Today's my birthday!

However, I've decided to give you all a present and update again with another new chapter!

I still can't apologize enough for my amazing disappearing act... n.n;; Hope I'm forgiven, and I hope you're all still with me!

Eri, thanks for the review! My first in forever... =) Your support is amazingly appreciated.

Frustration

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Aerith winced at the loud echoes reverberating through the crypt at her knock. To try and dull the echoing noise, she spoke quietly in the meantime. "Vincent, please wake up and open this. I need to speak to you."

Scarlet eyes popped open in the dark and Vincent considered the inside of the lid of his coffin, staring blankly at it before he slowly sat up, opening the coffin as he moved. "How may I help you... Miss Gainsborough?" Crimson eyes regarded her coldly, indifferently.

Aerith glared at him for a long moment before tilting her chin up imperiously, her outraged tone a mask over her continually bleeding hurt. "Don't give me that, Mr. Valentine, I am not the one who should be regarding the other warily." Without warning, Aerith leaned forward and embraced him firmly, hanging onto him for all she was worth.

Vincent regarded her with real surprise, staring blankly down at a head of loose curls. He had no idea what she was up to. "What are you doing, Aerith?"

Aerith sighed. She was optimistic above all, and assumed he'd understand eventually. For now, she raised her head to glare at him before returning to her odd, unexpected embrace. "What does it look like, Vincent?"

He tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling before briefly closing crimson eyes. "It looks to me like you're holding a demon."

"You don't look close enough. It was always a shortfall of yours, but that is all right." Aerith sighed, suddenly becoming aware of how cold the stone floor was to her knees, how the edge of Vincent's coffin bit into her midsection. Simultaneously, she realized it didn't matter to her. Physical pain was nothing to what she'd go through if she didn't finish this with Vincent now. "If you call yourself devil, then I call myself broken spirit, for I do not know what I am anymore."

"Do you know what Hojo did to me? He made me a demon, Aerith. He made me what I am, and despite all that, I still failed... her..." Vincent lowered his eyes, staring at steel-tipped boots. He refused to look up at her. "Aerith, you have always been an angel. No fragmented spirit... just purely and truly an angel, one designed to save this wretched planet."

Aerith outstretched one hand, two fingers lightly taking his chin in hand and forcing him to meet her fierce gaze. One auburn brow rose in an indignant crescent above fair-glowing emerald eyes. "There is no angel in me to match the demon in you, Vincent, and that does not bother me one whit. You call yourself a demon, and I've seen what you can become. So what?"

Crimson eyes lit slightly, almost hopefully, but it was such a fleeting emotion that Aerith knew she must have imagined it. He sighed and, in the end, only turned his head and looked away. "Cloud loves you, Aerith. He wanted you back, but he felt it would be impossible, that there was no way to get you back. I didn't go to the lake to prove him wrong or to make you love me. I went to the lake so I could see your eyes alive again."

Aerith smiled crookedly, lowering her arm and wringing her hands together anxiously. She knew, deep within herself, what it must have cost Vincent to say something like that. It was no wonder he couldn't look at her. She lowered jade eyes, watching her fingers twist together before she compulsively pulled them away, repeating the process agitatedly. She spoke softly, as if she didn't wish to disturb his pain. "And so they are, Vincent... but you must understand that Cloud cannot love me wholly. He gave a part of his heart to Tifa long ago, and I couldn't ask either of them to make a sacrifice for me. It would be easier for them to think that I am still dead."

Vincent shook his head stubbornly. "Aerith, you do yourself a discredit. You lit up everyone's lives two years ago, including Tifa's. Cloud wasn't just furious when you died, he was depressed. I know he must have suffered from nightmares of the same type as I, for he was restless and sleep- deprived for the rest of the journey, and after he had defeated Sephiroth." A sigh escaped past his lips before he finished, "He may have given part of his heart away, but it doesn't mean he can't love you."

Aerith dropped her hands away and shook her head emphatically, emerald eyes alight with unspilled tears. "I cannot ask him to make a decision that would potentially hurt Tifa, even if she would feign happiness for he and I." She straightened slightly to meet Vincent's gaze squarely. "I don't want to have to ask if he can love me."

"He can, and does." A slight, misplaced smile struggled to Vincent's features. He looked as if he hadn't smiled in years... and in truth, he probably hadn't. Vermilion eyes betrayed him, however, searching hers deeply to seek the truth behind what she was telling him. In a moment of inspiration, he lightly rested his claw hand atop of hers, to see if she would recoil, if she would betray herself. "I want to see you happy, Aerith."

Aerith gazed stubbornly back, unmoving. She was unfazed by the metallic cold of his claw on her arm, purpose tensing every line of her slender frame. In fact, had he given her his real hand, she would have seized hold of it. "You wouldn't be happy if I went back to be with Cloud. Cloud wouldn't be happy if he had to leave Tifa. Tifa would try to hide it, but she wouldn't be happy without him."

"My happiness is of no consequence, Aerith. A man plagued by sin cannot be happy, even in sleep. Cloud will be happy. Tifa..." Vincent blinked, looking down at the floor. "She is strong she will pull through it."

They were at an impasse. Aerith found herself faced with the most frustrating wall imaginable, so she simply tilted her chin up, gazing at Vincent with a mixture of childish stubbornness and daring. "You cannot make me go back if it is my desire to not hurt Tifa."

"I'm sorry, Aerith. I don't deserve to be in your company, and you don't deserve to be stuck with me. I know Cloud is worthy of you, despite all his shortcomings." He gave her another slight smile, and again Aerith wondered at the toll this conversation was having on him. "I know you love him."

"I've been dead for two years!" Aerith scowled faintly, a new expression to her lovely features. She crossed her arms in a manner bespeaking absolute defiance, emerald hues sparkling with defiance. "None of you know anything."

Vincent simply shrugged. "Fair enough." He lay back down in his coffin, turning his body away from her. "Good night, Aerith."

She glared at him for a long moment as if she could burn a hole into his stubborn head just by looking. Finally she rose out of her crouch and slowly left the little hidden room, a pervading sense of sorrow wrapping around her. Steady, even strides carried her swiftly out of the manse. Rather than return to the bar, however, she settled on the stoop outside the Mansion, waiting to watch the sun peak, her bent knees held tightly.

Deep in the bowels of the building, Vincent sighed. He did not want to argue with her at all anymore. Once he was sure she'd left, the lid of his coffin rose unsteadily into the air and landed with a slam snugly onto the coffin. Vincent, alone now, went back to sleep.

Aerith wound alabaster arms around drawn-up legs, perching her chin on her knees. Emerald eyes fixed on a distant spot on the horizon as the weak light strengthened, growing almost intolerably sunny. She understood that Vincent hurt but she couldn't fathom why he seemed to think that made it reasonable for him to put others in pain. All she wished to do was help him quiet his demons. She sighed and lowered her head to her knees, miserable. And so she remained in that spot, watching the same area on the horizon, unmoving until the sun was fixed directly overhead.

Cloud found her there.

He'd gone for a walk, exhausted with listening to Tifa berate him for letting Aerith leave so soon and so unexpectedly. He'd hesitated in deciding where to go before strolling to the ShinRa mansion. He didn't think she'd be outside but there she was... Mako blue eyes dimmed with the sun's light, still glowing intensely as he looked down upon her. "Aerith..."

Aerith started suddenly, surprised out of her reverie. She looked about wildly, swiveling to look over her shoulder at the mansion. Sighing at its unresponsiveness, she turned back around slowly and lifted one hand, shading her eyes to look up at him. "Hey, Cloud. I'm... I'm sorry I left. I had to."

Cloud paused and looked at her for a long moment before smiling slightly. He wasn't going to be angry. He wasn't going to be cold. In fact, he wasn't even going to mention the prior night's events. He would be calm and collected... he hoped. "Were you up all night, Aerith?" His head tilted to the side slightly, questioningly, before he reached out for her hand.

Aerith shrugged and unfurled from her tightly wound position, stretching out her hand to take his. She borrowed his strength to pull herself to her feet. "Most of it, and now, most of the day." She smiled almost wryly, raising her free hand to rake back through loose, disheveled locks.

"Come on..." His hand grasped hers more firmly, tightening. He slowly guided her back to the Seventh Heaven. "You're going to get some rest."

Aerith frowned and dug her heels in to avoid being pulled along. "No, really, Cloud I'm not tired. Hence the reason I haven't slept." She wouldn't mention the dreams. There was no need to.

Cloud froze, feeling her hesitance and resistance. Blue eyes flashed as he turned to her, his body tensing with pent-up anger. "What did he do to you, Aerith? What did that... that fucking demon do!"

Her slight wince immediately conformed into a frown. She shook her head emphatically, relaxing her hold on his hand lest he storm off into the mansion and really drag her along. "Vincent didn't do anything, so hold your temper. Vincent would never do anything." Aerith raised frustrated eyes to meet his, defiant once more. Her next comment was intended to sting. "And if it wasn't for that demon, I wouldn't be here listening to you swear about him, would I?"

Cloud literally growled lightly as he let her go. Brushing past her, he stormed into the ShinRa mansion, taking the stairs at a run. He was bordering on furious as he sought the hidden passage behind the bookcase.

Aerith, meanwhile, came chasing after him, emerald eyes wide, auburn tresses fanning out like a banner behind her as she ran to catch him up, nearly colliding when she found him. Reaching out, she caught his arm with both hands, pulling him back. She pleaded with him, "Cloud, stop this! What reason have you to be so angry with Vincent?"

"He's trying to take you away from me, Aerith!" Cloud burst out abruptly, turning to her. Impulsively, he leaned in and gave her a quick, albeit passionate kiss. "I know he is! I love you! Now, let me do this!"

Aerith found herself repeating herself. "None of you know anything!" She stared back at him, frustration silently worded eloquently into her features, one hand raised to impatiently brush stubborn locks out of her eyes. "Vincent is not trying to take me away from you were I even yours to claim in the first place! He has been trying to convince me that I belong with you, Tifa's broken heart aside."

Cloud scowled and pulled his arm free of her hold. "Now why don't I believe you, Aerith?" He turned away from her and bolted inside as the spiral staircase was revealed, taking the steps two at a time. He all but ran down the dimly lit corridor, heading for the crypt.

Aerith called down to him, "Bit of a spiky-headed idiot, then, aren't you?" She was tired of arguing with them, finding it heartbreaking that everyone had drifted so far apart since her death and Sephiroth's defeat. She sat at the top of the stairs, exhausted, though not to the point that she added, "He'll tell you the same, Cloud! That he's been arguing for you."

Cloud ignored her. He wasn't there to talk with Vincent. He was tired of speech, in fact. He continued into the crypt, approaching Vincent's coffin quietly. He was brash and not into little niceties and formalities. Cloud slowly bent and slid a wicked blade from his boot. With one strong movement, he kicked the lid of the coffin off. "You gods' damned bastard."

Moving lithely, Cloud slammed the blade home... straight through Vincent.

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Whoa, cliffhanger, maybe?! :D

I thought I'd write something entertaining and possibly suspenseful for today... also to attract attention... I hope it was at least a little surprising xD

Please review! All my love... =)