::Chapter 2, yo.::

Wednesday: Nearly two whole days had passed with no word from Vincent. His friends were starting to worry a little, and each of them was handling it in their own way.

Reeve just put more time and effort into the search, putting more and more operatives out to work. Tifa was making it a point to clean everything in the Seventh Heaven, much to Marlene and Denzel's disappointment as they were ordered to help. Cid and Shera devoted more time to each other; the reality of possibly losing a loved one made them realize how much they meant to each other, though Cid just grumbled when asked about it. Barret, like Reeve, got more into his work, doing everything in his power to find more oil fields and pushing the distribution of the oil they had found. Shelke took to sitting in one of the booths of the bar, staring her phone when she wasn't staring out the window.

Cloud and Nanaki didn't seem very worried, or if they were, they hid it very well. Nanaki mostly lounged about, helping out Tifa with work and cleaning whenever he could. The offers were appreciated, but there was little he could do at the bar seeing as he lacked thumbs. Cloud simply continued his search, putting all of his deliveries on hold, even one requested by Rufus Shinra himself.

Then there was Yuffie. While Cloud and Red didn't seem overly worried, she didn't seem worried in the least. She remained her usual cheery self, bursting in from a long haul of materia "hunts," though these were starting to go outside of Edge, as some of the residents noticed theirs kept turning up mysteriously missing. Like Red, she helped Tifa work the bar in the evening, serving drinks and stabbing the hands of anyone who got a little too tipsy and a little too friendly. Yeah, she was cheery; too cheery. Tifa could see the worry in her eyes, which the young ninja thought was completely hidden behind her energetic façade.

Thursday: "Have you heard from Cloud?!" Yuffie yelled as she burst into the bar. Tifa stopped scrubbing the mug she was holding and sighed.

"Mmhmm, he hasn't found anything," she said shaking her head. Yuffie visibly slumped and let out a long groan.

"Ain't gonna' make this easy for us, is he?" Tifa gave a little laugh and shook her head once again, turning back to her work. The Wutainese princess waited until her friend was fully facing away from her to drop her "smile-mask" as she had taken to calling it. She dragged her feet over to Shelke's table with her head bowed and sat down across from the enigmatic girl. "Vinnie…" she whispered looking down at the tabletop.

"Vinnie?" Shelke asked, looking up from her phone. "You mean Vincent Valentine?" Yuffie blinked and lifted her head up, seemingly snapping out of a trance.

"Yep," she replied with a small smile.

"You call him by this…" she paused and seemed to be searching her mind. "Nick-name?" The word sounded almost alien coming from her mouth, and she even sounded confused speaking such a term. Yuffie giggled and nodded. Shelke gave the kunoichi a smile of her own then. "I see. You must care for him very much."

"Wha?!" she exclaimed, her face turning a deep crimson. "No way! I don't-I mean, of course…he's a friend! Heheh!" All she could do was continue her nervous laugh. 'She couldn't possibly know how I feel about Vince…could she?'

Shelke gave a little snort, and Yuffie could only assume it was the closest thing she currently knew to a laugh. "I see. I have been thinking as of late, Yuffie Kisa-Yuffie…I believe I may know where Vincent Valentine is."

"Really?!" she yelled, slamming her hands on the table and standing up, her grin nearly splitting her face in two. Shelke gave a slow nod.

"Though, it is only a suspicion…" Yuffie's stormy grey eyes went back to their normal size and her smile became a ghost of what it had just been, but she nodded eagerly.

"Shelke," she started, looking the girl in the eye. "I know we're not really very close since we kinda' just met, but…" She seemed to get nervous, not knowing whether or not she should continue. But it was for Vincent, so she pressed on. "Do you think you could go check out this place?"

"Yes," she simply stated. The wideness of Yuffie's eyes just moments before paled to the size they expanded to after hearing the short redhead's response. In fact, she thought she saw them start to tear up. "Are you all right, Yuffie?"

"Yeah," she answered, blinking back her tears of joy. She leaped across the table and wrapped a very shocked Shelke in a tight hug. "Thanks! This really means a lot to me!"

Friday: Yuffie, Tifa, Nanaki, Shelke, Marlene and Denzel stood on the outskirts of Edge, watching as the Shera completed its landing. After the dust cleared, Cid and Shera stepped out of the enormous airship.

"Hey there," yelled Cid as he and his wife neared their friends. "Now I'm as worried about ol' Valentine as the rest of ya' are, but are ya' SURE ya' know where he is?" All heads turned to Shelke, who blushed at having complete attention on her in her new outfit (one that Tifa had chosen for her). She was wearing a sleeveless pink top with a large white collar, a short red skirt, and a pair of black boots with white socks. She actually looked like a girl her age.

"No," she admitted. "But from what I understand of Lucrecia's memories, he is probably at her cave." Yuffie seemed to grimace at the mention of Lucrecia, but no one noticed, or if they did, they didn't say anything. "I believe we will find him there."

"Aw'right!" the pilot responded. "Good enough for me! C'mon, now kid, we ain't got all damn day!" He turned and motioned for Shelke to follow him and Shera to the ramp into the ship. "Watch yer step, there…hun." Cid glanced back at his friends and nearly whispered the last word as he offered Shera a hand into the ship that had been named after her.

"Thank you, dear," she said with a smile as she took the offered hand. Cid blushed, knowing everyone's eyes were on them then.

"Aw, the old guy's blushing!" yelled Yuffie. Everyone else burst into laughter.

"Shut yer fuckin' yaps!" he barked "I'll help my damn wife onto my damn ship if I damn well feel like it!" With the laughter subsiding, Shelke made her way to the ship, but stopped and turned halfway.

"You're not coming, Yuffie?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. Yuffie closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Nah," she said. "I don't wanna' show up out of the blue and bother Vince. I'll wait until he gets back and bother him twice as much then!" Tifa and Nanaki both chuckled, knowing it was all too true. Inwardly, though, Yuffie couldn't stand to think of seeing Vincent at that cave. She cared about him deeply, but for some reason hated the thought of Vincent visiting his old lover.

"I understand," she replied with her soft smile. "Until I return, then." She finally boarded the Shera, and moments later the ship took to the sky again, kicking up more dust as the AVALANCHE companions waved their goodbyes.

"Well, we should be getting back to Edge," said Tifa. "Come on, kids, we have to go get the bar ready to open." Marlene and Denzel ran off after their mother figure, Nanaki close behind.

'Please bring him home safely, Shelke,' Yuffie thought as she watched the Shera disappear into the far off sky. She was snapped out of her thoughts suddenly when she heard Nanaki yell "Yuffie!" and she turned. "I'm coming!" she responded with her big grin. She ran over to the car, her friends had already piled into, ready to go home and wait for Vincent to return.

::There ya' have it! Chapter 2 is done! Don't worry, I actually plan to have Vince in the next chapter. Please R&R! Later!::