Guilt’s Cost: Part CXV

Arrival

During the early afternoon Cid was sitting on the couch when suddenly a familiar sound caught his attention. He picked up the remote and muted the television. After closing his eyes he cocked his head in concentration. Upon recognizing the noise, Cid shot to his feet startling Tifa who had been sitting next to him.

"What’s going on?" She asked, setting the bottle she had been offering the baby down onto the coffee table.

He looked down at her. "It’s the Highwind."

Tifa’s face contorted in confusion. "But Shin Ra confiscated that ship from you after Meteor!"

"I know, but I can’t forget the sound of that God damned ship." Cid retorted while putting his hands on his hips.

It was then that Tifa had her own realization. "Cid, take the baby."

"Why?" He turned back to face her.

"Take the baby!" Tifa got to her feet, holding the infant out to him. "That’s not the Highwind, it’s Tseng’s ship! It’s identical to the Highwind!"

Cid accepted his son; not having an opportunity to argue further as Tifa flew out the back door to the house. He sighed and slowly followed after her.

Tifa went as fast as she could manage toward the source of the sound. Once clear of the town’s buildings, she saw the airship hovering just over the ground in a vacant field. As she grew closer she could make out Jaras standing on the ground next to a door on the lower hull of the craft. Then another man emerged and she at first assumed it to be Tseng but after going just a few paces forward a scream escaped her. "Vincent!"

He turned in the direction of her cry to see Tifa running toward him. His heart sped up and he outstretched his arms desperately waiting for her to reach him. Vincent caught his breath as he watched her approach, feeling as though he would die of happiness the second she got to him.

Tifa finally reached him and she threw herself into his arms. He easily lifted her up from the ground and held her to him. The world around them seemed to disappear as their lips met in the most passionate of kisses. All of Vincent’s anxiety of being separated from Tifa dissolved as he invaded her mouth. He bent forward so he could set her upon the ground then bringing his hands up to frame her face as their lips continued to linger together. She in turn took both of her hands and grabbed at the collar of his shirt, keeping him pulled forward not wanting the kiss to ever end.

Several minutes passed and Vincent finally broke it off. "I hope you don’t mind me just showing up like this."

Tears of happiness streamed down Tifa’s cheeks. "Oh God, Vincent! You’re walking! I can’t believe you’re walking!"

He smiled down at her while wiping away some of her tears. "Porter and Quigley were able to fix me."

She fell back into his arms and placed her cheek against his chest while closing her eyes. "I can’t believe you’re here… Oh God I’m so happy! I love you."

"I love you, too." Vincent replied before kissing the top of her head. "Once they had me working again, I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from you anymore."

She listened to his heart racing within, realizing that hers was presently going just as fast. Forcing herself to take deep breaths, his familiar scent warmed her from within. Somehow she felt that if she let him go this would all be a dream and he would vanish. Tifa reveled in the sensation of him beginning to stroke her hair as he so often did. She ran her hands up his chest and placed them onto his shoulders. Slowly she turned her face up to look up into his crimson eyes. She was somewhat surprised to realize that he too was crying. Tifa brushed away some of his tears with her thumb. "Don’t cry, Vincent."

"I’m just so happy to be with you." Vincent blushed slightly from his admittal. His lips produced a smile. "There was a part of me that was afraid…"

She cocked her head, seeing the pain within him. "Afraid of what?"

Vincent turned his gaze away from her for a moment. "That you wouldn’t want me to touch you anymore…"

Tifa knitted her brows and her lips quivered. "Vincent, having you hold me again is all I have wanted since we got out of the lab. I don’t care what has been done to you, I still love you and need you."

Her reassurance caused a new wave of tears to fall from his eyes. "Tifa, I love you so much."

After several more minutes of lingering in each other’s arms, they finally stepped back from one another but kept their hands connected for a few seconds longer. Vincent smiled at her still. "Say hi to Jaras."

Tifa turned and extended her arms toward him. "Hey Jaras."

Jaras gave her a smile and embraced her briefly but not long enough to get himself aroused. "Hi."

Cid finally arrived on the scene with his son in his arms. "What the fuck is this?"

Vincent looked over at Cid. "I just thought we’d come by to give you a hand."

Cid narrowed his eyes. "I thought you couldn’t move."

Tifa turned to Cid. "The Turk and Quigley fixed him!"

"Oh… well I guess I’m happy to hear that." He seemed to take this answer at face value. Truth be told, inside Cid was more than a little disappointed knowing that with Vincent here he would no longer have Tifa’s undivided attention. But after all, Vincent was married to her and he wasn’t.