Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or Squaresoft even though I wished I did, almost as much as I wished that I owned 51 percent of Microsoft or invented post-it notes…….oh well if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Summary: Set 1 year after FFVII:AC. The world is encompassed in battle as Wutai proclaims war using an army ten years in the making, now the only thing that truly stands in their way is Avalanche, but its not enough, and with the planet ready to come apart at the seams, the only man who can help is the greatest general the world has ever known...

Dreams of Existence

Chapter 1: Three Months

"Three months" he said to himself, "Three months since Edge had been terrorized by Kadaj and his band of misfits, three months since the reconstruction of Midgar had begun anew, and three months since Geostigma vanished from the face of the planet."

He sank deeper into his plush leather chair and looked out of the large glass window that had replaced the rear wall of his office, bulletproof of course, no sense taking unnecessary risks, and let out a large sigh. The sight of new buildings rising out of the so-called ashes of a great city was heartening, yet, the situation that was brewing behind him sucked any peace or joy that could have been gleaned from the moment right out of him. Papers had been piling up on his desk at a startling rate, and now he could barely see over the tops of them. Request forms, reports and propositions of every shape and colour littered his desk and more than once he was tempted to just sweep everything off into his rather large and conveniently located paper shredder/garbage bin.

"Things are going just fine," he told himself, "The reconstruction of Midgar is on schedule and should be finished within two years and the people are finally beginning to realize that life will get better if they all work at it"

He unconsciously cradled his right hand, something he had picked up while affected by Geostigma, and bit his lip as a wave of pain rolled over his body. Phantom pain they called it, the fact that the body got so used to the pain caused by Geostigma that the body had a hard time adjusting to the lack of it that the sudden absence of the disease caused. It was only temporary and very sporadic, but when it occurred, the pain was excruciating. Phantom pain had been the cause of over fifty construction accidents, people falling over railings to their deaths or a person dropping a steel girder, all due to a sudden attack, but it had not directly killed anybody. The Doctors also claimed that the incidences and intensity of phantom pain had dropped drastically in the last month and should be gone altogether in a year's time…hopefully.

"The doctors don't know anything, do they?" he chuckled quietly. Steeling himself, he spun his chair around to face his desk and took a deep breath, "Time to get back to work"

-----

"Humans are ignorant creatures," the black-eyed man mused, "they refuse to believe anything that occurs unless they see it with their own eyes and yet, they will believe in something that isn't visible or tangible with more fervor than is imaginable."

Serious blood red eyes and with cool black eyes clashed fiercely over the bar table, both staring hard and unblinking, neither wanting to give any leeway.

"Yet, it is that same ignorance that makes humans one of the most hardy and tenacious species to ever live." the red-eyed man countered.

"Touché." The black-eyed man blinked and averted his eyes, "The rest is on me."

Tseng sighed woefully and signaled for the waitress while Vincent let off a rare smile that was reserved only for his friends and Turks…although that was the basically same thing. Reno guffawed and slapped Rude on the back and Elena quickly emptied her glass in preparation for the next round of drinks.

"You should know better than to challenge Valentine to a stare-down!" Reno hollered, showing that he was now well past the point of 'a little tipsy'.

Rude merely cleared his throat and gave Tseng a slight smirk, sure… his eyes were dying with laughter, but that was why he wore shades… yes, shades were an integral part of his life…

Elena burped daintily and then blushed furiously. Placing her glass on the table she fixed Tseng with a "that was very dumb and you know it" look and said "Yes, I agree… you should know better than to challenge a man who has blinked less times than Reno has said something intelligent, previous statement included."

Tseng dissolved into gales of laughter and Elena looked as if she had just scaled the Neo-Shinra tower barehanded, Reno however looked ready to burst.

Vincent placed his right hand on Reno's shoulder (as incidentally Reno was sitting to his immediate right), fixed one eye on him and quietly said, "Calm down Reno, you might pop a blood vessel, and then planet knows when I'll get the smell of alcohol out of my clothes."

The table went silent, hell, half the room went silent as everyone's (Who knew Vincent) jaws fell open with regard to the monumentous event that just took place, Vincent… had just told a joke. Reno was still scraping his jaw up off the floor when Tseng burst into laughter yet again, followed closely by roughly half the room, except Rude, who was laughing inside, and Elena, who was wondering just how had so many people heard what Vincent had said when she was sitting across the table from him and barely caught it.

"At least he can get Tseng to unwind, and that's something," grumbled Reno, and then added more quietly to himself "It only took someone who has a larger stick up his ass and the personality of a soap dish."

Of course Vincent had heard everything Reno said, but as usual chose to stay silent.

-----

Tifa gazed at the throng that had gathered in Seventh Heaven and sighed as a fresh wave of laughter broke out from something that, surprisingly, Vincent had said.

"That's not something you see every day," somebody said from behind her, "Vincent telling a joke, next thing you know the sky will be falling on our heads"

"That's happened before, or have you forgotten Meteor already" Tifa joked, recognizing the voice instantly, "I hope not, since you're in charge of the cleanup."

Reeve laughed and said, "Well if we can joke about it, it means we are ready to move on."

"Yes… we are, but some wounds are still too fresh." She said glancing at Cloud who was currently engaged in a heated game of dominoes with Cid, Barret, and Nanaki. How Nanaki played the game with no opposable thumbs was still a mystery to many, and judging by Cloud's grim expression and the sheer volume of curses flowing out of Cid and Barret's mouths, he was winning.

Following her gaze Reeve nodded knowingly and said "Yes, but all wounds heal with time," and after quick glance at Tifa, added "and with help."

Tifa began to polish the counter yet again and bowed her head slightly, her hair fell in front of her eyes hiding her expression, but could not hide the single tear running down the side her face, "Yes I know, but… could you tell him that for me, please?"

Reeve placed his hand on Tifa's shoulder and squeezed it gently in an effort to offer her some comfort.

"Don't worry Tifa, he'll come around sooner or later," he said, "We all do." and with that Reeve turned and went to a table that was occupied by two fellow Neo-Shinra employees who had somehow handed Reeve a drink before he had even reached his chair.

"You're right Reeve," she said to herself, "they all do come around, round and round and round they go, where they stop even they don't know." She looked down for a second, frowned and wiped the tear off the counter.

-----

Cloud slammed his fist into the table, which creaked ominously as the dominoes that were currently residing peacefully on it took to the skies for a few seconds before crashing back down on the table, to the amusement to a certain furry creature.

"What the hell," shouted Cloud while directing a scathing glare at Nanaki, "Are you some kind of domino prodigy or something?"

"Take it easy Spike," said Barret, "Do you want this table to end up like the last three?" He indicated the three thoroughly pulverized tables that lay in a secluded corner of the bar and chanced a quick peek in Tifa's direction only to meet with a glare that would have set his hair on fire…and probably would, if she had any fire materia.

"No," Cloud sighed, "I still owe her for the last two, if I break this one I'll be forced to take a two week vacation to Costa Del Sol for… health reasons."

"You know," said Cid, "you could probably get her to forget all about the motherfuckin' bills for those two fuckin' tables if you clean the shit out of your eyes and ears and give her what she wants."

"And what would that be"

"Just a simple kiss…. And then a night of fucking hot, nasty, sex that will make her toes curl up to her knees!"

"Cid!" said Nanaki. "Your language is atrocious at best, and so is your tact, a usual, but I must say, you do have a point.

The other three member of the table had to reclaim their lower mandibles from the crater that they had now formed in the ground.

Cloud picked up his drink and looked at it warily. "Is there something in the drinks tonight? First Vincent makes a joke and now this…. alcohol is bad for the mind!"

Having recovered enough neural processes to start thinking and cursing again, Cid looked at Nanaki with new respect.

"Who knew you had it in you Red," Said Cid, "I knew we would corrupt you one day!"

Barret who had been shocked into silence nodded sagely at Cid's words. Cloud groaned and buried his head in his hands, blushing furiously and cursing like a sailor, to Cid's immense satisfaction.

"I have corrupted the younger generation, the seeds of destruction have been planted!" Cid laughed evilly and more than a few people wondered how he did that without swallowing his cigarette.

Nanaki flicked one of his ears in annoyance and considered the bowl of amber liquid that sat beside him and pushed it away with his paw, maybe there was something wrong with the drink. Too bad, it was good quality liquor and as grandpa always told him, "never turn down good quality liquor, or suckers who thought he couldn't play a mean game of cards."

No one had thought it strange that a large red, furry dog creature with a flame on its tail was sitting on a chair drinking alcohol and playing dominoes at a table in a bar, but then again, maybe they were used to it.

After Cid had finished his tirade, he raised his hand and in a sing-song voice shouted out, "OH WAAAAAITREEEEESS, I NEEEED AAAA REEEEEEFIIIILLLLLLL!" Yes, Cid was definitely drunk, or he had a fervent death wish.

By this time Cloud had regained some of his dignity and watched Cid as if he had grown a second head. Growling to himself he leaned over to Nanaki and said, "Red, did you really agree with Cid, should I really tell her that I love her?"

Nanaki nodded and then turned his attention to the dominoes with a serious look in his eyes.

"Tell her Cloud, she yearns to hear it" Nanaki said, "and she won't wait on it forever."

"I know Red, but… it's so hard, I'd prefer to fight Sephiroth again before I say it, but I don't know why. I know I love her but… why is it so hard?"

"I can't tell you why Cloud, I can only tell you what I think"

"I'll tell her soon, I just need more time to sort out my feelings, the last three months have been hectic and I haven't had any time to sit down think about things"

"Do that, it might help more than you know."

"Thanks Red" Cloud said as he mussed up Nanaki's hair, "you're like the big, wise, furry brother I never had."

Nanaki shook his head, gave Cloud a level glare and said, "NEVER do that again"

"Duly noted." Cloud said and edged away from Nanaki.

By this time Cid had gotten his drinks and looked happier than ever while Barret was watching his glass as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Their attention snapped back to the table as soon as they noticed Nanaki begin to shuffle the dominoes.

"By the way Cloud" Nanaki said, with as close to a smile as he could manage, "If I were in your shoes, I would have fathered at least two litters of pups by now."

Cloud flushed and in a strangled voice replied, "Just shut up and concentrate on the damn game!"

Barret and Cid just chuckled.

There was DEFINITELY something in the goddamned drinks….

-----

"Why does this always happen to me?" Yuffie moaned and straightened the rather short skirt that she currently wore, "The greatest ninja in the world shouldn't have to put up with this shit!"

Weaving in-between tables and chairs with a platter of drinks held over her head, she made her way towards the table that currently seated Vincent and the Turks, apparently they all drank like fish and weren't ashamed to admit it. Between dealing with them and a drunken Cid who was singing out his orders just to piss her off, this was turning out to be one hell of a bad night

After Kadaj and 'Sephiroth' had been defeated, Vincent had taken to hanging around the Turks a lot and seemed to have loosened up a little bit, the joke he told earlier had proven that, and at times you could catch the hint of a smile on his face. Be that as it may, he was still a frigid bastard who could peel the paint off a wall with his stare.

"Here you go sir." Yuffie said in a sickly sweet voice as she served the drinks out at the table, "I hope you are enjoying your food and drinks… enough to choke to choke and die on them!"

She said that last part to herself, but judging from the brief flash of amusement in his eyes, Vincent had heard every last word. Damn him and his freakishly good hearing!

She caught Reno giving her an appraising look and had to mentally clamp down on her 'break-pervert's-nose' reflex. Somehow she knew that on some level Reno was undressing her with his eyes, so she hurried away from the table before she did something she knew she would regret, promising to kill Reno later and thinking dark thoughts at Tifa for forcing her into this situation.

Well technically, it was her fault that she was in the situation in the first place, but who knew that Tifa would hold it against her and humiliate her in such awful, albeit, inventive fashion. All she did was try to make off with a small stash of materia, and in the process of sneaking away, got startled by a mouse and ended up knocked over an entire cupboard of glasses and plates, but that did not mean that Tifa could force her to wear a waitress outfit and tell her to work of the damages as a punishment for stealing!

As she was lost in very satisfying thoughts of revenge, she felt a hand firmly caress her ass and pinch hard. She yelped and spun around, bringing her now fisted hand to bear, but there was no one there. All the people in the bar were minding their own business or their drinks, some were looking over her and Annabelle, the other waitress, with lusty eyes but none were near enough, or brave enough to her to fondle her in that manner. The only people near to her were Cloud, Cid and Barret, who were playing dominoes with Red, of all people, and a table-full of women who were playing some form of card game.

Spinning around again, she made another cursory scan of the bar and let out a sigh. That had not been the first time for the night that she had been fondled in such a manner and it probably wouldn't be the last. She straightened her skirt and continued on her way to the bar to pick up another round of drinks but didn't get more than one step before a hand grabbed hers. A small jolt ran up her arm and she snatched her hand away and rounded on the person only to see that it was one of the women who was playing cards at the table she had just passed.

The woman was a little taller than her with soft brown eyes and a small mouth. She had long brown hair that flowed down to the middle of her back and looked very timid. She wore a plain blue top and skirt and had a loop earring in one ear. All in all, she was not what Yuffie had expected at all.

"Why'd you grab me?" Yuffie demanded, "If you wanted something, all you had to do was call me over!"

"I'm sorry," the woman said in a low voice, "but I am a bit soft spoken and I was sure that you wouldn't hear me calling you."

Considering the fact that Yuffie had to strain to hear her from just two feet away, she really couldn't blame the woman.

"Alright," Yuffie said, "Whaddya want? a drink? Food? Maybe some-"

"Nothing like that" the woman said suddenly, "I just need your help with something. You see I was in the ladies room a little while ago and saw something that… Well, come and see for yourself."

The woman turned and started to walk toward the ladies room and said over her shoulder, "My name is Nadia, by the way."

Yuffie walked up behind her and said, "Mine's Yuffie"

Nadia just nodded and walked down the hall to the ladies room. She paused at the door and said, "After you."

Yuffie entered the bathroom cautiously, not knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised to see a definite lack of bodily waste, vomit, or anything else that was particularly disgusting. She turned to ask Nadia exactly what the problem was when there was a sharp 'click' as the door was locked, and lounging against it was Nadia with a smile on her face and a predatory gleam in her eyes.

Yuffie's danger sense kicked into high alert and she began to frantically assess the situation.

"I have no weapons, I'm dressed like a waitress, and there are no other means of escape except through her, while Nadia is not dressed to fight, has no visible weapons and has just sealed off her only means of escape." She thought to herself, "That meant only one thing, clearly Nadia is an incredibly skilled assassin sent to kill me and I have fallen right into her trap.

Nadia suddenly darted forward and the stunned Yuffie only had time to step back before Nadia was in her face. Yuffie opened her mouth to scream and simultaneously brought her and up to deliver an open palm strike to Nadia's face and froze as her scream was cut off by one of the most passionate (and only) kisses she had ever recieved. Yuffie was unable to move until Nadia broke the kiss, and then all she was able to do was sink to her knees in shock.

Scratch the assassin theory

"W..w..w..w..wwhat was that all about" she said hoarsely, "why'd you kiss me, aren't you an assassin?"

"Assassin? Dear planet no! Nadia said, recoiling a step, "I have no intention of harming a single hair on your beautiful head."

"Now that we've straightened that out," Yuffie replied dryly, after managing to get back to her feet, "why'd you kiss me?"

"Isn't it obvious," Nadia said, smiling seductively, "I think you are beautiful young woman who can make this night a whole lot better for us both"

It took a little while for the implications to sink into Yuffie's brain; after all, nobody said that she was the brightest person in the world, but she was quite possibly one of the most naive. Her eyes widened and she backed all the way up and pressed herself against the wall as if she wanted to melt through it, How could the timid woman she me outside actually behave like this? Yuffie had no idea what to do, in a fight you defeat your opponent, fight them until only one is left standing, this situation was a little out of her league. Nadia followed her and placed her hands on either side of Yuffie's head and leaned in until their noses were touching.

"Hey…wait…wha…I mean…wh…I'm not…mmmpphhhhhhhh!" Yuffie said as Nadia's lips crashed into hers again, this time she felt Nadia's tongue enter her mouth and intertwine with hers and couldn't help but moan as Nadia sucked on her lip. Nadia broke the kiss and there was a thin line of saliva running between their mouths, Yuffie was flushed and breathing heavily when Nadia cupped her face.

"I've always admired the exotic beauty of the Wutaians" She said and slipped her hand up Yuffie's shirt.

LEMON SCENE WAS HERE

"Shit, that was intense." gasped Nadia a minute later, "This has turned out to be a good night after all." She turned and looked at Yuffie, "We'd better get dressed and get the hell out of here."

Yuffie nodded and slowly rose to her feet, gathering her clothes in her hands. Turning her back on Nadia and staring blankly at the tiles on the wall, she began to slip on her clothes.

She never heard the movement, never felt the minute changes in the air, but she felt the blow that made fireworks explode in her head and the world to fade to a dull gray. Whirling around unsteadily, she found herself face to face with Nadia… no, not Nadia.

The woman standing in front of her clearly Wutaian, long, straight black hair hung limply from her head, plastered to her naked body and hard black eyes watched her with barely restrained anger.

"You call yourself a ninja?" the woman spat, "You are too young and naive to even consider calling yourself that!"

Yuffie's vision exploded into a brilliant display of colours as the woman grabbed her throat and slammed her violently into the wall behind her, cracking it in the progress.

"You are a worthless fool who thinks that she could redeem Wutai's glory by stealing materia and who honors her father by running away from him every chance she gets. I weep for Wutai, for its royal line will truly end with Lord Godo, not continued through its useless princess!"

Yuffie's mouth moved soundlessly as tears streamed down her face.

There was as sickening thud followed immediately by a loud crunch as the woman's fist sank into her stomach with enough force to cause the wall behind her to break and cave in slightly. Blood and spittle spurted from her mouth as she folded over the woman's fist and blacked out for a few seconds from the intense pain.

"Weak bitch." The woman sneered, removing her hand.

Yuffie fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath, and threw up a revolting mixture of partially digested food and blood. She retched and coughed violently, the result of her body trying to simultaneously empty her stomach and take a breath. Another vicious blow to the back of the head made Yuffie collapse face first into the large pool of vomit that she had just created.

"Now that's a fitting position for you 'Princess', maybe I should let you drown in your own vomit, yes… that would be a death worthy of you." the woman taunted.

Yuffie weakly turned her head enough to focus a single eye on the woman and let out a small whimper.

"Pathetic, I won't stain my weapons with your filthy blood," The woman said and placed her foot on Yuffie's neck, "so I'll just have to crush the life out of you."

Yuffie's eyed widened and she opened her mouth to scream but it caught in her throat as almost inaudible words escaped the woman's mouth and somehow reached Yuffie's ears.

There was load snap, a fleeting burst of pain and then….. nothing.

-----

Yuffie's eyes snapped open and she as sat up with a gasp, her body was drenched with sweat and she was shivering slightly. Her hands flew to her neck, seemingly of their own accord, and found it unharmed and slowly folded themselves in her lap. Yuffie looked around and realized that she was in a hospital room. The blindingly white walls and smell of disinfectant were a dead giveaway. The room was dark and empty save the bed she was on and some equipment that was in the corner beeping slowly.

"How'd I end up here?" she wondered, "The last thing I remember is…."

The memories of what had transpired slammed into her mind like a truck and she felt her stomach tighten and spasm. She turned and threw up over the side of the bed. It was only after she had finished retching and wiped her mouth with a towel that she realized that the basin that just happened to be right below her chin and the towel that had been right in front her face were actually being held by somebody.

Her head snapped up and her eyes met with a bloody gaze that could only belong to one person.

"You're awake." Vincent said impassively

Yuffie nodded in response.

"You were unconscious for three and a half weeks"

"Three and a half weeks!" She exclaimed, "Where's the woman who attacked me?" she said, her voice hoarse and scratchy from lack of use, "The one who was in the bathroom with me. Did she escape?"

Puzzlement flashed across Vincent's face for a brief moment before it was quickly smothered by a frown.

"No one attacked you in the bathroom" he said.

"What!" Yuffie screeched hoarsely, "Fuck you Vincent! I think I would know if I was nearly fucking killed in the goddamn bathroom!"

Vincent looked taken aback by her outburst, but that was once again put to death by a frown.

"No one attacked you in the bathroom Yuffie." He repeated, "You were poisoned."

Yuffie's face went from enraged to shocked to puzzled and back again in the time it took Vincent to place the towel and bowl aside.

"What do you mean I was poisoned?" Yuffie said slowly

"Exactly that" Vincent replied

"Well tell me how!" Yuffie exploded, "I distinctly remember being lured to the bathroom under a false pretence by a woman named Nadia and then…."

Colour flooded Yuffie's cheeks at the memory and she prayed Vincent thought that it was because she was angry.

"Then what?" Vincent asked

"Then what?" Yuffie said the blood draining suddenly from here face leaving it startlingly pale, "Then…SOMEONE FUCKING KILLED ME THAT'S WHAT!"

Yuffie began to cry, hard sobs wracking her tiny frame, and Vincent appeared unaffected by her whole outburst… cold bastard.

There was an uncomfortably long silence that was only broken by sobs and the rustling of Yuffie's sheets. The sobs eventually died down as Yuffie brought hers emotions under control and fixed Vincent with a hateful gaze.

"How can you stand there like that and tell me that that never happened!" Yuffie screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Vincent pushed off of the wall he was leaning on and walked up to the bedside, flicking on the light switch while doing so. The lights bathed the room in a cool white glow that made Vincent's eyes seems like two pools of liquid fire.

He stood beside the bed staring down at her quietly for a few moments and reached out and placed his hand on her head. Yuffie's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he ruffled her hair in a playful manner and gave her a look that had a hint of warmth in it.

"Everything that you experienced was nothing but a dream." he said.

"WHAAAAAAAATTT!" was Yuffie's stunned response.

"You were under the influence of a incredibly potent drug that attacks the centers of the brain that control pleasure and pain." He said matter-of-factly.

"Huh?"

"It controlled whether you felt pleasure or pain" he sighed.

"Ooooooh……WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT" screamed Yuffie.

Vincent continued speaking as if she had said nothing.

"The drug makes you sleep deeply and induces REM sleep. It is when the brain enters that state that you dream, and that is when the drug is the most potent. It then attacks the brain centers and slowly degrades them, eventually causing irreparable brain damage."

Vincent sat on the bad and looked into her eyes

"You were lucky to survive." He said.

"I don't know what happened to you in that dream, but what we saw was a woman grab your hand and then you passed out instantly. Moments later, you started thrashing wildly, screaming and foaming at the mouth. We rushed you to the hospital as fast as possible and if it wasn't for Rufus sending his best doctors…."

He let that statement hang in the air. Yuffie swallowed thickly and the remaining colour in her face vanished.

"There is something that you must know however," he said gravely.

He paused for a moment, looking at her intensely and put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

Yuffie began to feel fear pooling in the pit of her stomach, in her experience, Vincent had never comforted anyone, something was wrong.

"The decision to save you was not made lightly."

Yuffie was numbed by that statement, the whole room seemed to flip over in her mind and distantly she wondered if she was still alive or another horrible dream. She opened her mouth in indignation and was cut off when Vincent squeezed her shoulder almost painfully.

"It's not that we did not want to save you, but the procedure to save you was equally dangerous and the full effects were not known."

Yuffie's mouth closed with an audible 'click'.

"At first, you were making progress, but the drug had been active for too long and had degraded your pain and pleasure centers so badly that you felt pain…or pleasure at random. One moment we could hold and move you uneventfully, the next, the friction caused by your clothes rubbing against you was enough to make you try to tear off your skin in anguish or send you headfirst into a violent orgasm.

Yuffie's face matched Vincent's eyes for a few moments after that statement.

"You would have certainly died from sensory overload if we did nothing, but the solution was not much better, so we settled it by asking ourselves what you would have suggested had you been in our place… and so we decided to try and save you."

Vincent closed his eyes for a moment, looking as if he was steeling himself for what he was about to say.

"To save your life, Yuffie, you had to undergo a mako shower to remove the drug and any of its byproducts completely from your body."

Yuffie's eyes widened considerably at this.

"And to heal your brain damage, the doctors and scientists had to use the one thing in the world that we know with such drastic regeneration capabilities…"

"No," she said, "don't tell me it was…"

"Jenova cells." Vincent finished

Yuffie stared at Vincent in horror and shock for what seemed to be an eternity before moving her attention to her shaking hands.

"I don't feel any different," she said, "Maybe nothing happened."

"The cells are still dormant" Vincent said, "they won't become truly active until you recover more of your strength.

Yuffie fell back into her pillows, still staring at her hands.

"So these cells came from Cloud eh?

"No, Cloud's cells were incompatible with your blood type"

"What!" Yuffie said, shooting up again, "What do you mean?"

"The only way to give the cells to you was to give you Cloud's blood. His Jenova cells were not resilient enough to survive the extraction process and died moments afterwards, and also Cloud's blood rejected your blood…violently.

Vincent felt his stomach give a slight twinge when he remembered how Cloud's blood had actively destroyed Yuffie's own when they had combined it in the lab.

"They had to use an existing sample that had survived the fall of the Shinra building and luckily had not yet been destroyed by Rufus."

Yuffie looked at him questioningly

"The cells came from Specimen 01, Subject ID Number 737447684, Name… Sephiroth"

The room was plunged into a thick silence as the full impact of what Vincent said hit Yuffie.

"WHAT!" She shrieked, jumping completely out of the bed, "How could you inject any part of that bastard into me?"

"It was the only way to save you Yuffie!" He said gruffly and his eyes suddenly flashed angrily, "Part of that 'bastard' saved your life!"

Yuffie's stared sightlessly ahead as she sank hopelessly to her knees.

"So, am I going to become like him?" she said, gazing at her hands with an air of utter defeat, "Am I like Kadaj"

"No" said Vincent, "but we don't know the full ramifications of what we did… I am truly sorry." Said Vincent, "All we know is that the cells that were used are from a similar sample as the ones that were used on Cloud, so we assume that you will not turn into Sephiroth, but may turn out more like Cloud did, hopefully."

"Don't be sorry" Yuffie sighed, "You're right, I would have suggested the same thing if I was in your shoes."

Yuffie rose to her feet leaning weakly on the wall and shook her head.

"Well, at least it can't get any worse than this." she said, laughing mirthlessly.

Her eyes shifted to Vincent as he shifted slightly and remained painfully silent.

"What," said Yuffie fearfully, "There's more?"

Vincent walked right up to Yuffie and stared her in the eye.

"The others didn't want to tell you this until you had recovered some more, but I feel that it is your right more than anyone else's to know." he said.

Yuffie felt that sinking feeling again and warning bells began to sound in her head.

"The woman who had grabbed your hand in the bar had injected the poison into your body via a hollow needle."

"I thought you said I wasn't attacked?" Yuffie said

"I said you weren't attacked in the bathroom and that you were poisoned, I never denied that you were in fact attacked." He said.

Yuffie let it pass because you really couldn't argue with Vincent's cold, hard logic, and she was too tired to think anymore.

"Moving on," Vincent said, "When you collapsed, people thought that you had fainted from exhaustion or something along those lines, but I am familiar with assassination techniques and luckily recognized the one used on you. When I confronted the woman about it, she and her companions attacked us and when it was made clear that they would lose, they all committed suicide before we could get a chance to question them."

"So they were sent to assassinate us," Yuffie said, "Why?"

"Not us," he said quietly, "only you."

Yuffie's eyebrows drew together and her mouth tightened.

"What do you mean 'only me' " she said, "How do you know?"

Vincent lapsed into one of his famous silences and seemed as if he were contemplating telling her or not. The warning bells were now going haywire in her head.

"Vincent, How do you know?" She asked again.

"They were Wutaian shinobi in disguise Yuffie," he said, "that's how we knew."

Yuffie backed away from him and collapsed bonelessly against the wall

"Impossible, why…my father…never…Wutai…no!" She stuttered

Vincent looked at her with a feeling that he was all too familiar with, guilt. Not giving her a chance to collect her thoughts, he continued.

"Two weeks ago we received a proclamation from Wutai" he said.

Yuffie stopped speaking immediately and focused intensely on Vincent.

He paused for a few seconds before continuing, "We were told that Lord Godo Kisaragi was… killed during a military coup in Wutai four weeks ago and a man named General Ryoshi has taken control of the country."

Yuffie looked as if the slightest touch would cause her to shatter and Vincent cursed himself for doing what had to be done.

"Also," Vincent said "Wutai has declared war on Shinra and the rest of the world."

Vincent moved forward to catch Yuffie as the crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.

He placed her gently on the bed and fixed her covers and turned off the light,

"Cloud and the others will be angry with me for this," he thought, "but it had to be done."

Turning to exit the room he paused at the threshold and chuckled darkly to himself, "Three months, three months later and we're back in shit up to our eyeballs."

Closing the door behind himself he paused again and swallowed thickly, his throat uncomfortably dry and scratchy from so much talking.

Reno had the right idea, right now he really needed a goddamned drink….

-----

-REM sleep is short for 'Rapid Eye Movement' so called because your eyes move around under your eyelids very quickly. It is during this phase of sleep (because there are 4 phases) that dreaming is most likely to occur.

-I haven't named the drug yet because:
1: I don't need to yet
2: I……….needtocomeupwithagoodnameforit…hehehehe -scratches head-

I removed the lemon scene as I found it unnecessary and upon revision seemed very out of place and sudden, so I refer to it but have excluded it entirely, I may post the chapter with the lemon in its entirety on another website, but as for now, no lemon. As to what the mysterious dream woman told Yuffie, well you'll just have to wait to find out.

Please read and review and thanks to those who have reviewed so far.