Capitulo Cuatro

Disclaimer: Most of this story is property of Square Enix. The only things that aren't are my original character, Harper, and the plot for this fan fiction. In no way do I claim ownership of Square Enix's work.

Chapter Four:

The Highwind was there. Grand: so was Cid. Vincent had really not wanted to see any member of Avalanche until he was done, and who knew when that would be. Most people knew that, so something had to up that Cid was already back in his own hometown. He walked straight to Cid and Shera's house.

He was about to knock when the door, with Shera behind it, opened. She shrieked, making a "Shera?" come from Cid, who was probably involved in some mechanical…endeavor. Vincent didn't know what to say, but had he, he wouldn't have had time to say it—"It's ok! Just Vincent!" They were obviously expecting him.

A bang came from inside, followed by an "OOF!" and a few choice words from Cid, who came down the hall rubbing the back of his head. "Vincent! Sooner than I thought we'd see ya, but her you are!"

"Who sent you home?"

Shera was holding the door open, so Vincent walked in only to be directed to a chair at the kitchen table.

"Cloud. Who else?" Cid replied, washing his hands of the grime from whatever machine he was working on.

"Of course. What were you working on?" He couldn't figure out why he asked that, or if he was interested. Cid loved to talk about his projects, and Vincent had things to do.

"Oh, the old car. Just about to give up on 'er though. But Cloud filled me in—you'll want to get going."

Vincent nodded. "I'll take that as a 'she's not here.'"

"Yep, that's what I'm sayin'. Wish it wasn't, but you want something to eat?" Cid's scatter-brainedness was mind-boggling, but whatever he said he was sincere about.

Vincent's stomach practically everted and ate him at the thought of food. "Actually, yes."

"Food is good!"

It was good, whatever they ate. Shera returned from her errands and, after Vincent was done eating, pushed a towel and washcloth at him and made him take a shower. Then, he was free to go.

"Hey, Vince!" Cid called as Vincent was about to leave. Vincent only looked back at him. "Cloud said he'd like it if you kept him updated. Just a call every once in a while. Have your PHS?"

"Yes." Cid nodded and put his fists on his hips. "That doesn't mean anything."

"HA! Wasn't expecting it to! Now get! You've got a girl to find!" At that, Vincent tried to let Chaos' wings unfurl, but…they didn't—wouldn't. To Cid, it just looked like Vincent was just standing there. "Ah…Vincent?" He didn't respond. "Vincent?" Still nothing; Cid started toward him. "You ok?"

"Chaos isn't responding…" For five days, Vincent had been able to call out Chaos on a whim.

"Oh…well, what's different? Don't seem like you're too on edge about anything to be able to morph," Cid observed.

It was true: for the past days, Vincent had been in a state of perpetual urgency; that urgency was not as strong as he stood at the edge of Rocket Town. "Right." He shook his head as if he was just coming out of a day-dream. "Thank you." With that, Vincent left. From then on, his search would be on foot.

"Cloud?" Tifa eased open his door. "Are you awake?"

He was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall. "Yes…Tifa?"

Tifa was concerned, and it showed clearly on her face. Cloud had been withdrawn since Vincent left. Barret had taken Marlene to Costa del Sol for her birthday, so maybe he was just relaxing: having Barret around was mentally taxing. But what he was doing was more than just simply relaxing…it was seclusion. "Are you alright?"

"Sure," he shifted his weight. "Why wouldn't I be?"

All Tifa could do was shrug. "I don't know." Maybe everything was ok after all, but then…why was there a packed back-pack in the corner of Cloud's room? "Cloud, what's that? Where are you going?" He didn't say anything. "You lied to me." She wasn't mad at him for that, surprisingly; she was just stating what was.

At that, Cloud nodded. "Tifa, I have to leave, and I can't say when I'm coming back: I don't know if I am."

She had halfway expected this, but it still hurt for it to happen. "Where are you going?"

"…I don't know."

"Cloud!"

"Tifa." He looked at her with such profound pain, that all she could do was nod and let him go. She closed his door softly. Since the end of the Sephiroth deal, she had been waiting for a day such as this, not with any want—with dread. He home, not to mention her heart, was falling apart.