I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters... Enjoy Chapter 2!

"Tifa… the blood is coming out faster, get that potion…" Yuffie struggled to open her eyes, but they were so heavy, so very heavy. She wanted to go to sleep, but she knew if she did, she would never wake up. "Vincent," she called, her voice strangled, soft and mournful. If she was going to die, she wanted to see him first.

"Damn it, Cloud we're going to loose her!"

"Cloud, Vincent isn't going to fucking stay out here anymore. I'm not taking a claw to my gut!"

Over her, after a few moments, she thought it had been anyway, a beautiful, pale face, came into view, backlit by the bright lights overhead. "Yuffie… do you hear me?"

Yes… yes I hear you; you're the only one not muffled… "Vincent, help me."

His face screwed up in pain, looking down at the pale, beautiful girl. "Yuffie… you can't leave me too… not like this."

46 hours earlier…

"Come on Vinnie, it's just a chocobo! I'm not walking all the way back to Gold Saucer, and I didn't think I'd find you. There is only one, but it's a gold, and hearty! It will carry both of us!" The unlikely travel companions stood outside Lucrecia's cave, the beauty of the canyon that lead up under the waterfall would have been enough to take the breath from most people. The case wasn't so for a small, irate ninja and a sullen fighter.

"Why are we going to Gold Saucer?" Vincent didn't like that city; it was too bright, loud and fake… Nibelhiem was just as close. He didn't really want to go there either, but it was better then Gold Saucer. Yuffie grimaced, "I told you, Cid is going to pick us up in Gold Saucer. It has a landing strip; it's easier for him. Not to mention I hate Nibelhiem, it's creepy. Now just get on the damn bird. Are you that scared to have me between your legs?" She smirked at him and saw a gratifying blush come over his porcelain features. She moved over to the bird and got on first, and then with some coaxing, Vincent was able to get on behind her, his legs resting one either side of her hips, the crook of his knees on the chocobo's wing joints. She started the bird off, the jolt nearly sending Vincent off the back. He slipped his human arm around her waist, holding onto her tightly.

Yuffie swallowed a bit, a blush came to her cheeks when Vincent started hugging her close. She knew it was just to stay on the bird, but it still felt better then she would admit, even to herself. She started out of the gorge, fighting the rising urge to tell the lovelorn gunman how much she was growing to like him… She was saddened to think he'd rather hang out with dead people then his friends. She'd told him Cloud and Tifa were finally going to get married and the Princess of Wutai couldn't go dateless, and he'd acquiesced. She'd been joking, but she wasn't going to take back her invitation, especially when he'd surprised her and got up off the dusty cave floor for the first time in days. He hadn't eaten in several days either, so she took the time to prepare a lunch, to get his strength back up. It made Yuffie sad to think that he would have gone into that deep sleep again, like he'd been in when Cloud rescued him out of the coffin. He was just going to give up on life.

And she was right… Vincent had had every intention on going to sleep in that cave and not waking up. A monster like him, with or without Chaos, didn't deserve to be with his friends… with anyone. He hadn't even been able to cry for Shelke. That had hurt him deeply, to know he was so cold that be couldn't show that small bit of compassion. Then Yuffie walked in and destroyed that plan. Her selfless compassion for someone he believed unworthy of such youthful understanding had let him release a single, pure tear. When it had happened, he had to resist the sudden urge to embrace the ninja tightly, to tell her much he really loved them too. Sure Yuffie could be annoying, a lot of the time really, but her act of support to him had meant more then he cared to admit.

To the two, stubborn people that wanted nothing more then to loose themselves in the comfort of the other, kept there mouths shut and started on their day ride to Gold saucer.