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Chapter Two The next month was the annual AVALANCHE gathering, the fourth since they had finished off Sephiroth and stopped the meteor. After all they'd been through together, there was a bond between them, and they had agreed that it should remain for the rest of their lives. And so each year they met in Kalm for a reunion (though Cloud in particular wished no one would use that word again), to discuss what they were doing now that the planet had saved itself, and also just to enjoy each other's company. Cloud and Tifa announced their engagement at the first gathering, in fact. Cid always brought Shera, though he griped at her so often that everyone often wished he hadn't. Barret always brought along Marlene, who was growing into a beautiful little girl, and she spent the time playing with and fussing over Gabriel, though she was five years older than he.
Kit was relieved that Marlene had made friends with Gabriel, because other than Cloud and Tifa and Cait, who were accustomed to him, the original members of AVALANCHE... well, she couldn't say they shunned him, but they were all very aware of who his father had been. Every year, she would see her friends watching him cautiously out of the corner of their eyes, and she knew why. They were looking to see if he'd yet displayed any of the madness that had been in Sephiroth. Another woman might have been offended, but Kit understood.
Barret and Marlene were the first to arrive at Tifa's Seventh Heaven, which she'd closed for the occasion. Marlene immediately took off with Gabriel to see the friends she had made while staying in Kalm during the ordeal. Not long after, Red showed up with Vincent, which was a bit of a surprise to all. Red was always quiet, and Vincent had always been a loner, but it turned out that since Red lived so close to Nibelheim, he'd taken to visiting now and then. No one there was terribly shocked to see a strange red beast entering the Shinra Manor where Vincent lived, especially as Vincent was thought of as an eccentric anyways, if not a monster.
"I suggested that since we were both going to this gathering, we might as well travel together," Red explained, and Vincent almost looked as if he might smile. It was odd, since he was always so melancholy, but Red's visits seemed to have brought him out of his shell a little. In fact, Vincent had never come to any of the previous gatherings except the first, though no one was about to mention it in his presence.
Yuffie showed up next, as cheerful as she'd been as a teenager, if a little more mature. But only a little. The first thing she did was steal Barret's wallet. "Still got the touch!" she grinned as Barret roared at her. "Oh, come on! I was only kidding - I was going to give it back!"
Only Cid wasn't there by noon, and the others were beginning to wonder why. "He may be a grouch, but he's never late," Tifa said, slightly concerned.
"Ahhh, he probably just lost track of time while yelling at Shera," Yuffie suggested, leaning her chair back on two legs. "Gawd. Poor woman."
Just then the door flew open, and Cid marched in like a thunderstorm. "#%@& it!" he bellowed, and Yuffie's chair fell over backwards, dumping her on the floor. "That dumb@$# Shera took forever tinkering with the Tiny Bronco!" Shera crept in as quiet as Cid was loud, and blushing furiously behind her glasses. "Sorry I'm late, everyone, but... you work like a snail!" he yelled at her, taking a seat and propping his feet up on the table.
"I'm sorry, Captain," Shera said meekly. "There was some rust in one of the rotors, and I thought I'd just-"
"Shut the #%&@ up!"
Shera bit her lip and stared down at the floor, cheeks turning redder. After Cid had aborted the launch of his rocket, Shinra No. 26, to avoid killing her, she'd stayed with him of her own choice, allowing herself to be treated like a slave. Anyone with half a brain could see that Shera loved him, and although Cid was harsh towards her, all of them were quite sure it was just to cover up his feelings. Why else would he have aborted the mission, ending his lifelong dream, even though she told him to go ahead and ignite the engine with her still in it? None of them would dare point this out to him though - they didn't want his temper turned on them.
Cid lit up one of his cigarettes and glared at her, not noticing everyone in the room was staring at him. "I take it back, you don't work like a snail - you work like a %@$% log!"
"That was mean," a small, indignant voice said from the doorway. Gabriel stood there, lower lip stuck out defiantly, as Marlene peeked in more cautiously. She'd known Cid's temper for longer, and was not willing to tempt it, but Gabriel was too young to remember. "You should apologize to her, right now," he continued.
Cid just stared in shock at the boy. "What?"
"Being mean to people just makes them feel bad and you look bad," Gabriel said. "That's what Mama says."
There was a long pause. "Gabriel's right," Tifa finally said solemnly. "I think you should apologize too."
Red nodded in agreement. "Me too," Yuffie added, her lips twitching as if she were trying not to laugh.
Cid stared around the room at the stern faces of his friends. "Wha... You want me? To apologize? To her?" He looked to Barret, nearly his equal in rudeness, for support.
"The kid's right," Barret said. "Jus' makes you look bad."
"Awwww, guys..." Cid looked at them in dismay. "Fine - I will. Sorry, Shera. There, are you happy now?"
"That didn't sound very sincere," Cait said, perfectly straight-faced.
Gabriel nodded. "Look at her when you say it." Yuffie looked as if she might add something, but couldn't risk opening her mouth to speak.
"Sure, all gang up on me," Cid muttered. Walking over to Shera, he looked her in the eye. "Sorry, Shera," he said grudgingly, and turned away almost immediately.
Gabriel looked quite satisfied. "Much better. Now give her a hug."
"Whaaaat?" Cid's jaw dropped, and so did his cigarette.
"You have to hug and make up." Gabriel shrugged. "Everyone knows that. Go on." This time Yuffie couldn't contain herself, and she laughed so hard that her chair fell over again.
Cid turned to glare at Kit. "Is this your doing?"
"I've tried to raise him to be a polite young man," Kit said innocently, over Yuffie's whooping laughter. "Pick that butt up before it catches the rug on fire, by the way."
Cid picked up the cigarette and angrily put it out in an ashtray. "Da... er... This is not my day," he growled. "Fine. Whatever."
He walked back to Shera, who stood there looking at him, almost cringing. They stared at each other for a long time, before she finally said meekly, "It's okay, you don't have to."
"No, if I don't, the kid'll just be more of a pain in the-" Tifa cleared her throat, and Cid coughed. Finally, gingerly, he gave Shera a hug.
She blushed, and hugged him back. He looked down at her in alarm, though he didn't let go. "Did I... does this bother you, Captain?" she asked timidly.
"No! I mean..." Cid stood there for a moment, his arms around her. "I, uh..." Suddenly he pulled away and stomped out the door, ignoring Gabriel and Marlene, who ducked out of his way before he knocked them over. "%@&# women," he grumbled just before he was out of earshot.
Gabriel looked very pleased with himself. "He has a lot to learn, doesn't he, Mama?"
Yuffie was still on her back on the floor, gasping for breath, and soon the rest joined in her laughter. Even Vincent chuckled. Gabriel alone wasn't laughing. "What was funny about that?" he asked, puzzled.
"Nothing," Kit assured him. "It was very good of you to teach Cid some manners."
Shera had sunk back into her chair, gazing off towards the door indecisively. Understanding what the older woman must be thinking, Tifa went over to her and put a hand on her arm. "That was priceless, wasn't it?" she asked with a smile.
Shera looked up, startled out of her thoughts. "That was the first time he's ever given me a real apology," she said, voice trembling. "Ever since our trip into space, he's been better about... everything... but still, to actually hear him speak the words..." She shook her head, embarrassed as she wiped a lone tear away. "Thank you, Gabriel... Thank you, all of you, you've done so much for the Captain and I in these last few years... Maybe I should go talk to him?" After so many years of living with his attitude the way it was, Kit supposed she couldn't help it that it sounded like she was asking their permission.
"Not like that," Yuffie said, grinning. "Lemme do your makeup!"
"Makeup?" Shera seemed shocked at the idea. "I'm... I'm a technician, not a temptress!"
"And I'm a Materia hunter, not a temptress," Yuffie replied. "So what?" Laughing, she hustled Shera off to the kitchen, ignoring her protests. "What good will it do if he keeps seeing you as the same technician he's been yelling at for years? You need a new look!"
Red shook his head. "Poor Shera. I don't know if she's worse off with the old Cid or with... that."
The hours went by, and the old friends shared the stories of what they'd accomplished in the last year. Barret was reopening the coal mines of Corel, he said, as soon as they could get the tracks completely safe again, which would be soon. Shera emerged from the back room with a triumphant Yuffie, looking less like a technician and more like a woman, as Barret put it. Yuffie had been careful not to be too obvious with the makeup, and even trimmed Shera's hair a little, and the result was remarkable. She still looked just like herself, but better. She went off to find Cid, and a few hours later came back with him much quieter than they'd ever seen him before. Mrs. Gainsborough, Aeris' mother, stopped in briefly to greet the friends her daughter had fought beside, and to see Gabriel and Lisa, whose births she'd assisted with as a midwife. That gave Cloud and Tifa a perfect excuse to show off Lisa (much to Marlene's delight) and discuss names for their son. Cid, after having been retrieved, told them about his efforts to rebuild the Highwind. The project wasn't going as well as it had when they'd been able to use Mako energy, he said, but it was progressing, and there was no way he'd suggest that they bring back the Mako reactors.
As the evening went on, Gabriel began to get bored. "Uncle Cloud," he said in a quieter moment, "can you tell a story about when you were a fighter?"
"Like what?" Cloud asked, lifting the boy onto his knee.
"Marlene said you knew Sephiroth. Could you tell us a story about him?"
Cloud froze. So did everyone else in the room, with the exception of Vincent, who'd been sitting at the counter by himself since he arrived, only half-paying attention. He just poured himself another drink and peered at Kit curiously. Beneath that intense gaze, Kit felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Could you?" Gabriel repeated. "You did know him, right?"
Cloud took a deep breath. "Yeah, I knew him." He aimed an uneasy look at Kit, who shook her head slightly. "But it's late," he finished. "I'm kind of tired. Maybe I'll tell a story about Sephiroth some other time. Say, did you show Marlene your sword yet?"
"Well, of course I did." It clearly would have been ridiculous if he hadn't.
"Why don't you go find Bili and see if he wants to get in some practice tonight, you can show her your moves," Cloud suggested. Gabriel nodded excitedly and ran off to find his friend, and Marlene followed.
As soon as they had gone, all eyes turned to Kit. "I thought you were going to tell him," Cloud said.
"I said I'd tell him someday," Kit said stubbornly. "I tried to, and I couldn't."
Red shook his head. "So he still doesn't know. You're not doing him any favor in the long run."
"I know that. I'm just not sure that the best time is when he's three years old and thinks of him as a legend, and idolizes the man who killed him."
"We're all a part of that," Barret pointed out. "We all killed him. Cloud ain't some kind of one man demolition team."
"I know that too, and it also doesn't appeal to me to tell him I helped." They were all staring at her harshly, and Kit suddenly got mad. "Until one of you has a three year old son of your own, I don't think any of you have the right to tell me what I'm doing wrong with mine."
"Hey, I'm raising Marlene," Barret retorted.
"Did you tell her about how Dyne killed all those people at the Gold Saucer?" Kit shot back. "Or that he wanted to take her to see her dead mother, and so you two had a shootout? How about the fact he threw himself off a cliff?"
"That's different," Barret muttered. "Marlene has a dad, and that's me. Gabriel don't got no dad, and even if it's obvious I ain't Marlene's real dad, Gabriel don't even have the luxury of pretendin', the way it is now."
"It's not so different. Marlene knows her father is dead. So does Gabriel. You're not telling her how he died. Neither have I told Gabriel."
"The difference here is that Gabriel's father was infamous," Cloud interjected. "Everyone's heard of him, and references are bound to come up all the time. Wildly inaccurate references. There aren't any stories told about Dyne - no offense, Barret."
"Do you feel guilty about having killed Sephiroth?" Cait asked Kit sympathetically, bounding over to her side.
She shook her head. "No, he needed to be stopped. Of all the things I feel about his death, guilt isn't one of them."
"Then what is it that stops you from just telling him?" asked Cait.
Kit thought her head was going to explode. "I just can't. How hard is that for you all to understand? When it needs to be done, I will tell him. But it doesn't yet."
"But if-" Cloud began, but Kit cut him off. It was just the last straw.
"Not yet. Now shut up about it!"
They were all still looking at her in shock, so she went off to a booth in the corner by herself, to get out of the midst of them. Slowly, she heard their conversation turn back to the progress on the Highwind, and her head sunk into her hands. How dare they tell her how to raise Gabriel? It only made it hurt worse that she would have done as they suggested if she wasn't so monstrously afraid of what Gabriel might think of her.
A flash of crimson caught her attention, and she glanced up to see Vincent beside her booth. He was wearing the same clothes he'd worn during their campaign, and during his long years of sleep in the basement of Shinra Manor - a red cape and collar, long disheveled black hair held back by a ragged bit of the same red cloth, and dark, nondescript clothing beneath. The mechanical claw that formed his lower left arm still gleamed menacingly, and a shotgun still hung at his hip. It was no wonder that the people of Nibelheim might think him a monster, even if he didn't actually transform into one when enraged. He was another product of Hojo's madness, experimented on mostly because he had loved Hojo's wife, Lucrecia.
Vincent was holding two shot glasses and a bottle of something, which he tipped questioningly towards Kit. She shook her head, she never drank. He sat down across from her in one smooth movement, which amazed her since he'd been sitting at the counter working on that bottle almost from the time he walked into the Seventh Heaven. She could smell the liquor on his breath, but he didn't move as if he were drunk.
"Something I was thinking about," he said, soft enough that only she could hear. "If things had gone differently between Lucrecia and I, Sephiroth might have been raised as my son. And if things had gone differently with you and he, you could have been my daughter-in-law. Gabriel could have been my grandson."
I never really thought about that," Kit said slowly. Due to the years spent in some kind of suspended animation, Vincent was another person who hadn't aged as he should. He'd have to be close to fifty by this time, but he didn't look any older than thirty. And he never spoke so openly about his thoughts.
He poured himself another shot and drank it. Her uncertain look seemed to strike him as amusing. "The Turks we met four years ago aren't very different than the ones I worked with so long ago. A large part of Turk training, the part the rulebooks don't cover, is learning to hold your liquor." A vague smile crossed his lips, as if he were recalling happy memories. "There's a few things I learned in those days that I've hung onto. And that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Whats that?"
"Hanging on. For all those years I spent sleeping in a coffin under the Shinra Manor, it seems that's what I was doing. Hanging on to the past. To Lucrecia." He paused, seemed to entertain the thought of another drink, and finally pushed the bottle away. "You see... after Cloud awakened me, and we ended up saving the planet, I had something like a life again. I was determined to put the past to rest once and for all, and so I didn't go back to Nibelheim right away. I know you all think my outfit is absurd, outdated, and at that time I put it away, clothing myself in more... conventional ways instead. I tried to see the world, anything that would keep me from just reliving my earlier life... and then I came back here to see you all the first year. Where did that get me? The rest of you were moving ahead, reshaping the world, while I was just carousing. And seeing you all, that was something I thought of as hanging on to the past as well." He toyed with the empty glasses in front of him, staring absently at the table.
"So that's why you didn't come the second or third year?" Kit asked. "You were trying to move on?"
"Quite the opposite," he responded. "I gave up. Finding it impossible to move ahead in a world where I am an anachronism, I went back to Shinra Manor to wallow in my own self-pity. Red came to me then, after I failed to appear at the second gathering here. I sent him away the first time, not wanting anyone to see how far I had fallen, and most of all not wanting to hear how all of you were moving ahead while I lay dormant. But when he appeared a second time, I let him in, and we talked. Elder Bugah had just passed on, of course, at that time, and I couldn't very well refuse him a shoulder to cry on. But... this was the amazing thing. He didn't cry. He talked to me about the Lifestream, about how things live and die, and stay within the planet until the planet uses their energy once more. It gave him comfort to talk about it, I thought at first. But soon I realized he was also saying what he did because it was what I needed to hear."
He met her eyes then, and his were a dark reddish color, the opposite of her own blue-green, but likewise seemed to burn with an inner light. "It's what you need to hear now too. The stories of our lives are like the Lifestream, Kit. Things are born into them, and even after they die away, they still remain, and will come back again someday. Just like I was a Turk once, and so always will have been a Turk. The things I learned then are still with me. My love for Lucrecia will always have been, and will always remain unrequited, so I must put it aside. But someday something might happen in which I will need a part of myself that I first learned with her. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I think so." Kit was fairly sure she had gotten something out of it, at least. "You can't live in the past, but you can't completely ignore it either, is that it?"
He nodded. "For the most part. You can't leave the past dead because you're afraid it will take over. To grow, to move on, you have to know where you started from."
Now she was fairly sure she knew what he was getting at. "But Shinra wiped my mind clean when they put me in SOLDIER. I don't remember anything at all before about eight years ago. The present is all I have, and I have to make do with that."
Vincent chuckled and shook his head slowly. "It's not about you this time. It's about Gabriel. He needs a past too. What's that saying, that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it?"
"But if he never knows..."
"He will. That much is certain. One of us will slip, or he'll overhear it, or the story will be passed down from someone who heard it from their mother, who heard it from their cousin, who heard it from a friend. Those are the worst ways to receive a revelation. He needs to know the whole truth, to grow with that knowledge."
Kit didn't know what to say. She couldn't even work up the anger she had with Cloud and Barret. From anyone else, his words would have been friendly advice. Coming from Vincent, she knew he was pouring his heart out.
"I know you're right," she admitted finally. "I know he should be told. Just I'm not sure this is a good time."
Vincent raised an eyebrow at her. He was beginning to look a little tired. "Not a good time for him? Or for you?"
"Either. Both. How would he understand at the age of three?"
"I've never raised a child, so as you pointed out, I'm in no position to say," Vincent replied. "But it seems to me that it would be just as well if he heard it before he could understand. This is quite a legacy to leave a child. As he grows up knowing his lineage, as he understands more and more, maybe he'll have grown accustomed to it."
"Maybe..." Kit said slowly.
Vincent smiled faintly. "Just think upon what I've told you. When the time is right, the truth will be made known, and it would be best to choose what form it takes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I'll turn in early tonight."
Kit watched as he stood unsteadily, the first sign he'd shown so far of his inebriated state. "Are you okay?"
He flashed another vague smile at her. "Yes. But I'm not a Turk anymore."
Something still bugged Kit. "Why did you come to the gathering this year anyway, if you were just going to sit by yourself and drink?"
"To learn," was his quick response. "To readjust myself to life outside the Shinra Mansion. After so long though, well... another old saying. You have to learn to crawl before you can walk, much less run."
Kit nodded. It occurred to her that maybe that's what Tifa had been doing, trying to fix her up with all those men. Trying to force her to move forward, away from that point where Sephiroth had captivated her. Even if it was just such a small step as acknowledging herself as a single woman.
"I'm glad you came," she told Vincent sincerely. "Really glad. Thanks for talking to me... I will think about what you've said."
"Then perhaps I'm making progress," he murmured as he turned to leave with a slight bow.
As Vincent left, Red looked at the door reluctantly. "I should go with him," he commented. "We won't be leaving Kalm tonight, so we'll see you all before we leave tomorrow, if we get the chance." He said his goodnights to the rest of the group, and then leapt over to sit in front of Kit, looking concerned. "I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't have earlier," he said to her. "I guess I'm still young and impulsive."
Kit almost laughed. Red was one of the most thoughtful, least impulsive people she'd ever met. "I'm sorry too, for yelling at everyone."
"Uhm... if you don't mind my asking," he asked, lowering his voice, "what were you and Vincent talking about? You see... well, you are a therapist, and I've been kind of concerned about his mental state, what with him locked up in the basement in Nibelheim all the time..."
"I don't think you have anything to worry about," she assured him. "He gave me some advice on dealing with the past, and it seemed sound. And he told me what a good friend you've been to him."
Red smiled broadly, showing his fangs. "I haven't done anything that any of us wouldn't have done," he said, slightly embarrassed.
Kit leaned down to hug him around the neck and his mane tickled her nose. "But we didn't. You did."
"Gee," he said, scratching his nose self-consciously. "I'd be blushing if I wasn't already red. Thank you."
To Chapter One. To Chapter Three. To the intro. That means it's mine, not yours! |
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