Hush


Author's Note: To celebrate my perfect score on my written and practical exams for my probationary police position, you get a new chapter! Just another take on Vincent's return after Omega.

Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series and all of its associated content are property of Square Enix. I am making no profit from this whatsoever.


Vincent's whole body ached. He supposed that was what he deserved, for heading to the cave right after the battle and sitting in the same position for days. Shelke had come for him at everyone else's behest, though she hadn't returned with him. Instead, she had waved once he climbed down from the cliff with her and began walking off in the direction of Cosmo Canyon. Apparently Red had promised her a bed there, and she was excited to go and see new things.

So he had made the trek back to Edge by himself, trying not to think too much for once. The walk back was especially lonesome without Chaos there to heckle him and goad him forward. It also took much longer without the demon's wings to aid him in his trip. Nevertheless, he reached the city in a few hours time and found himself wandering down the street to a vaguely familiar house.

It was a place he had only been once before, after the Kadaj incident. Tifa had been apologizing – with everyone in town for the night they just didn't have enough beds to sleep everyone in the house comfortably. Yuffie had jumped in, reminding Tifa that her house was only a short walk away. And so he had let her lead the way, yammering nonstop, all the way there.

It was a quiet place, muted in color like most of the homes in Edge. They had gone in through the attached garage since she had forgotten her keys (which was apparently a habit of hers) and she had given him the grand tour. The entry hallway walls were decorated with pictures from their travels, probably given to her by Tifa. Down the hall, the entry split to the right leading to the living room, where he would be sleeping. For whatever reason, Yuffie owned a television that was larger than she was. It was mounted on the center of the wall, flanked on either side by two tall bookshelves that held very few books. The large, U-shaped couch that took up most of the room looked comfortable enough.

Back into the hallway, but turning left this time led them into a small dining room. The table was clean – he doubted she had ever eaten a meal at it. The kitchen was attached. Most of the appliances were newer, and the countertops were made of some kind of dark stone. He doubted again that she did much cooking of her own, since Tifa's place was just a quick walk away. The view out back was nice. The sliding doors of the kitchen opened up to a small patio. A few steps down, and you were in the grass of the fenced-in backyard. No wonder Denzel and Marlene had been jealous that he was going to go stay at Yuffie's.

Her bedroom was on the other side of the kitchen, and it was by far the most comfortable-looking room in the house. Her bed was excessively large, covered in red sheets, and it was surprisingly made. He supposed she hadn't slept much in the last few days. She had pointed past the bed to another door, and told him that the only bathroom was in there should he need it.

The house was much the same now as it had been during his last visit. Thankful that she hadn't changed the key code for the garage door, he wandered into the house, taking a minute to remove his boots just outside the door to the rest of the house. Not much had changed on the inside either, save for a few recent additions to the collection of photographs on the walls – Denzel and Marlene's latest school pictures, a picture of Red with his cubs, and – he chuckled – a picture of the two of them at last year's Christmas party before all of the drinking games had begun.

Vincent walked down the hall, slowly starting to unclasp the various buckles that adorned his clothing. By the time he reached Yuffie's bedroom, all he had to do was toss his cape across the chair in the corner and slide off his pants and shirt. The only thing he neglected to remove was his headband before settling down between the smooth sheets of her bed. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillows.


Several hours later, Yuffie pushed open the front door, having actually remembered her keys for once. Everything was just as she'd left it. She just needed a good night of sleep before resuming the search for Vincent with everyone tomorrow.

She wandered down the hall, setting her bag of dirty laundry next to the bedroom door before going to the fridge and getting a quick drink of water. A blue light from the living room attracted her attention, and she walked over to examine it.

Apparently she had left the television on before she left three days ago. The news was on, the anchor red in the face as he described the search for Vincent Valentine, whose picture was on the right side of the screen above the caption 'MIA'. She scowled before roughly clicking it off and wandering back to her bedroom.

The lights were off and the shades were drawn, but even in the dark she could see that she was not alone in the room. Clothing littered the floor, tossed haphazardly down where its owner had dropped it. She clicked the light on, keeping a hand on her now unfastened conformer. The conformer quickly dropped to the floor with a thud when she saw who was asleep in her bed.

"Vince?" She asked softly. Surely this wasn't real – she must have been imagining it. Why would he have come here, of all places? She walked over to the bed, pausing along the way to examine the clothes he had left on her floor. They felt real enough. She sat down on the edge of the bed closest to him, reaching a tentative hand out to rest on his bare shoulder.

He was warm, breathing quietly. She gently stroked the hair back from his face. "Vince? Wake up."

His eyes opened slowly and he groaned, clearly confused. "I didn't think you'd be home."

"Nice to see you too," she whispered as she let a smile grace her features. "Are you okay? Hurt?"

"I'm fine, just tired," Vincent replied, rolling onto his back to look up at her, inadvertently letting the sheets fall down to about mid-chest. Her eyes immediately fell to the scars there, which upset her though she had seen them before. "I didn't think you'd be home. I just wanted someplace quiet to sleep."

Yuffie nodded, gently pulled the sheet up around him a little more. "Well, get some rest then. I'll be around. I'll wake you up before I get in bed later."

She stood up and watched as he closed his eyes once more. She then walked around the room, gathering the articles of clothing he had discarded and attempted to fold them. Once she was done, she laid everything on the chair in the corner and turned off the light, leaving Vincent alone to rest.

As soon as she had left the room and closed the door, she called Tifa. "He's back," she began, only letting a fraction of the emotion she felt creep into her voice. "He came here to get some sleep. Figured it'd be quieter than the bar."

"Probably right," Tifa replied. Back at Seventh Heaven, she was giving Cloud a thumbs-up across the bar. "Does he need anything? Clothes? Food? I know you don't keep too much around."

"Hmm, yeah, probably a good idea," Yuffie said in agreement. "Ask Cloud if he has anything Vince can borrow. They're around the same size. Food would be good too."

"Already working on it. We'll be over in twenty," Tifa replied. She was already sifting through the fridge to find suitable leftovers to take over.

Yuffie paused. "Tifa? Could you maybe only come with you and Cloud? Vince wanted quiet. I'm sure he wants to see everyone, but if he could just rest for tonight…"

As she trailed off, Tifa was nodding. "Sure, no problem. We'll see you soon."

At first she sat down at the dining room table, unsure of what exactly to do while she waited. All she wanted to do was go lay beside him, watch him breathe, and convince herself that he was really all right. Somehow she didn't think that fit in with Vincent's plan for peace and quiet.

She quietly grabbed her bag of dirty laundry and went into her room to fetch his clothes, deciding to get a head start on putting their lives back together. When Tifa and Cloud arrived shortly after, she was switching the laundry over to the dryer. Cloud's arms were laden with bags, which he was keen to put down as soon as he could.

Yuffie directed him into the living room while Tifa went to put the food in the fridge. Cloud opened the bags he had been carrying, showing her a small variety of clothing – t-shirts, jeans, shorts, sweats - just the basics to get Vincent through the next few days. Tifa wandered back into the room.

"Okay, so you've got leftover macaroni, chicken, a few pasta dishes, and a lot of rice," Tifa said, ticking off items on her fingers as she remembered them. "Cloud's got the clothes. And you know if you need anything, all you have to do is call. There's enough people at the bar that it's no big deal to send someone over with more food."

"Thanks. I think we'll be fine though. He's just exhausted," Yuffie said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Tifa nodded in understanding. "Can I see him before we head out? I won't wake him up."

Yuffie led the way over to her bedroom, cracking the door for Tifa. The older woman peeked in, a smile forming on her lips when she saw Vincent resting comfortably on the bed. She closed the door as quietly as she could and turned back to Yuffie and Cloud.

"Take care of him. You know how they get sometimes; when they really need help, but don't want to ask for it," Tifa said as she gestured with her eyes in Cloud's direction. "And seriously, call us if you need anything."

And with that, Yuffie was alone once again. She went through the clothes Cloud had brought over, thankful that they were all dark in color, doubting that Vincent would have worn them otherwise. As quietly as she could, she hauled the bags into her bedroom and emptied their contents into one of the empty drawers of her dresser. She knew she disliked living out of a suitcase, and she didn't know how long Vincent intended to stay. The least she could do was make him comfortable.

Yuffie dumped the bag in the closet before going to get the clean clothes out of the dryer. She went to the living room and began folding them, slowly. It was still early, and there was no way she'd be able to sleep yet.

Once the clothes were all folded, she returned to her room to put them away, being sure to lay Vincent's clothes on the chair with his cape. She figured that he would still prefer to wear them, even with all of the clothes Cloud had brought over. She turned around and looked at him for a moment, wondering if he was sleeping as soundly as he looked, or if he was pretending for her sake.

She sighed, quietly shucking her clothing off and changing into some running shorts and a tank-top to sleep in. There was no use trying to put it off – she wanted to be close to him, and she wanted to rest – the activities of the day finally catching up to her. She lifted the sheets, glad when she glimpsed a pair of black boxer briefs on him, and cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Vince?" She said softly, reaching a gentle hand over to rest on his shoulder again. "I'm getting in bed. Just wanted you to know so you didn't wake up and freak out."

He rolled over slightly to show he was listening after all. "Do you want me to go sleep on the couch?"

"No, stay here," she replied as she crawled under the covers. A scowl crossed her face for a moment as she tried to decide how to lay. She didn't want to be too close, but she didn't want it to seem like she was forcing herself to sleep as far away from him as possible. "You'll sleep better on a bed."

Vincent dropped the issue, rolling back onto his side. As he rolled, he let out a low moan and briefly sat up and stretched. Yuffie instinctively reached over for him.

"You okay?" She asked, concern evident on her features.

Vincent nodded, returning to his previous position. "Just sore, I think."

Just do it, she thought. In a single move, she slid close to him so that she was pressed gently against his back. She gave him a moment to question her, or outright rebuke her, but nothing came. Tentatively, she raised an arm and let it wrap over his side.

He immediately froze at the touch, but slowly relaxed against her. She mused later that he hadn't put up a fight because he was truly that tired. When his shoulders slumped and he let out a long sigh, she knew she had won. Yuffie pressed a light kiss to his shoulder, not bothering to wonder whether or not this was too intimate for him. After everything he had done for her, he deserved to be taken care of for once.

"Vinnie?" She said softly against his back. He turned his head slightly in acknowledgement, though he stayed silent this time. "I'm really glad you're home. And I'd really like it if you'd stay. I know—"

"Yuffie?" He asked suddenly. He rolled over halfway so that he was on his back and able to look at her. She stared at him, eyes giving away the worry that she felt. Had she crossed a line?

"Hush," he murmured. And with that, Vincent leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the mouth. It was quick – over before she had had the chance to react. When she opened her eyes again, he was smirking at her before rolling them back into their previous position.