Disclaimer: I don't own Yuffie, Vincent, Godo, Chaos, Wutai, or anything else you happen to recognise from Final Fantasy VII. I do, however, own this storyline. Don't steal it, or my Author powers will burn you to a crisp. And I am not talking about flaming.

I don't own the song "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)" – it's by Vertical Horizon. 'Tis a very nice song, though. ^^

I'm also copyrighting SEFY. (You'll get it once you're done with this chapter. ^^) Because I am lame and pathetic, and Selphie is COOL.

GREY SKY MORNING

Dawn Breaks

Godo frowned in his tearoom. Something was not right. It was not the demon, of that he was certain. Whenever it approached there was renewed vigour to the day as people armed themselves or fled to the dubious protection of their houses. Outside there was silence. It was not the peaceful silence with which all creatures greeted the sun's first light but the eerie, disconcerting silence one found in a crypt. Unable to stand the waiting, Godo went outside.

Halfway to the main part of the village, he saw the patch of red. For a moment he feared that Chaos had struck again, but he soon realised that the red was alive and moving, staggering up the road toward him. Behind the painfully weak figure stood a dozen slack-jawed, silent villagers. Godo walked closer, prepared to attack should the need arise, squinting, and his own jaw dropped in recognition.

Yuffie. His daughter. Limping down the road shrouded in a too-big cloak of the Luck Colour, half-dead and staring with cold, blank eyes. She stopped ten feet from him. Godo made the Sign against Evil and took a step forward. "Yuffie?" He asked, not daring to believe.

Her bottom lip trembled as she forced herself closer. "Dad." She all but collapsed into his arms, tears streaming down both their cheeks as they had not since the day Amaya had died. Godo stroked his daughter's hair.

"I had lost you, I had given you up for nothing and you have returned. My brave girl." He muttered as Yuffie sniffled. "Come back home and you can have a nice hot bath and some tea and a nap and tell me all about what happened, eh, Oujo-chan? You come home with Dad."

He supported her all the way back to his Pagoda, encouraging her. She was a fine girl, a strong girl, too strong to have a weak old coot break his back lifting her. She made him proud, yes she did, and her mother, too. When they made it back to Godo's house, Yuffie bathed in steaming rose water and drank hot jasmine tea. She was shivering as though she would never stop, and had only released the tattered red cape while she washed. Now she sat in a clean, soft yukata and she still refused to give it up, hugging it to her as others might a soft toy.

"Oujo-chan, what happened to you? How did you escape from Chaos?" Godo asked, voice low. Yuffie stiffened and she hid her face in the cape, remembering a soft, deep voice.

"Don't say its name…" She whispered. "It makes it stronger. More real. H-he told me – he… uh…" She tried to collect her thoughts. Godo waited patiently.

"It knocked me out when it got me to the cave, up on the other side of Da Chao. When I woke up, Vincent was taking care of me. I thought he'd chased the demon away, but… but he was the demon. He was the demon all along, and after he attacked me he said he could control it a little, but –-" Yuffie paused to yawn hugely. It hadn't happened exactly like that, but she was getting muddled and sleepy from the tea and she could fill him in properly later, couldn't she? Her head sank down onto the arm of the chair, still hugging Vincent's cape to her.

Godo looked at his daughter fondly, but when he rose to speak with the Five Mighty Gods, his eyes were cold and angry. So the monster he had feared was only a man?

Well. Men could be slain.

All too easily.

*

Vincent sat and stared at the cave wall. Again he had lost a companion, again the void in his soul. Last time it had been filled with three terrors, three monsters of the night that hid under the bed that was his fragile consciousness. Always they waited to rise up from the murky shadows to take his body for their own. To the mix, that bastard Hojo had added the demon to sit on his shoulder, to whisper without words in his ear until Vincent was driven nearly insane by the suggestions, the deeds, the nightmares. Sleep was the elusive minx who taunted him from the bed until he tried desperately to sate himself in her arms. Only then would her laughter become cruel and harsh, only then would the damnable whore drown him with evils, anoint him with the thousandfold depth of his sins. Ever to wander, ever to long for shelter, for comfort, for solace.

Never to find it.

They tugged at his mind now, eager to be set free. Vincent clutched at his head in a futile attempt to drive them out. "Be still, be still." He chanted, over and over again. Yuffie had to get away, Yuffie must be safe, Yuffie, Yuffie, Yuffie. Her name bubbled to his lips as Lucrecia's had for years, decades. The creatures within him howled, feeling the walls of their prison weaken. Vincent struggled to maintain them. She had to get away, had to be safe…

How long had it been since she had left? It could have been seconds, it could have been years. He could run outside to find her there still of run outside to find that the entire village had been deserted for decades. He didn't know; it didn't make sense. His breath tore at his throat until he thought it would be so much easier just to stop.

Stop it.

Stop the pain, stop the suffering, stop the miserable, tormented existence of the monster in manflesh.

Stop it all.

Lucrecia.

Stop. Don't breathe.

Yuffie.

Stop. Don't scream.

The world was darkening around the edges, as though the little light that reached him this deep in the cave was slowly being sucked from him, too. Yuffie.

Stop. Scream.

The blackness was overthrown, the ululating howl of agony and misery split his lips, the demon raced him to the gate and all he saw was red, red, red…

*

Yuffie's sleep had been blessedly free of dreams. She was warm and safe in her bed home in Wutai. Staniv had carried her in, though she hadn't woken up. She was awake now, though; awake enough to hear the silence upon Wutai. She breathed in deeply and sneezed, rubbing her face in the spice-and-musk scent of her pillow. Her hands felt heavy. By touch she found that someone – probably Chekhov – had bandaged them. Rolling over, she held them up to inspect them. Yuffie's nose crinkled at the old blood that had seeped through the bandages. Her hands felt numb and tingly from whatever disgusting miracle-cure Chekhov had used on her. She'd probably end up with black fingers. "Grossness…" Yuffie muttered, turning back to her pillow. She blinked. Her pillow wasn't red…

"Vincent's cloak." She confirmed aloud. That was the scent, then, too. She must have really been hanging on to the tattered thing for Chekhov not to have disposed of it. Or at least have it darned and washed. Yuffie grimaced as she stretched. It would have been all scratchy and starchy and smelling of that lavender junk – not Vincent-like at all. Yuffie sat up and fastened it around her shoulders, loath to leave it behind. She giggled at how silly she looked.

Something made her giggles fade faster than they should have. Something beckoned her outside. The eerie silence that had followed her into Wutai had not yet lifted. Yuffie frowned, a little worried. What was up? She heard a roar and knew. Chaos.

She moved toward her door automatically, trying to discern where the demon's attack would be. Her mind fluttered hopefully to Vincent, but despite his words about control, she didn't want to meet Chaos face to face again at all. Another roar. Screams. Yuffie entertained the notion of trying to calm the demon. Her dubious gaze fell upon her Conformer. She let out a cry of delight and fell to her knees beside it. She smiled as she picked it up, feeling its reassuring weight. With this shuriken beside her, she could take on the world. She looked to her door and stood up again. She had been Wutai's plan to get rid of Chaos after all. Yuffie tossed her Conformer in the air, testing it as she always did before she strode out into the empty street. The materia set in the Conformer glistened reassuringly as she stepped out into the light. I'm going to bring Vincent back. She thought with a determined smile.

Yuffie heard more shouts and a loud but nonetheless startled roar from Chaos. This was followed by cheering and elated screams as Yuffie passed the Turtle's Paradise. A chill of foreboding tightened the hand that held the Conformer. At Chaos' next, much softer blast, Yuffie broke into a run. She heard the demon's fury and pain in its howls as she crested the small rise that led to the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods. Grey eyes widened in shock and shimmered uncertainly as Yuffie watched in dismay.

Chaos was in the centre of the square, held down by chains and ropes. The villagers had rigged a trap for the beast and now it was imprisoned in a web of old rope and fishing nets, thrashing helplessly as determined villagers closed in with weapons of their own. The Five Mighty Gods raised their arms in unison from their posts around the demon. Yuffie saw their mouths move as they cast something that mad Chaos roar and flail in agony and frustration.

"No! No – Vincent! Stop it!" The cry made Yuffie look around in surprise as heads turned toward her. She couldn't breathe, and she suddenly realised it was because the voice had been her own. Her legs were pumping as she ran toward the trapped demon. Godo was in front of her, shouting orders, blocking her way. People who weren't holding ropes were lining up to stop her from breaking through to Chaos. Yuffie plunged into the crowd, screaming and thrashing as she was held back by her arms. Godo stood before her, rare worry showing in his eyes. He was talking to her, yelling to her, but Yuffie was looking past him into flickering eyes of Chaos.

They burned. They burned with anger, with hatred. They burned with pain. And behind the violence and the blood lust and the outrage, Yuffie found something. It gave her the strength and speed to break out from the full nelson someone held her in. Vincent stared out at her from behind the smouldering flames, and he was sorry. He was sorry for everyone and everything, for the pain he had caused and couldn't feel any more, for standing by and watching. He knew he deserved this, deserved the fear and the pain and death. Yuffie knew he didn't.

She realised all of this in a moment as she vaulted high over the heads of her stunned people. Before Chaos she paused. The demon roared and scrabbled to get at her, but Yuffie saw Vincent fighting it in the frailty of Chaos' movements. She turned to her father, approaching from behind, and held up a hand. "Stay back!" She commanded, grey eyes burning fiercely. To her surprise, he did. Pride shone in his eyes as Godo watched his daughter turn imperiously back to the squalling demon. She truly was destined to be the ruler of Wutai.

Yuffie stood two feet from a monster that could kill her in a heartbeat if it so chose. She kneeled to look at it from a height closer to its own. "Vincent." She said. "Vincent." Gradually, Chaos ceased struggling. It looked at her dolefully and let out a pitiful rumble. Yuffie smiled and moved closer. "Vincent, you told me you could control this now." Chaos rumbled again, reaching out a clawed hand. Instead of flinching away, Yuffie took it carefully in her own. "That's right, Vincent. I trust you. I know you can do this. Come on, Vincent." She coaxed as though he were a small child.

Chaos' eyes flickered. "KISARAGI." It growled out. Yuffie looked surprised, but replied before she thought about it.

"That's right, Vinnie." She murmured, shifting si that she lay the demon's head on her knees. "Let it go." Chaos' eyes closed. Slowly, as Yuffie continued to murmur encouragingly, the demon wings faded, the purple skin became ivory once more. Black hair flowed over her fingers, as soft as silk. Vincent's beautiful garnet eyes opened.

"Yuffie?" He murmured. "You made Chaos go away. You made it… dormant." He pushed himself up with his human arm, wriggling out of the ropes that had cocooned Chaos. Yuffie still held the claw. Vincent stared at her gravely, face to face. "Thankyou. Thankyou. I owe… so much." He looked much as though he was trying not to break into hysterical relieved laughter.

Godo cleared his throat. "You do indeed, young man. Wutai is very close to destruction because of your actions."

"Dad!" Yuffie protested angrily. She had seen the joy die in Vincent's eyes. She had seen the simple happiness fall back into regret at all he had done, and she was Not Pleased.

"However unwilling a party you may have been to the demon's desires." Godo added reasonably at the look he was receiving from his daughter.

"My most sincere apologies." Vincent responded, climbing slowly to his feet before extending his hand to draw Yuffie to hers. "I believe I may assure you that it will not happen again."

"Good. However, I require that you repay the damage that you dealt to Wutai." Godo told the man frostily. Vincent bowed slightly as Yuffie opened her mouth to give her father what for.

"You have my service for as long as you require it." He promised wearily. "I owe more than I can say to your daughter. It would be an honour to me."

"Yes." Godo didn't sound all displeased. Yuffie glared at him.

"He can stay with me." She told him, scowling when he looked as though he was about to protest. "It isn't like we have an inn. And besides, he said it himself – he owes me." She forced herself to be callous. "And I want a foot rub." Godo sighed and nodded. He waved a hand dismissively. People scattered at the motion. Godo walked back into his Pagoda.

And it was as though nothing had ever happened.

Yuffie helped Vincent back through the village to her house, not bothering to point things out on the way. If Godo was going to make him a slave, he'd get to see the town soon enough, anyway. Yuffie prepared an extra futon near her own and stopped supporting Vincent when she got him there. The ruby-eyed man tried to courteously offer to sleep downstairs. Yuffie fell prey to an inappropriate mental image of Vincent in her cage, and was still sniggering while she made tea. Vincent sat wearily on his futon, watching her as she sat down with her feet on her table. She looked from him to the pot of tea she had thoughtlessly made for herself, then gathered up her things and went to sit beside him on the floor. "I was joking about the foot rub." She told him cheerily. Vincent merely poured his tea and held the pot out inquiringly. "Nope, I don't want any more, thanks Vinnie."

"As you wish." He sipped his tea delicately. "I would be bound to massage your feet, had your statement not been in jest." Yuffie had no idea why in hell he added that on, but it made her blush like crazy, so she coughed and stared down at her cup to avoid his intense stare.

After a while she said, "I'm glad you're here, Vinnie. I would've really missed you if you hadn't come."

"How could I stay away?" Vincent asked rhetorically. "Even Chaos was drawn here."

"Uh… what?"

Vincent cocked his head at her, eyes crinkled in a very human way as he tried to stifle a smile. "I'm not sure." He answered, obviously amused.

"You do too! Tell me, Vinnie!" Yuffie pouted.

She must have transferred her obnoxiousness to him at some point, because he only replied rather evasively. "Vinnie."

"Vinnie Valentine, you so better tell me or else!" Yuffie said, childishly resorting to threats. Vincent's eyes glimmered as he leaned forwards slightly.

"Do you promise to listen?"

The eyes told her to consider her answer very carefully. "I promise, already. Tell, Vinnie!"

Vincent leaned even closer, as though whatever secret he was about to share was too important to allow just anywhere. Yuffie ducked her head forward conspiratorially, turning her head so that his mouth was close to her ear. She waited patiently.

His hand came to rest along her jaw and he turned her face to his own. Yuffie nearly died of shock, delight and shock again as he touched his lips to hers in the most beautiful, sweet, chaste kiss she had ever experienced. She let out a shriek of surprise, and Vincent pulled back hastily, nearly upsetting the teapot. Clumsily, he steadied it, looking ashamed and crushed.

"You must be appalled at my boldness. Please, forgive me, I will go now."

"No you won't." Yuffie decided for him, her fingertips pressed to her lips, eyes wide with shock. "Vincent, what the hell did you do that for?"

Vincent looked pained as he withdrew slowly, but he stopped, resigned to this. You owe her, Valentine. You said it yourself. The least of what you can give back to her is the truth. "Because… because I wanted to." Desperately trying to make the statement less selfish, he rushed on with uncharacteristic clumsiness. "You may have been a materia thief, Yuffie Kisaragi, but all you have stolen from me is a heart."

He was disappearing again. He was cloaking himself again in the unbreakable coldness, in the pain and self-loathing. Yuffie couldn't let it happen. She was out of her chair, throwing her arms around his neck. She felt him stiffen in shock, but then his arms were around her, holding her as though she was something precious he had lost and given up hope of finding again. She could hear him whispering into her hair, though she wasn't sure whom the words were directed to. "Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou…"

Then suddenly they were. "Thankyou, Yuffie, thankyou for being… for… for everything you've ever done and will do." The long stream of thanks started again. Yuffie just stood still within the circle of Vincent's arms and smiled into his chest. She loved him, she knew she did. He thought she had healed him. She knew her father would be apoplectic when he found out. She didn't care.

Vincent was utterly exhausted from the transformation, Yuffie from her trek down from the mountain cave and the brief excitement of the day. They were both asleep within minutes.

Needless to say, Vincent Valentine had no more nightmares.

*

A/N: Um. Yes. ^^ I know it was totally random and badly-ended and stuff… but I was feeling inspired and in need of a shameless excuse for a Yuffentine. ^____^ You really can't blame me for things like this! *grin*

Anyways, I just wanted to thank Wyrren for being a wonderful beta reader. And Vincent for being Vincent, because Vincent is cool. And to MB20, because I was listening to them while I typed up this chapter. If anyone is looking for songs to listen to, I recommend their "Soul", "Hand Me Down" and "Unwell". That's all from More Than You Think You Are, but Mad Season was a fantastic album, too.

Okay, rambling. Please review, because Shameless Excuses For Yuffentines are fics too! I don't care if you flame. Just please have a reason for it. Or I will hunt you down with your e-mail dusted in cyanide and make you eat it. *cheerful smile* Thanks ever so for reading and putting up with my drivel! ^_____^