Penance
©®™ Lt. Commander Richie
Disclaimer: At the current time of writing, it is 1:15 in the AM. I'm too zonked to think up something witty. Live with it.))
Chapter 10
When Vincent found Mira at last, curled up in a half-sleep on the banks of the small pool surrounding Lucrecia's Materia pillar, he let out a breath that he did not know he had been holding. He was relieved to find the girl safe and unharmed, and as he picked her up very gently, he noted with the tiniest bit of amusement that she was still herself; one tiny hand wrapped itself securely around one of his red cloak's buckles.
I'm so sorry.
"Ms. Lu'kessa, you say that too much." Mira mumbled, pulling herself closer to Vincent. Eyes wide, the gunslinger looked from the woman across the water to the girl in his arms. With a slightly worried smile that barely tugged at the corners of his lips, he held the girl he protected closer, nodded his head lightly to Lucrecia, and turned to leave. With each click of metal boots on stone, the air became fresher, and the light more natural.
"How did you learn that name?" Vincent asked the tiny girl, and she looked up at him with bleary Mako eyes.
"She told me." Mira said, before snuggling back into the cloak she was held against. The air in the passage seemed almost hesitant, and chips of Materia that had not glowed before in the walls had an iridescent hue about them.
Goodbye.
The single word reverberated around the passage from the deep cavern, Materia crystals sparkling merrily. The ramifications of that one word alone sent a shock through the gunslinger's mind, and he stopped walking long enough to turn to stare down the glittering depths of the tunnel and the cavern below. For a moment, he was silent, and only the sound of dripping water and Mira's light breathing was evident to his ears. But then, he spoke, and in that process a weight seemed to be lifted from his mind.
"Goodbye... Lucrecia." Vincent hesitated for a moment, and it was though a breath had been released. The Materia in the walls flickered, and then went out altogether. It was in that darkness that the gunslinger left the passage, only the light reflecting down the passage from the cavern lighting his way.
"Alright, who wants some stew?" Cid bellowed, then coughed a few times before spitting to his right. Several hours before, after the first group's arrival, he and Reeve had arrived in the Tiny Bronco and set down at Nibelheim's small airstrip. In front of him stood a large steel pot, brimming with stew of an undefined origin.
"What's in it?" Cloud asked, peering into the pot. Cid pushed him back, holding a ladle.
"Secret family recipe, that's what!" The pilot beamed, cigarette clenched between his teeth. No work had been done in the few hours the group had been there, only assessing of the damage. One stairwell looked as though it was going to fall apart in the entrance hall, the other already had. There was a hole in the skylight, broken glass littering the foyer's stone floor.
"He took everything left in the pantries in the kitchen and put it in the pot." Tifa supplied, reaching around Cid and turning the heat down on the stove. The pot stopped bubbling to the point of overflowing, and simmered lightly. A stick of celery floated to the top, and the pilot shoved it down into the bottom with his ladle.
"So, how long do you think this will take?" Cloud asked, ignoring Tifa's comment and sitting down on a piece of broken masonry. The group had set up a kip stove outside, several tents around it since the Mansion, despite its grandeur, could not house them all unless people wanted to sleep on top of the piano or on moth-bitten chairs.
"As long as it takes." Tifa answered shortly from inside one of the tents, where she was patting down the floor for rocks.
"But how long will it take?" Cloud asked, and Tifa came out of the tent, gloves in one hand. Slowly, she walked over to the blond, pulling the black leather objects onto her hands. In a sudden movement, she slapped the ex-SOLDIER clean across the face and sent him sprawling. Cid winced, but didn't say anything for fear of incurring the martial artist's wrath.
"We're not here for your convenience, Cloud!" Tifa began, stepping over the broken bit of masonry that Cloud had been sitting on so as to better attack her prey. "We're here to help Vincent repair the mansion, and if we all pitch in it will be done in no time! But if one person ruins the mood, nobody will work as well." She continued, standing over the blond. "I am sick of your attitude towards being with the rest of us. I mean, at least if Vincent wants to leave, he'll tell us where he's going!"
"Stop comparing me to him." Cid had long since vacated the stew, turning off the burner so it wouldn't overcook.
"Why, because he's a more respectable person? I have had it up to my eyes with this. If you leave all of us to do this without you, you're not welcome back." With that final word, Tifa turned on her heel and walked away, towards the mansion's front door. Slowly, Cloud stood, mulling Tifa's words over. With a sigh he pulled his sword from the ground, sliding it into the holster on his back. Then, without a word, he began the trek to Nibelheim.
"Well heck, it's gotta be here somewhere!" Yuffie was growling in frustration, unable to find her way through the ShinRa Mansion to the Piano Room. She turned a corner, her Shuriken held high above her head, and let it fly. It thudded into the wall at the end of the corridor, and when she was satisfied that there were no monsters that could have just ducked, she continued.
"The object of this venture is to repair the mansion, Yuffie. Not destroy it." The sardonic tone of voice accompanying the words was none other than Vincent's. He was standing to the left of the giant Shuriken lodged in the wall, and to the Kunoichi's silent chagrin he reached out with his golden-clawed hand and wrenched the ninja weapon from the gray-hued stone and wood.
"Only marking my place, Vinny!" Yuffie reprimanded, shaking one finger at the scarlet-clad man. With a sigh, Vincent examined the giant throwing star in his one hand, eyes settling on the ball of red Materia in the center holster.
"Is this Cloud's?" He asked, nodding towards the sphere. Yuffie grinned, snatching back the Shuriken.
"Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk..." The Kunoichi was content with simply laughing for a moment, before turning opposite the way Vincent had come and beginning down the adjacent hallway. "It was yours!" She yelled, before turning a corner and running out of sight. With a barely-audible sigh, Vincent stood and waited, backing into the first corridor Yuffie had come down. Within a few minutes, the Shuriken flew past again. Nonchalantly, the gunslinger reached out and pulled it from the air. With a few deft movements, he had removed the Mastered Fire Materia from Yuffie's Shuriken.
"Hey, no fair!" She objected, snatching the weapon back and then making a grab for the Materia. With the tiniest bit of a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth, Vincent held the sphere above Yuffie's grasp.
"It's perfectly fair. It was mine to begin with." He reasoned, not lowering his arm. The Kunoichi jumped, but to no avail.
"I stole it fair and square! 'Sides, Master-er's keeper!" She tried to reason, but Vincent would not relinquish the Materia. With a sudden and swift movement, he stowed the sphere in the Materia case strapped to the back of one of his belts.
"I bought it." The scarlet-clad man said, stepping back. With an uncharacteristic snarl, Yuffie threw the Shuriken into the wall next to her, closing the distance between them. In a single movement, she had pulled herself uncomfortably close to his body, standing on her toes as she pulled his head down towards hers. Vincent froze, trying to move away, but the deed was done. He was too distracted with what he believed to be an impending kiss to realize that Yuffie had reached behind him, opened the Materia pouch on his belt and pulled out the reclaimed Mastered Fire Materia.
"I stole it." She smiled, jumping back and holding her arms wide. With a grin, she pulled her Shuriken from the wall and re-inserted the Materia she had stolen. But Vincent said nothing in defense, his head bowed back into his cloak as he fell back into the shadows.
Dischord reigns supreme in the mansion now! Take THAT! Yuffie's still in AC clothing, and won't go to DoC for a while. Next up... DUN DUN DUHHHHHHN, Denzel can -gasp- speak? Oh, and angst and Yuffentine fluff.