Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or Vincent Valentine, which this fanfic is based off of /cries/, so don't kill me please

"Vincent."

"Gracia." He held her trembling form closer, trying to radiate some warmth between them.

"Are we almost there, big brother?" She shivered again. Cold wind chased the two like an angry dog, biting into their skin fiercely.

Vincent took another step in the almost knee-deep snow, struggling not to stumble with his three-year-old sister in his arms. The smoke from the Valentine's smoldering home could still be seen curling upwards in the early morning sky.

"Almost." He couldn't bring himself to tell his little sister that he didn't really know where he was going. He figured that the best way to go was away from where he was--if that was anywhere at all. Ahead of the two wandering Valentine children was nothing but a flat expanse of snow and the lights of a town twinkling in the distance. "Just hold on."

The girl wrapped her tiny arms tighter around the back of Vincent's neck and closed her eyes. With her body tense, the cold would be blocked out for a little while, at least. Vincent trudged onward, rubbing his hands along Gracia's back every now and then.

Sometimes he would glance back. It was like a ghost, haunting him at every corner. And it would haunt him forever.

"Vincent! Vincent!"

The heat was intense, and the smoke burned his lungs like a hot iron. And the voice kept calling him. It was Gracia.

"Vincent! Brother, help me!"

He was crawling on the floor, searching for that voice screaming his name. The smoke and flames were everywhere. Blood covered his hands from the broken glass under the windows that cut into his hands. It left a crimson trail as he continued to crawl to the door where the cries were coming from.

He turned the doorknob from the floor. Inside lay Gracia, face down on the ground, coughing and wheezing. Vincent grabbed her and dragged her out of the room to the broken window. He heaved her over the sill, watching for glass, and dropped her to the snow bank on the other side. Then he used a last breath of oxygen to get himself out.

Both coughed and panted, sucking the cold air into their lungs. Vincent crawled forward just as a section of roof collapsed, lifting Gracia out of the way. A shower of sparks shot up like fireworks.

He took Gracia away, almost to the place where the front door used to be. But then he froze. Red stained the snow, and then he saw a curtain of dark hair. Hair like his own. A pale face stared up at Vincent, eyes pools of blue. Her mouth was open slightly, as if words still lingered on her cold lips.

He turned away as if stung. Then he fled. He picked Gracia up from her position on the ground a few feet away and walked in the opposite direction. He was leaving--with the only person left in his life and away from home. He could hear parts of the house collapsing as he walked on. And the shot of a gun ringing out in the winter night.

The lights of the town were getting closer. Gracia was getting restless, shifting around as Vincent walked through the snow. Her damp brown hair hung in wet strands around her face an she looked at her big brother in the eyes. "Where are we going, Vincent?"

He stopped and looked long and hard at his little sister's searching face. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded.

"Do you trust me?"

She thought for a minute. "Yes, brother."

"Well, trust me." Vincent took another step, and another, hugging her closer.

"Just trust me."

A/N: I know, it's really short. And weird. Oh well….