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 to Faraway Dawn for an idea for the chapter name.

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

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Chapter 6

The Nightingale's Song

Vincent stared at Yuffie. Stay the night?

You aren't going to turn that offer down are you???

Why would you care if I did?

I would have to seriously question your sanity if you did.

My sanity would only be questionable due to the length of time I have had to tolerate your presence.

You were mad before we got mixed up with each other…I just gave your sanity a little push toward the edge…

A little push? A shove is more like it!

Yuffie was staring at Vincent. She knew what that look meant. In no way was he about to say no, or even to say why he shouldn't. He would get that look on his face when he was thinking deeply…and when he thought deeply one of the demons that shared his form always was answering. Yuffie could almost feel it. There was only one whose aura she could feel when Vincent simply thought about something. "Lemme guess….you and Chaos are debating this???"

Vincent and Chaos were both drawn away from their spat and focused almost instantly on Yuffie.

How could she…

Oh she is impressive…she knew it was me…she must be able to sense me.

Yuffie smirked. "Yeah I thought so…" She began pacing around the room, and appeared to be deep in thought. "….I thought Chaos returned to the planet…"

"You and me both…" Vincent muttered.

"It's weird how that guy never seems to die huh?" Yuffie said lightheartedly. "So eh…what do you say…stay the night or not? I mean come on…it's a long way back to…wherever the hell you snuck in from. You should rest up before you head out again…" Yuffie tilted her head in a thoughtful manner. "That is of course…if you are heading out again…"

You know you want to…It would make her happy…

You know I should not. "I suppose…I could remain for the night."

"Really!? You will?!"

Vincent noted that, just as Chaos had predicted, Yuffie did sound quite happy about his answer. Vincent simply nodded.

"Great!!!" Yuffie yelled before running off to her small kitchen. "Oh gawd this place is a mess I am sooo not ready for company!!!" Vincent listened to what sounded like several pots and pans falling and perhaps even dishes breaking.

"….Yuffie…do you need any-"

"I DON'T NEED ANY HELP YOU MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE!" He heard her yell over the crashing, banging, and shattering of various items in the kitchen. After a few minutes of silence Yuffie stepped out of the kitchen and grinned sheepishly. "So eh…are you hungry??"

Vincent tilted his head only slightly. Truth be told, he was famished. But I do not think it wise to…ingest anything Yuffie cooks... "I am fine Yuffie…" Vincent had heard the rumors around town. Women were saying that the reason Yuffie was still unwed, had little to do with her not being interested in anyone and more to do with her cooking skills. One woman was quite vehement about an incident in which Yuffie apparently managed to burn chocolate chip cookies and put them on buns, trying to pass them off as burgers.

Unfortunately, at that very moment his stomach betrayed him with a low growl. "Oh yeah…that was totally the sound of a full stomach…" Yuffie said laughing and heading into the kitchen. "I'll make you something!!!"

…You really should give the girl more credit Valentine…She's not as bad as the locals believe. Simply because she has not conformed the Wutai's ideas of a woman's position in the home they say she can not do things right…Unless your senses are mistaking…whatever she is making smells quite good.

Vincent looked toward the kitchen and it did indeed smell quite good. He could see into the kitchen a ways, she was making some sort of chicken, but it did not have the aroma associated with the typical dishes served in Wutai. It had a simple herbal smell that quickly filled the house. It reminded him of someone…

…My father…he used to make something like that…I always burned it… It had been a long time since his father's death and he had always respected his father. He was an intelligent man and it was his father who had raised him since his mother's death. Being reminded of his father would have made him smile if he did not insist on fighting the expression.

Yuffie seemed to be, from what he could see, an excellent cook. She was not burning things, she was not breaking things, and with a slight shove of her wrist she flipped the chicken she was cooking in the skillet without missing a single piece of meat. Soon Yuffie was poking her head out of the kitchen with a slight grin, and announced that her "masterpiece" was completed.

Dinner in fact, did turn out to be a masterpiece. Not a single thing burnt and the food was prepared just as it should be. How did she come across this recipe? He couldn't help but wonder. "I am impressed…the women of your town are under the impression that you can not cook…"

Yuffie took no offense to the information, rather, she was laughing. "Oh gawd, do they REALLY believe I did that?! I just made that up so none of them would beg my old man to make me marry their sons! Wow I didn't really think any of them bought it!"

She…made it up? "You…made up that story?"

Yuffie smirked and nodded before narrowing her eyes in a feigned look of annoyance. "What? You didn't really think I would be stupid enough to burn cookies and try to pass them off as burgers do you? Come on Vincent, I thought you were smarter than that…"

"…I thought it a bit…too strange…" Even for you…though I will not deny it is certainly believable…

Yuffie blinked a few times. Vincent knew she was getting much better at telling when he was withholding information. "…But…you DID believe it didn't you!?" More laughter issued from the young ninja as she pounded lightly on her table while trying to catch her breath. "Gawd that was the best idea I ever had if even YOU believed it!"

Vincent wisely held his tongue. Admitting he believed the rumor would indicate that he had little reason to doubt it…hence…little faith in Yuffie's cooking skills. If he said he did not believe it, it would indicate that he did not think Yuffie's story plausible and therefore obviously fake which would obviously insult her skills at creating valid covers.

After a few minutes of silence Yuffie smiled. "Yeah you don't have to answer…anyway…" she said clearing their plates and washing them quickly, "…I'm glad you're going to stay the night…you know and not just vanish on me. Uh!! Um I mean not just vanish on us! You know me and the others! No one has seen you in months so it's eh…it's good to know you're alive and well…" Gawd! Could I have sounded any less convincing!? I shouldn't have said anything at all… he's probably mentally disturbed enough about staying the night…Mentally disturbed…oh brother he probably really is!! I mean it's not like he's the type to just stay at someone's house much less at my house. I mean this is ME we are talking about…Argh! Yuffie get a hold of yourself! You're probably getting that spacey look on your face that Vincent gets when he's yapping with Chaos.

Only after a few minutes did it become apparent that she did in fact have the spacey look on her face that she had so often seen on Vincent.

"….Yuffie? Are you alight? You do not look well…"

She blinked a few times and looked around. "I eh…I don't??"

"You look as though your mind was in a completely different dimension…"

Vincent heard her laugh softly. "Yeah well now you know how you look when you space out…" She sat down slowly and smiled. "It's kinda cute really…you get this misty look in your eyes and you look so…I dunno innocent when you're like that…but you're always thinking about something sad."

Vincent tilted his head slightly. How often had Yuffie been watching him? Did she say I looked…kind of…cute?

There it is again…hehe… Yuffie tried not to smirk. He looks so…cute when he starts thinking about something. Maybe it's just because when he thinks…he turns his face down like that. Then his bangs get in his eyes…then he sighs slightly…usually because he's getting frustrated… Sure enough, Vincent sighed.

…Cute…Why cute? Of all things that was the last way I wanted to be thought of…easier that people feel on edge…

Of course the greatest problem, was that she had no idea what exactly Vincent was thinking about. Hours had passed, and neither took notice, not until the sound of the night seemed to fill the house completely. It seemed always, at least to Yuffie, that Wutai was noisier at midnight than it was at midday.

"Oh gawd…it must be late…" She muttered getting up and glancing outside. "Pitch black, noisy as hell, and colder…probably about midnight maybe a few minutes after…" She glanced at Vincent and smiled slightly. "We should get to bed…"

"Bed?"

Typical of Vincent, Yuffie couldn't help but think. It's so damn typical of him, to just say bed as though it were a foreign word and completely beyond his comprehension. "Yeah…Bed…you know that thing you sleep in when you get tired??? You know…TIRED! Sleepy?"

"I know what a bed is Yuffie…" Vincent said slowly standing. It had more to do with the fact that she said "they" should get to bed. "You have a couch right? I'm sure you'd feel strange sleeping too close to me…"

…Eh…well that was SORTA like…the goal of all this…Argh what the hell am I thinking?! Goal?! Gawd Yuffie you're a moron! What would you have done if you had said that out loud?! "…Uh…Barret broke the couch about three years ago…remember? Party? Barret and Cid were so dead drunk that Cid stumbled and knocked over Barret and he busted my couch." She sighed and grumbled quietly, "And I liked that damn couch too!"

Vincent was silent, and by Yuffie's very accurate deduction, still completely clueless as to what she was hinting at. "So…what should I-"

"You can sleep in my bed! It's ok I don't bite or anything, snuggle a bit, but I don't bite. I mean it's not like we are going to do anything…"

"…Right…" Vincent muttered almost inaudibly after a few minutes. They weren't going to be…doing anything. They were friends and they had been cramped near each other asleep before. It was not like they had never been that close to each other before…they had certainly set up camp a good few times and for some reason she always slept near him. But there were other people there those times…

You make it sound as though you are worried about molesting her in her sleep…

I am more concerned with why you are so eager for all this to happen…

You think I would molest her in her sleep then?

I have no idea what your motivation for all this is…naturally I am a bit…suspicious.

All I am trying to do is to get you to quit ignoring what is natural. You are attracted to her and you deny it, you want to be near her so you force yourself away from her, and for the love of whatever it is you worship look her in the eye. It is pathetic that an ex Turk is afraid to look a young girl in the eyes because you think she can read you. Alright…you want to know my motivation? I am a demonic spirit created by the tainted Lifestream. Your dear Lucrecia is not exactly letting me return to the planet until you move on…got it? Actually…that young girl Shelke…she has something to do with it too…clever of them hm? Binding my spirit to you until you get on with your life and embrace it for a change…


…Clever….and cruel. Vincent rubbed his head slightly. The mere thought that Lucrecia or Shelke would go to such an extreme was mind-boggling. He decided to put it out of his mind. Last thing he wanted was to be thinking of Lucrecia or why she would want so desperately for him to be with someone. Though it certainly did sound like the kind of thing Shelke would have done. It even sounded a bit like Aerith's doing.

In his thoughts he had not noticed that Yuffie had pulled him down onto her bed already and had curled up beside him. It was awkward. Being so close to her and feeling so far away. Yuffie had not taken notice of his slight discomfort.

"First of all I dunno how the hell you sleep in what you wear…" She was unbuckling his cloak and eventually pulled it off him. "….I mean gawd what is with you and buckles? Don't you feel ANY pain when you sleep in all these?!" She had moved to his shirt. Unbuttoning slightly and unfastening a few buckles.

"Yuffie what are you-"

"Oh chill I'm not going to strip you down…" She only unbuttoned a bit, just barely enough to see a small trace of skin. As if for good measure though, she reached up and snatched his bandana from his hair. What little hair it managed to keep out of his face, fell into it. Yuffie didn't mind though. As far as she was concerned, he looked good with messy hair in his face. "Ya know Vince…one day I'm going to introduce you to the sun. You're pale as death…" She laid her head down on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"…I suppose…" He said softly noticing that her breathing was already falling into a steady rhythm.

Before long, her longwinded questions and comments were reduced to short one or two word questions, and not long after that they ceased altogether. Silence…broken only by her soft deep breaths and the sound of the world of the night. In that silence he heard a familiar sound.

…A nightingale… He glanced outside to a tree near the forest. In the dark he saw a small shape move in the trees and a quiet but gentle song filled the night air. A nightingale…his father's favorite creature... 'Lonely people often hear them Vincent…' His father had told him when he was a young man. 'They hear the song when their life is lacking something. The song answers the questions of a troubled soul…if you are willing to hear the answers. If you ever hear the song, and I pray you do not, listen to it…and whatever it is that you yearn for, whatever you are missing, will be made clear to you…'

Something about the song made him focus on Yuffie. Her breathing was in perfect rhythm with the strange nocturnal bird's song. Her heart seemed to beat evenly with each note of it, and even the light warm breeze drifting in, lightly blowing strands of her hair around, seemed to fit the song.

"Yuffie…" came the soft whisper from Vincent, in reply to the song. She was indeed the only logical answer, and yet he found part of him still unwilling to accept it. She was a world apart from him suited to a world of joy and happiness. My world is only shadows…even if I tried to live as everyone wants me to misery just follows me close behind. I am not going to drag her into darkness.

Yuffie continued to sleep silently, hearing only the strangest song in her dream. It was a bird of course, but it was the middle of the night. Birds did not sing at night…Well...the nightingale does…but they rarely come this close to Wutai. She walked around in the dark misty dreamland of Wutai. She was very certain she was dreaming. No dream was realistic enough for her. Wutai was always in a strange haze in her dreams, just as it was now. But for a world always in a haze, the song was so clear, so very real. She followed the sound to the woods surrounding Wutai. There among a low branch in the trees was a nightingale. It was in the mist just like everything else, but only when she forced herself to focus on it did she notice the person standing in the tree just a bit above. Eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and then there was the sound of wind blowing something, something like fabric. Vincent…

Vincent looked down when Yuffie murmured his name quietly in her sleep and snuggled ever closer to him. Some men would have been thrilled to know that a woman they cared for was dreaming about them. It only troubled Vincent though. So many of the dreams she could be having involved all the times the two of them had been in danger, and one of them had almost died. Then of course there were the other dreams. The kind of dreams the others, namely Cid, would have greatly enjoyed watching Vincent suffer though. Yuffie was very quiet though, so he assumed her dream to be peaceful. Not exactly a word one would think of when considering me…peaceful…if anything I would make someone restless…uneasy…perhaps even frightened…

Again Vincent turned his attention to the bird in the woods. How odd it was that an eerie melody in the night wind…could stir up the strangest of thoughts. What would it be like…to live a normal life with Yuffie? What would it be like to wake up to see her smile, to hear her laugh, or even to yell about him probably hogging the blankets? Seeing her wake in the morning, maybe even seeing her smile would be granted him when the dawn came. But what of the other strange thoughts plaguing his ever restless mind? After all that had happened in the past, would he be worthy of such things? Life…love…happiness…a world I forgot existed…a world I have been trying to avoid for so long…am I even ready for it?

Silence filled the night air. The bird with all the answers was gone and Vincent sat silently wondering…wondering if in fact he already knew if he was ready for a future. If not read for it, at least…

…Ready to try…

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---Well of course he spent the night…I'd have to shoot him myself if Vincent didn't spend the night…I'm pretty sure there would be a long line of people with an urge to smack him if he ran out on that offer. Anyway much thanks to all who have reviewed. Sorry this chapter is a bit short.