Chapter 4 - The Edge of Sorrow

Rain ran down the windows of the Seventh Heaven. Yuffie had always thought that rain was like the tears of Angels, looking down from heaven, crying out in hopes that their tears would wash all evil from the face of the planet. She had been sitting on her bed, in the room she shared with Shelke, for the past half hour. The young shinobi looked out the window, thinking about life. She rarely let the others see how deep and contemplative she really was, maintaining her seemingly hyper-active nature on the outside. Sometimes she dropped her protective shield, trying to prove the things everyone thought about her wrong.

She stood up from the spot on her bed where she had perched herself, sighing a depressing sigh. 'I should get to bed,' she thought walking over to the closet to get her night clothes. She opened the closet door and noticed the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. 'I need to do laundry tomorrow.' She looked through her wardrobe and found a light blue, slightly oversized shirt, and a pair of black, knee-length shorts. The ninja put her stealth skills into use, quietly closing the closet door and tip-toeing to the other door, trying not to wake the girl she so nicely referred to as 'the Ice Queen.'

Still in stealth mode, she opened the door slowly, checking to see if there was anybody in the hall. She told herself that it was a game, trying to get to the bathroom and back without getting caught, but the real reason was that she didn't to get stuck in a conversation with anyone at the moment. She didn't want to talk with Tifa, avoiding any possibility of continuing their earlier conversation, and Cloud, well, Cloud wouldn't stop to talk to her anyway, with the possible exception of a quick goodnight. She decided then that it was only Tifa she was avoiding. 'Speak of the devil,' she thought, grinning as she watched Tifa walk out of the bathroom, dressed in a grey t-shirt and and navy blue sleep pants.

"I wonder where Cid and Barret are," she said to herself in a hushed voice. She sighed a bit, concerned for her friends. "I hope their alright." She started to walk down the hall to her room.

"They'll be fine," she heard a voice say. Cloud walked up the last few steps, holding a glass of water. Tifa stared at him, a blush rising on her face. Cloud had neglected to put on shirt when he changed into his night clothes, or rather, night pants, since all he was wearing was a pair of green sleep pants.

"Oh, hey Cloud," she said, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. Its not like she hadn't seen him shirtless before, but every time it had happened she had the same response.

"Hey, Teef, I-" he interrupted himself, blushing a bit as he scratched the back of his head, an action he always did when he was at a loss for words. 'No, not now, not yet. I'm not ready.' He lifted his head, which had been staring at the ground, trying to reduce the awkwardness of the situation. "Goodnight, Tifa."

"Goodnight Cloud," she said quietly and turned away, listening to his footsteps as he walked into his room. 'I love you Cloud.' She walked away, and entered her room for the night.

Yuffie opened the door all the way, annoyed with the situation. 'Stupid Chocobo Head,' she thought, sighing as she entered the bathroom, her clothes in tow. A few minutes later, she reappeared, dressed in the clothes that she had chosen, her clothes from the previous day bunched between her arm and breasts. 'I wonder if Vincent is still awake,' she pondered as she made her way to his door. "Hey Vinnie," she whispered, "are you still awake?"

"Come in," a voice called to her, and she did just that. Vincent was siting on his bed, with one leg bent and his human hand resting on it. He was staring out the window, looking at the rain, just like she had done earlier.

"Hey Vincent," she said quietly looking at the man dressed in red in black. His crimson eyes turned to look at her for a few seconds before turning to look out the window again. "I just wanted to say goodnight, so, Goodnight Vincent."

"Goodnight Yuffie," he replied, still looking out the window. She turned to leave, and his eyes moved to watch her. "Yuffie..."

"Yeah Vinnie," she turned around, meeting his red eyes with hers. She loved those eyes, but was always afraid to look into them, and if she did, it was never a long amount of time. She felt that if she held eye contact, then his crimson eyes would see straight into her, piercing the shield she held in front of her. She was afraid that if he looked long enough, he could see straight into her soul, and maybe, he wouldn't like what he saw. 'But it doesn't matter anyway,' she thought, 'because Vincent Valentine will never love me.' She averted her eyes from him, looking out the window instead.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you earlier." He was still looking at her. "I've just had... a lot of things going on, and I don't know what to do about it, and I've lost a lot of sleep over it." He knew there was something wrong with her , but knew that if he asked her about it she would just deny it, wave her hands and shake it off, then put her chipper mask back on. It upset him to see the young ninja like this. He shook his head and continued. "I apologize that I was harsh with you. It was not my intention."

"Its alright Vincent," she said, giving him a soft smile. "I'm just proud of you!"

He looked at her questioningly. "For what?"

"For speaking more than five words!," she she smiled at him again, this time showing him all her teeth. "That was like three sentences! Three long sentences!."

"I see," he said giving her a tiny smirk which she could clearly see over the top of his cloak.

"Hey Vincent," Yuffie said as she sat at the edge of his bed, clothes still in hand.

"Yes Yuffie?" he said, looking at her behind his cloak.

"If you ever want to talk about stuff, I'm here for you," she said shifting her eyes between his face, his claw hand, and the floor.

"You're the third person today who has offered that to me," he said, looking out the window.

"It's cause we care about you," she said, her eyes searching his facial features. 'It's because I care about you.' She leaned over and hugged him, catching him off guard. It was a bit of an awkward hug, since she was still using one of her arms to hold her clothes. After loosening up a bit, he placed his normal hand on her back. She pulled back after a minute, and stood up to walk to the door. "Goodnight Vincent," she said, opening the door slightly.

"Goodnight Yuffie." She exited the room and left him so that he could try and sleep.

"What was that all about?" Yuffie looked at the woman who had been waiting outside Vincent's Door. Tifa folded her arms and leaned against a wall. She looked at the young woman, noticing the once large smile on the girl's face fading into non-existence.

"Oh, nothing Teef. Just saying goodnight to Vinnie," the ninja stated, trying to look as cool as possible. "What are you doing out here?" she asked, trying to act innocent.

"I heard loud voices. I wanted to make sure everything was okay," the woman informed her friend.

"Aw, thanks for the concern Teef," Yuffie said, patting Tifa on the shoulder. "I was just congratulating Vinnie for his ability to speak more than five words at a time. Everything here is a-okay!"

"Okay," the woman said with a small smile on her face, obviously too tired tired to continue with the conversation. She turned around and stepped inside her room.

"Goodnight Tifa," Yuffie said, sighing contently. 'Now for a good nights rest,' the ninja thought, smiling a bit, as she made her way to her room for the night.

--

An icy wasteland stretched out for miles in each direction, never ending. Vincent stood there, barefoot and freezing, the icy wind piercing his pale skin. A pair of black pants and a blood red t-shirt were all that stood between him and the cold, he wasn't even wearing his gold gauntlet. He felt naked without his cloak and gauntlet, and he didn't even have the Cerberus to protect him. Vincent stood still for a few minutes, processing his current situation before walking forward. Deciding that he would rather not move against the wind, he started walking west, the wind now at his back.

After walking for what seemed to be an eternity, he saw the silhouette of a person in the distance. He started running, hoping that help was near. He was wrong. When the person came into focus, he immediately recognized the man waiting for him.

"Sephiroth."

As he got closer the white snow at his feet became red. He was now able to see the picture clearly. The snow was stained with blood, the bodies of victims strewn about the ground. Then he recognized the massacred people. 'No,' he thought, rejecting what he saw. "NO!" There on the blood red snow laid his comrades, his friends. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid and Shera, Reeve, Nanaki, Yuffie, Shelke, and even the children, Denzel and Marlene.

"Why! Why did you kill them?" Vincent shouted at the man that was revealed to be his son.

"Because, Father," the silver-haired man stepped forward, blood covered sword in hand. "You cared about them. It was the only way to get your attention." Sephiroth gave him a malicious smile. "You never cared about me, you never loved me! I had to punish you for not being a father to me."

Vincent couldn't respond. This was yet another sin to add to his list. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"It's too late for that Father," Sephiroth replied, raising his sword, getting ready to strike. "None of it will matter soon." Vincent didn't even try to move, he knew this is what he deserved. The sword pierced his body, stabbing him through the heart. Vincent felt the pain as the sword ripped through his body.

"Very good Darling," a woman's voice said coming from a person approaching the scene, "give your Father what he deserves." When she came into view, Vincent felt even more pain go through his body. "

"Lucrecia!" Vincent fell to his knees as Sephiroth removed the sword. "Lucrecia! Why..." His voice was dying out. He fell into the snow, his blood pouring out and deepening the color of the already blood stained snow.

"Lucrecia!" Crimson eyes opened as he sat up in his bed. His skin was covered in cold sweat, the temperature of his body much lower than that of the room. "It was another nightmare." He stood up and put his shirt on. He wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night.

He walked downstairs and filled a glass with water before sitting down in one of the booths in the Seventh Heaven. Lightning flashed in the horizon, soon followed by the sound of thunder. He thought that he had seen an airship flying in the rain-filled sky, but when the lightening flashed again, it was no longer there.

A half-hour, a shot of alcolhol from a bottle he didn't bother to read, and four glasses of water later, Vincent saw the door to the Seventh Heaven open. He reached down to where a holster should be to grab the Cerberus, realizing that he didn't bring downstairs with him. 'Oh great,' he thought to himself, but was releived when Cid and Barret walked through the door, dripping wet with rain.

"#!&!" the pilot exclaimed, swearing as always. "It's #!#in' rainin' cats and dogs out there." He reached into his coat pocket, hoping that his cigarettes weren't damaged. Sighing with relief, he pulled one out and lit up.

"Jes' what do you think you're doin', Cid!" The large black man shouted. "You're gonna give everyone cancer if ya' keep smoking those things."

"Shud up, what I do is my own business, and noone elses'" Cid rebutted, inhaling a large amount of smoke. He looked around the empty bar, noticing that it wasn't quite empty. He saw two crimson orbs glowing, and yelped a bit, before realising who those orbs belonged to. "Holy #&#, Vince!" the man said, holding a hand over his heart, "You could've given me a heart attack."

"I apologize," Vincent replied, standing up, and moving to where Cid and Barret were standing.

"Pansy," Barret muttered under his breath to Cid.

"Hey," Cid said, turning around to face the man with the gun-arm. "I heard you squealin' too," Cid said with a grin on his face.

"Tifa prepared a room for you," Vincent said in a stoic tone. "First room on the right once you get up stairs."

"Thanks Vince," Barret replied as he walked upstairs, the pilot right behind him.

'Might as well clean up the mess they made,' Vincent thought to himself. 'I have nothing better to do until everyone wakes up.' He walked over to the bar, grabbing his phone that was still sitting there. He opened it, the message that he noticed the morning before was gone. The clock read 4:13. The gunslinger closed the mobile device and shoved it in his pocket as he moved to the closet and grabbed a mop. Vincent moved to the puddles that had gathered on the wood floor and started mopping up the rainwater.

--Author's Notes--

I had the hardest time finishing this chapter. It felt like it just cut off at the end. I finally settled on leaving it that way, deciding not to leave you hanging for two chapters. The next chapter will vary a bit from the normal format. It's called Rewind, and you'll find out why its called that as soon as I post the next chapter.

In other news, I still do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters, and every time I say that, I think I die a little inside

Also, Happy belated birthday to Vincent Valentine. I had originally hoped to get it up on the 13th to celebrate Vincent's birthday, although, I'm pretty sure fictional characters don't care if you give them presents on their birthday.

And as always, Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated. Constructive criticism, people! It does the writer good.

Thanks for reading,

Orion