Okay everybody! Here is the fourth chapter, which was betaed by the awesome VervainGirl! Thanks so much!

Alrighty, my reviewers - you guys are the best! I'm averaging seven reviews per chapter at the moment, which is something to smile about :) See? So, if y'all will just keep up the good work, so will I ;) I know, I know, I'm shameless.

So, been reading some stories that are really old Yuffentines and have never been finished, and it makes me die a little inside. I hate it when you really get into a story, and then they end T.T Especially if it's right before the climax or resolution. I won't do that to you guys. I might take some breaks, but I'll never discontinue!

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, but maybe this Sunday, I'll own an Easter bunny :)

Yuffie slid off the couch, her heart heavy as she wiped her tired, bloodshot eyes and pulled the thick red blanket tighter around her cold shoulders. She turned her chocolate gaze to the grandfather clock in the corner, sighing at the pendulum as it ticked away each second that there had been a chasm in her heart, each moment that the mansion felt so empty, so cold, each second that there was only one little ninja, and no gunslinger to fill the lonesome void.

Her bare feet padded across the cold stone, sending subtle chills up her spine. She dropped to her knees beside a tea-table as her fingertips grazed a picture frame that stood atop the surface. Yuffie pulled the picture down, one hand still clasping the blanket around her shoulders.

The faded photograph was of a moment at Seventh Heaven – a candid shot taken by Elena when she dropped by to chat. Tifa was serving a drunken Barret and Cid, their heads thrown back as they howled at something Cait Sith had said, something that Elymra was currently covering Marlene's ears and glaring at them for. Denzel sat in the corner with Nanaki, petting his fur and talking lowly. Cloud stood by talking to Reeve and watching over Tifa as she worked diligently. Vincent was sitting at a table with a glass of red wine beside him. Yuffie had taken a seat across from him, leaning over the table and rambling on about who knew what, and it was evident that Vincent had tuned her out much earlier in the tale in favor of enjoying her brilliant grin. There was a subtle upturn to Vincent's lips, just slightly. If one looked closely, they could see Yuffie's hand in his golden gauntlet below the tabletop.

"Vincent," Yuffie sighed, her heart aching painfully from just two syllables. "…You've never let me push you away like this…" Her fingertip grazed the outline of his face, stopping on their intertwined fingers. "You've never let my big mouth get in the way of us…"

Yuffie pressed the photo to her heart, feeling like the muscle within her ribcage had been ripped apart by the teeth of a dog and left in tatters, bleeding profusely from the shredded tissue. The photo's frame bit into her collar, but she ignored the stabbing pain, for it could not measure to the pain within her chest. A sob caught in her throat, and she nearly choked on the tears and saliva that gathered there. One hand shook as she dropped the blanket and let it collect on the floor, leaving her vulnerable to the freezing chill of the empty manor while she covered her mouth, rocking herself back and forth.

Gasping for air, Yuffie managed, "You… you never let me do this, Vincent! You never let me push you away! How could you let me do this to us!?" She fell to fetal position, her forehead pressing against the icy stone of the floor. "How could you let me push you away after everything we've been through!?"

Another wave of nausea plummeted from her head to her stomach, but she could not gather the strength to rise again from the floor. Instead, she turned her head to the side and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the sick churning of her stomach to disappear. Moments later, she could breathe through the haze of tears once more, and the queasiness was gone, though she still could not move.

"Aerith," Yuffie breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. "I did what you told me not to do. I sent Vinnie away. I really screwed up this time." Yuffie's chest heaved as she tried to fight the gathering tears that threatened to suffocate her again. "I don't know what to do. He's gone, Aerith. He's gone, and I don't think he's coming back!"

"Mhm, I know."

Yuffie's eyes shot open to see the hem of a pink dress as it swished along the floor. "Aerith?"

The flower girl sat on her knees beside the fallen ninja and gathered her into her lap. "Yes, Yuffie. There, there, don't cry…"

Yuffie wrapped her arms around Aerith's shoulders tightly, holding on to the girl like she would vanish before her eyes. Truly, Yuffie wasn't sure that wouldn't happen.

"Yuffie, you told him you didn't love him," Aerith chided, her voice stern but reassuring as she cradled the girl to her chest and stroked her dark hair.

"I do," Yuffie begged, her voice cracking as she reached the end of her sentence. "I love him! He – he knows that! He knows I love him, but he still left me!"

Emerald eyes assessed Yuffie's quivering form as she softly suggested, "But maybe he didn't, Yuffs. Vincent was in a bad state of mind, he has been since Rimmy died. Ever since then, you have been pushing him away and drawing him back. It's confused him, Yuffie; it made him doubt himself. He already assumed that you would blame him for not being there to protect her, and that you would no longer want him around. You gave him just that, Yuffie, you told him you no longer loved him, and he broke apart."

Shoulders shook as Yuffie cried out, shaking her head and gripping Aerith's dress for dear life, objecting, "But I love him! I didn't mean it, I never meant it, Aerith! Please, bring me Vinnie!"

Aerith pushed the ninja back slightly, her eyes sad as she wiped away the tears that slid down from chocolate eyes. "I cannot do that, Yuffie. You must do that for yourself."

"But where do I go!?" Yuffie demanded, her eyes wild and pleading. "Where do I even begin to look!?" She stood on her wobbly knees, gripping the edge of the end table as she pushed her sweat-drenched bangs out of her eyes and wiped her face of the salty evidence of her weeping. "Please, if you can tell me anything! Aerith, he means the world to me…"

Aerith turned her head to the side as she implored, "I have nothing to tell you, Yuffie. I'm sorry, but I gave you all I could give. You let my warnings go unheard, Yuffie, and I cannot help you pick up the pieces."

Nodding, Yuffie mumbled, "I get it, Aer, it's cool. You gave me a heads up, and I flipped it off. Now I've got to be an adult and fix things myself. It's time to stop acting like a whiny ninja brat."

A small smile was all she received as a reply. The ninja wiped away a few stray tears, ran her hands over her messy hair, and smoothed down her rumpled clothes. She forced a classic grin and tilted her head, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, though it was convincing enough.

"I'm going after him, Aerith. I am going after that damned gunslinger and I'm going to prove to him that he's the only one for me, no matter how many times I put my foot in my mouth!"

"Go get him, Yuffie!" the flower girl cheered, beaming brightly at Yuffie as she climbed to her feet and gave her one last hug, squeezing her tightly. "I have to stop visiting you soon, Yuffie – it's really draining. But never give up or lose faith in yourself! Know that I believe in you, and you can do anything! Now get, you have to catch up to Vincent, and we both know how far he can get in a short amount of time!"

Yuffie pulled back, a true smile on her face now. She nodded firmly and whispered, "Thank you, Aerith!"

Yuffie woke up in the same curled up position she had been when she collapsed on the floor, only the blanket had fallen off her body. The kunoichi got up, turned, and raced up the stairs to pack for her trip. She entered Vincent's room and gazed around, running her hand along the bed that she and he had occupied on the rare occasions that she didn't run off to the nursery and hide. Though she'd never admit it, she cowered from Vincent because she could not take the sight of her fearless gunslinger being so defeated. Looking back, she only wished she could run into his arms and hold him tight, comfort rather than reject him.

"I'm so selfish," Yuffie whispered. She picked Vincent's pillow off of the mattress and held it to her face, inhaling the scent of leather, gunpowder, and black licorice, letting it sooth her heart with the familiar and welcomed smell. "You, Vincent Valentine, can be so freaking difficult, but that's what I love about you. You have to spice up a relationship somehow, I guess. At least we can always look forward to the chase."

The door to Seventh Heaven opened with a low creak as Cloud stepped in and shook his hair of the rain. He listened to the quiet sound of the air conditioning while he set down the keys to Fenrir on the counter and got a glass of water to quench the thirst that had made itself present on the drive home from his latest delivery. The bar felt too quiet, and he gazed around, searching for Tifa. He moved to the bottom of the stairs, listing for a sound before taking steps. When he reached the second floor, he heard muffled weeping from behind Tifa's door.

Cloud pressed one hand to the cool door and the other hovered over the knob. He went to open the door, but thought back to the argument they had had and retreated, ignoring the whimpering from the barmaid. He sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Tifa, are you alright?" Cloud waited for her answer. He heard her stifle her sobs.

"No," she confessed, her voice quiet behind the door.

"Is… there… uh… anything I can do?" Cloud winced at his pathetic attempt at comforting her. The door opened, startling him when Tifa stared into his Mako-blue eyes, rubbing her own, which were red and puffy from crying.

"I visited Yuffie and Vincent."

Cloud offered the barmaid a sympathetic look and shook his head. "Oh, the soap opera couple. What happened?"

Tifa gazed at the floor, mumbling, "He and Yuffie are still fighting. She blew up at me about him and said that she didn't love him, and he overheard. He left, Cloud – left!"

The swordsman sighed and rubbed the back of his head, observing, "Well, he's a lot more fragile than Yuffie suspects. Sure, he's stoic and void sometimes, but his heart is all too easy to break."

Tifa nodded and wiped a few tears away. "She's angry with me because I told her that she should let him go. I said that she wasn't what he needed at the moment, that she couldn't love until she had had time to mourn Rimmy's death."

"I'm guessing she didn't take too kindly to that," Cloud remarked, pressing a hand to Tifa's shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly. "But she's Yuffie, and she doesn't take too kindly to a lot of things, and she'll get over it. I bet she's out there hunting Vincent's ass down right now."

"Vincent Valentine, if I find your ass, it's mine, got it? Well, it was mine before, but now it's mine to destroy!" Yuffie pulled on the feathers of Yuki, steering the chocobo across the Nibel grasslands. She gripped the chocobo tightly in irritation while she scanned the landscape for the gunslinger. She pulled her PHS out after a moment and dialed Cid's number for the umpteenth time.

"WHAT!?" Yuffie rolled her eyes at Cid's greeting.

"Who smoked on your cigarette?"

There was grumbling and obscenities as Cid asked, "What do you want, kiddo?"

Yuffie narrowed her eyes as she raced into the setting sun and replied, "I'm looking for Vince, have you seen him?"

The pilot scoffed into the phone and answered, "Me? Seen the vampire – nah. If he's gone, he's probably back in that coffin."

Yuffie dug her heel into the bird's side and brought her chocobo to a stop. "…I live in the mansion with him, Cid. Why would he hide in the coffin, in our basement? Wait a minute – what are you hiding?"

"He he he… Uh, well, Sher's calling me! Been nice chatting!" The line disconnected and the call ended, leaving a very pissed off Yuffie staring at her cell phone screen.

"Highwind, you're such an ass."

The ninja pushed her chocobo forward, watching as the brilliant streaks of red and gold faded into purple as the sun set. The breeze in the warm air turned chilly and unwelcoming. Yuffie shivered involuntarily at the cool air, wishing Vincent was seated behind her, his chest pressed against her back as he steered them home and fought the biting chill off, keeping her protected and warm. But rather than having her gunslinger's firm chest behind her, she got the opposite of a pleasant zephyr, and all because she wouldn't let him comfort her, and vice versa. If she could do things over again, she'd grieve with him, not against him. She wouldn't let herself build a wall between them and keep him locked out of her heart. No, she would be the first to let him back in.

"Vincent, please come home. Come home, and we can work things out together."

"Cid Highwind!" a voice called, "You put out that cancer-stick right now!"

Vincent smirked as Shera approached, her face disapproving as her husband huffed and ground out his cigarette, all the while mumbling under his breath.

"Oh, Vincent! It's so good to see you again!" Shera beamed, noticing the guest seated on couch in the living room for the first time.

Vincent nodded at the engineer and replied, "Hello, Shera. Congratulations."

Shera smiled fondly as she rubbed her barely rounded stomach. "Thank you, Vincent. I don't think I can stand to wait another seven months. Although, I'm not sure if seven months will be long enough to air the smell of tobacco out of here. Now, if I could only get the Captain to stop smoking in the house…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm tryin', okay?" Cid drummed his fingers on his knee as he grinned at his pregnant wife. She shook her head and gave him a kiss on the cheek before returning to the kitchen to fix supper. Cid turned to Vincent and bent forward in his seat, regarding him curiously.

"Yuffie's on to us."

"Oh?" Vincent inquired, wondering why the ninja even bothered to find out where he had decided to reside for the time being.

Cid sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair, stating, "She cares about you, Vince. She says a lot of crap that she don't really mean, and I have a feelin' that's what happened back there."

Vincent merely grunted and looked away, the subject still too raw and touchy to discuss at the moment. Cid leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head, deciding that it was time to drop the subject. He rolled his shoulders back and grinned, shouting, "Hey, Sher, what's for dinner?"

Said woman leaned her head out of the kitchen and answered, "I'm cooking steak and baked potatoes-"

"Hell yeah-"

"- For Vincent and me. You're having a salad, mister. You need to start eating healthier. Can't have the father of my child setting a bad example for the little one."

Cid's face fell, and the frown looked to Vincent like an expression he might have seen on a character from one of Yuffie's silly cartoons. He stood and held a hand out to the pilot, helping him up. Grumbling, Cid mumbled, "You had better enjoy that steak, Valentine."

Vincent replied, "Hmm, I prefer fresh kills to dead and cooked ones."

Cid almost choked; he could have sworn that was a vampire joke.

Reeve forced his eyes open after his head had slipped from his palm, which resulted in startling him awake while he glanced around at the department- heads as they each gave him a recap of the past week. He found no interest in the trending charts that projected, 'Reeve, the bunny in your shower has an axe – he's after your bananas!'

No, wait, that couldn't be right.

Ah, a dream, Reeve explained, waking himself up once again while one of the scouts described an incline in the monster population near Gongaga . Reeve sighed, promising himself that he would 'only shut his eyes to let them rest,' and, 'he wouldn't fall asleep.'

Seconds later, his Head-of-Defense morphed into a chocobo that was giving birth to General Sephiroth.

He needed coffee.

Bad.

"Reeve, sir?" a voice piped up, and he nearly cried out in relief as he turned in his chair to face a commanding officer that saluted him from the door to the convention center.

"Yes, general?"

"We have a bit of a situation downstairs." The man hesitated, stating, "But if you have more pressing matters to attend to here-"

"No, this situation sounds awfully serious. Allow me to assess the problem before the circumstances have time to worsen. Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me." The W.R.O. commissioner bowed to the men and took off to the door, following the general down the hall.

"What is wrong?" Reeve enquired, turning his head to the general.

"It is the Tsviet," the general began.

Groaning, Reeve pressed, "What has happened?"

The general's face was grim as he explained, "It appears that someone had loosened her restraints. Well, that is an understatement. Someone released her."

Reeve's dark eyes widened and he demanded, "Released? Then she is gone… And do we know who this conspirator is? Has someone checked the security footage?"

Nodding, the general replied, "Yes, we have men on the security footage. So far, however, we do not know anything. I will alert you as soon as I find any information out."

Reeve's head spun as he considered the appalling thought of someone betraying the W.R.O. The commissioner and general came to the room that once held Rosso, and he shivered at the emptiness. The damp, stagnant air pushed against his skull, as did the weight of the absent Tsviet.

"Gaia," Reeve cursed. "She's always gets away." He knelt down beside the empty chair and observed the broken chains. He fished his PHS out of his pocket and pressed four.

After a moment, the line picked up and he heard slight whimpering, and then, "Hello?"

"Yuffie, are you crying?" Reeve asked, genuine concern in his voice. He heard the ninja exhale deeply, and he could tell that she was disappointed. "Were you expecting someone else?"

He heard her take a shaky breath and answer, "I was… hoping it was Vincent."

Reeve sighed, shaking his head. "Are you two fighting again, Yuffie?"

She answered in a miserable voice, "Uh-huh. He left again, but it's even worse 'cause I told him to leave! I mean, honestly, Reeve – I actually told him to get out!"

Reeve's eye twitched subconsciously as he felt his forehead pulse. It was always something. Grudgingly, Reeve put on his big-boy undies and stated, "I'm sorry that you are having so many personal problems, Yuffie, but at the moment, your presence is required at the W.R.O. headquarters. There are urgent matters to attend to, and I need you to pull yourself together. You are my head of espionage, and your skills, above all others, are needed at this moment if we are to solve anything."

"Okay," Yuffie answered, her voice less shaky, "I'll be there soon."

The W.R.O. commissioner ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket, leaning back to look around the dimly lit room.

"Are those tapes done being reviewed?" he asked one of the guards.

"Yes sir," the man answered, then added hesitantly, "but we found nothing."

"Nothing?" Reeve repeated, incredulous. "How is there nothing on fifteen different security tapes from cameras stationed at fifteen different points between the inside of this room and the exit on this floor!? Not to mention the other floors tapes!? And just where were all of the guards I had stationed around this chamber?"

"I apologize, sir, but my men tell me that whoever planned this had gone to great lengths to render the cameras useless. All of them were vandalized prior to the incident. And the guards had all been knocked out, perhaps with gas."

The commissioner pinched the bridge of his nose, not knowing how to react to the current information. He considered calling Vincent, but he knew that having Yuffie and Vincent in the same room with each other after the ninja's revelation was nothing short of a death wish. Instead, he merely sat back and anticipated Yuffie's arrival, all the while wondering where the damned Tsviet had gone.

An hour later, Yuffie stormed into the facility, looking like some wild bounty hunter from hell. The only thing she was missing was a wall of flames trailing her form and a couple of banjo-strumming demons. He thought about calling Vincent again…

"Ah, hello, Yuffie! If you'd like to discuss-"

"Cut the crap, Reeve, and let's get down to business." She glared at him stonily, crossing her lithe arms over her chest and leaning against a wall. Reeve blinked, but then waved his shock aside, assuming that she was only channeling her anger and sorrow into hard-work.

"Alright then. Rosso the Crimson has escaped, and she didn't get away alone. Someone smashed the security cameras."

Yuffie's face drained as he told her of the Tsviet's escape, and he briefly regretted calling her and putting her on the case. And then he decided that had it been him that had lost a child to the monster, he'd want to be the first to know if she was on the loose.

"First order of business," Yuffie commanded, composing herself and slipping into the role of head of the espionage department. "Take me to the chamber where she was kept."

Reeve nodded and motioned for her to follow as he led them down the stairwell to the clammy room with the single naked light fixture that flickered ominously in the vacant area. The ninja narrowed her eyes and gazed around, absorbing every detail of the room. Yuffie crouched beside the chair at the center and studied the broken chains.

After a moment, she stated, "This isn't a clean break – odd. There should be no jagged edges aside from the ends of the restraints, which would indicate that some sort of tool was used to break the cuffs. If that were the case, we could compare the instrument to the abrasion, and we might be enabled to determine what tool was used to fracture the chains, and then we could check local suppliers and see if any had recent purchases of the tool in question- and that could propel the investigation, if the tool were not a common instrument found around the house."

"But?" Reeve prompted.

"But this isn't a clean break; in fact, there are no jagged edges that formed from a wrenching or sawing motion. It seems that the metal here has changed its state of matter.

"Come again?" Reeve asked, slightly mystified that Yuffie handled her job so well. It was almost as if the ninja was an entirely different person when she went to work.

Yuffie shrugged and clarified, "These chains have been melted, I think." She took care to cover her hand in cloth before lifting the chain and holding it up slightly for the commissioner's inspection. She set it down again and confirmed, "It was slightly warmed, and here you can see where the metal heated and melted, then cooled once again in a clumpy fashion. It's sort of bubbly right in that tiny spot there." She pointed in indication at a little section near the break, and Reeve was slightly awed that she caught such an obscure little air pocket on the cuff.

Yuffie glanced up at him and declared, "Reeve, we are now searching for a type of tool that can reach a temperature hot enough to liquefy iron, but thin enough to manage to break the shackle without injuring Rosso to the point of rendering her incapable of getting away. This means, this instrument must be fairly thin in order to have such a small concentration of heat in one area to avoid unnecessary injury. It also must have a very small surface area at the site of the concentration."

Reeve blinked at the surprising ninja, and then in a completely uncharacteristic way of the official, stated, "Damn."

Vincent gazed out across the landscape of Rocket Town, watching the flaming streaks of the sunset fade into the early stages of the violet nightfall. He sighed, imaging a night after the Omega incident, a night he and Yuffie had spent observing the sun as it sunk below the horizon. He wondered if Yuffie watched the sun set and thought of him, for dusk only brought him memories of her. It had only been two days since he had left Yuffie, but already he could not focus on anything other than his ninja. Earlier that day, in a desperate attempt to return to his love, he'd nearly – nearly - begged on his hands and knees for Cid to take him back to Nibelheim, to which Cid responded by slapping him and crying, 'Yo, vampire, what the hell's the matter with you!? Pull yourself together, Vince!'

Vincent had not appreciated that, but at least it had served as a splash of cold water on his face. The pilot was right, Vincent needed to calm down and take it like a man. Yuffie needed space, and they both needed time. So, for her sake, he'd stay away.

"Vincent, are you hungry? The steaks are ready." The gunslinger turned and nodded at Shera, thanking her for her hospitality before allowing her to guide him back into the house. Cid had already taken a seat at the table and was proceeding to pick at a tomato in his salad as if it were an eyeball.

"Cid Highwind, you stop playing with your food like a toddler and eat it!" Shera demanded, rolling her eyes at her husband. Begrudgingly, he shoved the cherry red sphere into his mouth and bit down, causing juice to fly out of his mouth and land on the leafy green lettuce sheets in his bowl. He scowled and made a big scene of chewing.

He then spat, "Tastes like shit."

Shera turned to Vincent and apologized sweetly, "I'm sorry for his rude behavior, Vincent. But, as you were both AVALANCHE companions for some time, you are probably accustomed to it. Perhaps someday he'll grow up and quit cussing."

Smirking, Vincent seated himself across from his friend, holding the blue-eyed gaze with his crimson one and replying, "To imply that Cid Highwind will quit cussing is like saying, perhaps Jenova is not truly blue."

Cid glared at the gunslinger, but couldn't help but feel somewhat proud that his friend was loosening up and cracking jokes. He needed the break from all of the melodrama.

Shera laughed a little at Vincent's comment and shook her head, returning to the table with the steaks. She served Vincent and he thanked her, all the while making a show of taking a bite of the steak and swallowing it, while Cid continued to glower.

"You enjoyin' that stake, Valentine?" Cid bullied in a low and gravelly voice.

Vincent smiled at Shera and answered politely, "It's perhaps the best steak I've had in my life. How are you enjoying your salad, Cid?"

Shera hid her smirk behind a glass of water, taking pleasure in the little war going on across her dinner table between the Captain and the gunslinger.

Marlene watched from her seat at a table as Tifa filled glasses with alcohol and served her customers, smiling warmly at each and every one. She'd been working doubly hard on this particular night, though Marlene couldn't determine why. She looked back down at the picture she was drawing. It was an illustration of Yuffie and Vincent, a rather crude depiction of the gunslinger and ninja. Yuffie was holding their daughter in her arms, and Vincent was standing behind them protectively.

"What are you drawing there?" Cloud asked, leaning over Marlene's shoulder.

She giggled and held her picture out to him, exclaiming, "It's Uncle Vinnie, Aunt Yuffie, and their baby!"

Cloud took the picture from her grip and examined it with a bittersweet half-smile, which he forced solely for the purpose of appeasing the little girl. He handed it back to her and she gazed up at him with warm brown eyes, asking, "Do you like it?"

He ruffled Marlene's hair and answered, "Yeah."

She beamed at him with pride and skipped over to Tifa, showing the barmaid her drawing while Cloud watched the two of them. Tifa glanced over at him, her wine eyes soft as she tilted her head at the swordsman. He nodded at her, and she held out a glass of whisky. He made his way to the bar and accepted the drink, following Marlene with his eyes as she bounded back to her chair with a grin.

Cloud raised the glass to his lips and took a little sip, waiting for Tifa to start a conversation or choose not to speak at all. She reached for a dirty glass and began scrubbing it with a soapy rag, turning her attention to the tumbler.

The silence slightly unnerved Cloud. Sure, he enjoyed quiet and rather detested having to speak much, but he hated getting the silent treatment from Tifa. He enjoyed talking to her. He enjoyed being with her.

The door opened and Marlene squealed, "Daddy!"

Cloud turned to see the gun-armed man standing in the doorway of the bar, his face grim. Cloud raised an eyebrow, silently questioning the man what was wrong. He shook his head at Cloud, his way of asking him not to bring it up until later.

Barret scooped his daughter into his arms and forced a smile, asking, "How's mah baby girl?"

She hugged him around his neck and replied, "We had pancakes for breakfast!"

He chuckled, teasing, "Did you?" Marlene nodded and the dark skinned man set her on the floor, turning to Cloud. His face took on a look of foreboding as he motioned with his head for Cloud to follow him.

Tifa caught the swordsman's eyes, mouthing, 'What's wrong?' He shrugged and the got up, following Barret outside. The exited the crowded bar, both quiet as they stood on the desolate street in the night air and waited for someone to start the conversation.

Finally, the gunman began grimly, "W.R.O.'s lost track of Rosso. Some dumbass fool let 'er go, and now she's on the loose."

"Who?" Cloud questioned, crossing his arms.

"Dunno, but Reeve figures it's some frickin' turncoat. I'm going to go ahead and take Marlene with me. I want to keep an eye on her."

Cloud nodded and turned back to the bar, but then a thought came to his mind and he asked, "Has… anyone told Yuffie yet?" The idea of the little ninja not knowing that the woman who ordered her daughter's murder was on the loose caused the swordsman's stomach to churn.

Barret nodded, saying tersely, "Reeve contacted her first. She's been assigned to the case, actually. Poor kid."

A small frown made its way to Cloud's face as he nodded, his Mako-infused blue eyes dull. "Yeah."

Entering the bar, Cloud made a beeline straight for Tifa, drawing her aside and rehashing, "Rosso's escaped, and Reeve thinks someone helped her get out, possibly from the inside. Yuffie's been assigned to the case, so she knows already. Barret's come to get Marlene so that he can keep watch on her."

Tifa's eyes widened at the news and she repeated, "Rosso's escaped?"

Cloud nodded, and Tifa pressed her hands to the edge of the bar counter, shaking her head. "Gaia – Yuffie must be devastated."

Shrugging, Cloud answered, "It's definitely going to be hard for her to come to terms with."

The barmaid lifted a hand to her mouth, whispering, "I hope they find her soon, Cloud. Who knows what they plan to do next."

He nodded, gazing off to the side distantly. After a moment, he heard Tifa shift, and then she was back to working, and he was back to being ignored as the conversation dropped.

Yuffie scoured over different reports, each a statement of the where the W.R.O. officers were at seven that night. It was the usual, 'I was in my office typing up reports,' and, 'I have a room next to an air-conditioning duct, so I don't hear much of anything.' Frankly, it was beginning to piss Yuffie off. She was trying to catch the woman who masterminded a plot that succeeded in the slaying of her infantile daughter, so she was going to need a lot more than –

" 'I was banging the janitor'?" Yuffie incredulously read from the report, rolling her chocolate eyes and then slumping forward, running her hands through her glossy hair. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her drowsy eyes. The thought crossed her mind to just toss the damned reports into the trashcan and light them on fire, but she figured that that would get her nowhere. Sighing, Yuffie pulled out another statement and scanned it, finding nothing of interest, that is, until she caught the weapons' detail.

Under the officer's name, a list of the weapons he excelled in was given, along with a note of what weapon he used most often. It claimed it to be a taser, which Yuffie found odd. Certainly, tasers must reach some degree of heat, but she doubted that even over a long period of time that it could melt through the shackles, and by that time, the current would have had Rosso out cold, or maybe even dead. Even so, it triggered something in Yuffie's subconscious, something she desperately tried to remember. After a few more moments of struggling to obtain the information from the back of her mind, the feeling vanished and Yuffie could no longer determine what it was her mind was trying to point out to her. She only shrugged and went back to searching through the reports, this time paying vigilant attention to every detail in hopes that the memory might resurface and throw her a bone in the fruitless investigation.

Tell me what you thought! Is it getting better, worse, staying the same? In any case, I hope you enjoyed! If you noticed any, and I mean any mistakes, you let me know, 'kay? I hate it when I skip over something.

Have a good Easter if, you know, you believe in it! I do :)