Keeper of Cerberus

Vincent sat by watching them with mild interest. His eyes hovered over Fye mostly. She played with the children running back and forth along the shore with the skim board they both reached for. Some how or another she managed to get Cid on a skimmer as well and he had just fallen and sent the board flying along the water. It smacked into Fye and she toppled face first into the sand.
She got up and quickly brushed herself free of all sand looking around to see if she had been caught even though it was obvious she had. Vincent sighed lightly and shook his head at her antics. Berret took Denzel and Marlene into deeper water with the boogie boards. Tifa and Yuffie practiced staying upright on their boards. For a while Faye practiced free diving, disappearing under the surface of the water, and reappearing after a long period of time. After she had grown board of this she retrieved her board and joined Cloud as he paddled out to catch a few waves.

She was surprised that the first few seemed all too perfect. In less than a second it all changed directions dramatically. Cloud was shot from his board and went flying into the next waves base. It crested and crashed down on him. Faye was silent as she watched the water waiting for him to come back up. Yuffie was the first to attempt to dive to help him. The pounding of her heart from panic made it difficult for her to stay under long.
"Yuffie You will get pulled out, you don't know the current," Faye called as she helped the Wutai ninja up onto her board.

"Don't get off the board," Faye instructed as she held loosely to its side. She took a few deep calming breaths to slow her heart rate. She doubled into the water, arching downward and flinging herself downward. She disappeared under the turbulent surface.

She could see Cloud struggling to untangle his leash from the point of reef it has wrapped around. The board was pulling up on the cord, making it impossible for him to create slack of any kind. Faye kicked herself a bit harder as he seemed to give up. As she reached for him it felt like she was moving far slower than she should have been. He reached for her hand his blue eyes becoming a little hazy as he looked up. When their fingertips met it was like electricity had shot through her and set the whole world into fast forward.

In an instant she had jerked herself flush to him, one arm wrapping itself around his waist while the other started to reach down. Her feet planted themselves in the sharp reef's surface.
One heart beat, She gripped the line and pushed Cloud down enough to unloop the leash.
Half beat, She coiled her legs under her and shoved away from the reef.
Quarter beat, she jerked to a violent stop, her ankle wedged into a crevasse in the reef .
Eighth beat, She had to struggle to keep her grip on Cloud.
Silence, She saw images of Zack's death and closed her eyes tightly. She pushed Cloud to the surface.

Vincent was on his feet, his cloak discarded in the sand, when Clouds board broke the surface with a wild splash. The blond headed male followed shortly breaking the top of the water with a gasp. In all of the celebration they failed to notice they were missing something, something important. Faye had not surfaced with Cloud. His hands flew to the clasps that held the gun to his thigh. Before the weapon even made contact with his cape he was racing toward the water. He pulled his shirt up over his head and kicked off his boots. He ran straight into the water. The sea licked hungrily at his pale, exposed skin.

Faye twisted her foot one way, gritting her teeth at the tearing sensation. The reef gave a little, so she twisted it violently in the other direction and wiggled it a little. Her lungs burned desperately for air and so she let a bit of her breath out through her nose, trying to make them stop burning. Her heart was beating wildly inside her chest as she continued to work her foot.

When it seemed as if she would gain no more ground she shoved herself away from the reef. Her ankle came away when her skin ripped into ribbons of blood. She gasped with the pain and her lungs filled with water making her choke and cough. She made a mad swim for the surface breaking through with a gasp of air and more coughing. She swam wildly for the shallows where she stood up and stumbled sideways and backwards. She coughed again spitting out the water that rose into her mouth.

Strong arms wrapped around her and she was dragged onto the sand. She clamped her eyes shut, the pain in her ankle nothing but a dull throb right now. She knew the moment she looked at it her whole body would be consumed in fire.
"Move me to the shadows," she mumbled lightly and the same strong arms lifted her. She was moved from the hot sand to the shade where the wispy palms kept the sand cool.
"You ok?" that would be Yuffie's voice, somewhere to her right. Faye regained her composure for the most part and opened her eyes.
In the distance she could see Vincent standing waist deep in the water. For some reason all she could think was, "Silly Vinny… that leather will stick and shrink."
As he came towards them Faye's voice caught in her throat. His pail toned stomach glistened. Her eyes traveled from his waistband all the way to where his long black hair swept his elbows. Her fantasy was broken when he pulled his shirt back on.