Cloud yawned behind a gauntleted hand as he waited for the short, balding man in front of him to finish his inspection of his package so that he would agree to sign for it.
It always amused and annoyed the blond haired warrior that some people didn't seem to believe that the man who had twice saved the Planet from annihilation could safely transport a small package from point A to point B without screwing up.
At the moment he was leaning more toward annoyance. The weather was questionable this late in the year at best, and he had no real desire to be stuck out in a storm. Couple that with his young companion's mood, a result of some kind of disagreement between him and Marlene, and you were left with an irritable Cloud Strife.
The customer finally consented that his package was in good order and signed the piece of paper given to him, with a grudging "Good work young man".
This was another source of irritation for the ex-SOLIDER. The presence of Jenova's cells within his body, and his exposure to Mako in high degrees had basically retarded his aging process. In other words, although being in his thirties, Cloud still looked nineteen.
A blessing and a curse.
Tifa was aging well, presumably due to her own impromptu Mako dip, but her aging process had only slowed, where as his seemed to have stopped. One day she would over take him and he couldn't help but wonder if she would hate him for his youth as she grew old, forced to watch as she and their son left him behind unchanged.
Cloud shook away these melancholy thoughts. One day he'd have to face them, but not today.
He turned back to the small street upon which his bike was parked, and the lanky boy with reddish-brown hair curled at the ends leaning against it in a white shirt and battered blue jeans.
"Denzel", he said, suppressing a smirk as the younger man jumped, having missed his approach entirely. It wasn't really that funny, but he was in a dark mood following that dream, and besides, this lack of attention was something he had taken his would be protégé to task on many a time.
The boy would never be a fighter, but his heart was in it so Cloud had long ago decided to push him to get the best out of him.
"Daydreaming again?", he asked, climbing onto the bike as a sheepish Denzel slipped into the newly attached side-cart.
"I guess", the younger boy replied strapping himself in, moving the age worn sabre and sheath give to him for his last birthday by Cloud out of the way first. It was a treasured possession and also a point of embarrassment. He had always wanted to wield a sword like his mentor's, but he lacked the physical strength to so much as lift Cloud's sword, so he was being taught with a lighter weapon.
Marlene, thought the whole thing was stupid. They never went outside the city usually, she had pointed out, and when they did they were always with either Tifa or Cloud so it was pointless.
This is what had caused their last argument. Denzel had been practicing in their living room and accidentally caught a vase she had put on nearby shelf only the other day. To make matters worse the flowers inside had been from Onee-sama's church. Marlene hadn't been happy to put it mildly.
He could still remember how he had shouted back at her, saying he needed to practice somewhere, and how she had blindsided him by asking the deceptively simple question "Why?".
How do you tell someone the reason you're swinging a sword around your living room is because of a bad dream?
He had answered that he didn't want to always rely on Cloud and Tifa for protection. True, not the real reason, but true enough, he could still remember standing in front of that Summoned dragon, larger than any beast in nature, feeling absolute terror as it dawned on him that Cloud wasn't there, and Tifa couldn't protect him.
He was startled out of his remembrance as the bike shook beneath him and sputtered to life.
Denzel lent back as the motorcycle pulled onto the small cobbled street that was Kalm's only road, and picked up speed as it passed quickly through the open gates to the small village.
He rested and arm on the edge of the side-cart and looked back at the rapidly retreating village. Perhaps Marlene was right, perhaps he really was wasting his time, they hadn't even spotted a monster on the horizon for months.
His eyes drifted lazily over the few bluffs that made up this area of the Midgar Plains.
He felt sleepy, his lids heavy. He hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night.
His gaze lingered on the top of a passing bluff in the distance, and he squinted. There was something up there.
Sliver hair fluttering in the breeze, contrasting with the dark burgundy bodysuit.
Denzel blinked rapidly, sitting up.
The figure was gone.
Just the result of a sleep clogged mind and bad dreams, Denzel reasoned, turning away but not relaxing again.
He glanced up at Cloud, but the older man didn't seem perturbed by anything, he was concentrating on the road ahead.
Nothing to worry about.
From atop the bluff, a sliver haired figure re-emerged from his hiding crouch behind its edge. The boy had almost spotted him; he needed to be more careful.
It was hard all this lurking, he was neither a patient or sneaky person by nature; he'd never had reason to be.
So why had he been asked to do this?
He sighed, he knew why. Climbing down the bluff carefully, he leapt astride the waiting bike and fired it up, pointing in the direction of Midgar.
The others would be coming soon, he could feel them gathering.
Clang!
"Very good", Cloud said admiringly.
He and Denzel were locked face to face, their sabres pushing against each other in a struggle for dominance. Cloud was impressed. He had fully expected to have the younger boy in the yield position by the end of that last manoeuvre, but Denzel had surprised him by ducking and baiting him into this stand off.
True it was a foolish idea, Denzel strained against Mako enhanced muscle, both white knuckled hands gripping his blade fiercely, while Cloud still handled his own sabre single handed and was showing considerably less effort, but that didn't stop him feeling proud of his young apprentice.
Denzel grunted something unintelligible in response and laboured harder.
Cloud stepped to the side abruptly, breaking the lock and removing all resistance to the younger man's forward motion.
Denzel stumbled forward and was sent face first into the dirt as Cloud slapped his passing backside with the flat of the sabre.
The blond ran a hand through his spiked hair and adjusted the collar of his purple fleece-vest while waiting patiently for Denzel to regain his feet.
"What did you do wrong?", he said, his tone that of an instructor to pupil who had flunked something simple.
"…I was pushing to hard Sensei, I forgot my balance", he replied, sounding angry with himself.
"Wrong"
"Sensei?", Denzel said, looking up confused.
"Wrong", Cloud repeated patiently.
"You shouldn't have been like that in the first place", a helpful voice piped up from on top of a nearby stack of old crates.
Zeth was sitting cross legged on the dangerously balanced pile, and Cloud was glad that Tifa was visiting Marlene at the moment, she would have had a heart attack… after beating the boy's father to within an inch of his life for allowing him to climb up there in the first place.
Cloud wasn't sure exactly how Zeth had gone from sitting quietly at the edge of the courtyard as he was told, to attaining a ringside view, but he made a mental note to talk to his son about it when he was finished here.
"Father is, much, much stronger than you, if that were a real fight he would have over powered you and killed you by now".
Denzel half glared at the boy. He was right, the pint-sized mountaineer was always right, it was one of the things that unnerved him about the boy at times.
"Shut up twerp", he growled.
"Loser", the dark haired boy replied with a flash of the indignant temper Cloud had been famous for as a child.
"Know-it-all!"
"Weakling!"
Cloud rubbed the bridge of his nose to stave off the incoming headache. Zeth and Denzel had never really got on. Almost as soon as Zeth could talk he had turned all of his negativity on the older boy.
Tifa had explained to him it was a form of jealousy. Zeth thought of Denzel as his older brother, the one who got all of his father's time and attention and who had had his mother all to himself before Zeth was even born.
Sibling rivalry or not it was irritating and confounding at times It only ever seemed to calm down when Marlene was around to play peacekeeper. Both boys obviously liked her, another thing that proved Zeth was still a little boy inside was the way he would become quiet and shy around Marlene. Thus a wonderful quiet would descend upon the house. At least for a time.
Unfortunately Zeth's shyness was yet another thing that seemed to bug Denzel and Cloud would watch with something between bemusement and disbelief, as they would wage a silent war to see who could hold her attention the longest.
Denzel was de-facto winner of that little contest considering he now lived with the girl although Tifa had laughed to herself and patted his cheek fondly when Cloud had asked her if those two were going to start dating.
The argument was becoming increasingly vocal now, and showed no signs of letting up or at least becoming more creative.
"Hey!", Cloud said, raising his voice above the din to get their attention.
Both boys fell silent instantly, looking at him with expressions suggesting they had forgotten he was there.
"Zeth, go inside, Denzel and I will be done soon"
The dark haired boy seemed inclined to argue, but grudgingly gave in under his father's uncompromising countenance.
"Yes father", he said, clambering down from his perch and shuffling moodily back into the house.
"And you", Cloud said, getting Denzel's attention, "On guard"
Clash!Zeth listened as the ring of steel on steel resumed, kicking at couch as he passed and dropping into it.
It wasn't fair that his father always favoured Denzel over his own flesh and blood.
The young boy brooded darkly, his mind full of thoughts of how to get back at his 'elder brother'.
Lost in thought he almost didn't notice the strange tugging sensation until he began to rise from the couch.
He looked around uncomprehendingly, not being able to recall having stood. This time he felt it clearly. The magnetic draw, that urged him to leave the room and follow its siren call.
Zeth prided himself on being more mature than other boys his age, more logical. He knew nothing about this mysterious call, and would go nowhere until he had an inkling of what caused it.
Then, suddenly it was gone. It was as though the caller had realised Zeth was not coming and had given up.
No. Not given up, he felt that acutely, whatever had reached out to him was just testing itself, and now it knew were he was.
It was an irrational and illogical thought, but the boy knew it to be true.
Something was coming for him.
Zeth suddenly felt very afraid.
On the outskirts of the city a silver haired youth shook his head to clear the dizzying sensation of the mind call. It was all starting, just as predicted.
She looked out over those that had been gathered so far. All kneeling obediently before her, heads bowed to hide the slit like irises they all possessed. This was the first Calling. A test of sorts, people drawn from all over the Midgar continent, and still more arriving. She knew that not everyone had come; there were those who were to far away, or those whose minds were to strong at this range.
There were also two minds she had touched but been unable to influence at all.
Those two would have to be destroyed.
She looked out warmly over all those assembled, all her brothers and sisters.
The breeze tossed her waist length silver hair, occasionally obscuring her own slitted blue/green eyes.
"Brothers and Sisters", she spoke more calmly than she felt, her voice carrying out over those gathered, defying the wind and the mounting storm.
They all lifted their heads as one to look at her.
"Ten years… it has been ten long years since the last attempt to destroy us. There are now only us left, this hateful planet has flushed us from the lifestream, taken Mother and Oni-sama from us…but we will not let it win"
"I ask you now, will you help me?"
The roar was deafening.
Her lips rose in a beautiful smile.
"On, to Midgar, Oni-chan has something that belongs to us".
Vincent cocked his head curiously, waiting for a repeat of whatever had caught his attention.
When it wasn't repeated he crouched lightly, pressing his flesh hand to the cold earth and closing his glowing red eyes.
There had been something, an uncomfortable tremor from the planet, like it was tossing in its sleep under the grip of a bad dream.
Vincent knew all about bad dreams. His nightmares were part of his atonement, though they had lessened now. Vincent was learning to forgive himself. He had seen that sin could be forgiven; Cloud had proved that ten years ago.
"What you doing on the floor vamp boy", a teasing voice enquired from behind him.
He glanced over his shoulder and stood, but remained silent, mentally counting down from thirty.
Behind him the Wutain heir and former ninja and Materia hunter, folded her arms and bounced slightly with impatience.
At twenty her smile slipped a little, and Vincent was careful to hide his grin. This little game was always fun, but if he showed it, it would probably cease.
Ten, a trace of a scowl, arms now are her sides rigidly.
A chuckle was quickly swallowed before it could emerge as he counted down the last few seconds.
3, 2, 1…
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
"I wasn't", he said simply, hiding another grin as she turned her back to him with a 'Hmmph!' and attempted to toss her short black hair.
About five years ago Vincent had returned to his former home, have finally lain the memory of Lucericia to rest.
Yuffie had run into him while investigating rumours of ghosts in the forest. She should have known that tales of a Wutain man with blood red eyes that glowed in the darkness and a vermilion cape that seemed like a thing alive, carrying the terrifying apparition away on the wind, meant that Vincent Valentine had returned to the place of his birth.
She had invited him to enjoy the hospitality of his homeland…well her actual words had been, "Come back to the Palace with me and stop creeping out the locals ya bum", but as a princess she had probably meant the former.
She was a strange girl Vincent thought, possessing far more 'pep' than any being had a right to, while somehow managing not to be too irritating, at least now that she had finally matured a little.
As if hearing the unspoken compliment she turned around and smiled slightly.
Her face was quiet pretty in the moonlight he had often thought, and now, as then, he shrugged off the unwelcome thought, shifting his weight uncomfortably.
He may have laid his first love to rest but that did not mean he was looking for another.
"You coming in now, or gonna have another heart to heart with the dirt?", she enquired.
He said nothing, just breezed past her, back toward the direction of the village.
"Hey! What did I say about ignoring me!"
He kept walking until he heard her booted feet pounding on the ground in pursuit.
There was a pause and a rush of air.
Vincent's cape seemed to flare around him, lifting him into the air and depositing him safely on a nearby roof as Yuffie crashed to the ground where he had just stood, yelping as her flying tackle found no target.
The former ninja glared up at where he was perched balefully.
"Can't you ever just be normal!" she shouted scrambling to her feet.
"Normal is relative, for me this is nothing out of the ordinary"
"Grrhhh, when I get hold of you you're a dead man Valentine!"
"I believe someone beat you to it".
Yuffie starred at him slack jawed for a moment. Had Vincent Valentine, the man personality forgot, just made a joke? Her surprise was replaced by anger as she realised that last comment had put him one up on her.
Wordlessly she leapt at him, landing and touching off again even as he drifted to a new location, chasing him from rooftop to rooftop across the town.
She landed and took off in a new direction, vaulting over the edge of one roof and sliding down it out of his view before dropping back to street level and running around the darkened streets without so much as a whisper.
She clambered up a handy trellis and stole up to the lip of roof she was now positioned on.
She peered over the edge grinning widely.
Just as she had predicted, Vincent was standing a few roofs away, looking in the other direction carefully, probably not believing she could have covered enough distance quietly and quickly enough to get behind him.
Arrogant jerk, she thought, swinging her body over the lip of the roof and leaping noiselessly over to the next, kicking off again without a sound, sailing gracefully toward her unsuspecting target, Doubt the Great Ninja would you.
Her smile grew with anticipation, her arms outstretched.
Without warning he whipped around, steel claw lancing out and clasping her right wrist, its fleshy counterpart capturing her left, leaving her dangling out over the street bellow.
Her following curses would have given Barret or even Cid pause as she flailed and kicked at him. It was embarrassing, he had played her and she had fallen for it.
"Are you finished?", he asked calmly when she eventually tired, face flushed prettily from all the shouting. It probably said a lot about the Wutain princess that in amongst all that cursing not one person had stuck their head out to see if she was ok.
She glared at him and stuck her tongue out. It was a ridiculously immature gesture from a twenty-eight year old woman, but Vincent found it…endearing?
He drew her in, allowing her feet to touch down on the roof. She really was quite beautiful now that she had matured.
Vincent frowned a little, as close to an open display of confusion as he ever displayed. Again these thoughts? Why now, after five years?
"Erm, Vincent…you can let me go now", Yuffie said, her voice he noted holding a slight tremor. Why? Could she be picking up on these thoughts? Perhaps having similar ones?
He looked into her eyes, trying to read what she was thinking; it was an ability that had served him well in the past.
Unfortunately it didn't appear to be working. Those slightly wide brown orbs revealed nothing.
Perhaps a closer inspection, part of his mind reasoned and he leaned closer. If he'd paid more attention to which part he might not have done so.
Yuffie, perhaps having the same thought had come closer at the same moment. Their lips met before either could correct the situation and with a pulse of electricity their muscles were temporarily disconnected from their bodies.
Under the pale light of the moon, the Undying Sinner and the Princess kissed. It was a scene repeated all across the world in different situations, so it wasn't that strange. Then again this moment was a result of a shift neither could have known about, a shattering of impossibility.
Was it normal? No. Yes?
Normal is relative, and against that which was about to occur, nothing else would ever seem out of place again.
----Author Notes----
Build up, I know it sucks but bare with me, all will become clear next chapter. R and R people