Disclaimer: No, I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
It's My Coffin.
"Hey, hey… Quiet now, everyone… Here he comes!" Tifa whispered as the rest of the team – Cloud, Cait Sith, Cid, Yuffie, Barret and Nanaki – tried desperately to find a hiding place.
Not an easy feat, as hiding a giant, a dog creature, a robot, a hyper ninja, a hot tempered pilot and a man with unbelievably spiky hair, was not, to say the least, simple. At all. Especially in this rather bare living room, which consisted of about, two chairs. And a dead plant. Not very helpful at all.
It was currently October 13, which happened to be Vincent Valentine's birthday, which also happened to be the reason why they were scrambling over the not-so-many pieces of furniture to find a hiding place. Yes, you guessed it! They, or more specifically, Tifa and Yuffie, had come up with the wonderful plan of surprising Vincent on his birthday and bringing him out for some fun. Fun. Like the man even knew the meaning of the word.
It's been over a year since we last saw him. I wonder if he recognizes us? Tifa thought to herself as the man walked in, his signature cape billowing around him as he entered the room. He paused for a moment, looking around him. Tifa held in her breath, and saw that the others were doing the same.
…Strange. Is there another presence? He thought to himself. No one had come to his mansion since the day Cloud and his team mates found him, and there was no reason for anyone to be here. He shook off the thought. He must be imagining things.
He turned around to hang his cloak on a hanger. Tifa and the others released their breath, a little too sharply though. Damn, hope he didn't hear that… Cid thought as he stared at the now uncloaked man. But he had, and his blood red eyes narrowed in suspicion as he advanced forward. Tifa nodded at the others. It was time.
"SURPRIIIIISE!"
The lights came on, and Vincent jerked backwards. He was not used to the bright lights of the mansion, and when all the lights are on? It can get REALLY bright. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the light and he looked up…
To a complete stranger, what met his eyes would have looked absolutely ridiculous. Here, standing before him, was what had to be the most absurd looking bunch ever. On his left was a giant robot, followed by a huge, brown man. How they managed to conceal themselves was simply incredible. Then came a short, young ninja and a taller martial artist. Not too bad, besides the fact that the ninja had a huge plastic… Thing which was sticking out of her arm. It appeared to be a sort of arm guard, but he wasn't sure. Oh, that wasn't all. There was a blond young man, whose hair could be used for a hair gel advertisement, a roguish looking man and a dog. Fine, dog-creature-thing, whatever. They certainly did make a comical group.
Vincent recognized them as the group which had woken him up from his sleep about a year back. What are they doing HERE? He decided to ask, as they stood there beaming at him, as though he had just accomplished some great deed.
"…What are you doing here?" Cold, unfriendly, aloof. Maybe they would take the hint. He did not like company.
The martial artist stepped forward. Tifa, he remembered.
"Don't you remember?" He shook his head slowly. Remember? Remember…what? He stared at them, waiting for an answer.
"God damn, Vinnie boy, how could you forget your own fucking birthday?" Ah yes, Cid. Ever the colourful one. Wait a minute. Did he say "birthday"?
"…My birthday…?" He asked dumbly, staring at the group. They stared at him in shock. Could he really have forgotten his own birthday? Vincent's expression, though, was priceless, and Yuffie could hardly resist the urge to laugh. Which she did, very loudly. Soon, everyone burst out laughing.
"Yes, silly, it's your birthday! Let's go celebrate!" Yuffie exclaimed, bouncing up and down in excitement when the laughter died down.This was agreed by the other team members, who were smiling at him, waiting for a response. Which never came. Vincent hadn't celebrated birthdays for a while, and he certainly was not planning on starting to again. Why would they want to celebrate it with a monster anyway?
Vincent just ignored them and walked past. "HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, BUSTER!" Yuffie shrieked as she bounded after him. He glanced at her, and then back at the rest of the group, who resembled goldfishes with their wide eyed, open mouthed expressions. He stared down at the fuming ninja.
"I do not celebrate birthdays."
He turned to leave. He could hear the group chattering behind about what they were going to do now, and what they should do about him, yadayadayada, as he descended down the stairs. He wanted to rest. It had been a long day, plagued with horrible memories and crazy thoughts, as usual. What's new in Vincent-land, huh?
Soon, the chattering died down and he assumed that they all had left. Thank God. He settled down in his "bed", the oh-so-comfortable coffin which had been his refuge for the past 30 or so years. Ah, comfort. It wasn't the best bed in the world, but Vincent was used to it and actually quite liked it, despite the terrible past the coffin held.
Just as he closed his eyes, a sudden movement caught his eye. An intruder.
"Come out," he ordered, his voice silent and deadly. He felt for his gun. Good. One can never be too careful. Who knew what lurked in the shadows?
The dark figure stepped forward and he saw the distinct shape of a woman. Is it…?
"…Vincent." It was. The figure revealed herself – Tifa Lockheart, the ever caring one. She simply could not leave him alone, could she? He should have known that she would follow him down. After all, she never lets someone go off so easily, and was always so concerned about others, never thinking about herself.
He glared at her. "And what, may I ask, are you doing here?"
Tifa sighed. She didn't really know what she WAS doing. It was also an immediate reaction to follow someone to make sure they were alright. That was how she was. She looked at her feet, unsure of what to say.
"Vincent, I'm sorry that we sneaked in and tried to surprise you, knowing full well that you may not like it, but we just wanted to make you, well, we thought it might make you happy." She looked up. He was looking at her. "I mean, you're always by yourself, and today's your birthday… And birthdays should not be spent alone. I know you're still feeling depressed and all about what happened in the past…" She was pushing her luck here. "But that was all in the past... It's not healthy to dwell on it too much. We're your friends, Vincent. We want to spend time with you, celebrate with you. Couldn't you at least grant us that?" Tifa smiled a little.
Friends. That's… Interesting. Well, no matter, I'm tired and no, I do not want to go out and celebrate.
"I wish to rest. Please leave now." And that was the end of the matter. Or so he thought. Soon, he felt movement at the bottom and sides of the coffin also known as Vincent's bed. He opened his eyes and saw Tifa's wine coloured eyes looking back at him. Her heart thumped. This was the most daring thing she has ever done, especially since this was Vincent Valentine she was talking about.
His eyes widened in horror as she lifted a leg and started to push herself into the coffin. Before he could open his mouth to speak, he felt a pang of pain as she toppled ONTO him. "Whoops," she grinned, and rolled off him, to his side. Well, sort of to his side. The coffin wasn't very big. It was, in fact, rather small for him even, and with this extra person… Rather cramp, he thought. And what in heavens name was Tifa thinking?
"Tifa. What are you doing?" He muttered, more than a little annoyed. His little coffin, his private place, HIS space, was now being intruded by someone else. Of the opposite sex too. In this very compromising position. He was NOT amused. He was being SQUISHED to one side of the coffin and it was very, extremely uncomfortable.
"Well. I'm lying in your coffin, with you. I've always wanted to lay down in it. Not very comfortable, it seems…" She acted as though nothing had happened. He turned his head towards her. Tried to, anyway. It's not easy when you have as much space as a sardine in those tins. Which was not very much, not very much at all. He tried to stay as polite as possible.
"Perhaps… You could… Get off!" That came out a tad too harsh. What can you expect from someone, who absolutely hates human contact, and who just had a person – of the opposite sex, no less – casually jump into his bed? You wouldn't be too pleased, even if that person was a knockout.
"Since you won't come with me, I'll just stay here with you. Like I said, I hate to see someone spend his birthday alone."
He gave her a look.
"I… See. And with the vast amount of coffins around, why mine?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I felt like it. Besides, it was warmer than the others, and who knows what I might find in the others," She laughed a little. "Didn't you say you were tired?"
He was bewildered, though he didn't show it. In a situation like this, with such close contact, she could still ask him such a thing? Sure, he wanted to sleep, but not with her inside too! It doesn't look like she'll budge though, no matter what I do. Even if I use force, she'll try again, and I don't hurt women. He sighed. I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. Maybe she'll get out after a while. But then again, I'm getting used to this…
She smiled as he gave in. She wondered if the others were having fun. They had decided that since the "vampire guy", as he was lovingly called by some, wanted to be antisocial and withdrawn, the six of them would go out by themselves to have some fun. Tifa, being Tifa, insisted on staying behind. "Maybe I could talk some sense into him, you know?" was what she had said. They thought it was useless, he wouldn't open up to anyone, they said. But she had to try. And, hah, look at him now. She never thought this method of forcing herself in would work, but it did. She cheered inwardly. One point to Tifa Lockheart!
He saw her smile and resisted the urge to smile himself. He would humour her for the night. Just before he dozed off, as he really was very tired, he mumbled, "You've obviously been around Yuffie too much."
She grinned. She certainly had. Never would have done this otherwise…Oh. I haven't wished Vincent a happy birthday yet…
Softly she whispered, "Happy birthday, Vincent…"
And for the first time in a very long while, Vincent smiled.
A/N: I apologise if the characters are OOC. Please review and let me know what you think. Should I continue it or leave it as a oneshot? ;P I hope the writing isn't too bad. And the ending is totally retarded, I know.