As the small group of guards ushered Yuffie and Vincent down the narrow, crowded cobblestone streets of Wuxi, the gunman let his eyes wander over all of the scenery they passed. He had been to Wutai once before, but at the time he had been too busy helping Cloud and the others chase down the materia-stealing ninja to care much about sightseeing. Wuxi was truly a beautiful city, with buildings that had to have been constructed centuries ago and architecture that he knew would have taken an incredible amount of time and skill to create. There were paper lanterns and banners in every color imaginable decorating storefronts and houses, although a good many of them tended to be red with gold trim; he could not read most of the banners, but he recognized a few of the characters as those representing health and good fortune. He could smell the delectable scents of food being prepared in some of the restaurants that lined the street, and there was a constant stream of people going in and out of the buildings, talking and laughing as they mingled in the storefronts. He could see why Yuffie was so fiercely defensive of her homeland; it truly was a beautiful place, with a culture very much like and yet completely different from anything he had ever seen on the mainland.

Unfortunately, the night was still young, so there were still plenty of people wandering the streets as they headed home from their shops or, in the case of the geisha and other entertainers, preparing to begin their work for the night. The large crowd in the small area meant there were plenty of people to gawk at the party and whisper in barely hushed tones as they noticed the strange cloaked figure accompanying their princess. Vincent ignored them; he had gotten used to the stares years ago, and as long as Yuffie wasn't bothered by being seen with him he had no issue with it. He was relieved when they finally turned off onto a smaller road that led toward a group of much older-looking buildings than the ones in town. The path was lined with tea-lights, and Vincent found the entire picture very calming, but Yuffie seemed more anxious than before and had to squeeze his hand to stop hers from shaking. He squeezed back and leaned over to kiss the crown of her head, letting her press herself as close to him as she could without tripping over his long brass shoes.

"Home, sweet home…" she muttered darkly as they reached the doors of a great wooden gate, which opened for them immediately when the guards announced who it was they had brought. She took her hand from Vincent's to clench it into a fist at her side as they were led into the palace and down a long central hallway, finally stopping before a large set of oak doors and being told to wait there by the guards. Yuffie snorted impatiently but did as they asked, and a moment later the doors opened again as one of Godo's attendants strode out to greet them.

"His Majesty the Emperor will see you now," the wiry man said, bowing and gesturing for them to enter with a broad sweep of his arm. Yuffie rolled her eyes and stepped inside with Vincent close behind, standing in the center of the rug before the throne with her arms crossed over her chest. Vincent stood just a step behind her, but he bowed deeply and did not make eye contact with Godo; he would show the man the respect his position demanded, no matter how much he disliked him personally. At a glance, the emperor of Wutai looked much the same as he had the first and only time Vincent had met him before; he still wore the same deep-purple sleeveless kimono, held together with the same gold sash, and he still possessed the same long, black hair, short beard, and long mustache, although they were now all tinged with streaks of gray.

"Dad, what's the point of all this nonsense?" Yuffie snapped before Vincent had a chance to say anything. Godo sighed, his brown eyes cold as he stared boredly at his daughter.

"You know perfectly well what this is about, Yuffie. You turned twenty-one last year, and it is high time you returned to your duties as the princess of Wutai instead of running across the mainland with those… nobodies you call friends," he said, gesturing to Vincent with an air of disgust. The gunman bristled inwardly but did not so much as bat an eye at the insult. "And especially with a man. You are a grown woman of marrying age, and it is improper for you to be in the company of unmarried men alone."

"Oh, no, Leviathan forbid innocent little Yuffie learns what a man is before she's married!" Yuffie spat as she glared back at Godo. "Have you gone senile already, old man? Why do you care all of a sudden who I choose to be with? It never mattered before!"

"A woman should not speak unless spoken to, my dear Yuffie," said a man she had not noticed sitting beside her father before. He was tall, fine-featured and handsome, with deep brown eyes and long, straight black hair that was tied in a ponytail at the base of his neck. His face was impassive, save for the hint of a smirk in the corners of his lips as he looked at Yuffie. Vincent immediately saw a resemblance to Tseng of the Turks, but only in physical appearance; Tseng was a man of influence, but he was nowhere near this arrogant. Vincent's hand nearly twitched for Cerberus as he looked at this man; the way he was looking at Yuffie made his hair stand on end.

"Koichi," she growled, seeming to have met him before. "What the hell do you want?"

"If you would learn to listen before you talk, Yuffie, I could already have told you," Godo said coldly. "Calm yourself and sit with us, will you? Your… 'friend' is welcome to join us as well," he said without looking at Vincent. Yuffie snorted but did as he asked, following him to sit down at a low table on the other side of the room and making sure Vincent was between her and Koichi. An attendant quickly brought them cups of hot green tea, which Vincent immediately noticed carried a strange, bitter odor beneath the usual scent of tea leaves. Even without using Chaos's heightened senses, he recognized the smell immediately. He fought back a smirk as the Turk in him began formulating a new plan of action immediately. So, they wanted to play games with him? He would show them exactly how this game was played. He slowly brought the cup to his lips as Yuffie sipped from her tea and glared down into the cup, trying to do something to distract herself for a moment before she did something she would really regret.

"Now, as I was saying," Godo began after taking a sip of his own tea. "It is time for you to return to your duties as the princess of this country. And the most important responsibility for a woman of the royal family is to marry and bear sons who will carry on our family's name. Koichi is the eldest son of the Taishi clan –"

"I already know who he is, Dad. A pain-in-the-ass little pretty-boy is more like it."

"– and a great leader in his own right," Godo continued as if she had never spoken. "He has asked for your hand in marriage, and I have accepted." Vincent nearly dropped his teacup but somehow maintained his composure as he set it back on the table; Yuffie, on the other hand, wound up inhaling a mouthful of tea before spitting most of it on her father.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR %#&* $#% MIND?!" Yuffie screeched as she stood up from the table; Vincent stood with her, grabbing her hand and holding her back before she could leap across the table and tackle her father. Had the circumstances been different, Vincent might even have laughed; Cid had clearly been teaching her the proper use of a few new words. "I'm not some object to just be given away like that!"

"You will do as I command you to. I am your father, and you will respect my decisions."

"Shut up, already!" Her head was beginning to feel oddly hazy and Vincent was being strangely silent about all of this, but she was too angry to care. "And you!" she shouted as she pointed an accusing finger at Koichi. "I don't know how you've managed to convince my father that this harebrained scheme was a good idea, but if you think you can just take me without my permission, you must have your pretty little head screwed on backwards!" The young man just smirked at her, grinning like a sly cat.

"I doubt you'll really have much choice, my dear. As your fiancée, my word is now law. You had best just learn to accept it, and to show more respect to the man who will father your future children." Yuffie stared at him incredulously for a moment, unable to believe that someone could speak so casually about something so absolutely wrong.

"Alright, that does it! I'm outta here! Come on, Vince, let's – Vincent?" Yuffie turned around as she suddenly felt Vincent's hand slide off of hers; he had begun to sway in place, his eyes unfocused as he groaned and held a hand to his head. A second later, he crumpled to the floor, his eyes glazed and his body as limp as a rag doll when she tried to lift him. "Vincent?! Are you okay?!" she cried as she shook him, trying to get him to say something or at least show that he heard her. His face was tranquil, but his breathing was incredibly shallow and slow. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed something strange about the teacup that had fallen out of his hand. There was an odd shine in the bottom of the cup that she knew did not belong there; realization struck her like a punch to the stomach. They had drugged him.

"Oh, gods, Vincent!" she whispered, praying he would be alright. She tried again to lift the gunman, but her arms were beginning to shake under even their own weight, and to her dismay she found that her knees would not support her when she tried to stand. She sank to the floor, her eyes clouding over and something in the back of her mind screaming for her to run, fight, do something. A soft chuckle reached her ears, and a pair of arms grabbed her, lifting her much too roughly to have belonged to Vincent.

"Clever bastards…" she muttered as she realized they had planned this all along.

"I told you, my dear Yuffie, you are going to be my bride, and you will learn to love me. And if I need to, I will see to it that you never see this Vincent Valentine again."

"No… Vince… ent…" she whispered, seeing the gunman's red cloak moving as someone lifted him up as well and began carrying him away. Tears began to fall down her cheeks as he was carried out of sight. "Don't… hurt… him… P-please…" She tried to fight against the fog in her mind, but it was too much; the blackness called to her, sweetly inviting her to sleep, and a moment later she finally let herself fall into its welcoming embrace.