Author's Note: My first attempt at writing, so please R&R.. Suggestions, praise, and constructive criticism is appreciated.

Overview: Following the end of Advent Children, Vincent Valentine finds himself alone in the wilderness of Gaia and is intent on living the rest of his immortal days in as peaceful a manner as possible. Despite his attempt at isolation, he is abruptly thrust into Gaia's limelight when a massive power struggle in Wutai threatens to destabilize Reeve Tuesti's fledging WRO (World Regenesis Organization) and endanger a certain female shinobi..

Chapter One

Hiss.....

Deep within the wooded forest of the Temuge Highlands, miles away from any sort of civilized setting, the smell of slowly frying eggs wafted through the surprisingly well-constructed cottage of Vincent Valentine; gunslinger extraordinaire and "retired" member of the famous AVALANCHE party. Even after the miraculous conclusion of the Geostigma incident, in which the members of Avalanche had received a hero's celebration, the cloaked ex-Turk had insisted in fading away from the eyes and ears of popular life (much to the indignant protests of Yuffie and Tifa) as quickly as possible.

Salt... Perhaps?

With the skill and precision of a man long used to cooking breakfasts for himself, Vincent Valentine carefully sprinkled a tiny dash of salt on the golden yolks of his fried eggs, taking care not to overdo this phase of the process. Overly salty eggs were after all, as Yuffie Kisaragi had more than once said, "an icky start" to what would usually be a "nasteriffic" day.

Icky?... Nasteriffic?...

The very thought of the hyperactive, loquacious, and often juvenile ninja was more than enough to cause the gunslinger's normally stoic face to wrinkle up at the corner of the mouth in an affectionate, albeit brief smile. To an angst-ridden and tormented soul like Vincent Valentine, characters such as Yuffie Kisaragi were brief moments of sunshine in the nightmarish fingers of never ending darkness. While the nightmares and guilt of Vincent's "sin" never stopped haunting him even after the demise of Sephiroth and Meteor, there were times when even the countless demons implanted into his immortal soul could not stop the infectious attitude of the young ninja from touching Vincent's heart.

Three Weeks Earlier....

Inside Seventh Heaven, the sounds of celebration echoed throughout the night as friends and acquaintances of all sizes rejoiced at the extraordinary healing of the victims of the Geostigma, and the demise to yet another Sephiroth with extreme vigor. At Tifa's insistence, all food and drinks were served free of charge, resulting in a horde of jubilant citizens flocking to the doors of Seventh Heaven for a free feast and a chance to glance upon the heroes who had saved the world from destruction.

From his position in the corner of the bar, Vincent Valentine quietly observed the scene with a glass of sherry in his normal human hand. Cid and Barrett, the more obscene members of the group, had attracted a fairly large crowd of impressed onlookers with their "little game", and were in the process of drinking themselves into oblivion. Cait Sith, still perched atop the fiery mane of Red XIII, provided music to accentuate the drama of AVALANCHE's battle with Bahamut SIN, vastly exaggerating his role in the conflict with a reedy tenor of a voice.

Scowling at the ridiculous sight, Vincent Valentine slowly turned his attention back to the glass of sherry in his hand, draining the spirit in one quick motion. Despite being completely immune to the intoxicating effects of alcohol due to the multitude of scientific experiments performed on his body, the gunslinger nevertheless enjoyed the burning sensation that came along with the drink... A reminder that long ago, he too had been human once.

From the corner of his eye, he happened to notice the figures of Cloud and Tifa holding a tender conversation next to the bar, in which the spiky headed blond softly touched his companion's cheek and brought the lips of the young woman to his own in a passionate kiss.

Apparently, Vincent wasn't the only one to notice.. Within half a breath, the entire barroom erupted into an overwhelming clamor of cheers, wolf-whistles, and applause.

"About fuckin' time, Spike!" guffawed Cid, standing up from his seat to address the couple, "I wondered when you'd start using the other set of brains the rest of the male population seem to have..."

Barrett, visibly touched by this long awaited romantic gesture, hastily wiped away a tear from his left eye with his prosthetic gun-arm, draining yet another glass of whiskey in an attempt to mask his emotional display.

"Awww....." giggled Yuffie Kisaragi, perched on an adjacent barstool next to the hulking man, "Is big, ol' tough, Barrett-Warrett crying? Does he need a lollipop from mommy to make it all feel better?"

"Shut up, brat..." spoke Barrett, scowling, "Jus' the alcohol talking...."

Inwardly, Vincent smiled at this sight, privately pleased with Cloud and Tifa finally becoming a couple. It had been a very long time since the group's original vanquishing of Sephiroth and the Meteor Crisis, and he had certainly noticed the familiar feelings of guilt and loss within the blue eyed swordsman since then. Guilt, pain, anger.... Those emotions slowly ate away inside until the soul left a black, rotten remnant of what it had been before.

Nodding approvingly in Tifa's direction, the gunslinger stood up from his seat and slowly walked toward the new couple, glass in hand. Almost immediately the entire room died down to silence, the crowd listening intently on what the mysterious gunslinger would say.

"Congratulations...." spoke Vincent in his low baritone, bowing slightly.

Without a further word or gesture, the gunslinger slowly turned towards the direction of the stairs, and walked on.

Cloud had found his absolution for Aerith's death, finally forgiving himself for not being able to stop Masamune from piercing that young woman's once breathing frame. Sin was forgiven.. In Cloud's case. While happy that his friend has found peace, Vincent nevertheless knew that some sins were past forgiveness and would always haunt the sinner for years afterward. He personally knew firsthand, still plagued with the memories and nightmares of his inability to stop Lucrecia from creating the greatest monster of the century.

Having his reached his destination, the topmost outside balcony of Seventh Heaven, Vincent slowly allowed his thoughts to focus on the beautiful night sky overlooking Edge, resting his arms against the wooden guardrail in a contemplative fashion. Nights like these almost brought peace to Vincent.... Almost..

"Awesome night, huh, Vinnie?" a cheery voice from behind him called, penetrating his thoughts with its airy tone.

Despite the lack of illumination, Vincent Valentine could easily make out the shape of Yuffie Kisaragi's mischievous grin from underneath the door frame of the adjacent hallway; a perfectly pleasant set of pearly-whites fixed in a wide "Chesire Cat" smile. The young ninja had indeed grown up quite a bit in the two years prior to today's events, and was beginning to blossom into a beautiful young lady fit to become the next queen of Wutai. Her attitude had remained more or less intact, however, as Vincent had noted.

"Of course, Vinnie 'V'," continued the young lady, plopping her elbows down next to Vincent's position on the balcony, "The beauty of a night like this is pretty much made 'nil' when a certain party pooper decides to brood the night away from his friends."

Cocking her head to one side, Yuffie carefully glanced over the gunslinger's face, as if to peer into the inner workings of Vincent Valentine's mind.

"What's the deal, Vinnie?"

A pair of blood-red eyes stared blankly back at her from behind the crimson cloak, eying Yuffie with a pained expression that told all. The brass gauntlet on Vincent's left arm, a vicious looking device with razor sharp talons, gripped the guard railing tightly, digging deep into the soft with very little effort. Within a matter of moments, the gunslinger's eyes turned away from Yuffie's form, focusing back on the solitary moon hovering high above the city.

"He had... His mother's eyes...." murmured Vincent Valentine softly, "and... seeing him again...."

The cloaked gunslinger stopped in mid-sentence, knowing full well that the girl understood completely. An uncomfortable pause hung in midair until broken by Vincent continuing on.

"It's hard. Knowing full well that all the death, all the destruction, and all the tears spawned from my cowardice... My sin.. My inability to stop the only person in my life worth loving from creating a monster; a monster whose sins stain my hands to this day."

Even to Yuffie Kisaragi's care-free personality, the sight of her longtime 'comrade' pouring out his repressed feelings of guilt and anguish made her genuinely feel sorry for Vincent Valentine; a rare occurrence since 'sorry' was a word unknown to the devilish rogue long accustomed to stealing unwary travelers of their materia.

"I...." continued Vincent, struggling to keep his thoughts from exploding, "They..."

"They?" gasped Yuffie, grasping Vincent's shoulder in concern.

"The demons, the abominations inside me laugh." spoke Vincent, grasping the wooden guard rail even tighter, "It's not a new occurrence, god knows that I've endured decades of never ending nightmares long before I met Cloud and yourself.. But hearing news of Sephiroth's remnants prowling Gaia and witnessing firsthand the sheer amount of devastation they've caused has intensified my nightmares to an almost unbearable state... Some of which not even I can bear much longer.."

Noticing Yuffie's wide eyed stare, Vincent paused in mid-sentence to compose his tense form, eventually bringing himself to calm after some effort. In all their travels, Yuffie had never seen Vincent Valentine's stoic demeanor falter in even the most dire situations; the former Turk hardly ever flinching despite the overwhelming odds, and was completely taken back at this show of emotion. Not knowing what to do, the ninja smoothly moved towards Vincent's cloaked frame and, without hesitation, wrapped her arms around his slender waist, burying her head deep into the folds of his velvet cloak. Inhaling deeply, she recognized the scent of cinnamon... a pleasant fragrance which seemed to emulate from his body, an unexpected, but not unwelcome surprise.

Sliding her head carefully up his right shoulder, Yuffie allowed her face to rest gently in the space between Vincent's shoulder blade and right cheek, clinging tighter as she moved.

"You smell nice.."

Shocked at this display of physical affection, Vincent stood dumbfounded for several moments before awkwardly reaching around the ninja's slim torso in gruff one-armed embrace.

"Thanks...."

Glancing down from his thoughts, Vincent was pleased to discover that his eggs had finished cooking and that the bacon that had been frying several minutes prior had turned into the desired shade of reddish-brown. Breakfast was ready.