Disclaimer: Everyone knows by now. Nice catch Neverwhere, the idea did come from Sparhawk and Ulath (don't own them either.) I always liked it; Nanaki seemed like someone who would do that.
Chapter 17: Single moments.
Tifa awoke with a start when sunlight drifted into her tent. "Great. I let Vincent down." She dressed quickly and exited the tent. She looked around; the mist had thickened overnight, yet to be burned off by the morning rays. "Vincent?" She called softly into the mists. She strained her eyes, trying to locate any sign of the gunslinger. A dark image appeared in the mist.
Slowly the mists parted, Tifa set herself into her fighting stance. Wreathes of mist gently released themselves as Vincent's figure revealed itself, "Are you alright Tifa?" His voice mirrored the cold mists.
Tifa relaxed and began breathing again. "Fine. You just startled me. Why didn't you wake me?"
"I require little sleep." Vincent answered as the mists once again tried to hide him.
Tifa sighed slightly, "Thanks Vincent. Guess I'll start breakfast." Tifa went about preparing what she could. Vincent faded back into the mists. As the mists burned away assorted members emerged from their tents. "Morning!" Tifa welcomed them. Half-hearted grunts answered.
"Good morning Tifa!" Aerith replied with smile. She glanced around the group, "Where's Yuffie?"
"She hasn't arisen yet." Nanaki yawned.
"Oh really?" Aerith looked to Tifa. Tifa smiled back, immediately getting her meaning.
Cloud looked up, "What are you two planning?" He asked with obvious suspicion.
Aerith and Tifa gave him their most innocent looks. "Nothing." They said in unison.
"Will it hurt her?" Cloud sighed. The duo shook their heads. "Fine." He sighed. The two women giggled as they approached Yuffie's tent. Vincent looked on from where he leaned against a tree, silently wondering what the two had planned.
"Yyuuufffiiee. Time to get up." Aerith called into the ninja's tent. Mumbled speech came from within the tent protesting the call. Aerith and Tifa exchanged a glance and went to opposite ends of the tent. "This is for tattling on us Yuffie." The two grabbed the edges of the tent and yanked up the tent into the air, revealing a sleeping Yuffie.
Yuffie's blanket half covered her sleeping form. One leg and arm were revealed to the morning rays, a content smile was plastered on her face. A small glistening of drool trickled down her cheek, her short hair splayed out around her head. When the cold morning air hit she immediately lost the smile and curled into a tight ball, pulling the blanket over her tightly. Laughter echoed from the group.
'They can make jokes? Even in a time such as this?' Vincent was confused by this group's actions.
"Time to get up Yuffie!" Aerith called to the shivering ninja. Yuffie just lay there shivering deeper into her blanket. Aerith smiled to Tifa, "Shall we?"
"Let's." Tifa grinned. The two grabbed onto Yuffie's blanket. "One-two-THREE!" Tifa and Aerith stripped Yuffie of the last layer between her and the cold morning. Yuffie curled into an even tighter ball; before opening her eyes, red anger flushed her face.
"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!" Yuffie yelled at the duo, enraged.
Aerith and Tifa gave her sweet looks. "Don't tattle on your friends." Aerith teased.
Yuffie grabbed for the blanket, but Tifa yanked it away. "You don't need this, it's time to get up."
"Give it!" Yuffie was able to latch onto the blanket's edge with her fingers. "Let go!" she pulled on the blanket with all her strength. Tifa held the blanket for a moment more before letting go, sending the small girl flying onto her bottom. "Ouch! Why did you let go!"
Tifa smiled and walked toward the fire, "Because you asked." Aerith giggled before following the fighter. Yuffie glared at them, before noticing Barret and Cat Sith laughing loudly; Cloud and Nanaki were obviously trying to hold the laughter back, without much success.
Yuffie gave them a mean look, "What?" Cloud burst out laughing and pointed to his own hair. Yuffie's eyes widened, she ran over to the pond's edge and looked at her reflection. Her hair was standing as tall as Cloud's, her chocolate locks curled upward defying gravity. She gave the group a nasty look as she used the water to smooth the offending hair. 'Ohh. I'll get them, yes I will.' Yuffie began planning her revenge.
The group's laughter slowly quieted down. Cloud finally spoke, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, "Does anyone know what the next town is?" Everyone around the fire shook his or her head no. "Yuffie?"
"I am NOT talking to you!" Yuffie turned her back on him and started gathering her belongings. 'I don't know anyways.' Yuffie thought to herself. 'Too bad he doesn't know that.'
"Come on Yuffie," Cloud responded, "They were only playing a joke." Yuffie just turned her head, stuck her tongue out, and returned to her task. Cloud groaned, knowing that they would have to watch out for revenge pranks. He shifted his gaze to the last member of the group and shuddered involuntarily. Vincent still scared him. "Do you know Vincent?" Cloud's voice uncomfortable.
Vincent raised his lowered gaze to meet Cloud's. Cloud shifted uncomfortably under the crimson stare. "I do not know. A spot was selected near here for launching space vehicles when I was assigned to Nibelhelm." Vincent answered.
Cloud's face shifted to one of recognition, "Oh yeah. I vaguely remember hearing something about it when I was a kid, although almost no one in Nibelhelm ever really went there."
"I heard about a town growing around a failed rocket once." Cat Sith suddenly spoke up.
"Maybe something is there." Tifa began, "Besides we need to find out if Sephiroth really came this way."
Cloud mulled over the information for a moment before deciding, "Well that looks like our next stop. Let's mosey." Upon the order, everyone gathered their packs and followed Cloud away from the small pond.
Vincent paused a moment and stared toward the waterfall. 'It's odd a monster can still appreciate beauty.' Vincent berated himself.
"Hurry up Vinnie!" Yuffie called back to him. Vincent let out a small sigh before following his odd comrades.
LATE IN DAY, ALMOST SUNSET.
"Wow!" Yuffie stared up at the leaning rocket. It was covered in moss and rust, the large rocket leaned precariously against its girders, threatening to crush the town that surrounded it.
"I'll say." Aerith breathed, the group continued to stare at the contraption for some time.
"Yep. That's our rocket!" A villager noticed their stares. "Really sad it had to happen though, but you'll need to talk to the captain about that."
"The captain?" Cloud still stared at the massive landmark.
"Yeah, he lives in the house directly next to the launch area. The one with the plane in the backyard." The villager answered, "By the way the inn is over there." He motioned toward it.
"Thanks." Cloud thanked him, still in awe of the rocket.
Vincent looked between the rocket and the group before heading toward the building the villager had mentioned. His movement broke the group's trance, and they followed him in.
"That is so amazing!" Aerith began as they entered the inn.
"Yeah I know! What do you think happened?" Tifa responded as she and Aerith continued to chat about the rocket.
Cloud rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the desk, "Do you have any rooms?"
The clerk behind the desk looked over them critically, "Yes, three beds in a room. Three rooms remain open."
"We'll take two of them please." Cloud replied evenly.
"Very good sir." The clerk's mood visibly brightened, "That will be 300 gil." Cloud handed over the coins. "Thank you sir. Your rooms are 1 and 2, there are two bathrooms at opposite ends of the hall. The one at the far end of the hall, next to room 1 has the shower. We are still adding a bath to the other one." The clerk returned his attention to his books after handing Cloud the keys.
"Why only two rooms?" Nanaki asked.
Cloud shrugged, "The ladies can have one, the rest of us will take the second."
"But that's five people ta three beds!" Barret retorted.
"I just shut myself off." Cat Sith answered for Cloud.
"And I will be fine on the floor." Nanaki finished. Barret shrugged and went over to one of the vacant tables and picked up a small menu.
"Good idea." Tifa agreed and sat next to the large man. All but Cat Sith and Vincent joined them at the tables and ordered their meal.
"Aren'cha gonna eat Vinnie?" Yuffie teased the gunslinger. Vincent shook his head.
Cloud suddenly looked up from his conversation with Tifa, "If your not going to join us, will you take Cat Sith and get some supplies?" Cloud offered him some gil. Vincent silently accepted the gil and left the inn, Cat Sith bouncing behind him.
'Doesn't he even eat?' Yuffie stared at the door Vincent had disappeared through. Her attention was immediately diverted when their food came.
Vincent groaned inwardly, 'And I thought Yuffie was bad.' Cat Sith had talked endlessly after they left the inn, about nothing important of course.
"I've decided to read your fortune." Cat Sith decided happily. He danced quickly and presented Vincent with a small slip of paper. Vincent continued to ignore the stuffed animal. "Fine! I'll read it to you." Cat Sith cleared his throat as if he were reading an epic poem. "Your world awaits. Embrace it." Cat Sith looked confused, "What in the world does that mean? Cloud got a weird one too." Vincent just walked to the shop.
Vincent quickly gathered the supplies and returned to the inn after night had fallen. He went up to the assigned room and dropped the supplies on one of the bed.
"Find everything?" Cloud asked as he sorted through the bags.
"Yep! We got it all!" Cat Sith danced happily. "You should see the way ol' Vincent can haggle. Puts me to shame." Cloud gave a quizzical glance to Vincent, who shrugged. "Vincent here just had to ask for something and the shop owners would practically give it to him!" Cat Sith explained.
Cloud rolled his eyes, "We'll be going to see this captain in the morning, if Sephiroth went north we'll need something to get us to the northern continent. That villager said something about a plane." Cloud continued sorting for a moment, "And the shower is free, if you care." Vincent considered the thought of a shower for a moment before he left the room.
OTHER ROOM, LATER.
Yuffie awoke with a start as a door closed. She looked over as Tifa walked across the room towel drying her long hair. Aerith sat in front of the vanity, humming a tune as she brushed her hair. "Have a nice nap?" Tifa asked noticing Yuffie was awake.
"Yeah." Yuffie stretched her arms; "A good meal always makes me sleepy."
Tifa laughed quietly, "I thought you weren't talking to us?"
Yuffie shrugged, "I didn't talk to anyone except Vincent the whole way here and he doesn't answer. Except for the occasional Yes or No."
Aerith turned her head slightly, "Find out anything interesting about our resident mystery man?"
Yuffie shook her head, "Not a thing, other than he likes classical music. Which songs, I don't know." She smiled thoughtfully, "He is a pretty good shot though."
Aerith nodded her agreement, "It was amazing how many times he hit the monsters directly in the head."
"Kinda scary to think about though." Tifa said, "I mean, just imagine what he would be like with a rifle."
Yuffie laughed, "He's not too scary, I don't think he'd ever intentionally hurt any of us. I mean he held the door open for us! How many guys still do that?"
Aerith smiled, "He defiantly comes from a different time." Tifa silently nodded her agreement.
Yuffie suddenly jumped up from the bed, "Well that's enough admiring the guys for today. Guess it's my turn for the shower." She skipped out of the room. 'Finally a real shower!' She thought happily as she opened the bathroom door. She froze momentarily before, "EEEKKKK!" Yuffie darted back into her room, her face bright red.
"What's wrong?" Tifa asked the glowing girl. Yuffie said nothing as she flopped down on a bed.
"What's going on!" Cloud appeared in the doorway, sword in hand, with Nanaki and Barret behind him.
Yuffie spoke from beneath the covers, "Nothing! I.. I.. I just saw something. That's all! I didn't mean to!" Cloud looked to Tifa and Aerith, very confused.
Tifa looked back over the group in the doorway. Suddenly realized something, "Where's Cat Sith and Vincent?"
Cloud shook his head to clear his mind, "Cat Sith shut himself off already, and Vincent went to take a shower."
The light of realization came to Tifa's and Aerith's eyes, followed by laughter. Cloud looked even more confused, along with Nanaki and Barret.
Aerith said between laughs, "Its okay Cloud. We know what happened, go back to your room."
"Okay, if you're sure?" Cloud took a step down the hall.
"Go on Cloud, thanks for coming though." Tifa said between fits of laughter. The trio returned to their room, confused looks still plastered across their faces.
When they had closed the door and regained some of their composure. Tifa and Aerith sat on Yuffie's bed. Tifa was the first to speak, "So what happened?"
Yuffie's head emerged from underneath the blanket, still bright red from embarrassment. "I opened the door and he was there."
Aerith eyes danced with mirth, "Who?"
Yuffie turned even brighter red, if possible, "Vincent." She squeaked out.
New fits of laughter echoed from within the room.
THE GUYS ROOM.
"What do you think happened?" Nanaki asked Cloud. Cloud just shook his head and shrugged. "Why would Yuffie scream like that without due cause?"
Cloud sighed, "I don't know, Aerith and Tifa seemed to realize what it was when I said Vincent was in the shower.." The same glint of realization came to his eyes as Aerith and Tifa's. Cloud broke down into laughter.
"What?" Barret asked annoyed he didn't get the joke.
Cloud choked out, "Yuffie.. ha-ha. Vincent was in.. this is too good.. the shower." Cloud continued to laugh loudly. Barret and Nanaki smiled and joined him in the merriment.
BACK TO THE GIRLS ROOM.
"Come on Yuffie! What did you see?" Tifa and Aerith relentlessly teased the embarrassed ninja.
"Nothing honest!" she said in protest, "He was standing in front of the mirror."
Tifa giggled some more, "Like I said, What did you see?"
Yuffie's blushed returned; "He had a towel around his waist. I only saw his chest!" Aerith and Tifa nearly fell to the ground in laughter. "Come on guys! Enough already!" Yuffie sank beneath the blanket again.
Aerith teased the girl, "So what did he look like?"
Yuffie disappeared underneath the blanket, "I didn't have time to look, I just ran back here." Tifa's and Aerith's laughter was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Just a minute!" Tifa called as she and Aerith calmed down. "Who is it?"
"Vincent." Was the reply. Aerith and Tifa nearly burst out laughing again but controlled it while Yuffie seriously contemplated jumping out the window.
"Wonder what he could possibly want?" Tifa teased Yuffie, before opening the door to a fully dressed Vincent. "Can we help you?" Tifa stifled a giggle.
"I need to speak to Yuffie." Vincent's face was still as cold as his voice.
Tifa felt the laughter dissipate within her under Vincent's penetrating gaze. "She's over there." She pointed to the lump on the bed. Vincent nodded his thanks and walked over to stand next to the bed.
"Yuffie." Vincent said quietly. Yuffie appeared from beneath the blanket, although she kept her head lowered. "Yuffie, I must apologize to you." Tifa and Aerith both looked sharply at the dark man. "I neglected to lock the door." With that, he turned and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him. They heard the soft click of his metal boots hitting the floor followed by a door opening and closing.
The three women stared after him, Tifa was the first to speak, "Did he just apologize?" Aerith nodded her head. They both shifted their gaze to Yuffie, who was twisting the blanket absently.
Yuffie could feel their eyes on her, "Guess I'll take that shower now." Yuffie rose and headed toward the bathroom. 'Why did he apologize? I'm the one who walked in on him. Aerith's right, he really is weird.'
"Don't forget to knock!" Tifa called after her as she and Aerith returned to their laughter.
GUYS ROOM AGAIN.
Vincent entered the room; his hard glare immediately silenced any jokes that were about to be spoken. Vincent went to his bed, removed his cape and boots, and lay down. 'Why did I apologize?' Vincent asked himself, 'For the same reason I opened the door, this monster was once a gentleman.'
"What-" Cloud started.
"Good night." Vincent cut him off, the slightest edge to his voice.
SHOWER.
Yuffie leaned against the tile wall, letting the warm water flow down her body. "He apologized? To me?" Yuffie was still shocked by Vincent's actions. Yuffie's mind inadvertently wandered back to the image of earlier, replaying it over again. She pushed the door open and there was Vincent. He was staring into the mirror, seemingly locked into deep thought. Although he was very thin, his body was still well muscled. His pale skin contrasted the loose ebony hair that cascaded down his strong back. His claw glimmered as water condensed on it. She watched the muscles contract and tighten as he turned, revealing a chiseled chest and stomach although scars obscured his skin. His red gaze held the smallest amount of surprise, before she screamed and fled.
Yuffie shivered even though the water still steamed. "He didn't even seem that surprised." Yuffie spoke to the showerhead, "Does he have any emotion at all?" Her mind wandered back to his outburst after their fall in the Nibel Mountains. "Who is Lucrecia anyways? She obviously hurt him." Yuffie turned off the shower and stepped out, drying herself with a towel.
Yuffie finished her nightly routine and returned to her shared room, she didn't hear Tifa's or Aerith's jokes as she crawled underneath the covers, still lost in her thoughts of Vincent. 'Who is Vincent Valentine?' Yuffie thought as sleep encircled her in comforting arms.
GUYS ROOM. (First fleshing out of Vincent, hope I keep him in character.)
Vincent lay upon his bed staring at the ceiling. He could easily hear Barret's roaring snore, Cloud's quiet snore, and Nanaki's even breathing. 'No nightmares, even after that battle these strange people have no nightmares.' Vincent continued to stare; nightmares would come if he slept. Although he had been awake for a few days and through several battles, he was undrained.
'What am I?' Vincent thought to himself as he quietly sat up. 'How far did Hojo warp my body?' Vincent silently slipped in his cape and boots. He knew that the fall from the bridge should have injured him greatly. And yet when Yuffie awakened him, he felt no pain, a dull ache, but no pain. His mind protested that he should have been exhausted by the previous day's trek, but he was fine. He looked through the window at the sky.
Vincent's thoughts wandered back to when he transformed. The Galian demon had forced his mind into submission, he could only watch as the monster he became spread destruction and nearly attacked his allies. It troubled him knowing there were other minds within him, always struggling to force their ways to the surface, and could do so if he let emotion take control. Vincent had barely been able to force the monster's mind back down when it headed for his allies. A new thought sprang into Vincent's mind, 'Are they really my allies? Or do they simply feel pity for my situation?' Vincent gazed at the forms settled into sleep.
The fire beast Nanaki looked upon him with a strange look in his golden eye, one of mutual pain. Barret avoided Vincent at almost all cost, only occasionally speaking to him. Cloud could never stand long under his bloody gaze. Vincent looked to the mechanical Cat Sith. 'That one acts as if he knows something.' Vincent noticed that the toy always seemed either too happy around him or tried to push him away, as if the cat was hiding something. Vincent's mind wandered to the females.
It was obvious to Vincent that Tifa pitied him; her eyes betrayed her own pain when she looked at him. Aerith seemed to be aware of something about him, 'Maybe the planet has warned her about my darkness.' Vincent sighed to himself. And then there was the petite ninja Yuffie, the hyper one, far too much for any normal being. Vincent returned his gaze to the stars.
Vincent's red stare moved between the stars, 'Even they have their own light. While I must proceed in darkness.' Vincent's mind flew to the past, the night before he asked Lucrecia to abandon the experiments the stars were shining. The night after she had run from him to Hojo, the stars were shining. The last night before he had entered the coffin he had seen the stars through a small window, they were shining. 'They watch.. They watch life's futility and shine on.'
Vincent's ran his human hand over the cold, lifeless metal of his golden claw. 'Never again.' He clenched his claw tightly. Vincent continued to stare into the night. His thoughts again turned to his gun. It lay upon a shelf, only a few feet away. Vincent wanted the pain to end, wanted to be free. He reached over and picked up the gun, feeling its weight in his hand. And the stars continued to shine.