Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ I Know What Lies Beneath the Snowfields ❯ Chapter 28 ( Chapter 28 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields"
Chapter 28

Vincent thought the coughing fit would never end.

He sprang up in some unknown bed, choking wildly over his hot blood.
With one hand pressed over his mouth, the sick man bent double over
himself in hopes of perhaps easing the pain. Yet the attack would not
spare him: it sunk its sharp claws deeper and deeper into his lungs
until he began hacking on his own blood. He could not breathe at all.

His whole trembling body burned with fever. His head, in particular,
throbbed in torturous agony. He could not hear or see anything. Nor
could he remember where he was now or why he had been brought here. A
black mist had completely engulfed his senses, letting him grope through
the maddening darkness alone.

The coughing fit grew considerably worse.

Thoses ghostly voices from his nightmare still taunted his battered
ears as the seizure ravaged his fragile body. He coughed until the blood
soaked his hand. He squeezed his burning eyes shut, trying desperately
to manage just a whiff of air as the fit tore his whole chest apart. The
murderous fever raged through his shaking limbs like wild fire. Delirium
had torn his mind to shreds.

He thought he should cry out, but the unmerciful fit had even robbed
his voice. He could not speak, only cough and splutter over his blood.

Indeed, the torture felt as though it would last forever.

However, the brutal attack eased slightly when Vincent felt something
cold and wet caress his burning face. He still sat slouched up in bed,
unable to see yet quite aware of the strange touch on his face. It felt
so gentle, so soothing on his hot, sweaty face.

The cruel coughing fit, realizing it had lost the battle, resentfully
faded into oblivion. Vincent placed his hand over his heaving chest as
his torn lungs filled with precious air. He took several gasps at once,
afraid the murderous fit might return. He still could not see.

As the pain slowly evaporated, Vincent became increasingly aware of the
presense of another person near him. At first, it was nothing but a
vague presence around him, shapeless and part of the darkness. Yet as
his scattered senses gradually returned, Vincent could hear a soft voice
whispering something into his numb ears.

The voice sounded terribly muffled to him at the begining, but steadily
became clearer until he realized it was a girl's voice. Unfortunately,
he could not remember whoose.

A very gentle hand stroked his hair and feverish face for a moment,
while the soft voice repeated a word into his ears. Vincent then felt
somebody lay his aching head on the pillow again. A thick blanket was
pulled over him with tender care, and that same gentle hand returned to
his face, pressing his forehead every so often.

When some of his sight returned at last, Vincent found himself laying
flat on his back in some warm bed. Several blankets, including one thick
quilt, covered his shaking body. He did not recognize this bed at all.
He looked around without moving his head: nothing but a stuffy darkness
dominated the small room. Everything to his weary eyes lay dismally
hidden in the shadows.

Vincent, completely ravaged by delirium, looked up at some black figure
lingering over him. He had to fumble with his muddled senses another
minute or so before the mysterious figure actually took shape. It
appeared to be a very young woman, with bright green eyes intently set
on him. Her brown hair was let loose, so that it flowed in noticably
thick curls behind her back and over her shoulders. Vincent noted mostly
how frightened and anxious the girl appeared.

He did not recognize her either.

Yet strangely, Vincent could not tear his burning eyes away from her
pale face. Indeed, he beheld her as some ghost there to visit him. The
firl leaned further down so that only a few inches lay between her face
and his. She stared intently at him, scrutinising every detail her eyes
came across, then whispered that same word one more time.

Vincent finally realized she had been calling his name.

Slowly, he lifted his trembling hand to her face with great effort. She
did not flinch or move away when his hot hand touched her cold cheek.
Instead, she let him caress her cheek as long as he pleased without
speaking another word.

"Ah..," Vincent grunted softly, remembering the girl at last,
"A..Aeris..."

"So, you finally recognized me," Aeris smiled happily. A very relived
look replaced that previously anxious one.

He looked around himself without removing his trembling hand from her
cheek. The room was pitch black.

"Wh..where am I?" he whispered in confusion.

"Sh...sh..you're in bed at home," the girl reassured tenderly, "You
were just having a nightmare, Vincent. It was all just a nightmare. Now
go back to sleep."

He stared back at her in complete disbelief, caressing her soft cheek
with his burning hand to confirm his blurry sight. His wild eyes darted
all over the black room:yes, he was definitely in his own bed, back at
home.

For one full minute, he was totally silent.

Suddenly, Vincent yanked his hand away from Aeris' face as if struck by
lightning. The girl, puzzled by his strange behavior, drew herself away
from him. She sat perfectly still on a chair by his bed, and watched him
fumble in silence.

Vincent, beside himself with delirium, grabbed a strand of his hair and
beheld it in absolute amazement: how long it was now!And how thick! It
seemed much shorter just minutes ago.

With amazing effort, the man pulled out his metallic arm from under the
covers and held it infront of his sickly face. He studied the long,
sharp claws; the curved strips of metal which collectively formed his
palm and wrist. Where had this hoorible arm been moments ago? Just a
short time ago, he had an ordinary arm like any other.

Yet he had forgotten this arm had been there for thirty-one long,
miserable years.

After another minute of intense scrutiny, Vincent dropped his metallic
claw onto his chest without a word. His memory instantly flowed back to
his confused mind: he had merely been re-living.. re-performing his past
without even realizing it. The Turks, Davoren, ShinRa and Lucrecia. All
that madness finished *thirty-one years* ago. He was trapped in the
present time now.

"You still have a very bad fever," Aeris finally said, felling his
burning forehead again, "Would you like a drink of water?"

"Yes."

He managed to sit up on his elbows while the girl filled a tall glass
with cool water. Vincent greedily guzzled it down in one gulp, then sank
back into his pillow, completely drained of strength.

"At least you've stopped raving now," comforted the girl as she covered
him with the blankets, "Maybe now, you can get some sleep. Let me just
wash your face one more time, okay?"

Vincent watched her soak a small towel into a basin of water placed by
his bedside, then wipe his whole face very carefully. The girl leaned
over him so closely, he could scrutinise every detail of her lovely
face. She wore a loose sleeping gown with a long cream-coloured shawl
over her slender arms. He noticed (very keenly) how careworn and
fatigued she seemed, even though her green eyes still retained their
same brightness. Whenever her fingertips touched his feverish skin, his
entire body shivered involintairily: she was so cold.

Neither spoke a word during this time. The girl tenderly wiped his face
for about fifteen minutes without once looking into his eyes. Too tired
to speak, Vincent contented himself by watching her in silence.

When Aeris had finally finished, he immediately turned his back to her,
burrying most of his face into the soft pillow. Never had exhaustion
ever overpowered his body so completely. His weary eyes grew steadily
heavy until they shut of their own accord.

Though his back turned and both eyes firmly closed, Vincent could
detect every movement of Aeris' body with no difficulty. He heard her
shuffle out of her chair, then sit by him on the cosy bed. Aeris ran her
fingers through his thick hair once or twice before she touched his
cheek lightly to check his temperature. He did not flinch a muscle.

After another silent moment, Aeris snuggled up againt his back, but
kept her feet off the bed. She nestled her head against his shoulder,
trying her best not disturb his precious sleep, then lay perfectly
still. She seemed to have fallen asleep.

Vincent made no effort to remove her. On the contrary, her presence so
near to him filled his weary heart with strange comfort.

Neither spoke a word for a long time. Darkness enshrouded the bedroom,
allowing only the smallest tint of light to smuggle through the
curtains. Silence in all its power ruled this room supreme, save for the
monotonous tick-tock of the clock by the bedside. Vincent never moved
once for fear of disrupting the peaceful stillness. Most of his ashen,
wasted face lay hidden in the soft pillow, while his body trembled every
so often with sickening fever. Aeris nestled herself further against his
back, but still kept her weary head rested on his shoulder.

"Aeris?" Vincent called softly without moving a muscle.

She only lifted her head from his shoulder as an answer.

"How long..have I been sick like this?"

Aeris rested her chin against his shoulder so that she could see part
of his face from the side. She replied, very wearily, "About a week."

Vincent slowly re-opened his crimson eyes with a low "hmm", and was
silent again.

"You've had this horrible fever for about a week now," the girl
whispered without lifting her head, "At first, you were totally
unconscious for almost four days. And you..you coughed out a lot of
blood too. But during the last three days, you've been raving like
crazy...sometimes for six, seven hours non-stop."

Aeris carefully sat up again, yet kept her body snuggled against
Vincent's back. He felt her shiver slightly, then tighten her shawl
around her shoulders.

"Yesterday was the worse day. You were so delirious, you were
practically screaming," she continued, "And..and I..we all got so
frightened, we didn't know what to do anymore. You wouldn't stop raving,
and clutching your head; and the fever just grew worse no matter what we
did. I was so sure you'd die before the night was through...but Cloud
swore he wouldn't let you die yet. So he.. he filled the bathtub with
water, dragged you all the way to the bathroom, then dunked your whole
body into the tub to cool you."

Vincent turned his face slightly around to look at her, but made no
comment on the crude method of battling the fever. Aeris glanced at him
a minute, then fingered her shawl very uneasily.

"Tifa was pretty angry, and nearly kicked Cloud outside," she recounted
more softly than before, "She thought he intended to drown you. The
fever went down a short while later, but you stll raved on and on, and
didn't recognize anyone, even though your eyes were wide open.

Vincent certainly did not remember any of that. Indeed, his whole mind
had been so absorbed in that nightmarish flashback, reality.. *this*
reality had been completely forgotten behind.

He studied her tired but beatiful face another minute or so, then
burried his feverish face in the pillow once more. Aeris stayed nestled
against his back, her bare feet and shoulders shivering occasionally
from the cold. She fingered her light shawl in silence.

"Aeris?" Vincent called again. He did not look at her.

"Yes?" she immediately relpied.

"How long have you watching over me?"

The girl hesitated a moment, then answered, "I can't remember
exactly...maybe a day and a half."

"That's avery long time. You could make yourself ill if you go on like
this."

"Oh, I don't mind..it..it's okay..really."

"What time is it now?"

"Um..," she mumbled as she checked the clock by the bed, "It's almost
two a.m."

Much to her puzzlement, Vincent shifted around, the forced himself to
sit up in bed. He sat slightly bent forward, so that their faces were
quite close. His black hair, dishevelled beyond hope, tumbled around his
head and well over his shoulders. His pale face lay hidden in the
darkness, yet his ruby-red eyes glowed keenly as they studied the girl's
face and slender figure. He said nothing for a long time. All his
attention revited itself on her.

Aeris, alarmed at his strange silence, looked back at him in confusion,
but dared not open her mouth. She humbly let his blood-shot eyes wander
over her as long as they pleased. Although she could barely make out his
face in the darkness, Aeris was quite sure no datail of her face, no
movement of her body, could escape Vincent's notice. Therefore, she sat
still on the bed, fidgetting slightly under his sharp scrutiny.

"You look very tired," Vincent whispered at last.

"Ah..th..that's because I haven't slept that much," she faltered in a
low, nervous voice.

"I thought Cloud and Tifa were here too."

"Yes, they are, but they're sleeping in the living room. They both took
care of you..much better than I could ever. Tifa always knew what to do,
and which medicine to give you. She didn't panic as much as I did when
the fever got too bad like yesterday. Actually, she did most of the
work..."

Aeris paused when she noticed Vincent's piercing red eyes still fixed
on her, then continued softly, "But Cloud did a lot of work too, you
know. He cleaned the bathroom after you..puked in it that other night,
the blood and everything else. He always brought clean water and got the
medicines you needed. Also don't forget, he's the one who stopped the
fever. Only sometimes, he'd get really angry because you weren't getting
better."

Vincent silently listened to her, watching her all the while intently.
He leaned further to scrutinise her beautiful face more closely, yet
said nothing. Though Aeris tensed in her spot on being so keenly
studied, she did not edge away.

"To tell the truth," she concluded, casting her green eyes down to the
black ground, "Tifa was supposed to be sitting up with you from midnight
until five o'clock. She told me to wake her up after my shift was done.
But I just couldn't do it. She looked so tired, I thought it plain cruel
to wake her: she deserved some decent rest after all her work. So, I
took her shift too."

She hesitated a moment, then added, almost inaudibly, "And
besides..I..I just wanted to be with you."

Another silence, more noticable than the first, filled every corner of
the dark room. Vincent gazed thoughtfully at the timid girl infront of
him, then down at his sharp, metallic claw. Aeris, on the other hand,
looked at him from the corner of her eye. She tried her best to see his
actual face. Unfortunately, the room was so dark, the girl could barely
make out the outline of his face.

The distant chimes of some bell-tower far away signalled the arrival of
the second hour after midnight. Both Vincent and Aeris listened
attentively to the bell disturb the peaceful night, then fall silent
again. Neither spoke a word until Vincent suddenly touched her hand
very lightly. Though startled by the unexpected, hot touch, Aeris did
not draw her hand away.

"You're very cold," he remarked in a soft undertone.

"It's because you still have a fever. Your hand is very, very hot, so
you think I'm cold."

But Vincent, of course, knew she was lying. He had noticed, even felt,
her shiver several times, despite the shawl around her slender arms. He
frowned disapprovingly.

"I want you to go get some rest now, Aeris," he ordered gently, pulling
away his burning hand, "You're too tired to sit up any longer, and could
make yourself ill if you don't rest properly."

"Ah, no, I can't do that!" Aeris protested fervently, " You still have
that fever, Vincent, and it may get worse if I don't wash your face
every hour. No, don't worry about me. Just please, please, go back to
sleep."

He beheld her tired, pleading face in silence. She would obviously
fight fatigue, sleep, even possible illness just for his sake. She
seemed to think her health quite insignificant compared to his own.

Vincent, however, thought otherwise.

Therefore, without another word, he tore off the thick blankets, and
made room for another person. Much to Aeris' shock, Vincent slipped his
metallic arm around her supple waist, then slowly pulled her into bed
with him, discarding her useless shawl onto the floor. despite her weak
protests, he covered her snugly with all the warm blankets before
settling down beside her.

An extremely awkward silence followed.

Vincent slowly turned his back to the bashful girl, and was perfectly
still in his new place. Aeris, embarrassed by this unexpected intimacy,
covered most of her blushing face except for her eyes. Her hands
trembled slightly as she glanced askanse at the man by her side. yet
Vincent took no heed of her at all. His back faced her completely, with
the blankets hiding most of his head. He did not speak to her.

Aeris immediately turned her back to him as well, but voiced no more
protests. Exhaustion had overwrought her entire body so completely, and
this soft bed warmed her cold limbs so wonderfully; she couldn't have
moved a muscle even if she had wanted to. In truth, she was tired far
more than realized.

The girl burried one side of her face into the pillow, snuggling
further under the warm blankets. Her weary eyes drifted aimlessly along
the black room, stumbling across shapeless shadows, until they closed
from exhaustion.

Thus, the two lay together, each facing the other's back, for a long
time. Aeris rested on her side, listening to the peaceful silence.
Vincent did not move, except perhaps cough whenever his chest heaved, or
when the fever gnawed at his burning body.

"Vincent?" called Aeris hesitantly.

He mumbled a tired "hm" as a reply, but did not turn to her.

"Do you remeber any of the things you raved about?"

Vincent, whoose eyes had been shut up to then, mechanically re-opened
them. He thought a minute before answering, "Not really. what did I rave
about?"

"Oh, I don't know; mostlt things that didn't make sense. You.. raved
about ShinRa, sometimes about Professor Hojo or some 'experiment'. You
also raved quite a bit about an apple orchard, and about that..that
man..Davoren."

He listened to her in silence.

"But most of the time, you raved about a woman named Lucrecia," Aeris
continued in a hushed whisper, "At times, it seemed you were talking to
somebody, like you could actually hear voices. Other times, you just
raved on and on about strange things I couldn't understand. I wished I
could help you..I wanted to *so* badly, it sometimes made me cry. And I
tried my best..but..but I.."

Vincent wearily placed one arm under his head as his metallic claw drew
itself across his heaving chest. He did not speak for a lonf while.

"What did you do?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Mm?"

"When I was raving...how did you try to help me?"

Aeris hesitated, afraid to answer his simple question, then finally
faltered, "you..you wouldn't stop raving..day and night, and coughed out
so much blood. You'd tear your hair, and call yourself a monster over
and over again. I couldn't do much, even though I would have given
anything to help you. So I'd..hold your hand...just hold it..and whisper
in your ear. Anything that came to my mind, I said it."

"Like what?"

"Ah..I told you how much we all wanted you to get better, because
everyone was worried sick about you. If I was alone with you in the
room, I'd hum a song into your ears," Aeris paused before concluding
softly, "Or sometimes, I just kept on repeating your name, hoping
somehow, somewhere in your nightmares, you'd hear me."

fatigued beyond measure, Vincent closed his weary eyes again, then
nestled his head further into his hot arm. Bsides an occasional cough,
he lay perfectly still, with his back turned to the girl.

"I don't remember," he stated monotonously.

"That's okay. It was all nonsense anyway."

"No, it wasn't," Vincent defended, his voice softening with every word,
"It was your voice calling my name that pulled me out of the nightmare,
Aeris."

The girl made no response in recognition of his gratitude, except
tighten the cosy blanket around her cold body. Nor did Vincent persue an
answer. He lay quietly in his spot, letting his dull senses wallow in
the tranquillity.

Silence, ruler of the black room once again, hushed all sounds in its
domain. Nothing dared challenge its tyrannical authority until Aeris
suddenly and noisily shifted around. she lay flat on her back, with both
hands firmly clasped on her breast. She stared at the black ceiling
above, her heart struggling against some violent, inner emotion.

"As long as..as I can remember, the Professor has beentorturing me,"
Aeris faltered in a low, quivering whisper, "He loved to..do all these
'tests'..that hurt me so much. I never knew what he did exactly. He
usually drugged me, or just let me faint if the test became too painful.
And I always..always heard his voice hissing in my ears non-stop. I
couldn't even cry out because my limbs ached so much..."

Though Vincent did not answer, he opened his red eyes as she faltered
in her story. He listened most attentively than before: her strange tone
had drawn his full attention.

Aeris glanced at his back, then resumed, keeping her bright eyes fixed
on the black ceiling, "One night..the Professor left me in the
lab,but..but forgot to lock the door. I stared for maybe five whole
minutes at the door. N..next thing I know, I was running outside. I just
wanted to escape."

Vincent made no answer.

"I ran..and ran,: she continued, tightening her hands on her breast, "I
knew the guards were after me. I could hear them chasing me from behind.
I passed so many buildings...and alleys..and faces on the streets. All
that mattered to me was escape. I never wanted to go back
there...never."

Aeris heaved a long sigh, overwhelmed with this surge of hatred for her
mysterious tormentor. She turned her back to Vincent again, but kept her
quivering hands clasped over her bosom. To her annoyance, painful tears
welled up in her eyes, despite her every effort to suppress them. She
knew not why she was telling this man of her painful past. It seemed the
words poured out of her mouth of their own accord.

Vincent, however, kept his back turned to her, as if oblivious to her
pitiful struggle.

"I've never felt absolutely safe, even after meeting you and the
others," the girl said, trying in vain to control her tears, "There is
always this corner in my mind that says I can never, ever escape. The
Professor..or..Davoren will eventually catch me again, and just drag me
back. It's like I'm trying to run away from a never-ending nightmare."

She scornfully wiped away her tears, then concluded in such a low
voice, "But now..at this moment, I feel safe...because I know you'll be
safe too, and you'll be there by my side when I need you. Just for this
one time, I don't have to worry about the Professor or Davoren," Aeris
paused before adding more softly, "I wish this feeling could last
forever, Vincent...just to feel absolutely safe from harm.. like I feel
now."

But you know as well as I do it's just a wish..poor little girl,
Vincent reflected to himself bitterly, there's no escaping *those* kind
of nightmares. They may come and go, but never, never leave you alone.

How it pained and angered him to see this young girl...a child compared
to him...suffer the same tortures he had. Even more that he could not
fully shield her from this unseen Professor, despite all his efforts.

Yes, Vincent scoffed at himself, just the same with Lucrecia.

He trudged through his entangled thoughts another minute or so before
finally turning around to the pitiful girl. His hard metallic arm full
encircled her slender waist, as if afraid someone may snatch her away
any moment. He drew her closer to him from behind. Aeris gave a slight
start at the touch of his skin against her back, but offered no
resistance to the gesture. He nestled her back and head against his
chest, then wrapped blankets around her body.

"Don't think about the Professor or those bad memories," he whispered
into her ear, "Go to sleep, Aeris. For now, just go to sleep."

She nodded her only once. Vincent tenderly kissed her cheek, like a
parent coaxing a child to sleep, then lay still. He felt her tense body
gradually relax in his grip, but kept his metal arm around her waist.

In a minute, Aeris was fast asleep.

He lay there for a long time, with the poor girl sleeping snugly in his
arms. Perhaps he too fell asleep for a while; or just stayed awake,
feeling her cold body against his feverish skin. Hundreds of random
thoughts, snipets of different memories, and new preoccupations pecked
at his battered brain all the time. Soon, he grew weary of his bed.

Careful not to disturb Aeris' badly-needed sleep, Vincent slipped out
of the warm bed. He wandered over to the closet in hopes of finding
suitable clothing to cover his boxer shorts (indeed, his fever had been
so intense, his friends had no choice but to strip off his pants).
Vincent noiselessly rummaged through his clothes until at last found a
pair of loose black pants. He immediately slipped into the garment,
tucked his sleeveless shirt in, the tied the ropy belt around his waist
into a knot.

That task completed, Vincent drifted over to the window. After a
moment's hesitation, he withdrew one of the curtains, thereby inviting
the lovely moonlight into the black room. At first, the light hurt his
strained eyes unbearably. However, as he gazed silently through the
window, he became quite used to the beautiful, gentle light. It was
snowing outside.

With peculiar morbid gloominess, he watched the soft snow playfully
descend the black sky, past his window pane. The snow flakes danced
before his blood-shot eyes, floating down towards the frozen ground
outside. Vincent noticed one particular snow flake tumble against the
window, then disappear the instant it touched the glass.

He touched the icy window in silent wonder. His burning fingers
twitched uncontrollably at the cold feeling. Slowly, the morose man
pressed his hot cheek against the window pane, letting the violent surge
of coldness rip through his feverish body. However, he felt no no
discomfort what so ever. Vincent kept his cheek glued to the freezing
glass, wallowing in this strange, soothing sensation.

His tall figure and the window cast a sharp shadow on the bed, which
stood just opposite the window. When he had finished, Vincent turned
fully around to face the foot of the bed. The shadow of the window frame
cast itself on the whole bedcovers; his shadow fell very awkwardly
across the whole bed, disrupting the square pattern of the window frame.

He noticed Aeris' face in the lovely moonlight at last. She still slept
on her side, with her two hands carelessly lain infront of her soft
bosom. Her eyes were lightly closed, making her appear more dead than
asleep. The girl's loose hair all lay pushed back behind her head,
except for a few long curls that tumbled over her slender shoulders. Her
face appeared quite pale.

Vincent found her strangely beautiful in the moonlight. Perhaps the
purity of her pale skin struck his fancy; or maybe the way her long hair
curled behind her head and tumbled over her white shoulders. Whatever
his reason, Vincent gazed very thoughtfully at Aeris while she thus
slept.

She's such a innocent little girl, he wondered internally, just like
Lucrecia was...she's tortured and suffers day and night from some
Professor...just like Lucrecia was too...

Yes Vincent, you seem to find this girl *so* similar to Lucrecia in
many different ways...

Yet what did you do when Lucrecia REALLY needed you most? You simply
abandonned her; you let suffer alone. And after all that high-falutin
crap about you loving her...hah! What a hypocrite you are! It IS your
fault, no matter how you cut it..your fault she died.

Yes...and ever since, you've wished to atone for that one sin. If you
could protect someone *just like Lucrecia*..someone who needs you now as
much as Lucrecia needed you then...maybe you'll be forgiven.

So, is that all this girl really worth to you? Just a means of winning
forgiveness for *your* crime?

Vincent suddenlt broke away from his gloomy train of thoughts before an
answer could come. He had, in fact, been only semi-conscious of his
thoughts until that blunt question had struck him.

Time dragged by. He paced around the dark room until finally, when too
exhausted to walk any further, he returned to his bed. He flung himself
on top of the bedcovers, then turned his back to Aeris. He heard her
sigh softly, then shuffle slightly under the blankets. When he closed
his eyes, they did not open again.

He could not remember when he fell asleep that night. Although he tried
his best not to think, his stubborn mind persisted to return to that
hectic nightmare one last time.

He remembered that day, thirty-one years ago, when he stopped aging.
It was the same day Lucrecia died.