If Only, If Only

"Unacceptable!"

Lucrecia's hands slipped against the wall as she spun toward Hojo. His voice was even more piercing than the wails of the infant held precariously in stiff arms.

Her baby.

"This experiment was supposed to produce a flawless creation!" he barked, all but dropping the child into her arms he'd only yesterday said would never be exposed to her scientifically compromising sentimentality. "The perfect human being cannot be disfigured!"

She felt breathless as she cradled his barely there weight. The familiarity of his hardly broken in voice called to her and she latched onto it. She'd only had moments to hear it after his birth, when he'd been rushed away before she could see him. The echo of it was already deep-seated in her soul, and she set to drinking in his tiny face.

"Nine months completely wasted on a failure!"

Easing her finger into one tightly curled hand, she marveled over the strength of his grip and the near invisibility of each fingernail.

"Defective!"

Holding him close to her face she breathed in. There was a stinging smell of chemicals and antibiotics but under that was still the soft and warm scent of his new skin. His cries muted into anxious snuffling.

"This impaired thing isn't fit to be included in this project."

She'd picked out his name. It had been deemed acceptable because of its roots in the Cetra language and its most literal meanings. In part its origin had been what attracted her to it, but mostly it was how it contained all the things she thought of when she'd thought of her child, and everything she hoped for him. Intelligent. Strong. Majestic. Triumphant. Victorious. Merciful.

Beautiful.

She touched her cheek softly against his and whispered, "Sephiroth."

Then her baby slowly blinked liquid jade eyes at her and she saw what the problem was.

"This phase will have to be scrapped. There's simply no possible way to succeed with it in such a state."

"You'll never see him again," she promised.

Hojo seemed to ease slightly. "Well as long as it's taken care of. We can have another go once you get rid of it."

"I don't think that's wise."

"What?" Harsh incredulity leeched back into his voice.

"Any imperfection must have a root. Surely the Ancient sample was pure and there certainly couldn't have been anything wrong with -"

"No, the problem certainly didn't arise from me so it must be your fault. I'll have to find someone else to carry the next specimen. No matter, I'm sure there will be plenty of willing and qualified candidates." Hojo crept out of the room without a backward glance.

She pressed a kiss against her son's forehead and settled her arms more securely around the life that was hers to cherish.

She would never tell Hojo how normal it was for newborns to have crossed eyes.

A/N: Even though this takes a humorous turn at the end, the main idea I wanted to get across was the possibility of Sephiroth being born with or without something that made Hojo reject him, in other words setting Sephiroth free. This series of one-shots is going to be eight installments long, and though everything is already outlined or even written in some cases, it'll probably be updated sporadically. The dramatic or comedic tones will vary from fic to fic.