Chapter 65: Slow Heartbeats…

"Damn it! Close, CLose, CLOSE!" Yuffie panted as she bounced rhythmically, her hair being tossed with each movement. "Almost!"

Vincent watched her movements with avid interest, amusement clear in his crimson gaze. "You are close…do you want me to-"

"No…I-I can do it!" With one more bounce, the ninja threw her head back, a cry of accomplishment and satisfaction clear in the sound. She collapsed on the side of the soft surface of the bed, her body draping awkwardly, almost looking uncomfortable.

Vincent pulled the young woman fully onto the bed, watching as she panted, her pretty face red from exertion. "You didn't have to do it all by yourself."

"No, I did." She rolled over, glaring at the suitcase on the floor. "I won't be outsmarted by that stupid thing!"

A chuckle escaped the gunman, earning a glare from the ninja. "Just be glad you're not a girl or you woulda been dragged along by Tifa, Elena, and Elmyra too. Shera was lucky; Cid had needed her skills on the Highwind, so she didn't have three shopping crazed women picking out things for her." She gave the suitcase a resentful kick, then flopped back on the bed.

Gray eyes moved to Vincent's handsome face and a smile traced her lips. With a bit of scooting, her head came to rest in his lap. "Are you finished?" She asked.

"Mmhm." He murmured, running his fingers through her hair. "I won't leave here with nearly as much as you have gained."

"Not my fault." Yuffie groused. "You know, it's really not fair that your packing was so easy. I had to go buy a second suitcase and it barely fit into the two." The ninja looked around the bedroom and sighed. "I'm really gonna miss being here."

"Agreed. However, there is nothing stopping us from returning. We can go wherever we wish to." He said and sighed when her hand came up to caress his cheek. The slight coolness of the ring on her finger brushing against his skin prompted him to turn slightly, pressing a kiss against her palm.

A smile broke out across her face. "We should go to Icicle Inn next time. You'd be pretty hot in snow gear." She said, earning a chuckle from him.

A chime from Yuffie's phone caused her to reach into her pocket and read the text message. "These new phones are pretty handy. Much better than the older models." She typed out a quick reply. "We have to be at the landing pad back at the docks in thirty minutes."

Pulling out his own phone as his ninja continued to text, he called the management company, arranging for their pickup. After hanging up, they left their spots on the plush bed. Yuffie slipped away to grab their things from the safe while her gunman took their suitcases to the living room. He quickly joined her in the den just as she swung the door to the safe open. They removed their items and equipment and weapons, fully arming themselves for only the second time since their trip began and stowed their gil in Vincent's travel pack. Just as they finished, the doorbell rang.

"I guess our ride is here," Yuffie said, taking his hand as he shouldered the small pack, leading him toward the door.

Vincent had other plans.

Yuffie jerked to a stop and looked back to Vincent in question. "Vince, what's-"

No other words received a chance to escape as she was pulled back against Vincent's strong chest, his lips melding with hers. A soft sound escaped her as she melted in his arms, her knees going week under the passionate onslaught.

It took her a moment to regain her footing, her eyes fluttering open leaving her wondering when exactly her eyes had fallen closed. When she met the amused yet impassioned carmine eyes, a heated blush flooded her cheeks.

"Wow…"

An eyebrow arched at her speechless state, his lips curling upward. A tender kiss was placed on her forehead, and the doorbell chimed once more. His petite ninja hugged him tightly and pulled away, watching as his mask slid into place once more, however his eyes remained the same, containing warmth that was meant just for her. Smiling, she answered the door, allowing the two attendants inside to grab their baggage.

"I hope your stay was enjoyable?" The taller of the two attendants asked with a smile as he easily hefted Yuffie's two bags.

"It was!" She answered with enthusiasm. "We'll be coming back eventually whenever we want to get away."

"We'd love to have you again." The shorter attendant replied with a bow of the head before grabbing Vincent's bag. "We've already checked you out will take you to the airship landing area at the docks, correct?"

Vincent answered with a simple nod, following his ninja and a pair out of the door, closing it behind them. As they loaded into the carriage, the former Turk handed over the key card and took a seat next to his fiancée as they pulled away. Her head came to rest on his shoulder as she made conversation with the attendants on their way back to Costa Del Sol proper.

.:-o-:.

The peaceful ride seemed to pass quickly, and the carriage rolled to a stop just at the base of the landing pad. Yuffie stirred from her comfortable spot and stood, stretching lightly. Vincent stepped from their transportation and offered her a hand which she took with a smile, springing from the back and landing on the ground with the grace of a cat.

Gray eyes caught sight of a few tourists standing back, taking pictures of the Highwind. Apparently, the ship itself had become just as well known as the people that occupied it during the meteor crisis.

The pair walked side by side, following their attendants to the ship. Two crewmen greeted them, taking the bags from the two males. As the gunman tipped the pair, Yuffie asked if they were the last that arrived.

"No ma'am, but so far, everyone who has arrived is in the common room. Do you want us to place your gear in the same room you used for your trip here?"

"Yep, that's fine. Thanks guys." She waved to the men as they left for the travel quarters.

"WARK!"

The sound immediately drew the attention of the ninja, causing her to dart in the direct of the sounds, the chocobo pens. Vincent followed her at a slower pace, already knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist her prized birds. When he reached the holding pens, he gave a small smile as he watched the birds dance in the pre of the ninja.

"Oh my babies, how I missed seeing you all together again!" She cooed, giving them greens and scratching Kira and Tiko behind the ears before turning to the third bird. "Hiroshi, my big guy! I haven't seen you in months!" Her affectionate scratches were met by nuzzles from the youngest of her chocobos. Having been living in Corel with Barret, she hadn't seen the gold since her move to Nibelheim and until the stall behind the mansion was expanded, he would be boarded in the small stall behind Cloud and Tifa's.

Running her thumb against the feathered cheek, her mind drifted to Zarek, the massive gold she had ridden to Clay's workshop. breeding him with Kira would produce impressive and rather cute chocobo chicks for their future use and breeding. "Hmm…" She hummed, not evening realizing the sound had escaped her, 'maybe Vince would be willing to expand a bit more than they originally intended to. There was an area where Shinra designated mansion was a moderately sized vacant lot that was intended for vehicles and extra materials that would be used at the mansion by the staff and scientists.

Gray eyes moved her gunman. "Do you think we'd be able to use the lot behind the mansion-"

"It is not only my residence, Yuffie." He said simply. "If there are modifications that can be made, then we shall do them as needed."

She felt her heart thumping in her chest as she gazed at her beloved. "Thank you, Vincent." She said, her mind already churning. She really wanted the massive bird they were leaving behind, and she fully intended to try and purchase Zarek.

Moving to the gunman, she took his hand and coaxed him down, stealing a kiss. "You know me too well."

"Of course." He replied softly and kissed her back, pulling her forward to hold her close to his body, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

"Geez, I still can't believe you two are getting hitched." Barret said as he passed by the pens. "With the amount of energy that girl has, you're probably the only one that could handle her. She'd kill any other husband with exhaustion trying to keep up with her. After a thirty-year nap Vincent, you have more than enough energy to do it." He joked.

The ninja snuck her tongue out at Barrett. "You're just jealous that you can't handle a beautiful, nubile ninja like me!" She teased back, earning a short chuckle from the former Turk.

"Yeah right!" He rolled his eyes, watching as the pair separated, though the ninja stayed close to her gunman's side. "Everyone should be onboard now, come on."

Barret led the way to the common room where everyone was gathered, with the exception being Reeve and Nankai. When Yuffie asked where they were, Reno lazily opened his eyes from where he was sprawled on the couch. "Reeve is helping Red with somethin'. They should be here in a few."

The sound of the engines warming up caused the teen to shudder slightly. "Well I think I better head to the cabin before Cid starts yelling about me puking on his ship."

"Damn straight!" Cid's voice was heard from a small kitchenette area. He emerged few moments later with a cup of hot tea. "Don't you dare throw up in my baby, brat!"

"Fine, fine," She huffed. "If you need us, we'll be in the cabin. Barret, you better let me know before you guys get off the ship."

"Yeah, yeah," The gun-armed men waved her off, dismissing her as they left the common area.

.:-o-:.

Vincent opened the door to their cabin and allowed her to enter first. Pushing the bags closer to the wall, he took a seat on the soft mattress, shifting so he was leaning against the wall. He watched a bit as she plopped on the bed, her head coming to rest on his thigh. "This first." He said simply, handing her the medicine." Consuming the airsickness pill dry. She allowed her eyes to close when she felt his finger running through her hair.

The sound of the engines kicked up, peaking at a dull roar. A dismayed squeak slipped from his ninja as the ship jolted before rising into the air. The intercom buzzed to life as Cid's bellows at his crew rang through the ship. The former Turk frowned slightly, his and moving to her stomach, tracing small circles through the light shirt she was wearing to distract her.

"What the fuck!" Cid shouted as the Highwind jolted once more. "I burned my fuckin' hand and you made me waste my tea! One of you better get down here and explain that shitty take off or you're all fired."

"YEAH!" Yuffie shouted, knowing that the crew couldn't hear her A moan escaped her as they began to accelerate slowly and smoothly to the west. She knew that Cid was more bark than bite, and he would put his crew through their paces when he got back to Rocket Town. He would train them until he was satisfied with their performance.

She opened her eyes and looked into his worried crimson. "I'm okay…take my mind off that crappy take-off?"

The former Turk nodded his head, still moving his hand across her stomach. "Have you thought about when you'd like to inform Wutai?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Only after everyone else finds out about the Wutai stuff. I don't want to tell the officials in Wutai too early. I don't want them trying to make me come back early. I want to enjoy as much time with you, peacefully, but eventually the madness will begin."

"Tired?" He asked, and she nodded. "Will you lay with me?"

They both shed their shoes, his hitting the floor with a soft 'thud'. A bit of shifting was don as they got comfortable. Eventually, her head came to rest on his chest, her arm draped over his toned abdomen, her legs entwined with his.

"Your heartbeat is slow…" she said idly.

It didn't take long for her soft snores to alert him that his fiancée had fallen asleep. He allowed his eyes to close, joining her in a light doze as they flew to their first destination: Cosmo Canyon.

.:-Author's Note:-:.

Did that first part give you…other ideas? Not gonna lie, that was totally my intention when I wrote that way, way back then, but I had the picture in my head so clearly when I plotted this chapter out. I'm still debating on whether there will be any full-on sexual content in this story here, but after the adult story blitz a long time ago, I'm still afraid that I'd get hit by the banhammer for showing any explicit sexytimes between our favorite couple. To think that I'd lose all the wonderful and amazing comments that I've amassed over the years scares me. That being said, as of yesterday, I do have a Yuffie/Vincent story that contains mature content/lemon material. It's AU and I wrote it back sometime during 2011-2013. Not sure what year, but it was a story that I would write while on downtime at work. I recently found it, and I'm also working on it. So far, it's 30 handwritten pages and it's approaching its end as well. You should see the original draft of it! The notepad is literally falling apart.

There has been a huge gap between my last posting and now because, well I'll just say it, depression. I've been having a rough time and finally, when I get back into it, with the story I was talking about above, I lost 6 pages of it. I was devastated because I knew that I could NEVER write it the way that I had written it before I lost it (which was the day after Thanksgiving, when I went to the beach and left some pages at home and took the bulk of them with me so I could write while I was there). Recently, I tried re-writing it, but it was not the same because this is the only story that I wrote on the fly with no outline, no plan. It plain sucked donkey-balls. So, I went on an impossible mission and after a few weeks of searching, going to piles and piles of documents (that's a story for another day) I managed to find them! This sparked a bit of creativity in me. I wanted to write. I wanted to post, so here I am!

The new story will probably not be posted here, but when I do post it somewhere, I will let you know. It contains characters from FF7, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus in a college setting.

Anyway, I gotta get going. I've been watching a lot of anime lately (Kyo Kara Maou -which I've fallen in love with again-, Beelzebub, a few newer ones), and write now, as I write this, I'm watching Bleach (episode 39…started over! Was originally on 189 several years back before I stopped watching) and since I'm writing, it's the dub and I'm dying to switch back to the sub. Can't do that and write at the same time ?

I was thinking about re-tackling Naruto at some point in the future. I'm in the 90's of Shippuden, but I'm not gonna watch it all over again since I read most of the anime.