Natalie lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She'd been staring at the same pattern in the wood of the roof for at least an hour trying to convince herself not to go to Shinra Mansion that morning. You were just there yesterday. Do you want him to pull a Chaos on you?
She closed her eyes, draping her arm across them with a slow sigh. Being in the basement had relaxed her. No people. No noises except for the calming drip of a leaky wall or the occasional creak of the roof. Even the sporadic scratching of the rats scurrying across the stone floor had soothed her nerves. Natalie couldn't keep herself away.
Natalie rolled onto her side, pulling her knees toward her chest as she clutched the blankets closer. When she'd read about Vincent Valentine - a Turk and glorified bully of Shinra Corporation - Natalie had been enthralled with his misery and self-indulged suffering, much as any young woman with dreams of romantic interludes. She supposed that had been the reason for her vow to find him. It had been the only romantic fantasy allowed. Everything else had been school and work, and the fact that Lucrecia had been the best friend of Natalie's high school science-teacher's sister had served to feed the fantasy.
And now you're on the closer side of 30 than 25. You have no family, no adventure except the one you're in right now, and no beau waiting for your eventual return home... wherever that might be....
Natalie tossed off the blankets to sit up, kicking her feet over the side of the bed to stare at her toes. Nat, you are a silly, silly woman. She released a quick breath. Oh well. Might as well. Natalie slid off the bed and made her way for the bathroom, towel in hand. Once out of the shower she dressed in a fresh T-shirt, all the while scolding herself for giving in to her own silly little fantasy.
"Oh leave me alone," she muttered.
She slipped into her jeans, struggled with her wool socks and hiking boots - scolded herself for not putting the socks on before her jeans - and then pulled her damp curls back into a ponytail. Nat, think about this. Take a walk over to the excavation site past Mt. Nibel first. You've been putting it off, and you know you need to get yourself organized. Go down to the basement for lunch if you must go. Natalie sighed as she stood and left the room. She did pause at the Shinra Mansion gate, but she forced herself to move on down the trail.
Natalie shook her head with a sigh. She had always dreamed some dashing and rich history enthusiast would snatch her up and take her away to his castle, or island, or whatever he called home. Other years she had dreamed of marrying a love-starved soldier, convinced she could heal his heart if given the proper chance. Then of course there had been the overwhelming desire to be swept off her feet by a superhero type of man. The kind that chose a simple life with her though he could have had anything he wanted by snapping his fingers and winking.
Oh brother.
There had been so many fantasies... But the dream that had remained the longest time had been the one of finding Vincent. No one else had seemed to care about him. If they had, would he still have been buried in the basement of a building no one wants? She pressed her lips together. But now that I've found him, how do I get him out of that infernal box? I don't want to drive him insane by visiting him each and every day. And I certainly don't want him to believe telling me 'Go' will make me run along like a good little girl. After all, he was a Turk once. He'll respect gumption more than sighs and fluttering lashes.
Natalie did sigh. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans as she continued toward Mt. Nibel.
But Natalie's trip to the excavation site proved pointless. She finished a basic outline of the area, and she had enough presence of mind to organize a pair of dig sites, but other than that... Now she found herself back at the gate of Shinra Mansion with a picnic basket in one hand and a thermos in the other. A picnic with a coffin? Natalie rolled her eyes as she pushed through the gate.
She navigated her way down the cobbled walkway, through the empty entryway, up the stairs to the second story, through the room on the right wing, and into the room with the 'secret entrance' to the spiral staircase. She pressed on the appropriate switch to open the door, carefully descended the rickety wooden stairs, and then made her way down the earthy hallway to the sturdy wooden door of the room where Vincent Valentine had been hidden away.
Natalie took in a deep breath as she reached out to open the door. The rusted, rotten, and rickety door that represented Shinra's disdain for the value of a human life. It creaked open. She slipped inside and pushed the door closed, leaning back against the rough surface before pushing herself forward. His coffin was still closed tight, and Natalie decided to leave it that way. At least until he's more familiar with me. Then I'll try again.
"I needed to get away from people for a while so... I brought tuna-fish for lunch." Natalie set the basket on the ground a few feet from the coffin and knelt to pull out her sandwich. "I have extra if you want." Natalie grimaced and gave a shake of her head. Then she shrugged her shoulders and looked around the bleak room, washing down a bite of sandwich with the grape juice from the inn's kitchen. Natalie looked down at the thermos lid-cup with a wrinkle of her nose. "Not as tart as I like, but I suppose it's better than water."
Natalie set down her sandwich and gestured behind her. "A lot of people say this basement should be closed off. They say it's a danger." She shrugged. "I like it. Of course, I'm used to being around old houses and tombs. I guess that's what this reminds me of." Natalie sipped more grape juice from her thermos lid-cup, examining his coffin from the corner of her eyes. "You would tell me if I started annoying you, wouldn't you?"
Silence.
"No one has accused me of talking too much," she informed him as she set down the cup. "Then again, the social aspect of a relationship was never my reason for being near people. They were team members helping me uncover a mystery. That was always the extent of the relationship."
Natalie leaned back on her hands, stretching her legs out in front of her. "I worked hard at cataloguing and deciphering what we unearthed that week. Or I read up on the most recent discovery of Professor Gast regarding the Ancients and the Promised Land. Or I researched Hojo's latest 'breakthrough' in the realm of genetic engineering. And there was always an article being prepared for publication in the local scientific digest - Shinra-owned of course. There was never time for socialization, fraternization, or anything even remotely similar." Natalie shrugged. "None of them ever offered to meet after hours, so I guess it wasn't entirely my fault."
Natalie cleared her throat. "Of course, I don't believe I would have taken the opportunity even if they had. People and I generally don't do well together. Whether it's my tendency towards tactlessness or a dislike of speaking in front of strangers I don't know. Writing articles, essays, or the like is much easier for me. I usually don't know what to say to an actual person. Unless I have notes there in front of me, of course."
Natalie stared at the toes of her boots, occasionally sparing a glance to his coffin. She released a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Vincent. All the way here I kept telling myself it wasn't the brightest idea, but the voice of reason seldom sways my mind in anything. So here I am, annoying you with my twitter while not allowing you a moment of peace."
Natalie sat up and began packing up her picnic. "I haven't received any responses to the invitations I sent to your friends." Natalie slowly placed her thermos into the basket. "Have you... Have you thought about the possibility of giving me an interview?" She raised her gaze to the coffin. "If you would rather do a private interview before the others arrive, I can arrange that. If not, I'll be in my room at the inn most of the day, although I do need to go to the ruins by Mt. Nibel. Organizing and planning, you understand. You're more than welcome to stop by whenever you have a free moment; at either Mt. Nibel or my room at the inn. That way I could at least let you know when everyone is planning on coming."
Natalie took hold of her basket and stood. "I might not be back until day after tomorrow, preparing for the interview you see, but I will try and drop in to at least say 'hi'. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I like it down here."
Natalie sent the coffin a wistful look. She gave herself a mental shake. Come on, Nat. Walk out of here without being melodramatic. So she did. Natalie turned for the door, closing it behind her after whispering, "I'll be back, Vincent. Sleep well."
Out of the basement, up the staircase, and out of the Mansion she went, all the while with a gloomy feeling nagging at her normal lighthearted attitude. Being away for a few days would be good. Impatience had always been her virtue, and that would never go over well with Vincent Valentine. Natalie lightly bit her lower lip, pausing at the gate to look back over her shoulder toward the Mansion. Then she released a deep breath and headed toward the inn with a shake of her head. She didn't notice the sudden appearance of a shadow at the second story window that positioned itself to watch her.
*
A Plea for Sleep / Romantic Interludes