As the sun rose higher and higher in the sky and the end of the day drew nearer, Yuffie began to experience her first real doubts that Vincent would be able to save her in time. After all, how could she have known he was even alive, let alone on the move halfway across Wutai to a city he had not even known about until that morning? She couldn't stop thinking about how pale he had been when she had last seen him, barely breathing and as limp as a corpse; whether he harbored Chaos or not, even Vincent could be kil – No, she couldn't think of such morbid things. He had to be alright; he wouldn't leave her like that, not so easily. He was strong, and she had to be, too.
The day wore on and her spirits sank lower and lower as the sky began to darken, the sunlight peeking out from behind the gathering clouds in fragile golden rays. All too soon, she finally heard the knock at the door she had been dreading. A young servant, probably no more than fifteen years old, entered the room, carrying a long lacquer box and a small jewelry case in her thin arms. Yuffie bit back a scathing comment about how stupid it was to knock since she couldn't open the door from inside anyway; this girl hadn't caused any of this, and it wouldn't be fair to take her frustration out on her. The girl bowed and gestured for her to sit down in front of the dressing table, which she did without a word. Yuffie maintained a stony, emotionless expression as the young woman began applying her makeup, putting powder on her face and neck and painting her lips a dark cherry color. She knew before she even looked at herself in the hand mirror the girl gave her that she looked like a porcelain doll; she had hated that look since she was little.
She continued to glower at her artificially feminine features in the mirror as the maid began brushing her hair, which she had recently grown down to just above her shoulders, back into a simple bun held in place by an ornate white headdress. Once that was done and it had been pinned in place, she left Yuffie for a moment and opened the long box, removing the first layer of a white wedding kimono from within it and indicating that Yuffie should take off the green one. Sighing, Yuffie reluctantly let the green silk slip to the floor, feeling very exposed and vulnerable in only the thin under-kimono she had been wearing underneath it. With ease only a lifetime of dressing royalty could have given her, the girl put all of the layers of the kimono on and tied them tight, making sure every last hem and sash was in its proper place. As much as Yuffie hated to admit it, the end result was truly beautiful, and she would have loved for Vincent to be the one seeing her in it.
For what seemed the millionth time that day, the princess of Wutai found herself praying to Leviathan that no matter what happened to her, Vincent would be alright, and that he would somehow be able to move on if she couldn't be by his side any longer. She didn't want to give up her freedom, but she would have done it a hundred times over if it would have saved Vincent the heartbreak he had experienced after losing Lucrecia; she would rather die than be the one who broke his heart like that again, but now it seemed she was about to do exactly that. He was a very strong man, and one of the kindest she had ever met, but his heart was still a very fragile thing, and she feared he would never recover if he lost his lover to another man for the second time in his life. Or, even worse, he would come to hate her for being the one to put him through that again.
No, she couldn't bear it if Vincent ever began to hate her. It would be more enjoyable to spend the rest of eternity with Koichi, and that was a fate worse than death.
"That is all for now, Yuffie-sama," the girl said quietly, bowing again and opening the door to leave. "Someone will be sent for you as soon as they are ready for the ceremony to begin. Congratulations on your marriage, Princess." With that, the girl was gone, leaving Yuffie alone in this damnable room again. Thunder began to rumble outside, and lightning flashed as the dark clouds completely swallowed up the weak rays of sun; it matched her current mood perfectly. She gritted her teeth and looked around the room for a way to free herself. There had to be something in here! Without a weapon of some sort, she knew she stood no chance of escape. She knew some martial arts, but not enough to take on Koichi, her father, and all of their attendants at once while completely unarmed.
"Think, Yuffie, think!" she whispered, looking for something, anything she could use to fight with long enough to create a chance to escape. She folded her arms over her chest, snorting in frustration, when a flash of lightning glinted off of something on the far side of the room. The large hand-mirror from earlier was still sitting on the dressing table, accidentally forgotten by the servant girl. A sly smile spread across her lips; it seemed Leviathan might have been listening, after all. After listening at the door to make sure there were no guards immediately nearby, she hurriedly smashed the mirror against one of the bedposts, grinning fiendishly as several large shards dropped out of the frame and onto the mattress. As quickly as she could, she slid two of the longest, sharpest pieces into her obi, knowing that the many layers of fabric between the glass and her ribs would offer at least some protection if she did not move too much. As soon as that was done, she lifted up the mattress and stuffed the broken glass and the handle of the mirror underneath it, hiding any trace of what she had just done.
When one of Koichi's attendants came to collect her for the ceremony, he was pleased to notice how joyful their princess suddenly seemed to be. He had worried about how she would take being forced into a marriage with his master, who was well-known to be temperamental and sometimes even cruel; he knew where that bruise on her cheek had come from, but she seemed to take no notice of it now. Perhaps she really had taken a shine to Koichi?
"You seem quite cheerful now, Yuffie-sama," he said softly, noticing the smile on her lips and the spark that had finally returned to her eyes. She turned to look at him, giving him a soft, demure smile so gentle that it immediately made his heart beat faster in his chest. The low light filtering through the windows really did highlight just how beautiful she looked in that ensemble.
"Yes, I am very happy," she said softly, carefully enunciating every word the way her father had tried to get her to do for most of her life. When the man looked away, trying to hide the blush that had crept into his cheeks, she allowed herself the briefest grin of pure, spiteful glee. "Oh, boy, am I," she thought, listening to the thunder outside and feeling encouraged by the sound. "That uptight pretty-boy's about to learn just why no one messes with the White Rose of Wutai! Look out, Koichi, here I come!"
By the time Vincent spotted people beginning to file out onto the grounds of the temple, he had already been in Xi'an for several hours, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make his move. Had he been a man of lesser patience, he would never have been able to hold out this long. Chaos had immediately sensed Yuffie's presence when they had landed on the roof of the temple, and he had also noticed the scent of Yuffie's blood hanging ever so faintly in the air. After he had heard that, Vincent had wanted nothing more than to break in and sweep her up in his arms, disappearing before anyone was any the wiser. However, he was no fool; he knew if he simply took her away Godo and Koichi would follow, maybe all the way back to Edge. He had to be sure they knew he was taking Yuffie back, and that it would be in their best interests if he never saw either of them again.
So there he had waited, well-hidden behind a large rooftop statue of Leviathan, while the clouds had slowly gathered overhead and blocked out the setting sun. As the thunder began to roll, he moved to crouch closer to the edge of the roof, still just out of view of anyone on the ground. He flattened himself out against the roof as he spotted Koichi, who strode across the temple grounds to stand before the altar just beneath Vincent. The darkening skies helped hide the gunman's presence even more, but he hoped this would begin before it could start to storm. Looking at Koichi's disgustingly smug face had already put him in a sour mood; being soaked to the bone would definitely not help cheer him up. As his crimson eyes scanned the ground for a sign of Yuffie, his breath suddenly caught in his chest.
She had just stepped out of the building across from the temple, accompanied by her father as he guided her toward the temple's altar. Despite how furious he was that any of this was happening, he could not help thinking of just how beautiful she looked, and what a perfect bride she made. It made his heart race, and for a moment he almost forgot where he was as he stared at the delicate white silk kimono and the way she carried herself so gracefully now. He shook his head quickly, refocusing as the pair reached Koichi and Yuffie was handed over to her soon-to-be husband. He could see how calm – and maybe even happy – she looked now, and he couldn't make sense of it. He knew she didn't want to marry Koichi, so why did she look so sure of herself? Well, no time for questions like that; it was almost time to make his move.
The only people there to witness the wedding were Godo and some of the monks from the temple; although Vincent did not know it, tradition dictated that only the current ruler and the future rulers were to bear witness to the union. One of the monks almost immediately began to recite some sort of marriage vows in Wutaian, instructing Koichi to repeat after him. As soon as Koichi had said his part, the man turned to Yuffie, speaking a slightly different set of vows and waiting for her to repeat them. She did so, a strange glint in her eyes as she stared steadily at Koichi. Vincent tensed, his entire body poised to spring. Any moment now… The monk nodded before turning to address Godo, and Vincent was thankful he knew enough Wutaian to get the general message of his question: "Is there anyone among us who does not approve of this union?"
That was Vincent's cue. With barely a sound, he sprang off the roof, landing nimbly between Yuffie and Koichi and standing protectively in front of her.
"That would be me," he said in the lowest, most threatening voice he could muster, which was made extremely difficult when he was suddenly feeling so happy. The monks did not move, watching the scene in stunned silence. Yuffie gasped and squeaked in shock, clearly not expecting to see him, before hugging him tightly and burying her face in his shirt as she began to sob quietly.
"Vincent! Oh, gods, Vincent, it's really you!" she cried as she hugged him tighter. "Y-you were s-so weak before, and I th-thought you might… might be…" Suddenly she looked up at him, her lips still quivering as tears dripped down her face. "Don't you ever do t-that to me again, y-you big jerk! I thought you were g-gonna die!"
"Shh... I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm alright. Everything's alright," he whispered, hugging her closer to him and staring coldly over the top of her head at Koichi. "We'll go back together now, Yuffie."
"You most certainly will not!" Godo shouted. As if they were made of thin air, several of his guards seemed to materialize around them, grabbing Vincent's arms and yanking him away from Yuffie, who was grabbed by Koichi before she could make a move to run. Vincent snarled at the guards, who only added more to the group that was holding onto every inch of him they could reach.
"Let me go, you bastard!" Yuffie shouted, trying to reach the pieces of glass in her obi as Koichi began to drag her back toward the altar. He just grabbed both of her wrists tighter, and she growled as he pulled her close to him and attempted to kiss her right then and there, in plain view of Vincent. Right before his lips reached hers, she pulled her head back and slammed it into his nose, smirking when she heard a loud "crack" on contact. Koichi blinked at her for a moment, stunned, before his face contorted in rage. In an instant, he had drawn back his fist and punched her, hard, across the face. She blinked rapidly and sank to her knees, her head spinning as she tried to fight back the stars exploding behind her eyes.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of terrified screams, followed by a low, deep growl that sent shivers up her spine. Whirling around, she could see Vincent staring down Koichi with murder in his eyes as he threw Godo's guards aside like paper.
"Koichi Taishi," he whispered, a pair of long fangs beginning to reach over his lower lip and his eyes starting to glow gold. "You have just made the gravest mistake of your life."