People actually liked that last chapter!

Heh heh. I guess it's not as bad as I thought it was.

And to confirm a question one of my reviewers had, there is no need to worry dear, no lemons will come about from this fic. I have nothing against a well written lemon myself but I don't think I would be able to write one. I'm good at angst, though! XD

Quick dialogue note: all italics are Tifa's thoughts. I didn't feel the need for quotes.

06

Chaos Sleeping

X

Tifa leaned with her hip on the side of the bar, the light from Seventh Heaven's fireplace alive and bouncing orange waves on her figure. She dried the empty scotch glass in her hand and glanced towards the licking flames. They danced and cast their languid spells over the room in the midnight, and their little sparks seemed to highlight the chair near them. Tifa caught the end of Vincent's hair in her line of vision and checked her eyes quickly. The scotch glass seemed never dry enough.

I wonder…if he's okay.

Her doe's eyes glittered orange and she gently placed the glass back on the lower cabinet. She paused and looked at the back of the armchair.

Biting her lip, she crossed the room slowly, prepared for him to ignore her some more. He had been exceptionally quiet since she'd returned him to the bar; Tifa supposed it was natural for him to be embarrassed and angry over it, but if it was one thing she couldn't stand, it was belittlement. Cloud had given her a fair chance to hate that with passion.

The memories made her sigh softly, but when she heard the sound she decided it sounded a bit too sad. I should be happy. I got him to stay. A smile wanted to pull her lips apart, but she couldn't bring herself to grin as she came around to the side of Vincent's chair and sat back on the couch. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been following you. I really wanted to…Vincent?" She looked at him and frowned slightly. His dark eyes were shadowed so that she couldn't see them and his head was lolled forward a little. "Are you listening?"

She closed her mouth slowly and tentatively waved a hand out in front of his face. He didn't move, which was odd since usually he would have at least given her a very dry expression. Tifa got up and bent down to get a closer look at him in the dark. Her irritation melted with haste at the sight.

Vincent still clutched his empty glass in his clawed golden hand, but up close he was very much inactive. His eyes were closed, his rosy lips parted slightly as the breath flowed softly in and out. Tifa almost snorted it was so cute. It seemed even great sadness weighing on a heart had to leave some time or other, unless of course, he was dreaming about it too. Tifa frowned lightly and took the empty glass from his clutches. "Sweet dreams, Vincent." She bit her lower lip and watched him for a moment longer; her hand lingered for a moment on his, and then she removed it as she turned away.

"Lucre…cia, don't go."

Tifa's hand loosened on the glass, and she would have almost dropped it had she not been so close to the counter in time. "So even in sleep, you'll never truly rest, will you Vincent?" She stared at the last of his melting ice cubes and sucked at her teeth silently. She berated herself for sympathizing over this man, because she held a sense of impending dread that he would do the same thing to her as Cloud had done. She hated her compassionate nature sometimes. I'm a fool, she shook her head back and forth, A damn fool. But God rest his soul, if there was anything I could do for him to make it stop, I would try it.

The factor that scared her the most was that somewhere in her heart she knew she might still have done it for Cloud too.

"We could go…go to my favorite spot…" Vincent murmured in his sleep. "I know you'd like it…Lucrecia. Just…please, don't go…not yet…"

Tifa crossed the room once more and cast her hand over the armchair. At least it wasn't a nightmare now. That would come tomorrow and stay until he died. She bent down and looked at his boyish expression, free of his scowl and calm.

The soft spot in her tired gaze sank to her midsection.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was an inch away from his mouth.

She cast her eyes downward; the smell of the scotch was on his breath, but it was like something sweet to her, and she didn't want to pull away. She raised her head a bit and whispered "I'm not going anywhere, Vincent" And then she kissed him on the cheek.

"Lu…crecia," he breathed. His voice sounded lighter.

She slowly moved her forehead up and set it against his. "Vincent Valentine." She smiled, feeling in some way closer to him. His gloved hand twitched on the armrest, and he fell silent again, his breathing just a little bit heavier. "Sometimes I wish you'd never wake from your dreams. You would be so happy."

She pulled herself from his form and slunk away into the darkness slowly.

"Maybe I would be happy if I were dreaming, too."

And then it was silent.

X

A/N: Well, I hope that wasn't too mushy. I'm trying to define Tifa's attachment to Cloud, because it is still there. Of course I'm about to squash it, but for her character's sake, she needs to have a tie first, just like Vincent's tie to Lucrecia. XD

I don't make sense anymore.

Glad I have people to read my junk XD