This has been hanging around my laptop for quite some time and I finally decided to post it.

Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII.

Noticed

Peculiar. It was what I thought when I first saw him enter the ice cream shop. He was hard not to notice really, his appearance and actions were not what one would call common. He definitely stood out in the colorful, childish shop. He entered the shop daily though; it started a few years back around autumn.

The man's eyes are one of the first things I noticed about him. They were blood red. His long, almost black hair held back from his face by a red bandana. It darkly contrasted with his exceptionally pale skin. Black and red happened to be the only colors I ever saw him wearing. He was never dressed in casual clothing, but not too formal looking either. The man appeared to be in his late twenties. He never smiled, nor said anything except when placing his order. After a while, it was ready for him. Every day at eight thirty-five. He never missed a day and never was late.

The order was two ice creams, one chocolate and one vanilla. He asked for them in cups, not cones. However, he did not give the impression of being a cone sort of man. His appearance made him look too important to have ice cream melting down his hand. The man always sat in the front of the shop's window. A small table for two, he sat on the left and the right stayed empty. He placed the vanilla treat in front of him, and yet, always left it untouched. The chocolate was placed parallel to his own. Sometimes I would like to imagine that someone was sitting next to him, but in my mind, the image was blurry- Faceless.

I never understood why he did this. Why he waited until both treats had completely melted before leaving. Why he spent the energy and money on something he was not ever planning on enjoying.

The staff all had wild guess and stories surrounding the mysterious man; from straightforward craziness, to an endless battle fighting his temptations after losing weight. The accusations certainly were there, making him even more mystifying. I personally liked to think that he lost a child who he brought here before. He seemed to express that kind of lost, that kind of loneliness. I never held such sympathy for a person before.

Three years passed and nothing changed with his routine, every morning he never failed to show.

Until one day, she came in shortly after him.

A woman, she appeared to be in her early twenties, a little younger than he seemed to be. She was out of place next to him; she wore tight black jeans with a plain white shirt. Her red sneakers made me smile when she had first entered the shop, but that was before I took a good look at her. She had long, straight black hair. Her brown eyes were soft with kindness. However, those eyes were currently fogged red due to her tears.

I couldn't help but be entirely surprised by her entrance.

"You can't keep doing this! This is not what she would what- She didn't bring you back to life to allow you to slip back into emptiness." Her words, laced with understanding and sadness tore at my very core. The shop went completely silent. I had a sick feeling that the mystery that was this man was about to unravel. I suddenly realized that was not prepared, I hadn't expected this to ever really happen.

"Leave me be." I had forgotten how his voice sounded, how deep and empty it was. He was so emotionless, and like millions of times before I wondered what had happened to make him like this. To make him so detached.

"No! We have left you be for long enough. This stops now." I had to give this woman credit, even through her tears her voice was determined.

"You do not-"

"Vincent, we lost her too."

This hit him hard. I could tell by his sudden withdraw. He said nothing and looked over at the chocolate ice cream that had begun to melt in its spot on the table. The silence, trimmed with uneasy, felt nothing like the silence he sat in before. It seemed to be a lifetime before the woman spoke again. "Live, so when you meet her again you can tell her about all the things you did. Live for her."

"I will never love another." His words left his mouth strong, unwavering. I believed him. I knew with every fiber of my being that this man would never love a person the way he loved this unknown woman. His devotion for her was proof enough.

"No one is asking you to do that." This woman seemed to understand that, she seemed to know exactly how he felt.

My heart was beating wildly in my chest. Minutes flew by, not a word was exchanged anywhere within the shop.

"Very well." he finally stated and with a slight nod, he exited the shop.

He left.

The ice cream on the table was still melting, a symbol of his commitment. I could not believe he left before it finished melting. His routine broken after all this time.

The woman stood there, looking at the chocolate ice cream with tears streaming down her face.

My curiosity could no longer hold.

I slowly walked up to her.

She seemed to know exactly what I wanted as I stood there next to her. She began to explain, "It is really silly, so novel like. She loved him, but he was too blinded by his past to notice."

For a moment, I was afraid that she would not say any more than this, and maybe my eyes expressed that fear because after that moment she continued.

A broken laugh left her lips, "She use to beg him every morning to take her to get ice cream. 'It would be the perfect first date Vinnie.'" Her voice changed to mimic a woman I was suddenly captivated by. "'You would get vanilla, because you can't be seen with chocolate- it would totally ruin your badass image. And I would get chocolate because it's obviously the best favor!'"

I abruptly realized that this was not the story I had pictured, he did not have a child that was taken from him by a bitter ex-wife. It was so much worse than that. My fantasy of him walking in one day with a small child in hand was completely shattered, and it hurt so much more than I ever dreamed it would.

"She would rant about how they would sit by the window and when the sun hit her face, he would fall in love with her immediately. Her head never really left the clouds."

I needed to know what happened to her, and the woman next to me did not disappoint.

"They got into a fight one day when she demanded that he explain his feelings. Vincent just wasn't ready to let go of his past and hatful words were exchanged. They worked together. Have you heard of WRO?"

I nodded quickly, the nervousness of finally knowing eating away at me.

"Yes, well they were in a combat force together. Partners. He was angry and didn't show up to work that day. An attack in Kalm, she was trying to get a child out of a burning building. They told her it was hopeless, too dangerous. She didn't care, never had a knack for authority. Both she and the child died."

"I'm so sorry." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. However, I knew it wasn't enough. It was not ever going to be enough.

"Yuffie." she whispered softly under her breath.

"What?" I asked, confused by the randomness.

"Her name was Yuffie." I stared back down at the chocolate ice cream as the woman left. I finally had answers, had names. Yet, it felt nothing like I thought it would. The sadness was almost drowning me. After a while, I moved and went to toss the thoroughly melted treats in the trash.

The shop was quiet for the remainder of the day.

I went home and cried for that man and woman that never had a chance at love. Never in my life had I felt a connection to people I barely knew. They had affected me in a way that I would never forget. I knew at that moment that no one would ever touch my life the way they had. I couldn't help but feel bitter at the whole situation. Now and again life was just too cruel. It was not fair by any means.

I never saw him again.

Neither he nor the woman who shed light on the situation ever returned to the ice cream shop.

Yet, sometimes, when the light would reflect off the window and land on his table, I could picture them. Vincent and Yuffie, enjoying their ice cream. She would be looking out the window laughing at something she saw. He would be gazing at her with something keen to adoration.

The first date that they never had the privilege of sharing.

Well, please let me know what you thought! I would love some feedback since this is the only story I posted here where the narrator isn't a main character. Also, I have a somewhat completed version of this in Vincent's POV. So, if you guys are interested just say so and I can put it up. Thanks for reading!

Till next time,

Nami