The third day
found them halfway between Junon and...wherever Aerith supposedly was. Neither
Gally nor Zack was particularly forthcoming on the location, but they'd seemed
to work out their differences after the first day or so, and were now talking
again.
After the
dinner dishes had been washed in the nearby stream and the bedrolls had been
laid out, Vincent stood and drew his coat around himself. "I’ll keep watch
tonight."
"Are you
certain?"
The
dark-haired man nodded. "I need some time to think. You get some sleep. I
won't be far."
Sephiroth
watched him melt into the darkness beyond the fire, then went to check on
Gally. Of COURSE she had nothing, no supplies, no sleeping bag, so he'd been
lending his coat to her for a bed. Once sure she was settled, he lay down and
closed his eyes.
It was easy
to slip into dreams when he had the Planet to lull him to sleep. He could feel
the warmth of Aerith's body, just as if she was there, could smell the scent of
her hair. He had the same dream night after night. Always he held her in his
arms, only to wake in the morning to find himself curled around nothing but
air.
The moon
climbed through its path in the sky as the hours passed. Gally began to whimper
in her sleep, kicking her legs until she woke suddenly, screaming so harshly
she made no sound. The coat beneath her was wet with her tears. She crawled
over to Sephiroth and poked him in the shoulder.
Immediately
he sat up. "What is it?" He was still groggy, pulling himself out of
the dream-Aerith's arms. "Gally?" He looked at the little girl's
tear-streaked face.
She shook as
sobs racked through her tiny body. "Sephy? C-can I sleep with you?"
She managed to say between the broken and silent cries.
Automatically,
instinctively, he reached out and gathered her into his arms. "What is
it?" he asked again, gently, idly stroking her hair.
"I had a
bad dream."
"What
about?" It was so natural to do this, this is what one did when a child
cried.
She buried
her head in his shirt and mumbled something inaudible.
"It's
okay." He hugged her. "Tell me. It might make you feel better."
He didn't even notice how he began rocking her back and forth, soothingly. Her
normal personality made it easy to forget that she was still a very, very young
child.
"I’m a bad
girl," she sniffled.
"No,
you're not. Come on."
She shook her
head and looked into his face, then it all came out in a rush. "I don't
wanna hear people like Zack. I don't wanna! They aren't all nice. Daddy left
cause I’m—I’m…" She tried to force the words out, but they seemed to stick
in her throat.
Something
clicked in Sephiroth’s mind. It was as if she’d been beaten into hiding her
misery, as if crying aloud hadn't been permitted. He brushed one of her tears
away with his thumb. "Go on."
"H-he
said I was bad. Wrong...bad luck. Mama left him and now she’s with Zack.."
She began to quiet down. "I wanna be right. Not like this. I don’t wanna
hear them anymore, Sephy. I want it to be quiet."
"HE's
the one who was wrong." He hugged her tighter. "You're not bad
luck." Back me up here, Zack.
Silence from
the voices.
Planet? he sent, wondering
why the garrulous Zack had seemed to leave him alone. Don't make me do this
on my own, you two.
As if she
heard his thoughts, Gally hugged her arms around his broad chest. "They
never talk when you want them to." She continued to sob quietly.
"Of
course. I noticed that. And then they talk when you want them to be
quiet."
She looked at
him again, tears still flowing down her face.
"Tell me
what happened."
She shook her
head fiercely, sending the brown curls flying.
He sat up
properly and set her on his lap. It was a strange sensation for him to be
comforting a child; he, the very man who had killed children without a thought.
He wrapped the blanket around both of them. "Then what do you want me to
do?"
She was
immediately sorry for bothering him, it seemed. "I’m sorry..."
"Stop
saying that." He tilted her chin up. She really did look exactly like
Aerith would have as a child. More gently, he continued, "You have nothing
to be sorry for. I just can't help you if I don't know what's wrong. Do you
think I would punish you?"
"I—I—don't
know," She replied, "My Daddy didn’t wanna hear me cry. He used to
get mad at me."
He felt anger
towards this man he'd never met, welling up within him. "He was wrong. Did
you know my...father...was the same way? He would hurt me if I cried." Why
am I telling her this? Since when did I care what a child thought? The
answer, of course, came to him immediately: Since I started this new life,
and got to experience the things I'd passed over in my old one.
She wiped a
red-rimmed eye, "Really?"
"Yes."
He smiled, just the tiniest bit, and brushed her hair back from her face.
"He stopped when I grew strong enough to fight him, but until then, I
wasn't allowed to make a sound. It was very, very hard to do." His eyes
glowed softly. "I promise I won't hurt you, Gally. Besides, Aerith would
be angry at me if I did. She's just as nice and pretty as Zack said, but...I
wouldn't want to make her mad. She's strong." He chuckled at the image of
Aerith hitting him over the head with her staff.
She laughed,
momentarily distracted. Then her chin trembled again. "But I tried to
listen and he—he—he didn't just hurt me..." She had stopped crying but
seemed on the verge of starting anew. "I told him to go away once. I
begged, but he locked me in my room. And he hit Mama...She would pretend he
didn't but I knew."
His arms
curled more protectively around her. Bastard, he thought, ignoring the
voice in the back of his mind that said, you were worse even than he.
She looked
over her shoulder to the trees beyond, "Mama got a friend, he was nice.
Daddy came and they fought two nights ago."
"Did you
ever hear her friend's name? If it was two nights ago, he might still be
nearby."
She seemed to
watch something that frightened her. As if looking to him for protection, she
clung close to a man who had terrified millions.
"I'm
here, Gally," he whispered into her hair, "Don't be afraid."
She nodded,
"They were looking for him. They hurt Mama, and then they chased me."
"Who?
The men who we saw in the alley?"
She nodded.
"Mama’s friend said he would be back, but now we have to go to Corel for
him. Daddy wants to hurt him. Mama said that we were going to run away. But I
love my daddy. I just want him to love me back. But he can't ‘cause I’m
different. He said only people like Mama's friend could like me. Crazy
people." Those tears seemed to want to come again, but she was cried out.
"Gally..."
Sephiroth wished the man would appear so he could throttle him. How could
someone be so cruel to a child? Someone other than Hojo, at least? "I want
to have a nice long talk with your daddy someday. He should never have said
anything like that to you." Inside, he seethed. He was already dreaming up
creative ways to 'talk' to her father when they met...for he was quite certain,
they would meet indeed. "Listen, we have to go get Aerith, and then we'll
go to Corel and see if your mother's friend is there. All right?"
"Uh-huh."
She sighed, snuggling closer to him. She appeared to be feeling better.
"Uncle Vinnie is gonna go away for a while."
"Oh?"
he frowned. "Where is Uncle Vin--I mean, where is Valentine going?"
She gave the
General a knowing look. "He has an appointment."
Sephiroth's
brows raised in question. "Really, now? Then he'll have to keep it. Is he
coming back?"
"Yeah.
He’ll have a friend with him, too."
Sephiroth
gave her a blank look. "Ah."
She yawned,
"I'm sleepy…" Then she looked around and bit her lip. "W-would
you stay up till I fall asleep? You—I mean, you can put me back on the coat,
but it’s wet...and—and—and—"
He smiled
weakly. "Of course, I'll stay up. You can sleep here, it's all
right." He brushed her hair back again. "You know Aerith does that,
too? She bites her lip whenever she's worried, or thinking. I think you're
going to like her, you know that?"
She nodded
wearily. He lay down on his side, letting the child curl up against him. It was
like having a cat sleep beside him, she was so small. He pulled the blanket
over them both, hoping his coat would be dry by morning. "Goodnight,
Gally."
But she was
already sound asleep.
*****
Vincent
perched on an outcropping of stone, thinking. He held his PHS in his metal
claw, watching it curiously. Gally had said he would be receiving a call soon,
from someone who needed his help.
He sighed.
He’d only wanted to withdraw from the world, once he’d helped defeat Sephiroth.
And yet here he was, running all over the place with the formerly dead son of
his lover and a small girl who spoke to the dead, going to rescue another
formerly-dead friend who wasn’t in danger yet, but she would be, according to
Gally…he sighed again and went to put the PHS away.
It rang, and
he nearly dropped it in surprise.
"Hello?"
he said, gingerly putting it to his ear as if afraid it would bite him.
"V-Vincent?"
Tifa’s voice trembled from the other end. He sat up straight.
"Are you
all right?" he asked, worried. "What happened?"
She
hesitated. Something was DEFINITELY wrong, he could tell. "Is—is he
still with you?" She didn’t need to say Sephiroth’s name; the disgust in
her voice was enough to let him know who she meant.
"He
is," he replied evenly, "Tifa, what is wrong?"
She launched
into a tirade, barely taking a breath between words. He caught something about
Cloud leaving. "Wait, Tifa, what was that?"
"He
left, Vincent. He said he had to go find her. Before S-S—before he could
get to her." It sounded like something was breaking in the background.
"He left. He decided that she couldn’t make it on her own, so he
left." She sounded dangerously close to breaking down. "I don’t know
what else to do, Vincent. He’s obsessed with finding her."
"Calm
down. Tell me what happened." His mind began working furiously. Cloud was
out looking for Aerith, too? That promised to be a mess. "And put down
whatever it is that you’re about to throw."
She was quiet
for a moment, then laughed ruefully. "You know me better than I
thought." The sound of something heavy being set down came through the
PHS. She took a deep breath, and he could practically see her centering
herself. "Thanks, Vincent. I was just so angry at him. I know you don’t
like to be bothered—"
"Tifa,"
he interrupted, "It’s all right. Now, where is he? When did he leave? Do
you know what direction he started in?"
"He went
North, toward Midgar first. I don’t know, I think he thought she’d go to her
church when she left. After that, I have no idea where he plans to go. He left
this morning, so he won’t reach the city for at least a few days."
"What
kept him so long? She’s been gone a month." Three days to Midgar and a
day to pick through the rubble…If I were Cloud, where would I go next?
"I tried
to convince him that she wanted to be alone. He listened to me for a while, but
we’ve been fighting about her ever since she left." Something that
suspiciously resembled a choked-back sob came over the line. "I guess he
got tired of talking about it."
Stupid
Cloud, thought
Vincent, You have someone who’s devoted to you, who stands by you through
all that, and you throw it all away to chase after a phantom. "Where
are you now?"
"I’m
still here, in Kalm." She sounded resigned. "As usual."
"Then
stay there. I’ll be a few days, but I’m coming out there. Will you wait?"
A small
laugh, then, "I’m good at waiting."
"Stop
it," he said warningly, "Cloud is an ass."
She laughed,
for real this time. "You notice how I’m not arguing with you." There
was another silence on the line, but one with less tension than before.
"Vincent…you’re really gonna come out here? I mean, why?"
He stood and
stretched. "Because I’m only staying with Sephiroth until he finds Aerith.
I’ve decided to give up being a recluse, considering how people won’t leave me
alone anyway. So, since I’m out and about, I might as well visit the one person
other than Nanaki who made it worthwhile to wake up in the first place."
"Aww,
Vincent, that’s so sweet." She was being sarcastic now. That was a good
sign.
"Tifa,"
he began, then stopped.
"You
don’t have to say anything. I—I think I understand. I’ll be here."
Relieved, he
smiled to himself. "I know you will. I’ll be there in about a week. We
should be meeting up with her in a couple of days. Once she’s safe, I’ll go
straight to Kalm." And gods help Cloud if he crosses my path on the
way.
"Thank
you, Vincent." She hung up. One more thing Vincent liked about Tifa; she
didn’t waste words when none were needed. He pocketed the PHS and headed back
to camp. Sephiroth was sound asleep, arm draped over Gally like a father with
his daughter.
Vincent
raised an eyebrow, not really surprised at the bond that seemed to be growing
between the two. He fed another log to the fire. So Gally had been right;
someone had called him. And Tifa certainly needed help, even though she would
swear otherwise.
He settled in
for the remainder of the night.
*****
AN: Once
again, I have managed to NOT thank my friend Drakonlily for providing the spark
behind Gally's utter cuteness. Thank you so much, lil dragon. And if I forget
to mention it again, I'll owe you 2 Rude fanpics.
~~CG *wark*