One Degree

They say everyone in the world is connected through six degrees of separation.

For AVALANCHE and the Turks, it's one.

Yuffie and Vincent

Boogeyman

"Yuffie?" Godo bellowed through the halls of the pagoda, in a most un-ruler like way. "Yuffie!"

No shout came. Godo was forced to wander the halls and check every room (with the help of servants) before it became quite clear his daughter wasn't here – but she was definitely inside the pagoda. There was no doubt. Paling, Godo walked to the very bottom floor, and walked over to a corner. Lifting a tapestry, he stared at the wooden wall before reaching between a gap between two boards, slipping his fingers into a handle and sliding the wall to the left. A black hole lay where the wall had been, and he climbed inside, shutting the door/wall behind him.

It was obviously a passage, the circular hall having enough height to stand up straight. Godo walked along and quietly took a torch from the wall, finally coming to a set of stairs. He took to the stairs and followed them as they curved around, until he was at the bottom and went through a door, entering a room. "Yuffie!" He called.

He was in a plain room that had doors all around, all with the same circular shape. But as he walked to the center of the room, the wall started to move. They started to spin in a circle, and Godo sighed, squatting so he could enter a code into the keypad on the floor. The wall slowed, and then stopped, all the doors (he knew) in the proper place. "I know you're down here Yuffilene!"

A shouted protest came from one room, and a girl no older than 6 came scampering out of the door and stood with her hands on her hips. "Godo! It's Yuffie!"

"It worked." Godo sighed. For a year now, she'd stopped calling him dad and started calling him by his name, sounding so strange coming from such a young girl. Yuffie stuck out her tongue before running back into the room. Godo followed her, having to duck his head as he walked through the doorway and then standing straight as he entered the room.

The room was a filing room, but the walls themselves were the cabinets, each drawer labeled. A armchair sat in the corner, though the cushion had been dragged off so Yuffie could sit comfortably wherever she was looking. The very top of the wall had a groove so that the top wheels of a wheeled ladder could enable to seeker to slide along the length of the room. It was on the very top of this ladder the Princess Kisaragi stood, looking through a drawer at the very top of the room.

"Yuffie." He said sharply. "What are you doing?"

"Looking," she said in a singsong voice.

"How did you get down here?"

"Godo," she sighed, "You should probably change the code. Anyone could get down here."

"Then what is the code?"

"Mommy's deathday, that's what."

He shifted. Maybe he should change that code.

"And why," he said evenly, "Did you pick that drawer?"

"Well." She said evenly. "I didn' knows what Turks was, and it was way high up so you obviously didn' want me lookin' soooooooooooooo….I picked it."

He shook his head. It spoke volumes for her character though – usually the heir was brought down here when they were 8 years old (she was two years early) and told to pick a drawer. It was a test of character, to understand the future ruler better. That Yuffie had picked what she didn't know, much more on top of the room showed she was either drawn or oblivious to danger, else wise unafraid of it. That she had picked something she didn't know and ultimately dangerous reinforced the drawn to danger, and showed that she was curious. When Godo was here, he'd picked a drawer smack dab in the middle of the wall, and it had been the beginnings of profiles on the Wutain people.

"Did you look at any other drawers?" Godo asked. She nodded, and pointed without looking at another drawer near the top, this one about the royal family, starting with the current one and going back to the first known rulers. "Why that one?"

"I wanted to see my profile." She said. Godo shook his head – he hoped that didn't mean she was conceited. Selfish, maybe. "Any others?"

This time she grinned. "Materia!" she cried, pointing to the appropriate drawer. It contained all known materia in the world, the ones that had once belonged to Wutai, and the history of materia. Godo shook his head and took the cushion back to the armchair, sitting as he observed her daughter. She threw a couple files to the floor, which landed with a slap. Finally Yuffie half climbed half jumped of the ladder, looking at the files. They were near the front, which meant they were the greatest Turks – the highest threats. Right behind those were the current Turks, then proceeding backwards, just like the Wutain Royal Families files.

"Godo," she said, in a voice just like her mother's, "What are Turks?"

He stared at his lap. "Come here Yuffie."

She obeyed, trotting over. He picked her up by the stomach, to her squeals and flails, and he plopped her on his lap. She shifted to one of his legs, so she could look up at him. "Daddy?" she said. His heart twisted.

"Turks are…" he said quietly, trailing off.

"Daddy? Turks are…?"

"Monsters. They kill because they are told to. They murder without a thought, and they have no souls. They work for ShinRa."

"…that explains the soulless part," Yuffie said. Godo laughed heartily and ruffled her hair.

"Hey!" she said, running fingers through shoulder length hair before hopping out of his lap. She walked over to her cushion and plopped down on it, laying on her stomach as she looked at the file names. Her little tongue stuck out of her mouth in concentration. "Valentine?" she chirped, and Godo's head snapped to her so quickly his neck cracked. "I thought that was a holiday?"

"Bring that over here," he said weakly, color draining from his face. Again she obeyed, picking up the file and crawling onto his lap. He stared at the dusty file and shook faintly as he read the name.

Valentine, Vincent

He opened the file to the cover sheet.

Name: Valentine, Vincent

Status: Presumed Dead

Vincent Valentine's blue, one eyed stare caught his eye. Godo stared at it, color draining from his face. He was trembling as his eyes scrolled down, ignoring age, blood type and the rest of that nonsense. Finally, brown eyes alighted on what he dreaded seeing.

Last Known Mission: Administrative Research

Assigned to: Doctor Hojo, Doctor Crescent and Doctor Gast

Godo had obtained this file a little under a year ago, straight from ShinRa. Not that ShinRa knew of course. This was ShinRa's version of events – Wutai and Godo however, had another. Godo's shaking hand turned the page to the next one. A near identical sheet stared at him, with a few, large differences. Vincent Valentine no longer had the generic employee picture, but a series of pictures, barely any with a full face view. The cover one was a close up of a face in profile, long hair whipping around his head as one red eye stared at Godo.

Status: Presumed Alive

Yuffie was humming a tune her mother had taught her, softly singing the words. Godo froze as he listened, straining his ears for her soft, delicate singing.

"Red eye at night…" she sang softly. Godo froze as the haunting tune twirled around his head, filling all the empty places in his heart with dread.

"Red eye at morning…" her voice dropped again, "…take warning."

No. She couldn't be saying…she couldn't remember…she couldn't know. "Yuffie!" he snapped, grabbing her by both her small delicate shoulders. Pearl grey eyes stared up at him in alarm as his grip tightened.

"Daddy!" she said, fear in her voice. "You're hurting me!"

"Yuffie!" he cried, "What did you just say!"

"I was singing Daddy!" her voice shook, and tears were welling in her eyes. "The sailor song!"

"Sing it!" Godo roared.

Yuffie was nearly crying, voice and body trembling. She couldn't sing, so she just said the words. "Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky at morning, sailor's take warning!"

Godo stared at her. "Is that the truth?" he asked in a low voice, anger seeping into his words.

"I swear it Daddy!" she whispered. "Upon Mama's grave I swear it!"

He let go of her shoulders, and with it, all fear and anger. Her teary grey eyes met hers, and his very veins filled with shame. She recoiled from him, but he swept her into a hug, and rested his lips on top of her head. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered, and her shaking reduced. "I didn't mean to scare you, but I just got…I was afraid." He hugged her and they stayed there until her shaking stopped and she seemed calm.

"What could scare you?" she asked in awe, eyes staring up at his innocently. He was still the big ruler, her daddy, her fearless father, her protector. Even though he hadn't been that much in the last year – and it was during those times she called him Godo.

"Him." He said, and she picked up the file and looked at it.

"Who is he, Daddy?" she asked innocently, looking up from his picture to her father, not a hint of fear in her face.

"He is Vincent Valentine, Yuffie." He breathed, staring down at the one eyes gaze. "And he the biggest, baddest, scariest monster of them all. Vincent Valentine, Yuffie, is not just a monster." Godo looked down at the file once more.

Last Known Mission: Assassination of Sayuri Kisaragi, Queen of Wutai

"He's the Boogeyman."

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A/N: Yuffie and Vincent fans: Don't. Kill. Me. They are my two favorite characters, and I know this isn't really an encounter, but it's just the first - it has a follow up. But that one isn't going to be any sweeter than this one. I'll make sure to throw in a sweet VY encounter drabble somewhere.

So this isn't that good, but...they are only drabbles. Hope you enjoy. Wait for the follow up - may be the next one. It's the only one I have an idea for, anyway.