Forbidden Love
The Story of Vincent Valentine Chapter 6
When Acid Meets Alkaline
By Leok
Planetary Year- 1904 --- 2/11 Nibelheim
When she was tired, she couldn't sleep. When she was
hungry, she couldn't eat. When she was bored, she knew what to do.
When she was working, she made no progress. She could only think of
the long kisses, and the embrace that had lasted forever and no time at
all. Vincent.
It wasn't love. Not like that. There was
something... Different about it. It fit so perfectly, yet didn't
feel comfortable to her. Lucrecia didn't think she was in love, but
didn't know why. All she knew was that if her mind had a moment to
itself, it gave it all to Vincent. She also knew, deep inside, that
whether it was love or not, she'd be giving a great deal more of her time
to him. True or false, blessed or forbidden, something was wrong...
Yet... Something was so right.
***
Why had he done that? It had felt good... No,
great! But... She hadn't looked at him since then. Words were
hard pressed between them. It wasn't animosity, it was just awkward.
He just didn't know anymore. Confusion reigned. If that wasn't
bad enough, he had a very bad feeling when he was around Hojo. Hatred
so strong that it wasn't even realized by Hojo, much less disguised.
Vincent knew he'd done something wrong... Yet... Something was
so right about it.
***
"I can't stand it! Since the Turk fixed up that damned
room, Lucrecia has been working like a two year old! It's like her
brains got sucked out of her head!"
"At least Vincent hasn't caused you any problems."
"Like I care about that! And you're wrong, he is causing
me problems! With Lucrecia! Damn him! Damn him a million
times!"
"It's funny..."
"What is, Gast? What the hell could be funny?"
"Nothing, Hojo... It's just that since that night, they
both seem to be... Neutralized."
"What? Make some sense, Gast!"
"It's like when you mix an acid with an equal alkaline.
Both agents become nil."
Hojo stopped talking. He paused in thought for a
moment. The room was quieter than usual, since Lucrecia wasn't
subconsciously humming some tune Hojo couldn't care about. Other than
that, as a partner, she had no flaws... until today. She was
late, worked less than half of her usual pace, and never seemed to be interested
in anything. Her hypothesis, which often were exactly what Hojo needed
to realize the answer to his latest problem, were nonexistent. It was
Valentine's fault, of course. Valentine's fault...
"Hmmm... Well now, in that case, I think I'll give
Valentine a little to much acid to handle. I'll get Lucrecia back in
no time. We need to get to work!"
"Hojo... I didn't mean it like-"
"It doesn't matter what you meant it to be! Do me a
favor. Finish making the notes on the third sequence, and run the second
battery of tests on subjects A through G. I've got other work to do."
***
Vincent sighed. Hojo wanted more test subjects.
That wasn't a problem. The problem was how many he wanted. Too
many. If that wasn't enough, there were too many... Human sized
ones. As far as Vincent was concerned, that meant more than zero, but
Hojo wanted twenty. Worse, he wanted a few of them to still be
alive. Vincent had work to do. Work even he, with all his emotions
shattered by the Shinra, hated. He loaded his Quicksilver, and left
the mansion with a heavy heart, a lost heart. Lost to the love, and
the hate of Lucrecia and Hojo.
***
Hojo was a scientist. He was a man of facts, of logic.
He knew a great deal about most everything. The one thing he knew little
about was love. As far as he was concerned, it was simply the chemical
reaction of pheromones, which attracted two members of the same species to
each other. Of the same species. This couldn't
be love. He stared longingly into the specimen jar, his mind overflowing
with his... Appreciation? No. Perhaps... Yes, his adoration
of Jenova. It had so many secrets to tell him. He stroked the
jar. It would tell him them in good time. When he could make
it safe to bond with Jenova, he would. Then they would be together.
Jenova was laughing, he imagined. Laughing with joy.
Hojo had other things to do. He said good bye to his other part, and
got to work. Lucrecia. He had it figured out. Valentine
was gone for at least a few days. Hojo would get Lucrecia back to
work. When Valentine came back, he would be so depressed from his job
well done, that he would put both himself and Lucrecia in a bad mood.
Hojo would give Lucrecia a way to escape that depression in sweet, sensible,
science. Now Hojo was laughing alongside Jenova. And Jenova was
laughing. Laughing at the madness of love. The love of Jenova,
the madness of Hojo.
***
Lucrecia was depressed. Vincent had left yesterday.
He'd had an enormous bag slung around his shoulder, and his gun was in it's
open holster at his hip. The dark suited man had left quietly, with
only a tiny wave to her, his brown eyes dark not with a lack of emotion,
but an unspeakable sorrow. Lucrecia had wished she could go with
him. Over dinner, Hojo had accidentally dropped hints. Apparently,
Vincent had gone out hunting, as he sometimes did. From Hojo's slips,
it sounded like it was his own choice. But... Why was Vincent
sad then? Perhaps he wasn't sad, just guilty; she'd thought.
Guilty about what? Her mind had whirled a million paranoid
explanations. Lucrecia was feeling nauseous with guilt, stupid hatred,
loss, confusion. She needed some order. She sighed, and
went off to the lab. Maybe some work would help her clear her mind.
Maybe Hojo could help her out. She went to the lab, to get back to
work. She already felt better, as the comfortable weight of the many
possibilities and projects before her settled about her. She sighed.
***
The exact instant the sigh left Lucrecia's lips, Gast was
sighing. His mind had trailed off to his love, Ifalna. The explosion
woke him from his reverie, and made him jump a foot in the air. Gast
cursed under his breath, and began to clean up the mess. He suddenly
realized why the beaker had exploded. It's contents were too
volatile. 'Too much acid...' Gast mused to himself.
Those who aren't scientific call this an omen. Damn those
scientists...
.