Beyond Paradise

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that involves Final Fantasy VII. Squaresoft/enix does. I own Jethro, Zeb, and Moira. That's it. Sad for me.

Author's Note: I know, I know! I said I'd be back on the fifth! So sorry! Just, there was a lot of drama afterwards, and a lot of stuff happened that kept me from the computer. But here's the long awaited Chapter Eight! Enjoy, please!

Ricky was "L" but he's home with the flu,
Lizzie, our "O," had some homework to do,
Mitchell, "E" prob'ly got lost on the way,
So I'm all of the love that could make it today.

Love
-- Shel Silverstein

- Chapter 8: To Kill Your Hero is a Sin

Yuffie's eyes fluttered open as sunlight spilled into her room. "No... Ten more minutes..." she grumbled and turned onto her stomach, grabbing her pillow and pulling it up and over her head. A hand grabbed the pillow and tore it away from her, taking the blankets along with its attack. Yuffie knew this monster well and did the only thing she knew how to do.

"Yuffie! Stop kicking!" Godo roared as he fought to restrain his daughter. A fist slammed into his nose and he stumbled away from her. "That's it..." he held onto his nose as he stormed out of the room, only to return moments later with a grinning Shake.

One stormy eye opened just as the bucket of ice was thrown towards her.

All of Wutai cringed at the scream that echoed throughout the continent. Anybody who wasn't awake was most definitely awake now.

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Nine pairs of eyes watched the little ninja as she dragged her feet on her way into the crowded room. She weakly shoved Cait Sith out of her way and plopped down next to Shera and Tifa, which she then proceeded to tilt until she fell onto Tifa's shoulder, eyes half-closed. There was an awkward silence that filled the small room until Cloud remembered his practiced speech.

"Erm..." He cleared his throat to gather their attention so he could begin. "As I'm sure you've all noticed, we're a pretty big group. At the moment, this is both unsafe and slow. If we want more information, then we need to be split up. But we also need there to be a few of us at a home base. Nanaki, is it alright if we use Cosmo Canyon for that?"

A nod from the beast allowed Cloud to continue. "Alright. I want Cait Sith, Shera, and Reeve to stay in Cosmo Canyon."

"I would like to be there as well. It is my home, after all. Besides, there are some books I remember Grandpa having that might have some information concerning the Clown that attacked Yuffie earlier."

Cloud nodded his agreement then turned to address the group again. "So Nanaki, Shera, Cait Sith, and Reeve will be stationed in Cosmo Canyon. Cid and Barret..."

Vincent stopped listening as Cloud went on about who went where. From his place crushed in the corner by Barret and Reeve, he could see Yuffie falling in and out of sleep. The painted symbol of 'sun' remained below her left eye, apparently permanent or long lasting since it survived her tosses and turns in her sleep.

He truly was a horrible man for watching such a young girl in her bed from night till the moment the sun broke over the horizon. Even after that, he couldn't force himself to leave her side. It was only the sound of her father approaching that made him flee her room. For Yuffie to catch him watching her was somewhat safe, if Godo were to find him sitting beside his daughter while she slept... That would mean only Vincent's death.

Barret shifted uncomfortably from his squished position, prodding Vincent rather painfully with his elbow in the process. "Sorry, man," he grunted as he sat down, unknowingly on Vincent's foot.

"Vincent and Yuffie, you two will go back to Midgar. I want you two to follow Zeb and try to find out as much about him as you can. Is that okay?" He was mostly concerned about Yuffie. She looked as if she would collapse if she tried to take one step out of Wutai. But the Wutaian princess just nodded in her sleepy daze. This movement ended with her head down on the table.

"On the other hand, maybe Yuffie should stay here for a while. Cid could always come back and pick her up when she's feeling better..." Shera spoke up as she gently pulled the girl straight up again, one hand brushing against her forehead to check for a fever.

Yuffie waved her hands around in front of her and staggered to her feet. "I'm fine! Just not a morning person..." she grumbled. "Gawd, let's get going already! It stinks in here!" And with that, she pushed her way out of the room, taking in a deep gulp of clean air once she was out in the hallway. Everyone eventually followed with a few grunts and a yelp from Nanaki, and soon AVALANCHE was on their way.

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"They're coming, Zeb. What do you plan on doing?" Jethro asked with a smile, one hand gently stroking the blue hair of the puppet hanging from his belt.

"We'll make things simple for us, and maybe give them something more to grieve about. Let the people have their revenge. If they succeed in killing AVALANCHE then we're one step closer to our goal..." Zeb said without looking up from his papers. Jethro unhooked the puppet from his belt and sat on the desk.

"And if they don't kill AVALANCHE?" He started making the jester dance in front of Zeb's eyes. His blue eyes wandered from the silver eyes of Zeb to the papers he had been looking at.

"Then AVALANCHE will have to kill the people they fought to protect, wouldn't they?" And the leader grabbed the dancing puppet around the torso, pulling the strings out of Jethro's hands and cradling the doll to his chest.

Jethro ignored this action and took the forgotten papers, blue eyes scanning over the contents. A picture of a little brunette girl with brown eyes, followed by her information. The next paper was identical, but different statistics and a different picture. A woman with short brown hair and hazel eyes.

"You shouldn't look into other people's things, Jethro. It'll get you into trouble," Zeb warned him as he snatched the papers back, dropping the jester in the process. The wooden doll clattered lifelessly to the floor as the two men glared at each other.

"I apologize, Zeb," Jethro said softly before standing and picking the jester up. The doll's painted smile betrayed the empty look in its blue eyes as it watched the subsiding anger in Zeb.

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"I'm bored," Yuffie stated while stretching her arms up. It had been an hour since Cid dropped her and Vincent off a mile from Midgar ("We don't want anyone spotting you guys," Cloud said while crossing his arms) and Yuffie couldn't take the silence anymore. "Vincent, what's your middle name?"

"..."

"C'mon, it's not like I'm going to tell anyone."

"..."

"Do you even have a middle name?"

"..."

"Alright, fine. Just because you don't have a middle name doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"

"We're in."

"Pfft, figures that's the only thing you'd say to me. You talked to me more when Red was around, y'know?"

"Be quiet, Yuffie."

Yuffie narrowed her eyes at the gunman and huffed. Who was he to tell her to shut up? He didn't exactly tell you to shut up... Yuffie frowned as her mind took Vincent's side. This was beyond unfair. Before she could get into a drawn out battle with herself, Vincent snatched her arm and dove into the shadows of the ruins.

"What are you do—!?"

Vincent's human hand clamped over her mouth as he pressed her into a corner, using both himself and the protection of the shadows and debris around to hide her flailing form. She immediately settled down at the sound of footsteps. A lot of footsteps. And angry, angry voices.

Vincent's hand slid from her mouth and the two crouched down. A group of men with various weapons trudged by, arguing the many ways to kill AVALANCHE.

"Why kill the women, though? I'm sure we could have some fun, first. Zeb wouldn't disagree with it, would he? 'Specially if we let him have them first," one man cackled.

"Ugh, that's just wrong. I know we're supposed to hate them, but let them have some form of dignity," another man argued in disgust. Suddenly, the group stopped to stare at him. Something flashed dangerously in their eyes that made Yuffie scoot further into the corner.

"Why are you protecting them, huh? Weren't they the reason your wife died?"

"Well, yeah, but... They did stop Meteor, didn't they?" the poor man said in his defense. He seemed to be shrinking away from them as he spoke.

"Ah, so you're going to stand against us now? Well, you know what Zeb told us..."

The man began to whimper as he tried to back away from them. Chains wrapped around his neck and he immediately began scratching at the hands that held them. A relatively quiet man stepped forward and raised his machete.

Yuffie's breath caught in her throat as Vincent wrapped his arms around her, holding her close while pulling his cape around her small figure. She buried her face into his chest to muffle her cries at the sounds of steel hacking away at flesh.

The men couldn't possibly hear her. The inhuman screams of the man drowned all other sound out. Vincent hushed Yuffie as the men started walking off, chuckling to themselves as they turned the corner and left the two AVALANCHE members and their 'friend'.

Vincent pulled away from Yuffie and walked over to the man on the ground. His face was now a bloody mass from when the machete was stabbed into his nose and twisted till there was nothing left to identify the man with. Red marks were left around his neck from the chain and his hands and feet had been cut off, leaving bleeding stumps.

Crimson eyes studied the figure to check for any clues that would lead them to Zeb. There was no point in checking for life, the man was obviously gone. The sound of vomiting took Vincent's attention from the body and he slowly made his way over to Yuffie. He patted her back lightly with his human hand before leading her away from the sight.

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Cloud shifted uncomfortably as the PHS began to vibrate in his pocket. He put a finger to Tifa's lips to quiet her and placed the PHS to his ear. "Yeah?" he whispered softly as he backed up into a corner, hidden by the crates around him.

"The people following Zeb seem to be looking for the members of AVALANCHE. I thought it best to warn you of this—"

There was a shuffling noise from Vincent's end of the PHS then a new voice took over.

"And they're not afraid to kill each other! Watch out!" Yuffie whispered- screamed into the phone. Cloud nodded, although neither of his comrades in Midgar could see it, and peeked around the crates.

"Thanks for the notice. We're in a bit of a bind right now, so we'll call you back when we have the chance."

"It would be wise not to," Vincent had the PHS again. "Depending on the cooperation we receive, we may or may not be in Zeb's headquarters and... Yuffie, please stop threatening the man with your weapon."

Cloud winced slightly at the sound of a man crying on the other side and let out a sigh. "Try not to kill anyone. Cloud, out." He put the PHS back into his pocket, then crawled out from behind the crates only to find Tifa standing with an apologetic smile, one of the men they were following holding her from behind.

"You guys gave us quite a scare earlier on. We thought we were being chased by monsters!" The bald man said with a grin, using the barrel of his gun to caress Tifa's neck. Cloud growled at the man and started pulling the Ultima Weapon out, but instead was met with four automatics aimed at his forehead.

"That's not very nice. You should know not to try and attack us. Especially in a safe house that we built! We know every way in and out..." He chuckled as he pushed Tifa towards Cloud. She fell against him and he wrapped an arm around her as if to protect her from the guns.

"Yeah," another guy agreed, body shaking with his laughter. "For an hour, I thought I was gonna die from some stupid monster," he continued.

Tifa stepped away from Cloud slightly and turned to look at the five men. "An hour?"

"Shut up, bitch!" One of the men holding the automatics lashed out, smacking her across the face with the butt of his gun. Tifa immediately sagged against Cloud from the blow.

"Tifa!" Cloud gently placed his hands on her shoulders, steadying her back to her feet. She smiled slightly at him and turned to face the men again. The smile turned dark and angry. A smile that scared the hell out of Cloud.

"We've only been following you for twenty minutes..." she said darkly.

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"I think I found something!" Shera said excitedly as she hopped up from her place in the small room. She stumbled over to Nanaki and held the book out in front of him. "It says that Mythril is connected to the Promised Land! It comes from the planet, and the Planet holds the Lifestream, and the Lifestream connects people to the Promised Land, right?"

Nanaki listened carefully to her words as they came out in one breath and he nodded as she finished up. He glanced over the book with his good eye and sat up straight. "And the puppet was made with Mythril inside of it. Shera, please make a note of this, then go find Reeve and let him know."

The woman nodded enthusiastically and dashed off to find Reeve and Cait Sith.

Nanaki let out a sigh and glanced down at the book in front of him. "He made a puppet that could connect with the Promised Land... Does that mean we'd be able to talk to the ones that have left us? I'd be able to talk to Grandpa again... And mother, too." The beast lay down again, head resting on his forepaws.

"Considering the circumstances... Would it be the right thing to tell the others? We've all lost someone close to us..." He closed his eye and concentrated on the pros and cons of the situation.

"We would all want to see Aerith again... Wouldn't we?"

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The wooden walls of the safe house shattered as the tail of the dragon swung around. Cloud tackled Tifa down just in time as it came for another swoop. Two of the men weren't as lucky, and they got caught by the heavy ligament. Their ribs gave a sickening crack as the tail crushed them against a few nearby trees.

"Shoot it, you numbskulls!" the bald man barked out at the men and they did as ordered. The automatics rang out in a symphony at the large dragon. The monster started backing away, the shots apparently annoying it.

"C'mon, Tifa. Let's go!" Cloud said while pulling Tifa to her feet.

Tifa nodded and the two started running into the safety of the forest. All Tifa could do was try her best to ignore the pained screams of the men being ripped apart by the dragon they left behind. This is the right thing to do, she repeated to herself as they continued to run.

The two finally came to a stop at the edge of the forest. Cloud let go of her hand and bent over, hands on his knees, as he attempted to regain his breath. Tifa slumped back against a tree and placed her hand over her heart, eyes closing as the sunlight began to beat down on them.

After a few minutes of resting, Cloud finally smiled over at her. "You run slow," he managed to croak from his dried throat.

Tifa stared at him, then started laughing. "I run slow? I'm pretty sure I was ahead of you, Cloud," she said with a smile as she shifted to sit down next to him.

He grinned and shook his head. "Never in a thousand years will you be ahead of me. I bet even Barret could run faster than you." He gently pinched her arm playfully and she swung a light punch at him in retaliation.

What she didn't expect was for Cloud to catch her fist in his hand and pull, bringing her into an awkward position over him on all fours. Her heart caught in her throat and she felt her cheeks heat up with a blush. Cloud seemed just as surprised as she was and the two simply stared at each other in the silence of the forest.

For what seemed like eternity, Tifa finally pulled herself away from him and up to her feet. She brushed the dirt nervously off of herself and turned her back to him as he stood up as well in his confused state.

"Uh... We should get going. If those guys got away from the dragon, they might already be informing others that we're here..." Cloud said awkwardly as he walked past Tifa.

Tifa looked down at the dirt, then put on a smile and followed behind him.

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"Yuffie... You didn't have to drag this guy around with us," Vincent said as he watched the little ninja ahead of him, dragging their hostage behind her by a rope tied around his ankles.

"Yeah I did. If it's a trap, then they wouldn't be able to hurt us 'cause we'd have him, too!" She countered, stopping to turn around and point down at the unconscious man. Vincent let out a sigh and put his human hand to his forehead.

"If you don't remember, these people don't care for the lives of their comrades..."

Yuffie visibly paled at the image of the bloodied mass earlier and dropped the rope. She stared down at the hostage and slowly turned away. "Fine, let's go..." she spoke softly. Vincent frowned and followed behind her quickly, hand reaching out to grab her shoulder and effectively stopping her.

"Yuffie, I'm sorry you had to see something like that... You are—"

"Too young... Is that it? I'm too young, right?" Yuffie turned on her heel and glared up at him. She didn't know where this sudden anger came from, but she couldn't hold it in any more. All the memories of AVALANCHE telling her she was too young, or too innocent. Too anything! "I was too young to fight Sephiroth. Did you know they made me wait for you guys? I was too young to go to my mother's funeral. I'm too young to see someone dead... I'm not too young!" she shouted out at him.

Vincent stared down at her, wondering if she had bottled all this anger and frustration since she was a child. That's right, Vincent... She isn't a child anymore.

She seemed to calm down as the silence fell over them. With a slight smile, she reached out and put a hand to his chest, where his heart lay. "Did it hurt?"

This question would haunt him till the day he died.

"Falling in love... Did it hurt?"

Vincent didn't know how to answer her, but he wouldn't have to. Someone was clapping. Footsteps followed and soon Zeb emerged from the shadows.

"That was beautiful," he said with a smile. "But... isn't there a large gap in the age differences? It would be wise, princess, if you stayed away from a creation such as Valentine."

Yuffie stepped away from Vincent and frowned as a group of both men and women came up behind Zeb.

"You have caused so much pain and suffering for these people... I think it's time they had their revenge," he spoke softly and waved a hand. The ten or so people lunged at Vincent and Yuffie, and the two could do nothing but defend themselves.

"Vincent! We have to fight back! We can't just let them beat us like this!" Yuffie shouted out as she cut her Conformer through the air, fending off another set of attacks. Vincent backed up into Yuffie and shook his head.

"We can't attack them. They're people like you and me, it isn't right," he argued with her, catching a blade with his claw and throwing it off to the side. Another blade came in and cut across his shoulder. Vincent hissed through his teeth and clutched at it.

Yuffie held her Conformer up defensively as a barrage of bullets came at them. One grazed her left leg and she cried out in surprise. A woman came in with a spear, separating Vincent and Yuffie. "Vincent!" the little ninja shouted as a pole was slammed into his shoulder.

Suddenly, she found herself backed into a pile of rubble, eyes focused on the barrel of a gun pointed at her forehead. This is it! I'm so sorry! Her eyes squeezed shut and the shot rang out.

One eye opened first, then another. The woman holding the gun in front of her slumped forward, blood leaking from her forehead and staining Yuffie's shirt. The Wutaian princess shrieked and shoved the dead body off of her before staring, wild-eyed, at the other dead bodies that littered the area.

Vincent!? She glanced around frantically, soon finding the man off to the side, Death Penalty raised and shooting down the rebels one by one. All were gone and a maniacal laughter filled the air.

Yuffie quickly looked to see Zeb standing proudly, laughing at the sight that lay before him. "You know, I didn't expect you to kill them all!" he said between chuckles. He wiped at his silver eyes before turning his back to them. "That really was an entertaining show. I hope to see it again. Now... leave!" he barked.

The little ninja scrambled to her feet just as Moira came out of the shadows, smiling widely at the gunslinger and ninja. She skipped over to Yuffie and gently pushed her hair behind an ear before taking her hands and twirling around with her. Her bells began to ring harmoniously as she laughed. Yuffie stumbled around until Moira flung her into Vincent. The two tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs as Moira hovered above the two of them.

"We'll play again later, princess!" she giggled before blowing them a kiss. A bubble of ice formed around the members of AVALANCHE and the two blinked out of the area. Moira turned to Zeb with sad eyes and pouty lips. "I wanted to play with them a little longer, you know," she said childishly.

Zeb shrugged and walked away, leaving Moira to stomp her foot into the ground in frustration. "Meany!" she shouted as she disappeared.

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Vincent let his gaze wander throughout the darkness of his mind, searching for the four demons that slept within him. Where are they..? The thought echoed and a snarl was his reply.

Wings like blood washed away the darkness and Chaos emerged from the shadows, fangs showing in a grin. 'What do you want?' Vincent glared at the demon as he listened to the howling winds of his mind. A smaller figure leapt out of the shadows and into the waiting arms of Chaos. 'Yuffie?'

Chaos gently set the girl down, claw tracing the painting of 'sun' on her cheek. The blood from his mark slid down to her chin in rivulets, dripping down to the non-existent floor every few seconds.

'What do you want with Yuffie?' Vincent couldn't understand. The demon was cryptic in everything it did, so this, like many other things, didn't make sense to him.

Yuffie looked up at him, tears of blood spilling from her eyes. Vincent took a step towards her, but realized he couldn't move. He began to sink into the pool of blood forming beneath him and struggling was doing him no good. The bleeding Yuffie reached out, hand gently taking his claw.

"Falling in love... Did it hurt?"

The question echoed throughout his mind and Chaos faded away into his private thoughts. The bleeding Yuffie reached even further, arms wrapping around his neck as the two began to sink even deeper into the blood.

It hurts... Right now, it hurts so much...

"Vincent!"

Crimson pools snapped open to stare up at the darkening sky.

"Gawd, I thought you would never get up! I was getting so scared," Yuffie blabbered. Her voice was hoarse, Vincent noted. "You twitch when you sleep... Did you know that?" she said with a smile.

Vincent sat up and rubbed at his head. "How long was I out?"

Yuffie tapped a finger against her chin as she thought about it. "I'd say three or four hours... I was starting to wonder if I should try to carry you to Kalm," she replied. Vincent watched her as she started to fuss with his shoulder.

She looked up at him quickly, then smiled and went back to his shoulder. "While you were out, I fought for some potions then fixed up your shoulder and my leg. We should be as good as new," she said while pumping her fist into the air.

Vincent nodded and slowly stood up, helping Yuffie to her feet as well. "I'll call Cid," Vincent said as he reached for his PHS. Yuffie made a noise in the back of her throat and grabbed his arm. Vincent's eyes flickered to hers for a second, searching for a reason to stop him.

"Erm..." Yuffie paused and slowly let go of him. "I tried that already... The PHS is broken..." she mumbled, digging her toe into the ground.

"Broken? How?" he questioned.

Yuffie smiled nervously. "I guess during the whole fighting an' stuff, it just broke." Somehow, Yuffie knew that telling him she got mad that she was getting nothing but static and threw it into a rock wasn't going to help the situation. And besides, what Vincent didn't know didn't hurt Yuffie.

The gunslinger watched her carefully before nodding and heading towards Kalm. "Well then, let's go to Cloud and Tifa's home... We can call them from there."

Yuffie nodded happily and the two walked side by side in silence, each thinking of the same thing, but along different lines.

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Cloud leaned against the desk as Mr. Hangman retrieved a key. "Here you are. It's so nice, seeing young couples. You know, we had another couple here not too long ago. A tall guy and a much shorter girl. Strange pair, I'd say, but adorable nonetheless. It's too bad, though. They seemed to be having some sort of fight," he rambled on.

Tifa tilted her head to the side as she listened intently. Cloud frowned and began pulling her up the stairs. "That's very interesting, but we're tired and we'd like to get some sleep." Tifa waved a goodbye to Mr. Hangman before she disappeared into the room she and Cloud were sharing.

Mr. Hangman frowned slightly as he began to pull back up into the ceiling. "Strange couples these days. All in some sort of fight, it seems."

Cloud shut the door and leaned against the wall with a sigh. "Ugh, I thought he would never shut up..." he groaned.

Tifa grinned as she sat down on the bed closest to the window. "You know... I think he was talking about Vincent and Yuffie. He's right, too. Adorable together. Is that why you keep pairing them up?"

Cloud shook his head and plopped down on the only bed left, burying his face in the pillows as he kicked off his shoes. "No. I pair them up because they balance each other out. Didn't you hear me explaining this to Nanaki?" He turned to look at Tifa and smiled at her pout. "But I guess I pair them up because they would look cute together..."

Tifa seemed to brighten up as she leapt from her bed to his. He bounced up slightly then sighed as she stifled a giggle. "Hah! I thought you said guys didn't do cute!"

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Vincent closed the door behind Yuffie and locked it before following her up the stairs. He avoided tripping over her discarded shoes and armor as she trudged into his room and collapsed on his bed.

"Yuffie... I believe your room is across from mine."

"I know. But I don't trust the people here at Kalm. They could break in at any second, and I'm sure you don't want a poor defenseless girl like me being intruded on," she mumbled as she sat up to look at him.

"No, I guess not," he replied before walking back out to grab the phone and call Cloud. Not more than ten minutes later, he returned to the room and locked his door. "Cloud said they'll come by in the morning."

Yuffie watched him quizzically and he shrugged. "I don't trust the people of Kalm either."

The Wutaian princess nodded and scooted over to sit on the edge of the bed. The silence reigned over the room and it seemed to grow colder as the seconds passed. The springs of the bed shifted as Vincent sat down on the other side.

"I can't feel anything," Vincent said quietly as he stared at the wall opposite of him. Yuffie glanced over her shoulder, hoping the silence would tell him to explain. "Falling in love... A monster like me can't feel anything, so I can't answer the question."

Yuffie frowned, hands balling into fists in her lap. "You fell in love with Lucrecia didn't you?" she hated the name. She hated the woman.

Vincent shook his head sadly. "At the time, I thought I did. But now... I'm not so sure anymore." He lay down under the covers and his gaze focused onto Yuffie. "When it came to Lucrecia, I don't think I loved her so much as I was just infatuated with the idea of loving her," he explained thoughtfully.

Yuffie couldn't take his stare anymore and quickly looked away. Slowly, Yuffie got to her feet and moved away from the bed. Vincent watched her cautiously as she turned to smile back at him. "I'm not so tired anymore, so I think I'll just clean my Conformer..."

The gunslinger watched as she sat down in the cushioned chair and pulled the Conformer up to her lap. She produced a cloth from her pocket and gently began wiping the blades of her weapon.

Vincent watched as the moonlight played along her features, giving her stormy hues an inhuman glow. He felt Chaos shift in his mind and slowly turned away so his back would be facing the girl.

Everything about her was confusing his senses, but now wasn't the time to think about it. I shouldn't be thinking about it at all... He chastised himself as he allowed Chaos to pull him into a land of nightmares, accompanied by the sound of Yuffie humming her continuous six noted tune.

A/N: Oh wow... Finally!!! This is what writer's block does to you. I can't stand it. I could've made this chapter better, but I didn't want to make you guys wait too much longer. Things are going to really start progressing in the next few chapters! Please, review and let me know what you think! Thank you.