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very cold in the man's curt reply, almost malicious, as his
gaze pierced Tifa's eyes. it was as if he were trying to extract the
information by force. Tifa fingered her shawl nervously and dodged his eyes by
looking down.
"Sir, to be honest, I don't know where he is," she replied deliberately.
"Are you sure?" asked the man, as he lighted a cigarette he produced from his

side pocket, " I know you made contact with him about a year ago, and that Mr.
Valentine joined your Avalanche group shortly afterwards. Are you sure he
didn't hint at where he was going after you all separated?"
How the Hell does this man know all this, wondered Tifa with rising suspicion.
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Valentine never mentioned where he was going. I last saw
him in Midgar, but we all separated, and he went his own way."
"Not even a guess, miss Lockhart?" asked the man, puffing his cigarette
casually, "can you guess where I may find him?"
Tifa picked up the picture again, this time focusing on Vincent's eyes. They
were beautiful, but expressionless, just as they always were, and betrayed
nothing. That's what always struck Tifa about Vincent; he only spoke when
spoken to, he avoided any type of attention, and always, always stood aloof.
Tifa put down the picture, and took a deep breath.
"Listen," started Tifa resolutely, "when avalanche disbanded, all the members
took a different route. Mr. Valentine never, ever mentioned what he planned to
do. In fact, he simply walked away, without a goodbye, and disappeared. That's
all I know, Sir."
He looked at her quietly as she finished, and then an awkward silence ensued
between them. he puffed his cigarette one last time as he languidly replied, "I
see."
The man extinguished his cigarette, took some money out of his wallet to pay
for the coffee, and finally retracted the picture to his pocket.
"Then, I thank you for you time, miss Lockhart. Good day."
he rose up to leave, but Tifa halted him, "Wait! Why do you want to find
Vincent so badly??"
The man, however, ignored her and hurriedly walked out of the restaurant. Tifa
looked through the restaurant window as he plodded away until he disappeared
from her sight.
Why Vincent, of all people? wondered Tifa. does he know him?
Tifa walked sullenly back to her restaurant, which was also her home. The

meeting had obviously no good effect on her. In fact, she felt grumpy and
totally discontent with it. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop thinking about what
happened between her and that strange man. By the time she reached her
destination, the streets had emptied a little and the snow had ceased falling.
She ascended a flight of stairs to a porch of a small, clean building, marked
with a clear sign above the door reading "Tifa's Seventh Heaven".
"I'm home," said Tifa, absent-mindedly as she entered and shut the door behind
her.
"Hey, Tifa!" greeted Cloud, kissing her cheek quickly then returning to mopping
the floor, "Whew! Glad you're back! washing these floors just isn't my thing.
My Back's killing me!"
Tifa sat at one of the of the tables, and stared downwards at her boots. Why
did the man seem so bent on finding Vincent? In fact, how'd he know Vincent was
a member of Avalanche? or for that matter, how did he even know Vincent never
aged?
"Yo! Tifa!!" interrupted Cloud, placing his hand on her shoulder firmly.
"Ah! W...what??" stammered Tifa, surprised.
"You okay? I asked you if anyone showed up for that message?" Cloud bent over
her, examining her face in concern," Are you alright? You looked as if you were
logged on to another dimension."
"Oh, I'm fine, Cloud!" answered Tifa, cheerfully.
"Well, who sent it?"
"Sent what?"
"Sent the message, silly!"
It just then occurred to Tifa that she didn't even know the man's name.
"Hey..Cloud?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you know where Vincent went after we killed Sephiroth?"
Cloud looked at her oddly, "Vincent?? Um..no, he never mentioned where he was
going."

Tifa got up, and as she made herself a drink at the bar, asked curiously,
"Well, can you guess?"
"Tifa, asked cloud as he walked up to her, "why are you asking me about
Vincent?"
"No.. I was just wondering," replied Tifa, in an attempt to dispel Cloud's
suspicions.
"Well, I dunno!" answered Cloud, scratching his head, "It's not like Vincent
was the most talkative guy I met! All I know is his name and that he used to be
a Turk in ShinRa."
"yeah, but...where do you he went?"
"How should I know?" smiled Cloud, uncomfortable with Tifa's persistence, " He
could have gone back to his coffin in Nibelheim...or maybe he went to Junon
City. Who knows?" continued Cloud as he turned away from Tifa and shrugged his
shoulders, "he could be living here in Midgar, for all I
know."
Tifa was silent as she gulped down her drink. Yes, she reflected, Vincent could
be anywhere in the world. no wonder that man was so annoyed.
"So, Tifa," began Cloud, resuming his mopping of the floor, "did anyone show up
for that message?"
"Hm? oh no," muttered Tifa, " no, it was just some idiot's idea of a practical
joke." She saw no reason
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