New Ways

Epilogue Part 1:

Futures

Four years has gone by since Yuffie has last seen Vincent. She still misses him dearly, however, never shows it.

After explaining to the townspeople of Wutai what was going on behind the daily lives of citizens, the people began to forgive Yuffie for her killings, and slowly she won the people's respect, not that she didn't have it before. She returned Wutai to the way she and her father loved it the most, the fighting town it was.

After Chekhov's death, Yuffie became the official guardian of Shake, although they were only a few years apart in age. She was more of a 'big sister' to Shake, and Shake was a 'little brother'. They had grown fond of each other after the while, and thought of each others as best friends, which took many people by surprise, and some people merely wondered why it took so long for the relationship to bond.

In the meanwhile, Vincent was still on his quest to find Lucrecia. He didn't know where she was at all, but he never gave up. There was always a small voice inside him, though, nagging at him to stop and just turn to the girl that he thought about everyday- the young leader of Wutai. Of course, if he decided to go back to Wutai, what would he say? It was hard for him to tell people things. He was just born that way, with a certain isolation, a barrier of some kind. A people-barrier. However, he noticed that when he had spent the few days with Yuffie still conscious, his isolation broke down slightly, and every day that he looked after Yuffie during her coma, he felt more and more responsible to be there for her, to take care of her, to make sure she never has another broken heart. He knew that if he was to go back, Yuffie would welcome him... Or would she? He hurt her before, emotionally, and there was always something awkward between them since then. But perhaps... Maybe there was a slight chance...

* * *

"Oh, God!" Shake exclaimed, running into his shared home with Yuffie.

"Ouch," Yuffie replied without enthusiasm as Shake accidently ran into her in his haste. She was too worn out from training to care much about anything.

"I claim the shower!" Shake yelled, barging through the front door and heading straight for the bathroom.

"Oh, goody." Yuffie sighed, wondering what she'd do about Vincent. She couldn't hide it anymore. Of course, she had returned to her old, witty and feisty self, as she realized soon after the departure of Vincent that her way of coping with her father's death was wrong, and that being the way that her teammates had first met her was the way she truly was, but now she felt that she'd explode into a higher level of feisty if she didn't do something about her love for the gunman.

After Shake came out, wearing comfortable sleepwear, she headed for the shower. She took off her clothes, and stepped into the already-humid shower room and shut the fogged glass door, turning the tap on. Warm water streamed down from the shower head, smothering her face and hair, as well as her body.

"Oh, God," she uttered to herself, squeezing her eyes shut as to not get any water in her eyes, then ran her hands through her short black hair, soaking every strand of it.

She loved being in warm showers. It was refreshing to her mind, her body, her soul. It's like how a prissy teenager would feel about a makeover- when a girl looks good, she feels good, and the shower was her makeover. As she rubbed her scalp with her fingers, causing white, aromatic foam to form on her hands and her hair, she thought about Vincent all the while, thought about his eyes, his hair, his smile. It became apparent that she was obsessed with him- something she didn't expect to happen. She always thought that her love for Vincent would end when he left- that her feelings were merely a crush, puppy love or something, but over the years, it only became stronger. She couldn't go on without him. No, she had to find him and share one more kiss, one more touch. Just one was all she wanted. Just one would be good enough.

Stepping out of the shower, she put on her pajamas and dried her short dark hair, then walked out of the bathroom and prepared for bed. Come dawn, she'd tell Shake that she's leaving to find Vincent.