Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Ugh. Sorry this took so long to post! I swear I'm not dead yet. Hopefully, I'll be posting a lot more of my updates for all my in progress stories throughout the summer. Let's hope! Anyways, reviews are good for morale and they make me love you just a little bit more. And who doesn't want a panda's love? Seriously? You know you do. So review! (Hey that rhymed! I wish I could do that all the time.) Oh dear...it's late. Imma go to bed now...

OH! Also, I accredit the makings of this chapter to New Divide by Linkin Park and Let's Start A Riot by Three Days Grace. xD

Perhaps Not Her Finest Moment

Chapter IV

by Miranda Panda-chan

The alarms and gunfire started at around three in the morning. Mothers screamed as their children cried while the militia of Kalm gathered and grabbed their weapons to defend their town. The explosions started around four, and Vincent watched the chaos unfold knowing who had started it. He helped several of the innocent families under attack shooting down one of the gun-toting terrorists with perfect aim. He slipped the war helmet off, reminiscent of the helmets worn during the first Wutain War, out of morbid curiosity, already knowing what he would find beneath the skillfully hammered metal. It didn't stop the mild shock as the face of Wutain youth stared up at him with horror-stricken and deadened eyes. Crimson eyes silently scanned the burning area, trying to tune out the screams in the search for nearly silent agile footsteps. He jumped, climbing silently on to the top of a roof, peering over the alleyways. The small stature of Yuffie had to be in the streets below…he just had to find the right dark alley and….there she was. He thought quickly, moving into action a mere moment after he'd spotted her. She was trying to stay out of sight, of course, and her posture suggested an injury of sorts. He quickened his pace, running a little behind her along the rooftops while she remained on the streets below. He watched her closely, it seemed she was looking for something as she ran out of yet another evacuated house.

However, she had noticed him chasing her far before he'd gotten close and had acted accordingly: she'd begun to run faster. Vincent growled in annoyance; only the guilty ran.

And Yuffie was always running.

A warning shot rang out as Cerberus's barrel exuded wispy white smoke. It was his way of saying to come quietly or he'd use force…something he'd begun to do on their WRO missions together. Reeve normally liked to keep the death count to a minimum, after all.

But she wasn't his partner now…

She was the criminal he was chasing.

She swore loudly, swearing to Leviathan as a second bullet embedded itself in her right shoulder mid-jump, the momentum throwing her off-course.

Yuffie fell to the ground with thud.

Blood poured from the wound as intense pain shot through her arm. She rolled to the side, her expression pained as she held her shoulder with her left hand, her right arm hanging limply by her side as she held a kunai knife loosely between her fingers. Vincent landed softly on the ground a little ways from her.

"Guess you caught me, Vinnie." He remained silent, as she turned around slowly, a grimace gracing her face as she hugged her shoulder a little tighter as it shot a jolt of pain through her arm. "So you gonna try and stop me now, too?" His crimson eyes took in her battle worn form. She looked like she hadn't slept in days judging by the dark circles under her normally cheerful eyes, and he couldn't help but notice how she walked with a slight limp.

"You started a war." It wasn't really a question. A bitter laugh bubbled forth from her lips as she gazed at him.

"Sure, we'll go with that. So what are you going to do, Vincent?" She looked at him, storm gray eyes begging him for something that he couldn't figure out. "Are you going to kill me now?"

"Why?" She didn't have to ask what his question pertained, too. She had known he would ignore her last question.

"Does it really matter? I'm killing innocent people. Haven't you heard the reports about us crazed Wutains slaughtering hundreds of people to exact our revenge on the world?" she smiled ruefully, "Ya know, pretending like you care kinda makes you look like an asshole, Vincent. It's a really rotten thing of you to do. I thought you of all people would get it, but obviously, you don't…" she grumbled, pulling her hand away from her shoulder only to grimace at the crimson coat that covered her flesh. She looked back up at him, leaning against the wall for support. His eyes seemed to devour her, swallowing her whole and mesmerizing her all in the same look. She growled lightly, unable to push back the feeling of betrayal welling up inside. Unable to look at him with those eyes staring at her with what might even be Vincent's version of concern. The longer those eyes held her own the angrier she felt, the more she wanted to yell and scream and tell him everything and try and make it make sense to someone who hadn't been there and she just wanted to hit him because goddamn it he'd shot her! So she went for the next best thing…she was going to annoy the hell out of him, "By the way, your aim sucks. You can hardly even call this an injury! Haven't you been ordered to take me down at all costs due to being a 'potential terrorist'?—or is it the victorious glory you're after?—maybe they'll reinstate you as a Turk-!"

"Stop it." he was monotone, but the warning flashed in his eyes, "You don't have any idea what you're talking about." She couldn't the self-righteous satisfaction that it brought her...she was the only one she knew of that could get a rise out of the stoic and dark man. However, her victory was short-lived as she processed his words. His misassumption striking a cord somewhere inside, fueling her fury.

"Like hell I don't! Like hell I don't know that AVALANCHE has been employed by them to take out the insurgents, to take me out at all costs! Like hell I don't know that all of you fucking agreed!" she spat at him. His eyes widened, "Did you think I was stupid? Did you really think that I'd start this without knowing who I could trust? I'll admit, I hadn't expected this. A full-scale stab in the back, but I suppose I should feel flattered—after all, Reeve did send his best operative."

"All we need is a reason and we're back on your side-you know that."

"Bullshit! You're working for him, so stop lying!" she yelled angrily. She suddenly looked up at the sound of thunderous explosion in the distance. "Shit!" she swore under her breath, looking at the pillar of smoke rising into the sky from what appeared to be near the town square. She looked back at Vincent, panic and anger swirling in storm gray eyes. "You want a reason, Vince?" she asked scathingly, "Fine. This is for Gongaga!" she whispered harshly. He gave her a hard stare, eyes pleading with her not to continue—not to make herself another nameless face that he was told to take out by Reeve and the WRO. That he would end up having to either kill or incarcerate.

"This is for WUTAI!" her battle cry echoed as she threw down a smoke-bomb, he lunged having anticipated it, as the alleyway became an opaque screen of gray. However, the ninja was nowhere to be found.

Vincent shielded his eyes, coughing slightly, glowering at the empty space now in front of him where the youthful ninja had once stood as the smoke cleared. The night seemed to settle as the echoes of her words rose from the rest of her army…

For Gongaga!

FOR WUTAI!

…a mournful cry that slithered up from every crevice of the town that was otherwise oddly quiet. The chants echoed loudly, and he jumped up once more to stand above the streets. The soldiers were retreating from the decimated battlefield of Kalm into the darkness of the wilderness. He wasn't certain, but he thought he could still here Yuffie's voice above the crowd, her cry louder, filled with a fury that might've sent a shiver up his spine had he not been who he was. But it was him. And it was Yuffie. And Yuffie did not scare Vincent…

However, the thought that she might get herself killed mildly unnerved him.

Over the horizon, the sky was lightening, the darkness giving way to a pinkish-orange glow, the sun peeking over the hills. The fires seemed to be dying down, and he doubted there were any living Wutaian soldiers still running about the streets below as he dropped back down into the alleyway. He tried to ignore the blood that had pooled between the cobblestones as he exited the dark crevice.

The townspeople were gathering in the town square, dragging the dead bodies of their friends into one organized and stately line, and dragging the dead bodies of their enemies onto a morbid and macabre pile of corpses, setting it on fire as each townsmen had their own personal revenge by spitting into the blazing pyre as they passed. The Wutain youths that had been filled with so much life and energy stared at him, fire echoing in the recesses of their dead eyes. He couldn't help but feel condemned…those eyes accused him even now, even though they were stormy gray and filled with life and not here…those eyes blamed him.

He walked swiftly past the burning bodies, exiting Kalm altogether in lieu of Midgar, he'd find a chocobo along the way or something.

Those eyes may have blamed him…but he'd accused her first.

A/N: So that's it for now folks. I was kinda sorta really yes seriously proud of this chapter. I think my imagery worked out a lot better than I thought it would. Agreed? Disagree?

Did it suck? You should tell me in a review!

-Miranda Panda out.-