Chapter One

Disclaimer: Most of this story is property of Square Enix. The only things that aren't are my original character, Harper, and the plot for this fan fiction. In no way do I claim ownership of Square Enix's work.

A/N: Alright, this's the last one (we think…) in this series of mine. Some chapters will be longer than others due to my plan of only typing as much as I can and still be happy about it in one day. Most likely a chapter will be put up every Saturday or every other Saturday. I didn't know what else to do for this installment, so sorry if it's awful…but I think the ending will give people a shock… As always, please review whether or not it's something good you have to say! I really look forward to criticism of any kind! Also, if while you're reading you have any suggestions for the rest of the story, tell me about them! I have the whole thing written already, but there's always room for improvement!

Chapter one:

Cloud wondered again what on earth had happened. He and Vincent were talking when a commotion in the hall had been heard. They both rushed to see what had happened—such as someone tripping. But there was nothing but white smoke dispersing and a note claming, "We have come to dispose of our sister." Vincent was the one who found the note, and just after he had read it aloud, he disappeared. The disappearance was only for a moment, but he had definitely not been there for a second. Just as abruptly as he'd gone was he back. Soon after thought, the Turk simply passed out. Why? No one knew. Vincent lay unconscious for three days.

The first day, Tifa decided not to open the bar, and Cloud didn't open the shop. Both were afraid to wake Vincent and disturb whatever recovering he might be doing.

The second day, Could opened shop, but Tifa still kept the bar closed till the third day. That was spent explaining to confused customers why it had been closed for two days.

That night, Vincent woke and made his way hesitantly toward the back porch, He sat woodenly at the table, faintly taking not of the slightly warmer weather. Sector & was by no means anywhere near where it had been before it had a section of Shinra's upper class world dropped on it. Even before then, it wasn't much. Now it was next to nothing.

Still, not having their share of the plate over them kept the temperature higher than the rest of the sectors. In those other's there were only two temperatures: cold and colder. There was no sunlight, lending an air of death to those others. In Sector 7 there was at least the sun, if no plants. Before, the plate had kept everything from growing. Now everything was concrete, or covered in a thick layer of the manmade-rock dust.

"A long time ago, all the sectors had names, but a Shinra grew and built the plate over Midgar, all the town's names were forgotten." Vincent barely blinked as Cloud Strife took a seat across from him. "Jessie told me that almost a year and a half ago. She was an original member of Avalanche," he explained. Vincent only nodded. "So, where'd you go?"

For a minute Vincent didn't have a clue what Cloud was talking about, but he got it. "Spira."

Cloud hadn't expected a name he didn't know. "Spira…"

"I know. That is the same thing people there asked about Midgar," Vincent went on to explain what he could. "At first I was mistaken for a man called Auron. Through the days I saw that every one was like and alter-ego of you and the others…"

"Me?"

"Tidus: he was blonde and a kind of unannounced leader, but he reminded me of you in more ways too. Every one… traits may have been divided among people in some cases, but all of us were there in some way."

"…Aeris?" Cloud asked, looking off at the concrete jungle all around them.

Vincent took in a big breath and let it out quietly. He had thought Cloud was doing better… "Aeris too," he finally said.

Cloud still didn't look up. "Who?"

He knew Cloud really didn't understand much of what he was being told, but he told Cloud what he wanted to know. "Her name was Yuna, she was a summoner—much the same as an Ancient, she protected the planet, was a healer, cared."

"Cared?"

Vincent let a smile flutter around for a moment as he thought about what Harper had told him about Cloud once. "She let me stay with her and her party. Much as you did for Harper."

"Thanks," it seemed Cloud gathered himself again. "How'd you get back?"

Vincent laughed at himself as he remembered what he had asked of Wakka, and what had really happened. "Generally, or the way it all got to the point it did for what happened to happen?" He honestly did not want to tell Cloud, but knew that no matter which the ex-Soldier chose, he would tell all.

"Generally is fine."

It was what he had expected. "I died."

Cloud's eyes flew open in shock. Vincent die? "What? You actually died? Not just a 'K.O.' died?" When Vincent nodded, Cloud let out a breath. "What happened?" He still couldn't quite grasp what valentine was saying. To him, Chaos should have been able to emerge, healing all when he did so.

"Chaos killed me," Vincent said it and realized it sounded ridiculous: he controlled Chaos…and that made it sound like a suicide, (he laughed to himself) which was how it had started.

Cloud's eyes got wider still. "What? How?...Start at the beginning of the 'how'."

"Cloud…" Vincent really didn't want to talk about it.

"Ok." Cloud said that, but not in an understanding way—more grudgingly than anything. They sat in an angry silence for a few minutes…

"I don't know exactly when it began, but I started having mixed feelings about me and Harper, and I handled things badly—"

"Harper was there too?"

"Yes," Vincent waited a moment before going on, to make sure Cloud wouldn't interrupt him again any time soon. "I began thinking about Lucrecia, whether or not it's wrong for me to move on, yet still hold onto her." He was unsure of Cloud's reaction to that statement. It seemed that Cloud was having the same feelings about Aeris. "Eventually, found an answer, but was then set with the task of …something else and continued to push Harper away, making it worse."

"You push everyone away, Vincent," Cloud stated without looking at him.

Vincent shook his head, "Yes, but I was doing it in a different way…normally…"

"Forget it."

"Cloud."

"What? Just finish the story."

He was acting more than a little but odd, but Vincent thought it best to dismiss it for a while. "We got in a fight, and I put things off because I wasn't done figuring them out. After that, things were fine for a short time. I re-lapsed, and Harper got increasingly mad at me, and myself at her for what I thought was her impatience.

"As we neared the pilgrimage's destination (Vincent held up a hand to silence Cloud), Tidus called me and Harper into a duel to work things out saying that the party could go no further until our contention was dissolved," as he broke to think about what to say about everything after Cloud cut in again—

"Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Fight, duel…whatever?"

"Oh yes, we fought. She and I fought long and hard."

"Who one?"

"Neither of us."

"What?"

"…Well…maybe it would be better to say that we both won: we both defeated each other at the same moment." Vincent paused long enough only for Cloud to say 'Oh.' "When I woke, we had been removed to a ten, Harper was still unconscious. I only laid there and thought of what I would say when she woke—I know I had to say something if we were going to make it." Vincent sighed as he thought that that would have been the perfect time to ask her where she was/had being/been taken to by her "brothers/" "She woke before I had completely finished formulating what I wanted to say, so I spat out the unfinished version. She understood, but we didn't have time for any pleasantries."

"Why not?"

"Maester Seymour—our Sephiroth—had somehow found us and attacked. Near the end, Harper took a hit that took her out of the fight, and Spira. I left the fight immediately, but…"

"She died…"

It was Vincent's turn to look away. "Yes." He wasn't jumping the gun to hand out how he had died.

Cloud knew that, and didn't care, it seemed. "And you?"

"Cloud…"

"Vincent, please," Cloud prodded.

Please? "Why do you want to know?"

"I just… need to."

A tense moment passed before Vincent decided he had better—more important—things to do, that he needed to get any and all questions out of the way. "Fine. After Harper died…I… asked Wakka (a friend, or the closest he had to one in Spira), after think about doing it myself…to shoot me."

"Vincent…But he didn't. You said Chaos killed you, not Wakka," was he musing?

"I gave Wakka Cerberus, but he didn't, and I didn't care….About anything. I completely forgot about Chaos and his life-mission to kill me, his prison. I didn't care about keeping him in, so he came out." Vincent stood, pushing back the chair, and turned to leave.

"What then?" Cloud asked as he rapidly stood. His chair scraped over the concrete.

Vincent turned back, hand on the back-door handle, and gave Cloud a stern look. "Chaos ripped me apart; I died, and am back hardly missing a beat in this world." He turned to the door again but had hardly started turning the handle when Cloud asked where he was going. "Look for Harper," he replied as he opened the door.

"You don't know where she is?" Cloud asked, incredulous.

Swiftly, silently Vincent went over all the conversations he and Harper had had while in Spira. "No." With that, he went inside to begin packing for what could be a very long search ahead of him.