Hi again, another chapter, wow I'm doing well. Halfway through the story already, this is kinda cool. If only I could be this productive with my other stories. Lol. Anyway, some seriously cute baby Cid! Eek, I just can't get over how cute he seems in my head. Hopefully Vincent is in character, he's damned difficult to pin down. Anyway, Read, Enjoy and Review!
Nightmare Wings
The sky was dark and it was close to midnight, but Vincent found himself unable to sleep, instead his eyes followed the patterns of the stars and he. In fact, for the past two nights of travelling he had been unable to sleep. His senses, so finely attuned to the area around him startled him awake at the slightest sound that could signify danger. Unfortunately this, while being a wonderful way of keeping himself alive, did have its downfalls when the small whimpering from the other side of camp filtered over to him.
It was only quiet sounds, and when he had looked across he had noticed Cid squirming under his mothers arm, making those small fearful sounds. He was sound asleep, and the noises didn't seem to wake his mother, but it left Vincent awake and watchful. But after midnight the boy seemed to settle and the whimpering stopped.
So Vincent lay awake, letting his mind wander a little, letting memories of Lucretia flit through his thoughts, he tried not to think of her during the day. He remembered her laugh, the way she felt when they made love (though he now realised it had only been sex to her), he remembered how beautiful she looked, and how much he had loved her; and he cursed himself for a fool again. How could he have let himself be tricked like that, all those years of being a Turk, of relying on his instincts, on his observational skills to stay alive, why couldn't they have translated over into this? He should have known; looking back it was so obvious.
He stifled a sigh and closed his eyes tightly, trying to push his thoughts away, every day they travelled brought danger, and he could not afford to be killed, or allow Karen and Cid to be killed, merely because he was not well rested.
His forehead smoothed out as he opened his eyes. That was another thing; when, and how had the woman and her son come to mean enough to him that he considered their safety a priority? Even Lucretia had not reached that stage for him until almost a month into their relationship.
And he was back to Lucretia.
He sighed again, then stiffened when he heard the sound of something moving. He lay still, waiting, noting that the whimpers had stopped. It was a small thing that approached him, and he listened carefully, keeping his eyes fixed on the stars overhead as he tried to determine just what it was. With any luck it was just some small scavenger he could startle off just by sitting up. With this plan in mind, he sat up.
The small figure did startle, and flinch back a step or two before stopping, blinking huge almost black eyes at him, a small blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
"Cid?" he asked, wondering what the boy was doing up.
The boy didn't move for a long moment, and Vincent was about to speak again when in a small shaky voice Cid asked. "Mr. Vincent?" it was so unsure, that Vincent almost slapped himself for scaring the boy.
"Yes. Why are you up Cid?" he asked, gentling his voice, knowing the boy couldn't see him very well in the dark.
"Had a dream." Cid told him quietly.
"Well, it's over now, go back to sleep." Vincent wondered after he said it, if maybe he was being too cold. But really, how was he supposed to respond to that?
Cid's head turned until he could see his mothers outline in the dark before he looked back at Vincent. "Can I sleep with you?" he asked.
Vincent was dumbfounded by that request, and wasn't quite sure how to respond. Finally he did manage to say, in what he hoped was a way that wouldn't frighten Cid or remind him of his father, because Vincent found, much to his surprise, that he didn't want the boy to be afraid of him, or think bad of him. "Sleep with your mother."
"I can't." Cid told him, sounding sort of lost. "I hurt her."
Vincent blinked then, staring at the boy in shock. "Hurt her?" he asked, casting his eyes towards Karen, to see that her eyes were open, the faint light of the stars shining there as she watched them.
Cid nodded. "In my dream."
"In your dream?" Vincent repeated, bewildered.
"Yes. So I can't sleep with Mama, so can I sleep with you?"
"But it was only a dream." Vincent said, not too inclined to have the little boy snuggling up beside him in that awful way he had seen children sleep with their parents in pictures, never mind that he had yet to see the boy actual snuggle up to his own mother.
Cid's whole frame seemed to crumble, and Vincent could see Karen move as if to get up and get her son, when Cid spoke again, his voice even smaller than before, almost a heartbreaking sound. "But what if I do hurt her? I won't mean to!" he tried to defend miserably. "But what if I do it inaten… unatally?..." he gave up on the big word and continued on. "I don't wanna be like Papa. Please can I sleep with you?"
Vincent found himself chewing the inside of his lip, a habit he had long grown out of. He could remember a time when he too had been afraid of turning out like his father, a cold unfeeling man who ignored his only son to the point he did not even seem to exist, and beat a wife who couldn't fight back. Hating the idea, and the memory of his father, that he would turn his back on the boy just because he didn't happen to like what he had asked, Vincent reached a decision. He glanced across the camp to Karen, who he could feel was watching him closely, half hoping she would object and save him from this, but knowing she probably wouldn't, Cid was afraid to sleep next to her, and for some reason Vincent still could not quite fathom, she trusted him. Trusted him enough to let the son she had stayed with an abusive man for, sleep with him.
"Ok, but just tonight, ok."
Cid nodded eagerly and edged closer. Vincent moved aside on his sleeping mat to give him enough space to lie down, and Cid did just that, curling up into a small ball and pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders. Not questioning his actions anymore, knowing it probably wouldn't do any good, Vincent dropped some of his own blanket over Cid before closing his eyes and willing sleep to come soon.
The next morning the dream seemed to be forgotten by Cid, who was just as energetic as normal, and had run to a small berry bush not far away, and in clear site of the adults' to fetch some things for breakfast.
"Thank you." Karen said quietly as she stowed her things away.
Vincent looked over at her and shrugged, not truly knowing what to say, so deciding to say nothing. He would have expected her to continue, perhaps talking about other such nights, like his mother had once tended to do, unable to stop herself talking about horrific or sad moments, as if talking about tem over and over made it easier to deal with, but instead just made her more and more tense and liable to crack. But one thing Vincent had learned about Karen since he had met her was that she was nothing like his mother. She seemed perfectly content to say what she meant and never elaborated past that, like it was a waste of time to if you didn't understand what she had meant the first time.
Cid it seemed had gotten a little distracted by a butterfly while at the bush, and was chasing its little fleeting form, hands grasping for it. Karen laughed when she saw him, shaking her head. Vincent shot her a quick look, complete with a raised eyebrow, not really understanding what was so amusing about this.
"He wants to fly, has since I explained what flying was." She explained, smiling.
Vincent cocked his head a little, curious. "And what is it?"
She blinked and looked at him, as if surprised that he didn't seem to know. "Freedom of course."
Vincent took her word for it, flying meant little to him. But watching Cid chase the butterfly, and seeing Karen smiling, the oldest bruises now faded to a faint outline on her skin, he decided that it depended on the person you were, what you considered freedom. And for Karen and her son, the sky seemed to fit.
Well, wasn't that sweet. Perhaps too sickly, but what can I say, it's how it came to me. Only three more chapters to go and this story shall be finished. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter three, and please leave a review when you're done!
