He Tells All

by: Bishojo Beauty

Chapter 8

Tifa had no doubts that the man that stood infront of her was Kael. He had not aged one bit from the pictures that Tifa had seen of him. His hair was still in spikes, and his features were much softer in comparison to Vincent. They looked very alike in so many ways, and yet in equally as many ways, they were different.

"Are you okay?" Kael asked. He had a deep voice, but not as deep as Vincent's. It had a lighter tone to it. Everything about Kael was much "lighter" than Vincent. It was like light and dark.

Tifa's mind was a blank. She had no answer to give to him. She just plainly couldn't conjure up a single word. A strange noise however escaped her lips. Any other time and perhaps she would have laughed at it, but this was not one of those times. She turned her attention over to Chaos' limp form, unintentionally ignoring Kael's question. He was talking but she could no hear him. Finally she felt someone's touch on her shoulder and she jumped. Her eyes widening as she looked to over to the man who touched her shoulders. She caught nothing but pure concern in the dark brown eyes of his. She concentrated on his lips and what he was saying.

"...must be in shock. I know this must have been a quite traumatic event, but Miss, you must tell me if you're hurt," his eyes continued to search hers for an answer. Out of the corner of Tifa's eyes, she caught the sight of Chaos silently transforming back into Vincent. Tifa's body acted instantly to this. She jumped onto her feet with extreme gracefulness, grabbed Kael's arm and pulled him into the other room, out of Vincent's sight. And more importantly, Vincent out of Kael's sight. She had acted before she had even understood what exactly she was doing. But she thanked her intelligence as soon as they reached the other room. Whether Kael had seen Vincent transform or not, she did not know. But not letting Kael see the beast transform back into Vincent was best for everyone. Ignorance is bliss. Tifa thought to herself. Or...not really but close enough. From Kael's reaction earlier, Tifa could only assume that Kael did not know. Now she had to cover her actions, and quickly before he suspected something was going on.

"Sorry, I just, had to get out of there," Tifa began, and she hugged herself, putting her best acting skills forward and trying to act frightened. Luckily, Kael bought it and he held her in a tight embrace while telling her that she was safe now. She hid her face into his chest as she pretended to sob. She knew that one look into her face and everything would blow wide open. Vincent! Do something!

As Vincent regained consciousness, he could feel the aftereffects of his transformations setting in. He ignored it and tried to focus in on his unknown surroundings. Too many times had he woke up in a place totally foreign to him. But the feeling of waking up indoors was never a pleasant one. He feared for the worst as memories began floating back to him. And then he remembered. He bolted upright and searched the room for Tifa. He found nothing but the bloody man sitting against the wall. Vincent turned his head away in disgust at how wretched of a being Chaos could be. He wanted to scream and lash out. He felt angry. Angry at himself for transforming. He was angry that he'd allowed himself to do so. He knew that his transformations were near impossible to hold down, but always, he felt like an absolute failure. Failure was something that haunted him day to night. It was the feeling of failure that brought him to be who he was today. He failed, failed and failed again to protect those around him. Scolding himself for letting his mind drift so far into his self-loathing, Vincent shoved his current thoughts away and cleared his head of any other thoughts. Right now, he had to find Tifa and make sure he had not harmed her. Vincent could now hear voices coming from the other room. One was male, and the other one was female. He could hear the female sob quietly. Vincent searched for his gun. He found it sitting on the floor a few feet away from him. Silently, Vincent got onto his feet and grabbed the abandoned gun with a quick swoop. With his gun in hand, he approached the voices, poised for action. He had no idea what to expect considering the betrayal of Chester. He knew it was too strange for Chester to show up out of nowhere from the very beginning, but he just didn't have enough pieces of the puzzle to figure out his true intentions. He knew something was up from the moment he saw him. If only he had realized earlier what it was. Vincent was still uncertain as to what was going on, but he had a feeling he was just about to find out.

Slowly but surely, Vincent made his way into the other room. As soon as he turned the corner, his gun was cocked and aimed for the man's head, who had his back to Vincent. Both of the figures froze and over the other man's shoulder peaked Tifa with his eyebrows raised.

"Vincent!" She exclaimed, and at this name, Kael flipped around immediately and what happened next was all a blur. Kael's sudden movements had triggered Vincent into action, and in a split second, both men were on the ground grappling each other. And next, both men were frozen stiff as if they were statues. They just merely stared at each other. Finally after what seemed like an eternity to Tifa, Vincent pulled away and turned his back on Kael slouching in his spot in a very un-Vincent-like manner.

"Vincent?" Kael prodded with his voice. He raised his hand, but stopped before he could touch Vincent. It was as if his touch would be the one thing that would make him disappear. His lips twitched into a half smile and he let out a breath of relief when Vincent turned around to acknowledge his older brother. He merely stared. There was no smile or cry of joy, just a cold, dead stare. Kael did not falter under this look.

"I-I dreamed so long for this moment, Vincent. Forty long years of dreaming, don't do this to me," Kael's voice now dropped down to a whisper and Tifa struggled to hear. This was the closest she had ever come to seeing part of the real Vincent since she had met him. There was something amiss in Kael's disappearance from Vincent's life. She could sense it. Vincent finally looked away and buried his face in his hands. She watched as his shoulders heaved up and down as if he was trying to control an inner demon that was tearing away from inside him. Perhaps he was, Tifa would never know.

"You never came..." This was all Vincent said, his voice muffled by his hands, and it was all that was needed to be said as Kael's demeanor crumbled. Several emotions flitted over his face as he turned away from Vincent and plopped down onto the floor with his back turned to Vincent. This happened all the while Tifa stood and watched from across the room. They all remained silent, and Tifa's presence was no longer acknowledged. For all Vincent and Kael knew, it was only the two of them. Nothing else seemed to matter. It was just the two of them. It was, and for the longest time they thought it would always be. And then She came along and their world got turned upside down. For the better of for the worse, they would never know as the meeting that was planned for months never happened. Kael never came.

I'm SOOO happy with this chapter...i think? Hehe, yeah, I am. Next chapter should be okay too. Hopefully! I know this is short though! I don't like it short...but this was just such a great place to leave off... Perhaps I'll merge this chapter into the last one. To make one super (actually no, but oh well...) long chapter... Anyhow...Thanks again too all of you that have reviewed! I love hearing what you guys think, it soo makes my day and inspires me to keep going! Hehe, til the next chapter!

Bishojo Beauty

(Oh, and could someone remind me how long Vincent was in his little coffin for? I just can't seem to remember right now...TT)