Prisoners of War Ch. 30
Title: Prisoners of War Ch. 30
Author: xpaperplanex
Beta: urplesquirrel
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~6000
Pairings: Sephiroth/Cloud
Genre: hurt/comfort, romance
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work. Lines yoinked from the game are yoinked from the game and not mine. I used the FFVII script transcribed by Little Chiba as reference.
Summary: Cloud and Sephiroth are taken prisoner by AVALANCHE. No one, least of all themselves, could have expected what it would set in motion.
Previous Chapters: | Part 1 |
| 29 |
So last week, in Minna no Nihongo, I learned that I'm not nearly as violent as I'd like to think I am. *sad face* Stupid Ogawa-san made me angry and I was all, "I'd punch that bitch!" And then it occurred to me that people ask me favours like that all the time and I have yet to punch anyone. Grr. (Ogawa-san wanted Miller-san to teach her son English. And when Miller-san said he was busy and couldn't, she kept pestering him for ages.) I'm not your bloody wind-up English-speaking doll!
And Kazura_Uyurin, lesson 29 will make your brain bleed. :D
In other news, I've succumbed to the inevitable and purchased a parasol. It's black, with ruffles and is ridiculously gothy and it's wonderful.
***
"Boss!" The door to Tseng's office banged open and Reno came flying in, in a flurry of red hair. "Boss, take a look. I was looking around the president's office and I found this."
Tseng took the sheet of paper Reno was holding out with no small amount of trepidation. The expression on Reno's face made him certain it was bad news.
President Shinra,
The plan has been set in motion. The mission order was accepted without suspicion; Sephiroth and Specimen C are on their way to her. I will be able to determine if Sephiroth is indeed that failure that I suspect him to be. My hypothesis is that we waited too long in reintroducing him to her. The appearance of Specimen C in his life was unforeseeable and I believe this has had an effect on his ability to bond with her. If my hypothesis turns out to be correct, he will be disposed of; we have no use for a failure. The loss will be recuperated by Specimen C, which is fitting, considering that it is his fault. I suspect that, given time, he will be even more powerful than Sephiroth. Project C also has the benefit of starting with an adult specimen. He should be ready for testing within three months and fully complete within a year. I will ensure that he bonds with her as soon as possible to prevent another failure.
Hojo
Tseng stared at the page in horror. "Get Rufus and Rude in here. Now. And get Cissnei and Rod too," he ordered, and Reno scampered out of the room. How could this have happened? He shook his head, now was not the time. He had to warn Sephiroth. He picked up his PHS and dialled Sephiroth's number. The phone rang once and the connection was dropped. He tried again and was told that the number was in an area that was out of service. After several more tries, he called Zack, and then Cloud; it was the same with their phones. They would either ring once and disconnect, or there would be no signal at all. He kept trying until Reno came back with everyone he had been told to retrieve.
Tseng let everyone read the letter before he turned on Cissnei. "I thought you told me that you hadn't let Hojo find out about Cloud?"
"I didn't!" she protested. "Even when their relationship went public, I made sure that he didn't find out. The virus I put on his PHS is working, I check it constantly, he doesn't get any messages from any fanclubs and I filter everything that contains the words 'cloud' or 'strife'. My spies in the lab said he showed no reactions at all after the press conference was held. He didn't find out because of that."
"Well he found out somehow, care to make a guess?" Tseng hissed in fury.
Before Cissnei could speak again, Reno stepped forward. "Um, boss?"
"What?"
"It-It was-It wasn't Cissnei's fault. I mean, fuck… he found out from me."
"What? How the fuck did he find out from you?"
"It was a long time ago! When I first joined. Hojo told me to find out what was distracting Sephiroth, so I did. I didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to rat him out like that! I'm so sorry." Reno was pleading with him with his eyes.
Tseng took several deep breaths. That was understandable. A rookie mistake, although he should have known to always check with him when he got a mission directly from someone. But that wasn't what was bothering him. "Why, in Gaia's name, did you not mention this earlier? Perhaps a good opportunity would have been when I said that I believed that Hojo didn't know about their relationship."
"I-I fucked up."
"Yes. You did." Tseng's voice was deadly in its calmness. "I'll deal with you later. For now, we have to fix this," he said to the rest of the room. "I can't get in contact with any of them in Nibelheim. It's probably the weather there, but I'm not putting anything past Hojo. I want numbers for everyone in that town. We're going to call them all and keep calling until we get through. Rude, take Aerith into protective custody, her mother as well. Explain the basics of what's going on and get them to one of Rufus's safe houses. Rufus, how close are you to being ready to make your move?"
"Not close enough, I'm afraid." Rufus shook his head. "I'll do what I can to speed things up, but if I rush it, I'll fail."
"All right, work as fast as you can, but success is the only thing that matters in the end."
"Yes, sir," Rufus said enthusiastically.
Tseng jerked his head up. "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to order you."
"I was just joking. You look like you could use a laugh. Sephiroth can take care of himself against one pathetic scientist."
Tseng nodded, but he wasn't so sure. Hojo must have been planning this since he had learned about Cloud. He would have taken Sephiroth's strength into account. The casual mention of how he would be disposed of sounded far too confident.
***
It was before dawn when Sephiroth woke. The temperature in the room had dropped significantly and Cloud had worked his way underneath him. He got up and restarted the fire in the stove, using his Fire materia and adding logs until he had a roaring blaze going. When he shut the door on the stove, he felt the temperature begin to gradually creep upwards. Just in case, he grabbed two blankets from the packs and wrapped them around Cloud's huddled form, making sure that he was as covered as possible while still being able to breath. Then he got dressed silently and left the room.
The window in the upstairs hallway offered a view of the Nibel Mountains and there was something oddly familiar about it. It felt almost like he had been there before. And like something was calling him home. The buzzing in his head suddenly got louder and sharper and Sephiroth clapped his hands over his ears, trying vainly to block the noise out. He didn't want to listen to it. Didn't want to hear what it was trying to say. Say? Sephiroth paused, confused. It was just buzzing… it wasn't speaking… He removed his hands from his ears and tried to concentrate past the pain, listening for anything he might recognize as words.
That was how Cloud found him over two hours later, with his hands pressed against the glass of the window, looking out over the snowy landscape with a vacant expression. While he hadn't been able to make out words, there was a meaning to what he was hearing, he was sure of it.
"Sephiroth, are you okay?" Cloud had a blanket wrapped around him and he was wearing his boots with the laces undone.
"I'm fine, Cloud." Sephiroth turned back to the window.
"Are you sure? Do you still have a headache?"
"I said I'm fine!" Didn't Cloud realize he was trying to listen?
"Now I know you're not fine." Cloud pushed his way between him and the window and hoisted himself up onto the wide frame. "You don't yell at me for worrying about you when you're fine. What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry." Sephiroth immediately stopped paying attention to the buzzing. "I didn't mean to yell. I'm just-I don't know what's wrong. I feel strange."
Cloud reached up and felt his forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever… Does your head still hurt?"
"A bit, don't worry about it. I think it's just the mako smell here. It's so strong."
"Yeah, I never noticed it growing up, but now that I've been away and come back, I'm noticing it." Cloud leaned into him and shivered. "It's cold out here."
Sephiroth picked Cloud up from the windowsill. "Let's go back to the room then."
He set Cloud down on the beds and put a few more logs in the stove before curling up beside Cloud. "So, my plan for today is to hunt down any monsters near the town, that's probably the most important thing to do. Then can I meet your mother?"
"Okay, that sounds good. She'll probably want to feed us, so maybe if I stopped by in the morning to let her know that I'm in town, then we won't catch her by surprise."
"All right, we can do that. How should I act around her?"
"Umm, I guess, just be yourself. She's not a huge stickler for politeness, but be nice and umm, keep your hands to yourself. I'd rather not traumatize her by having you grope me."
"Right. That makes sense. No kissing, either?"
"Definitely not until I've told her about us. After that, well, I'll see how she takes it. How about, if I think it's okay, I'll kiss you?"
"Okay." Sephiroth nodded. "We should get ready to go now. I want to do a complete sweep of the town's perimeter so that will take quite a while."
***
Sephiroth stepped out of the bathroom and took one look at Cloud. "Take it off," he ordered.
"What?"
"Take off that Gaia-damned helmet!"
"Sephiroth," Cloud protested, "I-I don't want-I can't-" Cloud took off the helmet and threw it across the room in frustration. "You've got no idea what it's like! You dragged me back to a place I hate and now you want me to just, what, Sephiroth? Parade around town like people will be glad to see me?"
Tears had gathered in Cloud's eyes and started to fall in large drops as he shouted. Sephiroth ran over to his side and held him close. "No, Cloud. No. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh. That's not what-I mean, I just don't want you to feel like you have to hide. If you're worried about-"
"I told everyone here that I wasn't coming back until I was a SOLDIER. They all laughed and said I couldn't do it, but I promised them that I'd succeed. But now I'm back and I'm still a trooper. They're all going to think I'm the failure they knew I'd be."
"That's not true, Cloud, you know that. I'll explain to anyone who asks, that-"
"That what? I missed the last recruitment cycle because I got kidnapped, tortured, and raped and my hand was too fucked up to do anything? While you're at it, do you want to mention how I sometimes sleep with a stuffed chocobo when the nightmares get really bad?"
"Cloud, would you listen to me?" Sephiroth was starting to get frustrated. And the buzzing was back, louder than before. He tried his best to block it out; Cloud needed him now. "That's not what I'm saying at all. I would never tell them that, you know that. But I can tell them that the last recruitment cycle was held early, when you were still sixteen. You weren't able to apply then, but you're certain to make it when you apply at the end of the month. What do the people here know about recruitment cycles anyways?" He leaned down and gently kissed Cloud's forehead. "You were chosen, by me, for this mission because of your skills and your expertise. The fact that you're still a trooper makes it that much more impressive. This is a SOLDIER mission, Cloud. I'll make sure that they know that. Please? You don't need to hide."
"Why do you even care whether or not I wear my helmet?" Cloud asked with a distinct pout to his tone.
"Because I love you and I hate that you feel like you have to hide from these idiots. Also, I can't see your face when you're wearing it and that makes me sad. I like looking at your face."
Cloud gave a defeated sounding sigh and Sephiroth perked up. Had he won? "I won't wear it to breakfast or for the walk to my mother's house. After that, I'm putting it on, okay?"
"Okay, that's fair." Sephiroth kissed Cloud's forehead again and planted one on top of his head for good measure.
***
The dining room of the inn was fairly quiet when they entered, there were just a few early risers there for their morning coffees. But it went dead silent when Cloud stepped out from behind Sephiroth's back and took his seat. Sephiroth could feel the stares as everyone in the room turned, almost as one, to look at Cloud, who just hunched over and poked at a gouge in the table. Sephiroth sat down next to him and resisted the urge to hug him. He had hoped that Cloud had just been blowing things out of proportion, but his fears were confirmed when Mr. Guptar approached them.
"Thought, you weren't comin' back here till you were a SOLDIER, boy? What happened, they didn't want you, either?"
"No, sir, I…" Cloud's voice was barely audible and it trailed off into nothingness.
"Unfortunately for SOLDIER, Corporal Strife missed the age cutoff by mere days during the last recruitment cycle. He was still sixteen and therefore, unable to join us. There was no way to work around the bureaucracy, so he has to wait until the cycle coming up at the end of the month. He shows so much promise, however, that he often comes on SOLDIER missions." Sephiroth spoke matter-of-factly and stared Mr Guptar down. "I hand-picked him for this mission because of his skills, so I can assure you, there is no chance that Strife is not wanted in SOLDIER. Now, we'd like our breakfast, please. We have a hard day ahead of us."
***
Sephiroth hung back with Zack and Marcus while Cloud knocked on his mother's door. It was early enough that there had been very few people out on the streets when they made their way across town, so no one else had recognized Cloud. Sephiroth had the feeling, though, that word would be all over town by the time they got back from today's mission. He sighed, at least the people in the inn seemed to have accepted his story about Cloud being too young and didn't bother him any more about it.
The door to Cloud's house opened and he saw a woman who couldn't have been much past her mid-thirties with bright blonde hair just like Cloud's, if perhaps a bit neater. She stared in shock for a moment or two before throwing herself at her son. Cloud endured what looked like a bone-crushing hug while Mrs. Strife shrieked about how long it had been since she'd seen her baby. Eventually, she calmed down enough for Cloud to explain why he was there. Sephiroth saw him gesturing towards their group and Mrs. Strife looked over and waved happily. Cloud spoke to her for a while longer and she nodded and smiled a lot before giving him another hug and kissing him several times wherever she could reach; Cloud kept turning his head away in embarrassment.
When Cloud finally returned to them, he was bright red, but grinning from ear to ear. "You're all invited for dinner, she's going to make a big feast for us, so be prepared to eat. When my mother says feast, she means feast."
"Can't wait, Spiky!" Zack sounded thrilled at the idea.
"Me neither," Cloud said, "I've missed her cooking. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I asked her to make proper Maultaschen specially for you."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course! What, are you scared to try it?" Cloud flashed a grin at Sephiroth before plonking his helmet onto his head.
"I'm not scared, it's just gross!" Zack protested.
"You don't know it's gross if you've never tried it, Zack," Sephiroth butted in. "Now, focus, we've got a mission to do."
***
"My feet are freezing, Sephiroth! Feel! Feel!" Cloud laughed and hopped on one foot while he poked Sephiroth's bare side with the other. Sephiroth couldn't keep from jerking away at the shock, but grabbed onto the foot and clapped it between his palms.
"Shiva's tits, Cloud, weren't you wearing any socks?"
"I was! Two pairs!" Cloud grabbed onto the back of one of the chairs in their room so he could keep his balance while Sephiroth tried to warm his foot.
"Dammit, you should have said something if you were getting too cold. Come on, you should take a bath to warm up."
"Tseng's right, you are a mother chocobo, Sephiroth. I wasn't too cold, I was cold; there's a difference. I've lived here long enough to know what frostbite feels like; this wasn't anywhere close. A bath does sound wonderful, though. Mom's not expecting us until six-thirty, so we've got time."
Sephiroth glanced at the clock. They had an hour and a half; that would work. "I know, I'm sorry, you did a really great job today. We definitely would've gotten lost if it wasn't for you," he said as he walked into the bathroom to start running a bath.
"Pshh, you've got your little internal compass that never fails you; you would've been just fine." Cloud followed him in and started stripping off the remainder of his layers.
"Maybe, but that wouldn't have helped us find all the little game trails you knew about so we didn't have to wade through the snow. And it wouldn't have helped us tell the difference between the monsters and what's considered normal around here."
"Not that that really helped a whole lot. I could tell you that it wasn't normal when they attacked us, but… they still attacked us."
"Still, it let me know that something is seriously wrong here. That's important. Hop in and let me know if the temperature's all right."
Cloud blushed and shyly pushed his underwear down; he tried to keep himself covered as best he could as he stepped into the bath. "Are-are you just going to watch?"
"Do you want me to join you?" Sephiroth purred. "Or, shit, I can also go, I didn't mean-"
"I want you to join me, the water's nice. You should warm up too," Cloud said with a smirk.
"All right, then." Sephiroth stood and twisted his hair into a bun to keep it out of the water. There was no way he was going to have time to dry it if it got wet. He stripped off his pants and stepped into the tub. Cloud scooted forwards so Sephiroth could sit behind him; it was a bit cramped with two people, but the water felt nice, all the same. He gave a tug on Cloud's shoulders so he leaned back against him. Cloud rested his head against his chest and Sephiroth buried his nose in his hair, inhaling deeply. When the bath was full, Cloud reached out with his foot to shut it off.
"This is nice," he murmured as he resettled himself.
"Mmm hmm," Sephiroth hummed his agreement with his eyes half-closed. It was more than nice; he couldn't even hear the awful buzzing right now. He absentmindedly petted Cloud's hair while he relaxed in the warm water. He wasn't sure how long they sat there, but it was a while before Cloud broke the silence.
"Sephiroth," he spoke slowly, sounding horrified, "We never moved the beds back this morning."
"Huh?" Sephiroth had been drifting off and he couldn't figure out what Cloud was talking about.
"The beds! We pushed them together and we left them like that when we left!"
"So?"
"So, Mrs. Guptar came in to tidy up!"
Realization dawned on him and Sephiroth let out a burst of laughter.
"It's not funny!" Cloud spun around and smacked him on the arm. "She knows! The beds were made and everything! Sephiroth, what are we gonna do?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sephiroth was still laughing between apologies. "It's just, can you imagine her face?" Cloud looked near tears, however, so Sephiroth put forward a great effort and got his laughter under control. "Cloud, if word spreads and everyone finds out about us, I will be right there, by your side, okay? You're not alone anymore. Anyone who wants to pick on you has to come through me first. And if they get by me, they'll have Zack to contend with. Probably Marcus, too. He seems pretty nice, don't you think?"
"Yeah, he's a good guy…" Cloud twisted around so he was able to wrap his arms around Sephiroth's waist.
"So don't worry about it. Whatever happens, happens, but you don't have to deal with it alone."
"Okay…"
"And you've got to admit, her expression was probably hilarious when she figured it out."
Cloud let out a small giggle. "Yeah, she was probably so shocked."
"I bet she dropped everything she was holding and just stared in horror." Sephiroth caught a glimpse of the clock out of the corner of his eye. "Shit! We've got to get ready or we'll be late."
Cloud looked up at the clock and scrambled out of the bath, splashing water everywhere. He grabbed two towels and tossed one to Sephiroth before hastily rubbing himself down. "Shit, shit, shit! She hates it when I'm late!"
Sephiroth dried off as quickly as he could and ran out to the main room where he found Cloud in a pair of boxers, digging through his bag. "Aha!" he cried triumphantly and held up a pair of black slacks.
Sephiroth had already unpacked the clothes he brought for meeting Mrs. Strife so they wouldn't get wrinkled, and quickly dressed and ran his brush through his hair.
"Are you ready?" Cloud asked while attempting to tie his shoelaces while hopping on one foot.
Sephiroth finished buckling his boots and grabbed both of their jackets. "Yep, let's go."
They ran down the stairs and Cloud barrelled into Zack, who was on his way up. "I was just coming to get you guys," Zack said, "What took you so long?"
"We lost track of time." Sephiroth caught a glimpse of Mrs. Guptar smiling at him as he handed Cloud his jacket and ushered everyone out the door. He attempted a smile at her in hopes that it would at least encourage some empathy for them.
***
The cold slammed into them like a brick wall when they stepped out the door. Cloud pulled the fur-lined hood on his jacket up and ducked his head down. Marcus copied him, although his jacket didn't have the benefit of a fur lining.
"Did you bring that jacket to Midgar from Nibelheim?" Sephiroth raised his voice over the howling of the wind.
"Yeah, I never needed it, though, until you took me to the ocean. It's too warm in Midgar."
"Cloud?" a female voice called. "Cloud, is that really you?" A young woman with brown hair trailing out of her hood ran over to them, stamping her feet against the cold.
Sephiroth saw Cloud stiffen, despite all the clothes he was wearing and his tone was extremely defensive when he answered. "Yeah, Tifa, it's me."
"So, you're like a SOLDIER now, right?"
"No, I'm not-I didn't-I mean, I-not yet."
Sephiroth hovered helplessly, unsure of whether or not he should say something. This was the girl who had caused all the trouble for Cloud.
"But you're on a mission with SOLDIERs, right? That's what my dad said. You're like their helper or something."
"Cloud is here as an expert in the local geography and as a materia specialist." Sephiroth bristled at the insinuation that Cloud was merely a helper.
"Wow, you're the Silver General! That's so cool! Well, I'm also an expert around these parts, so if you need a guide, you can call on me."
"Your offer is noted, but it won't be necessary, Cloud is an excellent guide, who doesn't need to be babysat. We have no use for civilians. Now if you'll excuse us, we have an appointment and you're making us late." Sephiroth nodded coldly at Tifa, who was looking absolutely flabbergasted, and pushed Cloud ahead of him as he continued down the street.
He heard Zack giving a hurried, "Nice to meet you, miss," before he followed after them, with Marcus taking up the rear.
As soon as they were far enough away that Tifa wouldn't hear them, if she was still there, Sephiroth stepped up next to Cloud. "Sorry, did I overstep…? She just made me so angry, I don't know why, exactly."
"Are you kidding? You probably just did her a world of good by telling her that. And the look on her face was pretty priceless. But, a materia specialist?"
"You're excellent with materia, I thought it was fitting. How did I do her good? I thought I just put her in her place."
"Exactly, no one's ever done that before. Maybe she'll figure out that not everyone is going to love her just because she's Tifa Lockheart."
"I see…" The girl definitely had some growing up to do, but maybe she wasn't all bad. She probably hadn't hurt Cloud intentionally.
"And my petty side was really happy that I got to see her get put in her place, so thanks." Cloud grinned up at him from behind his hood as he came to a stop in front of his door. "Ready to meet my mom?"
"I hope so."
Cloud reached out and turned the doorknob. "Mom? We're here," he called.
"Come in! Get in out of the cold, quick, boys." Mrs. Strife came rushing towards the door, wiping her hands on her apron. Everyone piled into the small entryway and shuffled around, trying to get their boots and jackets off without knocking anyone else over. Cloud was the fastest and took everyone's coats from them and hung them up in a wooden cabinet in the hall. He kissed his mother hello and the two led them into a cozy living room.
"It's so nice to get to meet all of you," Mrs. Strife said happily. "I've been so worried about my baby after he ran off to join the army."
"Mom," Cloud sighed. "I'm not your baby anymore…"
"Of course you are, you'll always be my baby, Cloud."
"Anyways, this is Sephiroth, Zack Fair, and Marcus Turner." Cloud gestured to each of them in turn and Mrs. Strife beamed.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am!" Zack held out his hand and shook hers enthusiastically. "I've heard so much about you."
Marcus also greeted Mrs. Strife and shook her hand. Sephiroth hesitantly held out his own; actually doing this was a lot scarier than he had thought it would be. He really wanted to make a good impression. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Strife. I've also heard a lot about you."
"Just Alde is fine, General."
"Then, please, Alde, call me Sephiroth."
"I can't believe you've heard about me, though. Is my Cloud really hobnobbing with the general of the army?"
Sephiroth floundered, wondering what to say to that, what exactly did 'hobnobbing' mean, anyways? Cloud came to his rescue, however. "I'm not hobnobbing with anyone, Mom, we just hang out."
"That's wonderful, Cloud, I'm so proud of you! I knew you'd be able to make lots of friends. Now you boys sit down here for a few minutes while I finish up a few things in the kitchen." With that, she scurried off around the corner into what was presumably the kitchen.
"I'm surprised she didn't pinch my cheeks," Cloud grumbled and flopped down onto a chair. "She's not always like this, so you know, I think she just missed me a lot. And she was really worried when I left. She didn't want me to join the army."
"She didn't want you to join?" Sephiroth asked.
"No, she was totally against it. We fought for weeks about it and when I left, she was still mad. But it's what I wanted to do, so…"
"You can do that? But, she's your mother, Cloud." Sephiroth was confused. Weren't people supposed to do what their parents told them?
"Of course I can, I was old enough-according to Nibelheim laws-that I didn't need her permission to join. I called her as soon as I got to Midgar and we both apologized, although there was no way I was coming home." Cloud turned and looked Sephiroth in the eye. "She's my mother and I love her, but I live my own life. I'm not going to do something just to make her happy. I mean, she wanted me to stay here and be a farmer! I would've been miserable!"
"My parents weren't too keen on the idea either," Zack said. "It was way too dangerous for their little boy."
"Yeah," Marcus agreed, "It's a hard thing for parents to accept. They don't like letting us grow up; I should know, my son's at the age where he's dreaming of becoming a SOLDIER."
"Wow, Sarge, you're an old man!" Zack laughed. "So, Cloud, the old man and I'll fuck off after dinner, right? Give you three a chance to talk?"
"Yeah, that'd be good, thanks," Cloud said nervously. Sephiroth reached out and gave Cloud's shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
"No problem, Spiky, and I'm sure everything'll be fine."
Alde poked her head around the corner and Sephiroth jerked his hand away from Cloud as though it was burned. "Dinner's ready!" she called.
***
Dinner went quite well, Sephiroth thought. He had to pull rank on Zack to make him try the Maultaschen, which had both Cloud and Alde in stitches. It turned out that Zack did like it; he just had trouble getting over the fact that it was wolf he was eating. When they were clearing away the dishes, Cloud commented on the size of the pile of logs next to the stove.
"Are you getting enough wood chopped, Mom? Doesn't Johnny do that for you?"
"I can chop my own wood, Cloud."
"He told me he'd make sure you didn't have to." Cloud sounded incredibly hurt.
"Where's the wood, Cloud?" Sephiroth asked quietly. "We can all do that now."
Cloud smiled broadly. "I'll show you."
"Cloud!" Alde shrieked. "You don't need to have the general of the Shin-Ra army chop wood for us!"
"It's fine, ma'am, really, we owe you for that wonderful dinner. We don't mind at all. Do you have a large supply?"
"Yes, I just had a load delivered, so maybe if you just chop a few pieces…"
"We'll get it all done," Sephiroth assured her.
Cloud had them grab their boots and jackets, and then led them to the back door. "Any clue how to chop wood?"
"It's violence directed towards logs, I'm sure I can handle that."
"You're so gonna chop your foot off."
"Cloud! That's your superior officer and he's doing you a favour! Mind your manners!"
"Yes, Mom," Cloud said dryly as he shut the door behind them. "It's this way." Cloud led them to a large shed with an overhang over a massive pile of logs. He unlocked the shed doors, which opened a gap in almost the entire wall, and flicked a couple switches inside. Light flooded the area, both inside and out, causing Sephiroth to blink furiously; it was almost as bright as daylight. Inside, several axes of varying sizes hung on the walls and there was more wood stacked, but the chopped piles were pitifully small. There were also a couple of huge stumps that looked like they were a permanent part of the floor.
"Okay," Cloud said, "Pay attention if you like your limbs." Cloud grabbed an axe off the wall and a log. He set it on one of the stumps, set his feet in a wide stance, and swung the axe over his shoulder and into the centre of the log. It went about half way in and stopped, so Cloud picked the whole thing up and slammed it back down into the stump. The log spilt neatly in half and Cloud picked up one half, setting it back on the stump. He chopped it into quarters, then held out the axe to Sephiroth. "And that's how it's done. Don't hold the log while you're chopping. If you can't get it to stand up, hold it carefully with the axe head against the wood and tap the whole thing until it's far enough in that you can swing it all together, like I did to split it the first time."
"Understood." Sephiroth picked up another log and mimicked Cloud's actions, resulting in a very neatly split log in one swing.
"Good job!" Cloud clapped his hands and looked at Zack. "Your turn." Zack was also successful and Cloud let them go at it while he and Marcus chopped kindling. Apparently, a regular army person was more likely to be adept at chopping kindling than a SOLDIER.
"SOLDIERs just use their materia to set the whole tree on fire," Marcus explained. "Regular army has to use silly things like matches, so we need to know how to chop kindling without cutting off our fingers."
"The nearest hospital's a long ways away, and I don't trust my healing skills to reattach fingers. Plus, you guys have super-strength, so you get the labour-intensive job."
Sephiroth and Zack worked quickly, but there was a lot of wood to go through. After about an hour of work, they had put a sizable dent in the pile and Zack paused, leaning on his axe. "Why don't we call it a night, guys? We can finish up tomorrow. You two need to go talk to your mom, Cloud."
Cloud glanced up at Zack and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Thanks for all your help." He set his hatchet back on the wall and Sephiroth followed suit. He led him back to the kitchen where they found Alde sitting by the stove with a cup of tea.
"We've gotten through a lot of it, Mom, we'll finish the rest tomorrow, or maybe the next day, since we have to go the reactor tomorrow." Cloud dragged two chairs over to the stove and motioned for Sephiroth to sit down.
"Thank you so much, boys, I really appreciate it. It's so hard to keep enough chopped by myself."
"You're welcome, I'm glad we could help," Sephiroth said while he took his seat.
Alde smiled brightly at him, a smile that was remarkably similar to Cloud's. "You're such a lovely young man." She turned her attention to Cloud, then. "You hardly talked about how you've been at dinner, Cloud," she admonished him, "And I never get any letters."
"That's not true, I send you one every month!"
"No, you didn't send any all summer and it wasn't until late in the fall that I got another one. I miss you, Cloud. Sorry, Sephiroth, sir," she said as an aside, "I don't mean to ignore you."
"It's not a problem, it's been a long time since you've seen each other, you need to catch up."
"You're quite right." She smiled brightly and turned back to Cloud. "You've grown so much since you've been gone. And you're so handsome; I'll bet you get all the girls."
"Not really…"
"I've been so worried about you; there are so many temptations in the big city. Are you doing all right?"
"Yeah, I've been great."
"Well, I'd feel better if you settled down with a nice girlfriend. You need someone to take care of you. Someone who loves you."
"I-I h-have someone, Mom."
"Really? Cloud, that's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me? What's she like? What's her name?"
Cloud looked at the floor and shook his head. "No, Mom, it's not-I mean, I-" Cloud reached out and took hold of Sephiroth's hand. "I'm with Sephiroth," he said with something nearing confidence. "He's my boyfriend."
"What?" Alde stared at them. "He's what?"
***
Previous Chapter | Omake 4
Author: xpaperplanex
Beta: urplesquirrel
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~6000
Pairings: Sephiroth/Cloud
Genre: hurt/comfort, romance
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work. Lines yoinked from the game are yoinked from the game and not mine. I used the FFVII script transcribed by Little Chiba as reference.
Summary: Cloud and Sephiroth are taken prisoner by AVALANCHE. No one, least of all themselves, could have expected what it would set in motion.
Previous Chapters: | Part 1 |
| 29 |
So last week, in Minna no Nihongo, I learned that I'm not nearly as violent as I'd like to think I am. *sad face* Stupid Ogawa-san made me angry and I was all, "I'd punch that bitch!" And then it occurred to me that people ask me favours like that all the time and I have yet to punch anyone. Grr. (Ogawa-san wanted Miller-san to teach her son English. And when Miller-san said he was busy and couldn't, she kept pestering him for ages.) I'm not your bloody wind-up English-speaking doll!
And Kazura_Uyurin, lesson 29 will make your brain bleed. :D
In other news, I've succumbed to the inevitable and purchased a parasol. It's black, with ruffles and is ridiculously gothy and it's wonderful.
***
"Boss!" The door to Tseng's office banged open and Reno came flying in, in a flurry of red hair. "Boss, take a look. I was looking around the president's office and I found this."
Tseng took the sheet of paper Reno was holding out with no small amount of trepidation. The expression on Reno's face made him certain it was bad news.
President Shinra,
The plan has been set in motion. The mission order was accepted without suspicion; Sephiroth and Specimen C are on their way to her. I will be able to determine if Sephiroth is indeed that failure that I suspect him to be. My hypothesis is that we waited too long in reintroducing him to her. The appearance of Specimen C in his life was unforeseeable and I believe this has had an effect on his ability to bond with her. If my hypothesis turns out to be correct, he will be disposed of; we have no use for a failure. The loss will be recuperated by Specimen C, which is fitting, considering that it is his fault. I suspect that, given time, he will be even more powerful than Sephiroth. Project C also has the benefit of starting with an adult specimen. He should be ready for testing within three months and fully complete within a year. I will ensure that he bonds with her as soon as possible to prevent another failure.
Hojo
Tseng stared at the page in horror. "Get Rufus and Rude in here. Now. And get Cissnei and Rod too," he ordered, and Reno scampered out of the room. How could this have happened? He shook his head, now was not the time. He had to warn Sephiroth. He picked up his PHS and dialled Sephiroth's number. The phone rang once and the connection was dropped. He tried again and was told that the number was in an area that was out of service. After several more tries, he called Zack, and then Cloud; it was the same with their phones. They would either ring once and disconnect, or there would be no signal at all. He kept trying until Reno came back with everyone he had been told to retrieve.
Tseng let everyone read the letter before he turned on Cissnei. "I thought you told me that you hadn't let Hojo find out about Cloud?"
"I didn't!" she protested. "Even when their relationship went public, I made sure that he didn't find out. The virus I put on his PHS is working, I check it constantly, he doesn't get any messages from any fanclubs and I filter everything that contains the words 'cloud' or 'strife'. My spies in the lab said he showed no reactions at all after the press conference was held. He didn't find out because of that."
"Well he found out somehow, care to make a guess?" Tseng hissed in fury.
Before Cissnei could speak again, Reno stepped forward. "Um, boss?"
"What?"
"It-It was-It wasn't Cissnei's fault. I mean, fuck… he found out from me."
"What? How the fuck did he find out from you?"
"It was a long time ago! When I first joined. Hojo told me to find out what was distracting Sephiroth, so I did. I didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to rat him out like that! I'm so sorry." Reno was pleading with him with his eyes.
Tseng took several deep breaths. That was understandable. A rookie mistake, although he should have known to always check with him when he got a mission directly from someone. But that wasn't what was bothering him. "Why, in Gaia's name, did you not mention this earlier? Perhaps a good opportunity would have been when I said that I believed that Hojo didn't know about their relationship."
"I-I fucked up."
"Yes. You did." Tseng's voice was deadly in its calmness. "I'll deal with you later. For now, we have to fix this," he said to the rest of the room. "I can't get in contact with any of them in Nibelheim. It's probably the weather there, but I'm not putting anything past Hojo. I want numbers for everyone in that town. We're going to call them all and keep calling until we get through. Rude, take Aerith into protective custody, her mother as well. Explain the basics of what's going on and get them to one of Rufus's safe houses. Rufus, how close are you to being ready to make your move?"
"Not close enough, I'm afraid." Rufus shook his head. "I'll do what I can to speed things up, but if I rush it, I'll fail."
"All right, work as fast as you can, but success is the only thing that matters in the end."
"Yes, sir," Rufus said enthusiastically.
Tseng jerked his head up. "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to order you."
"I was just joking. You look like you could use a laugh. Sephiroth can take care of himself against one pathetic scientist."
Tseng nodded, but he wasn't so sure. Hojo must have been planning this since he had learned about Cloud. He would have taken Sephiroth's strength into account. The casual mention of how he would be disposed of sounded far too confident.
***
It was before dawn when Sephiroth woke. The temperature in the room had dropped significantly and Cloud had worked his way underneath him. He got up and restarted the fire in the stove, using his Fire materia and adding logs until he had a roaring blaze going. When he shut the door on the stove, he felt the temperature begin to gradually creep upwards. Just in case, he grabbed two blankets from the packs and wrapped them around Cloud's huddled form, making sure that he was as covered as possible while still being able to breath. Then he got dressed silently and left the room.
The window in the upstairs hallway offered a view of the Nibel Mountains and there was something oddly familiar about it. It felt almost like he had been there before. And like something was calling him home. The buzzing in his head suddenly got louder and sharper and Sephiroth clapped his hands over his ears, trying vainly to block the noise out. He didn't want to listen to it. Didn't want to hear what it was trying to say. Say? Sephiroth paused, confused. It was just buzzing… it wasn't speaking… He removed his hands from his ears and tried to concentrate past the pain, listening for anything he might recognize as words.
That was how Cloud found him over two hours later, with his hands pressed against the glass of the window, looking out over the snowy landscape with a vacant expression. While he hadn't been able to make out words, there was a meaning to what he was hearing, he was sure of it.
"Sephiroth, are you okay?" Cloud had a blanket wrapped around him and he was wearing his boots with the laces undone.
"I'm fine, Cloud." Sephiroth turned back to the window.
"Are you sure? Do you still have a headache?"
"I said I'm fine!" Didn't Cloud realize he was trying to listen?
"Now I know you're not fine." Cloud pushed his way between him and the window and hoisted himself up onto the wide frame. "You don't yell at me for worrying about you when you're fine. What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry." Sephiroth immediately stopped paying attention to the buzzing. "I didn't mean to yell. I'm just-I don't know what's wrong. I feel strange."
Cloud reached up and felt his forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever… Does your head still hurt?"
"A bit, don't worry about it. I think it's just the mako smell here. It's so strong."
"Yeah, I never noticed it growing up, but now that I've been away and come back, I'm noticing it." Cloud leaned into him and shivered. "It's cold out here."
Sephiroth picked Cloud up from the windowsill. "Let's go back to the room then."
He set Cloud down on the beds and put a few more logs in the stove before curling up beside Cloud. "So, my plan for today is to hunt down any monsters near the town, that's probably the most important thing to do. Then can I meet your mother?"
"Okay, that sounds good. She'll probably want to feed us, so maybe if I stopped by in the morning to let her know that I'm in town, then we won't catch her by surprise."
"All right, we can do that. How should I act around her?"
"Umm, I guess, just be yourself. She's not a huge stickler for politeness, but be nice and umm, keep your hands to yourself. I'd rather not traumatize her by having you grope me."
"Right. That makes sense. No kissing, either?"
"Definitely not until I've told her about us. After that, well, I'll see how she takes it. How about, if I think it's okay, I'll kiss you?"
"Okay." Sephiroth nodded. "We should get ready to go now. I want to do a complete sweep of the town's perimeter so that will take quite a while."
***
Sephiroth stepped out of the bathroom and took one look at Cloud. "Take it off," he ordered.
"What?"
"Take off that Gaia-damned helmet!"
"Sephiroth," Cloud protested, "I-I don't want-I can't-" Cloud took off the helmet and threw it across the room in frustration. "You've got no idea what it's like! You dragged me back to a place I hate and now you want me to just, what, Sephiroth? Parade around town like people will be glad to see me?"
Tears had gathered in Cloud's eyes and started to fall in large drops as he shouted. Sephiroth ran over to his side and held him close. "No, Cloud. No. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh. That's not what-I mean, I just don't want you to feel like you have to hide. If you're worried about-"
"I told everyone here that I wasn't coming back until I was a SOLDIER. They all laughed and said I couldn't do it, but I promised them that I'd succeed. But now I'm back and I'm still a trooper. They're all going to think I'm the failure they knew I'd be."
"That's not true, Cloud, you know that. I'll explain to anyone who asks, that-"
"That what? I missed the last recruitment cycle because I got kidnapped, tortured, and raped and my hand was too fucked up to do anything? While you're at it, do you want to mention how I sometimes sleep with a stuffed chocobo when the nightmares get really bad?"
"Cloud, would you listen to me?" Sephiroth was starting to get frustrated. And the buzzing was back, louder than before. He tried his best to block it out; Cloud needed him now. "That's not what I'm saying at all. I would never tell them that, you know that. But I can tell them that the last recruitment cycle was held early, when you were still sixteen. You weren't able to apply then, but you're certain to make it when you apply at the end of the month. What do the people here know about recruitment cycles anyways?" He leaned down and gently kissed Cloud's forehead. "You were chosen, by me, for this mission because of your skills and your expertise. The fact that you're still a trooper makes it that much more impressive. This is a SOLDIER mission, Cloud. I'll make sure that they know that. Please? You don't need to hide."
"Why do you even care whether or not I wear my helmet?" Cloud asked with a distinct pout to his tone.
"Because I love you and I hate that you feel like you have to hide from these idiots. Also, I can't see your face when you're wearing it and that makes me sad. I like looking at your face."
Cloud gave a defeated sounding sigh and Sephiroth perked up. Had he won? "I won't wear it to breakfast or for the walk to my mother's house. After that, I'm putting it on, okay?"
"Okay, that's fair." Sephiroth kissed Cloud's forehead again and planted one on top of his head for good measure.
***
The dining room of the inn was fairly quiet when they entered, there were just a few early risers there for their morning coffees. But it went dead silent when Cloud stepped out from behind Sephiroth's back and took his seat. Sephiroth could feel the stares as everyone in the room turned, almost as one, to look at Cloud, who just hunched over and poked at a gouge in the table. Sephiroth sat down next to him and resisted the urge to hug him. He had hoped that Cloud had just been blowing things out of proportion, but his fears were confirmed when Mr. Guptar approached them.
"Thought, you weren't comin' back here till you were a SOLDIER, boy? What happened, they didn't want you, either?"
"No, sir, I…" Cloud's voice was barely audible and it trailed off into nothingness.
"Unfortunately for SOLDIER, Corporal Strife missed the age cutoff by mere days during the last recruitment cycle. He was still sixteen and therefore, unable to join us. There was no way to work around the bureaucracy, so he has to wait until the cycle coming up at the end of the month. He shows so much promise, however, that he often comes on SOLDIER missions." Sephiroth spoke matter-of-factly and stared Mr Guptar down. "I hand-picked him for this mission because of his skills, so I can assure you, there is no chance that Strife is not wanted in SOLDIER. Now, we'd like our breakfast, please. We have a hard day ahead of us."
***
Sephiroth hung back with Zack and Marcus while Cloud knocked on his mother's door. It was early enough that there had been very few people out on the streets when they made their way across town, so no one else had recognized Cloud. Sephiroth had the feeling, though, that word would be all over town by the time they got back from today's mission. He sighed, at least the people in the inn seemed to have accepted his story about Cloud being too young and didn't bother him any more about it.
The door to Cloud's house opened and he saw a woman who couldn't have been much past her mid-thirties with bright blonde hair just like Cloud's, if perhaps a bit neater. She stared in shock for a moment or two before throwing herself at her son. Cloud endured what looked like a bone-crushing hug while Mrs. Strife shrieked about how long it had been since she'd seen her baby. Eventually, she calmed down enough for Cloud to explain why he was there. Sephiroth saw him gesturing towards their group and Mrs. Strife looked over and waved happily. Cloud spoke to her for a while longer and she nodded and smiled a lot before giving him another hug and kissing him several times wherever she could reach; Cloud kept turning his head away in embarrassment.
When Cloud finally returned to them, he was bright red, but grinning from ear to ear. "You're all invited for dinner, she's going to make a big feast for us, so be prepared to eat. When my mother says feast, she means feast."
"Can't wait, Spiky!" Zack sounded thrilled at the idea.
"Me neither," Cloud said, "I've missed her cooking. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I asked her to make proper Maultaschen specially for you."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course! What, are you scared to try it?" Cloud flashed a grin at Sephiroth before plonking his helmet onto his head.
"I'm not scared, it's just gross!" Zack protested.
"You don't know it's gross if you've never tried it, Zack," Sephiroth butted in. "Now, focus, we've got a mission to do."
***
"My feet are freezing, Sephiroth! Feel! Feel!" Cloud laughed and hopped on one foot while he poked Sephiroth's bare side with the other. Sephiroth couldn't keep from jerking away at the shock, but grabbed onto the foot and clapped it between his palms.
"Shiva's tits, Cloud, weren't you wearing any socks?"
"I was! Two pairs!" Cloud grabbed onto the back of one of the chairs in their room so he could keep his balance while Sephiroth tried to warm his foot.
"Dammit, you should have said something if you were getting too cold. Come on, you should take a bath to warm up."
"Tseng's right, you are a mother chocobo, Sephiroth. I wasn't too cold, I was cold; there's a difference. I've lived here long enough to know what frostbite feels like; this wasn't anywhere close. A bath does sound wonderful, though. Mom's not expecting us until six-thirty, so we've got time."
Sephiroth glanced at the clock. They had an hour and a half; that would work. "I know, I'm sorry, you did a really great job today. We definitely would've gotten lost if it wasn't for you," he said as he walked into the bathroom to start running a bath.
"Pshh, you've got your little internal compass that never fails you; you would've been just fine." Cloud followed him in and started stripping off the remainder of his layers.
"Maybe, but that wouldn't have helped us find all the little game trails you knew about so we didn't have to wade through the snow. And it wouldn't have helped us tell the difference between the monsters and what's considered normal around here."
"Not that that really helped a whole lot. I could tell you that it wasn't normal when they attacked us, but… they still attacked us."
"Still, it let me know that something is seriously wrong here. That's important. Hop in and let me know if the temperature's all right."
Cloud blushed and shyly pushed his underwear down; he tried to keep himself covered as best he could as he stepped into the bath. "Are-are you just going to watch?"
"Do you want me to join you?" Sephiroth purred. "Or, shit, I can also go, I didn't mean-"
"I want you to join me, the water's nice. You should warm up too," Cloud said with a smirk.
"All right, then." Sephiroth stood and twisted his hair into a bun to keep it out of the water. There was no way he was going to have time to dry it if it got wet. He stripped off his pants and stepped into the tub. Cloud scooted forwards so Sephiroth could sit behind him; it was a bit cramped with two people, but the water felt nice, all the same. He gave a tug on Cloud's shoulders so he leaned back against him. Cloud rested his head against his chest and Sephiroth buried his nose in his hair, inhaling deeply. When the bath was full, Cloud reached out with his foot to shut it off.
"This is nice," he murmured as he resettled himself.
"Mmm hmm," Sephiroth hummed his agreement with his eyes half-closed. It was more than nice; he couldn't even hear the awful buzzing right now. He absentmindedly petted Cloud's hair while he relaxed in the warm water. He wasn't sure how long they sat there, but it was a while before Cloud broke the silence.
"Sephiroth," he spoke slowly, sounding horrified, "We never moved the beds back this morning."
"Huh?" Sephiroth had been drifting off and he couldn't figure out what Cloud was talking about.
"The beds! We pushed them together and we left them like that when we left!"
"So?"
"So, Mrs. Guptar came in to tidy up!"
Realization dawned on him and Sephiroth let out a burst of laughter.
"It's not funny!" Cloud spun around and smacked him on the arm. "She knows! The beds were made and everything! Sephiroth, what are we gonna do?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sephiroth was still laughing between apologies. "It's just, can you imagine her face?" Cloud looked near tears, however, so Sephiroth put forward a great effort and got his laughter under control. "Cloud, if word spreads and everyone finds out about us, I will be right there, by your side, okay? You're not alone anymore. Anyone who wants to pick on you has to come through me first. And if they get by me, they'll have Zack to contend with. Probably Marcus, too. He seems pretty nice, don't you think?"
"Yeah, he's a good guy…" Cloud twisted around so he was able to wrap his arms around Sephiroth's waist.
"So don't worry about it. Whatever happens, happens, but you don't have to deal with it alone."
"Okay…"
"And you've got to admit, her expression was probably hilarious when she figured it out."
Cloud let out a small giggle. "Yeah, she was probably so shocked."
"I bet she dropped everything she was holding and just stared in horror." Sephiroth caught a glimpse of the clock out of the corner of his eye. "Shit! We've got to get ready or we'll be late."
Cloud looked up at the clock and scrambled out of the bath, splashing water everywhere. He grabbed two towels and tossed one to Sephiroth before hastily rubbing himself down. "Shit, shit, shit! She hates it when I'm late!"
Sephiroth dried off as quickly as he could and ran out to the main room where he found Cloud in a pair of boxers, digging through his bag. "Aha!" he cried triumphantly and held up a pair of black slacks.
Sephiroth had already unpacked the clothes he brought for meeting Mrs. Strife so they wouldn't get wrinkled, and quickly dressed and ran his brush through his hair.
"Are you ready?" Cloud asked while attempting to tie his shoelaces while hopping on one foot.
Sephiroth finished buckling his boots and grabbed both of their jackets. "Yep, let's go."
They ran down the stairs and Cloud barrelled into Zack, who was on his way up. "I was just coming to get you guys," Zack said, "What took you so long?"
"We lost track of time." Sephiroth caught a glimpse of Mrs. Guptar smiling at him as he handed Cloud his jacket and ushered everyone out the door. He attempted a smile at her in hopes that it would at least encourage some empathy for them.
***
The cold slammed into them like a brick wall when they stepped out the door. Cloud pulled the fur-lined hood on his jacket up and ducked his head down. Marcus copied him, although his jacket didn't have the benefit of a fur lining.
"Did you bring that jacket to Midgar from Nibelheim?" Sephiroth raised his voice over the howling of the wind.
"Yeah, I never needed it, though, until you took me to the ocean. It's too warm in Midgar."
"Cloud?" a female voice called. "Cloud, is that really you?" A young woman with brown hair trailing out of her hood ran over to them, stamping her feet against the cold.
Sephiroth saw Cloud stiffen, despite all the clothes he was wearing and his tone was extremely defensive when he answered. "Yeah, Tifa, it's me."
"So, you're like a SOLDIER now, right?"
"No, I'm not-I didn't-I mean, I-not yet."
Sephiroth hovered helplessly, unsure of whether or not he should say something. This was the girl who had caused all the trouble for Cloud.
"But you're on a mission with SOLDIERs, right? That's what my dad said. You're like their helper or something."
"Cloud is here as an expert in the local geography and as a materia specialist." Sephiroth bristled at the insinuation that Cloud was merely a helper.
"Wow, you're the Silver General! That's so cool! Well, I'm also an expert around these parts, so if you need a guide, you can call on me."
"Your offer is noted, but it won't be necessary, Cloud is an excellent guide, who doesn't need to be babysat. We have no use for civilians. Now if you'll excuse us, we have an appointment and you're making us late." Sephiroth nodded coldly at Tifa, who was looking absolutely flabbergasted, and pushed Cloud ahead of him as he continued down the street.
He heard Zack giving a hurried, "Nice to meet you, miss," before he followed after them, with Marcus taking up the rear.
As soon as they were far enough away that Tifa wouldn't hear them, if she was still there, Sephiroth stepped up next to Cloud. "Sorry, did I overstep…? She just made me so angry, I don't know why, exactly."
"Are you kidding? You probably just did her a world of good by telling her that. And the look on her face was pretty priceless. But, a materia specialist?"
"You're excellent with materia, I thought it was fitting. How did I do her good? I thought I just put her in her place."
"Exactly, no one's ever done that before. Maybe she'll figure out that not everyone is going to love her just because she's Tifa Lockheart."
"I see…" The girl definitely had some growing up to do, but maybe she wasn't all bad. She probably hadn't hurt Cloud intentionally.
"And my petty side was really happy that I got to see her get put in her place, so thanks." Cloud grinned up at him from behind his hood as he came to a stop in front of his door. "Ready to meet my mom?"
"I hope so."
Cloud reached out and turned the doorknob. "Mom? We're here," he called.
"Come in! Get in out of the cold, quick, boys." Mrs. Strife came rushing towards the door, wiping her hands on her apron. Everyone piled into the small entryway and shuffled around, trying to get their boots and jackets off without knocking anyone else over. Cloud was the fastest and took everyone's coats from them and hung them up in a wooden cabinet in the hall. He kissed his mother hello and the two led them into a cozy living room.
"It's so nice to get to meet all of you," Mrs. Strife said happily. "I've been so worried about my baby after he ran off to join the army."
"Mom," Cloud sighed. "I'm not your baby anymore…"
"Of course you are, you'll always be my baby, Cloud."
"Anyways, this is Sephiroth, Zack Fair, and Marcus Turner." Cloud gestured to each of them in turn and Mrs. Strife beamed.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am!" Zack held out his hand and shook hers enthusiastically. "I've heard so much about you."
Marcus also greeted Mrs. Strife and shook her hand. Sephiroth hesitantly held out his own; actually doing this was a lot scarier than he had thought it would be. He really wanted to make a good impression. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Strife. I've also heard a lot about you."
"Just Alde is fine, General."
"Then, please, Alde, call me Sephiroth."
"I can't believe you've heard about me, though. Is my Cloud really hobnobbing with the general of the army?"
Sephiroth floundered, wondering what to say to that, what exactly did 'hobnobbing' mean, anyways? Cloud came to his rescue, however. "I'm not hobnobbing with anyone, Mom, we just hang out."
"That's wonderful, Cloud, I'm so proud of you! I knew you'd be able to make lots of friends. Now you boys sit down here for a few minutes while I finish up a few things in the kitchen." With that, she scurried off around the corner into what was presumably the kitchen.
"I'm surprised she didn't pinch my cheeks," Cloud grumbled and flopped down onto a chair. "She's not always like this, so you know, I think she just missed me a lot. And she was really worried when I left. She didn't want me to join the army."
"She didn't want you to join?" Sephiroth asked.
"No, she was totally against it. We fought for weeks about it and when I left, she was still mad. But it's what I wanted to do, so…"
"You can do that? But, she's your mother, Cloud." Sephiroth was confused. Weren't people supposed to do what their parents told them?
"Of course I can, I was old enough-according to Nibelheim laws-that I didn't need her permission to join. I called her as soon as I got to Midgar and we both apologized, although there was no way I was coming home." Cloud turned and looked Sephiroth in the eye. "She's my mother and I love her, but I live my own life. I'm not going to do something just to make her happy. I mean, she wanted me to stay here and be a farmer! I would've been miserable!"
"My parents weren't too keen on the idea either," Zack said. "It was way too dangerous for their little boy."
"Yeah," Marcus agreed, "It's a hard thing for parents to accept. They don't like letting us grow up; I should know, my son's at the age where he's dreaming of becoming a SOLDIER."
"Wow, Sarge, you're an old man!" Zack laughed. "So, Cloud, the old man and I'll fuck off after dinner, right? Give you three a chance to talk?"
"Yeah, that'd be good, thanks," Cloud said nervously. Sephiroth reached out and gave Cloud's shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
"No problem, Spiky, and I'm sure everything'll be fine."
Alde poked her head around the corner and Sephiroth jerked his hand away from Cloud as though it was burned. "Dinner's ready!" she called.
***
Dinner went quite well, Sephiroth thought. He had to pull rank on Zack to make him try the Maultaschen, which had both Cloud and Alde in stitches. It turned out that Zack did like it; he just had trouble getting over the fact that it was wolf he was eating. When they were clearing away the dishes, Cloud commented on the size of the pile of logs next to the stove.
"Are you getting enough wood chopped, Mom? Doesn't Johnny do that for you?"
"I can chop my own wood, Cloud."
"He told me he'd make sure you didn't have to." Cloud sounded incredibly hurt.
"Where's the wood, Cloud?" Sephiroth asked quietly. "We can all do that now."
Cloud smiled broadly. "I'll show you."
"Cloud!" Alde shrieked. "You don't need to have the general of the Shin-Ra army chop wood for us!"
"It's fine, ma'am, really, we owe you for that wonderful dinner. We don't mind at all. Do you have a large supply?"
"Yes, I just had a load delivered, so maybe if you just chop a few pieces…"
"We'll get it all done," Sephiroth assured her.
Cloud had them grab their boots and jackets, and then led them to the back door. "Any clue how to chop wood?"
"It's violence directed towards logs, I'm sure I can handle that."
"You're so gonna chop your foot off."
"Cloud! That's your superior officer and he's doing you a favour! Mind your manners!"
"Yes, Mom," Cloud said dryly as he shut the door behind them. "It's this way." Cloud led them to a large shed with an overhang over a massive pile of logs. He unlocked the shed doors, which opened a gap in almost the entire wall, and flicked a couple switches inside. Light flooded the area, both inside and out, causing Sephiroth to blink furiously; it was almost as bright as daylight. Inside, several axes of varying sizes hung on the walls and there was more wood stacked, but the chopped piles were pitifully small. There were also a couple of huge stumps that looked like they were a permanent part of the floor.
"Okay," Cloud said, "Pay attention if you like your limbs." Cloud grabbed an axe off the wall and a log. He set it on one of the stumps, set his feet in a wide stance, and swung the axe over his shoulder and into the centre of the log. It went about half way in and stopped, so Cloud picked the whole thing up and slammed it back down into the stump. The log spilt neatly in half and Cloud picked up one half, setting it back on the stump. He chopped it into quarters, then held out the axe to Sephiroth. "And that's how it's done. Don't hold the log while you're chopping. If you can't get it to stand up, hold it carefully with the axe head against the wood and tap the whole thing until it's far enough in that you can swing it all together, like I did to split it the first time."
"Understood." Sephiroth picked up another log and mimicked Cloud's actions, resulting in a very neatly split log in one swing.
"Good job!" Cloud clapped his hands and looked at Zack. "Your turn." Zack was also successful and Cloud let them go at it while he and Marcus chopped kindling. Apparently, a regular army person was more likely to be adept at chopping kindling than a SOLDIER.
"SOLDIERs just use their materia to set the whole tree on fire," Marcus explained. "Regular army has to use silly things like matches, so we need to know how to chop kindling without cutting off our fingers."
"The nearest hospital's a long ways away, and I don't trust my healing skills to reattach fingers. Plus, you guys have super-strength, so you get the labour-intensive job."
Sephiroth and Zack worked quickly, but there was a lot of wood to go through. After about an hour of work, they had put a sizable dent in the pile and Zack paused, leaning on his axe. "Why don't we call it a night, guys? We can finish up tomorrow. You two need to go talk to your mom, Cloud."
Cloud glanced up at Zack and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Thanks for all your help." He set his hatchet back on the wall and Sephiroth followed suit. He led him back to the kitchen where they found Alde sitting by the stove with a cup of tea.
"We've gotten through a lot of it, Mom, we'll finish the rest tomorrow, or maybe the next day, since we have to go the reactor tomorrow." Cloud dragged two chairs over to the stove and motioned for Sephiroth to sit down.
"Thank you so much, boys, I really appreciate it. It's so hard to keep enough chopped by myself."
"You're welcome, I'm glad we could help," Sephiroth said while he took his seat.
Alde smiled brightly at him, a smile that was remarkably similar to Cloud's. "You're such a lovely young man." She turned her attention to Cloud, then. "You hardly talked about how you've been at dinner, Cloud," she admonished him, "And I never get any letters."
"That's not true, I send you one every month!"
"No, you didn't send any all summer and it wasn't until late in the fall that I got another one. I miss you, Cloud. Sorry, Sephiroth, sir," she said as an aside, "I don't mean to ignore you."
"It's not a problem, it's been a long time since you've seen each other, you need to catch up."
"You're quite right." She smiled brightly and turned back to Cloud. "You've grown so much since you've been gone. And you're so handsome; I'll bet you get all the girls."
"Not really…"
"I've been so worried about you; there are so many temptations in the big city. Are you doing all right?"
"Yeah, I've been great."
"Well, I'd feel better if you settled down with a nice girlfriend. You need someone to take care of you. Someone who loves you."
"I-I h-have someone, Mom."
"Really? Cloud, that's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me? What's she like? What's her name?"
Cloud looked at the floor and shook his head. "No, Mom, it's not-I mean, I-" Cloud reached out and took hold of Sephiroth's hand. "I'm with Sephiroth," he said with something nearing confidence. "He's my boyfriend."
"What?" Alde stared at them. "He's what?"
***
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