One day, when Vincent was strolling down the streets of Nibelheim heading back to the ShinRa Mansion, he spotted something on the side of the road.
An unconscious kid. "Oh my Hyne," mumbled Vincent as he approached the child. He got down and poked it (Vinny wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl, given how effeminate boys look like these days.) with his claw. "Hello?" he said, unsure of what else to say.
The kid instantly sat up straight and didn't move. Vincent raised an eyebrow at this. A few moments of silence and confusion later, the kid turned its head and looked at Vincent.
Vincent wasn't sure of what to do. "…. What?" he asked.
The kid blinked once and went, "FWARGH!" and hugged him tightly.
Vincent was stunned. "Wh…what?! What the… hey!" he stammered, the hairs at the back of his neck rising because there was a strange resemblance of Sephiroth on the child.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" the kid chanted rather happily before looking up at him with his blue eyes. The kid was smiling. "I have found you!!!" he said with tears in his eyes.
Vincent's eyes widened as he tried to smile weakly at the child. "But… I'm not your mommy. I'm a man!" he said.
The kid stared at him for a few seconds. "Oh, daddy said that you'd say that, I'm expecting it… but you're my mommy!!!" the kid embraced him again.
"Uhm… who's your daddy?" Vincent asked rather curiously.
"Never mind! You're here!" the boy replied.
"Oh-kay… so, what's your name, so that I can deposit you at the Police Station?" Vincent asked with a slight frown, feeling ridiculous because people were already beginning to stare at them.
The boy let go of him. "My name is Riku." He said.
Vincent stared quietly at the boy. "I'm not your mommy," he pointed out.
"Aw, c'mon! Even granny knows that you're my mommy because daddy told her!" the boy said cheerfully.
Vincent raised his eyebrow. "Granny?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah and…" the boy began, but Vincent did not let him finish; he grabbed the boy's hand and dragged him down the street, heading for the Police Station.
"Wh…where are you taking me, mommy?" the boy asked with a look of worry on his face.
"I'm not your mommy. Maybe I just resemble her. I'm taking you to the Police Station coz someone might be looking for you already," Vincent said sternly.
"No! You're my mommy! Look! A picture!" Riku pulled out a wallet-sized picture of a "woman" with long black hair, red eyes and a red bandanna around the forehead.
Vincent's eyes widened. "That. Isn't. me." He pointed out with a trembling voice as he stared unbelievably at the picture. "Who's your daddy anyway?" he asked.
Riku just embraced Vincent tightly again and wept against his red cape. "WAaaah! Mommy! How could you leave daddy! He loved you very much! We're supposed to be one big happy family with granny too!" he wailed.
"Oh, stop it! Let's go!" Vincent continued to drag the boy.
"WAAAAH! Mommy! You're hurting me!!!" the boy cried.
"Vincent! What are you doing to that poor child!" Tifa called out, running towards them with a worried look on her face.
Vincent faked a smile as he looked at Tifa. "Oh, good day, Miss Lockheart. I'm on my way to the police station because this child seems to be lost." He said.
She blinked and stared at the child, then back at Vincent. "Gee, he's got silver hair just like…"
"DON'T MENTION THE NAME!" Vincent shrieked.
"See? You're beginning to sound like a girl! You're really my mommy!" Riku pointed out.
"Mommy?" Tifa asked in disbelief.
"The child is crazy! Don't believe him, Tifa," Vincent pointed out.
"Oh, so you're Tifa! Heheh." Riku said, letting go of Vincent and going to her. He shook hands with her like a true gentleman.
Tifa smiled sweetly. "Aw, Vinny, what a sweet little boy! Is he the son of…"
"DON'T MENTION THE NAME! I'm warning you…" Vincent warned with a threatening look on his face.
"What's so bad about mentioning Sephiroth?" Tifa asked curiously, feeling so clueless.
Silence.
"That's daddy's name." Riku said simply.
Vincent and Tifa sweat-dropped.
"And you're mommy!" Riku glomped Vincent.
Vincent felt his world crumble like the graham crackers being crushed for cheesecake. "OH MY GAWD!" he was thinking in shock.
Tifa scratched her head. "Uhm… pardon me, little boy, but how could Vincent here be your mommy? He's a man!" she pointed out.
"I was born in the Lifestream, you know?" the boy said happily.
Silence.
"What's the connection?" Tifa asked Vincent.
"I don't know." He replied, trying to move away from the boy; but the boy wouldn't let him go.
"What's going on in here?" Cloud was already on his way to them.
"Oh, there you are! Please, be kind enough to help me! This kid is…" Vincent trailed off when he noticed that Cloud was staring at the kid.
Riku was also staring back at Cloud. "You look like my buddy's daddy." He said.
Silence.
"Now what?" Tifa asked, feeling more confused than before.
"You look like Sephiroth." Cloud pointed out to the kid.
"Of course, he's my daddy! And this is my mommy! Heehee!" Riku explained.
Silence again.
"How could he be your mommy? He's a man?" Cloud asked ridiculously.
"Daddy told me so. I wanted to meet my mommy so I came all the way here from the Lifestream… but I don't know how mommy looked like so I returned back to the Lifestream and asked for directions. I first approached Granny but she became hysterical and started screaming all over the place again… that also happened when I was born you know? But anyway, so I approached Mister Rufus and Miss Aerith because Mister ShinRa wouldn't answer me and Professor Hojo is ugly and I don't like him. Mister Rufus said that mommy has long black hair and red eyes and very tall… almost as tall as daddy. And Miss Aerith even gave me a picture of mommy! Look!" Riku showed Cloud the picture.
"Oh my Goodness! Did you say Aerith?" Cloud asked, running to the boy and shaking him frantically.
"Yeah." The boy said.
Silence.
Cloud just started to emote in one corner, leaving Tifa and Vincent to handle the boy.
"Rufus and Aerith set me up! I can't believe it!!!" Vincent thought silently, feeling so angry at himself and at the world but didn't know how to express it.
"So they're alive?" Tifa asked happily.
"Yeah. As much as I'm alive. Coz daddy is alive! And now here's my mommy! I'm here to reunite the whole family so that Granny wouldn't be so hysterical anymore!!!" Riku said happily before hugging Vincent happily again.
"I think your Granny might just kill herself if you reunite the family," Cloud thought silently, realizing who the granny is.
"NO!" Vincent pushed the boy away from himself and hid behind Tifa. "Tifa, please, you've got dark hair! You can go and tell Riku that you're his mommy instead of me!" he whispered.
"You gotta be kidding me! I'm not tall enough! Besides, his mommy is flat-chested. Heehee!" Tifa pointed out before poking Vincent's chest and laughed teasingly at him.
Vincent turned red as his eyebrows twitched at Tifa. "Traitor," he muttered miserably.
"Mommy! It's destiny that you decided to poke me at the side of the road! Fulfill it!!" Riku said as he tried to drag Vincent to who-knows-where.
"Destiny!" Tifa chanted.
"… Destiny!" Cloud chimed in.
"……….DESTINY!!!!" random passers-by chanted also.
Vincent felt the world spinning. Then visions of Sephiroth laughing happily, Lucrecia acting hysterical and Hojo pointing at him and laughing heartily filled his mind.
"AAAAAARGH!!!!! I'M A MAN!!!! A MAN!!!!" Vincent screamed as the world faded to black.
***
Vincent slowly opened his eyes and saw that everything that surrounded him was all white. "Oh… if this is heaven and it's a dream, may I never wake up again…" he said softly with a drowsy look on his face, thinking that the others might be in hell already for tormenting him.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you,"
Vincent's eyes widened and he sat up, turned to the person who spoke up.
It was Rufus, seated on a couch beside the bed, his legs crossed and his arms crossed as he stared coldly at Vincent.
"Wh…what are you doing here? Am I dead and… here in the… Lifestream?" Vincent asked nervously.
Rufus just shrugged. "I don't know. As far as I'm concerned, what happened in the past had caused the Lifestream to have a direct passageway to the Planet, so privileged people can easily come back and forth from the Lifestream. They don't have to be necessarily dead or anything… as long as they are worthy of entering and leaving." Rufus explained.
Silence.
"How did I end up here?" Vincent asked nervously.
"Your son brought you back in here." Rufus said.
"So-so-son?!?!" Vincent stammered.
Rufus gestured towards the glass window that visitors can look through, where Riku was beaming at him like an idiot.
Vincent's jaw dropped. "You should be proud to have such a caring son, you know," Rufus said mockingly while doing his trademark hair-flip.
Vincent's functional fist shook with rage. "You…. You…" he started, but he was interrupted when the good ol' tall silver-haired man entered suddenly with a bouquet of white and red roses. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Vinny-baby!" he greeted happily.
Vincent fainted instantly.
"Oh my… what happened to Vinny?" Sephiroth asked curiously.
Rufus got up, "Oh, your wife is just happy to see you again," he said with a sarcastic look.
Vincent got up. "I heard that," he muttered glumly. "Damn, this isn't really happening to me…" he thought silently.
Riku got inside, interrupting them, "Daddy, Granny Crecia is calling you from the Mental Ward," he announced.
Vincent's eyes grew wide. "…Lucrecia?" he asked in shock.
As if on cue, he saw Lucrecia starting to chase Riku like a psychopath. "YOU SPAWN OF THE DEVIL!!! Why my son, of all people?!?!?!?" she shrieked. Riku just replied, "I love you too, Granny!" and embraced her happily.
Lucrecia shrieked again and broke down into tears.
Vincent got up, went to Lucrecia and pushed Riku away from her, "Lucrecia!" he said happily before embracing her tightly.
"V…Vinny?" she asked, sniffing, returning to her normal state of mind.
"Mommy, how could you?!" Sephiroth said accusingly to Lucrecia.
"What's going on?!" Riku screeched like a traumatized child. Then everyone except Vincent and Rufus started bickering.
Vincent watched them with his mouth agape. Rufus shook his head, patted Vinny's back and said, "Aren't you one big happy family?"
"I hate you," was all Vincent could say before turning back to Lucrecia. "Now, we can be together!" he said happily with a solemn look on his face.
"Yes, Vincent." She said happily.
"NO! Mommy! Vinny is mine!" Sephiroth argued, pulling Vincent away from his own mother.
"NO!" Lucrecia shrieked again, covering her ears and collapsing to the ground.
"Mommy! Please don't leave me!" Riku ran back to Vincent, hugging him tightly.
"I AM NOT YOUR MOMMY!" Vincent shrieked… and saw Rufus just standing in one corner of the room, staring at them blankly.
Vincent turned back to Riku.
Blue eyes.
Then back to Rufus.
Blue eyes.
Vincent smirked. "THAT'S YOUR REAL MOMMY!" he pointed at Rufus.
Rufus's eyes widened. "WHOT?!" he demanded, raising his eyebrow.
Riku began to sniffle. "H…how could you say that? Don't you love me anymore? You're disowning me already?!?!?" his eyes began to water.
Vincent, now having more hope, patted Riku's back. "It's not like that, Riku. I can't be your mommy, I've got red eyes. See?" he said, referring to his red peepers.
Riku sniffed, then turned to Rufus.
Rufus stepped back.
Sephiroth crossed his arms. "Vincent, don't be silly! You're his mommy! So what else are you going to say, that his other mommy is Cloud because Cloud's got blue eyes?" he challenged.
"No," Aerith snapped, crossing her arms. She was just standing in one corner, watching them silently with another little boy with brown hair.
Riku ran over to the boy, "WHEEE! Buddy!" he said happily as he ran to the boy with brown hair.
"Hey, Riku!" the boy greeted.
"And who's that?" Vincent asked, turning to Aerith curiously.
"Oh, this is Sora." She said proudly.
"I don't want to ask who he is…" Vincent muttered before turning back to Riku, "Hey, kid, I'm still talking to you," he said.
Riku turned back to his "mommy" with tear-stained eyes. "Yes, mommy," he said sadly.
"Don't call me that; I'm not your mommy… Rufus is your mommy," Vincent urged.
"Wh…what?" Riku asked.
"Yes! You have your daddy's hair, and you have Rufus's eyes!" Vincent said rather convincingly.
"NO!" Rufus snapped at him.
"Yes!" Vincent argued.
"He is definitely not my son. I don't even have a son yet!" Rufus argued.
"Oh, so you have a daughter?" Sephiroth asked curiously, turning to Rufus and then patting his shoulder, "Well then, we should let her meet my Riku. Who knows, they could be future lovers!" he said.
Rufus raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not yet even married, why would I even have a daughter? I don't have any children yet." he reasoned out.
"You know, Rufus, these days, you don't need to get married to have children." Sephiroth began.
"…" Rufus knew that it would be no use reasoning out with them.
"I don't believe you. My mommy really has long black hair. Mister Rufus has blonde hair! You're still my mommy no matter what happens!" Riku told Vincent before hugging him again.
"Oh no… please tell me that this isn't happening…" Lucrecia prayed out loud.
"Lucrecia," Vincent began, turning to her.
"Now, Vinny, we're reunited! Give me a big kiss!" Sephiroth embraced Vincent.
"NOOOOOO! My son is gay!!!" Lucrecia shrieked, the shriek causing Vincent's mind to blur…
***
Vincent gasped as he opened his eyes. It was dark.
"I… I'm alive?" he thought silently as he pushed off the lid of his coffin, rising up with wide eyes. He sighed heavily. "That was some dream…" he said softly, feeling his own cold hands. He felt so numb. "Good thing it was only a dream…" he thought silently before he decided to get some fresh air outside.
The moment he got out of the ShinRa Mansion, he kept on thinking about Lucrecia again as he began to take a walk around the small town. He passed by Tifa's house and saw her dusting the window. She waved a quick "hi" at him as she smiled. He smiled back and moved on.
A few blocks later, he passed by Cloud's house and saw him seated on his front porch with a thoughtful look on his face.
Cloud raised up his gaze to Vincent and raised his eyebrows at him as greeting.
Vincent smiled slightly at him as he went by, then when he turned away from Cloud and was already a few feet away from him, he thought he heard a child's voice telling Cloud, "Daddy, daddy! Mommy says that you should come inside now because breakfast is ready!"
And he heard Cloud reply, "Okay, Sora." And then, "Hey, Aerith, what's for breakfast?"
Vincent's eyes widened in shock before turning around again, but Cloud wasn't there anymore.
He frowned slightly and shrugged. "Must be my imagination…" he thought before he turned to leave, but stopped when he saw a silver-haired little boy seated on the side-walk…
"No… it's not really there… I'm seeing things… because the dream a while ago seemed so real and it's playing tricks on my mind already… I think I'd better go back to the ShinRa mansion and just read the paper and…" he stopped thinking when he saw the little boy turn to him and then smiled.
Vincent just screamed…
***
So was it a dream or not? ;-)
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Authors' notes: In case you're in a blur, Sora and Riku are from Kingdom Hearts. =)