A/N: I'm SOOO sorry for not updating this in...FOREVER. (Actually, a couple months. But it might as well have been forever.) I'm trying to keep up with all 3 of my stories. I don't want them to go discontinued. I'm sorry for the irregular updating.
Chapter 2
The revving of the familiar old bike alarmed Vincent of his frequent visitor. It was only to be expected. Nanaki had come to visit the ex-gunman and, of course, Kyoshi would end up telling his only daughter.
As if on cue, the opening of the building complex door alerted its occupants. Vincent smirked as the Kisaragi-Valentine descendant practically jumped the poor fire-cat as he lay comfortably on the floor by the couch.
"Good to see you, too, Yuffie," Nanaki let out a low huff sound that meant to resemble laughter.
Yuffie grinned, her maroon eyes shining, "It's been a whole three months, Uncle Red! Don't those cubs of yours know how to pick up a phone?"
"I'll convey that message when we return," Nanaki snickered, in taking a slight breath as the girl released him from her death-grip of an embrace.
"…We?" The 16-year-old girl blinked.
"Yep!" a younger, livelier huff of laughter sounded from the other side of the couch. Yuffie squealed in delight and ran over to the new addition to company.
"Kororo!" Yuffie laughed as the two tumbled over, "Grandpa, why didn't you tell me Uncle Red was bringing Kororo along?"
"You never asked," Vincent and Nanaki exchanged a silent smile. Yuffie stared at the two in adoration and wonder. Friends of a past long ago, both still in such a deep understanding of the other. It had always intrigued the Wutaian girl how her grandfather was still around after all these years. Her family's own personal history book. It both delighted and tore at her.
The ex-gunman had lived alone all these years since his wife had passed on, with Red XIII's not so frequent visits to look forward to. The girl couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't been driven mad with despair at his loss.
"Yuffie?" the young fire-cat nudging her shoulder brought her back to reality. She just smiled at him.
Standing, Vincent walked into the kitchen, Nanaki in tow. The Cosmo Canyon Elder watched as his long-time friend moved around in the kitchen preparing a small meal for the four of them.
"She looks more like her namesake each and every day," Nanaki said, sitting on the ground near the dining table.
Vincent paused in his tasks and sighed, "It seems so."
"I can tell you miss her terribly, my old friend," Nanaki stated.
The ex-gunman's red eyes flashed with various emotions, his face as stoic as ever. "The pain has never died, Red."
"Have you never wished to find another love?" Vincent's eyes turned to Nanaki, his red orbs saying all that needed to be said. Nanaki just nodded, "I see. That is one of your remarkable traits, Vincent. You don't love easy…but when you do…"
The two turned to see their offspring laughing and joking around in the living area. A small smile crept to both ex-AVALANCHE members' faces at the sight. "I couldn't love another if I tried, friend," Vincent said with pride, "she gave me more to cherish in her passing than I would never have thought imaginable."
Nanaki nodded and turned to his human companion, "forget not to continue to cherish what she's given you, Vincent. If Yuffie were still around, she'd punish you in the worst possible ways for forgetting to do so."
The ex-Turk chuckled, "indeed."
The two were torn from their conversation at a strained chain of coughs coming from the young girl in the next room. Faster than he could comprehend, Vincent was at his granddaughter's side. "Yuffie?"
Yuffie shook her head, coughing fits barely letting her speak, "it's…a cold." As she reached her hand up to cover her mouth once more, Vincent's eyes widened slightly at the sight on her arm. He grabbed her wrist, pushing down her elbow-length gloves.
"Yuffie…did you run into anyone on your way here?" Vincent asked, his usual monotone voice leaking out a slight bit of his rising panic.
Covering the rash on her arm once more, she shook her head, "not today." Her coughs came harshly once more.
"When?" Vincent urged her, "When did you encounter someone?"
When her coughing didn't let up, she simply pointed to her discarded jacket on the couch. Nanaki rummaged through the pockets with his muzzle, pulling out a letter. He dropped it instantly and sneezed. Vincent looked at his friend curiously. "The stench of the Stigma is all over this, Vincent," the fire-cat sneezed again.
His heart speeding up slightly in panic as realization dawned on him, Vincent picked up the coughing girl, "Nanaki, Kororo, please contact my grandson. I'm taking Yuffie to the hospital." Kororo nodded for his father, who still was sneezing the aforementioned disease-stench out of his nose.
Wasting no time, Vincent leapt over several flights of stairs and burst through the building door onto the streets of Foression. Bounding his way through the streets, he hurried into the city hospital demanding to see a doctor.
Once Yuffie had been placed in a room and was being checked by a doctor did Vincent begin to relax. She's just as careless as…
His phone vibrating in his pocket turned him from his thoughts. Pulling out the contraption, he pressed two buttons and put it to his ear. "Vincent, what's wrong with Yuffie!?" Kyoshi's frantic voice sounded through the phone.
"A doctor is looking at her now," Vincent said with a sigh, "Nanaki uncovered a contaminated letter. We believe it may be the Viral Stigma."
A string of curses in Wutaian sounded on the other end, only to die off when someone else took hold of the phone. "Vincent?" The gentle voice of Elmyra Valentine, Kyoshi's wife, came through the phone. "How is she?"
"I don't know," Vincent answered honestly, "I have yet to talk to the doctor."
A small crash was heard on the other end of the line. Kyoshi's voice could be heard somewhere in the background, "I'm on my way, grandfather! Keep Yuffie safe!"
Vincent mentally sighed at the irrational actions of his grandson, "Elmyra, please tell Kyoshi that everything is under control. No need to jump to conclusions."
He could almost hear the mirth in Elmyra's voice as she tried to calm her husband down through the phone. "Mister Valentine?" Vincent looked towards the entryway to the E.R. room to see Yuffie's doctor.
Closing his phone, Vincent walked up to the doctor, "how is she?"
The doctor gripped his notebook tighter, making Vincent frown in anticipation. He didn't like the looks of this. "It seems that she's been infected with the Viral Stigma as you has suspected," the doctor said, adjusting his white coat. "Apparently she came in contact with it quite some time ago."
"How long ago?" Vincent asked.
"Probably a month or so," the doctor answered. Rubbing his temples, the doctor seemed rather distressed, "are her parents going to arrive anytime soon?"
"I will relay whatever information you tell me to them." Vincent urged, "how bad is Yuffie's condition?"
The doctor's eyes seemed to dull a bit, a sure sign of closing himself off from the situation. Never was that a good sign. It foretold… "I'd give her a week or so."
Vincent's shoulders slumped in shock. She was just fine a few hours ago…how could it get so bad? The doctor cleared his throat and continued, "the stigma's progressing faster than normal, I'm afraid. I've only seen such progress on a few people, namely those who have been exposed to excessive amounts of mako. Has she ever suffered from mako poisoning?"
Vincent's blood ran cold. Back up until he hit the wall, the ex-gunman fell to the ground, his eyes not seeing the doctor in front of him. This virus was killing his child, and it was progressing faster than it normally would because of her blood. His blood.
Burying his head in his hands, he released a cry of anguish that shook him to the core. He'd cursed her. He'd cursed her children, her legacy. Not only did he set up her children to live a long life of pain, he had made them susceptible to a short but painful death by the hands of this rapidly spreading epidemic.
What more could his very presence do to kill what his dear Yuffie had spent so long to birth?
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A/N: There's Chapter 2! I'm not getting many hits or reviews on this story, but I think it's a cute idea! D: For those of you who are reading it, I'd really like to know if you like it/hate it and what you like/hate about it. That way I'll know where to go and where to improve!