By Kristen Gupton-Williams

Tifa made her way up onto the deck, finding Vincent at his usual perch looking over the side of the ship. She slipped up behind him and placed her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He in turn placed one of his arms over where hers were wound around him.

Vincent glanced back over his shoulder to see her pressed against him. "That didn’t take too long."

"No, I guess it didn’t." Tifa smiled despite the fact that Vincent couldn’t see. "He’s not the biggest conversationalist if you can imagine."

He laughed to himself quietly. "I can’t begin to guess where he got that trait from. But it went well I take it?"

"Yeah." Tifa held him more closely. "He just wants to go home so bad, I can’t help but feel sorry for him."

Vincent nodded in agreement. "Luckily in a few days he will be home and he can get back to doing whatever it is he likes."

"We will go and see him soon though, right?" Tifa asked, not willing to let Jaras slip out of their lives that easily.

"Of course." A brief frown overcame Vincent and it was reflected in his voice. "I had somehow hoped that he would have stayed with us. I will be worried for him."

"Me too… but you never really expected him to stay did you?" Tifa sighed.

He shook his head. "No, I didn’t but still I had hoped. I don’t blame him for wanting to go back, it sounds like he had a pretty good thing going there."

"He seems to think so." Tifa let go of him and came to his side, leaning against the rail next to him. "And what about us?"

Vincent looked at her with an expression of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What are we going to do now?" Tifa looked into his eyes and cocked her head. "Are we going to get that place out in the country that we talked about when we were in Wutai?"

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "I would like that but for now, I think we shouldn’t quite get to planning until they decide what they can or can’t do for my body."

"I don’t see what that has to do with it, Vincent." She playfully shoved him. "I’ve already told you that I’m going to stick with you no matter what happens."

"I know, but still I don’t think it will be a simple thing if it does work and I don’t know how far out in the middle of nowhere we should live if I end up stuck with this mechanical body I have now. I knew how well my old systems worked but who knows about all the new things that Hojo did." Vincent smiled weakly.

"Oh you’ll be fine either way." Tifa turned her gaze to stare off into the horizon. "How do you think Cid will be doing when we get there?"

"I hadn’t really thought about it." He looked over at her. "Besides, when it comes to someone knowing Cid, I think that is your department is it not?"

"I suppose." She donned a wide smile. "I think he will be doing all right, assuming that he hasn’t taught that baby the entire dictionary of curse words yet."

"There is no way that child is going to grow up with a socially acceptable vocabulary." Vincent smirked. "I can’t imagine."

Tifa was amused to hear this. "You’re probably right. That kid is going to have a lot of troubles when he is introduced to the educational system. There are going to be a lot of late afternoons in the principal’s office I bet."

"And I bet Cid wouldn’t have it any other way." Vincent put his arm around her shoulders.

The afternoon wore on into evening and eventually it became to cold to remain on deck and the two of them went back into the ship. They made their way to the bridge to discover Jaras exactly as Tifa had left him some hours before.

Upon noticing that they were back, Jaras rose from his seat and pulled off his glasses. "I was wondering where the two of you were."

"Just watching the clouds go by." Tifa smiled.

"So what is it you have planned once you arrive in Rocket tomorrow?" Jaras asked, feeling the need to fill the silence with conversation.

"We’re not really sure," Tifa replied looking over at Vincent, "I guess it all depends on how Cid is coping with the baby."

Even though he had only spent a limited time around the pilot, Jaras was fairly certain that he wasn't exactly parent material. In a way he wanted to go with them to find out how things were going, but his overpowering desire to get back to Mideel wouldn’t allow it. "I see."

Vincent examined his son briefly, easily seeing the fatigue within him. "Are you feeling all right?"

Jaras shrugged weakly. "Just tired I think."

Vincent was fairly certain that Jaras was hiding something and gave him a rather doubting stare. What he must have been dealing with emotionally Vincent could only imagine and he took a step closer. "If there is anything you need tonight, please come by our room and let us know."

He flashed a smile in response. "All right."

"Good." With that, Vincent turned and took Tifa’s hand in his own as they headed off to their quarters for the night.