A/N: And another chapter gone. I couldn't tell how to finish it...I swear it's all been written except the last bit, which I put in today.

I have to read yuffentines (or see fanart) or just find subtext before I can write it. It kicks my inspiration. Enough talk - time for the chapter. My last is a thinks to all of the readers, reviewers, and Defenestrator especially (even though I try not to bother you with random chapter mail anymore)!

Chapter 3, Act 2: Shock Treatment

It had been barely an hour into her sleep before Yuffie sat up, trembling and angry.

Damn dreams!

She climbed out of bed and swiftly changed out of her moogle pajamas, putting on her treatment outfit. She didn't particularly like the clothing but her task would be easier with less fabric on. She had a method for bad dreams – work herself until she couldn't possibly think of anything, and then fall asleep. She'd be dead to the world for a few hours and relatively rested in the morning.

She cleared a spot on the floor large enough to do basic workouts in, and got down to business. Standing on her hands, she let her body down until her hair brushed the floor, and then pushed back into a full handstand. Even the usual thoughts at her success ('that's right, badass shinobi here!') were pushed out of her mind as she focused.

Her body strengthening techniques were supposed to be done at least every other night, and she felt a slight strain on her muscles, more than usual. The three days of sleep had let her muscles relax a little too much for the ninja's liking; she hoped to make up for it with these hours of training.

XxXxX

Falling through the sky was strangely more comforting than riding in an airship. With her head downward and her body arched to gather speed, she could at least plan her fall and prepare for the shock. The wind whipping through her hair and buffeting her skin was more familiar than a ship rocking on the currents, no matter how much time she spent in the Highwind, or the Shera, or the Tiny Bronco-

Praise be to Leviathan for sinking that metal deathtrap!

Just as she thanked her deity her head collided with what felt like the ocean. She couldn't open her eyes, or she would have looked; but she was being swung gently back and forth by some flowing material. A few things contrasted her water theory, though, with the foremost being that she was still breathing as if it were air.

Finally she turned herself right, and her feet touched solid ground. She snapped her eyes open as fast as she could, and wished that she had not.

Before her were dozens of bodies, hanging like marionettes from above. There was no ceiling, though, just flat earth and a black sky with no stars. The landscape was wrong but houses on either side were the wood and paper dwelling of Wutai, heavily burnt and in complete disarray…the way they had looked when her father had surrendered the War. Torches were lit on either side, just in front of the houses, lending their light to the bodies hanging.

She could see her cousins who died in those battles, their equipment on the ground beneath their bodies. The clothes they had worn and the wounds they had endured were still there, as none of them had yet been dressed for burial. She walked between them, not fearing their forms or their open eyes, glassy and unknowing. There were soldiers she had barely known and those she had identified with as a child; in the sea of corpses she recognized two of Chekhov's children, frozen in time as teenagers.

She kept walking, her skin growing cold as she moved toward the center of the hanging remains, and saw what she knew would be there.

In the very center was an altar of deep red wood surrounded by unlit incense. It had two bodies upon it side by side, though one was lifted slightly higher than the other. The body below was the flower girl, her light brown hair curled around her pale skin. She wore her pink dress and boots, all of her battle accoutrements left behind somewhere. It was fitting – the Cetra had always looked lost on a battlefield. Her eyes were shut, a flower tucked between her hands. At her side lay her staff, and the Holy materia was nestled between two of her fingers.

The higher body was Lady Kisaragi, and she looked beautiful. Long black hair splayed about her like a fan, and her delicate features were peaceful. She wore no makeup and was not dressed for her funeral, but was in a long green kimono embroidered with yellow flowers. Godo had thought the thing atrocious, the colors not complementing each other at all, but Yuffie and her mother had loved it. In the woman's hands was her battle fan, and Yuffie stroked her fingers lightly before reaching into her pocket.

She stared at her mother's face hungrily before opening her box of matches, walking around the altar to light incense. As the flames sputtered into life and the sweet smells began to waft into the night, she heard the corpses falling onto the ground, slumping over each other. It seemed to make sense…only by honoring her loved ones could she let them rest. Hadn't the traditions of Wutai taught her that? Was it not Leviathan's word?

Finally the task was done, and she looked behind her only to be surprised. The dream had been peaceful enough until that moment.

Shalua stood there, blood leaking from her head where she had taken Azul's wrath. As she watched, more began to come into view – Cloud, his eyes clouded and glowing, one of the signs of mako poisoning. Tifa was covered in cuts and bruises, one arm bent and broken. Nanaki was barely walking, limping and hiding his good eye, which appeared to have gone missing. Barret and Cid were stumbling, Cid hacking and sputtering, Barret covering his stomach where it bled. Reeve was pale and sickly, his veins colored a violent purple from some deadly poison. The last to appear was merely a coffin, a coffin from the Shinra mansion.

The torches fell over and set the bodies, the buildings, the altar ablaze, and finally the stars appeared above as if to watch. Their voices carried down from the sky, whispering in malicious tones

Still so young…you have all of your life to fail.

XxXxX

Reeve sat behind his desk and glanced around the office, smiling lightly at the faces of his very sleepy friends. Shera and Cid were on a couch to one side, having somehow managed to bring hot tea up the three stories to his place of work. Cloud and Tifa were against the wall to the other side, Tifa's head rested on Cloud's shoulder. He was used to getting by on only a few hours, but Tifa enjoyed her rest when she could get it. Nanaki and Barret were closest to the desk, Barret almost fidgeting impatiently in his chair while Nanaki had curled up on the floor. The usually dignified cat had forgotten all pretense as it was fairly early.

Vincent stood near the door, waiting for the last of them to arrive. Yuffie was only down the hall but had not exited her room yet, and it was unlike her to sleep in. She woke with the dawn and would nap later if she felt like it, curling up like a cat…Reeve grinned.

Like a sneaky, thieving cat.

He waved his hand toward Vincent to say 'why don't you go get her already?' and hid his wide smile as the gunman stalked out of the room, closing the door silently. The others did not watch him go, preoccupied as they were with staying awake.

XxXxX

Vincent strode down the hall to his left and stopped in front of Yuffie's door, knocking quietly. She slept lightly, he knew, and waking her with a large noise would only annoy her. When she did not answer he knocked more insistently, and finally opened the door.

The room was still a mess, everything from toys to weapons lying on the floor except for one spot in the middle of the royal blue carpet that was clear.

Yuffie lay with her legs splayed out, her back flat to the floor and her arms almost at right angles with her body. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and her body covered in a fine sheen of sweat, the scraps of fabric they had covered her with in the water tank clinging to her skin. Vincent weighed his options carefully before stepping any closer.

She was obviously indecent – it appeared that she had been engaged in some physical activity and fallen asleep with exhaustion. But it was also possible that she had passed out, or that her fever had returned, or a thousand other likelihoods given her recent illness.

It would be remiss of me not to check her condition.

Finally he took off the glove from his un-clawed hand and knelt, pressing the back of his palm to her forehead. He was only slightly surprised when Yuffie's hand snapped to grab his wrist. Her forehead was cool but as her eyes opened he saw her cheeks go red. She sat up rather stiffly with her back to him, and he almost didn't hear what she said from staring at where the sword had gone through her back.

"You shouldn't touch me. I'm all gross and junk…" She stood up and arched, cracking her back and turning to face him on the floor. "So if you wanted an eyeful, this is your last chance for now." Her mouth turned up into a grin that only barely touched her eyes as she threw one hand to her hips and the other behind her head. Vincent stood and stared into her eyes a moment, comforted by the fact that she did not look away. The trace of amusement in her gray-green orbs was a flickering light compared to what else he could see there, the rapid thoughts, worry, restlessness. He had always thought that her carelessness and absolute lack of discretion were deplorable, but without them…

She's a completely different person. It's as if she's aged 20 years in those 4 days.

Four days, counting the day she had battled Genesis, looked like they were almost enough to slay the childish indifference that was Yuffie Kisaragi. It was…wrong. Wrong like snow in summer. Wrong like the color of her eyes. Vincent froze before focusing more on her eyes, watching the gray become infected by with a dark green glow.

Yuffie and Vincent had been staring at each other for several long moments, the ninja having let her hands drop to her sides. She turned silently toward her private bathroom for a shower but before she was two paces away felt a smack on the back of her head.

Vincent had taken his glove and whacked the back of her head with it the way one would challenge another to a duel. When she whipped around to face him, her expression a portrait of disbelief, he was pulling the glove on, tugging one side of his mouth up into a smirk. It felt like a stretch to his facial muscles, but one that was well worth it. He looked up from his gloved hand to see her leering at him, finally interested in his presence.

"Valentine, get out of here before I find a way to throw up on you or something." She flicked a small shuriken up from the floor with her toe into her hand, and threw it past his ear as a warning. The weapon had clipped a little lock of hair and stuck it to the back of her door. Vincent stepped backwards and glared at her, not bothering to reclaim his hair from the door as she had won it from him.

"The others are in Reeve's office," he commented, and she nodded before turning back to reach the shower. Vincent turned and shut the door softly behind him, taking more time to get to Reeve's door than he needed.

I had to shock her back to normal.

Yuffie had been more detached than he was used to, but at least now she would try and stare him down. He didn't have her back, but it was a good start.

He had already leaned back against the office wall before he questioned that feeling.

XxXxX

Yuffie had had to throw up again, more dark black blood spilling from her mouth into the toilet, before she could brush her teeth and shower.

It had been strange to wake up with Vincent Valentine directly in her face – he had woken her up when they would travel together, but never with that look in his eyes. Today he had been concerned, and not in an 'I need you alive to help me battle monsters' kind of way. She didn't want to try and interpret him right that instant, because for some reason it had become difficult.

Tainted mako. It's supposed to kill off the positive, huh.

It seemed to be working. She had flashes of pleasant thoughts like 'Cloud's gonna teach me to ride a bike!' and 'Hehehe, Cid just said he would marry Shera', but they drowned in the over-the-top angsty thoughts she kept getting. For every 'SWEET!' there were three 'no one likes you and you're gonna die in a ditch all by yourself with no gil and some crappy unmastered materia.' It was enough to drive a girl mad.

She climbed out of the shower, shaking her hair like a wet dog. It wouldn't do. She had to find a way to make the best of things before she died of all the negativity, or lack of sleep, or just went crazy. There was no way she was going to be bested by some Lifestream-gone-wrong. Drying off and putting on a battle outfit, Yuffie declared war on her evil, tainted mako mind-poisony problem. Her friends were trying to cheer her up, and she knew it – Cloud would never have agreed to teach her something so dangerous as riding a motorcycle without prompt. Tifa had been especially kind to her all the night before, and Vincent…

Vincent had smacked her with his glove. And smiled about it. If she remembered correctly, it was the second smile he had ever flashed at her…or at least the second smile he had let her see. In any case, Yuffie stood up straight after pulling the shuriken out of the back of her door. She fingered the long black hair Vincent had left behind – there was enough of it to tie like a ribbon. She posed in front of her mirror with Conformer for a while, and the hand that carried only the lock of hair felt insubstantial. Reaching into a drawer to her right Yuffie extricated a battle fan that had been made for her by a smith in Wutai. She tied the black hair around the center ring of the fan and twirled the weapon skillfully.

She opened and closed the fan with a pleasing snikt! noise she remembered from training, and bounced down the corridor. Yuffie Kisaragi had dangled from the faces of Da Chao, lived on her own in the wild forests for years, watched Meteor fall from the sky, faced down the Great General more than once. She would not be taken out by some poisoned Planet blood from a petri-dish in a dusty laboratory!

Her foot rose and kicked open the door to Reeve's office, the adrenaline pumping through her veins letting her ignore the soreness of her limbs. When the door swung back helplessly she caught snatches of astonished gazes. The sound of the handle slamming into the wall preceded her, striding in as confident as ever with Conformer held in her right hand and the fan spinning in her left.

"I know; you can't stop staring. It's okay! I get that a lot." She beamed so hard at Reeve's shocked expression that she felt her face beginning to hurt. Behind her back the door closed swiftly and slammed shut.

XxXxX

Against the back wall of Reeve's office was an armchair that fit Yuffie perfectly, not just physically but metaphorically. It was an obvious addition from her home in Wutai – different blue hues of the ocean and stars that looked suspiciously like materia. Reeve watched her snuggle into it before giving a report to a still astonished audience.

"We know that Genesis Rhapsodos is some sort of Shinra experiment and that's he's up to something, and that he's supposed to be dead but what does that count for anyway?" A small chorus of assent followed. Hadn't Sephiroth appeared again in his clones? Death was really very abstract in the world of AVALANCHE – it only took the people you wanted to keep.

"But you were there that time, so what's up, Cloud?" Yuffie motioned to Cloud and dangled her foot off of one side of the chair, spinning the fan. Nanaki felt his mouth turn up at the sight of her before turning to Cloud himself.

"Genesis was injected with Jenova cells, but not the same type as Sephiroth. His didn't pan out so well…Sephiroth went insane, but Genesis' body deteriorated." Slight unease ran through the room at the word 'Jenova' and Nanaki could almost feel Shera shivering from her spot on the couch. Something about that…thing made it almost impossible to kill. He noticed that Cloud and Tifa looked about as unconcerned as anyone could be, and wondered if they had made peace with their pasts.

"He and Sephiroth served together as SOLDIER First Class, but Genesis was jealous. Apparently they served in all the same places, always together, and Sephiroth was the one the people called a hero. I think Genesis was out for revenge on him, but he couldn't get very far because his body was falling apart. Sometime during the war in Wutai, he defected…soldiers hired by Shinra started to go missing. That's when Zack, Sephiroth and I were sent to look for him." Cloud's eyes turned up to the ceiling for a moment, like the memory had caught him.

"He had traveled back to the mainland, out in this small town between Nibelheim and Corel. The place couldn't have had more than 15 houses total. He had rented one and put the soldiers inside to experiment on them to look for a cure for himself, but it failed. They were all dead or dying by the time we arrived. We fought him until he couldn't go on, and it looked like he had come to peace with everything. We assumed that he died there…I guess we were wrong." Cloud tilted his head slightly in his 'Fill-in-the-blanks' face.

"Did he look like he was still falling apart?" He asked. Yuffie shook her head.

"His body regenerated like a freaky starfish or something. I stabbed him dead on in the chest and his wound started healing as soon as Conformer was out of him. It was slow and all, but if I had used a lesser weapon he probably would've just healed faster." Reeve cleared his throat and looked ahead pointedly.

"No matter what condition he's in, we can't find much more about Genesis here. None of Gast's files have anything to do with him…apparently Gast inherited the project but didn't have anything to do with Genesis' creation." Tifa tapped her foot while she spoke, a habit she had while thinking aloud.

"So Gast's house in Icicle Town is probably useless to us too. The only other big records place we know of is the mansion." To the surprise of everyone but Cid, Shera's voice was the first to ring out in response.

"Nibelheim isn't that bad of a flight. The airship will be ready within the hour." She smiled warmly behind her teacup while she sipped again, and no one in the room could help but smile back (even if it was only in their mind).

XxXxX

Reeve felt his eyes crinkle as he closed the latch on Cait Sith's outer shell. Shera really was very charming in a quiet, dormouse-y way. He wouldn't be surprised if she had somehow forced Cid to bring her along on this trip, but she would be a great addition. She was the only other person he knew of that could repair Cait Sith, and Cid had always said she was the 'best goddamned engineer this side of the Lifestream'.

The others had gone to pack the essentials for their expedition, including clothes, some food, plenty of gil, materia and weapons. They usually didn't carry as many healing supplies as they needed, but Cloud had been sure to sneak extra potions and bandages along with his incredibly large stack of phoenix downs. Reeve was sure that if Cloud preferred a deity, it would be the phoenix; but as a soldier and a mercenary Cloud had learned that no one is as dependable as your own self.

As for the others, Cid was supervising the preparation of the Shera, and the flesh and blood Shera was working on upgrading Barret's gun arm. Vincent and Yuffie had disappeared to pack, Nanaki was collecting his weapons and Tifa -

Reeve snapped out of his mental wanderings when a knock sounded on the door. It was three short taps before Tifa entered with a small smile.

Okay, so Tifa's here

"We're ready to leave. Is Cait coming?" In reply, Reeve tapped on the keyboard behind him. The robot sprung to life, doing a short spinning dance and blaring carnival music. The cat and moogle duo hi-fived Reeve before bouncing out the door past Tifa.

A silence hung between the two for a moment before Tifa started.

"We know you didn't mean for her to get hurt-" Reeve nodded almost desperately.

"She's my friend... I would never have sent her into danger like that." Tifa strode forward and hugged Reeve from across the desk, wine red eyes full of sympathy.

"Of course not. Don't worry about it. Everything's going to be ok." She gave him her best smile before walking away, closing the door softly. Reeve couldn't help but smile back.

I wonder if Cloud knows how lucky he is.

XxXxX

Yuffie took a last, withering look at her pack before removing Oritsuru. As much as she would like to, she couldn't carry all of her weapons without her clothes getting shredded by stray sharp edges. Nibelheim was colder than Sephiroth's glare; she needed to be covered.

"Have you considered more appropriate clothing?" Of course Vincent would walk up when she was distracted by her pack. He always seemed to know the moments he could sneak up on her.

"Mobility is my first concern," she said, not bothering to turn around to the man in her doorway. Sometimes using his language stopped the argument. But just for good measure… "I'd have worn a bikini if Nibelheim wasn't so cold…" This time she did turn, while Vincent seemed to be hiding his face in his cloak. Was that a blush she saw? She moved around the room collecting useful materia while he regained his composure. Leaning against the doorframe made him look cool, but if he couldn't take one bikini joke…

All that talk about 'moving on' and he's still a stuffy old dead guy.

Yuffie stood straight up and stock still when the thought hit her. She looked Vincent in the eye and wondered if he could see what she was thinking.

"So you want me to change into what?" She tilted her head and gave him an appraising look, one she knew made him the teensiest bit nervous. Very few things made Vincent shrink away, but she had learned them all while they traveled together. He straightened up and looked her in the eye, accepting the challenge.

"Weather appropriate clothing. You have been and still are grievously ill. The cold will not be kind." Yuffie walked forward, contemplating the argument. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She had wanted a coat even to walk in Midgar at night. (Not that she would tell him that, ever.) She stopped walking less than a step away from him, knowing that the closeness would unnerve him.

"Fair enough. But you're going to have to give me something in return." She bit back the urge to grin at Vincent's suddenly stone-like face. Something was getting to him.

"In return for your own health?" Monotone. Yuffie looked away, putting on a pondering face.

"I won't be able to move as fast or as silently with that kind of junk on. And I'll probably lose points for sexiness, too…" She looked back into the stone face, which, if possible, had gotten even less revealing. Now the red eyes seemed to have darkened a bit to hide something. "That kind of sacrifice doesn't come cheap," she finished. She watched him weigh his options before giving the slightest sigh.

"What can I give you?" Yuffie smirked. Quick as a flash her hands unbuckled the cloak, revealing all of Vincent's face to her. It slid off of his back and shoulders like rippling water to pool at their feet. Red eyes widened a fraction at Yuffie's bold move, but while Vincent regarded her in shock, she gave his leather suit a once over. It was old and could do with being replaced, but she didn't mind. For all the wear and tear it was tight in just the right places…

Where did THAT come from?!

She shook her head and turned quickly, doing her best to saunter back to her set of drawers.

"That will do. Now if you'll turn away? No peeking. Or you can just stand outside the door, whatever floats your chocobo…" The door clicked shut with the cloak still in her room. Yuffie muffled her laughter before rifling through the clothing.

Tifa had given her clothing every winter to try and convince the ninja to not freeze to death. Some of the older things would be rather tight, but that wouldn't be a problem until she tried to hide kunai on her person. She removed all but two of the regular outfits from her bag and replaced them with various winter outfits.

And one bikini.

Just for laughs, of course; they never had the luck to stop in Costa Del Sol. Her current outfit was a pair of thick inky black corduroys that she tucked into her creamy yellow boots, and a clingy green sweater with long sleeves and a turtle neck. Tifa had picked it because it looked exactly like her old green top, but with sleeves. She put on various belts to hold shuriken and kunai and just to have belts. They came in very handy now and then.

She looked at the red cloak for a moment before stuffing it into her bag. If Vincent had a relapse into melodrama, she was sure he would want it.

If not, then this is still a kickass blanket!

A/N: So I wanted the part where she walks out in new clothes to be next chapter. Fortunately I'm chock-full of love for this fandom right now and I hope it'll be done before the weekend's out. And I hope I'm not moving Vincent too fast - he gets flustered, you know? I'm sure incredibly inappropriate clothing and pretty obvious flirting would do that to any guy.

Read and review! See ya soon...