ChaosHolder

Author's Note: This story is set about 6 months after Cold Shoulder, so if you haven't read that yet I recommend you do before reading this. With that said, enjoy! It had been a long time since Vincent remembered being this bored. There was nothing on television, he had finished every book he owned at least five times, and Reeve had been so busy developing new machinery for the W.R.O. that no one had called him for a mission in several days – he wasn't overjoyed to have become their go-to monster killer, but at least it was something to do. And to make matters worse, Yuffie had been materia-hunting for two weeks now, and it was in an a

It had begun to snow just after Yuffie had left Vincent's room, running as fast as her feet would carry her and not caring where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from that hotel as she possibly could before anyone saw how much she was crying; ninjas were not supposed to cry. It was really cold, and she wished she had thought to grab a coat or a blanket, but she had accidentally left those in the room in her hurry to leave. Well, too bad, she wasn't going to go back now. She could tough out a little snow. She thought about the look of surprise, or maybe even disgust she had seen on Vincent's face after she tri

For almost the entirety of the next two days, Vincent stayed in bed, only getting up to shower, change his clothes, and, on three occasions, run off to be sick. Yuffie remained by his side the entire time, giving him space but always at the ready with a hot mug of ginger tea and a comforting word when he needed it. She couldn't help the fact that her face reddened almost every time she looked at him now, and the fact that he was surprisingly very cuddly when he was asleep wasn't helping. She was sure it was only her imagination making her believe that he wanted her specifically, though, so she never said anything to him about it. It made her

The first thing Vincent saw when he awoke the next morning was Yuffie, curled up beside him with her back against his chest. He couldn't remember why she was there, but he had no chance to dwell on it; at that moment, he was seized by a painful fit of dry, wheezy coughing that had him curled up into a gasping ball before he knew what had happened. Each rattling hack made him feel like his throat was full of liquid fire, and he barely had time to take a breath before it was cut off by another cough. Yuffie had snapped awake with the first wheeze, and she hurried out of bed and fetched a glass of water and the bottle of cough syrup in her backp

When Vincent opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a metal table in a dimly lit room, surrounded by glowing mako tubes and blank concrete walls. It was cold, and he realized with a fearful shiver that he was undressed, covered only by a surgical sheet. This wasn't his hotel room; how had he gotten here? He tried to sit up, but some invisible force was holding him down, like a thousand pound weight resting on every inch of his body. He fought to control his now frantic breathing. Panic had begun to chill his blood; he remembered this place, and he knew he had to get out of here before – "Ah, Mr. Valentine," said a black-haire

When Yuffie arrived in Kalm, freezing rain had once again begun to fall. She stood still for a moment, dazed from the dizzying experience of teleporting such a long distance, and looked around for the hotel Vincent had mentioned. It had been a long time since she had been in Kalm, so she wasn't even sure if there was still only one. Soon, though, she got her bearings and spotted the flickering lights of the hotel marquis. She took off in an instant, splashing down the narrow street like Ifrit's fire was at her heels. The concierge looked up in surprise when she burst through the door, dripping wet and panting, but he quickly regained his comp

Yuffie was mad. No, scratch that – she was livid. No, scratch that again – she was completely, totally, royally, murderously pissed. All of her friends had gathered at Seventh Heaven to celebrate her twenty-first birthday – and her first legal drink, courtesy of Tifa – and they were not the reason she was angry. Well, most of them weren't, anyway. The cause of her fury was the absence of a certain red-eyed, black-haired, vampire-like gunman who had promised her – repeatedly, seeing as she had asked him about ten times – that he would be there to celebrate with her. She hadn't minded waiting for him for a li

The morning was looking promising for the citizens of Kalm. The sun rose early and shone bright, the sky was clear and the chilly air was clean, and the snow from the blizzard of only a few days ago was already melting away. The sounds of the awakening village could be heard just after sunrise: the chirping of the birds, the bustle of shopkeepers hurrying off to work, children laughing and playing in the snow, and – "KEH-CHOO!" The sneeze was loud enough to be heard through the thin walls of the small hotel room, had there been anyone around to hear it. The source of the sound, a pale, red-eyed, ebony-haired man dressed all in black, s