Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch45 - Weapon

They reached Cosmo Canyon in a few hours, and the team hurried over the small town whose streets were almost empty. Everybody was so frightened of the Meteor that was approaching their Planet, so they tried to spend the last moments with their families. Thus, the town was silent and almost empty. Red frowned the moment he stepped foot on the barren lands of his home. It looked foreign at the sound of silence that lingered on its streets. It was still at the earliest hours of the morning, but they had no time to rest. Not with the Meteor approaching closer each second. They needed to know what must be done and they needed that answer quick.

Vincent and Jocasta were awakened by Cid's cranky voice and ruthless banging against Vincent's door. Jocasta should admit that she wasn't expecting herself to sleep. But it was hard no to sleep when Vincent held her like that. She had finally confessed her true feelings for him, and he had kissed her. But he wasn't letting her in. Not yet. She knew he needed time, and she was going to give it to him. She just wanted to see him being happy. Nothing more.

The team walked within the silent town. Red walked first, leading them to his grandpa's hut that rested no further away. They walked upstairs in a path surrounded by rocks and boulders, a rough terrain that Jocasta had only passed outside from when she wandering around Gaia those, almost, thirty years.

The old man wasn't in the room that they walked in, so the team proceeded for another room that looked like a planetarium. The old man was there, with circular glasses resting over the bridge of his nose. He wore a purple cape, and green shirt and pants beneath.

"Oh ho ho hoo! So glad to see you again, Nanaki," the old man said as he stopped doing whatever he was doing and he turned his attention at the team.

"Nanaki?" Jocasta asked leaning over at Tifa.

"Red's actual name," Tifa whispered back and Jocasta nodded.

"You kids are welcome to ask for my wisdom anytime," Bugenhagen said.

"Yeah, that's why we came," Cloud said.

"What to do? Have you lost your way? When that happens, we each have to take a good look at ourselves," Bugenhagen said "There's always something in the deepest reaches of our hearts. Something buried or something forgotten. Whatever that is, it must certainly be what you are looking for,"

The team fell silent for a moment as they thought of what they were looking for. It was a pretty good question actually. Jocasta took a moment to think of why she was there. Well, she knew that the main reason was to butcher Hojo if they were to meet him along the way. But so many things had happened and Jocasta wasn't even sure anymore. She hated to admit that she had actually bonded with that team. She knew she couldn't back off now even if she wanted to. The entire fate of the world rested in their hands because they were the only ones who willed to do something about it.

But there was more to it. She wanted to save Sephiroth. Sooner or later, she knew they'd have to face Sephiroth and she knew that this team had no other intention but kill him. She was going to stop them. She was going to bring him back. She needed to, because after all these years, she still loved that little boy she'd taken under her wing back in the day. Jocasta had a new enemy now, and that wasn't Hojo, nor Shinra. It was JENOVA. It was that wretched being that had landed on their Planet and caused destruction ever since.

And still there was more to it. She knew it when she turned and looked at Vincent. He seemed deep in thought, but he was looking at her. What was he thinking about? She didn't know. Was he pondering on the same thing that she did? Was he finally accepting her? She hated herself for how much desperate she was for him to actually let her in and love him.