Chapter 29: Loss.
"He's not breathing!" Yuffie cried as she pushed Vincent to his back, "We've got to help him!" Tifa rushed to her side as everyone gathered around the prone man. "Wake up!" Yuffie shouted at the dark gunslinger.
Cloud slipped into his leadership role, although his voice was hollow and empty. "Tifa, Cid, help Yuffie with Vincent. Nanaki and Barret help me with Aerith, we have to try something!" The group followed his commands in a mechanical action.
Tifa checked Vincent's pulse; a look of shock crossed her face. "Strange..." Tifa laid her ear next to the pale man's face and sighed in relief. "He's ok."
"What!" Yuffie turned to question the powerful fighter.
"He's breathing," Tifa explained, "It very faint but its there. I think that transformation took a lot out of him." As if in response Vincent's red eyes snapped open. He looked around the faces staring down at him.
"Vinnie!" Yuffie cried happily, "You're ok!" Vincent continued to stare up at the faces of his comrades a moment before he began to lift himself off the ground. Yuffie and Tifa tried to help him stand but he shook them off and leaned heavily against the railing, his burning gaze was focused in another direction.
"Aerith." Vincent's word was barely more than a whisper but echoed throughout the room. Tifa turned her attention back to the collapsed flower girl and ran to her side.
Cid carefully walked up to the caped man. "Glad we didn't lose you too." He said before joining the others surrounding Aerith. Yuffie stared at Vincent only a moment before following the old pilot. Vincent continued to stare at Aerith's form as Nanaki and Tifa cast every manner of Curative magic they had at their disposal, but each attempt failed. Even the most powerful curative spell, Life, had no effect. Life was barely used because of the sheer strain it put on the caster's body, but it could pull people back from the brink of death but could do nothing if they fell over the edge.
A single thought ran through Vincent's mind, 'We are too late.' Slowly but surely Tifa and Nanaki's energy ran out and they fell to the ground panting heavily. Silence fell upon the group as the full force of the situation sank in.
Barret was the first to speak, "I'm sorry Aerith." His voice was thick with emotion as tears slowly escaped his eyes, with that he turned and walked away from the altar and back up to the outside world.
Cid's rough hand gently brushed one of Aerith's stray bangs back into place, "Don't worry girl. We'll get that #$&( Sephiroth!" His tears joined the others in the slow rain that had begun to fall from most of AVALANCHE. He turned and followed Barret.
Cait Sith slowly approached the now forever silent girl, "Sorry for everything I did. Thank you for being kind to me." Even the mechanical toy was able to shed tears.
Tifa's eyes jumped from Aerith to Cloud, she began to reach for Cloud but let her hand drop. She then turned to Aerith and gingerly gave her one last hug, "Goodbye my sister." Her tears turned Aerith's jacket a deep red before Tifa ran away from the altar.
Nanaki slowly walked to Aerith's side and gave a heart-wrenching howl. He then nuzzled Aerith's dainty hand and walked out, his muzzle soaked. At the edge of the altar he turned and whispered, "Good journey." Before leaping down the stone pillars.
Yuffie walked up beside their fallen comrade and let new tears fall. She let everything out and held nothing back; she no longer cared what the others thought. Yuffie turned to face those who remained on the platform as more tears flowed freely down her face. She looked between the two and suddenly bolted from the platform as sobs escaped her, "Goodbye Aerith!"
'I was unable to protect her.' Vincent berated himself, 'And yet another sin has befallen me.' He slowly walked over to the beautiful flower girl and looked down upon her. After a moment her turned to Cloud, their eyes locked. An understanding passed between Vincent and Cloud, each had lost their most precious treasure. They stared each other only a moment more before Vincent walked off to join the others, leaving Cloud with Aerith.
Cloud continued to stare at Aerith's bowed head. He suddenly looked up, "This isn't the place for you to stay." With that he gently lifted the serene Aerith into his arms and carried her dutifully up the crystal staircase and out into the lake. All of AVALANCHE looked on as Cloud lowered their most beloved member into the lake. He stepped back from the edge and stared at the floating body of the last Cetra.
Tifa and Yuffie clung to each other as they cried, each supporting the other. "I can't believe she's gone." Yuffie whimpered, Tifa could only stroke the ninja's short hair and hold her tightly as Aerith's body slowly began to sink. A small wind passed over the area as the planet seemed to bid farewell to the pink dressed girl. After minutes of staring at where Aerith's body had been Cloud looked up. He glanced to each member of AVALANCHE, each of their faces stained with their grief save one. Vincent stared on in the same cold way, his face an emotionless mask. A fierce rage suddenly came to boil in Cloud's body.
"How dare you!" He shouted, everyone turned his or her eyes to his tear streaked face. "Aerith is gone! And you won't shed a tear!" Cloud grabbed the crimson-caped man and pulled him down to his level. "Don't you care!" Cloud's mako eyes burned with fury.
Vincent's own eyes locked with Cloud's again, but he remained silent. 'How can a monster shed tears?' He asked himself only to have the demons within him answer, You can't!
"Answer me!" Cloud started to shake Vincent.
Vincent suddenly grabbed Cloud's shirt and pulled him so they were nose to nose, "I am a monster." Vincent answered in a deadly tone, fear replaced the anger in Cloud's eyes, "You must cry for me." Cloud suddenly released Vincent and Cloud did the same. Cloud backed away from the dark man as Vincent crossed his arms. Cloud returned his gaze to the pond before collapsing to his knees and shedding more tears.
'Only humans can shed tears,' Vincent thought as he watched his comrades, 'I cannot.'
Yuffie nearly reached out for Vincent but let her hand drop, 'Oh Vinnie, I'm sorry.'
With that the party slowly filed away from the lake and into the nearby Cetra homes, there was no fire, no dinner, as each contemplated what had just occurred. Night fell slowly; soft sobs could still be heard from the house in which AVALANCHE slept, until the early morning.
MORNING.
"NOO!" Yuffie screamed as she shot up from her bed, her breaths were labored as she remembered her nightmare. Seeing Sephiroth impale her friend, how she just went limp against his blade. "Aerith... I'm sorry..."
When she looked around she saw that most of AVALANCHE was in the same state as her, each had bags under their eyes and it was evident upon their faces that the night had been spent in tears, save one. "You okay Yuff?" Tifa asked gently. Yuffie just nodded as she slowly rose from her bed.
"I'm leaving." Cloud said as he pulled on his boot. Of all of them he seemed to take Aerith's death the hardest. "I will make Sephiroth pay for her death." His voice was firm but his eyes were still brimming with unshed tears as he thought of the quiet woman who had been taken away from them. Each member of AVALANCHE gave his or her own agreement, again save for the same one.
The one leaned against the far wall in the same cold fashion. 'Why don't you care Vincent!' Yuffie mentally screamed at him, 'Could you really be... a monster?' The door opening revealing the morning sun interrupted her thoughts.
"Where do we go Cloud?" Tifa asked as she placed a comforting hand on the blonde swordsman shoulder.
He turned to look at her with confused look, "You're still going to follow me? Even after I tried to kill Aerith?"
Tifa grinned slightly, "I know that wasn't you. And we are still a team after all." Cloud looked about the group and smiled as each of the members nodded their agreement.
Cloud straightened, "We've got to head through the mountains, I don't know how but I know Sephiroth went north." And with that the group followed Cloud with a new determination, each disappeared into the cave that lead into the mountains, but one remained behind.
His cold eyes softened slightly as he looked toward the resting place of the last Cetra. His face rippled momentarily in surprise as he felt small moisture on his face. He lifted his human hand and carefully wiped his face. His eyes widened slightly when he looked at what lay upon his hand. "Blood." His mind was confused, he had no injury but yet he had blood upon his face. "Is this... a tear?" Crimson eyes hardened once again as he pulled a cloth from his pocket and wiped his face and fingers. "I have no right to them." He said firmly as he flung the cloth away from him and turned to follow AVALANCHE.
When Vincent rejoined the group he could feel new stares being directed at him. Once those stares had simply held fear, now they had a new feeling in them. One so small that he could barely detect it, hate. The group hated him for his seeming lack of caring for Aerith's death. He easily shrugged off all of them. 'How can they possibly think that an inhuman creature like me could feel any emotion?' He continued to ignore them until he noticed one particular set of eyes. When he felt the same hatred from those gray eyes a small pang of pain appeared in his chest.
'How could you Vincent!' Yuffie stormed within herself, 'How could you watch one of your friends die and not care!' Yuffie could feel the tears coming but forced them back, 'Why couldn't you have let one tear out? One sob? Anything! Just to show that you actually have emotion within you!'
The group continued to trek through the mountain, even the monsters of the area were unwilling to attack the group. Their emotions causing even the most rapid and hungry monsters to shy away in fear, only the occasional sniffle was heard from the group as they traveled towards Icicle Inn in silence. Even when night fell the group continued on, plowing through the snow and ice, the element having almost no effect on them.
Slowly through the quietly falling snow the lights of Icicle Inn appeared and the now exhausted group moved to seek shelter in the promise of warmth that those lights provided.