Disclaimer: Don't own the rights to FFVII nor any of their characters

Chapter 2

Tifa awoke the next morning and felt dew on her hair, to her great annoyance. She looked up and spotted Red XIII at once, standing guard so vigilantly during her slumber.

She rubbed her eyes groggily and sat up, saying, "Thanks for keeping watch for me Red. You should have woke me up, you didn't have to stay up all night for monsters."

Red turned his head slightly, looking at her through the corner of his eyes. She was reminded forcefully of Vincent's elusive mannerism. "It was not creatures I kept my eyes for," he replied, returning his gaze to the dark forest.

Suddenly Tifa realized Vincent usual presence was missing, and she quickly looked around for him. "You mean he didn't come back?" she asked, unable to keep the worry and anxiety from her voice.

"No, not to my knowledge. Knowing Vincent's behavior as I do, I would presume he has already left for his mansion, or where ever he has settled on to seal himself away for the rest of his immortal life." Red bowed his head slightly, and Tifa could tell he felt no better than her.

"B..but…but we talked last night about how he should stay!" she sputtered. "How we all care for him, so that we would miss him if he left, and what to do with his life now…"

Red looked at her, silencing her with his eerie stare. "Then I am convinced. It is probably your chat last night that drove him to remain in the shadows and leave us."

Red could tell her confusing by the wrinkle of her brow as she gawked at him. "What…?"

"You reminded him of, though he may never admit it, how much he cares for…us. He did not want his control of himself slip in yo…our presence. I can understand his concern, he has had much trauma in his life and this last battle has shaken his soul. He has no desire left to drive him, so resting to the hallucination of death seems to him as a fitting end."

Tifa stared at him for a second before the words seemed to register. She gave him a quizzical look and mumbled, "…hallucination?"

"Perhaps another time, if we ever cross paths with him again, he can tell you himself. As for now, I will not divulge the information of his past that I unknowingly gave him; I personally handed him the very tools of his torment and self-destruction." He looked crestfallen and stared at the ground in a mixture of guilt and remorse. "I had foolishly believed he had only desired knowledge of his existence."

Tifa stood up and walked to Red, patting his fur softly. "Don't worry, Red. You're not to blame, and neither is Vincent, as a matter of fact. He's just had a lot happen to him, and you thought you were doing him a favor. In his eyes, you were. Nothing to worry about, all we have to do is find him and…"

Red XIII shook his head sadly. "Vincent is the most cunning being I have ever known. If he does not wish to be found he shall not be. At least, if he wishes to be found, it would not be coincidental. Vincent has let on enough for me to know he is ingenious at his game. I only can wait foolishly here for his return, if ever."Before Tifa could say anything, Cloud walked from his tent, followed by Cid, who sleepily scratched his head.

"You two are up early," he said, sitting down besides Tifa. Cid merely stood there, and looked around for a second.

"Vampire boy has left the building, hasn't he?" said Cid unexpectedly.

Since when was he so observant? Especially as this hour…

Tifa's thoughts were interrupted as Cloud asked her suddenly, "How long would it take to get to the village? You know," he added at her questioning expression. "Bone Village, the excavation place."

"Oh." She thought for a moment and did some small calculations, and said, "At our current pace, a day, at most."

Cloud stood in silence for a moment, then walked back to his tent, saying with his natural suave, "He'll be back by noon."

Vincent's shadow loomed out from the trees, his red eyes a giveaway at his identity. In his arms was a large bag of supplies and a small pouch of gil. He walked past a stunned Tifa and an expressionless Red XIII as he dropped the goods by a tree. Then, with a stupendous leap, jumped into the tree and landed gracefully on a sturdy branch, getting into his normal position: One foot dangling from the tree, swaying slightly while he rested one arm in his lap and the other on his knee, which was propped up close to his chest.

"Vincent!" cried Tifa from below. "Where have you been?"

Vincent gazed down at her for a moment, then turned away, his eyes closed. "We had almost no supplies. You all need to eat. I got some money from some creatures I fought and left for Bone Village to pick up provisions." Tifa continued her bewildered glare until Cloud walked out, and cried out in surprise.

"Vincent, you're back!" Vincent made no acknowledgment Cloud had spoken, or even that he was there, but he simply shrugged and made his way to the bag, gazing in. "This should last us for a short time. We don't have to rush to the pier yet. Enough for two and a half days, I'd say, if Yuffie didn't eat it all up."

"I heard that!" cried Yuffie as she crawled out from her tent, her hair ruffled and her expression drowsy but she made her way to them all the same. "What's all this chit-chat about? Are we going to get our asses moving and leave this stupid forest or not?"

Cloud smiled. "Yeah, let's hurry and pack up, people. We can make it to the edge of the forest by nightfall if we keep pace."

Several months later, Tifa sat on the edge of the Costa del Sol dock, gazing distantly at the vast ocean. She had stormed off after her argument with Cloud, in which she had learned he could not have held the same feelings she had held for him, though her guilt for shouting at him built up in her all the same.

"Why do I have to be so weak?" she asked the air around her, her voice filled with sadness.

"If that is what you consider weakness, I envy you."

Tifa spun about and saw Vincent behind her, watching the ocean as she had moments ago. Somehow she always found him most talkative at sunset, though not by much more. "What do you mean?" she asked feebly. It had been the first time he had discussed him retaining feeling at all to her. She felt a joy inside her that Vincent considered her such a close friend, even if he only showed it in his subtle ways.

"To stand up to a love long lost, and to retain your dignity through it all…I only wish I could have had that determination in my youth."

Tifa raised an eyebrow in question, but he did not seem to take notice. To her, he seemed in his prime. Physically built, his senses at their peak, and quite attractive as well, in his mysterious way. She shook her head slightly and stood up.

"In your youth…?" she asked innocently, but Vincent knew she desired some long deserved answers.

Still, he was a reluctant bastard.

Sighing to himself, he walked up next to Tifa, his eyes not meeting her as he continued to watch the fading horizon. "I…am older than I appear to be." He raised his claw slowly, observed the metal, as if deep in thought. When he spoke, Tifa could tell he was choosing his words carefully. "I…am not quite…human. My aging is…different from yours. If I were to be figured in years from my birth I would be…" He sat there for a moment, counting. "…67"

Tifa almost fell off the dock into the ocean below her.

Swaying slightly, she straightened up and stared at Vincent in silence. This is the first time he's ever really told me anything about himself. She felt important, acknowledged, and the joy inside her that she felt before arose, yet was instantly quenched by the look Vincent had in his eye. He's studying me, she thought, seeing if he should say anymore.

She smiled slightly and tilted her head to the side. "That old, huh?" she asked playfully. Then her face grew serious. "How long did you sleep in that coffin, then? 10…20 years?"

Vincent turned away from her again, gazing off into the distance. "…40. I've been 27 years old for 40 years."

This stunned Tifa. She had no knowledge of his past, besides very little and vague details he sometimes explained, before growing quiet and grave again. However, he was answering her questions, which made her grow suspicious. Vincent would never share this much unless he had a plan, a reason to do so.

"Vincent?" she said solidly. Vincent noticed her sudden change in tone and glanced sideways at her, his expression unreadable as always.

"Hm?" he breathed.

"Why are you tell me this?" she asked bluntly. She knew better than to expect an answer, but she would be straight-forward, letting him see that she wished to know. "You hardly ever talked to anyone, except Red XIII, and even then it was you asking questions; you never talk about your past. Why are you telling me this now?"

Vincent stood in silence, the question seeming to unnerve him. However, she could gain no answer from his red, lifeless eyes. "Because you are deserving. You have never given up hope that I may be human, and though I believe that to be futile, I…admire it. I thought it was time to allow you some answers you long for." With that, he spun about and walked off into the distance, Tifa vaguely surprised and disappointed.

He told me he admired me for being…well, me! She thought to herself. We actually had a conversation where I didn't do all the talking! For some reason, her heart seemed buoyant, and she fairly skipped all the way back to the inn, the salty air that so righteously annoyed her hung around her and clung to her, yet she could care less. She felt so happy!

'But why do you feel so happy?' said the small, nagging voice in her head.

Because I was able to have a deep conversation with Vincent! How many times does he open up to people?

'Why would this make you happy? Shouldn't you be worried about Cloud's feelings right now?'

Who cares about Cloud?

'Who cares about Vincent?'

I do!

She stopped right outside the inn, her hand still on the door handle. She had been so delighted about Vincent that she had not stopped to wonder why. She just assumed it was the way she was supposed to feel, without questioning herself.

She could hear the voice in the back of her head chuckling. 'Finally admitting it, eh?' It grew silent and Tifa was left to her own thoughts and questions.

"I…I love…Vincent…?" Saying it aloud seemed to taunt her, to surround her, as if even thinking it was a sin. She had never thought herself in love with any one but Cloud, but now that she stood rooted to the spot, all her thoughts on Vincent, she wondered if it were really true. "Is it really possible?" Suddenly, something occurred to her. Why did he talk to me so much? Red and I are the only people that really talked to him. Why does he talk to me and not Yuffie, or Cid, or Barret…

'OK, you admitted it, but don't get your hopes up, Tifa. Not just yet.'

There it was again. What do you mean? she asked angrily. Isn't there a chance he may feel the same about me?

'You said that about Cloud, too.' The reasoning behind this shocked Tifa, and before she could allow the tears to fall she shook her head and wretched open the door.

Cloud was no where in sight, and neither was Barret and Yuffie, who had brought herself with them to Costa del Sol to pick a few more pockets and gain one more chance of robbing them of their materia. Of course, they kept their eyes on her, and she had no such luck, finally agreeing to return to Wutai when the three Avalanche members left for Junon.

She made her way to her room, whom she shared with Yuffie, who, sure enough, was fast asleep, strewn on her bed in her clothes, snoring slightly. Tifa couldn't help but giggle at Yuffie's odd sleeping position, her arms and legs dangling off the sides of her bed at different angles as she lay across the middle.

She threw herself on her own bed, too tired and deep in thought that she did not even change. Does he really care for me, or am I just a giddy little girl with a crush? She fell into a troubled slumber, and slept through the rest of the night, unaware of the red eyes watching over her from the window outside until sunrise, when they vanished from view.

"What do you mean 'he's gone'!" Tifa fairly screamed as she inquired a scared Yuffie and a reproachful Cloud. Tifa had moments before come down for coffee to discover the group huddled at a table, discussing reasons why Vincent had left so suddenly. "You mean none of you know where he is?"

Cloud suddenly stood up, his face in anger and frustration, and, if possible, jealousy. "Why do you care so much about where Vincent is, Tifa?" he asked harshly.

Tifa was taken aback by Cloud's usual tactlessness, but she could not think of how to reply. She gathered her composure and stared him in the eye. "Since when did you care," she shouted, imitating him, "about what I think?" Cloud looked as if he had been slapped in the face, and she knew thoughts of their argument yesterday were running fresh through his mind.

"Because you are my friend!" Tifa winced slightly at how he said 'friend', and she was certain that he would hold that against her for some time.

She put her hands on her hips, her lips pursued. "So you're the only one that can be my friend? I can't be friends with Vincent, or Barret, or Yuffie or any one else, is that right?" Cloud swelled up in anger and left, slamming the inn door as he strolled onto the streets of the city.

She sighed, sitting down besides Yuffie. "Sorry 'bout that Yuff," she muttered. "It's just Cloud has been on my nerves a lot lately."

Yuffie relaxed, but then narrowed her eyes at Tifa. "Why do you care about finding Vincent so much?" she asked shrewdly. Tifa threw up her hands in frustration and got up quickly to make her coffee.

I'll just have to find him on my own, then, she thought angrily. If no one else wants to help me, fine, but I can't lose someone like Vincent, he may have been passionless at times, but he did open up a little, and he was always a reassuring presence.

'Anything else you want to add to that?'

Not now…Tifa locked herself away in the hotel room, refusing to speak to anyone but her roommate until their ship arrived. They silently made their way to the docks a few days later and bid Yuffie a morbid farewell as they boarded their ship to the other continent.

Tifa was staring out into the vast ocean around her, reminding her forcefully of Vincent's old habit and pastime of thinking distantly. She did not notice as Cloud came next to her until he stood beside her, the scent she used to dream about now drove her to the brink of insanity.

He placed an arm around her and leaned his head onto hers, but she knew he only felt their relationship as that of a sibling watching his younger sister. She tried feebly to shrug off his arm, but he removed it on his own, knowing she felt resent and hatred toward him.

"Tifa…you've been acting very odd lately," he said slowly, his head still laying on hers as he traced her gaze to the waning sun. "You're growing quiet and sulky, like…" His voice trailed off, yet Tifa knew he meant Vincent.

"Cloud…" she mumbled softly and quietly. He turned his gaze on her and she looked up with him, resent and sadness swimming in her eyes. "Please, I just want to think right now."

Cloud bowed his head slightly. "Oh." He made his way back inside, turning around slightly when he reached the door. "Tifa, remember…you have friends if you need to talk about…anything." He left without another word, to Tifa's pleasure and grief.

"Why did you have to leave…?" she whispered into the wind, the calm ocean beneath her catching her tears as she leaned over the side, sobbing into her hands.

A/N: Ok, I forgot to mention when people start hearing voices, they're not going loco, they're just chatting with their subconscious (I know, weird, but in Vincent's case it would be his demon counterparts) So whenever something appears like 'this' with the '' marks, then that's their subconscious. Just thought I'd fill you in. Ok, nothing slow chapter, next one, guess who Tifa meets up with? Hehe, not hard to guess...