Guilt’s Cost: Part LXIII

Vincent’s Son

Tifa and Vincent remained in each other’s arms for quite a while. There were no words spoken between them, as they weren’t needed. After their lips had parted Tifa had laid her face against Vincent’s chest and he now had his cheek resting on her hair. Silent tears of relief and joy fell from Tifa’s eyes, and it would be a lie to say that Vincent wasn’t fighting some of his own. They stood there together, rocking slightly.

Reno appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame. "Hey Vinny."

Vincent opened his eyes and looked over to see the former Turk. "Reno."

"Aw, if that ain’t the sweetest thing it ever saw." Reno said waving his hand at Tifa and Vincent. "This is the kind of shit that’ll bring a tear to my eye."

Tifa turned to see Reno wearing a cocky smile. Her eyes went wide as a realization set into her mind. "Did you let him out?"

Reno laughed to himself. "Why the Hell would I do that?"

She gazed up at Vincent. "He did, didn’t he?"

"Yes." Vincent smiled down at her. "He let me out and knocked some sense into me."

Tifa left Vincent’s side and walked to Reno. She couldn’t help but put her arms around him. "Thank you! Oh God, thank you Reno!"

Reno kept his gaze locked with Vincent’s as she embraced him. He made sure to keep his hands down at his sides, not wanting to upset Vincent with a cheap grope of his woman. "You just better be happy that I got him cleaned up before giving him to you. Old Vinny was gettin’ pretty damned ripe."

Vincent just nodded in slight approval of Reno’s restraint. He was continuing to surprise Vincent every step of the way.

Tifa finally retreated back to Vincent’s side, slipping her arms around his waist. "Reno, why would you disobey Tseng?"

"Oh please." Reno entered the room and went over to the side of the bed. He sat down heavily. "In light of Tseng’s condition, I am currently in charge. So my first official act as temporary leader was to dig up the Count."

Vincent’s smile faltered. "What’s wrong with my brother?"

Tifa tightened her grip around him. "Tseng had another attack last night. The doctors are going to do surgery on him shortly."

"What was he doing to have another attack?" Vincent filled with worry. He knew heart conditions were nothing to laugh at, especially in light of what had occurred during the last episode.

Reno rolled his eyes. "Oh shit, here we go. It ain’t anything he was doing, it’s who he saw."

Tifa sighed. "Tseng got a report that made him send me to Mideel. Cid came and flew me there. We met with Brandon, the doctor that took care of Cloud. Do you remember him?"

"Yes." Vincent said, wanting her to get to the point.

"Well, he told us something pretty amazing." She hung her head and took a step back.

Vincent turned away and placed his head in his hands. There had been a dream where Tifa had been telling him this story before. He was remembering the words she had spoken to him while he was in stasis. "You told me this… Sephiroth washed up from the life stream without any memory of the past."

"Holy shit, Tifa!" Reno stood back up. "How did you tell him that? He’s been asleep since then!"

Her cheeks reddened. "I… I went down and sat next to his stasis box, and I told him about the trip to Mideel. I had no idea you could actually hear me in there."

"I do remember." Vincent faced her again, surprised with his recollection of her tale. "Now he’s here, isn’t he?"

As if on cue, Jaras emerged from his room and stood looking right at Tifa and Vincent. He knew Vincent’s image well from the books and articles he had read while in Mideel. Slowly, he walked forward with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.

Vincent turned to him, his expression devoid of anything for the moment. It was Sephiroth, and he was in shock. Never did he think that he would get to see his son again, much less speak to him. There was a flurry of conflicting emotions within him as Jaras came closer.

Jaras stopped before Vincent. His father was not quite as tall as he and he found himself looking down at him slightly. "Mr. Valentine?"

It was an awkward reenactment of his first encounter with Angel, but the feelings within him at this meeting were quite different. He had never known of Angel’s existence, but Sephiroth was a whole other story. This was a man who Vincent had failed as a father and although Jaras may not have had any memory of his life before Meteor, Vincent wondered if he would be forgiven. "Sephiroth…"

"My name is Jaras now." He said without much expression. The tension emanating from Vincent was burning him.

"I always wanted to tell you the truth before, about me being your father." Vincent said quietly, needing to make his confession before he backed out.

Jaras locked gazes with Vincent. "I don’t remember anything… but knowing that I have a family now after seven years of loneliness in Mideel… makes me feel…"

Vincent wasn’t quite sure, but he thought that tears were starting to form in Jaras’s eyes. "What?"

Jaras couldn’t help it, and let the tears fall. "Like I belong somewhere finally."

Seeing emotion for the first time on his son’s face, Vincent buckled and went forward embracing him. His face too was soon streaked with moisture. "I’m so sorry… I should never have let Hojo take you… Your mother wouldn’t let me keep you from his experiments…"

Jaras felt Vincent tremble in his arms. It was heartbreaking to see the pain within him. "Like I said, I don’t remember anything, but even knowing what I do about my life from the books I read, I don’t blame you for anything. If Hojo had known any more than he did, he would have just killed you outright."

Vincent couldn’t say anymore and he stepped back, putting his arm around Tifa’s shoulders as she came up next to him. He dropped his gaze to the floor, shamed by his blatant display of emotion in front off everyone in the room.

Jaras too felt awkward and put his hands back into his pockets. "But we got a chance to start over, right?"

Vincent smiled. "Yes, we did."

"I can’t believe the kindness everyone has shown me, especially after all that I did back then." Jaras said softly.

Tifa looked into Jaras’s eyes. "We all know that a lot of that was due to the Jenova within you. Now that the life stream took that all away, you are really you now."

He smiled at Tifa, knowing exactly what Vincent loved in her. "I guess so."

Reno cleared his throat, wanting everyone’s attention. "There is something else we just found out that you all need to know as you’re going to get involved with it sooner or later."

Everyone fell silent and turned toward Reno. The oddly serious expression he was wearing sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Reno had something important on his mind, and all those present grew afraid.