Guilt’s Cost CXLVIII

Resolution

After taking care of business, Cid had gone back to the plane and sat in the sand of the beach, protected from the sun by the wing of the craft. He looked around the valley while gnawing on yet more gum, noticing that it looked no different from the time Vincent had brought them here seven years before. On some level, he did feel sorry for Vincent, knowing that he was still hung up on Lucretia after all this time. Now having lost his wife, Cid could actually sympathize to a certain degree and felt a small pang of guilt for having harassed the other man about his feelings so long before.

After some time had passed, Cid caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked in the direction of the waterfall seeing that Vincent was coming back. Grudgingly he rose from the ground and placed his hands on his hips. "Back already?"

Vincent’s face was expressionless and he seemed to be looking through the pilot. "It’s time to go back now."

Cid at once felt very uncomfortable and narrowed his eyes. "What happened Vincent? Is everything okay?"

To be hearing any level of concern from Cid struck Vincent as odd and he allowed a small smile to grace his lips. "Everything is fine."

"Oh," Cid turned and opened the door on the side of the plane. "You just sort of had that old scary look about you there for a moment."

Vincent sighed. "It still hurts sometimes."

Cid turned to face Vincent, knowing now what was wrong with him. Against every fiber in his being, he reached out and took Vincent in his arms. "I know, and it’s okay."

Vincent unflinchingly gave into the embrace and hug heavily on the pilot. He was silent for several moments as the true meaning of Lucretia’s words continued to sink into his heart. Despite all that he had thought over the years, he was finally freed of his burden and the relief of it all was overwhelming. "Lucretia… she says everything is all right now…"

Cid clapped him on the back, repressing the awkwardness of his position. "Of course it is, Sunshine. From everything that I’ve gathered over the years, she loved you just like you loved her and with that being the case, all she would want for you is happiness. I can only hope that Shera feels the same way about me."

Vincent finally managed to take a step back from Cid and dried his eyes. Something very profound had just happened between him and the pilot and it did not go unnoticed. "I’m sure she does, Cid. If she didn’t love you more than anything she certainly wouldn’t have stayed around that long."

Cid cocked his head slightly, allowing humor to remove any remaining feeling of awkwardness from him. "What? You saying that I’m hard to get along with?"

"Of course not." Vincent actually laughed. "It’s only taken seven years or so for me to not want to kill you. I’d say that’s about average for the general population."

"Aw fuck you." Cid smiled. "So you’re sure you’re okay then?"

"As good as I think I’ll ever be." Vincent dropped his gaze to the ground. "Let’s go home, all right?"

"Sure." Cid turned and got into the plane, closely followed by Vincent.

As soon as they were strapped in, Cid fired up the engines and taxied to the farthest end of the beach. To Vincent’s untrained eye, it seemed like there was no way for the plane to gain enough altitude to clear the mountains on the other side of the valley. "Cid?"

"What?" He glanced over at his companion.

"Do we have enough room?" He asked, motioning ahead.

"I wouldn’t have landed us here if I didn’t think I could get us back into the air." Cid scoffed.

Vincent still wasn’t convinced and sank down into his seat, bracing for the worst.

Cid, clearly amused at Vincent’s reaction gunned the engines and started off down the beach. When the landing gear was clear of the ground he intentionally kept the plane rather low, hoping to get more of a reaction from the other man.

To Vincent, it surely now looked as though they were headed for disaster. He looked nervously over at Cid. "Shouldn’t we be climbing a little faster?"

Cid scowled and thought for a moment. "Maybe we’re too heavy. You need to jump."

"What?!" Vincent was coming unglued.

"Ye of little faith." Cid smiled.

If he was worried before, now Vincent was down right mortified. The trees on the other side of the valley were now close enough that he could see their individual leaves. Reflexively he brought his arms up in a pathetic gesture.

Seeing he had truly managed to shake the other man, Cid pulled back hard, taking the plane straight up only yards from crashing into the trees.

Vincent was pushed back hard as the plane climbed sharply. The force was almost enough to take his breath away. "Shit, what are you doing?"

Cid laughed right out. "Aw, now you’re starting to sound like me, Sunshine."

***

The remainder of the trip back to Rocket was more or less uneventful. The two men managed to fill the time with conversation, although be it nothing deep or meaningful. When they finally got to Rocket, Cid circled the town once to line up with his runway. "Think Tifa’s going to notice?"

Vincent shrugged. "Not much gets past her and if she heard the plane, she knows that you’re the only one that’s got one."

"Yeah." Cid cocked his head. "So what’s our story?"

Vincent thought for a moment. "We’ve been gone for four hours…"

"Didn’t think this one through too well, did you?" Cid frowned.

"Well," Vincent sighed, "Where else is an hour and a half to two hour trip from here?"

"Niebelhiem and that’s about it." Cid replied.

"Okay, good." Vincent relaxed. "We will just say we went there."

"And why did we go there? ‘Cause you know she’s gonna ask." He said.

"Because I made a bet with you that we couldn’t get there in less than two hours and you had to prove me wrong, which you did." Vincent smiled.

"Okay, I can go with that." Cid nodded. "At least it makes it look like I won something today. Don’t you feel weird about lying to Tifa?"

Vincent shrugged. "Yes and no. I can’t explain it. I guess I just don’t want her to think that I went there because I’m still longing for Lucretia. She’d probably understand and all, but sometimes there are just some things better left alone."

"Okay." Cid accepted this in stride and didn’t argue. He knew that when it came to whether or not Vincent did love Tifa that he did and could let this one slip.

When the plane touched down and came to a stop, Cid and Vincent quickly exited it, hoping to get away Scott-free with the trip but when they saw Tifa on the bench next to the house, their hopes crumbled.

Vincent walked over to his wife and sat down. "Hi."

She smiled back at him and then looked over at Cid. "The baby’s asleep in his crib. He’s been an angel while you were gone."

"Good, I’m glad to hear it." Cid at once went into the house to look in on his child.

Tifa asked the obvious. "And where have you two been?"

Vincent smiled. "You’re the one that demanded that we spend some quality time together."

"Yes I did, now where did you go?" Tifa grinned back, happy to see that Vincent was in a good mood.

"Cid and I were at the tavern and he told me that his plane was fast enough to get to Niebelheim in less than two hours. I told him he was full of it as usual so he had to prove me wrong. You know how he is."

Tifa laughed. "Yeah, that’s Cid for you. Did you guys at least have a good time?"

"Sure." Vincent placed an arm around her shoulders. "We talked a little. I think it was good for us."

"Great." Tifa had hoped that the two men would get along without her present as a mediator.

Vincent grew serious. "Tifa, I’ve decided that if they can make me a new body, that I will go for it."

"Of course you will, Vincent." She knitted her brows. "Why wouldn’t you?"

"It’s just scary to think of my body being messed with yet again I guess." He shook his head, "but if it’s what I have to do in order to be normal, then I will do it."

"You never cease to amaze me." Tifa smiled and then kissed him.