Holidays! I was going to make this a Christmas release, but I got too excited ^^

More happens in this chapter compared to the previous one so I hope y'all enjoy!

(Have a wonderful Christmastime with friends and family by the way!)


YUFFIE AND THE BEAST

Chapter 12 in which Vincent runs away! Teenage rebellion in action? :O


The tense atmosphere assaults us as soon as we enter the hideaway, with all the eyes in the room swivelling towards us as we make our entrance.

Cloud and Tifa sit on one couch, directly opposite Aerith and Sephiroth, with the rest of AVALANCHE gathered around them, sitting or standing. I can see a certain wary readiness in their stances, almost in battle ready positions, I would say. Possibly getting ready to hold Cloud and Sephiroth apart should a fight begin between them.

The glare that Cloud bears on Vincent is filled with so much malevolence that I automatically step in from of Vince, breaking Cloud's eye contact, my hand clasped protectively onto Vince's arm. Cloud and I have a short staring match, which I win, of course. Godo and I used to do that for hours so I've had plenty of practice eyeballing someone. I feel myself rolling my eyes in my head. How can the leader of this group be so childish? If it wasn't for the fact that Nanaki indicates a level of respect for him, I would be doubting this group's potency and future success in opposing Shinra.

We are barely seated before Tifa speaks up, having exchanged some silent message with Aerith. Those two seem to have some sort of mutual understanding, which I find surprising. Or perhaps not.

"Sephiroth, now that we are all gathered here, can you please explain your words earlier?"

The silver haired man, lounging gracefully by Aerith's side, looking as cool as they come, doesn't even move to blink for a while. Finally, he sighs, and stands up, moving closer to Vincent. I am still in front of Vince, so I'm not too sure if I should stand down or stay where I am, but he moves me aside, gently but firmly, until he is face to face with Vince, or to be more accurate, looking down at Vince.

Looking at them from where I stand (and unfortunately, all this looking up is going to damage my self esteem soon), you can see they're definitely related, though Sephiroth has just a touch of Hojo's arrogance, especially around his mouth, whereas I must assume that Vince looks more like their mother. Certainly, although I have tried many times, I have not been able to find much, if any, of Hojo in Vince - possibly because I am deliberately keeping myself blind - I find Hojo so repellant that even remembering that Vincent is his son gives me the chills sometimes.

Physically imposing, yet extremely good looking, in a cold, handsome sort of way, I can see why Sephiroth has the reputation of exciting the desire of females and the envy of males. Vince has always shown potential to become a fine man, but if he grows up anything like his brother... Amazing that Hojo's slimy genes could produce such fine male specimens.

Hmm, Vinnie with Sephiroth's height or taller - that would be cool - with a touch of maturity added to his features... I amuse myself for several moments trying to see an all-grown-up Vince that I almost miss Sephiroth speaking.

"I see the foul touch of our father's deranged mind." I'm startled, for he speaks in fluent Wutaian. Figures though – after all, Wutaian was all that Vince could speak when I first met him. Sephiroth touches the side of Vince's face briefly and then briefly clasps his shoulders before turning round to address AVALANCHE. "My words at our encounter earlier, though they may have seemed unfeeling, were elicited by surprise."

This guy talks like Nanaki!

"Until today, I had thought both my siblings dead." Sephiroth is silent after that statement, and Cloud begins to stir restlessly, as if about to leap to his feet and demand more information. The rest of the AVALANCHE seems to be holding their collective breaths, keeping one eye on their leader and the other on Sephiroth.

"It is hard for him to speak of it," Aerith says, her eyes fixed beseechingly on Cloud. It is interesting to watch his struggle, fighting to keep silent out of respect and love for her, but writhing from jealousy that she is speaking for Sephiroth.

"Some time over a year ago, I returned to the house where they lived for...an occasion."

Vincent, beside me, starts to tremble slightly. I grab his lower arm, the most convenient part I can comfortably reach. He doesn't look down, but only keeps his eyes fixed resolutely on his brother's back.

"I found..."

"No..." Vince's moan is so soft that I don't think anyone else heard it. Maybe Nanaki though, he's got sharp ears.

Sephiroth glances behind at Vince, and turns back. "I found my brother's corpse."

"His...corpse?" Tifa asks, her voice almost a whisper.

"He was not breathing, and his heart was not beating."

"Then...who the #%!^*%?$^$-" Cid is looking at Vince.

"Yer sed, siblings. What about the other one?" Barret asks, shrewdly.

"I found my brother's corpse," Sephiroth repeats (I wonder, is it purely for the dramatic effect?), "...and my sister next to him. Or rather, what remained of my sister."

Vincent is trembling violently now, and although I'm pulling at his arm, trying to get his attention, he doesn't respond, not even when I start calling his name frantically. Frustrated, I place both my hands on the side of his face, forcing him to look down at me. He throws me one startled look, and I see agony flash across his face right before he shakes my arm off, runs towards the elevator, and before I can stop him, he is gone.

I make a move to follow him, but Sephiroth is already there."Let's go," Sephiroth tells me, and without any further ceremony, he beckons me to the elevator, not that I need any form of encouragement to go look for Vince.

"What are you -!" Cloud. Of course it would be Cloud.

"In case the events that just transpired have escaped your attention, my brother, in some state of considerable distress, has left this establishment. He is currently alone in what I presume is an unfamiliar city to him; I for one feel that his recovery is of more importance than explanations of my past, for the moment." With that, the elevator doors close, and we whoosh upwards, with my last glance of a collectively confused and frustrated AVALANCHE. Perhaps someone should tell Sephiroth that such enigmatic words and actions only serve to fuel distrust, something he should not encourage if he is trying to integrate himself into the group. Now I sound like Nanaki.

Once outside, Sephiroth directs me to go left, and he heads away to the right, briefly telling me to contact Cid on the PHS if anything happens.

Vince...where could he be? He has probably only recently come to terms with the fact that he shares his body with a monster, and I've never been entirely clear about what happened to Lucrecia...

' "'Cre-shya-nee hurt…'Cre-shya-nee…'Cre-shya-nee…died…" .' The words of the monster from what seems so long ago come back to me. The questions and conclusions that I had drawn from that time rise - did Vincent the monster really...kill Lucrecia?

There's no point dwelling on such thoughts, I tell myself. The top priority of the moment is to find the person in question.

It's not like I'm familiar with the city of Midgar, so I take to the roofs, hoping that a better vantage point will increase my chances of finding him. I'm wandering aimlessly, but as luck would have it, I see him, still running, weaving his way through the crowded rush of pedestrians. On the rooftops, I have less traffic to deal with, and so I can catch up, running alongside him, leaping from building to building.

Finally, he reaches what would be most accurately termed as rubble, and I have no choice but to follow him on the ground. He stops, and turns to me, and I can see that his trembling from earlier has not ceased.

"Stay away from me," he says, and though I know he has reasons to say what he is saying, I can still feel my heart being cut up at being rejected by him like this. It's irrational, but hey, I love this boy, and getting pushed away by someone you treat as a beloved younger brother will hurt.

"Vince," I say, stepping a little nearer. I know a little of what I feel is definitely showing up on my face right now.

"Stay away!" His voice goes higher and nearly cracks. He moves back a few steps, and his face is twisted, as if he is trying to hold back tears.

"Don't leave..." I half-plead, but I freeze on the spot. Sure, if he runs, I can catch up, but since we're going to need to have this little discussion anyway, I don't see why we can't just settle it here.

"I killed her, Yuffie."

"It isn't your fault."

"My hands are stained with her blood. And with yours too." The look in his eyes is a combination of self-disgust and horror.

"Vince..."

"Lucrecia-neechan is dead! And one day I may wake up with you dead beside me too! Or even worse, I'll be conscious as I kill you, but unable to do anything!" As he says this, I see his eyes getting duller and duller, as if these thoughts have already become reality to him. I need to put a stop to this at once, before he sets of a destructive spiral of negativity that will only lead to his despair.

"I trained you! Have you so little faith in my abilities?"

"The monster is strong and is getting stronger! No matter how good you are, one day you're going to make a mistake..." His eyes are so empty and void of life that it scares me.

"Vince, I'm not going to die on you, so stop trying to keep me away from you!" I yell at him, wanting him to understand, that even if the rest of the world shuns him for a monster, a killer, I know. I know that Lucrecia's death is no fault of his, and until he realises that for himself, there is no way I can leave him alone in his pain.

I'm not sure which of us starts crying first, but that's how we end up, among the piles of junk in the slums of Midgar, tears pouring openly down our cheeks, weeping because we just don't know what else to do or where else to turn. When he crumples to the ground, ignoring his previous words, I run forward, only to hold him as I have always held him after he wakes up from his nightmares, tightly and securely, his head resting against my shoulder. Of course, he is a lot bigger now, but he hasn't changed that much.

"You're not a monster, and you're not going to kill me," I tell him. When he seems to be about to protest, I say, "Don't argue with me, boy," in my strictest tones.

Surprisingly, all things considered, this draws a rare laugh out of him, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Yes, Yuffie," he says, pulling away a little to answer me seriously, the remnants of a smile still hovering on his lips, below his empty, empty eyes.

Hope. He doesn't even dare to hope that my words are true. A deep, burning ache somewhere in my heart swells and grows, and this compels me to embrace him again, and say, "Vince, we're going to find a cure for you. We'll get it fixed." I'm not sure if I'm being overly idealistic, but I truly believe the words I said, and in my heart, I swear an oath not to rest until every avenue has been tried and exhausted. I will give everything and do anything until Vince can live a normal life. I'm willing to give up all for him. After all, he is the only person important to me left in this world. Resolutely, I banish the thought of Godo's long unthought of face that suddenly springs up.

Footsteps and a slight cough, and I look up to see Sephiroth approaching. Did he just arrive or did he get here earlier? Vincent gently disengages himself from me, but helps me to stand, and we turn to face his brother.

"Brother. I have many things to discuss with you." Sephiroth's voice is quiet but leaves no room for disagreement. He then addresses me. "You may stay, if you wish."


AN: :D Fun fun. And as an interesting side note, in the official stats, Sephy's one centimetre taller than Vinnie, so looks like our darling emo boy will never be the taller one. Aww. It'll just have to stay in our dear Yuffie's imagination...

This is the most dialogue Vince has had in a while xD Since AVALANCHE came along he hasn't been speaking much (our dear boy is shy, no? :P) And sorry, Cerberus stays ungiven for this chapter XD

By the way, there are some questions among the reviews that I am deliberately not answering, simply because I'm finding it hard to answer without revealing too much of the plot. So rest assured, I am not ignoring you! :D (though I guess now I can clarify, Vince has not lived in the mansion in Nibelheim all his life, in relation to kilala-kun's statement/opinion(?) about Vince not being willing to follow Yuffsters out – though psychologically, we could go into the issue of learned helplessness and all its implications as to why Vince never made any escape attempts before Yuffie came along).

And another random, I realise that there's a fair bit of crying going on (like Vince and Yuffie seem to cry A LOT -eep-) Does anyone feel that it's excessive? I don't want this to become a like bad TV drama.

I'm glad that that the 'fire!' scene made you laugh, serenbach XD It wasn't really meant to be in the fic, but when the idea came to me, I thought "That's soooo Yuffie!"