New Ways

Chapter 8:

Consequences of a Victory

"Um..." Shake nervously stepped in front of the citizens of Wutai, while Barret and Tifa stood behind him, watching for any dangers. "Uh... Miss Kisaragi isn't here right now... I mean, she's running an emergency errand, so... Um..."

"Oh, God..." Yuffie mumbled to herself, laying on her stomach, watching Shake speak from behind many trees and bushes.

"So... I'm here. Anyways... Uh..."

"Good enough..." Yuffie uttered, burying her head in her hands, "Good enough."

* * *

"Something's wrong," Staniv whispered to Chekhov.

"What do you mean? All's going as planned," Chekhov whispered back.

Staniv's eyes jolted around everywhere, briefly glancing in all directions. "Why isn't Yuffie here?"

"She's got Shake. That's good enough."

"No, Chekhov, that's not good enough. Notice that Shake hasn't said a word that clearly states he's representing Yuffie. He only gives us the hint that he is, but he never actually said it. He's smart, Chekhov," Staniv explained, "Keep your eyes pealed."

Chekhov nodded, then paid close attention to Shake's speech, while glancing nervously at her surroundings.

Just then, Chekhov felt a sharp pain in her back, running through her middle, then she hesitated to look down, afraid of what she might see. "Oh, God..."

"Chekhov!" Staniv reached out and caught Chekhov just as she collapsed, grasping a dark red hole on her stomach. Blood oozed out of the wound, and Chekhov's eyes glazed over. "Shit!" Staniv yelled, then laid her down and looked in the direction that he suspected the unheard bullet came from. Trees... Bushes... What's that? Staniv's eyes caught on the glisten of something hiding behind a tree, and it could only be one thing- the golden Claw of the gunman, Vincent Valentine.

* * *

"Nice shot," Cloud commented, also on his stomach.

Vincent had no reply, as he was also laying down in the prone position, with his right hand on the trigger of his rifle, and his metallic hand in front, supporting the barrel. A silencer had been placed on the gun, muting the sound of a bang, and his eye was about a centimeter away from an eyepiece, used to aim.

"What's wrong?" Yuffie whispered, noticing a slight change in Vincent's face.

"We've been spotted," he replied.

Yuffie was stunned, so she looked in the direction of the fallen Chekhov and Staniv, who had his gaze fixed upon the hand of Vincent.

"Shit," Cid mumbled, also noticing it.

"Hurry! Shoot Staniv!" Yuffie urged.

Vincent slowly aimed, to make things perfect, but just before he shot, the enemy pulled a citizen in front of his body, as a human shield. "Damn!" Vincent exclaimed.

They watched Staniv whisper something to Gorky, then watched the old man run up and grab Shake.

"Let him go!" Tifa shrieked, then threw a punch at Gorky's face. He blocked it, then Barret held up his gun-arm, as a threat.

"You shoot," Gorky threatened, "then the boy dies."

Barret slowly lowered his right arm as Gorky placed the young and frightened boy inbetween the muscled man and himself.

"Come out, Miss Yuffie," Gorky yelled, enunciating the young girl's name, "if you want to see Shake alive again.

"Crap..." Yuffie didn't know what to do. Go out, or stay put?

"If you dont' come out," Staniv added, drawing a small revolver from underneath his clothes, "then the boy dies. It's up to you."

Yuffie hesitated, then shuffled her way out.

"Yuffie!" Red XIII hissed, "What are you doing?!"

"Saving a boy's life," Yuffie replied, "You wanted me?"

"You're smart," Staniv smirked.

Yuffie narrowed her eyes. "Leave Shake out of this."

"I can't," Gorky replied, "You're the one that got him into this."

Come on, Yuffie, think! You have to get Shake out of this alive, but you also can't just give up! Come on!!!

"Staniv, at least let that guy go," Yuffie mumbled.

"Only if you tell your friends not to kill me," Staniv threatened.

Yuffie glared at Staniv subtly, then called to Vincent without taking her eyes off Staniv, "It's alright. Don't kill him."

"She serious?" Cid whispered hoarsely to Vincent.

The ex-Turk stared at Yuffie's glare, then slowly nodded. The team pulled themselves off the ground and stepped out, leaving their weapons in the bushes as Staniv slowly let his hostage go.

Vincent gave Yuffie a confused look, hoping she'd give a signal of what she's doing. The young girl returned Vincent a confident yet scared look, then through her eyes, he knew what she wanted him to do.

Vincent spun around and kicked the revolver out of Staniv's hand with his steel leg, then with lightning-speed reflexes, caught it and shot it at Staniv's chest.

Staniv fell backwards, then Vincent shot again, this time the bullet hitting his neck.

"Fools!" Gorky laughed, then drew a gun from under his shirt and jabbed it at Shake's temple. "Do you think I'd come unarmed?"

"Shit!" Cloud yelled.

God! Yuffie thought, How could I be so stupid?! Come on! This can't be good...

Yuffie clutched tightly against her shureiken, her knuckles turning white from the firmness of her grip. That's when she remembered her lucky charm- the Hypnotize Materia.

Yuffie closed her eyes and summoned her magic power from within herself, as the Materia on her weapon glowed brighter and stronger by the minute.

"Mind Control," Yuffie uttered, opening her eyes. Vincent stared at her in shock as he realized that her eyes were glazed over, unlike other times of using magic. Something was going to go wrong, and he knew it, but he didn't move.

Slowly, Gorky's eyes glazed over as well, and he seemed to have lost control of himself. Slowly, he dropped the revolver and let the young boy go, then stood there, staring at nothing in particular, doing nothing in particular. Barret used this chance to shoot the last threat to Wutai's political party. Yuffie shut her eyes, then opened them, not looking so lifeless anymore. She watched the man that Barret had killed fall over on his knees and collapse down onto the ground, bullet holes dominating his back.

"Oh, my God, Yuffie!" Shake yelled, running over and hugging her tightly, crying on her shirt.

"Yuffie?" Vincent called, seeing her blank face. She kept on staring dumbfoundedly at the dead body, as if there was something occupying her mind so much she couldn't think.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?" Shake asked.

What's wrong? Hmm? Nothing's wrong... I just feel nauseated... and dizzy... and light-headed... and sick... and my vision's going out on me... and oh, my God, I think I'm gonna die...

"It would be dangerous to use it if you are not strong enough," a voice rang in Yuffie's mind.

M-Mom?

* * *

Yuffie's eyes fluttered open, seeing the familiar surroundings of her room.

"I see you're awake," Vincent called, appearing beside her.

"Oh, God," Yuffie groaned, rubbing the back of her head, sitting up, "What the hell happened?"

"You went into a coma for a week or so," Vincent explained, "Some very powerful Materia you've got there."

"It was my mother's," Yuffie mumbled.

Vincent just sat there on the side of her bed, wordless.

"So... How long did you stay with me?" she asked.

"The whole time," he replied simply.

"What about the others?" she added hastily.

"They left about four days ago," Vincent explained.

"Oh..." said Yuffie silently, almost whispering.

"Yuffie, I-"

"Listen, Vin'..."

The two stopped as they talked at the same time past the awkward silence that hovered between them.

"Yuffie, I have to go. I have to find Lucrecia," Vincent told her.

"Sure," Yuffie replied, "Just one thing before you go..."

Vincent gave her a silent response with his red eyes of hidden emotion.

"Why did you stay?" she asked.

"I felt you needed my help more than the others."

Vincent got up and left without any form of goodbye or any words, just left, his cape fluttering with the light breeze as he stepped out of Yuffie's house.

"Wait!" Yuffie shouted from behind him. He turned to see the young savior of Wutai run out from her house, clutching a green orb in her hand. "Here," she said, stuffing the Materia in Vincent's hand, "For you."

"I can't take this," Vincent objected, "It was your mother's."

Yuffie shrugged, letting her pride take over. "I've no use for it. You can keep my junk." But it's not junk, she thought, half-regretting her words, It's my gift to you so you won't forget me...

Vincent gave her a long stare, somehow seeing past her invisible barrier of pride. "Thank you," he said at last.

Yuffie smiled, then headed back to her home, trying to keep her tears inside herself until the front door was shut and he could not see her anymore.

(A/N: I hope you got that subtle thingamadoey about the red eyes of hidden emotion... cuz see, red is represented by love or anger, and vincent's obviously not angry at yuffie, so he's in love, but he SAYS he luvs lucrecia, therefore HIDING his emotions for yuffie. ALSO, i hope you understood why i called this chapter "consequences of a victory". you see, yuffie won, but that means the mission's over and vincent'll have to leave. :'( ANYWAYS, r+r please, and don't worry- the story doesn't end sad. i'm gonna make a VERY long epilogue to this.)