For The Love of Chaos

Chapter 1

A/N:

Main character: Anna Carter

Age: 18

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"Anna!?" a shrilled voice yelled, startling the young girl that sat in a chair, typing away at her computer. She turned around quietly, staring at the one that had called her name.

"Y-yes Professor?" she asked quietly.

"Are you simply going to sit there or are you actually going to get up and come here!?" the man shouted, causing her to flinch.

"Hojo" came the voice of another man as he addressed the professor.

"What do you want Valentine?" Hojo sneered, turning toward him.

"Doctor Cresent is looking for you Sir" Mr. Valentine said, glancing at Hojo, before his eyes shifted to Anna.

"Ah, Ms. Cresent is calling" Hojo said in a sickly sweet voice, one for which would cause anyone's skin to crawl. Quickly, Hojo scurried out of the room, leaving the other two occupants behind.

"Anna?" the man asked, walking toward her, concern in his voice.

"Yes, what is it Vincent?" she asked, turning in her seat to look at the tall, black haired man in front of her.

"How do you put up with that man?" Vincent asked, looking down at his friend.

"That's the thing Vincent, I don't. I just simply try my best to ignore him, though that doesn't always seem to work. He's a complete slime ball" she said quietly, turning her eyes back to the screen of the computer. Vincent sighed, running his fingers through the short length of his hair.

"Can't you just get another job somewhere else?" he asked.

"No…no I can't" she said quietly, keeping her eyes on her work. Vincent looked down at her curiously.

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"And why not?"

"You" she said quietly, looking down.

"Oh…"

"You know that I can't trust anyone else but you Vincent… I can't work anywhere else, unless you're near by" she said quietly. It was true though, Vincent was her only friend and the only person in this world that she trusted. She'd had too many bad experiences to trust anyone else. He sighed quietly.

"You know Anna…I'm not always going to be here though, you need to start standing up for yourself. I mean yeah, I don't mind helping you and all, but I can't always be here to protect you either" he told her, walking to her and kneeling down by the side of the chair. "Anna, look at me" he said, placing his hand on top of hers. "You need to get out of here, ok?"

"Why?" she asked, looking at him.

"It's just not safe here, ok? You need to get out before something happens" he told her, his voice firm, but concerned.

"Before something happens? What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"Look, I can't really explain it okay? I'm not really sure what's going on myself" he told her.

"But Vincent…"

"No Anna, don't but Vincent me. I'm serious, ok? I don't want to see you getting hurt. Hojo's a dangerous man, more than you realize. You can never be too careful around him" he said, looking into her dark mahogany eyes. She was his friend, and he wanted to protect her from Hojo's future wrath. "Now promise me…promise me that you'll leave here Anna?" he begged her. She shook her head, tears in her eyes as she got up and ran out. "Anna, wait!?" he called, running after her. "Anna? Anna!?" he yelled, quickly catching up to her with his long legs. He grabbed hold of her, holding her against him so that she couldn't run.

"How…how could you say that?" she cried, hunching over in his arms.

"What do you mean? I just want you to be safe…" he said quietly, his brows furrowed.

"You said…that you won't always be here…" she said quietly. That's when he understood, he saw the mistake that he had made, and now had to deal with the problem of facing it.

"Anna" he cooed softly, turning her around to face him fully. She looked up at him as he whipped away her tears with his thumb. "I'm sorry, ok? I know it's hard to except, but it's true. Regardless though, a part of me will always be here to protect you, ok? You can be sure of that." She looked up at him, her eyes starting to water again.

"But…you're all that I have left Vincent… I don't have anyone else, you know that just as well as I do" she told him, looking away. Vincent sighed quietly. It was true what she said, and he knew it too. She have no family and no other friends. He was her only friend and family. In fact, he had been with her since they were kids. Her parents never were the best, but she had still loved them. Not to mention, she was always left home alone by herself. He remembered how he would come over to her house late at night and keep her company. She had always been scared of the dark, so he was her light and protection from all around her.

"Anna…promise me something?" he asked, stroking her cheek lightly.

"What?"

"Promise me…that you'll be strong?" he asked, looking down at her. She never answered him, though at the moment, he didn't really expect her to. "Let me take you home, ok? It's getting late." She simply nodded her head, both of them walking out of the building and to her home. The house itself, was the very same house that she'd grown up in, the same one that held both the good and bad memories. Vincent watched as she shivered, the cold wind blowing against them. As a result, he shrugged off his jacket and placed it upon her shoulders. "There, that's better, don't you think?" he asked, smiling at her. She nodded, laughing faintly as he did this. He always was good to her and she loved him dearly. To be honest, she couldn't imagine life without him.

"Thank you Vincent, you're always so kind" she told him, causing him to smile even more. Suddenly, he scooped her up in his arms, making her let out a startle squeal. "Vincent!?" He merely laughed, spinning around a few times with her in his arms. He was so full of life. "Put me down!" she yelled, laughing as she did.

"Oh come on, where's the fun in that Anna?" he laughed, holding her in his arms. She gave his head a light tap. "Ow, that hurt, really it did" he said, pretending as though it hurt..

"Oh come on, you big baby. I barely even touched you" she said, laughing at him and his childishness.

"Ah, you're no fun. How come you always have to be so mature about everything anyway, huh?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"You know exactly why Vincent" she said quietly.

"Oh…sorry" he said, looking down. She smiled lightly.

"Hey, don't worry about it, ok? Let's just have some fun" she said, laughing.

"Seriously? You're actually giving me permission to act stupid?" he asked, grinning. She laughed at this.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly put it in those words, but yes" she said, smiling at him. Boy, oh boy, was that the wrong thing to say to Vincent Valentine. He just stood there with a cheesy grin on plastered on his face. "Uh-oh…" He just laughed, before throwing her over his shoulder and heading to the nearby park. She laughed as he did this. Once they got there, he threw her in the sand box. "Hey! But head!" she yelled, crawling over and smacking him in the leg.

"Hey, it's your fault Anna" he said, laughing. She sighed. It was true, it was her fault, seeing as she had gone and given him the ok to act stupid as he put it. She dug into the sand a big, packing together some moist sand and threw a sand snow ball at him, hitting him dead straight in the face. "Hey!" he yelled, spitting sand out of mouth and whipping his tongue on the back of his hand. This caused her to laugh hysterically. "Oh, you think that's funny do you?" he asked, walking over to her before sticking a big hand full of sand in her face. She screamed as he did this, spitting it out in disgust.

"Vincent, you jerk!" she yelled, shoving him harshly. "That's disgusting!"

"Well, how do you think that I felt then, huh? I don't exactly like the taste of sand in my mouth either Anna" he stated, looking at her with a smug look on his face. She just glared at him.

"I want to go home now" she said, standing up and walking away.

"Hey, can't you take a joke once in awhile? Huh? You act as though I deliberately did it just to make you mad or something" he said, running and quickly catching up to her.

"Well it sure as heck seems like you did" she said quietly, looking away from him. He sighed, picking her up around the waist. "Hey! Put me down!" she shouted, beating her fisted against his back.

"Hey, would you stop it already?" he asked, smacking her in the but once. She let out a startled yelp.

"You did not just do that!?"

"Oh, but I think I did" he said smugly. She just narrowed her eyes at this.

"Put me down before I start kicking Vincent" she ordered. He just let out a loose laugh, before setting her down, only to have her kick him right below the knee. He let out a slight howl, holding his knee, his brows furrowed in confusion and pain.

"What was that for? I put you down" he said, groaning a bit.

"Oh, stop whining, would you. You're a groaned man for heavens sake" she said, looking at him. He glared slightly at this.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to kick me you know" he said, nursing his sore knee. "Man that hurts…" he said quietly. She merely walked back over to him.

"Come on, you big baby, let's just go home" she said, taking hold of his hand, and leading him toward her house. Once they got there, she hung his jacket up by the door, and led him into the living room. She ushered him over to the couch, before going to the kitchen and coming back with a bag of ice in her hand. "Here" she said, before tossing it onto his lap and walking into her room. He groaned slightly as he placed it on his knee.

"What's with you today Anna? I mean, you're not…you know…are you?" he asked.

"No Vincent, it's not that time of the month again" her voice said, coming from the other room. He then got up from the couch and walked toward her door, opening it. This caused her to yell, throwing a pillow at him. "Out, out, out!" she yelled, covering her upper half. He quickly shut the door, before going and hiding his face in a corner. Lord he had not meant to see that. A few minutes later, she came back out in her pajamas. "Vincent?" she called, but he just remained silent. She walked into the living room, finding him sitting in a corner with his back to her. She walked over to him quietly, before kneeling down beside him and placing a hand on his broad shoulder. "Vincent?" she asked again, this time receiving an answer.

"I am SO sorry Anna. I did not mean to see that" he said, his face still completely red. He was so embarrassed right now. Heck, he wanted to just go and crawl in a hole and hide. She laughed faintly, turning him to face her properly.

"Vincent, it's alright. Just…knock next time, ok?" she asked, a smile on her face. He nodded his head, no words escaping his lips. "So, how's your knee?" she asked. He had completely forgotten about that. "Come on, I'll take care of it" she said, pulling up and over to the couch. She then took the pack of ice and placed it on his knee, his leg resting on top of hers. "You know Vincent, I honestly didn't mean to kick you that hard. Then again, I would have figured that a Turk would have a higher tolerance for pain" she said, laughing lightly as his cheeks darkened a bit in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm not exactly perfect you know?" he said quietly. She smiled slightly as she looked over at him.

"I know that Vincent. That's why I love you so much, you're not afraid to admit it" she said, laughing a bit. He smiled at her heartfelt comment. It was true though, he wasn't afraid to admit it, or at least to her anyway. President ShinRa wouldn't be that happy if he were to hear that though.

"Yeah, but if Talon heard me say that, oh Lord, he'd never let me live it down" he said laughing a bit. She smiled at him.

"Just ignore him Vincent" she told him, moving the pack of ice a bit.

"Yeah, but it's a bit hard to Anna. Especially, when he keeps hitting on you" he said. She shivered at the thought.

"Please don't remind me? It's actually kinda creepy" Vincent laughed at this. I mean he couldn't help it, the way that Talon always tried to flirt with his female companion. Then again, it was kind of unnerving for him to be honest, he didn't personally like seeing Talon flirting with her. He wasn't exactly jealous or anything, I mean, why would he be? They were just friends, and they had been for years.

"Just try and keep away from him, ok?" he asked, looking at her. She nodded.

"Why can't you just beat him up or something though, huh? I mean that would get him to leave me alone" she said. This made Vincent laugh.

"Anna, you know that I can't do that. I could very well lose my job, and we wouldn't want that now would we?"

"No, you're right, I definitely wouldn't want that" she said, looking at him with a small smile on her face.

"Good. Although…I could always have someone throw him in the dumpster for you?" he said, grinning playfully.

"Awesome!" He laughed.

"I swear, what am I going to do with you?" She looked at him innocently.

"I don't know" she said, smiling at him. He just laughed again. He loved the few times that she did loosen up and just act like her old self. It was nice seeing her like this, he didn't really get to see it that often and he missed it.