Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Not even those new guys. I swear. They just appeared. *POOF* Ahhh! There's another one!

The Darkness Within

Chapter One: Who would suspect....

It was a nice night. The kind of night that you dream about in your most private fantasies. The haven of Costa Del Sol often had nights such as this. With it's cool sea breezes, and the gentle wafting of the waves to the shore, no one would ever imagine that something horrifyingly unimaginable was about to begin.

"Yo Cid, move on over." The large black man told his grouchy faded-blond' friend as he sat on the couch.

"Yeah. When the hell is my tea gonna be ready?!" The pilot shouted.

"Whenever you get off your lazy butt and make it. I'm not Shera." The spikey haired blond man replied, returning to the room holding a glass of water.

"Shit. Thanks alot spike." Cid retorted, affectionately dubbing Barrets nickname for Cloud and his unruly hair.

"Barret, have you seen those shoes I bought yesterday?" Tifa called from in her room.

At the pushing of the trigger happy Barret, Cloud had added on to his Villa, which consisted of building a few more rooms on the first floor, and a remodeling of the painfully tiny basement with the help of a few Earth 3s, courtesy of Barret. Cloud had asked Tifa to move in with him, since it had seemed like the most logical idea, considering that Cloud and Tifa were the only two without a real place to call home. She had shyly accepted, commenting on the fact that Cloud's 300 thousand Gil home would probably get lonely, him being the only occupant. She had jokingly warned him that she didn't want to see another Vincent walking around with spikey blond hair. The arrangement had been working out quite nicely for the past two months, despite the poorly hidden disappointment of their friends that the two hadn't ascended their relationship to a romantic one.

"Nah, Teef. Don't worry 'bout 'em. They're only shoes."

Cid chuckled and muttered, "Women." as Cloud sat down in an armchair facing the front door.

"Great! Those shoes were for Yuffie when we meet her in Wutai!" Tifa left her bedroom and walked in to the living room with her friends, wearing her black jacket and holding her purse in her hand. "Now I have to go buy some new ones."

"Sheez. Couldn't ya just give her a pair of yours? It's kinda late out." Cloud said, eyeing her over the brim of his glass.

Tifa had signifigantly changed the way she dressed since their journey for Sephiroth. Instead of the slightly revealing clothing she had worn as a bar hostess, she now wore simple fitted Ts and shorts. On colder days she wore pants. When Yuffie had questioned Tifa's old outfit in her own special no -holds-barred-kamikaze style way, Tifa had casually replied that, "A girl has to make a living somehow." When Yuffie had given her a scandalized look, Tifa sighed and explained exasperatedly, " I owned a bar, Yuffie, you perv." Tonight Tifa was wearing a dark blue shirt with dark tan khakis. Of course, she was still wearing her signature red boots with plated metal in the sides. Cloud kinda missed Tifa's old outfit, for the ..obvious.. reasons.

"No, Cloud. I can't. Yuffie hand picked those shoes before she left for Wutai, and I want to give them to her for a surprise." Noticing his concerned look, she added, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

With that, she proceeded to leave. Reaching the door, she turned the handle, not noticing it being unlocked from the other side. It flew open, nearly knocking her backwards.

"God! Vincent! You scared the heck outta me!" Tifa squeaked, laying a hand on his shoulder in relief.

"My sincere apologies. Are you going out?" He asked calmly, cocking an eyebrow.

Cid and Barret were still on the couch laughing, while Cloud was sputtering water out his mouth.

"She-jumped-a-foot-off-the-floor!" Cid gasped between laughs.

Tifa turned back around to face Cid, and shot him an evil look, while saying, " Yes Vincent, I am going out. Cid asked me to pick him up some viagra so that his dirty magazines in the glove compartment of the Tiny Bronco don't get lonely tonight."

Cloud couldn't handle the priceless look on Cid's face. He burst out laughing, spewing his mouthful of water all over the place. Barret fell on the floor clutching his stomach. Even Vincent gave a little smirk.

After recovering from his first initial shock, Cid asked, "How did you know?"

Cloud and Barret only laughed harder.

Realizing what he had said, Cid could only stutter in response to Tifa's insult.

Noticing Cid's face turning red, Tifa realized it was time to go. Slipping past Vincent in the door way, she told him, "Excuse me Vince, I'd better get going before Cid regains his ability to speak properly. I don't think my ears could handle that much profanity this time 'a night.

Vincent gently grabbed her wrist. "You're walking. That's dangerous." He replied solemnly.

"Come on Vincent, we're in Costa Del Sol, not Midgar. Gosh, you're as bad as Cloud. I'll be fine, don't worry, okay?" She assured him softly, staring into the scarlet depths of his eyes. Quickly shaking her head, she finished, "I'll be back in an hour or so." She affectionately pulled his headband over his eyes. Tifa was the only one allowed to actually physically touch him, unless in case of emergency, although no one ever talked about Vincent's exception of her out loud. "You make sure you have fun."

Pulling his headband back up, Vincent watched Tifa's retreating figure be swallowed into the darkness.

Authors Notes: Hey, this is Ice Queen speaking. Some of you may think this story is familiar. It is. Revised, Re-edited, and longer. Waaaaaaay waaaay longer. Yes, there are some original characters, but they will not steal the show. Warning, this fic could get outta hand in later chapters. I've pretty much got it mapped out, 'cept who Tifa ends up with. I'll have to see the response to the original characters later on. Don't worry, there's only 3.......kinda...... I'd better shut up before I give it away. Anyway, review. CC is great. As a matter of fact, try to include any suggestions, comments, and questions in your review. I'll listen.