Nagareboshi - Shooting Star -
Disclaimer: I have no ownership over FFVII, Vincent, Nagareboshi or the slide down the street from my house. I do technically own my mind but have no control over it.
"When I look at the sky/ hey look the stars are still embracing." Nagareboshi Shooting Star by HOME MADE Kazoku
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I walked down the back alley quietly; I'd been this way many times so I closed my eyes letting my memories guide me. When I opened them I'd found what I was looking for. Crossing the street I glanced at the sky, there was still time before then. Climbing up the ladder I squeezed under the canopy, crossed the swinging bridge and pulled myself up on the cover of the slide.
The playground was a hidden gem of the west side of Nibelheim, kids hardly ever came here when I was awake and I hadn't seen any in the streets now. The metal and plastic structure had a deep blue paint on the support poles with black plastic for the platforms. The monkey bars showed signs of use; the paint had been worn off in the middle leaving the glare of metal in the fading light. I sat on the slide, well more specifically on the top of it where the cover kept the bar where you grabbed on before going down covered.
I pulled the end of my cloak up over the top, it had trailed in the sand and I didn't want it to get covered in dirt too badly. Turning my attention out in front of me I adjusted the positioned of my golden left arm propping my body into a more comfortable sitting position. I glared at an out of place hair on my face brushing it out of the way. The sun had just started to sink behind the horizon, creating a pastel laden sky of reds, blues and oranges.
I liked to watch the sunset from the top of a slide ever since I was a little kid; my brother had taken me on top of the slide by our house when I was five. There was a park like this one by our house, he'd bought us some ice cream and helped me climb up.
He smiled down at me, "Vince I want you to remember, whenever you've got a problem just look at the sunset from the slide."
I'd been confused by what he meant, "Jack? Whacha mean by that?"
"You'll understand when you're older," he ruffled my hair.
Later that night he died in the Kalm Massacre. Ever since then I'd made the trek to the playground by myself trying to figure out what he meant, Father said not to go out because I could get killed but I didn't mind. He was hardly ever home so I could always be out and back before he came home, if he even did. Sometimes when I was older I sat out there watching the stars too, still confused about what he meant.
After I joined the Turks I still watched the sunset and stars, even though I was older then Jack by about ten years now, he had been twelve when he died, I still couldn't figure out his message. When I got the mission to Nibelheim I made sure to find a park with the same view of the sunset. After I started dating Lucrecia, I took her up to the top several times to watch with me.
"Why do you like to watch the sky so much?" She asked leaning her head on my shoulder.
"Something my brother said once, if I had problem to watch the stars from the top of the slide, I haven't figured out what he meant still," I replied.
She sat there for a moment, my fingers absently stroking her hair, "I think he meant for you to stop and just appreciate life at its most beautiful. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we're doing that we forget to just stop and take a breather."
Two weeks later I'd walked into the lab to find out that she'd worked with my father. I wasn't angry, just confused about it, shortly after that I saw her with Hojo. I stopped visiting the park to watch the sunset that day. After I died I never once thought of Jack or what Lucrecia said she thought he meant, thirty long years passed quietly.
Cloud and the rest of the group came as a surprise when they found me earlier in the morning. I didn't know if I was truly ready to go with them, the demons I harbor, they'd be in constant danger from within. The light stung my eyes, I blinked up realizing that this was a problem and here I was watching it from the top of a slide. I stared at the red colors of the sky for a moment. If I went with them I would kill them, their blood would be on my hands, my claws digging into their flesh, fangs driving into their necks. If I went on my own it would be better for them, I always worked alone on my missions in the Turks. I liked the silence that came from being alone.
But if I did stay, then maybe I could start to find my redemption, at the very least I would kill Hojo before I tried anything else. That vengeance would be of some comfort at the very least; I could rest a bit easier knowing that no one else would suffer at the hands of that madman. Turning my eyes to the oranges and yellows I shifted my right hand to the butt of my Quicksilver. Someone else had arrived, seven actually, I glanced around seeing the people who'd pulled me out of my slumber climbing up the play structure. I relaxed putting my hand back on my knee; they weren't a threat to me.
"So this is where you got off to," Cloud nodded from where he stood on the platform with a steering wheel attached to it. "I used to come here when I was a kid to watch the annual meteor shower. Tonight is when it happens, never thought we'd find you here though."
"…" I sat quietly for a moment glancing down to see Nanaki was sitting underneath where I'd taken my seat. His flaming tail swishing rhythmically, the color was the same as the fading pastel colors of the sunset.
Aerith and Yuffie stood on the swinging bridge next to Cloud's platform, Barret stood on the ground shooting me dirty looks that said 'I don't trust you, far as I can throw you, ya damn vamp'. Cait Sith and his stuffed moogle sat at the base of the slide. Tifa leaned on the rail next to the slide, she smiled up at me the same way she had earlier when we met. "I think it's sweet how the sunset always makes the sky like this. So why'd you come here and watch it?" She prompted.
"…" I thought about it for a moment, "because of something a wise man once said to me. 'Whenever you've got a problem just look at the sunset from the top of the slide.'"
"Aww that's sweet," she smiled back warmly, I looked away as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the mountains and the sky faded to navy blue mixed with black dotted with the light of stars.
Yuffie let out a shout, something I'd noticed shortly after meeting her that she had a very frequent habit of. "Look it's starting!" She pointed jumping up and down at the sky.
Streaks of white had started to flash in the sky, I gazed at them ignoring Yuffie's shouting and focusing on the shooting stars. People were like shooting stars, each radiating a light all their own for one brief moment before disappearing. I looked around at the group; each one radiated their own light, a brilliant light that no one could put out. My darkness would only bring the light down but not even I could fully put it out.
Part of me wanted each of them to shine brightly, "…and may you continue to shine forever."
"Huh?" Tifa looked up at me.
"I'll come with you… so long as you permit me to…" I replied turning back to the stars.
"We'll be more then happy to have you along Vincent," she agreed watching the stars.