This is a oneshot in honor of Valentine's day, but does not actually occur on Valentine's Day. I hope you all enjoy it, and I'd like to thank you for reading! Happy V Day!

Disclaimer: If I owned FF7, Vincent and Yuffie would have some censored stuff going on in the scene in DOC when she saves him...

"Good morning, Vinnie," cried a chipper voice. A petite girl with dark Wutain tresses matted from sleep, bounded into the kitchen of Shinra Manor, where she resided with the ever-brooding Vincent Valentine after his return from the Omega Incident. They had a strictly, 'friends inhabiting the same mansion,' kind of rooming agreement, but Yuffie had always had a huge crush on Vincent. Only after she found him with the Protomateria ripped out of his chest, lying motionless on the floor, did the ninja realize how much she loved Vincent – of course, she'd never tell him that.

"…" Vincent's usual reply.

Yuffie beamed in return and poured a steaming cup of dark brew coffee – that Vincent had made for himself, and himself alone – and took her seat beside him at the kitchen table, adding salt to the wound when she stole the apple slices off of his plate and stuffed them into her mouth with no regard for common courtesy.

"That's good!" Yuffie replied to his non-answer. She could understand Vincentathy, her word for the telepathic communication in which Vincent proved himself to be fluent in. "I'm glad you slept well! I did, too, 'cept, I dreamt that an evil Tonberry grabbed me and took my materia, and I had to chase him across the Northern Continent! But when I caught him, he tore my favorite ribbon and he ate my materia! And it was a Leviathan Summon, too! Can you believe how cruel it was!?"

"…"

"I'm glad it was only a dream, too," Yuffie commented, fingering the ribbon tied around her head. She crunched on Vincent's apple slices and sipped at her scalding and bitter coffee. After a moment, she sighed.

"Did you dream about her?"

"…"

Yuffie set the half eaten green apple slice on her plate, eyeing it miserably. After all this time, and he still hadn't moved on. She knew he hadn't. He talked in his sleep.

Yuffie pushed away from the table, not even bothering with her usual babble as she set her plate in the sink and ran the water, rinsing it of the sweet juice from the fruit. She kept her eyes on the plate, but she could feel Vincent's crimson gaze on her. He was Yuffiepathic as much as she had Vincentathy.

"No, Vince, I don't want to talk about it." Yuffie scrubbed at her plate, refusing to meet his blood-red gaze with her steely, grey-brown one.

"…"

"Oh, shut up, Vincent!" Yuffie hissed, ignoring the fact that Vincent had never opened his mouth to begin with. "I get it, 'kay? It's cool, I understand. You've got those stupid sins to atone for, and a love to morn for, and Vincent-y things to do."

Yuffie exited the kitchen, leaving Vincent to debate whether or not he wanted to go after her. After a minute or so of her absence, Vincent felt the silence sink in. It was usually all he could ask for – no chatty ninja around to harass him.

But, no, this was different. He had upset her. He didn't like it to begin with when she was upset, but he loathed for her to be upset with him. Vincent rose from the table and followed the footsteps of the ninja, intent on fixing the problem. With as few spoken words as possible, of course.

"..."

Vincent leaned against the threshold of Yuffie's bedroom, watching the dark haired girl clean and polish Conformer. The weapon gleamed dangerously in her hand, and Vincent considered coming back at a time when he wasn't within striking distance of the lethal shuriken.

"Vinnie, please, just go find some virgin to drink blood from or something, I've got things to do." Vincent rolled his red eyes at the vampire joke and raised one inky eyebrow at the last comment.

"…"

"Yes, Vinnie. 'Things to do' does apply to polishing Conformer, and you are so not helping your vampire situation, so no! I will not stop making vampire jokes!"

Vincent pushed away from the doorway and crossed his arms, facing the ninja. She picked up a cloth and poured a liquid on it, sliding the material along her weapon with delicacy and precision.

"…"

Crouching beside the cross-legged ninja on the floor, the gunslinger gripped Yuffie's chin in his hand, jerking it up to force her to look into his eyes. He was startled to find a despondency drifting there, where only joy and cheer should ever be.

"Vince," Yuffie pleaded softly, her eyes darting to stare at the ground and not his calculating eyes. "Just leave me alone. I need to be alone right now, and then I'll be fine."

Onyx colored hair swayed when Vincent shook his head. "…"

Huffing, Yuffie pushed Vincent back and stood. She spun around and went to the window overlooking Nibelheim. She felt the chill of metal and the warmth of skin on her bare shoulders. Yuffie kept her eyes forward, rubbing one of her arms in a comforting manner.

"…"

The ninja's head hung miserably and she leaned against the cool windowpane, pressing her hand to it and not considering the smudge marks it would leave. Bitterly, Yuffie snapped, "I'm done with this, Valentine!"

When she spoke his last name, he knew that he was in trouble. Yuffie referred to Vincent by his full name when she jokingly scolded him, his first name when he pissed her off, and only ever used his last name alone when she was seconds from using her shuriken to castrate him.

"When you want to talk for real, come and find me. No – forget it. You don't even have to come and find me. Goodbye, Vincent."

The ninja swept past the silent gunslinger, her gaze steely and mouth pulled into a taut line. He watched her make her way from her bedroom, down the stairs, and to the front door, the entire time, the brooding man hot on her heels.

"…"

Yuffie opened the door and stepped out, slamming it in Vincent's face. He sighed heavily, his hand still outstretched from where he tried to stop her. The gunslinger hung his head, his dark hair falling to shield his eyes.

"Yuffie…"

"Hiya, Teef!" Yuffie greeted, walking into the bar in Edge. Tifa glanced up from cleaning her glasses and beamed warmly, excitement in her eyes.

"Yuffie!" The barmaid ran to the ninja and scooped her up, embracing her tightly. "We've missed you! You need to tell Vincent that he has to let you out of the manor every now and then!"

At the mention of Vincent, Yuffie's face fell, but only slightly. If Tifa were not as perceptive as she was, she might have missed the moment altogether. "What? What's wrong, Yuffs? Oh, no, did something happen?"

Tifa took Yuffie's hand and pulled her into a booth, sitting across from the ninja. Yuffie twiddled her fingers, keeping her eyes trained on her hands. "I had a fight with Vincent – if you can even call it that. It was more like a one-sided convo with Vincent being all, 'dotdotdot,' and stuff. Actually, that was why we were fighting. I wanted him to talk to me or to go away. He didn't do either, so I left."

"Left?" Tifa questioned, her head cocked. She'd been listening intently, frowning at Yuffie's tale.

"Left, like, I don't live with Vincent anymore." Yuffie paused, biting her lip. "Oh, Leviathan! That was the last time I was gonna be at the manor. That was the last time I was going to have breakfast with Vincent! That was the last time I was going to wake up and have him there!"

Tifa placed one of her hands on Yuffie's. "Yuffs, it's okay. I'm sure you and Vincent will work it out-"

The door opened and a gust of wind blew in. Tifa glanced at the door, Yuffie refused to turn and look.

"Hello, Vincent," Tifa greeted, her tone warm. "It's nice to see you again! Can I get you something?"

"Hello, Tifa. It's nice to see you, too. I'm not here for a drink." The gunslinger left it at that, and the kunoichi slid down in the booth, tears springing to her eyes. So he'd talk to Tifa, but she wasn't worthy enough for him to talk to her!

Tifa nodded and stood from the booth, patting Yuffie's shoulder encouragingly as she made her way to the bar counter. Yuffie remained motionless, her lip bleeding from the pressure her teeth applied.

The sound of metal on floor alerted Yuffie's ninja senses to Vincent's nearing her. She tapped the tabletop with her nails, the nails of her other hand biting into the flesh of her closed fist.

Vincent sat down across from the spiteful woman, crossing his arms and scrutinizing her with his red eyed gaze.

"…"

"That's it!" Yuffie screeched, and Tifa winced, slipping out of the room before all Hell broke loose and she was caught dancing with the demons. Vincent remained stoic, watching Yuffie burst with anger. He felt a pang at his heart when a tear slid down her cheek.

"You are such a jerk, Valentine!" Yuffie pleaded, but she didn't know what for. "You talk in your sleep to Lucrecia – oh, don't look at me like that, because I hear you every damn night! You talk to Tifa and tell her about how you're, 'soooooo glad to see her'! Why is it you talk to everyone but me!? I've been here for you, and you sit there and stare at me like I'm as boring as the plaster on your ceiling!"

Vincent's eyes widened. So that's what this is about.

The gunslinger rose languidly, towering over the ninja. He cocked his head at her.

"I apologize, Yuffie. I believed that when two people share something special, no words are needed."

"H – huh?" Yuffie stuttered, her heart fluttering. Vincent sighed, but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I talk to Lucrecia in my sleep, because I no longer have a bond with her. I have to tell her what happens in my life for her to understand. It is not she that I love now, nor have I loved her for some time. I talk to Tifa because she is my friend as well as yours, and it would be unkind and rude to not acknowledge her."

Vincent paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I remain silent with you because you understand me without my saying a word to you. And when there is silence, no one else can hear what we share; it is special and uniquely ours."

Yuffie blushed a crimson that rivaled Vincent's cloak. Shyly, she breathed, "If we don't need words, then you know exactly what I want right now."

Vincent smiled at his ninja and lowered his lips to hers gently, the flesh melding together perfectly. The ninja closed her eyes, leaning into the kiss and wrapping her arms around Vincent's neck, his arms encircling her tiny waist to hold her tightly against him. When he pulled back, they gazed into each other's eyes affectionately. Yuffie grinned, suddenly understanding.

They didn't need words to say 'I love you.' Words failed them, for nothing spoken could ever describe the way the gunslinger felt for his ninja, and the way she felt for him.

Hope you enjoyed, and please please please review! Have an ultra happy Vincent Day!