Unrequited- a feeling, especially love, not returned or rewarded.
The next morning was not strange for Vincent. For he was used to hiding such things. Even from his friends. He felt that, even though he loved them, they didn't need to know everything that was going on in his life. Especially having a temporary affair with the younger sister of the small group.
He couldn't begin to imagine their shock at finding out that he was sexually interested in Yuffie. In fact, he was still coming to terms with the fact that he was interested in her in "that way". He had started to believe that he was having feelings for her, but when he woke up after a drunken night in bed with her, he chalked it up to, being sexually attracted, and nothing else. In the deep recesses of his mind, somewhere, he knew that the feelings he developed for her were real. But he never listened to that part of his mind anyhow, considering that it was vacated by several demons.
So as they all ate breakfast together, the morning after Tifa's birthday party, he ran the agreement over in his head: They would enjoy each other's company, sexually, but at the end of the month, they would leave and pretend that none of it ever happened. Was it that simple? He had a hard time believing it and silently hoped that Yuffie wouldn't grow attached to him in the duration of their time together. And though she had already admitted to liking him, he was already growing accustomed to the new, more mature, version of Yuffie, who he hoped was adult enough to realize how bad he was for her. He was sure she would hold to her end of the bargain and was already anticipating tonight. He allowed himself a small smile as he buttered his toast. No other sign of his thoughts were evident, as his composure remained as stoic as ever.
Yuffie on the other hand, was a mess. She was so nervous coming down stairs. Almost sure that any sudden shift in body movement would give away her secret. Being Yuffie, she wanted to run out in the streets and scream to the world what had happened the previous night. She was especially dying to tell Tifa. She always secretly hoped to have that kind of girly conversation with Tifa. The way her and Shera did. But that idea was squashed when Vincent begged her to keep it a secret.
Her young heart had broken a tiny bit when he asked her not to tell anybody. But as ever, she remained optimistic and was just glad she was getting some kind of satisfaction from him. Though not in the way she wanted...beggars can't be choosers I guess. It didn't help that Vincent was ignoring her. He hadn't so much as glanced in her direction all morning.
Breakfast was a sight to see. Yuffie was so jumpy that whenever her name was mentioned she would flinch and scream "What?!" as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. Her nerves were on the edge of a sword to such a degree that when Cid called her name she nearly fell out of her chair.
"Geez Yuf', your jumpy today" he said
"Sorry, I just uh..." her eyes subconsciously shifted to Vincent's, who mentally chagrined her with a look "...I drank a lot last night. Your voice is like elephants in my ears" it was a viable excuse. Most of the people at the table were feeling similar symptoms. And though Yuffie was young and therefore recovered from hangovers much quicker than the rest, her words condoned her actions.
However she was still flighty in every move she made. When Cid asked her to pass him the salt, she spilled it all over the table and when he insisted that she throw some over her left shoulder, to ward off bad luck, she ended up getting some in her eye. It made Vincent question whether she would be able to conceal their forbidden affair or if the skilled members of AVALANCHE would hone in on her awkward behavior. He would have to talk to her.
Yuffie didn't know why she was acting so strangely. She felt as if they could all see right through her. She wasn't normally like this and was angry with herself for resorting back to her old ways. She was proud of the way she had matured over the years. And if anything threatened the way people now treated her, it would have to stop. Though a small part of her hoped that Vincent would show the tiniest bit of concern for her eye. When he didn't she felt the need to be alone.
"Im gonna go upstairs and clean my eye out" she left the room. Once behind the confines of her bedroom door, she cursed loudly. "Come one Yuffie! You can do this!" she kicked a pillow landing it on the other side of the bed. She looked around the room then, realizing that it was in shambles. Pillows and blankets were not on the bed where they should be. The sheet was only halfway on the mattress. Her clothes covered almost every inch of the floor, and when she entered the bathroom, the smell of puke hit her like a wall.
"Ugh! What the f.."
"Such ugly words" Yuffie spun around to see that Vincent had silently entered her room "..coming from such a pretty mouth"
"What do you expect?" she crossed her arms out in front. When Vincent moved toward her she balked.
"Look, I know I've been ignoring you. But I have to or else they will catch on. Im sorry if I come across as crass"
"Crass isn't the word im looking for, but it rhymes with it!" she perched her lips out mockingly, feigning hurt, when in reality she was jovial at the fact that he had snuck up to her bedroom. A brave move, considering his complaints.
He laughed despite himself, reaching for her and embracing her warmly "How's your eye?" he looked down at her, in return she stretched her neck to look up at him.
"Fine" though it was still red and puffy. But at least the burning had stopped. He bent low and kissed it.
"You really need to work on keeping your cool. If anybody finds out..."
"I don't see what the big deal is! Can't we just tell 'em?"
"Yuffie" he looked pointedly at her.
She kicked another pillow "I know, I know"
"Alright, im gonna go now. Wait a few minutes and then come down" he gave her hand a light squeeze and left. Yuffie sat roughly on the bed. Already feeling the weight of the secret coming down on her. She sighed.
"What have you gotten yourself into Yuffie?"
When Vincent came down stairs, he heard the topic of discussion on Adam. And vaguely remembered an incident involving him.
"Here he is!" Tifa said, waving an arm in Vincent's direction. He grew timid, never really enjoying praise. One of the reasons he joined the Turks. They were assigned to preform unruly tasks without any recognition for doing so. It was something he had always preferred. "He threw that pervert out on his ass! It was great!"
"I doubt he'll be coming back here any time soon "Cloud said "Thank you Vincent. I don't want anybody like that hanging around here"
"As Shera said, You or Cid would have done the same" There were nods of approval all around.
Yuffie didn't wait a few minutes to come down stairs. Though Vincent was peripherally keeping an eye out for her, she chose to take a shower instead. When she did come down, she bounded happily down the stairs, hair still wet. Vincent was almost relieved to see her. Her entire atmosphere was different. She was no longer edgy and uneasy. In fact, she didn't look twice at Vincent as she passed him up and headed straight for Naniki. It was quite a change from her earlier actions. Vincent noted as he watched her kneel beside Red and press her forehead to his.
"Something bothering you Yuffie?" the large cat said, he was so wise to things unseen. But Yuffie played it off well.
"Nah, im feeling much better now that I've showered. How's my bird?" she said referring to Jez.
"He is well" he nodded a head to the brown chocobo, who was now strong enough to play happily with his sisters.
"That's my boy" she smiled proudly at the growing chocobo, who was currently grooming Heaven with his paunchy beak. "Come here Jez" she gestured with her hand. The bird warked and cantered over to her, trying desperately to fit his growing size into her lap. Her balance was thrown off as she fell back, laughing. The others were alerted to the scene and were soon laughing along with her. Vincent smiled under the shrouded folds of his cloak.
"We should take them out today" Naniki looked to all "I think some fresh air would do us all some good" Everybody seemed to think this was a good idea.
"The great thing about you Red, is that you always know exactly what we need, even before we know we need it" Yuffie said affectionately, ruffling up his mane and using his stiff withers to help herself up.
"Alright! I'll make a lunch for everybody!" Tifa jumped up.
"I'll help" Cloud said
"No!" They all said in unison and a little too quickly. Cloud looked around bewildered.
"I'll help. You relax" Shera said, walking into the kitchen. Their was a collective sigh of relief. For they all had the pleasure of tasting Cloud's cooking before, and it amazed them how he could wield a sword larger than himself, yet his cooking skills were atrocious.
Tifa suggested that they have lunch at the same place as they picnicked a few weeks prior. Under the large perfect tree, that shaded and provided them with a comfortable ambiance. But when they got there they decided to head up stream an extra kilometer. They set up next to a small tributary. The large umbrella that Cloud lugged the whole way was deemed useless under the heavy blanket of forest. Most jackets were removed. The hike had made everyone sweaty and the lack of sun in the thick under brush made the air around them humid. More than a few looked with longing eyes at the cool water beside them. The birds paid no heed to any squabbles of getting wet as they dove in.
For lunch, Shera and Tifa prepared chicken pot pies and diced fruit, along with a pumpkin pie. After they ate, the team sat back full and happy.
The scene around them was beautiful. A painted map of nature, coated with all the colors of the coming season. Autumn was just around the corner, and it displayed its illustrious pride in the colors that surrounded them. Most sat back and looked straight up to the display of Fall colors above them. The leaves, once green, now began to whither into the glorious browns, oranges, and golds of age.
The calm silence was broken by the sound of a scared chocobo. Yuffie looked up to see that Jez's foot was stuck in the sticky mud just off the banks of the pond. She stood quickly to come to his rescue. She took off her shoes and walked ankle deep into the water. The pasty mud squished between her toes.
"Eww. You'd better be grateful Jez" she said as she waded towards him. She grabbed at his tiny ankle and pulled gently until the clay-like mud gave his talon back to him. Some of his brown feathers had fallen off in a fit of panic and were floating beside them. A few were sticking to Yuffie's leg.
"There you go buddy" she stroked his head gently. Suddenly she heard splashing behind her. She whipped around as fast as her body would allow in the deep muck and saw Heaven and Amytal bounding toward her.
"No no no!" she put her hands up to resist the dog sized birds, who were now flying towards her playfully. Amytal hit her in the chest causing her to lose her balance and fall into the muddy water. She fell back and submerged completely before raising her head up and gasping for air. The sound of laughter resonated throughout the forest, echoing and mocking her, it seemed.
"Damn it! Stupid Chickens!" She wailed loudly at the guiltless looking chocobos. Though it seemed to have little effect on them, as they played happily in the cool water.
"Need some help" Cloud said. He had braved the cold water to help her.
"Ya' think?! Why didn't anybody warn me?!"She crossed her arms out in front, like a defiant child. Glaring evilly at Denzel and Marlene, who weren't even trying to hide their laughter.
"Im sorry Yuffie. It just happened so fast" Cloud said, stifling a laugh. He reached a gloved hand out to her. She took it willingly but not without a mischievous smirk on her face. Cloud saw it, but it was too late. She was already pulling him down into the water.
"No Yuffie don't..." The force of his body hitting the water splashed Tifa and Naniki on the shore.
"Ha!" She howled, now realizing how funny the situation actually was.
Even through the mud on his face, she could clearly see the angry red underneath. She made a run for it, but to no avail. It didn't take him long to catch up and grab her around the waist. She kicked and screamed, all the while the people on shore were laughing loudly and screaming "Get her!" or "Run!". Cloud was a strong man, and even with Yuffie's tall frame, he was still able to throw her far into the deeper part of the lake.
Naniki jumped in the water as well, followed by Tifa, Barret and the kids. Vincent stayed on shore with Shera and Cid, who mumbled something about "Not getting my damn cigarette wet!"
But Vincent was content to watch from the sidelines as he had done for most of the years he had been friends with this crazy group of mismatched people. They were all so different, and yet they shared a bond stronger than that of most blood families. He smiled inwardly as he watched Yuffie jump on Cloud's back. Her hair was wet and plastered to her face as he swung around wildly to try and remove the Ninja, who had an iron-like grip around his neck.
Shera and Cid laughed as Tifa leapt onto Barret's huge back and they started a match of chicken. Yuffie was thrown first.
By the time the sun had started to set, and the water got too cold, they decided to stop swimming and leave. Their clothes were sopping wet as they trudged onto shore, laughing and tired from playing in the lake.
Shera was handing out towels, which Yuffie gladly accepted. She had been in the longest and was beyond freezing now that the sun had abandoned her for the other side of the world.
She was shivering by the time she reached her back pack and had trouble unzipping it with her now numb fingers.
"Yuffie! We can get changed behind that rock" Tifa said, pointing with a long finger to a large boulder a few yards away. Yuffie nodded and grabbed her clothes.
"Im glad I decided to grab a spare set of clothes" Tifa said as she removed her wet clothing.
"I had fun, but if Naniki doesn't get those birds under control, id say were gonna have roasted chocobo for dinner!" Yuffie smiled, knowing that she could never really harm an innocent baby chocobo. She looked thoughtfully for a second, staring at nothing in particular as she dried off her naked skin and dressed herself "Hey Tifa"
"Hm" Tifa said, drying her hair with a towel.
"Can I tell you something?" Yuffie looked around as if somebody might be listening. This action piqued Tifa's curiosity. She leaned in close with a wicked grin on her face.
"What?"
"I...I...well.." Yuffie suddenly thought of Vincent and how angry he might be if she told. Surely Tifa wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut long enough to for Yuffie to explain that she was dying to tell somebody. She wanted so badly to explain to Vincent what a huge deal this was for her. She had had a crush on Vincent a long while back when they were fighting Sephiroth. But she was young and didn't think much of it. Eventually it faded and she began to have similar stirring's for Cloud. Over time she had almost forgotten about her infatuation for the tall gunman. But when she returned to Seventh Heaven for the string of birthdays, her hormones could no longer deny that she was attracted to him.
Losing her virginity to Vincent was almost special to her. She secretly shuddered at the idea of being deflowered by any of the strangers that her father tried to hook her up with. She was afraid that they wouldn't be gentle, and she had heard more than a few stories of an unwilling bride being raped on her wedding night, for refusing to have sex. She couldn't blame them. And it made her glow with appreciation, that she had lost it to a friend...a cute one at that.
"It's...it's nothing" She couldn't do it.
"Aw come on! You got me all excited!"
"Maybe some other time" Yuffie proudly wrapped her damp bandana around her head. She had really come a long way. A few years ago she would have gladly posted anybody's secret on the internet. But she cared for Vincent, and if he was embarrassed, then she wouldn't tell anybody.
Tifa left Yuffie to put her boots on. As she was lacing them up she heard a soft rustling in the woods a few yards ahead. She plainly saw Vincent's red cape as he leaned against a tree.
She wasn't angry with him, but she was confused. It was beyond her understanding why he would want to keep their affair a secret. She had come to terms with the fact that he was embarrassed for having a one nighter with her. But then why did he want to continue? She felt a heat rise in her face, as she stared at him. She wasn't sure if it was anger or something else. All she knew was that she couldn't wait for everybody to fall asleep, so that she could sneak into his room tonight. And she was ashamed at herself for it.
Royal woman of Wutai are proud women. Yuffie herself was a formidable woman. Her mother would surely toss in her grave if she knew that Yuffie was lowering herself to being a man's secret mistress. But it was more than that. It bruised her ego to know that she was good enough to fuck, but not good enough to date. And not being able to tell anybody made her feel worse. Like she was a dirty little secret.
In an act of rebelliousness and a little ego booster, she stuck her tongue at him. But when he smiled back at her from the shadows of the forest, she couldn't help but smile back, and mentally kicked herself for doing so. He was a hard man to resist, and Yuffie wanted nothing more than for him to think that she was happy with the situation. In a way she was, but the reasons were all wrong, and she knew it.
Yuffie was feeling sick. She stood in the shower, gratefully letting steaming droplets of water run over her back. She knew it was nerves. She wanted more than anything, to spend time with Vincent. But it felt wrong to be hiding it.
Dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes, but she wasn't really that hungry. She hadn't been hungry all day.
When she finished getting dressed, she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. She knew it was Tifa, who's strong hands belied the gentle nature of the woman they were attached to.
"Yuffie, dinner is ready" She said from the other side of the door. Yuffie finished putting a sock on, then moved to answer it.
"Hey Tif. Actually, im not that hungry. Could you just save me some?"
"Yeah ill put some in a container. But are you sure? Cloud made a pie for desert"
Tifa laughed as Yuffie's face crinkled "Yeah, I think I understand"
"Thanks" Yuffie shut the door and laid on her bed. Within seconds she was asleep.
When Tifa came down stairs the whole team, including Reeve and Shelke were sitting around the table.
"Where's Yuffie?" Cloud asked from his spot across from Tifa's.
"She said she's not hungry" Tifa shrugged and began serving.
"But she's gonna miss out on the pie I made" Cloud looked visible distraught.
"Is that what that thing is?" Cid whispered from the other side of the long table. There were collective giggles all around, as they looked at the heap of dough and berries in a silver tin, steaming with what smelled like burnt toast, though they couldn't be sure.
Tifa shot Cid a glare of fierce anger, which would have risen to hell fiery if Cloud would have heard.
"Im sure there will be enough left for her" She smiled at Cloud, who looked proudly at his desert.
Vincent on the other hand, found no amusement in the so-called pie. He wondered why Yuffie hadn't come down to dinner. In fact, all day he had been gaging her. Looking for any signs of regret she might have.
Vincent was an excellent reader of body language. He saw no tell-tale signs of regret, but there was something else, something deep down that he had trouble reading.
He was no fool. He knew the hearts of young woman. How they long to gossip amongst each other, and share secrets. In any other situation, he wouldn't have minded. But it was Yuffie that he was having an affair with. Not some random woman. Yuffie, his friend. A woman he fought beside, saved the life of, and been saved by, many times. Yuffie was in a different category than other woman. Not only because she's the heir to the Wutai throne, but because Vincent truly cared about her. That alone made him feel as though she were too pure for him, as if he would taint her.
In all essence, he felt like he didn't deserve her. He wanted this holiday fling as much as she did, but knew without a doubt that he was no good for her. So he decided to save her reputation by keeping their affair a secret. With no one knowing what a mistake she had made, she could walk away unscathed.