Not quite sure where I was heading with this, but I think it turned out ok...
Disclaimer: I do not own Yuffie and Vincent, or any lines potentially borrowed from Fruits Basket.
"speaking"
'thoughts'
He was breathing heavily. His heart was racing, his body trembling. All around him was destruction and in the midst of it all stood… Yuffie. Hopes he'd never acknowledged out loud died an instant death at the look on her face.
She was scared, horrified, of him, of what he'd done. Scared of the mutilated bodies, scared of the devastation. And knowing that she was scared hurt him more than he'd ever imagined.
Yet, despite her fear, Yuffie stepped towards him. Her eyes were wide, reminding him of the cliché, the deer in the headlights.
"Go away." His voice was intentionally harsh. "Get lost!"
Yuffie stopped dead in her tracks, hurt clearly visable on her face.
'If I'm going to lose you, I... I need to make it permanent; I have to kill every feeling you've ever had for me.' He couldn't stand looking at her with that expression on her face. "Go away Yuffie, and don't bother coming back!"
He saw her swallow, before she stepped forwards again, reaching out to him.
"Don't touch me!" he pushed her away violently using his metal gauntlet, throwing Yuffie to the floor. 'Stop it... I'm begging you..., please stop. I'm just going to hurt you even more.'
When she stayed, unmoving from her crumpled position on the floor, Vincent turned away, aware that this was the last time he'd ever see her.
Suddenly, he was knocked sideways by the weight of a small body latching onto his gauntlet. "Yuffie…?"
Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she lifted her head to look at him. "Don't go." Her voice was just a whisper. "Don't leave!"
"Yuffie…" His voice was reluctant. "Look at me... I'm a monster."
"I... don't believe you're a monster." Her dark eyes were compelling. "I can see... what you are. And if I'm honest, it scares me. But what scares me more is that if I let go, I'll never see you again. I don't care if you truly were a monster, I love you. All I want is for us to be together. All of us. Please…" Her eyes, still large and filled with tears, remained steady on his face.
He felt something hard and ugly inside of him dissolve at little, become a little cleaner. "It's…" His mouth was dry. Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms, holding her to him tightly. "It's okay if you were scared… being scared means that you're actually... looking at me, that you really see me."
It was easier to talk, with her in his arms, her face buried in his cloak. Gently, he stroked her hair with his hand. "You…" He cleared his throat, a little embarrassed. "You don't… have to love… everything about me."
Author's Note: I was inspired by an idea from Fruits Basket, that there are some people who need you to love everything about them and other people who don't.
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