Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy material is copyright to Square-Enix. I do not own any of the official characters. They were merely BORROWED for the purpose of fan-fiction. All non-FF characters belong to me.

A/N: I will note that I have only played FFVII, Dirge of Cerberus, and watched Advent Children Complete, Case of Denzel, and Last Order. Please take that into consideration if you see that some details may be incorrect. Also, occasionally the story will go into POV (point of view) with Vincent.

Chapter 36: Confession

Vincent was in his quarters upon the airship, tweaking his leg since it had been awhile since he gave it proper maintenance. Morning had come quickly, and he used the opportunity to pass the time and get his mind off of what happened only hours ago. Also, he didn't want to draw any attention to himself from the villagers. It was bad enough that he hid for twenty years. Finally deciding he tweaked the leg enough, he reattached it. He walked into his personal bathroom, looking into the mirror, leaning on the sink.

Why on Gaia did he practically force that kiss on her? He had better self control than that. Now the girl was possibly outraged by his bold move. Extremely bold move. Sighing, he turned on the shower, becoming just as damp as his mood. Letting the water run over the back of his head, he leaned on the wall, water going down his back. He closed his eyes, picturing that time he spotted Riley in the river bathing herself. That was the only time he recalled seeing her nude. He wondered if she knew he was watching at the time. Ha, ridiculous. She would have immediately called him out on it.

Before he could stop it, an image of him joining her in the river emerged. His eyes shot open before laughing at himself. "Like that would happen."

Still, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the short fantasy. There was nothing wrong with having such...male thoughts. What the hell was he thinking? Of course there was something wrong with it! He banged his head against the wall, scowling at himself. It has been way too long. Eighty years too long since he had bedded a woman. Why would he have such forbidden thoughts now? That kiss stirred up his hormones, much to his chagrin. He looked at the offending object between his legs.

"I hate you. Stop thinking for me." He looked at the wall and hit his head again, eye twitching in pain before turning off the hot water.

Riley came down for breakfast, greeting everyone with a yawn. "'Morning."

Shamus looked over. "Pancakes and bacon again?"

"Yes please." She sat down, pouring herself a glass of orange juice, downing it to rid of the sleep aftertaste.

Mona watched Riley. "I saw Vincent go up to the balcony to see you last night."

Riley blinked then started choking, coughing hard. Nanaki's ears perked in surprise. "Are you alright?"

Riley cleared her throat once the fit was over with, laughing nervously. "Yeah."

Damn, and she had just gotten over the shock before going to sleep last night. She wasn't even certain if it had actually happened. For now, she decided to consider it as a dream and nothing more. If Vincent walked in and act liked nothing happened, she would feel silly for believing it actually happened. Mona was still staring at her. Riley could feel the sweat begin to form on her forehead.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"What did you talk about?" she asked, drinking a cup of coffee.

"U-uh..." She could feel everyone's eyes on her. "N-nothing important. He just wanted to see if I took my medicine then said goodnight."

There was an uncomfortable silence and Nanaki eyed her curiously. "Speaking of which, where is Vincent this morning?"

"I think the villagers here feel weirded out by the fact he's alive," Shamus offered.

Mona took another sip of her java. "I think he might have spent the night on the ship instead."

Nanaki and Shamus just nodded but Riley didn't say or do anything. She just ate her breakfast quietly. She had a piece of bacon hanging from her mouth when she went into a daze. The others looked at her, blinking in confusion. The sound of the front door opening snapped her back to reality, turning her eyes to find Vincent staring straight at her. Another uncomfortable silence took place as the others looked between the pair. Riley eventually blushed and turned her face towards her plate, stuffing her mouth, a whole pancake hanging from her mouth.

Vincent turned his eyes away, walking straight up to the table. "Shamus, we came here because you wished to transfer Shelke onto the ship?"

"Yeah?"

"How long will that take?"

"Mm, approximately two days, and that should only be at the most."

"Alright, get on that when you're done. Mona, I want you to assist me with something."

She blinked. "With what?"

"Meet me at the village gate when you're done. You won't need your weapon though. Nanaki..."

"What is it?"

"I'll have to speak to you when I return with Mona later. Where will you be after sunset?"

"Just come here when you come back."

Vincent nodded then looked at Riley. "I want..."

She choked again, alarming everyone. His pause made her lose herself. She raised her hand before gulping down more juice, sighing in relief. "I'm fine."

He cleared his throat, starting over. "I want you to rest. That's not a request," he said firmly, eyeing her.

"O-okay," she said. Everybody noticed the blush then blinked at Vincent who was acting like he didn't see it.

"Okay, tell me why we left the village."

"I need a sparring partner today," he explained, shedding his poncho. "If you're up to it of course."

She blinked then grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Of course I am. Why me though?"

"I should be training Riley, however, she's temporarily out of commission, but I feel the need to release some...steam. Also, you're the only one who's on par with me in terms of strength."

"Ah," she replied lamely.

They stared at each other as Vincent shed his gloves. A pause before the gloves thud softly upon his poncho and they were already charging at each other. They both went to throw punches, only bumping fists, the force causing red dust to fly. Mona swung around, leg flying at his face as he raised an arm to block it, bringing his mechanical leg up to deliver his own kick, but she bent back to dodge it, raising another leg to boot him in the chest.

He grunted, staggering slightly, quickly recovering before she could send an upwards kick at his face. Catching her foot, he twisted her around and she landed on her stomach. He went to stomp on her back, but she swung her leg and he tripped, but landed on his hands. Moving to his feet with a single push, he caught her flying fist, pulled her forward then thrust his own fist at her stomach.

She staggered back a bit, both of them panting. "So..."

"What...?"

"What happened between you and Riley last night?"

His eyes narrowed and suddenly he had caught his breath. "Nothing happened."

She stood up straight. "Something happened alright. She's been flustered all morning."

"Whatever you think happened isn't any of your business."

"I just wanna make sure you don't lie to her again."

He froze at that. Sighing he looked towards the village in the distance. "No, I promised Riley I wouldn't lie to her anymore."

"Good. Because you know what happened last time because of that."

"I haven't forgotten. Last night had nothing do to with that. We talked, that's all."

She watched him impassively before shrugging. "If you say so. I'm just looking out for her."

He smiled wryly. "I know."

"It's just she admires you and you two are close. I just got curious, is all."

"Again, that's none of your business. It's between Riley and I. Now, enough talking."

Shamus cursed, electrocuting himself for the umpteenth time that day. He was following Shelke's instructions to the minute detail, but even he had to admit that computers were not his forte. He hissed when the electrical wiring zapped him again.

"God dammit!"

"It seems you were successful in transferring my consciousness," rang out a voice within the room.

"About god damn time!" he cursed again. "Now that you're online again, Shelke. Run me step by step through this, would ya?"

"Of course. I wish to inquire about Vincent Valentine though."

"What about him?" he asked as he closed the panel.

"He is actually alive?"

"Yeah."

"I see. I am glad to hear this."

He snorted. "Yeah. I suppose people would be glad."

"Moving on, have you found a girlfriend yet?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You're always chasing women. Has Miss Riley given in to your nonexistent charms?"

"Nonexistent? I have plenty of charm!"

"Well?"

"No," he replied sheepishly. "I couldn't flirt too much with her. She's been dealing with a lot lately. After all, she nearly died."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad she's feeling well these days though."

"To answer your question though, no, I haven't found one."

"Who is the other woman who accompanied you back here?"

"Who? Oh, her." He snorted. "Mona Vespa. She's a member of a rebel group her sister Stella is in charge of."

"I see. Judging from your reaction, she doesn't take kindly to your advances."

His eye twitched. "She's a total cock blocker! A major bitch! She calls me idiot and hits me over the head all the time! She takes my compliments the wrong way and hits me for that!"

Shelke didn't say anything for several minutes as Shamus replaced the panel over the wiring. "You're completely attracted to her, aren't you?"

"Fuck no!" he denied rather swiftly.

"I was only asking..."

Nanaki was waiting by the Cosmo Candle, relaxing to the sound of music of his very own homeland. He had done everything he needed to in the village, so now he was waiting for Vincent to return, rather than wait for him at the house. He had checked on Riley recently who was sleeping after taking her medicine. Finally, Vincent and Mona were stepping through the gate. Vincent noticed Nanaki immediately, striding over to him as Mona went back to the observatory to take a shower.

Nanaki raised his head at him. "You said you wanted to speak with me."

Vincent joined him, sitting on the ground with his left leg outstretched with his right arm resting on the knee of his right. "Yeah. I need your word that you won't speak about this to either Mona or Shamus. I don't need them scolding me."

"My word...what have you done this time? Wait, you didn't say Riley."

"It involves Riley. I suggest you don't talk to her about it either."

"Why is this?"

"You'll know as soon as I give you the details, but I'd rather talk about it in a more private setting."

"I see." The feline looked around before looking back at Vincent. "Outside the village then." Both of them getting to their feet, they left in silence. After ten minutes of walking to a high cliff, Nanaki lied near the edge, his front paws hanging over it. Vincent stood next to him, staring at the lands before him. "Now, tell me what happened."

"I did something I shouldn't have."

"And this would be?"

"It's bad."

"How bad?"

"Really bad."

"Again, what did you do?"

Vincent hesitated. "I..."

"Oh, spit it out before I decide to bite your good leg!"

"I kissed her."

"You what?" His good eye widened in shock. "You...you're not serious, are you?" Vincent gave him a look. "Right, you're almost always serious. And?"

"What do you mean, and?"

"What happened after that?"

Vincent sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I apologized and left."

"No wonder she was flustered and choking this morning."

Vincent had an aura of gloom over his head. "I couldn't help it."

Nanaki snorted. "Did she say anything before you left?"

"I didn't give her a chance to say anything."

"How did this occur, anyway?"

He could still remember her sobs. Hell, he still smelled her tears on his clothes. "The stress is getting to her. After what happened at the temple, she started to break down and began crying. I was...trying to comfort her."

"And...you thought kissing her was the appropriate method?" Nanaki tried to clarify.

"I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly," Nanaki stated almost instantly with an impassive expression before chuckling and shaking his head. "I think...now you're ready to know."

Curiosity piqued Vincent's interest as he turned to his old friend. "What are you talking about?"

Nanaki looked back at him. "The secret Riley has kept from you. Her reason to why she wanted to meet you personally." Vincent felt his heart rate pick up. "The secret I believed would destroy you indefinitely when we all thought Riley was dead."

Vincent swallowed before inhaling deeply to prepare himself. "What is it?"

"When I tell you this, I don't want you making rash moves." Vincent nodded almost too quickly for his liking. "I mean it, Vincent."

The ex-Turk sighed. "Alright."

Nanaki watched him for a full minute before looking ahead of himself. "She wanted to know something..." He pieced the words together carefully. "She told me, in her world, she was obsessed with you. Considered you her favourite character. When she came to this world and believed you were still alive somewhere, she thought if she met you in person, she could truly find out if her feelings for you were genuine."

"Feelings?"

"She wanted to know if she loved you. However, she admits that she doesn't really understand love, so she wanted to see if she would experience the emotions that come with love."

Vincent's eyes widened. What...what was Nanaki saying to him? All this time, Riley just wanted to know if she actually loved him. Knowing this put his whole world in a new perspective. He stood there, visibly shaking. He didn't know what he felt. Relief? Excitement? However, there was still one problem. He didn't know whether Riley actually loved him or not. He wanted to hunt her down and find out for himself, but he promised he wouldn't do anything rash. Slowly, he dropped to his knees, smiling in such a saddened way that it almost looked like he would cry.

"Vincent?" Nanaki watched him with concern.

"Do...do you know how she feels now?" he asked hesitantly.

Nanaki frowned, shaking his head again. "I'm sorry, I don't. What are you going to do, now that you know?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "I'm already set on how I feel about her. Though I understand why you couldn't tell me before."

The beast nodded, looking thoughtful. "I'm happy for you Vincent. Just be careful on how you approach this."

"I know," said Vincent, rising to his feet again. "Where is she?" he asked softly.

"She's resting, just like you told her to." The gunman nodded, walking back to the village.

Shamus was wrapping bandages around his stung fingers with a whine. "Stupid wiring!"

"Oh shut up! It's your own fault for not wearing rubbing gloves, idiot!"

Shamus glared at her. "How about you shut up for once?" He hissed, fumbling with the first aid. "God dammit!"

Drumming her fingers upon the table, she eventually got fed up with his annoying grumblings. "Oh for fuck sakes! Here." She carelessly grabbed his hands, making him yelp in pain as she began to unwrap his terrible mess and wrap his fingers properly. "You really are an idiot."

He blinked and watched her hands at work, flinching only every now and then. The woman was surprisingly being gentle with him, minus the careless grabbing due to her impatience with him. "You're, uh, pretty good at that."

"First aid is an essential to learn when you're at war with Tsviets."

He nodded slightly, before looking at her face. "So, um, when you're not beating the crap out of me, what do you do for fun?"

She scoffed with what sounded like amusement. "Fantasize about beating the crap out of you, I guess, because you're such a moron."

"Oh goody! You know how to use synonyms!" A thwack across the top of his head, the pain was instantaneous. "Ow..."

"You sure know how to run your fucking mouth."

"Damn, you're as mouthy as my grandfather."

"My mouthiness is a result of my allergy to you."

"Mouthy and witty! Who would have thunk it!" He flinched away from another fist before she could inflict more pain. "I'm kidding! Take a joke, woman!"

She snorted. "It's hard to take a joke when's it's difficult to tell whether you're being a smartass or not."

He was silent for awhile, not sure how to respond to that. He turned his eyes to her face. She looked so focused on the task in an angry sort of way, but he noticed the way her expression softened with the silence. "You know," he began, causing her to look up at him curiously, "you're rather pretty when you have a kind face."

She blinked in surprise at his claim. The blush that came was unstoppable and she frantically quickened at the task, looking back down at his hands. "Stop fooling around, stupid!"

"Ow, ow, OW! Be more gentle! And I was being honest! Besides, I was just thinking it'd be nice to see you smile a little more often. Girls are much more prettier when they smile." She glared at him instead, scaring him. "Or...you can choose not to. Ah ha ha, your choice."

She huffed, securing the bandages. "There, done. No more bitching for the rest of the night from you."

He flexed his hands stiffly. "Thanks." He smiled at her softly and she blushed again. "Why are you blushing?" he asked.

"I-I'm not!"

"Contrariwise, I believe you are. It's easy to tell on your face. You're so pale."

"I told you to stop fooling around!" she demanded with a defiant tone, the reddening on her face getting worse with his claims.

"See?" he pointed out, poking her cheeks. Reflexively, she grabbed his hand, earning herself a yelp from the pilot. "Ow!"

She released him immediately, actually looking apologetic before looking at him. They were both silent for the longest time. Mouths partly open, eyes wide. Shamus' eyelid dropped halfway, and she thought she could see some dark emotion in his brown orbs. It was almost hypnotic the way he stared at her. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, but it wasn't disgust of any form. She actually shivered, making her abruptly stand up and walk away.

"Mona," he said, getting up after her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around.

"No...I..." she stammered, unable to form coherent words from incoherent thoughts.

"Trust me," he whispered, already a breath away.

She felt his arms slither around her waist and the amazon felt frozen, taken over by some foreign emotion. However, they both heard the front door open, and turned their surprised but guilty expressions towards Vincent and Nanaki, who looked just as shocked as they were. It was an entire deer-caught-in-headlights scenario.

Nanaki cleared his throat. "Um, should we come back at a later hour?"

It took Mona five more seconds to realize where Shamus' hands were. Right on her rear end. She turned her eyes right back to Shamus, and his expression turned from guilty, to perverted victory, grinning boyishly as he squeezed a couple times, as if to make a point. Honk honk. She screamed angrily, punching him into the nearest wall, nearly breaking his jaw. With that, she stormed out of the house with heat radiating off her as she passed the other two.

Shamus half laughed, rubbing his jaw, having slid down the wall, legs outstretched across the floor. The feline shook his head and Vincent only gave him a stoic expression. "I guess I had that coming." An afterthought. "She totally digs me though." The other males sighed.

The ex-Turk strode past the shameless individual now residing on the floor, quietly making his way up to the second floor. Shamus looked at Nanaki quizzically. "Don't worry about it," said Nanaki.

Meanwhile, Vincent silently walked to the bedside where Riley was sleeping, her back towards the ladder. Carefully, he took a seat on the bed, merely watching her sleep. He placed his gloves on the nightstand then removed his poncho, letting it drape over his knee for the moment. All he wanted was to take in the moment. He was tempted to slide up behind her on the bed and drape his arm over her. Fingers reached out to slowly comb through her hair. Recoiling his hand as she begun to stir, she turned over, sleepily opening her eyes.

Surprise took over, and she tensed. "Vincent? What are...you doing?"

He just smiled softly. "I'm just checking in on you. Go back to sleep."

She seemed uncertain, he noticed. Slowly, she sat up, almost at eye level with him. "Vincent, did..."

"The other night actually happen? Yes," he replied softly. "I'm sorry if it was out of place."

She watched him. "If?"

He inhaled, contemplating whether he should say it or not. "Nanaki...told me about why you came looking for me."

"He...he what?" She looked utterly embarrassed. He stopped her before she could hide her face in the pillow, placing his bare hand on her own, though he lowered his eyes.

"I'm sorry if what I did only served to confuse you." He raised his eyes to meet her own, raising that same hand to gently stroke her cheek. "My feelings for you are so strong that I wanted to do anything to see you smile again." Instead of shock, he was greeted by a soft but somewhat mature expression from her. He allowed himself to place his forehead against hers, making his confession all the more intimate. "I don't just care about you, Riley."

Her bottom lip quivered, eyes shimmering with a strange feeling in her chest, but it wasn't the pain she had been enduring for over a month. This was different. "Vincent..."

His brows burrowed in frustration. He needed to say it, even if in the end she may decided she doesn't feel the same, he had to say it. He made the mistake of not admitting his true feelings to Lucrecia. He would not, and will not make the same mistake with Riley. He put every ounce of his passion into next forbidden move.

"I'm in love with you."

Ice blue eyes grew so large, he was almost certain that they'd pop out of their sockets. He could feel her tremble beneath his fingertips. Feeling like she was losing her balance, she tightly gripped the front of his shirt. Her mouth had gone dry and her mind was a giant mess, trying to put together her response. She knew what she wanted to say. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, making it difficult to breathe.

Before she could say what she felt, he placed his fingertips on her lips, instantly silencing her. "Shh. I'm not expecting anything, and I won't rush you. I just felt you should know this to clear up everything. It doesn't condone all the lies I've told or what happened to you, but I'm trying to make up for that. After all, you just met the real me. Don't rush your decision."

She looked into his eyes before sighing, looking down. "Vincent..."

"What?"

"Shut the hell up and don't interrupt me," she gently scolded him. "I already...know how I feel about you." Her tone surprised him, but he did as he was told, keeping quiet. "After all, even though I didn't know it was you, I still got to know you through Black. By now, my decision has already been made."

"Riley..."

She looked at his chest, avoiding his eyes as embarrassment flushed her cheeks. "I...love you too. I'm not used to it, but I know what I feel is real. I'm not that ignorant." Despite her shyness, she slowly raised her gaze to meet his own.

Crimson eyes held something that made her shiver. They were swirling with what looked like absolute passion. Not the lustful passion, but something much more meaningful. It was almost scary the way he portrayed it. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, as if he was being cleansed by her very words. He didn't realize he had been holding his breath.

Exhaling, he pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist, crashing his lips onto her own. She sounded like she was mumbling a protest, but she gave in, relaxing against him, instinctively closing her eyes. One hand moved up to caress her cheek with his thumb, unable to help the small display of affection. The fates had finally blessed him with a long awaited happiness.

Inexperience was obvious in the way she responded to his kiss at first, trying to give back the gesture, but she quickly learned, wrapping her arms around his neck, making it all the more heavenly to have her in his arms. He could teach her more than combat. He had all the time in the world to teach her now. No, that wasn't right. Genesis still remained as an obstacle. His arms tightened around her as he pulled away to let her breathe, resting her forehead against hers again, staring into her eyes.

"We'll end this war together," he declared. She smiled.

A/N: I LOST VALUABLE HOURS OF SLEEP TRYING TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER! God, I'm sleepy. You were expecting some sort of "smex scene" weren't you? Don't deny it. Haha, not this time. It'll happen eventually though. This story isn't just rated M for the foul language and violence XD. I wasn't going to turn this into a confession chapter, but I felt that thirty-some-odd chapters was a long enough wait. Besides, I've been waiting to write about Vincent and Riley getting sappy. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Nyuk nyuk. Also, I just HAD to put in that scene for Shamus and Mona. You guys keep saying they totally have the hots for each other, so I thought I'd provide mild fanservice while they maintained their "love/hate" kind of relationship. Hehe, honk honk, XD. Technically, I believe this is the FIRST TIME Shamus has groped someone! Still...I couldn't help it. Anyway, onto interviews.

Me: Riley, "Are you in love with Vincent?"
Riley: Read chapter above.
Me: I'm...so jealous of you right now.
Riley: X3 I know. Sucker.
Me: Genesis, "Dude, what the heck are you up to? Aren't you meant to be dead? I thought Zack kicked your ass."
Genesis: That is a different Genesis entirely. At the end of the game Dirge of Cerberus, I am part of a secret unlockable ending. Look it up on YouTube. Also, The author has never played Crisis Core, and anything she HAS played or watched is listed in the disclaimer section at the beginning of each chapter.
Me: Correct! Next is...Nanaki, "How old are you?"
Nanaki: I'm actually ninety-eight during this story's events. In FFVII, I'm 45, Advent Children, 47, Dirge of Cerberus, 48. In FFVII, it's mentioned that my species has very long lifespans, and at the time, I was technically a teenager equivalent to the age of a 16 or 17 year old. I'll still be alive in less than five centuries from now.
Me: And...last question. Shamus, "Are you jealous that Vincent got to kiss Riley, and not you?"
Shamus: O.o He did WHAT? Why wasn't I informed of this!
Me: You almost got Mona there.
Shamus: Nice legs AND a nice ass.
Mona: **hits him again** I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! **RAAAAGE**

And that's the end of interviews for this chapter. Please don't forget to ask more crazy questions! Shamus is currently trying to subliminally tell me to tell any female readers, which might be all of you, to send requests to have Shamus strip dance for you. Haha, Highwind Pole Dancer XD. I'm on crack, ignore me. In other news, I've successfully redrawn Riley's Sword, making it look better, however, I've yet to put it on my computer and clean it up. I had a hell of a time trying to design the damn thing while maintaining similarities of the previous version. You may notice a similarity to Squall Leonhart's sword, the Revolver, when I decide to post the drawing online. Purely coincidental since I've never played FF8. And that's me for the night...it's 5am now. Haha, thankfully I'm not in school now, suckers. **Falls over and snores** R&R till next chapter.