A party was roaring in Edge, in and around Seventh Heaven. The heroes of Meteorfall were the center of attention, having vanquished Sephiroth twice now and having cured Geostigma of those afflicted. People of all walks of life were present, each enjoying the party in their own way.

Some were reliving the greatest moments of the heroes, others were just glad to have an excuse to get drunk.

As usual, however, Vincent wasn't much for drinking. He didn't like how it clouded his judgment, and he especially hated how it reeked on one's breath.

In fact, this particular hero of Meteorfall was outside the bar, away from the grand commotion of the party. He was standing near the monument, or rather, what was left of it. His eyes flicked from the ruined monument to the construction site at which they had fought Bahamut. He closed his eyes, reflecting on the events of the last couple days.

Just two days ago, Cloud had vanquished Kadaj's gang, taking Sephiroth with them for good in the process. Everyone was more excited that Geostigma was no longer a problem, and that was more or less the basis of the party taking place. He recalled saving Tseng and Elena from the tortures of Kadaj and wondered, for a split moment, if it was the right thing to do. He recalled the battle against Bahamut, and remembered how Cloud had managed to dissipate the Mega Flare that would have otherwise destroyed them all.

Thought after thought dashed through his mind, and he never heard someone sneak up behind him. "Surprise!" he heard someone say. He felt hands clap over his eyes, and he sighed. "Who is it?"

"Yuffie, I thought you were more mature than this by now," he said, raising his right hand up to pry her hands from his eyes. "Don't tell me I was wrong," he added, turning to face her.

She wore a sheepish grin. "Eheh, sorry. It's just... well, I saw you walking away from the party and all, so I thought maybe you'd like company."

He shook his head. "Not particularly."

"You're no fun, as usual." She examined the remains of the monument. "Stupid bastards. Why'd they have to go off and wreck this thing, anyway? Just to piss us off?"

"They believed JENOVA was hidden either inside or below it." His gaze turned to the monument's bits and pieces once more.

"So where was the freak's head, anyway? I mean, didn't that Kadaj punk get his hands on it?"

Vincent remained silent. He was one of the few, aside from Cloud and the Turks, that knew Rufus Shinra was still alive, and he preferred to keep it that way. "He did, but I'm not sure where he found her head," he lied.

"Hm... guess he just got lucky during his search, then... Well, wait. It had to be in Edge somewhere, right? Maybe... it was here?"

"Who knows. All that matters is that her head's gone for good now."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, long as there's no way for him to come back, I don't really care."

"Carefree as usual, I see." He glanced at her.

"Uh huh! Can't let things like that bug me all the time, or I'd be gloomy like you! And we all know just how many people wouldn't want that!" She flashed a bright smile. "Come on, smile! Get rid of some of that gloominess, and show the pleasant you! Today's a day for celebration, not moping around!"

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I already smiled once today, you just missed it." He looked at the construction site again, glancing momentarily at Yuffie shortly after he did.

"Pfft. Tell me why I'm not convinced."

"Because you don't trust me." He crossed his arms.

"Aw, now that's no fair. Of course I trust you. I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't trust you, huh?"

"An untrusting friend comes to mind," he said coolly.

"Wise ass." She crossed her arms too, frowning at him. "You know, we all kinda figured you'd be a little brighter personality-wise by now, but I guess there's still things wrong in your life, huh?"

He nodded. "It's nothing I can cast aside so easily, you know."

"It's just your past, Vinny. What's so hard about letting it go already? I mean, aside from the fact that Hojo made you who you are now, and the woman you loved pretty much gave up on you to be with that sick maniac," she added hastily, succumbing to the glare he cast her way.

"I can't just cast those two things aside, Yuffie. Hojo's left a physical scar on my body, Lucrecia left an emotional one. Neither one will heal properly, especially if I just cast my past aside."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. But..." She sighed, tilting her head and looking at him. "Can't you at least try and be a little more positive in life? I mean, sure, your past sucks. We've all got things we hate about our past, but we don't all brood over it."

"And what, pray tell, is so bad about your past?" he asked, slowly realizing he didn't really know much about her past.

"Did I just detect a hint of disrespect in your voice just now?" she asked, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let me rephrase that, then. What about your past is bad?"

She scrunched up her face, thinking. "Should I tell you...?" She gave a casual shrug. "What the hell. Can't hurt, I guess. The past is the past."

"For you, maybe."

"Let's see... my mom died when I was young. Mm..." She hesitated. "Well... to be more precise, she was killed. Ah, screw it; she was murdered."

"By who?"

She sighed, closing her eyes. "...Me. I... At the time, I hadn't known what had happened; I was still learning how to properly throw a shuriken, and one got away from me. It, uh... flew out of the training area and somehow found its way to my mother. Needless to say... well, when it slices someone's jugular, things don't quite tend to end well..."

Vincent hid his surprise at this bit of news. He had heard that her mother had been killed, but by her own daughter? Even if it was an accident... "I never would've guessed," he said.

"Yeah, most people wouldn't guess that. Even more wouldn't believe it. But you know, I don't let it drag me down. Sure, I hated myself for it when I learned of it, and sure, everyone kinda turned away from me at first because of it... But I didn't let it beat me. I just rose above it somehow." She looked at his eyes. "But you know, you let your past hold you down. It's depressing, Vinny. Even if you can't cast it aside, just... learn to live with it."

"I can't, Yuffie."

"Hey, how about you try this? Instead of cursing Hojo for making you who you are now, try... thanking him for giving you the means to protect your friends better?" she offered cautiously. She knew that suggesting he appreciate what Hojo did to him was roughly equivalent to suicide, but she knew it had to be said anyway.

He glared at her. "I will do no such thing," he snapped. "Make it seem like what he did to me is a good thing? Just how crazy are you?"

"You'd be amazed," she said, trying to lighten the mood. Seeing she failed, she continued. "As for... her scar... try finding someone else to love and protect. But this time, don't let them get away from you. If something would take them from you, fight for them. Stand up for the one you love."

He shook his head, eyes closed. "You realize how difficult that is for me, right? With this body, no woman could ever possibly love me as they once could have."

"Oh really? That's interesting, considering I have it on good authority that someone we both know happens to care about you." She grinned. "Not possible, though, right? Maybe I should tell her that?"

He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Don't toy with my emotions, Yuffie. There's no one out there who could, I just finished explaining that."

"Alright, fine. Believe what you want to believe." She sighed, shaking her head. "It's your loss, though..." She crossed her arms. "With such a defeatist attitude, it's no wonder you're so damn gloomy. Try seeing it from my point of view for a moment. How pathetic do you think I find it that you let your past run your life?"

"Very, and for good reason on your end. However, see things from my point of view. With such a past, do you think it'd be so easy to move on? Was your body modified by a psychotic scientist? Was your heart torn to shreds by someone whose heart you thought you had captured?"

"...No. But if it was, I'd take it in stride. So what if that psychotic madman screwed with my body? I'd be grateful I had a second chance at life as opposed to a fate to rot in the ground, no matter what was tossed my way. And if my heart had been torn to shreds, I'd just mend it, learn from my mistakes, and try again." She looked at him, smiling. "Why can't you just try it? You'd be amazed how simple it actually is."

"We're going in a full circle now, so just give up. I can't just learn to live with the past and see the mistakes as chances to learn and be grateful. If you experienced it firsthand, you'd know what I'm talking about."

"But I can't, so I can only imagine. And I must say what I'm imagining now sucks to high heavens, but you know something? In my imagination, I'm just glad I'm still alive. I just need to pick up my new life and run with it." She looked at the monument's ruins. "Hm... you know, you've said before that Hojo pretty much killed you before he tampered with your body, right? So with that in mind, maybe... this is a new life? And you're letting a past life run your new life. Am I going to let the fact that I was once a wanted warlord in a previous life run my current life? Am I going to be ashamed of this fact? No, sir, I will not."

"You were a warlord in a past life," he mused.

"Well, no," she admitted. "But it sounds cool, I think. You see what I'm getting at, right?"

"...Yeah. Drop the old life, the one that was destroyed by Lucrecia and Hojo, and embrace the new one."

"There ya go!" she exclaimed happily.

"But you know something? I was granted this second life by Hojo's twisted experiments. So that, no matter how you look at it, will always be a key factor in my life, whether it be the past life or present one."

Yuffie sighed exasperatedly. "Alright, I'll admit you have a point there. But Lucrecia's rejection of you was in the past, Vinny. Your new life doesn't include Lucrecia at all, except for the times you visited that weird cave with her inside it. But that doesn't really count, I think."

"And now it's my turn to say you have a point there. We're one for one."

"What the hell? You're making a game of this? Vinny, this isn't a game in any way. This is about you jumpstarting your new life, dammit! Just accept the gift of a new life already!"

"I will not."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to calm down and count to ten instead of smack you upside the head now. One, two... ah, fuck it." She reared her hand back and slapped him, hard, across the face. "You fucking idiot! Stop dwelling on your goddamned past, for Leviathan's sake! So you were wronged twice! Big fucking deal! Grow up, Vincent Valentine! You have no idea how childish you're acting right now, clinging to your past like that! Fuck, I'm more mature than you, seeing whereas I've come to terms with the wrongdoing in my goddamn life! Grow the fuck up already! No one else can live your fucking life for you, so take charge of it!"

He brought a hand to his face and rubbed his cheek. He didn't know which shocked him more; the strength of the slap, or the sudden outburst he had just received. His eyes were alight with wonder and a small mix of anger, and yet he couldn't bring himself to hate her for it.

She shook her head, turning away from him. "For the love of Leviathan, just... live your life, dammit..." she muttered. Her body started trembling, and she brought a hand to her face. "Stupid vampire..." she murmured.

He slowly lowered his hand. "Yuffie."

"What?" she said softly.

"Why do you care so much about my life?"

She wheeled to face him, and he was surprised that he wasn't surprised to see tears on her face. "You're dense, you know that?" she practically whispered. "You're really dense."

"Yuffie--"

His sentence was cut off as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her. She pressed her lips against his, causing his heart to skip a small beat. He was taken completely aback by the sudden kiss. She pulled back and locked eyes with him. "You know why I care so much? Because I love you, Vinny, even the twisted parts of you that Hojo pretty much handed to you. If it weren't for those parts of you, I'd be dead. Hell, all of us might be dead if he hadn't done that to you. And look where his reckless experimenting got him; the bastard's dead. Dead by your hand, I may add. If anyone screwed up in their life, it was him, not you. He gave you a second life to live. So live it already. Stop dwelling on the life he took from you."

He didn't know what to say.

"...I can understand if you hate me for prying into your life so much, but I can't stand to see you beat yourself up over it all the time. People care about you, Vinny. I care about you. If nothing else, live your new life for us. You've saved our lives. Now it's time to save your own."

He reached up and rubbed his cheek again. It still stung slightly, but that stinging didn't even begin to compare to the piercing words she had said to him. "...I don't hate you, Yuffie. I... I'm sorry. You're right, and--"

"You idiot..." she muttered. "Why are you apologizing to me? I should be the one apologizing; I slapped you and basically cursed you out."

He placed his right arm around her, hugging her. "Don't apologize. You did what you felt was right."

They stood in silence for a while. Yuffie eventually broke it. "I'm sorry for prying so much. I was out of line for saying all those things to you."

He looked her in the eyes. "No, Yuffie, you weren't. In fact, I think you were the only one who could say those things to me. Cloud, Barret, Cid, Nanaki and Reeve would've given up early on, and Tifa would've been... well, more reserved in her opinions. You're more outspoken than anyone else, and you're certainly not afraid to speak your mind. No one else would've dared say any of the things you've said to me here. Of all of us, I think you're the most courageous, the most determined. In fact... I admire that about you. I dare say I love that about you."

She gave a small smile. "I think... that's the most I've ever heard you say all at once."

He nodded. "It's the first step I can take in the new life you helped me realize."

She kissed him again. She hugged him tight, ending the kiss after a time. She rested her chin on his shoulder. "You ever need someone to talk to, come find me, okay?"

"Will do." He raised his left claw up and placed the golden forearm against her back. "Thank you, Yuffie, for everything."

"You'd be amazed what one will do for the one they love."

They eventually broke the hug, and she smiled at him. "Come on, let's go back to the party. I'm sure everyone else is wondering where we are right about now."

"Mm." He felt her clasp his right hand, and he smiled inwardly. "Yuffie."

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

"I know." She tugged at his hand. "That party's not going to come to us, Vinny."

He chuckled. "True." He allowed her to tug him along behind her.

Hojo had robbed him of his first life. Yuffie had shattered the second life with her words. In his opinion, he was living a third life, and he had a feeling he was going to enjoy the third life more than he could have possibly imagined.

Alright, this was my first shot at Yuffentine. I think I did fairly well, but eh, that's my opinion of myself. It only counts for so much...

This is a one-shot, through and through. I can't really think of any way to put another chapter onto this, so there are no plans for that.

I had a totally different idea going for this, but eventually decided this would do very nicely as well. The other idea was a bit tricky to do, but if I can figure out a way to do it, I'll write it up and put it here.

At this point, I must say that Yuffie doesn't get violently angry much. I wanted to do a situation where she was violently angry, primarily out of pure frustration on her end. The result is the outburst she let Vincent have. See? Even Yuffie can curse. It's not just Cid. Or maybe Cid cursing all the time rubbed off on her...? I must look into this...

Anyway, feedback would be nice, but I'm not going to demand it of you. -Spiritslayer