I found out that Shera's REAL name is Sierra. Sorry for the mistake.


"Hey, Vin…" I looked over at Cid as he spoke.

"Yes?"

"Think we could get outta' this hell hole?" he asked, never looking at me. He had his hands in his pockets and was watching where he walked. I thought about it. I was starting to think it wouldn't be a bad idea. Plus, Cid didn't seem to be enjoying himself anymore…

"Yeah, we can leave," I said, nodding my head. Cid looked up at me and grinned greatly.

"Oh, really! Damn, Vinnie, thanks! I was getting sick of this place… It doesn't do you any good anyway!" he said, grabbing my hands like a school girl. "Do you think we could head for Rocket Town? I wanna talk to Sierra… I need to tell her some things. You don't mind, do you?" he asked, not even noticing the blush across my face as he held my hands.

"N-no, no… I don't mind at all," I said. I smiled. He smiled back. He was very happy…

We walked back to the hotel, talking on the way.

"Y'know, Cid, you've changed a lot…" I said, looking at him. He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Changed? How so, Vin?" he asked.

"Well… You just… I don't know…" I couldn't really see how he had changed. I mean, he had, surely, but I just… I couldn't pin point it.

"Huh… Well, you know, I'm not the only one," he said, grinning. He looked forward with his grin and continued to talk. "You've changed more than I thought I would ever be able to handle," he said, nodding his head as if he were speaking to himself. I furrowed my brow, confused at his remark.

Me? Changed? How?

"And y'know… You talk a lot in your sleep," he said, stopping. We were close to the hotel. I could see it in view. A large, dark mansion… It made me shiver. All I thought about when I looked at that thing was the Shin-Ra mansion and all of the things that I wished I could not remember…

"Didja' hear me?" Cid asked, turning to face me. I looked down at him and couldn't help but feel violated. He heard me…all those times… Those dreams…

"I am a monster," I said, shaking my head and turning. I would go into the hotel and pack my things. I would leave. And I would not come back.

Cid quickly grabbed my arm as I turned and pulled me back to him. We were inches apart.

"Don't you ever say that, Valentine," Cid looked angry. I thought he might punch my face in; he looked so upset! His grip on my arm was very tight but did not hurt. Cid took his free hand and grabbed my collar, letting go of my arm.

"You are not a monster, Vincent," he said again. "You are far from it. If you ever say that again, you're gonna hear it from me!" Cid let go of me finally after I looked away. I was staring at the ground. I felt like a disgrace.

"Besides…" Cid said, tugging on my shirt to have me follow him back into the hotel, "…I liked what I heard," he let go of my shirt and opened the door for me.

"I wish your nightmares would stop, though," Cid said. He left me to walk up the stairs and step through his door. I could not move. I was stunned. What had I been doing in my dreams? I remembered the nightmares…there was only one dream that I had in which…it was something far more private that I did not wish to discuss… But he had been in the shower that whole time, hadn't he?

Cid stood at his doorway and called out to me. I looked up, my eyes glazed.

"Aren't you coming inside?" he asked, a hand gesturing me in. I looked down at the floor, closing my eyes tight.

"For you to just push me out?" I said, still looking down. I heard him snap his fingers.

A small portion of the rug in front of my feet burst into flames and then quickly dispersed. My eyes widened and I looked up at him quickly. He was grinning.

"I told you not to say things like that," he said, motioning me inside again. "Come on. Hurry up! Pack your bags, let's get out of here," he said.

I was amazed… He was such…a different person. But whatever it was that was different about him, I loved it. I loved it more than I loved Lucre…

Lucrecia? You know she never loved you, Vinnie. She just used you to get to Hojo. Then look at what karma does to her? She gets raped, Vinnie! Your love got raped! HAHAHAHAHA! And you can't do anything about it! Hojo is dead now, but you didn't do anything! She's gone now, Vinnie! She's gone! Chaos was laughing in the back of my mind. I tried so hard to block him out. Shut up! SHUT UP! I don't… Lucrecia is gone… It's not my fault! Things are different now! You just keep dreaming, Vinnie-boy. You just keep on dreaming.

"Looks like I passed out again," I said, trying to roll over. But I couldn't. I seemed to be…snug as a bug, as they say.

"Psh," Cid. What was he doing? I could hear the wind rushing by very fast…

"Where am I?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"You're in the Tiny Bronco, Vin! My baby! Why don'tcha sit up and take a look?" he asked. And so I did. I sat up. When I looked at him, he seemed a little…shaken. I didn't bother ask yet because I knew he did not want to hear anything I had to say at this moment. He wanted me to look.

The ground was so far away! It was such a beautiful day… We were just over the Chocobo Ranch. I watched as Billy, the boy who gypped Cloud with buying the chocobo lure, ran through the farm feeding the chocobos. We went over the marsh… There was always just one serpent there. Always one. And no matter how many times it was killed, the next day there was always a new one in its place.

Ah…the world seemed to be such a beautiful place on the outside…

I slouched back down in my seat again and let out a quiet sigh. I closed my eyes to think of what to say but I didn't have much time to think because Cid had something to say.

"Vinnie, you know, I really care about you… An' I don't want nothin' to mess up our friendship or anything else that might come to pass, y'know? I just want everything to be fuckin' fine like it's supposed to be. If somethin'…like Chaos…is gonna fuck it up, I want you to tell me what I can to do help… And if anythin' is botherin' you, then you better tell me or god damn it, Vin! I just… Fuck," Cid cut himself short. He looked immensely upset. I watched as his eyes began to tear up and as he aggressively brought a hand up to wipe the tears away.

I…I didn't know what to say…

"Cid…" I looked away from him and down at my lap. I just didn't know how to respond… "Cid, I don't…know how to respond to this kind of situation… I… I haven't ever felt like this…or had the problems I've been having… The better things get for me, it feels like the worst is coming right up after it… Chaos…doesn't like you… And he really does not like my happiness… I don't know how to make him go away, Cid… And I'm afraid that I might just go out and Chaos could come up and do something horrible…" I couldn't help but choke on my words. I hated to talk about this.

I looked up at Cid, tears forming in my eyes. "Cid, I am a monster! I cannot control the feelings I have like you can! If something happens, whether good or bad, something will well up inside of me and will try to break free… I cannot hold it back, Cid… I can't do anything about it…" I leaned over and held my face in my hands. "Cid, I can control my emotions but I cannot control this curse… It will not go away…I can try as hard as I want but it will just come right back and hurt me harder than before… I don't want to hurt you, Cid… That's the last thing I want to do…"

Cid merely brought a hand to my back and rubbed it for a few seconds. Then he withdrew and continued to pilot his plane. I did not cry. Neither did Cid. We kept quiet the rest of the flight.

I think that if either of us had said another word we would have turned into a broken faucet.

It wasn't much longer after our conversation that we arrived at Rocket Town. People were leaving their homes quickly to greet Cid even before we had landed. I felt extremely uncomfortable with such bright town folk, especially with my dark demeanor, and tried not to look at anyone but Cid and the ground. What surprised me somewhat, as we landed near Cid's home, was that Sierra had not come out to greet Cid. But then again, at the same time, it didn't surprise me much at all.

There were cheers and hellos and questions and requests. Cid merely blew them off by waving his hand. He didn't seem to be in much of a mood anymore. He took my things without hesitation and quickly headed inside. I followed close behind him.

Cid kicked the door open and yelled, "I'm home, Woman!" Sierra walked into the living room where we had just entered. She had a glass in her hand and a rag inside it, drying it. She was washing the dishes… I closed the door behind me, quietly, and hoped Cid wouldn't take out any frustration on Sierra.

"Fuckin' good for nothin'!" Cid said, under his breath. "I don't have a fuckin' right to say that, though, huh? I'm the one that doesn't do shit," he said, a grimace on his face. I couldn't understand how different he was acting. Did he hate Sierra?

She didn't seem to understand what was wrong with him either. She just gave him a hard look and walked back into the kitchen. Cid walked into his bedroom, at least, I was pretty sure it was his bedroom, and he threw our things onto the bed. I thought he was going to come back out to say something, but instead he slammed the door.

I was still at the front door.

I walked into the kitchen to find Sierra having broken the same glass she had been cleaning earlier. "Slipped out of my hands," she said. She reminded me of an old woman when she bent over to pick up the pieces… I quickly walked over and squatted next to her to help. She looked up at me and smiled gently. "Thank you, Vincent…"

"My, I haven't seen your face in a long time," Sierra said. We had just finished cleaning up the glass. She sighed and shook her head as she sat down at a kitchen stool. "I don't know what Cid's problem is. He hasn't been upset like this in a while… The last time I saw him this upset was when I found out he was gay…"

My mouth dropped. Cid? Gay? Sure, he said he cared about me, but I thought it was… My expression caught Sierra's attention rather quickly. "Oh, shit, Vincent. Don't say anything about it, I thought he had told you…" Sierra shook her head and placed a hand gently on top of my own. "Pretend you don't know, okay?"

It didn't make much sense to me. Sierra had said everything so casually as if she expected me to know… Like everyone knew… I felt so god damn confused! And when we had come in, Sierra looked happy to see us…but she lost her smile as soon as Cid started to yell. It seemed like they were going through this every day they saw each other…

Sierra had started making dinner. I was at Cid's door, knocking gently. I wanted to spend time with him, talk to him… After several failed attempts, I began to turn around. But the door had opened and I was pulled inside almost immediately.


Hope you liked this chapter. O It took me forever to finish it--it was pretty much done weeks ago, I only needed to add the last few little paragraphs. xD I didn't know if I should have ended it already or what. I hope it's not too short...