Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or anything to do with Bright Eyes. But I do own my love for Conor!

Yay! New Chapy! I'm loving the response I'm getting for this fic. Lately this is the only one I write, so now "By These Hands" is a poor little abandoned baby. FINALLY they meet, I am so excited. Also, I am going to a concert tonight, and am beyond pumped, believe you me.

P.S. Next time I will respond to and thank individual reviewers

Well... Read on!


You were born inside of a raindrop,
I watched you falling to your death
And the sun, well she could not save you
She'd fallen down too, now the streets are wet.

Train Under Water; Bright Eyes

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"Yuffie? Yuffie?"

A sea of people, swarmed around Tifa. She wildly gazed searchingly about the room, but to no avail. She'd lost Yuffie in the crowd.

Tifa could feel her heart constrict in her chest, and resisted the urge to panic. Biting her lip, she anxiously rubbed her left bicep with her right hand; a nervous habit.

The concertgoers faces appeared dark and wicked, as they laughed, teeth bared, and exited the room while knocking Tifa every which way.

' Deep breaths, deep breaths'

She thought unsteadily, as she swam through the crowd in a desperate attempt to find Yuffie. The concert room was a large, domed structure made up of cold steel beams spiraling upward to the tip. Before they had been signed to Shinra Records, Death Penalty had adamantly refused to play venues like this, preferring the intimacy of bars and clubs, but now huge buildings like this were the only one's big enough to fit Death Penalty's growing fan base.

Tifa pushed towards the stage, reasoning that if she was able to escape the mass of people heading for the door, she would be able to search for Yuffie more thoroughly. On the left of the stage was the door leading to backstage and looming before it was a huge man who practically took up the whole doorway. Tifa couldn't get over the rectangular shape of the man, even his head was flat on top and a perfect square.

Finally she broke through the crowd, and stumbled into the man. He lifted her easily and roughly dumped her in front of him.

" Now the hell you think you're doin', girly? The concerts over goddammit! Git before the perverts come out an' try an' do somethin' you won't be appreciatin'!"

Tifa just stared at him so he grabbed her arm, gruffly saying, " Are you fuckin' deaf, or what?"

Instinctively, she counter grabbed his wrist and snapped it backwards.

" Shit!" he cried, snatching his tree trunk of an arm away and cradling it against his chest, " Now whad you go an' do that for?"

But is words only met air. Angrily he turned towards the door, and seeing it was still shut, leaned back against it.

" An' she seemed such a sweet thing." he growled.

Tifa darted down the long halls of doors that stretched beyond the stage. Luckily, whilst the guard was distracted, Tifa was able to sprint past him unnoticed and was currently "backstage". Tifa was completely irrational now, and had no idea where she was going. When that man had grabbed her, she couldn't control her panic and nowthat themoment had passed she was starting to think running backstage was a very bad idea.

Tifa slowed her pace and pondered her predicament. At the end of the hall she was in was a large pair of double doors, and she could hear raucous laughter behind them. Not wanting to be caught without a pass, she turned around only to be greeted with the site of the guard from earlier heading straight towards her.

"Eep!" She squeaked (I know, very untough) and made a 180 only to be confronted with the laughing doors again. It didn't look like he had seen her yet, but he was swiftly approaching and Tifa had no where to run. Desperately, she attempted to open the doors around her, but all of them were locked. Finally one of them creaked open, and she flung herself inside.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Tifa quietly shut the door then turned to survey her sanctuary. Tifa's eyes widened to the size of grapefruit at the sight before her. It was Vincent. Looking pissed and sexy with no shirt on.

Tifa almost laughed at her luck, rubbed her arm vigorously, and thought, 'Should have taken my chances with the guard."

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Vincent stood, shirt in hand, and glared menacingly at the intruder. She looked about 16 or 17, give or take, so by deductive reasoning was one of the pyscho fan girls which were a bane to Vincent's existence. Not that he didn't appreciate his fans, he just hated it when they hounded him down and treated him like an object, rather than a human being.

This particular girl looked as if she would hyperventilate any second, and was rubbing her arm as if she was suffering from some allergic reaction. Vincent slowly looked her body up and down, making the girl shift her weight uneasily, and took in her appearance. Long, brown hair, average height, and a slim figure coupled with a knockout chest. He couldn't see her eyes since she had averted her gaze to the floor, but surmised she looked just like any other fan girl.

He was smoldering with rage and disgust. This girl had made a huge mistake barging in on him, in an attempt to get a little nookie, on one of his bad days. One of his worst days in fact.

He strode towards the girl, and growled in a low, even voice, "So you enjoying the free show?"

He was now close enough to give her an Eskimo kiss, and violently thrust his arms against the wall on either side of her head. Shetrembled, and Vincent sneered wolfishly, his teeth sparkling. He took his right arm from the wall, and grabbed the girl under the chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

Vincent was surprised by their appearance, and Vincent wasn't one to be easily shocked. They were open wide, and sparkled in the fluorescent light. The irises were a burgundy hue, strangely similar to his own, and they looked ancient. Not in the sense of an old woman, but as if they had seen things beyond the girl's years.

Things that a 16 year old should never see.

Most of all Vincent noticed that her eyes were consumed with irrational terror, and looked dangerously close to rolling back into her head in a dead faint.

"Shit." Vincent said aloud. Crazed fan or not, this girl was incredibly freaked out. His ill-conceived anger deflated and Vincent backed up a few paces and folded his arms across his chest. The girl was taking shallow panicky breaths, and rubbing her arm so hard it looked about ready to fall off.

"Um…" he said uncertainly, not sure what to say considering the situation, " I…well…." He rubbed the back of his head, mussing his long hair.

Vincent wasn't very good with words. In a week he usually uttered around ten full sentences, if even that, unless in the presence of friends or in a situation where talking was an obligation.

Vincent just couldn't express himself by talking to someone, give him a guitar and pad of paper and day and that would be more satisfying than a thousand puerile conversations.

The girl seemed to be calming down, and was eyeing him with a very confused look on her face.

"Yes… I think…Sit down and…"

He trailed off, and gestured to the decrepit couch by the wall. The girl, still eyeing him warily, sat down.

Vincent rubbed his stomach (remember no shirt!) andbit his full lips.

" You… how'd you get here?"

The girl smiled, happy to fill the stilted silence in the air, and quickly explained her situation. Vincent stood through the speech, and decided that she wasn't lying.

"That must have been Barret you met at the door." He said thoughtfully, " You have no need to be scared of him, he's a big pushover once you get past his rough and tough exterior. He was probably worried something would happen to you."

She looked relieved at this, and Vincent found himself admiring the way her bangs attractively framed her beautifully structured face. Pushing such thoughts aside he cleared his throat and said,

"I'm… I'm sorry for jumping on you like that…I was just looking for someone to vent on."

She grinned, and said, "No biggie, I'm the loser who freaked out like that! I just can't help it, it's like a reflex."

"Have you always been that way?"

Her right hand was hovering over her left arm, as she said quietly, "No I haven't always been that way."

She didn't elaborate, and Vincent wasn't one to push another to talk so dropped the subject.

"Want me to help you find your friend?" He said, shocked that he had made the proposition even as it came out of his mouth.

"Sure, I…"

Ring, Ring!

The girl fumbled with her purse and extracted a very outdated cell phone. As she conversed, Vincent rubbed the scar on his stomach and glanced about disinterestedly. Something about this girl was… different. Vincent felt compelled to help her even though they barely knew each other, while usually he didn't give a shit.

"Vincent?"

She sang, interrupting his reverie, "Yes?'

"That was Yuffie, she's gonna meet me at the front of the concert hall."

"Why didn't you call her earlier?"

She flushed and said in an embarrassed voice, " I was so freaked, I didn't even think of it."

At this, Vincent let out a burst of laughter. For a few moments his rich, melodic laugh filled the room until he was able to regain his composure.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

Tifa smirked.

"I thought Vincent Valentine never laughed or smiled."

Vincent's palm covered his lips, in an attempt to conceal his merriment and chortled,

"What sort of cold bastard would I be if I never cracked a smile? Even morose guys like me get a kick out of life once in a while."

You make me happy, when skies are gray

Tifa giggled, then looked at her watch and stood up saying, " I have to go meet Yuffie now."

She turned to leave and for some reason Vincent had the irresistible urge to grab her arm, to keep her with him for at least a little longer.

Baby don't go away, come here…

As if feeling just as reluctant, she turned back around and said, " By the way, where'd you get that scar?"

Vincent looked down at his chest. The scar was ragged and harsh, stretching from his left hip up to the right side of his collarbone.

Fury filled Vincent's face, and he viscously spat, "That is none of you business!"

The girl's garnet eyes filled with hurt, and she turned and fled out the door.

I dreamed you were carried away, on the crest of a wave

Vincent hung his head, shoulders sagging as the door slammed shut.

He shouldn't have gotten so angry, she didn't know the circumstances.

He hadn't even asked her name…

He collapsed on the couch and stared in to space, wondering aloud, "Why do I feel I've missed out on something real?"

Please don't take my sunshine away…


Whew, all done. I don't know why I made the end like that, but those little italicized phrases all belong to Conor Oberst (he even added the sunshine thing into one of his songs). I was in a weird mood when I wrote this, and don't ask why I said he was close enough to give her an eskimo kiss cause I have NO idea where that came from!

Also, Tifa may seem sort of OOC now, since she kinda acts like a wimp, but she kicks some major ass later on, so don't you worry!

I love you all, please read and review!