Vincent watched his comrades from his place on the Highwind's deck. The member's of Avalanche were hanging on the blondes every word. Cloud was trying one of his 'lets inspire the troops' speeches and seemed to be doing an adequate job.

'I hate you Cloud'

That thought invaded Vincent's consciousness; with a potent mix of pity and bitterness.

His mind sighed. Time to remember training.

A younger Vincent dressed in standard Turk suit faced a Shinra masked instructor. The female instructor intoned, "When emotions are felt for comrades, whether positive or negative, they are to be thought about then discarded. This will allow you to operate without emotional hindrances, allowing cold decisions."

Training, Vincent reflected, hadn't failed him in the past. Indeed his downfall came from ignoring rules about fraternization. Lucrecia. 'Best not to think of her' his mind said coaxingly. "Back to the task at hand" he said out loud causing the nearby Nanaki's ears to twitch towards him.

'You never showed any response to Aeris and now lust after her corpse and in the process break Tifa's heart. And now because you can't have Aeris your impotent rage directs you towards vengeance against Sephiroth.'

Vincent folded his arms and his gaze rested on the young brunette gazing at her secret love.' In for a penny in for a pound' Vincent twitched.

'I hate you Tifa. For being so emotionally weak. Being unable to tell Cloud how you feel, and constantly putting off the day you will 'talk' to him. For fawning over him and not hitting him for when he's being a jerk. For demeaning yourself as a bimbo to attract him'

Vincent turned away from the others and leaned against the steel frowning. 'The rest of you can be dismissed with a few words. Barret, crude. Nanaki, a sycophant looking for human approval. Cait Sith, a repentant crusader. Cid, petty. Yuffie...' Vincent laughed. 'How pathetic' Vincent concluded.

The image of the instructor reappeared. "Now don't you feel better Vincent?"