Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN any of the FFVII characters in this Fanfiction. Except maybe some future characters. Which I will NOT spoil who they are! You're welcome. (You won't see them until long into the story anyway. Nye hye hehh! :3) So please don't sue me, I am broke Groot! ;-; (I don't own Groot either but I wish I did. Waaahh! T^T) Enjoy the story!
Chapter 1
It's been two months since the savior, Vincent Valentine, had saved the world by defeating Omega using Chaos. This had given the people and our favorite heroes time to relax and settle. Townsfolk volunteered to repair and build new homes for the people who lost them. With that, new relationships were made and bonds were formed amongst them. Tifa continues to work at 7th Heaven. Cid and Barret often hang with each other by getting drunk. Yuffie runs all over the place trying to find a certain stoic savior who decided to hang around Lucrecia's grave. Shelke took to helping take care of Marlene and Denzel, and Cait Sith and Red XIII help the townsfolk with building. Sometimes with the help of Cid and Barret when they aren't busy. Then there's Cloud. Who knows what he's been up to.
He often comes and goes wherever he wants to, and hardly says a word about it. Tifa suspects he's been going on his long drives and helping people whenever he can. Simply because she knows his heart and trusts him. Cloud does often stop by around 7th Heaven to visit, or make a few deliveries, and other times he'll stand before Zack's and Aerith's graves. The townsfolk built her grave right next to Zack's sword. When Cloud visits, he'll set some flowers in front of her grave. Remembering that flowers was how they first met. You'd think life would be peaceful after the world being saved once again. But when is life 'peaceful'?
Cloud returns from a long drive and visits Zack and Aerith's graves. Tifa walks out to take out the trash and spots Cloud's motorcycle next to the doorway. She didn't see him anywhere inside, so she suspected he was at the graves. After taking out the trash, she decides to go check. And there he was. "Cloud!" she calls out to him. He turns to her and she waves. Then she walks over to him as he turns back around to face Zack's sword. Tifa places a hand on his back and slides her other up his arm, then peeks up at his face from around his shoulder with a warm smile. "Are you okay?" she asks him. Cloud says nothing. Tifa sighs and lays her cheek on his shoulder. They remain silent as the breeze blow past. "What do you think things would have been like? If they were still alive?" Cloud suddenly asks. Tifa, taken by surprise looks up at him, then back at the graves, deep in thought about his question. Before she could say anything, Marlene hollers to her that new customers arrived. "I'll be right there!" Tifa replies. She turns back to Cloud and pats him on the back. "Try not to think about it so much. We can't turn back time and change the past. I know they certainly wouldn't want you to keep sulking about them everyday either," she said calmly. She gave him a quick smile and headed back to the bar.
When Tifa got done working, she returned to her room to get cleaned up. When she walked in, she spotted a flower and a note laid in the middle of her bed. She knew right away it was from Cloud. He always left a flower and a note for her when he took off. As always, the note read 'I'll be back soon'. He did it so much she had enough flowers collected to make a large bouquet. Tifa chuckled as she picked up the flower and held it up to her nose to sniff. Meanwhile, a certain mischievous ninja was writing 'Kiss me Cid! My baby!' and 'Love me Barret! My baby!' on Cid's and Barret's faces while they slept. She couldn't stop silently snickering as she did so. The two 'love birds' had once again gotten drunk together and fell asleep right next to each other. After our favorite ninja gets done drawing on their faces, she quickly sneaks off and hides behind a corner. Then she throws small rocks at their faces and hides again, trying to hold back a laugh. You could hear grunting from the two waking up. Yuffie peaks around the corner to see the looks on their faces. Which went from confusion, to surprised, to completely disgusted, they had to scream. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Barret yells. "THAT'S MY LINE YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT ARE YOU!?" Cid yells back. "THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!?" Barret yells back. Yuffie bursts out laughing as hard as possible, she practically cried. The two grossed out men turned to the laughing ninja, realizing she was the culprit. Yuffie, stops after seeing their furious looks, then takes a run for it. Still laughing. "YUUUFFFFIIIIEEE!" they holler after her.
Yuffie keeps on running away from the angry duo who wants payback. She sees Tifa's room door open, so she runs on in and slams the door shut. "What's going on?" a startled Tifa asks. Yuffie tries to catch her breath. "Whoo! Man! I haven't had that much fun in ages!" she huffed. Tifa just gave her a confused look. "I heard them yelling your name from all the way downstairs. Did you do something to make them mad again?" she asks. "HAHAHAHAA! I just played a prank on them, they'll be fine!" Yuffie laughs. "YUFFIE! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Barret yells. Tifa sighs and shakes her head. Typical Yuffie, she thought. "Welcome back, Yuffie," she adds with a smirk. Yuffie then notices the flower in Tifa's hand. "Where'd you get that from?" she asks. Tifa smiles. "Cloud. He always leaves me one when he leaves," she said. "Pffftt! You two should just get hitched already! I'm tired of waiting!" Yuffie says as she crosses her arms. Tifa chuckles. "Oh please, Yuffie. You know he's not that kind of person. I'm happy enough just being able to stay by his side. As long as I get to be there for him and remain by his side, I'm happy," she says. Yuffie scoffs. "Oh! By the way, have you heard from Vince? I've been looking for him all over the place this past month," she asks. Tifa had to stop and think. "Now that you mention it...no. I have no idea where he is," she said. "Uuugghhh!" Yuffie sighs frustratedly. "Why does he have to be so discreet and stoic and...gone!?" she pouts. Tifa laughs. "Just give him time. I'm sure he'll show up eventually," she says and she pats Yuffie on the arm before walking out of her room. He could've at least been like Cloud and leave a note for us, Yuffie pouts in thought. Then she leaves the room to head downstairs. She slips on one of the steps and tumbles to the ground, almost ramming into Cait Sith and Red XIII. "Yuffie! Are you alright?" Cait Sith asks. Yuffie rubs the back of her head. "Yeah, I'm fine," she says.
"What are you up to anyway?" Cait Sith asks her. "Trying to look for the black and crimson freak who disappeared on us," Yuffie spouts. "Vincent?" Red XIII asks. "Yeah. Have you guys seen him?" she asks. "I'm afraid we haven't. I'm sorry," said Red XIII. "Man..," Yuffie sighs. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll turn up soon," said Red XIII, trying to console her. "Pfft! Please! With her trying to stalk him all the time, why wouldn't he stay hidden," said Cait Sith. "Hey! I'm not stalking him!" Yuffie retorts. "Whatever you say Princess Materia. I'm just saying. Maybe if you stop looking, he'll show up," says Cait Sith. Yuffie scoffs. Red XIII rolls his eyes. "Kids," he says as he walks off. "Hey!" Yuffie and Cait Sith retort in unison. Tifa giggles. "Yuffie, would you mind delivering this box of drinks for me?" she requests. "Sure! I'm bored to death anyway," Yuffie accepts. "Who's the customer?" she asks. Tifa hands her a piece of paper with the address written on it. "Thanks!" says Yuffie as she takes off.
Meanwhile, Vincent begins walking around town. He pays a visit at 7th Heaven and is greeted by his friends who are shocked to see him. "Vincent!" Cait Sith jumps with joy. "Vincent! Where've you been? Everyone's been worried. Are you alright?" Tifa asks him. "I'm fine..," Vincent replies in his deep and stoic voice. "Where's Cloud?" he asks. "Probably on another one of his drives. That or he's on a mission," said Cait Sith. "Cloud's been doing missions? Since when?" Tifa asks, clearly surprised. "Who knows. All I know is that people have been thankful to him for it," said Cait Sith. Tifa smiles warmly. "Well..at least we know he's doing alright," she said. "Oh! Vincent, have you talked to Yuffie yet? She's been looking for you all this time," said Tifa. "For what?" Vincent asks. "Ask her yourself. And do it ASAP. I'm sick of hearing her whining about it," says Cid, who had just walked in with Barret right behind him. Vincent remains silent as he scans the black writings on their faces, guessing it was Yuffie's doing. She never changes, he thought. "Yo! Vince! Where the hell you been?" Barret asks him. "Hmph. Nothing much," says Vincent as he walks off back into town. Cid sighs. "He never changes," he says.
Vincent had been hanging around Lucrecia's grave. Shelke had sometimes stopped by too. She managed to convince him to go say hi to his friends. Vincent walks through town, and soon catches the eye of a man in need of a fine warrior to take on his mission. "Hey! You there with the crimson cloak!" he calls out to him. Vincent stops and turns to the man. "Over here!" the man waves his arm. Vincent strides over to him and asks what he wants. "Name's Gerald. I'm looking for well trained people to take up this job for me. You interested?" he asks. Yuffie had just finished delivering the drinks to Tifa's customer. When she turned around after receiving thanks, she spotted Vincent conversing with Gerald. "HEYY! VINNIE!" she hollers and quickly runs over to him. Vincent turns to her as she hugs his arm and says hi. Gerald chuckles. "This your girlfriend? She can help you. She looks capable," he says. "Wha-," Yuffie quickly lets go of Vincent's arm out of embarrassment. "I am not!" she says, crossing her arms. Vincent turns back to Gerald. "Sorry, not interested," he says. "Not interested in what? What's going on?" Yuffie questions. "I'm offering a mission to stop to these ZICONs that keep terrorizing cities. Stands for Zombies in Contact of Nighthowlers. No one knows where they came from. Just that they dig up recent corpses, pull out their hearts, and change out their eyes, making them a ZICON. Don't ask me why. I have no clue," Gerald explains. This caught Vincent's attention. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" he asks. "I was testing your bribing skills. Seems you like full on briefing of information before making a decision. I like that," Gerald compliments. "How can they be stopped?" Yuffie asks. "Dunno. Don't care how. Just want 'em gone. Don't need anymore innocent lives ruined, don't ya think?" says Gerald. Vincent and Yuffie exchange a look. "Why didn't you try to figure it out yourself?" Yuffie asked. "I did. Almost got killed. Me and my buddies as a group went to try to stop them and figure out what's going on. They lost their lives, and almost mine as well. That's why I'm here. To get help," he said. "Oh, man..sorry to hear that," said Yuffie. "What's done is done. Nothing we can do to bring them back," says Gerald.
As painful as it was to admit, he was right. "You up for it?" he asks. Vincent looks thoughtful. "I guess," he responds. Yuffie straightens herself up. "I'm in!" she says boldly. Vincent looks at her with his crimson eyes. "What? I've got nothing to do anyway. Might as well. Besides, I haven't seen you in forever!" Yuffie responds to his questionable glare. Vincent sighs in defeat. "Do as you please," he says. Yuffie beams excitedly. "Well then, looks like it's settled. Last I heard they were on the move somewhere in the far east of Wutai. Might want to take the train. I'll pay you," says Gerald. "Don't need the money," says Vincent as he turns away and walks off. "Just being able to save lives is enough for us," Yuffie winks with a smile. Maybe I'll find some more materia on the way, she thought as she took off after Vincent. Gerald chuckles. "Thanks you two. Looks like my comrades haven't died in vain," Gerald says quietly with a chuckle. Vincent and Yuffie make their way to the train station, off to start their newly acquired mission.
A/N:
Hi guys! That's the first Chapter to Chaotic Roses! What did you think? I hope you liked it so far! Look forward to more incoming chapters. This story is long from over! ^-^