Just a quick hello and thank you to my long time readers! You know who you are!
Zelda, Jobi, Ann, Reno, Ezri, Sarion, Dragon Girl, Tifalee, and all the rest of you! I love you guys!
Chapter Thirty Two
Jaras and Jeanine got up early, having slept well in their own bed. They dressed and then walked hand in hand to the house of Jeanine's father, Brandon. Once on his doorstep, Jeanine rang the bell.
The doctor eventually answered. "Jeanine? Jaras? Where have the two of you been?"
They entered the house as he stepped aside and motioned for them to come in. Jaras and his wife landed on the couch, and waited for Brandon to make his way over to his chair.
Jeanine leaned forward, locking into her aging father's gaze. "Well, some things have happened."
Brandon was very interested. He'd wanted to see them a few days ago and had tried looking them up at home but they weren't there. Brandon had then gone to the bookstore, but Jaras' assistant was running it alone, not knowing where his boss had gone off to. This had worried him greatly, and he was relieved to have them here now. Still, he could see that there were serious issues on their minds. "What's going on?"
"Well, apparently Shinra finally received word that I was here," Jaras said quietly, holding on to Jeanine's hand. "I was kidnapped by them and taken to Junon."
Brandon looked at his daughter, searching for an explanation. "And you didn't tell me?"
"I didn't have a chance. At the same time Shinra was taking him away, ASRIO had me go to their base, fearing that something might happen to me if I stayed." Her voice wavered in her memory of fear.
Brandon drew his hands up to his mouth and gasped. "Good God, what happened?"
Jaras dropped his gaze to the floor. "Shinra took me to their Junon lab and I was placed in the custody of Dr. Methius."
The older man's eyes narrowed and he rose up from his seat. "Not Dr. Peirte Methius?"
"You know him?" Jeanine asked, seeing the expression in her father's eyes.
"I went to medical school with him. He was some sort of prodigy and while the rest of us in the class were in our late twenties, he was only like twelve or thirteen." Brandon fell back into his chair, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him. "It figures that Shinra would have snatched him up."
"In any case," Jaras sighed, "he sought to remake me into Sephiroth."
Brandon knit his brow and shook his head. "Why?"
"I have no idea. I suppose that he figured I could be restored to my old work for the company or some such." He shrugged. "I was injected with Jenova."
"Oh no…" Brandon couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Jaras, if that happened, why are you still…Jaras?"
"We will get to that." He held his wife's hand tighter. Jaras proceeded to relate the tale to his father-in-law in its entirety, eventually getting to the part where his own sense of right and wrong returned thanks to his love for Jeanine, and his betrayal of Vincent to set things straight.
Upon hearing the whole story, Brandon nodded, accepting what he'd learned. "But the Jenova's effects upon you…they have subsided?"
"Mentally, I would say they have to some degree, although in the few times that I've been agitated since then I've been a little quicker to anger than before. Physically, however, I've continued to change." Jaras' voice reflected his regret of the situation.
"How so?" Brandon asked.
"My body has continued to strengthen and as of the other morning, I no longer need my glasses to read." He smiled faintly.
"We have to stop it, Jaras." Brandon steepled his fingers before his face as he delved into thought. "It will continue to multiply within you and eventually, its mental effects will return and inevitably drive you insane like before. It will be a slow process since you only received the one injection of it, leaving the Jenova to reproduce on its own, but it will happen."
This was exactly what Jaras was afraid to hear. "You believe that?"
"I do." Brandon let his hands fall to his lap. "After I found you, I studied enough on the subject of Jenova experimentation to learn that."
"Then what can we do?" Jaras asked, knowing that he had to do something in order to keep himself sane. Becoming dangerous when he had a child on the way just wasn't an option.
"There is only one thing that can rectify Jenova infection."
Jeanine shook her head. "Dad, we can't just throw him into the Lifestream and hope that he survives!"
Brandon offered her a smile. "I'm not talking about throwing him in, Jeanine, but he will have to undergo Mako exposure to kill those cells within him. We can do it safely, like the Mako injections that they used to give to SOLDIERs. If we make it a gradual process, there is no doubt in my mind that he'll make it through just fine. Besides, Jaras, you've already proven to have an amazing tolerance for Mako poisoning."
Jaras thought about this for a few moments and then nodded. "Then that is what we have to do. Brandon, I do have one other question for you, though."
"What's that?"
"If a man was infected with Jenova and he were to impregnate a woman, what are the possible side effects upon the baby?" Jaras asked, feeling color come to his cheeks.
Brandon stood up from his chair and his eyes went wide. "Jeanine…you're pregnant?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yes."
"And you're sure that the pregnancy took place after the Jenova exposure?" He took a few steps closer to them.
"When ASRIO took me to their base, I forgot to take my birth control pills along with me and after Jaras returned…" Jeanine couldn't go into any further explanation with her father.
"Oh…" The doctor shook his head and met his daughter's gaze. "I…I don't know what could possibly happen."
Jeanine and Jaras both felt chills run down their spines. The thought that the Jenova could ultimately have some sort of effect upon their long awaited child terrified both of them.
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Cid was lying in his bed, despite the fact that it was well past six in the morning. Jin tended to like sleeping in when she could and he wasn't going to move until she awoke. He'd just lain here holding her for an hour and a half.
Suddenly, something caught his attention. It was a faint sound at first, but it got louder and Cid recognized it for what it was. Instinctively, he leapt from his bed, knocking Jin to the side and startling her.
She looked over at him as he rushed to the dresser and began to dress hurriedly. "Cid? What's wrong?"
"Plane."
"What?" She was still too tired to notice the drone of engines over the house.
Cid pulled on a tank top and faced her as he buttoned his jeans. "Someone's circling over the house in a plane."
Jin then noticed it. "Well who could that be?"
"I don't fucking know, but I figure they're probably setting' down to see me." Cid came over and landed on the edge of the bed to pull on his shoes.
Jin got out of bed as well, going to go take a shower before dressing. She would be quick about it, curious as to who was in the air as well.
Once dressed, Cid stepped out of the bedroom and made his way down the hall, running into L.C. on the way.
The boy's eyes twinkled. "Dad, sounds like an PL-137."
He smiled at his son and tousled his hair. "Sure does, let's go see."
They made their way from the house and out into the landing field behind it. Both of them looked up into the sky, seeing the plane that was the source of the sound. Just as L.C. had said, it was a PL-137.
Cid placed his arm around his son's shoulders. "Good call, kid."
"I'm the best, like I've said." L.C. was developing the same egocentric confidence as his father, and Cid wouldn't have had it any other way.
The plane over head banked one last time and descended in preparation for landing. It swayed gently in the light crosswind as it neared the ground, crabbing slightly before straightening out and touching down on the earthen airstrip.
The plane's well used engines sputtered to a stop as they were cut, and the plane was thusly parked right on the airstrip. Obviously, whoever was flying it wasn't well-versed in common courtesy, else they would have pulled off of the strip and parked elsewhere, not that anyone was going to be landing here for some time to come.
Cid remained with his boy examining the aircraft, waiting for it's pilot to emerge. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out the numbers on the tale of the plane and as he made them out, his heart sank. "Oh for the love of fucking God!"
"What's wrong, Dad?" L.C. asked, turning his eyes up to his father.
Cid recognized his father's plane thanks to its call numbers and took L.C.'s hand in his own and pulled him quickly back toward the house.
"Dad!" L.C. was still anxious to see who their visitor was.
"Don't argue, let's just get back in the God damned house and lock the door!" Cid pulled his boy along relentlessly, having no intention of facing his old man.
Once inside, Cid slammed the door and locked it behind him. He looked down at L.C. and pointed his finger at him. "Don't you answer that door, you got me?"
The boy didn't understand why his father was so angry. "O…okay."
"Good." Cid straightened up and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
Jin emerged into the kitchen and looked over at her husband. It was clear from his expression and body language that he was deeply disturbed by something at the moment, and the way that L.C. also looked upset profoundly worried her. "What's going on?"
"Nothin', just don't answer that fuckin' door," Cid growled over at her, scowling.
"Why? What's going on?" She asked again and went closer to him, not willing to just let him leave it at that.
"Someone's out there that isn't welcome here." Cid didn't feel like explaining himself further and he spun, marching back to the bedroom and slamming the door. He went over to the bed and sat heavily upon it, leaning forward and placing his head in his hands. Facing his father was something he never had wanted to deal with again as long as he lived. There had been a time when Cid was a boy and he'd looked up to the man and had loved him, but as he'd grown up, Cid had come to appreciate exactly what sort of man his father truly was. Then had come the last time they'd seen one another. That had been the last nail in the coffin of their relationship as far as he was concerned.
Jin remained in the kitchen with L.C. She went over to the window and looked out, seeing the door on the side of the airplane open up. In silence, she watched as the pilot emerged out into the morning light, stretching once free of the confines of the aircraft. He then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and got one out and between his lips before lighting up and taking a few long drags. He was an older man, not unlike Cid in stature and build and he looked harmless enough. If her husband wasn't willing to tell her why this man wasn't welcome, then she would go and meet him for herself to figure out what the problem was.
"Stay here, L.C., I'm going to go see what's going on." Jin went over to the door and unlocked it.
"Okay." The boy was too confused by everything to dare and disobey. Besides, he was hungry and he had toaster pastries waiting for him in the freezer.
Satisfied that her stepson would stay put, Jin walked out of the house and made her way toward the plane. The man standing beside it seemed to notice her approach and he shoved his hands into his pockets and began walking toward her.
As he neared her, Jin was struck with the resemblance between this man and Cid. Their faces, despite their age differences were strikingly similar. His silver hair was short and combed back, also mocking Cid's usual style. The old man's blue eyes were obscured by his slight scowl, but it was clear that he was heavily scrutinizing her in return. For his age, he was damn good looking.
When they were just a short distance apart, Jin offered him a warm smile. "Hi, can I help you?"
He stopped before her and extended one of his hands. "Yeah, I'm lookin' for Junior."
"Who?" Jin accepted his handshake, appreciating the strength of his grip.
"My boy, Cid Junior." His eyes scanned her up and down, seeming to approve of what he saw. His lips curled in a smirk.
Jin's jaw dropped. Cid had claimed that both of his parents had been dead for a long time, but there was no denying the fact that this man had to be his father. "You're Cid's dad?"
"Yeah," he said curtly, looking past her and toward the house. "I saw that coward run inside right after I landed. Where's he hidin'?"
Jin didn't know what she was supposed to say. If Cid had been denying this man's continued existence for the last several years, then surely he had his reasons, but having lost her own parents, she couldn't understand how anyone could so blatantly try to shut their father out of their life. "He's inside, I can go see if I can get him to come out."
"Right." He pulled his spent cigarette from his lips and flicked it off into the distance. "And you are?"
"I'm Jin, Cid's wife." Again, she offered him a smile.
He cocked and eyebrow and examined her for a few seconds. "I'll be damned. I'm Cid Highwind, Senior."
Jin couldn't help but laugh a little to hear this. Her husband was a carbon copy of this man in every way, down to his name. "If you wait here, I'll go see if I can get him."
"You do that." He gave her a wink and shoved his hands back into his pockets, turning away from her to examine the scenery.
Jin jogged back to the house and ran inside, ignoring L.C. who was now at the kitchen table working on his breakfast. She went straight back to the bedroom, seeing that Cid was sitting on the bed.
He looked over at her, his eyes narrowed in his frustration. "You went out there and talked to him, didn't you?"
"Since you didn't bother to give me a good reason not to, yes I did." Jin went over and sat beside him. "Why have you claimed that he was dead all of these years, Cid?"
The pilot dropped his gaze away from her and slouched forward further. "I don't wanna get into that."
"Well, you're going to, because I'm your wife and I think I have a right to know why you've been lying about your father's death all along." Jin crossed her arms over her chest, unwilling to let him dodge this.
"Because the man is a low life and I don't want anything to do with him." His voice was little more than a growl as the long pent up resentment he felt for his father welled up.
"What did he do?" Jin asked, not yet satisfied.
Telling her the story would make him seem like the biggest fucking hypocrite in the universe and he didn't want to. "It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does!" Jin stood up and got right in front of him. "You tell me what's going on!"
"All right, sit down." Cid sighed deeply and shook his head. "Growin' up, I mostly lived with my mom. My dad was gone most of the time since as a pilot he had to travel a lot. Now, when he was around he'd take me flying and I thought he was the greatest person in the world. When I was about thirteen, though, he and my mother got a divorce, because she found out that he'd been having an affair with another woman…who happened to be his best friend's wife."
Jin landed back at his side and gawked at him in silence. She realized that saying anything at this point would just cause him to get pissed and end the story.
"So, after that, he continued seeing that other woman, her name was Joanna if I recall, and eventually she left her husband for him, although they never got married, and it was revealed that her twelve year old son was actually my father's. He'd been cheating on my mom since right after I was born." He closed his eyes and fought back the bitter emotions that were trying to force their way through. "I didn't see much of him after the divorce and I never met my half brother-- hell, I don't even know his fuckin' name. Seventeen years ago when my mother died, the old man came to the funeral and I'll be damned if that fucker didn't bring Joanna along with him… I couldn't believe it, I mean, bringing the woman he'd left my mother for to her God damned funeral! After that, I cut my ties with the guy. I was done with him and his bullshit."
Jin sighed and put her arm around his shoulders. "Cid…I think you should go see him. I mean, obviously he came here for a reason, and maybe…I don't know, maybe you and he can work things out."
"Damn it." He shook his head. "I'm just like him, Jin. I did the same fucking thing! How can I face him now?"
"Cid, he has no idea what you've done, and it wasn't exactly the same thing. You made a mistake with Tifa, but you didn't carry on some huge years long affair with her and you yourself weren't married at the time, and you didn't have a child with her, either." Jin hated discussing this, but it had to be done.
"I wasn't married, but Tifa was and that kid she had could have been mine, it was just a fluke that she turned out to be Sue's baby. Now, he's hiding from her because he caught her and me together. I probably destroyed their marriage or at the very least, I sure as hell didn't help it. I've proven that I've got the old man's same crappy sense of right and wrong. If he found out, he'd never let me live it down, Jin." Cid looked over at her, his eyes reddened by the tears that he was fighting.
"Like I said, he doesn't have to find out about that. I really do think you should go out there and see him, Cid." Jin rose up from the bed. "I can't make you, but that's what I think you should do. At the very least, you should let the man meet his grandson."
He huffed and got up, shaking his head. "This is going to be the worst day of my life."
"Knock it off, Cid." Jin let her tone become forceful. "It is not, I know that for a fact. Now get out there and at least see your father for a few minutes. He's an old man, and he's probably not going to be around for a long time. You're lucky you've been given this chance to make amends with him, so you need to fucking take it."
Cid cocked and eyebrow at her and smiled. "You're being demanding."
"And unless you'd like me to continue doing so, you'll go out there and see him." Jin shot back, knowing that Cid's mind had just wandered way off track.
"Fine." He trudged out of the room and headed for the back door to the house. It took every last bit of will he had to open the door and step outside. His father was standing with his back turned as he was gazing over at his plane.
Cid walked toward him in silence, running through a gamut of curses in his mind as he went. If it weren't for Jin, he wouldn't be doing this at all and for a moment he regretted the timing of his father's arrival and she and his reconciliation.
Once he figured he was close enough, Cid cleared his throat. "Hey."
The elder Highwind turned around and looked at his son for a few seconds. "Junior."
"Don't call me that." Cid's eyes narrowed in his dislike for that name.
"It's your fuckin' name, kid." The old man took a step closer. "So what's this shit about you havin' a boy?"
Cid wondered exactly how much Jin had said to him during their brief discussion. "What about it?"
"I was told that you had a son seven years back, and you never bothered to tell me?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his scowl returning. "I never woulda' found out either, if I hadn't picked up a friend of yours for a charter trip the other day."
Cid needed a name so he knew whose ass to kick for revealing this to his father. "Who would that be?"
"Some big mother, named Barrett I do believe." Cid's father let his arms fall back to his sides before pulling out yet another cigarette.
Well, I can't very well kick Barrett's ass, I guess I'll have to let this one slide, Cid thought silently. As his father lit up, he frowned. "There ain't no smoking around here."
"What in the hell are you talking about?" he asked, already having a plume of smoke coming up from the end of his cigarette. "You smoke so why in the hell shouldn't I?"
"No, I don't anymore, and I haven't for seven years." Cid was starting to feel a little intimidated by the man before him. His father had always had that particular effect upon him.
"Oh, you gave into that politically correct bullshit about it bein' bad for you?" Cid Sr. shot back.
"Yeah, because it is, old man." Cid didn't feel the need to go into his recent brush with death thanks to lung cancer, and what did he care if the old man chose to keep it up? He was already seventy-five years old and was bound to die of old age before cancer played its hand. "Just don't do it around my boy."
"Speakin' of which, where is my grandson?"
Cid tensed his jaw and turned back toward the house, spotting Jin and L.C. on the porch. He waved his son over and they boy came running.
As he saw the boy approach, the old man pulled the still fresh cigarette from his lips and dropped it to the ground. He would humor his son in this small request.
L.C. got to his dad's side and stopped. "Who is this?"
Cid put his hand on his son's shoulder. "L.C., this is your grandfather."
The boy's eyes went wide and a smile came to his lips. "I've got a grandfather?"
Cid Sr. knelt down to be on the boy's level. "Come over here."
He did as asked, and found himself faced with the older version of his dad. "Hi."
"God damn, Junior, he looks just like you used to," the old man said approvingly. "What's your name, boy?"
L.C. puffed up a bit. "Cid Augustus Highwind the Third, but everyone calls me L.C."
"Huh, you hate me, Junior, but you passed on the name again anyway?" he said, looking back up at Cid.
"It's my name, too," Cid replied quietly, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious about things. He dared to ask, "How's Joanna?"
Cid's father patted L.C. on the shoulder and then stood back up, his eyes taking on a look of sadness. "She's gone, Junior. Passed away about four years ago."
He didn't know what to say in response to that, and so said nothing.
The old man took a deep breath and knit his brow. "And your half brother… I haven't spoken to him in years. Once his mom died, he didn't feel the need to keep in contact with me, either. Hell, I guess that wasn't a surprise, the kid never even took my last name, just using his mother's. Guess he don't like me much, either."
The sound of loneliness in his father's voice didn't get by without Cid's notice. In his curiosity, he asked, "What's my half brother's name?"
Cid Sr. shrugged. "Bradley Johnathan O'Malley."
Cid held his breath. The thought that Brad was his brother had never crossed his mind and surely Brad had known all along and never said anything. After all, how many Cid Highwinds could there be? The chopper pilot must've known from the moment that he and Cid met in the service all those years ago, but he'd never let on. Cid couldn't help but wonder why. Brad had a lot of explaining to do in the near future.
His father noticed the strange look that overcame Cid's face. "Somethin' wrong?"
"No, just…I know him."
Cid Sr. cocked an eyebrow. "You know him and he ain't never said nothin' about you being his brother?"
He smiled. "Not a damn word."
"Figures. Brad ain't right, never has been." The old man motioned back toward the house. "So, that's your wife?"
"Yeah."
"The kid's mom?"
Cid looked over his shoulder at Jin as she remained on the porch. "Naw, my first wife had L.C."
The old man suddenly looked full of himself. "Oh, so Mr. High and Mighty has gone through more than one wife?"
Cid's anger surfaced. "L.C.'s mother died, old man. I didn't have a failed marriage with her."
"Oh, my mistake." He raised his hands in defense. "I guess you still are just the fuckin' epitome of perfection, then."
Kick his ass right here and now. Show the bastard exactly how you feel about him, Cid.
Cid turned around, searching for the source of the voice that he'd just heard so clearly. After realizing that there was no one behind him and that no one else seemed to have heard, he resolved that it had just been in his head. After all, he was profoundly stressed. "Shut the fuck up."
L.C. became acutely aware of the tension between his dad and grandfather and he started to back away. "I'm gonna go back in the house."
"We're upsettin' the kid," the older man said, placing his hands on his hips.
"Damn it." Cid immediately felt bad. He didn't want what would probably be L.C.'s only memory of his grandfather to be a bad one. "Let's just pretend that we can get along for a while. I don't want to make him miserable. He's had enough of that shit lately."
"Fine." Cid's father narrowed his eyes. "Does that mean that you're gonna let me stay here for a bit?"
"Today and tomorrow, and then I want you on that plane and out of here." Cid turned and started walking back toward the house. "I want my kid to remember you."
"Whatever you want, Junior." He followed along at a distance toward the house.
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Tifa had gone through the previous day and this one, constantly wondering what she should do. The fact that Vincent had made those marks on the bench meant something-- something important. In some way, he was communicating to her with what he'd written there, although it was in Wutain and beyond her understanding.
As night settled in, Tifa put Aaron to bed and then nursed Charlotte and placed her into her crib. Again, she sat at the kitchen table, hoping that Vincent would come to the door, but by the time midnight rolled around, still there had been nothing.
She rose from her seat and then started to head back toward her bedroom, but something stopped her. Suddenly, Tifa understood. She grabbed her coat from the closet and pulled it on, before going out into the darkness and over to the pond. Tifa made her way over to the bench and sat down. The only sound to be heard were the crickets and the quiet trickle of the pond's circulation.
It had been a long time since she'd come here in the night and she stared at the reflection of the night sky upon the water's surface. The lighter colored fish could be seen gliding beneath the surface, looking as though they were flying through space, between the stars and moon. There was something surreal about it, and she found herself hypnotized.
Tifa became completely relaxed in her tiredness, and the cool air of the night along with the sounds that met her ears in a soothing song mixed together to lull her into exhaustion. She melted back into the bench and closed her eyes, resolving to just rest for a moment. There was no intention in her heart of falling asleep-- none whatsoever.
Within two minutes, she was completely out.
Vincent arrived at the house close to one in the morning. He walked around the side of the house, wondering if Tifa had noticed his inscription and hoping that her resolve to see him would prove strong enough to keep her waiting this long. He'd given her two days to notice his inscription and he wondered if she'd yet seen it.
He spotted her sitting on the bench, asleep. Her right hand was stretched out from her side, resting upon the characters he'd drawn into the bench two nights before. Tifa's presence coupled with her gesture of keeping her hand upon his writing broke through the wall that Vincent had put up around his heart. There was no way that he could stay away from her any longer. Vincent needed her, affair or not. After all, he'd remained in love with Lucrecia for ages and what she'd put him through had been worse by far that Tifa's lapses in judgement. He knew that she hadn't set out to hurt him.
Vincent went around the back of the bench and lightly placed his hands upon her shoulders, and bent down so that his lips were close to her ear. Barely audible, he whispered, "Tifa…wake up."
Her eyes slowly opened, and she felt the warmth of his hands upon her shoulders. For a moment, she didn't dare look back. Either this was a dream and Vincent wasn't really here, or there was a stranger behind her with some malicious intent. Her voice trembled. "Vincent?"
His mouth was still close to the side of her face, and as he replied, Tifa could feel the heat of his breath. "Yes."
Tifa closed her eyes and instantly felt the burn of tears. She reached up and covered his hands with her own. The way he felt was familiar after all the years they'd been together. Slowly, she tilted her head back, until she found herself looking up at him as he stood behind her. Her lips pulled back into a regretful smile. "I thought you'd never let me see you again."
Vincent's expression reflected hers. "I said that I would see you here, and I kept my word."
Tifa felt dampness trail back from the corners of her eyes. "I've missed you."
"And I you." Vincent bent forward and let his lips meet hers lightly for a few seconds, before he straightened back up.
She gazed up into his eyes, even in this light able to appreciate the fact that they were again that familiar and yet strange crimson once more. And there he was. The blood red eyes, the red cloak-- for the moment resting unbuckled upon his shoulders, the completely black outfit on underneath. It was Vincent, her Vincent, the old Vincent. Her emotions welled forth in a tidal wave and she rose up from the bench and ran around it and into his awaiting arms.
Tifa rested her cheek against his chest, more tears spilling from her. His arms held her tight, his familiar and comforting scent enveloping her. "Oh God, Vincent…I'm so sorry! I know we have a lot to talk about, but--"
He cut her off by bringing her out to arm's length. Vincent locked into her gaze and shook his head just the smallest amount. "No, not tonight. All I want tonight is a simple thing."
"I'd do anything, Vincent!" Tifa couldn't help but fear him departing or awaking to find out that this had all been a dream.
"Then do this." He pulled her close again. "Take me into the house and let me sleep in my own bed, with my wife in my arms, where she belongs. That is all I want."
Tifa searched his gaze for a few seconds, seeing the honestly in this statement. She then dropped her stare down to the hand he had against her left shoulder and then reached up and clutched it within her own. Slowly, she began to move toward the back door to the house, pulling Vincent along with her. Tifa never took her eyes from him, fearing that if she did so, he would somehow vanish.
Vincent continued to follow her, keeping his gaze locked with hers as she took him back to the bedroom. Once inside, he locked the door behind him and leaned back against it, admiring her.
Tifa stood there before him, wondering what she should do. Part of her wanted nothing more than to make love to him at that moment, but it hadn't been long enough since she'd had Charlotte and any attempt to do so would have been unbearably painful. "Vincent?"
He cocked an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"What…what do you want?" she asked, her voice again wavering.
"I already told you." He pushed his cloak off, allowing it to fall to the floor. "To hold you and sleep. Nothing more."
Tifa came forward and put her arms around him, looking up at him. "Then that's what we'll do."
Vincent couldn't help himself, and he kissed her again, this time deeply. For the moment, there was no thought given to all that had gone wrong over the years, no image of Cid with his wife in his mind. This was how it was supposed to be and he was damned if he was going to let it slip through his fingers again.
Shortly thereafter, they shed their clothing and slipped into the bed together. Vincent slept on his back, with Tifa nestled against his side, her arm draped over his waist. They both slept better that night than they had in years. Vincent was home, and he intended to stay.