My apologies as i continue to update with inhuman slowness lol, thank you all who took the time to share with me your thoughts and feelings on my work, a big shout out to Zelda Six, thank you all, you people are and continue to be an inspiration.

Tifa smiled as she heard the door open, lifting the tea kettle from the burner she began to pour a cup for Vincent but suddenly she stopped.

Something was wrong...

The footsteps padding softly across the floor were not Vincent's, she listened as they moved slowly towards her and then stopped, she was in mid turn when something rushed past her ear and stuck into the wall.

Dropping into a defensive crouch Tifa spun to face her attacker, behind her the small knife quivered in the wall from the force of impact, it would have buried itself in the back of her head she realized.

Her attacker was dressed in a brown tattered robe and equally tattered shoes, he was already reaching for another dagger. As he drew the small blade into his hands Tifa stopped thinking and began acting, hurling the kettle at her attacker she aimed for the hand holding the dagger, as quick as he was there was no time for him to dodge and he gave a muffled grunt of pain as the boiling kettle struck his hand with enough force to cause him to drop the dagger.

"What do you want!" Tifa said rising from her crouch and into a fighters stance, her attacker kept his silence and instead drew a sword from within his robe, moving straight forward he swung at her head with such speed that Tifa barely had the time to duck, she felt the blade whoosh over her head as she rolled to the left, already he was reversing the blade and as she came to her feet she had to lunge backwards to avoid the blade.

Her back struck the counter behind her and she realized she couldn't give any more ground, the ragged swordsman realized this too and twisted the sword towards her stomach, Tifa with only the slightest room to move dodged to the left, she felt the tip of the blade graze her side and felt something wet trickle down her side, but without wasting a moment she lunged forward and sent her fist crashing into the swordsmans jaw, he gave a muffled curse but kept his hold on the blade, ignoring the stinging pain in his jaw he swung the blade downwards trying to seperate her arm from the shoulder.

Tifa dove for the floor and skidded under the table, rolling out from under it just in time as the swordsman sliced it in half, she came to her feet and kicked a chair at him which he deflected with a backhand blow, in the time this took she launched a roundhouse kick at his head, but to her surprise he ducked and as she spun he came up behind her clamping his arm across her throat, but before he could bring the blade across her jugular she ground her heel down on his foot and drove her elbow into his ribs, bringing her head back she slammed it into his face, then grabbing his arm she flipped him over and into the remains of the broken table.

"What do you want!" Tifa yelled angrily kicking the fallen man in the ribs as he tried to roll away, grabbing his sword from the floor she brought it down to his throat, the ragged man ceased his struggles at once but looked up at her without a trace of fear in his eyes.

"Don't take it personally" he said "I'm just following orders"

"You're in NO position to screw with me!" Tifa said growing more angry by the second, her peace had been shattered and now she wanted to know why...Vincent would too...

"Oh my god...Vincent!" Tifa gasped

The ragged man nodded

"He is being dealt with as we speak" he said making no effort to move

"Why!" Tifa commanded pressing the blade to his throat "Tell me or..."

"Or what?" The ragged man suddenly snarled "You'll kill me? I don't think so...if you were going to do that you would have done it by now"

"If you don't tell me exactly why you're after us in the next breath i will kill you!" Tifa swore

"You'll get nothing from me Bitch" the man said with a deadly calm "I am prepared for death"

"Glad to hear it" Tifa said narrowing her eyes and focusing all her anger into one final blow, Raising the sword over her head she brought it down with lightning speed.

Vincent sensed the two men long before the dagger buried itself in a tree next to him, as it was the blade narrowly missed his throat but he was sure it was merely a warning shot giving the two men time to step onto the path in front and behind him.

"State your business and begone" Vincent said his voice a deadly calm "Do so and you may leave with your lives"

"You're death will suffice" the first said drawing his sword

"And the life of your loved one" The second echoed drawing his blade and moving in

They were dressed in ragged clothing but didn't seem to feel the cold, and the looks in their eyes proved that they were more then simpler travelers, Vincent noticed their blades could only be the work of a Wutai swordsmaster, perfectly balanced they were virtually indestructable in the hands of a master.

A soft hiss filled the air as Vincent drew his own blade, holding his other hand behind his back he held the blade steady with his other.

"My own life is of little consequence" he snarled "But threatning Tifa has insured your deaths!"

The two ragged men stalked forward closer and closer, Vincent waited and watched as they drew closer, then before they could blink he drew the dagger from the back of his belt and hurled it at the closest swordsman, the man raised his blade to deflect the dagger and Vincent struck with the quickness of a snake, his sword cut a deep wound in the swordsmans chest and the man cried out in pain staggering backwards.

Vincent turned in time to block a flurry of lunges and stabs from the second swordsman, even holding the blade with both hands Vincent found it was difficult to keep up with the swordsman, it had been almost thirty years since he'd used a blade in combat, as disciplined as he was with the sword his opponent was clearly more efficient in using it.

Blocking right then left Vincent turned his opponents blade away just in time to avoid an attack from the first man who had recovered, together the two of them began to press him backwards, soon Vincent had taken a deep gash on his arm that was bleeding freely in the snow, his anger growing it was all he could do to stay focused, he had to stick to the defense and hope of his attackers made a mistake.

The mistake came moments later as one of the ragged men drew too close, Vincent blocked his thrust and grabbed his attackers hand with his golden claw, bone crunched as he crushed the bones of the hand holding the sword, his attacker tried to back away choking off a gurgling scream of pain in his throat but Vincent rammed his sword into his stomach and pulled up on his arm, with a sickening crunch and the sound of tearing flesh the arm was ripped from the socket and dangled lifelessly in Vincents mechanical hand.

His attacker's mouth formed an "O" of shock before he fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut and lay still, his lifes blood spilling out onto the white snowy ground.

In a dim corner of his mind Vincent was shocked, but that part was quickly overridden by his anger, these men had threatened Tifa! Death was too good for them! The seconed attacker advanced slower now, more weary of his opponent and a flicker of fear in his eyes he stabbed at Vincent who angrily swatted the sword aside, his anger was fueling him now...making him stronger...quicker.

"Who sssent you!" he hissed at the swordsman unaware that his teeth had changed to pointed fangs

"It doesn't matter!" the ragged man said in defiance...though he took a step backwards when Vincent uttered an unearthly snarl.

"Lassst chance!" he growled the skin on his hands beginning to twist and snarl "Who sssent you!"

"S-Stay back!" the man said obviously shaken as Vincent began to transform before his very eyes "Stay back you freak!" his voice shrill and high pitched with fear

A hideous scream shattered the tranquilty and stillness of the afternoon, the sounds of flesh being torn from bone followed.

The man moved quicker then Tifa thought possible, as the sword flashed down a dagger appeared in his hand and blocked the chop that would have seperated his head from his shoulders.

The sword in her hands shattered as it bounced off the dagger and the ragged man leapt to his feet, launching a stiff kick to her stomach, Tifa doubled over as the air was forced from her lungs, she felt herself thrown through the air, hitting the floor she rolled out of the kitchen and struck something hard in the hallway that gave way with a loud crack, she dimly realized it was a bookcase as the hardcover books rained down around her, she felt a sharp pain in her side and realized that one of her ribs had given out, something heavy clucnked on the floor not far from her head.

She could hear her attacker cursing as he made his way through the wreckage of the kitchen, raising her head she saw that her fall had destroyed a bookcase, but it had also knocked Vincent's gun to the floor, she uttered a silent prayer of thanks that Vincent kept his guns in secure locations throughout the house, he never truely let his guard down she realized, grabbing the gun she tore it from the holster just as the ragged man appeared in the doorway..raising the gun she fired off three shots.

The ragged man jerked back three times as the bullets found their mark and buried themselves into his chest, he fell back into the kitchen and hit the floor clutching at his chest and crying out in pain, Tifa got to her feet and tried to steady her shaking legs, staggering into the kitchen she stood over her defeated attacker who was clinging to life by a thin thread.

"Who sent you!" she cried pointing the gun down at him, but he glared up at her with the same look of defiance

"I piss on your lovers grave" he said weakly, turning his head to the side he spat a wad of blood

"Bastard!"

Tifa pulled the trigger and the ragged mans body jerked again, pulling the trigger again and again Tifa vented her rage.

Her attacker was dead long before the last bullet was fired...but Tifa didn't stop until she heard the hollow click of the empty pistol.

She found him collapsed in an unconciouse heap in the midst of a bloody pile of snow, for one terrifying moment she thought she'd reached him too late.

"Please be ok...Oh god Vincent!" she cried out as she collapsed at his side.

His chest was rising and falling steadily

"Oh thank god!" Tifa said trying to wipe away the tears in her eyes.

He was covered in blood as was the snow around him, the corners of his mouth were smeared with it, looking up she saw he'd been in the process of staggering down a hill when his legs had given out from under him and he'd rolled the rest of the way down and fallen unconcious.

"Tifa..." his voice was barely a whisper

"Vincent thank god!" Tifa cried "What happened?"

"Attacked...Two swordsman...Killed one...Chaos broke free..."

If his words of the attack troubled her the news of Chaos chillled her to the bone.

"Second got away..." Vincent said with more strength in his voice "Chaos was...furious...he tore the corpse of the first to bits...and gorged himself...I was scared...for you...allowed him to get...out"

Vincent had been scared? For her? Tifa craddled his head in her arms ignoring the bloody snow around them

"I'm ok Vincent...one of them came for me but i killed him...with your gun"

Vincent nodded a look of relief on his face

"We're not safe...here"

Tifa had dreaded the words, she'd come to love life among the ghosts of Nibelhiems past, as long as she'd had Vincent she didn't care about anything else, but she couldn't deny the truth of his words, thier attackers had obviously been acting under orders...and one of them had managed to escape.

"We need to get you back inside" she said rising to her feet "We'll figure out what to do from there"

"I...I can walk" Vincent said trying to get to his feet, he staggered the first few steps and Tifa feared he would collapse again, but with the support of her arm he was able to keep his footing, the look in his eyes was that of a man on the verge of collapse, but with whispered words of encouragement she was able to get him to the door of the old Shinra mansion before he collapsed back into unconciousness.

Her eyes were heavy but fear kept her wide awake as she took care of his wounds and washed the blood from his body, by the time she'd gotten him into bed and collapsed beside him it was all she could do to keep her eyes open, but the thought of another one of the ragged men lurking in the dark outside was enough to keep her alert, though her knowledge of the martial arts was perhaps the most finely tuned on the planet she hunted until she found Vincent's rifle...the death penalty...there were only two ways into the bedroom...a window and the doorway...if the third attacker found his way through either portal she could easily punch a hole through him with the rifle...if he lived past that she would kill him with her bare hands!

Vincent awoke with a start, he was halfway to his feet when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder

"It's alright" Tifa whispered "You've been resting...Your body needed to recover"

Vincent felt physically ill, the churning in his stomach was the usual result of the possession of his demons, turning he saw Tifa sitting next to him with the death penalty sitting in her lap, he realized with a start that she'd watched over him as he slept, she hadn't abandonded him...the hardened look in her eyes abruptly vanished and suddenly she tilted forward, Vincent sweapt her into his arms as she began to cry

"I was terrified i'd lost you!" she cried into his shoulder "I can't bare the thought of losing you!"

He wanted to tell her he felt the same but the words froze in his throat as he was overcome by emotion, trying his best to cut it off he whispered in her ear.

"I wont ever leave you..."

Then raising her chin to his lips he kissed her, Tifa responded immdiately kissing him hungrily.

Clothes scattered to the floor and lovemaking insued, born of desperation and their mutual need for eachother, it was quick but gentle and afterwards they lay in eachothers arms huddled closely together.

"What do we do?" Tifa asked wearily raising her head to look at him

"We leave" Vincent said "Tomorrow at first light, we pack and leave before the sun rises"

"I'm sorry" Tifa said lowering her face to his shoulder and closing his eyes

"Don't be...Nibelheim is simply a place...it's not important...the important part is to stay a step ahead of our attackers" Vincent said

His words troubled her, Nibelheim was full of memories both good and bad for her...but most of all the memories of the life they had begun to build together, and she knew the place held memories for him as well...it was more then a "Place" it was both the birth and death of dreams for both of them.

"Where...where will we go?" she asked feeling sleep begin to creep over her

"Rocket town...it's the closest" Vincent said "If we've been attacked then chances are Cid has been as well"

"You...think someone is after...all of us?"

"I do"

"Strength in numbers..." she said trying unsucessfully to stifle a yawn

"Strength in sleep" Vincent said brushing his hand through her hair "Rest...we're going to have to leave soon"

"But...what...about..."

"I'll be fine" he said reading her thoughts "You rest...I'll keep you safe"

He didn't have to tell her twice, despite the horrors of the day she feel asleep on his chest, despite the potential harm that lurked around the corner his arms were still the safest place to be.

Not far on the outskirts of town twin red orbs watched the Shinra mansion, unblinking they watched the one light suddenly extinguish and plunge the room into darkness.

"That's right...sleep now" the voice chuckled "You'll need it Vincent...I'm nowhere near finished with you"

The figure chuckled turning and vanising into the surrounding woodland, leaving only his laughter echoing in his wake...laughter that sounded much like the hissing of a snake.