Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Final Fantasy 7 game, Square Enix does. Matt Valentine is my OC though so I do own him o

Heheh here's the character of Vincent in a new light...a bit more innocent ((Sort of...)) It's quite humorous in the beginning here so enjoy

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"Childhood Innocence was bliss not knowing or caring about what happened around you, about what your actions led to. 'Innocence' was too short and too far off to remember its full effect…How I long and fear to go back there."

--Matt Valentine

Chapter 1 --- Childhood Innocence ((Matt's POV))

Another summer was nearing its end to make way for the fall. Already the stoic atmosphere that surrounded the small village was being driven away by a sudden wave of energy that put everyone on the move. It was mostly due to the heat of the summer, no one wanted to do anything outdoors, and the new school year was also right around the corner so parents were rushing around to get supplies for their children.

Most children do not like school in comparison to the freedom of summer or the time before they were old enough. I myself was a bit nervous about starting my first day but I couldn't help but feel excited too. My name is Matt Valentine, a small five year old boy with wild dark brown hair and eyes. I lived my whole life here in this village with my mom, my dad, and my seven year old brother Vincent.

He told me that school was terrible, he told me so many times that summer that I found myself determined to enjoy school even with all its rules. It was the night before my first day of school and he decided to try his luck at driving his message home to me again.

"Do you want to know what the most horrible thing about school is?" Vincent asked suddenly fixing his dark brown eyes on me as I sat there absently coloring on a piece of paper.

I glanced up widening my eyes in wonder, "What?"

"School uniforms," Vincent said narrowing his eyes, "They are hideous…can you say hideous?" He asked me expectantly. He had been trying all summer to increase my vocabulary mostly since he was so advanced in his class and I was struggling along. I blamed it on the fact that I was only five, but he tried to tutor me none-the-less.

"Hi-de-dous," I pronounced wincing as it came out, knowing immediately that it was wrong, "Um…hideous…" I corrected quietly.

Vincent only shook his head and continued, "They are so stiff and annoying…and Mom'll kill us if we get it dirty."

I looked up suddenly, "Really?" I asked awed.

"Yeah…"

"Does that mean I can't play?" I pushed suddenly dreading school, "I always get dirty…"

"Hmm? Oh yeah you can still play," Vincent rolled his eyes, "You just have to be careful."

I frowned, "Since when has any five year old been careful?"

"Good point," Vincent said, "It was nice knowing ya lit'l bro!"

"Hey!"

"Just kidding geez…" Vincent held up his paper, "Look I finished, what do you think? Can you read it?"

I narrowed my eyes to closely examine the paper he held, it was done mostly with the black crayon but there was some peach and blue smudged in there too. In the center there was a stick figure in a blue suit with his hands on his hips in a heroic pose; Vincent had given him a mass of wild black hair and sunglasses. Off to the side was two letters 'ME' with an arrow pointing from it to the figure. On the other side was a string of letters wrote out in a black crayon in Vincent's messy handwriting. I narrowed my eyes more to make out the letters and attempt to read what he had written, "'I….sss….ssst...' What's that letter?"

Vincent rolled his eyes at me, "It's an 'i' followed by two 'l's'"

"Oh…I sta-ill…still," I read the rest in my head "I still wanna be a Turk" I sat back and shook my head, "Mom's gonna kill you," I muttered.

Vincent smirked, his eyes lit up in amusement, "Yeah? You think?" He tossed the paper aside, "I'm just kidding about that you know…"

I quirked my eyebrow at him and let out a dramatized sigh. The Turks, or 'Turkies' as I called them, were a group of people who worked for the president. Over the summer they came into the village to talk with the mayor. Vincent seemed to take a high interest in them ever since, if it was because of the nice suits and sunglasses or just because they had guns then I guess I could understand. I thought they were cool too, but everyone in the village seemed so afraid of them. My mom told me it was because they were a part of this new government that had risen up in Midgar and that no one understood why they were way out here in this small village. I wasn't sure just how serious Vincent actually was about wanting to be a Turk, he probably just said things like that to get Mom angry. He was the master at that.

"Ok kids time to go to bed," Our mom's voice rang out through the house.

Vincent and I looked at the clock, "But Mom! It's only 8:30!" Vincent whined.

She appeared in the doorway of the room, hands on her hips with a 'I am your mother and you will do as you are told' look on her face, "You boys have school tomorrow, you want to be nice and rested for your first day back right?"

I gathered up my papers and crayons and gave her a hug, "G'night mom," I muttered and went to my room.

"Ah geez, Mom…" I heard Vincent say, "I am older now…can I stay up?"

"Even older kids need their rest," she responded and left the room so Vincent could get ready for bed.

I set my stuff down and climbed into bed, soon sleep took over even though my stomach was fluttering in excitement and dread of the uniform.