Vincent Comes Home

I was going to wait to put this up until I had my next chapter finished (it'll be from Vincent's view) but I changed my mind and decided to do it tonight. Merely because I like it. And I like writing for Cid. Even when he's pissed off.

Nevaeh Bluden, Maron, and MaTaki--The three of you are so supportive. You just keep coming back and I really appreciate it. If I could hug you, I would. And I would give you lollipops and chocolate houses and just...yeah. I just really appreciate your glowing support. Helps me feel better about continuing and writing further. And since M&M (haha! :) like the Materia thing so much--I'm gonna see how far I can take that. Thank you both for your thoughts and encouragement on it.

Stephanie: Hahaha! Wow, no one has put it that way, that I'm toying with their mind. Is that a good thing? :D Thank you so much! Aw *shuffles feet*, I use this to practice writing, I'm honored that you think it's pretty good. I'm so embarrased. Really, I'm not sure what to say. Thank you so much. Do you do any writing? I'd love to see yours.

And Femme Fatal--I realize, going back, that it may have been a little unclear as to whether Sephiroth or Jenova has Cloud in it's...er...clutches. But it's Jenova. I used the thing in AC--them finding Jenova's head/essence (depends on which subtitled version you've seen. I've heard both.:)...and kind of twisted it, so it wasn't just a squiggly black ball...but a...a thing...like...it's alive and can think. And it warps Cloud's mind, like it did to Sephiroth. I was also curious in what way you felt sorry for Zet? I don't want her to be a mary-sue, so I'm trying hard to be extra careful with her.

Thanks to my readers who are still with me!

Weddings? I love weddings! Drinks all around!


“Cid, wake up! Cid! Cid, oh Cid, wake up! Please wake up! Cid!”

His eyes opened and he found himself staring into a crisp, white sheet. He was lying facedown on his bed; he hadn’t even bothered with the covers when he’d come in last night. He’d been too exhausted. He hadn’t even turned on the lights. He’d just stumbled in, shut the door and flopped down. He’d slept pretty well too, until now. He lifted himself on his hands and rolled over. His head throbbed, and not from a hangover. “What d’you want, Tifa?”

“You have to come. Cloud says we have to go.”

Cid closed his eyes. “Go where?”

There was a pause. “To…the City.”

Cid’s eyes flew back open. He sat up. “That kid’s a fucking nutcase, just like you. Get away from me. I’m not goin’ to that goddamn city.”

“Please, Cid. Please! You have to listen to me. I—“

“I don’t have to do shit, Tifa.”

“He told me this morning. He said that if he went to the Forgotten City, it would fix everything.”

“Oh, well, because Cloud says it, it must be fucking true. You sure it wasn’t a goddamn dream?” His voice was thick with sarcasm. He jumped off the bed and went to the window. “You know, Tifa. I have nothin’ against Cloud. Hell, I’ve got nothin’ against you either. But we nearly got killed the other day. And I’m not up for repeating the process. You. Are. Crazy.”

“I’M NOT CRAZY!” She yelled at him. She took a deep breath, tears swimming in her eyes. “I’m not. I’m not crazy. I had a—“

“You had a fucking dream, Tifa. A dream! A figment of your imagination!”

“Cloud had the same dream! Something has changed him. That thing that touched him. Jenova. It’s made him different. He was…screaming last night; he said he saw things that weren’t there. But…but I came and calmed him down and he was more normal than he’s ever been. He told me he felt the same. He told me Holy would get rid of it.”

“I can’t fucking believe you!” Cid said, throwing his hands into the air. He started to stride towards her. “One goddamn thing from him and you think he’s normal? That boy hasn’t been fucking normal since day-fucking-one! He’s not even—“

Cid stopped, doing a double-take at his writing desk.

Tifa blinked and followed his gaze. She swallowed. “Wh-what is that?”

Cid walked up to the desk and picked up a pair of blue-strapped flight goggles. He examined them.

No. These weren’t his. His were broken, Cloud had torn them right off his head. They were in his quarters on the Highwind in two pieces. Then what…?

There was a piece of paper on the desk. He picked it up.

I was out today and I happened to see these goggles at the Item Shop and remembered that yours were broken. So I took the liberty of picking them up for you. All they had was blue, so I’m sorry if you wanted another color. I know your old ones were brown but, thinking about it, Jeremiah’s favorite color is blue, and so is mine. And you wear a lot of blue...maybe all pilots’ favorite colors are blue? So anyway, these are for you.

---Zet


Nonplussed, Cid stared at the note and read it again. He looked at the goggles and then looked back at the note and read it a third time. Then he realized Tifa was still talking.

“Cid, if you don’t take us, I’ll ask Jeremiah. And he will. I know he will. But I want you all to come with me. Cid, you and all the others! Just in case something does happen. I’d rather you fly us anywhere, but if you won’t, then I’ll ask Jeremiah—“

Cid waved his hand at her, silencing her words. He stared at the note, then folded it between his fingers and stuck it in his pocket. He looked at the goggles. “Go ahead.”

Tifa paused. “Go…go ahead…what?”

Cid blinked, distracted, staring hard at nothing. “Go tell them to ready th’ship.”

He hardly heard her breathless ‘thank you’s as she ran out the door.

He gave the goggles an experimental stretch and dug in his jacket for his pack of cigarettes. He snapped the goggles over his hair and adjusted them to fit snugly; he stuffed the pack of cigarettes in by his scarred temple. He looked in the mirror. Well, they were a lot like his old ones. Only blue.

They had a bit of sentimental value, of course. Those goggles were the second pair he’d ever received. After he’d graduated from flight school and gotten a hold of his own plane—the Tiny Bronco—his mother had sent them to him, saying they had once belonged to Aunt so-and-so or Cousin such-and-such. People Cid barely knew of and had never met (he found out later that that was because they’d died long before he was born). Of course, none of that had anything to do with these goggles.

So, the question was, why was he so stopped by it?

He tugged the note out of his pocket and read it again. Why would she go to the trouble of getting him a new pair of goggles? Sure, these didn’t have the quality that he would have found in Rocket Town but still, nice goggles were expensive and these weren’t too bad at all.

They weren’t cheap rubber; they were well-made, fine, dyed leather. The buckles on them were mythril (not silver, like his old ones) but that was fine. They would withstand a lot of wear and tear. So really, they weren’t bad at all. He had a couple hundred gil strapped to his head.

So, it wasn’t so much that she had given him goggles. It was that she had given them to him. And why not give them to him in person? Well, maybe she was busy, shithead. No one’s life revolves around yours. He looked in the mirror and gave the leather a poke.

For some reason, it cheered him. Half-smiling, he put the cigarettes back in his pocket and took the goggles off. “Well shit,” he muttered. “That’s a nice gift. I’ll have to go…say thanks.” He scratched his chin, feeling odd at the concept.

Remembering that he’d told Tifa to get the ship ready, he picked up the Gospel and walked out the door. As he was heading towards the stairs, Yuffie came hurrying past him, half-dressed with a towel wrapped around her head.

“’Scuse me!” she sang, making him press against the wall.

“Christ, don’ y’have a bathroom in your room?”

Yuffie slowed and turned around, walking backwards. “Well, yeah, but I had to borrow a shirt from Tifa. I forgot mine at your house.” Yuffie got to her door just as Zet was exiting, turning around to lock up.

She smiled quizzically. “Didn’t you take a shower last night, Yuffie?”

Yuffie looked at her, holding up a towel around her chest with one hand and keeping the other on her head. “Well, yeah.”

“How many showers do you need?”

“Gotta stock up, never know when you won’t be able to clean up regularly.”

Zet smiled. “Do we give our keys to the man downstairs?”

“Yeah,” Yuffie answered. “And according to Tifa, we’re all suppose to meet Cid on the bridge. She just took off.”

Cid watched Zet’s face turn a bit thoughtful as she nodded. “Ah. Thank you.”

Yuffie disappeared back into her room; Reno's laugh was very audible, as was Yuffie answering yelp. Zet rolled her eyes, smiling a little, shouldered her halberd and started to walk to the stairs. She fumbled with a glove and then looked up, meeting Cid’s eyes. She blinked, stopping.

Cid opened his mouth to speak but then she was looking at the ground. “Morning,” she muttered. “I’ll…uh…see you on the bridge then?” And she swiftly went down the stairs.

Cid raised an eyebrow. “Well, what the hell…?”

“Wha’s wrong with ‘er?” Cid looked over his shoulder. Barret had come up behind him with Nanaki.

Cid shrugged. “Dunno.”

“She’s a weird one, jus’ like ‘er captain. She either doesn’t talk or she slinks around.”

Cid shrugged at that too and then walked on. He handed his key in to the desk clerk, zipped his jacket up, and went outside. He scowled at the thick snow. But it had cleared the sky and piercing sunlight blinded him. He blinked it away and started out of the little town. Nanaki and Barret followed not far behind. He could just see Tifa on the exit ramp, talking to Jeremiah and Reno.

Cut to the chase. Goddamn.

He strode up to Jeremiah. “Hey. Where’s—“

“Oh Cid, you’re here,” said Tifa, stepping between him and Jeremiah, and putting a hand on Cid’s arm. “Come on. Both crews are prepping the ship. Everything’s going great. Come on. Cloud says he wants to talk to you.”

He shook her off, cursing. With a glance at Jeremiah, who looked politely puzzled, he stomped onto his ship.

Tifa led him to one of the cabins and opened the door.

Cloud was sitting on the end of his bed. As soon as Cid stepped into the room, Cloud strode up to him. He said nothing, merely stared at him.

Cid gestured at Cloud, aggravated. “What d’you want, Cloud? I got shit to do, you wanna go to the City so damn bad.”

Cloud’s left eye twitched and his whole head jerked. When his eyes met Cid’s again, the pilot felt a strange chill run down his spine.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Cloud’s eyes opened impossibly wide, his head tilting to one side. “We….shouldn’t…we—” Cloud took a deep breath.

“Cloud? What the fuck? What’d’you want?”

“I cannot go to…we…the City…”

“Fuckin’ write it down, Cloud. I ain’t got time for this shit.” He glared at Tifa. “Give ‘im some crayons and some fucking paper. Come back to me when you’ve got somethin’ important to tell me.”

He walked out the door.

“Cid, I—“

“Shut up, Tifa.” He turned around to face her. “I am up to here with this shit. We’ll go to the goddamn City. But after that, we’re done. I’ll take him out back and put him outta his goddamn misery.”

“He’s not a dog, Cid!”

“Did you not see him in there?! The kid is fucking miserable! Before he just didn’t focus. Now, he can’t even talk. He’s like a fucking stroke victim.”

“Well, that Jenova thing touched him…”

“So what? It touched Vincent too!”

“Well…but…Cloud said it was…inside of him….”

“And? You think he’s possessed by Jenova?”

Tifa looked everywhere but at Cid. She lowered her arms uselessly to her sides. “Maybe…”

“Maybe?” said Cid, exasperated. “Maybe. Sure. Well, tell Cloud to draw a nice picture and he can hang it on the window or somethin’. Just keep him entertained.” He turned to walk away.

“Why do you have to be so horrible?!” Tifa shouted after him, sounding frustrated.

Cid stopped. He looked at the ground. Because I don’ want anything to fuckin' happen to either of you. He sighed. “Because I’m an asshole, Tifa.”

“Why do you have to be that way?” She asked, her voice barely above a choked whisper.

Cid looked at the goggles in his hand. “'Cause that’s just how I am.” He closed his eyes. “Sorry.”

He walked away. He felt ill, but he stomped through the halls anyway, ignoring crewmembers that passed him. He arrived at the bridge.

Yuffie and Reno were standing with Barret and Nanaki, talking quietly. Vincent was standing off in the corner. He was dressed all in black today and looked more solemn than ever.

He walked up to them and said, without preamble, “I dunno what the hell Tifa wanted you all up here for.” He glanced at one of his pilots. “Set a course for the Forgotten City. Get us there as quickly as possible.” He looked back at his cohorts. “Why did Tifa have you come up here?”

Yuffie shrugged. “You’re not in a very good mood, are you?”

“No, I’m fucking not.”

“Well, that blows,” Reno said, smirking. “Him and Vincent.”

“Wh’the fuck is wrong with Vincent?”

Yuffie shrugged again. “Dunno. He won’t talk. I saw Tifa pull him aside this morning and they were talking and after that he got really quiet, like he used to be.”

“Big fuckin’ shock there,” Cid answered. He turned around.

“Hey, Cid—“

“Barret, whatever you wanna tell me, I don’t fucking care right now. Leave me the hell alone.”

“Goddamn, Cid—“

He whipped around, pointing a finger at him. “I fuckin' mean it, Barret. Lemme alone.” Cid continued out the door. He rubbed one of his shoulders, left the bridge and went to Jeremiah’s room. He banged on the door and, when no one answered, opened it.

It was empty.

“Goddammit.”

Cid had to clamp a vice on his temper to keep from tearing the walls down. He paced the halls, stopping everyone that walked by him. He came across the woman Kada, an officer on Northwater. He stepped in her way when she made to go by. “D’you know where your captain is?”

“Uh…he’s…in the galley. He’s eatin’ lunch. Cook bought some fish at Icicle Inn. So we’re havin’—“

“Thank you.” Cid walked away from her. They could be eating dirt that day for all he cared. He was too stressed to eat. He walked into the hall. Evidently, word had spread of Captain Highwind’s bad mood because his crew went dead silent when he entered.

All except for Jeremiah, who was eating his fish with evident enjoyment, commenting on the choice of pepper and seasoning to the man sitting across from him. He did not even seem to realize that the man wasn’t even listening and that he’d gone completely silent.

“Captain Waters,” Cid snapped.

Jeremiah blinked blearily, looking at his tablemate and finally noting his lack of attention. He put down his fork and looked about. He spotted Cid and waved.

“Captain, I need to speak to you.”

Jeremiah paused and then he nodded. “Oh,” he said, standing up. He looked at the man across from him. “You want this? I pro’bly won’t be back.”

The man shook his head.

“Suppose that’s just as well. It’s bad luck to eat a dead man’s—“

“Jeremiah!” Cid roared; he could practically feel the oncoming twitch in his left eye.

Jeremiah turned about, pointing his finger in Cid’s direction. “Yes. M’comin’.”

Once they were out in the hallway, Cid swallowed. “Where’s Zet?”

Jeremiah furrowed his eyebrows, quizzically. “Workin’.”

“Where?”

Jeremiah crossed his arms, looking suspicious. “Why?”

Cid felt all his bravado, anger and irritation melt away. He raised the goggles, suddenly feeling like an idiot. “She…she gave me these. I jus’…wanted t’thank her.” Cid glared to the side, suddenly unable to look Jeremiah in the face.

Thus, he missed the half-smile and Jeremiah’s laughing eyes. “She’s down in th’workshop. I got ‘er repairin’ one of O’Malley’s guns. A Somethin’-Somethin’-or-Other Thirty-Six,” he said, waving his hands around. “Trigger jams when ‘e fires it. Which is a bit of a problem if yer first shot misses.”

The two men were silent for a moment. Cid lowered the goggles back to his side. “Thanks.”

“Y’need anyone on th’ bridge?”

Cid glanced at him. “Sure. Thanks.”

Jeremiah nodded and walked passed him. “Later then.”

Cid stood there for a moment. He felt himself calm, breathing in deeply, he held it for a few seconds, and then let it go.

He walked along the hall and down two sets of staircases until he reached the workshop. To his surprise, the room was empty except for Zet.

She was standing over a metal table that was bolted to the floor. There was a box in front of her that looked as though it might have been a computer once. Her scraggly mess of hair was bound away from her face and she had her sleeves rolled up. Her eyes, brown and sharp, were studying something in the box. The table next to her had a black handgun lying on it, completely dismantled but setup, a little haphazardly, in formation.

Why did he feel so stupid for telling her he appreciated some goggles? They’re just fucking goggles. Quit being such a chickenshit.

He licked his lips. “Ah, Zet.”

She glanced at the door and froze. Then she gave him a rigid smile and stood up straight. “….Hi.”

“I just, uh, wanted to say...thanks. For the goggles,” he lifted them up to show her, as if she hadn’t seen them before. “I 'ppreciate it.” He swallowed. “I hadn’t bothered to get anymore so…it was a…nice surprise.”

“Oh,” said Zet. She looked at the ground and nodded. “Well, uh, you're welcome.”

Cid stood there for a minute, feeling as though he was leaving something unsaid, but not really certain of what it was. “Zet. Why did you give me these?”

Zet scratched her cheek but didn’t look at him. “I just…thought you might like some new ones. And…no one had seen you for hours. So...”

Cid tilted his head just-so-slightly to the side. Was that a tremor he heard? Was she nervous? So were you. Cid scowled. Fuck you.

Zet had trailed away from the look on Cid’s face. She was eyeing at him cautiously, as if afraid he was going to blow up at her.

Cid rolled his shoulders. “Why…,” he looked away and looked back. “Why you so nervous?”

Zet blinked. “I—nothing. I’m not nervous,” she told him, far too quickly.

Cid shook his head. He wasn’t gonna get shit out of her. “Well, how can I make it up to you? Nice goggles ain't cheap.”

Zet looked away. “They aren’t all that great of quality. They weren’t that much. It’s—“

“I don’t care. You wanna come with me and have a drink?”

Zet’s mouth opened, moving soundlessly for a moment. “Um, okay. Uh. Sure.” She wiped her hands absently on her navy blue t-shirt. Looking as though she might panic (or possibly throw up), she followed Cid out the door.


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