Final Fantasy VII: Patiently Waiting

Chapter 2 written by Vincent Noble Valentine...

Cosmo Canyon, the last place on Earth that Yuffie wanted to be at, but that's how it was decided and if Yuffie didn't agree to the joint decision then it was either Cosmo Canyon or Wutai, and Yuffie sure as hell didn't want to return home to Wutai just yet. Especially if it meant having her father Godo baggering her for the materia that her comrades had so generously 'donated'. And even when that annoying event would be over, her father would then begin electing Yuffie as the new ruler of Wutai, handing down the position on a silver platter with oh so many responsibilites and duties that had to carried out as the ruler of their town. Well la de dah, that was the last thing on Yuffie's mind or on her 'to do' list. She was young, spirited and free and there were plenty more helpless people out there to rob and there was still plenty of materia to be found too. Ah a world full of suckers that would easily believe the innocent charms and wiles of a 16 year old Shinobi, they would however find out the oh so innocent ninja isn't so innocent when they later find out they were relieved of their gil and materia, and even if they wanted to find her they'd have no luck, Yuffie was always long gone and snickering evilly.

But in Cosmo Canyon everybody knew who Yuffie was and what she was like. She wouldn't have a chance in hell of stealing any materia here and even if she did have any luck, the townspeople all knew who to blame for the thievery...as if it weren't too obvious. Futhermore this was Cosmo Canyon and here there absolutely nothing to do in here in Yuffie's mind, well nothing that could hold her interest for long other than the materia store. It was quickly decided long ago when the young Shinobi came here with the others, that this place was so boring that it should have been turned into a residental home for old people. They would have practically loved it here. But since this was Nanaki's homeland and tribe, she respected that and let that thought drift away. She certainly didn't want to say that out loud to the fiery beast in fear of getting clawed to death. Yuffie knew all too well about insulting someones pride and their homeland because the unfortune fool that insulted Wutai, HER homeland when she was 13, ended up with a very broken arm, which of course Yuffie denied blantly with as much venom in her voice as she could muster. Surely if she had the chance she would have done more than break the little shit's arm.

But that was then, it was the past and had been and gone. She certainly had accomplished a lot more since then and even with the saving of the planet and Sephiroth's defeat, even that memory was slowly becoming a fading one. The reason she had agreed to coming to Cosmo Canyone in the first place, other than not wanting to return to Wutai just yet was to party hard AND to get Vincent absolutely drunk! After being stuck with 8 people over a year and with most of them being men and at the legal age to drink, it seemed unfair that Yuffie couldn't join in on the partying just because she was younger then everyone else. Now Yuffie never was one to be patient or to wait for things but sometimes good things come to those who wait. A years travelling and they didn't even remember her birthday or the fact she was a year older.

Well all that was going to change! They were either going to let her join in the with the celebrating and with the drinks or else they would all pay in spades. Now technically Yuffie may be the youngest member in the group and a teenager but that didn't mean she had her means of persuasion and she of all people had the sneakest means of persuasion by far that put even Cid's prank jokes to shame. And if they said no...then Cloud was going to get it the worst...and then Cid! Chuckling evilly the scheming Shinobi is the first to run off ahead to Cosmo Canyon leaving everyone eating her dust by the Highwind.

"Hey where'd Yuffie go?" questions Cloud.

"The brat legged it north, she's either gone to steal some materia or she's probably waiting for us at the stinkin bar. Spike why the hell didn't we just tie her up and leave her in the highwind?" grumbles Cid smoking what remains of his endless amount of cigarettes.

"Now Cid, as much as you and Barret hate to admit it, we need Yuffie with us tonight. She helped save the planet too and it wouldn't be the same without her there to join us in celebrating"

"I hear ya sister, but still...ah shit! There's never two ways around it! We either let Yuffie come with us and join in or she complains, we let her drink or she steals our materia. God really must hate me to have thrown the brat in with us" grumbles Cid again, this time stomping on the floor a little annoyed.

"Just think of the time that we have left together as a team as an opportunity to get to know Yuffie better. You never know there could be a whole lot more to her than she's letting on" replies Tifa soothingly.

"Yep it's true...God REALLY fucking hates me. Ey ey! Where's the vampire?"

"Present"

"And what I don't get is how you somehow turn up out of no where Vampy boy. That is the one thing about you that really freaks me out man" chuckles Cid scratching his head in confusement.

"...I believe it's what you would call a 'gift'. If I wasn't me, would have you expected me to act any different?" questions the former Turk marching onward, not evening caring for an answer.

"Well...uh, no"

"Heh, Vince's got you stumped there man. But he's right, Vincent wouldn't be hiself if we didn't know him the way he was. Either way I can't picture Vince being any different. That's jes the way he is"

"Yeah Barret your right. Ack! What are we doin about here yappin for? There's drinking to be done!" shouts the pilot legging it full throttle after the others.

"Yo! Wait up you cranky ol' fool! At least save me some drinks till I get there!"

The nights festivities went along as planned as our heroes all joined in with being merry and drinking their fill and suprisingly without any problems on Yuffie's part. No secrets were let loose and all most members did other than cleaning out the bar was reminice of the old times they shared and the best moments of their adventures together. Cid's best moment was argubly the first time he ever laid eyes on space, that memory will always remain close to his heart and from then on that memory would fuel an even greater need to venture out into space once more. Tifa's best memory of their journying together was being able to meet them all and that she was glad to get to know them all better, but secretly she was just glad that she could be with Cloud every step of the way. With all the times they shared fighting side by side and the date the two of them had at the Gold Saucer; those would always be Tifa's fondest memories.

Even though everyone of them was sharing their fondest memories and small talk as usual the only one who wanted space to himself was none other than Vincent Valentine, standing in a secluded corner holding a glass of some form of alcohol that he grudgingly accepted from Yuffie. Of all people their celebrating seemed to be the hardest thing Vincent could do at the moment. They had every right to celebrate and drink the night away and have certain possible futures to look forward too. But being a man who is twice the age of most of them and to have possibly done everything they had yet to do in life, what did his future hold? Was there really anything in life that he always wanted to do that he hadn't tried before? Was their any need for him to remain with them any longer? He only joined AVALANCHE out of the obligation to avenging the injustice to Lucrecia's memory and to kill Hojo and straight after that was done he swore he would leave them and return to the coffin.

Yet he choose to stay because of the threat that was Sephiroth still existed. Each and everyone of them were told to find a reason to live, to fight and like them Vincent left to find his meaning in life, his reason for fighting alongside them. Vincent didn't fight for the planet, the planet never did anything for him and it was no concern of his. His reason for fighting, for living in general had always been Lucrecia. Yet with Hojo's death and with her passing avenged what reason did he have now that it was all over? With his atonement gone but not forgotten would he still choose to return to the Shinra mansion and to his eternal slumber? With more consumption of his vodka beverage that idea was slowly becoming a fleeting memory.

But that's when a new idea struck the ex-Turk. Whenever someone faced a problem they would conquer it and leave it forgotten and buried in the past and move on to new things in the future, yet Vincent had always held onto the past to remind him of his own failures and mistakes which he always felt truly responsible for and the memory of the past always continued to haunt him. If he was to move on like the others then he would have to forget the past and look forward to the future. But the times had changed so much, things and people were different now and there were somethings about his past and present that could never be forgotten, namely his lineage to the dark forces within him and his memory of Lucrecia.

To burn away the past, to forget it completely...that's what he had to do, and to do that the first thing on his agenda list was to return to the Shinra Mansion and burn it to the ground. That would be where the start of his new life would begin, to remove all the old haunts of the past and all of Hojo's twisted notes and information on the alien Jenova. If that was done then all of Hojo's lifes work would be for nothing and no one as twisted as him would ever rise again. The simple thought of being able to get one up on his deceased arch nemisis brings a rare smirk to his face, that would be feel good indeed.

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

"...Contemplating where my life will go from here" he answers flatly.

"Really! Your not going to return to that dusty coffin are you?" questions Yuffie.

"...No...somehow the thought of returning to a sleep filled with nightmares of the past for another 30 years doesn't sound appealing"

"Great Vinnie, so what are ya going to do then?"

"To return to the Shinra mansion..."

"Hey, I thought you said"

"...And to burn it to the ground" he answers with a tone that seemed darker than usual.

"Oh...wow!"

"...And you?"

"Huh? Oh well, y'know I was supposed to return to Wutai and return the materia everyone gave me to restoring Wutai to it's former glory. But you know my old man can be such a grouch that he's never satisfied and I doubt the baka ever will be until I take his place as ruler or until I get married"

"...You desire marriage?" Vincent questions eyebrow raised.

"In two words; HELL NO! The thought of who my father picks for my hand in marriage just shivers up my spine. Besides I'm still young and there's still plenty of materia out there for me to, err"

"...Steal?"

"FIND! Yeah, err find and bring back to Wutai. Besides marriage can wait until I'm a little older, I'm too young for all that garbage anyway. What will you do after?"

"...After what?"

"You burn down the Shinra Mansion silly! Where are you going to live then?"

"...I don't know. After it's all burnt and gone, I think I will pay my last respects to Lucrecia and go from there"

"Your...lady friend?"

A small nod from Vincent is all Yuffie needs to know about dropping the subject to that unpleasent phase of his past.

"Are...you, y'know...going to keep in contact? she questions looking down at the ground a little shy.

"...If you are referring to Phs, yes I will do just that. It would be better that way"

"Great! You better keep in contact though Vinnie or I swear I'll find you and bug you to death! And you sooo know that I will if you don't!"

After what seems like an entire day of drinking and small talk our heroes finally decide to head in for the night and rent out some the rooms in Cosmo Canyon. Cloud and Tifa have both taken a room together which only has one bed and trying to be a gentleman about it he let's Tifa have it, but with Tifa feeling the way she does about her childhood friend she demands that he gets into the bed with her or that she sleeps on the floor with him. Either way you look at it Cloud is in a situation that he can't win and all he can do is accept her offer and thus the two are now sleeping in the same bed quiet and content with Cloud laying on his back sound asleep, while Tifa was resting her head on his chest, a small smile on her face.

Barret and Cid, both being the most drunken fools of the lot had so much trouble getting up the damn stairs that they had no choice but to sleep on the tables and chairs in the bar, where upon the only thing anyone can hear in the downstairs compartment is the collective snores of both of them. Nanaki had decided to take a more personal sleeping arrangement and had decided to go to the ruins of the Gi canyon and sit side by side with the petrified statue of his father, the great warrior Seto and watch the moon shine brightly until sleep had too claimed him. Cait Sith being the only one had couldn't drink out of their group had decided to remain where he was in the bar with Cid and Barret and had chosen to deactivate himself for the night.

Leaving once again the pairing of Yuffie and Vincent who had chosen to take their sleeping arrangements outside by the cosmo flame that still continues to burn brightly as it always had done. But Vincent being the way he was with so much on his mind about where his future was supposed to go from saying his final farewells to Lucrecia continue to linger long into the morning as he stares deep into the eternal flame lost in thought, with a half drunken Materia hunter leaning on his side asleep and silent for once.

With so many twists and unfortunate turns that his life had already taken where would the gunman go from here. These thoughts and questions were plaguing his fragile mind way into the early morning. Even though he was nearly 60 years old, he still looked like he never aged a day over 28 and that was 30 years ago. His body had always retained its youthful appearance and it was possible that it may always stay that way until the day he died. Vincent certainly didn't feel like the frail old man he should be and he also wasn't immortal, or was he? If Hojo's past experiments on his body with the injection of mako energy and jenova's cells still remained would he continue to remain the way he was while over the years ahead all he could do was watch his friends age and wither away?

A disturbing thought and one he didn't need to think about. Too many questions and so little time to do it all in. Sighing he turns to his side to glance at Yuffie. The angelic look on her face is just enough to bring a small smile to his face, because she looks so content and peaceful even in her sleep. How he will truly miss them all and in a way it's sad, he really did enjoy all the company he was in as a member of AVALANCHE and secretly Vincent just knew he was going to miss the adventures and the thrill of cheating death once again. Yes, even though he would never openly admit, he was going to miss these people...8 individuals that Vincent had the honour of knowing and what he would rarely call them as 'friends'. That was the last thought Vincent had before sleep took him too, as he rested his head on the side of his sleeping partner Yuffie Kisaragi.

Author's note: Aww ain't that just sweet? Definetly a Kodac moment, lol. So what did you all think so far? Good? Bad? Well don't you worry too much because it only gets better from here. Please be kind enough to leave a review I'll be doing chapter 3 in a couple of days, so till then see ya!

Recommended mp3 of the day: Mario- let me love you

Signed Vincent Noble Valentine...