By Kristen Gupton-Tired As Hell-Williams

Jaras left his bookstore and apartment after packing a small backpack with all that he would need for the upcoming trip. This done, he headed over to Brandon's house, knowing that both he and his daughter would be home.

He got to the door and knocked, and soon Brandon opened it. "Jaras, shouldn't you be at the book store?"

"No, I got some bad news this morning." Jaras said, hanging his head.

"Oh, come on in, have a seat, and tell us what's going on." Brandon said, stepping aside so that he could pass.

Jaras went in and sat on the couch, seeing that Jeanine was in the kitchen. "My uncle Tseng has passed."

Brandon sat near him in a chair and openly displayed his sympathy. "I'm terribly sorry to hear that."

Jaras shrugged and sighed. "I wasn't really expecting the news. Really, I feel worse for my father, though. He's taking it pretty hard."

"I can imagine." He leaned back in his seat.

"Anyway, I'm leaving tonight to go to Wutai for the funeral and will be gone for several days." Jaras became a little self conscious, "I was wondering if Jeanine might be interested at all with accompanying me."

Having heard her name mentioned Jeanine stepped into the room. "What was that?"

Brandon turned to his daughter. "Jaras here has to go to Wutai for his uncle's funeral and he wants you to go with him."

Her green eyes went wide. "To Wutai?"

Jaras raised his hands, not wanting her to feel obligated. "It was just a thought, I just didn't want to make the trip alone and I thought it would give us a chance to talk. Since you came back to Mideel we haven't really had a chance to catch up."

She considered his words and broke out into a wide smile. "Sure, I don't have anything else going on right now. I'll go."

"Really?" Jaras was shocked at her acceptance.

"Why not?" Jeanine put her hands on her hips. "I've never been there, and this might be the only chance I get to go. When do we leave?"

"This evening." Jaras replied, still in disbelief.

"Wow, I'll go get my stuff ready then." She turned and left the room.

Brandon grinned and turned to Jaras. "I knew you and her would get along."

Jaras flushed red. "I've always liked Jeanine, you know that. While she was gone to Junon for the last eight months, I missed her."

"So is your interest in my daughter starting to go beyond friendship?" Brandon questioned in the way only a father could.

"It might." Jaras sighed. "I didn't realize how lonely I was until recently."

Brandon nodded, not really minding that this man had an interest in his daughter. He knew that at thirty-four, Jeanine was getting to the age where she should start thinking about settling down. He also knew that his girl hadn't always been very popular with men, as until recently she had always been overweight and somewhat introverted. But the company of an attractive and intelligent man like Jaras could be very good for her, and Jaras too for that matter.

Jaras was pleased with Brandon's approval. "I'll take care of her, don't worry."

"I know you will, Jaras." The doctor continued to smile. "I know you will."

***

Tifa eventually returned to the base, having bought a considerable number of things with Vincent's seemingly endless bankroll. She entered their room and set the numerous bags on the bed, before turning to notice that Vincent was sitting on the couch, reading a book that he had picked up earlier that day at a bookstore.

She made her way over to him and sat. "I got a really nice dress for the funeral."

Vincent pulled his gaze up from his novel and acknowledged her with a curt nod.

"Do you want to see it?" Tifa asked, wanting to model her purchase for him.

He again just nodded.

Taking this as a sign of approval, Tifa got up and grabbed the bag containing the dress. She went into the bathroom to dress, talking to him while she started to try it on. "I don't need my crutches anymore, but you probably noticed that."

Vincent had wondered where they were when she got home. "Good."

Tifa peeked out of the bathroom and looked at him. "Vincent, are you okay?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"You've kind of gone back to that 'man of few words' routine tonight." Tifa disappeared back into the bathroom.

Vincent dog-eared the page he was on before setting the book on the coffee table. His behavior didn't seem odd to him, since this was how he had acted for the majority of the last seven years. "I just have been thinking a lot."

She stepped out, wearing the new dress. "About Tseng?"

He couldn't help but smile a little at the vision of her in the striking gown. "That's very nice."

"You didn't answer my question." Tifa waved a finger at him, not thrilled to see him reverting back to his old ways.

"In a word, yes." He said simply as he got up from the couch. He walked over and inspected the other bags Tifa had dropped onto the bed.

She went up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It'll be okay."

The Vincent that she had grown accustomed to over the last several months would have turned in her embrace and hugged her back but instead, he just pulled himself away before going over to his suitcase sitting on the floor and picking it up.

Tifa's expression fell, seeing that he wasn't going to snap out of his state easily. She watched silently as he laid his suitcase on the bed and laid the piles of clothes he had prepared into it. She retreated into the bathroom and slipped her dress off, putting back on the clothes she had been wearing. Although she desperately wanted to say something to Vincent about the way he was acting, she figured she would let it go for now, knowing that in this state there just wouldn't be any getting through to him.

She packed her own things for the trip and set her bag down by the door a few moments later. Vincent had gone back to the couch and was again engrossed in his book. She just stood staring at him; amazed at the completely different personalities he could show at various times. This persona however, frightened her. She would almost rather see him angry or argumentative than this. Anything was better than this.

Vincent took notice of her standing by the door and asked, "are you ready to go now?"

She pursed her lips and retook her bag. "In a word, yes."

He again cocked an eyebrow, seeing that she was mocking him. He let it slide though and got up, moving toward the door and taking his own suitcase in hand. He placed the book under his free arm and took Tifa's bag from her hand. "Let's go."

She opened the door and stepped out into the hall, closing it again when Vincent was clear. They walked together up to the airfield, finding the immense airship sitting in wait. They boarded and Vincent took their bags to an empty cabin before making his way to the bridge where Reno and Cid were talking to the crewmembers.

Vincent meandered over to his usual haunt in the corner while Tifa made her way over to Cid's side. She at once took the baby from him, needing some distraction from her frustration over Vincent.

Cid immediately took notice of Vincent standing alone in the shadows and looked at Tifa. "Despite his attempt at putting on a good show for us lately, he's finally gone back to being Vinnie, huh?"

Tifa sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I just wish there was something I could do, you know…"

Cid smiled and nudged her. "You know he'll be fine. He always is."

"You're probably right." She replied, starting to smile as the infant in her arms tried to reach up for her face.

"Of course I'm right." Cid scoffed. "If he was going to take this depressed loner bit all the way to suicide then he'd have been dead a long time ago."

Tifa instantly brought her gaze up to meet Cid's, a look of disapproval on her face. "Need I remind you that he has tried to kill himself in the past?"

He at once remembered the night in Rocket when Vincent had first been reunited with Tseng and his consequent suicide attempt. "Well yeah, but that was an attempt to protect you, Tifa. It wasn't something that he was doing just for the hell of it."

His words rang true and she knew it. Still, she didn't want Vincent sinking any further into the mood he was already in. "I just hope he comes around soon."

Reno, knowing that it really wasn't his place dared to step into the conversation. "I'll bet fifty gil that he knocks this shit off by the time we get to Wutai. His little snits seem to come and go quicker than a two gil whore."

Tifa and Cid looked at Reno, both amused and disgusted with his analogy.

Reno blew off their reactions and crossed his arms. "What? It's true and you know it. Besides, the guy's brother did just die and I think he deserves a little time to himself."

"That's just what I'm afraid to give him, Reno." Tifa shot back.

He rolled his eyes. "Look, Tseng used to pull this same shit whenever things would get really tough. It's not that big a deal, okay? Now just give the guy a break."

The fact that Reno was actually defending Vincent didn't go unnoticed and Cid couldn't help but comment. "Well if you think that this isn't a big deal, then maybe we should really be worried."

"Ah, fuck the both of you guys." Reno snapped, turning from them and walking away. "I'm going to find Angel. At least she doesn't think everything I say is stupid."