ninja froze in mid sentence as she saw a Mover...staring...right at her. Yuffie's grip on her four-point shuriken tightened. "Stay." As soon as the word left her lips the trio of Movers lunged at her. She let out a yelp as she ducked, dropping her weapon. She braced her body for the upcoming attack. A gun shot echoed off the walls causing Yuffie to look up.

"Vinnie!" She yelled, glad to see the gunslinger. As the Wutainese girl stood she hissed in pain and grabbed her stomach with her hand. Yuffie gasped as Vincent was suddenly beside her, kneeling on the floor, tracing the wound gently with his human hand.

"Regen." He whispered causing a pale green light to trace over the wound, healing it slightly. A few moments later a darker shaded light traced over it, healing more. Yuffie gave Vincent a large smile as he stood from his kneeling position.

"Thanks Doctor V!" She said with a large smile. He just gave her nod and held out his clawed hand towards her.

"You dropped this." Yuffie grinned seeing her phone charms resting in his hand. Without warning she tackled Vincent to the cave floor in a hug. His grunt of pain at having his back hit the ground was cut off as Yuffie kissed his cheek. She laughed as she sat up, straddling his waist, charms gripped tightly in her hand. A dark pink wormed its way on his cheeks as Vincent sat up halfway.

"Thank you, for everything Vincent." Honestly was laced in her words and the gunslinger was surprised to hear his full name roll off her lips and not one of his endless nicknames.

"You're welcome." Vincent whispered to himself as he tried to force his blush down causing Yuffie laugh. She stood and offered her hand to him.

"Can I barrow your phone to call Boobs?" Vincent gave her a nod and placed his hand in hers, slowly rising to his feet. He reached into his phone's pocket and handed it to the Wutainese princess. Yuffie quickly dialed Tifa's number and started to head towards the entrance. Vincent smiled under his cloak as his human hand went to touch the spot Yuffie kissed. He'd have to save her more often if she rewarded him like that everytime.