Okay this one seems a bit rushed to me but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
"You see that girl? Yeah her. She seems so invincible right? She has secrets and trusts no one. She's the perfect example of betrayal, cause everyone she trusted broke her."
She had been sitting alone, like she always would when she came into the bar. She'd ask for a glass of water and sit in a booth off toward the side. No one besides the pretty black haired bartender, who she learned was named Tifa, would talk to her. Sure they'd talk about her. Why wouldn't they? She didn't talk to anyone except Tifa, and she was a stranger to the town. She had been living there only for a few months now and only one person new anything about her.
"Hey Morada," Tifa greeted, sitting down in the booth.
"Hi Tifa."
"How are you?"
"Okay I guess."
"Well that's better than yesterday. I've been worried about you."
“Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"You told me that a few weeks ago and you've gotten worse," Tifa said completely concerned about the women in front of her. Morada sighed and looked up from her glass.
"This time will be different."
"Promise me one thing before I get back to work."
"Okay what is it?"
"If you need anything, even if it’s just someone to talk to. You’ll call or stop by."
"If you were anybody else I'd say no, but you're my only real friend," Morada told her with a weak smile. Tifa nodded then went back to working.
Morada sat there for a while listening to people talking, which was mostly about her. She stood up from her seat and quickly walked out the door. She shivered from the sudden contact of the cool night air on her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked down the street to her home. She began getting closer when she thought she heard footsteps close by. She looked around to see no one there and quickened her pace. Just when she was almost home something grabbed a hold of her arm and spun her around.
"Hello Morada. Surprised to see me?" A voice she knew to well, said. She looked up at the man the voice came from.
"What are you doing here?" She spit out angrily.
"Am I not allowed seeing my favorite person?"
"No."
"Well that's not exactly your decision anyway. I was just stopping in town and saw you. I just wanted to visit for a little while before I left."
"You visited now leave!"
"I'd rather not, besides we've got some catching up to do."
"Yeah, like I'd want to catch up with you," Morada said trying to get away from one of the people she tried so hard to wipe from her memory.
"Like I said. You have no choice," He said pulling her into a nearby alley. She was completely frightened of him now. There was no escaping from him and her throat wouldn't allow her to scream. There was no way out.
~Time Lapse~
Morada's eyes slowly fluttered open revealing that it was now day. She turned her head to see if the night before was a horrible dream; to her disappointment she was still in the ally a beaten and tattered mess. Her body was in agonizing pain and her mind was a wreck. She slowly lifted her body off of the ground and tried to keep her balance. When she finally could stand without falling she began walking out of the alley. She heard voices all around her as she walked to her destination. She could hear that they were talking about her and the state she was in.
She barely made it to the bar before her legs wanted to give out on her. She slowly opened the door and walked inside. She saw Tifa's form behind the counter along with a few others talking but she couldn't focus on who they were. Tifa looked up at her from hearing the door open. Her eyes widened as she looked upon Morada's fragile form. The others looked back at her also.
"Tifa... I need. To talk," Morada said slowly between pausing.
Taking another step forward her legs gave out and she began to fall. She didn’t feel the pain of hitting the floor, which she wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. All she knew was she had seen black. She figured she had passed out. It wouldn't surprise her. She walked quite a distance and she was weak as it was. The only difference between every other tie was that she could hear voices. The only one she knew for sure was Tifa's. All the others she didn't recognize, well except for one. One sounded slightly familiar.
"Morada," She heard someone say softly. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at a worried looking Tifa.
"Tifa?"
"I'm glad you're awake. What happened to you?"
"I'll get to that," Morada said. Pausing she looked around the room. Noticing she wasn't in an area that she recognized. She was lying on a bed in some room. "Where am I?"
"Upstairs in one of the spare rooms. You feel and would've collided with the floor if it hadn't been for Vincent catching you. You passed out and he carried you up here."
"Vincent?"
"One of my friends. One of the people who were downstairs when you came in."
"Oh okay," Morada said thinking the name sounded so familiar.
"So are you going to tell me what happened?"
"For you to understand completely you'd have to know about my past. I'm not sure f I'm read to tell anyone about it yet."
"That's fine. I'm not pushing you to. Please tell me what happened though." Morada sighed.
"While walking home last night a guy I used to know ran into me. He dragged me into an alley and well he beat and did certain other things," she said the last part more quietly.
"Oh my God!"
"Don't worry about it Tifa. I was just going by my promise and stopping by if I needed anything."
"Yeah of course."
"I'm worried; since he knew where I lived he might try something again. That or someone else will."
"Well you can stay here if you want to."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah that way you will be safe and I won't have to worry. You're like a sister to me and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Thank you Tifa."
"You're welcome. Well now that you're staying I'd like you to meet a few of my other friends."
Morada was about to complain that she looked like a mess but realized that she was bandaged up and clean from the dry blood. "Okay."
"There are extra clothes in the wardrobe. Change and then come downstairs. I'll make you something to eat," Tifa said with a smile and then walked out the door.
Morada sighed and slowly got to her feet. She didn't hurt nearly as bad but she could still feel a slight pain. She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out some clothes. Quickly changing into them so she could get downstairs. She wasn't sure if she was ready to meet Tifa's friends but she was hungry. Since she would be staying there she'd meet them eventually anyway so why not now?
Once she changed into clean clothes that weren't ripped she began walking down stairs. She could hear people talking. The only difference form the other times is that they sounded concerned and worried. She was pretty sure that Tifa had told them what happened and that she'd be staying there. Morada took a deep breath and finished walking down the stairs. Her turquoise eyes quickly scanned the room, not getting a real good at the people in it.
"Morada." Tifa said making her look up at her.
Tifa was now standing in front of her smiling. She grabbed Morada's arm and pulled her towards the bar. Tifa motioned her to sit and walked behind the counter. Morada sat down quietly and kept her eyes on Tifa.
"Well everyone this is Morada." Tifa began. "The spiky haired blonde over there is Cloud. The guy with machine arm is Barret. The hyper active ninja is Yuffie."
Morada remembered seeing Cloud and Barret at Deepground's base a while back. She also heard enough about Cloud saving the world so she knew a little about him. She looked at each one of the people Tifa pointed out and nodded.
"Then over there is Vincent," Tifa pointed at a man in a tattered red cape with a bandana to keep his long black hair out of his crimson eyes. Morada's eyes widened. She knew this man. Not all that well but she knew him. He had been the one to take down Deepground, including her brother Azul, and some of her ex-friends. He might not have remembered but he saved her from being killed in one of the cities, the name of which she couldn't remember. He also helped her get away from those who hurt her by killing most of them. She would never forget him. He saved her and he probably didn't even know it.
"Morada are you okay?" Tifa questioned.
"She looks like she's seen a ghost," Yuffie said.
"What?" Morada snapped back into reality and pushed her purple hair out of her eyes. She looked around and blushed. "Sorry, kind of blanked out."
"It's okay. Do you want anything to eat?" Tifa asked.
Morada nodded her head and looked down at the countertop. She still couldn't help but think of her past again. When things used to be normal then turned around at a blink of an eye. Then her thoughts focused on what happened last night. The pain that was brought right back into her life. Which led her mind right back to the man standing a short distance from her. These thoughts made the organ in her chest beat quickly against her ribcage and made a slight shed of pink appear on her cheeks.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Yuffie asked in a sing-song voice.
"Nothing." Morada said quickly.
"Oh really? Then why are you blushing and all tense and nervous?" Yuffie questioned.
"Um...I..."
"So you are thinking of 'something'. Interesting."
"Yuffie," Tifa threatened the ninja.
"Sorry, just trying to get to know her."
"Try getting to know her in the normal way." Barret said.
"Fine, take all the fun out of it. So what's your favorite color?" Morada paused not sure if the answer was the same anymore.
"Red."
"Um... do you like cookies?"
"Cookies?" Most of them questioned.
"Yes, I like cookies."
"Do you like animals?" Yuffie continued to question.
"Yes."
"Do you have any siblings?" Her body tensed as the question hit something from her past that she didn't talk about.
"I..." Morada paused, "had a brother."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Yuffie said startled.
"Don't be. You had nothing to do with it. I lost him long before he died. Along with everyone important to me."
"How did he die?" Yuffie asked curiously.
Morada stayed silent. Debating what to tell them. She didn't know exactly how it happened. She was told by another member of Deepground that her brother was killed by Vincent Valentine.
"I'm not exactly sure..." she then looked over at the red eyed man, "Why don't you ask Vincent?"
Everyone's eyes widened and looked over at Vincent. He was looking at Morada questioningly. He wasn't sure what she meant until something clicked in his head.
"You're Azul's sister." He stated. Morada nodded and everyone else was shocked.
"It doesn't bother me as much as it should that he's dead. Deepground turned him into a monster, along with the others."
“Wait…” Vincent began to say. “I remember you. Some Deepground soldiers were talking about you. I’m sorry what they did to you.”
Morada was shocked that he had known what happened to her. It made her feel embarrassed and her heart once again to thump in her chest. She didn’t want anyone to know how they tortured her and used her for their own sick pleasure. She could feel a tear trying to escape and quickly wiped it away.
“What did they do to you?” Yuffie asked curiously. Tifa smacked her upside the head.
“Don’t ask things like that. Ever think she doesn’t want to talk about it?”
“It’s fine Tifa. She just wanted to know.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Vincent told her.
“No. I need to. Maybe telling you what happened will help you make sense of what happened last night.” Morada told them and sighed.
“Are you sure?” Tifa questioned.
“Yeah I’m sure. It all started when my brother joined Deepground. He was actually normal then. He was the closest thing I had after my parents died. My brother thought by joining that he would be avenging them. They had completely changed him. Along with everyone else close to me. I don’t even remember why they joined. I was the only one who wouldn’t join and I refused to. They all grew angry at me and tried to take and force me. That was the first time I saw Vincent, though at the time I didn’t even know his name. A little while after that, a day or two, they captured me. The little bit of heart my brother had left kept me alive. They kept me in a cell so I wouldn’t get away. They tortured me; trying to break me. It never worked. That’s when Vandoth, who had been one of my best friends and the man who came back into my life, came to me. He started out like everyone else. Harming me until I couldn’t fight back. I thought he’d leave after that but he continued to stand there, looking down at my fragile body. I can still remember the look in his eyes and the sinister grin on his face. After…what he did to me I began to break. He kept coming back and using me for his own benefit until Deepground was finally defeated. A WRO soldier broke me out of my prison before the place went up in flames. I thought he died from the attack with the others but apparently I was wrong,” She finished explaining and felt tears fall down her face.
“That’s so horrible,” Yuffie stated.
“Is Vandoth the only one left?” Vincent questioned.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say if he was with anyone.”
“We’ll get him, don’t worry about that,” Tifa reassured. Morada could hear the anger in her friend’s voice. Everyone nodded agreeing with Tifa.
“Even if you wanted to, he’s probably gone by now, and if he wasn’t you wouldn’t know where to find him,” Morada told them.
“Don’t worry about it. We have it covered,” Vincent said. He then walked out of the bar.
“When he said ‘we’ did he really mean ‘he’?” Yuffie asked.
“You know he’s better at tracking people. We need to be here to protect Morada incase Vandoth comes here,” Tifa explained.
“So Mr. Vampire can save the day? What a jerk! Doesn’t he know we could all help?” Yuffie yelled.
“We are helping. We’re protecting Morada,” Cloud said.
“Fine let Vincent have all the fun.”
“Why is he helping me?” Morada barely muttered. It was silent for a minute since everyone was thinking why he jumped to find Vandoth.
“He might feel like it involves him since it has to do with Deepground,” Tifa explained. Yuffie’s face lit up and a huge smile grew on her face.
“I know! I know! He likes Morada!” Yuffie practically yelled.
Morada looked down at the counter, a blush slowly rising on her cheeks. She heard Yuffie giggling and looked up at her.
“Here Morada you foods done,” Tifa said putting a plate of food on the counter along with a glass of water.
“Thanks.” Tifa nodded and stepped out from behind the bar.
While Morada was eating she heard the others talking about arrangements for her and if they were even necessary. She wasn’t sure what they had meant by that but she wasn’t about to ask. She finished eating and looked over at everyone. Yuffie glanced over at her with a knowing smile. She walked over and sat on the counter next to Morada.
“So when I asked earlier what you were thinking about, I should have asked who?”
“I… don’t know what you mean,” Morada muttered, not knowing what to say.
“I’m not stupid. In fact I’m very observant. I can see that you like a certain in denial vampire.”
“Uh…no…I don’t.” “Sure keep telling yourself that. If my memory serves me right he has thought of you since the first time he met you. He may deny it but it’s true. Trust me on that.”
“Uh…okay?”
“There you go. Well I’m going to go bother blondie now. Talk to you later,” Yuffie said and skipped happily over to Cloud.
Morada felt sorry for him but couldn’t help but chuckle. Time seemed to fly by as she conversed with everyone. When it became extremely late she grew worried about the man she was growing as liking towards. She knew Vandoth was dangerous but she also knew that Vincent took down the strongest of Deepground. Her thoughts kept her awake while she laid in bed. When she finally drifted off into unconsciousness she could only think the worst.
~Time Lapse~
A week later and she was beginning to completely give up hope that Vincent was alive. She had been moping around for the past few days and would always quickly glance at the door when it opened, which was never who she hoped for. Everyone grew worried about her and told her Vincent was fine and he could handle himself. Yuffie even tried cheering her up but it never worked. When the door opened Morada didn't even bother looking at continued looking down at the counter in front of her. She could hear Yuffie yell excitedly and everyone walk into the room.
"It's done," Morada heard that familiar deep voice she was dying to hear again. She quickly turned around to face the one man she couldn't get off her mind. The one man she knew she had fallen for.
"It's about time mister! You've been killing Morada. She's been moping around since you left,' Yuffie yelled at him causing Morada to blush. Vincent raised his eyebrow at the ninja. "Yeah you heard me! You were killing her by protecting her, which doesn't make much sense but that's not the point! You both like each other so stop being stupid and get together already!"
"Yuffie..." Morada whispered. Her face now three times darker than it was before.
"Come on Morada you know it's true and you weren't about to tell him."
"Is that true?" Vincent questioned and Morada nodded.
When Morada looked up at him she could faintly see a hint of a smile on his face. She hadn't realized when he'd gotten so close to her, but she could feel his warm breath on her face. She had to hold back her body from shivering. Before she knew it she felt his lips against hers. Her eyes widened at the sudden contact. When he pulled away she could hardly breathe. She looked up at him stunned. If he hadn't been holding her she would have fallen to the ground.
"Wow." Morada muttered. That's when she saw a smirk upon Vincent's lips.
He leaned towards her again, placing a soft kiss on her lips. They could hear a few chuckles and someone clearing their throat. They both pulled away and looked in the direction of the sound. Everyone was standing to the side with smiles on their faces. Yuffie had her hands on her hips.
"Well don't you both have something to say?"
"Go away." Morada said.
"Meanie! Fine don't thank me since I help get you together."
"Yuffie," Vincent said.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
