Goodbye, Hello

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Squaresoft/Squareenix (whatever they're called now) and the Final Fantasy Corporation. I'm making no money off this piece.

A/N: I write quite frequently in the FFX section but this story, which was written for an Aurikku crossover challenge over at Livejournal . com, was too much of a mix between FF7 and FFX to post anywhere else. Please enjoy!

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"Blah" speech

'Blah' thoughts

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Vincent Valentine stepped onto the moonlight bathed balcony of the party's summer house on the Costa del Sol, silent as a ghost. The others had left hours ago and finally the house was peaceful enough for him to emerge from his "brooding" in the cellar. Though he felt more comfortable enshrouded in what others would consider claustrophobic darkness he also felt the occasional need to feel the wind on his face. Preferably at night.

Staring up at the marble moon and stars like scattered shards of glass, he let his mind wander down its familiar tracks. Yet for once his thoughts did not remain on that one spot, spinning in hopeless circles around what he could not change like a month courting a flame. For once he thought further back, into the darkness his own memory could hardly brush.

And something was looking back at him…

"Hey! What are you doing out here?' he winced internally as a familiar soprano shook his reverie. Sure enough there was Yuffie, in her usual green shirt and khaki shorts, leaning against the doorframe. There was an impish smile on her face that could only mean one thing for Vincent, but he allowed his visage to remain unperturbed. "Why aren't you out with the others?" she said, joining him on the balcony.

He gave her a quick glance out of the corner of his eye that said quite clearly, 'You're asking me this?' She took one hint but seemed to miss the other. "I might go out later, once everyone's had their fun and the picking will be bet-," she flashed him a grin and continued as if nothing had happened. "So, what are you doing out here?"

"Thinking," Vincent said simply.

"About what?"

Vincent remained silent and returned his crimson gaze to the moon. Had the moon changed since this other inside him had walked the planet? How long ago had that been? What joys and horrors had that one faced, for now he was sure that what he was finding was another life complete separate from his own, but with the same core driving it. A few moments of silence and perhaps he could grasp its fleeting tail…

But not while this one bothered him.

"Hey! Hello, you in there? What were you thinking about?" Yuffie insisted. He gave her a long, level stare, knowing the full unsettling power that look had and hoping it would do its work. It occurred to him that perhaps it wouldn't hurt to assuage her curiosity for the sake of peace.

"…Death."

"You would!" Yuffie scoffed. For a moment it seemed as if she would say something more. But the moment came and went in blessed silence and rather than leaving she surprised him by turning her own gaze to the moon. "Hey Vincent, what kind of death? There's a lot of kinds of death, y'know? I mean, it could be our death, the bad guys…it could be the kind of death you want because then you get to see everyone again. What kind are you thinking of?"

Vincent gave her a startled look which she met and returned with another grin. For a moment he though he caught a glimpse of another Yuffie, beneath the dirt and grime of cynicism and crime. The real Yuffie, who only peaked out from behind her shield of worldliness when she thought no one was looking. He wondered if he should feel honored to have seen this side of her, the face behind the mask.

"You know there's an old legend back in Wutai," her eyes became distant and it seemed as if she was speaking to herself, "That long ago, before even the Ancients, people used to visit the dead. Yeah, they could actually see inside the life energy and pick out people who had died, even talk to them!" Vincent watched with veiled interest at first as her face lit up as she told him this, then less than veiled as that strange presence within him seemed to shift, as if it too recognized the tale.

'Ah, you too know of this?' he thought to that presence.

"It's just a story people tell to kids, I guess. I mean, everyone knows you can't see the dead once they're gone. But I always liked the idea, y'know? If it were true."

"Its…its almost like I saw it first hand, y'know?" she continued. "Like a small part of me was there, way in the past when it was happening. The more I think about it-,"

"The more you remember," Vincent said quietly and Yuffie's eyes widened. "It's almost like you are awakening a spirit within you; another set of memories that share your soul. Or whatever is left of the one you have," he added.

"Yeah!" Yuffie exclaimed. "And… I know this sounds weird, but I think I remember someone like you there, someone who kinda gave off the same feeling as you. That's all I can make out but I think that person was important to me. Maybe we were in love or someth-," she caught herself and her hand jerked as if to slap it down over her mouth. She blushed and glanced sideways at him, her eyes flicking down as if to think of something to cover the awkward moment. Almost against his will Vincent opened his mouth to reply…

The presence shifted…

Auron jerked forward and was lucky for the railing that kept him from falling to his knees when the sudden sense of vertigo overwhelmed him. His entire body felt strange to him. Besides the other stronger soul that had been subverted, there was the confusion of three-dimensional vision. It had been so long since he had had the use of both eyes that their sudden presence was disorienting.

A thousand other little things were wrong as well, but he had risen from within the mind of his new incarnation, grasping at the chance his own musings had allowed him to pull himself free just long enough to do…something…

He looked up into her eyes and knew why he had had to come back. From her posture, half leaning on the rail, her arm stretched out to catch his fall she had felt the shift as well. She too had fought for a moment's dominance to be here. Neither of them truly belonged and both knew that they would have to relinquish the brief taste of true life soon, but not without this moments. Not without setting the groundwork for their own destinies.

"You haven't changed much," he spoke first, a wry hint of humor in his voice.

Rikku's grin split the strange face from ear to ear. The effect of her smile on Yuffie's face was shocking but at the same time comforting. That grin belonged there. "Nope! … Well, maybe a little. From living in this place," she admitted, indicating the world around them. Auron nodded and pulled himself to his feet, casually wrapping one arm around her and pulling her close. The brief thought crossed his mind, 'Wouldn't Cloud and the others be surprised if they saw this?' "I waited for you, you know? After you left I mean. It was sure was nice of the Fayth to let us get a second chance," Rikku said.

"The Fayth had nothing to do with this," Auron said quietly.

"Then what happened? I mean, why are we getting a second chance?" Rikku asked, snuggling against his red coat. Like everything else it was similar, yet different. He smelled different this time. Before he had smelled of an ancient city, promises, and an old story; now he smelled…almost like a tomb, but with a hint of roses on it. Like the grave of someone you had loved very much. A grave you kept clean and adorned with fresh roses every week. She shuddered slightly at the thought.

"We were lucky. Maybe some of our memories were recycled when another child was born. Again and again throughout time this happened until now, when enough came together at the same time for both of us recognized our chance. But that is only a possibility, who knows what the real reason could be," Auron said.

"I wonder where Yunie and the others are," Rikku said.

"There are pieces of them here now, I think. But it does not matter, we will see them again regardless."

"That'll be nice," she murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder. "You smell different, ya know?" she said suddenly. Auron cocked an eyebrow at her, a silent gesture for explanation. "But in some ways the same. Did you die again or something?"

"Perhaps," he said, with a hint of chagrin in his voice. "I believe you had a better word for it, back when this world was caught was known as Spira."

"Yup!" she laughed, "I remember, 'You're not really dead, Auron, just dead-ISH.'"

"Yeah, that was it," Auron replied, unable to resist an imperceptible smile of his own.

For a moment they simply stood there, staring up at the moon. For a moment they could almost pretend that nothing had changed. They could ignore the difference in the way their bodies fit together, and the lights that glowed all about like an echo of ancient Zanarkand. For a moment they were simply two lovers in each others arms.

But only for a moment.

Rikku gave a full body twitch that seemed to jolt through both of them, "Uh oh, time's running out. We'd better let them back," There was a hint of sorrow in her voice. Soon they would have to return to their dark corners of the subconscious, dreaming of the happenings of their new lives.

"Then don't let this moment be for nothing," Auron said. A silent message passed between them and just as the subverted memories of their new lives drifted towards the light of consciousness, Auron and Rikku's lips met.

Goodbye…

Hello.

Vincent and Yuffie blinked. It took a moment for their minds, fogged as if they had just woken from a deep sleep, to catch up with the position their bodies were in.

Yuffie reacted first. 'I must have done this for a reason! Argh, no way, not Vincent! He's practically a vampire! Ok, need an excuse,' her mind went into a flurry like a flock of startled pigeons and instinct took over as she pushed him away roughly. But perhaps not as roughly as she would have expected of herself…

Vincent had comprehended the strange situation a half a second earlier. Yet for some reason he did not pull away. This feeling…it was strangely comforting.

"Uh, right! So, uh, I'm going to go now! Bye!" Yuffie jabbered andmade a dashfor the door. Vincent caught her wrist before she had gone a step and the backlash sent her hurtling back against his chest. Another moment passed slightly longer than it should have, her body pressed against his. 'What is this?' he wondered. When Yuffie turned back to him he found himself, for almost the first time, at an unintentional loss for words. But this was Yuffie they were talking about, so one thing sprang immediately to his mind, "Give the materia back."

Yuffie blushed as if chagrinned to be caught in the act thing and handed over two materia without a word of complaint. Vincent placed them back within his coat and when he looked up she was gone, the lingering scent of her on his cape the only proof that she had been there at all.

He did not understand what had happened or why, whether or not that fading presence at the back of his head had anything to do with it.s

But somehow, he knew she would be back.

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A/N: I've actually never played FF7 up to Vincent and Yuffie so I had to take my character notes from friends of mine who had. I hope they were not too out of character.

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As always, please review!