Flowers Blooming in the Church

The ghost of a fallen comrade revives painful memories. A journey begins to find what was lost, to revive a piece of them that was suddenly taken away. The journey that wasn't seen.

WARNING: Cid's potty mouth.

Chapter 3

Tomorrow's Forecast

Cid leaned onto the railing that fenced off the cockpit from the floor below. One day, it unknowingly became the meeting ground for the world's saviours. The airship was currently stalled somewhere off the coast of Kalm. Shera's energy cells needed to be charged after last night's escapade. It didn't bother Cid much to pay Cloud the favour. But Cloud would have to deal with the trek into Midgar alone, as he knew that Cid couldn't dock Shera anywhere near Midgar after Meteor hit. On that auspicious evening, the valley's solidity was disturbed by Shera as she was to remain in the sky for the whole evening.

Little did Cid foresee that joining the rebellion against Shin Ra would cause him such an inconvenience. Not to mention his costly new cell design being on his creative back burners as of late suddenly found its way onto his new airship, replacing his now obsolete Mako fuel cells.

"Whatever," Cid puffed on his cigarette, causing smoke to slither out of his nostrils, "the bastard'll pay me back one day," he avowed. Cid begun to think of ways the little spiky-haired freak would repay him, "maybe making him get all suited up in a chocobo costume... yeah, for the kids... when I have kids. And if I keep on paying him these favours, I won't be havin' kids."

Before the final showdown, Cid returned back home where Shera (the woman, not to be confused with the Airship) waited patiently for his return. He didn't shout profanities at her but at life in general, and she managed to listen. When the telephone rang, she turned the ringer off. When the kettle boiled, she let it shriek. All of her attention was transfixed on him. And then he begun to remember some forgotten dreams and some dreams better left forgotten so he could move on...

"I never thanked you enough for checking that oxygen tank," he blurted out. What?! Had he actually uttered those words to her then? Getting so terribly sentimental and shit... Stupid Cloud, getting him all twisted into that crap. But, like then, all he wanted to do was return home. Whether that was where Shera was or where his bed laid, he wasn't quite sure. But he knew if both were there together, it would be heaven.

"Tifa has made us dinner again."

Cid looked to the crimson cloaked man, letting yet another smoke snake weave its way out of his nose, "can someone please take them batteries out of that woman!"

The cloaked man let out a short breath; Cid had come to learn that it was the only way Vincent was able to chuckle. "I hadn't the heart to tell her to stop."

"Yeah?" The cloaked man having a heart? Did vampires have hearts, he wondered.

Vincent leaned onto the closed door, looking at the pilot through layers of unkempt hair. "The fuel cells should be ready by tomorrow evening, then?"

"So says the hydro-plant manager. Can't really trust it. I mean, it's a freakin' shack on a river! Well, you can do so much without any funds from Shin Ra and trying to keep it a secret from Shin Ra. I have to say, I was quite impressed. A whole hydro-electric plant made right under Shin Ra's nose, all this time." Cid snapped back to reality; the freakin' vampire was actually striking a conversation with him! Astonishing...

"I remember sabotaging one or two of those in my day." Vincent said plainly.

"Yeah, being in TURK and all, I wouldn't be surprised. Must be tough, seeing Shin Ra in the state it is now."

"Honestly, I couldn't care less. When I was a Turk, I was a Turk. Not some nationalist. Not some strange deranged Shin Ra supporter. I was a Turk, nothing more. I was just a job and a pay check."

Cid looked to the man, eyebrow raised. It was Tifa's cooking, he ascertained by what he knew of the man and of the woman's nearly witchy cooking. She seasoned the tender chocobo meat with crack; there was no other explanation.

"So, then joining AVALANCHE was just for your own amusement? Just to see how far you could take yourself? From being a Turk to being a rebel?"

Vincent let out a small short breath that Cid again assumed was a chuckle, "no, not quite. I guess you could say, joining AVANLANCHE was my final desperate attempt to right myself."

He remembered hearing Cloud speak with Vincent about a girl named Lucrecia, the mother of the harbinger of doom and destruction, the little silver-haired bastard they killed at the centre of the Planet. Cid listened half-heartedly to the charged conversation, trying to concentrate his attention on getting his allies to their demanded destination. Idiots... he had a whole five hours of sleep last night. He was a fuckin' good pilot, but he was no miracle worker. But he remembered how particularly silent Vincent was. Usually when a question was directed to him, he would answer; but Cloud couldn't get more than three words out of him at a time. So eventually he gave up and let Vincent demand his one and only request of the pilot, "can you fly me to these falls?"

He couldn't, as much as Cid wanted to serve the man at least once on his journey and maybe unlock a mystery or two, there was just no possible way to dock Highwind anywhere near the falls that would be of use to him. But Cid offered to fly him to where they had last docked the submarine and personally drive him to falls himself. Cid kept his word and kept his gods damned mouth shut when they walked into the cave hidden behind the falls. Vincent looked so... sad staring at the crystalline figure of a young woman protruding from an open Mako fountain. Sad... no, that couldn't possibly be the word.

"Being a Turk and all, I guess you'd have a lot of wrongs to right?"

"I guess a Turk would, yes." Vincent's arms crossed, showing a very physical sign of closeness. Yes, might as well. Cid took the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed the butt beneath the toe of his shoe. "You really should not do that," the cloaked-man seemed to scold in his very detached way.

"Hey, I'll clean it. My gods' damned airship, any who."

"No, I mean smoking in general."

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing. I'm just doing anyone else whom cares for you a favour."

Cid looked warily at the ex-Turk, "you know what? You're fuckin' nuts, you know that? I could drive myself crazy just trying to figure you out."

"Don't even bother. Unless you'd see yourself as a perfect replica of myself." Vincent let his clawed arm slid down to his side. "I just assumed there was someone. You did rename your airship."

It was Cid's turn to chuckle and then burst out into a hefty laughter. Strange, wasn't it? Even his subconscious knew there was something going on between him and that strange researcher. At least he didn't tell Shera he renamed the airship after her. She wouldn't even let him tell her what he renamed the airship; bad luck.

"I thought it would be too narcissistic if I would've renamed my second airship after me, is all."

"Of course, Cid." Oh, so the vampire did know his name.

"Are you guys' hungry?" Tifa called from behind the closed door. Cid and Vincent looked at each other. How the woman managed to carry on was beyond them all. No one took it upon themselves to care for the group as she did. It was her duty. No one asked her to be their mother, their sister, a friend. But she just so happened to be all of those and a hell of a good cook.

"We'll be right up, Tif." Cid smiled at Vincent, "shall we then?"

"I honestly don't think it's very healthy."

"Gods almighty! You keep to yourself in your own little spot, nearly making an indent in the railing where you stood and then bam! You strike up all 'em conversations with me. Even badgering me about my smoking! What the hell, Vincent?"

He shrugged, "I didn't know who else I could rationally speak to. Barret is too emotionally attached to Tifa and thinks that Cloud is the next angel of death for us all. You seemed like the only other person who kept tabs on all of this."

"That is the most I heard you talk. Ever. But I get your point. For Cloud to call us all up..." He held his tongue, realizing something groundbreaking.

"It wasn't Cloud. Tifa called us," Vincent revealed.

"Cloud called me. I guess that was it. Tifa came along; I mean, duh. But when Tifa came on board so did the rest of you. I just thought Cloud was up for a reunion, or something."

"She feared that he would do something... stupid."

"Not too hard for the kid."

"This journey was for him."

Cid nodded contemplatively. "We all met something at the end of the road that we didn't want to see."

"Realized that you were actually a failed Shin Ra experiment; that you took on the identity of someone else who accomplished things only you could dream of and then battle the one man you let yourself consider a hero?" Vincent asked sardonically. Cid held back a gasp, but the look on his face must have been priceless. "Silence does not mean I don't hold things of my own to say."

"Yeah, it just means you have even more to say." Cid looked to the sea that lay before the Shera. It looked so vast then, despite the fact that he crossed it so many damned times. Even the evening sky looked so far out of reach, yet he flew amongst the stars. It was clear that the journey certainly took its toll on him. Had given and taken some things. Never could he imagine that he would be here...

"Maybe Cloud needs this. And I'll offer him my airship for as long as he needs it. Maybe he just needs to see if he's coming or going. I don't blame him. You live for so long thinking you're someone when you're not. And now, you just can't think of yourself as this other person, the person you didn't believe yourself to be. Maybe Cloud needs us too; I mean, we did travel the world together. Maybe Tifa knows we're the only ones who understand the bastard."

"Perhaps."

"Aw, Vincent's worried about Cloud." Cid teased in a sing-song voice. Vincent was passive about it all, just shrugging it off.

"No, what worries me is how a man who saved the entire world from impending doom can't even manage himself. I'd hold my breath for this world."

"Hey, we know Cloud better than that. Yeah, sure he's a fucked up kinda guy, but so are you. So am I, for that matter."

"Sephiroth isn't the type to lose to a band of misfits."

"Roll with the punches, Vincent. If he comes back, you'll definitely be around. And if not, I doubt the entire world would just sit back and crack open a case of two-four." Cid smiled at the man, taping him amicably on the shoulder, "let's get to that food before it gets cold."

"I may be biased but I do believe Tifa cooked a delightful supper tonight."

"I can't imagine otherwise."

A/N: spelling and grammar check are now my one (I mean, two) and only true friends. I know it's not perfect, but it's an improvement. Anywho, my beta-reader ain't around, so I'm posting this chappie in hopes of getting someone's attention. (Searching for your own beta-reader is all fine and dandy if they got back to you! Ah, just kidding! :) )

Oh, and I assumed that they had multiple gods.

EDITED: April 8 - Just going over some of my older works with a "fresh eyes". Hopefully I corrected some mistakes. Again I haven't found a beta reader for this or any of my other works, so it'll be lacking.