A/N: Don't worry about "Dying", I don't plan on putting it on hiatus anytime soon now like many of my stories. Although I don't think I've seen too many Victorian-Era Yuffentines up and about…not to mention that I hardly see any Vincent-the-vampire stories anymore…well we'll see how it works with this pilot now won't we? As usual, your comments will determine if this is a story worth continuing, so do read and review would you kindly?

Yuffie did not appreciate being carted off to some faraway land—no, especially not when she is afflicted with motion-sickness, and being in this noisy and rickety contraption that the driver had the audacity of calling a 'train' did not help her situation any. No, not when she, the princess of Wutai, the one and only White Rose was likely being sold off to some arrogant old man with naught but blubber all over his body. After the Wutai War, the island nation fell to ruin—in her opinion, the Shin-Ra kingdom was a sore winner; not only did they win the seven-year war with military might (granted, they were loath to admit that they had suffered even worse losses than the Wutainese forces), but they added insult to the injury by cutting the island nation off from trade with any other nation.

Godo had promised revenge against the Western Continent—but what did he do? He sold her off to be the maid of some filthy man—this was not kosher at all! Although she could forgive Godo when she saw the reasoning behind it; with trade being cut off from her beloved home, and a heavy tax being implemented on her people while all people who had immigrated here didn't pay so heavy a tax, the only recourse for Wutai would be to sell her services out to the highest bidder…the economy was so bad that many veterans were forced to become mercenaries with hopes that the money they send back to Wutai would be enough to not only feed their families, but to one day get revenge against Shin-Ra for what they had done. Such was the situation that Yuffie had faced…

However, she was comforted to know that another part of her mission aside from gathering funds for Wutai's revival was that she would be collaborating with a spy in the area she was being sold to…apparently, one of Godo's most trusted special operations agents had defected to the other side during the war—unsurprisingly, the said special ops agent was labeled a traitor to the nation by their colleagues, but little did they know that he kept in contact with Godo via coded messages delivered by pigeon on the eve of a full moon, their leader using his code name of "Izanagi", which was the code-talk among Wutainese spies for "Emperor"…he knew this because he assigned this mission to that special operations agent to work as a mole in Shin-Ra's empire. She was to get in contact with this spy code-named "Tsukuyomi" and to assist him in any way possible without getting in his way. But for now, she was to play the role of a housemaid to some rich man who was probably a spoiled brat.

Before she could think any more on the matter, she saw the scenery begin to slow down as the train came to a screeching stop. Yuffie swore that as soon as Shin-Ra was finished, this driver by the name of "Nero" was going to pay dearly for the hell she had been put through on this rickety bucket of bolts. As she walked out of the train weakly into the sounds of people chattering about in the station, she noted an older woman with graying hair watching her carefully…and with a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Miss Yuffie Kisaragi I presume?" she asked, "I am she."

"If you would please walk with me…we don't want to keep Mr. Highwind waiting."

"Mr. Highwind?"

"He is the carriage driver. We'll talk when we get there."

The sound of the carriage as it traversed the dirt road filled the air…thankfully it was not a very fast ride, or else there would have been a mess. "Allow me to introduce myself," said the older woman, "I am Elmyra, I live near Nibelheim Mansion with my husband and our adopted children…I'm doing this for my friend, Mr. Valentine."

"Pardon my asking, but what can you tell me about the owner of the mansion?"

"Well, he has been a friend to me for a while now…I can't tell you much about him because I've only known him for a few years, but he has been good to me and my family—it's just that he is more of a listening sort of person than a conversationalist. Of course, me and my children come and visit him at times, and we do enjoy his company, but it seems that it gets rather lonesome in there…given his condition, I am not surprised that he avoids leaving the house as much as possible."

"What sort of condition?"

"I am not certain of how it happened…he refuses to speak of it, but somewhere along in his life, he went blind."

From that point, the entire carriage ride was silent…before the driver pulled the chocobo-pulled carriage over. "We're here y'all," as his spoke, Highwind's gruff Rocket Town accent betrayed a hint of terror in his voice, "hell, even after ten years this here estate still gives me the mother-fucking creeps. I'm a gonna help you two ladies unload and then I'm getting the hell outta here—I always got a bad feeling about this place, so you watch yourselves now y'hear?"

As she looked over the entire estate while the sounds of the carriage driving away started fading into nothingness, Yuffie knew that it was meant for a rich man—although it did appear to be a bit unkempt, that in itself gave the place an ancient-sort of beauty. The entire building by her opinion was well-made given the ivy that was growing on the walls and columns…and yet, it gave her a sense of foreboding with each step she took closer to the mansion. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the bell ringing—and sure enough, she heard a weight lightly banging against the door.

"Who is it?" that baritone voice sent shivers up her spine.

"It's me Vincent, I've brought a guest with me."

After a few seconds of silence, they heard the sound of the door unlocking, followed by the knob twisting and the door opening. Yuffie noted that the man had hair the texture of black silk running down his head as it apparently split over the shoulders of his black suit, and disappeared into the high collar of his red cape. The man wore a blindfold, and had an appearance that would put a woman to shame. "Elmyra…please feel free to enter with your guest."

The two women could only oblige as they slowly walked into the mansion—as far as they could tell, it was maintained up to basic standard, which was probably why Yuffie was being hired. Well, at least her employer was polite…it was then that the two of them followed Valentine as he felt his way along the walls to a sort of study. After the two women were seated, Valentine turned towards the door.

"I was about to fix a spot of tea. Would either of you care for some?"

"No need Vincent, I'll handle that for you…you've done enough by coming here for us already."

"But I insist…"

Before Vincent could say another word, Elmyra caught both of his fine-looking hands in hers, and started escorting him to a seat. "Vincent, a man in a condition such as yours should not be doing this sort of work. Please, allow me to at least do this for you…you've been a good friend to my family thus far, so think of it as the start of a long-standing debt being repaid. In the meantime, do get acquainted with my guest while I fix a pot of Earl Gray."

As soon as he was seated, Elmyra walked towards the kitchen. "Elmyra is a good woman…her family has actually been good to me from the day I moved in here."

"Yes, she seems kind enough."

Vincent turned to his attention to his guest…although he was blindfolded, Yuffie could tell he was studying her. "How do you like it here in Nibelheim?"

"It's different from my home town, but certainly a very nice place."

"So what brings you here to Nibelheim?"

"Oh work, I seek to help my family back home."

"Hm. You come from the capital of Wutai don't you?" Yuffie looked at her future employer with curiosity. How did he know that? "The scent of sakura about your body was a telltale sign. A shame what happened to your home…I was there on a personal errand before the war…I was entranced by the beauty I was subjected to…and even after I lost my sight, I still remember every detail of Wutai before the war down to the sound of the wind as it passes through Mt. Da Chao."

"What is it that you do Mr. Valentine?"

"I am a pianist—once in a while, I am called to play for some ball that is held in town, or to play a few songs in the local pub at night. My main source of money however, comes from my work as a piano teacher."

"Then how did you come across this house?"

"In addition to my playing in the ball of some of the more well-to-do families, I inherited this land from my father when he died…he left it for me a time ago in addition to a good deal of his wealth."

"I must apologize…I didn't know…"

"There is nothing to apologize for. I hardly knew him given that I had never even seen him as I was growing up…"

Yuffie looked to her employer with a bit of pity in her eyes…but that thought was held when Elmyra walked in on them. "I must apologize…am I interrupting anything?"

"No, Elmyra, you may in fact join in."

"Vincent, how are you getting along with my guest?"

"Oh fine. I was just telling her how I never knew my father…"

"It is good to hear. Vincent, I'd like for you to meet Miss Yuffie Kisaragi, and she will be your maid."

As she studied his face, she knew that there was a slight hint of shock in his face before he regained his composure. "Elmyra…"

"Please pardon my intrusion into your affairs Vincent, but I could not stand the thought of you living alone like you are. I know you can take care of yourself, but please, take her in—if not for yourself, then for me. I can't sleep in peace at night knowing that you're living in this mansion all by yourself…when a burglar could come in and steal things from you…and pardon my frankness, but your blindness makes it easier for them to kill you. Please Vincent, you've done enough by being our friend and helping Tifa out at the pub—we chipped in and hired this maid for you in return…it'll put our minds to rest that you won't be so lonely."

She noted the look of reluctance on her would-be employer's face…it would appear that he is not one for accepting charity in any shape or form, but at the same time, he is not the type of person who would want to hurt your feelings by refusing. Elmyra was taking full advantage of this, and she knew it…that sigh of submission had confirmed Yuffie's thoughts about the man. "Very well then Elmyra, I'll take her in…but do be so kind as to tell Tifa that I'll pay her back for this…this applies to you as well Elmyra."

"No, no…there's no need. Like I said, you've done enough for us already. The only thing you need to pay for the moment is the hourly wage of this little treasure you have now."

"It shall be done…but regardless if this was supposed to be a gift to me, I will find a way to pay the two of you back."

Elmyra stood up, and bowed low while picking up both ends of her dress. "You are too kind Vincent. And now, I bid you farewell." The sounds of her footsteps leading to the door before she opened it up and closed it behind her sounded off clearly as she walked through the hallway.

Vincent turned to his maid. "Please come closer, Yuffie." She knew she was being hired, but his request seemed to be fitting of a dog, but nonetheless, she moved closer for her employer. She then noted that his hands were raised…he wanted to touch her face. Sure enough, his hands reached out and felt her over gently—yes, those fingers were very delicate…he could be a pianist although those calluses she felt on his palms told her that he can handle himself around a sword. What sort of work was he really involved in?

"You are truly a beautiful young girl…so young and innocent…it makes me wish that your purity was all over the world…"

She could not help but blush…she was complimented on by her employer and she was loving every second of it.

"You will be sleeping upstairs in the guest room…the servants' quarters is in a bit of a mess until I can get someone to fix it up. If there is anything you require of me, you may find me in my room, or in the piano room. If you will lead me upstairs, I will describe to you which room is which." With that, Vincent got up and reached out his hand…this would be an interesting experience, Yuffie knew that much.

A/N: What do you think…should there be a 'spah sappin' mah ninja' scene in the future? Come to think of it, who is the spy anyway? No vampires yet, but I guarantee that you'll be hearing of him shortly…

Songs Used:

"Merry-go-round of Life" by Joe Hisaishi—Yuffie's arrival

Vocabulary:

Izanagi—the Shinto father of the gods—he was responsible for creating the islands of Japan by dipping the tip of his spear into the ocean and letting the droplets form the islands…Godo's code name.

Tsukuyomi—the Shinto god of the moon…the spy's code name.