Chapter Five: Confrontation


Vincent went on to Sector 6 to the Church. He had a determined look on his face. He would settle this issue himself; and if Cloud would not help them, he would have to force him. "He's the only one who can stop her… I just know it…" he was thinking to himself as he slowly entered the dark old ruined Church. The only light present in it was the one emanating from the altar area, which was coming from a small gas lamp. "He's there…" he thought to himself as he continued his way towards the altar; but upon arriving there, he realized that those were only Cloud's things… but no traces of Cloud. "Where is he?" he wondered to himself before turning around to scan the whole area. It was already evening and he supposed that Cloud should be in the Church already, resting. "Where else would he go?" he thought.

"Vincent."

He gasped slightly and instantly turned back towards the altar again when he thought he heard a young lady's voice call out his name. His heart began to beat fast as he scanned the whole altar. "Who's there?" he called out. To make things much worse for him, it sounded so much like Lucrecia.

But the whole area was silent.

He swallowed hard and mindlessly clutched his forehead, rubbing his temples. "Damn… my mind's playing tricks on me…" he thought to himself before deciding to survey the whole area. While going around the Church, he wondered how Cloud could live in such a territory that is so unsafe for shelter; because it seemed like at every moment that Vincent would step on the wooden floor while walking, it would crack or give way to his weight… and wooden planks from above him were starting to chip and had proved to be unstable already.

Checking the time from the clock tower that had been fixed just recently after one of its hands fell off and succeeded in killing one of his comrades, he realized that Cloud wouldn't be returning very soon. "Might as well await his arrival here…" he thought as he found a dark spot where he could hide himself and sit down for a while… and maybe take a nap until Cloud arrives.

As he stared into the darkness, trying to keep himself awake for a much longer time, he was thinking, "He'd better come on time before Tifa dies…"

oOoOo

Tifa was not sure if she dreamt of Aerith holding her hand and telling her that everything would be alright… and when she asked how Cloud was, she couldn't answer.

And she just slowly opened her eyes when she felt some grip tighten on her hand. She moaned slightly, feeling pain on her side. She felt as if she had fallen from a very high bed and landed on the hard wooden floor. Adjusting her vision while blinking and staring straight ahead, she saw that Rufus was staring at her like he was watching her… and they were both on the floor.

He was the on holding her hand. Much to her surprise, he had a very worried look in his eyes, although his facial expression looked so stiff.

She wondered how he got to the floor after remembering that she had passed out moments ago. "I…" she slowly sat up.

"Careful," he told her as he let go of her.

She rubbed the back of her head as she stared with a dumbfounded look at the wheelchair. "Did you fall off!" she exclaimed as she instantly got on her feet and stooped down again to help him up. He was just quiet as she helped him back on his wheelchair.

"Why did you let yourself fall off?" she demanded in worry as she dusted him.

He couldn't look at her. He just stared at his own lap, thinking of what to say to her.

She clutched his shoulders, "Rufus, why won't you answer me?" she asked.

He slowly looked up at her. The look in his eyes made her heart sink… and she suddenly felt tears welling in her eyes when reality struck her again: she was going to die. She slowly released him and backed off, pursing her lips so that he wouldn't see them tremble. She turned away and took a rugged deep breath.

"Give me Cloud's number." He murmured.

She swallowed hard before facing him again. "What?"

"Give me Cloud's number." He repeated sternly.

"Are you out of your mind?" she demanded.

He just smiled slightly at her. "Maybe I am." He said.

She went to him. "Don't say that!" she told him as she knelt down before him. "Do you want to die! I thought you wanted to change the world?" she asked.

"How can I change the world when it's all too late now?" he snapped at her.

"What do you mean it's too late? For you, is that it? No, it isn't for you but it is for me!" she pointed out.

"If it's too late for you then it is already the same for me." He said stiffly.

She got his hand. "What are you saying?" she asked. He felt her hand… it was so cold. He has never seen her look so afraid before; but even though she was afraid, she still tried to act like nothing is happening. He has seen fear in her eyes two years ago when he told her of her death in the gas chamber in Junon… and while she was inside the gas chamber and he was in the surveillance room watching her secretly. He shook his head. "What are you afraid of, Tifa?" he asked her softly.

She shook her head as she felt tears in her eyes ready to fall.

"You don't have to be afraid, Tifa…" he said softly as he moved forward to embrace her.

Her tears fell as she slowly wrapped her trembling arms around him too. "…then promise me you'll survive this…" she said with a voice that seemed to falter as she spoke.

He looked at their reflection on her dresser mirror and studied his own facial expression. He was frowning. Deep inside, he was feeling angry because of the situation that Tifa was facing. And Vincent just went off without saying anything. What if something happens to him and they don't know it? And then Tifa will die tomorrow at early evening.

Who will take care of him? Marlene and Denzel?

"Rufus," she began softly, interrupting his thoughts.

He looked down at her with a stiff look on his face. She looked up at him with tearstained eyes. "…will you be with me when I die?"

He was quiet for a while before slowly nodding his head.

She smiled lovingly at him. "…thank you." She said softly before resting her head on his lap. He just took a deep breath as he moved his hand to stroke her hair gently.

Unknown to them, Denzel was watching them from the doorway with a curious look on his face, but he turned away to go back to his room. As he entered, he wondered what Marlene was doing. She was seated on the floor drawing something on paper with crayons. Denzel took a peek over her shoulders and observed her drawing. It resembled the position in which he saw Tifa and Rufus in the other room, with her seated before him and her head resting on his lap while he was stroking her hair… but there another person in the drawing: a girl with long brown hair wearing a pink dress was holding the wheelchair where Rufus was seated.

oOoOo

Vincent Valentine finally woke up when he heard birds chirping. He couldn't believe that he had slept for so long when he looked at the clock tower and saw that it was already 11:30 in the morning. He must've been really tired and stressed out during the past night. He got up slowly and scanned the whole area. It looked different with sunlight. Deciding to check if Cloud was there, he went over to the altar again and then checked the flowerbed. No one was there. The gas lamp was still on so he decided to switch it off.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice from behind him.

He turned around to see Cloud standing behind him with a frown on his face. "Cloud," he began.

"You're here." Cloud pointed out.

Vincent shrugged. "Well I… just thought I'd check you out to see if you're alright. You just took off yesterday without saying a word." He fibbed.

Cloud studied the look in Vincent's eyes before turning away. "I'm going to Sector 5 to eat lunch. You want to come along?" he asked simply. Vincent was surprised at his sudden invitation. "…y…yes, that would be splendid. I'm quite starving…" was all he replied before following after Cloud.

"And maybe we could talk about your matter…" Cloud told him.

Vincent felt relieved. "Finally…" he thought silently to himself. "Of course. Thank you for reconsidering." He said with a slight smile on his face.

Cloud just kept a straight face as they continued to walk going to Sector 5. They were silent for the rest of the walk until they finally found a restaurant where they could sit and dine. While waiting for their orders, Vincent finally took the initiative to talk, "Tifa will die tonight."

Cloud looked up at him in awe, but he was speechless.

Vincent kept his eye on him, "We just found out last night the reason for the deaths…" he began. Cloud was still quiet so he went on, "Whoever has your number will receive the strange call from the woman who sounds like Aerith… and then will die 24 hours later." He explained.

Cloud just gaped unbelievably at him. "…so you're blaming me?" he asked in awe.

"I didn't say that I'm blaming you. I just confirmed to you that whoever has your number…" Vincent began to reason, but Cloud cut him off, "Well it is my number!" he exclaimed.

"Answer me straight, Cloud, do you know anything about this?" Vincent asked calmly.

"No, I don't! I don't understand anything from this either! Now tell me, where are the others? Really." Cloud answered with a stern look on his face.

"They're dead, Cloud. And now Tifa is next." Vincent said.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Cloud demanded.

Vincent was quiet for a while before asking, "Do you hear Aerith or… do you even dream of her?"

Cloud was surprised at the question. "I..." he felt dumbfounded. He swallowed hard as he clenched his fists. He bowed down his head as his frown deepened. "I… wish I could… but… no, I don't…" he said softly as his right hand mindlessly traveled under the long loose sleeve of his left arm and touched the pink ribbon tied around his arm. "… I… don't…" he said rather bitterly.

Vincent looked away, inhaling and then exhaling slowly, not knowing how to react or what else to say.

"Tell me honestly, Vincent… do you think Aerith really has something to do with these deaths?" Cloud asked with a low tone.

Vincent blinked and bowed down his head. "…Yes."

For the rest of the time that they were together, they were just quiet. Vincent wondered what was going on in Cloud's mind, but couldn't determine how to read him. On the way back to the Church, Vincent was the one leading the way and Cloud trailed behind him, keeping his eyes on the ground and his hands clenched into fists.

Upon arriving at the Church, Vincent checked the time on the clock tower once more and it read 2:00pm. Lunch took longer than expected because Cloud ate rather slowly. Vincent led the way to the altar to look at the flowerbed again, wanting to ask questions. "Cloud, you think we can still save Tifa?" he asked.

Silence.

Vincent frowned slightly.

He turned his head to the side, "Cloud?" looking at his peripheral vision, but Cloud was not there anymore… instead, he saw another person.

Lucrecia… and standing behind her was Sephiroth.

Vincent gasped in shock upon what he had just seen… and Lucrecia smiled at him, reaching out her hand to him. "Vincent," she said softly.

He reached out to her… Sephiroth smiled. "Finally, mother, you can be together…" he heard him say.

Vincent froze. "…Finally?" he thought to himself. And then he felt something stab him from behind. It even went through his gut. He was caught off-guard by the vision that he had seen that he did not notice that Cloud was just there behind him with his Ultima Weapon… and he just stabbed him while he was off-guard.

Vincent's eyes were wide in terror as he stared at the blade and at his own blood. He swallowed hard.

Cloud had a cold look on his face as he looked up at Vincent from behind, still clutching the handle of his sword. "Aerith can never kill anyone… she can never…" he hissed.

Vincent slowly raised his eyes up at the wooden planks above him when he heard someone singing up there and seated on one of the planks. "Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near?..." his eyes widened when he saw Aerith looking down at them and smiling sweetly.

Cloud withdrew his sword from Vincent's gut and watched as his old friend fell to the ground and looking so stunned. Vincent stared straight ahead, feeling so guilty for himself. He should have been more aware… but he let his own whims affect him.

Whims?

But it seemed so real…

And then he heard footsteps approaching him… until a pair of red-brown boots came into his view. He recognized Aerith's feet. She stooped down and touched his face and then placed her palm over his eyes, shielding the light from him. "Time to sleep, Vincent." He heard her say softly…