Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

A/N: Touches the subject of Vincent's immortality and what I want to happen. This is fanfiction after all. :)

Edited 9/16. Damn FFNet Documents thing! I've barely read the fic in whole right now since posting it and I was immediately irritated. FFNet's Doc managing thingee hadn't saved the edited version I had on this oneshot and left it as it had been uploaded straight from my files before I had the chance to fix mistakes and such. *grumbles...* It's been really glitchy lately... Grr..

Near the beginning, when she was just a scrawny teenager plotting to take upon the group of ragtag individuals, she was drawn to his secrecy. In all aspects, she knew there was just more to be uncovered, and nosy as she was, she'd wanted to be the one to uncover it.

Toward the end of their journey, when a friend was lost and her soul worn down by the tragedy in the Planet and within herself, she was drawn to his immortality. His repressed loath toward it was her hope. Selfish, once she thought about it, but at the time she didn't care to.

She'd only clung on to that one bit of stability. That one person she did care for would not leave her. He couldn't. It left her sated.

Once Geostigma appeared and she saw the spread of the disease through her country, she thought a lot about death. Especially when her father had held her in that damned room after blaming her for bringing the disease there. Thoughts drifted to a certain broody gunman and she felt her lips thin in contemplation. Did he have the stigma? Would he die if he did?

Relieved when she found out he did in fact not carry the disease, eight months went by before she saw him again. She nearly had a heart attack watching the red haired, chastity belt wearing bitch plunge her hand right into his chest.

She'd never seen Vincent so helpless and the fact that this scared her more than the situation at hand had her head reeling.

"Hey! Whoa! Take it easy! That was a big hole you had in your chest!"

"…A hole in my chest..?"

"Mhm. I seriously thought you were a goner, but the wound healed itself right up! You were always different, but I guess that's why you're still breathing!"

Her cheerful façade had fooled him. She had been terrified when she dragged him back and onto the bench, kneeling beside his frame and anxiously trying to dig for materia to heal him. Her eyes had widened comically as the wound began to diminish until it was no more.

When he saved her from Nero's darkness, she felt something from him: Light.

Under all that dark exterior, he was light. Glowing as he'd saved her from the voices plaguing her mind. After that, her feelings were everywhere and nowhere all at once. She realized, this wasn't just a crush she'd been harboring over him for the past two and a half years. No, she actually liked him. And it was beyond the physical attraction. At that moment she had caught a glimpse of Vincent Valentine and he was her light.

Shelke was a whole other story on her own that had Yuffie refrain from slapping her again. The thoughtless, selfish, attention stealing-

Well… she supposed she should give her some credit. After all, she did help in saving the Planet. Sort of. Enough about her though.

A few months after the defeat of Deepground, Yuffie had showed up unannounced at his doorstep, backpack in hand and smile on her face. "You gonna keep me standing out here forever, or what?"

He reluctantly let her in, but didn't refrain from asking: "Yuffie… what are you doing here?"

She went into a lavish story of how Godo -that dunce- had went and gotten remarried, leaving her to travel freely. She went on about how her incredible ninja-ness had narrowly escaped from the Junon authorities over some a situation involving cattle and pumpkins -"Don't ask"-, she'd decided she'd stop by and visit her goold ol' pal, Vinnie.

Living with Vincent had been slightly different than traveling with him. She'd come to notice things and habits she'd never really noticed before and it left her intrigued and had her "like" fall deeper into the category of that four letter "L" word.

It scared and exhilarated her all the same. But after a while, she just began to feel fear. Vincent would never die. He would never die. Ever. Or so, that's what he claimed. It left her heart hammering against her chest, and also had her leaving weeks at a time before coming back as if she had just stepped out for lunch. He never really questioned it. He knew something was bothering her, but he wasn't one to voice too much concern at the issue.

On the night their attractions came to a mutual understanding of which they could no longer ignore, they lay in the sheets of the aftermath with a very confused ninja. Yuffie bit her lip and felt her eyes sting with tears. He was never going to die, and she was.

She was going to get old and wrinkled and he was going to remain youthful and- and-

Alive.

"Yuffie," He said quietly, his enhanced hearing picking up her almost inaudible sniffles. She shook her head and sat up, pulling the sheet with her. Avoiding his eyes, she pulled his shirt over her body, and croaked out "Water" before making her way down the stairs.

The next day she packed her things and left.

A year passed and the hallow feeling in her chest didn't leave, no matter how many materia caves she'd wandered around and no matter how many chocobo races she went to, nothing seemed to fill the void there.

They met again at Seventh Heaven. An Avalanche reunion she simply had to attend. It wasn't cause she wanted to see him again… Really. She'd rather not be throttled by a pregnant Tifa, thankyouverymuch.

When everyone had gone to sleep or passed out from alcohol (Cid), she crept up onto the roof of the building and sat. She'd made sure to avoid him the entire day, and luckily managed to dodge any conversations her friends almost dragged her in.

"I hadn't pegged you as the running away type." A low, husky voice from behind her drawled. Her vision snapped to where he was sitting, knee propped, against the cooler.

She felt her cheeks flush and sneered at him. "Shut up."

He stood calmly, unaffected by her obvious anger. He chuckled lowly without humor. "Hn. Though, I can't say I expected much of anything from you to begin with."

That had hurt and to rid the tears in her eyes, she stood up and clenched her fists. "I said shut up!" She snapped, moving toward him angrily.

His gaze met hers, and she was almost sucked into the crimson colored hues. They were cold and so much different from the night they had shared together. His face was impassive yet so damn beautiful.

"You don't know anything!" She cried, pushing him.

He gave her a narrow look. "I know far more than you ever will."

"You're such an idiot!" She yelled, "I'm such an idiot!" She moved to run away again, to jump to the nearest rooftop and sprint until she was far, far away. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and she held back a whimper at the painful grip.

"Running away again?" He asked coldly.

"I'm trying to protect you!" She shouted, finally admitting her reasoning to running in the first place. She didn't need him getting tied up with her only to be broken again. Then what? Back to the coffin? She wouldn't allow it. She loved him too much for that.

He almost scoffed. "Protection? I don't-"

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, feeling the need for more air. "You don't need it and one day it'll be over, Vince! I'll be gone! And you'll be here and it won't- it can't-"

He blinked, and his grip fell from her arm. Her large eyes were glossy with unshed tears and he was momentarily winded by the love he saw in there. All this time, she hadn't left because she was regretful or ashamed… she left because she loved him. She left because he couldn't. "Yuffie…"

"Don't!" She snapped, wiping her tears away. "Just don't…"

He took a step forward, she took a step back. "You love me." It wasn't a question.

She smiled wryly and folded her arms, shivering from the cold. He took his cape off and set it around her shoulders. "Yeah… don't ask me why, though."

"You shouldn't." He said quietly and she snorted.

"Yeah, well, I do. Can't really change that." She frowned, wrapping the warm fabric tighter. It smelled like him; gunpowder, ash and raw male. "I was supposed to fall in love with a materia hunter, not a vampire, you know."

His lips almost curved bitterly, but they didn't. "We…" He knew there was a feeling he hadn't felt in thirty years around the woman in front of him, and until this moment, he realized that she had somehow managed to wiggle her way into his heart, breaking his barriers. Cliché as it sounds, but uniquely fitting for someone like her. "…It's quiet."

She raised her brow and looked at him curiously and emotionally exhausted.

He continued at her stare. "At home… it's quiet… when you're not around."

"I thought you liked the quiet." She mumbled grimacing, looking away and feeling her cheeks flush at his intense gaze.

He stepped forward again, slightly. She didn't move away. "...I like you more."

Her eyes widened and connected with his. Before she knew what was happening, he had lowered his face and briefly joined his pale lips against her pink ones. "Come home."

She scrunched her brows and looked down. "But- what I said…"

"Yuffie,"

His voice could always manipulate her actions, especially when he spoke her name like that. Now wasn't any exception.

The phone rang annoyingly in the silence and Yuffie fumbled through the sheets, finding it and bringing it to her ear. "-the fuck is calling at such an early hour?" She slurred, eyes still closed.

"It's nine in the morning." Cloud's voice was flat with a hint of exasperation.

"Still early," She grumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Whaddya want, chocobo head?"

"Tifa says to invite you to Zack's birthday party tomorrow." He replied.

She grinned sleepily and raised herself onto her forearm. "Oh, you know you want me there, too."

"Hm."

"We'll be there. What do I get him? A bike?" She yawned, eyes flickering the man beside her. He was stirring awake and her grin widened.

"Yuffie," Cloud spoke as if to a child. "He's three. No bike."

"Right. I'll get him some ninja stars. Gotta go, Vince is waking up and we need to have lots of kinky sex, so I'll see you tomorrow and yada yada." With that, she hung up and curled herself into Vincent's chest, avoiding his disapproving stare.

"Kinky sex?" He said lowly.

"Of course." She nodded, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. Leviathan, the man's hair was silkier than hers. She frowned at the thought and suddenly the glint of something definitely not black had her hand stop mid twirl and her eyes widen. She sat up quickly, and her jaw dropped.

There… in all its glory…

With eager fingers, she reached over and plucked it out of his head. He grunted, caught unawares in her attack against his scalp. "What…?"

"Look!" She exclaimed, holding the strand in awe.

He looked and his eyes momentarily widened. "That's not… possible."

Giddiness bubbled beneath her breast and she laughed while examining it closely. "Vince…" She said excitedly, before kissing him passionately and pulling away to examine more. "You have a gray hair!"

:D Yes, a cheerful ending. When do I not do cheerful endings? lol Review?