Guilt’s Cost: Part CXX

Take Out

Cid continued to stand over Jaras and Vincent with his arms crossed over his chest. Once he realized that Jaras was in fact going to be all right, he mumbled something to Tifa and then walked off back towards the diner. If nothing else, Cid was hungry and by God he was going to get his dinner. He made his way back to the table they had been at just as the waitress was bringing their meals. To her annoyance, Cid ordered her to put the food into take out boxes, which she did after flashing him a slightly unhappy expression.

Once the food was boxed, Cid went to the front and paid which also irritated him, as Vincent was the one supposedly covering this. He knew he would have to be reimbursed before Vincent skipped town. This done and with the boxed dinners in hand, Cid went back out to find everyone still waiting where he had last seen them.

Tifa hurried to Cid’s side upon his return. "You went back for the food?"

"Well of course I did." Cid scoffed, inspecting his son still under Tifa’s supervision. "I wasn’t going to waste it. Freak out or no, I was hungry."

She offered him a small laugh that he seemed to completely ignore.

Cid was more than ready to be done with this whole day and he took his son from Tifa, handed her the food and started to walk home. He figured that soon enough the others would follow. He just wanted to get home and eat.

Vincent helped Jaras up and they started to obediently follow the pilot with Tifa at their side. Jaras was feeling a little more normal, but the damage had been done. This flashback had been more than the others; with it were left a barrage of memories and if he had dared to explore his own mind at the moment, he would have found himself quite capable of remembering most of the details of his life as Sephiroth.

Vincent could feel the change within his son, and kept very near to him as they walked. Although he kept his left arm interlaced with Jaras’ as physical support to his weakened son, it was more for the sheer comfort of doing so. Vincent was terrified that these memories were somehow going to take his son from him and he wanted to prevent it anyway he knew how. But what could he do?

Tifa shuffled along in silence too shaken up by what had happened to speak. She too could feel Jaras’ pain as well as Vincent’s. She was emotionally spent from all that had happened and wanted little more at this point than to crawl into bed and sleep.

It wasn’t long before they got to the house. Cid at once landed at the kitchen table after taking the food back from Tifa. His son was still in the carrier and placed next to Cid’s seat. He opened one box after another until he came upon his own dinner. The rest of them also sat and found their meals. They ate without much talk. Jaras made a good show of eating despite the fact that he really didn’t feel like it but he knew that by doing so he would at least relieve some of Vincent’s worry over him.

When the food was gone, Cid got up from the table and took his son into the living room for one last bottle before bed. Somehow the rest of them knew that Cid wanted to be alone for the time being and they remained in the kitchen. Not knowing what else to discuss, Jaras asked about their sleeping arrangements.

Tifa was of course the expert on the house at the moment and she nodded. "Well, I guess Vincent and I can take the guest room and you can stay out on the couch, it folds out."

Vincent cocked an eyebrow at his wife. "I think we should let Jaras have the bed, in light of all that he has been through today."

"No," Jaras raised a hand in protest. "The couch will be fine. You two need some time alone since you really haven’t been together since getting out of the lab. Please don’t worry about me, I’m fine now, really."

The two of them just stared at Jaras, knowing that he was hiding something painful within. They both wished he would talk about it but knew he wouldn’t. They were also aware that pushing him to discuss what he was feeling would be fruitless so they just responded with a joint nod.

After sometime, Cid strolled back through with his son. "I’m gonna change the kid and then I’m going to bed. See you guys in the morning."

They exchanged goodnights and rose from the table. Jaras went out into the den and pulled out the couch, not really certain that the bed within was going to be more comfortable than the couch proper.

Tifa and Vincent walked back to the guestroom and shut the door. They stood looking at each other in an awkward silence until Vincent finally made his way to Tifa and placed his arms around her.

She accepted his embrace and just stood enjoying it for a moment. After a few moments, she stepped back from him and pulled off her blouse.

Vincent just stared on as she continued to strip before him. Why she was doing this he did not know. There was nothing he could do now and it was making him more than a little uncomfortable.

Tifa caught the expression on his face as she stood before him in nothing more than her underwear. "Vincent?"

He looked away and felt heat come to his face. "Yeah?"

She came closer to him. "What’s wrong?"

"You know I can’t do anything…" He continued to keep his gaze averted from his beautiful wife.

Tifa reached out and placed a hand beneath his chin, forcing him to look at her. "So what, that means you’ll never want to see me naked again?"

"No, it’s not that." His voice grew hushed. "I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do now."

"Get undressed, get into bed, hold me, and then fall asleep." Tifa smiled. "Same plan as usual."

Vincent felt the color in his cheeks deepen. "If you’re sure."

"Oh my God, Vincent!" She feigned anger. "We’ve already been through this. Now get undressed and get into bed before I really get mad."

He couldn’t help but smile at the act she was putting on. "Okay, don’t go off."

Tifa finished undressing and then sat on the edge of the bed as Vincent started to shed his clothing. There was pity in her heart for his physical state but fortunately she had spent enough time looking at him during his conversance that she had grown accustomed to his appearance.

Once stripped, Vincent hung his head and flipped off the light. He walked over to the left side of the bed and slipped between the sheets, without giving Tifa much acknowledgement at all.

A little disappointed with his sudden introverted state, Tifa went to her side of the bed and also climbed beneath the sheets. She slid to Vincent’s side and placed an arm over his chest. "I love you."

He turned his head and looked into her eyes in the darkness and smiled slightly. "I love you, too."

Vincent then just stared up into the darkness, his mind wandering blindly. Tifa clung to his side tightly, despite the chill his artificial body gave her. In a way, they were both at a loss for what to do. Luckily it wasn’t long before sleep overtook them both.