Final Fantasy VII and all characters thereof are the property of Squaresoft.
Un Viaggio del Core (Journey of the Heart)
"He's gone, Vincent."
The sudden interruption of his dreams jolted Vincent Valentine out of his semi-dozing state. Sitting up quickly, he took in the sight before him - Tifa Lockheart was wearily leaning against the entrance to his room in the ShinRa mansion, her trademark white tanktop torn and dirty, her head down, her breath coming in short gasps. He asked the question even though he knew the answer... "Who, Tifa?"
Tifa looked up, her beautiful hazel eyes red-rimmed and filled with tears. "Cloud. He's left me."
* * *
Cloud Strife jumped off his Chocobo and raced up the steps to Yuffie and Reno's home in Wutai. He stalked straight into the living room and grabbed Reno's shoulders. "Is it true? Is what you called me about TRUE!?"
Reno gave his characteristic smirk and brushed Cloud's hands off of his shoulders. "Yes, its true." He walked over to the bar and poured himself some sake. "I was in Mideel two days ago on Turk business - Reeve sent us to see how the repairs were going. While I was there, a girl was rushed into the infirmary..."
Cloud stepped forward. "Aeris!?" His eyes brightened. "Was she ok? What was going on?"
Reno turned, and Cloud was treated to a nice whiff of Reno's favorite whiskey. "Shut up and let me finish my damn story. Anyway, so they carry this girl by me on a stretcher, yelling something about mako poisoning. Now, as a Neo-Midgar high-level employee, I found that interesting. So I followed them." He turned his back to Cloud. "By the time they let me in, she was coming round slightly...certainly looked like your pal, the Ancient - pink dress and all. She was awake long enough to say one thing - 'Cloud.' Then she went unconscious." Reno turned his back to Cloud as he said, "But what about your girlfriend, that Ti-" Cloud was gone. Reno shook his head, then stiffened as he heard his girlfriend enter the room.
"RENOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Yuffie Kisaragi - right before she decked him. "Do you know what you've DONE!?" The short ninja's beaded hair band clicked as she shook her head at him in frustration.
Reno looked up groggily. "Reunited old friends?"
Yuffie frowned. "No. You've just ruined Tifa Lockheart's life.
* * *
Vincent stood and rather clumsily put his good hand on Tifa's shoulder, well aware of his casual and rather underdressed state. Normally swathed in layers of clothing, he had foregone them for simple black pants and a black tanktop. It had been along time since he had given away emotion, especially consolation, so he was surprised when the young woman threw her arms around his waist and cried into his chest. He stepped back involuntarily and Tifa pulled away. "I'm...sorry. I'm real sorry," she said, wiping the tears off her face. "I didn't know who else to turn to that didn't, y'know, live right around me...and since you...well, since you lost a loved one as well, I thought you were the best choice."
Vincent crossed his arms. "So, this is the true Tifa."
Tifa looked up. "Huh?" She let Vincent guide her to a huge cushy armchair near his fireplace, and he took the chair he had been dozing in, right across from her.
"You always pretended to be so happy." As Tifa jerked her head up again to protest, Vincent gave her one of his rare smiles. "People think because I am quiet, I do not pay attention. That's wrong. I pay attention. I saw how you smiled whenever someone looked at you, how you winced through it when Cloud would speak of Aeris." Tifa bowed her head slightly. "I know you love him, I know you always have. And you pretended not to care that he was in mourning for a dead woman, a year after her death, even when he was living with you." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Tifa...that couldn't have been easy." He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, his magnificent ebony hair falling down over his shoulders. "Somehow...I both admire and pity you for it.
Tifa looked up, and Vincent was startled by the depth of emotion in her eyes, eyes that had always looked so happy. He had known so much of it was fake, but still...seeing her eyes this way reminded him painfully of his own self. In her eyes he saw reflected the years of pain and torment he had inflicted upon himself, and at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to save her from the same. Her soft, toneless words brought him out of his reverie.
"It was...it was like having a third person in my house, Vincent." She stared into the fireplace. "No matter what...she was there."
* * *
Cloud Strife raced across the ocean on his Gold Chocobo. Please, God, any god, let it be her...let her be back... Heedless of the chill salt spray whipping into his face, he pressed the Chocobo even harder towards Mideel...and the hope of finding that part of him that had died so many years ago.
* * *
"No matter what I did to dispel her memory...it was there." Tifa continued to study the flames, which were calm compared to the turmoil in her heart. "In his mind and mine...no matter what anyone thinks, I loved her too, she was my friend. I hurt when she died..." She looked back at Vincent. "But not like Cloud hurt. He hurt because...because..." she choked on her own words, then forced them out. "Because he had lost the only woman he had ever loved. And I knew it...I knew it when I invited him to stay with me, when I invited him to work at the bar, when I invited him to my bed. I knew it was a desperate act to become that memory...become that woman he wanted, he loved. But it didn't happen. Even that time by the Highwind...it was her name he called. I think in that moment he thought it was Aeris." Vincent winced. "But you know...for some reason, I pretended he hadn't done it. I pretended all along that it was my name he'd said...my body he reached for...my love he needed."
* * *
Cloud burst into the Mideel infirmary, heedless of the doctor's protestations. The smell of sickness hit him immediately, and he paused an instant before demanding, "Where is she?"
The doctor, caught off guard, stammered, "W...Who? Are you by any chance looking for the girl in pink, She's in the..." He hadn't even finished the words and Cloud had moved.
Tearing back the curtain, he realized his dream was true - there she lay, pale and asleep, but it was her, and she was breathing.
"Aeris," he whispered.
