Well, I apologize for the delay. I would've gotten this chapter up Saturday, but I was feeling quite under the weather and decided to stay home. Wasn't feeling so hot yesterday, either. Regardless, I'm back! With more chapters! And... yeah, let's not get carried away here.
I will say I was surprised to see that many review alerts in my e-mail, and thought 'damn! it took off while I was away!' I'd say keep it up, but I somehow sense that's pushing things...
Well, no further ado, I suppose. Here's the next chapter. -Spiritslayer
"Shinra?" Vincent repeated. "I thought they were finished when that WEAPON attacked Midgar?"
She shook her head. "Apparently not entirely. Cloud just saw one of the Turks and confronted them. He learned that he was on-duty, which would mean Shinra's not defeated yet."
Vincent relaxed slightly. "That's it? Just Shinra?"
Tifa looked at him questionably. "Excuse me?"
"If Shinra's survival is the concern, it's not that great. They suffered grand losses, after all. If one Turk is out and about, then that must mean more Turks are still alive and well. They're no large threat, and I think any hope they have of starting over is gone now. So I'll say it again. That's it?"
Tifa nodded slowly. "But the fact that the Turks survived..."
"Without direct orders from the president, the Turks aren't much of a threat. Being a former Turk, I can more or less assert that fact."
She looked down. "...Do you think it's possible... that Rufus survived the assault on the tower? While we were evacuating everyone, I stumbled across one of the Turks and heard him shouting into his com unit that the President was on the top floor of the tower. If he's still alive, by some chance..."
"Tifa. It's fine, really. Even if Rufus is alive, he's not stupid. If he's still alive, he knows what happened six months ago. He's not likely to start Shinra up the way it used to be, siphoning Mako from the planet."
"...And if he does?" she challenged coldly.
"If he does, he knows who he'll have to answer to with just himself and a handful of Turks. Leaving them alone won't hurt, Tifa. In reality, with the reality of Mako uncovered, we should probably leave it to the Turks and whoever's leading them to find a new energy source, one that won't destroy the planet in the long run."
"Well... I guess you're right, but..."
"Tifa, there's nothing to worry about." Vincent crossed his arms slowly.
The two sat in silence for a while, unsure of what to say.
Vincent broke the silence. "If you had your phone with you, then surely you got call after call."
She nodded bitterly. "I... at the time, I didn't want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to try sorting out my own thoughts for a while."
"But you know as well as I do how well that works."
She smiled gently. "It doesn't work."
"Mm."
"Each time it rang, I hoped it would be you so I could talk to you, figure things out. I wasn't sure why you had just up and left like that, but at first, I felt you'd come back later."
He pulled out the note she had left in his room back at the bar. "I could tell," he said, showing it to her.
She looked at it in surprise. "You... went back?"
He nodded his head, folding the note and putting it back in his pocket. "Right after Yuffie told me that you had been missing for a month."
She felt her smile slip. "I worried everyone... I didn't bother staying long enough to see everyone else. I didn't show up to the event I organized..." She chuckled sadly. "I'm so pathetic. I let you leave, and I let the fact that you were gone get to me."
"You're not pathetic, Tifa." He leaned forward in his chair. "You know that."
She hung her head. "Cloud... he had told me that he asked you to come and you waited for him to finish before you told him you weren't going to it."
"Mm." That's right too. She still has feelings for him. I guess... all I can do for her is help her handle his... ignorance.
"When I heard that, I thought there was a much better chance of getting you to come. All I would've had to do was talk you into it. But... I never got the chance. You vanished from Edge fifteen minutes later, so I never got the chance to ask..."
"I still wouldn't have gone."
She chuckled again, and he sensed a definitive tone of sadness in it. "No, I guess not. You never were one for crowds, and you're still not... That was something else I wanted to help you overcome, was your dislike of crowds. It's still something I want to do..."
Vincent watched her shoulders shake and stood slowly, choosing to sit next to her instead. "Are you okay?" he asked, placing his left arm around her and taking care not to graze her with his claw.
She looked up at him, tears leaking at her eyes. "I told you... I was having trouble fighting tears back..."
He gave her a kind smile, reaching his right hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes. "So those weren't triggered by news of Shinra."
She shook her head gently. "Hearing Cloud say how worried he had been about me..."
"That makes you sad? If I were in your shoes, I'd be glad to hear he worried."
"I was glad, but..." She sighed. It was almost like he had heard me move on from him... "I... just hadn't thought he'd care that much."
Vincent rested his claw carefully on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring hug. "You're his best friend, Tifa. Of course he worried."
"But... I never wanted to remain his best friend. I'm sure everyone else noticed that too."
Vincent gave a nod. "We did."
"And for all my efforts, he never returned my feelings." But that's over now. The new man in my life...
Vincent's grasp around her loosened slightly. I knew it. She's still caught up over him. She can't torment herself like this anymore. "Tifa..."
She sniffed, attempting to dry her eyes. She looked at Vincent. "And when he's furthest from my mind, he calls and lets me know how worried he was." Because the man I love now...
Vincent looked at her, confused. "Furthest from your mind?"
She nodded, closing her eyes and resting her head lightly against his. "He's cruel like that, toying with my emotions. He ignores my feelings when I talk to him, but he worries endlessly about me when I don't. And because it's not worth the pain..." She sighed gently. "I've moved on." The man I love...
Vincent could almost swear his ears had deceived him. She had gotten over her longtime crush, Cloud Strife? She had moved on from the one-sided love? "I'm happy for you, Tifa. You didn't deserve that constant pain, and you still don't."
"Vince..." She lifted his arm off of her and turned to face him. "Thank you so much. I can't begin to tell you how lucky I feel right now." She threw her arms around him and hugged him.
He was certainly caught off guard by the sudden movement. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug, the fingers on his right hand caressing her hair. "And why's that?" he said in almost a whisper.
"Because..." She pulled back enough to look into his eyes. "The one who helped me realize my biggest mistake..." She smiled at him. "...is now the man I care about most."
He was fairly sure she was talking about him, but he had to make sure before he gave in to his own feelings. "This man... he wouldn't happen to have raven-black hair, red eyes and a false left arm, would he?"
She giggled, a true smile on her face.
He read her eyes and learned the answer through her current emotion. He gazed into her eyes and was able to predict what she was about to do. He was more than willing to oblige her as he gently pressed his lips against hers.
She gasped slightly as he kissed her, but she allowed the shock to subside quickly. She simply returned it, holding him closer against her body.
Both of their minds were suddenly still as they were connected in this one moment. Not even the Galian was daring to interrupt Vincent's thoughts for fear of being berated for hours on end.
He eventually withdrew from her, still holding her in his arms. His eyes found hers sparkling once they opened, and he felt a smile slip to his face. "I guess so."
"Vince..." she breathed. "I..."
He gently shook his head. "Don't say it."
She giggled again. "I love you, Vince."
He put a face of mock disappointment on his face. "I told you not to say it," he replied. A smile betrayed his act and he kissed her again. Once they had pulled away again, he gave a small sigh. "I love you too, Tifa."
She closed her eyes slowly. "I know."
He chuckled. "Now you do, yeah." He hugged her tightly.
After some time, he let go of her and sat back. "You feeling better?" he asked.
"Well..." She gave a small smile. "I don't think I should be up and about just yet. I might need another day to rest, to recover."
He gave her a gentle nod. "Then, I should let you rest." He glanced to the tray of food brought earlier and frowned at it. "Think I'll bring that to my room so the smell's not driving you nuts."
She allowed a giggle, nodding to him. She lay down on the bed again, head resting on the pillow. She smiled at him as he walked toward the door, tray in hand. "Thank you, Vince. For everything." Her eyes closed slowly.
He paused and turned to face her. "No problem. I'm always here for you, you know."
"I know..." She let a sigh escape her lips and she fell asleep again.
So just like that, you leave her alone. You don't think her words, her thanks, were suspicious at all? Sounded to me like she's planning on leaving or like she's dying.
You're overthinking things. There's no way she's going to leave without me. He closed her door behind him and walked across the hall to his own room, opening it and balancing the tray carefully. He stepped inside and set the tray on the nightstand next to his bed. If she tries it, I'll know.
Oh? And how's that? the demon taunted. You going to watch her?
Don't be absurd. I need rest as much as she does. Besides, now I know she's fine. I don't need to be at her side at all hours. Although... She doesn't know my room's across the hall from hers. She might worry I left without her if she wakes up... He shook his head, sitting on the bed. No, she'd ask the receptionist if I checked out.
You seem rather confident about that.
And you seem to be so intent on sowing seeds of doubt in my mind. It's not going to work anymore, Galian. Give up. He lay down on the bed slowly, his thoughts on Tifa. Would she be ready to go tomorrow? Would they head straight to Edge from Nibelheim? Would they tell everyone how they felt about one another? Thought after thought darted through his mind, each one chasing the last away. His mind was still swamped in thought when he fell asleep, many questions left unanswered.
--
Vincent awoke and sat up slowly, mind swimming. He shook his head to clear it and set his feet on the floor. He immediately decided to check on Tifa, see how she was doing. He walked to the door and opened it. She's probably still asleep, but it never hurts to check.
He expected to hear commentary from the Galian, but the demon wasn't responding in any way. Well, he didn't let it affect him. He still hated the demon and was more than happy to be free of its words. He slowly opened Tifa's door and looked inside.
She was sitting up, eyes closed. He stepped forward into her room, closing the door quietly behind him. She opened her eyes slowly and fixed them on Vincent. Her expression didn't change from the somber look she had on her face.
"Vincent..." she said.
"You okay?" he asked her, putting aside the fact that she hadn't called him by her little nickname for him.
"How do I know you really love me?"
He was stunned by this question. "Is it... something I really have to prove? Tifa..."
She looked away from him. "I need to know, Vincent. Can you prove it?"
"I..." He sighed exasperatedly. "How can I prove it to you?"
She remained silent. "I'm afraid..." she began.
He sat down on the bed next to her. "Of what?"
She moved away from him slowly, raising his suspicions but forcing no words to his mouth. "You once said that... my words, my reasoning... they resembled Lucrecia's words and reasoning."
He gave a slow nod. "They do."
"How do I know, then, that you love me?"
"Tifa, I..." He looked at her. "What's on your mind?"
She bit her lip. "I'm..."
"Tifa... what's wrong?"
She looked like she was about to explode, and she finally came out with it. "I'm afraid you only love me because I'm like Lucrecia!"
"What? I... No!" Vincent realized what was going through her mind. "Tifa, no! I love you for you!"
"But how do I know that?" she practically cried out, hanging her head. "Can you prove that you love me for me?"
"Tifa..." He reached a hand out to her and wondered if she was retreating further from him; the distance between them seemed to be growing.
"You can't, can you? So that's it. You love me because I remind you of your long lost love!" She looked up at him, and what he saw was not what he was expecting.
Lucrecia's face was looking back at him, not Tifa's. "Why, Vincent? Why are you like that?" she seemed to plead. She stood from the bed and walked further and further away, fading from view in time.
Vincent opened his mouth to speak, but heard a shot ring out. His body was jolted, and he looked down. Blood was beginning to ooze from a point where he had been shot. "Who..." he wondered, falling over softly. Lucrecia? Tifa? No...
"She doesn't need you anymore, fool! Leave her be!" he heard a familiar voice ring out. He cringed, forced to listen as the voice spoke again. "Well, it's beyond your control now, isn't it? You've made a wrong choice, Valentine!" What seemed to be crazed laughter met his ears and he looked up.
Hojo was in his line of sight, facing away from Vincent. He could spot a gun hanging from Hojo's right hand and knew in that instant what had happened. He reached a hand out and made a feeble attempt to grab the scientist, even though he knew how far away Hojo was. Instead, what caught his attention now was his hand. It wasn't his human hand, nor was it his left claw.
It was the claw, the unmistakable claw, of the Galian Beast. Had he transformed when Hojo shot him? He suddenly lost all control and heard the demon's voice ring through his mind.
No one needs you, Valentine! This is how things should have always been! it roared triumphantly. It fought off Vincent's attempts to regain control, to force the demon down. It raised its left claw and plunged it into its chest, digging around for a moment. It may be my core, but I won't die puncturing your heart while I'm present! it taunted.
Vincent couldn't find words. The pain was forcing him to concentrate on regaining control, not realizing how futile the efforts were. His mind jolted as the demon penetrated something, and he felt himself slipping away slowly.
Farewell, Valentine. Unlike you, I'll live.
Vincent's mind went blank, cackling laughter filling his thoughts as he lost control for good.
--
He bolted upright, crying out. His breathing was labored, his face covered in sweat. He looked at himself carefully and saw he was himself. He breathed a large sigh of relief. It was... just a nightmare.
You enjoy it? the demon asked, cackling. I know I did.
He ignored the demon and thought about what possible meaning the nightmare could've held. His mind came to rest on what the nightmare-Tifa had asked him. "Can you prove you love me for me?" Is that... really the case...? Do I love Tifa because she's like Lucrecia...? He set his feet on the floor, hesitating. He decided to check on her, see how she was doing. He also hoped that, if she were awake, her train of thought wasn't anything like what he was subjected to in his nightmare.
He reluctantly opened the door. "Tifa?" he said gently, stepping inside.
She was still asleep, a smile on her face as she dreamed. He gave a small sigh of relief, but knew he couldn't rest easily yet either. He had to know what she thought about them. As he sat down in the chair next to her bed, he rested his elbows on his knees and folded his hands together, resting his chin on his hands. He slowly came to realize that while he needed to know how she felt, he knew one other person needed to know.
As she stirred, he took a deep breath. He needed to know how he truly felt, to know his love for Tifa wasn't as it was projected in his nightmare.
At this point, I think it's safe to say I don't favor using '--' much, but use them I do, especially for situations like that. And yet, I think this part's the only one in the story thus far where I use them...
Well, there's that. I'm tempted to put up the next one to make up for the missed one on Saturday, since it's done as well, but I'm undecided on it. If I do, it might be a little later. If not, tomorrow for sure, unless some unforeseen circumstance prevents me from doing so. -Spiritslayer