Chapter 5
Reunion Part 1
"Cid Highwind," Vincent smiled with a nod. "It's been too long."
"HAHA!" Cid yelled. He was upon Vincent in a second, his arms wrapping around Vincent's whole body and lifting him off the ground.
"Jes-us!" Vincent screamed with a laugh as he was hurled through the air. When his feet touched the ground again, Cid stepped back and stared at him with tears of joy in his eyes.
"Cloud said you were dead," came another voice. A large, dog-like creature with a flame on his tail approached Vincent. He sat by his feet, flashing what Kali could have sworn was a smile.
"Hello, Nanaki," Vincent said happily as he reached down and scratched his ears.
"A pleasure, as always," the dog said. He leapt up at the scream from the doorway. "Who was that?"
"I apologize for my outburst," Kali bowed. She was shaking. "I've never heard a dog speak before."
"Dog?"
"Pardon me, but I've never seen a creature like you before, and I know not what you are besides, I hope, kind and gentle," she whispered. Nanaki walked over to her and nudged her hand with his nose. She rubbed his neck and both grinned.
"Vincent, you should be the one called 'dog' here," Cid laughed, flinging his cigarette into a nearby ashtray. When Vincent gave him a questioning look, Cid nodded to Kali. "She's yours, isn't she?"
"Vincent is not my father. My father is-"
"Kali!" Vincent snapped.
"She smells familiar," Nanaki muttered. He began to sniff Kali's legs.
"I told you, you can't tell anyone who your father is. Got it?"
"What's going on?" Cid asked. Vincent looked hesitantly from Cid to Nanaki to Kali and back to Cid. "Come on, we're best friends, you can tell me."
"My father is Sephiroth," Kali said quietly. Cid's eyes went wide as Nanaki leapt away and Vincent groaned.
"I recognize that smell now. You reek of him," Nanaki growled, the hair on his neck bristling.
"Please, you cannot tell Cloud. I promised her mother that I would look after her. Cid, you're one of the few people left in this world that I feel I can trust. Promise me, Cid?" Vincent pleaded. Cid could see the desperation in his eyes, so he nodded weakly. "Nanaki?"
"Only because my heart is filled with the joy that you are still alive," he agreed.
"Thank you. This…" Vincent said, pulling Kali closer to his friends, "is Kali Yori, daughter of Sephiroth and Michiko Yori," he turned to Cid and Nanaki. "These are my comrades Cid Highwind and Nanaki."
Cid stretched out his hand, which she took. Cid pulled her to him and kissed her hand, making her blush.
"A pleasure to meet you, even if you are the daughter of a man I have hated for many years," he smiled. Kali grimaced a little at his slightly yellowed teeth. A door upstairs opened and closed. A woman who seemed to be only a few years older then Kali walked down the steps of the manor. She wore a grey sweater with a collar that stretched from shoulder to shoulder and cut off just above her belly button. Her jeans were low-rise, thus exposing much of her abdomen, and wore her long brown hair in a ponytail.
"Oh, my god!" she cried. She ran over to Vincent and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Vincent, it's been so long! Remember me?"
"Umm…" he said as she stepped back.
"Barret's girl?" she said slowly. Vincent's eyes widened as he gazed at her.
"Marlene?" he gasped. She nodded happily and hugged him again.
"Shame on you, Cid! Keeping him down here all to yourself!"
"I just got here," Vincent shrugged.
As he spoke, three more people came downstairs. One was a muscular black man with a metal hand and hair in cornrows. Another was a woman with long, dark brown hair, somewhat large breasts, and wore a black leather top and matching shorts. The third was another woman, but younger than everyone else in the room save Kali and Marlene. She had short black hair and wore shorts that were about as long as Kali's pajama bottoms. She wore a black shirt with white flowers printed on it and a headband around her forehead. She held back and stared at Vincent.
"Hey, Vincent!" the black man yelled. He clasped hands with his friend and grinned. Kali noticed that he had scars on his right cheek. "Cloud said you were-"
"Dead, I know," Vincent finished. He looked as shocked as this man. The woman with long hair approached.
"Vincent, how wonderful to see you!" she exclaimed. She hugged him and pecked him on the cheek.
"Kali," Vincent turned to the young girl, "this is Tifa Lockhart and Barret Wallace."
"Actually," Tifa began. She held up her hand. Two rings, one a diamond and the other a gold band, were on her finger. "Tifa Strife now."
"Vincent," the other girl spoke up. She walked up to him slowly, the others stepping aside. She looked at him with a teary-eyed expression.
"Oh, my god," he whispered. He shook slightly and spoke over his shoulder. "Kali, if I'm dreaming, don't wake me, okay."
"You're not dead," the woman said, tears trickling down her cheeks. She laid a hand on his face. He took it in both of his as a tear slid down his own face.
"Yuffie," he muttered, closing his eyes. They hugged each other tightly.
"I knew you weren't dead. I knew it," Yuffie sighed into his chest. She didn't let go for quite some time. Vincent finally pushed her away a little.
"This is impossible. I watched Sephiroth kill you fifteen years ago," Vincent whispered in disbelief. He looked at Barret and Tifa. "I remember finding Barret's body and watching Tifa slowly die of blood loss."
"What are you talking about? We didn't die," Yuffie assured him with a worried smile. A voice behind them made them all turn again.
"Vincent Valentine. What a… pleasant… yes, pleasant surprise."
"Cloud," Vincent muttered with a glare. He stepped aside slightly to hide Kali from the blonde man's view. Cloud wore black pants and a black t-shirt with the sleeves torn off. His hair was still spiked in a gravity defying way, and his sword was, as usual, strapped to his back. Kali noticed that he wasn't wearing the gauntlet that her mother said he wore.
"You aren't supposed to be here."
"According to you, I no longer exist," Vincent snapped back. Cloud smiled.
"Well, when I didn't see you with Sephiroth, I assumed he had killed you already. But then, you two were far too close for him to do such a thing, am I right?" he pressed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Vincent said quickly.
"Yuffie, Barret, and Tifa," Cloud sighed. He laid a hand in his wife's. "Such painful days, watching them die. I was most fortunate that it was not truly them."
"Pardon?" Vincent gasped.
"I knew how unlikely it was that anyone besides me would live. Before we left, I made clones in secret. The clones went with me. The originals," Cloud nodded towards his friends, "hid out here until my return. As each clone died, I recorded their memories and had their donors view the memories of their counterparts and myself."
"So you were willing to let me die?" Vincent asked bitterly. Cloud shook his head.
"I would have cloned you, but you signed on at the last minute, so I had no time. Besides, I wasn't too worried, what with your past and all. When I returned alone, I told them that you were most likely dead, seeing as how I didn't see you again, and they pretended that they had gone with me instead of the clones," he explained. Vincent looked down at the floor as all these thoughts flew through his mind.
"Using clones for your own means? You're no different than Shinra and Sephiroth," Vincent grinned. Cloud scoffed.
"Sephiroth. He was weak. You saw how easily he fell for that bitch, Mi-whatever the-hell-it-was. She was his undoing. He was too attracted, so it was far too easy to kill him. Although I loved Aeris, I did not dwell on her enough to become too soft. And then there was that bastard son of his. I should have killed him when I had the chance. They are so alike, it's a wonder he hasn't tried to do what his father did," he said angrily. Cloud glanced over Vincent's shoulder to find Kali trembling slightly with anger. Her hands were curled into such tight fists, her nails were nearly going straight through her gloves. "And this is?"
"She's a friend," Vincent said nervously. Cloud laughed.
"First Yuffie, now a girl half her age? You really are twisted."
"My name is Kali," she snapped. She strode past Vincent and, keeping her eyes on Cloud's chest, waited.
"Kali," Cloud repeated. He stuck out his hand. "That's a pretty name. Why don't you look me in the eye?" Kali took his hand, but didn't look up. Cloud knelt to look at her, but she closed her eyes and turned away. Cloud grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.
"Don't hurt her," Vincent muttered threateningly, taking a step towards them. Cloud either didn't hear or didn't pay any mind.
Kali and Cloud stared into each other's eyes for a long time, hate burning in both sets. Before she could react, Cloud had let go of her chin and was reaching for his sword. Kali managed to raise hers as the buster sword came down hard, but the force knocked her to the floor a few feet away. Cloud was about to bring the sword down on her when a gunshot sounded through the room. He yelled as a bullet grazed his ear. Kali, who'd had her eyes closed, opened them to see Vincent standing there, his pistol smoking.
"I said don't hurt her," he repeated. Cloud held his burning ear and glared at him.
"Vincent how could you?" he said shakily. "You owe me. Remember?"
"And do you remember what I said the last time you tried to pull that little trick on me? The answer's still the same. I don't owe you a fucking thing," Vincent said angrily. He prepared his gun for another shot. "Let her up or else this one isn't going to miss."
"What do you want?" Cloud muttered as Kali stood.
"I wanted Sephiroth's daughter to know who his murderer was."
"Sephiroth's daughter?" everyone else yelled with the exceptions of Nanaki and Cid.
"But how? He died and only had a son!" Marlene hollered.
"It was, as Cloud put it, 'that bitch,'" Kali snapped at them. Cloud stared at them both.
"Get out of my house, both of you."
"Cloud, I know she's his kid, but we haven't seen Vincent in so long. Just let them stay one night? Please?" Yuffie begged. Cloud stared at her before sighing.
"One night. If I find one hair harmed on anyone's head, I swear to god I'll kill both of you."
"And if I find one hair harmed on her head, I'll kill you," Vincent said coolly. "Now if you don't mind, I have some personal belongings to get from my room. Kali, come with me."
"Coming," she answered, shooting a dirty look at Cloud. She followed him into the basement.
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"These are the books about your father," Vincent explained. He had led her into the basement and the library. Kali picked up a book and flipped through it. It was a photo album, one of the contents falling out as she lifted it. It was a picture of a man with long, black hair tied back, glasses, and a white lab coat; a beautiful young woman with long brown hair, glasses, and a matching coat was next to him; on the right side of the picture, there was a smiling young man with short, black hair and brown eyes wearing a blue suit with a gun strapped to his leg and his arm around the woman's waist.
"This is you, isn't it?" Kali asked. Vincent took the picture and nodded before slipping it into his pocket. Kali flipped through the book to find several pictures of a handsome young man with long, silver hair and the most beautiful green eyes. "And this is my father…" she muttered knowingly. Vincent looked over her shoulder and nodded slowly. He carefully pulled a picture from the book. It was of Sephiroth just before he became a general of SOLDIER. He was sitting with his back against a tree with a large sword lying next to him. Sitting in his lap was a small, smiling boy with short, silver hair and large green cat eyes. Kali recognized the necklace around his neck as the one around her own. She didn't need Vincent to tell her that this was Kadaj.
"Keep this," he whispered. He took her hand and carefully put the photograph in it. "To remember your father. And take this, too," he added. He took another picture from the book. This one was taken from Vincent's left side while he posed with two pistols. One was pointing up with the back of the barrel resting against his forehead, and the other was turned on its side, pointing in front of him. He had his head turned towards the camera slightly and he was wearing the suit and smiling again. "This was taken when I was just about to finish my Turks training. We all had to have profiles taken, but we could stand how we wanted. I was far happier back then. Remember me like that picture, not like I am now."
"What do you mean?" Kali asked. Vincent shook his head.
"I hope you don't have to find out for a long time. Now, let me go get the things from my room and we can go to bed."
"Not together, I hope? 'Cause in that case, Tifa and I made up two rooms for no reason," came a voice from the door. Yuffie was leaning against the frame and staring at them. Vincent chuckled.
"Of course not. Yuffie? Thank you for not letting Cloud turn us out."
"No problem. Hey, Kali? I'm sorry for how Cloud acted," she said. Yuffie approached the girl and smiled. "Just so you know, any friend of Vinnie's is a friend of mine."
"Yuffie, I've told you a million times not to call me that," he whispered. Yuffie shook her head.
"Why don't you like those names?" Kali asked. Yuffie was the one to answer.
"Because Lucrecia called him that."
"Who?"
"The woman I used to love," Vincent said quietly. He walked out of the room.
"I feel so bad for him," Yuffie sighed. "He's so depressed all the time. I almost had him changed, but after…"
"But after what?" Kali inquired. Yuffie smiled at her.
"You look hungry. Come with me upstairs and I'll get you something to eat. I'll explain it upstairs."
The two of them began to walk back to the main floor, stopping in front of Vincent's room. Kali walked in to find several coffins scattered throughout the room. Vincent was standing by the far wall, pulling guns off of it. His cape lie on one coffin while he strapped the guns to his back, legs, and slipped some into his bags. Before Kali could say anything, he spoke without turning.
"If anything should happen to me, take my guns and use them if you ever need to," he said quietly. He continued his work in silence, muttering to himself occasionally, things like, 'needs more bullets' and 'need to remember to clean this one.' Yuffie tugged on Kali's coat and led her up the stairs. When they were in the kitchen, Yuffie sighed and sat at the small table.
"How much has he told you?"
"About what?"
"Your father, himself, the planet in general; how much do you know?"
"I know what daddy did almost twenty years ago and how Vincent got that gauntlet. He also told me about Kadaj."
"Then that makes it easier for me to explain. When Vincent was a Turk, he and Hojo both loved a woman named Lucrecia. After Vincent died, I don't think he ever saw her again. She used to call him little names like 'Vinnie' and 'Vince.' He doesn't like to be called those names anymore, because he loved her so much. He wants to remember being called those names by her and her alone. When I was seventeen, I met Vincent in this very house, and I was a little afraid of him. He began explaining things about his past, and I would say things like, 'oh, no, here comes boring story number one' and, when he asked to join us, I think I said something like, 'not another depressing guy,' or something. I had quite a big mouth back then," she smiled. "After I got to know him, I started feeling bad about everything I had said before. After awhile, I realized that the feeling I got when I was near him wasn't fear, but love. I know that he loved me, but I also know that he didn't act on those feelings."
"If he loved you so much, why didn't he?" Kali asked.
"You know the gauntlet keeps him from aging and dying. The most I've ever done is kiss him. If we started to do more, he pushed me away and explained that he can't be involved again. Because of his immortality, he's afraid to fall in love. He'll say it's because he respects Lucrecia's memory and doesn't want to turn to any others, but I know that he's afraid because of the heartache."
"Yeah, he said that his parents died a long time ago and he's seen so much more death throughout his life."
"Exactly. You know, I think we may be the only two people who understand him."
"What were you going to say down in the basement? You said that you almost had him changed, but something happened?"
"You see," Yuffie sighed. "Before we went after your father, Vincent was over at my house. We were making out, and my dad came over. He has this habit of not knocking, and… let's just say he wasn't too happy with what he saw. Actually, if he hadn't come in at that moment, I think Vincent and I might have… done it."
"That puts great images in my mind," Kali muttered sarcastically. Yuffie laughed.
"That's exactly what I would have said at your age. When daddy saw Vincent and I, he was furious. Vincent left and father gave me the worst thrashing I've ever gotten from him. I found out that as a Turk, Vincent had killed my grandparents. When he was still fresh out of his training for them, he was camping outside of Wutai. Dad's parents went to see who he was. Being thieves, they tried to take some of Vincent's belongings. He caught them, overreacted, and shot both to death. Pop was only about your age when he took over our town. He knew who Vincent was. He didn't care that Vincent had saved my life several times before. 'Once a murdering Turk, always a murdering Turk,' that's what he always said about them. Just before Cloud and our clones went after your father, daddy met Reno. Even though Reno was a Turk, too, daddy liked him, because he didn't know who he had killed besides Don Corneo."
"Who's that?"
"Don was a fat man-whore who ran a hotel called The Honeybee Inn out in the slums of Midgar. Lonely men went there for action. When your father was trying to destroy the world, Don kidnapped Elena, another Turk, and myself. He tied us to Da-Chao and was trying to decide which of us to screw first. He made his decision to do me when Cloud and the others showed up. They beat his pet monster and then Reno and Rude showed up. Reno dropped him over the edge and… well, you get the picture. Daddy was glad that Reno did that, so he betrothed me to him. We were to get married when I returned, but when Cloud said Vincent died, I didn't want to believe it. I told him that I wouldn't marry, and I ran away here. A few months later, I wrote an apology to Reno and told him to take care of my house for me. I've lived here ever since, waiting for Vincent to come back."
"Wait," Kali shook her head, "if Vincent was part of the group trying to kill my dad, why did they become friends?"
"Because of his mother," Vincent whispered. He walked through the door. "Sephiroth, Kadaj, and you are all I have left of Lucrecia."
"Huh?"
"The only thing I didn't explain was the Jenova Project itself. Kadaj knows it all. Ask him when you meet. I think it will do him good to get that knowledge off his chest. But what I can tell you is that Lucrecia was the woman who gave birth to your father."
"Oh," she whispered. Her eyes widened. "So you're my grandfather?"
"Pardon?" Vincent said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you loved Lucrecia so much, so…"
"No, I'm not the father of Sephiroth. There have been times I wished it was so, but only because I hate thinking of the man who truly is."
"And he is?"
"Hojo," Yuffie and Vincent said together.
"The guy who gave you that?" Kali pointed at his gauntlet and shook her head. "But why?"
"Perhaps I will explain another day. It's getting late. You should go to bed."
"I'm afraid to," she sighed. "After what Cloud nearly did earlier, I don't want to be away from you at all."
"Lock your door, then. Kali, I promise, I won't let anything happen to you," Vincent assured her. "I'll be right out back if you need me," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. He walked out.
"He really likes you," Yuffie muttered. Kali looked at her. "He actually touched you. Vincent is one of those people who only let's certain people touch him. Come to think of it, his dad, Lucrecia, and I are the only one's I've ever known to touch him without getting a dirty look."
"Maybe he's changed more than you think."
"Perhaps. Come one upstairs and I'll show you your room," Yuffie grinned. When Kali was settled, Yuffie began to go outside and join Vincent. As she walked through the main hall, she thought she heard the front door open and close. "Is someone there?" she called. She saw nothing, so she shrugged and approached where Vincent and Cid were talking, never seeing the shadow that was slinking across the floor, hugging the wall and making it's way towards the kitchen without making a noise.
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"She's actually pretty for the daughter of a bastard like Sephiroth," Cid said. He held a bottle of beer in one hand and his other rested on the railing of the deck. Vincent leaned on the railing, a bottle in his own hand.
"Yes, she is," Vincent agreed. He sighed and took a drink from his bottle.
"So if you were living with her mom, did the two of you ever…?"
"No. I have more respect for Sephiroth's memory than that," he said. Vincent raised his bottle. "Good stuff. I'd forgotten how good the booze is here."
"Hell, yeah," Cid smiled. He watched Vincent throw his head back to drain the bottle. "You been through so much, you deserve a good drink."
"Hmm-mm," Vincent moaned. Yuffie came out at that moment and couldn't help watching his Adam's apple bob as he chugged his beer.
"Enjoying yourselves?" she joked. Vincent placed his empty bottle on the rail and spread his arms. Yuffie came up and wrapped her arms around him.
"Now I am," he whispered, wrapping his own limbs around his girl. Cid smiled.
"Makes me wish Shera was around."
"I thought you couldn't stand her. Didn't she ruin your dream of going into space?" Vincent reminded him.
"Still loved her nonetheless. She got caught in a storm a few years back while she was out on the sea. Didn't come back," Cid said. He took a swig of his drink.
"Cid? Yuffie? I have a big favor to ask both of you," Vincent whispered suddenly. They stared at him. "I had a dream last night. Sephiroth pulled me into the Lifestream and told me that when I go to Midgar, I'm going to die."
"What?" Cid gasped.
"No. No, you can't! What about your arm?" Yuffie snapped. Vincent held up a hand to silence them.
"It was only a dream, but Sephiroth did the same thing twice to Kali's mother and one other time to me. Everything he told us between the three times came true. I know who will kill me, too."
"Who?" Yuffie begged to know. Vincent shook his head.
"If I tell you, you'll kill him or her. Once I reach Midgar, my job here will be over. When Kali and I leave here, I want the two of you to wait one or two days before following us. I'll leave a trail for you. Follow our trail exactly. Stop when we did and don't move until you've waited the same amount of time we did. I don't want you to catch up to us. When you each Midgar, then you can move at your own pace to find Kali. After I die, she's going to go into the ruins to find Kadaj. Whether she's with him or not, stick with her when you find her."
"I'll do it," Cid promised immediately. Yuffie nodded her agreement.
"Thank you both," Vincent muttered. "The only people you can tell are Reno and Rude. They already said that they'd help us if we needed it."
To be continued…
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NM: Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep this fanfic rollin'… yep, it's update-update-update! I've been thinking of this section of the story ever since I started writing it, so the next chapter should be here right before or after Christmas. Also, from this chapter on, the story is 'R' rated. Now, for reviews:
Leon K. Xavier: Aw… thank you so much! My stories have been awesome and interesting… never been cool before… thanks! To be honest, I don't want to toot my own horn, but (honk honk!) this is probably the best story I've written. In my eyes, anyway.
Meowwl: LOL Yeah, I like plot twists.
Merielle: Yeah, Vincent will die. Maybe Kali will kill him, maybe she won't… actually, you can find out who it is by reading my 'teaser chapter' of the prequel (chapter 11).
Kizna1200: You didn't have to review; I know you're reading. But thanks! Yeah, Kali is pretty cool, huh? Actually, I think this story will only have maybe three or four OC's in it. But they'll be cool.
Mediciner: ((hug)) Yea! You're back! Vincent. Is. Awesome. I just love vampire-like men. Alas, he only has about two or three chapters left. As for your story, take your time. I should be doing that with this, but I have a good part of it planned out and want to get it down before I forget it all. Anyway, so glad you're back!
NM: You may have noticed the 'to be continued' at the bottom. At least, I'm hoping you did. About that… there may be several chapters done that way. Just so you know, I am NOT posting this story as two fics. To avoid chapters that are too short or too long, I am keeping all of the chapters of this story between 4000 and 5000 words, not including author notes. Any chapters that will take more than that will be split into two chapters, k?
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
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