Title: Stranger

Summary: [Vincent/Marlene friendship; hints of Vincent/Tifa] Marlene isn't used to Vincent's new look.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy, characters and everything associated with the Final Fantasy world belong to Square Enix.

Marlene Wallace was often compared to Tifa Lockhart, in both optimism, gentle smiles, and attachment to certain people.

The young six-year old going on seven, was very outgoing and never hesitated to jump into his arms the moment he stepped into Seventh Heaven.

His red mantle would flutter about as she crashed into him with a crushing embrace, her crayon drawings scattering into the air and trailing behind her.

There was an unspeakable bond between them and he secretly cherished every moment of it.

Marlene is the quintessential of innocence and would cling to him like a Moogle to a Chocobo. It didn't matter, whether he transformed into a monstrous Behemoth or a cute little Cuahl cub, she will still consider him her best friend.

Barret didn't like Vincent hanging around Marlene, as he often dressed in morbid colors and scared half the children in the streets. After all, Vincent used to carry the burden of four demons inside of him, most notably dangerous of them all called himself Chaos.

Although Barret saw him as a good comrade, he was somewhat unhappy that Marlene adored Vincent as much as Tifa did, feeling a little protective of his two princesses.

Vincent could only hope Barret would warm up soon because Marlene wasn't planning to let go of her friendship with Mr. Valentine.

She'd give her one-gun armed adoptive father the stink eye whenever he stepped out of the line with Vincent.

Vincent himself found it amusing and would smirk at the older black man who threw an unnecessary tantrum over his only daughter, and sometimes even over Tifa.

As soon as he stepped into the bar and greeted Tifa with a quick kiss, he was expecting Marlene's usual giggles and attempts to hide from her father's view under his tattered crimson cloak.

Today however, she stood rooted in place, shyly clutching at the hem of Tifa's leather duster. She half stood behind the lovely martial artist, glancing over at the entrance where he stood.

She held no recognition of him, her eyes that usually gleamed with delight now showed cautiousness, and reluctance, just as her father taught her, "Never talk to strangers."

Marlene looked up at Tifa with a befuddled expression, a pout displayed upon her cherub face.

She gently tugged at the older woman's arm, "Hey, where's Vincent? He usually comes around this time..."

Tifa lips curled into a small smile and she gently pushed Marlene forward, toward the man in navy blue.

The young child hesitated, pushing back and stood close to Tifa, unaware of the dark crimson eyes observing her every move. She shook her head and hid behind Tifa again.

"Marlene...he's standing right in front of us."

Marlene narrowed her eyes, as she glanced back and forth between Tifa and the man at the entrance. He had Wutainese features with short raven colored hair and bangs that fell just above his eyes and hugged his handsome cheekbones.

"You're kidding right? That's not Vincent! He's not wearing..." she was nearly in tears now, her lips trembling, "Where's Vincent? Did he finally get a cellphone? Maybe something happened to him, he may be hurt! Let's call him!"

Tifa couldn't help but chuckle, patting the crown of Marlene's precious little head, "Marlene, I assure you that is the same man we both adore and know. That is him. Take a closer look."

Here Vincent knelt to her level and held out his familiar Vincent Valentine one-of-a-kind golden gauntlet, pulling up the sleeves of his suit jacket.

Marlene had loved to poke at his gauntlet and played 21 questions about it when he was still dressed in his normal dark leather attire.

He would tell her the same story every week about how he got it, and she would bring out her wildest imagination and make addendums, making his rather serious tragedy turn into a fairy tale. She never got tired of it.

Sometimes Denzel would join in and the incredulous tale and journey of how Vincent received his gauntlet arm became vivid and exciting through the children's imagination.

They even threw in Tifa as the damsel in distress—even though they all knew Tifa could kick all the ex-AVALANCHE men's butt without sweat—and Vincent as a squire gunblade knight. And of course a great story couldn't be without the antagonist, the Dark High Mage Hojo and the fire-breathing Lord of all dragons, Bahamut.

Marlene was still skeptical, and scrunched her face, not accepting the obvious features of the man who claimed to be Vincent Valentine, "No that's not him!"

With that, she spun and dashed up stairs, each step heavy. A door slamming soon followed, echoing through the now eerily silent bar.

Tifa frowned and squeezed Vincent's human hand, "It's hard when your best friend's entire appearance changes..."

If Barrett was around and saw this whole ordeal, Vincent would not be surprised to see his ass kicked the moment a tear rolled down Marlene's cheek.

Marlene threw herself onto her bed and squeezed her Moogle toy close.

With a sniff, she shook her head wildly, not accepting the fact that Vincent, her most favorite of all, didn't visit today.

He always came at this time, on the dot. But today, was a stranger, and he was smooching Tifa too! That's not right! Tifa was definitely in love with Vincent, not that...that..whoever he was. Vincent better come now.

A small knock rolled against the door of her bedroom and Tifa's gentle voice called out, "Marlene?"

Marlene ignored the knock. She rolled over with the Moogle toy and pulled a blanket on top of her.

The click of the door opening sounded and two sets of soft footsteps followed.

Marlene felt Tifa sit at the edge of her bed, and a gentle hand placed upon her back,

"Sweetie, I assure you it is Vincent. You know very well I would never lie to you."

Marlene remained silent and hidden underneath the blanket. She feigned sleep by letting out an obnoxious snore.

With a heavy sigh, Tifa whispered to the 'Vincent imposer',

"I'm sorry Vincent, perhaps I should have told her about the new change. Heck it took me a while to get used to it to...I'm sure she'll come around too, eventually..."

Vincent took a step forward, his boots clicking against the wood floor, and pulled Tifa off the bed.

"There's no need to apologize. You should never have to apologize to me for anything."

Marlene hoped that they would take a hint and leave, but that did not happen.

Instead, she heard soft murmurs exchanged between Fake Vincent and Tifa before feeling something heavy weighing on top of her blanket.

Bewildered, she finally emerged to see what exactly this man was trying to do.

To her surprise, a very familiar, tattered red cape was spread before her.

She looked back to the Wutanese man and the red cape.

The red cape was what kept her safe when the monsters came and almost destroyed Midgar. She hid behind Vincent when she was angry at Cloud or when she wanted to disappear from her very irrational father.

She knew no one else had this cape but one person.

He began a fairy tale, exactly how Vincent always started his stories, in his very somber, dark yet somehow amusing tone.

Before Vincent could smile and continue to the good part about Princess Tifa, Marlene leapt into his arms without hesitation.

"Vincent, it really is you!" She buried her face into his chest and squeezed him tightly.

Vincent returned her hug and patted her head, just how her favorite Vincent would do it, by tucking strand of hair behind her ear and pulling the tail of her braided hair over her shoulder,

"Of course it is. Your Father taught well never to trust anyone you don't recognize. But I am the same Vincent, just more...polished?"

He looked at Tifa at the end of his sentence, hoping that was the best word to describe his new look.

Tifa tapped her lips with an index finger and gave a fake forlorn look, "Hmmm...I dunno, I do miss that beastly look of yours. I mean Belle did fall in love with the Beast..."

Vincent scowled at Tifa, knowing very well she was teasing him. Marlene giggled at Tifa's reference, before pulling her in, "Next time, just show me the cape."

"What if his cape was stolen? How would you know it's really Vincent?" Tifa inquired with a hint of worry. She ran her hand across the red velvet cape. Despite years of usage and the ends tattered, it was surprisingly still soft.

"Well, I can only tell by testing him. Only one person knows the epic love story about the brave knight Vincent and Princess Tifa."

Marlene chimed, clasping her hands together to the side of her right cheek.

Tifa stared at her in disbelief, almost for a moment seeing the young girl's eyes change into two hearts. Who knew the young child was such a romantic.

Smiling with ear to ear at the Marlene's acceptance of Vincent's new look, Tifa took hold of the ex-turk's hand and gave it a lovely squeeze, "Oh, then shall we listen to the rest of the story?"

Vincent was silent for several seconds, then eventually nodded in agreement.

He helped Tifa tuck Marlene back into bed, ensuring his red cloak covered her entire bed, a gift he intended to bestow as a way to protect her at night from the monsters lurking about, then began the bedtime fairy tale,

"Once upon a time, there was a brave knight who journeyed far from the kingdom of Midgar to save the planet and his beloved Princess..."

~owari