Healing
Chapter 3
It was far more work to be done on the mansion than Rei had said. The whole basement was rebuilt. Proper floors, walls and ceilings were made. The room in the back, Hojo's old office, were made into a small, but very efficient lab. The outer room with the makotanks turned into a well-lit, sterile surgical room.
The small room where Vincent had laid in stasis served well as a storage room.
Figuring they would never get patients down the old half-rotten staircase, they installed an elevator.
Basically, the old, vile lab was turned into a sterile, modern research- and surgical ward.
One day while the two were working they had a visitor. It was around dinnertime. Vincent was down in the basement while Rei was making dinner. She felt somewhat competitive towards the ex-turk when it came to cooking. He turned out to be a great cook, so she tried to outclass him, often failing miserably. Sure, it was still edible, but it certainly didn't melt in your mouth like Vincent's food did.
//Now you pay for living on ramen and take-out for so long. Just hope that this doesn't result in food-poisoning.//
She was checking on the lasagna she was making when she heard someone out in the hall.
"Hello? Vincent, are you here?" a female voice called.
Rei made her way out of the kitchen and out to the hall. The first thing she saw was very long, rich dark brown hair.
From one day a few years earlier when Rei had found her first gray hair, she had been a little ashamed of her own hair, and quickly dyed it to the dark red color that it was now. And the fact that it didn't seem to get any longer than just below the shoulders didn't help either.
She felt quite jealous, and it didn't get any better as she looked at the rest of the young woman who owned the hair.
She had a curvy figure with long, shapely legs, clad in a thin summer dress. Just the kind of figure that Rei had gotten jealous of in her late teens.
//…and you still are.// she thought as she addressed the brunette to get her attention.
"Can I help you?"
"Eh..? Yes, I'm looking for Vincent." The brunette answered, looking surprised to find Rei there.
"He's in the basement right now, but he should be coming up soon. Would ya like to have anything to drink while ya wait?"
"Sure."
Rei could see the wheels turning inside the woman's head as she tried to figure out who she was. She had to fight a smirk that were threatening to sneak up on her lips.
"Ice tea ok?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry but… who are you?"
"The name's Rei Desai. I own the house."
She extended her hand to the brunette.
"I'm Tifa."
"You were with AVALANCHE right?" Rei asked as she led her to the kitchen. "Oh, and please excuse the mess. We're rebuilding."
"Yeah, that's how I know him. We found him here in the basement. So how do you know him?"
"Well, when I bought the house and came to inspect it, he sorta held me at gunpoint." Rei grinned as she poured two glasses of ice tea and gestured to Tifa to sit down at the table.
"I don't mind him living here though. He helps me out with the work." She continued.
"It's amazing how much you've done with the place. I mean, it's been falling apart for as long as I can remember."
"You should see the basement. Vincent's painting the last of now."
"Correction, I am done painting the last of it."
Hearing Vincent's familiar voice Tifa quickly turned around.
There stood Vincent like she had never seen him before. His usual black and red attire was missing and replaced by old worn jeans and a faded blue shirt. His hair was pulled back in a tight braid, and as if to make his look complete, he was splattered in various colors of paint.
Tifa just stared at him for a few seconds. This was the first time that she had actually seen his face. She found that strange, considering that they had traveled all around the world for over two years in AVALANCHE. But the again, he always had his hair falling into his eyes and the folds of his red cloak pulled up to his nose.
"Oh my God, I hardly recognized you!" she nearly shrieked. "That look really suits you" she added with a teasing smile.
"Now now Tifa, there's no need to be sarcastic."
Tifa thought she must be dreaming. //Did he just smile at me? I thought he never smiled.//
"By the way Tifa, would you like to stay for dinner? I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do." Rei asked.
"Well, I was actually here to ask Vincent if he would like to eat with me and Cloud if he was here. We just came back to town last night."
"I suggest that you bring Cloud up here for dinner, and then we could all eat at your house tomorrow." Vincent suggested.
"Sounds great! I'll go get him." Quickly finishing her ice tea, she ran out the door to get the fearless leader of AVALANCHE.
About ten minutes later, Tifa barged in through the front doors, dragging Cloud behind her.
"I'm telling you, you have to see it for yourself. It's unbelievable!" she laughed. "Vincent? Can you come here for a sec?"
"What is it?" the dark, somber voice made them look up the stairs as Vincent made his way down.
"Hiya Vincent." Cloud said before looking back to Tifa. "What are you talking about? He looks like he always has."
"But… he's changed. I swear!"
"Is something the matter?" Vincent asked. He had indeed found time to wash up and change his clothes before the two of them came, and had decided to joke with Tifa. No one had really noticed it, but he did have a sense of humor.
"Well… were you dressed in old clothes and were splattered with paint earlier today?"
The dark gunman raised an eyebrow at that.
"Could you really imagine me looking like that?"
"That's what I thought. I heard something about dinner. Is it ready yet?"
"It should be. Just wait in the dining room."
The pair did as he said. As they walked through the door, Vincent couldn't help but to chuckle softly when he heard Tifa trying to defend herself.
"But I swear! He even had a braid!"
During dinner Rei filled Cloud and Tifa in on her plans to turn the old mansion into a hospital. She figured that it would be a good idea if she could deal with people who had been in accidents and such. The upper east wing would be used for patients who had to stay the night.
But the basement was done and the supplies that she had ordered from Junon would arrive within a week. That meant it was time for Rei to figure out what to do with Vincent's claw.
A/N
Heheeh… I really have to draw the paint splattered Vincent someday. ^_^
Btw, is anyone reading this? Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top, review.
