( None of these belong to me. They are owned by Squaresoft/enix so I would greatly appreciate it if you don't sue me please thanks) This is my second time writing a fic so bear with me, there's prolly a lot of mistakes in here. Lol no flames please. This is a Vincent/Aeris fic. This is a great fic for all you Vincent or Aeris fans out there... ' oh and another thing.. I know that I'm kinda rushing things and I'm telling the story really fast, but bear with me... I swear, I'll go more into depth and the later chapters will get better! ' Any more critiques or anything could really help me improve my writings.. thanks. Please tell me what you think... I really need the critiques!!! This song is by Penance, this song is dedicated to Vincent, thinking about Hojo...
Red Death's Love
-LMG-
/
/Monster I've become/Penance/
[Music: Weston/Smail]
[Lyrics: Smail/Weston]
From the inside looking out
Distorts what I'm about
Strains from emptiness
Change to bitterness
You have turned me
To what you thought I was
I don't care now
The past is now the past
The scars inside don't heal
The pain no more can I feel
I'm callous, alone, but unafraid
For better or worse I've changed
Product of what you've taught
You'll feel the things you thought
The path I now lead
Is wrath along with greed
Represent what I resent
You are all that I despise
Feeding from what I've become
Can't stop even if I tried
Glory bound or the fool crown
It's all just the same
I thank you now you showed me how
You've made my name
/
/
Vincent woke up the next morning. Was he dreaming about Lucrecia again? Well, that really didn't matter now... The sun is shinning brightly and light is pouring in from the window. He touches his temple gingerly. His headache's gone. He slowly sits up on the bed. He notices that Aeris is not in the room.
"Aeris?"
Vincent calls for her. No answer. Her boxes were still on the floor neatly stacked in a corner. That's funny, Vincent thought while brushing his hair back. It's as if she hadn't opened them. He swings his feet off the bed, and walks over to the bathroom. He knocks on the door just to make sure there isn't a repeat of last time. When no one answered, he opened the door and walked in. he turned the lightswitch on and walked over to the mirror. Vincent turns on the faucet and splashes water onto his pale skin. He grabs his towel and wipes of the water. He hangs the towel up and retreats to the other room, turning the light off as he exits.
Vincent quickly gets dressed and heads downstairs. He was curious as to where Aeris went after he fell asleep. He felt horrible about making her sleep on the couch. But it was her idea, and she wouldn't leave him alone until he said yes. He hoped that she slept alright. As he climbed down the stairs, Vincent realized that he didn't have to look for Aeris any further. She had been downstairs chatting with the old man the whole time.
Aeris lifted her green eyes to greet him when she saw him come down. Much to Vincent's dismay, she was still in that pink dress. He made a mental note to point that out to her later. Aeris smiled at him.
"Hello Vincent... how are you feeling today?"
Vincent blinked.
"Better... thank you..."
The old man, aka Grandpa gave him an ill look.
"What's this Hearts? You're sick!?"
Aeris giggled. "No, silly! He just had a little fever last night that's all..."
Vincent nodded.
"Yes, and I'm much better thanks to you Aeris.."
He reached the first floor and walked over to Aeris. She beamed at him and folded her hands together.
"I'm glad Vincent.... I'm so glad that I did something nice for you .... I've been meaning to thank you for all that you've done for me... It's very kind of you...."
Vincent felt awkward one could say that he was even a little embarrassed by her comment. Aeris could've sworn she saw a tint of red on his pale cheeks when he turned his head away from her. He closed his eyes and scratched his head.
"It's alright Aeris... don't mention it..."
Aeris had a knowing little smile on her face and she turned away from Vincent and back to the old man. He had his grey head perched on his hands staring at Aeris and Vincent.
"Ah... young love...." He said with a dreamy look.
Aeris stifled her laughter. Vincent cleared his throat roughly, and gave the old man a cold stare.
"Whatever.... "
Aeris shook her head...
"You know... "She said pointing her finger at Grandpa. "You need to stop with all that nonsense... Vincent and I aren't dating or anything... we're just ...traveling partners...."
The old man agreed with her sarcastically, "Sure, that's what all couples say, when they don't want to admit to themselves that they're in love...."
Vincent turned around heading for the stairs. Aeris stopped him.
"Wait! Vincent!!" She called out to him her arm outstretched.
He stopped briefly tilting his head slightly.
"What is it?" He asked dryly.
Aeris continued, "You have to see my new room!!"
Vincent arched his eyebrow inquisitively.
"What's that?"
Aeris nodded.
"Yeah, I got a new room... Earlier today when I came down, Grandpa told me that the couple that was staying in room 14B had an argument, so they left earlier than expected.... He gave me the key already... and... it's such a nice room..."
Vincent turned around and looked at her. She was really happy about her new room. Was he so bad that she'd wanted to leave in such a hurry. Not that it bothered him or anything, but he was concerned about his actions. He recalled last nights events and what he said to her. True, he had been sick, but he remembered raising his voice at her... instead of yelling back at him, Aeris offered him her bed.... And she even healed him....
He could see the happiness in her eyes when she was talking to the old man. She was lonely. She just wanted to talk to someone.... And Vincent? Vincent scolded himself for being so inattentive to her needs. No wonder she's in such a hurry to get away from him.
Vincent closed his eyes, and thought about what he would say to her when they were alone... He would apologize to her about his rude behavior... Before he opened his eyes, he felt a tug on his arm. He opened his eyes and saw that he was being pulled towards the stairs.
Grandpa waved at the two friends. "You guys take it easy ya hear!?"
Aeris dragged Vincent up the stairs. When she got to the room, she opened the door with her key. As they entered, Vincent noticed that the room was annoyingly pink. The walls were painted pink, the floors had pink carpets, the bedsheets were pink and the window curtains were pink. Vincent was the only dark thing that was out of place here. There was a brown near the wall next to the bed. A little pink lamp sat on top of it. A wooden rocker sat at an angle in the far corner of the room, next to the window. There was a wardrobe with a mirror in it. There was a white coat hanger next to the door where they stood. The bathroom was near the coat hanger.
Aeris ran in and jumped on the bed. Her feet barely touched the floor. "Isn't this great?"
Vincent grabbed at his claw looking indifferent. "It's alright..."
Aeris looked at him thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I kinda imagined that's what you'd say... You know... it's a good thing I'm moving in here because, I don't think you'd enjoy yourself in here...."
Vincent shook his shoulders.
"A room's a room... I don't really care about appearances, all I care about is whether I have a roof over my head or not."
Aeris scanned her eyes over the room.
"Well, none the less, I think that this room suits me just fine...."
Vincent thought that this would be a good time to tell Aeris that he was sorry for his behavior last night.
He cleared his throat and shifted his weight.
"Aeris..."
"Hmm.." She piqued. Her green eyes focused on him.
"I'm sorry for my behavior last night.... When you asked me about... how I obtained enough earnings to pay for your clothes... I got a little cross with you... I'm sorry .."
Aeris lowered her eyes down to the floor and back at him.
"Oh... That's ok Vincent...." She said looking him in his ruby eyes. "You were sick... and... I was so oblivious to that... I just kept bothering you... I'm sorry for being so troublesome...."
Vincent's eyes scanned over Aeris's face. Her eyes were bright and green. Her lips were pink and her skin, just a touch of pink. Thick eyelashes framed her lemon shaped eyes, and her long wavy tresses fell loosely around her face and her lithe form. Yes.. Vincent could see how Cloud could be taken by Aeris. The pink dress she had on had a little rip in it where Sephiroth stabbed her with his blade.
Vincent couldn't stand to look at it. He narrowed his eyes.
"Aeris, why aren't you wearing the clothes we bought yesterday?"
She turned her head away sheepishly under the scrutiny of his ruby eyes.
"Oooh... I..." She clumsily fingered her brown hair. "Well, I guess... when you said... what you said...I mean you made it sound so bad.. that you were angry with me... I guess I thought I offended you in some way...I just felt bad, and thought that you might've wanted to take the clothes back."
She was nervous... there she said it.. she told him the truth. Her green eyes darted over to his face to see his reaction. Vincent had his eyes glued to the floor. He seemed to be thinking about what to say to her.
Vincent shook his head at what she said. I guess I must have been horrible to her last night. Vincent wanted to slap himself for being so heartless.
"Aeris... I'm sorry, I'm the one who've offended you.... I didn't mean to.. it's just that... it's been so long since I've had a.. companion.... After meteor... I didn't stick around because I didn't think anyone wanted me... and besides, no one truly understood what I was going through... so I just hid away in my coffin... I guess I forgot how to be human...."
He said that last part with a wistful smile. When he looked back into her face, he saw that she had tears brimming in the corner of her eyes. Are those tears for me? He thought. He shifted his feet awkwardly. Vincent really felt bad now. First Marlene, and now Aeris..
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry..."
Aeris wiped away her tears with the back of her hands.
"No, Vincent, it's not that at all... " She looked at him hurt. "Why would you think that we wouldn't want you around? Avalanche really cared about you... You shouldn't assume that just because you don't get along with the others as well as I do, that they don't want you around... We all care about you... Even Barret... and Cid in his own way...That was really selfish of you on your behalf to decide that for everyone..."
Vincent was touched by the sincerity of her words. Why did they effect him so? Aeris sniffed and wiped away the last of her tears. Vincent was looking nonchalantly as ever... probably thinking about what she said. What Aeris said next really surprised him.
"Vincent.... Who's Lucrecia?"
Vincent froze. How did she know about Lucrecia? He hadn't said anything to her about his past... so, how did she know?
"Aeris, " He asked his voice shook a little... "How do you know that name?"
Aeris furrowed her brows together.
"Vincent... you said her name in your sleep..."
He was talking in his sleep? That was ludicrous.. He would never do anything like that.... But then, how else could she have found out about Lucrecia.
"Are you sure you didn't meet her somewhere.. in the afterlife or anything? Maybe that's where you heard her name... or maybe Cloud or Nanaki told you?"
She shook her head prettily.
"No, Vincent, I heard you saying Lucrecia's name last night... and then you were talking about being alone...."
That was too much for him. Vincent ran his fingers through his hair.
"I don't know Aeris.. I don't know why I did that... I've never done anything like that in my entire life... I didn't wake you did I?"
Aeris shook her head.
"No... not at all, I couldn't go to sleep anyways... I was just worried about you I guess..."
Vincent nodded. Aeris rubbed her arms. Was it a little chilly in here?
"Vincent... was Lucrecia the name of someone you love?"
Vincent nodded.
"Yes...it was... a long time ago... She was a lot like you actually..."
Aeris raised her brows.
"ME?"
Vincent closed his eyes.
"Yes... she was.. she was young, and beautiful.. and so full of life..."
Aeris bit her lip.
"Well, what happened to her?"
Vincent sighed. And opened his eyes.
"Hojo destroyed her.... That's what happened..... you know.. she was Sephiroth's mother...."
Aeris jumped at the thought.
"Wait a minute? How can that be? I thought that his mother was Jenova?"
Vincent shook his head.
"No, that's not true... He had been injected with a large quantity of her cells... He thought that he was her son.... But he was more of a lab rat.. an expirament... Lucrecia volunteered herself to be a test subject.... And.. no matter how I tried.. I couldn't stop her from doing the inevitable.... When I confronted Hojo about this.. he killed me.... "
Aeris's lips parted in horror. She had her hands over her chest.
"How awful...."
Vincent continued.
"I thought I was dead, and half expected to see myself floating up towards the life-stream, but your father, Lucrecia, and Hojo, brought me back.. Hojo made me what I am today.. but they helped the process."
He said, he hung his claw back, as if he didn't want anyone to see it.
Aeris shook her head.
"No, my father would never.... It's just not possible that he would do something like that...."
Vincent shook his head. "No, it's possible Aeris.. I was there, I heard everything and felt every cut they made... they thought that I was comatose... but I wasn't... I was still awake when they replaced the outside of my skin with this metal...."
Aeris brought her hands up to her face. Could my father really be so cruel? As if reading her mind, Vincent answered.
"I think that Ghast really wanted to save my life, along with Lucrecia... As I said, Hojo was the mastermind behind the whole thing.... Back then, I was the president's personal guard.. almost his right hand man... if they knew that I had been killed, he probably would've closed down the project..."
Aeris understood now. Her father was trying to help Vincent.. It sounded like it was around the same time he met her mother Iflana. Dad was probably trying to protect himself and mom... that still didn't give him the right to do what he did to Vincent.
"I see now Vincent..." She shook her head sadly. "That's so horrible Vincent.... I don't know what to say... I just can't believe it... all the pain.. all the sorrow.. I apologize for my father's part in your whole ordeal... I didn't think that he could be capable of anything like that... but, I guess you never really know a person as well as you think..."
Vincent knew what she was implying, her father was a bad man, which wasn't true.
"No, Aeris, I see where you're coming from... your father was trying to protect himself and your mother... he wasn't doing this out of hate or contempt. Your father was the one that surgically removed the bullet from my head... he stopped the bleeding and saved my life... Hojo was the one that gave me my claw and my transformations..."
Vincent's transformations.. she'd forgotten about them. "What happeneds when you transform Vincent.. I mean.. are you still you? Where do you go?" Vincent knew this was coming. He closed his eyes. "It's difficult to explain.. when I transform... I am both... I'm still myself... but it depends on which creature I transform into... Some of them are hard to control.....At first it was hard for me to control any of them. The creatures emerged whenever they pleased... Hojo and the rest of the scientists locked me up in a cell so that I wouldn't hurt anyone... but after awhile, I got used to my new powers... and I could control them better...."
Aeris piped up.
"It must have been hard being by yourself in a cell all alone..."
Vincent shook his head again.
"Not really, at the time, I was drifting in and out of reality, it was hard for me to tell my surroundings... I just wanted to die, because I was in so much pain, and I was delirious.. , but I guess after awhile, I got used to that as well....."
Aeris drew her knees up protectively.
"Oh Vincent...."
Vincent lowered his eyes to the floor.
"No, believe me when I say this Aeris... I deserve it... I've committed so many atrocities in my life....It would take years for me to compensate for them."
Aeris felt horrible for Vincent, how could she sit here and think her life was horrible, granted, she had been robbed out of having a wonderful life with Cloud.. but what of Vincent? He had everything taken away from him... and now.. he was like her... alone.. in a world that's moved on without them..... Aeris was getting ready to say something, but Vincent spoke first.
"Aeris, I'm sorry, for dumping all my troubles and problems on you... you shouldn't have to listen to me.. I'll just go.. "
Aeris jumped up from the bed.
"No, Vincent, really, it's ok... I don't mind.. I mean, I actually enjoy listening to you and what you have to say... I mean, you're not really dumping anything on me... I asked you about Lucrecia remember?"
Vincent was about to leave when she said that.
"I know Aeris... it's just that... I really don't like talking about my personal issues... not that I have anything against you... it's just, hard for me... that's all..."
Before she could stop him, he walked out of the room. Aeris stared at the floor where Vincent was standing before he left. She looked up at the door and whispered his name.
"Vincent..."
-End-