Rock Star
I love you
I have loved you
all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I
keep dreamin' you'll be with me
And you'll never go
Stop
breathin'
If I don't see you anymore
I wanted
I wanted you to
stay
Cuz I need it
I need to hear you say
I love you
I have loved you
all along
And I forgive you
For bein' away for far too long
So
keep breathin'
Cuz I'm not leavin' you anymore
Believe it
Hold
on to me, and never let me go...
- Nickelback, "Far Away"
Yuffie awoke the next day with a feeling of
dread.
Today she would be traveling to her last show, and it was
in her hometown of Wutai. Where she was princess.
Where her father
resided.
She wrinkled her nose. Damn if that man didn't have the
ability to infuriate her beyond reason. Her father and her were both
too damned stubborn for their own good.
That, and she'd left on
kind of bad terms. After the incidents involving Deepground and the
WRO, her dad had insisted that she had to come back to Wutai, marry,
and begin her training to be the second in command of Wutai. She
insisted that she didn't need to marry, and could run Wutai all on
her own by the time her father died.
That was against tradition,
of course, and not acceptable at all.
She wondered if Vincent
would be acceptable to her father. Would he insist that they
marry?
More importantly, was that what Vincent wanted?
Yuffie
had to admit that she thought it was a little too soon to rush into
marriage, but if both her father AND Vincent insisted, she'd probably
give in - she kind of planned on sticking with Vincent for a while
anyway, so it was not really a big deal.
She giggled a little bit,
thinking of Vincent dealing with the elaborate Wutain wedding
ceremony. He'd look so cute in a kimono. She suddenly had a flash of
them - her in a white shiro-maku, the traditional wedding kimono for
Wutain women, MINUS the tsuno-kakushi hood to symbolize obedience,
and he in montsuki kimono and hakama pants, in crimson, of course.
In
her mind, they looked very happy.
She sighed. Whatever.
She
was struck by a thought - if she were to take on the duties as queen
of Wutai, it would be her solomn duty to produce an heir to the
throne.
Could Vincent even have kids? Moreover, could she? She'd
never been to a gynocologist before, so she didn't know if there was
anything wrong down there. A relatively normal menstrual cycle had
reassured her, but her mother had only been able to bear her father
one child before she departed this world - Yuffie. And she'd had
plenty of time; Yuffie's parents had been in love and made love as
much as any other couple. Yuffie thought that her mother would have
had more children. After all, prophylactics and birth control are
strictly forbidden between married couples in Wutai.
But not,
Yuffie thought bitterly to herself, to prostitutes and mistresses.
That was one thing she'd change when she became Queen - a woman has a
right to be something for herself other than a mother, if that's what
she wants.
And Yuffie did want. She wanted to do so many things
before she settled down and had a kid! IF she could have kids.
That
thought sobered her. Wutain law decreed that any heir to the throne
had to be genetically pure; that is, to say, they could have no
outward birth defects or congenital diseases.
If she and Vincent
got married, and if they started a family, their progeny could be
exiled from Wutai if they proved to be messed up genetically, and she
and Vincent would suffer shame and expulsion from the throne.
Why
am I thinking of this? Yuffie thought to herself as she sat up in
bed. It doesn't matter right now. What matters right now is
getting ready for the big show tonight. She swung her feet out to
touch the ground and started packing. She'd be expected downstairs
for dinner soon, and then they'd fly out of Rocket Town - she hadn't
even gotten to stop in and see Cid and Shera - and go to Wutai.
Where
she would be meeting up with Vincent.
That thought excited her,
and so it was with a happy step that she left her room.
Vincent bode Cid farewell and stepped into
Wutai. He knew that Yuffie would be arriving sometime today; Cid had
taken longer than he'd thought in Rocket Town and so Vincent had
stayed the night at Choco Billy's, being picked up at o-dark-hundred
in the morning.
They arrived in Wutai shortly after noon; Vincent
knew that Yuffie would be in town within the next few hours, and
resolved to become somewhat presentable before then. He had not
bathed in two or three days and stank of sea salt and chocobos,
something Cid had pointed out to him on the trip over.
So with
that in mind he rented a room at the inn.
Before he took a shower,
however, he resolved himself in finding something to wear - his
current clothing needed a good cleaning. He figured he could take
them to the dry cleaners in the lobby of the inn, but he would need
something to wear while that was being done.
It was not that
difficult; a black pair of slacks, a black T-shirt, and a pair of
socks to go with black sneakers. Vincent did not wear underwear.
So
he shod his clothing and showered - unfortunately for him, he had a
hard time showering because of his hair. He pondered cutting it
often, but it was really too much of a bother; plus, Yuffie seemed to
like it. She played with it whenever she was near him, which would be
embarassing but it felt almost comforting and she took enjoyment in
it. So the hair stayed.
However, he had to go to some effort to
make it presentable in any form; after he got clean, he had to
condition his hair, and comb the conditioner in while he was in the
shower, or his hair matted up and tangled. This usually took the
better part of an hour, as his hair was thick. His father had been
from Corel, and his mother Wutai, both races known for thick hair. He
had a head full of hair, thanks to his father, but it was all very
fine, thanks to his mother - so it tangled easily.
By the time he
was finished, a small pile of wet hair that had been yanked,
painfully, from his head lay on the bottom of the shower stall,
getting pelted by shower water. He scooped it up and opened the door
to the shower stall, tossing it in the direction of the garbage can.
Closing the door, he returned to his shower.
When finished with
his shower, he was what he thought Yuffie might call "a prune,"
but he felt thoroughly disinfected.
After drying off and putting
his new apparel on (he was a little uncomfortable with how the shirt
showed his claw joining his skin) he wrinkled his nose while
gathering up his dirty articles of clothing and shoving them into a
complimentary plastic bag with the hotel's logo emblazoned on
it.
From there, he went downstairs to the dry cleaners. He was
told that the one-hour service cost twice the normal service.
"I
will pay triple if you can have it done in half that time."
Vincent said. As the company did not have a half-hour service, if the
employee got it done, that extra fee would probably go into the
employee's pocket. Vincent didn't care. He wanted his clothes
back.
"Uh, yes, sir." The employee said, her eyes
widening at the sight of his claw as he dug for gil.
He left,
assured that he would be able to pick up his things shortly. The
employee also assured him that she could do his boots - they were
mostly metal, but the insides could use a good cleaning.
This was,
literally, the first time he'd worried about his clothing. He
wondered if it was Yuffie, or if he simply wanted to get the grime of
several years off of him, but whatever - he would smell infinitely
better.
While he waited he got a meal in the inn's restaurant,
which was part of the lobby.
Halfway through that meal Yuffie
walked in.
At first she almost walked right past him, not
recognizing him out of his normal getup. Then she saw the claw out of
the corner of her eye and turned around.
"Vinnie!" She
exclaimed, dropping Hannah's bag and running toward him.
He stood
up; he expected her to slow before she got to him and was he wrong.
The both of them fell backward from the force of her embrace, onto
the carpeted floor of the restaurant.
"Calm down, Yuffie."
He said, smiling to himself as she kissed him exultantly and sat
up.
"I missed you!" She said. She looked him over. "Nice
threads. Very sexy."
"My clothes are being cleaned."
He said, gesturing toward the dry cleaners.
"Of course,
there'd be a rational explanation." She said, rolling her eyes
and helping him up. "I'm just getting the guys settled; I'm
staying at my place."
"I have a room here..."
Vincent began. Yuffie rounded on him, eyes flashing.
"I. Do.
Not. THINK. So." She stated. "I have a guest bed you can
use, but I am NOT going another night without you!" She smiled
and the angry Yuffie was gone. She grabbed his human hand, ungloved,
and started to lead him toward the band. Vincent's hand twitched; he
hadn't realized the difference in holding hands when he was minus a
glove. It felt...good. Perhaps he'd have to go without the glove more
often.
Yuffie got the band settled in while Vincent reluctantly
packed his few belongings into a knapsack. He still wasn't sure if he
found it appropriate for them to share a room, even if they did
nothing - especially considering that Yuffie's father lived IN Wutai,
and he would have to deal with him if anything DID happen.
Yuffie
burst into his room; he had left the door cracked open for her. She
grinned.
"I'm soooo happy to see you, Vinnie! I've missed you
so much!" She hugged him again; this hug was less exhuberant and
more gentle. He folded his arms around her.
"I missed you as
well." He said. Her arms tightened around him and she buried her
face into his chest.
After a short while they separated and Yuffie
grabbed Vincent's knapsack. "C'mon, let's go."
He picked up his clothes from the dry cleaner
and tipped the girl behind the counter another fifty gil for getting
it done on time; the girl looked as if she'd rushed the machine to
get it done on time.
She bowed to him in thanks and he nodded his
head in acknowledgement.
He would have to get used to the Wutain
custom of bowing.
That gave him another thought to ponder: Would
he and Yuffie choose to live in Wutai? Or where? He pondered that
until she stopped at her house and opened the door.
Cats were
everywhere.
Yuffie giggled. "I'm glad I installed that cat
door! Being gone for years would make them stir-crazy
otherwise."
"How...do you keep it clean?" Vincent
asked. The house did not smell like twenty contained felines.
"I
have a maid." Yuffie said. She smiled. "I'm a princess,
remember!" She threw his knapsack on a chair. "Mkay, I have
to go do sound check, I'll be back for dinner." She tossed him
something; a keyring. "The big silver one is the key to the
house, in case you need to leave."
She left and Vincent
decided that he was going to make her dinner.
He hadn't cooked in
a long while but he still remembered how to make some things; he
remembered his mother instructing him on how to prepare sushi and
sashimi, and other traditional Wutai fare.
Vincent securely locked
Yuffie's front door before heading toward the market to buy the
things needed for a homecooked dinner for her.
He returned with the makings for sushi and
sashimi (even if Yuffie didn't like one or the other, he did, so it
would get eaten), miso soup, a small assortment of Wutain-style
pickles, sake and green tea, and some green tea ice cream, which he
remembered his mother giving him as a special treat once. He also
picked up some condiments like wasabi and soy sauce, as he had no
idea if Yuffie had these in her kitchen.
She didn't. Her kitchen
was empty of food, actually; all that was there were the items to
prepare food. Thankfully, she had sushi-making implements.
Vincent
finished preparing the food and setting it on her low table (he
assumed that her table would be sat at in the traditional Wutai
style, which is, on the floor) just as Yuffie walked in.
"Oh,
wow!" Yuffie said. She looked at the food and then looked at
him, suspiciously. "Where'd you get this?"
"I made
it." He said.
She grinned and clapped. "Really!? I
didn't know you could make sushi!" She kissed him. "You're
coming up with all kinds of surprises, Vinnie!"
She ran
upstairs and came back with two sitting pillows, one of which she
handed to Vincent.
They enjoyed the meal immensely - Yuffie
exclaimed in joy over his preparation of the sushi, how happy she was
to finally have some real Wutain pickles, and how yummy the
ice cream was. They finished the meal drinking sake; Vincent had
gotten a particularly nice variety that he remembered from his
mother's ceremonies as a child. He was actually astonished that the
makers were still around to make it.
"So, where'd you learn
how to make this stuff?" Yuffie asked. "And use
chopsticks?"
She leaned back and stretched her legs out
underneath the table, sighing happily.
"My mother was from
Wutai." Vincent said. He hadn't really discussed any of his
childhood with Yuffie, and the subject made him a little
uncomfortable.
"Really?" Yuffie peered at him. "You
don't look half Wutainese."
"I am." Vincent said.
He stood and began clearing up the leftovers, planning on sealing
them up in some foil he'd discovered on top of Yuffie's empty
refrigerator.
"Lemme help." Yuffie said, standing up.
"That's really cool, though, Vincent. Why didn't you tell me?"
She smiled. "Now my dad can't really object to you. You're half
Wutai!"
"My mother is most likely long dead, Yuffie."
Vincent said, softly. "And I have not seen her in a very long
time even if she is alive. I don't...like discussing it."
Yuffie
looked sad. "That's so depressing, Vinnie. How do you know if
you don't look for her? Have you even tried to find her?"
"I
have to admit that I have not." Vincent said. They entered the
kitchen, and Vincent began putting the food away. "I did not
think that she would like to see me after all of these years."
"I
see." Yuffie looked kind of sad as she smiled up at him and left
for the living room.
Vincent felt like an asshole. It took a
21-year-old woman to make him realized that he really did miss his
mother. Shizuko Valentine had been an astounding woman, falling in
love with a scientist and former miner from Corel and leaving Wutai
when tradition bucked. He wondered, for the first time in many years,
what had happened to her.
"Vincent...?" Yuffie's voice
called out.
Vincent finished putting the sushi away and joined her
in the living room. His heart skipped a beat as he saw that she was
holding his file from the doctor.
"What's this?" Yuffie
asked. She looked concerned; even she could recognize a doctor's
file, with his name written on it. She had not opened it, respecting
his privacy, but she was setting his things up in the guest room for
him and it fell across her vision.
Vincent wondered how to explain
it; he could not reasonably not explain it, not with her staring at
him with those eyes.
"I was in Mideel." He said. He
didn't move from his spot at the doorway. "Getting tests
done."
"Are you okay?" She looked really worried
now.
Vincent's conscience bucked at every notion he had at
privacy. He swallowed hard. "See for yourself." He gestured
at the folder.
"Are you sure? I mean, that's kinda personal,
don't you think?" She said.
He looked away from her. "Surely,
I should have no secrets from the woman I love?" He said,
softly.
Yuffie's face softened and she sat down on the floor,
cross-legged, and opened the file. She flipped through the pages that
described the doctor's summary. "You were making sure that
you're...okay to have kids?" The confusion was evident in her
voice.
"Yes." Vincent said. "The thought had
occured to me..."
Yuffie looked up at him. She looked
relieved, which told Vincent that the thought had occured to her, as
well. "Well, that's good." She said, smiling. "Look,
the doctor even says that he thinks you SHOULD have kids."
Vincent
made a mental note to find some form of retribution against the
doctor for including that note in the file. "He said something
to that effect, yes."
"And your arm..." Yuffie
trailed off, reading the report. "Vincent, your arm. You could
be you again."
"You said you did not want me to replace
the claw." Vincent reminded her. He had an irrational urge to
cross his arms and resisted it.
"Well, yeah, with a
prosthesis. Yuffie said. "Because that's just replacing
the claw with something just like it. But you've still got your own
hand, Vinnie. Don't you want your hand back?"
Vincent did
cross his arms at this point, and stared at a speck on the floor. "I
do not know, Yuffie."
"Well, just...just know, Vincent."
Yuffie said, getting up and walking to him, forcing him to look at
her while she said this. "That if you want to do this surgery,
if you want your arm back, I'll support you - and if you don't, if
you want to keep your claw, I'll support you there, too."
She
hugged him.
He hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her
head. She was a full ten inches shorter than he and it meant that
hugging her was quite comfortable.
Despite Yuffie's whining, back
then, about how he was Mr. Tall-Dark and Dreary, and how he was
always depressing, she did love him - and she'd support him no matter
what.
That meant more than words could say.
The show was spectacular. Yuffie felt more
confident and full of energy than she had all month - now that
Vincent was there.
They planned a full extra thirty minutes for
the show, adding covers they normally never would have done, and
adding five more slots to the meet and greet, which would be pulled
at random from the audience during the show. The meet and greet would
take the form of an after-tour party for the band, their road crew,
family and friends, and fans.
AVALANCHE had promised to attend.
Vincent did not particularly want to, as he did not like crowds of
people, but he promised Yuffie - he would be there.
An invitation
had also been sent to Yuffie's father. Whether he would show up was
still a big question mark.
The band finished with an encore of
"Sometimes." At the end Yuffie thanked Vincent for writing
the words to it and demanded that he come onstage; he had not yet put
his normal clothing on and refused, only to be pushed on stage by
Yuffie as she walked behind him.
The crowd laughed and
applauded.
"You look better in black anyway." Yuffie
said, winking before she held the mic up to her mouth and thanked the
crowd before the lights dimmed.
Vincent pondered that; he liked
his clothes. But if Yuffie felt he looked better in mundane clothing,
he would try it. He did need to get something to hold his unruly hair
out of his face, however. Perhaps a black version of his normal head
band.
He followed the band back to the green room, where a large
group of people, including AVALANCHE and, surprisingly, Yuffie's
father, was waiting.
Yuffie studiously avoided her father for the
duration of the party; as he was busy talking to record executives
about building a bigger concert stadium in Wutai, that was relatively
easy for her. Vincent stayed at her side. She was so nervous to be in
the same room as him that she was shaking.
When partygoers left,
however, her father confronted her.
"Two years, Yuffie."
He said, sadly. He sat down on a chair. "Two years I had not
heard from you. I did not know if you were dead, if you were alive,
nothing. You could have at least written."
Yuffie frowned and
looked away from him, her arms crossing. Vincent stood next to her; h
is arms were already crossed.
"And so imagine my surprise
when, four months ago, I read an article in the newspaper about how
my daughter has joined a band; how she is making a record; how she is
going on tour; how she has started dating Vincent Valentine of
AVALANCHE." Godo's voice became progressively louder. "I
know nothing of my own daughter's life! She has started dating a
60-year-old man but will not talk to her own father!"
He
threw his hands up in exasperation.
Yuffie's voice cut through
his, cold as steel. "You may speak badly of my decisions to not
write to you, Father; you may disapprove of my career choice all you
want. But you will NOT speak ill of Vincent Valentine in my
presence, ever again." She looked up at her father. Her eyes
were flashing with rage.
Godo was taken aback. "Believe me,
my dearest Yuffie, that when I choose to speak ill of someone, you
will know." He nodded toward Vincent. "I have no control
over whom you choose to be with, as you informed me two years ago. I
have no control over what you do with your life; I just wish to speak
with you about it, at least sometimes!" He sighed. "How I
wish your mother were here, Yuffie. She would know how to smooth
these things over." His voice became a little choked. "She
would have been proud of you."
Then Godo sat straighter. "And
as for you, Vincent Valentine." Vincent eyed him warily. "I
would give you the schpiel about honorable intentions, but this is
not the time for it. I received a PHS call the other day from a
former citizen of ours, asking if I knew of your wherabouts." He
eyed Vincent. "A Shizuko Valentine, who is currently living in
Gongaga."
Vincent's eyes widened at his mother's name; it was
the first time in over thirty years he'd heard it spoken
aloud.
"Shizuko, it seems, is just shy of eighty years old
and would like to reclaim her citizenship with the good city of
Wutai." Godo continued. He eyed Vincent. "She would also
like to see her son, who she has seen bandied about in the newspapers
so often the past five years."
Vincent frowned at Godo and
left, wishing he had his normal getup on - a swishing cape made a
much better impression than a rapidly retreating backside.
"Vinnie?"
Yuffie's voice radiated concern, but he kept going.
Vincent
Valentine was in turmoil. What to do? Did he go to his mother, or did
he avoid her? How could he, if she was going to move back to Wutai
after all these years?
Did she, in fact, know what had happened to
his father? She would want to know, he figured, if she didn't, and
who better to tell her than her son?
He felt disgraceful. How a
son could be afraid of his own mother, an eighty year old woman, he
didn't know, but he was.
Perhaps AVALANCHE had not passed
judgement on him, but his mother - that he did not know. It didn't
matter if a group of strangers had passed judgement on him. His
mother mattered.
She mattered a lot.
"Vinnie?" Yuffie's voice intruded on
the darkness. Vincent was back at her house, sitting on her floor,
shoeless and cross-legged, in the dark. He was contemplating nothing,
just enjoying the silence and thinking of nothing.
"I am
here." He responded. He did not continue.
"Are you
okay?"
"I am fine." Vincent said. He wasn't sure if
that was exactly true; however, there was nothing physically wrong
with him so he figured it would have to suffice.
"Liar."
Yuffie whispered, coming to sit next to him.
They sat in silence
for a few minutes before Yuffie spoke. "Are you afraid,
Vincent?"
"Of what?" He asked, being deliberately
obtuse. Yuffie sighed.
"Of your mom, Vincent."
She bit her lip, although it was hard to see that in the dark. "I
mean, it'd be kind of understandable...after all these years."
"I
don't know." Vincent said. That was the truth. He didn't know
how he felt about his mother, after all these years. She was
an old woman now; he could clearly remember her feeding him ice cream
and playing games with him, after his father left. What he remembered
of her was probably long gone to time.
"I do know one thing."
Vincent said, straightening up. "I do not want her to see me
like this."
"What?" Yuffie asked, confused.
"I
need to go to Mideel." Vincent said. "The doctor said he
could perform the surgery...to give me my hand back. If I am going to
see my mother, I do not want to be a monster."
"Vincent.."
Yuffie sighed. "Still on the 'monster' kick, are you?"
Another sigh. "You were never a monster."
"Perceptions
differ, Yuffie." Vincent said, softly. "To me, I was always
a monster. My claw is all that is left of that. It needs to
go."
"Fine." Yuffie said. "Cid's in town.
We'll have him take us to Mideel tomorrow."
"...You'll
come with me?"
"Of course!" Yuffie said. She leaned
into him. "I love you! I don't care if you're being operated on
or just sitting in front of the TV, I want to be there.
Always."
Always.
Vincent turned to lighter subjects. "So,
did your father ask my intentions after I left?" Vincent said.
"I will need to convey my apologies."
Yuffie laughed.
"Ohhh yeah. You should have heard him - we've only been dating a
month and he's got weddings on the brain! He's happy you're half
Wutainese, though."
"Weddings." Vincent said. He
carefully said it with no inflection; the word brought half dread and
half joy to him.
"Oh yeah. See, according to the Great Master
Godo, women do not date. They court their potential mates. A
courtship that lasts over a week means that there's a wedding. He's
full of shit, of course, but whatever floats his boat."
"Full
of shit?" Vincent didn't understand whether Yuffie was trying to
say she did not wish to ever marry Vincent, or if she was just
generally saying that her father was full of shit.
"Hahaha!
Oh, man." Yuffie burst into laughter. "You swore!"
Vincent
was silent. "Oh, come on, Vinnie. It's not immature to laugh at
you swearing. You're so proper all the time." Yuffie
said, giggling.
Vincent had a sudden urge to be decidedly unproper
with her, and restrained himself. They needed to get through this
conversation before he did anything stupid.
"What do you
mean?"
"I mean, my father hasn't caught up on modern
courtship, is what I mean." Yuffie said. "A week isn't
sufficient time to get to know someone! And even if we do already
know each other, it's still, you know..." She trailed off. She
didn't know what she was trying to say.
"So you mean that you
do not want to ever get married to anyone, or that your father needs
to update his courtship understanding?" Vincent was genuinely
confused.
"No...I mean, I'd like to get married. You know,
if...if I need to, or want to, or love the person in question."
She said, her voice betraying a decidedly nervous expression. Yuffie
was glad that she couldn't see Vincent's face in the dark; Vincent,
however, could see her face perfectly clearly.
"But, you
know, I don't want to be forced into it just because I've passed my
father's imposed rules on courtship length, or because Wutai needs an
heir. I want to get married because...you know, I'm in love."
"Are
you in love?" Vincent asked her, quietly.
Yuffie didn't
answer right away. "Why do you do this to me?" She said,
laughing nervously.
"Do what to you?"
"Make me
all giddy and nervous and happy." Yuffie laughed again. "Of
course I'm in love, Vinnie. I love you. I don't ever want to be apart
from you. I just don't want my dad to think that I have to, you know,
justify that by marrying you. I'll marry you if I want to, not
because he says so."
Vincent's heart skipped a beat.
"You'd
let me know, then, if you decide that you want to." Vincent
said.
"I would think I'd have to!" Yuffie said,
laughing. "Marriage isn't something one person can do - I'd have
to get your input. And, you know, a signature."
Vincent
chuckled.
Yuffie kissed him.
It wasn't their usual kiss, which
was a deep peck on the lips at most. No, this was a real kiss, tongue
and all. Vincent was startled, but willingly kissed her back.
"I
love you, Vincent Valentine." Yuffie whispered when they
separated. This close, she could see his face, passive, beautiful. "I
love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If you
decide that you want to get married, let me know."
Vincent
smiled and kissed her.
The next day dawned drizzly. Cid wanted out of
there ASAP, he said, so they'd have to haul balls if they wanted a
ride to Mideel.
"Lucky it's not too far from here." He
said, eyeing the storm clouds forming above his head. "'else I'd
tell ya'll to fuck off, seein' as you're damn near takin' advantage
of my niceness."
"Oh, whatever." Yuffie
said, rolling her eyes as she stepped on the deck of the Shera.
"Ah, evil flying machine. We meet again."
"You
ain't gotten sick on her in years, Yuffie, give it up." Cid
said, flicking cigarette ash off his ever-present Marlboro.
Vincent
thanked Cid for the ride and strapped in. Despite the Shera's
feather touch and gentle ride, there would be turbulence in weather
like this.
Vincent was correct. Cid had a hard time steering her
out of Wutai, and swore repeatedly in language that shocked both
Yuffie and Vincent. Yuffie had been hanging around Cid for most of
her adult life, so she normally wouldn't be shocked - but this was
colorful even for Cid.
Vincent just didn't normally hang around
with the right sort of people to get used to that kind of language.
He didn't really hang around with any people at all,
actually.
However, once the Shera was clear of Wutain
airspace, the weather cleared considerably and Cid was in a much
brighter mood by the time they touched down in Mideel.
"So,
just gimme a call when you're all recovered 'n shit." Cid said,
having gathered that Vincent was going to go through some sort of
surgery. "I'll fly ya to wherever you need to go."
Vincent
nodded his thanks as he stepped off the airship.
"Thanks,
Cid!" Yuffie said. She stepped off as well. "Mmm, it smells
good here."
"It's the trees." Vincent said. "They
mask the mako smell of the Lifestream."
"Way to be a
downer, Vinnie." Yuffie said, turning to watch the Shera
take off. "Mkay, let's go meet this doctor."
"Here's the deal, Mr. Valentine, Ms.
Kisaragi." The doctor said. "There is a slight risk with a
surgery like this. Nerve surgery is never easy, but it can be done. I
can connect your nerves back to your hand from your claw, but there's
a fifty fifty chance that you will lose some motor skills in that
hand.
Vincent pondered this. "I do not have full motor skills
in my claw anyway."
"Yes. There is, however, a two
percent chance that you will lose all use in that arm." The
doctor said. He leaned forward. "I cannot stress this enough -
there is a risk. I want to let you know before you make a
decision."
Vincent looked at Yuffie, who was pointedly
looking in the doctor's direction. Well, he'd get no help there.
He
thought of his mother.
"I want to get rid of my claw."
Vincent said, steadily.
"Okay, then." The doctor said,
standing up. He smiled. "Lucky for you, Mr. Valentine, that I
have all of the equipment necessary. We can do it today, if you
like."
"That...would be acceptable." Vincent
said.
Yuffie would not be allowed to watch. Vincent told her to
get a room for them at the inn and do something - shop, or something
- while he was to be in surgery.
"I will be finished in a few
hours, and then we can eat supper." Vincent said. He kissed her
swiftly before the doctor ushered him into the operating room.
Yuffie
smiled at the closing door and turned to go do as she was told - for
once, she'd do it. Just this once. And only because Vinnie was going
into surgery.
Six hours. Six hours it had been since Vincent
had left this waiting room. Yuffie had gotten them a room at the inn
and settled their stuff, and had indeed done some shopping - most
notably getting a healthy, non-spoilable meal together for them in
the room - and now she was simply sitting in the waiting room,
chewing on her nails.
For once, she wished she smoked like Cid.
Then she'd have something to do with her nails.
"Ms.
Kisaragi?" A voice came from the door. It was the nurse. "He's
unconscious, but he's finished if you'd like to see him."
Yuffie
jumped up and scurried toward the door. The nurse smiled at her,
understandingly, as she led Yuffie toward the operating room.
Vincent
lay on the operating table. His arm was restored; it looked a little
shriveled compared to his other one but the doctor explained that
that would go away soon enough - the muscle enhancing hormones would
reach it quickly.
"How is he?" Yuffie asked.
"Well,
so far it looks like a complete success." The doctor said,
coming in. "I'll have to wait for a full diagnosis until he
comes to and can tell me how it's responding, but it looks
good."
Yuffie smiled. "How much longer until he wakes
up?"
"Not sure, it depends on each person." The
doctor said. "On Vincent, I'd say any time now - well, speak of
the devil."
Yuffie looked back towards the table; Vincent was
stirring.
The mark on his upper arm where the doctor had cut into
him to reattach his nerves was already healing - Vincent had retained
the healing powers granted to him by Hojo and Lucrecia.
"Hey."
Yuffie said, rushing to his side. "How do you feel?"
Vincent
blinked. "Thirsty." He croaked. Yuffie giggled.
The
doctor brought him a cup of water. Vincent automatically went to grab
it with his non-claw hand. The doctor held up his hand.
"Your
other hand, Vincent."
Vincent looked down and saw his hand.
He frowned and a look of intense concentration came over his
face.
Suddenly, the hand moved; he brought it up and jerkily took
the cup from the doctor, bringing it to his mouth and drinking.
When
the cup came away Vincent was smiling.
Yuffie hugged him,
gleefully. "All better."
The doctor smiled.
They received instructions to come back if
Vincent had any problems with his hand.The nerve splices
seemed to be holding up well enough, the doctor said, but any sign of
rejection and Vincent needed to come back to get everything
fixed.
All the way back to the inn, Vincent stared at his hand. It
was already healed and starting to fill out, but it was a real hand
and not a mechanical claw.
"Is it ticklish, I wonder?"
Yuffie pondered aloud, before reaching over and touching the palm of
his hand. He twitched.
Yuffie giggled. "That would be a
yes!"
Vincent grunted, but he seemed pleased. A tickle meant
good nerve response.
When they got to the inn Yuffie closed the
door and was accosted by Vincent, who hugged her to him. "I have
never been able to hug you with two human hands, Yuffie. It means a
great deal to me."
Yuffie hugged him to her tightly. "It
feels great, Vinnie."
Author's warning: LEMON AHEAD
He parted from her and kissed her - almost
shyly, because it was a real kiss, the kind of kiss a man gives to a
woman, as cliche as that sounded in Vincent's head.
Yuffie kissed
him back.
Suddenly, Vincent parted from her again and Yuffie saw
something in his eyes she'd never seen in his eyes before -
lust. She blushed, knowing that seeing that look to him was
incredibly sexy and evoked a response in her that he had to see - and
smell, considering his enhanced ability in that area.
He kissed
her again, softly. Instinct prompted her to pull her to him slowly,
almost seductively.
As seductively as a 21-year-old virgin can be,
anyway.
"Yuffie..." Vincent murmured. She shushed him
and led him toward the bed - she'd been wondering for a month if
Vincent even cared about things like sex, and she was going to find
out what the hooplah was all about right now.
She'd always thought
Vincent would be sort of rough in bed - he seemed the type. But he
wasn't, at least, so far. Gently, he lay her down and leaned over
her, kissing her while he unbuttoned her shorts, breaking away
briefly while he stripped her of her boots and shirt.
She hadn't
been naked in front of someone for a long time - since she was in
diapers. It felt a little exposing, to say the least, but Vincent
silenced her by taking his own shirt off.
She flashed back to when
she saw him shirtless at Tifa's motel. Damn.
Then he
surprised her by kissing her again before kneeling between her legs.
What...?
All quizzical thoughts flew from her brain as
Vincent worked his magic on her clitoris, which she had discovered a
long time ago but had never had properly attended to. His tongue was
magical, too - Yuffie had long wondered what the point of oral sex
was, and now she knew dammit.
There was a fluttering in her
belly and she moaned.
Vincent, deciding that the time was right
now, slid the index finger of his new hand inside her. She gasped -
not in shock or horror, but in pleasure. He moved it in accordance
with the flickings of his tongue and it wasn't long before Yuffie was
gasping from her first orgasm.
It was like a wave. It built
slowly, white-hot heat from her center and spread out over her,
crashing down on her like a tsunami and pulsing form her core. She
put her hands over her mouth to muffle the scream.
She lay
panting, wondering if Vincent was going to proceed farther.
"We
do not have to..." Vincent began, as if he were reading her
thoughts. She told him to shut up and get on with it, already, and he
laughed.
He kicked off his shoes and socks, then pulled off his
pants. Yuffie had never seen a live penis before, and she was almost
startled at how ugly they were; utilitarian, yes, but ugly and
veiny.
Vincent leaned over her again and kissed her; she could
taste herself on him and for some reason that turned her on even
more.
His hair brushed her shoulders and she shuddered;
overstimulation was the best kind of stimulation.
"Are you
sure?" Vincent asked. He was positioned and ready to go,
and awaiting landing clearance.
"Yes, already!"
Yuffie said, gritting her teeth for the pain she knew was going to
come. As far as she could tell, Vincent wasn't a small guy - so she
was bracing for the worst.
He reached down and manipulated her
clit again; it was almost oversensitive after climax and so he only
brushed it lightly to get a reaction. She moaned.
A squirt of
wetness told him that she was aroused enough for penetration.
Continuing his ministrations of her nether regions, he pushed in,
lightly.
A sharp intake of breath and Vincent stopped. He knew she
was a virgin - how could she be that tight and not be? He would take
it slowly, get her used to the idea, and stop if she needed to.
"Keep
going." She panted. He did - slowly, again, until she gasped and
he stopped. And so it went until he encountered a blockage. He
waited.
"Come on, Vincent." She said. Her voice
conveyed a plethora of emotions - lust, passion, fear, impatience.
She pounded on his back with the ball of her hand.
He gritted his
teeth and pushed, hard.
She gasped in pain, and Vincent stopped. A
squirt of blood on the bedsheets - Vincent felt guilty. He'd promised
never to hurt her, but what was he going to do?
He inched his way
into her slowly until he was all in and she was full. Then he waited
for her to acclimated to him - the waiting was almost unbearable.
He'd gone over thirty years without sex, and waiting for it was
killing him. But he waited still, waiting for the go-ahead from
Yuffie.
Her face was tense, but it gradually relaxed. Vincent
reached down again and began to massage her clitoris, so that she
could have some pleasure from this - and it worked. She moaned and
she flexed around him.
"Keep going, Vinnie." She
whispered. He nodded and slowly pulled out and pushed in, and
continued what he was doing with his hands, as well.
He continued
a slow, steady pace for what seemed an eternity to him, trying to get
her used to him, prepared for what was to come. Her muscles relaxed
after a while, and he took that as his queue to speed up a little.
He
worked his hand away from her pelvis and put them up near her
shoulders, leaning down and kissing her. She kissed him back - there
were tears on her face but they weren't recent.
"I love you,
Vinnie." She whispered. "Go faster."
He nodded and
did as instructed. She moaned - he was glad she was liking this, or
else he would feel horrible.
"Oh God." She whispered.
Her hands went around him, scratching down his back and tangling in
his hair. She was moving under him, with him, moaning, groaning, and
just generally enjoying herself immensely. Vincent was getting to the
point where he was feeling like losing control and it was taking the
sternest mental talking-to to hold back.
"Don't hold back."
Yuffie instructed him. Had he said it aloud or was she just reading
his mind again?
Then he reached the point of no return and began
thrusting into Yuffie almost violently. Yuffie opened her eyes and
was greeted with the most erotic sight she'd ever seen: Vincent
Valentine, hair in disarray, completely naked, in the midst of
passion.
If Vincent had been paying attention he would have
noticed a spurt of wetness as she became further aroused at the sight
of him, but he wasn't. He was a goner.
"Ahhh...ahhh..."
He moaned. Yuffie felt that wonderful fluttering in her belly as she
watched him lose himself in her; a few more well-placed thrusts and
she was going to...
"Aieeeee...!" She screamed, not
holding back this time and wrapping her legs around him. He continued
pumping for a few seconds until he felt her muscles clench around him
tightly. This sent him over the edge and he felt his being center
into one point and explode into Yuffie, in the form of his seed.
"Oh
God..." He muttered, leaning over her and resting his head in
the crook of her shoulder while his climax, 30 years in the making,
rode itself out. "Oh God..."
They lay there for a
few moments, recovering, before Yuffie kissed Vincent's neck. "I
love you...but you're really heavy." She stated.
"Sorry."
Vincent said, exhaustedly rolling off her. He lay on his back, legs
spread, exposing his now flaccid manhood to whomever happened to be
in the room, which was luckily only Yuffie. He seemed too exhausted
to move out of that position.
Yuffie groaned. She was tired too,
but now her hips were sore and she knew she'd have a little problem
walking tomorrow.
Instantly, Vincent shot up. "Did I hurt
you?" He asked, concern coloring his voice.
Yuffie laughed.
"Nothing that wasn't going to happen no matter what you did,
Vinnie." She laughed. "Calm down, and go to sleep."
Vincent
was already halfway there by the time she finished her explanation.
She covered him up with the blanked, tucked herself in, and drifted
off into sleep.
Just before she let the darkness overcome her, she
felt arms - plural - wrapping themselves around her, and she sighed
contentedly.
Author's Notes: Yayyy for lemon! For some reason this one came easier than most of mine; probably because I'm half asleep as I write it! This is probably the longest chapter I've written in this story so far, too. Woot for long chapters! I'm not quite sure where to go from here, though, so it may be a few days before I update. Still - three chapters in 12 hours is not bad, if I do say so myself!
Edit: To answer some questions from the reviews: I got all of the information I used from the page on Vincent Valentine on Wikipedia; in it, it says that Chaos was purged from Vincent's body and that his claw is most likely not a prosthetic but a glove of some sort. I dunno if that's true, as Wikipedia isn't known for being the most accurate source of information, but hey, this is fanfiction. :D I just took an idea and ran with it.
