I'll keep you my dirty little secret

I duno, this story reminds me a little bit of the song Dirty Little Secret by the All American Rejects. Vinnie is Yuffie's dirty little secret.

I know this chappie is a little short but I wanted to post it anyway. I may edit it later anyway since I'm sure I have a typo somewhere.

Disclaimer: Ah yes, I secretly do not own FF7.

-/-/-/-/-

Vincent

It was certainly very odd, living with a woman. I had never lived alone with any female before. Well, actually, we weren't technically living alone, but Godo hardly ever made an appearance at the palace. The only other soul that I saw was Yuffie's personal maid, Yoshiko. She was an older lady with crinkles around her eyes and an alarming chuckle that sounded quite similar to Yuffie's.

Time was passing by innocently. I wasn't exactly sure how long it had been since I had turned into a cat, but it had to be at least a month.

Yuffie's presence was actually quite soothing. She was bubbly and talkative, yes, but she was also quiet sometimes, reading to herself or gently humming while polishing her weapons. We had even developed a nightly ritual. Every night we would walk up to Da Chao and watch the stars from Third Face's hand. And when it would rain, as it usual does, we would sit inside and she would read to me.

It was strange at first, sitting in her lap, but it proceeded to be the most comfortable spot in the whole palace.

-/-/-/-/-

"Hey Vinnie," Yuffie smiled cheerfully, plopping down on a pillow beside me, "Can you turn the pages okay?"

'Yes, thank you,' I replied.

"Yoshiko is making my bath," she said, shivering a bit. It was starting to get quite cold.

'You do smell particularly strong today,' I mused.

"WHAT!" Yuffie shrieked, "You're so mean! That's a horrible thing to say to a young l-a-d-y!"

'Since when did you start referring to yourself as a lady?'

"Since…always!"

'I don't think so.'

"Well, fine, but I am starting now! After all, my old man thinks it's time for me to start 'acting responsibly' and 'take on a fiance', but I think he's just getting senile. Only in an alternate universe would I agree to marrying a complete stranger. Let alone some fat, pug-faced son of some wealthy business man."

'Sometimes when in a position of power you are obligated to do things for your country and not for the personal gain of your own self.'

"Well, duh. What the heck did you think I was doin' in a nasty, monster infested forest for three years?"

'Picking on innocent passerbys?'

"They were honored to be chosen by the daughter of Leviathan to help forward the liveliness of the majestic Wutai."

'I'm quite sure they didn't see it as majestically as you do.'

"Jeez, it's in the past anyway!"

'I don't judge your actions, and I never will. Please don't get offended.'

"Like I ever would, coming from you. I don't want to pout to much and shut you up for another year. You're fun to talk to now that you actually talk back."

'It's not like you ever stopped talking long enough for me to respond in the first place…'

"What did you say? Sorry I wasn't listening."

'I said--'

"HUUUUH! Whaaat?" she said, plugging her ears.

"Miss Yuffie!" Yoshiko said, sliding the door open, bowing her head slightly, "Your bath is ready."

"Thanks Yoshi," she said, standing up and bouncing off into the bathroom.

'Good lord,' I thought to myself, 'She has nicknames for everyone.'

The maid, however, was giving me a weird smile.

"…Hi kitty!" she smiled, waving at me.

Oh my.

-/-/-/-/-

Yuffie

Oh baths! I loved baths! Love, love, LOOOOVE!

I wriggled out of my clothes that I would certainly have to wash since Vinnie had said that I smelled 'strong'.

I hesitantly lifted up my arm and took a quick sniff.

…

…

Hmm…maybe Vinnie was right.

I hopped into the toasty warm water and laid back. I dunked my head under quickly and began scrubbing at my hair. I sunk back under the water into the blissful quiet and popped my head back up when I ran out of air. I was half-way done with scrubbing myself with soap when Yoshiko ripped the door open, holding a very deranged looking Vincent under her arm.

"Miss Yuffie when I was a girl, my kitty and I always took baths together! Mr. Butters would let me wash him up all pretty and then I'd comb him afterwards," Yoshiko said, sighing dreamily, probably reminiscing, "So I thought since you seem to be as close to your kitty as I use to be with Mr. Butters, you would love to take a bath with him!"

It took me about 2 minutes to realize that Vincent was the cat in question and that he was staring horribly fixated at my boobs.

I screamed loud enough to wake Da Chao.

Yoshiko just giggled though and threw Vincent on the floor mercilessly and closed the door behind her.

"Nooooo!" I wailed, sinking as far as possible in the water, vainly trying to cover myself with floating suds, "VINNIE YOU PERV!"

After a few more awkward moments I managed to snatch my towel and dry off while Vincent pretended to be very interested in the corner. I grabbed my robe and tied it securely on.

I opened the door and we both avoided each other for the remainder of the night, equally embarrassed.

-/-/-/-/-

Vincent

Later, after the Bath Incident was completely forgot and marginally erased from both of our minds, fall began to slowly creep into winter. It was a particularly cold evening and the entire palace seemed to shiver. The wind was howling mercilessly against the walls.

Yuffie and I were just finishing up our latest book about materia history and we were both getting ready for bed.

"I wonder if I should be brushing your teeth," Yuffie said offhandedly as she put the book back onto the bookshelf.

'I don't think it would yield any results.'

"But what if you turn back into a human and your teeth are all yellow and your breath forever smells of tuna!"

'I suppose we will have to deal with that when it comes along.'

"Say, it's really cold tonight, isn't it?"

'Yes, quite. I sometimes wonder if your father secretly has a heater in the pagoda, since he has started to hibernate there.'

"Probably. He likes to hoard things in the pagoda," she said, looking down at me nervously, "Vinnie? I know this is going to sound weird, but, do you wanna sleep with me in my bed? We'd both be warmer that way. And I would totally not know what to do if you caught a cold. Cats can catch colds can't they?"

I looked up at her, surprised, 'Would that really be suitable? You are a young woman. It wouldn't be right, a man like me sleeping with you, even for warmth.'

"What'dya mean 'a man like you'? And, no offense, but you aren't really a man right now, and nobody knows you use to be a man. So it'd just be between you and me. I'm okay with it, if you are."

'…I don't know.'

"C'mon," she said, scooping me up affectionately, "It's fine."

And with that she walked into her room and shut the door. She collapsed in her futon and pulled the covers up to her shoulders and snuggled into her pillow. I burrowed slightly under the covers next to her face and she smiled at me and then shut her eyes.

"Nighty night Vinnie."

'Sweet dreams Yuffie.'

And that night, sleep came faster and more soothingly than it ever had in years.

-/-/-/-/-

I awoke earlier that morning, just as the sun was coming up. Yuffie had sprawled more significantly and was still fast asleep.

I had never set foot in her room before this point. I thought it was a matter of privacy. I was already invading her house so I had no intentions of straying into her room.

Something red caught my eye before I had time to re-burrow and fall back asleep. I approached my old clothes laying neatly folded in a chair beside her closet. On closer inspection I realized that not only where they freshly washed, but my cape and clothes had been mended.

A warm feeling washed over me as I realized that Yuffie had probably sewn them up. I remembered all of the times she locked herself in her room during the day while I would prowl around town.

I had not expected her to be so thoughtful.

I pushed the warm feeling away though. There was no place for affections anymore in my heart. She was a young woman now, no matter which way you looked at it, but she was still too innocent and carefree to be tainted by someone so impure as myself.

I sighed silently and crawled back into the bed comfortably next to Yuffie.

I looked at her for a long time before I finally shut my eyes and floated back into a dreamless sleep.