Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Where the lost ones go ❯ Everybody Hurts ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

15. Everybody Hurts

Running back, Aeris pushed open the door and entered the room where she had left Sephiroth and Dawn. "Sephiroth!"
The general lit up at the sight of her and eagerly handed the child to her. "Don't you ever do that to me again! She drooled all over my hair, dammit!"
Gathering the little girl securely in her arms, Aeris shook her head frightened. "Sephiroth! It's Vincent! He... I think he did something to Cid... His eyes... Vincent's eyes..."
"What?" Sephiroth snapped in angry disbelief, then quickly pulled out the Masamune. "Stay here!"
Aeris was unable to reply as the silver haired man shot out of the room, but she quickly hurried after him. Vincent wouldn't hurt Cid, would he? No, she couldn't make herself believe that, but still couldn't forget the look in the crimson eyes... Those eyes were purely dangerous.
Sephiroth slammed the door open and entered Vincent's cabin to find it deserted. Glancing around, he saw the Venus Gospel lying discarded on the floor. Sephiroth cursed, spun around and ran out again, just barely avoiding Aeris. He didn't stop before he had gone through the open door that lead to the deck and was standing by the railing. Gazing into the darkness, enhanced eyes could see the barest glimpse of movement that hit the ground running. Rage shot through the silver haired man, and he gripped the Masamune even tighter as he heard Aeris enter the deck as well. "I can still catch up..." But just as he moved to follow that damned traitor, a small hand landed on his shoulder and Aeris was gazing concerned down into the darkness as well.
"Wait," Aeris said silently, adjusting Dawn with her other hand without releasing Sephiroth. She could feel the fury seeping from the solid shoulder under her palm, but only gave it a gentle squeeze in an attempt to calm it. Sephiroth would kill Vincent, she knew that. He wouldn't even hesitate. But a thought wouldn't leave her.
Sephiroth shook his head confused, forcing himself to keep still and not follow the one who had turned traitor on them. "Wait? Wait for what? He's got Cid!"
Aeris moved her gaze up to meet Sephiroth's and she could almost taste the barely controlled violence in the reptilian eyes. "Our mission is to protect Cid, right? When that monster came for him at Rocket Town, the ancients gave us that mission."
Sephiroth merely nodded. "Yeah, so?"
"So, why didn't they warn us about Vincent?" Aeris asked, "The ancients wants Cid alive. They knew what Vincent would do, but they still let him do it."
Frowning, Sephiroth had to realise that she was right. He had gotten no signal that Vincent was a threat, none whatsoever. "So we just let him go? He's got Cid!"
Aeris closed her eyes briefly, "I know. But there has to be a reason why Vincent was allowed to do this, without you knowing. Besides," Aeris glanced down at Dawn, "Vincent left something with us as well. I don't think he means to harm Cid. Something happened in Wutai that made him do this, but I'm certain that Vincent wont let any harm come to Cid. And I know he'll come back for his daughter."
Sephiroth sneered, holstering the Masamune. "And when he does, I'm going to kill him!"
"When he does, we're going to listen to what he has to say," Aeris corrected, her eyes drifting up to the stars in the sky. Not a cloud was disturbing their brightness. What was going on really? It was starting to wear her down to just stumble through everything without knowing anything. She let her hand slide down from Sephiroth's shoulder and sighed. What if she was wrong? Her instincts had never failed her before, but now she had lost her connection to the planet. How could she be so sure? What if all her previous actions had been from the influence of the ancients? What if she got Cid killed? The thought made her pale and her stomach rolled. But she had trusted Vincent once. She still trusted him. She would blindly trust him with her life, even now, but did she trust him with Cid's life?
"You ok?" Sephiroth asked silently, seeing the anguish in her eyes.
"Yes, I just..." Aeris sighed, closing her eyes. "I just..."
Reaching out, Sephiroth gently caressed her cheek. "Like you said, they will be back. Let's just get to Midgar and report."
Aeris nodded, and they left the deck with heavy thoughts weighing them both down.
Vincent might not be out to harm Cid, but there was a lot of other things that were.

The bright sunlight was pouring in through the window and Rain blinked drowsily as it tore her out of her restless dreams. Sitting up, she rubbed her dry eyes and shook her head briefly to bring herself to her senses. She couldn't remember falling asleep, but her body had been too exhausted to listen to her mind.
The man called Jinrei had guided her through the ruins and revealed an entrance behind what looked like a destroyed reactor core. An entrance that lead to an elevator. Rain had studiously ignored the man's polite chat, while trying to memorize everything she saw. It would come in handy if she was to try and escape, or if Vincent would need her help. Oh, she had absolute faith in that he would come for her, but it would make things a whole lot easier if she just met him half way, right?
Getting up on unsteady feet, Rain pulled an absent hand through her ruffled hair and pushed the wavery lengths out of her face as she inspected her cell. Jinrei had pushed the button to the second lowest level, and then guided her through endless corridors. Jinrei had then halted in front of a door that he pushed open, apologizing for leaving her so soon, but he had things to attend to that could not be delayed. Rain had hesitated to enter the sterile room, but finally obeyed.
There she had spent hours trying to find a way out in vain, listening to the horrible screams, having no idea what creatures could be able to make such sounds.
And obviously fallen asleep in the end.
Footsteps caught her attention and Rain spun around to glare at the door as she heard the lock being undone.
"Good morning," Jinrei smiled at her like she had just spent the night in some hotel. "Did you sleep well?"
Rain didn't reply, merely wishing she had the Quicksilver in her hands again. The smirk on the man earned him the mental image of Rain putting a bullet in each of his knee caps.
Correcting his glasses with a slight smile, Jinrei made a grand gesture for her to follow him. "You must be hungry."
"And what makes you believe I would be foolish enough to eat anything you offer?" Rain asked acidly, balancing between anger and fear. She knew she could not trust this man, and there was also something that told her how Jinrei was much more dangerous than what his boyish looks told of.
Jinrei sighed like she'd just said something to mortally hurt him. "I have no intention of hurting you, Gorgeous."
Snorting very unladylike, Rain could not believe he'd just delivered that line. Then her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head, "What do you want then?"
"Just the pleasure of your company," Jinrei declared smoothly, the corner of his mouth tugging at a smile.
Not reassured, Rain placed her hands defensively on her hips. "I wont make very good company to the man who's responsible for my kidnapping and separating me from my family." She was in reality starving, but would never stoop to accepting anything from the man in front of her. The bastard who destroyed Wutai, almost got Dawn killed and now had Vincent in danger as well.
Jinrei chuckled, holding up his hands in a gesture to show how he had no hidden motives. "Let me be the judge of that. I can imagen the company of a beautiful woman such as yourself is immensely better than the idiots I'm usually surrounded by."
Rain let out a harsh laugh, seeing how his eyes had been resting somewhere above her stomach and below her neck throughout the entire conversation. "Yeah, I'm sure you miss a real conversation." She crossed her arms demonstratively, making him meet her eyes for once. Knowing he'd been caught, the bastard still had the nerve to smirk. "If you want to talk that bad, why don't you tell me why you're after Cid Highwind?"
Jinrei raised his eyebrows, clearly not prepared for that question. "So your hubby told you about that? Alright, how about a deal? You join me for breakfast, and you get to ask all the questions you want."
Rain considered it, knowing it would not be as simple as he made it sound, but it was an unique chance to get the information Vincent and the others were lacking. "Two conditions."
"Shoot," Jinrei replied, looking even more amused.
"One, you keep your hands off me," Rain said coldly, her disgust making it even impossible to gloat over the disappointment in his eyes. "Two, I don't have to eat anything." She was NOT going to end up among the screaming creatures here.
Closing his eyes briefly, Jinrei was silent for a little while, then gazed at her again and smiled brightly. "Deal!"

Ok, it was clear that the world had indeed gone crazy. Cloud felt his shoulders send sparks of pain up and down his spine, but he was physically unable to relax. He hadn't been able to relax since Aeris and Cid had foolishly taken off in the Highwind, but his relief of seeing the airship return had made the tension in him triple when he found out that Vincent had basically kidnapped Cid, and Aeris had barely spoken two words before disappearing with the baby and a scowling Sephiroth trailing behind her. And her two words hadn't even been directed at him, but to Sephiroth! Her hand had gently touched by the silver haired man's arm, and she had held that damned gaze as she prevented another fight between Cloud and Sephiroth. "Not now."
Cloud sighed and shook his head. Crazy. Everything was just crazy.
Entering the cantina, he decided that coffee might just work against the crankiness he felt lingering at the back of his head. No sleep and lack of caffeine always made him cranky.
"You're addicted as well?" A voice said beside him, and Cloud glanced over with a tired look that soon turned cheerful.
"Jessie! Hi! Where have you been hiding? Didn't see you yesterday," he motioned for her to take her cup over to his table as well.
The brunette gave a careful smile as she slid gingerly down on the chair opposite of him, "I wasn't feeling well..."
Cloud could easily see that she hadn't gotten much sleep, but a confused frown appeared on his face. "I came by your room. You weren't there."
Swallowing hard, Jessie gazed down into her cup. "Yeah, well, ah, I took a little trip when I thought I was better."
"That must have been it then," Cloud said slowly, not convinced at all. "So, you're better now?"
"Nothing that coffee can't fix," Jessie gave another careful smile before sipping at her cup and placing it back on the table. Folding her hands in her lap, Jessie drew a deep breath as she stared down. "I heard that Aeris returned last night. That's good."
"Yeah," Cloud frowned slightly as he was reminded of her just about avoiding him. "Vincent knocked out Cid and took off with him."
Starting, Jessie stared disbelievingly at him. "Vincent? Why?"
Cloud shook his head as he placed his hands around his coffee cup just to feel the warmth. "We don't know. Vincent never tells anyone anything. But Aeris thinks he's not out to hurt Cid, so we're just going to have to wait and see, I guess..."
Jessie gazed down again, "Aeris is probably right." She reached out for her cup again, was just about to close her fingers around it, when suddenly it exploded.
A strange sound as the cup shattered to pieces and the coffee flew in all directions over the table.
Yelping, Cloud backed up as he nearly received a lap-full of coffee. "Whoa!" He stared wide-eyed over at Jessie. "You ok? What the hell was that?"
Biting her lower lip, Jessie was standing and staring at the mess while fighting back tears. "I... I don't know..." She drew a shivering breath, feeling the eyes of everyone in the cantina resting on her.
Cloud glared at the people around them. "That's what happens when you pour hot coffee in a cup that's cracked, ok? Big deal! Mind your own business!"
He grumbled annoyed as the crowd carefully turned their gazes away, and got up to walk over to Jessie. "Hey?" He said softly, "You didn't get burned, or anything?"
Cloud reached out to take her hand and examine it, but Jessie quickly recoiled from him. "N-no! I'm fine. Really. I just... It startled me, t-that's all..."
He could hear the fear in her voice, hear the barely restrained tears, and Cloud frowned slightly. "Jessie... You can trust me, you know..."
Jessie didn't reply, merely bent her head to hide her face as the tears finally broke free. He shouldn't touch her. She couldn't control what she was doing. This was just like what had happened yesterday. When she had come out of the bathroom, and every light bulb in the room had just exploded in a shower of glass.
Gentle hands took a hold of her shoulders, not releasing her when she tried to back away, and Cloud made her meet his worried eyes. "Jessie... Let me help you..."
Failing to hold back a sob, Jessie shook her head. There was nothing he could do. Reaching up, she placed her hands against his chest to push him away. She didn't want to hurt him! Something was wrong with her, and if he stayed too close it would hurt him as well!
Cloud merely pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. "Jessie..."
Letting a fist thump half-heartedly against his chest, Jessie closed her eyes before her arms went around Cloud as well and she hugged him desperately.

Sephiroth glanced in cautiously before entering the office. He'd thought Rufus had sounded strange and now he knew why. The ShinRa president was currently peering deep into his whiskey glass. Clearing his throat, Sephiroth closed the door behind him and sauntered over. "The weapons from Junon just arrived."
Rufus merely nodded, swirling the remaining liquid around in his glass.
There was a short silence, then Sephiroth picked up one of the empty bottles standing on the desk and smelled it. "So... what brought this on?"
Closing his eyes briefly, Rufus then pushed a file towards Sephiroth. "Surveillance photos arrived this morning."
Sephiroth gingerly opened the file to find several pictures taken of what had once been Wutai, now reduced to ruins and countless bodies. Swallowing hard, Sephiroth gingerly closed the file again and drew a deep breath. "I see..."
"I just can't get used to a sight like that," Rufus mumbled, emptying his glass in one gulp.
"You never will," Sephiroth declared distantly, pictures of Nibelheim flashing in front of his eyes. "Trust me."
Rufus nodded, studying his empty glass. "They're all dead... Every single one... Everything is gone... And I had to tell her..."
"How did she take it?" The silver haired man asked silently, knowing Yuffie wasn't half as tough as she always pretended to be.
Closing his eyes again, Rufus tried to push away the young girl's reaction. "Not good. Angry at first, of course, but then..." How he'd much more preferred her angry words and accusations to when she had merely crumbled and clutched him hard as tears were tearing her apart. "I... I didn't know what to say..."
"There was nothing you could say," Sephiroth said in a low voice, absently picking up the empty bottles and tossing them into the waste basket. "We can't change what has happened."
Rufus gave a weak objection when the general tossed away the bottle he was aiming to refill his glass with, but merely watched as the glass quickly followed into the waste basket as well. "That's expensive stuff, you know..."
"You can afford it," Sephiroth declared, crossing his arms before leaning against the wall. "You can't fall apart now, Rufus. This is just the beginning, and I'm pretty sure that Tifa is a much better comfort than that stuff."
Smiling faintly, Rufus nodded. "Yeah... You're right." He got up and pulled a hand through his unusually dishevelled hair. "It just got to me..."
"It's when it stops getting to you that you should start worrying," Sephiroth said gently, realising how painfully young Rufus ShinRa looked at that moment. When being his haughty self, it was easy to forget that he was still just a young man.
Rufus walked over to the door, but paused before glancing back at the silver haired man. "Thanks..."
"Don't mention it. Disconnect the warm water from Strife's room, and we can call it even," Sephiroth declared with a slight dismissive wave.
"Deal!" Rufus chuckled quietly, feeling much more like himself already, despite feeling a little awkward as well for showing a moment of weakness.
Sephiroth drew a slow breath, "One last thing, ShinRa..."
Rufus leaned against the door frame, "What?"
Either people feared him, hated him or wanted to be him, those reactions Sephiroth was used to. He could deal with them. But Rufus ShinRa had shown neither in the presence of the great General Sephiroth. "Your father never allowed me into his office. My words and opinions never mattered to him. Is it just to spite Strife that you're doing this?"
The words surprised Rufus a little, but he knew his answer would surprise Sephiroth even more. "I guess you're the only one I can relate to in a way. We have a bit in common, Sephiroth, things that others wouldn't understand." The firey haired brat prince gave a faint smile, then left before Sephiroth could gather himself enough to reply.
They had something in common? Sephiroth blinked puzzled, unable to think of a single thing he had in common with Rufus ShinRa. Still, it was always nice to be treated like a human instead of a monster. And with any luck, Rufus would actually keep his word and cut off the hot water in Strife's room and that was enough to earn a place on Sephiroth's good side!

Tifa glanced up as Rufus opened the door and she quickly made sign for him to be quiet. Getting up from where she was sitting on the bed beside the sleeping Yuffie, Tifa walked over to him, whispering. "She needs all the sleep she can get..."
Rufus glanced over Tifa's shoulder at the silent from of Yuffie. She was curled up on her side, her face still showing signs of the tears that had been shed. "How is she...?" He asked in a hushed voice, trying to sound calmer than he felt.
Tifa's eyes were filled with sadness as she shook her head. "Not good. Oh, Rufus, it's so horrible. She's devastated."
Tifa would know, wouldn't she, Rufus thought. She too had lost her home town. Sighing, Rufus stroke a comforting caress over Tifa's cheek and tried an encouraging smile.
Managing a faint smile in return, Tifa wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head to his chest. She needed to feel him close at that moment, needed to listen to the sound of his calm heartbeats. Needed his strength.
Holding her close, Rufus placed a light kiss on top of her head. "How are you holding up?"
Tifa sniffled silently, hugging him tighter. "I'm ok. That's what so horrible. So many terrible things are happening... Wutai. Vincent. Cid. Everybody is suffering, and I've been prancing around with dilemmas of which flowers to choose! I'm a dreadful person, Rufus!"
"Don't say that," Rufus scolded softly, stroking her hair.
Shaking her head, Tifa leaned back to meet his eyes. "We have to postpone the wedding, Rufus. We can't go through with it when things are like this."
Rufus felt his heart sink and he merely closed his eyes. She had a point, he knew that, but he'd wanted this so much. "If that's what you want..."
"Don't you dare," a voice suddenly cut in, and the couple started around to look at Yuffie glaring at them.
"Yuffie!" Tifa darted over and sat down on the bed again. "Did we wake you? I'm so sorry."
The ninja shook her head, eyes still red from crying. "You can't postpone the wedding, Tifa!"
Blinking surprised, Tifa took her hands in hers. "Yuffie, you have to understand... I want to be here for you, and..."
"I wont let you miss out on the thing you've been looking so forward to!" Yuffie interrupted, her eyes filling with tears again. "You were right when you said a lot of terrible things are happening, Teef. That's why we need something good, something to make us smile! That... that is what my dad always told me. When times are bad, you should always treasure the good things even more!"
Tifa felt her own eyes fill with tears and she squeezed Yuffie's hands gently. "Oh, Yuffie..."
But Yuffie's eyes were now locked on Rufus, a coldness to them that hadn't been there before she had lost her entire hometown. "And then, after you two are hitched, we're going to hunt down the bastards that's responsible. We're going to make them pay, right?"
Holding her gaze calmly, Rufus did not hesitate in his reply. "I promise."
Yuffie nodded, then drew a calming breath before pulling away from Tifa. "I want to be alone for a little while, ok?"
"Ok," Tifa whispered as she got up, "Just use your PHS if there is anything, anything at all, I can do..."
The young ninja nodded again, closing her eyes as she laid down among the pillows again.
Rufus quietly closed the door after them and glanced cautiously over at Tifa when they stood in the hallway. "So what do you want to do?"
Tifa gazed mournfully at him, her eyes revealing her uncertainty. "I... I don't know... I need to think... I'm sorry, Rufus..."
"Hey, you don't have to apologize to me, you know that," Rufus said with a careful smile. "Whatever you decide, it's going to be alright."
At that moment, Tifa was yet again reminded how much she did in fact love the man in front of her. How was it possible that anyone could not see how amazing Rufus ShinRa really was? How could they fail to see that his confidence and cold behavior was nothing more than walls he'd put up to protect himself throughout the years? The beauty within the ice front was enough to take anyone's breath away. "Thank you, Rufus..." She reached out and took his hand, loving how perfectly his grip was to hers as their fingers braided gently. As long as he was there, Tifa had faith in that things would be alright in the end. Somehow.

Jinrei lifted his glass of water and tilted his head. "You positive that you wont have anything?"
Rain wrapped her arms even tighter around herself and eyed him coolly. "I'm fine, thank you."
Shrugging, Jinrei took a sip of his glass before placing it on the table again. They were in a window-less room, but it was decorated like some kind of dining room except for the armed guard by the door. "Lady's choice."
"You said I could ask questions," Rain almost accused, straining to keep calm despite her increasing uneasiness.
Jinrei nodded, nibbling at his food. "That I did. Please, ask away."
Raising her chin slightly, Rain drew a shivering breath. "Where are we?"
"I suppose you have heard of the small town called Gongaga?" Jinrei replied absently, studying a piece of salad. "This is one of our minor bases."
Minor bases? Rain couldn't help but to feel a shiver of fear going down her spine. What she had seen made this place appear anything but minor, and the thought of an even bigger base was not comforting. "Why am I here?"
Jinrei glanced up and smiled, the kind of smile a man could get in trouble for giving to a small child. "There is something I need, and Vincent Valentine will trade you for it."
Rain swallowed hard, her arms tightening around herself. "Vincent Valentine is not a man who gives into blackmail. People like you are nothing against him."
A thoughtful look passed over Jinrei's face and he sighed remorsefully. "I am very concerned that what you say is correct, as aggressive actions from our common friend would only force me to do things I'd rather not." And his eyes told her just who he would be doing these 'things' to.
Hoping he didn't see her trembling, Rain gathered herself once again. "Why is getting Cid so important to you?"
For a moment Jinrei looked a little confused, and she thought maybe she'd been mistaken, but then recognition flashed in his cold eyes and she realised it was the name that confused him. "Ah," Jinrei chuckled, "my business with Highwind is of confidential matter."
Rain wondered if Jinrei considered Cid Highwind as a human being at all, or if just a means to reach his goal. Something told her it was the latter. "Y-you said I could ask you questions, so answer me."
Giving a little, correcting wave with his fork, Jinrei sent her another oily smile. "I said you could ask questions, but I never agreed to answer all of them, my dear. But still, let me say that Mr Highwind is a very important key in my plan." He put down his fork and leaned slightly forward, "How much do you know about materia?"
Rain leaned back a little, blinking nervously and puzzled. "Materia? Not a lot. It gives you the power to use magic, but I'm not sure why."
"For a long time now, humans have started to rely on equipping materia to use the powers of the planet," Jinrei mumbled in a distant voice, like he was reading up something from a paper. "But where did it start? What was the first materia? Who was the first to discover magic? Or was it taught to us? When did we stop remembering?" Blinking, Jinrei appeared to snap out of it and sent her a cautious look. "I'm rambling. Forgive me." He sipped his water again and put on his smile. "Did you wish to ask anything else?"
Rain was gazing anxiously at him, wondering what was really hiding behind the facade Jinrei was putting up. "When Vincent arrives, do you plan to try killing him?"
"That depends on him, my dear," Jinrei replied smoothly. "I have nothing against Vincent Valentine, and most certainly nothing against you, but I cannot afford to have my time schedule to be disrupted. If he obeys the orders given to him, then you shall soon have your freedom and everybody will be happy."
"Everyone, except Cid, I suspect," Rain mumbled disgusted, feeling like her strength was drained by each second she had to spend in the company of the man nibbling at his food.
Chuckling, Jinrei shrugged slightly. "He wont suffer. I give you my word."
Rain got up, battling down the urge to throw the water in his face. "I want to return to my room now."
"Already?" Jinrei sounded almost disappointed, his eyes traveling over her. "But we haven't gotten to know each other at all."
Tossing her hair back over her shoulder, Rain swallowed hard at the wave of disgust and fear that washed over her. "I agreed to join you, but I never said for how long."
Jinrei laughed as he got up. "Touchè! You got me there!" He tossed his napkin on his plate and made a slight bow. "It's been a real pleasure, pretty lady. We must do this again."
Merely sending him a harsh look, Rain then followed the guard back to her room, telling herself not to cry every step she took.

That was too easy! Those fools didn't even see it coming!
Vincent gritted his teeth against the weariness threatening to send him to his knees. Chaos had been throwing smug comments ever since Vincent had left the Highwind with the unconscious Cid over his shoulder. Ignoring the demon didn't seem to help this time, and Vincent knew he was too tired to take much more.
Do you really plan to trade him for the girl? They're probably willing to give you a lot more, if they find it worth demolishing a town to manipulate you into bringing him. Nevermind the girl, go for the big prize!
"Shut up!" Vincent hissed angrily, leaning against a tree. It was no good. He had to rest now, or he would stand no chance against the forces he was about to come up against.
Gently lowering the still silent pilot to the ground, Vincent crouched down beside the now semi-sitting Cid and checked his pulse. Good and strong. Sometimes using that pressure point could be dangerous if that person had a weak heart, but like Vincent had suspected; Cid Highwind was anything but weak.
Sighing relieved, Vincent sank down to sit against the tree opposite of Cid.
There is no need for you to stop now. You have come too far to go back, so the only way is forward.
Closing his eyes, Vincent felt Chaos stir inside him, wanting to break free. If the demon broke free, then Cid would most certainly be lost. The former Turk frowned slightly as he suppressed the demon firmly, ignoring the waves of anger that radiated from it.
Then a low groan caught his attention and Vincent was startled to find that Cid was actually waking up. That was impossible! The pilot should have been knocked out for several more hours!
"the fuck...?" Cid mumbled, forcing his eyes open to find Vincent kneeling beside him. "Vince? What the hell happened?"
The dark haired man didn't reply for a while, then reached out his human hand to gently support the swaying pilot. "Calm down, Cid. Regain your senses first."
Cid nodded weakly, closing his eyes briefly as he allowed himself to slowly come together. Opening his blue eyes again, Cid found himself perfectly attentive, if a little confused. He glanced around and frowned puzzled, "Where the fuck are we? Vince?"
Sighing, Vincent saw his hand resting beside the pilot's vulnerable neck and for a moment he hesitated. Then his hand slowly moved away and he got up, "We're close by Gongaga. I brought you here."
"What?" Cid shook his head, before slowly getting up as well. "Why are we here? What are you babblin'bout?"
Vincent clenched his jaw, staring into the distance. "They destroyed Wutai. Leveled the buildings to the ground and killed every person in the town. All to get to Rain and Dawn, so they could control me."
Numbed by the news, Cid could only stare at the ground. "Vincent... I'm sorry to hear that... Rain and Dawn, are they...?"
Vincent gave a bitter smile, "Rain managed to hide Dawn, so I got to her in time. I left her with Aeris." A short silence followed. "They want to trade Rain for you."
Shock hit Cid like a boulder and he suddenly felt ice cold. "W-what...?" That was when he realised what had happened, why they were there alone, and how they'd gotten there. He even remembered the sharp pain that had shot down his spine before the world turned dark back in Vincent's cabin on board the Highwind. "You're going to go through with it, aren't you?"
Vincent stared into the distance for a little while longer, then he finally turned to face the pilot again. "I have no intention of letting them getting their hands on you, Cid, but I needed you for bait. I am going to get Rain back. I'm not going to let her down!"
Cid's fist connected with Vincent's jaw, and the pilot knew the former Turk had seen the punch coming and did nothing to prevent it. A little of the fury vanished with the satisfaction of the impact and seeing Vincent stagger back at the force of it, but then Cid sighed deeply while the other man gingerly touched his bleeding lip.
"Awright, you idiot," Cid pulled out a cigarette and tried to hide how his hands were trembling with fear, "What's the plan?"
Wiping the blood away with the back of his human hand, Vincent closed his eyes.

AN
Whew! Another chapter up!
Things are slowly unravelling, and new mysteries have appeared! Stay tuned!
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