Rock Star Chapter 4, a final fantasy vii fanfic

Rock Star

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and James Dean is fine for me..
- Nickelback, "Rockstar"

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, Vincent, Yuffie, Tifa, or any of those people. I do, however, own Chad, Ken, Mike, and Hannah. Or at least, I'd like to think so. The songs "Far Away," "Savin' Me," "How You Remind Me," and "Animals" are all the property of Nickelback.

"So, Yuffie, what do you guys call yourselves?" Reeve asked her later that night. Yuffie stopped in her tracks and turned slowly towards Chad.
"I...don't know." She said. Chad shrugged.
"We were called Distortion. I think we need a new name, now, though." He said.
"Oooh, how about Yuffie and the Dragonhearts!" Hannah said. She giggled.
"No way! My name isn't gonna be in it!" Yuffie screetched.
They debated for another hour before they called it quits and decided to go home, go to bed, and meet back at Tifa's bar the next day to practice. Reeve and Cid headed upstairs to their rooms, Cid grumbling about youthful energy and how it wore him out.
Cloud and Tifa closed up the bar and headed upstairs, as well. Yuffie had a pretty good idea what they were gonna do, but she kept her mouth shut...just this once.
She sat at the bar in the dark, looking at the now-complete band area, and imagining it full of instruments. She smiled.
Yuffie took one last glance in and headed upstairs as well. She passed Vincent's room; oddly, the door was open. She could see Vincent inside, cleaning his gun.
Suddenly, she stopped, and stared at the gun for a second before running into her room and closing the door. She took out her PHS and flipped it open, dialing Chad's number.
"Yuffie?" He answered. He sounded confused.
"I know what to call our band." Yuffie said.

The next day the band showed up promptly at noon, equipment in tow. As they set up, Yuffie danced around.
"So, have you got it?" Hannah asked after she finished setting up her drum kit. Yuffie nodded, grinning.
"Yup. Cid ran it off for me today." She held it out and Hannah grinned.
"What?" Tifa asked, confused.
"The drum graphic for Hannah." Yuffie said. "We figured out a name and Reeve designed a logo for us."
"That was awful nice." Tifa said. The former Shinra engineer had left shortly before the group had showed up, being needed at the WRO headquarters. Cid had stayed on, wanting to see if the band was as good as Yuffie made them out to be.
"It was." Ken said. "Did Cid get the decals for our instruments?"
Yuffie handed him a cutout decal done in white - she had one for Ken, and also ones for Chad and Mike. Ken's bass and Chad's guitar were black, and Mike's guitar was red, so it'd look good in white no matter what.
The band had just finished affixing their decals and polishing them off when Vincent walked downstairs. He caught sight of the band's drum logo and froze.
The graphic itself was black, with white writing on it. In white, a gun that looked suspiciously like his ultimate weapon (but not quite) was shooting a single bullet. Above the gun was written the word "Death" in grafitti-styled text; below it, in the same font, was "Penalty."
Vincent looked at Yuffie, who smiled back at him. He frowned and crossed his arms, but didn't say anything.
Yuffie sighed. "God, Vinnie, you're so boring!"
He grunted noncommitally.

After the band got tuned and Yuffie warmed up again, they broke into a cover, startling Tifa, Cloud, Cid, and Vincent, who were in the bar. They hadn't expected them to not let them know they were going to start. Yuffie inhaled, and sang.

This time, this place
Misused, mistakes
Too long, too late
Who was I to make you wait?
Just one chance, just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
Cuz you know
You know
You know...!

I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreamin' you'll be with me
And you'll never go
Stop breathing
If I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
Cuz with you, I'd withstand
All of Hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all, I'd give for us
Give anything, but I won't give up
Cuz you know
You know
You know...!

I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreamin' you'll be with me
And you'll never go
Stop breathing
If I don't see you anymore

So far away
So far away
Been far away for far too long
So far away
So far away
Been far away for far too long
But you know
You know
You know...!

I wanted
I wanted you to stay
Cuz I need it
I need to hear you say...

"I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long
So keep breathing
Cuz I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and never let me go"

Keep breathing
Cuz I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and never let me go Keep breathing
Hold on to me and never let me go Keep breathing
Hold on to me and never let me go...

There was a moment of silence after the band let the last note die out. This was a cover, of course, but they put their heart and soul into it, even Yuffie, who had no one to sing it to. Hannah's boyfriend lived in Junon, Ken's in Wutai, and Chad's in Mideel; the only person who had their love with them was Mike, who lived with his fiancee.
Suddenly, everyone there started clapping. Cid would never admit it, but Yuffie was pretty sure she saw tears in his eyes - and when he went outside to make a phone call, she was pretty sure she knew who he was calling. Just to tell them he loved them.
That, to her, meant that they'd done a good job.
Vincent sat there eyeing her inscrutably. He was the one person who hadn't done anything during or after their song. She frowned; she'd hoped she'd get a reaction out of him. Getting a reaction out of Vincent meant they were damn good.
Fine. She thought. "So, what next, guys?" She asked the band, turning to them. Chad was looking at Vincent, much to Vincent's dismay - the boy had a gaze that could pierce your soul. He looked away from him.
"Savin' Me." He said, looking back at Yuffie. "We should practice our covers that we're going to play at least once, and then our original stuff."
Yuffie remembered the last time she'd sang that song and was suddenly uncomfortable. If Vincent burst into tears in the bar he'd have a lot of explaining to do. She nodded and turned back to the mic.

Prison gates won't open up for me
On these hands and knees I'm crawlin'
Oh, I reach for you
Well I'm terrified of these four walls
These iron bars can't hold my soul in
All I need is you
(Come please I'm callin')
And oh I scream for you
(Hurry I'm fallin')
I'm fallin'

Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
And say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth saving me

Much to Yuffie's relief, Vincent just seemed to have gone into lala land, rather than losing control of his emotions. She didn't think she could handle it; him learning to make jokes had been enough for her. Tifa and Cloud were behind the bar, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes, and she smiled as she sang the next part.

Heaven's gates won't open up for me
With these broken wings I'm fallin'
And all I see is you
These city walls ain't got no love for me
I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story
And oh, I scream for you
(Come please I'm callin')
And all I need from you
(Hurry I'm fallin')
I'm fallin'

And all I need is you
(Come please, I'm callin')
And oh, I scream for you
Hurry, I'm fallin'
I'm fallin'

And say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth saving me...

Next, the band sang a song that Hannah had written; Yuffie loved it. She still had some problems remembering the lyrics but she figured that she'd listen to the CD again and try to memorize it tonight. She'd memorize all of their songs, and maybe...just maybe...
Write one of her own.
Some day.

Vincent had sat through their entire practice, until the bar's regular patrons started showing up. Then, as they started to pack up their instruments, he went upstairs.
When the band had packed up, stashed their instruments in a locked closet in the bar, and left on a high note, Yuffie went to her room upstairs, shut the door behind her, and hugged herself happily. Music seemed to pour through her soul; she couldn't get enough of it, never could.
She dug through her CD's and found one she liked; in fact, it was the band they'd covered earlier that day. The lead singer was a guy but he sang songs that Yuffie did well. She put it on in the CD player in the bathroom, just to have something to listen to, and of course, to sing along to.

This is how you remind me
Of what I really am
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am...

It's not like you to say sorry
I was waiting on a different story
This time I'm mistaken
For handing you a heart worth breaking
And I've been wrong
I've been down
To the bottom of every bottle
Despite words in my head
Scream "Are we havin' fun yet?"

Yuffie danced around while it played, keeping the door between her room and the bathroom open so she could hear it. She picked up her stuff while it played; she needed to remember to wash her clothes soon. All of the dirty stuff she piled up in the corner, making a note to herself to ask Tifa if she could use her washing machine.
A song came on that was decidedly dirty in nature, and she giggled, ran into the room, and turned it up incrimentally.

You're
Beside me on the seat
Your head between my knees
You control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze
It's hard
To steer when you're breathing in my ear...

So, come on baby, get in
Get in, get in
Check out the trouble we're in...

Yuffie was in a great mood. After the CD played out, she switched to a mix CD a friend of hers had made. Her room was clean now, so she just danced. The first song that came on sounded exotic, and she belly-style danced to it, twirling around on her socked toes and swaying. It was freeing, really, to dance without anyone looking at her.
She unconsciously went into her evening yoga exercises, which were pretty enough to be dancing anyway - working out a rhythm that made them into dance was kind of fun, and it was excercise so she'd be able to keep up on her ninja flexibility and strength.
The song ended and she spun around and gasped. Vincent stood against the doorjamb, arms crossed, watching her.
"Vincent, you scared me!" She said. She walked past him, her cheeks red because she was so embarrased at being caught by anyone - especially Vincent Valentine, who didn't understand spontaneous singing and dancing any more than she understood quantum physics. She paused the CD player. "What's wrong?"
"If you could please move the CD player into your room..." Vincent began. Yuffie's hands flew to her mouth.
"Oh my God, Vincent, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize..." And she hadn't thought that Vincent could hear the music perfectly clearly; between his enhanced hearing and the fact that it was a door away from him, it probably sounded like he was standing in the middle of a concert hall.
He nodded at her and walked back to his room via the bathroom door. Yuffie had the sudden urge to ask if he'd liked her dancing, but she didn't follow up on it - Vincent, it seemed, didn't like anything.
She turned the CD player off entirely; after being startled, she didn't feel like dancing anymore, and besides, she'd gotten a good workout already. Her body was covered in sweat.
So it was perfectly quiet enough for her to hear Vincent in his room. Vincent Valentine, singing softly. Her mouth formed an "O" as she moved closer to the door, quietly, so she could hear.
She didn't recognize the song, but it was beautiful; a love song. Vincent sang it softly, as if he didn't want anyone to hear. She understood why; Vincent Valentine was not the kind of person who spontaneously burst into song. But the man could sing, well even. She crept away quietly, so she wouldn't disturb him.
It didn't occur to her that her creeping away would alert Vincent to her presence...

Saturday. The big day. The band had been practicing for the last few days, and they were rock solid. Yuffie blended in like flour into cake mix; the band got along great, musically and personality-wise.
Yuffie stood in her room with Hannah and Tifa, trying to figure out what to wear for her first performance as the lead singer of Death Penalty (Vincent seemed content to forgive them for stealing his ultimate weapon's name for their band; or at least, he hadn't killed someone yet). Yuffie had done her laundry and every outer piece of clothing she owned was layed out on her bed.
"I'm so nervous." She said, biting a nail. Hannah laughed.
"Don't be nervous. You'll do great; I bet even Vincent thinks we're good - he's come to every practice of ours."
Tifa smiled. "You guys will do fine. And I think you should wear something pretty." She eyed Yuffie's clothes. "How about the top you wore to karaoke with Vincent, with a pair of jeans?"
Yuffie wrinkled her nose. "Jeans?"
"Yeah!" Hannah said, enthusiastically as Tifa held up the top and flared jeans. "That's totally badass! You should wear it with your black ankle boots. It'll look awesome."
Somehow, Yuffie thought that Vincent and Cloud would not approve of this outfit, at all. Just because of that, she nodded and shoed the others out to put it on.

They were doing awesome.
It was the middle part of the show, and Yuffie was feeling energetic. She hopped down from the stage and walked to Tifa's bar.
"Can I get another water, please, Tifa?" She asked. Tifa smiled and got her a bottle; of course Tifa would be smiling, business was twice what it normally was. Yuffie was in a good mood because every song, covers and originals alike, was well received and applauded for. The rest of the band seemed excited, too.
She looked around.
"Vincent isn't here." Tifa said. "He's up in his room, I think. It must be hellish, having his hearing and dealing with this." She looked sympathetic as she handed Yuffie the bottle of water.
Yuffie hadn't thought of that. She headed towards the stairs to apologize to him, and to her surprise, Vincent was at the top, sitting.
She started. Vincent nodded at her. "Your band is doing well." He said. He looked past her and stared at the wall. Yuffie turned back around and walked through the crowd, smiling at everyone in the crowd. Of course, Vincent wouldn't want to deal with this amount of people. She was amazed she'd gotten him to karaoke that night, honestly.
But she smiled to herself as she took a swig from the bottle of water and stepped back onstage. He did like their music - or else he wouldn't have left his room to come listen to them.
That meant, in her mind, that they really were good, that they really had a shot.

Author's Note: I'm sorry. I like Nickelback, a lot. I have other bands I love, but they're not lyrical enough for Yuffie yet. Also - the exotic song at the end is Ra - Do You Call My Name. It's a good song.