Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Unforgivable Sinner ❯ Returning to Nibelheim ( Chapter 3 )

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

Ø3. Returning to Nibelheim
It was early morning, the second day since AVALANCHE had returned, when Rain entered the kitchen to find Shera staring into the sink with an absent look in her eyes. These last days she'd tried so hard to make Shera finally make her move on the pilot she was so head over heels in love with. For someone as smart as Shera, she surely did not see what was right in front of her!
"Hey there. You look like someone just stole something precious from you. It's that manly Captain Cid again, huh?" Rain grinned, knowing if she'd been in Shera's place, the handsome captain would have been hers by now!
Starting, Shera jumped around and blushed deeply at the words. "N-no! I mean, t-that's... that's n-not i-it! I m-mean, nothing happ-happened!" As the words left her lips, Shera realised she'd just about admitted something had happened and closed her eyes hard.
Rain walked over, her smile not lessening by the news. "So...? What exactly... 'did not happen'?"
Shaking her head, Shera turned back to the sink, desperate to avoid her eyes. "I-I don't know what you mean! N-nothing happened! I mean, what would happen? S-should there be happening something? I-I don't understand wh-why you have to bring the... the Captain into my idleness. I-It's not his fault!"
Rain crossed her arms and leaned sideways against the sink with a tiny frown. "What isn't his fault?"
Unknowingly, Shera clutched the edges of the sink and bent her head. "That he doesn't want me."
Reaching out, Rain placed a light hand on Shera's shoulder. "Hey... Let's sit down and you can tell me why you have that crazy idea in that usually so smart mind of yours!"
Powerless, Shera allowed her to guide her over to the table and sit heavily down on a chair.
Sitting down beside her, Rain took her hand and sighed. "Now... What happened?"
Shera shrugged and still wouldn't meet her eyes; "last night... I couldn't sleep, a-and I decided to make, uhm, some tea... b-but when I came in here, t-the Captain was here. I-I tried to apologize, " at that point Rain silently rolled her eyes, already knowing too well Shera's ramblings, but didn't interrupt, "b-but he... he just..." Shera slowly raised her gaze and met Rain's eyes before dropping the bomb; "He kissed me."
Rain blinked surprised then smiled with a shrug. "There you are! And, of course, kissing you means he doesn't want you, right?"
Blushing deeply, Shera shook her head with a sad smile. "No, you don't understand. I-I... I kissed him first." She could see Rain now became a little confused and hurried to clear it up; "The evening before, when he was out working on the airship. I... somehow... I-I kissed him." Shera folded her hands awkwardly in her lap, feeling embarrassed beyond belief.
Rain raised an eyebrow and waved her hand weakly; "I still don't get how you make all of this mean he doesn't want you..."
There was a short silence, then Shera drew a deep breath; "I just... last night... I think it was a pity-kiss!"
Laughing silently, Rain shook her head puzzled. "A what?"
Shera shrugged and gazed down at her hands again. "You know, a pity-kiss. He... he doesn't want me, but felt embarrassed o-over how I threw m-myself at him the n-night before... s-so, he pity-kissed me."
Rain sighed at her friend's negative look on things and placed her hand over Shera's. "Listen, you know Cid better then anyone, right?" Shera nodded weakly, before Rain continued. "So, is he the type to pity anyone?"
The words made Shera go silent, and her eyes thoughtful. "I... I don't know..." She mumbled and got up to walk over the sink.
Rain looked after her with a slight smile, while silently praying that Cid weren't the rough and insensitive man he gave himself out to be.
-
It was good to have the people she now considered her friends back, even if they did bring that Rufus ShinRa...
Tifa was supreme to discuss drink-mixing and the odd nature of men, Red was undefeated in pondering the meaning of life, Cloud was just down right cute, Barret taught her poker, Cid learned her cuss-words she never knew existed, Yuffie taught her how to use materia, and Vincent had brought her a gun unlike any hand-gun she'd ever seen.
This one was a little bigger then the one she had, but still easier to handle and much more powerful. Rain had never seen the beauty in guns until Vincent brought her that gun, and she shyly asked him to train her. Seeing there was little else to do, the former Turk had agreed and she was allowed to try a couple of his shot-guns as well. The only one he always kept to himself was a powerful gun she heard Barret call Death Penalty. There was something about that weapon that meant something important to Vincent...
Vincent watched as Rain fired at the targets he'd set up a long distance away and frowned at her stance. It was better, much better, but the gun-man in him told there was still plenty room for improvement. She had some talent, he had to admit that, but was definitely no killer. He wondered if she'd ever be able to use her gun on a living being. Vincent doubted it.
"Did you see that?!" Rain exclaimed happily as she spun around to face him while pointing franticly at the target.
Vincent glanced over, seeing her aim had improved drastically as well as her bullet had struck inches from the bullseye. "Very nice. Now let's see you do that again."
Her happy expression vanished as she sent him a dry look. "Not one to dwell on a happy moment, are you?"
As she turned back to continue her target practice, Vincent swallowed hard. Oh, the curse of his life was to dwell on the few happy moments in his life...
Happy moments he was never to have again... Lucrecia...
He got up abruptly and cleared his throat. "There is a meeting by Cid's house. Just keep practicing on that target for another half hour then you can pack up the gun for today."
Rain nodded, watching him with an odd look in her eyes. Could she see what her words had unknowingly stirred up?
Vincent avoided her gaze and left quickly with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Rain was a little too sharp on the empathic sense for him to relax around her. It could almost seem that she felt his pain and uneasiness at times. He'd caught her looking at him, and this worried him. Vincent was used to people staring at him, their eyes filled with either fear, watchfulness or indifference, but Rain would have a soft look of gentle curiosity and something inviting. Vincent hadn't received such a look in so many years it made him a little nervous.
-
Vincent was ,of course, one of the first to arrive and the last to arrive a half hour late was, of course, Rufus ShinRa.
The conversation halted completely as Rufus approached them. His white trenchcoat spread out behind him as a breeze flew past him, and they all saw the confidence in the walk as well as the shining shotgun by his side. "People," Rufus greeted arrogantly, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting?"
Barret snorted angrily. "Damn right you have, you jackass! We ain't got all day to wait for you finishing up with your grooming!"
Young, arrogant and hopelessly vain, Vincent still had to admit Rufus was a decent fighter. And he'd chosen a decent shot-gun as well. Maybe all the flaunting would be worth him as an ally... Vincent really hoped so.
A door slammed and everyone glanced over as Cid came stomping out of the house. Cursing loudly, the pilot flung his cigarette on the ground and crushed it with the heel of his boot with such intensity it made Cloud raise his eyebrows. "Uh... problems, Cid?"
Glaring angrily at them, Cid kicked up a cloud of dust. "Damn right there is! The Highwind took quite the beating, remember?" Cloud nodded, and Cid growled angrily; "The steering is shot to hell, and we don't have the spare-parts we need here!"
Red frowned thoughtfully. "We need the Highwind to cross the sea... It would take forever to get the Tiny Bronco... and the underwater Weapon is making sure we can't use the submarine... What are we going to do?"
Rufus snorted and flicked a lock of his hair back. "You're not giving up already?!"
Cid glared at the ex-president as he lit up another cigarette. "Hell, no! I didn't say that, you numb-skull! We just need to travel to another town and buy the damn parts I need to fix that frigging steering!"
Cloud nodded. "True, but where do we go?"
A memory suddenly stirred as Vincent gazed into the distance, remembering the old man he'd sought to get what he needed to repair his golden arm after it had been damaged in a fight. "Nibelheim got a man living of selling mechanical parts..." Vincent finally declared quietly, not too eager to return to the town that had held him captive for so many years.
The town that held too many memories.
Lucrecia.
Tifa shrugged. "Nibelheim it is then. So who should go and get the parts?"
Cid tipped the ashes of his cigarette and shrugged. "I gotta work on the Highwind, the steering isn't all that is broken."
Cloud saw Barret glaring at Rufus and quickly gazed over at Tifa. "How about Vincent, you, Rufus and Yuffie?"
Tifa blinked surprised and glanced over at Rufus. "Uhm... sure."
Vincent gazed at Rufus as well, wondering if he could trust him to cover his back...
Yuffie jumped up. "Yay! I'm so bored of this old town anyway! Maybe we'll find some materia on the way? Time to kick some ass! I hope we meet some real tough monsters!"
She started punching at thin air, much to Rufus' irritation. "Do we have to bring her?" He asked coolly.
Cloud crossed his arms. "Yes. She's a good fighter if you should get into trouble, and this way she stays out of trouble here! We don't need the inhabitants of Rocket Town after us because she stole their materia!"
Yuffie froze and jumped around to face Cloud. "Hey! I wouldn't do that! ...Well, I wouldn't get caught anyway!"
Tifa got a weak smile. "Then it's settled. Anybody need anything before we leave?"
Rufus frowned as he checked his shotgun. "I need some strong attack materia."
Tifa turned her fighting glove and removed two stones; "Here. Take these."
Rufus took the two materias she reached him and attached them to his shotgun. "Summon Bahamut and Fire3... Hmm, not bad."
And after receiving Restore, EnemySkill, Bolt3 and a couple of All's, Rufus declared he was ready.
Cid had drilled Vincent umpteen times about the names of the parts and anything relevant they might run into, and finally the former Turk was allowed to join the awaiting Tifa, Rufus and the impatient Yuffie. "Alright," Vincent said, his voice calm despite the uneasy feeling in his stomach, "let's get going."
-
As they travelled ever closer to Nibelheim, Vincent became more and more restless. Uneasiness flooded his usually so calm mind, and the monsters inside him sensed it. Vincent was aware of them merely waiting for an excuse to break free and this merely added to his nervousness. It shouldn't upset him that much, should it? Nibelheim was just a town, after all. Hojo was gone. No one was left from the nightmarish past that haunted him every night.
Not even Lucrecia.
Still, Vincent had to force himself to continue and hide his unease from the others. Some deep, primal instinct told him he really shouldn't enter Nibelheim, that if he did; something bad would happen.
It didn't take long before they encountered several monsters, but nothing that gave them any problems. Vincent hardly said a word, Yuffie hardly kept her mouth shut, and Tifa spent most of the time worrying over what Rufus was brooding over.
Suddenly they met up with four Velcher Tusks, and the group quickly found themselves in trouble.
The monsters were almost twice their normal size and twice as strong!
Vincent had considered that the Meteor was affecting the monsters even more then driving them into towns and now he grimly realised he'd been right.
The hit that sent him to the ground was completely unexpected and Vincent temporarily weakness was all the Galiant Beast needed to break free!
"No..." Vincent gasped as he felt himself convulse, but it was too late.
- Burn! Smouldering flesh! Black smoke against the sky! Everything will BURN!
The beast roared and Vincent felt himself slip away...
Gasping for air, Vincent opened his eyes as he staggered to keep his balance while the Galiant Beast was forced inside him again.
He could feel Tifa's worried eyes, Yuffie's nervous look and Rufus ShinRa's disbelief all aimed at him.
"Let's keep moving," he demanded hoarsely and walked on before anyone could say anything.
He'd lost control!
One of the monsters had actually broken free against his will, and Vincent didn't dare think about what this could mean!
It had never happened before, he'd always been able to keep them down even if it did drain him of every bit of strength he had, but something told him it had also never happened before because Chaos never had tried.
But now the Galiant Beast had torn free, and Vincent dreaded what would happen if they all tried...
-
Pushing the thoughts aside, he frowned slightly as he spotted something in the distance. "Chocobos..."
Yuffie lit up from where she was trotting beside him, "really?! Yay! Then we don't hafta walk all the way!"
Nodding, Vincent turned to wait for Rufus and Tifa to catch up with them, while Yuffie ran to meet them with the news.
"But does anybody have any chocobo greens?" Vincent asked as the young ninja revelled in how they didn't have to walk!
Rufus got a confused look as Tifa dug into her pockets. She triumphantly held up four greens. "Always prepared!"
Vincent nodded and began walking towards where Yuffie had spotted the birds. "Me and Yuffie fight off the monsters. Tifa, you and him take care of the chocobos."
Once again the monsters proved to be much bigger and tougher then usual, and Vincent had to take a hit to the shoulder from one of the monsters to send a bullet at the one about to chew of Yuffie's head.
When they finally sent the last monster crashing to the ground, Yuffie cast a quick glance over at Vincent, "I could've handled myself, you know!"
Vincent merely walked over to Tifa and Rufus.
"What the heck took so long?!" Rufus demanded to know.
Vincent glanced over at Yuffie, who walked embarrassedly over to the chocobo by Tifa. "Young Yuffie here had a couple of problems..."
Rufus rolled his eyes and took a step away from the clingy chocobo. "That is exactly why kids shouldn't be out in the battlefield!"
Yuffie jumped around and punched rapidly in the air. "I'm no kid!!!"
Tifa walked over and stood between Yuffie and Rufus, lifting her hands to signal for silence. "Alright, alright. Could we just focus on the reason we're out here? And perhaps even get moving?"
Once again Vincent found himself blessing Tifa's presence!
Yuffie crossed her arms with a 'humpf' and Rufus merely shrugged.
"But I'm not riding with that jerk," the young ninja exclaimed; pointing at Rufus.
Tifa sighed and walked over to the chocobo by Rufus. "You don't have to, Yuffie. You and Vincent share that one and me and Rufus will share this one. Ok? Everybody happy?"
She exhaled relived when Yuffie stomped over to where Vincent were already sitting on the chocobo, but froze when she saw the look on Rufus' face; "What?"
He shook his head slowly and took a step back. "I'm not getting on that thing!"
Tifa felt her last nerve was about to snap. "And why not?" She scratched the chocobos neck, and tilted her head.
Rufus crossed his arms tightly and his mouth were a thin line. "I, well, that... "
Vincent gave a small smile, enjoying seeing the smug youth nervous for once.
Tifa took a hold and jumped up, settling nicely on the chocobos back. "Yes?" She demanded to know, steering the chocobo over to Rufus, noticing how he backed away a step.
Rufus saw how Vincent and Yuffie stared at him, waiting. He gazed down and shifted his weight uneasily as he admitted in a low voice; "I've never ridden a chocobo before... ok?"
Tifa smiled, not to mock, but softly as it showed Rufus ShinRa was human after all! "Well... there is a first time for everything, right? Now, I promise that this is actually quite safer then you strolling around in your trademark suit; drawing all that attention."
Rufus gazed up and found her smiling encouraging to him, and dared to take a step towards the chocobo. "Right... "
The trip to Nibelheim was more or less uneventful, and Vincent found himself even unable to brood over his still increasing uneasiness as Yuffie kept chattering loudly with Tifa. Sitting the wrong way, with her back against Vincent, the young ninja held on to the tail feathers of the chocobo and voiced her opinion on everything.
The only comfort Vincent had was one look on Rufus' face and he knew he wasn't the only one miserable. The young man was pale and looked ready to throw up at any moment.
-
Nibelheims town entrance was soon seen in the horizon and the dark town crept closer as the chocobos made steady progress. Fear was cold against Vincents neck and he had to concentrate to keep from turning the chocobo around.
It's just your imagination, he chanted mentally, fiercly ignoring the roaring monsters in his blood. Nothing bad is going to happen!
They agreed to stay the night in Nibelheim as it would be nightfall soon and the night brought forth the worst monsters. If the minor monsters were twice as strong and able to give them trouble, they really didn't want to meet the bigger ones. Vincent let them make the decision to stay without saying anything to object, but he knew he would not close one eye as long as he was in the town called Nibelheim.
Letting the chocobos go, he turned away from the others and gazed into the town, a memory of his first arrival here passing in front of his eyes.
No, he was not going to think about it. Focus. Get the parts.
Yuffie had just finished waving after the chocobos and turned back to the others. "Well then, what do we do first? Get rooms? Look for parts? Buy materia?"
Vincent halted by the town gate and gazed back at them. "I'll find the parts," he said quietly, then turned and walked into the town where all his nightmares came from.