Disclaimer: I don't own FF7.
A Silent Moment, a Beautiful Lie
Yuffie Kisaragi leaned against a counter in the kitchen. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Cid stood around her. A man stood in a dark corner. Yuffie snorted. She wondered why he was in the corner. Added effect? She tuned Cloud out for a moment (or rather, Tifa and Cloud) and spaced out. Right now, he was deep in thought. Pale skin covered scarlet eyes. Raven hair smothered a pale face. Vincent was deep in thought, as well. She knew he knew how she felt about him. He never made any move to respond to her feelings.
Of course, it was to be expected. It wasn't proper. Whether he was 32 or 62, he was far older than her at the fresh-into-adulthood age of 19. A romantic relationship between them would be found to be disgusting by most or inappropriate at best. Some would assume he had bought her or toyed with her heart with money, or material, that she was his prostitute, that she gave him her body for love when no one else would take an interest in her. But she didn't care. She truly loved this man. His pain and his suffering had come to closure just a while ago, and though at first Yuffie thought she'd had a competitor in the girl with a 10-year-old's body, he saw her as a daughter. So… why? Why couldn't he see it? Why did he turn his face away from her, even when she saw a spark flicker in his eyes when she smiled?
He opened his eyes. It was funny how that one small movement came with so much grace. Then, his eyes flickered in her direction. She raised her eyes to meet his. Her skin tingled, she felt drawn. Something in the depths of his eyes changed, to happiness. She tentatively smiled. All she needed was something, something to prove to her why…
He raised his chin out of his cloak, eyes still locked on hers, and smiled back. And just like that, she knew. They would never be together, always misunderstood. But their love for each other was strong. There could be no romantic relations between the two with the exception of a friendly touch on the arm, or a forced hug from her to him. But she knew, and he knew, that they loved each other.
And for them, that was enough.