So this is a Yuffentine fic. Same universe as FVII but a whole different story. This idea just randomly came out of nowhere and is not the best story I've ever written, but hey, I still think it's nice. :)

No, I don't own Final Fantasy 7. And it's incredibly upsetting.

Sticky Fingers

Yuffie Kisaragi didn't steal because she had to. She'd grown up having access to anything she wanted if she just asked for it. Even now she didn't need much to get by, so really she didn't have to do it at all. It was useful when on the job, though, especially when the mission required it. They'd gotten a few jobs where they had to break into someone's house or business and steal a particular document or item. So while her friends were actually conscience-driven, which Yuffie found strange for mercenaries, and didn't exactly approve of her hobby, they let her do it outside of the job just as long as she didn't get into much trouble. That usually wasn't a problem. She rarely ever got caught. And when she did…well, they didn't call her a ninja for nothing.

So when they stopped by in Midgar to contact their current employer and hopefully find a new one, Yuffie became excited. She and her comrades had been traveling for the past week. On the road, she got incredibly bored. Mostly there was nothing to do but walk or fight the various monsters that popped up. In the years that she'd been with them, Yuffie had gotten used to it, but it still didn't stop her from going crazy whenever they finally reached a town or city. Her fingers were itching to get her hands on something, as in, something that wasn't hers. So the second they had settled down at the inn they usually stayed at, she told her friends that she'd be wandering around the city.

Barret gave her a look. "Yuffie, we just got here. You better not be gettin' us chased out before we get our next job."

Yuffie feigned being hurt. "As if! Just who do you think I am?"

"I know who you are," he said. "That's what worries me."

"Aw, don't worry so much!" she said, grinning at her companions. "I won't take anything big this time."

This time, both Barret and Tifa gave her warning looks.

"I promise!" she said, giving a light laugh. "I'm just going to walk around. You just worry about getting our money and finding us a new job. I'll be back with dinner."

She waved goodbye and took off before they could say anything else. She headed towards the market where she knew there would be a lot of people. It'd be easy to snatch a few things in the crowd. She brushed past people, "accidentally" bumping into them and walking away before they noticed that she was holding some of their money in her hand. It was never that much. Yuffie only took a couple pieces of gil, nothing that would set off alarms. Plus, she wasn't interested in the money anyway.

She mingled in the crowd for a while, choosing her victims out of the corners of her eyes. The thrill of the steal had her on a high. She spent hours getting lost among the people, dipping her hands in pockets while enjoying the nice weather at the same time. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that Yuffie began to slow down. She'd finally had enough for one day. Besides, if she lingered for too long, people would start to get suspicious. Yuffie found a woman sitting against a building, an old worn hat out in front of her. Beside her huddled a small child. Both of them were dirty and wearing old, tattered clothes. Yuffie marched up to them and placed all the gil she had collected in the hat.

The woman looked up at her, her eyes widened. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Yuffie said, winking and saluting her. She already turned away when she heard the woman say, "May Gaia bring you back to what you've been looking for."

Yuffie stopped and looked back at the woman, but she was already talking to her child who had a hopeful look on his face. What a strange thing to say, Yuffie thought. But she shrugged it off. It wasn't until she was halfway back to the inn that she realized that she had meant to keep some of the money to buy dinner for them. They had food back at the inn, but Yuffie liked having take-out the first night they were ever in town. It began sort of a tradition that she had started when she first joined the group. She flexed her fingers. Well, looks like she had one more steal left for the day.

Her target appeared almost immediately. He was standing on the sidewalk, looking at his phone. He was wearing a dark business suit, an expensive one too, meaning that he must have money. Distracted and rich, the perfect type of person to steal from. Just as long as she was careful, it should be no problem.

Yuffie got up behind him being careful not to make a sound. She slipped a hand in his pocket and almost smiled in triumph when she her hand closed around some loose gil he must have tossed in there. The man didn't stir, only typed something out on his phone.

When she began to walk away, however, a hand closed around her wrist. Yuffie stiffened.

Shit.

"Hey! What do you think you're—" The voice cut off though. Without turning around, Yuffie tried yanking her arm out of his grasp. But he was strong and instead his hand tightened on her. She was considering hitting the guy and then running. She was a fast runner. She could be back at the inn in no time. But before she could put this into action, what he said next stilled her.

"Yuffie?"

She jerked her head up, surprised that whoever it was knew her name. When she looked at him though, she froze. "V-vincent?" she stammered out. At first she didn't recognize him. He had grown his hair out. Instead of a short cut, it was now incredibly long, past his shoulders. He must not have cut it since the last time they'd seen each other. The second she saw those crimson eyes though, she knew. She knew it was him. And she knew that she was in huge trouble.

His expression was at first, shocked. Then, however, a dark look came over his features. "Stealing from me again, I see," he said, bitterly.

Yuffie mentally kicked herself. How could she not tell it was him? How could she not have been more careful? Then again, she thought he had moved to the other side of Midgar, the side where she never went. Of course it didn't matter now. Now she was just stuck. Her mind raced, but she didn't know what to stay. She wished more than anything that she had just gone back to the inn and bummed some money of off Tifa or Cloud or chosen some other person to steal from.

"I—" she stuttered, struggling to come up with something to say. "I—"

"Let her go."

Yuffie jumped at the voice. They both turned and saw Cloud, Tifa, and Barret there. Cloud had his hand on the handle of his sword. Her heart almost leapt with joy. Her friends had perfect timing.

Vincent looked back at her. "New friends?"

The small elation she felt at seeing her companions quickly faded. The dim look he was giving her sent a huge wave of guilt and sadness through her. She sucked in a breath and opened her mouth to…what? Defend herself? It would kind of defeat the purpose of doing what she did. Yet the expression on his face sent a stab of pain through her.

He must hate her so much now…

She closed her mouth, then opened it again, trying to find something to say, but unable to think of anything. She wished she could look away from those crimson eyes. Too see them again hurt her more than she thought they would. Yet, she found herself staring into them, caught in the fire that lit them.

The spell was broken though when Vincent released her and stepped back. Yuffie stopped herself from rubbing her wrist. He had been gripping her tightly, so tight Yuffie thought that she might bruise. She barely noticed it though. Her system seemed to be in shock. Suddenly she felt very dazed and confused.

"Let's go," Cloud said, jerking his head at her.

Yuffie hesitated, giving Vincent a look, but then moved towards her friends. She could feel his eyes watching her as she did. She suppressed a shiver. Once, she had enjoyed when those red eyes had looked at her. Now, Yuffie just wanted to run and hide from them.

Before she followed her companions though, she finally thought of the only words she could offer. She turned around, but didn't meet his eyes, afraid that if she did, she'd burn in them. "I'm sorry," she said, softly. Yuffie thought that he looked surprised but she didn't stay long enough to find out for sure. She walked after her friends, once again leaving the only man she had ever truly loved behind her.

"Yuffie? Are you alright?" Tifa asked. "You've been quiet all night."

They were sitting at the bar at the inn, huddled around their usual table. The take-out boxes, which Tifa had to go buy after Yuffie had silently handed the money over to her, sat empty, piled in the middle. Now they were all finishing off the night with a couple of beers. Yuffie stared down at her glass. She hadn't volunteered much to the conversation during dinner, which was incredibly strange. Her companions had been giving her concerned looks all night, but it wasn't until now that someone actually said anything.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, although it was obviously a lie.

She didn't miss the look all three of her friends shared.

"Is it because you got caught?" Barret asked. "Because it wouldn't be the first time."

"That's not it," she said.

"Did he say something to you?" Tifa asked.

"Not really," Yuffie replied, dully. Her head was starting to hurt. Maybe she needed another beer.

Cloud was studying her quietly. "It was him, wasn't it?"

Yuffie let out a puff of hair, blowing her bangs up. "Yeah."

"Who was he?" Tifa asked.

"Vincent Valentine," Cloud said.

Yuffie looked up at him, surprised. "You know him?"

"I saw a picture of him in the paper several months back," he said. "He and his partner built up a large company which became pretty successful a year and a half ago. They invent some pretty advanced technology." He looked at Yuffie. "He has a pretty impressive record. A Turk at the age of 17 until somehow he managed to get out of it and became a business man. He's built a good company. It's not global yet, but pretty soon it might be."

"An ex-Turk?" Barret shifted, uncomfortably. "I don't like that. How the hell you know him, Yuffie?"

She sighed. She might as well tell them. Usually she liked to keep her past a secret. After all, she'd done a lot of things that she wasn't proud of. It would make things a lot easier, though, and they probably deserved to know. She took a huge gulp of her beer and then sucked in a breath. "I was engaged to him."

Tifa's eyes widened. Barret merely stared at her. Yuffie was thankful when Cloud only looked down at the table.

"You were engaged?" Tifa asked.

"It was several years ago. A while before I joined you guys. I was nineteen."

Her friends looked shocked.

"Nineteen?"

She nodded.

"What happened?" Barret asked.

Yuffie closed her eyes. She didn't like this next part. "I left. He wanted a family and I didn't. Plus, we weren't really a good match. All his friends disapproved of it. And his partner, the one who he built his company with is also his ex-girlfriend. They were broken up when I came into the picture, but I'm pretty sure they were still in love. So I left."

"How did he react?" Tifa asked.

"I don't know. I hadn't seen him until today."

They all frowned.

"So, in other words," Tifa said, "you ran away without telling him."

"That's not it." Yuffie let out a breath. "I stole a lot of his money too."

"Yuffie!" Tifa gasped. Barret put a hand to his face. Cloud didn't move.

"I wanted him to hate me," she said. "I guess I thought it'd be easier for both of us to move on if I did. But that look he gave me today…" She looked down. "I guess I never expected to see him again."

"Do you think he'll come to get back at you?" Cloud asked.

Yuffie hesitated. "I don't know. Vincent could get vengeful sometimes but…he'd never been like that with me."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked. He nodded at her wrist which was now starting to develop a purple ring where Vincent had grabbed her. She quickly moved her arm down under the table. Everyone was silent.

Eventually, Cloud sighed. "We'll have to leave as soon as possible."

Yuffie looked at him. "But we just got here."

"Vincent Valentine is an ex-Turk. If he comes after you, it'll be hard to shake him. He'll be trained to track us down and as a successful business man, he must have connections. I don't want to fight a man unless I have to. It's best if we find a new job and get out."

"What's the earliest we could do it?" Tifa asked.

"Two days, maybe," Cloud said. "I'm not meeting Finsher until tomorrow and we'll definitely need to buy supplies. I don't particularly enjoy traveling at night so we'll have to leave early the morning after."

"We'll be ready," Barret said.

Tifa was biting her lip but she nodded too.

"Guys, I don't think—"

"It's not just about you," Cloud interrupted. "Midgar is too busy anyway. Too many people at this time of the year. It'll be best to move out as soon as possible. Just be ready to go when I say. And try to stay low. We don't want any more attention drawn to us."

Yuffie lowered her head but nodded. Cloud was right. Vincent might come after her. She didn't think he would, but it's not like she knew him so well anymore. He'd probably changed so much since she left him. He'd certainly looked like he had. A small pain in her chest developed when she thought of those crimson eyes again. She stood up suddenly. "I'll be in my room," she said. She left before anybody could stop her or say anything else. She went upstairs to the room she and Tifa would be sharing. Without bothering to take off her shoes or change into other clothes, she threw herself facedown onto her bed and closed her eyes trying to get the image of how his face looked when he saw her out of her head. She didn't succeed that well. Instead she could only play the scene over and over again in her head, memorizing how he had looked, how he had changed. She groaned. Why did this have to happen to her?

She heard the door open. Yuffie didn't move even when Tifa sat beside her and placed a hand on her back, rubbing it. "It'll be okay, Yuffie," she said.

"I just wish I hadn't been so stupid," she said, her voice muffled. "I didn't recognize him because of his long hair. But that suit and the cell phone…How could this happen?"

Tifa didn't have a reply.

"I had thought he'd moved closer to his company by now. He never liked this side of town anyway. I just don't understand how after all these years, I see him now." Yuffie paused and rolled onto her back, blinking up at the ceiling. An idea suddenly occurred to her. "It was that woman."

Tifa frowned, confused. "What woman?"

"The woman I gave the money to. When I did, she said, 'May Gaia bring you back to what you've been looking for' or something like that."

Her friend raised her eyebrows. "You think she brought Vincent to you?"

"I don't know. That seems a little too weird, doesn't it?" She sighed and pressed a pillow against her face. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. I'm not leaving this room," her voice came out, muffled once more.

"That's fine. Me, Cloud, and Barret can take care of anything. Just stay here and lay low for a little bit. Let's see if he makes a move."

Yuffie lifted the pillow a little and gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Teef. I appreciate it. Go back and finish your drink. I kind of want to be alone for a while."

The woman nodded. "I'll be right downstairs if you need me."

Yuffie rolled onto her side when Tifa left, hugging the pillow to her chest. She stared out the window at the millions of shining stars. Could Gaia really have brought her back to Vincent? It was strange after all these years. Why now? She clutched the pillow harder as a memory suddenly overtook her.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked, looking outside at the starry sky. She shivered when he moved behind her.

He nuzzled the side of her neck, his arms wrapped around her body. "Of course I'm sure. I want to spend forever with you."

"What about when I get old and fat? What about if I changed into a stuffy old woman who insists on having a thousand cats and let them sleep with us?"

"I like cats," he murmured, his lips pressed against her throat.

She smiled a little but turned her head to look at him. "Seriously Vince, what if it's not worth it? What if I screw it up?"

He kissed her then. "No matter what you do, Yuffie Kisaragi, I will always love you."

Yuffie blinked back tears as she shook her head to disperse the memory. Well I certainly screwed that up, didn't I? she thought bitterly. She sighed. She didn't know why she dwelled on this. It was over. He was gone. Whoever she had seen today wasn't the same man she fell in love with. She'd probably never see him again anyway. Next time they came to Midgar, she'd be sure to check before she stole from somebody again. Better yet, she might just lock herself in her room and let Cloud deal with everything. It'd be better if she never saw Vincent Valentine again.

So why did one glimpse of him make her heart hurt so much?

She curled up into a ball. Maybe she should just try and sleep. She was exhausted anyway. And then she could just stop thinking for a while. Yuffie shut her eyes. Hopefully when she opened them again, she would feel a lot better.

So that was the first chapter. How'd I do? Second chapter should be up soon. That is, if I don't get lazy. It's already written, just have to edit it. Reviews would make me edit it faster though. :)

Have a blazing day!