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Treasures

Yuffie glanced behind her for the third time in three minutes. Stealing back priceless pieces of art that had been similarly stolen by the ShinRa was hard enough without Elena doing an absolutely pathetic job of following her.

But, Yuffie couldn't help thinking, there was also a tiny smidge of amusement that went along with watching Elena try to stay a purposeful two-steps-behind. Especially the part where Elena had fallen in that drainage ditch. But that was neither here nor there, because the longer that Yuffie watched Elena watch her in return, the more respect Yuffie was gaining for the Turk.

Because other than that little tumble through that little ditch while running from Junon during one of the worst rain storms that Yuffie could remember, Elena hadn't been doing such a bad job. She was obvious in whichever part of her mission involved the close tailing, but other than that, well, Yuffie clutched the well-wrapped vase she carried tight to her chest and considered that Elena might have actually helped her on more than one occasion.

The vase... Not even something large or particularly worth much financially, but Yuffie had a very certain memory of it - an early memory.

Maybe, for the last year or so that she'd been snitching relics and artifacts, pieces of her culture that had been taken without permission, she'd been searching for this exact thing in the back of her mind.

And since she'd stolen it from a dusty back bedroom down a dusty back hallway of a big old dusty house, Yuffie was fairly sure that it wouldn't even be missed. Thought she couldn't help being a bit steamed that the beautiful vase had been assigned to such a lowly location. Stealing it from right in front of, say, Rufus ShinRa would have been so much cooler.

Still grinning as she slid back into her hotel room, Yuffie tucked the vase safely into her luggage and sent a text message to Cid to pick her up sometime soon.

Success!

Her stomach growled.

Leaning down a bit and sticking out her tongue, Yuffie wondered if Elena would be lingering down in the pub that was part of the inn. Curiosity was very much getting the better of her.

Almost as if on cue, Yuffie spotted the blonde woman seated against the far wall, a tacky shawl covering her head and fake glasses only pulling more attention in her direction.

Marching through the pub, Yuffie shook her head. Whatever Elena wanted, the Turk should have made her move already - if she'd been ordered to intervene. And no mere surveillance mission would have gone on for so long. Something was amiss.

"You look silly in those," Yuffie said as she pulled out the only other chair at Elena's small table and sat down. "Take them off."

"But..." Elena stammered before reaching up to pull off the fake glasses anyway. "I..."

"There's a reason you're chasing me, and it's not because it's your job," Yuffie stated. "Out with it."

"Chasing you?" Elena exclaimed. "I'm helping you."

"Okay," Yuffie said quickly, "you're 'helping' me. Why?"

"Some of it is an assignment," Elena replied, letting her shawl slip down as well. "And some of it is a personal request."

"To what? Look at my ass? You're a terrible spy," Yuffie shot back. "Though you did take out that big guy back in Kalm, didn't you? I should buy you a drink for that."

Elena didn't say a word, though the blush on her face said volumes.

"Elena?"

"Nothing," Elena replied. "I've been following you for so long that..."

"You've gotten used to my ass," Yuffie surmised with a smile. "Y'know, you've got way better connections than I do. We should be in this together."

"What? I was just told to make sure you were protected while... oops."

"Uh huh, so this really is ShinRa... what... trying to make amends?" Yuffie asked. "Ha!"

"Something personal, too, like I said," Elena admitted. But she didn't say another word.

And before Yuffie could so much as ask, the bar wench actually appeared and offered her a drink.

The more Yuffie thought about it, while eating her filling-if-kinda-tasteless meal, the more Yuffie wondered if those few hours of being captured together had somehow instilled some sense of camaraderie into the Turk.

And through their entire, mainly quiet meal, Elena had asked for just one thing.

Since, at least, it was a good request, Yuffie didn't even mind obliging. The second they were back in Yuffie's room, Yuffie kicked a chair under the door - enough to keep Elena in for a few seconds, and enough to keep anyone out.

"Okay," Yuffie said cautiously, dragging out the suitcase that had her precious vase in it. "But some of it you can't even touch unless I say so."

"I told you that I was just assigned to..."

"I'm not going to believe that yet," Yuffie muttered, making sure that Elena couldn't see her undoing the locks.

"I know."

Slowly, Yuffie pulled out a few small packages, all wrapped in cloth that wouldn't scratch or cling.

"Go on," she said, pushing one towards Elena. "These are the treasures of the world..."

Slowly, with care beyond what Yuffie knew Elena could muster; Elena began unwrapping the piece, gasping as she pulled out an ornate gold and stone necklace.

"Part of a set," Yuffie explained, finally smiling at Elena's reaction. Elena hadn't even known what she was protecting - the usual sort of ShinRa blindness. But now, at least, Elena would know. She would see.

"Do you have the others?" Elena asked as she held it up to her neck and glanced over into the foggy mirror on the other side of the room.

"Not yet," Yuffie admitted. "Gonna take this stuff back first, though you probably knew that."

"Can I put it on?"

Yuffie laughed at Elena's enthusiasm. That and anyone's desire to put on a five-pound necklace.

She nodded, watching as Elena pulled her hair back and fought to hold the necklace in place while latching it.

"Oh, c'mere," Yuffie said after a minute, springing up to offer assistance. "And let me fix your hair. There are some beautiful bone hair clips in the green bundle..."

Five minutes later, Yuffie couldn't help but smile. Certainly a few people back home would never have imagined she'd paid so much attention as a child, learning the proper ways to dress.

But Elena now looked much like the princess that she wasn't quite willing to be yet.

"And you?" Elena asked, after finally pulling herself away from the mirror. "I saw..."

Before Yuffie could think of the words to explain what exactly the necklace Elena had grabbed was, the cool metal was heavy on her neck.

"Now you've done it," Yuffie said with a smirk as she fingered the beads and remembered a story she'd been told so many times.

"Done what?" Elena asked, leaning in when she really should have been stepping away.

"Just asked me to marry you," Yuffie said. "And you're wearing a necklace proclaiming yourself to be royalty, so I guess I'm duty bound to accept."

"What?!" Elena backed against the bed and fell onto it, all five pounds of necklace clattering against her chest.

"All you had to do was ask," Yuffie continued, trying not to giggle at the panicked look on Elena's face as she slid onto the bed and pinned Elena down. Obviously, Elena still had a few things to learn.

Unless... Yuffie decided to push her luck, leaning just enough that their necklaces crashed together, beads settling against gold before she dipped a bit more, trying to remember the exact ritual.

A kiss, and then... Well, Elena wouldn't go for that...

But the kiss was enough, suddenly becoming more than just a chaste meeting of mouths as Yuffie felt a hand slip up to rest on her back.

"Hey!" she cried, pulling back and staring at Elena.

"Well," Elena replied, "you did say that we should be in this together."

Yuffie shrugged as she crawled off the bed and reached for the last bundle to unwrap. Her vase. Red and ornate. Decorated with lovers.

Looking over at the blonde-haired 'princess', Yuffie wondered just where Elena had learned to kiss like that. And just what else had developed since their mutual capture.