Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters within. They all belong to Tetsuya Nomura, and Square Enix. If I did own… oh, there's be some major changes, mostly regarding the lack of Yuffentine. But hey, I'm biased, I think.
She had seen it. She, Yuffie Kisaragi, signature White Rose of Wutai, had officially pulled off the best little episode of spying in the world.
'If only things had come at a better time…' she allowed herself to think, before another silly grin spread across her lips. She had to be careful, standing in white glowing trees while wearing a dark half-shirt tended to give you away easily, and she wanted to see how long Vincent would allow this to continue. By the softening of Cloud's voice, she knew it wouldn't be much longer before little Marlene emerged from her hiding spot. Gawd she wished she had brought a camera.
"Marlene… give me a little time, okay?" she heard their blonde, pseudo leader speak to the little girl, who, in anger at aforementioned blonde, fled to the warmth and safety of Vincent's cape. At first, Yuffie had considered this dangerous, because Vincent was… well, he was Vincent. And Vincent did not include a touchy-feely type of male. But upon seeing him grasp the edge of his tattered red cloak, and pull it around the little girl, Yuffie had almost whopped in triumph. So the bastard did have a heart!
"I've never tried." she heard Vincent's gravelly voice ring out against the trees, sharp in contrast to the sort of dreamlike area they were in. At first, she was confused, because she had been busy replaying the scene before in her head, and now she was at a loss. Vaguely, she recalled Cloud asking Vincent something about sins.
"Well I'm going to… I'll phone in the verdict." Cloud was walking with Marlene now, hand in hand with the girl as he vanished into the glowing trees, most likely to find Fenrir, and take her home. Yuffie saw this as her chance, and she stood from her branch. Already, the shaking of the tree caught the gunslinger's eye, and he was reaching for his weapon when Yuffie landed in front of him with a flip, a flourish, and a wide, silly grin.
"So Vincent." she started, earning a wary look from her favorite vampire. "When do I get a turn?"
"Excuse me?" Vincent deadpanned, eyes betraying nothing, confused as he was.
"Don't try and play it off! I saw it! I saw all of it Vinnie!-" a flinch at the nickname, "And sometime soon, you sir, are going to let me run into that cape, and hide all I want while you, Mr. Big-Scary-Death-To-All, will hold it around me, just like Marlene." Yuffie explained hurriedly, tiny but deadly fists planting on her hips as coffee colored orbs narrowed up at him.
"Mr… Big… Scary… Death to All? I apologize, Yuffie. I'm afraid I don't know anyone like that." Vincent replied quietly, turning away from her to begin stalking through the forest, in Midgar's direction, where they would all inevitably encounter Bahamut SIN.
"Oh. My. GAWD. You did not just blow me off, Vincent Valentine!"
"Of course not."
"Well what was that? No… it can't be… Vincent Valentine… did you just make a joke?" Yuffie was walking beside him, watching him with a suspicious gaze.
Vincent turned slightly to look down at her, a flicker of emotion crossing his face; Confusion. "Why does everyone find it so difficult that I am able to joke?" he questioned her quietly, and Yuffie's beam returned to her lips.
"Alright. For that, you're totally off the hook for the cape thing. Promise I won't tell anyone!" Yuffie replied, making a 'X' over her heart and a zipping her lips motion.
"If only that really worked." was Vincent's dry remark at the zipping the mouth motion, and Yuffie's jaw dropped in surprise.
"Ladies and Gentlemen… that's the second one. The world is officially ending, and we are alllllllll doomed." Yuffie muttered to herself, the snickered at her own joke, which, shockingly, earned the briefest of lip twitches from the dark gunman beside her.
'Perhaps…. She is not so difficult to be around after all.' Vincent thought absent, but when Yuffie casually brought up that police and parents might frown upon Vincent having a little girl in his cloak, he had to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. 'And perhaps she is.' he thought resignedly, making his way silently through the glowing forest with a ninja for a companion.
She was a strong person. She really was. Member of AVALANCHE, single White Rose of Wutai, self-proclaimed ninja of the world, but the moment she had seen that… monster transform from Kadaj's body… all her materia had hit the ground. And then… they couldn't see them anymore, lost in the swirling clouds he had summoned. Tifa's face was pressed against the glass, Cid was cursing wildly as he swung the ship left and right, attempting to find Cloud and the monster. For once, the motion wasn't bothering her. She felt like ice, her legs had turned to lead, and slowly, with a very confused gaze as to how things had gone so inexplicably wrong, her eyes found Vincent. His eyes met hers, and a silent question hung in her eyes. No one saw, Red XII, or Nanaki, was staring out the window with Tifa, Barrett shouting to Cid about where he had possibly seen a spark of swords or flash of silver.
No one saw when Yuffie retreated silently into Vincent's cloak, a silent understanding passing between then as she pressed her face into his side, wanting- no, needing to retreat, and pray to Leviathan for the blonde ex SOLDIER, who would, against all odds, become the world's hero and savior once more.
She had felt safe, pressed into his surprisingly warm body, silently breathing in his natural scent- cinnamon and something else… something darker, but delicious, regardless, and even, yes, enjoying the fact that this was Vincent who was comforting her. It wasn't a hug, but the way he had pulled his tattered red cloak around her had been even better, turning his back on the scene to almost hide her from view. It wasn't until she heard his soft "Look." that she shimmied away, face brightening. Cloud was standing on a building, staring up at the somehow warm looking sky that poured rain from the Lifestream. Her victory cries joined the others as she scooped up her materia, swinging her arms wildly.
Vincent had returned to leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a very small, but still warm smile playing on his lips, for even the defeat of one of their worst enemies was definitely a day brightener. His and the ninja's eyes met for the briefest of moments, and as Yuffie beamed, she mouth the words 'Thank you.' Vincent's reply was a nod, and it was later that night, at the bar in Seventh Heaven that he would receive a proper thank you.
Granted, Vincet hadn't anticipated her thank you to be a ridiculously too-good-for-her-age kiss, but Vincent wasn't going to complain. At least… not until the others noticed. For now, he was content with dipping his head, to press his mouth against hers and flinch every time she giggled, for fear it would draw attention to them. "Yuffie… please… silence yourself." Vincent sighed quietly, but his gaze darkened at her response.
"No way. I'm enjoying this. Besides… we wouldn't want the others to hear about the little Marlene episode, now would we?" she questioned innocently, tapping her finger against her slightly reddened and swollen lips.
What in Leviathan's name had he gotten himself into?
Well, I think that went relatively well, for my first story. I hope, at least. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, and flames will be ignored.