Chapter 3: Affections
Zack woke up slowly, his head pounding. What happened? he wondered. I remember using my limit break and then... nothing. So what- Then he noticed the devastation around him. The lab lay in pieces. Did I do... all that? Stumbling forward, his foot found a dead SOLDIER member, who had been crushed by a falling computer console. At his side lay a discarded Hardedge sword, with a piece of magic materia in one slot. This should come in handy, he thought as he picked it up. Upon closer inspection he discovered that it was an Earth materia, used for casting Quake. Well, nothing else on show in this room. Wonder what's through here? Ducking through a ruined doorway, he found himself in what looked like a briefing room. Puzzled, he walked over to a desk and examined a notebook he found there.
"'Subject X-05 responding well to treatment. Should be ready for enhancement soon.' Hey, wait a minute! Subject X-05! That's me! What the hell is this about?" Zack read on, and found details about the 'enhancement' procedure, his alarm growing. Finally, he pocketed the notebook and ran off. The notes left by an anonymous scientist, probably Professor Leddan, had horrified him. He knew that he had to tell someone about this, and he could think of only one person to turn to.
My only friend... Cloud...
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"Wow!" exclaimed Yuffie as she beheld the breathtaking wonder of the fountain. "It's-it's amazing!" The young ninja's normal chatter had all but stopped. Vincent smiled under his cloak, despite himself. Of all the strange things he had seen in his life, a speechless Yuffie was one of the most miraculous.
"I take it you like the fountain?" he enquired, a slight hint of humour in his voice.
"Like it? I love it! It's gotta be the best place in the whole world! Thanks for bringing me here, Vinny!"
"It was no trouble, Yuffie. I just thought you would appreciate it."
"Ya thought right! This is great. It's really sweet of you to do this for me. Come here!" she laughed as she threw her arms around him. Vincent reddened, unsure of what to do, then hugged her back. They held each other for a few seconds then let go.
"I was unaware I deserved that much of a thanks," he blushed, "I didn't do much."
"Nah, probably not, but you get a bonus for being such a nice guy!" His face went an even darker red.
"You think I'm a... nice guy?" he asked, trying desperately to keep his voice in it's usual monotone, and failing spectacularly.
"Sure I do! You're always doing nice things for me. Trying to cheer me up if I'm depressed, lending me materia, taking me to see things like this. And let me tell you, the strong, silent type? Always been a personal favourite of mine. 'Specially if the guy's handsome," she winked at him. Then she turned back to the fountain, engrossed in the dancing light. Vincent breathed a silent prayer of relief. He couldn't have kept the stupid grin off of his face for another second. He stood there for another couple of seconds to regain his composure. What was he doing? He was acting like a schoolboy with a crush, for Cetra's sake! It was ridiculous! And yet... that was exactly how he felt about Yuffie.
Ever since Cloud and the others had awoken him from his coffin, he had felt strangely drawn to the youthful materia hunter. The two had become good friends during the hunt for Sephiroth. Yuffie was delighted to find someone who did not condescend to her because of her age, while Vincent had found her happy-go-lucky attitude refreshing. She had kept his mind off of Lucrecia for awhile, occasionally by playing practical jokes on him, but usually by just prattling on endlessly. As time went on however, he thought about her more and more, her laugh, her smile, her hair-
"Hey Vinny, look at this!" called Yuffie. Startled from his musings, he walked over to her to see what she had found. She was pointing at a brown rock. Before he could ask what was so interesting about it, he noticed that it was glowing.
"Is that materia?" he queried. "I've never seen a brown materia before."
"That's natural materia. It comes in all shapes and colours. The stuff we use was made in a mako reactor, artificially. Come on, you didn't think it came out of the ground naturally spherical, did you?"
"But what about the colour?"
"Artificial materia is made from processed mako in a machine, so it all looks the same, depending on what it's designed for. Natural materia usually looks like the surrounding rock, 'cause it's usually made by the lifestream reacting with the rock it comes into contact with."
"I can see you know a lot about this subject." Yuffie rolled her eyes.
"Well, duh! Didn't the 'materia hunter' bit give it away? I did know how to find the stuff, having to make a living out of it!" She sounded slightly cross as she pocketed the materia.
"Forgive me, Yuffie, I meant no-" He paused as he noticed that she was trying not to laugh.
"Chill out, Vinny! It's so easy to wind you up! You're so gullible!"
"Only around you," murmured Vincent to himself, then froze as he realised he'd said it out loud. Yuffie was looking at him in surprise.
"What did you mean by that? Vincent?" she asked gently. Vincent turned away, unable to meet her gaze.
"We should be getting back to Nibelheim. It will take us an hour or so, and we do not want to remain here after dark."
"It's not even noon yet. Don't change the subject. What did you mean?" Vincent stood stock still, not saying a word. He only moved when he felt Yuffie take his good hand in both of hers. Looking down to make sure he wasn't dreaming, his eyes met hers, and he was transfixed by their beauty. Her usually mischievous face was full of sincerity, all trace of humour gone.
"I-I-" he stuttered, not knowing what to say, his racing pulse making it difficult to concentrate. Taking a deep breath, he made the most difficult speech of his life.
"I meant exactly what I said, Yuffie. It's easy for you to fool me because I can't concentrate when I'm near you. Everything about you distracts me. I can't stop thinking about your hair, your eyes, your voice." Taking another deep breath, he summoned all of his courage. "I think I'm in love with you."
Yuffie was astounded. Vincent Valentine had just poured out his heart to her, and she had been caught totally by surprise. She'd had no idea he felt that way about her, always just assumed he liked her as a friend. And yet, thinking back, there had been signs. She'd just been too blind to see them. Any time she was sad or upset, he would comfort her. Anything she asked of him, he would do in an instant without question. He never got angry at her, and was always happy to hang out whenever she asked. In fact, as she thought about it, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed something earlier. But it had caught her completely flatfooted. Then she realised that she hadn't noticed it because she hadn't allowed herself to notice it. She hadn't allowed herself to believe that luck was on her side for once.
She hadn't allowed herself to believe that she was in love with someone who loved her back.
Gazing deeply into his red eyes, mirrors of a tortured soul, she said what Vincent had been longing to hear.
"Vincent... I love you too."
They stood in silence for a moment, looking deep into each other's souls. Then, closing his eyes, Vincent slowly lowered his mouth to hers, and their lips brushed delicately across each other, developing into a long, slow kiss. Embracing each other, they kissed again, and time stood still for the young lovers, at least for a while. For the first time either of them could remember, they forgot their troubles and lost themselves in the moment.
It was a long time before their lips parted and they walked hand in hand back to Nibelheim.
Authors Notes: So, how are ya liking this tale so far? Thought I'd better clear up a few points.
First, Cait Sith and Reeve. I know this ain't right, but in this fanfic, I've decided to make 'em two separate beings who share a psychic link (due to a botched experiment by the lovely people at Shinra Inc.) rather than a man and a radio-controlled robot-toy thing. It's my interpretation of the way things are, and if you don't like it, that's your lookout.
Second, Limit Breaks. Instead of 'charging them up' like in the game, the characters can only use them when they have an enormous emotional surge, like extreme anger.
That's all for now folks. If there's anything else I'll let ya know. C ya!