Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Unknown Ally ❯ Chapter 19: Starting Over ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19: Starting Over

 

Vincent ran all the way to the medical lab and raced through the doors, daring to believe. He stared as the young raven-haired woman raised her head and opened her eyes. She looked around, completely disoriented. Vincent looked at her. She looked at him.

 

`Hold on, I'll let you out.' He quickly walked over to the desk and tapped at the keys on the console. The liquid inside the tube rapidly drained away and the door opened. She stumbled out, drenched from the liquid and looked around, her eyes taking in the lab.

 

`Where am I?' she asked, finally fixing her eyes on him.

 

`You're safe,' said Vincent. `I can't believe it's you.' He took a step towards her. She stepped back from him, wariness in her eyes as she fixed on his claw. This puzzled Vincent.

 

`Hellfire, it's all right,' he said. She frowned at him.

 

`Why are you calling me that?' she said. `Who are you?'

 

The gunman was confused. `You know who I am. I've been trying to find you for three years.' Her frown deepened.

 

`What are you talking about?' she demanded. This horribly confused Vincent. Then he tried a different tact, dread creeping into his bones.

 

`You don't know who I am, do you?' he asked. She looked at him, frowning slightly in thought. She shook her head.

 

`Am I supposed to know you?' she asked. Vincent's face darkened and he pressed the button on the desk.

 

`Reeve, get in here now,' he growled. `I want answers.'

 

~*~

Vincent was waiting in a separate room of the lab as Reeve and his scientists conducted a number of tests on her. It made no sense to him. Why couldn't she remember him? Or herself? What happened in that battle with the Falionah? He thought his head would explode from the unanswered questions racing through his mind.

 

An hour later, Reeve came in with an expression of gravity on his face. Vincent didn't like that look one bit.

 

`What's wrong with her, Reeve?' demanded Vincent quietly. Reeve looked at him.

 

`She will never recover her memory,' said the commissioner. `She's been in a coma for so long that her memory has been permanently damaged. She doesn't recognise any of us or remember who she is. She can still fight, but as far as her life is concerned, it's been completely erased from memory due to the trauma she sustained during the battle.' He looked at Vincent. `It would appear that Hellfire is lost to us, Vincent. I'm sorry.'

 

Vincent felt like he'd been shot in the heart when he heard these words. Hellfire was gone. The girl that had woken from her coma was not the girl he'd fallen for three years ago. It was like a huge part of him had been ripped out and replaced with only darkness. He lowered his head, blaming himself for not seeing it had been her from the start.

 

Reeve looked at him, a look of surprise and sympathy on his face. He didn't know that this news would affect him so deeply.

 

`Vincent, I've been meaning to ask you…. Hellfire…. you were…. very fond of her, weren't you?'

 

Vincent raised his head and looked at him. `I loved her, Reeve. Not a day went by that she wasn't far from my thoughts. And now….' He looked away. Reeve hesitated.

 

`I'm sorry, Vincent,' he said, really meaning it. `I've already let the others know. Yuffie is distraught over this. But even though her memory will never return, she is still a member of AVALANCHE and that means she's our responsibility.'

 

Vincent shook off his grief and nodded. Reeve was right. Even though she was not Hellfire anymore, he still cared about her. And if that meant starting from scratch, then that was what he would do.

 

`So, she doesn't remember her name?' he asked. Reeve shook his head.

 

`No. She doesn't even remember the name she assumed at ShinRa when she was Hellfire. But she's given herself a new name.'

 

`What name?' Vincent asked, purely out of curiosity.

 

`Melissa.'

 

The gunslinger frowned. `Why that one?'

 

`She liked the sound of it. And she wasn't going to walk around only being known as “that girl”. So, she's Melissa now.'

 

Vincent nodded. It would take some getting used to, but he could live with it. Reeve looked at him.

 

`So, what are you going to do?'

 

In answer, Vincent silently walked into the room where the young woman was. The young woman took a step back from him, her eyes filled with wariness.

 

`It's all right,' he said. `I'm a friend of Reeve's' He was careful to keep his claw hidden beneath his cloak. The young woman looked at him.

 

`Are you here to take me?' she asked.

 

Vincent frowned. `What?'

 

`Commissioner Reeve told me that you knew a group of people that could help me,' she explained. `That one of them was a captain or something.'

 

Vincent nodded. `One of them is a captain,' he acknowledged. She nodded, the wariness replaced with curiosity.

 

`I gathered that from the nod,' she said. Vincent laughed slightly. This wouldn't be so bad after all.

 

`So, ever been on an airship?'