I love love looooove how Vincent goes about fixing things.

Wow, that was really intense!
I almost bursted in tears when Sephiroth just went and said "I am your son". Somehow I can totally imagine exactly how Older!Vincent was feeling at that moment, even though the emotions are way to complex to describe in words...
'Bittersweet' is really the best term for it.

As I was reading, I kept thinking 'omg I wish someone would do this and that for poor Vincent to make him happier', and then realized that's exactly what Older!Vincent was doing for his younger self. It didn't make it any less bittersweet.

And Vincent is probably going to keep that little secret forever, since revealing it to anyone relevant would probably defeat the very purpose of erasing the history in the first place. They are happy and content because they have no idea what could have been, what would have been. Which is why the life of Vincent himself would never be as perfect, simply because he knows it's not perfect. Despite a plan perfectly, Turkishly, excuted.

Dammit, I'm totally rambling now.

But anyway, at least it is a somewhat happy ending. Really, what else can he be, if not a Turk? Tseng was smart enough to see how his skill set was just so perfectly aligned with that of a Turk. I can just imagine him be like 'OK. I still need to kill a few people and blow up some reactors and all, but OK.' and Reno be like 'dude you serious yo?' and Tseng just stares for a few minutes before regaining his cool... *insane giggles*
It may not be perfect, but I suppose Vincent would at least find peace and happiness.
And he won't be bored. Vincent the Super Turk getting smashed in a bar out of sheer boredom and conveniently forgetting his own cover story is just too hilarious...

Love how you portrayed Vincent, and how the plot moved along. This story deserves a lot more reviews than I can give.

Love it!

Great story!
I loved Vincent's take on time travel!
This is actually the 2nd time I've read this, I couldn't help rereading it!

Haha, I loved it! Sticking with Vincent's POV and not having him shadow everything allows you to move the plot quickly and effectively. I like the "happy ending" that is proof that Vincent's work in this timeline was a success. A few logistical thoughts popped up while I was reading, though (in case you were ever thinking of revisiting this plot for recreation or the story for editorial reasons - it surely doesn't particularly need changing):

1. It's unclear how much time passes early on, while Vincent and Cloud are traveling. For a while, I thought that Cloud was still around 8-10 years old when Vincent makes arrangements with Genesis.

2. How did Vincent manage to justify getting in touch with everyone from Cloud's old team? i.e. Did he just happen to pick Cid "at random" to talk to Cloud from all of the denizens from Rocket Town and convince him to spend enough time with Cloud for the two of them to actually become friends?

3. Does Cloud (or anyone else who may have had access to Vincent's photos) never recognize that "Lance Strife" looks just like Vincent Valentine?

4. Given that the newly-woken Vincent's memory differs from what Sephiroth tells him, wouldn't Vincent want to confirm the changes with some research? And wouldn't that research inevitably lead him to discover "Lance's" forgeries?

5. If "Lance" joins the Turks, I imagine there'd be a much higher chance of him getting recognized by either ShinRa staff or the ShinRa computer systems. Especially if the awoken Vincent Valentine decides to return to the Turks in light of his "son" still being loyal to the company. Or if Vincent Valentine ever catches the attention of the Turks (say, by being recovered from MIA status or by turning out to be Sephiroth's dad).

6. I suppose Vincent is too shocked by Sephiroth's announcement to notice Lance breaking down in the shadows or hastily escaping.

7. If Vincent chooses to rejoin the Turks, might they always distrust him for not sharing his motives? It might be easier to just eliminate him to avoid the risks, even if they'd be losing a very strong potential asset (I just don't think they'd be comfortable taking him without knowing if he's a friend or a foe, given how strong an adversary he can be).

I hope you don't take my ponderings personally or as any sort of attack on your story - it's actually because I get invested in a story I want to believe that it's true that I "troubleshoot" it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this fic. I rarely add stories to my Favourites list, but this story and the quality of your narrative just did it for me !

P.S. The [general] lack of typos and grammatical errors is a HUGE bonus that I unfortunately fail to see in many fics. Well done!

The first Vincent goes back in time story I read, and it is awesome beyond words.

I love the ending...It's just perfect. He goes on for years tormenting the Turks, and then they just recruit him after he practically lets himself get caught.

Great story! I really loved it. Also a very good ending. Thank you for writing.

Pure Vincent wank, and loving it.

In which this fic just became one of my favs. You portrayed Vincent's personality perfectly and I love how you ended this! Overall, I think this fic deserves more reviews, but maybe it's because this fic is so good that people don't find a need to comment on it.

Oh my goodness. I have never read a time travel fic like this before. It's amazing and I am so glad that I read your story. I love the fact that Vincent is more than just a bottle full of angst and I feel that he would eventually become a better man for his experiences. I love how he basically gave himself a mission to save the world and accomplished it without constantly angsting over losing his past to create a better future. He did it the Turk Way and it was really cool too.

"nobody would imagine it if they saw him, but Vincent is cackling madly on the inside."
best. line. ever.
hahahahahaaaaaaaa
I was kinda wary of reading this at first, cause I don't care for Vincent that much but im glad I did. this was FUNNY. I will definitely keep reading.
thanks a bunch for writing such an awesome first chapter! hope the rest are even better.

Oh my gosh this is bloody fantastic. Made me so flippin' happy. Thank you so much for this story you wonderful human being you.

-falls over dead- -a wisp rises from the corpse laughing hysterically-
I love you. I really really love you. You have forever made my entire weekend and just turned my shitty day around.
This was amazing. And thank you for not killing my second favorite, or favorite, FF characters. Absolutely adored the ending. About half way through the chapter I was like, 'He'll either die, dismantle, or be recruited.' I think the option you took was the best.
Yay happy endings!

Gods, I find this beyond hilarious. The changes and matter of fact writing get to me. I was crying through tears at one point.