A/N: Oh dear, a meeting with the chieftains, how will that turn out? And it would appear that there will be a revelation involving Vincent's condition and why the Wutainese royalty and the guardians of the Pagoda transform into monsters. Do read and review would you kindly?

Time until Vincent's life expires: 22 days, 5 months…

Today was the day…if things go well, then Wutai would be having an easier time—the two people would be joining together. Cultures would be exchanged, as well as an opportunity to bury any hatchets the two peoples would be having up to this point. Vincent sat around in his wheelchair taking his dose of medicine with Yuffie next to him, and a servant prepared to push the seat as Cid and Shera started staying at the inn nearby the palace. Both were watching and waiting as the chieftains entered the gates of the palace. There were five men…four of whom from Vincent's viewpoint were dressed in the robes of chieftains his mother had told him about—each one representing an element and a territory where that tribe hailed from. The man in red robes with orange trim came from the fire tribe to the southern end of the island, known only as the Suzaku tribe. The one in a green pair of baggy pants with blue tattoos all over his bare chest was probably the current chieftain of the Seiryu jungle tribe of the east. The shirtless chieftain wearing a black silk overcoat and khaki pants was leader of the Genbu tribe to the north, and the man in the white changpao was the chieftain of the Byakko tribe to the west. The fifth man however, dressed in flowing yellow and white robes carrying a staff made from an old tree and a wreath of prayer beads around his neck—that must be the current Ouryu hermit, and the grandmaster shaman of the tribes.

The five men walked up slowly towards the married couple, and bowed from the hips after clasping their hands together. It was the shaman that spoke first. Vincent understood, but Yuffie didn't. "The hermit said, 'Empress Kisaragi, the four tribes and I greet you and your husband on this fine day. We hope that the discussion of the peace treaty will hold promise.'" "Tell them that I hope that these discussions come out well too. I just hope that we can benefit from everything that we share with each other." Vincent translated as he was told before he clasped his hands together and bowed from his back. As Vincent looked on at the hermit, he realized that he was looking right at him with a searching look in his eyes…perhaps the shaman would like to have a word with Vincent shortly after…

"Nami, come along…I want my husband to join in these talks."

The servant faced her empress and bowed low. "Yes milady." With that, she grabbed the handlebars to Vincent's wheelchair, and started pushing him such that she turned around to roll back into the palace along with Yuffie at the side, and the five representatives of the tribes following. The next few minutes were spent with everyone walking towards the council chambers. From this part of the palace, governors of the precincts of Wutai can discuss problems from all over the island country. The only ones not included so far in the council are the tribes—as of this day, they are all independent of the Kisaragi Empire, and thus they are not members of the council…however, the only means of correspondence between the tribal nations and the empire comes in the form of trade relations.

Nami may very well have been a servant for the day, but she also happened to be on the current roster of the imperial guard and was one of Yuffie's best friends—as a matter of fact, the entire Ishoka family was friends with the Kisaragi since the day the empire was founded by Kisaragi Heishiro. She had always been there for Yuffie as a friend for the majority of their lives—and five years her senior too. She aided in guarding Yuffie when she was blamed for the geostigma epidemic, and provided a shoulder to cry on when Vincent vanished from the face of the planet after Omega was destroyed and sent back to the Lifestream with Chaos in tow. She remembered the day that she found Yuffie on one of her holidays …

Flashback…roughly two years ago…

Yuffie sat around at the counter with Tifa behind it wiping glasses in front of shelves stocked with all sorts of drinks—some of which she wanted to try, but was too bummed out to do so…there was not much else for her to do except sit around with her head on the counter. Vincent was not around—it left a hole in her heart to know that he could be dead. Tifa had been around yesterday to tell her that Cid had not called yet; and neither had Cloud. It was all she could do not to break down and cry…she had promised her mother on her grave that she would not be crying anymore, and so she waited patiently and holding up the dam. But the sadness and the worry that her heart would be broken by her loss had put cracks in that dam, and she was already leaking. Oh my god, what if Shelke found him first and talked him up? Nah, she wouldn't do that—she has Lucrecia's memories, and so she'll probably be more worried about whether or not Vincent's still angry at her for the revelation that Sephiroth is his son…even though he did tell Lucrecia a few weeks prior to this mess that he was not angry anymore.

As to their relationship, so far, nobody else seems to be able to put two and two together between her and Vincent—mainly because neither of them had said a word of it to anyone in AVALANCHE, save Cid who had the sense not to tell anyone lest he suffers trauma from a pissed-off Vincent. Although Tifa started sending her sympathetic looks since last week…perhaps she suspects something? Nah, there was no way! But she did have another thought on mind; she could have sworn she saw a look of pity in Reeve's eyes giving her time off until it was confirmed that Vincent was alive and kicking. Leviathan, surely you can't be serious! There's no way everyone could know about this! As she thought more on it though, Cloud did volunteer to keep his ears peeled for any bit of news while he was out on the road, Barrett was keeping his eyes open, Nanaki joined Cid and Shelke on the search…oh, Leviathan was serious (at least about everyone suspecting correctly about the relationship), and somehow, she heard him ending that sentence with "…and don't call me Shirley."

She then heard the bells to the door opening. Tifa turned her head towards the new customer with a smile. "Welcome to the Seventh Heaven, how may I help you?"

The stranger sat next to Yuffie, whose face was turned away from the door. "I'd like to try out your Zangan Kick special please." The Zangan Kick was a spiced cocktail—it was twelve sticks of cinnamon and dried peppers soaked in vodka to allow a higher concentration of the juice to diffuse and mixed in with an ounce-for-ounce amount of scrumpy that balanced out the spicy taste with sweetness. It was so spicy that most people order it on the rocks, although some people were daring enough to drink it neat…although it also had the power to make people with colds feel better upon drinking it, due to the medicinal properties of the spices in the drink upon imbibing a single shot neat. "You want that neat or on the rocks?"

"I'll take it on the rocks."

"Okay then, one Zangan Kick on the rocks…coming right up." With that, Tifa started digging around under the counter to find the bottle of vodka she was using to soak the cinnamon sticks and dried peppers in. The stranger then took a seat next to Yuffie…she was so tired from her work that she needed to get some time off—and a holiday of sightseeing in some random place may help. In fact, Edge seemed like a good place to visit at the time…and she could see why—since the economy had been looking a bit better, and due to the fact that a hero from the Meteor incident lives there, she figured she may as well stop there for her vacation time. She sighed as she took a seat next to a girl wearing a blue blouse and yellow shorts…with a familiar short-cut…

"Yuffie? Lady Yuffie, is that you?"

Yuffie's eyes widened in surprise. Oh she knew that voice anywhere! She turned her head to find herself look upwards at the visage of Ishoka Nami…her childhood friend and a member of the Wusheng Imperial Guard. Although she was currently down, Yuffie always had time to act girly with her best friend…in fact…she squealed with her best friend, and the two of them gripped each other in an affectionate hug saved between sisters.

"Nami! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine Yuffie! I'm on vacation now. You?"

Yuffie's smile dropped slightly, but was still there. "Oh the same…helped to save the world again…"

"Wow, that's got to be three times you've helped to save the world. So have you found a boyfriend yet?"

Yuffie was silent…her smile had dropped even more as tears started threatening to pour out—it was then that Nami silently gasped, and realized her mistake. She could do nothing but comfort her friend as the two of them sat down. "I-I'm sorry…I should have known…"

"Don't be Nami-chan…you didn't know…"

She was curious. "What happened to him?"

"I was right there next to him…and then just as the Lifestream was coming towards us, I froze…and then he pushed me out of the way…when I got back up, I couldn't do anything but watch, and call his name out…he's been missing for a while now, and I'm hoping that he hasn't died…although now I'm starting to think he has…"

As she spoke, Nami had her shot placed in front of her. "Yuffie, don't say things like that…you don't know…he might have survived…"

"It's just…I should have done more…I could have saved him…I mean…what if he doesn't come back?"

"If he cares about you the way I think he does, then there's no way he's not going to come back to you."

Her spirit was uplifted a bit, but before Yuffie could say another word, Tifa ran in with a smile on her face. "Yuffie! Come quick! They found him!" Upon hearing those words, Yuffie's eyes widened with surprise before they started squinting with glee. Nami followed her best friend to the back of the bar as she picked up the line from the older woman's hands. "Vincent!"

Present Day…

As the meeting went on, Nami reminisced on the happiness she saw in her sworn sister's eyes that day…and the way that she saw Mrs. Strife's eyes that day, it would seem that this was supposed to be a secret relationship, and yet, it would seem that the lines were not as subtle as the two of them thought. She did laugh when she saw the two of them blushing after being caught hugging—Yuffie, being the tomboy that she was openly claimed that she didn't care that people were watching…she was just glad that he was back.

And going back to the meeting with the chieftains, she noticed that of all four of the tribal representative present, only the chief shaman was silent—it was like he was spending the majority of his stay to look at Vincent. Maybe this shaman knows of his condition…in any case, she paid careful attention to the meeting. The words that the chieftains had used sounded similar to Imperial Wutainese, only different—this was not surprising as the Kisaragi Empire was a small group of tribes that came together and formed an alliance that created the territory that would one day become the imperial capital of Wutai. However, over time, the language was forgotten, and the only remnant of the tribal dialect in Imperial Wutainese was in a few words that sounded similar such as 'yisheng' and 'yisha'.

"And so, gentlemen," began Yuffie, while Vincent translated, "with this arrangement, not only will our relationship with each other go beyond economic purposes, but we'll be able to reunite our people and learn each other's cultures. Think about it…we could end and prevent any future tribal civil wars—that is the main goal of this meeting in addition to making up for lost time. I know that in the past, the empire was not kind to any of the tribes, but that was in the past and over the years after that, we've started getting along a bit better. I just want our people to reunite—to get along with each other and to have a better future together…and in addition to that I would like it if my daughter got to know a part of her blood. A part of her father's blood."

The shaman spoke up, and Vincent translated. "Grandmaster Shaman Wu says that he will discuss this arrangement with the other chieftains over the recess. It's a big decision; some of the tribesmen are conservative and would not want anything to do with the empire while others are more open to change. He also says that by the time the recess is over, they will have come with a clear-cut decision." With that, all the chieftains sat up, and bowed before the empress and her husband while Yuffie did the same. The arrangement was that the tribes would allow a better level for freedom of movement around the island nation, and in exchange, the Empire would build schools and hospitals for the tribes, while allowing tribal students easier access to the new university on the island by making tuition more affordable.

Yuffie turned to face Vincent. "You think they're going to accept the proposal?"

"The offer is too good to be true. And from the looks I gathered in their eyes, it would seem that they too are tired of the civil wars. Perhaps we will be the ones who end it after all these years…and a good thing too."

A cough brought their attention across the table to see the elderly form of the shaman looking at them. "I am sorry to bother your discussion, but I cannot help but notice something your majesty."

Yuffie's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't be surprised empress, in my youth, I've had to deal with Wutainese traders, and so I learned the Imperial Dialect as a result. I'd like to ask the man next to you a question or two."

Vincent bowed before the shaman. "It would be an honor shaman."

"How long ago were you separated from your guardian spirit?"

The response the shaman received was a look of shock. "I can see that you are a biracial child, and so it does not surprise me that you do not know as your parents probably never told you, and so I shall enlighten you. All people born or descended from the tribes are capable of transforming into monsters at will—at birth, a guardian spirit will bond with a tribesman for life; they will remain dormant awaiting an event that will synchronize the spiritual signal of the guardian spirit with the person's soul…once that happens, the process of aging begins to slow down until it has stopped entirely and the guardian spirit will allow the host to transform at will into its form. However in your case, I detect that you have synchronized with your natural guardian spirit and I see two more spirits and a hole where one had once resided. How is this possible?"

"I was experimented on…the scientists who did this to me forcefully merged me with a total of four demons. Only one of them seemed more familiar to me at the time though, while two of them seemed rather new, and the final demon that was 'bonded' to me as you say was Chaos himself. Chaos had been released back into the Lifestream."

"How long ago?"

It was then that he answered. "Two years."

"Then I am sorry—for there is nothing I can do to help you."

Yuffie turned to face the shaman. The hopelessness was clear in her eyes as tears threatened. "Why is that?"

"Normally, when you are separated from your guardian spirit after being synchronized, you would die instantly as your soul is bonded to that spirit for life through thick and through thin, but in your husband's case, he simply lost his immortality and his immune system is, for lack of a better phrase, 'extremely shot to hell', meaning that he will die much more easily, something like a withdrawal symptom if you will. Had he come to me or another shaman within one year after Chaos had been put back into the Lifestream, we would have been able to plug that hole up and he would have been right as rain, but now it's too late—not even putting Chaos back in the hole is going to save him as it's too big to even fit his power, and right now, the combined spiritual power of his other tenants is simply slowing down the rate at which that hole is widening. I'm sorry my lady."

The dam was near the breaking point—Vincent knew it when he saw it on Yuffie's face…and what the shaman had told them before he turned to leave the room with a pained look on his face confirmed his fears that it was hopeless. "Don't apologize," Yuffie finally said, "at least we now know what's happening. I look forward to hearing your answer to the proposal."

Shaman Wu simply opened the door hesitantly, and then closed it behind him. The silence was staggering, and it took five minutes before Vincent reached out to his wife's hand. "Yuffie …"

Her grip immediately tightened around his hand as soon as it made contact. "Don't say it Vince. Don't say anything. There's no use in making me feel better—no, just you being here is enough to comfort me. It's just that it's hard, being told that it's hopeless to save you…it's like, you're looking forward to seeing the good ending of a movie, and then you are broadsided by the sad ending."

"Yuffie, I…" Before Vincent could say another word, Yuffie pulled his head in to lock lips with him. "I'm sorry Vince…it's just…for now at least…I want to forget that I'm going to be losing you…"

Nami looked on at the couple—she was sad that their marriage had to end so soon. Only roughly a year and a half, and already her sister was losing her husband. With that on her mind, she vowed to Vincent silently that she'll ensure that Yuffie would be well taken care of…

A/N: I'm still open for names just so you know…so please, don't be afraid. Do keep it up with the suggestions would you kindly?

Songs Played:

"Departure" by Asakura Noriyuki—Revealing Vincent's condition.

Vocabulary and Culture notes:

Byakko, Seiryu, Suzaku, Genbu, Ouryu—the five celestial beasts of Chinese mythology, each one representing a cardinal direction and a Taoist element: Byakko is the guardian of the west, symbolized by a white tiger, the element is metal; Seiryu is the guardian of the east, symbolized by a green or a blue dragon whose element is wood; Suzaku is the guardian of the south and is a red firebird; Genbu is the black tortoise entwined by a white serpent that guards the north, and is of the water element; Ouryu is the guardian of the center, and is a yellow earth dragon.

Scrumpy—this is basically the alcoholic version of apple cider.

Nami—Yuffie's best friend, her name means 'Wave'.

Changpao—this is the traditional Chinese men's jacket.

Yisheng—this is Mandarin for 'doctor'…the Japanese normally use 'sensei', but 'yisha' is fine too (especially when being specific).