Thank you guys for the reviews! One more chapter left to go! And then comes Part 2! Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy!…for some odd reason, I can't get that word out of my head…XD. It's been there since last night…fluffy, fluffy, fluffy! Hope you like this chappie! Oh yes! We have almost beat my record of 36 reviews! We have 35 reviews so far! Thank you all who have reviewed on this fan fiction! Please continue to review! I want to get at least 50 and have something to be proud of! And hopefully, if I make this as long as planned-200 pages-26 chapters, then I can have 100 reviews! Oh joy! XD. (27 chapters if you count the soon-to-come introductory to Part 2!)
Chapter Twelve
(By Linkin Park)
All I ever think about is this
All the tiring time between,
And trying to prove my trust towards you just takes so much out of me
I take everything from the inside and throw it all away
Cause I swear for the last time I will trust myself with you
Tension is building inside steadily,
Everyone feels so far away from me
Happy thoughts forcing their way out of me
Trying not to break but I'm so tired of this to see I try to make myself get back up on my feet
All I ever think about is this
All the tiring time between,
And trying to prove my trust towards you just takes so much out of me
Take everything from the inside and throw it all away
Chaos was eating a cookie when he heard Gackt come up behind him. The demon froze, hearing the words spoken from the Sephiroth clone/Genesis-look-alike. He could feel Vincent trying to gain control over him once more. Chaos blinked, suddenly remembering Yuffie. She was in trouble…His wings flapped gently as he turned around, glaring at Gackt. And then, a red light came over him once more, and there stood Vincent. Just as Gackt struck down with the Masamune, Vincent held up his arm with lightning speed.
The clang of metal against metal filled the air. Vincent winced as the jolts and vibrations were sent up his arm. Gritting his teeth together, Vincent stepped back and then side stepped, quickly getting out of Gackt's range. It was clear that Gackt was not happy about this.
'Chaos, go try to break the manipulation like you did last time, try and free Yuffie!'
'Okay,'
Vincent then took out his Death Penalty and raised it, aiming to kill Gackt. Pulling the trigger, the bullet flew from the muzzle of the gun and straight towards Gackt. It hit him in the chest. The blood trickled from the wound, but Gackt displayed no pain at all from that wound. How was that possible? 'Jenova…heals their wounds…'
Gackt swung out again, his blade cutting Vincent's shoulder, but nothing more. Vincent, unfazed from pain, leapt back a few more feet and fired another bullet. The bullet shot into Gackt's arm that time. This time it hindered his swords play, but not by much. This gun was too slow to shot. Vincent shoved it back in its holster and grabbed his Quicksilver. This would make things a little easier.
---
'Yuffie! Yuffie, snap out of it! Vincent's in trouble Yuffie!' Chaos yelled in the girl's mind.
Yuffie blinked, hearing Chaos's voice inside her mind. Gackt's words still echoed through her mind, but slowly; they began to fade. "Vincent…" she whispered, suddenly snapping from her trance. She shook herself, looking around.
She saw Sephiroth standing in front of her, looking at something she couldn't see just yet. Yuffie moved to the side and caught sight of Gackt and Vincent. Vincent was firing the Quicksilver, Gackt, deflecting a lot of the bullets, but a few entering his body. Even with Jenova cells, no one could last long with lead all in their body. Her stormy gray eyes found the wound on Vincent's arm. Every time he fired, he flinched. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do.
So for the moment she kept her attention on both of the fighting men. Suddenly, there was a flash of silver and the Masamune came across Vincent's chest. Vincent's eyes widened in shock and pain as the blood gushed from the wound. Yuffie nearly screamed, but that was when she heard a voice whisper, "Use your shuriken, Yuffie. Kill Gackt with it," Shadow…
Yuffie nodded and spun around. She dashed towards her shuriken and grabbed it. Spinning around, she was glad to see Gackt was still visible. This was still going to be tricky. She had to try and not hit the others. This bar was too small! Raising the shuriken, she threw it.
Cloud, Tifa, and Red, who had been ready to attack no matter if Sephiroth was standing there or not, saw the spinning shuriken. They froze, watching as it came deathly close to them. If they had moved forward like they had planned to, one of them would be dead, if not all.
There was a gagging sound and then something hit the floor. Yuffie blinked, moving forward so she could see the shuriken stabbed cleanly through Gackt's stomach and back, paralyzing him. She hated the sight of blood, and hated killing, but now, at least, she had gotten rid of her enemy and stalker. She glanced over at Sephiroth, who was smirking. She heard him mutter, "It was bound to happen, dumb as any other dog,"
She smiled slightly at her other enemy's comment, but then frowned as she turned to Vincent. He was on his hands and knees, one hand clutching the long, deep gash in his chest. Blood pooled on the hard wood floor as he looked up at Yuffie. His red eyes were glazed with pain. Yuffie stared at him with horror. Blood flecked his pale skin and ran down his arm. The Quicksilver lay a few inches from his hand.
Yuffie started for him, wishing she had a Cure materia with her. No one stopped her from reaching Vincent, not even Sephiroth. She knelt down beside him and looked into his eyes, whispering his name in deep concern.
---
Vincent's red eyes locked with Yuffie's. It hurt him like someone had stabbed him to see her in so much worry and sorrow. He didn't like that, and at the moment, his own pain from the wound the Masamune had caused was not helping him at all. He winced, feeling the blood slowly running down his arm and down his claw. His other arm that was also slashed lay limply on the floor. He did not know if he could move it.
Vincent ached to reach up and comfort Yuffie, telling her he would be all right, but his voice would not come. The blood continued to run down his golden-metal arm until it reached the five digits that were supposed to be his claw-like fingers. The blood slipped over the knocked; making his palm made of cold metal begin to slid against the blood-soaked wood.
His eyes shut, breaking eye contact with Yuffie. He was going to fall, he knew he was. Swallowing roughly, Vincent felt his claws dig into the softened wood, but they only slid through, tearing gashes into the floor. His arm gave way and Vincent began to fall to the floor. His chest wound throbbed all the more from the thought of hitting the floor and landing right on the gash in his body.
Just before he hit the floor, arms wrapped around his under, folding together across his back. Vincent's eyes opened to find himself being held up by Yuffie. He looked up at her, his red eyes softening for a second, "Thank you, Yuffie," he managed weakly, but even as he said this, his voice was choked. That was when he became aware of the warm trail of liquid slowly streaming from his mouth. The bittersweet taste of his own blood filled his mouth. Horror filled the gunslinger at the thought of blood coming from his mouth. That was an omen of certain death, was it not?
---
Sephiroth stared coldly at the body of his dead clone. Number 13 had been weak in ways, but now that he was disposed of, there would be no more interference with his plans. His lips curled upwards at the sight of blood coming from Number 13's mouth and stomach. Number One would be pleased to hear of Number 13's failure. They had all seen it coming. Love blinded everything-every ambition. That was why Sephiroth refused to fall in love with Aeris, no matter how much she loved him.
He didn't even bother to look at the young Cetra as he turned and let. But before he did, he stooped down and grabbed the second Masamune from Gackt. And then he gave the dead man a kick, "If you can't do something as simple as this, you don't deserve the life Hojo gave you," and then he was gone, Aeris trailing after him. She didn't say a word or look at anyone.
---
Yuffie's eyes widened at the sight of blood coming from Vincent's mouth. "Vincent…" she breathed, subconsciously reaching up to wipe it away. More blood only came trickling down his mouth. Vincent's pained expression vanished and turned into one of calm. His red eyes flashed with care. "You're hurt…"
"I am fine, Yuffie. Do not worry about me," Vincent lied, but he only tried to prove that he was fine by pulling away from Yuffie and tried to pull himself to his feet, but as soon as he did, he face twisted into unbearable pain and he crumpled down again.
Yuffie gave him a quick glare before scooting over to his fallen form. She was hardly aware of the other coming over as soon as Sephiroth had left. Now, with all three of them there to help, they carefully lifted Vincent. Because Red could do nothing, he searched for a Cure materia or potion of some sort. Meanwhile, Yuffie kept her worried eyes on Vincent the whole time as they took him over to a chair.
Vincent, she noticed, avoided looking at anyone and everyone. It was as if he were ashamed to admit he could not stand or even more on his own. He seemed oblivious to the blood still coming from his wounds, as if he could not feel it. Setting him down in a chair, Yuffie pulled one up beside him, and turned to look for Red. She sat down in the chair and noticed that the red wolf hybrid was coming back, a Hi-Potion clenched between his fangs. Tifa, seeing this, quickly reached down retrieved it from Red, who dipped his head, thanking her without words.
Tifa glanced at Vincent, and saw that he was staring at the wall, his head turned away from all of them. Yuffie expected her to walk up to Vincent and make him drink the potion, seeing as he was too stubborn to except help, he would surely be too stubborn to except a potion. Instead, Tifa placed it in Yuffie's hands, "You should give it to him, I don't think he'd take it from me,"
Yuffie nodded, not speaking as she turned to Vincent. Then she opened her mouth to speak, "Vincent, here," she held out the potion.
Vincent turned his head to look down at her, careful not to shift his body position as he looked at the potion Yuffie was handing him. "I do not need that, Yuffie," he told her and then looked away again.
Yuffie narrowed her eyes at Vincent, "Oh yes you do! You can hardly sit up, much less walk! Now drink!" she snapped, her fingers tightening over the thick glass of the Hi-Potion.
"I tell you I do not, my wounds will heal on their on-" before he could finish, Yuffie took the top off of the Hi-Potion and shoved it into Vincent's mouth. The dark gunslinger was forced to drink the Hi-Potion until it was gone, and then Yuffie sat the glass on the table and glared at him.
"There, now you can heal much faster than before!" she glowered, her frustration not ebbing and Vincent was not helping the matter. He only nodded and then turned away from him. He was not looking at the wall this time.
She followed his gaze. Her eyes came to rest on a bloody spot on the floor. Gackt still lay where he had fallen, her shuriken still wedged in his back. She regretted the moment when she would have to go remove that from his lifeless body. Maybe Cloud would do it for her… When Vincent spoke again, he confirmed her fears, "You need to go get your shuriken, Yuffie, and then when Cid returns, Cloud and him can bury Gackt somewhere. We can't leave him in the middle of Tifa's bar. If someone saw a dead man in here…well, things would not look as they do now."
Yuffie swallowed hard a whispered, "Do I have to?" like a little child. She felt like one now, as if she shied away at the thought of going near someone. So innocent was her question, but it did not phase Vincent.
"Yes, seeing as I cannot stand, Cloud is the one to bury him, and Tifa must mop up. Red cannot help too much, I am afraid." Vincent's voice was blunt as he looked away from the body. His eyes were dark, as if he too, resented the fact that Yuffie would have to go anywhere near someone who had terrorized her for the last month.
Yuffie nodded slowly, and then she began to inch towards Gackt. Her gray eyes remained locked on his body, as if she were afraid to get within ten feet of the man. When Yuffie finally reached the motionless Gackt, she gripped one of the edges of her shuriken and placed a foot on his stiff back. Gulping she yanked on her weapon. There was a loud sickening noise as the shuriken came out. Yuffie dropped it instantly, her hands covered in blood. She made a face, wanting to wipe them on something besides herself.
Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she wiped Gackt's blood on his clothes and moved away from him. She rushed back over to Vincent and then others, leaving her shuriken, her facial expression made her look sick. Yuffie instantly plopped down beside Vincent and said, "Even if he is dead, he's still scary."
Vincent only nodded. When he was sure Yuffie was not looking, he gave a soft cough and wiped away more blood that came from his mouth.
---
Sephiroth Clone Number One stood at the edge of Kalm, looking over the town. His green eyes hard with malice as he headed down towards the town. His right hand rested on the Masamune. He was bent on destroying this whole town. The first town on his list of many more. First Kalm, then Corel along with the Golden Saucer, and then the Edge, and soon enough: the world!
A/N: That reminds me of something…
Pinky: So what are we gonna do taday, Brain? Norgk!
Brain: We're going to take over the world, Pinky!
XD. Don't ask where that came from! It came from Pinky and the Brain.
Number One reached the town entrance. The guards at each side blocked him from entering, but he only glared at them, narrowing his eyes. One guard stepped up in front of him, "What is your business here traveler?" the first guard demanded, his own dark eyes glaring at the Sephiroth clone.
Number One said nothing as he drew the Masamune and in a flick of his wrist, killed the guard that had approached him. His green eyes slid over to the other guard who was staring at him with anger. The second guard rushed him, but he never got five feet in front of Number One before he rammed himself through the Masamune. Number One glared in disgust at the body of the limp soldier. He kicked the man off his blade, snarling, "Keep your filth off of my blade," and then he entered the city without another word.
Once inside the city, Number One scanned the area, finding that many people were still outside, trading amongst one another and chatting with a passerby. No one would expect the unruly deaths they were about to meet. A smirk appeared on his usually expressionless face as he lowered his gaze to his prized possession: the Masamune. Crimson liquid dripped from it. The guards' blood was still wet. He grinned, watching as the blood dripped from his loved, yet deadly blade.
"Excuse me, I am sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to sheath your weapon, sir. I am sure the tow guards stationed out front would have told you that already." A voice cut through Number One's fascination. He looked up with cold eyes and met a rather large fat man with a brown beard. Scowling, Number One's fingers clinched the blade. This man would be his first victim. "Sir? Did you kill a monster or something? Why is there blood on your-"
Number One had had enough of this man's babbling. Cutting through the air, he slash opened the citizen's stomach. Blood spilt from the wound and came out of the man's mouth. He gurgled, trying to scream in pain, but he was dead before he hit the ground. Stepping over him, Number One looked around.
Everywhere talk had stopped. Eyes were pinned on him and his now blood-speck form and blood soaked sword. Number One smirked, dashing towards the nearest person. With excellent hand coordination, he struck out, positioning his sword's tip just under the woman's jawbone. Their eyes met. The woman's gray eyes were wide with fear. She shuttered at the touch of the blade. Number One recognized the woman to be Wutain, her eyes were slightly slanted. That only made him take more pleasure in killing this woman. He hated Wutia!
With little force, he shoved the blade into the woman's throat and withdrew it. Blood spewed from the wound, soaking the dying woman and his clothes. Number One grinned now. He let the woman fall and twitch as he passed over her, letting her suffer. Now screams of terror erupted around him.
He heard people calling for Soldiers or guards, to use some weapon that would kill. That only made him chuckle. Number One spotted a child who was crying her eyes out, curled up in a corner. She looked terrified. Her brown hair fell in front of her face, preventing Number One from seeing her face. He wanted to see her fear, to bathe in it as he would her blood. Her innocent blood.
Number One slunk towards her like a cat. He approached the young girl, deciding to intimidate her for fun. She was about ten or eleven years of age. Bending down in front of her, Number One reached out with his free hand and touched her cheek. Raising her head up by two fingers, he grinned a devilish grin at her. "Why are you crying?" His voice was mocking.
The girl's eyes widened at the sight of him. She screamed, jerking away from him, but she had no where to go. She was cornered. Number One clinched his sword, raising it from the ground. He was about to stab the young girl when a loud shout, "You get away from my Marlene you son of a-" the rest of the sentence was drowned out by the loud sound of a gun firing.
Number One's eyes turned to look at Barret. His smirk vanished and was replaced by a frown. He glanced at Marlene, who was cowering before him. He would kill he later, he decided. Jumping to his feet, he deflected the bullets and slashed out at Barret. Just as he was bent on killing the man, a spear landed not two inches from his face. Gripping tightly to the spear, balancing perfectly on it, was Cid Highwind. Number One got a hard kick in the face.
His nose broken and blood poured down his face. His lip was busted and even more blood poured. Number One scowled as Cid swung off his spear and yanked it up from the ground. Not bothering to wipe the blood off of his face, Number One growled, "You're in my way," and then struck out at the pilot. Cid managed to dodge the attack easy. Number One was not amused.
A/N: I can make a pretty good bad guy, ne? XD.
---
Vincent felt the effects of the Hi-Potion working on his ripped insides. He already knew that whatever tests had been done on him in Hojo's lab would heal him anyway, but a Hi-Potion would help. He avoided looking at everyone, unable to believe how close he had come to death-again. He was rusty in his fighting skills…either that Gackt bested him and there was no way Vincent would even think that.
After a few minutes had past, Vincent felt some energy return to him. He wondered if he could reach him room before falling, but then Chaos had to remind him that he needed to stay with Yuffie. She was really shaken up at the moment. All of them were. He knew that Tifa, Cloud, and Red felt guilty for not helping. Vincent could sense it. He did not mind that they had not helped though, it was not their fight, no matter how much Cloud thought he wanted to have killed Gackt, Vincent wanted it one hundred times as more.
He turned to finally look at Yuffie. He had to say something, he could feel her worry for him, her horror at his owns hurts and pains. Vincent could not leave her to reside in those emotions, so he raised his red gaze to look at her. "Yuffie…can you help me up to my room?" he asked her, blinking. He could talk to her there.
Yuffie looked surprised, but nodded. "Yeah, um…here," she allowed Vincent to wrap his arm around her neck so he could stand and not fall from stretching the skin around the slash from the Masamune.
The gash hurt. It was large and bloody. Vincent closed his eyes, trying to forget the pain. He knew there would be a scar going from his shoulder, all the way down to his hip for the rest of his life. Not even the healing powers that he had been granted, and at the same time, cursed with, could fix that problem.
Slowly, Yuffie helped Vincent over to the stairs. His arm was aching, and so was the flesh part of his arm with the claw. He had his claw wrapped around Yuffie neck because the other arm was still bleeding like most of his wounds and he was sure that Yuffie did not want blood in her hair. No matter if she was helping someone or not.
'You know, you got me hurt! That gash is painful!' Chaos glowered in Vincent's mind. Vincent's red eyes flashed with fury.
'Chaos! You are the damned idiot who transformed on me to chase after cookies! You're the one who cause this gash on my chest! You're to blame!' Vincent snarled, and then completely blocked Chaos out and concentrated on reaching his room. It wasn't easy because the stairway was not very big. It was difficult for two people to fit through it, but with Yuffie being so small, there was just enough room.
Once they had reached Vincent's room, Yuffie opened the door for him and helped him over towards the bed. Vincent sat down, but as soon as he did, a soft gasp passed his lips. He flinched, his eyes feeling with pain. He could not sit down. It had been bothering. That was why he had wanted to come up here, Yuffie figured. Vincent laid back on his bed, blinking slowly, trying to ease his own pain.
When the throbbing had mostly stopped killing him, he turned to look at Yuffie and gave her a small smile. "You're okay, right?" he asked her. "Gackt didn't try anything funny that I might have missed?"
Yuffie shook her head, her eyes never leaving Vincent, "I'm fine, and no, he did nothing. But Vincent…are you sure you're going to be all right? …I mean…you're bleeding from the inside…Can your body even heal something like that?"
Vincent's eyes darkened. He turned away from her and did not answer. He could not answer because he didn't know. Vincent could not tell Yuffie he did not know; she would be terrified for him if he did. Sighing, he looked at the blanket on his bed and then slid his eyes to look at the thin, deep wound Masamune had given him. Vincent glared at it, watching blood well up from the terrible wound.
That was when Yuffie suddenly stood up. She gave him a very stern look and growled, "You stay right here, Vinnie, and don't move!" she warned. Vincent sighed. She was using that nickname again…But in truth, it didn't bother Vincent much anymore. Yuffie vanished, leaving Vincent alone. Or so he thought.
A shadow appeared in his already dark room. Except this shadow moved. Vincent's red eyes stared hard at the shadow. It seemed to be taking some sort of form. And that was when it hit him. It was Shadow! "Shadow?" he voiced aloud.
The black wolfish creature turned her blue eyes on Vincent as she took shape. She approached Vincent, her form transparent. "Greetings, Vincent, you are not doing well. Yuffie worries for you," she told him.
Vincent nodded, "I can see that," and then, as he said this, a though occurred to him, "How did you get out? What person or persons are you using now?"
Shadow gave him a look and then replied, "I do not know…this presence is in a state of dire panic and pain…poor man. He seems to be suffering greatly, dying even. Maybe I have taken his pain from him. If I drew that off of him, he may live but I fear I only took his heartbreak. Yes…his heartbreak,"
Vincent titled his head, "Any idea of who is dying from a heartbreak?"
"I can think of none who are not already dead." Shadow replied. Vincent raised an eyebrow, questioning the wise wolf further. Shadow nodded, leaping up onto the bed so Vincent wouldn't have to strain to see her. "The only one I can think of who is suffering heartbreak who is already dead is Sephiroth Clone Number Thirteen, Special Design of a Dog, Failure all the Same From Crossing Genesis and Sephiroth with Dog Cells. Or, for a short name: Number 13 AKA Gackt,"
Vincent's eyes hardened at the name. "Gackt can go to hell, he's not laying a finger on Yuffie while I'm alive."
Shadow nodded and vanished just as Yuffie returned. There as a wet towel in her hand. Vincent's eyes widened as he realized what the young ninja was going to do. She was going to clean his wounds! "Okay, Vinnie, whatever you do-don't claw me,"
Vincent gave her a hurt look as he glanced down at his golden claw. He would never hurt her. Seeing this, Yuffie immediately apologized, "Sorry, it's just that last time I had to clean someone's wounds-a Wutia ninja's if you must know-he slapped me across the face telling me that he could take care of himself. I got him kicked out of the army for such disrespect towards me, but I guess I'm not really helping, am I?" Yuffie laughed slightly.
Vincent remained silent. He had to remind himself that Yuffie was heir to the throne in Wutia. He had completely forgotten about her father, Godo, who ruled over Wutia. Oh well…Vincent closed his eyes, sighing. Then he opened them as he heard Yuffie take in a sharp breath. His eyes found her face and saw that she was blushing as she said, "Um…uh…Vincent…I uh…kinda can't…clean your wound with your shirt…on…um…could you-?"
Vincent understood, smiling slightly at Yuffie's embarrassment as he removed his crimson cape and then took off his black shirt that he had put on earlier that morning. Yuffie's turned a deeper shade of red as Vincent laid back down on the bed, closing his eyes once more as Yuffie began to wash his wound clean.
'Heh, torture,' was all Chaos said, laughing in amusement at Yuffie behavior. Vincent laughed silently himself, unable to help it. Yes indeed, this was torture to the poor ninja Yuffie.
A/N: There ya go! One more chapter and then onto Part II! (I like Roman Numerals so get over it! XD.) Poor Yuffie. Heh, I had something planned in this chapter, but I forgot it due to the fact that I decided to reread the best AerisXSeph fan fic to ever enter FFN: To Love an Ancient: An Aeris and Sephiroth Story. If you guys know any really good ones, I'd like to read them! I'm a really fast reader, love to read! And type! Of course, isn't that what every author likes?
But anyway, if you don't like really long fics, I guess you wouldn't read To Love an Ancient. It's over 500 pages long. I read it in 3 days (one in which I went tubing down the river in Helen, Georgia! That was fun! And for people who never would have guessed, I live in the US. Heh, you guys want to know something really REALLY funny!
These poor people. Okay, look at this Social Studies question my dad gave his students in 7th grade. (he's a s.s. teacher)
What country has the same name of the state you live in?
a. China
b. Georgia
c. Korea
d. New York
What's the answer? Georgia. I live in Georgia, my dad's class lives in Georgia. (NOT IN THE MIDDLE EAST! XD) 75 of the class missed that question. I feel sorry for them.
Yay! Page 131! We're almost beating Entwined Destiny! Hopefully we have beat Kagome Turned Demon in reviews! YAY! Thank you everyone for your reviews! Now, onto chapter 13! Oh wait…you can't read that yet…opps. XD. Did you guys like how I made Number One in this chapter? All evil murderous like? I do!
Oh and you know what I just realized…I have over 50 people on my favorites or stories list or something…wow. Ya know, you might just find your name on there. I sometimes read my reviewers stories if they're rated T. Or Yuffietines. I read almost any Yuffietine unless they're oneshots. I like longer ones. Ah yes! You guys need t read 7 Days In that was a good Yuffietine…now the author needs to get to work on writing it again!
