Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it so deal with it.

A/N: A small one shot. Just Vincent reflecting on his life. Falls somewhere in between Frozen and Don't Fear the Reaper. Slight crossover with my other main body of works, Moon Child.

I wandered around the dark hallways, my footsteps echoed in the darkness. I stopped and sniffed around for a moment. Odd, why would I have stumbled across the smell of flowers in my mind? Ever since Hojo's experiments I had become used to the odd smells of my companions. Galian Beast's wing of our mental abode smelled like wet dog. I honestly can't explain why, he just smells as though he's trudged five miles through a hurricane. I try not to go down there, he's not too bad when he's away from his wing but honestly, he needs to learn to dry off after a bath. The same could be said for his things, I know they don't really exist but he needs to learn to keep them picked up. Death Gigas, his wing isn't terribly bad, he keeps well organized for a mako based beast. His wing doesn't really have a particular smell except when he's cleaning, which is near constantly. He reminds me of my uncle Jonas, the man had an unhealthy obsession with cleaning. But I digress. The worst of all is Hellmasker, I don't even want to describe what goes on in his wing. All I will say is that it smells worse than a glue factory and the back room of the butchery. Chaos's wing... how to describe it... I cannot say. He keeps it clean, not to the level of Death Gigas, but well enough. Sometimes it will smell of our, antics, but I don't particularly mind.

Forgive me, I've digressed yet again. I tend to do that when I smell flowers. It's odd, when I was young I was rather allergic to flowers. Every year brought on a nasty round of hay fever. I suppose that's why I attended collage in Cosmo Canyon, nothing much grows out there so I had nothing to be allergic to. After I received a mako injection when I joined the Turks, my allergies cleared up within days. But even then I haven't appreciated flowers of late. I followed the flower's scent, not paying attention to where I headed. My feet led me to a partly opened door that revealed a lengthy field that seemed to extend forever. I stepped through the door and felt my eyes widen. Nine species of flowers bloomed over acres and acres, their perfume created a rather intoxicating miasma for the olfactory senses. In the distance I spotted a large tree, the only shade apart from the occasional cloud. It seemed perfect for a place to escape from the rest of the group. I wandered through the rainbow of flowers and sat down at the base of the tree. I lay down and closed my eyes.

My dreams drifted about for a while, "Vincent... Vincent..." A voice called into my sleep.

My eyes fluttered, and I came to focus in on a face hovering over mine, "Vincent, wake up." Chaos implored me from my slumber.

"Huh? What's going on?" I muttered for a moment while he ran a clawed hand through my hair.

"You found my secret spot," he growled slightly as his grip on my head tightened.

"Oh." I started to stand up, his hand forced my back to the ground.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time, humans are so curious." He grinned and bared his fangs with a chortle. "I come here to think among nature, but only during the night." As he said it the sky changed to nighttime.

I felt my jaw drop slightly as I noticed the flowers each radiated light of their own. Chaos's mouth clamped over mine and his tongue wrapped around mine. I snapped out of my awe while he drew away, a small thread of saliva connected our tongues still. "Why do they glow?"

He smiled for a moment, "this garden is my memory of the garden the Goddess made when I was a child." He brushed the underside of one of the flowers with his golden claws. "She made a flower for each of us. Mine is called Chaos Moon on the Water." He pointed to a deep maroon flower with startling silver streaks. "The silver with the green tips is Omega's Rising Wings. The pale gold and jade one is Shining Hikaru." He smiled as he pointed out Endless Gyamante, Bell of Biru, Vert Seas in the Spring, Vermelho Root, and Star of Ultima.

I noticed he left off the most prevalent flower on the hill, a brilliant scarlet rose with orangish yellow tips on the petals. "You forgot this one." I leaned forward and brushed the edge of one of the odd roses with my fingertips.

His face changed to a look of sorrow, "that one is Adarna Flaming Passion." He placed his hand on top of mine, "back when things were different, before Jenova. Adarna and I were planning to be married, we'd set the date and everything in place. But then..." I watched a pearl colored tear roll down his face.

"I see," I muttered, sorry I asked. "I'm sorry..." I wrapped my arms around his shoulder and kissed the pearly drop.

He leaned against me silently, one hand on my shoulders, the other on my waist. There we stayed, silent as the night. The only noise came from the crickets and Chaos's occasional sniffle as he cried. My mouth wandered his pale blue skin, to kiss his lips gently for a moment. He simply allowed me to hold him, he didn't press to go any further. I realized that he was hurting from the loss of love just as badly as I was. I felt a wave of sorrow drown in my stomach for a moment. He and I had more in common than I originally thought. We had both been warriors by birth, and lost those we cared about due to our weakness. In that single moment I vowed something to no one but myself. I swore that as long as I still drew breath I would stand by Chaos and protect him. I would also do the best I could to stay alive so we could be together, because to protect someone you had to survive. I brushed my hands along his face and smiled at him, "I swear to you that it will never happen again."

His nose brushed mine and he rolled on top of me with a leg between mine. He had clearly recovered from whatever grief ailed him. In that one moment, when he smiled and mingled his fingers with mine, I saw a new flower bloom behind him. The petals had silvery green stripes twined with golden ones along the red length. I silently declared it, Chaos Standing Tall.