All characters and all settings taken from Final Fantasy 7 are property of Squaresoft, I'm just toying with their lives to make me happy. Olivia, however, is mine... And if you want her, Squaresoft, you're gona have to pay me for her... Enjoy :-)
Life leads to love -Chapter 6-It all seemed so surreal, walking through corridors, the walls made up of different parts of her life, some still shots, others moving images without sound. The only sound she could hear was the beating of a heart. The only weird thing about it all, was that when Olivia looked at an image, different feelings and emotions would pass through her, as if she was reliving what she was looking at. The only sound she could hear was the beating of a heart.
Different corridors had different years of her life, they seemed to go on for forever, and then when the couple had got to the end of one, Vincent would turn to another and start walking down that.
Olivia seemed content to walk down these corridors. She was busy looking at various parts of her life that she had forgotten, and often she'd stop to watch one more closely than the rest, and Vincent would have to stop and wait until she was finished. One of these was right at the beginning of their walk.
She had noticed it and recognized it straight away. Vincent was standing at the bottom of some stairs, and she could tell that she had some sort of bag in her hand. At that moment she felt confused, angry and also love for the man in front of her. As she watched, she was able to relive the kiss they had, and all the emotion she had felt then. She knew what happened next, Vincent would slowly open his eyes and look at her, before trying to say something and then run past her.
Olivia closed her eyes before that happened and turned towards her subconscious, opening them, blushing slightly, and carrying on walking, gazing silently again at the images she passed.
Not a word was spoken between them until after about the 20th corridor Vincent stopped and turned to Olivia. Beyond here are you infant years, hopefully this will help you work out some of your problems. Vincent took her hand and led her into the corridor.
Olivia looked around, and instantly tons of pain and anguish came flooding back to her. Flashes of Professor Hojo and Professor Ghast running through her mind, and even when she closed her eyes she could still see them. Needles, steel tables, tanks with bodes in. She was reliving the experience of the experiments that were done on her, the pain as the Jenova cells and liquid materia ran it's route through her veins. After that she saw Professor Hojo up close, picking her up, and taking her out of a laboratory, walking past various tanks. Right at the end one tank stood out, she couldn't tell what was inside, but she could feel a link with it.
Opening her eyes, Olivia was back in the corridor again, only laying on the floor with her head in Vincent's lap, his hand stroking her hair. She could feel her tears as they fell down her cheeks, her words quiet and in-between sobs. Jenova. That, thing in the tank, it was Jenova, I could feel the connection with it. Why can't I now?
Don't you remember, Avalanche destroyed her when they killed Sephiroth. She's dead.
Olivia looked up at Vincent, pain from the memories still in her eyes. Why did I have to see... Go through all that? I wasn't exactly pleasant.
Vincent smiled warmly at her, pulling her up further into his lap, and wrapping his arms around her. You need to remember your past, it is a part of you. You'll be thankful of what you went through with what I show you next. Gently picking her up as he stood himself, he places her standing on the ground and walked over to another image. You will remember this quite well.
Olivia looked at where Vincent was, the image showed a great tidal wave towering over her old hometown. Smoke where the wave had been, and flames in the path of the wave. Olivia laughed then, remembering how she had felt. Yes I remember that. I was happy, and also quite surprised. I was so thankful of that wave, and my powers.
Vincent laughed lightly. Now can you live with the pain and suffering you had as a young child. To think, that if you hadn't, Your whole town would have perished, and most probably yourself too.
Olivia looked over at Vincent. Your right. If I had been given the choice for these powers, if I had been asked if I could have been tested on, and if I had been told it would help save my whole town, I would have agreed. Looking down at her hands, and making a small flame appear above them, she smiled lightly, before letting the flame disappear and walking over to Vincent.
"What now? Do I get to 'wake up'?" Olivia said with a small smile on her lips.
Vincent merely looked at her and took her hand in his, walking back the way they had came along the corridor, slowly and gently pulling Olivia with him. "Not quite yet, I'm afraid. You still have problems to sort out."
"Like what?"
"Like your parents." Vincent said, finally stopping further up the corridor and pointing to another image.
Again, Olivia looked up to the image, seeing and feeling all that was happening. "They're my parents with whom I grew up with."
Vincent spoke lightly while walking away from Olivia again, as he crossed the corridor to the other side. "Yes, but follow me."
Olivia looked over to where he was. The image was of two grown humans, one with a polaroid camera, the other, a man, who Olivia couldn't distinguish very well. Coursing through her veins, though, were feelings of happiness, pleasure, pride and love; Most of which were directed towards the couple in front of her.
Then just like all the images, just as quickly as it had taken over her, it had let her go. Her eyes filling with tears of love, and her arms wrapping themselves around her body, Olivia whispered "Mama. Papa."
Olivia continued crying as Vincent knelt down and pulled her into his embrace.
*****
It was the third time Yuffie had walked in on Vincent whispering 'sweet nothings' to Olivias unconscious body. She coughed lightly to get his attention.
"Uhh, Vincent. I don't want to tare you away from her, but where am I going to sleep?" Yuffie was actually being quite polite, and Vincent was able to keep an eye on Olivia's condition. She was breathing, and she wasn't running a feaver or anything, but he couldn't get her to wake up. And that's what was worrying him. Sighing heavily and standing up, Vincent walked over to Yuffie "Follow me. I'll put you in one of the safer rooms."
Walking out after Vincent, Yuffie stole one last look at Olivia. She didn't know the poor girl, but she hoped she'd get better soon. Yuffie wasn't someone to care about people too much, but Vincent seemed to care for her, and the last thing Yuffie wanted was for Vincent to get even more depressed because Olivia wouldn't wake up. Quickening her pace a little Yuffie caught up with Vincent. He was walking with his head down and a contemplative look on his face.
"Vincent?" He only gave Yuffie a small look, at least telling her that he was listening. "I can tell that you must really care for this Olivia girl. But why? I thought you only loved Lucresia." No reply. Yuffie wasn't betting on getting one either, but thought the question needed to be voiced none-the-less.
"Here is your room. You know where everything is. If you need anything important... You know where I'll be." Vincent said, his voice sounding tired. Yuffie placed a hand on his metal forearm.
"She'll be okay, I'm sure of it. When I saw her fall she seemed faint, I mean, uhhh..." Yuffie dropped her head, remembering too late that she had told Vincent that she had found Olivia unconcious. She looked up at him and sighed. "Okay, I didn't find her unconcious, I watched her fall. She tripped on a rock, busy sniffing from this small bottle she pulled out of her bag."
Vincent nodded silently, a small frown playing over his features. "Good night Yuffie." Was all he said before walking back down the corridor and down the stairs, back to Olivia.
*****
"There's no point in trying to find them is there?" Olivia forced out between sobs. She felt more than watched Vincent shake his head, she was expecting it anyway. She knew. "They're dead." She buried her head.
"Hojo did it. Orded them to be killed... When they..." Vincent started.
Olivia swallowed back the fresh tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, she felt too angry to cry. Then almost in a whispered voice she continued speaking for him. "They refused to give me up. I was barely one year old. They were slaughtered in front of me, as Hojo laughed on." Olivia un-tangled herself from Vincent's arms and slowly stood. "I wish he would come back from the dead so I could kill him. Make him feel the pain and anguish that my parents and myself went through."
"I know you want that, but he's dead. Vincent killed him with his friends." Vincent stood and waited for Olivia to speak.
"You're right." A pause. "I want to go back now. I can, can't I?" Vincent nodded and everything dissapeared to black.
*****
'So still. She looks dead. She isn't dead, I can put my fingers to her wrist and feel a pulse. A faint, regular throb. It wasn't like that 20 years ago. When I looked down at her, and she looked dead, I knew she was. I didn't need basic bodily functions to confirm it.' Vincent bent down and sliped his arms under her knees and back, mirroring how he had carried her back to Nibelheim just hours earlier. Turning from the sofa Vincent headed out of the lounge and towards the stairs.
'She'll be fine, I know she will be. I guess I'm just scared about loosing her. I've lost too many people already.' Vincent thought before laying Olivia down on his bed and moving the covers over her. He moved to the door, looking back once before turning out the light and closing the door behind him. 'She'll be fine.'