A/N: If you don't know who Nanaki was, he also goes by the name Red XIII. Barret comes into the story again and things are explained further. I'm going to fix this up so that everything that went on in the last chapter is explained, and I'll warn you, this may be completely random like the last chapter was. [5 hours will do that to you. I have no idea how long this chapter is going to be, but I really hope everyone likes it . Thank you for your review, it was helpful and I build on it. If you didn't notice, I like really long chapters. lol, Please Review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own none of the places or characters in this chapter, they belong to Squenix. If I did own them…well you get the point.

Warning: Some of the things may be out of place; also there is language and violence in this chapter of the story…Maybe some extremely slight yaoi if I decide. Also, there might be a prank, but I didn't need to mention that xD.

Slipping Into Tragedy-

Chapter 2:-

Cloud found himself lying in something soft, but he couldn't quite figure it out. He could hear something fait across the room, and figured it was the curtains being pulled back across the rod that held them up. He could see the small particles of dust floating in a blur in front of his face faintly. His vision was starting to come to him, and that was when he started to feel the pain in the back of his neck and on the side of his hip. It took him a moment to figure out where he was, but relaxed when he realized he was in his own bed.

He could feel movement on the other side of him, and slowly turned his neck slightly to the side to see Tifa sitting on the edge of the bed. Cloud put his hand on the side of his head, and felt a small bandage that someone had placed there. Tifa had noticed the small movement, and turned her head to face the blonde.

"Cloud, don't move, you might hurt yourself." Tifa said, reaching out to take Cloud's wrist and put it softly by his side. Cloud's vision had finally completely returned, and saw the anguish that was placed on the brunette's face.

"Tifa, I'm not a child…"The blonde stated before pushing himself up enough to sit cross-legged facing Tifa's side. Tifa only sighed and gave a disappointed look, but said nothing more.

"So how long was I out?" Cloud asked with a bit of curiosity, wishing he would have kept lying down, but he wasn't about to admit it.

"About two hours." Tifa replied bluntly as she stared at a small crack on the floor that seemed to get larger every time she looked at it. Cloud simply nodded and waited to see if Tifa would say anything else. Wait…how did I get up here? Cloud thought he finally remembered that he was at the bottom of the stairs before he got up here.

"Tifa, who carried me up here?" The blonde asked curiously, trying to figure out exactly what it was that the brunette was staring at.

"Well, after Yuffie and Nanaki cleaned me up, you were already up here. Barret had finally come in to figure out what was going on. That's when Barret took Cid outside to talk to him about what had happened while I stayed with Marlene and Denzel. Barret said that Cid was sorry about the entire thing, but thought it was your fault to begin with…Which is pretty much true. Yuffie tried to carry you, but you know how small she is compared to you. Nanaki would only do more damage to you then you already had. So, Yuffie asked Vincent to carry you up here since he was the last person that was able to. He agreed after Yuffie threatened to kiss him if he didn't, which would be enough motivation if you ask me." Tifa explained with a small chuckle, trying to light up the situation.

Cloud shifted over to the side of the bed and touched his feet to the floor, and stared down in regret of what he had done. "Maybe I should go and apologize to Cid before he heads back to Rocket Town…" Cloud offered as he stood up from the bed. He walked over to where his boots were, and quickly slipped them on. Tifa got up to follow him, just incase he needed help. "He should be downstairs…Also, Barret decided to leave after he got a phone call." Tifa explained as Cloud walked to the door. He pushed it open and started down the steps, feeling a bit better since he had finally become conscious after being knocked out.

Cloud reached the bottom step, and saw that Yuffie was playing cards with Nanaki with an extremely bored look on her face.

"Got any three's?" Nanaki asked politely as he propped up the last of his cards, while Yuffie had an entire handful. "Damn! I can never beat you at cards!" Yuffie yelled as she stood up and stomped over to the couch and pouted profusely. Cid was laughing at the ninja's reaction, but calmed down when he saw Cloud at the bottom of the stairs.

Cloud knew it was his turn to say something, since the room had grown quiet. It didn't last long since Yuffie turned to see him. "Cloud, I thought you were going to be dead for, like, a week!" The ninja screamed as she jumped up from the couch and ran over to the blonde, hugging him into a tight embrace. The blonde winced a little, but smiled at the young ninja and softly pushed her away.

"Oh yeah, I forgot…" Yuffie said with a small since of guilt. "It's okay." Cloud said, walking past Yuffie to stand in front of the older blonde. Cloud shuffled his feet a little, and looked apologetically at Cid.

"Look, Cid. I'm sorry about what went down. I know it's my fault, and I hope we can still be friends." The blonde said with deep regret and guilt. He knew it wasn't like himself to go off on a friend like that. Not in a million years would he have even thought of doing what he had done to Cid.

"Aw', I ain't that damn mad at yur' sorry ass. I was jus' a little short fused is all…" Cid said as he took a long drag out of his cigar and extended his hand out for Cloud. "Friends?" The older blonde asked Cloud. The younger blonde simply smiled and shook Cid's hand in return. "Friends."

"Aww! That's sweet!" Yuffie exclaimed as she bounded over to the two and hugged each of them. Tifa stood at the stairwell with a glance of approval, and laughed at Yuffie.

"Anyways, Nanaki…" Cloud said as he escaped from the ninja's death grip and turned to look at the lion-like creature on the other couch, which had finally gotten up from the floor. Nanaki turned his head in response. "Yes?"

"Are you staying here, just until the report of monster's invading towns, die down?" The blonde asked as he went over to sit down next to the being. Tifa had finally come over with a barstool and sat down on the leather that was stitched down across it. Yuffie had gone over and did the same thing and was now spinning circles beside Tifa. Cid couldn't resist and reached out to grab the seat of the barstool and tip the ninja off balance, in which she slid off onto the floor.

"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed as she stood up, wobbling a little, before going to the other side of Tifa to continue her monotonous spinning. Nanaki was too distracted by both the ninja and Cid's game. He finally drew his attention back to Cloud.

"Yes, if that's alright with Tifa." Nanaki stated toward both the blonde and the kick-boxer.

"Of course you can, on one condition though." Tifa said with a sly smile. "And what would that be Tifa?" "You have to agree not to set anything on fire…" The brunette explained to him, in which this brought a laugh out of Nanaki. "Of course." He said with a smile.

Tifa nodded as she was beginning to become distracted by the squeaking of the barstool beside her. "Yuffie, why don't you find Vincent and keep him company?" Tifa asked the ninja, sure to get her out of her hair. "Yay! I have just the thing to cheer him up" Yuffie said with a devious smile as she ran upstairs.

"I don't even want to know…" Cloud said, running his fingers though his blonde spiky hair. "Well, I'll bid ya'll a farewell. I'm headin' back home." Cid said getting up from his seat, taking his lance with him towards the door. Tifa got up from her seat and hugged him goodbye. "Be Safe." The brunette said to the older blonde as she held the door open for him. "Sure thing." He said with actual sincerity. He nodded Cloud a good-bye, and the younger blonde responded the same way. Tifa closed the door and walked back over to her barstool, taking Yuffie's and putting hers up before returning to sit down once again.

Cloud could hear running water upstairs, and feared to even imagine was Yuffie was planning for Vincent, but it sure didn't sound good. "So what do you think she's doing?" Tifa asked, making him have to think of some of the possibilities. "I don't know, but I'm scared for him…" Tifa laughed, and heard the ninja come thumping down the stairs with a bag of something. She was about to ask, but the ninja had already ran out the door to go catch up with Vincent.

"Something tells me this isn't going to end well…" Cloud stated as he laughed at the ninja, who had not thought of the consequences of messing with the raven-haired man. "You think she'll get herself shot?" Cloud asked Nanaki, who was currently laughing. "Probably."

"How long do you think it will take for Yuffie to run back in here?" Tifa asked the blonde. "I'll give her five minutes." Was what the blonde had to say. "I say three…" The brunette suggested with a disapproving shake of her head. "Well, we'll have to just wait then." Nanaki said, laying his head down on top of his paws.

…

Sure enough, Yuffie slammed open the door screaming her head off as she ran behind Cloud. As she did, she almost knocked Tifa off of her barstool. "HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" The ninja screamed as she ducked behind Cloud's head and the couch.

Vincent had walked in soaking wet and his cape was dripping water all over the floor. He had his gun raised, and pointed it in Yuffie and Cloud's direction. "Told you it would only take three minutes…" Tifa said as she laughed at how Vincent looked. His ebony hair was matted to his face and his boots sloshed as he walked forward, blending in with the clack of metal on his shoes.

Cloud was laughing and had gotten up from the couch so there wasn't any chance that he would get shot. "Vincent…what did she do?" The brunette asked curiously trying not to laugh. "CLOUD!" Yuffie yelled disapprovingly as she was exposed to the raven-haired man's fury when he had moved. She ran over behind Cloud once again, hiding her face behind the blonde's spiky hair. "Are you trying to get me killed Yuffie?" Cloud asked the ninja behind him. "No…I 'm trying to not get a bullet through my head! I mean it was just an entire package of water balloons…" The ninja shyly explained.

"Water balloons!? What were you thinking?" Tifa screamed as she walked over to Vincent, who was now slightly shivering. "Look, Vincent. You should get some different clothes on before you catch hyperthermia." Tifa suggested, nodding to the stairs. "I'm sure Cloud could pick out a few things that would fit you."

"Yeah, I've got a few things. You can confront Yuffie later…just not with a gun." Cloud said, walking up to Vincent and nodded toward the gun, trying not to laugh at his appearance. Vincent hesitantly agreed with a nod and lowered his weapon into its holder. "Tifa, can you talk to Yuffie while I get some clothes for Vincent?" The blonde asked, getting a nod from Tifa before heading upstairs, looking back to see if the Ex-Turk was following, before continuing.

Cloud reached forward to open up the door to his room, holding it open for Vincent to walk in. Cloud followed, shutting the door behind him. Vincent stood by the window, watching as Cloud went to his dresser and rummaged through his clothes to see if he could find anything.

"So where did she sneak up on you at?" The blonde asked as he searched for a shirt that would fit him. "Roof." Vincent answered as Cloud threw him a black T-shirt, and continued to rummage for a pair of pants that would fit him. Cloud finally found a black pair of Cargo pants that would be close to his size. "Thanks." The raven-haired man said as he turned for the bathroom to change, and shut the door quickly behind him.

Cloud started for the door that lead back down the stairs, but turned since he had almost forgotten something that he thought that Vincent might need. "You want a belt, there's a few in my closet hanging up on the racks." Cloud said, finally heading out the door, closing it as he went downstairs. He could hear Yuffie and Tifa laughing as he approached the bottom landing.

Tifa took notice and smiled, pointing him to a barstool on the other side of her. Yuffie had changed her look from 'mortified' to 'guilt free'. Typical Yuffie… Cloud thought with a smile as he rounded around the corner, sitting on the stool, spinning back around to face Yuffie and Tifa who were smiling wildly.

"You'll never believe how she did it." Tifa said with a laugh and that made a wide grin on Yuffie's face. "I heard he was on the roof when you did it…" Cloud said with a smile, in which Yuffie nodded. "It took me like an entire two minutes to sneak up on him without him noticing me..." Yuffie said with a displeased tone, but the smile and giddy tone returned as she continued to explain the rest of it. "…Well, first I climbed up the fire escape on the back of the bar because I could see his shoes from the front side of the bar. The fire escape was extremely squeaky, but I was able to get up it without making a sound, or dropping the balloons. So, once I was on the roof, all I had to do was distract him with something while I got closer, to my luck, a plane flew over above of him. You know how Vincent gets when he's distracted by something…Anyway, It distracted him long enough to get behind him and pour the entire bag of balloons over his head. He knew it was happening; he just didn't have enough time to react. After that, he got up and pointed his gun at me! I screamed we he clicked the hammer back and I started running past him and jumped off the building, then turned and ran back into here." Yuffie explained with utter confidence and pride.

"I thought it might be a little more difficult to sneak up on Vincent, but I guess not…" Cloud said smiling and acted disappointed. "Are you saying that I'm not good enough?!" The ninja exclaimed with a death glare toward the blonde. "No, I'm just kidding. Good job, but I wouldn't have risked my being just so I could get shot." Cloud explained, laughing with Tifa, who had caught on to it. The blonde looked around, but didn't see anyone else there but the three of them. "Where's Nanaki?" Cloud asked Tifa. "Oh, he got a phone call. He'll be back in here soon." Tifa explained to the blonde, who simply nodded once as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Vincent had finally decided to come back downstairs and walked past the three of them, before sitting down on one of the couches.

"See? They don't look that bad." Cloud stated with approval and pride since he had guessed correctly on the sizes that Vincent wore. "I'll go wash and dry your other clothes Vincent." Tifa said as she started upstairs, fairly sure of where Vincent had decided to change. The raven-haired man nodded and glared at Yuffie, who simply scooted closer to Cloud just in case he pulled a gun. "I'm sorry Vincent, It was cruel and not right to do that to you…but it was funny." Yuffie said with a huge grin. Cloud laughed at how Vincent had loosened his glare for a few seconds, but came back to its full potential in the same amount of time. "You can't kill Yuffie for pouring a lot of water on you when you weren't paying attention, you know." Cloud explained to Vincent, who was now glaring at him. "Or me for that matter…" Cloud said as ducked beneath the counter for Yuffie to fend for her own. "Cloud, you can't just leave me hanging alone with this guy!" Yuffie yelled and pointed at Cloud accusingly, pulling him up by the back of the collar.

Cloud pouted as he sat there and to face the glare given to him. "You know what you could do Vincent?" Cloud asked, giving a sly smile in the ex-Turks direction. "..And that would be?" Vincent responded hesitantly, but was curious as to what the blonde had to say. "You could get her back, instead of killing her in her sleep." Yuffie stared wide-eyed at Cloud, hating the fact he even mentioned such a thing to Vincent. He considered this, trying to find what might equal what she did to him and nodded to the blonde. "See, Yuffie? I just saved your life." Cloud said giving Yuffie a nudge before crossing his arms in front of his chest. Yuffie smiled and blew Cloud a kiss before leaving out of the bar before Vincent changed his mind and decided to shoot her after all.

Cloud watched as the door closed behind the ninja and stared down at the counter, laughing to himself. "Teenager's…" The blonde said shaking his head disapprovingly and heard the soft thumping of paws and footsteps coming down the stairs at the same time. "Where's Yuffie?" Tifa asked as she reached the edge of the counter. "Oh, Vincent, your clothes are in the wash, they'll be ready to dry soon." The brunette mentioned before sitting beside Cloud, watching as Nanaki padded back into the room before sitting beside Cloud. Vincent nodded and stared up at the ceiling fan, watching it make it's revolutions ever so slowly.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to stay here, I got a call about some monsters back home in Cosmo Canyon. It'll take me about a day to get there, so I'll have to head out soon. Cid also said he'd drop me off there when he got the news. He's going to be waiting on me, so it's best I leave now…" Nanaki explained as he began toward the door, this time Cloud followed to left him out. "Sorry I had to bail." Nanaki said with regret, turning to Cloud, who in turn patted his head. "It's okay, I'll be fine with Yuffie." The blonde said affectionately before waving as Nanaki walked down the sidewalk before finally breaking into a run. Cloud shut the door with a faint 'click' as he walked back over to where Tifa was sitting, his mood dropping instantly. It was always great to have Nanaki in his presence.

"You know, Yuffie isn't going to do you much good, right?" Tifa stated with a somewhat concerned look about her. Cloud didn't say anything, and nodded sadly. Tifa looked over at Vincent, who was now glaring at the clock on the wall. "Hey, Vincent..?" This grabbed the ex-Turks attention. "Hmm?" "Would you mind staying in Nanaki's place to help Cloud out? You could only imagine how fast Cloud would go insane if left alone with Yuffie…" The brunette explained, hopefully getting him to give up whatever he was doing to stay at the bar and go with Cloud on his missions.

Vincent thought for a little bit, and nodded once. Cloud suddenly jumped at the sound of his cell phone ringing and quickly ran up the stairs to fish it out of the laundry. I bet it's Yuffie, trying to get me to do something… The blonde thought as his boots clomped up to the top landing of the stairs, leaving Tifa alone with Vincent.

The blonde threw open the door and pulled his cell phone out of his pants that were lying on the floor. He flipped the cell phone open and held it up to his ear. "Hello? Yes, this is him…Uh-huh…Alright, I'll be there soon..." –click- He put his cell phone on the dresser and returned back down the stairs and were walked forward until he stood between both Tifa and Vincent. "I'll have to call Yuffie and get her here." Cloud said before walking over to the other couch and sitting down. "Why?" Tifa asked, watching Vincent's curious gaze. "There's been some activity near the Gold Saucer and the owner wants us to check it out because it's hurting her profits…I told her that we would be there soon enough." The blonde explained, lying down on the couch, trying to think of a good way to be transported to the western continent.

"I'll call her and tell her to come back to here and get ready…" Tifa said as she retreated into the backroom, picking up the phone to dial Yuffie's cell.

"Vincent, how do you feel about riding a chocobo?" Cloud asked, but he had already known the answer to the question before he even spoke it. "No…" The raven-haired man answered with a hint of tension. Cloud thought for a moment, closing his eyes, scrolling through a small list of options in his head. "Helicopter?" The blonde offered, waiting to see what the other man would say. "We can't fly it…" Cloud took this into consideration and nodded. "What about we hire someone to fly us there?" This time, Cloud had gotten Vincent's attention and consideration. "…It might work…"

Tifa returned from calling Yuffie and sat down at the counter and tapped her fingers against the smooth wood. "Yuffie said she'd be here in the morning. She's staying in a hotel about forty blocks away, well that's what I've figured anyway." Tifa said as she went upstairs once again, probably to let Vincent's clothes dry. Tifa returned shortly and gazed at the two. "So how are you going to get there exactly?" The brunette questioned slyly.

"We were thinking about hiring someone to take us over to the Gold Saucer by helicopter." Cloud said, looking to Vincent for approval. "Yes, but we can't figure out whom to hire…" Vincent replied coolly, clicking the metal claws of his left hand together by accident. At this, Tifa thought and ran back to the phone and called in a favor. A few minutes later, she returned with a smile and proudly presented herself. "I took care of that, all three of you have a ride scheduled tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. You two better get to bed soon or it's going to be a slow morning." Tifa said like a mother would to a child, but she laughed as she pointed upstairs for the both of them to go.

Cloud sat up on the couch and headed over to the stairwell, and turned around back toward Tifa. "Where's Vincent going to sleep?" The blonde questioned with a bit of anxiety, knowing exactly what she was going to say. "Your room, of course. If you're uncomfortable with that, there's a cot that can be folded down beside your dresser." The brunette said before turning off the lights in the bar and heading back into her own room. Cloud sighed and continued to the stairwell and ascended it, hearing the familiar clacks of metal behind him, seeming to follow him everywhere he went. He opened the door to his room and clicked on the lights. Sure enough, there was a navy blue cot folded up in a corner beside the dresser. He thanked Tifa that she had thought of it before he had come up here with the ex-Turk.

The blonde turned around to see what Vincent was doing. A light shade of pink covered Cloud's face as he watched Vincent take off his shirt and tossed it to the side, letting the light from the ceiling fan illuminate the scars that had been planted on his chest and stomach many years ago. It was when he felt the hot glare of Vincent did he finally turn away toward the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. You can turn off the light if you want. I can my way through the dark fine." Cloud said as he shut the bathroom door behind him with another change of clothes.

This time he didn't take as long in the shower then he did the night before, and walked out from the bathroom in black sweats this time. He turned the light off and found his way through the dark to his side of the bed. Apparently, Vincent didn't feel any awkwardness about the whole situation, and had simply lain on his side and closed his eyes attempting to sleep like usual. Cloud tried not disturb him too much and slid half-way under the covers while the ex-Turk was on top of the covers. Cloud could feel that tonight was going to be long and dreadful, and sighed burying his head deep into his pillow. There was just something there that made Cloud feel as if he shouldn't be in the same bed with him, yet he liked it. This had scared him tremendously. If he thought back to it, this is what he had felt during the time he was getting close to Aeris. The blonde thought for a considerably long time about this, and still came to the exact same result. The only difference this time was that he couldn't admit that he liked Vincent anymore then a friend, but somehow he knew it. He just hoped he could get through the night without embarrassing himself anymore then he already had. He had almost forgotten to set his alarm clock, and got up to set it before climbing back down into the covers of his own bed, which had slightly disturbed Vincent from his sleep, but quickly fell back into the depths of his memories. Cloud hated himself for forgetting about the clock before getting into bed in the first place. The blonde's eyes finally closed for the last time of the night, slipping into the wrath of his own memories. He almost didn't trust himself to sleep, but he finally relaxed enough to let his body fall into a temporary coma for the rest of the night. It wouldn't fall without consequence though…

A/N: Well, that was longer then expected. Actually a whole three pages longer. I tried to go a little bit slower with this chapter to get it right. I know some of the grammar may be a bit off, but it didn't sound right any other way. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, as the next one will be much better, and most likely as long as this one, or longer. It depends on what way my mind wants to describe it.

Vincent: Why did you have to get water on me?

Me: It was hilarious, I mean, did you see your face?! xD

Vincent: -points gun at author-

Me: Wait! It was Yuffie's idea! –Hides behind Cloud-

Cloud: I'm not involved in this…

Me: You are if you want me to be nice to you…

Cloud: Fine, You win... -.-

Vincent: …

I hope this chapter wasn't too awfully long for you reader's, I'll start on the next chapter tomorrow. I'm making this up as I go along, and my brain is on fire from thinking up stuff that could happen, but I do have a massively good prank in store for Vincent and Cloud at the Gold Saucer. Please Review, I'll luff you forever and post the next chapter! Two bird's with one stone!