/Cid/
"What the fuck?" I shouted as the floor rumbled beneath me. I tried to keep my balance, but found myself dumped unceremoniously on my ass by the quaking. I thought I saw a flash of red amidst the dust, but it was gone before I could tell for sure. The rumbles stopped and after a couple of false starts, I made my way to my feet. A sharp pain went up my leg and I promptly sat down again. "Fucking ankle, I completely forgot about it."
I sighed heavily and started digging through my many pockets for some sort of healing item I could use, so I could drag myself back up the stairs and out of this godforsaken mansion, when I noticed the hole in the floor. I crawled over and peered inside. The only thing in it was a recently (and quickly) vacated coffin. Shiva, I knew this was a mistake. Coming in here, pouring out my guts like a gorram fifteen year old twit confessing her love and lust to the cute boy next door who never knew she existed. What a fucking mistake. Who the hell do I think I am dumping everything on him? All I did was make him run away again. Dammit.
Something touched my shoulder lightly and startled me. I turned around and saw Vincent gazing at me with a concerned expression. "Highwind," he said gruffly with a voice rusty from disuse, "allow me to examine your ankle."
"I'm fine," I said. "I just twisted it coming down the stairs. It's a little sore, but I can walk it off." In my misguided attempt at bravado, I stood again and winced when I put weight on it. "See, I'm fine," I insisted.
Suddenly my ankle gave out completely and I fell. A pair of strong arms caught me just before I hit the floor. "You are not. Now, will you let me examine your ankle, or do you want to wait and bust your ass a few more times first?"
I rolled up my pants leg in response. My ankle was swollen to twice its normal size and had turned a rather spectacular array of colors. He examined it gently and efficiently for several minutes before pronouncing it broken. He pointed out the spot where the bone was protruding slightly, but had not completely broken through the skin.
"A break this severe normally takes around six weeks to heal, but if you allow me, I can attempt to mend it and reduce the recovery time to a couple of days of rest at most," he stated before looking away.
"Of course you can Vin. You know that I can't sit on my ass and do nothing for six minutes, let alone six weeks!" I exclaimed. Vincent just raised an eyebrow and pulled out a small leather sack from somewhere in his cape. He selected a small light blue orb and held it in his right hand. After a moment, the mastered healing materia appeared to be absorbed by his body and disappeared. His normally pale, calloused hand had transformed completely. It had a faint blue glow and felt cool and silky as he lightly touched my injury. I watched in amazement as my skin faded back to its normal color.
"Now I'm going to mend the bone. This process normally takes much longer, so you might feel a strange sensation as it happens. Just stay still for a moment." He wrapped a hand around my ankle where the bone had broken and closed his eyes. Within seconds I felt my bones moving, rearranging, and fusing. My skin continued to tingle from the touch long after he removed his hand. He drew the materia out of his hand and placed it back into the small sack. He returned his attentions to me after a short while and reexamined the ankle asking me to move it to assess its range of motion and the correctness of the fusion.
He stood and offered a hand to help me up. I stood, and then went through a few more ankle assessments. "Just take it easy for a few days and you'll be fine," he pronounced. I was walking back towards him when I saw panic briefly flash across his face and knew I had to act quickly before he was gone again.
I crossed the room with a speed I didn't have on a day when my ankle hadn't been broken as he turned to leave. "Gorramit, Vincent! Wait!" I yelled as he fled up the stairs. I followed and caught him just as he got to the top of the first flight of stairs. "Vincent, talk to me," I implored.
He gazed at me wordlessly, crimson eyes searching for something in my face. "Vincent, what the fuck is up with you?" I asked. "Talk to me. Tell me to go fuck myself or die in a fire or something, but don't just run away from me without saying anything. …Please?"
Still he said nothing. I sighed and moved to turn away so he couldn't see the tear threatening to come down and steal the last shard of dignity I had. That's when he tilted my head up gently with his hand and kissed me. A feeling much like a low level bolt spell ran through my body as I responded eagerly to him. Just as suddenly as it started, he pulled away from me and continued running up the stairs. I stood dazed for a moment touching my seemingly swollen lips in wonder and dismay before blinking the threatening tear away and chasing after him, again.