"So how the #$% are we supposed to get down there?!"

"........"

The pair of them peered down the vast snowy slope, which in all honesty was more like an outwardly sloping cliff-face. It was for hardcore snowboarders, but not only were Cid and Vincent not hardcore snowboarders, they didn't even have a board between them to try.

Cid was about to speak when a kid behind them pelted him in the back of the head with a snowball.

Piff!

"#$%! #$%in' kids!" He brandished his fist at the kids who were running away laughing.

Vincent smirked.

"What the #$% are you laughing at, Valentine?" Cid demanded.

"I'm not laughing. I'm smirking." Vincent said.

Cid grumbled something incoherent, probably rude words, as he rubbed the snow out of his hair.

"Right, now we gotta find a way to get do-"

Piff!

Cid got pelted by an even bigger snowball.

"Why won't these kids leave me the #$% alone?!" He shouted. He stooped angrily and grabbed up a load of snow and started hurling it violently in chunks at the now screaming kids. "#$% OFF!" He yelled, pelting the kids hard until they ran away, crying.

Cid chuckled darkly in that gravelly voice of his, his burning cig still firmly planted in his mouth.

Vincent shook his head.    

"Right, for the last #$%in' time, how are w-"

PIFF!

Cid sort of went "AAAaagggghhh..." as he rolled down the steep slope.

"CID!" Vincent shouted, not knowing what to do. He turned around sharply to see one of the kids' older brothers armed with gigantic snowballs. One of them had knocked Cid down the slope.

"What have you done?!" Vincent shouted. "You idiots! W-"

Vincent didn't get to finish his sentence, as a flying giant snowball easily knocked his slight weight down the slope as well.

"That'll teach 'em!" Said the burly older brother. "NO ONE throws snowballs back at the Icicle Inn kids and gets away with it!"

Vincent opened his eyes slowly, as he regained consciousness. He lay still, unthinking for a moment, as his mind came back to him. He could only see white, and he was very cold.

He tried to get up, but a weight was holding him down. After a moment of confused struggling, he realised the warm weight on top of him was Cid.

"Cid..." Vincent mumbled, trying to wake up the unconscious pilot. "Cid... wake up..."

Cid wouldn't wake up.

Vincent just managed to twist around underneath him so that he was lying on his back, and he lifted Cid's head with his claw. Cid's face was almost blue with cold, and frosty snow was stuck to his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. He wouldn't last long in this cold...

Cid had landed in the snow first, but when Vincent had landed and couldn't come to yet, Cid had lain over him to keep him warm until he woke up. Acting selflessly, Cid had passed out from the cold...

"Come on, Cid..." Vincent murmured as he put effort into rolling Cid off of him. "I've got to get you out of here..." He stood up, looking around to get his bearings. It was a snowy wasteland, and a cold blizzard was blowing snow into his eyes. Cid was going to get hypothermia if he stayed here much longer...

It's quite amazing what determination, desperation and compassion for another human being can drive the body and mind to overcome. Vincent normally would not be able to lift the much heavier Cid due to the thinness and lack of muscle in his own body, but his concern for Cid's life made him take off his own cloak, wrap Cid up in it and pick up the pilot, carrying on his back him through the snowy wastelands for the best part of two hours.

Cid woke for a few moments every now and then, and saw that Vincent was carrying him, and he was wrapped in Vincent's cloak. Vincent was only wearing a shirt. He must have been freezing...

But on and on Vincent walked, under the heavy weight, on into the ever freezing blizzards.

"Like, I hope Cloud's okay. That guy Mr Holzoff says he's still asleep in there. I wish I could speak to him to find out what the hell's going on... Like, where's Aeris? He said he found her." Yuffie complained, hopping up and down to dispel the cold.

"I do not know." Said Red XIII, quietly. I feel like something is not quite right."

"Yeah, and where's Cid and Vincent? They're late. I hope nothing happened to 'em..." Cait Sith said, looking out behind them at the vast expanses of wasteland.

"Well, at least we won't have to listen to that old fart swearing so much all the time..." Yuffie muttered, folding her arms and kicking at a mound of snow with her sneaker. "And it's not as if Vincent's a valuable member of the team, is he? Still, it's a shame, all that materia... lost..." She sighed.

Cait Sith threw his megaphone at her. "Hey! That ain't nice!"

Yuffie dodged it easily. "Okay, okay... I was just kidding! Gawd, can't you guys take a joke?"

Red growled and sat down, his fiery tail flicking in annoyance. "You should have more respect, Yuffie."

"Yeah yeah... whatever..." Yuffie rolled her eyes and looked out at the snowy blizzards behind them. Boy, was she glad to have it behind her, and not in front.

As her eyes roved over the endless whiteness, she stopped dead, frowning.

"Um... guys, what's that over there?"

"I don't see anythin'..." Cait Sith said, shading his eyes dramatically as he followed her gaze.

Red paced forward and squinted. "Where..." His eyes rested upon a figure staggering towards them in the distance, very slowly.

"It... it's Vince!" Yuffie cried. "What's wrong with him? Is that Cid he's carrying on his back?!"

Just as the others saw who it was clearly, the distant figure of Vincent collapsed into the snow.

For all of Yuffie's careless talk before, she was the first one to run over to them.

"Hey, are you guys okay?! Oh my GAWD... RED! CAIT SITH! GET OVER HERE!"

The wolf-lion and the toy cat immediately ran over as fast as they could, surveying the scene.

Vincent was lying face down in the snow, fainted with the cold and exhaustion. Cid was lying on top of him, from where Vincent had struggled on, carrying the heavier pilot on his back. Cid was still wrapped in Vincent's cloak.

"Come on, we gotta get these guys to Mr. Holzoff's, quick!"

Somehow between them, Yuffie and Red managed to drag Cid over to Mr Holzoff's house whilst Cait Sith's giant Moogle scooped Vincent up in it's arms and followed them over to the house.

"Uurrrgh."

"He's waking up!"

"Unnngh... where am I...." Cid groaned.

"Cid! We were worried about you!"

"Vin..? What the #$% happened, Vin? The kids, the snowballs... then I fell..."

"Oh my GAWD, he's gone crazy in the head... must be the cold I guess..."

Cid frowned. "Oh my Gawd"?? Didn't sound like Vin...

"Like, helLOOO! Is anyone home?"

Cid's eyes snapped open. "The #$%?! Brat?! Where the #$%'s Vin?" He sat up quickly and groaned, grabbing his head as it flooded with pain.

"Brat?!" Yuffie crowed. "I totally save your sorry lives, and you call me a brat?! You miserable old fart! I'm totally going to ignore you now!" She stood up with a huff and left the room.

Cid grunted. He was about to lie down again when he thought of Vincent. "Shit! Vin! Where is he?!" He started to look around in panic before he saw Vincent sleeping peacefully somewhere beside him on the big fluffy rug by the fireplace.

Cid smiled with relief, and then remembered what he could about their fall from the slope. He'd fallen first, and Vincent had landed soon after, but had been knocked out. Cid was too shaky himself to carry Vincent around in the cold, so he'd decided to lie over him to keep him warm until he woke up.

Silly move really, because the cold gradually ate away at Cid until he passed out.

Then, a blank... just a couple of vague recollections of being carried by Vincent through the snow, wrapped in Vincent's cloak...

He sighed, shaking his head as he looked at Vincent's pale face, framed by his ebony hair spread around his head on the rug like a corona.

After he'd risked his life to keep Vincent warm in the snow, Vincent had repaid the favour tenfold by giving up his cloak and carrying him, the heavier one, for hours... He seriously could have died doing that. Or could he..? No one knew if Vincent actually could die. But he had risked it, and he had paid for it. 

Cid smiled down at the sleeping face beside him, lightly running his fingers down Vincent's cheek. "Stupid idiot..." He whispered, somewhat fondly. He leant down and placed a light kiss on the pale lips that were slowly warming up.

Vincent's eyes slowly fluttered open, and focused on Cid after a moment's confusion.

"Cid... you're okay..." Vincent murmured.

"Yeah, and so are you, thank god." Cid smiled. "What you did back there in the snow... it was really stupid, y'know. ... And brave. Thanks..."

Vincent smiled at him.

"But!" Cid continued. "I don't ever want you to do anything like that again, okay?"

"Okay." Vincent said quietly, smiling up at Cid.

They remained like that for a while, Cid leaning his face over Vincent's; the pair of them just gazing at the other, their features lit up by the golden red glow of the quietly crackling fire.

The spell was broken by Yuffie bursting in, and Cid threw himself off Vincent in a panic, sitting up straight and trying his best to look like he'd been nowhere near Vincent.

It wasn't a very convincing attempt, and Yuffie stopped what she was halfway through saying to give him a very strange look.

Vincent was looking at Yuffie with wide, blinking eyes. She'd walked in on them, just as they were going to kiss...

"Um, are you guys... okay?" She asked, looking first at Cid, then at Vincent.

"Yeah, yeah, we're, um, great, yeah - great." Cid nodded enthusiastically. "Vince here just woke up and I was, uh, seeing if he's okay." He looked at Vincent. "You okay, Vince?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Great in fact." Vincent nodded at him, then at Yuffie.

Although somewhat fixedly, he smiled.

Yuffie blinked. She'd never seen Vincent smile. 'Something weird's going on here...' She thought.

"Right... well I'm glad you're okay..." She said offhandedly. "I was gonna say, Cloud's already here. He was here with Tifa and Barret well before any of us got here... they're resting upstairs."

Cid frowned. "They're already here...? Speaking of which, how did you get here so quick? We left for Icicle Inn the minute Cloud phoned us when we were back in Gongaga. We should have been the first ones here?"

Yuffie laughed at him. "You really ARE  an old fart! You set off before any of us, and you're the last one here?"

Cid snorted. "You must be deaf. Cloud said to meet here at the base of the cliff in three days, and it's been exactly that."

Yuffie groaned and slapped her hand over her eyes. "He said TWO days, you stupid old man!"

Cid was taken aback. "#$% off! He said three da-" He paused. Vincent looked at him questioningly from his lying down position on the rug.

Cid groaned. "#$%. Two days. TWO days... the kid's right. I- HEY! Stupid old man?!? Get the #$% over here so I can kick your ass!!" Cid got up and made to storm over to Yuffie, who yelped and fled from the room. He growled, shaking his head.

Vincent sat up and stretched. He felt very warm now. "So... it was two days?"

Cid sighed and sat next to him again. "Yeah. I remember now." He sighed. "Maybe the brat's right, maybe I am gettin' old..."

Vincent laughed softly. "Don't be silly. How old are you?"

"Thirty two..."

"Thirty two? That's not old at all. You're in your prime, Cid."

Cid grinned. "I'm older than you, pal."

"Are you so sure?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah I'm sure! I mean look at you, you can't be a day over twenty six."

Vincent smiled faintly. "Twenty seven, actually, before... before Hojo changed me."

Cid frowned. "How... long ago was that?" He asked slowly.

"Let's see..." Vincent sighed. "Sephiroth was not yet born... what is he now, thirty? So that makes me..."

"Fifty seven?!" Cid said incredulously.

"Yes. Fifty seven." Vincent smiled. There was not a wrinkle or grey hair to be seen on his perfect face.

"#$%... you gotta tell me what face cream you use. I gotta get me some of that!" Cid exclaimed.

"Does my age bother you?" Vincent asked, alluding to Cid's kissing him.

"No... not at all..." Cid replied honestly. "So... your body clock stopped at twenty seven? So you can't age?"

"That's right."

"Wow..." Cid smiled. "So that's why you're so mature, huh!"

Vincent lowered his head. "You make my condition sound like a good thing..."

Cid grabbed Vincent's lowered chin and raised it again to stare into his eyes. "Hey. Don't go all angsty on me again. I told you. You've got to stop thinking of yourself like that. Right?"

Vincent looked into Cid's kind blue eyes and smiled faintly. Why was just looking into Cid's eyes making his heart feel like it was swelling against his ribcage? He closed his eyes and Cid's arms folded about him, pulling him close.

He nestled his face in the crook of Cid's neck, and let the pilot's warmth soothe away all his fears, if only for those few moments. It was so tender; that embrace.  

I can't remember if I realised it then, but I loved him. Right at that moment, in that embrace. So warm and full of tenderness... I had never experienced love before. Not so... unconditional.

Just the way he held me tight... my face buried in his neck. His strong arms holding me tightly to him and making me feel so secure...

Our closeness seemed to grow deeper and deeper with each passing minute. The more we were in each other's company, the more we talked, the more we bonded as people, and our feelings for each other became deeper.

Really, it was a first for both of us in many ways, as not only had neither of us experienced such a true bond before but also because neither of us had ever considered being romantically involved with another male. Not that this bothered us of course, we were beyond that. Our relationship with each other soared past all such petty taboos as gender or sexuality. We were just two people who cared deeply for each other, and that was all that mattered.

"Thank you so much... for saving me back there, Vin." Cid murmured, still holding Vincent tight.

Vincent squeezed Cid back. "I couldn't do anything else... I couldn't have left you there..."

Cid released Vincent slowly, and sat back. His eyes shone. "Y'know, Vin... you mean so much to me. I-"

Cid was cut off by Cait Sith opening the door. Cid and Vincent both turned to look at the cat.

"Are you guys ready? We're takin' off for the cliffs in a few, Cloud's awake and he's talkin' to Mr Holzoff upstairs. See ya outside!" With that, the toy cat left again, closing the door behind him.

Cid and Vincent looked at each other, Cid sighed. "Well, Vin... looks like we gotta be more careful from now on, huh? Our little holiday's over..."

Vincent nodded. He knew what Cid meant. They couldn't be caught out kissing or embracing each other; not yet at any rate.

"Regrettable..." Said Vincent, smiling grimly. "I was just getting used to it, Highwind..."

Cid grinned. "Come on." He stood up and offered Vincent a hand, pulling him to his feet. "You'll be needin' this back." He picked up Vincent's cape and fastened it around Vincent's shoulders, doing up the catches. "There."

Vincent smiled a little and responded by buttoning up Cid's jacket and plumping up the scarf around his neck. "You should keep this buttoned up, in this weather..."

Cid groaned. "Vin... I hate this buttoned up. What are you, my #$%ing mother?" He laughed.

Vincent smiled, and checked that all his things were prepared. "Let's go."

They were all waiting outside when Cloud emerged from the house.

He looked tired... so worn down.

It was only once they had started off for the cliffs that Barret had come down to each member of the team to explain what had happened...

That Aeris had died.

Each person reacted differently. Neither Cloud nor Tifa could bring themselves to talk about it, and they took solace with each other.

As Barret told each of them with a heavy heart, hating to have to keep repeating the horrible words over and over again, he had to bear the brunt of the more emotional reactions.

Yuffie burst into tears and collapsed into Barret's arms, sobbing. Cid remembered seeing her shoulders shake with the sobs, and he felt kinda sick.

He told Cid and Vincent next... Cid felt his eyes fill up with tears, although they never fell. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, his lips tight around his ever burning cig. That poor girl... she was so sweet and innocent... so pure. What heartless bastard could bring himself to lay a finger on someone like that...

Sephiroth, that's who.

Vincent had merely closed his eyes. Lucrecia's son... he had struck again. There was no denying it now... Sephiroth had to die. But now, Vincent realized he would feel no hesitation upon pulling that final trigger.

For Aeris.

Cid looked at him when Barret had moved on, rubbing his eyes briskly to get rid of the tears that were forming.

"#$%... This is so #$%ing horrible. I can't believe it..."

Vincent just stood there, stoically, looking into the distance.

Cid shook his shoulder. "Vince!" Vincent didn't react. His face was cold and emotionless, just like it used to be when Cid first met him.

"Vince, don't go all cold on me, not now!" Cid cried. "Say something! Aren't you sad?!"

Vincent looked at him, and there was something akin to pain in his eyes. "No." He said simply. He was looking at Cid strangely, almost as if he was examining the pilot's reaction to the terrible news of Aeris' death.

"But why?!" Cid asked desperately.

"Because..." Vincent sighed. "You've taught me to be happy, you've taught me to care. You haven't taught me to be sad yet." With that, Vincent walked off in the direction of the others who were starting up the cliff.

Cid didn't get to talk to Vincent for a long time after that. Because Vincent had wandered off ahead, as if he was offended by Cid's emotional question of why the hell didn't Vincent feel anything for the poor dead flower girl.

Cid wound up with Barret and Yuffie for companions, while Vincent had caught up with and joined Cloud and Tifa.

Cid hated it; being apart from Vincent and being on uncomfortable terms with him. He found himself getting angry and really sticking it to the monsters that pestered them constantly as they slowly scaled the cliff. Neither Barret nor Yuffie were very cheerful either, because of the death of Aeris still hanging over them like a pall.

Cid felt ashamed at himself many a time as they moved on up the cliff, because more often than not he found himself thinking more about Vincent being strange with him than about Aeris. 

But the more he tried to make himself think of Aeris out of guilt, the more he found that it wasn't affecting him as much as he thought it was.

He felt terrible for it.

'But you really didn't know her all that well... or for very long. And there was you giving poor Vin a hard time about it... you know how hard it is for him to show emotion.' Cid rebuked himself.

Oh dear. What a mess he was in now...

A couple of days traveling up the cliff, and Cid was well and truly fed up. He was hungry and only had his meagre travel supplies purchased from Icicle Inn to keep him going. He was tired and cold and longed for the nice warm bed he'd left behind in the snowy village... He was missing Vincent's strong silent company and was wondering what he'd say to him when they got to talk again.

He'd apologise first, that was straight off. He wanted to get this stupid mission over and done with so he could relax.

Eventually, the Gaea Cliffs were conquered and the incident with Cloud and Sephiroth occurred in the North Crater...

Cloud retrieved the black materia at last from Sephiroth, only to give it back to him later whilst under the control of Sephiroth's powerful will.

Even Shinra had turned up, believing the North Crater at the end of Gaea's Cliffs to be the promised land.

But as soon as Cloud had handed over the black materia to Sephiroth again, Sephiroth had immediately began to summon Meteor...

This was when the emergency call of the planet had awoken the Weapons, who had been sleeping deep inside the crater for many thousands of years. Sensing the threat to their planet, they awoke with thunderous rage and tore free of their moorings, all but collapsing the crater in on itself.

President Rufus, in a show of seeming kindness, took all of AVALANCHE aboard the Highwind airship (named after it's former Shinra pilot, Cid) and they had all escaped safely from the chaos that was ensuing in the North Crater.

All but Cloud...

Well, that's all for this week. sorry this chapter wasn't all that interesting, but I've found myself trudging along with the story of the game, and that's just what I didn't want to do when I started this, so expect a bit of a leap forward into the plot in the next chapter.

By the way, in case you ain't noticed, I fixed the formatting of these two offending chapters. Hurrah!