Chapter 43: We're going to talk…Now

(Same tags apply as in Chapter 1)

A door in an empty corridor creaked open slowly before a shadow darted down the hallway. The sound of voices ahead caused the figure to slip into an empty room and waited for the two nurses to pass. Once the voices faded, the figure continued on their journey.

Four doors later, a doorknob was turned and the figure slipped inside and leaned against the door, panting a bit heavily and a bit irritated thanks to the dizziness being caused by the pain medications her iv had been injected with before she pulled it out. Yuffie could see the figure lying on the hospital bed, slightly illuminated by the lights of Junon seeping through the third floor window. The ninja wrapped her arm around her tightly bound ribs and slowly approached the figure, the sound of the beeping monitors reaching her ears.

On the trip back to Junon, the atmosphere in the infirmary was frigid to say the least. Vincent hadn't said anything to her unless she spoke to him, and when he did, it was one or two word answers. It was almost as if he was lost in thought. After a few more failed attempts, he finally told her that she needed to be treated before closing his eyes and allowing the person working him to bandage him.

After they had arrived in Junon, Vincent had been taken to surgery to remove the bullet in his shoulder while she was taken off to find out exactly how much damage had been done to her ribs and lungs.

Her earlier attempts to come and see the gunman had been thwarted by a nurse first, and then by a doctor, followed by Reeve himself. Finally Barret and Cloud threatened to tie her down and she dragged back to her room.

'They actually thought that I would stay in that room?' She thought and shook her head.

"You shouldn't be here." A familiar, slightly rough voice said, causing her to jump.

"Don't SCARE me like that Vincent!" She hissed as she moved closer to his bed.

"Its late Yuffie, you should be still in you room." He said and turned his unwavering claret gaze to her, causing the ninja to bite her lip. "You're supposed to be under observation." He said. Cloud had been in to visit him after he woke from his surgery and told him of her condition.

"I feel fine besides-"

"You have a lung contusion. You should still be receiving oxygen treatment. Your lips are still blue." He stated, noticing that she had also pulled out the IV that had been placed while they were on the Highwind.

"Vincent! Just listen…Please…" The ninja lifted herself up on his bed at his knee, her stormy eyes meeting his crimson. "We need to talk."

"We can talk later."

"No! We're going to talk…Now. Please, you don't have to say anything, just listen. I promise I'll go back to my room afterwards." She saw him nod curtly and a soft sigh escaped her lips as she thought about what to say.

"I was wrong to lie to you and leave the way I did. I feel like the worst person on the planet especially after everything you've done for me. The letter…well, I meant everything I said in that. I am sorry that I left and…I'm sorry you got hurt."

Vincent was quiet for a moment as the ninja reached up and pushed her hair away from her face and started out into the darkness beyond the city lights of Junon. His fingers twitched beneath the blanket, trying to ignore the fact that the IV was still in place replenishing the fluids he had lost due to his injuries.

"I've suffered worst injuries but you put yourself in danger. You could have been killed."

"I know that I put myself in danger, but I wasn't. I knew I was taking a risk and I knew that I would probably get hurt, but I wasn't going to allow myself to get killed."

Vincent's eyes narrowed at the ninja who sat at his knee. "You didn't know that. You aren't invincible Yuffie and if Onika wanted to, he could have done one of his experiments on you! Being heroic doesn't mean that you have to be suicidal!" He hissed, trying to contain the anger that he had been feeling within him.

Rage flashed in those stormy gray eyes before lessening to anger that matched that of the former Turk. "I wasn't trying to be a hero! I was just trying to get Elmyra out! I had a plan!"

"And you couldn't have figured into the occasion that three of your ribs would have been snapped by a known drug addict, murderer and rapist!" Mental pictures of the tine ninja being assaulted by Zade, his hands running over Yuffie's bound form flashed through his mind, causing him to close his eyes in an attempt to banish the images. If something like that would have happened to his Yuffie…he didn't know what he would have done.

"I knew that there was a risk of me getting hurt, I'm not stupid, Vincent! I just wanted to get Elmyra back where she belonged! I'm sorry that I just couldn't just sit back and twiddle my thumbs waiting for Onika and Fraser to call!" She winced and began to cough, bringing her hand to her mouth. Gray eyes caught sight of the blood as her fist quickly snapped shut, trying the hide the small red specks from an equally red gaze. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing.

"When I got there, it stirred things up and threw them off balance because they thought that I would still be waiting for their call with everyone else. It may have drawn their attention from Elmyra, I don't know. I'm use to my life being in danger but Elmyra is a civilian…" The ninja trailed off and glared at the ground, her hair falling in her eyes once again.

"You would have helped me." She stated simply.

"Yes."

'I knew you would.' She thought, feeling a sense of warmth was through her at his admission but shook her head. "Then it really wouldn't have worked. They would have been even more suspicious than they were when I was first taken in."

It took him a moment, but the former Turk calmed himself, shocking even the demon within him a bit by the outburst. "What if something had gone wrong? Then you and Elmyra both would have been at his mercy. You would have become his playthings. Something he would have thrown away once finished with." His eyes closed as a chill went down his spine as Hojo's face flashed through his mind.

Yuffie blinked in surprise at the realization of what he truly must have been feeling even in the slightest washed over her. A memory of the emotions she had seen in his eyes when she sat with him on the roof before he interrogated Weston replayed in her mind. The guilt, the anger…

'Oh Leviathan, how could I have been so dumb!?' She thought and reached over, placing her hand on top of the metal that made up his hand as it rested within a blue sling against his stomach. The ninja's gaze turned to the window as she sighed.

"I know why you're so angry. You have every reason to be and I'm sorry. If I had of realized what I do now, I would have done things differently." She said, sounding like the mature ninja that he had first truly seen when they had spent time at the candle within Cosmo Canyon.

"You already lost someone dear to you to a scientist. Elmyra was already in Onika's hands, and what do I do? Me, the person that's supposed to be your friend? I willingly go to Onika's base causing you to worry even more." She turned to look into his crimson eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Vincent. Thank you for coming to help us…help me. I wont do anything like that again." Yuffie said, giving his hand a squeeze.

"I would do it again without hesitation." The gunman said in his soft yet deep tenor and sighed as he watched her chest's movements. Her breathing was much too rapid; especially since she had only been sitting at his side and the way she had reacted after her coughing only meant that she had coughed up blood again.

Vincent tilted his head back a bit and looked at the wall above his head. Spying what he was looking for, the gunman reached up with his good right arm and turned the green knob, watching the little silver ball in the meter begin to float, a soft hiss breaking the silence between them.

"Vincent, what are you doing?" The ninja asked, her brow furrowed.

He didn't answer immediately, instead gave a short tug to the clear plastic tubing until it fell to his shoulder. He moved his hips to the side a bit before patting the bed, gesturing for her to move up more. He gave his shoulder a slight shrug, causing the tubing to fall where he could reach it.

"Put that on. Yuffie, you need to be in your own bed, in your own room still getting treatment. You're breathing too quickly and your lips are still slightly blue. That will help ease your breathing; you're not getting enough oxygen."

The ninja took the tubing and looped it over her ears, remembering how it had been placed from her time in the hospital at Cosmo. "Vincent, how do you know about this kind of stuff?" She asked and got a weary smile from the crimson-eyed man.

"Yuffie, I was a Turk. I've sustained my own share of injuries. Broken ribs are a common injury amongst the Turks. You'll need keep that on until they're sure that you haven't sustained more damage to your lungs especially after your bout with pneumonia." He said and lifted the clear tube.

It was true too. During his time with the Turks, he had seen a fellow Turk as well as a Soldier, second-class die from complications due to broken ribs. The soldiers lung had been punctured by the broken rib, causing him to bleed out while the Turk, a man named York, slowly drowned as his lungs filled with blood after sustaining severe bruising. He had been captured on a mission and had died before Vincent and his partners could get him back to Shinra for treatment.

"Vincent," she said and eased herself back on the bed at the gunman's right side, staring at the ceiling. "You should know by now that I don't follow orders very well. Especially when I'm determined and what I wanted to say to you couldn't wait."

The ninja folded her hands on her stomach, her legs coming to cross at the ankles next to his. "I didn't want things to be bad between us. I did something stupid and I admit it, but I don't want you to be mad at me for too long." Her eyes slowly drifted closed as she tried to fight off the sleepiness from the drugs floating in her bloodstream. The slight increase of adrenaline from their slightly heated 'conversation' had quickly dissipated, sapping her energy quickly.

"I was…upset with you, but I believe I was angry at myself. I should have known that you would leave because I would have done the same thing." He said and heard her chuckle and sighed, his eyes moved from their spot on the ceiling to glance at the small ninja who lay beside him.

"You're doing it again Vincent. You haven't in quite a while." She trailed off and turned to look up slightly into his questioning crimson eyes. "You can't take the blame for something that I did. I won't let you."

Vincent watched her for a few moments before turning his gaze to the ceiling. He knew she was right and allowed a sigh to escape his lips as he continued to think about what she had said.

'Vincent, she's long gone…' He heard Chaos' amused voice in his mind. 'Maybe you should call the nurse to take her back to her room.'

Crimson eyes opened and moved over to the ninja who was now sleeping, slightly on her side facing him. 'She will be fine here for the night.' The former Turk sat up a bit, trying not to wake her and grabbed the extra blanket from near the foot of the bed. It was a bit awkward trying to get it properly placed over her with one arm, but eventually, the blanket covered the small ninja.

'Just keep your hands to yourself, Vinnie-boy.' The demon chuckled as Vincent rolled his eyes.

'Quiet demon; allow me to rest.' Vincent said. Though he would not admit it to anyone, he was tired. The blood loss and the medications they had given to him shortly after the surgery to remove the bullet had drained his energy. Though he would be healed shortly thanks to his demon and the doctors in Junon, he still did not wish to stay in the medical ward for longer than necessary.

The demon fell silent after a chuckle and allowed his host to fall asleep with the little ninja they both cared for curled at his side.

.::-o-::.

"Where in tha hell did she go?" The gun armed man grumbled as he looked over at the burgundy-eyed fighter. There was a puddle of liquid on the floor of Yuffie's IV where it had continued to drip throughout the night. He had wanted to thank the ninja and also tear her a new one for leaving alone since he hadn't had a chance to talk to her after they had come back to the Highwind with an unconscious Onika.

"She's down here." They heard Cloud call from down the hallway. The pair walked down to the room and looked into the open door to see the Ninja curled against the gunman, who was now awake and looking out of the window.

"When did she escape her room, Vincent?" The fighter said with a smile as they walked into the room.

The former Turk turned to them before looking down at the ninja in question. "Around midnight." He said plainly as she began to stir.

"Go away Teef…I wanna sleep…" The voice mumbled from beneath the blankets.

Yuffie sighed beneath the blanket before her eyes shot open at the realization that she was curled up next to someone. She gingerly pushed herself up and looked over to their three grinning comrades standing near the bed. Her cheeks flared red but she made no moves to slip from the hospital bed, she was quite comfortable at the side of her gunman.

"Gawd, at least let a girl get her beauty sleep." She grumbled and adjusted the clear tubing around her ears before she allowed a small smile to trace her lips. "So what did ya want?"

"Well I came with Barret to check on you," Tifa tossed her head at Cloud. "And he wanted to talk to Vincent about Yoshi."

The ninja's smile fell as Cloud sat in a recliner in the corner of the room, Tifa soon moving to sit on the arm of the chair. "What's wrong with him, Cloud? They wouldn't let me see him because they said he was still unconscious."

"Well he woke up this morning when Reeve and I went to get information on his family. He told us everything. What happened to his father, how he was taken from the Fort Condor area by Fraser, the things that Onika did to him." Cloud suppressed a shiver at the memories of what the teen had told him, but continued. "Vincent, he was hearing 'that' voice."

The gunman's gaze hardened and his face took on the appearance of stone. "Is he still hearing it after everything?"

The blonde shook his head lightly. "No, not since he woke up."

Yuffie looked between the two in confusion. "What voice? Cloud you better explain." She threatened, worried about the teen they had found.

The glowing blue eyes of the blond closed for a moment before opening, looking pained. "You remember how Hojo's experiments were mumbling about the reunion? How I did those things at the temple of the ancients and then again at the Forgotten City?"

The ninja nodded but remained silent as the swordsman continued. "Well, you know I wasn't myself. The Jenova cells within my body…along with Sephiroth's voice…they influenced me. Commanded me to do things. I could hear the voice within my mind and it was Jenova's voice."

"So what does this all mean?" The ninja asked, biting her lip but was a bit surprised when Vincent answered instead of Cloud.

"Nothing. When the main mass of Jenova dies, the cells will forever be present in his body, as it will be the same with others that carry Jenova cells. But when the central mass dies or is destroyed, the cells within the body are not strong enough to be controlling of its host or even communicate with them."

Cloud nodded in agreement. "Since the original Jenova was destroyed, I haven't heard its voice at all. The main thing that remains is when Vincent or anyone with Jenova cells within them are close, I can feel it. You already know about the enhanced strength and stamina, but that is all that remains after the main body is destroyed.

"Zade's remains and the Jenova that Professor Onika had created were destroyed on the spot. There is nothing to command him, but it will take him a while to get used to the strength, the glow in his eyes and the feeling when someone like Vincent or myself are near him. There are still soldiers and Shinra employees that were infused with Jenova cells that he will need to know that when his body responds, its just the cell's natural reaction."

"What about in tha future? It's not gonna effect him then right?" Barret asked as he listened to the pair. "Myra said that Onika finished the infusion so he wouldn't die."

"Health wise, it shouldn't. If anything he would heal faster like Vincent and myself. " Cloud said and Vincent nodded.

"How is Elmyra anyway?" The ninja asked from her spot at Vincent's side.

"She's fine. That's what I came to tell ya. She wont talk about everything that happened before you got there between her and Fraser, she ain't ready for that yet, but she says he didn't do anything that can't be forgotten wit time. She's sittin' with Yoshi now but that's jus' part of the reason I came to talk to ya."

The burly, gun armed man moved over to the bed and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. "I wanted to thank you for going to help my Myra, kid. But I don't wanna see your scrawny ass taking off by yourself like that again!" He scolded the ninja though his coffee colored eyes remained warm. "I'd hug ya but with your ribs shot ta shit, I don't wanna hurt ya."

"Thanks Marsha." The ninja said with a grin, earning a snort of amusement from Cloud and a giggle from Tifa. "I already promised Vinnie that I wouldn't do something like that again."

"Good." A glare was sent at hearing the nickname that she had given him. "Hey, there is something you guys should hear though about the voices." He looked over to Cloud who nodded for Barret to continue.

"When 'Myra was first brought into tha cell with Yoshi, said she heard this voice tellin' her to wake up. He heard tha voice too. Later on, soon after you got tossed into tha cell with em', he heard Jenova's voice in his head, but there was another voice tellin' him everything was gonna be okay and to ignore the other voice. It kept him calm.

"'Myra knew who's voice it was once tha kid described it."

"Let me guess, it was Aeris' voice, right?" Yuffie asked softly and got a nod from Barret.

The room was silent for a few moments as they absorbed this information. Silent thanks were given to their friend for all she was still doing for them.

"We'll have to figure out what to do with Yoshi." Cloud said. "It'll take him some time to get use to everything that has changed."

"Yeah, and on top of that, he's gotta deal with the memories of the experiments done on him." Tifa continued. "Maybe he should come back to Nibelheim. Or we could stay here in Junon for a while."

Barret sighed and shook his head. "Nah, he wouldn't be able to stay in Nibelheim 'Myra wouldn't allow it. She's taken wit tha boy."

"We can't make this decision without him." Yuffie protested softly. "We'll just have to see what he wants and see what we can do to help him out."

They all nodded just as there was a knock at the door. A nurse entered and gave a slight bow.

"I'm sorry for interrupting but I was sent to bring you back, Miss Kisaragi." She said and looked at the escaped patient. "The doctor wants to examine you and we'll have to replace the IV you pulled out. Mr. Valentine, your doctor will be in soon to check your wound as well."

Yuffie grimaced at the thought of a needle in her hand once again but sighed with a nod. They watched as the nurse replaced Vincent's nearly empty IV before Yuffie lifted the tubing feeding the oxygen into her lungs and slipped from the bed. Arm wrapped around her ribs once more as the other held up the loose pajama bottoms.

"I'll go with you Yuffie, after we're done, we can go see Elmyra and Yoshi."

"Sure. As long as I don't get confined to that room again for too long." She moved to Tifa's side before turning to look at the gunman. "I'll see ya later Vinnie.

The gunman nodded once and watched as she waved and left the room with Tifa. Cloud pushed himself to his feet and moved to the door. "I'll talk to Reeve and we'll be back later to see what we can do for Yoshi."

The two men left the room followed by the nurse who told him that she was going to get the doctor. Vincent leaned back against the pillows and sighed. Crimson eyes looked over to the spot where the ninja had slept and sighed. He had slept well with her at his side, despite the fact that he had been in a medical ward…despite the fact that they had argued…

He didn't want her to leave his side.

He had made a promise to himself that he would stay by her side in whatever capacity, whether it is as a friend or protector and that's exactly what he planned on doing. Maybe he could tell his Yuffie how he truly felt one day.

He didn't want to lose her.

He didn't want to see her with another man at her side as she married in a little over a year.

But that would mean that he would have to tell her how he felt, wouldn't it?

o-o-Author's Notes-o-o

Are ya'll ready to kill me now? I'm sorry about the delay and I want to thank everyone who has responded with the wonderful reviews. I already know that the next chapter is going to be short, but the one after that is going to be approximately 5000 words. I'll hopefully get a bit more time to write over Thanksgiving, but no guarantees.

I am quite proud of the fact that I got 3 stories updated in three days so I hope you enjoy it even a lil tiny bit!

Special thanks to my partner in crime, Angey! She gave me some suggestions for Vinnie that really helped me out.

Well, I hate to cut this short, but I gotta finish the AN's for two other fics!

Much Love!

Ezzy

11/19/06

5/25/07

10/05/07

Edited because of change in formatting. Also re-numbering chapters. Minor content edits.