Yo...heh, that's a new one. And once again, I end up apologizing for the long, long wait. But shitty week has basically turned into a very shitty month, and I'm completely at the end of my rope, if not a bit depressed as well. But, positive attitude and all...I guess (shrugs). So anyways...

Here. Long awaited chapter three, and the last chapter of Thank You For Loving Me will be up as soon as I get the time to write it. I really hate saying this, but it looks like there's going to be a bit more time left between story updates now, cause my life is just that stressful. Hope you guys understand. And I hope it doesn't contribute negatively to the story. But yeah, on with the positive.

Thank you, reviewers, for the wonderful reviews, as always. And...

I've confessed before that I'm not a Yuffie lover, but as I began to write this chapter, I realized that I was going to be forced to write her, so I did it to the best of my abilities. I kinda...(laughs)...I kinda wrote it so one might think it's a Yuffintine, but really, it's not. Not at all. I'm still pushiing Vincent/Lucrecia, and Yuffie/...no one, I guess.

So enjoy, please please tell me what you think and

Cheers!

Kyyrin

Chapter Three

Vincent pried open the age old door that led to the basement of the Shinra Manor. Before he stepped inside, he mentally prepared himself for exactly what he would be seeing. For what he might find. For the memories that had already threatened to overwhelm him on his journey here.

Pushing the door inwards, he stepped inside and scanned the ruined laboratory. Much of it still looked the same as it had three years ago when he had last seen it. Vincent had made point of not returning here for fear that the horrible memories might eat him alive. Sephiroth had damaged it beyond repair on the day he had found himself to be spawn of Jenova. Lucrecia's son. Vincent shut his eyes tightly. He hadn't even been able to meet his true mother.

That could all have been prevented if he had just convinced Lucrecia to………

Vincent was startled out of his thoughts when a glowing, crystal globe rolled towards him, stopping at his feet. Arching an eyebrow, he bent down and picked it up. Colors swirled inside, and it suddenly began to glow a dazzling white. He shielded his eyes from the bright light.

When the glowing subsided, he gazed around, frowning at the fact that nothing had change. There was nothing there……..but there was.

"Vincent, right?"

Vincent whipped around. He knew that voice. Very well.

In front of the door through which he had entered the room, stood Lucrecia. Vincent mind reeled. No. It couldn't be. She was dead.

"L-Lucrecia?"

"Have you come to check up on me?", her soft voice penetrated the eerie silence in the empty manor. She began to walk forward, towards him.

Vincent tensed. Was she real? There was only one way to find out.

He opened his arms as she came closer; ready to envelope her in a protective embrace if she was really there. A part of him hoped she was. He'd give anything to hold her. Tell her everything would be fine.

But to his dismay, she walked into him, and through him, across the room to one of the desks on the other side. Vincent let his arms drop in defeat, and shut his eyes fleetingly once more. But he couldn't ignore her presence now. What the hologram image of her had to say was obviously important.

So gathering up the pieces of his once more shattered heart, he turned to face her, and she faced him as well.

"Omega. His awakening is upon us."

Once more, a bright, white light filled Vincent's vision, and his sight was transported to cave they both knew so well.

"Soul wrought of terra corrupt, quelling impurity, purging the stream to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens", continued Lucrecia's melodic voice. She stood next to the crystals she was now entombed in.

"I came across this passage while studying the scriptures of the Ancients…..The Chronicles of Yore. Omega. The end."

She turned to look at the crystals, reaching a hand out towards them. A ball of light began to grow in her palm.

"Just as all other sentient beings, he too, is born of the Lifestream. However, his only purpose is to cleanse the planet of all things living and lead their immortal souls through the abyssal aether to a new beginning far, far beyond the neverending sea of stars."

The round, glowing light in her hand disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Just as life circulates through our planet, so too, does our planet through the universe. Or at least in theory.

They were know traversing the universe. Endless stars and galaxies spread out before them.

"However, what I can be certain of is, if Omega awakens, then all life as we know it will end. And when Omega has embarked on his journey to the cosmos, our planet will wither and die.

The bright light once again spread and faded, revealing them both to be back in the dank basement of the manor. Lucrecia's hologram stood, ever flickering, in front of Vincent.

"I will leave a copy of my records here for you, Vincent. Though I cannot imagine what help they might be, if any at all", her voice was now tinged with indescribable sadness.

"Just remember...", she continued, gaze dropping to the ground.

"I am so sorry".

And with that, her image disappeared, as did the round globe that Vincent clutched in his hand. He let the dusty remains of it fall to the floor, still staring at the spot where Lucrecia had once been.

His eyes burned, so he shut them a third time.

"Lucrecia…..", he whispered softly. It had pained him to see her, but not be able to touch her. To hold her. But it was pointless to dwell on it now. He had a job to do.

His eyes settled on a disk lying on a desk nearby.

"I will leave a copy of my records here for you, Vincent……"

Walking over, he slowly picked up the small item and hid it in the depths of his cloak.

If Lucrecia had left him information, he would use it find out the truth.

A white-cloaked figure, large shuriken in hand, made their way to the entrance of the Shinra Manor.

The shrouded person hopped nimbly over the stones and rubble that stood in front of them, hoping to find something of worth that would be useful, and would contribute to the common good of the Planet.

She had promised them after all.

Promised them not only to find information, but also to look after a friend.

Vincent rubbed his chest absently as he walked through the modern laboratories of the large building. It had been troubling him since he had gotten here, and the pain had escalated throughout the day. He hadn't overexerted himself by any means, in fact he had viewed the trek through the manor as rather uninteresting at points, except for when he found the odd disk of Lucrecia's records. It lifted his spirits a little to know that once he found out the contents of the disk, he might have proof of Lucrecia's innocence.

If she was innocent.

He turned left into a side door, and made to look around the room.

Suddenly, the dull pain in his chest intensified immensely. So in agony was Vincent, that he dropped to one knee, and clawed at his chest in an attempt to relieve the pain. His vision swam and tipped dizzily before his eyes.

He found himself inside a healing tube again, looking into the lovely face of Lucrecia.

His Lucrecia.

Vincent let out a soft groan, and with that, the memory faded once again and he was back in the manor on his knee.

"This pain", he murmured softly. The agony in his chest had subsided minimally, but it was strong enough to remind Vincent that Chaos still resided inside of him.

"Well, well. We meet again".

Vincent's head snapped up abruptly. He knew that voice as well.

Rosso the Crimson. But hadn't he disposed of her in Edge? This really wasn't one of his better days. Weeks. Months. Years……..Lifetimes.

"This is perfect. I so wanted to see you, my love".

The familiar red haired, sparsely clad Tsviet strolled towards him, a smile of mock seduction on her ruby lips. Vincent's expression of pain morphed into a disgusted snarl. What was she doing here? Though he had to admit, he did want to conduct a more in depth exploration of Deepground. There were some things he needed to know.

"Deepground. What are they attempting to do with Omega?", he inquired calmly, pushing himself to stand despite the severe ache that now somewhat spread throughout his body.

"I don't know", came the drawling reply. The Tsviet absently twirled a string of red her on her finger. "And to be honest, I don't care".

Vincent expertly managed to hide his utter disbelief at the comment.

"What?"

"But this is what Weiss desires", continued the Tsviet. "Hail Weiss. And what Weiss orders, we do. It is very simple."

She walked around in front of him, flexing her pale hands and smiling eerily as if reminiscing some strange memory.

"If he desires the awakening of Omega, then that is what all of Deepground desires.
We could care less what happens to the planet. But all this matters little to me. It is not every day you are granted the chance to cleanse the world of all life".

The eerie smile had now turned to one of morbid glee.

" Just the thought sends a chill of excitement through my body. The Deepground soldiers were born and bred to kill. We were chained to a destiny of servitude. But then three years ago, we were freed from our chains…….though waiting for us was darkness lit only by the faint glow of mako. And what do you think we did when we gained our freedom?"

Rosso let out a hollow laugh, now devoid of any kind of happiness at all.

"We killed. That is how we were raised. That is all we knew. And so I bathed in the blood of a thousand soldiers. And I enjoyed it. I reveled in it. And when I finally stepped out of the abyss, I craved for more. You understand, right?"

It took Vincent a few short seconds to realize that the question had been directed at him. His eyes widened marginally. Why would she think he enjoyed killing people? Is that really what it looked like when he transformed to Chaos? That he found amusement in murdering innocents?

His disgusted snarl deepened, and he drew Cerberus, pointing it at her head. He had never enjoyed killing another human being. Other than Hojo, that is, and for him, Hojo didn't even classify as a human anymore.

"I don't think so."

Now it was her turn to look at him in surprise, though Vincent guessed it to be more mock disbelief than anything else.

"How can you say that, darling? We're one and the same."

That comment set Vincent off. He made to shoot at the Tsviet's smirking figure, but she sped away. Growling softly, he pushed his hurting body to trail her. Tsviets, and Deepground, were some other things that didn't count as human in his book.

He turned the next corner, and came face to face with not Rosso, but a large, mechanical spider-like creature that was definitely not on his side.

The spider attempted to hit him with missiles, but he dodged them easily, focusing now on the ugly creation rather than on catching up to Rosso, not realizing that that had been the Tsviets intention all along.

Now, tailing the creature instead of the Tsviet, he ran until he reached the entrance hall of the manor. Screeching to a halt in the center of the room, he searched for the monstrosity.

"Where the hell is it? It was just here------"

The sound of shots from above caught his attention. Vincent on barely managed to jump away as the mechanical spider on the stairs fired at him once more. Cursing himself for not being more aware of his surroundings, he fought the creature with all he had.

Powering up his materia and using it when the thing turned to face him. Leaping out of the way when the spider sent a massive laser beam in his direction. Rolling to the side when it attempted to smash him up against the walls. At one point, the robotic arachnid climbed to the ceiling, seemingly wanting to recover some of its strength.

But this was not to be.

Vincent shot at the creature until his finger ached, and until the mass of electronics dropped to the floor in a heap. Taking advantage of his enemy's momentary weakness, he gathered together his energy reserves and transformed into the Galian Beast.

Rage and hatred ran through Vincent's transformed body, rushing to his head. Pushing him to strike the enemy and deliver the death blow.

And that he did.

The beast roared and slashed at the spider until it was nearly unrecognizable. Stepping back before the machine exploded, Vincent slowly change back to his normal self. His breath came out in wheezy gasps as he stood, staring at the smoldering ashes of what had once been his enemy, and willing himself to relax after the change from man to beast.

He did not notice the silent figure coming from the side. He did not notice the clawed hand reaching out towards him. He did not notice the blur of red in front of him until it was too late.

Vincent choked as a hand slammed into his chest, and penetrated the flesh, sinking itself into his body. He looked down fleetingly, to see Rosso the Crimson crouched in front of him, hand buried deep into the middle of his chest.

"I'm sorry. Were you not expecting that?", came her sadistically amused voice, that now sounded airy and distant to Vincent's ears. He could barely breath. He could barely see. He had no strength left.

He faintly registered the Tsviet pulling her hand out again, and with it, a large, glowing orb that strangely reminded him of materia. She held it in her hand triumphantly, and stood; now seemingly towering over him.

Vincent collapsed to the ground, still in a crouch at first, but as his remaining energy failed him, he felt himself collide with the dirty floor.

He lay there, and before long, felt painful spasms wrack his still illness weakened body. Yes, he had had time to recover from the pneumonia, but his immune system would take a while to get back in shape. And this wasn't helping.

Hot. Cold. Hot again.

Vincent's half opened eyes saw his arms changing from red to normal, and back. He felt Chaos' presence spring from the recesses of his mind and take over him. He felt his body change, but suddenly, Chaos retreated to quickly that Vincent didn't even know if the demon had actually been there or not. Panicking, he attempting to call Chaos back. If the demon did not take over his body completely, then his wounds would not heal.

But Chaos didn't come back. And Vincent was left lying on the floor of the Shinra Manor, wondering what he was doing wrong.

The hooded figure now watched a heated battled between a monstrous machine, and a crimson cloaked man.

Him.

She had been sent to make sure he came to no harm. She doubted the people who had given her this job cared much if she brought back any information, but rather, she had noticed that they had desperately wanted her to watch out for this man.

Vincent Valentine.

It had been too long.

Vincent was in agony. Every fiber in his broken body roared in pain. Hellish pain. He had given up trying to control Chaos, and with it, all the other demons as well. With Chaos being in such turmoil, the other beasts inside him had become antsy and nervous. Now they were angry and fierce, ripping at the insides of his mind, craving to be released.

"So, you cannot control the beast without this", came a far away voice. But Vincent was too endorsed in his pain and confusion to be even the least bit coherent.

"Well, there will be no need for it when I'm done with you".

He heard that, loud and clear, as if the agony he was in had stopped for a few moments. But then it came rushing back. And Vincent mentally prepared himself for death. If he could not control his demons in the state he was in, then he didn't have a chance.

Closing his eyes, he waited for the final blow that might just send him to the Lifestream.

To be with Aeris, his mother, his father………

With Lucrecia.

Rosso smirked down at the heavily wounded man that lay sprawled out in front of her. Pity. He might have been such a worthy opponent had she not caught him by surprise like that. It had been cowardly, she had to admit, but she had no intention of being swatted away like a fly by that Chaos as she had been in Edge. That had been humiliating.

She let out a low snarl. No one dared to humiliate Rosso the Crimson. Not after all she had been through to become what she was now. A cruel, cold hearted, murderous monster. Yes. She adored that title. It so fit to her.

And Valentine? Valentine had attempted to defeat her with Chaos. She had suffered because of it. That demon was strong, as was its host. But without Chaos, Vincent Valentine the man was nothing. He was weak. And he would pay dearly for trying to kill her.

And with that thought in her twisted mind, she crouched with a flourish, lifting her hand to deliver the fatal blow.

Shrouded eyes widened as a strange, ruby haired woman impaled the cloaked man with her hand. The arm was ripped out moments later to reveal a glowing, circular object. But that did not interest her. What did was that her appointed charge was in danger. Mortally wounded. She swore for not having acted sooner. She had seen the women sneak up behind the gunman, and berated herself for not calling out to him while she had had the chance.

Now she supposed she would have to rescue him. Her employer(s) would be devastated if she didn't. In fact, she herself would be devastated if she didn't.

It was time for her act.

Rosso raised her hand, intent on bringing it down on Vincent's head with enough force that it would maim him, and not kill him. She had planned more wonderful torture methods for him.

But before her hand reached him at all, a flash of white above caught her eye. She turned, and managed to leap out of the way before a giant shuriken hit her square in the face. The offending weapon embedded itself on the ground in front of her, and before she could react, began to give off a bright, white light. So piercing was the glow, that Rosso was forced to shield her eyes with her arms.

Some time later, she removed her arms, and was greeted by a rather frustrating sight.

The cloaked figure was gone, as was Valentine.

"Damn it…..", she spat under her breath, anger rising with every second. Then, she could not control it any longer.

"Wutai flea", she screamed, enraged at the fact that the intruder had robbed her of her enjoyment. She didn't care if anyone heard her. All that mattered was letting out her rage at the fact that her plan to kill Valentine had once again been botched.

Whipping around, she raced out of the empty manor, in into the cold night outside. Her eyes surveyed the surrounding area, searching for any sign of the two beings that had escaped her.

Finding nothing, she let her anger get the better of her once again.

Letting out a roar of frustration, she raised her arm, and hit the ground with such force that the noise echoed throughout the entire Nibelheim area. When the dust cleared, a giant hole was to be seen, along with a livid looking Rosso in front of it.

"If you manage to survive that wound, I'll make sure you don't survive the next one".

The statement was venomous and harsh. She meant it. But the hate fueled anger was short lived, and Rosso relaxed marginally at the next thought. Lifting her hand, she brought the glowing orb she had ripped out of Vincent to eyelevel. It radiated a beautiful light, and looked as if it were a star that had been plucked out of the radiant galaxies of the universe.

"But no matter", Rosso spoke calmly now, with an air of indifference regarding her earlier actions. She no longer cared that Valentine had escaped her. All that mattered now was her mission. Her allegiance to Weiss. The smile on her lips grew.

"The end is upon us".

A short while away, in a forest clearing, two figures were visible. One crouched on the ground, and the other was sprawled lifeless in a quickly collecting pool of crimson.

The crouched figure desperately tried to stop the flow of blood from the wounded man's chest, hoping against hope that he would survive.

She resorted to wrapping his thick, red cloak around his abdomen, in an attempt to bandage the wound. She had nothing on her, and even the mastered Restore and Cure materias she stored in her cape had been powerless against this injury. It would not let itself be healed. She was helpless.

Her heart sank as the red substance soaked through the cloak, and stained her hands. There was nothing she could do for him anymore, but pray for a miracle.

Tears began to form in the shadowed eyes, threatening to spill out. She swallowed the lump of sadness and guilt that had formed in her throat. She hadn't been able to look after him, as she had promised, but she wouldn't cry. No. That would mean showing weakness. And she had to be strong for him, seeing as he couldn't do it himself.

Wiping her hand on one of the dry parts of his cloak, she gently touched his face. He was so pale. Becoming paler by the moment. Looking down at the blood-covered ground, a single tear managed to slip down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, but that didn't change the fact that he was bleeding to death and she was powerless to stop it.

Gently gathering his head into her arms, she placed it on her lap. Something she would never have been able to do had he been awake and healthy. More tears came, but she let them fall. She could be strong and cry at the same time, couldn't she?

She felt so guilty that she hadn't seen him in years, and now, she was holding him as he took his last breaths. But still, a sliver of hope remained. Perhaps someone might come and help them…….perhaps the driver of her transport truck would come and find them here. And bring them back to……….

Looking down into Vincent's pain filled face, she whispered something that only the two of them could hear.

"Please, Vince…….don't let me see you die like this".

And I hate Rosso almost as much as Azul...and Hojo...Cheers!