Sorry for the long wait. I had things to do. But here you go.
Chapter 11 - He Remembers...
Song (1): Leaving from the Armageddon Original Soundtrack
Song (2): 1000 Words Piano Version from the Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack
Song (3): Global Killer from the Armageddon Original Score Soundtrack
...7th Heaven...
Avalanche was once more whole again, and a new mission was under way. Cloud felt his life could never be better with Sephiroth gone and the planet at peace, but now that this was no longer true he was beginning to feel like it would never end. He didn't lose his composure, however, for the love of his life was with him once again. He had no reason to be upset or melancholy because he now had motivation. Aeris wouldn't let him be unhappy for any reason, so in that instant he gave up feeling as if his smile would never return because with her he knew it would.
That afternoon, the team decided to go and look for Sephiroth the following day so that can rest before they go out. They sat around in the bar talking amongst each other while Marlene and Denzel served non-alcoholic drinks to everyone. Cid sat near the entrance looking out the window, obviously thinking about Vincent and wondering how he was doing since he wasn't able to check on him. He seemed to be in an emotionless daze as he stared endlessly into the outside world. Then, without a sound or word, Cid rose from his seat and walked outside. No one seemed to notice except for Damian, who had been watching him out the corner of his eye while he was talking with Yuffie. He excused himself from the table.
"Where you goin'?" Yuffie asked him.
"Just outside." he answered.
"You want me to come with you?"
"You don't have to. I'll be fine." Yuffie pouted.
"Ooookaaay. Come back right away, though. I wanna finish talking about you." Damian nodded and headed outside to be with Cid.
...West Gate, New Midgar...
Somehow, Cid had made it the outer gate without being harrassed by a swarm of fans, mainly because no one was in town due to this day being a Wutai holiday. (1.) When Damian found him, he was leaning on the edge of the metal gate that shielded New Migdar from monsters, once again staring out into the wide open terrain. Cid heard him come up beside him and turned his head to face him. Then he laughed and looked down at his feet, leaving a puzzled look on Damian's nearly flawless face.
"What's so funny?" the younger man asked.
"You scared the shit outta me!" Cid answered. "I didn't know who the hell you were without that fire red hair of yours." Damian grinned.
"I told you it made me stand out."
"Guess it's my fault for not believin' you then." Cid sighed and began gazing at the cloudy sky. Damian's grin faded.
"What's wrong, Cid?"
"Just thinkin' about Vin. I didn't get to see him this week and I know he's wonderin' what happened. Shera told me he's outta that coma. I wanted to see him more this week than ever 'cause he's feelin' a lot better now. I'll get to tell 'em how fuckin' paranoid I was and how you made me feel better." Cid then gazed into the lonely plain outside of New Midgar. "You know, you may not know this, but you're beginnin' ta grow on me. I guess, kinda like a son would grow on his dad or somethin'." Damian blushed lightly.
"A son?" he muttered. "Wow, Cid. I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything if that's the case." Cid turned to look at the young man and smiled softly, Damian returning the gesture. He then closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I didn't wanna have to go through this Sephiroth shit again! It was hard enough the fuckin' first time!"
"Aeris told me that he was the one who called on Meteor three years ago."
"Yeah."
"So he's pretty strong, then. Do you think you can handle him now?"
"Ain't no time to think about it! He's gotta die...again. I don't think about anything when I fight. I just do it 'cause I fight for a fuckin' reason!" Damian looked down at his black leather boots. (1 off.)
"I...uh..."
"What's up?"
"I've never been in a battle before, Cid." Cid's jaw dropped.
"Whaaat!!!? Even Aeris knows how to fight, Damian!"
"I do know the martial arts of the Ancients, but I've never had to use it thankfully."
"Damn, Kid!" Cid began rubbing the nape of his neck. "If yer gonna be in this, you need some experience! I built a pretty high-tech training area in my Sierra that can make robots to smash an' thrash as a training session or somethin' to refresh your memory! It's pretty damn awesome! But then again, so am I for thinkin' of it!" Damian laughed.
"Yes, you are, Cid. But I'm not sure about that."
"What? Yeah. Okay, so there's a bit of a risk of gettin' hurt in there but it's nothin' you can't handle." Damian shut his eyelids and let out a low sigh.
"You know what I think?"
"What's that?"
"I think...we should go and get your friend. Vincent." Cid's azure eyes lit up with pure joy.
"Damn! I was hopin' somebody would say that! I didn't wanna have ta go by myself! Hell, I'm leavin' right now! Come on!"
...Mideel...
Cid convinced the others to ride along with him and Damian to retrieve their friend from the Mideel Hospital. The large hospital in Mideel was built a month after the Meteor incident and was completed only seven months afterward. A memorial wall that had been dedicated to the people who lost their lives when Ultimate Weapon attacked circled and blocked off the gash that revealed the Lifestream flowing freely from the planet into the ocean. Other than these two structures, the little town had not changed. The inhabitants who lost their homes stayed in the upper rooms in the large hospital as gratitude for aiding in its birth, and those whose home was still intact recieved a large sum of Gil as a gift. In the entirety, Mideel may be the most peaceful place on the planet.
"Come on, man." Cid pleaded, attempting to drag Damian out of the Airship to see Vincent. "I want him to see you."
"Damian," Cloud said. "Just do what he says. He's not gonna give up."
"But Cloud," Damian said. "I don't like hospitals! They freak me out."
"Would you like me to come with you two?" Yuffie offered.
"No, chick!" Cid screamed at the petite girl. "I don't want you messin' shit up!"
"Cid," Damian said. "Stop being mean to her."
"I don't want her with us!"
"Well, I'm not going with you unless she comes." Cid swears under his breath.
"You drive a damned hard bargain, Kid!" He sighed. "Alright. Just get off my ass about it!" Yuffie hopped up and down like a cheerful child. Cid sweared once more under his breath before turning to the rest of his comrades.
"Thanks, you guys, for coming. I hate to leave ya, but I just don't want Vincent to be too shaken when he sees all of us together. I wanna tell him about it first."
"We understand, man." Barret said. "Just don't take too damn long! We still got Sephiroth's ass to deal wit'!" Cid, Yuffie, and Damian all nodded and headed outside to go to the hospital.
It was a large brick building that towered a massive 100 stories into the air. It didn't have any special features on the outside, but inside was a completely different tale. The floors were tiled with a beautiful alternating pattern of sky blue and cream-colored tiles, each tile lined with gold. The walls were painted the same sky blue as the color of the tiling so that the floor seemed to blend in. The ceiling was the cream color of the tiles, so nothing fell from too far from the color scheme. The rooms were a simple white color, soft enough for the sun to reflect lightly off of its wake.
Vincent's room was on the 3rd floor, thankfully for his three visitors. Shera was standing outside of the room discussing Vincent's release with one of his doctors. When she saw Cid with Yuffie and Damian walking down the hallway, she dismissed herself from the conversation to meet them halfway.
"Welcome back." she said with a cheerful smile.
"Hi, Shera." Yuffie replied. "We came to pick Vincent up."
"Perfect timing. An colleage and I were just discussing his release." Cid's eyes widened.
"And?" he asked.
"We think he's ready to leave. You can see him now if you want. He's in bed now. We'll check all of his records and statistics and he should be able to leave then."
"Thanks, Shera." Cid swallowed a lump. "We..uh...had our differences, but you're still a good person. You know that, right?"
"Of course." Shera smiled sweetly. "I've moved on since then. I hope you have, too. If not, then you should. It's for the best. Really."
"Yeah." Shera turned and opened the door to Vincent's room.
"Here you are." she said. "Right through here."
(2.) The three walked inside to see a room painted a light cream color, differing from the other white rooms. The window shade had been left open, allowing the sun's vibrant beams of light to enter the room and brighten almost every surface it could touch. The various plants given to Vincent by the staff as get-well presents gave the little room a feel of the children's playground in the forest as they were adorned with many different colored flowers and leaves. And there, in the light blue covered bed, lay a calmed Vincent, sleeping.
When was the last I saw him sleep like that? Cid thought to himself. It's been a while. He's so damn beautiful when he sleeps like that. Hah! Maybe 'cause he doesn't do it that often. He saw Vincent slowly open his eyes, revealing his mysterious, glowing crimson-colored eyes. Cid grinned.
"Hey there." Vincent smiled lightly enough for it to be seen. "How ya been?"
"Alright." Vincent responded. "Shera's taken good care of me, though I would have recovered eventually anyway." Cid sighed.
"There you go again. Just take the damn hospitality in for a minute. You'll be amazed at how many people actually care."
Vincent sat up and looked around the room to see the numerous flowers carefully placed around his bed. He had never taken the time to soak in the fact that these people did care about his well being, unlike so many hospitals scattered around the planet where the staff did their jobs and nothing else. In his mind, Vincent placed a mark on this particular hospital as a place that he will visit often in return for its warm care and love.
"How do you feel now?" Cid asked anxiously. Vincent smiled gently.
"Even better." he said. "I've never gotten this many flowers before." Yuffie grinned.
"Well," she chirped. "Maybe Cid will let you keep 'em all in his Airship."
"Damn." Cid cried. "Of course I will! Anything to keep Vin happy."
Vincent smiled. He then looked over at the silent young man standing beside Yuffie. His facial expression changed. He recognized that face from somewhere.
"I remember you." he said while looking at Damian. "I know you from somewhere." Damian looked confused. Cid stepped in.
"Uh, Vin." he said. "We got a lot of stuff to talk to you about."
"As far as Sephiroth is concerned," Vincent told Cid. "I'm well aware."
"Well, we have some more sutff to tell you." Cid glanced over at Damian then looked back to his lover. "This here's Aeris's kid brother, Damian. That's probably why he looks familiar to ya." Vincent blinked.
"He does have a few of her features." he said. "There is no doubt that he is related to her, but I know him from somewhere else."
"Like where?" Yuffie asked anxiously.
"I can't remember for the life of me. Maybe it wasn't him at all. Maybe just someone who looks similar."
"I'm sorry about leaving you like this Mr. Valentine." Damian apologized. "But I really need to get a drink of water. I've been trying to be polite, but I can't wait anymore. My mouth is drying up. I'll be right back."
"You want me to go with you?" Yuffie asked him.
"Dammit, chick!" Cid screamed, forgetting he was in a hospital. "He can go get some fuckin' water on his own! He ain't a fuckin' baby!"
"Hey! I was only being nice! He doesn't like hospitals, remember? What if he runs into a corpse on his way down the hall?"
"Fuck, Yuffie! This ain't no damn morgue!"
"Hey!" Damian screamed, immediately getting the two's attention. "Stop arguing. This is a hospital. People come here to rest. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. The water fountain's right down the hall." Damian then looked to Vincent. "I'll be back, Mr. Valentine."
(2 off.) As Damian turned to walk out, Vincent saw something that turned his stomach upside down. (3.) The firebird embroidered on Damian's coat was the same firebird he saw on the coat of the young man that killed him two weeks ago. Vincent then put the pieces in where they were missing. In his mind, he drew long, fire-red hair atop of Damian's head. His heart skipped a beat. That was the only thing missing from his killer's figure. Vincent then became overwhelmed with anger. He lept out of bed, suprising Cid and Yuffie who were still standing over him. Vincent then ran through his two visitors and down the hall to shoulder tackle the young man, knocking him off of his feet and making him land with a loud thud and skid a few feet down the hall. Vincent recovered and then ran down the hall in an attempt to finish what had started. Yuffie and Cid ran down the hall after them. (3 off.)Cid somehow managed to cut Vincent off at the pass while Yuffie ran to see if Damian was alright. Vincent struggled fiercely to free himself from Cid's strong grasp, making both of them fall to the floor.
"Vin!" Cid screamed. "Stop it! What the hell is your problem?" Shera heard most of the noise and had made her way out of her office on the same floor.
"What are you all doing?" she asked, a tilt of anger in her voice. "People are to trying to rest."
Cid then groaned as Vincent shoved his right into his groin in as a desparate measure to free himself. Vincent rose to his feet quickly and ran at top speed towards Damian, who had not yet fully recovered from the attack. Just as he was about to leap on top of the young man, he ran into an unknown forearm. Vincent fell backwards and landed on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. The forearm had belonged to Yuffie. She saw the slender man running towards the two of them and stood to stop him, putting all of her energy into the attack just to keep balance. By this time, most of the patients were standing in and peeking out of their doors at the spectacle that had just happened.
"I'm so sorry, people." Shera apologized. "This won't happen again."
"Why not?" asked one of the patients. Shera ignored the comment and helped Cid to his feet before walking calmly towards Vincent.
"Will he be alright?" Yuffie asked as she looked down at the crumpled up figure at her feet. "I hope I didn't hit him too hard."
"He'll be fine." Shera said to her. "I'm glad you could render him unconscious at least."
"I don't know what I did." Damian said, clutching his left shoulder.
"I don't what the hell's up with 'em." Cid said. "He's never acted like this before."
"No matter." Shera said. "You all are able to take him home now if you wish. I suggest you try to get to the root of this before something else happens. His clothes are in the pink container at the foot of his bed."
"Thanks, Shera." Cid said. He lifted Vincent to carry him on his shoulders while Yuffie and Damian followed close behind. Shera shook her head as she watched in disbelief.
"It's hard to believe," she said. "That someone of Vincent's mental caliber could ever be reduced like that. I hope they fix that problem."