Red roses mean love
By Kimetara
Multi-part
Disclaimer: Let's use logic here, shall we? If, say, I did own FFVII, would I be sitting here writing fanfics on it? I don't think so. And, if I did own FFVII, wouldn't I at least own a Playstation? Nope, sorry, don't got that either...
AN: Title changed, prologue removed, but still the same story. I hope my writing quality hasn't deteriorated too badly...
Chapter Seven
Vincent rose silently as the clock chimed twice, removing the blankets before gently lifting Tifa up. He held her easily, the awkwardness he would have felt if she were conscious gone.
With soft footsteps, Vincent almost glided down the hallway and up the stairs, before laying the woman tenderly in her bed. She was deeply asleep, and rightly so. Besides being awake for the past twenty hours, the emotional trauma she'd been through today left no doubt of Tifa's exhaustion.
As he walked back down the hallway, he paused before his door, wondering whether he should get his cloak.
"I like you better without it."
He passed the room by and returned to the parlor, where he mechanically began folding the blankets. His mind was on other matters.
He remembered the first time he had kept her from freezing.
*Why did I?* Vincent wondered. He had felt no attraction to Tifa then, his mind had been preoccupied with Lucrecia.
And yet...he had still sat up while the others slept, watching her through the window. He had still kept a sharp eye for the tell tale signs of sleep, and he had come out and brought her in from the snow.
...he had always protected her. Always tried to, at least. From battles, from Cloud, from her own sorrow...a sorrow strangely similar to his own. And he hadn't even comprehended what he was doing.
But why? All they had in common was an ocean of pain...
He shook his head. It was a question he was not capable of answering.
Instead, his mind turned to a different memory. Tifa, standing on the cliff's edge, only a precarious balance keeping her from tumbling down. Vincent shuddered at the memory. It had taken all his self-control not to call out her name and pull her back. Even so, he had found himself taking a few steps toward her still figure, as she peered down from the ledge she was standing on.
Awww, little Vincent afraid of losing another person he loves?
Go away, Vincent demanded silently.
Heh heh...you wouldn't believe how amusing this is. I think this is the most emotion you've ever felt since I've had the misfortune to be implanted in you. He could feel Chaos grinning, even as he receded.
Vincent didn't pay much attention to it. After living with a demon in your body for over thirty years, you tended to get used to some things.
He finished folding the blankets, doused the fire, and returned to the darkness of his bedchamber.
~~~~~
Tifa stretched languidly before getting up and brushing her hair out. She had a feeling it was a bit later than she usually woke up, but that wasn't surprising, considering how late she was up last night.
She yawned. *What time is it anyway...?* Tifa glanced at the clock on the wall. *Nine o' clock...oh shoot!* Tifa hurriedly got dressed and rushed downstairs.
"Why that @#$!%@# no good-"
"Hi Cid!" Tifa skidded to a stop in the kitchen. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting! Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Oh, hey Tifa." Cid rose from the table and hugged Tifa, which she happily returned. Vincent, from his seat at the table, felt a twinge of jealousy, but hid it extremely well.
*Besides, the only reason she doesn't hold you like that is because you won't let her,* he reminded himself. Still...
"I didn't wanna wake you, not after that @%$%^&@# Cloud just dropped you like that," Cid grumbled, slinging his arm over her shoulder as he walked back to the table. "Hell, sometimes I wonder whether that kid's got half a brain in his head..."
"Oh," Tifa faltered, but she put on a bright smile for Cid. "It's alright...he just had to do what he had to do, I guess..."
Cid rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, sure. I still say he's a @#&%^@ dumbass." Cid stretched. "But it was coming. I was just thinking he was smart, staying with you and Vinny boy over there. `Bout time he did something stupid."
Tifa only smiled and shrugged Cid's arm off her shoulder as she went to the stove to cook breakfast. "Where's Shera?"
"Shera? She's off making some greenhouse for your plants. She'd better not do anything to mess up my Highwind..." Cid spoke threateningly, although everybody knew he wouldn't lay a finger on the scientist.
"I'm sure she won't," Tifa reassured him. "Waffles alright?"
"Hell yeah!" Cid yelled gleefully. Tifa nodded and turned to the stove.
"Sooo, Vinny..." Cid began, trying to make conversation.
Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Please refrain from calling me that."
"Sure. What'd you do with your @!#$!#@% cape?"
"..."
Cid shook his head. "Still as talkative as ever, huh? Wonder how Tifa can stand ya..."
Vincent only shrugged.
Cid, after deciding the dark man wasn't going to say any more, pulled out a cigarette and started smoking. Vincent reached over and put it out.
"HEY! What the @#!$ did you do that for?!" Cid bellowed.
"Tifa dislikes cigarette smoke," he answered flatly. Cid raised an eyebrow, but Tifa interrupted before he could comment.
"Yeah, that's right Cid!" the female spoke cheerfully, plunking down a plate of waffles in front of the air pilot.
Cid grumbled, but proceeded to stuff his mouth with waffles instead of cigarettes. Tifa smiled, happy he enjoyed her cooking, and turned back to the stove to make Vincent's share.
~~~~~
*On the Highwind again...* Vincent mused, looking out the window. He watched the land pass below them, appearing only as different shades of green patches. They had decided to go first toward Cosmo Canyon, to ask Nanaki if he knew anything about the plant's habitats.
Vincent's acute hearing picked up on somebody coming from behind him. "It's like the old times, huh Vincent?" Tifa stepped up next to him. Vincent nodded.
She smiled sadly. "It feels so much lonelier though..." she sighed.
"Yes," he answered simply. The airship seemed much larger without the other members of AVALANCHE.
Tifa stared silently out the window, a melancholy expression on her face. Vincent glanced sideways at the fighter, unsettled by her depressed silence. It was the same as when they all believed Cloud was lost to them. The same that had surrounded her on that snowy night. It seemed so long ago... Vincent shifted his position slightly, moving himself a bit closer to the gloomy brunette.
Tifa caught his movement out of the corner of her eye, and flicked a smile at the dark man for the thought. "Well, guess I better get going. I need to talk with Shera..." She hesitated for a moment, then wrapped Vincent in a warm hug, before leaving him near the window.
She walked away quickly, afraid to look back incase she had upset him. Tifa completely missed the softening on Vincent's features.
AN: Hey, anybody remember me? Sorry about the long wait with this story! Well, hopefully this will be completed soon – depending on whether or not I decide to make the later part as a sequel or part of this fic. I'm kind of stuck between the two right now. Oh well. Review please!