"You may tear the wound and end up in this very hospital for an even longer stay," said the doctor with irrefutable logic. "You won't even be able to stand up."

"I don't care! The Highwind is fixed, so going in a wheelchair won't be any problem at all. Besides, if I tear the wound and am in here longer, it won't matter in the least. I don't have anywhere to be afterwards, but I have to be on the Northern Continent by tomorrow. I can't wait three days to hear the verdict!" She looked at the stony-faced, unmoved doctor, and considered pleading, but reconsidered. "Okay, fine. You don't want me to leave. I understand that. But you have no say over where I am. If I want to leave, then I have the right to do so." She raised an eyebrow. "Now I would rather leave with your blessing, and a wheelchair, but if I have to crawl all the way to the Junon landing pad, hijack a helicopter, and fly it all the way to the Northern Continent, so help me, I'll do it."

The doctor frowned bitterly, but relented, throwing his arms up in submission. "Fine, fine. What do I care. It's your life." He sighed. "Should I get Vincent? Poor guy fell asleep in a chair just outside the room. He won't leave the area of your room for more than fifteen minutes. The last tiem he did, when we treated his shoulder, he was upset and then wouldn't leave your bedside for several hours. It's like he thinks you'll disappear or something."

Elena smiled, thinking of Vincent loving her just as much as she loved him. "Please do. It'll be nice with him helping."

The doctor, knowing their infatuation with each other, shook his head and rolled his eyes, but smiled. He walked out, sighing overdramatically, and said something Elena couldn't make out. She smiled as she heard Vincent's familiar tenor, then the two of them stepped back inside.

"So, you're completely set on this, I take it?" Vincent asked.

She nodded emphatically. "Reno and Rude are my best friends, and I know them better than anyone else. I need to be there to support them, and I'm sure they'll feel hurt if I don't show up. Well, Rude will. Reno will just take it as an opportunity to make even more fun of me, which will be even worse."

Vincent smiled. "Fine. Most of us are at the trial itself, but the rest are here, waiting out your recovery. Except for Tifa; she's still with Cloud." A frown marred his face. "They're still not sure about Cloud..."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Elena said softly. "The medicine Lucrecia supplied is supposed to cure him, and even if he is pretty far gone, he...Cloud won't die easily. Take this from experience."

Even though he was always bitter at the mention of Lucrecia, Vincent laughed softly, and Elena reveled in the sound. God...I love this man. He's so wonderful...I don't think I could ever bear to lose him.

Vincent turned to the doctor. "Would it be possible, if it isn't too much trouble, to get a wheelchair for Elena? I mean, if you're busy with something else, of course..."

The man bowed. "Yes, o imperious one." He sighed at Vincent's puzzled look. "It's just, you were being so diffident about it, you know, and I...I'll go get the wheelchair."

"Not at all!" Vincent leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. "It just makes me feel useful."

She smiled at him. "Well, then I don't feel quite so bad. But still..."

"Don't worry about it."

"I wish we had been able to see Reno and Rude before the trial."

Vincent sighed. "I've noticed that the townsfolk are a little bit...paranoid." He looked at the two defendants sitting at the table. "Who do you suppose it was who got Reno to fix his suit?"

"A miracle worker?" Elena giggled. "He never would fix it...But, anyway, the jury should be coming back soon."

Vincent nodded tersely. "Yeah. I think - I hope - they'll get acquitted. I think the evidence from...her...changed their minds. Even though I heard from Cid that the prosecuting lawyer declared it a lie."

Elena made a face. "I know he's just doing his job, but I can't help but dislike that man. Although I'm sure the fact that he's trying his hardest to shut my friends up in prison has nothing to do with it."

Vincent looked slightly distant. "Isn't it amazing how far we've come?" Slightly surprised by the sudden change in topic, Elena tilted her head slightly to the side in a questioning geture. "I know it's kind of sudden, but I was just pondering. Y'know, I've met so many people in my life, and I probably can't even remember a third of them. My parents have been dead so long I can't even remember them. I used to be just a kid, no different from those on the streets, save I had money and provided for my friends. Then, so long ago, I turned to Shinra for assistance. And look where that got me. Pining for a love that never was, put under the knife of a man much more dangerous than a crazy one - one with curiosity, a grudge, and a terrible imagination. Then I was woken up, thirty years later, and joined in an insane struggle for the Planet. And now...I have found love. I've just changed so much. How will I be long from now?"

Elena frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know...but I hope I will be able to stay with you forever."

Vincent smiled tenderly at her. "As do I." He was about to say more when a ripple went through the attendees at the trial. The solemn-faced jury marched back up to their seats. He muttered under his breath, "Here it comes..."

"Will the defendants please rise and look at the jury," requested the judge politely.

Elena sucked in a breath and held it.

"On the charges of muder, we find the defendants...not guilty."

Elena let out a yelp of happiness that was clearly heard just before a murmur went through the people attending.

Then there was a swarm of people to get through as Vincent wheeled her to the front, all talking excitedly, some with disappointment obvious.

Suddenly, the two Turks stood before them. Surprise was mirrored in their eyes.

"Elena!" exclaimed Rude. "What have you done to yourself?"

She waved away his concern with slight embarrassment. "It's nothing that won't heal in time. Just a gun wound. Nothing serious. But haw have you held up? Have people been treating you all right?"

"Elena..." interrupted Reno.

A pained look grew on her face as she predicted what was coming next. "Look, Reno, if you say I talk too much, I swear I'll-"

"Thank you."

She looked up at him with amazement, then burst into tears and hugged him around the neck.

Vincent looked up at Reno. They were out of earshot of Elena and Rude, who were filling each other in on the past few weeks, and he expected the "worried father-type" spiel.

"Yes," he said frankly, staring Reno down. "Of course I do."

Reno adopted a slighly concerned look. "You...won't make her choose between you and us, will you?" he asked. "I mean...Well, she's like my sister, you know? And I'd hate to lose her. And I'm afraid that if you gave her an ultimatum, she'd leave us."

"I'd never force her to choose," swore Vincent. "That would be unfair."

Reno smiled. "Thank you."

Elena wheeled over to where they stood and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. This is a, ahem, 'serious dicussion,' isn't it?"

Vincent looked at her with loving eyes. "No, we're done. Come on. I haven't seen the others, and I bet they're waiting for us back at the Highwind."

They walked off, hand-in-hand, as Reno and Rude rolled their eyes. The air was warm for so late in the autumn and so far north, and the snow hadn't yet begun to fall. Behind them stood an old, weathered tree, with its leaves in beautiful flame. As they walked away, one leaf dropped from the tree, and Elena caught it and put it in her pocket, a good luck charm showing that the leaves - and her life - had begun to turn.