He Tells All

by: Bishojo Beauty

Chapter 18

After the incident in the kitchen, Vincent avoided Tifa like the plague. Not that he wanted to. Tifa also had a mix of emotions. She knew that she was beginning to fall for Vincent, but at the same time, she couldn't help but really question herself about it. But based on what she felt alone, during their brief kiss, was enough to erase all doubts and worries.

At this moment, Tifa was in the living room reading a rather boring book, but it was much more interesting than anything else she could be doing at the moment. Vincent and Kael were outside, having a "friendly" duel. Sighing loudly, Tifa found her thoughts, once again, drifting off to Vincent. She was getting no where in the book. She read the same page, over and over again for the past half hour and it was starting to get frustrating. Somehow, one way or another, Vincent was always able to wind himself into her thoughts.

Finally having enough, Tifa slammed the book shut with a dull thud and decided to find something else to pass her time with.

-

Vincent twisted off to the side with less time than he liked to have available to avoid Kael's fist. Another one came flying, and Vincent raised his right arm to deflect it this time. The exchange of punches continued for a while, with none of them connecting. Kicks were now thrown in and Vincent launched a high kick towards Kael's head. He succeeded in throwing his older brother off, and took the opportunity to catch him in a headlock from behind that allowed him to break his neck with little effort.

"Don't think you'll be so lucky next time," was all Kael said before another duel began. This time, Kael began throwing unrelenting high kicks. Being former Turks, they were trained in many different forms of fighting. But the form they found most useful was simply a mix of anything more formal and street. Their "clients" were always ones to be playing dirty.

Vincent began to lead by two wins, but they were interrupted by loud crashes of broken glass, snapping wood, and one gunshot sounding loudly in contrast of the peaceful day. Before another sound reached their ears, Vincent and Kael had already picked up their equipment and began racing back to Nanaki's home, full speed. Vincent was soon smashing through the front door with a flying kick and landed in a crouch on top of the now unhinged door. Kael followed, rolling in, and also stopping in a low crouch. The two brothers quickly signaled to each other and went silently, but quickly through the kitchen and towards the back of the house.

They reached a small sun room, and through the glass, Vincent spotted a man. Immediately Vincent pulled out his Death Penalty. One of the good habits from being a Turk was definitely that of always having your weapon by your side, no matter the circumstances. But there were times when he did not have it. Those were times he wished to forget, and learn a lesson from at the same time.

The two brothers heard a shout sounding from the kitchen in which they just passed. They had just been spotted. Swearing mentally, Vincent opened fire at the man seen through the window while Kael automatically took care of he man behind them. They both dropped dead simultaneously.

Their presence was now known, so Vincent felt no hesitation to burst out through the back of the house and out into the backyard. He halted quickly however upon the sight which befell upon him. Kael soon followed.

Tifa was being held with a gun to her head by a masked man who was clearly working for Chester.

"Don't try anything," the masked man warned. With that said, Vincent's mind still worked furiously in hopes to find a safe way to get Tifa out of that man's arms in into his.

Yes, into my arms.

He could not and would not allow himself to stand by and watch any further. He had lost one woman he cared about, he was not about to add a second. But there did not seem to be a way out of this.

"What are you planning to do? If you want an exchange, then it will be done," Vincent asked. Vincent got no response. The man seemed flustered though.

So Vincent decided to try to bargain again with him. "I will spare your life if you release her. That's the deal,"

"Bullshit," the man spat back. At this, Vincent and Kael held up their hands in an act of submission, and began to slowly lower their selves. Eventually the brothers slid their guns toward this man. However, unexpectantly to all, Vincent leaped forward after Death Penalty, rolled to a stop with his gun back in hand and released one shot. The single bullet found its way into the gun hand of the man, rendering his hand completely useless.

Tifa was let free, and Kael dove into action as well. With a flying tackle he took the man down, and Vincent dove for Tifa. They landed in a tumble in which Vincent tried to cushion as much of it as possible for Tifa.

"Tifa, are you okay?" Vincent looked to her with a worried look, when they finally landed and were safe. Blood from the man's hand was splattered all over her face. Her eyes were wide as she turned towards him. Suddenly, a look of fury slammed down.

"Have you gone insane! You could have shot me!"

Vincent did not have a reply for her. He just did not know what to say to make her feel better. He had been in tighter situations, and he had never failed. He knew he was not going to miss, as arrogant of a thought it was. It was true. Especially now with the enhancements that Hojo had given him.

"Tifa..." Vincent began, but only ended up trailing off. He still did not know what to say, so he opted to just let things go as they may. Kael was able to get a solid hold down onto the man, pulling off his mask to reveal a pretty normal looking guy. From what Vincent could see, interrogation was already taking place. Turning his attention away from his brother as it was apparent that he pretty much had things under control, he looked down at Tifa who was shaking slightly from the close encounter. The brunette was used to battle, but she had never had someone who was holding a gun at her head shot at with barely any hesitation at all. Even though it was Vincent, Tifa could help but feel shaken.

Vincent wanted to say something, or do something to make Tifa feel better. But comforting was definitely not one of his strong points. He tried to conjure up something to do, but his mind downright refused him. Finally, he figured to wipe the now whimpering man's blood off of her face. But the only problem was that he had nothing to do wipe it with, which confirmed that he was certainly not good at these sorts of things. He was sure that if he and Kael had switched positions, his older brother would have already had Tifa clean as a whistle and smiling once again. Not dirty with another man's blood splattered on her face, and trembling in fear.

Tifa looked over to Vincent, finally able to tear herself away from the fear that overwhelmed her body. As she studied his expression, she identified it as his thinking or brooding expression. She assumed that it was over her. He probably regretted it.

She slapped him in the arm gently and giggled. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I am alive and he's well, not doing so great, right?" She tried to quench her fear, just at least for Vincent's sake.

Vincent's brows furrowed further at her exclamation. He really did admire Tifa's optimistic attitude. She was no long in fear of the events that had just happened. She was not clean, but definitely smiling again. Perhaps, Vincent realized, he did not have to actually do anything but be himself to make Tifa smile.

"Inside. There's blood on your face," Vincent stated quietly after clearing his throat. This earned him a giggle from Tifa. She did not expect him to be so blunt about it.

"What?" Vincent could help but ask, curious to know what she found so amusing.

"Nothing," Tifa smiled, "Let's go."

And in they went. As soon as they reached the kitchen, Vincent busied himself by looking for a clean cloth for her to wipe her face. But she stopped him.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just shower,"

Vincent opened his mouth as if he was going to say something in objection, but he closed it and just nodded instead. He turned soon after to watch Tifa's retreating form, bounding up the stairs.

His thoughts then turned to Kael and the man who was now their captive. As Vincent thought of this, the man appeared before him in the kitchen. He was thrown onto the ground by Kael who was hovering over him, menacingly.

"He won't talk," Kael said, while delivering a light kick to the man's side. He wasn't quite in the mood to be true brutal. Yet.

Sighing, Vincent signaled for Kael to bring him into a more private room. It was almost like being a Turk all over again. He hated it, but it had to be done.

-

The shower was a warm welcome to Tifa after how dirty she had become over such a short period of time. She made her way back down the stairs, now dressed in a form fitting t-shirt, and hip-hugging cotton pants to find no one except Nanaki.

Nanaki had luckily been out for a stroll when everything happened. He was too far away from home to realize, but now he was back and he seemed not one bit confused. Tifa figured he must have been informed by one of the Valentine brothers. Speaking of the brothers...

"Where's Vincent?" Tifa asked.

"Interrogating one of Chester's men,"

"Oh, I see," Tifa replied. Then silence fell between them as they waited for the Valentine brothers to reappear. Both of them hoping that they would finally get some answers to all of their questions.

It was later, rather than sooner, the Valentine brothers reemerged. Tifa and Nanaki looked to them expectantly. The two brothers looked drained, a slightly paler than usual. They also had blood on their clothes, hands, and shoes.

"So what did you guys find out?" Nanaki asked.

"Enough," Kael responded. He was turning slightly into Vincent for all he was diverging.

"Where's the man now?" Tifa asked. She was, in a way, hoping to get one hit at the man for holding a gun to her head. But judging from the amount of blood present on the two men before her, she could tell that he probably had enough of a beating for the day.

"We let him go. He has family," The older Valentine said lowly. Neither of the two brothers wanted another death pinned to their sins.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Vincent finally spoke up. Everyone nodded in agreement. They all, except Nanaki of course, had enough for the day.

One by one, they retired to bed.

But Tifa could not sleep. And neither could Vincent, presumably, as she found him sitting in the living room with his head resting back and eyes focused on the ceiling. But when she approached him, they became trained on her.

"Couldn't sleep?" Tifa asked for a lack of better things to say. Vincent shook his head in response, but did not say anything.

Since she didn't really get a response. But Tifa pretended she did, and continued on. "I couldn't either."

"I'm sorry. I should not of had--"

"No!" Tifa found herself practically shouting. She calmed herself before she decided to speak again.

"You saved my life again. I should be thanking you,"

"Don't,"

"Then don't blame yourself," Tifa countered. A long pause followed. A lot of long pauses usually followed their conversations. But this one was the first of all of them to be quite uncomfortable. She watched as Vincent bit his lip in contemplation with whatever he was thinking about at the moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was quite awhile before he actually spoke. But when he did, he surprised Tifa.

"Deal," was all he said as his eyes slid back to hers. She could swear now, really, that there was a quirk in Vincent's lips. A sign of an oncoming smile.

"Deal," Tifa replied before joining him on the couch. They enjoyed each other's company after that with light conversation. Nothing too deep, or personal. And soon, Tifa fell asleep without even realizing it. Vincent took it upon himself then, to see to it that she would wake up in a warm bed tomorrow.

And that she did. As her awareness came back to her through her sleep fogged mind, she realized that she was no longer downstairs on the couch. Vincent. She thought, and it was enough to bring a smile to her face. She skipped down the stairs happily, excited to start a new day after an exceptionally good night. Tifa had really enjoyed talking to Vincent. He had a very different outlook on all things in life, and she enjoyed listening to him talk. But it was surely, more enjoyable for him to hear her talk as she had undoubtedly spoken more than he did.

As she reached the kitchen, she couldn't help but be a bit disappointed to not find Vincent there. She did find Nanaki, and she said a cheerful good morning to him. But his reply was undeniably not as cheerful. He greeted her with two words. And these two words filled her stomach with dread.

"They're gone,"

End of chapter! Arhhh, I don't find this chapter too too great. But, it's workable...there's more coming, i have a lot written actually, i just have to proof read... Anyhow, I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Bishojo Beauty