Title: Clear Reason
Catagory: Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Genres: General, makeshift/wannabe angst, waff/fluff, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT (beware of it, yo.)
Rating: K+ (T, maybe? ...Nah. But I'll leave that judging up to you)
Notes: Yay! More is here! I beat the game, then decided, 'what the hell?', and wrote this. SO CUTE, YO! And um...please note after Shelke says "Not that I mind though" and the scene that follows towards the end of the fic are from the game, but the rest is what I've done in my mind and my creativeness along with some other parts in the story that were unseen to the gamers and this is just my speculation about it. You know...I'm beginning to find Vincent/Shelke so adorable. Even though Vincent may be physically 28/29, being asleep for 30 years, unable to age physically... Plus an almost 19 year old that looks like a 10 year old...oh dear. XD;; ANYWAY. I do not care anymore, I was never moral anyway. XD No, there isn't any real Vincent/Shelke in here, just mainly friendship...and hints if you're one of the people who likes to read between the non-existant lines. XD
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Shelke slowly walked up the beautiful, grassy mountain, a small, content smile on her face. It was only a week and a few days since Omega was destroyed, but to her, it felt like an entire lifetime ago. She had learned so much, and was trying to make up for the 10 years lost.

She thought it was the end inside of Nero's darkness. She saw movement from outside her shield and looked up with a gasp, meeting the gaze of Vincent Valentine. He held out his hand to her, something in his palm. "I think you dropped this." He murmured.

It was her phone. His brow arched a little at her. "Unless you find something appealing about this place, I suggest we leave. Let's go." She sighed and looked down towards the ground, a small light of hope flashing in her eyes as she lifted her head to look up at him and nodded a little, dropping her shield and standing up. She followed him as he walked.

When they jumped out, she collapsed. Nero was standing there. She wasn't sure why he was there, but she could see evidence of a battle. Perhaps they had fought. Nero sounded understanding when he spoke. He talked about how Vincent wasn't affected by his darkness. Thanks to Chaos. Soul wrought of Terra corrupt, the line taken from the Omega report which was copied from the sayings of the Cetra.

Yuffie intervened before Nero could do anything more. He left, and Vincent turned and knealed to her. "Are you alright?" He asked. "I...I don't know." She replied and rolled over onto her back. "Maybe...maybe I was dreaming." Yuffie made her way down--more like fell down, towards them.

Vincent sighed and shook his head a little. Shelke made to stand, but collapsed again. The dark haired male gently picked her up into his arms. "Inside," She murmured. "Mako-stasis..." Vincent nodded and stood up, walking towards the building, Yuffie leaping up to follow him.

He placed her into the mako-stasis and shut it. "Will you be alright?" He questioned. She nodded solmnly "Yes." He nodded once and pressed the button outside of the machine, the mako coming out to fuel and re-energize her body.

"Thank you," She said as she closed her eyes. She fell into a regenesis resting state as Yuffie began to speak. When she heard him step away, she called out to him. "Vincent Valentine." He stopped and turned around.

Across the room, the computer nearby displayed the words: Discoverer - Grimoire Valentine.

She was silent for a while, as her mind suddenly projected something. A memory. Lucrecia's. She snapped out of it and shook her head. "Another dream?" She questioned as she opened her eyes to look out at Vincent. "Vincent Valentine." She said again.

"Hn?" He replied quietly.

"Why...why are you fighting this battle?"

He answered that it was to stop Deepground and to stop Omega coming again, to put an end to all of the maddness...or so he told himself. But he wasn't sure that was the true reason. She looked out at him, her blue eyes dulling again. "Not sure. Neither am I." She confessed.

"But, Vincent... I don't want the world to end." She admitted. "I just...I just...don't want...don't want there to be any more pain." Her eyes closed tiredly and she heard his footsteps walking away.

When Chaos tried to take control of Vincent, she projected her mind out, speaking out once again as Lucrecia, projecting the image of the woman to him. She was silenced after a moment, but it got through.

She was aware of Omega's awakening after Vincent defeated Hojo in Weiss' body. She quickly let herself out of the mako-stasis and ran to the nearest lab and sat in the chair by the computers and laid back in it. Omega had awoken. And Chaos would come out of the shadows as a counterbalance...or so it seemed.

If the souls of lifestream were like a network... "Vincent, be thankful I not only uploaded Lucrecia's thoughts, but her hopes and wishes as well." She murmured as she connected her brain up. "Uplink started. Commencing SND." She projected herself into the Lifestream, searching, flying through it, dodging the things inside of it that were trying to force her out. She was almost there when the dark tendrils wrapped around her.

She grit her teeth. "Just a little more..." She said. A bright glowing appeared and She met the eyes of someone. This was the real Lucrecia Crescent. "Here." She said quietly, reaching out towards her outstretched hand, the dark tendrils melting away from the radiance. She took it, and shot up, up, through the Lifestream, through the pulsing, and breaking out from the top of Omega.

She saw Chaos, flying straight head. She circled around and flew, straight for him. She gained speed, and before the demon could even move, she had done it, shoved the protomateria into him. "Take this," She whispered. She then fell away, both the image of her, and Lucrecia. She fell, and while she was going so fast, so many things happened it seemed like a long time. She showed him the memory, the feelings Lucrecia had had. And then, she told him to connect to her heart.

That was all she could do. And while she closed her eyes and kept falling, she knew Lucrecia was there with him.

It took a moment, but Vincent regained conciousness from within Chaos and quickly dove down and caught her, flying to a low level place and setting her down. "You're late." She murmured, looking up into the glowing yellow eyes of the demon Chaos, yet she knew it was Vincent behind them. "Sorry about that," He apologized. She made a tired amused sound, tilting her head a little. "Not that I mind, though." She said, echoing Lucrecia's words.

"She..." He murmured with a sigh, before chuckling. "She was always like that. Only believing what she wanted to." She looked up at him. "So Vincent, why don't you try telling her that yourself?" He looked at her for a moment. "Hn. Maybe I will. But before that..." He held his hand out and a new gun appeared in his hand. "I have a story to end."

With that, he jumped and flew up into the sky, to go after Omega. She stood up tiredly and began to walk away. Reeve and Yuffie ran up to her and guided her back. Reeve was surprised to see her. She looked up tiredly at him. "I'm sorry I..." She said to him, dropping her head. "I'm sorry I let you down."

He put a hand her on the shoulder. "You didn't. You looked after everyone on the airship. You tried your best to protect it, and I couldn't ask for anything more. You did not let me down." He answered. She looked up at him and nodded. They made their way back and watched Vincent progress towards Omega. When he cleared the first part, Omega tried to send him away by sending a wave of lifestream at him. He blocked, and from one sector of the reactor, a glint came and Cloud, Shelke assumed, cut through it and landed.

She saw him flip out his phone. "Sorry about the wait." He murmured. Across the way, Tifa, the lady's voice she heard talking to Vincent, kicked the last deepground soldier in her area. "Everything's clear here!" She chirped into her own phone. Barret, the guy with the loud voice, shot above in the air with his machine gun, yelling loudly. "They're all yours now, Vincent!"

Slowly, in another place, Cid lit up a cigarette and took a puff, sighing. "All in a day's work." He muttered. Reeve looked up at the reactor and motioned. "Fire." He commanded. Several cannon fire hit it and it blew up. "Alright!" Yuffie cheered with the other WRO soldiers. Reeve crossed his arms as the others celebrated. "And just in time." He spoke quietly.

"Hm." Shelke sighed as she looked down a bit, before looking up with a light smile. "When did I start caring so much about what happened?" She questioned to herself. She turned and looked up into the sky, towards Vincent. "The rest is up to you now." She said softly.

Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid, Reeve, and Yuffie all looked up at him, yelling, "Vincent!" loudly to him. She merely smiled a little again. It must be nice, she thought to herself. To have so many people supporting you. So many...friends.

'I'm one of them,' She added in her mind.

They watched as Vincent entered Omega, came out, and entered again. Then...Omega stilled, then larger wings burst out and it started to fly. "Omega's ascending!" Reeve cried, "But...that would mean...!"

A red light shone as Vincent flew above it, stopping, before glowing even brighter, streaking down towards it, entering the lifestream from Omega, going through it. Then...

Boom

There was white fog. Then, when it cleared, there was no trace of Omega. Or of Vincent.

Everyone stared in awe. "Vincent?" Yuffie cried out.

The lifestream in the air slowly started to flutter back down, raining upon them the pure essence of it all.

Vincent did not appear. Nearly a week had passed and she sat in the corner of Tifa's bar, looking out the window, holding her phone.

"Vincent... It has almost been a week since that day. The lifestream has returned to the planet and has begun to flow normally once again. And I have started to fill the ten-year hole in my life...or at least started to try. I've learned so much in the past week. Now that I realize I'm not alone, I think I may be a little stronger than I was before."

Yuffie ran towards Tifa, interrupting Shelke's train of line. "Did you hear from Cloud!" She demanded. Tifa nodded. "Mhm. He hasn't found anything." Yuffie stompped her foot. "Augh. Ain't gonna make this easy for us, is he?"

Shelke looked out towards the window.

"Vincent. Do you remember the last words we exchanged? Do you remember our promise? Your promise to Lucrecia? Go. Tell her how you feel. Tell her what is truly in your heart. I know that you will probably never see this, but I have to try... I have to believe. I've learned that I must never give up hope. Never..."

She snapped out of her reverie as she made it to the top. She stood there and waited, having known the one she was looking for was inside. She heard a soft voice speaking, but she couldn't make out the words, nor did she want to, they were private words, not meant for anyone to hear. She heard footsteps and turned slightly.

Vincent stepped out into the sunshine to see a brunette girl wearing a pink sleeveless polo shirt with a white collar and brown skirt with a reddish orange belt around her waist. She still kept her deepground boots. She huffed a little when she saw him and turned away, clasping her hands behind her back.

He smirked a little as he approached. "Everyone's waiting, Vincent Valentine." She spoke, her soft voice one with the calm scenery. She sighed as the breeze blew throug her locks of hair as she smiled a little. "I don't know why they made me come up here and get you." She said as she closed her eyes.

"Hm," The male behind her made an amused sound. She turned to face him with a small laugh and a gentle smile. "Not that I mind, though." She added on. Vincent looked back at her before closing his eyes briefly as he tilted his head back and opened them to look up at the sky, before they both looked out over the valley below them.

"You know..." Shelke began softly. The other stepped beside her, looking over at her with full attention. "Back in Nero's darkness... I had a dream of Lucrecia's memory. And then, I had one of my own memories. And Shalua came to me..."

The man beside her made an inquisitive sound. "She asked me if it was okay to return to the planet...I said no. But I understand now. And..." She sighed, unsure of what to say next. She was silent for a few moments as she pondered what to say. "I know what it is now." She said finally.

"What?" He questioned. She turned to face him. "I know what it is to have a reason to live, a reason to fight. I understand now why she gave her life for me." She said softly. She looked up, dark blue meeting crimson. "Because I would do the same for you," She finished solmnly.

The other's eyes widened a fraction. Shelke smiled a little. "You were my reason I didn't give up. You were the reason that I even began to care. Lucrecia helped me, but it was you who understood me." She moved forward and put her small arms around the other. "...Thank you."

Vincent stood there, tense for a moment, realizing the young girl meant what she said. And then he realized, that they weren't so different. He had understood. He returned the embrace gently. "Don't thank me," He murmured quietly. "But I thank you, for everything you did; and for your faith."

She pulled away with a sigh and a small laugh. "I guess the two of us really are reborn," She said, as the turned back to look over the valley. "Because the two of us have changed."

There was no reply, but the shorter girl knew he agreed. "We should be going. Before they start to get angry and murder me for not bringing you back." She said after a minute of serene silence. There was a deep chuckle from beside her before the male answered. "Alright." He agreed.

They started to make their way down the mountain again and half way down, she stopped, causing the other to look back with concern. She looked at him, blinking slowly, her eyes studying. His brows furrowed with question. She tilted her head to the side for a moment before smiling. "Aha." She said quietly.

"What?" He asked confusedly.

"Nothing. I was just thinking. Something from Lucrecia's memory, that's all." She replied. Vincent nodded a little and they continued walking. "You should get a change," She said as they got to the bottom. "To accomodate the new you."

The other made a thoughtful sound beside her. "I'll look into that." He replied. She smiled a little. "I think you should cut your hair and get rid of that headband." She said as she looked up at him as they walked. A single brow arched quizzically in reply.

She elaborated. "I like how you looked as a Turk. But I don't want you to go back to that; just a haircut, that's all. You can keep everything else." The other sighed for a moment, eyes closing briefly as they walked. "You can do all the choosing." He finally said.

She looked over at him with slightly shocked, widened eyes. They met clear, honest crimson ones. Ones that held no regret, no burden, and no pain. A bright smile crept up onto her face in reply. "Okay,"

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Another week later, Vincent and Shelke walked into 7th Heaven, Tifa's bar. When Yuffie looked over and saw the gunman her jaw dropped. "Holy hell!" She said with wide eyes.

The man was dressed in black boots, casual black jeans, a silk or satin black zip-up shirt with crimson red slashes across it, with long sleeves that had zippers from the wrist all the way up to the elbow and they were currently unzipped to create flare. Gone was the long dark locks and instead a fine, clean-cut style was there, and the headband was gone, revealing much of the other's face. It made him seem alot less mysterious and made him look a hell of alot younger.

The only thing that kept part of his face covered were the slim silver and black sunglasses covering his eyes. His usual glove on his right hand was gone, but Cerberus was still strapped to his leg. A belt hung around the male's slim hips and Shelke grinned. "Meet the new Vincent Valentine." She said as she strutted proudly past the awe-struck Yuffie and the now shell-shocked Tifa whom had come to see what Yuffie's commotion was about.

The male let out a light chuckle as he fully walked towards them. Cloud came out from the back room and looked over the male, before smirking. "Nice look, Vincent." He complimented. The other smirked back, "Thank Shelke," He replied.

Cid entered from the back room. "I just saw Shelke and-" He caught sight of the new Vincent. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, before calming and putting a hand on his hip. "Well look at you, all tussed up decent and normal for once." He said as he lit up a cigarette and took a drag of it. The pilot's statement brought out another chuckle from the gunman.

Yuffie snapped out of her daze and bounced around him in a circle. "Hmm." She would say as she did so, looking around at every angle before she stepped back and beamed. "I like it!" She declared.

A small smile rose up. "Thanks, Yuffie."

Tifa nodded. "Very nice, Vincent. It suits you." She praised.

Vincent smiled again. "Thank Shelke for that. I let her pick everything out." He replied.

"Everything?" Yuffie cried.

The dark haired male nodded.

"That was one huge leap of blind faith, Vince!" She declared.

To that, the smile turned to a calm, serene look. "I know," He replied. "But I had nothing to lose and nothing to be afraid of. If you can't trust, you can never fly."

Cloud understood those words and nodded his head. "You're right," He said.

Shelke reappeared from behind Cid, carrying Cait Sith in her arms.

"Well I'll be pickled and fried!" The robot exclaimed as it waved its paws lightly. "Nice look you've got goin' there, lad. It suits ya just fine!" It praised in it's normal scottish accent. Vincent dipped his head.

Chaos was gone from him, now one with the planet along with Omega, and the other demons had receeded, silent now that they had nothing to torment him on. Though he still had his clawed arm, nothing could get rid of that, he felt like a new person. He met Shelke's eyes, and she smiled. For a brief second, her image changed before it was gone.

'I'm so glad.'

Not everything can be erased, but you can always draw a new picture on a clean piece of paper.

Owari
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For the purpose of this fic, and because there may or may not be any more (probably not.) I'm going to post the translation of Redemption, the Dirge of Cerberus theme song.

Redemption

Your body softly returns to the heavens
What else can I do besides avenge you?
I watched forever it seemed until these tears dried

And this sorrow overflowing from these scars that can't be erased
I swore that I would never forget

I'll flap these broken wings
And erase it all someday you'll see
Until the last bell
Ringing our dirge has ended

You told me to live as if you were to die tomorrow
Feel as if you were to be reborn now
Face as if you were to live forever

Blood red tears wiped away by a trembling finger
I had nothing to lose, nothing to lose
It sweeps through these darkened memories

That last smile wavered and dissappeared
Now the warmth is all that's left

Your kind and loving words
Can't save me now
This body is too dedicated
To the never ceasing fight

Everyone returns to that heaven someday
You never had to say goodbye

Break out

I'll flap these broken wings
And erase it all someday you'll see
Until the last bell
Ringing our dirge has ended

Your kind and loving words
Can't save me now
This body is too dedicated
To the never ceasing fight

Redemption

Redemption
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Thank you, I hope you enjoyed the fic! -passes out cookies to everyone-