A Rose By Any Other Name

[02.23.01] » by Mint Baby

Content Warning: Due to the passionate nature of the characters involved, there is mild swearing, adult situations, and adult subject matter. Though there is no blatant sex, I would still rate this fic <PG13>.

Author's Note: Vincent. What else can you say but the name? Not only is he good looking and an awesome shot, but he's another tortured soul (my favorite character type). He had love, and lost it. He had a job, and lost it. He had a normal life (as normal as a Turk could have), and then Hojo experimented on him. Vincent also has a lot of the same qualities as Magus from ChronoTrigger (and Magus is another character who has always intrigued me). Vincent is powerful. Silently intense. Introverted… So, I thought I'd try to give him some things all of us want: love, companionship, understanding, and another chance at the life he may have originally wanted. These were luxuries he didn't have before and I figured it was about time he did.

One thing to warn you about, the character I've created (Professor Natalie Long), has many of the same characteristics as Vincent. She is also intense and passionate (about her work especially), but she's also devoted to those whom she cares for and is a hopeless romantic (like yours truly). These merging personality types 'gave birth' to the fic that lies before you. A very deep and passionate story about 2 intense people that have a tendency toward one extreme or the other. I believe I've been true to their forms developed in the game and would welcome any comments you might have. Flames? Well, be kind. J

mint

1

"…Let me sleep."

Natalie brought a hand to her throat as she sat back on her heels, leaning away from the lid of the coffin in surprise and fear. After a moment's hesitation, she pressed her lips together and pushed her auburn curls from her face, her green eyes sparkling. "No. No, I don't think so. I've been looking for you a long time. I'm not going to let you get away now."

Natalie was a scientist and an archeologist. First and foremost, however, she was a lover of mysteries and challenges. She'd always been thrilled with the prospect of discovering buried treasure as a child, and that fascination had grown to a passion for uncovering the histories for lost or unknown cultures and civilizations. She'd worked on the team that had excavated the Bone Village by the Sleeping Forest. She had been present at the discovery of the hidden City of the Ancients beyond. She'd also worked on the team that had done a majority of the work in the Temple of the Ancients cataloguing artifacts and stenciling the hieroglyphs that had decorated the walls. Her reports and articles written about the work had sold thousands of copies and had even caught the eye of Shinra Corporation.

Such was the reason she was here now.

Natalie wasn't on their payroll (She had never cared for big corporations. Too stifling. Too many restrictions and regulations to suit her free spirit). She was there at what was called 'Shinra Mansion' because of what she'd discovered about a certain scientist who used to work for Shinra. A man by the name of Hojo. She had read his work and, while she had often thought it was off the wall, after what had happened with Sephiroth and Meteor she hadn't been so quick to dismiss it. She was sure some of the other articles and papers he had written were true as well. Said papers dealt with gene-splicing, inter-species breeding, DNA alteration, and forced experimentation just to name a few. All the reports had seemed bizarre and inhumane, but she had researched them just the same.

She was a scientist, after all, and that was what they did.

In highschool, when she had read of an experiment dealing with a man by the name of Vincent Valentine, she had been intrigued on a different level. She, of all people, had a connection with him. Vincent Valentine had been the close friend of Lucrecia, who had been the best friend of Natalie's highschool science teacher's sister. Natalie remembered days on end when her teacher, not having an incredibly exciting life of his own outside school, had told of his sister's friend's dealings (both romantic and corporate) with the Turk, as well as with Shinra and Hojo. Natalie had been enthralled, much as any young woman with dreams of romantic interludes would have been, and had vowed to find Vincent Valentine one day. It had been the only romantic fantasy she had allowed herself. Everything else had been work.

Now she was on the closer side of 30 than 25 with no family, no beau waiting for her eventual return home, and no adventure except the one at that current moment.

Natalie tugged at the lid, falling backwards when the cover flew off to clatter against the wall and drop to rest on one of the other crypts. A man's body draped in red and black drifted up from the coffin, performed a graceful back-flip midair, and then remained suspended as he stared down at her with strangely glowing red eyes.

 "Who are you?"

Natalie gulped hard, brushing her tousled curls back from her face as her eyes took in his raven black hair and partially hidden, but handsome face. "I'm… I'm Natalie Long." She hesitated and then sat up. "Vincent?"

He almost raised an eyebrow. "Why did you wake me?"

"I…" She gulped again. 'Now's your chance, Nat. Don't botch it!' "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time." She rolled her eyes. It sounded flimsy at best.

His expression didn't change. "Let me sleep. I must atone for my sins."

With that, he did a full somersault and dove back into the coffin. Natalie gave a gasp when the lid violently clattered back in place. "Wait! I was hoping we could talk."

She scurried forward and pried off the lid again. It did the same fierce smack against the wall, but she jumped a little less. When he floated up from the coffin this time, his expression was strained and a little irritated.

"I really don't mean to be a pain, it's just that… um… well, I wanted to ask some questions—"

"Your questions have no meaning for me. Go." He disappeared back into the coffin.

She scowled and put her hands on her hips. After a moment or two of fierce argumentation as to whether or not to bother him again, she looked around the room and carefully stood, dusting off her jeans and shirt. She had hoped to have a little bit more of a chance to impress him before he disappeared into the coffin the second time. 'I guess I'm not all that interesting.'

"If only you knew," she mumbled.

Natalie made her way to the door and paused, looking back at the coffin with a slow smile. She supposed she could have opened it again. And again. And again… Until he was so sick of the sight of her that he released one of his mysterious alter egos on her. She restrained her innate passion, however, and made due with the thought of tomorrow.

"I'll be back, Vincent," she promised. "Sleep well."

It had taken a little bit of doing to find out where Shinra had disposed of his body. Once their files had been declassified and available to any who wanted to view them, she had found that Shinra had tossed him aside as if he had no importance. Of course, Shinra had never been one to see the worth of a person. All they had cared about before their demise was Mako, and the money that came from controlling it. Now that Shinra was no longer around, Mako production was outlawed and Materia hording was taboo. Life was a little more bearable. People had begun to gain back their self-respect and that attitude was spreading like wildfire.

Thanks to a reluctant hero by the name of Vincent Valentine. Of course, the others had helped.

Natalie shook her head with a sigh. She'd always been a bit of a romantic. Always wanting some dashing, rich history enthusiast to snatch her up and take her away to his castle, or island, or whatever he called home. Other years she had wanted to marry a love-starved soldier who had seen too much death. She had convinced herself that she would have been able to bring him around, if given the proper chance. Then, of course, there had been the overwhelming desire to be swept off her feet by a super-hero type of man. The kind that could have had anything he wanted by snapping his fingers and winking, yet chose a simple life with her.

Natalie laughed at herself now.

There had been so many fantasies that she couldn't remember them all. The one that had remained with her for the longest time, though, had been the dream of finding Vincent and getting to know him. No one else had seemed to care about him. If they had, would he have still been buried in the basement of a building no one wanted? 'Now I've found him, but I don't know how to get him out of that infernal box. I don't want to drive him insane by visiting him each and every day,' she reasoned. 'But I don't want him to think that just telling me to run along like a good little girl will work. After all, he was a Turk once. He'll respect gumption more than sighs and fluttering lashes.'

Natalie made her way up the rickety, spiral staircase of the Shinra Mansion and paused at the top to lean over the railing and peer down. There had to be a way. 'I know he believes he's responsible for whatever happened between Hojo and Lucrecia, but wasn't there an article saying he had found her tomb and actually talked with her departed spirit?' She didn't know how much truth was to it, but the papers were good about reporting more fact than fiction.

Usually.

A sudden idea put a smile on her face. She'd always wanted to talk with the other members of the party responsible for saving the planet. Maybe they could give her a clue as to what could bring Vincent out of his box. She frowned. 'But how do I find them? My research was solely focused on Vincent and not the others.' She sighed and turned away. 'Come on, Nat. It won't be all that difficult to find them. After all, Cloud and Tifa are from this town that you're calling 'home' for the next few weeks. They're bound to come back sooner or later. And you know that Barret makes a pathological routine of visiting each and every town to make sure they have enough supplies to continue his work.' She took in another long breath. Patience had never been her strong suit and now that she'd found Vincent after so many years of searching…

Natalie pressed her lips together. She'd send some messages to Cosmo Canyon, Midgar, Wutai, and Corel in hopes that she'd get a response from at least one of them. Then the rest was up to luck and her own determination. She was sure something would happen if she just stuck with it. 'Maybe even Vincent will come out of his box?' Natalie shook her head as she made her way to the inn for dinner and a nice long soak in the tub. There was no telling, but for him she'd be patient.

2

Natalie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She'd been staring at the same pattern of speckles in the ceiling for at least an hour as she tried to convince herself not to go to Shinra Mansion that morning. 'It's too soon. You were just there yesterday evening. Do you want him to pull a Chaos ego on you?' She closed her eyes and draped her arm across them with a slow sigh. Being in the basement was relaxing for her. No people. No noises except for the calming drip of a leaky wall or the occasional creak of the roof. Even the sporadic scratching of the rats as they scurried across the stone floor soothed her nerves.

She couldn't keep herself away.

She rolled over onto her side and pulled her knees toward her chest as she clutched the blankets closer. After a moment, she tossed off the blankets and sat up, kicking her feet over the side of the bed to stare at her toes. 'Nat, you are a silly, silly woman.' She knew it. 'Oh well. Might as well.' Natalie slid off the bed and turned for the bathroom, towel in hand.

Once out of the shower, she pulled a pale yellow T-shirt and a pair of faded and torn jeans from her dresser. She unwrapped herself from the towel, tossed it onto the bed, and then pulled on the fresh T-shirt while scolding herself for giving in to her own silly little fantasy.

"Oh, leave me alone," she muttered to the voice in her head.

She slipped into her jeans, struggled with her wool socks and her hiking boots, and then pulled her damp curls back into a ponytail. 'Nat, you should really think about this. Take a walk over to the excavation site past Mt. Nibel first. You've been putting it off and you know you need to get yourself organized. Go down to the basement for lunch, if you have to go.' Natalie sighed and then stood and left the room.

She paused at the Shinra Mansion gate and then forced herself to move on down the trail.

Her trip to the excavation site was pointless, pretty much. Oh, she'd gotten a basic outline of the area and had enough presence of mind to organize a couple of dig sites, but other than that… Now, she was back at the gate to the Shinra Mansion, picnic basket in hand, thermos in the other, and she was planning on having a picnic with a coffin. Natalie rolled her eyes and pushed through, navigating her way done the cobbled walkway, through the empty entryway, up the stairs to the second story, through the room on the right wing, and into the room with the secret entrance to the spiral staircase. She pressed on the appropriate switch to open the door, carefully descended the rickety wood stairs, and then made her way down the earthy hallway to the sturdy wooden door of the room where Vincent Valentine was hidden away.

She glared at the door.

To her, that door had always represented how Shinra had thrown him away. 'They threw him away,' she fumed. Much as her own family. Just because she'd wanted to study the past and keep as far away from Shinra as possible (which was understandable considering what she'd discovered about them through her teacher in high school), they had basically slammed the door shut in her face. No Shinra Management position, no home. So, she'd made her own. She'd been happier for it, too.

Now, it was his turn.

Natalie took in a deep breath and reached out to open the door. It creaked open and she slipped inside to push the door closed. Natalie leaned against the rough surface of the door for a moment and then pushed herself forward. She wouldn't use force to open it this time. It was still closed tight and Natalie figured she'd leave it that way until he became familiar with her. Then she'd try again.

"I needed to get away from people for a while so… I brought lunch." She set the basket on the ground a few feet away from the coffin and knelt down to pull out a tuna sandwich. "I have extra, if you want." She looked around the bleak room and took a bite. She washed it down with the grape juice she'd ordered from the inn's kitchen. It wasn't as tart as she liked it, but it was better than water. "You know, a lot of people say this basement should be closed off. They say it's a danger to everyone who comes down here." She shrugged, and stared down at her sandwich. "I like it. Of course, I'm used to being around old houses and tombs. I guess that's what this reminds me of. One of the places I used to excavate."

Natalie was silent as she finished her sandwich and poured herself some more grape juice. She examined the coffin.

"I find myself wondering if I'm just annoying you. No one has ever accused me of talking too much. Of course, I've never been around people for the social aspect. They've always simply been team members helping me uncover a mystery. That was always the extent of our relationship." Natalie set aside her sandwich and leaned back on her hands, stretching her legs out in front of her. It felt good to talk about it.

"None of them ever offered to get together with me after hours, either. So, I guess in a way, it wasn't my entire fault. I was always hard at work cataloguing and deciphering what we'd unearthed that week. Or I'd been doing reading on the most recent discovery of Professor Gast regarding the Ancients and the Promised Land. Or I'd been researching Hojo's latest 'breakthrough' in the realm of genetic engineering. Or preparing an article for publication in the local, Shinra-owned, scientific digest. There was never time for socialization, fraternization, or anything even remotely similar."

'Maybe that's why you feel you have something in common with Vincent?'

She sighed and packed up her picnic. "I better get going, Vincent," she said out loud. "I'm going to be starting on an article about the progress the planet is making since Materia was put back in the Lifestream. I need to talk to a lot of people to get the information, which isn't my favorite thing, but it's all for a good cause. At least it'll be over soon and I can go to the fossilized remains they discovered outside Mt. Nibel. Maybe then I'll be able to concentrate on getting some work done."

Natalie stood, giving the coffin a wistful look. "I don't think I'll be back until a few days from now. I've got to do a lot of preparing for the interviews that I've scheduled. I never thought they'd respond so quickly…" Natalie cleared her throat. 'Why don't you invite him, Nat? He's just as important to the interview, you know?' "Then I need to write up what I find out. I'll try and drop in and say 'hi', but don't be too disappointed if I don't."

Natalie continued staring at the coffin, wishing it would open just a crack to let her know he was listening. 'Come on, Nat. Don't expect so much the second day. Turn around and walk out of here without being a whiny baby about the whole thing.' She pressed her lips together and turned for the door, closing it behind her with a sigh before she made her way out of the basement, up the staircase, and then out of the Mansion with a gloomy feeling nagging at her normal light-hearted attitude. Being away from him for a few days would be good. She had always been impatient and that would never work with Vincent Valentine.

'I still don't understand why you didn't invite him to the interview. Don't you think he'd come out of his box for his friends? Don't you think he'd want to know?' Natalie pressed her lips together. If he had truly been interested in the article, he would have asked her what the interview was about when she'd mentioned it. He hadn't. 'So? What does that prove? It proves that you're a stranger and he doesn't like strangers. Big deal. You still should have invited him to the interview!'

Natalie gnawed on her lower lip, pausing at the gate to look back over her shoulder toward the Mansion. She pressed her lips together with determination and strode back inside. She made her way up the steps, through the two rooms that led to the spiral staircase, and then through the hidden doorway and down the stairs. This time, she didn't pause outside his door.

"I'm sorry to bother you," she informed him as she closed it. She didn't notice the slight movement of the coffin lid as she turned to face the black box. "I forgot to invite you to the interview. You're more than welcome to come. It'll be in my room at the inn sometime tomorrow afternoon. Just come whenever you have a free moment."

Natalie turned from the coffin and hurried outside, closing the door behind her again. She leaned against it with a sigh and then slowly made her way out of the basement, not noticing the shadowy figure that emerged to watch her.

3

Natalie leaned against the door of his hideaway and crossed her arms as she examined the black box that he called home. "I can't believe I'm having a romantic interlude with a coffin," she muttered.

She shook her head and couldn't help but smile, silently laughing at herself. Who would have thought that down-to-earth Natalie Long would be having picnics with a box? She shrugged. She'd always been accused of being a little on the odd side, which was fine with her. Being normal was overrated. Not only that, it was boring. 'But a coffin?' This time she did laugh. To be truthful, it had happened to her a couple times before. The story was actually kind of funny.

"Good morning, Vincent," she said in a soft tone. "I know, I know. It's early. Way too early to be down here. If I was normal, that is." She stepped forward hesitantly, clenching her hands behind her back as she stared at the toes of her hiking boots. "I just like it down here. It's quiet. Like I said before, it reminds me of some of the places I've excavated. Places where I felt comfortable. Where I truly felt safe enough to be myself." She smiled. "I guess it's the coffin. You know dead men tell no tales. I guess that's why it's so easy to talk to you."

Natalie sat down at the foot of the coffin and tucked her knees to her chin. "I just needed some quiet time before the people start moving around the town. That and I've been stressing about the interview. It's going to help that they're your friends, but it'll still involve conversations with live people. Not my favorite thing…" She examined the coffin. "Sorry about this, Vincent. I don't want to bother you. Really, I don't."

Silence settled over the room, but it wasn't an uncomfortable stillness. It was simple and innocent. It settled Natalie's nervousness about the oncoming interviews.

Natalie dropped her gaze and began to rock back and forth. "I used to do this all the time when I was a regular at archeological digs that were top secret. Shinra had classified them that way because they had to do with the Cetra." She released a slow breath as her memories resurfaced. "The burial rooms were so simple and lovely. A person could tell that great care had gone to the arrangement and design of every facet of the tomb. The crypts were so full of detail that it was impossible not to know that these people were gifted in every way. That they knew where they would go when they passed out of this existence and they chose to celebrate the going."

She took in a calming breath. Talking about archaeology, her passion, always brought an excitement to her spirit. To be sharing this with Vincent Valentine was a step she had never thought she would take. It was scary and yet exciting in and of itself.

"I would find myself at the tomb several times a day. Just gazing at the creativity inspired me to stretch out from my comfort zone and delve deeper into that which interested me. I suppose that's why I've come to be so widely recognized. Their impact. Their passion for what they did influenced those in direct contact with them." Natalie looked up at the coffin. "They were such an interesting people. You could tell by the work they left behind. It was gorgeous. Not only that, it was so…calming. I felt safe in those tombs and would talk for hours about whatever was bothering me that day. Those times with them really helped me make decisions that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to make. They helped me simply by being there. I guess that's why I'm here now."

'Yeah. I want to spend as much time as possible with you because I'm afraid I'll never get you interested enough in me to actually come out of that box.'

Natalie cleared her throat. "I really miss those days of being able to talk about whatever. Lately, I've been so busy researching Hojo's experiments that I've been kind of keeping things inside. It's been a little stressful. Thanks for being here for me to talk to. I know that you haven't exactly had a choice in the matter, but I wanted to thank you anyway." She looked down and sighed. "Well, I better get going. I've still got a lot of work to do on the questions before your friends start showing up."

She stood and made her way to the door, giving another glance over toward the coffin before closing the door with a slow, deep breath. "I'll see you later," she whispered.

Natalie made her way out of the Mansion and slowly meandered toward the inn on the far side of Nibelheim.

"Excuse me? Are you Natalie Long?"

Natalie looked up from her intense scrutiny of her hiking boots and nodded. "I sure am." She examined the slender girl with the long, brunette hair and buxom figure. 'Man alive. It's a good thing Vincent stays in the box. He'd go for her in a second.' Natalie produced a hand and gripped the girl's, surprised when the returned grip wasn't sloppy or mushy. It was firm and almost hurt. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Tifa Lockhart. I got a message that you wanted to do some sort of interview?"

Natalie's face brightened. "Oh! Yes. Come with me. I have a room at the inn where we can get comfortable and get all this stuff out of the way. Have you eaten?"

"Yes. Thanks." Tifa fell into step beside Natalie and easily matched her long stride. "What kind of interview are we talking?"

"It's about the planet, basically. You and the others have done some incredible work and I wanted to start marking the progress." 'Maybe she'll talk about Vincent?'

"I don't know about the progress. That would be more Red or Barret's department than mine. Have you gotten an interview set up with them?"

"Barret, yes, but Red?" Natalie frowned. "I don't know. The name doesn't sound familiar."

"He's a… err… Well, he looks a lot like a… um… His grandfather was one of the Elders in Cosmo Canyon. Bugenhagen."

"Oh! Nanaki." Natalie nodded her head as she opened the door of the inn and ushered Tifa inside. "Yes. He's supposed to be coming later this afternoon. So are Barret and Cid."

"Man. You have the whole gang coming."

"Not really. I couldn't get a hold of Yuffie or Reeve. I haven't heard anything from Cloud either."

Tifa flushed. "Cloud's coming to Nibelheim later this week, if you don't mind waiting. He just had to pack up some of his stuff that was at Aeris'. I don't know where Yuffie went. I suppose you already checked Wutai."

Natalie ushered Tifa upstairs to her room. "Yes. No one seemed to know where she was. That's all right. I figured I'd have enough information from all the others." Natalie gestured to the table set up in the middle of the room. "Make yourself comfortable." She pulled out a pen and paper (computers were banned until an environmentally safe power source could be found) and made a few notes to herself on the page. "I really appreciate this, Ms. Lockhart."

"Please. Call me Tifa," she said with a smile.

Natalie smiled back at her, amazingly comfortable talking with a total stranger, and tapped her pen on the paper. Her thoughts kept drifting to Vincent and the possibility of being able to find out more about him from the interview. 'Nat, you better focus or the interview's going to be a flop. "All right. Now, you say you don't know any of the details on progress, but could you maybe outline exactly what you and the others have planned to bring the planet back to normal."

"Like I said before, Red's the big planner. We just do what he and Barret tell us to."

Natalie smiled. 'Ask about Vincent. Ask about Vincent…' Natalie pushed the thoughts away. "Could you give me some examples?"

"Examples? Of what they tell us to do?"

Natalie pressed her lips together as she grappled with her focus. "Exactly."

"Well, they told us to gather all the Materia we'd been using and put it in the Lifestream."

'Vincent was raised around Materia. He probably hated to see it go…' Natalie frowned a little as she nodded her head and jotted some stuff on the paper. "Go on."

"Then we gathered a bunch of seedlings from the church where Aeris lived and began planting them in the most fertile areas around Midgar."

'I wonder if Vincent helped with any of the flowers? Probably not. He doesn't seem the gardener type…'Natalie sighed and set down her pen to rub her forehead. 'This isn't going to work, Nat, and you know it. Why fake it?'

"What's wrong?"

Natalie shook her head and leaned back in the chair, focusing her eyes on Tifa's concerned expression. "Nothing. I just can't do this right now."

"I can come back with the others. It is kind of early."

Tifa made a move to stand, but Natalie stopped her. "Wait. Can I ask you a question about someone?"

"Sure."

"It's about Vincent."

Tifa looked surprised. "Vincent? What about him?"

"You know he's in the basement of the Shinra Mansion. Right?"

"I wondered where he'd gotten to, but I figured that's where he'd go. After all, that's where we found him." Natalie didn't say anything and Tifa tilted her head. "He's all right, isn't he?"

"I guess I wanted you to tell me." Natalie paused. "Has he always been in there like that? Does he ever come out?"

"None of us know. He felt responsible for a lot of things and sleeping in the coffin was his way of punishing himself. When we asked for his help he only did it because it was another way to make things right. I don't understand why he still feels like he has to punish himself. Hojo was the one responsible. Of course, we never did understand who Vincent was. He was always so quiet about his personal life."

Natalie dropped her eyes. "Yeah. I kind of figured that."

Tifa paused and then stood, smoothing some imaginary wrinkles from her tight jeans. "I'm kind of tired and it looks like you need some rest yourself. Why don't we do this tomorrow, when Red and Cid get here?"

Natalie raised her eyes and sent Tifa an appreciative smile. "Thanks. I don't know what's the matter with me."

Tifa left the room and Natalie stood, making her way to the window that looked out on the well in the center of Nibelheim. 'Snap out of it, Nat. This isn't like you at all. Come on! Pull yourself together!' She took in a slow breath and released it slower, then again, and again. 'That's better. Now, why don't you clear your mind by doing some research?' Natalie pulled a book off the shelf from the bookcase beside the window and made her way to her bed.

"DNA alteration and the Jenova Project by Professor Hojo." Natalie sighed deeply. "I don't know how this is supposed to clear your mind, Nat. You read this so that you can learn more about Vincent and you know it. Give it a rest, will ya?"

But she couldn't. Vincent had become an area of excitement in her life that she had never before granted herself. Her imagination was enough on those cold nights when her loneliness hit her the hardest. She'd dig out one of his old pictures, taken when he had still dressed in the Turks' snazzy suit and tie, and then absently smile as she played out an entire rendezvous with him. Everything had been so crystal clear. His reaction to each thing she'd say. The expression in his eyes when she'd tell one of her infamous bad jokes. His smirk when she did something embarrassingly funny.

Natalie sighed and slammed the book closed, bringing her arm up to cover her eyes. Now, of all tortures, she was going to be in the same room with the people who had known him better than any other on the planet. The people who had battled to save the planet and the ungrateful people who called it home. 'How am I going to do this?' Questions would bubble to the surface that had nothing to do with the planet's surprising recovery, she knew, and she would have to fight with her usual straightforwardness. Beating around the bush and holding back questions just wasn't her. It never had been. She turned over on her side and wrapped her arms around herself. 'Forget it, Nat. Take a nap. You're just tired.' But her dreams would take her where she did and did not want to go.

To Vincent…

…Natalie took in a deep breath before opening the door. She didn't look at his coffin as she entered the room. 'I can't. I know what he'll say. If he does… How am I going to say no?' Instead, she kept her back toward the room as she closed the door; both palms resting on the cold wood once it had clicked shut. She stood there for several moments, wanting him to come closer… wanting him to stay in the coffin… 'Why couldn't this have been easier? Why did it have to happen like this?'

"You seem upset. What is it?" Vincent asked.

"Nothing."

She heard the rustle of his cape as he moved from where he leaned against his crypt. 'Oh God. He's coming closer. I can't. Don't, Vincent. Please—' He gently took hold of her arms and turned her to face him, lifting her chin with a finger. She held his eyes and he… smiled? Her insides went numb and her knees weakened as a flash shot out from her soul to each and every corner of her body.

"You're looking lovely today."

"Th-thank you." She continued to look up into his glowing red eyes, her firm resolution to stick by what she had decided to do quickly fading. "Vincent, we need to talk."

"About?"

"About us."

"Ah. Us." He caressed her cheek and her throat tightened. "And what is it that needs to be said that has such fear glowing in those lovely green eyes?"

"I can't see you anymore."

"Oh." His eyes twinkled with amusement as his lips tilted in the caress of a smile. "You've said that before and yet you always come. Why are you so afraid of me?" Vincent paused, examining her expression with those seductive amber eyes that seemed to see everything. "I see. You're afraid of yourself."

Natalie pulled away and walked toward the coffin, her arms wrapping around her in an attempt to give herself strength. "It just wouldn't work, Vincent. I care about you, yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know. I'm just so afraid."

Vincent caressed her neck with his finger and brought his lips to her ear. "It's all right to be afraid."

She shook her head and attempted to turn away again, but he held her in a firm yet tender grasp. When he turned her toward him, his expression was painfully clear in meaning. He leaned toward her and caressed her lips with his, brushing them back and forth until she could barely think straight.

"I've been waiting for someone to love," he whispered. "Don't leave me."

Natalie closed her eyes with a soft whimper and wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened—

Natalie jerked to a sitting position with a choked sob as she brought her hands up to cover her face. She'd had the dream before, but it had never been so clear. His eyes had never been so real. His face had never been so defined and expressive. 'Oh,' she groaned, 'why did you have to find him? The fantasies and dreams would have faded if you hadn't done that. Nat, why did you have to be so stubborn?' Her determination had become her torturer.

Natalie sniffed and wiped the tears from her face before pushing herself off the bed and going to stand by the window. She crossed her arms and stared off in the direction of the Shinra Mansion. 'I know it's impossible. I know it's foolish. I know it's pathetic and God knows what else, but it's happened. I've let myself get emotionally involved with a research project… Project,' she questioned herself. 'Project, Nat? Don't start distancing yourself from him now. It won't change the fact that you care for him. That's foolishness and you know it. Besides, it's pointless. You're gone for him. All he would have to do is smile at you and you'd rip off your clothes and offer to have his baby.'

Natalie dropped her head with a reluctant smile. She doubted that she'd ever be that ridiculous, but it felt better to laugh at herself then bawl her head off.

4

Natalie set out extra chairs, made sure she had plenty of pens and paper, tracked down her list of questions for the different people scheduled to be there that day, and then sat back with a science magazine as she waited for them to arrive. She hoped they were all as easy to talk to as Tifa had been. She'd heard some bad things about Barret, and everyone on the planet knew that he'd been the leader of the anti-Shinra group AVALANCHE, but she wasn't one to make harsh judgments. Natalie always tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It was easier. Her thoughts drifted to Vincent. 'In some ways more than others.'

She heard a crash and looked up with a start, her magazine dropping to the floor as she stood. A man with spiky blonde hair was kneeling over a broken vase and quickly picking up the pieces. "You nearly scared me to death," she told him.

He looked over at her with a guilty expression. "I'm really sorry about that. I caught it with my scabbard." He finished picking up the glass shards and then slowly straightened, offering her his hand when he stepped forward. "The name's Cloud. Cloud Strife. I heard you were looking for me."

She shook his hand with a look of surprise. "Tifa said you wouldn't be here for a couple more days."

He grinned. "She doesn't know I'm here yet. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh. Okay." Natalie gestured to one of the many chairs situated around her small table. "Well, if you want to have a seat, we can start now."

"Let's wait. If you don't mind."

Natalie waved a hand at him. "That's fine. It doesn't matter to me." 'I'm still stuck up here when I really want to be down in a musty old basement. What does it matter if we wait or not?'

Cloud sat in one of the chairs and then kicked it back to prop his feet on the table. "So, do you like doing these kind of things?"

"Interviews?" Natalie grimaced and sat in the chair opposite him. "Not likely. I'd much rather be at the fossil discovery on the other side of Mt. Nibel. They found another one like Bone Village, you know."

"No. I didn't. Sounds interesting." Cloud watched her face. "So, if you don't like them, why do them?"

Natalie shrugged. "Science sometimes demands that we do what we don't want to. Besides, I'm hoping the article will sell well. I need the gil." 'I'm only using you. Using you to find out things Vincent won't ever tell me.'

Cloud smiled. "I was there once myself. That's how I got involved with Barret in the first place. Gil. He had it. I needed it. He needed help. Bam! I was volunteered for a job blowing up a reactor."

"It certainly sounds exciting, if a little dangerous." 'Vincent would have loved it.'

Cloud shrugged. "I didn't really care about the danger. I've got to say that I'm glad it's all over now, though. The most dangerous thing I have to worry about these days is a paper cut." He smiled. "And pissing Tifa off."

Natalie's mind groaned to a halt. "You two are together, then?"

"For now."

The answer surprised her. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to sound possessive or anything by saying a firm 'yes', even though that's the only way I want to answer. So, I just say 'for now'. I want to give her a choice, you know. She's still her own person. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm committed. I don't have any plans to go cruising the countryside with some other girl. I just don't want her to think that I'm making her choose me over her own freedom. We've both gone through a lot together. It's just natural that we end up here, I guess." He grinned. "Not that I hadn't hoped we would."

Natalie looked down at her paper with an absent nod. "That's wonderful." 'I wish it was natural for me and Vincent.'

"So, who else are we expecting?"

"Nanaki. Barret. Tifa, obviously. Cid." Natalie looked at her list. 'Vincent…'

"What about Vincent? I sure hope he's going to be here. I haven't heard from him since we won against Sephiroth."

Natalie's grip tightened on her pen. "I don't know about him or Yuffie. I couldn't get in contact with her."

"What about Vincent? You know he's right here in the Shinra Mansion, don't you?"

Natalie nodded and she could feel the blood drain from her face. "Yes. Yes, I knew that." 'He doesn't acknowledge that I exist, but yes, I knew.'

"Did you send him the invite? Did you want me to do it for you? He doesn't talk much, but we got along pretty good together."

'I'm sure you thought so, but did he?' Natalie gave him a reluctant smile. "No, no. It's all right. I think I have enough to handle with the five of you. I haven't done many interviews in my line of work. I'm usually stuck behind a book. The experience will be good for me." 'I need the time away from him. You wouldn't understand, but that's okay.'

"Just wondering."

"Hello, Cloud. It's nice to see you after such a long time."

Natalie and Cloud looked toward the door.

"Hey there, Red. How've you been?"

Nanaki came to sit beside Cloud and tucked his tail around his forepaws. "Quite well, thank you. Yourself?"

"Keeping busy." Cloud gestured to Natalie. "This is Natalie Long. Natalie, this is Red… err… Nanaki."

"Hello," Natalie said with a big smile toward the beautiful creature. She had to fight the urge to scratch behind his velvety soft ears. "It's very nice to finally meet you. I've read all your articles, as well as those of your grandfather. Brilliant. Fascinating."

Red nodded his head and almost seemed to smile at her. "Thank you very much."

"Sorry I'm late."

Cloud stood and sent Tifa a grin. "Surprise."

"Cloud!" She rushed into the room and threw herself forward to envelop him in a hug, which quite nearly made them both topple backward. "I thought you weren't going to be here until the end of the week."

Natalie dropped her eyes as her throat constricted. 'Would I have the courage to greet Vincent like that if we were ever that close? Would I have the courage to take our relationship to that level?'

"I packed faster." Cloud pulled back and then urged her to take his seat, which she did. "I guess it's just Barret and Cid now."

"No, its just Barret."

They all looked to the entrance of the quickly filling room and sent the ruggedly handsome engineer a smile. He took a puff of his cigarette and strode into the room to throw himself into the nearest chair, which happened to be beside Natalie.

She offered a hand. "Hello, Mr. Highwind. My name's Natalie Long. I'm doing the interview."

"Well, I didn't think any of these @#$%& numbskulls would be doing it," he said abruptly as he shook her hand.

Natalie blinked in surprise at the foul language, but the others just laughed. She smiled and released his hand, somehow at ease among these strangers that were close friends. If she felt this way, how much more had Vincent? He had spent weeks and months with them in order to save the planet. "I really appreciate your time. All of you."

"It's no problem," Cid said gruffly.

The others repeated much the same sentiment.

Natalie looked to her questions and tapped her lips with her pen. "All right. Well, we might as well begin. There's no point making you all wait. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Barret will be here as soon as he can." 'And Vincent?'

Cloud sat in the chair next to Tifa and kicked back, draping one of his hands along the back of her chair. "Don't bet on it. He's been awfully busy getting everybody situated with enough seedlings and starter plants. He may have forgotten about the whole thing."

Tifa laughed. "Cloud, come on. Barret forget a responsibility? That would be like Yuffie forgetting where a stash of Materia was in the old days."

"Hey. There's a first time for everything."

They all conceded that was true and then talked amongst themselves, reliving a myriad of past adventures. Natalie watched them as they interacted with one another. She was going to be hard-pressed to remember the focus of her article yet again. 'How did Vincent react to all these different types of people? Did he feel lost? Did he feel overwhelmed? Did he feel accepted?' There were so many questions that she wanted to ask about the lonely soul hidden in a distant basement.

"So, what exactly is the plan?" Natalie finally asked.

They all looked at her. "Plan?"

"For rescuing the planet," she added. "What's the plan? Anyone?"

They all exchanged glances as if to ask, 'who first', and then Red cleared his throat with a husky purr. "It's not necessarily a plan, per say, but the only course of action we see as available to us."

"Well, then how did you know what to do?"

"It was kind of simple," Tifa spoke up timidly. "We had found out that Mako and Materia were actually the planet's life. Once we knew that, it seemed obvious that we needed to give it back. That's why we put it in the Lifestream."

"And the machinery?" Natalie asked Cid.

"Machinery before used Mako. It's my job to find out how to make them use either solar energy, or something else, just as long as it doesn't detract from the planet's energy or poison the atmosphere." He grumbled under his breath a moment or two. "I tell ya, I don't have many #%&$# options open to me at the moment."

Natalie restrained a smile at the outburst. 'I wonder what Vincent's reaction was to you, Mr. Highwind. You more than likely gave him no end of amusement.' "Have any of you noticed any changes in the ecosystem?"

"I've noticed a lot of things," Cloud said. "The sky's different. The grass is greener. There seem to be more animals around then before."

"The kids look healthier too," Tifa volunteered.

Natalie nodded. "Yes. I've noticed that. The people have a healthier, more positive attitude." 'Maybe Vincent just needs time.'

"Of course," said a loud voice. "They've got damn good air to breathe!"

All of them turned and gave Barret an enthusiastic greeting as he stomped into the room with his adopted daughter, Marlene, on his shoulders.

"I'm so glad you could make it Mr.---"

"None of that," Barret interrupted. "The name's Barret. Plain and simple." Natalie nodded and offered him her seat. He declined and, instead, leaned against the bookcase after depositing Marlene on the bed. "So, let's get this interview under way. I've got a lot of work to do and there's no stopping this train we're on."

They all laughed and Natalie surrendered to another smile.

5

Natalie leaned out the window as far as possible in order to catch a glimpse of Shinra Mansion. It had been three days since her last visit. The interview had gone well and she had been working as fast as possible in order to finish the bulk of the article. She'd put the finishing touches on the rough draft that morning and had planned to visit the Mansion as soon as she considered it more than 75% done. Natalie turned and hurried from her room, a silly sense of expectation and anticipation making her heart flutter as she rushed down the stairs. She took the picnic lunch she'd ordered that morning from the counter where they'd set it out for her, and then rushed outdoors.

The sun was shining.

She smiled, pausing long enough to take in a deep breath before turning and walking at a brisk pace for the Mansion. She nodded to the locals as she made her way and pushed through the gate, slowing her pace as she entered the front door. Natalie looked around her. She'd really come to like the old Mansion. 'I think I'll buy it and then hire someone to start fixing it up,' she decided. Her article was bound to bring in enough money to pay for it and she was sure that there were no other interested parties. The people of Nibelheim would more than likely be thankful to rid themselves of the responsibility of fixing up what was quickly becoming an eyesore. She nodded and hurried upstairs to the room that held the hidden passage to the spiral stairway. She pushed it open and headed down.

When she arrived at the door to the room where Vincent's coffin was kept, she hesitated at the door before pushing it open slowly. There was no one inside and Vincent's coffin was closed, just as it always was. She closed the door behind her and set the picnic basket at her feet. She pulled a blanket from on top and spread it out, then sat down and pulled out her regular tuna sandwich and grape juice. Natalie looked at the coffin and sighed. She didn't know what to say. 'Then don't say anything, Nat. You only come down here for your own personal fantasy. Use your imagination. It's always been good enough for you anyway.'

Natalie sighed again.

"The interview went quite well," she finally said. "Your friends are really easy to talk to. It kind of surprised me. I've never been a good talker. Oh, I know I talk your ear off, but that's different. You're in there. I'm out here. Besides, we've got a little in common. We both used to work for Shinra, one way or the other. We're both loners…" Natalie's voice faded and she put her sandwich away. She wasn't hungry. "I… I don't think I told you that I knew Lucrecia. Well, I didn't really know her all that well. She was my high school teacher's sister's best friend. She visited sometimes. I liked her, but we never really had a chance to talk much. She was usually busy with something for Shinra." Natalie scowled. "Shinra. Man! I am so glad Rufus and his father got what they did. They were both… never mind. I shouldn't swear."

"Why not?"

Natalie gasped and looked up, a hand going to her throat when she saw Vincent hovering midair above the coffin. She hadn't heard the lid open. Obviously. "H-hi." 'Smooth, Nat. Real smooth.'

He watched her for a long, silent moment before gracefully dropping and coming to stand opposite her. She offered him her sandwich but he shook his head. 'Okay, Nat, now what?' Natalie swallowed hard and dropped her eyes, desperately trying to think of something to say as she put the sandwich neatly on its plate. Vincent sat and she watched him in shock and horror. Her fantasy was coming true and she was handling it less than gracefully.

Vincent continued to examine her with his piercing red eyes. "You worked for Shinra?"

"In a round-a-bout way," she said slowly. 'Breathe, Nat. Breathe and you'll be fine.' "They basically funded the digs I worked at. They always did have their fingers in as many pies as possible." Natalie saw the expression in his eyes change and wondered at the cause.

"You knew Lucrecia?"

She hesitated. "Like I said, I didn't know her very well, but she seemed really nice. Well, when she had a spare minute to breathe, anyway. My teacher was always telling us about things Lucrecia was involved in. I think one of the highlights of my day was when I got to hear about her latest adventure. Lucrecia had the life that I wanted. She was actively involved in science. She had position and could research whatever she wanted. That thought intrigued me. That was what I wanted to have as soon as I was out of school." Natalie sighed with regret. "I just wish we could have talked."

Vincent remained silent, his eyes examining her face with an intensity that was going to drive her nuts.

Natalie gnawed on her lower lip. "I must confess that's how I found out about you." Vincent almost raised an eyebrow. "My teacher was always talking about the stories he heard from his sister about you and Lucrecia. I was fascinated, so I did more research. That's when I found out about Hojo and his experiments with DNA manipulation and alteration, which is what I believe he did to you. I dug out as many articles as I could find on Hojo and his experiments until I discovered the information about this Mansion and the basement…" Something in his expression changed and she dropped her gaze. "I suppose I wanted to meet you so badly that I didn't consider whether or not you wanted any visitors. Sorry about that."

"Why would you want to meet me?"

'Be yourself, Nat.' Natalie shrugged and looked up with a haphazard smile. "Call me a romantic."

"Why?"

Natalie couldn't help but laugh. "And I thought I asked a lot of questions." He didn't say anything and Natalie continued, the smile still on her face. "You're a mystery and I've always loved mysteries. That's why I do what I do. Not only that, you're a bit of a tortured soul, you know." His expression seemed to blacken and Natalie's smile quivered and died. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Well, I didn't mean to do whatever I did."

"You did nothing."

"All right, then why do you look about ready to murder?" 'Hold on there, Nat. Bluntness was always your forte, but now's not the time for it. Keep it gentle.' "Forget I asked that, Vincent. I didn't mean to plow over you like a bulldozer. Like I said before, I haven't been around people much. Well, actually, I have. It's just been different than socializing." 'That's better.' "Speaking of that, did you want to come see the new fossils they've discovered? They haven't done any of the equipment set up, that's not due to be done for another couple of days, so it should be rather quiet."

"How do you understand what Hojo did to me?"

The question caught her off-guard and she had to yank her brain back from the possibility of taking a walk with him in order to answer. "I'm a scientist, not just an archeologist." She examined his expression. "That's not what you meant, was it?" He remained silent and Natalie shrugged, looking away from his face in order to pour herself another glass of grape juice. "That's kind of hard to say, but only because I don't know how to explain it. Whenever I didn't understand an article, I'd pull the reports and articles that they had researched and read them myself. Then, if they were a matter of record, I'd try and pull the itemized notes that followed their experiments (that didn't happen very often). Most of the time, it just clicked. Like a bunch of puzzle pieces falling into place without a lick of hassle. After reading what they had read and seeing what they had done, it just made sense."

"Is there a way to reverse it?"

Natalie swallowed hard. She'd often asked herself that same question, but hadn't had enough experience to know one way or the other. Besides, DNA manipulation was still so experimental that she didn't dare hazard a guess. Her fantasy had, of course, taken the question and run with it many times. Reversing Vincent's change would have been the best way of endearing him to her, after all. However, she was afraid that the hope was more fantasy than any of her other romantic dreams. Her specialty had always been historic, not genetic or cellular. 'Put aside the fact that you figured out what Hojo did, you'd never discover the way to put Vincent back to normal. You simply don't have the expertise, the research ability, or the field experience.'

Natalie sighed. "I don't know. Believe me when I say I wish I could say 'yes' with any amount of truth or certainty. But I can't. I wouldn't want to lie to you."

"In other words, you've thought about the possibility before."

She nodded. "Yes. Many times. Like I said before, your entire history fascinated me. The minute I found out what Hojo had done, I toyed with the idea of changing you back again. Only problem was I didn't have the facility for experimentation that Hojo did. I doubt if I ever will, now that Shinra's wiped off the face of the planet. No other place had their type of advanced equipment."

"That isn't true."

Natalie looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Shinra had a laboratory in the basement of this Mansion. Cloud will know where it is."

Natalie blinked in surprise. She hadn't explored any further than this door. After all, she hadn't cared about anything but finding Vincent's coffin. "A laboratory? Here? Really?" She smiled and her eyes twinkled. "I've always dreamed of having my own lab." Something akin to amusement flickered across Vincent's face for the briefest instant and Natalie flushed. "Sorry for making a fool of myself. I've had an idea of something that might work and have been frustrated to no end because I haven't been able to try it out. For you to say that there's a lab… I can't even begin to describe my excitement!"

"An idea?"

Natalie's excitement faded. "Oops. I didn't mean to say that." She waved her hands at him. "It was just a silly notion I had once. One of my crazy, romantic imaginings of grandeur and heroic rescue." She slouched and dropped her eyes. "Just great. Now I've gotten your hopes up."

"Hope? Why would I believe there was hope for me?"

Natalie looked up and tried to gauge his expression, but it was just as distant as when she had first seen him. "How…" 'Careful, Nat.' "Never mind. Okay. Well, if you… Never mind that either." Natalie bit her lower lip and then stood. He watched her, but made no move to stand. "Cloud and Tifa are walking around Mt. Nibel today and won't be back until later this evening. Could you help me find the lab? I'd like to check it out to see exactly what I'm looking at in expenses for getting it up and running."

He remained seated for a moment more and then gracefully stood. "Yes."

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Yes."

Natalie smiled. "I appreciate it." She made a move to pack up the picnic, but decided against it. "Never mind that," she told Vincent with a smile (he hadn't made a move to pick it up either). "I'll come back later hungrier than anything, more than likely. It's always a mystery that makes me hungry enough to eat a chocobo." She turned for the door and stepped out, moving aside for him to have room to stand beside her. "So, which way do we go?"

He gestured to the left with another brief expression of amusement. "It isn't far."

Vincent was about to take a step forward when Natalie suddenly stopped him with a hand on his arm. He turned to face her with an expression akin to surprise. Natalie quickly removed her hand, but continued with her train of thought. "Are you absolutely certain that you don't mind? I know I've asked this before, but I just realized that this might have been where Hojo did his experiments on you. Believe me, if it causes a problem for you at all, I will wait until Cloud gets back and ask him. It's no big deal."

Natalie wasn't sure, but it seemed the briefest flash of emotion exploded across his face. It made her wonder a little more about the past she hadn't been able to discover via the reading of experimentation reports, interviews, and assistants' journal entries. 'What exactly did you go through, Vincent? What exactly happened to make you the way you are now? Why are you this tortured soul?' These questions had fascinated Natalie for years. These were the pieces she had longed to uncover. So that she could fix something, anything, about him.

He still hadn't answered and she offered another gently humorous, yet probing statement. "If I'm going too far in the caution department of our relationship, I'm only concerned for your feelings. I've never been experimented on, Vincent, but I can appreciate the tenderness of it."

"It doesn't matter. It's in the past."

"Sometimes the past is all we have." He examined her features for the briefest of a pause. Natalie looked down "Sorry. I did it again." She tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "I have a tendency of being about as subtle as a Midgar Zolom."

"I doubt it could be possible."

Natalie peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. 'Was that a sense of humor I just heard? Or was he just being ultra-literal? There's no telling.' "Why would you say that? I'm just curious. You haven't actually seen one, have you?"

"As a matter of fact…"

"Wow. I've heard and read about them, even seen pictures, but… Really? You've seen one?"

"I fought one."

Natalie paled. "You're kidding. I can see you survived, but how in the world did you do it? They're downright vicious."

"No match for the three of us."

"The three of you?"

"Cloud and Aeris. You didn't think I would do it alone, did you?"

'Why not? You do everything else by yourself.' Natalie cleared her throat. "I guess I didn't really think about it. Boy. You had me just a little bit by the neck, didn't you?" The amusement lasted longer this time and she couldn't help but smile. "You did it on purpose. Don't tell me I'm going to have to examine everything you say. That's going to be exhausting." 'Not to mention fun, exciting, and absolutely pathetic.' "Why in the world did you three go against one of those?"

"We needed its skill."

"It's skill? As in what exactly."

"The Midgar Zolom has the skill called Beta. It's an elemental attack that is quite powerful. We needed the skill for our battles against Sephiroth and others."

"Did you learn it? As in, did you learn to duplicate it?"

"No." He paused and then turned to begin down the short corridor. "Yes. Our Materia stored the ability and then allowed us to use it later."

"Really? Hmm. Interesting. I wonder how it was able to do that," Natalie mumbled absently. "It would need to have some type of sentience in order to be able to retain the knowledge of the ability learned… I wonder. They say that Materia was part of the planet, and this would definitely be proof to that effect. Man. I wish Materia wasn't taboo anymore. I'd love to examine some. Although, I should be able to learn all I need to from Bugenhagen's research and from Shinra's declassified reports. Hmm. I should look into it." Natalie noticed that Vincent had stopped outside a huge wooden door and looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Are we here? Already?"

"I didn't want to interrupt."

"Oh." Natalie blushed. "Sorry. I have a tendency of talking out loud, as you can see. Somehow, it helps me work things out. Either that or I'm just too lazy to keep my thoughts to myself. It could be both. Who knows?" Vincent just looked down at her with those calm and distant red eyes without saying a word. Natalie flushed a darker shade and looked away, her hand reaching out for the door to open it. "Well, I guess we find out what's hiding behind door number one."

The massive door creaked open slowly and Natalie brought a hand up to her mouth. It was huge. There were books by the hundreds stacked on tables, on the bookcases, and on the floor. There were notebooks and tablets filled with handwritten journal notes, video tapes in a far corner, shelves of beakers containing neatly labeled liquids, and a couple of cylindrical holding-chambers linked to one of the Shinra Corporation's best computers. Natalie's eyes widened in awe as she stepped forward, fingering through a book here and there before making her way to the computer. It was on and running, apparently not affected by the world's sudden turn from the use of Mako. It had a link to it's own small Mako generator.

Natalie pulled out a dusty office chair and sat with a slow breath, caressing the keyboard with a slowly growing smile. Technology. How she had missed it in the few years that she'd been out in no-man's land. 'But now I have a chance. I have a chance to do all I wanted to do before but couldn't. I know Mako is outlawed, but this computer may be the difference between my discovery of a cure and not. Surely it can't use that much.' Natalie peeked up at Vincent. He had come to stand by some chambers a little way from the desk. His expression hadn't changed, but something about his attitude had. Natalie couldn't quite put her finger on it, but knew it was there.

She watched him for a moment and then stood, hesitantly moving to stand beside him. "You all right?"

"Cloud spoke of these."

"Cloud did? Really?" Natalie turned to examine the chambers. More than six feet in height, they were impressively high-tech. They were filled with a type of greenish liquid that looked almost embryonic. Natalie reached out a hand and touched the cylinder. It was warm. "It looks to be an incubator of some sort and it's still running. As if the experiment should still be here." Natalie looked around for any clue as to what the experiment could be and discovered a plaque on each cylinder. "Hmm. C project. Specimen (A) code Z. And this one is specimen (B) and code C. I wonder what it means." She slowly made her way to the computer again. "Well, they had to have kept records. I'll just take a peek and see what I can find out."

"Cloud said that he and Zack, a friend from SOLDIER, were held here and injected with Jenova cells and Mako."

"Let me guess. Hojo."

"Yes. He claimed that Cloud was a clone from the original. We have no proof that he was telling the truth."

"Why did he have such a fascination for screwing up the lives of others?" Natalie pressed her lips together and typed furiously on the keyboard, searching and crosschecking references in order to find anything regarding the experiments that had taken place in that basement. Shinra. Cloud Strife. SOLDIER. Hojo. Jenova. Everything that she could think of. Then, she typed in the name of Vincent Valentine, one-time Turk for Shinra Corporation.

"There has to be a connection," she murmured. "Some experiment that Hojo kept doing over and over. He was always so sadistically persistent."

PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD

Natalie blinked in surprise, her fingers pausing over the keyboard. "Hello. What do we have here? You're using a password, Professor? I wonder if you might possibly have a secret."

"What is it?"

He came to stand behind her and she took in a slow breath to keep her focus on the computer screen. "I typed in your name and now the computer's asking for a password." 'Please, Vincent. Don't stand so close. My mind doesn't work so well when you do that.'

 "Have you tried Lucrecia?"

"He wouldn't really do anything that obvious, would he?"

"Try it."

Natalie shrugged and typed in the letters. ACCESS DENIED. PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD. "For what it's worth, it was a good idea. I wouldn't have tried it. Any other suggestions?"

Vincent reached over her shoulder and typed three simple letters: G-O-D.

ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME, PROFESSOR HOJO

"Now that's scary," Natalie said softly after clearing her throat. 'I hope to God he doesn't do that again.'

"No scarier than that which he bred."

Vincent turned away and Natalie's heart fell. "Where are you going?"

"I'm giving you room to work."

'You weren't in the way, Vincent. You never would be. Don't you know that?' "Will you come back?"

"Yes."

'I'm telling you, Vincent. You don't need to leave. I want you here to help me.' "All right. I'll see you later."

Natalie watched him go, releasing a deep breath after he'd closed the door behind him. Her mind ricocheted from fantasy to real world and back again. 'Vincent Valentine. I just walked around the basement with Vincent Valentine. He stood beside me. He stood behind me. He talked to me. I actually amused him.' She shook her head and then turned back to the computer, desperately attempting to refocus her attention. 'Okay, Nat. Now's your chance to do some mystery solving and clue-hunting. You've been itching for this and now it's been dropped in your lap. Let's get to work.'

6

Vincent stared at the door. He could hear the rhythmic tapping of her fingers on the keyboard, even through the solid wood. Occasionally, the tapping would pause only to resume at an even faster pace. '… An idea I've been toying with,' she had said. The hope that longed to bloom within him fought at the restraints of his long-practiced self-control and his face hardened as he clenched his jaw. He had told her that he didn't believe there was hope for him, but did even he believe that? He and the others had battled against impossibilities too long for him to now believe this wasn't also a reasonable hope.

Vincent's red eyes narrowed as he examined the door, seeing Natalie Long's seemingly innocent face. She had known Lucrecia… He turned away sharply and strode away. He had fought long and hard against Sephiroth and Hojo in order to put the guilt of her death behind him. It was odd to be faced with another remembrance of her. Someone who had admired her courage and intelligence as he himself had. Someone who had been enthralled with what she herself had found intriguing. And yet… And yet, there was a fascinating difference about this stranger that had pulled him from his fitful slumber. She had plunged forward even though he had sensed her fear. The hold he had on her seemed to overpower her normal sense of self-preservation. That grip over a person whom he had never previously met interested him, much as he hated to admit it.

He came to the door of the room that housed his coffin and paused, his gaze cold and hard as he stared at it. After another brief pause, Vincent passed by and ascended the stairs to the main floor of the Shinra Mansion. Sleeping when there was a mystery unfolding didn't seem right. It had been boring anyway. The nightmares that had tortured him for so long had passed at the defeat of Sephiroth, and the memories he had of Lucrecia were beginning to fade. Most hours found him staring at the cover of his self-appointed tomb while wondering what to do in order to fill the unknown remaining years of his life.

Then he had heard a voice exclaim, 'Oh my God. I found you. I finally found you.'

His insides twisted again with an unexpected agony at the remembrance of the unhidden joy he had heard in the hushed words. For someone to be so pleased to find his crypt was beyond the scope of his withered heart and imagination. Hojo had made fear the only emotion ever witnessed by him. And yet… Vincent clenched his jaw and stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine. He looked up at the sky and took in a deep breath. Yes. The effect of Sephiroth's evil was dwindling. He could sense it. Jenova's power over their planet was a mere memory easily and eagerly forgotten.

Her voice was no longer clearly spoken in his mind.

Vincent changed his gaze to the well that Cloud had often mentioned in his pleasant memories of home. It yet stood, almost a beacon of hope for all who gazed at it to believe that such pleasant dreams were possible for them as well. He could even sense his own soul's attempt at belief. '…An idea I've been toying with…' and that was his hope. Vincent knew he did not deserve it, but it was there for him to take just the same. 'Why shouldn't I take it?' But his soul remained distant, testing the newfound idea with an air of feigned disdain. Hope had never before partnered itself with him. 'Why should it?'

No excuses against the idea surfaced.

He clenched his jaw and almost turned back for the Mansion. The sound of familiar laughter stopped him. Cloud and Tifa were approaching from the path that led to Mt. Nibel. When they saw him standing at the gate, they hesitated for the briefest possible moment before hurrying to his side.

"Well would you look what the cat dragged in?" Cloud said with a smile as he clapped Vincent on the shoulder. "It's great to see you, Vincent. What brings you out here?"

Vincent examined Cloud's expression with a slightly raised eyebrow. Such an emotion of happiness and laughter had not been often seen on the young man's face. Most often, he had displayed a tortured expression of guilt, rage, and confusion. To see him eagerly smiling with a twinkle of nauseating delight in his Mako glowing eyes nearly sabotaged Vincent's carefully constructed calm. So, he chose not to speak any kind of answer to Cloud's questions. Instead, he continued to examine Cloud and Tifa's expressions. They exchanged a guarded glance and Vincent crossed his arms.

Tifa spoke up next. "Vincent, you haven't seen a woman with red curly hair around, have you? Her name's Natalie Long and she's a scientist doing an article on the progress the planet's made since… well, since Sephiroth was beaten." Vincent remained quiet and Tifa absently pulled at the hem of her short black skirt. "I was just wondering if you'd seen her. She did such a good job on the interview… I… I was just hoping we could get together… some time… maybe."

Cloud shook his head with a smirk and draped an arm protectively around Tifa's shoulders. "Come on, Vincent. Give us a break. Have you seen her or not? It's an easy question. It's not like we're asking you for your personal feelings on the matter."

"She's in the basement lab," he said simply.

Cloud straightened sharply, his arm dropping from Tifa's shoulders. "What? Why in the hell did you let her go down there? It's dangerous!" He turned sharply and charged into the Mansion, the door slamming closed behind him.

Tifa stared after him with an amazed expression for several quiet moments before turning back toward Vincent. "Now why in the world would he think it was so dangerous?"

"Perhaps because Hojo left an experiment running?"

"Are you talking about those cylinders Cloud's mentioned? Surely they can't be all that dangerous."

"One never knows when it comes to Hojo."

Tifa turned back toward the Mansion and leaned her hands against the gate without opening it. After a moment, she took in a deep breath and released it slowly. "Vincent, I know you don't talk about the stuff that's happened to you, but… But when you did, didn't it make you feel better?"

Vincent leaned his back against the gatepost and crossed his arms. "It did," he admitted reluctantly.

She turned her face to examine his expression. "I don't get it. Why have you been hiding in the basement for so long? Didn't you want to be involved in everything that's been going on out here? Didn't you want to be around your friends for the celebration of a new beginning?"

"Friends?"

"Yes, Vincent. Friends. I'd like to think that's what we all are. After all, we've put up with your gloomy attitude with patience… for the most part. We helped you find Lucrecia's tomb, or whatever it was, so that you could put some of the guilt away. We asked you to become a part of our team… no, our family because we knew that we could help each other." She turned and leaned her back against the gate, tapping her heel on the dusty ground. "Come on, Vincent. We don't ask for a lot in return. We just want you to open up a little. We're all worried about you."

"I'm out of my coffin. Isn't that good enough?" His voice sounded impatient.

"But for how long?" She looked over at him. "We liked having you around, Vincent. You were always interesting company. On those long nights when none of us could sleep, you told some of the best stories of Shinra and the Turks. Sure, you almost never talked about yourself, but that was okay. Why is it so hard to do that now? Just because the world isn't in mortal danger?"

He clenched his jaw and straightened, tossing his cape over his shoulder as he turned for the gate. Tifa straightened and moved out of the way. "I'm doing my best." Vincent could sense her surprise at his response, but didn't turn to gauge her expression. After a moment's pause, she hurried to walk beside him. "That coffin was what I knew. The nightmares were my entertainment. To give that up so quickly… It isn't so easy for a stubborn soul bent on his own destruction."

"So, why are you out now? Can I ask?"

It was a question that even he hadn't had the courage to voice. "Perhaps… perhaps I'm searching for something."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I can understand that. I was once there myself. I think I still am." Tifa stopped him with a hand on his arm and held his expression when he looked down at her. "Just be patient with yourself. Okay? Not all questions can be answered at once. Some take time. Some hurt. Some will make you angrier than you've ever been. Give yourself a break, though. It's not easy to do this."

"Do what?"

"Do whatever it is you're doing. Trying to find whatever you've lost. Be patient. That's the best advice anyone could give you."

Vincent examined her and then turned away. "Yes. I believe it is."

* * *

The door slammed open and Natalie nearly fell out of her chair as she turned. Cloud rushed further into the room and dragged her chair from the computer before reaching down to yank the cord from its power supply. Natalie stood and stretched out an arm with a cry and a firm "Stop!" But it was too late. The monitor went black and all the progress she'd made was gone, save the shorthand notes she'd scribbled on a faded desk pad. Before she had a chance to react, Cloud waved the cord at her with a dangerous scowl and she found herself taking an involuntary step backward.

"This is against the law," he snapped. He threw the cord roughly to the ground and then grabbed her by the arm, dragging her none too gently to the door as he ignored all her protests and explanations. "I don't care if you're a scientist. I don't care if you knew what you were doing. That experiment is none of your business!"

"Fine," Natalie told him in a voice that was just as angry. "I don't care about that blasted experiment anyway. I was only attempting to discover information about---"

"It doesn't matter. That computer runs on Mako and you could be severely punished for using it. Just be thankful I found you and not Barret. I'm willing to forget it even happened, but he'd more than likely make you an example to everyone else."

Natalie was able to painfully twist her arm from his grasp and then stopped, glaring up at him with her fists on her hips as he also came to a stop. "It doesn't matter if Sephiroth himself had found me. You had no right to go bursting in there and ruin all the hard-earned progress I'd made. You have no idea what I was in the process of doing and now it's ruined! Perhaps gone forever if you crashed the hard drive!"

He attempted to grab her arm again, but she was able to avoid his grasp. "Like I said, professor or doctor or whatever you are, I don't care. Everything about Hojo, Gast, and Shinra has no business being rediscovered. Do you have any idea what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands?"

"That was a risk I was willing to take," she shot at him. "Besides, I didn't plan on telling anyone that it was still running. Vincent was the only one who---"

"Vincent?" Cloud's eyes darkened. "Vincent told you about that place?"

Natalie turned her face away from Cloud and tilted her chin up in mute defiance, crossing her arms with her refusal to answer. Of course, she didn't need to because Vincent and Tifa had just arrived.

"What's going on here?" Tifa asked calmly.

"What the hell were you thinking," Cloud shot at Vincent as he jammed a finger in his chest. "You had no business showing her that place."

Vincent looked down at Cloud's finger for a long moment before raising his eyes to meet Cloud's blue ones. "She needed a lab," she said calmly.

"She needed a lab? She needed a lab?" Cloud gestured back at the door to the laboratory. "So you just usher her in there?"

Tifa put her hands on Cloud's arm. "Cloud, calm down."

"There was no harm being planned," Vincent countered with a flash of temper that was just as quickly gone.

"No harm— How do you know what she was planning? You don't know her from Jenova and you think you have—"

"Cloud," Tifa interrupted more firmly. "Cloud, I think you better walk this off before you say anything else you'll regret later." He glared down at her, but she didn't budge her position.

Natalie clenched her jaw and turned to face him. "For your information, Mr. Strife, I was doing research on the possibility of reversing the alteration Hojo did on Vincent. Now, if there's harm to the planet by doing that, I guess I'll harm the planet. I don't know about you, but I don't have any desire to turn my back on the possibility of helping him. I care about him a whole hell of a lot more than this planet!"

With that, she turned on her heel, pushed past both Tifa and Vincent, and strode from the basement without a single look backward. Tifa stared after her and then looked back to Vincent and Cloud with crossed arms. Cloud swore and turned to punch the wall with a fist. Vincent looked a little pale.

"You always did have a tendency of picking a fight. Remember when we were kids?" Tifa shook her head. "I thought you'd grown out of it. Guess not."

Cloud ignored her. Instead, he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he looked to Vincent. "Sorry, Vincent. I didn't know."

"Yeah? Well, you didn't ask either," Tifa pressed.

"Okay, Tifa. I get your point. Back off a little."

Tifa smirked. "I'll go talk to Natalie, then." She turned and strode away.

Cloud watched her and then turned his gaze back to Vincent. "So, is she right? Is there a cure for whatever Hojo did?"

Vincent changed his eyes from the wall in front of him to the corridor that led to the spiral staircase. "I don't know."

"What about what she said? She said she was trying to find a way of undoing it."

"I know what she said."

"Didn't she tell you anything about it?"

"She said she had an idea." Vincent's voice was becoming more and more strained.

"An idea, huh?" Cloud ran a hand through his spiked blonde hair and looked back to the lab. "I never wanted to see that place again and now I'm going to end up fixing it so she can use a Shinra invention without screwing up the planet." He shrugged suddenly. "Why not?" He pushed away from the wall and disappeared inside.

Vincent was left alone in the corridor to stare at the door of the room that housed his coffin. He stepped into the room and stared at the large black box for a long moment before disappearing inside and closing the cover tightly after him. He closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep, grateful for the ever-familiar oppressive blackness that submerged his mind into nothingness…

…and the nightmares…

* * *

"Natalie!"

Natalie stiffened and quickly wiped the tears from her face before again making her way toward the exit of the Shinra Mansion. 'You made a total and complete ass of yourself, Nat. Not only did you confess how much you care for Vincent in front of his friends - therefore embarrassing him beyond measure - but you lost your cool and told off the savior of this planet!' She pressed her lips together and wiped another volley of tears from her cheeks.

"Natalie, wait!"

'How am I going to face him ever again?' But she had to. 'Why?' Because she couldn't just walk away now that she had found him and a lab that could mean his salvation. All her life she had felt that there was something waiting for her. Something always out of her grasp. Now that she had this chance, that feeling was no longer lurking in the background of her soul. She had found her purpose. Saving Vincent from whatever hell he went to each night he submerged into that coffin was what she was meant to do. 'And now he knows how I feel…' She choked on a sob and shook her head, furiously wiping more and more tears from her reddened cheeks as her steps slowed. Natalie finally stumbled to a stop to lean on the base of the well.

Tifa came to stand beside her, resting a hand on her back. "Natalie?"

"What?" Natalie choked out.

"You okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Natalie burst out as she turned to face Tifa, tears streaming down her face. "I've just humiliated myself in front of the only man I've ever wanted to impress and you think I might be okay?" Natalie covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "Just kill me now and be done with it. My research is ruined, so I'll probably never be able to find a way to reverse what Hojo did to him. My one chance and this had to happen. It's not fair."

Tifa absently rubbed her shoe on the back of her leg as she gnawed her lower lip. "Natalie—"

"What do you want," Natalie cried as she dropped her hands from her face. "Haven't I humiliated myself enough? Do you have to come and see me like this? Just leave me alone."

With that, she pushed away from the well and stumbled into the inn. Tifa stared after her with a pained expression, then slowly shook her head and made her way back to the Shinra Mansion. When she came to the doorway of the lab she hesitated for a long moment before entering. Cloud was standing in front of the two cylinders with crossed arms and a scowl.

"Cloud, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm."

"Does Vincent seem different to you?"

Cloud looked over at her with a little confusion. "Different? What do you mean?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess just the fact that he's out after so many months is difference enough, but there was something in his face when she left. Something I've never seen before. Did he say anything to you before going back in his box?"

"Nope. He was just as tight-lipped as ever. Couldn't even get him to talk about her supposed research. He just said it was an idea of hers." Cloud looked down at his feet. "I didn't piss her off too badly, did I?"

"Surprisingly, no. She was upset, though."

Cloud looked miserable. "Damn. Why do I do this to people, Tifa? Why do I find the quickest way to piss them off and then go that little bit extra?"

"Cloud, she wasn't angry at all. She was crying. All she could think about was the fact that she may have humiliated Vincent. Apparently, she wants to impress and cure him." Tifa hesitated and looked quickly over her shoulder before moving closer to Cloud. "I… I think she's in love with him."

"What?"

Tifa nodded. "Really. I'm serious."

"How… When would she have had a chance? He's been in that box forever and the only time he's been out is when he was helping us."

Tifa shrugged. "I don't know the details, but I'd recognize that expression of misery anywhere. You heard what she said, didn't you? About caring for him more than the planet?"

"Well I'll be a—" Cloud broke off and strode to the computer, glaring down at it with an intensity that was reminiscent of the days when they were desperately attempting to defeat Sephiroth and the Turks. "Okay, Tifa. This is what we're going to do. I need you to go to Rocket Town and get Cid and Shera. Tell them that we need to get this computer up and running without using Mako. Who knows? Maybe this will help them come up with a new power source."

"Okay. What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to go around to the different towns and see if any of them have come up with any ideas. Maybe I'll run into Yuffie somewhere. Seems to me that she was spouting some weird stories about power sources that Wutai and Gongaga were using that didn't have anything to do with Mako."

"Yuffie? Go figure."

Cloud smiled. "Yeah. No kidding."

"What about Natalie and Vincent?"

The smile faded and Cloud rubbed at his scalp. "I don't know. I don't know one way or the other, to tell you the truth. At this point, I just want to stay out of the way. They'll deal with whatever's going on between them a whole lot better if we butt out."

"I guess you're right."

Cloud shook his head. "Don't bet on it."

7

…Lucrecia…

Her face faded in and out of his memory, dim and shadowed with each passing nightmare. A tickle of a past he never wanted. And then there was the voice he heard in a corner of his mind. A voice with a tremble. A voice with a touch of joy and a smile. That voice forbade the face of his past hell from coming. Vincent beckoned to the darkness again, but it didn't come as completely as before. It was different. Finally, he conceded defeat and allowed the voice to create the nightmare.

It began with a shaded forest and a sunny, warm afternoon. Vincent recognized the place as the Sleeping Forest. He hesitantly stepped forward, looking intently for the owner of the voice that continued to weave stories of history interwoven with fun and mysteries discovered. There was a melodious ring of laughter and a shadow passed behind a tree. Vincent moved toward it without realizing he did so.

"Lucrecia?"

The laughter stopped and the warmth of the forest drifted to a sudden chill. The abrupt change made Vincent's stomach tighten with an unknown emotion. When the shadow was seen passing behind another tree he hurried forward, reaching the tree just as the shadow passed behind another.

"Wait! Where are you going? Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

He heard a soft cry of sorrow and rushed toward the sound. There was only emptiness and forest. Vincent looked around, his movements agitated and panicky. Something seemed to have him by the very soul and refused to release it's grip. Some part of him was searching for this shadow, but didn't know where to look or by what name to call to it.

"Please. Forgive me," the shadow whispered on the breeze.

Vincent stepped out into the open and looked into the canopy of the trees in hopes he would find it. But it was gone and only the murmur of its continued tears remained behind. The cold tears of mourning.

"Forgive you? Forgive you of what? Who are you?"

The forest scene faded to blackness and the silence began to eat at his sanity…

* * *

Natalie stared at the Shinra Mansion for a long time before finally deciding to go in. She had to explain what she had meant by 'care'. She shook her head and pushed the gate open. The exact meaning was different to a lot of people. She could reason it away in a reasonably believable way, couldn't she? 'I'll do anything to make him more comfortable around me. I'd deny it if I thought it would make him feel better.' Whether or not it would be a believable denial wasn't her problem. Wouldn't he believe it if it was what he wanted to hear?

Her throat constricted, a warning to the tears lurking under her emotional surface, and she cleared her throat as she climbed the stairs to the room that would lead to the spiral staircase. 'Okay, Nat, you can do this. Sure, communication isn't your thing, but how hard can it be?' Not too hard if he was in the box. She could say anything to the box. If he was just sitting on it, though… Natalie cleared her throat again, steering her mind quickly away from any hint of what could or could not be.

As she made her way down the staircase and through the corridor, her pace began to slow. Her thoughts came more and more quickly. 'No. I can't deny it. That would be a lie and I said I wouldn't lie to him. I promised myself to be honest with him in everything.' She came to stand outside the door to his tomb and simply stared at the door. 'So, if lying is out, what are you going to do, Nat? Just ignore it? Pretend it never happened? Sorry. That's not an option. You know it, too.'

She took in a slow breath and opened the door, closing it very softly behind her. His coffin was closed, but there was something heavy and distraught in the air. It wasn't the same. It was almost suffocating in its intensity. 'Why don't you try and cheer him up a little. After all, he's probably upset because of the scene you caused.' Natalie nodded her head brusquely and surprised herself by walking forward with an eager smile.

"Hello again. I'm sorry about rushing off earlier. I don't do well with authoritative figures. It's always been a fault of mine. Besides, I was a little guilty that I'd gotten caught." 'Okay. So far, so good.' She didn't believe anything of the kind, but she wanted to keep her hopes up. "I should tell you of some of the confrontations I had while working at Bone Village. They were ugly; let me tell you that right away. That was one of the reasons I left the dig so many times."

Natalie reluctantly laughed and made herself comfortable at the foot of his coffin. The blanket from her 'picnic' was still there and she made the most of it. "It wasn't completely my fault," she continued. "The head digger was a bone-head, no pun intended. He'd go tromping around the dig site in those god-awful shoes of his and then be as mad as a who-knows-what when something showed up with a fresh break. Blamed us every time. Well, I'd finally had enough of it. So, I stomped right up to him and told him what for. I must have really said some great stuff because he was so busy trying to think of a comeback that wouldn't make him look like an idiot, I was able to pack up my stuff and leave. He still hadn't said anything by the time I walked past him and you should have seen the look on his face!"

Natalie shook her head with a smile and chuckle.

"Lucrecia?"

Natalie looked at the coffin and her smile faded as her heart dropped to the soles of her feet. 'Is that all I'll be to him? Will I only be a memory of her because I knew her once? Because I'm a scientist like she was?' Natalie dropped her head and clenched her hands together. 'I should have known better. They had something special and she'll always be in his memories because of how he feels responsible…' Natalie stood and turned for the door, a tear escaping her control.

"Wait. Where are you going? Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"I…"

Natalie's voice broke off and she swallowed hard. She didn't even know. Did she want him to satisfy her seemingly impossible romantic dreams? Did she want him to need her? Or did she simply want to have him indebted to her in a way he wouldn't be indebted to anyone else. She shook her head. 'I can't do that to him. It's not fair. No one should have that kind of control over somebody else. Natalie, you've been taking advantage of him.' A sob broke through her reserve and she rushed toward the door, fumbling with the handle with both hands before finally yanking it open. Her eyes were already so filled with tears that she couldn't even see the coffin as she glanced toward it with a yearning expression.

"Please. Forgive me."

She pulled the door shut and ran down the corridor, tears dropping from her cheeks to the floor at her feet.

* * *

…Vincent pushed off the cover and sat up to gasp for breath as he gripped the sides of his coffin with white knuckled hands. The room was empty, as it always was, and no shadow hovered on the other side of the door. No voice whispered. No laughter sounded. No tears were shed for him. With a desperation that he had never before felt, Vincent scrambled from the coffin and hurriedly opened the door. The hallway was empty— 'There! A shadow at the far end of the corridor!'

Vincent ran forward, bolting up the staircase as the footsteps became more and more faint. The room at the top of the spiral staircase was empty, as was the room beyond that, and the hallway beyond that. Dread rose up to choke him and he fought it back as he hurried down the main staircase to the front doors of the Mansion. The walkway was empty, the gate securely closed. Vincent stepped forward slowly, his eyes narrowed as they examined all. No shadows. He was about to turn away when he heard a door shut. He raised his head sharply and vaulted into the air, hovering quite still as he attempted to gauge the direction from which it had come.

The inn.

Vincent dropped to the ground, unable to move. The inn. He clenched his jaw and turned away, but he couldn't move toward the door of the Mansion. If the shadow from the strange nightmare had been Natalie… What did that mean? How could she have entered that place where only he had ever gone? How could she have controlled what he saw? How could she have heard his questions to be affected by them?

The sound of the door opening again made him stiffen, but he still couldn't move in either direction. Then there were footsteps coming closer… closer… closer… and then they stopped. The footsteps began again, more hesitantly, until they halted directly behind him.

"I was coming to say good-bye."

He turned sharply, her response unexpected in the midst of his own turmoil. She stood a mere foot away, her curls tousled, her cheeks wet, and her eyes red with crying. "Why?"

She looked down and made a slight gesture with trembling hands. "I'm just causing trouble here. I should have known better than to… I should have known better than to dream of making your life better. It's impossible. We don't have the technology anymore…" Natalie covered her lips when a sob broke free and turned away. "It's just better if I go," she finished in a choked voice.

"No. It isn't."

"Yes, it is. If I go, you can go back to sleep and not worry about life. It's easier. I… I just can't do this." And her voice faded into tears.

"Why?"

It was several long moments before she was able to answer. Before doing so, she wiped the tears from her face and wrapped her arms around herself. Then, she lifted her chin, straightened her shoulders, and turned to face him. "Because you might die. Or it might not work. Or it might work. Because of a lot of things."

"If I die, I die. It would be better than living the remainder of my existence in that box."

"But I don't want you to die," Natalie cried as her hands went out in front of her. "Can't you see that? If it didn't work, I could live with that. At least you'd be here. Breathing. Dreaming. But if I killed you… Oh God, I couldn't live with that. Don't you understand?"

"It doesn't matter if I die—"

"It does matter!" Natalie protested. She took a firm hold of each of his arms as she stared up into his distant red eyes. "Dammit, it matters to me! You always have! I know you don't understand how or why, and even I can't explain it. All I know is that since the first time I heard about you I…" She broke off, examined his red eyes, and then released his arms as she dropped her head. "Oh, what does it matter what I feel or think about anything. I'm a silly girl who doesn't know reality from dreamland. A harebrained child who thought she could undo what a madman did to the man she's dreamed of loving. A foolish girl…" She shook her head and turned away.

"Then do it."

"Do what? Try and unravel a mystery that's intrigued me for as long as I can remember?" Natalie brought a hand up to her forehead with a deep, choked breath. "Surely you know I'll do whatever you want me to."

"Then save me."

She seemed to cringe.

Vincent hesitated a moment and then stepped up to her, the emotion of uncertainty unfamiliar to him as he gently placed his hands on her arms to turn her to face him. He tilted her chin up with a finger from his golden-gloved claw. It was all coming back to him: How to be human, how to be gentle, how to care for someone who wanted nothing more than to be needed.

"I couldn't save Lucrecia and that has haunted me. It haunts me still. If you leave without attempting to save me, you will be haunted as I was. Your life will become a collection of regrets and bitter suppositions. Doubts will plague you. Self-hatred will darken you until you will not resemble, in the least, that which you once were."

Natalie closed her eyes, tears again cascading down her cheeks. "But if you die…"

"It will not be death. Only freedom."

Natalie choked on another sob and stepped forward to envelop him in a firm embrace, her cheek pressed firmly against his chest. Vincent stood solemnly still for a long moment before wrapping his own arms around her, remembering a similar embrace he had witnessed. Shared between Lucrecia and Professor Hojo. Vincent clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, violently pushing away the memory as he dropped his cheek to rest on Natalie's soft red curls.

He would let himself remember how to feel. He would dredge up the ability to care and to mourn. He would let himself remember it all with no regrets. Lucrecia had made her choice, as had he. He had paid whatever debt he had felt owed and now it was time to move on. He had done it once and he would do it again. And again. And yet again. He would move on until he found the peace he so desperately desired. If this woman was the one to give it, then he would do his best by her. If she wasn't… he would move on. Again.

"I've been waiting a long time for this." His voice surprised him. It wasn't cold and distant. There was a quiver of emotion. A hint of tightness. She raised her eyes slowly and caught his. There was dread and terror in her gaze. She pushed away as a flash of panic was seen, but he held her arms. "What is it?"

"Please," she said in a tone filled with desperation. "Please. Let me go. I need to go. Now. Let me go. Please."

She wriggled her arms, struggling against his firm grasp as he simply examined her face. He didn't understand the change in attitude. "What's wrong? What did I do?"

"Nothing. Please. Vincent, let me go." Her voice trembled with her fresh tears. "I can't do this. I can't."

"Do what? What is the matter?"

"I can't let myself love you—" She froze and her face paled to a soft shade of yellow. Her eyes glazed over and her arms went limp at her sides.

Again, he didn't understand the reaction. She looked as if she were about to retch. He cupped her chin with his one normal hand and her glossy eyes caught his. He examined her expression in confusion and a little annoyance. "What is the matter with you? Is caring for me so despicable that you must run and hide at the first hint of tender feelings shared? Am I such a monster?"

There was no reaction.

He pushed her away, his rage growing to spark in his eyes. They glowed a dangerous shade of crimson. "You woke me, woman, and now you are playing me for a fool? Was it your intention to play me as a cat plays with the mouse before tasting its blood? Did you wish to see how vulnerable I would allow myself to become before I allowed you to splice and manipulate that which truly holds your interest?" Her shade of yellow turned to green. "I've come from my coffin for you only to be chased back by the very brand of scientist who made that black sarcophagus my home. Have you no defense? Nothing to say?"

She turned and fell to her knees, vomiting so violently that she convulsed with each wave of nausea and coughed after each vicious retch. Vincent knelt and steadied her as she gagged, comforting her through the waves when nothing surfaced but air and deep-seeded misery. When the fit passed, her skin was chalky and clammy and she muttered nonsensical phrases, barely able to hold her head up as she collapsed against him.

Vincent clenched his jaw and held her, the rage passing to reveal the fear that had fed it. "Dammit, woman, I've waited for someone… for anyone to care about the hell I eagerly fled to each night. Don't leave me now," he muttered.

"I-I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't mean to. I-I didn't know… I didn't know what I was doing. It was the dream. I know it was. I was scared. I'm always scared. I don't want to be scared anymore."

She murmured similar phrases over and over again and seemed to sink further and further into a type of delirium that seemed so hauntingly familiar. Tremors came in waves throughout her entire body and her teeth began to chatter so violently that he thought they would break. Vincent unclipped his cape and wrapped her into it, then lifted her and gently carried her to the inn. He made his way up the stairs and into her room, and then carefully placed her on her bed, adjusting the covers so that they came up to her chin.

There was a basin of water on the dresser and he soaked a rag, and then wiped the vomit from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled briefly before her eyes rolled back in her head and the smile disappeared. He clenched his jaw and tossed the rag into the basin, striding to the table to grab a chair. He brought it to her bedside and sat with crossed arms.

"It was the dream," she mumbled again and again. "You always kiss me in the dream. I was scared. I don't want to be scared anymore. If you just say that, I won't be scared anymore. I didn't know you were going to say that. It scared me."

Helplessness rose in Vincent's heart as he watched her greenish face twist into hundreds of expressions. From fear, to happiness, to agony, and back again. He leaned forward, resting his arms on the bed as he continued to watch her. "So, you dream of me? What life have you had that causes you to love such as I? What kindness blossoms in your soul that makes you have the desire to put right this blackened soul of mine? Why do you so desire to save me?"

She rocked her head back and forth, her hands occasionally flying outward to grope the air, searching for something that would seemingly give her peace. Vincent caught one of her hands in his and it fluttered in his grasp like a butterfly, ceasing only after several failed attempts at freedom. His claw carefully smoothed her now damp curls from her face. Once, he allowed himself to caress her cheek. When he did so, Natalie sucked in a breath and her head ceased its rapid movement from side to side.

"Vincent, we need to talk," she choked out.

Vincent was surprised at the sudden clarity of speech and examined her expression. Her eyes were still closed, drifting rapidly from side to side under her lashes. "About what?"

"About us."

He was intrigued. "Us?" There was a sudden sense of fear radiating from her and he again caressed her cheek in an effort to soothe it. "What is it that needs to be said that makes you so afraid?" Her countenance firmed and he could sense her resolve.

"I can't see you anymore."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? It seems to me that you've said that before and yet you always come." Vincent remembered something she'd said and smoothed more curls from her face. "I understand now. You're afraid of yourself."

She rolled over, pulling her hand from his grasp and wrapping her arms around herself. He had begun to notice that she did this when she felt threatened. Somehow, though, he knew he didn't threaten her. She was terrified of her feelings.

"It just wouldn't work, Vincent. I care about you, yes, but…"

"But?" He wanted to hear her reasoning. With someone as logical as she, she would need realistic grounds before she could end something that meant so much to her.

"I don't know anymore. I'm just so afraid."

Vincent actually understood. Fear had controlled many people. The original president of Shinra had used a type of fear to control the people of Midgar. Rufus had used an even greater aspect of fear. Even he himself had been influenced by fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of allowing himself to be as he once was.

An unexpected emotion of compassion warmed his normally cold insides and he leaned toward her ear. "It's all right to be afraid," he whispered. "Aren't we all, at one point or another?"

She rolled onto her back again and turned her head toward him, an air of expectancy settling over her. He examined her expression with confusion. After a moment or two, the expectancy dwindled and there was an emotion of regret and sadness. Natalie turned her head away, her face twisted in an agonized frown. Her spirit seemed to distance itself from him and he took hold of her hand.

Her hand fluttered in his grasp. "What is it? What did you need?"

"No. It's not supposed to be like that. Something's wrong. He's not there. Where are you? Vincent? Vincent?" Her head twisted from side to side and this time her entire body began to writhe.

"I'm here."

Her eyes fluttered open and her color became less green. "Vincent?"

"Yes."

Natalie smiled groggily and rolled onto her side, pulling his hand to her cheek as it rest on the pillow. She closed her eyes. "You were supposed to kiss me. You always do. Always."

"Ah." He analyzed her face with an amused expression. Her pallor was much improved, but she still seemed to be drifting from her dream world to reality and back again. "You look forward to this part of the dream, I imagine." She grinned a silly smile and nodded against his hand, still held captive between her cheek and the pillow. Her expression was so ridiculous that he nearly laughed out loud. "Very well," he conceded.

She tightened her grip on his hand and Vincent hesitated. There had been no other woman in his life after Lucrecia. Was he so willing to enter into this 'relationship' with such reckless abandon? He brushed a clawed finger lightly across her forehead and noticed that, again, she did not cringe away from the touch. That decided him. He leaned forward and tenderly brushed her lips with his.

The contact, brief as it was, caused an avalanche of restraints and controls.

Vincent took in a gasp of surprise at the sudden rush of emotional freedom and stared down at her in shock. Natalie had a simple smile on her face and seemed to have fallen asleep. "So. I have found you then. Or rather, you have found me. Fool that I am, I would have chased you away with my rage. But… But you did not run. You faced me in my darkest fury and reacted in this way. Your broken heart doing this." He tightened his grip on her hand. "Will you also be my cure? Or my release from this curse to a final blackness?"

Her eyes opened slowly and she caught his gaze. She smiled and brought a hand to brush his hair from his face. "I won't leave," she whispered. She yawned suddenly and then nestled her cheek against his hand once again. "I won't leave. I've got to cure you first."

"Sleep now. The cure will wait."

Natalie yawned again. "I love you, Vincent. Don't forget that," she murmured.

He closed his eyes and shook his head as he lowered his chin. "I won't."

8

Natalie stretched slowly, wiping a bit of wetness from the corner of her mouth before lifting her hands above her head. She had a tendency of drooling when she slept and it irritated her to no end. She let out a deep breath and opened her eyes, a slight movement by the window catching her gaze. Vincent stood there, staring across the scenery of Nibelheim with crossed arms.

Natalie sat up in surprise. "Oh!" Vincent turned his face toward her and smiled slightly, his amber eyes guarded. Natalie flushed and dropped her eyes. "I didn't expect to see you. Not after… well, you know."

"Yes. I know."

He didn't offer anything more and Natalie cleared her throat, suddenly very unsure as to what to do. Of course, she had a tendency of always feeling that way when he was close to her. The only time she had ever been more at ease was when she'd been in the lab. 'But I can't go back there because it's ruined.' She sighed. 'How can I cure him now?'

"Natalie."

Natalie's eyes widened. 'Oh God, he said my name.' She slowly turned her head to face him. He was still standing by the window, his arms were still crossed and his eyes were still guarded, but there was something different about his expression. "Y-yes?"

"What do you remember?"

'I said that I loved you. I remember that as clear as day. I remember you got angry with me. I remember a lot of things.' "Remember? What do you mean? Remember about what exactly?"

"What do you remember about what happened here?"

'I remember I had an interview and didn't have the guts to tell you at first. I remember that you weren't here to share the laughter.' "Here? As in here in the room?" He simply nodded. "Um. Well, I don't really know what you're talking about, to be honest." 'Not really. Not ever. I don't even know what I'm doing here with you.'

"You don't remember what happened after our… conversation outside Shinra Mansion?"

'Oh no…' Natalie went slightly pale as she dropped her eyes. "Why?" Her voice was soft. "What happened?"

"I brought you back here," he said simply. Vincent seemed to hesitate for a long moment before continuing. "One day I shall tell you the rest."

She looked up and examined his expression, but still couldn't tell what it was that he was choosing to keep to himself. 'When are you going to trust me, Vincent? When are you going to understand that I can only help you if you talk to me?' "All right." He looked away again, staring out at Nibelheim in silent retrospection. Natalie watched him and then slid off the bed to come and stand beside him. "What's the matter? Is it because of the computer being ruined?" Vincent didn't answer. "Vincent, I'm sure I can still help you. After all, we didn't always have computers. I'll just have to dig my brain out of the dust bunnies and do the long division myself, that's all. It may take longer, but that's okay. Isn't it?"

"Yes."

Silence settled over them again and it was all she could do not to grab him by the arms and shake him in frustration. 'Vincent, why won't you talk to me?' He looked down at her suddenly and caught her gaze, clearly reading her expression of aggravation and uncertainty. Natalie lowered her eyes and made a move to turn away, but he caught her by the arm. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Wait."

Natalie watched as a battle raged across his expression and felt her stomach tighten with emotion. 'If he would just talk to me I could help him. The last thing I want is for him to go through all this by himself. But I can't force him to talk. It's got to be his choice.' She held his eyes. 'Come on, Vincent. It's all right to talk. You can do it. Just say something, anything. I'll listen. I promise.'

"What is it, Vincent," she urged gently.

The battle increased and his face seemed to harden, his eyes becoming progressively more distant as his hand tightened its grip on her arm ever so slightly. Desperation rose in Natalie's stomach. 'Come on, Nat! You've got to say something! You can't let him do it all! He's been in that blasted box for years and hasn't ever really learned how to talk to someone. You know that even the Turks were tight-lipped. Say something!'

"If I wasn't interested in what you had to say," she said softly, "I wouldn't have asked. It doesn't matter to me if, to you, the question or comment sounds ridiculous. I want to hear it anyway. Please, Vincent. Just say something. I don't care what." He made a move to take his hand from her arm and she quickly grabbed it, closing his fingers around her arm again. "No. Don't do that. Say what you wanted to say."

"Stay here."

Tears popped to Natalie's eyes and her throat constricted so violently that a sob choked out. She released his hand to cover her mouth for a brief second, and then gave him a quivering smile as her eyes twinkled with tears. "There. Was that so bad?"

"Yes." He sent her a slight, momentary smile. "I did not mean to frustrate you. It's been a habit of mine for far too long."

She waved a hand in dismissal and dropped her eyes. "It's okay."

"No. It isn't."

"I don't mind."

"Yes. You do."

Natalie laughed and changed her eyes back to his face. He was watching her. "Okay. So, it bothers the heck out of me. I'll get over it. I'm a big girl."

Vincent looked away again. "Yes. You are."

Natalie raised an eyebrow. 'Hmm. I wonder what that was supposed to mean.' "So, how does it feel to be out of the basement for more than 10 minutes? Has the noise gotten to you yet?"

"It's been quiet."

"Well, that's good." Natalie tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans to keep from wrapping him up in a hug. It looked like he needed one. "How long have you been stranded up here?"

"Just through the night."

"Really? I must have been tired."

"You were exhausted."

'I haven't really been sleeping all that good, Vincent. The dreams haven't given me any mercy at all. Kind of like you.' She felt his gaze on her and began to wonder if he could hear her thoughts. It certainly seemed like it lately. Natalie cleared her throat, but didn't say anything.

"I once believed that only I was tortured by nightmares."

Natalie flushed and then went pale. 'Can he possibly know what I think?' "What makes you say that?"

"The exhaustion. I have seen that type before. When we find no solace in our slumber because of the dreams awaiting us, that desperate delirium comes." She remained silent and he turned to look at her. "It seems we share more in common then you first suspected."

'Fine with me. I've never had anything in common with someone before. Not someone like you, anyway. Maybe that's why I'm so afraid of what I feel. Maybe that's why I don't want to admit to you that I feel anything.' "Looks like."

"Did you dream as you slept just now?"

"I don't remember. I don't think so." She looked up and caught his gaze. He was still watching her. "I've never slept that well before. That I remember."

"The restful sleep of the content. How I envy you."

Natalie blinked in mild surprise. She hadn't expected any kind of comment like that from him. 'You're doing good, Vincent. Keep going. I'm listening.' "You haven't ever had a restful night's sleep? Never?"

He clenched his jaw, but didn't turn away from her as she suspected he wanted to. "No. Never have I slept as you did. You were quiet. No groans of misery. No whimpers of fresh agony. A gentle smile caressed your lips and made me wonder what had pleased you…" His voice faded and this time he turned his face toward the window. "No. I have never slept as you did."

Natalie stared at him in silence, her mind quiet as her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Then, before the logical side of her had a chance to object, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek against his chest. "I'm going to fix that. I promise, Vincent. I'm going to fix that if it takes my entire life."

His arms remained at his sides for several long moments, so long that Natalie almost began to doubt the wisdom of her action. Then, when she began to think that she should pull away, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes and fought the tears, gnawing on her lower lip to keep them under control. 'Nat, don't start blubbering. You'll humiliate yourself and more than likely irritate him.' She took in a slow breath. 'But I have to be myself, don't I? I don't want him to care for someone other than who I really am, do I? That wouldn't be fair to me or to him. I didn't work so hard for so long in order to find him just to start being someone else.'

Her grip around him tightened briefly and then she sniffed and pulled away, sending him a brief smile as he examined her face. "I need to take a walk," she said as she turned for the door.

'Please. Don't come with me.' A part of her wanted him to. A part that was so big it nearly won the war with her common sense. She knew, though, that in order to come down from where she currently, was she had to be by herself. Too much of Vincent would never be a good thing. Not so soon after finding him. She had to bring her life back into perspective. She had to remember who she was. What drove her. What made her get up in the morning. 'It's Vincent, Nat. You know that. It's always been the mystery that surrounded him. Not so much the science in itself. He was an impossible goal that seemed safe enough to strive for. After all, you didn't think you'd ever find him.'

Natalie paused at the open doorway and turned back to face him. He was yet standing by the window, his arms at his sides as he watched her. 'Do you really want to leave him here by himself? There will be a lot of days when you'll be alone, Nat. There already have been. Just as he's had a lifetime alone. You're already a whole person, Nat, and spending time with him is not going to change that. Spending time with him will help him heal, that's all. It's not going to make you forget who you were and who you still are. You'll become a deeper person, if anything. Don't you want to help him remember who he was?'

Natalie dropped her eyes and took in a very deep breath; releasing it so slowly she thought it would never end. "I don't suppose you'd come with me."

"Is that what you want?"

'You have no idea.' "Yes. No. I don't know. I'm a little distracted right now. Been outside the cover of my books too long, I guess," she finished with a brief smile at the toes of her feet. "Look. I forgot to put my shoes on." He remained silent and she looked up, her smile dwindling. "Come with me. Please?"

Vincent paused for a moment longer before moving toward her, picking up her hiking boots and socks on the way. "Yes." He handed her the boots. "Put your shoes on first."

* * *

When they stepped out into the late morning sunshine, Natalie tucked her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans and lifted her shoulders high for a long moment. She passed Vincent a look from the corner of her eyes and noticed that he was looking toward the Mansion. "Did you want to walk around there?"

He changed his gaze to her. "Not particularly."

"Oh." 'Well, I guess we don't look around at the books and stuff down there yet.' She sighed. 'Don't worry, Nat. He'll let you know when he's ready.' "How about Mt. Nibel? I could show you the fossil excavation site."

He hesitated, his amber eyes registering a strange emotion before he looked away from her face. "Just walk. It doesn't matter where you go. I'll follow."

'You have no idea what that means to me, Vincent. Please. Watch what you say.' "Okay, then. We'll walk." Natalie cleared her throat and then struck out, her feet naturally leading her toward the Shinra Mansion. She stopped by the gate and looked up at the old monstrosity with a slight smile. "I'm going to buy it, you know. Fix it up real nice."

"Would you live there? Alone?"

'I wouldn't be alone if you stayed there with me.' "Sure. Why not? I've been on my own since I can remember. Besides, less people around means more time for research and experiments. Talking with Barret and Nanaki really inspired me to put all my effort into coming up with environmentally safe solutions for the planet. The Mansion would be the perfect place to set up shop. There are so many rooms that I could have several experiments going at the same time."

"Experiments?"

Natalie turned and leaned against the gate with a smile toward Vincent. "Yeah. I'm always doing some type of half-crazy research project."

"Such as?"

Natalie dropped her gaze to the toes of her boots. "Oh, you know. The reaction human cells have to Mako when it's forcefully introduced. The reaction human cells have to Jenova cells. How much of the organisms' protein makeup is actually changed with the alteration. If it affects future offspring of the altered person. Things like that." 'I can't believe I just brought up children.' "It was quite interesting, on paper. I had a hard time believing that Hojo, or anyone, would do something like that to people. At first. Then, as I read more and more articles and learned more about him… He was capable of a lot more insanity than that. All because he wanted to have some type of power that existed in his mind. I don't know what he thought he was doing by experimenting on all those people. Nothing good ever happened from it." She looked to Vincent briefly. 'Except you.'

"I'd like to hear more."

'I'll tell you whatever you want to hear.' "About what?"

"What exactly did Hojo alter?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated, but I'll do my best to explain." Natalie cleared her throat. "Um. Each of our genes has the molecule deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. Well," she cleared her throat again, "when one or more genes of an organism are introduced to a second organism and is accepted, that's called recombinant DNA. In your case, the genes inserted consisted of Jenova genes. This recombinant DNA then altered the characteristics of the organism – you- by changing its protein makeup."

"Protein makeup?"

"Proteins perform vital functions in our body. Enzymes, for example, cause chemical reactions within an organism while hormones control growth, our metabolism, and reproduction."

"So, the recombinant DNA that was injected into my cells changed this… this protein, thereby changing me."

"Essentially, yes." Natalie sighed, pulled her hands from her pockets, and crossed her arms. She changed her gaze to Vincent as he stood beside her. His amber eyes were intensely scrutinizing her face. 'Tell him about the offspring, Nat. Go ahead.' "Genetic engineering doesn't affect the children of those who have been genetically altered. Interesting, isn't it? Even though the protein makeup of your DNA was altered, the DNA contained in your…" She flushed and dropped her eyes. "You're the host and you're the only one affected by the alteration."

"If this DNA has been accepted by my own, how could you possibly reverse the alteration? You have said the protein makeup of my DNA has been altered from what it was, so how…"

"I…" She took in a slow breath. 'Tell him, Nat. Sure. It sounds ridiculously simple, but tell him anyway.' "I was going to reintroduce your original DNA back into your system. In essence, I was going to alter the protein makeup back to its original specifications." 'It's either that or cloning you from the DNA sample I found and then giving you the choice of which one was to live your life.'

"If that doesn't work, did you have another option?"

Natalie closed her eyes. 'Why does he keep doing that? Why does he keep reading my mind?' "I don't want to talk about it." She pushed away from the gate and began slowly walking toward the path that led out of Nibelheim and toward Mt. Nibel. After several moments, he followed her.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I… I just never really cared for the other option. That's all." 'I don't even know if I want to change you back anymore, Vincent. But how do I tell you that? How do I tell you that even though I may have thought of the way to put you back to normal, I don't want to? How do I tell you that I'm crazy about you just the way you are? Claw and all.'

"Something is bothering you."

"Yeah," she sighed.

"What."

'Should I say it? Should I just blurt it out and hope he doesn't look at me in disgust or horror? But I promised I'd fix him. I promised I'd cure him. I can't stop now. What did I just waste a great part of my life researching if I wasn't going to go through with it?' "Don't worry about it."

Vincent was quiet for a while and then halted her progress with a hand on her arm. She turned to look at him. "Why do you believe I may die if you reintroduce my original DNA?"

Natalie dropped her eyes. "The Jenova cells influenced your DNA in a way I can't really categorize. You don't seem to age, your eyes changed to red, which caused your visibility to become enhanced, and you now have the ability of flight. Well, maybe not flight, but something similar. Then there are the alter egos that emerge when you lose your temper. I don't know how the Jenova will react to the process. It may accept the procedure. It may ignore it altogether. Or it could completely shut down your entire system because of some type of unknown incompatibility."

"In other words, Jenova may prove to be stronger than my original DNA."

"To put it simply, yes." She sighed. "I want to believe it's possible. After all, wouldn't that be a dream come true? Then again…" Natalie turned away and began walking again, her misery settling in the pit of her stomach with a wave of nausea. "I just don't know what to do," she murmured.

"Ah. So, we are back at this crossroad. Do you perform the procedure and risk my death? Or do you leave me to my misery?" Natalie cringed without meaning to. Vincent noticed. "What was that?"

'Is it really misery, Vincent? Why do you hate yourself so much? Your friends don't. I don't. Lucrecia didn't.' "Never mind."

"Do you doubt that my current existence is misery?"

"I really wish you wouldn't do that."

"What."

"Read my mind." Vincent didn't say anything. "But, yeah, if you really want to know. That's what I was thinking. Basically." 'I like you just the way you are. You're fun to be around, even though you'll never admit it.' Natalie looked over at him only to find him watching her yet again. "Is your life really that miserable?"

His eyes flickered with something before he looked away. "Perhaps."

"Perhaps? What kind of answer is that?"

"The only one I am able to give at the moment. Many things are changing and I haven't had a chance to…" His voice drifted.

"Oh."

But his answer had confused her. 'Things changing? What things? I wonder if it has anything to do with what happened in my room at the inn. I need to ask him what happened one of these days.' The only problem was, she was afraid to hear what he might say. 'Oh, what the heck. I might as well ask him. Goodness knows he can't be honest with me unless I'm honest with him. I'd say that's more than fair.'

"Vincent. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"No." His answer seemed guarded, though, belying his caution.

'Okay, Nat, be careful. Start light and work your way to the more personal questions after he's had a chance to get used to you asking them.' "If I get out of line, I'm really sorry. Don't be mad." Vincent only nodded very briefly, still not facing her. "Why do you want me to change you back to normal?" 'Oh yeah, Nat, real light! What happened to you wanting to ask about what happened in your room?'

Vincent answered before she could take back the question.

"In this form I am… Hojo's creation. His slave and puppet. If I do not attempt to free myself of his influence, then he has won the final battle and laughs last. I refuse to allow him this power when there may be an avenue of release." He finally turned to face her. "He took my life from me without my permission. He acted as a god and chose this existence for me with no thought of what my future would be. That control was not his to take and I have chosen to take it back. You are my only hope of that."

Natalie swallowed hard, his amber eyes easily holding hers. 'There it is, Nat. You asked a heavy question and got a just as heavy reply. He opened up his heart and gave it to you without even a blink. What are you going to do? Chew on it a bit and hand it back to him with a "so sorry, changed my mind" excuse that neither of you will believe? Don't think so.'

"I've never admitted to hope before," Vincent went on calmly. "It is foolishness, I know, but because of the life I experienced with Cloud and the others I am more able to accept the impossible as a reasonable truth. After all, isn't that what we did in rescuing the planet? The impossible? Now you have taken on the implausible goal of finding a cure for a monster. You accept it as your life's quest and move on, even in the face of the current difficulties. I find my hope becoming… more than what it was."

Vincent moved his gaze to Shinra Mansion and Natalie watched him in awe-struck wonder.

"For what seemed like ages I enclosed myself in that box, believing it a suitable punishment for whatever great sin I had committed. In reality, it was my way of hiding from life. I did not want to face alone what we had once shared together." Vincent dropped his eyes briefly before looking toward Natalie. He examined her face for a long silent moment and then refocused his amber eyes toward the Mansion. "I have been a coward for many years and this is yet another way Hojo has shamed me. Me, a Turk, allowed myself to be tucked away and forgotten. Taking my life back when Cloud and the others had found my resting place felt exhilarating. Duty. Purpose. These had been facets of my life as a Turk that had become somehow forgotten. Pushed aside by guilt and shame. Now, I have been given yet another chance to find these. To find my place in this new existence. Why should I…?"

His voice died away and Natalie took a step forward without realizing it. "Why should you what?" She placed a hand on his arm. "Vincent? Why should you what?"

Vincent changed his gaze to her again and the expression in his normally guarded amber eyes gave Natalie a shock. She saw confusion and helplessness. She raised a hand to her mouth to stifle the gasp as she dropped her other hand from his arm. When she did, something in his eyes changed, but the guard wasn't raised. Instead, he simply turned his eyes away from her.

"Why should I fight that which I want so badly?" Vincent finished in an odd voice.

"To fit in?" 'Please let that be what you're talking about, Vincent. I haven't had enough experience with Turks or men or life in general to truly understand anything else.' "To feel like you belong?"

Vincent smirked, but it was very near a sneer. "Oh yes. That has always been a dream of mine, dear professor. To fit in with the rest of the human race so that I may scurry around desperately in search of an empty meaning to an even emptier existence."

The tone of his voice brought a sick sense of panic to her soul. 'Of all the stupid and ridiculous things to say, Nat! Did you have to give such a brainless answer?' "Vincent please," she said in a choked voice. "I'm trying to understand. Please don't shut me out." He faced her with a scowl and Natalie blinked. 'Whoa. I said that out loud, didn't I?' She dropped her gaze and cleared her throat. "Sorry. I… um… I think I'll go back to the inn now."

She hesitated a moment, looking up at him to catch his darkened eyes. Above all else, she wanted him to tell her to stay, as he had before. Unfortunately, she was afraid she'd stepped too far past the invisible boundary between them for that to happen. One chance was all she'd be given and she'd apparently used that up. Natalie cleared her throat and dropped her eyes with a sigh. When she turned to move away, something inside wouldn't let her go. She could only stand there and fight a silent battle with her fear and her growing feelings for him.

Finally, she sighed and turned back to face him. As always, his intense eyes were there to meet hers. "I guess I should stop running away when life gets hard," she whispered. Natalie dropped her gaze for a moment and then looked up again, putting her hands out in front of her in a pleading gesture, wanting to say something but not knowing what would put right what went wrong. "Help me out," was all she could say. Another battle of emotion crashed across his face and he clenched his jaw before turning away. "No, no. Please don't do that, Vincent." Her voice broke and she cleared her throat. "I… I don't know what to do. Haven't you ever been in a situation like that before?"

He continued to clench and unclench his jaw. "Yes."

"Then couldn't you help me a little? Give me a little hint of what you're feeling. Or what I can do to help you. What you want. Anything."

He shook his head. "No. Not now. Not like this."

"What? That doesn't make sense."

He turned on her, his eyes glowing brightly. "Of course it doesn't make sense! This entire scene doesn't make sense," he finished harshly. Natalie took a step forward, her hand reaching out for his arm. He flinched back. "I need time. This is wrong. Impossible. No!"

He turned sharply and vaulted into the air, disappearing toward Mt. Nibel. Tears brimmed in Natalie's eyes and she slowly wiped them away, her gaze still trained on the last place she had seen him. 'What happened? What did I do? Did I say something wrong? Was he angry with me?' She choked on a sob and turned for the gate to Shinra Mansion, pushing it open and making her way up the walk without even thinking of what she was doing. 'It was me. I was asking too many questions. I should have left him alone… The walk was too much.' Her tears came faster as she made her way through the rooms that led to the spiral staircase. Natalie pressed on the wall to reveal the hidden stairs and then made her way down, desperately attempting to relive each statement they had exchanged in order to discover where she had gone so terribly wrong.

Natalie heard a scuff of shoes on wood as she came to the door of Vincent's room. She hesitated and then slowly pushed open the door, peaking her head around the corner. What she saw surprised her. A young woman with short brunette hair was sitting cross-legged on Vincent's coffin sharpening a nasty looking shuriken-type weapon. Natalie didn't recognize her, but there was something strangely familiar about the weapon. Some description she'd read somewhere.

Natalie stepped the rest of the way in and the young woman looked up, her eyebrow rising as her eyes took on an almost disbelieving expression.

"What are you doing here?"

Natalie arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"No, and that's why I'm asking. Vincent likes his privacy."

'Don't you think I know that?' "And what do you know of Vincent?"

"Me? We're chums, if you really need to know."

Natalie didn't like the girl's attitude. "Then I'll leave you alone." Natalie turned to go, but the girl rushed to stand in front of her. Natalie frowned. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"You don't need to look down your nose at me. Just tell me why you're in his space."

"I'm not looking down my nose at you," Natalie said defensively. "I just don't like you very much. You have a bad attitude."

The girl blinked in surprise and then crossed her arms. "Hmm. Spunk. I wasn't expecting that from you."

"And just how would you expect anything from me," Natalie countered with a frown. "You don't know me."

"Oh, I know your type all right. Seen enough of them with all my traveling. Scientist. Old maid. Doesn't know much about anything but things that haven't existed for, like, a hundred years."

Natalie flushed with irritation and clenched her fists. "Of all the— Who do you think you are?"

"Think? I know who I am. Who are you?"

"None of your business."

The girl shrugged. "Fine. Suit yourself." She made her way back to the coffin and vaulted up onto it, again sitting cross-legged. She pulled out her weapon and began to sharpen it once again. "I'll just wait here and ask Vincent."

"Good luck. I doubt if he'll be back."

That comment made the girl look up with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about? This is Vincent's home. He always comes here." She narrowed her eyes as she examined Natalie's face. "Then again, he's usually always here in the first place. Doesn't ever go anywhere. Just stays in the box, dreaming. Nightmares. Whatever. How would you know anything about it?"

"For your information, little miss, I've been researching Vincent ever since I was in school. I know a lot about his past and what Hojo did to him."

"Is that so?"

The girl looked downright amused, which irritated Natalie even more. She didn't remember ever being as annoyed and angry as she was at that moment. "And what is so blasted funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I just never thought I'd see the day when Vincent had someone sweet on him." Natalie's jaw dropped and she spluttered for several seconds. The girl laughed. "Gee. This is fun. The others just ignore me."

Natalie glared. "With good reason," she shot back.

The girl laughed again. "Yeah, well, what can I say? That's me for you."

"And who is 'me'?"

"Yuffie."

Natalie's temper died as quickly as it had flared up. "Yuffie? Yuffie Kisaragi?"

Yuffie raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Who wants to know?"

"I'm Natalie Long. I've been trying to get a hold of you for an interview for a long time, but no one knew where you were."

"You're Natalie Long." Yuffie laughed and then shook her head. "Gee. Sorry about that. Now you probably won't make me sound so cool in your article."

Natalie waved it away. "Don't worry about that. I've not exactly had the perfect day today. I'm a little short-tempered."

"Noticed. Anything to do with the fact Vincent isn't in his coffin?"

Natalie cleared her throat and dropped her eyes. "Yes, well, never mind about that."

Yuffie was silent a moment and then slid off the coffin. "Whatever floats your boat. I'm starving. Can we go get something to eat?"

"Sure."

"Then I'll tell you all I know about these losers."

"Well, actually, the article is about what they're doing to save the planet."

Yuffie looked bored. "Oh. I won't have much to say about that. They never listened to any of my ideas. That's why I left them alone."

"Ideas? About what?"

"About what we could use for power instead of Mako. They just think I'm a stupid kid. Well, I'm more than 16," she said defensively as they made their way toward the staircase, "and just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm stupid. I've been around. I've seen things."

"I'm sure you have. Well, why don't we get some lunch and then you can talk as much as you want. I'm sure I'll be interested in everything you have to say."

Yuffie looked surprised and then suspicious. "Yeah. Right."

"No. Really. I'm a scientist and I'm sure that what you think about things has a lot of plausible merit. Just because you're young, as you say, doesn't mean that you don't have a lot of good, scientifically solid ideas." Natalie smiled and opened the door at the top of the spiral staircase, allowing Yuffie to go first. "Besides, I was young once myself and am sure that I remember feeling just as frustrated with the scientific community not listening to me."

"Cool." Yuffie looked her over and then nodded. "You're all right, prof. You're all right."

"Thanks." 'Now if only Vincent thought so.'

"If you're going to listen to me about all that stuff, maybe I could help you with Vincent."

Natalie cleared her throat and shut the hidden door behind her. "Maybe. We'll see."

"Yeah, right. That's a no if ever I heard one."

"No. It's just… I don't really want to think about him right now."

"Whoa. You've got it worse than I thought. You went white as a ghost."

'Of course I did. I may have chased him away from me forever and now you want to talk about him? Why wouldn't I go pale? He's no longer in my future, more than likely.' "I'm not feeling very well today."

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Right. Don't think I haven't learned a thing or two about stuff like this. After so many days with Aeris, Tifa, and Cloud, a person learns a thing or two. Just now you had the same expression that Tifa did when Cloud and Aeris went on that date at the Golden Saucer." Yuffie shivered in mock terror. "Absolutely horrified, that's what she was." Yuffie got a thoughtful expression on her face. "You know what, I think Vincent tried to cheer her up. Hmm. Isn't that an interesting idea."

'It sure is. It means he's been fighting his cold persona for a while. It means that he wants to change…' Natalie stopped suddenly, an abrupt wave of nausea making her swallow hard. 'Oh my God. Is that what he meant when he said he needed time? Is he beginning to… Is he beginning to feel something for me?' Natalie covered her mouth with both hands. 'He's probably scared to death and I was so stupid… So blind that I couldn't help him!'

"What's with you? You look like you're going to lose your lunch."

Natalie took in a deep breath and swallowed several times, desperately attempting to control the nausea. It faded and she dropped her hands. "Don't worry about it now, Yuffie. Let's go have some lunch and do some talking. Then I'll think about whether or not to let you know what's bothering me." Natalie turned toward her. "Just know this. If I do tell you something, I'm telling you in the strictest confidence. If I find out you've told anyone---"

Yuffie put her hands out in front of her. "Hey, hey. Prof, I totally understand. Don't worry. My mouth is shut forever."

Natalie gave a brusque nod and then turned to make her way out the other room and down the main staircase to the main doorway of the Mansion. "Good."

Yuffie followed her with an amused smirk.

9

Vincent adjusted his perch on the top of the partially dismantled Mako reactor nestled on the summit of Mt. Nibel. A storm rumbled and sparked in the distance and caused Vincent's scowl to darken. All dangerous subjects were kept in the background, safely aloof. His only thoughts were of the coming storm and the rain that would again attempt to freshen the ravaged planet. Occasionally, a snippet of a statement or a tickle of her laugh would slip through the tight control and he would tense, harshly pushing it away with a toss of his head.

He clenched his jaw. Confusion goaded him to anger, but he knew it was only to protect himself. Fear had never before been a part of his life. Not as a Turk, and not as a… Vincent flinched, changing his dark gaze to the dented metal on which he crouched. He had left too quickly, with no explanation to assure her that she had not been to blame. Her questions, though, had gone too readily to that which he had normally hidden within himself. The reliving of it, with her there, had been something he hadn't ever experienced. Not since Lucrecia. Maybe not even then.

His memories of that time had long since faded into an odd oblivion.

 Natalie had listened so intently, the heartbreak for what he had undergone clearly brimming in her green eyes. The compassion. The understanding. It had been too much. Had he ever received those while in the service of Shinra? Had the victims of Shinra's 'justice' ever looked at him like she had? With sympathy and something else he couldn't recognize? Vincent clenched his claw into a fist and stared down at it with an empty expression. 'She didn't flinch. Again and again, she didn't flinch.' Had anyone done that but her? Even Tifa and Aeris had cringed away from his touch. Tifa would deny it now, but he had seen the expression all too often.

While in her room at the inn, Natalie had not given even a remote sign of disgust when he had kept her from leaving. Instead, she had held onto his hand when he had made a move to pull it away. When he had touched her face, the reaction had been the same. Acceptance, yes, but there had been something more. Some expression of instantaneous normalcy had glittered in her eyes. As if she had been missing that aspect of her life and then suddenly found it… A fragment of her voice drifted past the walls of his existence and he grasped it. 'I've been looking for you for a long time and I'm not going to let you get away now,' she had said. 'I love you, Vincent. Don't forget that.' Yes. She had said that too, while drifting on the tale-end of a dream.

Vincent looked up, gazing at the darkening sky with narrowed eyes. How could loving him be anything but a nightmare? Yet, for her it wasn't. Then again, there had been her reaction to her confession of love outside the Shinra Mansion. Confusion resurfaced and his amber eyes sparked with anger. She seemed to be as confused as he about her feelings and about her desire to cure him. She was indecisive about her entire residence in Nibelheim. She was going, and then she was leaving. She was retreating, and then she was returning. She was determined to cure him, and then she was asking why he wanted to be cured.

Vincent stood sharply; leaping from roof section to roof section with a grace and ease that had become second nature to him. He landed on the ground below, a puff of dust rising from his boots, and remained crouched as he glared up at the Mako reactor. If only his confusion could be as easily dismantled as the reactor. With each attempt, though, his confusion seemed to double. It only lessened when she was there, listening to his words and digging deeper to another hidden meaning. Even Lucrecia hadn't taken the time to do that.

He grumbled under his breath, dropping his eyes from the reactor before slowly standing and making his way toward the door that would lead him away from the summit of Mt. Nibel. Away from the summit, but toward his greatest fear. Her. Natalie Long would very likely be his salvation, but in what way? In the reverting to his original form? Or in the softening of a guilt and shame ridden heart? Vincent clenched his jaw. 'Why should I fight that which I want so badly. That is the question I voiced and the question that doomed me. She is too naïve. Too innocent of the world. She doesn't understand. She never will.'

Yet, the open expression in her eyes belied that statement he so desperately wanted to believe. After all, if he believed that she would never understand, wouldn't that make it easier for him to hide himself away? To deny his desire and bury himself from the reminders of the normal life that had once been his? She seemed so willing to give it to him. So eager to tap into his very heart and soul because she was convinced they held the key to her own purpose. 'Purpose. Didn't I once have this luxury?' Now? Now he had nothing but the interest of a love-starved professor who was infatuated with the mystery that surrounded his existence. A mystery that she understood. A mystery that she relished as an adventure in life. Had anyone ever delighted in any aspect of his existence?

Vincent grumbled again. His mind was leading him in circles and giving him no peace in the action. 'Will peace be waiting for me if I return?' It was highly unlikely. Each time he watched her expression there was no peace. Only confusion and an intoxicating addiction to watch the emotions dance across her simple and lovely face. That intoxication had chased him away from her. That overwhelming desire to again touch her warm lips.

And again.

And again.

Vincent pushed the cannibalistic thoughts away with a ferocious toss of his head. She did not remember their kiss. It had been only a dream to her. Something that had faded with the dawning of the new day. Some future hope that she more than likely believed would never come. Now she was convinced that he had been chased away, scared off by something she had said or done. He had seen it on her face and in her eyes. He had recognized it in the slight tremor of her lips. All these reactions continued to flash through his mind with all the clarity of his past nightmares. Bittersweet. Kindling his hope. Feeding his dread.

"I have fed her hope. I have instigated her dreaming," he said in a cold voice. "To turn away would be… would be cruel."

Yet, how could he not when drawing her close could mean another life hurt? If he should die, she herself had said that she couldn't bear it. But it was too late. He saw the hold that he had on her. Each time she said his name, the tenderness was there. Each time she saw his face and held his gaze, the attraction and devotion was there amidst her fear at the power of her emotion. To turn away from that would wound her sensitive heart as much as that of his death.

Why not surrender?

His dread rose again, but he beat it back. Maybe the cure to his existence wasn't so much in the discovery of a way to take back his former life, but in the acceptance of a seemingly impossible attraction that was very quickly developing. Maybe the way to 'fix' him was to… to love him. Vincent felt the blood drain from his face as he continued his way back toward town. Why not submit? The question lingered, hovering in every aspect of what he was as he attempted to ignore not only its continuing presence, but also the silence the question brought to his mind.

* * *

Yuffie pulled a sharpening stone from a pocket of her extremely high-cut shorts and adjusted her hold on the shuriken as she leaned against the windowsill. She spit on the stone. "So, how did you meet him anyway?"

"Purely by accident."

Natalie sighed as she sat in a chair by the table in her room. They had finished lunch, doing little talking except for the occasional comments about the amazing recovery of the planet, and had adjourned to Natalie's room when the lunchroom at the Item Shop had become too crowded.

"Yeah. Me too. Cloud, Aeris, and me were investigating the Mansion because some weirdoes in black capes were spouting that Sephiroth was in there. He was there all right, but so was this riddle about some guy being locked away in the basement because he was in the way of some kook's research."

"That would be Hojo."

Yuffie snorted. "Bingo. That guy was the kookiest of all the things I've seen, man. Plain, all-out strange."

"I agree with you there. But, in a way, his tendency toward the bizarre is exactly what drew me to Vincent."

Yuffie paused and raised her eyes to Natalie. "What?"

"Lucrecia, Vincent's lady love, was Hojo's assistant in almost all of his research regarding Jenova, Mako, and genetic engineering. She was also related to my teacher in school, in a round-a-bout way, and so I had the luck of being kept abreast of all she was involved in. Well, as much as my teacher was told."

"Gossip. Juicy gossip. That gets schoolgirls each and every time. Believe me. I know."

Natalie smiled slightly. "Yes. I suppose that's how it started, but the heartbreak he suffered and then the experiments done directly after… It just called to me. I was intensely interested in furthering my studies in archaeology, but when all this happened I decided to minor in the genetic sciences."

"All because of Vincent? Wow. That's deep."

"No. Not really. It's fantastical nonsense."

"Huh?"

Natalie sighed and leaned her elbows on the table. "I studied Hojo's work because I knew that, one day, I would find Vincent. When that happened, I wanted to be able to cure him. I wanted to have him fall in love with the only person alive who was capable of saving him." Natalie looked to Yuffie with a pained expression. "I was selfish, pure and simple. I knew the temptation of being able to reverse the genetic altering would prove too much for him to resist. I knew he'd be emotionally hooked to the only person capable of doing just that. Me."

"Phooey."

Natalie actually smiled and then looked away with a slight nod. "Yeah. I guess you're right." She released a slow breath. "My heart went out to him, Yuffie. I was the one hooked, and I hadn't even met him. All I had were stories, pictures, and articles of his exploits with the Turks. His life of adventure and danger and broken hearts was just too… too romantic for me to forget. Then, when Hojo did what he did, it was my way of rescuing him from a life I didn't think he'd ever wanted."

"You don't think he chose to be a Turk."

"Not really. The people in the slums, and even out here, didn't have much of a choice in anything. Shinra was the absolute power and that was that. How else was he going to survive unless he chose to do so?" Natalie shrugged. "To survive, he had to do what I think went against his nature. Then, like any of us, he got used to it. Desensitized. Cold." Natalie changed her gaze to Yuffie. "Come on. Don't tell me you're not guilty of the same thing?"

Yuffie dropped her eyes and scowled at the sharpening stone she held in her hands. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Well, that was that. The adventure was beckoning and I couldn't turn away from it. So, I studied and struggled to understand everything Hojo was involved with. Believe me, he was into some pretty outlandish things."

"Duh."

Natalie smiled. "I guess that was kind of obvious."

"I know it's none of my business, but does Vincent know how you feel?"

Natalie swallowed hard, her lips tilting downward. "I haven't told him."

"Why not? Might as well get it out into the open. That one thing drove me nuts about Tifa and Aeris. Both of them were nuts about Cloud, but none of them would say anything. Aeris wouldn't because she knew how Tifa liked him and he liked her. They had a history, I guess. Tifa wouldn't because she thought Cloud was wild about Aeris. Of course, even I thought that because he was always doing so much for her. Finally, Cloud never said anything because he was so obsessed with finding and killing Sephiroth." Yuffie made a disgusted sound. "Now Tifa and Cloud are together like they should have been in the beginning. It took them long enough."

"It's never that easy, Yuffie. Just wait. You'll find out one day."

"I don't think so. If I like someone, I'll just march right up to them and tell them straight to their face."

Natalie turned away with a moan. "Yeah. I guess you would."

"Why can't you do that with Vinnie? Don't let his face fool ya. He's a great guy. Sure, he doesn't talk much, but he kicks butt in a fight."

"That's not exactly the basis of a relationship, Yuffie. Besides, we don't have anything in common."

"Yeah. Right."

Natalie looked at Yuffie with a raised eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on. Not even you believe that. I can tell from your face." Yuffie straightened and came to straddle the chair opposite Natalie. "Look at it this way: Lucrecia was a brain. Am I right? Of course I am. You are a brain. Lucrecia researched genetic whatever-you-call-it with Hojo. You researched Hojo's research. See? There's two right there."

"What are you talking about? That doesn't show we have anything in common. It just shows that I'm similar to Lucrecia." Natalie stood and walked toward the window. "Believe me, that's not exactly making my life easier."

"Why? Because he was sweet on her once?" Yuffie scoffed. "Vinnie isn't dumb. He knows you're not Lucrecia."

Natalie dropped her chin. 'Does he? Does he really? Don't you think that may be why he runs away from me? Because I'm not her? Because he wants me to be her?'

"Well, I'm bored with this conversation," Yuffie said suddenly. "Let's talk about my ideas for a power source."

Natalie couldn't help but smile. She turned toward the young woman and leaned against the windowsill. "You're a joy, Yuffie. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Yuffie twisted up her face. "Don't get mushy on me, prof. We've got work to do."

Natalie continued to smile as she pushed from the windowsill, gathering her notebooks and pencils on the way back to the table. "Yes. We certainly do." 'Okay, Vincent. You want to be normal? I'll make you normal. It's the least I can do. Besides, I promised.'

Yuffie dove into the project with all the enthusiasm that was to be expected from a 16 going on 17 year old. It was contagious too and reminded Natalie of how she herself used to be excited about science and archeology.

"Here's what I'm thinking," Yuffie began. "Okay, here in Nibelheim you have a mountain. Am I right? Of course I am. Okay. Now, on a mountain there's usually either waterfalls or lots of wind. Am I right?"

"Of course you are," Natalie said with a smile.

Yuffie nodded. "Okay, well here's my idea. Why can't we rig some sort of pinwheel, except real big, that catches the wind and turns it into energy? They already have windmills at Cosmo Canyon. Why can't they hook it up to something that makes the blades' turning make power?"

Natalie raised an eyebrow and nodded in interest. "I'd say that's an excellent idea. So simple. Hmm. I wonder why no one's thought of it before."

"Who's to say they haven't? Maybe they've been working on it and can't get it to work?"

"That's certainly possible. Now, about the waterfalls…"

"Oh. Yeah. Well, the water around here goes by so fast I figured that we could build some sort of windmill. Just have it be turned by the water instead of the wind. A waterwheel, I guess is what we'd call it. Same principle, don't you think?"

"Most definitely."

"I don't know if Cid's already working on them. He's always so secretive about everything. I guess you could ask, though. I mean, you already got them to talk about what they were doing to get this kooky planet back to normal."

Natalie nodded. "That's true."

"And we could always go back to coal."

"We discussed that. Everyone seems to think that burning coal is just too poisonous for the atmosphere to be worth it."

"Yeah," Yuffie admitted with a nod. "I guess that's true—"

Yuffie's eyes suddenly widened and she stood quickly, her chair scraping on the floor. Natalie looked over her shoulder toward the door and dropped her pencil, her face going pale.

"Hey there, Vinnie," Yuffie said with a hesitant smile. "Long time no see."

Vincent stood in the doorway of Natalie's room with a guarded expression in his eyes and no emotion showing on his face. "Yes. How are you?"

Yuffie seemed surprised at the question. "Doing good. Thank you. You?" He shrugged. She looked over at Natalie, who still hadn't dropped her eyes from his face, and suddenly smiled. "Good as I'm doing, I feel like going for a walk. Tifa said that there's a great Materia fountain around here somewhere and I thought I'd take a look. C'ya."

Vincent stepped aside and let her pass. Once she'd gone, he turned back to Natalie.

She broke his gaze and turned to gesture to the seat across from her. "Have a seat." 'Oh God.' He sat across from her, his eyes searching out her face as usual. Natalie kept her eyes on the paper in front of her, tracing and retracing her notes with the quickly dulling pencil. "What can I do for you?" 'Yes, Vincent. What? Do you need me to back off? Do you need more time? Do you need me to be the same? Do you need me to leave? Just tell me and I'll do it.'

"Forgive me."

Natalie's throat tightened, as did her grip on the pencil. It snapped in two and she set the pieces aside. "For?" 'Don't do this. I was just becoming resigned to the idea that you didn't want anything to do with me. If you do this… what does that mean?'

"For earlier. For leaving so abruptly. For losing my temper." His tone was calm. Almost too calm.

Natalie cleared her throat, smoothing the edges of the paper from her notebook with quivering fingers. "Of course." 'Do you really need to ask? Vincent, don't you know that I understand? Don't you know that I don't blame you for anything?'

"No. It should never be 'of course'."

'Why not? Tell me that, Vincent. Why not? You've had a rough life. It's only understandable that you'd be a little rough around the edges. It doesn't matter to me if you are. I'll always forgive you. I'll always give you another chance. Then another. And another. Why not? It's more than anyone else has given you.' Natalie remained quiet.

"Natalie."

Natalie blinked very slowly. She liked how he said her name. Soft. Almost hesitant. As if he wasn't sure it was allowed. "Yes?"

"You did nothing."

'How can you say that? I made you angry!' Natalie cleared her throat again, still refusing to lift her gaze. 'You were trying to hint at changes and I was too stupid to realize what you were saying! How can you say I didn't do anything?' "What do you mean?"

"My anger was at myself and not at you or anything said by you. I was angry because I was afraid."

Natalie lifted her eyes in surprise and, as usual, his amber ones were there to meet them. "Afraid? Of what?"

"Of you."

Natalie lifted a hand to her chest. "Me?" Her eyes brimmed with tears. 'Oh my God. What have I done? I made him afraid of me!' "Why?"

"Natalie. You did nothing," he said again. "I was afraid of you, yes, but not in that way. I was afraid because… I was afraid because of what I felt."

She paled. "E-excuse me?" 'I was right. He's beginning to feel something for me and doesn't want to. I've been pushing him too hard. He only wants Lucrecia.'

Vincent examined her face and eyes for a long moment and then moved to the seat beside her. He offered her his golden-gloved claw. "Take my hand." She didn't even hesitate before slipping her hand into the cool golden glove. One side of his lips tilted briefly upward. "Do you see what you've done?"

She looked down at her hand as it rest quietly in his and then met his gaze once again. "What?"

"This claw. This monstrosity. This thing has caused no amount of horror and disgust in those who look on me. You are the only one I've met who touches its cool exterior without a flinch."

Natalie dropped her eyes and self-consciously pulled her hand from his. 'It's a part of you, Vincent. Why would that disgust me?'

"Do you wish to know what happened in this room after you lost consciousness?" Natalie said nothing. She only swallowed hard. "You relived a dream."

She looked up sharply, her eyes wide in horror. 'Oh no. Not the dream. Not the dream' "What," she whispered.

"'Vincent, we need to talk,'" he quoted. "'About,' I asked. 'About us,' you replied." He paused, watching her reaction. "You know it?"

Natalie barely nodded, her eyes still captured by his. 'Not the dream. Anything but that.'

"You admitted that you were afraid and then…" Vincent leaned closer, his lips going to her ear. "And then I whispered that it was all right to be afraid."

Natalie closed her eyes, her hands clenching into fists. 'No…'

"Then I agreed to kiss you." Natalie hid her face in her hands, but he pulled them away. "I did it, at the time, so that you would sleep. It seemed the only way to end the fantasy. Well I know of fantasies." She lowered her head as the tears began to fall. "But it was different," he went on. "It was a beginning. An answer. A question. A hundred different things that caused no end of confusion and fear."

She shook her head. "Please don't say anymore…" she said in a voice filled with tears. "I want to wake up now. I can't stand anymore. Please. Let me wake up. Let me wake up."

Vincent watched her reaction with a slow dawning of understanding. He had recognized her exhaustion and now he recognized the terror at the possibility of being trapped inside another nightmare. Beginning to enjoy it and fearing that result because, when it came time to awaken, the pleasant life would cease to exist. Yes, he recognized the misery.

"Natalie." He released her hands and cupped her face, ignoring the frantic grasp of her hands on his. "This is reality."

"No. No, it can't be. I'm asleep. Let me go. Let me wake up. I can't keep doing this. Dreams aren't enough. They aren't. Please. Let me wake up."

Vincent exhaled deeply and then leaned inward, touching her lips with his. Her grip on his hands tightened as she once again attempted to pull them away from her face. The act was almost desperate.

"No," she whimpered. "I can't. Please."

He touched the warmth of her mouth again. "Natalie. You are not asleep. This is real."

Her breath against his lips beckoned him forward again. And again. Then yet again. Each time their lips met, it lasted a little longer and went a little deeper. Fear continued to pull him away, but the memory of the touch of her lips would call him back for another taste. Then another. And a little more. Before he realized what was happening, the touch of her lips was his only focus. Her arms had wrapped themselves around his neck and his own had long since migrated to encompass her small waist and pull her closer. Wave after wave of flames and eruptions of light burst inside his head. Each deep and intense motion of her lips on his brought another eruption of light that would blind him. Each caress of her fingers through his hair deafened him to the outside world already forgotten.

A sob broke from Natalie's lips and he pulled his head back, his eyes opening to focus on her face. Tears cascaded down her cheeks, dripping from her lowered lashes as sob after choked sob erupted from her. Vincent's throat tightened as he watched her cry, helplessness refusing to allow him any words to speak. Instead, he pulled her into a tender embrace, wrapping his arms completely around her. She moaned, her sobs intensifying until her entire body shook with them.

"Pinch me," she cried. "Please. I've got to… I need to know this isn't a dream."

Vincent reluctantly smiled, pulling her closer still. Her arms tightened around him and she snuggled in, her shoulders still shaking with tears. He caressed her soft curls and closed his eyes, relishing the intensity of emotion that roiled and thrashed within him.

Submission had been a surprisingly easy answer.

10

"You want what?"

"I want you and Shera to come up with a power source for a computer in the basement laboratory of the Shinra Mansion," Tifa said again.

Cid released a long sentence solely comprised of expletives and threw his cigarette to the ground. "And how the hell am I supposed to do that when I still haven't come up with a #%$&# power source for the farming equipment Barret wants so &%$#@$# bad."

"I don't care how you do it, Cid. It's for Vincent, okay?"

"Vincent? That spook? What the hell does he need it for?"

"There's a professor who might be able to cure him." Cid stared at her in shock and then lit another cigarette. "I'm serious, Cid. She has an idea and wants to give it a try."

"She? Damned if a woman would be able to cure anything," he scoffed after a deep drag.

Tifa frowned and crossed her arms. "Cid, you and Shera are the only hope—"

"Well then I guess you won't get your power source."

"Fine. I'll ask the professor. She seems to have more brains than you right now."

He snorted and turned to stride away. Shera stepped up a few minutes later. "I'll get him to come, Tifa. Don't you worry."

"Right now I don't care if he comes or not. I'm sure Natalie will appreciate all the help she can get, but I'm not going to beg."

"He's just upset because it hasn't been going so well. He's frustrated."

Tifa sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine. That doesn't mean he has to be such a jerk, does it?"

Shera smirked. "That's Cid for you."

"I know. I know. Well, try and have him at Nibelheim before the month's over. Okay?"

"Okay." Shera hesitated. "Tifa, is it true that this Natalie person has a cure for Vincent?"

"That's what she was trying to do on the computer at the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim. Only problem is, our dear Cloud wrecked the computer before she could do anything other than get her hopes up. It was hooked up to a Mako generator, you see."

"Oh." Shera wrinkled her nose in concentration and rubbed thoughtfully at her jaw. "A Mako generator, hmm. How small was it?"

"I'm not sure exactly. All I know is that it wasn't very big. If Shinra can do it, why can't we? I figured that with the three of you working together you'd be able to come up with a safe alternative to Mako. Don't you think?"

Shera nodded absently. "Hmm. I better go get packed."

She turned and walked away, Tifa staring after her with a smile and a shake of her head.

* * *

Shera stepped into Cid's house and immediately set to work fixing him tea. It didn't matter whether he wanted some or not, that was one of her duties. She made tea, kept his house clean, his laundry current, and helped him with his research and experiments regarding an environmentally safe alternative to Mako for the equipment that would be so desperately needed. Shera had no idea what he would do without her there for him to rant and rave at, but she'd already decided that no matter what he said, she would go and help this person in Nibelheim.

Cid slammed into the house with a few extra expletives as he tossed himself into a chair at the table. She set a teacup in front of him, the teapot beside him, and the sugar within easy reach before she turned to go.

"Shera, what do you think?"

She paused and turned back toward him. "Excuse me? What do I think about what?"

"About what Tifa said. About the whole idea of going to Nibelheim to help some broad with nary a thought in her head."

"I was going to go." He glared at her for a long moment before tossing a couple sugar cubes into his teacup. Shera thought the cup would crack from the force of it. "I thought it would do some good, especially since we haven't been out of Rocket Town since Sephiroth was defeated. Well, at least I haven't. It seemed you had some better ideas once you'd gotten back from your short trip to Nibelheim. What's to say that working with someone other than me might break loose your block?"

"Damned if you aren't right. Shit. I hate it when you're right." He jerked the hat from his head and threw it to the table. "Pour the damn tea, woman. Then we'll pack. I have a feeling we're going to be there for awhile."

Shera hurried forward and grabbed for the teapot, nearly dumping it into his lap in her excitement. He leaped clear and snorted with a shake of his head.

* * *

Cloud reigned in the gold chocobo outside a tent that he recognized as Tifa's. He took off the saddle and bridle, set it off to graze with Tifa's blue one, and then ducked inside the tent. She was tucked into her sleeping bag reading a book. He sat on the ground beside her after setting his sword and scabbard by the door.

Tifa lowered the book and gave him a smile. "Hey, you. What's with the face? Couldn't find Yuffie?"

Cloud laid back and rest his head against her stomach. She immediately began playing with his spiked hair just as she always did. "Nah. Nobody has seen her for weeks. She never disappears until someone actually needs something."

"It can't be that bad. Don't you think Shera and Cid can handle it? They've done a good job so far."

Cloud shrugged. "I guess, but this is going to be different. This time they have to actually come up with something that works."

Tifa knocked him on the head with a playful scowl. "Give them a break, Cloud. It's hard to work under pressure with someone like Barret constantly looking over your shoulder. Don't you remember?"

"I know, I know. I guess I'm just getting a little frustrated with the slow progress. I mean, it's been a month. We should have some kind of idea for a power supply by now. The people are getting nervous."

"So are you, it sounds like." Tifa sat up and carefully adjusted Cloud's head into her lap. She smiled down at him. "You know, you don't have to be the savior all the time. Take a vacation. Let someone else worry about the planet and everyone on it."

One side of his lips tilted upward. "Sounds like a good idea, but…"

Tifa smiled wider. "But you like being the good guy."

"Well, yeah."

She sighed with a slight shake of her head and kissed his forehead. "That's what I like about you." She raised her head and looked down at him expectantly. "Okay, Mr. Good Guy, what's the plan? You can't find Yuffie, I can't get a definite answer from Mr. Pain-In-Everyone's-Ass, and we have a shy professor in love with a distant and close-mouthed ex-Turk. What do you suggest we do?"

Cloud was quiet for a long time before he let out a quick breath and looked away from Tifa's face. "Go on vacation?"

Tifa chuckled. "Hey, you started it. You can't back out now."

"Why not? We've got the tent, the girl, the boy—"

Tifa flushed. "Hold it right there, Mister."

Cloud laughed up at her. "You're too easy." He sat up before she could clobber him and rolled to a standing position. "I'm going to go get my bedroll and tent and start setting up. If you want to help…"

He ducked outside and Tifa put her hands on her hips with a shake of her head and a slow smile. She slipped free of the sleeping bag and put on her shoes, then stepped outside to help Cloud.

"So, are you going back to Nibelheim to help Natalie?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. I've got to. I feel like a jerk for what I did before."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate the gesture. I don't think she feels all that great about how she acted either."

"I deserved it."

Tifa nodded with a laugh. "Yes, you did. And she gave it to you squarely between the eyes. It was great fun to watch what I did."

"Ha, ha. Very funny."

They secured the tent and then Cloud disappeared inside to set up his bedroll. Tifa waited outside until he emerged again. "Say, Cloud, let's go for a walk. We need to get firewood anyway."

"Sure. Let me get my sword." He slipped into the massive scabbard, adjusted the sword on his back, and then grabbed her hand. "Just don't ask me what I'm going to do about Natalie and the whole Vincent thing. I haven't any idea and I don't want to think about it yet."

Tifa tightened her grip on his hand and smiled. "Okay."

* * *

Yuffie stared up at the second story window of the inn and crossed her arms as she adjusted her perch on the Nibelheim well. Vincent and Natalie had been up there for a while. She didn't hear any shrieking or yelling, which she knew was a good sign, but the silence made her a little nervous. Of course, she'd never really cared for silence. It always made her think something was wrong. Red had once said that the people who didn't like quiet usually didn't like being alone with their own thoughts, but it sounded silly to her.

She shrugged and climbed down from the well. While looking for the Materia fountain she'd found a couple of perfect places to set up waterwheels and windmills. She was sure there were other places that would have the same great locale, although she was sure that Corel would work better using Solar power than anything else. As for curing Vincent… Yuffie didn't know what to think. She'd gotten used to him the way he was and couldn't think of him any other way. Something told her that whether he was cured or not he'd basically be the same guy, but she liked him now. Because of the fact that he was different. Maybe it was his red eyes. Maybe it was his cool powers. It was a lot of things, she was sure. Would he be as cool without them? 'Hmm. Maybe this is why the prof doesn't want to cure him anymore.'

Yuffie shrugged and headed toward Tifa's house. She knew that she wasn't there, but Tifa always let her crash there when she was in town.

Much to her surprise, Red was curled up on Tifa's bed reading a book. Yuffie greeted him and leaped up onto the bed beside him. The swift move caused the pages of the book to turn and he promptly lost his place. "Hey there, Red. What's up?"

Red sighed and then carefully began turning back the pages with a single claw until he once again found his place. "The sun, unless it's night and then it would be the moon."

Yuffie grimaced. "Very funny. You know I was asking you what was going on."

"With me or with life in general?"

"With you, of course. What would I care about life in general?"

"What should you care about me in either case?" Red asked as he looked up at her. "In most cases, if life doesn't pertain to you in one way or another you are generally not interested."

Yuffie glowered at him. "Give me a break, will ya? Life's been rough."

"For a great many of us, be assured."

"Okay, okay."

Red carefully pushed the book aside and then sat up, cocking his head at her as he examined her expression. "What brings you here?"

"I got a note that some professor wanted to interview me."

"That would be Professor Long."

"Who?"

"Professor Natalie Long."

"Oh. Yeah. Nat."

"How did it go?"

"The interview? Oh, it was okay. I like her. She's cool and she actually listens to what I have to say about things."

Red seemed to smile. "Yes. That would definitely endear her to you quite fast."

"Oh, knock it off." Yuffie examined Red's innocent expression. "Did you know she's sweet on Vinnie?" That comment didn't surprise him and Yuffie tilted her lips down in a pout. "Damn. You know everything, don't you?"

"Not everything, but quite a bit. All one must do is observe." Red moved to sit closer beside her and leaned toward her ear. "Did you know that he is fond of her as well?"

Yuffie smirked. "I kind of guessed when he came up to her room a little bit ago." Red looked proud of her and she shoved at him. He fell to his side and looked up at her with a smile, pawing at the air as if he wanted to play. "Go jump off a cliff, Red," she protested. "Quit treating me like a baby."

He dropped his paw. "Try having a sense of humor." Red cleared his throat and twitched his tail. "There is a bit of a romance brewing between them, but I'm not sure if either one of them is ready. They both seem the type of person who is withdrawn within themselves."

"Yeah. I know what you mean. I wouldn't worry about it, though. They'll get it right eventually."

"But will one of them get hurt in the process? It's hard to say and I'd rather it not happen."

"Well, I feel kind of funny about poking my nose into it. It's their business."

"I believe our only option is to lend an ear and an understanding shoulder when each of them needs it."

Yuffie shrugged. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Red hesitated a moment and then sat up. "Yuffie, what did you mention to Professor Long that you had attempted to tell us?"

"Huh?"

"What did you mention to the professor that she listened to?"

"Oh. That. I told her my different ideas for power."

"I see. What were they?"

Yuffie went into the same explanation she had voiced to Natalie and felt a strange feeling of acceptance and belonging grow within her as Red listened.

11

"So… So what do we do now?" Natalie raised her head and held his amber gaze. "I've never been here before, Vincent. I always thought it was an impossible reality. Now? Now I don't know what to do next. I don't know how to act. I don't know anything."

Vincent just stared down at her, his expression fading from an odd expression of distance to something she'd never thought she'd see: compassion and… adoration. Natalie nearly lost the ability to breathe and, the longer she held his gaze, the harder it was to do just that. Finally, she looked down.

"I would say that you have voiced my own fears to the letter." He lifted her chin with his golden claw and examined her face. "So? What should we do? Should we answer our passions and forget the logic and common sense that often protects us from ourselves?" Natalie flushed a deep shade of red, but somehow managed to hold his gaze. "Should we distance one from the other until the reality of your experiment arises in the form of failure or success? Should I accept the one dream and put away the other, so that I do not tempt the fates? Or should I vanish again within myself and save you from the heartache that I know will come from any association with that darkness which resides within this cold heart?"

Natalie closed her eyes and he lowered his hand from her chin. She immediately lowered her head. "I don't know about you, but these past few days have been glorious. It's been like living a dream and I don't want it to end. But, then again, you deserve happiness just as much as I do. If you think you'd be happier in that dark room in a coffin… away from everyone who's ever cared about you, well I guess you should do that." She paused, swallowing her tears as she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He was gazing down at her as usual. "But then you'd be tormented by the 'what if's. You don't really want that, do you? You don't want the nightmares to start again, do you? You couldn't! Not when you know that I'd do anything to make you happy!"

His lips quivered upward slightly. "Your passion is intoxicating and causes me to sneer in the face of my own twisted caution. I can see in your face that you would rather do anything than attempt a reversal of my current form, and yet you set aside your own personal feelings and swear to do that which I wish to be done. You have fallen in love with a monster and now you fear that when it is changed to a man, he will no longer care for you nor you for him…"

Vincent hesitated, and then took one of her hands in his. He changed his gaze to their clasp. The claw made her hand seem insignificant and powerless, yet hers continued to remain, trusting in the protection of that simple touch. "I am tempted to remain as I am simply to spite that which I knew Hojo believed to be impossible: a beast being loved by a beauty. An age-old story reborn in a twisted future that was nearly erased by our own pride."

"B-but don't you want me to try?" Natalie asked hesitantly. "Shouldn't I try to f-fix you?"

Vincent sighed long and deep. "The desire to be what I once was overpowers anything else. I wish to make my own choices and not surrender to that which someone else chooses as my rightful path." His grip tightened around her hand and he caught her gaze. "Yes. You should try. You should do your best and regret nothing that occurs because of it. This is my final decision. Do not doubt it, or your own ability. Strange as it may seem coming from one such as I, I have faith in you."

"Maybe you shouldn't," she said quietly. Natalie dropped his gaze and carefully removed her hand from his. She walked to the window and stared at the well below them. He came to stand just behind her. "I guess now's the time for me to be as honest with you as you've been with me."

"You have already mentioned your fear that I may die."

"That's not all of it, though. I mean, that's a big part, yes, but not all." She took in a deep breath and wrapped her arms around herself. "Throughout my entire school career I wanted to find someone who would want me for who I was. All my quirks. All my crazy notions of grandeur. All my dreams and fantasies. When I heard about you… I guess you could say I was intrigued because I felt sorry for you. I mean, my life was lonely because I was never interested in anything outside history. Yours was lonely because those who had said they loved you had betrayed you. You were an outcast because someone in power abused his position."

Vincent's gaze was warm and brought the tears to Natalie's eyes as she went on, reliving the emotions of those days. "My heart broke when I found someone who was more pitiful than me. Someone who had no hope of finding someone to love them. So, I decided to learn more. I wanted to… I guess I wanted to fall in love with you because I knew it was impossible for you to fall in love with me. After all, I knew you'd never meet me. I knew you'd never do anything that I was interested in. I knew that I was safe."

Natalie lowered her head and wiped away the tears, her heart balking at what she was confessing. "Then I wanted to learn more about what they'd done to you so that I'd have a reason to pity and care for you even more. The fantasy of nurse falling for patient taken to a totally new and twisted level. When I became interested in what I was studying and not just who I was studying, it caught me completely by surprise. The surprise faded and in came a new fantasy: what if I could cure you and therefore make you feel something akin to love. It filled me with hope and made me do something foolish. This fantasy actually made me start looking for you. Something I'd promised I'd never do. Work was my life, but…"

"But?"

Natalie was barely able to keep herself from turning to face him. "For the first time I wanted something more. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to share my life with someone who I thought would appreciate me. I wanted the fantasy to become real because I was tired of living in a dream world when I wanted love or tenderness. At first, I'd convinced myself that I was only searching for you so that I could set right a terrible wrong, but then I started dreaming of what our life could be like… together. It hurt to see it because seeing it made me want it even more. When I wanted it more, it hurt to know that it was impossible to have. After all, you were in love with Lucrecia. You always had been. You always would be, in my mind."

"And when we met?"

"I thought I'd died, or that I was dreaming, or that someone was playing a cruel joke on me. I had never known or dreamed what to expect, so it was all so new and exciting. Yet terrifying too because I'd always lived in the past. In the midst of books and tombs surrounded by sarcophagi and hieroglyphs of legends. When I began speaking, listening, and hearing all you were and were not saying, a part of me began to see that… I began to believe that maybe it was possible for me… possible for me to have something like what I'd thought was only possible in a fantasy."

She looked over her shoulder toward him and met his amber eyes. Her lips quivered in a smile. "Then I… then I realized that I loved you. I tried to convince myself that you were one and the same… but… but I just have such a hard time believing it. I know what you looked like as a Turk and I like you better. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm odd. Maybe because I believe I'll have you all to myself. Maybe because you're a hero with real super-powers. I know it's selfish, but it's the way I feel. I just thought you should know."

Vincent was silent for a long time and his eyes glowed with a strange expression. Natalie turned fully around and leaned her back against the window, watching his reactions with dread. After what seemed the 100^th emotion crashed across his face, Natalie lowered her head with a sigh. "I didn't tell you this to make you change your mind. I just wanted to let you know that if it looks like I'm not trying my best, I'm probably not and you should remind me exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing."

Natalie felt her throat begin to constrict with the tears at the thought of causing him more agony. "I'm new to this whole love business and so I'm not really sure what's right and what's wrong. I know that honesty is usually the best policy, and I've tried to live my life that way, but I also know that I don't want to hurt you. You've had that enough in your life. I can't say that my feelings will change if my theory is right and I'm able to change you back to how you used to be, but I can't say that they'll stay the same either. I guess I just wanted to warn you. Yeah," she choked out. "I just wanted to warn you. To let you know now so you won't be hurt later."

"It seems I am trapped between a rock and a hard place."

Natalie couldn't resist a smile as she looked up at him. He was still standing directly opposite her, so close that she could smell him. 'Why does he have to smell so good?'

"It seems that we've been down these doubt-ridden paths before. We must put these behind us and move forward." He watched her for a long, silent moment. "For most of your young life you have wanted to put right a great wrong done to me. Now is your chance. For all of my existence as this monster, I have wished for my previous life back. Now is my chance. I understand the risks and accept them as worth the end result. Now you must come to a decision as well. For what do you care, Natalie? For me? Or for this monster shell?"

Natalie raised a hand to her mouth to hold back the sob as her eyes held his. She couldn't answer, but she knew that he clearly read the answer in her eyes.

"Then your answer is there. Whether your idea is a failure or the answer to my unknown prayer, you know that my soul is what you love and my soul will be the same." He stepped forward and enfolded her in his arms again. "The same? I catch myself in a lie. My soul is changing. I feel it. The stone melts. The blackness begins to crumble away. The same? No. It shall never be the same, but it shall be yours."

Natalie smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "You're a romantic, Vincent. I had no idea."

He pressed his lips against her hair. "Neither did I. You have a unique affect on me. You cause my walls to fall away and the coldness to turn to warmth."

Her heart welled with happiness beyond description and she tightened her arms around him, listening to his heartbeat. It was strong, rhythmic, and seemed to speak her name. She squeezed her eyes shut and sniffled, then pulled away and looked up into his eyes. They brimmed with questions. "I've got an idea."

"Another?"

"Yuffie and I were talking and she had some great notions of a power source."

"Yuffie?"

Natalie nodded her head and then took his claw in hand to lead him out the door of her room. "Come on. I want to show you my idea."

* * *

Yuffie heard a laugh and jumped down from the bed, careful not to step on Red's tail as she dashed to the window. "Hey look! The lovebirds are out in the open. It looks like they're heading for Mt. Nibel." She turned to Red as he came to stand beside her. "Well? Shall we follow them?"

"Why?"

"To find out what they're doing of course!"

Red shook his mane and pushed her away from the window. "They'll tell us eventually, Yuffie. Eavesdropping is not polite."

Yuffie grimaced and headed for the door. "I don't care. I'm going anyway."

Red hesitated and then followed. "Fine. I'm going too."

Yuffie turned and looked at him in surprise, her hands on her hips. "What? I thought you said eavesdropping wasn't cool."

"Yes, but someone has to keep you out of trouble."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and then left the room, Red on her heels.

12

Cloud and Tifa arrived in Nibelheim a few days later with Cid and Shera in tow. As they entered the small town, there was the sound of an explosion.

"What the hell?" Cid boomed as he looked around for the source.

Cloud pulled his sword free and strode further into the town. "I don't know," he said slowly, "but I think it came from Mt. Nibel. Let's go."

They all ran toward the mountain.

* * *

Yuffie sat up and blinked her eyes rapidly, then stood and dusted herself off. "Damn. I thought that one was going to work for sure."

Vincent helped Natalie to her feet. "Are you all right?"

She smiled up at him with a nod and then brushed the debris from her jeans and T-shirt. Their most recent attempt at natural power had failed yet again. "Yes, but I'm with Yuffie. I thought we'd gotten it right that time."

Red shook his mane and looked at the rubble of the waterwheel/power source with what was akin to disappointment. "I suppose we should start again, but so many failures has me a little depressed."

Yuffie nodded as she put her hands on her hips. "You're damn straight."

Vincent gently brushed some debris from Natalie's curls. "So, what do you propose?" His question was soft.

Natalie turned toward the small crater and sighed deeply. Vincent took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I don't know. I need some time to think before we try it again."

"Fine. You can think all you want. Red and me are going to go get some lunch. Come on." Yuffie pulled at Red's tail with a meaningful stare before looking back to Natalie and Vincent. "Don't worry, Nat, we'll get you guys something."

Natalie waved at them with an absent expression as she stared at her hard work turned to rubble. Tears sprung to her eyes. Tears of frustration and aggravation. Vincent's claw tightened slightly around her hand and she squeezed back. "I don't want to do this again, Vincent. I can't take it anymore. The expectancy of success and then the devastation of disappointment… I just can't."

He guided her into a comforting embrace and she wrapped her arms around his lower back as she closed her eyes with a sniff. "You are close to the answer, Natalie," he told her softly. "Each one has remained intact a little longer. This one remained operational for nearly an hour. Do not lose heart."

"I know," she sighed. "I just can't bear to see the look on your face each time it blows up."

"The expression is for you," he told her, "because I know how hurt you will be at the failure." Vincent held her at arms length with a gentle grip as he kissed her fondly on the cheek. He turned her around to face the rubble, his arms encircling her again. "You will find the answer. Remember that each failure leads you closer to the victory."

"I wanted to be focusing this time on your cure, Vincent, not the power source." Natalie released a deep breath and rest her head back against his chest as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the strength of his arms around her. "Oh well. I guess we go back to the inn and look at the specifications again. Maybe the conversion rate is off."

Natalie heard his chuckle and smiled. She'd never heard such a sensual sound in her life.

"You are sometimes too easily encouraged," he whispered in her ear.

She laughed and turned in his arms, draping hers around his neck and smiling up into his face. "I can be stubborn, too. Believe me. It took a lot of determination to track you down and get you to admit that I existed."

He smirked. "I knew that you existed. How could I not, with you returning each day to allow me into another private and well-guarded section of your life? I suppose that was what first intrigued me. Your willingness to impart such secrets to someone who ignored you grabbed my attention and would not release it."

"Well, it's nice to know that you actually listened," she told him with a silly smile. "It would have been nice if you would have at least opened the lid a crack to make some comment or other."

"I was hoping you would go away."

Natalie looked up at him with wide eyes and mouth, then laughed and stood on tiptoes to give him a feathery kiss. "I didn't, did I?"

His arms tightened around her, increasing the pressure of his lips against hers—

"What the hell!"

Natalie nearly jumped out of her skin. All she succeeded in doing, however, was stepping backward onto a stone and tripping. Vincent's agility and quickness of flight was the only thing that kept her from toppling into the rushing river below. Natalie murmured a 'thank you' as she hung suspended mid-air in his arms, and kept her gaze carefully averted from the group of people who had stumbled upon the couple's intimate time together.

Vincent set Natalie down on the ground and moved to stand protectively in front of her. Only then did he turn to Cid, Cloud, and Tifa. His eyes held a quiet warning.

Cid was about to comment when Cloud cut in. "We heard an explosion, Vincent." He looked beyond the couple to the pile of debris just behind. "That must have been it."

Natalie rest a hand momentarily on Vincent's back to voice her silent appreciation, and then she stepped forward with a glance toward her most recent failure. "Yes. That would be it."

"You mind telling me what it was supposed to be?"

Natalie sighed and then changed her gaze back to Cloud. "It was supposed to have been my answer to your predicament regarding a power source. I think the conversion rate is wrong, though."

"Conversion rate, huh?"

Natalie looked over at Cid Highwind. He had moved over to the pile of rubble and was rummaging through the pieces. "Yes, conversion rate. You're the engineer, Mr. Highwind. I wouldn't think I'd need to mention that to you."

Cid snorted with a crooked smile as he glanced over at her and Vincent. "You must be the broad who thinks she can cure this one. I thought you was just a reporter."

Natalie arched an eyebrow. "I do a multitude of things, Mr. Highwind. One of them seems to be pulling your butt out of the fire by inventing something in 1 day that you still haven't done in 1 month." She felt Vincent place a warning hand on her shoulder. 'I know. I know.'

Cloud and Tifa watched the altercation in silent amusement.

Cid stood slowly, eyeballing her and Vincent as he took a long drag on his cigarette. "You've got an attitude, lady."

"Of course I've got an attitude," she said in a tight voice. "I'm human and I've been working for 2 days straight trying to learn enough about mechanics and electrical engineering to get this blasted thing to stay running longer than an hour. My expertise is in the sciences, Mr. Highwind, so it has been anything but fun. Perhaps you'd care to look over the schematics and take over where I left off, so that I can concentrate on reversing Vincent's current problem."

Cid's expression changed to something akin to respect. "Two days? You've learned enough about electrical engineering to design, build, and get this contraption running in just 2 days?" He tossed his cigarette down and squelched it with the toe of his boot. "You deserve an apology from me, professor. I was an ass."

"Yes, but I've run across several of those in my lifetime. Most of them are worse than you, Mr. Highwind. Don't give it another thought." She looked over at Vincent. "I'm hungry and tired. Can you walk me back to the inn?"

He nodded wordlessly and took her hand, guiding her along the path away from Mt. Nibel as the others mutely looked on.

"You shocked him," Vincent finally said.

"I shocked myself. I should have known that was going to happen, though. I get cranky when I'm tired."

"Or when you're embarrassed."

Natalie flushed. "Do you blame me?"

"No. They trod into a delicate situation with the grace of a—"

"A Midgar Zolom," Natalie said with a twinkle of eyes at Vincent.

He smiled slightly and nodded. "I would say that is aptly put."

She wrapped her arms around his and rest her head against the golden surface as they walked. Vincent reached over to caress one of her hands and they walked on in silence.

* * *

"Shit. That was the spookiest sight I've ever seen."

Tifa looked at Cloud with a smile. "You were right," she said.

He smirked. "I knew that if we just butt out things would be okay. It's only when I try to help that things get all screwed up."

Cid strode up to them. "You knew about that… that…" He swore a blue streak and lit another cigarette with a shake of his head. "I didn't think he liked women."

Tifa grimaced and sent Cid a dirty look. "Oh shut up, Cid. Just shut up."

Cloud laughed, pulling Tifa away from Cid to send her back to Nibelheim for the schematics. Then he turned back to Cid. "So, what do you think? Will it work?"

"I don't even know what the hell the &%#$ thing is. How am I supposed to know if it's going to work or not?"

Cloud put a fist on his hip and struck his infamous SOLDIER pose as he stared at the rubble. "She said it was working for an hour, which is definitely better than nothing."

Cid reluctantly agreed. "Better than I've come up with." He snorted. "Damn. Out-witted by a broad. That's twice."

Cloud chuckled and then gestured toward Nibelheim with a jerk of his head. "Come on. Let's get over to the inn and see if she's cooled off enough to answer some questions. Be nicer than normal. Okay?"

"I'll act however I damn well please."

"Okay, if you want Vincent all over you."

Cid grumbled and followed Cloud toward town. "I won't be able to get used to that sight."

"What are you talking about?"

"Vincent."

Cloud sent Cid a confused glance. "What?"

Cid took another long drag from his cigarette. "Kissing a woman." He shivered. "That was a bit too much information for me."

Cloud shook his head with a chuckle. "Maybe you're just mad that she didn't go for you first."

Cid swore and gave Cloud a dangerous glare. "That ain't funny, spike-boy. I don't need no woman messing up my life."

"Fine. Then leave them alone."

"Who said I was going to do anything!?"

Cloud chuckled again. "I didn't say that you would do anything, but I know you're more than willing to say whatever you want."

"If she can't take it, then she can leave the room."

"Oh, she can take it all right. Or did you forget?" Cloud glanced over at him. "You admitted that you were an ass. Remember? You said that—"

"I know what I said," Cid snapped after a long phrase of swearing.

Cloud smirked, but didn't say anything more.

13

Natalie looked down at the schematics with wide eyes. "So… so, it's finished?" She looked up at Cid and saw his expression that bordered on arrogance. "You have it done and set up?"

Cid nodded and changed his gaze from Natalie to Vincent and back again. "Yep. She's all set up. All I have to do is check the power connection and turn it on." He turned to go and then paused at the door to face the two again. "Oh. You were right. The conversion rate was wrong. But you still did a hell of a good job, professor. For a broad," he added with a smile.

He left the room and Natalie could feel Vincent's eyes on her as she stared down at the schematics. After a moment, she carefully rolled them up, fastened them with a rubber band, and then set it aside. "Wow. It's done."

Vincent came to sit in the seat beside her. "Yes. Cid has always been amazing at engineering."

Natalie glanced toward the window of her room at the starry night that soothed the town to rest and released a breath. "I wish it was morning. Then I could start. I could finally start."

"You should rest now, Natalie. Tomorrow will be an intense day. A new beginning for some."

Natalie focused on Vincent's face and smiled. "You're right. Of course." She stood with a yawn and a stretch. Vincent watched her in silence. "Where are you going to sleep? The past couple days we haven't slept hardly at all. When we did, it was a quick nap under a tree while the others kept trying to figure out what the problem was."

Natalie cleared her throat and made her way to the bed to turn down the covers. 'So, what are you asking, Nat? Are you hoping he'll opt to stay up here with you? To celebrate? To say good-bye to what he is now? One last night together before possibly saying good-bye forever?' She cleared her throat again and plumped her pillow.

"Going to the crypt seems pointless now. I have no reason to hide."

Natalie swallowed hard and paused a moment before turning to face him. He was still sitting at the table, watching her. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at her hiking boots a moment before bending forward to untie the laces. "I'm sure Cloud will put you up at his place."

'I want you to stay here with me, Vincent. Sure, Cloud will let you stay there with him because he sees you as a friend. I want you to stay here with me and tell me that I'm doing the right thing. That you're not afraid. That this is what you want me to do. I want you to hold me close and kiss away all my fears.' She set aside her hiking boots with a shallow sigh.

Vincent stood and made his way over to her. He knelt down and gently pushed her hands away to untie her hiking boots and pull each one free. "Yes, he would."

He began to massage her feet and Natalie stared down at him, gnawing her lower lip to keep herself from asking what she shouldn't ask. 'Are you ready for this, Nat? Do you realize what you're asking? Do you realize what it would mean?'

He looked up after a silent moment and she caught his amber eyes. "Vincent…"

"Natalie, don't ask me to stay."

Natalie flushed and lowered her eyes. "Why not? A lot of things are going to happen tomorrow. I'd sleep better if you were here."

He straightened and sat beside her on the bed after a slight pause. When he turned toward her, his eyes were oddly glowing. "I wouldn't."

She smiled slightly, turning away to rub her palms on the thighs of her jeans. "Okay, so maybe I wouldn't either, but… But it's the last night before our world gets turned upside down. I guess I thought… Oh, I don't know what I thought."

Vincent was quiet for a long time, and then he cupped her chin in his hand and turned her to face him again. "Making love to you, Natalie, is something I want more than my own life right now. But… But I want you as I was, not as this creation of Hojo. You deserve nothing less. Please understand."

Natalie's face flamed its darkest shade of red, but she held his gaze. "I… I do," she whispered.

He released a slow breath and dropped his hand, looking away from her face. "I should go now. Before I forget."

He made a move to stand and Natalie took hold of his hand. "Vincent, wait."

Vincent tensed. "Natalie. Please."

Natalie released his hand and clasped hers behind her back. "I know, I know. I… I just want you here with me. There are a lot of good reasons why you should go, but… Just for me? I just want you to hold me, so that I can sleep. Then you can go. Please."

He turned to face her. "My control may not hold, Natalie." There was pain in his expression.

Natalie stepped forward to take his arm again. "It will," she said as she held his gaze. "I know you, Vincent. It will. I know it will."

He removed her hand with his claw and gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it. "I do not trust myself. Good night, Natalie."

Vincent waited there and Natalie lowered her gaze. "Good night."

Natalie heard his footsteps approach the door, pause as he turned to watch her a moment, and then slowly recede down the hallway after closing the door behind him. She slumped onto the bed with a deep breath. 'He has more sense than I do.'

'Making love to you, Natalie, is something I want more than my own life… But I want you as I was, not as this creation of Hojo. You deserve nothing less.'

She smiled slightly and lay back on the bed, closing her eyes as she remembered again and again the look in his eyes and the soft caress of his words.

14

Natalie stared at the dimly lit room that would soon take on the daunting task of curing the man she loved. Each book. Each medical note. Each piece of technology and each previously taken sample of blood and tissue would be put to work to do that which she now wasn't sure she wanted to do.

She released a deep breath and stepped further into the laboratory. It began today. The submerging within her genius (previously modestly denied) to find the key to his freedom. The key that could kill him. The key that could make him hers for the rest of their lives. The key that could do nothing but unlock the humanness that hid within him, while his outer shell remained so dark and twisted... Natalie repressed a sob and wiped the tears from her cheeks as she came to sit at the computer desk. The computer was on and running. Mako free. Pollution free. Hard drive intact. Ready to work. Ready to cure. Ready to finally offer Vincent a realization of his last remaining hope.

"Can I do this?" she whispered as she touched the keyboard.

The answer wasn't there. She knew the answer was in her heart. She would do it, but only because she could sense his growing torment at being so different from her. So not human. He got strength and comfort from the fact that she accepted him as he was. He began to feel whole because of her unconditional love, but he still wanted to be what he had been.

A man.

"Isn't that what I've always wanted to give him? Think back, Nat," she pressed as another tear wet her cheek. "Remember? You read all those reports on him and knew this is what you felt you were supposed to do. This was what it was all for. To save him."

Natalie leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms as she looked away from the computer screen, gnawing her lower lip to keep from sobbing. 'Remember the picture, Nat? The Turk? You fell in love with him first. Remember? Now you've met his darker side. The part that people can usually hide. You've met him and fallen in love with him too. There are no surprises in who or what he is. You know it all. You've seen it all. You love it all. Remember?'

She nodded and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. 'You're scared. Okay. So is he. You don't want to make him hurt worse. Okay. He can't feel any worse. The fact that you're trying is going to make him feel better. Isn't that what you want to do? Make him feel better? Okay. You have. All he wants is for you to try.' Her inner voice paused. 'Try. That's it. You've done that your entire life. Remember? And remember how most of your 'trying' has actually worked out? This can too. And if it doesn't? Then, it doesn't.'

"And if he dies...?"

Natalie lowered her head and pinched the bridge of her nose to prevent the coming onslaught of tears. That was the one aspect of her treatment of him that she couldn't get past. No matter from which angle she attacked the possibility, she always balked and choked right there. It mattered. It mattered a lot and if she thought, for even one moment, that there was a likelihood that it could happen… that he could die, she'd stop. No matter how mad he got. No matter how much he pressed her to try. She wasn't willing to gamble with his life. She wasn't like Hojo and she never would be.

"I thought I'd find you here." Red came to sit beside her, carefully tucking his tail around his forepaws as he sat and examined her face. "Today is the day."

She nodded, afraid to do anything else.

"I regret that we haven't had a really good opportunity to sit down and talk about things as I had hoped we could," Red continued in a soft voice. "I do hope that you'll allow me to spend some time with you at the dig past Mt. Nibel after everything with Vincent works out. I believe I'll find it fascinating and would love to help you any way I can."

"That would be great, Red. Thank you," she whispered. She continued to stare at the computer monitor as the little figures and forms from its hibernation cycle floated about the screen. "Is there something I can do for you?"

Red was quiet for a long moment before coming to rub his head and shoulders against her hand as it rest on the arm of the office chair. He purred in an attempt to console her. "I thought I could do something for you."

More tears spilled over onto her cheeks and she covered her eyes with one hand as she stroked Red's soft fur with the other. The warmth and velvety softness acted as a balm to her aching soul, but encouraged the tears that began to drip onto her pale yellow T-shirt. "It's all happening."

"Yes. Yes, it is." He sat as close as possible and rest his chin on her leg, still purring. "It's a little frightening, isn't it?"

Natalie could barely nod her head. "I nearly fainted dead away when I found the coffin, and again when he actually came out of the box. It wasn't quite so bad when he led me to this laboratory, but that was only because I was still in shock from actually talking to him. Now… Now…" She choked on a quick inhalation of breath as she attempted to calm the sobs. "I don't know whether to be happy or terrified! I mean, I might finally have the chance to put it all right!"

"You don't want to fail." His statement was gentle and probing.

"No. No, I don't. I've always been like this. In everything. I never allowed myself failure. Never allowed myself mistakes." Natalie dropped her hand to her side and looked down at Red as he gazed up at her with an understanding expression. "He doesn't deserve anything but a miracle, and I'm afraid I won't be able to do that. How do I know that I really do understand what Hojo did? I don't have the right to use Vincent as an experiment subject. That would make me no better than… than…" She lowered her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

"Than Hojo."

Natalie dropped her hands suddenly and looked down at Red with a pleading expression. "I'm going to do this because I love him so much and I know how much this means to him. I guess I'm just letting myself vent one last time before the moment of truth comes. To give myself that one last chance at mourning… You know?"

Red seemed to smile and lifted his head from her knee. "I understand. So does he." He paused, examining her tear stained face. "You two have an amazing relationship. One that I haven't seen before. You finish one another, in a way. When he needs strength, you are there to offer it to him. When he needs gentleness and compassion or understanding, again, you are there. It is much the same for you. He offers you strength, tenderness, and a myriad of other emotions I hadn't thought possible from him, all when you need them. Your instincts about the other are uncanny."

Natalie flushed and absently tucked a curl behind her ear, saying nothing.

"What do your instincts tell you now?"

Natalie took in a long, deep, and slow breath as she looked up at the rafters of the basement laboratory. Cobwebs decorated the drafty chamber in each remote corner, occasionally tickled by a draft from an unseen hole. "They're saying a lot of things."

Red nudged at her leg with his wet nose. "Go on."

"They're saying that he's just as frightened as I am. They're saying that he wants to do this because it's been a dream of his as well as mine. They're saying that he's pushing me to do this because he doesn't want me to have regrets." She sighed again and changed her gaze to Red's. "They're saying that I can do this."

His beautiful eyes twinkled at her. "Then there is your answer. You know what you can do and it is this: free a trapped soul."

Natalie smiled, tears brimming anew to spill over onto her flushed cheeks. After a moment's pause, she slid from the chair to her knees and wrapped her arms around Red to give him a fond embrace.

When she pulled back, he pressed his head against hers and caught her gaze. "Never, ever doubt your purpose. That's when the fear comes. You are a brave woman, Natalie. Face down the fear and do what you want to do. Save him."

* * *

When Yuffie came into the upstairs room at the inn expecting to find Natalie, she found Vincent staring at his claw with a dark and dangerous expression on his face. She hesitated, not really wanting to get involved with what she was sure was a very deep subject (and not focused around her), and then gave a shrug and stepped forward. Vincent, for some reason, was her friend. Maybe not how Red was, but a friend just the same.

Besides, he was cool.

Yuffie pulled up a chair and straddled it. "What's up."

He lowered his claw and crossed his arms to glower out the window. "Time."

Yuffie frowned in confusion, and then remembered that Cid had announced the completion of the generator in the laboratory basement the previous night. "Oh. Nat's going to start today, huh?" Vincent didn't reply and Yuffie nodded. "Yeah. Thought so. I knew there had to be a reason she wasn't up here. She's at the Mansion, isn't she?"

"Yes. She left early this morning."

Yuffie decided not to ask how he knew how early Nat had left (or why he was in her room when only 1 bed was slept in) and tried to keep her focus on figuring out what his problem was. "So, if today's the day, what's the problem? I thought you wanted this to happen."

"I do."

"You afraid it won't work."

Vincent shook his head, his gaze going to the well outside. "I have a bad feeling."

"Bad feelings aren't cool, Vinnie."

"I know."

"You think it's about the experiment?"

"No."

"So, you're pretty sure it's going to work."

"Yes."

Yuffie frowned down at the back of the chair as she tapped her fingers on her arm that was resting upon it. "Hmm. Creepy."

"Yes."

Yuffie looked up. "You don't think Nat's going to change her mind about you when you're back to normal, do you?" Vincent was silent and the tension in the room caused Yuffie an instant headache. "Ookaay. So, we found the problem." She stood and came to stand beside him. "Dude, Vincent, there is no way in hell that's going to happen. She's crazy for you in a major way. Worse than Tifa and Cloud, if that's possible. C'mon. Don't worry about that."

He still said nothing.

Yuffie grimaced, remembered something Natalie had shown her, and made her way over to the dresser beside her bed. "Here it is." She turned back to Vincent. "Here. Look."

He changed his view to the picture in her hand and took it from her. "Where did you get this?"

"Nat showed it to me once. When we were talking about you, of course. She got it from her teacher, who got it from his sister, who got it from her best friend…" Yuffie grimaced again. "I can't remember the details. It gets confusing."

"Yes. I remember."

Yuffie gestured to the small picture. "This is you. Right?"

"Yes. When I was a Turk."

"That's when she first heard about you. I think. No, wait. She first heard about you when she read about Hojo's experiment. But I know that's the first time she saw you. That picture. She loves that picture, Vinnie. I've seen the way she looks at it." Yuffie wrinkled her nose. "It makes me wanna hurl, but I've still seen how she looks at it."

Vincent pushed the photo back at her.

"I know what you're thinking, Vinnie, but it does mean something. Don't be dense."

"Yuffie—"

"Save it." Yuffie glowered. "I can see that you just want to feel sorry for yourself or something. Well, I don't have to stay here and listen to it, or watch it for that matter. Deal with it. Okay? I've never seen no one so wild for you then Nat. I've never seen no one so wild for anyone. If you start second guessing everything about you two…" She snorted and took the picture from him with a rough motion. "Hell! Why do I even bother? You'll do what you want anyway."

She stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her. Vincent stared at it for a long moment and then looked away.

Vincent knew the picture meant a lot to Natalie. It reminded her what had been taken from him. It reminded her what she wished to give him. His life. He also knew that Natalie's feelings for him would not change if her idea worked. They had become too close in such a short amount of time for that to be a danger. What bothered him was his sudden reluctance to go where she waited. His intense regret at the opportunity lost the previous night.

He knew that he had done the right thing in walking away. He cared too much about her feelings to have allowed her to give all of who she was to that which he had never felt was his true reflection. When he felt her against him, he wanted to know that he was making love to her as a man and not a monster. When she called his name in the heat of a passionate embrace and pulled herself ever closer, he wanted to caress her with his hands and not a cold and lifeless claw that held no feeling and no tenderness.

He wanted to experience her.

Vincent scowled down at his claw once more as a trace of her heady aroma filled his nostrils. He took in a deep breath; his eyes glowing slightly as he again heard her voice.

'I just want you here with me… Just for me? I just want you to hold me, so that I can sleep…'

Of all the things she could have asked of him, that one request had been impossible. Impossible because he had wanted it so badly. The power of his desire had terrified him more than the original discovery of his growing fondness. To have her look at him like that and say his name— Vincent pushed it away roughly, balling his fists as he turned and moved for the door. Dwelling and remembering such a fiercely consuming moment would serve no purpose.

She was waiting for him.

Again.

Red waited by the gate. Vincent regarded him with a wary gaze. "Red."

"Hello, Vincent. Might I have a word with you before you make your way into the Mansion? It'll only take a moment."

Vincent was leery of waiting much longer to join Natalie. He had such an overwhelming need to feel and hear her next to him. He also had a peculiar tightness in his gut about what Red could possibly want to talk to him about.

"She has been waiting for me," he said vaguely as he made a move to pass him. "Perhaps later."

Red didn't take the subtle hint. In fact, he pointedly ignored it as he moved into Vincent's path. The scruff of hair on the nape of his neck bristled a bit as he looked up at Vincent. "I need to speak with you. It's important."

"Red—"

"Now," Red intoned with a slight growl.

Vincent's temper sparked. "No," he said in a just as firm and dangerous tone. "Not now. I need to go to her. She's been waiting. Again."

Vincent made another move to pass and Red snarled, giving a warning snap of his jaws that caused Vincent to step backward.

"She will wait. She has done so her entire life. I need to speak with you." Red took a step forward, causing Vincent to back away. "I don't have any warnings or chastisements, or anything that will cause you humiliation. I need to confide something in you that I believe you will wish to hear."

Vincent's glower deepened. "Fine. Speak."

The hair on Red's back settled and his angry expression faded after a moment. He looked almost apologetic as he cleared his throat and sat on his haunches. "I'm sorry, Vincent. I didn't mean to lose my temper."

"It's all right."

"No, it isn't, but thank you for accepting my apology." He examined Vincent's face and then stepped forward. "Can we go for a walk?" Vincent's impatience must have showed clearly on his face. Red nodded. "I know. You want to hurry to her, but it will be just a moment. Besides, she's just now setting up. She's not ready for you yet."

Vincent acquiesced, albeit reluctantly, and fell into step beside Red as he made his way toward Mt. Nibel. "What did you wish to confide?" Red seemed to hesitate a moment, as if he was unsure where to begin. Vincent examined him and then refocused his attention to the path ahead of him. "I know that she yet doubts the wisdom of this procedure."

"That isn't what I was going to tell you." Red passed him a look. "You are a bright fellow, Vincent. I knew that you had probably already figured out that she would be overcome with the not-so-pleasant possibilities as to what might or might not happen."

"Then what is it?"

"I wasn't sure if she had told you that she feels as if she is playing at the role of 'Hojo' by experimenting her idea of a cure on you."

Vincent sent Red a sharp glance and halted his progress forward. "Hojo? Why would she think that?"

Red sat on his haunches, curling his tail around his forepaws as he gave himself time to think of a reply. "Much as I hate to admit it, I see reason behind her fear. You must also admit, Vincent, that she is taking your life into her hands. Isn't that what Hojo did?"

"But this is my choice," Vincent insisted through his quickly wavering calm. "Hojo never gave me such a luxury. She did."

"Was it a choice?"

"What are you saying? Of course it was a choice."

"Vincent, hear me out." Red paused, gathering his thoughts. "Her mind continues to reason that, on the grounds that she simply offered the possibility of something you already wanted, there was no choice given. She knew you wanted freedom from that which Hojo made you, and that is what took away your choice."

Vincent clenched his jaw, his muscles twitching wildly. "What could I do to convince her that if I had not wanted to do—"

"That is the problem," Red interrupted. "She knew that you wanted this. That is why she feels there was no option of a choice for you. You do not care about the danger, therefore, there is no choice."

"I do care about the danger!" Vincent snapped with a surprising force of emotion. His amber eyes sparked. "Do you truly believe I am oblivious to the possibility that I may be forever without her? Or she without me? Do you believe I wish for her to always lay awake at night wondering if there could have been something different done in order to save my life? Do you believe I want her to be tortured with the fact that she was the cause of my death?"

"No. I do not."

"Then tell me," Vincent raged. "Tell me what I could possibly do to get that which I want! Tell me what other option is open to me to rid myself of this mutation! This disease! This… this cancer that twists my insides with hate and grotesque wickedness. I shall never accept it as who I am. I have told her this!"

"I know."

Vincent continued as if Red hadn't spoken. "She must try because it might work. She must try because it is my only option. The other is remaining as I am and never knowing if there was a way to win. Never knowing if there was a way to sneer in Hojo's face and say 'I have won against your insanity. Your life is not mine.' That was my choice before. Now I have chosen the possibility of life instead of complacency. I have explained that to her as well."

Red nodded and released a quick breath. "She knows all this, Vincent. I just thought you should be told that it still bothers her. Natalie wishes to protect you so violently that, at times, she doesn't see that her desire defeats all reason. She will go on with her idea because she wishes you to be free as much as you yourself. She goes on because she cares for you, deeply, as I know you care for her."

Vincent gathered his control, frayed at the edges as it was, and spoke after a long pause. "Red, what can I do? She shouldn't be tortured with accusations comparing her with a madman. What can I say that will put it out of her mind, once and for all?"

Red shook his head. "I don't know. I have already told her that she should never doubt that which her heart tells her is her purpose, but I don't believe that is the same as believing she is following in the footsteps of someone like Hojo. That may be a battle she must fight alone, within herself."

"I will not let her fight alone."

Red smiled. "No. I suppose you wouldn't. Perhaps that is what she needs. Just you."

"I don't know how that could be enough for anyone, but she seems content."

"It's because she loves you. You may not understand why, but love is never understood by those who experience it."

Vincent looked over toward the Mansion. "So I have noticed."

Red examined his face and then nudged at his leg. "I have kept you long enough, Vincent. I am sorry. Go."

Vincent released a slow breath and then turned for the Mansion without a word. Red's confession of Natalie's fear bothered him. Was he truly helpless? Was there nothing he could do to assure her that she was no Hojo? He knew that he had already tried to set her mind at rest regarding the experiment, but was there something else he could do? Was it truly up to her whether or not she accepted what he and Red had told her? Vincent clenched his jaw. He had never much cared for the feelings of helplessness.

That hadn't changed.

He pushed through the gate and made his way inside the Mansion, his mind strangely silent as he navigated the rooms that would lead him to the not-so-secret stairs to the basement laboratory. The silence seemed to leer at him. Ridiculing his attempt at humanity. Sneering at his endeavors to be tender and understanding. Why do you not hide again? If things are so difficult, run away. As you did before, the silence seemed to say. But what would that prove? Nothing. Things would be the same. Dead. Lifeless. Empty. Alone. After having Natalie a part of his dreams and his reality, there was no way he would relinquish it.

He wanted it all.

Vincent paused outside the laboratory door. It was ajar and he could hear Natalie's voice as she walked herself through a procedure. Guiding herself through it with occasional words of praise and encouragement. Then, she moved to a different project and was heard telling herself different possibilities and the reasons why one would be more plausible than the other. Listening to her caused his expression to soften as he reached out to push the door open. She was intently examining a slide under a microscope while her free hand held a book.

"See?" Natalie told herself with a hushed voice. "There isn't much difference from this one and the original DNA, yet this is after Hojo determined the experiment to be a success. Let's see… what was the date on this sample?"

She moved her gaze from the microscope to the notes carefully arranged on the desk and began searching for the information she needed, not noticing Vincent as he stepped further into the room. A slight breeze carrying the fragrance of her wafted toward him and he halted, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. His pulse quickened and his blood roared in his ears. He grappled with the rising ache to possess her and slowly opened his eyes. She'd found the paper she had been searching for and nibbled on the end of her fingernail as she read over it. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes again, snatching at his dissipating restraint.

"That can't be right. Hmm. Where was that other paper… Ah-hah!"

She leaned far over the desk, reaching for the other side, just as Vincent opened his eyes. His gaze promptly focused on her shapely behind and he bit back a groan. Had anyone looked so delicious in worn jeans? Vincent shook his head in an attempt to clear it and wiped a hand down his face before clearing his throat.

Natalie gave a little start and straightened sharply as she turned toward him. She smiled and leaned back against the desk, closing the book to hug it against her chest. "Good morning, Vincent." Her tone seemed a caress. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes." His tone was surprisingly even and she didn't seem to notice his struggle to keep his distance. "You?"

She lowered her eyes with a one-shouldered shrug, kicking at the carpet with the toe of her sneaker. "I dreamt of you, you know. It was nice."

Vincent's throat tightened and he balled a fist behind his back, still keeping his distance. He had dreamt of her as well. Every inch of her… "I am glad. You needed your rest."

She took in a deep breath and released it slow, catching his gaze after she set the book carefully aside. "You ready?"

"Yes. You?" Her lips were caressed with a smile and Vincent felt the heat rise to his ears.

"I've been ready for this for years, Vincent."

"As have I."

She turned away and Vincent relaxed his stance, taking in a deep and silent breath as he hurriedly captured the remains of his self-control.

"All right, then. I guess we should start." She pulled out a chair and then turned to give him another smile. "Could you sit here? I'm going to take a blood sample."

He clenched his jaw and stepped closer. She was wearing a new fragrance this morning. Something akin to the flowers Aeris had grown in the slums. As he sat in the chair, her hip continued to brush his shoulder as she reached for the syringe, alcohol, and other miscellaneous paraphernalia that was needed. Vincent was hard-pressed to keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. He gripped the arms of the chair and concentrated on his breathing.

"Okay. Now, I don't think this will hurt too much." Natalie set aside the syringe and leaned forward to roll up the sleeve of his black shirt (he'd left his red cape in his room at Cloud's).

Vincent wisely decided to hold his breath, the warmth of her breath on his arm doing enough to cause distraction and torrential waves of irrational desires to take her there on the laboratory floor.

"There will be a little pinch…"

All he could feel was the tender kiss of her fingers on his skin. He clenched his jaw harder.

"All right. All done." She was rolling down his sleeve and fastening the button at the cuff. "You okay?"

Vincent opened his eyes and caught her gaze. They registered concern. "Yes." His voice was calmness itself.

Her fingers lingered on the top of his hand for the barest hint of a moment and then she gestured toward a machine in the far corner of the laboratory. "I'd like to take an X-ray of your arm."

Vincent stood and followed her, desperately trying to keep his eyes from the soft sway of her behind as she walked. She stood to one side of the table and pat it with a reassuring smile. Vincent stared at it for the briefest moment before swallowing hard and turning to pull himself up onto it. Wide enough for one, but it would have done nicely…

"Okay. Now, lay back." Natalie rest a hand on his back and gently guided him to lean back against the cold surface. She rubbed at his arm with another reassuring smile as she brought a machine over to the table. "I'm just going to X-ray your claw. It'll only take a moment. Lay still."

She set some dials on the machine and then stepped away. A few moments later, she was back and pushing the machine to the side, her hand again going to his back to help him sit up. Their gazes locked and she smiled. Vincent's eyes lingered on her lips and then he looked away, sliding off the table and walking toward the far side of the room under the pretense of examining the pages of research notes she'd been perusing when he'd come in.

Much as he knew she would, she came to stand beside him.

"Notes. Mostly Hojo's and Gast's, but some of them are mine accumulated over the past several years."

Her breath smelled of honey and fruit. Vincent clutched a hand behind his back as he turned to face her. "What next?"

Her lips parted with a chuckle and she shook her head, her curls (drawn up in a ponytail) bobbed around her ears and made his throat tighten.

"You're done. I'm going to do the boring stuff the next few days. Outline a strategy and rule out possibilities. That way we can get more done. The longer days won't be until next week or after."

A stray eyelash was on her cheek and he reached out to touch it away before he could stop himself. They stared down at it and then she held his hand, closed her eyes, and then blew it away. She looked up at him with a smile, her eyes twinkling as she continued to hold his hand.

"What did you do?" This time, his voice wasn't so calm. It wavered, ever so slightly deeper than normal.

"I made a wish." She cleared her throat and lowered her eyes, dropping her hand from his. "It's a silly custom, but it's fun."

Natalie made a move to turn away, but he stopped her with a gentle grip on her arm. "No."

She looked up, her eyes slightly wide. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." His eyes raked her face for a long, silent moment before he spoke again. "Just wait. Let me see you."

Natalie flushed, but didn't turn away. Nor did she lower her gaze. "I'm not going anywhere, Vincent. I'll still be here tomorrow."

"I know." He removed the glove from his human hand and reached up to stroke her cheek and jaw before he lovingly caressed her lower lip with a single finger. "Just wait."

"Vincent…" Her eyes closed and she leaned in closer. "Vincent, I… I need to work."

"I know," he repeated as he moved in closer. His breath tickled her cheek and he closed his eyes as he lightly touched it with his lips, breathing in the delicate fragrance of blossoms from her hair and skin. She whimpered a feeble protest as he pulled her into his arms, his lips wandering to the sensitive area beneath her ear. "I need to say thank you. Thank you for offering me a choice other than acceptance of isolation."

Her arms encircled him and pulled him closer as she released a deep breath. "You're welcome," she whispered.

Her sweet breath feathered a cascade of flaming tongues down his spine and he tensed. He wanted so much more… "I need to go now, Natalie."

Her arms tightened around him for the briefest moment before she nodded and loosened her grip. "All right."

Vincent steeled himself against the warmth of her body, the quick rise and fall of her breasts, her honey-sweet breath in his hair, and pushed gently back. She hadn't opened her eyes and her lips were slightly parted. To kiss her… To kiss her would lead to so much more.

"Natalie," he said in a tight voice. "Please. Turn away." He forcibly released his grip on her arms and she turned away, staggering forward to rest her hands on the arms of the chair to steady herself. Vincent watched her in silence for a long moment, then, when it looked as if she would turn, he stopped her. "No. Don't. Wait until I leave, Natalie. Please."

She nodded and he saw a telltale drip of a tear color the seat of the chair. His insides twisted, but he kept himself from stepping forward.

"I'll come out for lunch, Vincent," she whispered. "Will you meet me by the gate?"

"Yes. I will."

He made a move to turn away, but something stopped him. "Natalie, please remember what I said in your room last night. To be with you… I still do. That is why…" He couldn't go on.

"I… I know. It's all right. Really."

He could hear the smile in her tone and felt the relief loosen the tension in his back. "I shall see you for lunch, then."

She nodded and he turned away, leaving the door as he had found it. Ajar. He paused there for a moment until he heard her take in a deep breath. Then he heard the creak of the chair as she sat and a deep exhalation of breath.

"He smells so good."

Vincent smiled and moved away from the door.

* * *

Lunch came and went, but Natalie didn't emerge from the Mansion.

Vincent waited by the gate until dusk had fully settled upon the town, then he gave the Mansion one last look before turning away to head toward Cloud's house. He was inside sharpening one of his many blades.

Cloud looked up at Vincent's entrance. "Hey. How was lunch?" He looked at the time on the wall and smirked. "How was dinner, for that matter."

"She didn't come."

Cloud lowered the blade with an incredulous expression. "She stood you up? Are you serious?"

Vincent stiffly sat at the kitchen table. "No. She didn't come. I'm sure that it wasn't intentional. She is a scientist. Her work distracted her."

"Did you go in and let her know you'd been waiting?"

"No."

"Why not?" Vincent sent Cloud a look and he smiled with a knowing expression on his face. "I see. Just a little too close and personal down there, huh?" Vincent looked away. Cloud chuckled and carefully slid his sword back into its scabbard before setting it aside. "You know, she's got to eat. You should take something down there. If you're not so sure going down alone is a good idea, I'll go with you."

"It's not necessary. When she's hungry, she'll come out."

Cloud smirked. "Just be ready to wait. It may take a couple days. The tension may kill you."

Vincent had already suspected much the same. In fact, he'd nearly done himself in that morning.

"You curious about what's got her so distracted?"

"Yes. She took a blood sample and an X-ray this morning."

"Of your claw?"

Vincent nodded and lifted up the golden atrocity to view it. "I wonder what she's found beneath its cold loveliness."

"Why don't you go down there and ask her? I'm sure she'd be more than willing to show you."

Vincent stared at it a moment longer and then lowered it to his side as he stood. "Perhaps tomorrow."

"You going to bed?"

"Yes."

"You know you probably won't sleep much."

Vincent's lips twisted in a smirk as he made his way to the back bedroom. He'd sleep. He'd sleep and dream as he always did. She'd be waiting there for him, as she always was.

15

Natalie hurriedly wrote out the notes on the quickly filling desk blotter and then looked around for the other blood sample. She placed the slide under the microscope and zoomed in. "That is so strange. How can that be right? Did I date them wrong?"

She gnawed on her lower lip and sat back in the chair, twirling a curl around her finger before nibbling on the end. It was like looking at the samples from three different people. There was Vincent's original sample, his present one, and then the one taken directly after the experiment done by Hojo. She couldn't understand it. The one she had just taken more closely resembled his original, but there had been definite traces of the Jenova cells that had been forcefully inserted into his protein makeup.

They just hadn't been as pronounced.

Natalie pulled her hair back into a bun, which she fastened by wrapping it around a pencil and securing it through her mass of curls, and then went over to the lights that held Vincent's X-ray. Thanks to Shinra technology, she'd been able to scan through the claw to see the human skeletal structure beneath. What she had always assumed was a Jenova graft, was not. It was his arm beneath that golden frame. There had to be a reason for the claw's presence, though, and by looking at the wavering Jenova traces in his blood, she was beginning to think…

"Could it be that simple? Could it?"

Natalie turned away, lightly scratching at her scalp as she frowned in thought. She needed to know for sure. 'I have to take the outer covering off. I must know what's under there before I can say for sure.' She nodded brusquely and hurried out of the lab, rushing down the hallway to climb the spiral stairs, and then hurrying out of the Mansion to Cloud's house. She didn't notice the stars twinkling in the sky, the still silence of the town as the people slept, nor the fact that it was close to 2 o'clock in the morning.

She knocked on the door and it was immediately opened by Vincent. Natalie was so wrapped up in her reasoning and possibilities that she didn't notice his eyes were filled with concern and lack of sleep while his face bore the marks of what was akin to haggardness. "Vincent, I need you to come down to the lab."

He shut the door behind him. "Is there something wrong?"

She shook her head, absently taking his hand and pulling him toward the Mansion. "No. Nothing's wrong. I just need to do something with your claw. I need to see about taking off the outer covering."

"Take off the outer covering?"

She nodded and offered nothing more, oblivious to his scrutiny of her face.

When they reached the basement laboratory, she sat him in the chair and went in search of the tools she'd seen… "Here they are." She went back to his side, set out the ones she'd need, and then went to work. "This shouldn't hurt."

It didn't. Or, at least, he never once complained of discomfort. The claw, much to Natalie's surprise, was very easy to dismantle. All she needed to do was press a switch here, release a catch there, slide off a restraining chain from a screw, and the claw slipped free… to a certain extent. It seemed to catch on something and when she attempted to pull it the remaining way, Vincent winced.

"Sorry," she said absently, and immediately went to work analyzing the problem. "There seems to be something connected in there. Hold on a second." Natalie touched her upper lip with the tip of her tongue as she looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes to aid in her concentration as she gingerly felt up his arm. Her eyes flew open and her mouth dropped. "Oh my goodness!" She knelt down and tried to see what she'd found with her fingers, then sat back on her heels as a hand went to her forehead. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?"

Natalie shook her head with a slight laugh and rushed to her feet, hurrying to the other side of the laboratory while muttering under her breath about "chemical reactions" and the "possibility of rejection" being "too great to risk anything else". Vincent could only watch her (when she very occasionally was in his view), desperately attempting to reason out why his arm had been hidden by a claw and not a grotesque portion of Jenova grafted to his body, as he had supposed for years.

Finally, Natalie came to kneel in front of him again, her hands disappearing up the arm of his shirt to feel for the things she had found before. "Okay," she told him matter-of-factly as she faced him with eyes closed, "you have some tubes inserted into different arteries in your arms that are, apparently, circulating the Jenova cells into your system on a semi-continuous basis."

Her tongue flicked out to touch her lips in concentration for a moment and then she opened her eyes with a smile, withdrew her hands, and rest them on the thighs of her legs as she sat back on her heels. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

"Do you know what this means? It means your body rejects Jenova cells when left to its own devices! The chemical matrix of your body and that of Jenova aren't compatible. So, Hojo had to rig up this device, which works like a dialysis system, in order to continually introduce the Jenova cells that have kept you this way."

Vincent's eyes changed and Natalie continued to smile up at him. "What made you think of this?"

"I noticed that your blood chemistry was different in ways that it shouldn't have been. It's like the claw is set to introduce the Jenova cells only at certain times."

"So, if you remove the claw and the tubes that have been inserted… I should revert to my original form?"

She laughed and leaned forward to rest her elbows on his knees, resting her chin on her hands as she gazed up at him. "No, no. You're already in your original form. You'll just lose the characteristics that Jenova was giving you. The red eyes, longevity of life, flight, and who knows what else."

He changed his eyes from her face to the claw that dangled precariously in his grasp, tubing snaking from its hollow shell to disappear up his arm. Every once and a while there was a slight twinge in his upper arm. Mostly it came when he attempted to move, which pulled at the claw and, consequently, at the tubes inserted into the arteries.

"I… I…" Vincent attempted.

Natalie's expression softened as she stood, carefully reassembling the claw over his arm. He placed a hand on hers to stop her and she looked over at him. "It's all right, Vincent. I'm only going to put it on temporarily. Just until I can get all the stuff set up for the procedure to remove it. I don't want each movement to hurt you. Besides, I need to do a little bit more research into how it's inserted into your arm before I go poking around in there."

He removed his hand and watched her own as they worked, gently reconstructing the cool, golden claw. "Could it be? Could my answer be so simple?"

Her smile remained as her hands tenderly held the claw in place. "Come on. I need you to come over here. I'll hold it to make sure it doesn't pull at the insertion points."

Vincent stood and allowed himself to be led to the table where the X-ray machine had been. It had been converted into an examining bed and offered more comfort than the hard surface of the X-ray table from earlier. He laid back on it and rest his arm on a side-table, Natalie again dissembling the claw to arrange it as painlessly as possible around his arm.

"Natalie," he said in a quiet tone, "could my cure be so simple as this?"

Natalie set the pieces of the claw aside (they were still in the vague shape of the claw, but more of his hand and arm were exposed. She couldn't take them completely away because of the tubes, but she could carefully maneuver her hand in to hold his) and pulled a chair up to the table. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "We're the ones who usually believe that science has to be difficult or complicated. Often times it isn't. Just like this. The most difficult thing about this will be the removal procedure. I'm not a surgeon and it's been a long time since I took anatomy in school."

"Once it's taken out?"

Natalie gave a slight shrug. "Rejection won't take too long, knowing you," she added with a smile. "I'd recommend bed rest for at least a month. Don't worry, though. I'll take care of you."

Vincent continued to stare at the hand and arm that had finally been freed from the chilled metal of the claw with what could only be described as a blank expression. Natalie's eyes brimmed with tears as she watched him, her other hand reaching out to brush some hair from his cheek. His hand tightened on hers as his eyes went to her face.

"You going to be okay?" Natalie asked softly. "This is a lot of information to be sprung on you, I know."

"I believe it's my turn to ask to be pinched," he told her with a brief smile. It just as quickly faded. Vincent's eyes once again focused on his hand as it held hers. "Could it be so simple?"

"Sure. Why not?" She rest her elbow on the bed and propped her chin on her hand, watching him with a slight smile. "You've never had it simple, have you?"

He laid his head back and closed his eyes, his hand tightening on hers again. "No."

"I'd love to be able to break your record, Vincent," she whispered. Her thumb continued to caress his hand. "You deserve a break. Don't you think?"

His lips twitched upward. "Perhaps."

Sleep began to ease the tension from his body. "Getting sleepy?" Natalie asked.

Vincent nodded; his eyes drifting open long enough to catch her gaze. "I was concerned about you. You missed lunch."

Her expression twitched with regret. "I'm sorry, Vincent. I got distracted. You're not mad, are you?"

"No. I knew that you were working." His eyes closed again. "I tried to meet you in my dreams instead."

"Couldn't sleep?"

He released a long breath. "No. Your voice wasn't there."

Natalie's eyes darkened with sadness and she stood to carefully ease herself up beside him, turning in to his side and draping her arm across him as she laid her cheek on his chest. His heartbeat was rhythmic and strong. "I'm here now, Vincent. Go to sleep."

"Am I not already? Are you sure this isn't a dream?"

Her eyelids began to droop and she fought back a yawn. "Positive. I'm too sleepy." She surrendered to the yawn and let her eyes close. "I think I'll take a nap, too. You're warm. I'll cure you in the morning." She snuggled in closer. "I love you, Vincent."

Vincent pressed his lips against her hair and Natalie released a long breath as reality faded to dreams.

* * *

"Tifa, you seen Vincent or Natalie?"

Tifa looked up from where she was curled up on the couch reading a book. She gave Cloud a smile. "Hey, you. How was the walk with Cid to the power plant?"

Cloud came over to sit beside her, pulling her legs up onto his lap. "Good, considering. Everything's looking great. It's working fine. No hiccups. No bugs. Nothing wrong that we can see. He scoped out a couple more places where he can build them and figures we can power at least one more town just from here. We just need to figure the best way to get the power from here to there. I'm voting for underground cable."

"That's cool. Now, what's this about Vincent and Natalie?"

"When I woke up this morning, he was gone and Yuffie said that Natalie never went to bed last night."

"Do you think they're in the Mansion? You know yesterday was the day."

"I was on my way over when I figured I'd stop and say 'hi'." He placed a kiss on her lips and smiled at her. "Hi."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hi, yourself."

Cloud stood, Tifa still in his arms. "Wanna come with?"

"To the Mansion?" She shrugged, adjusting her hold around his neck. "Sure. Why not? It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

Cloud made his way to the door, waited while she opened it for him, and then stepped through to head toward the Mansion. "I hope they aren't in a situation like they were before."

"Yeah. Catching them twice would be a little too embarrassing." Tifa was quiet for a moment and then rest her head against him. "It was sweet, though. Vincent kissing someone shy and innocent like Natalie. A Turk with a professional bookworm."

"Go figure."

They reached the entrance of the Mansion. "So, what exactly did you want with Vincent and Natalie?"

Cloud smirked. "I was wanting to know how the computer was running."

"Liar. You wanted to check up on those two. You aren't their chaperone, you know."

"I know."

"So, what's the real reason?"

Cloud's eyes twinkled. "I was curious. I wanted to see what she was planning on doing. Look over her shoulder, I guess. Maybe give her a hand."

"Don't you think she'd ask if she needed help?"

Cloud shook his head with a chuckle. "Are you kidding? She wouldn't think of that. She's used to working by herself. Just like me."

"Oh. You recognized the 'loner' attitude, eh?"

Cloud set her on her feet inside the Mansion. "Something like that."

"Vincent sure makes it go away, huh?"

"You noticed?"

Tifa smirked at him and nudged him toward the room with the spiral staircase. "Smart aleck."

"Hey. No name-calling. I'll have to retaliate."

Tifa chuckled. "Oh, that would be interesting to see."

He grabbed her waist and nibbled on her ear. "Hey, just say the word."

She pulled herself free and turned to face him, still walking backwards. "Behave yourself, Mr. Strife, or there will be no dinner for you."

Cloud smiled and then put on a dutifully abashed expression. "Yes, ma'am."

Tifa laughed and reached out to grab his hand. "Oh come on, silly. Let's go down and see if they're here."

As the two made their way down the spiral staircase and through the hall past what used to be Vincent's crypt to the basement laboratory beyond, they didn't hear voices or any telltale sign of any activity whatsoever. Once they reached the door to the lab, they were reasonably certain that there would be no surprises behind the door. Not to mention the fact that it was slightly ajar already. So, Cloud and Tifa both gave a shrug and then pushed it open.

Inside, Vincent and Natalie were sound asleep on a makeshift examination bed positioned on the far side of the lab.

Tifa tightened her grip on Cloud's hand and rest her head on his arm. "Is that the sweetest thing you've seen in ages, or what?"

"Damned if I thought it would happen." There was an obvious smile in his voice. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer two people, though."

"It's like they've been together forever."

Cloud nodded and gestured over to the desk with its varying assortment of opened books, scribbled notes, and microscope slides. "Take a look. She's been busy."

"How much of that is new and how much is from her whole life researching him?"

"Probably 6 of one and half a dozen of the other."

Tifa wrapped her arms around Cloud's midsection. "You think she'll cure him?"

"Hell ya. That woman is a lot like you. She can do anything once she sets her mind to it."

"Thanks."

He pressed his lips against her hair. "No problem. Now, come on. I feel like we're eavesdropping. Let's go have some dinner. They'll wake up soon enough and let us know how things are going."

Tifa nodded and sent the sleeping couple one last smile before turning and following Cloud from the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

16

Natalie yawned and stretched, feeling much the cat that had swallowed the canary. She yawned again and then increased the tightness of her arms around Vincent.

"Good morning," he greeted in a sleepy tone.

Natalie looked over at the clock on the far wall. "It certainly is." The temptation to snuggle in closer was tremendous, but she resisted. Instead, she sat up and put a hand to salvage her ponytail of tousled curls as she changed her gaze to Vincent. "So, what did you want for breakfast?"

His eyes glowed for a moment and then a guard was lowered. "Anything will do."

She smiled and carefully turned to slide off the bed. She stretched and twisted the kinks out of her body and then faced him. He was watching her with an odd expression. Natalie blushed. "Now, can I trust you to stay in bed while I go get some muffins and juice?"

His lips were tickled with a brief smile. "Yes."

She wagged a finger at him with fake seriousness. "If I find you out of bed, you'll be in trouble."

"You haven't performed the surgery yet, Natalie," he reminded.

Her mouth framed an 'oh' just before she brought her pinky to her mouth and nibbled on the fingernail. "That's right. I haven't. It was just a dream." She sighed and dropped her hand to her side. "Oh well. I'll go get breakfast. You stay put."

She left the room, closing the door softly behind her. Vincent stared at it for a moment before changing his gaze to his arm that was fastened securely to the side-table and its partially dissembled claw. The urge to grasp it and tear it forcefully from his arm was so strong… He turned his face away and clenched his fist. He had waited this long. A few more weeks or days would be a mere blink, especially when in Natalie's presence for said time. What else mattered?

"The realization of my freedom," he muttered harshly. "Do not forget that."

But it had already faded to a distant second. He knew that if the cure that seemed so simple actually would cause his death, he would be content to remain as he was now. After all, how could he not be content when she loved him for what he was: darkness and light. Vincent took in a deep breath. The scent of her yet lingered in the air and on his shirt. With each breath, his humanness forced its way through some type of mired sludge that had once seemed to choke his compassion to nonexistence. Now… Every laugh. Every smile. Every intentional touch of her hand on his seemed to revive that which he had once thought lost forever.

'I am becoming less human…'

Isn't that what he had thought when taking on his final form: Chaos? Now he was remembering it again. As he had told himself he would. Vincent changed his gaze to the claw again. 'As you so often tried to make me forget. Well, you have lost. Your final defeat lies within her control, Hojo. Her tender touch will render your twisted accomplishment void and you will be forgotten. You will be forgotten and not I.' That admission caused a wave of warmth and freedom.

A smile danced on his lips and twinkled in his eyes.

 * * *

Natalie stood at the entrance to the Mansion for a long time with a silly smile on her face before she was able to venture out into the town. She sighed and then stepped forward, kicking at pebbles as she made her way to the Item shop for their breakfast. Time after time she had woken to the warmth of his hand clasping hers. To the steady beat of his heart in her ear. To the softness of his breath against her hair. Had anything been so wonderful?

'Not likely.'

She had to admit that she'd been oh-so-tempted to relieve him of his clothes (at least his shirt), but the larger part of her modesty and conscience had kept her desires at bay. Barely. 'It'll come when it comes, Nat. Sheesh!' Never before had being pure and innocent been so blasted irritating. She chuckled despite herself and entered the shop to place her order for muffins and grape juice. She paid for it, and then sat at a nearby table to wait.

"Morning, Natalie."

Natalie looked up and gave Cloud a small smile as he sat across from her. "Good morning."

"How's it going?"

She shrugged and began to pick at the fraying tablecloth. "It's kind of early to tell."

"Need any help with the whole cure thing?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said absently. "Thank you."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He smiled. "Okay. Don't say I didn't ask." Silence descended for a long moment. "How's the generator working? Any hiccups?"

"No. It's fine."

"Good." He tapped his fingers on the table and then stood. "We'll see you around, Natalie."

She raised her eyes and gave him a half-hearted wave. "Bye."

Once he'd left the shop, she cleared her throat and looked back down at the table. 'I guess I did it again. I hope he isn't mad.' She had a tendency of getting distant when she focused on a project. Always had. It seemed to help her. Of course, that tendency had gobbled up many a friendship as well. Then, she had stopped trying to make them understand. It had been too hard. Too exhausting. She pushed the thoughts away with a sigh and accepted the breakfast boxes with a slight smile as she stood to leave the shop. She hoped Vincent would understand and not get hurt. 'You should warn him.' Natalie nodded her head. 'Good idea.'

He already seemed to understand so much about her that it scared her at times, but there would always be that one time… 'Yeah. Just my luck, too.' She sighed, grappling with the dreary mood that was quickly gobbling up the happiness that had been so bright earlier. 'You're just hungry. You always get like this when you haven't eaten in a while. And it has definitely been a while.'

She made her way to the basement laboratory and pushed through the door with a smiled greeting. Vincent returned her smile with a genuine one of his own. In fact, she actually saw the gleaming whiteness of his teeth. Natalie blinked in surprise and then set the boxes on a small patch of clearing on the desk. She moved toward Vincent with a question in her eyes and then sat in the chair by the bed.

"What is it?"

She examined his face for a long moment. "I… You look happy, Vincent. I…" She smiled and it wavered with a hint of tears. "I've never seen that expression on your face before."

"No?"

Natalie shook her head, gnawing on her lip to keep from crying. "No. Not like that. What happened? I was only gone a moment."

"A moment can be an eternity." He reached forward and caressed a tear from her cheek. "A realization was made, Natalie. Many, in fact."

"About what?"

"About who I am. About who I want to be. About what I want." He smiled and it twinkled in his eyes. Natalie's throat tightened as he went on. "I want you to try, but I will no longer force you to continue if it means my death. The life I have with you is not only enough, it is a pleasant future."

Natalie's eyes brightened. "Really?" She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it. "Really?"

"Yes."

She smiled and it flashed in her eyes so bright that it infected Vincent's mouth with a smile just as wide. Natalie leaped to her feet and threw her arms around him with a choked, "oh, Vincent," and buried her face into the tangled lengths of his black hair.

His arm wrapped itself around her as best as he could in his limited capacity, and then he was pushing her back with a chuckle. "I feel like a beast caged to a post. Natalie, could you do something about the claw's fastenings?"

"Oh! I'm sorry." She stood back and hurriedly reassembled the covering before unfastening it from the side-table. Vincent flexed the fingers of the claw with a strange expression, changed his gaze to Natalie, and then caressed her cheek with it. She smiled and took it in her hand to give it a squeeze. "Come on. Let's have some breakfast. Then I'll need to hide myself away and start refreshing my memory on anatomy and surgery practices."

"I don't suppose my presence would be anything but a distraction."

"A nice one, but yes." She looked regretful as he stood. "If I trusted myself better, I'd beg you to be there with me."

"You know yourself too well."

She smirked and wrapped her arms around his waist to press her cheek against his chest. "Not really. I just know what I want."

He took in a slow, deep breath of the scent of her hair. "So do I."

His voice was tight and raspy and Natalie knew she had to pull back before something they both wanted happened at what she supposed was the wrong time. 'It certainly feels right…' His grip resisted for the merest second, but he did release her.

"Maybe we better have breakfast outside," she whispered.

Vincent gazed down at her for a moment before nodding and turning to the desk to retrieve the breakfast boxes. "I think that is a good idea."

She cleared her throat and accepted her boxed breakfast, adjusting it to her other hand so that she could take his human hand in hers. "Okay. Let's go where it's not quite so cozy." He chuckled and Natalie smiled as the familiar tingle shot from the center of her soul to the very tips of her toes and fingers. She squeezed his hand. "I can't believe this is happening."

"This is not a dream. Dreams are never this real." He paused outside the door of his one-time crypt and stared at the door. "Did I ever rest there?"

"Yes. Yes, you did. For a very long time, too." Natalie stepped forward and opened the door to pull him in after her. They moved to stand in the center of the room and stared at the black coffin where they had first met. "There. Right there is where I first saw you. That's where I first came to the realization that I was going to do this, no matter what. No matter how long it took to get you to come out, I was going to cure you."

Natalie released Vincent's hand and stepped close enough to the box to touch it, her fingers gripping the edge with white knuckled hands. "I hated this box. Hated everything that it stood for. Hated how it meant you'd been thrown away as if you didn't mean anything to anybody. Hated how it meant you were seen as dead in the eyes of all who knew you. It kept you away from me and from the life that I wanted to give you."

Her voice choked on the sudden tears and she lowered her chin, closing her eyes against the onslaught.

"Natalie." Vincent rested a hand on her shoulder. "Natalie, don't."

She took in a ragged breath and pushed away from the coffin. "I know. I… I shouldn't look back because… it doesn't prove anything. It's just…" Natalie wiped the tears from her cheeks and Vincent wrapped her up in his arms. Her arms went around him with a slight sob. "I hurt, Vincent. I hurt for you every time I think about what you've seen and done and had done to you. It's like my entire insides twist inside out and then again."

Vincent smoothed her curls, his arms increasing their grip around her. "Come. Let's leave this place."

Natalie pushed away suddenly, her eyes flashing with anger as she turned on the coffin. "You lost! Do you hear? You can't have him anymore! He's mine!"

She hurried forward and kicked at the coffin several times, leaving dents and cracks in its side with her heavy soled hiking boots. Vincent attempted to pull her away, but she shook loose and reached into its velvety softness to grab fistfuls of material and pull with all her strength. It ripped with an awful sound, so loud that she cringed away from it. Natalie stared down at the dark material in her shaking hands for a long moment and then tossed it to the ground, gazing down at it with wide eyes.

Vincent took hold of her arm and pulled. She resisted, still staring at the material. "Natalie."

"I'm going to burn this room," she whispered.

Vincent looked at her in shock, and then stepped in front of her to take a gentle grip on her arms. He caught her eyes. "Natalie, that would prove nothing. I choose to be outside this room, so its power is gone. Burning it would leave nothing changed. It would only mar this room with permanent ugliness."

Natalie looked down. "Y-you're right. I'm s-sorry." She brushed some curls from her face and swallowed hard as she turned away from the coffin. "I… I don't…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Vincent guided her from the room and down the hall to the stairs beyond, their breakfast boxes forgotten on the floor of the crypt. They exited the stairwell and Vincent led her to a chair. She sat and he knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his as he looked up into her face. Her eyes were closed and her face was slightly pale. "Natalie, are you all right?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what happened, Vincent." Natalie caught his gaze and gnawed on her lower lip a moment. "I… I was just so angry. I couldn't think of anything but… but destroying that room. It s-scared me."

"Have you ever felt this way before?"

She shook her head again. "No. Never. M-maybe I've been down there too long. Maybe I'm too stressed and need to take a break."

Vincent nodded, bringing one of her hands between his to rub it. "I have waited this long, Natalie. A little more will not matter one-way or the other. I do not place my health above yours."

Natalie rubbed at her forehead. "Studying will help." She almost seemed to be trying to convince herself.

"No," Vincent said firmly. "No studying. No tests. No tissue samples or X-rays. No wandering about in the basement laboratory or thinking of any cures to my person."

"But—"

He moved in and covered her mouth with his, his hands gripping her shoulders to pull her closer as their lips worked together. Tension drained from her body like water and she wrapped her arms around him to move into his embrace. After a long moment, he pulled back and caught her gaze with his.

"No excuses," he rasped. "This is what you must remember." He touched her lips again. "This, Natalie," he said against her mouth. "This…"

She moved closer and tumbled from the chair, pushing Vincent backward and landing on top of him with an "oof". She stared down at him for a long moment with a smile twinkling in her eyes before she burst out laughing, rolling off of him to lay on her back and stare at the ceiling. "All right," she laughed with an occasional glance toward him. "You've convinced me."

Vincent watched her for a long moment before he stood and helped her to her feet. "Good."

"Not that you would have taken 'no' for an answer anyway."

"I wouldn't."

"I know." She sighed and then made her way into the next room and then down the hall to the main entryway, Vincent falling into step beside her. "I've never had a break like what you want me to do. I'm liable to go insane." Vincent said nothing and Natalie glanced over at him. He wore a frown. "What's the matter?"

"I must go."

Natalie went yellow and stopped to take hold of his arm. "What are you talking about? Go? Go where? Why? Why now?"

"Cid and Cloud plan to build another generator in Rocket Town."

"So?"

"I could help."

Natalie shook her head violently. "No. I need you here, Vincent. I want you here!"

"I know," he said softly as he gazed down at her. "I want to be here, too, but you must rest. You must relax. You cannot do that with my presence here."

"Why not?" Natalie asked passionately. "Why not?"

"Because of how you feel."

She pulled him into an embrace, tightening her arms around him till it was a struggle to breathe. "You make it sound like it's wrong to feel."

Vincent stared up at the ceiling of the Mansion for a long time. His arms rigid at his sides. His hands balled into fists. "Natalie, that is not what I mean for you to think."

"Then why?" Her voice was tight with tears. "Why go?"

"Because it is becoming harder to resist, as it is for you. I will not erase your innocence unless there is no possibility of my cure. Only then… Natalie, please." He took a firm hold of her arms and pushed her back, only after using a great portion of his strength. He gazed down at her tear-filled eyes. "Please. Listen. Your passion for me is stealing your focus away from what you wish to do. If I leave for a day or two, you will be better able to think and reason. As will I."

"Just make love to me, Vincent," she said with an impassioned plea. "It's what we both want!" Natalie struggled against his grip on her arms and then looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Dammit, I don't care about monster or human or whatever you think might make a bit of difference. I love you, Vincent, and I want to be with you. All of me! Do you really believe I'm going to be able to think straight when all I imagine is what it'll feel like with you ins—"

"Don't," Vincent said harshly. His eyes flashed with anger and desperation. "I understand, Natalie, and have grappled with that myself. I won't change my mind. Don't torture me!"

She clenched her jaw for an age of silence and then turned away, storming from the Mansion to slam the door shut behind her. Vincent stared at the door for what seemed an eternity in and of itself before taking in a long breath and changing his gaze to the floor. Since that evening she had nearly asked him to stay in her room, the tension between them had risen exponentially. Each day was worse than the last with no outlet. Now that she was to take a break from the experiment, the channeling of their feelings into a night of shared passion and intimacy loomed closer than it ever had. His only hope for survival was to leave.

Hopefully, their relationship would survive this torrent.

Vincent cleared his throat, released another long breath, and made his way out into the late morning sunshine. Cloud and Natalie were having an argument. Dread welled up in Vincent's soul and he strode forward. Before he could rescue Cloud from what Vincent knew would be a bad situation, however, Natalie slapped Cloud hard and then stalked away. Cloud held his cheek in silent stupefaction as Vincent came to stand beside him.

"What the hell got in to her?" Cloud changed his gaze of confusion and bewilderment to Vincent. "She wanted me to tell you that I didn't need your help and I told her that we needed whatever help we could get. I didn't know you were planning on coming with us, though. I thought… I don't know what I thought. Next thing I know, she's yelling at me that I'm ruining her life and that I should just leave you alone because I already had Tifa." Cloud stretched out his hands in a pleading gesture. "Vincent, what the hell is going on?"

"I told her that I was going to Rocket Town to help you and Cid with the generator."

"But what about your cure?"

"Natalie needs a break."

Cloud opened his mouth to say something and then closed it with a shake of his head and a mumbled, "I just don't understand anything anymore," before he meandered toward Tifa's house to say good-bye.

Vincent watched him leave with what was close to an understanding expression. He had barely turned to make his way to the inn when Cid was slamming the door behind him and stalking toward Vincent with an expression as black as death. Vincent groaned inwardly, sure that he was about to witness another casualty to Natalie's temper.

"Vincent, I need to have a word with you." Cid's voice was calmness itself.

Vincent nearly took a step backward. "What is it?"

"Your scientist friend nearly took my head off with a chair." Cid removed his cap and pointed out a fresh cut oozing blood. He replaced his cap and took a very long drag on his cigarette. "Do you mind telling me why she's acting pissier than a cat in heat?"

"It'll pass."

"Oh, I know it'll pass," Cid said. His voice was still dangerously calm. "But it better pass before I lose my patience, or she's liable to find herself over my knee with a sore behind." He stalked away.

Vincent looked up to the second story window of the inn just as there was a crash and a long growl that ended with a high-pitched meow, similar in pitch to Red when he got his tail stepped on.

"Natalie…" Vincent released a long breath and made his way toward the inn. Red was limping down the stairs, nursing his left front leg. "What happened?"

Red cleared his throat - he seemed embarrassed - and then moved past Vincent to the exit. "My fault. I asked the wrong question at the wrong time." Red noticed that Vincent was moving toward the stairs. "Vincent, I don't believe it would be wise to disturb her at the moment."

"It's my fault she's upset."

"Perhaps so, but it would still be the best to let her cool off."

Vincent hesitated, looking toward the crest of the stairs with an expression deep in uncertainty. Finally, he turned and followed Red out of the inn, cringing when another crash was heard upstairs. "Red…"

"It will pass, Vincent. Believe it or not, it will pass."

Vincent sighed and then nodded, moving toward the well where Cid and Cloud were waiting to leave. Cloud had a pronounced hand-mark on his cheek and Cid sported a bandage under his cap. Vincent sent a look over his shoulder toward the upper window just as the curtain closed. He clenched his jaw and then turned back to the others. He didn't want to leave her like this, but he knew that he had to. If he went up there now, he'd give in and he wasn't ready. Not yet.

"It won't take too long to get it built because I have all the parts in my workshop," Cid was saying. "Once we get it running, we can run the cable from there to here and see about synchronizing the generators to produce enough power for 1 or 2 other towns."

"Sounds good," Cloud said with a nod.

Vincent said nothing.

"Now, I don't know how accessible the geothermal power is in Rocket Town. All I know is that it's there."

"If it's there, we'll find it," Cloud said firmly.

Vincent still said nothing. He could feel her gaze. 'This isn't right.' Leaving didn't feel as it should have if it was the best thing to do. If anything, the tension would rise. Their relationship would become strained. They would begin to walk away from each other. Always running. Always hiding from the desires they both shared. They had to work this out. They had to face their passions, talk about them, and then make a decision together.

"I can't go."

Cloud, Cid, Tifa, and Red looked over at Vincent in surprise. "What?" Cid asked first. "What the hell do you mean?"

Vincent looked to Cloud, who nodded with an understanding smirk, and then turned his focus on Cid. "I have unfinished business."

"I'll bet you do." Cid intercepted a dirty look from all three and then strode out of town without another word.

"Good luck," Cloud said. "You'll need it, I think." He gave Tifa one last embrace, and then followed Cid.

Red looked over at Vincent for a long moment and then shook his head. "Farewell. I'm off to Cosmo Canyon to see about a source of power there."

"Bye, Red," Tifa said. After a moment, Tifa turned to Vincent. "Is there anything I can do?"

Vincent stared up at the second-story window. "I don't know."

"This is a really tough part in a relationship, Vincent. Don't give up. Don't try and hide from your feelings, either. It won't help. As you can see." Vincent turned and looked at Tifa. She smiled. "I'm not saying you should give in, Vincent. Don't worry about that. I understand where you're coming from, as much as someone could who isn't you, and I really think it's wonderful. She does too, I bet. It's just a little too hard right now. She probably feels like she's about ready to blow up and doesn't know how to vent." Tifa laughed. "Poor Cloud."

"How do I help her? How do I help myself?"

"Talking about it in a public place always helps. That way you don't have to worry about wanting to take a detour to the bed." Tifa flushed slightly. "I've nearly done that a couple times. Believe me. It's easy to do. But." Tifa sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, you guys have to deal with this before you can move on. I know it feels like you've already dealt with this and that you're going around in circles. Or you don't know why you just don't do it and give her what she wants: you. That's the decision you both have to make. Once it's made, it's made, though. You can't go back."

"I know."

"Yeah, I know you do." She rested a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Good luck, Vincent." She turned away and then stopped. "Oh. And listen to what she's saying. Okay?"

Vincent looked up at the second-story window, took in a deep breath, and then stepped toward the entrance.

* * *

Natalie saw him start toward the inn and turned for the exit of her room, stalking out and striding down the hallway to the stairs. Vincent had just entered when she reached the middle of the stairs. He paused, but she didn't. She strode past and left him standing there. After a moment's hesitation, she heard him follow after her.

"I don't want to deal with this right now, Vincent," she said in an angry tone. "I'm mad at you. Very mad."

"I know." He easily matched her stride. "I know," he said again. "We need to talk."

"All we do is talk," she snapped with a harsh glance over at him. He met it easily. Natalie looked away. "I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of being sensitive. I'm tired of controlling myself. I'm tired of being alone at night."

"I know. So am I."

She halted so suddenly that Vincent took a step past her before turning. "Then what is the problem?"

"That's what we need to find out." He paused. "I've explained it to you, Natalie, and you said you understood. Now you act as if you have forgotten what I told you."

"I haven't. I just don't care anymore."

"Then I guess we have nothing more to talk about."

Natalie regarded him suspiciously, her anger dwindling slightly at the fear of what he might have meant. "What do you mean?"

"If you no longer care what I feel, then you are no longer the woman I grew fond of in these short days. Professor Natalie Long was determined, yes, but she was sensitive to the feelings of others."

His words felt like a dagger in her heart. "That's not fair. I'm human."

"Are you saying I am not?"

Natalie paled. "I didn't say that!"

"Then why would you think that I couldn't also change my mind about my decision?"

"Then why won't you?"

"I've explained that. Why must I continue to tell you what I know you understand? It is hard enough being by your side, Natalie, when your breath smells of honey and your hair of flowers, without you pushing each and every button that weakens my restraint on my desire." He moved toward her, but she stepped back. He sighed. "This is a hard time for you, Natalie, and your innocence makes it harder. As does your love for me."

She dropped her eyes.

"You want instant gratification, and don't realize that our long-term relationship will be sacrificed to that moment." Vincent stepped forward and lifted her chin to raise her eyes to his. "Natalie, you are special to me. So should our first lovemaking be special. Don't you believe this as well?" A tear trailed down her cheek and he continued. "When you are frustrated with the lack of intimacy between us, vent at me. Don't let it build up within you until it endangers us both. Passions are hard to curb when allowed to foster."

Natalie pulled his hand from her face. "I'm just so tired of being the responsible professor, Vincent. I want to be reckless and passionate. I want to know what I want and go after it. I don't want to be told to 'run-along' and then do it."

"You are passionate," Vincent told her. "You are reckless. What else could be behind your searching me out and then falling in love with that which you found? Don't change any aspect of what you are, Natalie, for it is that which I love."

Natalie's throat tightened and she balled her hands into fists. "Wh-what did you say?"

"I said that I love you as you are. I love your innocence, your passion, and your tendency toward absentmindedness when engrossed in a project. I love your eyes and the brightness of intensity that is always there." He stepped closer, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. "I love your blushes. I love your temper. I love the way you swear when you're angry or distressed. I love you, Natalie, and that is why I want to wait. Please, please understand."

"I do understand…" Her voice drifted and she gazed up at him with wide eyes. "Please. Say it again."

"I love you."

"Again."

Vincent smiled and wrapped her up in his arms, taking in a deep breath of her hair. "I love you."

She tightened her hold on him. "I'm sorry I lost my temper. I got so frustrated… Of course, you know all that. You just deal with it better than I do."

"Only because I have had too many years of self-restraint." His grip tightened around her. "I could stay like this until the seasons changed, Natalie. Like this, in your arms, feeling your body so close against mine… It is hard for me to keep from taking you where we both wish to go, but I remind myself. I remind myself that you deserve more than that. As do I. I will not settle for second best."

"I would love you no matter what, Vincent, and sometimes I think you forget that."

"I don't. That is what reminds me of my decision to wait."

She buried her face in his shirt and took in a deep breath. "This is what I needed, Vincent. Just this. A nice, tight hug." Again, she heard the thumping of his heart. "I like hearing your heartbeat. It always sounds like it's saying my name." Natalie smiled when Vincent pressed his cheek against the top of her head. "Can we just stay like this for a while?" She sighed. "Just like this."

"Yes. Yes, we can."

17

Natalie stretched and then pushed the book aside. Vincent looked up from the book he was reading and sent her a quizzical glance. She smiled. "It's really interesting, the human body. It's amazing how it all works."

"Are you finished?"

"Yeah. I did a quiz and got 100%." She rested her arms on the table, stretching out to take his hand in hers. "It isn't the same as medical school, but it's all I can do."

"It'll be enough."

"I hope so." She gave his hand another squeeze and then released it to stand. The Item Shop was beginning to fill with the later risers. "Let's go. I want to get started while it's fresh in my memory."

Vincent stood and followed her from the shop, falling into step beside her as they made their way to the Mansion. It had been the best seven-day vacation she had ever had. Vincent had grudgingly allowed her to read and take notes during the sabbatical, just as he had allowed himself to be persuaded to sit with her in the Item Shop as she did so. When she hadn't been studying, they had taken long walks around Mt. Nibel. Mostly, the walks had been silent times of enjoying the other's company. There had been occasions when one of the two had begun to talk about how a specific section of scenery had reminded them of a memory they had, and then each had taken turns offering a similar memory.

Vincent began to take shape in Natalie's heart and soul as the impassioned person she had suspected he was.

When tempers flared due to frustration and sexual tension, they had somehow controlled their passions enough to vent the rising emotions and work them out. These altercations had usually resulted in a tight embrace that had lasted for several minutes. No kissing. No caressing. Just a very, very tight embrace. Those hours when their passions were more easily controlled, the two had found a patch of lush grass and laid there on a blanket, enfolded in each other's arms to listen to the beat of each other's heart as they caressed arms, hair, or back.

Natalie had become second nature to Vincent's each waking moment.

"Vincent?"

He changed his glance to her. "What is it?"

"I have this feeling that I shouldn't take them out just yet."

"What do you propose?"

"I'm going to clamp them off first. I don't want to take them out only to find that you go into some type of horrid withdrawal. It would be my luck that Hojo used an addictive chemical base." Natalie looked over at him. "All right?"

"You are the professor, Natalie. This is your field of expertise."

She smiled. "You just want the easy way out."

He smirked and held the door to the Mansion open for her. "I would never recognize the easy way."

"Yeah. I guess you wouldn't."

They made their way to the basement laboratory, where they paused in the entrance. Natalie released a slow breath and then stepped forward. She'd come down to set up the night before as Vincent was sleeping.

"I see you were here recently."

"Yeah. Last night."

"You knew, then, that today would be the day?"

"I was hoping, but I wasn't going to bet on it. It depended on how I did on the quiz."

"How many times have you done said quiz with such high results?"

Natalie flushed and double-checked the tools. "Oh, about a hundred or so. I lost count."

"Day two or three?"

She smiled over at him. "Three."

He smirked. "I suspected as much."

"See? You were enjoying yourself as much as I was."

"I didn't deny it."

Natalie gestured him to the table. "Come on. Let's get you ready for the show."

He eased himself up onto the bed and lay back, resting his claw up on the side-table. She reached out to dissemble it and then paused, casting a glance at the sleeve hiding the insertion points from her view.

She cleared her throat and tapped her forehead. "Uh, Vincent, you'll need to take off your shirt."

He sat up with a slight smile in her direction as he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped out of it. He handed it to her. "You have been wanting to do that yourself for quite a while, haven't you?"

Natalie flushed as she set the shirt aside. "Don't start," she warned with a slight smile.

She clenched and unclenched her hands to keep from running them across his smooth chest and focused her attention (quite a feat, considering) on the claw and it's insertion points. There was a metal 'guide', as it were, which kept the tubing from being jostled and reduced the risk of them being accidentally (or purposefully) removed. When she lightly touched the skin just behind the metal guide, she could tell that they were a good 1 or 2 inches into his arm. They would need to be carefully removed via surgery. The tubing, however, could be nothing more than a type of IV. In fact, when she examined the metal guides, she could tell that while it wasn't exactly like an IV, the tubing could indeed be removed by simply retracting the 'needle' inserted there. Whether the guides had a catch that needed to be released before they would easily retract was, again, a different story.

Natalie straightened, sent Vincent a reassuring smile, and then turned for the clamps that would cut off the Jenova from his body. She hesitated for a moment, sent him another smile, and then clamped the tubing. The tubing that ran into his arm cleared of fluid. "Now we wait."

"How long?"

Natalie shrugged and sat on the bed, reaching out to brush some of his hair from his face. He always wore it down. One time he'd told her that he wore it like that, now, so that she'd do just this. "I don't know. I thought that the Jenova was circulated semi-continuously, but I've never seen the tubing empty. So, it could take just a few minutes to react. If I was wrong about the whole theory, that is. If I'm not, and it does only re-circulate every few hours or so, that's how long your body will take to react."

"Any idea what reaction to expect?"

She shook her head. "Sorry. No idea. Prepare yourself for the worst, I suppose."

He took her hand and pulled her toward him, pressing her cheek against his chest to hear the rhythmic beating of his heart. She wrapped her arms around him as best she could and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of his smooth chest against her face and the feel of his hand stroking her hair.

"I am reluctant, Natalie, to have you here to see my pain."

"I am too, but I'm not going anywhere."

He took in a deep breath and released it slow. "I know. We shall wait together."

With each minute and hour that passed, they fought against the elation at the apparent ease of Vincent's cure. The desire to hope that such pain could be ended so quickly was intense, but they pushed it away as each new hour approached. They couldn't be certain. Not yet. So, they waited. They waited and saw the redness of Vincent's eyes decrease until Natalie saw that he had dark, rich, chocolate-brown eyes. They waited and saw the almost undead pallor of his skin fade, revealing a naturally dark complexion easily tanned when out in the sun for extended periods of time.

When Vincent said his stomach growled, Natalie beamed at him and ran out of the Mansion to come back with a thick sandwich, a large piece of fruit, and a tall glass of juice. He ate them all with barely a pause and then rubbed his abdomen and said he was full. Natalie made a few notes on her ever-present spiral notepad, and then resumed their card game. It had been nearly 10 hours. Occasionally, there would be a high-pitched whine from the innards of the glove, but Natalie assumed it was the circulation system complaining at its lack of outlet for its Jenova cells. They ignored it with ease and pleasure.

At the 11^th hour, Natalie decided that they both needed to sleep.

She stood from the makeshift table propped on top of his claw, picked up the cards to set them aside on the table by the computer, and then gave Vincent a kiss on the cheek. "I'm exhausted, Vincent." Natalie pulled the cot closer to his bed and plumped up the pillow. "Some sleep would do both of us some good. If you feel anything odd happen, just wake me. All right?"

He nodded. "I will. Good night."

She lay back on the cot and smiled up at him, her green eyes catching his luxurious brown ones (she'd positioned the cot so that her head was at his feet. It was easier to see him that way). "I love your eyes the best," she yawned.

Her eyes drifted closed and her breathing deepened. Vincent watched her for a long moment, a smile twinkling in his eyes and on his lips. His night vision had faded to practically nothing, so it was hard to see her features in the shadows as clearly as before, but he was seeing her in a different light. Human. Faulty. Real. He was seeing her. Vincent didn't know how to categorize the emotion that welled up within him at that realization, so he filed it away for a future discussion with her, yawned, and then allowed himself to sleep…

* * *

Natalie's eyes opened suddenly and she turned over onto her back, listening. Something wasn't right. Her eyes slowly became accustomed to the dimness of the room and she heard it again: a ruffle. A shift. A groan. She sat up sharply, her feet diving for the floor as she stood and took that one step to Vincent's bedside. She brought her hands up to her mouth to stifle the gasp and then was immediately reaching for the clamps.

He was thrashing and his face and body continued to phase in and out of different forms.

"Vincent," she said in a soft and calm voice, "Vincent, I need you to be still. I know it hurts, but I need to take the clamps off." Vincent gripped the ends of the bed and looked to Natalie with an expression of terror. Natalie nodded and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "I know, but it's going to be all right. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Just be as still as possible and I'll take the clamps off."

He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, the muscle in his jaw twitching wildly as he focused his every ounce of strength on keeping rigidly still. The phasing slowed and Natalie gnawed on her lower lip as she reached out and carefully withdrew the clamps. Fluid immediately rushed into his arm and he howled, his back arching with agony.

"What is it?" Natalie asked in fear. Her hands felt at his forehead and felt his pulse at his throat. "Vincent? What's wrong?"

"It burns! Natalie, it burns like acid!"

Panic rose to choke her as she replaced the clamps. His hands didn't release their tight clasp on the side of the bed, but he was able to settle into the mattress after a long 5 minutes. "Maybe that little bit will help relieve the phasing." Her voice quivered. "Vincent, I'm sorry. If I had known..."

He clenched his jaw tighter and looked over at her after a pause. "It is not your fault, Natalie. It was a reasonable assumption that simply removing the clamps would ease the discomfort. There was no way you could know that my body would so easily reject the chemical base and lose its tolerance for its presence in my system."

"I don't like how this feels," she said in a soft whisper as she caressed his arm. "I feel like this is an experiment and I never wanted that to happen."

"I know, but in science one seldom has the luxury of anything but. Do your best. It will be enough." Vincent flinched and his eyes closed as he took in a quick breath and held it. A grotesque mergence of at least 3 different faces broke out across his features and he moaned. "Do not leave me, Natalie," he whispered through clenched teeth.

"I won't. I'm right here." She pried his claw from its grip on the bed and held it tightly in hers. It expanded and formed different versions of his same extremity as she held it. "I'm right here."

Natalie desperately wished she felt it was safe to give him some type of drug that would allow him to sleep during the process of rejection, if that was indeed what it was. She didn't want to risk a chemical reaction that would likely cause his death. She didn't even dare risk giving him something like a mild pain-reliever due to the same reason. She felt helpless; her heart wrenching at each of his restrained moans of pain as yet another barrage of images twisted his body. 'It wasn't supposed to go like this,' she told herself. But she had known, deep down, that it was a great possibility. A possibility that would make the end result all the more miraculous and appreciated.

"Talk."

Natalie's fearful gaze focused on his pinched face. "What?"

"Speak to me, Natalie. Reality is fading and I do not wish to become lost." His hand clenched hers for a long moment as he choked back a groan of pain. "Tell me a story."

Natalie swallowed hard, fighting against the sobs that threatened her sanity and peace of mind. 'I have to be strong for him. I have to.' "All right." Her voice was calm and warm. "I'll see if I can remember something I haven't told you before."

"Tell me how---" Vincent's voice broke off with a roar of pain as his face fully took on the shape of Death Gigas. Blood trickled from the corners of his eyes and he growled deep within his throat as his large, grayish fist clenched Natalie's.

Natalie's face went from pale to yellow and she kissed his hand. "I'll tell you how I found your picture as a Turk. I've always loved that story." She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, grappling with the panic that refused to be pushed completely away. When she opened her eyes again, Death Gigas was fading to a bluish beast she remembered as Galian Beast. She choked back a sob and swallowed again. "It's a long story, Vincent, but I'm sure it won't bore you." She stroked the bluish paw in an effort to soothe his pain. 'Oh God, don't die. Please.'

"Believe it or not," she began softly, "we were allowed on a field trip to this very Mansion. It was a fluke thing that my teacher was able to arrange for his honor students. I believe Shinra wanted to use it as a kind of recruitment tactic. Show the glamorous side to the corporation and hope that these honor students would sign up straight out of school." The Galian Beast phased out again, leaving Vincent's face covered with sweat and blood. Natalie's hand tightened on his glove and she pressed her lips against it as she caressed his cheek. 'Hold on, Vincent. Hold on.' "I had no idea about the basement laboratory and so I was confused as to why they would bring us there. After all, we were science students. We didn't care much about the perks from being involved in the Shinra Hierarchy.

"Then we were met by Professor Hojo and his assistant, Lucrecia. Most of us knew who they were before they even introduced themselves. After all, we weren't honor students for nothing. We did research. A lot of it. While mine was in archeology and not the genetic sciences, I still knew who he was because of his involvement in research of the Cetra with Professor Gast."

Vincent suddenly released a long breath and his death grip on her hand loosened somewhat, as did his grip on the other side of the bed. He opened his eyes after another pause and focused on her face. "The pain has receded a bit," he said in a raspy voice.

"Shh. Don't talk, Vincent." She stood and pried her hand from his. "I'm going to get you some water. I'll be right back."

She hurried to the desk and retrieved the thermos of water she kept in a small dorm-fridge, and then rushed back to his side. Natalie helped him sit up slightly, guided the straw into his mouth, and then held it as he took in the long draughts of chilled liquid. After a moment, he pushed the thermos away and she helped him lay back. She took hold of his hand again and turned his arm so that she could see the inner side. The skin just behind the metal guides was red and inflamed. She gnawed on her lower lip and set his arm down beside him.

"I need to get some gel," she whispered as his gaze caught hers. "It'll only take a moment." Natalie hurried to the table on the far wall near the X-ray machine and grabbed the tube of local anesthetic she had found while organizing the lab. The moment she returned to his side, he took a firm hold of her arm. She caught his gaze. "It's coming?" He nodded slightly and she hurriedly removed the cap, spread some of the gel on the skin where the metal guides disappeared inside, and then tossed it aside. "I'm going to remove these tubes, Vincent, so I'm going to look for the catch."

His grip tightened on her arm momentarily as she leaned forward to get a closer look at the metal guides. She touched them gently, feeling out each crevice, knob, and button in an attempt to find the release. Every once and a while she saw an expression near desperation on Vincent's face and knew that the pain and chaotic phasing was edging ever closer. Her stomach tightened with a lurch and she nodded as she gnawed her lower lip. She pressed her lips together and released an annoyed exhalation of breath. 'Dammit!' Natalie turned to a bookcase, halted by Vincent's frantic clasp on her arm.

She turned toward him, a similar expression of panic in her wide eyes. "I know, Vincent. I know. I need to see if I can find a diagram in one of Hojo's reports for this thing." She covered his hand with hers and gave a squeeze. "I'll be right over there."

He nodded slightly and released his grip, watching her every move with an expression of barely restrained dread at the coming onslaught. Natalie dove through drawers and file cabinets, rifled through manila folders and thumbed through dog-eared books looking for the design that would help her. Every twitch from Vincent's direction captured her attention for a long moment, and then she was back into the files with renewed fervor.

"Aagh!"

Vincent's exclamation of agony and terror brought her head up. Natalie dropped the book to run to his side, grasping his hand so tightly that his eyes opened and captured hers. "I'm here. Shh. Shh," she soothed in a choked voice.

His grip tightened around hers and his eyes squeezed shut, blood escaping the corners once again. Natalie reached out and caressed the bloody tears away with the tips of her fingers, chewing her lower lip until she could taste her own blood. It wasn't fair. She couldn't relieve any of his pain. She couldn't stop the horrid phasing from one beast to another. She was powerless to help him through the toughest time in his life and she was terrified that the pain would be too intense to withstand much longer. She had to give him something. Anything would be better than this hell.

"Oh God," she whispered in a choked voice. "I didn't know, Vincent. I'm so sorry. I didn't know." She pressed his glove against her forehead and sobbed.

* * *

After what seemed endless hours, Vincent quieted and was able to drift to sleep. His breathing was ragged and labored at times, and his pallor did nothing to alleviate Natalie's suspicions that he wouldn't survive the night. She had put on a brave face for him, of course, and hadn't let the tears of mental and emotional exhaustion slip past again until she was sure that he was asleep. Then her research began in earnest. She had decided that there would be no rest for her until she eased his agony. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was recognized in her mind.

It was Vincent or nothing.

She had found the diagram for the metal guides shortly after Vincent had drifted to his not-so-restful slumber. The catch that prevented the removal of the tubes was a combination of releases, just as the claw had taken a combination of procedures before it could be removed or released from the wearer. Natalie had studied the design carefully for several minutes before tenderly pulling Vincent's arm to a position where she could reach said catch. Barely a moment it had taken and then the tubing had been free of his arm, the claw tossed to the side with a sob of relief. She had decided that her next project would be to study the diagram and insertion technique in more detail and then plan an operating procedure in order to remove them. For right now, though, they would stay because she had need of them.

At the beginning of her 7-day vacation, she had set up a machine to reproduce Vincent's original blood type from a single sample by using a ready supply of plasma found there in the lab. Now she had a nice collection of soft containers in the dorm-fridge. Natalie could only hope that the transfusion would help flush the Jenova toxins out of his system. In order to help, she had been able to use the time while Vincent slept to rig up a rough dialysis system. It would circulate the blood through its pre-programmed setting of what his blood should look like on a molecular level (even deeper) and filter it, keeping a close eye on the level of blood drained compared to that which was introduced.

Now Natalie gazed down at him with a sad expression. 'I wanted to protect you from this, Vincent. Really. I did. I wanted your cure to be painless. To be simple. To be… To be so many other things.' She closed her eyes and lowered her gaze, gripping fistfuls of the bed sheet. She had wanted so many things to be different. Natalie released a deep breath and opened her eyes, reaching out a hand to gently caress his hair from his face. 'Now I see that I'm causing you more pain than Hojo ever did.'

She watched his face for a long moment and then turned away to move toward the south corner where the blood machine was. She checked the connections, made sure the appropriate settings were listed, and then wheeled it next to Vincent. She carefully adjusted his arm so that she could more easily access the metal guides, and then inserted the special designed needle (a horrible looking hollow piece of steel that looked like a pipe). She turned and switched on the power, waited a moment for it to detect a correct insertion, and then sighed with relief when his blood began to flow in to, as well as out of, the machine.

"All right, Vincent," she said softly as she moved to his opposite side, "now we wait again." Natalie took hold of his hand and squeezed it. There was a slight response and she smiled. "I hope your dreams are nicer than what I've been doing to you. You deserve some relief." She sat on the edge of the bed and gazed down at his face. An expression of calm and comfort was there and his breathing slowly became less haggard. "I'm still trying, Vincent. I'm still trying to make it go away. Just fight it with me. Okay? Don't give up. Remember what you said? You said that if the cure would kill you, you wouldn't make me do it. You said that a future with me was better than death."

Natalie released his hand and lay down beside him, holding him tight against her. "You said that a future with me was better than death," she repeated in a choked voice. "Don't leave me."

18

Natalie stared down at the tombstone in numbed grief.

'Here rests Vincent Valentine. Comrade. Fellow Savior. Lover of Life. Searcher of Peace. Rest well.'

'It wasn't supposed to end this way…' The thought drifted absently through her fogged mind as she set the flower on the top of the tombstone. No. No, it wasn't supposed to have ended that way. He was supposed to have been cured. He was supposed to have taken her in his arms and made her feel whole. A part of him. Forever bonded in a way that would never be shared with another soul... Her heart writhed in agony and she lowered her gaze to the fresh turned soil that hid her one and only love from her view.

Natalie dropped to her knees and clutched at the earth with a soul-felt sob. "You weren't supposed to die, Vincent," she screeched through her tears. But her voice was only a choked moan.

"Natalie? Why are you here?"

She hunched over, digging her fingers deeper into the cool soil as the temptation to dig out his body nearly overwhelmed her. "I can't leave him alone. Not here. Not anywhere. He needed to be loved. I needed to love him… Oh God, why didn't I just leave him alone? Why did I have to find him?" Her throat closed over the words and her shoulders were racked with tears.

"You gave him new life," the voice whispered in her ear. "You released his soul from torment and gave him peaceful rest. You gave him what no one else could offer. Love and serenity. Would you take it back?"

"Yes," she rasped in desperation. "If it meant he'd still be alive, I would!"

"Then what of me?" Hands from the mysterious voice took hold of her arms and gently made her look up. "Dearest Natalie, do you no longer love me?"

Natalie gasped, her hands going to her mouth as she looked into the dark and rich brown eyes of Vincent…

…Natalie sat up with a groan, sliding from the bed as she covered her face with her hands. "A dream. It was a dream. It was only a dream," she mumbled over and over.

A dream that had, again, seemed so real. Too real. It spoke volumes, revealing what she believed to be the truth. She was killing one so that the other could live. She was putting one to rest so that she could live the remainder of her days, in happiness, with the one she loved more than anything. Natalie turned to look over her shoulder at Vincent's still form, her body following after a moment's hesitation. 'There you are.' Her eyes clouded with tears and she slowly stepped forward, leaning her hands against the bed and letting her head fall forward as the tears dripped to the sheet.

Waiting had never been such hell.

* * *

The darkness pushed in at Vincent with suffocating clarity. Beasts' howls and inhuman groans of anger, misery, and uncontrolled fury and vengeance. Leering at him. Accusing him of forgetting their power in his life and taking what they gave him for granted. He pushed away from them, scrambling backward.

"I never wanted you! I never wanted your power or your presence!" Vincent raged. A claw took hold of his arm and ripped at his sleeve. He jerked free, flinching as the talons tore into his flesh. "Your strength wanes, dark spirits. Your life force drains. Your power ebbs. Could it be that her lovely hands have bound you?"

They howled, red eyes glowing in the darkness fading to mere shadows. Whispers of inhumanity and callousness.

Vincent pulled a sleek gun from a holster on his hip. "I bid thee farewell, Hojo. All your creations will vanish. All your power ceases to exist in this world I have chosen. In this life I shall share with a pure woman. Do you feel it? Do you taste the bitterness of defeat on your lips." He shot into the darkness and heard a wail of death. "You creatures of the night will receive no more shadows. No more feeding from the despair that has long harbored in my soul. I am free of you." Vincent laughed and fired into the night again and again and again.

A figure leaped from the gloom and tackled him, burying its teeth and claws into his flesh. Vincent pushed and beat at the thing with his gun and fists, but still it dug in. Vincent bit back a growl of pain and shoved the barrel of his gun under the thing's chin. Their eyes locked. Red and Brown. Vincent and Vincent.

"She wants me," it hissed. "You are weak. You are not enough to satisfy her hunger."

Vincent's eyes went black with rage. "She wants me, for she is the one who designed the cure from you."

The two grappled, dodging blows and causing bruises to form and blood to fall. Minutes faded to hours and still they fought, hurling insults and fists. Vincent detected a deterioration of strength in his hated alter ego and seized the opportunity, kicking him back to scramble to his feet. Red Vincent glared up at him and the barrel of his gun.

"You cannot kill what you know yourself to be," it said harshly.

"I can kill what I detest, creation of Hojo. You."

Red Vincent's eyes widened in fear and he fired…

…Vincent opened his eyes suddenly and sat up. "Natalie?"

She vaulted to her feet from the cot at his side and paused a mere instant before throwing herself into his arms. "Vincent, oh my God, I thought you were dying. Vincent. Vincent…" She continued to sob his name as she kissed his mouth and face.

He pulled her tight against him, barely noticing the lack of tubes in his arms and the missing weight of the claw on his hand and forearm. All he could feel was the luscious warmth of her body against him, the sweet taste of her lips on his, the heavenly sparks of her hands in his hair, and the blessed freedom of silence in his mind.

Epilogue

The woman with the long red curls smiled down at her swollen abdomen, caressing it with her hands just as there was a vicious kick. "Vincent. One of them is kicking again. Hurry."

Vincent Valentine, husband and soon-to-be father of twins, hurried to his wife and knelt down to spread his hands wide across her belly. There was another kick and he smiled up at her. "This one will be strong."

"Or just stubborn," Natalie Valentine laughed down at him as he kissed her belly. "I can't wait to find out."

"You promised not to deliver until after Cloud and Tifa's wedding. Remember?"

Natalie's eyes twinkled with a mischievous smile as she once again began stirring the stew that bubbled a contented rhythm on the stove. "I know, but when they want out there will be little I can say about it. It doesn't matter to the twins if their wedding is next week or next month." Vincent massaged her shoulders and Natalie moaned as she closed her eyes. "I'll give you about a hundred years to stop that," she told him.

He chuckled and pulled her closer against him, his hands lightly caressing her bulging middle. "Have you ever been to Midgar?"

"Not since high school. I didn't like it. Not enough history." Natalie sighed and pulled away to turn the heat off on the stove. "It will be interesting to see what Barret and the others have accomplished. Cid said that the geothermal reactors are his latest feat of genius."

"Genius that he wouldn't have thought of without your help on the design."

Natalie chuckled. "Hey, I don't mind." She turned and handed him the bowls and silverware, then caressed his cheek. "I've got all the things I need right here."

His eyes twinkled with his smile as he brought her palm to his lips. Then, he turned toward the table and set out the bowls and silverware before turning for the cupboard for the glasses. "Can you believe it's been a year?"

"No. No, I can't. It seems like just yesterday. Yet here I am, married, owner and dean of the Valentine School for Gifted Children (formerly known as Shinra Mansion), doing research on the further rehabilitation of the planet in the basement laboratory that housed so many evil research projects before, and about to give birth to twins." Natalie released a deep breath and then handed Vincent the hot pads to move the stew from the stove to the hot plate on the table. "Life couldn't get better."

"It will if they are both boys."

Natalie laughed and sat in the chair he'd pulled out for her. "You and your fetish for an all-boy family."

He nibbled on her neck as he pulled her hair back from her face. "I don't wish you to be jealous of a daughter quite yet."

She reached behind to caress his cheek. "Come on, Vincent. Eat your stew. We've got to leave early in the morning if we want to make Midgar before dark."

* * *

"Vincent! Natalie! You made it!"

The couple turned toward the voice to see Red bounding toward them with a smile on his face.

Natalie smiled and gave him a wave. "Hello, Red. It's been a while." Red rubbed himself against her legs with a very loud purr and then sat, wrapping his tail around his forepaws as usual. "Thank you so much for speaking last month," Natalie told him. "The children had so much fun listening to your stories. And the pictures were a spectacular touch."

Red's expression showed embarrassment. "It was my pleasure. I hope you ask me to speak again."

"Oh, I will. Most definitely."

Red looked to Vincent and smiled. "Marriage has agreed with you, Vincent. Fatherhood will too, I suspect."

Vincent squeezed Natalie's hand. "I have no doubt."

"How are the twins?"

"Exuberant," Natalie laughed.

"Eager to be out, more than likely." Red stood and gestured for them to follow. "I'll give you a tour."

Natalie's grip on Vincent's hand tightened and she sent him a radiant smile. "I can hardly wait to see the geothermal reactor! To see how Cid finally decided to set it up. He had a lot of great ideas, but the conversion rate on a couple of them would not maximize the energy output. I really hope he chose the one that did the best all the way around. Imagine how many settlements can utilize the power that's under this huge city if it's converted to its maximum capacity!"

Vincent's lips were tickled with a smile as he watched her animated expressions, the light dancing in her eyes. "I doubt that was to be Red's first stop, Nat."

"On the contrary," Red put in with a smile toward the couple. "I knew that Professor Long would be the most interested in Cid's project, especially since she had a great hand in its final design."

Natalie looked at Red in surprise. "Pardon?"

"Cid was very clear on the matter of who should receive the credit for the reactor."

Natalie flushed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "My goodness. I don't know what to say."

"I'm sure something will come to you when we meet Cid and the others at the reactor. They are planning the possibility of synchronizing a second and third."

"My goodness gracious!"

"After the wedding at the end of this week, they were hoping that you could be convinced to stay and help," Red added.

"Of course I'll stay. It's a good thing I brought my bag…" Natalie's voice drifted as her mind began to process and envision the answers to the challenge posed.

Vincent smiled down at her. As they made their way through Midgar, her bright green eyes took in each aspect of the scenery: its importance to the city's smooth operation, its role in the city's history, and the indeterminate amount of possibilities into making it run better. That was how her mind worked. It planned. It organized. It envisioned. It created. It never ceased to amaze him. A slight flush rose to her cheeks, sparkling in her eyes and clearly telling of her excitement at discovering the feasibility of the possibilities she had already envisioned. It also told of her eagerness at the opportunity of discussing her ideas with Cid.

Natalie's brilliance enraptured Vincent.

"As you can see," Red was telling her, "Barret and I decided the best way to encourage growth was to tear down the walls. We didn't like the idea of 'sectors' making the people feel as if they were separated from one another. We wanted to encourage a feeling of community."

"Of course!" Natalie exclaimed. "It makes perfect sense. What did you do about the original names of the initial settlements? Are you going to give the people the opportunity of reinstating those?"

"Undoubtedly," Red said with a nod. "The name 'Midgar' has so many bad memories of oppression that Barret and I are almost positive the people will choose the original names. It will be an opportunity to invite back the previous times of peace. An opportunity to come full circle and embrace simpler times."

Natalie nodded enthusiastically and then turned to Vincent with bright eyes, her cheeks still flushed in her excitement. "Vincent, I think I should look into the possibility of starting an Academy here as well. Don't you think?"

Vincent gazed down at her in adoration and nodded. "I do."

She grinned up at him and then refocused her attention on Red as they continued to discuss the rebirth of Midgar and the possibilities said rebirth meant for not only the people, but also the children not yet born. Vincent watched the life expressed in her eyes as well as in her expression and felt the warmth in his soul blossom yet again. The days after his own rebirth had been quick and painless. Natalie had never left his side, so determined had she been to monitor his every body function until she had been certain the danger had passed.

Then, exactly two weeks after her initial 'experimental cure' had first begun, they had been married.

Vincent still remembered the night before the ceremony. Remembered it as clearly as if it had happened the previous night. He and Natalie had decided to stay apart that day. Many reasons had led up to the decision, the most prominent being their common desire to experience anticipation at the sight of one another at the wedding ceremony. Natalie had used the day to contact her family and repair bridges long since thought forever lost. Vincent, however, had used the time to instigate a closure he had never before felt.

With Lucrecia.

Quite early in the morning of their voluntary separation, Vincent had made his way from Cloud's house to the basement crypt. He had seemed to stare at the black sarcophagus for hours, wondering at the sanity of his decision to be there in order to remember and relive his memories of a past love. Thoughts of Lucrecia wouldn't leave him in peace, though, and he knew that in order to have the life with Natalie that he wished to have, he had to put them to rest. He had to close them off from the rest of who he now was. He had to bury them with the creation of Hojo. A creation that he no longer was.

There had only been a slight hesitation before he had once again lowered himself into the crypt, closing out the light with the lid of the coffin. Surprisingly, sleep had come easily. So, too, had the image of Lucrecia…

… Vincent looked around him. He was in Nibelheim, outside the Shinra mansion, ages before Sephiroth had become twisted with his evil desire for godhood.

He focused his attention on Lucrecia as she stood outside the gate of the Shinra Mansion. "Lucrecia."

She turned to him with a sad expression. "Vincent." She looked down, removing her glasses to self-consciously tuck them into the breast pocket of her white lab coat. "You've been gone a long time."

"I know."

Lucrecia looked up and she held an expression of dread in her eyes. "Why?"

"I have a chance for a different life now. A chance at a better one. A chance for a family with a woman who loves me."

Her eyes showed pain. "Do you love her?"

Vincent nodded, still keeping his distance from the shade of his past. "I do."

"You once said you loved me," she accused him softly.

"That was another life. Another Vincent."

Lucrecia lowered her eyes. "Another Vincent? There is no other Vincent. There is you and you said you loved me. What right does she have to take you away?"

Vincent watched her face for a long moment, waiting for any hint of the tenderness he had once felt for her to resurface. It didn't. "She did nothing, Lucrecia. As you made your decision to be with Hojo, I have made my decision to be with her."

"Because she gave you back what you wanted."

"No, because I love her."

Lucrecia's face twisted with pain. "You want me to go away now."

"I want you to rest. There is nothing for you here. Go and sleep."

Her eyes met his. "I don't want to."

"But I do. I love her, Lucrecia. I wish to dream of her. I wish her to bear my children. I wish to grow old with her. You cannot stay here. There is no longer any place for you in my dreams."

Her chin tilted upward. "Then why am I here now? Why aren't you dreaming of her now?"

"I wanted to say good-bye."

"I don't."

Vincent shook his head. "It does not matter what you want, Lucrecia. You were a part of my old life. A life that is dead now. It is over now. So is your wandering…" A light sound of laughter tickled his ears and the breeze held the distinct aroma of Natalie. Vincent smiled briefly and then focused his attention back on Lucrecia. "She is coming. Please. Go now. Save yourself the pain of seeing us happy together and go."

"I don't believe you."

"Lucrecia." He stepped forward and rested a hand on her shoulder as he caught her gaze. "Lucrecia, go. Rest. Sleep. Remember the good times and let yourself fade to a pleasant memory. It will be enough."

"Vincent? Where are you?"

Vincent dropped his hand from her shoulder and turned. "Here, Natalie."

He heard a sigh behind him and the whisper of a kiss on his cheek. "Good-bye, Vincent. My Turk."

"Good-bye, Lucrecia," he whispered back as Natalie came into view from the path to Mt. Nibel. She saw him and ran forward, throwing herself into his arms with a laugh. "Hello, Natalie."…

Regret had passed then. Never again had he dreamt of the decision either of them had made. His mind had been free of its last torment. His heart had been released of its final doubt. And his soul had been free to love the woman that had sacrificed everything for his freedom.

He caressed a wispy curl from her temple and placed a kiss there. "I love you," he whispered.

She turned toward him with a smile and fondly stroked his cheek as Red moved on ahead. "I know."

Vincent's eyes twinkled with a smile, tenderly twirling the wedding band on her finger as they replayed the moment of his proposal. "Will you marry me?"

Natalie moved closer, taking hold of both his hands and bringing his arms around her. "Yes."

He pulled her closer, pressing her swollen belly a little tighter against him as he tickled her cheek with his lips. One of the twins kicked and he chuckled. "When?"

She moved to press her cheek against his chest, listening for the familiar thump of his heartbeat. "Today. Tomorrow. It doesn't matter. Next week. Next year… I've waited this long for my Turk, I can wait a little longer."

Vincent sighed deeply as he pressed his lips against the crown of her head. "Dearest Natalie. My professor."

"I love you, Vincent." Her arms tightened around him. "Whether you have red eyes or brown. Whether you have a claw or a hand. Whether you fly or have both feet firmly planted on the ground… I love you. Never forget that."

He smiled and took in a deep breath of the scent of her hair. "I won't."

<The End>