Paint Me Like One Of Your French Men

Painting Thirty

The hypnotism lasted for hours. Lau had to be very careful with Vincent because his brain was difficult to maneuver through. He was a tough nut to crack. Eventually, it ended, as everything does. Vincent's eyes opened. He stared at Lau. Adrian wasn't in the room. For the memories to return it was safer, Lau decided, to have other memories deleted. The strain of the conflicting memories put too much regret on Vincent's mind. He couldn't handle it. 

"Lau?" Vincent's eyebrows furrowed. His lips tilted downward. "Why am I in your casino?" 

"Don't you remember?" Lau smiled. "You were coming here to visit me. You were planning on getting married to Adrian and spending your honeymoon here. But, you decided to stay after meeting Victor and officially adopting Ciel." 

"Victor?" Vincent vaguely remembered him. The pulses pounding through his head were akin to a migraine. "Where's Uny?" Vincent lowered his hand and sat up. He felt the urge to find him. Was he okay?" Vincent was disoriented. Everything in his mind was as jumbled as a ball of yarn. 

"You didn't come out of an accident, you just got drunk," Lau laughed. "Why are you so concerned about him?"

"Diedrich," Vincent's face turned pale. "I need to sort out my thoughts. Everything hurts." 

Adrian stepped back into the room. His eyes locked with Vincent's. Vincent leaped up out of the bed and glomped Adrian. He was a mess, however, and ended up causing them to fall to the ground. Lau couldn't help but laugh. The joy running through Adrian's mind escaped through his mouth. He cried. His voice worked fully for the first time in a long time. "Vin...cent..." Vincent released Adrian far enough to look him in the eyes. 

"What?" 

"Vincent?" Adrian repeated. 

"You can talk?" Vincent's shock was apparent on his face. He looked to Lau. "He can talk?" Lau simply shrugged. That was none of his concern. 

"Vincent!" Adrian hugged the man. Happiness overwhelmed him. The relief of having his lover back outweighed whatever mental block was on his tongue. That's what Lau assumed, but he would rather not bring science into the moment the two were sharing. Lau snickered. These two lovebirds were terrible. 

"Vincent" he repeated again. He called Vincent's name as if he were a child speaking for the fist time. Which, in a sense, he was, wasn't he? The two held each other as if it had been years. It hadn't been, but the passage of time was clear. Adrian would never know for certain why Vincent had lost his memory to begin with. But, he would try his very best to make sure that it never happened again. 

...

Vincent wasn't completely convinced that the two were supposed to get married. But, he did ask for Adrian's hand not long after Adrian had begun to speak again. Something about the whole thing was off, his memory didn't seem quite right. Vincent was never very interested in discovering the truth behind it. As much as he hated to admit it, Vincent did trust Lau's judgement. The two had been friends for a long time. Vincent assumed that Lau wouldn't do anything he wouldn't do. He was wrong in that area, but the sentiment was in the right spot. Vincent would never be able to repay Lau for what he did, but he didn't have to. As such is the perks in a friendship. 

Since they were in Vegas, the wedding was short and simple. Ciel had sworn to hate Vincent, but after a year to two that hatred went away. He instead began to hate Rachel and Diedrich. The two had done something so terrible to Vincent. Vincent had done something terrible to them, but everyone was to blame and that's what made it frustrating. Ciel lost all of his hatred. He couldn't bring himself to waste such emotions anymore. He had more important things to think about. Better things to waste his time with. 

Victor loved Vincent with all of his heart, even before the gentler version returned. Vincent was the man that had saved his life. He knew that both Vincents were just as real. Victor was sworn to secrecy about the time when Vincent wasn't quite himself (even if he did believe both Vincents were just as much Vincent as the current Vincent). Lau had done this all to protect his friend. Ciel was tempted at times to bring up the past, just to torture the man, but ultimately he didn't. He would rather have the current Vincent over the older one. In all honesty...

A few years had passed ever still. Ciel had found himself a man and moved out of Ignatius. He still visits from time to time. Not too often though. He wouldn't want Lau thinking he actually cared about him (which he didn't, of course, baka). Victor left Vegas too. He strove to go to college and become a world famous architect. Vincent was proud of them both, as was Adrian. 

Eventually they too left Ignatius to build a small store called The Manor. It wasn't anything special. But they didn't need much to be happy...just themselves. 

And they all lived happily ever after...