By Kristen Gupton-Williams

That afternoon, Vincent and Tifa were sitting in their room watching television when Dr. Arlin let herself in. She shut the door behind her. In her hand she carried a notebook which she sat on her lap as she took up a chair close to them. "There are some things I need to discuss with you, Vincent."

He leaned forward, wondering what was on her mind. "Yes?"

She flipped open the notebook and pulled out a pen from her pocket. "I plan to have Tseng cremated tomorrow and I wanted to know what you would like done with the ashes?"

Vincent knit his brow, thinking that this was unusual. "Tseng wanted to be cremated?"

Janice pursed her lips. This conversation was going to be hard enough without Vincent's objections. "He never made any request as to what was to be done following his death and it is our standard practice to cremate ASRIO agents who die, for the sake of secrecy and privacy."

"That may be, but everyone in our family is buried together in Wutai, and I can't imagine that he would want it otherwise." Vincent said, leaning back in his seat.

"To go to the time and effort to actually plan a full scale funeral and burial would not be something that Tseng would have liked. Furthermore, in doing so Shin-Ra is bound to learn of his death and they will try to exploit this time of reorganization to their advantage." She laid the pen on the paper before her, seeing that this wasn't going to be quick.

"The leader of this organization dies and you don't think Shin-Ra is going to find out?" Vincent almost laughed. He didn't want to upset Dr. Arlin or try to usurp her authority, but Tseng was his brother. "That company may be run by some people with insane ideas, but they aren't stupid and this will get out to them at some point. I want my brother laid to rest with our father and his stepmother in Wutai. I appreciate your thoughts on this matter, but it is not negotiable."

Dr. Arlin tensed her jaw, trying to stop herself from saying anything that she would come to regret. She couldn't help but resent the fact that Vincent, an outsider to this organization was putting himself in any sort of position to make demands or change protocols. "I'm going to have to talk to Reno about this. It will be his decision."

Vincent wasn't really worried if her statement was supposed to be any type of threat. He was fairly certain that by this point, Reno would go with his wishes in regards to this situation, or at least he would be too afraid to defy Vincent. "You do that."

Without another word, she got up and walked briskly from the room, slamming the door behind her.

Tifa was a little taken aback by the way Janice had just conducted herself. "That's not the doctor we've come to know."

Vincent frowned to himself. "She cared an awful lot for Tseng and has been associated with him for a very long time. I think that she sort of feels that he belongs to her in some way, since I was out of the picture for so much of his life."

"Vincent?" Tifa leaned closer to him.

"Yeah?"

"You've been really more… considerate of the feelings of everyone around you since Tseng passed this morning. Now I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but it really isn't like… you." She felt awkward even saying this to him, but knew it had to be addressed.

"I know." Vincent slumped over and rested his head in his hands. "I know…"

Tifa moved closer to him and stroked his back. "Can I ask why?"

He sighed heavily; the impending tears evident in his voice. "I'm just trying not to act out the way I really feel."

"And that is?" Tifa suspected the answer, but knew that Vincent needed to hear himself say it.

"I killed him, Tifa." His shoulders heaved as he tried in vain to keep from crying. "There is no one else to blame for his injuries, I did it. My real desire is to run as far away from all this as I can and disappear. There's no point in doing that, though and I know it. Whether I am to blame or not, and believe me, there is no doubt in my mind that I am at fault, running away, hiding, or getting as angry as Hell isn't going to change anything. It certainly isn't going to bring my brother back, so the only thing that I can do to help anyone is to try and keep it together. I don't really give a damn about anyone's feelings beside yours and Angel's, but I'll pretend that I do, in the hopes that some good might come out of it."

She sat silently next to him for several minutes. "Well if it is all just a big act, you've been doing a Hell of a job at it, because you even had Cid fooled."

"I'm just so angry right now…and there isn't anyway for me to express it that won't either make everyone hate me or make everyone miserable." He sat up straight and turned his red eyes to her. "What am I supposed to do, Tifa?"

Tifa put her arms around him and pulled him close. "You can't just keep it all inside though, Vincent. Everyone has appreciated how you've been acting since this morning but I see the man that I love being so confused and hurt that he's almost trying to become Tseng himself. It's like your offering to sacrifice yourself and who you are in order to fill the void left by him."

Vincent knew deep down that she was exactly right. His thoughts today had mainly consisted of thinking of what Tseng would say or do in the situations presenting themselves. "You're right…"

"Just because Tseng isn't here to behave in a certain way doesn't mean that you're expected to do it. We all need you to be Vincent." She rocked him slightly in her arms.

He couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

She kissed his cheek. "Tseng may have brought us all together here, but just because he's gone now doesn't mean that this is all going to fall apart. That's what you're afraid of, isn't it?"

How Tifa could read him so well was beyond comprehension. He managed a choked reply. "Right."

"No one is going anywhere, okay?" Tifa smiled to herself; "Tseng wasn't the only thing that everyone here had in common. Your brother may be gone, but there are a lot of others in your family now and they will always be here."

Vincent pulled back from her and tried to dry his eyes. "Every time my family has come together, it was just ripped apart again, and I've always ended up alone. When our parents were killed, when I was taken by Hojo, and now with Tseng's death I feel like it's all coming undone again."

"It's not going to end like that this time, though." Tifa let her smile linger on her lips. "I hate to say it, but this time Vincent Valentine's story isn't going to end in pain and solitude. There are just too many people around that care about you now and I'm married to you, in case you've forgotten, meaning that you're stuck with me until the bitter end."
He actually managed to grin, "I didn't forget."

"Good." Tifa reached out and mussed his hair. "This time it ends with you getting the body you've wanted and living happily ever after with Angel, Reno, and me."

"God, does Reno really have to be in this story?" Vincent's smile widened.

"I'm afraid so," Tifa laughed. "He is your son-in-law."

"True." He shrugged, "I guess it's beyond my control who Angel chooses to have in her life. Liking Reno definitely must have been something that she got from Aeris's genetics, though."

"Maybe, she liked everyone it seems." Tifa nodded in agreement. "By the way, I think you are long over due to tell Angel about her biological mother, don't you?"

Vincent distinctly remembered promising to do so long ago. "We'll all get together for dinner tonight so that you can fill in any blanks my memory draws about her. Plus, you did quite frankly, know her a whole Hell of a lot better than me."

"Good enough." Tifa got up from the couch. "I'll go tell Angel and Reno about our plans."

"You might as well tell Cid." Vincent flopped onto his side. "He knew her, too."

"Okay." Tifa perked up. "I'll be back in a little bit, try and get some rest now."

"Sure." Vincent was more than a little in need of sleep and complied. As he started to drift off, he tried to think of exactly what to tell Angel about Aeris.

Tifa made her way on crutches down the hall, knowing that dinner plans would help everyone get their mind away from Tseng's passing. She passed Reno on the way, and took notice that he didn't look happy.

***

Reno took little notice of Tifa as he stormed down the hall. He got to Vincent's door and threw it open.

Vincent was startled by this; the second of two unannounced visitations today. Once he saw that it was Reno coming in, he didn't bother to get up from the couch he was laying on.

"Yeah, don't get up." Reno said as he helped himself to a drink from the small refrigerator in the room. With that in hand, he fell into the same chair that Dr. Arlin had been in just a short while before.

Vincent looked at his visitor, noticing the sour look on his face. "What's going on?"

Reno took a sip before answering. "Let's see, I've officially been in charge for less than a day and I've already gotten chewed out."

Although he had an idea, Vincent ventured to ask. "Really? Who?"

"That God damned doctor, that's who." Again, Reno drank. "What'd ya' have to go and piss her off for?"

Vincent groaned and sat up. "It's not like I tried to. I just wanted my brother to be taken care of in a way that suits him and our family."

"Well, she's on the war path about it." He set his beverage down on the coffee table. "I was trying to take a fucking nap and she comes flying in, telling me that you had told her that you weren't going to allow Tseng to just be cremated, and that she didn't think you had any right to tell her how to do things."

"So what did you say?" His curiosity got the better of him.

"I said that you're his brother and all the decisions regarding his final arrangements were yours to make." Reno scowled, "Needless to say, that didn't go over well."

"I can imagine." He leaned forward. "Thanks for seeing it my way, though."

"Well, I really do think it's your choice." Reno said. "She read me the riot act about it and then walked out. I know her, though, and it's how she deals with things like this."

"Yeah?" Vincent, for all the time he had spent in the infirmary didn't feel as though he knew the doctor very well.

"Sure, I've seen it before. When something really upsets her, instead of getting all sad and teary eyed like most women, she flies off the handle and becomes a real tyrant for a few days. Janice, for whatever reason loved the old guy even though she never really let on. I guess it was because she knew it was pointless." Reno picked up his right arm and let his wrist flop, "She knew about the whole queer bit."

Vincent cocked an eyebrow at Reno's gesture. "Well you know her the best, I suppose."

Reno shrugged. "In any event, I need to figure out exactly what you plan on so that I can get shit set up."

"Okay." He had already given thought to it and was ready. "I want him buried in Wutai on the family plot. I want a funeral held there prior to his interment, so that our few surviving family members and friends and come."

"All right." Reno nodded. "I'll get the airship ready to take everyone and I'll call ahead to make the arrangements needed. I can also call one of the papers there to place a death announcement and schedule for the services."

"That sounds fine. I can give you the name of the cemetery when you're ready." Vincent was impressed with Reno's willingness and ability to get this done.

Reno caught the appreciative look on Vincent's face. "And don't go staring at me like that. I ain't doing all this for you, okay? It's for Tseng, don't forget it."

"That's just as good, Reno. Thank you." Vincent smiled.