Disclaimer: FFVII does not belong to me. Don't sue please!

A/N: Just a series of short shorts for Valentine's Day. This will be, as stated in the summary, updated daily until Valentine's Day. Post-DoC.

Please enjoy~

Ten Ways to Say I Love You

#10

"Tifa, have you seen Yuffie?"

Tifa glanced up in mild surprise.

Standing there and looking a little frustrated was the gunslinger said ninja was very fond of. "Oh hi Vincent! Yuffie? She went out just then… She was in quite a hurry, though. Why?" Tifa asked, curious.

"My materia, it's gone."

"O-oh…" Tifa murmured, looking at the sink. She laughed nervously. "I'm sure you just misplaced them, Vincent! And Yuffie probably just went out to – to buy some sweets! She's got a sweet tooth these days!" She exclaimed, wincing when she realized that her voice sounded unusually high-pitched.

The gunslinger fixed her with a glare.

Tifa fidgeted.

Vincent sighed in defeat and looked away. "Tifa…"

"Yes, Vincent?"

"Does she enjoy taking others' belongings?"

Tifa thought she heard a hint of frustration in the normally apathetic gunslinger's voice. He must've cared about this so much…or else he wouldn't have asked…

Smiling faintly, Tifa picked up a glass and wiped it thoughtfully. "Well you see, Vincent, you've got to treat Yuffie like a kid sometimes… And kids, they do strange things sometimes…just to get someone's attention."

There was an odd lift to the gunslinger's lips as he considered her words. "…I thought only little boys do that."

Tifa grinned.

"Does Yuffie look like a normal little girl to you?"

Vincent chuckled lightly. "I guess not."

"Don't worry, Vincent. I'm sure you'll find your materia somewhere later. You've probably just misplaced it."

The gunslinger nodded, turned and disappeared up the stairs, his brow furrowing in thought.

"Who stole Conformer!?"

Tifa glanced up in mild surprise.

Standing there and looking way more than a little frustrated was the ninja who was rumored to have a bad case of klepto. "Yuffie? No, why? Has it disappeared?"

"Uh huh!" The ninja flopped onto a chair and wailed. "And I've got a mission from Reeve tomorrow! How'm I going to beat people up without Conformer!?"

The people drinking nearby shifted uneasily and tried to discreetly shuffle away from the loud ninja. Tifa pursed her lips. "Yuffie, quiet down. You'll scare the customers away." She placed a cup of water in front of the ninja. "Was it there this morning?"

Yuffie nodded. "Uh huh. But when I came back from the materia market, it was gone! Poof!" She downed the water in a gulp. "Just like that!"

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "Materia market, Yuffie? So you really did steal Vincent's materia?!"

"Shh, Tifa! Don't be so loud, or Vince will hear!"

Tifa crossed her arms. "And I was speaking for you just then…" She mumbled to herself.

"Huh? What's that you just said, Tifa?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "So what'd you do with the money?"

The ninja frowned. "What money? Oh, you mean the gil I won from Cid last night? I spent it already, Tifa! Does the bar need money? I could always sell some of my material, but I need to find Conformer first –" She paused when she heard footsteps stop behind her and glanced over her shoulder. "Oh hey, Vinnie! Have you – hey! That's Conformer! Where'd you find it?!"

"…Find?"

The ninja nodded. "Uh huh! I couldn't find it after I came back! Where was it?"

Vincent glanced down at the weapon in his glove. "With me."

"What? You mean, it was you who stole it all along?!" Yuffie snatched it out of his glove hurriedly. "Oh gawd! What did you do with Conformer?! It looks –" She stopped abruptly, her hands skimming over the polished blades of her weapon. "Did you –"

Vincent nodded once. "I took it to the shop." He explained briefly.

Yuffie shuffled her feet nervously. "Geez…you didn't have to, Vince… Well, here." She pushed some glowing orbs into his arms. "I was planning to sneak 'em into your room tonight…but I'll let you have 'em now. I upgraded them, coz they were way too outdated materia…the shop said so when I asked them to give me a good price. So you better take care of these babies!" The ninja babbled, looking embarrassed when Tifa began to smile.

Vincent tucked the new materia into his pocket. "I will, Yuffie."

And he too smiled, albeit only Yuffie could detect the slight curve.

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Psh, don't you worry Vince, I'll steal 'em again once they're ripe!"

Tifa smiled; these two really were children after all.