Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII belongs to Squaresoft/SquareEnix, not me.
Note: Fluff in this chapter. Also, all of you people who review my story rock so much! I luv y'alls!
Second Note: Text like this is someone thinking. "Slanted text in quotation marks is Chaos or one of the other demons talking to Vincent."
Moonlit Emotions
Tifa attempted to rub the exhaustion out of her eyes with no prevail as she sat on the raggedy old couch. Though she couldn't see it, she could hear the heavy rain outside and it was making her tired and nostalgic. It was just the little things, like the rain, that made her hate being a captive.
Vincent had left the small building some time ago. She wasn't sure where he went—he never said where he was going, he just said that he'd be gone for a while and leave. She wasn't very comfortable around him any more, and though it was already quiet when he was around, it was unbearably silent without him.
She leaned her head against the arm of the couch and stretched onto her side, yawning. The urge to fall asleep and the urge to force her way out of the heavily barricaded door battled each other in her mind. Sleep was winning, and she was almost in its welcoming embrace when the door was flung open.
Tifa sat up, alarmed, then realized it was just Vincent. Of course, she thought bitterly. Who else would it be?
The red-eyed man was soaking wet and there was a white plastic bag in his natural hand. He set it on the table in front of the couch, then slammed the door shut and locked it with its heavy locks, pocketing the key.
"I bought you some stuff," he muttered, sliding the bag closer to his fatigued captive.
Tifa eyed him in mock suspicion before tugging the moist plastic bag onto her lap. She opened it and pulled out a white shirt with long sleeves, jeans, a comb, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, the stuff females wear under their outfit, and a bar of soap. The clothes, along with everything else, were a bit damp in spots from the rain, but that didn't matter to her.
"What's all this for?" she asked, a bit surprised.
Vincent shrugged, brushing his dark, wet hair out of his eyes with his natural hand. "I just thought you might like to freshen up a bit—you haven't done that for a few days because of me, and I felt guilty because this is my house and therefore I've been able to do all of those things."
Tifa blinked. "You've changed clothes?" she asked.
"I purchase multiples of the same item," the ex-Turk shrugged.
"I'm gonna go take a shower, then," she said gratefully.
The bathroom was small, but she'd already known that—you don't exactly spend a week without having to use the bathroom. It seemed smaller somehow with her stuff. She hung her new outfit on a rack next to the towels, and set her toothbrush, toothpaste, and comb on the counter next to the sink. She locked the door and stuffed a tissue in the keyhole, though she doubted Vincent would watch her take a shower. It was just something she did out of habit, being one of two girls in a mostly male group.
She adjusted the water until it suited her, then hastily slid out of her clothes and into the shower. Despite how good the warm water felt against her skin, she made it a quick shower, dried off, and slid into her new outfit.
It fit relatively well. The shirt and pants were a size too big for her, but that was okay because that meant her legs would have more flexibility when she had to kick someone in the head. She ran the comb hastily through her hair, brushed her teeth, scooped her old clothes into the bag to be washed later, and was done.
"Finished," she yawned after exiting the bathroom.
Vincent nodded. "Okay. You look tired…go ahead and go to sleep. I'm going to take a shower," he said.
"Okay," Tifa muttered sleepily.
She fell onto the couch and was asleep almost instantly.
"I wonder how Tifa's doing," Cloud sighed. He had given up on trying to repel Yuffie, to everyone else's amusement—she was now trying to braid his spike, and to her frustration the strands of hair refused to break apart.
"YOU USE TOO MUCH HAIR GEL," she shrieked, moving on to other parts of his head to braid.
"Believe it or not, this is exactly why," he muttered.
"Yo, Spike," Barret barked, stomping into the room.
"…What?" Cloud asked.
"Okay. So we searched allover the damn Planet and found NUTHIN'! What else are we s'posed to do?"
"Keep going," the blonde leader growled.
"Where else is left to search, though? Damn, Cloud, I'm worried 'bout Tifa, too, but we looked everywhere!"
"So look again," Cloud snapped.
Yuffie stared out the window of Cloud's room, pondering why she was bothering her leader. It was fun…that was for sure…As she stared, she saw Meteor in the night sky. It was getting closer by the second.
"Uh, I don't mean to be the evil brat or anything, but we either find Tifa soon or fight without her. Meteor's getting kinda close," she said nervously.
Barret nodded. "Hate to admit it, but the thief's right, Cloud. If we don't find Tifa in a few days, we'll jes' have to fight wi'out her…"
Cloud's blue-green eyes hardened and he reluctantly nodded, but only to get his teammates out of his room. When they were gone, he shut the door. "I'm not fighting without her," he breathed. "She'd never forgive me…"
The ghost of a smile appeared on Vincent's face when he exited the bathroom. Tifa was sleeping on the couch, as usual. He tenderly scooped her into his arms, gently carrying her to the bedroom—she'd be more comfortable there.
The cinnamon-eyed girl woke up slightly, but the ex-Turk didn't notice. Tifa smiled inwardly and kept her eyes closed. He still smelled of soap. He gently set her on the bed. Tifa woke up then and opened her eyes, but his back was turned and he was out of the room before she could say anything. She sighed.
The places on her body that had been touched by Vincent tingled somewhat, as though they didn't want to be pulled away. Before she could be angry at herself for feeling that, sleep reclaimed her.
Vincent's face was void of emotion as he concentrated on the sun rising in the horizon. The cold air pressed against his skin, the quiet breeze ruffling his hair, but he paid no attention. The wind picked up and his ragged red cape rippled slightly behind him. No matter how hard the wind blew, it might as well not be blowing at all.
There was no sign of the Highwind.
"It's getting farther away," Chaos hissed. "If they don't come soon, then they will leave Tifa behind and fight anyway. Hellmasker saw their conversation saying that in a vision."
"I'm not going to kill her, Chaos," Vincent said, quiet but firm. "It really does not matter what you insist. I've resisted your will before, and I can resist it again."
"You've resisted me alone. You've never resisted the four of us against you before," the lead demon taunted.
"You've never all gone against me at once before, though. How do you know it's possible? I've been resisting you for thirty years—thirty years, Chaos—it will be no different when you attempt to carry out your pathetic scheme," breathed the red-eyed man confidently.
He almost regretted what he had said when a massive headache swelled as all four of the demons went against him. Vincent cried out once in pain, falling forward. He thrust out his claw to break his fall. Though the pain resided within seconds, he felt weakened slightly.
"That was our weak attempt to subdue you, human. Imagine the pain that you will experience if you resist all four of us going against you at our strongest…the girl is as good as dead," Chaos sneered.
The sun had risen then. Vincent stood up and looked at his surroundings. He looked once more into the horizon from the spot he was standing at in the Nibelheim Mountains and walked slowly back to his home. It was well hidden amongst the rocks. He'd had to build it in his young days as a Turk, as a second, well-hidden home was necessary because of the unpopularity of the Shinra.
Summary: Nice little shack, very well-hidden in the Nibelheim Mountains…how the heck it got running water is unknown, but it had it, so hey.
He unlocked the door. Tifa was awake, but he wasn't surprised.
"Where do you go out to so much?" she asked, running her comb through her sleep-mussed hair.
"…You haven't been outside in a while. Would you like to come train? That way, you'll be ready for the fight against Sephiroth," he muttered, not answering her question. And maybe, you'll be able to defend yourself against Chaos, he added silently and bitterly.
Tifa's eyes widened in surprise and delight. "Are you serious?" she asked.
Vincent nodded. "This is not an opportunity for you to escape, however," Chaos made him add. "If you get any farther than thirty feet away from me, I will chase you down and it will not be a pleasant reunion…" Chaos released his voice and Vincent cringed, realizing what he said. "I won't hurt you, though. I promise."
The red-eyed man resisted the urge to smile. Tifa was already adjusting her fighting gloves.
"Ready," she announced cheerfully.
She wasn't too rusty at fighting, Vincent observed. They hadn't gone very far away from Vincent's home, and were still on the mountain. The sun had fallen before the woman finally collapsed, exhausted.
"I think I'm done," she gasped as Vincent bandaged the few wounds she had managed to get. One on her arm was particularly nasty, as it was very deep—the red-eyed man could see her bone—but she was strong and didn't cry out or cringe when he put the medicine on and bandaged it.
"So, you are ready to return?" he asked quietly.
Tifa shook her head. "Can we just sit here for a little bit?" she asked pleadingly. "I can barely feel my legs."
The ghost of an amused smile flashed across Vincent's lips. He sat down beside her.
"Cold?" he asked.
Tifa hesitantly nodded. "A bit," she murmured. It was a cold night…
Vincent moved as close as he could get to her and wrapped his cape around her shoulders. It was still attached to him, though, so she had to lean at an awkward angle to let it cover her. Heart pounding, she stood up slightly and sat back down—on his lap.
Vincent's heartbeat quickened slightly as well as he wrapped the warm, though tattered, cape around her torso.
"This is okay, right?" he whispered, slightly confused.
Tifa nodded, just as confused as he was. "Yeah," she whispered back, pushing herself backwards into his warmth. She realized that she was getting close to the man who had captured her—technically, the man who should be her enemy—but she couldn't find a reason strong enough to stop herself.
The only noise that filled the awkward silence between the two was the serenade of the crickets. Finally, Tifa stood up.
"I think I'm ready to go back, now," she said softly.
Vincent nodded and stood up as well.
They quietly walked back to the house, Tifa stood beside the door, waiting for Vincent to unlock it. He pulled the key out of his pocket, then hesitated, looking at Tifa.
"…Yes?" she said nervously.
"I think…" He sighed and slid the key back into his pocket, without first unlocking the door.
"You think what?" she murmured.
Vincent shook his head. "There's something that I feel I have to know…"
Tifa nodded. "Okay," she whispered. The crescent moon was luminously hanging in the dark backdrop of a sky, speckled with stars. The lunar light somehow made his skin seem paler.
The red-eyed man turned to face her and outstretched his clawed arm, wrapping it gently but firmly around the brunette woman's waist to pull her closer. Both of their heartbeats were beating faster as Vincent gently took Tifa's chin in his fingers and covered her mouth with his.
Their lips tenderly, shyly, moved over each other's. The dark-haired woman's arms tentatively slid around Vincent's neck, and the man's natural hand slid slowly to her upper back. He then moved his hand up to the back of her head, holding her gently.
How much time had passed before Tifa they pulled away from each other, neither knew. It might have been a few seconds, a few minutes, an hour…all they knew was that the result was what they both dreaded and desired.
They loved each other.
Yumesuta: So! What do you think of that? It took me DAYS to get this chapter finished. PLEASE review.