How long had it been?
Days?
Months?
Years?
Centuries?
It might as well have been. She stared at the mirror, her stormy grey eyes lacking emotion. She had gotten older, no doubt, but her face still held its innocence. The girl's skin was pale now; the tan luster was a thing of the past. As was her cheerful disposition. She was no longer the fun, bouncy, bubbly teenager. She had a soft, fragile quality to her now. Her voice is hardly ever used, but when it is, there was no denying the sorrow that weaves its way through her words.
Yuffie Kisaragi walked down the shoreline of the beach. With each measured step she took, with each footfall that seemed to never touch the sand, she was moving closer to something she had thought she had left behind. She kept her head tilted down, careful to not make eye contact with anyone. If she hadn't, maybe she would have seen the tall, handsome man just inside the entrance of the restaurant. Yuffie was perfectly aware that the remaining members of AVALANCHE would be there; she had, after all, helped Tifa, now Tifa Strife, decide where to hold the reunion.
Her loose fitting red top was coupled with also loose fitting black pants. She had long outgrown the tight clothing that reviled as much of her body as possible. In fact, it was quite the opposite now. She wore a black formal shirt over the red one, and over that a soft black jacket. Yuffie's body was drowning in fabric. Her hair was slightly longer than it had been before, but it still framed her face the same way. Her nails were long, but not overly so, and a dark maroon color. It would seem that she had adopted the same color scheme as the man she was avoiding. It had only been four years sense she had seen him, but in those years she had tried her best to harden her heart towards him.
"Ah, Ms. Kisaragi, good to see you."
Yuffie nodded silently and walked through the rose arch that served as the door to the restaurant. Her gaze settled upon a group of people, a slight smile playing on her lips. Tifa looked beautiful. Very pregnant, but beautiful. Her hair was slightly longer now, but her eyes hadn't lost their lively glow. Cloud looked the same physically, but there was an undeniably glow of happiness surrounding him and Tifa. Cid looked exhausted, but that wasn't exactly anything new. Barrett looked older and some how softer. Maybe it was the sight of Marlene that had done it. She had grown up lovely; her appearance had taken after Aerith's, but the serenity that surrounded her was Tifa's. Denzel was a younger, more lively version of Cloud. Honestly, Yuffie could have done without that. The years had certainly taken their tole on Reeve; he looked almost as bad as Yuffie felt.
By this time, she was almost grinning. Yuffie increased her pace as she neared her old friends, until a hand landed on her shoulder. She tried to shrug it off, but it wouldn't leave. She wanted nothing to do with the owner of this hand.
"Yuffie..."
She ignored the low, soothing voice as it whispered in her ear, but an involuntary shiver ran down her spine. She brushed the hand off, only to have the arm that it was attached to wrap around her waist. A low growl escaped her. Couldn't he just leave her alone? Hadn't he done enough?
"Yuffie, im sorry."
Her teeth grinded against each other. Yuffie couldn't deal with him right now. She would never be able to deal with him. He had hurt her; and she would never forgive him for it. For so many years Yuffie had tried on his last time. It had felt right, and so had the kisses they had shared. But obviously it was wrong.
"Sorry for what, Vincent? For saying you loved me? For running away? For making me feel like I was the most worthless person on the face of the planet? Or, was it that you're sorry you ever met me?" She snarled, her voice as cold as ice. Yuffie crossed her arms across her chest, waiting.
" I never meant to hurt you."
"Suuure. And Cloud's head doesn't look like a choboco."
She was surprised at the amount of fury that was piling up within her. Surely if she didn't let it out, she would explode. Her hands curled into tight fists beside her sides, but instead of taking it out on him, she turned away and walked towards the others. They had noticed the show being put on by their former comrades; so had the rest of the people in the restaurant. She was resisting the urge to cry, scream, do anything. Yuffie directed her gaze to the floor again, but looked up as she reached the rest of the group.
Their faces were uncomfortable and sorrowful, but they attempted small talk. Everyone that is, except Tifa.
How had it come to this? Yuffie and Vincent had been perfect, and now she was acting as if he never existed. None of them blamed her; but they didn't blame him either. Yuffie had known very well that he was like a tortured puppy. She had known that she might never be able to fix him, but she had tried. She had loved him when he hated himself, been his strength when he was weak, and his tie to reality when all hope was lost. She had loved him; demons and all.
And he had loved her back. God knows he did. But it had over powered him. Vincent had to leave. He didn't trust himself around her. She had cried to many nights because of him. Yuffie deserved better. She'd move on, find someone to rebuild her life with. They would be happy and have the average 2.5 kids. That's how he had rationalized it.
Wasn't that what love was all about? Being there for the person when it seemed the whole world had turned its back? Pulling them back into the light when the darkness had overpowered them?
Nothing made sense to Tifa. They loved each other more than they would ever know, yet they were trying to destroy each other. Tears rolled down her cheeks silently as she looked from Yuffie to Vincent and back to Yuffie.
"I can't take this." Tifa whispered, interrupting a story Cloud was telling. Even though he was louder than she was, everyone stopped and looked at her.
" I can't take it anymore, god damn it. Yuffie, you love Vincent. Vincent, you love Yuffie. Why can't you guys just get over whatever is fucking it up? It's hard, but the best things in life aren't always easy. Things are rough all over."
Her voice never rose above a whisper, but they heard her loud and clear.
"Tifa.."
"Stop. You know you love him. You were there when no one else was. And Vincent, who was it that scared away all the monsters when Yuffie was scared? You. It's obvious you guys need each other. If you're not together, your trying to rip each other apart, thinking that it'll make you guys all better. But all it does is make things worse."
Yuffie looked at the ground. She knew what Tifa was saying was true. But she had spent so long trying to hate him, convincing herself that he was nothing to her. She wasn't the same girl that she was before... but neither was he. They had both changed, but they could still try.
"Yuffie, I know its to late to rewind time and make everything right. But..what if that's not what we were meant to do? We can try to hate each other all we want; or we can move forward, together."
"I'd like that Vinnie."