She wasn't there. He ran back to the chocobo farm, scouring the area. There was nothing.

Wait. What was that smell?

Blood. Then he saw it.

A flock of chocobos, all dead. He frowned, examining the bodies, before going over to where he had killed the monster.  

A pool of blood. That was right. What wasn't right, however, was the upturned dirt near the pool of blood. He looked closer at the ground.

There had been a struggle here.

He immediately reconstructed the events.

There had been a person. They had struggled in the creature's grasp. Then what had happened…?

Tifa… no…

"I am going to kill this creature," Cloud Strife swore to the clouds and the moon above him. "Whatever it is, for hurting Tifa it will pay with its life,"    

*~*

I am pouring myself a cup of tea to keep myself awake with only five hours sleep when the door bangs open, and a troubled looking Cloud comes in. Once he sees me, however, he rushes over and wraps me into a hug so tight I can hardly breathe.

"Oh, Tifa, Tifa," he whispers into my ear, stroking my cheek the way you would stroke a beloved pet. "I thought you were dead,"

Even knowing he is meaning well, I flinch. His tight grip is aggravating the wounds on my arms, his close contact stirring the cuts on my legs. "Cloud, I love the attention, but you're hurting me,"

He pulls away immediately, concern shining in his mako-blue eyes, then anger as he sees the wounds on my bare arms. Before I can think of anything else to say to him about the wounds and where they came from, my mouth has already opened and telling him something. A totally useless 'something', I might add.

"Nothing serious, I just scratched myself cleaning,"

Geez, Tifa, go for the lame lying award, I think bitterly to myself. Nobody would fall for that. No-one at all.

"Rubbish, Tifa. Did you get attacked by that monster in the meadow?" he asks; a faint hint of urgency in his voice. Again, my mouth opens before I can think of a suitable reply.

"No, don't be ridiculous! I told you what happened. Don't bother me so much, Cloud. I'm not a child. I can look after myself,"

I pull away from him before he can say anything else, and storm upstairs. It was about time I checked up on Vincent, anyway.

I could have sworn that I heard him say something as I went upstairs, but I wouldn't have a clue as to what it was.

*~*

She was lying to him. He didn't understand why.

Why would you protect the monster that attacks you? He thought distantly to himself, rubbing his head.

He watched her storm upstairs. He hadn't meant to hurt her.

"Tifa, if you're helping a monster, then don't expect me to side with you," he said softly as she left the room.

I'll do my job. My job is monster hunting. I want to keep my job. I hunt the monster until it dies. Easy.

Although it should have died before, but to be certain, I'll go out again tonight. Just to make sure.

One family is one too many. That monster is going to pay with its life.

*~*

Usually he was good with coping with emotional pain. Not this time. Chaos' laugh echoed in his head as he tried desperately to stem the tears. It wasn't that there were a lot of them.

It hurt so much to cry. He hated it. Crying was human, which meant he couldn't do it. He wasn't allowed by his own damned morals. Damned in both senses of the word.

*Damn right, Valentine,* Chaos snickered. *No pun intended,* the demon added with an evil chuckle.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps echo up the landing and realised with a start that somebody, probably Tifa, was coming. He tried to regain his composure. It would do nothing for either of them to have him break down in a broken mess.

Although that was what he really wanted to do.

A brunette head slowly peered around the door, and seeing that he was awake, started.

"Look, Vincent, I-I'm sorry, I thought you would be asleep, I didn't mean to disturb you… I just brought you some tea…" she came in and hastily put the mug of tea on the bedside table carelessly enough for a little to spill down the sides of the cup. Her claret eyes shone with apology. "I'll go now… here's your tea…"

"Thank-you," he said softly to the door closing behind him, turning to look at the mug and the small puddle of tea around the base of it, sensing a familiar feeling of depression come over him. She's so scared of me that she hurried to get away from me… do people really see me as that intimidating? Of course, it was a rhetorical question, because he already knew the answer.

"You deserved everything I gave you…"

"You don't call yourself a monster…"

"I can't believe I ever loved you…"

"Can't I just get away from this?" Vincent whispered to the ceiling desperately.

He drank the tea, before leaving quietly, fully clothed, of course, clothes washed courtesy of Tifa again. Before leaving, however, he did leave a note on the bedside table. He wasn't that ungrateful, as opposed to what people thought. He had to go.

As confirmation, Chaos roared in his head, the sound reverberating in his skull. He knew what Chaos' roar meant.

There was going to be blood spilt tonight…

Kurmoi. (Long story…) Anyway, hope you enjoy. :)