Author's Note: Ok, I screwed up the spelling on Aeris's name. I was at my friends house when I wrote that first chapter and she told me it was wrong, so I changed it. Oh well, sorry. Anywho, here's Chapter Two.

Reviewer comments:

Valentine Obsession - thanks, I always find it more interesting to see things from more than one frame of vision. And it keeps things interesting. Thanks for the review!

A Door Beyond Absolution

Chapter Two: Different From Me

Vincent leaned his head back against the wall of the Golden Saucer's Inn for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the short three hours they'd been present. Everyone had rushed upstairs after the short explanation Cloud had offered them as they searched for the "Keystone" to the Temple of Ancients. His head was buzzing uncomfortably, which had left him to sit on his bed and ponder all the new information that had been thrown into his lap. He knew Sephiroth was speculated to have died five years ago, and, while he had lamented the loss of his beloved's child, he excepted it with out much thought.

But now…

Here was proof that Lucrecia's son lived, and he couldn't begin to tell these people what he knew of Sephiroth's parentage. Not when he himself was unsure…

Vincent shook his head, his wild mane of hair fluttering about his shoulders. He knew his crimes, it was pointless to relive them for the billionth time since he had woken up. There were better things to ponder now, like the Tifa-Cloud-Aeris love triangle, how many times you could say the word 'fuck' in one sentence, how quickly you could reload a gun arm, and the purpose of a giant stuffed moogle. So many thoughts ran through his mind, but there was one he was eagerly repressing.

The young ninja, Yuffie. He recalled clearly what she had said as the others left her standing there, trying to grasp such a detached lifestyle. When he had said he would join them, he gauged her reaction more than anyone else's, and found her face scrunched up in a look of sheer confusion. He hadn't spoken to her since she had accused of him of not caring about the planet which, if truth be told, he really didn't. She seemed eager to avoid him, though it was difficult, especially since Cloud didn't place much stock in all three girls staying in one room alone.

He seemed to think it was a bad idea, that one of them would be kidnapped at any moment, and therefore always had one man staying in the room with the three females, and it was Vincent's turn. When Yuffie had bolted up to their room, followed by Aeris and Tifa, she had thrown herself on her bed and began chattering to the two girls. Her voice had stopped abruptly however when Vincent had slipped in quietly. She turned red and fled the room, muttering something about chocobos and GP. Aeris had smiled at Vincent sympathetically before running after the blushing ninja. Tifa vanished not long after that, much to Vincent's relief.

It's not that any of the girls bothered him, it was that they tended to talk as if he wasn't in the room, mostly about things he didn't want to know. Yuffie didn't talk when he was around, though Tifa and Aeris would tease her relentlessly in front of him, and Cid had reported the teenager as having a particularly bad mouth and a dirty mind to match it.

He almost felt left out when he thought about how social the ninja was with the other members of avalanche, and then always proceeded to scold himself for such thoughts. He had scared her within three seconds of seeing her, and even though he had tried to be courteous in catching her, he realized how wrong it must've seemed. A strange man suddenly grabbing her around the stomach did seem so very disturbing.

He sighed and closed his eyes, preparing to allow himself to sleep, when the door squeaked open. Vincent peered from beneath his eyelid to see Yuffie looking around the room very quietly. She crept into the room on tiptoe, clearly thinking he was asleep. She was nearly to her bed when she knocked a lamp over with a loud crash.

"SHIT!" She shouted without a moments hesitation before clapping both hands over her mouth and turning to stare at Vincent.

"I am already awake Yuffie," he said opening his crimson eyes. She scratched behind her head as she backed into the dresser behind her.

"I-uh that is to say, I um," she was turning pink as she scratched the back of her head with her right hand. Finally deciding she didn't know what to say she let out a nervous chuckle and began edging towards her bed.

"Do I make you nervous?" Vincent asked mildly, accurately hiding his curiosity. Yuffie froze in place, staring at him as some of the color drained from her face.

"Who… who said that you did?" She asked without thinking, her eyes wide and frightened.

"No one," he stated. "I merely observed that I seem to frighten you."

"Why would you say that?" She said happily, forcing her shock to become the happy go lucky nature she maintained in public.

"When I enter a room you either skirt around so that you are as far from me as possible, or mumble an excuse and flee the room entirely. You do not talk when I am around, more specifically when I am staying in the same hotel room as you three, you allow the others to tease you in my presence and you do not rise to the occasion as I am told you so often do." He stated calmly, not moving his eyes from her face. She shifted her gaze from his eyes to somewhere off to the left of his head.

"Ummm… I think you're gonna kill me?" She said hopefully, grinning at him without returning her gaze to his face.

"Somehow, I doubt that." He replied, crossing his arms and staring at her reproachfully. "I can accept that I frightened you…"

"You did NOT frighten me!" She burst out before he could finish the sentence, she pushed off the dresser. "I'm the great Ninja Yuffie, I'm not afraid of anything!"

Vincent stared at her a moment, analyzing her outburst with a strange look on his face. Her hands were curled into fists which now resided on her hips, her face was turning pink from rage.

"Then why do you avoid me?" Vincent asked attentively, his eyes trained for the response that would reveal the truth. Yuffie frowned and looked away, her grey eyes locking on her bed.

"Because you're different," she said passively before striding over to her bed, pulling back the covers, and hiding herself away beneath them. Vincent stared at her bed for several moments, listening to her troubled breath as it struggled to even out in a feigned sleep. He shook his head, his hair falling in front of his face as he did.

"I have never met a worse liar," he said mildly before returning to his position. Across the room Yuffie sniffled a little bit, closing her eyes.

"If only you knew," she whispered as she dozed off. "If only…"

----------------------------------

Vincent awoke with a start when Barret came barging into the room, the former Turk had his gun pointed at Barret's head seconds after he was rudely awakened. This was the sight Yuffie emerged from her tangle of blankets to see, Barret frozen in place, with Vincent aiming a gun between the black man's eyes. She gasped, drawing both men's attention to her.

Vincent dropped the gun as if it burned, and it fell onto the bedspread beside him. Yuffie looked between the two before grabbing her bag and her shuriken and bolting out of the room.

"Somehow," Barret said suddenly, still staring after the young girl, "I neva' thought I'd see 'er do tha'." Vincent sighed.

"She seems to do it more often then naught when I am present," he lamented, feeling slightly guilty. Barret looked at the man with admiring eyes for a few moments.

"I think I'll stick with you then," he said with a nod. "If she don't bother you, then there ain't no way I'm stickin' round those poor fucka's."

Vincent watched Barret with distaste as the man left the room, still muttering about Vincent being "one lucky fucker". He shook his head once more and retrieved his gun from where he had dropped it. If she continued running away every time he drew near, he had a feeling he'd have even more to atone for than he already did. Sighing, Vincent rose from the bed, retrieved his own bag, and strode out of the room without a look back.

-----------------------------------

"HE'S A WHAT?" Cid screeched at Cloud, Cait Sith stood (does that thing actually stand?) nearby looking at the floor.

"You heard me the first three times!" Cloud declared as Yuffie came bounding down the stairs.

"What'd I miss?" she said after surveying Cloud and Cid for a moment.

"That fuckin' cat is a fuckin' Shinra SPY!" Cid bellowed at her, Yuffie looked taken aback before the statement registered.

"WHAT?" She shouted her hands planting themselves on her hips as she turned to face Cait Sith. "HOW DARE YOU!"

Barret came hobbling down the stairs and began shouting random obscenities at Cait Sith. That's when Vincent brushed into the room like a great, red wind. He stared at the screaming Yuffie for a moment before turning his crimson gaze to Cloud.

"What did I miss?" He said as soon as he was in hearing range of Cloud, Cloud shook his head.

"Cait Sith is a spy for Shinra, that's how they've been following us. He… He gave them the keystone to the Temple of the Ancients…" Cloud said finally, lowering his gaze to the floor. "We never should've trusted him, and now we're stuck…"

"AND WE LET YOU SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM AS US YOU PERVERTED, DIRTY, LITTLE…"

"YUFFIE!" Tifa and Aeris yelled in unison, Yuffie had begun screaming at Cait Sith over Barret, and now both girls were trying to pull her away from strangling the stuffed Mog. Her bag had been thrown to the floor, and her shuriken lay not far from it. She was struggling against Tifa, who was holding her shoulders, and Aeris, who had thrown both arms about the girls waist, as they tried to drag her away from the creature, who was now making rude hand gestures in her direction.

"YOU STUPID TOY! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR IT!" She was screaming as she finally broke free of Aeris.

Vincent gave Cloud a sideways look before stepping up to assist Tifa in her struggle against the teenager. He placed one hand on Yuffie's shoulder, and she froze almost instantly.

"Yuffie, I do believe you are overreacting." He said in a soft whisper, Yuffie's arms fell to her sides and she jerked away from Tifa, who was grinning at her. She grabbed her things off the floor and stomped out of the room, kicking Cait Sith as she passed. Tifa and Aeris exchanged a goofy grin before running out after Yuffie.

"What're we supposed t'do now?" Cid asked as he lit a fresh Cigarette, Cloud looked at Cait Sith.

"Are you going to stop us from going to the Temple?" he asked blankly, Cait's shoulders slumped (does he have shoulders?).

"I know I betrayed you guys, but couldn't you pretend that it's like before?" He asked pathetically. "I mean, yeah I'm controlled by a Shinra employee, but I like you guys."

"That doesn't answer the fuckin' question." Cid hissed at him, without removing the cigarette. Cait looked at Red, who was making a point not to look at him in anyway.

"But how're supposed to be a team if you guys don't trust me?" He asked again, Vincent repressed a chuckle.

"I think the point is that we are stuck with you." He said in an almost jovial tone, no body noticed.

"He's right," Cloud said finally. "You betrayed us, you've been passing information to them since the moment you joined us. Can you really blame us if we don't want you on the team?"

"I won't stop you," Cait muttered.

"Then we're going," Cloud declared, Barret opened his mouth to argue. "NOW."

--------------------------------

Yuffie slammed her foot into a tombstone as she passed it, her embarrassment doubled as a sharp pain shot through her foot.

"Stupid fuc-"

"Oh Yuffie!" Tifa giggled as she came bounding towards the younger girl with Aeris right behind her. Yuffie groaned inwardly and put on her happy mask.

"Hey Guys!" She said happily as the two stopped in front of her, mischievous smiles on both their faces.

"So," Tifa said.

"So…" Yuffie replied, trying to pretend she didn't know what was coming.

"He's cute isn't he," Aeris said suddenly, Yuffie blushed.

"W-what?" she stuttered, Tifa nodded.

"And well built," she added.

"What're you guys talking about?" Yuffie tried to pretend she wasn't involved in this conversation.

"Vincent," they stated together. Yuffie swallowed heavily and grinned at them.

"What about the monster man?" she said placidly.

"You left the Chocobo races nearly an hour and a half ago, and the manager told us when we came in that you had gone up to your room…" Aeris said with a giggle, Yuffie went pale.

"And…"

"And Vincent never left." Tifa finished, Yuffie's eyes got wide as saucers.

"You can't be serious!" A forced look of minor revulsion made its way onto Yuffie's face. "That's disgusting!"

Both girls burst out laughing and Tifa clapped Yuffie on the shoulder.

"We're kidding, we know he'd never go for a girl like you!" Tifa said happily, thinking it was what Yuffie wanted to hear.

"What'd you mean a girl like me?" Yuffie said in a meek voice, both girls frowned.

"Well, you know…" Tifa began.

"A tomboy," Aeris said calmly.

"What's wrong with being a tomboy?" Yuffie asked, tugging on her shirt a little bit.

"Well nothing but… well he just seems to like girls who wear dresses," Aeris began.

"And skirts," Tifa added.

"Who can look after themselves," Aeris tacked on.

"Without needing to be rescued too often," Tifa finalized.

Yuffie was frowning at them now.

"Oh with long hair," Aeris added, obviously too caught up to notice.

"How do you know all this?" Yuffie asked finally, Tifa stared at her.

"Hun, I worked at a bar in Midgar, I know what kind of girl certain guys like." She stated plainly, putting on hand on her hip. "It's like second nature to me now."

"OK, but how d'you know?" She asked Aeris, Aeris shrugged.

"I'm a people person, I just pick this stuff up." Was the simple reply, Yuffie ran her fingers through her short hair.

"So Vincent's the kinda guy who likes girls who wear dresses and skirts," she stated.

"Yes," Aeris replied.

"And have long hair," Yuffie added on.

"Exactly," Tifa said happily.

"I think you're both crazy." She said, turning her back on them as the boys started making their way towards the small group.

"Why's that?" Tifa asked, oblivious to the boys.

"Because you can't just… just know all that without being told!" Yuffie said sharply turning back to face them. "I mean what if you're just stereotyping?"

Tifa laughed and put a comforting arm around Yuffie's shoulders.

"Yuffie, trust me. I know what I'm talking about, it takes a special kind of guy to like a girl like you." Tifa said, Yuffie winced and pulled away from her friend roughly.

"Yeah," she snapped. "Apparently he must be crazy."

With that Yuffie stomped off towards the entrance without so much as a glance behind.

----------------------------

Vincent watch Yuffie march away in mild discomfort. With his acute hearing he had heard a little bit of their conversation. Apparently Yuffie had a crush on someone who didn't like her kind of girl, Tifa had tried to console her by telling her it took a special kind of guy to like her. Yuffie had replied harshly and stomped off.

"Where's the brat goin'?" Cid asked as they reached the girls.

"Oh, she wanted a moment to think." Aeris said softly, exchanging concerned glances with Tifa.

"Well, let's mosey then." Cloud replied as he shouldered his sword. "We'd better hurry if we intend to beat Shinra there."

-----------------------------------

Yuffie was sitting outside the cable car, her arms crossed tightly over her small chest. She didn't understand why it bothered her so much that they said Vincent wouldn't like a girl like her. Maybe it was because they'd had the audacity to describe themselves as his ideal girl. It wasn't even that she liked him or anything, it was just the moral of the thing. Assuming he didn't like tomboys was like assuming he was allergic to fish, you wouldn't know unless you asked him.

She leaned her head back to touch the cold metal of the cable car. Vincent made her nervous, she knew that. She found it hard to breathe, much less talk, around the ex-turk, and she didn't like the feeling of not being able to breathe. So she always kept a decent amount of distance between the two of them, finding it just that much easier than asking him to stop making her feel all suffocated when he came near her. The only three times, since he joined the group, that she couldn't escape him was the two instances he had been forced to 'guard' their hotel room and when they'd all piled into the cable car to come to the Golden Saucer. Even then she chose the bed furthest from his and hid under the blankets when he was in the room, and effectively hid herself over by Barret and Cid while in the tightly enclosed space.

Her confrontation with him earlier was still fresh in her mind. She couldn't believe she'd blamed her unease around him on his being different, even more she couldn't believe he'd actually called her a liar for it. She didn't mind that he was different from her, in fact she kind of liked it like that. He was tall, dark and mysterious, everything she never could be. She knew how childish it must've sounded, but it was all she could think of to say, especially since she didn't know why he made her nervous.

"I suppose it could be because he's different from me…" she mused aloud. Something in her mind clicked and Yuffie groaned out loud. "Though it's entirely possible I'm crushing on him too."

Yuffie scrambled to her feet as she saw the group coming, she put her hands on her hips and glared at them.

"Leviathin you guys are s-low." Yuffie snapped at them as she picked up her things and bustled into the cable car. Tifa and Aeris exchanged another glance and grinned, Vincent merely raised an eyebrow as he followed the rest of Avalanche into the cramped car.