Chapter 6

Vincent stared at the lid of his coffin. How long had he been here? He felt as if he had just fallen asleep.

Ahh Lucrecia… I'm sorry I failed you… I killed Sephiroth instead of helping him. Forgive me, my love. Vincent thought sadly, thinking back to the time that he and AVALANCHE were at the Northern Cave.

"Vincent… do not be so sad…" A voice called to him. "I have seen my son."

"Lucrecia!" Vincent sat up, but instead of doing so, he smashed his head onto the lid of the coffin. "S---!"

He heard a light chuckling. It was the voice of his loved one. "Vincent… darling… do not worry about me any longer. Worry about your own life."

"Lucrecia… I'm sorry… but I can't forget you!" He said, this time throwing aside the lid and then sitting up. "I love you…."

"Vincent… look at yourself… think of the years you've slept away…" the voice of Lucrecia seemed to sigh. "Vincent you haven't failed me. You have never failed me. Sephiroth is fine now… he's with Aeris."

"WHAT!" He yelled, struggling to get out of his coffin and slipped on the lid and went crashing into the floor. "S--- S--- S---! What the hell is wrong with me today!"

He heard the voice of Lucrecia laugh and his face burned. "Vincent… calm down… you are distressed."

He shook himself. "Sorry. Now… why is Sephiroth with Aeris? Didn't he kill her?"

"He's learned. Vincent… there isn't much time. You must pass the message onto your friends."

"You mean AVALANCHE?" Vincent asked.

"Yes." Lucrecia's voice paused. "Tell them that Jenova is in the Promised Land."

"WHAT!" He yelled again.

"She is targeting the Cetra once again. Vincent… tell them… now… hurry…" The voice of Lucrecia faded away.

"Lucrecia? Lucrecia? LUCRECIA!" Vincent looked around wildly. "Oh… I better them quickly."

He stood up and carefully stepped over his coffin lid and ran out of the mansion and into the night. He silently jumped over the roofs of houses and ran across the grass, watching the starry night sky.

"Ahhh… this is the good life." Barret stretched his large frame over the couch. "Beats kickin' Sephiroth's ass any day."

"Daddy… don't say bad words." Marlene scolded playfully.

Barret laughed and kissed Marlene's forehead. "I'm sorry, Marlene." He cooed.

Cloud and Tifa sat on the other couch, smiling. The four had settled together in a house in Kalm.

Barret turned on the TV. "Oh there's a load of c…" He stopped when Marlene gave him a look. "… dog poopie."

His adopted daughter gave a giggle when he said this. He gave a huge grin and continued flipping the channels.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Cloud stood up, and exited the room and went to the door.

He slowly opened it. "Hello, Cloud."

"Vincent?" Cloud's eyes widened in surprise. "What're you doing here? I thought you went back to your coffin in the Shinra Mansion."

Vincent had a grim look on his face. "Well, I got some bad news."

"Cloud, who is it?" Tifa called from the other room.

"It's uh… Vincent!" Cloud called back. "He's got some news!" To Vincent he said. "Come in, come in!"

Vincent stepped in and Cloud closed the door. "Thank you." He said politely.

"Tifa and Barret are in the other room." Said Cloud. "You can join them, I'll get you a drink. What do you want? Tea? Coffee? Soda?"

"Water." Vincent said and walked into the other room.

"Water?" Cloud stared. "Alright… whatever…"

As Cloud went to the kitchen, Vincent walked into the living room and sat down on a couch.

"Yo, Vincy." Barret grunted, still flipping through channels. "Ahh nuthin' but junk." He finally turned off the TV. "So wus the bad news?"

Vincent looked surprised. "How'd you know it was bad news?"

"Well… then you wouldn't come rushin' here. Ya'd take your sweet little time." Barret said.

"Barret!" Tifa admonished. "That's rude!"

"It's true…"

"To start of with…" Vincent took a deep breath. "Sephiroth's in the Promised Land with Aeris."

"WHAT!" Tifa yelled, her eyes widening.

"WUT!" Barret threw away the remote control. "WUT YA SAY!"

Cloud dropped the glass cup that he was pouring water into. It fell to the ground and shattered, sloshing water all over the floor. "WHY IS THE BASTARD WITH HER!" He yelled, and almost stepped on one of the broken pieces of glass and cut his foot.

He cursed and picked up the broken pieces, he headed for the trashcan but slipped on the water. More curses came from his mouth.

It would have been comical if it weren't such a serious moment. Barret, Tifa, and Vincent just stared at him. He threw away the broken pieces of glass and wiped up the spilled water, apologizing to Vincent who didn't respond.

"Cloud…" Tifa said.

"What?" He asked curtly.

"You missed a spot."

Yay... writer's block is gone...