-Well, now. I could make up some excuse for how busy I've been for the past year, what with the final year of school and all and the transition into the next lot of study (yeah, no break even after I've finished school -.-)...ooooor, I could also say that I sorta...just...forgot about this for a few months . *ducks rotten tomatoes* But as it happens I was browsing around fanfiction one night and I came across this and, shock horror, found that people were actually still reading this O.O. So of course, I had to whip this up in just over 2 days. Might not be great, and excuse any errors that might be tucked away here, but at least there's another chapter up right?...right? O.O *dodges more tomatoes*

Chapter 13:- Hurry!

[38 hours remain]

It was well past nightfall by the time Cloud reached the Sector 5 slums, where Aeris' church was tucked away among the piles of junk and rubble. Although it had not been that long ago since he was last here, every time he laid eyes on the old building it seemed to look more and more run-down. The door was barely clinging to its hinges, supported only by a rotting wooden frame, and there was not a single window left intact after years of wear and tear. Cloud ventured inside, leaving Fenrir in the doorway with its headlight illuminating the interior, and wasn't surprised to see it in a worse state than the outside of the building. The rows of chairs had been reduced to scattered piles of splintered wood amongst stone and rubble from the collapsed roof. He felt partly responsible for the extent of the damage done to this church, particularly the roof; his battle with Kadaj had taken a heavy toll on the worn out building, but somehow the persistent structure continued to stand and amidst the ruin, contrast to the despair usually associated with the slums, lay the golden bed of flowers . A symbol of determination.

A small smile swept over Cloud's face.. Despite run-down appearances there was a serene sense of security and warmth, freeing the mind from worries of loss. It was almost as if the flower girl's ethereal presence was beside him at that very moment, soothing his troubles. The blissful moment was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by a frown as Cloud remembered why he was here in the first place. During the drive to Sector 5 a lingering doubt had begun growing in Cloud's mind. It had been several days since the rain fell. Infected people had come and gone, using the water to heal their sickness, and now that Cloud thought about it, coupled with the natural effects of evaporation, he wasn't sure how much of the healing water remained, if any at all. He hurried to the flower bed, trying to push away such thoughts. He couldn't let AVALANCHE down now. He wouldn't! He wouldn't let Vincent slip away from them!

Nothing could describe the sheer joy Cloud felt at the sight of the life-saving liquid at his feet. The once waist-high pool had dwindled to nothing more than a small puddle nestled amongst the flowers, but it was enough. With this the stigma could be cured, Vincent was going to live! But there was no time to waste; he immediately pulled out a bottle from his bag and began scooping up the liquid, all the while punching numbers into his phone.

"Tifa! I've found it!"

Tifa lowered the phone from her ear after speaking to Cloud, her face beaming with the good news. On the other side of Vincent's bed Yuffie stared at her eagerly, leaning so far forward on her seat she could fall off with the slightest nudge.

"So? So?" she asked impatiently. She already suspected the answer, but with news like this she just had to hear it. Tifa was teasing her with that broad grin and she felt like she was going to burst at the seams if she didn't hear it soon.

"C'mon Tifa, what did he say!"

Tifa giggled at the ninja's impatience and nodded, "He found it! He's on his way back with a bottle of it now."

A grin spread over Yuffie's face as she heard those words. She could barely believe it, Vincent was going to be okay after all. Before she could stop herself Yuffie was on her feet, bouncing around the room, cheering and laughing and otherwise causing a huge ruckus. The sight of her elation excited the wolf cub who began yelping to Yuffie's cheers, his tail wagging to and fro as his paws pattered around on the bed sheets.

"WOOOHOOO! I knew he could do it! I knew it! Yeah, Spikey, WOOOO!"

"Yuffie, calm down." Tifa managed through her own fit of excited giggles, "You're going to wake Vincent."

Yuffie stopped abruptly, sparing a quick glance at the sleeping gunman, "Oh right...whoops." She cleared her throat and straightened herself out, but nothing could wipe the joy off her face, giving away her barely contained excitement. She gave Tifa a sheepish grin, giving her a thumbs up once she was sure she hadn't disturbed Vincent from his sleep, and headed towards the door with a bounce in her step.

"I'll let the others know about the good news. Back soon, kay?" And with that she sped out the door and tore down the corridor to find the rest of AVALANCHE. Tifa could hear her cheering still even after the ninja bounded around the corner to the next corridor. She shook her head in amusement, wondering if the ninja realised just how many sick people she undoubtedly disturbed during her delighted rampage.

Tifa leaned back in her chair, allowing herself to relax for the first time in a few days as she monitored the sleeping form. Vincent had been sleeping soundly for a good few hours now, and Tifa was relieved to see him do so. Time was very quickly running out, and his frail body was becoming weaker with each passing hour. There had been times when she'd thought his breathing had stopped, that he was laying deathly still. Those times had made her heart stop in panic as she frantically tried to wake him, but each time had been a false alarm. Though she felt guilty from rousing him from his much needed sleep it comforted her to hear his voice, as weary as it may have sounded. He would assure her that he was fine, and they would sit and talk until Vincent became tired again. She smiled, remembering some of the conversations they had. She'd offered for Vincent to stay at 7th Heaven for a few weeks after he'd been cured, just until he recovered completely. He'd gone silent after that.

"Tifa," Vincent had said slowly after a long pause, "I'm...not sure Cloud can-"

"He will." The words came out without warning, it had taken Tifa a second to realise she had said them. They must've sounded sterner than she realised as Vincent had been left speechless. She quickly softened herself and placed a reassuring hand on Vincent's arm, "He'll find a way."

"And he did. Didn't I tell you he would?" She asked the gunman. Of course, her only response was the sound of his slow breaths. She couldn't help but smile again, seeing him sleep was such a peculiar sight..

She paused. Something caught her eye beneath the layers of bed sheets and bandages, just on the side of Vincent's neck against the pillow. It was probably just another false alarm; maybe paranoia was getting the better of her. But even so, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

Hesitantly, she lifted the covers back from Vincent's shoulders, taking care not to wake him. After the many false alarms before this the last thing he needed was to be woken up again. But she found that even with the covers back she still didn't have a clear view of...whatever it was she thought she'd seen. She would need to turn his head, no easy task without waking him up. She slowly placed her fingers under his jaw, carefully and gradually turning his head around to get a better view of his neck.

She felt herself freeze and a gasp escaped her throat at the sight of the gruesome black scars extending out from under the bandages, trailing up his neck and just beginning to curl around his jaw line. Those had not been there a few hours ago, she was sure of it. The stigma was spreading. Rapidly!

"T-Tifa?"

The weary voice had barely jostled her out of her stunned state. She was hardly aware that she was still holding Vincent's jaw, let alone that he was now awake again. It was only after he took hold of Tifa's wrist to remove her hand did she take notice.

"What's wrong?"

His crimson eyes were barely open and glazed over, and it seemed as if he was only half aware of his surroundings. For a moment, his tired expression revealed a small hint of worry. Tifa tried to smile at him, to reassure him that everything was alright. Then she caught sight of a sickly black ooze leaking out of the corner of Vincent's mouth. Her hands began to tremble with panic; this time, it wasn't a false alarm. She had seen this black ooze before from early victims of geostigma...right before they-

Vincent was suddenly wracked with a harsh fit of coughs. Shaken from her apprehensive thoughts she promptly reached for her phone, hitting the redial while steadying her ailing friend. Cloud answered almost immediately.

"Hel-"

"He's getting worse Cloud!" She tried to keep her voice level as she spoke but distress was clearly etched into her voice. The cub whimpered at the harsh sounds tearing past Vincent's throat, his ears flat against his head as he huddled closer to the shuddering form.

"Just keep him steady for a few more hours." Cloud instructed from the other end. Tifa could hear the roar of Fenrir in the background, its motors being pushed to their limits, "I'm going as fast as Fenrir can take me.'

"Please hurry!"

The line went dead on the other side, Cloud's focus needing to maintain on the road ahead of him. Tifa could only imagine the speeds he was pushing Fenrir to go at and silently hoped he wouldn't crash. AVALANCHE didn't need two deaths in a single night.

At that morbid thought, she suddenly realised Vincent's coughing had ceased. She glanced at him worriedly; his body had gone limp, exhausted, and his breathing had been reduced to short and haggard wheezes. She bit her lip anxiously.

"Please hurry Cloud..."

-.- why does this make it look much shorter than in Microsoft word?

Ah well. Great to see some of my old readers again, and some new ones too :D Hopefully, you'll come back to see this chapter too. We're almost at the end now, and I really do want to finish this, even if it take me another 5 year or so .

Oh yes, and you may have noticed I changed the summary (again). Hopefully now, it ties in better with the story. And I'm still thinking of rewriting most of the story (I just found half of a re-written chapter one). Thoughts? Opinions?