Moving in to the future

Summary

Vincent Valentine has drawn a close to his past regrets and self blame and said a final good bye to Lucretia. He is moving forward with his life and is startled to find that he is attracted to another woman...

This is the first fan fiction that I have ever written and I would welcome any reviews that are offered. I have drafted a few of the next chapters already so that I can keep the continuity going in my mind and make amendments as needed. I hope people do enjoy it, but if you can offer suggestions for improvement, I would welcome them with thanks. I have also proof read this chapter several times – if I have managed to miss any typos, my apologies and I will correct it if you let me know. Many thanks!

Commencing the new training year

The sun shone brightly, giving a feeling of glorious warmth in the large office. Reeve looked out of the window at the sparkle of sunlight and smiled. Today was the first day of the new training year at the WRO headquarters in Kalm, everything that he had been working towards since the downfall of Sepiroth and the destruction of Meteor. Repairing the damage and eradication that had occurred, especially around Midgar, had been an intensive time for Reeve in the last few years. Many people had been killed or badly injured during the horrific battles and assaults caused initially by Shinra with its destruction of the Sector 7 plates in Midgar, with the Turks carrying out brutal explosions, but then flowing on through SOLDIER and Deepground and the unexpected and damning re-emergence of Sepiroth with the Jenova clones.

Reeve had been committed to working towards the rebuilding of the cities and helping with the medical care of those injured and disabled by the evil plots that had occurred one after the other. So many children had been left orphaned following the brutal and devastating attacks on towns and Reeve had realised that without the emergence of the WRO, the people would take years to recover and move forward.

A sharp knock on the door drew his attention back in to the room and he looked up as the door opened to reveal the anonymous benefactor of the WRO – Rufus Shinra. Son of the previous President of the old Shinra, Rufus had been a witness to the damage that had erupted on the planet and to the people. Despite many still blaming him and being distrustful of his real attitude, Reeve knew that Rufus was in fact totally committed towards undoing and repairing the damage caused by Shinra and its foul members and activities. While originally he had been set upon making Shinra rule and make money and ordering whatever was needed to oppose and remove anything threatening Shinra's might, the devastation that had occurred had changed him completely. His previous existence under his father's Presidency had blinkered his view – he had never really had the opportunity to look at the world and come to his own views of right and wrong, he had simply been brought up to see Shinra as the elite, its protection and growth more important than anything else. That belief had changed – he had inwardly become a broken man and while his personality never allowed him to show this to anyone, Reeve had understood and had been totally accepting of his changed attitude, hidden as it might be.

Rufus still headed up Shinra, but its work was now focused on projects that could be undertaken to enhance the benefit of the cities around. He was still focused on making money, but he wanted this now so that he could put it towards the WRO, to enable the reparation work to be undertaken. He funded the WRO by hundreds of millions of gil each year, given to Reeve to allocate to the work of the WRO as Reeve and his executive commission decided.

"Good morning, Rufus" Reeve said, moving across to the coffee machine to pour him a mug.

"Good morning, Reeve" he replied, as he took the mug and moved across to the window to look outside. "The new training wing is now complete – and you begin the full training year for the first time. I – I wish you luck with this, Reeve. There is still so much that needs to be done, but you will finally now be able to achieve it with dedicated and committed staff, more than you have had in the last few years. The WRO is now recognised as the greatest benefactor to the planet, working with all the governments and committees on the face of the planet." Rufus was silent for a short time as he drank his coffee and let his eyes roam around the view outside, then he sighed and turned around to face Reeve. "Nothing will ever let me forget the evil inflicted by the old Shinra Company – my father has so much still to answer for. I just hope that we are moved on from all that happened, and will now only encounter the rebuilding and regrowth".

Reeve looked at Rufus – he understood where his mind was wandering. "I believe that it is all over now, Rufus. But we will remain alert and continue to watch for any new attacks against the planet. The WRO will focus on assisting with the rebuilding of towns and cities and the people on the planet and we will continue to act to remove the monsters and last links to any of the projects and plans that were hidden under the various side arms of the old Shinra. AVALANCHE remains as the symbol of the good and strength towards the future". Reeve gulped down the last of his coffee and picked up a folder from his desk. "But with the movement forward and changes in lifestyles of some of the members, it is of course more symbolic than practical. G Squad is now the main protector – Guardians of the planet and sworn to uphold the people. All members of AVALANCHE are of course members of G Squad, even though only some of them actually have active participation in the squad. But G squad also comprises some of the best warriors that exist – and the squad will continue to gradually increase as more elite warriors are found. Now, I think we should be heading over to the opening ceremony, the crowd seems to be building and I believe AVALANCHE will be there now."

"Do they know?" asked Rufus. "No" replied Reeve, smiling – "they know the opening of the new training centre will be officially happening in 20 minutes – but they have no knowledge of the special recognition that will be occurring. They are all here however – Yuffie and her husband arrived from Wutai yesterday, along with Tifa and the children. All the others have been here since Friday and of course Vincent is located here permanently. Mrs Elmyra is also here with Barrett – I think this will be one of the happiest moments for her in recent years, although no doubt she will have tears to shed as well. I have also made a suitable recognition of some of the later support from the Turks, although this will be in a separate location within the building".

Rufus nodded, his eyes once again lost in memory of the events. "Well lead the way Reeve – this day is long overdue and at the same time, entirely appropriate". Reeve nodded and walked out of the door, with Rufus following him. They entered the elevator and went down the 30 floors of the main administration building that had been extended several times in the last couple of years. It was the central part of the WRO and security to it was extreme – while the environment was attractive to view and the reception staff welcoming and friendly, it was impossible to access without the required clearance and anyone attempting to get in unofficially had experienced first hand the mistake that was. WRO security guards were highly trained and skilled and the building had separate secure areas that would be protected if required. It was unlikely that the building and its inhabitants would ever be faced with attacks as it had in the past – but the possibility of this happening was always considered on a daily basis and safety was the focus of the security guards.

Arriving at the ground floor, Rufus and Reeve headed out towards the new training areas. The buildings had been finally completed a few months ago and had been equipped to form the training rooms, lecture theatres, exercise quads and staff facilities. Sleeping quarters for all staff and trainees were located nearby and were now inhabited by the new trainees and staff.

Rufus and Reeve entered the large entrance vestibule. It was impressive, made of marble with high ceilings and attractive looking fountains dotted around. The floor was encased in strong, shining tiles that would last many years. The centre of the vestibule housed a large marble building that was covered by thick cloths so no one could see what was inside and surrounded by a metal chain to keep the visitors away until the formal part of the ceremony had been conducted.

As the men approached the centre, they could see the members of AVALANCHE grouped together with friends and children and family, the women talking nineteen to the dozen and laughing, while the men listened and nodded, sometimes smiling at what was said. Rufus headed over to the formal seating at the front of the ceremony area – despite Reeve knowing everything about the man now, the members of AVALANCHE still tended to view him with cool acknowledgement. They were aware that he provided funding to the WRO, but there was still a basis of distrust there since they had been the ones that were involved with the battles that had occurred. While they would be polite in company, when in private Yuffie and Tifa in particular were capable of being quite dangerous towards him, a tendency that usually ensured he had little action around them. The men were generally more accepting, but he knew that if anything happened that looked as if he was responsible, they would not hesitate to – well, that was probably not something that he wanted to think about.

Reeve walked over to AVALANCHE and greeted them all. Yuffie and Tifa both hugged him, pleased to see him after several months and he said hello's to all those gathered with them. He looked at his watch – 5 minutes until the ceremony was due to start. "Can we all please take up positions now – AVALANCE, please seat yourselves on that line of seats over there. Mrs Elmyra, would you please sit with Rufus on those seats opposite. And the rest of your families can they please seat themselves on the front rows over there" said Reeve pointing the seating out and gently starting to move them in to place. The children, Shera and Yuffie's husband walked to the front seating, noticing when they arrived that security guards were discreetly in place. It was obvious that no one was going to be allowed to get close to any of them during the ceremony. Denzel and Marlene had Tifa and Cloud's youngest children, Zoe and Ben, sitting in between them and Yuffie's husband, Arist, held their two year old daughter Sierra on his lap. Shera checked on Zion, Kate, Myra and James – they were looking like angels, which made her wonder what evil they were plotting on carrying out during the speeches.

Members of AVALANCHE headed to the seats allocated to them – Vincent was not overly pleased at facing the entire ceremony guests in this way, but the last few years had seem him change and he had become more skilled at socialising around others, although it was still something that he did as little as possible. Yuffie sat next to him, grabbing his arm and pointing to her daughter. Yuffie had finally lost her crush on Vincent a few years ago, much to his relief. She was now one of his closest friends and Vincent would often visit Wutai to see how she and her husband were going and to provide assistance if required. Any ruling factions that arrived at Wutai in the belief that they could manipulate the young Empress and her husband to follow their wishes found themselves under the close scrutiny of Vincent Valentine, dressed in his red cloak and bandana and with Death Penalty on his hip, as he folded his arms across his chest and openly stared at them with his crimson eyes.

Tifa sat next to Yuffie with Cloud on her other side, as they smiled at their children. Cid was next in the row, with his fingers clenched and moving together. He wished he could have a cigarette in his hand, even if it had to be unlit during the ceremony, but several years of marriage to Shera had taught him to disobey her only if he really enjoyed sleeping on the couch, making his own food and enjoying the glare from her eyes. Barrett was next in the row, smiling at Marlene and then looking softly at Elmyra. Rufus Shinra was talking to her politely and Barrett knew she would be fine sitting there – Rufus was a perfect gentleman in public and Elmyra was enjoying a light hearted conversation with him. Nanaki or Red XIII was seated on a special seat – low enough for him to be able to sit up at the same height as his colleagues, but wide enough to take his feline body comfortably. This was his first visit to the new WRO building in some months, since his role as guardian to Cosmo Canyon took most of his time. Last in the row was seated a rather surprising figure – Cait Sith. He was currently switched off, since Reeve knew that he was likely to get too over excited and the formality of the ceremony required him to be on perfect behaviour.

Reeve glanced up as the last people to be seated on the front row arrived – Tseng, Elena, Reno and Rude from the Turks. Their relationship with AVALANCHE had improved over the years since they fought together against the Jenova clones, but Yuffie was still quite capable of getting in to a heated discussion with Reno if they both had a few drinks.

Reeve glanced at his watch – 10am. Time for the ceremony to begin. He removed his speech from the folder and headed to the lectern to commence the day's proceedings.

"Ladies and gentlemen – welcome to the opening of the new WRO training headquarters. It is with great pleasure that I present the facilities to you today and acknowledge the presence of our new trainees and WRO staff. Following the formal ceremony there will be guided tours of the facilities so that you are able to see what we have achieved in the last two years. I also acknowledge the presence of the media, who are here today to see the facilities at first hand and share them with the people of the planet.

I also thank Rufus Shinra for attending the ceremony today": - Reeve bowed slightly in Rufus's direction – "and am pleased to acknowledge the assistance New Shinra has provided to ensure the facilities are first rate and contain all the top equipment we require." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vincent's fingers from one of his crossed arms dig in to Yuffie's side – she was quite capable of coming out with something at his comment and with 400 people seated and looking to the front it was not a good impression he would like to see made.

Reeve continued on for 15 minutes, going over the details of the new facilities and what training would be available during each training year.

"Finally, ladies and gentleman, I would like to use this opportunity to formally recognise those that saved this planet and provided us with the opportunity to move forward and embrace the new lives that we have been able to achieve. Had Sepiroth and Meteor not been stopped, the planet would have been destroyed and everyone on the planet would have ceased to exist. The whole world is grateful to AVALANCHE for what they did for us all, at huge risk to themselves. The history of those events has now been written and we all of us have the opportunity to read it and remind ourselves of what our heroes did for us." He paused – the crowd were now looking serious and nodding at his words. "It is a huge honour for us to have all members of AVALANCHE present here today. They were unaware that their contribution was going to be acknowledged during this ceremony, but I know that everyone here today will feel proud and honoured to be here to witness AVALANCHE. The WRO has been pleased to be the organisation to head up this acknowledgement and these medals have been struck in thanks and honour of these wonderful people."

Reeve could see that the AVALANCHE members were looking shocked – they had not expected this to happen. "Members of AVALANCHE, I would ask you to all stand and move forward to me." They all stood up and walked over towards Reeve, looking self conscious at the unexpected event. "I present you all with this Medal of Valor – representing the thanks of the people of this world for the efforts you made and the bravery you showed". Reeve walked along to each member, lifting a gold medal on a ribbon and placing it over their head and shoulders. "I also acknowledge the member of AVALANCHE who is not here with us in body today but is with us always in memory and sentiment. Mrs Elmyra, may I ask you to step forward and receive this Medal of Valor for your daughter, Aeries." Mrs Elmyra gasped – she stepped towards Reeve with tears forming in her eyes and Reeve placed the medal over her head, taking one of her hands softly in his and raising it to his lips. The members of AVALANCHE were all quiet, thinking of their fallen, beloved comrade.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you may all wonder at the reason for the pink ribbon each member of AVALANCHE wears around their upper arm. The ribbons are cut from the hair ribbon worn by their beloved Aeries on the day of her death. AVALANCHE will never forget Aeries and her memory stays with all of them every day even now. As you will know from your reading of the history, Aeries cast Holy shortly before her death. Holy, with the power of Chaos combined, led to the destruction of Meteor and the continuation of Life. It is therefore my great honour to call upon Mrs Elymra to step forward and open the curtains surrounding the centre of this building - Elmyra, would you please pull on these drawstrings here". There was silence as Elmyra moved forward and took hold of the drawstrings, pulling on them firmly. As she did, the curtains swung open at the front and the cloth around the back and sides of the monument fell away. There was a gasp from the crowd, and AVALANCHE and Elmyra looked at what lay beyond the curtains – a beautiful white marble statue of Aeries, 6 foot in height and built upon a black granite base. The statue was superb – it was Aeries to perfection, her beauty and soft features chiselled out finely. To the back of Aeries, large pictures of the rest of the members of AVALANCHE were hung – pictures that depicted them as they were during the time of the battles, dressed in the clothing they wore and with the expressions on their faces. There was silence as the members of AVALANCE and everyone else gazed upon the statue and the pictures, all there thinking back to what had occurred and how and all the events that had unfolded. Reeve could see the tears falling down the faces of Yuffie, Tifa and Elmyra – both in memory of their beloved friend and daughter and in memory of what AVALANCHE had been through.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you – AVALANCHE". Reeve stepped back towards Rufus and the whole crowd rose to its feet, clapping and cheering those in front of them. The applause continued for several minutes – no one wanted to stop their acknowledgement of their heroes. AVALANCHE were silent, all of them were stunned both by the memorial that had been created and by the acknowledgement of the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen" – gradually the applause came to an end. "This concludes our opening ceremony – refreshments are now being served, following which guided tours around the facilities will be conducted, followed by a luncheon that will be provided here. Members of AVALANCHE will be circulating around the facilities later, but for now I would ask that you allow them some time alone as they reflect on what has occurred. Thank you all for coming today". Reeve bowed to the crowd and stepped back to sit next to Rufus. The crowd once again burst in to applause and then started to disperse from the seats, headed towards the tables of refreshments surrounding the edge of the vestibule as waiting staff stepped forward with trays of drinks to circulate.

Reeve looked over at AVALANCHE – they were standing in a semi circle around the statue of Aeries, with Tifa and Yuffie holding Elmyra close to them. They needed some time alone – both in memory of Aeries and also to come to grips with the level of acknowledgement that had been shown to them today.

"That was truly wonderful, Reeve" said Rufus as he looked across at them. "And now I suppose I had better start circulating and speaking to the media – this is going to be a busy day today". Rufus got up and walked over to circulate. Reeve got to his feet and walked across to Shera and Arist. Shera had tears in her eyes too. "Thank you, Reeve" she said. "That has meant so much to Elymra". Reeve nodded and then smiled at Shera. "So, will you let Cid have a cigarette now to calm himself down?" he asked. Shera gave a crack of laughter and got to her feet. "I think I may be able to make some allowances today" she said. "Come on kids, let's go see what there is to eat" she said, heading over towards a refreshment table that some waiters had just set a short distance away from them, to be used only by AVALANCHE and their families. "Looks pretty yummy from here" said Arist and followed Shera over, making humorous comments to Denzel and Marlene.

Reeve walked over to AVALANCHE. "Where is your acknowledgement, Reeve?" asked Cloud, looking at him. "Ah well, Cait Sith is holding that for us" said Reeve. "I prefer for my involvement to be – more discreet. Now, come over here and indulge yourselves in some of these refreshments – you'll be needing your energy once you start circulating" smiled Reeve.

AVALANCHE moved over to their families and joined them. They knew they were going to be required to circulate and be seen around the new facilities as the tours started and felt it was a small price to be paying in recognition of the acknowledgement they had received that morning. All except Vincent. He remained at the statue, but Reeve could see his glance was resting on that of his own picture on the wall behind it. Reeve walked across to him. "How are you Vincent?" he asked. Vincent glanced at him, before looking once again at his own picture. "I am – thinking of the future, Reeve" he said. "Ah" said Reeve. "You have come a long way from the day you joined them, Vincent". Vincent sighed. "I am aware of that Reeve – and also aware that I still have a way to go. What you did – was kind, Reeve. I didn't require that, but to see it for Elymra, Yuffie, Tifa and Aeries – that I am grateful for". Reeve nodded. He understood the gunman was still entrenched a little in some of his past, although he had finally come to terms with his atonement and said a final farewell to Lucretia three years ago. Reeve's personal opinion was that Vincent needed a woman in his life – he doubted Vincent was the sort to indulge in a number of relationships, but could see that he needed a focus in his life, an ability to learn to love again and experience the joy of having a woman in his life. "I must start the circulating" said Reeve. "I hope you will do some Vincent, it will be helpful for the future of the training facility". With that Reeve headed over towards the media, prepared for the questions he knew they would have for him over the next hour.

Vincent moved over to the refreshment table and grasped a glass of orange juice – more to fill his hand than because he was thirsty. He looked around at the people mingling in the vestibule and noticed that some of the staff had stepped forward to start leading the tours around. Reeve had called on a lot of the administrative staff to help too, since the number of training staff would not be enough to lead the number of tour groups needed. His eyes started to pick out those that he knew would most likely be trainees, who would be commencing tomorrow. Some of them looked as if they might hold the basics required for some of the training courses, but he was keen to see if any potentially elite warriors might be present. Reeve had told him that there was one who looked extremely promising – de Ville. De Ville by all accounts had elite firearms and combat skills and was also very proficient with some blades training. De Ville was not a ninja apparently, but did have some similar skills. Vincent was interested in meeting him and especially in putting him through the high level firearms assessment. Vincent was a member of G Squad, but was also assigned to about two days a week of providing specialist firearms training to the most elite. His title was Firearms Master and he was acknowledged as being the best firearms member of the WRO, New Shinra or any other organisation known.

Vincent wandered over towards a group of trainees. While he had no real interest in having to socialise with anyone here apart from AVALANCHE and their families, he would give the trainees a few words – a huge step forward from how Vincent was when he was first found in the coffin. He still contained Chaos and the other three demons, but was now far more in control of them and had actually developed a better relationship with Chaos in particular. This had stemmed from the moment that he acknowledged Chaos was not inside him through choice – for so long he had been resentful towards his demons, blaming them inwardly. Then for some reason it hit him one day – they had had the possession forced upon them by Hojo. He had gradually started to make some discovery of the demons inside him and one day realisation had hit him – Chaos had been inserted inside him as a means towards helping to save the planet. Chaos had not been asked if he wanted to do this – he had been a violent and angry demon. But he had fought Meteor and won. Through his own choice. In the last few years, Vincent had started to form a gradual relationship with Chaos. They still argued at times, but he was now aware that Chaos did not hate HIM for having been inserted He hated Lucretia and Hojo, but he acknowledged that Vincent was his host and would fight to protect him whenever required.

His gaze found a group of trainee warriors clustered around someone in the middle. He wondered if one of them might be de Ville. As he walked forward, he could see that the centre of the group was two women – two very attractive women, hence the group of men standing around them and vying for their attention. Vincent rolled his eyes – so much for potential elite warriors. He walked over to the group, and suddenly they became aware of his presence and focused on him. To them, he was – Vincent Valentine, one of the most important people in their trainee world. They wanted to be like him and they wanted to impress him. Vincent nodded his head in acknowledgement of them as they crowded around him and began to launch a number of enquiries at him.

After 20 minutes of responding to them and answering their questions, Vincent's head was beginning to ache. He felt he had now spoken more than he had in the last entire month and wanted only to get away back to his quarters, but somehow doubted Reeve was going to let him get away with that. Some of the group suddenly dispersed, heading over to Cloud and Cid – Vincent grinned inside himself, knowing that those two would be getting a little over the conversations too. He let his eyes wander over the final 8 people gathered around him and realised that the two women were still there, now no longer hidden from view by the men. One of them was attractive with long blonde hair and blue eyes, the other – the other burnt an image on Vincent's eyes that he had never expected to occur to him. She had long, very dark brown hair to the middle of her back that was thick and lustrous and wavy. Her eyes were a brilliant green and sparkled with humour, outlined by long, thick, dark eyelashes. Her features were outlined clearly and her mouth held a friendly and interested looking smile. His eyes glanced quickly down her body – she was amazing. She was obviously extremely fit and strong, her figure was – beautiful. She was about 5'9" tall, with a bust that was noticeable and shapely – the perfect size. Her waist was small and her hips were the exactly right width – and rounded slightly as they cast down to her shapely looking thighs. She was turned slightly to one side and he could see her backside too – it was rounded and a perfect shape. Her legs were long and fell to the floor in the most incredible shape. Vincent suddenly felt hot under his collar and glad that he was wearing his cloak to hide his expressions.

Vincent had had no involvement since Lucretia. When he had awoken in the coffin, 30 years after his relationship with her, he had still been enamoured of her and no one else. It had taken him a few years to actually come to terms with the reality – although he had been in love with her and said farewell to her with fond memories, he had come to terms with the fact that she was also a cold hearted bitch, who had used him to an extent to further what she wanted – a better relationship with Hojo. Although she had realised after that she had been wrong and had held regrets for what happened to Vincent forever after, she had nonetheless been solely interested in being able to participate in the experiments with Hojo. Since that time, Vincent had not found another woman to attract him although he had actually considered some one night stands simply to allow him to indulge in his physical sexual activities. However, it was only a consideration – Vincent was not interested in having relations with women, although he did feel a sexual burning inside of him. He had been resolving this simply by masturbating in the shower, needing to climax more and more as he began to rebuild his life.

"Commander Valentine, how are you?" said the blonde extending her hand for him to shake. "My name is Chrissie Buck – I'm enrolled in the WRO Medical Corps course. I'll also be involved in the basic firearms and combat training" she said smiling at him. Vincent extended his hand and shook hers. "Welcome to the WRO" he said. "Do you have any formal medical training?" he asked. Chrissie nodded. "I am a qualified registered nurse now, however I am hoping to extend that and become one of the WRO's emergency medical corps. This is a unique opportunity for me, one that I have been focused towards since I was 19" she said. Vincent nodded, not surprised at what she said – the WRO's emergency medical corps was acknowledged throughout the planet as the best and its members were often sent out with warrior squads as well as involved in rescuing members. "This is my sister Katherine" said Chrissie, turning towards the dark haired woman. "Kate is enrolled in the warrior training" she added. Vincent looked over at Chrissie's sister and extended his hand. "Welcome, Katherine" he said, "I hope you enjoy the training opportunity here". Kate put her hand out and shook his, her skin felt strong and firm but also soft – "thank you Commander, I am looking forward to it immensely" she said in voice that sounded like magic to Vincent's hearing.

Once again Vincent felt glad he was wearing his cloak – after looking at her, and hearing her calm and attractive voice, he was now the happy owner of a huge erection – nothing like this had happened to him since he got out of the coffin and he was now struggling to remain his calm, monotone self. He needed to go back to his quarters – now. "No doubt I will see you in the training facility" he said – "enjoy the rest of the afternoon here now, Misses Buck" he said. Katherine looked at him – "de Ville" she said. "My surname is de Ville".