Chapter 4

"Erika, the doctor is here!" Yuffie yelled up the stairs. Her daughter, now 7 years old, came tapping down the stairs. Although she looked exactly like her mother with her short, fluffy, ashen brown hair and the innocent, yet mischievous face, she had the same color of eyes as her father before he was experimented on, a beautiful golden brown that seemed to sparkle. She wore an army green dress with dark brown capris underneath.

"Do I have to Mommy?" She peeked around the corner.

"At least you don't have to go to the hospital. And I'm getting the injections too." Yuffie, now older biologically (28 years old, to be exact) but the same on the outside due to the eternal water, had already stripped down to her black shorts and white tank top. She was already fully prepared for the examination that occurred every month, and the injections that were reapplied every 6.

"Yuffie, they're here." Vincent came out. He had really changed his sense of style. He wore a loose white dress shirt with black pants. His long, black hair was sometimes in a tight ribbon when he had to deal with company, but today he left it down.

"All right. Wish us luck." She kissed him softly on the lips, and he twirled at her short side-tail.

"Yeah. I love you. Be safe." He kissed her one more time. Erika always wondered why her parents seemed so nervous every checkup. Just as she thought this, her father, standing 6'3", kneeled down and picked up his daughter in his arms when she spread out her arms for him to hold her. "Good luck to you too, my girl." He said so adoringly, that Yuffie chuckled. She knew best that Vincent would never say that kind of gushy crap to a child (or anyone)… He was doing it especially for her.

"I love you, daddy." Erika hugged quietly against him.

"OK, lie down, Erika." Erika was first. She lay down on the couch.

"Don't worry, Erika, mommy's right here." Yuffie held her daughter's hand. All Vincent could do was wait outside.

"Now," Dr. Grahme sat down. "How do you feel?"

"Fine."

"No fevers lately?" He placed the health scanner on her arm to check for any abnormalities.

"No."

"And you've been going to school normally?"

"Yes."

"What grade are you in?"

"2nd."

"I see, that's nice." He smiled. "Now hold on tight, I have to do the shot, OK?"

"Mommy's right here." However, Erika was already used to this.

"I'm fine, Mommy." She smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I know, but if you DO need me, OK?"

"I'm FINE." She giggled, felt the little prick of the needle, and it was done.

"Ms. Yuffie." He turned to the mother. "Here's your injection. Ready?"

"Yup." She showed her arm, and with one prick, her examination was done. A beep came from the examination.

"Miss Erika, will you go out and tell your father to come in?" Erika jumped up to talk to her father and then went to her room to play. She wasn't allowed to listen in on their conversation.

In the living room, Yuffie leaned against Vincent's shoulder.

"You all right?" He asked quietly.

"I think I just have a little fever from the shot."

"As I feared." Doctor Grahme shook his head. "The vaccine is wearing off."

"Wearing off?" They asked, not knowing what he meant.

"Yes. You know how when you come up with an immunity for a disease, sometimes, the disease learns how to adapt? That's what Jenovah's cells are doing inside you and your daughter."

"No…!" Vincent looked at his wife, in pain with a red face, but still looking straight at the doctor.

"I'm afraid until we develop a new medicine, we can't fight this disease much longer. The Jenovah readings keep increasing every month. Two months ago it was 85% immunity, last month it dropped to 70%, and now…" He looked sadly at the reading. "I'm afraid the immunity is down to 45%."

"What happens when the immunity doesn't work anymore?" Vincent asked.

"…Possession, most likely. Erika will be completely under her control, as her vessel, and Yuffie will be a puppet for her because Jenovah was not born directly into her.

"Please, isn't there any kind of therapy-?"

"I understand your feelings, but as I said, there is nothing I can do. Not me, not the Shinra Company." He packed his bag up and slipped out some pills. "Give these to your wife and her fever should ease for a while."

"Why aren't you giving them to Erika?" He demanded. The doctor sighed.

"The only reason that Yuffie is getting a fever is because her body is fighting off the infection. Her infection is much lighter, after all." He looked them in the eyes. "Erika's infection is complete. There's no fighting off the infection anymore. That's why she is going to school normally."

"…How long do we have until the possession…?" Vincent gripped his wife's hand. Once Erika was possessed, Yuffie would be as well.

"I'd give it two weeks. If in one week there is no medical epiphany, we will come to quarantine your wife and daughter, where they will be…" The doctor trailed off, not wanting to finish. "Euthanized."

"You can't do that!" Vincent yelled at him. "They're everything to me! If you take them…!"

"Stop, Vincent!" Yuffie stood up to stop his upcoming violence. "…As bad as it is, at least you don't have to kill me yourself."

"Yuffie…" He gritted his teeth. The doctor left the house. Vincent grabbed on to his wife and held her close to his chest. "We're supposed to be together for eternity…!" He shook his head. "Weren't you going to save me from my loneliness…?"

"I know…!" She sobbed. "I don't want to die either…!"

"Hey, Erika?" Yuffie, her eyes dry and her fever subsided, came up the stairs to see her daughter. "Why don't we go out and get some shaved ice, huh?"

"Ooh, yeah!" She jumped up from playing with her Geisha figurines and ran over to her mom.

Outside in the Wutai summer heat, Vincent had tied up his hair in a red ribbon and wore flip flops, while Yuffie wore her blue top outfit that she wore during her Cerberus adventures. They sat down on a bench by the shave ice stand. Yuffie had a lime ice, Vincent had strawberry, and Erika had cotton candy.

"Mm!" Erika smiled as she munched on the blue goodness that melted in her mouth. "Thank you Mommy, Daddy!"

"Yeah, of course. Anything for you. Erika." Yuffie smiled brightly. Vincent ate his ice silently, not wanting to remember what was happening. He was going to lose everything. His wife, and his child that was made from him and her would die. It was a fact he could not avoid.