Chapter Four: Advance and Retreat

Tifa walked alongside Vincent down the tunnel, her breaths still a little shallow from the coal dust she'd inhaled earlier. The passage seemed to stretch on and on even though she guessed they'd only been walking for a few minutes. Neither of them had a watch, or anything else to tell the time by – the dim screen of the PHS she carried displayed only a lost signal icon.

She turned to Vincent. "What are we going to do if we have to wait for the others to come back and dig us out? We don't have any food or water." Distractedly, Tifa ran her hands down her sides, trying to brush off the black stains on her still-damp shirt. Vincent continued to look ahead, his face blank.

"I wouldn't worry. We weren't that far from North Corel. Besides…" He stopped suddenly and looked at the roof of the tunnel. Tifa continued a few paces before she realized he was no longer beside her. She came to a halt and looked at Vincent before following his gaze at the side of the tunnel behind them. There was only a Mako bulb hanging from the wall, with a wire running away from it. Vincent glanced at the ceiling again before speaking. "Tifa, have you-"

The lights went out. Tifa crouched reflexively, ready to fight, and she heard the soft sound of Vincent's gun coming out of its holster. There was no sound, and in the darkness the silence and tension quickly grew unbearable. Tifa was about to say something, anything, just to calm her nerves, before Vincent asked quietly, "Have you seen any support beams recently, Tifa?"

Tifa cocked her head as she quickly tried to remember, while still scanning the darkness as if something would leap toward them at any moment. "No… why?"

"It's odd. I don't know much about mining, but I don't believe this tunnel was bored. Regardless, I doubt Corel would be able to afford the machines it would take to do that."

"What does that mean, then?"

"Nothing, necessarily. Just that the miners likely stumbled across this tunnel rather than digging it themselves." Tifa heard the sound of metal on cloth again as Vincent re-holstered his pistol and she relaxed – a little. Vincent continued, "As for the lights, they haven't been maintained. The generator probably shorted out."

Tifa frowned to herself. "Pretty bad timing." Vincent took a few steps and then there was a rustling sound as he slid down the tunnel wall and sat on the ground. Tifa remained standing. "What if it wasn't the generator?"

"We can't go on without any light, Tifa. Sit down for a minute. It wouldn't hurt for you to rest, either."

She knew he was right and sat, extending her legs in front of her. Leather brushed her calves and she jumped a bit. "Sorry about that," Tifa said, feeling awkward as both her and Vincent drew their legs back.

"Hm." Vincent sounded faintly amused. "No problem, Tifa."

"You keep saying my name. Why, when you don't… I'm the only…" She didn't know why she'd brought it up.

A slight sound as Vincent shifted. "I apologize. I'll stop saying it." Tifa blushed, feeling embarrassed although she knew he couldn't see her face.

"No! I mean, I don't mind," she said. "It's just strange to hear my name this many times in quick succession. I guess it's your way of speaking."

"I try to be polite." Vincent's voice seemed less cold than usual, and Tifa imagined him grinning, despite never having seen even the hint of a smile from the man.

Silence fell again and Tifa yawned, feeling time creep by. Her eyes closed and she dozed off briefly before quickly jerking her head up. A lock of her hair, still slightly damp from the rain, brushed her arm and she shivered. "Are you cold?" Vincent asked. Before she could answer, there was a series of small snaps followed by a quick whispering sound, and Tifa was suddenly enveloped in cloth. Vincent had removed his cloak and tossed it her way.

"Being polite again?" she asked as she wrapped it around her. The frayed ends of the fabric fell on her knees, tickling a little.

"I don't need it."

"Why do you wear it? You don't see capes very often."

"I don't know. Honestly, it just reminds me of…" He trailed off and there was a metallic sound as his left arm scraped against the rock wall.

"…Hojo?"

"My sins."

"Oh." Tifa didn't know what to say and Vincent seemed to sense it.

"You don't have to respond to that. You wouldn't understand."

Tifa frowned, slightly annoyed by his presumption. "Try me. Get it off your chest." Some unpleasant emotion scurried between them as Vincent laughed once, his voice harsh.

"I dreamed for thirty years. I dreamed about my failures and who I allowed to suffer and die, and I have years, centuries, an eternity left to think about them. It's not long enough." Vincent's tone, the ferocity he directed at himself, softened Tifa's earlier irritation at the ex-Turk.

"We killed people – dozens, maybe hundreds." Hearing Vincent confess to her, even in such a vague way, reminded Tifa of what happened back in Midgar. "The Planet was healed, just a tiny bit, because we added souls to the Lifestream." She paused before continuing. "And it didn't stop Shinra. They crushed thousands and we couldn't…" Tifa felt like she should cry or break down, but was still somehow detached from it all. Instead she put her head in Vincent's cloak and took a deep breath.

Suddenly he was crouching beside her. "I apologize. I've had decades to ponder what I've done, and you've had weeks." She could feel his hand reach out tentatively before it fell on her shoulder. He squeezed very lightly, as if he was unsure of how to reassure someone. "You're just starting to realize you aren't a saint. Most people don't accept that about themselves." Cruelty, sadness and respect all swirled together in Vincent's words, and Tifa felt better and worse at the same time.

"What about the people you let die? Did they realize it?"

A long pause. "I don't know. Maybe she did."

It took Tifa a second to realize what he meant. "You cared for her." Tifa's could hear the sadness in his voice. "Did you ever tell her?"

"No. She never truly knew how I felt."

"It's funny, isn't it," Tifa said. "You want someone, and you almost assume they can feel it radiating off you." She laughed coldly. "And they've got to feel the same way about you, right? And they must be too shy to tell you, or they're waiting for the right moment. But you slowly realize…" Tifa trailed off, sensing that Vincent had frozen, his hand still on her shoulder, and she felt like she had said something wrong.

"Vincent?" As Tifa turned toward where she thought he was, reflexively trying to look at him despite the total darkness, his lips pressed against hers and she froze at the completely unexpected sensation. Vincent immediately pulled away, feeling her surprise. "What was that?" she asked. His hand had retreated from her shoulder to her arm, and she realized that he had remained in front of her, their faces maybe a foot apart. She was grateful he couldn't see her cheeks, and immediately wondered if he was blushing with embarrassment too. Was he capable of that?

"You said you were waiting for the right moment." Vincent's voice was almost flat, but Tifa thought she could hear a hint of something, some emotion she couldn't identify. "I obviously misinterpreted you." His hand didn't leave her arm.

"I didn't mean…" Tifa found herself unable to say any more and almost laughed aloud. She could talk to Vincent about mass murder but not about her feelings, her stupid feelings that lingered from her childhood and wouldn't go away. The inquisitive ghost of Vincent's breath slowly made its way across her face and she found herself asking, "Are… you in love with me, Vincent?" She cringed at the way it came out. But she knew what she wanted the answer to be.

"No," he said and Tifa breathed a sigh of relief. "But you don't have to love someone to want them," he continued, and that cold and true statement stirred something inside her. She pictured him, another handsome survivor of Shinra's madness and even though the colors were wrong, black and red instead of blond and blue, Tifa found herself moving her head forward until her lips landed on Vincent's cheek. He turned his head and their mouths met again.

His tongue parted her lips as he explored her mouth and she wrapped her arms around his back to pull him against her. On one knee, his lips still locked with Tifa's, Vincent managed to slide his cloak out from between them and tossed it to one side as he leaned into her. His chest pressed against hers as his left hand went to the wall to brace himself.

Tifa slid down the rock wall a bit as their lips crushed together harder and harder. Vincent's right hand moved from Tifa's arm to her thigh, shaking slightly. She felt his fingers graze her skin hesitantly, gently, such a contrast with the way their lips were almost fighting. In the two weeks or so she'd known him she hadn't seen anything approaching tenderness. It reminded her of a kid with clear blue eyes sitting near a well on a starry Nibelheim night.

Tifa abruptly stopped kissing Vincent, or rather tried to, wincing and making a little noise of pain as her head hit the rock behind her. Vincent's head chased hers and Tifa could swear he actually growled a little as she pushed him away, finally breaking their lips apart.

He was breathing hard and she could feel an unasked question hanging in the air. "Vincent, I'm sorry… I can't… it's not right." His hand was still on her thigh and her muscles tensed as she felt his fingers curl a bit. Tifa remembered what he could turn into and she couldn't stop a little wave of fear from running through her before Vincent's head landed on her shoulder and knocked it away. His hand slid to the floor of the tunnel and he let out a sigh that might have held anger or frustration or sorrow, or all of those things.

Very slowly, Tifa reached her hand around to Vincent's back in what she hoped was a sign of friendly comfort. She heard Vincent murmur something into her shoulder. "What was that?" she asked.

He lifted his head. "I asked for forgiveness." Tifa frowned.

"Vincent, it's okay. If anything…"

His voice was empty again as he cut her off. "I wasn't asking you. I was-" He broke off suddenly and she felt him freeze. Tifa was about to ask what was wrong until he suddenly rose to his feet. She felt like she should apologize to him, even though she knew that they had just let their misplaced desire carry them away.

"Vincent-" she began.

"Quiet!" he hissed. "Didn't you hear that?" As the rustling sounds of Vincent adjusting his clothing stopped, she strained to hear something.

Click. Click-click-click. An irregular tapping sound, like something scurrying up the tunnel. Tifa quickly stood up. "Rats?" she whispered.

"No. Something bigger." She heard the sound of Vincent's gun sliding out of his holster once again, and this time, the snap of the safety as he thumbed it off. The clicking sound slowly grew louder, and it seemed to come more often. Suddenly she heard a hiss and a sharper, more solid click among the rest. It sounded like teeth snapping together.

Something swished faintly behind Tifa and she spun, her heart starting to beat faster again. Vincent had found his cloak on the tunnel floor and threw it between them. "I'm not waiting until it's on top of us before I find out what it is," he said. He opened the cylinder of his revolver and slid a cartridge out, a thin metal sound followed by a slight pop as he worked the cartridge apart with his fingers, throwing first the bullet and then the shell aside. "Stand back," Vincent warned as he snapped the cylinder shut and knelt.

He slammed the metal butt of his pistol into the small pile of gunpowder he'd poured on his cape and it ignited with a blinding flash. Tifa caught a brief glimpse of Vincent drawing back from the bright light before it dimmed to an orange glow. On the ground, his cape caught fire, flame spreading across the fabric.

Tifa saw the shadows first, several large flat spots on the cave walls. They seemed to shift in size under the fire's flickering light. Then she saw the claws, tapping their way along the rock, affixed to legs supporting the weight of some kind of creatures.

Another bright flash as Vincent's gun roared, incredibly loud in the small space. From the muzzle flash Tifa got a better look at the things, a snapshot that lingered as the flame grew on the ground.

They looked like some kind of insects, but big and menacing, large jaws clacking together. Tifa didn't feel any kind of horror or revulsion – traveling halfway around the Planet, they'd encountered more monsters than she had ever imagined could exist. This was just another obstacle, one more distraction from their journey. One of the things crawled slowly around the fire before scuttling surprising quickly toward Tifa. She kicked it away swiftly, hearing its hiss even through the ringing in her ears, then two more pops from Vincent's pistol. "Back up!" he shouted.

"No, we'll be cornered eventually!" More monsters might lurk down the tunnel, but they'd have to chance running by these things and pray there actually was some alternate path out of the mine. Vincent fired again and ran toward the insects, gesturing for her to follow him. She dodged the flaming cloak on the ground. The fire was dwindling as it consumed the rest of the fabric, but another flash illuminated the tunnel and there were no other creatures in sight ahead of them. Vincent turned back and fired his last shot before the two sprinted down the sloping tunnel, deeper into the cave.

A/N: After Tifa's escape from Junon, Vincent says something like "...So glad you're alright, Tifa." Granted, half the sentences in the game have weighty ellipses in them, but that particular phrasing seemed to hint at something.

Thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far!