Photograph
Pairing: Yuffietine
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the ficlet.
"Leaving already?"
Vincent froze, one foot out the door.
"Yes." The word was harder to say then he liked.
"Oh." Yuffie was standing at the base of the stairs, her head leaning on the door frame. Even half asleep she seemed able to read him more then he liked.
She wobbled over to the bar, picking up a picture frame. Sleep took away from Yuffie's innate cheerful demeanor, a bitter smile creeping over her features as she traced her fingers over the glass. Slowly she walked over to him, handing him the photograph. It was easy to recognize, it was a group picture they all had taken after the defeat of Kadaj. Vincent looked up, bemused.
"Why…?"
"You know, they say pictures steal a part of your soul." She smiled fondly, resting one hand on his metal arm.
"Yuffie, I can't say here."
Sleepiness made her calmer. The usual Yuffie would have smacked him and scolded him, telling him he was stupid along with a variety of curses. Now she just ignored him, still looking at the picture.
"They also say that every time someone sees your picture, you get a piece of your soul back bigger then the one you've lost." She tore her eyes away from the picture looking up at him.
"I don't have a soul to steal." Vincent looked down again at the picture, glaring at the man in the back of the photograph.
"If you didn't have a soul, you wouldn't have shown up. Only vampires have no souls. They don't show up in pictures." She gave his gauntlet a squeeze.
They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Vincent, surprisingly, was the first to say something.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Yuffie released his arm, grabbing the photo from his clawed grasp. She looked again to the photo, then to Vincent, her expression unreadable.
"Tifa's going to make me a copy, and I'm going to carry this everywhere I go. I'll show it to everyone I meet. Before you know it, you'll have your whole soul back." Yuffie smiled, soft, but genuine. "You'll be forever thanking me, Vinnie. You're lucky you got the great ninja Yuffie to help you out. With all your brooding, you'd never get anything done."
Vincent touched her hand, she didn't flinch like she used to when they were on their first journey.
"Thank you."
When Tifa woke at dawn, she was startled to find Yuffie standing in the doorway, clutching the frame to her chest.
Tifa was the first person she showed.
--
When she showed all of her cats, they purred happily. She couldn't agree more.
-
Tourists often were confused by the random girl that would flash them a picture, later finding their wallets stolen.
-
When she showed Cid for the tenth time, he threw his pack of cigarettes at her.
-
Sometimes she thought of cutting out the photo and putting it on milk cartons.
-
When Yuffie met Shelke, she decided not to show her his picture.
--
"So Vinnie, guess how many people I've shown your picture to?"
Vincent lifted his eyebrow.
"1000 exactly, plus an unnumbered amount of cats, dogs, and tourists. I figured why not, just to be on the safe side. Ya know why I chose 1000?"
"…"
"Because they say that a picture is worth a thousand words."