Chapter 47: Confessions…

(Same tags apply as in Chapter 1)

Yuffie moved down the staircase, her ears trained on the deeply romantic melody. It wasn't often that he played at night, in all actuality, she had only heard him playing the grand piano on one or two other occasions and even then, it was simply a practice, never a full piece like this.

The ninja came to a stop outside of the ballroom, he eyes closing as she listened. 'If I just walk in there, he might stop…time to use some of my ninja stealth!' She thought with a smirk before slipping through the open door. Platinum eyes were instantly drawn to the man sitting on the padded black bench at the polished grand piano. Candlelight gave the entire room a warm glow, but she only saw Vincent.

The light from said candles reflected dimly off the stands of his raven hair. It was one of the rare times that she had seen him with his hair tied back loosely with a single strip of black leather. He was entirely clad in black from his hair, all the way down to his black shoes that were devoid of brassy metal tips. A pale, gloveless right hand danced on the upper octave ivory keys while the left caressed the lower keys. Yuffie leaned against the wall, her eyes closed as the song began to slow down…the melody becoming sweeter, if that was even possible. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she found herself being held captive by the music.

.::-o-::.

His heart thudded rapidly in his chest knowing that she had made her appearance, and it was much sooner that he thought it would be. He continued to play, however his eyes stayed on her as she leaned against the wall, her eyes still closed as her head drifted with the melody. A small smile played at her lips, causing the corners of his own to upturn.

Sharp eyes reluctantly moved back to the sheet music as he played the last few measures of the piece. The sound of the last cord was held for eight beats before he lifted his fingers from the keys. Her eyes were still closed as he made his way over to stand before her.

"That was beautiful, Vincent." She said softly before opening her eyes to meet his crimson.

"Thank you." The gunman reached forward and took her left hand in his right. He knew that she could feel the slight tremor in his fingers, but pushed that thought away. "Yuffie, will you have dinner with me?"

A blush tinted her cheeks at his question, knowing that this was more than just dinner with her friend. Yuffie nodded with a smile. "I'd love to, Vincent."

The older man brought her hand to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of her hand before leading her over to the table that he had set for two. The small smile that traced his lips wanted to widen when he saw her blush deepen as he pulled her chair out and helped her to sit. He removed the plates from the warming tray before removing the lids from the plates.

"Oh that looks so good!" She said with eager eyes as she looked to him. "I see that you've finally decided to become my personal chef!" The ninja grinned, watching as he sat a small plate beside her entrée and placed some salad on it. Her mind drifted back to their brief stay in Wutai.

She was graced with a small smile as he took his seat. "Only if you don't decide to call me 'Chef Vinnie,' as you so dubbed me back in Wutai."

Yuffie laughed and picked up her fork, piercing the greens in her salad. "Oh come on! That's a Yuffie Classic! The name 'Chef Vinnie' has character." She teased and watched as he laughed and shook his head before his eyes met hers.

"I'd cook for you anytime you wish me to, Yuffie. All you have to do is ask." He said honestly as she continued to eat her salad.

Yuffie stabbed an olive and mushroom that had been resting on one another with a light coat of dressing on them both. "That's what friends do, right?" She asked before bringing the impaled vegetables to her lips.

Vincent nodded as he reached for a silver bucket beside the table. A bottle of red wine that he had shared with her and their two Avalanche companions, pouring them both a glass. He knew that she usually didn't like red wine, but this particular brand from Mideel was one of few that she liked. She thanked him and took a sip from her glass and he wanted to laugh outright as she literally melted when she tasted the manicotti.

Their dinner went well, much to his pleasure. He found it easy to converse with her on various subjects from the growth of the mountain village, to the plans for the site where their dojo was being constructed on the outskirts of the town, not far from the mansion, to the upcoming visit of Marlene, Yoshi and Nanaki.

When their plates were pretty much cleared, two desert plates were removed from their stack before he cut two slices of cheesecake. A bit of the graham cracker crust crumbled a bit as he placed Yuffie's slice on her plate. She watched with an eager gaze as one of the ripe, strawberries slid down the side of the cake, leaving a syrupy trial of red in its wake.

"The key to my heart! Thank you!" She said with a grin as she picked up her fork, missing the widening of Vincent's eyes and the ever-so-slight gulp that escaped his lips.

"This is so good!" She moaned, her eyes fluttering closed as she pulled the now empty utensil from her lips.

"That it is…" Vincent managed after taking a shuddering breath, his cheeks flushing imperceptivity.

'Don't chicken out now Vinnie! Just get it over with! Tell the girl how you feel!' Chaos commanded him with a bit of amusement at his host's embarrassment.

'…'

'If you don't tell her, I will!' The demon growled.

Vincent snorted within his mind as he took yet another bite of his sweet desert. 'I'd like to see you try. I will not give control to you so easily, heathen.'

'You should tell her you loooove her

'I will tell her when the time is right and don't call me that.'

The demon's laughter filled his mind. 'Call you what: Chicken or Vinnie? You know you should just get it over with! Tell the girl already!'

"Shut up Chaos." Vincent hissed at the demon causing Yuffie to look up to him, her head curiously tilted to the side. "Forgive me, Yuffie."

"You can talk to him?" She asked with what appeared to be an awed smile tracing her lips.

The gunman hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

"What's it like?"

Vincent thought about it for a moment before meeting her steely eyes. "Do you remember how it felt to communicate with Aeris when she contacted you?" The ninja nodded eagerly. "It's much like that. He communicates in much the same way…" He paused for a moment feeling a bit awkward, and the situation wasn't being helped with the demon chuckling in his mind. "But much more troublesome to have a meddlesome, sarcastic demon disrupting your thinking."

She didn't meant to do it, but a bark of laughter escaped her lips as she reached over and took Vincent's hand into hers. "My poor Vinnie! I know he has to drive you crazy sometimes especially if what I saw of him was any indication." She said, remembering their brief interaction between herself and the demon after chasing down the escaping professor.

As the pair finished up their dessert, Vincent found himself torn. He was pleased at the causal banter that they had fallen into. He loved seeing her smiles and hearing her laughter, it caused the warmth within him to grow, but at the same time, the ice-cold sensation that came with his nerves.

Yuffie suddenly hopped up and ran to a side door, pulling Vincent from his thoughts. The ninja moved back to his side and smiled at him, reaching for his hand just as soft, slow jazz began to float through the ballroom's sound system. "Dance with me?"

A single nod accompanied a smile as Vincent took her hand in his own, his hand as they took a few steps away from the table. His hand came to rest on her lower back as they moved to the music. After dancing through two of the songs, he felt her small body move closer to his own as her head came to rest on his chest as her arms wrapped around him and his around her.

Yuffie could hear each beat of his heart as she caught his unique and comforting scent. A smile graced her lips as she felt him wrap his arms tighter around her as their dance became more of a gentle sway. She felt good in his arms and found that she didn't want to leave, but she had to ask herself; how much longer would this last? Would she have this chance again?

"Yuffie?"

Platinum eyes opened as she looked up to the claret looking down at her. "Yeah Vinnie?"

He hesitated for a moment as he collected his thoughts. " Yuffie, what would you say if I told you that I cared about you deeply? That I wanted to be more than your friend because I've fallen in love with you?" He watched as her eyes widened and she blinked a few times in surprise.

Yuffie released her hold on him and felt him do the same. Small hands moved down his arms, taking a hand of flesh and bone and one for gold and wiring within them. She tried her hardest told hold back the burning sensation in her eyes, but she failed. A pair of crystalline tears rolling down her red cheeks marked that failure, yet a smile still traced her lips.

"You want to know what I'd say, Vincent?" She was answered by a single nod as she squeezed his hands.

"I'd say that feel the same…and that I have for a long time now, but I was too scared to say anything." She released his hands once more to wrap her arms around his waist. "I'd say…and I'm saying that I love you too…"

Vincent felt dizzy at her words as his arms tightened around her, holding her close to his chest and not wanting to let go. His lips came down to the top of her head, placing a soft kiss on the dark strands of silk. The gunman's strong, calloused hand brushed against her cheek before tilting her chin upwards ever so slightly. He was drowning in liquid platinum pools as he descended, his lips meeting hers shyly as shiver ran through her body.

Yuffie melted in the sweetness that was his kiss, pushing her own lips deeper to his own. She savored the sweetness of the strawberries from his dessert, the red wine from their meal, and something that was purely Vincent. It was something that had her craving more, but the pure passion and love from this sweet kiss, caused them both to break their first kiss.

With his lips still brushing against his little ninja's, Vincent smiled, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. "I love you, Yuffie Kisaragi."

She smiled at the gentle brush of his lips against hers as he spoke of his love for her. "I love you too, Vincent Valentine…."

o-o-Authors Notes-o-o

Oh you all should thank Sorceress Fujin… I was SOOO going to leave you all with a cliffhanger….I was tempted and I even had a shield built to protect me from the rocks and firebombs that would be hurled at me! The cliff was gonna be just after Vinnie tells her he loved her! -showers all in Vinnie and Yuffie plushies-

This story aint over!! There still much love to be had, but as I've told a few of you in review replies and pm's, I'm trying to decide on if I should break this up into two stories. I haven't decided yet and probably wont for a while yet.

I told some of you that what Vinnie was going to do would be simple in the eyes of some, but I think there's more meaning and intimacy in him doing this for her than in him taking her to a restaurant and all. I know I'd like it.

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter that you've been waiting for. I want to thank every last one of you again who have reviewed. The response for the last chapter was amazing and I seriously want to cry while typing this. To know that so many people support this story and my work is a wonderful and amazing feeling. I even had to put a post about the mass number of people adding my story to their faves in my livejournal! I put a snapshot from my stat page in my livejournal just to show all of the support and the mass number of hits that this has received. Its listed as my homepage in my profile. I don't put much in there but hey, every now and then I'll post something. I might start putting updates on when a new chapter will be added or ask opinions about a particular thing concerning one of my fics.

I think I responded to all of the reviewers but I lost track. If I missed you, I'm so sorry but I really do appreciate you!!!

Well I better go…I gotta update this on and update my Fruits Basket story because the reviews for this even motivated me enough to update that fic!

Love you all and thank you!!!

Ezzy

Ps: Hey…this is just a shameless plug, but you should go check out Sorceress Fujin's ficcies!! They're hot!!! Oh! And if you have a story of yours that you want me to read, let me know!! Right now I'm focused on the fandoms of Final fantasy 7 & 8, Naruto, Inuyasha, Ouran High School Host Club and a few others. I haven't read anything off in the ff7 section as of late because I keep seeing 'randomness' stories so I need a read! I can't guarantee when I'll be able to read them, but I'll definitely try to check them out. Heck you can even go to my livejournal and just respond to whatever the most recent post is and put your fic suggestion there, email me or pm me!

Oh yeah…don't own ff7 in case you forgot.

6/19/07

10/05/07

Edited because of change in formatting. Also re-numbering chapters. Minor content edits.