Silent Angel

Author: Spellspinner Vincent Valentine

Rating: M – for Cid's language mostly…and possible scenarios in later chapters…

Pairing: Vincent/Yuffie post DoC

Warnings: Romance/Angst (nothing too serious). If you don't like the pairing please just don't read. I have a very good counter flamer willing to help me so no flames (I'm quite proud to say I have yet to receive a flame!) … consider yourself warned.

AN: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. You guys really help motivate me to keep writing. And thank you again Cyllwen for helping me with the chapter name. Sorry the chapter isn't too long; writers block has kept me down, sorry also about the wait.

Note: Italics are the thoughts of people; bold italics are the thoughts of Chaos.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except this fanfic and the odd idea I had behind it. Vincent and Yuffie are not mine nor are the other Final Fantasy characters. Vincent, Yuffie, and all the Final Fantasy VII characters are the property of their respective owners.

Please read, review, enjoy, and again…so sorry about the wait.

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Chapter 5

Amor Consilium II

Yuffie ran as fast as she could through the woods surrounding Wutai. Vincent was in her house…Vincent Valentine was really there. After all the mental talk of wanting to see him, wanting to just confess, she now found herself climbing Da Chao in a frenzied attempt to get away from him.

He said he wouldn't run. Staring at Tifa's number on her phone, she would simply have to believe he would be there when she returned. Until then…she needed advice. Lots of it!!!! Argh I left him pinned to my wall!!! Yuffie glanced back toward Wutai, debating whether to return to help Vincent off her wall, or to simply leave him there. Let him stay there! It's not like he's hurt… She thought climbing the beaten path she and many others before her had carved into the cliffs leading up the statue.

When she reached the top she sat down and looked down at her phone. Tifa's name and number shown brightly in the darkness like a small star alight in the dark heavens. What would she say? How would she word it?? It was not as though she could simply call Tifa and say 'I have a crush on Vincent. What should I do?'

Yuffie groaned at the mere thought and swore in Wutainese. Yeah they'll all think I'm a freak if I tell them I'm in love with Vincent…psh…It would be just as bad if by some freak chance he told one of them he was in love with me. They'd say he was robbing the cradle or something. She sighed in frustration while considering how to tell Tifa she was in love. Yeah and if I tell one of them they'll tell me it's pointless because he loves Lucrecia, and worse they'd probably say I was robbing the grave…

Yuffie found herself snorting slightly with laughter. 'Robbing the grave' was a funny and even ironic euphemism when she thought about it. Vincent had to be at least sixty years old, and when AVALANCHE found him, he had been in a coffin. A nice way of saying he's too old and a bit weird for me...

Not that Yuffie cared in the least, Vincent was a mystery to all around him, and she loved mysteries. She loved the darkness in him as much as she loved his light. She loved his frown as much as his rare, half-hearted smiles. She loved the fact that he was a genius (She made him take an IQ test to prove it.) and that he still could be the densest man alive. Even though Vincent was a challenge, she loved trying to pry her way into the depths of his heart. She greatly enjoyed trying to make him remember what happiness was, and for a while, she had been succeeding.

Then Vincent just vanished right after Shelke died. All her hard work seemed to have been for naught. But now, Vincent was back, and he was in Wutai. Not only in Wutai, but pinned to the wall of her house! It was like being given another chance to break down the walls around his heart. So naturally, as luck would have it, she was terrified of doing so.

She stared at her phone trying desperately to awaken whatever part of her brain controlled telekinesis, so that she wouldn't physically have to hit the send button and admit she needed advice. Finally, once she conceded the fact that she was not going to evolve in a split second, she hit the send button and waited.

It rang. Once, twice, three times, four times, then…

"Hello?" Tifa's voice sounded exhausted, and Yuffie realized, she probably should not have called so late.

"Tifa? Hey…It's Yuffie. How are you?"

"I've been better…" Tifa grumbled. Yuffie could hear things moving in the background. "Yuffie do you have any idea what time it is???"

"Late?" Yuffie said sheepishly.

"Very late...Are you alright? You never call anyone unless it's an emergency or you found a new materia no one has ever seen before."

Yuffie looked down at Wutai from her spot on top of Da Chao. Yeah… the love of my life is pinned to the wall of my house…I'm great! "….I needed advice. Love advice…"

Hundreds of miles away Tifa sat up in bed and tilted her head slightly, she was almost certain she had been hearing things. Yuffie was…asking for…love advice??? "Love advice?"

"Yeah…um…see, there's this guy I really care about. Hell, I'd go as far as to say I would die for him. I want to tell him but…I can't…Unless I know he's nowhere near. I mean it is one thing to talk to dead air and say you are in love with someone." She paused and sighed in frustration. "It's a hell of a lot harder to say it to their face though."

"…I know what you mean." Tifa glanced at her side. Cloud could sleep through anything… "I know exactly what you mean."

"So…since you know…can you tell me what I should do???" Yuffie tried not to sound too hopeful. Her situation was NOTHING like Tifa's.

"Well," Tifa started getting out of bed and heading for the stairs of their home in Edge, "tell me about this guy…It would help if I had some understanding of why you are afraid to tell him how you feel."

There it was. The one thing Yuffie could not do. Tell you about him?! Damnit Tifa! You couldn't just give me an answer?! "He's…different. He just came to Wutai a while ago; he's a bit like Vincent in the tall, dark, and serious departments." So far, so good…she wasn't lying completely. Vincent had just come to Wutai a while ago, he certainly was different, and he was exactly like himself in the tall, dark, and serious departments. …Any minute now she's going to say "Yuffie? Is it Vincent?"

"Yuffie…"

Here it was! It was coming. Yuffie mentally prepped herself to admit the truth…

"How much like Vincent is this guy? If he's too much like Vincent…I'd tell you to quit while you are ahead." Tifa said with a slight yawn. "Well…don't quit on the guy…but don't set yourself up for heartbreak. Guys who are anything like Vincent are hard to work with. I mean, you can't help someone who won't let you right? So it's hard to get someone to open up, especially if they don't want to."

Yuffie sighed softly in relief. "Yeah I know. I've been trying to get this guy to come out of his shell for a while now." Years…I've been trying for years and I don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I don't even know if I want to keep trying. I don't know if it will be worth it. What if he doesn't give a damn about me I mean…what if he couldn't care less? What point would there be in me wasting my time on him if he doesn't care?

"Well then don't give up. Yuffie, if anyone can do it, you can." Tifa said quietly. Yuffie could almost picture the smile she knew was on Tifa's face. "I have faith in you."

Yuffie smiled. Not her usual happy-go-lucky, mischievous grin, just a small smile. At least you believe I can do this…because I'm almost certain I'm gonna fail…

"So eh…your advice is to just…do it?" Yuffie said staring down at Wutai. It was really a desperate attempt to extend the conversation, something to keep her from being face to face with the subject of their conversation.

"Yeah, go for it. Just, pretend he's not there when you tell him. Pretend you are talking to one of your cats or to a dark empty room. Especially if that's how you are comfortable."

"You make it sound so easy…" Yuffie muttered. She makes it sound way too easy…I mean…my situation doesn't compare with hers. Mine is so much worse! I mean, sure it was hard for her to tell Cloud, but come on. When it comes down to who is more complicated Vincent takes the cake. Cloud had minor attachments to the past…Vincent has major ones.

"It's not easy…but sometimes it's the only way to move on if it's not meant to be, and the only way to make it work if it is."

Yuffie nodded once. Tifa was right. It would be the only way to move on if it was not meant to be, and the only way to find out if it was meant to be. If it was meant to be…she would give it everything she had to make it work. "Hey Tifa, thanks. I'll call and let you know how it goes." Yuffie said quickly ending the call. She rose from her position and looked down upon the faint lights of Wutai before turning her gaze to the stars above her. "Hey mom?? How about lending me some of that fearless nature dad told me about?"

After moments of silence Yuffie smiled and shrugged. "Eh I figured it was worth a shot..."

When she finally descended from Da Chao she realized that she had been gone over an hour. Vincent, if he was even still there, was still pinned to her wall…"OH GAWD!!!!!!!! I'M AN IDIOT!!!!" She yelled running through the streets. How she managed to forget that Vincent wasn't just sitting around relaxing, but rather, was left pinned to her wall…well she just couldn't figure. I must be out of my mind! I left Vincent pinned to the freaking wall!!!! How the hell does someone forget…THAT…pinned to the wall of their house?!

She ran across the bridges, through the streets, and up the stairs. Her footsteps behind her seemed to thunder almost as loudly as her heart in her chest. All that separated her secret love and her greatest fear was the door of her home and her hesitant hand. All I have to do is take a deep breath…and push the door open. Come on Yuffie!!! Anyone else could do this. You are not a sissy! Open the damn door march over to the bastard and tell him you…nah that might be too forward of me…eh… Yuffie crossed her arms and stared at her door while thinking of the best approach. She wished to be cautious, after all, it would be sad if she had somehow managed to attract Vincent and managed to end it just by acting the wrong way. Ok…so maybe I should…nah cute and innocent only worked for Aerith…and she wasn't as innocent as she made her self out to be…darn clever actually…Tifa's tough girl approach won't do me much good and everyone says I'm too childish…so my fake whining wouldn't work. Beyond all that, she considered that Vincent was great at reading people. He would know, no matter what she did, that it was an act.

She reached out threw the door open and went inside grinning in her old way. "Hi Vincent…miss me????" She turned to the wall where he had been pinned to find him still pinned to the wall. He hadn't moved at all not in the least. Yuffie blinked a few times and put her hands on her hips. "What the hell are you still doing pinned to the wall????"

"You told me not to move." He said simply pulling the kunai from the wall and his clothes. There were only slight tears in his clothes, it was repairable he noted to himself. "So I waited for you to return…"

Yuffie tried not to laugh. "You didn't have to take me that seriously you know. I meant just stay in the house like…you know…don't go running off to creepy caves with glowing crystals and dead women inside them?"

Vincent nodded slightly. For some reason it was always more humorous when Yuffie did exactly as she was told than when anyone else did exactly as they were told.

The silence between them grew. Neither spoke, nor did they appear to draw breath. It was in the silence that Yuffie began to laugh hysterically.

Vincent lifted his gaze from somewhere around Yuffie's feet, to her face. "Yuffie…are you….alright?"

She was laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes. Her arms were wrapped around her slender form and she appeared to be shaking with her laughing fit. "You..." she managed to cough out between long stretches of laughter. "You look so goddamn serious all the time. Even when there's no reason to be you're the most serious person in existence!" Yuffie laughed until her legs would not longer support her and she began to collapse.

Vincent moved swiftly to catch her. When Yuffie fell, she always managed to get hurt. He thought in the second in which he caught her, that perhaps he had taken hold of her too firmly or perhaps that they were too close for Yuffie's comfort, for when he caught her and pulled her close to his body to help support her, she stopped laughing and looked up at him with the strangest look in her eyes.

It was like drowning in the murky depths of a storm ridden sea. He found that for a moment his breath was stolen from him when he met her intense gaze. Intense was never a word to describe Yuffie's eyes, and yet now there was simply no other way to describe the power they held over his very being.

There was a curious wonder in them, a fierce longing (which actually frightened him a bit), and even a piercing aspect to them, he felt as though she could see right through him, down into the darkest depths of his soul.

Yuffie felt weak as Vincent's strong arms held her close to him. It felt strange to be so close to him, without him flinching or looking away anyway. His eyes seemed different than ever before. There were not calm, cool, and closed, but rather open, warm, and undeniably frightened. What is he so afraid of? It's like he thinks the world will end if he lets anyone in… "Vincent…why do you look so….scared?"

Vincent stared at Yuffie. Why do I look…scared? Do I really look that frightened? Or is she just getting a bit more observant? He gazed into her eyes until he could almost see his own reflection in the dim light of the room. He did indeed look a bit frightened. "…I do not know what you mean."

Yuffie then stood on her toes and grabbed Vincent's shoulders. With one swift tug she pulled him down slightly so that their faces were centimeters apart. If anything, it was obvious that only frightened Vincent more. "You look like you're about to have a heart attack. I don't think I've ever seen you look so freaked out before…Hell I don't even think seeing Lucrezia's ghost would make your eyes THIS wide. Are you alright Vince??"

"I am fine Yuffie…" Vincent answered finally releasing Yuffie, who, much to his dismay, kept a firm grip on his shoulders.

"People who are fine don't vanish without a trace for half a frigging year…and they damn well don't get freaked out because one of their friends is worried about them." She said poking him lightly in the chest. "Then again…you aren't exactly…normal."

"No…" Vincent said quietly. "I do not suppose I am."

"Um…" Yuffie was not surprised by what Vincent said; no not surprised in the least, she was surprised perhaps, by the way he said it. She had never heard him speak so honestly. No riddles, no metaphors what the hell is up with him!? This is so not normal!! Vincent likes to be mysterious! It makes him harder to read or something like that…Why the hell did he just agree and say…THAT. He's supposed to get all pensive and look the other way while thinking dark, creepy, and morbid thoughts! "Eh…Vinnie are you sure you're alright???"

There it was the nickname it had taken a year to break her from. 'Vinnie' drove him insane, he thought that at least 'Vince' was…tolerable.

He sighed slightly. "I'm fine Yuffie."

"There see!!" She yelled poking him again. "That's what you were supposed to do a few minutes ago! You're supposed to get annoyed with me and try your best to ignore me, and then you're supposed to sigh and tell everyone you're fine, even if you aren't. Of course that's if you say anything at all!"

Vincent looked at Yuffie in a most thoughtful manner. She really does pay too much attention to things…

And here everyone thought she only paid attention to things involving materia…she certainly fooled everyone…

Yes…she certainly did… Vincent thought to himself not knowing how to respond to Yuffie. He had not considered that she paid such a good deal of attention to his mannerisms to notice that, as she had just stated, he would have indeed done his best to ignore her, sigh, and say he was fine, if of course, he said anything at all. "So how long did you have to watch my every move before you noticed all that?"

"Oh gawd don't even get me started on that! Damn, it must have been a year or so before I could have written "Vincent Valentine: The Meaning Behind the Silence" or some corny book to describe what all those looks, sighs, and the silence meant. Psh…don't really tell me you thought you were hard to read??"

Vincent tilted his head slightly. "The others all thought me difficult to read…"

"The other's thought if they tried you'd go all Chaos on them and bite their heads off or something." Yuffie blinked a few times and shook her head when she realized how what she said sounded. "I-I don't mean they were like afraid of you or anything Vince!!! Well they sorta were, but that's beside the point! I guess it was just that you didn't exactly…eh….um…"

"I am aware that they were frightened of me Yuffie…" But why…why were you not?

"I wasn't!" Yuffie said triumphantly before turning away to hide the deep crimson blush painting her cheeks. "Hehe…yeah you were weird and all but oh I dunno, I guess I always thought you were pretty cool. Anyone who could shut Cid up with a glance was cool to me. You were the only one who could do it." And you were so…hot…There I said it! Hot!!! VERY VERY HOT! I mean I was just a stupid teenager with raging hormones and whatnot but Vincent you had to be the best looking thing…person…I had seen in years! And me, I got around a lot, and saw a lot of people…I knew hot when I saw it. "There were other things too…but I can't exactly tell you about that yet…maybe tomorrow! It's late after all…so eh…" She turned to look over her shoulder at him. "Why don't you…stay the night?"