Tifa and the others were sat on a small boat that was travelling from the Bone Village to Rocket Town. Barret had managed to get them a ride, no one questioned how.
"So what do you think?" Tifa asked looking at Vincent who was staring into the murky black water with almost a threatening look on his face.
"I think we should go to Nibelheim" said Vincent quietly. Tifa walked over to the edge of the boat and stood next to the tall, dark individual with crimson eyes. Tifa admired his quietness, sometimes, but then she would wish that he would open up, just for a minute; just enough to get something off his chest and to lighten the burden that weighed down his broad shoulders.
"Why?" Tifa asked following his gaze that rested upon the ocean.
"Because it is where Sephiroth or Cloud would go" said Vincent "Where else could you find reconciliation on this godforsaken rock?"
"What has Cloud got to reconcile for?" Tifa asked looking at the side of Vincent's head; she was too short to see his eyes past his dark hair from the side.
"Giving Sephiroth the black materia, the deaths that have been caused because he gave the materia to Sephiroth" said Vincent.
"That wasn't his fault" said Tifa.
"Why not?" Vincent asked as he scratched his hair absent mindedly.
"He was under Sephiroth's control" said Tifa
"Ah yes" said Vincent "Of course Sephiroth's powerful mind control that no-one has really ever witnessed"
"I have" said Tifa quickly
"Really?" Vincent asked raising a slender eyebrow "And when was this?"
"When we were in our first Avalanche mission together!" said Tifa
"Maybe it was a reaction between the Mako molecules in his bloodstream from the Mako-shower and coming into contact with a large reactor filled with the same substance so long after the shower" said Vincent.
"You just made that up!" said Tifa
"Yes I did" admitted Vincent "But don't be too surprised if we go to Nibelheim and find Sephiroth and Cloud together"
"What are you saying?" Tifa asked
"Nothing" said Vincent "Except that Cloud hero-worshipped Sephiroth and if Sephiroth's alive and all Cloud's friends are dead…what else is there to do?"
"Cloud wouldn't think like that!" said Tifa "I know him, he would never ever side with Sephiroth after what has happened! He'll prove you wrong, Vincent, you just wait!" after those words Tifa stormed off and disappeared down a flight of stairs that led into the galley of the boat.
"Do ya really think Cloud would go to his side?" Cid asked as he sat listening from the seat at the front of the boat.
"What other explanation is there for the tracks?" Vincent asked
"Maybe Sephiroth followed Cloud or the other way around" said Cid
"Those tracks were identically eroded" said Vincent "They were made at the same time"
"But you said!" Cid said sitting forwards
"What people wanted to hear" said Vincent "If Cloud and Sephiroth are together…god help us"
"You can't possibly think that" said Cid "Cloud is too smart to side with"
"His hero?" Vincent questioned "Is he really that smart? I have never seen anything that would reinforce a statement like that"
"So you don't trust, Cloud?" Cid questioned
"I would trust him with my life" said Vincent
"So why are you questioning him?" Cid asked
"I said I would trust him with my life" said Vincent "Things change"
"I think you're out of line" said Barret who had just come up from the galley after talking to Tifa.
"Do you now?" Vincent said with a slight yawn.
"Ye I do" said Barret stomping over "Cloud risked his life to defeat Sephiroth and he lost a friend, we all did, so why would he possibly go over to Sephiroth's side?"
"You can ask him that when he's killing Tifa before your eyes" said Vincent squaring up to Barret. Barret was by far the taller and more imposing male but the fact that people knew near nothing about the robed warrior gave Vincent just enough of an edge to stand up to Barret.
"Do ya really think he would do that?" Barret said
"I would bet my life upon the fact" said Vincent "No one knows what to expect in Nibelheim, I'm just telling you to be wary"
"I never pictured you as the traitorous kind Vincent" said Cid "But turning on Cloud when we don't know anything about what's going on; that's just down right cowardly"
"It truly is amazing that when a man waves his hands and puts on a big display everyone just falls into line; no questions" said Vincent "If anyone is cowardly then it is you lot; too scared to stand up to Cloud's memory"
"He is not a memory" said Tifa who had come back up "He's alive and well"
"He can't be that well if he's on Sephiroth's side" said Vincent "Let us see if he is as mentally sound as you all believe when or if we find him"
All the others went downstairs away from Vincent who was, again, alone on the deck of the boat. Spray was spat up by the boat as it powered through the waters towards the continent. The freezing spray dashed Vincent's skin but the freezing droplets did not even register on his senses. Maybe I really am dead inside, just as I once thought, maybe I should side with Cloud Strife thought Vincent No! He is with Sephiroth, that cannot be forgiven. Vincent continued to eye the waves as they parted and sent up fresh sprays of surf.