Summary: Chapter four. I must say that I'm still going to update this story no matter who reviews it, or in what manner. It doesn't really matter to me. My ears are open to anything, I suppose. Well anyway, in this chapter, Vincent is with Avalanche at the (guess where) Seventh Heaven before his SECOND conversation with Jane, where he finds out more and more about her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, Jerry Springer, 'Talk Sex With Sue Johansen', Jack Daniels, 'The Spongebob Squarepants Movie', 'Titanic', 'War of the Worlds', or the song 'So Far Away' by Staind, which are mentioned in this chapter.

Chapter Four:

"Vin-CENT! You messed my drawings up!" Yuffie screamed as Vincent stepped through the door to Seventh Heaven followed by Avalanche. He froze, not quite sure what she meant. He had just come in the door...He didn't do anything to her. Staring at her, he made his way across the room toward the counter.

"...How?" he asked, keeping his voice hidden.

"You opened the door with such force that it scared me, and I scribbled all over my drawings! I was doing good, too!"

"...And that's my fault?"

"Yes!"

"...Sorry..." Vincent sat down at the bar beside Cloud, not wanting the conversation to persist any longer.

Avalanche had a reason to celebrate. They had caught the ones who had stolen the materia that was lost for about two weeks. The culprits were actually two youthful orphan boys who had very short tempers. Cloud related them to Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, who were now dead. They were hiding in an abandoned part of Shinra Building, and their reasoning for stealing the materia was because they were sure the crystallized materia would help them remember their parents. When caught, one of them attempted to hit an Edge officer. Vincent didn't know where they were now, but Cloud informed him that they were being held at an orphanage.

"What would you like to drink, Vincent?" Tifa asked him after she had asked Cloud.

"...I'll have a glass of beer, please." Vincent's taste in drinks had escalated to much alcohol over the last two days. No one knew why he had stopped choosing water over wine. Two nights ago, he drank two glasses of Jack Daniels and a red wine, and he walked home alone in the rain. Cloud called him to make sure he was okay, and was alarmed when Vincent said it took him about forty five minutes to get home. The next day, Vincent hadn't seemed so well. Therefore, Cloud wasn't too sure about letting Vincent drink.

"How come you've been getting into so much alcohol lately, Vincent?" asked Cloud, sipping a glass of water.

Vincent shrugged. "I'm not sure, Cloud...It's just my taste. Don't worry about it." Tifa slid a large glass of beer across the counter to Vincent, and he downed a large gulp.

"You're not becoming depressed, are you?"

"...No, Cloud."

Truth be told, Vincent didn't know why he was beginning to warm up to alcohol when all it ever did was made him sick. It was really a small form of torture; done enough, he would give up. Why would he ponder that thought, then drink anyway? What did he have to be depressed about? Nothing was really going on in his life...

Except Jane.

It was odd. They were friends, but he had yet to tell her who he was. 'Jane, I'm a sixty year old man in a twenty seven year old body. I'm like this as a result of experiments made by an insane scientist. I live on a whole different planet, meaning that everything we do is different. Feel free to never talk to me again.'

Then again, why was it so important to him for her to know? She shouldn't know anything about a twenty seven year old, and Vincent certainly shouldn't know anything about a fifteen year old. There was no way he could possibly pursue an internet relationship when he was already distant outside the internet. They had only talked twice! He pondered leaving her alone, and never speaking to her again. That's what he should do each time he was faced with a situation such as this. But, he couldn't lie to her. He was also too fearful about giving her the truth. He decided to keep it under wraps for the time being.

"Vinceeeentt? I'm talking to you!" Yuffie said at Vincent's side, waving a hand over his frozen face. Vincent slowly put his mind back to the present, and looked at her.

"...What?" he asked.

"What's wrong? You seem out of it. I was just trying to talk to you, and your face was all blank!"

"Oh...Sorry. What is it?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering what's been up with you lately."

"I'm fine, Yuffie." Vincent turned his attention back to his glass of beer, which he slowly drank.

Vincent's thoughts quickly returned to Jane. Why did he even bother befriending a fifteen year old girl? What did he really seek? But then he began to ponder the realization that they would just remain friends. She was just someone to talk to, someone to be just friends with. Why did he fear it would go farther?

Why was he so bothered by the fact that she was on another planet?

Vincent asked Tifa for another beer, one which she reluctantly filled. Vincent sat at the counter in silence as the other members of Avalanche continued with their conversations.

'We here at the news station are proud to say that the culprits who stole the lost materia from Sector 7 church have been caught...'

Before he could hear any more, Vincent clicked his TV to a different channel. He pushed the button to scroll all the way up the channels, passing the late night comedies and Paid Programmings. He heard Jerry Springer yell, "We'll be right back!" just as he changed the station. He wandered into the movie section, where some of his least favorite movies were playing. War of the Worlds reminded him too much of something that would happen to Edge. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie was Denzel's favorite movie, and he wasn't about to stoop to the level of liking a talking sponge who lived underwater. (Author's Note: No diss to Spongebob, because he is the COOLEST cartoon to hit this planet.) Titanic made him cold, and reminded him that his own love life was flushed down the toilet.

The woman playing Rose's character was now in the icy water of the 'Atlantic Ocean', surrounded by frantic bodies. 'Jack!' she cried, her breath pouring out in a cloud of blue. A chill ran through Vincent's spine, and his bones rattled. It was as if he were the one in the freezing water. Quickly, he changed the channel.

His eyes widened as he came across late-night movies with scandalous behavior. He felt his cheeks turn red, just as they did when he accidently stumbled across that 'Sexy Singles' site. His finger didn't lift from the channel changing button as he continued through the channels. Finally, he gave up and changed it back to the usual news station. It was better than watching 'Talk Sex with Sue Johansen' which was on his second favorite daytime news station.

Vincent stood up, getting ready to settle into his bed. He took of his cape, and threw it to the floor. He proceeded to take of his shoes and shirt. The cold air stung his arms and back. He wished for the heat to work. He then sat back against his headboard, and slid his computer into his lap. The light from the screen hurt his eyes, but still he did not close it. He signed onto the internet, his fingers moving faster on the keyboard than usual.

He signed onto Myspace, even though he wasn't sure he should. Just to make himself feel a little better, he opened Microsoft Word. He still hadn't finished that poem he had started only two nights ago. Now he wasn't sure if he had that poetic touch. Still, he had began to write his third line.

The darkness bends across the sky,

in the stars I see my dead reflection.

On the ground, wilted roses lie,

kissed with starry affection.

He had never known that he had these words in him. Throughout his life, he had never been the poetic type. As his mind struggled to process the next stanza, he checked his New Comments on his Myspace page.

One was from a boy, judging by the profile picture, who looked about 13 years old. In his picture, he stared at the camera like he would kill someone. Vincent smirked at the youth's look; he didn't know what it was like to kill. At least he hoped so himself. The comment said, 'hey, you look awesome! cood you add me as a frend?' Vincent shook his head as he typed a rather withdrawn reply.

'...For what reason?'

He pressed the send button, and went back to his own page. He decided to add another song to his page, figuring that it needed something else to hint about his character. What songs could really express himself? He was sure that absolutely none would; none that he knew of. But just then, he remembered a song that he had become fond of the first time he heard it, and now he figured that it would go perfectly with what he was feeling. He couldn't remember the band, but he remembered the chorus quite fondly.

Now that we're here,

It's so far away

All the struggle we thought was in vain

All the mistakes,

One life contained

They all finally start to go away

Now that we're here its so far away

And I feel like I can face the day

I can forgive and I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today

It was then that he remembered the name; a band by the name of Staind. He searched for the song on Myspace, and discovered that it was open. He added it to his profile, and it became a choice of music on his playlist. 'The Diary of Jane' was still his initial background theme, which always played.

Suddenly, he had an urge to comment Jane, and see how she was doing. He figured that he was the elder; he should make sure no one was bothering her with inappropriate comments such as the ones he had seen two nights earlier. What would he say? 'Hey there, Jane. Just wanna let you know that I'm not from your planet.' He shook his head, touching his forehead with his palm. He was stressing too much. He was stressing to much over a girl that he should have nothing to do with.

He traveled to her profile, noticing that neither one of them had added the other as a friend yet. There, Vincent! There's proof that you will just be a mentor to her, nothing more.

Once again, he was hit with the sounds of her own music, and the sight of her mysterious profile picture. He was tantalized by her eyes. His eyes gazed over to her blog, where she had recently added another entry titled, 'I Hate Geometry'. She had added it yesterday. Smirking ever so slightly, he clicked on the blog. For the first time since they had talked, he heard frustration in her voice while he read.

'Sheesh, I'm going to fail geometry. I was doing fine in Algebra last year! What does geometry have against me? I can never quite figure out the exact pinpoint of the angles, or measurements that don't go completely off the scale. I have a huge exam tomorrow, and I'm afraid that I'm going to fail it. If I do, I'll have to take it next year...So...back to studying.'

Geometry, eh? Vincent thought to himself. He His mind flashed all the way back to his school days, when he for some odd reason always excelled in Geometry. He had taken it two years before he actually had to, making his math career easier than it had to be. But he didn't know if he still remembered much about geometry off the top of his head. He figured that he was too old and plagued by bad memories to remember. Still, he did not hesitate to comment.

'By the looks of your recent entry, I see that you don't like geometry. I hope you did well on your exam; try not to stress too much.'

He made it short on purpose, not wanting to make her angry for the fact that she didn't have a liking for geometry. He posted the comment evasively, and quickly returned to his own myspace. For some odd reason, he was feeling somewhat shy, as if Jane would find his comment funny.

For the remainder of the night, he struggled to finish his poem, which failed. That night, he couldn't find the words to finish the second stanze, or even begin it. He was pretty sure that no one else would comment him on Myspace, so he closed it out. But just as he did, he recieved an email stating that he had just gotten a new comment. It was from who he expected most: DiaryofJane.

'Yes, I really HATE geometry. Math has never been my good subject; it makes me so frustrated! Anyway, I do hope that I did well on my exams today, even though I am skeptical. Don't worry, I will remember to keep the stress at a low level...So, how have you been?'

Vincent returned to her profile once again to comment. He so desperately wanted to tell her that they were worlds away, but she would think him weird! It was too early; they didn't even have such a relationship where they needed to know location. He tried to keep his comment calm and collected, just as though there was nothing urgent at hand.

'Math is a difficult subject, I know from experiance.' Lie. 'But it will get better with time if you work hard. I'm sure you will do well enough on your exams to pass. As for myself, I have been working alot with a few restoration organizations...We struggle to keep the peace in our environment.'

'Wow, that's interesting. I've never really heard of there being any restoration organizations where I am; perhaps you live in another place than I do. However, our time differences seem to be out of place. They don't seem to fit, and it doesn't seem that you are anywhere else in the northern hemisphere...Where are you exactly, Vincent Valentine?'

Uh oh.

'Well, Jane...I'm sure that I live in a place very much different than yours in many ways. Let us try not to worry about it to much; location is not too important at this moment.'

'Oh, I'm sorry...I shouldn't be asking of such things...Well, I must resume studying so I can get ahead in geometry. God knows that it will help at least a little.'

'No need to apologize. Not to be intrusive, but can't your parents assist or help you in any kind of way? I'm sure they could if you ask.'

'...There are many reasons why they can't help me, Vincent. I'm sorry, but I should go now. I'll talk to you later, I assume.'

The sign under Jane's name signaled that she was no longer online. Vincent sighed, and closed out Myspace. Her last message sounded elusive, and almost reluctant. Now he knew that he had hit home on a subject that was sensitive for her. He wondered why her parents wouldn't help her with something so vital as schoolwork...If she had any parents. There were many possibilities, but Vincent figured that he couldn't mettle in the lives of others, especially in lives like that of Jane.

He closed his laptop, and settled into bed for the night.