He Tells All

by: Bishojo Beauty

Chapter 9

-Flashback-

A smile crept across Vincent's lips as he thought of his love. They had incidentally bumped into each other in the small Shinra Library, a small smile and an apology was all that was needed for Vincent to fall in love with this woman. Everything about her was absolutely stunning, her chocolate brown hair and eyes to match, her perfectly shaped face and silky skin. But most importantly of all, her smile. Vincent checked himself once more in the mirror and straightened out his blue suit. Despite his brother's protests, Vincent became a Turk, both to support himself and his studies and to take off the pressure on his brother to support him. All in all, Vincent held no regrets. His mind flew back to her again. If it wasn't for his acceptance into the ranks of the Turks, he would have never met her. He laughed gently at himself for always thinking about her. But it was hard not too. Lucrecia...

"Looking sharp, Vin." Vincent recognized his brother's voice and turned to acknowledge him. He watched as his brother's expression darkened and Vincent's followed suit. He knew what was going to happen tonight. Together, Vincent, his brother and Lucrecia would leave Shinra forever and live a life of piece away from violence and inhumane experiments.

They had planned their escape for months. They chose to not inform Lucrecia intentionally knowing that she could compromise their plan. She could crack under interrogation. Vincent and Kael would not. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

They could only pray that Lucrecia would see things their way. But something nagged in the back of his mind. Something was not right. Vincent suddenly began to have second thoughts. What if Lucrecia didn't want to go with them? Vincent closed his eyes to concentrate. He knew she would. They had shared too many moments of absolute joy together that Vincent had no doubt that she loved him as much as he loved her. But still, even knowing this, the feelings of uncertainty lingered.

Vincent met his brother's eyes and nodded, drawing strength from his brother's presence. Kael himself seemed to ease up as they began to walk down the hallway of the Shinra building together. This could be their last time ever setting foot in this building ever again. If all things went well, it would be. If Lucrecia did no leave with them, they would merely return to their lives as Turks as if this night had never happened. But if Lucrecia agreed to leave, then their lives would become lives of bliss. No more slums, no more Midgar. Just living life.

Their plan was to have Vincent meet Lucrecia at their usual place and there, Vincent would speak to her and tell her of their plans. If she agreed, then they would then together, make it to the outskirts of Midgar by feet and meet Kael there. From there, they would disappear into the night. The summary of the plan seemed simple in Vincent's mind. But in reality, it was far more complicated that one could imagine. It involved a lot of backtracking and covering of tracks so no one could follow.

Before Vincent's mind truly registered it, the plan was set into motion. Vincent was standing alone underneath a lamp post waiting for Lucrecia, and Kael was most likely almost near the gates of Midgar already. He heard soft footsteps approach him from his right and his gunarm twitched reflexively. Vincent mentally and physically calmed himself as he turned to face and be capture by the beauty of Lucrecia. Vincent gave her a smile, he tried to relax his face as much as possible. But the events to come kept him tense and extremely nervous. Lucrecia's brows knit together as she took notice of Vincent' odd behavior.

"Vincent, what's wrong?" She asked as she approached, placing a hand on his forearm. Vincent looked away from her searching eyes. He wanted to ask her so many things. He wanted to say so many things. But there was no time for that. He had to say what he had to say whether she would like it or not. And he told her and she listened. When he was done, she was nearly crying. Vincent did not know whether it was a good sign or a bad sign. He fidgeted while he watched her fight back tears. And to his relief she said she would leave with him and as she cried her answer out loud, she jumped up and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug, and Vincent did not hesitate to return it. Little did they know, someone was watching. Someone who has been watching, and another plan was in motion as well as Vincent's.

Vincent could not keep the smile of his lips as he and Lucrecia hurried through the streets of Midgar hitting all of their planned destinations in order to hide their tracks. Hours later, they were within sight of their final destination where they would meet Kael and they would leave forever. Vincent's gut told him something was wrong one again. And he could not ignore it this time. His feelings were confirmed when he finally reached their meeting point and Kael was nowhere to be found. Vincent searched the area frantically, never once letting go of Lucrecia's hand.

"He should be here!" Vincent growled, and swore. He seethed in frustration and in part anger. Unfortunately, Vincent was only left with two possible conclusions: Kael left without them, or that something happened to Kael. At this point, he felt Lucrecia wretch her hand out of his and bring it to cover her gasp as she stared at something the ground. Vincent followed her eyes, and found a shiny piece of paper with mostly black blotches and a little bit of white on it. Vincent watched as Lucrecia trembled while clutching onto her stomach. She was crying. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but before he could get the words out, she was gone. She had spun around and ran as fast as she could leaving Vincent in absolute shock. He did no move an inch, not even when Lucrecia was no longer in sight. An odd wind blew the picture against Vincent's leg and he bent down to pick it up. Upon close inspection, he finally realized what the picture was. A baby.

Hours past and Vincent continued to stare at the picture he held in his hands. A million questions floating through his mind. He knew it was not his, if this baby was Lucrecia's. Was there someone else? Vincent felt an emotion, but it wasn't a single emotion. Everything just seemed to bare down on him. More hours past, and still, Kael did not show up. As Vincent detected the starting of a new day, he made his way back to the great Shinra building. It looked like he would walk that hall once again. But whether it would ever be with his brother again, Vincent was afraid to know.

Days past, and Vincent saw no sign of Lucrecia. He attempted to seek her out in the labs, but everyone claimed that she was either very busy and cannot be disturbed or somewhere out on break. Rumors of what happened to Kael also began to float around. They were all of the same at first. Just a night out drinking gone wrong. But Vincent knew that was not the case.

Or could it?

Could Kael have stopped and taken a couple of drinks before he reached their meeting point?

Vincent denied venomously to himself and fellow comrades about this possible incident. It was just not his brother that would do this. It wasn't until several days after this that Vincent transformed. Not into one of Hojo's monsters, but into the cold-blooded killer that he was today. Rumors started, and then it was confirmed by a Turk. Kael was spotted outside of Midgar, hiding in some small home in Costa Del Sol enjoying himself. Even pictures were available to prove it. Vincent got a hold of these pictures himself and what he denied finally became a reality. There was no doubt that the man in the picture was his brother. He had abandoned them afterall.

From then on, everything passed in a haze. Hojo had found out about Vincent and Lucrecia, and Lucrecia was pregnant with Hojo's child. Vincent confronted Hojo about his decision of experimenting on his "child" and became an experiment himself.

-End of Flashback-

What Vincent failed to notice then was that the pictures were from a Turk known as Chester, who one of the Turks top members. But also the one that was unknowingly to all other Turks, being paid much extra to turn of his fellow comrades and report every detail back to Mr. President himself. Hojo had also enlisted Chester's services when he noticed Lucrecia's growing odd behaviour towards him only to find out that she was seeing Vincent. Chester was the cause of it all. And as this was revealed to Vincent as he spoke to his brother once again, forty years later, a fire was lit in Vincent once again. Someone was going to pay and pay dearly.

"Those photos of me were not real, Vincent. Completely computer generated," Kael explained to Vincent, "You can look at me for proof. I should be dead right now but am I? I am far from it." Vincent shook his head at nothing in particular.

Everything that he had believed in was now proving to be false. It seemed as if it was all a dream. One too many dreams that haunted him. Vincent reached over and pinched his own arm with his human hand. He felt a sharp pain, telling him that it was clearly not a dream. But, Vincent knew from experience that his dreams sometimes seemed just as real as this one. Vincent's head buzzed as his mind became overwhelmed with illusion and reality. Nights and days had passed after he left AVALANCHE where he could no longer distinguish between what was real and what was only a fragment of his dreams. Or rather nightmares.

"What did he do to you?" Vincent finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper. They both knew who the he was. It was none other than Professor Hojo, the sick demented scientist of Shinra.

"The same thing, I'm guessing, he did to you, minus the claw," Kael spoke with his usual lightness in his voice. Something that Vincent never held. Vincent at this moment sighed, got up and left the room. Tifa watched as Vincent left the room, their eyes meeting briefly. And for once since Tifa had met Vincent during their AVALANCHE days, Vincent seemed human. His eyes were no longer emotionless. They seemed, though Tifa high doubted it, to be rimmed with tears. Vincent for the first time, seemed human. He was no longer the monster, the outcast, and according to Yuffie, the Vampire. Tifa did not know if he ever would be again.

Kael then finally turned to acknowledge Tifa.

"I guess he needs some time to think," he simply said, his lips pulling into a grim smile. Tifa returned his smile, equally as grim. Tifa was confused beyond confused. It wasn't often that Tifa heard of Lucrecia, but she had a feeling that this was the woman that Vincent loved, even today, at this very moment. Tifa felt something tug at her heart when she thought of this. Am I jealous? Tifa denied it in her head. She couldn't be could she?

A soft 'hey' broke Tifa away from her trance like state. Tifa turned her eyes over to Kael and watched as he made his way over to Tifa's side. He introduced himself to her, and extended his hand for a firm shake. She took his hand, and lost herself in his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of brown, with a couple of golden specks around the iris. They were certainly more comforting than Vincent's blood red eyes. They unnerved Tifa at times, and she was sure it unnerved all other as well. Tifa found herself wondering what colour Vincent's eyes were originally. Considering his background, Tifa concluded that it would run along the lines of black or brown. Tifa's train of thought was broken as she felt Kael continue to study her. She turned a quizzical look over to him.

"You look familiar. I've seen you somewhere before..." he trailed off. Tifa figured that he would say that. Anybody who was alive and old enough to remember meteor would know Tifa's face. At times, Tifa hated it, and at times, she welcomed it.

She had to admit that she was quite lonely. Cloud was gone to who knows where. He had picked up and left without a single word to any of the AVALANCHE members and disappeared into the night. Barret was living happily with Marlene, Cid with Shera, Nanaki and his wife and kids, and Yuffie and her title of Princess of Wutai. Tifa had nothing, no bar, no nothing.

"AVALANCHE. You were one of the members of AVALANCHE," Kael finally said. Tifa nodded in reply.

"That means you know Vincent," Kael stated, and once again was answered by a nod from Tifa. Kael 'hmphed' in a thoughtful way, his facial expression being replace with that of solemnity. Tifa could now see the resemblance between the two siblings. Despite Kael's dashing features, Tifa liked Vincent's much better.

"I think I'm going to go talk toVincent," Tifa whispered, afraid to break the strong silence that settled between them.

"Yeah, just could you...um..." Tifa watched as Kael struggled for words. She understood where he was coming from though.

"Don't worry bout it, Kael, I'll make sure he comes back." This was all Tifa needed to say for her to earn a smile of true gratitude from Kael. She felt awkward saying his name for the first time really, but with the few passing events, Kael felt more and more a part of Tifa's life, and so did Vincent.

Tifa could understand Kael's fear of losing Vincent again. She knew what it was like having lost her father and then Biggs, Wedge, and the other members of AVALANCHE. She was afraid, just like Kael was to lose those close to her again. But she told herself everyday, that life had to go on, no matter how you feel. Time is something that stops for no one.

Tifa gave Kael a reassuring smile before leaving him to his own thoughts and joining Vincent outside on Chester's porch. She took a moment to study Vincent before she interrupted his thoughts. He seemed so lost in this thoughts that he did no notice her standing next to him, or her intense scrutiny. She took in everything. One thing that troubled her the most was his crushing grip on the railing closing off the porch. His knuckles were white from his death grip on the railing. He also seemed to continue to stare at the same point somewhere in the distant for as long as Tifa stood to watch. She called his name and reached to touch his arm. At this touch, he jumped back, complete caught off guard. Something she knew that did not happen to him much. During her days in AVALANCHE, when she'd wander in the night through the airship, she would find Vincent sitting up in the deck area, and he would acknowledge her with his back turned to her. Never once needing to turn around to know it was her. She concluded jokingly to him that he must of had eyes in the back of his head. But he did not laugh.

Tifa's attention was drawn back to present time when Vincent cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest defensively. She had no idea that Vincent was so offended with her touch. She felt hurt deep down, but she ignored it. Despite his reaction earlier, he remained rooted in his position, not moving his feet an inch or shifting his weight.

"You okay?" Tifa asked. It was a simple question, but one with a very complicated answer. For all Vincent could really tell, he couldn't feel anything. He felt numb. Vincent cursed if it was his transformation that was causing his weariness. For the first time since he awoke from unconsciousness, he felt the exhaustion from the transformation settle in. His legs were trembling in an attempt to keep him upright, his body shivered to keep his body warm in the cool weather and his chest heaved to bring in the necessary oxygen to feed his hungry lungs. He was getting light-headed now. He needed to sit down. But the choices of areas to sit were very few. But when he felt his legs buckle from underneath him, he concluded that the ground was not so bad of a place after all. This was his final thought as we feel into and embraced the darkness that enveloped his mind.

Long chapter, ya? Yes. It's longer than usual and I'm proud of it. I hope it wasn't too boring. It just seemed to never want to stop its own so I just merely continued to type away. Hehe, not really, I just didn't have a really good spot to stop, and I wasn't positive what I wanted to happen here. I'm kinda lost again for how I'm going to get from one place to the other. But until then, ...um...i don't know...

Oh, and my apologies to those who are offended that Vincent loves Lucretia. Things can change though!

Bishojo Beauty

I hope this chapter's good...TT no time to reread and edit...darn...