A/N: Hello all! Sparxyu here! I had a brainstorm going today while watching a video which involved Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII and a song by Avril Lavigne called I'm With You. Couldn't help but get some ideas.... Hope you guys enjoy them. Please drop your reviews! BTW, Vincent and Cid are 19 in this and Lucrecia's 18, in case anyone's wondering.
Dedication: This is for my best friend, Mike. He introduced me to Avril Lavigne's music. He also reminds me of Vincent Valentine a lot, but most of all, he acts like the 21-day older brother I never had. Thanks a lot, dude. Let's have a hand for him, everyone!
Disclaimer: I don't own the lyrics that make up I'm With You by Avril Lavigne or Final Fantasy VII.
The Waltz of the Lonely Moon
by: Sparxyu
I'm standing on a bridge
I'm waiting in the dark
I thought that you'd be here by now
'It'll be okay,' he told himself softly. 'You've just gotta ask her one simple question. Now take a deep breath...'
Lucrecia Crescent stood in front of her locker, reaching for a heavy textbook. As Vincent watched, the book fell off of the shelf and landed on the floor. Seeing that her hands were a bit full, he went over and had scooped it up in his hands before she even had time to put her other things down in order to grab it.
For a minute, Vincent stood, absolutely breathless.
Lucrecia's light brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail today, making her look like an angel. Her periwinkle eyes sparkled as Vincent as he timidly held the book out to her in his outstretched, gloved hand.
There's nothing but the rain
No footsteps on the ground
I'm listening but there's no sound
"Thank you, Vincent." Her smile made a slight blush creep across his cheeks. He lowered his head, embarrassed.
"You're welcome, Lucrecia," he murmured. "Hey, I was kind of wondering, would you like to come to prom with me on Friday night?"
"Friday night?" Lucrecia responded. "I'll have to think about it. I mean, I might be busy. I'll see what I can do."
"Oh, okay." A shy smile lit up Vincents' crimson eyes. "I'll, uh, talk to you later, okay?"
Lucrecia giggled. "Okay. 'Bye! I gotta get to class!"
"Bye."
Vincent sat in class, daydreaming about prom. 'Lucrecia Crescent...' he thought to himself. 'I wonder what it'll be like to slow dance with her. I bet it'll be great. She's so nice, too.'
"Mr. Valentine, are you even paying attention?!" the teacher snapped so suddenly that it made Vincent jump.
"Y-yes, sir. Sorry, sir. I won't do it again."
"That's what I thought," the teacher growled. "Now, pay attention to the lesson."
"Yes, sir."
All too soon, the bell rang and the school day was over. Vincent grabbed the maroon knapsack out of his locker and headed home.
An hour later, he sat quietly with Grimoire at the dinner table, eating what was in front of him: chicken-flavored ramen with broth. It was one of his favorite meals.
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It's a damn cold night
"You okay, son?" Grimoire asked, noticing the look on Vincent's face.
"Huh?" Vincent snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah. I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"The upcoming dance. I'm gonna try and get Lucrecia to come with me."
"Oh." Grimoire was speechless as he watched Vincent go up to his room. "Goodnight, son."
Vincent flashed his father a rare, devilish grin. "'Night, dad. Love you."
Grimoire returned the smile. "Love you, too, son."
Vincent continued on his way up to his room. Once there, he pulled out a CD and slid it into his stereo, placing the earphones in his ears. Soon, the lyrics became his lullaby and he fell sound asleep, his head landing on the soft pillow.
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new
Grimoire came up to Vincent's room to say hello to his son. As he entered, he found Vincent laying in his bed, the earphones still tucked into his ears. With a slight chuckle, the black-haired man removed them and pulled the black comforter up around his son after pulling his boots off and dropping them to the floor.
The next day dawned and it was Thursday, the day that Vincent was going to get his answer from Lucrecia. He got ready for school, his favorite red t-shirt and baggy black jeans dangling off of his skinny frame.
A black-gloved hand nervously closed around the bright red rose it held as Vincent allowed a tiny, almost hopeful smile to cross his lips. He was about to turn the corner when he heard a voice, which he recognized as Lucrecia's, talking to someone. Vincent stole a peek around the corner.
Lucrecia stood talking to a boy who was at least a year older than her. His jet-black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and he wore rectangular glasses.
"Of course, Hojo," Lucrecia was saying. "I'd love to go to the dance with you."
The red rose dropped to the floor. Vincent didn't want to hear anything else.
I don't know who you are
But I...I'm with you
I'm with you
Lucrecia sat in her biology class, taking notes. A small note landed on her desk. It was from her odd friend who was obsessed with airships, Cid Highwind. It read:
Hey, Lucrecia! Heard that Vince asked ya to prom. What'd ya say?
A knot twisted in Lucrecia's stomach. I asked Hojo, she wrote in reply and tossed it to Cid.
Oh, Cid wrote back. He didn't write anything else.
'Jeez,' Cid thought to himself. 'Vinnie's gonna be really crushed when he hears about this. Poor guy.'
At that moment, the bell rang and Cid headed out into the hallway. As he passed by other students, he noticed Vincent standing by his locker, his head down to hide a sad look on his face.
"Hey, Vinnie," the future pilot said, wrapping an arm about his friend's shoulders. "Are ya okay?"
Vincent jumped slightly at the contact, then gently pulled himself free of Cid's arm. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Hey, why don't we have lunch together? We haven't done that in a long time." Cid winked. "We've got a lotta catchin' up to do."
"Sure." Vincent offered a thin smile, trying to erase any indication that he was feeling down.
"Great! See ya there!" Cid ran off with a wave and a huge grin.
I'm looking for a place
I'm searching for a face
Is anybody here I know?
Lunch had passed quietly for the two of them. Cid had been so sympathetic toward Vincent that he hadn't been able to think of a single thing to say. Vincent had just been quiet in general, acting like himself.
Vincent went home that day with his head down.
"How did things go?" Grimoire asked as a way of greeting his son as he stepped into the house.
Vincent didn't say anything except, "I changed my mind about prom. I'm not going."
Grimoire shot his son a surprised look. "She said no, didn't she?"
"Whatever."
'Cause nothing's going right
And everything's a mess
And no one likes to be alone
The night of the dance came, but Vincent didn't show up. Cid did, though. In his black tuxedo, he waited for Vincent at the door. At eight o'clock, Vincent still had not shown up and Cid was starting to worry. He knew where Vincent lived.
At the Valentine house, the doorbell rang and Grimoire answered it. A young boy stood just outside the door, his black tuxedo being kept dry underneath the umbrella he held.
"Hello, Cid." Grimoire flashed him a bright grin.
"Hey, Mr. Valentine. Is Vincent home?"
"Not right now, I'm afraid. He said that he wanted to go out for a bit. You know how he likes the rain."
"Yeah, guess so. I'm gonna go look for him. See you."
"'Bye, Cid."
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Vincent stood on the bridge, his battered red cloak getting soaked by the rain. The bridge was his favorite place and it was here that he sought solace. But the bridge held none for him now. Tears slipped down his cheeks.
A tentative hand touched his shoulder. "Vinnie?" a soft voice asked in a quiet, almost shocked murmur.
Vincent turned around quickly, startled. But he soon recognized the figure and offered his thin smile again. "Cid? What are you doing out here in this?"
"I should be askin' you the same thing," the pilot returned. "Why aren't you at prom having fun?"
"Lucrecia, she... she..." Vincent couldn't keep his smile up any longer. He broke down.
Cid was shocked. He'd never seen Vincent cry before.
Won't you take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I...I'm with you
I'm with you
"Oh, Vince," Cid whispered sadly. "C'mere." He wrapped an arm about Vincent's shoulders and pulled him into a hug underneath the umbrella. As Vincent's shoulders heaved with heavy sobs, he pulled him closer and rubbed his back in a soothing manner.
When Vincent's sobs stopped, he looked up at Cid sadly. Cid's entire suit was soaked.
"I got you wet," Vincent murmured sadly. "Sorry, Cid."
"Huh?" Cid glanced down at his tux, then waved it off. "That's okay, Vince. I don't really give a damn."
Vincent managed a tiny grin. Cid could always make him smile. He was so good at it and that was what made him wonderful.
Cid took Vincent's hand. "C'mon, Vinnie."
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
Oh why is everything so confusing?
Maybe I'm just out of my mind
Yeah, yeah, yeah
When they arrived, the party was in full swing.
"Why are we here?" Vincent's voice had a touch of annoyance in it.
"C'mon, Vince. No one should miss their senior prom just 'cause of some stupid girl rejecting them for a stupid nerd like Hojo."
"Whatever..." Vincent noticed Lucrecia dancing with Hojo a few feet away.
"Aw, come on. Don't be like that."
"All right, fine. I'll do it for you."
A slow song began to play and Cid pulled Vincent out onto the dance floor. Vincent shot him a shocked look.
"What are you doing?"
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I...I'm with you
I'm with you
"Dancing? You?" Cid began to sway gently to the music's soft melody.
"Wanna dance, Cid?" The words had flown from Vincent's lips before he'd even had time to really think about what he was saying.
"Sure." Cid wrapped his arms about Vincent's neck and pushed his head against his chest and the two of them waltzed lightly to the music as Cid heard Vincent's heartbeat.
Take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I...I'm with you
I'm with you
"Hey, Cid?" Vincent's soft murmur made the pilot raise his head.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
They whirled.
"Hey...." Cid ventured. "Vincent?"
"Yes?"
"I love ya."
"I love you, too."
"Call me 'Chief'."
"Heh," Vincent smiled lightly. "Love you, too, Chief." And in that instant, Vincent knew that it was true.
Take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I...I'm with you
I'm with you...
Fin.
A/N: Many thanks to Shehan Costa on , whose video involving Vincent Valentine and a song by Avril Lavigne entitled "I'm With You" inspired this story. Let's give this person a hand!
If you want to view the video that inspired this story, please copy and paste the following link into your internet browser:
.com/results?search_type=&search_query=vincent+valentine+avril+lavigne&aq=f
Reviews, please!