Manor House
Chapter Two

Rating: R
Category: AU
Pairing(s): Cloud/Reno, Tifa/Barret, Aeris/Tseng, Zack/Sephiroth, Vincent/Cid, Reeve/Rufus, Yuffie/Elena
Warnings: Some mild angst.
Summary: Cloud thinks on the past, Tseng learns to Tsew, Teddy has another heart attack, and Tifa is having problems with her wallpaper.
Notes: The FF mini-series usually run about 7 – 9 chapters in length. I’m pleased to announce that this one will be longer, as towards the end it will segue into a FF/Metalocalypse crossover. Something for everyone! (what about the LOTR peoples? ;) - pebt)

Shinra Manor hadn’t changed.

Cloud stood in his leathers, sword across his back, staring up at the old house, recalling all too well his previous times here. He especially recalled seeing Sephiroth standing in the downstairs office, sick, staggering, his eyes blackened, moving like an animal in the final stages of rabies.

So much pain and horror…

“I can’t believe you asked me to come back here,” he said quietly.

It was early evening, and he and Tifa were the only two in the yard, gazing up at the old mansion. To Tifa it may have been all tea parties and games, but to Cloud it was death, and pain, and tragedy.

God how he hated this house.

“I’m sorry,” said Tifa. “I didn’t think it was that big of an issue.”

“No, of course not,” said Cloud coldly. “Because you live in a happy state of denial. If we all just pretend Sephiroth didn’t lose his mind here, then he didn’t. If we pretend Vincent wasn’t brutally murdered here, then he wasn’t. If we all pretend Cloud’s not having a nervous breakdown and thinking he’s someone else, then we can manipulate him to meet our own needs.”

Tifa stared at him, horror-struck. “I would never hurt you! Or use you! How can you say that to me?!”

“Tifa, I’m your best friend. And I have been all my life and plan to be until I die. You’re one of the bravest and strongest people I know. I understand how hard it is to face reality. How hard it is to face the black shit that stains the outer edges of our lives. You deal with it by not dealing with it. By pretending everything is roses and sunlight. But I’ve got to tell you… as your friend… you asked a far bigger favour than you realize.”

Tifa clenched her fists, unable to respond because she knew what he was saying was true.

“I just want one of my dreams to come true. Just one. That’s all. One. I can’t have you, I can’t keep my bar, I’m certainly never going to be a princess, I can’t even have a ba…”

She stopped talking as Cloud’s head snapped in her direction. Tifa closed her eyes.

“Sephiroth cut me too badly. The doctors all said there was a chance but I haven’t taken a single birth control pill in over a year. I finally went to Dr. Gaywell and she said that even if they could remove all the scarring it’s unlikely I could get pregnant.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “So don’t talk to me about grim reality, Mr. Strife. I may play at sunshine and roses but that’s only because if I didn’t I’d start to scream.”

“You never said a word,” he said quietly.

“No, why would I? What good would it do? It would have only upset Sephiroth. And by the time he was well enough for me to throw it into his face as I had been wanting to do for years I found out I liked the arrogant bastard. And what good would it do anyway? He was sick. I saw it in his eyes. He was dying on his feet and out of his mind. Then Vincent got pregnant and… well… I sorta renovated the bathroom with my bare hands.”

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

“Well it was an ugly bathroom anyway! And it’s not my fault the toilet exploded, it was old anyway.”

“Uh huh,” said Cloud.

“I might have helped it along,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Would this be the same bathroom with the ten foot high geyser spraying out of the floor?”

“Oh all right so I demolished it, I was upset. I mean he’s a guy, it’s not fair!”

“No, I can see how you would feel that way. A lot of things in our lives haven’t been fair. That’s why we’re family. I’m sorry I snapped, Tifa. It’s just that this house is not a happy place for me.”

“I know. I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have asked. It was just too big a job for me and Barret. Then I told myself that maybe it would be good for you guys to come out here and face down the past and…” She sighed. “I really am a dumb selfish bitch, aren’t I?”

“You’re not dumb,” said Cloud, all big blue eyes and innocence.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. “Please don’t make me give you a wedgie and hang you from a tree.”

“I’d like to see you try, Booberella.”

Tifa went from contrite to infuriated in an instant. “BOOBERELLA?! I’LL BOOBERELLA YOU RIGHT IN THE NUT SACK YOU SHORT-ASSED LITTLE RUNT!”

Cloud shrieked and fled, recalling a little too late just how very much Tifa did not care for her high school nickname. Tifa tore after him as he made straight for the water tower, scrambling up it. He hung off the storage tank and looked down at her as she stood on the ground.

“Can’t reach! You’re wearing a skirt and if you do climb up then half of Nibelheim will see your undies!”

“Yeah that worked in grade five, Strife, but ask me if I care now!”

“You better care, especially if you’re wearing those raggy purple ones!”

“Those are my lucky panties!”

“Yeah? What’s lucky about them?”

“They survived life on the road with you!”

From the upstairs window in Nibelheim’s only hotel, Zack and Sephiroth gazed down on the tiny town square where Tifa and Cloud chased each other in the failing light like a pair of kids. Zack could sense that Sephiroth would have much rather have been home with his children. Neither of them cared for Nibelheim, or the memories here. Zack gently ran his hand up and down Sephiroth’s back, comforting him.

“Baby, are you okay?” Zack asked quietly.

“I hate that house. I don’t know why I agreed to come here. I’m not going into that study in the basement. I’ll clear the tunnels but I am not going into the study.”

“You don’t have to. I can handle the study.”

“I don’t know why I’m doing this. I really don’t. It’s too much like…”

“It’s nothing like then,” said Zack softly. “Nothing at all. We’re just here helping some friends. Nothing more. There are no more dark secrets for us to find. We have them all. The only thing down there are a few raggedy monsters. Okay?”

Sephiroth nodded. “You’re right. But if I begin to feel the strain…”

“Baby if I even think for a moment that you’re not well then I will have you out of there so fast there will be nothing left but the smoke from our boots.”

Sephiroth smiled. “That’s all I needed to hear.” He raised an eyebrow as he continued to gaze out the window. “Is Cloud running a pair of ugly ripped purple panties up a flag pole?”

“I believe he is, yes.”

Sephiroth sighed. “It’s going to be a long night, Major.”

“Yes sir. Shall I warn the troops?”

“No. I haven’t enjoyed a good sneak attack in years. Just don’t let Tifa kill him until I’m there to see the little shit get his come-uppance.”

Zack smiled. “Yes sir.” He redirected his gaze from the nonsense out the window to his tall, striking lover. “I still can’t believe how beautiful you are. You know there is something from that night long ago I’d like to do.”

“And what’s that?”

“Remember how Edgington pointed out the room was short a bed?”

“Yes?”

Zack smiled. “Care to share my bed, General?”

“And why would I do that, Major? I have my own.”

“Permission to speak freely?”

“Granted.”

“Because you’re hot sex on toast and I would totally like to do you.”

“Absolutely not. If we start sleeping together openly the men will be too demoralized to go on. They’re be slapped with the cold reality of not being able to have either of us. They’re be stuck with only each other’s ugly mugs to fantasize about.” A slight frown crossed Sephiroth’s face. “Zack did Strife just accidentally hang himself from the flagpole?”

Zack looked out the window, eyes becoming huge. “Shit!”

Sephiroth watched Cloud fight with the rope as Zack tore off to help him. He sighed and shook his head.

“There is little worse than being crazy on a ship of fools,” he muttered.

Yuffie suddenly stuck her head out of the hotel’s one room. “Hey Baby! Ten gil says I can kick your ass at Super Mario!”

“Please Yuffie, no one kicks my ass at Super Mario.”

“Wanna play Doom?”

“Been there, done that.”

“Duke Nukem?”

“No.”

“Kingdom Hearts?”

“GOD no!”

“Well how about Army Men? It’s great!”

Sephiroth watched Tifa and Zack try to get Cloud disentangled from the rope, a pair of panties, and his own leathers.

“Why not.”

***---***

Aeris sat on the sofa, embroidering. Cid and Vincent didn’t have a television in the livingroom; they didn’t want their children exposed to it. Aeris wished she had thought of that but alas her kids were TV junkies. At least Ifalna had been, but life in a house without a TV had cured some of her addiction. Cid and Vincent certainly had a TV, but it was in the upstairs den, and Ifalna didn’t like to go in there because she was afraid of accidentally “messing the place up”. In other words, she feared something may happen to one of the boxes of blue prints, schematics and diagrams stored there and it would be her fault. So tonight Aeris had carefully placed the boxes neatly against one wall at the back of the room, plugged in a video, and was enjoying some peace and quiet. Or at least, she would if she wasn’t constantly being interrogated by a somewhat confused and possibly mildly addled Turk.

“So… we’re married.”

“Yes,” she said patiently.

“And we have two kids.”

“Yes.”

“And your mother hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you, she just… very strongly felt that I should pull the plug.”

Tseng smiled slightly. “And your mother hates me.”

“Yes,” Aeris grudgingly admitted.

“Can’t say I blame her, really.”

She glanced over at him. Tseng was still thin and weak, and it was all he could do to work the small half-pound weights he held, attempting to build some strength into his atrophied body.

“What do you remember?” she asked.

“Everything with perfect clarity up until ten years ago. Sometimes I get flashes of things but….”

“So you don’t recall our wedding, our children…”

“Not a thing. You could have easily walked out on me and I wouldn’t have known the difference.”

“Now why would I do that?”

“Some would have.”

“Yes well that’s not me. I’m not about to toss away a perfectly good piece of man-meat just because the package is a little banged up.”

“Man-meat?” He smiled. “I think I’m insulted.”

“That’s fine,” said Aeris. “You’ll forget about it soon enough.”

“My short term memory isn’t that bad any more.” He sighed and set the weight aside. “I wonder what I’m going to do with myself if I can’t be a Turk anymore? I think I’ll go mad.”

Aeris set down her embroidery. “Tseng you’ve only been out of your coma for a little while, give yourself a chance to recover!”

“But I want to be well now!”

“Tseng…”

“I’ll go nuts trapped in this chair!”

“You’re lucky you’re alive!” said Aeris, exasperated.

“I can’t sit here forever.”

“It’s been a week,” she ground out between gritted teeth.

“But…”

“Tseng, if you don’t stop fretting I will go to the vet and get you one of those collars that they put on dogs that won’t leave their back ends alone.”

“Well best leave now because it may come to that.” He looked over at Aeris. “What are you doing?”

“Embroidery. Believe it or not you’ve seen me do this dozens of times.”

“Yes well apparently I also married you and had two children with you and you’d think that would have made more of a lasting impression.”

“Sweetie I saw you after the dragon was done with you. Your ‘lasting impression’ was sprayed across the cobblestones in the Kalm marketplace.”

“So I hear.” He sighed. “I still can’t help but feel horrible that I forgot something like getting married and having a child.”

“Tseng,” said Aeris quietly, “you were dead. Your head was in pieces. I saw you, threw up and went into labour. I’ve explained to Ifalna what happened, she knows you’re doing your best to get better. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“How can I not?” he said. “I forgot my child.”

Aeris reached out and took his hand. “Let the nanites work. You’ll remember in time. And you will get your strength back.”

“In the meantime I am glued to this chair and going mad. What are you doing?”

Aeris rolled her eyes and giggled. “Embroidery. I just told you.”

“Is it fun?”

“Well I think so. Want to try?”

“Sure. What do I do?”

Aeris edged closer to him, showing him what she was working on. “This is a pretty basic stitch. See? One strand this way…. and then two across…. and it makes a nice smooth stitch. Now you try.”

He accepted the fabric and needle from Aeris, raising an eyebrow and smiling. “You’re not worried I’ll destroy all your hard work?”

“It’s just a kitchen apron, dear, not a ball gown.” She kissed him. “And if it will keep you from gnawing your leg off then I don’t care how badly you mangle it. And I can work on finishing my blouse.”

Tseng began slowly and rather shakily working on the apron. He froze as he noticed Aeris picked up her phone and took a picture of him, cheerfully sending it off to Rude, Elena, Reno and Rufus.

“Working on a divorce, are we?” asked Tseng.

Aeris giggled. “Elena says you’re adorable.”

Tseng muttered something under his breath. Aeris set the phone aside, then settled next to Tseng with her own needlework. They had only been sewing a few minutes when there was the tromp of someone very large heading down the stairs quickly. As Aeris and Tseng looked up, David came into view, wearing only his shorts, carrying a limp little form that was scarcely breathing. Before Aeris could say anything, David shoved Teddy into Tseng’s arms, then backed up and aimed his last ball of Wish Materia at them. There was a brilliant pulse of silent light, and Teddy sat up, gasping loudly.

David picked Teddy up and held him close, walking over to a chair with him and seating himself. He held Teddy’s small body against his chest, stroking the long black hair.

“You’re okay. It’s all right. You’re okay.”

Aeris looked from Tseng, to David, to Teddy. “Is he okay?” she asked.

David glanced in her direction. “He had another heart attack. I just grabbed him and the Wish Materia and then I thought, may as well heal two birds with one stone.” He drew back slightly so he could look down into Teddy’s yellow eyes. “You all right, babe?”

Teddy pressed close to David. He looked frightened, but all right. David closed his eyes and gently rocked him, laying his face against the long, shaggy black hair.

“You’re okay. It’s all over. Everything’s all better now. I’m here.”

Teddy made a small noise. Saying nothing further, David picked him up and carried him back upstairs, leaving Tseng and Aeris alone in the livingroom. They watched the pair depart, then Aeris looked towards her husband.

“Tseng? How do you feel?”

He looked puzzled, shaking his head as if he had water in his ear.

“Tseng?” asked Aeris again, feeling slightly worried.

He shook his head once more, then sat back on the couch, looking thoughtful, as if trying to process something. Then one eyebrow went up, and Aeris recognized the man she had married as his black eyes shifted towards her.

“Tell Ifalna nice try but I did not promise to buy her a pony.”

***---***

David carried Teddy back upstairs to their room, laying him on the bed before seating himself beside him.

“Teddy? Tell me you’re okay. Do you want me to call the doctor?”

Teddy shook his head, eyes closed, one hand resting on his chest as he panted quietly. “No. I feel all right.” He coughed. “Harsh, dude, I never want to go through that again.”

David reached out to move a few tendrils of hair out of Teddy’s face. “I thought you were dying.”

“I was dying. I was…” Teddy held up his left hand, indicating a tiny distance between his thumb and forefinger. “THIS close. I swear I could feel the Life Stream pulling me. Then I was back.” He rubbed his chest with his right hand. “Still a little sore, but… I’m okay. What did you do?”

“I grabbed the last piece of Wish Materia and used it to make you better.”

Teddy smiled faintly. “Your mom is going to have a shit fit.”

“It’s my materia. I found it. I can do what I like with it.” He eased himself down beside Teddy, slipping his arms around him and drawing him close. He pressed his face into Teddy’s hair, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent. “I’m so sorry I let you down like that.”

Teddy closed his eyes, reaching up to rest his small hand on David’s bicep. “You’re here. You’re really here. How the hell did Rufus manage to bring you back?”

“Well,” said David, stroking the soft black hair. “When you join the WRO they take blood, hair and tissue samples in case they have to identify you by the red mist sprayed on the wall. Then when they took my body to the WRO hospital before sending it to the mortuary…”

“Why would they send you to the hospital? You were missing your head.”

“Ah ah! One must never question military procedure.”

Teddy stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry. David chuckled and continued speaking.

“Anyway at the hospital they removed some of my major organs. Heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, and then for some reason they took my brain out as well. I’m shocked that they could find it.”

Teddy smiled but said nothing.

“Anyway,” said David, “once you asked Rufus to raise me he of course sent Reeve on the hunt for any pieces of anatomy they could use to clone me. Imagine his surprise when he found out that not only were there pieces, but they were living pieces. As far as the Life Stream is concerned, that counts. They put the chunks in an experimental cloning vat, and let nature take its course. Because the pieces were still alive, especially the brain, they didn’t have to figure out a way to bring me back. Once the body had reached the point that it could sustain itself, I came back on my own.”

“So they just cloned a body around the bits?”

David smiled. “Basically. Miss me?”

“Horribly. But you knew that.”

“I know. I’m sorry. And if you want me to retire from the WRO…”

“No I don’t want you to retire. It’s important to you. But I want you to swear that from now on you will listen to me!”

“Teddy, you have nothing to worry about! Trust me, I’m a believer.” He ran his hand over Teddy’s small body. “Next time you tell me not to go, I won’t.”

“What will we tell your mother?”

“Well first I’m going to tell her that she owes you an apology.” David kissed Teddy. “Not that she will. Then I’ll tell her if she can’t behave herself then she can’t come to the wedding.”

Teddy raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “What wedding?”

“Ours. We could do it by a beach on the North Continent, like you always wanted. It’s legal up there you know. Then you could be Mrs. David Iris the rest of your life.”

Teddy raised his head, blinking his strange yellow eyes. “David, what are you on about?”

David touched his face, gazing into Teddy’s eyes. “I’m saying I love you and… I want to set the relationship in stone. Would you marry me?” It was more of a nervous inquiry into Teddy’s personal beliefs than a marriage proposal. Teddy smiled.

“Sure I’d marry you. I can’t wait to blow some of my hard-won karma on all the ‘schadenfreuden’ I’ll be feeling watching your mom have a fit.”

“Is that the only reason you’d marry me?”

“No,” said Teddy quietly. “No, I really like the idea of being a little old hippie with too many cats puttering in my garden while you smoke cigars and rant at the other generals.”

“You can rant at them too. I believe in equal opportunity ranting.”

“Oh I’m glad to hear that.” Teddy closed his eyes and snuggled close to David, slipping an arm around him. “I’ll marry you. On one condition.”

“What’s that?” asked David.

Teddy narrowed his eyes and grinned, looking positively evil. “That you let me change my last name to Iris.”

“Oh that will please mother to no end. But I have a better idea. How about we join our names and hyphenate them? David and Teddy Shade-Iris. Flows rather well, don’t you think?”

“I do.” Teddy raised his head, as if listening. “Hear that?”

“Hear what?” asked David.

“That loud sucking sound. I think we just became overdrawn at the karma bank.”

David grinned, and pulled Teddy down against his chest once more. “It’s okay. We have plenty of time to build up more.”

***---***

It was early morning, and Tifa was the one to open the door to the mansion as her friends lurked behind. The first thing they saw was an immense, two headed undead creature, weaving uncertainly. Before it had a chance to turn and confront them, an enormous lance flew threw the air and straight through the monster, bisecting it. Tifa turned sharply to face the thrower.

“Cid!”

“I’m sorry but those things piss me off.”

“Well they make me angry too but please try not to take my head off…. Oh son of a bitch! He was eating the wallpaper samples! Why would a monster want to eat my wallpaper samples?!”

“Wallpaper samples?” said Zack, walking into the run down manor. “Why are you worried about wallpaper at this point? That’s like putting an evening gown on a corpse.”

Tifa shot him an annoyed look. “I was just trying to decide if I wanted to redo the old look or give it a new one!”

“Let’s just get the walls back up first,” said Zack. He looked around the inside of the old mansion. “Man what a dump.

“Hey!” said Tifa. “How rude!”

“Ah leave the man alone,” said Cid, “he’s only rude because he’s right.”

“Hey I’ve got an idea,” said Yuffie, “let’s burn it down and start over.”

Sephiroth prowled by in perfect silence, cold and silent, roaming into the center of the room with silken ease, then stopping, raising his eerie green eyes to the ceiling, as if seeing something no one else could. The group watched him with a certain amount of nervousness.

“What a perfectly lovely place for a complete mental breakdown,” he said.

Tifa shivered. “Don’t say such horrid things, Sephiroth.”

“Why not? I lost my mind in this house.”

“No ya didn’t,” said Cid. “It’s in a glass jar downstairs.”

“Oh is that where it is.”

“The black humour in the room is dreadful,” muttered Tifa.

“Goes with the black mould,” said Barret.

“And the black rot,” said Cloud.

“And the big black man,” said Yuffie, pointing to Barret.

Tifa gave Barret a kiss. “The big black man stays. The rot and the mould have to go.”

“The acoustics are good,” said Zack.

“I noticed that too,” said Cloud. He looked at Sephiroth. “What do you think, general?”

Sephiroth continued to stare at the ceiling as if he hadn’t heard Cloud. Finally he spoke.

“I suppose they are rather good.”

As if on cue, all three burst into song at the same moment.

“You're a thousand miles away,
But I still have your love to remember you by.
Oh, my darling, dry your eyes.
Daddy's coming home soon.

On my knees every day,
All I do is pray, baby, just for you.
Hope you always want me too.
Daddy's coming home soon.

It may be on a Sunday morning,
It may be on a Tuesday afternoon.
But no matter what the day is,
I'm going to make it my business to get home soon.

You're a thousand miles away,
But I still have your love to remember you by.
Oh, my darling, dry your eyes.
Daddy's coming home soon…”

“That’s it,” said Cid, “I’m goin’ monster hunting. Anybody care to join?”

The group within the house broke up into small parties, each taking a floor. As Cid watched, Vincent walked past him, clad in his red cape and black leathers, casually flipping Cerberus. He grinned and followed after him.

“And just where are you going, you little tasty bit of all right?”

“I thought I’d start clearing the tunnels.”

“I’d like to clean your tunnels.”

“Charming,” said Vincent, heading for the curving stairs that led to the upper levels.

“Wanna see what I have in my pocket, little boy?”

“I should warn you that my husband is very large and quite jealous.”

“Ah forget about him. Run away with me.”

A faint smile crossed Vincent’s face. “Nothing ever bothers you, does it?”

Cid shrugged. “Not much. Just the thought of losing you.” He grabbed Vincent from behind and held him tight, pressing his face against Vincent’s neck. “Let’s make a baby.”

“Cid, we can not afford another baby.”

“Who cares! We’ve got love! We’ve got each other! And you’re so cute when you’re pregnant!”

“Cid, I just had a baby in December. And I’m not young! I’m in my sixties for crying out loud. I can’t be chasing after three toddlers and yet another baby.”

“Just one more.”

Vincent sighed heavily.

“No!” he said, his tone quiet and gentle, but firm. “No I’ve made enough babies for now, Cid, I’m tired. I fall out of bed in the morning and chase babies and toilet train babies and bathe babies and feed babies and… I love them and I love you but you’re not the one in the house all day caring for them. I’m sixty-seven years old and I find myself talking in infant-ese to the wolf while you play in the hangar with the grown-ups.”

Cid was mildly hurt. “Hey I help!”

“Yes. You do. You’re the best father I’ve ever seen. But Benji and Aiden are an absolute handful and soon Rhiannon will be as well. Let’s at least wait until Benji learns to speak actual words instead of profanity and Aiden stops using whatever he finds in his diaper for wall art.”

Cid held Vincent close, grinning. “He’s a talented little shit.”

“The operative word being ‘shit’,” said Vincent.

Cid kissed Vincent, then released him. They continued on their way to the room with the hidden door that lead to the spiral staircase down into the tunnels. However as they entered the room, Vincent stopped.

“What is it?” asked Cid.

Vincent pointed across the room to the stonework in which the door was hidden. “Those bricks are new.”

Cid shrugged. “Well Tifa and Barret are rebuilding the place. Only makes sense they would have fixed that wall, it was ready to come down.”

Vincent gazed at the bricks, feeling a strange sense of unease. “I don’t like them.”

“Why not? They’re just bricks.”

“No,” said Vincent quietly. “No I don’t like them.”

Cid came to stand behind Vincent, resting his hands on his shoulders, gently squeezing them. “There’s nothing wrong with the bricks, lover. You just don’t like this house. You haven’t been here since…”

“I know.”

Cid turned Vincent to face him, kissing his face. “Baby if you don’t want to be here then I will pick you up and take you out of here right now.”

“No, I’m fine, really. I just… I just don’t like this house. Come on, let’s…”

From downstairs they heard Sephiroth’s voice, speaking not in the usual soft and almost emotionless tone, but a definite shrill scream.

“ZACK! GETITOUTOFHERE!!”

“I’ve got it, lover, no worries. It’s just a worm.”

“Holy cats!” said Barret. “That’s not a worm, that’s a snake!”

“Look at this one!” enthused Yuffie. “It’s a garden hose! Where are they all coming from? Oh I bet they’re coming from beneath those broken tiles.”

Cid and Vincent listened to the sound of old ceramic tiles being set aside, and then Yuffie’s gleeful reaction.

“Oh…. gross! There’s like a million of them, and they’re HUGE! Check it out! Hey Baby! Get a load of…. HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! HELP!”

There was a considerable amount of crashing and thrashing and flapping, and the sounds of a priceless stained glass window being blown out as a highly distraught war hero exited through it. The dull sound of wings vanished in the distance, and there was a long, disapproving silence.

“Oops?” said Yuffie.

“I am so not speaking to you right now. Just… don’t even talk to me.”

“Tifa I’m sorry, I…”

Tifa was close to tears. “You knew how freaked out he gets! I don’t care if you don’t understand his phobia but the next time you decide to send him into hysterics can you please trash someone else’s house?”

“I can fix it,” said Yuffie in a small voice.

“How?” snapped Tifa.

“Elena and Cloud’s friend Nancy taught me, they both make stained glass things. I can put it back together. Look it’s not really broken. The lead holding the glass together is trashed but most of the glass is fine. The bits that aren’t I can stain and replace. I’ll take it into the music room, get some stuff and make it better. Okay? Maybe Elena and Nancy will come help.”

“Fine. Whatever. Just don’t break anything else, please?”

“I won’t.”

Cid kissed Vincent’s neck. “Well we said we’d help clean out the monsters so let’s help clean out the monsters.”

“All right.”

Cid walked around Vincent and went through the open door, relieved to see the rotting wooden spiral staircase had been replaces with a sturdy wrought iron one. He looked back over his shoulder towards Vincent.

“Coming babe?”

Vincent eyes the new bricks. No… not new. Recycled. But of course Tifa would not want to use brand new bricks in the wall, would she? She would want bricks that were good but a little worn, so they would match the rest of the wall, and the repair would be seamless. These bricks had been a part of something else. Something dark…

Cars. He saw cars… and men in long coats and hats fashionable many decades ago. There was a wall of bricks, red bricks like these, and the sound of conversation.

Then bullets. And a dog screaming….

“Vincent?”

Vincent shook himself. “Sorry. I was just… daydreaming.”

Cid’s eyes showed concern. “You okay?”

Vincent nodded. “I’m fine.”

Cid held a hand out for Vincent, who accepted it. Together they went down into the old tunnels.

***---***

Two minutes before Yuffie threw a worm at Sephiroth, a worm threw Sephiroth at Zack.