A/N: We get a glimpse of what Vincent becomes when he is exposed to the moonlight…and we finally see Vincent's competition…

Nighttime, at the Kisaragi estate…

Captain Valentine stood around in the guest quarters of the Kisaragi residence. It was a modest sort of estate. The moon was out, and that meant that he would be exposed if there were any windows showing him off to the world…as he put his left arm through the moonlight he saw its true form revealed—it was made of magma covered in plates of obsidian in such a way that looked like a form-fitting gauntlet. The second his true form is shown, every solid object he touches would burn at the very least, and any water he touches is purified of pollution and germs via a sort of distillation process as he dissipates considerably more heat than the standard human body.

The second he pulled his hand away from the moonlight, he closed the curtains before finding his way to the bed, and laying down upon it, reminiscing upon the days he was still alive, when the "Crimson Angel" was once known as the "Crimson Princess"…oh how he fought so hard to defend his homeland of Wutai, and for the love of one of the prettiest girls in the town. She was a foreigner who was arranged to marry a scientist on the island—the scientist named Hojo. He then brought his mind back to his first meeting with Yuffie, for it was then that Valentine felt something shocking his spine…something that he had not felt in a long time. Maybe it was the hope that he would be free, and that he would finally be able to find the love that had been robbed from him with his death.

As he thought back on the past, he also came to think about the events that had happened earlier in the day…

Roughly 2:30 PM: Wutai Airport, Dock 7…

He looked down, and saw eyes the color of coffee looking back up at him…they were so beautiful…she was beautiful…he could immediately see the resemblance to Godo, but he could tell that her mother was dominant in her…a trait that he shared with her. "Yuffie, this is my new friend, Captain Valentine," said Godo, "we just met during a pirate raid, and he saved us. He's going to be staying with us for a while until he gets his bearings."

Yuffie turned to face her father. "He is?"

"Yes. Apparently, he just happened to be lost, and then he found us, and drove the pirates away."

This was the story that the two of them had come up with the day that Valentine had attacked Godo. She will be informed tonight of the incoming marriage. As they started walking towards the exit of the airport, Yuffie was surprised at the appearance of a young man with green eyes and shoulder-length silver hair.

"Kadaj?" she called out, getting the attention of the young man as he ran towards her. "Yuffie! It's been a while!"

Valentine looked at the young man—Lucrecia had mentioned that silver hair was not uncommon in her family, and so this young man must have been one of her children. He then watched as Kadaj hugged his friend as affectionately as a brother would his sister. It was then that Kadaj caught sight of Valentine, and for a brief moment, his eyes of joy turned to eyes of caution—had he been discovered? No, but the look of suspicion in his rival's eyes gave him that idea. "What are you doing here Kadaj?" asked Yuffie, "Oh, I'm just here for break," he answered, "the Shin-Ra SOLDIER academy is really tough work. Here I am, training to be a grade-A swordsman like my big bro, and then it turns out that I also have to deal with the actual academic work—it's really hard because you have to balance your theoretical knowledge with your practical."

"Well it's good that you're taking a break. I actually haven't seen you for a while! Oh yeah, this is Captain Valentine, he's dad's new friend! He's going to be staying with us for a while until he finds his bearings."

"A pleasure to meet you." Captain Valentine bowed, hiding his look of caution towards this youngster. He knew from that moment on that he would be having competition.

"Well, I'm off to visit Sephiroth. Do say 'hi' to Carys for me would you please?"

"Sure thing."

6:30 PM: The Kisaragi Residence…

"WHAT?!" yelled out Yuffie at the dinner table, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'HE'S MY FIANCÉ'?! YOU'D BETTER START EXPLAINING!" "Valentine here has shown interest in marrying you as per tradition," said Godo, "and so being the father of the bride, I have agreed to give him one week to change his mind."

"TO HELL WITH TRADITION! DON'T I HAVE A SAY IN THIS?"

In his anger, Godo slammed the table with both hands, raising his voice to a yell and matching his daughter's tone. "ENOUGH WITH THIS! You are going to marry him in one week—that's all there is to it. In terms of tradition, he as the groom-to-be will be the final judge as to whether or not he will marry you. However, you do have one thing to save you: I have equal say in this arrangement as well—in other words, if either of us disagrees to this marriage, then the whole deal is off, no questions asked. So if you want this to go smoothly, I would recommend that you take this time to get along with your future husband."

Yuffie said nothing. She simply stood up. "I'd like to be excused."

The conversation was going nowhere…and it was obvious as to where she wanted to go in the eyes of Godo. "Now, about these plans…" before he could continue, Godo found himself speaking to nobody in particular. This is just grand…first his daughter, and then his prospective future son-in-law…

6:50 PM: Wallace's Power Gym

Valentine had followed Yuffie to this place—he could understand her…if he were steamed out, then he himself would go to the gym in order to vent out his frustrations. He simply watched as she beat the living daylights out of the heavy bag using roundhouse kick after roundhouse kick. This was traditional Wusheng-style hand-to-hand combat, and judging from her kicks, he could tell that she was obviously an elite-level student in the hard form. The Wusheng Special Operations division of Wutai takes pride in their skills at all forms of close-quarters combat, and especially in bare-handed combat. The hard form focuses on quick and powerful attacks directed at the body, meant to break bones and cause traumas, and is the first form that students learn.

"Your kicks need some work," he said, coming out of the shadows, inwardly chuckling as she almost tipped over, "but they are done pretty well for one of your level."

"What are you doing here?" The anger in Yuffie's voice was not missed. It was another thing he understood…arranged marriages were becoming old-fashioned, even in his eyes, but he needed to do this, for the freedom of his crew and his search for love was at stake…he had a very big burden upon himself. "I just wanted to come on over and make sure you were all right," he answered simply, "I know how you'd feel with what I did, but at least you do in fact have a say in this arrangement at the very least."

"What do you mean? Doesn't my dad have equal say in this?"

"He does, but even I can tell that he sincerely loves you. You need only speak with him after at least three days to cancel the engagement. So basically, it's all up to you—it's your decision after three days have elapsed…and then Godo will have the final say. If you don't want me as a husband by that time, then I'll understand—I won't take it personally. But at the very least, I'd like to start off as your friend…"

"Uh-uh, no way. After what you told my dad, there's no way I'm going to want you."

"Then how about we make a wager?"

"What sort?"

"If you can land an unblocked hit on me in under ten moves by the time I knock you down, then I'll call off the engagement. And in addition, the winner gets to ask anything of the loser."

Yuffie grinned. This was too easy! She'll make this bastard rue the day he challenged her to a martial arts competition and forced an engagement upon her. And she had the perfect punishment for him…she was on par with Tifa in terms of martial arts skills, and judging from his frame, he would probably be an easy win. She'll humiliate him for what he did! And so the two of them walked to the middle of the ring meant for mixed martial arts sparring practice…her "fiancé" simply kept his coat and stood in a calm and relaxed position while she put on her shin guards and fighting gloves and got into the hard form basic stance with her left side facing the opponent.

Yuffie began the fight with a battle cry, and charged in, throwing out a left straight punch, only to watch as her opponent simply swerved his body to the left, duck under a right hook, and then gently move his left arm around to capture her left arm by the elbow in a circular motion in the middle of a haymaker before he flipped her off the ground, and jumping over a sweep kick as soon as she landed on the ground. So far, it was four moves…for a hard form fighter, she was good; a bit sloppy on her technique, but she carried herself with enough of the dancer's grace. She then moved on in, and performed a roundhouse kick with her right leg that he ducked under, followed by a backwards hook kick from her left leg and then a straight kick aimed at his solar plexus. Valentine swerved to the right, and then dodged three rapid punches aimed at his face with a back flip and landing on both of his feet.

"I'm afraid you lose. I'm sorry, but a deal's a deal." With that, Valentine turned around to leave before he caught Yuffie in the middle of a jump-kick with both arms in a circular motion before throwing her onto the ground on her back, pinning her down with his left hand and knee, and readying his hand in the "phoenix eye" fist to strike at her neck. With that, he let her go and composed himself. "Sorry about that; reflexes. As agreed upon, we're going to keep this engagement going—but in the meantime, I'd like to go on out to dinner with you tomorrow night. You get to choose the restaurant."

Yuffie simply looked in wonder at her fiancé as she followed him along. She wasn't sure what to think—sure he forced her into a marriage, and so she was angry at him for that, but now she was curious about him…as if the whole prospect of marrying him was giving her this opportunity to find out. What he had attacked her with was nothing short of Wusheng advanced techniques—her master Susanoo taught this form only to students who have advanced past the hard form, and that death strike he was about to perform was a finishing move known as the "Phoenix Hammer". Why does Valentine know the soft form?

But all that aside, she saw something in his eyes that seemed to pull her in. He was hiding something from her, and apparently from her dad. She'll have to pull these secrets out of him, and she has all week to do so…

Valentine had started falling asleep as he had been reminiscing on these events. Perhaps with this dinner, he can turn things around—get on better terms with Yuffie…it didn't look like his plan to marry her was going to be easy, but then again, what in the world was easy anymore? He closed his eyes, and allowed the dreams to take over—it was at this point that he didn't care if they were nightmares, he wanted sleep…

Kadaj walked on out of the airport as if nothing happened. Carys and Kadaj were something of an item before they broke up in high school—now she is satisfied with her current man, and enjoying the pleasure of making love to someone, and having him love her back. What broke the two of them up was that they had grown into different directions; Kadaj wanted to be a SOLDIER and Carys wanted to study as a physician. It was then that the two of them broke up after realizing that they were going to be growing far apart…some time after their breakup, Yuffie and Kadaj had started seeing each other. They remained good friends even after Kadaj broke up with Carys…although Kadaj saw Yuffie as more than just a possible sister-type figure.

He then parked the car at his home. He and his brothers were all that's left after their mother had died and their father had run out on them. The house was a large plaster construction that the eldest brother of the four of them had earned enough money to buy and maintain. He inserted the key, and walked in. "It's been a while Kadaj," said a voice from the couch—how he knew who it was, Kadaj will never know, but for some reason, his big brother Sephiroth always knew things.

"Likewise Seph."

"You're worried about this newcomer aren't you? This Captain Valentine?"

"Yeah."

Sephiroth got up from his barcalounger and turned to face his brother. "Something about him bothers me as well. When Yuffie brought him over to meet me, Yazoo, and Loz something seemed odd about him. What it is, I'm not sure. If you'd like, you can join me…I fear for Yuffie's safety as well."

Kadaj didn't know what to say—this was probably a good opportunity to see what kind of man that Captain Valentine really was. Whatever he may learn will probably be useful in winning Yuffie. He simply nodded and then followed his brother…

A/N: Sorry it's short, but I was dealing with school...but we'll see the return of Cid, and we'll learn of his findings.