Author's note: here's the next chapter! ;p

The night sky's wonder had been blotched out by the smoke and lightning. The air was so thick with ashes and the earth so covered with bodies that traveling was near impossible. But that didn't stop him from trying, even as his pursuers gained, even as his blood seeped through his wounds, he kept trying to flee. The small town to the north of Wutai's capital was nothing more than a raging inferno. The villagers had either died or were trying to escape to safety just as he was.

The cries of innocents pierced the night and made his ears ring. But the assailants kept on with their massacre, refusing to be satisfied until all the people had died or until they had found the one they'd been sent out to find.

"Yuffie…" he murmured, looking down at the precious cargo as she slept in his arms. The sleep spell was still in effect, he still had time. All he had to do was clear the woods and he'd be able to get her to safety in another village. But fortune did not smile on the man as soldiers on horseback surrounded him.

"Well, if it isn't the legendary Vincent." One drawled out before licking his blade clean of blood. "Hand the princess over to us!"

Vincent growled viciously, clutching the maiden tightly to his chest. He was so close to the woods, so close. But the group of men had him cornered with a cliff at his back. He could release Chaos, but that took time that he didn't have. Or he could jump, but since Yuffie was sleeping there was no guarantee that she wouldn't drown.

The men started to advance, pushing him back towards the steep cliff, leaving him with no choice. He looked down to his precious maiden again. Her face was so angelic in when she slept, completely devoid of mischief. He knew then what he had to do. He took two steps back before running off the cliff in an awkward dive, unfurling his wings as he fell before gliding. He then hovered over the water before he continued his flight away from the men, dodging arrows and spells alike as he flew. He kept his back to them so that none of the projectiles would strike the princess Yuffie, but that hindered his dodging capabilities. This is what lead to his familiar as the arrows plunged themselves into his back and shoulder, ripping through his wings and making it near impossible for him to carry her without turning over. Another arrow struck, piercing through his back and through his heart, narrowly missing Yuffie's face. Then all went dark.

The princes and princesses met a little before noon at the palace gates, their parents taking the tour as an opportunity for Zackoraiah and Aerith to get to know each other a little better. Thus they were then split up into groups; Zack with Aerith and Tifa with Cloud. Twilight was then assigned to be Tifa's chaperone while Tseng would be Aerith's, their parents wanted them to get along, but they didn't want to run the risk of them getting along "too well".

Not that either of the princess minded much, at least they didn't have any lessons for the day. That's always a plus.

"So which way would you like to go?" Tifa inquired of her blond companion.

"How about we head north then work our way clockwise." Cloud offered, extending his arm to Tifa.

"That sounds good to me." Tifa agreed as she took his arm before waving farewell to her sister. "Behave you two." She called over her shoulder as the two walked, Twilight close behind.

"It's not me you should be worried about!" Aerith called back as she and Zack headed in the opposite direction.

"You have a beautiful village." Cloud complimented before sipping more of his tea. They'd been walking for the majority of two hours, occasionally stopping to browse through some shop or other, rarely buying anything. This time was so that they could have lunch. The little stall had an assortment of teas and foods.

"Thank you, it's no grand city, but I like it just the way it is." Tifa smiled warmly before taking a bite of her onigiri.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" Cloud inquired.

"I personally go to dance studios and training grounds. But you should always make it a point to go to the seasonal festivals. The beach is also a favorite during night time hours for those in our age group. My sister and I would always try to go at least once every other week; we'd even perform on occasion. It's always loads of fun." Tifa then finished her meal with a smile, reminiscing about her past trips around the village.

"Could we see it?" Cloud requested as Twilight yawned on his lap. He'd been feeding her some of his table scraps until she finally decided to climb up and just eat from his plate. He wasn't that hungry anymore anyway and it's not like Tifa really minded.

"I'd be more than happy to. Twilight, sweetie, why don't you head home? You look exhausted." Tifa pressed her finger to Twilights nose affectionately.

"Okay." Twilight yawned again before kissing both Cloud and Tifa goodbye, she then ran off toward the castle.

"You sure you won't get in trouble?" Cloud asked as he reached out his hand to help Tifa up.

"Knowing mother, I could have an army of chaperones and she'd still think I did something with you." Tifa chuckled, accepting his hand out of courtesy. Cloud didn't find it funny at all. "Shall we?"

"We shall."

Tifa sighed contently, breathing in the sea air with relish. She just loved the sea. She always has. "I love the sea."

"The sea loves you." Cloud replied, giving her hand a squeeze as they walked barefoot in the sand, each holding their shoes. Cloud's pants were rolled up to his knees and his socks were removed. Tifa didn't have much to worry about.

Tifa wore a white dress that was short enough to be considered indecent in the front, but at the back it reached her knees. The sleeves came off her shoulders and ended at her elbows. She'd removed the leather strip that held her long hair back when they arrived at the beach.

"I hope you don't mind me ask you, but what exactly are you? You don't look like a Bruja to me." Cloud watched her in awe as he awaited his answer.

"I'm a hybrid, my father's a zhàn shì and my mother's a Bruja. I just got the best of both worlds, minus the green eyes." Tifa explained, holding her hair out of her face as the wind blew.

"You must have Kage in you, your eyes are of ruby and that is only common amongst them." Cloud made the statement into a compliment.

"Thank you…what made you say that the sea loves me?" Tifa cocked her head to the side, pondering to herself if he realized how much of a compliment he'd just paid her.

"Your eyes. Your aura. The little bit of your personality that I've seen. It's almost as if you're the sea's incarnation, and the sea is far more beautiful with you in the picture." Tifa blushed a deep shade of red as her heart skipped a beat.

"You sure know how to make a girl blush." She finally said. "I don't think anyone's every said that to me." But she obviously liked his words.

"Funny, I would think that such compliments would be common place for you." Cloud smiled serenely at her.

"Do you want me to be the color of a tomato!?" Tifa cried playfully, giving him a gentle shove when he laughed at her.

"But you look so cute when you blush." Cloud taunted as he pulled her into his arms and gave her a little twirl until he fell backwards, taking Tifa with him. They just laughed.

"I think I like you." Tifa finally said, lacing her fingers together on his chest before resting her cheek against them.

"I think I like you too." Cloud grinned as he placed one hand on the small of her back while he used the other arm as a pillow. "You know what?"

Tifa hummed in response, looking up at him with a strange tenderness.

"I never thought I'd actually like you, from the rumors I'd heard about you and your sister painted a picture of complete opposites in my mind. Aerith was portrayed some meek little saint with you as a barbarian in a dress."

"People really think that of me?" Tifa didn't know if she should be hurt or laugh.

"At least in the palace, those rumors are the reason you're not marrying Zack."

"Truly? Guess I should be grateful then." Tifa giggled, relaxing again. "Though I wonder who said that."

"It was probably some noble woman who wanted a chance at the throne." Cloud shrugged it off, no longer finding it important. "However, I would love to spar with you one day."

"That would be an honor, but I'm not all that great with swords. I just know the basics."

"I'm not all that great with battle fans or rapiers either, but we could always stick to regular hand to hand combat." Tifa just gave him another one of her grins. "I don't know whether to like that grin or fear it." Cloud teased before giving her one of his own.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were challenging me." Tifa dragged herself further up his chest till they were eye to eye.

"You know, from down here you look yummy." Cloud licked his lips.

"I see that Zack has rubbed off on you." Tifa laughed.

"You have no idea." Cloud then proceeded to roll them over so that he was on top, only to be rolled back around. The two kept going, rolling around in the sand, each trying to be on top. Not that either cared who won, they were just having fun.

In the end it was Cloud, his arms braced on either side of her so that he didn't crush her with his weight. Both were panting at this point, lost in each other's eyes.

"…May I kiss you?" Cloud panted, searching her eyes and waiting for a reply. Tifa's only response was the closing of her eyes in a silent yes.

At first it was gentle; a mere brushing of their lips, then there was another, and another, and another. Cloud redistributed his weight so he rested on one arm while his other hand brushed against the back of her neck, gently coaxing her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she sighed into the kiss, giving Cloud the opportunity to slip his tongue into the moist cavern of her mouth to explore. His tongue ran over the roof of her mouth and along her tongue, as if coaxing it to come and play. Tifa's tongue ran along Cloud's, almost nervously. At first their dance of tongues was awkward, as if Tifa's didn't know the steps, but Cloud's was more than happy to lead the way. Tifa moaned her appreciation, their lips slowly separating once the need for air became unbearable.

"You are most definitely yummy." Cloud informed as he kissed both her cheeks and resumed his position of being the bottom.

"You must really get a kick out of making me blush."

"Can you blame me?" Cloud admitted. Tifa answered, she just laid her cheek against his chest with a content sigh and staring off into the distance.

"…what's that?" Tifa pondered out loud as she slowly rose, straddling his lap without realizing.

"What's what?" Cloud hoped that he sounded normal, but he prayed she didn't lean back and accidentally grind against something.

"Over there." Tifa pointed before she rose to her feet so she could further investigate. "I think those are people!" she then exclaimed, running towards them while Cloud got up. He soon followed only to discover that they were indeed to people.

But how they were alive was a mystery. The male, easily the larger of the two, had an arrow through his heart, chest and shoulders. The man even had wings, which also had their fare share of arrows. He lay on his back, his long ebony mane flared out like some dark halo. His chest was bared due to the disheveled black yukata, the color of the robe low on his arms due to his wings.

Wrapped safely in his arms was a young girl, looking to be about 16 years of age wearing a formal blue-grey kimono made of the finest silks. The patterns could barely be distinguished due to the extensive water damage. Leviathan earrings hung from her ears in hoops and a hair clip made of jade and gold held her short hair to the side and out of her face, the clip itself maintaining the leviathan motif. She had received little to no damage it would seem.

Tifa made a move to lift the girl out of the man's arms. An ominous growl startled her to a halt. The man bared his teeth in a demonic growl, even though he was still unconscious. His hold tightened around her as Cloud jumped in front of Tifa.

"Careful, he's a demon." Cloud whispered.

"He's just protecting her, see?" Tifa pointed at the man's tightened hold of the maiden. "It's okay," she began kindly. "I'm going to take you both somewhere safe so we can treat your wounds." Tifa took another step forward, then another around Cloud. The man tensed, but didn't growl again. Tifa decided that this was the closest thing to permission as she was going to get. She slowly removed the girl from his arms and carried her in a bridal fashion, waiting for Cloud to hoist the man up.

He stood on his own, but Cloud had to take most of his weight with a grunt. "It's a good thing he has muscle memory, or else this would be very difficult."

"I guess that is to be expected from a demon…let's get them to the palace. No doctor will treat him so we'll have Aerith do it. She's way better than any doctor anyway."

"Lead the way."

"Get that THING out of my kingdom!!" was the first thing Queen Lunaris said as the two arrived "Better yet, kill it."

"No!" Tifa barked back as she waited for her sister to arrive. The demon took up one of the couches in Aerith's parlor while Yuffie was placed on the loveseat. Tifa had healed them as much as she could. She had removed the arrows from the demon and sealed the wounds shut before tending to the most life threatening of cuts and the like. But since she hadn't received many lessons on cure magic that was all she could do. Her instructors hadn't deemed it necessary for her to learn. But Aerith was a different story.

"Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me young lady! He's a demon, a monster; he needs to be destroyed before he can do this kingdom harm!" Queen Lunaris pressed, tempted to conjure a holy spell to finish the deed herself.

"He's not evil!" Tifa cried out, sensing her mother's intentions.

"Of course he is. He's a demon!"

"How can he be evil when he protected that girl, even when unconscious!" Tifa stood between her mother and the demon while Cloud stood between the two women. The Queen's holy spell still built up in the palms of her hands.

The demon started to growl and twitch, sensing the danger.

"What on Gaia is going on here?!" It was Aerith, finally home from giving Zack his tour.

"Aerith, you've got to help them." Tifa pleaded gesturing to the two bodies on her couches.

"Don't you dare!" But Aerith ignored her mother completely and immediately went to work on the girl.

"What happened?" Aerith demanded before heading over to the demon.

"I don't know, we just found them washed up on the beach." Tifa explained, relief filling her voice as her expression softened.

"What were you doing at the beach?" Aerith gave Tifa a look, somewhere between a grin and accusatory.

"Nothing." Tifa murmured, both her and Cloud blushing at the question. Aerith arched an eyebrow.

"Okay then. The girl should be fine with a little rest, but the demon's suffered some broken bones and extreme organ damages." Aerith turned back to her patient. "You did a good job of healing the areas where he's been impaled and his body is already healing itself quite rapidly, so all I really had to do was reset the bones."

"What a relief." Cloud let out the breath he'd been holding as he placed a comforting hand on Tifa's shoulder.

"GUARDS!!"

Author's note: How is it so far, is it good? Bad? I'm open to suggestions.