By V.Valentine
Chapter 5
A Pilot's Problem
A/N: Hey everyone thanks for reviewing so far. Next up we have Cid saying goodbye to Vincent, and since it is Cid, expect a little more cursing in this chapter than normal. All the usual warnings apply, and I might even have another new chapter out for you all tonight.
The old man by the rocket used to say that change was inevitable. You couldn't avoid it just as much as you could avoid the sun coming up the next day.
Gods, how I wish he was fuckin wrong right now.
I never knew how much of an impact you would have on me, Vince. You hated it when I called you that, but it wouldn't seem right now if I didn't. It wouldn't be me.
Fuck it, I don't want it to be me even now.
I remember when all of these goddamned numbskulls around you walked right into Rocket Town, and asked if they could borrow the Tiny Bronco. Shit, I thought you all were crazy.
But crazy goes a long way in my book. It means you got the balls to get up and do something about it, unlike the other shit heads around here that won't do a damn thing.
Crazy would be a word I would use to describe you, Vince. You were always at the front lines, fighting everything we fought against and I'll be damned if I'll ever see anyone handle a gun like you did.
Don't even get me started on the whole "changing" thing. That was weird as shit.
After it was all over, you usually didn't celebrate with the rest of us. You usually had a dark corner over there to yourself and there you watched us all. Maybe that was your way of having fun.
But despite being the craziest son of a bitch I'll ever know, you were also something else.
You were my best friend.
One of the things I will never forget, even in my old age, would be the night right before we headed off to the northern crater, to go take on Sephiroth.
I was sitting outside smoking, looking at the stars and wondering if I would ever get the chance to go up there again.
And then you of all people came out of the Highwind, and sat down next to me. And then you did the thing I expected the least.
You asked for a cigarette.
I obliged, handed you one, then gave you my lighter. You said your thanks, lighted it, and looked up at the stars with me.
We hadn't hung out much, but I had never seen you smoke. I asked why now, and your reply was overly fucking simple.
"It helps me relax. There's a lot you don't know about me."
And that's how it started. We spent the whole night talking back and forth, about our pasts, as much as you cared to divulge, and what we thought about what was going to happen.
When you decided you had enough, you got up and headed back to the Highwind. But before you left, you said another overly fucking simple thing to me.
"Shera is waiting for you. Don't make the same mistake I did."
And that's when everything hit me like a shit load of bricks. I had something more to fight for now, than just my plane, my ship, or my rocket. If we didn't make it, Shera would be helpless.
And that's where things needed to change.
We needed to fight Sephiroth, destroy Meteor and still make it out alive. Kind of a lot to ask anyone.
But we had to do it. And we did.
Six months after we beat Sephiroth, me and Shera got married. Wish you could have been there, man. It was huge. Half the continent came. Of course, we were pretty famous once we saved the world, so I guess that's to be expected.
We had our own big wedding, no expense left after that. We were married at a statue of a Bahatmut, since of my Dragoon heritage. All the way back to Kain.
But then we found out you had left. No one knew where or how, but you were no longer on the planet. I wanted you to be my best man.
It was still a happy day, but not my happiest. I wanted my best friend with me to share it.
So here's to you, Vince. May the gods grant you whatever it is you're looking for.
And here's hoping you found it.