Red roses mean love
By Kimetara
Multi-part
Disclaimer: FFVII does not belong to me.
Chapter Three
Just when had he fallen for the charming Miss Lockheart? Vincent himself wasn't sure.
He had always preferred her and Cid to the others of the team. He admired Cid's knowledge and experience, as well as his enthusiastic attitude. He appreciated Tifa's warm, quietly reassuring support – different from the bubbly, almost too cheery aura the others had given off.
Then her almost being executed, combined with the conversation he and Tifa had on the Highwind, had caused Vincent to open himself slightly to the brunette. To his pleasant surprise, Tifa listened attentively and at times even suggested her own ideas. And he, in turn, had listened to her. During these talks, Vincent had found her sensitive, tactful, empathetic, and intelligent. Tifa became Vincent's first friend in...a long time. Too long for Vincent to remember.
Just as with Cloud, she had helped, in her own way, Vincent to find himself. When he'd discovered Lucrecia in the waterfall cave, he had been devastated by Lucrecia's second rejection. While the others had stayed back, unsure of his reaction and wary of his pain, Tifa had sat and listened as Vincent ranted to her about the unfairness, Hojo, about his sins, about her sins. Often she had made careful observations that helped Vincent find the way out of the destructive circle of his thoughts. In the end, it had been Tifa to encourage him to go back, leading to the discovery of his Death Penalty and his ultimate Limit break – the first, a sure sign of forgiveness, the latter...both a blessing and a curse.
Lucrecia's forgiveness, coupled with Hojo's admittance and defeat, raised the crushing burden Vincent had carried for so many years. And without his guilty conscience constantly reminding him of the sins he had committed, Vincent found Lucrecia fading further and further into the back of his mind – to be replaced by another brown-haired beauty.
It was the same agony all over again, loving one who loved another. At times, Vincent truly despaired of ever being able to find love... It was almost worse this time, because unlike Lucrecia, Tifa had been faithful to Cloud – something else he respected in her.
But then, through his own violation, Cloud had left. And if it wasn't for the pain it had caused Tifa, Vincent would have been glad. Sinfully glad.
But it had broken Tifa's heart, which was in turn, breaking his own.
For now though...she seemed happy enough, lost in the new flowers. And he was content – a feeling he had long since lost touch with. Vincent could feel his features softening, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, thankfully hidden by the neck of his long cape.
As if feeling his eyes on her, Tifa turned, giving Vincent a bright smile. For a moment, she thought she saw a softening in his eyes, but quickly shrugged it off. "Vincent, these are amazing!" she exclaimed, going over to sit next to him. "You know what we could do?" Tifa's eyes brightened, she had been thinking of this plan since she found the flowers.
"Hmm? What?" Vincent asked politely.
"We could revive the plants! You know, I'll bet Shera would help us, and Reeve, and we could go around replanting and cultivating them so they won't die out!" Tifa stopped momentarily, biting her lip. "...that's what the Ancients did...and after Meteor, the Planet needs all the Spirit Energy it can get... Besides," Tifa brushed her hair back, "it's not as if we have anything else to do!" She turned, giving Vincent a teasing grin. "What do you think?"
Vincent thought. It was true, after defeating Sephiroth, they had all been left with extremely little to do – that was worthwhile, the constant calling for movies and autographs didn't count. Plus, it would be nice, to travel the planet once more...especially if it was with Tifa. "...it may work."
"Of course it will!" Tifa stood up, determined. "We'll make it work! Come on, let's go call Cid." Tifa, in her excitement, grabbed Vincent's arm to tug him up.
Vincent involuntarily stiffened, and Tifa stopped, realizing she had crossed an invisible boundary. She let go immediately.
There was a moment of silence.
"Um...I'm going to go get the PHS..." she blurted out, before leaving the room as quickly as she could, feeling herself flush from embarrassment. *Of all the people to know why Vincent dislikes contact, I ought to know the most,* she scolded herself, before heading upstairs to her room. The PHS was sitting on a small bedside table.
Tifa sighed as she picked up the phone. *...I'll bet Aeris would have liked to do this too...* She felt her eyes water at the thought. Besides the pain of her lost friend, whenever she thought of Aeris, she thought of Cloud – the two had become linked in her mind.
She gave a bittersweet smile. *That's how it should be, huh? Should have been, at least. Aeris and Cloud...Cloud and Aeris...* Quickly, she shook her head. She could throw herself a pity party later, right now, she had a plan to put into action.
"Hello? This is Tifa. Hi Cid! Guess what..."
AN: Whew. *glances back over chapter* Egh. I need to work on this story; it's too choppy. :/ Maybe I'll go back and revise it all when I'm done...?
Not much action in this chapter, I know. I wanted to give a little history, since it'd be kind of awkward for Vincent to just be in love with Tifa with no explanation, don't you think?
Well, please review. Thank you for all the really encouraging reviews so far. And I'm sorry if this isn't up to standards. *rueful* I am trying to do a good job on it, but lately I've just been stuck in a writing rut. Heh, anyway, sorry for the long AN and thanks for reading!