Reminiscence in Wintertime

by DarkAngel

Disclaimer: The only thing I can lay claim to in this fic is the plot. Otherwise, it all belongs to Square-Enix. Author's notes are at the end of the fic. Otherwise, it's on with the show!

Snowfall was a novelty in Neo Midgar, where meteorological phenomenon the likes of rain and snow hadn't been seen for at least two generations below the plate. Not since Vincent himself had been a child, and everybody knew that even if that time couldn't be quantified in numbers, it stood as a very long time.

When the first white flakes made their tentative entrance unto the slowly rebuilding city, it first went ignored by the somewhat haggard citizens, most of whom were occupied in the rebuilding, piecing back their own lives in the aftermath of Meteor, arguably the most prominent phenomenon, meteorological or otherwise, that Midgar had seen in all its years. When the flakes didn't cease falling, they had stopped where they stood in the streets, looking up into a sky they were still trying to acquaint themselves with, now dotted with white flecks of condensed water.

It was called a miracle.

Tifa stared out over the snow covered sidewalks in the main square of the city. Where the central pillar had used to stand. There still were bits of it left, a rough and broken bunch of metal standing obscenely against the sky a few feet above the heads of the citizens. It was surrounded by neat concrete stones that paved the square, a reminder to everyone of Shinra's old legacy to the Planet. It too, was getting covered in the white stuff. Tifa found the image a rather appropriate metaphor, all things considered.

She sensed him more than saw him. "Vincent," she said, her voice quiet in the still air.

He appeared behind her, silent as always. He had never been like Yuffie or Cid, who announced their presence loud and clear long before you caught sight of them. Nor did he carry that heavy sort of weight around him that Cloud did, a palpable feeling radiating power and determination. He always seemed to suddenly appear on the edge of her conscience, an apparition coming in like the moon from behind the clouds at night.

The dark gunman came to a stop beside her. They stood like that, looking out at the square covered in snow. There were indents where footsteps had trodden across the ground earlier that day, covered once again by the snow that continued to fall lightly from a now darkened sky. It was pristine, clear and absolutely stunning; it could make one believe in magic, almost.

Tifa clasped her hands together behind her back, bouncing slightly on her toes. "You know, I haven't seen snowfall like this since I was a kid back in Nibelheim."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "What about Icicle Village?" he asked.

The brunette woman shrugged. "That was different. Back then we were busy trying to stop Sephiroth."

He said nothing to that. They stood in silence once again, before Tifa spoke once more. "I remember the first snowfall that came every year when I was a child. I wanted to go outside as soon as it started. Dad always tried to hold me still long enough to get my coat on." She smiled. "We would have snowball fights, make snowmen… that kind of stuff. I miss those days."

Vincent tilted his head very slightly. "What's stopping you from doing that now?"

Tifa blinked, surprised. "Well, I – nothing, I guess. It's just it's not something many adults would do."

"Are you saying that this is something you have to lose because you've changed?"

Tifa turned to face him. "Vincent…"

His gaze became inscrutable then. "You should enjoy what you have while you still can, Tifa. It may not be there tomorrow."

It was obvious what, or who he was referring to.

"Lucrecia?" she said, before she had fully thought about what she was going to say. She gasped. "I'm sorry -"

Vincent shook his head. "It's in the past."

Tifa furrowed her brow. "But you can't forget it, can you?" She remembered how Vincent had clung to the memory of the woman he had once loved, even after she was supposedly long gone.

He smiled, a thin lipped expression that looked both amused and rueful at once. "One cannot forget what one has loved so deeply, no."

She turned back around, facing the square once more. "I see," she murmured. She wondered where he was now. Was he looking for her, despite the fact that her only earthly remains lay at the bottom of a pool of water? She blinked several times, trying to clear that image from her head. Instead she turned back around again, smiling at the gunslinger.

"So what about you, Vincent? Is there something that you did as a child that you don't do anymore?"

He looked out into the distance at some point Tifa couldn't identify. When he answered, his voice was low and even like it normally was, but she thought she could catch some wistfulness in there.

"…fishing."

Tifa's eyes lit up. "Fishing. I wouldn't have taken you for an angler."

At the look on his face she hastened to add, "I don't mean that as a bad thing. It was just surprising, that's all."

He raised an eyebrow. "Surprising?"

She shrugged, looking down at the ground. "Kind of." To be honest, she hadn't expected that answer. Then what had she been expecting? It wasn't as if Vincent had been shooting things all his life, right? But she also couldn't picture him doing anything… normal, either.

"Did you go fishing a lot?" she asked, trying to get back on topic. Vincent shrugged.

"You could say that. Until I left for Midgar."

"What's stopping you from doing that now?" She tossed the question back at him.

The dark haired man looked off into the distance for a moment, then turned his eyes back on Tifa. She couldn't really tell, but she thought she saw a hint of amusement in them.

"Well for one, we're not anywhere near a lake."

She shook her head, smiling in response to his touch of humour. He was changing. "Touche." She looked up at him. "But if we were near a lake, would you go?"

"…anything is possible, I guess."

She grinned, feeling playful now. "Then why don't we go and find that lake? It'll be like old times." Vincent raised and eyebrow and Tifa laughed. "Come on, Vincent. I haven't been fishing in ages either. It'll be great."

He paused. "It's winter. I doubt the fish would be biting now."

"Hm." Tifa gave that some thought. "Then how about this. You help me build a snowman now, and when spring comes around, we'll go fishing together. How does that sound?"

Vincent's mouth quirked. "A snowman?"

"Yeah." She blinked. "Don't tell me you never made one before?"

"I have. It's just… been a long time."

"There's no time like the present."

She crouched down and picked up some snow in her hands, shivering as it stung her hands. Cupping her hands around the bit of snow, she moulded it into a ball, pleased to find that it stuck together. She held it up for Vincent to see. "Perfect. See?" Without waiting for him to respond, she began rolling the snow across the ground, smoothing it down every now and then. The snowball was getting bigger, now wider than her palms. She turned around to ask Vincent if he could help her roll the growing ball of snow a bit further.

He wasn't there.

Tifa felt disappointed. She really thought she had gotten through to him. She shrugged it off, trying to suppress her frustration and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt something poke her in the back. She whirled around and saw the dark gunman standing before her, holding something out.

"Vincent! You scared me!"

"I didn't mean to. Here. Take this."

Blinking, her eyes looked down to what he was holding out.

"Mittens?"

Indeed, that's what they were. Mittens. On a string. Big, fluffy white mittens on a string. Tifa bit her lip, trying not to giggle.

Vincent looked only slightly discomfited. "For you. Your hands were looking cold."

Her eyes widened. "Vincent."

He held them out, not saying anything else. Tifa took them. "Thank you."

He nodded, looking over at Tifa's creation. "Is this your snowman?"

"Well it's supposed to be, but I've only got the bottom part done. I was going to work on its body and head next."

Vincent nodded and bent down in the snow, shaping a ball and rolling it across the ground.

When Tifa woke up the next morning, the sun was shining in her eyes. She rolled over, turning her head into the pillow, but the stubborn ray of light followed her, burning into her closed eyes. Giving up, Tifa opened her eyes a little, blinking rapidly to help them adjust faster.

She sat up, stretching her arms over her head. She looked out the window. The sun was a little a little past the tallest spire of the church down the road, which would make it midmorning. The pillar in the centre of the city was visible, casting a shadow - an informal sundial. And in the shade cast by the pillar, stood that one snowman, surrounded by a flock of smaller ones. Tifa smiled at that. The rest of the snow was starting to melt, she could see it receding at the edges, but that snow family would stay for a while, protected by the pillar. She thought of the talk she and Vincent had had last night and smiled again.

She could smell it in the air. Spring would come soon.

Author's Notes: This was originally intended to be a Christmas – at least winter giftfic for Jess Angel. It didn't exactly turn out that way. I had a lot of trouble getting this fic to work in my mind, so I left it for a while, picking at it every now and ten. At least, I thought to myself, I would get this done by Valentine's Day. That way there'd still be something symbolic about all of this.

It didn't turn out that way, either.

So, it's now March. Where I am now we've got a lovely spring wind with the first buds starting to sprout on the trees. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. The idea of a snow filled fic being published in March is rather strange, but I'm sure as heck not going to leave this on my computer until next winter. That's just being ridiculous.

Jess, I hope you like this. ; It may be humble, and it may not make much sense, but I tried.