"Hey, Vince. It's me, Yuffie! I haven't seen you in a while, what's up? Well, whatever it is, I hope everything works out for you. And… that's about it! Call me back- pleeease? Alright, I'm off to do what ninjas do, seeya!"

-beep- "End of messages," The answering machine announced, it's dull, unanimated voice echoing throughout Vincent Valentine's lonely apartment. The lights were off, but the TV was left on- as it always was- on the news channel. Vincent always liked to know what was going on, and when he felt the news wasn't giving him the full story, he sprang into action. It was what he did. Some would call it strange; he just called it his life. Messy as it may have been, Vincent liked it like that. Not that the man liked messes, but the mess had been piling up for so many years, that that's just what he became used to. Everything was in its place, and everything's place was everywhere.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Vincent placed his half-empty glass of wine on his already-cluttered coffee table, slowly walking over to where his phone was kept. He hadn't been taking calls for over a month now, and he could tell by the sound of his friends' voices that they were worried. Half of the man wanted to call everyone back, and tell them he was alright. But the other, darker, half of Vincent didn't really give too much of a damn. 'Let them worry,' Vincent tried not to listen to that side of him, but sometimes it was just too tantalizing to resist.

It was then that the phone began to ring. It started out softly, only audible if you were close by- eventually building to an annoying aching in Vincent's head, almost banging the thought 'pick up' into his head. The man put a hand to his head, taking a wary step back from his phone. For a brief moment, Vincent considered picking up, but he quickly reconsidered, letting the phone finish it's ringing. "I hope it wasn't important…" He muttered to himself, almost as a joke- If it was really important, whoever was calling would likely bust down Vincent's door to tell him the news. Vincent highly doubted his friends' sanity sometimes.

With a brief turn of his heels, Vincent started back towards his bed- to sit and watch TV. Sure he could've gone out and done something productive- but what's the point in that. There was news that needed to be watched. Who could resist hearing about a twelve year-old losing their puppy, or a woman whose purse got stolen? Not Vincent, that's for sure.

…Okay, maybe watching the news wasn't as thrilling or informative as it used to be. But that was something Vincent Valentine surely would not admit.

Shifting slightly on his bed, Vincent picked up his wine once more- gulping down the rest of the dark red liquid. "Ah," he said, already feeling the alcohol's relaxing effects. But just before he could slip into a total state of ease- there was a knock at the door. The man hesitated- before standing. At least his door wasn't knocked down. "Hello?" He asked once he arrived at the door, opening it lazily but with care nonetheless.

"Vince!"

Vincent blinked- it was Yuffie. Why did she take the time to come to his apartment…? Did she really care that much? Hm…

"Yuffie," He said slowly, turning and walking back to his bed. Sure it wasn't the most polite thing to do- but it was his way of letting her in. She would have to deal. And she did. The chipper ninja pranced right in, plopping herself down right next to the man on his bed.

"You haven't answered your phone in months!" Yuffie exclaimed, looking at him with wide eyes. Vincent only gave a grunt, focusing on the TV. "I was worried about you, Vince," Her tone was the most sincere the man had ever heard since…- but Vincent was a rock-hard gunner, he couldn't let that show.

"I've… been busy," He responded at last, his red eyes avoiding the perky ninja beside him. Yuffie pursed her lips, not believing the obvious lie.

"Tell me the truth. What's up? Did something happen? Spill!" She pleaded, turning to face him completely. Vincent couldn't help but feel a tad…nervous? The most vibrant, youthful, cheerful girl he knew was currently sitting next to him on his bed- begging to know what's been going on with him. It had to be a dream.

"I… It's… It's nothing, Yuffie," Vincent once again lied. How could he tell her that the reason he couldn't leave his house for a month, the reason he couldn't pick up his phone for weeks, and the reason all he could do was sit around and watch the news, is that he had fallen for the greatest warrior in all of Wutai? He was ashamed. Ashamed that he had let himself fall in love again. Ashamed because she deserved so much better. And ashamed because she couldn't feel the same way- not for someone as old as he was.

"Vince, please," She was standing now, looking directly into his eyes. The man looked straight to the ground, and Yuffie pouted. "Are you mad at me?" Vincent's head shot up and he shook his head- a little too quickly.

"Of course not,"

"Then what's wrong? Are you PMSing or something?" The sad part was that she wasn't joking.

"Yuffie," He said it as a sigh, picking up his wine glass again only to find it to be empty. Curse non-automatically refilling cups… "Why are you here anyway?" Vincent was always good at changing the subject- and Yuffie always fell for it- naïve as she was.

"Well… Two reasons!" She cheered, seeming to shrug off the previous conversation.

"…?"

"One, I was worried about you. Two, I'm your new neighbor, neighbor!" Yuffie blurted out, throwing her hands into the air with enthusiasm. Vincent, on the other hand wasn't exactly as thrilled. Neighbors…? Oh, this would never work. There would be too much temptation- the man would never be able to pull his mind out of the clouds. He thought the Lucrecia thing was bad- well, this would be even worse!

"Hm," Was all he said in response, standing up and walking to the kitchen. Now was definitely time for wine- and lots of it. And who knew, maybe if he had enough- he'd be able to tell Yuffie what he intended to. It wouldn't hurt as much –be turned down- if he wasn't fully coherent.

"Hm? I expected you to be more excited than 'hm'," the ninja said, following him towards the plain white kitchen and taking a seat on the counter. Vincent scowled, taking out another wine glass and sliding it towards Yuffie. The ninja grinned, taking a sip of Vincent's very favorite wine with a grin. "You really need to stop spending so much time drinking,"

Vincent only shrugged, taking a small taste of his wine. It was almost funny that she had said that- for Vincent had escorted a drunken Yuffie home far too many times to count.

"You still owe me, you know," The ninja said nonchalantly, taking a big gulp of her wine. Vincent blinked and the girl continued, "Remember when I saved your life all that time ago? You owe me!" She repeated herself, and Vincent couldn't help but hope whatever he had to do for her was sensible. Knowing Yuffie, it wouldn't be.

"What do you want?" He asked plainly, trying to show no interest. Yuffie grinned, as if she had something up her sleeve, and hopped down from her seat on the counter, "What…?"

"One date,"