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DarkKnight
7.1.2006, 0:02:07
Tuossa pari kuukautta sitten aloin mielijohteesta kirjoittamaan FFVII fanifiktiota, näin kun ei muutakaan tekemistä ollut. Hah, en tosin ikinä olisi kuvitellut että minä, joka on kirjoittanut viimeksi yläasteelle joitain kahden sivun 'tarinoita', saisi tämmöisen eeppoksen aikaan. On se semmosta.

Tarina on sitten Yuffentine, joka on mielestäni yksi parhaista pareista FF-peleissä. Kuitenkin pyydän, ettette lyttäisi tätä vain sen takia.

Tämä on nyt ollut beta-luettavana vähän aikaa. Ajattelin että voisi olla hyvä säästää lukijoiden aivosoluja, sillä kirjoitin englanniksi, koska oma äidinkieli ei mielestäni sovi näille hahmoille.

Mutta mutta... Annanpa teille pienet maistiaiset tässä ensiksi. Laitan linkin FanFiction.nettiin tuonne viestin loppuun, jos joitain kiinnostaa.

Pidemmittä puheitta:


In The Distance

It was a chilly December evening. The northern lights made a beautiful scenery upon a small village, which was covered in white color of the snow that had fallen from the skies the last day. Today, the weather was calm and not one soul wondered on the small streets, everyone was inside enjoying the company of their families, and some just relaxing at the saloon.

It was a really peaceful evening at Icicle Inn.

And that is what Vincent Valentine preferred. He was standing beside the window of the local inn, gazing at the stars in the black night sky. He was tired after the long distance he had travelled within the last few days. There was no clear destination where Vincent was heading, but he felt he had to do something, other than locking himself up in the familiar, run-down Shinra Mansion. Nowadays the basement was full of those blood-sucking bats anyway.

'I should sit down for a minute.' He thought on his chair, closing his crimson-red eyes.

It had been a few months after Avalanche defeated Sephiroth and saved the planet. Even the great Shinra company was no more, and their adventure was over.

The meteor had teared parts of Midgar to shambles, mainly the upper plate and the most outstanding areas of the slums. Thankfully, the casualties remained low, as most were able to take hide in the underground emergency shelters. Many had lost their homes, but everyone was glad to be alive after what they had witnessed.

Midgar was being rebuilt by the new Shinra Co., led by the man in control of the former spy, Cait Sith. He was really determined to get Midgar back on its feet. Avalanche knew that they could trust him to keep things in order. Even the Turks were under his command from now on. Thus, everyone agreed to sort their own things out, before helping Reeve in Midgar.

Cloud and Tifa returned to Nibelheim, to fix their relationship. Barret had plans to revive Corel, and get the coal mines in use again. Cid went back to Rocket Town, to tune up the Highwind with Shera. Nanaki was back in Cosmo Canyon, and Yuffie had returned to Wutai, as per her father's request.

But Vincent, he had nowhere to go. He didn't want to disturb Cloud and Tifa by staying with them in Nibelheim, nor anyone else. Not even if they wanted him to stay.

Even Yuffie Kisaragi, the young female ninja, asked him to accompany her to Wutai. But he would decline yet again, even though he had grown fond of her, when he found out her true intentions of reviving Wutai to its former glory. He found her the most entertaining person amongst the Avalanche group. They even had deep conversations on the Highwind once in a while (only when Yuffie wasn't puking on the floors, though). She had even started to call him Vinnie, a nickname Vincent did not fancy too much. But she occasionally did bring a small grin on his face with it. She was the first person that made him smile in 24 years.

Not ever he had smiled after Lucrecia's death...

Ever since they departed, he had been traveling around the continents with his black chocobo, which he bred himself; Exeter.

Throughout the whole time after the crisis ended, Vincent wondered if he had committed yet another sin; being a part of the death of Sephiroth, the son of the woman he loved the most, Lucrecia. Thus, he would again shut everyone's attempts of getting him to open up a little.

Regardless, he really thought of Cloud, Yuffie and the others as his friends. He never would not think ill of them, but instead he thought he had no right to have such good friends.

Friends... He had never really had anyone he would call “a friend”. Being a turk took all his free time from the age of 18 to 27, and the next 24 years he would spend sleeping in a coffin, because of the immoral Shinra scientist Hojo, the father of Sephiroth.

He could have left the basement, but Vincent couldn't help to feel like he had to atone his sins, which were letting Hojo inject Lucrecia's baby with Jenova Cells. It lead her to die in child-birth, and her son, Sephiroth, would become the most feared man on the face of the Planet.

All this... He could have prevented. But he couldn't. This, he thought, was his sin.

-----------------------

'Vincent...'

It was those voices in his head again.

'Vinnie, you depressed again?

It was the horrible monsters that lurked inside Vincent's head. The most powerful of them, Chaos, was usually the one trying to annoy him to a level, which in Vincent could not control the monster any longer.

After having these sadistic – or rather sarcastic- demons company him for some time now, he could contain his anger more effectively.

While his friends thought he was just ignorant, he was actually fighting against the effect of the demons in his head all the time.

“Shut up, Chaos.” Vincent mumbled under his breath, while lifting himself up off the chair.

'But Vinnie-poo!' The sarcastic demon was at his favorite hobby again. But Vincent would just ignore it, like he had done many times before.

“...” Chaos knew that he had to think of something else to get the gunslinger agitated, thus he would quiet down...for now.

'I'd better feed Exeter, before going to bed.' He remembered his chocobo that he had left at the stables.

Vincent took his favorite gun from the night table, the Outsider, a compact yet extremely deadly and accurate handgun. After reloading and holstering the weapon, he picked his PHS from his pocket. He had it turned off, because he didn't want the others to know about his whereabouts. But still, he was curious to know if anyone would've bothered to contact him.

“...”

After a moment of hesitation, he returned the phone back in his pocket.

Vincent left the room. Wondering down the corridor of the inn, he would attract looks from the townspeople, who didn't know this long-haired gunslinger. Vincent informed the receptionist at the counter that he'd be right back and headed towards the stables at the back of the building. The door creaked as he opened the door, and entered the chocobo stables. He had bought some greens for his chocobo, Exeter, who had carried Vincent to Icicle Inn. While feeding the huge bird, he suddenly had the urge to check on his mails again.

“Well, it wouldn't hurt, don't you think?” He asked the bird, and took the PHS in his hands.

He looked at the blank screen for a while, but finally gave in and pressed the power button...

He felt slightly nervous while waiting for the phone to start up. Had someone called? Did anyone actually care? Or should he just throw the useless appliance in the trash? These thoughts went through his mind.

“23 unanswered calls”, read in the screen of the phone. Vincent was stunned with amazement.

“Kwehh!”

Exeter was clearly waiting for him to give him more greens. Vincent was lost in his thoughts for a while, but took some greens in his human hand and fed them to Exeter. He again set his eyes on the screen of the phone, and finally checked who had tried to contact him.

“Yuffie Kisaragi 9

Cloud Strife 7

Tifa Lockheart 4

Cid Highwind 2

Barret Wallace 1”

Vincent started to get suspicious. Did something happen? They would know that if he didn't answer, he clearly wouldn't want to. But why try so many times?

'I should probably call them and ask about their current situation...' He thought.

'Vinnie' It was Chaos acting up again. 'You're not really worried now are ya?'

'Quiet down, heathen.' Vincent replied.

'Ooh, Vinnie's getting upset...hehehe.' Chaos was clearly enjoying ticking him off. But to no avail, Vincent ignored him again and quickly pressed the green icon on his cellphone. He wanted to know what Tifa and Cloud had to say.

“Beeb...beeb.” The phone uttered, before the familiar voice answered.

“Hello, Tifa speaking.” Vincent was glad to hear her voice after a long time.

“It's Vincent. You have tried to call me. Is something wrong” He asked casually.

“Vincent! What happened to you? We tried to contact you.” The chocolate haired woman was surprised that Vincent actually called her.

“Where are you now? Everyone has been worried sick since you disappeared without a trace!”

Vincent felt a little glad that he wasn't forgotten. “I am at Icicle Inn at the moment. But more importantly, is there a specific reason for the amount of calls I've had?” He asked curiously.

“What? Oh...that.” Tifa lost her excitement suddenly. And Vincent noticed this. He knew right away that something was wrong. He had come to know her personality rather well on their journey.

“Tifa? Has something happened?”

There was a moment of silence. “Tifa?”

Then Tifa finally answered. “Vincent... It's Yuffie.”

'Yuffie...'

Vincent's heart had just skipped a beat. All kinds of thoughts revolved in his head for a second. What has happened to his maybe closest friend?

“Tell me. What's wrong with her?” He asked, losing his coolness to his surprise.

'I never thought I would care this much.' Vincent thought to himself, while waiting for Tifa's reply. Before she spoke up, he could hear someone else over the other end of the phone. Like, giggling or something. He couldn't make it out.

“Vince, Yuffs is ill.” She finally said. “We're over at Elmyra's house in Kalm right now. She said she'd like to see you here too.” More obscure sounds could be heard on Tifa's end. Vincent was too worried to notice.

“How serious is it?” His heart was pounding faster than usual. He didn't know what to say, his thoughts were too focused on the young ninja.

“We don't know yet. Neither does the doctor. But if you'd come here, I'm sure Yuffie would be happy.” Tifa's voice was getting really strange by the minute. This bothered Vincent slightly, but he would not comment on it.

“I will be on my way immediately.” He said quickly.

“Ok. But you are at Icicle Inn, aren't you” Tifa asked him.

“Yes, I am. Why?” Vincent replied, while saddling up Exeter with his mechanical arm.

“Well, it is a long trip to travel with a chocobo, so I could ask Cid to give you a ride.” Tifa stated. Vincent hadn't even thought that Kalm was on the other side of the Planet.

“...” Vincent realized this and calmed himself down. “If it's possible, then I can't see why not.” He tried to speak as calmly as he could.

“It's a deal then. I'll tell him to get there in the morning. Oh... Sorry Vince, I have to go now. See you over at Kalm.” Tifa said in a hurry, leaving Vincent in a state of confusion. After a moment of hesitation, he said goodbye to Tifa and ended the call.

His heart was still pounding in an unusually fast pace. He leaned against the wall, and returned the cell phone back in his pocket.

'Yuffie...' His mind was completely occupied by the ninja, who had become a really good friend. They didn't become so close in an instant, of course. The first time they met was in the basement of the ShinRa Mansion, when Cloud unlocked the door and convinced him to join their party. Though Yuffie's reaction at the first glance was rather...frightening. Even Vincent jumped when she screamed “A ZOMBIE!” on top of her lungs.

Yuffie seemed to get interested in the mysterious gunslinger soon after that, and all you could see her doing was irritating Vincent to no end by trying to pick-pocket his Materia. This she did to make him actually say something once in a while. Even though it was apparent that she was bored by the long walks they had between towns and such. Of course, once they came in possession of Tiny Bronco and the Highwind, she would be too busy puking, which Cid didn't obviously didn't like too much, judging by the amount of swear words in his sentences.

But even though Vincent was annoyed, at the same time he had a small smile on his face each time Yuffie would tease him. Thus, he started to open up a little, occasionally even throwing a few one-liners, which lead the crew hitting their chins on the floor.

He didn't show it, but he was really enjoying the company of the others and especially the chocolate-haired ninja. As the time passed, Yuffie would lay down the teasing, and tried to have an actual conversation between the lone gunman. One time, she lured Vincent to the outer deck of the Highwind, and -out of the blue- began talking about her childhood, her mother's death, her trying to steal the Materia to get Wutai back on it's feets... Suddenly she had started sobbing slightly. Vincent looked at her beautiful face, feeling something he hadn't felt in years. He had to do something, and to his own surprise, he held her in his arms saying comforting words in her ear. That had made Yuffie cry even more, and Vincent felt his shirt getting wet due to the tears.

That night, he found a different side of Yuffie. And from that point on, Vincent opened up to Yuffie, telling about his past, his job in the Turks, Lucrecia and how he ended up locking himself in a coffin for all those years.

They were really getting along... Until they defeated Sephiroth. The wall of despair that was almost crushed, rose again. The painful memories of his past were brought back. Then Vincent began to hide in his shell again, shutting others outside. He said he wanted time for himself, and since then he had been traveling alone, ending up here in Icicle Inn.

-------------


Elikkä tuommoinen olisi mitä voi prologueksi kutsua. Loput tarinasta voi lukea täältä (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2739909/1/). Kiitän ja kumarran jos joku tämän kokonaan lukaisee.

Pyro
7.1.2006, 9:14:48
Oikein mielikuvituksellinen ja miellyttävä lukea.
Muutamia kielivirheitä bongasin, muutama the-sana puuttui, pilkutus hieman takerteli ja muutama a-kirjain sekä muutamia sed-päätteisten sanojen virheitä.
Ja nämä eivät tod. ole niin pahoja, että niitä tarvitsisi alkaa tässä listaamaan.

En yleensä lue fanfictionia sen vuoksi, että se on toisten ideoiden tavallaan varastamista ja raiskaamista.
Arvostan enemmän sitä kun kirjailija keksii itse maailman, hahmot, tarinan selkärangan ja tekee taidetta tarinan vuoksi, esmes piirtää hahmoja, maisemia, kartat, hahmoprofiilit ja niin eespäin.

Nyt kuitenkin innostuin lukemaan tätä kun se oli englanniksi.
1.Englanninkielisiä tekstejä ei melkein kukaan kommentoi
2.Englannin kielen kirjoittaminen on useille suomalaisille haasteellista
ja 3.Minusta on mukavampi lukea englantia kuin kankeaa suomen kieltä joka ei vaan ns.'lennä'.

Tarina toi hymyn kasvoilleni useaan otteeseen ja olet osannut käyttää FF hahmoja ilman sitä ylenpalttista ruoskalla raiskausta mitä olen ihan tarpeaksi FF hahmojen kohdalla tavannut.

Minua miellytti myös ns. pehmeä tekstityyli.
Pehmeällä tekstityylillä tarkoitan sellaista kieltä, missä ei ole käytetty suunnattomasti erilaisia engannin kielen niinsanottuja sivistyssanoja. Tämä helpottaa suunnattomasti niiden ihmisten lukukokemuksia, jotka eivät mielellään englantia lue tai englannin lukutaito on heikko.
Itsessäni on nimenomaan se vika, että minulla nämä ns.huonomman enkun kielitaidon omaavat jäävät pahasti varjoon kun tarinoitani kirjoitan.
Nyt viimeisimpänä esimerkkinä sana venetrian blinds on tuottanut useita vaikeuksia (sälekaihtimet).
Niin tällaisia ei tekstistä juuri löytynyt.

Kappalejakosi on hyvin onnistunut ja keskustelukohtaukset sujuvat sulavasti ilman liikoja töksäytyksiä.

Joissakin kohdin kyllä aistin sanakirjan läsnäolon, mutta tämä on vain minun pääni joka puhuu :P

Todella mukava tarina.
Luen sen kokonaan siitä linkistä jahka aikaa löytyy ja kommentoin ehkä vähän lisää.

Haluaisin nähdä sinulta jotain omaa englanninkielistä joskus, kun teksti englanniksi näyttää hyvin sujuvan.

DarkKnight
7.1.2006, 11:41:17
Kiitos tuosta erinomaisesta kommentistasi.
Tässä nyt voisi sanoa, että kirjoitin tämän tarinan vain koska olen todellinen FFVII-fanaatikko, ei koska osaisin tai edes pitäisin kirjoittamisesta. =P Mutta tämän kirjoittaminen oli yllättävän mukavaa, koska kyseessä on maailma ja hahmot, joita on fanittanut tässä kohta kymmenisen vuotta. Se pelin tekele suorastaan huutaa että joku kirjoittaisi siitä jotain.
Nämä ovat tulleet sen verran rakkaiksi, että en luekaan muita kuin FFVII-tarinoita.
Voit vapaasti kutsua minua ahdasmieliseksi, sillä tällä osa-alueella sitä olenkin. =)


Minua miellytti myös ns. pehmeä tekstityyli.
Pehmeällä tekstityylillä tarkoitan sellaista kieltä, missä ei ole käytetty suunnattomasti erilaisia engannin kielen niinsanottuja sivistyssanoja. Tämä helpottaa suunnattomasti niiden ihmisten lukukokemuksia, jotka eivät mielellään englantia lue tai englannin lukutaito on heikko.
Itsessäni on nimenomaan se vika, että minulla nämä ns.huonomman enkun kielitaidon omaavat jäävät pahasti varjoon kun tarinoitani kirjoitan.
Nyt viimeisimpänä esimerkkinä sana venetrian blinds on tuottanut useita vaikeuksia (sälekaihtimet).
Niin tällaisia ei tekstistä juuri löytynyt.
Tämä pehmeä tekstityyli siksi, että olisi hyvä jos itsekin saisi tekstistä selvää...Eli kirjoitan tekstin sille tasolle, millä oma kielitasoni suunnilleen on.


Joissakin kohdin kyllä aistin sanakirjan läsnäolon, mutta tämä on vain minun pääni joka puhuu
Heh, täytyy kyllä myöntää että sorruin muutamia kertoja niihinkin turvautumaan.

Mutta mutta, täytyy nyt katsella jos tämä ketään kiinnostaa. Jos kiinnostaa, voisin ehkä harkita uuden fiktion aloittamista.

DarkKnight
11.1.2006, 22:02:00
Ja näin kun ketään ei voisi vähempää kiinnostaa, teen temput ja postaan jatkoa sitten suoraan tänne.

---------------------

Vincent started to feel cold. His back was aching. Something was pulling his hair.

“Wark!”

'...?' Vincent was confused for a moment, his vision was still blurry. He looked up and found Exeter staring right at him. He jumped a little. 'Did I...fall asleep?' He thought to himself. He finally found himself laying down on the stable floor, beside Exeter.

“You could have woken me up slightly earl...Ah...Achoo!” It was official, he had caught a cold, sleeping on the freezing ground. And he was supposed to be some of help to Yuffie.

'Bad timing, Vincent, bad timing.' He scolded himself, while slowly lifting up from the cold floor.

He fed the rest of the greens to Exeter, and walked out through the door. 'Hmmh...So it's morning already.' He thought, as the sun shone in his face, blinding him for a moment.

Suddenly he heard a sound of an airship in the distance. A very familiar airship indeed. In a few seconds, the tuned up Highwind hovered over the Icicle village.

“Hey Vince! Get yer arse on board! I don't have all day now!” There was no doubt to whom that voice belonged to.

“Hello to yourself, Cid...” Vincent mumbled under his breath, smirking slightly at the sight of Cid waving from the cockpit at him.

The Highwind landed just outside of the village's gates, and the hatch opened from the side of the cockpit. Soon Cid would walk out outside, while inhaling the smoke of his cigarette.

“Hey there Vamp-boy! How's yer 'vacation'” He blew the smoke out of his lungs through his nose.

“I'm just fine…” Sleeping on the floor of a chocobo-stable clearly wasn't the greatest of ideas.

“Just fine, eh?” Cid said, slapping Vincent on the shoulder. “Well that's great to hear. Now, pack yer goddamn bags and let's get the hell outta here!”

Vincent nodded. “I have a chocobo in the stables. Is there room onboard?”

“Well of course! It's the Highwind.” Cid said proudly. “But you'd better not let the birdbrain stain the floors!”

“Then, could you take care of the chocobo, while I check out of the inn?” Vincent said, leaving Cid and heading towards the building.

Cid gave Vincent a stare. “Youngsters these day...No manners.”

Vincent walked up the stairs and entered his room. He picked up his Materia and items, and left for downstairs. He gave the key to the receptionist, and left to see if Cid was ready to go.

'...Just as I thought.' Vincent looked at Cid from the door.

“Move yer fat arse!” Cid was pushing Exeter forcefully inside the airship. No, actually the whole crew was with him.

'Heh...' Vincent smiled in his mind. “My apologies. I see I didn't tell you that he's afraid of your airship.” He walked beside Exeter, took him by the collar and led him in the ship.

The next few sentences by Cid were not worth mentioning.

As Vincent had calmed Exeter down and the crew was in place, it was time to depart and head towards Kalm.

“Alright numbskulls, let's get this baby running!” The engines roamed to life, and soon they were airborne and heading south.

“So Valentine, what do ya think of the new cockpit?” Cid asked him proudly, while spit-shining the new control panel in front of him.

Vincent had something else in his mind, but he thought it'd be better to keep Cid in a good mood.

“It seems very nice.” He said without looking around.

Cid noticed this. “Hey, doncha worry 'bout that brat. She's gonna be fine.” There was an evil smirk on his face.

'What's with him now? Even Tifa was acting rather weird on the phone earlier.' Vincent thought to himself. “Cid, do you know about Yuffie's current condition?” He realized how little he knew what was going on.

After a moment, Cid scratched his head and faced the control panel. “I dunno. But just hold yer horses 'till we get there, 'kay?”

“Very well, then.” Vincent replied and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. 'Something's not right' He thought, looking at Cid who clearly was hiding something.

“-Cough, cough-” Vincent realized he was feeling weaker, and his forehead was sweaty. 'Nice Vincent, you got yourself a fewer.' He thought.

“You sure you're alright, man?” Cid asked the gunslinger. “'Cause that sure doesn't sound right. Did ya sleep outside or something.”

Vincent glared at Cid, keeping the words to himself.

The two hour long flight went smoothly, if you don't count the occasional freak outs of Exeter, who kept Vincent alert the whole way. Cid didn't have to save his rather blunt vocabulary either.

However, Highwind had reached Kalm and Cid was ready to land outside the city gates.

“Here we are! Get that landing gear down, ya buncha lazy asses!” It seemed Cid would never get tired of this, though Vincent had always enjoyed watching the pilot at his 'work'.

The Highwind landed softly on the grassy ground outside of Kalm, and they were ready to disembark. Vincent led Exeter out of the airship and waited for Cid to follow him.

“Shall we go?” He asked the pilot.

“Yeah yeah, let's go see that brat.”

Vincent didn't like the word 'brat'. As he thought of Yuffie the same way when they first met, he had become to realize that 'brat' is not the correct word to describe her. Now, he just thought it was offending. Vincent was about to say something, but Cid cut him off.

“It's that building on the left, up those stairs. You can leave that bird here.” Vincent left Exeter at the bottom of the stairs as told, and headed towards the door. Cid headed up the stairs behind him. “Yep, that's the one. It's open.”

Vincent knocked and opened the door.

“Hey Vince, finally you're here.” The familiar voice belonged to the chocobo-haired warrior, who was sitting on the couch with the brunette martial artist.

“Hello Cloud, Tifa.” Vincent nodded at them. “My apologies for not returning your calls.”

Vincent stepped inside the house with Cid, who closed the door behind him.

“ Don't worry about it, Vincent. What matters is that you're here now.” Tifa replied to him, smiling warmly.

“Vince, you hook up with these numbskulls. I'm gonna go get some tea.” The pilot growled, and headed towards the kitchen.

Nanaki also lifted himself up from underneath the living-room table.

“Long time no see, Vincent. We were all worried about you.”

Vincent nodded at Nanaki as well.

“I presume everyone is here then?” Vincent asked in his monotone voice.

Tifa took a look a look behind her. “Barret and Reeve are probably playing poker in the kitchen.”

While saying that, indefinite cursing could be heard from the direction of the kitchen. Cloud also heard this. He couldn't help but to smile. “Yep, they sure are. And you can probably figure out who is on the losing side.”

“Shut yer mouth, 'foo!” The gun-armed man entered the living-room and layed himself down on the sofa. “Why look who's 'ere! It's the emo-kid.” He said jokingly.

Vincent snorted at him. “Hello to yourself Barret, Reeve.” Vincent turned his gaze in the corner, where in Reeve was leaning on the wall.

“Glad you could make it.” Reeve nodded at Vincent. Cid even had taken Shera with him earlier.

“Vincent.” Shera nodded.

“Oi Shera!” Cid yelled at Shera as he came back into the living room with a cup of tea in his hand.. “Show the man some hospitality, dammit!”

Shera sighed. “I just wonder how you welcomed him...” Cid thought for a while, but didn't come up with a smart remark. Shera gave him a mischievous smile.

'Everyone's here then. But...' Vincent thought to himself remembering the very cause of why he agreed to come in the first place. “Tifa. Where is Yuffie?”

Tifa was just about to open her mouth when soft footsteps coming from the kitchen could be heard. “Uncle Vinnie!” It was Marlene, who obviously had been waiting for him to arrive. “Welcome uncle Vinnie! Yoo're here for the Christmas party, aren'cha?”

“Christmas party?” Vincent was confused, how could they party when Yuffie was ill?

Tifa lifted herself up from the sofa, and quickly got in between Vincent and Marlene. “Uhh... Marlene, go play with Nanaki for a while. Uncle-Vinnie has something to do first, okay?” Marlene clearly wanted to stay with Vincent, but knowing Tifa, there was no way around her.

Vincent didn't know what was going on. “Tifa? A Christmas party?”

Tifa took a step closer and whispered something in his ear. “Yuffie is on the second-floor. Why don't you go talk to her, okay?”

He asked quickly. “Is she alright?” Vincent forgot about what Marlene had just said at the mentioning of her name.

“She's been waiting for you. Just go.” Tifa grinned and began pushing Vincent towards the stairway.

“Hey.” Vincent objected.

“Off you go now.” She winked at Vincent. 'What is wrong with them?' He thought, as he decided to head up the stairs. 'They WERE sane a few months ago...'

At the top of the stairs, he saw Elmyra, the woman who had raised Aeris as her own. Now he was occasionally taking care of Marlene, when Barret was busy with the rebuilding of Corel.

“Ah, you must be Vincent, right.” Said the warm-hearted woman, while smiling at at the gunman.

“That is correct.” Vincent politely bowed slightly.

“You're probably looking for that girl, Yuffie. She in the second room on the right.”

Vincent nodded, and stepped up in front of the door. He was nervous, since he hadn't seen her after his disappearing act.

He knocked the door. “Yuffie, it's Vincent. Can I enter?”

-------------------

Jännitys tiivistyy... Tai sitten ei.

^ Double post demon. =)