It's like I'm not even counting how long I've been here anymore.
Today was Vincent's birthday, I bought him tickets to see that new/old Loveless play, with money I earned killing fiends outside of Midgar, that's my main source of income at the moment.
The play was actually pretty good, it was so sad and I didn't understand some parts but it was captivating. Vince seemed to really like it, he's smarter than me (not that I'd ever tell him that) so he probably understood it more than I did.
Afterwards we went and grabbed a few drinks at a bar. Some guy there was ranting about he wanted to start his own bar one day, with a barmaid with big breasts. I know the perfect candidate, but it'll be a while.
Vincent is drunk, now that is something you don't see everyday.
He slumps against my shoulder as I lead him to the lift in the apartment block.
I accidentally drop him, maybe just maybe I'm a little drunk too.
I trip over his foot and we lay on the marble floor in the foyer, laughing.
"You are a bad influence on me Yuffie." he chuckles.
"This is the proudest day of my life." I reply as I struggle to my feet and help him up.
"I want to say thank you to you." He said bringing his face too close to mine.
"For what?" I blush.
"For everything, for giving me a great birthday!"
I smile "Guess what? I made you a cake as well."
Vincent hugs me, "You are the greatest."
"Finally! Some recognition." I joke, "Come on, lets go home."
I heave him into the lift and we ride up to the 18th floor.
"26! Urgh, I feel old, I don't want to loose my good looks."
"Hey, 26 isn't old, s'only 4 years older than me." maybe I should tell Vincent that he never looses his looks.
The lift door swings open and we walk out on to the landing.
"Where do we live?" asks Vincent as he squints at the numbers on the doors.
"Duh, its this one." I take my key and start jamming it in the lock.
"Vincent! Its broken, Vincent the door is broken! We'll have to knock it down."
The door opens and we are greeted by Pervy Stan.
"Uh-oh, now you've done it!" Vincent said out loud, I think he had been trying to whisper.
"You both look very nice, do you want to come in?" He asked, standing there in just his vest and pants.
Vince and I exchange glances and back away.
"No, thank you." says Vincent not wanting to be rude, after all we have disturbed him at about 3 am.
I have a feeling that he wants to disturb us in other ways. I pull Vincent's arm and I remember that I stuck Balloons on the door to the apartment earlier. Stan closes the door but its really obvious that he's watching us through the peep whole.
"I put up Balloons remember, we just have to find the balloons." I explain, gawd I'm a genius!
"Yuffie, Yuffie? I know where they are." he said giggling his head off.
"Where? Oh you are a worst perv than Stan!" I announce realizing that he's pointing at my chest. "No more drink for you ever."
I take out the disposable camera I picked up earlier and snap a picture of Vincent laughing like a maniac.
I wrap my arm around his shoulder and get a picture of us together.
We find the balloons and after some fumbling with the lock we both fall through the door.
I kick off my shoes, I can't get used to wearing heels, they hurt so bad.
Vincent falls onto the sofa and pulls me down on top of him.
"So, have you had a good birthday." I ask, brushing his hair behind his ears.
"Yes, I am so very glad I met you."
"I'm glad I met you too, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't helped me out. I owe you so much."
"No, Yuffie, listen, I owe you so much. My life was empty before we met. Since I've had you in my company I've had more fun than I have had in my entire life, I've also never been so well looked after. " Vincent put his hands on the small of my back.
How long has it been? Weeks? no months. Who knows how much time we have left. I'm going to go for it!
"Vince…I…" he covers my mouth with his, Yes!! My heart sings, I feel all those times I'd spent thinking I would never be good enough for Vincent melt away.
This time I wake up in Vincent's bed. Things sure did get interesting last night. He's sound asleep beside me, he is a very deep sleeper, but I'd suppose you'd have to be to sleep for 30 years.
There is a knock at the door. I can't find any of my clothes so I grab Vincent's shirt and put it on.
As I walk through the living area I notice my clothes are scattered around the room. Oop's, I hope whoever it is doesn't want to come in.
I'm still a little sleepy so I don't check who it is and I just open the door.
Grimoire regards me for a while. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
Uh-oh, should I slam the door? Would that be very rude?
"Is Vincent here?" he asks.
"Uh, He's still asleep, he's a little hung over I think."
Grimoire seems surprised by that news.
"Do you want me to wake him up?"
"No, no, leave him, I have to rush off anyway, I just wanted to drop off this."
He hands me a birthday card, I don't reprimand him for being late with it because, well he's a little scary.
"Where is Lucrecia?" I ask, checking the hall way. She better not be here, that would be to close for comfort.
"With Professor Hojo, In sector 8."
I knew that the scientists were still working down there because we passed the cornered off area last night on the way to the play.
"Yeah, you wanna watch him, he's after your chica."
"Dr. Crescent is my respected friend and assistant, nothing more, nothing less."
"Yeah, whatever!" he's not that scary after all.
Grimoire steps closer to me, he better not try and abduct me, he'd get a fist in the face if he does. "Just a friendly word of advice…"
I listen.
"Don't fall in love with him, it will make it so much harder for the both of you."
With that I shut the door in his face. Leaning against the wood I struggle to catch my breath.
Damn him, he knows how to fix this, doesn't he? Grimoire is going to put me back in my place.
I'm being strong so I don't cry, but not strong enough to leave before its too late.
I go back to Vincent and wrap his arm around me. I don't want to think about it, so instead I think about last night. The way he made me feel, that's real. I have never felt so alive.
He's got some nice paintings in his room, there's some documents on his desk and a wardrobe. Vincent seems a lot more comfortable sleeping in a bed instead of a coffin.
I hold him really tight to me.
I should have thought about what I was doing. I always hated the fact that he'd stayed in that creepy box for so long, Its just over a year until that happens.
He's mine now and I don't want to leave him. The thought that he would soon fall in love with Lucrecia drives me crazy, I bite on my fist to stop myself from crying out.
I should have thought about all that but I didn't. I still don't want to.
Screw it, I made this mess I'm just going to have to deal with it. I yawn and lay my head on his chest.
"Your dad dropped this off earlier." Yuffie said passing me an envelop.
"Oh right…thanks." I don't know why he bothered, its not like we ever see each other. "He hasn't given me a birthday card since I was 16. I wonder what he's after?"
"What's the deal with him, he's kinda frosty?" she asked.
"We don't really ever speak, he just focuses on his work."
"Bummer, hey we should go for a walk, get some air."
"Okay, sounds like a good idea." my head is still throbbing a bit.
Yuffie pulls a pretty impressive back flip off of my bed. She's one remarkable woman.
We both got dressed and took a walk around the city.
"Its getting cold, really cold around here." Yuffie rubbed her hands together.
"I suppose you are used to warmer climates."
"Dear Wutai, balmy all year around."
"Do you want to go to Wutai? I need to take some time off anyway." I ask her, I don't want her to feel like I don't care about her home.
"Hmm, it would be nice to get away from the city for a while. But I'd like to go somewhere else. Ya know see the world and that."
"Are you sure."
"Yup, I think we'd have a great time, You and me just away from here." She said looking a little forlorn.
"Oh I remember why you don't want to go to Wutai, because you ran away from there, right?."
"Yeah whatever you think, Vincey." she said rolling her eyes.
"How's your head feeling?"
"Better actually, how about you?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling fine. My feet are sore though, I think those stupid shoes have given me blisters." Yuffie stopped, she took off her flat shoes to rub her feet. "do us a favour and carry me." she jumps up on to my back, ditching her other shoes as she does so.
"Ahh, Yuffie!" I call out as I stumble forwards slightly. I boost her up so I can get a better grip on her. She puts her chin on my shoulder.
"If I walk with no shoes I might tread on something sharp."
"Alright, why did you want to go for a walk when you have sore feet?" I ask exasperated.
Yuffie kissed my cheek and ruffles my hair.
"Oh can we go to the place where they develop camera film. I used up that camera I bought."
"Do you know anywhere that does that?"
"ummmm, not really lets just ask around." I sigh, to myself and set off in search of someone who can develop photos.
We eventually found a guy who could do it down in the slums. We didn't spend much time down there because the people down there aren't too keen on Turks.
Yuffie seems to be popular down here, so we didn't have any trouble. A shop owner gave her another pair of high shoes, she accepted them graciously and walked in them until we were out of sight,
"Argh this is what you get for trying to look hot! I guess It was worth it though." she winked at me.
"Yuffie, I didn't want to be with you because of your shoes."
"I have this friend who once dressed up like a chick."
"What's that got to do with anything?" I ask struggling to follow her line of thought.
She shrugs and leaps back up on to my back.
"How come people just give you stuff? The only thing i've ever recieved down here is a punch in the face."
Yuffie makes a sound which i guess would be half laugh and half awwwww.
Its about a few weeks later when I get a taste of the darker side to Vincent's job. He comes home late, he looks upset and messed up. There's blood on his shirt.
"Vince are you hurt?" he nods and I follow him into the bathroom.
He takes off his shirt and reveals a deep cut on his shoulder.
I grab a potion and some bandages from the cabinet. I pour potion on to the bandage and press it against his wound.
He gasps and bites down on his lip.
"What happened? You don't have to tell me."
"I had to cover up a mistake and the mistake didn't want to be covered up. One of Hojo's abominations, it killed a whole bunch of villagers east of Midgar, It was awful."
I take the bandage away to check the wound, but he's still bleeding.
Vincent's wounds usually heal up right away, that's because of the Jenova, the Jenova he is currently free of. I apply more pressure and hold his hand in mine.
It comes as a bit of a shock, I have never seen any physical affliction affect him before. Gawd he's so human.
He squeezes my hand as the potion starts to take effect.
"Yeah I bet that stings." I try to sooth him.
"A little."
I take the wad of bandages away and I run my fingers across the red mark that remains.
"Yuffie, they burned the bodies!" he cried, tears on his ashen face. "They had families and lives and they just covered it up like a crack in the wall. I should have done something, I should have stopped them."
"Vincent, this is not your fault, please I can't make that any clearer. Shinra will hurt you if you tried anything." I pull his head to my shoulder and run my fingers through his jet black hair.
"This isn't what I wanted to do, I wanted to do good."
"You will, trust me Vince, you will."
Vincent shakes his head. "We need to get away for a bit, lets take that trip, like we talked about. I've got some time off. I just need to take care of some paper work tomorrow and then we'll go. Yeah? just you and I somewhere away from here?"
I stare into his eyes and nod, I don't think I could ever look into those eyes and say no.
The next morning when I awake Vince has already gone into work. I'm supposed to rendezvous with him at the main gate to the city in just under an hour. I grab a bag and shove some clothes in. I collect all the things I think we'll need and stop for a quick snack.
I lock up and dash down to the foyer. There's an envelop sticking out of the mail box for our apartment. I pick it up and weigh it in my hand. I'm sure it's the photos I took on Vince's birthday. I stuff the envelop into my bag and say goodbye to the doorman. He says that he hopes we have a nice vacation.
I manage to get to our rendezvous point on time. Vincent is already there. Damn it, so is Grimoire. Grimoire looks exasperated with his son. Vincent turns his back on him and folds his arm. For a split second it reminds me of the arguments I have with my dad.
"Its my life, I can be with whoever I want, Its none of your concern. In fact you never cared before so what's the problem now?!"
"Just think about what I've said." Grimoire, notices me.
Vincent puts his arm around my shoulder and leads me to the exit. I look back over my shoulder. Grimoire stares at me, his expression is one of rare sympathy.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
Vincent smiles at me and tells me not to worry.
Whatever Grimoire has said hasn't had any affect on Vincent. I wrap my arm around his waist. I recon he's just warned Vincent about me.
Lucky for me he's such a rebel.
A/N: thanks again for the reviews XXXX