My favourite of all the Lucrecia/Vincent fics. Apart from the fact it strayed a bit too far from the original for my liking (the stuff where Vince becomes what he is now being only implied, no crystal encasement, no frustrating distance between the leads) this is one of the greatest love stories I've genuinely ever read. And why? Because it's not a stereotypical courtship like you find in so many anime. They don't just want each other, they NEED each other for redemption- in the words of the Simpsons: 'there's a reason why two people come together and stay together. It's because they give each other something no-one else can.' In this light, more than a chemical attraction is at stake- it's the redemption of both characters.

Hands down, the most amazing and heart-wrenching things I have ever read. This story stirred so many emotions in me, let alone being completely true to the story and absolutely believable! It's going to be hard not to accept this as cannon now when replaying the game, so I won't even try. This is the real thing. I get to completely erase Dirge of Cerberus from my brain, which is more of a blessing than I can express.
Thank you SO much for writing this over a decade and a half ago, it will be treasured for even longer still.

nice

I forgot to add...EXCELLENT work on all the science details you included. I was right back in my old lab, running those damn electrophoresis gels over and over again. Beautiful work capturing the tedium, explaining the set-ups, and really painting the picture of what working in cell biology/biochemistry is like. It just killed me that Lucrecia never looks closer at the test results Hojo gave her, AND, that because Hojo decided to use the one biochemistry researcher to be a test-subject/object o' revenge, that they didn't find the protein until way after Lucrecia had signed on for the Sephiroth experiment. Damn Hojo.

Thank you, too, for your notes. I'm incredibly impressed with how far you went with this, as far as the details go.

I realize I'm about 8 years late here, but I am in awe of this story. A user called "mepuns" on YouTube recommended this story in one of his/her uploads of the cutscenes from FFVII: Dirge of Cerebus ([40] (English) Dirge of Cerberus: Why Didn't You Tell Me). I do believe the creators of DoC must have read and integrated your story, about the conflicts between Lucrecia, Hojo and Vincent. Aside from her dying in your story (what we were led to believe in FFVII, originally, if I remember correctly) versus her locking herself up in a Mako Crystal from sheer guilt/insanity/whatever in DoC, you absolutely described Lucrecia's character perfectly. The guilt, the shame, her ambition...it all makes sense within this world.

And Vincent! You captured his essence so perfectly, too. The guy he was then still matches the guy he is in the FFVII stories. Hojo, I imagine, might have been an easier character to write (?), just because he's such a caricature, but I was thinking that it would be hard to pin Vincent down. Especially with what was given in the original game, which wasn't much. The Vincent in your story has integrated effortlessly into what I know from the FFVII universe, just because they fit together so seamlessly.

Amazing job. I was actually jumping in my seat when they first kissed, and yeah, not much makes me do that. I'm glad your story is still here, and I'm off to go read some of your others. Thank you for sharing it.

Wonderful... just... wonderful. This is the third time I'm reading this fic and I just can't believe I haven't left a review! Geez! Anyway, this is great, lovely, wonderful, awesome... ehm... I can't come up with anything else, geh!

I love it. Love it. Love it. LOVE IT! :D

Ah. This was simply amazing. It's wonderful to be able to find such wonderfully written pieces of literature (YES, I am considering it literature - it was so beautiful.) The only, ONLY thing I would have to say is that, if you ever re-wrote it or something, would you use Lucrecia's real last name, instead of Aerith's? XD Since it has been revealed, Crescent, I thought it would be interesting. I kept staring at the page for a minute when it said Lucrecia Gainsborough. XD

Again; AMAZING, WONDERFUL, FANTASTIC job. Keep up the stunning work!

This was AMAZING! I'm totally obsessed with Vincent and this just deepened the passion! XD (Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing).

Very very good! it took me three days to read but i loved every minuet of it! VERYY nice story ..

Heh, poor poor Lucrecia. Having to meet Hojo that way. I like the way you set it up, though. Especially since you didn't mention her name until the end. More dramatic, I suppose.

Well, I promised I would be back, so here I am. Took me a while, though. I really like this theory of where Hojo got his name. Very well written, kind of gives an inside look into Hojo for a moment.

Hello! I read this a while ago when it was still on UltraViolet Light and I really liked it. When I went back to reread it, though, it was gone! I got this crazy idea to look on FanFiction, and look what I found. So, here I am, rereading it. I can't believe that it only got 44 reviews, though. A fic like this deserves better. So, as I go through and reread Devotion, I'm going to review for every chapter. Lame, I know, but I don't have a life and it's summer vacation. I'm just letting you know so it doesn't freak you out. So, before I go I just want to say that this fic rocks. In fact, out of all the FFVII fics I've read (which is a lot), this is second only to I Know What's Beneath the Snowfields. And, in fact, I like your portrayal of what happened with Vincent and Lucrecia better than what was shown in Snowfields. Wow. That was a long review. I'm going to shut up now.

Wait.. uhh...

Isn't Lucrecia's last name Crescent? o_o;

I'm so confused now...

Hah..hah..hah... o_o;;

I thought this would be the best place to post a general overall review of most of your story. There of course some elements I love and some I am not so attached to. But here are the main three things I liked:

1: The shameless use of college education and experiance

-Well, I am also working a very similar fanfic and it wasn't until this past week I found your work. Since it is within one's benefit to write what you know, so there is a strong archaeological/DNA bent to my work and interpreation of the Jenova project. Needless to say, I am glad to see someone else is doing that. The idea of giving certain backgrounds to each researching is also a great move and glad to see someone else is doing that.

2: The Hojo connection

-What can I say? I tried myself to see if it is really, trully possible that Lucrecia and Hojo actually had a relationship, and well, I just don't see that happening. People with such large egos tend not to work well with children. But then again, it is all up to personal preference. Personally I think Hojo is a creepy little man...and it's working out quite well.

3: How it all begins

-I was relieved to find someone who gave some thought to how Lucrecia and Vincent intially got involved. How you set it up seemed a little out of character, but the fact you gave it thought earns you a cookie!

I like this last section that gives a good idea of your thoughts and your intentions. I like to know what people are thinking when they write(good or bad).

"Lucrecia is never said to be related to anyone (except Sephiroth, of course.) First off, I couldn’t think of a last name for Lucrecia. I batted around the idea of naming her the catchy-sounding “Lucrecia Loire”"

Hmm, I think were best to leave that alone for sure. THe thought of her being related to Laguna is a little scary. I love Laguna as a character, but all I thought about was "Poor Vincent". Especially since I am in an RPG where those two characters exist in the same world. I haven't brought Vincent in yet(sans the goofy costume; wearing a suit instead), but when I do, it will be interesting to compare Vincent and Laguna.

I definately like the corruption factor being the reactor and Nibel. Yep, like that well.

Good work!

... Once upon a time, I can't remember HOW long ago, I read this story and it struck me as being, without question, the finest ever explanation behind the entire Vincentian story arc I had ever seen. I must have been impressed into silence, though, because I didn't even review last time. Criminal, eh?

That must have been years ago. I lost all memory of what this fic was called and who wrote it... but, believe it or not, I've been looking for it forever. So here I am, lol.

I don't know what I planned on saying... only that this fic changed my entire perspective on the world of FF7, and on the world of writing fanfiction in general, and that, even after all this time, it was so, so worth the searching.

Congratulations! _