Sorry for the wait! I finally figure out exactly how this chapter would go, so here it is! As normal... FFVII is Square-Enix's...not mine!
Yuffie forced her eyes back open, looking up at Vincent, her eyes falling right on his lips as he spoke. His lips really are beautiful, so perfectly formed and I'll bet they are soft. She reached up to him, a bit delirious from the blood loss… If I'm going to die, I at least want to know…
"She's type A," Vincent said softly, his eyes on Cloud. "How do you know that? Are you sure?" Vincent gave a small grunt in affirmation, and then looked down at the girl who was reaching for him. He blinked as her painfully cold fingers brushed his lips, lingering for a moment, then she smiled softly. "I knew it…" she whispered, letting her hand drop.
Cloud and Tifa looked at each other, then back to the gunman, who held the ninja's hand, then leaned down to press his cool lips to her feverish forehead. Both of them missed the tear that slipped down his cheek, since it was lost in his mass of hair, but as the drop fell, and slid down the ninja's cheek, the significance was not lost on Yuffie.
40 hours earlier…
"Okay Vince, we need to stop to eat something… I'm starving to death up here." Her belly grumbled loudly, as if on cue, and she stopped the bird. They were in a nice area, were the creeks from the waterfalls by the cave all flowed into a larger brook, the rocky area making small waterfalls and pools all over the place. To the ninja, it seemed like the perfect place for their lunch, and it had been about six hours since they ate last. Vincent let out a small sigh, seriously wondering if she was delaying the trip for some reason. It wasn't like it was unpleasant, actually it was a bit fun, but he would never admit it out loud. "Alright," he said softly, and moved to get off Kokoro. He surveyed the area, mostly to make sure there weren't any lurking monsters, but he did have to agree, it was a nice spot. He went around a rock and saw a particularly pretty pool, and he was about to call to Yuffie, when he heard the sound of a gun's hammer being cocked. The soft sound of a bullet leaving a silencer followed, then two more as Vincent felt the heated slugs tear into his belly, and he fell forward. He started to recognize a heat in his gut rising, all together different then the pain of being shot…
Yuffie jumped off the bird and groaned as she massaged the blood back into her legs. That proved a bit problematic when her injured leg decided not to hold her weight, and she started to topple backwards. She knew she was going to land in the water, and she squeezed her eyes shut, only to stop abruptly, mere inches away from the rather jagged rocks. A strong arm was around her shoulders, and she opened her eye just a bit. She was surprised however, to find she was staring up at an older, handsome man, his long red hair was tied back, and a scar ran through his right eyebrow. His green eyes were cool, and carried the faint glow of mako. The ninja scrambled to get away, looking around for Vincent… "Who are you?" She said in a slightly shaky voice, which just got worse when she saw him pull Cerberus from his black duster. Her eyes got big and her heart was pounding in her ears. "Where's Vincent?" She asked again, and she backed up, bumping the already skittish bird in the rear. It warked and jumped, spraying feathers everywhere, but she managed to grab Conformer off Kokoro before he bolted. She raised her shurikan, but the man brought Vincent's gun up to her head and pulled the safety. "Would you like to be killed with your boyfriend's gun?" Yuffie huffed indignantly, "He is NOT my boyfriend, and where is he!"
"I killed him… shot him in the gut so he'd die a slow, painful death… see?" He pointed Cerberus at the line of crimson that was running down the creek beside her. Her eyes darted to water, and her anger started to build. "How dare you!" She screamed; lifting Conformer again, not caring if she was going to die… she was going to take the bastard out.
"How dare you," the man countered, "protecting that Turk, the one who killed my family! I tried to kill him a year ago when I met up with those idealistic fools, I only wanted to kill Valentine… and now I've done it! I was going to let you go, but you seem to have given me no choice." He raised the gun to her head and she let Conformer go, and then squeezed her eyes shut as the gun went off. She waited for the blackness to take her, and after a few moments, she opened her eyes when it didn't. Conformer was stuck in a near by tree, the man was hanging by his arm, three feet in the air, and she stood face to snout with the Galian Beast. She heard bones pop as the man cried out in pain, and Cerberus dropped. The man managed to wiggle away, taking off for the tree line. Yuffie just stood there, staring at him… "Are you alright?" He murmured; it was obviously hard for him to talk in that form, which must have been why he normally didn't. "I thought you didn't have control over what you did… like that?" She walked up to him, seemingly unafraid, and touched the blood on his blue stomach. "It was only Chaos I had no control over… and even the last time I used that form, it was me, not Chaos speaking." A ball of darkness enveloped him for a moment, then Vincent was standing there once more, and he started to stumble onto his knees. Yuffie grabbed him, under his armpits, and helped him down into a laying position, "Come on Vince, you'll be alright… right? I mean I've seen you hurt worse… you aren't going to die, right? You can't die… where is Conformer? I'll heal you… my bag, there are potions…" She was babbling; the tears that were there before were starting to break free, slipping down her porcelain cheeks. She was looking around, frantic, but she didn't want to let go of her friend.
Yuffie felt gentle fingertips on her cheek, causing her to stop and look at Vincent; he was wiping the tears from her cheeks. "It's alright Yuffie… don't cry." Her eyes went down to his blood soaked shirt, but all she could see was bruised skin where three huge bullet holes should have been. She let out a choked sob, moving her fingers down to inspect the holes, and sure enough, they were already healed. She punched him in the shoulder, pretty hard, and got an angry look on her face, though with the tears still streaming down her face. Vincent, for the first time in a log time, felt a soft flutter in his heart. He moved and wrapped the girl in his arms gently, feeling horrible for making her cry. She punched him in the chest before she let him hold her, "Damn you Vincent," she cursed, though, even to the gunman, he could tell it was half hearted.
Kieran watched the exchange from the shelter of a nearby tree, as he messed with the cap on his potion. He was pretty sure that the Beast had broken his wrist, and he was more then disappointed to see the murderer alive. Kieran had been small when the Turks came in to kill his father and mother. They'd been scientists, and gave information to the media about the effects of mako energy on the planet, and the Turks had come in and silenced them. It seemed that it would take more to kill that man, if he could be called that. His eyes went to the little ninja, and a plan began to form. He disappeared into the forest; leaving the touching scene in the clearing behind… his own feelings of hatred forcing him to ignore the fact Vincent was no longer the man he'd once been.