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Chapter VII – With a Single Step
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A crystal blue sky hung majestically over Edge without a cloud in sight, the sun beating down merrily. A gentle breeze stirred occasionally before falling back into slumber. Outside Seventh Heaven, two figures stood on the porch idly, warmed by the sun's rays. Reeve sighed happily as he leaned against the wooden banister, while his companion seemed to step back into the shadow of the overhang.
"Such a beautiful day, and it's only morning," Reeve remarked as he raised his head and smiled to the sun.
"Hmph," Vincent grunted, crossing his arms. He found little reason to smile, especially considering recent events which had transpired. Reeve turned to him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. When it became evident the gunslinger had nothing more to say, the well-groomed man continued.
"Hopefully this will last all day."
"What is it that you want, Reeve?" It sounded more like an accusation than a question. Vincent narrowed his eyes as Reeve turned to him, the smile falling from his face as he straightened his back. A man now all about business.
"Alright, let us skip the pleasantries then." And with that, Reeve began to explain his plan to Vincent. To clean up the Planet once and for all, returning the remaining stray souls of monsters back to the Lifestream and restoring its very delicate balance. Throughout his explanation, Vincent listened diligently, occasionally tucking his chin into his cowl as a passing breeze teased strands of his ebony hair.
When Reeve finished, Vincent remained quiet, contemplating everything he had been told. Uncrossing his arms, he emerged from the shadow of the porch overhang and into the harsh sun to stand next to the president of the WRO. Voices spat and hissed in his head, writhing in burning hatred of the sudden light. His gauntlet gleamed a burnished gold, blinding as it cast off intense reflection.
"... Your logic appears sound. However, I feel I cannot accompany you." On hearing this, Reeve cocked his head questioningly. Black strands danced in front of his eyes, teased by a refreshing zephyr.
"Vincent," he began. Piercing red eyes turned to meet his own. "I won't pretend to know what you've been doing or where you've been these past... three years now, is it? However, I feel this is something only our group can do, it's very important. And your help would be very much appreciated." He met the cloaked man's steady gaze, unwavering, though it unnerved him. It felt like those blood-red eyes were staring straight through him.
"I recognise the importance of your proposed task. However, I have my own reasons..." Vincent trailed off, knowing that the reasons he spoke of consisted of the four monstrosities that shared his body. He was looking for answers, but at a loss as where to find them. If not wandering aimlessly, he had spent most of his time deep within the rotting womb of the Shinra Mansion, but that only served to raise even more questions.
"Well," Reeve began, nodding to himself. "You do what you have to do, Vincent." He looked back up to the crystal blue sky. Vincent watched silently, secretly appreciative that Reeve didn't push him for more information. The man was well known for being laid-back, despite his very high standing position. Pushing himself up and away from the banister, Reeve pulled his cellphone from his breast pocket.
"I suppose I better try and get in touch with some of the others again. Mainly Yuffie and Cid." He flipped open the PHS and began wading through his vast collection of contacts, when the front door suddenly creaked open. Vincent and Reeve both turned to look over their shoulders to find Tifa walking towards them. Her hair shone in beautiful copper hues as she stepped out into the sun, her right arm now free from the confines of a sling. They both couldn't help but stare at her beauty.
She stopped and blinked at the sudden attention.
"I'm sorry, have I interrupted something?" she asked tentatively. Vincent turned to look up at the sky his companion seemed so enraptured in before, while Reeve waved his hand as if dismissing the notion.
"Not at all!" he exclaimed brightly. "I'm just about to call Yuffie and Cid again."
Tifa smiled at this. "So, I take it you got in contact with Red?" Reeve's grin alone answered her question.
"That's right, I did so yesterday while you went for your..." he fished around his vocabulary for the right word, but came up short. "... Walk." Tifa simply shook her head in an amused manner, a smile creeping onto her face. "As soon as I explained everything he was already on his way, he said he should be here in a few days." Tifa nodded and moved towards the wooden banister, crossing her arms on top and leaning against the wood, similar to Reeve's position moments before.
"I can't wait to see Red, it's been such a long time." She smiled to the sky before arching her back, raising her arms into the air then lowering them to the base of her spine. A familiar stretch.
"I'm just going to make these calls, I'll be inside." Reeve motioned towards the bar before moving to the door and leaving the two standing on the porch. The wind whipped up around their feet, Vincent's cloak drifting lazily along with it as did Tifa's duster. They stood in silence, listening to the sounds of construction being made to buildings, the laughter and buzz of distant conversation and the sound of birds fluttering overhead.
The sound of Edge.
"So," Tifa began. "I take it Reeve explained everything to you?" She turned to him with a smile, russet eyes taking on a red glimmer in the sun.
"He did."
"Sound great, doesn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "I'm looking forward to us all being together again." Vincent crossed his arms at this, his eyes narrowing. He heard of Cloud's disappearance from Barret, thus knew that Tifa spoke with either false hope or true optimism.
"I'm afraid I shall not be accompanying you." On hearing this, the smile fell from Tifa's face.
"Oh..." The disappointment in her voice was palpable. She straightened up and turned to him. It was now that he could make out the remaining extent of her injuries. Her shoulder was healing quite nicely, a light purple bruise all that remained. He quickly deduced that she had used the Curative Materia again.
"How is your shoulder?" He changed the topic.
"A lot better now. The Materia isn't as strong but I'll make sure to use it more often." She patted the utility pouch on the front of her duster, where Vincent could make out a shape resting inside. No doubt the crystallised Mako she was referring to.
"Vincent, about what you said to me earlier... You don't mean... I mean, you didn't..." The fighter struggled with words, but much to her ease didn't have to finish her sentence.
"No, I did not kill him." Tifa sighed in relief, one she didn't realise she had been holding back. That was all she needed to know. Silence passed for a few moments, before Tifa once more broke it.
"I know this may be intruding, but may I ask why you can't join us, Vincent?" Vincent almost grumbled: he knew he couldn't deter the question for much longer. He kept his gaze fixed across the street, not really looking at things but rather, staring through them.
He gave the same answer he'd given previously. "I have my own reasons." Tifa crossed her arms, seeming to study him intently and Vincent prepared himself for the inevitable onslaught of questions.
"... Alright." Vincent blinked in surprise. "I won't push you, but this is something that only we can do together. We'll be travelling the Planet again, maybe you could find or... do your reasons, if you came with us." He remained silent. Tifa sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing her delicate white teardrop earrings.
"Thank you." Caught off-guard, he fixed his crimson gaze upon her quizzically. "For last night," she explained. "I never got the chance to say it before. If you weren't there..." She rubbed her right shoulder. "I would have been a lot worse off." Vincent gave a small nod, his chin disappearing into the folds of his cowl.
"I'm sure you would have been able to handle the situation, if you had your gloves with you." It was a small, attempted consolation from Vincent, but it sounded more like an admonishment and gave little solace to Tifa. She knew he was right.
"Yeah," Tifa tried to sound confident, but it came out defeated. "Well, wherever you go, I'm sure we'll see you again." Tifa turned to go back inside, but Vincent's sudden baritone stopped her.
"When are you planning on leaving?" Tifa paused, looking back in thought.
"I'm not sure, but Barret was talking about later tonight. As soon as I know I'll tell you." Tifa then continued towards the door and entered the building, leaving Vincent alone to stare at the sky.
As soon as she stepped into the bar, Tifa could hear nothing but expletives. Reeve leaned on the counter, rubbing his temple with both hands while shaking his head. Barret sat beside him, laughing heartily at the phone that was left on the bar top, the loudspeaker echoing around the room.
"Cid, this is for a very good cause!" Reeve almost seemed to be pleading at this point, much to Barret's amusement.
"Yeah man, most of us 'ave already agreed to it," Barret cut in with a huge grin.
The loudspeaker erupted, the phone vibrating across the counter with the volume."You've all gone crazy! You sure you guys ain't havin' a midlife crisis 'n doin' this for nostalgic reasons? 'Hey! Remember that time we travelled the Planet together knowing we were all f&$^ED?!'"
Barret effectively as he would call it, 'lost his shit', and burst into laughter; a mighty bellow that shook the floorboards. Reeve had buried his head in his hands at this point. Tifa grinned, walking over to the phone.
"Hello, Cid!" she called enthusiastically, genuinely happy to hear the rough pilot's voice.
"Not more of the numbskulls!" The sound of his laughter rang out over the speaker. "How you doing, Tifa? ^%$#! It's been a while!" Tifa grinned and made small talk while Barret and Reeve composed themselves, though the grin never left Barret's face, and neither did the grimace on Reeve's. Much to the WRO leader's dismay, Tifa began to once more explain the plan to Cid. However, this time he seemed to listen.
'Well," he began. 'Hope you don't count on me flying you everywhere! I'm still trying to make an airship that can run off fossil fuel, 'n %&$^ am I stumped!'
"Like we told you, Cid, we'll be mostly on foot so we can hunt out monsters," Tifa reassured.
'Tell ya what, I'll stay here in Rocket Town and try an' get my baby in the air. You guys come 'n meet me here and we can have some goddamn tea, how about that?!' Tifa and Barret laughed in unison.
"You got yourself a deal." Barret settled the rest of the conversation and everyone gave their goodbyes to Cid, as well as wishing him luck on his mysterious new airship. On hanging up, Reeve sat heavily on the bar stool looking rather exasperated, a rare sight to see.
He glanced up at the two before finally saying, "Next time, you call Cid." He was made even more annoyed by the laughter that erupted from both Barret and Tifa.
The day passed without much more event. Reeve tried but was unsuccessful in contacting Yuffie, only receiving her answering machine message. 'This is the Single White Rose of Wutai! I'm away on ANNOYING business for my father, leave me a message and I'll THINK ABOUT calling you back!' At Barret's suggestion, (and persistence), himself and Tifa began packing up to leave that evening; getting an early start seemed to be a good idea and Barret was restless. They decided to meet Red XIII on their travels, making sure they both had their cellphones and all of the numbers necessary to get in contact with everyone in their group.
It was here that Tifa remembered Vincent didn't have a cellphone, but then realised it wouldn't matter since he didn't seem to be joining them. 'Still,' she thought. 'I'll have to remember to get him one in future, he shouldn't distance himself so much.' Reeve made calls for the rest of the day, mainly WRO related, and made arrangements for Seventh Heaven to be taken care of in Tifa's absence. Cait Sith watched and played with Denzel and Marlene, while Vincent it seemed, never moved from his post outside.
As the sun finally began to lower and the pavement began to cool, Tifa stretched and decided to take a break from packing. Suddenly she recalled that she was meant to tell Vincent when they were leaving. Cursing under her breath, she made her way across her room and towards the stairs, hoping that he was still where she had last left him. As she passed the wooden dresser, she paused. Slowly stepping back from the doorway, she moved towards the furniture and pulled open the top drawer. Rummaging through her items, she finally lay hands on what she was looking for, recognising it instantly by material alone.
Pulling her hand out, she retrieved her Premium Hearts. She ran a thumb over the soft leather, familiarising herself with them once more. She looked at them with admiration, like a proud mother would look at their child.
"I missed you guys," she said softly. Stuffing them into the front pocket of her duster, she continued out of the room and made her way downstairs. It wasn't long before she was quickly made aware of raised voices.
"No way! You can't come with us, Marlene!" Quickly reaching the bottom, Tifa stood by the stairs, watching Marlene hang on to Barret for dear life as he spoke to her on one knee.
"I'll be good! I promise! Please, let me go with you!" she begged, her little hands gripped on to his puffy white vest, knuckles white. Barret's shoulders slumped as he sighed in exasperation.
"It'll be dangerous, I can't let ya go. An' I can't let Denzel go either. You two gotta' be good an' stick with Reeve. He's gonna look after yer. A'ight?" Denzel stood next to Reeve and Cait Sith, looking rather dejected. It broke Tifa's heart. Decidedly steeling herself for Barret's rebuke, she walked farther into the room.
"Of course you can come with us, Marlene." The surprise on Reeve's face was almost comical, while Barret seemed to look on in horror. He turned a sharp gaze to Tifa, with an expression as if to say, 'Are you for f***in' REAL?!' Marlene's face lit up like a lightbulb and she ran over to Tifa, Denzel following suit but walking rather than running.
"Does that mean I can come too?" the boy asked, scratching the back of his neck in uncertainty.
"Sure." Tifa gave him a brilliant smile.
"Tifa!" Barret hissed in anger. "Are you NUTS?! We're gonna be fightin' MONSTERS. We can't have them with us!"
"Oh, dilly dally," Tifa brushed off his rage, taking Barret completely off-guard. "We'll protect them, we can have Cait Sith keep watch too. Have them stay behind while we fight, and Red will be able to help as well. Reeve is busy enough, I don't want to leave them." Reeve made to comment, but couldn't deny the truth to Tifa's words. Instead, he ended up uncharacteristically scratching the back of his neck. Barret stood up, looking lost. The absurdity of Tifa's suggestion made him look down at the two children with a blank stare. Marlene and Denzel stared back with what appeared to be their best puppy dog eyes.
"Ye can count on me!" Cait Sith joined in, pounding his little furry chest with a gloved fist. Barret looked down at him incredulously.
"Oh... ALRIGHT." He waved his arms in defeat as Marlene cried out in joy, hugging Tifa's waist tightly. "But if ANYTHING HAPPENS they're comin' straight back, ya hear?" Tifa nodded.
"Don't worry, Barret, we'll protect them," she reassured him with a smile and he grumpily crossed his arms in response. The front door suddenly opened with a loud creak, turning all eyes towards Vincent as he entered the bar. He couldn't help but notice the irony, that he had somehow gotten into the same position he had been in that very morning. Mocking laughter resounded in his head.
"That's a relief," Tifa said with a smile. "I thought you might have left already. I wanted to let you know that we'll be leaving soon." Vincent nodded, his eyes passing over Denzel. While the fear was still evident on his face, the boy seemed to look up at him with newfound awe. Though Vincent was aware of the talk Barret had with him, he suddenly felt curious as to what exactly Barret had told the child. He moved his blood-red eyes back to the fighter that stood in the middle of the room.
"I have decided to accompany you on your journey," Vincent addressed Tifa, watching as she blinked away shock, before a huge grin broke out on her face.
"That's great, Vincent! I'm glad you're coming with us," she said earnestly.
"Well, I wasn't expectin' this," Barret said as he stomped towards Vincent. "It's good ta have ya' with us." He clapped Vincent on the shoulder with a grin, almost causing the gunslinger to stumble from the force. However, Vincent caught himself. "We could use all the help we can get."
"I'm glad you changed your mind," Reeve joined in, giving him a smile of his own.
"The mair the merrier!" Cait Sith enthused with a feline grin.
Vincent couldn't help but feel surprised at the group's earnest reaction to him joining their quest. He felt it was undeserved and wasted on him. After all, he was joining them for selfish reasons. He had spent many hours contemplating, but ultimately decided if they were truly to travel across the Planet, it would give him a better chance of finding answers. Also, an equal chance to atone, to help heal the Planet that he had a great part in destroying. By failing to stop Hojo, he had as much a part in the Planet's destruction as Sephiroth himself.
However, he kept all of this to himself, simply nodding in response.
Extra time was spent making additional preparations, Tifa and Barret helping the children pack their own belongings into backpacks while Reeve went about closing the bar for a long-term period. Heartfelt goodbyes were given to Reeve as he wished them luck, assuring them that he would be on the other end of the PHS if he was ever needed. Vouching that he would make sure to check in once every few days, Reeve Tuesti finally departed, heading back to the WRO Headquarters where he was surely missed.
As the keys were turned in the lock of Seventh Heaven's door for the last time, to await their return in what would no doubt be, a very long time, Tifa remained standing at the top of the porch stairs as the group made their way down them. The sun just peeked above the horizon, bathing them all in a beautiful orange that made the asphalt appear to burn. The air was warm, and almost felt reassuring as birds sang merrily overhead. Tifa breathed in deep, stretching out her arms and arching her back, like she had done so many times before.
"Are ya comin' or what?" Barret called from the street.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up!" Tifa called back. As they moved on at a slower pace, she reached into her utility pocket, pulling out her Premium Hearts. Holding them in her hand, she felt the material once more in a pensive manner before grasping them tightly. Slowly, she pulled each glove on. First the right... then the left. She marvelled at the feeling, like this was what she had been missing for so long. The part of her that she needed to meet again, like a reunion with an old friend.
She flexed her fingers. Finally, after three years, Tifa Lockhart had found herself.
'I may or may not find you out there, Cloud,' she thought to herself. 'But I'm not just doing this for the Planet, or for you. I'm doing this for myself. No more moping around. All journeys start with a single step...'
And with that, Tifa took hers.
