Hey, I'm here with another chapter. I'm sorry for making you guys wait again. A muscle in my left shoulder and left side of my neck was hurting and I didn't feel like updating. I'm happy to say that I am feeling better and able to give you another chapter. Another AVALANCHE member will be making an appearance. Can you guess who before you get there? Anyway, on with the chapter, enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters. I'm just borrowing them.

Chapter 10 Shopping, Job and Piano

Vincent had woken up early as he usually did. He knew he had cleaning that needed to be done. He was going to hold off on the upstairs since Rose was still sleeping. He didn't want to leave the house either and leave Rose alone to go grocery shopping, especially since she was still asleep. He was halfway cleaning through the kitchen when Tifa came by to drop off some breakfast food for the two of them. He put it in the fridge for later and continued cleaning. Once he was done in the kitchen he went upstairs to check on Rose. It was nine, but he let her continue to sleep.

It was going after ten when Rose finally did wake up. She forced herself to get out of bed. She walked into the bathroom and washed her face, brushed her teeth and hair. She then put on blue jean shorts and a short sleeved pretty light green shirt. After she finished getting dressed she put her hair up in a pony tail.

She walked out of the bathroom and walked to the bed and made it. She wasn't too comfortable with the idea of sleeping in the bed, but she hoped that feeling would soon pass. Once she finished that she started towards the door, but stopped when she heard something. She cocked her head to the side when she saw a shadow of a nose under the door and figured out that the noise she heard was sniffing. The dog was actually sniffing under the door.

She walked out of the room and was instantly greeted by Dixie who was wagging her tail furiously. "Good morning to you to." Rose said as she closed the door behind her. "Where's Vincent, huh?" she asked as she walked down the stairs with the dog.

When she came into the living room, he was moving the last piece of the sectional couch together. "Trying to rearrange furniture?"

Vincent quickly turned to the doorway. "I didn't wake you did I?"

She shook her head. "I woke up on my own." She said with a yawn. "You should have woken me up. I would have helped you clean."

"It's not a big deal." He said. "Tifa dropped off some food if you want me to cook breakfast."

"Nah-uh. You started cleaning without me, I'm cooking breakfast." She interrupted. She headed towards the kitchen before he could even begin to protest.

He followed her into the kitchen where he watched her get out eggs, bacon and batter for pancakes. When she started struggling to find the frying pan and griddle, he helped her out by showing her where they were along with a turner.

"How do you like your eggs?" she asked, as she stirred up the pancake batter a little.

"Scrambled will be fine." He said as he laid the bacon in the frying pan.

"Vincent! I'm supposed to be cooking!" Rose playfully hollered.

"You're going to be helping me later with the rest of the cleaning, it's only fair." He teased back as the bacon began to sizzle.

She gave him a playful glare before turning back to the griddle to start the pancakes. "Fine." She grumbled in defeat.

The cleaning of the, guest bedroom and bathroom, the piano room, and two rooms upstairs didn't take as long with the two of them working together. Rose sat down on the couch in the living room when they finished.

"I cannot remember a time in my life that I dusted so many books." She said.

"Sorry, it's works and information that I've gathered in my travels around the planet." Vincent replied sitting next to her.

"So, do you play?" she asked, nodding towards the doorway that led to the piano room.

"Yes, a little bit. I don't play as much as I used to when I was younger." He answered.

"I'd like to hear you play sometime." She said

"Do you play?" he asked.

Rose didn't get a chance to answer when they heard yelling from outside.

"Vincent!"

Rose looked at him. "That has to be Yuffie."

"Your assumption is correct." He said standing. He wasn't sure if he had unlocked the front door or not. The answer came when she came bursting into the room and nearly tackled Vincent to the floor in a hug.

"Cloud just told me that you were home. When did you get back? How was your trip? Was the planet interesting?" she babbled.

"One question at a time please, Yuffie." Vincent replied.

Yuffie disengaged herself from him and noticed Rose sitting on the couch. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company."

"It's fine." Rose said.

"Yuffie, this is Rose. She actually came home with me from her planet." Vincent said.

Her eyes rounded in momentary shock before looking at Rose. "That's so cool."

Rose blinked in surprise. "I was not expecting that reaction."

"How different is our world from yours? How similar is it?" she asked.

"As far as I've seen, it's very similar, but I haven't actually gone out to explore and see things yet." Rose answered.

"Then you've got to go out. You probably want more clothes, makeup, maybe a swimsuit." Yuffie began to babble as she took out her cell phone and started clicking on the buttons.

"No Yuffie, I don't want to drag Vincent out for that." Rose tried to protest.

"Rose, Yuffie's right. You do need more clothes than what you have with you now and you can get makeup if you want." Vincent said. "We have to get groceries anyway."

"It's settled. Tifa's coming and we're going to take you shopping." Yuffie said.

"I don't have any money to pay for it." Rose said.

"Don't worry about it. We can pay for it." Yuffie replied.

"You don't take a guy makeup shopping. A friend and I learned that the hard way." Rose argued.

"Vincent will be fine. He's very resilient." Yuffie replied.

Rose couldn't help but laugh at that. A couple of minutes later Tifa arrived with her car and they went to the nearest store to buy clothes and makeup. Rose started browsing for the warm season they were currently in. She had decided to buy clothes for the other seasons when she could afford them. Hopefully she would have a job by then and wouldn't have to rely on everyone else to buy them for her.

"Is the material any different?" Yuffie asked after about an hour of choosing outfits.

"I feel some difference, but there really isn't that much of a difference here than from my home planet. It seems….softer or something." Rose answered.

After Rose had assured them she had enough clothes they moved onto the makeup section. When they got there, Rose seemed a little lost as to what foundation she should get.

"Judging by your skin tone, I would say this foundation would be the best for you." Tifa said, after seeing how confused Rose was. "And this eye shadow and lipstick will go with most of the outfits that you have. When you get more formal clothes, I'll come back here with you and we'll get more makeup."

"Listen to Tifa, she knows what she's talking about." Yuffie said. "She taught me things about makeup I didn't know about till after she dolled me up one day."

Rose nodded. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

She moved onto the nail polish. She looked through the different colors and by judging on whether she liked the color or not she either kept it or put it back on the shelf.

"Aren't you going to try to match it up with the outfits you have?" Yuffie asked, a little confused by her method of picking out nail polish.

"It really depends on if I like the color or not and depending on my mood that day decides on what color I want to paint my nails. I usually don't change the color until it either starts to chip or I get really tired of the color." Rose explained as she chose a few more colors. "Okay, I'm done here."

"And Vincent survived!" Yuffie cheered.

"Barely." Rose teased, giving Vincent a small smile.

"Come on. Let's get this paid for so we can get groceries." Vincent said.

When they went to the grocery store, Rose was surprised that it really didn't look all that different from the ones at home.

"So, where did you work when you met Vincent?" Tifa asked, trying to start a conversation as they shopped.

"I worked at Best Buy. It's an electronic store." Rose answered.

Yuffie stopped dead in her tracks. "We need to get you a cell phone!"

"Yuffie, I'm sure I can survive for a while without a cell phone." Rose said.

"Then how am I supposed to get in contact with you when Vincent isn't around?" she asked.

"We'll get her one as soon as we're done here." Vincent said. "I think it's a good idea that we get you one right away anyway."

Rose sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, knowing she won't be able to argue her way out of it.

It had been a couple of weeks and Rose was almost completely settled in. She slowly warmed up to the idea of sharing a dresser with Vincent, but she still had to make herself get into the bed to sleep but only after Vincent had gotten into it. She learned to use her phone very quickly which was surprising to Vincent, but at the same time wasn't. She had worked in an electronic store after all and was receiving texts seemingly nonstop from Yuffie.

He had a meeting with Reeve that day at the WRO and he was still uncomfortable with leaving Rose home alone, even though Seventh Heaven was right down the street. Besides, he may have a job opportunity lined up for her.

"You didn't have to drag me with you. I would have been fine at home." Rose said as they drove through the rough terrain to the WRO headquarters.

"I know, but I'm still not comfortable with leaving you alone." He replied.

"…We're going to have to get comfortable with that sooner or later Vincent. You can't be with me all the time. We both need to realize that."

"…..I know. I'm just not comfortable with leaving you alone since this world has monsters that yours doesn't. It can be dangerous at times." He said. "If you were willing to learn to have some means to defend yourself, I would be more comfortable with leaving you home alone."

"I actually wanted to talk to Tifa about that. She's a martial artist and I was hoping to learn how to fight from her." Rose replied. The martial arts had always interested her, even when she was young.

"Good." He said, sparing her a glance before turning his attention back to driving. "I'm sure Tifa would be more than happy to teach you."

Rose nodded with a smile before turning her attention back forward.

'Are you sure you want her to learn?'

'What do you mean? Of course I want her to learn.'

'Are you sure you wouldn't have a problem with it?'

'Why would I?'

'She learns to defend herself, she won't need you to protect her all hours of the day. Are you sure you can handle that?'

'If I don't allow her to learn and I try to protect her all the time, she would most likely push me away. I don't want that to happen. It would be good for her to learn.'

'Good. I'm glad you understand that. You don't need to fuck up this relationship.'

Chaos was silent for the rest of the ride.

"Is that all you know about the situation?" Vincent asked.

"Yes. People have been disappearing from different places and they haven't been found or heard from sense." Reeve explained. "The WRO is conducting an investigation, but so far we haven't been able to find anything. Once we find out what is going on and what we're up against, I will be giving you, Cloud and the others a call."

Vincent nodded. "I know you'll keep us up to date with what is going on."

"I have already spoken to Cloud about it and he asked me to pass it along to you and a few others." Reeve said. "That is all I have to tell you unless something else comes up."

"I actually wanted to ask. Have you had any luck in finding a replacement for the person who quit in the development department? The one who helped design the buildings?" Vincent asked.

"No I haven't had any luck so far." Reeve answered.

"Rose actually has a degree from her home planet for drafting and design. She may be able to fill that position." Vincent explained.

"Really? I would like to speak with her and evaluate her ability if I could." Reeve said.

"She is with Yuffie right now. I'll go get her." Vincent said, leaving the room.

"What are these called again?" Yuffie asked, as she folded up the paper for the hundredth time.

"Origami Ninja Throwing Stars." Rose answered as she finished folding her paper. "My mom taught me how to do this because I was a ninja for Halloween one year and I wanted plastic throwing stars, but we couldn't find them anywhere. We had a lot of fun making around three dozen of these."

"Did you throw them at anyone?" she asked.

"Yeah, just not very hard because the points can hurt." Rose answered. "Wo-cha." She said, throwing one. Vincent chose that moment to come through the door and was hit with the paper star. "Vincent, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I didn't know you were coming through the door."

"It's fine. It was an accident." He assured her, before picking up the star and approaching them. "I came to get you Rose. Reeve wanted to speak to you." He said, tossing the star back onto the table.

"What for?" Rose asked, grabbing her attention immediately.

"He may have a job for you." Vincent answered, beckoning her to follow him.

"What kind of job?" she asked, following him out of the room and down a hallway.

He looked at her. "The one you have a degree for. Drafting and design."

"But, that's not for this planet though." She replied.

"You can learn about the buildings here and then you'll be able to work. Reeve is willing to see your abilities and work with you. You're being given a chance here, you should take it. Nobody will be holding you back this time." Vincent said.

"You told him about my degree, didn't you? You're the only one here who knows about that." She said.

He nodded. "Yes, I did mention it to Reeve."

"Then you helped me get this job." She leaned up and gave him a light kiss. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The first thing Reeve asked Rose to do was a rough sketch of an office building that a customer could possibly be interest in. He was impressed at how quickly she thought of an idea and started sketching it. He became even more impressed with her work when she was also writing notes on the building as she sketched it. The notes contained outdoor paint color, types of windows, possibly how many floors could be added or removed if they wanted a bigger or smaller building, and she also added plants to her finished sketch to make it look more appealing.

"This is…quite impressive." Reeve said, as he looked over her work. "You won't be able to use these materials that you are familiar with."

"Yeah, I know." Rose replied. She was in high spirits since there was someone who appreciated her work.

"I do have a few books that you could read up on that will help give you a better understanding of the materials we use and the styles of the buildings. When you understand that, then I think you'll be able to work for us." Reeve said.

"Wha-really?" she asked.

"Yes. Somebody quit working here a while back and I think you'll be able to fill in the position nicely." Reeve answered. "I know it's unrealistic to think that you could come here every day to work, so you can be given materials until you can buy them yourself and you will be able to work at home. When you have completed works, you can bring them here for me to inspect."

"Thanks Reeve. I really appreciate you giving me this job." Rose said, her spirits rising even higher.

Soon afterwards, they drove home. Yuffie was doing some training at the WRO, or Rose would have wanted to hang around with her a while longer. Vincent had let her to stay at home while he ran to Seventh Heaven to drop off some music notes for Marlene. He had been teaching her how to play the piano and she was progressing with it quite well. Plus he wanted to talk to Tifa about possibly training Rose in the martial arts.

Tifa was surprised when she answered the door. "Vincent, come on in. Where's Rose?"

"She's at home. She convinced me that Dixie is with her and she'll be fine." He answered. "I came to drop these off for Marlene."

"Oh, okay thank you." She said, taking the sheet music. "So is Rose settling in alright?"

"Yeah, she's getting there." He answered. "I also wanted to ask you about something."

"Sure go ahead."

"Rose would like to know how to defend herself and fight should the situation ever arise, and I'm sure Cloud has told you about the investigation Reeve is currently conducting with the WRO." Vincent said.

Tifa nodded. "Yeah, about the disappearances."

"Rose would like to learn about the martial arts and we were hoping you would teach her." He said. "I think it would be a good thing for her to learn as quickly as she possibly could, due to the circumstances that are taking place now."

"Yes I would love to teach her. Yuffie actually texted me saying that she wanted to teach her how to use the throwing stars that she uses. She told me that they made origami throwing stars and her aim is very accurate, so we may both be teaching her." She replied.

Vincent nodded. That might be a good idea. "Alright. I'll let you two contact her to set up a schedule to start training."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to talk to Yuffie and we'll work something out Vincent." She said.

Vincent left shortly after. He took his boots off at the coat rack, like he normally did and turned to go into the living room, but stopped when he heard music….piano music? He walked into the piano room and saw Rose sitting on the bench and was playing a quiet melody. Dixie was snoozing on the floor nearby. When he sensed the ending of the song was near he approached her.

"You play beautifully." He said after the last notes had been released on the piano keys.

She jumped when he spoke to her, startling Dixie out of her sleep. When she saw it was only her master she laid her head back down.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He said.

"No, I should be sorry. I should have asked your permission first." She said, looking at the piano then up at him.

"You can play anytime you want. You don't need my permission." He replied, tucking a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "Who taught you to play?"

"I had private lessons. My mom wanted to encourage my singing as a child and she had me take piano lessons. Strange that I hated it in the beginning but enjoyed it as a young teenager and now as an adult." She explained. "After mom died, he got hold of most of my music notes and sold them along with the piano. He didn't want to hear the noise I could make anymore. That was when I was fifteen. I was able to hide some music that I might have forgotten that is a bit important to me and are here with me."

"You haven't played since?" he asked.

Rose shook her head. "No. I'm quite surprised that I remembered that though."

"What song was that?" he was genuinely curious.

"That was Pathetique, second movement in A flat major by Ludwig van Beethoven." She answered. "He went deaf, but he was still able to create beautiful pieces like that just by feeling the vibrations."

"Wow." He replied.

"Yes, very big wow." She agreed with a smile.

"Could I possibly hear you play another piece?" he asked.

She smiled with a light blush dusting her cheeks as she proceeded to play her and her mother's favorite song by Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata.

A/N: This chapter is finally done, woo! Again I'm so sorry about being so late on this. I just didn't feel like writing with my muscles hurting like they were. I'm better so I'm able to continue writing, that's what really counts, right? I thought the title to this chapter was a little lame, but I couldn't think of anything else to call it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please leave your reviews!