When Vincent returned to the manor, he found Yuffie in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water and looking pale and weary. "Are you feeling okay?" he enquired. "You haven't eaten anything since you got here."

Yuffie looked round at him, then looked away again. "I'm just not hungry. Don't worry, I'm fine. What about you, you haven't eaten either." She turned round again to see Vincent making himself a sandwich.

"Generally, I can't cook, so I mainly survive on sandwiches and cereal," he said shortly. He took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Gawd, no wonder you're so thin."

"Speak for yourself, skinny," Vincent replied, running a finger down her arm to indicate. Yuffie froze, and Vincent withdrew his finger as though he had been burned. "I am sorry," he muttered, leaving the kitchen hastily and withdrawing to his room.

Yuffie allowed him a few minutes before following him. She could hear him talking to someone from the other side of the door; he was obviously using his phone. Yuffie pressed her ear to the closed door so as to eavesdrop.

"Is he there with you?...No? Good, that's good. Yes, of course, since yesterday, though I can't imagine how..."

Yuffie scowled. They were talking about her, she knew it. Then Vincent spoke again, and she put her ear back to the door.

"But this fast? He must be desperate...yes, I'll speak to her, she needs to know...Cloud, I do not wish to hide this information, she deserves to know. But if he sends a message again, say she is not with me. I cannot afford to have Godo take her back, she is unhappy enough at the moment...Right. I will call you later if need arises...yes. Goodbye."

Yuffie heard Vincent move from the inside of the room- she darted to the living room. A second later, Vincent appeared, looking grim. He crossed the room and shut the faded red curtains.

"What's that for?"

"We may be being watched," was Vincent's brief reply. He sat down, but further away from Yuffie. "Yuffie, I was talking to Cloud on the phone. Godo sent a messenger to Kalm, where Cloud and Tifa now live, and demanded to know where you are. Neither Cloud nor Tifa said anything, as they did not know where you were at the time, but I have told them you are with me. Godo is sending messengers to all the places you could be- Corel, Rocket Town...soon it will only be a matter of time before a messenger arrives here."

Yuffie snorted and rolled her eyes. "They won't take me without a fight!"

"That's the difficult part. For one, you have no fighting weapon. And two, Godo has said that if his messengers find you and bring you back, he feels you have disgraced him so badly that if you are found, you are to be brought before him, where he will personally punish you further."

"Oh man, he's serious, isn't he?" Yuffie said shakily.

"I'm afraid so. So unfortunately, that means you will have to stay in here. If you go out, and they find you, I cannot always be there to protect you."

"Oh, that's okay. Nibelheim's kinda boring anyway, so I'm content with staying inside."

"Good." Vincent consulted his phone; it read 20:30. "I barely had any sleep, so I am catching up."

Yuffie groaned in frustration. "Aww damn. Looks like I'm gonna be bored for a while then. Can't you talk to me for a bit?"

Vincent smirked. "Good night, Yuffie," he said, standing up. "Night," Yuffie replied. Slightly nervous, she got up, wandered over to Vincent and kissed his cheek. Blushing pink, she darted away upstairs. Slightly dazed, Vincent drifted up to his room. As he unbuckled his cloak and unbuttoned his shirt, tossing them onto a chair, he thought.

Yuffie kissed my cheek. That can only mean she likes me too...maybe I should just tell her how I feel about her. It feels like I shouldn't feel this way about her, but I can't help it- the way she talks, her cheeky smile...the feel of her lips on mine...

By this time, Vincent was in bed, pulling the duvet over himself. Nanaki has given me good advice, but will it help me any? Vincent yawned and pulled his bandana from his head, letting it drop from his fatigued fingers onto the floor as his eyes slid shut.

In the room across from Vincent's, Yuffie sat cross legged on the bed, examining her reflection in a small mirror she had found while looking in the drawers. Pursing her lips, she turned her face and examined her cheek. She had not seen the damage before, as she had not had time to look in a mirror before her escape from Wutai. Nearly all the redness had gone, but parts of the skin were still raised, and throbbed painfully when she touched them. Absent-mindedly, her hand crept up the back of her shirt to touch the whip marks on her back. These ones still had not gone down, as Godo had hit her harder across her back. Yuffie scowled, cursing her father, hating him.

I bet he plans to have me killed, she thought, chewing her nails unconsciously. I can never go near Wutai again. Never stand at the peak of Da-Chao to view all beneath me, never sit among the cherry blossoms again...I have disgraced my clan... A crystal tear slowly tracked down Yuffie's pale face, falling into her lap. She blinked fiercely, wiping the tear track away, stifling a sob. I mustn't wake Vince, he needs his sleep, she thought. She found herself thinking about what had happened the previous night. Why did I not pull away the instant our lips touched? Am I mad or something? And yet...it didn't feel wrong...

Yuffie sighed. She was bored, and she couldn't go out for fear of being captured. Deciding the only option was to go to sleep also, she kicked off her boots and climbed into bed, fully clothed. Got to stop myself thinking about Vince. Might as well sleep. She turned over, closing her eyes. Maybe I should just talk to him...