Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

A/N: Thanks for sticking around for another chapter. Following the last chapter, this one was my favorite writing. If you can't tell, Yuffie is my favorite character. That makes this a very Yuffie-centric chapter. Also, if I could give proper credit, I would, but I'm very thankful for fighting fiction guides and street fighting videos that helped me out a bit with this chapter. I realized that I didn't know that many 'moves,' but the internet always has the answers I need! Finally, warning for chapter ahead: Blood, violence, and cursing from Reno and Yuffie. Lots of it. You have been warned. (I may have to up the rating for this eventually – I'll make that decision probably after this chapter.)

Happy holidays! And, enjoy!

Love Punch

Chapter Seven: Facing Your Mistakes, A Couple of Punches at a Time

Yuffie was the first to move and advanced much faster than Reno anticipated. He took a step back to recoil, but could not factor in Yuffie's leg coming up and around to his left cheek. Her toes collided with his ear, sending a vibration of buzzing and irritation through his head. He stumbled to the left, but managed to catch his footing before an audience member had to push him back into the ring.

Yuffie remained toward the center, watching him with wide eyes, but a determined brow. Her lips pressed together made her look impatient; Reno wondered if she got that from her old man or the other old man in the room. His fists went back up to protect his face and he came forward again. That narrow line etched into her face unexpectedly turned into a grin when she went to throw another kick – Reno was ready this time.

With a swift hand, he caught her spinning limb by the ankle, then tucked his arm in and threw his elbow right into her chin. Unable to get away or dodge the colliding bone, her face was thrown to the side with enough pressure to shift her off the other foot. Reno let go of his grasp on the girl's ankle and allowed her to roll and stumble back to her feet. The blow dazed her for a moment, but she shook it off, as well as a bit of blood. Tongue first, she spit saliva and blood to the concrete, earning looks of disgust, but a whoop of encouragement from Cid. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and actually grinned a bit. He may have gotten lucky with that one.

Reno, on the other hand, was starting to lose his patience now. His look of annoyance was definitely learned from Tseng, but there was no way he'd admit it. The Turk started to advance once more.

For a while, the two exchange a bit of blows between them. Yuffie always got two more over Reno's one lucky shot, but that was mainly from Yuffie's ninja skills and ignorance. With her speed and training, a shot to the face or stomach was enough to make Reno double over and Yuffie taunt like there was no tomorrow. Reno would retaliate much sooner than anticipated and take Yuffie out with a shot to the stomach or cheek. After three minutes, Yuffie had a cut over her eye, but Reno was the one with the black eye. Bleed from their lips, one dared smile through the blood.

"Gettin' tired, princess?" Reno called over the cheering crowd. Out of a single dud fight, even Reno was excited to be part of the action – that didn't stop him from feeling an overwhelming amount of despise for the girl. Whatever he threw, it was thrown back tenfold. It took everything in his power not to glance around that crowd after a successful swing. He didn't dare accidentally catch the blood red eyes of his murderer once the match was over. Lost in thought, he almost missed the girl coming at him again.

Working the foot magic again, Yuffie twisted her body to put enough force into the kick. Her foot went for his knee, but he moved ever so slightly in her favor when he tried to dodge. Her foot crashed into the side of his knee cap, sending nerves of pain up and down the limb. He stumbled forward and down with the crumbling knee, allowing Yuffie to take her own and upper cut his face. This sent him completely onto his back, stunned from the strength mustered into that one. For a moment, he worried if he had lost a tooth, but another panic quickly followed. Yuffie suddenly dropped on top of him, straddling his waist with her knees.

"What the fuck? What in Titan's tits are you doing? … Get the Hell off me!" His face suddenly shined red, but was unrecognizable under bruises in blood. Around them, the crowd whooped again. Cid swore something fierce and Vincent remained silent. That silence is what frightened Reno, especially when he chose that time to look for possible options when getting the girl off his body. A darkened red glare caught his eye, but he peeled it away to snarl at the girl again. But… catching her glare… "Yuffie?" It was nothing he had ever seen before.

It took him a moment to realize he had never once muttered her name before. It was always just princess, brat, kid. As if life was flashing before his eyes, he tried to think about the first time they met. Did she introduce herself? Probably not, with the whole AVALANCHE deal, but… but it continued much farther than he comprehended. Without trying, too. And it was all in that single… look. There was a fire in her eyes that reminded him of a real one. In the back of his mind, he could feel that heat again, the soot and smoke rising into the midnight air, the screaming of those trapped inside the flames as the sky wept. No… Wait. It wasn't the sky crying, it was someone else.

Suddenly, he was standing on dirt road with a roaring, crashing fire consuming a building before him. The silhouette of a small child, no older than maybe 12, stood in front of it, hunched over with anger, breathing with choking sobs. No. His mouth felt dry, because he remembered what he had said. "I didn't mean it like that, kid." He wished he could say, "Really! I'm sorry." But that wouldn't change anything. Because, he sealed his fate when he walked away, when he shot that guy, when he joined the Turks… And she chose hers when the shadow of the child started running toward him and raised her arm to strike him. Reno realized all his mistakes led to now. And Yuffie realized she was finally going to get what she wanted.

At first, his face hurt her fists. It felt too much like punching a solid tree or brick wall. It was too hard around his high cheekbones, but she wasn't thinking enough to just slam her hands into his nose palms down. He fought back the best he did, too. He rose his hands against her shoulders, her face, struggling to push her off, but after the third strike, he saw tiny Meteors. That's when it stopped hurting her hands and started to hurt her heart, her mind, her entire being.

"Y-You. Ruined. M-My. Country. M-My… Wutai!" With every word, another fist collided with his cheeks. His head was knocked back and forth with no strength or idea on how to make her stop. He couldn't get up, not because his body was pinned, but he didn't know what up was. It became easier to just give into the beating. "Do you remember, Turk?" Strike. "You came," strike. "Into my home, Reno…" strike. "And slaughtered… My people." Strike, strike. "And burned my people to the ground," strike. "And, yet, you continue to fucking breathe."

The last thing he actually heard was a threat he wouldn't dare bet against. "Reno, I'm going to kill you!" She shrieked, sending her right fist even harder down. It struck his temple, throwing his face into the concrete. All the pressure from both sides squeezed all consciousness he had left. The world went dark. Blood smeared her tiny fists. Blood pooled around his face from every broken bit of skin she managed to slice through. Bruised, black and blue and swollen, everything around them matched the color of his hair. But, Yuffie couldn't see, either. Blinded by the tears and the pain, she didn't see the crowd push and file out of the basement when opportunity came. She didn't see Tifa and Cloud and Cid and Barret and Nanaki all staring down at her, speechless, worried, tear struck.

No one made a move to stop the women expect for him; the only brave enough soul to pull Yuffie from her pain, her heartbreak, her revenge. Vincent Valentine looped his clawed arm around her waist and hoisted her up. The resistance came instantly and expectedly. With bloodied fists, she beat against his arm and claw. "No, no no, NO! Let me go! LET ME GO!" She wailed, hurting his ears, but he waited through the screaming and the kicks until she ready to face her demons. Not like this; none of their hearts could take it anymore. With one last struggle to push him off, her body finally hung limp against him; she had nothing left but tears and hiccups. After a short moment, he released her to her feet. The girl, almost childlike, turned slowly, breathing hard, snotty and choking on her sobs. She held herself protectively with tiny arms, as if to shield herself from whatever force that may come her way… But, this was finally her moment to let time catch up with itself, and, did it hit hard. Still swollen and red, her grey eyes found his with confusion and fear, but with expected judgment, she found none – only pained worry. He had slowly reached out to her with his good hand, but she clutched her body and stumbled back like a wounded animal. It took everything in her power to rip her eyes away from his, expecting her fears to come true. Again, her mind deceived her – her eyes danced along the faces of her comrades, each with their own look of grief, not anger. She attempted to calculate the situation that had just played out before letting her eyes fall on the still breathing man lying on the concrete. The calculation became too much and her brain went on overload. Blood was everywhere – not just against the stone, but on her hands, on her clothes, now soaked into every fabric of her being. His blood. She suddenly felt that she was no better than him now. Murderer, they said. Shock doubled over and her hands shot to her mouth to muffle another sob before she escaped the burdens of the basement to somewhere in the bar.

Clean up was hard. Barret and Cloud had to be gentle with the broken man, lifting him from his own blood and carrying him over to one of the bar tables. Tifa took all the left over rags and, with a silent Cid, cleaned up the liquid that would stain. Vincent and Nanaki stood uneasy at the bottom of the stairs, watching and waiting. She'll come back, they both pondered. She should come back. They both knew she wouldn't.

Nanaki sat on his rump and stared up at the always silent man. Without his cloak, he couldn't hide the emotions some thought he buried away. Vincent was expressively worried and his near trembling eyes showed that. Not to mention that he kept looking up those stairs with the passing seconds. The beast let out a sigh. "You should go to her, Vincent." He murmured in a tone that was only heard by the gunman.

Without a single bit of defiance, Vincent nodded once and turned to the stairs. A brief thought held him for a moment, as if he was afraid of what was up those stairs, but he shook it off quicker than it came. He ascended the stairs and didn't look back.

From the concrete floor, Tifa watched him. She wondered why anyone, especially someone who liked to be alone himself, would attempt to break the barrier that Yuffie continued to hold. Shouldn't she be alone? Well… Everyone in the room knew what happened in Wutai that day. Not just that day, but the entire year, before and after her very birth. Yuffie held a heavy heart on the subject, but her flightiness shadowed it. It was weird to think about, but she was someone who bared the most regret among them all. And only the one who self-acclaimed right to everything wrong and evil in the world could pull her from those qualms.

Despite the situation, swiping up the last bit of blood that would pull from the stone, Tifa slightly smiled. Motherly, of course, but still full of concern. It was nice to know that Yuffie had someone to look after her, especially after all these years. A hand in front of her face pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up and nodded. "Thanks, Cloud." She muttered, taking his hand and allowing the help back up to her feet. He pulled her close and held her for a moment, reminding her of the time – he was unusually cuddly when it was past his bed time.

"I guess this was a bad idea…" He murmured in her ear before taking the dirty rags from her hands and walking upstairs. After all the work they put into the place, regrets were starting to bubble over – and if that is the case, everyone was going to get hit hard with Cloud's repentance. It pained her to hear that he wasn't happy with a choice, especially one that was supposed to help. Tifa remained silent, a deep frown etching into her lips, watching him walk away before sighing. She wished she didn't agree with him…

"Get your fat, dirty hands off me, ya bastard!" The tension immediately cracked and shattered when Reno's voice roused through the basement. Tifa's eyebrow literally twitched with irritation; she enjoyed the silence from his beating a little too much. Turning back, she watched Barret pinning Reno's shoulders down as Cid tried to, at least, get some of the caked blood off his swollen face. It obviously was going a lot better when the man was out cold. "Back off, old man!" He howled with no use. Cid wasn't going to let some punk push him around, especially when he was attempting to help him. He did look up to see Tifa wander over.

"Mind giving us a hand, Teef? The bastard still doesn't know what day it is." He handed the wet cloth to Tifa, who took it silently. "I'll get the first aid kit, but Gods know if a stitch or two will help." He motioned for Barret to let go and to the two wandered back upstairs to look for the medical supplies. Nanaki quickly followed, too, leaving the silence of the basement to Reno and Tifa. Reno sat up.

"Brat really knows how to throw a punch… Did she learn that from you?" His eyebrow wiggled in some horrible attempt of flirtation. His forehead was too swollen to get much movement. But, with a split lip, he managed to grin. Tifa, on the other hand, wasn't smiling. In fact, she looked at him with disappointment in her eyes. She touched the wet cloth to his cheek.

"No, she learned that in Wutai, when she trained to become a ninja…" She paused, putting a bit of force in her clean up. Reno winced and pulled his head back. "Do you remember what Wutai looked like before or after you burned it to the ground, Reno?" Her voice was bitter and it stung, especially when her eyes glared right through his skull like he kicked her puppy or something. He still didn't get it, though. Reno's grin fell and his eyes narrowed.

"Why does that shit keep coming up?" He pushed Tifa's hand away with his wrist and swung his legs out to stand. "I told the princess already – it was a fucking job. Nothin' personal." His eyes scanned the room for something, probably for his jacket and shoes, but Tifa's strong hand around his arm turned his head back to her. "What?"

"You need to understand that whatever you did back then was more than a job. And, for that mistake, you seemingly failed to apologize for it." She shoved the rag into his hand and released his arm, closing her own over her chest. "At least see that, Reno. What you did, what ShinRa did… Yuffie's home wasn't the only one that burned." Turning her eyes away from him, her own burdens of fire and smoke filled her head. For Reno, he remembered all the fires he started himself. At that, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with bruised fingers.

"Ah, fuck… if it'll make ya happy, I guess I could say somethin' to her…" Tifa looked back at his black and blue face and smiled softly.

"It might not now, but it'll mean something, to her, eventually." She reached out to his arm and gave it a light squeeze. "Give her some space, though. I'm not sure she wants to see you again tonight." Reno remained silent, giving her a quick nod before pulling away and finding his stuff. He really didn't want to see any of them again ever. After finding his jacket, he tucked his shoes under his arm and gave a lazy salute to the barmaid before heading upstairs and back out into the streets of Edge. She followed him up quietly and managed to see the door close with some consideration when she reached the bar level. Barret, Cid, and Nanaki sat around the bar, helping themselves to some coffee. They had the medical kit sitting on the bar, but Reno must have waved them off before leaving. When will Reno actually accept a helping hand once in a while? Tifa sighed and joined them at the bar, taking one of the already full mugs and bringing it close to her face.

"Well, that didn't turn out too hot, now did it?" Cid was chewing on a toothpick, an odd happen he grew fond to when Shera wouldn't let him smoke after 8. He rolled it across his lips to take a sip of the dark liquid. Tifa continued to nurse the mug close to her and nodded.

"I hope Yuffie will be okay…" The men gave her a nod in agreement, all morose looks on their brows. Nanaki gave a deep rumble of a sigh. "I haven't seen her like that in a very long time." Not since Sephiroth, she could say, but didn't. That wound was something none of them ever wanted to touch again.

"Vincent will help ease her emotions," Nanaki said from under her. He had somehow coaxed his head under Tifa's hand, allowing her to play with his mane. It was a comfort for her, since the beast refrained from being treated like a dog. She lightly twisted fingers in the hair. "We should turn in before the children rise for school."

Tifa finished only half of the coffee before setting it on the counter. "You're right. The spare rooms are already made up for you guys when you want to head to bed." She made a last pat for Nanaki's large head before rising from the stool and taking whatever dishes she could before heading up the stairs in silence. Nanaki followed, padding up the stairs to Marlene's room; he had a soft spot for the child and enjoyed her company when she let him sleep at the bottom of the bed. Barret nodded to Cid and followed up quickly after. The pilot, now alone, wondered if he had the courage to pull out a smoke that late at night. He yawned, deciding against it, and finished the last bit of hot liquid before heading up the stairs.

Yuffie wished she locked the door behind her when she came crashing in. Blood smeared the door handle, the walls, the sheets – not of it was hers. She felt only the pain of her stupidity and her rage, though the cut across her eyebrow still throbbed. Sinking next to the bed, hidden between the wall and the furniture, she curled up and clutched her head. Almost immediately after, she was chanting some sort of mantra to herself, rocking back and forth slowly. The tears immediately returned in waves, denial of their existence, then acceptance. She didn't want the pain to come back like this, but it did.

What did you do, you stupid girl? Godo had said when she came running home in the middle of the night. Still choking on sobs, she could only mutter what had happened. The memories of his disappointment burned the most.

Gods, I am stupid.

Still muttering in a mantra of nonsense, she didn't hear the polite knock at the door. She didn't hear the quiet murmur of his voice as he requested permission in, but came in anyway. It wasn't until he was kneeling next to her, head tilted to search for her face, that she noticed the gunpowder smell he carried. Her head shot up from her knees.

"Go away," she muttered, childlike and soft. He saw her lips pout together quickly before disappearing back into her knees. Despite the situation, he chuckled softly, causing her head to shoot back up and stare at him, mystified. Her eyes hardened quickly. "D-don't laugh at me, Vincent," her tone was low and serious. "I kind of had a shitty night."

Vincent, still not going away, settled against the bed next to her, raising a knee to rest his claw across it. Not removing her eyes from him, (at first, out of annoyance that he actually decided to stick around) she noticed the streaks of blood against the brass. Her eyes darted away, but she didn't return to the confides of her knees. "I don't want to talk about it, if that's why you're here."

"Have you forgotten who you're speaking to, Yuffie?" Vincent said quietly, looking at her slightly. "As someone who has kept his own share of personal stories and restraints, I am the last you should worry about." She watched him, quietly, but didn't say anything. It was unnerving to see the girl like this, but as the man just said, not one to pry on others. Still… "I am only here if you need guidance. Or comfort, whichever you prefer."

Before he could take that back, the girl actually smiled, something he was hoping to see sooner than later. That small smile turned into a light laugh; the girl shook her head. "If this was any other situation, I'd think you're hitting on me, Monster Man." He remained silent, either processing the situation as not as bad or too awkward to think of anything else to say. Whatever it was, though, it seemed to help a little. Yuffie leaned her head back on the mattress and stare out the dark, starless window. As much as she didn't want to talk about it, she always ended up spilling everything to her favorite gunslinger. She took a deep sigh and rolled her head back to look at him. "I did a very bad thing, and I don't think what just happened really helped."

Vincent, again, remained silent, but eyes tugging on her words. He was actually intrigued, despite the many times he didn't pay attention to her random babbling. It was then that Yuffie retold a story only three people in the entire Planet knew about in full. Herself, Godo, and, as Yuffie put it nicely, fucking Reno. She talked about how horrible she felt for distrusting the people she later put so much faith in. She briefly described the fire before getting another rouse of tears, but she made a point to say that after she returned home that evening, she made sure that she learned the names of all that were lost. She wrote letters, learned how to read in the Midgarian language, and sent a contribution to all the families. To her, it was a silly game to cover a wound that would never stop bleeding. To Vincent, it reminded him that she would someday be a generous and thoughtful leader to Wutai, even when her actions seemed a little insane. With each passing sentence, Yuffie would bring herself closer to Vincent, completely engrossed in a story she never wanted to hear past her lips. But, with him being there, listening and not interrupting, it truly did help. Toward the end of her tale, she was quietly muttering her quest to return Wutai to its true glory through materia while scooting under Vincent's arm. Any closer and she'd be in his lap.

"I can't believe I beat the shit out of Reno." She finally concluded, rubbing the tops of her knuckles while glaring at them. She turned her stormy eyes back to Vincent's with a small flash of worry. Talking really did help. "He's going to be okay, though, right?"

To that, Vincent shrugged, pulling her a bit closer so she could settle her head against his shoulder. "Cid and Barret were trying to clean him up when I came up here, but I imagine he will be back to his old, thoughtless self soon." There was a bit of sarcasm in his voice that Yuffie absolutely loved. She smiled a bit and reached for his claw to scratch at the dried blood. He allowed her to take his hand, but watched her in the process.

"Thank you for following me up here, Vince. I was scared that you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore." She admitted with a hint of sadness in her voice. She was focused on removing the blood, so she didn't see the small flicker of worry on his brow.

"I don't think that is possible, even for myself, Yuffie." He could see her eyes grow wide and blink a couple of times, but her face expressed a moment of unsureness, like she didn't hear him right. He lifted his claw toward her face and pressed against her chin, making her look at him. She blinked a couple more times now, completely baffled by his action. He was holding her face and all. "It may come of a surprise to you," there's that sarcasm again, but he continued quickly, "but I do like spending time with you. Why do you think I let you live in my home?"

To that, Yuffie's sadness melted finally for the night and a genuine smile came to her lips. She closed her eyes and held his prosthetic hand close to her face, enjoying the moment while she could. For being made of metal, it was surprisingly warm. When she opened her eyes, she found that he was still staring at her. There was an emotion in her eyes that she could never explain, but there was something definitely there. It wasn't often he looked at her like this, but that was only when she noticed. Again, to her surprise, the man leaned forward and brushed his lips against her forehead. Her first response was a silent grossness, because her sweat, blood, and hair was still caked there, but her face flared red for the true reaction and she couldn't look at him anymore. And, due to her constant flightiness, she missed the small smile that came to his lips.

"You should rest now, princess."

Yay for some Yuffentine. I needed to get that out, because these are my babies and I love them dearly. Plus, they are just so fun to write together. It's a little challenging, because I want to make them my own, but I should stick to as canon as possible. It makes it a bit easier when I actually remember that this is future Vincent and Yuffie and they have changed a lot in personality. With that, I find this chapter quite successful. (Look at me, gloating about myself. Throw money at me now!)

Second, this might be the second to last time Reno and Yuffie are together in a scene for the story. As you can probably tell, I cannot fathom a good relationship between the two of them. So, instead of bashing the relationship, I just have Yuffie beat up Reno. Sorry about that.

Thanks to everyone again. It's really awesome that I have people reading my stuff. I love it. Please, if you find the time, a quick review would be amazing. Also, have a wonderful holiday!

(I'll edit tomorrow - too sleepy.)