Disclaimer: You know I don't own them.
Never thought he'd want to tell me his story. Never thought he'd ever tell anybody, really. Turns out all I ever had to do was ask.
"Are you sure you want to hear this?"
"Yeah. You sure you wanna tell me?"
He thought for a minute, before- "Yes, I'm sure."
"Well then, go ahead."
"On one condition."
"M'kay."
"I want you to stay with me until I'm done. Even if it takes a few days, I want you to hear me out completely and not leave in the middle, no matter how gory it gets."
"I promise, Vince."
"Thank you."
We sat in silence for a while, me wonderin' and him thinkin' how to start. I guess maybe it wasn't my place t'ask this of 'im, but he didn't seem to really mind, so I'm wonderin' if maybe he'd just been waitin' for someone to do it all this time. Well, here's how it came about, right?
"Hey, can't we go in? It's rainin', Vince."
"I can tell it's raining, but thank you, Cid."
"Well can we go in then? It's cold."
"You're under no obligation to stay with me."
"I know, it's just…"
"Come on, Cid."
"Finally!"
We went into the hotel room Vincent had been stayin' in for the past two weeks. He refused to stay with Tifa, even though she'd offered several times. He said he didn't wanna take up space there, since she didn't really have much space anyway. He did spend lots of time with the kids, though. He's really good with 'em. It's really funny.
"Well, what should we do now, Captain? The TV doesn't work and you won't go back outside to go anywhere else."
"Well first, I wanna change outta these wet clothes. Ya got somethin' I c'n use?"
"If you don't mind black."
"Whatever. I just wanna stop shiverin'. Why aren't you cold?"
"Who says I'm not?"
"…You are so weird sometimes, Vince. D'ya know that?"
"…"
"Oh, thanks," I said as he threw me a lump of something black, which I assumed was pile of clothes. I showered 'n' changed quickly, hopin' the rain wouldn't let up too soon.
"Okay. Don't let me leave here without my clothes, yeah? Black looks weird on me."
"I agree. I pull it off much better."
"…Didn't know you had a vain streak."
"I don't." He frowned, that face only he can manage. I'm pretty sure he does it without tryin', too.
"Whatever." I sat on the bed by the wall and he settled back more comfortably on the one by the window, starin' out at the rain.
"S'really comin' down, ain't it?"
"It is. Do you think it will last the day?"
"Prob'ly. Might take the whole night, too."
"You don't sound too disappointed."
"Well, it makes it easier for me."
"Meaning…?"
"Meaning I'm in a better position to make sure ya don't go disappearin' again."
"Cid, I'm not going anywhere."
"How do I know that?"
"Fair enough. Why do you care where I am?"
"I ain't allowed t'care about you?"
"Why would you?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"This conversation is ridiculous."
"You started it."
"You're acting like Marlene."
"Yeah, well...well…" For some reason I couldn't come up with anything', so I stuck my tongue out at him, which made him raise his eyebrows at me.
"Childish."
"Emo."
"Cid."
"Vince."
"Really now, this is absolutely pointless."
"Well, I'm bored! Talk to me or somethin' if ya don't wanna continue pointless conversation."
"Talk to you? Now you really sound like Marlene. That's was an exact replica of her 'tell me a story' tone."
"So tell me a story then."
He glared, and I rolled my eyes at him. "C'mon, Vince! What do you usually tell Marlene?"
"…Fairy tales."
"What's her favorite?"
"Well, apparently it used to be 'Hansel and Gretel' until she heard my version, and now she likes 'The Frog Prince' because that at least has a happy ending."
"…Vince, 'Hansel and Gretel' has a happy ending."
"Not when I tell it."
"And how do you tell it?"
"Pretty much the same way, except Gretel gets eaten before Hansel can kill the old witch."
"Vince! She's seven!"
"Well, that was how I learned it. I only found out that it's supposed to be happy the morning after I told mine. Tifa was…not very happy with me."
"Well, I guess not! That why Marly kept me up all night screamin' last week?"
"Probably." Vince ducked his head. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or if he was tryin' to hide a smile. I guessed he was probably embarrassed. "What were you doing there, anyway?"
"I sorta got drunk off my ass and Tifa wouldn't let me leave."
"I don't remember seeing you there at all."
"Huh. Must not 'a' been lookin' with yer eyes open."
"Guess not."
"So, c'mon Vince. Let's hear a story."
He sighed, finally givin' in to my "childish" behavior. "Which story would you like to hear?"
"Yours."
"'Hansel and Gretel'?"
"No."
"What do you mean, then?"
"Tell me about yerself. Nobody knows much of anything. I bet ya were an int'restin' kid. Will ya tell me your story?"
He was quiet for a long time before he said, "Cid, 'Hansel and Gretel' is my story."
I didn't really get what he was sayin' about it bein' his story, but I'm startin' to, the more I think about it. He's about to start tellin' the story now, an' I don't wanna miss a word. I don't know what I'll learn about 'im, but it'll be more'n I know now, an' it can't make me hate 'im, whatever he thinks. I'll have to find a way to prove that to 'im.
Well, this is going to be Vincent's story as told by Cid, from his birth to post DoC stuff. It will be in canon during the periods of time covered by the games/movie. So, should I continue? Got anything you'd like to see happen in Vincent's life before the game events pick up on it? I have a few ideas, but I'm gonna have to speed through to the canon parts if I don't get more, and I really don't want to do that :(
So review, subscribe, drop ideas, whatever. Thanks! -PfenixB
P.S. ...it'll probably be valenwind-y by the time I'm done...