Loren stayed in Vincent's arms for a while, until she stopped crying. Vincent still felt awkward, but he held on anyway.

"Loren…are you okay now?"

Loren pulled away from Vincent's arms and brushed herself off.

"Excuse me, Vincent. I did not mean to act to foolishly. I apologize if I stained your clothes with my tears."

Vincent stood and smirked.

"Don't worry. The tears are not what bothered me."

Loren's eyes narrowed.

"What bothered you, then? I did not know that anything had bothered you in the first place."

"What frightened me is that you actually yelled and used a contraction. It seemed so out of character for someone like you."

Loren nodded.

"I see. I understand your shock, Vincent. I apologize for frightening you."

"Don't. What I want to know though….is…."

"What Vincent? What do you need to know that you are so hesitant to ask of?"

"Why had you isolated yourself all that time ago?"

Loren turned her back to him and laughed grimly.

"My parents had left me out on the streets when I was a young teenager. I lived in dark alleys and ate whatever I could find. I listened to the wrong type of people and fell into a dark hole that I could not get out of for a very long time. I had nearly gone insane listening to those people, doing horrible things like slaughtering, thieving, and lying. I had begun to cut myself due to stress and whatnot. I was eventually left alone to rot and be alone, so I figured never to trust everyone and cut myself off from the rest of the world. I worked my way up to the top and got myself a job in my mid-teens. After working for a few years, I got this apartment and have lived here, alone, starting since 5 years ago."

"You sound like you're in your thirties. And yet you're still playing games?"

"I am actually twenty-four and I play games because it keeps my imagination alive. I do not want to be an uninteresting adult that does nothing but work. I put in time for myself."

Vincent thought to himself, But she's so young…how could she have gone through all of that and still be in her early twenties?

"Vincent."

Vincent snapped to reality and looked at her. She crossed her arms.

"How old are you?"

Vincent shrugged.

"Older than you are, you can be sure of that."

"Let me make a rough estimation. You are somewhere around…your fifties, am I correct?"

Vincent almost choked on himself.

"Wh…how did you know that?"

Loren laughed aloud.

"Well…it would have to be logical that you were in your twenties when you were in the Turks. Sephiroth was not even born at the time when you were put in the coffin and locked away in the Shinra basement. Sephiroth is now somewhere around his twenties or thirties and Cloud just found you a few months ago. If you add all the years together, you should well be in your fifties. But, due to genetic experimentation, you are ageless and look like you are your original age, just with long hair, crimson eyes, dark clothing, and an arsenal of demons at you disposal."

Vincent couldn't help but admire her intelligence.

"Heh, you can truly astound me at times, Loren."

Loren smiled and flipped a hand through her hair.

"I have one more question, though."

Her smile faded a little bit.

"What is it?"

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

Loren walked up to him and grabbed his arm. Her voice was a soft murmur.

"Because you are the only one who bothered to ask."

Vincent's heartbeat quickened again.

"Now if you will excuse me, I need to go to bed. When you all get tired, find a suitable spot to sleep and do not make a mess. I will make you all breakfast tomorrow."

Vincent nodded his head and began to step out of the door when Loren's voice stopped him.

"Sleep well, Vincent."

"You too, Loren."

Vincent stepped outside and silently shut the door behind him. When he entered the living room, everyone's eyes were on him. Cloud spoke first.

"Hey Vince, what was that all about?"

Vincent remained detached.

"It was nothing that you need to worry about."

Cid raised a hand in the air significantly.

"Like hell it was nothing! The girl f------ screamed, for Christ's sake! Vincent, I mean come on, the girl practically says nothing, much less screams!"

Tifa nodded her agreement.

"Yeah, who was 'they', and why wouldn't 'they' leave her alone?"

Vincent held up his hand to stop any upcoming questions.

"Her business is her business. I will not tell you what she told me. It would be like reliving a nightmare. And do not bother asking her, because it would be even worse for her."

Cloud studied his movements and expressions carefully.

"You're hiding something, Vince."

"Oh, am I?"

"Yeah, you're hiding something other than what she told you."

Everyone leaned in to hear what Vincent had to say.

"Well…she was able to tell my accurate age…well…rough accurate age."

Everyone sneaked glances at each other. Tifa looked him in the eye.

"How old are you anyway, Vincent?"

"Do you want the complete and honest truth?"

"Yes."

Everyone nodded their accord.

"All right…I am in reality 57 years old, but I will eternally look like I am 27. Does that surprise you?"

Half of the people's jaws were open in disbelief. Vincent walked past all of them and stood by the window once again like he had only a few hours ago. The moon had already gone but the sky was lit with stars and the lights of the town he was in. He left the window and went out the balcony door. He stood out on the balcony and let the cool breeze whip through his hair and clear his mind of all troubling thoughts. He felt a presence join him out on the balcony.

"Hello, Strife."

"I know that that wasn't all that you were hiding. I know that there's something else. What really went on in there?"

Vincent sighed and lowered his head to look down at the ground below him.

"I am just a little disturbed at what she told me. She told me of her life."

Cloud shook his head.

"No, that's not all. When you came out of her room, your chest was rising quicker than normal. Something made your heart accelerate."

"I always thought that you were clueless Cloud, but I guess not all the time, right?"

Cloud laughed and stood by Vincent. A few minutes passed in silence and the two friends stared at the sky, longing to touch the stars and be cleansed of everything that troubled them. Cloud finally asked again what he had asked a few minutes ago.

"So what was it that made your heart race?"

Vincent looked Cloud straight in the eye.

"She cried."

Cloud stared skeptically at him.

"I held her…close to me. After a few seconds, she latched onto me like there was no tomorrow. I held her…and it felt good. She was still crying, but it felt good."

Cloud nodded and touched his friend's shoulder.

"It's okay. I've comforted Tifa plenty of times and every time, it's strange and somewhat uncomfortable, but it makes me feel good like it was what I was supposed to do. Don't shy away from it. If she needs you, she'll come to your arms, since you are the first one that comforted her. Accept it, and you won't be alone for much longer."

Vincent closed his eyes and let his mind settle on Cloud's words. "Accept it, and you won't be alone for much longer." "Don't shy away from it." Was Cloud implying for him to be with her so that she could find comfort in his arms; so that he could feel good? Probably. Strife is the type that would turn into a ladies man at any given time. Vincent studied the possibilities. He could find someone to hold, to be with, so he wouldn't be alone anymore. But what of Lucrecia? His thoughts snapped at that moment. Lucrecia! That's where he had had that feeling before. He had had that feeling of light-heartedness when he was Lucrecia! He felt a heavy weighing on his heart then. How could he develop feelings for Loren when Lucrecia could still be alive? He kept his eyes downcast as he felt a new sin developing on his conscience. He might've tempted Loren's heart when he didn't mean to. He might have a while ago. He might have wanted Loren to like him when he was holding on to her and her holding on to him. But not now. Not now that he remembered Lucrecia. He heard nothing but his own pounding heart as he went back inside the apartment. With a heavy heart, he settled on a wall near the couch and closed his eyes. He fell into a fitful sleep. Cloud had remained on the balcony and after a few minutes, Tifa joined him.

"Cloud, is Vincent all right? When he walked inside, he was really solemn and said nothing to anyone."

Cloud shook his head.

"I'm really stumped this time. He walked past me without responding to my calling him. He seemed to be thinking of something and then he grew really sad looking. I asked him what was wrong but he didn't answer. When I called his name he only walked inside and kept his eyes down."

"Do you think it's about Loren?"

Cloud shrugged.

"I don't know. I honestly can't tell from his expression. He could be fighting against Chaos again or he could be thinking of our world or he could really be thinking about her. I just can't tell."

"I'm worried Cloud."

Cloud grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"Don't worry Tifa. I'm sure he'll be just fine in the morning."

"I hope so."

Cloud held her close to him and smelled her hair. It still smelled like the ocean after everything that they had been through. He released her and the two walked inside. Mostly everyone was asleep, save for Barret and Cid, who were playing poker with a pack of cards Cid had stashed in his pocket. Cloud and Tifa stepped over the sleeping bodies and found their own sleeping spot. After a few minutes, they too drifted off to sleep.

Loren lay awake on her bed, thinking of what had just transpired. She had never meant to go off like that. She just wanted to show Vincent the consequences of being alone. She had gotten somewhat nervous when Vincent asked why she was telling him everything. The answer she had given him was only a half truth. She had felt comfortable in his presence; as if she could completely trust him with everything she had to say. When she had sneaked out of her room to check if everyone was asking him questions, she was correct in guessing so. She knew that she had yelled much too loudly and that everyone would have heard. She knew then that her trust was well placed. Vincent had cut off all of their questions and had gone off to stare at the sky.

She quietly slipped back in her room and lay back down. She had gotten a little worried though when she slipped back out later on to find Vincent lying against a wall, his head down, his right hand clenched and his claw hand hanging freely on his knees. Before he had looked up, she had gone back inside her room. Her heart felt strange. She had never felt something like this before. It felt like her heart was begging her to bring Vincent back in her room, but she refused its call and fell asleep.

A/N: Hey all! I hope this chapter wasn't too long or boring (eep! I wouldn't be able to live if I knew that!). Unfortunately, I can't find Sephiroth, so I can't give him death threats so that you all can review. I can only pray to the Final Fantasy and fan fiction gods for luck. Thanks for keeping me going, you all. Oh, but what's strange is that I've searched everywhere for Seph, and I mean everywhere, and there's no trace of him. I'm thinking that he may have grown tired of my idle threats and decided to join the dead party that is my fic. I suppose that he wants more action and life in it, so he's gone. (tear) I'll miss threatening him! ToT Please review!