Vincent Comes Home

Tincent--I like your crazy ass reviews. :) They always manage to make me smile. And you'll find out what happens to Vincent here--and I hope you won't be dissappointed. *crosses fingers*

Femme Fatal--Oh, I didn't think about that. That the people they ate--you know, their items would still be in them. So when they were killed and split open, naturally, they'd find the items. Well that makes sense. *ponders* Thank you. That's a much more solid explanation.

Constantly Baffled--Thank you for your review and thank you for the info on DoC! I've seen some screencaps that have Hojo abnd Lu in them (OMG!) and I was thinking maybe they were going to cover, in depth, Vincent's past or something. Which would have been cool--I've always been insanely interested in the Turks, their training--ectect. But after Advent Children is cool too. Just so long as I get to see Cid. That way I can pretend that they remade FFVII, and that's what it looks like. ^_^
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Ok. If I was nervous about the last chapter, I'm really nervous about this one. I'll probably edit later...but I'm all jittery at what you guys will think. I tried to bring everything together and I'm still afraid I've missed something. There's a little more after this though, so if you were surprised because I didn't go into something about so-and-so---it'll probably be later. *deep breath* *crosses fingers*

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Rule 189: Every problem in the universe can be solved by finding the right long-haired pretty boy and beating the crap out of him. (Taken from here: http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html)

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Tifa crouched close to the ground, staring upwards, but seeing nothing.

Barret stood, arm over his face, peering intently into the light.

Cid loosed his weapon, flipping it careful and holding it at ready.

Zet and Jeremiah, too, pulled their arms over their faces to block out the brightness.

“Son of a bitch!” Reno yelped, blinking wildly, trying to see.

Yuffie looked desperately into the light, holding her shuriken in a death grip.

Nanaki crept as close as he dared, unable to see, other senses mashed to bits—except for his fine nose. And all it could find now was heavy magic. Heavy…magic. Magic…Holy! It was Holy he scented! He opened his jaws to speak but found his breath whisked away from him

They saw.

Cloud was lifted into the air, limp in all respects, bathed in white light and just a hint of green. It laced up his body like vines, seeming to take him in, studying every part of him. He was completely silent. The entire Sanctuary was eerily quiet.

Tifa started to run to the dais—Barret attempted to nab her shoulder to keep her in one spot. He missed, his awkward gunarm setting him off balance. Vincent grabbed her in one smooth movement, flipping her around and holding her to his chest.

Cid felt Zet and Jeremiah stand next to him, Yuffie and Reno close by—all of them staring upwards, into the beam of light.

There was roar of wind. Nanaki shouted something, but Tifa couldn’t hear it anymore. All she could hear was Vincent’s heartbeat and his breathing as she stared into the light. Cloud…looked peaceful. This was it. This was going to work. This was the finale. It would heal him…and then he would come down and they would go home…and everything would be okay!

Suddenly, Vincent stiffened, gasping. Tifa pushed herself from his chest. “Vincent…”

She felt his claw fall away from her side.

He crumpled over.

And, for some reason, Vincent…in agony.

It slammed into him. Pain that he had only experienced once before. And had prayed it to never come again. It brought him to his knees, his vision wavering.




“And now, Mister Valentine. We’re going to try something very different today.”

Sweat was already glistening at Vincent’s forehead.

“I am going to prepare you for an experiment. In which I will remove your arm at the elbow. If it works…well….I suppose we’ll see the results, won’t we? I’m not entirely certain what will happen after I attach the piece after all.” Hojo left the side of the gurney and went to a glass cabinet on the other side. He started shifting through bottles, looking at names and removing some, putting others back.

Christ! Remove my arm! Vincent glared at his wrist. Move. Move! MOVE! He pulled as hard as he could. The iron bar pushed back at his slack skin. Vincent pulled harder. The bar tore his flesh, peeling it away. Vincent wiggled his bleeding limb, ripping his hand apart.

A shadow fell over him. “Oh no…” Hojo said this softly, quietly, dangerously. “None of that, Commander Valentine.” Seeming unworried, he left the gurney again.

Vincent pulled and wiggled, desperate, thinking that if the blood would just coat his hand it may be slick enough to…

And then Hojo returned. With a hammer.

Panic took over, slamming into Vincent’s brain like a freight train. Gasping, terrified, he savagely tore at his wrist now, only vaguely aware of the horrible ripping of his skin.

And then Hojo was grabbing his hand, squeezing tight, holding it down. He brought the hammer up and then down. The crack that Vincent heard before he felt the effects was sickening. His whole body tensed. He could no longer feel his hand. Hojo brought the hammer up again.

Vincent screamed. The next pulverizing hits mashed his arm and he passed out. Only to be awakened by Hojo. His eyes were wide open but his vision narrowed to bare tunnels. Blind terror.

“Oh yes, boy,” said Hojo, his eyes glittering. “I see your eyes are wide with fear. Give you a real taste of fear, eh? I endured much mocking from the Turks. Coraline and I never really got along, you know. But your fear, boy—much forgives that. Your interest in Lucrecia forgives that. You waltzing in here as if you could do something forgives that.” He laughed at him, cackling. “I have fathered a monster, Turk. A monster. Sephiroth. And you’ll fear him too. Yes, you will.”

Vincent tried to push himself away, terrified and helpless.

“Yes,” Hojo repeated. He was sweating now. Smiling, he roughly grabbed Vincent’s face. “Yes, Valentine. Know fear.” He raised the mallet.

Vincent’s breath caught in his throat and Hojo roared with laughter at him, throwing the mallet aside and grabbing Vincent’s mangled arm. “I’ll fix this, you know. I’ll give you back your arm and everything.” And Hojo picked up a knife, this one longer. Vincent couldn’t move, transfixed by pain and fear. Hojo brought the knife down.

“Vincent!” Tifa went down next to him. “What’s wrong?”

Cid, keeping a wary eye now on the eerie white beam of silent light around Cloud, crept to them. “Vince? Wassamatter?”

Vincent’s eyes seemed unnaturally wide. He was hunched over, trembling. He held up his claw. The sleeve of his jacket and his shirt had been burned away. The metal was steaming.

“What the hell?” Cid went down next to him, glancing at Cloud again—who looked very still. He reached for the metal.

“Don’t touch it!” Nanaki roared.

But Cid did. His skin erupted instantly, melting it right off his fingers. With a shout, he fell backwards, clutching his hand. “Shit! Fucking—Jesus Christ!”

Jeremiah pulled out an oil-covered rag from his jacket and a little flask. He poured the contents onto it and gave it to Zet. She knelt by Cid, taking his shaking hand.

“Hold still, dammit!”

“Fuck,” he said between clenched teeth when then damp cloth touched his bloody fingers.

Their voices echoed in the silence.

Cloud hung in midair.

“Why hasn’t he come down?” Yuffie asked anxiously to the room in general. “What happens now?”

Another jolt of pain racked through Vincent. He couldn’t contain the hoarse scream that ripped up from his throat. Desperately, he fumbled to unbuckle the steel clasps of the claw on the underside of his arm. They steamed and shrilled.

“Vincent!” Tifa gasped, breathlessly. “What’s happening to you?!” She grabbed his shoulders, trying to look into his face. But he wasn’t paying any attention. His eyes were empty, focused only on his arm. He saw nothing. “Vincent!” She shook him. He leaned forward slightly, gasping again, suddenly scrabbling for something at his claw.

“Something’s happening!” Barret yelled, raising his gunarm.

Everyone looked up.

An odd shimmer of silver and rosy gold tinted the light. It seemed to fortify it, make it stronger.

Vincent noted none of that. He stifled his cries and pressed the trigger bolt.

Light flashed again and a deep boooom resonated around the Sanctuary.

Vincent felt an odd pulse rock through him. Tifa screamed. Barret roared, cursing. Cid looked right into the light, forgetting he would be blinded and, stricken, closed his eyes, and felt something latch onto his arm. Zet turned her eyes away, raising her halberd. Jeremiah hit the ground, ducking under his hands. Reno grabbed Yuffie up, turning his back to the light. Nanaki crouched, turning his eyes to the floor.

The whistle shrieked through the room. Like a scream.

Silence, again.


Nanaki looked up first, taking in Cloud, lying in the center of the dais. The white brilliance was fading; little green balls of light settling around him. He got up on all fours, studying the boy.

Tifa looked up second. Gasping, she raced to Cloud’s side.

Barret lowered his gunarm, an odd expression coming over his face as he stared at Cloud’s still form.

Cid opened his eyes cautiously, and, still feeling the presence on his arm, looked down. Zet was just opening her eyes, sweeping her hair from her face and lowering her halberd. She looked at Cid.

He was staring at her. She blinked and looked down. With a gasp and a flush of embarrassment, she instantly let him go and turned away. “Jeremiah, are you okay?”

Cid, at that same moment, realized something else. He looked at his hand and carefully unwrapped it. He stared. It was fine. The skin was unblemished, as if he’d never been burnt. He turned over his fingers and palm, stunned.

Reno and Yuffie looked back, staring at the dais, breath caught in their throats.

Vincent was the last to open his eyes, realizing he was squeezing everything tightly and tensed. He uncoiled his shoulders and sat back on his knees. He stared at his arm. The metal claw fell with an echoing clatter to the stone floor.

He clenched his fingers. He did it again.

In utter bafflement, he moved each finger one at a time.

The flesh was smooth. It stretched in a fine manner over bone, tissue and muscle. He realized it felt warm. He breath hitched and he sat back on the floor, too staggered to hold himself up. He stared and suddenly, tore off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt halfway; he slid it off his shoulder.

There was a little scarring there. But it was flesh. There was no cold, metal attachment. There was skin. Wonderfully warm skin. And it was normal looking. The blackness was gone. He pulled his arm out of the sleeve and stared at it. He flexed it, moved his fingers, and bent it fluidly at the elbow. His arm! It was…his arm was…

He looked around in his amazement. “I..my…I…” But no one turned to him. Is it really real? His arm was trembling. He set it in his lap and just stared at it. I have fingers.

He had no words to describe….

And then the scream echoed around them. A wordless cry.

Tifa pulled Cloud onto her lap. “Cloud! Cloud! Wake up! Cloud!”

And all of them looked at her, the last glimpses of the beam faded out, the tiny balls of green light melted into the stone and Tifa had Cloud on her lap, calling to him.

But he did not wake.

“Cloud, please!” Tears flooded Tifa’s eyes. She looked up, desperation on her face. “Aeris!” her scream was hoarse and deranged. “Aeris!”

Barret was to her in a second, leaning over, taking Cloud from her. “Vincent, Cid—one o’ you git up ‘ere and take ‘er.”

Vincent stared, unseeing for a moment, he glanced at Cid. The pilot was staring at him with his mouth open. He pointed at Vincent’s arm. Vincent raised it and wiggled the fingers for him to see. Cid blinked wide. “Holy shit—!”

“Hey!” Barret yelled.

Yuffie went up, taking Tifa’s arms. “C’mon Tifa.”

“No—No, I can’t. He’s going to wake up! He’s going to be fine! He’s going—“

“C’mon Tifa,” she said again, soothingly. “Just come with me.”

She struggled, screaming. “No! No! He’ll be fine! Cloud!”

Barret had laid Cloud on the ground, checked his pulse and looked up with a miserable expression on his dark face. He avoided looking at Tifa. He met the eyes of the others, licked his lips, looked down and took a deep breath, then look up again. “He’s…he’s gone.”

Tifa froze. “No,” she said, softly. “No! No! No! No! He’s not! He’s fine!”

Barret stood. “No Tifa. He’s…’e’s gone. Cloud’s dead.”

Tifa took several gasping breaths, looking anywhere but at Barret. She had brought him here! Holy had…it should have healed him! They were going to go hone! Everything was going to be fine! “I….it….it should have….that was…”

“That was Holy.” Nanaki padded up to them, looking over Cloud’s still body.

“This is all—Aeris—is she still here? Aeris!” Tifa strained to break free from Yuffie. “Aeris!”

The ninja clutched at her. “Aeris isn’t here! And it isn’t Aeris’ fault that Cloud is gone.”

“She took him from me!”

“Tifa! You’re hysterical! Tifa!”

“She….she…she’s dead. She’s gone. She shouldn’t—Cloud was—! I loved him! Not her! Everything I’ve done for him has been a waste!” Tearing at Yuffie’s arms, she thrust herself away. She went to the dais and threw herself down next to Cloud, checking his throat herself. She stared, completely still at the second, unbelieving. She stood after a long moment, stumbling backwards down the steps. “I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true. I brought him here! I killed him! It killed him! He wasn’t supposed to die! He was supposed to get better!” She looked up. “You evil bitch!”

Cid finally moved, striding up to her. He grabbed Tifa by the arm and wrenched her around to face him. “You don’t know what you’re sayin’, Tifa. You an’ Aeris were friends.”

“We all were.” Yuffie told her. “Remember, Tifa. Me and you and Aeris, we used to stay up all night—talking and laughing, telling stories.”

“No,” snapped Tifa, backing away. “No. She….he’s dead, Yuffie!”

“But she didn’t kill him!”

“Holy killed him! Holy took him--!”

“You brought him here to be healed, didn’t you?!”

Tifa looked helpless. “Yes!”

“Well. Holy healed him.” She looked up, blinking a lot. “It…he…”

Vincent grasped at the situation and, still feeling a little dazed, said, “Cloud had Jenova inside of him. Holy took Jenova and Cloud—“

“Why?” Tifa yelled. She went down on her knees.

“Because of Jenova. Every time we used Alexander, it silenced her. I should have realized it sooner.” He stared at Cloud’s body. “Holy purifies and heals. Jenova is an opposite of that. It encased itself in Cloud’s body…”

“Wait,” Reno said, focusing his eyes as if thinking very quickly. “Then…then he knew. He knew he…” He looked at Tifa and then stared at Cloud.

“Knew wha’?” asked Barret.

“He knew he was going to die,” Vincent answered. He’d felt Jenova’s screams but Cloud had been right. In the Sanctuary…she had no power. He must have known that once he arrived…

“No!” Tifa screamed at him. She pulled herself up. “No! That’s not possible!” She strode off the dais, pointing a finger at him. “That’s not possible! He told me he was gonna fix my table when we got home! Why would he have told me that if he knew he was gonna die?!”

Vincent didn’t flinch from her finger. “I don’t know, Tifa.”

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” She reared back and slapped him across the face.

Vincent raised his eyes back to hers.

“No,” she told him. “Don’t look at me like that! Those pity-eyes! Don’t pity me! I was gonna save him!” She must have realized something in that instant, because her eyes unfocused and she gasped. “I killed him. I killed him.”

“No, Tifa. You didn’t.”

It didn’t seemed as though she’d heard him at all. “I brought him here. I took us to the Crater. I let that thing inside of him. I brought him here. I’ve killed him.” She whimpered, horrified.

“Tifa…Jenova…she…Cloud knew what he might become.”

“Don’t imply that he chose this! He didn’t choose to die!”

“Jenova calls to him—probably even before we left. How long has he been sick, Tifa? No one knew what was wrong with him. No one knew what to do for him.” Vincent felt all the pieces fall into place. “It was Jenova. She’s been calling to him.”

“But he would have known! He would have told me! I heard her voice inside my head when he attacked you in your room! He would have told me if he’d heard voices like that!”

“No…no, he wouldn’t. Because he was so far away and she was so weak…that she could only tug at him…she could not summon him. She just needed him to get to the Crater…then she could….unite.”

“But if I hadn’t—“

“It only would have been a matter of time. Cloud knew he was tainted…by all the things that had happened to him. Creation, experiments…all of it. He told us that when we fought Sephiroth. I just didn’t realize…how much…”

Reno was shaking his head at them. “I still don’t get it.”

Vincent looked at the stone and then up. “How long has Cloud been sick?”

“A few months after we killed Sephiroth, he started…getting tired. It got a little worse every day. Just bit by bit though. So we weren’t too worried about it. By the next year he was starting to forget things. He was a little absent-minded. By the next year,” and Tifa choked on her words.

“By th’next year,” Cid continued. “He was a walkin’ corpse.”

“Don’t say that!” Tifa shouted at him.

“So…it would make sense that…Jenova started…calling to him then. He didn’t object when we took him to the Crater.”

“He barely knew what we were doing,” Tifa cried out.

Vincent looked down. “Do we even know that? If Jenova found it so easy to penetrate his mind…perhaps this has been her planning since the beginning…training his mind to accept her.”

“Then…maybe…when he would…have his fits, or whatever,” Cid said, cautiously looking at Tifa. “Maybe tha’ was him…fightin’ ‘er? He wasn’ ever really fightin’ us. He was fightin’ her?”

“It’s possible. He may not even have been aware of her. Of course, it’s just as likely that that was her influence coming through him. He did attack us the moment she had a firm grip on him.”

“But you don’ really kno’?”

Vincent looked at him, a little sadly. “No one ever will.”

“But if Jenova was callin’ Cloud—then…why did Tifa get th’idea to go to the Crater?” Barret said, crossing his arms.

Vincent shrugged. “It could be coincidence. It could have been Jenova…it’s possible.”

“So when Jenova…got into him or whatever….he knew it was over?” Reno said, disbelieving.

Vincent narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t entirely sure of Cloud’s motives…but that seemed plausible. He shrugged. “Perhaps. He knew though, that when he came here…Holy would eradicate Jenova and him with it. And thinking that, I can see now why he attacked us how he did. Jenova didn’t want to die; she wanted to regain strength.”

“He sacrificed himself then,” Yuffie said, in a near whisper. “Because now there is no Jenova at all. And…Jenova couldn’t just be drawn out of him. He had to die with it.”

“She either would have dominated him or gotten a hold of another she preferred. She’d have killed him, or had him kill himself and somehow…moved on. Like a parasite.”

“But how?” Nanaki muttered. It didn’t seem so much a question as it did a pondering.

“I don’t know.”

Tifa was shaking her head. She was trying to keep herself from crying. “You’re all saying that he chose this! He wouldn’t choose to die! I—Cloud—he—“

“Tifa, you know that Cloud would have chosen to die rather than become…some kind of…puppet or monster or even another Sephiroth.”

When Tifa looked at him, her eyes were wild. “NO, HE WOULDN’T! HE KEPT SAYING HE WAS GOING TO COME BACK!”

“I don’t know the whole story, Tifa. I can’t give you more than that. I—“

“You know nothing about it!” She screamed at him. “You’ve been gone for almost three years, Vincent! What do you know about Cloud?!”

“I know enough.”

“Oh, really!? Well, that’s funny considering you were only with us for a few months when you got outta that stupid coffin! Moaning about yours sin! You didn’t even—“

“I don’t require your approval, Tifa. But I will remind you, that I am honest about my camaraderie with Cloud. It was not close but he was one I would call a friend. And that’s better than building up an idealized version of the affiliation.”

She stopped cold, staring at him.

He stared back. He’d struck a nerve and he knew it.

Tifa sprang at him, a green light started to glow in her glove.

And suddenly, she stopped, stumbled and fell to the ground.

Barret lowered his gunarm. The glow from Sleepel faded.

Nanaki hunched over. “We should leave this place at once. Get Tifa and…and Cloud back to the Highwind.”

But everyone stood very still. They formed a disjointed circle and looked up to the dais, where Cloud still lay.

“Fuck,” Cid muttered. He passed his lance off to Zet and went to him. Cid picked him up and put the boy over his shoulder. The look he gave them all was grim.

“We’ll bury him in Midgar. Not here.”

“But we—“ someone started; Cid wasn’t sure who at this point. His vision was a blur, focusing only on what was before him.

“No,” the pilot snapped. “We sink him here like we did Aeris? No. Tifa loved him. An’ I won’ be the one to tell ‘er when she wakes up tha’ we buried him in this miserable place.”

“This is the City of the Ancients, Cid. The Forgotten City—“

Cid turned on Nanaki, quick as a snake. “Y’think I give a shit what it is? First Aeris. Now Cloud. Tifa thought she could fuckin’ save him. And Holy took him an’ the Jenova thing instead. It healed my hand, Nanaki!” Cid showed his formally burned hand. “It healed my hand, but it took Cloud. No. This place is cursed.”

Nanaki looked at him reproachfully. “It’s not cursed. This place is saturated with Holy! Holy healed him—“

“By taking him away from her!”

“By doing precisely what the Lifestream does. Protecting the Planet. Cloud knew that.”

“If Holy can heal a Planet than taking Jenova and leaving Cloud shoulda been no problem!”

Nanaki shook his great head. “Things don’t always work that way. But we don’t know the full story either. I don’t think we ever will. All we have now is that Holy healed him and took him away. He’s in a better place now.”

“Oh yeah,” snapped Cid. “Tell that to her when she fuckin’ wakes up!” He pointed to Tifa, whom Vincent was now lifting into his arms.

There was a cold, empty silence.

Yuffie, looking devastated, mumbled. “Le’s go. M’cold.” She sniffled, starting away. Reno took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. He took her hand as they walked away from the dais. Cid went next, shifting Cloud from his shoulders to his arms, keeping his eyes ahead of him and not on the dead boy in his grasp.

Vincent went after him, carrying Tifa carefully, alternately looking ahead and then down at her face. Her eyebrows were arched in perpetual worry and her mouth a sad frown. Vincent felt that sadness creeping in on him.

Barret and Nanaki followed after them. The dark man not trusting himself to speak and Nanaki’s flaring tail diminished to a matchstick light.

Zet and Jeremiah looked at each other.

“It healed him.”

Zet blinked. “What?”

Jeremiah looked solemn. “Vincent’s arm. I’s no’ a claw anymore. And Cid’s hand. An’ Cloud.”

“It killed Cloud.”

Jeremiah shook his head. “No. Nanaki’s right. It didnae kill Cloud. It heal’d him. Cloud couldn’t b’saved. The boy knew it.”

Zet looked away from him.

They were silent as they followed everyone back to the top.


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Hopefully I can get the next bits written soon. We still have a little ways to go before the ending.