Once inside, Vincent kicked the door shut behind him, muffling the outside torrent. Gently, he slipped the still unconscious Yuffie onto the sofa, before examining her. Her soaked skin was icy cold; she had obviously been travelling in the rain for days. She had dark circles under her closed eyes, and her clothes were dirty and torn. She was also very thin. Vincent inspected her face carefully, and something caught his eye, something he had not noticed outside. Yuffie had suffered what looked like a whip; her cheek sported numerous red and white raised lashes, and the skin between was heavily bruised. Scowling, Vincent turned Yuffie onto her front and, hesitating slightly, lifted the back of her shirt up. Her back was mottled with whip lashes, and in some places her skin was broken. Dried, cracked blood laced her wounded skin. He turned her onto her side and brushed his fingers against the disfiguring marks on her cheek. At his touch, Yuffie moaned softly.

"Yuffie?" Vincent moved closer to her. "Yuffie?"

"Ohh...What the...Where the...?" Yuffie's eyes slowly fluttered open, taking in her surroundings. She turned her head and saw Vincent kneeling in front of her with concern marring his usually expressionless features. "Vince?" she said.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Do I look like someone else to you? Has your fall concussed you?"

"Oh, shut up." Yuffie sat up, shivering. "Damn, am I cold! How the hell did I end up here? I kinda remember getting to Nibelheim, hoping I could get some shelter in the mountains. But then I passed out, I guess. What? Oh, thanks..." Yuffie accepted Vincent's cloak, as she was still shivering, and wrapped it round herself.

"I will find something dry for you to wear in a moment," Vincent said. "But, tell me...how did you come to be in Nibelheim, Yuffie? You are still staying with Godo in Wutai, are you not?"

At the sound of her father's name, Yuffie shuddered. Readjusting the cloak a little, she muttered, "That stupid, power-crazy old fool. I got sick of him eventually. The old guy's always moaning at me about something or other...I just gave him the slip around a week ago." She dropped her gaze from Vincent's disbelieving face and leaned back into the sofa, wincing as her back made contact. "Shit, that hurts..." she moaned, closing her tired grey eyes briefly.

Vincent's knees were starting to ache, so he sat beside Yuffie instead. He pointed to her cheek. "Did he do this to you?" At his words, Yuffie's eyes filled with tears. Vincent looked towards the floor. "I am sorry. Have I offended you?"

"No, you haven't," Yuffie sobbed from beside him. "It was him." Vincent looked back at Yuffie, who was now drying her eyes on the hem of his cloak. "Jerk..." she muttered.

"Why did he? What have you done?"

Another tear fell down Yuffie's cheek, but she wiped it away impatiently. She bowed her head and replied, "I can't tell you, Vince. I just can't. It's awful."

"Hmm. Would you tell me later?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Yuffie, don't be ridiculous. You're staying here with me tonight. Look at you- you're wet through to your skin, and you need rest; you have the eyes of a panda." He stood up. "Come with me," he added, signalling to her. Slightly nervous, Yuffie followed him upstairs and into his room, where she found Vincent rummaging through one of the drawers.

"What are you doing, Vince?"

Vincent looked up at her witheringly. "Yuffie, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to find something for you to wear. Do you think I would let you sleep in what you are wearing now? It's soaked. Unless you want to wear it?"

"Not really, I'd be an icicle by the time I woke up, hehehe..."

"That's settled then. Here..." He passed her an old shirt, which she held up to herself.

"It's gonna swamp me!" she giggled.

"That is the general idea- you don't want to expose anything, do you?"

"True..."

"I gather you will want to dry yourself too, so I will get you a towel." Vincent swept out of the room in a black blur, and returned seconds later with a towel, which he dropped on Yuffie's head with a squeal of protest from her. "I will leave you to get changed." When Yuffie had got the towel off her head, Vincent had left the room and closed the door behind him. Yawning, Yuffie peeled off her wet clothing and underwear and dried herself and her hair off. Stifling another yawn, she pulled Vincent's shirt over her ruffled head, then looked down at herself. Man, this guy's tall, she thought. Scooping up her clothes, Yuffie made for the door.

Meanwhile, Vincent stood in the kitchen, leaning on the table, lost in thought. What has happened to Yuffie to make her so distressed? And what has she done that is so terrible? Nobody deserves to be whipped at brutally as she has been...She was happy at Wutai, or so I thought...

After Vincent, or rather, Chaos, had destroyed Omega, there was only time for a short reunion before Godo had appeared at Tifa's bar and demanded that Yuffie return to Wutai with him. Vincent remembered how she had tried to resist her father in vain, and she threatened to use Conformer on him when he attempted to drag her out. Vincent recalled the words she spoke before she left- "I'll go with the fool, but don't think I'm staying forever! You guys are more important to me! I'll see you again..."

With that, she had rushed out after her father...

Poor girl, Vincent thought, then stopped himself. Odd, I never often express sympathy.

"Vincent? Are you okay?"

Vincent opened his eyes and looked up to see Yuffie standing over him with a worried expression. He stood up. "I am fine," he said grimly.

Yuffie pursed her lips. "I've been watching you. You had this weird look on your face, and you kept twitching like you were having a fit. What's up?"

"Nothing. I was thinking, that is all, nothing of which you will find out about."

"Why?"

"Yuffie, it's almost half past three in the morning. Get some sleep," Vincent snapped. He spotted the bundle in Yuffie's arms and took it off her. "I will wash this for you."

Yuffie turned slightly pink as she began to protest. "Vince, that's, er, got my, er, underwear in there, you know..."

"Just because I spent 30 years in a coffin does not mean I have never seen women's underwear before, Yuffie. You do not need to be embarrassed." He set the bundle on the table and beckoned for her to follow him out, which she did. Vincent went back to his room and pointed to his bed."Try to sleep now."

"Yeah, but, where?"

She really is getting on my nerves, Vincent thought, rolling his eyes heavenwards. "What are we standing in?"

"A bedroom? Your bedroom, by any chance?"

"Precisely. You can stay in here. I have no intention of sleeping."

"But-"

"Good night, Yuffie," Vincent cut across, turning to leave. As his hand reached the doorknob, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see what Yuffie wanted. He expected to hear her rant on again, so he was surprised when she hugged him.

"I just wanted to say thanks, Vince," she said. "Thanks for helping me."

"I would not have left you out there in the rain, silly girl," Vincent replied dryly, giving her back a gentle rub. "Now get some rest." He withdrew his arms and let her climb into bed. "Good night," he said once more, letting himself out and shutting the door quietly.