Kappa #26: Salt (Tall Tales by Kitsune Moonstar)
Title: Tall Tales
Author: kitsunemoonstar
Pairing: Sephiroth x Aeris Gainsborough
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Theme: #26: Salt
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters.
Rating: For Everyone
Tall Tales
Zack surveyed the young faces staring up at him. Somehow he had ended up alone with the children. It was rare that their mothers would allow that. It was hard to believe how much things had changed at times. Then he was confronted with evidence like the kids. The youngest two were Cloud and Tifa's. Both had inherited their mother's looks thankfully, though even at age four Rae appeared to have her father's temperament. Her eight year old brother, Ryan, was a far more like his mother. Aria was the oldest at ten. The only thing that marked her as Sephiroth's daughter was her long silver hair. Other than that she was completely Aeris' child; Seph seemed inordinately proud of that fact. Kerrigan rounded out the group at age nine. Tseng's daughter has his coloring for the most part, but her looks were her mother's as were her caramel colored eyes.
It was hard to believe at times that it had been years since the gang had first met. This was their twelfth reunion party, and so much had changed. Quiet frankly, everything had changed once Aeris met Sephiroth. Zack held himself responsible for that. After all, if he hadn't gotten drunk that night, Seph and Aeris might never have met. And Zack quite honestly didn't know what would have happened if Aeris hadn't been there to keep Sephiroth sane when Jenova had popped up. He had a feeling that things could have been a whole lot worse. Not that they hadn't been bad enough. Jenova had been a problem in more ways than one.
"Uncle Zack," Ryan spoke up. "We want a story. A real one."
There were nods all around the group.
"A true story, eh?" Zack grinned. "Let me tell you about how your parents got together. And yes, I mean all of them. The stories are pretty much linked. But we'll start with Sephiroth and Aeris since they're the ones who really got things started."
Aeris striking up a friendship with Sephiroth after the man had bailed her and Zack out of jail had been unexpected, but if anyone could have managed such a feat, it would be Aeris. And not only had she managed to become friends with the great general of ShinRa, but she'd become his confidant as well. That had probably saved them all. If Sephiroth hadn't gone first to Aeris when he'd discovered Hojo's diaries, he might have been the one to be lured into Jenova's trap. Zack didn't know if they would have been able to stop her then.
As it was, it had been difficult to stop her, and she had only taken control of a highly trained SOLDIER. Well, and attempted to control Cloud and Zack himself. That hadn't quite worked out. And her efforts to take control of Sephiroth had pretty much crashed and burned thanks to Aeris. In the end, it had been Aeris who had held the key to defeating her. Though it had taken more than just Aeris to do so. They had gathered quite a team by the end in order to defeat Jenova. ShinRa and Avalanche had actually worked together without too much bloodshed on either side.
The end results had been Jenova's destruction, a partially destroyed Midgar, Rufus taking over what was left of ShinRa, and two proposals of marriage. Okay, Sephiroth's technically had not been exactly a proposal of marriage, but it was close enough. He and Aeris now lived in Mideel. Sephiroth dealt with any monster that wandered into the area, and occasionally took other jobs as well. Aeris ran a flower shop. They both seemed immensely happy. Aria had been born two years after the whole Jenova crisis, and while Zack had never expected Sephiroth to turn into a family man, somehow it seemed to work.
He modified the story for the children of course. There were some things that they really didn't need to know at this point, and besides, it didn't hurt to play up the romance in the story and make his own role in saving the world a little larger. It was his sworn duty to come up with new ways to tease Sephiroth after all, and casting him as some sort of great romantic hero was sure to irk the man.
He had just gotten to the part where Sephiroth had made a dramatic entrance and then saved Aeris from being buried at sea when everyone thought that she was dead with true love's first kiss when he realized that the children were staring at something behind him.
"Zack, what are you telling the children?" Aeris' voice rang out.
He turned to find her standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. He offered her an innocent smile.
"They asked for a true story."
"You seem to have altered the facts a little. I really don't remember being in that much danger of being drowned, and I'm pretty sure that it was a lake not an ocean since we used it to refill our water supplies. Salt water tastes rather different from fresh water."
Zack just shrugged. "Artistic license."
Aeris smirked then turned to the assembled children who all looked fascinated. "Right. Let me tell you a story about your Uncle Zack."
Author: kitsunemoonstar
Pairing: Sephiroth x Aeris Gainsborough
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Theme: #26: Salt
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters.
Rating: For Everyone
Tall Tales
Zack surveyed the young faces staring up at him. Somehow he had ended up alone with the children. It was rare that their mothers would allow that. It was hard to believe how much things had changed at times. Then he was confronted with evidence like the kids. The youngest two were Cloud and Tifa's. Both had inherited their mother's looks thankfully, though even at age four Rae appeared to have her father's temperament. Her eight year old brother, Ryan, was a far more like his mother. Aria was the oldest at ten. The only thing that marked her as Sephiroth's daughter was her long silver hair. Other than that she was completely Aeris' child; Seph seemed inordinately proud of that fact. Kerrigan rounded out the group at age nine. Tseng's daughter has his coloring for the most part, but her looks were her mother's as were her caramel colored eyes.
It was hard to believe at times that it had been years since the gang had first met. This was their twelfth reunion party, and so much had changed. Quiet frankly, everything had changed once Aeris met Sephiroth. Zack held himself responsible for that. After all, if he hadn't gotten drunk that night, Seph and Aeris might never have met. And Zack quite honestly didn't know what would have happened if Aeris hadn't been there to keep Sephiroth sane when Jenova had popped up. He had a feeling that things could have been a whole lot worse. Not that they hadn't been bad enough. Jenova had been a problem in more ways than one.
"Uncle Zack," Ryan spoke up. "We want a story. A real one."
There were nods all around the group.
"A true story, eh?" Zack grinned. "Let me tell you about how your parents got together. And yes, I mean all of them. The stories are pretty much linked. But we'll start with Sephiroth and Aeris since they're the ones who really got things started."
Aeris striking up a friendship with Sephiroth after the man had bailed her and Zack out of jail had been unexpected, but if anyone could have managed such a feat, it would be Aeris. And not only had she managed to become friends with the great general of ShinRa, but she'd become his confidant as well. That had probably saved them all. If Sephiroth hadn't gone first to Aeris when he'd discovered Hojo's diaries, he might have been the one to be lured into Jenova's trap. Zack didn't know if they would have been able to stop her then.
As it was, it had been difficult to stop her, and she had only taken control of a highly trained SOLDIER. Well, and attempted to control Cloud and Zack himself. That hadn't quite worked out. And her efforts to take control of Sephiroth had pretty much crashed and burned thanks to Aeris. In the end, it had been Aeris who had held the key to defeating her. Though it had taken more than just Aeris to do so. They had gathered quite a team by the end in order to defeat Jenova. ShinRa and Avalanche had actually worked together without too much bloodshed on either side.
The end results had been Jenova's destruction, a partially destroyed Midgar, Rufus taking over what was left of ShinRa, and two proposals of marriage. Okay, Sephiroth's technically had not been exactly a proposal of marriage, but it was close enough. He and Aeris now lived in Mideel. Sephiroth dealt with any monster that wandered into the area, and occasionally took other jobs as well. Aeris ran a flower shop. They both seemed immensely happy. Aria had been born two years after the whole Jenova crisis, and while Zack had never expected Sephiroth to turn into a family man, somehow it seemed to work.
He modified the story for the children of course. There were some things that they really didn't need to know at this point, and besides, it didn't hurt to play up the romance in the story and make his own role in saving the world a little larger. It was his sworn duty to come up with new ways to tease Sephiroth after all, and casting him as some sort of great romantic hero was sure to irk the man.
He had just gotten to the part where Sephiroth had made a dramatic entrance and then saved Aeris from being buried at sea when everyone thought that she was dead with true love's first kiss when he realized that the children were staring at something behind him.
"Zack, what are you telling the children?" Aeris' voice rang out.
He turned to find her standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. He offered her an innocent smile.
"They asked for a true story."
"You seem to have altered the facts a little. I really don't remember being in that much danger of being drowned, and I'm pretty sure that it was a lake not an ocean since we used it to refill our water supplies. Salt water tastes rather different from fresh water."
Zack just shrugged. "Artistic license."
Aeris smirked then turned to the assembled children who all looked fascinated. "Right. Let me tell you a story about your Uncle Zack."