Eleventh chapter, not too many more surprises in store I don't think. I really do apologise for the spontaneousness of the last chapter – it was a work in progress especially when to just announce the… how you could say, re-birth of Zack. I'm working on the explanation, it was an off the top of my head idea to extend the story slightly else you'd have mindless drabble really, right?
For this chapter I had great inspiration from the song 'Hey Monday - How You Love Me Now' which gave me quite a few ideas. Not to mention the devotion of the two readers, Melanie-Kisaragi and YuffexVincent-Equals-Fluff, I really do owe you two thanks for this! And not to mention my best friend Amy.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the final fantasy characters, places, scenes, names, visual descriptions or anything - they belong ultimately to Square Enix.
However, I do own the ideas and original characters within this story.Enjoy!
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With a simple teasing glare, Reno walked to Vincent and sat down beside him, giving an apologetic expression.
"I know that this was the last thing you wanted." He began, a frown appearing on his lips. "But we thought that you might want to see Yuffie."
"You thought wrong then, didn't you?" Vincent's response was cold and harsh and a shock to Reno.
"Could you just tell me the truth, please. Do you love her?"
"No, I never have. I just stayed with her because I wanted to make sure that someone would." Lie.
"Vince, I could've stayed with her… You insisted though."
"I never actually wanted to stay there; I didn't want to be around her." Lie. "It made me sick; it was the most boring experience of my life." Lie.
More and more lies spilled from his tongue like acid through paper – so easily it left a visible mark. Reno stared at him in disgust, after all months of believing that Vincent loved Yuffie and wanting to help bring the two together, he found himself now wanting to lunge for Vincent's throat, whether Yuffie would be watching or not.
"You're sick, you know that?" Reno spat at him, clenching a fist and raising it. Cloud immediately walked over to them and pushed Reno to one side, giving him some time to cool down before he did anything stupid that he probably would not regret on Vincent's behalf, but more on the audiences view.
Vincent gave Cloud a soft look which quickly turned to a view of torment and pain, etched across his face. The confusion flooded his crimson eyes and guilt tightening his muscles in such a way, it was impossible for him to break out of this phase.
"I hope you realise what you have just let out into the open, Vincent." Cloud muttered under his breath with a hard expression, still keeping Reno at a safe distance. Showing an open smirk, Reno walked away to Tifa who was showing Yuffie old pictures of the group – including Reno's new embarrassment.
"Of course I realise it." He spoke through a clenched jaw and within moments walked away from the situation leading himself upstairs to his room to figure out a way to punish his self or somehow redeem his thoughts.
Yuffie let out a loud laugh as she stared at the picture of Reno and Pedro who seemed to be the best couple around at the time. She grinned at him as he walked over, his face turning slightly red.
"There is a perfectly logical explanation for that…"
"What, you had a little too much to drink and partook in a failed marriage?" Yuffie grinned, instantly guessing the situation without knowing any details.
"Okay, so some odd things happened that night. I would rather not relive it, hence why I'm taking this photograph, eating it then burning the remains in a few days. Excuse me ladies!" Reno frowned as he took the picture from the wall and walked away, up to his room in shame. Yuffie smirked slightly seeing a grin appear on Tifa's face.
"Don't worry, I have another four copies. Guess what this year's holiday card is going to be?" She smirked slightly glancing back at the other photographs on the wall. Yuffie once again laughed the exact laugh she used to have and looked back at the photographs as well.
After a good long look at the pictures and keeping in mind familiar faces she once knew and now had to try to remember, she walked to the bar and sat down on a stool, grinning at the bartender. Cloud had taken over from Zack since Zack had been working all day and Cloud wanted to get his hands a little dirty experimenting with the alcohol to create new drinks – ones which would never catch on and would somehow cause more havoc than he had intended. This was exactly how Reno encountered his ex-partner.
"Did I ever drink alcohol?" She asked with a questioning smile. Tifa shook her head and glanced at Cloud serving them both a glass of coca cola each, filled to the top with three equal sized ice cubes floating freely at the surface of the liquid.
"You tried alcohol before, we gave you white rum. You wanted to try it straight." Cloud grinned, leaning his forearms on the counter. "You hated it yet carried on drinking it for half an hour… I've never met someone so hyperactive as you on alcohol, it was a funny night but it lasted for far too long in my opinion."
"Why?" she smirked. "What did I do?"
"You proposed to every random person in the room, obviously as a joke and for every person you proposed to that said yes, you gave them a cocktail umbrella."
"Are they those little paper things you can put in drinks?"
"Yeah."
"I love those things! They're so colourful and fun." Yuffie grinned, swinging her legs and tracing a finger in mid air to draw the shape of an umbrella. Cloud grinned brightly at Tifa, taking it as a way for her to regain her memory.
"What else did I do?" She asked with a grin across her face, interested in learning more of her antics.
"After they 'married' you, you suggested free drinks for everyone. Started handing them out, nearly put us out of business." He laughed. "It was a pretty full house that night so we lost a lot. But, we regained our money quickly when you decided to put on a very… amusing yet odd circus act as Yuffie the magician. Cid went bald that day." The three laughed about the memory, grinning at each other in amusement.
Later on that night.
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Vincent stood in the front of his wardrobe, staring into the full-length mirror attached to the door, staring at himself in disgust. Tonight, he was wearing a white casual shirt with the top button undone and dark jeans with smart black shoes on. Loosely slipping on a black blazer, he rechecked his looks to make sure he looked presentable for his companion he was expecting to meet tonight.
A flood of noise could be heard from downstairs as the 'battle of the bands' night had just about finished. Once he had finished readying himself, Vincent walked downstairs to see a crowd of people all stood awaiting the results in silence.
"And the winner of the battle of the bands tonight, is…" Reno called out into a microphone, glancing between two bands stood on either side of him on the stage. On his left was a group of four. Three boys and a girl. One boy stood tallest at around six feet with short spiked blonde hair. He was fairly muscular and looked like the drummer of the band by his posture and looks. The lead guitarist had brown hair, he didn't have the best of body shapes and looked quite plump but fairly mature for his age and the bassist had messy brown hair with black tips dyed into the ends. Their lead singer, the only female member of the band was the smallest, standing at a height of around five feet and four inches. She was very petite with quite a baby face which everyone had considered adorable the second she set foot onto the stage. She had raven coloured hair which flowed beautifully to just below her rib cage, perfectly straight. This band was named 'Acoustic Eloquence'. The band stood to the right of Reno, had five members. Three of them were brothers, all the same muscularity and body shape, the same messy black hair and pale skin yet one stood taller than the other two and the final two members were twins. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, perfect bodily structure and move-star good looks. The type of boys that all the girls would kill for. Their band was named 'Scenario'.
Still keeping suspense in the room with the random comments for him to hurry up with the answers now and then, Reno raised the paper with the answer on.
"Acoustic Eloquence! Well done to Helena, Bradley, Oliver and Daniel. You win a night in the recording studio and free drinks for a month!" the crowd cheered with enthusiasm as the band was welcomed back onto stage to play another song to end the night.
"You look nice tonight." A female voice said from behind Vincent. He turned and looked down to Tifa who stood in the background with a wide smirk on her face. "What's the occasion?"
"I'm meeting someone." He responded truthfully and somewhat excitedly.
"A date perhaps?"
"… I guess you could call it that, yes." He shrugged a shoulder. Tifa's smirk faded as she shook her head at him.
"Vincent Valentine… I'll never be able to figure you out, will I?"
"No one has been able to do so just yet so it's pretty doubtful that you ever will I'm afraid." She smiled at his response and nodded, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Its nice to see you back on your feet again, Vince. Just don't over do it, okay?" She gave a warm smile and walked away to the bar, accompanied by Zack, Cloud and Yuffie all stood watching the band.
Vincent's eyes travelled to see Yuffie sat there, gorgeous as usual. She wore a white t-shirt, light denim shorts and black flat shoes. The white shirt was one he had bought her for her birthday, one she was always fond of. A smile slipped across his lips as he watched her grinning at the performance and swaying along to the music with a few other girls she had just met and became friends with.
With a final glance, Vincent left the building with a sigh in wonder what the night would have in store for him.