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Chapter Two: Mt. NibelUpon reaching the exit of the mansion, Barret, Red XIII, and Cait Sith rushed up to Cloud, with their weapons drawn. Vincent calmly glanced over these three, Red XIII, otherwise known as Nanaki, was a beast that somewhat resembled a cross between a cat and a dog, and had a large maim on his head. Cait Sith was easily the oddest of this group, it was a black cat that held a megaphone that sat on top of a very large mechanical moogle and had a large backpack attached to his back. And finally Barret, the large man with dark skin, was rippled in muscles and also had a large backpack attached to his back and had an unusual gun arm that was pointed directly at him.
"Cloud!" Barret cried as he raised his gun arm. "There's a damn vampire behind ya!"
"Hey! Stop it!" Aeris exclaimed, as she, Tifa, and Cloud leaped in front of Vincent, while Yuffie simply stood there, just watching what was going on with a grin on her face.
"Jus what's goin' on?!" Barret angrily demanded, his eyes furiously watching the others.
"Relax, Barret," Red XIII patiently told Barret. "Allow them a chance to explain."
After a short pause, Vincent stepped in front of those who leapt in front of him, and began, "I apologize for not explaining… my name is Vincent Valentine. I choose to assist Cloud and his comrades on your journey to defeat…" he was about to finish his statement, but the painful memories that had emerged by simply thinking of the final word had made him pause, "Sephiroth…"
"What you got against Sephiroth, vamp?!" Barret aggressively asked, as if furious at Vincent for some unknown reason.
"…" Vincent was silent and instead just kept his eyes glaring at the three members of the team he hadn't previously met. "I am not a vampire, so I would appreciate it if you wouldn't call me one."
"Besides, you don't even know the least of it!" Yuffie suddenly added. "We found him sleeping in a coffin!"
Vincent cruelly glared at Yuffie, who upon noticing it jumped backwards about five feet, and then glanced back at the rest of the group. "Despite my… accommodations… I am not a vampire."
"Aight, fine," Barret grumbled, lowering his weapon. "But what's yo problem wit Sephiroth? N' Shinra for that matter?"
"…" Vincent was silent, however kept his keen, crimson eyes on the party.
"Damn!" Barret shouted after not getting his answer. "I don't trust this bastard fo' a minute!"
"He was a Turk," Tifa answered for the mysterious man, though looked at Vincent to make sure if it was proper information. He didn't reply, so she assumed it was correct, and then continued, "And he knows something about Sephiroth… that's about all we know…"
"I say he either tells us everything, or we leave 'im 'ere!" Barret proclaimed, then looked over the group. "Who's wit me?! Besides, we can't trust no damn Turk!"
"He was with the Turks," Cloud replied to Barret's proclamation. He imagined that it angered Vincent just as much as it angered Cloud when they were back in Midgar and Barret kept accusing him for things just because he used to be in SOLDIER. "He isn't anymore."
"Well, that still ain't enough fo' me!" Barret shouted back. "I need ta know a little mo' than that!"
"I apologize," Vincent hesitantly told him. "However, I cannot speak."
"Well, I say we leave 'im!" Barret exclaimed. "Who's wit me?!"
"I think he can come," Cait Sith disagreed. "The more the merrier!"
"Cloud, have you told Vincent any of our journey?" Red XII calmly asked.
"…" Cloud looked down shamefully at his feet, but then quickly raised his his head to face the group once again. "Yeah… I… pretty much told him everything…"
"DAMMIT!" Barret bellowed angrily, turning away from the others and uncontrollably shaking his fist. After a minute of this, he turned back to Cloud and shouted, "You dumbass! You done tol' a damn Turk everything!"
"I am no longer a Turk," Vincent told him as calmly as always, despite the fact that he was beginning to get extremely annoyed with Barret; the former leader was far too stubborn for Vincent's liking. "Also, whether you do or don't allow me to join your little… team, I shall hunt down Professor Hojo."
"What's your relationship with Professor Hojo?" Red XIII instantly asked as his catlike ears perked up, curious as he was an experiment to that man.
Vincent raised his bronze claw, and gazed down at it, as well as the rest of the group. Their eyes, especially Tifa's, Aeris's, and Yuffie's, were wide. However, raising his hand didn't draw any more attention to it that there all ready was, many of their eyes, actually all of them except for Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Red XIII, whose eyes would still slip up a little, were glued to it. Still, they didn't know who had done it, and they were all utterly terrified to see that Hojo, or any man for that matter, would do such a terrible thing. The group was silent for a few minutes, until Cait Sith, who finally tore his gaze away from the claw, managed to mutter, "He… gave you that…? Creepy!"
"…" Vincent lowered his claw, returning his gaze to the team. "Now, may I assist you, or shall I travel on my own?"
"…" Barret was quiet, then seemed to explode in anger. "Aw fine! It's up to y'all!"
"I believe he can come," Red XIII decided. "Being an experiment to Hojo as well, I believe I can understand what you must be going through."
Vincent was silently surprised to see that another experiment of Hojo was in the group, but hid it well and slightly nodded, then turned to the young ninja who was still standing in her frightened stance after her jump back. She was the only one, besides Barret, who had yet to state her mind, and he felt that if anyone would deny his company he wouldn't torment them with his presence. "What do you think, Yuffie?" Vincent asked in his usual, cold tone.
Yuffie, however, slightly blushed and looked down at her feet to hide it. No one, ever, consulted her on what to do yet. And now this total stranger asked her something she had always secretly wanted to be asked by someone in the group. After she was certain the blush had faded from her face, she looked back up and answered, "Hmm… all right!"
He then glanced at Tifa, who quickly answered, "I think he can come."
"Me too," Aeris replied.
"Same here," Cloud told the tall, mysterious man. "If I thought you couldn't have come with us, I wouldn't have told you about our journey."
"Gaw!" Barret furiously growled. "Fine! Da damn Turk can join!"
"Relax, Barret," Cloud sternly told him, causing the large man to grunt and cross his arms. "Now, we should head up Mt. Nibel, then journey north. That's what Sephiroth told us."
"Good, let's go," Red XIII nodded and looked towards the mountain. "Hmm… it may be a challenge to climb that without some rope…"
"Nope, we'll be fine," Tifa told them, surprising all of them but Cloud and Vincent, though Vincent might have been surprised, he just didn't look it. The mountain looked very steep, and it was very surprising that they wouldn't need rope. "I used climb these mountains a lot, and I remember a lot of the paths. We won't need ropes, unless the paths changed."
"Well, I can trust Tifa," Barret muttered, glaring at Cloud and Vincent. "Now les go!"
"Yeah," Cloud nodded as the group headed towards the mountain.
Vincent began to head towards the mountain as well, but then Tifa grabbed his human arm, and smiled sweetly up at him once he looked back at her, "I have to apologize for Barret… he can be a bit stubborn at times…"
Vincent simply nodded and then was about to follow the rest of the group, when Aeris called, pointing behind them, "Hey, those guys are following us!"
The group quickly spun around, worried that it may be Shinra soldiers or the Turks, instead they spotted about five of the black robed men slowly making their way to the mountain. They seemed incredibly slow and walked with a limp, making them seem very sick, clearly in no mood to fight the team, if that is what they intended on doing, or climb Mt. Nibel.
Barret, always being so quick to anger, aimed his gun-arm at the nearest black robed figure. "Stop right there!" Barret shouted. "I knew there was sumthin wrong wit y'all! Now you are gonna tell me what the hell's goin' on or I'm gonna start shootin'!"
However, the dark figure simply kept walking, despite the mighty threat that came from Barret and his gun arm. The man, in fact, didn't even seem to hear them, and instead kept his very slow speed up to the group. Once he reached them, Cloud tore his blade out of its sheath, and was prepared to battle. He didn't expect much, but he certainly wasn't going to risk losing anyone, especially Aeris.
"Now answer my damn questions!" Barret bellowed at the figure. However, it never responded and simply continued walking through the group, and toward the mountain.
"What's he going to do?" Tifa asked no one in particular. "I… don't think that he'll be able to climb the mountain…"
"Who cares?!" Yuffie cried. "Let's just keep going!"
"I say we take care of 'em now," Barret told them, completely ignoring the young materia hunter. "They probably workin' fo Shinra or sumthin'!"
"No!" Aeris shouted at Barret. "They haven't done anything wrong! They're innocent as far as we know!"
"Ya, well, I ain't riskin' it!" the enormous man bellowed. "I'm goin' ta stop 'em right now!"
He was prepared to fire at the closest of the people he previously accused to be 'psychos', but Aeris quickly jumped in the way. "He hasn't done anything!" Aeris screamed at Barret. "If they do something, then fine… but they haven't!"
Barret fumed in rage, he never got along with Aeris and never will. Originally, he admired Aeris, she had sacrificed herself to save Marlene, but her peaceful methods aggravated him far more than he ever imagined. He also began to despise how Cloud always agreed with her, and loathed how they were always being all 'lovey dovey' with each other. So Barret somewhat expected what had happened next.
"Barret, calm down," Cloud said, trying to calm the man down so he wouldn't shoot Aeris, not that anyone really thought he would. Everyone knew that Barret was good at heart, despite how mean he may seem, he's usually just doing what he thinks is best for the team. "They really haven't done anything."
"He's right," Vincent suddenly spoke. Everyone looked over at Vincent with a very clear look of dread. Everyone knew that trying to convince Barret to change his views was just next to pointless. But when someone that Barret personally didn't like or trust argued with him, nothing good could come from it.
"Who are you to talk?!" Barret demanded. "You was a damn Turk! You killed people who didn't do nothin' all the time!"
"Exactly," Vincent nodded. "If you kill them, how would you be any different from the Turks?"
"Yeah!" Aeris instantly agreed. "You're way better than a Turk, aren't you?"
"You're damn right I am!" Barret growled, stepping over to Vincent, glaring at him in his haunting crimson eyes. "Who the hell are you to talk anyway?! You was a Turk! Y'all barbaric mindless killers!"
"Actually, it's quite the opposite," Vincent spoke as calmly as ever, despite the fact that Barret was standing so close and glaring him down. "Turks must go about their mission carefully and delicately. We would plan days in advance and prepare for any possible outcome, if we were to succeed."
Barret looked like he was about to scream back, but he couldn't think of anything, so instead he walked off and growled, once again shaking his fist in rage. Barret then turned back and aimed his gun arm at Vincent, although the former Turk didn't even twitch. "I oughta take ya out right now!" Barret harshly growled.
"Barret wait!" Tifa exclaimed, jumping between the two and eyeing Barret. "Calm down for a minute. Let's just go up the mountain and if they try anything we'll take care of them, alright?"
"Yeah, fine!" Barret growled, and angrily crossed his arms over his chest. Vincent, though he didn't laugh, found this quite amusing: a full grown man pouting because he didn't get his way, much like a child would. Barret then swung around and pointed an accusing finger at Vincent, "You jus be careful, ya damn Turk!"
Vincent didn't make any reaction to this except his steady glance at the large, ex-AVALANCHE leader. Cloud then led the group towards the mountains, who was walking side by side with Aeris, and then a little further behind, a fuming Barret, then Red XIII and Vincent, who walked next to each other silently, next were Tifa and Yuffie, both who talked about how angry Barret got, and finally Cait Sith, as he was usually the slowest.
The mountains stood with a brilliant, though extraordinarily odd, greenish-purple color across it due to the heavy amounts of mako that is imbedded into the mountain. Occasionally, these would make curious patterns across the walls and caverns of the mountain, most of the group would glance at these patterns in awe of how nature could make something so strange and oddly beautiful. Vincent would notice these, and though he too was surprised, he would show little to no interest on his face.
Tifa noticed this, how this man, though he did look at these with the rest of the group and should be amazed by it, but the gunslinger showed so little interest. It made her wonder just what had happened to this poor man, what did he sleep in a coffin to atone for, how did he know anything about Sephiroth, why did he become a Turk? All these questions, and several others, came to Tifa's mind about this mysterious man, however, the one she wanted to know the most is what had happened to him? What could possibly have made him lose all his emotions?
Tifa, however, chose to ignore these questions for now, and instead she had to lead the group through the mountains, as she could still remember (though occasionally she would forget the way and the group would have to guess which way to go) and the rest of the group knew little to nothing about the mountain. Occasionally, they would encounter a beast, however, Barret would usually destroy it first, destroying the beast as well as his pent up rage towards the newest member.
The mountain wasn't too hard to climb through, though occasionally there was a tough spot that Red XIII and Aeris would have a little trouble climbing through, Red XIII because of his structure and Aeris because she wasn't nearly as strong as the others. Some thought, specifically Barret, that Vincent would have a very hard time climbing through one spot. The spot was a twenty foot climb, though there were jagged parts that allowed them to climb up it, this was one of the places where Aeris and Red XIII had a hard time climbing it.
"That vamp ain't gonna be able ta climb dis," Barret said once he had reached the top and caught his breath. "He's too weak."
Tifa was a little angry at Barret for this, as well as most of the other members of the group but Barret did have a good argument. He was inside the coffin for god knows how long and didn't look like he had very strong, though that may have been because of his thin structure. However, Vincent surprised all of them by jumping up the wall with the ease as if it were no more than a one foot jump.
Even more shocking was that, in his arms, as though he was some hero from a fairy tale, was Aeris and Red XIII. Both of them looked extremely frightened and the minute Vincent let go of them, they both stepped back closer to the group, frightened by both his amazing strength and the fact that he did carry them up with, the group assumed correctly, no previous notice.
Vincent observed their frightened glances and apologized, "I'm… sorry… I simply thought it would be easier for the two of you-"
"It's fine, Vincent," Aeris said with a smile, although the shock was still very clear on her face. "I just didn't expect it…"
After that, Barret silently muttered something, while Tifa and Cloud, both of whom were growing slightly fond of Vincent for always proving Barret wrong, gleefully grinned for Vincent, who stood there, seeming completely aloof of all that was happening. Barret angrily marched forth, while the rest of the group stayed put and grinned at Vincent, who showed no pride for what he had done, for none of them had ever been able to make Barret appear to be such a fool, not only had he proved Barret wrong by making it up the wall, he jumped it and jumped it with two people in his arms. After about a minute, Barret stormed back and shouted for them all to hurry up, and that time they did.
Soon they came to a spot that had one ledge below it, and a good landing even further down. It was dark, they had been traveling for the past three or four hours, and all of them, especially Barret and Aeris, Barret since he had to carry around so much weight and Aeris because she was weaker than the rest of the team, were tired. "I think the exit's down there…" Tifa stated, pointing to the landing two floors down.
"How do we get down there?" Barret asked, somehow managing to calm his heavy breathing for the moment.
"There are chutes here," Vincent announced, his crimson eyes piercing through the darkness. "I'm certain one of them will lead down there…"
"It's too dark to work!" Yuffie whined, she too had been tired, she had speed that could only be described as amazing but her endurance wasn't as good as she would like it to be. "I say we camp here!"
"At night, more beasts come out," Tifa told them. "It wouldn't be too smart to stay here for too long."
"Hmm…" Cloud muttered, pondering on the situation. "I… think we should stay here for the night… If we screw up and lose someone, I doubt we'll be able to find them very well…"
"I think we should stay here," Aeris voiced her opinion. "We'll just keep a few people on guard, instead of just one."
"Yeah," Cloud hastily agreed with the ancient, smiling fondly back at her.
"It would be safer to work in the light," Red XIII told them. "I say we stay and, like Aeris said, keep some people on guard at a time."
"Well, I guess we're sleeping here!" Cait Sith cried, dropping the large backpack from his back.
"Yeah, all right," Barret sighed and took the large backpack off his back with a groan of relief. "Now les set up the tents…"
It turned out that there was one tent that was attached to Barret's backpack and another that was attached to Cait Sith's backpack. Vincent quickly discovered that Barret's was the men's tent, which seemed that it could comfortably fit three people though it could fit four, and Cait Sith's, which was just slightly smaller and could comfortably fit three, though Vincent couldn't imagine fitting another inside. The girl's tent, Vincent keenly noticed, was set quite a ways away from the boy's tent, just barely within hearing range, but he thought little of it.
While this they set up the tents, Cloud and Cait Sith had left and now returned with fire, then Cloud began setting them up into a small structure that almost resembled a miniaturized cabin. Aeris playfully helped Cloud with this, and Tifa frowned as she saw how happy they both seemed and Vincent noticed her frown, though said nothing. Barret then collapsed in front of the small structure once it was completed, and Aeris cast a Fire spell on it, making it nearly explode in flames.
"Now who's keepin' watch?" Barret asked.
"I can stay up," Vincent told the group. They all looked over at him curiously, which didn't surprise the gunslinger at all. He had just joined and he knew how strange he must seem to them all, plus he hadn't done much to make them trust him. "I… am not tired…"
"Well now we definitely need someone else up!" Barret exclaimed.
"I'll also stay up first," Red XIII said, ignoring Barret's spiteful comment. "I'm not too tired…"
"We'll do the normal schedule then," Cloud told the group, then turned to Vincent to explain. "We each take three hour shifts, and there are three shifts, so everyone gets at least six hours sleep."
"I believe I can stay up all night," Vincent told them, only to receive more curious looks. "I… don't need much sleep…"
No one said anything in response to Vincent. They seemed to give up on questioning him about his past, they had tried throughout their journey up the mountain, however, he seemed very content with keeping his past to himself.
"I'll stay up next," Tifa suddenly spoke, breaking the awkward silence, despite the fact that it didn't seem at all awkward to Vincent. "I haven't taken a shift in a while…"
"All right," Cloud nodded. "Who wants to go next?"
"I will," Barret announced, glaring at Vincent. "I'll make sure he ain't betrayin' us…"
Vincent simply shrugged, which silently surprised the group as he usually didn't respond to Barret's comments at all. "Ok, good," Cloud nodded, then addressed Vincent. "And if you get tired in the night, you can wake me up, all right?" Vincent slightly nodded, in fact if you weren't expecting a response from him you probably wouldn't notice it, which caused Cloud to nod back and stand. "Well, everyone get to bed, except you two."
"Aw fine!" Yuffie whined, which was expected from the group, as she always wanted to stay up later when there wasn't work to be done, despite the fact that she earlier wanted to stop and rest.
The team then dispersed to their own tents, and after about five minutes, the boy's tent was completely silent, the girl's tent, however, not only had lights beaming out of it, but also they could hear faint talking come from the tent.
Red XIII silently sat, he, much like Vincent, hadn't moved since the group had gone to sleep. They were both silent, and were, in fact, silent during the majority of Red XIII's period of guarding, however, there almost seemed to be a silent conversation. They both seemed to be looking over the other, like one would to one who was talking, however, neither said much.
Vincent then turned his gaze to the girl's tent, from which an outburst of giggles emerged from, and asked, "Do they do this every night?"
"Usually," Red XIII sighed. "We tell them that they shouldn't, but they keep on doing it…"
Unknown to anyone, Vincent's keen ears could hear everything that was coming from the tent.
Yuffie finally stopped giggling at Aeris's joke about Barret's anger and said, "But Vincent's all like… quiet…"
"The total opposite of Barret," Aeris added while rolling her eyes, causing Yuffie to giggle a little.
"I think it was funny how Vincent keeps proving Barret wrong, and then Barret would always just grumble off," Tifa told them with a wide grin.
"Yeah…" Aeris nodded. "And he's a lot stronger than he looks…"
"Yeah," Yuffie nodded, then giggled upon thinking of what to say next. "He looks like he could be a model for 'Goth Magazine.'"
Another outburst of giggles from the girls. However, though they didn't comment anything, they thought it was quite true. He was surprisingly handsome, despite his exceptionally dark exterior and his frightening claw.
Aeris, however, being more outwardly than the other girls, said what she thought, "Yeah… he is cute…"
Yuffie had more giggles, it almost seemed like the young ninja would giggle at just about anything, and Tifa nodded with only a few giggles, she thought it was quite true. Outside the tent, Vincent heard this, which almost brought a grin to his face on remembering how women would try to meet him so long ago.
"Well, I guess he is a little cute…" Yuffie slightly giggled and deeply blushed. In fact, though she wouldn't admit this, even amongst Tifa and Aeris, was getting a small crush on Vincent. He was certainly strong and… cute.
"Yeah," Tifa nodded after a little giggling. "But he's so quiet…"
"Yeah," Aeris agreed. "And he was in a coffin… I wonder what happened to him…"
"Yeah, and I wonder how old he is," Yuffie added with a blush.
Aeris widely grinned at this and gazed at the young ninja with broad green eyes, but then turned to Tifa, "Sounds like our little Yuffie has a crush!"
Tifa playfully giggled and turned to Yuffie, whose face now seemed painted red. Yuffie then shot her head up and cried, "I don't have a crush on Vincent!"
"Sure, Yuffie…" Aeris playfully replied and then jokingly rolled her eyes with Tifa.
"Oh shut up!" Yuffie cried though she was still blushing like mad, then lied down in her sleeping bag. "I'm going to bed!"
"Yeah, we should go to sleep Aeris," Tifa told Aeris, then giggled a little. "We should let Yuffie dream of Vincent!"
Yuffie grumbled something and then covered her burning red face with her sleeping bag. The two girls, after another joke or two on Yuffie's expense, lied down and their thoughts drifted to their dreams, but Tifa's thoughts stayed on Vincent.
"Tifa…" a soft, calm voice called the young woman. She rolled over and covered the sleeping bag over her face. "Tifa… wake up…"
This time she turned back and slowly opened her eyes, and saw two crimson red orbs looking at her. Her first impulse was to run, however, she was far too frightened to do anything, fortunately that gave her time to realize who it was. "Oh… Vincent…" she murmured tiredly as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she saw him quickly put a finger over his closed lips, indicating that she should be silent.
She nodded, realizing that it meant that she had to go on her guard service, and so she quietly stood, and stepped outside of the tent, following Vincent to the fire. She sat down on the ground, while Vincent leaned up against the wall of the small cave they were inside. For the first few moments, she was in a struggle to keep awake, but that shortly faded, especially when since a Nibel Wolf ventured a little to close to the camp then was comfortable.
Vincent instantly sprung into action, he leapt at the wolf, and grasped its neck with his claw hand, and lifted him about a foot off the ground. Vincent tightened his grip on the things neck, and Tifa could see, though it was a challenge because of the little light that reached all the way to Vincent, blood sliding down his claw from the wolf's neck. Once the beast stopped struggling, Vincent tossed its body a ways away with the simplest of ease, then walked back to his original spot.
Once back, he seemed to ignore the surprised gaze coming from Tifa, who, in that time, finally managed to put on her metal knuckles, and took his water bottle, and sprayed water across his claw, causing the blood to drip to the floor with the water. He then returned to his spot, leaning against the wall and looking into the fire.
"I… I thought you used a gun," Tifa told him, remembering the only time he had used it, back inside the mansion, when he had shot a bat that was behind them.
"I do," Vincent simply answered. "However, that would be too loud, and would wake the others."
"Oh, right," Tifa nodded, feeling somewhat foolish for not realizing that. She then looked down at the fire, however didn't like the silence, she never really did like silence, and she felt she had to say something. "So… umm… why aren't you sleeping?"
"I've been asleep for the past thirty years," Vincent told her. "I won't sleep for some time, I'd assume."
"Thirty years?!" Tifa cried, amazed at what the mysterious man had just informed her. "But you don't even look thirty!"
"…" Vincent was silent, and Tifa knew why. He doesn't share things from the past, and whatever that had to do with anything, it must have been one of the things he didn't want to talk about.
"Can I ask you a question?" Tifa asked softly. "But if you don't want me to its alright…"
"Feel free," he patiently told her.
"…" she was hesitant for a moment, wondering if he would even answer her question, but then decided to, if he doesn't answer, it won't matter, and if he does, well, she would learn something new about him. "Why did you go into the coffin?"
"To atone," Vincent simply said, keeping his eyes fixed on the fire. In all honesty, Tifa was actually surprised that he had answered, since earlier when they asked him questions like that, he wouldn't reply at all. Of course, thinking back, she remembered him stating that earlier, which was probably the only reason he decided to answer.
"To atone for what?" Tifa asked, hoping that she could learn more about this very mysterious figure.
"…" Vincent was silent for a moment, then moved his crimson eyes up to Tifa's honey brown ones. He paused; to an outsider it would seem like he was considering if he should continue, but for Tifa it seemed like he was looking through her soul. "To atone for sitting by and doing nothing… I lost the one I love, because I was too foolish… too hesitant…"
Tifa nodded, though kept eye contact. It almost seemed impossible to take her eyes off his, however, he then easily took his eyes off her, and returned them to the fire. She then looked at the fire and silently, so silently she barely heard herself say it, "Just like me…"
"You and Cloud?" Vincent asked as if it were common knowledge. Not only was Tifa surprised that he had heard her, but she was also surprised that he knew about her and Cloud. She never remembered saying anything that might make someone think that she had any interest in Cloud, at least not while he was around.
"Y-Yeah…" Tifa muttered, almost frighteningly. "How did you know?"
"You always frowned when he and Aeris were together," Vincent simply answered. "You make it fairly obvious to the keen observer."
Tifa slightly blushed, but instead of looking down and hiding it from the man, she looked up and smiled at him. She doubted that, even if she did try to hide it, he wouldn't have seen it. He returned her gaze, but said nothing.
"What do you think I should do?" Tifa hesitantly asked. She wondered if she should have asked him, since he was a new member and not necessarily trustworthy yet, but he seemed trustworthy enough, and she doubted he would share this conversation with anyone anyway.
"Tell him," Vincent answered simply, then turned his gaze to the fire. It seemed that inside those crimson eyes millions of memories were flashing by, allowing (or maybe forcing) Vincent to remember them. "I did nothing… and I lost her… I nearly lost myself…"
"Vincent…" Tifa silently whispered. She suddenly realized that he blamed himself for what happened before he went into the coffin to atone. She finally realized that whatever had happened was, in his perspective, all put on his chest, it was entirely his fault, or so he thought. Tifa, not knowing what happened, couldn't make any comment that would offer in comfort. "I… I'm sorry…"
"Don't do what I did, Tifa," Vincent told her softly, turning his gaze back to the young woman. "Don't hesitate… just do it. Tell him what you believe…"
"Thank you, Vincent," Tifa smiled up at the mysterious man, however, he simply returned his gaze to the fire, and that was where his gaze remained in the silent remainder of Tifa's time as guard while Tifa thought of how to tell Cloud that she loved him.
I'm not very happy with this chapter and I'm sorry if I was a little harsh with Barret, but he was like that with Cloud back at the beginning of the game, so I figured it would fit.
Also, if you didn't notice, I'm not that great with the girl talk, but I decided to let it slide. I'm a guy after all so you can't expect me to be great with that yet.
PLEASE REVIEW!!!