Du darfst mein bestrafer sein: Sehnsucht

It had hardly been a day after the defeat of Sephiroth; the real, true defeat, and a guarantee that he wasn’t coming back.

Everyone else wanted to get back home. Cid had an evening involving vodka, his bed, and Vincent planned and he’d been planning on it for some time.

"Hey Vince?" Cid asked happily, poking his head into the room. "Check your materia, I just dropped off Yuffie."

"I got it all, thanks," Vincent had replied, closing his pack shut.

"You’re not going somewhere, are you?" Cid asked, the cheer leaving his voice as he noticed Vincent packing.

"I can’t stay."

"But we talked about this, Vince. I even called Shera and she—"

"I know, Cid," Vincent had replied, putting his pack on his shoulder. He had everything ready to go wandering off on his own, and it had scared Cid. "But I have to do this first."

"What do you mean by ‘this?’ What are you fucking talking about?"

"I can’t tell you," Vincent said, putting a hand around Cid’s face.

"Where are you going, then?"

"I can’t tell you that eith Now Now, get out of the doorway."

"Wait a minute," Cid said as Vincent kissed his forehead and gently pushed him aside. "You had better as hell not be doing what I think you’re doing!"

"I’m not going to kill myself," Vincent said, surprisingly calmly as he walked around the airship. "I’m coming back."

"Promise?"

"I promise you Cid," Vincent said turning around and he did something that Cid still considered uncommon for Vincent. He smiled. "I’m coming back." He turned around and started walking again.

"I’m going to hold you to that. You hear me? Vince…"

Vincent stopped in the doorway. "I wouldn’t be coming back if it weren’t for you, Cid. I don’t know where I’d be going, but I wouldn’t be coming back. Thank you." With that, he walked out the door and into the bright sunlight.

Cid didn’t bother following. He stood there, wondering what to do next, and decided the first thing to do, now that Vincent was gone, was to have a cigarette.