Cut Like A Boy's Hair.
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction
By xxLilMizCaityxx
He brought her to the cave the other day.
Only because she has begged him for weeks and weeks, and months and months now for him to bring her- treat her, she says. She says that this is a treat, she wants this, she's always wanted to meet me, to know what I'm like. She says it this quickly, garbled and excitedly as she tugs him through the mouth of the cave, her laughs high and joyous, the spring to her step making me wish I could walk again, making me wish I could dance, I could laugh like she did. She makes me wish that I could make him as happy as she does with just a smile, a grin, a knowing smirk.
Vincent.
I wonder if he can still hear me. He stops the girl's bounding, leaping, pouncing steps and holds her to one side, so she cannot yet see me, cannot yet judge me, cannot yet gasp in shock, or surprise, fear, delight, or whatever it is this child will do when her eyes land on my form. Her hand is still locked in his, and she stops acting so childishly for a moment, as she gazes into Vincent's eyes becoming lost in them, as I knew those bloody red hues were so capable of making her do so. She cannot look away from his face, she is staring, hand clenching tighter, his eyes falling to the ground, as if ashamed that it is me he is presenting her with.
Vincent.
She bends a little, and her stormy grey eyes capture his, pulling his line of vision back to her face, she smiles, the twinkle of light that shimmers from that smile- and he smiles. If my heart were to still beat, I knew it would have broken, shattered, crumbled in that instant, with that radiant smile of his, with the shine of his eyes, with the love even my cold, frigid body could detect that was pulsing towards this little Wutainese girl with steely eyes and midnight dark hair. Cut like a boy's hair. He nods steadily, and takes a deep breath, pulling her out into the shimmering hollow of rock I was in, the shine of the Mako crystal reflecting in her eyes, as she gasps, stares, watches in utter awe of me, just as I knew she would. He looks unsure of her reaction at her side.
Vincent.
She smiles then, wide and true, stunning and shiny, all glinting teeth and summer time breezes that I miss. Vincent looks relieved at her reaction, and he keeps his eyes averted from me, focuses on her, and her alone- nothing else matters to him right now, I can tell, as he waits for her words that will undoubtedly bubble over, spill, rush in one second or so. She pries her hand from his, and walks closer to me, that awestruck, excited, thrilled, and slightly terrified look still there in the hollows of her eyes as she edges so close. Her hand outstretches, and her fingers splay, and she lays the lily white hand (or perhaps it is olive browned, it is hard to tell within the dim, Mako light of my cavern, my sanctuary, my home) against one of the glittering chunks of Mako that keeps my decaying body safe from the world.
Vincent.
And it burns like fire, like hot coals, like white roasting pokers all at the one time, and I yearn to be able to slap her wandering hand away, tell her to leave me be, tell her to keep the perfection that she holds to herself, save it for Vincent, who so very clearly adores her. …It has been a very long time since I have ever experienced jealously. I don't think I was jealous because she was beautiful, or because she has Vincent- I was jealous of that fact she made him so happy, she set alight to his crimson eyes, his face with her contagious smiles that made him twist his lips in a way that drove me mad with confusion as to why I could never do that- I made too many mistakes, she makes none, she never chose someone over him, she was there for him, she didn't leave his side if she could help it. She is speaking to me now. I can barely hear her words, my ears are muffled with years of neglect.
"Hey, Lucrecia," she says, reverently, happily, mystified in such a way that shocks me more than her informality. She pulls her hand away from the Mako, and glances back at Vincent, who is gazing at me with a look of… happiness, could that be? He has not looked at me in happiness in over fifty years, so I am shocked immediately- and the Wutainese child with the boyish haircut and the bright smile begins to speak again, in the sweeter than honey, high-pitched, slightly aggravating, fast paced voice of hers.
"I finally convinced Vince to take me here-" Vince? She speaks to him with such familiarity also, like she has the right to twist and turn and ruin his beautiful name in whichever way she sees fit - "to see you. He wasn't kidding when he told me how pretty you were- sorry, pretty is a pretty crap word, right? Heh, I just said pretty like twice in one sentence… Oh! Gawd, sorry, I'm getting off track, what I meant to say was…"
Vincent.
I am appalled by this child. Vincent could do far better than her, he could have monarchs, celebrities and far more than she- her language, her posture, her causal way of putting things across, the slouch of her shoulders, the indifferent look in her eye, the hurried corrections as she stumbled through her own words. Had I had the ability to speak, I would have been lost for the words- this girl however was not lacking.
"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi. It's nice to meet you," she says. Yuffie… what a common name- no doubt she is a street urchin, the outcast of her group, the odd girl people shy away from- if so, I cannot comprehend why Vincent experiences such joy in being with her, near her- why would he love a street urchin, and outcast, he is wiser than that I had thought. The girl spoke once more, slightly reluctantly now. "I'm the princess of Wutai. Yeah, go ahead and laugh your ass- oh shit, sorry, you can't move, can you?"
I struggle to understand how on earth this girl has won Vincent over as she has. She is a princess, a monarch as I said Vincent deserved, but I did not mean a girl who cusses so freely, who insults, openly mocks-
"I just came to tell you that I'll take care of Vincent," her whole self is sincere now, voice, eyes, body- and I listen as hard as I can. "I promise I'll take real good care of him, Lucrecia."
Vincent.
I do not think Vincent can hear me anymore. I call and call and he does not respond, he merely takes Yuffie Kisaragi by her hand again, and his eyes shine, and he leads her from my side. She gives me an awkward little wave, her smile crooked and bright.
I am not jealous.
How could I be jealous, of the little girl (for she is merely a child in comparison with Vincent and I) who has forgotten a young life of freedom, partying, having a jovial time in favour of giving all of her love, commitment and protection to Vincent Valentine, the one who was broken, damaged, stained- because of me? She has fixed him right up- she has promised to care for him, be there for him, to never leave his side, regardless of what happens in the future.
I wonder if she could hear me?
Promise?
She continues walking away with Vincent, and I believe she doesn't hear my strained thoughts, the thing I most wanted her to hear. I hope that she was true when she spoke the words.
Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine turn their heads back round to see me, and if I had a heart, it would leap in joy at Yuffie Kisaragi's secret smirk and Vincent Valentine's twist of the lips.
"We promise."
Then they left.
That was last week, or month, or year, or perhaps it was ten years ago. Time, seems endless when I am trapped in here- but it is better this way. However long it had been, I know that Yuffie Kisaragi's words, her spell, would not be broken.
The little Wutainese princess, with the boyish haircut- had promised me.
A/N: I just completed Dirge of Cerberus :O (Literally like an hour ago :D) So, I decided some Yuffentine, my undying favourite couple needed to be written. And, I decided to add Lucrecia, even though I hate her ( *snicker*) because it just fitted.
I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope you leave me a review too :)