Hello again. Sorry for the wait, but I tried fixing this about five times. I hope this works for you guys. If not, I'll try another tactic. Please enjoy

Chapter 2: First Order

Yuffie Kisagari had known Vincent Valentine for a long time, and knowing such, she had seen him in several different moods. Despite most of them looking the same, she could tell them apart fairly well.

Sure, it was kind of odd to study the gunslinger, but it was better to know his current composure so that she didn't do something to really piss him off.

But never in her life had she heard Vincent suddenly burst out like that…

"Uhh… Vinnie?" Yuffie squeaked. "A-are you okay?" She felt herself tense up as the cloaked man spun around to her, glowing mako eyes boring into her.

Her observations told her he was pissed.

"Vinnie…"

The gunslinger spun on his heel, quickly pacing out of the room and up the curving staircase. Yuffie, finding herself left behind, quickly snatched the book off the floor and stood up, running after him.

"Vinnie wait up!" She cried. Vincent was already out of sight, probably past the secret passage by now.

What had suddenly made him angry? That was something that the young ninja couldn't seem to comprehend. Maybe he realized something that she hadn't discovered yet. Was he dying? Was that what was making him angry?

Yuffie came to a halt in front of the entrance, surprised to find the ladder on the ground holding it open. She hesitantly stepped through, looking around the room until she caught sight of him sitting at the desk near the window.

"Chaos told me." He began quietly. "The spell you cast puts me at a disadvantage around you."

Yuffie watched him quietly. Vincent seemed tired now. His head was propped up on his hands and his eyes were half closed. Strands of black hair fell into his eyes and the lower portion of his face was hidden by his cloak.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly. Vincent tilted his head upwards to look at her as he began to explain the current predicament she had put him in.

"The thing about this spell is that it was designed so one could control multiple prisoners at once." He had later explained. "This means you must say the name of the one you're ordering before telling them what to do."

He looked up at Yuffie again. Her face hadn't changed from its guilty look. This left him slightly surprised. What? No mischievous look? No evil plans against him?

"So now I have total control over you?" She breathed, not being able to believe it herself. She looked down at the ground, biting her lip.

"All of this is my fault…" She said weakly. "I'm REALLY sorry for this Vinnie. I want to help in any way I can."

"The best way would be for you to leave."

"Leave!" The eighteen year old turned to glare at the gunman, her stormy eyes flaring in anger. "Me leaving is not going to help anything!" She cried. "This is my fault and I refuse to leave until I find a way to break it!" Vincent frowned at her statement and leaned back in his chair.

"Yuffie, I refuse." He said with finality. "I suggest you return to Wutai so that you don't cause any more damage."

He couldn't help but catch the hurt look on Yuffie's face. Her head hung once again and her fists clenched at her sides.

"I'm really sorry about this…" She whispered. "Vincent, you will not kick me out of your home!"

The gunslinger immediately felt a strange sensation jolt through his body. The urge to throw her out on her ass was still there, yes… but even so, he didn't have the ability to do anything about her presence.

"I am not going back to Wutai." Yuffie hissed, planting her hands on the desk in front of her. "I am staying right here and helping you break this goddamn spell! It's the least I can do… please, Vinnie…"

Vincent was silent for a moment, knowing perfectly well she had given him the choice. This girl was willing to do anything for him right now, despite having control over him. He couldn't help but admire that… and at the same time, find it almost ironic.

He could at least let her stay for a while…

"Alright, Yuffie…" Vincent said quietly as he stood up. "You can help… seeing that you are so determined to find a way to break it…"

He watched as Yuffie's old smile spread on her face, making her seem more like herself.

"Oh, thank you, Vinnie!" She cried happily. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He could have sworn she was resisting the urge to hug him to death.

He watched as she turned on her heel, speeding out of the room and down the hall. After a moment or two, he stood up as well, following the sound of her footsteps as she headed down the stairs. Yuffie stood at the doorway, beaming up at him.

"I'm just going to go get my stuff!" She explained happily before walking out the doorway. The mahogany door closed quietly, leaving the gunslinger alone in his home again. He sighed to himself.

At least she could see herself out…

Yuffie reached the inn without any trouble. After heading upstairs, she began to pack whatever belongings she had into her bag, signing out soon after. The young ninja walked down the road happily, her baggage slung over her shoulder carelessly as she journeyed back to the Shinra Estate.

Sure enough, Yuffie's mind wandered back to the time after Sephiroth's second defeat. Believe it or not, a massive pool party ensued in the church where Cloud lived after the Geostigma was cured. She remembered trying to make Vincent come closer to the water, but he refused. And despite Yuffie trying to drag him in by the arm, he wouldn't budge.

That gunman was HEAVY!

Later that night they had returned to Seventh Heaven for something to drink. Yuffie, now being of age, had gotten something alcoholic. Sure, she wanted to see what it was like to get wasted, but Cid beat her to it, so the young ninja decided against it. Tifa later thanked her for helping restrain the drunken pilot along with staying sober, making her feel quite proud of herself.

It was one of the first times she was treated like an adult there.

But despite this, Avalanche all agreed that they couldn't have the young ninja grow up too fast.

What fun would there be in that?

She continued to trek back to the estate slowly, deciding to dilly dally along the way. Boredom soon took over and the young ninja decided to check her messages while she was out.

After a couple months with her cell, she had soon shut it off, realizing that nobody was intending to phone her very soon. Once every week or so, she would flip open the phone when she had nothing to do, checking to see if anyone had really called. Her small hopes were always crushed in the end, making her want to throw the phone away more than ever.

Of course she never did. It was a gift from Cloud after all.

She flipped the phone open, and pushed the button on the side, turning it on. The small tune played before she started searching her inbox before letting out an aggravated sigh.

Still nothing…

After pocketing the quite useless piece of machinery, she headed up the hill to the old deserted building.

"Hey! Ninja girl!"

Yuffie spun around seeing three young children, two boys and a girl, running up to her. They all appeared to be about the same age, the boys sporting messy brown hair while the girl's was a lighter blonde. All three stopped in front of her, their eyes wide with curiosity.

"You're going in there?" One of the boys asked. "Wow, you're a really brave ninja!"

"Don't you know about the monster?" The girl asked quickly. Yuffie glanced down at then in wonder, trying to piece together what they meant.

"Monster?" She finally repeated. The second boy nodded.

"They say that a horrible monster lives in there! Whoever goes in that building never comes out!"

Yuffie frowned. Knowing the statistics of that, the chances that people even went in the place were zero. So in a way, the boy was right. Secondly, the only living creature in the estate was Vincent… meaning that he was supposed to be the 'monster' that everyone spoke of.

"Lady! Are you going in to fight him?" The boy asked. Yuffie smiled and shook her head.

"I'm not going to fight him… why fight a friend?" The children looked at her like she was Sephiroth himself.

"F-friend?" The girl stammered.

"Of course! And besides, he's more of a vampire than anything…"

"VAMPIRE!"

"Uhh… yeah…" Yuffie laughed nervously, finding herself in an awkward situation. "But he's not a bad one! Believe me!"

Now the kids seemed skeptical. "Why should we believe that story?" the first boy asked with a scowl. Yuffie frowned at the boy, crossing her arms.

"Well would I really be waltzing up to the estate if this vampire WASN'T my friend?" She asked hotly.

She had them there…

"Look…" Yuffie said as she bent down. "Vinnie's my friend… he has been for two years… although he'll never admit it…" She added with a huff. "Me and my friends had to haul him out of his coffin so he could help us save the world. And I have to admit, he did a pretty good job of helping. He's grumpy and moody, but he can be nice when he wants to." She looked down at the three children gaping at her in wonder. "Oh, and no, he doesn't drink blood. He has other tastes." She smiled again. "Like I said, he's a good vampire!"

And so started the nonstop questions and ramblings of the three kids. Yuffie answered as many as she could, but soon cut herself off, finding she was

feeling dizzy from giving out so much information. It was something she wasn't really programmed to do as a ninja.

"Alright, I think I'd better go inside now." She said with a small laugh. "Maybe I'll see you kids later, okay?" They nodded happily, waving goodbye as she opened the door to go inside.

"Say hi to the vampire dude for us!" The girl called. Yuffie laughed as she stepped inside, waving goodbye.

"Vampire?" A soft voice inquired from behind her. "I hope you weren't talking about me, Kisagari."

Yuffie nearly jumped out of her skin. Had he been there the whole time! Oh dear Leviathan, she was going to kill him!

"T-they were asking about the monster, Vinnie…" She replied shakily as she turned to him. Vincent was leaning against the wall near the door, regarding her almost lazily and she silently wondered if he could hear her heart hammering in her chest from the scare. "Not that you're a monster or anything… you just come out as more of a vamp than a monster… that's all." Vincent was silent for a moment, his eyes still fixed on her as she waited for his reply. Soon enough, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Please stop telling the world stories about me, Yuffie…" He said quietly as he pushed himself off the wall. "Why not tell them about Sephiroth instead… he seems to be more of an entertainment to the world."

"Vinnie, you really gotta stop talking… you're not acting like yourself." She teased with a small smile. "Besides, the last time Sephiroth came up in any conversation, you guys killed off the only cute guy around my age! That makes my chances of getting hooked up ZERO again…"

This caused Vincent to frown. She was talking about Kadaj, wasn't she? He had to admit, his childishness rivaled that of Yuffie herself, and if he had lived, that would give Yuffie someone else to play with besides him.

For a split second, he silently wished Cloud had kept that child alive just for Yuffie's sake.

"… and besides… Cloud has Tifa now… Barret's too old for me… Cid's out of the question because not only is he married, but he's a disgusting, wrinkly old man that smokes and swears too much!… and you must be like… a HUNDRED now!"

Wait… when had she started rambling off who was hooked up with who?

Just before you tuned back in.

Quit talking to me, Chaos…

Well, need I point out you've been twenty seven for the past thirty two years?

How does this fit in with what Yuffie's talking about?

She said you were a century old…

…

"… are all pains in the ass…"

Crap, did he tune out again? He really needed to figure out how to keep Chaos quiet…

Don't blame me for your own ignorance!

"…And the guy that Godo's got me engaged to is such a JERK-OFF!"

Vincent immediately froze. "You're engaged?" He repeated. Yuffie's eyes widened and her face became pale.

"W-what are you talking about, Vinnie, I didn't say-"

"Don't try to fool me, Yuffie." Vincent said calmly. "How long have you been engaged?"

"Well you can't really call it engaged! I mean… I barely even know the guy!"

"Yuffie."

For the first time in a while, Yuffie's eyes were saddened. She clenched her hands together nervously and looked at the ground.

"About a year ago…" She whispered. "Right before the second Sephiroth incident…"

Vincent still couldn't believe what he had heard. Yuffie, who had seemed like she would be the kid of the group for the rest of their lives, was going to be married. Just the thought of Yuffie in a Wutainese ceremonial gown didn't seem right to him. She wasn't the girl that was supposed to get married and have kids. She never gushed about dreams of growing up and living happily ever with her husband … no… she dreamed of materia hunts and exploring the world, being the best ninja out there.

"Now I understand…" Vincent said softly. Yuffie looked up at him in question. "This is why you're really here isn't it…" He gazed down at her solemnly, the lower part of his face still hidden behind his cloak. Yuffie was silent for a moment, her eyes closed as she waited for him to tell her to get her ass back to Wutai and grow up… to tell her it was her duty as the princess of Wutai to do something like this… to say something… Vincent-y…

"What's wrong, Yuffie? It's not like I can really throw you out, can I?"

Yuffie's eyes snapped open, looking up to see the ex-turk brush past her and walk towards the stairs. He stopped at the foot of the staircase and looked over his shoulder. "The least I can do is to actually agree to let you stay for a while."

Yuffie wasn't sure herself… but she could have sworn she saw a small smile peeking out from behind that cloak. Yuffie couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, Vinnie!" She said happily, as she caught up to him. "I owe you for this!"

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." The gunslinger replied calmly as he continued his trek up the stairs. Yuffie grinned as she hauled her bags up after him.

"So, Vinnie… what are you making me for dinner tonight?

"…"

"… alright… fine. Where do you hide the kitchen?"

"Why?" The gunslinger asked warily.

"To cook some food, stupid!"

"…" Vincent closed his eyes, scared to know the outcome. "On second thought… I'll cook."

"Yay! I want some pizza and ribs with those yummy diced potatoes and maybe some salad and…"

Vincent sighed. Maybe having Yuffie in the estate wasn't such a good idea…

TBC…

Done. X.x I hope you liked this chapter. It bugged me. But I got Yuffie to act like herself in the end, although I do want to show her gaining at least a bit of maturity.

So did you like it? Tell me!