--I'm not a needy guy or anything but I notice I've gotten very few reviews. This either means you don't like it and you're too nice to tell me or you like it and don't want to feed my ego. As I doubt it's the second one I will say in any case that a short review or two to let me know if I'm going in the right direction would be appreciated, but if not, you know, if you don't like it keep disliking it and if you do like it keep liking it.

Chapter 5

Why She Picked Vincent

After Wymond had finished healing his broken nose everyone had worked to calm the situation before the guardian had a chance to strike back against Cloud. They all found a place to gather and they finally got back to the subject at hand, Wymond and Cloud still glaring back and forth at each other.

Red XIII sat comfortably with Cait Sith on his back as usual, Cid stood leaning against a wall lighting up another of his many cigarettes, Barret and Tifa sat beside one another, Yuffie sat cross-legged with her back against the wall beside Reno who sat similarly against the wall, but not cross-legged, that wasn't his style. Wymond was standing still straight across from where Cloud and Aeris sat beside one another, also against the wall. Vincent, as per his usual disposition, was quite distanced from the rest of them and slowly walked back and forth on the verge of a quick pace.

Vincent was trying to put a year's worth of information together in a few minutes, his arms were crossed and he occasionally nodded slightly in understanding as Aeris talked, but overall looked as if he wasn't listening.

As she explained everything they needed to know Vincent noted a few things, one most prominent was the fact the guardian still seemed quite bothered by the fact Aeris seemed to trust Cloud more than him. Though Vincent wondered if maybe it was how close the two of them sat side by side. No one really paid attention to it as they were listening intently to Aeris, but they were actually sitting quite close to one another.

Whether this implied a love connection or the fact Cloud was a little deaf in his right ear, Vincent wasn't sure. Though as far as he knew both of Cloud's ears worked fine, it also brought up the point maybe Wymond wasn't so perturbed about Aeris trusting Cloud more than him, but by the fact they seemed to have such a close relationship. Of course assuming one could define a relationship by how close one person sat to another.

The question of whether Cloud and Aeris would have remained simply friends had she not been killed at the Forgotten City was one that Vincent had played with many times in his mind.

"Seeing as Vincent seems to be ignoring me I'll ask him to repeat everything I just said," Aeris said smiling.

Vincent stopped pacing but stared off in a different direction from the group, "You said the Ancient Black is created of an element that does not necessarily exist in the literal sense on this planet so logically weapons created here will do very little damage but will damage it nonetheless."

Vincent had quoted her word for word.

Cid chuckled and shifted from leaning on his side to leaning his back against the wall, "So in theory we could kill the bastard."

Aeris gave a last grin to Vincent as he started pacing again, she looked to Cid, "Oh, it's possible, especially now that you'll have Wymond. His sword is the only one other than my staff that is capable of doing heavy damage to the Ancient Black. Though there is one other here that is quite capable of damaging the monster, maybe even capable of killing it himself."

Wymond looked over at Vincent and everyone else followed the guardian's gaze, Vincent sensed more than saw their eyes on him, he stopped pacing and turned.

"That's why you chose him?" asked Wymond. "He can hurt the creature?"

"Wait, that would make sense," Reno said nodding, "I'm not up on all the stuff Hojo did to you, man, but you got something inside you that ain't normal."

Aeris nodded, "Chaos."

Vincent was quiet but made a gesture with his golden-clawed hand that urged Aeris to continue.

"Whatever exactly this Chaos is, however Hojo implemented him in you, he accidentally created a being that could potentially destroy anything," Wymond said.

"Wymond stop reading my mind," Aeris said but didn't look at him.

"Sorry," the guardian replied.

Reno looked between Aeris and her guardian, "Now back to being the guy that has no idea what's going on."

"Telepathic connection between the guardian and the charge," Vincent said, "that makes sense. He knows where she is, where she's thinking of going, and they can communicate anywhere."

"It gets annoying when he starts saying stuff I'm gonna say," Aeris added.

"You're saying Vince's," Cid paused for a moment, "less-than-friendly…alter ego…thing…could kill this Ancient Black thing?"

"That's exactly what she's saying," Vincent replied, "and don't call me Vince."

"Oh, right, sorry," Cid said, "it's just so much easier to say. Y'know it rolls off the tongue."

"I would ask how you came to this conclusion, but I suppose one shouldn't ask about things beyond comprehension, yes?" asked Vincent to Aeris, ignoring Cid's comment.

"That's probably the easiest and fastest way to think of it," Aeris replied laughing a little.

"I'm still stuck back at the part where there's a monster made out of evil," Reno said shaking his head.

Red XIII turned to look at Reno, "As much as I enjoy saying it three times it should go without saying really how I respond to you."

"Right, shut up, I know," Reno replied.

"You guys are going to need all the help you can get," Aeris said looking to Reno, "gather as many allies as you can…Turks, any mercenaries, anybody."

"Well, Shinra's a bit short on recruits lately, but I can guarantee you Rude, Elena and Rufus will show up," Reno replied.

"Bastards are all sympathetic now that they feelin' all guilty about destroying the planet, eh?" asked Barret.

Reno said nothing.

"If there was ever a time to put differences aside, now is the most important I'm sure," Red XIII said wisely.

"He's right, to fight this thing the only chance you have is in numbers," Aeris said.

"Though I think we're forgetting that we don't necessarily have to kill it right?" asked Tifa.

Aeris nodded, "Hopefully you'll only have to hold it off for a while until Cloud and I find a way to fix our time paradox situation."

"So, question is," Cid said, "when do you leave and when does Blackie show up?"

"You mentioned the black creatures," Aeris said, "they are a sign; it means the creature is about two days off."

"That is of course an estimate," Wymond added, "you obviously can't accurately time the Ancient Black's movements, but from previous experience and Cetra knowledge two days is a safe estimate."

"Could be sooner, could be later," Cid said, "but sooner or later this damn thing's coming and we gotta be ready to kill the bastard if it comes to that."

Aeris nodded, "And Cloud and I need to be going."

Cloud nodded, "Ready when you are."

Aeris stood up, "I know you're not happy about this and I know you aren't really allowed to do this, but Wymond, I really need my staff."

Wymond stood silent for a moment and after an awkward session of staring, reached behind him and produced a sparkling light green staff that had, like his own sword, appeared out of nowhere.

"I hope you can protect her as well as she believes," Wymond said and tossed the staff to Aeris who caught it gracefully and spun it around a few times.

Cloud was about to respond when Aeris spoke first, "He beat you up pretty good, guardian-man, I'd say it's a start."

Wymond looked a bit shocked and even Vincent gave a bit of a grin at her words.

"Watch out," Cid said standing away from the wall now, "girl's got her fire back."

"We have this side covered," Vincent assured, "and make sure you protect Cloud, unlike you he can't come back from the dead every time we need him."

Aeris smiled, "Vincent, that was a joke, Tifa's teaching you well."

Vincent just shrugged, "Still haven't thought of one that actually made anyone laugh."

"Most jokes really aren't that funny, Vincent," Aeris said. "It's just about finding the right moment to say one. The right situation, right time, place, you'll get it."

Vincent nodded, Cloud followed Aeris over to one of the tubes on the wall.

"Wymond, use some of your fantastic skills and make sure Cloud appearing on the other side doesn't go and destroy the world," Aeris said.

"I have the ability to allow someone to go in my place, whether they exist in the other plane of existence or not," the guardian explained.

Aeris studied the tube and found a keypad on the right side, she waved her green staff over it and it suddenly beeped and the tube slid open.

"When did you learn that?" asked Cloud.

Aeris laughed, "Being dead for a while has its benefits."

She stepped inside the tube, "We'll use the same one, save power."

"Uh, I don't think the fact we use one tube really affects how much power we…" Cloud began.

"Oh, shut up and get in," Aeris grabbed him and pulled him inside, "you really haven't changed at all."

Vincent walked over to the black button that activated the machine.

"As soon as you hit the button I will have Cloud in an invisible bubble of sorts that will in a sense trick time itself into thinking he is me," Wymond explained to Vincent. "For this to work we must do both things at the same time, however."

"On three," Vincent said.

"Very well," Wymond agreed.

"One," Vincent said.

Aeris wrapped her arms around Cloud and put her head against his chest.

"Two," Vincent said.

Cloud hesitated for a moment but then put his arms around her and put his chin on her head.

"Three!" Vincent said loudly and hit the button just as Wymond cast the necessary magic to serve his purpose.

After the flickering of lights they had experienced when they brought Aeris back stopped they all looked to the tube and found it empty, Cloud and Aeris were indeed gone.

"I suppose if we'd been unsynchronized we'd know it, yes?" asked Vincent.

"None of us would likely still be alive if we'd been unsynchronized," Wymond replied.

"Great, well, they're off, now what do we do?" asked Reno.

"Cid, can you give Reno a ride to wherever he needs to go?" asked Vincent.

Cid nodded.

"Reno," Vincent said, "grab any allies you can find and bring them here."

Reno nodded.

"The rest of us should get out of this building and start making a plan, right?" asked Barret.

"We should also set up a vigilant watch on this place," Vincent said, "in case our enemy decides to show up early."

"First thing's first, let's get the hell outta here," Cid said gesturing for Reno to follow him. "Oh, yeah, don't forget about those damned black things out there. You can't kill 'em so don't try."

"We should be able to avoid them, one problem at a time," Tifa said.

Everyone appeared to be at an agreement and began to make their way outside.

"Hey, guys, you know that joke Vincent made about Cloud not being able to come back to life when we need him?" asked Reno.

"Reno, does it really matter right now?" asked Yuffie.

"No, seriously, guys, I have a legitimate point here," Reno said, everyone ignored him. "No, really, just hear me out: why didn't you guys just use a Phoenix Down on Aeris back in the Forgotten City, why didn't you just throw on a Phoenix Down and that's that?"

Nobody heard him nor responded.

"Fine, but you know I've got a point!" Reno yelled indignantly.