Nibelheim is just as quiet as I remember it, well, nearly. There seems to be more people making friendly conversation, but still there is that air of silence which I think the town will always have, no matter what. It always has been that way.

Entering the town, I can see the formidable shadow of the mansion towards the back end of the town. I have never liked that mansion. Even when they went in there to look for Sephiroth (or so they said, I heard they found him in the library) I refused to go. I always remember that mansion, and I have never liked it. I can't explain how much I hate it.

Come to think of it, didn't they do something else in the mansion? I can't remember. My thoughts drift back to Aeris. Soon, Aeris, Cloud will be there and you can be reunited, at least for a while…

…Aeris… that was it!

"Who ever would have guessed? Yuffie bounces up, opens this coffin, and there's a guy in there! A pretty cute one, too. What luck! I bet Cloud was annoyed it wasn't some girl,"

Vincent was found in the Nibelheim mansion! That was the other thing that happened in there! Of course, when I think about it, it all starts to piece together the puzzle. Maybe that was where he had gone, back to the mansion. Not that anyone in their right mind would want to go back to that mansion, but… you never know. There was no harm in looking, was there? Dumping my gear into my house (seems rather fitting, doesn't it?) I run to the mansion, pushing open the gate and walking inside.

Just the air of suspense inside the mansion gives me the chills. To my left, I see a loose piece of paper on the ground. As always, curiosity overtakes me and I read it.

"What?" I exclaim in disgust. "Hojo, you're one sick-" I stop before I take a leaf out of Cid's book and angrily tear the note up, letting the pieces flutter half-heartedly to the ground. "The basement…" I muse aloud. "How would I get there?" There are many doors, as I step back into the centre of the room and look around. One to my left and one to my right, then a staircase leading to a higher level with one left, one right. I go up the staircase and go left, after choosing randomly which door to go through. In a room above me there is a safe, and then I remember something else which Aeris told me.

"We had to get a key out of the safe, then we went right, and there was a door hidden in a stone wall. Shinra must've been really cautious about the security of that project…"

So, the key would already be in the lock, hopefully. Besides, I think to myself, he can't exactly lock himself into the room again when the key's on the outside, right? I go out of the left room and follow the path to the right. Sure enough, against the far wall in the next room, I see a stone wall. I push on it, but nothing happens. Looking more closely, I see a slight indent in one of the stones. I push on that, and the door opens, revealing a winding pathway down to the basement.

Once leaving the winding pathway, I look down the corridor. To my surprise, there is a door to the north, almost obscured by shadows. I go down cautiously and notice that there is a small key in the lock. This must be the coffin room that Aeris was talking about! I push open the door softly, half expecting to see Vincent staring at me like he did when I brought him the cup of tea the other day, but he isn't. There are coffins scattered around the room, but that isn't all. Making a slight face at the skulls that are glaring up at me, I look at each of the coffins, which one would it be?

Suddenly, the middle one seems to stand out. It looks slightly different, I don't know. Something about it. Hesitating for only a split second, I then grasp onto the coffin lid and gently pull it off, before I gasp.

Here he is. But unlike before, as both Yuffie and Aeris mentioned how he immediately woke up when Cloud disturbed him, he is fast asleep. His hair is tousled from sleep, although obviously not from movement, and his ebony hair is spread out, gently fanned out like an angel's. His right arm is resting on his stomach, while the prosthetic claw is by his side. He looks so peaceful, even more so then when I saw him sleeping back at Kalm. Perhaps sleep is the only time that he can truly be at peace. Or perhaps not.

I don't have the heart to wake him. And for what, anyway? As I am about to leave, he suddenly sits bolt upright as though somebody electrocuted him, his crimson eyes looking at me intently.

"Tifa? What are you doing here?"

As opposed to the usual monotone he uses, quiet and toneless, his entire voice sounds almost different, richer, and more expressive.

"I could ask the same for you," I counter. He raises a fine eyebrow, before springing from a lying position to a keeling position with the blink of an eye, and then does an elegant flip backwards, landing on the edge of the coffin. Something I didn't notice before was that he is wearing clothes both different from when he was in AVALANCHE and when he was staying in Kalm. A long-sleeved black (now, why doesn't that surprise me?) turtleneck over black pants. Again, the cape isn't there, this time replaced with a long coat, but not leather this time. He must have a thing for long black coats. I don't blame him. They look nice on him. I mean… they look nice. Arg.

"What do you think I am doing?" His voice is gentle, much nicer and friendlier, more... human. Which totally goes against everything I believe of him, but there isn't a better way to describe it. Although his tone is almost probing. "I was told to stay away from you, and that I am doing. Your presence makes it most difficult for me to continue doing such, however,"

That would explain his sudden departure. It would also explain… anger swells in me. Cloud lied to me! I shake my head, trying to clear the thoughts. I am an adult, not a child. There is no point getting worked up over something so foolish. Even still, the fact that Cloud lied to me makes me trust him less. Come to think of it, he was looking a little unsure when he said what he did back in Kalm.

"Well, that was news to me. He told me that you left to get away from me,"

"In a way, I did,"

Those words hit me like a blow. You don't say that! Even if you hate me, do you have to be so brutally honest? I can't stop the mixed, hurt emotions from appearing on my face, and he shakes his head.

"Not in the way that you are thinking. I… In a dream, I was told that I bear a curse. And I don't want to have that happen to you, Tifa," He was sounding slightly flustered, another extremely un-Vincent trait. "No matter what I do, the ones that I love always suffer. I came to Nibelheim to get away from hurting anybody anymore,"

"You're running away," My own voice is wobbly, which is hopefully a un-Tifa trait, although I'm not sure as of late. "Just closing your eyes won't make it all go away. You should know that by now,"

Now I have to say that I could never win an argument with my father when he was alive. I had originally put it down to the generation, but considering that Vincent is technically around the same age, he must have lost the 'argument skills' that so many people in that era possessed, or maybe he just cannot summon up the energy to argue. Either way, he doesn't, simply agreeing with me all the way.

"I know. That was the only reason I thought that doing this would not be the right thing," He waved his right hand at the coffin.

And another thing I have to mention, my father was a great person, but I can guarantee he wouldn't look this handsome at this age. Even though the atmosphere is so serious, I put a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle. He looks sternly over at me, and that takes away any lightening of the atmosphere that there could have been. Perhaps he has retained some of his 'that-generation' skills after all.

"Tifa, please go. I do not want to hurt you,"

"Is that a threat?" I demand. He looks at me again, crimson eyes so serious, but deep in them I can see a faint glimmer of pain.

"No. It is simply the truth. They say that love evokes chaos. Yet the chaos is closer then you know…"