Disclaimer: They're not mine, all characters belong to Squaresoft.
Author's note: Thank you very much once again to all those who reviewed! Sorry for the late update, was in Warsaw for softball.
Zelly: no no, don't worry, I didn't take it the wrong way. I'm glad you love the story! ^_^
Reese: *giggles* Yes, don't worry, I know what you mean, I think sometimes our minds are on the same level. *grin*
Shadow_Reaver: Wow, you flatter me, but thank you very much, I'm very glad you like it, I'm happy to hear that my characters are all in character.^_^
On to the story. And yes, cliff hangers should be mutilated with rusty spoons, but I'm getting my sweet revenge on all those who have left me sobbing with frustration over a cliff hanger.
Costa del Sol was bright as always, and I wondered whether Vincent would need a high factor of suntan lotion. Yes, I was that bored. No matter how hard I tried, these walls pushed me away, and my patience was wearing down.
I saw a couple of children playing with a tattered ball, and I felt a pang in my chest, although I did not know the reason. I dragged my eyes to Vincent. He too had seen the children, yet he bore the same icy expression. I shook my head. Get real, Kisaragi. Since when are you such a softy?! I scolded myself angrily. Yet the ache was still there, and I wondered whether it was tied to my cold companion.
He drifted through the crowd of tourists, and it was easy to follow the lithe figure. He swept through into the inn, and by the time I had entered he had already paid for the room, and was dangling a key with one hand, not even looking at me.
I had noticed that those crimson eyes had avoided me ever since the pond incident, and though I tried to catch them, they always shifted away, slinking back into the shadows. As soon as I had accepted the key, he brushed past me.
„Wait! Where are you going?" I demanded.
„I must replenish our supplies, I will see you back here tonight." was the emotionless reply. As if seeing me was an abominable, yet compulsory action.
„Wait!" I cried out.
„I said, I will meet you tonight, Yuffie." With that he was gone. I slammed my fist into the desk, and realized that the receptionist's eyes were trained on me. I looked up wearily.
„Relationship problems?" He asked comfortingly. I sighed, and forgot to shake my head. Instead I replied with,
„You could say that…" The man simply nodded and looked at me kindly. I walked off, determined not to blast the next person I saw into smithereens. Unless of course that person was Vincent Valentine. In which case I would not only blast him to smithereens, but dance upon his ashes afterwards.
Unfortunately as I glanced up and down the street, I caught no sight of him. I stiffened, and walked on, browsing around. The materia store here was quite primitive here, although I wondered whether I was telling that to myself simply because I didn't want to face the truth: materia was not on my mind right now, for that traitorous thing was too busy whirling and churning, and it seemed as if the only colours it possessed were vivid crimson and streaks of ebony.
I gave one last huff and resolutely ordered my mind to cease thinking of Mr. Cold as Ice, right this minute.
Of course this was neither the first nor last time that it ignored me.
Not even Costa del Sol's brightness, rumored to be an anti-depressant in itself, roused my spirits. Damn him. It was all his fault, wasn't it? I had thought my anger would boil down, until it was no more than a gentle flame. I was completely wrong. It refused to go away, and instead I spent what was left of the day in a rage, kicking at random objects in the street. I don't know where I walked, or for how long. I had long withdrawn into my mind, raging against my silent companion. When had he gotten under my skin? When had this become so important to me?
When had I started to care?
I couldn't find the answers to my questions, and I only retreated from my world when I saw myself standing in front of the inn, the sky tinged with dusk. It seemed as if my feet had taken over, leading me back. I sighed as I stomped in. When I pushed open the door, I saw him, sitting on the bed, stiff and robotic as ever, staring off into space.
At once my fists clenched, and the anger seared up, higher than ever, and I swear I could feel the blood pounding in my head. I narrowed my eyes, and pointedly slammed the door. He looked up, vivid eyes trailing towards me slowly, as if reluctantly acknowledging an unwanted sight.
„Hello Yuffie." Silence. Purposely ignoring the anger rolling off of me in waves. I was getting sick of this, sick of him. Or rather, the way he was now. It made me want to vomit, or beat the living daylights out of him. It made me want to do anything, anything, to stop him. To make him see. To rip away those scars.
I ignored his polite greeting, only glaring back in the silence. I felt the air sizzle with anger, and not only mine it seemed, for I felt a quiet rage, drifting in the room, battling with my violent anger. Yet I paid no heed. He simply stood up, and began to walk off. No doubt to go brood, as always, just like he had most likely done today.
This was as far as I was letting it go. Once and for all, I would confront him, with everything. I was stepping in, and there would be no way back. My hand snaked out, wrapping itself around a bony wrist. I stopped him, and his head whipped around, on eyebrow raised.
„Why do you do this? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you." The words slipped out of my mouth involuntarily, echoing my previous thoughts. His expression hardened, and the eyes became colder than ever, glittering rubies, sharp as ice.
„Well then, why not just dismiss this whole silly deal? May I remind you, that it was not my idea, nor did I want to participate in it." He retorted.
„No! That's not what I meant!" I hastily replied, correcting myself. Oh boy, that had come out sounding so wrong. „What I meant was, I'm so sick of how you're acting now! All those barriers, this whole facade that you've put back up, although I had thought I had made you lower it, I thought what I had done mattered. I thought you had changed! I thought you had become the real you…" The last sentence was no more than a whisper. His expression darkened, and he replied venomly.
„Ah, so you tried to change me? I see. I should have guessed. It was for the materia, wasn't it? Why did you not just ask for it in the beginning? I have no need of it." Suddenly the eyes widened, and he added, „Or did you want to prove something? Show everyone you were the ruler of the world?! That we all danced between your hands, that you could do anything?" The accusation laced with malice.
„No!" I retorted, and no sooner had the word left my mouth that I realised it was true. I continued, „But you… you were trying to shut me out, weren't you? Because what I said was true, what I did, that might have been true as well." I cast back.
„At least I did not do it for the materia." Came the reply, ignoring what I had said, what I had implied. I rushed on, I was on a roll here. I jumped upon the bed, still grasping his wrist, glaring down at him now.
„You're afraid, aren't you? Afraid that what I told you was true, what I did, I had a reason for, you're afraid of all this, aren't you? Because then your whole world would be in chaos, you'd lose all those meticulous rules and punishments you set up for yourself. Why, you'd lose your whole philosophy! You wouldn't be able to blame yourself anymore, you would have to let go of the past! That's what you're afraid of, aren't you? And most of all, you know it somewhere deep inside that what I'm saying is true. A part of you agrees with me, only that part is being constantly terorized by a demon. A demon that you created by loathing yourself, punishing yourself. No, not Chaos, Chaos is another entitiy. This demon is you. The part that won't let the past go, that relishes torturing yourself. Don't you see? I care. As strange as it sounds, I care. And I wanted to show you! I wanted to make you stop brooding! I wanted to take away the scars in those eyes of yours! I wanted to help! And it worked, until you realized I was helping, and you pushed it all away, like you always do." I was breathing heavily, spent by my own words. He froze for a second, startled. I wondered whether I had succeeded, and a part of me argued that it had been too easy. That part, damn it all, was right, for he leaned in, harshly retorting.
„You accused me of hiding away, yet you yourself run from everything. You forced the past and myself onto me, yet when did you face yourself? Hmm?" I could not reply, and he continued quietly, „Precisely. It is not I who runs away from my responsibilities."
I couldn't help it. So I did what he had predicted: I ran, I ran away from it all.
I did not notice where I ran, only that I had left the city limits. I could not care less. My head pounded harder than ever. Of course he was right. Of course I had known it all along. He hid away, and I ran away. That was our difference.
The sky was a bruised purple, pregnant with rain, and no doubt lightning would soon follow. Just my luck. Yes, this was Costa del Sol, where it never rains. Yes, it was raining now. See the irony of fate? It was most likely laughing at me, rolling on its haunches. I shook my fist at nothing at particular, and hoped fate was there to see it. The rain came down in thick sheets, soaking me through in mere seconds.
I realized I was no Tifa. I wasn't cut out for this. I was just Yuffie the materia thief. It had been foolish to embark on this journey, hadn't it? Of course I couldn't do it. My pride was shattered into millions of shards and I couldn't do anything. I cursed the rain. I cursed myself. I stopped, panting heavily in the icy rain.
Wasn't it fabulous that the girl who never gave up, just did?
I heard the growl too late, and I had barely any time to gather my thoughts as I faced a monster seeking dinner, or a good fight. Knowing me, I had left my true love, my Conformer, in the inn. I had not even thought of taking it with me.
As I spun around, fear rushed through me. I was a goner. No one would find me, no one would care. Killed by a monster, not even an extremely difficult one, how ironic for a ninja like me.
I guess there won't be a scandalous love affair, was the last thought that rushed through my head, placing a slight smile on my lips, as the world spun and was suddenly painted with a dizzying shade of black.