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Switchback here. Well, this is going to be my second ever fic, it's been so long since I wrote something that I felt guilty. Plus the fact that the response I got from my first fic was so tremendous, I don't know why I wasn't compelled to write anything else. Anyway, this is a Final Fantasy VII fic. This is new territory for me I guess, so I'll give it the best shot I've got. This is dedicated to all the VinTif fans and authors out there, so without further ado, please read and enjoy!
Note: This has NOTHING to do with DoC as I have not played it yet because it has not come to the UK, come on I'm tired of waiting Square Enix! This is based before AC and during the game.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or anything related to it including the characters, Square Enix has that privilage... Lucky Ba- (Gets hit by Materia.)
Vincent Valentine was in the lower part of the Highwind where the rooms were situated, just below deck. Sitting amid his tangled bedsheets, Vincent once more scanned the room, his red eyes slightly glowing in the dim light. He was situated in a fairly small room, not to small to feel cramped but enough to feel cozy.
His bed was in the middle of the room, the headboard up against the far wall so Vincent could see the whole room easily. To his left was a window that took up the whole left wall, rain battered against the glass relentlessly but it stood firm against the assault.
A storm... Vincent thought idly while another flash of lightning and roll of thunder echoed throughout his room seeming to give more emphasis to his thoughts before he moved on with his search.
To the wall in front of him was a small wooden desk and a chair, a small table lamp was situated on the table along with a digital alarm clock and to the far right of the wall was a metal door.
Finally, the wall on his right held nothing of interest, just a bare wall, but Vincent watched in mild fascination as the the window to his left reflected light onto the right wall, the shadows of the raindrops running down the glass reflected upon the wall giving a somewhat shadow reflection of the window opposite.
Vincent gave a silent yawn, showing his slightly elongated upper canines courtesy of his demonic side, and glanced at the eerie green glow of the numbers on the alarm clock. The clock seemed to be mocking him as the numbers 2:58 glared out to him. Vincent raised his gold plated claw to his forehead and with an angry grumble, promptly fell back onto the mattress lying on his front, shoving his pillow over his head as he glared underneath his cover.
He rarely slept since he was awakened and now that he actually managed to go to sleep with no nightmares plaguing his mind, which was not something to be overlooked as this happened extremely rarely, he was reawakened by the vengeful elements battling against each other outside.
There is no point, I would have probably been awakened sooner or later by nightmares anyway... Vincent lifted the pillow off his head and after untangling himself from his sheets slowly placed his bare feet onto the cold, unforgiving metal floor. Vincent winced as his feet met the floor, partly from the cold but mostly because of the unwanted memories that assaulted his mind, a whitecoat, a lab, a syringe, cold metal chains...
The memories assaulted his brain in a series of flashes and Vincent unconsciously tightened his right fist while his left hand dug into the mattress, springs easily snapping under the strain. Quickly realising what he was doing, he immediately released his hold of the bed and reeled backwards before standing completely still in front of the window in nothing but black leather trousers.
The window now reflected what little light it could give onto Vincent, his tense and rigid form bathed in the shadows of raindrops, dancing down the glass of the window. Vincent stood, not moving. Not daring to breathe. For how long he did not know.
Slowly, but with great care, the muscles in Vincent's body relaxed as Vincent gave a shuddering exhale of breath, so slight you might not have even noticed he breathed at all.
Suddenly, another flash of lightning illuminated the room as thunder made itself heard over the torrential downpour. Vincent perked up as his improved hearing picked up on a strange sound.
A... squeak?
A slight frown appeared on Vincent's otherwise passive face as he closed his eyes and pushed his improved senses outwards. After a few moments had passed, he once more opened his eyes. His senses were thrown off to some extent because of the noise being made outside, but he could just figure that everyone was in their respective rooms, asleep no doubt.
... Wait, there is seven including myself ... But we have eight in the group.
Vincent's frown seemed to deepen and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Someone was missing.
Swiftly walking across the room, Vincent picked up his cloak off the floor and quickly fastened it, all the while walking towards the door and out into the hallway. The hallway was enveloped in darkness as no windows were situated here and the lights were turned off due to the time of night, making Vincent's eyes seem to take on a life of their own as they glowed a dim red in the darkness.
Using stealth that was near inhuman, Vincent crept along the corridor, his feet making no sound as they hit the cold, metal flooring. Passing the doors of his sleeping teammates, Vincent seemed to hesitate as he reached the stairs leading up towards deck. That all changed however as a roll of thunder echoed throughout the Highwind and a small scream was heard up on deck.
Vincent immediately took action and rushed up the stairs three at a time with his long legs, his cape flapping out behind him, the edges slightly torn showing the many battles it had endured. He reached down for his gun only to be met with air. Vincent cursed lightly under his breath, a foolish mistake he had made. No matter, he might not be a strong physical fighter but that didn't mean he couldn't hold his own in front of an enemy. The talons of his left claw flexed for emphasis.
Arriving on the floor above, Vincent quickly ran across the metal bridge while taking care to remain as quiet as possible. Slowing down upon arriving at the metal doors that allowed entrance to where the sound came from, the deck, Vincent quickly readied himself by positioning himself into a battle stance before quickly slipping into the room, the double doors closing behind him with a quiet hiss.
Lightning flashed the moment he entered and the deck, along with Vincent, was illuminated giving the Gun Slinger an incredibly intimidating look. His eyes glowed a blood red, the contours of his face illuminated in shadow and the light gleamed threateningly upon his raised claw.
As he quickly scanned the room, nothing seemed to be out of place. Vincent cautiously lowered his claw as he stepped further onto the deck so that he was standing looking out towards the glass window where a mini waterfall fell over the glass in streams, making it unable to see outside. The little light that came from the window reflected across the deck, making shadows of the running water across the opposite part of the room just like Vincent's room had.
... Maybe it was just the creaking from the Highwind, under all the stress of the storm outside. It is a force to be reckoned with... And yet, something seems... Not right here...
Vincent was becoming uneasy, standing on the deck in the open area instead of his normally enclosed spot near the control panels. He liked that area because it gave him a certain sense of security, but being in this open spot made him on edge... Or was it something else? Now that he thought about it, he could sense something in the air...
Is that... Is that Fear?
Before Vincent could dwell on it further, an especially loud boom of thunder was heard, making up for the lightning that had flashed awhile earlier. As the thunder roared with improved noise level, a scream of fear was heard from a corner of the deck.
Vincent whirled around on his heel and snarled, his claw raised and eyes ablaze with ferocity, but the look slowly melted to one of confusion and realisation.
That voice... That scream...
Vincent could suddenly hear a small noise coming from the small steps that lead to the area with the control panels... His area. Vincent slowly lowered his claw and hid it as he lowered his head so the bottom of his mouth was covered by the cowl of his cloak. Slowly walking away from the window, Vincent approached the area that the noise had came from.
As he came closer the sound became clearer and as he reached the top of the steps leading down into the area the sound could be clearly heard as whimpering. Vincent frowned slightly at this and slowly descended the steps into the area. As he came closer the whimpering seemed to stop and an eerie silence filled the area, only the rains continued assault upon the windows interrupting the tension that had seemed to have built in the air.
After a few moments of silence realisation hit Vincent like a punch to the chest, quite literally as he was sent skidding across the floor, cracking his skull upon the metal steps as a figure emerged from the shadows with a very familiar battle cry.
"HA! That shows you! No one sneaks up on Tifa Lo- ..." Tifa stood there, her voice and figure slightly shaking but still in a moment of triumph but it was very short lived as she suddenly realised who she had assaulted.
Tifa Lockheart's eyes fell upon the unconscious form of one Vincent Valentine, who lay sprawled across the floor tangled up in his cape, his eyes fluttering showing he was trying and very slowly coming to.
Tifa's hand instinctively flew towards her mouth, her eyes widening at the realisation that she had attacked a teammate. Normally, she would never make such a foolish mistake but with her current state and situation her nerves were frayed and her mind was in such a jumble she merely presumed that there had been an intruder and did not take into account that it could have been one of her friends.
Vincent swore he could see little Chocobo's running in circles around his head as he slowly came to from the surprise attack he should have been aware of. How could he have been so stupid, he was really off tonight. As Vincent started to come back to reality, he could feel something pressed against his forehead as someone called his name.
Tifa... Who else could it be with a punch like that...
... Ow.
As Vincent finally opened his eyes he found himself looking up into Tifa's face, his head resting in her lap as she pressed a cool, shaky hand to his forehead.
"V-Vincent? Vincent! Are you o-okay? I'm so sorry! I-I didn't know it was you..." Tifa stuttered as she tried to explain to Vincent what happened but he merely held up his hand to silence her.
"... I'm fine Tifa." Vincent slowly raised himself up into a sitting position, already missing her soothing hand before carefully looking at Tifa and giving a small frown. She was wearing black silk shorts and a white baggy T-Shirt, her hair wasn't held in a ponytail and it was allowed to flow freely down her back. That however was not the reason he frowned, to be honest, he found her stunning in this new style she now wore, especially her hair.
The reason for his frowning was because Tifa was shaking all over, she stuttered when trying to speak and she seemed to be very, very nervous.
Tifa sat under Vincent's inquiring gaze, nervously wringing her hands as his eyes skimmed over her form. Tifa merely let him as she glanced out the window, trying to pull her nerves back together.
"Tifa... Are you well?" Vincent tilted his head slightly as his brow furrowed, giving her a questioning look.
Tifa opened her mouth about to reply to his question, when a flash of lightning illuminated the deck in a brilliant flash of light, shortly followed by a rolling boom of thunder.
Tifa screamed, followed by a squeak before clinging onto the closest thing she could find, which unfortunately happened to be a certain Gunslinger.
Vincent instantly froze at the contact of another, it had been far too long that his body seemed unfamiliar to it now yet screamed out for it at the same time. After a few moments Vincent slowly looked down over the cowl of his cloak at Tifa, who held his waist in a vice like grip, her head buried into his cloak.
Vincent's eyes seemed to soften as he looked upon her small shaking form. He knew she was far from the scared little girl she showed right now, but rather a ferocious fighter with a will of steel and a heart of untainted kindness for others. She was an angel in her own right, scared or not, she would go through incredible lengths to protect anyone close to her, she already proved that when Sephiroth had attacked her when she was still a child.
Vincent suddenly felt a huge amount of respect and admiration for the form in front of him and the urge to protect her from everything as he once again watched her shaking form snuggle deeper into his cloak as another boom of thunder sounded outside.
Tifa had heard the thunder and had instantly frozen in fear before screaming and flinging herself onto something, anything, that could maybe support her. After a few tense moments, she finally calmed down enough to figure out what she was holding onto. Her heart nearly stopped as she opened her eyes only to be met with the red fabric of Vincent's cloak.
She knew she shouldn't be grabbing onto Vincent like a scared child, but she couldn't help it. She was really scared of thunder, ever since she was a child... and besides, it just felt so right. Suddenly, she realised her hands were wrapped around Vincent's waist but she couldn't feel any sort of material, only skin. She suddenly blushed at the thought of Vincent being half naked underneath her but quickly pushed those thoughts aside.
She just managed to hold in a scream as another boom of thunder resounded throughout the deck and she snuggled closer into Vincent's cloak. She felt him slowly relax under her and gave a small sigh of relief at his acceptance but was completely shocked, but not disappointed, when she felt his arm and claw wrap around her shaking form, pulling her to him as the claw kept a firm but gentle hold on her waist while his other hand played with the tips of her hair comfortingly.
Tifa smiled a nervous smile as she once again buried her head into his cloak, inhaling deeply to find that he smelt of gunpowder and a faint smell of roses and cloves. Her smile grew as she felt a sense of complete security wash over her as she basked in Vincent's presence.
Vincent watched as Tifa seemed to calm down a great deal after he wrapped his arms around her form while she buried her head deeper into his cloak. Vincent gave a slight upturn of the lips as he watched her relax under him. As much as he hated to ruin the moment, he needed to ask her a few questions to clear this up.
"... Tifa?"
Vincent's chest rumbled as he said her name and caused her to slightly tilt her head up from his cloak and give him a questioning glance.
"Y-yes Vincent?"
Vincent's slight frown was hidden by the cowl of his cloak as he noticed she was still stuttering with her words.
"Why have you been in here and for how long? You should be asleep like the rest of them."
Tifa gave a nervous, shuddering sigh as Vincent gazed at her questioningly.
"I don't know h-how long I've b-been in here for but I w-was w-woken up by the storm. I've always been s-scared of thunder, ever since I was l-little..." Tifa lowered her head sheepishly.
"I-I normally ran into my p-parents bedroom and hid under their covers b-but..." Tifa seemed to swallow a lump in her throat and tears prickled at the back of her eyes. "T-they aren't here anymore s-so I had n-no one to turn to. So I h-hid h-here." Tifa lowered her head as a few tears escaped and rolled down her face, dripping onto the floor, becoming drowned out by the storm outside which seemed relentless.
"W-why were you awake and why d-did you come in here?" Tifa asked, resting her head upon Vincent's chest as she heard him give his rumbled reply.
"I woke up from the storm outside," Vincent knew that was only half of the truth but he did not want to mention his nightmares in fear of them resurfacing, "I heard a noise up here and thought it to be an intruder, so I investigated." Vincent reached out his right hand while Tifa still leant on his chest and brushed the tears away from her face.
"But instead I got the wind knocked out of me, literally." Tifa gave a small laugh at his quiet monotone before burying her head in his chest once again. "You know..." He continued but seemed to stop, a bit shy to continue. Tifa lifted her head and gave him a look that urged him on.
"Well... You could... Always come to me, if you ever get scared. If you ever need anything just remember... I'll be here." Vincent talked in a soothing monotone that was so quiet that Tifa had to strain to hear him. "You are always the support Tifa, helping others get back on their feet when they fall. You however won't have anyone if you ever need someone to fall back on, so remember Tifa, Im always here..."
Tifa smiled and hugged him tighter after he finished speaking, Vincent might be the quiet, emotionless one of the group... but he always seemed to know how to cheer her up. He was a true friend, maybe even more... They were now in the Highwind just before they went into the Northern Crater to fight Sephiroth and as she thought back to during their journey...
Vincent had always been there regardless. They had become good friends quickly, although it never seemed to be noticable by the others. She remembered back to the certain antics they got up to... Like when her, Yuffie and Vincent had put green hair dye in one of the shampoo bottles of Costa Del Sol, the result was a sulking Cloud with light green hair for the rest of the week. Although it was Yuffie's idea and Vincent and herself were dragged into it by the young shinobi, it was still good fun.
Also when they were at Icicle Inn, it was night and she couldn't sleep being in too much pain over Aerith's death, Vincent had come to her rescue and took her to a high point in the town and showed her the Northern Lights. That was one of her most treasured memories, kept along with the ones of her parents.
But one of her favourites was when no one would have thought that Vincent could pull a prank but he certainly showed Cid and the rest of them. Especially Cid. Vincent hid his Cigarettes in the middle of the night in Rocket Town. So when Cid woke up in the morning, he became infuriated because he couldn't find his cigarettes, Vincent then lit one in his kitchen to lure Cid down there with the smell.
Once Cid was happily smoking with his cigarette in the kitchen, Vincent locked the doors from the outside so when Cid was about to walk back upstairs, he smashed face first into the door, successfully squashing his cigarette and setting what little of a beard he had alight. He spent the whole morning running around with water and screaming his head off that whoever pulled the prank he would kill them.
Normally the person owned up who did it by now so they sat at the table each casting suspicious glances at each other until everyone had refused that they were responsible. Then all eyes were on the last remaining person, disbelieving, refusing to believe it. Tifa though, could remember it like yesterday. Vincent sat there, a small grin just barely hidden under the cowl of his cloak. She remembered bursting out laughing at that point, with an infuriated Cid screaming about his precious cigarettes in the background.
Tifa smiled at the memories, those were only a handful of them too. He really was a great friend. Another flash of lightning and boom of thunder sounded in the deck of the Highwind and Tifa quickly tightened her grip on Vincent before muttering a small thank you into his cloak.
Vincent eyes gazed down upon Tifa as he managed to catch her muttered thanks as he slowly pulled her closer, if that was possible. His eyes dulled with sadness as his thoughts took a more sorrowful approach.
Everyone that I have come in contact with my whole life has either suffered or worse... I can't allow that to happen to Tifa, not if I can help it... I may be here for her whenever she so wishes but can I really help her?
He suddenly realised something, Tifa was shaking partly because of the storm but mostly because of the cold. He mentally scolded himself, he might not feel cold as much as he used too but that didn't mean the others couldn't. They were in the Highwind, at night, in the Northern Continent located near the Northern Crater. No wonder she was shaking.
Tifa smiled in response when he hugged her closer but jumped slightly when she felt him move. Lifting her head from his cloak, she looked up only to see him grabbing the right corner of his cape and draping it over her shoulders. Tifa was surrounded by the warmth that the cape had to offer and gave a look that silently questioned Vincent all the while a smile passing over her face.
"You were cold." Vincent responded simply in reply to her questioning eyes. Tifa merely smiled wider and prodded him in the chest with her finger playfully. Now that she thought about it, she was cold. She guessed she never really noticed because she was too much in a panic from the storm that it sent her senses afray with fear. Tifa watched as Vincent seemed to shuffle away from her slightly at her prod and she merely smirked and did it again.
Vincent winced as Tifa prodded him in the chest with her finger. She seemed to have a playful smile upon her lips as she did so and she gave Vincent a wonderful idea. Maybe he could help her after all. Vincent shuffled further away from her as she prodded, yet again, into his chest with her index finger. Tifa's smile seemed to widen as he did so.
"What's wrong Vincent? Are you ticklish? Come on I won't bite." Tifa seemed to giggle as Vincent widened his eyes slightly in a rare display of emotion before regaining his composure, a slight smirk hidden from Tifa's view behind the cowl of his cloak.
"I'm afraid if you want to know, you are going to have to find out for yourself Miss Lockhart." Vincent swiftly released Tifa from his hold and jumped up, gracefully executing a backflip before landing at the top of the stairs that he descended earlier to find Tifa's hiding place.
Tifa seemed to watch him in awe as he gracefully released her and backflipped all in one fluid motion, shivering a little as the cold hit her skin once again. She smirked at his hidden invitation and shakily but slowly got up to her feet, wobbling a little as she did so but gave him a determined yet playful glare when she finally stood up to her full height.
Vincent watched her as she slowly got to her feet, as she did so he took that moment in time to quickly examine the back of his head.
... It was bleeding but it has healed fast. Hojo actually did something useful for once...
Vincent was brought out of his thoughts and he lowered his hand as Tifa finally stood up and glared at him playfully.
"Okay then Mr Valentine, I'm about to find out." Tifa smirked as she pounced, her arms outstreched, aimed for his sides. She never made it though as Vincent quickly barrel rolled through the air to land on the series of control panels to the left of the deck which all glowed in different colours, where the pilots normally stood making errors or pressing the wrong buttons.
Tifa, yet again, watched with amazement as Vincent performed these aerial acrobatics like it was nothing but jumping over a small fence.
"Show off..." Tifa muttered, her voice laced with humor as she yet again advanced upon him, "I will find out Vincent, even if I have to cast Stop on you!"
Vincent's eyebrow quirked up in response to her empty threat as a roll of thunder was heard outside but Tifa seemed to have not heard it.
It's working... She is too focused on catching me that she is not scared of the storm. Vincent was inwardly pleased with himself as he watched Tifa continue to try and catch him. Tifa yet again lunged for him not stopping her chase this time making Vincent in total, backflip from the control panels, perform multiple kicks off the walls, frontflip over her head, swing from one of the pipes on the ceiling before hooking his legs over one of them, his body hanging down as he watched her try to continue after him but instead, collapsing to the floor trying to catch her breath.
During all of that, Vincent and Tifa had exchanged many empty threats which slowly ended up to them both calling each other names such as "Stubborn old vampire," and "Overgrown karate kid." As Vincent dropped down from the pipe on the ceiling, landing perfectly on his feet after watching Tifa for a few moments, he mentally counted the amount of times the thunder and lightning had sounded and Tifa had ignored it.
Vincent's eyes softened as he walked over to Tifa, who now sat in the middle of the floor in front of the huge window, the storm still raging on outside. Vincent slowly lowered himself to his knees as he looked at Tifa's tired face, her breath was evening out now but her eyes were drooping dangerously low. The time of night had finally caught up to her small form.
Vincent caught her shivering again, the adrenaline slowly fading from her body and hesitated for a moment before he cautiously lifted up the corner of his cape, draping it around her small shoulders slowly. Suddenly, Tifa all but leaned into his form, surprising Vincent to some extent but he gave no complaint as he warily wrapped his right arm around her small form, pulling her closer. Tifa once again buried her head into his chest, her eyes fluttering as she tried to fight away the sleep taking over her body and mind.
"...Tifa?"
Tifa gave a "Mmmhmm..." to show she was listening.
"You know, it has thundered three times now and you ignored every single one..." Tifa's eyes seemed to widen a bit before she smiled and nuzzled into his cloak some more. Tifa murmered quietly into Vincent's chest as her eyes continued to droop, her shoulders sagging.
"I'm never going to find out... If your ticklish now... The reason why I didn't notice... was because... I forget everything... when I'm with you..." Vincent's eyes widened slightly, did she say and mean what he thought she did? He quickly looked back to her face for an explanation only to find that she had fallen asleep, her breath coming out in even gasps, her head resting comfortably against his chest.
Vincent looked down upon her angelic face while lightning once again illuminated the whole deck before a boom of thunder followed. Tifa unconsciously whimpered and drew herself into a tighter ball against Vincent's chest, her hand clutching the fabric of his cloak, seeking his comfort and presence. Vincent tightened his hold upon her and she relaxed, as if comforted by the knowledge that he was there with her.
Vincent paused for a moment and looked at the window, the storm still going strong as the water ran with increased speed down the glass and the thunder rumbled outside. He then looked back to Tifa, and making up his mind, slowly stood up holding Tifa bridal style close to his body.
He then looked at her face, his eyes softening as he thought back to her last words before she was taken by sleep and brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. He then proceeded out of the deck, crossing the metal bridge and descending back into the sleeping quarters, his enhanced vision guiding his way.
As he reached Tifa's door he slowly nudged it open, Tifa giving a small moan in response before he crossed her room and gently set her down on the bed. He studied her face for a few seconds, trying to sort out his already jumbled up thoughts, before turning to leave when he was promptly pulled back. Vincent stumbled backwards before turning back to the source of the problem.
Tifa had started to shiver once again and missing the warmth his body had provided her with, she had unconsciously grabbed a hold of Vincent's cape. Vincent closed his eyes in a moment of silent frustration before he looked back to Tifa, his anger promptly melting away from his face. She was too child like, to innocent, having to have a sense of security around her... It reminded him of... of... himself when he was a young child...
Slowly returning to her, Vincent cautiously slid his arm under her knees and with extreme care, his claw underneath her shoulders before spinning on his heel and exiting Tifa's room, wandering to the far end of the corridor to the last room and entering.
Once again in his room Vincent walked over to the side of the bed next to the window, the storm outside just the same as before in ferocity, before gently yet again, placing Tifa down, onto his bed. After watching her sleeping form for a few moments, he turned his head to the digital clock on his desk. 3:33 glowed out to him as he turned back to Tifa, unfastening his cloak and taking it off his broad shoulders, then going around to the other side of the bed and climbing in beside her.
Vincent then grabbed his cloak and flapped it out, much like a blanket, before placing it over the both of them. Vincent's eyes softened and his lips gave the slightest upturn as he looked down at her before draping his claw around her waist, pulling her back closer to his chest. Tifa leaned into him, her head resting between the crook of his neck as he placed his head atop of hers.
I promise Tifa... I'll protect you, anything from Sephiroth to a storm. I 'll make a promise to you that I couldn't to a woman I once loved all those years ago.
Vincent then closed his eyes, but before he fell into the blessed abyss of unconsciousness, one more thought rang through his head.
...Besides, I can't let you see me laugh like a little girl if you managed to tickle me.
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