I don't usually do Yuffietines...in fact... I HATE THEM WITH AN UNDYING PASSION! Still, I was challenged to do this, and decided to go through with it. Here is the end result! As always, please read and review!
Christmas is Not for the Faint of Heart!
Two pairs of eyes gazed across at one another, neither one blinking, neither one moving. One pair, a pretty brown, looked embarrassed, almost remorseful, while the other, a deep, serious crimson, held an often unknown look of surprise.
"Vincent…" Yuffie whispered, unsure of what to say. She looked down at the fireplace the pair was seated next to, its warmth seeming uncomfortably close, and the skin on her face pkled from the heat. Vincent said nothing, his eyes cold and distant. His hand, his gloved hand, reached up slightly, faltering halfway in the air.
"Yuffie…why did you…what drove you to…?" he stammered, the one time he had been speechless in years. Yuffie didn't know what to say either. She could only shake her head as her face turned a scarlet that matched Vincent's eyes.
"I don't know…" she muttered, her hand running through her brown hair in confusion. "I just…I just felt like I needed to do it…like it was something I've always wanted to do…"
Vincent could still feel it. He could still sense the presence of her lips against his as she kissed him. The feeling was most certainly different for the man. Never had he expected something like this to happen.
"I know it wasn't right…" the ninja muttered, almost sounding ashamed. "But, I felt like…felt like it was something that needed to be done, you know?" Her face still as red as ever, she stood up and walked away from the fire, towards the front door of the Nibelheim Mansion. Why had she kissed him? What point was there for that?
She had only been visiting with the others. That was all. She had come with Tifa and Cloud for Christmas, to visit their friend, who kept himself locked up in the stuffy old mansion all year. Denzel had come too, along with Cloud and Tifa's own child of seven, whom they proudly named Zack. Of course it was a quiet gathering; Vincent wasn't one for a party atmosphere. Still, there was the exchanging of presents and such, with Vincent receiving more then he would have ever wanted. He didn't even unwrap them, saying that he would take care of it later, much to the disappointment of all gathered. Yuffie didn't understand his attitude. Tonight, he seemed to be filled more angst then his usual brooding self.
Yuffie ignored it for awhile until it was time to leave. Tifa and Cloud retired to their rooms upstairs in the mansion with the kids, but Yuffie remained downstairs to talk with Vincent. Still, what had started out to be a simple question quickly escalated into a much bigger deal.
"So, Vincent," Yuffie started, smiling towards him, the crackling of the fire loud in her ear as she settled into an arm chair. "You seemed kinda depressed tonight. Why so glum? You should be happy! It's Christmas!"
Vincent only glanced at her, and she could tell that he wasn't really in the mood for a conversation, his tall, dark form standing in front of the fire. His cape draped around him, he seemed to Yuffie at that moment to be some kind of red, grim reaper, pulling down the mood of the entire day drastically. She pressed the question though, her eager eyes, which had seen only 26 years, trying to pry into his own.
"Aw, come on…you can tell me," she said, rising to her feet and walking beside him, looking into his eyes as they reflected the light of the fire. "Look, I know you're not exactly the happiest person on earth, but could you at least acknowledge my question? Think of it as a present!"
Vincent said nothing for a moment, but continued to look into the flame. Yuffie just blew a sharp breath upward, the air pushing her hair. She was surprised when Vincent finally replied.
"To use a holiday as an excuse to be happy or cheerful, or to glean and gain information from another is disgraceful. A holiday is only a time to pull out the optimistic ideas you have in your heart and parade before others, and since I have very little in the way of optimism, I have very little to show to others on this day…As for me telling you what is wrong, you should not assume you shall get what you want simply because it is a special day of the year…"
"Sheesh, leave it to you to make Christmas into a moody fest," Yuffie shrugged, turning away. "I mean, you'd think after all this time, you'd learn to lighten up and let things go, you know?"
Vincent turned quickly, and for once, Yuffie saw something in his eyes that frightened her, even more then when he would undergo his transformations. His red eyes seemed to smolder with anger, and his gaze was as piercing as the sun through a magnifying glass. It scared her, and she looked away from him. He spoke very slowly, and his voice held a gilded threat beneath it, one that turned Yuffie's blood as cold as the snow that was falling outside.
"I shall not have you judging me, nor telling me how to live my life. You are too young to know the feelings of true loss, nor the desires of love and compassion that are longed for from a love lost!"
"Is this about that Lucrecia chick?" Yuffie replied, deciding to fortify her own emotional defenses with a tone of anger herself. "Is that why you never come out of this mansion, and why you mope around whenever we try to talk to you? Haven't you mourned over her enough? I thought that after Sephiroth was gone you'd get over her!"
What happened next, Yuffie could have neither predicted, nor avoided after her little speech. A clawed hand reached out and grasped her arm, gripping it tightly, painfully, and the voice of Vincent Valentine growled through clenched teeth echoed in her very psyche.
"You are not to speak her name ever again…she was more to me then just some 'chick'. She was the world to me…I would have gladly given my life for her own…do not ever mock her as you have just now!"
His eyes still as hard as diamonds, he released his grip on Yuffie's arm and turned back to the fire. Yuffie, realizing she hadn't taken a single breath during Vincent's outburst, inhaled quietly, unsure of what to say or do. She shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the assailed arm and checking for any kind of bruise. There was a large, ugly red mark from where the clawed gauntlet had pressed against her arm, but otherwise, it was unharmed.
She turned to go, but something told her in heart that she couldn't. Whatever it was, that tiny prodding, whether it was guilt or pity, she couldn't walk away and leave him alone.
Her shoes the only noise apart from the fire, she walked close behind him. "Vincent…" she started, "I'm…I'm sorry…for what I said…it was wrong." Vincent didn't reply, but simply turned to look at her. She looked at his face, his handsome face that hadn't aged a day since the first time she had seen him those nine years ago.
His eyes, which were so serious and cold, the pale skin of his face, smooth and without blemish, all of his facial features as handsome and comely as a portrait of some young monarch.
Finally, however, her eyes fell on his lips. They were no different then normal lips, slightly thin, but with a nice curve to them. Yuffie looked at them, imagining the love that must have passed between them and Lucrecia's, the overwhelming feeling of acceptance in the simple touch of their lips. That thought, and the idea that Vincent longed for that and was unable to have it again was unbearable. Yuffie thought back the time she had known the man and realized that she had become especially fond of him, drawing closer to the dark and mysterious man. He had always been there, silently watching the actions of everyone else, and Yuffie knew that she had come to almost expect to see him lurking in the background.
Before she even knew what she was doing, her face went forward, her lips touching his. Yuffie couldn't understand what was happening. What was she doing? Half of her mind told her that this meant certain death from Vincent, who had practically threatened her not a minute ago, while the other said something entirely different. The other half danced as their lips touched, told her to not stop. This part rippled with ecstasy, and she felt her head tingling with the strange feeling.
Vincent did nothing. He did not rear back, nor pull her away. Yuffie closed her eyes, so she could not see his reaction, but surprisingly, Vincent made no action. In fact, he seemed to be…returning! His lips pressed back, only slightly as though unsure himself what was going on.
After another moment, their lips parted, and Yuffie felt her entire body tingling. Never had she felt anything like that before, but it was a feeling that she wished she could experience every day.
Now, as she stood outside, under the falling Christmas snow, looking into the sparkling white that fell gently about her, she sighed. It had been a one time thing, and though Vincent said nothing, she knew that she should treasure that moment.
She was in love with Vincent Valentine; there was no denying it. Still, he could not return that love, and she knew that the only thing she could do would be to hold onto that feeling as long as she could. Tears formed in her eyes as she realized that there was no amount of materia in this world that could possibly give her that feeling she had just experienced.
"Yuffie…" she heard Vincent say quietly, his steps pacing through the snow behind her. She turned to see him walking through the white. His red and black figure seemed so out of place in the pale snow around them, but all of it seemed to blur in the tears falling from her eyes.
"Vincent…" she whispered, but he simply placed his cloak around her, holding her close. Looking up into the sky, he spoke quietly to her. Yuffie looked up to his face a few inches above hers, and leaned against his side, his body surprisingly warm.
"Yuffie…I do not claim to know everything that this planet presents to me. I cannot say that I understand its mysteries, nor the hidden beauties. I do know one thing though for certain though; know matter what this world has to put before us, no matter what I see in my lifetime…I wish to hold you close to me, to stay with you just as we are now…"
Yuffie could not understand what Vincent was saying. Didn't he just say how strongly he felt for Lucrecia five minutes ago? As though reading her mind, he continued.
"You are right, in some respects, about my feelings…Lucrecia, however dear to me…she was never truly mine…she was split between two people, and as I think on it, it was almost unfair of me to expect her to chose me…however much it pains me to admit it…"
Snowflakes fluttering through the air and landing on her eyelashes, Yuffie smiled and wiped away a tear. Vincent turned his gaze to look into Yuffie's eyes again, this time bearing neither a cold, distant look, nor an angry one. This one made Yuffie's heart dance like the snow around them, for it was a look of love, with a gentle touch that she had never seen in those crimson orbs before. They presented a question, very plainly and simply, and Yuffie knew the answer.
Leaning forward, she kissed him again, this time bringing her arms around his neck. He did the same, embracing her and holding her closely, the two of them standing still under the silent eyes of the peaceful, crystalline flakes falling around them.