Disclaimer: Okay, this chapter goes out to anonymous reviewer vincent/tifa fan13. They're the one that gave me the idea for the last two chapters. Thank you very much for the wonderful ideas! I'm glad you like my story! A lot of people seem to and that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside! Thank you to all who have reviewed so far! Once one or two more chapters before this story is finished! I hope you like this chapter!
Yuffie and I spent the remainder of our week with Vincent. We went snowboarding and had a few more snowball wars.
Then the last day of our vacation I was sitting outside with the cubs reading a book when Vincent walked up to me.
"Hi, Vincent!" I said, looking at him as he sat down next to me.
I closed my book and turned to look at him. Nariko walked up to him and sat down, looking at him with her glowing yellow eyes. Vincent reached up and scratched her chin before turning to look at me. Nariko returned to her spot next to Seto once Vincent turned his attention away from her.
"I was wondering," he said, taking one of my hands in his human one. "Would it be alright if just you and I spent the day together?"
My eyebrows raised in surprise. Where had that come from? I looked over at Nariko and Seto who were lying in a small patch of grass that was showing through the snow. They looked up at me and Seto winked and nodded.
I looked back at him and smiled. "One question. Could I bring one of the cubs with me?"
Vincent looked down at the ground. "I'd rather it be just us."
"Okay, that's fine," I said, getting up. "Yuffie'll just have to find something to do while we're out."
He got up and followed the cubs and I back to the hotel. I was about to start my ascent of the stairs when I stopped short and looked back at Vincent.
"You may want to wait down here while I break the news to Yuffie. I won't be long."
Vincent nodded as I walked up the steps with the cubs in tow. I walked in the room and Yuffie was sitting on the couch watching TV. She looked up at me as she turned off the TV and got up.
"Well, I sent Red and Seta the next tape so they should get it here pretty soon. What are we gonna do today?"
"Well, that's what I need to talk with you about," I said, sitting down on the bed. "You wouldn't mind watching the cubs for the day would you?"
Yuffie looked at me with a solemn face. For a second I thought she was gonna blow up.
"Why?" She asked, in her child like voice.
"Vincent wants to spend the day with me . . . . .alone," I said, almost dreading saying that word in front of Yuffie.
"Oh, I get it," Yuffie said, kneeling down in front of the cubs and scratching their ears. "Vincent wants to have some alone time with you and I understand that. I hope you and Vampy have a nice time!" She said, standing up and waving.
"What? You're not mad?" I asked, very confused on why she wouldn't be pouting telling me not to leave her alone with the cubs all day.
"Well, I am sort of nervous about having to watch the cubs all day but if Vincent wants to have some alone time with you, I can understand that. I see the way he looks at you and I can tell he feels more then a simple crush for you. Have fun and tell me all about it!" Yuffie said, hugging me.
I backed away from her and looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Who are you and what have you done with Yuffie?" I asked, chuckling a small amount.
"Oh, knock it off!" She said, punching me on the arm. "Get out of here and have fun with Vincent!" She said, pushing me out the door.
"Okay, see you later, Yuf!" I said, starting to walk down the hallway.
"Much later!" She said, before closing the door.
I descended the stairs to find Vincent standing by the doorway but my smile turned into a frown when I saw a woman that looked older then me trying to talk to Vincent. I stopped next to Vincent and put my hand on his claw arm. I looked at her with a 'who-the-hell-are-you?' glare.
"Who are you?" I asked, looking at Vincent to find him looking at me with a glance that screamed 'save me!'
The woman looking between me and Vincent like she had intruded on something. "Um, uh, well, you see, I . . . ."
I gave her menacing stare as I wrapped my arms around Vincent's neck and leaned my body against him.
"Oh, so you're trying to pick up my husband then, huh?" I asked, getting a wide-eyed expression from the woman standing in front of me.
"Well, you see, I didn't know-"
"Well, now you do. I better not catch you trying to flirt with Vincent again or you've got another thing coming," I said, not taking my burning wine eyes from her green ones.
"Sorry," she mumbled before walking away.
Vincent leaned his head down next to my ear. "What would I do without you?"
I shrugged my shoulders and I backed away and walked out of the hotel. I stopped and looked at the small wristwatch I was wearing.
"Well, it's only 3:30. What do you want to do?"
"Come with me," he said, taking my hand in his and leading me through town.
I was surprised to find that he was leading me back to his house. I frowned out of confusion. Why is he taking me to his house?
Vincent let go of my hand when we arrived at his door. He unlocked the door and led me inside. He retreated up the stairs once again and I went and sat down on the couch. Vincent came back downstairs a few minutes later without his cape and sat in front of me.
"Do you, uh," he began, pulling on the collar of his shirt. I looked up at him and crossed my right leg over my left. "Did you bring any formal wear?"
I raised my eyebrows and looked down at the coffee table. That was the one question I was certainly not expecting.
I shook my head and looked back up at him. "No, I didn't bring any with me. Why?"
"Well, uh," he said, putting his elbows on his knees and bowing his head. He took a deep breath before looking back up at me. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me."
"Really?" I said, a smile crawling onto my face. "I'd love to."
Vincent smiled as he nodded his head and stood. He dug around in his pocket then pulled out a wad of gil. He handed it to me and I looked at it with confusion.
"Go ahead and use that to buy yourself a dress," he said, motioning toward the large wad of gil in my hands. "It should be enough for you to buy a nice evening gown."
I looked down at the gil in amazement. There must be more here then what Yuffie and I brought for vacation. I looked up at Vincent with an astonished look on my face.
"Vincent, I can't take this. This is your money," I said, reaching my hand out, offering it back to him.
"Please," he said, raising his hands. "Take it. It's the least I could do for you."
"At least let me pay for dinner," I said, putting the money in my pocket.
"No, It's my treat."
"Well, okay. Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Well, where should I go to buy the dress?"
"There is a dress shop a few blocks away from here. Come I will show you," he said, taking my hand and leading me back out of his house.
He led me to the small dress shop he told me about and pushed the door open, leading me inside.
I stopped next to the door and looked around at all the dresses that were on display. Some of them were absolutely gorgeous. I looked at a few of the price tags and my eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Some of these prices were outrageous.
"Ah, Mr. Valentine," a young man with brown hair said, shaking Vincent's hand. "What can I do for you today?"
"I have a lady friend that I'm taking out to dinner tonight," Vincent said, pointing at me. I didn't notice for I was to busy examining the dresses.
"Ah," the man said, looking at me.
"I want you to get her fitted for a dress. I gave her some gil to pay for it. I have to go get a suit. I'll be back in an hour."
"Of course, Mr. Valentine. She's in good hands," he said, bowing slightly.
I stopped looking at the dresses to find Vincent walking out of the shop. I frowned then spotted a short man with brown hair and green eyes walking towards me.
"Hello, Miss," he said, smiling. "Mr. Valentine said you were in need of a dress. I am Colin."
"Nice to meet you, Colin," I said, nodding me head. "Where did Vincent go?"
"He's going to pick up a suit. He'll be back in a while. Until then come with me," he said, stretching out his hand.
I put my hand in his and he led me into the back of the shop and into a room that had a big four angle mirror and a circular step stool in front of it.
"Do I have to get measured?"
"Yes, my associates will assist you," Colin said, as three young woman walked in behind him.
"Hi," A tall red head said. "I'm Anita this is Colleen," she said, pointing to a blonde. "And this is Erin," she said, pointing to woman with dark brown hair.
"I'm Tfa," I said, smiling at all the women.
"Well, why don't we get started," Erin said, guiding me over to the step stool.
About twenty minutes later, Anita, Colleen and Erin told me to go find Colin again so he could show me my dress. I thanked the three ladies and walked out of the room. I spotted Colin in the opposite corner looking at a few dresses that were displayed in glass cases.
He saw me and signaled me to join him. I told him my dress size and he nodded then looked back at the dress he was looking at.
It was black with blue rhinestones making an intricate swirling pattern up the left side of the dress. The dress had a long sleeve on the left side that had rhinestones on it but the right side didn't have a sleeve at all.
"How about this one?" Colin said, looking over at me and smiling.
"It's beautiful." Was all I was able to say.
"How about you try it on?"
"Okay."
"Great. Come with me." Colin led me through a door in the back then brought me over to a fitting room. He told me to wait inside and he would bring the dress.
A few minutes later he brought me the dress in my size, a pair of black Stiletto heals and a strapless bra. He handed them to me and stepped out, telling me to come out when I was dressed.
I dressed and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress was absolutely gorgeous. It hugged my waist until it hit my knees then swirled out. I smoothed it a few times before stepping out of the dressing room.
Colin looked me over with a wide smile on his face before looking up at me. "It's perfect," he said, in an Italian accent, putting the index and middle fingers of both his hands against his thumbs.
"Yeah, it's beautiful. How much is it?" I asked, sort of dreading how much it was.
"It's six hundred gil. A little bit pricey if you ask me, but, hey, I'm not the boss. So, how about it?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Okay, I'll take it," I said, smiling.
Gosh, I sure hope I have enough.
"Would you like the shoes and bra as well?"
"Would it be all right?"
"Of course. Come up to the front and I'll wrap it for you."
I nodded as I stepped back into the dressing room and began the careful process of taking the dress off. I put the shoes back in the box and put my own clothes back on. I dug in my pocket for the gil and pulled it out. I counted out about seven hundred and put the rest in my pocket.
I carefully picked up the dress, shoes and bra and carried them to the checkout desk.
I laid them in front of Colin and he rang up the price.
"Okay, total including tax is . . . . .six hundred ninety-five gil," he said, looking at me.
I handed him the amount in my hand then he gave me the change. He put the dress and bra in a box then put the shoebox on top of it. He handed them to me then walked me to the door.
"I hope you and Mr., Valentine have a wonderful evening," he said, patting me on the shoulder. "Oh, I never caught your name."
"It's Tifa. Tifa Lockheart."
"Thank you for visiting, Miss Lockheart. Please, come again."
I smiled at him once again before walking out of the dress shop. I stopped outside the door and looked around for Vincent.
Hm, I don't remember seeing a tuxedo shop when Yuffie and I got here. Great, if I can't find him . . . . .oh, there he is! What a basket case I am!
He stopped in front of me and looked at the boxes that I held in my hands.
"Did you find a dress?" He asked, as he shifted his boxes from one hand to the other.
"Yeah," I said, smiling. "That Colin guy sold me a really pretty dress."
"That's good. Come, let's go back to the house."
I fell in step next to him as we walked back to the house. Vincent unlocked the door with minor difficulty then we stepped inside. I set my boxes down on the couch and looked at him.
"So, uh, what time were you thinking about having dinner?" I asked, pushing a few stray strands of hair back behind my ears.
"Well, it's . . . ." He paused and looked at a small analog clock that was sitting on the entertainment center. "It's only 4:52 now. Will you be ready by 6:30?"
I looked down at the two white boxes sitting on the couch. I looked back up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I will but I'll have to start getting ready pretty soon."
He nodded as he leaned down and picked up his boxes from the coffee table and retreated upstairs. He came back down a few minutes later.
"I have a guest room with a bathroom in it. If you wish, you may use it."
I nodded and picked up the two boxes on the couch and walked up the stairs. I suddenly remembered that I didn't bring any of my cosmetics that I need with me here. I sighed as I stopped on the third step from the top. Vincent looked back at me with a puzzled expression. I caught it and began to explain.
"I don't have any of my makeup on me," I said, biting my lip.
"Maybe you could call Yuffie?" He suggested.
"Hey, you're right!" I said, climbing the rest of the steps and following Vincent to the guest room. "Nice thinkin', Vince!"
He only nodded as he held the door open for me. I set the boxes down on the bed and smiled at him before he closed the door. I sat down on the bed and dug my PHS out of my pocket. I dialed Yuffie's number and put it to my ear.
"What's up, Teef?" Yuffie's cheerful voice said. "Are you and Vince having any fun yet?"
"Not yet. He's taking me out to dinner."
"Ooh, really?"
"Yeah, I need you to do me a favor. Could you bring my back of cosmetics over to Vincent's house? You remember how to get here right?"
"Of course I do! Don't worry, Teef! Yuffie is on the job!" She hung up and I placed the PHS down on the bed.
Yuffie, Vincent and I had come back to his house one day after we went snowboarding and had hot chocolate and watched a movie.
I hope Yuffie hurries up! I need to start getting ready!
I sighed again as I got up and took my dress from the box and smoothed it out on top of the bed cover. I walked over to the mirror and wondered what I could do with my hair. I shrugged and told myself that I'd figure that out after Yuffie brought my make up.
I almost jumped when a doorbell sounded. I ran out of the room and jumped down the stairs, opening the door quickly. Yuffie was standing there with a smirk on her face, holding my bag of cosmetics. She held up her wristwatch and pointed to it.
"Six minutes! That's a new record!" She said, handing me my bag. "Can I see your dress really quick?" She asked, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet, clasping her hands in front of her mouth.
"Sure, come on."
She squealed in delight and followed me to the room. I went to knock on Vincent's door but stopped when I heard running water. Figuring I'd just tell him when he got out I continued on to the room.
Yuffie jumped in ahead of me and rushed to the bed. She looked at the dress like it was a priceless china doll and softly ran her fingers down the blue rhinestones.
"Oh, Tifa, it's gorgeous!" She said, turning to look at me. "Have you tried it on yet? Has Vincent see you in it?"
"Yes to your first question and no to the second. He'll see me in it soon enough," I said, dumping all my make up onto the bed.
"Well, I hope you have fun! I'll show myself to the door! See you later, Tifa!" She said, before closing the door behind her.
I grabbed my brush, eyeliner, lip liner, mascara, eye shadow, lipstick and cover up. I walked into the small bathroom and began reapplying my makeup. Once I was finished, I got into my dress and looked at myself in the mirror trying to figure out how to wear my hair. I grabbed my brush, comb a few bobby pins and a small bottle of hairspray as an idea came into my head.
I brushed my hair into a side part then put it into a bun. I held back a few loose strands with the bobby pins and put a few squirts of hairspray on the bun to make sure it stayed. I gathered my clothes and put them in a pile on the bed then put on the heals.
I gave myself another once over before walking out of the guest room. I looked around in Vincent's room to find it empty then walked down stairs.
I quietly walked down stairs and looked around for him. I spotted him in the kitchen wearing his tux. He had his hair pulled back into a low ponytail and was wearing a very nice black tuxedo. He looked really good in it. He was looking at a phone book and didn't notice me until I knocked on the wall.
His head shot up and his eyes scanned slowly over my body. His eyes grew wide as he walked towards me.
"You look fabulous," he said, looking down at the dress then up at me.
"Why, thank you, Vincent," I said, smiling. "You don't look that bad yourself. So, where are we going?"
"It's funny actually. The name of the restaurant is Final Heaven."
My eyebrows raised in surprise as I looked at him with a look that said 'I don't believe you.'
"And this some sort of fancy restaurant?"
"Yes, their policy is you must have formal wear. That is why I gave you the money to buy this dress," he said, moving his arm up and down pointing at my dress.
"Did you have to make reservations?"
"Yes, actually. I made them for 6:45," he said, looking over at his microwave. The green letters flashed 6:20. "I also called for a cab. Icicle Inn has gotten a little more technologically advanced since Meteor. You don't have to walk everywhere now."
"Okay, when is it getting here?" I asked, walking into the living room and looking out the front window.
Vincent pulled his left wrist up and looked at his watch. "It should be here any minute."
"Okay," I said, sitting down on the couch.
I smoothed the crinkles out of my dress and sat quietly. Vincent stood by the doorway and looked out of the small window every now and then. I heard a honk and immediately stood up. I walked towards the door and Vincent gently took my hand in his and led me to the cab.
He opened the door and I carefully slid inside. I smiled at the female cabby as Vincent shut the door.
"Where to, sir?" She asked, through dark sunglasses.
"Final Heaven."
She nodded and pulled away from the curb. The ride there was silent. I found that Vincent was fidgeting nervously with his pant legs whenever I looked over at him. I would clasp my hand over his and give him a reassuring smile.
The cabby pulled up into the restaurant parking lot and Vincent gave her the amount of gil that was needed to pay for the ride. After saying thank you really quick, I slid out of the cab and smoothed out my dress.
Vincent stopped at my side and held out his arm. Smiling, I put my hand in the crook of his elbow and began walking towards the entrance.
The maitre'd smiled at us as we walked up to him.
"Do you have reservations, sir?" He said in an unbelievingly thick French accent.
"Yes, party of two. Valentine."
"One moment, sir," he said, as he flipped through the large book in front of him. "Ah, here you are. Please, follow me."
He grabbed two menus and led us through the restaurant. He sat us at a two-person table next to a window and gave us our menus. I flipped it open and began looking around.
I about fell out of my chair when I saw the outrageous prices of some of the items. I settled for a turkey sandwich and closed my menu. Vincent looked up at me when I did.
"Do you know what you want?" He asked, closing his.
"Yeah, I saw some of the prices and just settled for something not as expensive. What are you getting?" I asked, taking a sip of my water.
"The Fettuccini Alfredo."
"That sounds good. I'm getting the turkey sandwich."
"Will that be enough for you? You may get whatever you like."
"Yeah, it'll be fine."
Our waiter, a tall, lean man named Nathan, walked up to us and took our food and drink orders. Vincent and I chatted while we waited for our food to arrive.
Once our waiter brought our food back we ate in silence until we were almost finished.
"So, Tifa," Vincent said, taking a sip from his glass of wine. "What were you thinking about doing when you went back to Wutai?"
I looked down at the table and thought. I looked back up at him and shrugged my shoulders. "Same ol', same ol', I guess. I have to finish watching the cubs for Red and Seta then I have to bring them back to Cosmo Canyon." I stopped. An idea popped into my head as a wide smile came onto my face. "You should come down to Cosmo Canyon when I have to bring the cubs home! We could spend some more time together!"
Vincent nodded his head and looked down at the table as well. "That could be arranged."
"Great!" I said, clasping my hands in front of my mouth.
"So," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Did you have fun?"
"Yes, I had a wonderful time! Thank you so much, Vincent! This was really sweet of you."
"No problem," he said, smiling a small amount.
"Here's your bill, sir," our waiter said, handing Vincent a small black notebook.
Vincent opened the notebook and scanned his eyes over the bill.
"Not bad," he said, shaking his head.
He closed the notebook and handed it to me. Sort of reluctant, I opened the book and my eyes widened out of pure shock. The bill was only $55. 79. Pretty fricken good for a restaurant like this.
"Not what you were expecting?" He asked, as I handed him the book back.
"No. For some reason I thought the bill was going to be outrageous."
"It's not that bad. Considering we didn't order any of the extremely expensive items," Vincent said, as he put the amount of money to pay for the bill plus a tip into the sleeve of the notebook.
I took one more sip from my almost empty wine glass then got up. Vincent offered me his arm once again and led me from the restaurant. He called another cab over and we rode back to his home.
Vincent opened the door and I walked in. I sat down on the couch and was getting ready to take off my heals when the overhead lights dimmed. I looked back at Vincent to find him messing around with a CD player. I got up from the couch and looked at him questionably.
"What are you doing, Vincent?"
"Just setting the mood," he said, as slow music began to play over the speakers. He walked over to me and offered his hand.
"You do dance, correct?"
"Of course, I do!" I said, placing my left hand on his shoulder and holding his claw with my right hand.
He chuckled a small amount as he placed his right hand on the small of my back.
We slowly began to sway to the music. It was like some sort of spell was cast over me. I couldn't take my eyes away from Vincent's. I got to a point where I didn't even hear the music anymore. If was just Vincent and I in our own little world.
Sometime, quite a while later, I finally was able to break my eyes away from Vincent' s to look at the clock. It read 11:00. Vincent released me from his grip as the CD ended. He walked over to the player and switched it off. He turned back to me and began to undo his tie.
"Maybe you should call Yuffie. If you wish, you may stay the night here."
"Okay," I said, walking out of the living room and climbing up the stairs carefully.
I walked into the guestroom and picked up my PHS. I dialed Yuffie's number and hoped that she would be asleep. I sighed with relief as the other end picked up.
"Tifa? Is that you?" Yuffie's groggy voice said. Immediately it went away as she began throwing questions at me a mile a minute. "Well, how did it go? What did you guys do?"
"It went really well. We went out to dinner then, oh my gosh, guess what he did when we got back here?"
"Oh my God, Tifa. Did he propose?" Yuffie asked, excitement beginning to bubble in his voice.
"No, and I don't expect him to. We danced in his living room. It was really sweet. No one's ever done that for me before."
"Aw, that's so cool! You're so lucky havin' a guy like Vince!" Yuffie said, sighing.
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna spend the night over here then come and help you pack for the trip home. I'll see you in the morning 'kay, Yuf?"
"Sure, Teef! I'll tell the cubs hi for you. See you later!"
"Bye, Yuffie!" I said, smiling and setting the PHS back down on the bed.
I turned around and walked over to the large chest of drawers and began looking through it for something I could wear to bed. I jumped as Vincent's voice sounded from beside me.
"Looking for these?" He asked, handing me a large black t-shirt with dark blue basketball shorts.
"Oh, thank you. Just what I needed." I took them from his hand and walked over to the bed. I cleared everything off of it and pulled the covers back.
"What are you doing?" He asked, walking towards me.
"Well, um," I said, pointing a finger toward the bed getting ready to tell him that I'd be sleeping here, but my all my thoughts stopped when I saw the look in his eye. "Oh, where would you like me to sleep?"
He looked away and scratched his neck. Taking a deep breath he looked back at me and bit his bottom lip. "If you wouldn't mind that is, would you like to spend the night with me. . . . ." He paused again. "In my room?"
I smiled and looked away. He still was very shy and nervous about saying or doing certain things and to me, that's perfectly normal. I wouldn't expect him to come out and say it right out of the blue. I set the clothes down on the bed and placed my hands on my hips, looking at him with a sly smile.
"Mr. Valentine, what exactly are you implying?" I asked, with a sort of suspicious voice that made him blush and look away. He looked back at me a few moments later and began to open and close his mouth like one moment he knew what he was going to say but then not wanting to say it at all.
I laughed as I watched him for a few moments. I gave him a playful push on the arm. "I know what you mean! Of course I will."
His face relaxed as he realized I didn't want an explanation as he turned around and walked out of the room to leave me to dress in privacy.
I got out of the dress and placed it on the bed then got into the clothes Vincent was letting me borrow. After I was dressed, I flicked the light off in the guest room and walked down the hall to Vincent's room. I walked in and found him finishing putting his tuxedo back in its box. He set the box on the floor then turned around. He nodded as he walked over to his dresser and picked up his brush and took the rubber band that was holding his hair in place out.
I walked over to one side of the bed and snuggled into the covers. Vincent switched the light off and climbed in bed next to me.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"No sweat, Vince! Goodnight!" I said, snuggling my head into his chest and closing my eyes.
"Goodnight, Tifa."