Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, its characters, its concepts, or its plot. I don't own any of its places or its Planet, either. Neither do I own any of the monsters, Chocobos, Cetra, rejects of scientific experiments, or the Highwind. In fact, I own nothing in Final Fantasy VII except for the mystery house Tifa's being held captive in.
Note: Aww…I swear, if I could reach out and give my reviewers a cool gift, I honestly would! You all are great!
Second Note: Possible OOC-ness ahead, but as this isn't a humor story, I try to keep the characters as in character as possible. If I slide and go OOC, I'm sorreh.
Chapter 6: Things We Can't Do
Tifa was asleep when he got back.
Vincent would have smiled if he hadn't had that conversation with Chaos and the other demons. The thought of possibly having to kill her made him feel…well, he didn't know HOW it made him feel. The feeling was beyond sadness, beyond aggravation, beyond regret.
There was another flicker of a feeling there, too, one he had only previously felt when he saw Lucretia in those times so long ago. Yes, it was true: He regretted ever feeling like that now, and strangely enough, he never wanted to feel it ever again. He knew, firsthand, that love was a feeling that, if handled the wrong way, could hurt very much.
No, his love for Tifa wasn't anything strong or anything sudden. Perhaps love was too strong of a word. Perhaps he merely favored Tifa above the others—and why not? She was strong, both emotionally and physically—but not to the point where she showed off or never displayed her feelings. She was also loyal to her friends, and appeared not to completely hate them even after they turned on her.
He didn't register how beautiful she was, and, unlike most other men, he didn't register her breast size. He wasn't the type to really notice these things.
That thought comforted his emotions slightly. If he didn't think she was beautiful, then surely he didn't love her…? He couldn't, really. Why couldn't he?
"I just can't," Vincent breathed.
He walked back to the bedroom and wondered why his captive chose to sleep on the raggedy old couch instead of the bed. She was perfectly welcome to; Vincent tended to not sleep much. Decades of sleeping in a coffin did that to you. Then his crimson eyes wandered over to the bloodstain on the wall. Was that what she was afraid of? Was she afraid that the blood was that of a previous captive, one who had been less fortunate and less welcome than she was?
That blood was Chaos's fault. The purple demon had done a forceful, temporary separation from his host. That means, the shadow of the demon had ripped itself out of Vincent's body via one of the many scars on the man's chest—and just that alone had caused sufficient blood splatter to frighten anyone who wasn't in a position of power within the tiny building. The shadow re-entering Vincent had caused even more blood splatter.
"I don't want to think about that," the red-and-black-clad man whispered. Just those vague details of the torment he had to endure over and over again were enough—he didn't want to go into full detail.
"He actually thought I was sleeping," Tifa muttered triumphantly to herself as she sat up. The couch made an ominous-sounding creak under her as she shifted positions. Then she noticed that the door to the bedroom was open. The bedroom door was located in a spot which made it so that the couch was the first thing you'd see when you opened it…and right by the inside of the aforementioneddoorway was Vincent. He seemed so lost in thought, though, that if he noticed her being awake, he gave no sign.
At first, Tifa was smiling, but then the smile faded into a confused frown. She used to trust Vincent so much. Also, she had to admit, after meeting him, since she didn't want to start a romantic relationship with Cloud, Vincent was at the top of her list for possible boyfriends. And why not? First of all, he was cute. Second, he seemed nice (until he kidnapped her). Third, he just seemed like the type of person who—though cold, quiet, and seemingly antisocial—just needed someone to open him up.
Not any more, though. Would you still be willing to love the person who kidnapped you for a reason you don't know very clearly and/or don't like? Besides, her feelings for him were never very strong. It was just one of those feelings that kids get when they're in elementary school or middle school, where they think a person's attractive and latch onto them for that reason. Of course, Tifa was mature enough to have more reasons than just that to like Vincent.
After he kidnapped her, though, they basically went away.
"I can't love you, Vincent," she sighed. "Personally, I don't want to."
That said, the fatigue that comes from pretending to be fatigued set upon her, and she slid from sitting up straight to lying on her side on that raggedy, beat-up old brown couch and fell asleep within minutes.
"What the hell is TAKING you all so long?" Cloud snapped. They had been "ready" to leave for at least a day, and yet no progress so far had been made.
Cid's head appeared from the Highwind as he finished tuning up the engine. "Hold yer $#?& horses!" the blonde old pilot snapped back.
"I DON'T HAVE ANY HORSES TO HOLD!" the spiky-haired leader hollered back, stomping back into the Rocket Town inn, grumbling something that delicate ears shouldn't hear.
"You know," Yuffie whispered to Barret, for the mere reason that he had been standing near her and Vincent, her usual target for annoyance, wasn't there, "if it weren't for the fact that he were a man, I'd say he was on PMS."
"Heh," Barret chortled. "Yeah. But if yer lifelong friend wasn't there, I'm sure yeh'd be confused n' angry as well."
"Probably, but since when do you understand Cloud so well?" asked Yuffie suspiciously, edging away from the dark-skinned man. However, further remarks were put on hold because the dark-haired ninja caught side if Red XIII and, grinning maliciously, chased after the yelping dog-creature with her malicious comb and hair ties.
They ran into the hotel and bumped into an unfortunate Cait Sith, who, because his natural clumsiness mixed with being bumped into wasn't a good mix, bumped into Cloud.
The spiky-haired leader turned his head and glared at the stuffed creature. "Watch it," he grumbled, and attempted to resume storming off.
"Hey, Cloud, other than the obvious, what's wrong?" asked the stuffed creature, attempting to be cheerful.
"The obvious," Cloud snapped, "is basically it. Do I NEED to tell everyone everything?"
"It can be helpful," Cait Sith said.
"WE NEED TO HAVE LEFT ALREADY! Who knows what could happen to Tifa if we take our precious time?"
"Well, we could hurry in like fools and put the girl in even more danger…"
"I just don't want to take this much damn time just getting ready to leave," Cloud sighed, plopping into one of the plush chairs in the inn-turned-hotel's lobby. "Taking time just doesn't seem like a smart thing to do."
Red XIII appeared in the hallway and entered the lobby, growling since he was now mostly braided and being followed by a braid-obsessed teenager. "We have to take time," the dog-creature growled, sitting down (which, to Yuffie, signified defeat, causing her to squeal with glee and attack his mane further with the comb).
"Hey, look at that," Cait Sith observed. "When she's braiding hair, she's calm. Cloud, maybe you should try something like that."
"…You want me to braid Red's hair?" the blonde leader asked, raising one eyebrow.
Red XIII yelped. "I don't even want ONE hairstylist! Two would be way too much!"
"No, I mean, try to find something that calms you down," the stuffed creature explained.
Cloud shook his head. "Talking to Aeris calmed me down. Talking to Tifa calmed me down. Talking to you all, well, that doesn't work."
"DONE WITH THE DAMN REPAIRS," Cid bellowed, sticking his head in through the doorway.
Cloud's face lit up like an excited child for a moment, then he regained his leader-like aura. "Right. Everyone, let's go."
Yumesuta: I hope that chapter was okay. Please review. By the way, I wonder if any of you have any idea how old I am…? Just out of curiosity. ANYWAY. REVIEW!