I'm too tired to write a proper author's note.

CHAPTER SIX

I would like to take this time to point out two things:

(It's actually just one thing with two subjects.)

What is Costa Del Sol?

Take a minute and think about it. Think long and hard, because your answer is a big part of the story. Well, it kind of is, not entirely. [Let's also note that I said KIND OF and not KINDA, because I have matured. Like an adult. I drink coffee now. (that was a lie)] But it's a big part of the story during this part.

And what is this part, you ask? I will now tell you what this part is.

Costa Del Sol is a tourist resort. Site. Hotstop. It is not a place in which you live. It is a place you visit momentarily and then you go back to your boring lives. It was created for fun and vacationing.

Now, Wutai, that was a place of honor. Wutai was not someplace where someone can go to have fun, hell, fun wasn't an option to anyone in Wutai unless you work your ass off for it. And even then you have to go through judgment and be shunned until you didn't give a crap anymore and just lived your own life. (That was a one sentence autobiography of my entire life.)

But Wutai was a place where only the good survived and the weak died off or manned the shops. Oh, and the women. The stupid women just stood there and made sushi.

Thank god I'm a wimpy little girl.

But I'm not wimpy, in any case or scenario. I am a full blown Wutaian raised ninja. That will never change. Even when I'm old and wrinkly, I will kick my grandchildren in the face.

So let's review:

Costa Del Sol is a place for people who want to relax and unwind and have a good time. It is not honorable in anyway except for winning the award for being the least honorable.

Wutai is a place where you can get your butt on a plate served to you before lunch. And also a place where you have to follow every guideline down to the use the chopsticks with the right hand's index and thumb and promptly- and I forgot the rule actually, so it doesn't even matter.

Okay, so, Wutai is cooler than any other place in this entire world. It is better than wherever the hell you grew up and wherever you will go. Costa Del Sol is a sissy beach that has good bars. The end.

That is why I interrupted Cid's sleep induced smoke and told him to turn around. We were going to Costa Del Sol.

It is the complete opposite of Wutai. It makes sense. Admit it.

Cid was angry at first.

"Ya wanna fuckin' tell me that you woke me up at fuckin' one in the mornin' so you could go see GOD DAMN Aerith," this part was a bit offensive, "and now you want me to turn in the complete other direction so we can go to the retarded resort shit thing," the shit was unnecessary. There is a ton of unnecessary cursing in this story, "and you never even give me a reason," he said and I understood his anger. I would have already sliced someone's head off if I was Cid. I was proud of him.

"My reason is," I started, making sure he was paying attention, "that I wanna run away, like we always used to," he was listening now, "and be dangerous. I want to sneak into the Costa Del Sol hotel where Barrett took that massive crap in their bathroom. And where Tifa got really sunburned and Cloud had to rub lotion on her. And where we can all relax. We work too hard, god damn it," and I said those last words normally, slipping off my tongue in a relaxed fashion, never emphasized, "and we just need to party."

"We partied like, two GOD DAMN days ago," and the relaxation was gone.

"This is true. But I did not enjoy it. Therefore we must try again," I told him.

It was silent for a moment and I thought about Vincent back in the kitchen, just standing there, doing nothing. But doing it like a cool person.

"Please?" I said, high pitched and sweetly, "I love you."

Cid bit on his cigarette angrily and awkwardly. His hands spun the steering wheel rapidly, making the Shera turn with insane speeds. I didn't feel sick, I felt okay.

"Don't be all cute now," he growled, "just sit your ass down or go to bed. And I expect some fucking feast in the morning. And ya'll gotta slave over it, too, with ya own two hands. Sweat and tears in those eggs," he spoke.

"I could make you a literal bloody mary. And my blood tastes like Skittles," I said.

"That's just fucking creepy," He said, the Shera finally done turning, and he returned to his usual steering stance.

The sound of boots clanking on the metal floors entered the room. I turned my head to see Vincent peaking from out of the kitchen door.

"We have turned," he said.

I smiled, for once, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Where are we going to?" and all of his positivity and junk from only moments ago disappeared into the mechanical air. He was still Vincent, though.

"Where the babes run free and the water is aquamarine, my good friend," I told him, my hands on my hips, smiling proudly. He looked at me with what I saw as admiration.

"Costa Del Sol?" He let out, looking the complete opposite of brooding. I think he had that beam inside of him, just like I did.

"Yes," I said, as if this trip was going to change the entire world. As if by going to this beach that all of my worries will go away forever. But you can't run. Well, I can, I can run as fast as I can, forever and ever entire my lungs fall apart, but my father will always be behind me, Amaya right by his side. But I can hide. I can hide better than anyone.

I could hide in the sand and hide in the water. I could hide in the hotel sheets and could hide in Vincent's cloak. I could hide with Vincent, too. I could hide with him in the dark, kissing him until he forgets how to walk. I was going too far, but hell, I liked him. A lot. And I was going to have fun. Because girls just want to have fun.

Wimpy little girls have responsibilities, too. But I could push them aside until they were staring me in the eyes.

The sun burst into my eyes when I woke up at seven the next morning, having gone back to sleep after making sure Cid knew what he was doing and Vincent wasn't going to be creeping on me everywhere I go. It had taken me hours to fall back asleep, simply because I couldn't stop myself from staring out my bedside window and thinking about how much farther away I was getting from Wutai every passing second.

I felt sort of sad and guilty for awhile, because Godo was back there, in his little bed, probably thinking about me. I knew he loved me, and I loved him (Duh. He is my dad. I am not heartless.), and I was ripping myself away. It hurt, but not once did I even think about springing out of bed and telling Cid to turn around again. I was ready to run away.

My skin tingled at the soft sunlight touching my arm (and that was the most artistic sentence ever.) and I groaned in slight pleasure. It was nice to finally wake up in some place other than Wutai. But I had only been waking up in Wutai for two days. Whatever.

So now I flung the covers off of me, showing my black shorts and white tee-shirt to the world. (AKA my bedroom.) My hair was a huge poof at the top of my head, and when I went to the mirror to fix it, I laughed. Really laughed, for once, happy. Laugh. Happy. Nice. Fun. Beach. Yay.

I shook my head around and slipped into my sneakers, cracking my knuckles while I walked out the door due to habit. The pops of my joints was satisfying.

There was someone in the kitchen, I could deduct that from the sizzling and heavy aroma (What? Smell.) coming that was coming from down the hall. I followed it intensively, drool pooling in my mouth.

Oh man, I thought when I reached the end of the hall. My stomach clenched in need and want and out of deliciousness. I needed food, bad. Actual food. Not some stupid Bran Flakes that fill you up for ten minutes. I wanted bacon.

And bacon I got!

"Tifa!" I let out, slowly and deeply, almost in shock. She was so round I didn't know how she fit inside of the kitchen. Her stomach kept her a large gap away from the stove but that didn't stop her from poking on the slimy slips of bacon. The sizzles and pops made my stomach continue to grumble.

She didn't turn to me, just flipped over the bacon and opened her mouth, "We needed a vacation," she said.

I let out a sigh, but my shock still ran through my veins. I was silently expecting a loud outburst in anger and refusal from both Tifa and Cloud, and even Barrett (not Marlene, kids love the beach, right?) and Red and everyone except Cid and Vincent. But here she was, going along with everything. She wasn't angry. She was making me bacon. That was a good sign.

My stomach flipped like when I saw Vincent (what a girly thing to say-), "I love you," I droned out, long and deep and thankful. It was so true I loved everyone here more than anything SO MUCH LOVE-

"I love you too, Yuffie," Tifa said, smiling and salting the bacon. I thought of the shrimp I made what seemed like so long ago. That stupid shrimp, mocking me in the face, probably in the waste holding section of the Shera because Tifa must have….

That was unimportant. I was happy she even consumed them. I would have spit them back out immediately.

I missed Attaboy.

"Costa Del Sol will be good for me, good for us," she said, patting her stomach, "Cloud works himself too hard," and she was taking it so easily. And everything she said was true.

Cloud was working hard? Take a look at my fingernails, or my busted hand, or my rubbed away nerves. I was a wreck. I needed the sun and the sand and the comfy hotel beds.

"Thank you….Teefs…," I started and she finally turned around to look at me, a plate of bacon in her hand, "Thank you for understanding why…"

"We all understand why, Yuffie. We aren't ones to just sit back and watch. We've seen you," and they've seen me. They haven't just been walking by and caring about only themselves. No one on this ship is careless and without a heart. Vincent and Cloud may have been at one point, but now all of us were connected in so many more ways than one, and we had to look out for each other.

My lips upturned, "I haven't worn my bikini in months," and then I imagined Tifa in a bikini and baaaahahahahahahaaha.

"Oh lord," she let out and I don't know what it was about, "I'll have to go swimming in a tee shirt!"

She seemed legitimately horrified by that, her hand shooting up to her mouth and she was seriously beginning to cry until I said, "Wear a white one. Cloud will like that," to which she laughed hysterically and I stole a slice of bacon, shoving it inside of my mouth without hesitation. It was delicious and salty and anything you could ever hope and dream for. It was like unicorns.

So after Tifa stopped laughing and crying and whatever she was doing, she ate some bacon too, complaining about how it was going to make her get fat and I did nothing but choke on my spit and drink a glass of water.

Cloud joined us eventually, not saying a word and munching on a slip of bacon. The sound of crunches and chewing filled the kitchen I had spent so much time in. I finished my slice and reached for a second one, content with the fact that Tifa was berating me for eating with my hands. She was doing it too.

I then noticed that Cid had been flying the ship the entire night. (Well, since one in the morning.) and never stopped. I swallowed my bacon slowly and looked into the hall that led to the command room, trying to hear one of his grunts or spins of the wheel.

My plate was empty. I stood up, leaving the plate for Tifa to watch like a rude child.

I stomped into the command room, arms folded over my chest. I didn't know why I was angry.

"Cid," I said. He shot up from the slumped position, large bags under his eyes. His middle and index finger gripped an unlit cigarette.

"Whaaaat?" He grumbled, slipping back into his slumped position. He was barely gripping the steering wheel.

"You didn't have to do this, ya know," I told him despite last night's….fiasco.

"What are ya talking about? Course' I did," He said but he said it for all of the wrong reasons. It wasn't like 'Of course I did Yuffie, because I love you and I'm a nice person with a tender heart,' it was a 'Course I fucking did cause' you woke me up at GOD DAMN one in the morning to go to fuckin' Costa Del Sol.'

He said, "Course I fuckin' did cause' you woke me up at GOD DAMN one in the mornin' to go to fuckin' Costa Del Sol. But I can't say I'm complainin'."

Score. Last part was a bonus, admit it.

"You wanna see the babes, don't you," he snorted and I grinned, "like me!"

"Not a single part of ya is babe-o-licious," Cid said.

I choked on my spit for the second time that day.

"Cid. You just said-"

"I know what I GOD DAMN said," he said. I refrained from saying anything.

It was silent, until, "How far away are we from….wherever we are going…," the wise and deep voice of Red said from the door. I grinned more and ran over to him, hugging him. I loved Red, did you guys know that?

"We're going to Costa Del Sol, Red, buddy, ole pal!" I exclaimed, gripping the back of his neck in a strange sort of hug. He yelped in displeasure but I didn't stop.

"Enjoy it," I growled quietly into his ear and he obliged. He let me continue hugging him.

"Landin'," Cid said like it was simplest thing in the world.

I gaped. What?

"We're there already!" I shrieked.

"That's what happens when you fly throughout tha entire night," he shot back.

My eyes bulged out of my head. I let go of Red, stood up, and shot out of the room. I heard Cid's piercing laugh from behind me.

I ignored them. I ran past Tifa and Cloud in the kitchen, seeing their heads turn to look at me and my awesome speed. It felt good to turn down the curves quickly and swiftly, the momentum building up behind me. I breathed deep, sprinting down at all of my might and stopped abruptly at the bedroom door. I kicked it open with my foot the moment I stopped.

I needed to feel like a ninja. (And that just felt like a scene from Naruto-)

My drawer almost broke when I dug through it, searching for something I had brought along with me for this tiny weeny thought that I had in the back of my mind that was finally becoming a reality.

I threw shirts and shorts and pants and miniature training bras around the room until I reached my treasure. Grinning devilishly, I pulled out my one and only dark green (quite small) bikini. The cups were so small Marlene could wear them and the bottom was held together by only string but god damn it was wearing that bikini if it kills me.

So I got naked. And then I got un-naked by putting on a bikini.

I was wearing a bikini and I looked good. So I decided to go show it to Vincent.

Smirking, I exited my room in only a string bikini (bikini! Bikini! BIKINI!) and orange sneakers. I walked down the halls getting glares from the female workers (pansies) and looks from the male ones. (Nerds.)

When I reached Vincent's room I didn't stop myself from kicking open his door. I brought my foot up (a really stupid thing to do in a STRING BIKINI) and released it in a quick jolt of energy, bringing the door loose from its hinges and invading Vincent's privacy like bitches do.

Once again, my ninja way: Do it like a Bitch.

Vincent jumped up from his bed in a very un-Vincent like way, looking at my normally for 2.3 seconds and then looking at me like I was the sexiest thing he's ever laid eyes one. Bring it, Lucrecia.

"Get your beach on," I said and by that I meant 'take off your shirt.'

"Have we arrived?" he said after an extremely long silence oh awkwardness filled with him being awkward and looking at my bare stomach and toned abs and he probably wasn't doing that at all.

"No. I want you to get your beach on in the Shera."

"There is no need for sarcasm," and right when he shot back-

"THERE IS WHEN WE ARE AT A VACATION RESORT," I screamed, for no real reason. Barrett slammed his arm on the wall next to us and said nothing.

And just like that, he put his fingers on the rim of his shirt and pulled it over him head while he was in bed and it was like a porn film. I was almost expecting him to be like nooo Yuffie come join me in bedded but that never happened.

He was so gorgeous shirtless.

I was afraid there was going to be nothing underneath his bed sheets so I turned away, only to hear him let out a low chuckle and stand up.

"I don't have swimming trunks," and I let out a strange, "pppppffffttcchhh," in a sort of laughing manner. I didn't reply and stepped out into the hall, looking down both sides to see some workers and Marlene.

I opened my mouth, "Cloud!" I screeched, "Let Vincent borrow some of your…," I paused, "Board shorts," I said. That sounded cooler than…trunks. Trunks are where you store your groceries and dead people.

Cloud didn't reply and I didn't bother to wait for one, let alone walk down the hall and ask (force) him again.

I turned back around, "It has been settled."

"Yuffie," He said and I smiled.

"Go with the flow for once, please. Just have some fun. You need a tan," I told him. His skin was too creamy.

He grunted, still sitting in his bed like a little kid. He gripped his sheets.

It then hit me. Normally, Vincent would have gotten out of bed by now and probably would have left to go eat or something and probably would have actually had swim trunks. But none of those things happened. He was still sitting in bed, tense.

"O-Ooooh," I started, my eyes wide, "Wait…what?"

"Um," Vincent said.

"Why do you have a shirt but not…"

"Yuffie, leave."

Durrr hurr what? I was confused too, you guys! I didn't know why he went to bed with a shirt on but no pants! Was he doing the nasty? With Cid? With Red? With himself? Who knew! I certainly didn't.

But I had kicked open his door and promptly kicked the shit out of it (broke it) and when I tried to close it, it fell off of its hinges, leaving me holding an entire door with my left hand. I could have picked it up if I wanted to.

I echoed him, "Um."

It was silent.

"Good thing you have a bathroom!"

Vincent was left with no privacy. Because of me. I laughed quite loudly.

"I am not apologizing," I told him. He gripped his sheets tighter.

Vincent was lying in his bed without any pants and was going to have to make a mad dash totally naked into his bathroom. His dignity and pride would be thrown out the window.

He hadn't said anything in awhile.

"Well. I don't really know what's going on right now," and that was extremely true, "So I'm gonna go."

I turned around, Vincent's entire bedroom door in front of me, towering over me and nearly knocking me down. It wasn't knocking me down because it was heavy; it was knocking me down because it was at least two feet taller than me. It was actually quite light.

"Ey, Cloudey," I let out, loud enough for him to hear me from the kitchen, "I need some board shorts."

Turns out, Cid never found about the door. The workers replaced it (I had bribed them with gil. A whole gil.) in a span of five hours and by the time we were back from our amazing day at the beach, Vincent had regained his privacy. (But not his pride.)

I got Cloud's girliest board shorts from him on purpose because I'm terrible and mean. They weren't girly in anyway, but they were dark green and had little Hawaiian flowers on them and the only reason I got them was because they matched my BIKINI!

I had to throw them into Vincent's bathroom with my eyes closed, because by the time I went back to his room he had escaped to the confines of the….said room. So I didn't kick open the door than time, just flung it open and then flung in his pants. He didn't even say anything. Not even a thank you.

We were all outside by the time he came out (Cid had landed the ship, like, twenty minutes beforehand.), sipping at some sodas (I forced them to wait until five to get alcohol. My friends just loved getting wasted.) and basking in the sun.

Atleast, I was. Tifa was in a huge white tee-shirt and a black bikini underneath that she barely fit into. And Cloud was wearing boring black shorts. His legs were painfully pale.

Barrett had just discarded his mesh shirt and vest, jumping into the ocean with his regular shorts still on. I placed twenty gil that he was gonna get a huge rash on his man parts and would be loudly complaining about it for the rest of the night.

Red was normal. Cait was normal. Stupid animals.

Marlene had a neon pink one piece with flowers and frills. I laughed and pointed until Tifa smacked me upside the head for the umpteenth time.

Cid…..Cid was a laughingstock. He had blue swimming shorts on and no shirt and he was getting old. His chest was all hairy! It was so gross! It was furry and blonde and his shorts were too blue and ugh. I love you Cid but-

Vincent was so sexy. The end.

I gaped when he emerged from the airship. He was so tall and the shorts fit perfectly, his chiseled chest almost dripping with sweat from the heat, his chiseled legs almost breaking from all of the sexy and his chiseled face looking angry. That was a turn off.

I took a huge sip from my soda, "Lehgo."

"What?" They had all said.

I coughed, "Let's go. Lettuce leaf."

Tifa laughed. It was awkward. I wanted to go swimming already, please.

So we all walked past the hotel, except for Cloud who stepped in to make a reservation for eight people. He should have just bought out the entire hotel.

We had brought towels, a large amount of them. They were soft and cuddly and mine had a green and white pattern on them. I liked green.

I looked to Vincent. Yeah, I liked green.

After Barrett, I was the second in the water, setting down my towel and almost running in with my sneakers on. Luckily, Tifa was in mommy mode and stopped me before I ruined them. I didn't even go back; I just kicked them off and threw them at Cid's head.

Barrett was floating with his stomach facing the sun and arms folding behind his head. He groaned in pleasure.

"I love whoe'er came up with this idea," he said slowly, his armpit hair almost touching my face. I stared at it.

"That would be me," I said. That sent him into some sort of shock and he flopped upwards to stand up. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that well, duh, my voice matched my face. (Who else has this amazing voice?)

"You!" He exclaimed, obviously surprised, "You're tha one who came up with this? I thought ya'd be furious bout leaving Wutai!" I didn't talk to Barrett much, did I?

"Um," I let out, just like that morning, "Well…ya see..," and then I went underwater quickly, wetting my dark hair and swimming away like a frog. I kicked my legs until I was far enough away to make him laugh but not freak out.

When I popped out, I wiped the water from my eyes and saw that Red was doggy paddling out into the ocean and Cid was already b Barrett, handing him Marlene. (She had beat him there.)

Marlene was then thrown around like a fucking basketball by her father and fell into the ocean. I laughed.

I swam back over, joining the group of men and nine year old children.

"Cid!" I shrieked like I always shrieked and propelled myself from the bottom of the ocean onto his back. Costa Del Sol's water was clear as toilet water so I wasn't surprised when Barrett knew where I was.

"ARRGGH! What the-" but I dunked him underwater before he could curse.

When he reemerged, I was still on his back and he was holding me up. It was like we were playing chicken.

"Ey, Marlene, get on your dad's back," I told her, gesturing to Barrett's shoulders and huge muscles. She would surely fit. The buster sword would surely fit.

She furrowed her brow, "Why?" She asked in a whiney high pitched voice that was painfully similar to my own.

"Because I want to kick your ass," I said, "…..in chicken." It was revenge for the shower incident. I had a grudge, okay?

"Yuffie!" Cid and Barrett exclaimed in unison.

I ignored them and looked to my side, having a good view on Cid's shoulders. I was surprised he didn't shake me off by then.

Vincent, Cloud, Cait, and Tifa were all still on shore, Cloud setting up the umbrella and Tifa setting sandwiches up from the cooler. Vincent was just standing there, hands folded over his chest. Cait was digging a hole.

I cupped my hands over my mouth, "Vinny! Get your booty over here!" I screeched and the rest of the tourists looked at me. Some cute guy a couple yards away from us was glaring at us funny. I pointed at him and laughed. His face was all scrunched up!

Did Vincent know how to swim?

"EY! Vinny, ya know how t-" But he was already wading in and pushing past all of the other swimmers angrily. It was a humorous sight.

When he got over to us (Red was left behind, he was too short and went back to help Cait dig a hole.) he looked at me on Cid's shoulders and his eyes narrowed. He was jealous. Tehehehe.

"I wanna play chicken!" Marlene yelled from next to her father, her hands in little fists. Barrett, somehow, gave me this look that practically said 'Hurt my daughter and die,' but Marlene didn't know what pain was so I didn't know what to do.

Now, me, I knew what pain was. We all did.

So we played chicken. We played it hard and long and I punched Marlene in the face but she didn't cry. She just punched me back. And Cid screamed at me to punch harder and shake her off, and Marlene was choking her father with her legs. And Vincent was laughing, loudly. It made me smile.

My legs were slippery against Cid's also wet shoulders and I felt myself slipping. Marlene's tiny hands were in my hair by then and mine were tempted to pull down her one piece (I was MONKEY D. YUFFIE.) to distract her and push her off, but my ears were too enchanted by Vincent's laughter. I wanted to hear that sound for the rest of my life-

I fell.

My legs were sideways and my body was twisting to the side. My arms left Marlene's shoulders and they flopped to my side. I gasped and my back arched until I was somehow completely sideways from Cid, but my legs still around his neck. I was upside down, my back almost touching the water.

Almost.

Vincent caught me.

His arms were on my shoulders and he was propping me up (albeit in a very uncomfortable position.) so I didn't fall. The only things in the water were the longest strands of my hair. I looked up at him.

He was always going to be there, wasn't he?

I smiled at him and let my legs fall from Cid, allowing myself to fall correctly into his arms. He caught me better that time, like a groom holds his newlywed bride. He picked me up like a prince would.

"W-what are you doing..?" I asked him shock when he began to pull me up towards him. He was going to kiss me in front of everyone?

And then he dropped me.

I welcomed the cold water with a huge hug, and when I immediately sprang back up, I didn't even breathe. I just slapped him hard of the shoulder and told him he can go die.

But he couldn't. Ever. He'd always be there. And that's all I ever wanted and asked for.

So instead of Cid's, I climbed on top of his shoulders. His broad, muscular shoulders held my own petite body and everyone looked at us. I was prepared. The questions they were going to ask didn't scare me.

Cid coughed and looked to the side, "Finally."

The face- O.O returned once again and I realized that they all could probably tell that we were madly in love with each other. Or something of the sort.

I felt Vincent tense from underneath me. That sounded like a sex scene.

He coughed. I coughed. It was awkward.

Luckily, we had an obnoxious nine year old girl on our side, who still on her father's shoulders grabbed my hair once again. This made me lock my legs around Vincent's neck and hold on for dear life.

Vincent grabbed my shins and held me firmly, like good boyfriends-

Hehehehehehehehe. That word made me giggle.

"GO BACK TO PRE-SCHOOL," I roared and grabbed Marlene's shoulders, promptly picking her up off of Barrett's shoulders and throwing her into the air. It was like I had super strength.

I chucked her into the water and she screamed (along with her father) as she flew head first into the water. She hit the surface with a splat and bubbled came up after she sunk to the bottom.

"O-h. Ohohohohohoo shit. Is she dead?" I asked, looking down at Vincent like he knew all of the answers.

"Fuckin' ninja," and I couldn't tell if Barrett or Cid said that because they're all so GOD DAMN similar!

Thankfully, Marlene popped back up, totally drenched and utterly defeated. Seeing her upset and feeling like a loser made me happy and-

What was becoming of me?

I shook it off and clapped my hands together victoriously. Take that, five year old.

"I'm nine!" was the first thing she said, exasperatedly. I laughed and pointed at her.

"Ahahahahahahaha!" I let out, "Barrett. Tell your daughter to stop lying!"

I was in a really, really weird mood. I was so happy.

Soon enough, Tifa and Cloud ventured out towards us and I dared Tifa to a battle of chicken to which Cloud said no god no and I thanked him for that. If she fell on top of me, I would be crushed. Litterally.

But I did convince Cid to climb on top of Barrett! And that was freaking hilarious. I was beaten in a span of five seconds, but I was okay with that, because it allowed for Vincent to crouch down and help me back up. I even kissed his cheek in the middle of it.

I was such a girl!

I was such a girl, you guys.

I finally reached what I wanted. I had those butterflies frolicking around in my stomach happily and they wouldn't leave until I died. And even now, when I'm writing this, (for some god-known reason. My children better read this.) they're still fluttering because I see him, right there, he's right next to me right now. And he hasn't left since that day at the beach-

Back to the present. No, wait. The past.

I never got off if his shoulders, I played with his hair and made jokes with him and laughed and giggled and it was so fun. I didn't think about Wutai once while we were in the water, not until it was sunset and the sky was purple.

I looked at my hands, "I have prune hands," I whispered to Vincent, who was still underneath me. Tifa and Cloud were back on shore, eating sandwiches in the romantic lighting. And Barrett had taken Marlene out to dinner because, ya know, they need daddy and daughter bonding time and crap.

Cid fell asleep on his towel around two, so he was a nice shade of pink on his back and ghostly pale on this face and stomach. He was still sleeping. Cait and Red had left after they realized they couldn't and didn't know how to swim, so it was just Vincent and I. I didn't know why I was whispering.

His stomach growled. My fingers were wrinkling. It was the ever-present sign that that day was over.

So without saying anything, I slipped from his shoulders and sunk my then dry bathing suit into the ocean. It was colder, I had noticed, due to the sun being gone.

"Hurry!" I shrieked, almost mockingly, "The sharks are out."

He just hummed in some sort of laughter and followed me as I ran out of the ocean, my body slowly rising out of the water, giving him a good view of my sexy bod. It was true. He loved it.

I stopped by Cloud, Tifa, and Cid who was totally unconscious.

Tifa said that the whole hotel was rented out (Because, jesus, that thing had three beds and a bathroom. And it wasn't even a separate room if I remember correctly. At least they had a pool table. ) so we could just walk in. We could just walk in anywhere because we were sorta famous. Anywhere we go it's "HOLY MONKEY BALLS IT'S CLOUD STRIFE!" and then, "Oh yeah and those other people," except for Tifa who was "HOLY MONKEY BALLS SHE'S SEXY."

Sigh. That was our life in a sentence. How sad.

So it was almost dark when we were walking back to the hotel and I looked around to see if I saw anyone I knew. The coast was clear.

"What I am about to do is very dangerous and should not be tried at home," I whispered to him, leaning. His eyes shot to me, questionably.

"Stay calm and try not to make any sudden noises," I said again, shooting my eyes around the vicinity to check one last time for other life forms. And then, very slowly, I slipped my hand into his. It fit perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece, and everything felt right.

I sighed in happiness.

"This day was great," I said when he didn't say anything. He was being unusually silent.

It was unusual, now, for him to not even say the simplest things. He was having conversations now, full ones, with meaning and thought, and I was so happy. I was so happy all of the time because of him.

He hummed and lightly squeezed my hand. My heart fluttered.

When we reached the hotel, I almost felt like I was a newlywed bride who was going to her honeymoon suite. He opened the door with his free hand, never breaking our grasp. He tugged me into the hotel room to find it empty. Barrett and Marlene had dumped their stuff on the bed they were to share, but other than that, there were no signs of life.

I pulled Vincent into the bedroom and knocked on the bathroom door to make sure Barrett wasn't using the bathroom to the….extent that he did last time we were here.

"That was….disgusting," I said, recalling that incident. I let out a giggle, missing our times of adventures. They were so much fun…

This day was so much fun…

"Thank you…," I whispered to him when I felt him behind me. His arms wrapped around me in some sort of hug.

"I couldn't do all of this if it was for you," and that was the absolute truth. He was the one who was always there always always always. And it wasn't almost or maybe or kinda. I was positive. I was positive in everything I was saying.

So, without any hesitation, I breathed, "I love you."

He had kissed me. And it wasn't a Pokémon battle this time, it was sweet and soft and loving. He whispered nothing but a simple, "hmm," and kissed me like he loved me back.

I grabbed the sides of his face and closed my eyes in bliss. He pushed my against the bathroom door, holding my hips, and kissing me softly. When he broke away for air I took in a huge gulp of it and went back to his lips, simply because I had been waiting for this moment since Attaboy. All I had wanted was him, this entire time.

"Thank you so much," I cried, soft tears slipping down my face. He didn't wipe them away, just raised his hands to place one on my cheek on the other on my waist. My own hands wrapped around his neck.

I owed it all to him.

It continued on like this for awhile, me crying, my tears eventually reaching our intertwined lips and creating some sort of salty sensation. He didn't stop. I wondered if he noticed.

It may have gone farther, I don't remember. I had kicked off my sneakers and placed my hands on his bare chest and I was only in a bikini.

But all that mattered was that we were there, in that moment.

Eventually, we made it to a bed, and I took a moment to grab a tee-shirt from my bag, simply because I didn't want someone to barge in a see me in a bikini making out with a guy. That guy being Vincent Valentine.

I was making out with Vincent Valentine-

This is ruining the moment. This was so unlike our past kiss and this was so so so much better.

We stopped soon enough, because I got hungry and pulled out a box of cheese crackers from my bag. And I curled up on our bed and munched on them quietly, handing some to Vincent even though he said he didn't want any. But he took them and I sat crisscross applesauce on the sheets while Vincent' sat with his legs off of the edge and I laughed and talked.

My lips were swollen.

After drinking some water from the bathroom and brushing my teeth quickly, I sprinted out of the bathroom and jumped on top of the bouncy bed, looked at the clock, and crawled underneath the covers.

"I smell like ocean," I whispered from underneath the sheets, pulling the blankets up to my nose. I eyed from my position.

He leaned over me and sniffed my hair sorta romantically. I smiled.

"I don't care," he said for the first time since the ocean and I sighed. Life was good, wasn't it, you guys?

My heart thumped when he gently wrapped his arms around me and I turned my body to face his chest. We didn't whisper soft words to each other or talk about how much we were in love. We just slept with each other, but in the complete opposite way. I preferred it like that.

He smelled like ocean, too, and his long hair outdid my short strands. His muscles outdid my lean ones. I felt so small next to him.

They let me sleep (in the most innocent meaning of the phrase) with him, our eyes closed, and I felt like I was flying away from everything.

My wings picked me up off the ground and softly and surely I flew away, waving goodbye to my father.

The end.

(there is an epilogue...it just has to be written.)

(let the hate mail commence.)