She's always been there.

My childhood friend, bound to me by a promise of safety, has even left me for another.

I was once obsessed, or maybe the correct wording is "in love," with another, and failed to protect her.

Then Tifa smashed my heart with the intensity of a Final Heaven by telling me it was over.

But, she never has left me.

Her slightly younger appearance gives way to a intelligence few will ever see. And she hides it behind a petty thief.

I know it's different when we are alone. Her eyes and lips reveal to me a world I never knew, a world I never thought possible by such a simple, yet so complex, girl.

I slip into a small room where she sits waiting for me.

"Where have you been, my love?" she asks me.

And I answer her with a tender kiss to her lips.

She smiles at me dreamily, and I am instantly reminded why I love her. Her beautiful face gives way to a tender soul, and her eyes, black with a touch of brown, never leave mine.

I pull her hand closer to mine, and slowly slide a small metal band on her ring finger.

Her gaze falls to the ring, a symbol of infinite love, and she pulls me closer, and kisses me deeply.

Then, Yuffie breaths in my ear, "Yes."

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