~Fang's POV~

Distant. That's how the voices I hear sound when I start to awaken. Like I'm listening from underwater. Actually, it feels like I'm suffocating, like the air is heavy and I can't breathe. Yet I'm warm, and so comfy. But I can't breathe... As a panicked instinct, my body forces me to sit straight up and my eyes widen as I gasp gulps of sweet air. Freezing sweet air.

"You're awake!" I hear Vanille squeal. I blink at the bright light of a fire beside me and the two people beside me. "You fell asleep on Vincent and he couldn't wake you up! I've never seen him so worried!"

"...Vince?" I say quietly. Ugh, my head really hurts.

"Oh, he wouldn't stop staring at you, so Sazh made him go get firewood," she waves me off. "Anyway, we couldn't wake you up and he said something about hypothermia and piled his cloak and gloves on you. That's when Sazh took over and now you're all toast now, I hope." Guess I wasn't suffocating, I think, looking down at my now gloved hands and hug the cloak tighter around my body.

"How come you didn't freeze?" I furrow my eyebrows at her. She shrugs.

"I was using a flame spell on myself and then curing when it hurt too much."

"You're crazy," I roll my eyes. "How long was I out?"

"Hmm... It was about midnight when you passed out and it's an hour or so past lunch time."

"Wow," I wince. My head really hurts... "Did I hit my head on anything?"

"Not that I know of, why?" She frowns.

"Just a migraine then," I sigh. Sazh stirs from where he naps against the wall. A couple minutes of head pounding and ringing later, a shadow passes at the mouth of the cave, and I turn to see a tall and dark figure holding an arm load of logs that should be extremely heavy for someone whose arms are as thin as his. When did I become so weak? Crimson eyes stare at me for a moment before he smoothly steps to the wall of the cave and sets the wood down before swiftly turning and walking toward me. Still so graceful, even without his cape. In fact, it's strange to able to see his hands for once, so pale and soft looking.

"Hey there," I force an aching grin as he crouches in front of me. Without warning, he cups my face and presses his lips gently to mine, pulling away after a couple moments.

"Do not make me worry again." Then he stands and goes back to the logs, moving them to the slowly dying fire. Vanille, wide eyed, blinks at me as I try to hide my blush behind my wild hair. I don't get it.

I used to be the flirty one that made the guys blush, left them hanging, and teased them. Now the tables have turned and Vincent is doing that to me without even giving an effort. All he has to do is look at me whereas I had to force a wink and blow a kiss. I don't understand; Tifa must've been right. I knew for awhile that I loved him, but being in love is something entirely different. Right? I'm not good at this crap...

"Aw!" Vanille whispers loudly, sitting beside me. I sigh and shake my head.

"Now he's just going to pretend we don't exist until I do something."

"Why are you talking so quietly?" She frowns suddenly.

"My head?" Vincent pauses to glance at me before pursing his pouting lips and continuing his fire feeding.

"Oh, right! I could try to use Cure did you'd like.."

"That stuff makes me dizzy," I cut her off with a careless wave of my hand. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll just wait it out. Besides, don't we have a village to get to?"

"It is still a long way off," Vincent speaks up, now standing full height. "You should recover."

"From what? Getting the chills? Please," I scoff. "I'll be fine." He frowns and looks down at my crossed arms.

"And if I would ever like my clothing back?"

"You'll just have to suck it up, buttercup," I smirk. He raises and eyebrow and takes a few longs strides toward me until he's practically a tower.

"We will stay here one more night," he says slowly, looking down at me. "I do not wish to have you pass out on me again."

"Sorry, am I that heavy?" I furrow my eyebrows. "Last I checked, I was one thirty two." I can see him mentally face palming right now. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"That is not the problem. As I said, I do not wish for you to freeze again. It would have been better for you to go with Cloud to Mideel."

"So you want to get rid of me, that's it," I pout. Annoying him is so much fun.

"No..."

"That, or you wish I never came. Or maybe that we never met. Or maybe even that I had died instead of..."

"Fang," he huffs, the impatience clear in his voice. "Just sit down."

"Nope."

"Please."

"Aw, Vinnie's begging?" He gives me an unamused look. "No."

"Fang, don't be so difficult," Vanille's says sternly.

"And why not?" Vince ignores her.

"Because I don't want to." I wince when Vanille's weapon falls from its holder, my ears ringing and head pounding with sharp pains. Vincent sighs and shakes his head.

"Very well. I did have something for your headache..."

"Oh fine!" I groan, sitting heavily. "But you had better not be lying." He chuckles softly and sits beside me, handing me a couple pills from his hand. "Where'd you get those?!"

"The bags Reeve sent with us," Vincent looks at Vanille. "He was... Informed of your common headache issue."

"I didn't think he'd actually listened!" Vanille beams. "Score for me then, because Reeve tends to be deaf!"

"He is a busy man," Vince watches me as I struggle to swallow the first pill without a drink, and just my dry mouth.

"Anyone have a cup?" Vanille mumbles. I cup my hands together and hold them out.

"This'll work, Missy." She nods and carefully fills them with magic water. I hope this stuff won't hurt me like it does in battle. Shrugging it off, I pour it into my mouth before it can escape and swallow the meds easily.

"Now please stay seated," Vincent stands, sending me a pointed look before going back to the fire. I shiver against the chilly air and look over at him wistfully. Wonder what he's thinking about when he looks zoned out like that. Maybe he's talking his demons. Maybe he's thinking about... Nah. He's Vincent Valentine, he's more likely regretting joking about dating and brooding over Lucrecia.

"Well I want to get going early tomorrow morning then, if we won't go now," I say stubbornly. Vincent makes no sign of hearing me, though I know I broke through his thoughts. Wonder what he was thinking about that made his pale face as red as his cloak.

"How early?" He finally answers. Vanille busies herself playing with her weapon while she pretends not to be listening. Great liar, terrible actor.

"Dawn," I lift my head a little higher. He sighs and shakes his head.

"If you will actually get up..."

"Hey, there are other ways to wake me up besides dumping me in a bathtub!" I can see him smirking even in the dim light of the cold cave, and cross my arms. "What's so funny?"

"Last time that happened, I was also drenched shortly after I dropped you."

"That's right," I smirk. "And don't you ever think I won't do it again."

"...I do not doubt you."

"Good," I say shortly before pulling his cloak tighter around me. "Now come get your gloves, they're itchy and I'm not allowed to get up. Doctor's orders." Vincent rolls his eyes and walks over swiftly, crouching in front of me as I struggle to get the large leather gloves off my hands. Vanille giggles when my hand slips and hits me square in the nose. I can see Vincent struggling to hide his own amusement as I blink away the sudden movement that hit my in the face and glare at him.

"Screw you guys."

"Unfortunately there are no tools here," Vincent says smugly at the same time Vanille squeals "Fang!"

"Don't be smar..."

"Fang," Vanille scolds again.

"What? He is!" Vincent takes my hand in his and carefully takes the stupid glove off.

"Well if you meant it the other way..." Vincent says, smirking as he takes the other off as well, pushing his own fingers into the material.

"You're gross," I hit him playfully on the side of the head. He chuckles and finally looks up at me, his face a slightly reddened color.

"I do not see you complaining."

"I'm not," I grin. "But there's a kid here."

"I'm not that much younger than you, Fang," Vanille stomps her foot.

"You're still a kid."

"Hmph," she pouts, crossing her arms. "I don't think I should be considered a child when I'm over a millennium old."

"Ooo, you used a big word. Congrats, Missy," I roll my eyes. She stomps her foot again and storms away, greatly annoyed by my teasing.

"You could be kinder, you know," Vincent sighs, sitting across from me with his back against the wall of the cave. One leg is bent upward with his elbow resting on his knee, the other stretched out far enough to touch my toes if I tipped my foot forward just a teeny bit more. He looks almost... Normal, relaxed even.

"I am when I feel like it."

"..."

"Hey Vince," I tug the cloak tighter around me. He raises his once hanging head and raises an eyebrow. "Why don't you talk much?" He sighs.

"There are a couple reasons. One is that I always ended up saying the wrong thing. Two is there is nothing to say to most things."

"Saying the wrong thing?" I raise an eyebrow. He nods and his eyes flicker to the floor.

"That is how I lost Lucrecia."

"Oh," I awkwardly look down at my hands. Great. I just couldn't shut my mouth, could I? "Sorry, I didn't know I bringing that up... You can always tell me when you don't want to talk about it, you know?"

"Sometimes it is better to keep silent and simply listen," he says slowly, looking as if he were lost in a daze. "But others are times not to push everything down and hide it all from those you love." It's in that moment I realize how smart my Vinnie is, and how much he must have gone through to have those words at the tip of his tongue. They sounded practiced, used. But they were new to me, and it was a rare enough occasion that he would open up to me... I can't just keep pushing it though. I tap the tip of my sandal lightly against the underside of his metal plated shoes, causing him to jump out of his daydream and stare at me in confusion. Do I need a reason to touch you other than the fact that it's you?

"Ever feel like you could just scream into a pillow and then punch a hole through a wall or two while wanting to kill something and while you're chest makes it feel like you're slowly suffocating under the weight of that need?" I mumble, closing my eyes as I lean my head back against the hard rocks at my back. After a moment of no reply, his deep voice vibrates through my bones once more.

"I suppose I understand." I nod and fight back a yawn.

"Good."

~|~|~|~|~

"Fang, wake up!" Vanille's voice breaks into my sleep. I jump awake, hand instantly reaching for the spear that lays just inches away. Life does that to you. And by the bright light into the cave, I can tell they didn't wake me up at dawn.

"What time is it?" I frown, standing.

"Nearly nine," Sazh says, stretching.

"And why wasn't I woken up?" I cross my arms and direct a stern glare toward Vincent. He just sits at the mouth of the cave with his back to us.

"You were cussing someone out in your sleep," Sazh rolls his eyes. "Vincent decided it wouldn't be a good idea to wake you until you stopped."

"Great," I groan, my stomach growling silently. "Well let's get a move on then. Hojo's probably left by now."

"Vincent... Walks so... Fast," Vanille pants as we slow our sprint into a walk after we've come about thirty feet behind him. No doubt he's going to leave us behind again, but my lungs are freezing and I'd rather not be sucking in tons of the air around here as fast as I can as long as I can avoid it.

"Especially for... A man... In heels," I add, breathless. Finally, Vincent stops and turns to scowl at me. Yes, I know your super ears can here me insulting your shoe taste.

"Cmon ladies," Sazh teases as he jogs by. I glare at him and force myself to stand up straight.

"You're really pushin it, Pops!" I call to him. He just laughs and keeps going.

"But we're getting... Left behind..." Vanille pants.

"Let's go then," I say, my body already used to quick recoveries.

"I think I see something!" She hisses later on.

"I do too," I nod, the tiny looking village far ahead looking like the perfect place to get inside and get to a real bed. But now's not the time, despite how hungry I am, and Vincent will want to make up for lost time anyway. But.... Every feel so hungry that your lightheaded and you feel like everything under your skin is shaking? That's me.

"Fang, I'll take the fields with Vincent if you want to stay in the village," Vanille offers quietly.

"That's alright, Missy. I'll just suck it up can't be too much longer until we get there anyway, and you look tired."

"But you look sick!"

"I ain't sick," I roll my eyes.

"You're really pale, and why are you shaking?"

"I'm hungry," I shrug.

"... When was the last time you ate, Fang?" Her voice doesn't hold curiosity, but that motherly tone she used to talk to Hope with. I sigh and shake my head.

"I don't know. Breakfast the day we got back, I think?"

"That's practically four days!" She shrieks. I roll my eyes and keep walking.

"I just haven't thought about it, that's all," I shrug.

"How could you not..! Fang, you are going to eat something the instant we step into town."

"I'm fine, Vanille. Besides, I don't want Mr. Heels to end up going without me."

She huffs but doesn't press the matter any further. She wouldn't understand unless she was in love with the man in heels anyway.