Rocket Town...

Never in Cid's life had he ever had such an uncomfortable journey. The silence in the car had been painful, not one of them really knew what to say to each other. The conversation between himself and Shera had been rather strained, Cid's mind kept going over the kiss that Vincent had given him. He had thought about nothing else if he had to admit it.

Both men had leaned into each other, for a brief second, Cid had felt like it was so right. It was like he was meant to have been like this but at the same time, it felt like he was betraying Shera. When Vincent had pulled away, it hurt. When he had said that it had been bad call on his part, that had stung something.

The pilot clenched his fist, his stomach tying itself in knots as he tried to work out what was going wrong. Why hadn't his simple little plan of going to Nibelhiem and getting wasted with Vincent went according to to what it should? He deserved some kind of peace right?

Now that they were in the home, it was somewhat more bearable. At the very least they could all hide away. Cid had settled Vincent into his room and had made sure that the curtains were drawn tightly. The dark haired man had colapsed into the double bed and quickly drew the covers over his head, indicating to Cid that he didn't want to talk at all right now.

That suited the blonde just fine, he didn't want to talk either but he had another brunette in the home who seemed to be demanding that just that. He gazed at the bundled up covers and wished more than anything to join him.

Join him? No...maybe I should hole myself up in his coffin and sleep for the next thirty odd years, Cid thought as he walked out the room and into the kitchen, then maybe everything would kinda work themselves out.

He paused as he looked back to the bedroom door, what was going on with Vincent? The guy had been fine the last time he had dropped him off, okay, quiet and reserved but that didn't mean anything. The former Turk just wasn't a big talker.

All the captain knew for certain was that the man was sick and it had something to do with Hojo. Unfortunately, the mad scientist was dead and the only helpful information that might be of use was back at the mansion or in the ruins of Midgar.

So what do I do? Run back to the village, tear through the library and hope the hell that I find Hojo's personal diary with detailed plans on what the hell he did to Vince? Cid crossed his arms as he stared blankly into space for a few minutes, all there is in Midgar now is the sick and wounded. The Shinra headquarters are pretty much destroyed but the lab might still be intact. I'll call Reeve in a couple of hours and Tifa to see how Spike's doing.

Travelling with AVALANCHE had taught the pilot a few useful skills and he used one of them to an amazing degree. He span round elegantly as a plate was hurled across the short space between the pilot and the mechanic. A cup and bowl quickly followed it and Cid wondered if the entire tea set would be joining it as well.

The well used tea pot crashed loudly against the wall, inches above the blonde's head. The sound made the captain duck and cover his head to protect it from the falling shards of china.

"Holy mother of..." Cid cried out in surprise, "Shera, calm the hell down will ya?!"

Shera stopped hurling the dinner set and panted angrily. Calm down? He expected her to calm down? After all he had put her through, he honestly expected her to sit back and say, 'it's alright captain. I understand?!'

No way was she going to do that. No way was she going to allow what happened in Nibelhiem to pass over without some kind of comment and allow Cid his usual retreat, he was going to listen to all her words and he was going to be the one slinking off and licking wounds.

"Calm down?" Shera stated as she hurled another cup, "You're a fine one to talk about calming down!"

Cid looked down at his feet and the shattered remains of the plates, cups and various other dinnerware. He'd never thrown anything at Shera, apart from hurtful words and a temper. He frowned before raising his gaze to met burning brown eyes.

"What's the big deal?" he asked quietly, "it was nothing but a harmless peck."

That earned him another broken bowl on the floor, "Big deal? You disappear and when I find you, you're kissing another man."

It wasn't a proper kiss! Cid rubbed his eyes tiredly, stop over reacting.

"There's no point talking right now," the pilot stated as he knelt down to clean up the mess, "You're emotional and I haven't a clue as to what to tell you. I need time myself."

"Newsflash," Shera hissed in a voice that had never came from her before, "the world doesn't revolve around Captain Cid Highwind."

Cid raised an eyebrow, he never claimed that it did. People seemed to think that he had that kind of attitude but no one really saw the true him. No one saw the scared man who wanted to run and hide from the world when things really terrified him.

He was all swears, curses and insults. Acting angry to keep people the hell away from him had worked for nearly his entire adult life but now, it seemed to be failing. It seemed to bring people to him, people who wanted to help and sooth the pain they felt he had.

"Never claimed it did," Cid replied with a calm voice that was not his own feeling.

Lady Luck decided to grace the Highwind home, the phone began to ring. The rather one sided arguement ended when the pilot walked over to it, ignoring the look he recieved from Shera.

"Highwind," saying his last name when answering phones had became the norm for him, "...Reeve? What's up?"

The female mechanic crossed her arms, Cid hadn't raised his voice or cursed her. Had he really mellowed out to someone almost unrecognisable? No fire or passion could be seen in the blue orbs or even in the tired voice.

Vincent Valentine, the man who had been brought back from Nibelhiem seemed to be a different man from what had strolled into the town all those months back. He had been cool, calm and with more than a hint of a dangerous air about him. Looking every inch the cold blooded killer the Turks were known to be back when Shera had been growing up.

Now, there was still the danger about him but he looked so frail and fragile. Did the rest of AVALANCHE now look that like? Former shadows of themselves? She had spent time with Cloud, Cid and Vincent on the rocket. The captain had stared out of the small window with so much awe but at the same time, something had changed in those blue orbs.

As though he had been filled with a new purpose in life. Cloud had sat in silence, Shera couldn't tell what the young man was thinking about but it didn't matter. Vincent...he had said nothing to her since she had made her presence known. Was he still sulking about not being able to lift off the debris from the faulty oxygen tank?

"It's amazing ya damn cat, I was just thinking about you," Cid hissed in pain as he a tiny little splinter of china decided to embed itself in hands normally hidden by thick leather gloves.

Shera blinked back tears as she rubbed her stomach, it wasn't fair. Just when she thought she had the captain to herself, something like this happened.

Was he going to leave her again and head back to the city? To a place that was filled with death and pain? She listened to the rather one sided conversation, catching the look of mild annoyance settling before disappearing on Cid's face as he regarded the splinter in his thumb.

"Highwind and the Tiny Bronco are outta business for the forseeable future but," Cid chewed thoughtfully on his thumb, "I suppose I could get the airship up in the air within a couple of weeks and do the rest on route."

In a couple of weeks? No way was that going to be possible, to her, it was downright impossible. It had barely been a week since the planet had pulled through Meteor and the captain was being asked to come to the rescue yet again?

"Listen Reeve, it's the best I can do. I did have a life before you numbskulls crashed through it," Cid drawled as he looked over to Shera, "...well get a damn boat to bring the supplies to the damn city then! I aint an errand boy."

Shera said nothing as she left the kitchen to head to her own room, hating how her life seemed to have gotten more complicated since the arrival of AVALANCHE into the town. She understood the captain had a strong sense of loyalty and duty to those he cared for and she knew that the man wouldn't suddenly abandon those he had been involved with so heavily.

Later that night...

Vincent pulled the covers down from around him and sat up. His chest felt like it was being ripped from the inside out and his skull beginning a rather painful imploding cycle. Jealousy burned in his heart for a strange reason as his once again fevered mind played tricks on him.

He was back at the mansion and he could hear the voices of his past crash into his mind. The former Turk screamed in pain, trying his best to try and

ease the hurt he felt in his soul but it failed miserably.

Without thinking, he buried both his hands in his hair. He dug the metal tips of his left hand into his skull, anything to try and rid himself of the voices and perhaps of his miserable existence. It didn't work, his demons had already begun to try and heal the injuries that he tried to give himself. He stopped screaming as he tried to formulate a plan.

The door to the room opened and Vincent could swear that he could see Lucrecia standing there. Her face full of concern and fear as her eyes saw the blood spilling from the small cuts Vincent had inflicted on his scalp.

"Lucrecia...stay with me," he whispered softly at her, reaching his bloody claw and his pale hand to her.

She did but she seemed to hestitate, as though she was waiting for someone else to come behind her. Hojo. Vincent didn't need to be told twice about that he would follow with his usual sneer and make some comment about how the Turks were nothing but big girls.

Lucrecia slowly slipped her hands into his and said words that failed to reach Vincent's ears. The former Turk tried desperately to listen but he couldn't concentrate, his anger began burning when he saw Hojo linger at the doorway. He enterwined their fingers and ignored the small little gasp of pain as the metal claw bit into her hand.

He had her and he wasn't going to let her go. If anything, he would talk to her and make her see sense. To make her leave this town and move back to the city and civilization. When they were in Midgar, he would then inform President Shinra of the horrors that Hojo was planning and then that would end the

Jenova Project once and for all.

"Is he alright?" the scientist sneered as he regarded the scene.

Vincent closed his red eyes, "...I'm fine...just...fine."

Hojo seemed to ignore the words, just a hint of concern marred his features. The man crossed his arms as he took a single step in to the room, his actions strangely feminine and graceful. Vincent watched him intently for a few moments before returning his gaze back to his lover, why was Hojo allowing him to touch his fiancee in such a way?

"You don't look fine," Lucrecia replied quietly, "you're burning."

She raised her hand to his forehead and tried to gently push him back down onto the bed, "You need to rest, who knows what Hojo did to you."

What Hojo did to you? Vincent released Lucrecia from his hold and stood up, his emotions bubbling to the surface and he felt Chaos screaming to be let out, to heal the fever and restore sanity.

"What did you do to me?" Vincent hissed as he stalked over to Hojo.

The small scientist cowered, making the former Turk stop in surprise. In all his years in working with the vile man, Hojo never cowered. Lucrecia tried to stop Vincent from advancing but he held her back, he made the infamous man cower and he wasn't going to stop there. He was going to make sure he never took another breath again.

"I repeat," Vincent asked with a deadly calm, "Hojo, what did you do to me?"

"Nothing," Hojo pressed his body against the wall, his arm protecting his stomach while the other was outstretched and pleading, "I...I haven't done anything to you! I barely know you."

"LIAR!" Vincent roared in anger, he raised his hand, ready to backhand the scientist if he continued on with such obvious lies. How could the man claim not to know him? They had worked together for over seven years.

His blow never reached Hojo as Lucrecia had a burning look in her eyes as she held on his wrist, "What are you doing?!"

It felt like someone had placed an unwitting Vincent on a carousel and had shoved the blasted thing on fast forward. He fell forward into Lucrecia and he didn't expect the slender woman to hold his weight. She did or rather, he did.

"Vince," Cid's voice brought him back to the land of reality, "You aint back in the mansion. Hojo is dead and as far as I fucking know, Shera aint him."

Shera? Vincent looked to the corner of the room and his heart sank into oblivion, the woman looked absolutely petrified and he had caused that. He closed his eyes and leaned further into Cid, he should head back to the mansion and bury himself in his coffin.

"Shera," Cid whispered over Vincent's head, "take off that coat."

Quickly, Shera tried to shed the white lab coat but her fingers failed to respond to her commands. Scared tears spilled from her eyes as she felt so frustrated at not being able to do as the captain had asked. She tried to figure out the names that Vincent had called them. Cid funnily enough had been Lucrecia and she had been called Hojo.

Even though she didn't know who Lucrecia was, the woman obviously held a large part of Vincent's heart. A lost love? Someone who Vincent cared for and had let down in the past? She didn't need to guess who Hojo was. That man was a horrible person, even the few times Shera had encountered him when she and the captain had been summoned to the Shinra Headquarters in Midgar, she always felt like she needed a shower afterwards.

Anything to get rid of the stench of evil and death that seemed to linger around the professor like a shroud.

Cid got to his feet and crossed the short distance to her. Vincent was left sitting on the floor, staring at it with numbness. The captain helped Shera unbutton her shirt, ignoring how his fingers on his right hand stung with the cuts he had recieved when Vincent had tightly held onto his hand. Blood

flowed from the wounds and Cid wiped his hand on the back of his jogging pants.

"I'm sorry," Cid softly said, "he never meant to scare you or raise his hand."

When Shera saw the blood, she instantly went into mother hen mode. She held the captain's hand lightly and began to pull him out of the bedroom, wanting him to be as far away from Vincent as possible but Cid stayed. It frustrated the engineer that he was more willing to stay with that dangerous man than her.

"You're bleeding," Shera replied in the same quiet way, "and...he's dangerous. Cid, I'm sorry but I don't want him here."

Blue eyes looked at her with surprise, Shera was kicking Vincent out? She was kicking out a sick man because she was scared? Cid looked back to Vincent and then decided that he was going to the mansion straight away. Work on the Highwind had already started and the people working on it didn't need his help. They were all capable.

"No," Cid stated, "he's staying. Shera, he needs our help."

He needs you, Shera wanted to scream but she shook her head. Nothing could sway the captain once he had made his mind up about something. No matter if it hurt everyone around him. Shera walked away but not before looking Cid directly in the eye, hoping to catch an emotion in his eyes that had been missing towards her.

This wasn't the man who had left the town with AVALANCHE, wasn't the same man who had made the space launch a success. His eyes seemed to have none of the same life she knew, the way he carried himself and the way he spoke. Had Cid Highwind died in the battle to save the planet and this, this imposter had taken his place?

Shera shook her head sadly the man in front of her avoided her look, "...and who's going to help you?"

A confident snort and a shrug of the shoulder came from the pilot, "I don't need help."

Cid watched Shera leave the room and he sighed wearily. Who indeed was going to help him? Vincent wasn't able to and Shera didn't seem to understand. He didn't need help, he needed time and space. Cid rubbed his face before returning his attention back to Vincent who hadn't moved or made any indication that he had heard Shera asking him to leave.

What the hell was he seeing? Why the hell call me Lucrecia? I am not that weird ass girl from the waterfall, Cid knelt infront of the former Turk and tapped him lightly on the knee.

"The hell was that about?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you..." Vincent apologised but he still couldn't see his world clearly, "Lucrecia...Cid...I..."

"Get some sleep," Cid ordered as he pulled him to his feet. He wasn't getting involved in any demonic nightmares or horrific past secrets right now and perhaps he should just allow Vincent a few hours mumbling incoherantly to wear himself out.

"...what did you do to me? Why can't I get you out of my head?" Vincent looked directly at the pilot, crimson eyes full of emotions that Cid knew he should be feeling himself to a degree, "why are you so warm yet so cold? So near that I can touch you but so far far away? Lucrecia...tell me..."

Cid didn't know what he could do, his heart screamed as Vincent seemed to look to him for answers that a dead woman could only give. Could he give him the answers or at least, soothe a broken soul to sleep by pretending to be something he so clearly wasn't?

The pilot helped Vincent back into the bed and placed his hand on a tear stained cheek, "It's okay, Vincent, it's okay."

Vincent leaned further into the touch, his mind for the moment believing that his Lucrecia was stitting in the room with him instead of Captain Cid Highwind, he closed his eyes and held onto the hand that offered some kind of relief from the madness that the world gave.

"Answer me," Vincent pleaded, "please..."

"I'm right here," Cid kept his breathing steady as he screamed inside at himself for indulging a sick mind, "I'm not leaving you. Not again, not ever but please...darling...get some sleep."

Darling, was that something Lucrecia would have called Vincent? As unwilling as Cid was about playing Lucrecia, he wasn't going to start saying snookie kins or koochie woochie or some other crap like that. Darling seemed to be the safe option.

"Promise me something," Vincent asked as he fell back into the waiting bed.

Cid raised an eyebrow, "Yeah...yes?"

"Don't stay with him just because you're expecting his child," the request was slightly slurred as sleep was claiming another victim, "stay because you really love him not out of duty..."

"Promise," the pilot stood up to leave but not before for some reason that he couldn't or didn't want to admit to, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Vincent's forehead, "Sleep now...my dear Vincent."

Cid walked out quietly, he took a shaky breath as he came to see Shera standing at the back door. The woman gazing into the darkness that had fallen over the town, a first aid kit sat waiting to be used on the kitchen table.

The pilot's vision blurred as he fumbled in his attempt at trying to patch his hand up. The plaster kept slipping from his grip and the antisceptic cream stung like a bitch, a full blown frustrated sob was brewing below the surface but Cid tried his best to keep it from rising.

"Why aren't you crying or getting angry or feeling something?" Shera asked quietly from her position at the door, "you can't just feel feel nothing. You've been through the hell and came out the other side, so why are you acting like nothing happened?"

Cid stopped still, he didn't know there was a set procedure that one had to follow after saving the world. There was things that he hadn't came to terms with himself yet. Nobody had handed the group the 'So, you've saved the planet, now this is what you do' manual after they had landed in Junon.

"...sadness, anger, frustration, grief," Cid listed off a few of the emotions he had experienced while fighting the brave fight, "humility, joy. I've felt them."

Shera turned round partly, "So what's stopping you feeling them now?"

Cid didn't say anything but he closed his eyes, remembering when he had actually made the decision to not feel anything until everything had been done. Until the world was safe and sound. It hadn't been that much of a special day, just a heart wrenching one that he still couldn't bring himself to cry about.

It was a look and the entire body body language of the blonde captain that told the members of AVALANCHE that there was bad news to be shared with them. They all sat patiently, waiting outside of the Forgotten City, wondering where Cid, Vincent and Cloud had disappeared to.

The day Aeris died...

Every step that Cid Highwind took seemed to be a struggle and an extreme effort, his cheeks burning red and his mouth set in a thin grim line. He didn't look happy or even willing to talk. Vincent Valentine followed closely behind, his dark hair covering his red eyes and he copied the walk almost step for step.

"What happened? Did ya find that a'hole Sephiroth?" Barret growled as he stood to greet the men.

"We found 'em," Cid whispered almost silently, he took a deep breath and held it in.

Tifa stood up, frowning. What had happened? Was Cloud okay? Were they all okay? Vincent had turned round and was looking back to where they had came from, his head lowered as though in silent prayer. Cid looked either ready for crying or for kicking the crap out of the first monster to cross his path.

"What happened?" Tifa asked as she ran a hand through her chocolate coloured hair, "Cid? Vincent? What did Sephiroth do?"

"...as to be expected when dealing with an abomination," Vincent's voice actually cracked and he stopped talking. His shoulders heaving for a long moment before settling back into the normal rythm.

It was Nanaki who asked where Cloud was and his answer was Cid pointing back to where they had came from, his arm shaking. Nanaki sniffed the air and he could smell the sadness and grief emanate from the pilot and the former Turk. Someone had lost their life. Someone close to the group judging by the actions of his team mates.

Why her? Why that sweet little flower girl? Cid thought as he released his breath, his entire body shook in fury and he wanted to scream, to hit something or say something but nothing seemed to satisfy that pain.

He looked to Vincent and raised an eyebrow, a single tear had managed to find a course down the deathly pale cheek of his friend. His crimson eyes staring at a single flower that had been trampled on by the heavy booted feet of Barret or perhaps by one of them when they had raced to the Forgotten city's delicate insides to reach Aeris.

That Sephiroth...his life aint gonna be worth jack shit when I get my hands on the bastard, Cid vowed as he looked to Tifa, how could he tell her that the flower girl from the slums had been slain by the phyco Sephiroth and that Cloud was on the verge of a breakdown cause of it?

"Ya'll better sit down," Cid said softly, "I got some bad news."

The assembled group looked at each other, worried glances exchanged but they all did as they were told. Cait Sith kept darting his gaze to Vincent who hadn't moved and why the normally loud and cussing Cid had suddenly devolped a strange sense of elequencey.

Yuffie sat with her legs crossed, her throat going suddenly dry. She had a sinking feeling and suddenly didn't want to hear what the pilot had to say. If they found Sephiroth and now had bad news...did that mean Cloud was died? He couldn't possibly mean that...

"Aeris is dead," Cid vocalised the thought Yuffie didn't want, his voice gruff and straining against unshed tears.

Tifa shook her head, "You're lying...you...stop kidding around..."

Tears welled in Cid's eyes but the pilot wiped them away, "I really wish I was. Sephiroth caught us by surprise. We couldn't get to her in time."

Barret slammed his fist into the ground, "Why the hell not?!"

"Sephiroth started trying to use Cloud first, trying to get the kid to do his own damn dirty work but when that didn't work," Cid didn't understand why the

large man was getting pissed at him, he wasn't the one who killed her. It was Sephiroth. It was that guy's fault, not his. If Barret was gonna get angry then it should be at Sephiroth.

He aint pissed at you blondie, came a reasonable voice, it really is a case of shooting the messenger.

Vincent picked up, his voice cold and emotionless, "Sephiroth ran her threw with his blade. Her death was painless."

Barret seemed to snap at hearing the way Vincent had said that, like the way one would state if a friend's child hamster had died due to old age. Like Aeris was a complete stranger to them instead of a valuable part of the team.

The captain was pushed out of the way as Barret stormed towards Vincent, Cid crying out in surprise as he realised where Barret was heading. Yuffie was the one to stop the man from gaining more than a few feet. Her brown eyes streaming with tears.

"Stop it," the ninja thief stated, "hitting Vincent aint gonna bring her back."

"Couldn't get to her in time huh? Typical Shinra bastards," Barret growled in anger but it was Vincent who reacted to the name calling.

The former Shinra member had unsheathed his gun and was pointing it rather steadily at the AVALANCHE founder, "Do not speak of which you know little about you idiot."

"For christ..." Cid stepped between the two men, hoping that Vincent was going to pull the trigger. Would make his life a whole lot simplier. He wouldn't need to deal with the fall out of this horrible situation right now.

"Pair of you. Knock it off. Vincent, he's upset. He's an idiot but he's upset. Barret...Sephiroth tore through her. There was no way we could get to her, especially when he dropped one of his freaky little Jenova things on us."

Tifa watched the three men. Vincent was surprisingly emotional, Cid was being as cool as a cucumber and Barret was just acting like Barret. Had Cid shed tears when he was making his way to the group or was he simply putting them aside to act as leader for the moment?

Aeris was dead though, no matter who said what or who did what. It was upsetting and heartrenching at the same time. They had all spoken to the young woman, told her about hopes and dreams and now Aeris would no longer be apart of their lives.

A special young woman who managed to endear herself to everyone she encountered, even the Tseng from the Turks had a respect for her. People fell in love with her as soon as they met her. Vincent even managed a few smiles when she was around but Tifa had a feeling that the smiles were more for Cid rather than Aeris.

"Is Cloud okay?" Tifa asked quietly, "Is he with her?"

"He needs a little time," Cid replied, "he's kinda...he's ah..."

Fine time to lose the ability to speak when normally you can strip paint with your foul language, came a quite reasonable voice in his mind that seemed to sound a lot like Vincent in the elegancy of it.

"Give him time," Cid shrugged weakly.

Vincent reholstered his weapon, watching his travelling companion. Those words to the group were the first he had said in the past hour since the death of Aeris and he hadn't cursed once. Something very unusual for a man known for his swears.

He however had let his emotions run away with him. Words from Barret normally wouldn't affect him but now, seeing a death he could have prevented had cracked in his skull and all he could see right now was the same scene playing over and over. Another nightmare to add to his collection, along with the pained cry from Cloud. Cid had done nothing but his entire body language tensed and the normally open face became guarded.

The chief is acting like me and I him, Vincent thought, role reversal.

Cid seemed to be taking the role of leader right now, "Listen, Vincent and I are gonna head back. We're gonna rest up and then follow Sephiroth."

"So again we are to split up?" Nanaki offered, not really thrilled with the idea about more of his friends going off and possibly being killed.

"Not for long though," Cid replied with forced cheerfulness, "Sephiroth said summit about heading over snowy fields to the north. That's our next plan when we rest up."

Yuffie surprised everyone by latching onto the first person she could before she broke into a sob that tore at the groups collective hearts. She hugged Cid tightly and hated how the man didn't know how to react to her. She felt two gloved hand lightly press against her back and rub it gently as Cid found the actions.

No way could Aeris be dead, wasn't possible. Not in a million years, Cloud and the others wouldn't allow it but it had. The death had even managed to crack the tough shell of Vincent. Without thinking, she began hitting the pilot's chest unsure why but she felt angry, Cid took it.

She didn't fight it when Cid passed the ninja onto Tifa, knowing that she would recieve the proper care from the older woman. It wasn't right, nothing about this whole situation was right.

"Barret," Cid lost the gruffness, his military training kicking in, allowing his own personal thoughts to be shoved into the blackness of his numbed mind, "Can ya'll look after the others? I wanna get back to Cloud and head out as soon as possible."

The pilot pulled out a cigarette and stuffed it back into his pack, the flower girl was constantly bitching about his smoking. Saying it would shorten his life and she didn't want that. He lowered his gaze to his scuffed boots and growled softly.

Damn...why the hell did I even agree to this shit? he asked as he made his way back to the resting place of Aeris Gainsborough, he lifted his gaze to see Vincent battling with tears falling from crimson eyes.

And why the hell am I acting like Vincent? Like my face is made of stone, Cid shook his head clear, aww man...I hate it when I start doing shit like this, thinking feelings...man, it aint me.

"You alright?" Cid asked Vincent quietly, "Ya aint gonna breakdown on me?"

Vincent cleared his throat and stared down at his boots, "I'm fine. You?"

"...right as rain," Cid mumbled as he shoved his hands into his pockets, he wanted to cry. Wanted to scream but that wasn't going to solve a damn thing except getting him carted off to the local loony bin.

The pilot looked to the small shack with the lake, spotting Cloud instantly. The swordman staring mournfully into the crystal clear water and Cid never wanted to feel like that at all. Just wasn't his style.

His normal way of dealing with pain was to swear and belittle it until it went away. Not something that was going to be useful, he walked side by side with Vincent, the gun man saying nothing but he kept his gaze on his feet.

If falling in love and losing love is like that, Cid frowned as they reached Cloud, then I think I'll pass. Mind you...Vincent seems to have the right idea bout feeling nothing.

The fight with Sephiroth had taken a new meaning, this was revenge. He had killed Aeris, taken hold of something called the Black Materia and Aeris had said something about him being able to use it to call the ultimate black magic. A magic that was powerful enough to destroy the entire planet or wound it at least.

Cid placed his grief to the back of his mind, filing the emotion under 'feel it later when this is over'.

Corel...

Today could have turned out a lot worse and Cid decided that it did. Forget about the heart stopping train ride that threatened to destroy Corel he had managed to stop just a few short hours back. Forget about the host of fresh bruises that were forming on his body and the knee that kept screaming in pain from the rough jumps from carriage to carriage.

He had run out of his cigarrettes and he was ready for tearing his hair out if he didn't get one. He paced the small room of the inn like a caged tiger, ready to pounce on the first thing that snapped his nerve.

The pilot ran his hand through his hair, sitting for a split second on the bed before leaping off it. The sound of an approaching train had startled the hell out of him and he raced to the door, expecting Vincent or Barret to burst through. They didn't but Cid couldn't settle for the night.

He walked out of the inn, his mind unsure as to where he should be walking. His mind kept tumbling over things he couldn't deal with, no matter how hard he tried to keep it quiet. Everything on the ground was just becoming to damn crowded and now, with Meteor looming ever closer, so was his sky.

That was a close one, he thought, far too damn close.

He took a deep breath, enjoying how fresh it felt in his lungs. It was like tasting the breath of a new life, the town of Corel had finally decided to make an effort in trying to make sure that the place stood a chance of survival. It was kinda humbling to know that he had been a part of the mood change.

"CIIIIIIIIIIDDD!!" Yuffie screeched through the dusty village, instantly breaking that fragile little nerve that the pilot had managed to cling onto.

The captain of the Highwind lowered his head and prayed that this encounter was going to be rather short and sweet but he knew, that with Yuffie, things were never sweet or short.

The young shinobi was dragging a reluctant Vincent behind her and Cid spared the dark haired man a look. Vincent was a mystery to the pilot and Cid didn't understand why he was so interested in trying to be friends with the man. He shunned every attempt but seemed to come back looking for some kind of attention from the pilot, even if it was just a look or a glance.

Vincent's actions were completely at odds with his words.

"What is it?" Cid asked, "I mean, thought I told you idiots to go and relax."

Yuffie smiled broadly, "Well yeah but Vincent was looking miserable and so were you so I thought we could all go to the Gold Saucer or something. Seeing how you didn't wanna go to the party that's being held in our honour."

Vincent was looking miserable? If he was being dragged around by a loud and annoying little brat, then he would look miserable. Cid cleared his throat, unsure if he wanted to really get involved with the pair.

"Not interested," the pilot stated, "I said relax and I think Valentine's idea of relaxing is somewhere far away from you. Somewhere quiet."

Vincent flashed him a grateful look that lasted a few seconds before his usual mask of stoicism returned. Yuffie took no notice and wasn't aware of the subtle look, she was far too interested in trying to get the two men outside and having some kind of fun.

Why doesn't he just turn into the Death Gigas or the Hellmasker thing and scare the hell outta her? Cid thought as he crossed his arms, somehow knowing that the ninja from Wutai wasn't going to leave his room until she either got what she wanted or until Cid lost his temper.

"Oh come on," Yuffie took hold of the pilot's wrist and began to tug him out of the room, "It's too nice a night to be a complete misery guts. Anyhow, Vincent is supposed to be the dull and depressing one. Not you Captain Foulmouth."

"I'm not dull and depressing," Cid gritted through his teeth, "Yuffie, if ya hadn't noticed, we aint exactly got time to be messing around playing musical statues at stupid parties. We got to get the Huge Materia from Fort Condor next and I sure as hell aint going with half the team hungover. We need sharp minds for this game."

The ninja stopped for a moment, "Not saying that we should get hammered but we shouldn't just let this fall over us. We gotta keep our spirits up and we do this by partying!"

"Yuffie," Cid growled as he sharply removed his hand from her, "Bugger off. I aint interested in playing with ya and right now, I have other things on my mind instead of 'hmm, how can I have fun?' okay? The world's about to be destroyed an' all you care about is where the next materia is going and stealing from the idiots in this town!"

Yuffie blinked as she released Vincent, her eyes growing huge. Cid crossed his arms as he looked at the young teen and a small part of him really did feel sorry. There had been no real need to say those things but he was hurting just as much as everyone else.

He was tired, bruised and sore, the last thing he wanted was to go out and socialise with the people of the town or the rest of the team. Vincent said nothing but even Cid saw the look of the former Turk. One of 'fair-point-but-did-you-really-need-to-go-that-far?' and Cid felt about two inches tall.

"Yuffie..." Cid sighed softly.

"No no," the shinobi shook her head and took a step back, "It's okay. Really, but you know, perhaps I really do know what's going on and I just don't want to lose anyone else right now. So yeah, I do think about having some kind of fun but that's because I don't know the next time I'll be able to have it. I know the world might end but being stressed out isn't going to help anyone. So, you go ahead and mope, I'm going to have some kind of fun before we head off to Fort Condor tomorrow."

The pilot hung his head in shame as the young teenager walked away. He cursed himself for his own stupidity but no matter how hard he tried to find blame in something else, he couldn't. It was down to him, he was the one who had said that.

"Do not blame yourself," Vincent offered quietly "Yuffie will probably forget your words."

"Shouldn't have said 'em," Cid returned, "Kid was just trying to boost morale. I didn't have to say those things to her."

"It's not your fault," Vincent began to walk away, "She probably knows the stress we are all under and felt that she was responsible for making sure we don't do anything stupid. She's an intelligent young woman who can understand that what was said was merely a vent, not a personal attack."

The pilot didn't have a responce, he simply threw his hands in the air and made a strangled sound in the back of his throat as he headed back into the inn. He knew that but it still didn't mean that his words hadn't hurt the young woman's feeling. He couldn't allow his feelings to keep pushing to the front and controlling his mouth right now. He vowed silently that when this was all over, when he had the chance to apologise to Yuffie, he would. Until that time came, he just filed it under the ever growing, I'll feel it later pile.

Present

The pilot rose to his feet, he was planning on avoiding this conversation with her. He shook his head and wandered over to the clean washing pile that sat on top of the battered looking machine. Cid smiled softly as he pulled out his favourite t-shirt and combats. If he was going to kick the shit out of the mansion then he was going to do it in comfort.

Shera turned round fully in time to see Cid disappearing into the bathroom only to return a few short moments fully dressed. Blonde hair ruffled by a mixture of sleep and having a top that had been full of static from the tumble dryer.

"You're leaving?!" Shera cried out in surprise, she didn't want to be left alone with Vincent, not if he was freaking out.

"Long as the weather holds right, I shouldn't be gone for long," Cid stated as he grabbed hold of the Venus Gospel, "I promise."