Vincent Valentine sighed to himself as he straightened his red tie walking out of the meeting room. Rude and Tseng followed. "Well that was pointless!" Rude mentioned as he ran a hand through his short black hair. It was cut about an inch shorter than Vincent's, which barely brushed his shoulders.

Tseng looked back worriedly, "Quiet! What if the Prez hears ya?!"

Rude grinned and messed up Tseng's long brown locks. "He won't!"

"Boys please, compose yourselves as adults." Vincent walked into the elevator without looking back. Rude and Tseng jogged in as the doors shut. They hated being referred to as 'boys', especially since they were only five years younger than their 26 year-old leader.

When the three reached the ground floor, they left the building eagerly and walked to the Junon Bar, where they often hung out after work. The purpose of their earlier meeting was to affirm that they needed some vacation time, which they had received. But only after suffering through a 2 hour lecture by the President, telling them what wonderful workers they were, etc. All in all, they were ready to take a break. "Hey Boss," Rude asked, "What are you going to do?"

Vincent shrugged as he ordered a beer. "Probably visit home, not that I'll be very welcome." He sighed. "You two?"

"I'm going to Costa del Sol!" Tseng smiled.

Rude rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so am I. You should come with us Boss, it's a nice place for a vacation."

"Perhaps. I don't really like to be in the company of many people." Vincent winked at his associates. They both knew that once he was off duty, he was a party animal.

"Great! Since both me and Tseng bought airline tickets, they gave us a free one. Kinda cool, huh Boss?"

"If you say so..." Vincent smiled.

***

Vincent walked onto the beach, having just changed into his swimming trunks. He took a deep breath of the sea air and smiled. As he set down his towel under a palm, he smiled in amusement as he saw Tseng hid behind Rude. He had almost drowned while surfing earlier and thelifeguard that saved him was being very 'friendly'. Thankfully, Rude's size kept him at a distance. Chuckling, Vincent was caught unawares when a young lady ran into him. As they fell to the ground, Vincent held out his arms to stop her from falling as hard. The young lady looked at him, her light blue eyes full of fear. "I'm sorry sir! Really!"

"It's all right Miss." Vincent helped her stand and then got up as well. He took the opportunity to regard her. She had light blond hair, probably bleached from staying in the sun so much. Her clothes were nice, but seemed to be well-used. He also noticed she was holding a baby in her arms.

"But I'm really sorry!" She seemed to be on the edge of tears.

"Miss, really, it's quite all right." Vincent decided to introduce himself. "My name is Vincent Valentine, what's yours?"

"Um...Kristin..."

//Hmm...I wonder why she's so reluctant to tell me her name?// "That's a cute baby, what's the young one's name?" He asked with a smile, his dark blue eyes shining.

The young lady immediately smiled. "His name is Sydney." Her pride in her baby was apparent as she moved him so Vincent could get a better look.

The boy seemed about 9 months old. He cooed and laughed as he saw Vincent. His tiny hands reached up and Vincent let the baby play with his finger. He noticed the baby had a scar on his tiny palm. Strange.

"Isn't he adorable?" Kristin was still doting happily. A yell from the other side of the beach sounded out, "Kris! I'm going to kill you bitch!" She shoved the child into Vincent's arms. "Please take care of him! I'll find you soon!" She took off like lighting, as a huge man ran after. Vincent was about to intercede, but the large man shoved Vincent backwards, hard. He couldn't stop his fall since the infant was in his arms.

Landing hard, he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Sydney was crying at the top of his tiny lungs, but was unhurt. Rude and Tseng were running towards him, but the lady and the man were out of sight. "What's going on Boss?" asked Tseng as he helped Vincent stand.

"I'm not sure. But I believe that that young lady is in trouble, which is why she gave me her child." Vincent handed the baby to Rude.

"Cute kid." Tseng observed as Rude made baby sounds and funny faces to try and stop the baby from crying. He finally settled down and even laughed at Rude. Vincent sighed. "She said she would return, but I haven't told her where I was staying. Only my name."

"Then don't worry 'bout it." Rude said, "She'll find out where we are. She's a mom, after all!"

***

Vincent rocked Sydney to sleep in his arms. The baby wasn't as cranky now, and his sky blue eyes slowly closed. He was in his room at the Inn, Rude and Tseng left to try and find the baby's mother using Vincent's description. Sydney had been cranky all day yesterday, but since this morning, he seemed in higher spirits. //Poor Young One, he was probably hungry// Vincent thought. Not being a family man, he had painstakingly asked every woman he could find what a 9-month old would eat. Milk, obviously, but everyone gave him different answers. Some suggested formula, others breast-milk (which was OUT of the question), evaporated, etc. Finally, Vincent decided on baby-formula.

He smiled at the thought of yesterday. Although he had no experience with infants, he found he enjoyed caring for someone weaker than himself. Young Sydney was defenseless without him. True, the Young One had spit up on him once, but Vincent didn't mind so much. It was very amusing though, when the same thing happened to Rude.

He laid the sleeping infant on his bed, between two pillows so he wouldn't roll off. He smiled again as he looked at Sydney. "Life sure is strange." He said to no one in particular, "I'm a Turk, my purpose is to kill people. Yet here I am, taking care of a life that just began. Amazing." He brushed a tiny lock of blond hair off the baby's face. Again, he sighed. When he had changed the baby (which was no easy task, even with Rude and Tseng to help him), he noticed an alarming amount of small bruises, cuts, and scars. A knocking at the door broke his train of thought.

When he opened the door, he was elated and saddened to see it was the young lady. He was glad she had found him, but he noticed she had a black eye and a few bruises on her arms and legs. "Miss? Are you all right?"

"Don't worry about me, where's my baby?" she look around worriedly.

"He's on the bed sleeping." Vincent let her in and closed the door. She ran to her child, but hesitated to wake him. She had only once seen him sleep so peacefully. That was when he was in the hospital nursery.

She turned back to Vincent. "Thank you so much, sir! I'll make it up to you! I only have 15 gil...but..."

Vincent shook his head. "Do not concern yourself. It was my pleasure to take care of the Young One." He once again noticed her wounds. "Would you like me to call you a doctor?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, thank you." She sighed and sat on the bed. "I've had worse."

"What?"

"Um! I mean, uh..." Kristin stuttered as she perspired nervously.

Vincent sat on the other side of the bed and looked her in the eye. "Does he beat you?"

Kristin looked down. "Y-yes....and occasionally Sydney, but only when he's real drunk..."

"But that's dangerous!" Of all people, he was the most knowledgeable about how frail life was. "Is he your husband?"

"No. Boyfriend. EX-boyfriend." Kristin finally picked up Sydney and rocked him in her arms. "I'm leaving him. I tried the other day, but he caught up to us. But now I bought a train ticket to Gongaga. My brother and his family live there. They can take care of me for a bit."

"If I may say so, wouldn't that man go there, knowing you have family there?" Vincent knew the first place to look for someone in hiding was someplace safe.

Kristin paled. "But what am I going to do?" She hugged Sydney closer.

Vincent thought it over. "I'm here on vacation. You can come back with me to Junon. The company I work for is hiring many people now, since they've sent many employees away on the Midgar Project."

"Really? I could...live with you...?" Never did it cross her mind that this man was a complete stranger.

"Yes. Or if you prefer, I have friends who can take you in as well." His good looks had caught many a secretary's eyes, so of course they would try to look good in his sights.

"Thank you so much sir!" Kristin almost cried. this was too good to be true.

"Don't mention it. It was my pleasure to...change from my usual habits."

***

Kristin traveled with the Turks to Junon, where she was taken in by one of Vincent's lady friends. She got a job and lived quite happily in a small apartment after a while. She never learned of his job, so she stayed good friends with him. But when he left on a special mission to Nibelheim, it was the last time they ever saw each other...

***

32 years later...

***

"Vince! Look out!" Cid yelled as a Sea Worm attacked Vincent. The ex-Turk managed to jump away, thanks to Cid's warning. His limit break peaked and he morphed into Galian Beast, which quickly disposed of the enemy. After the battle, Cloud led the group through the Mideel Forest. Vincent walked alongside Cid, where he thanked him.

"No prob, Vince. Just looking out for ya. I know you can't walk ten feet without getting into some sort of mess." Cid smiled at his best friend. If anything, he was the only person in AVALANCHE that knew just how powerful Vincent was. They had saved each other's life repeatedly over the past few weeks.

That evening, the group got together and spilt up the tents. Cid got to sleep inside a tent, but he had to share it with Vincent. The others seemed convinced the ex-Turk was a vampire, but Cid knew it wasn't true. He yawned as took off his gloves and jacket. Vincent spread out his cape and sat down, stretching his arms.

"Hey Vince, pass me the bug spray, yeah?" Cid asked.

Vincent complied and noticed Cid had a scar along his palm. "Where'd you get that scar Cid?"

"Huh?" Cid realized what Vincent was talking about. "Beats me. I've had it since I was a kid. These too." He took off his shirt and showed Vincent the many small scars on his tanned chest and back. "I guess I must've stumbled into a thorn bush or something." He smiled, not noticing Vincent's look of surprise.

"Um, yeah..." Vincent knew now that Cid was the Sydney he had taken care of in Costa del Sol many years ago.

"G'night Vince." The pilot got in his sleeping bag and began to snore.

Vincent indulged in a small smile. "Goodnight...Young One..."

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Author's Notes: Blame the dual influence of wathcing "Rush Hour" while listening to a Ricky Martin CD for this fic^_^ You like? Tell me!