Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny's Truth ❯ Past and Present ( Chapter 1 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Trick Sparrow 
Vincent dwells on the past and contemplates the here and now.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.16.2001 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 421 | Status: Completed
Vincent dwells on the past and contemplates the here and now.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.16.2001 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 421 | Status: Completed
Destiny controls everything, the whole world. Everything happens for a reason. It's all fate.
Either that or flat-out lies.
I sincerely doubt that God would make this my destiny, this life I've been forced to live. That it's fate that I was experimented on and tortured so mercilessly. That the death of the woman I loved occured for a reason. If any of that were true, I was the worst example of destiny you could ever find.
The others try to cheer me up, tell me none of it was my fault, but they could not even begin to understand. I let Hojo, that despicable man, if he was indeed a man and not some heartless creature that was not from this world, subject Lucrecia to brutal tests and experiments. I simply stood by and let him... kill her. She was agreeable with it to the end, and I didn't stop him.
I know, if Lucrecia was alive, not reunited with the Planet, she would urge me to forgive myself, to let go of her and live my life. I know, I can't go on like this, trying desperately to atone for sins in reality I didn't even commit. What I don't know is, why can't I let go? Cloud has overcome the demons of self-doubt in his mind, his shreds of distorted memories, the death of Aeris, so why do I still curse myself every single day?
I'm almost certain I wouldn't find any meaning in my life if it weren't for Yuffie. Without a doubt my closest companion and dearest friend, she is the ray of light that shines through an unseen window into my dark, dismal world.
Two years had passed since the last battle with Sephiroth, the hateful spawn of the woman I had once cherished. Two years since the eventful night in the desert outside Gold Saucer. I had been gaining battle experience, and Yuffie, being impulsive as usual, braved the desert in search of me. Narrowly cheating death after being attacked by a Sand Worm, I came to her rescue and shot the vile beast.
Yuffie immediately collapsed against me, sobbing and feverish from exertion. Having no idea how to comfort her, I held her in my arms. At that moment, she felt so fragile and innocent, completely different from her usual loud and frequently obnoxious nature. I had felt so inexplicably protective of her, and I almost couldn't bear the thought of letting go of her. I still remember her soft, tremulous voice as she cried against my chest.
"I thought you were dead...."
Later when we had sought refuge in an abandoned caryard and settled down for the night in an old truck, after I had given her my cloak to keep warm, she expressed her gratitude for saving her life. I had shrugged it off as nothing but instinct, but she told me in a bleak voice that no one had ever been concerned about her like that.
Feeling uncomfortable and struggling with my many strange, previously nonexistant, and just plain WRONG emotions, I simple told her to go to sleep. I waited until I heard her steady, rythmic breathing, and sighed, shaking my head. She was a GIRL, for God's sake. Only sixteen years old. It was unspeakable for a man my age, although only physically twenty-seven, but more truthfully FIFTY-seven, to be even having such feelings for a girl her age.
But where my determined logic failed, pure emotion, which I had been surprised to find I could still possess, won the moral battle inside me. Yuffie had begun shivering violently, even under my cape. My hands, before my mind could chastise them harshly, had wound themselves around the girl and pulled her close to me. I stroked her hair softly, and she finally stopped trembling. Yet I still held her against me, my chin resting on the top of her head.
I fell asleep with Yuffie Kisaragi in my arms.
The next day we were forced to go through the desert prison to get back into Gold Saucer. I still curse myself for leaving Yuffie alone while I talked to the head of the prison. When I returned, she was gone. I called her name frantically until I saw her, struggling to break free of an inmate who had a knife to her throat.
That's when literally all Hell broke loose. Chaos, that unavoidable presence always clawing inexorably at the back of my mind, suddenly took complete control of me. Obviously perturbed at the thought of any harm coming to my young friend, the ghastly consciousness overpowered me, and pain ripped savagely through every part of my body as the transformation began.
The next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, my head cradled on Yuffie's lap. The inmate was dead, as I had suspected, and Yuffie was crying, her tears falling down her cheeks onto my sweat-slicked face. God, how I hated to see her cry, especially because of me. I managed a weak smile to comfort her, and she bent down and kissed my cheek, saying that I was her hero.
After that, the young ninja and I grew steadily closer than we'd ever been. I took her with me for battle practice, and she invited me to social gatherings in Wutai with her family. I quickly grew accustomed to her hyper and sarcastic demeanor, and she came to tolerate my forbidding, stand-offish qualities. She said I was her best friend, though I was never fully convinced that were true. A girl befriending a beast was an unlikely occurrence.
I hadn't seen her for over a year, and I was beginning to grow concerned when she hadn't showed up at Cloud and Tifa's house in Nibelheim. All of us had reunited like we do every year, determined not to let our own lives get in the way of our friendship. The trials we had faced saving the Planet hadn't torn us apart, and we are certain nothing else will.
And now, two years since those fateful forty-eight hours, sitting in the bay window of Cloud and Tifa's living room, waiting for Yuffie to arrive, I watched as Barret Wallace and Cid Highwind swiftly inebriated themselves on drinks that Tifa had dispatched to us all. Red XIII simply shook his head at the two drunkards and continued his conversation with Cait Sith, whom we now casually called Reeve. Cloud and Tifa were sitting on the stools at the kichen bar, discussing when they thought Yuffie would be coming.
"It shouldn't have taken her this long to get here," said Tifa, worried. Little did she know that my calm face betrayed my own worry, which was even greater than hers. "I wonder what's keeping her?"
His voice slightly slurred, Barret shrugged. "I wouldn't be too shocked, Tif. You know how that girl is."
"Yeah," agreed Cid, puffing on his cigarette. "I'm surprised the little brat still hasn't swiped all of our materia and high-tailed it back to her daddy in Wutai."
Before I even realized what I was doing, I had knocked the pilot out of his chair and pinned him against the wall, holding his shirt collar. In one swift motion, I pulled the machete I kept with me out of my boot leg and held it in front of his unshaven face with my metal claw.
Frightened by the malicious tone in my own voice, I threatened, "If you ever speak of Yuffie in that fashion again, you'll be smoking that bloody cigarette through a hole in your trachea."
Cid sputtered an apology, but it was unintelligable because of the lack of breath. I let him go, and he collapsed to the floor, coughing. The others looked at me, appalled. Too baffled and horrified by my actions to apologize to the man, I instead retreated hastily up the stairs to one of the guest rooms, where I was staying for our visit.
"Vincent!" called Tifa, concern in her voice. "Vincent, what's wrong?"
I ignored her, too ashamed to reply. I sat on the bed, looking out at the rain slashing against the window and trying to comprehend my actions. When no insult, no matter how belittling, could scratch the surface of my callous psyche, why had I lost my temper at the slightest remark about Yuffie?
I have no idea how long I sat there, pondering my inexplicable behavior, but I suddenly turned in surprise when I heard a knock and a familiar voice at the door.
"Vinnie, open the freakin' door! Aren't you going to even say hi to me, ya heartless vampire?"
I opened the door --and had to look down-- to see a much more mature Yuffie Kisaragi standing in front of me. I was completely taken aback by her new appearance, and fully realized how much time had passed.
Though only an inch taller, Yuffie's thin body had been replaced by a more shapely one, with more feminine curves. As if more comfortable with this new form, she had exchanged her halter top and khaki shorts in favor of a light green, sleeveless dress. Her previously short, unruly dark hair was now shoulder-length, with a single braid framing each side of her delicate face. Though she was now eighteen, I was still physically twenty-seven, as I had been for what seemed like an eternity.
"Yuffie," I said breathlessly before realizing it.
She smiled, a mischievous glint in her stormy gray eyes which I suspected would never diminish with age. "You can stop playing innocent, Vinnie. We both know you think I'm hot!"
I found no answer to this remark, and I stood there awkwardly until she suddenly flung her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly. "Man, I missed you, Vincent Valentine!" she said.
I permitted myself a slight smile and hugged the girl --young woman-- back. "I missed you, too, Yuffie," I replied truthfully. "It's been longer than I realized."
As I held her in my arms, I remembered all too clearly how I had rocked her gently back and forth in my arms that one memorable night, trying to keep her warm. At that moment, I had wished that somehow I could have cradled her against me until the end of time. After a while I became aware that I was rocking Yuffie slightly as we stood.
--------------------------
End Chapter One. Yes, I finally took your requests to heart and made a sequel for all you devoted fans (all three of you) to my first Vincent/Yuffie story, 'My Hero'. I'm starting to like this one better, because with Vincent narrating, it's like being in his mind. Which would actually be kind of scary, but still. For some reason, when I was playing the game, I always imagined Vincent having a British accent. Not a goofy Manchester one, but a sexy, sophisticated one, like Pierce Brosnan's. So go with that for a while, and read the next chapter. Comments please!
Trick Sparrow
Either that or flat-out lies.
I sincerely doubt that God would make this my destiny, this life I've been forced to live. That it's fate that I was experimented on and tortured so mercilessly. That the death of the woman I loved occured for a reason. If any of that were true, I was the worst example of destiny you could ever find.
The others try to cheer me up, tell me none of it was my fault, but they could not even begin to understand. I let Hojo, that despicable man, if he was indeed a man and not some heartless creature that was not from this world, subject Lucrecia to brutal tests and experiments. I simply stood by and let him... kill her. She was agreeable with it to the end, and I didn't stop him.
I know, if Lucrecia was alive, not reunited with the Planet, she would urge me to forgive myself, to let go of her and live my life. I know, I can't go on like this, trying desperately to atone for sins in reality I didn't even commit. What I don't know is, why can't I let go? Cloud has overcome the demons of self-doubt in his mind, his shreds of distorted memories, the death of Aeris, so why do I still curse myself every single day?
I'm almost certain I wouldn't find any meaning in my life if it weren't for Yuffie. Without a doubt my closest companion and dearest friend, she is the ray of light that shines through an unseen window into my dark, dismal world.
Two years had passed since the last battle with Sephiroth, the hateful spawn of the woman I had once cherished. Two years since the eventful night in the desert outside Gold Saucer. I had been gaining battle experience, and Yuffie, being impulsive as usual, braved the desert in search of me. Narrowly cheating death after being attacked by a Sand Worm, I came to her rescue and shot the vile beast.
Yuffie immediately collapsed against me, sobbing and feverish from exertion. Having no idea how to comfort her, I held her in my arms. At that moment, she felt so fragile and innocent, completely different from her usual loud and frequently obnoxious nature. I had felt so inexplicably protective of her, and I almost couldn't bear the thought of letting go of her. I still remember her soft, tremulous voice as she cried against my chest.
"I thought you were dead...."
Later when we had sought refuge in an abandoned caryard and settled down for the night in an old truck, after I had given her my cloak to keep warm, she expressed her gratitude for saving her life. I had shrugged it off as nothing but instinct, but she told me in a bleak voice that no one had ever been concerned about her like that.
Feeling uncomfortable and struggling with my many strange, previously nonexistant, and just plain WRONG emotions, I simple told her to go to sleep. I waited until I heard her steady, rythmic breathing, and sighed, shaking my head. She was a GIRL, for God's sake. Only sixteen years old. It was unspeakable for a man my age, although only physically twenty-seven, but more truthfully FIFTY-seven, to be even having such feelings for a girl her age.
But where my determined logic failed, pure emotion, which I had been surprised to find I could still possess, won the moral battle inside me. Yuffie had begun shivering violently, even under my cape. My hands, before my mind could chastise them harshly, had wound themselves around the girl and pulled her close to me. I stroked her hair softly, and she finally stopped trembling. Yet I still held her against me, my chin resting on the top of her head.
I fell asleep with Yuffie Kisaragi in my arms.
The next day we were forced to go through the desert prison to get back into Gold Saucer. I still curse myself for leaving Yuffie alone while I talked to the head of the prison. When I returned, she was gone. I called her name frantically until I saw her, struggling to break free of an inmate who had a knife to her throat.
That's when literally all Hell broke loose. Chaos, that unavoidable presence always clawing inexorably at the back of my mind, suddenly took complete control of me. Obviously perturbed at the thought of any harm coming to my young friend, the ghastly consciousness overpowered me, and pain ripped savagely through every part of my body as the transformation began.
The next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, my head cradled on Yuffie's lap. The inmate was dead, as I had suspected, and Yuffie was crying, her tears falling down her cheeks onto my sweat-slicked face. God, how I hated to see her cry, especially because of me. I managed a weak smile to comfort her, and she bent down and kissed my cheek, saying that I was her hero.
After that, the young ninja and I grew steadily closer than we'd ever been. I took her with me for battle practice, and she invited me to social gatherings in Wutai with her family. I quickly grew accustomed to her hyper and sarcastic demeanor, and she came to tolerate my forbidding, stand-offish qualities. She said I was her best friend, though I was never fully convinced that were true. A girl befriending a beast was an unlikely occurrence.
I hadn't seen her for over a year, and I was beginning to grow concerned when she hadn't showed up at Cloud and Tifa's house in Nibelheim. All of us had reunited like we do every year, determined not to let our own lives get in the way of our friendship. The trials we had faced saving the Planet hadn't torn us apart, and we are certain nothing else will.
And now, two years since those fateful forty-eight hours, sitting in the bay window of Cloud and Tifa's living room, waiting for Yuffie to arrive, I watched as Barret Wallace and Cid Highwind swiftly inebriated themselves on drinks that Tifa had dispatched to us all. Red XIII simply shook his head at the two drunkards and continued his conversation with Cait Sith, whom we now casually called Reeve. Cloud and Tifa were sitting on the stools at the kichen bar, discussing when they thought Yuffie would be coming.
"It shouldn't have taken her this long to get here," said Tifa, worried. Little did she know that my calm face betrayed my own worry, which was even greater than hers. "I wonder what's keeping her?"
His voice slightly slurred, Barret shrugged. "I wouldn't be too shocked, Tif. You know how that girl is."
"Yeah," agreed Cid, puffing on his cigarette. "I'm surprised the little brat still hasn't swiped all of our materia and high-tailed it back to her daddy in Wutai."
Before I even realized what I was doing, I had knocked the pilot out of his chair and pinned him against the wall, holding his shirt collar. In one swift motion, I pulled the machete I kept with me out of my boot leg and held it in front of his unshaven face with my metal claw.
Frightened by the malicious tone in my own voice, I threatened, "If you ever speak of Yuffie in that fashion again, you'll be smoking that bloody cigarette through a hole in your trachea."
Cid sputtered an apology, but it was unintelligable because of the lack of breath. I let him go, and he collapsed to the floor, coughing. The others looked at me, appalled. Too baffled and horrified by my actions to apologize to the man, I instead retreated hastily up the stairs to one of the guest rooms, where I was staying for our visit.
"Vincent!" called Tifa, concern in her voice. "Vincent, what's wrong?"
I ignored her, too ashamed to reply. I sat on the bed, looking out at the rain slashing against the window and trying to comprehend my actions. When no insult, no matter how belittling, could scratch the surface of my callous psyche, why had I lost my temper at the slightest remark about Yuffie?
I have no idea how long I sat there, pondering my inexplicable behavior, but I suddenly turned in surprise when I heard a knock and a familiar voice at the door.
"Vinnie, open the freakin' door! Aren't you going to even say hi to me, ya heartless vampire?"
I opened the door --and had to look down-- to see a much more mature Yuffie Kisaragi standing in front of me. I was completely taken aback by her new appearance, and fully realized how much time had passed.
Though only an inch taller, Yuffie's thin body had been replaced by a more shapely one, with more feminine curves. As if more comfortable with this new form, she had exchanged her halter top and khaki shorts in favor of a light green, sleeveless dress. Her previously short, unruly dark hair was now shoulder-length, with a single braid framing each side of her delicate face. Though she was now eighteen, I was still physically twenty-seven, as I had been for what seemed like an eternity.
"Yuffie," I said breathlessly before realizing it.
She smiled, a mischievous glint in her stormy gray eyes which I suspected would never diminish with age. "You can stop playing innocent, Vinnie. We both know you think I'm hot!"
I found no answer to this remark, and I stood there awkwardly until she suddenly flung her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly. "Man, I missed you, Vincent Valentine!" she said.
I permitted myself a slight smile and hugged the girl --young woman-- back. "I missed you, too, Yuffie," I replied truthfully. "It's been longer than I realized."
As I held her in my arms, I remembered all too clearly how I had rocked her gently back and forth in my arms that one memorable night, trying to keep her warm. At that moment, I had wished that somehow I could have cradled her against me until the end of time. After a while I became aware that I was rocking Yuffie slightly as we stood.
--------------------------
End Chapter One. Yes, I finally took your requests to heart and made a sequel for all you devoted fans (all three of you) to my first Vincent/Yuffie story, 'My Hero'. I'm starting to like this one better, because with Vincent narrating, it's like being in his mind. Which would actually be kind of scary, but still. For some reason, when I was playing the game, I always imagined Vincent having a British accent. Not a goofy Manchester one, but a sexy, sophisticated one, like Pierce Brosnan's. So go with that for a while, and read the next chapter. Comments please!
Trick Sparrow