It's alittle short, but the next one will be longer... they have to go Tux shopping! After that however, I'm afraid the story will turn rather serious, and probably stay that way until we whole meet back in the present. Enjoy the fluffy humor while you can! Of course, prob of Square Enix and all... blah blah. I also hate witing for Barret, I think I'm lousy at it... oh well...

Vincent let Tifa lead him into the waiting room, though his thoughts were far away from his present position. His head and heart were with Yuffie in that operating room, he was far too worried to really pay much attention to anything else around him. He was scared… cold, hard, unfeeling Vincent Valentine had never been so scared in his whole life. He hardly paid attention when his friend's hand slipped into his to give a reaffirming squeeze.

For the first time, ever he was pretty sure, the words of his grandmother came back to him, the woman had been really old when he was Marlene's age, he hadn't known her long and didn't really think about her. That had been the short time they'd live in Wutai, and that was where he learned what little he knew about his mother's people… about Yuffie's people. Vincent, she'd said, in that gravelly, old person voice. Sometimes you just need someone higher then you to give you the strength you lack on your own. For some it's a ruler, like Lord Kisaragi and his son Godo, or sometimes it's a parent or older sibling. Though sometimes, you don't have those people to look up to, sometimes you have to have faith in someone you can't see, whether it's a god or an ancestor… sometimes my grandson, you just have to pray.

The crimson gunslinger had never been a spiritual person, never prayed or looked to a higher power for anything. If it couldn't be solved peacefully, it was solved at the end of a gun, and that was the bitter, cold truth of the world. It was money, greed and power that ran the world and the rest of them had to conform to that. Conform… he said to himself, thinking to Yuffie's weapon, she uses it to conform people to her will… sometimes you just can't help but give into her. Eros' words came back to him as he sat there, and he was right… there needed to be more love in the world… and he was going to start with his world… right here. I know Yuffie prays, she told me once, before we defeated Sephiroth and I'd spent the night with her sobbing into my cloak… she prayed that night. Maybe if she believes, that will be enough.

The gunman took a deep breath and let it out, closing his eyes to the sterile, white waiting room, concentrating on the support his friend was offering him, and his crimson orbs slipped closed. For the first time in his faithless life, Vincent prayed. Please, Eros… if you can watch over Yuffie and help her come back to me. If I loose her, if we all loose her, there will be less light in the world. Please help me…

22 hours earlier…

Vincent slid off the back of Kokoro, he could tell that the bird needed to be fed, but she'd managed to eat all the greens that Yuffie had brought for her. He figured it was because she was working twice as hard to bear their combined weight, so he and the ninja had decided to find a stable and give the bird a rest, before they forced the poor thing into the tram to Gold Saucer.

Besides, if Barret was still in town and they didn't at least say hello, more then likely they'd have to listen to a tirade. The gunslinger had no interest in hearing that, especially when Yuffie would, undoubtedly, yell back. He took a look around North Corel, which was actually beginning to look like a town again. There were houses built and people busying themselves with morning work, strapping men carrying digging equipment and heading down the newly refurbished mine car line. No doubt they must have reopened the coal mining operation after the withdrawal of Shinra. The couple's presence did not go unnoticed for long however, and as they approached the Inn, they heard a bellow from down the street.

"Where in tha' hell have you been Valentine!" The gunman flinched a bit, causing Yuffie to snicker a bit. "You find this funny?" He whispered to the small woman next to him. The ninja just grinned, her gray eyes glittering happily. "Hey, you deserve it for making me come all the way to that cave to find you." Vincent tilted his head a bit, but pitched forward as a large, meaty hand made contact with his shoulder. "Hello Barret," he said softly, looking back to their huge, gun-armed friend.

"I heard from Cloud and Teefs that you two were headed for Gold Saucer, but I half expected it to only be Yuffie that made it back. Figured that she'd run out off 'fore you got outta them Nibelhiem Mountains." Yuffie's mouth dropped down and she punched Barret in the stomach, which caused her to squeak in pain and shake her hand. "Hell, what happened to my big, fluffy Marshmellow?" Barret glared at the ninja and she graced him with a big, fat raspberry. "Don't be sayin' tha' name around here Yuffs! I'm th' Mayor here now, an' I don't want Elmyra and Marlene to pick up tha' bad habit!"

Vincent blinked, "I thought Elmyra was living in Kalm, what is she doing here?" Yuffie patted Vincent on the back softly. "Sorry Barret, I haven't gotten a chance to catch him up yet." The gunslinger looked over to his lover and she gave him a cute look. "After everything happened in Kalm, she didn't want to go back. She was one of the people you and Reeve were able to save, so she got taken to Headquarters with the rest of the refugees. Then she managed to get through the two attacks there, and decided she wanted to go somewhere quiet."

"Tha's right, so I brought her to North Corel wit' me, so she could help rebuild an' have some company. She already liked Marlene, so she came." Barret crossed his arms over his chest, his metal hand scratching his head, a bit sheepish it seemed. Yuffie snickered again, "See Marshmellow here asked her to marry him, what… a month ago?"

"Yeah, 'bout that."

Vincent arched an eyebrow and let a ghost of a smile cross his lips. "I see… congratulations." That caused the large man to blink, and then looked to Yuffie. "Di' he jus' smile a' me?" The ninja giggled, and nodded and the gunman tilted his head a bit. "Is it so strange?"

The girl flat out laughed this time and looped her arms around his bicep affectionately. "Let's just say Barret, that Vincent has a lot to smile about at the moment." Yuffie giggled again when the gothic man graced her with a cryptic "Indeed."

Barret was flat out astonished by the playful demeanor between his two friends, and he could have sworn he seen that look in Yuffie's eyes before… in fact Elmyra often gave him that same look. That caused the big man to smile himself; it seemed that, for even Avalanche's most haunted member, the planet was granting him happiness too. "Well, Tifa gave me a lon' list of things we gotta do in Gold Saucer 'fore Cid comes for us. We need to get Vince here a tux."

Yuffie blinked and looked to Vincent, who didn't seem to keen on the idea. Barret raised an eyebrow, "now come on Vince, once Spike heard you were comin' he made room in the weddin' party fo' ya. Shit, no one thought we'd find ya, le' alone it'd be Yuffs to ge' ya outta the cave. Why di' you decide t' come?"

The lone gunman looked to his love, then back to his friend. "Yuffie asked me too. And she was right… I should be there at Cloud and Tifa's wedding."

"Then whatta you waitin' fo'? You're one of Spike's friends, ain't ya?" When Vincent nodded, Barret seemed appeased. "Then it's a tux fo' ya, jus' like the res' of us." Yuffie smiled, "At least you don't have to where a dress, like I do… honestly me, in a dress? The thought it scary to say the least, and I don't even know how to walk in heels!"

The gunslinger smiled a bit again, this time hiding it under his collar, but he mused a bit about his little ninja and all the spark she had. She was completely the opposite of Lucrecia, and yet that made him love her even more. She held no hidden agenda that he wasn't already privy too, and if she asked him for his materia, he'd probably give it to her. Things were simple for once, and he was being allowed peaceful feelings that he hadn't felt in years. Barret's voice broke his reverie, and while he wasn't too keen on wearing a tux, he figured it would be a small way he could make up for his absence. His friends really seem upset with him about it. The mayor of North Corel was leading them toward the tram to Gold Saucer, saying how Elmyra and Marlene were all ready there getting their dresses, and they would help Yuffie get hers.

Once they got to the tram, Yuffie plopped down next to Vincent and looked up with soft eyes. "How's your side?" Crimson orbs moved down to look in her stormy ones and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Fine… I'm a little tired, that's all. I need a shower, but that will have to wait." The ninja giggled and nodded, "at least you changed out of the blood stained clothes and washed up a bit. You couldn't go clothes shopping like that."

Vincent made a non-commital sound and moved to caress Yuffie's hair softly. Barret smiled from the bench across from them, understanding how the annoying little woman had managed to pry Vincent from his atonement. It seemed he was finished with it, and found a new object of his affection. Barret knew how that felt, moving on… and he was glad the gunman had managed it. After everything he'd been through, he deserved it. "At leas' you're in luck Valentine… the colors of the wedding are red, black an' white… I think Tifa was holdin' her breath tha' you'd show up the whole time." That caught Vincent by surprise and Yuffie nodded, "It just hasn't been the same without you."

Another smiled flitted across his full lips, giving his ninja a small squeeze. "I've missed you all."

Barret smirked, "An' it's nice to be missed Vince, we missed ya too… shit look a' me… I'm gettin' sentimental in m' old age."

They all laughed at that, some more then others… but it was still a step in the right direction.