Marlene was cooking some fish they had caught earlier in the day, and joking around with Sephiroth at the same time. But as she reached to turn over one of the fish on the coals, a large forest spider suddenly dropped out of the trees onto her hand, and she jumped back screaming, clutching at Sephiroth for dear life.
Poor Sephiroth... unable to do anything with his arms full of Marlene, he could only watch as Vincent swiped the spider away with his claw. But as Marlene got over her fright, she looked up at Sephiroth...
...and at that moment, Vincent saw it. That spark. Sephiroth, holding Marlene gently, his eyes shining and Marlene, leaning against him, her cheeks flushed...
*They’re in love...* he realized, and he fervently hoped that neither one of them would break the other’s heart.
But much to Vincent’s relief, they only grew closer, though they didn’t seem to realize it yet. And then on Marlene’s 19th birthday, Sephiroth produced two gifts for her. One - a minature whistle pendant on a gold chain, practical, yet pretty. Two - a bouquet of flowers, perfect for her womanly
side. And finally, from both Vincent and Sephiroth, a bow and quiver of arrows. Vincent was nothing if not practical, and he insisted that Marlene learn to use them, even though neither Vincent nor Sephiroth were great archers themselves. But it gave her confidence, and after a bit of practice, even Marlene insisted on taking her turn at watch those many nights when they were sleeping underneath the stars.
One night, as the trio slept in a cave on a deserted beach, Vincent awoke to see Sephiroth and Marlene sitting together on the beach. He was used to seeing the two of them up at the same time, Marlene practicing her archery skills by moonlight with Sephiroth supervising, but this time, the two of them just sat there on the beach together, huddled under a blanket for warmth. And although they talked in hushed tones, Vincent could still hear what their words.
"You know, Sephy... Barret isn’t my real father either," Marlene was saying. "But he loved me and took care of me. And I still miss him."
"Well, Vincent told me that this man, Hojo, was my real father, but what sort of man would give up his wife and child to science?"
"But don't you ever wonder about Hojo? I often wonder what Dyne, my real dad, was like."
"Not really...Vincent’s been the only person who ever really cared about me, and so in every way, he is my father."
"Poor, poor Sephy... I often wonder what hell lurk in your memories..."
"I’d rather not know," said Sephiroth flatly. "I don’t want to take the chance that I’ll go mad again. But I do know this much - I was an experiment, a guinea pig..."
"No, you’re not a victim, Sephy! You’re a fighter, a survivor."
"Marlene, I’ve never been as human before as I am now. And all because of Vincent, and you, Marlene..."
Behind them, Vincent sighed inwardly. They reminded him so much of what he had with Lucretia, and what he had lost... no, what had been taken from him. And as Sephiroth gently took Marlene’s chin in his hand and leaned forward for a kiss, Vincent shut his eyes. *Lucretia...*
"You ever have any regrets?" asked Marlene’s voice a few moments later.
"Regrets? Hm, yes, but there’s nothing you can do about the past. All we can do is look forward to tomorrow. And I am happy to say, there’s been very little in the last two years that I’ve regretted."
*You ever have any regrets?* The question rang through Vincent’s mind, muffling the rest of Sephiroth’s and Marlene’s discussion. *Yes, I did, but you’re right Sephiroth... I certainly don’t regret the course my life has taken in the last few years, ever since I re-met you...*
"Vincent. I know you’re awake," Sephiroth said as he crawled over to where Vincent lay. "Can I ask you something?" Marlene peered over Sephiroth’s shoulder curiously.
"What is it?" responded Vincent, opening his eyes slowly. He rolled his eyes upwards over Sephiroth’s face until his gaze met those haunting Mako eyes...
"Would you mind if I adopted your surname? If I became a ‘Valentine’ as well?"
Now there was a question. "No, I don’t mind. Why?"
Sephiroth turned and grinned at Marlene, then said, "I just proposed to Marlene... and she said yes."
*** *** ***
He walked slowly through Kalm once again, his footsteps falling automatically in front of one another as if even they recalled the exact path. Vincent finally looked up to see Barret’s house looming before him, but after a few knocks on the door, he realized that Barret wasn’t home.
"You lookin’ for Mr. Wallace? He’s at work, you know," a passerby called out to Vincent.
"And where is that?"
The man pointed down the street. "Turn right at the end right there, and then go all the way down till you reach the new construction yard. You can’t miss it, mister."
"Thanks." Vincent followed the man’s directions and came upon a large dirt lot busy with activity. Several house frames were already up, but it was obvious that more work needed to be done to make the area livable. Vincent scanned the area quickly, and finally caught sight of Barret, who was putting his arm attachment to good use riveting steel bars together. Not wanting to be a bother, Vincent simply sat down and waited until Barret went on break several hours later.
"Barret..." he said in greeting as he approached the bigger man.
"Eh? Vincent... whatcha doin’ here? Not to smart of you, showin’ up here alone and all... I’m still upset about Marlene runnin’ off with ya 3 years ago..." said Barret warningly.
"Marlene is what I came to talk about."
Barret considered his options, then motioned for Vincent to start talking. Vincent cleared his throat, then asked, "Which would you like first? Good news or bad news?"
"Good, I suppose," said Barret, narrowing his eyes.
"Very well. Marlene is fine and very happy... she sends you her love and wishes that you could see her now."
"Then what’s the bad news...?"
"She and Sephiroth are now living near Nibelheim, next to the Strifes. And... their wedding is in two days. She would like very much for her father to be there, if possible?"
After Barret finished gasping for air, and wiped at his eyes, he looked over at Vincent and said, "You sure have a way with words. With Sephiroth, eh?" He sighed. "I’m an old man Vince; I dunno if I can take this... but I didn’t raise Marlene to be no dummy... if she wants to be with him, what can I do?"
"You can wish them the best. And walk her down the aisle."
Barret nodded in agreement. "Okay then - we’ll head out tonight, after work."
*** *** ***
Travel was easy enough on the two of Cloud’s gold chocobos that Vincent had brought with him, and the two men reached Nibelheim by the middle of the next day. After dismounting, Vincent said, "This way," and pointed out a small house next to a larger house, the Strife house, on top of a grassy hill. Barret hung back, a bit apprehensive at first, but then the doors to the first house swung open and two people peeked out. The shorter one, a young lady, then ran out and called out, "Daddy!"
Barret couldn’t help but smile and wave back. She looked radiant; her hair swinging out behind her and her eyes sparkling, and as she gave Barret a mighty hug, even Vincent allowed a smile to grace his features. Sephiroth caught up with her after a few moments, and slowly extended his hand to Barret once Marlene was through.
"Mr. Wallace?"
Barret’s eyes swept over Sephiroth. The great former SOLDIER was now clad in simple workpants and a buccaneer shirt, but still retained his hawklike eyes and toned physique. He looked back at Barret, a bit hopeful, and maybe a bit nervous too...?
Chuckling to himself at the irony of it all, Barret finally extended his hand as well and shook Sephiroth’s warmly. "Well, welcome to the family I guess.... You’ve made Marlene quite happy, so I’ve heard..."
Sephiroth smiled as Marlene let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Please, join us for lunch. We... we have a lot to talk about."
"Hey, you guys coming up or do we have to come down there?" called a voice from the hilltop. Cloud and Tifa, Cid and Shera, Red XIII and Koneko, and even Cait Sith and Yuffie; they all stood there, waving at their friends.
"Hey, how come everyone else knew about the weddin’ but me?" Barret asked gruffly.
"Oh Daddy!"
With a laugh, Sephiroth and Marlene urged Barret to follow them up the hill, but Vincent stayed behind. Sephiroth turned and gave him a questioning glance, not even moving when Vincent waved him on. He waited for Vincent to catch up to him, the two of them walking slowly behind the Wallaces, following the father and daughter at a slight distance....
*And so it ends... Lucretia, I kept my promise, atoned for my sins... and gained a son AND a daughter!* Vincent glanced at Sephiroth and gave him a quick smile. *Thank you, but now I know, this is just the beginning...*
*** *** ***
There's two things I know for sure.
She was sent here from heaven,
and she's daddy's little girl.
She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise,
and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride room
just staring at her,
she asked me what I'm thinking,
and I said "I'm not sure,
I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
"Walk me down the aisle, daddy, it's just about time"
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, daddy?"
"Daddy, don't cry."
With all that I've done wrong, I must have done
something right
To deserve her love every morning,
And butterfly kisses
I couldn't ask God for more, man, this is what love is
I know I've gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
Every hug in the morning, and butterfly kisses...
*** *** ***
Fin
Bishonen no Miko's© [and Vegeta’s] notes: Yep, a joint effort! Actually, Vegeta did a lot of the writing cause I’m slow [No joke on that part], but the story idea was entirely mine [who else could do it? >I< certainly wouldn’t!] ^_^. And to think, he thought that this was going to be a Vincent
x Sephy story [now where would >I< get an idea like that?... hmm... Ms. Yaoi no Miko...] but HA! I proved him wrong. Please let us know what you think... it was kinda hard for me (at least) to write this, being that I never even played the game [yeah...But >I< have], hahaha...
BTW - Sephiroth Valentine is an Odd sorta name, huh?
For anyone who cares, I wrote the very beginning Lucretia part, the part from where Sephiroth is at Cloud’s house to the part where he and Vincent leave, that part from where they reach Cosmo Canyon all the way to the part where Marlene sneaks off to join Vincent and Sephiroth, all of Marlene’s travels with Sephy, and the very end. Vegeta wrote the part from where Vincent come out of his flashback to where Vincent gives Sephiroth his hug ^^, the Vincent and Sephiroth conversation on the way to Cosmo Canyon, and the part where Marlene is saved by Sephiroth. [BTW... I’ll have you all know that I was forced! I didn’t want to do it! She MADE me do it! She... *WHACK*]
Oh yeah, in case you found the flow of time confusing, it was something like this: Lucretia died a few weeks/months after the end of the game, Marlene was 4 at the time... then 14 years later, Vincent, Cloud and Tifa find the newest Sephiroth clone (the real start of this story) and Marlene runs away from home (so she's about 18?)... then 3 years after that, she and Sephiroth are getting hitched (she's 21 and he's 33, I guess...) Sorry about the abrupt transistions... I know the story is choppy in parts ^^.
If anyone wants to reach me, come to my Shrine of Bishonen at:
http://www.oocities.org/Tokyo/Towers/4814/
or you can e-mail me at:
bishonennomiko@rocketmail.com
Vegeta can be e-mailed at:
vegeta4@yahoo.com
Bishonen no Miko©, January 10, 1998
