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Chapter 22.
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Vincent's visit, like I said, was a surprise, mainly because I had expected never to see Vincent again. I had assumed that he would just go back to Nibelheim and sleep the rest of his days in his coffin, because he is a vampire…I think.
He knocked on the door. I opened it expecting one of the locals to be asking for a light fixture added to their house, or maybe one of the local girls looking to invite me to a party (it sounds strange, but Mideel seemed to be rising from the ashes a bit. The shops were becoming larger and selling more. Travelers were starting to return, and also people's spirits were starting to rise. Party's for no apparent reason somewhere in town was now somewhat common). I opened the door and saw him there. "Hello," he said. "I'm looking for an old friend of mine. He has blonde hair that somehow manages to always point straight into the air like he gelled it. He has blue clothes and loose pants that make him look like a thug, and he also has this creepy fascination with sharpening his swords. His name is Cloud Strife. You wouldn't by chance have seen him would you?" I laughed loudly. "Yah, I think I know the guy. I heard he's a bit of a loser, you know? I think he lives in a cardboard shack across town. You'll find him next to the dumpster." He laughed (yes, he actually laughed, believe it or not) and then I let him in.
This was a new side of Vincent I had never known. He had started the conversation with sarcasm and humor, and he kept it up for a while. What is more amazing is that he talked. A lot. "Jeez, Vincent," I said at one point. "You're different. What did you do? Drink some blood or something?" He turned towards me and for the first time during our entire conversation, he was serious. "You know Cloud," he said, "It's a little strange, but ever since Jenova died I've felt a little different. I think now that she's dead, something inside me was released or something. I feel whole again. I feel….alive." "And you weren't before?" I asked. "I don't know," he said. In all honesty, I don't know if I was or not…"
We talked a little longer and he told me the current events. Red XIII had finally taken full responsibility over Cosmo Canyon, and therefore had a very busy life, but he was enjoying it. Barrett had finally found a small home, and was making a living as the town mercenary. "Figures," I said. He then told me about Meredith and Mrs. Gainsborough. Meredith was growing fast and had started school. Mrs. Gainsborough had pretty much fallen apart when she had heard the news of her daughter's decision, but she kept herself going because of Meredith. Meredith didn't really have a mom, and Mrs. Gainsborough didn't have a daughter anymore, so they took to each other. They were both quite happy now.
"And what about Cait Sith? Has his owner finally revealed himself?" I asked. "No one knows," he said. "I guess that ever since Cait Sith was destroyed a year ago, his controller has just gone on with his life. He even said on Highwind, that had we not called him to this new mission, Cait Sith would have stayed in the closet forever anyways." I had forgotten about that.
He then told me something I thought was really creepy. "Did you know that Cid proposed to Yuffie?" "WHAT?!" I screamed. "Yah," he continued. "Cid proposed to her after he got her father's permission." "How'd he do that?" I asked. "I didn't think that let her father would let her marry anybody, let alone Cid." "Well," Vincent said. "That's because no one besides his own daughter has ever actually beaten him, until Cid came along." "So Cid challenged him? Is that it?" "No, Yuffie's dad challenged Cid, with the understanding that if Cid won, then he would give him his blessing." "And Cid won, I'm assuming." "Oh yah, he owned him. From what I hear, it wasn't even funny how badly Cid tore him apart. It was like how you or I squash a bug." "Did he kill him?" "No, Cid has too much control to let that happen unless he wants to." "So…when are they getting married?" "Married? I never said they were getting married." "But I thought you said that they were." "No, I only said that Cid proposed. Yuffie shot him down pretty hard. She said that she was too young and Cid was too old for them to get married. She also said that the day he beats her in a fight is the day she'll actually consider the idea of marrying him." "So did Cid challenge her?" "No. Cid doesn't hurt women. You know that. Even he has a bit of dignity." "Yah…I guess you're right."
"So how's Tifa?" Vincent asked. I then told him a few of the events that had happened with Tifa, but they were few and were probably just flukes. Like how one time I had walked into the hospital, and there was Tifa. When I opened the door, she looked right at me. And then she lifted one arm into the air in my direction, as if beckoning me. "That was a good day," I said. "Does she do that often?" he asked. "No…it's only happened once ever. It happened a few months ago, but its moments like those that keep me going, you know?"
"Cloud," he said. "How did you ever recover from the Life stream poisoning?" "Well," I said. "Tifa brought me back." I then recounted the story of how she had somehow entered my mind during our brief fall into some Life stream and how she had pieced back together my mind and my memories. "Why do you ask?" "Well, I was just thinking that maybe because you are immune, that perhaps there is some way for you to give her some of your immunities." "You mean like a blood transfusion?" I asked. "Yes. Have you tried that?" "Yah…it didn't work."
"Then why don't you repeat what she did for you?" he said. "How?" I asked. "I don't even know how she did it." "Well," he said. "Why don't you start by falling into some Life stream with her? You don't have to be under for very long. Maybe something will happen." "I've asked the doctor permission to do that," I told Vincent. "He refused. He said that any exposure to Life stream can be potentially dangerous, especially for people who already are poisoned. Putting Tifa in the Life stream now could be lethal." "Well…I know it sounds bad, Cloud," Vincent continued, "but you've tried everything else. You've even been here for a year serving her with all your heart and you've seen no progress at all. I'd risk it if I were you." "And risk killing her?" I said with a little anger in my voice. "Hopefully she won't die, Cloud. But even if she does, do you really think she would want to live like this if she had the choice? I think she would take the risk of dying for the chance to be normal again, especially because of you."
Vincent was right. There was no way she would have wanted to live life like this. She would have taken the risk in a heart beat if she had had the choice.
That night, with Vincent's help, we snuck into the hospital. It really wasn't all that difficult, I already had the key to the front door. The hard part was going to be getting past the night nurse. But we had it all worked out. I opened the door to the hospital with Vincent in my arms. I called for the night nurse with the best fake desperate voice I could muster. The night nurse appeared and saw Vincent apparently dead in my arms. She showed me to a bed and looked at him. She felt his pulse and stuff…and I slunk out of the room. I went to one of the back rooms and opened the door to find Tifa on her bed. She was asleep…kind of. Her eyes were closed but her arm was still twitching, and her head would sometimes move to one side suddenly. I picked her up as quietly as I could and snuck out of the hospital, all the while with Vincent inside playing the part of a deathly sick man. Then, having successfully gotten out of the hospital with Tifa, I went to one of the hospital windows and started meowing. That's right…I meowed like a cat. Suddenly I heard a scream and then a voice in the background. "Wha…where am I? Am I in a hospital?" "Yes, young man. You're in a hospital." "There's nothing wrong with me is there?" "That's what I'm trying to find out, now if you would just sit do—" "Oh I bet I know what happened," I now recognized the voice as Vincent's. "I think I may have fallen asleep in the street. I drank a lot last night…" Suddenly I heard some wobbly, uneven steps walk down the hall. "Are you sure you're okay sir? I can call a taxi or something…" "No…I'm okay. Really. Thank you for all you've done…" And then he opened the door and left.
"That was perfect, Vincent," I said. "Well your cat call couldn't have come any later," he replied. "She was about to start tearing off my clothes to see if I had any wounds…"
I carried Tifa down to the edge of the crater under the cover of the darkness. It was a clear night, which I was glad for because the light from the moon and stars was invaluable for dodging boulders and slippery slopes that could have awoken the neighbors.
We arrived at the edge of the pool, and suddenly Tifa began thrashing about harder then normal. "I don't think she wants to go in," I said. "We came this far," Vincent replied. "We shouldn't stop now." "You're right." I took Tifa in my arms and held on tight. I then nodded to Vincent. "You know what to do. No more then ten minutes tops." He nodded. He then grabbed me from behind and threw Tifa and me into the Life stream as hard as he could.