Thanks so far to Tir, Teka1313, Moomba and Callie and emerald embers. You have no idea as to how honoured I feel knowing how much u like reading this! I feel….sniff, so warm and fuzzy.
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Chapter 3
What do you mean? Dying? Your immortal! How can you die? Vincent cried mentally. He barely managed to keep himself from crying out loud. His demon couldn't die!
I am only what Hojo created me. Nothing more, the will to hurt is no longer as strong as it once was. I am dying, along with the others, Chaos explained, The process cannot be stopped.
I don't want to die…, Vincent weakly cried out, his anger subsiding fast.
Suddenly the past week came into focus, he had helped kill Jenova and her psychotic son. Chaos had been strangely quiet since the final battle. His demon had said nothing as the former Turk walked away from the Highwind and his new found friends.
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"I bid you farewell," Vincent said curtly, he was in no mood to stay any longer than necessary.
Cloud looked at him, his Mako blue eyes smiling, "If it's what you want."
"It is," he had said rather to quickly.
He took in all his allies with one last look. He had to admit that they were the most odd looking companions ever to grace the planet. A lion creature from the sleepy Cosmo Canyon, a ninja from the defeated Wutai. A miner from Corel, a stuffed toy controlled by a Shin-Ra employee called Reeve. A bartender and a former Soldier member with severe mental issues. Finally, one pilot with rather bold dreams of space flight and a rather fascinating grip of the English language.
The pilot had said nothing to him on the flight home, he stood a little back from the main group. Standing quietly and drawing circles in the dirt. His blue eyes avoiding everything and everyone who tried to catch them.
"I would also prefer it if you left me to my own company. Do not feel the need to visit me unless it is for something dire," Vincent forced his eyes from looking at Cid, "and even then, unless the very planet is threatened, I do not wish to speak with you."
Being with you has added yet more sins to my already burdened mind, Vincent thought, it was taking all his strength now not to collapse in a heap from exhaustion.
The final battle had taken more out of him then the entire journey put together. Climbing down and then the heart stopping ride out of the deep cavern that Sephiroth resided in, had drained all those who remained in his body. None of them had tried to speak with him since he the battle. Were they all reflecting the battle? Chaos might be but the other demons…who knew.
The other's headed back inside the airship that they had bravely and rather amazingly stole right from the evil Shin-Ra's nose, Cid remained outside, he crossed his arms and sighed.
"Is there something else, captain?" Vincent remained standing a few feet away from the blonde.
"Well…um…not really…but ahh," Cid scratched a spot under his chin and found a rather interesting spot on the hull of his ship.
"But what?" Vincent began to feel rather uncomfortable at the growing silence and awkwardness that was rising.
Didn't Cid know that he wanted nothing more to do with them? His life was nothing now. He had atoned the best he could, now the only way to further it was if he avoided any contact with human life. If he wasn't near anyone, how could he hurt them?
"Look, I really don't know how ta say this," Vincent could see his allies ears go red, apparently, the subject was rather delicate or rather embarrassing.
You have never suffered from lack of communication before, in fact, you have the exact opposite, Vincent crossed his arms, waiting for the suddenly less vocal captain to speak.
"…Thanks. For everything," Cid rushed out, "I mean, if ya ever need anything. Anythin' at all, just call me. Need ta use the airship or if ya just wanna talk. Call me."
Vincent raised an eyebrow, how was he to respond to that? Cid had offered a similar offer before the final battle. Saying that if they survived the fight, the former Turk was more than welcomed to stay with him.
Call me? Why would he offer this to me? Why haven't I shown him the coldness that I have shown the others? Why isn't he giving up? I don't understand…Vincent said nothing but looked at the airship, hoping Cid would get the hint and leave him alone.
"I'll see ya soon right?" Cid had the tone of optimism in his voice.
"………" Vincent breathed, he wasn't going to be able to say no without hurting the pilot's feelings, so if he didn't answer, no one got hurt.
The blonde made a move to say something but no words came out, he merely raised his hand and offered a weak wave. Hurt flashed across his features for a second before the tired smile replaced it.
Vincent felt like someone had shoved a red hot poker into his chest as he walked away calmly. His new lease on life had been a short lived yet eventful one, saving the planet from a raving psycho and a huge rock all in a space of two months.
It was now time to return back to the hell that had created him. It was time to go home.
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Vincent sat on the bed, wrapping his arms around in in a vain attempt to get warm. The shock of Chaos telling him he was dying and not being fully dressed and so many other things had made him so weak. He needed to be warm and the only way to get it was to ask the man currently taking a shower.
Cid came out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist. Ugly looking bruises covered his chest, along with a scar than ran round half his waist. The sleeveless shirt that he always wore held in his bare hands and dripping wet.
The blonde blushed almost instantly as he looked at Vincent, they had never really seen each other in half naked. The older man's chest was pale but showed some muscle. Scars and bruises ran every which way, all colliding with each other. Some of them, he guessed, the bruises anyhow, were from the final battle with Sephiroth. Vincent had refused to leave Cid behind as the blonde tripped over a piece of rock in the collapsing cave. The ex-Turk had taken a heavy blow when a monster appeared out of nowhere but the man had already delivered the lethal blow to the beast. The pair had ran, step for step to the oddly parked Highwind but Cid said nothing about the impromptu landing bay. The pilot had seen to many odd things in his travels the past two months to be even concerned about it.
He did however, once the pair were safely on board, comment as they bolted into the cargo bay.
"Does anything seem odd to you anymore?"
"Describe odd."
Cid had grinned and laughed at the simple reply. It seemed he had forgotten the madness that was coming and forming all around them. Nothing it seemed could faze the blonde for long.
Seeing Vincent transform into each of his demons for the very first time had caused him to lose his speech for the best part of an hour but made him befriend the guy even more. Vincent needed friends. Even though he had four others within, he was still a lonely guy.
"Didn't mean what I said," Cid whispered to his friend, "I…just wanna know if ya could forgive me."
Vincent's wet hair clung to his neck, shivering. He was staring at a spot just near the doors.
"Vince?" Cid frowned, what the hell had just happened to in the few short minutes he was showering? What the hell was happening to his friend?
His friend didn't answer him, why was the wall so damn fascinating all of a sudden? It was after all, just a wall. Granted, with the most seediest wall paper ever thought of.
Don Corneo must of bought this place and decorated it, Cid shook his head, dispelling the image of the rather perverted self proclaimed lover of sector 5. The man, was now the lunch of the local animals at the bottom of the Wutai god statues. He had went, along with Vincent and Cloud to the quiet eastern town, in the vain hope in finding a clue as to where the Temple of the Ancients were. They hadn't.
All they ended up with was a real bad headache and the charming Yuffie had gotten her young ears burned with his amazing English skills. Or rather, lack of.
"Leave me alone," Vincent whispered, "I don't…need or deserve your friendship."
The words stuck the blonde like a weapon. What he said was out of order and he did feel bad about but there was a limit as to how many times a guy could beat himself over the head.
"I said I was sorry. Shit, what do ya want me to do?" Cid had never felt so vulnerable in his life. He didn't usually stand in a towel with a guy who had tried to kill him a few hours back.
"…there's very little you can do for me. Not unless you can resurrect Hojo," Vincent shakily offered, his voice was quivering and ready to break.
Cid's eyes narrowed, he hated the very mention of that man. The very name pissed him off. Made his blood boil to no end. He clenched his fists tightly, his finger nails digging into his palm.
Why was he acting like some jealous lover? Hojo was some monster who had hurt Vincent. What he should be feeling is some type of friendly and sympathetic form of anger.
"Fuck, I thought ya got over him?"
"He created me," Vincent turned partly round to face him, his red eyes lowered and hidden by some of the wet fringe.
The captain said nothing as he entered the bathroom again. He kept the door partly opened, just wide enough to see Vincent through the gap. He watched as the older man began to rock back and forth on the bed.
Shrink would have a fucking field day with the whole messed up AVALANCHE mind. One prime example of a victim needing the love and support given by the abuser. Cloud, by a former war hero. Vincent, a wacko scientist…cid pulled his combats on, lost in his thoughts and his version of psyche 101.
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Shera pulled up into the Nibelhiem inn just after 2pm in the afternoon. She would of arrived sooner but morning sickness had came back with a vengeance and lasted a lot longer than the morning.
She had pulled on a simple pair of jeans and a white warm jumper, it hid the growing bump that seemed to be growing a tiny bit each hour. How would he react if he learned of the pregnancy?
Joyful? Angry? Upset or just that rather bizarre form of calm that had taken hold of him? The calmness scared the living daylights out of her, she didn't know what he'd do.
She felt bad about failing to pick him up yesterday but he just had to call when the evil storm had crashed in. It had ground Rocket Town to a complete halt. For that, she had to be grateful. No late night callers or visitors for the captain. Perhaps he had at least one decent night sleep? Wasn't Mr Valentine a very quiet individual? The captain had spoken very highly about him, when he had spoken. The other members of the team had been less than enthusiastically spoken of. That was odd, as he would usually find something good to say about people. Even if it was just a very polite thing.
She had been worried when she had first seen the female members of the group. The two young women travelling with Cloud were indeed very beautiful and she was scared that one of them might just steal the captain from her. Tifa Lockheart with her long brown hair, chocolate eyes and well, assets. Aeris had a very innocent quality to her. Like she wanted to be everyone's friend, even if they didn't want her to be.
Though, there was the nasty rumour going around that it wasn't the women who had caught the blonde's blue eyes. The local fish wives had began saying that the blonde was gay. All because he didn't have many female companions in his life and that he was always so aggressive towards the fairer sex.
Bet they were surprised to learn I was with child, Shera had to admit the looks on the sewing groups face were a picture, as she'd been told by her friend Meg.
Ever since the little talk Meg had had with them, they had been as nice as punch but the timid engineer could see the bitter repercussions working in their spiteful little minds as she walked by them. Cid had once had a run in with them and they had gotten an earful from him. It was shortly after the rocket disaster, a few days.
Cid had been walking quietly along the street, hoping to avoid anyone. He pretty much hadn't said anything to anyone. The rocket slanted in the background and the sun peeked out from behind the grey clouds. The sun seemed to stop trying to shine in the town. Nothing could possibly lift the spirit of the man walking, nothing could of prepared the sewing group for the reaction the pilot was going to let rip as soon as they mentioned something.
Shera had watched from the captain's home, peeking out of the window. She hadn't dared venture outside, she couldn't bear to see the resentment etched onto everyone's face as she walked. It was bad enough that she had to deal with it with the captain, but having the entire town?
She wished that the old women would leave him alone but alas. They hadn't. She couldn't hear what was said but the look on Cid's face as he passed them was one of anger.
She could only watch as she spotted one of them whisper something behind his back and that had set him off. He had span round and exploded at them. Screaming insults before walking calmly away from them.
Red faces were all around and she imagined one of them saying, "Imagine that. We're were only trying to be polite."
The only one good thing to come out of it was that they had never walked on the same side of the street as the captain anymore. They avoided even speaking with him but she had her doubts at the party that was held after the successful rocket launch. They had been to eager to tell him, even after Meg had warned them not to. All that had got her was a rather funny look when he sat back down with her, after being dragged away by one of the daughters for a dance.
She shook the doubts out of her head, it didn't matter anyway. Once they came to that bridge, she'd deal with it. Hopefully, the outcome would be a positive one.
She leaned forward a little in the car and pulled her bag out from under her feet, the cell phone she had was somewhere in it. She'd give the captain a call before walking into the inn and collecting him. Just to make sure he was alright.
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The phone rang in one of Cid's coat pockets, Vincent eyed it warily. He had never liked mobile phones, made it far to easy for people to contact you. Part of him knew he should call for the pilot but another wanted to keep the ringing phone a secret.
The needy part gave him the, 'What if it's someone who wants to take him from you?'. The more logical side told him to get his ass moving and answer it, failing that simple task, call the man.
"The…" it took to much effort to speak, to even think about forming any type of sensible words. He looked to the door, hiding his friend.
He said he was sorry for saying what he did. He says he's sorry for lot's of things that has happened to me, Vincent sighed shakily. He knew this wasn't how the others had seen him. No one alive had seen him this weak, not even when he was a Turk. Weakness was a very bad trait to have and to show. So was any type of emotion.
Why am I showing this to Cid? Vincent shook his head, trying to get his body into some form of working order.
Cid appeared out of the bathroom a few moments later, briskly running a hand through his short hair. He paused, concentration falling on his face.
"That my phone or yours?"
Vincent gave him a one shoulder shrug. He was tired, so much for feeling any better. Painfully slowly, he pulled his black shirt on, taking care not to rip the delicate material it was made of.
Cid knelt down in front of the dark haired man, a friendly and gentle smile playing on his face. He noticed that his friend was having trouble with the small buttons on the shirt.
"Here, let me help," he said gently. The ringing phone had been forgotten, the blonde more interest in helping his friend dress so he could get out of the dead town. He hadn't put his ever present flight gloves or his flight jacket so all his arms were visible not just at the elbows.
Vincent took the blonde's hands, noticing the scars that were on each wrist. Had Cid attempted to escape from life as well?
Cid sat quietly, allowing the touch. His jaw twitching as he awaited the question that would eventually appear between them. That was one of the reasons he wore the long leather gloves, to hide the scars.
"Why?" Vincent whispered, he traced the deep scars gently with his human hand. Cid was one of the few optimistic people he knew. He didn't ask what happened, no one liked trying to explain.
"I felt hurt," Cid offered, "I thought my death would make things better. Just as well I screwed up huh?"
So, at some point, Cid had felt so depressed that he felt that his death would solve all? But what had stopped it? Who had gave him the will to live again? Vincent shivered, the action not going unnoticed by the pilot.
Cid pulled Vincent back into an embrace, trying to stop him from shivering, "The hell are we gonna do with ya?"
Vincent kept shivering, he tried to block out of the thoughts about his own life, the one before Hojo, before Luceria. Before everything went wrong. He should of stayed in the coffin. He would have been safer, he would have had more time to atone for his sins.
"Just don't leave me," he whispered.
Not when I need you the most.
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Hey kids. Sorry for the long wait. I'm having writers block…………. I do apologize for the bad chapter…….I might do a whole chapter that is a songfic….it could work.! Thanks to all who are reviewing! I love ya heaps and heaps! And I urge you to go and visit Emerald Embers and Teka1313 websites. they are so good and so is there fan fiction. Hey, guys! Can I post this on ur sites?