Another Chance

Timeline: Post Dirge of Cerberus

Genre: Romance/Family

Rating: T

Summary: When the New Year rolls around, Vincent is dragged back to Edge for a party with his friends. After living the life of a recluse for the last thirty-one years, he finds a reason to drag himself out of his isolation under very unexpected circumstances…

Kind of uploaded in a hurry, so I haven't had time to proof read. Sorry if you happen to spot any mistakes ^^; This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but, along with my inability to just sit down and write recently, I have reached 10 reviews! Consider this... a reward :) If anyone has any tips on how to make myself just write for goodness' sake it would be very much appreciated!

Enjoy! Reviews make me happy!

New Year's Eve: the very last day of the year. The day when you can choose to either forget everything you have experienced in the past twelve months or learn from it.

If today were a normal New Year's Eve, Vincent Valentine would choose to sit quietly in Lucrecia's cave, pick the former preference and sink once again into the abyss of his emotional isolation from the outside world. This had been a tradition that he had kept for three years now; whenever his time wasn't consumed by an intricate mission for the WRO, Vincent would follow his feet as they lead him to the chamber behind the waterfall, to the very place where his past lay so prominently in the air that it could easily suffocate him with his own guilt. He would sit on the floor in his usual position – one leg stretched out, the other bent to his chest with his elbow resting on the kneecap. He would slowly look up, the glow emanating from the woman kept in crystal gently illuminating his features. There she would stand, unable to move; breath. She would never live again.

Thinking it would help him move on, this had been a fact that much of the gang had insisted on pointing out to him, unaware that he did already know it himself. He knew it was a lost cause, though perhaps that was the reason he had been visiting the concealed cave for so long; so religiously. He believed that his sins were due much atonement, and that this was his punishment. Even after his previous life as a Turk, he never was one to leave a job incomplete.

This year, however, Tifa had invited him to a party over at 7th Heaven, in Edge. Not only had she invited him, she had sent Yuffie to fetch him. That meant no escaping.

He wouldn't have had a chance for a quick departure anyway, as the young ninja had, without any notice, shown up on the doorstep of his house in Kalm on the very afternoon the gathering was to commence.

4:25 pm, Friday 31st December, εуλ 0010 KALM

The resounding noise of trotting filled the market road as its people abstained from their bargain searching and parted like waves for the Chocobo and the woman on its back. For such a small lane, it seemed as though there could have been enough people to comfortably fill the square in the centre of town.

The young woman dismounted the Chocobo and tethered it to a post in the corner of the street. Standing on her tiptoes to peer over the heads of the many individuals crowding the space, she scanned the area for her mission target.

No where.

Duh, of course he's inside!

As she slinked her way through the masses of swarming bodies (relieving them of their spare change as she went), she made her way to a modest sized house in the much quieter corner of the street, conveniently set back from any of the hustle and bustle of people going about their everyday lives. Shadowed by the stone wall of the fortress just beside it, the entrance was dark and sinister, discouraging anyone who even took a step near it from knocking on its door.

This must be it.

She started with a slow pace towards the house, confidence weakening and finally shrivelling up completely when she reached the front porch. It took her a few moments to muster up the courage to raise her hand, ball it into a fist and knock loudly on the wood of the door. She heard nothing for a good few minutes, until several footsteps sounded out seconds before the door cracked open - just an inch at first, then fully as the house's occupant stared at the small woman with an uninterested and slightly disappointed look.

"Yuffie."

"TGIF, Vince!"

Yuffie Kisaragi, White Rose of Wutai, gave him one of her brilliant, toothy grins as she stepped past him into the house. As she surveyed the environment, she noticed (without much surprise) that the house was lacking all but the basic elements of furniture; for what she could see downstairs, there was nothing but a small stove on the far wall, a counter with a barely eaten loaf of bread sitting on it, and an old, rickety chair. Vincent looked back at Yuffie, one hand still on the open door.

"… What?"

"Thank God it's Friday! You should shut that door, or it's gonna get chilly in here."

Staring at her in mild confusion, he softly pushed the door to a close, wondering quite why the ninja was here and why it was that he had so willingly allowed her into his private living space. After no contact since the last Meteor Day, Yuffie was certainly very enthusiastic that Vincent should come to some kind of a reunion of AVALANCHE's, especially seeing as he missed both his own and Yuffie's birthday parties in October and November – It had been 13th October, Vincent's birthday, and Cloud had sent out the invitation to Vincent by PHS a week ago. Regrettably, he never arrived and the party had inevitably commenced without the guest of honour. For the most part, nobody was surprised that he hadn't shown. He wasn't one to indulge in the nightlife or attention anyone managed – intentionally or non – to give him. Easy to say, Yuffie was definitely disappointed about his lack of appearance during the last year.

"So just where do you think you've been?" She scolded him, suddenly angered. "You know, you could have at least made an effort to come to my party, if not your own!"

As he watched her with slightly widened eyes, taken off guard by her sudden outburst, she lowered her head guiltily.

"No… I-"

"I apologize, Yuffie. This last year has been somewhat… taxing for me."

"Taxing?"

It was silent for a moment, as they stood, each waiting for the other to make the next move. Though the both of them had had their fair share of quiet moments in each other's presence, it had never been this awkward before. Why was it so…? Yuffie was usually the one who created the conversation, Vincent either adding his own opinion between her sentences with a nod or a quiet "Hn.", or ignoring her altogether. Of course, the latter was in general only used when he was in a particularly foul mood – so much so that he could no longer stand any more of her incessant chatter that possessed the pace of a speeding train. This time, he seemed reluctant to answer her question and Yuffie noted with intrigue that he looked as if he had a small tint of red lining his cheeks. He had his head bowed, covering up the lower part of his face with the high collar of his cloak. Vincent never blushed. Maybe it was just a trick of the light. Yes, the light reflecting off the cape…

A million and one excuses ran faster and faster through her head as she soon found herself looking towards the musty, brown floorboards in an attempt to hide the rapidly spreading blush appearing across her own cheekbones.

Now I'm blushing? This is so bad…

Vincent had promptly looked up at her as she made the slight movement, speculating why she had suddenly taken much interest in the flooring. Feeling that he had successfully cooled his cheeks, he made a small noise, clearing his throat. Yuffie looked up.

"What are you doing here, Yuffie?"

"Uhh…"

Blushes. Are not. Contagious.

Speech failed her as she realised that she had looked up at him whilst she could still feel the heat radiating from her blush. With a nervous glance to his eyes, it only worsened. She desperately tried to remember what her "mission goal" was that Tifa had set her.

"The- um… Tifa! Tifa asked me to come get you! We're having a party at 7th Heaven for New Year's."

"…"

"And, um… Y'know, you're invited, so… the least you could do is come to this one…" Gesturing with her hands awkwardly, she began to feel increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his gaze.

Vincent still stood by the front door and surveyed her with a withering glare. She was not scared of him; he knew this. She was one of the few people who could withstand his patented 'Evil Glare of Doom', as named by Yuffie herself. During their work for the WRO, Reeve sent them on various missions together, as he knew they were a good team when faced with combat situations; they had proven that enough during the DeepGround crisis. It was there that they had witnessed the glare's efficiency many a time – it had been known to make the largest of their human enemies drop their weapons and fall to their knees, begging for mercy, the other beasts scampering away with their tails between their legs. It even worked on his friends – when, for example, Cid or Barrett made an out of line comment (perhaps about his past or other personal issues) Vincent would simply attempt to burn a hole straight through their heads with the sheer intensity of the glower. This, of course, effectively silenced them before that would happen. Yuffie, on the other hand, generally refused to shut up when confronted by it. Her stubbornness and ability to annoy were part of what made her Yuffie, after all.

He had by now noticed the thick red line that adorned the mid-section of the young woman's face. Never one to make a situation more uncomfortable than it was already, he filed the occurrence deep in the back of his mind and promptly dismissed it from the present.

Sighing softly, Vincent took a moment to pray to every God rumoured of existence for help - for some form of divine intervention that would interrupt the stifling awkward silence. Looking towards the dank ceiling, he beckoned the miracle disruption to appear. Anything. A knock on the door, a PHS call…

Realising his saviour was not due to arrive spontaneously out of thin air, he sighed once again and gestured to the now alert Yuffie that he was ready to leave. He allowed himself a small, upwards quirk of his lips at the bright smile that had cracked out over the once quiet ninja's lips, pleased that he had at least made her happy – even if it meant he was doomed to be publicly embarrassed by his stunted social qualities in the following hours.

Undoubtedly, tonight did not bode well for him.