Not long after, they were parking in front of a two-story building in Nibelheim. The rustic front door swung open and a young girl stepped out. She looked closely at the pair and ran back inside.
"Marlene. She doesn't remember me. I only saw her once," he explained.
Just then, Tifa stepped outside. Her jaw dropped for a moment at the sight. "Vincent? What are...Where..." she trailed off, approaching him speechlessly. He met her halfway up the stone path. Aria watched from a few steps back as Tifa considered a hug over a handshake. Vincent outstretched his arms just slightly, and at this minor signal, Tifa passionately embraced him.
"Are you okay? Where have you been? We've all talked about you so much. We were worried," she rambled into his shoulder.
"I'm fine, Tifa. I needed some time. But I'm fine. This," he pulled back and motioned toward Aria, "is..." he paused, unsure of which name she would prefer. Immediately, she trusted Tifa and stepped forward, extending her hand.
"Aria," she introduced herself with a smile. Tifa took her hand and shook it tentatively. Vincent introduced Tifa in return, who smiled cautiously, then turned back to Vincent.
"So, tell me you're hungry. We didn't have much of a breakfast rush today."
Vincent nodded and allowed Aria to step in front of him as they entered the warm building.
The main level was a quaint cafe-style restaurant with a long oak bar. An older couple sipped coffee in a back corner booth.
"Can I take your jackets? Or, you know," she trailed humorously, as Vincent's cloak had been a source of several jokes during their travels with Cloud. Vincent cocked his head slightly in appreciation of her humor, and removed his cloak, as Aria unzipped and removed her jacket. Tifa's eyes casually wandered across the light scars and dark tattoos left visible by Aria's black, sleeveless top. She offered them seats at the bar and poured two cups of tea.
"Well, you just missed Cloud. He left with Barret to stock up on supplies for winter. They've been saying we're going to get a lot of snow this year. It's certainly cold, but it hasn't snowed in Nibelheim since we were kids, so, I guess we'll see. Anyway, they'll be back tonight," she trailed off, tiring of small talk. "Well, I'm going to get you two some breakfast, and we're going to talk,"she said, turning on her heels and disappearing into a small kitchen off the bar.
Aria took a long look around. "This is nice," she commented, "peaceful. Why don't you move here?" she asked nonchalantly.
He succinctly answered, "No."
It took only a moment to register, before she turned back to the bar and watched her tea steam. "Sorry."
Shortly after, Tifa returned with two plates of eggs, muffins, hashbrowns, and fruit. "Here, you two look like you need this," she noted, setting the plates in front of the pair, then sliding a barstool to her own side of the bar. She sat and palmed her own cup of tea. Vincent had taken two small bites before she could hold her questions no longer.
"Where did you go?" Tifa asked.
"North. Forgotten City," he answered. At this, Aria turned her head sharply to face him, listening intently.
Tifa chuckled. "Yes, I can see you liking that place. So, you were there for..."
"Three months."
Tifa turned on Aria. "And you met him there?"
"Not...exactly, no. We met before you all left for the last time," she explained, treading around her own history. "We ate dinner at the same restaurant, and had some things in common. So, we kept in touch."
Tifa went silent at this explanation. It sounded nothing like the Vincent she knew. He did not even carry a cell phone. "I see," was her only response.
"Have you heard from the others?" Vincent asked quietly.
Tifa smiled. "I have. Cid is still working on getting the Shera up and running again. He's thinking of starting an emergency transportation service once it's flyable again. Nanaki comes by every few weeks. He is still in the middle of some self-discovery, I think. He's having trouble adjusting to life without Bugenhagen. I don't know much about Yuffie right now. She sent a letter telling me how close she's become with her father, but that's about it. Barret's helping clean up Corel, splitting his time between there and here. Marlene stays with us. And Cloud...is quiet. He has this new bike... so he travels a lot. But he takes care of us."
Aria noticed Marlene sitting on the shadowed staircase watching them intently. She smiled and nodded to her, and Marlene hid her face.
"I'm sure you've heard about Edge," Tifa started. Aria nodded, Vincent did not move. Tifa continued, "...the new city north of Midgar? We're planning on moving there after this winter. Reeve is working to get the WRO up and running on its own, so we thought we could be of more help if we were not hours away," she explained. "I mean, we were thinking of going. But there have been some pretty gruesome crimes against the people trying to help rebuild. Someone wants Midgar to stay down, I suppose."
Aria nodded, as though hearing this for the first time. The older couple stood and walked toward the door. Tifa thanked them and began cleaning up the cafe. She offered the pair a more comfortable seat on a couch near the picture windows at the front of the building. She joined them after locking the front door and flipping over her "Open" sign, and sat across the wooden coffee table in an over-sized chair.
"So, you're looking for a place to stay?" she guessed, smiling warmly at Vincent.
"No, I don't expect you to do that. We'll stay at the inn," he countered.
"Nonsense! We'd love to have you. And a friend of Vincent's is a friend of mine," she told Aria warily, secretly wishing she would remove her sunglasses. Aria smiled and scratched lightly at her shin.
"I do have a favor to ask," Vincent said. "I'm not nearly the healer you are, and Aria needs some help."
Aria pulled up her left pant leg to show the wicked gash. "I think there's glass in it," she explained.
"Oh, wow," Tifa exclaimed calmly while kneeling down on one knee to look at the wound. "Follow me," she said, and led Aria upstairs to a large bathroom. Vincent remained on the couch.
Once upstairs, Tifa sat Aria down in a decorative chair and propped her leg up on the commode. While digging around in a cabinet for medical supplies, Tifa began asking more questions.
"So, how exactly did you two begin talking at that restaurant? Vincent is one of the most...reserved...people I've ever met."
Aria smiled. "Yes, he is quiet. I approached him. We were both alone, so, I went out on a limb."
"And he actually spoke to you?"
"Well, it took some convincing. We had a few drinks, and, if you can believe it, he followed me to the Cosmo Harvest Festival."
Tifa shook her head in disbelief as she carefully cleaned the dried blood around the wound. "Goodness. You think you know somebody..."
"No, he was still stoic as ever. It was quite a sight. We talked some, mostly just drank ourselves tired. He went off to bed, and that was that. We didn't see each other again until just recently in Edge."
"And now...?"
"Traveling, I guess. He said you could fix me up."
Tifa held Aria's leg down gently as she started digging around for glass. Aria hissed in pain immediately. "How exactly did this happen?"
"Landed on broken glass in Midgar."
Tifa nodded, and ended her inquisition. "I think I have it. Hold on," she warned, then grabbed a tiny shard of glass with her forceps. As it came out, Aria exhaled heavily. Tifa immediately poured disinfectant on the new gap in the wound. It bubbled reactively.
"Holy shit, is that acid?" Aria asked, removing her sunglasses quickly and pressing the back of her hand against her tightly closed eyes.
Tifa laughed softly. "I know, it's horrible, but this will help it heal so much faster. Just one more little piece, I think, then we can wrap you up."
As the stinging faded, Aria lowered her hand and watched Tifa work. Another shard came out, followed by another intense cleansing.
"See? The second one isn't so bad," Tifa mused. She looked up at Aria and the glass bottle of disinfectant slid from her hand, shattering on the floor.
Tifa stood up quickly and backed up to the doorway. "What happened to you? Who are you?" she demanded. Immediately, Vincent was behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
"Tifa, it's alright. I know..." he said, trying to calm her.
"Her eyes, Vincent! Look at her eyes!"
"She was a Shinra casualty. It's okay. She's not...dangerous," he lied.
Aria remained, frozen in her chair, leg still propped up. Vincent squeezed Tifa's shoulder in reassurance. She took a deep breath and stepped toward Aria again. "What happened?"
Aria looked down while she spoke, "I knew some things the company didn't want me to know. They tried Mako poisoning to clear it out."
"And you...survived?" Tifa asked, astonished. Even her beloved Cloud had not emerged from his poisoning unscathed.
"Eventually...I guess I did."
"...I'm so sorry," Tifa said sincerely. "Truly. That's...horrible. ...Here, let's get you bandaged." She returned to her work, placing an adhesive bandage over the wound. "I'm going to give you this plastic covering. You can take a long bubble bath up here and relax for a while, then we'll wrap you up with some proper gauze afterward. Let me get you some things," Tifa said, leaving the bathroom in search of spare towels, while Vincent cleaned up broken bottle.
Aria fingered through her wild hair self-consciously. "I must look pretty rough," she said to Vincent, who remained in the doorway.
"Travel weary, that's all."
Tifa returned with a change of clothes and two sets of towels and placed them on the wide counter top. "I have this for you," Tifa said, handing Aria a bottle of green bubble bath soap, "and I know you didn't bring anything, so please help yourself to anything you need. There's a blow-dryer, brushes, I think there's an unopened toothbrush that you're welcome to take. I have to take Marlene across town for a play date, but we should be back in a couple of hours. So, please...make yourself at home." She had overcompensated by talking only to Aria, then smiled as she turned and saw Vincent. As she passed by him on her way out, she put her hand on his shoulder and lightly added, "You, too."
He watched her walk down the hall and disappear into a bedroom, returning to the hallway holding hands with Marlene. The two gingerly descended the stairs and he listened, as the door closed behind them. The sound of water running in the bathtub drew his attention back to the bathroom. He turned back to face Aria and was met with a surprising sight.
Aria faced the bathtub, topless, her dark hair cascading down a drastically different back than he had seen months ago. The black phoenix still spanned her back, but had lost the upper half of its left wing to a dark metal plate that replaced her shoulder blade. The Shinra scientists had not bothered to stitch the piece under her skin, but instead had quickly fused her skin to the outer edges. In the middle of the metal rested his bullet.
Vincent stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind himself. As he walked down the hallway he inspected the photographs hung randomly all over the walls. Many of them were from the Gold Saucer, where Aeris had somehow convinced everyone to relax and enjoy the night. Cloud and Aeris at the Round Square. Cid petting a Chocobo at the races. Barret and Tifa laughing as Yuffie snowboards in the Wonder Square. Someone had even managed to photograph Vincent sitting on the front steps of the Ghost Inn cleaning his gun, Nanaki curled up beside him. There were several photographs of Tifa and Cloud as children in Nibelheim. Further down the hallway were two photographs of Aeris and Marlene. Above them, several images of The Shera: Yuffie lying on her back on the deck; Cid at the helm; Tifa and Cloud looking out over the railing at Wutai.
Vincent returned to the couch downstairs and watched the uneventful streets of Nibelheim for a long while, losing himself in his thoughts. The bright sun prevented the passersby from watching him back. Eventually, he heard the door upstairs open, and he turned his head back toward the staircase.
Aria came down in her loaned clothing: brown pants that were a bit too short and a long-sleeved black shirt that left her shoulders exposed. Her hair was smooth and shiny, well-brushed for the first time in several days.
Upon seeing Vincent sitting in front of the windows, Aria walked across the small cafe and sat next to him. "I feel...better. Thank you for bringing me here. She's kind."
"She is. There is no safer place for you than in the company of these people," he said. She could hear the deep respect in his words.
