Disclaimer: and again, I do not own Vincent, Yuffie or any other character in this whacked up story- Squaresoft does...though how I wish I did own Vincent and Sephiroth and Cloud and Squall and Irvine and...
Note: this one's for stick-chan T_T whose relentless pestering kept me typing and typing and typing and typing...anyhow, this chapter wouldn't be around without it- so arigatou stick-chan : 3 *pat pat pat*
A Dream within a Dream
~Edgar Allan Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if Hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep-while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Chapter 3:
I dreamed...
at least I remember dreaming...
But to dream? What is it to dream?
And what are dreams?
Are dreams revelations from God? Or are they merely images based on what our heart desires the most- like subtle trick messages that the brain sends when we are unconscious.
Is it real?
When we dream of something, do we dream of something that has been, that is, that will be or that will never be?
Is it wrong? Is it wrong to dream?
When dreams are based upon lofty ideals and upon wishes that hardly seem within reach. But why then do we dream? Is it to escape the harsh realities the world has laid for us? And or is it merely to deceive the self that there is something better than this- than this open snare of damnation.
That's right, humans are damned...there is no god, no heaven nor hell...these were merely concepts of man- man made religion to suit his needs.
All because he needed to explain, to justify the existence of this world- the suffering, the pain...everything. He needed an answer to that question and so, who better to provide one than he who raised the question.
So, in the end, man invented heaven to make life easier to bear, to give us a ray of light in this desolate wasteland. Though in reality- there really is no god, no heaven and there is no escaping that fate…the fate that man is destined to a mindless, endless cycle of madness...
Though if you thought so, then surely you would have stopped believing...
"...Vincent?"
"...Vincent?"
Light and a voice called from a distance but it disappeared as the darkness settled around me yet again, taking me in- swallowing me like a great tide, drowning me its opacity.
Who are you?
What am I?
I am...
Who are you?
I...am...
Who are you?
...I am?
...Vincent...
...come back...
I gasped as I felt my body in a shock- I was in pain. There was so much blood. Everything was blurry and hazy as I sought to sit up in a hurry. But my limbs failed me and I collapsed.
"Shit! Doc! He's conscious!"
"Hold him down! Hold him down!"
I felt pressure…on my arms I think…but I was drugged and I really wasn't too sure of anything that was happening to me. My sight was wavering, hazy...
No, not again, not the darkness again…
I felt my eyes glaze over and I was about to slip into darkness once more when- a shout from near me-
"Fuck you Vincent Valentine! Don't you dare die on me! Not when I had to drag your sorry arse around…"
"…Yuffie?"
"Doc! We're losing him!"
I don't know if I mouthed the name or it was merely in my head I spoke…but I couldn't hear her anymore, I couldn't hear anything anymore- couldn't see anything anymore…But this had happened before, and if this was dying then I had already died once…
The sensation of dying?
What's it like?
Well, you just find yourself alone. And you see then, your life written as it was by your hand, unravel before you. And you weep that you were not strong enough, that your best was never enough to save anybody. And while you carry the burden of guilt in your heart, it destroys you, marks you with a twisted vision that maybe, maybe I can save them.
But, that's man's sickness…they think they can save people…keep people…even if they know full well that the fate of men was never theirs to control.
But that still doesn't stop them from trying…because inside each one of us, is that tiny spark of hope…and no matter how small that flame is- we go on…and it's not because we have to but because we choose to...
We choose to because no mater how bleak and dark the world is, there is goodness…and there's hope in that goodness that we find…that we find in another's heart.
If the truth is what my heart has spoken then…
…I must live…
"He's breathing again!"
…to fight…
…to dream…
…to give flight to others dreams…
…and, to find peace in another's heart…
Note: whew! Done it! Finished with chapter 3! Yosha! Onwards to chapter 4 *sweatdrop* oh no...the battle with my inner Yuffie ensues yet again... ;_; I really shouldn't be writing Yuffie POVs... it's so not me...