Violet Shadows (FF7)

33) Under Attack- Again

"Anyway, Reeve wanted us to contact him the second you two woke up." The TV turns on and Yuffie types some crap in, Reeve coming on. Blah blah this, blah blah that. Midgar here, Omega there, and Deepground doing the chicken dance in the corner. Who cares? It's the same crap that's been confusing me forever. I don't know if I even want to make sense of it anymore.

"There you have it," Yuffie swings her legs back around. I don't know what's going on but it sounds big. I've been waiting a long time to get my hands on those Deepground punks. They've had their way long enough. Now it's time to give them a taste of Pain a la Yuffie!" She swings her fists wildly. "Just give me three minutes with those guys! No, make it two. Well, maybe three. Or four! Well, it really depends on how many of them there are, but if there was five I could probably take 'em in two or two in five or three in four!"

"Be quiet," I huff, pulling the uncomfortable folder from my clothing. Yuffie tilts her head.

"Oh yeah, I almost left that, but then I saw your name on it and thought maybe you took it for a reason. You're lucky I was able to get back in there!"

"Thanks," I mutter, frowning at my name and the wrinkled picture of me paper clipped up in the corner. I'm not even looking at the camera, just kneeling by the violets David pointed out before he left and was killed, hands deep in the dirt. My black skirt and leggings are smeared with brown and gray, my white cardigan dirty too. My bow lays on the ground beside me along with a quiver of arrows, a one year old Josh sitting in the flower bed with his thumb in his mouth, holding the flower pot of the next plant I was going to put in. I took care of those flowers after David died as if they were all my children, just for him. Whoever took the photograph, I have no idea.

"What's in that thing anyway? It looks important!"

"I don't know," I shake my head. Vincent's piercing eyes burn into me as my hand slides across the front toward the opem edge. I look up at him quickly and he just stares back. You don't care? Alright... I sigh and flip the cover open, immediately freaked out by how many pictures of me there are. "Holy #-%+, this guy was a freaking stalker..."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie sits down beside me on the floor. I don't care if she sees, do I? Of course not... "Whoa, you're right! There's like three or four pages full of you!" Her tanned fingers brush over a picture of me and David, hugging tightly and grinning at the camera. After he got back from Icicle Inn... "Is that David?" I nod, glancing up at Vincent. He tilts his head and smile slightly. Creep old Hojo. "Geeze, you were so pretty!" Were? I feel my face warm just the tiniest bit.

"Uh.. Thanks."

"You guys looked so perfect together!"

"They were," I hear Vincent grumble under his breath. Oh come on, don't be like that. After pointing out a few pictures of Josh and a couple more of me, the ninja turns the page, gasping.

"What the...?" She trails off, trademark gray Kisaragi eyes wide. My breath catches in my throat, heart skipping. No way. It's all David Harper. Dead David, laying on the ground and bleeding from his head with his beloved video camera beside him, David grinning for a photograph, in his third class SOLDIER uniform with his helmet tucked under his arm, David with Josh in the air, spinning, and the boy's arms out with a laugh spread across both their features. The one that scares me the most is the photograph of him in some dark city, seemingly underground, holding up a machine gun against his shoulder instead of his usual sword. The one detail I didn't mention...