He understood now… He understood that this was no longer real.

… The cavern, the blue crystals, the cold chill… Yes, these existed.

But the beauty speaking to him, pacing back and forth upon the rocky ground?

No.

"Vincent," she whispered desperately.

He stood with his hands curled into fists as his side, hanging his head in shame.

"Can't you tell me why?" She put her hands on her stomach, looking as if she were about to cry. "What has changed?"

He drew in a jagged breath, his red eyes meeting hers. "I'm…" His hands trembled awfully. "I can't keep going," he said quietly.

"But Vincent," she cried. "You always have! When others would have given up, you survived."

"That's my point!"

She fell silent, and he was immediately ashamed for raising his voice.

"Lucrecia…" he walked over to her once again, taking her hands in his. "I feel as though I cannot die. This is my eternal punishment! My hell on earth…"

"A world where you are silent… where I—" He swallowed painfully, looking down into her distressed face. "It's just not worth living in."

——

Trudging through the snow nearly an hour later in the dark of night, Shelke's lungs cried out as she made it to the top of the hill. Most of the small waterfalls that surrounded the mouth of the cave had frozen over, but the cold spray of the few that still ran felt like knives upon her cheeks.

"Shelke!"

She heard Tifa's voice shouting over the wind behind her, but she continued on, her arms wrapped around her body.

"Are you sure he's here?" Tifa stopped for a moment, looking to Cloud for support as she shivered. "Do you really think he'd be up here? In this?"

Cloud sighed, looking up to the cave, unsure. "Shelke," he called as she turned for a moment, her orange hair whipping around in the wind. "Bring him back. Got it?"

She nodded as Tifa grabbed his arm. "Are you crazy? You can't just leave her out here!"

"This is between her and Vincent." He glanced at her for a moment before walking back down the hill. "He's more likely to listen to her if we aren't there."

Tifa stood with an exasperated look, worrying as she stood in snow up to her knees.

"What if he's not there?" She shouted at the back of his blond head.

"Then she'll come back," he answered without stopping.

Tifa sighed, complying after looking back for a moment to see Shelke's form disappear into the cave.

Inside, the wind that had nearly pulled her scarf from her neck was kept at bay, but the temperature was still piercingly cold. She had never stepped foot in the cavern before. Where could he be?

With a shiver, she walked deeper into the darkness, comforted by the dim bluish lights of what she guessed to be crystal up ahead. This was Vincent's place… his sanctuary, and hers. It felt wrong to intrude upon it, but she could not deny what she had felt.

That connection… that odd link between her mind and that of Dr. Crescent's had pulsated. For a short moment, she had felt the agonizing pain of the woman's heart, but it had been no memory.

He was here. And something horrible had happened.

She was sure of it.

After only a few moments, she came upon his sitting form and, a bit farther, a saintly figure suspended in a pillar of crystal. She looked out upon this scene in confusion, though her stoic face did not show it. Had she been wrong?

"Vincent Valentine," her monotonous voice rang.

No reply.

She took a step closer, noticing the ice that had formed on his crimson cape. Making her way around his motionless figure, she narrowed her eyes as she saw his face, a deathly white.

He looked as if he were about to fall asleep — eyes partially shut, expressionless face…

"Vincent." She said his name again, hoping for at least a sigh or a flicker of his eyes.

When he did neither, she turned slightly to look back at the ghostly woman clothed in white.

What has happened to him?

"He has a death wish."

Unshaken, Shelke looked over to the flickering image standing next to her.

"Unfortunately, quite literal."

At the sight of her white lab coat, brown tresses pulled back, and pale complexion, Shelke sighed loudly.

"And here I thought I was regaining control of my mind," she muttered as she gazed at the woman with her cold blue eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

The older woman stood with her hands folded, head hanging as if in shame.

"You are… his friends," she said quietly, her voice fading as her image seemed to shimmer. "You must convince him… this isn't the way it has to be."

Shelke stood for a moment longer before looking back at the gunman, covered in a few days' worth of frozen mist. "Ah," she sighed. "He wishes to die then."

"…tell…" The image — the vision had finally disappeared, and the voice echoed from the center of the cave. "…him."

Shelke shook her head at him, upset though she refused to show it. "I thought you were smarter than this, Vincent Valentine." She walked around him now, hoping he could hear her.

"Letting yourself freeze to death? I'm sure you could have come up with something better…" His face held no reaction, but she continued. "Then again, the usual… Well, a gun certainly wouldn't work, now would it? No, no, Deepground already tried that one."

She persistently walked around his form, trying to get a response.

"I suppose you can't starve to death, can you? I don't think I've ever seen you eat anything before." Shelke stepped around a smaller crystal growing out from a crack in the ground. "I guess the typical attempts would do nothing to you. Far too strong of a body."

She stopped as she came full circle, bending down to look at his face. "Don't you see how foolish you're being? Sure, you could stay here until you eventually die… maybe years — decades from now when all of those experiments just can't keep you alive anymore…" She frowned when he did not answer, growing more upset. "But what about us?"

Her fingers curled into fists.

"What about your friends?" Her voice shook for once. "Do we suddenly not matter to you? How can you be so childish, Vincent?"

His eyes moved only slightly, flickering to her face for a short moment before returning to the ground.

"Have you listened to a word I've said?"

No response.

Shelke, now infuriated, stomped her foot on the ground. As the sound and its echo faded, she waited for him to say something… but he did not.

With tears in her eyes, she slapped him.

Emotion washed over his face for a moment as he opened his mouth as if to say something. His eyes moved around the room, almost like he did not remember where he was.

"Well?" She crossed her arms.

——

She had slapped him, and he was surprised to find he felt the pain.

"Don't be so dramatic, Vincent!" Her brown bangs swung back and forth as she yelled at him. "You have a family now… what would your friends do without you?"

He regained his composure, glaring at the floor.

"Live," he replied. "Just as they did before me. It will not matter that I am gone."

She sighed, throwing her hands up in the air as she walked away.

He watched her go, too weak to follow. This was just a vision… it wasn't as if she were really here… So why could he feel her touch? Her cool skin? The cold air? Pain?

Perhaps he had finally lost his sanity.

"The more you come here…" she started, gazing up to the now empty crystal in the center of the cave. "The more it's slowly killing you."

"Lucrecia…" He walked over to her, looking down into her soft face. "Why have you done this…" He glanced at the crystal. "..to yourself? What's keeping you from freeing yourself?"

It had been almost a year since she had stopped apologizing, finally forgiving herself, he assumed.

She looked up into his eyes with sadness. "Thirty years ago, the Jenova cells in my body kept me from my attempted suicides. This was my only option to… escape." She looked down into the water, staring at her reflection. "I am a coward. I always have been."

"Don't—"

"But since then, they have begun breaking down my strength… my body." She glanced at him once more. "I felt it… four years ago when you told me— when I spoke with you."

She sighed. "It is simple. If I leave the crystal, I will die."

He was silent, unable to form the simplest of words.

"That is why you…"She spoke with vigor as she placed a hand on his arm. "Vincent, you can't throw your life away so easily! Do you not see what it's worth?"

He opened his mouth for a moment before shutting it quickly. What could he say?

"I…" He shook his head, closing his eyes.

Her soft touch on his arm suddenly became stronger… colder.

And, with a cry, he was unwillingly thrown back into reality.

——

She let go of his arm when his body jerked back. As if he had just woken from a nightmare, he lifted his gaze to the young woman standing next to him in confusion.

"Shelke?" He suddenly broke out into a fit of coughing, having not used his voice in days.

She stepped back, giving him some space as she crossed her arms. "You shouldn't be so careless," she spat. "If you really want to waste away here, then by all means do."

She walked past him, not bothering to help him up. "Just remember," she called back, turning slightly. "Remember your friends back in Edge. Think about us, Vincent, before you do anything rash."

He blinked a few times, his body shaking uncontrollably.

"Believe it or not, we would miss you."

He heard her voice growing more distant with each passing second.

A dream? It had truly been a dream?

He tried to stand, but fell back down to his knees in an instant. Black leather saved him from several cuts and scratches from the fall.

Yes, he was back in his regular clothing. And Lucrecia…

He glanced up at the crystal in the middle of the pool as he managed to stand to his feet unsteadily.

She was back where she had always been… cold, sleeping…

Again, the shivering returned, and he couldn't find the strength to fight it. His strength was dying… Perhaps returning to Edge…

The idea disgusted him. He didn't need to be taken care of…

At least, not usually.

With a shaking breath, he stood completely straight, gazing over at her form with a saddened look. The hollowness… the agonizing emptiness he felt upon entering the cave still remained. Nothing had changed.

Shaking his head, he turned to leave, his red cape fluttering in the wind that managed to escape into the cave.

"…no longer…"

He stopped, pain flooding his heart as he turned. What did she have to say to him?

"…hold…" she whispered peacefully. "…and rest."

Suddenly, his stomach twisted. Something wasn't right.

A large cracking noise rang out in the emptiness of the cave, affirming his suspicions.

"No—" His sharp whisper followed it as he ran to the edge of the pool. The ice managed to stay intact as the crystal above began to crack… several small lines, like spiders' webs, were creeping out from the largest break.

"Lucrecia!"

At the sound of his grieved voice, Shelke paused at the mouth of the cave, watching from a distance.

Meanwhile, the fractures were beginning to grow. Larger pieces fell to the sides from the pillar, smashing holes into the ice below. Without hesitation, he ran out onto the ice, miraculously keeping his balance. His cape settled around his shoulders as he can to a sudden stop, looking up into her face as the crystal fell away from her body.

What was she doing?

"Stop," he cried, fists at his side.

And then… she fell away, unconscious in her sleep-like state. He caught her easily, trying not to hurt her with his clawed hand. The moment he did so, however, the ice beneath his feet gave way, and they both plunged into the freezing water.

He managed to find some footing on the bottom, but the chilling liquid came nearly to his neck… and he couldn't keep her out of the water until he reached the edge of the pool.

Though his arms were trembling and his legs had gone numb, he did not stop moving until the water was below his knees. He collapsed at this point, holding her limp body in his arms as they shook.

"Lucrecia…" His voice trembled horribly, and he could barely get a breath into his lungs.

She didn't move.

He held her tightly, lifting his left hand to brush her cheeks. He stopped quickly at the sight of his arm… golden claws only able to caress her long hair. He tried to swallow — tried to speak her name again, but could not.

His entire body shuddered, but not from the cold. No, he could not feel it now.

"Vincent," a voice spoke.

But not from his arms. From ahead.

His wild eyes met younger blue ones in an instant, not afar off.

"She's gone."

He looked away from the child, trying not to shout at her. With a shaking breath, he pulled the sleeping woman closer to his chest, burying his face in her hair.

Why?

A bright green light clouded his vision more than the tears, and he looked down at her in grief. Her pale hands… her dress… hair… all dissipating in an emerald light.

"No…"

Her frozen, blue lips held the smallest of smiles as they, too, dissolved into the radiant green mist.

His fists slammed down into the rocky ground, throwing up a spray of water as the bright green light floated around the cavern for a moment. Presently, it disappeared, leaving him behind in darkness.

"Why…?" He growled, feeling the void deep inside him growing.

He did not bother getting up. The cold water around his knees and arms had already numbed them to a point where he could not feel anything. What did any of it matter anymore?

Shelke stood without moving only a few yards away, watching the sorrow wash over the man. She was itching to return to Edge, to a warm bed… but she quickly scolded herself for such thoughts.

Vincent was in pain. She was needed here — even if he would never admit it.

Yet… suddenly, the realization flooded her senses...

"Vincent…"

Still on his knees with curled fists on the ground, she was unable to see his lowered face. She took several steps forward, crouching down a few feet away from him.

"Vincent… do you understand?"

She did not receive a reply, but she saw his shaking fingers uncurl a bit.

"Do you understand why she did this?"

"Do you?" He spat back at her, his voice deep and bitter.

"After all she did to keep you alive…"

He winced as she unknowingly repeated what his only love had already spoken.

"...She wants you to live, Vincent." Shelke stepped closer, a bit nervously. "She wants you to live, knowing that… someday, you can return to her. In the Lifestream."

She watched as his shoulders continue to shake, and she began to worry as she saw the ice forming on his wet hair. With a deep breath, she swallowed before answering.

"I'll have you know I'm not leaving until you do," she started.

He saw only the ground in his line of vision, but he could sense her sad smile in her voice. He shivered pitifully as old memories flashed before his eyes.

Their place underneath that tree… She'd always had a smile for him there, no matter what work had been like that day.

The way her face lit up when she saw him… It had made working in the grim manor a lot more bearable.

Her eagerness — that energy she tapped into when she had found something big… She was always happy when she was working… and he was always watching over her.

But what of the emptiness — that hollowness inside his chest… would it ever disappear? Certainly not completely. And what of the cold, the piercing chill the ran through him regardless of the temperature?

"…and Tifa and Cloud are expecting me soon." Shelke continued. "I wouldn't want them to worry."

For some reason… it dulled as the young girl spoke of their friends.

…What choice did he have other than to go on?

"And there's a heater, of course…" Her voice held stressed emotion.

With a jagged breath, he looked up to her for only a moment as he sat straighter. Hair dripping and skin a deadly white, he hung his head only slightly from his weakness.

"Then you will have to help me up," he finally growled.

——

FIN.