Title: Long Live Lucrecia

Author: Irreverent Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy VII names/places/characters used in this work or any of the characters' in-game abilities/possessions.

Squaresoft© does.

Author's Comment(s): Vincent is often times paired with Yuffie, and I do think that coupling is cute, but I admire his affection for Lucrecia and will do a fanfic on that. Long live true, everlasting love.

PS- This is my first submission to so if I screw something up, please bear with me!


Chapter One

Vincent sighed, heavily. His long hair, black as ebony, fell in the way of his crimson eyes' vision that was fixated on the metal floor he sat on. In his corner he quietly sulked, his elbows propped up on his arced legs' knees. The blood red cloak he wore covered his mouth and every part of his face below it, draping over his shoulders and pooling around him. A brassy bionic arm had replaced his left one long ago and its clawed hand now dangled limply from its metallic wrist.

Vincent lifted the claw and averted his gaze to it, his eyes half-closed in solemnity. The fluorescent lighting of the airship "Highwind" caused a dull sheen to be cast off the faux limb, and the man could see his reflection in the monstrous thing.

Hojo…Shinra…the Turks… …Lucrecia.

Immediately following these thoughts was a pain that filled Vincent's heart. It was the agony of a knife being stabbed into one's chest and twisted back and forth with vigor. The man nearly gasped aloud at this torment and his eyes squeezed shut, his head lowering so that a veil of his dark hair blocked his pained face from sight.

"Lu…Lucre…"

No, not her name. Vincent could not bear to think her name, much less speak it. Too many memories rested with it. But… Lucrecia… The pain became more intense and he felt a lump rising in his throat, tears building at his eyes as images wracked his psyche.

"Vincent? Vincent, are you okay?" A feminine voice interrupted Vincent's thoughts and he opened his eyes widely, surprise in them.

"Vincent…?" The man spoken of lifted his head and blinked up at a pair of deep brown eyes, his lump swallowed and his tears gone as well as his unprepared expression. He was apathetic once more.

"Yes, Tifa, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." The young woman bending over to level with Vincent smirked, those chocolaty orbs of hers shining. Vincent kept his gaze in a respectable place – her face – for he was a gentleman and cared naught for Tifa's bosom anyway, even though her white tank top didn't clothe it very discreetly.

"You sure about that?" Her grin faded and she tilted her head to the side in curiosity. Vincent closed his eyes again as he pushed his loose crimson headband up a bit, moving his hair out of his face almost entirely as he did so.

"I'm sure."

"Well either way, you're wanted at the bridge. Come on." She offered a gloved hand to him as she returned to standing position, her smirk returning. Vincent blinked once and for a second saw someone else standing there, offering her hand to him. That lump threatened to rise again but Vincent closed his eyes, hard, thus wiping the vision away as he took Tifa's hand and stood. "Thanks…"

At the bridge where everyone else was, Tifa and Vincent entered side by side. He had on his regular expression hidden behind his cloak.

"HEY hey! You got him!" A petite girl in shorts and a green tank top pounced on the floor in front of them, a wide smile on her face – one that almost entirely enveloped it. In her hands she held a large four-point shuriken, pressing the flat of it against her thighs as she leaned over some.

Tifa chuckled and Vincent himself found a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Yeah, that I did, Yuffie. Cloud wanted to talk to him anyway, you know," Tifa replied.

"Oh yeah! Well come on," Yuffie grabbed Vincent's arm and his eyes widened, "we ain't got all day!" Snickering madly she dragged Vincent away from Tifa over to the wall of glass that a certain individual gazed through, down at the airship's surroundings. Yuffie let go of her captive's arm and stood beside him, beaming with a mischievous sense.

Cloud turned around and looked at Vincent. His eyes glowed brightly from the Mako he was infused with, and his face was slack but not as gloomy as Vincent's.

"I've decided to explore the ground for a while; I want to investigate a waterfall near Nibelheim," he said, his hands remaining behind his back.

Vincent's chest swelled as Cloud mentioned that hellish place. Go back to Nibelheim? So many memories rested there… As Vincent reminisced he heard Yuffie's voice as if she were far away and not standing right beside him like she was.

"There's a waterfall by Nibelheim? I don't remember seeing that…"

Neither do I, Vincent barely thought, but then again he didn't remember a lot of what he'd ever seen.

"It's in the mountains, by a lagoon… Right over there, look…" Cloud, also distant.

"Oh…cool! Can I come…?" Yuffie was so spontaneous.

"I'll go." Vincent's sudden statement made both Cloud and Yuffie, who had walked away to lean over the railing of the platform and look at the landscape, turn and blink at him.

"I'll go," Vincent repeated more firmly, furrowing his brow and hardening his stare at Cloud.

The spiky-haired blonde's mouth wavered slightly before he grinned a bit and crossed his arms over his chest. "Good, because I wanted you to come along anyway! Yuffie, you're coming too."

The teenager gave a few cries of "Yippie!" and "Yahoo!" as she bounced around the room, leaving Cloud and Vincent to look at one another. The latter walked up to the railing and looked down at the ground as Yuffie had done, silent.

"…You sure you want to go?" Cloud's quiet question made Vincent look up at him momentarily, but he returned to studying the earth. Of course he didn't want to go, but something drove him to do it.

"Yes. When do we leave?" It was best to get this over with as soon as possible. Vincent could see in Cloud's face confusion with his actions, but he remained stony.

"A-ah, morning. We'll take the sub from the Costa de Sol harbor at dawn." Cloud quirked one blonde eyebrow upward and studied Vincent curiously, tilting his head to the side like Tifa had before. He opened his mouth in preparation to repeat his earlier question, but seemed to decide against it and snapped his mouth shut with a simple forward inclination of his head.

"I'll be in my quarters until then," Vincent replied, returning Cloud's nod with his own.

Cloud, the ex-SOLDIER. He turned and glanced around at the others. Barret, the man with the gun arm. Cid, the pilot. Tifa, Cloud's childhood friend. Yuffie, the virtuous thief. Red XIII, the lion-like science experiment. Cait Sith, the oversized doll remotely controlled by vigilante Reeve, former employee of Shinra.

Only one person was missing; Aerith, the martyr. She who had sacrificed her life for the sake of the planet...

But Vincent had mourned enough today. He wished to sleep. Without another word, he left the bridge.