Notes from the Author

**Notes on Chapter One

Obviously I don't own the rights to Final Fantasy VII, but I'm pretty sure you guys are all aware of that. The usual disclaimers apply. Additionally, as the summary states, this is a Vincent/Yuffie fic, and while the genre is probably getting a bit too glutted by now, I feel I might be able to do at least a bit of justice to it. As such, bear with me. It's been a helluva long time since I've played the game, I don't own it anymore, though I wish I did, and I could very well make quite a few mistakes in portraying the world of FFVII. Your forbearance would be appreciated, and should you occasion to be a FFVII purist, consider yourself duly warned. The thing that has always been truely important to me in fanfiction is that the characters remain true to themselves, and if you can honestly say that any character is acting OOC, by all means bite my head off. I may not agree with you, but I WILL listen to your criticism, and apply it if it makes sense to me. That being said, as any writer, I do enjoy reviews, so please let me know what you think. On a personal note, Vincent was and always will be my favorite FFVII character, but you will note that the man doesn't do humor very well, at least not if he's going to remain in character. As such, most of the humor of this story will be forthcoming. Please bear with me.

**Notes on Chapter Two

A/N: Doncha just HATE cliffhangers? I know I do. I hate them so much. I would apologize, but I am tired, and I figure anyone who's annoyed enough to quite reading because of a cliffhanger probably wasn't enjoying the story very much anyway. In retrospect, Mr. Zeta, if you are still out there, I decided to stick with the Peacemaker as Vincent's sidearm of choice. Its historical ramifications tickle me far too much, and it is a revolver that he uses. I appreciate your info though, so keep on tossing me curve balls.

4 day weekend! Woohoo! I sleep well this night, for on the morrow I play DnD! Oh frabulous day, galloo gallay!

A special bonus to the first person who can tell me where I lifted the title for chapter 1 from. By where I mean who, and what it was. Hopefully figuring it out will keep you busy until I come up with the next chapter.

**Notes on Chapter Three

Apologies to anyone who read the first incarnation of this chapter... I reviewed it twice immediately after I wrote it and thought it looked fine, then read it again once I'd had eight hours of sleep, and saw a large number of stupid errors. So I went through and fixed them. A few people mentioned that there were possible pacing problems concerning the story, I considered these problems carefully and decided I was happy with the pace being set by the story. That being said, have faith in my abilities as a storyteller to keep track of and include every detail.

I do have a plan, people.

For those of you who think that Vincent is perhaps being overly cruel, this is my interpretation of Mr. Valentine. Remember that this man was an assassin, not to mention demonridden. I saw nothing in the game to change my opinion of him, and though I always saw him as on the right path, I think he's got a loooong way to go.

That being said, I hope I managed to capture his solitary and impossibly cool nature.

So, on with the show!

**Notes on Chapter Four

Just wanted to mention that I really LIKE how this chapter turned out, though I will appologize to those who wanted to IMMEDIATELY get on with what happens to Yuffie and Vincent. There IS a plot to this damn thing, and certain elements need to move on.

That being said, I think there is a little something for everyone in this chapter, so please enjoy, and if you'd be so kind, review.

**Notes on Chapter Five

I know some of you are thinking at this point, "What the fuck?!" Two months of waiting and all we get is a thirty page flashback scene, some schizophrenic ranting, and barely five pages of Vincent/Yuffie?

My answer is, of course, that this flashback is a necessary evil.

Something disturbed me about alot of you readers recently that I wanted to get off my chest. In chapter 2, when Vincent coldly dispatches the helpless machine gunner on the last lizard, the response I got from alot of you was that this was cool.

It took me a moment to wrap my head around that. I mean, here we have this former VILLAIN who's trying to redeem himself, and yet he's still pragmatically ending lives without much thought.

This doesn't disturb any of you? I think people have fallen into the trap of believing that what Vincent did back in his Turk days was "OK" because he's such a cool character in the now. Not because he's trying to redeem himself, but because he's cool. I don't know if I'm ok with that. I mean, I like cool gun fighting scenes and violence as much as the next man, probably more so, but I don't think its cool to just end somebody's life without thinking about it. That's what kinda got on my nerves about the Matrix... I mean, I understand that these people don't know you're trying to save them, and that they're trying to kill you, but does that make it alright to just haphazardly slaughter your way through them? That really bugs me, and I apologize... I used this fic as a way to illustrate this.

Yes Vincent is cool. Yes he's a badass. He's also a man struggling to climb out of the mire that was his former life. Vincent is convinced that there is no salvation for him, and most fics just kinda skim over that.

I think it's really important. That's why I wrote that scene the way it is.

Is Vincent an unrepentant killer?

No.

Is he a killer?

Yes.

Even then, I tried to show that there were some SEEDS of redemption in him, because other wise, how could he have fallen in love? In the flashback, the black far outweighs the white, and I think its important to stress that.

Vincent makes a very good villain, I think. Does he make a good hero?

I guess that'll depend on him... and Yuffie, won't it?

In any case, lemme know what you think, ok? I appreciate you all hanging on as much as you have, I really do.

**Notes on Chapter Six

Ok people, I apologize for this. The good news is that this chapter is ALL Vincent and Yuffie interaction, because it is definately past time for them to advance, as it were. The bad news is, I wrote and rewrote this chapter about five times before I was finally satisfied with it, and it still doesn't feel totally right.

I don't know if this is just me being my own worst critic, but I guess this is a time when I'm gonna need an outside opinion to really know for sure.

Let me have it, people.

Also this chapter suddenly developed a live of its own about three quarters of the way through, and I want you to know that I DID NOT intend it to end up the way it did. It just flowed out of me, and even though there is some... possibly out of character interaction, it felt very... I don't know... powerful, so I kept it the way it was.

Again, let me know what you think. If I sound hesitant or unsure of myself it's because I am... I actually almost hurt myself writing this chapter... got maybe a little too deep into it. You other writers might know what I'm talking about. If there is anything wrong with this chapter, it stems from me maybe putting a little too much me into it.

**Notes on Chapter Seven

My apologies for the long wait. Doom 3 and Morrowind have eaten my brain, and it has taken me quite some time to even get this little bitty chapter out. That being said, this chapter is mainly just a build up for the roller coaster of events that are going to take place in the next chapter. I had considered simply waiting and releasing a huge update that would encompass both chapters, but that would have taken me lord knows how long to finish, and I figured you diehard Why Me? Fanatics might not survive the wait, and so, here you go. Hopefully Chapter 8 will follow before too long, but considering what I want to do in it, it might be anywhere from a week to three weeks. Gomen Nasai, folks.

That being said, I enjoyed writing this chapter, because it allowed me to give a bit more insight into the lives of our two villains. I'm of the school of fantasy writing who believes that there is no more important element to a story than a good, convincing villain or three, and so expect to see more developement of those two as time goes by.

My apologies to those whom this royally annoys, but it's my story so Nyah nyah and all that.

Later all, and thanks for reading. As always, reviews are appreciated.

**Notes on Chapter Eight

Christ, this chapter took for-goddamn-ever to finish. Aside from the obvious... it's the longest chapter to date, there is also the matter of mundane life intruding into my writing time. I'm in the Navy folks, and right now my command is preparing for a big AMI inspection. Basically, its like finals for you college folks, only this is my job. I'm deeply involved in all manner of navy programs that are inspected during this phase, since I'm a workcenter and divisional Training Petty Officer, so I really have to sweat this.

What does this gibberish mean? It means that right now I'm usually working until late at night, and then sleeping when I get home. So less time for writing.

Still, here's the next chapter to Why Me? The epic that expanded beyond my control. Since this chapter was written in several sittings rather than just one or two like my other chapters, the narrative may change tones alot. I tried to avoid this, but whatareyagonnado, huh?

Hopefully it's enjoyable. It was hell getting this finished with so much on my mind. It's still pretty rough, but I swear I just can't stare at this any longer... I NEED to post this. So if it seems unfinished, I deeply apologize.

**Notes on Chapter Nine

And here we go again. Once more into the breach, my friends, but for the grace of fandom go I. Of course, also because I don't want anyone bitching at me for keeping you all in cliff-hanger status any more than I probably should. It is very cruel of me, I know, but I DO so love the agonized groans, that I do. In other news, the ever fantabulous Amethyst Angel has once again lost her mind and decided to host the story on her very own site, complete with awesome chapter illustrations and other assorted goodies. Bear with me, since the stupid document manager removes any links you include, so I had to spell out the links. Please all be dears and check it out at www dot amethyst-angel dot com slash whyme dot html. She's put alot of work into it for little or no benefit to herself, other than the fact that she gets a copy of the story mailed to her the instant I finish it.

Well, that and the little surprise I left for her in the story... but then, she's gonna have to read to find that one, heh heh.

Before I forget, if anyone else wants to do fanart or anything like that, by all means mail it to me, since now I have a place to put it where it will be appreciated! So that being said, run along, enjoy, and as always, on with the show!

One last thing, as much as I'd like to take credit for the cool ninjitsu explanation in the last chapter, I cannot. There is an actual school for the martial arts I described in the San Fernando valley, the art is called Shorinjin Ryu Saito Ninjitsu, and the dojo run by a dear friend of mine, Mr. Stephen McGovern. He and I are old navy buddies, having served together on the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). He's a crusty ol' chief petty officer. Naw, just foolin'. What little I know of martial arts I learned from him, and he's an awesome teacher. If you're interested in a really KICK ASS martial art that makes perfect sense (to me, at least) check out the site at http://www.tenkobushi.com/

**Notes on Chapter Ten

Once again, we ride the merry-go-round of OH MY GOD, THE GUY DRIVING THE BUS IS BLIND! Yes chillin's I have NO idea what I'm doing with this.

Ok, that's a lie, but it's comforting nonetheless. Please don't think any less of me because I draw stupid scenes out far beyond what they should rationally be. I know this story updates far too slowly... I know my narrative rambles at times and speeds up to dizzy levels the next...

I just hope you all enjoy it, that's all. Keep on keepin' on. And as usual, on with the show.