18) ESCAPE!!! (could it almost be over????)
Yuffie felt like she had spent an eternity swimming in Vincent's deep eyes. The blood red circles once scared her, but now she could think of no more comforting thing in the world. She was as lost in him as he was in her. Her stormy gray eyes were a sign of hope for him, something to live for. But when they escaped from the life-stream that something would have to remain buried. For a time...

Their hands were still joined. From the background Yuffie heard a subtle cough. Averting her eyes from Vincent she realized that she was standing again in the Shinra office. She and Vincent were standing a few yards ahead of the President's desk holding hands. What shocked her a bit more was that they weren't alone. There were four figures sitting on the desk just staring at her. On the far left there was the happy-go-lucky child form of Vincent. His face had a glowing smile, his cheeks were beet red, and he couldn't stop shifting position, as he dangled his feet over the edge of the desk. He started giggling as she looked over him. Next to him was the violent youth. Vincent during his days serving in the Midgarian gangs, the teenager gave her a full smile, his arms were folded, and they both started to laugh when their eyes met. To his right was the cool well trained professional. It was more or less his decisions in life that led Vincent to where he was today. He sat at the edge of the table with his hands in his pockets, wearing a sad half smile. When Yuffie's eyes traveled over him he picked himself up and straightened his jacket beaming a much wider smile at her, but it still carried a sad quality. And finally at the end was Chaos. His figure was also sitting up on the desk, he held his chin in his hand as if in concentration. He moved barely a muscle as their eyes locked. Yuffie wasn't able to confirm it because his hand was still blocking part of his face, but from the shift in his cheek she knew he was returning her smile.

Then finally there was him, the man she had come to this place with. The once shattered man who had rebuilt himself in the eyes of all his companions, and those present. Yuffie felt a special unspoken bond to this man. Throughout their entire adventure together searching for Sephiroth she had managed to learn two things about this man, didly and squat. Now she found herself in a position where she could easily write a full-fledged novel on his life. It was astounding how much had changed in such a short time. But she wanted to get to know him further, she knew his history, but she did not truly know him. Vincent on the other hand already knew quite a bit about Yuffie, through out their ordeal in Wutai, and all the nervous chatter while they descended into the depths of the Northern crater, he learned quite a bit about her.

'They had time.' she decided. Sephiroth was defeated, the killer anaconda that was the Shinra corporation had lost its head. Or rather found a new head in the form of the much more benevolent Reeve. The immediate threats to the planet were neutralized, now the people were given a chance to rebuild everything they lost. For Yuffie this meant a chance to rebuild Wutai. To Vincent a chance build a new life, if he chose to do so. Vincent released Yuffie's hand and turned to his shadows sitting on the table before him. The small boy jumped off the table and ran to him, or rather ran into him. He disappeared into Vincent. Next was the unrly youth. With a over elaborate walk he strode into Vincent, like a transluscent ghost he turned in to face the same direction as Vincent and just seemed to melt into him. Thirdly there was the clean cut professional. Stretching his arms as he walked he gave out a low yawn, then same way as the two before him disappeared into Vincent. Vincent then turned to Chaos. Chaos was slightly surprised when Vincent gave him a quiet nod. Chaos laughed to himself once as he got off the table and walked towards Vincent. As he entered Vincent he turned to Yuffie and gave her a quick smile.

Yuffie started, "Where were we?"

"We were just leaving." Vincent looked around the room one last time. The lights began to flicker, and the light thrown in from the outside the windows began to fade. As the lights gently faded, Yuffie rushed up to Vincent and wrapped her arms around him. He held one arm around her back, and with the other he held the back of her head. And again the two of them slipped quietly into the darknes.

Wake up Vincent...

Vincent's eyes fluttered for a moment.

I'll always love you... and always be happy for you.

He recognized the voice. 'Thank you Lucrecia.' He thought to himself, as if she could hear him. If he could hear her in this place it could only mean one thing, she was dead. Vincent felt odd. All around him was darkness, where there wasn't darkness there was a warm turquoise color. After a few moments he realized he was carrying something in his arms, pulling it closer to him. Looking down he saw the unconscious Yuffie, they were in the same position as when they left his consciousness, the same position as when he caught her when she dived into the life-stream to get him. Her short chocolate brown hair was falling over her eyes, swaying gently in the life-stream pool. Vincent looked up and saw a bright light. Daylight. Gently he began treading his feet, propelling him and Yuffie up to the surface. 'They were almost there.' Vincent had to squint his eyes, the mid day sun was getting to him. Finally they were there. They were in the present, their present. No more reminiscing about the past, there chance to live was here. Hope had come in the form of choice for Vincent Valentine. The choice to live which he had deprived himself of thirty years prior. As Vincent and Yuffie's head's broke through the surface Yuffie came alive with gags and coughs. Vincent likewise was thrown into a hacking fit as he slowly moved them towards the shore.

When he finally got them to the tropical shore, he tipped Yuffie on her side and keeled over himself. Had they been breathing in the life-stream all this time? If they were, wouldn't the excess fluids in the lungs have killed them? A dark voice in Vincent's head made a point of saying: 'Don't question it Vincent. It was the will of the planet that you live. Go with it.'. Vincent leaned forward and looked over Yuffie. Her breathing had returned to normal, and her eyes had begun to twitch. Slowly she opened them and looked out. Vincent was kneeling over her, his breathing was heavy, and from the way his clothes sagged it looked like he had just climbed out of the ocean. Yuffie began to sit up when the noticed that she was covered in a similar semi transluscent liquid. "Ewww! Grossness!"

Vincent started laughing and tried to stand up. When he finally straightened his legs he looked around and every thing started spinning and bluring. He fell flat on his back a few moments later. Yuffie could'nt stop laughing. "Too much too soon." Vincent commented.

"I think I've found them!" an all too farmiliar voice called out. From the forested area behind them the creature Red XIII, Nanaki to those who knew him, emerged.

Behind him a second figure rushed out of the thick undergrowth. Where a gun arm should have been, there was now what looked be a large can opener that he was using to slash the thick undergrowth. "Bout damn time you two showed up. We've been waiting here for 3 days. Yall have scared every one shitless."

"Glad to see you too marshmellow!" Yuffie replied as the large red beast walked forward and nuzzled Yuffie along the side of her face, Yuffie returned the gesture by hugging him around the scruff of his neck, and giggling.

Barret helped Vincent to his feet, and Vincent grabbed a hold of him when he was about to fall again. "I apologize for us taking so long, but we weren't sure how to speed the process up."

Barret grumbled at the polite gesture. 'Classic Vincent, Gentleman to the end.' "Just a joke. You two ok?"

"Just peachy..." Yuffie made an attempt to sit up, but fell on her back when her head started spinning. Red approached her from her head side and just looked down at her. "Hey Red, did you know that a long time ago our summon materias were actually people?"

The massive dog beast scrunched his face and furrowed his eyes. "It was rumored that there were once lesser gods and super powered beings that roamed the planet and that the summons were just their shadows, but I've never put much stock into that theory."

"Uh huh, anyways, they were real people. I'm right, you're wrong. I'm smarter than you." Yuffie laughed out as she made another attempt to sit up, and with Red's assistance would have been successful. At the last moment Red withdrew his support and Yuffie fell back again.

"If you're so smart figure out how to get up on your own!" Red sneered.

"Awwwww, Red!" Yuffie groaned.

"Where are the others?" Vincent asked?

"They dropped me and Red down here. We... We're near Mideal, just so ya now." Vincent nodded. "Tif and Cloud, are looking around the Midgar area. After Meteor was stopped a lot of life-stream pools have popped up around there. Cid and Cait are still wandering around the Northern Cavern for ya. Cid is using the doll on remote control to dig around the rubble. Cait is the only one allowed down there since the area is still somewhat unstable."

"That's kinda cruel." Yuffie commented as she made another failed attempt to stand.

"I know, but Reeve assured us that he has 13 more of those dolls in storage in Midgar." Barret replied.

"What happened to Midgar? Wasn't the Meteor supposed to crash there?" Vincent asked.

"I Suppose you two wouldn't know." Barret remarked as he let out a bellow of laughter. "Midgar is safe and sound. 3.2 million people were evacuated two days before the disaster. There were about 6400 who stayed throughout the experience. They've already begun the reconstruction. Two plates completely collapsed. Three others were severly damaged, and the remaining few left are still standing, they just have a couple of gaping holes in them that's all." Barret walked forward to Yuffie, and before she could protest picked the small girl up in his arms. Vincent did his best to keep up as they walked. Red followed behind them, incase they should run into a back attack. "The entire city has come together for the express purpose of clearing the rubble and rebuilding the structures that were on the lowermost level. They won't be reconstructing the fallen plates, but will reinforce the ones that are still standing." Barret stopped ahead of Vincent for a moment. "It's a start..." he commented before he started walking again. We'll contact the others once we get to the inn, let them know yall are ok." Barret continued to talk as they neared the village. Vincent had stoped listening a while ago, now he was concentrating souly on getting into town without passing out. A slight dizziness had returned, and a quick wave of euphoria made him giggle for a moment, and he was struggling to concentrate. Random words were coming in and out. "Glad we found you now.... Would have missed on helluva party.... Nearly.... Pay....." Vincent's body hit the bed before they had even finished paying. He had lost contact with most of his senses but had somehow guided himself to the bed. 'soft... soft... bed...'

Barret walked into the room following Vincent after he paid the clerk. Yuffie had fallen asleep in his arms. Red trailed behind them. Barret stopped after he entered the room, Red walked along next to him. It dawned on them what the Clerk meant when she said, 'they have rooms, but were ill equipped to serve their numbers.' There was one queen size bed on the side of the room. Vincent lay on the bed, from his position it looked like he had fallen asleep at contact, he was about to fall off. Barret walked around to the other side and pulled the covers down before setting Yuffie down on the bed. Then he moved around to the other side and repositioned Vincent on the bed. Vincent was above the covers and Yuffie below. Barret stood back and glared at his handy work. It was a pretty small bed, and Yuffie and gotten a hold of Vincent's human arm. She was holding it tightly close to her chest, the same way Marlene did her teddy bear. Vincent didn't seem to mind, he was fast asleep.

Barret and Red just looked at each other for a moment, then in unison said "Camera." Barret began heading for the door, and Red called out, "You find a camera, I'll contact the others. Hurry up we may not get another chance at this."

"Why do ya say that?"

"You ever seen Vincent asleep before?" Red asked. Barret just turned to leave, save when they first met the dark gunslinger they had never known him to sleep eat or be merry. This was a first.

Barret just turned back to him and said, "Fool! How're you going to contact the others? You ain't got no damn hands."

"I managed to pass myself off as a human sailor a month ago, this is a cake walk compared to that." Barret just stared at the dog for a moment before he left for the market in search of a camera. Red just chuckled to himself as he dug through their bag. After finding the PHS, he carried it in his mouth out to the receptionist and dropped it on her desk. He had her dial the numbers while he did the talking. He felt it was too hot a day to go galavanting through the open air market.

Light... It was really bright... and his eyes weren't even open yet. Vincent tried to move his right arm but it was attached to something tight and solid. He moved his claw over his face and felt slightly relieved as the cold metal made contact with his skin. The dark gunman let out a deep breath. From around him he heard some repeated 'sh'ing but paid it no mind, he was too tired to care. Slowly as he began to drift into sleep again the voices rose in volume. Gently he shifted in position, the action was followed by another round of 'shh's'. Vincent was starting to get annoyed. Slowly he opened his eyes. There was a series of awes and muffled comments. All the members of Avalanche save Yuffie were standing around his bed. The centermost was Tifa, her eyes were shining with unshed tears and she was desperately biting her lower lip in an attempt to quiet her sobs of happiness, her hands to gripping the foot board of the bed in a death grip. From the splintering sound, it seemed the foot board was loosing. Next to Tifa to the right was their fearless leader, Cloud. He had a stupid smile plastered on his face and gave Vincent a nod of recognition. To Tifa's left was the Cid the captain of the sky who cursed more than a sailor of the sea. His jacket was off and Vincent saw three large nicotine patches on his left arm. As if anticipating his observation the grinning pilot whispered to Vincent, "Shera insisted." It was followed up by several hushing noises from Tifa and the others. Cait Sith was standing next to him, dancing circles on the top of his huge mechanical mog. On the other side were Barret and Red, who had found him and Yuffie about ten hours earlier. Vincent began to move, immediately there was a flurry of movements and muffled warning sounds. Looking to his right Vincent saw the reason. Yuffie was latched on tighter than his own skin to his arm. Vincent scoffed quietly once then leaned back and closed his eyes.

Cloud dragged Tifa out of the room, and the others followed suit. They had already woken Vincent, they didn't want their chatter to wake Yuffie as well. The door clicked shut behind them.

"Finally they left..." Yuffie whispered.

Vincent was mildly surprised, but all signs of it were hidden behind a steely gaze. "You were awake?" he inquired.

The small ninja smiled. Her eyes were still shut tight and she barely moved her mouth as she spoke. "Go to sleep, I'm tired."

"Yuffie... Can I get my arm back?" Vincent asked.

"It's mine for now, just go to sleep." Vincent lay back and rested his head on his pillow. The light was shining on the wall, sunlight from outside. It wasn't just bright. It seemed to carry a life of its own, and affected everything it struck. Before when he looked around he defined everything as shades of gray. A blueish gray, a redish gray, a more white than black gray. But now everything had its own tone, its own voice if you would. He wanted to run outside and fall asleep under the sun, but for now the bed would have to do. It would do.

Vincent closed his eyes and began to dream. Half a day ago he saw his life for what it was. The fog of sadness and laments that had once obscured his view were gone, and throught he act of seeing he was reborn.

Vincent dreamt that afternoon, he saw Lucrecia, Sera, his parents, everyone he had ever lost. They were dead, they were all dead... but it was ok... Their memories were no longer a source of pain, but that of strength.

I feel kinda bad cause this chapter is only like 3000 words. The next chapters are only like 2000 words apiece, maybe i should combine them... hm...

I know what you all... yall... (strange i'm texan when i talk, but not when i write) are thinking... 'End it already you stupid SOB!!!' But unfortunately i have two chapters left. I probably could have ended it here. Changed up the wording so they're more affectionate to each other and add a hopeful paragraph to the end describing the 'vast sea that is their love.' But it just feels... feels incomplete. If I still have internet in one week (Which i probably won't... [I'm moving back on campus]) I'll update. We're almost there so bear with me!

Ezri-Candy: What exactly is fluff? I've heard the term, but i'm not exactly sure what it is.

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: I'm sorta glad to hear i hit a nerve. Its really cool that this story can evoke these types of emotions from people.

Hotaru170: Thanks for the concern! I'm feeling alot better. I also appreciate the continual support!

Shadow Reaver: Thanks for the compliment! Glad to hear you liked the chapter.
Eva: Wow, at this point i can't even remember my english professor's name... But besides the whole i hate your writing bit, he was pretty cool.
Pixie: I'm thinking about making a story about Jenova, bu i wanna finish my story about Sephiroth first. I just have no time.
Felichel: lol, he feels better later. so don't worry bout it.

PaineKisaragi: I'm glad to hear you really liked this chapter, I hope you enjoy future chapters as much as this one.

Forebearer of Carnage: I'll have to work on the story summary. Glad to hear you really liked the story though.