Guilt’s Cost: Part CXXIII

Leaving Rocket

It was late afternoon when they finally agreed to leave Rocket. Their things were already on the airship and now all that needed to be done was the good byes to Cid. He stood there with his infant son in his arms looking a little lost knowing that he was going to be alone with the child for the first time.

Tifa lingered near him for a long time, getting one last look at the baby while filling Cid with all of the last minute advice she could think of. She wanted so badly to stay with this infant that it pained her. Somehow she felt that Cid’s child was the closest she would ever get to a baby of her own and her heart was aching at the prospect of leaving it.

Vincent and Jaras were hovering a few feet away, both feeling terribly awkward in this sort of situation. More than anything else they were just anxious to go, but they both knew better than to drag Tifa off before she was ready.

In truth, Vincent knew what was holding her back from going and it hurt deeply. He had seen over the past day what type of mother that she would have made and he was saddened that he couldn’t give her what she wanted most. Maybe at some point he would get the courage up to approach the subject with her and he would let her know that if she wanted to have a baby that it would be all right with him, even if it meant that it wouldn’t be his.

Finally Tifa gave her tearful farewell to Cid and turned away from him. Vincent took this opportunity to go to Cid.

Cid looked at Vincent with slightly tear-tainted eyes. "Well, take care of Tifa."

Vincent smiled and said quietly, "Are you sure you’re gonna be all right without her? I mean, if you really want her to stay it’s fine with me."

"Thanks but like I said, Shera’s mother is gonna be here in the morning and I’ll be fine." Cid dropped his gaze. "Thanks though."

"No problem." Vincent dared to reach out and pat Cid on the shoulder. "Okay then, call if you need anything okay?"

"Sure." Cid forced a smile. "Bye."

"Bye." Vincent turned and headed toward the airship, running a bit to catch up with Tifa.

Jaras’ goodbye simply consisted of a smile and a nod and then he too retreated with the others.

Cid stood alone in the field as he watched the airship lift up into the sky. His lower lip quivered slightly as he truly wished that they weren’t going. It was true that Shera’s mother was coming in the morning, but he could barely stand the woman and wasn’t really looking forward to it. He held his son tightly to him and looked down at his tiny face. "Well, it’s just us. What do you think?"

The baby was sleeping and stirred just the smallest bit at his father’s words.

Cid’s face broke into a genuine smile. He was so attached to this infant that it practically hurt. He turned from the field and started back toward his house. "Let’s go get ready for Grandma."

***

Once back on the airship, Jaras retreated to his quarters and left Tifa and Vincent on the bridge to the ship with the flight crew. Vincent pulled the cel phone from his pocket that Tseng had given him before his departure and dialed.

Tseng answered on the other end. "Hello?"

"Tseng, it’s me." Vincent said, turning away from Tifa in order to have some privacy while he talked to his brother.

"What’s going on? Is something wrong?" Tseng asked, thinking that his brother would only call if there was a problem.

"No, everything is fine." Vincent sighed while turning his gaze toward the window. "I was just letting you know that Tifa, Jaras, and I are on our way back."

"Why so soon?" He knew that it wasn’t like Tifa to leave Cid so quickly after the loss of his wife.

Vincent’s voice grew quiet, "It’s Jaras. He had another flashback last night and has regained his memory."

"Oh God, how is he doing?" Tseng sat down in the chair he had been standing next to.

"Fine now." There was a pain in Vincent’s heart as he recalled the night before. "But he asked for us to come back. I think he’s scared to be at large right now and would just feel safer in the base."

"All right." Tseng slouched into the seat. "I have spent some time talking with the Turk you brought back."

"Oh? And did he give you any useful information?" Vincent was curious.

"Actually he did." Tseng smiled to himself. "I think we have a plan forming to go and raid the second Midgar lab where Hojo is carrying out the Neo-Jenova Project."

Vincent was speechless for a moment. "That… that is good news."

"Yes." He continued to grin. "And it will be carried out soon, so I suppose that it is for the best that you come back now. The only thing is, the Turk insists on going with us on this mission and quite frankly, I don’t know if he’s recovered enough from his injury to make such a trip."

"But he has invaluable insight into this secret lab, right?" Vincent knew that this would be the only reason his brother would humor the Turk.

"Correct." Tseng’s smile finally faltered. "Still, I think he may slow us down. Then again, he is the only one who has the faintest idea of where this lab is and how to get in. It is a bit of a pickle."

Vincent laughed. "It would appear so. Well, he’s a Turk and you know as well as I do that he will either be ready when the time comes or he will step down."

"That is what you and I would do as Turks, but we know very little about this man." Tseng scoffed. "For all we know, he could be another Reno."

"Now Tseng," he continued to laugh. "I think we both know that this Porter has little in common with Reno. Don’t insult the man with such a comparison."

"Yes, you’re right." Tseng sighed. "Well, we will see."

"All right, I’m going to go. Bye." Vincent turned the phone off and slid it back into his pocket.