Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters or settings from FFVII, don't own "Death Defy" by Motor Ace, either.
Lonely Miracle Death Defy Starting to tune in to your stationI'm starting to lose my obligations
I'm talking in tongues of celebration
I'm trying to be cool~ "Death Defy" Motor Ace
"…oh my god… my god, it is them! How did they… did they get here… get here?"
"Lifestream must have… stream must have dumped… dumped them here… here."
Here? Where was 'here', anyway? Vincent frowned as the voices drifted through his head, fickle as the breezes that brought the sounds to his enhanced ears.
"…you see… see it? He moved… Vincent, you… you awake?"
More importantly, was he lucid? Vincent considered. If the Lifestream had affected him as it had the other (…Cloud…) he was a danger to the owners of those voices. He found no obvious changes in the functioning of his psyche, nor in his perceptions.
Does the madman know he is mad?"…Are you awake… awake, Vincent?"
"I'm awake." He made his mouth move. Suddenly everything seemed a great deal more real. He heard a gasp of surprise and elation. He opened his eyes. "Where am I?"
Tifa, Cloud and Reeve peered over him. Reeve was looking worried. "You're in Midgar. We think the Lifestream deposited you here when it… when Meteor hit." He finished uneasily. Vincent processed this information thoughtfully. Then something else arose in his mind with startling forcefulness.
"Where is Yuffie?"
He sat up and glanced around. Barret, Cid and Red XIII were gathered around the unconscious Yuffie Kisaragi. He took a calming breath, relieved. Tifa shot a secret smile at Cloud.
"She also fell into the Lifestream." Vincent said, probably needlessly. Tifa nodded to him.
"She isn't awake yet, tough. You… are you feeling okay?" The guarded query pertaining to the issue of his sanity was toyed with and put aside.
"I feel fine." Vincent replied. It was the truth, once you got past the half-drunk fuzziness that encompassed his limbs and the vague accompanying pain in his head. It would fade, he hoped, and he could move, albeit not very gracefully. He accepted their aid in pulling him to his feet, but denied himself the crutch of Reeve's shoulder. Unsteadily, he moved to where Barret stood, an almost alien sense of pleasure in his heart as he saw that all of his friends were safe. He watched as Barret lifted Yuffie's body into his arms.
"Won't wake up." The big man grumbled. Even Vincent heard the note of anxiety in Barret's tone. He looked at Yuffie with a frown. Cloud had survived this, as had Tifa. Perhaps she was only very weak. But surely… he smiled suddenly beneath the draggled cover of his cloak. How typical.
It took a while to reach the outskirts, where they organised a room for Yuffie in a makeshift inn. The people of Midgar had discovered their charity in the Meteor's collision with the Planet, and were eager to help the people that had helped prevent the whole Planet as they knew it from being destroyed.
Vincent volunteered to watch Yuffie. "You are all tired. I do not need sleep. I will watch her." His tone brooked no disagreement. He waited until they were gone and sat down on Yuffie's bed.
"You are very good." He told her. "Better than most. But your breathing became uneven when Barret lifted you."
Yuffie did not move, nor reply. Her eyes were closed lightly, her breathing deep and even. Her arms were perfectly limp. For a moment, Vincent doubted.
"If you truly are asleep… or ill… then you will not want Knights of the—"
Without opening her eyes, Yuffie snatched the crimson orb from his human hand, or tried to. A combination of the sluggishness that the Lifestream brought on and Vincent's fast reflexes meant that her arm merely swiped inaccurately at the man.
"Subtle, Yuffie." Vincent chided softly, a slight smile on his face. He quickly chased it away – what was he smiling for?
"Would… would it help if I said that was a reflex to the words 'Knights of the Round'?" She twitched her arms as she said the words. Vincent looked at her sceptically.
"No."
Her eyes flickered open, wide and full of mischief. "It was worth a try. You get more attention when you wake up last, y'know. Tifa's a sucker." She grinned at him and looked at the materia he held. "Hmph. I knew you'd never come around me with the real Knights of the Round. Just a measly Shiva. You could have made it something good."
"That would have defeated the purpose. I take it that you are well?"
Yuffie gave him a look. "Well, I can't exactly make my arms work properly, or I'd have had that damn Shiva Summon, now, wouldn't I?" She laughed quietly, a grin on her face. "Nope. No crazier than usual, Vinnie. Just the same old subliminal urgings to… grab your materia and run. You know how it is." Vincent gave her a dirty look, which made her giggle. "Not gonna, Vinnie. I can't even move, and I wouldn't anyway. Not again. Your materia's safe with me – uh, you. Yeah."
There was a long, uncomfortable silence in which Vincent eyed Yuffie in mostly mock-distrust. She tried to sit up and flopped back on the bed, obviously not in complete control of her body just yet. Vincent tucked his Shiva carefully away and grabbed her arm to pull her gently into a sitting position. She leaned against him as he moved her pillows, sighing as he propped her up against them.
"I can't believe they left you to look after me. I mean, are they crazy or something?" She scowled, tried to cross her arms and pouted. "Sure, Cloud killed Sephiroth, but you fell into the Lifestream! You'd think they'd give you a break or something."
Vincent blinked. He had been expecting something along the lines of, "What if you'd gone crazy and you killed me or something?" Yuffie's completely selfless answer surprised him. He supposed it shouldn't have, given all she had done for him in the Lifestream. After all she had helped him to understand…
"Um… you okay, Vinnie?" Yuffie asked. Her voice was uncertain, as though she wasn't supposed to be asking him this. He nodded slightly.
"I am not insane either, Yuffie."
"That's good. I was, uh, talking about the other thing." She actually sounded truly concerned. He wondered if a hallucination had turned him into a gullible materia merchant. He didn't reply.
"Vinnie? Um… when Reeve… when this is all over… um. What are you gonna do? About… about the other thing." Vincent considered as he watched her face, her stormy eyes the focus of his ruby gaze. The coffin held no appeal; never had. Perhaps he had only needed time… time to accept. Truthfully, Lucrecia had left him. She had left him, when she had lived like a wraith in that cave for thirty years… He did not need to punish himself for her death. She had done it herself.
"…I don't know."
She blinked. "You serious?"
He gave her a look. "Yes."
She stared at him for quite a long time. He couldn't fathom what she was thinking, so he stared at the wall opposite him. Suddenly, he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Yuffie flung herself gracelessly at him, knocking them both to the floor as she tried to share what she had meant no doubt meant to be a hug. Vincent winced at the loud thump they made as they fell to the floor.
"Uuuurgh. I hate being dizzy. The Lifestream sucks." Without his cape, she would have been speaking directly into his throat. Vincent shifted uncomfortably. Yuffie didn't seem to get the hint. He sat them both up carefully, and leaned against the side of the bed. Yuffie pushed herself away from his shoulder weakly and opened her eyes.
"So… are you… do you…" She bit her lip and looked at the ground. "Ummm…" Vincent looked down at her, slightly surprised that she of all people was having difficulty saying something. She took a deep breath.
"Vincent, do you still think it's your fault?" Her eyes returned to his, cloudy depths anxious.
"Yuffie…" Seeing his obvious hesitation, her face fell.
"Vincent, please try to see it wasn't you. Don't go down there again. Please?" There was a pause and a hollow laugh and she buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm being so selfish… I can't stand you blaming yourself. I said I wouldn't stop you, but I don't think I can do that." She muttered to herself. Her arms tightened around him and he stiffened in surprise. "Don't go back. It wasn't you. Don't go back. Please. I'm so selfish, Vincent, but please, don't go back, for me?"
Slowly, the muscles beneath her hands relaxed. Slowly, he leaned forward, human hand and claw coming up to rest on her shoulders.
"Yuffie… I never said that I was going back."
It took several seconds before she processed that. Then she threw her arms around his neck with a joyous exclamation and kissed his cheek and Vincent slammed a hand over her mouth before she could wake the entire neighbourhood. Their noses touched.
"Keep your voice down. The others are sleeping." There was a pause as Vincent's mind caught up with events. "Did you just…?"
Yuffie's eyes were sparkling, inches from his own. She glowed, she pulsed, she throbbed with happiness. He stared at her from inches away, slow elation throbbing through him. Was… was he the cause of this? This supreme happiness, this joy? The surprise lifted his gloved hand away from Yuffie's growing grin. She planted another kiss on his other cheek and cackled loudly as Vincent sputtered and turned red. "Red suits ya, Vinnie!" She giggled gleefully.
He felt a sudden surge of affection and appreciation that had long been struggling to make itself known. She seemed to have that effect on him; the ray of obnoxious sunshine that woke him (and the rest of AVALANCHE, admittedly) of a morning, shining through the crack in the dark curtains and blazing into his eyes. His chest burned fiercely. "I am certain it will look even better on you."
Before he knew what he was doing, he had darted forward to capture her lips with his. He felt Yuffie go tense with surprise, then limp. He held her to him, cradling her against his chest, lungs burning for oxygen but every part of him refusing to give this up. He didn't want to loose this measure of peace. Yuffie pulled back with a startled gasp and Vincent very nearly whimpered in protest. He was weak for wanting this, weak for even considering tainting the girl in his arms, but he didn't care. All his reasoning, all his guilt… stripped away. Yuffie gathered her strength to push herself up, look him in the eyes. Her skin was flushed and her hair was askew. She looked beautiful.
"What… what was that for?" She asked breathlessly, barely able to string this thought together. Vincent touched his human hand to her cheek.
"Yuffie…" He stroked her soft skin gently, smiling at her relaxed happiness. A frown furrowed her brow suddenly. He heard the door click at the same moment she slumped, feigning sleep again.
"Everything all right, Vin- Vincent!" Tifa exclaimed, a mixture of shock, horror and wild, childish glee in her voice. Vincent blinked at the tall woman and then did what any sensible person would do in such a situation.
He closed his eyes. "Sleeping."
~*~
A/N: ^^ Last line dedicated to Wyrren Sarrasri. *cackle* Now, an important question – do you readers need a proper closing chapter to this, or is this as closed as you want it to get? *grin* I'm sorta inspired by this, so do tell me if you want one last chapter!