Crimson Demons (FF7)

33) Harper

I continue down the hallway at a steady pace, not entirely sure of where I intend on going. I only realize where I am where the sound of bubbling mako hits my ears. Shalua's lab. Against the wall is a more horizontal tube, Shalua's unresponsive body floating inside. It's too late. Yuffie barely glances at me before turning back toward the tube.

"They say she won't wake up." She looks down at her lap before finally turning to look at me, her voice a little louder than before. "She suffered too much trauma to her head. Unless there's some kind of miracle, she's not..." She bangs her hand on the metal bench beneath her. "Vincent! You and Violet were there! Why couldn't you save her?!"

I frown, looking over at the comatose scientist. She had only just found her reason to live... "I'm sorry." The girl shakes her head, looking back down at her lap.

"No. I didn't mean to..." Perhaps they were close.

The door behind us slides open and Shelke walks in slowly, dragging her feet and continually keeping eye contact with me. Determination rather than sadness appears in her eyes. "She was a fool," she says, her voice as monotone as ever. Something about this reminds me of Violet and Lucrecia. Yuffie, angered the statement, shoots up to her feet, charges toward the smaller girl, and slaps her across the face. Her voice is filled with pain when she shouts.

"You have no right to call her that! You don't know what...!" I lay a hand on her shoulder, pushing ehr away from Shelke. Calm down.

"Why would she do something so...?" The former Tsviet mutters. Yuffie stomps her boot on the floor in exasperation and storms out of the room. She makes sure to loudly slam the door behind her. With a sigh, I turn to the child.

"Before, when I asked Shalua what she was searching for, she answered 'her reason to live'." Lumious blue eyes fix on Shalua's hovering body. "I was you, Shelke. You were her reason to live."

"So?" I glance back down at her, waiting for an explanation of her seeming ignorance. "I don't understand how someone could give her own life for that of another. I've seen it once before, in Lionheart." She pauses. "Do you understand, Vincent Valentine?"

"I can't answer for your sister. But..." I turn my back to her, Lucrecia's suffering still settled in the front of my mind.

"But?"

"When a person has someone they care about that much, giving their life is sometimes the least tehy can do. And maybe that's what makes us human."

"Someone they care about..." Shelke muses, stepping toward me.

"Although," I start again, turning to face her. "It seems like there are a lot of people around me who don't need a reason to risk their lives for that of another."

"And are you..." Her voice trails off and she stumbles forward. I reach out to catch her before she can fall to the floor, her eyes widening with a loud gasp. She suddenly seems to regain her strength, pulling back to stand of her own two feet. Her eyes glow brighter than before, and before I can dare look away, I'm sucked into a world of memories.

"...cent? Vincent... Vincent!" A sweet, gentle voice calls. Tiredly, I force my eyes open to see Lucrecia hovering over me with a large smile on her face. "Fall asleep here, and you might catch a cold!" She chirps. With a start, I begin to sit up. I should be watching...! "Why are you son surprised?" She laughs. "Is my face really that hideous?"

"What? No, I didn't... I'm sorry," I stutter. Idiot! Falling asleep while...

"And how are you supposed to be my bodyguard if you're up here sleeping?" As one might in this situation, I come up with a viable excuse.