Welcome to my new Yuffentine, Angel. I do not own Final Fantasy VII, if I did Yuffentine would be cannon!Here is a bit about how the layout of this story works. The Odd chapters are current time, 10 years after Dirge of Cerberus. The even chapters are past events that motivate the characters through the present day chapters. Past chapters all have a theme song associated with them, so they are easy to spot as well. Enjoy!

Ten years after the end of Omega Crisis

A dark shadow started to creep closer to the brightly lit palace, a small glint of brass could be seen as the moonlight caught the arm slip out of under the cloak, the blood red of the cloth that bound the man's sin inside his heart seemed more black then anything in the dark night. Closer he stepped, until he was under the window that he'd picked, and he slid the covering to the side slightly to see in. There was a woman there, dressed in a red and black formal kimono, though it was cut in several areas, blood was splattered on the tatami mats under her, and she was on her knees, sobbing into her hands. The shadow looked to his left, then the right, and he opened the window more, so if the small woman inside looked up, she'd see him there.

Vincent Valentine could hardly believe that the woman before him had once been the effervescent ninja he'd known once, and he couldn't help but feel responsible. If he'd just picked up his phone sooner, if he hadn't written her off for ten years, maybe he'd been able to save her the scars over her pretty body. He pulled himself up into the room, and only then did Yuffie Kurasuki look up. Her silver eyes were lined and red from crying, she still looked young, she wasn't even thirty yet, but the sadness that weighed on her soul made it obvious the youthful spirit was broken. She'd started, scared for a moment before her eyes grew wide and worried, but she managed to make it to her feet and run to him, throwing her arms around his neck and holding him tight. The gunman swallowed hard and placed his golden claw on the small of her back, trying to give her some comfort. He'd never been very good at it, but he owed her that much.

They hadn't parted in the best way, all those years ago, he hadn't been ready for what had happened between them, and it scared him. Yuffie had just been a victim, but he'd driven her away after one night of passion. He never should have taken the girl, he tainted her, and when she was forced home to get married, he had no right to claim her as his own. He was the same as Lucrecia, having broken her heart and forced her into a marriage she didn't want, that turned abusive when their first child had been born. Vincent still didn't understand why, but from the bruises and cuts he could see, he knew that he couldn't leave her here… he'd been too late to save her the emotional distress, but he wasn't going to let the woman he cared for die. He looked down as her eyes came up to his, and the Lady gripped his shirt, clearly afraid that he would disappear. "Is it really you Vince?"

He nodded a bit, his cloak covered his mouth, and so she couldn't see the grimace there. "I'm taking you away from here, you and your daughter. You'll come with me to Nibelhiem, and I'll protect you." He felt her shaking slow a bit, and she took a deep breath, letting a tiny smile out. "You did get my message this time."

Vincent frowned a bit, and nodded, his hair slipping over his left eye, and he looked away. "I got them all, but I thought it would be better for you to be away from me. If I had known sooner…" His breath caught in his chest as her hand moved to silence him, and the gunslinger looked back at her. "I never told you, how could you have known… there's a lot I haven't told you. You came when I needed you, that's all that matters." She pulled back and looked up at him, and he tried not to wince at the scars on her lovely face. Vincent shook his head, his crimson eyes closing, "I never should have sent you away."

Yuffie let out a small chuckle; it was a rather bitter sound though. "You did what you thought was best, even if you didn't even think about me. But that's the past, you're here now, and I want you to meet someone you would have a long time ago… if you ever picked up your phone." She pulled away, now he could get a better look at her wounds. They were shallow scratches, mostly scabbed over already, but they looked painful. The ninja queen moved to a side door in her seemingly separate bedroom, and opened it up. Inside was a girl's room, she was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the previous fight her parents had.

Yuffie moved to the girl's side and shook her, "Yuki, wake up…" She started to stir and made a sound that she didn't want to get up. The girl was probably ten, but he remembered that Yuffie had given birth early in her marriage, and never again. Vincent stayed back so he didn't startle her, just watching as her mother moved to start packing her things into a suitcase. The girl finally stirred enough and opened her eyes, causing the crimson gunman to pause… she had glowing eyes… red, glowing eyes. "Yuffie!?" He said in a soft, but dangerous tone, "what is the meaning of this?"

The ninja stood, the backpack in her hand, and a stern look on her face. "Vincent, meet Yuki Valentine Kurasuki, of course my husband couldn't let it be known that she isn't his. I also lost my ability to bare more children because of his outrage. She knows who her real father is, I mean, red eyes aren't exactly common. It wasn't something I could leave on a voicemail Vincent." She looked down at the girl, who was now sitting up and staring at the crimson gunman, her eyes wide. Her mother knelt down, and pushed the messy tendrils of ebon hair out of her little girl's face with greatest affection. Vincent knew she was a good mother, but the child… his child… was she cursed as he was? Was she made to suffer with the voices of demons? He felt his heart constrict in his chest and he nearly ran away again, but he didn't. He knew he couldn't once he'd seen his sweet daughter, and that only doubled his guilt.

Yuffie saw the conflict flick through her ex-lover's eyes, and her expression softened. She walked back over to his and gently turned his face to look at her, her silvery eyes full of tears that could not fall. "Let's go, I'll get my things, I'll tell you everything once we're away from here. Go say hello to your daughter Vince…"

The gunslinger felt his heart constrict, but he nodded and walked over slowly, so he didn't scare the girl, and he went down on one knee to be at her level. Yuki was staring at him with a quizzical look on her face, she looked very much like him, but her face has the same softness Yuffie's did. It was obvious she was his. "My name… is Vincent." The girl grinned and giggled, reaching out to touch his claw, seemingly unafraid. "I know, Mama has told me all about you. I'm Yuki, but the people in the palace call me Shiroyuki after that one lady in the book!" The gunman thought a bit, his wutanese was rusty, but he was pretty sure that meant Snow White. He was familiar with that fairytale, but he was glad that her life hadn't mirrored the story, other then her complexion and hair.

Yuki giggled and moved to sit on the edge of her bed, and traced her fingers gently over the brass claw, careful not to cut herself, and her movements were gentle, like he could feel them through the weapon. The girl smiled more and moved her other hand up, tugging down his collar. This startled the gunman a bit and he tried to pull back a bit, but she wouldn't let him. "Mama said that a bad man hurt you, and that you're scared. It's ok, I'm here now, and so you don't have to be! I'm a ninja too, and I'll protect you! You have a monster inside, but she said you are a very good man. I don't have a monster, but I try to be really good anyway… I thought if I were, then you'd come see Mama and me. She's sad a lot, but when she talks about you, she's not so sad anymore. You'll stay with us now, right?"

Vincent just listened to the sweet little girl, his heart felt close to breaking. How could he have been so selfish, leaving Yuffie to deal with this alone, and yet she told their daughter such nice things about him. "I'm not as good as you think, I have a lot to atone for… but yes, you're both coming with me now." He stood and leaned down, gathering the girl and her blanket up, and he turned to see Yuffie had changed and was holding their bags. The older ninja smiled softly at the sight of her daughter snuggled into her father's arms, and motioned to the window. "They'll come after us, we'd better get going." Yuffie slipped out into the night, and for once, Vincent was right behind her, their little girl held protectively to his chest.