"Thank you, young lady." The mother's eyes glistened with tears as she managed a shaky smile. Her little boy lay sleeping in her arms.
Aerith smiled back. After spending four hours (and one Restore materia) sitting on the floor by his mattress, she had finally managed to dispel the scarlet fever. Pulling on her red jacket, Aerith turned to leave. She had barely stepped out onto the still-wet sidewalk when the wind attempted to blow her sideways. Aerith clutched at her jacket, but was too slow to snatch the ribbon that sailed off her braid.
"Such lovely weather," she murmured, and dashed off after it. Her hair, no longer bound in a tidy plait, streamed out in brown ringlets behind her. Aerith skidded through a puddle, soaking her boots and splashing the hem of her pink dress. She spotted the ribbon ahead, tumbling in the mud near the door of the church. It finally halted, settling close to the foot of a rag pile. Aerith, breathing a little hard from her run, slid to a halt and snatched her wayward ribbon. It hung limp and bedraggled from her hand. She turned to go.
And then the heap of rags in the corner… moved.
x-x-x
Vincent pushed away his cloak and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His black hair, flopping over the bandana, hung in his face and obscured his view of the pink blob in front of him. Automatically, he reached up with his left hand to clear away the dark strands. The pink blob resolved itself into a girl, wearing a pink dress and currently backing slowly away from him. Her green eyes were wide, staring at his left side.
Vincent looked down. There across his lap, glaring gold in the pale morning light, laid his claw. He quickly pulled his cape over it, hiding the evidence of his altered humanity. The girl had her back pressed to the stone wall directly opposite. Something fell out of her hand and landed on the ground at her feet. In one smooth motion, Vincent rose to his feet and bent forward. Scooping up the object, he straightened and offered it to her with his right hand. Her eyebrows drew together in a quizzical frown, but she took the recovered pink ribbon from his hand and offered a little smile. Her eyes remained solemn and scared. Vincent stepped away and started down the sidewalk.
He had gone half a step when a shot rang out and chips of stone flew from the ground between him and the girl. The old combat reflexes had not deserted him. In a split second decision, Vincent spun around, grabbed the girl's arm and took off down the street, dodging in and out between the few pedestrians and vehicles making their way to work. Whoever was shooting would logically assume that she was in some way affiliated with him and hunt her down as well. Vincent had no intention of letting that happen.
Skidding around a corner, he slowed to a stop in a dank, sour-smelling alleyway. Out of breath, the girl slumped down with her back against a wooden garbage bin. Vincent stood just inside the entry, waiting to ambush the attacker who would surely follow. But he wasn't prepared for exactly who stepped around the corner.
Elena planted her feet. Raising her arm, she pointed her gun straight at Vincent.
"Your betrayal of the Turks," she spat, "will be dealt with."
Vincent shifted slightly to the left, the better to protect the girl behind him.
"I have betrayed no one, Elena," he stated, calmly, but with a voice like glacial ice. He saw a slight wavering in the arm holding the gun. She was shaking with rage. And no wonder. The Turks had an unbreakable loyalty to one another.
"Is your bond with the Turks worth so little to you?" the blonde growled. "So little that you could just take off and shatter everything that it means to be one? I thought I had you figured, Vincent. I guess I was wrong." She bowed her head; eyes closed, she saluted the sky with two fingers – the unmistakable gesture of the Turks. A world to which, by no fault of his own, Vincent could never return.
Tseng, Reno, and Rude emerged from the air behind Elena. "Justice served," she said. All four advanced.
Behind Vincent, a lone figure in a pink dress huddled against the dustbin.