Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fragments ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 2



"Do you have any two's?"

"Yuffie, I don't understand why we have to play this--"

"Do you have any *two's*?!?"

"...Go fish."

The young ninja grinned and took a card from the deck as they sat on the floor facing each other. "Was that so hard?"

Vincent rolled his garnet eyes, which caught the light from the roaring fire like luminous jewels. "All right, then. Do you have any sixes?"

"Weeeell, let's see. I'll have to think about that." She fanned through her cards, and a mischievous smile spread across her youthful face as she looked up at him. "No, I'm sorry, Vinnie. I've never had six before!!"

At this Yuffie began cracking up, slapping her hand against her knee. Vincent sighed heavily and waited for her to compose herself. Watching her laugh mirthfully, she appeared to the older man the embodiment of innocent, childlike joy. He vaguely remembered once having that.

Finally she took a deep breath and stared at him. "Oh, come on, Vinnie, you know that was funny."

He averted his gaze, but Yuffie thought she detected something like amusement flicker in those ruby orbs, if only briefly.

"Oh... wait... What was that?" she said, edging closer to him. "Was that... Did I just see the beginning of a smile?"

"I don't smile, Yuffie."

"Ohhh, I bet I can make you smile, Vinnie!" With that, she reached up and tickled his sides mercilessly. Much to her surprise, she discovered that Vincent was *extremely* ticklish, and she shrieked as he fell onto his back, pulling her with him to the carpet.

She looked up at him in mock irritation. "Gawd, if I had known you were so ticklish..." She trailed off when her eyes fell upon the man's face.

Vincent Valentine was smiling with the warm and radiant force of a genuine smile. It was the kind of unrestrained smile that crinkled his garnet eyes and lit up his normally cold, dark face.

Yuffie gaped at him in amazement. Who knew that just one change of facial expression could make him look so warm, so friendly... so handsome! "Vincent," she breathed, unable to take her eyes off him. "Why in God's name don't you smile more often?"

Then just like that, it was gone. His dazzling smile faded, and he was once again the same cold, stoic man who had once intimidated her. But after seeing him like that, even if it was only for a few seconds, she would never be afraid of Vincent Valentine again. The person he was inside radiated from that one smile.

Suddenly the front door flew open. Yuffie jumped away, and Vincent sat up straight as Cloud came inside, brushing snow off packages of takeout.

"Good Lord, it's freezing," he said, his teeth chattering. "Where's Tifa?"

"She's setting the table in the dining room," replied Yuffie.

"Well, tell her to set another place." He pulled a blanket out of the closet by the door.

Vincent's brow creased. "Why?"

Cloud took a breath. "Guys, I have someone you need to meet." Vincent and Yuffie looked at each other, and Cloud motioned to someone on the porch to come inside. The two gasped as Rufus Shin-ra stepped into the foyer shyly and waved to them.

"Oh, my Gawd!" exclaimed Yuffie. "You're--"

Vincent lifted his claw to silence her and noticed Rufus staring at the metal appendage uneasily. "Something is obviously wrong," he said quietly.

Cloud leaned in close to them. "Vincent's right, Yuffie. He has amnesia, so don't mention anything objectionable that he might have done. Anyway," he said cheerfully. "I'll help Tifa while you three get... acquainted."

After he left, the frail young man fingered the blanket Cloud had given him nervously.

"Uh, oh yeah!" said Yuffie, smiling amicably. "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, and this is my friend Vincent Valentine. Don't worry, he doesn't bite."

The gunslinger ignored this comment and bowed slightly. "Pleased to... meet you."

"He likes to be called Vinnie," added Yuffie, grinning.

"She's lying," he retorted, though he restrained another smile. Yuffie wished with all her heart he hadn't.

The slender boy smiled innocently, and Yuffie had to wonder what had happened to him. He used to be such a stuck-up brat! But now he was shy, sweet, and confused. He had once been strong, proud, and very attractive. Now he was extremely underfed, with bony limbs, gaunt cheekbones, and dark circles under his beautiful blue eyes. It must have been quite a while since the last time he ate. Overall, a very obvious and inexplicable change had taken place. Why didn't he remember anything?

She saw Rufus shiver, and Yuffie blinked. "Oh, you must be so cold! Come with me and warm up by the fireplace." She held out her hand, and he reluctantly placed his frail one in hers as they sat down by the cozy, inviting fire.

"Cloud tells me my name is Rufus," he said, speaking for the first time since he arrived. His voice was soft and sweet. "I don't really like that name, but that's what it is, right?"

"That's right," said Vincent, for some reason staring at Rufus and Yuffie's intertwined fingers. "You were the son of the late president of a powerful energy company called Shin-ra, Inc." He didn't bother to mention that the young man should have been killed by an explosion at Shin-ra headquarters.

Rufus frowned. "The 'late' president? You mean, he's dead?" He looked down at the floor. "I don't even remember my father, and now I find out he's dead."

"Don't worry," added Vincent quickly. "He was never much of a father to begin with."

"I... I don't know why I don't remember anything," the boy whispered forlornly, and Yuffie squeezed his hand. He looked up at her and blushed.

"We'll help you in any way we can," she said earnestly, looking straight into his ocean blue eyes. There was something so special about him; she could already tell. Even though he had done such horrible things in the past, even though he was three years older than her, he was now so cute and naive, that she just had to help him.



"So, Yuffie, dare I ask what you did today?" asked Cloud, his mouth full of shrimp.

"Let's see," she replied, fishing through her curry with her chopsticks. "Oh! I hid in the loft of the chocobo stable, and when Vincent came in, I cracked an egg on his head."

At this the spiky-haired man burst out laughing, spraying shrimp everywhere. As Tifa, Vincent, and Rufus shielded their faces, the materia hunter continued.

"And then Tifa braided my hair," she said, recalling her day, "And then Vincent and I played Go Fish after he got out of the shower..." Her face turned red, and she cleared her throat. "Oh yeah! I got Vincent to smile!!"

Tifa's auburn eyes widened. "What!? And I wasn't there to see it? Dang it!" She kicked the table leg. "What did he look like?"

Yuffie breathed in exaggerated indulgence. "Ohhh, just gorgeous!!"

"If only I had been there," said Tifa, sighing.

Vincent was clearly uncomfortable with this conversation.

Rufus looked up from his bowl of yakisoba, which Vincent had generously given to him. "What?" he said, slurping the noodles noisily. "He never smiles or something?"

"That would be an understatement," replied Cloud, visibly annoyed. "Now are we all done drooling over Mr. Valentine, ladies?"

"Almost," said Yuffie cheerfully. "Anyway, he looked so *different* from what he usually looks like! I just wish he'd smile more often, because he has such a sweet smile."

"I'll ignore the fact that you're all talking about me as though I'm not in the room," said Vincent, standing up. "May I take your dishes, Rufus?"

The young man looked down at his bowl and realized he had consumed his dinner. "Oh, okay, thank you."

The tall, dark man carried the dishes out of the dining room, but not before turning around to unleash another dazzling smile. The sound of chopsticks hitting china reverbated off the walls.



"Ohhh, my God, Yuffie," said Tifa dreamily as the two young women washed the dishes. "You were so right! Vincent could be a freakin' model for the Costa del Sol calendar if he smiled like that all the time."

"Ugh, I know," replied Yuffie. "It's such a shame he wastes his good looks." She propped her elbows against the counter. "You know, I used to be kind of afraid of him. And I know that's not unreasonable, because he used to be a Turk. But after seeing him smile, I just can't be intimidated by him! He shows who he really is whenever he smiles."

"Huh. ...Oh, I get it!" Tifa exclaimed, grinning slyly at the teenager. "Getting the hots for our dear 'Vinnie', eh?"

"I don't have a crush on Vincent!" she shouted, perhaps a little too loudly. "Besides," she added, remembering to lower her voice, "isn't he still, you know. In love with that one girl? Lucrecia?"

Before the young woman could answer, Cloud came into the kitchen. "Excuse me girls, the no-longer-wanted husband needs to get a beer to ease the pain of rejection."

"Aww, sweetie!" Tifa laughed and wrapped her arms around him. "I still love you more than I love anything else, even cheesecake."

Cloud smiled and kissed her forehead. "All right. It's good to know you hold me in such high esteem."

"I uh, think I'll leave before it gets too graphic for a minor like me," said Yuffie, walking out of the kitchen. She yawned and sat down beside Rufus on the couch. "Hey, Rufus, oh pal o' mine."

He grinned charmingly. "Hi, Yuffie."

*What a sweetheart!* she thought, smiling at him. *If he wasn't so scrawny, he'd be really cute.*

She looked around the living room. "Where's Vincent?"

"He went upstairs to get his blankets. He said I can have the guest room, and he'll sleep on the couch."

Yuffie smiled thoughtfully. "He is so nice when he wants to be."

Rufus thought he heard something in her voice, and he sighed. Yuffie turned to look at him.

"What?"

"...Nothing."

"What?"

"Not hing."

"What?"

"Nothing!"

She laughed. "Yeah, right, it's nothing. I'll let you go for now, I guess. Do you have a toothbrush?"

The frail young man looked blank.

"What am I thinking?" she instantly asked herself aloud. "You've been on the streets this whole time. Of course you don't have a toothbrush." She shrugged. "I have an extra one in my dresser. I'll go get it, 'kay?" She patted him on the knee and jumped out of the couch.

Rufus nodded, and she started to climb the stairs. "Yuffie?"

She stopped. "Yeah?"

He smiled shyly. "Thanks."

"No prob!" She stumbled the rest of the way up the stairs and sprinted to her room. After she dug through her disorderly drawers and pulled out a green toothbrush, she ran back down the hall, where she stopped when her eyes fell upon Vincent, who was laying blankets over the guest bed.

"Need help, Vinnie?" she asked, walking into the room.

He looked up at her. "No thank you," he said shortly, but not before glancing briefly at the object in her hand. "What's that?"

After a while she realized what he was talking about. "Oh! It's just a toothbrush. Rufus doesn't have one."

He nodded coolly and continued spreading the blankets. Yuffie looked at him awkwardly. He seemed rather pensive, like he had been thinking about something before she had come into the room. She was about to ask him what it was when he asked, "You've certainly taken a liking to the boy, haven't you?"

She blinked. Why did he care? "I guess so, yeah. He's really sweet, and he has nowhere else to go, so... I really want to help him."

Suddenly Vincent looked up at her sharply. "Though that is very noble of you to want to help him," he said sternly, his face close to hers, "you mustn't forget that he is still Rufus Shin-ra. The same Rufus Shin-ra who was the head of Shin-ra, Inc., who kidnapped Aeris."

"I know that," replied Yuffie defensively. "I haven't forgotten. But *he* doesn't know that, so there's no reason to resent him for something he doesn't even remember he did. That's not fair to him."

He stared at her for a long time, until finally he gathered his blankets in his arms. "Fair or not, Yuffie, you had better know what you're getting into before you get too close to him." With that he brushed coldly past her out of the room.

Yuffie sat down on the bed, not fully believing what had just happened. Why had Vincent been so harsh with her? Was he...? No! How could he be jealous? He never even liked her to begin with. He was much older than her, and probably thought what everyone else thought about her. She was an immature pest; a bothersome little mosquito that buzzed in his ears and made him want to tear her limb from limb.

No, he wasn't jealous. He was too good to ever have feelings for her...

"Yuffie?"

The girl looked up in surprise, but then relaxed as she saw Rufus leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing borrowed pajamas from Cloud that were much too big for him, and the collar slid off his thin shoulder. He fumbled to pull it back up, and he yawned. "I'm tired."

"Oh, okay." She stood up and smoothed over the place where she had been sitting. She remembered the toothbrush and put it in Rufus' hand. "Go brush your teeth first."

"But I'm tiiired," he protested, his eyelids heavy.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. She felt like his mother. Then she realized it had probably been a very long time since he slept in a warm, soft bed. "All right, you win." She waited until he crawled under the blankets, and switched off the light. "Good night, Rufus."

"Wait, don't leave yet!"

She stopped. "Umm, okay." She turned on the bedside lamp and sat down on the edge of the bed.

He smiled up at her. "You're so nice, Yuffie."

"Oh, thank you," she said, blushing. "You're the first person who's ever told me that."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Really? How can that be? It's true." He looked down at his hands, which were fingering the edge of the bedspread restlessly. "I mean, Cloud and Tifa took me in, and Vincent is very generous. But you were friendly to me from the start. I don't think I've ever met anyone as nice as you."

Her smile grew even wider, until at last she leaned down and hugged him tightly. He felt so fragile in her arms, and at that moment all she wanted to do was protect him. Finally she found enough self-restraint to let go. "And I think you're just the sweetest guy I've ever met, Rufus."

He blushed, momentarily forgetting that he was so exhausted. He simply looked at the girl bashfully.

She ruffled his unruly blonde hair and stood up. "Good night for real this time, Rufus."

He smiled softly, trying to calm his heart. "Good night, Yuffie."