Everyone must have given up on me  SORRY I took so long to update, I'll try not to do that again. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, it's been very helpful. Anyways, here's a sweet chapter for you 

Chapter 9

"Train me."

Vincent's eyes widened slightly as Tifa grabbed his arm and looked up at him with determined eyes. "What?" he enquired, raising a delicate eyebrow. I wonder if he waxes… wait, what the hell am I thinking!?

"Train me!" she said in a firmer voice, "Teach me how to use the crucifix! Teach me how to control it!" "It's not as easy as that love," Adamus interrupted, laying a hand on her shoulder and turning her to him, "It may take months, even years."

"Well we don't have years, do we? I'll just work with what time I have. This is the only thing that can beat Cloud!" Tifa insisted, gripping the slim, elegant cross in her fingers. She turned to Vincent, who was looking quizzically at her with his brow still raised.

He cocked his Cerberus and looked at her.

She couldn't help but smile.

"That's all well and good Vincent, but it didn't work last time. Your guns can stall him, not - " she stopped in mid-sentence. "…Kill him…?" Adamus murmured. Tifa covered her mouth with her hand.

"It's too dangerous." Vincent said curtly.

Tifa rolled her eyes, her strength fast returning. "Vincent, I have a pendant that shoots blue fire and drains my strength and an ex-boyfriend that's possessed by an evil vampire spirit who wants to wipe out the human race. I don't think it gets much more dangerous than that!"

She shouted the last word so loud even Vincent took a small step back. Tifa took a deep breath, then sighed. She continued, more calmly, "Look, Vincent, I just want to be able to do something about this. It isn't my fault, but it's something my ancestors have placed on this generation now, and… it's all up to me."

She stared up at Vincent with a plea shining in her wine colored eyes, a plea so desperate, so determined, that Vincent mentally slapped himself as he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Us," he corrected, deadpan. Tifa gasped, then blinked a couple of times. He looked at her, and Tifa knew she wasn't imagining the slightly warm shimmer to his blood colored orbs. "It's all up to us."

Tifa's eyes widened and she broke out in a dazzling smile as she jumped up from the bed and enveloped Adamus in a hug. Adamus regarded Vincent with a sly gaze over her shoulder, but Vincent quickly blinked away the warmth from his expression and turned abruptly. "Rest," he said curtly, walking away. "I'll be in the cave. We start tomorrow."

Tifa turned and cast a confused look at him, wondering at his sudden change in emotion. She looked at Adamus, who smiled softly. "Quite a soft spot he has for you."

################################

"Concentrate."

How can I concentrate when you're so… unclothed??

Tifa struggled to look away from his bare chest; indeed, it was so difficult that she gripped her crucifix hard enough for its intricate patterns to imprint on her palm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay… here goes…

She placed her fingers on the cross hanging around her neck and drew a mental picture in her mind. She remembered the feeling of the strange blue light flowing like quicksilver through her veins and focused on the dagger flying towards her, the one that Vincent had thrown towards her with amazing precision, with clearly experienced fingers. Such long, strong fingers and such sinewed hands and arms were experienced in many things. Such hands could wreak havoc, she knew, but they could bring great pleasure elsewhere.

"Tifa!"

Her eyes flew open just in time to see the dagger less than two feet away from her. She jumped agilely out of the way, but then groaned and dropped to the ground in frustration. Gosh, he's impossible! She put her head in her hands and laced her fingers through her hair, tugging it, trying to pull out the erotic images from her head.

She heard the slide of sand underfoot, and when she raised her head she almost groaned. He was approaching her, every movement of his body making the muscles of his toned abs and broad chest ripple and bulge.

It was a scorching hot day. Both Tifa and Vincent had rolled up their trousers to knee length, and Tifa had folded her sleeveless top over her breasts, exposing a flat, toned belly to what little wind was blowing.

Vincent had ridded himself of his cowl and muscle shirt and had removed his boots, and his bare chest paired with his untidily folded pants and long, flowing hair gave him an almost primal look, but nonetheless, he was mind-numbingly sexy.

"Something is bothering you," he sighed, dropping to the ground next to her, much to her dismay. You don't know the half of it. "I'm fine," she snapped, exasperated. Goosebumps rose on her shoulders as his hair brushed against her sweaty skin. His closeness did nothing to allay her discomfort, nor did his masculine scent, musky with a touch of sweat.

"I saw a lake from the cave yesterday," she said, getting up, "I'll take a bath, calm myself a little." She walked briskly away from the object of her very explicit and unwanted fantasies, mentally slapping herself as she directed her legs to walk towards a small lake she had seen glistening in the moonlight the night before, nestled among a dense copse of trees.

I can't believe I'm thinking like this… I mean, it's about time I admit to myself that he's attractive, but this is ridiculous. I just lost my boyfriend, not to mention the fact that he's been cheating on me all this time anyway, and making advances on my best friend. I can't be thinking about Vincent like this, I have to think about my life now. How do I turn this right side up??

She sighed with defeat as she arrived at the small, dense copse. She weaved through the trees until she came across the small opening where the shimmering lake lay; surprisingly clean with no sign of wildlife other than some reeds in the water.

She glanced from left to right, and then peeled her sweat-soaked blouse off her skin, sighing with relief as her skin came into contact with a brief gust of wind. She rolled her pants up to their very shortest, but kept them on for quick escape purposes.

She daintily dipped a toe into the water, finding it pleasantly cool. With no hesitation she shallow dived in, her slim but curvy body slicing through the calm, glassy surface of the lake. She smiled as the cool water rinsed the sweat off her skin and the stress out of her mind as she swam right down to the other end of the lake.

When she emerged, she blinked crystal droplets out of wine colored eyes, but the first thing she saw almost made tears come to her eyes instead. A pair of well-muscled calves and feet stared back at her. Her ninja instincts told her to attack, but recognition told her that Vincent was too strong an opponent anyways.

She lifted her chin slowly, her eyes traveling up the length of his black clothed thighs and over the toned stomach and broad, rippling chest, past those thin, moist, sensuously parted lips to his blood colored eyes.

They were dark, mysterious, but held a glow that Tifa had never seen before. Much to her dismay, he was not returning her gaze.

It slowly dawned on her that she was standing in a lake of crystal clear water wearing rolled up pants and a clingy, wet black brassiere. Her eyes widened before a crimson blush flickered across her cheeks.

In a split second, the look of astonishment on her face was replaced by anger and, without thinking, she flung both arms out of the water towards him, sending a splash of water against his bare chest.

He looked down at his chest where beads of water trickled down his pale skin, then looked at Tifa who, realizing her actions, slunk a few feet away from him, eyeing him warily.

He said nothing, but closed his eyes and sat down at the water's edge, folding his trousers over his knees and dangling his legs into the water. She narrowed her eyes at him, and then swam away like an impertinent mermaid, to the other side of the lake. She kept swimming and slashing for a little while longer, but the awareness of his eyes on her drove her mad.

I've got an idea…

She smirked, then took a deep breath and submerged herself in the water. She was trained to hold her breath for long periods, and waited till she was certain he'd be wondering where she was. Slowly, stealthily, she swam towards his legs, smirking to herself. Then, as she came upon his legs, she jumped out of the water and splashed a shower at him, intent on startling him.

It wasn't successful.

Before her mind could conceive what had happened, her body was immersed within the water and her eyes were focused on the end of her nose, wondering how the dollop of wet, sticky mud had gotten there. She glanced up into Vincent's eyes and swore she saw a smug glitter there. What the..??!

Vincent held a handful of the sticky stuff in his hand. Did he… throw it at me…? Tifa stared at him, dumbfounded. Vincent Valentine had thrown dirt at her.

DIRT.

"Don't wet me," he said curtly, throwing back his head and flinging wet black locks behind him. Tifa blinked, once, twice, and then something clicked in her head.

Before she knew what she was doing, she lunged at him, out of the water and onto his chest, throwing him rather roughly onto his back. HOW DARE HE!? No-one throws DIRT at me and looks so smug after it!!! Don't you get cheeky with me, Valentine!

She raised her fist to punch his face when she felt him rise below her, and a squeal of surprise escaped her lips when she felt herself being turned over and pressed to the ground. As she hit the ground with a thump, she gasped and shut her eyes, bearing the slight pain of her spine being pressed to the hard, wet mud.

She opened her eyes slowly, carefully, and saw his red ones staring back at her, dark, warm and fiery. It was a blaze like never before, and she found herself captivated by them, too captivated to notice that he was basically lying on top of her, that they were both wet, that his body and hers were pressed flush together and that his skin and hers molded together with a unison that was shocking.

Slowly, deliberately, with his eyes never leaving hers, he lowered his head towards hers, his long black hair bracketing her face, hiding them away from all else…