DISCLAIMER!: nope, nope, nope...
Marlene was delighted that Reeve could come to her party. Really, she was, but she honestly didn't like his girlfriend. Neither did "Sister". She wished Yuffie could come though.
Tifa had told the little girl that Yuffie was engaged and had to stay in Wutai to get ready for the wedding. That had been a week ago. She also said that Yuffie would give Marlene her present there, but Marlene just wanted to see Yuffie.
The ninja was like an older sister to the little girl, and she missed her.
Denzel smiled reassuringly at her and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Marly," he murmured. "Just enjoy today. It's your birthday party after all! Everybody else is here!"
She smiled at that. It was true. Daddy was here, and even Vincent and Cloud came. Tifa had been really happy to see Cloud. It made Marlene happy to see Tifa so happy. She had gotten really good presents too.
The door to Tifa's bar burst open.
"Hey, is this party still going?" a perky voice asked.
"YUFFIE!" Marlene shrieked, charging at the ninja.
"Hello!" Yuffie greeted, grabbing the girl and swinging her around. She gently put the little girl down.
"So is this the famous Marlene?" a friendly voice asked. "Yuffie wouldn't shut up about you."
"Oh be quiet. Honestly," Yuffie said with a roll of her eyes.
"Is that your fiance, Yuffie?" Marlene asked curiously.
"Yep. This is Akio," Yuffie said, and he reached to hold her hand. "Hello everyone! I'd like you to meet Akio Kato, my fiance."
Surprise was on everyone's face. Most looked delighted at her news. Yuffie felt her eyes slide to Reeve and Julia. Reeve looked shocked, and Julia looked smug for some reason.
"Hi," Tifa said, leaping forward to break the silence. "I'm Tifa."
"Hello, Tifa," he greeted. This caused Elena and Reno (Rufus's guards for the day) to rush forwards and introduce themselves as well. Poor Akio was then dragged around and introduced to everyone.
"Hey, Marlene," Yuffie said quietly. "Guess what I have!"
"What?" Marlene asked excitedly.
"You're present, silly! It is your party after all!" Yuffie said brightly. The princess pulled a wrapped package out of her bag and handed it to the little girl. Marlene wripped the paper off and found a beautiful pink kimono underneath.
"I get a pretty dress like you wear?" the child asked in surprise. She stared up at Yuffie.
"Yep! I was hoping you'd wear it at my wedding," Yuffie told her hopefully.
"Of course I will!" Marlene said excitedly. "I'm gonna go put it on!" With that, Marlene ran upstairs to put on the garment. Yuffie smiled and went over to greet her friends.
--r-e-e-f-i-e--
"You ready to leave, Yuffie?" Akio asked.
"Leave?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah, we're gonna find a hotel around here," Yuffie started.
"Nonsense," the martial-artist said instantly. "You'll stay here. As long as you don't mind sharing a room."
"I don't care," Yuffie said.
"But, Yuffie, it's improper to..."
"Akio, are you going to tell?" He shook his head. Yuffie smiled. "Nobody else will either. We don't have to have sex or anything, it's just sharing a room. We can even seperate the beds if you want."
"Okay," he said finally.
"Here," Tifa told him. "You and I can take Yuffie's bags upstairs."
"Hey, Yuffie," Reeve said once Tifa and Akio were gone.
"Hello Reeve," she replied coolly. "Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"
"She had to leave, but I wanted to stay," he said softly. "Yuffie, we need to talk."
"We have nothing to talk about, Reeve."
"Yes we do," he told her firmly. "We parted on bad terms, and I don't want that. You're still one of my close friends, and I don't want to lose that. I missed talking to you."
Yuffie smiled slightly. "Yeah, same here. I just thought you were really mad at me, so I didn't want to call you."
Cue awkward silence.
"So, uh, Akio, right? He seems nice," Reeve started.
"He is. I couldn't wish for a better husband out of an arranged marriage," Yuffie agreed.
"Seeing you two together really made me think about how different things could've been," Reeve said with a sigh.
"Yeah, different..." Yuffie said distractedly. "Look, Reeve, I really need to come to peace with this crush, okay?"
"Me too," he murmured. "Do you know any way to do that?"
"In romance novels they kiss goodbye forever, but I don't think that would really wor-"
Slightly chapped lips covered her own. Yuffie felt her gray eyes widen with shock before she kissed him back gently. After a few seconds, she pulled away, trying to stop the tears. She met his eyes. This was his way of saying goodbye... forever. She had no chance now. She was engaged, and now they could never be together, as cheesy as it sounded.
"Goodbye Reeve," she whispered before turning and running upstairs.
--r-e-e-f-i-e--
Yuffie had her face buried in her pillow. Tears leaked from her eyes. Although she had known before that they couldn't be together once she had gotten engaged to Akio, the romantic side of her still hoped.
"Hey, are you okay?" A hand rubbed her back softly. "Yuffie?"
She looked up at Akio. "Yeah," she sniffled. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not," he told her, "but if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Oh, I got something for you." He reached for his coat and pulled something from his coat pocket. "I wanted to do this personally too, not just as an arranged marriage thing."
Yuffie looked at him curiously. He popped open the jewelry box in his hand to reveal a beautiful white gold ring with a cluster of emeralds in the center.
"Yuffie Kisaragi, will you marry me?" he asked sweetly.
"Of course I will," she told him, laughing slightly. He grinned and slid the ring on her finger. He stood, still holding her hand. To his surprise, she leaned up and kissed him softly. Yes, he was surprised, but that didnt' stop him from kissing her back gently. When they pulled apart, he smiled at her.
"Go to sleep, okay?" he asked.
"All right," she said, wiping her eyes on her shirt. She lay down in bed. "Goodnight, Akio."
"'Night, Yuffie."
--r-e-e-f-i-e--
"Morning, Yuffie!" Tifa greeted when the ninja showed up downstairs. "How was your slee- Oh MY GODS! What is on your hand?!"
"Huh?" came Yuffie's wonderful reply. Tifa had already tackled her.
"He got you a ring? He doesn't have to do that though, does he?"
"HE GOT YOU A RING!"
"AH! ELENA! Where did you come from?" Yuffie asked in shock as another person snatched her hand to examine the said ring.
"Rufus and Reeve are having breakfast over there," she motioned. "Tseng's here today, so you don't have to worry about Reno. Come on!"
Yuffie found herself being dragged over to Reeve and Rufus. "Hello guys," she said weakly.
"Hello, Yuffie," Rufus said politely. "Congratulations on your engagement."
"Thank you, sir," Yuffie murmured.
Rufus laughed. "Sir?" he asked. "Why, Yuffie, you and I are more like co-workers now. We can negotiate, if we wanted to. Beautiful ring, by the way."
"Ring?" Reeve said suddenly, staring at Yuffie's hand. "He gave you a ring?"
"Yes, he said it would seem more personal if he proposed to me normally as compared to an arranged marriage."Yuffie smiled at the pair. "No, if you'll excuse me, Akio is coming down to eat breakfast with me. See ya later."
With that, the ninja flounced off to eat with her fiance.
Rufus laughed once she was out of hearing range. "What a spitfire," he commented. "Too bad you couldn't get to her first, Reeve."
Reeve looked at him in surprise, "I'm sorry, Rufus?"
"You two would've been a lovely couple. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be going. Lots of meetings today. Good day, Reeve."
With that the Shinra left Reeve alone with thoughts of Yuffie and Julia fighting in his head.
A/N: Well, there is the party. Reeve meets Akio. Reeve and Yuffie are over apparently. I can't let the story end like that though! Some tweaking must be done! Anyway, I rather liked this chapter, and I hope you did too! If you read, please review. If you alert/fav this story, please review. Whoever is my 100th reviewer will get the next chapter dedicated to them, btw.
