Chapter 22… wow guys 5 chapters left! FF7 is prop Square-Enix, of course, I hope you enjoy this chapter. When I finished DoC, that picture of the Cerberus relief swinging in the wind nearly made me cry! It was just so symbolic and perfect for the scene… so I've have this planned the whole time, though I think it turned out better then I thought it would. Unfortunately it's a bit short, but I didn't want to take away from the intent of the chapter with too much extra stuff going on. The next one will probably be a bit short as well, and then 24-27 will probably be really long ones, since a lot will be going on! R&R and Enjoy!

Dr. Lindemen looked over the readings from the machine next to Yuffie's bed; the small lines apparently told him something that Vincent couldn't decipher. He nodded a bit, then the man's eyes found the gunman's and he gave a smile. "Brain activity is up, that is a very good sign. She should wake up soon… then spikes in activity show that she's starting to come out of it… she just needs a bit more time."

"So what, exactly, does that mean?"

"It means, Mr. Valentine that Miss Kisaragi is going to be just fine. Would you like to tell your friends, or shall I?"

Vincent looked down at Yuffie and smiled a bit, leaning down to kiss her forehead softy, "Don't wake up until I get back," he whispered and nodded, "I'll tell them Doctor… thank you." Lindemen nodded and stepped aside, letting the gunman through the door. He went down the hall, that small smile was still on his face when he came through the door.

Immediately, a tired Cloud and Tifa stood up, looking at him with hopeful eyes. It was Vincent's supreme relief that he didn't have to disappoint them. "She should be waking up soon, the doctor said her brain activity was up, which means she's going to be alright."

Everything happened all at once, and the gunman found a very happy Tifa hugging him around the neck… Like Yuffie being alright was his doing. The bar mistress was laughing and repeating, "thank god" over and over, and all Vincent could manage was a surprised look and a few pats on her back. Cloud came over and laughed himself, the relief evident in his eyes. He knew that their spiky haired leader often took their injuries on himself, because he was usually the person to give the orders, and in this case, he'd sent Yuffie to the cave in the first place. Vincent took comfort in his friend's exuberance.

And the crimson gunman smiled and his face was full of relief.

6 hours earlier…

They'd been walking for god knows how long, the internal passage ways of Gold Saucer were really awe inspiring… though neither Yuffie nor Vincent cared really. They hadn't heard from they're stalker in two hours, and it was causing them to be edgy. The ninja, in her supreme boredom, decided to bring up something that might end up being a touchy subject… considering her past as the intrepid materia hunter. "Um Vinnie?"

"Yes Yuffie?"

"If I tell ya something, you promise not to get mad right away…" She moved away from him a bit, to give herself room if she needed to bolt.

The gunslinger frowned a bit, "I suppose it would depend on what it was." Yuffie bit her lip, "I have something of yours…"

"Give me my materia back…"

And indignant reply came back, "hey! I didn't take your smelly, non-mastered materia, who'd want it anyway." She glared at him for even thinking it… "Like I'd steal from my boyfriend… no this was before, from the time you were missing."

Vincent stopped and turned to look at her, causing the ninja that was walking just behind him, with her head down, to smack right into his chest. "What is it?"

"Lemme tell you the story at least, before you throttle me, alright?"

The gunfighter nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and bidding her to continue. He had no idea what was going on with her, and why she was all of the sudden bringing this up. Maybe she felt guilty, for not telling him two years ago. With something that old, he was pretty sure he wasn't going to be mad… really it took a lot to actually get him really angry. Threatening his loved ones was definitely high on that short list, so he reserved anger to its proper place. He might be annoyed however, he found himself being that quite often, especially when his little ninja was involved. Vincent waited patiently for her to continue.

After a few moments, Yuffie let out a breath, "I sorta have your Cerberus Relief."

He tilted his head and looked down at his gun; the chain was still firmly secured. "What are you talking about?"

"No… not that one… the real one… the original. I found it when we were looking for you. I had to climb up this twisted metal; it was hanging off a pipe. Barret told me to give it to Shelke, since she was worried… but I didn't."

Vincent blinked, tilting his head just a bit, "even back then?"

"Yeah… you know that time in the reactor… stuff like that changes people."

He nodded, "besides being in love with me, why didn't you want to give it to her?"

The ninja scoffed, "hey buddy, who said it was love back then?" He raised his eyebrow at her and she let out a huff, "alright, fine… but I had so not admitted to it. Come on, I was still trying to convince myself I liked muscle bound blondes on the way up to the cave."

"How did that work for you?"

"Not real well… hey!"

Vincent let out a small chuckle, "you didn't answer my question though."

"Well, I didn't like Shelke, that was no surprise to anyone, even if she was sorta getting better, she was entirely too cold. I mean you're kinda icy at first, but after awhile you come to find it's just your shield, your way not to get hurt again. With her… it was plain unnatural. There was no way that I would give something that precious to someone that would never appreciate it. So I… kinda hid it and told Barret I lost it. Oh man was he mad, he called me every bad name in the book, but I didn't care… in my mind I was protecting you."

The gunman raised his other eyebrow, "you hid the Cerberus Relief from our friends, so a mentally damaged girl wouldn't have it…"

"I didn't say I was proud of it, but she'd only known you a few weeks, at most, and the Lucrecia memories do not count. Those were stolen anyway and she never intended for them to make her reclaim her humanity. She originally got them so she could find you and steal the Protomateria… that's pretty vital to your survival. I'm pretty laid back, but still…"

"So where is it?" He really couldn't fault her, and she was probably holding a small grudge against Lucrecia herself… she'd mentioned it once, at the time he'd been upset, but that was also before he realized what his own, true feelings were… his snapping had been nothing more then a knee jerk reaction because she'd hit too close to a very raw nerve.

Yuffie sighed a bit, and gave him a clever smirk, "I hid it in plain sight, and somewhere that it could watch over us… when I did it I was rather torn up, since we pretty much thought you'd been vaporized in the explosion. I dunno; some silly idea that you'd always be there to take care of us…" The gunslinger smiled a bit, and placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed her skin with his gloved thumb. It certainly was a nice sentiment. "I will always be there to watch over you… all of you."

The ninja gave him one of her radiant grins and nodded. Vincent gave her a gentle nudge, so she would continue, and she got that mischievous smile on her face again. "It's screwed into the ceiling of the Bar… right in the middle. Lemme tell you, only a truly gifted ninja could have put it up there without getting caught. No one expected to see it there, so no one has ever noticed it."

The gunman looked at her shaking his head a bit… "That is actually quite a selfless thing you did Yuffie. You shared it with everyone, even if they didn't know it."

"I'm sure you're going to want it back now."

Vincent shook his head a bit, "I think we'll leave it there…"

"Really? You aren't mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you, not at all."

"Wow, I feel better; I thought you were going to give me that look that says 'how could you Yuffie.' That look kills me every time."

The gunslinger took her hand and started back up the stairs. "We should be there soon; I just hope Cid and Barret have made it back with the Shera."

"Me too, I really wanna get out of this hell hole."

"I thought you liked Gold Saucer."

"Not anymore, they blew up the best places…"

Vincent's soft chuckle could be heard down the corridor where Kieran was watching them. He couldn't deny that Valentine was a different person, but that just didn't matter. His parents had to be avenged, and he was getting close to the time when he'd be able to carry it out. All the others in his group where dead, which only gave him the freedom he needed. He was planning to stow away on the airship and ambushing them there… he knew it was his death writ… but as long as he took the ex-Turk with him, he didn't care.