I am so sorry for the extended wait. Sometimes I want pull my hair out because I really hate how much time school's taking up. I'm taking so many advanced classes that my mind is fried and I've had writer's block for I don't know how long. Seriously, I've been sitting on this chapter for two months :/

But here it is. I really hope ya'll enjoy! Mega thanks to the reviewers and cupofteaforaliceandhatter for continued support! No matter what, I'm seeing this through to the end.

Disclaimer: none of this belongs to me. All rights go to respective owners. I don't profit, and I don't give FF profit for the purely entertainment based usage of concepts and characters that belong to someone else. No sue-y.

Reeve glanced at the sky, noting how the deep Wutain blue was beginning to dim into a gloomy Midgar grey. It reminded him of his home where it stormed almost daily and his parents returned from work in downpour-drenched clothes. Reeve thought, numbly, that it was going to rain today.

The once lush expanse of Wutai's capital flooded with the sound of hushed whispers and stifled sobs. With every measured, determined step, the traitor Shelke grew nearer the frontlines, her hands clasped behind her back like the dainty woman she fooled AVALANCHE into believing she was, but the conspiratorial leer on her face contradicted her initial innocent attitude.

Dark eyes watched closely and examined every movement that the woman made. There had to be something, anything for Reeve to use in his favor, to turn the table and put him ahead of her twisted game. A weak link in the chain of soldiers surrounding them, a Wutain spy in the ranks waiting for a signal to turn and attack — somewhere there was something, and so he kept his gaze steady.

"Reeve Tuesti," the voice of a young girl proclaimed, "you are standing before the great empire that is to be Ruinia. We have brought you here today for one purpose and one alone. Refuse our request, and we shall dispose of you quickly, for you hold no function for us here."

The Tsviet opened her arms, gesturing to the people who cluttered the dark line of the horizon where the beginnings of shadowy formations were drifting closer. Allowing himself to look out, the commissioner of the W.R.O. spotted the many citizens of his friend's beloved country and wondered if any out there had a connection to Yuffie through blood. Considering what a close kingdom Wutai was and how far back the Kisaragi reign had existed, more than likely she had family in the crowd, watching him in anticipation. Did they know what had become of their once carefree and joyous ninja?

Of all of the things that Reeve experienced, being held captive in front of thousands had never been one of those things. Today, however, such things would change. He could tell as much in Shelke's narrowed ice-blue eyes that observed him. The blue orbs contained secrets in their swirling depths, dirty ones aimed to hurt.

A soft clink followed the fall of a boot, a shift accompanied the sway of auburn hair as Shelke pivoted, and an intake of breath swept past Reeve's lips. Slowly, the Tsviet maneuvered towards the man who loved her, who still loved her even after all she'd done to the people he cared for. Was this how Vincent had felt about Lucrecia? That even after the horrific crimes she had committed to humanity, his heart yearned for her still? If so, he understood the gunslinger's prolonged agony.

It was like Shelke knew what he was thinking, if the faltered step she took meant anything, and he assumed it did. Her lips parted an inch as if to speak some foreign words, and her eyes misted like reservations consumed her from within.

Almost remorsefully, or as close as she could get, Shelke whispered, "Reeve, if only you hadn't been so attached. Emotions are such a silly thing. They get in the way of plans, of logic, of everything. I had plans for us, Tuesti, for you and me to rule the Planet. But you let them get to you."

Her words pierced his heart like the sharp side of a knife, tearing into the disloyal, vulnerable part of his psyche that flinched away and wondered, What if I hadn't gotten attached? Would we still be together?

Reeve viciously banished the thought, hating himself for even considering such a disgusting course of action. Like with the ShinRa corporation, he had let emotions and morality get in the way of the 'bigger picture' that Shelke had envisioned, but both times, he knew he'd done the right thing by refusing to play along or turn a blind eye. Just because the woman before him held his heart in her clutches, didn't mean he was going to change his mind.

In a voice equally as soft as his ex-fiancée's, Reeve stated firmly, "And you let power destroy you." Something I only did once and will never do again…

Mako eyes flashed dangerously. Turning back to the throng of Wutains, the Tsviet roared, "Today, Reeve Tuesti shall stand witness to the signing over of Wutai from the Kisaragi throne to the new sovereign, Shelke Rui!"

Her words sounded like the kind from action movies where the hero held up his sword before the adoring people, the end of his declaration accompanied by the enthusiastic praise and clapping from the oppressed peoples that had awaited their savior. Today, however, only tense, heavy silence blanketed the statement along with the stinging, cold sensation of shock that rocketed through Reeve's body.

Signing over of Wutai?

Godo Kisaragi was giving up the throne?

Wutai was surrendering?

And as a troop of brutal-looking Deepgrounds paraded a grey, almost feeble looking Godo toward the Transparent, Reeve resigned himself to what he knew he had to do make things right. Yuffie had suffered too much, everyone had made sacrifices, and the only thing he'd done was sit behind a desk and issue orders or say pretty words into a camera.

It was the one aspect of his life that Reeve could not bear to think of. Such a dignified and strong man as himself should have carried out an honorable action, yet he hadn't. Even Reeve wanted to do something for the greater good, something he could be proud of.

Today…

Today, things would change.

Today, he would fight.

Today, Wutai would not bow.

Today, he would not back down.

Holding the trembling, drained emperor by his emerald collar, Shelke surveyed the people and smirked at their stunned expressions. In the ShinRa war, never once had Wutai broken to an enemy. They had survived, albeit with not much left of themselves, and attempted to re-piece the empire. It was what Yuffie had wanted for so long, only to be denied because she'd dishonored her morals. And through it all, Wutai had still weathered.

Whatever had occurred to make the stately Godo look like he was on Death's doorstep had to be awful.

"Yuffie…" Reeve whispered to himself, and when Godo's head snapped up towards him, he knew he was right in his suspicions that the self-respecting lord had a weakness for his only child. Before her mistake, the emperor had always had his lively daughter to keep him from drowning in his sorrows, but with her banishment, he had surrendered to his depression. That much was evident from the tears that filled his dark eyes.

"Tell me!" he demanded, his eyes wild and crazed and so unlike him that the commissioner cringed. The crowd seemed to lean forward, as if questioning what Reeve had done to make their leader sound so defenseless. The words Godo had spoken would sound vague to those gathered there, but to Reeve, they were as clear as day.

"She is… gone again. But she will survive as she has always done... Her baby… is dead, Lord Godo, and my condolences are with you and your child."

At Reeve's confession, the emperor hung his head, lips moving soundlessly as if he was berating himself and taking on the blame. Tiredly but angrily, the commissioner continued, "Yuffie is with child once more. But her lover, the man who fathered both children, is dead. Both Yuffie's daughter and lover were murdered by the coward who holds you prisoner today!"

A horrific wail erupted from Godo's lips and he lunged towards Shelke. Even in his weakened state, the man exhibited amazing agility fit for a ninja, fit for the father of the greatest ninja on Gaia. He had just reached Shelke when her guards yanked him by his frail bones, not stopping when his arms snapped and his eyes squeezed shut in pain of the body, mind, and soul. He trembled, his dark, dulled hair flopping into his eyes and obscuring his furious, wrinkled face.

"My daughter!" he screeched, shoulders heaving. "My baby girl! My grandchild, my daughter!" His words became unintelligible and slurred as he wept openly. Reeve looked away, grimacing as he tried vainly to block out the sound of Yuffie's father's pain. His pain mimicked that of his daughter's when she lost Valencia…

A sick feeling bottomed out in Reeve's stomach at the positively satisfied smirk on Shelke's face. Never had he felt quite as disgusted in his life as he did watching the Transparent take pleasure in the pain of someone suffering. She stalked towards Godo, held out a scroll and a calligraphy pen, and waited for him to turn enraged eyes on her. The guard's tightened their grips on his arms, earning a hiss of pain sparked by the broken left limb.

"Sign, Kisaragi. Sign and there shall be no further pain."

Still lamenting, the emperor glared at Shelke from beneath his bangs and then spit at her. He snarled, "I'll sign these documents of yours, but you will pay, Wutai will see to that!" Yanking the pen out of her grip, he scrawled his name messily on the faded parchment and then threw the writing implement at Shelke's chest.

Unfazed, she responded, "A pleasure doing business with you, former Emperor of the Independent Nation of Wutai. Now bow to your new queen."

He grudgingly did as he was told, and Reeve winced, his stony expression nearly breaking. He wanted to scream at the man to do as his daughter would have done and stand straight. She would never have bowed, would never even have signed. When Shelke turned to the commissioner, he readied himself for whatever she had in store.

"Reeve, sign as a witness to the crowning of Shelke Rui."

Taking the paper in his hands, Reeve inhaled deeply.

He memorized the moment, taking in the greyness of the sky and the thin, wispy clouds that promised to expand into rain. He took in the swaying of the grass, its color as deep an emerald as the garb that Godo wore. He smelled the fresh earth, its scent like his father's after he returned from working in the fields. He listened to the miniscule sound of a cough in the crowd, its wheezing a tell-tale sign that it had been delivered by someone very old. He took in the feeling of the bitterly cold wind that licked at his exposed neck and face, the sound of a bee buzzing nearby, unaffected by the cruelty of humankind. He took in the sway of his hair against his cheek, the smell of smoldering ashes from a burned down building, the sound of tears, the look on Shelke's face, and the feeling of the crumbling, worn paper resting in his hand, soft enough to tear.

He exhaled.

"No."

And then he ripped it. The flimsy yellowed parchment gave as soon as he pulled, falling apart into two tattered pieces. Shelke growled and the crowd gasped and Godo attempted speech and Reeve waited for the sky to open up and swallow him. He waited as a blade entered his chest, he waited as it slid back out, he waited as he fell back into the soft grass, and he waited as the grey sky darkened above him.

The last thing he felt was a drop of icy water upon his cheek. Turned out, it was going to rain today.

The streets of Nibelheim stood vacant and quiet as the swordsman helped the injured martial artist back to his motorcycle. She leaned heavily on his firm shoulder, the tenseness of his muscles impossible for her to discount. He'd remained quiet since they left the basement, and Tifa knew he was slowly sinking back into his guilt.

As much as she wished to shake him out of his haze, she knew talking to him would only make him clamor up and shut down. A heavy sigh left her lips as her eyes closed lightly.

Deep inside her, she knew it would never change for him. The moment something went wrong, just like Vincent, he'd blame it on himself, and just like Yuffie, she'd be the one to miss the absence of his love. The cycle hurt, and she damn it all, she wanted him to realize what he was doing to her.

When they reached Fenrir, Cloud silently slid into the seat, not turning to see if Tifa would follow suit. They both knew she would, for she always had. And when she did, the blonde kicked the stand and revved the engine slightly, taking off down the long cobblestone road as the woman behind him clung tightly to his waist, burying her face into the fabric of his shirt as tears stung her eyes. She didn't worry about him feeling it, though, because she knew he'd pass it off as the biting wind causing her tears.

"Where are we going?" Tifa finally asked, her voice firm even though she felt small on the back of Fenrir with all of the towering world racing by in a blur. In AVALANCHE, she always felt small, overshadowed by Aerith, overprotected by Cloud, discredited by most. When would she ever feel okay again, like her true self?

Did I abandon myself in Nibelheim when it burned down? Did I lose myself on the journey to where I am now?

Or was I never me to begin with?

"To the W.R.O.," Cloud answered in short with his usual emotionless tone.

"Oh."

And they were immersed in the silence once more. It was almost too much for the brunette to bear. How many times would she have to go through this same sequence of events? Would she turn into Yuffie, angry at Cloud for abandoning her in presence and in voice? Would they be doomed to part ways, too?

"No," she declared firmly, her voice almost lost in the wind. She felt so strongly of this that she believed the words had to be spoken, to be confirmed to the entire looming world that encased them. It had to know that she would not give up on the man she loved. She never had, and she never would.

"What's that?" Cloud asked, turning his head slightly to indicate that he had heard her. A pink blush quickly made itself known on Tifa's cheeks as she recalled his enhanced hearing, though it wasn't nearly as enhanced as their gunslinging friend's had been.

Burying her face further into his shoulders, Tifa said in a muffled voice, "Nothing!"

Cloud left it at that as she knew he would. Whenever she gave him the opportunity to avoid conversation, he took it. It was simply in his nature, and for once, Tifa was glad of that fact.

"How long 'til we reach Midgar?" she inquired, noticing how rapidly the scenery had altered. How fast was Cloud driving, anyhow?

"Not too long now. We'll be in Costa del Sol shortly. We can take the cargo ship to Junon and ride from there."

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry…"

"I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry!… Sorry… Sorry… So sorry…s…sor…sorry…"

"That doesn't change what you did!"

With a start, Zack backed away from the newly awakened ex-Turk, glancing wearily at the flower girl and the child in her arms. She gave him a reassuring smile and offered the baby to his open arms, taking over. With small steps, Aerith approached the dark man and crouched beside him, her long braid swishing against the dust-covered ground. She waited patiently as he shook off the nightmare.

Vincent noticed that Lucrecia had not even glanced his way.

"Are you-"

"I am fine," the crimson-eyed man interjected, his voice cold and indifferent. Unfazed, the brunette took his angular chin in her soft hands and turned his face to meet her gaze, her soft green eyes twinkling in understanding.

"Silly, Vincent," she chided sweetly, "don't you know that it's okay to not be okay sometimes?" Her tone made him feel guilty, but lots of things made him feel guilty, so he simply 'humphed' and crossed his arms. He ignored Aerith's attempt to get him to open up and continued to stare at Lucrecia, waiting for her to explain herself. He deserved that much.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Aerith asked, confusion on her face. Vincent snapped his head to look at her, narrowing his blood-red eyes. It was as if the depths were screaming out for help or closure, or maybe even something he wasn't sure he needed or knew. But his heart ached and his head hurt, and he knew he needed something. He glared at Lucrecia again.

"I want you, Lucrecia, to tell me what you did and why you did it." He kept his tone as bitter as acid, as sharp as glass, and as strong as stone just for the sake of his sanity. "Why did you lie to me?" The scientist sniveled, but said nothing in return, and he felt his irritation heighten.

He thought that she had loved him. He truly believed that even after everything, some part of her had belonged to him when she married Hojo. The foolish part of his Turk brain had convinced him that her betrayal was not to hurt him, not to further her research or help Hojo, but simply because of an accident. But to have lied about his father…

She never, never could have loved him. Pretended to, yes, but honestly love him? No. How could she have possibly cared for him and done the things that she had?

Vincent felt utterly, utterly deceived.

"Lucrecia," he growled with thinning patience, his heart yearning for her to at least deny her part in the lies. Still she refused to speak and remained with her back turned to him. "Why… Why did you… And how could you possibly…" How could she if she had loved him?

The simple answer was that she could not have, if she had indeed loved him. Therefore, it really was a lie. Thirty years, and it was all a lie.

By that point, he could barely contain the fury inside of him, leaking out of his skin like blood and swimming in his eyes behind the red. Did he not deserve to have answers? Odin! Why did his life have to be full of lies and heat-break and sorrow!? And Lucrecia wouldn't even tell him what he was entitled to know!

Vincent was a time-bomb, he always had been, and he knew he still was. As a Turk, he let his emotions take over until he burst and it got him killed. AVALANCHE watched as his time dwindled, their first real taste of his wrath appearing in the form of Chaos. And with Yuffie…

With Yuffie, he had pushed her away, refusing to acknowledge that the nightmares that had forever plagued him, the ones filled with I'm sorry's and demons and torturous experiments, had morphed into ones comprised of a young ninja being stolen away by a lecherous Don Corneo or shoved into the fathomless void of hell called Nero's Darkness, only this time he was not quick enough to save her.

He pushed her away until finally he didn't have the strength deny the emotions within him, and damn it all to hell, he had gotten her pregnant, banished from her home and disowned, he abandoned her by his own will, allowed his child to die, and then died himself. He left her alone…

What Lucrecia didn't seem to understand was that Vincent had finally had it. By Odin, his time had run out, his fuse had burnt, and he was fed up with lies and grief. He wanted his daughter to be alive, he wanted her to be with Yuffie, he wanted to be with Yuffie, the only woman who could possibly be right for him. She alone had broken through his fortress, found her way into his heart, even after he'd done so well to keep his guard up. He squandered his time grieving and denying his love for the ninja, and this was where it had gotten him.

This time, Vincent would not sit back and simply accept the course his life had taken, not like he had when he was a young, stupid Turk who fell far too quickly and far too hard for the wrong person. He was mad as hell, and he was sick of being lied to and betrayed.

"Damn it!" Vincent cried, jumping up from the ground and pacing. He raked his hand through his hair, shaking in uncontrollable anger. He hated being stuck here without Yuffie and with her, he hated knowing how much she had done to ruin his life, hated having no choice but to resign himself to his fate. His bomb was out of time.

He was going to make her see what she'd done to him, he was going to make her see the pain she'd caused. He was not going to let her pity herself and turn away and just ignore everything she'd done.

Disregarding her sobs, Vincent demanded, "Damn it, Lucrecia! Tell me why you had to make such a mess of my life!" Turning her around and shaking her roughly, he beseeched, "I loved you! I would have given everything to make you happy, and you tore me apart! Are you happy!? Are you happy that your son ravaged the world and killed hundreds of innocent people, that Hojo continued to torture everyone he could? Are you happy with what you did to me!? Are you, Lucrecia!? Tell me that you're happy, that you're satisfied with the results of your experiment! Is it what you wanted!? Are you happy, Lucrecia!? Answer me!"

Gasping for air through her tears, Lucrecia screamed, "Vincent, I can't take it back! I would I would I would I would, I would do ANYTHING to make it right, you know I would! Please, I would, Vincent! I would fix it, I would make it better! I would take it back!" She was screeching, her face awash in a flood of tears. Her bangs were drenched and sticking to her red cheek, her collar soaked in saltwater. Her raspy voice held so much conviction that there was no denying how truly remorseful she was. "I would take it back, I would take it back! I would I would I would! Please, I would make it right!"

But Vincent would not have it. She could say she was sorry, that she wanted to fix things, but it would never erase what she had done.

"You disgust me."

It was the first hateful thing he'd ever said about Lucrecia. Never had he let those around him talk bad about his saint, not even Yuffie. But for the first time, he admitted what he knew he felt all along. What he was afraid he knew he felt. What he never wanted to feel.

"You truly disgust me."

His words tore a broken wail from her throat, as if her heart had been ripped right out of her chest. Aerith gasped and placed her arm around Lucrecia's shoulders, taking on the weight of the scientist as she buckled and fell. Vincent turned away from her, not wanting to see how she'd been affected. He didn't care anymore.

Nothing mattered in his life. What did he have left? He'd just knocked his beloved Lucrecia off of her pedestal that he had worked so hard to maintain all these years. For once in his life, Vincent was utterly lost, confused by his actions and the world around him.

All of those years of pining away for her and thinking she was a blessing… He himself had just destroyed it. So was it all… truly for naught? Had he honestly wasted all of his time?

A hand clapped his shoulder and he lifted his chin to glance behind him. Zack offered him a sympathetic shrug and whispered, "If you need to be alone, that's okay. I'll watch Rimmy."

With a simple nod, the gunslinger walked away and into the barren distance, his mind and body on emotional shutdown.

Barret blasted through another round of opponents, but this time they did not retaliate. In fact, the entire battlefield seemed to clear in a matter of seconds, looking more like a colony of ants scrambling out of a trampled hill.

"Self-destruct in six minutes and thirty seconds," the disembodied voice declared. Cid cursed under his hoarse breath and slammed his fist into the control panel.

"Any ideas?" Barret called back, lowering his arm as the prior threat had all but been vanquished.

"Find some 'scape hatches, pref'rably," he muttered, surveying the panicking troops. "And fast. You know, 'fore the other guys swipe 'em."

"Then let's get moving!" The dark-skinned man barreled his way through a small cluster of pale-faced men, ignoring the one brave soul who yanked out his gun and aimed for Cid. A simple flick of his arm, and Barret had the man on the ground, clutching at his gushing knee.

"Troops, stand your ground!" a helmeted man cried, throwing his arm out in the way of the exit. The uniformed group straightened into a line, weapons poised for fire. "By order of Shelke Rui, Cid Highwind and Barret Wallace, you are under arrest for high treason!"

Cigarette dropping from his opened mouth, Cid griped, "High treason!? What the— SHELKE? Man, I should'a known she'd be the one behind all this— this madness!"

"Stand down, men," the captain commanded.

"As if!" Cid cried right before he ducked beneath the zooming bullet and swept his leg into the captain's. "I don't take orders from nobody!"

Firing a round at the angry troops storming toward them, Barret smirked, "What 'bout Cloud?"

"I take orders from one person!"

And they threw themselves back into the heat of battle and scampering troops. Cid flicked his head up to see a long beam of metal running from one end of the airship to the other where a a thick metal door marked Personnel awaited. Uniformed men entered the room in a hurry, opening the door just wide enough for Cid to spot an accumulating throng of soldiers within what appeared to be a hanger. Urgently, the pilot nudged his friend and pointed to the door.

"This way," he mouthed, directing their fight towards a ladder stretching up to the top level. The one-armed man went first, his impressive strength embodied in his capability of climbing said ladder with simply one hand. The pilot followed after, growling in annoyance as a trooper decided to pursue the two. He slammed his boot into the man's head and shoved him off the wrung, grinning to himself at the pain-filled whimper the poor soul made when he connected with the bottom of the airship.

They took off at a sprint, Barret clearing the way as more men came to impede their progress. Cid yeehawed when they threw the door open and laid waste to the throng of fighters clambering into escape pods.

"Don't mess with AVALANCHE!" Cid cried, swinging one leg up and into a small, three-man pod and taking his seat behind the controls. Barret slid in beside him and slammed the hatch shut, grinning as they took to the sky.

Now that they had escaped, the pilot focused on their next course of action. They knew that Tifa and Cloud had headed to Nibelheim and were most likely capable of handling the small task of searching through files on their own. Reeve was back at headquarters with Nanaki, holding down the fort. Yuffie was AWOL, and that was nothing new, so it didn't warrant too much worry. Shera, however was still kidnapped, and that was deemed the most important problem on Cid's mind.

"Let's land this baby in Wutai. I'm getting my wife back and throttling the bastard that took her from me."

Barret grunted in assent and leaned back, watching as the blonde viciously flicked switches, jabbed buttons, and steered the vessel. Cid ignored the heat of his friend's gaze and kept his focus steady. It wasn't like him to be so… anxious, but at the current moment in time, he didn't give a chocobo's butt. The love of his life had been taken from him right before his eyes, and he hadn't been able to do a thing to stop it. He'd be damned if he didn't get her back.

I'm sorry, Shera. I'm coming…

Nanaki stood in the abandoned town of Nibelheim, his furry ears twitching for any sound of a survivor, for anything. Who had done this?

Ash drifted in the dark sky, the smell of burning flesh and debris smothering his senses and burning his eye. Nibelheim razed and laid to ruins once more...

Nose twitching in the air, Nanaki inhaled deeply, forcing every particle or air and cinders and human scent he could into lungs, and then he exhaled it, coming up clean. He waited at the entrance to the town, gazing at the flickering embers that flamed atop the heaping piles of bricks, wood, stones, and metal.

He could not smell the sweet scent of Tifa, and the masculine scent of Cloud was long gone, both lost in the perfume of blazing fire.

A small howl, low in Nanaki's empty chest, brushed past his muzzle, the whimper lost on the chilly breeze. Laying himself down on a fire-warmed mass of rubble, the animal whined at the loss of his two friends.

Explanation time!

Reeve's Death- Honestly, I feel like Reeve doesn't get enough credit. He's always been kind of that character who's behind the scenes and just controls people, but I truly think he's a much better man than that. Someone had to die (and stay dead) and it really needed to be Reeve. Plus, I wanted to give him a death that meant something so that people wouldn't just forget about him when it was all said and done, which is kind of what I figured would happen. So that's that. Please leave an "In Memorium" with your review, and I'll choose the best eulogy to be featured in the story at Reeve's funeral. Gosh, I'm gonna miss him. I really came to love his character in this.

Nanaki's Lament- I just figured I'd throw out there that CLOUD AND TIFA ARE NOT DEAD. I mean, Nanaki has amazing olfactory senses, and all he knew was the Nibelheim had been burned down again, and he can clearly detect that his friend's had been there at some point, and their scent no longer remains... So he's confused and mopey.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Vincent's Breakdown!- okay, so we know that Vincent would never ever ever freak out at Lucrecia like that, but put it into perspective. He's coming to the realization (something he must do in order to TRULY move on and be happy) that Lucrecia honestly never loved him. He's figuring out that he really spent 30 years thinking he'd done wrong by her and needed to atone, only to finally find out that she really WAS responsible for everything, not him. I think, honestly, that Vincent knew all along that she wasn't a saint, but he had tried so hard to convince himself that she was, that he's angry with himself in that regard and at her for tricking that it what we see here, a manifestation of the rage inside Vincent at having been so thoroughly deceived, at having believed himself to be a monster and convinced himself of that fact, at having wasted so much time in self pity and sorrow, that the realization that Lucrecia had betrayed him so deeply and he'd blamed it on himself for nothing just kinda - we'll: Vincent = Mind blown.

I need to bring him back to Yuffie so she can give him a hug.

WELL, that's all folks! I hope you liked it. Leave me some feedback if you like the direction this story's taken or not, and don't forget Reeve's eulogy!