Angel Fallen
A Final Fantasy VII Side Story
By Chadwick V. Simmons
Part V
The rock formations were beautiful in their natural splendor, a dozen different hues of blue and gray in the near total darkness of the cavern. Their cool colors were soothing to a troubled soul, as was the chill moist air of the cave complex.
Slowly he unfocused his eyes, willing the images to blur before him. With his dark orbs in this state he initiated what had become an innate ability to him. As his eyes began to refocus, the rocky outcroppings of the cavern ceiling came into view once again, but this time they were even more varied in hue, though still displayed in a multitude of cool colors. The cavern was just as beautiful in the infrared spectrum as it appeared in the ultraviolet. He let the red glow dim in his eyes, shifting back to his normal vision.
"You just gonna lie there all evening brooding again," a feline voice rumble from not far away.
Vincent shifted on his stony bed, slowly turning his now dull eyes to face the entrance to the cavern. Silhouetted in moonlight filtered dim by a few twists in the tunnel beyond, crouched a strange beast. The creature was feline in shape, apparently some sort of great hunting cat. Its deep voice and the feathers adorning its body bespoke a much greater intelligence than any normal cat, however.
"What else do I have to do?" Vincent tuned his unnaturally keen ears to the sounds now emanating from the tunnel beyond the feline creature. The song of tribal drums was beginning, just as it did every evening here. "Sorry if I've been a bore these past few days Red."
Shining cat eyes flashed with low light vision as Red XIII lay down in the cave entrance. A halting rumble echoed from his chest, what passed as laughter for him. "Don't worry about it. You haven't exactly had many people to talk to for the past few years. I don't expect you to be overly friendly."
A grim smile creased Vincent's face as he turned and sat up. "True enough I suppose."
"You're thinking of her again aren't you?" Red spoke the question softly, uncertainty in his purring voice. He cocked his head inquisitively, aware that there was no way to take the question back now.
Vincent grimaced. This was a touchy subject for him, but he understood that it was only concern that prompted Red to ask. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Now that the fighting's done she's all I think of. This is why I went to sleep for so long to begin with."
"Not thinking of taking another prolonged cat nap are you," Red murmured, more at ease now that he knew Vincent hadn't taken his prying badly. He began licking his forepaw distractedly, feigning nonchalance.
Vincent let forth a resigned sigh. With a shrug of his weary shoulders he said, "No, I suppose not. I can't sleep forever. I can't hide from the truth forever."
Red stopped his grooming and returned his paw to the ground. After a moment's silence he spoke. "You're going to see her again aren't you?"
Vincent's eyes narrowed in indecision. Distractedly he caressed the butt of the gun at his side, Lucretia's last gift to him. "I don't know, Red. She's not the same person I once knew and I'm certainly not the same person she once knew. We've both made our choices, good and bad. I doubt there is anything left for the two of us together now."
Red rolled his shoulders as he considered. "No, perhaps not. But perhaps you need to find some sort of closure, something final before you can put her memories to rest?"
"Heh…heh. Closure?" Vincent laughed mockingly. "What closure can there be that hasn't already been? There is no reason for me to return to her save one. She knows how I feel about her, Red. We both know that being together happily is no longer an option. For all I know she may have already passed from this world anyway."
Vincent stretched fluidly and leapt down from his rocky perch. "No, I'll not go to her just yet my friend. For the next time I do it will be so that we may die together. Perhaps then we'll find our peace at last."
"And if it's too late then? If she has already passed on?"
Vincent paused, a distant look in his eyes. "Then I fear I shan't have the heart to follow her alone. I'll live an eternity of pain and loneliness."
Red mewed sympathetically.
"Fear not, my friend. Eternity shan't last forever, and I've grown accustomed to the burden I carry." Vincent smiled and took a deep breath. "Let us go now to join the others. I suppose I've been in this cave for too long. It's only served to remind me what I am and that there's no turning back in life, dreary thoughts both."
Red leapt to his feet and turned to walk out into the tunnel behind him.
"Red," Vincent questioned.
Red paused and tossed a look back over his broad shoulder. "Yes, Vincent?"
"Do you ever wonder how the others are faring now?"
A low rumble of affection escaped Red's toothy maw. "Sometimes I do. Often actually. Any particular reason you ask?"
Vincent tossed back his shaggy midnight mane and stroked his chin in consideration. "I think its time for me to get out a bit. I've been cloistered here far too long. I might as well go pay them a visit, see how they're doing."
"Aye, Nibelheim isn't far and some of them are bound to be there."
"Yes I was thinking that myself. You're welcome to come along of course, though I don't expect you to leave here just for my sake."
"I'd love to accompany you Vince."
"Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow," Red echoed. With that the two strolled from the cavern and out into the firelight of Cosmos Canyon.