I really, really should've paid attention to those rope-escape lessons. I mean, at the very least, I could've taken a refresher course or something. They do have those for ninjas, ya know. Every now and then, we go back to our Master and toss our weapons around -- just for fun. And it is fun, except, I skipped the last few because Mr. Bossman Reeve likes to be anal and make me work and now I'm tied up again.

And it's all his fault. I think. My head is still kinda foggy, so I'm not really sure who to blame yet.

You wanna know the good part? Huh? Do you? Do you?

I'm tied up to Mr. Bossman Reeve!

Oh, ewwww… Get that perverted thought out of your minds. Right now! There, that's better. Just because you wake up tied to a man doesn't mean anything happened. Oh, quit looking at me like that. It doesn't! For all I know, this was a birthday prank gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Wait. Birthday … Reeve … Oh, yeah! Last night was bossman's birthday! Would you believe he's forty? Yeah, the big four-zero. You couldn't tell it by looking at him, because Reeve is what you call freakin' gorgeous. Seriously; the man has the cutest ass I have ever seen. And have you seen his chest? Heheh, I have. It's all tight and sculpted, and literally glistens when covered in sweat. Yes, I spied on him when he was in the training room. It was so worth it, too.

Okay, okay; I'll get back to now. Sheez, I am twenty-one you know. Let me talk about a man!

And now I'm all depressed because I have yet to have a serious relationship. And by serious, I mean you-know-what. I'm so not spelling it out.

So, where was I in this birthday prank gone wrong? Right, I'm tied to Reeve, who is still passed out by the way, and we're in a boat. Yeah, didn't see that one coming, did you? We're stuck on a boat in the middle of the lake. It's a nice boat, don't get me wrong. It has a carpeted floor, cushioned seats, and a nice-looking steering wheel that is obviously out of reach.

Wait, let me see if I can my foot …

Dammit, can't reach it that way, either. If I wasn't tied to Bossman, I could get us out of here. Just because I don't know how to drive a boat doesn't mean I can't eventually figure it out. We're tied back-to-back, though, and that makes it a lot more difficult.

Wait, what if this was all Reno's fault? EWWWWWW… these ropes are tainted with grossness! He was there at the birthday bash and he had this grin on his face. This evil little grin … Oh, no! He set this up; that horrible little Turk!

A groan echoed behind me and I felt Reeve shift. "Hey, you're waking up," I said with excited glee. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"I hate hangovers."

I craned my neck to look at him. All I could see was his dark hair, that was surprisingly soft and smelled really, really good. "Hey, is that Head and Shoulders?"

He groaned again and sweet Leviathan; his groans sounded sexy. I'm talking really, really sexy. "Yes, it's Head and Shoulders."

"But, you don't have dandruff." I'm serious. There was not one fleck of white in his hair.

"That's the point, Yuffie."

Ah, now the whole commercial made sense to me. Duh. "Hey, you gotta knife or something on you? I can't get out of these ropes."

"What makes you think I have a knife?"

"Letter opener then, Mr. Geek?" Come on, I've seen like, ten million of them hanging around his office. It's a miracle he hasn't pulled an Aerith and gotten stabbed.

Yeah, I know that sounded harsh, but that's how I cope, okay? That, and sobbing like a girl on Cloud's shoulder. Bite me. No, wait. Don't do that; I was partying last night.

"It's not like I can exactly check." He shifted roughly with his arms and sighed. "Remind me to never drink again, Yuffie. Birthday or otherwise."

"I'm not exactly sitting pretty over here, either. Well, I am pretty, but I don't feel pretty."

"Why are we tied up?"

"I dunno."

"Why are on a boat in the middle of a lake?"

"I dunno. I blame Reno."

I felt his hands tense up and I knew Mr. Geeky bossman was thinking about all the different ways he could enact revenge against our renegade redhead. Yes, I felt those warm hands tense up. We are tied back-to-back, you know. If I was one of those girly-girl teeny-boppers, I'd be all blushing and stuff, but I'm not one of those girls, so I'll just let my mind take up residence in the gutter. My brain does that when Reeve's around.

"Hi, gutter! My seriously gorgeous boss has warm hands and we're completely tied up together."

"Hi, Yuffie's brain. Come on down; we've got your usual place all set up for you."

See? The inner workings of my mind are filled with gutter conversations.

"A knife wouldn't work on this rope," Reeve explained. "These are binders from Cosmo Canyon. Elders trap young couples with them and the rope only releases when certain emotions are confessed."

"RENO! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Me? Pissed? What gives you that idea?

"Yuffie, my ear…"

"Sorry." A swallow caught in my throat. "So, what kind of emotions are we supposed to confess?"

He sighed behind me and I swear, he probably had his thinking face on. "I'm not sure. I don't know how high they set it."

"Why would they even tie us together with it?"

" …"

Oh, no. Horror! Reeve did the whole dotdotdot! I'll ask him later how he knew about Cosmo Canyon culture. Well, he does read more than the average person. Damn, I just answered my own darn question. Well, here it goes on the whole 'emotional confession'.

"Uh … Reeve is a great boss and I really like it when he smiles?" No dice; the rope didn't budge. "Reeve, you are so hot and I totally want to have your baby!" He chuckled at me, but his laugh ended when we both felt the rope shift and loosen it's hold. "Your turn, honey," I teased all cheekily.

He groaned. "Yuffie's friendship is something I treasure."

Nada. "Come on, Bossman; kick it up a notch!" Bam! Oh, I heart that show.

"I like it when Yuffie sits on my desk in those short-shorts she wears."

"Yaaaaay, it loosened again!" We can ignore the fact that my boss is a perv, right? We'll let that slide for now. "Um, seeing Reeve talk to Elena gets me all jealous and shit."

"It does?"

"You're my boss, not hers."

"And I pay attention to you," he added, "unlike a certain man in a red cloak."

"That's just because you're my boss."

"No, it's because I'm in love with you."

The ropes didn't just fall to the deck, they literally disappeared into a fine mist. Seriously, Cosmo Canyon has some pretty mystical magic and crap. "Uh… happy sober birthday, Reeve?" I offered, not even bothering to move away from his back like a normal girl would have.

We've been through this, people. I am not your average ninja. There's a fancy name for us female shadow warriors, but I think ninja is straight and to the point.

"This wasn't how I expected to spend the morning after I turned forty," he said. Bossman sounded so sad when he said it too. That's not right. Aren't men supposed to be all happy when they declare their love for a girl? Especially a girl like me? White Rose of Wutai?

I turned around and rested my chin on his shoulder. "How did you want to spend it?"

Hopefully, he wouldn't say something lame like drinking coffee or doing paperwork. Oh, and let's not forget reading a stuffy mystery while in a great big stupid chair. Blegh. The weather is nice though; with a bright sun and soft breeze. Ultra-romantic.

… Not that I'm into that or anything.

Okay, okay. You'd think I'd be all freaked out that my BOSS of all people just dropped the L-word in extremely weird circumstances. Hello? This is me we're talking about. Frankly, I'm kinda giddy.

"Spending it with you, I can handle," he answered. "Tied up and dropped in the middle of a lake I could've done without."

"We're not tied up anymore."

Okay, Reeve's got some moves or something. One minute I'm resting against his nice shoulder and the next I'm plopped in his lap. Working on robots must've done wonders for his hands. Seriously. "You want to have my children?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Hey, it got us free from the damn ropes." Score one for me.

"We'd still be tied up if everything we said was a lie."

Damn. Score one for him.

"Yuffie."

"Are you really in love with me, Reeve?"

"Do you really want to have my children?"

He looked at me, I looked at him. He gave this soft smile and I blushed all pathetic-like.

"I can't lie to a girl."

"Your spawn will be fun."

See, we kinda answered at the same time there and normally that's pretty cool, but now things were getting awkward. Awkward as in 'so quiet all we could hear was each other's breath' awkward. And the gentle waves. Gotta love those gentle waves.

I'm pretty sure he made the first move, because I was completely still (shocker for me, I know) when I found myself lost in this sticky-sweet kiss that tasted slightly of alcohol and I think a sleeping potion. Oh, so that's how Reno probably knocked us out.

Eh, I'll enact revenge later. Right now, Reeve's kiss has me occupied.

Yeah, gutter? Go ahead and reserve my normal seat. I think I'm going to be here for quite awhile.

MysticSpiritus