Alright, here's another chapter... same rules apply... not mine, belongs to Square Enix! Questions are starting to be answered slowly, we only have 6 more chapters until the end! Hope you enjoy it, R&R!
Blackness… that was all Yuffie Kisaragi could see at the moment. She felt a stirring inside her, something that frightened her and thrilled her, all at the same time. "Who's there?" she called into the deep recesses of her mind, some fear in her voice.
"Someone you know quite well, Princess…" The deep voice was rough and gravelly; resonating in power… she knew who it was immediately. "Chaos?"
"Yes, I'm sure it's quite a surprise to find me in your head."
"But I don't understand, Vincent said you'd returned to the planet… how are you in my head?" Great, just what I need…
"I heard that princess, I'm in here with you, remember?"
"Great, just what I need, a smart ass demon stuck in my head… by the way… How in the HELL can I talk to you? I'm not going to go all yucky and everything, like Vince always did… will I?"
There was a deep, unnerving chuckle that rose from the recesses of her mind and she could feel the mirth coming off the ancient force. "The tainted blood connects you to me, but I'm not housed inside you, like I was with Vincent. I can merely communicate with you because you are in a coma… I'm now part of your subconscious. However, you will gain the advantages that he has from the tainted mako."
Yuffie's thoughts were jamming up in her head, like a massive train wreck. Normally when this happened, she's just start blabbering about whatever came to her mind, but she was struck into silence. Then after a few moments, the heaviness of the account forced one thought past the rest. "He actually gave me blood when I needed it?"
Chaos let out a mental snort, "You now have uncanny speed and stamina, you can go without food and water as long as you need, you will never get sick and you well never die, and this is what you value?"
"Of course it is, it means that Vinnie is past it all… he overcame his fears… and it means I have a piece of him inside me."
"That's true, but it wasn't the piece he was hoping for."
"Oh my gawd, not only to I have a demon in my head… but he's a pervert too."
"I only speak the truth."
"So after I wake up, I won't know you're there?"
"No, not unless you get put into another coma… or you're able to unlock your subconscious mind."
"Do you know where Vincent is right now? Can you tell, since you're still connected?"
"He's watching over you, where else would you expect him to be?" Yuffie gave another mental smile at this, "I figured he would be… can I ask you a question?"
"I suppose…"
"Did she really love him?"
"You mean Lucrecia? I believe she did, but I don't think it was the way you love him."
"Thanks Chaos… you're not such a bad guy for a… um... primal elemental force of nature." There wasn't another word from him, and Yuffie's mind slipped into inactivity… She needed to heal, so she could get back to Vincent that much sooner.
8 hours earlier…
Yuffie balled her fists up and punched the metal wall, causing a resounding thud to echo down the hall. "He's playing with us Vince… he think this is all a fucking game! No matter what he had to go through, he's a class A fruitcake!"
Vincent let out a sigh and looked back over to Yuffie… it wasn't that he disagreed with her, he didn't, and actually he whole heartedly agreed, but they'd been over this way too many times. "I know Yuf, can we just focus?"
"I know… I know… we need to find a way to the top, and with all the damage, it's going to be hard and the Shera can't pick us up out of the desert, so either we need to see if the Tram is working, or get to an access hatch, as high up as we can, so we can get plucked off the top. We've been over this… but that Kieran bastard is one step ahead of us, and who knows… by the time we can get there, he might have already cut the tram cables, or glued all the hatches shut! He want's us to suffer Vinnie!" The gunslinger could tell the stress was starting to get to her… she was normally collected when it came to these types of things, but with the fatigue she was experiencing, and the shear number of deaths… he could see how she was getting unnerved. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her to look at him. She obeyed, her gray eyes were rimmed with tears… he hadn't seen her loose it very often, three times that he could remember. The first time had been when Aerith had died; the second when he'd been unable to help Shalua… the final time was when he'd made it back, after the Omega Crisis… but those had been happy tears.
"Shh," he whispered, rubbing over her eyelashes with his gloved thumb to brush the water away. He knew the fact she was upset was partially his fault, which made him want to make her feel better even more. "I won't let anything happen to you Yuffie… and even if something does, I'll make sure we aren't separated again." She took a deep breath and nodded, forcing herself to get back in control… "I know Vince…" The gunslinger nodded and kissed her forehead again; wanting to give her some support… it hurt him when she was upset. The gunman wanted to see her smiling… He was grateful when she did smile, and snuggled deeper into his arms…
"Isn't that cute?" came a taunt from up ahead, and Vincent immediately moved to cover his ninja. Another volley of gunfire came down the hall, one of the bullets managed to make it through the gunslinger's defenses, grazing his shoulder. He sucked in a pained breath and pulled out Shattered, letting off several, powerful shots. His effort was greeted with manic laughing, and he wasn't even sure if he'd managed to connect at all.
After a few moments, everything was quiet again, like it had been the several other times Kieran had tried the strafing and running tactics he seemed fond of. He heard Yuffie gasp a bit when she saw his shoulder and he shook his head. He was fine, it would take more then a scratch to do him real damage. The gunfighter could already feel the skin re-knitting, the healing process well on its way. The ninja was watching the regeneration happen, intent on making sure he wouldn't loose anymore blood. Vincent thought this was rather cute, how she liked to dote on him. "Let's get moving," he said softly after a few moments and she nodded, slipping her hand into his claw. "Cid and Barret were lucky bastards, why couldn't we be in an area the tubes were working?"
"At least they are retrieving the Shera."
"That's true, as soon as we can make it out, we'll be in the nice, secure airship… then maybe we could continue where we'd been interrupted before." At the last comment, Yuffie's voice had slipped into a rather husky, sugary tone, causing the stoic gunman to blink and he looked down at her. The shinobi smiled and batted her eyelashes, giving him what could be described best as bedroom eyes. A light blush worked its way up to his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. "Are you sure about that Yuffie?" He wanted it just as much as she apparently did, but for him, sleeping with her didn't hold the same implications.
"Of course I am, you want to, don't you?" Her normally flawless mask of self confidence wavered a bit, and she turned back into a scared teenager. He stopped and looked at her, leaning down to kiss her lips. "Of course I do, but I am not a virgin, like you are… I just want to be sure…"
Yuffie gave him a brilliant smile at that, nodding… "You are such a gentleman Vinnie… I can't think of anyone I'd rather have my first time with…" This time she gave a soft blush. Just thinking of being naked with Vincent Valentine warmed her insides. If they hadn't been in a life and death situation, she probably would have pounced the gunslinger in the hallway.
Vincent couldn't deny his renewed need to be a part of her, physically… like the act of lovemaking would some how solidify what otherwise seemed like a dream for him. Somehow he needed it to be real, tangible… seeing the ninja under him would serve that purpose… it didn't stop the fact he was rather nervous about it all, but he tried to push that out of his mind. They were still threatened, and he needed to keep his mind on saving Yuffie rather then bedding her. He scolded himself and his lack of self control and started to move toward yet another set of stairs leading up. She was right; they could discuss such things on the Shera.
"Vince?"
"Yes Yuffie?"
"You know I need you, right?" He stopped, looking up to her as she stepped up a few stairs, then had to stop. The crimson gunman still had her hand in a vice grip. The shinobi's eyes connected with his, and he pulled her down to him, letting his lips brush hers as he spoke. "I've never doubted it… I need you too." The ninja gave him a gentle smile and leaned her forehead against his…
"I love you, Vince…"
"I love you too."