Author's Note: Well, I can't believe it's already been a week, but here's a new chapter! I know some people are probably going to kill me cause I haven't fully revealed what happened between the two, but I promise you will find out next chapter!

Thanks again for my lovely Lizz-sama, who has been wonderful and super helpful, and of course my readers, and reviewers, and yeah c:

Well, onwards we go!

Even If It Was Only For The Night

"Yuffie." her voice was soft and as it gently sang to me,
I began to cry.
Soon it was unstoppable as I felt my mother's arms wrap around me.
"Yuffie, are you okay?"

"..I..," I wiped my eyes on the back of my hand.
"I think so mom,"
trying to get the thoughts together, was hard.
But vocalizing them and getting them out was harder.
"I'll be alright."

Just hearing my mother breathe was comforting.
The smell of her, even more.
I couldn't think of anything else I wanted more than
just to sit there in the middle of nowhere with her.
We used to go outside in the garden,
and sit there for hours.
Just being together, and laughing.
Me, suddenly forgetting what room my lecture was in,
and her never mentioning the fact that I had lectures in the first place.
Those were the most precious memories I held.
She was the most precious person,
in my life.
It was only right that someone had to take her away,
because I don't deserve someone as great.

"I'm here for you Yuffie,"
her sincerity was more than I could process.
I tried to tell her how much I miss her.
And how much I wanted her back with me,
but all I could talk about was myself.

"It's over mom. Everything.
I don't know what's wrong with me. I just don't know,"
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down a little.
It wasn't easy and my lungs felt like collapsing.
I stared up at the sky and I knew I was safe.
No matter what happened that night,
I was safe in my dreams,
and with my mother,
even if it was only for the night.

"Yuffie, don't do this to yourself,"
she sounded so desperate and out of breath
as if she'd gone through the same thing.

"Mom, you don't understand.
It's my fault. It is. It doesn't matter how you see it.
I do this to myself, time and time again,"
my sentences were so poorly put together,
made of the broken words of a broken one.
They cut through my lips and made me feel weak.

If there is one thing in the world that I cannot stand,
it is to feel impotent.
I am a human with approximately 206 bones and over 10 trillion cells.
I'm pretty much the same as you
give or take a few inches, motives, and genes.
And so I'm always thinking to myself,
how could you let this get you down?
Because if you are so much like everyone else,
why aren't you stronger than this?
I think the part about that, that disappoints me the most,
is that I can't answer the questions.
I don't even know.

My mother was fading faster than what I had with Vincent.
Although, I know she would've stayed if I really wanted her to.
I could hear her breathe and it kept me steady
but it wasn't enough of a reason to keep on hiding from reality.
It wasn't enough of a reason,
to keep my mother feeling sorry for me.

"Yuffie, take a deep breath. I'll do it with you,"
childish as it seems, she used to always tell me to.
She knew how much it helped me calm down.
She also knew that I could never do it alone.
She knew a lot about me.

"Okay. Yeah, alright,"
I filled my lungs as much as I could.
As I released air, I pictured everything bad escaping.
I tried to release my thoughts of Vincent and the words said.
It made me fall apart.
I was exasperated and overwhelmed with everything.
My thoughts spun around me faster than I could see.
I closed my eyes and took another breath.

"Now tell me… what's wrong?"
I opened my eyes slowly,
but left my gaze on the floor.
The words I could say wouldn't ever be enough,
and I wrapped my arms around me
to help brace myself for the oncoming impact.

"How could you save someone,
if you don't even know if you have the strength to?
How could you save someone,
who doesn't want your saving?"
My breath hitched in my throat,
and one word after another flew with more conviction than the last.
"How can I leave him behind,
when my life without him is such a blur?"
My body rocked with sobs, and the more I tried to breathe,
the less oxygen made its way to my lungs.

With warm arms my mother took me in,
and held me until my body stilled.
My mother asked me sweetly,
to just close my eyes.
To try and hear each word she spoke.
"Sweetheart, realize that you aren't the mistakes you've made—
and I'm not saying what you did was one.
I've taught you to open yourself up,
when you were unwilling,
and Vincent is the same as you then,
so teach him.
Show him just how bright he shines,
and continue to love him, until he sees for himself."

I took in the words my mother said and
my chest filled with doubt.
I had never felt weaker,
and I refused to admit defeat.
But once you've fallen,
it's hard to stand back up.
Putting myself back together again,
I pushed forward a brave face that could fool even the gods themselves.

"I love you mom. Thank you so much."

"I love you too, my rose. Goodnight, my sweet. I will see you again soon."

I closed my eyes and when I opened them,
I was in my room again.
I turned on my stomach,
and smothered my face in the mattress.
There was nothing else around me.
Everyone was gone.
Gone…
I started to feel sick.
I curled up into a ball and pulled the sheets around me.
I closed my eyes again in the hope that all this would go away,
even if it was only for the night.

And as always, feedback would be wonderful!