Letters
Author's Note: 7/15. More than halfway there! For any anime fans, I'm tossing around doing something like this for Cowboy Bebop, sort of a lost episodes type deal. Get at me if you'd like to get details of that before it hits here.
Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series and all of its associated content is still owned by Square Enix. I am still not making any profit from this whatsoever.
Though a healthy breeze was flowing through the open windows in the dining room, the envelope on the table hadn't moved an inch, as if held down by the weight of its words. It had been sitting there for hours, ever since she had brought it in with the rest of the mail, though unlike the rest of the mail, this particular letter remained unopened. It was addressed to her in neat script, 'Lady Yuffie Kisaragi' with the sender dictated in similar writing, 'Emperor Godo Kisaragi'.
Yuffie sighed. She had been seated in this position at the end of her chair, staring at the unopened letter for the last several hours, wishing that it would just open and read itself. What she really wished was that Vincent would get home early from his mission and read it for her. She inched further off her chair and began to reach across the table for it when her cell phone started to ring.
"Ha!" She exclaimed, ecstatic about having a real excuse to not read the letter. She flipped the phone open and brought it up to her ear. "Hello?"
"…I forgot my keys. Let me in?" Said Vincent's deep, rough voice. Yuffie punched the air in triumph before dropping her phone and running down the hall to their front door, where, lo and behold, she spied Vincent through the window.
"Vinnie!" Yuffie yelled, all but throwing herself onto him. He caught and held onto her effortlessly, adjusting his hands to hold onto her better as he walked them both back into the house. Once inside, he kicked the door closed and finally looked down to admire the woman in his arms.
It had been a year since the end of the Omega incident, which also meant that it had been nine months since they had moved in together. Vincent still wasn't sure exactly when he had racked up enough good karma to be able to wake up to something so beautiful every day. He continued holding onto her, their time apart suddenly seeming unreasonably long, though it had only been two days.
From where her face was buried in his neck, he heard her murmur, "Missed you."
Vincent couldn't help but smiling before brushing his lips lightly against the top of her head. "Missed you too."
He released his hold on her and let her pull back far enough to draw her into a quick kiss before noticing that look in her eyes. Something was wrong. "What is it?"
Yuffie huffed, upset that she had given herself away so easily. "Godo wrote me. I haven't opened it. Right before you called, I was thinking about how much I wished you were here to open it for me."
Vincent scowled. Yuffie had been dreading any contact from Godo since the end of Deepground and Omega. Though Reeve was more than willing to keep her near Edge under his employ, they all knew that at some point, her father would call on her to return to Wutai, which would almost assuredly mean leaving Vincent as well. Vincent was surprised the old man had waited so long to attempt to get in touch. "Perhaps we should read it."
They made their way over to the dining room table in silence, Yuffie hanging a few feet away in the door while Vincent sat down to open the letter. It was lighter than he had imagined it would be, for something that was more than likely so important. Inside the envelope was a single sheet of paper. Vincent looked up at Yuffie expectantly.
"Would you like me to read it aloud? Or should I read it and summarize it for you?" He asked, a crease of worry taking over his brow.
"Read and summarize," she replied as she wiped at an invisible stain on her shirt.
Vincent turned his attention back to the letter, which was surprisingly informal for being sent by the Emperor.
'Yuffie,
Reeve Tuesti has informed me that things are going well for you within the WRO, and I wish to offer my most sincere congratulations. It brings great joy to our people, knowing that you are on the front lines of the effort to heal our planet. It is an important task, to be sure– so tread carefully and continue to bring honor to our great nation.
As is customary for a young woman of your age and status, the council has begun drafting a list of suitors. Please don't be alarmed. Though it is customary that we begin this process now, I am not expecting you to become engaged for at least another year. However; this process would go much more smoothly if you were here in Wutai to oversee it. I'm sure the WRO has efforts in Wutai that you could request to be assigned to.
These are only my wishes, and I would hope that as my daughter, you would do your best to grant them. I do, however, understand that this is all quite sudden and I know it will take you some time to make these plans. Please contact me after you receive this so that I might begin making arrangements for your arrival.
Godo'
Vincent wanted to scowl at the presumptuousness of it all, but quickly remembered that he was reading the words of the Emperor of Wutai, who was more than slightly accustomed to being granted everything he asked for. He looked up at Yuffie, whose hands were balled into fists, clenching the material of her shorts. He quickly stood and crossed the room, bringing her into his embrace as she began to cry.
"I haven't even told you what it says yet," he mused, brushing her hair away from her face. Yuffie's gray eyes were rimmed with tears that hadn't yet fallen, though several had managed to snake their way down her rosy cheeks.
"It's Godo, I already know what it says. He wants me to come home so he can marry me off to some goon who just wants to use me for my ovaries," Yuffie replied through her sniffles.
Vincent sighed at the amount of truth there was in that statement. "He does want you to get married. But he says there's a process involved and he doesn't expect you to pick anyone for another year. Says it would help speed things along if you were there in Wutai."
"No," Yuffie replied flatly. She was holding onto Vincent's t-shirt, her small hands balled up in the material. Her forehead rested against his chest while he attempted to soothingly stroke her back. "I don't want to get married or go back there, and I certainly don't want to speed things along. I just won't go back."
"Yuffie," Vincent said softly. He only spoke to her that way when she was doing childish things. She looked up at him with a new kind of sadness in her eyes.
"I'm not giving you up. I won't," Yuffie said softly as her tears finally spilled over full force. "I just got you back. You expect me to give you up just like that?"
Vincent looked at the floor, afraid that his eyes would give him away. He had known that this day would come, when she would have to choose between her country and him. He would not let his emotions impact her choice.
"Whatever you decide, I'll still love you," he murmured against her hair. The mere thought of her returning to Wutai and marrying someone else almost broke his heart on its own, but it was her decision to make. "Always."
Yuffie leaned against him for a moment before withdrawing from his embrace. The letter remained where he had left it on the tabletop. She walked over and picked it up, turning it over in her hands before placing it back into the envelope. She licked the strip of the envelope, glad when she tasted enough glue to reseal it. Grabbing a pen from a nearby cup, she wrote a few words on the front of it before setting the pen down once more. She had a smile on her tear-streaked face when she walked back over to Vincent, drawing him into a kiss.
After she had pulled back, Vincent rested his chin on top of her head, looking over at the letter curiously. In Yuffie's untidy scrawl across the front side of the envelope, it read: "Return to Sender".
