AN: Got the urge to work on this today, and was able to finish it up. Yay! Even though the SOLDIER series is about Zack, I wanted to explore the way the other two boys interact with the chocobos. :)
Also, anyone following the Deviant line could probably take this as a precursor to that.
SOLDIER's Angels
It was on one of the most freakishly cold winter days Midgar had ever seen that Zack Fair was privileged to witness one of the most stunning sights he could recall in his seventeen years of existence. The temperature had dropped low enough the previous night that the morning's storm, rather than being a heavy cold rain or, at worst, a messy slush, became a thick snow that did its best to blanket the city where the effects of pollution didn't actively oppose it. The glamour of the snowfall was largely lost upon the citizens as it was lamented and moaned about then pushed aside by large, noisy automatons.
However, outside the limits where the roads led away from the metropolis through wide open spaces, the white silence had achieved a magical quality that Zack thoroughly enjoyed as he headed out to the area where the chocobo stables were located. His little chicks had out-grown the shed and so the young SOLDIER had approached Sephiroth who appropriated one of the abandoned stable buildings just outside Midgar, away from prying ShinRa eyes but still close enough that it wasn't an inconvenient trek. The new housing was much better suited to their needs, affording each bird greater individual space and, better still, allowing them outdoor exercise which Zack had provided as much of as possible but which became extremely difficult to manage as the chocobos got larger.
The unexpected snowstorm had the dark-haired teen concerned, though, because the building was old and most likely in disrepair. At this point the birds were all fully-feathered and should be able to adjust to the drop in temperature but that didn't mean they could handle being snowed on and Zack wanted to make sure that their shelter was holding up. So it was quite early in the morning when he set out, trotting and hopping and looking generally ridiculous, partly from sheer enjoyment of the fluffy stuff and partly to keep himself from freezing in his SOLDIER uniform. He reached the stable in short order and opened the door with a smile and a cheerful, "Morning, everybody!"
As soon as he stepped a few feet inside, he felt an odd breeze and looked up. A weak spot in the roof had broken open from the unaccustomed heaviness of the snow, letting in the wind and a small pile of powdery white. Thankfully, it must have happened recently as the amount of snow was inconsiderable and the temperature of the building was still much warmer than that outside. Still, the hole needed to be plugged before it became too cold and he ended up with a bunch of choco-pops. Sighing, Zack realized he would have to make his way back to Midgar as he had nothing with him or in the stable to fix it. Although…. There was somewhere else he could go, he thought with a sudden grin.
Idea firmly in place, Zack headed out but not to return to Midgar. Instead he trotted over to one of the stables still in use by ShinRa, one that he hadn't visited for quite a while. He approached in a wide arc, avoiding the back paddock where he could see a group of older birds being exercised by a tall, stern-faced platinum blond, the very sight of whom made Zack's face adopt a rather childish sneer. Stealthily, he made his way to the open stable doors, pausing by the wall for a moment and listening hard for any indication that someone was inside. Hearing nothing, he cautiously peeked in. Still no one. Quickly he darted inside and headed for the maintenance closet he'd caught glimpses of when he used to visit regularly.
The closet was impressively large and thankfully well-stocked, too. Zack found not only slats of wood – used to replace broken sections of the stall doors – but a hammer and a box of long nails. About to leave with the supplies, he took another look at the toolbox he'd lifted the hammer from. After all, there were two toolboxes. Same things in both of them. Surely they wouldn't miss one, right? Share and share alike. Wearing a somewhat naughty grin and feeling only slightly guilty, Zack put the hammer back into the box along with the nails and took the whole thing, boards under his other arm.
He poked his head out of the closet to make sure that no one had come in while he was pilfering but the stable was still empty. After another moment of careful listening, he exited the closet and sneaked quietly back out of the stable. And he had almost made it out the door when he ran into a very short girl who was bundled in a knit hat, scarf and very fluffy fleece coat. She'd been humming – there was a set of earbuds plugged into her ears – and moving rather quickly from the direction of one of the end stalls, but paused for a moment when she saw Zack. He halted, cringing internally and trying to think of a reasonable excuse for him to be making off with some of the stable's property. But she just gave him an appraising look, eyes shining with interest behind her glasses, raised a brow, and moved on without another word. Zack stared after her in confusion – she wasn't going to say anything? Well, better to count his lucky stars instead of standing around like an idiot. He left quickly, again avoiding the paddock.
The trip back to his stable was disaster-free although he found a new problem once he got there. There was no ladder for him to climb up to the roof. Of course, he could leap that high, but was that really a safe thing to do when the roof was already in disrepair? Zack scratched his head for a minute, thinking about it, then decided that there was really only one way to find out. Besides, he wasn't going to hurt himself. Probably. Judging the distance carefully, he aimed for a section a couple feet away from the hole and leapt up. He landed on his feet and instantly froze, waiting for any creaking or other sign that he was about to make a speedy trip back down to Gaia. But the roof held and he carefully picked his steps over to the hole to inspect it closer. Brushing the snow away, he saw that it really wasn't that large and, thankfully, it wasn't rotten either. In fact, the hole had probably already been there, he just hadn't noticed it, and the weight of the snow had widened it slightly.
Satisfied that he would be able to at least temporarily be able to plug it, Zack hopped back down to retrieve his tools and the boards. He called down reassurances through the hole before he began to ease the birds' minds about the noise to come. Then the boards were lined up properly, more snow brushed away and, with a few nails dangling from his mouth, Zack set to hammering.
It didn't take long for him to put enough nails into the boards that he felt they would sufficiently be held in place until a better solution could be executed. Giving one last tug to make sure, he gathered up the extra nails and hammer and alighted. The hammer and nails went back into the toolbox which he placed in their own empty maintenance closet and then Zack began his mostly-daily routine (fortunately, he had Cloud for the days when he couldn't make it) of feeding and watering and giving attention to his beloved flock. He was relieved to see that it had been warm enough in the stable that the water hadn't frozen over (another thing he'd been concerned about). No, the birds all seemed to be in good spirits and Zack supposed that he was fretting too much – after all, these were wild animals. Granted, they'd been bred and raised in captivity, but they were only a couple of generations removed from the chocobos that freely roamed Gaia, and those birds could certainly handle the elements.
Down the line, Genesis, Reno, Cloud, Tseng, Aerith, Angeal, and … fuck!! Where was Sephiroth?? The teen gaped in pure horror when he opened the black chocobo's stall door to find only an empty stall. Stupidly – although the poor boy was in shock and so must be excused – he stepped in and frantically looked around as though expecting to find the chocobo hiding. Although where a three hundred pound, six-foot tall bird could have hid in a nook-and-cranny-less stall whose every angle was visible from the door was a question for the scholars.
Had the bird broken out somehow? No, that didn't make any sense. The door had been closed and latched and, no matter how smart that damn beast was, that didn't extend to re-latching stall doors. Which meant someone had taken him.
Zack gripped his hair in utter panic. Someone had stolen the General's bird. The General's bird. Fuck! Why did it have to be that one? Not that he wanted any of his babies stolen, but really, why that one? Couldn't they have taken Reno or Genesis – the little bastards – off his hands? Noooo, it had to be Sephiroth's chocobo. Damn it! Why did the world have it out for him? Like he needed the help getting into trouble. His mouth did that well enough for him.
Really, though, Zack internal rant was just a cover to push down the feelings of dread and concern for the chocobo itself. He didn't want anything to happen to any of his birds, no matter how annoying they were. Well, all he could do now was try to find the missing chocobo.
Outside he scanned the ground and immediately, now that he was looking for them, spotted the tracks that led away from the stable, one set a chocobo's, the other a human's. From the appearance of them, the snow blown in and partially obscuring them, Sephiroth had been taken before Zack even got to the stable that morning. The dark-haired teen didn't hold out much hope for finding the chocobo after all that time had passed, but all he could do was follow the trail and hope that it led to something.
The prints took him northwest, away from both Midgar and the other stables being used by ShinRa. Zack jogged alongside, constantly looking out and around for any sign of the bird or another person but never seeing anything but snow-covered plains. Then, after a few minutes, the tracks headed for a copse of evergreen trees, thick enough to block Zack's vision of what lay beyond them. Now he slowed down, approaching with care. He didn't know what to expect and wasn't prepared to deal with much of a confrontation – the only combat tools he had were a long dagger mounted on his left hip (mostly only good for defense) and a couple of materia. So caution was definitely advisable.
As quietly as he could, Zack picked his way through the trees, trying to keep close to the trunks and cursing his black uniform. Yeah, that was real inconspicuous. Still, if there was someone in here, if he was careful he could get close enough to do some reconnaissance and decide where to go from there.
Eventually, he came to a sort of clearing in the trees and … Sephiroth! He was right there, standing towards the edge farthest from Zack. There didn't seem to be anyone in there with him but Zack wasn't going to just burst in without being sure. Besides, the bird was acting a little strange. He kept looking into the trees as though expecting someone or something. Perhaps he could hear something that Zack couldn't. And he had to wonder why the bird, which was not tied or bound in any way, wasn't trying to return to the stable or at least leave the trees. Someone must be out there somewhere.
And then what Zack could only describe as a pale blur streaked out of the trees and behind the chocobo and seemed to touch his tail before disappearing into another section of the evergreens. Alarmed, Zack was about to run out – to hell with his own safety! – but Sephiroth's behavior stopped him. The teen had gotten pretty good at reading the body language of his birds over the last eight months and the signals that the bird before him was sending now was that he was not afraid but excited. Whatever this was it wasn't anything that Sephiroth seemed to mind and so Zack stayed put to watch until he could figure out what was going on.
He didn't have to wait long. The blur popped out of the trees again, this time ruffling the feathers of Sephiroth's chest. The bird chirped indignantly and darted forward but wasn't able to catch the thing before it fled into the branches which shivered in its wake. What on Gaia was that thing? Somehow it almost seemed familiar to Zack but when had he ever seen anything like that before…?
For a third time the blur went for Sephiroth and this time he was ready, hunkered down, wings spread. When the agitator came at the bird, he sprang forward and met it head-on, the two tumbling into the snow. And Zack's jaw nearly hit the ground. Holy … I can't believe it…. The "blur" was Sephiroth. His general Sephiroth. And he was … he was playing with the chocobo. Unconsciously, Zack crept closer to the edge of the clearing, eyes fixed on the two Sephiroths. He could see now why he'd had such a hard time identifying the man before. Rather than his usual black leather coat and pants, he was dressed today in an argent material, just a shade lighter than his hair that made him blend in fairly well with the snow. Why couldn't we all get that kind of camouflage? Zack wondered in irritation. The look was particularly incredible displayed on Sephiroth's pale form, the only real points of color his eyes and the slight blush on his cheeks and across his chest from the cold air.
Now that the bird had "caught" his owner, Sephiroth began teasing the chocobo, moving in front of him and holding position, then dodging at the last moment as the bird leapt at the man, trying to tackle him once again. Once or twice he let the bird make contact, rolling with him, the black feathers and Sephiroth's silver locks becoming covered in clumps of sugary snow. Each time he quickly sprung away and began the routine again. And the entire time Sephiroth was wearing a small but genuinely delighted smile, one of the few Zack had ever seen. The teen was completely entranced by the vision the two made – white on black, black on white, both prime examples of their species.
They finally ceased their game, Sephiroth giving some kind of silent signal that he was done, the chocobo instantly resuming his normal calm state. (At least, his normal state around Sephiroth. Around Zack on the other hand….) The man approached his bird and softly stroked his cheek, gently scratching under the feathers at the back of his head. Absorbed in what he was watching, Zack wasn't aware that an affectionate smile had stolen across his own face, widening further when the silver-haired man bend his head and actually nuzzled the bird's cheek feathers. Zack thought he might pop from the sheer adorableness of it all (especially since that was a word he never would have thought he'd ever use in regards to Sephiroth).
He was so unable to contain himself that as the two left the clearing to head back to the stable, Zack flew out from his hiding place, fully intending to glom the man. Of course, being as it was Sephiroth that was his target, it never happened. The man, sensing his presence long before he made contact, spun and grabbed the airborne teen, throwing him to the ground. Though momentarily stunned, Zack still managed to grin up at his general who smiled in turn.
"Heeeey, Sephiroth."
"Zack. What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, you know." The teen began flapping his arms and legs, pushing the snow underneath and making clear spaces. "Just enjoying the snow angels." His bright blue eyes sparkled up at the silver-haired man's own subtly amused aquamarine orbs.
"I don't believe that calls for assault on a superior officer."
"Oh, yes it does," Zack answered earnestly. "It absolutely does." It'd be a sin not to when the superior officer is being ridicu-freaking-lously cute!
"I never knew the snow brought such things out in you, Zack," Sephiroth commented, still smiling.
"Ditto," the teen responded cheekily before committing an act of what had to be near-treason by taking a handful of snow and smooshing it into the side of Sephiroth's head. The man retaliated with the most childish action Zack have ever seen him perpetrate to date: namely, grabbing the teen by the ankles, hauling him out of the copse, and flinging him headfirst into a snowdrift, Zack laughing the entire time. He emerged looking almost as pale as Sephiroth, so covered in snow as he was. He brushed the worst of it off and rejoined the man who was now smirking satisfactorily.
"So do you do that often?" the teen inquired.
"No, most of my 1st Classes do not trouble me nearly as much as you do." Zack made a face to which Sephiroth chuckled, then answered seriously, "When I have the time. And when it will not interfere with your schedule." That had Zack looking at him in surprise.
"Hey, don't even worry about that. I mean, he's your bird. I'm sure I get to see him way more than you do anyway. I certainly don't want to take away any of your time with him. Besides, you know how we get along." Sephiroth smiled at that. "And I'm sorry if I interrupted you today. I was just freaked when I saw he was missing."
"Understandable. I should have mentioned the sessions to you. And you didn't interrupt. I would have stopped sooner if your presence bothered us."
Zack smiled again, the same affectionate expression he'd unknowingly given earlier. "Well, I'm glad I got to see you."
Sephiroth stared at him consideringly for a moment and then answered, "I'm glad you did, too."
They walked back to the stable together in companionable silence.
AN: I felt sort of blasphemous putting Sephiroth in something other than black, but it would probably be soooo pretty.
Originally written 19 Jul '08