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More ff7 ficcage! Restore, end of chapter 2
So apparently there are awkward not-quite-english sentence structures in there. If you can spot them, or any other kind of mistake, it will be a great help. .___. ♥
I can't help but feel it drags on a bit, and I can't tell if it's because I spent a while sticking all the pieces together, or if it's because it really does lose its momentum and rambles on. Hn. Suggestions welcome.
As for fic names, I think I'll call this one Restore, and the one where Seph and Zack end up at the North crater Revive, after materias. Restore gets to be this one because they're getting back to a good life and the plot starts from there, but there are other unrelated-to-resurrection things coming up too. The other one is more about them reviving... in the middle of nowhere. And then dealing with the shit that falls on them in direct consequence to it.
Okay, it's going to be confusing as hell, but hey, that's the best idea I've gotten so far. .__.;
Chapter Archive.
Sephiroth gave Zack a glare like he dearly wished to kick the idiot off the rafters. If only; then Cloud could stomp him once he landed.
He closed his eyes, trying to make sense of the whole mess. Aeris and Zack were alive again. He'd never dreamed or expected it, but now that they were here, he didn't even have to think twice to know he would go through anything and anyone to keep them from going back. Sephiroth was alive again -- no great surprise -- but he wasn't evil anymore. That still refused to make sense.
"... Get down here," he asked tiredly.
He looked up at Sephiroth, who watched him back without a word. After a few seconds, Sephiroth dropped elegantly to Zack's rafter and made his way down. He walked like a cat; all unhurried grace and uncaring, inborn poise. Cloud couldn't help but tense slightly at his approach, and was glad when Aeris freed him on her own and stepped behind him, to the side. She wasn't hindering his movements, so Cloud didn't try to move, standing there with his sword over his shoulder, watching his old nemesis advance on him.
"Sure you don't want pants?" Zack asked him, teasing quietly; sound carried well in the church, and Cloud's ears were just as enhanced as the rest of his body, but he pretended not to hear anyway. Zack wasn't trying to embarrass Sephiroth, just give him a reminder. Cloud had to admit, the man was so at ease in his own skin, it was hard to remember he wasn't supposed to be going around nude.
Sephiroth looked at Cloud, a question almost, one he wasn't holding out much hope for. Cloud wanted to prove him wrong, suddenly.
"I'll wait."
He wasn't going to deny him that dignity. (Even if waiting until Sephiroth was tangled in his pants would be the safest way to take him down, and Cloud wasn't above playing dirty when he really had to.)
He waited, a statue of tense muscles and raw nerves, as Zack trotted off to get the abandoned pants. The man who had haunted his nightmares crossed his arms casually and leaned against a pillar -- over fifteen feet away from Cloud, true, but not battle-ready anymore. That made it hard to keep himself poised to attack.
Zack handed him the pants, and then went to Cloud and Aeris, quite deliberately stepping in between Cloud and Sephiroth to block his view. Cloud's jaw tightened with irritation and vivid mental pictures of seeing Zack suddenly skewered just like Aeris had been, but when Zack stepped to the side and around him to stand with Aeris, Sephiroth hadn't moved an inch.
Except now he wore pants. What a showoff. Bastard. Cloud's pants were a little tight on him. At least, he thought with wry, not-that-amused humor, the tightness at the... hip joints would prevent Sephiroth from dodging as fast and leaping as high.
So he watched Sephiroth and Sephiroth watched back, and it soon became apparent that neither of them would start talking first.
"We should do the voices." Zack said. "Hey babe, how about you play Seph and I play Cloud?"
Aeris chuckled, eyes gleaming with mischief, and started toward the white-haired man, gesturing at him to move closer. Cloud's shoulders hurt from the effort he made not to reach for her and haul her back to safety. But Zack... He wouldn't let her put herself in danger, would he?
Would he?
Cloud didn't know. The way he talked, the way he acted -- Zack was his General's man once again, like he'd never stopped. Cloud realized he was wondering if he really could trust him, and shoved the thought away. It was wrong. Zack wasn't so blindly loyal that he wouldn't do what needed to be done. He'd done it before.
"Enough -- no need."
Aeris stopped, looked over her shoulder, and pouted slightly at being denied the game. "Aw, but we could speed it up a lot!"
"Aeris, please." She looked a little guilty, but not really that much; neither did Zack. They just didn't get it. They might have had months or years to get used to the idea, but Cloud hadn't! He flung his hand out, frustrated. "What do you all expect me to think? How should I react? Should I erase the last years of my life? Even if you tell me everything that happened after the reactor was entirely due to Jenova and the clones--"
"It wasn't." Sephiroth's expression was cold, a little bored, as if he found the conversation tedious. His shoulders were tense. "What happened at the reactor wasn't, either."
Good, Cloud thought. He would hate to have killed an innocent man. The reply was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back and waited for more.
"That day, Jenova did nothing more than give me a nudge." Sephiroth's expression was bitter, with an edge of disgust. "I was only too happy to open myself up to her."
...No, not disgust. Self-disgust. The revelation kept Cloud from letting the pain-filled memory of his burned hometown seal Sephiroth's fate.
"Seph!" Zack protested. "You weren't in the best state of mind, and it was more than a nudge!"
The man shook his head, gave his subordinate a quick glare. "No. I might have been... Misguided... But this doesn't mean I didn't choose to do those things."
Zack's eyes softened, sad and compassionate. "Seph, Jenova--"
"I wanted to believe those things," Sephiroth snapped, all but baring his teeth at him.
Sephiroth, Cloud remembered, had always been a dignified, prideful man. Cloud wasn't too surprised to see that having that pride bruised would make him angry. And... It made it ring truer. "And you don't, anymore?"
"Believe that she is a goddess?" Sephiroth replied quietly. "No."
"And that she's your mother?"
A muscle in Sephiroth's jaw jumped, and his eyes went dull, flat. "That part was true enough."
And that wasn't a cryptic remark at all. Cloud scrutinized him, waiting, but Sephiroth seemed to want the subject closed. Cloud didn't feel like humoring him. "Explain."
"It isn't relevant."
Zack stepped up and nudged Cloud's shoulder, wincing. "He doesn't mean it like that, Cloud. He doesn't mean it like, I dunno, she's his mom so he'll want to avenge her, or that he still shares her goals--"
Cloud frowned. Why wasn't Sephiroth saying that much? It wasn't from Zack's mouth he needed to hear that. "So you know for sure he isn't persuaded that humanity is on par with maggots anymore?"
Sephiroth's lip curved up in a humorless smirk. "It isn't?"
"You're not doing a great job of convincing me not to kill you again," Cloud remarked quietly.
They stared at each other. On the sidelines, Zack and Aeris grimaced at each other, probably trying to come up with a good plan to get in the middle. Cloud was looking for a way to make sure they would butt out, but Sephiroth dealt with it first. "Zack. Miss Gainsborough. If you will wait outside, please."
Even Zack didn't mistake the 'please' for anything but a formality. He threw them a worried look. "Guys..."
Neither of them answered, refusing to take their eyes off each other. Biting her lip, Aeris tugged on Zack's arm and, reluctantly, he followed her down the staircase to the ground floor.
Cloud would have expected Sephiroth to want them around; without them, there was no one to stop Cloud if he decided to attack again. He wondered if this was when Sephiroth's mind would crash into his own to try and take over, and he just didn't want witnesses.
But Cloud's mind stayed his own.
He waited; he didn't want to be the one to question Sephiroth, when Sephiroth was the one who was supposed to explain himself. And there was silence and more silence, as they stared each other down with matching, growing annoyance.
"It is unpleasant enough to be questioned at all," the silver-haired man eventually commented, his slow, uninterested voice distancing him even more from the subject.
Cloud didn't particularly care if Sephiroth found being interrogated on the subject of his homicidal urges distasteful. "Do you still hate humanity?"
Sephiroth straightened up, regal, distant. "I... don't hold a good portion of the human race in high esteem, no. But I no longer feel I should actively seek to remedy that."
That he still didn't think much of most people, but wouldn't try to kill them anymore was a lot more believable to Cloud than a sudden 'I'm so sorry, I love everyone now'. But the weight of their shared history said it was still a lot less believable than him secretly brewing plans to climb back to the top of the food chain at some later date. Cloud wasn't sure Sephiroth's ambition, his belief in his own superiority, had appeared out of nowhere. Hadn't there been hints before, even before they became Jenova-encouraged obsessions? Being made General so early, surrounded by so much publicity -- when everyone fawned over him, how could he not believe in his inherent superiority?
After all, Cloud had believed it. He'd been a runt of a teenage hick, clumsy, badly socialized, too easily picked on; Sephiroth had been... More than human. Better. Even now, having beaten him twice, Cloud still felt like Sephiroth was better, still couldn't get rid of a strange aftertaste of awe. He shook his head, annoyed at himself. He didn't need to dwell on that now.
"Why did you come back?"
Sephiroth turned away, chin held high, gazing at the first floor of the church with indifference. Cloud's eyes narrowed.
"Dead men are rarely known for making amends, aren't they."
Cloud grunted, openly disbelieving. "You came back just to make amends."
The man snorted quietly, eyes glancing back and then sliding over Cloud, as if he were not worth stopping for. "It's a goal to strive for."
"It's not an answer."
The silver-haired man twitched in annoyance. "No, I did not choose to come back in order to make amends. I think Zack and miss Gainsborough are misguided, and rather too optimistic as to the greeting I might expect, even with all the time in the world to prepare all interested parties."
Well, he'd gotten that right. Cloud could imagine Tifa's, Barret's, Yuffie's reactions; they weren't going to be pretty. "The world is going to be full of enemies. I doubt many of them will want your amends, even if you find a way."
Sephiroth turned to face him fully then, green eyes blazing with anger. "I want to live. Is that surprising? I want to live. And if I have to spend my life fighting, then so be it." He took a deep breath then, the next concession forced out with reluctance. "I don't intend to attack anyone who hasn't willfully endangered me first. And if it's revenge they want -- hn." He shook his head, a line between his brows. "I am not willing to die again. But I am willing to do my best not to kill them for it. Does that satisfy you?"
Cloud bristled. How generous.
He stared at Sephiroth, taking him in, past his memories of the man, to see what was truly there. Gleaming cat eyes, bare chest, too-small pants -- but the eyes gleamed less with smug superiority than with a feral sort of ... wariness. He held himself like he was prepared to move out of the way of Cloud's sword, fast.
Like he was planning on counterattacking only as long as he needed to open himself an escape route. Like he'd done once already.
It was almost as if Sephiroth didn't fully believe he could win... Cloud huffed quietly. The idea felt almost too ludicrous to contemplate.
"So you want peace."
"I don't want war."
"For now."
"For the foreseeable future."
"You any good at tarot reading?" Cloud snapped. Sephiroth arched an eyebrow, clearly not getting the reference. Cloud snorted. The foreseeable future, huh. Easy way to promise nothing. "Never mind. What prevented you from running off to live in the wilderness? Hours went by between you lot coming back and my arrival. Why were you even still here?"
Anger flashed briefly in green eyes, and was hidden away again. Cloud was almost vibrating with tension, aware of every single twitch his enemy made.
"It would come back to your ears eventually, wouldn't it? And then you and your group would track me down, and you wouldn't bother discussing a thing. You would be persuaded that I was planning something nefarious."
"There's precedent," Cloud said, irritated. Presumption of innocence was for men who hadn't tried to end the human race.
Sephiroth inclined his head, as if to concede the point. "Which is why I decided to wait for you instead. I would rather not spend my time shaking your little group off my trail."
Cloud considered that answer for a second. It was... logical enough. If Sephiroth was sincere. He couldn't figure out another reason for him to stay back and allow himself to be caught anyway -- it didn't mean there wasn't one, though. Just that he was missing some elements. Sephiroth wasn't going to list them if Cloud requested it, though.
"Do you really think you're sane?" Cloud asked.
The man's jaw tensed briefly, but he relented, another flare of inward-turned disapproval flashing through his eyes, unsettling Cloud. "... I thought I was sane back then."
"And now what do you think?" he couldn't help but ask.
Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow. "I fail to see why this matters. You won't trust my word either way."
"Damn straight I won't," Cloud snapped back, irritated once again.
Alright, he wasn't going to get much more useable information from him here and now. Now he had to... make a decision... aw, fuck.
Cloud sighed quietly. He wanted to close his eyes and rub his temples so very badly. How had he ended up sole judge, jury and executioner on all things Sephiroth? The job had fallen on him seemingly on its own, startlingly clear and self-evident, and back then he had felt it his duty to take care of that crazy menace no one else seemed to grasp, but he didn't know what path to take with a sane, logical asshole of a Sephiroth. And one who acknowledged Cloud's place as judge and jury, however much that obviously rankled him.
"I can't make that decision alone," Cloud finally said. "Not alone, not now." If he made the wrong one... "Aeris, Zack, you can stop hiding."
They peeked around the edge of the stairwell, Zack looking sheepish at being caught spying, Aeris not even bothering.
"So, er... What now?" Zack hazarded.
Cloud didn't know. He had no high-security prison that would contain Sephiroth at his disposal. What to do? Bring him home? What about Tifa, Denzel? What would happen when Cloud would need sleep?
But there was nowhere else.
"... I'm bringing you all back home." He turned to Sephiroth, before Zack could comment. "You won't be fighting anyone until that decision is made. Anyone. If you do, I'll kill you where you stand."
"What if someone attacks him?"
Cloud scowled, uncompromising. "He'll dodge. It's not fair, I don't care. Do you really want to talk about what would be fair in regards to people trying to kill him?"
That they succeed; everyone here knew that would be fair. Zack winced, but looked like he wanted to keep arguing; Sephiroth himself lifted a hand in front of Zack to stop him, his eyes still on Cloud's face.
"Very well."
"I'll step in if anything happens before this mess is settled," Cloud granted grudgingly. "...You'll be under a Sleep spell until I've talked to the rest of Avalanche."
"Sleep spell? Isn't that a bit --"
Damn it, why was Zack -- Zack of all people -- arguing like he thought Cloud was the bad guy? That was just -- hell. Cloud knew that Zack and Sephiroth had been friends, and intellectually speaking he could even sort of see how they might have become close again in the Lifestream, but... Fuck. Just -- fuck.
"What else can I do?" he snapped. "Let him roam wherever he pleases?" Cloud shook his head before Zack could plead in favor of his ex-general. "I wouldn't care if we were in the middle of nowhere, but not in Edge, with Tifa and the kids around. They'll feel threatened enough."
Aeris nodded slowly, biting her lip, and gave Sephiroth an apologetic look. "That's... I'm afraid it's the best solution. If you're asleep, they won't feel so scared they can think of nothing else," she added gently. "They'll be more likely to think things through rationally."
Sephiroth's upper lip curled up slightly. "That sounds lovely."
"Oh, Seph." Zack sighed, and watched Cloud and his stern, unyielding expression for a few seconds in silence before turning back to Sephiroth.
The man's somber look was tinted with worry -- or maybe Cloud was just imagining things. His voice was quiet, obviously for Zack's ears only, but the rest of the church was even quieter and Cloud had sharp senses anyway. "Strife is -- right. I have to prove my good faith first. But being so defenseless --"
"I won't let anyone get to you while you sleep."
"Zack--"
Zack sighed explosively. "Do you trust me to keep you safe? Because yeah, from the side that doesn't want you any more ventilated than you are it's kind of worrisome, but it's that or let Cloud find you some Mythril-strength bondage gear and hogtie you in a corner."
At the mental picture, Cloud caught himself smiling, just barely, and erased it. He was supposed to be annoyed at Zack, change of opinion on the way Cloud was treating his precious General or not.
"That won't be necessary," Sephiroth replied stiffly, and it was both a 'Keep your puerile jokes to yourself, if you please' and a 'Don't be ridiculous, of course I trust you', and it made Zack grin so wide, so happy, Cloud briefly wanted to grin with him. Argh. He wasn't a kid anymore, mollified with just a single smile -- and why was he even smiling at anything Sephiroth-related anyway. He hated that the man could put that expression on Zack's face. He'd betrayed Zack.
Aeris chuckled and beamed up at them innocently. "Oh well. We'll keep that in mind for another time."
Zack choked on a burst of laughter.
"Aeris," Cloud protested, but she only grinned at him too.
Cloud allowed his resentment and annoyance to simmer down. He hadn't been able to stay angry at either of them even before they died -- and now, even when he tried, he still couldn't totally smother the corner of his mind that still watched them with wonder.
Sephiroth's expression showed he had already dismissed that moment of friendly teasing from his mind. He watched Cloud. Cloud frowned back. "What is it?"
"Am I at least allowed to walk there on my own?" He smiled, faintly sarcastic. "It would be nice to enjoy the night at least once before I die again."
Cloud's eyelid twitched. Of all the people in the world, Sephiroth was the last who was allowed to guilt him into anything.
"If I kill you again, you'll be awake," he promised harshly, before he could think better.
He had misgivings for a moment; no doubt that a lot of his friends wouldn't agree. It would be safer and easier to put him down in his sleep. But Cloud didn't like the idea of slaying a defenseless, unaware man. They would just have to move his sleeping body to the desert first; there were more than enough wild, uninhabited areas on the Planet for another final battle.
"... Sure, you can walk," he added grudgingly, shrugging off the tension. "Zack would whine if I made him carry you."
"Oi! Damn right I would. I'd whine you like you've never been whined before."
That, and Cloud didn't have any Seal materia on him anyway. Granted, a good knock on the back of the head might do the trick. One, or several.
He just wasn't sure how the hell he would take Tifa aside to prepare her without letting Sephiroth out of his sight. Send Zack inside to talk to her first, maybe? Tifa hadn't known him as long as she had known Aeris, the shock wouldn't be as violent... But then maybe she wouldn't believe Zack. It had been a while; she might not remember him well enough to believe he was telling the truth.
"Well, if we're done negotiating last wills here!" Aeris exclaimed brightly.
She tugged on Cloud's sleeve, made a shooing gesture at Sephiroth, and started herding them toward the exit, her unbound hair dancing on her shoulders. Snickering, Zack followed on their heels.
"Home! Let's go home now. I want to see Tifa."
Tifa's bar was brand new, Aeris had never lived there, but if he said that, he knew she'd reply something like 'home is where the heart is.' So Cloud went, allowing her to keep the arm he didn't hold his sword with, Zack taking the rear like he'd never stopped guarding his back. Sephiroth's silent presence was unnerving, but listening to his two lost friends as they marveled over the living world -- even such a dirty, disused part of it as the Slums -- kept it in the background.
He still didn't know why Zack and Aeris were willing to go to such lengths for the man who had slain her and betrayed him to his torture and death -- and Cloud would ask them, yes, once he could talk freely -- but...
Yes, having them back was worth it, even if the price was to have to deal with the headache that was a supposedly sane Sephiroth.
Chapter 3.1
I can't help but feel it drags on a bit, and I can't tell if it's because I spent a while sticking all the pieces together, or if it's because it really does lose its momentum and rambles on. Hn. Suggestions welcome.
As for fic names, I think I'll call this one Restore, and the one where Seph and Zack end up at the North crater Revive, after materias. Restore gets to be this one because they're getting back to a good life and the plot starts from there, but there are other unrelated-to-resurrection things coming up too. The other one is more about them reviving... in the middle of nowhere. And then dealing with the shit that falls on them in direct consequence to it.
Okay, it's going to be confusing as hell, but hey, that's the best idea I've gotten so far. .__.;
Chapter Archive.
Sephiroth gave Zack a glare like he dearly wished to kick the idiot off the rafters. If only; then Cloud could stomp him once he landed.
He closed his eyes, trying to make sense of the whole mess. Aeris and Zack were alive again. He'd never dreamed or expected it, but now that they were here, he didn't even have to think twice to know he would go through anything and anyone to keep them from going back. Sephiroth was alive again -- no great surprise -- but he wasn't evil anymore. That still refused to make sense.
"... Get down here," he asked tiredly.
He looked up at Sephiroth, who watched him back without a word. After a few seconds, Sephiroth dropped elegantly to Zack's rafter and made his way down. He walked like a cat; all unhurried grace and uncaring, inborn poise. Cloud couldn't help but tense slightly at his approach, and was glad when Aeris freed him on her own and stepped behind him, to the side. She wasn't hindering his movements, so Cloud didn't try to move, standing there with his sword over his shoulder, watching his old nemesis advance on him.
"Sure you don't want pants?" Zack asked him, teasing quietly; sound carried well in the church, and Cloud's ears were just as enhanced as the rest of his body, but he pretended not to hear anyway. Zack wasn't trying to embarrass Sephiroth, just give him a reminder. Cloud had to admit, the man was so at ease in his own skin, it was hard to remember he wasn't supposed to be going around nude.
Sephiroth looked at Cloud, a question almost, one he wasn't holding out much hope for. Cloud wanted to prove him wrong, suddenly.
"I'll wait."
He wasn't going to deny him that dignity. (Even if waiting until Sephiroth was tangled in his pants would be the safest way to take him down, and Cloud wasn't above playing dirty when he really had to.)
He waited, a statue of tense muscles and raw nerves, as Zack trotted off to get the abandoned pants. The man who had haunted his nightmares crossed his arms casually and leaned against a pillar -- over fifteen feet away from Cloud, true, but not battle-ready anymore. That made it hard to keep himself poised to attack.
Zack handed him the pants, and then went to Cloud and Aeris, quite deliberately stepping in between Cloud and Sephiroth to block his view. Cloud's jaw tightened with irritation and vivid mental pictures of seeing Zack suddenly skewered just like Aeris had been, but when Zack stepped to the side and around him to stand with Aeris, Sephiroth hadn't moved an inch.
Except now he wore pants. What a showoff. Bastard. Cloud's pants were a little tight on him. At least, he thought with wry, not-that-amused humor, the tightness at the... hip joints would prevent Sephiroth from dodging as fast and leaping as high.
So he watched Sephiroth and Sephiroth watched back, and it soon became apparent that neither of them would start talking first.
"We should do the voices." Zack said. "Hey babe, how about you play Seph and I play Cloud?"
Aeris chuckled, eyes gleaming with mischief, and started toward the white-haired man, gesturing at him to move closer. Cloud's shoulders hurt from the effort he made not to reach for her and haul her back to safety. But Zack... He wouldn't let her put herself in danger, would he?
Would he?
Cloud didn't know. The way he talked, the way he acted -- Zack was his General's man once again, like he'd never stopped. Cloud realized he was wondering if he really could trust him, and shoved the thought away. It was wrong. Zack wasn't so blindly loyal that he wouldn't do what needed to be done. He'd done it before.
"Enough -- no need."
Aeris stopped, looked over her shoulder, and pouted slightly at being denied the game. "Aw, but we could speed it up a lot!"
"Aeris, please." She looked a little guilty, but not really that much; neither did Zack. They just didn't get it. They might have had months or years to get used to the idea, but Cloud hadn't! He flung his hand out, frustrated. "What do you all expect me to think? How should I react? Should I erase the last years of my life? Even if you tell me everything that happened after the reactor was entirely due to Jenova and the clones--"
"It wasn't." Sephiroth's expression was cold, a little bored, as if he found the conversation tedious. His shoulders were tense. "What happened at the reactor wasn't, either."
Good, Cloud thought. He would hate to have killed an innocent man. The reply was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back and waited for more.
"That day, Jenova did nothing more than give me a nudge." Sephiroth's expression was bitter, with an edge of disgust. "I was only too happy to open myself up to her."
...No, not disgust. Self-disgust. The revelation kept Cloud from letting the pain-filled memory of his burned hometown seal Sephiroth's fate.
"Seph!" Zack protested. "You weren't in the best state of mind, and it was more than a nudge!"
The man shook his head, gave his subordinate a quick glare. "No. I might have been... Misguided... But this doesn't mean I didn't choose to do those things."
Zack's eyes softened, sad and compassionate. "Seph, Jenova--"
"I wanted to believe those things," Sephiroth snapped, all but baring his teeth at him.
Sephiroth, Cloud remembered, had always been a dignified, prideful man. Cloud wasn't too surprised to see that having that pride bruised would make him angry. And... It made it ring truer. "And you don't, anymore?"
"Believe that she is a goddess?" Sephiroth replied quietly. "No."
"And that she's your mother?"
A muscle in Sephiroth's jaw jumped, and his eyes went dull, flat. "That part was true enough."
And that wasn't a cryptic remark at all. Cloud scrutinized him, waiting, but Sephiroth seemed to want the subject closed. Cloud didn't feel like humoring him. "Explain."
"It isn't relevant."
Zack stepped up and nudged Cloud's shoulder, wincing. "He doesn't mean it like that, Cloud. He doesn't mean it like, I dunno, she's his mom so he'll want to avenge her, or that he still shares her goals--"
Cloud frowned. Why wasn't Sephiroth saying that much? It wasn't from Zack's mouth he needed to hear that. "So you know for sure he isn't persuaded that humanity is on par with maggots anymore?"
Sephiroth's lip curved up in a humorless smirk. "It isn't?"
"You're not doing a great job of convincing me not to kill you again," Cloud remarked quietly.
They stared at each other. On the sidelines, Zack and Aeris grimaced at each other, probably trying to come up with a good plan to get in the middle. Cloud was looking for a way to make sure they would butt out, but Sephiroth dealt with it first. "Zack. Miss Gainsborough. If you will wait outside, please."
Even Zack didn't mistake the 'please' for anything but a formality. He threw them a worried look. "Guys..."
Neither of them answered, refusing to take their eyes off each other. Biting her lip, Aeris tugged on Zack's arm and, reluctantly, he followed her down the staircase to the ground floor.
Cloud would have expected Sephiroth to want them around; without them, there was no one to stop Cloud if he decided to attack again. He wondered if this was when Sephiroth's mind would crash into his own to try and take over, and he just didn't want witnesses.
But Cloud's mind stayed his own.
He waited; he didn't want to be the one to question Sephiroth, when Sephiroth was the one who was supposed to explain himself. And there was silence and more silence, as they stared each other down with matching, growing annoyance.
"It is unpleasant enough to be questioned at all," the silver-haired man eventually commented, his slow, uninterested voice distancing him even more from the subject.
Cloud didn't particularly care if Sephiroth found being interrogated on the subject of his homicidal urges distasteful. "Do you still hate humanity?"
Sephiroth straightened up, regal, distant. "I... don't hold a good portion of the human race in high esteem, no. But I no longer feel I should actively seek to remedy that."
That he still didn't think much of most people, but wouldn't try to kill them anymore was a lot more believable to Cloud than a sudden 'I'm so sorry, I love everyone now'. But the weight of their shared history said it was still a lot less believable than him secretly brewing plans to climb back to the top of the food chain at some later date. Cloud wasn't sure Sephiroth's ambition, his belief in his own superiority, had appeared out of nowhere. Hadn't there been hints before, even before they became Jenova-encouraged obsessions? Being made General so early, surrounded by so much publicity -- when everyone fawned over him, how could he not believe in his inherent superiority?
After all, Cloud had believed it. He'd been a runt of a teenage hick, clumsy, badly socialized, too easily picked on; Sephiroth had been... More than human. Better. Even now, having beaten him twice, Cloud still felt like Sephiroth was better, still couldn't get rid of a strange aftertaste of awe. He shook his head, annoyed at himself. He didn't need to dwell on that now.
"Why did you come back?"
Sephiroth turned away, chin held high, gazing at the first floor of the church with indifference. Cloud's eyes narrowed.
"Dead men are rarely known for making amends, aren't they."
Cloud grunted, openly disbelieving. "You came back just to make amends."
The man snorted quietly, eyes glancing back and then sliding over Cloud, as if he were not worth stopping for. "It's a goal to strive for."
"It's not an answer."
The silver-haired man twitched in annoyance. "No, I did not choose to come back in order to make amends. I think Zack and miss Gainsborough are misguided, and rather too optimistic as to the greeting I might expect, even with all the time in the world to prepare all interested parties."
Well, he'd gotten that right. Cloud could imagine Tifa's, Barret's, Yuffie's reactions; they weren't going to be pretty. "The world is going to be full of enemies. I doubt many of them will want your amends, even if you find a way."
Sephiroth turned to face him fully then, green eyes blazing with anger. "I want to live. Is that surprising? I want to live. And if I have to spend my life fighting, then so be it." He took a deep breath then, the next concession forced out with reluctance. "I don't intend to attack anyone who hasn't willfully endangered me first. And if it's revenge they want -- hn." He shook his head, a line between his brows. "I am not willing to die again. But I am willing to do my best not to kill them for it. Does that satisfy you?"
Cloud bristled. How generous.
He stared at Sephiroth, taking him in, past his memories of the man, to see what was truly there. Gleaming cat eyes, bare chest, too-small pants -- but the eyes gleamed less with smug superiority than with a feral sort of ... wariness. He held himself like he was prepared to move out of the way of Cloud's sword, fast.
Like he was planning on counterattacking only as long as he needed to open himself an escape route. Like he'd done once already.
It was almost as if Sephiroth didn't fully believe he could win... Cloud huffed quietly. The idea felt almost too ludicrous to contemplate.
"So you want peace."
"I don't want war."
"For now."
"For the foreseeable future."
"You any good at tarot reading?" Cloud snapped. Sephiroth arched an eyebrow, clearly not getting the reference. Cloud snorted. The foreseeable future, huh. Easy way to promise nothing. "Never mind. What prevented you from running off to live in the wilderness? Hours went by between you lot coming back and my arrival. Why were you even still here?"
Anger flashed briefly in green eyes, and was hidden away again. Cloud was almost vibrating with tension, aware of every single twitch his enemy made.
"It would come back to your ears eventually, wouldn't it? And then you and your group would track me down, and you wouldn't bother discussing a thing. You would be persuaded that I was planning something nefarious."
"There's precedent," Cloud said, irritated. Presumption of innocence was for men who hadn't tried to end the human race.
Sephiroth inclined his head, as if to concede the point. "Which is why I decided to wait for you instead. I would rather not spend my time shaking your little group off my trail."
Cloud considered that answer for a second. It was... logical enough. If Sephiroth was sincere. He couldn't figure out another reason for him to stay back and allow himself to be caught anyway -- it didn't mean there wasn't one, though. Just that he was missing some elements. Sephiroth wasn't going to list them if Cloud requested it, though.
"Do you really think you're sane?" Cloud asked.
The man's jaw tensed briefly, but he relented, another flare of inward-turned disapproval flashing through his eyes, unsettling Cloud. "... I thought I was sane back then."
"And now what do you think?" he couldn't help but ask.
Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow. "I fail to see why this matters. You won't trust my word either way."
"Damn straight I won't," Cloud snapped back, irritated once again.
Alright, he wasn't going to get much more useable information from him here and now. Now he had to... make a decision... aw, fuck.
Cloud sighed quietly. He wanted to close his eyes and rub his temples so very badly. How had he ended up sole judge, jury and executioner on all things Sephiroth? The job had fallen on him seemingly on its own, startlingly clear and self-evident, and back then he had felt it his duty to take care of that crazy menace no one else seemed to grasp, but he didn't know what path to take with a sane, logical asshole of a Sephiroth. And one who acknowledged Cloud's place as judge and jury, however much that obviously rankled him.
"I can't make that decision alone," Cloud finally said. "Not alone, not now." If he made the wrong one... "Aeris, Zack, you can stop hiding."
They peeked around the edge of the stairwell, Zack looking sheepish at being caught spying, Aeris not even bothering.
"So, er... What now?" Zack hazarded.
Cloud didn't know. He had no high-security prison that would contain Sephiroth at his disposal. What to do? Bring him home? What about Tifa, Denzel? What would happen when Cloud would need sleep?
But there was nowhere else.
"... I'm bringing you all back home." He turned to Sephiroth, before Zack could comment. "You won't be fighting anyone until that decision is made. Anyone. If you do, I'll kill you where you stand."
"What if someone attacks him?"
Cloud scowled, uncompromising. "He'll dodge. It's not fair, I don't care. Do you really want to talk about what would be fair in regards to people trying to kill him?"
That they succeed; everyone here knew that would be fair. Zack winced, but looked like he wanted to keep arguing; Sephiroth himself lifted a hand in front of Zack to stop him, his eyes still on Cloud's face.
"Very well."
"I'll step in if anything happens before this mess is settled," Cloud granted grudgingly. "...You'll be under a Sleep spell until I've talked to the rest of Avalanche."
"Sleep spell? Isn't that a bit --"
Damn it, why was Zack -- Zack of all people -- arguing like he thought Cloud was the bad guy? That was just -- hell. Cloud knew that Zack and Sephiroth had been friends, and intellectually speaking he could even sort of see how they might have become close again in the Lifestream, but... Fuck. Just -- fuck.
"What else can I do?" he snapped. "Let him roam wherever he pleases?" Cloud shook his head before Zack could plead in favor of his ex-general. "I wouldn't care if we were in the middle of nowhere, but not in Edge, with Tifa and the kids around. They'll feel threatened enough."
Aeris nodded slowly, biting her lip, and gave Sephiroth an apologetic look. "That's... I'm afraid it's the best solution. If you're asleep, they won't feel so scared they can think of nothing else," she added gently. "They'll be more likely to think things through rationally."
Sephiroth's upper lip curled up slightly. "That sounds lovely."
"Oh, Seph." Zack sighed, and watched Cloud and his stern, unyielding expression for a few seconds in silence before turning back to Sephiroth.
The man's somber look was tinted with worry -- or maybe Cloud was just imagining things. His voice was quiet, obviously for Zack's ears only, but the rest of the church was even quieter and Cloud had sharp senses anyway. "Strife is -- right. I have to prove my good faith first. But being so defenseless --"
"I won't let anyone get to you while you sleep."
"Zack--"
Zack sighed explosively. "Do you trust me to keep you safe? Because yeah, from the side that doesn't want you any more ventilated than you are it's kind of worrisome, but it's that or let Cloud find you some Mythril-strength bondage gear and hogtie you in a corner."
At the mental picture, Cloud caught himself smiling, just barely, and erased it. He was supposed to be annoyed at Zack, change of opinion on the way Cloud was treating his precious General or not.
"That won't be necessary," Sephiroth replied stiffly, and it was both a 'Keep your puerile jokes to yourself, if you please' and a 'Don't be ridiculous, of course I trust you', and it made Zack grin so wide, so happy, Cloud briefly wanted to grin with him. Argh. He wasn't a kid anymore, mollified with just a single smile -- and why was he even smiling at anything Sephiroth-related anyway. He hated that the man could put that expression on Zack's face. He'd betrayed Zack.
Aeris chuckled and beamed up at them innocently. "Oh well. We'll keep that in mind for another time."
Zack choked on a burst of laughter.
"Aeris," Cloud protested, but she only grinned at him too.
Cloud allowed his resentment and annoyance to simmer down. He hadn't been able to stay angry at either of them even before they died -- and now, even when he tried, he still couldn't totally smother the corner of his mind that still watched them with wonder.
Sephiroth's expression showed he had already dismissed that moment of friendly teasing from his mind. He watched Cloud. Cloud frowned back. "What is it?"
"Am I at least allowed to walk there on my own?" He smiled, faintly sarcastic. "It would be nice to enjoy the night at least once before I die again."
Cloud's eyelid twitched. Of all the people in the world, Sephiroth was the last who was allowed to guilt him into anything.
"If I kill you again, you'll be awake," he promised harshly, before he could think better.
He had misgivings for a moment; no doubt that a lot of his friends wouldn't agree. It would be safer and easier to put him down in his sleep. But Cloud didn't like the idea of slaying a defenseless, unaware man. They would just have to move his sleeping body to the desert first; there were more than enough wild, uninhabited areas on the Planet for another final battle.
"... Sure, you can walk," he added grudgingly, shrugging off the tension. "Zack would whine if I made him carry you."
"Oi! Damn right I would. I'd whine you like you've never been whined before."
That, and Cloud didn't have any Seal materia on him anyway. Granted, a good knock on the back of the head might do the trick. One, or several.
He just wasn't sure how the hell he would take Tifa aside to prepare her without letting Sephiroth out of his sight. Send Zack inside to talk to her first, maybe? Tifa hadn't known him as long as she had known Aeris, the shock wouldn't be as violent... But then maybe she wouldn't believe Zack. It had been a while; she might not remember him well enough to believe he was telling the truth.
"Well, if we're done negotiating last wills here!" Aeris exclaimed brightly.
She tugged on Cloud's sleeve, made a shooing gesture at Sephiroth, and started herding them toward the exit, her unbound hair dancing on her shoulders. Snickering, Zack followed on their heels.
"Home! Let's go home now. I want to see Tifa."
Tifa's bar was brand new, Aeris had never lived there, but if he said that, he knew she'd reply something like 'home is where the heart is.' So Cloud went, allowing her to keep the arm he didn't hold his sword with, Zack taking the rear like he'd never stopped guarding his back. Sephiroth's silent presence was unnerving, but listening to his two lost friends as they marveled over the living world -- even such a dirty, disused part of it as the Slums -- kept it in the background.
He still didn't know why Zack and Aeris were willing to go to such lengths for the man who had slain her and betrayed him to his torture and death -- and Cloud would ask them, yes, once he could talk freely -- but...
Yes, having them back was worth it, even if the price was to have to deal with the headache that was a supposedly sane Sephiroth.
Chapter 3.1
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Though, I now want to see a scene where Vincent says the equivalent of: "Jenova's not your mother, bitch."
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And Seph was still brainwashed, but he's so prideful he refuses to admit even to himself the extent to which he lost control of his own thoughts. The very idea makes him all growly. Also, Jenova was subtle, took the pain of pushing him along existing lnes of thoughts, she rarely went totally against his personality, so he can't really say "no i would never do that on my own" because the seed was always there. It just would never have germinated on its own without jenova, but he'd rather beat himself up than admit that.
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AND DO IT. BECAUSE VINCENT IS AAAAAAAWESOME.
Seph: And how do you know that?
Vincent: Because I shagged your real mom, son.
Cloud: *facepalm*
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I like the idea that Vincent might be Seph's
motherfather (wtf slip of the fingers honest), and if you know fics that deal with vincent and seph figuring out a father/son relationship, plz rec meeeeeeee...but i don't think he'll be his dad in this fic. Woe. It makes for better angst to use the COULD HAVE BEEN!!! BUT NO, YOU GOT STUCK WITH HOJO. SUCKS TO BE YOU, HUH. >D Mmmmhhhh. >333
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Secretly I think the idea of Seph and/or Zack being sorta jealous of Vincent's relationship with Cloud is cool and funny. I remember this one fic where Seph came back and was jealous of Vincent, but Cloud and Vincent weren't really together, they were just close friends. Aerith wouldn't be jealous cuz she's a fangirl.no subject
HIS HAIR ISN'T GREASY ENOUGH! D:
Also Seph going bald at 40 = instant hilarity.
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And I agree that Hojo/Lucrecia is not my favorite pairing. I prefer to think that Vincent knocked her up before she hooked up with Hojo, and everyone just assumed the kid was Hojo's.
... no! Seph can have a widow's peak! Like Vegeta! XDD
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...
...........................
you broke me again. XD *ded of rotflmao*
SEPHIROTH VS VEGETA: "This galaxy isn't big enough for your ego and mine." >(
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Sephiroth: ... *CALLS FOR MOTHER*
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Also, I can just about see Vincent's expression when he says it, and the semi-squicked look on Seph's face. Which of course amounts to a quirked eyebrow.
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Vincent would have the best delivery of the information, too. He'd probably just say it without any buildup, and then not know why everyone is so freaked out.
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Aw, Sephiroth, don't ever stop being like you.
*gives you happy Zack icon, cause this totally deserves it*
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Just you wait and watch, I'll end up writing a third version of "whee! we were dead, but we got better :DDDDD" at some point if someone doesn't beat me to it. XD (well a fourth if one counts the aeris/tifa ficlet. oh well. XDDD)
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This one is very cool, by the way, and I second the love for Sephiroth not being all fluffy-bunny-happy-joy about things, and for insisting on being responsible for things that may not be completely his responsibility. Also for the whole "I want to live, and if people are going to get in my face about that, I'm not going to take it lying down... but okay, I'll try not to kill them," attitude. I really like that; it feels realistic.
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~#^___^# bwee! Thank you. Not that I don't like secretwoobie!Sephiroth, but I think I'm gonna hide the woobie deeper in this one. Mmm introverts. *__*
What's fun is that this Seph isn't even sure why he wants to live; his life's been pretty sucky so far and it doesn't show many signs of slowing down. XD But he just refuses to lay down and die. I figure to survive jenova, keep himself together in the lifestream, and come back from the dead so often, he's got to have a pretty solid survival instinct.
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Of course, that still plays with the idea of Cloud=uberwarrior.
I like to think Ravens is fairly unique. I find it kinda funny though that Coyo ended up writing fic that is somewhat similar to what I had planned for Raven's backstory. Still going to write it for my EvilAu for Yaoi challenge.
Still, you have to admit, it's nice to see these guys with some sort of happy ending. *grins* And I know of at least one where -Hojo- was the cause of them being alive.
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but when the happy ending is too easy, it doesn't feel as "AHHH that was good" for me. It's just a few seconds of smiles and then "ehh, that fic lacked blahblahblah." *long-fic whore* .__.
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I agree. Happy endings are fun, but they can't be too easy, or that'd take all the fun out of it. Besides, how could it be a FFVII fic without a fraction of angst in it?
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(Anonymous) 2007-08-31 01:17 am (UTC)(link)Also on the subject of Seph's parentage; I admit that its been years since I played FF7, but I thought Lucrezia got together with Professor Gast, and Hojo picked up Seph when he was young and Gast died. I dont remember anything about Lucrezia and Hojo getting together.
I also seem to be in the vast minority that actually likes Hojo, mostly due to the fact that despite this guy fucking with almost everybody in your party at one time or another earlier in the game, you find him kicking back on the Costa Del Sol beach while the world is ending from Meteor.
-- Guile
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No, you're mixing up Aeris and Sephiroth's backgrounds. Gast is Aeris' father, he found Ifalna, the last pure Ancient, and had Aeris with her (being all lovey dovey instead of doing proper research XD) Hojo was all "eww she's a SPECIMEN" and went and got the shinra to capture Ifalna and Aeris. Gast was killed, I don't remember if Ifalna and Aeris were captured and then escaped later on, or if they just went on the run, eventually ending up with Ifalna dying and Aeris alone in Midgar and being found by her new mom.
Lucrezia was Hojo's assistant, and Vincent was one of the Turks at the time; he was in love with her but she went with Hojo instead, nad sephiroth, and then apparently went kinda vegetable-y.
... XDDD Oh god yes. I recently replayed that, and there he was on a beach with three bikini babes fawning over him. How does he DO that?
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(Anonymous) 2007-08-31 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)Didn't she end up in an underground cave with Vincent's ultimate weapon, Death Penalty, somehow?
-- Guile
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And yes, she does. Nnnot gonna ask how. >_>;;;;;
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This. This is a beautiful distraction on a night which I keep crying on. XD Thank you so much for writing this! I- I am so full of glee and love and hope because I love your writing, and I love these characters, and you are already doing such beautiful things with them, ♥
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Thank you. #._________.#
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Why does everyone have Aeris so pervy in fics? LOL
I am really loving this. You are writing them all so well. Cloud is sullen BUT I am sure he will warm up to Seph soon....I hope!
I'll admit that I am pervy enough that this piece
*Except now he wore pants. What a showoff. Bastard. Cloud's pants were a little tight on him. ...*
Had me thinking that Cloud was hard from looking at Seph LOL
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Uh, she's the one who stuffed Cloud in a dress? XD I can't see her being in any way ashamed of her sexuality.
*snicker* I like dropping tiny bits of fanservice here and there. Cloud is in denial about appreciating Seph's body from an aesthetical point of view XD