Neverending Heroes

Chapter Twelve – Last chance for one last dance

I wanted
I wanted you to stay
And 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

Lemon

Yuffie bit her lip as she concentrated on creating a straight, sturdy, but easy to pick apart seam. Closing her eyes and asking Leviathan for the patience to make it through this, she continued down the length of fabric.

It seemed so silly that in this day and age, kimono were still sewn by hand. She swore that if she ever wound up making another one for herself, she'd use a machine. She made a mental note to add that to the white board if she ever went back to Nibelheim: "Learn how to use a sewing machine."

Slowly but surely, that was becoming less of an option. She hadn't heard from Cloud or Vincent in almost six months, ever since she'd left. She hadn't minded the silence for the month she'd spent learning how to weave and dye the silks needed for kimono (it was hard work and she didn't have the time or energy to deal with it), but now, sewing a seam by hand, and steam-straightening lengths of silk fabric...

Well, it was mindless work, and it left her time to think. Unfortunately.

She felt colder and colder every day, despite the fact that it was progressing into summer and getting very warm on the little continent of Wutai. Her heart grew heavier every night that she came home from her teacher's house to a phone with no voice mails, no missed calls, and no text messages.

Despite her earlier protestations otherwise, Kiyoshi had managed to get her involved in Wutaian politics; she was an advisor, although she generally kept silent during meetings. She'd been able to bring unique solutions to the table, even going against her grain and convincing the governments of the world that it was for the best to put birth control into food sources until the Space Colonization Program had been implemented. Under her careful guidance, the artificial continent was completed, the weather bug fixed, and crops had been planted. The grand opening was scheduled for sometime within the next few weeks; just in time for the first harvest. Despite herself, she enjoyed making a difference again, somehow.

However, the silence she held during Kiyoshi's political meetings had drifted into other parts of her life. Shizuko, Kiyoshi's wife, came to her one day worried.

"You are so quiet all of the time, Lady Kisaragi. We worry for your health."

Yuffie smiled. "Nothing time won't heal. And I've got loads of it." Shizuko had nodded sadly and left.

Even her teacher, a woman who was damn close to Yuffie's age, had brought it up. "Girl your age ought to be chattering on about boys or something. Or girls, if that's your thing." She said. When Kiyoshi had arranged for her to study with the crone, he hadn't mentioned Yuffie's advanced age. When she said things like this, Yuffie ground her teeth and smiled sadly.

"You know, I had a friend once who told me that unless you can improve on the silence, you should keep your mouth shut." She winced, remembering that it had been Vincent who said that, during a WRO meeting a very long time ago.

"Your friend was smart." Her teacher said, frowning as if this was out of character for Yuffie.

Yuffie sighed and moved her neck around. Kimono making was fascinating, but tiring. She'd be glad when she could go home.

And not for the first time, she wondered where home was.

- - - - -

Cloud was not the type to pry.

This much was true. In his years living with Vincent, he had only interfered once, and even that was only by removing himself from the man's presence.

So when Vincent chose to continue on as if nothing had happened, as if Yuffie had never come into their lives, Cloud was silent.

He was equally quiet when he went out to go check the mail one summer day. They rarely did so; they had remarkably few correspondences, considering they were neverending heroes. Most of their post was junk mail and credit offers; anything important tended to come over the 'Net. The first month or two after Yuffie had left, Vincent had taken to checking the mail daily, but when it became obvious that she was not going to write, he'd stopped entirely. It was left to Cloud to remember to check; he did so every week or two.

Nibelheim being a large city, most people preferred to take out a post office box rather than receive the now-rare post at their homes. This was due to the rather large influx of small-time gangs that liked to destroy personal property like mailboxes, and would-be mail thieves. The two men were no exception, and Cloud walked the two blocks to the post office with his hands in his pockets.

He let his mind drift over the past six months. He had been remarkably unsuccessful at convincing Vincent to travel to Wutai; the man steadfastly refused every reason they could possibly have to go there. Granted, those reasons were few and far between. Instead, Vincent spent his days reading through the massive collection of books Nanaki had sent them shortly after Yuffie left. They were copies of the original records of Cosmo Canyon; only a few sets were produced in hardcopy, and Nanaki rather felt that Vincent and Cloud deserved a set, considering that they figured so largely in some of the tomes.

Cloud spent his days completing the items on his board, a task Vincent seemed intent on ignoring. The blond had learned the fine art of cooking, and when they could come upon raw materials, could whip up a fairly good meal using recipes Tifa had left him, and some intuition. There was a marked rarity, however, in raw cooking materials; slowly but surely the food dispensers were taking the place of the ancient culinary practices.

Nowadays he spent his time learning martial arts, which Tifa had been so good at in her time. He was even learning them from a descendant of her teacher's, Zangan.

Cloud sighed and took the key to their post box out of his pocket. Without realizing it, he'd walked right into the post office and to the box Vincent and he shared on autopilot. With a snick, the key slid into the lock and he turned it, expecting more sales fliers and credit card offers.

And there were plenty of them. He grabbed the mass and sorted through it, stopping by the post office's large mail shredder to toss them one by one as they became filed as "junk" in his mind.

He stopped at the last piece, an actual letter, addressed to Vincent and himself by name. According to it's postmark, it had been sent from Wutai about a week ago.

His eyes widened and he ripped the envelope open. His heart fell as he realized it wasn't from Yuffie, but rather, her grandson.

He pulled the letter out and two heavy plastic cards fell to the floor with a clatter. Stooping to pick them up, he kept his eyes trained on the parchment, reading the words that had been painstakingly painted onto it. Luckily, he'd picked up Wutaian about thirty years ago out of necessity, when he ran into a group of Wutaian gypsies.

He frowned and shoved the letter and cards into his pocket. For the first time in many months, he jogged home from the post office – this time, it wasn't out of boredom, but because he actually had news for Vincent.

- - - - -

"Vincent!" The blond's voice echoed through the house. Vincent glanced up; very rarely did Cloud and he even speak nowadays. He wondered if something had come in the mail.

His heart sped up but he exerted the sternest control to keep his face immobile. He watched with interest as the younger man strode through the doorway into the game room.

"Something came in the mail for us." Cloud said, handing him a crumpled envelope and parchment. Vincent saw the Wutai stamp on the envelope and quickly unfolded the letter.

Cloud had assumed that Vincent could read Wutaian; luckily for the both of them, his assumption was correct.

"Why does he think we would want to attend such a function?" Vincent said, frowning slightly as he read the letter. His disappointment was almost palpable.

"No idea. I'm not sure why we even rated an invitation; this is a pretty intense gig." Cloud said, taking the letter from Vincent when he let it drop from his gaze, and instead passing over the plastic cards – identification cards, to allow one admittance into the event. "I mean, the introduction of the false continent is sort of a big deal. The invitation is even handwritten; I wonder why Kiy-"

"I'm sure he felt some sort of effort was needed." Vincent interrupted him, harshly. Any reference to Yuffie's family or name that fell from Cloud's mouth had been either interrupted or met with stony silence recently.

"Right." Cloud said, rolling his eyes. "Well? Should we RSVP?"

Vincent shrugged. "I don't see why anyone would want to go." He turned his attention back to his book.

Cloud frowned. "Well, I'm going." He snapped, snatching the identification cards from where Vincent had set them, on the table next to his chair. He left the room in a huff.

Vincent raised one delicate eyebrow at the other man's retreating form, but wisely said nothing.

- - - - -

Yuffie smiled to herself as she stitched what she hoped would be the final stitch in her obi. Her kimono was ready, and just in time. The introduction ceremony was going to be the next week, and she'd wanted to wear the garment to it.

This kimono meant something to her, just as her mother's did, but for different reasons. She'd woven the fabric that created it, and dyed it herself; she'd created the pattern, under the guidance of her teacher, and had stitched it together by hand. It was beautiful; a lovely deep blue with white and crimson patterns of bells, birds, trees, and whatever else had struck her fancy patterned over it. The obi was deep red with blue and white on it, to complement the kimono itself.

She'd also made the required undergarments, including tabi socks, and had purchased a proper set of geta (woodworking being a little beyond her league). If the obi passed her teacher's inspection, she'd have made her first ever outfit. She'd even made a little drawstring pouch to use as a purse out of some of the remnants of the fabric from the kimono; if she had anything to say about it, she'd look beautiful.

Her heart ached that Vincent and Cloud weren't there to celebrate this victory with her. Brushing that aside, she folded the obi over in her hands, and then set it on the mat in front of her, standing up gracefully as befitted a woman of Wutai.

She called to her master, who hurried out to inspect the final product.

"Outstanding!" She said, grinning. "You've completed it! And it is beautiful. It will look good on you and your descendants." The woman smiled at her, and Yuffie tried very hard not to smirk at the image of Kiyoshi in a woman's kimono that flitted across her mind.

The woman took in the whole outfit, which Yuffie lay out on her mat for her to inspect. She frowned a little at the tamoto, the sleeve pouches; the woman had tried to argue Yuffie into making the long sleeves of an unmarried, mateable woman, and Yuffie had wanted the shorter sleeves of an already-established housewife. They'd compromised and Yuffie had sleeves that were slightly shorter than a girl's but longer than those of a matriarch.

She instructed Yuffie to try on the kimono, offering to help tie the obi (a difficult task for a single person). Yuffie shook her head no and stripped to her underthings; nudity was not uncommon in Wutai and she knew that her teacher would want to inspect how Yuffie put the garment on.

Kimono-wearing was almost an art all by itself, and it was one Yuffie had learned on her mother's knee nearly a century before. Kimono were all she'd worn for the formative years of her life, being a princess. That she wanted nothing more than shorts and a T-shirt to run around in had been of no consequence until she'd ruined a perfectly good Tetsumura kimono during her explorations.

With practiced ease, Yuffie shrugged into the layers of kimono underthings and the single-color under-kimono, twitching each into place and securing them before delicately putting the outer kimono on. She tied it down with a narrow piece of cording before wrapping her actual obi around her twice, flattening both breast and tummy and giving her an almost androgynous shape. She flung the excess (over a yard) over her shoulder at the back, so that it draped over her front, leaving about three feet of spare obi from the other end hanging down her backside. She tied an obi pillow to the back, bringing the cord around her stomach and tying it tightly before tucking the cording for the pillow beneath the obi that had already been secured to her stomach. Quickly, with fingers deft from years of practice, she folded the remainder of the obi around the pillow into an open-ended box shape, securing that in place with a length of pretty narrow fabric, which she guided around her waist, in the middle of the obi, and tying it into a decorative, but functional, knot at her belly.

Slowly, she turned to her master, who was staring at her, mouth agape. This was very rude, but Yuffie couldn't blame her; most girls who looked like she did hadn't the vaguest clue about how to properly wear kimono, preferring to buy the cheaply-made and already-constructed kimono knockoffs for festivals. Yuffie smiled but offered no explanation.

"Well, at least your parents did you right." The old woman said, shrugging off her surprise harshly. "This way I don't have to give you a crash course in displaying kimono." She smiled. "You've done it, child. The more you practice the faster you will get, but you are a kimono-maker now."

Yuffie's smile grew into a grin and for the first time in a long time, she was able to ignore the aching in her heart.

- - - - -

Yuffie inhaled. "Tightly." She instructed. Shizuko had insisted on helping her get ready for the event, due to start in several hours time. She'd blackened her hair the day before and it was sitting upon her head, pinned into place with extravagant, but beautiful, pins and combs. A small waterfall of silk cherry blossoms was falling from a curl above her left ear, and her makeup had been done an hour before. Shizuko knew a particular way to tie an obi that she insisted would look beautiful on Yuffie, and Yuffie watched with interest as the younger woman made her backside look rather like a blooming flower.

Finally she slipped her tabi-covered feet into her wooden geta and grabbed her drawstring purse/pouch from her nightstand, before turning and opening her arms a little for Shizuko's inspection.

"You look beautiful, Lady Kisaragi." Shizuko said, smiling at her.

"You know, Shizuko, we've been interacting with each other for almost six months." Yuffie said, smiling as she turned to inspect her reflection. She looked wholly different. "Why don't you call me Yuffie? Kiyoshi does."

Shizuko bowed her head. "I'm sorry, L...Yuffie." She said it almost shyly. "I was brought up to speak to my ...elders with respect."

Yuffie grinned. "Well, I say respect should be earned, but even if I did earn it, I'm not comfortable with you calling me Lady all the time. After all, you're the Lady Kisaragi now, not me."

"But..." Shizuko's eyes widened. "Surely Kiyoshi has talked to you about staying, now that you've learned how to make kimono! He values your advice and expertise; you were trained to rule and you know what is best for our people!"

Yuffie's smile fell from her face. "Yes, he brought it up to me." She said. "I'm still considering it." She turned to Shizuko. "But surely you wouldn't like being usurped from your place as top female?"

Shizuko lowered her head demurely. She had been brought up with the old traditions of Wutai, and was one of the few women nowadays who observed the niceties that Yuffie had been raised with. However, where Shizuko actually observed them, Yuffie ignored them.

"Shizuko, look at me!" Yuffie said, exasperated. "Even if I take a place on Kiyoshi's advisory board, I will not take your place. You've earned it. I don't want to be Lady Kisaragi anymore. It's your title, not mine." She frowned and brushed a speck off of her obi. "So please...just call me Yuffie."

Shizuko nodded. Her step was a little lighter as she left Yuffie's presence.

Yuffie sighed. She picked up the parasol she was going to need on the continent, and followed the younger woman out of the door.

- - - - -

Yuffie was an oddity at this event; she was a young looking Wutaian woman in a kimono, and she was unescorted.

Kiyoshi had offered to have one of his other advisors escort her, but she refused it. "I think I've earned the right to escort myself, 'Yoshi." She said, smiling as she spoke the pet name she'd developed for him. He smiled and acceded that she indeed had.

So while Kiyoshi and Shizuko stood at the entrance to the official building on Wutai where everyone was meeting up to go to the continent, watching as the invited guests submitted their identification cards and placed their thumbs on the scanner to prove that they were who they said they were, Yuffie was enjoying a cup of hot sake and some dim sum assortments. No one knew who she was or that she was important, and she preferred to keep it that way.

"Did you make that kimono, or is it on loan?" A voice said from behind her. She gasped and turned.

"Cloud!" She said, a smile breaking out over her face. Then it fell and became astonishment.

Cloud had, for the occasion, tamed his headful of spikes into a long, neat ponytail, and was sporting a ceremonial men's kimono; many of the other celebrities and officials who had been invited to the party had chosen to do so as well, but Cloud was wearing it properly, and it was real kimono, rather than the cheap knockoffs that many wore.

It was a blue so deep it was almost purple with black patterning that one could only see if they looked closely. She could make out a dragon and a wolf. On any other blond it would look outlandish, but Cloud did not parade it, and wore it as if he'd been born to it. Men's obi, unlike women's, did not contrast their outfits, but rather complimented them; his was no exception, and was made out of the same sort of fabric. He wore a pair of flat zori with no tabi on his feet, and at his side was his old sword Yoshiyuki in a new, gleaming, enameled scabbard.

His face grew into a slow sort of smile as he realized her astonishment. "Surprised a dumb old SOLDIER reject would know how to wear kimono?"

Yuffie blinked. "Yeah, actually." She laughed. "Sorry, that was rude. But how did you learn?"

"Vincent taught me a long time ago." Cloud said, frowning at the man's name; or rather, at the reaction it caused in Yuffie. Her smile fell instantly.

"Is he here?" She asked, almost fearfully.

Cloud smirked. "Yes, actually, but good luck trying to find him. I barely recognized you; he looks so different I doubt you'll realize you're talking to him."

She raised her eyebrow, a gesture so similar to Vincent that Cloud nearly laughed.

They sat back from the crowd, talking and generally enjoying each other's company. If Yuffie glanced around occasionally, trying to get a glimpse of Vincent, wherever he may be, Cloud said nothing.

After about an hour, Kiyoshi and Shizuko came in and thanked everyone for coming. They asked everyone to follow them to the yacht that was going to carry the group to the floating continent, a two-hour boat ride away. It was a luxury yacht, constructed especially for this occasion, with a full compliment of quarters for those assembled to sleep off the wine that was coming, and a ballroom for dancing and eating. The trip there was sure to be a nice one, as it was the dinner portion of the evening.

Yuffie and Cloud sat together with Kiyoshi; Vincent was almost conspicuous in his absence.

Afterward, Yuffie cried off of dancing and wandered out to the deck, where she watched the sun slide lower toward the horizon; it was not dark, and would not be, for a few hours yet, but it was sure to be a beautiful sunset.

She leaned against the banister between her and the open sea and looked out, crossing her hands in front of her. She let out a little sigh and smiled sadly.

After about fifteen minutes of watching the ocean she was brought out of her reverie by Cloud approaching.

"I had to get out of there." He explained. "One can only take so many women begging dances before they need a breath of fresh air."

Yuffie chuckled. "You know, Cloud, most guys your age would kill to have young, gorgeous women trying to dance with them."

Cloud returned her smile and looked out at the ocean as well. "Yeah, well...you only get love once, and I've had mine."

Yuffie frowned. "Do you really think that's true, Cloud?"

"I don't know. It seems like a pretty good excuse, though."

She shook her head. "I don't think that's true. I think that as long as there's room in your heart for love, you'll find it. You're just hiding." She smiled. "You're afraid, I guess, which is pretty understandable."

Cloud looked affronted, but instead of justifying her statements, she just turned back to the water.

They were quiet for several minutes before he spoke again.

"You've aged more in this six months than you did the entire time you were gone from us before, Yuffie." Cloud said, softly. "Not, physically, but mentally. Don't loose that spark, no matter what. It's what made you you; if you didn't have it, you wouldn't be Yuffie anymore." He gave her a sad sort of smile and wandered away.

Yuffie gave no indication that she'd even noticed he left, instead turning her gaze toward the now rapidly-approaching false continent.

- - - - -

The entryway to the floating continent was the only part that did not have edible crops growing on it. It was a beautiful garden outside a banquet-style hall. Cherry blossoms that matched the pin behind her ear were blooming, spreading their fragrance through the air. Yuffie had her parasol open, to beat off the sun's dying rays as she looked out the window at the miles and miles and miles of corn, spinach, wheat and rice that were being harvested.

The window divided the garden from the rest of the continent, but similar windows were placed throughout – everywhere a climate change was needed. They grew food staples as well as luxuries like strawberries and melons, and several microcosms of weather and soil were kept on the continent, controlled by the now-functioning weather control device. There was a desert, a tropical paradise, farmland, and several other types of climate, all neatly plotted and organized, and enclosed in greenhouse-type plastic and glass structures. The garden was the only open-air portion of the continent, and it could be enclosed in the event of storms and strong waves. An instructional plaque near her explained all of this, but seeing as she'd been key in the final stages of development, she knew it already.

Kiyoshi explained that while there were access points scattered throughout the continent, the entire thing was designed to be run automatically and maintained only by a few key personnel. They couldn't give a tour, but visitors were invited to take a glance out the windows and familiarize themselves with the information that had been provided. The penultimate event – the first load of harvested material departing, rice bound for Wutai – had been rather pompous, and everyone had been thoroughly impressed.

There was more food and drink, both alcoholic and non, in the banquet hall, and music was being played by a live band for dancing and listening, but Yuffie preferred it here, nearly alone.

The sun slowly slipped beyond the horizon and she closed her parasol, leaning it on the ground like a cane, as she looked out to the sea.

Cloud had insisted that they dance one dance together, and she had accepted, and then after escaped back outside. She didn't feel like socializing.

She wondered if Cloud was right. Did everyone get only one love in their lives? If that was the case, she had her love, but Vincent had already had his. She had already accepted that she would never have his love, but it hurt to think about it in those terms.

Yuffie sighed and sat on one of the many benches, leaning backwards against the transparent aluminum windows and looking upward to the brightening stars.

It was only chance that she caught a glimpse of crimson out of the corner of her eye. She froze and slowly looked toward it.

It was unmistakably Vincent, but she knew now why Cloud had said she wouldn't recognize him. He, too, wore a long man's kimono, black with crimson dragons embroidered on it, and getawithouttabi. His long hair had been pulled back into a knot at the back of his head, and he too wore a sword at his side. He, like Cloud, wore real kimono, and wore it correctly.

He was looking at her stonily and she smiled sadly, a nervous fluttering feeling taking over her body. She hadn't seen him since she'd left.

"I notice that your tamoto do not denote either married or unmarried status." Vincent said, his eyebrow going up. "How did you explain that to your kimono maker?"

Yuffie's smile became a smirk. "I made the kimono myself, but I did get into an argument with my teacher about it. How do you know about tamoto?"

Vincent restrained the urge to sigh. "I told you already, Yuffie, I am half Wutaian."

"Oh, right." Yuffie tore her gaze away from him and instead looked back out to the water. The yacht was bobbing peacefully at it's dock, and a few people were already heading back to their rooms aboard it.

"So you've learned how to make kimono?" Vincent said. The way he said the word kimono made her realize that he must have been brought up in Wutai, because there was a slight accent there that she'd never noticed before. Only when he was saying Wutaian words did he stress them the way she did.

"Yes, I passed my test last week." She said, without looking at him. "I'm wearing my final."

She didn't have to turn to know that both of his eyebrows were raised now; when he spoke he sounded impressed. "You are a full kimono-maker? In only six months?"

She smiled slightly and turned back toward him. "A lot of the process is learning how kimono are worn and obi are tied, and how to make designs, which I already knew."

Vincent nodded acceptance of this fact and then they both fell silent.

Yuffie broke the silence. "Kiyoshi values my advice. He's asked me to stay in Wutai as an advisor." She said, softly.

Vincent froze.

"I'm considering it. I helped with the final stages of this place, and it felt..good, you know, to be making a difference again." She smiled. "Once a hero, always a hero, I guess. Always gotta be fighting for the greater good, and all that jazz."

Vincent didn't reply.

"And I'm...you know, considering...afterward...maybe going out on one of the colony ships." Her shoulders slumped. "I just feel like the world's sort of outgrown us. We're legends now, but legends aren't supposed to be alive when they become legends. I think a new world could use me more than this one can."

Vincent frowned and looked away from her.

"Legends die off eventually." He said, quietly. "Some day, we will be forgotten."

"I'm not sure I like that idea any better." Yuffie said. "What we did – all of us – it was huge, Vince."

He crossed his arms.

"I don't know." She said. "I just don't know. There's no manual for this sort of thing. 'How to deal with immortality.' It just doesn't exist. I liked being a hero, because I liked making a difference. But now I'm just an old woman stuck in a little girl's body, and I still want to be a hero."

"Heroes, Yuffie, are normal people who are willing to do what is right." Vincent turned to her. "One does not have to save the Planet to be a hero."

Yuffie digested that in silence.

She spoke again after several minutes. "I guess...I'm just running." She said. She smiled at him, sadly. "I guess it's sort of my thing. I run from my problems." She stood and started walking toward the yacht. "It was nice seeing you again, Vince." She stopped and turned to him. "Where is Yuuta?"

Vincent let a small smirk play on his face. "In my room on the yacht."

A smile lit her face. "Do you think I could go see him? I bet he's huge now!"

Vincent nodded and began walking toward the yacht as well. "He's gotten rather large." Yuffie giggled at this description and they both headed up the gangplank toward their rooms.

- - - - -

Yuuta meowed happily at the pettings Yuffie was bestowing upon him. He'd recognized her instantly, and had bounded toward her with a happy feline cry which she responded to by scooping him up in her arms and scratching him in front of his ears like he liked. She sat on Vincent's bed and cuddled the cat, no longer a kitten, who purred loudly in response.

"Oh my God, I think he's gotten even cuter." She said, tickling him under his chin. He meowed in agreement.

Vincent stood near the door watching the scene with a slight smile on his face. His heart was still racing at the concept of Yuffie leaving the planet, forever. It was not an idea that pleased him.

He walked her back to her room – which was much larger, to his chagrin – and she bid him goodnight as she opened it with the ID card.

"Still running, Yuffie?" He said, softly. He looked at the closed door in front of him and placed his hand on it softly before turning to return to his quarters.

The door opened. He froze.

"No." She said. "I'm tired of running, Vincent. But I can't do it." He turned and faced her and she continued speaking. "I can't be around you all the time. It does wonky things to my chemistry and sanity. I'm not you; I'm not a glutton for punishment. I'm not running anymore. I'm trying to keep myself from dying a little more every day because that's what happens when I wake up and see you. Okay?" She was precariously close to tears and Vincent tried to think of a way to make them stop. He could not handle it if she started crying.

"It'd be fine and dandy to say that we could still be friends, but honestly, Vincent, I can't do it. I can't wake up every morning and look at you and know I'm never going to have you. I'd rather make kimono by hand for the rest of eternity." She wrinkled her nose.

A hard smile had come over his face at "Never going to have you." He looked like he'd swallowed something particularly grotesque. At this point Yuffie did dissolve into tears, collapsing to the floor with her hands over her face.

Vincent was at her side in an instant, a treacherous concerned look on his features. He put his hand on her shoulder, gently, and she brushed it away.

"I'm okay, leave me alone." She said. At least, he was pretty sure that was what she said; it was muffled, coming through sobs and her hands simultaneously.

Very carefully he picked her up and took her into her room, so that other guests wouldn't see her sobbing on the floor. He set her on her bed and she sniffled loudly.

"What's it like, Vince?" She asked, quietly, once her sobs had diminished. "What's it like to be in love? Maybe...maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this will all go away and I won't feel so fucking horrible all of the time..."

He felt a twinge in his stomach and looked toward her door.

"Being in love..." He frowned and sat down next to her. He didn't know how to describe it, except that he knew without question that he had not truly loved Lucrecia. He had admired her, been obsessed with her, and of course, had been attracted to her. But love?

In comparison to Yuffie, the feelings he had for Lucrecia, as intense as they had been, were nothing.

"I think it is different for every person." He said, finally. "Cloud was willing to give anything for Tifa...and Cid was very protective of Shera..." He stopped. Why couldn't he say what he wanted to say? The words weren't coming.

"You're always there." She whispered. "At the back of my mind. Every time I do something I wonder what you'd think if I told you about it, or how you would react to news. When I'm around you...I feel like my heart is going to freaking explode. It's hard to breathe sometimes." She shuddered. "Everyone always told me that love was amazing, and beautiful, but it hurts, Vince. It hurts really bad and I just wish everything could go back to the way it was before." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I miss it."

Vincent closed his eyes in pain. He cursed whichever God it was that had blessed him with the ability to say the right words at the right time, except in matters of the heart.

"I just wish I could make it go away." She whispered. "And go back to the way things were, you and Cloud and I. I miss you guys like crazy, but it just...hurts. It hurts too much to love you, Vincent." She looked up at him, her tearstained eyes red-rimmed.

He frowned and looked away.

She made another sobbing noise. "I...I need you to leave now, Vincent. Please."

He stiffened and turned back toward her. She looked utterly dejected.

He took a deep breath and began talking.

"Yuffie, when I told you that any man who would deny you was a fool, I only spoke the truth." He said it quietly, but it was very firm. "You are talented, beautiful, strong, and a generally all-around amazingperson." His heart sped up. "I can be many things, Yuffie, but I am no fool."

Her breath caught and she looked up at him, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"Y-You m-mean..."

Vincent was looking at the floor while he spoke. "When I heard you talking to Cloud about love this afternoon, I know you were thinking of me. Even if we only get one love in our lives, Yuffie, Lucrecia was not mine." Finally he broke his gaze away from the carpet and looked up to her.

She was beautiful, despite her recent tears. She was looking at him as if she'd never lain eyes on him before.

Before he had a chance to say or do anything she'd launched herself at him and locked her lips onto his. He felt his eyes slide closed.

Her left hand rose and touched the side of his face, gently, tentatively. This was completely at odds with what he knew of Yuffie's courtship patterns, and it told him one thing: she was incredibly nervous. Probably as nervous as he was. He felt as if his good fortune was about to disappear.

He broke the kiss and, eyes still closed, reached for her hand, which he clasped in his lightly as he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers. "I am not going anywhere, Yuffie."

"I was worried it was a dream..." She whispered. He opened his eyes; hers were still closed. "I've missed you so much...I was worried my brain made it up...that you weren't real..."

He smiled, a real genuine smile. "I'm very much real, Yuffie." His arms encircled her and drew her closer to him. "I just...don't know if you are."

She giggled, a slightly hysterical giggle that was out of sorts coming from her. "I think I'm real." She looked at him, and smiled.

He leaned forward and kissed her, a much less chaste kiss than she'd blessed him with. She leaned into him, her hand snaking upward, much more confident, and untying his hair. When she was done she ran her hands through it and he leaned backwards into it.

Then he rolled her over slightly, so that they were both laying down on her bed. In the process he severed their kiss. She looked at him with a question written on her face.

He shrugged and leaned in to kiss her again. She untied his obi and pushed the kimono off of him; unlike women, men wore a minimum of underthings with their kimono. Vincent was no exception. He was wearing only a pair of boxers. He shivered slightly as the cool air of the room touched his skin, but didn't complain. In fact, he shrugged his sleeves off of his own accord.

He broke their kiss and began instead kissing a small, dainty trail down her jawline and neck, pausing to nibble at her earlobe at one point. She gasped as he reached behind her and untied her obi, a little too expertly.

She stopped him and raised her eyebrow. He simply smirked. The expression alone was enough to make her shiver.

He continued removing her kimono, taking his time. Every time a new bit of skin was exposed he paused and traced it with vague kisses, making her shudder and gasp.

Finally he'd come to the last layer and she lay in front of him in only panties and her tabi. These he removed slowly as well. Then he kissed her again. She reached up to run her hands through his hair again and he made a noise suspiciously like a groan.

He shifted and began kissing, licking and biting his way down to her breasts, where he continued those same ministrations, making her cry out. Smiling, he began to trail his way down to the juncture of her legs. She opened them for him and cried out when he finally got to his destination.

After what seemed like an eternity, he moved back upward, kissing her lightly with lips that tasted of her arousal. She moaned and bucked her hips.

He made quick work of his boxers, and she was confronted with his manhood, a slight bit of white moisture already growing at the tip of it. This was nothing like their hot tub interlude; he had taken charge, and it was infinitely more loving. But his exposed member brought back erotic memories nonetheless and she flushed and pushed against it with her arousal anyway.

He slowly guided himself to her entrance and let it rest there for a few moments, teasing her, before he slid in – once again, slowly. She made a noise of protest and he hushed her with loving murmurs.

Once his full length was inside her, he waited for a few moments, kissing her. Finally she hissed at him ferally and he smirked, and slowly began to move his hips. It was almost painful, how slow he was going, but it felt so good that she wondered why she'd never tried it this way before.

That was when she realized that for the first time in her life, she was not having sex, but making love. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up into Vincent's eyes; obviously, he'd just come to the same conclusion. A shudder ran down the length of his spine and he threw his head back slightly, increasing his speed by a minute margin. A gasping noise came out of his mouth.

Yuffie wrapped one leg around his, which put pressure on the white-hot button at the mouth of her arousal. She cried out and thrust her hips toward him.

In the end, he gave in to his urges and began moving in and out of her fast, pumping as hard as he could at her urgings. She came first; a fluttering in her belly alerted her to her imminent release, and then a hard wave crashed upon her and she cried out, her muscles flexing in spasms. She was almost done when he let loose with a guttural growl and froze, shuddering and tossing his head backward, hair spilling down his shoulders. She looked upward and ground down with her hips in time to set herself off again.

Vincent stayed where he was for a few seconds before carefully pulling himself out of her and rolling to her side, panting heavily. Yuffie gasped lightly and shuddered. She tried to get control of her breathing before she turned to face him.

He was looking at her with an almost happy look on his face. She'd never seen that particular expression on him before – he was content, calm, happy, and looking at her as if she were the cause of it all.

She smiled at him and reached out for his hand. He gave it willingly, and they fell asleep like that.

Author's Notes: I've done a lot of research into making kimono and tying obi recently because I'm making a kimono for a friend of mine. Does it show:D

To those of you who don't know, sake is (generally) to be served either at room temperature or, preferably, hot. And Dim Sum is actually a varied set of Chinese brunch-style dishes, but I like it so I wanted to incorporate it.

Geta are wooden platform sandals, most commonly raised from the ground only by two wooden, rectangular pegs. Zori are basically normal flip-flops. Tabi are socks with a separate big toe area, for wearing with geta and zori. Tabi are also ninja boots with a separated big toe area, but I'm referring to the socks.

And apparently my muse has decided that Yuffie and Vincent are going to get together. Haha. I had a lot of this story all planned out and my muse decided to throw it out the window because THIS was how it was going to happen. I think I like it, though. I'm really sorry it took so long to come out; between some personal issues like work and my much-beloved cockatiel dying, and Cally's personal problems (mostly work and death as well), it took forever. And I don't even have another chapter written or planned out, so this will have to do for a while. I'm sorry!

Read? Review!