Chapter 21 - You Are My Friend

Dearest - though you're the nearest to my heart
please don't ever - umm ya
ever say we'll part

You scold and you were so bold
yes together - umm ya
our love will grow old - umm ya
our love will grow old…

You may be a million miles away
please believe me - umm ya
when you hear me say
I love you - I love you

Come home - keep me from these sleepless nights
try my love again - umm ya
I'm gonna treat you right - umm ya
I'm gonna treat you right…

Buddy Holly – (Dearest)

--

"Is it working?" Tifa asked, crying. "We weren't too late were we?"

Cloud and Tifa had taken Vincent, who was no longer Galian Beast, and Yuffie's lifeless bodies and set them on the side of the road next to one another. Cloud shook his head, "I don't know…Phoenix Down only works when someone else is alive in the party."

"Aren't we considered the 'party'?" Tifa was starting to choke on her words. "I mean, we saw Vincent get hurt…" At that moment Tifa and Cloud heard a moaning sound. They both turned their heads to see Yuffie squeezing her eyes together and Vincent lifting his head and coughing.

"Oh my God," Vincent managed to get out.

"Vincent! Yuffie!" Tifa squealed. "You're okay!"

--

The rest of the day was sort of a blur. The last thing Vincent recalled was being taken aboard Cid's ship The Sierra and lying on a cot next to Yuffie. His head was killing him and his back felt no less than busted. Hopefully some Cure would finish the job in no time. He managed to turn his head to the side to see Yuffie sleeping peacefully next to him. She was more than likely in pain as well – but that wasn't going to stop her from getting the rest that she so rightly deserved. Vincent smiled at the sight of her; he was so overwhelmed with pride for her. She really did earn every title that she ever had. Yuffie Kisaragi was definitely The Great Ninja Yuffie. He made an effort to lift his hand and touch her short hair. He closed his eyes as he did this and took in Yuffie's intoxicating presence. He didn't know what the future had in mind for him but right now none of that mattered. He and Yuffie had survived together – life was pretty good.

--

Cloud and Tifa had not taken Yuffie and Vincent to the hospital. Instead, they brought them back to the Seventh Heaven where they found Barret and the Turks (Reno, Rude, Tseng and Elena) hard at work fixing up the bar as a surprise.

"Aw man!" said Reno with an annoying tone. He had a hammer in his hand and was in the middle of fixing the front door. "We thought you guys wouldn't be back for awhile!"

Cid and Cloud were carrying the stretcher with Vincent on it while Shera and Tifa were holding the one with Yuffie. Tifa was so happy to see her friends fixing up the bar that she smiled from ear to ear.

"Oh Reno!" she exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"

Reno smiled bashfully and twirled the hammer in his hand, "Ah don't mention it, Teef." It was then that he noticed them carrying Yuffie and Vincent. "Shit, what happened to them?"

"Every God-damn thing, that's what!" Cid said.

"Geez," Reno opened the front door for them to be let inside. "The rest of the place is nearly finished. It should be livable now."

--

Their friends had taken them to Cloud and Tifa's room. Vincent noticed that the window was fixed and the rest of the room had been cleaned. He also noticed a few new baby toys on ground, most of them were pink. The Turks had bought little Stella gifts…how cute.

After their friends had put them onto Cloud and Tifa's bed and left the room, Vincent turned his head and looked at Yuffie. Her eyes were still shut but her face was tense.

"Yuffie," Vincent questioned. "Are you awake?"

Yuffie sighed and opened her eyes. "Yes," she said. "I'm awake."

"Are you in pain?" he asked.

"A little," she responded. "But the Cure is working fairly fast. Are you?"

"No," he said truthfully. "Not really."

"I'm glad," she said, smiling.

"It's good to see you smile," Vincent sighed. He reached out his hand and stroked her cheek. "I missed it."

"Hmmm," Yuffie murmured. "I missed your touch."

"You did?" Vincent said with joy.

Yuffie nodded silently. "Can I fall asleep in your arms again?" she asked suddenly.

Vincent was going to question why she would want to fall back asleep again, but decided that having her be in his arms was better than a silly question. "Yes," he said, "of course, I'll treat you right…"

--

It would be a few hours before Vincent would awaken from his sleep with Yuffie. Only, when he woke up, Yuffie wasn't there. He stood up from the bed and looked at himself in Tifa's mirror. All of his scratches were gone and his back felt amazing. Yup, it was official, the Cure had finally worked. Vincent heard Barret laughing downstairs and Yuffie yelling. "Oh good," Vincent said aloud. "She's okay."

He made his way downstairs to find everyone, even the Turks and little Stella in Tifa's arms, hanging around the bar listening to Yuffie's story.

"…and then, Vincent was like, 'Bitch! Get away from my girl!' and POW POW!" She made her fist look like a gun and she pretended to shoot in Reno's direction.

"Oh, you got me!" Reno said dramatically, falling into Rude's arms. Rude looked at his partner with disgust and dropped him to the floor. Everyone, especially the children, started laughing at this sight.

Yuffie laughed until she saw Vincent on the stairs. She smiled at him softly and ran to his side. "C'mon Vinnie Boy!" she said, grabbing his arm. "Join the party!"

--

The party lasted the whole day and into the night. The Turks would keep saying that they had business to attend to but Yuffie would not allow them to leave – they, of course, were more than happy to oblige. Vincent started getting a kick out of Alan giving Stella very strange and confused looks as if wondering what this new creature in his Mother's arms was. Cloud and Tifa explained to the Turks about the crazy attack on the Seventh Heaven that they had to stop, while Denzel and Marlene sat quietly in the corner discussing stuff about school and friends that they had in common.

By the time dinner time came around, everyone started leaving; first the Turks, than the Highwind's, the Wallace's, and finally Yuffie and Vincent said their "thank yous" and started to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Tifa said.

"No," Vincent said, hugging her goodbye. "You should spend time with your kids and Cloud. You guys deserve a little break from guests."

--

After saying their goodbyes Yuffie and Vincent absentmindedly walked together through the streets of Midgar and to the docking bay for the Air Ships. Yuffie looked at the schedule to see when the next one would be leaving for Wutai. "In a few minutes," she sighed. "I guess I'll be leaving sooner than I had hoped."

"Yeah," Vincent said, sighing. He wanted to ask Yuffie if he could go with her – but that would be wrong…he knew it.

"Don't be sad, Vinnie Boy," Yuffie said, touching his arm. "I…lo-" she looked away and bit her lip, "I can't divorce him, Vinnie."

"I know," Vincent said plainly. "You have dreams and you have a duty. The last thing I want to be is the destroyer of those things."

Yuffie dropped her head in sorrow. "I wish things were different," she said sadly.

"I don't," Vincent said and Yuffie looked at him with surprise. "This is our story; this is our lifetime that we have to live together. Wishing won't make it all go away, nothing will…just like you said before, about whom we were in our last lives. What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't want you any different Yuffie, not for anything."

"So," Yuffie said. "You're willing to sacrifice everything that we have together…for me and what I believe needs to be done?"

"I'm the sacrificing kind of guy I guess," he said sadly.

"I suppose I should thank you," she said, almost coldly.

"Yuffie," Vincent sighed.

"And I give you permission to be with another girl if you want," she said, staring blankly at the floor.

Vincent was silent, had he said the wrong thing? He wanted Yuffie to fix Wutai and stay a ruler. If she divorced Aki for unnecessary reasons and got married to him, the people and the board would hate her and both of those things, Wutai and the throne would be taken away. It was a risk in Yuffie's future that Vincent would not allow…why didn't she see that?

"I just want you to know though," Yuffie said, lifting her head and looking back at Vincent. "No matter what, Vinnie, I will ALWAYS be your friend."

"Yuffie," Vincent said again. "Please understand that I'm doing this for you…because I love you."

"I know," she said coldly. "Thank you…"

"NEXT SHIP DOCKING BOARD E-5 LEAVING FOR WUTAI IN 5 MINUTES," the announcement said over the speakers.

"I guess I better go…" Yuffie said, walking away. "I'll miss you Vinnie Boy, keep in touch okay?"

"Yuffie, I…" He didn't want her to go just yet. "Yuffie, please…I…"

"Vincent," Yuffie said calmly. "I'll always love you…"

Vincent stopped and sighed; he knew that he was losing her. "I will always love you and be your friend too."

Yuffie stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "I will see you as my lover in another life…" she sighed – tears running down her eyes.

"Yes," Vincent choked out – he was crying as well. "As my lover…"

"Goodbye, love," she said softly.

"Goodbye, little one," Vincent sighed. He hugged her tight for a few moments then let her go.

She waved to him as she walked to the E-5 docking bay. She boarded the Air Ship with grace and style and Vincent watched it take off towards Wutai. He stood there, dumbfounded at what had just happened. He let the love of his life slip from his grasp…but he knew that it was the only thing he could do for her, perhaps she would one day forgive him for sacrificing their love. Maybe not…maybe one day he would forgive himself for it. Either way, he wouldn't have it any other way…he wanted Yuffie to be safe and cared for. Hopefully she will see that when all of her dreams about Wutai come true – that Vincent really did love and care deeply about her. She promised she'd be his friend and that was enough for him if that's all they were aloud to give.

At that moment, Vincent received a text message on his phone. He picked up his phone and opened it. The text was from Yuffie. Vincent did not hesitate to read it and when he did he smiled, for it read:

"You r my friend…I'd kill you 4 nothing ;-)"

THE END

A/N: It's over!! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long...I'm off to England for three months and I just could not find the time to write it. Don't worry…THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL. At least, I think (hehe). Soooo, I didn't make up the whole "I'd kill you for nothing" phrase. That's from a Marx Brothers movie called The Cocoanuts. In which Chico Marx says to his brother Harpo: "I really could use some money. I would kill for money…I would kill YOU for money!" Then Harpo looks down at the floor really sad like and Chico says: "I'm just kidding, you're my friend…I'd kill you for nothing" or something along those lines. If you liked this fic let me know in a review! Thanks!! Love & Peace!