Columbine [Vincent]

[Vincent Valentine]

Vincent Valentine: Master Conversationalist.
--

"...okay.[/color]"

He smiled a bit to himself. That sounded really nice, actually; especially if Aerith was as good of a cook as she was a gardener. The walk back to the borough was uneventful. The Heartless weren't nearly as plentiful, he remembered, and that still rubbed him the wrong way. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. All that mess at the castle with Yuffie, the almost complete disappearance of the Heartless, that man who had come and destroyed the marketplace. There was something big going on. He wondered if Aerith knew anything about it... she seemed to be sensitive to those sorts of things.

He stopped in the middle of the path, turned to her and said "No Heartless. Hmm.[/color]"

Had Yuffie ever told the others about their little adventure in the castle? He wasn't sure- she hadn't told him so, but he didn't want to make assumptions and tell Aerith now when Yuffie meant to keep it a secret. Then again, was this really the type of thing that needed to be kept secret. He decided to wait a while and see if his comment would spark a conversation that would lead in that direction. If not, he would have to be more direct.

[Aerith]

Let's Be Confidants
--------

Aerith caught the smile that ghosted across Vincent's face, and her own smile widened. It always brought her joy to see her friends happy or, at least, out of the perpetual gloom some of them seemed to dwell in. She was also pleased with the fact that she didn't have to twist Vincent's arm to get him to come eat with her. In that regard, he had a leg up on the sociable ladder that Cloud did not.

The walk back to her house was very quiet. Strange that no Heartless at all accosted them. Not even a glimpse of yellow eyes furtively watched from the shadows. None of them had heard a peep out of Maleficent or Kadaj and his brothers in a little while. And that redheaded, silver-robed man had not shown up again. For someone who had claimed to have intensified the darkness in her friends' hearts, the resulting effects of his attack had been surprisingly minimal.

Vincent mentioned the lack of Heartless, and Aerith nodded. She hadn't talked about this with Vincent yet, and there was always a chance he could provide insight where she was lacking. "Have you heard about the imbalance between light and darkness? When Sora and King Mickey were here before, Mickey told us that the light is too strong right now, and that's affecting everything. There are fewer and fewer Heartless."

She paused, thinking. "When that man, the Champion of Darkness, showed up, he attacked everyone who was there, except for me, and strengthened the darkness within their hearts." She wasn't sure how much Cloud would want the others to know about his inner struggles, but she knew she could trust Vincent. He wasn't exactly a chatty gossip, anyway. "I've seen what that darkness is starting to do to Cloud. Sephiroth... Sephiroth showed up again."

[Vincent Valentine]

Am I the only one concerned about this?
--

"I knew about the growing darkness in Cloud and the others' hearts,[/color]" he started, gravely. "But, I had not heard about the imbalance. Or Sephiroth returning.[/color]"

It was disturbing to hear. Aerith seemed quite distressed about Cloud, and the reappearance of Sephiroth and Vincent himself was equally distressed to hear about this imbalance. He could see that imbalance was already affecting things. Surely that imbalance had something to do with the man who attack Hollow Bastion and strengthened the darkness in the townspeople's hearts. Not only Cloud and his other friends were affected, but a few out side of the Restoration Committee as well. There had to be a connection.

"Hmm.... what should we do?[/color]" he asked. To be honest, he regretted missing out on the meeting that had been held some time ago. Apparently, he had missed out on some pretty vital information. But in his defense, not much had been done or even discussed about the situation at hand... at least not in his presence. Was there anything being done? Nobody seemed very concerned to him, at least not actively. At least that what it seemed like to him.

Was there anything they could do?

[Aerith]

Brain Food
--------

That was the question, wasn't it? What should they--what could they--do? Aerith was not so sure if they could do anything other than wait and hope. But the prospect of allowing things to run their course did not sit well with her. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the pulse of the world. Confusion echoed back to her. A deadly sense of foreboding was seeping through everything. Despite her silent pleas, the world gave her no answers, no remedies. What was the remedy if not to banish the darkness? This balance issue made things quite complicated.

She opened her eyes slowly, still somewhere else for a moment. "Answers are not as clear-cut as we would like. Even the questions are muddled. I'm not sure what we should do or how we should do it."

They finally reached the Borough again, and Aerith headed straight for her house. After pulling a key from her pocket, she unlocked the door and entered, making sure the door would stay open long enough for Vincent to come inside, as well.

"I find that food and drink can usually help me think, though." A note of cheerfulness returned to her voice. "Anything in particular you'd like to eat?"

[Vincent Valentine]

Vincent Valentine: Socially Awkward.
--

Vincent shook his head no. Honestly, all this heavy talk had ruined his appetite but he didn't want to offend Aerith by leaving. No doubt Yuffie or Cid would throw him out again if he did leave. So, he walked inside Aerith's house.

He stood there, a bit stiffly, unsure of what to do. Should he sit or would that be rude without an invitation? He wasn't sure anymore- things had changed in the past thirty years or so. It also didn't help that he got a bad feeling about simply sitting down and having a meal with a friend when there was something big happening in the universe. Shouldn't something like that be taken care of before tea and sandwiches? It was almost like a betrayal. He had promised himself he would do whatever it took to keep the Garden and its inhabitants safe and here he was, having a snack.

He closed his eyes and sighed. Maybe he should just go crawl back into his coffin. This was too complicated and sleeping as a lot easier. He knew that was the coward's way out through, so he opened his eyes and waited for some direction from Aerith.

[Aerith]

First Plan
--------

A small hint of concern crossed her face. Aerith couldn't deny that she was a little disappointed in Vincent's sudden refusal to say anything. He obviously didn't want anything to eat, and now he was standing awkwardly in the middle of her house. "Sit down, sit down," she urged him while gesturing toward the couch in the living room.

To encourage him, she moved toward one of her chairs, slipped out of her boots, and sat, folding her legs beneath her. "If you'd rather talk, we can do that, too." Her expression was more serious than usual. She knew how important these issues were. She would not see her home fall to the darkness again.

But the darkness couldn't be all bad, right? Ava had shown her an outright kindness that was unusual for creatures of the dark. He had even wanted to protect her when he had thought Cloud was an unwanted intruder. There had to be something to that.

"I think something that we can do is be supportive of our friends. I can't know exactly what they may be going through, since I wasn't hit with the darkness, but I can try my best to empathize."

[Vincent Valentine]

A different kind of silence.
--

More talking? What was it with this woman and talking? Vincent sat down on the couch but didn't exactly make himself comfortable. He was just fine perched at the edge. She did seem quite serious about the whole ordeal though and had even apparently abandoned the dinner idea. That eased a bit of his anxiety, but he still knew that just talking wasn't going to fix much. Though, it was nice to know that he wasn't the only one who cared and wanted to do something. She talked about being supportive of their friends- he assumed the ones who had been hit by the darkness, like Yuffie- but then she mentioned she didn't know exactly what they were going through. Vincent knew. Oh, he knew far too well. He could empathize, but wished he didn't have to.

He sighed. "Empathy is good, Aerith, but it won't save them.[/color]"

Vincent didn't mean to make less of her suggestion. It was a necessary thing, but it wouldn't be enough to fight off the darkness growing inside them. He sunk down into a thoughtful, laden silence and realized they would have to go for the source. The most obvious and least The Champion of Darkness. It was the most obvious solution; he was sure he wasn't the first to think of it. But, it was unlikely to work, a lot easier said than done. He found his hand on Cerberus. "Hmm. What have the others said about this?[/color]"

[Aerith]

Tell Me Something I Don't Know
--------

Empathy alone, of course, would not help. If it did, Aerith could quite possibly be one of the most powerful individuals in the entire universe. She was the very definition of a bleeding heart. Perhaps that's why she found it so frustrating sometimes dealing with people like Cloud. No matter how much she showed that she cared, no matter how much she tried to make them feel safe with her, they still refused to open up.

In a way, Vincent was similar. He wasn't offering her much to build on in this conversation. But he wasn't evoking frustration in her.

She put a half-curled fist to her cheek and thought for a moment. "I haven't talked much with Leon or Yuffie since the attack. I only know that Cloud has been struggling the most and that Sephiroth is lurking on this world again." That was bad news in and of itself, but there was also this Champion of Darkness to consider. "Have you heard or seen anything?"

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Cait is too tired to think of a proper title. Here is Vincent with a flower.
--

Vincent shook his head slowly. "Nothing. I was hoping you had.[/color]"

He almost sighed. The situation was still the same. Something needed to be done about this imbalance, and about the Champion of Darkness. Furthermore, the connection between the two things needed to be revealed. And all of this needed to be done soon. Very soon.

Vincent was determined to do everything in his power to answer all these questions, for himself if not for his friends. It would give him something to do at least, if he wasn't going to spend all his time brooding in the Crystal Fissure.

"Soon,[/color]" he said to her. "We should discuss this with the others. But first...[/color]"

He sat his hand on the table. "Why don't we have some of that food you were talking about? And maybe some wine. I think we're going to need it...[/color]"

Vincent hated seeing her so serious like this, so he was attempting to at least try and lighten the mood. Of course, the discussion from before wasn't anything to be taken lightly but maybe just for a few moments they could have some peace.