A/N: First stop; Wutai. When Vincent and Yuffie reach the motherland, what changes have been implemented since last we saw of the island nation? And if you're not into smut, then please avoid this chapter. Other than that, do read and review would you kindly?
Time until Vincent's life expires: 24 days, 5 months…
Wutai National Airport…
Vincent sat around as Cid wheeled him around the crowded airport with Yuffie and Shera carrying a strap-on baby carriage with little Blake Highwind inside and following the two men. The hustle and bustle of the crowds watching the four people walk through the sea of bodies…Wutai had been going through many changes ever since Yuffie took power as the new empress after defeating Godo in the pagoda. Her ties with the WRO have aided in rejuvenating the economy—now there is no longer an annual quota for attracting tourists to Wutai as the funds for jump-starting the economy went into the creation of jobs, and one of the biggest industries was in transportation. Newer technologies researched in the island nation led to the creation of better merchant ships than seen in even Midgar for a more efficient means of transportation and trade between the nations…these technologies made it so that all ships could now run at optimum power while using a small amount of fuel. Such technologies have taken Wutai a good distance past modernization as the Wutainese practically on their way to being a more powerful nation than even Midgar in its prime.
In order bring the economy back up to par, Yuffie spent all the money lent to her by Reeve in a gambit on one single resource—a resource that was inspired from her date with Vincent at the Golden Saucer…and that resource was silk! The way she used the money was to loan some eggheads the money to make silk quickly and cheaply while at the very least maintaining the quality that Wutainese silk was known for—and their solution resulted in eco-friendly silk farms where the material was made all year round. The gambit was well worth it as the silk being produced was now mass-produced daily at a significantly lower price while still retaining the comfort, breathability, and durability that Wutainese silk was known for…and now the demand for the textile material was high all around the world.
Vincent's hand in the revival of Wutai came shortly after Yuffie's coronation and before her subsequent marriage to him. A man opposed to the coronation ran through the shrine with a pistol drawn, and Vincent immediately transformed into Galian Beast and tore the man's throat out before he could even pull the trigger. Right then and there, it was clear that before Yuffie could begin implementing her changes to Wutai, order was required—naturally, Vincent was given the task of forming a military police squad. Vincent sent out flyers for volunteers in the military police training program—once he received enough volunteers, he put them through a rigorous three months of firearms training, CQC training, riot control exercises, vehicular activities, and even tactical training…it wasn't long before the recruits that he had hand-picked and trained himself had made their first arrests. Soon, the militia grew large enough with so many volunteers to become the Wutainese Military Police Corps (WMPC) in the three months that followed while cleaning up the city of criminals, running the yakuza into the jail cells, and even gunning down every last member of any terrorist cells found. Even today, after his debilitating condition had been found out, he is still in command of the WMPC and the 13 precincts all over the city of Wutai…until he finds a successor. This is the most important business for him to be here in the first place aside from the list…to find a successor as commander-in-chief that he can trust the safety of the population to—a good cop. And so, their first stop after visiting Godo was at WMPC headquarters…after all, before they decide to embark on the quest to do all on their lists, it helps to tie up all loose ends first, and they had a week or two to do so.
They made their way out of the airport, and into the limousine that was waiting for them. The wheelchair was folded and placed in the trunk while Vincent was gently seated in the car. "Ichiro, we're going to the palace," said Yuffie to the chauffeur, "I want to see my father first."
"Yes ma'am."
Five minutes on the road, Vincent looked at all the buildings—many were still under construction, but he could see the modernization taking effect. Shops were getting renovated with better supports, houses started following the WRO engineering rulebook and thus they were made mostly out of concrete and steel although wooden houses still remain. This also allowed for the introduction of schools for all the economic classes. "The motherland has come a long way now hasn't she Yuffie?" The woman in question turned her head to look at her husband. "And it's all thanks to you…now she no longer has to rely on the charity of other nations—she is now strong and independent…she is beautiful now, the way that we remember her, and she is thanking you for doing this for her." Yuffie smiled—this was his attempt at making her feel better about the situation…however, before she could say a word, Vincent started coughing. She immediately started patting him on the back gently until he settled down before she gave him his medicine and his water bottle.
Dr. Edwards said that the medicine should be taken every six hours, whether or not it is a bloody cough. It would keep his lungs clear and temporarily fix the damage for the next six hours—however it would make him sleepy upon taking the pill, and should knock him out for an hour or two if he does fall asleep. He also said to give him a call should Vincent start coughing blood even after the medicine is taken…this was due to his estimate that if Vincent starts to do so again, he will be weakened even further, thus saying that his time is almost up.
Yuffie looked on at the form of her husband as he slipped away onto the dreamland express. She always did enjoy watching him sleep—especially on those rare instances when she wakes up before he does. It wouldn't be long before she followed Vincent on that same car to dreamland…
Flashback…roughly three years ago…
The lights of the town below his apartment were a very beautiful sight, especially in the nightfall. No fireworks yet, but the festival added to the life in Kalm whenever it happened. Although he liked to travel more, Vincent always found himself coming back to this apartment—his travels never took him more than a day to get back nowadays for some strange reason. As he kept his status Oscar Mike, he kept on thinking back to the day he spoke with Lucrecia—the anger at the time he realized that he had aided in the death of his own son…but then again, Vincent realized that his anger was not directed at Lucrecia, rather it was directed at himself as usual…if he had been stronger in convincing her not to go through with it…if only he had reacted fast enough to kill Hojo…maybe he would have been holding Sephiroth in his arms and treated him the way he deserved to be treated—perhaps if Sephiroth knew what a real family was like, he would not have gone insane and he would not have been forced to kill him.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of knocking at his apartment door. Vincent put down the glass filled with Casa de Rodriguez Del Solian Sherry, turned from his seat on the open windowsill near his bed, and started walking towards the front door. The apartment was simple yet elegant, but it sufficed for his practical needs—his inheritance from Grimoire and the interest accumulated from his paychecks as a Turk and his military stipend were more than enough to pay for this apartment and still ensure that he would never need to work again, but he didn't add any furniture to the place. How could he when the apartment came with it already? Once he arrived at the hand-carved oak door, he took a look through the peephole, hiding his custom-built .500 S&W triple-barreled revolver Cerberus behind his back in case things got hot…upon looking through the hole, he saw a teenage girl holding what looked like a red pizza warmer. A diversion no doubt, because he certainly had not ordered pizza…oh well, he'd better humor a certain someone to see if his suspicions were correct. He then gently placed Cerberus on the table next to the door, and opened it…unknowingly giving the pizza delivery girl a sort of pornographic view of his bare and scarred chest. "Can I help you?"
The delivery girl was too busy ogling at him to answer—her iron-gray eyes were looking over each rippling muscle, and every scar on his body…her only word was 'uhhh' as she was stupefied at what she was looking at. Vincent cleared his throat and got her attention as she looked up at his blood-colored eyes. "Can I help you?"
Upon realizing that she was in the middle of work, the pizza delivery girl immediately started stammering and blushing as she shook the naughty thoughts out of her brain…although the naughty thoughts still remained and gave her a bloody nose. "Uh…ummm, yeah, I have an order here for a Mr. Valentine from Brick House Pizza…a 16-inch, 12-slice combo pizza…this comes on down to 13 gil."
"Well then…this is a good deal actually. I never ordered it, but I won't pass up a bargain." With that, Vincent pulled the wallet out from the table next to the door, and began fishing through the coin pouch until he found one silver coin and three of copper, and handed them to the teenager. He also found a platinum 25 gil coin, and placed it in her hand before moving his head in closer to whisper in her ear. "Your tip, and to compensate for any further troubles to your boss." As soon as he pulled away, the pizza delivery girl's face became the color of a tomato as she opened the pizza warmer, and pulled out the cardboard box holding the said pizza and handing it to Vincent. "Thank-you so much."
"N-no sir, thank-you for the wonderful business!"
The second he closed the door, Vincent could have sworn he heard giggling from behind it, as well as the footfalls of the delivery girl running away. He sighed as he walked back into the apartment—now his stalker was inside. "You do realize that you owe me money now don't you?"
From the shadows of his bedroom, Vincent heard the giggling of a certain girl—no, woman now, after the events of the past year or so. "Aw, come on Vinnie, you have to admit, it was brilliant!" He knew it…only Yuffie would come up with something this stupid…but that was what he loved about her—she always seemed to be able to surprise him, and as he thought of it, he noted that she had walked out of the shadows of his bedroom with his glass of sherry in her hands…the now eighteen-year-old Yuffie was standing in front of him.
"Oh my god Vince, you're looking so good tonight."
"As are you."
The next thing that happened was that Yuffie moved on in and embraced Vincent in a passionate hug. "I missed you so much…"
His response to her loving grip was to move his hand to her back and start stroking her short hair. "Likewise. And you happened to have ordered this pizza at a good time. I haven't eaten anything just yet, and I was about to go order something."
He simply sighed as he guided her to the sofa while placing the pizza box on the table in front of the sofa. Once he sat her down, he went into the kitchen, and found two ceramic plates before moving to the refrigerator. "Is there anything in particular you want with your pizza?"
"I'd like what you're drinking."
"Are you sure? This sherry is different from the sakè back home…and this is because I just opened the bottle."
"I'll be fine. You forget…us Wutainese have been drinking for a while now. I've built up a tolerance from drinking sake with my food—believe me, now it takes a lot of shots to bring me down."
Vincent smirked only a little. "Well my mother insisted that I was too young to drink on my own as I was growing up, so I wouldn't know—the only time that I would get to even touch a shot of wine was on our birthdays when she would bring out the cups and we would toast to take the shot as was the tradition…other than that, she kept me on a balanced diet with tea. I did not become an enthusiast for wine until Grimoire took me away from Wutai, although he did also increase my vocabulary in teas. Anyway, are you sure that you want to? Because Casa de Rodriguez sherry is really strong."
"Just serve the damn wine!"
He simply shrugged his shoulders as he pulled out the glass. "It's your funeral."
With that, he carried two plates, the glass, and the bottle of Casa de Rodriguez towards the living room, and opened the box to serve the pizzas…one slice each. Vincent's next move was to uncork the bottle of sherry, and pour a good-sized amount of wine for Yuffie and then served the food and drink to her. The two lifted their glasses, toasted, and then drank the wine…Yuffie choked a bit when tasting the drink before Vincent raised a hand and started patting her gently. "What the hell kind of drink is this? Wasabi juice?"
He simply chuckled. "This sherry is of a higher proof than the average filtered sakè you're used to, so it should be expected that it would warm your throat. Eat the pizza—the sherry should have made it taste better by now." With that said, Yuffie eyed her pizza suspiciously. She then took a bite out of that gooey and greasy, yet delicious bit of cooking genius—and to her surprise, it actually tasted much better as the bitterness of the sherry had enhanced her taste buds to the point that she could taste all the subtle nuances in the pizza that made it good, from the creaminess of the cheese to the savory and spicy flavor of the pepperoni, all the way down to the slight acidic flavor of the tomato paste.
"Good?"
She spoke shortly after swallowing. "Heavenly."
"So how are things back at Wutai? Have the people been treating you better now that the geostigma epidemic is over?" It was then that he started on his pizza.
"Yeah. Things have been getting better—now they're apologizing for the hell they put me through over the last year or so, my relationship with dad is getting better thanks to your talk when I was 16, the economy is starting to stabilize so that we won't need to rely on tourists so much…all sorts of good things…"
As he swallowed his food, Vincent caught the look of weariness on her face—there was something else. "What happened?"
Yuffie sighed as knew she couldn't avoid it. "Everyone's starting to ask questions."
Just as he was sipping away at his sherry, Vincent nearly choked upon hearing that phrase—it was then that he cleared his throat upon regaining his senses while wiping his mouth with the napkin provided with the pizza. "Are you speaking of everyone back at Wutai or in AVALANCHE?"
"No…it started off in Wutai, and then everyone started gossiping."
"How long has this been happening, and how did it start?"
Yuffie then sighed…it was probably going to be a long story. "Well…first, dad came up to me a few weeks ago and started setting me up with various suitors. I told him that I was not interested, but he was not going to have any of it (you and I both know I have to be married by the time I'm 20), so I tried to tell him that I was not interested because my heart already belonged to someone. Needless to say, he kept asking questions…to the point that he had to resort to asking Chekov to come on in and get the information from me in our sleepover a few weeks ago…Shake too. Now don't get me wrong, those two are like sisters to me, but I didn't want to share what we have with them…I think that's the reason we're still going good and hot—even though we have a sort of long-distance relationship, it's surviving because it's a secret.
"So anyway, one day, I decided to leave and pay a visit to Tifa first, and I heard from her that the whole world was making gossip behind my back…you wouldn't believe how many outlandish rumors I've heard. Some said that I lied to dad so that he'd get off my back…others said that I sold my body off to some dirty old man…and even one rumor stated that I was dating Cloud! Could you believe that?"
Vincent chuckled lightly…in the time that Yuffie had spent with him, she knew how rare even a giggle from him was, and so she cherished them very much. "I'm sorry Yuffie, but I can't help but think that one of them was ironically correct in a way. You haven't sold your body to me, but the fact remains that you are seeing an old man…"
The look in her eyes at that point had changed before she grinned lustfully while putting her plate and wine down. "Yeah…you're a bad old man all right…but you know what? I'm an even naughtier little girl!" That one phrase was enough to make his manhood stand at attention—not enough to allow his desire to take over, but still enough to get him slightly aroused. What made him forget about eating however was what she said next—the second that she positioned her mouth next to his ear, her breath and her words immediately hardened his cock even more: "I want you to punish me, because I've been a very bad little girl!"
The desire was too much—suddenly, he no longer was in the mood for pizza…no, not when Vincent found himself devouring Yuffie's throat, eliciting a moan as he dropped the dish onto the table started rubbing her breast with one hand while moving upwards of her neck one kiss at a time before he targeted her mouth. The savory taste of the pizza and the bitter taste of the sherry were dwarfed by the sweetness of Yuffie's passionate kiss being returned…oh how he missed that peach-like taste from almost two years ago. As they were locked in their kiss, Yuffie moved her hands down Vincent's pants, and started unbuttoning and unzipping them while his movements did the same to her shorts. Vincent pulled her into him with his left arm while using the right hand to slip under her panties and then start rubbing her clit as she returned the movement by running her finger up and down his manhood through his red boxers in a smooth and gentle motion. It wouldn't be long until the two of them started panting the second they released at the same time.
Vincent moved his head closer to Yuffie's ear, and whispered. "Forget dinner, I think I'll be enjoying my dessert now…but first, what says you to continuing this part of the meal in a setting that is more…comfortable?" The electric feeling of ecstasy that ran down Yuffie's spine upon hearing that sentence registering oh-so-gently amplified her senses more than the feeling of the whisper blowing gently past her ear. Oh, she knew what he was saying…and she had to agree—the bed was a much better place for lovemaking than the couch…and for suggesting it, she will ride him, and she will ride him hard! And that was exactly what she was planning to do as she followed his steps to the bedroom.
The second they both reached the room, Yuffie nearly had a nosebleed upon seeing those loose black leather pants fall to the ground—she wasted no time in stripping down ever-so-slowly the second Vincent turned to look at her. The desire was there, as was all the passion and love, and it only heightened his lust as he watched Yuffie slip the shirt off, before throwing it towards his face and then sauntering closer to him as she unclasped her bra to reveal her size 32B breasts. As she swung her hips around, her shorts had fallen off—revealing a pair of green underwear with a white rose motif on the back. Her lustful smile made it all the more desirable for him—he can't wait anymore, but fortunately for him, it was Yuffie that made the first move again. It would appear that her signature move would be the pounce, as the second she was within a few inches of his chest, she wrapped her arms around his back and started devouring Vincent's neck, eliciting a groan of pleasure from the man while she used her right leg to straddle his thigh and his scrotum in an up-down motion while Vincent teased her clit with his ungloved left hand.
As she had her nose over his body, Yuffie breathed in the scent of her favorite gunslinger. The smell of gunpowder, hot tea, and fresh Wutainese spices were making her even hotter and wetter than when the two of them teased each other earlier, and the groans coming out of Vincent's throat with each kiss were not cooling her down any. The minute her kisses moved on into his mouth, she tasted a very good sensation as soon as she danced her tongue with his—cinnamon with a hint of apple…it's been so long since she last tasted this kiss. In the middle of her straddling, she found that he had hardened again…oh she'll want some more heat coming out of that man that she so loved. She wasted no time in breaking their kiss and starting to kiss him on the cheek, before moving down his neck, following through with biting on the elastic of his boxers and then pulling downwards and letting his manhood gently touch her on the nose before she moved her mouth to kiss it at the base. The next move she made was to run her tongue up and down the member ten times before swirling her tongue at the tip in a few turns, and then engorging it and using the entirety of her mouth to stroke it.
Vincent could not resist but to put his hands behind her head, pushing it down in rhythm with her movements, groaning every time she went downward…it was not like the blowjob she gave him on their first time together—at the time, she did it while trying her best to make it feel good. This time, it started off like that, but tonight, she had a new addition to her technique; she didn't jump right into the deep-throat immediately…she started off halfway on the shaft, keeping the motions going up and down up to that point several times before finally going down all the way on what he counted as the sixth stroke—it was then that he had voiced the question in his head. "Your technique here has gotten better. Where did you pick this up?" Yuffie pulled her head off of his cock, and started stroking him with her left hand—a small and lustful grin on her face as she turned her body around and positioned his face in front of her nether-lips. "You have our first time together to thank for that—every summer since that day I've been getting dirty thoughts of you and your friend here whenever I buy a popsicle, and so I imagined the popsicle to be your cock as I licked every inch of it."
It was then that she gently smashed her pussy down as he put his arms around her hips to close it towards his mouth…Vincent then started bucking his hips forward while he licked up and down on the slit several times before digging his tongue inside her—and then sucking away at the area as he teased her vagina with his tongue with every attempt to go deeper. Yuffie noticed him gasp and she felt a hot and slimy sensation in her hand and she briefly went into a spasm as she found herself squirting her juices onto Vincent's face…she stroked his cock a few more times with her mouth in order to lubricate it in his cum, and then she positioned herself over his rod before impaling herself on the length. The moan that elicited from her throat was enough to guarantee that Vincent's manhood would be raging while she started moving up and down the roughly nine inch-long and four inch-thick length of hot and hardened meat and blood vessels slowly in a rhythmic motion as she turned and faced him—the motions were reciprocated with Vincent bucking his hips as she moved downward on the shaft.
It was then that the two of them gripped each other in an embrace, Yuffie around Vincent's neck, and Vincent from around the small of her back. As they bucked their hips in synchronization with each others' movements, their lips were locked together in a passionate kiss—giving each the opportunity to taste themselves in each other's mouths while their tongues danced around. The motions were slow and gentle—it wouldn't be long now…Yuffie promised herself that she'd ride him hard, and that's what she gradually did with every up-and-down motion…she was getting closer, and Vincent knew it—and in response, his ministrations moved faster while they grabbed each other's hands through their fingers as Yuffie flung her head backward, giving Vincent a better view of her small and pert breasts bouncing in front of him.
The rate at which the ministrations happened had increased as did the strength of each thrust. "Oh yes…yes, right there! Right there! Fuck me harder! Harder! Har…aaah!"
It was then that Yuffie clenched herself around Vincent's length did the two of them finally release.
"YUFFIE!"
"VINCENT!"
Their bodies had been frozen in place as the orgasm washed through them, vibrating them in pleasure before Yuffie pulled herself off weakly and fell forward onto Vincent's body as he pulled the blanket over them…this night's session of love-making was tiring…the last thing that Yuffie remembered was that she was cuddling up to Vincent and holding him to his chest as her legs straddled him
The next morning, Yuffie woke up first…feeling something around her. As she looked around, she found that she was being hugged by Vincent. Now they were cuddling each other—and as she looked up, she saw Vincent's face smoothed out. Usually, he was the first to awaken, but this was the first time she had seen Vincent like this—he was so peaceful, almost like when she first saw him. However, unlike that time, she didn't get that good of a look due to the cloak obstructing the lower end of his face, and she was never really a view this close up to him before. It was so beautiful that she couldn't break her gaze of him sleeping—morbid because his pale skin made him look like a corpse, but beautiful nonetheless. She gently reached her hand out, and gently ran it against his cheek, then his around his jaw before she moved on in and embraced him by his neck as she started kissing it. Hearing him groan slightly, she knew she woke him. "The second time we do this, and for some reason you never failed make it as special as that time—maybe even better."
She grinned lustfully at her lover. "Because I'm me, and I'll make anything special!" Her smile then started to shrink ever-so-slightly. "So…we have to go back to the 'you have no right to call this number' routine?"
He kissed her forehead. "For as long as it takes for you to be ready to break it to everybody. And when you do, I'll be there with you…holding your hand if you wish it."
The smile on her face had increased in size before she planted a kiss on Vincent's lips. "Vince, I'll always have your hand in mine—even if you're not there, I can just see you here."
The two of them dressed up and Vincent had escorted her out of the apartment, even going to see her off to the chocobo stables where her loyal gold "Kenji" sat around and watched waved to her as she rode off into the daylight. "You do realize that it was unnecessary and impolite to spy on us like you did correct?"
Out from the shadows, and lone figure had emerged—his body type was much more muscular than Vincent's lithe frame, but it still kept true to the feline body type that the Wutainese were known for. If Yuffie could compare the two men right now, she would consider Vincent to be reminiscent of a tiger due to his scars, while Godo was more lion-like with his muscular form, beard, and shaggy long hair. "How long have you known Valentine?"
"Oh dear—still no respect for your elders I see. Eh, I've known you've been following Yuffie since I noticed you sneaking out of my bedroom in that inappropriate scene for you last night. And let me tell you, you've gotten better at moving stealthily since I last saw you—hence why she never noticed you…but you're still very messy in your technique, hence why I did."
"And you expect me to keep up with you? You've been 27 for the past thirty or so years; of course you're still better at sneaking around than me—even if you've gotten rusty I can't seem to remain undetected to you."
"So, is there any reason why you wanted so badly to know who your daughter was with? You of all people know that I don't take kindly to perverts, even if they were my best friends."
Godo sighed. "I guess I was overly worried. I know that I shouldn't have seen what I saw, but I was still concerned…I knew my daughter was in love with someone, but I never figured that it would be you. The question I have however is; what are your intentions with her?"
Vincent, growing up in Wutai, could see where this was coming from. The concerned father of any Wutainese girl had the right to ask the intentions of her lover—the same could be said of any loving and caring parent. "It is as you saw Godo. I really do love her…but I can see in her eyes that she's not ready for marriage just yet. I've already come to realize that Dr. Crescent was not the one for me—I will always have a small place in my heart for her despite everything that had happened, but now Yuffie has occupied the majority of it. When she feels that she's ready to hear the wedding bells, I'll be waiting for her…if she is not; then all I can say is that she is a woman worth waiting for—even if I have to wait another thirty years to see her again."
The tone of sincerity in his friend's voice was clear. Godo knew that Vincent was a man of his word…and he was content to know that his daughter fell in love with the right man. It made him happy to know that there was still a Wutainese man walking about that was not related to her by blood—even if he was biracial, which made him a social pariah during his childhood. The reason being that all of the Wutainese men that were unrelated to Yuffie had died during the war…thus it was now accepted for the royalty to have a peasant spouse—as the aftermath of a war with that sort of outcome tends to leave everyone with little choice in terms of unrelated marriage partners.
"Are you going to make this public?"
"Are you kidding? This would top the charts as number-one scandal in Wutai. I had hoped it false, but now I know that the rumor of dating an AVALANCHE member is true…it's just that it won't be who everyone thinks."
"And I suppose you're not going to say a word of my confession to Yuffie."
"I already know she's in good hands. There's no need for me to press the issue any further."
"Ah yes, and before you go…the day after my first time with Yuffie…I saw the spirit of Michiko. She looked happy, although she also seemed sad that she went to the Lifestream without you—before she went back, she made me promise to take care of Yuffie, and even though she never said a word about it, I know she'll be waiting for you on the other side when it's your time."
Vincent didn't need to turn around to know that his friend had left. Godo now had information of his wife and that was enough to brighten that spark he had in his heart. With that said, he left, and went back to his apartment…
Present Day…
"Are you certain of this Yuffie?" asked Godo, looking at his pregnant daughter, and his friend-turned-son-in-law, "That Vincent is going to die?"
Vincent lay in the bed, listening in on the conversation as he took his pill—somewhere in the middle of their drive here to the palace, she put him here so that he could rest. From what he could hear, her voice had sounded dead—oh Godo knew she was serious all right. Yuffie had spent the last hour or so telling him everything that had been happening so far. It was hard to accept that his son-in-law was going to die; and a year and a half into his marriage to his daughter to boot…that was way too soon for that 'until death do they part' clause of the marriage. "Look, we're here to take like one week to get our affairs in order before we go gallivanting around to finish our lists off. Vincent doesn't have much time, so the sooner we finish everything off, the better, because then we'll have more time to do everything. I mostly came to get a head start on everything by telling you first…after that, we have to get everything written up—a will, the final diplomas for the graduates from the military police academy, the next person to take up Vincent's position, everything."
"And I don't blame you for taking that one week. But still, are you sure that you're okay with this? What about the princess inside of my princess? What are you going to do when her father is not around to help you take care of her?"
"Dad, I'll manage. I know that being a single mom is not going to be a walk in the park, especially not for me. But it's worth it because she'll be all I have left to remember Vincent by when his time comes and so I'll treasure every moment I spend with her, the good and the bad. Who knows? She may even be there for you should my time come earlier than expected. In any case, I'm adamant on still having the baby."
"Very well then, I'll see what I can do to help you. Oh yes, and by the way, several of the tribal chieftains have come here to see you for some peace and trade agreements. You know how they are like…actually on second thought; Vincent does, given that his mother came from the tribes prior to her enlistment in the imperial guard. They'll come back in two days, but when they do, I would recommend that you bring Vincent with you as I recall that he also speaks their dialect."
The Wutainese tribes have remained independent from the Kisaragi Empire, and up until the war against Shin-Ra, they had a tenuous truce with the empire. After Shin-Ra ended the war with the death of Empress Kisaragi Michiko, relationships between the two nations were virtually nonexistent—for after the defeat of the entire country to Shin-Ra, the Kisaragi Empire was knocked off its high horse of pride, and eventually resorted to tourism, criminal families, and gambling to fuel its economy, and so there was not much chance to actually connect. However, after the Meteor Incident, the Geostigma Epidemic, and the Deepground Invasion, the ties between the two nations strengthened, especially after the Deepground Invasion where Yuffie was named empress and she had unlocked the ability to transform herself with lessons from Vincent, the guardians of the Pagoda, and Godo himself.
According to what Vincent's mother taught him, the tribes were each a nation unto themselves; each one representing a territory on the island. The behaviors of each tribe matches where everybody comes from; for example, the members of the jungle tribe from which his mother came are the strong and silent type, with a heavy emphasis on ancestor worship and veneration of Da Chao—they are well-known among the tribes for being fine marksmen, and peerless hunters. As he thought on it, Vincent knew they'll have somewhat of a difficult time in the span of two days given that the tribes tended to favor associating with themselves, as he was not certain which tribes would be in attendance for this.
Before he could think anymore on it, he heard the sound of the door creaking closed. Vincent lifted his head to see his wife and empress sauntering towards him playfully. "Are you nervous about that meeting in two days?" she asked, laying down next to him on the bed, and then grinding her leg on his thigh, "I am," he stated, "but only because it's likely I'll be meeting other tribesmen for the first time. What about you?"
"The same…but only because the only member of the tribes I know of is you."
"Don't worry. I won't leave your side when it happens."
"Have you taken your medicine yet?"
"That I have."
"Then you won't mind if we join you in the bed?"
Vincent smiled. "Only if I get to talk to our little princess again."
Yuffie's smile was brief before it fell. "What's wrong Yuffie?"
"I just realized that the last time you do this for her is tomorrow."
Vincent's smile fell as he knew of what she spoke of. The Doctor Edwards only said that the most he could get was six months in total if he was lucky. It was then that his smile went back up ever-so-slightly. "Then we'll treasure every word that I say to her. But at the same time we have to remember to give her a name." It was then that he weakly started to shift his body towards the foot of the bed until he had his head close to her belly. Vincent pressed his head against the child-swollen lump of flesh that was Yuffie's belly, and held it close with what strength he had left.
"Do you hear that my little princess? We'll treasure every word I say to you. And I want you to know that I love you…even from the Lifestream, I'll always love you and your mother. Remember that."
Yuffie didn't know what to say—tomorrow could be the last day that he gets to spend time with their daughter. She simply held Vincent's head to her belly, and cried herself to sleep with silent tears of sadness. She'll do everything in her power to make Vincent's last days on this world the best he ever had, and she'll make sure that he gets to at least see his daughter before his time comes…this she swears!
A/N: Ahhh…the 16-inch, 12-slice combo pizza…brings back memories from California when I enjoyed these babies from Costco! They were of a very good quality, and of a reasonable price—nothing compared to the better pizza places though…with pepperoni, green peppers, those spicy meatball-things, red onions, maybe a mushroom or two, and black olives…yeah, those were the days. As to the sherry with pizza, I've yet to actually try that—this is based on what I've heard about for wine-food pairings (red wine goes well with red meat dishes, white wine and beer goes well with poultry and fish, vodka goes well with caviar, etc.). And as for the name of Vincent and Yuffie's daughter, suggestions for names would be lovely: I already have Victoria, Aoi, Tsubaki, and Shiroyuki on my mind.
And my views on what demon enhanced what in Vincent:
Galian Beast: Speed, and physical senses (better vision, enhanced hearing, sharper nose)
Death Gigas: Strength and stamina
Hellmasker: Immune system strengthened, and the ability to see, hear, and sense ghosts
Chaos: Mystic attack and defense
Songs Played:
"White Car" by Atom—the drive through Wutai and arrival.
Vocabulary:
Ichiro—the chauffeur's name…in China and Japan, you can name your son after the order in which they are born (in Japan, Ichiro is the first-born son, Jiro is second, Saburo is third, Shiro is fourth, and so on).
.500 S&W—short for ".500 Smith and Wesson Magnum"; this is a revolver bullet, and a rather large one at that. Because it's a magnum round, it has plenty of stopping power due to it being a rather heavy bullet, however, the gun used to fire it is usually slower to fire, and you have to deal with a larger amount of recoil. Because Vincent's strength has been enhanced a bit, it's no problem.