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Fighting real-life monsters? No big deal. Even the ghosts or the zombie-like ones were fine with you. But when it came to the cheesy haunted house? You were absolutely terrified.
"You do realize, for all intents and purposes, I am technically a zombie, right?" Vincent sighed from next to you. You were currently clinging onto him with your face buried into his arm.
"But you're not scary," you whimpered. Thunder reverberated throughout the haunted mansion. Your fingers clung onto the fabric of his shirt even tighter.
Vincent huffed. Most people would disagree and say he was terrifying. Just one look at his eyes sent others the other way. When he was pushed to his limit, he would transform into one of the many monsters inside of his body. He knows you've seen it happen, so why you were clinging onto him for dear life was beyond him.
The pair of you finally made it towards where the rest of the group was. Vincent glared at Yuffie who was outwardly cackling. The others at least had the decency to try and hide their amusement. Cloud turned away and approached the front desk to book a few rooms. Just as he was going to say something, there was a scream. You jolted as the hangman fell from the ceiling.
Vincent sighed and placed his free hand on top of your head. He was careful to not cut you with his gauntlet, which made him wonder why you were clinging onto him and not one of the others. Barret was a father and better suited for this. Cloud was the leader of the group. Tifa and Aerith were both kind and would definitely help you. Hell, even Cait Sith and Red XIII were at least soft. Though, he didn't blame you for not clinging onto Yuffie. She'd probably only make things worse. All the others, sans Yuffie, would be better at comforting you than him. He was the worst monster in the haunted house.
"Here's your room key," Cloud stated, drifting Vincent from his thoughts. His mako filled eyes drifted down to your form. He glanced back at Vincent with a small smirk. "You two have fun."
Vincent's eye twitched as he took the key and slowly began to guide you towards the hotel room. Though his ears did not miss Aerith and Tifa giggling together, wondering if both of you were finally an item.
Vincent held in an internal scoff. He was keenly aware that you were attached to him like a duckling to its mother, but that was only because he was the closest one near you at the time. Someone like you would not go for someone like him.
Vincent unlocked the door to the hotel room. He cringed ever so slightly when he saw it was just as "spooky" as the rest of the hotel. Reluctantly, you let go and went to put away your things. Vincent watched as you tried desperately to ignore everything around you. He continued to gaze, knowing you most definitely wouldn't like him like that.
For one thing, you were far too kind. No matter what was going on in your life, you were always stopping to help the people around you. When he first joined the party, you immediately caught on that he was struggling with something. You left and quickly came back with some flowers. There was a light blush on your face as you nervously gave them to him. You told him that you knew that it might not be in his taste, but that you wanted to welcome him to the party.
A creek on the floorboard, roused Vincent form his thoughts. You sat on the bed and pulled your knees up to your chest. Vincent felt a twinge in his chest as your trembling form. He glanced around the room for something that could distract you, but everything was the same horror. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to you until he was right in front of you. Sensing his presence, you looked up with some curiosity. The longer you looked at him, Vincent swore more of your fear disappeared.
A second thing, you were always positive. There was always a silver lining in something. Though, you knew when to keep your mouth shut, knowing that people didn't always want to hear the positive side of something. You'd give it if asked, but gave people space to mourn over a situation. Vincent. Well, he was always the pessimist.
"Let's go," Vincent said. He held out his right hand for you to take.
"Go where?" you asked in a whisper.
Vincent glanced off to the side and hid his face further into his cloak. "There are other things to do here besides sit in this hotel. We can go play some games."
"You want to play some games?" you asked, unsure.
"Or see a play or race." Vincent felt himself growing more self-conscious by the second. He glanced back over to you to gauge your reaction. He felt his heart flutter as a grin spread on your face.
"I'd love to!" you exclaimed and jumped off the bed. Your feet caught on each other, causing you to stumble into him. Vincent held onto you tightly. Pushing back, you laughed nervously. "Sorry." Though, in your nervousness, you glanced to the side and caught sight of a fake spider dangling in the corner. Closing your eyes, you retreated back into Vincent's arms.
For a third thing, you had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong. There were no games on toying with life just to see what would happen. He slowly came to realize that maybe She was not a good person. The more he was around you, the more he began to realize that. And the more he began to realize that, the easier it was to move beyond that chapter of his life.
By now, Vincent was guiding you out of the hotel and past the graveyard. In a matter of moments, you were back to the Golden Saucer's station. He stood awkwardly with your arms still around him. He was at a loss for words. Each second that past by, he felt like he should say something, anything to fill up the silence. Fortunately for him, silence wasn't too uncharacteristic.
"So what did you want to do?" you asked, finally pulling away from the brooding man.
Though, he instinctively wanted to lean towards your embrace. He stopped himself, but only just. His eyes trailed away from yours and towards the many signs illuminating the station. There was a time chart for the play.
"Want to go see if we can make the next performance?" he questioned.
"Sure!" you agreed with a grin and followed him towards the theater.
The two of you quickly took your seats. The lights faded soon after and the stage was lit. Vincent started to zone out until he felt you scoot closer to him. He stiffened but made no move to create any distance.
"Wait, is that Cloud and Barret?" he heard you whisper. But he couldn't focus his attention on the stage, not with you sitting that close to him.
The next thing about you was that you had too brilliant of a mind. Strategy was your strong suit, especially when it came to defeating difficult foes. Your knowledge in materia, its best combinations, and battle tactics rivaled that of Yuffie's. Then, you were also keenly aware of how to solve puzzles and how to navigate across different terrains. It made you a huge asset to Avalanche. It was also one of the only ways that Avalanche was able to find him in the first place. Without you, he'd still be in the basement, locked away.
"I can't believe those two were actually in the play!" you burst out laughing. Vincent felt himself smiling behind his cloak at the sound of your laughter. "What did you think of it, Vincent?"
"Better than I expected," he lied. He didn't remember a single thing from the play. Though, your grin was worth the lie.
"Oh!" You jumped from your seat and turned to face him. He looked up at you with a quirked eyebrow. "Did you want to go on that shooting rollercoaster? I'm sure you'd be able to rack up a ton of points!"
Vincent blinked in surprise before he found himself nodding. Standing up, he followed you out of the theater and towards the boarding platform to the rollercoaster. Though, you paused and skipped over to the prizes.
"Oh my god," you gasped. "That moogle is adorable!"
Vincent slowly approached you and looked at the giant stuffed moogle. He noticed it was also the prize worth the greatest amount of points. His hand brushed over his handgun before he turned and made a bee-line for the rollercoaster.
There was also the fact that you were adorable, much like the moogle. Perhaps more so. But you weren't just adorable, you were breathtaking. Whenever you entered a room, it was as if everything else just faded away and it was just you. When you smiled, the world became infinitely brighter.
"Man, I suck at shooting a gun," you chuckled lightly. "I can't believe you hit every target!"
Vincent merely hummed and made his way towards the prize booth. He pointed at the moogle which the attendant took down and handed it towards the man. Turning back, Vincent held out the giant stuffed prize to you.
Your bottom lip trembled. Vincent tensed, wondering if he had done something wrong. Then, there was relief. You jumped onto the plush and held it close to you.
"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me! I want to cry," your voice was muffled as you loved on the stuffed animal. Looking back up at him, you gave him one of those heart-fluttering smiles. "Thank you, Vincent."
"Don't mention it." He had to force himself to look away from you, or else he thought his heart would fail with how much it was fluttering. Taking a deep breath, his eyes landed on the gondolas seemingly floating by.
Your eyes trailed his. "Come on!"
Finally, you were the light. He was like a black hole that swallowed everything in its wake. Nothing could escape, not even light.
The two of you arrived at the gondolas. As one approached, you stepped in and placed your moogle down. Vincent took a seat while you were arranging it. It took up nearly the entire side of the gondola. He was starting to question where you were going to even sit. Then, you sat right next to him.
"Thank you for tonight, Vincent," you murmured softly. "I really appreciate it. You're so kind and thoughtful and brave and talented and...Sorry."
Vincent looked down at you in shock. You were facing away from him, so he couldn't see exactly what you were feeling. That didn't stop the thundering of his heart at that moment. Then, there was a boom outside of the gondola. You jolted towards the window, allowing him to see a faint glow of a blush on your cheeks.
"Wow," you whispered. Vincent managed to divert his attention from you towards the window. Fireworks were shimmering in the distance. Their colors dancing to brighten the night sky. The light interweaved itself with the darkness.
Vincent looked away from the light show and back towards you. Taking a deep breath, he grasped your hand. You jumped ever so slightly and looked up at him. Vincent was about to release your hand, thinking he went too far. But the squeeze from yours told him to hang on, if not for just a little bit longer.
"A-anyways," you stammered. "Thank you for being there for me, Vincent. Even if it was silly, it means more to me than you would know."
"Of course." Vincent nodded. "I will...I will always be there for you."
You smiled and rested your head on his shoulder. This time, Vincent didn't tense up. He didn't try to hide the smile that formed on his face. Instead, he held onto your hand a little tighter. He allowed himself to lean towards you. He forgot about some of his darkness and let himself bask in the light.