A/N
Yay! A Yuffietine! And this is my longest story ever so far! I am so happy! I hope you guys like it and remember to leave plenty of reviews ;)
"Come on, Vincent. Please! Just one night, that's all I want!" The hyper ninja continued to bug the gunslinger. He calmly walked into Tifa's bar, holding open the door for the hopping girl. She bounced and tugged at his cape. "Not tonight. Maybe next year." He mumbled.
"Oh, you meanie!" She pouted.
"Very mature, Yuffie."
Her lower lip poked out in defeat as he took a seat at the counter. Tifa watched from the pantry as the argument grew. Finally, she came to Vincent's rescue and quickly calmed her down.
"You were always good at calming children down, Tifa." Vincent sneered.
"Hey! That was uncalled for, you moping vampire!" Yuffie hollered.
"What exactly is going on?" Tifa directed the question more to Vincent due to the fact that he was not busy tugging on anyone's hair or hollering, but Yuffie answered anyways.
"I want him to come with me to the carnival. That's the problem."
"What's so bad about the carnival?"
"Nothing!" She threw her hands in the air in frustration. "That's my point. I just want him to go with me for one night, but he keeps saying no. He is so stubborn."
Tifa looked at Vincent to hear his side of the story.
"Vincent?"
"I do not enjoy social outings, you know that."
"Of course not. I forgot vampires can't be seen by people." Yuffie sarcastically commented. "But at least you won't have to worry about the sun burning your skin cause it would be night time by then!"
Tifa raised her hands.
"Okay, calm down. There's no need for name calling, Yuffie. And Vincent, why don't you just try it. You may like it."
"If it were another night, I may accompany you, but tonight—"
"Yeah, right. If it were another night, you would just find another excuse." Yuffie interrupted. She stormed off to the corner of the room and folded her arms defensively across her chest. Vincent eyed Tifa as if saying 'Please help me'. Tifa leaned on the counter so that only he may hear her.
"Come on, Vincent. Just one night. You know Yuffie hates being alone. What's the worse that could happen?" Yuffie did hate being alone, that was the truth, but Tifa also knew that the young ninja had developed some feelings for the ex-Turk.
He sighed.
"I do not feel like being around many people tonight. Perhaps another night would suffice."
Tifa looked at the girl in the corner and returned back to Vincent with wide eyes.
"I don't think she will last that long."
He peered over his shoulder and saw Yuffie looking quite sad. Even the heartless Vincent Valentine felt some pity at the sight or else he would not have sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I shall go with her and see how it is, but if I do not like it, I will leave."
"Deal. Yuffie. Come here." She gestured for Yuffie who smiled evilly as the martial artist winked behind Vincent's back. But Yuffie played it off and returned to the counter, placing herself on a chair along with her grudge.
"Vincent has agreed to go to the carnival with you tonight. If he enjoys himself, then he will stay, but if not, he is allowed to leave…"
"…Without any complaints." Vincent added.
Not exactly the idea she had in mind, but it was the closest she would get so Yuffie nodded excitedly.
"Okay! Come on!"
She grabbed him unexpectedly by his arm and dragged a frightened vampire out of the bar.
"Poor Vincent." Tifa chuckled. She was afraid for Vincent.
The carnival was located near the bar so they only had to walk a few minutes before they arrived at the entrance. An uninterested teenager stiffly handed out tickets to visitors, but became alert as he saw Vincent and Yuffie approaching. He combed his hair with his fingers as Yuffie stepped up first.
"Hello, miss. Would you like a ticket?"
She nodded.
"Yes. Two please."
"That will be one hundred gil for your ticket and two hundred fifty for his."
She gave him a puzzled look at the great difference in the amounts.
"Why is mine cheaper?"
"Oh, just a friendly discount." He winked at her.
Vincent saw clearly that Yuffie was uncomfortable with the flirting and stepped around her. For an unknown reason, he did not enjoy seeing someone flirt with Yuffie. It angered him deeply.
"I will pay for the tickets without the discount." He stated.
"Sir, she can—"
"I said I will pay for the tickets without the discount." He growled. The man could have sworn he saw Vincent's eyes begin to glow even redder than his usual, threatening eye color so he quickly shoved the tickets in his hand and grabbed the gil, hiding behind the safety of the booth. Yuffie smiled over her shoulder as she saw him cowering and latched onto Vincent's arm. He came close to falling at the sudden, unexpected impact, but went back to eyeing the ninja curiously.
"Wow, Vinnie! You nearly made that dude pee his pants!" She giggled.
He smirked at the thought, but Yuffie tugged so hard on his arm, he feared she would pop it out of joint.
"Wow! Look at it!"
They were finally inside and the carnival proved it was not all just hype. Dozens of stands filled with noise and laughter were as far as Yuffie could see. Even a Ferris Wheel, a Merry-go-round, a rock climbing wall, bumper cars, and a horror house were present. Yuffie immediately raced towards the horror house, dragging poor Vincent along by the cape.
After paying their way in, they crawled through the doorway, pushing fake cobwebs and bones out of the way. They arrived in a room that was a maze of mirrors. The pair wound through the confusing passage, Yuffie hitting a few of the mirrors face-first. Vincent shook his head disappointedly as she rubbed her sore forehead.
"This sure is a lot of fun, isn't it, Vinnie?"
"Yuffie, I told you not to call me that anymore." But she ignored him and ran into the next room which had skeletons scattered across the floor and bloody handprints imprinted on the walls and ceiling. Vincent ran his gauntlet across a claw mark engraved into the stone walls. The torches held by gargoyles attached to the walls flickered, casting an eerie shadow across Vincent's face. A mother and her son glared at him and the mom gathered her child in her arms protectively, avoiding the marksman. They watched him carefully until they left entirely. Vincent shrugged it off. After all, he thought to himself as he ran his claw along the scratches in the wall, I am a monster. Yuffie walked up from behind and patted him cheerfully on the back.
"Wouldn't it be funny if Chaos were out right now? These people would definitely be in for a scare!"
He shook his head at the referral of his internal beast.
"I don't think that would be such a good idea, Yuffie."
He marched into the other room, leaving Yuffie to stare at the claw marks. She finally caught up as he entered the last room which had flashing lights dangling from the ceiling. A dead man was sitting at the end of the hall in a broken chair. He was contained in a straight jacket and held a sleeping robot kitten in his lap.
As they approached the man, his lifeless eyes opened and peered up at the pair.
"My daughter said she wanted a kitten… she wouldn't stop talking about it. But when I got her this cat," he looked at the limp kitten on his lap, "my wife said I was insane and left me. But I do not understand why. After all, she did want a kitten, right?"
Suddenly, the kitten woke and turned to face Yuffie who watched in frightened horror. The kitten's face was ripped apart, the bones beneath showing. Fake blood dripped from the eyes and mouth, a disturbing sight indeed. It appeared deformed as it hopped of the laughing mad man's lap and twitched across the floor. Yuffie squealed and leaped behind Vincent who remained unfazed. He knew the robot would return to the dead man because he saw the line that the cat was to follow before it was forced to turn around. Just like his observation, the kitten turned around and hopped back onto the man's lap, curling into a ball and hiding its face. Yuffie raced out of the room, panting. Once outside, she leaned supportively on Vincent's shoulder.
"Well that was disturbing!" She huffed. "But it was fun! Where should we go next?"
Vincent had not expected her to want more from the carnival after the horror house. But on she went to the rest of the attractions.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked.
She nodded excitedly.
"Are you?"
"The horror house was certainly entertaining."
"You think dead kitties are entertaining? You're sick." She joked.
They found a game that involved shooting moving targets in order to win a prize.
"Oh! Vincent! I want to try this one!" The man in the booth grabbed her gil, pushed a button, and all of the targets began moving. The first try, she managed to hit one target, but it required three direct hits in order to win a prize. After three more tries, she stomped her foot.
"Darn it. And I really wanted that prize." She pointed to the prize she was eyeing. "If this were a shuriken throwing game, I would have every single prize here! Oh well, let's go."
She turned to face her partner, but found he was not there. Then, she heard gun fire from behind. She let her mouth hang open as she walked up to Vincent. He had managed to hit every single target.
"Congratulations, sir. That was the best display of shooting skills I have ever seen. What prize would you like?"
Yuffie watched him select the one she had wanted and return to her again.
"Here."
He handed her the small toy. Her eyes widened with joy.
"Oh, thank you, Vincent! I love it!" She grasped the tiny Cid Highwind doll tightly. "And look, it even says five different cuss words!"
Vincent smirked. Wouldn't the pilot love to hear about that?
They spent the rest of the evening trying the Merry-go-round, the rock wall, and bumper cars. Yuffie gripped her stomach and whined to Vincent. They found a concession stand, bought her a tray full of food, and found their seat. Vincent watched in amazement and horror as the small girl devoured three hot dogs, two large French fries, a soda, cotton candy, and a sundae. Plenty of times she had offered him some of her half-eaten food, but each time Vincent declined with a wave of the hand and a head shake. She would simply shrug and return to the mass killing spree of her food.
"Are you having fun?"
He looked up at her question and shrugged.
"I think so."
"You think so? Gee, Vinnie, you really need to get out more."
She laughed and licked at her second sundae, but stopped and sadly looked down at the table.
"What's wrong?"
She glanced up, her eyes full of sadness.
"I'm sorry I forced you to come with me, Vincent." She said in a near-whisper.
He had not expected her to apologize, but immediately felt the need to rush to comfort her. It was unlike Yuffie to be so unhappy and it was certainly a sight he could not get used to. Her smile had the power to make others smile; her mere presence could brighten a room instantly. So long he had envied the young ninja for that. When he entered a room, people grew scared and untrusting. He was not about to let the girl lose her charming personality.
"Why do you apologize, Yuffie?"
"Because you are forced to be here with me. I know you don't want to be here, but still, I would never trade this evening for anything. I've had a lot of fun."
She smiled up at him, but he could still see the evident pain hiding in her eyes.
"Yuffie."
"Huh?
"It was nothing you did wrong. It was me."
"What do you mean? What did you do?"
He leaned forward and looked her directly in the eyes.
"Today is the anniversary of Lucrecia's 'death'. She had tried to kill herself because she was overcome with sorrow, but the Jenova cells her body held prevented that. That is why she is in The Crystal Cavern. She is not necessarily dead, but she is not alive either. But she wants to die, even though she cannot."
Yuffie watched him shift uncomfortably. She was aware that Vincent was not much of a talker and it was amazing that she got him to talk that much, but there was still so much she didn't know and so much she wanted to say. But she held the questions back and stretched her arm across the table, resting it on his gloved hand. He peered up at the sudden contact, yet he did not reject her, so she remained.
"Vincent?"
"Yes?"
"You're not a monster." She said, shaking her head. She remembered the look he gave the claw marks in the horror house and later discovered it was because of his thoughts on himself. He had forever believed that he was a monster because of the deeds of Hojo, but she saw past all of that and saw a gentle, kind spirit hiding beneath.
He stopped to consider his thoughts a moment, making sure it was what he wanted to do, before rising abruptly.
"Follow me."
"Where are we going?"
He faced the direction of the Ferris Wheel.
"You said you wanted to ride it before you left, did you not?"
She smiled and quickly complied.
As they stood in line waiting, Vincent could see her excitement growing by the minute. She leaped and smiled at the sight of the attraction. He enjoyed the fact that Yuffie was so easily amused, that it did not take much to make her happy. His eyes wandered to her upper leg and something caught his attention. A long scar slithered along her leg and up to her hip. He was curious as to know what had caused the scar, but then he remembered. Sephiroth did that to her. During the last battle, Yuffie became weak from the great amount of struggle. He saw her weak state and used it against her. Vincent could remember the sight of blood dripping from the small ninja as Sephiroth sliced his long blade along her leg, producing a deep wound. He immediately raced to her aid and scooped her up in his arms. He placed her down gently, away from all of the fighting, and cured her over and over. Her eyelids had been dropping, her pulse slowing tremendously. He could recall the amount of fear he felt that day. He had truly believed he was going to lose her. Yet, here they were, waiting in line at a carnival, completely healed and healthy. All that remained were the scars. At that moment, Vincent realized how much he cared about Yuffie's wellbeing and about her. He knew what he was going to do once it was their turn to go on the ride.
The man in charge of the ride opened the gate and the two stepped into their seats. The Ferris Wheel slowly turned, the stars in the darkened sky glowing brightly. It stopped with them directly on the top, the lights of the carnival and the stars shining brightly together. They reflected off of Yuffie's hair and eyes. Vincent stared immensely at the discovery of how beautiful she really was. He was aware that she was pretty before that night, but right there, at that exact moment, sitting at the top of the Ferris Wheel, the one word that came to mind when he looked at her was beautiful.
"Yuffie?"
She faced him, smiling.
He turned his body until he was facing her completely and grasped her hand. She looked from her hand up to the dark gunslinger, confused and shocked, but she did not make any attempts to move.
"I am the one who needs to apologize. Before tonight, I could not move on. I was still mourning over Lucrecia. But you made me realize something tonight."
"I did?"
He nodded.
"Lucrecia will forever remain a very special memory, but tonight I realized that is all. She is just a memory. She was in my past, not the present or my future. But you…"
He cupped her face and drew her closer.
"If it is what you want, you can be the past, present, and my future." He whispered.
He drew her lips to his and kissed her deeply. Her breath caught in her throat, the action obviously unexpected, but quickly gave into their desires. He pulled back for a moment to marvel at her beauty. She ran a hand over his long, jet black hair and stared into his crimson eyes. He pulled her back for more and they began once again, not realizing that the Ferris Wheel was moving again. As their cart approached the beginning of the ride, they pulled back and stared into each other's eyes. The man opened the gate and the pair stepped out in a daze. The night had grown chilly and Vincent could see Goosebumps prickling at her skin. He grabbed her and tugged her close. He wrapped his tattered cape around her dainty frame and began walking to another attraction.
Tifa was cleaning out glasses and placing them inside the cupboards when the pair entered. Yuffie went into another room for a moment and Vincent took a seat at the bar. Tifa glanced at the clock, surprised by the late hour, even more surprised that he had lasted that long, and then glanced at the dazed, dark man sitting at the counter.
He half-smiled.
"Perhaps the carnival is not so bad after all…"
A/N
So how was it? Too sappy? Too cheesy? I hope not because I spent a lot of time on this one lol. Review and make sure to check back for more stories from Lilly Winters :D.