Chapter Eight

I sat with Vincent, who sat on the other side of the table. Kourtney was sleeping on the couch. Neither of us said a word. That's one thing I like about Vincent. He doesn't speak much. Usually, my life is loud, chaotic, even. But when I hang out with my father, his silence melts away the chaos that is my crazy life. He was there for me during the divorce, after I had sent Kadaj and his brother's away to get my thoughts in order. Though Kourtney was there for me as well, I could tell the silence between the two of us bored the small child. I took a drink of my water. "Grace and I are going to work on our relationship." Vincent looked at me as I continued. "She came by this morning. Kadaj had asked her to come over."

The man across from me said nothing as I took another drink of water. "You and Graceona should work on your marriage. You both were miserable. Graceona cares for you."

"I know that now."

"You should have already known this, Leonard."

I looked at him, standing to my feet, washing my dish, along with Kourtney's, drying my hands. I looked at him. "Perhaps. I suppose it was assumptions clouding visions that were already cloudy, to begin with." He looked at me, as something Yazoo had said earlier came to my mind. "Are sins ever forgiven?"

"I never tried." I sighed. "Why? Did Cloud say something to you?"

"Cloud, no. More like Yazoo. AVALANCHE and I never really have heart-to-heart chats, this question to me is a heart-to-heart."

"Yazoo, asked you that?"

"Yeah, he asked, and I didn't have an answer and once it comes to questions, to that extent, including rules of deities, that piques my interest. I want to know myself if I must be honest."

The man across from me grew silent as I walked into the living room, picking up a sleeping Kourtney. I looked at Vincent on my way out. "Anyway, I suppose that's a question for the deities. Goodnight, father."

I walked from the home, closing the door behind me. The streets were dark. The streetlights did an amazing job showing the road, however; I have walked this road many times. I had confidence in my abilities to make it home, even without the use of the lights overhead. I thought of Yazoo's question on the way home. With Kourtney asleep in my arms, thinking was the only thing there was to do. Usually, the small child would make it impossible to think about much of anything, so many questions. The conversations I've had with the girl in my arms were anything but boring. The child in my arms if it came to putting my life on the line for her, if it meant her returning home safely, that was a cost I will pay."

I saw the bright lights of an automobile coming towards us, slowing down as it come to a stop upon reaching us. The passenger door opened as a familiar voice said. "Lovely night for a stroll, however, rain is on the way. I wouldn't want the two of you getting sick."

"Grace, where did you get this truck?" I looked at the four-door truck with a wooden bed. "Did you or Yazoo steal this?"

"Me steal." She laughed. "No, I didn't steal this, Leonard. I have the papers in the glove box if you want proof. I bought this a couple of weeks ago. I got a raise and a promotion, I needed transportation, I found this and fell in love, thus, this is what I got. So, you going to get in, or are you going to stand there looking at my truck all night?"

I looked at Kourtney, opening the back door, laying her in the seat, shutting the door back, climbing in myself, and we left, headed towards the house. The roar of the engine was loud, but it was relaxing. I leaned back in my seat, taking in the smell of tobacco and cigarettes. "Grace, when did you smoke?"

"I didn't. I bought this off CID. The interior smells aren't something that I brought into the truck. This truck is a beauty that runs like a dream. I've grown quite fond of the smells." She looked at me. "Though we were no longer together, I may have gotten you something as well. One was an anniversary gift, and the other was a late birthday gift. With all that going on, birthdays kind of slipped my mind, when I remembered to get it. I couldn't get you to talk to me, so I was going to wait for the right time to give them to you."

I sighed. "Grace, why? Why would you get me two things? Why would you have gotten me anything? With the pain I caused us both, I wouldn't have gotten anything for me if I am being honest."

"Well, you're not me. Plus, I had hoped that we could work it out and seeing where we are at this moment. I'm glad I got those." She chuckled. "Besides, the first-year anniversaries are always the most fun to buy for." I leaned back in my seat. "I never stopped loving you, Leonard. Signing those papers was the hardest thing that I had to bring myself to do. Thank Gaia, it's not too late to cancel. It's not final, even if it were. I never signed my name back to my birth name. I kept the Valentine name."

I looked at her. "The divorce wasn't final? What was all that trouble we went through with Kourtney? How did I get her, then?"

She sighed. "That was me signing my rights to her over to you. It seemed she brought you more comfort than me, plus in that period, you needed some comfort and Kourtney was all you asked for. So, I handed her over to you."

"How much more, Grace? How much more were you willing to give me? You gave me our child and another gift. You had contributed more to this than I had."

"You speak of the gift in single tense. There are two. I will not take them back, suck it up, and don't ask me. Even if the two of us were not in this truck right now, I still would have given them to you. You can't have four years of what we have and not buy that person something for their birthdays. I was more than willing to be a friend to you. This moment is just a dream that I wanted to come true."

I looked at her. "You were already in the highest position in ShinRa? What more of a promotion is there?"

She grinned. "Leonard, I said I got a promotion. I have been working two jobs. One that you knew about, the other started as a hobby. Then it went worldwide. It was a self-claimed promotion. I had been working on something while you and Kourtney slept. I sent it in, got paid three-thousand dollars, to do whatever I want with. And now I'm not only an employee of ShinRa, but I am a published author. My book is in the top 10 most read books in the city of Midgar Edge, as well as the world."

"Nice, great job, Grace. I'm proud of you."

I looked out the window. "Alright, Leonard, spill it. Something has you stressed out, what's wrong?"

I looked at her. "Nothing, I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"Grace, you're a powerful woman who could have anyone she could ever want. But you chose to be with me? Why, why would you want to come to my aid after last month? Why did you come to me this morning? I know you said Kadaj had asked you to, but you could have easily declined. Why, why put yourself through the emotional breakthrough you put yourself through this morning."

"Powerful women desire companionship, Leonard. What's the point in having success, money, and power if we're going to be locked in a room alone, with no family to share the wealth with. I love you is the reason I keep coming to your side. You are the only man that I have allowed to put me in my place. Since you seem to care about my well-being. You give me the one dream I've had since I was a child. You've given me the husband to grow old with, the child I've always wanted to see grow up and be a mother in her life. You gave my family a home that you didn't have to do. We did not force you to. After those reasons, give me a reason other than one mistake that would make me not want to be with you, after everything you've done for me. I want to see how you plan on trying to prove me wrong. Or changing my mind." I sighed, trying to think of at least two reasons, with a sigh. "That's what I thought. You want to go to the bar, I'm buying?"

I looked at her. "What about Kourtney?"

She looked at the backseat to the sleeping child. "Perhaps later. I have work in the morning, plus I need to move my stuff back to your house. Yazoo and Loz said that they would do that while I was at work, Kadaj said that he would handle moving around the stuff in the guest bedroom, all you have to do is watch over Kourtney, Yazoo placed some leftovers in the refrigerator, all you have to do is heat them for three minutes."

"Why are you going to sleep in the guest bedroom?"

"Isn't that what you want?"

"No, if we're still married, what would be the point of sleeping in different bedrooms?"

"Alright, then. If you say so."

We got home as Graceona parked behind the brother's motorcycles. She turned off the ignition. "Put Kourtney to bed, then come back out here. It won't take long, then you can go to bed. Yazoo and I are going to go to the bar later."

I looked at her. "Yazoo? Going to the bar, he's seventeen."

"We're not going there to drink, well I am. He's going there to get out of the house for a while. He agreed to be my driver, if I drink too much, which I don't plan to. But better safe than sorry."

I got from the truck, got Kourtney, and carried her inside. "Hello, Leonard. How was Vincent?" Yazoo looked at me.

"Same. Did you agree to go to the bar with Grace later tonight?"

"Yeah, she's celebrating. She said something about she had plans for the upcoming weeks, so she's going to celebrate. She didn't go into details. Plus, I just want to get out of the house. I want to see Tifa." He looked at the floor. "Isn't Tifa amazing?"

I looked at him. "She's Tifa. What can I say?"

I walked past him, going to Kourtney's room, laying the child on the bed, covering her up, making my way out of the room. I met Graceona outside beside her truck.

"Alright, what are these gifts you insisted on getting?"

She looked at me, getting two keys from her pocket. I looked at her. "Do I want to know what these go to?"

"One is to your motorcycle in the building and the other is to your new home. We'll be living closer to Vincent, so you won't have to always meet up at the bar and walk for miles to come back home. I heard Cloud and Tifa talking that you were trying to get a job with the two of them to get the home, it's paid in full, so no takebacks. It's yours."

I sighed. "Grace, why?"

"Can't you just thank me for once instead of complaining?"

"Fine, thank you, but why."

"You're welcome. Get ready. Tifa said that Kourtney could sleep at the bar. We got matters to attend to there and I'm not taking no for an answer. Get your best clothes on."

I looked at my clothes. "I am dressed in my good clothes."

"Those clothes are nice, but I love that black silk shirt, and leather pants on you."

"Ah, you mean my party clothes. Alright." I walked back into the home, placing the two silver keys into my back pocket.