Author's Note: This is the same story. I know it doesn't seem to tie in at the moment, but bear with me! It will make sense in the end...I hope...

Chapter Two: Things Unseen

The sun was setting overhead, a man in red noted as he continued toward his house. He had no problem with going home in the dark, but could see small tinges of fear growing in those that surrounded him. They were jittery people, bumping one another, throwing packages of who-knows-what into the air—it was all he could do to keep from walking over little children who played underfoot. Vincent pulled his cloak further over his arms to keep them out of sight. He was a rather strange character when these were not noticeable, let alone when a talkative child pointed them out. And that was a mistake he had made only one too many times.

By the time he was halfway home, Vincent Valentine noticed something. The girl who always walked in front of him was strangely absent tonight. Was it strange, he wondered, that this was so forthright in his mind? Surely, he had better things to do than think of one measly teenaged girl...

But still he wondered. She had never, not in the three months he had lived in the area, been more than four people away from him. She traveled the same road as he each passing day, leaving the marketplace at late noon, going down Eidel Road, and turning to a group of dilapidated houses without breaking her speed. It was hard to not notice her, being one of so few with that long brown hair, streaked with crimson red color. She had never spoken to him, yet Vincent felt strangely lonely without the girl around. Perhaps, he thought, it was the lack of friends he made. Yuffie could be right, after all. He had left Cloud's posse for the opposite side of town, saying, "I'm tired of the same voices. I won't be far, in case I'm needed." He had promptly changed the number on his cellphone, regardless. All the same, Yuffie persisted. She had even gone so far as to inform him that not only was she coming over tonight, but she was going to buy groceries so that there would be food in the house. Needless to say, he was less that enthralled by the idea of being entertained by the little ninja.

Vincent stopped suddenly. He felt as if something had clicked in his mind, some underlying suspicion had finally come forward and was yelling his name. This place, he remembered, looking around, was where the brown and red haired girl always turned. He had never seen this place when it was so black outside, with even the stars at a loss for light. The apartments, if you could call those broken, earth stained walls that, seemed to hold some dark aura of evil tonight. Though he was not sure why, Vincent turned toward the alleyway. His ear caught a sound he hadn't heard for many days, a sound he had hoped and prayed he would never hear again. It was the sound of someone dying. The voice was female, tainted with pain and anguish. As he stared down the alleyway, a figure seeped in black shadow escaped through one of the building's broken windows, feet flying for fear of what would become of him should Vincent Valentine know his motives.

He walked toward the form lying on the ground, holding her tired body up by sheer will. It was the girl that had not been walking home today, he saw, from the gleaming strands of red hair on her head. But those strands did not hold the same quality now, her hair disheveled, touched by the dust so near. Her simple clothes, now torn, told of what had gone on here. Closing her eyes, the girl looked away. Only then did Vincent glimpse a small razor in her hand, wet with blood. Her breath was growing heavy, her eyes, greyed with embarrassment. She was shaking uncontrollably by the time he was at her side, unable to stand or defend herself any longer.

"Please don't..." Her voice trailed off as the girl tried to back away, bur failed so miserably that she finally collapsed. Catching her, Vincent looked over her body. There were splatters of blood, some which he was not sure were hers. He watched as the girl drew her hands into fists, obstinate even in the face of death. " I won't hurt you." Vincent said, trying his best not to sound too unfeeling. As the teenager nodded, he noticed a glint, although ever so small, coming from her eyes.

"Mako?" He said in hardly more than a whisper.

The girl forced her face upward, staring hard into Vincent's eyes. She had heard those words all too well. She covered her mouth to keep the scream of pain she emitted to a small whisper. Then, ushering the last of her strength, she wrapped her hand around where his wrist should have been, but an animal-like arm shimmered gold instead.

"It is my sin and..." Her body shook, coughing terribly. She caught blood that was being thrown up in her hand, and looked back up into the "human's" face.

"...and retribution."

"No." He said with a firmness that could have silenced a city, picking her up. She was so weak, so close to death. There was little he could do, but even so...

Vincent took out his phone as he ran, holding her with one arm, hidden beneath his flowing cloak. He hit four on the speed dial, calling none other than the one person he was trying to avoid.

"Hi!"

"Yuffie, it's Vincent, I—"

"Why aren't you back yet? I've been waiting forever!"

"That's not important." He growled, trying to run even faster. " I need you to get the medicine out of the cabinet."

"Why? Are you sick or something?"

"No." He stopped for a moment, trying to cover the girl again with his cloak as it blew away from his hands in the wind. She was coughing up even more blood than before, and her body was becoming cold.

"Vince?" Yuffie said, her voice by some miracle quieter. "Vincent? What was that sound?"

"Just do as I said."

He ended the call just as abruptly as he had begun it, quickly turning off the phone in case she tried to call him.

"Augh! That guy!" Yuffie said as she slammed down the receiver. The smell of food still hung in the air as she shuffled to the bathroom, doing as she had been told.

"Nothing's wrong, yeah right!" She whined. "Why doesn't he tell me anything?"

Minutes after, Valentine was at the door, hitting it with his shoe.

"I'm coming!" Yelled Yuffie, exasperated beyond what she could bear. "You know, if you—hey..." She lost her thoughts as Vincent ran inside, laying a bleeding girl who couldn't be more than seventeen on the only bed. He grabbed two of the bottles, still standing over the girl. She was closer to dead than before, and he knew that if there were any mess-ups at this point, she wouldn't be with them tomorrow.

"Yuffie." He called to her, his stern face boring holes into her own. "I need you to do this."

She nodded, understanding. They said no more as Vincent walked outside, each as somber as the other. Yuffie was, perhaps, a little more lost for words, but neither one was altogether sure of what was going on. Vincent flipped his phone back up as he heard the glass bottles clink from inside, listening intently as the wheezing increased.

"He...ello...?" Yawned a voice from the other side.

"Cloud." Vincent said, amazed at what he heard from the other end. "You were asleep at this hour?"

Cloud yawned again, louder this time. "Long day."

Vincent coughed as he tried to remember what he meant to say. "Cloud, you remember some of what happened when you had that Mako, don't you?"

"Huh?"

"I said—"

"I heard what you said," He mumbled, "but why do you want to know?"

Vincent jumped as a short cry came out of the house, followed by the sound of Yuffie trying to soothe her patient. "I have my reasons. Do you know of what to do when a person with Mako is dying?"

Sitting up, Cloud tried to think. He had been the one knocked out, not the savior. If Zack were here, maybe it would be different, but...

"Cloud..."

"Sorry." He said quickly, regaining his composure. "I don't know much. Do you have some health potions?"

"That's an archaic name, but yes; I gave her medicine."

There was silence.

"It's a her, then."

Vincent sighed. There was no getting past those last words, no matter what he did or said now.

"Thanks for your help."

By the time he went back inside to where the girl lay, her breathing was almost normal again.

"She's doing better." Yuffie said. She looked up at him, the strange being whose eyes were transfixed upon this being before them. "How'd you find her anyhow?"

Vincent stared back cluelessly for a few more moments, trying to process what she had said. "Oh. I just found her like this. Almost dead."

"I could have told you that."

Running a hand through his long hair, Vincent spoke again. "I guess you should go to bed."

"Where?" She asked. After all, it was late, and she was far from home. There was no way she was walking through the dark streets now, especially after what she had seen here!

"I have blankets in the back room."

Yuffie nodded in recognition, not waiting for her friend to help her find them. By the time she had finished with setting out the bedding, it was pitch black but for Vincent's phone emitting light. She watched as he studied the brown-haired girl, unmoving until she coughed again. He tensed, leaning over to make sure that she wasn't falling into another fit. But it was nothing.

Yuffie smiled. She couldn't remember the last time he had been so vigilant about keeping someone alive. Actually, she wasn't sure that there had ever been such a time.

"Kind of makes me wish I got mortally wounded once in a while." She mumbled to herself. With a sigh, the little ninja ducked under the covers, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

((A/N: Yay, another one! Hopefully it's not too complicated...sorry about that...

Again, please review again if you think I should continue.))