The abundant supply of cool air in the summer nights seem to bring many people out into the small star covered town. I would hear them as late as 11 at night, gleefully flattering families and neighbors. Kids, even, would be outside as late as that; running about their yards with other neighbor kids.
I guess the people of Nibelheim has greatly appreciated they're lives in this world. After the struggle to save this world from Sephiroth and the meteor, I doubt any person in this world now hold their lives in vain.
"Sometimes I would see these 'things' flying outside," a gentle humming voice broke my trance to the small children hopping around near the mansion gates. Turning to the speaker, I watched her peer through the thick glass windows.
"They flash light; yellow light," she lifted a graceful finger to the glass, pointing to a presence of a firefly out on the window sill.
"Fireflies," I told her. I heard her sigh deeply before leaning back to her posture.
"Vincent, why can't we go outside at night? Or.. or ever?" she looked over to me with an overwhelmed look, begging me as if she was a troublesome daughter of mine, "I-I want to go.. out there."
I stared at her, reading her emotion. It wasn't a stare meant to cause her voice to break.
"I.. I want to see fireflies and red flowers," she pursued more, her eyes not ending their begging and the begging of her voice.
My likely initiative was to clear to her that I was some demon of the night that people around this village did not want around, or rather, afraid to have around. But as I studied upon the look of her eyes, she was stating something of much more importance.
I knew that she knew of the ever annoying holes in her memory. Tifa knew she had lost something, it was clear to her right after the incident.
The incident.. an incident which was filled with so much irony.
I wasn't there to witness it, but I knew the reason of the cause.
The man she once called her 'closest friend'... Cloud...
He had gone elsewhere, seeking for the dead Ancient to
lay his peace on her death. He left Tifa in Rocket Town, asking her
to not follow, but to wait.
I could only imagine that Tifa had taken that command in more serious meaning. I could imagine she felt as if her role was to wait for the rest of life. Wait until she was recognized...
Of course, with a strong willed person such as her, it's hard to keep her still in one place when her mind and heart is set towards another.
Cid had told me that Cloud had a plan to visit every natural Mako distributor in the planet, and it was mentioned that his first visit was the mountains of Nibelheim and to the mako spring in the very center of the mountain caves. It was a plan for seeking the dead ancient for Cloud did not know where to start searching.
Around a day after Cloud dispersed Rocket Town, Tifa followed, hoping to secretly track the ancient with her friend. I imagined she never tracked Cloud for she was found alone in the depths of Mount Nibel.
She was found by a hiker who happened to visit the mako spring that day. He had found her below a 20 foot cliff; sprawled and bleeding. If it wasn't for that hiker's sudden desperation to visit the mako spring... Tifa would have died then and there.
She was taken to the doctor in the town, who called me to tell me that a woman that I certainly knew was brought in. After the short description of the woman, I noticed it like a snap and hurriedly came to the doctor's clinic. It wasn't right for me to walk out through sunlight, exposing myself to the people who wish to never see me, but it was in my mind to investigate Tifa's case.
I was there when she regained consciousness.
I was there when she woke up and found everything to be skewed and new.
Once she awoke, she knew nothing of me, of herself, of others.
In her mind there was no people, no meaning... nothing.
The doctor had told me that her brain had somehow shut off many fractions of her long-term and short-term memories.
That day when I felt her eyes fall to me, I knew that she knew it also.
That was two days ago...
"Vincent, can I go outside please?" I heard her voice hesitantly, her body trembled slightly at perhaps my silent presence.
Though it was clearly showing that Tifa had indeed forgotten most things, her will to have her ways has still stuck in her mind, "Okay, but I will go with you."
The face she pulled then was probably beyond the highest point of happiness, "Okay," her voice carried a slight bounce, "Will you help catch those fireflies?"
I stood up, my cape flapping to the marble floor beneath me as I nodded, "Yes." I was caught suddenly as a pair of arms were literally thrown around me, and for a second I stood rigid.
I felt as I couldn't breath, as if the arms had completely surrounded my lungs and broken my breathing.
Relief washed over me as I felt the arms lightly drop back down to the sides of the young woman, who in which I turned to carried an appreciative smile, "Thank you, Vincent."
In my stupefy, I dumbly nodded to her and turned to head out to the front yard of Shinra Mansion and into the cool breeze of Nibelheim nights.
I led her first to step out, and her step was more of a hop to semi new environment. She breathed in deeply as she touched the dark oak tree in the front, and without hesitation began to search of the elusive fireflies around the branches.
Watching her with one eye and occasionally peering out the mansion gates, I glanced as the children had stopped their hopping and leaned over the gate's bars for a better look of who was present inside its walls.
Tension came to mind; it would be difficult for me not to disappear right at the moment for the adults of this town, especially those who have children, are very sensitive to the thought of a demon living in the old Shinra Mansion. But it was odd that the children actually gave me a cheerful farewell as they were called to bed by their parents. At first I thought they were called because the parents found out, but finding the town's new clock tower striking to the midnight hour, it was common in the hour that the town go on home and succumb to sleep.
"Tifa, you must go off to bed now. It is midnight." I quickly shifted my thoughts to her, who has now cupped her hands as she approached me.
"Look, I caught one, and without your help," she opened her hands slowly and I peered down as my eyes caught a yellow flash of light. She wrinkled her nose as I lifted my eyes to her, "They smell kind of funny..."
I felt a clogged feeling in my throat.. did I just want to let out a chuckle?
I hurriedly cleared my throat before opening the entrance to the mansion for her, "Let it go, Tifa, and wash your hands. It's time to sleep."
She lifted her cupped hands in the air and opened them, letting the firefly escape into the night, "Will we go outside tomorrow? I haven't seen those red flowers yet, Vincent."
I nodded simply, "We will visit in the early mornings when the red flowers bloom."
"Bloom..." her voice carried a sympathetic tone, and her eyes lowered, "You will tell me what they all mean.. right?"
To her pain, I bared with her my heart. Simple, purely innocent things she questioned about or spoke of always caused me to take it as my duty to do what I can.
"I will do what I can," I answered truthfully, and recollected that they were to visit Rocket Town in four days, "We will be visiting close friends in a few days.. and I will help you through then and whenever I am needed still."
Her face contained a short amount of thrill as she stared at me guiltily, "I hope I'm not getting in your way..."
I was shocked at her statement, knowing that she was not an any burden at all, "It's my duty... as a friend. You bring no trouble to me, Tifa."
She nodded, still hesitant. I placed my right hand on her should then and watched as she fidgeted before looking up to me questionably.
"Sleep now, Tifa. The red flowers wake quite early."
She gave a curt smile before slowly walking through the
mansion entrance. I gazed at her figure as she disappeared up the
spiral staircase and wondered to myself of who I was then in her mind,
for I just noticed who she was in mine.
A/N: Wow.. I didn't imagine the amount of reviews.. I figured 4 or 5, but you know.. I do appreciate more (even for just a little bit). Thanks to all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More gaps will be filled in the next chapters, so stay tuned. ^-^ Domo!
Disclaimer: You know.. after much thinking.. I still know I don't own it.