Final Fantasy VII: Timeless Sonata

Welcome to the second chapter of Timeless Sonata. I'm really enjoying this story, I love Cloud and Tifa, but honestly, I'm not good at writing for Tifa. Maybe that's why Yuffentine comes so naturally, I can write for both Vincent and Yuffie. I've been really busy with work, sorry it took so long to update! Anyway, I put a disclaimer saying there may be Lemon, and there just might be, I haven't decided. If I decide against it, then it'll be moved to Teen. Thank you to everyone that wrote reviews! I don't know anything, and the song for this chapter is Rain by Breaking Benjamin.

Chapter 2: Rain

Is it you I want,
Or just the notion
Of a heart to wrap around so I can find my way around

Safe to say from here,
Your getting closer now,
We are never sad cause we are not allowed to be

Rain, rain go away,
Come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.

Vincent wasn't sure what to do. He knew full well that someone could be sucked up into the Lifestream, and come out somewhere else. Cloud had been lost in this very Crater, and came out in Mideel. The knot in his chest wouldn't go away, even with the practical application of logic, his doubt would just not leave. The mako infused water dripped around him, the geyser had caused everything to be wet, and he could feel the magical energy seeping into his skin through his clothes, but he didn't care enough to leave that pool. What if she showed up back here, or there were dozens of other pools, the dripping water around him sounded like a rain storm, the bubbling and churning of the pools in that room were so loud it was like thunder.

His hand came up to wipe some wet hair from his eyes, but he couldn't help but rub his face. Was she going to end up like Cloud? Was she going to become a babbling, mess of a girl? The knot in his chest tightened even more, the hopelessness was starting to sink in. I'm not good for anything, I can't even protect one, small girl. No, not girl, woman… I told her to get down, why does she always have to be so willful?

He took out his cell phone, but he didn't get much of a signal, but it was enough to get a text message to Cloud.

There was an accident.

Yuffie has fallen into the Lifestream.

Requesting backup.

He pressed the send button after he typed the whole message out; he refused to butcher the language for the sake of a few seconds. He flipped the phone closed and he waited, hoping he didn't loose signal before Cloud could respond. After a few minutes went by, his phone vibrated in his hand, and he opened it to see a text message from the Avalanche leader.

We're coming

It'll take a day

Keep position,

will contact you.

Vincent frowned, what if Yuffie wasn't as lucky as Cloud had been? What if she's alone somewhere, or still in the life stream? When Tifa fell in with him the second time, they'd come right back to the same mako pool. He closed his eyes and let out a breath. At least he was safe enough right where he was, after a mako explosion, the monsters tended to shy away from the area. "Please… be alright," he whispered to the air, then turned to sit against a wall, the sound of rain all around him. For some reason, it made him think back to Yuki, and the day he met her. He was in the middle of a crisis, why was he thinking of times that he'd let go of a long time ago of a girl he loved for only a couple days.

.:xXx:.

Yuffie and Vincent had made it to the Plate, and the ninja was genuinely in awe of what she saw. Midgar really was amazing, and even in all her travels, she could never bring herself to actually set foot in the evil city. Now that she was there, without much choice in the matter, she took a minute to really appreciate the city Reeve had helped to design. She knew that he'd been really young when he'd built the mako reactors, and even thirty years in the past, the land hadn't been completely screwed up yet, and she found it to be quite pretty and interesting. Nothing compared to Wutai, but nothing was very better then your hometown.

The ride on the train had been interesting, since Vincent didn't say much, but he was surprised how well Yuffie went along with that. She couldn't tell him it was because he never did say anything in the future, so she was used to it, but whatever. On their slow walk from the station, the ninja had taken to looking at the sky, it was early evening, and she expected to see stars. She didn't though, there were only clouds in the way, and she wondered what month it was. As she was gazing up at the sky, she felt a drop fall on her cheek, and she blinked a bit, looking over to her injured comrade. "Oops Vinnie, I think it's starting to rain."

The Turk raised an eyebrow at her, "Vinnie?"

"Oh, sorry, I give everyone nick names, that just means I like you! I know this one guy named Cloud, he has really crazy hair, so everyone that knows him calls him Spike! I just sort of got into the habit. You're Vinnie, or Vince if you prefer that one, and then there is Boobs…" She laughed at the look he gave her. "Oh that's Spike's girlfriend, and my best friend. She has huge knockers! Then there is Cid, his nick name is Old Man!"

"I thought nick names were supposed to shorten a name."

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm the Great Ninja Yuf… ki and I can make them whatever I want."

The raven-haired man raised an eyebrow at her, questioning if she had just messed up her own name. Despite that, the rain was really starting to come down in earnest, and her charge was still bleeding from the slash the attacker had made. What was with that black stuff anyway… it looked like the anti-Lifestream Sephiroth and the remnants controlled, but this was before the birth of that evil man.

"Anyway," she chirped, "I can call you Vince if you prefer, but you're getting a nickname no matter what… so you can pick."

The Turk seemed to be thinking about it, and then smirked a bit. "Vince, if you refuse to use my whole name."

"Alright! Vince it is!"

She completely ignored the look he was giving her, and they continued toward his apartment.

They were completely soaked by the time Vincent was unlocking his door, his bandages were dripping, watered down blood was soaking his already ruined shirt. Yuffie looked like a drowned rat, and she slipped her shoes off the moment she got inside, out of habit, then turned her eyes to his abode.

It wasn't what she was expecting, but it was still really nice, and fit him rather well. It was all done in dark wood and black, with sparse decorations, and where there were, it was usually some sort of Wutain art. Katana sat in a stand on the wall; a Noh mask hung in the entryway, a small bonsai tree graced the center of his coffee table. The floor was made from raised tatami mats, and she looked at him curiously. He smiled a bit, looking at her through soggy tendrils of hair.

"The owner of this building is from Wutai. She took a liking to me, and gave me the best apartment." The girl beamed at him, before looking around again.

"Where's your bathroom, we should get that wound fixed up." She dropped her wet bag to the floor near the door and followed him as he made his way down the hall. He turned on a light in the bathroom and the ninja moved him to sit on the stool, moving her deft hands to unbutton his shirt again. She blushed, again, much to her dismay, but Vincent didn't say anything about it that time. She cut the bandage away, gently moving her hands over his chest, removing the soaking gauze and ignoring the shiver that ran through him. He was injured, and Yuffie was pretty sure her messing with it didn't feel good. Not to mention, his skin was really cold. She was a bit used to that, since her Vincent was a bit colder then most people, probably the mako, she didn't know exactly why, but from their contact before the ran, this Vince wasn't like that. He was warm and inviting, and she completely forgot about the fact he was an assassin.

"Are you sure it's alright that I crash here?"

"Hmm?" He seemed to be distracted, but she wasn't sure what had caught his attention, since it was her best friend, she certainly wouldn't entertain he might be looking at her with some sort of thinly veiled lust. "Oh, as long as you don't mind staying with me, then no, it's no trouble."

The ninja moved and grabbed the bandages, wrapping the wound tight enough to stop the blood flow out, but not enough to cut is circulation off. It needed to heal properly. Though, with the proper light and first aid products, she was able to do an even better job patching him up. Once they were done, Vincent got up and started toward the bedroom, were a large bed stood on a raised dais, the whole room was decorated in black lacquered wood, and he went to his dresser and pulled out some shorts and a tee-shirt.

"There are towels under the sink, you can wear this until we can get you something more appropriate. You should wash up, if you put your clothes outside the door, I can wash them for you."

"But… you're injured, and I'm fine."

When he gave her a very Vincent like scowl, she just grinned and put her hands out, waving him off. "Right, right, shower… gotcha!"

She slipped into the bathroom and closed the door, sighing softly and closing her eyes. "Damn…" she muttered, unsure of the mess she was in, and she knew she should slip out the window, but her heart, and Aerith's words to her, wouldn't let her. Instead, she did as she was told, slipped out of her clothes, threw them out into the hall, and she started a nice, hot shower.

Vincent slowly made his way to his room after heard the shower start, slipping on a pair of jeans and a black button down shirt, careful of his wound. Once he was decent, he went to his kitchen and opened the fridge, sighing at the fact he had no food in the house, and instead got his cell out and ordered cheese pizza. She seemed like a decedent little thing, and he couldn't think of anything more so then triple cheese pie.

By the time she came out, her hair damp and in his clothes, the pizza had arrived and she let out a little, anxious growl, attacking a piece as if she'd been starving for days. "Oh Vince," she said between bites, "how did you know this is my favorite?"

"Lucky guess," he said softly, eating his finishing his first piece as she'd already devoured her third. Once they had had their fill, he put the rest of the pizza in the icebox for later, then he moved slowly to the hall cupboard and he pulled out some extra blankets. "You can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."

Yuffie frowned a bit, despite the fact that it seemed exciting to sleep in his bed, it didn't seem as fun without him in it with her, and he was injured. "No way, I'm not kicking you out of your own bed when you're injured. I can take the couch, I'm a big girl."

He gave her that evil look again, like she was impugning his honor or some such nonsense, and she sighed. "Alright, I'll take the bed, but if you get uncomfortable, you can some stay with me! I'm small, I don't take up much room."

It surprised him that she trusted him enough to let the Turk sleep in the bed with her. She was either insanely naïve (which he didn't think was the case) or she knew something about him that he didn't. The cute little look on her face got him though, so he found himself nodding before he could stop himself… he didn't have an intention of actually taking her up on it however, so it wouldn't hurt to make her happy.

She beamed at him and came up, kissing his cheek softly, before scampering off to his room. He sighed and made his bed slowly so he didn't reopen his back, then lay on his stomach after stripping to his boxers.

Yuffie closed the door to his room and slipped into his bed, closing her eyes. She was completely surrounded by his spicy scent, that was different then the Vincent she knew, but it was still his, she would recognize it anywhere. She sighed softly, and let herself slip into a peaceful sleep… her dreams filled of Vincent and the surprised look he'd given her when she kissed his cheek.