OK guys! A new chapter! Hope you enjoy it, and I'd like to thank everyone that has stuck around, as well at all the newcomers to Shattered! FF7 is not mine, it's Square-Enix's! Sorry the updates are a bit longer coming, the promotion is keeping me really busy!

Vincent sat down in the chair next to Yuffie's bed, his brow knitted in concern, but his eyes spoke of a much deeper pain. He'd opened his heart again to the little ninja, and yet here he was, sitting by her hospital bed, like he had during Lucrecia's pregnancy, when she was wasting away and he could do nothing to stop it. This is different, she's not dying, she's been saved… she isn't going to leave. If she does, I don't think I could survive it, not again.

He knew he wouldn't… his immortal heart would just suffocate under the heaviness of the loss. The gunman slipped his hand into the ninja's battered one, enjoying the feeling of her skin on his. I know, someday I'll loose you, you're mortal and I am anything but… however it is not this day, it won't be for many years. I'll die with you, or at least I'll try… only men can die like that, and maybe you'll be right after all. Maybe I'll end up being more human then monster… The truth of his condition really came down to that. He could live with the demons, the disfigured hand, the memories… but the most precious thing Hojo ever stole from him was him mortality. What he would give to be able to grow old and die. Vincent silently wondered what aspect of his altered physiology granted him the immortality, his mind grazing back over the fact Yuffie had just been given a blood transfusion from him… The thought of her dying now, before she was old and wrinkled, didn't set well with the gunman. Although, the idea of her mortality being stolen away was just as bad. He'd never admit to anyone, even himself, that not having to watch his tiny shinobi die had some selfish appeal. He was sure he'd never find someone that fit against him so perfectly… and really he never wanted to try.

"Yuffie, open your eyes… please." His voice was a soft whisper; most people would be strained to hear. Vincent Valentine was not one to beg, but he was finding that there were many things he would do for his ninja that he wouldn't do for anyone else. He leaned his head down on the bed, letting his eyes slip closed. The gunman was so tired; even he had to sleep sometimes, but he didn't want to rest until he knew that Yuffie was alright. With a small groan he righted himself in the chair and started the heavy task of waiting…

Waiting for her to wake up… waiting to find out if his new life was over before it began…waiting to find out if he finally got his happy ending… well as happy as he could hope for anyway.

12 hours earlier…

"I think we're lost…" Vincent looked around the corridor, unsure even with his excellent sense of direction, on where they were. Yuffie made a dismissive gesture with her hand, "I know exactly where we are, no problem…"

"And where is that?"

"Gold Saucer," came back the smart ass reply. Vincent didn't even dignify that with an answer as he started to back track. They needed to get down to the platform in question, before the terrorists managed to destroy more of the amusement park. Yuffie frowned a bit and followed the gunslinger, hoping they could find the way back to the support beams.

After a few moments, they found the missed hatch, they were about to go down it when they felt the small shake of a detonation cap going. Vincent's eyes widened in alarm and he pushed Yuffie back into the access chute, just as the main explosion happened. He covered her with his body, activating the Shield materia in his band, the magical protections came up just as the fireball shot through the corridor. There was a loud groan as the platform started to give away, the metal around them started to twist and snap. The gunslinger looked down to see a wide eyed ninja staring back at him, both of them were a bit sooty, but unharmed for the most part. He was just about to pull her to safety, grabbing her hand in his claw, when the wall behind her gave way and she toppled backwards. The sun was streaming in, and it took a millisecond for the gunman to process what was going on, but it was nearly too late. Yuffie fell, and Vincent didn't have the foothold to stop himself from pitching forward, the smoke and shrapnel were blowing up from the conflagration under them. They were falling, his lover looked up at him with panic over her features, and he did the only thing he could. The gunslinger grimaced as he pulled her with all the strength in his battered arm, flinging her up ahead of him, giving her enough momentum to grab back onto the lip of the hallway. She managed to catch it, and he grasped onto her ankle with his human hand, used his gauntlet to grab a twisted beam. When he stopped falling, there was a painful jar through his body, but he managed to keep Yuffie from falling away from her precarious position.

The smoke was stinging her lungs, the flying bits of metal cut into her tender skin, but Yuffie continued to hold on. She was all that was saving them from a fiery, mushy death. "Vince, I don't know how long I can hold this… the metal is burning my arms…" She could feel her skin starting to stick to the deck, luckily their shield had managed to also protect the floor that had been under them, so it wasn't the super heated mess the rest of Chocobo Square was in. Vincent knew that they weren't safe yet, and if it came down to it, he's let go and fall, so Yuffie would be safe. He moved to get his foot wedged onto the busted beam, trying to get enough leverage to push himself up enough to grab the lip and pull them both up. The shinobi was strong, but he knew he was heavy and she couldn't support them long. She looked down at him, as he was looking up, when their eyes met he could tell she was in pain. The thought crossed his mind to just let himself go, and Yuffie caught that in his gaze. "Don't you dare Vincent; we're both going to get out of this…" She slipped down, the metal ripping the skin off her arms and she gasped, gritting back the pain to keep her grip. She could feel her lover slipping, and there wasn't anything she could do… "Oh gawd… no Vince, come on, just climb up me, I know you can do it…"

"But not without hurting you, Yuffie."

"I don't care Vinny! Do you have any idea how badly I'll hurt if you die?"

"Yuffie…"

"No!" She yelled, activating her restore materia, curing the burns on her arms. She grabbed into a pipe that was hanging, and let her other hand go down to try and help him up. "I can do it Vincent… grab my hand, I'm stronger then you think…" The gunslinger looked up at her, the determination etched on her face, "I'm not going to let you go… if you go, then I go too." He frowned a bit and pushed his leg straight, reaching up to grab her hand with his claw. He had to clamp down pretty tight, causing her to wince a bit as the tips dug into her skin, but she did not budge. She started to pull him up, until his human hand was able to grab the lip, the jagged metal cutting the palm of his hand, but he just ignored it. He could see her strength was starting to fail her, if he didn't let go of her, he knew they would both fall, but his own position was too precarious… either way he was going to fall, and he wasn't about to let her die too.

"I love you Yuffie…" the gunman whispered to her, his voice sad.

"Damn it Vincent Valentine, don't you dare let go… don't you dare! We can do this… have faith… please."

"Yuffie… I couldn't save her… I can save you right now… I can't…" I can't let her die…

Tears were burning in the shinobi's eyes; they started to make trails down her soot covered face… "Vince… no… please don't… I love you." She felt his grip slip; she could feel him start to fall… "NO!" She screamed, trying to grab on to him as he fell away…

On instinct, she didn't know why she did it, but it was almost as if it wasn't even her thought to begin with. She activated the Eros summon, the red globe started to glow with power and she felt a shock run through her body… The angelic being that could only be Eros, appeared above her and smiled down at her, "Cupid's Release!" She shouted, already knowing the name of his attack, then she felt a great rush of power run through her body, she started to float, white light enveloping her. The ninja's head tossed back, as she hovered there for a split second, she was over come with the power of her love for Vincent. White wings sprouted from her back and she started to fall, catching up with her bewildered lover. She caught him, letting her arms wrap around his waist and her wings flew out to stop their fall… with a power push, she started to ascend, back toward the summon above them.

The gunslinger felt himself start to heal, the marks left by the wounds were still visible, but the pain was gone and his vigor was returning. "How?" He whispered, looking up at her…

She smiled, the tears still were falling down her cheeks, but the answer seemed plain to her. "Could you see a summon made from the God of Love hurting people? It's not an offensive summon… it's a healing summon. It gives you the power to protect the people you love…" They made it back to the access hatch, falling inside. They didn't stop until they were in the stairwell that ran up and down the main center support structure. Yuffie felt the power drain from her as the summoning ended, and she looked at her lover, who was just as out of breath as she was. The angry ninja balled her fist and punched him hard in the face, splitting his lip. "Damn it! What in the hell did you do that for! I had you, and you just let go! Of all the stupid, insensitive bull shit! Fuck you and your self sacrifice! If you ever do that again, I'm going to let your sorry ass fall!" She was crying, her body trembling from the fright she'd just experienced, and once Vincent was able to shake off the vicious punch, he went over and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to his body. She grabbed onto the material of his shirt, burying her head in his chest and letting out a heart wrenching sob… "I'd thought I'd lost you Vincent… I thought I lost you like I lost my mother… please don't do that again… I can stand to think of what would have happened…"

Vincent closed his eyes and ran his human hand through her hair, holding her as close as he could… "I'm sorry Yuffie…" He whispered, not even caring too much about the punch… he knew that he'd deserved that. The ninja looked up at him, reaching up to wipe the blood that was dribbling down his chin away. "Promise me, you won't ever do something like that again…" The gunslinger couldn't, he knew that… if she was about to die and he could do something about it, he knew that he would do whatever it took. As an answer to her, he pressed his lips to hers, pinning her back against the wall of the landing, his tongue brushing her soft lips to encourage her to open her mouth. Yuffie obeyed without hesitation, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing against him, putting all her fear and love into that kiss. The shinobi couldn't stand the fact he'd nearly died… it made her heart hurt worse then anything she'd ever experienced.

Finally when they parted, they just stood there, enveloped in each other's arms. Vincent was the one to break the silence… "We should go…" He whispered to her, kissing the ninja's forehead softly. "They're going to be planting another bomb… we can't let this keep happening." Yuffie nodded, still upset, but she couldn't let that stop her… "You're right… let's keep heading down…" She pulled away gently and started down the stairs… then her phone rang. She snatched it out of her pocket and flipped it open… "Yuffie…"

"Shit kid, ya sound terrible, yea guys alright?" Cid sounded worried; his voice didn't hold the tough edge it usually did.

"Yeah, we're alright… you guys found anything?"

"One o' the bastards were tryin' to blow this platform, we managed to kill 'im before he set it… do ya know which one jus' went?"

"Chocobo Square, we couldn't get to it in time to stop the count down. We almost got turned into Vincent and Yuffie pizza."

"Damn it, well we still have two platforms to go, we'll head to Merchant's Square, ya' all take Circle. By then, m' crew should have e'erything runnin' agin."

"Right… we're going now… be careful." She hung up the phone and sighed a bit, swaying on her feet. Vincent caught her before she took a nasty tumble down the stairs, and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style. "Rest Yuffie, that summon must have taken a lot of energy." The ninja just nodded and leaned against him, closing her eyes. Vincent tried not to think about how they'd almost lost each other and started his long climb down to Circle Square.