CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: Thanks! I'm always worried that I won't do his character justice, but I have been having a lot of fun writing him.

SpiritDreamWarriors: I'm planning on about 10 chapters, so this is the halfway point. However, I do have an idea for one more story to finish all of this out. It's not going to connect back to KH anymore, except for maybe a brief explanation of what Yuffie and the others did while in KH. Of course, things tend to happen that I don't plan, so there is a slight chance that someone from KH could show up here at some point, but it is unlikely.

Irish-Brigid: We're almost to completely new stuff, and the next chapter should deal with what has happened to Cloud.

PrincessofBadLuck: I'm glad you're enjoying it!

The Nobody of War: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Alright, so … apologies all around. I really should have updated this ages ago, but college left me mentally exhausted and it chased away all of the ideas that I had for this story. Fortunately I wrote most of them down, so I have some things to work with now that I'm back to writing.

I have an idea for a new story about Zack and Aerith, and I'm hoping that if I alternate between writing that and this story it will keep me a little bit more motivated. We'll see how that goes. If everything works out the way that I'm thinking, I should have at least one more chapter of this done before my winter break is over.

Chapter 5

So I bare my skin

And I count my sins

And I close my eyes

And I take it in

And I'm bleeding out

I'm bleeding out for you (for you)

During the trek to Nibelheim, Vincent couldn't keep himself from glancing at Yuffie every few minutes. She had gone back to wandering quietly along behind Zack and Aerith the way that she had been earlier when he followed them, and he could see that her mind was somewhere else entirely. Her expression was blank, so he had no idea what she was thinking and that bothered him. Does she remember our fight? he glanced over at her again. Why doesn't she say anything about it? It is not like her to be this quiet for so long. Vincent sighed and looked away, trying to ignore how uneasy he was feeling.

When they were almost to Nibelheim, Yuffie caught Vincent looking at her and crossed her eyes at him. "Do I have something on my face?" Vincent smiled behind his cloak and shook his head. "Well, what is it then?" He shook his head again, relieved that she was finally acting like her old self. He saw her smile when she noticed that Zack and Aerith were holding hands, but there was a sadness in her eyes that he didn't like.

"You have been … quiet, Yuffie," he said softly. "It is … unlike you." When she turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised, he reached out to pull her to him but stopped himself at the last moment and let his hand fall back to his side. He still wasn't sure where they stood with each other, and he didn't want to make Yuffie uncomfortable.

"I told you, Vince, you don't have to worry about me so much. I'm fine. Really," she gave him her brightest smile, "I'm just glad to be home."

He tilted his head slightly, studying her expression. While her smile was sincere, he still saw that hint of sadness in her eyes that made him want to comfort her. "I am glad, as well," he said, keeping eye contact with her and hoping that she would see how much he meant what he said.

"Yeah, well," she turned away, her smile fading. "Oh look! There's the gate to Nibelheim!" She ran past Zack and Aerith, and didn't stop until she was in front of the water tower in the center of town. When they caught up to her, she threw her arms out and spun in a circle, gesturing to the surrounding buildings. "So guys, where exactly do you think Cloud is? I mean, I'd hate to spend time searching all these buildings," she laughed as she put her hands on her hips, her grin as broad as ever, but this time Vincent could see the effort she put into looking cheerful. He considered asking her what was wrong, but he knew that she wouldn't answer him so he decided to leave her alone for the time being.

"That one over there," Zack pointed at one of the houses and started walking. Vincent followed the others over to the house that Zack had indicated. No one came to the door when Zack knocked, and he turned back to them with a shrug. "This is where Cloud's mom lived when I was here before. What do you think we should do?" he asked, looking at Aerith.

The flower girl clasped her hands under her chin and closed her eyes in thought. "It wouldn't hurt to look inside," she looked at the house, and Vincent could see the concern in her eyes. It seemed that Aerith knew something that she didn't want them to know about. He caught her eye and raised one eyebrow in question, but she just shook her head slightly and turned her attention back to Zack as he tried to open the door.

"It's locked." Zack glared at the door for a moment, then his expression brightened considerably. It reminded Vincent of the expression that Yuffie would get when she had a bad idea, not that she ever thought of her ideas as bad. "I could kick it down," Zack suggested with a grin. Oh yes, definitely an idea worthy of Yuffie.

"Zack! You can't just break someone's door down," Aerith scolded. "There has to be an easier way to get inside." Vincent saw Yuffie perk up out of the corner of his eye and sighed. And now she has that look…

"Don't worry, the Great Ninja Yuffie will take care of this!" Yuffie shoved Zack out of her way and inspected the lock. "Oh, this'll be easy! Just give me a minute to get some stuff." She spun on her heel and took off at a run before Vincent realized where she was going.

If I go after her it will make her even more suspicious of what she finds, he thought reluctantly. It will probably best if I wait to see what she does on her own. He had been staring after Yuffie, lost in his thoughts, for a little while when Aerith tapped him on the shoulder. Vincent jumped slightly and looked down at Aerith with a frown.

"Sorry," she hid a smile behind her hand and gestured for him to sit on the front step of the house with her and Zack. "There are some things we should probably tell you about Yuffie." She gave him a reassuring smile when he froze, staring with wide eyes. "It's nothing that bad, I promise. It should help you to understand why she might not be acting quite like herself."

Vincent blinked a few times, trying to clear away the momentary panic that had seized him, and sat down stiffly beside the flower girl.

"Hey, man, relax," Zack laughed from his lounging position on the other side of Aerith. He seemed like he wanted to say more, but Aerith gave him a look and he closed his mouth with a snap.

"You know that Tifa had some amnesia, right?" Vincent nodded and Aerith continued, "Well, all of us had forgotten about our lives here until we returned. My memories came back right after we crashed in Wutai. Tifa's memories should be almost completely restored. I wouldn't be surprised she remembered everything by the time she finds Cloud. Zack memories returned shortly after he was found. Yuffie, on the other hand," Aerith paused, playing with the ribbon in her hair as she tried to think of what to say.

"Yuffie's still a few cards short of a full deck in the memory department," Zack chimed in with a smile.

"ZACK!" Aerith spun around and smacked him on the arm.

"Ow! Oh, come on, I was joking!" Zack leaned away from her, like he was afraid she would hit him again. "Seriously though, she doesn't remember everything yet," he held up a hand to stop Aerith from yelling at him again, and looked past her at Vincent, "but her memories are coming back. It's just taking longer for her than for the rest of us. I don't know why, and neither do you," he gave Aerith a pointed look, "so there's not much we can do about it but be patient."

Vincent watched the two glare at each other and couldn't help but smile. "Thank you for telling me this." He stood slowly and looked towards the Shinra Manor, where Yuffie was no doubt picking her way through the dust covered hallways and wondering why the house was in such a state. "If you would excuse me, I need to make a phone call."

"Of course," Aerith said, her gentle voice completely at odds with the look she was giving Zack. As Vincent walked away he heard her start to scold Zack again. "You didn't have to be so insensitive about it, Zack. Why didn't you just let me do the talking?"

"I wasn't being insensitive! And you were taking too long. What was I supposed to do?"

Vincent shook his head with another smile as their voices faded behind him. When he was just outside of the gate to Nibelheim, he pulled out his phone and called Reeve.

"Vincent! Have you found Yuffie?" Vincent flinched when he realized that he had forgotten to call Reeve earlier when he had caught up with the others.

"Yes, she was with Zack and Aerith outside of Midgar. We are in Nibelheim now and we may have found Cloud."

"I'm sorry Vincent, I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you say that she was with Aerith?" Vincent could hear the shock in Reeve's voice, similar to what he himself had felt earlier in the day.

"That's right, Aerith is here. You should probably tell Tifa to come to Nibelheim. If Cloud is here, he will want to see her right away."

"I'll send her a message right away, she should be there in a few hours. Vincent, are you sure that it's Aerith? Because-"

"Reeve."

"-it's just not possible, we all saw her die-"

"Reeve."

"-Sephiroth, he-"

"Reeve."

"Yes?"

"If I knew what was going on I would tell you."

"Yes, but-"

"Have you found anything else around the Forgotten City? Anything to explain the crater and the feathers?"

"No. But Vincent-"

"Goodbye, Reeve."

"Vincent-"

Vincent flipped his phone shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply in frustration. There were too many questions without answers right now, and it didn't seem like they would be getting answers any time soon. He had a feeling that Aerith knew more about the entire situation than she was telling anyone, but he would never force her to tell more than she was willing. She had always been wise beyond her years, no doubt because of her Cetra lineage, and if she chose not to tell them everything then she had a reason. Vincent was inclined to trust her, even if her presence was questionable at the moment. Then again, if Sephiroth could return from the dead whenever he felt like it, why couldn't their friends do the same? Vincent sighed and leaned against the wall. Trying to reason his way through recent events left him with a headache, so he turned his thoughts to a more comforting subject.

Yuffie should have returned from the Manor by now, he thought. Perhaps she will allow me to help her fill in the gaps in her memories. She must be frustrated by them.

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream from the town. He was on his feet and running towards Cloud's house when Zack and Yuffie were ushered out of the building by Aerith. They didn't see him come up behind them as they stood huddled together a few steps away from the house.

"This is what I was afraid of," Aerith said, "Tifa might be able to help, but I don't know what else we can do."

"Tifa is on her way," he said as he came closer. "I spoke with Reeve. He said that she will be here in a few hours."

"Thank you, Vincent." Aerith sighed, "I hate the idea of leaving him by himself, but I don't think we should go in there again." She frowned and looked back at the house.

"What is it?" Zack asked.

"What he said about Sephiroth…" Aerith continued frowning in thought. Vincent tensed, images of the crater near the Forgotten City flashing through his mind.

"You don't think…" Zack trailed off, looking at Aerith with wide eyes.

She turned to face him. "There's no reason to think that he's not alive. Cloud won't be able to tell us anything for a while. If Sephiroth is alive, we could be wasting time." Aerith looked at Yuffie and Vincent. "You two should stay here until Tifa comes, and make sure that nothing happens to Cloud." She glanced back and forth between them, and Vincent could tell that she was trying to encourage him to talk to Yuffie once they were gone. "Zack, we can start looking for any signs that Sephiroth is alive."

Zack nodded, all traces of the smiles and jokes from earlier gone. "Where should we start? If he was like us when he got back, he would want to go somewhere familiar." He thought for a moment. "Maybe the old Shinra Building? He spent a lot of time there in SOLDIER. I don't know that much about his past before that," he shrugged.

"It's a start," Aerith agreed.

"Then we better get moving. See ya around, Treasure Princess," Zack saluted Yuffie, then gave a brief wave to Vincent before he strode off down the path.

Vincent saw a flash of amusement on both Aerith and Yuffie's faces as they watched Zack saunter off.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now," Aerith smiled at them and then ran to catch up with Zack.

"We'll let you know if we find anything!" Zack shouted over his shoulder.

Vincent watched as the two disappeared around a bend in the path and then turned to Yuffie. He knew that he needed to talk to her, but he could feel his determination slipping away the longer he waited.

When she finally turned to face him that hint of sadness from earlier was back in her eyes. "I can't believe they're gone again," she sighed. "I mean, I know we'll see them again, but it's been so long, it's hard to believe that they're back, ya know?" Vincent tilted his head to the side, watching her. He knew that she had missed Aerith a great deal after the flower girl's death, but he hadn't realized that she had known Zack before her disappearance. "I never realized how much I depended on them when they were alive the first time." So Zack is another friend who has returned from the grave, Vincent glanced at the path down the mountain again. Best not to think about it right now. "Wow, that's weird to say. It sounds weird, don't you think?" Vincent was about to reply when he noticed the shift in Yuffie's expression. She had that look again. Maybe I'm just imagining it… "Would they be considered zombies, since they're technically undead? Is this the start of the zombie apocalypse? Because that would be awesome! We would totally be survival buddies, Vince! But it would suck if we had to kill-"

"Yuffie." He could feel his eye starting to twitch.

"Huh?"

"Please stop talking."

"But Vinny! This is serious! This could be a life and death situation! We need to start making plans now before it's too late!" He could feel the chance of having a serious conversation with her slipping away. Maybe I can- "That's what Sephiroth's plan is this time! He's going to start the zombie apocalypse and take over the planet with the undead! We have to warn everyone!" I really should know by now, there's no stopping her when she's like this. "Where's your phone?"

Vincent looked up at the sky. Of all of the people in the world, why did I have to fall in love with her? Only Yuffie could interrupt plans to have an important discussion with a tirade about the zombie apocalypse. "Yuffie, I am not giving you my phone. If you need me, I will be at the Manor." He turned on his heel and walked away.

"Fine! We'll see how long you last when the undead come knocking down your door! You'll be begging me to come rescue you!"

I refuse to discuss this with her. I will not be drawn into an argument about zombies. No. Just, no. I will not turn around and go back. That is exactly what she wants. Vincent stopped and turned around. He was out of Yuffie's line of sight, and now that she had stopped yelling at him he was finding it difficult to resist the urge to go back to her. He took a step back toward the town and stopped himself. No. No, no, no, no. It does not matter how much I have missed her, I did not miss these illogical arguments. With some difficulty, he forced himself to turn back to the Manor and continue walking. As he reached the front door, he looked over his shoulder and saw Yuffie stomping in circles around the water tower, apparently fuming over his refusal to entertain her ideas. Although, I suppose it would not be too terrible if we were "survival buddies," he smiled slightly.

When the hour is nigh

And hopelessness is sinking in

And the wolves all cry

To fill the night with hollering

I have to admit, I've had a lot of fun writing this chapter today XD

Next up, we'll finally pass the point in time where Eyes Open ended, and if all goes according to plan, we'll learn some of what's happened to Cloud.