Twisted Fate

Chapter 6

Haunting Past

Lying down on the bed in the guestroom, staring at the ceiling, Vincent couldn't help but think of the Shinra building thirty years ago. The building was still the same, but almost all of the things had been changed.

He had changed.

Vincent recalled the last time he was in this building. The morning he left for Nibelheim with three scientists. She was one of them.

Her dark green eyes had always been hidden behind those silver-framed glasses. Her long dark brown hair had always tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon. She had never worn any make-up nor perfume. No, she was not a classic beauty. It was something inside her that had attracted the young Turk. Her knowledge, her enthusiasm, her… brain. Her petite figure had made him wanted to protect her, almost like an instinct. At that young age, Vincent had fallen in love with this new scientist.

Was it love? Or was it pure admiration?

Vincent bolted up at that thought. Guilt? Was that it? But he could not deny that guilty feeling. Yes, he failed to protect he. He should have stopped her…

No, she did not. "As long as she's happy…" Vincent murmured through his breath to no one. He untied his bandanna and rubbed his temples with his right palm, trying to ease his headache. The sight of his bare hand caught his attention. Slowly he raised his right hand to his eye-level. Even though the light was not on, he could still see his hands clearly. The same hand he remembered seeing thirty years ago. It should have been aged by now. Unconsciously, he ran his fingers on his cheek. Not a single wrinkle had touched his face for the past thirty years. He still looked like twenty-seven; yet, he was carrying a fifty-seven year old heart.

Yes. But to him, it was a curse. An eternal reminder of his foe, his failure, and his lost…

A soft knock on the door broke his gloomy contemplation.

Yet the sound was not from the door to the room.

Once again, there was another soft knock.

This time, Vincent's eyes landed on the door which connected his room to Aeris'. He walked to the door and shook his head a little to remove some strands of hair from his face before he put his bare right hand on the doorknob.

Vincent frowned and silenced the voice inside his head. Why not? He was on assignment…

Slowly, he turned the doorknob, not without taking a deep breath unconsciously.

"I’m sorry to bother you so late, Vincent." The brunette girl hanged her head a little apologetically.

Hadn’t she said that to you before, Vincent? What a coincident!

"That’s alright." He promptly ignored the voice. "I… was not sleeping." How come he almost told her he couldn’t sleep? He swore inwardly at his carelessness.

"Ummm… Can I talk to you for a second?" Her large emerald eyes looked straight to his ruby ones. An icy chill went through his spine. Why was he so afraid of this girl? She looked so harmless…

"Vincent?" Aeris leaned a little forward as the dark man stood there without any response. A sweet floral smell once again entered Vincent’s nostrils.

"If it’s too much trouble, I can talk to you later…"

"No!" Aeris almost jumped in surprise at his sudden respond. "I mean, now is fine."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." She smiled gratefully. "Why don’t you come over to my room, then? I’ve made some hot chocolate."

Vincent nodded in agreement. She turned and leaded him to the little table in her room. It wasn’t until then that Vincent realized her hair was not in a thick braid anymore. Her chestnut hair fell down to her waist like silky cascade with large loose curls…

Vincent didn’t realize he was staring until Aeris stopped and turned back to him.

"Come on, have a seat." She motioned one of the elaborate dinning chairs while sat on another one herself. The dark figure sat down without making a sound. His eyes were staring emptily at the table. She realized his red bandanna and his crimson cape were gone. Now his entire outfit was black, matching perfectly with his raven long hair. His skin looked even paler than under the dim light.

Aeris silently poured some hot chocolate into a mug and handed it to Vincent as she observed the mysterious man with her curious eyes.

"Vincent…" She cleared her throat a little before she continued. "About last night…"

He looked up to her for the first time since he entered her room. That line sounded so familiar…

"Can you tell me what really happened? I mean, I cannot remember anything." Aeris frowned and shook her head in frustration.

Vincent’s eyes softened for a split second before his face once again retreated to its emotionless barrier. He nodded and took a slip of the hot chocolate, considering how to retell the incident without revealing too much about himself.

"I was at the staircase of the rooftop when I was a figure holding a long sword approaching you. Your eyes were closed and you did not realize the attacker. But I could not shout out a warning, nor did I have enough time to reach out for you. Which left me with only one choice…" His soothing deep voice stopped.

"… The gunshot?" Aeris leaned forward eagerly. Did he plan to kill Sephiroth and missed his target?

"Yes. But not to take his life." Vincent answered monotonically as if he could read her mind. Aeris hanged her head in shame. How could she think about her hero like that? He was not a killer, was he? "I shot his wrist. Enough to stop him from hurting you, while I dashed and attacked him."

"I remembered I heard a gunshot and I turned around… but I cannot remember what really went on." She let out a heavy sign.

"Yes, you turned around and screamed." Aeris’ face reddened in embarrassment. She was grateful that dark figure’s attention was on his drink all the time. "Then the materia on your hair started to form a white glow that surrounded your entire body. The attacker was struggling to be back on his feet after I knocked him down. But he seemed to be in tremendous pain after seeing the white glow on you. Then he simply disappeared."

"…Disappeared?"

Vincent nodded in respond. "Vanished in front of my eyes."

Aeris sat there in complete shock. Neither President Shinra nor Tseng was willing to tell her the entire incident. All she knew was that her attacker was…

"The attacker…" Aeris paused.

"…was Sephiroth." Vincent finished the sentence for her.

Those icy haunting mako eyes once again appeared on his mind as he recalled the face of the attacker. His flowing silver hair slowly turned dark and into brownish tone. The mako-glow in his eyes faded away leaving two emerald orbs shining brilliantly. A pair of silver-framed glasses slowly materialized on the bridge of his delicate nose. As now-brownish hair flowed back and being tied in a red ribbon, the image on Vincent’s mind was no longer the famous general. It was her. The woman Vincent loved more than his own life. The woman who gave birth to the Great Sephiroth and later on died from the child birth.

"…Lucrecia…"

"Vincent?" A delicate feminine voice called out his name softly. Could it be…

Suddenly all the lights in the room as well as other areas in the entire floor went out. There was nothing but darkness.

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