To my Valentine.

Dracoqueen22; You don’t know how flattered I am suddenly. I’m a huge fan of your fanfics, especially your Shattered stories and A Fate Worse than Death [funniest thing EVER]. And it really pleases me that you think its good so far. ^^;

And I know how you feel about the Yuffentine thing. We weren’t really Yuffentines ourselves, it took us a while to ease into the couple, and the idea of them being all “omglovelolcuddlesexyay” was really gross. XD Writing a Yuffentine and staying in character is haaard, so we figured we would write about how much they hated each other! Because, whether you’re a Yuffentine or not, its amusing to see them bashing each other. Muwaha. Thank you so so so sooo much for the review.

Whoo, another chapter from Vincent. Yuffie will probably soon follow, but Sam’s asleep right now, thus most likely will not update until later. I changed the point of view from Vincent’s letter, to a third person view of the situation in which he was thinking these. If you hate me for it, please tell me, and if you love the idea, also tell me. I personally wanted to try it because it would be a lot less confusing. Besides, it would be uninteresting if the entire fanfiction was all letters, wouldn’t it?

----

Dear Yuffie,

Well, isn’t this convenient.

So much has happened in the last few hours, it actually amazes me.

And, after all that, my wish has been unfulfilled, and all four of us are just sitting here, in utter silence.

Aside from your persistent ramblings, of course. Though they have diminished by now.

I hope you are happy, child. You have reached the point where my eardrums pound repeatedly each time you speak. From the battle with the Materia Keeper, through Rocket Town, and now here, in this vast ocean, atop the Tiny Bronco, you have not stopped speaking. I suppose I can somewhat pity you, because you are young and not very well-built, for having to walk from Nibelheim to Rocket Town without rest. But that certainly does not mean that you must whine about it at a constant pace. You complain of pain. You do not even know what pain is. You are far too young, too inexperienced, to know true pain.

I do fear I finally snapped after an hour of hearing your voice, though. As you may very well remember...

We had not even reached the bottom of the foothill. In fact, we had only just defeated the creature that stood as a blunt obstacle. Your whimpers, and moaning pierced my ears. I simply could not stand it a moment longer. I turned on my heel, and quite directly told you to shut your mouth and grow up. I am usually not that brash, but you were biting on my last nerve ending. Did I expect you to step across your direct line of immaturity and grip a stone in your hand, hurling it at me as I turned away?

No. But you did it regardless, did you not?

I really do hope you enjoy those scratches across your side. Your weapon is not the only thing that is sharp, my young cohort, I have my own ways of hurting. You did not think that these claws are just there for reminder and to look atrocious, now did you? Though I may be older than you, I am far from sluggish, and you were unluckily slow that time.

If you believe me to be a pushover because I prefer to be a gentleman, you are horribly wrong, Yuffie Kisaragi. Despite what you consider, I will not tolerate such behavior from an individual such as yourself. Even if I attempt to be civil to you, though in the back of my mentality I loathe you to no extent, you plainly disregard my effort. So, as the old saying goes, little ninja, “Two can play at this game.”

I despise using that phrase as well, because of its childish intentions, however, it is the best way to put it.

You claim that my actions upset you, that my way of life is not fit to your expectations? You criticize my procedures, when you yourself are in no way perfect? Or even mildly close to such a title?

... Alright, Miss Kisaragi.

You have it your way for now. I will endure your games, your mockery, your criticism. I will abide by your rules. But I will, in no way, change myself to fit your standards.

And I will definitely not allow myself to be humiliated by you, in any way. So if you have any such intentions, please rid your mind of them now. I will be on your back about every detail of your outward actions. If you miss a hit on an opponent, you had best remind yourself that I will mention it. If you are wrong about directions, or get our group lost, I will scold you for it.

Your immaturity will not be passed off as something that shall not be dealt with.

... I feel as though I have ranted. My emotions seem to have gotten the better of me.

I do not understand why you make me so infuriated. Even after my extended reasoning...

Well. Now that we have Cid Highwind in our group, I am vaguely delighted that Cloud has announced that you will not accompany us for the time being, as soon as we reach land. And for some unfathomable reasoning, which I cannot quite grasp yet, I actually have enjoyed my short time in the pilot’s company. He is... I cannot explain. I suppose it is his attitude that really gets me. Even though I feel sympathy for Shera, the poor woman has to deal with his anger as we are not all so fortunate, his personality truly gets to me. He calls us “numbskulls” for going on this journey, which I must agree with in different terms, yet he decides to join nevertheless. And he is so forward about it! As if he is elated with the idea of going on an escapade that very well may take his life away! How strange, yet oddly alluring.

I also cannot help but smile to myself each time he refers to you as a “brat” and a “snotty kid.” I am glad he is so forthright with you, it is about time someone was. Even if you are as disrespectful to him as he is to you. Calling him an old man... You cannot even respect your elders. Were you not taught to as a child?

Hm. I will admit one thing, though not directly to you. You were correct about President Rufus Shinra and his administration. They... are certainly not what I expected. Shin-Ra is not as well kept as I thought it would be. Now that I am aware of how long I have been asleep, I suppose it comes as no surprise that the head of Space Exploration was so painfully easy to defeat compared to when I was in Shin-Ra. What a joke.

And even if I only got a quick glimpse of the new President Rufus Shinra, he seems young. Even if Cloud is attentive of his intentions, I still cannot understand why he is so worried. It is Sephiroth we must be concerned of, is it not?

---

Vincent Valentine’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the youngest of the group’s voice. Pushing them to the back of his mind, for now, he turned his head slightly to glance at her, narrowing his crimson eyes slightly. Silence was not an occurrence that was often in this group, and it was a pleasure to hear nothing but the light crashing of waves against the side of the Tiny Bronco, rocking waters lulling the gunman with it’s pleasant atmosphere. Now such a thing seemed so far away. What a shame, but it seemed as though it could not be helped as the ex-Turk listened to the girl babble.

“Hey, hey HEY! Listen, let’s head west!”

Cid Highwind, the most recent member of AVALANCHE, swatted his hand a bit as if he were brushing the idea right out of the air.

“Ain’t nothin’ over there, ‘cept some long strip of land and a town. We’re better off gettin’ to some bigger area. Like up ahead there.” With his statement, he took his hand and motioned toward a familiar area, a bit far off but still recognizable, the land where Gongaga rested.

Cloud Strife shook his head slightly. “We’ve already been there. We didn’t find much. Even if its out of our way, we haven’t been there before. Let’s just hurry there so that we can call the others on PHS, and tell them to meet up.”

A snicker from Yuffie’s direction. Which caused a light eyebrow arch from Vincent.

“Ah, fuck. Whatever. The brat gets her way this time, I ‘spose.” Cid took a long drag from his cigarette, mumbling a bit. “And I ain’t no maritime man or nothin’ but if I were, I’d suggest we go past what we see. But I’ll be damned if the lil’ snot’s right. West it is.”

Though not intentionally, Vincent spoke up. “It would be best if we healed ahead of time.”

“Eh? Whyssat, Vince?” Cid inquired toward the man.

Ironically enough, the nickname didn’t bother the gunman, coming from Cid it seemed more natural.

“The strip of land to the west is mostly terrain and mountain. So we will most likely be walking.”

Yuffie looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned to herself, looking quite pleased, despite the fact that she was starting to get sick to her stomach from the waves. “Yea! Vinny’s right! Better equip the right materia! There’s lotsa tough monsters around these parts!”

Cloud nodded a bit. “Okay. Vincent, you’ll stay in back as our healer. We don’t have Aeris, and you’re next best with magic. Plus you can attack long range. Cid and I will take the front line. Yuffie, you stay behind and we’ll call if we really need you.”

A small smile overtook Vincent’s lips as he nodded into his cloak, and Yuffie looked absolutely distraught.

“Whaaaaaaaa?! I have to stay behind!? Poo, you guys’re no fun...” She muttered and crossed her arms at her chest, pouting a bit.

A frustrated sigh escaped Cloud’s lips. “Cid’s stronger than you, and Vincent can handle magic. Sorry, but four’s a crowd.”

“’Sides, someone’s gotta look after my baby! I’ll be damned if I have her nabbed from me again!” Cid retorted, scoffing a bit.

A mumble from Yuffie. “If I’d known that, I woulda pushed Vincent off an hour ago…”

Vincent mentally scribbled something.

---

If I had known I would have to put up with your antics for a more extended period of time, trust me Yuffie Kisaragi, I would have thrown myself off.

Your sly outward expressions don’t fool me. You are up to something. I can tell. You are too anxious for someone who started vomiting into the sea after that witty remark.

Thank Leviathan for Karma, I suppose.

Sincerely,
Vincent Valentine.