Penance

©®™ Lt. Commander Richie

((Disclaimer: Just don't ask. I'm leading you on a merry goose chase for a REASON, you know. I've been dropping hints. The subtle ones are the truths, the blatant ones are designed to throw you off. Now the question is, what is subtle and what is blatant? ... There have also been several great fanart opportunities throughout the past eight chapters, so anything you want to draw, feel free to.))

Chapter 9

The night passed quickly for some, tucked inside beds on the Sierra as it stayed parked on its landing strip in Rocket Town. But for others it crawled, falling stars occasionally gracing the inky canvas with streaks of bright light. Vincent, still devoid of his cloak, was one of the people it crawled for. From his perch on top of the airship, he could see all the lights of the town around him wink off and, occasionally, on. One leg stretched in front of him, his golden claw rested on his tucked-up knee. But it was not on top of the Sierra that Vincent's mind rested, not in the cold or with the wind.

I'm so sorry.

"Forgive me... Lucrecia." Vincent began, looking out from the dirty banks of the pool of water at the pillar of crystalline Materia that housed his forever-frozen lover of thirty years past. "I feel as though I have replaced you."

I'm sorry.

"But I feel as though I need Mira. She affords security in the innocence of a child." He continued, flexing the golden claw that he always kept in view so as to remind himself of his past mistakes. "Perhaps, by caring for her, I can atone for what I have done."

Hey Vinnie. What're you doing up here?

In the blink of red Mako-enhanced eyes, the cave and his once-lover was replaced by shooting stars and the blinking and wavering lights of Rocket Town. To his right sat Yuffie, legs crossed in a Lotus and her palms on the soles of her shoes. She was staring up at the stars, a smile gracing her lips.

"Thinking." Vincent sighed, not daring to delve back into his mind with the Kunoichi next to him.

"Thinking's for losers. Stargazing is much more fun." Yuffie said, and leaned back onto the metal hull of the Sierra, her legs still in a Lotus. She pointed upwards, tracing a long line of bright stars that ended in a triangle-shaped abyss of inky black sky with one finger. "Look, you can see Leviathan from here!"

Vincent looked up to the heavens and nodded, tracing his familiar constellations. He saw Hercules, Achilles, The Three Friends, and many of the Zodiac. But he couldn't see Leviathan.

"I don't see it." He said, and Yuffie sat up. She traced her finger along a line he knew well, a line of stars ending in a triangle next to the handle of the Big Dipper.

"It's right there!" She said, but Vincent shook his head.

"I see the Big Dipper," He paused, and then laid back, running one gloved human finger along the outline of Leo the Lion. "And I see Leo."

"I see Leviathan and Bahmut." Yuffie countered, laying back down as well. Once again, a gloved finger traced a well-known constellation, this time Orion. "Eros." She smirked, usurping his title of the figure made of stars.

"The Three Friends." Vincent finally said, tracing the outline of a boy, a duck and a dog in the air. Yuffie grinned, tracing the same constellation.

"The True Heroes." He finally turned to the Kunoichi, only slightly surprised that she was now the one wearing his cloak. Yuffie turned her head to the gunman, still grinning. But the grin died down slowly, and she let her hand fall from the air. For once in her life, Yuffie was glad it was pressingly dark. When she thought she couldn't take the lightly glowing red gaze any longer, she sat up. The Kunoichi disentangled her legs from one another, and stood up on the gently-sloping hull of the Sierra.

"You'll be wanting this back, then." It was more of a statement than a question, as she began to undo the clasps holding the red cloak about her shoulders. Vincent sat up next to her, once again folding his left leg to his body and balancing his claw on his knee.

"Keep it until tomorrow." He said, his voice soft and without its normal edge. Yuffie smiled, and redid the top buckle.

"Thanks." She said, and began walking back along the hull of the airship, towards the service entrance she had used to first come up to the outside. Behind her, Vincent once again prepared to blank out the world around him, to converse once again with his once-love. But almost as an afterthought, Yuffie came running back, bent down and gave the gunman a quick kiss on the cheek. It was nothing special, hardly even a feather of a touch, but by the time he had registered what had happened she was gone.

And for once, for the first night since he had woken from his thirty-year slumber, Vincent was content to simply lie there.

"Cloud, look! I see Nibelheim!" The group stood on the trail through the Nibel mountains, Tifa pointing out the small collection of houses dwarfed by the hulking and slightly rusted old Mako Reactor. It was nearing noon, and so far the hike had been completely uneventful. Fallen a bit behind the group, Mira held Yuffie's hand tightly. In her other hand, she held a broken stick.

"Are there scary aminals in this forest?" The petite girl asked, and Yuffie nodded. But she still smiled down at the girl, reassuring her with a wave of her Conformer.

"Yeah, but I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi! Nothin's gonna get past me... Hey, a frog!" She said, distracted by the small green amphibian on the side of the trail. "Must be a pond around here somewhere!"

"Yuffie, squish it!" Tifa said, pointing to the frog. It croaked once, puffing up its neck.

"Why do you want to squish it?" Mira asked, letting go of Yuffie's hand to approach the little green animal. It stuck its tongue out at her, just barely missing her face. Suddenly, a gold-tipped boot came down on the frog and squished it.

"Don't let them touch you, they'll turn you into frogs." Vincent warned, and Mira gently prodded what was left of the magical frog with the broken end of her stick. That was when she began to hear crashing in the bushes, breaking twigs and swishing leaves. A larger, more humanoid-looking frog pulled through the bushes on two legs, brandishing what appeared to be a spear. Yuffie screamed, jumping back and reaching for her Materia pouch. But Vincent drew his gun faster, landing three shots to the creature's head. It flew backwards in a spray of black blood, spattering the cloak that had been held out to protect Mira. The little girl screamed in fright, pointing behind the group up the trail. More of the creatures were advancing, some with spears and others simply with claws.

Yuffie let fly her Conformer, and Nanaki jumped atop one and drove it to the ground. Cloud rushed forward, drawing his sword from the sheath on his back and cutting one in half with a single slice. Black blood spattered the trees, and with a wail Mira scrambled away from the fighting. She pushed her way into the bushes, breaking free into a small clearing with a bush and moss-covered stump in the center. A growl was heard to her left, and without hesitation the six-year-old ran to hide in the bushes on the stump. To her delight, it was hollow, and she peered out of a hole in the rotting wood to watch as one of the hulking green and humanoid monsters shambled into the clearing. It stuck its nose in the air, as though it was smelling for something, and then began to make its way slowly towards the stump.

Mira whimpered in fear, which only made the monster come faster. Suddenly, its head exploded outwards in a shower of black blood and a deafening blast. As it fell to the ground, the six-year-old's savior was already holstering his gun again and striding forward.

"You can come out now, Mira." Vincent said, giving the dead creature a wide berth as he made his way across the clearing. Mira stood up in her hiding place, her head protruding from the bushes. "Are you alright?" He asked, and Mira nodded, smiling. Suddenly, she felt the ground begin to fall apart below her, and she shrieked as it completely gave way.

With a scream, a little girl invaded the once-forgotten cave below the ground. A tiny sliver of light still glimmered on the ceiling, providing fresh air and dappled sunlight to a single place on the banks of a small pool. The tiny girl opened her eyes, blinking her large blue and glowing orbs at the sparkling Materia crystals surrounding her on the walls. Turning slowly so as to take everything in, Mira gave a shriek and jumped backwards when she saw the pillar of crystalline Materia in the center of the pool.

More specifically, she screamed in shock when she saw what was inside the pillar. A woman in white with long brown hair, both hands over her heart. Mira visibly calmed down when she identified the woman as such, sitting down on the ground at the edge of the pool.

I'm so sorry.

Even if she was startled by the sudden words seemingly coming from the Materia around her, Mira did not show it. She leaned forward and propped her chin on her palms, watching the glowing pillar in front of her.

"What for? I'm okay!" The six-year-old said, finding it perfectly normal to be conversing with the trapped woman. "Even if I fell a hunnerd-gajillion feet, I'd still be okay! I don't get hurt a lot."

The Materia around the petite girl was silent, only the dripping of water was heard. Sighing a large sigh, Mira shifted her head from one angle to another, tilting her head back and forth.

"You don't say a lot." She decided, and finally received an echoing answer.

I'm sorry.

"That's okay, I know lots of people that don't say much. Mr. Vins'nt doesn't say much, but he's really cool!" She continued, not bothering that the woman in front of her was sleeping. Once again, Mira waited for an answer, but got none. "You only say two things."

I'm sorry.

"But I don't care." The six-year-old declared, smiling. She leaned back, laying both legs out in front of her and putting her hands in her lap. "My name's Mira." She smiled once more, "what's yours?" She asked, not expecting a straight answer.

For the first time in a long while, the consciousness in the Materia -there was a consciousness in the pillar, of course, otherwise no statements of any sort would issue forth from the crystals in the cavern- had been asked a question. The pillar of crystalline Materia was completely silent. Then, for once, it truly spoke.

Lucrecia.

"Mira!" Vincent yelled, hearing the crumbling of earth and the subsequent scream. With a shout, a Buster Blade ripped through the ground foliage of the forest, Cloud behind the destruction.

"We heard a scream!" He said, rushing forward. Tifa rushed out, looking around wildly.

"Is Mira alright?" She asked, and Vincent shook his head, looking down at his one golden claw.

"She fell into a sinkhole in the stump. She could be in any of the caves in the area." Quickly, Cloud crossed to the stump and pulled the bushes apart, looking down. All he saw was darkness, but there was a slight bit of a reflection down in the cave. Probably from a pool of water.

"There's a pool of water down there. Mira could have fallen in it. Vincent, how many caves are there in the area?" Vincent thought for a moment, and then realization dawned on his features. His golden claw clenched into a fist, and with a swirl of red and a single word, he was gone.

"Hers."

Yeeeeah, a not-so-subtle nod to Kingdom Hearts 2 in here. Well, there's Yuffentine fluff, which I live for, Mira is finally getting Lucrecia to do something besides apologise, and she is officially traumatized for life because of all the blood she saw.

And, uh, sorry about not updating yesterday. Library closed at a funky time and I got there two hours late. If you can't tell, I am VERY GLAD that I uploaded this a week in advance.

Enjoy. OR ELSE.