I finally got this thing edited! It's been sitting on my flashdrive, untouched for a while. Sorry. :/ Just been lazy and ill with the senioritis lately. But, last official day of school is tomorrow so hopefully that means I'll be posting more often since summer's almost here.
Anyway, this one is from Vincent's point of view. I plan to switch off between the two of them. Hope you 'me gusta' it!
The One That Didn't Get Away
Vincent looked out the window from his office. A dark blanket had been tossed over the city since he had last looked out, coloring everything in a dull blue, sprinkled with city lights. It was evening, the sun already hiding under the horizon. A whole day had passed since he had seen her, yet his mind was still on the encounter as if it had happened only minutes ago.
He wasn't easily surprised. Usually, even if things didn't turn out the way it was originally planned, Vincent expected it to be that way.
But when he caught Yuffie Kisaragi with her hand in his pocket, even he had to admit, he had not seen that one coming. He'd never expected to see her ever again, in fact. It'd been three years since he had last seen her and he knew that if Yuffie didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.
He had given up looking for her. He accepted that he'd probably never get an explanation for why she left. And he accepted that she had probably been tricking him from the beginning. When he saw her again though, a wave of confusing emotions had come over him. Surprise, anger, hurt, and, Vincent admitted reluctantly, relief. Relief that she was alive. Relief that she was safe. It hadn't helped that she had looked incredibly stunned to see him. Obviously she hadn't realized just who she had been trying to pick pocket from, otherwise he was sure she would have steered away from him.
What confused him, however, was the look of fear he had seen mixed with the shock on her face. Yuffie didn't scare easily. And of all the people, why was she scared of him? He didn't want to admit it, but seeing that look on her face had hurt. He'd rather she had spat in his face and told him she hated him. That he could understand coming from her. But not the way she had reacted.
A merc. Vincent frowned. That's what she had become after leaving him. She didn't seem the type, yet her skills are no doubt what led her to it. The great princess of Wutai, now a mercenary for hire. He wondered what Godo would think if he knew.
Vincent leaned back in his chair and sighed. It wouldn't do well to remain distracted by thinking about Yuffie. She was a lost cause and he knew it. Yet, ever since he had seen her yesterday afternoon, he hadn't been able to get her out of his head. He closed the document he had been reading over. Maybe he should just go home. It looks like he wouldn't be getting much done just sitting here, thinking, anyway. He had hoped work would be able to distract him and keep his mind off of her, but it seemed that it was only the other way around.
He had his briefcase packed and was about to leave when he felt a presence enter his office. He turned around and found a young woman in a light blue blouse and dark blue skirt. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail as usual and wrapped with a yellow ribbon. She smiled at him, her chocolate brown eyes shining with warmth. "Heading out?" she asked, her hands clasped behind her. She tilted her head a little. "Seems a little early for you."
Vincent nodded. "Yes. I think I need it. I've been sort of distracted today so I decided that I'd just relax at home and try again tomorrow."
"Distracted?" She straightened, losing her playful stance, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"
Vincent hesitated. Lucrecia was one of his best friends. Or at least she had been. Their relationship had been shaky ever since she married Hojo, a creepy scientist who, in Vincent's opinion, was way too old for her. Actually, their problems probably started around the time Vincent started dating Yuffie. Lucrecia had disapproved the most of her and when he asked Yuffie to marry him, she'd barely speak to him. Yuffie always believed that Lucrecia still had feelings for him. She sometimes accused him of still having feelings for her too, but Vincent had told her that any feelings he might have had for Lucrecia were gone once he had met her. And it was the truth. They hadn't come back since.
As for Lucrecia, he didn't know how she felt about him, but since she married Hojo he guessed it didn't really matter. She had made her choice. But it had all put a strain on their friendship. So Vincent doubted that telling Lucrecia what had happened would help anything.
"Vincent," she said, walking towards him when she saw the uncertainty on his face. "You can tell me." She reached up and put a hand on his arm.
Vincent looked at it, unsure of what to think. It was Lucrecia. He used to be able to confide anything in her, but now…
She sighed and withdrew her hand. "Nevermind. I understand if you don't want to talk to me about it."
She turned and started to leave, but Vincent reached out and stopped her. "Wait," he said. He saw that she was trying not to show how hurt and disappointed she was. It was silly. They were trying to repair their relationship. If anything, maybe he owed her a little. He'd ignored her somewhat when he was dating Yuffie, and that was probably part of the reason why she didn't like her. It was partly his fault. He could at least attempt to fix it.
He paused again, collecting his thoughts. She waited patiently for him to continue. He sighed before he did.
"You know how I had lunch with Veld yesterday?" he asked, finally.
She nodded her head. "Yes. Is something wrong? Is his daughter okay?"
"No, not that. He and his daughter are fine. It's what happened after lunch."
"What was it?" she asked.
Vincent drew a deep breath. "I saw Yuffie."
Lucrecia's eyes widened and her mouth slightly opened in shock. She put one hand on his desk to steady herself. "Yuffie?"
He nodded. "She's traveling with a bunch of mercenaries now. Probably not the first time she's come back to Edge, but I don't think she expected to see me on that side of town."
Lucrecia put a hand to her mouth. "What did she say?" she asked. "Did she—" she hesitated but went on, "Did she explain why?"
Vincent shook his head. "She left before we could really talk. The strange thing was, when she looked at me…she was scared. Like she thought I was going to hurt her."
The woman frowned. "That doesn't seem like her. She's always stood up to any threat she sees." Vincent caught her eye and knew what she was thinking. Yuffie got jealous easily and had seen her as a threat. She had confronted Lucrecia several times when they were dating. Lucrecia had always walked away, flustered and angry, usually with Yuffie grinning in triumph. Vincent had told her not to do that, but Yuffie claimed she couldn't help it. She never backed down when it came to standing up for herself, even though Lucrecia never attacked her in the first place.
"She should know better," his friend continued. "You wouldn't hurt her or anyone else like that."
"I know. That's why it's strange." He cleared his throat, grabbing the handle of his briefcase. "I'm not going to worry about it though. It's not likely she wants to talk to me and she's probably out of the city now. It's better if we both move on with our lives."
Lucrecia was silent. Automatically, warning bells went off in his head. It wasn't good when she was quiet like that.
"What?" he finally asked after a moment when he saw her thinking.
"You said she's traveling with mercs, right?"
Vincent narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes. So?"
She shrugged, looking away. "If you asked Reeve, he'd probably be able to find out where she is."
"Really," Vincent said, slowly, his eyes still glaring at her. "And why would I want to find out where she is?"
"So you can talk to her. She owes you an explanation, Vince."
"No, she doesn't," he said, his voice lowering almost to a growl. "I think it's pretty obvious that she was only after my money."
Lucrecia shook her head and it was then that he got his second surprise of the week. "I don't think she was."
Vincent blinked. He hadn't expected this. Agreement, yes. Indifference, maybe. But not this. "What?" he asked, in disbelief. "You? If I recall, you were in no way her biggest fan. You hated her. And you certainly didn't trust her. What's with the change of opinion?"
She shrugged. "I've just got a feeling."
"A feeling," Vincent repeated flatly, silently scolding himself. He shouldn't have told her. The one time he had expected her to back him up, she was now changing sides. He guessed their friendship was a lot more warped than he thought. "Right. Well excuse me if I don't really trust your feeling." He made a move to brush past her but Lucrecia grabbed his arm.
"Vincent wait. If you don't trust my feeling, then trust yours."
He glared at her. "What do you mean?" He stiffened when she reached up and pulled out the chain he wore around his neck out from under his shirt. Two gold rings hung from it, clinking quietly together.
"You never truly believe it either," she said, looking into his eyes. "That's why you never stopped loving her, even after all these years. Go talk to her, Vince. Get her back or get the closure you need. Either way, you need to move forward."
Vincent looked down at her, wondering why she sounded so urgent and sincere. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.
She smiled. "Because I want you to be happy. And if there's one thing I can't hate her for, it's that she made you happier than I had ever seen you when you two were together." She turned and walked towards the door. "Call Reeve," she said. "You deserve to know." She left before he could say anything else.
Vincent didn't move after she was gone. He looked down at the rings hanging around his neck and felt himself actually agreeing with her. Lucrecia was right. A part of him had always believed that Yuffie had left because of some other reason. But after a while, it was just easier to deal with her absence by trying to believe the worst and hating her, which he did but didn't at the same time.
He reached up with his left hand to grasp the rings. He frowned as he held them for a moment. He didn't know why he never took them off. It had just become a habit to keep them on. At first he had put them on with the off chance that Yuffie with come back. Then, when months passed, he kept them on to remind him of the mistake he had made. Now though…maybe he'd worn them all this time for this moment.
It was time to find out the truth.
With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. It only took a couple of rings for the man on the other line to pick up.
"Reeve," he said, still clutching the two golden bands that hung from his neck. "I need a favor."
So, I might change the story a little bit from what I have written (but not edited yet), because the current story might need a little flavoring. It'll probably take a little more time and more thinking, but hopefully I'll be able to post the next one not too long...then again that's what I said last time. Yikes, sorry.
Either way, I hope everyone has a blazing day!
