1-10-1. The Proclamation

000

Have to take your hand
And feel your breath for fear this someday will be over
I pull you close, so much to lose knowing that nothing lasts forever

I didn't care before you were here
I danced in laughter with the ever after
But all things change
Let this remain...

Pearl Jam - Sirens

000

Outside Midgar, the stars could be seen a mile or two away from the bright city. It was a perfect night; the air was warm and the moon was full and bright, casting a gorgeous glow to the planet. The clouds that did occupy the sky seemed to have visible silver linings. They lay on their backs in the grass in a beautiful field close to the ocean while looking up at the bright constellations. Lucrecia thought the scene could have come straight from a high-quality literature novel.

The grass had been the softest she'd ever felt. She sprawled her limbs out over the green cotton, thankful for the backless feature of her dress for the second time that evening. Anything fancy that Sille had done to her hair was gone now, including the pins and the small braid. It splayed out on the grass carelessly, soaking up the moonlight.

It seemed like no matter where Vincent and Lucrecia were, they always ended the day alone and outside. She couldn't speak for him, but when they were under the actual open sky a distance away from anyone else, there was a freedom that consumed her. It had become her favorite feeling in the world, or maybe favorite combination of feelings. It could have been that Vincent made her associate the outside with taking a break from her work, but it was also something else too. Something much more natural and unadulterated. She'd be hard pressed to find a place on this Planet she'd rather be, but she knew for sure that it was less the place and more the company. Vincent made everything amazing.

They'd spent the last half hour giggling and recapping the party, laughing at the attire some of the attendees chose, and some of the less-than-sophisticated behaviors of some of the guests. He'd told her that one new Turk had gotten rejected and slapped for his freshness, and an older gentleman sat on a plate of horderves that one of the waiters had foolishly left sitting on a chair while fixing a champagne spill all down the front of his suit. Hojo had apparently snubbed some girl who'd ended up crying in the corner for an hour of the night while he ignored another one that came to his side while Lucrecia had apparently not been paying attention. She expressed surprise when he'd told her this; she'd never figured Hojo to be popular with any lady...

Upon the sight of the first shooting star bright across the sky, the conversation turned to star speculation.

"My mother used to tell me they were wandering souls, protecting the planet from harm. I suppose for a child, bits of space rocks burning up in the Planet's atmosphere lacks that certain romance, and my mother was a very hopeless romantic." Lucrecia sighed, smiling.

He turned his head to her, giving her his crooked smile. "She sounds like a wonderful person."

Lucrecia nodded, her hair rubbing against the soft grass. "She was something, that's for sure. Sometimes a handful... I miss her terribly. I think if she were still here, I would have turned out a lot different..."

"But, you're wonderful just the way you are." Vincent smiled, and she was flooded with a divine heat. Her heart raced.

No, you're wonderful...

But there was still something nagging at the back of her mind.

"We have a couple of days before we leave back home for Nibelheim," she said. "Do you have any family that you'll want to see before we leave? You don't know when we'll be back again." She winced inwardly at her own question, reminding herself of her role in the death of his father. This was an unfortunate fact still, but it would still be very unfair if she didn't let him see his loved ones. She didn't want him to think that just because he was assigned to her protection meant he had to babysit her every second of the stay, either.

Vincent just shook his head. "My mother passed away about twelve years ago. I was an only child..." Lucrecia waited for him to continue, but he didn't after that. In spite of herself, she shouldn't have been, but she was still incredibly curious if he knew anything specific about her link with Grimoire's death.

Lucrecia took a deep breath. "What about... your father?"

"He's dead. He died not too long ago, I heard. Some freak accident in the laboratory."

More like some accident involving a freak in a laboratory.

She looked down to the ground. Even though it seemed like he wasn't aware of the details, the guilt still surfaced. "I'm so sorry," she said, those words holding more truth than he could ever possibly know.

Vincent just shrugged. "Don't be. I've never met him. He wasn't a good person."

"Wait. How do you know he wasn't a good person if you've never met him?" Lucrecia was suddenly curious if they were even speaking of the same person. It certainly didn't sound like Doctor Valentine. Had their names and their incredible resemblances just been a very extraordinary coincidence? No, he did say laboratory... Like most scientists, she didn't believe in coincidence.

"He left my mom once she told him she was pregnant. She'd tried to contact him over the years, and he'd never answered back. He was a researcher for Shinra; she'd write multiple letters a year to the department. She was sure he'd received them, but... He did write me a letter or so, maybe once every two or three years, but those didn't start until after my mom died. Pity, perhaps? He never cared about her or me. That was just fine, though. We were better off without him." Vincent spoke matter-of-factly, with no sadness or remorse for the fact that he never knew Doctor Valentine.

"No one is better off without a parent..."

I'd orphaned him.

Tell my son I'm sorry.

I'm sorry Doctor Valentine, I can't...

"He did love you though. He did care." Vincent gave his companion a strange look and she inwardly scolded herself. "I mean... It's impossible to not care about your own child."

Vincent shrugged against the ground. "He was probably too far in denial to even let that sink in. My mother told me that he would always love his work much more. He was obsessed with the Cetra."

With the Cetra? Grimoire and Gast would have made good partners, then. It made sense, because he seemed to dwell on the Ancient subject in class much more than anything else. Why had he become a teacher instead of spending more time researching? He could have been the one involved in this ground-breaking discovery and such things would have already been known... and Vincent would still have a father, even if they didn't have the greatest of relationships.

He was smiling at her when she looked over, and she covered his hand with hers. "I don't know my father, either."

Vincent turned his palm over so her hand fell in his, and he gave it a sympathetic squeeze. She understood what he'd said about his mother and him being better off, though it was just a little harder to accept when she'd known Grimoire Valentine. Lucrecia's father had been elusive as well, and as far as she knew had only been in her mother's life two times, each time resulting in a child that he'd ignored. She knew nothing about the male, and she'd never been curious enough to ask. Doubtlessly better off without him. Dr. Valentine just didn't seem like the type to run away from his paternal responsibilities, but perhaps she hadn't known him as well as she thought she had.

A bright star illuminated the sky, and they'd both seen this time. Lucrecia gasped and pointed. "A shooting star!"

"A shooting star..." Vincent echoed. "That one was perfect. We shouldn't let it go to waste. There was something that shooting stars were supposed to grant. A good luck charm, perhaps. It would make complete sense, since one would have to leave Midgar to see them. Once you've left Midgar, your luck has already improved substantially."

They both laughed. "Well, in that sense," she chuckled. "I think we're supposed to wish on it."

"Why? What would you wish for?"

The warm night breeze swirled over them, making the trees sway hypnotically and whisper gentle secrets to each other. The air around them carried the semblance of contented exhilaration, and she'd wondered if he felt it too.

Feeling suddenly brave, she turned on her side to face him. His eyes were closed and his chin tilted up slightly. His dark hair fell over part of his face and the moonlight played off of his high cheekbones, contributing an incredible contrast. His lips were shaped into a slight smile and his chest rose and fell peacefully. His arm moved over his chest and brought her out of her trance. She pushed the thick strand back so it fell across the other side of his cheek.

His eyes were opened and fixed on her as soon as her fingertips made contact with his skin. He'd turned on his side to face her successively, causing their faces to only be inches apart.

"You never answered my question." His voice was low and carried something that went straight down her spine. The moonlight reflecting in his eyes gave them a new shine that took her breath away.

"It's complicated," she whispered.

000

They took the long way back, or at least a way they thought would be in the general direction of back, by walking across the beach. It was possible they'd overshot Midgar entirely and they were just walking indefinitely in a direction, but neither seemed to mind if this really was the case. They walked and talked for nearly an hour while the ocean waves lapped at their feet. Lucrecia had long given up trying to keep her dress from getting soaked. It moved with the water, clinging to her ankles when the tide rolled back in.

"We have to almost be to Kalm by now."

Lucrecia giggled. "We haven't been out here that long."

"I bet we could make it. We could walk anywhere we wanted to right now. Where do you want to go?" He was grinning, and he'd spin around and started walking backwards so he could face her.

She stared at him teasingly, failing to keep a smile off of her face. "Costa Del Sol."

"It's not that far away, is it?" He starts treading into the ocean in the town's direction. He was waist deep before he turned around and waved for her to follow.

She stared at him in disbelief. "Vincent Valentine, what in the gods' planet are you doing?"

"You're coming, aren't you?" He fell back-first into the gentle waves and started treading water, even though it was still shallow.

"You're ruining your tux!" She scolded with laughter in her voice that couldn't be helped. Vincent just smiled. He had such a gorgeous smile. It never failed to make her weak in the knees and give her butterflies, even when he was being completely and perfectly ridiculous.

"We've got to leave now if we're going to make it there by morning." He strode toward her and before she could move away, he grabbed her arm and led her into the water.

"Vincent, you're crazy! What- No! Let go Vincent!" She was laughing, and ended up falling into the waist-deep water. It was partially on purpose, but Vincent didn't have to know that. If she were being completely honest, she'd admit that if Vincent walked into a wall of flames, she'd follow enthusiastically. "You are in so much trouble when Sille finds out what you did to her dress."

"I like it better like this," he said in that same low voice from earlier, locking his eyes onto hers. When he used that tone, it made her stomach do flips, and her body react in some rather embarrassing ways. His eyes held a weight that she couldn't decipher, and she had to look away when she felt a surge of emotion from the eye contact.

He's so perfect... Why can't I just enjoy his company without these weird feelings getting in the way?

She was aware that the project had to end one day, and with the way things were going it was likely to be much sooner than later. Vincent would be gone and out of her life and possibly assigned to someone else's protection, and that would be something she would have to live with.

Vincent apparently noticed her mood shift. He stood up in the water and helped her up, and he led her back to the beach. He brushed the strands of wet hair out of her face with the back of his hand in a caress. Lucrecia pressed her cheek into his warm hand and opened her eyes to find his fixed on her and full of concern. "Vincent..."

He sighed. "I hate to see you troubled. It literally hurts. I can't take this anymore. I'm here for you, always. Please... let me help you."

She felt her heart race and felt like any minute it would just give up and quit. She swallowed hard and focused on her breathing, suddenly feeling tears coming on. "Vincent."

"Open up to me, Lucrecia. Let me in. I feel like I can tell you anything, and I want it to be the same for you. I know you hate it when I ask, but it's only because I hate knowing that there's something that's bothering you... Is it Hojo? Are you nervous about the extension proposition? Is it... me?" There was a hurt in his eyes that stabbed her right in the heart. "Please, Lucrecia. Let me help you. Talk to me."

"Vincent I love you," she inelegantly blurted out and immediately wished she hadn't. Vincent's eyes locked on hers as well as his entire attention. He was looking at her now as if she'd just told him the world were about to explode. No hope that he hadn't heard it or misunderstood; there was absolutely no going back now.

That wasn't really what you wanted to tell him, was it? But it's better than the other thing... I'm such a coward.

"Um... and I'm not used to it... These feelings... I don't know how to deal with this. The way I feel when I'm around you... You're my best friend, and I never ever want to lose what you've given me; it's more than anyone else ever has or could... I... no one else has ever affected me the way you do." She attempted to swallow the ever-constricting lump in her throat. "I know... kissing me that one time was a divergent. I understand that, and I appreciate that more than you know. I don't want to make this weird. I would never ask you to return these feelings; I just need you to stop asking me... what's..."

He took those final steps towards her that closed the distance. She felt his hand under her chin caress her jaw and she lost her words entirely. His eyes were half-lidded and concentrated. His hand tilted her face up, and he pressed his warm lips to hers. Her eyes closed and the world melted away around her as the kiss deepened. Sparks flew inside her mind as her knees weakened, and she had grabbed his shoulder for support. His arms came around her then, and she sank into them, pressing her body to his in a loving embrace.

I was wrong. The Promised Land is real, and this is it.

Not long enough later, he pulled back to look at her, and his warm hands closed around her frozen ones. Her eyes were still closed, afraid to make contact with his. If she'd have even found one hint of regret in his eyes, she didn't think she could take it. Instead, she awkwardly carried on, almost completely out of breath. "Please don't feel like you have to-"

He silenced her with his lips, and kissed her over and over again. "Lucrecia," He brought a hand up to her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. They held no trace of regret, only a building excitement. "Stop talking." His incredibly soft lips were on hers once again without hesitation.

"Okay," she squeaked between his kisses.

She hadn't imagined this as a reality, especially since she'd only told him how she felt so he could stop asking what was wrong almost every single time he'd seen her. She never dreamed this would be the outcome. She'd visited this scenario a thousand times in her daydreams, but his lips tasted so much better in real life. The wave of pleasure that crashed over her threatened to make her knees buckle completely.

He pulled back once again, and Lucrecia made a small whimper in protest. When she opened her eyes and saw his, they took her breath away with the overwhelming adoration they held. "Lucrecia, I love you, too. I love you so much. Ever since the very first moment I met you, I've loved you."

It was Lucrecia's turn to kiss him. She captured his lips frantically, desperately, as if afraid that any second he might disappear into a sleepy waking haze and she would be left pining for the lost dream.

But it isn't a dream.

Their kiss deepened with a warm breeze that blew through her hair. Suddenly, Vincent's warm hands were on her back again, trailing up to bury themselves in her hair. His fingers on her scalp made her whole body tingle. He loved her too. This was real, and he'd told her. Not imagination. Not speculation. He'd actually said those words. It was true and there was no way she could delude herself into thinking it wasn't. They were in love. It was real, and she would never deny it again.

000


As absolutely always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this! There's more to come, so see you next time!