Title: Fix Me
Summary: Seeing Cloud's hurt for so long made him hurt, too.
Pairing: Cloud/Sephiroth
Warning: boy/boy, depression, everything...just, everything
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just write about them getting screwed over for personal satisfaction.

Sephiroth never really knew Cloud Strife. Wasn't sure anyone could confidently say they did. Not even Zack, his 'best friend,' who was usually found with anyone in possession of female anatomy in stead of the blond. But, even though Sephiroth didn't really know him, he could feel the pain. Could see the hurt. And seeing Cloud's hurt for so long made him hurt, too. He couldn't place why, though; there were plenty of other students in just as much pain, most who tried to get help for it. Somehow the fact that his underclassman remained silent made him even more concerned.

He couldn't do anything about it, however. How strange that would seem, he often pondered, to have someone you've never spoken with suddenly approach you.

Only, one day, he did.

It was cold, that morning, but the Sophomore didn't seem to mind, listening to the ever-animated Zackary Fair babble some nonsense to his latest lady-friend: Cissnei. He hadn't planned on meeting the blond that day, but when Reno had forcefully removed his surrogate sister from the 'lowlifes,' he'd knocked the blond's binder from his arms, loose papers scattering all across the snow. The silveret gifted a glare in the redhead's direction as he passed, helping gather the younger teens schoolwork.

He presented the sheets to their rightful owner, receiving a look of surprise as he took them back. The upperclassman flinched slightly at the ten minute bell, but Cloud didn't seem to notice it. Zack tapped his friend's shoulder, gesturing to the doors with a jerk of his head. The boy turned back to his helper, moving his hand from his mouth toward Sephiroth as if blowing a kiss -albeit a very structured and angular one-, leaving the elder perplexed. It would only occur to him halfway through the day that Cloud hadn't heard the bell, and that Cloud didn't speak.

Sephiroth had received plenty of odd looks throughout the day, but perhaps the most agonizing took place during Drill Practice at the end of the day. There was a lot of snickering and pointing happening quite openly. When the boy nearby seemed to 'lose focus,' he had no time to move out of the way; fifteen pounds of lead-plugged rifle flying into his ribs, and, at the lack of focus on his end, his own rifle striking the side of his face. Both practice props lay on the floor in front of him and all members of the drill team laughing openly at his misfortune.

"You boys think that's funny?!" The room went instantly silent at the sound of Master Chief Highwind's voice. Commander Valentine was by his side, observing the team with a deep-set frown. "Would you all be laughin' if it was you?! Is gettin' hurt like that amusing, mister Flynn?"

Reno paled as he was called on. "No, sir."

"Why were ya laughin' at him, then? Look at him; he's bleedin'! You ought to say yer sorry, Flynn."

"My apologies, sir."

"Not to me! Vincent, go get Crescent to the infirmary; he looks 'bout ready to faint. Flynn, a word, if I may."

The Commander lead his student to the hall, stopping to examine his face, a deep set of bruises already forming stubbornly to his jaw, cheek, and brow at each impact of the practice gun, buried partially by the stream of blood. "You have a concussion."

"What?"

Commander Valentines eyes flashed a bit of panic. "Can you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand you fine, but how can you tell I have a concussion?"

The instructor let out a sigh, continuing with: "Your eyes aren't dilated evenly. Are you dizzy? Be honest, I don't want you falling and getting hurt worse."

"I'm fine," The youth assured walking in the direction of the infirmary in what he perceived as a straight line.

Valentine tilted his head in a way that would have implied 'Are you kidding me right now?' wrapping his arm around the teen's waist, being mindful of the ribs he was sure had to be harshly bruised as well. "You're not fine. You should rest a couple of days before you get back."

The silveret seemed to gain a sense of urgency, a look of horror plastered to his face. "No! I mean...I'll fall behind, I can't stay home."

The elder seemed to take this in for a moment. He knew that with the standards it took to be Petty Officer First Class, Sephiroth could easily take a couple of days off without his grades falling very far, and definitely not enough that he couldn't get caught back up. He was certain bigger things were at play, but he couldn't imagine what they were. "If you show up to school tomorrow, I'm going to take you to the infirmary and you'll have to stay there all day. You can do your schoolwork, but you can't be active. You need to rest, Sephiroth. If that's better than being at home, fine, but you will recover properly. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," he answered as his Commander lead him into the infirmary.

Miss Gainsborough looked up from a head of obnoxious spikes, with a soft 'oh,' as she took in his condition. The blond turned around to see the other boy from that morning, mouth falling in a silent 'oh' as well. The blond helped him to the infirmary bed, despite his protests that he could get there himself. He didn't remember his earlier assumption until the nurse informed: "He can't hear you, dear."

"O-oh..." he looked sadly into his underclassman's eyes, wondering rather suddenly (and rather stupidly, and rather romantically) if higher powers had given him sapphires for eyes to compensate that fact. That was his last thought before dizziness rushed his senses and he saw only black.

The concussion hadn't been very severe, but the bruises were horribly uncomfortable coupled with mild disorientation. He had gone to school, despite Commander Valentine's wishes, and -as promised- remained with the nurse. For most of the day, Cloud was there as well, as the infirmary was basically in the same room as the Altered Learning class, a temporary room divider the only separation. There were only two classes the blond was able to attend with the rest of the school: Art and Film Appreciation, neither of which required much verbal communication.

"It's not that he can't talk; he's just not very good at it," the nurse explained. "Deaf children are usually the loudest, people thinking they are unable to make noise is a common misconception."

"But how did he learn to talk?"

"He wasn't born deaf. He stopped hearing only a couple years ago. His mother said it happened naturally, but I can't find anything wrong with his ears. I guess we'll never really know."

"He seemed like he listened well to Zack, I never would have guessed..."

"Oh, he's quite proficient at lip-reading. But since he can't always be looking at someone's mouth, it was decided he would be more proficient with a specialist."

Sephiroth wondered what it would be like... to wake up one day to a silent world. He thought that must be a horrible thing to go through.

A/N: So, I've been thinking about this idea for a while now, but I wanted to finish Loving Corpses first, but after losing the files of both of them, it took a lot to want to touch that story again. I might add the other endings when I feel that it's been long enough that I won't feel worn out re-doing them. But, in the meantime: I present Fix Me; my latest continuous story. I hope you've enjoyed so far.