The Shera arrived a good few hours later. By that time, Cloud and Nanaki had returned, and Denzel and Marlene had come back from school. Yuffie ran onboard before anyone else, practically jumping for joy. Cid had to remind her (with many, many curses included) that they hadn't actually collected Vincent yet. "Let's go get him then!" Yuffie squealed.

Shelke watched Yuffie from a small distance. She loves Vincent. I wonder if she will tell him this. Most likely it would come out at an emotional point...and would he respond appropriately to this? He is a little ignorant of how to handle emotional situations...Hm. I will not interfere. This is her moment.

Yuffie made her way up to the deck, where she leaned over the railings with a groan, letting her arms swing in the wind. Her motion sickness never improved no matter what she did. Even thinking of Vincent wasn't helping.

The ninja was surprised she had even admitted to Shelke about how she felt for Vincent. She had never told anyone, not even Tifa, for fear she would be laughed at. It would be a pretty odd pairing, I suppose, but I can't help how I feel. That hug he gave me just sealed it, that was it, I was gone, madly in love, but I'd liked him for a while before that. She sighed softly. I wonder how he would feel about me...


Yuffie became so over-excited on the way to Lucrecia's cave that she made herself even sicker than usual, so Tifa insisted she take some medicine and go to sleep. She was completely out for the count by the time they arrived, and could not be woken up, so Shelke went up to the cave by herself to fetch Vincent, swapping places with an observing Barret.

She stood outside the cave, feeling a little nervous. He may not want to be interrupted. Should I just wait for him to come out, or...? Turning away from the cave, she looked out at the shimmering lake that almost surrounded the cave. No wonder he likes it here. It is a natural wonder. Lucrecia probably came to rest here for similar reasons, besides the isolation of the place.

Slightly metallic footsteps behind Shelke caught her attention and she knew the gunman had left the cave. Presumably he had heard the airship's rumble as it passed overhead. She waited till he was only a few feet behind her before addressing him by his full name, as she always did. She heard him chuckle, and only then did she turn around.

He was unmarked, unharmed, just as she had expected him to be. Nothing hurts you, does it? she thought with amusement. His red eyes looked her up and down with mild surprise, taking in the fact that she was wearing a dress. "I don't know why they made me come up and get you," smiled Shelke.

"I'm glad they did," Vincent replied in his soft tone, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry to have worried everyone."

"They're all in the Shera. Come on." Shelke took hold of Vincent's arm so he could steady her as they made their way down carefully. "You can tell us all what happened when we get there."

"I'm sorry," Vincent said again.

"Do not apologise." Shelke's mobile started ringing, and she reached into her dress pocket with her free hand. She frowned at the caller ID, and held it to her ear. "You're awake."

Yuffie's hysterical voice yelled down the receiver, so loud that Vincent could hear. "You went on your own?! Why the hell didn't you wake me up?!"

"We tried, Yuffie. And we failed. You took a copious amount of sleeping syrup and we found you on the floor of the cabins. You had not even managed to get into one of the beds."

"...Oh."

Vincent laughed at this, as it was quite typical of Yuffie to sleep deeply even without the aid of sleep syrup. He heard her gasp. "V-Vinnie? Is that you?"

Shelke passed the phone to Vincent. "Yes, Yuffie. It's me. Are you alright?"

"Oooh, you are getting the biggest cuddle of your life when I see you!" Vincent smiled, taking that as a yes. "We're all waiting for you, Vinnie. See you in a few!"

There was a click as Yuffie put the phone down. Vincent passed it back to Shelke. "Same as ever, then," he remarked.

"Quite," replied the former Tsviet, putting the phone away. "She has been more worried than the others though."

"It doesn't surprise me. She is...rather close to me."

Shelke hid her smile at that comment, wondering how Vincent meant her to interpret it. They walked down in silence for the remainder of the trip, which took half an hour. The Shera dropped a ladder as there was nowhere near the cave to land on. Vincent let Shelke go first, then climbed up himself.

The party, plus Denzel and Marlene, but minus Yuffie, waited on deck for him. Cloud reached a hand out to Vincent, helping him up, then clapped him on the back warmly. "Thought we'd never see you again," he said. "Thank god we found you."

"I'm sorry to have worried you all," murmured Vincent, looking round at everyone. Not one person wore an expression other than happiness or relief. Then he frowned. "Where is Yuffie?"

Cid gestured. "Below deck, still tryin' to wake up properly after doping herself up on sleep syrup. Kid's been pretty bad today, sicker than usual."

This made Vincent a little worried. "I should go to her...I will explain what happened at the cockpit, if this is agreeable." After the party gave their consent for this, they set off below deck to find Yuffie, with Vincent in the lead, wanting to make sure she was okay. I don't like to hear that she has been worried about me. It pains me to hurt her, and everybody else.

They found Yuffie on her way to the deck, rubbing her eyes and dragging her feet a little. Hearing the multiple footfalls, she looked up, and her face split into a joyful smile. "Vinnie-!"

"Yuffie..." The pair rushed towards each other, meeting in a gentle embrace. They clung together for a few moments, then Vincent pulled away a little to scrutinise the young ninja. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Yuffie's bottom lip trembled. "Never mind me, are you okay?" she whispered. Looking like she would burst into tears any moment, Vincent drew her back into his arms, stroking her hair. "I though you were dead..." she choked.

"Hush, Yuffie. I'm fine. You need not worry yourself."

"But-"

Vincent slipped a hand under Yuffie's chin, bringing her up to look straight into his eyes. He was smiling at her. "Hush," he repeated, more playful this time. "You will make yourself sick again."

Yuffie found herself gazing adoringly into the gunman's deep red eyes. Being so close to him, the urge to plant a happy kiss on his lips was almost unbearable. But a load clearing of Cid's throat made them both jump and turn around. The pilot was tapping his foot impatiently. "Alright, alright," he exclaimed, "we're glad he's back too, but the vampire's got some explainin' to do, huh? Now move it, brat!"

Vincent glared. "I have asked you for three years not to call her that, Cid."

"Whoops. Sorry. Come on though, we wanna hear what went on. To the cockpit, methinks."


"...It took me some time to realise what was going on..."

Vincent was recounting what happened after Chaos defeated Omega. The party were all in the cockpit, sat back against the glass that opened the Shera out to the skies. Vincent sat cross-legged in front of them, with Yuffie's head in his lap, as she had fallen asleep again after a fit of happy/hysterical crying. "I truly thought I had been killed in the efforts. I felt like I was floating, just moving slowly through some mysterious substance. The green glow around me was unfamiliar...I knew my body was somewhere, and my mind, or spirit, whichever, was somewhere else, but I could not figure it out. Piecing it together, I realised I was mortally wounded, and my spirit had entered the Lifestream, but had not been accepted just yet."

"You were dead?!" Tifa gasped, hands over her mouth.

"I don't know. It certainly felt like I was in a state of limbo. But then I heard a voice, and I wondered if somebody had discovered me. Then I realised it was a voice that had been silenced three years ago."

Cloud smiled sadly. "Aeris came to you, didn't she?"

"Yes. She told me how grateful the Planet was that I had saved it. As a reward, she and the Lifestream healed me of my wounds, and removed Chaos from my body. Whether this means my apparent immortality has now been wiped away too, I don't know, and it would take some time to know whether I have begun to age again, but Chaos is gone and will no longer trouble me...right now, that is all that matters concerning myself." He looked down at Yuffie and chuckled. "Aeris told me how you had all been looking for me. I felt quite happy to know this. I had no idea I was cared about so much."

The party looked highly shocked at this. "Don't be ridiculous," growled Nanaki in his deep accent. "Of course we cared, but you probably didn't notice."

"You are a bit ignorant like that," Tifa chipped in.

"I'm sorry."

"Quit apologisin'!" Cid groaned. "You're turnin' into that crystal bitch of yours!"

"Ah...Lucrecia. I believe her spirit saved me as much as Aeris did. I am content now. I think she may have begun to forgive herself...and with it, so have I. It's time for me to start over, as a new man. I can finally put my past behind me, for I feel I have done all that needed to be done." Vincent looked up at the party, a determined expression on his permanently pale face. "What say you all?"

Everyone looked at each other, raising eyebrows and smiling. Cloud was first to answer.

"I can go with that."

"Me too," Tifa smiled.

"Sounds good," nodded Barret.

"Whatever makes you happy," said Nanaki.

"A new Vincent, huh..." Cid mused.

Yuffie stirred, murmuring something softly. Vincent leaned in to catch what she said. "I like the sound of that..." she whispered.

Vincent straightened up again. "Good. Well...and I cannot believe I am asking this, but...I am going to need the help of the women here."

Tifa frowned, and even Marlene looked a little puzzled. "What's the matter?" Tifa asked.

Vincent ran a hand through his mane of black hair. "Well, to move on, I need a complete overhaul. So, um...I need a haircut. And new clothes."

A pin could have been heard dropping.


I personally couldn't ever imagine Vincent in any getup other than his cloak and his Turk suit! He is super handsome though, so I bet he'd suit a lot of different stuff.

As always, please let me know what you think. I will upload more chapters if I know that people are enjoying the story so far!

Tia