Resurfacing

The wind whipped itself through his hair as he leaned on the railing, staring out at the endless expanse of rainbow sky that stretched out before him. The early morning sunrise was like a painting for him and it brought a smile to his face. The floor beneath him sent a pleasant sensation through his feet as the Shera rumbled underneath him.

He was glad he agreed to go with Cid to Wutai to drop off Reeve. He hadn’t seen Wutai since he was very young, ever since his mother had passed away and his father, Grimoire, had taken him away to live in Midgar. He remembered, only briefly, visiting it to get their Materia back from Yuffie when she’d stolen it*, but that was a long time ago. He wondered, briefly, if he would remember anything, or anyone for that matter. He looked around behind him as the door to the deck was opened and closed, Cid walking towards him with a smirk on his face. “Won’t your crew need you to pilot the ship, Cid?”

“Nah, I’ve got Junior on it. He needs to learn how to pilot bigger ships than the Highwind if he hopes on advancing. He’s pretty good at it, and shit, if anything goes wrong it’s not like I won’t know it.” He pointed up at the massive airship above him, floating almost effortlessly in the air. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Observing.” He beckoned Cid over to his side, getting as close to him as he could without yielding outside suspicion. He knew that neither the crew nor Reeve knew that their relationship had taken a further step, and he knew Cid preferred to keep it that way. It was essential, Vincent figured out, that the two of them act just like two ordinary men would on any given day if they didn’t want to give anything away. “How much longer until we get to Wutai?”

“Only a few hours. We left early enough this morning that we should be able to go to that festival Reeve was talking about tonight.” Cid took a cig out of his pocket and lit it, sucking on the nicotine happily. “Assuming you wanna go.”

"I do. I haven’t gone to anything like that in a very, very long time. Assuming for myself since you mentioned WE, that you’re going as well?” Vincent smiled down at the blonde and tilted his head to the side.

“‘Course. I wouldn’t want you to go alone, would I?” Cid returned the smile, nudging Vincent’s elbow with his own as he dropped his voice. “Thought maybe tonight since everyone will be in Wutaii you and me could come back to the ship for some...private time.”

“Private time?”

“Yeah, since every time we were in Rocket Town and tried to have any it was always cancelled by Shera being in the next room and thin walls. The crew doesn’t sleep on the ship when it’s grounded and no one would expect me to rent a hotel room if I’ve got my own damn ship to sleep in, right? So, I was thinking that maybe tonight, after the festival and all, we could pick up where we left off last.”

Vincent smiled at the thought, flitting his dark red eyes playfully to Cid’s blue ones. “Before or after the garage incident, Francis?”

“WATCH IT, VINCENT...by the way, the reason I came out here was to tell you Reeve wanted to talk to you inside ‘bout something. I’m guessing from the guilty look on his face he wants to apologize about the phone call from the other day. Ya know, when he was being an ass.”

“I see...alright.” Vincent pushed himself up and turned, walking to the door with Cid at his heels. “Are you coming with me?”

“He wanted to see you alone for some reason,” Cid said with a shrug. “I gotta go the main bridge anyways and watch the rest of the crew. It’s still a new ship and I don’t want her getting all dinged up when she’s landed. You go talk to Reeve, and try not to kill him.” Cid turned and walked to the bridge with a wave, leaving Vincent behind him. It was proving hard not to pull Vincent into the nearest dark corner and make out with the guy every five minutes, but Cid was being good. He heard Vincent’s footsteps as he walked in the other direction towards the conference room.

Reeve was in the mood to talk, was he? Vincent just snorted, remembering the conversation he’d last had with the W.R.O. president. He sat his face into its normal, passive and uninterested look as he opened the door to the room, Reeve sitting in one of the chairs inside. “Reeve.” The man in the chair had changed his way of dressing slightly, and the once present black beard was gone to reveal a smooth, younger looking face. He said nothing about it, though.

“Vincent? Vincent Valentine?” Reeve stood as he looked at the man in the doorway. The whole black outfit and red cloak he was used to was gone, and who he assumed was Vincent stood there in plain blue jeans, sandals and a black tank top. The golden claw was gone, but the ever present triple barreled gun that was Cerebus was still attached to his right thigh. “HAH! You really HAVE changed, haven’t you?! I’ll be darned.”

“You wanted to talk to me?” Vincent closed the door but still stood by the frame, his arms and ankles crossed.

“Yes, I did actually. Vincent, I’m glad you decided to come with Cid and I to Wutai. I haven’t talked to you since the Omega incident and I wanted to see how you were doing. From what you snarled at me, you’re doing fine and I can see that now. More importantly though, I wanted to apologize about the things I said to you over the phone.”

“Which ones?” The gunman lifted an eyebrow, annoyance obvious in his voice.

“All of them. It was...wrong, of me to assume just because you’re living with Cid you might be unhappy. I can see that you’re not. In fact, you look better now than ever. Healthier, really. I can even see a range of emotions in your face now.” Reeve tried hard to pull a smile from Vincent’s face but failed miserably. “More so around Cid though, I see. Tell me, Vincent. He has been treating you well?”

“Very well, in fact. He’s been a very patient and understanding friend.”

“And he is going with you to the festival tonight?”

This was interesting. “Yes. Why?”

“Merely curious. I take it you two will come back and stay in Cid’s room tonight, then?”

“We will.”

A smile Vincent couldn’t read popped up on Reeve’s face, and Vincent stared at it with a slight frown. Was his answer not what Reeve expected? All he had said was that yes, he and Cid would staying in the captain’s quarters toni-... HE....AND CID. Crap. He inwardly flinched at the smile, but pretended he didn’t slip up as badly as he did. Reeve just lowered his eyes halfway and nodded. “I see...QUITE a change, Vincent, although I didn’t take you as the kind to be attracted to a member of the same sex, much less Cid Highwind.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Reeve. Are you going to apologize or continue to babble nonsense?” His scowl deepened and he turned to leave, hand on the doorknob.

“Yes. I’m sorry, Vincent. I’m sorry for all the things I assumed about Cid...and I’m sorry that I couldn’t see what he meant to you from the start. I suppose I was being slightly possesive even after all these years.”

Vincent turned to look at Reeve, but the W.R.O. president had stood and marched up next to him, still smiling. “What did you say?”

“...Are you going to open the door or not, Vincent?” Reeve waited until the door was opened before he went through it, starting towards his own room. He stopped before he did, though, and turned to look at Vincent. “Tell Cid for me that he’s a very lucky man, and that I trust him.”

Vincent wasn’t sure about a couple of things: one, how Reeve of all people could POSSIBLY know how he and Cid were together, and two, exactly WHAT he trusted Cid with. He just nodded. “I will.” With that, Reeve turned and walked away, disappearing into his own room not too far down the hallway. Vincent stood there for a moment and looked down the empty corridor before he turned himself, walking towards the bridge to talk to Cid. He was sure that the pilot would be just as, if not even more, surprised about Reeve’s observations than he was.
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“No SHIT, he SAID that to you?” Cid’s eyes narrowed as he shifted back around to look at the gunman, temporarily distracted from making sure the ship was secure for the day. Reeve and the crew had already left, and now only the two men remained inside. “How the hell does he know?”

“I’m not sure, Cid, but he didn’t seem to have any kind of problem with it. All he said was that he was sorry for being 'lsightly possesive', that you were a lucky man and he trusted you.” Vincent thought he had gauged the pilot’s reaction correctly, but surprisingly enough Cid wasn’t mad. “I’m very sure Reeve isn’t the kind of person to tattle-tale on someone, though, so we won’t have to worry about it quite yet.”

Cid turned the last key to the engines off, stuffing them into his pocket with a snort. “He’d won't, the bastard, unless he wants to WALK back to Junon!” He wasn’t mad so much as concerened that Reeve knew, but he was sure Vincent was right about the man not telling on them. “Glad he left or I’d probably give him a righteous kick in the ass if I saw him again...not like he doesnt deserve one already.” He started down the hallway, grabbing his jacket on the way out of the ship. Autumn in Wutai was colder than Rocket Town, seeing as it was farther north and Cid was a wuss in the cold. “Well, can’t do anything about it now. Let’s just go into town and see about this carnival thing, huh? Heard it’s supposed to be all day and there’s fire works later tonight. You like fireworks? They used to scare the piss out of me when I was a kid, and-..”

Vincent just let Cid ramble on. He knew this was how Cid let out stress, talking about everything and anything to distract himself. The pilot didn’t seemed TOO concerned that Reeve knew, and if anything there was a certain kind of relieved tone in his voice. Vincent just shrugged it aside as he followed Cid out into the chilly afternoon air.

Wutai was just as he remembered it from he was a child. Not much had changed, he saw, aside from the decorations that were hanging on every building and bridge. All of the shops were open, and some street side vendors were yelling their wares back and forth across the crowded streets. Paper lanterns hung from roof tops and swung back in forth in the slight wind. Everyone that was outside was clothed in traditional Wutaiian garb, men and women in colorful kimonos, hakamas and sandals. Black hair was either pulled back into simple pony tails, hung loose or braided decoratively with beads and ribbons intertwined in it. Vincent had to smile in a small amount of pride as faces turned left and right to stare at Cid.

“Uh, Vince...what’re they looking at?” Cid kept seeing faces turning towards him, interested eyes following him as he walked along.

“It’s not every day that someone as exotic as you walks into town, Cid. Blue eyes and blonde hair isn’t exactly common around here, as you can see. This is your first encounter with it here in Wutaii, seeing as you stayed on the ship the last time we came. Imagine how Cloud felt.”

“Scared off his rocker someone would try to scalp him?” Cid was also eyeing the large katanas and metal fans some of the people were carrying. “Well, as long as someone doesn’t come up and try to yank my hair or my eyes out of my head we’ll be good.” Vincent just shook his head as they passed by many different vendors, some selling freshly caught oceanic fish, others fine gold jewelry smelt from local artists. He was sure, if the layout was correct in his mind, there would be food and maybe some fair games in the temple square. He simply followed the shorter man around as Cid walked from island to island, commenting here and there about the smell of fish being familiar from when he was a child in Junon where he originally was born to how he was never much of a gold man and preferred silver any day but how Vincent looked fine in gold and in fact liked him in it, etcetera. The pilot’s tone grew more and more excited as they walked through the market, and Cid even stopped at one of the jewelry vendors.

“Looking at something?” Vincent could see Cid eyeing several pieces of jewelry. He himself was looking at one set in his favorite colors. A simple gold band with two rings of color layed in it. A band of black onyx and another right below it of a deep red ruby. He was sure it was expensive, but pretty none the less.

“Just browsin.”

“I heard before the fireworks tonight there was going to be a traditional fan dance.”

Vincent lifted his head up at the sentence, his gaze resting on two Wutaiian men deep in conversation. “Yes, I hear they are trying to find people as dancers for it, too. There are mostly women but they also need a man as well.” The second man Vincent recognized almost instantly as Lord Godo, Yuffie’s father and leader of the Wutaiian people. The gun man smiled, pat Cid on the shoulder as an excuse to leave before he walked over to the older man, bowing in a respectful introduction.

“Lord Godo. It’s been some time.” Vincent raised himself from his bow as the, mayor Vincent supposed he could call him, tried to remember him. “I don’t suppose you would remember me. I was with your daughter Yuffie when she returned to Wutai with our materia in hand.”

“AHH YES, I DO remember you now! You were the quiet one with his face hidden. Well, I can see your soul is ready to face the world and your cloak is gone. Didn’t think I’d actually see you again, though. Are you here in Wutai on more business?” Godo DID remember the younger Wutaiian, and he was honestly glad he could see less pain in the gunman’s eyes than from the last time he saw him.

“Actually, I’m here on a personal, eh, vacation, I guess you could say. I’m staying with a friend for the night. I’d...hate, to seem impertinent but I couldn’t help but hear you say something about a fan dance tonight?” He turned to the other man, his face curious as he looked at Lord Godo again.

“Yes, actually.”

“And I heard you’re looking for a male dancer?”

“Yes we are. Are you interested?”

“...Actually, yes, yes I am.” He smiled at the smile of relief that appeared on Godo’s face as he nodded. He knew he would have to give Cid some kind of excuse for leaving him alone early that night, but he would make up for it and MORE afterwards. He hid a smirk of self satisfaction as Lord Godo told him where to go before the fireworks that night, and he merely smiled as Cid joined him at his side. The pilot was putting something in his jacket pocket, but he ignored it as he thought about the surprise he had in store for Cid that night.

Culture shock was best paid back ten fold.
***************************

Cid muttered to himself in a grumpy mood as he walked around the fair that night. His good mood had been stripped from him when Vincent had been pulled away by Yuffie’s father, Lord Godo, for SOMETHING important that couldn’t wait until the next day. He had only run into Yuffie along the way around the fair, and when she didn’t stop begging him he finally played one of the carnival games to win her something. It was a spear game, simple enough. You took a spear, you tossed it through a hole X amount of times and you win a prize. The first one he’d won was a giant stuffed panda which she didn’t want, so he won her the firewolf plushie she DID want that reminded her of Red XIII. After that she’d skipped off singing at the top of her lungs and he was stuck, once again, wandering around the fair alone with a giant fuckin’ stuffed panda bear under his arm.

The night sky was starting to turn into the dull gray of an autumn dusk, and he figured he might as well go towards the temple and get a good seat for the fireworks. He could feel now the effect Vincent’s absence had on him. It was like he was almost dependent on it, if not extremely used to it by now. He fingered the small box he had in his jacket pocket, wondering if Vincent would meet up with him at the ship that night before he fell asleep. Not that the idea of waking up with the man in his arms, much less his bed, wasn’t a pleasant one, not in the least. Cid leaned up against the side of a building very close to where the dancing and fireworks would be soon, putting the panda bear on the ground. ‘Maybe,’ he thought, ‘I’ll just keep the panda since Vince got Cid bear, though what the fuck I’m going to DO with it is beyond me.’

A loud GOOOONG from the top of the temple made him snap out of his thoughts and lift his head at the sound. The once sparse crowd around the temple was growing rapidly, packing around the entrance or a good distance from it. By the time the crowd had fully gathered the gong sounded again, and from the entrance of the temple a silent line of Wutaiians came out, half of their faces hid by delicate looking paper fans. They wore kimonos of fine silk, most of them sporting vibrant colors. Only a lone figure stood out among them, wearing one of black with a blood red waist sash, his face the only one not painted among the five dancers. Their long black hair was braided tightly back, and the man’s eyes were gently closed above the edge of the fan.

A third gong was sounded as Lord Godo appeared at a balcony on the second floor of the temple, his arms spread out wide in a request for silence. “Many, many lifespans ago, when the earth was a new form in this universe, it was a formless sphere, bearing neither sea nor land nor sky. There were many spirits in the sky, each one vying for the power to bear life upon the empty void of the planet. Among these spirits, there were five Gods, each one with unique powers.” Lord Godo’s voice carried out easily across the silent span of the area before the simple strings of the shamisen** carried out as each dancers moved in perfect unison and grace to their left, fans waving only slightly in front of their faces. “There was the god of water, the god of earth, the god of the sky and the god of fire,” and each dancer in turn moved their fans away from their faces, the women revealing the beautiful makeup they wore. “But among these gods was the most powerful, the God of life, death, and everything that made them.”

The single black kimonoed dancer moved the fan from their face, and the cigarette Cid was smoking was nearly sucked into his lungs as he inhaled deeply. It was VINCENT. His already pale face wore no makeup except for a light lining under his eyes and a pale pink gloss on his lips. He moved delicately to the front, his footsteps light as he moved the hand holding the fan in a small circle, and as he struck a pose the gong rang out behind him again.

“It was Shinigami, the most beautiful and powerful of the five gods who alone could create life on the void planet...create, and destroy. It was he who took the four other powerful gods to the empty planet, saying, come, let us create this in our image. To the god of the sky, he said,” Vincent turning to the woman carrying a blue fan in a delicate move of his fan arm, “let us create the sky and all creatures in it, and it was done and there was the sky. To the god of land he said, ‘let us create the land and all creatures that will roam it’ and the god of land made it so. To the god of water he told, ‘let us make water for which to feed the creatures that will live in it, and thusly it was made so. Finally, to the god of fire, he said ‘and now we shall make that which sustain the planet we have made’...however, the god of fire, Ho-Masubi, would not submit.” The woman holding the red fan made an aggressive move with her body, turning her fan in what could be called the shake of a head.

Cid watched in utter fascination as the story played out in front of him, the pale skin, delicate looking man that was his lover moving in an air of grace he’d never seen, his face calm as he played out his part of the god of death. It couldn’t have been a more perfect role for Vincent, Cid thought with a smile. The thundering of the Odaiko drums from the temple sounded out as Lord Godo raised his arms again. “For his refusal, the god of Death was to punish the god of fire, who would not submit. A GREAT WAR raged between the two powerful gods, going on for many millions of years, causing the great beasts and lands of the planet they’d sought to finish to live and die as Shinigami and Ho-Masubi battled, the god of fire covered many times by the black god of Death.”

The drums continued beating out in a clearly war theme as Vincent and the dancer who played the God of fire danced, graceful in the aggressive way they moved, the fans flicking in and out as they moved, only adding to the grace of the dancing. Vincent was moving so light on his feet with every turn Cid couldn’t tell if he was even staying on the ground. Lord Godo continued speaking, his voice louder now over the beating of the drums. “Finally, after many battles and many deaths, the exhausted God of fire fell to his knees in front of Shinigami, his power drained as he fought and it fell upon the earth as light, going out only when the death god had covered him. But the god of Death was not unmerciful, and to the god of fire he did say, ‘you are valiant and brave, and your courage is admirable. Therefore I shall not kill you, but change you for all the see and all to make an example of. I shall make you a star, the brightest and largest in heaven, and you shall be admired for you have shown bravery. But as the earth turns and you lower, it is then I shall cover you in a black shroud for none to see for you have denied me.’ And it was in this way that the God of Fire became the Sun, the night falling when Shinigami covers Ho-Masubi and revels him every dawn. It was in this way the Earth was created, and all living things on this planet came to be in the Wutaiian culture. And it is this creation of life that repeats daily which we are celebrating this night! Children of Wutai, raise your arms heavenward and thank the five gods which have created this earth for you, and sing their praise!”

The sun was setting, casting beautiful colors onto the land, the temple casting shadows onto the once again still fan dancers who had their heads bowed and faces covered with the fans. The Odaiko drums sounded once again, and when they stopped the whir of the first firework was heard, a brilliant splash of red color covering everything below it as it exploded.

Cid’s eyes floated to the sky only momentarily before he looked back towards the dancers who bowed to the applauding crowd before lining back up again, filing backwards into the entrance of the temple. Cid watched Vincent, his red eyes slightly glowing in the fading light as the fireworks above him colored him in greens, blues, reds and whites, and continued to stare at the temple door as it closed, his heart still going a mile a minute, his mind racing with ideas. All he had to do now was wait until Vincent reappeared to put them into action.

Cid hated waiting now more than ever.
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AN- And you ALL are going to have to until I write the next chapter, so HAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAHAHAH!!!!!
* In the FF7 game, if you DO get yuffie in your party she, at one poiint, steals your materia and you have to go to Wutai and chase the brat down to get it back. what a pain in the @$$!
** The Shimasen is the Japanese three stringed instrument. The Odaiko are the huge ass drums they play with mallets. Shinigami, God of Death (some people might recognize the name as Duo's Gundam from Gundam Wing) and Ho-Masubi is God of Fire.
I tried to make up a reason for the carnival and fan dance and came up with a creation myth reason. After all, there ARE five gods in Wutai, each one had a level in the temple. Names escaped me so I made them the four elements (five if you count death/life). I liked the idea of fan dancing as Wutai always struck me as a Japanese/Chinese like land. Hope I did alright with this chapter, the next one will have more...action, in it, I promise.
and now!....i'm going to bed. *ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*
Added afterwards- thanks Vai for the correction. :P

Edited 3/10/08