Disclaimer: I do not own Vincent Valentine, although I would really, really like to have him for my own.
It was a still and silent night, the stars had come out to sparkle mischievously at the gloomy gunslinger. He sat on the roof of his mansion, watching the lights flicker off one by one in the town below. As the last set of curtains closed and the last light faded to darkness, Vincent picked up his gun and deftly opened the chamber and removed five of the six bullets.
He snapped everything back in place with a sharp click and then spun the chamber.
Rather than crudely put the gun to his head then, he savored the feel of the night, the delicate breeze, the caress of his own ghosts. He let his ruby eyes slide shut and saw once more the faces of the women he’d loved flash before his gaze.
Lucrecia, who had feared him more than she loved him.
Aeris, who had chosen the world over her own happiness.
Tifa, who had still looked on him with love as he held her in his arms as she breathed her last.
The martial artist had made him promise not to leave her, after Cloud admitted he didn’t love her, made him swear that he would never let her face the darkness alone. Fifty years of marriage, and he had only loved her more with every smile, watched her age and wither like a precious blossom callously thrown to a world that didn’t deserve her.
She alone had thawed the ice around his frozen heart, and now that she was resting in the Promised Land, and he had no desire to keep her waiting. Fate had ever been cruel, leaving him perfect and beautiful while stealing from him the one thing he wanted most. But then, could he blame fate for wanting Tifa? She was his saving grace, his reason for breath, and now that she was no more, he had no purpose in waking in the morning.
Finally placing the cold metal barrel against his temple, Vincent felt the wind pick up his long black hair and toss it about like a child’s ribbons. He would pull the trigger three times, and if it was his fate to live, he would live.
If not, he could hold Tifa forever and finally let his demons rest.
Vincent counted stars as he pulled the trigger once and was met with an empty sound.
Click.
He pulled the trigger again and remembered the feel of Tifa’s arms around him as she slept.
Click.
Smiling at what would either be his second chance or his eternal happiness, he pulled the trigger a third time.
FiN
Lady Vedder Community Member 
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