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livemydream in stop_panicking

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May 10, 2010 22:54

Who: Zack Fair and Sephiroth
What: A reunion of sorts.
When: Some time after Sephiroth's first post.
Where: Near the Recreation area.
Warnings: Nothing planned.

( A surprise alright... )

sephiroth, zack fair

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rapunzeroth May 11 2010, 06:04:09 UTC

Sephiroth had come unarmed. It was a gesture and only that; Zack knew that he could kill someone with his bare hands if he found the need to do so. But that was all he could do to show his good will. His sanity.

The last time his sanity had been in doubt had been years ago, after going berserk on a mission. But he'd calmed down quickly. He'd recognized friends and enemies and been released. But according to Genesis...he'd never come back from the next time.

He didn't shy away from approaching Zack, surveying the other man. Not much change. It was as though he'd sent the Second Class to procure rooms for them yesterday. For him, it had been only a few days.

Sephiroth nodded at Zack politely. Even now, he was half expecting a lazy salute and acknowledgment of his rank. "Zack," He greeted quietly. "Would you like me to do anything to prove myself before...we go on?"

livemydream May 11 2010, 06:42:44 UTC

It really was strange to see Sephiroth as the man he known back from their Shinra days. The last time he had seen the other man, he was insane and putting the beating to Cloud. It wasn't like he could pretend he didn't hear what Sephiroth had been saying to Cloud the entire time the two fought. He and Aerith had been watching from the Lifestream the whole time.

"Sephiroth," Zack greeted back with a nod, that was quickly followed up with a frown. "Oh geez, I wouldn't have agreed to meet you if I expected you to be a danger to me." He added with a heavy sigh.

Of course that didn't mean he was going to ask Aerith or Cloud to be around the man that had caused them both a lot of suffering. That was far too much to ask, especially while everyone was still adjusting to the idea that the planet was no longer there.

rapunzeroth May 11 2010, 07:01:32 UTC

"You would have agreed to meet me even if I was dangerous," Sephiroth replied. "To kill me, probably. Or to survey what I was capable of." His gaze was level, but he just looked tired.

"Genesis told me everything. Mostly everything. He wasn't...around for some of it." Sephiroth had tried to simply take it in stride and move on. It was easier said than done; he still had questions that no one could answer.

"As I've said. I have no memory beyond it. I can not imagine anything that would set me off that far. I hated ShinRa. I hate Shinra. For what they did to me and to Genesis and to Angeal. But burning a village to the ground is tactically ignorant, at best."

livemydream May 11 2010, 07:21:54 UTC

"I'm not really sure what Genesis knows, since I haven't spoke to him. I don't really know if I want too considering last time I saw him, he forced me to fight him." Zack replied, definitely a hint of bitterness to his tone. He would likely always hold a bit of resentment for getting pushed into those situations, both with Angeal and Genesis ( ... )

rapunzeroth May 11 2010, 07:31:26 UTC

"He seems to know the whole story," Sephiroth responded. "I doubt the two of you will be having drinks and discussing that time I almost destroyed the world. I doubt I will be discussing it again." Unless it came up. Which it undoubtedly would.

"He told me you were killed by ShinRa after...some time with Hojo," Sephiroth said slowly. He did look saddened by that. No one deserved to be in Hojo's hands, especially not Zack. To die directly after seemed even more cruel. "I don't remember Aerith very well. A flower girl in the slums. You seemed to like her. The Turks-" But he stopped himself. That was something he hadn't been told.

He was quiet for a while, starting to walk. It was aimless, mostly because he couldn't simply stand there and discuss these things. "Strife knew me from before. Even Aerith would have known of me, if you told her nothing. Is it...so wrong to believe that I wouldn't repeat my actions?"

livemydream May 11 2010, 07:52:02 UTC

Zack didn't really remember his time with Hojo, which likely turned out to be a blessing. Especially since he didn't really want to know what had been done to him. Just remembering having to carry Cloud around because of the Mako poisoning was enough to rise Zack's ire at the former Shinra scientist.

"That's still asking a lot of them. Even the things you said to Aerith in the Lifestream were pretty cruel. All their most recent memories of you are bad ones." Zack said frankly, following after Sephiroth. There was definitely nothing malicious in his tone as he spoke. After all he had known Sephiroth longer as a sane person, then the menace he eventually became.

rapunzeroth May 11 2010, 08:20:51 UTC

"I'm not asking it of them," Sephiroth replied. "It's a large ship. They can avoid me if they wish to do so." He still appeared calm, save that he was gripping his coat in his hands. He needed a better nervous habit. "I'm not forcing myself onto anyone."

He turned his face away from Zack for a moment, hiding behind a veil of silver hair. "And do you think I'm destined for insanity? That I will burn this place down and kill everyone I can?"

livemydream May 11 2010, 08:48:45 UTC

"I never said you were forcing yourself on anyone," Zack said, a hint of worry creeping into his voice. It honestly hadn't been his intention to make Sephiroth feel worse than he likely was already feeling.

Zack felt like he was in such a bad position, he wasn't exactly happy with how things turned out back home, but this was an opportunity for a second chance. He couldn't help feeling protective over Aerith and Cloud, he just didn't want to see them getting hurt again.

"I..." He trailed off a moment, considering what to say. "I don't really know. But I hope that we all can have a new beginning." He finally replied. He had never really understood why Sephiroth had snapped and went on that rampage and he probably never would, but maybe it was something best left in the past.

rapunzeroth May 11 2010, 09:00:59 UTC

Sephiroth waved off Zack's clarification. It was easy enough to realize they were both on edge with this situation. It wasn't exactly familiar ground. "What happened? Between us?" They'd been on rather good terms when they left for Nibelheim. Sephiroth had been watching over Zack, trying to foster the protective urges Angeal had once had. But he knew what happened. There were years between them for Zack.

"If they never wish to speak to me, that is up to them. I certainly won't seek them out." He looked away again. That was a lie. He would watch. He might not approach but he did want to know how they had changed as well. Literature was full of stories about people being able to see into the future...what did you do if the future was so bleak and you couldn't change it?

"My mother was a mortal woman who may or may not have been named Jenova," He said finally. "I'm not a Cetra or an alien. I'm just a very genetically muddled person who currently wishes for other worldly reasoning skills because I can't grasp this."

livemydream May 11 2010, 09:29:58 UTC

He honestly hadn't counted on how hard this was going to be. He hadn't thought it would be easy, but he had to wonder if he was just making things worse. He highly doubted that Genesis could really get across to Sephiroth just how much pain and anguish he had felt at seeing the man he trusted and looked up to, destroy an entire town, killing so many innocent people.

That whole event was burned into his memory forever, along with that crazed and sadistic stare that Sephiroth had given him when he finally confronted him and tried to stop him. "I don't think it's a case of never. Just give them some time to adjust." Zack said simply. It was a whole new situation for them all.

"I don't think her name was Jenova at all. Cloud and Aerith might actually know more about that. Hojo ranted at them enough times from what Aerith has told me."

rapunzeroth May 11 2010, 18:33:56 UTC

"That bad?" Sephiroth asked in response to how their relationship had deteriorated. He hadn't had a lot of friends. He hadn't had a lot of friendly acquaintances either. Losing one to death, one to going AWOL...and now this.

"I would never have guessed a slum flower girl would be important. Or a cadet that needed years of work to make SOLDIER." One hand touched his temple, willing the headache that had been there since he spoke to Genesis away. "Hojo did like to rant," He admitted finally, with a soft look at Zack that might have passed for a smile in someone else. They'd been subject to his lectures enough times.

"I'm not the man who burned a village or killed innocent people." Then, with a grimace, he amended. "I didn't kill those innocent people. I'm the general who won the war."

livemydream May 12 2010, 07:34:00 UTC

"...Yeah..." He replied, looking away. Of course that didn't mean he wouldn't try to be his friend again, it just meant it was going to take a little time. Though Zack was confidant that he could move on, this after all was the Sephiroth that he had became his comrade and friend.

Zack could only really shrug at Sephiroth's observations of Aerith and Cloud as he perceived them. They were important to Zack back when he really knew nothing about him. They were important because they were people that he cared about, his friends.

"I know you haven't done those things. But for me as well as Cloud and Aerith, they can't be easily forgotten. I know I'll try, but I can't speak for them. I will talk to them though. That's all I can really promise there."

rapunzeroth May 12 2010, 08:10:21 UTC

"I'm easy to take down if you know me." Sephiroth's voice was quiet, almost inaudible. There was no one around but he looked around anyway, making sure. This wasn't ShinRa, with eyes and wears everywhere. No one had wanted to admit that the prize weapon had a flaw. "I...could show you. I always meant to but...time got away from me, it seems."

He was pacing, walking quickly, and forced himself to slow to a pace that was easy for them both. "What happened to you?" He asked finally. "I know Hojo had you and that you died. Not much else. I...wasn't certain I wanted to know." But somehow he did. He didn't want to dismiss what he'd caused.

livemydream May 12 2010, 08:53:08 UTC

Zack's eyes widened a bit in surprise at Sephiroth's words. That was the last thing that he had expected to hear from the other man. It would have been handy to known back then, but Zack was also fairly certain that his answer would have been the same as it was right now. "No, you don't have to do that," Zack replied, reassuringly ( ... )

rapunzeroth May 12 2010, 19:28:16 UTC

"ShinRa Mansion?" But he'd been told about that. He'd locked himself in there to read the files. What was left there? He wasn't certain why he'd never looked before except that he'd assumed the place cleaned out and condemned. "I was...born there." He spoke haltingly, and shook his head a bit to clear out that thought. "I can say I'm very sorry you ended up in Hojo's hands. I wouldn't wish that for an enemy, never mind a...friend ( ... )

livemydream May 12 2010, 21:33:11 UTC

"Yeah, I never liked Hojo from the moment I met him." Zack admitted. There was something not quite right about that man from the start. He was definitely a face that Zack never wanted to see again. "Cloud did suffer some brain damage. He lost his memories for a long time there. Eventually he started to recover them, but it wasn't easy for him ( ... )

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