Vincent Comes Home

I have been a little reluctant to put in a whole lot of Zet, Jeremiah's First, because I was afraid that people would feel I was pushing a mary-sue on them. And I don't want Zet to be a Mary-sue at all. So I've been trying to bring her in slowly. So, after 18 chapters, I figure I can give her a little bit of focus now that, hopefully, you're all used to her. But don't worry, it's just a short bit. And I'm putting up the next chapter right away. So don't panic if you despise her...

Maron--I don't mind constant reviews at all. I think they're fabulous to read. Besides, the thing that makes a decent story are the readers. Else I'd just be sitting alone, reading all by myself (*world's smallest violin! Go!* Hahaha!) And I decided to have the next chapter be from Cloud's POV, because I liked doing that too--and I was afraid that after this point, going from his point of view would be too confusing. It let's the readers in on a couple things that I hadn't planned to reveal until later, but hey--sacrifices must be made. :D

MaTaki--I read your review and just grinned to myself. But I'll have you know that what happens in the next chapter was planned before you wrote that. ^_^

Femme Fatal--Thank you for commenting. I hope I can keep you interested. At least for a little while longer.

Tincent--You're going to hate me later. At least for a time. :D

Through the Skill-Portal! We must save the Prince!


Zet chewed her lip and looked up. It was still snowing out, thick and heavy. It promised to be difficult in the morning. She looked at her hands.

Jeremiah was sitting at a desk, leaning back on the chair he had flipped around so he could see her. “Wassamatter, Zet?”

She looked up at him and smiled. She stretched. “Nothin’,” she told him, yawning. “How’s your hand?”

“This ol’ thing?”

“You are not that old, Jeremy.”

He grinned at her, holding up his left hand for inspection. “Fine. Would be be’er if w’’ad some hot chocolate.”

“It’d be better if you weren’t using that ancient cross-bow.”

Jeremiah snorted. “Shows how little y’know ‘bout cross bows. I was a commander—“

“—when you were in the wars,” she finished, grinning.

Jeremiah scowled at her. “You young people. Here, go git somethin’ f’an ol’ man.”

“You aren’t--“

“I woul’ like some ‘ot chocolate. Go into th’town an’ git me some ‘ot chocolate an’ some marshmallows. And if some kid tries t’run y’over. Save th’ damn marshmallows.”

She laughed. “What’s gonna run me over? A snowboard?”

“I’s possible,” said Jeremiah, pointing a finger at her. He handed her some gil.

Zet furrowed her eyebrows. “This is a lot of gil for some hot chocolate and marshmallows.”

Jeremiah smiled at her. “Well, jus’ in case y’sees somethin’ y’can’t live without.”

“What, like a souvenir?”

“Mayap,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “New weapon, Phoenix Down, or maybe somethin’ else. Barret tol’ me there’s a new Materia and Item shop. Jus’ git yerself somethin’.”

“I don’t need anything, Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah shrugged. “I’m bein’ nice. Ya be’er take advantage of it.”

“You’re always pretty nice, Jeremy.”

He snorted, exasperated. “Jus’ go on. ‘ave fun. Yer young. You should ‘ave more fun.”

Zet rolled her eyes and grabbed her jacket. “I’ll bring you the change, Jeremy.”

Zet walked out the door and started down the hallway, just managing to sidestep Yuffie and Reno as the exited a room.

“Hey Zet,” said Yuffie, nodding as they passed her.

Zet looked away, suddenly shy. “Hallo. Er. How’s Vincent?”

“Surprisingly good. His claw is a little blackened. I think Cid wants him to take it apart, which will probably hurt a lot,” Yuffie told her. “And he probably has a headache. And, you know, he hasn’t eaten either. We should have sent him something up here. And a drink too.”

Reno rolled his eyes. “But he’s surprisingly good,” he said, laughing.

“Shaddap,” said Yuffie, glaring at him.

“She’s so terrible to me,” Reno confided to Zet, shaking his head mournfully.

Zet had to smile. These two always made her laugh. “You should show ‘er who’s boss.”

“Who’s boss?” Yuffie said, bewildered.

“Y’know, you’ve got a point.” And Reno reached over and lifted Yuffie like a sack of potatoes. He threw her over his shoulder.

“Goddammit, Reno!” Yuffie kicked at him, roaring indignantly.

“Thanks for the tip, sweets,” Reno said, winking at her. He walked away.

Zet smiled to herself and continued. A door shut to her right and she heard the muffled voices of Nanaki and Vincent. Pausing for a moment, she considered knocking on the door, than changed her mind. She walked on to the steps that would take her downstairs.

Outside, the snow fell. She could see the airship off by the cliffs. It was the only patch of land devoid of snow. Not far from it were chocobo tracks. Perhaps the chocobos kept it clear so they could eat? They’ll be hungry tonight. Rubbing her hands together, Zet stepped across the street, nimbly avoiding some sledding children. It was nearing night. The sun was just beginning to set far across the ocean, making it a soup of molten gold.

Zet didn’t bother with the weapons dealer. Her halberd was good enough. And she had nowhere to keep spare weapons. Instead, she went to the Materia seller. It was warm in the building and Zet quickly closed the door so none of the heat would escape. She rubbed her hands, red and cold.

“Hallo,” said a man who looked to be in his forties or so. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh,” said Zet, looking away. “Just looking, thanks.” She glanced over his stock.

“We got some new stuff in. Explorers go into the Crater sometimes to have a look around. Sometimes they come back with new Materia. One time, even a Summon. But some sonofawhore stole it.”

Zet had never used a Summon, so it didn’t matter much to her.

“But we’ve got some elementals, of course. Cure. Some status effects and things. Are you looking for anything in particular?”

She didn’t answer him, but stared at his display case, as if engrossed by it. She didn’t have near enough gil for an MP or an HP Plus. She heard their calls were particularly addictive though, so maybe that was for the better. She’d heard the HP Plus made you feel stronger and more powerful. It was always a warm hum over your entire body. So letting go of it was difficult. The MP was similar. And it increased your ability to use Materia, which in turn, must only add to the call of the other orbs.

Zet liked Command Materia, personally. When you put a yellow orb of Command Materia into your armor or your weapon it was like…a flood of knowledge suddenly burst into your brain. You knew the best ways to steal. Or you could turn creatures into usuable items. You could manipulate your enemies or learn fighting combinations that hit two to four times. All sorts of things were possible with Command Materia. The only one Zet didn’t really like was Throw. It seemed impractical to throw your items at monsters unless they were meant for it. But Command Materia could be expensive too.

Zet swept her eyes over the display case and saw that, she didn’t really have enough gil for much of this. “Maybe just…a Cure Materia.”

“One of our most popular,” said the man, bending over behind the counter to open the display case. He lifted the green orb and brought it for her to view. “Oh, almost forgot. You gotta license?”

“Oh, right,” said Zet. She dug around in her pocket and pulled out the card. She handed it to the man.

He seemed to study it for a few moments. Taking in her picture on it compared to her face. He read all the little numbers. “Nozetta Corain. You’re a level six Materia user? That’s not bad outta twenty. Don’t you fly with Captain Jeremiah over in North Valley?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “He’s a level eight.”

“He’s a good man. We were friends when we were kids. He was like a big brother. He still pilots then?”

She nodded.

“Well, that’s good. Here’s your Materia. Naw, take back some of this gil. We get enough business up here, I can give Jeremiah’s First a discount.”

“Thank you,” she said, genuinely grateful. “Is there an Item seller around here anywhere?”

“Our Item guy? He’s next building over.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Tell Jeremiah that old George says ‘hi’.”

“I will. Thanks.” Zet slipped her Materia into her pocket and squared her shoulders against the cold. She walked down the street to the next building. It wasn’t as warm in this building, but still warmer than it was outside.

The grizzled old man also had a display case for his items. Phoenix Downs and Potions and other tonics. Even a small stack of Ethers. All said to make you strong and restore your wounds.

“I just need some regular stuff, sir. My captain wants some hot chocolate and some marshmallows.”

The man nodded, seeming to prefer not to talk, he pointed to a set of shelves on a far wall. Zet went to them and picked out a box of Icicle Inn’s Homemade Special Dark Hot Chocolate (Jeremiah’s favorite) and a bag of Northern Family generic brand marshmallows. She looked over the other items and looked at her hand. Maybe I shouldn’t have bought that Materia… She shook her head. No use in regretting it now. Her eyes cascaded over the shelves until she came upon something that caught her eye.

They were ordinary, blue-strapped, flight goggles. The type that Jeremiah had but never wore and always needed. She picked up a pair of them and looked them over. The quality wasn’t as great as it might have been in a city like Midgar or a pilot’s haven like Rocket Town but maybe they would suffice.

Zet chewed her lip, debating. Maybe he’d like a new set? His had been torn, she remembered. And she was right there. Who knew where he was? He needed someplace to put his cigarettes. Feeling awkward and more than a little uncertain, she grabbed the goggles and swiftly went to the counter before she could change her mind.

She went out in the cold and straight back to the Inn. Once inside, in the common room, she checked her gil. George had only charged her five hundred for the Materia, the hot chocolate and marshmallows came to twenty-five, and the goggles had been three hundred and fifty. She had over a thousand gil left.

She went upstairs to Jeremiah’s room, gladly gave him the change, and showed him all the items except the goggles (smudging the details on the prices slightly). For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him about them. She was embarrassed and a little angry with herself. She told him about George and he resolved to go and see the man himself.

He started to put on his jacket and Zet took the opportunity to quickly leave the room.


Down the hallway, she sat down on her little bed and looked at the goggles. Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach. She was an idiot. Buying goggles for Cid was certainly a dumb idea. He was going to think she was a moron. She ran her tongue over her teeth and bit her lip.

“Well,,” she muttered to herself. “Jus’ leave ‘em with a note or something. I happened to see them and remembered that his were broken. Nothing to it.”

Three tries later she got the note on a scrap of paper. She went out of her room and counted doors, naming off the people in them.

Yuffie and Reno. Jeremiah. Tifa. Cloud. Vincent. Nanaki and Barret. There were two doors left. The last was locked. She went to the other. Her stomach was churning. If she opened that door and he was in there, she was going to throw up. And then she’d never be able to look him in the eye again.

Please don’t be here. Please don’t be here.

She turned the knob and opened the door.

She flipped on the lights. “There is a God.”

The room was empty. Cid’s Venus Gospel lay on a bed that looked as though it hadn’t been slept it. Zet hurried over to the writing desk and laid down the goggles and her note. She turned on her heel and flew out of the room, just remembering to turn off the lights behind her and shut the door. She raced back to the refuge of her own room, closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

“I’m such a fucking idiot,” she said to herself. Her heart was racing. Her hands were cold and trembling. Her stomach was still rolling uncertainly. She shivered. “I need a shower. That’s what I’ll do. Take a shower. Chill out. Relax.” She swallowed hard.

Her fingers were still trembling and icy cold when she went to the adjoining bathroom of her room. She turned on the water to let it heat up and undressed, her stomach finally beginning to settle. She left her jeans and her favorite navy blue t-shirt and other clothes in a heap in the corner of the bathroom so they wouldn’t get wet from any errant shower spray and stepped quickly behind the curtain.

She leaned forward, putting her hands on the wet tile, locking her arms and let the hot water soak into her back. She tried to empty her mind. Anything but let her thoughts wander to the famous Captain, Cid Highwind and the stupid thing she’d just done.


---