Yuffie sat at the bar of the 7th Heaven, watching everyone celebrate the defeat of Sephiroth. No one had stopped to think that in half an hour it would be Valentines day. The day for love. She snorted as she thought of how Cloud would probably run across the city when Tifa remembered what day it was and yelled at him for not getting anything for her. It would be just like her to say that the fact that the world was almost destroyed was no excuse.

Yuffie looked up as she heard the chair beside her scrape across the floor. She smiled a little as Vincent sat down beside her, then returned to frowning at the counter top. She didn’t even feel like irritating him. She was always so chipper. And right now she was sick of it. Right now she felt like being as depressed at the average seventeen year old was these days.

“Something’s missing,” he said after a few minutes of silence.

Yuffie raised her eyebrows and looked at him. “What?”

He thought for a moment, while playing with a spare napkin on the counter.

“Your smile. You’re not smiling.”

She scoffed slightly to cover her surprise. “So? Since when do you care?” she practically snapped.

He shrugged, unfazed by her harsh tone. “Since you seem to be so different. You were fine this morning.”

Yuffie looked at the counter and refused to say anything. She wouldn’t let him know that she was upset over one little holiday.

“I’m going to bed,” she muttered. She got up and wove her way through the still crowded bar and into the dim hallway. She didn’t notice that Vincent had followed her.

“You’re upset about Valentines day, aren’t you?” His voice echoed through the shadows. She paused, her foot on the third step.

“No.”

“Yuffie, don’t lie. I know you. You’re a hyperactive seventeen year old that’s always on the go and always smiling. Right now the only reason,” He took her hand and pulled her back down the steps so that she stood next to him. “That you would be upset right now is because,” The clock chimed midnight. “It’s Valentines day and you think you’re all alone.”

Yuffie looked at the floor, refusing to meet his gaze, trying her best to ignore the tingling on her wrist where his hand still rested.

“I am alone Vincent, nothing will ever change that.”

She looked up in surprise when she heard him chuckle.

“Yuffie, you are not alone. You have never been alone and you never will be.” He raised his hand and rested it on her cheek. He leaned forward and Yuffie’s breath hitched slightly. He was a little too close for comfort. But then again maybe that was what he had in mind. He chuckled, as if he read her thoughts and his lips met hers.

Yuffie’s face bore a slightly surprised look as he pulled away smirking. His hand left her face and reached inside his cloak. He handed her a red rose and walked backwards toward the bar.

“Happy Valentines Day Yuffie,” he said and with a wink he disappeared through the door.

Yuffie stood staring at the flower in her hands and it was a good five minutes before she came to her senses and followed him.

“Happy Valentines Day,” she whispered right before she kissed him in front of everyone. The bar exploded into cheers, and Yuffie smiled. He was right. She wasn’t alone.