Author's Note: Alrighty, here's another. But first, I have some things to say. Now I realize you can just scroll down and skip this, but I think it's important, so just hang tight for a second. First of all, I would like to thank those of you who reviewed last chapter: all five of you... Now, don't get me wrong, I'm terribly grateful, and I'm sure most of you were so awestruck at the prospect of having sex on the floor with Vincent, but c'mon. So we're going to try this again: no smut this time, so maybe we can be slightly more coherant after we read it. Notes about the chapter: I love the beginning. I think it's sweet and gooey, and I know I'm a sucker for sweet and gooey. ALSO! and this is truly is the very essence of importance: There is a link in my profile under the heading: LOOK WHAT I DID! or something to that same effect. If would beneficial to your health if you looked at it. I'm like a proud parent. Speaking of profiles, that'd be where you should look for not only entertaining ramblings about myself, but down there the bottom I've started a little news feed, because people keep PM'ing me asking 'when i'm doing such and such, if I'm doing that other thing, and/or why' so go there first, then ask questions.

Alrighty, then. On with the show: Marlene makes an adorable appearance, and Cid begins the long and painful process of making Yuffie feel like she's about the size of an ant.

P.S. It just started raining in torrents. I thought I'd share: it amused me.

Mornings with Yuffie were always the most pleasurable, Vincent noted to himself, feeling the warmth of his beloved curled up against his side. He was always in fairly good spirits in the morning, and he got to spend some quality quiet time with the ninja, because she usually slept until seven, which gave the early riser a good hour and a half to bask in her silence.

She always looked particularly pretty in the morning, and that morning, waking up in the too-small double bed in a room above Tifa's bar, was no exception. Her head was resting on his shoulder, her hair a dark contrast splayed out over his pale skin and the milky flesh of her cheeks. His finger absently pushed some of her bangs behind her ear, giving him an excuse to retrace the finger's previous route and caress her slightly flushed cheekbones.

Feather light lashes fluttered at the touch, and he quickly moved his hand away, not wishing to wake her. The ninja's own hand moved, lifting from its place near her hip to rest gently on Vincent's chest. Her breathing had not changed, however, and the gunslinger was assured that she was still asleep as he pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

She stirred again, but only to shift closer to him, one of her legs snaking atop his own, hooking around them possessively. He smiled to himself: how could he ever live without this? Her warmth alone was enough to get him through the day, and the theory had been tested on many occasions, due to missions that required his departure from Nibleheim at some godforsaken hour of the morning. She got angry with him every single time he left without waking her up, but he continued to do it, thinking it sacrilege to draw her out of such a peaceful state. So he would creep out of bed as quietly as possible, often times having to disentangle the ninja from where she had her limbs intricately woven with his own, and get dressed, putting on each article of clothing slowly and quietly to make sure she would not be disturbed.

She always slept through it soundly. It was only when the gunslinger sat on the edge of the bed to whisper a soft farewell and kiss her lips that the ninja stirred at all, and even then it was usually accompanied by an incoherent mumble and a subtle stretching of her limbs. Each time he wondered if she would actually wake, and each time she didn't.

This morning, mercifully, he did not need to leave her. He thanked Leviathan for it enthusiastically, his fingers threading through the Wutainese Princess's hair affectionately. Today she would likely be pilfered away by Tifa to look at dresses or flowers, or some other completely unnecessary accessory for a fancy wedding he knew Yuffie didn't want. She had refused him when he took her to the jewelers when they were in Kalm, making quite the scene with her stubbornness. He took it in stride, compromising that she would at least accept a wedding band at the ceremony. He didn't particularly care what it was made of or what it looked like, but she had to put something on her finger: people needed to know she was his.

She fought him on this one too, all the way home to Nibleheim, raving about how she was no more a possession than a pretty little trophy wife. He knew. Her fit of fury changed suddenly, and she professed her concern about someone recognizing her and reporting their marriage to her father. She was scared, she had said, tears brimming in her eyes. He knew. Finally, as they made their way into the safe haven of their home, and her tears were all dried, she admitted she wanted to be recognized as his wife too, that she really did want to tell the world, because she loved him that much. Of course, he knew this too: they made love on the couch, in the hall, on their bed.

Vincent's eyes closed briefly as the memories; images and sensations, flooded his mind. She was a klutzy ninja with a tendency to talk too much and pull completely immature stunts every now and again, but she had light to her, where all he possessed was darkness. His arms tightened around her. Now he possessed her, and therefore his life was illuminated itself. No longer did he bathe himself in regret, except with the knowledge that he had spent such a long part of his life mourning instead of living.

The little ball of life stirred against him, and with a yawn and a smile she stretched her limbs, gazing up at the gunslinger through squinty eyes. "Hey," she uttered sleepily.

"Good morning," he replied quietly, a fond smirk settling on his face as he watched her draw herself from the grips of exhaustion.

"Morning," she said, the middle of the word elongated due to an untimely yawn.

His fingers were compelled to one again remove her silken locks from in front of her eyes, causing her attention to focus on him and the small smile that had formed on his lips.

"Whatcha thinking about, Vinnie?"

The same hand cupped her cheek. "You."

Her eyebrows rose slightly, and a mischievous smile stole her façade. "Yeah? What about me?"

He didn't need to speak in order to tell her that there were just too many answers to that question, because she was well aware by the look in his eyes. A softer smile replaced the malevolent one from before. "I love you," she said, as if reading the words as she saw them reflected in his expression.

"I lo— "

He was cut off by two hurried knocks on the door.

Yuffie twisted herself to see, growling out a "What?"

"It's Tifa, are you decent?"

Yuffie sighed, planting her forehead back in Vincent's shoulder. "Yes," the gunman replied for her. "Come in, Tifa."

Their hostess opened the door slowly, shyly peeking in her head. "Good morning, Vincent, Yuffie. I just wanted to let you know that breakfast will be ready soon. I made pancakes, so I hope you're hungry."

Yuffie groaned. "Oh Tifa, you know the way to my heart."

The elder woman smiled slightly, but didn't move her eyes from where they rested on the floor. "Well I guess I'll see you guys down there. Oh, was your room suitable?"

"The bed squeaks," Yuffie muttered before she could stop herself.

Tifa's face was as red as a tomato. "I'm sorry about that, Yuff. Did it keep you… awake?"

Yuffie's own face was a rather crimson shade, but fortunately, she had Vincent's armpit to hide in. He needed a shower, by the way.

"It was fine, Tifa, thank you," the gunslinger concluded. "We will be down shortly."

"O-okay," she stammered, quickly retreating and closing the door behind her.

"Oh they so heard us," Yuffie moaned, rolling away from the male body next to her and onto her back to stare at the ceiling.

Vincent glanced at her, amused. "I suspect so, yes."

"Oh Gawd, what am I gonna do?"

The gunslinger snorted softly, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Get up, shower and get dressed."

"I mean about…" her eyes got wide and fearful. "Cid…"

Vincent leaned over her and kissed her lips. "Let me deal with Highwind," he murmured silkily. Yuffie smiled contentedly at the words, she couldn't be happier if the two of them went at it in the streets: Death Penalty would pwn Cid's silly little pointy stick any day. "For now," he continued; his voice low. "We had best get clean, hm?"

"You first, you smell."

His lips assaulted hers a little more fiercely.

"Actually, you know, Tifa's shower is pretty spacious, and I'm really starving, so if you wouldn't mind…"

He didn't mind. In fact it had been his idea in the first place.

Tifa stared at the frying pan, poking mindlessly at what was soon to become a very overcooked pancake. Cloud watched her as she did so, and only when it looked unsafe for the pancake, did he speak up. "Tifa? You alive over there?"

She martial artist's eyes shot to the blonde's face, startled. She then immediately flipped the offended pancake from the pan and onto a plate. "Yeah, I'm just…" she drifted off again as she poured another batch of batter onto the pan. The effected area was beginning to grow rapidly.

"Teef…"

She quickly stopped pouring and placed the batter on the counter.

"You were just what?" Cloud asked, amused.

She looked up at her husband, her face strained. "They were cuddling."

The ex-SOLDIER's eyebrows arched.

"Vincent and Yuffie," she continued. "And I'm pretty sure they had sex on the floor last night- otherwise the noise we heard would have been like eight times worse."

"Ah, you gave them the squeaky bed," Cloud determined, nodding.

"Stop talking about Yuffie-Vincent sex around my breakfast, damn it!" Cid barked; his brow dented as he flicked his lighter, holding the flame up to a fresh cigarette. He gazed sympathetically at the pancake that was sizzling away in the pan. "Poor thing never stood a fucking chance."

"Who's talking about Yuffie-Vincent sex?"

The three gathered around the stove looked up to see Reeve saunter into the room, an immobilized Cait Sith dangling from his right arm like some kind of stuffed animal he slept with.

"All of us, unfortunately," Cloud muttered.

"Ah the sagas of…" The WRO commissioner paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Vinuffie? Yuffent? Yucent? Vincaragi? Valenyuff? Kisantine? Valenragi?"

"Yuffentine?" Tifa offered, handing Reeve a cup of hot coffee.

He smiled. "I do believe that's the one, sport," he said, accepting the hot liquid thankfully.

"Speaking of..." Cid grumbled, his eyes shifting to the staircase. The familiar clink of Vincent's boots could be heard descending into the bar, and with it was Yuffie's voice, that was nattering incessantly about how much she loved shampoo.

"Know what I mean Vince? Could you imagine your life without shampoo? Now conditioner I could live with out. Sure, it makes your hair all soft and shiny, but it is really necessary? Who ever invented conditioner was very vain."

Yuffie emerged into sight first, still talking over her shoulder at Vincent, who didn't seem to care. "Good morning, Miss Kisaragi," Reeve greeted, lifting his coffee cup in a salute.

Yuffie stopped in mid sentence, grinning at her employer. "Heya Tuesti! Mm whatcha got there?"

He held it out for her to smell.

"Gawd, I could use some of that." She smiled at Tifa. "May I?"

Tifa motioned to Cloud who was already pouring the young ninja a cup. He handed it to her with a slight smile before looking past her. "Vincent? Coffee?"

"Please," he uttered gruffly.

"Pancakes are almost finished!" Tifa said cheerily. Her smile was obviously forced.

"You alright, Teef?" Yuffie asked over the rim of her mug.

The barkeep's eyes widened. "Yes, of course I am."

A mischievous glint surfaced in the ninja's eyes as her gaze flickered momentarily to Vincent and then back to her friend. "Okay, just making sure. You were kinda weird when you woke us up for breakfast."

Tifa's counterfeit smile widened. "Just a little tired, Yuff. Late night last night."

Yuffie twitched slightly, but hid it behind her mug.

Everyone was eerily silent for the next stretch of time before more footsteps could be heard on the stairs, but they were far lighter and more lively. Yuffie set down her drink just in time to catch a flying Marlene as she launched herself at her pseudo aunt.

"Aunt Yuffie!" The girl cried, crawling up into the ninja's lap.

"Ooph, you know Marlene, one of these days you're gonna be too big to sit on Aunt Yuffie."

"Daddy says I'm going me as tall as he is one day!"

"Holy cats, batman! That is tall!"

"Why aren't you that tall, Yuffie?"

"Nyuk, nyuk," the ninja chuckled, poking the girl's nose. "Well you see, Mar, when I was a little girl, I didn't go to bed when I was told, and I never did my homework. You see where that got me? Now I'm a very short ninja, and I can't do anything about it."

Marlene made a face. "Good thing I go to bed when I'm told. Even when all of my aunts and uncles were over last night, I went straight to bed when Tifa told me to," she said, smiling proudly.

"Good girl!" Yuffie praised, grinning. "And did you sleep well?"

Marlene nodded enthusiastically, but her expression darkened slightly. "Did you sleep good last night, Aunt Yuffie? I thought I heard you yell, like you got hurt." She was peaking over her shoulder, looking suspiciously at Vincent while her voice dropped into a rather loud whisper. "Mr. Valentine didn't hurt you last night, did he?"

Yuffie's eyes were wide, and she tried to keep them focused straight ahead as to avoid the accusing looks from Cid and Tifa who were standing in her peripheral vision. "No sweety," Yuffie said quickly. "Mr. Valentine would never do that. Mr. Valentine is quite nice."

"Then why did you sound like you were hurting?"

"Because I was!" she said. "See, Marlene, I tripped over a shoe, that I left in the middle of the room by accident, and I hurt my ankle."

"Oh," said the girl, looking at the ninja's ankle. "Is it all better."

"Much better," Yuffie said brightly. "Mr. Vincent picked me up off the floor and put me on the bed, and then fixed me all up with a Cure materia."

"Really?" She looked over Yuffie's shoulder again, peeking at Vincent. "He is very nice. I always knew you were nice, Mr. Valentine."

Vincnet inclined his head to the girl, smirking.

"Do you like Mr. Valentine, Yuffie? Cuz' I do."

Yuffie grinned. "Yup, I like him a lot."

"I like him more!"

The ninja laughed. "Oh yeah? Hows that?"

The girl shrugged. "Well I don't yell at him, thats for sure."

"That's how we play!" Yuffie defended. Wait a minute, why was she defending herself to a eight year old? How old was Marlene anyway??

"Pancakes are finished. Anyone who wants some come on up."

Marlene was first in line, smiling up at Cloud as he handed her a plate. "Hungry, little lady?" he asked, amused.

She nodded enthusiastically.

Yuffie was right behind her. "I'm gonna need two of them plates there Spike," she said.

He blinked.

"Oh come on. You think I can eat that much and keep this bod?" She struck a pose. "One's for Vinnie."

A mumble was heard from the corner, and Yuffie looked up to see Cid, who had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time. "What was that, old man?"

He snarled. "I said, you two must be hungry."

The ninja's eyes widened, hardly noticing Tifa put pancakes on both her and Vincent's plates.

"Yeah, actually," she spat back. "I'm starving." The arm holding Vincent's breakfast shot backward, holding the plat in front of the gunslinger's face. He took it gingerly.

"Better leave some for the rest of us," Highwind returned, his smile more of a sneer. "Tifa can't afford extras, having to pay for broken lamps and whatnot."

The ninja's fingers clenched on her plate.

"Yuffie."

She felt Vincent's hand on the small of her back, and she turned to see he had gotten up. She sighed, turning into his shoulder, thankful for his support. "You deal with it."

"Actually, I was just going to ask if you could get me a fork."

Her head whipped back, her jaw gaping. "Get your own damn fork!" she hollered, taking off for the stairs at a rapid pace.

Marlene was sitting on top of the counter, looking at where Yuffie had just disappeared to. The girl looked back at Vincent, sighing. "I don't think I like this game. You should teach her Parcheesi."

Author's Note: Ah, he wanted that to happen. Marlene is so cute. Okay, so I obviously don't know how old she'd be, and also no idea how children act at given ages. So we get cutesy six year old Marlene. Whatever, I'll fix it later: hint after you all review to tell me how to remedy the Marlene situation end hint.