"Vincent!" Yuffie waved her hand to her friend as he arrived at the little bar in Costa de Sol.
"What made you choose this place?" He asked her as he sat down. "We could have gone to Seventh Heaven. It's closer."
"Well, yeah, but…" She scratched her head and then fwipped it towards the bartender. "Barkeep! One Sol Splash for me!"
"I'm sorry, you're underage." The older man said as he wiped the used mugs.
"No I'm not! I'm already nineteen for crying out loud!" She retorted, and both men looked at her with exasperated looks.
"…The drinking law in Costa de Sol- And everywhere in the world- IS 21." The man said what Vincent hesitated to.
"Whaaaa? No way! Darn it…" She sunk her head. Vincent stared at her for a second, then looked back to the bartender.
"One special for me." He said, refusing to say the stupid name for the drink.
"All right." He went to the back and started to make it.
"Vincent, that's too cruel! Getting a drink when I can't!"
"Keep it down. I'm giving it to you anyway, so don't throw a fit." He looked slightly embarrassed as he looked away from her eye contact. Yuffie smiled at this warmly.
"Here you are, two Sol Splashes." The barkeep put one in front on each of them.
"Wait, but-"
"You've got to treat your girlfriend right, sir. Aiming for an indirect kiss on the glass she drank out of isn't gentlemanly." He chuckled.
"Like I'd do that."
"W-We're not dating! Seriously!" She blushed and sipped at her drink.
"So? What did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, right." She swifted her hair back from her face. "I'm, um… Getting married." A long minute of silence went through the two.
"…Congratulations."
"It's an arranged marriage by my father. It's my childhood friend, Sai Jun."
"I see. I hope you'll be happy."
"…Yeah. Thanks." She said quietly. Vincent turned his head to her as he heard a drop of something fall into her drink. Tears were dripping down her face like a waterfall. "I'll see you later. I have the next boat out. I'll miss it if I don't hurry." She pushed the correct amount of gil on the counter and smiled goodbye.
"…You really don't get women, do you?" The barkeep shook his head.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Tears may be a woman's sword, but smiles are a woman's shield."
"…"
"If you really don't get what I'm talking about, why not talk to one of your friends?" Just as the barkeep said that, Vincent's cellphone rang with the ringtone that Yuffie had chosen when she forced him to get one.
"Hello?" He "greeted" dully into the receiver.
"It's me, Shelke. Do you think you could spare some time?"
"I heard about Yuffie's engagement." Shelke, Shalua's little sister, walked around the grassy plains by a waterfall where they had decided to meet.
"I congratulated her."
"You broke your promise." She looked at him sharply. "When we had talked earlier, you said that you would tell her your feelings."
"…You sure I didn't mean Lucretia?"
"I know you didn't mean her. You're always playing around with Yuffie, and you laughed for the first time with her. I know that Lucretia isn't the one you love anymore." She stood firm in her place. "Yuffie is." The wind blew as silence fell.
"…I guess so… That little firefly… Really outdid herself." Vincent admitted as he remembered her bright, happy face.
"Vincent!" Her voice called inside of him.
"You can't let it end like this. Yuffie's waiting for you. Yuffie loves you too, and you were too dense to notice. She's been waiting for you all this time. She was waiting for you to love Lucretia, and even if you didn't love her back that was fine. She wanted you to be happy." Shelke looked at him. "Isn't it time you paid her back?"
Vincent quickly turned around and walked off. Although he seemed calm, there was no way he was going to let it end like this.
At Yuffie's home, Yuffie was dressed in her Chinese formal dress, sitting on the floor. Across from her was her betrothed, a boy she had known since she was small. His name was Sai Jun.
"It's good to see you again, Yuffie-sama." He smiled softly. He was a gentle sort of person, who always smiled kindly. He had a little past shoulder-length blonde hair that he wore up in an oriental tie. She looked down at the ground.
"I'm sorry, I-" She stopped.
"I know that you love someone else, but I think if we are married we will slowly learn to love each other." He closed his eyes, still smiling. "As for me, I love you."
"Sai Jun…" She said in surprise. But then she imagined their wedding night. His blonde hair out of it's tie, his firm chest above her as they made love. But no matter how many times she tried to appeal to this situation, she couldn't. In her mind, she always imagined his blonde hair turn to long black hair, dripping over her breast bone. She couldn't do it.
"I-" She was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open. She looked up, and there was the man she had her fantasies about… Vincent Valentine. "Vincent…?" Silently, he tromped over to where she was sitting, completely ignoring Sai Jun, and leaned over, picking up her hand, lifting her up from the floor. She was dragged behind him as he began to leave. "Vincent! Wait, what-!"
"Are you going to be able to take care of her?" Sai Jun asked without a smile on his face, but instead a firm stare. Vincent said not a word as he glared back with his usual face. They exchanged glances for half a minute, when Sai Jun closed his eyes and smiled. "I see. Please do." And so, Vincent held Yuffie by the hand out to the fountain garden.
"Vincent, what are you doing?" She demanded.
"I've come to take you back."
"Wha-? I have a marriage interview to go to!"
"Do you want to go back?"
"What?"
"Do you want to marry that man. He'll live with you as long as you do. I, on the other hand, will watch you grow old and die as I live forever." He told her coldly as she looked up at him. "Even then, will you stay with me?"
"Yes!" She said quickly, without a moment to think. "I don't care about your lifespan or mine! You're really important to me!"
"Do you love me?" He asked, and her face turned slightly red.
"I really do love you! I may be just a kid to you, but I have a lot more going on in my mind than money and material things, OK?" She hugged him. "Your heart beats… Just the same as mine. They might not last the same amount of time. But listen… I'll find a way to live together forever. I'll even get my body experimented on, if that's what it takes. So please…" She looked at him. "Let me stay with you.
"You love me that much…? You fool…" He grabbed onto her and hugged her once again.
"Vincent…" Yuffie's eyes filled with tears. He released her for a moment to look at her. She gazed up at him with innocent, doe eyes, waiting for what was going to happen.
"…I love you." He said in his deep voice, his lips nearly touching each other. Vincent pulled her to his chest, placing his face close to hers, her cheek on his shoulder.