Turning
"Vincent..." a sweet voice called out to him. In his sleep his brow furrowed. The voice came again. "Vincent!"
Vincent's eyes snapped open as he realized that the voice was real. He turned his head to see Elena standing outside the cell. He was about to give a yell of joy when she held a finger up to her lips and shook her head. "Shh. It seems to be nighttime, but there are still guards on duty. You should be quiet."
He nodded and gave her a surprised look. "How did you manage to find your way back here and not be caught?"
She bit her lip. "Luck, and a good memory, I guess. After he told me who he...was...I just ran. Once I stopped, I recognized where I was, and I hid for a while, then made my way back here."
He shook his head in admiration. "But...you could have run. Technically, our contract is void, since Reno and Rude were incapacitated. Why didn't you just leave?"
She blushed and said, "We should probably get out of here, don't you think?" He looked piercingly at her, but stood up and gracefully crossed the cell, waiting until she had unlocked the door to walk out.
"Should we get Marlene?" Elena asked. "We could come back with reinforcements, but then they'll know we're gone and will be more wary. However, at the moment we're not in the best shape."
"I'm not sure...I guess...we would have the advantage of surprise if we got her now." He frowned. "I guess we should get her now. But...Well, never mind."
"What?"
"Nothing...It's nothing."
She looked at him dubiously. "Fine."
"Elena? Is he really..."
"My father?" She sighed and closed her eyes tightly. "I don't know," she said in a harsh whisper. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I just...don't know. I mean...having him as my father, a man who kidnapped an innocent girl just to...well...That's terrible. But, I mean, a father. I...just don't know."
Vincent sighed. "I understand. But you know...we may have to kill him."
She nodded, and another tear slid out. "I know."
He hesitated, half afraid that she would be angry with him, then gathered her into a hug. "Elena, it'll be okay. Everything will turn out all right, I promise."
She returned the hug, and whispered, "Thank you, Vincent. I feel better." She pulled away slightly and he stared at her eyes, shining with unshed tears.
I could just stare into her eyes forever...Some people say brown is plain, but it's so beautiful on her. She's a beautiful person. I wish I wasn't so in love with her.
His mind reeled as he thought that last phrase unbidden. I...love her? I really love her? Yes...I do.
And then he was lowering his face to hers, as their lips touched. The kiss only lasted a moment, but Vincent felt happy in that moment.
"I love you." The words came out of his mouth without thought, as if she hadn't realized that by now.
"I...Vincent, you mean everything to me. I once hated you more strongly than anyone. But now...I love you too."
He hugged her tightly and smiled, tears of joy rising in his eyes. "You...you have no idea how happy that makes me. My greatest fear was that you didn't care for me. But now, with you...I am complete. I am happy."
She pulled away and rubbed her sleeve across her streaming eyes. She said, half-laughing with slight embarrassment and joy, "We'd better get a move on before we start a flood and show everyone we're here, hadn't we? But once we get out of here..." She smiled, then sniffed. "Let's go find Marlene."
By some miracle, they both found their confiscated weapons and made their way to where they had last seen Marlene. They went through the door through which she had been taken and looked around at a series of three doors.
"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe?" suggested Elena jokingly.
Vincent chuckled and said, "I guess we should just try each at a time. Shall we?" he added, going to open the first door.
It was just a series of beds, all empty. The second was the same. However, when they opened the third door, the quaking voice of a young man asked, "Who's there?"
As the door was already half open, Elena stepped openly into the room. Vincent, in the shadows behind her, drew his gun in case the man was armed.
Sitting on a bed in the center was the young guard who had opened their cell door just before the meeting with Professor Gast. On his lap sat a relatively content Marlene, who stared at Elena quizzically.
"Please don't draw your weapon," requested Elena quietly. "We're only here to save the girl."
"You...were the ones I took to see Gast," said the young man. "You want to save the girl? Thank any deity there is. The poor girl has suffered so much trauma..."
"Weren't you the woman with Mr. Vincent?" asked Marlene.
"Yes, Marlene. Your father sent me along with his friends to save you." Elena didn't turn away from the young man, not trusting him, but called back to Vincent, "I think it's safe."
Vincent stepped forward, and Marlene grinned jovially, jumping off the young man's lap to hug the somewhat forbidding man around the thighs, which was the highest she could reach on him. He bent over to pat her on the head.
The young man smiled gratefully at Elena. "Marlene is such a darling girl, completely undeserving to be in a place like this. Besides, I've had a feeling that something about this has been wrong. So, I won't hinder you at all."
Elena smiled back. "Thank you very much, sir. That's very generous and...right of you."
"You three should go before the other guards come and capture you. We'll all be in trouble then."
Elena turned away from him and squatted down to Marlene. "Marlene, honey, we're going to need to go quickly. Do you mind if I carry you? Mr. Vincent would, but his arm is hurt."
Marlene nodded solemnly at her. "Okay."
She gathered up the small girl, cursing inwardly because she couldn't get to her weapon in time if it was necessary. With a smile of thanks to the young guard, she and Vincent ran as quickly and quietly as they could.
Apparently, the deity the young man had thanked was smiling on them, as they found their way to the entrance of the cave. Vincent shoved on the fake wall, which slid open. They ran to the cave mouth where the waterfall rushed past, but stopped when they heard a voice.
"Ah, it's about time you got here."
Gast, who they had run right past, stretched lazily. "Quite an amazing effort you put in, really. I commend you both."
They exchanged glances and ran out. However, they ran into a division of the Shinra army, headed by Cristofer Toranir. He grinned savagely at them and waved his gun around threateningly.
"Quite a fix now, isn't it, my brother-in-law and my daughter? Really quite a difficulty." Gast's laughter mocked them as Elena shifted a whimpering Marlene to one arm and gripped Vincent's hand with the other.
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