Dating Yuffie was full of noisy, rambunctious, and lively events, all of which were constantly cutting into his time of being alone. More often than not, Vincent found he was out of his element and out of his comfort zone. So, why was he loving every second of it? Why was he having so much fun doing things he'd really rather not do? Six months of dating her broke routines he had been following for most of his life and he was starting to not miss them, at all. Some activities they did together he'd never do, alone. She got him on a rollercoaster at the Gold Saucer, for God's sake. He even ate cotton candy with her and liked it. Funny thing was, anytime he looked back on it, he always thought the same thing: it was a good day. Sometimes, he would stay her house and they would watch TV or whatever activity. Sometimes, she would fall asleep on his chest while he sat awake. On those occasions, he constantly found himself staring at her and his heart would feel warmer than it had in a very long time. He would even put his arm around her. He wanted to keep her close.
What had this ninja done to him?
He found himself thinking about her all the time when they weren't together and, when they were together, he noticed that he had memorized everything about her. Her smile, her idiosyncrasies, her sweet heartedness, and so many other things about her that he had never taken notice of before. He also caught himself gazing at her body a little longer than he should have at times. In those moments, he would quickly look away before she noticed, he hoped.
It did lead to one interesting moment between the two of them. They were in Kalm getting food when he found his eyes had fallen on her lovely female form; she looked at him just as he managed to turn his face away.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He quickly thought up a lie, luckily he was convincing. "I saw a fly on you. I was going to get it but it flew off."
"Oh, thanks." She giggled. "And here I thought you were checking me out."
He was thankful for cloak; it gave him the freedom to blush and not get caught.
But even that, she was starting to change about him. She had bought him some new clothes and he found himself liking the look. The one thing she always said was she wanted him to keep his hair long. She loved it that way. He vowed to himself to never cut it.
In some ways, Vincent was starting to become terrified. He was starting to feel a certain way for Yuffie. Certain and specific. His heart was telling him what his brain didn't want to listen to. He feared he would hurt her or ruin her in some way. In all honesty, he was afraid, too. Afraid of opening his heart too much. The scars from the last time never really faded. He tried to let these feelings pass but, they not only weren't going anywhere, they were getting stronger by the day, refusing to be denied. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep them to himself much longer.
One evening, the couple had just left 7th Heaven, having attended a poker-game-get-together with all of the others, and were walking down the street when Yuffie stopped Vincent.
She had her hands behind her back. "I gotta surprise for you!"
He blinked in confusion. "Surprise? For me?"
"Uh-huh!" She presented him with a long jewelry box.
He took it in his hands and examined it. "What's this?"
"Will ya open it and see?" she smiled.
"I didn't miss an anniversary or one of those halfway points, did I?"
"No, silly. You know I don't do that 'half-a-versary' crap. It's so stupid. I just…" She blushed. "…thought you'd like this."
Whenever she looked at him like that, he found this urge to hold her close and not let her go. This woman is dangerous. He opened the box and saw they were… "Dog tags?"
"I know that you were in the Turks and I know that you had some ID then. I know you probably lost all of that when…" She looked him over. "When all this stuff happened." She pointed at them, "This is so you never forget who you are. Or who you are to us." She gave a small shrug, "Who you are to me."
He was touched. Beyond touched. This was incredibly sweet. "Yuffie… I don't know what to say. Thank you."
She smiled. "You're welcome." She was extremely relieved that he liked them. She loved him but he was hard to shop for, even more so to surprise.
He examined the dog tags closer. She even got his birthday right. He noticed something that made him smirk. "AVALANCHE Soldier, huh?"
She giggled. "It was all I could come up with."
He gave her a smile. "Sounds right to me. Thank you."
"No problem."
Silence took them both over as he stared at her. The past six months, starting with the day he went to talk to her in the Midgar ruins and they began this relationship, replayed in his head. He couldn't believe all she had done for him. All that she did just for him, including that fateful day when she made him realize he had more to live for. What kind of girl was this? He had an answer: an amazing, spectacular one. One in a million.
She had never really seen this look before. It wasn't a bad look; just different. "Vincent?"
"You're always there for me," he said, almost in disbelief. "Like no one ever has been." It was taking him a second to wrap his mind around that. "I… I never expected this. I never expected someone like you… not for me. Not someone… who cares for me like you. I mean… even when I'm at my most difficult, you still call me or come see about me. You… you're there for me, no matter what. It's a lot different than what I'm used to."
"I'm your girlfriend," she smiled. "It's what I do."
"And it means the world to me." He stared at her. "You mean the world to me."
Yuffie smiled brighter. The warmth in her heart was growing. Vincent had never talked to her like this but she sure wasn't about to complain. She was going to speak but it seemed like he had more to say.
He did, indeed.
Those feelings, those emotions, were flying back up again. He couldn't stop them, he couldn't suppress them… he didn't want to, anymore. He realized why: he wasn't afraid anymore. His heart was even telling him that it wouldn't hurt this time; he was finally listening to it. As brave as she was for him, he was ready to risk that same bravery for her. She deserved it. He finally summoned the courage to say what he had been afraid to say for so long. "I love you, Yuffie."
Her eyes went wide. She got short of breath. She knew he had something else to say but that sure what she wasn't she expected. She couldn't even speak right away. "Wh… what…" she whispered.
"I love you."
He said it. Twice. She couldn't believe it. She had said it that day six months ago and, knowing all he had been through, she told him he didn't have to say it back until he was ready. To know that he was ready, it put her on cloud nine.
Vincent smiled. "For once… you're the one who's silent. I'm amazed that I caused that."
She blinked back into the present, "Vincent… I just… I'm… I-I-I don't know what to say! I mean…" She stared at him, dreamily, "Really?"
"Yes. You've been there for me. You admitted your feelings for me and put yourself on the line long before now. My single greatest regret? Is that I didn't realize all you did for me sooner." He looked a little sad. "I'm sorry I left you out there on that line alone for so long."
She was fighting back tears. "Don't be. I wanted to be out there. It's worth it."
He put his hand on her cheek. "Well… you're not out there alone anymore. Because you're worth it." He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "I love you, Yuffie."
She just stared into his eyes, a tear escaping from hers, "God, you're romantic once you get going."
"I don't know about that."
"I do." She kissed him. "I love you, too."
He smiled and looked at the dog tags. "Thanks for these."
"You're welcome."
"I think you forgot to add 'property of Yuffie Kisaragi.'"
She giggled, "No, I didn't. You're gonna be stuck with me forever. That part's implied."
He held his smile. That sounded good to him. "How'd you remember my birthday?"
She blushed. She averted his gaze for a second out of embarrassment. "Is it stalker scary that I had it memorized?"
He chuckled. "No. Thank you, Yuffie."
"You're welcome, Vincent."
They shared another kiss, a much deeper kiss than any they had before. Neither of them were afraid of their feelings anymore because the fear was unnecessary and no longer welcome in the love they now shared.
A/N: So... yeah... this story came out of almost nowhere! I was reading "What I Feel" over again and thought, "I can make a sequel to this." So, I did! What do you guys think? REVIEWS! Thank you!
T2 Angel