This story is meant to be one half a tribute of sorts to the rainy season (which dearly I love), one half a reassurance to you guys that I am very much still alive, and one half is just me satisfying my crackbrained desires to exploit Sephiroth for his mental insanity as much as humanly possible. (yes, that does make three halves)

This is meant to be a short story (i.e. only a few chapters long; 3-5 maybe), and I suppose it's a good side-project for now. And just to clear something up, the time setting of the beginning of this story is during the lab accident that Ifalna and Aerith escaped from.

Disclaimer: I'm sure you all know this, but I have to say it anyway, so here it is: I don't own any of the characters from FFVII.

Please review. PLEASE? I enjoy getting feedback from you guys, so don't be shy.

(EDIT) I know it's probably confusing, but I decided that the first chapter/part was too short. The extra section was meant to be part of the next chapter, but if this story continues as being only about 1,500 words per chapter, then it'll take more than 3-5 chapters to finish it. You understand, right?

What? It's a working progress. Don't judge me -_-

Rain

Capitulus Unum

A haze was all that could be said to describe this feeling. A haze of echoing sirens, flashing lights, and the growing aches from running. So. Much. Running.

But from what?

Sephiroth couldn't recall why he took off on a mad dash to begin with. All he could think was that, for once in his life, he let his impulsive instincts take over. Once all the chaos ensued in the labs, 'run' was all he could think. But was it from the rampaging monster that was supposedly now tearing its way through the labs? No…it had to be from them.

From the tools, instruments, and devices; all that were cringingly cold and never failed to draw some piece of his being away; be it his hair, his blood, or even drain a piece of his own life. Running from the cold, lifeless hands that would hold him down on the examination platforms and the wandering, gloved fingers that often wielded something sharp and terrifying to pierce his skin with. Running from the empty, dull faces hidden behind surgical masks and reflective glasses; almost as if they were meant to shroud the portals into their own shadowy souls. He had to run away. He had to escape his never-ending, torturous incarceration.

His haze eventually shifted from the sirens and lights, to a series of corridors and doorways. He couldn't keep track of how long it took him, he didn't even know at what point he had actually made it outside. He just had to outrun them, to go as fast as his scrawny eleven-year-old legs could carry him…and then keep running.

His adrenaline-induced haze abruptly ended when he rounded a corner and slammed into a pedestrian. The force was enough to make him tumble to the ground, almost taking the stranger down with him.

"Watch it, kid!" the man exclaimed before collecting himself and hastily walking away. Sephiroth sat on the ground, gasping for air. Minerva knew how long he had been running like that, and it was just now starting to take a toll on his breathing. He sat up as he began to take in his surroundings. The last time he had checked in the labs, it was almost six o'clock, and the sun was just now beginning to set. The whole city seemed to be cast in a pink-orange glow. He turned and observed the ShinRa tower behind him. It looked beautiful, but in a way he could not quite describe. Silently, he wracked his brain for something, anything he might've seen before to compare it to. It was…it was…like a mountain. Yeah…it was like a tall, shiny, glorious mountain that was jutting out from the ground and cast in the gorgeous glow of sunset. Just like the ones from Nibelheim. He had never in his life gotten to have a view like this of the tower, and silently wondered why.

Sephiroth could only marvel at the sight for a short while before more sirens began blaring nearby. He didn't know if they were for him, but he didn't care. He wanted nothing to do with those people anymore.

He kept running.

A haze had taken over his body again, but not from adrenaline. It was pure, aching, suffocating exhaustion that fazed him long enough to make him collapse. With darkening vision, he reached out for the nearest thing to him – a street lamp – and leaned against it while he tried to steady his breathing.

Chest heaving, he looked around once again. A thick cloud cover had just recently rolled in and blocked out the setting sun, making nighttime seem to fall early. All around him, street lamps were flickering on, including the one he was standing under. The city lights were shining from all around, adding brightness to the dark. As more people began disappearing into buildings, even more lights began to shine. And in the center of it all, the ShinRa tower stood tall, proud, and lit up in the most spectacular way he had ever seen; albeit he hadn't ever seen much of this, anyway.

Sephiroth slowly stepped out from underneath the street lamp and stared directly up at the sky. Above him, there were a few small patches in the cloud cover, revealing the nearly-black atmosphere. Through it, several glittering stars could be seen.

Sephiroth frowned. Up in the mountains of Nibelheim, he could remember there being so many more stars in the sky at night. One of the scientists had one day bothered to explain to him about the effects of light pollution. It was…sad. Sad to think that in the big city, only the brightest stars could shine.

He brought his gaze down to his feet and sighed, noticing his breath fogging up slightly. He began to walk again, pondering what his next move was to be. Was he really on his own now? To even think about living on the street…

He couldn't think about living on the street. Really, for the first time in his life, he was drawing a total blank. If his brain were a heart being monitored, it would be dead, making that everlasting ring on the scanner. Sephiroth glared at the ground, his frustration beginning to grow. It almost felt as if his own brain was refusing to let him think of anything except for what he really wanted to think.

As he continued to walk, his thoughts began to scramble. Panic, he soon realized, was beginning to take over his mind. Keeping his composure was quickly becoming one of the greatest challenges of his life. He could only keep walking, keep looking down at his feet, and try to keep from losing control of himself.

He tried to regain his thoughts, but everything quickly became centered on only two lingering words. The only two words he didn't ever want to think of.

Go back.

Sephiroth literally cringed at the idea. Why would he ever want…

He stopped. Something cold and wet was dripping on his head. The silver-haired boy looked up to the sky, only to see raindrops starting to fall around him. Though, he soon glanced back down when several drops landed uncomfortably close to his eyes.

Great…now it couldn't get any worse. Well, at least he knew better than to have said it to himself before it started raining. Yet it only proved that it was going to get worse anyway.

Had he ever actually felt raindrops before? It was one of the few things he couldn't recall from his early childhood. He had very few memories of ever being outside, much less being outside in the rain. He was certain that Hojo would have dragged him inside the ShinRa Mansion if there was even the slightest drizzle.

As Sephiroth thought, the raindrops began to fall harder. He took a deep breath and tried to center his attention on the rain. It seemed, at the time, far more effective than trying to collect his own scattered thoughts. Cold and wet, yes, but oddly relaxing. Perhaps it was the sound. The rumbling patter of hundreds of thousands of water droplets falling at terminal velocity and hitting the ground with as much force as they could carry…each and every one doing the exact same thing as the ones before.

As the downpour picked up pace, Sephiroth couldn't help grinning. He could hear it all around him now, drumming and rumbling, until it almost sounded like a collective roar. His clothes were soaked now, through and through, but he didn't care. It felt good somehow. It somehow made him feel happy.

Sephiroth's grin soon formed into a wide smile. With eyes closed, he took a step forward, and another, and then another. Before he knew it, he was blindly running as full sprint down the sidewalk. For a mere moment, he realized how insane this was, but it somehow didn't bother him. It seemed that rational thinking had long been thrown out the window, anyway. Why else would he even run from the labs to begin with? Yes, he must've completely lost his mind…and it absolutely thrilled him! Knowing how ridiculous he was behaving only made him want to behave even more ridiculously. So, he leaned his head forward and let his arms fall back behind, and even stuck his tongue out to taste the rain. Was this really what insanity felt like? It felt wonderful!

Suddenly, the wonderfulness was cut short when he collided head-first with another street lamp. An intense pain formed at his forehead and surged through his entire skull. He staggered for a moment, more stunned than hurt, but soon found himself falling backwards to the wet concrete. Before his consciousness slipped away, his lips quirked into another small grin as one last thought came to mind.

It was worth it.

Minerva knew how long it was before Sephiroth woke up. Without opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the sound or roaring rain, still all around him. He felt like laying there for the rest of the night, and letting the sound lull him back to sleep. He didn't feel ready to face reality again, especially after what just happened; after what he did to himself. He really should have expected as much – to run into something. It was a completely illogical – no – irrational thing to do.

After laying there, wallowing in his own self-criticism for a while, he slowly began to notice the absence of the rain falling on his face. It was still there, resounding around him, but something must've now been covering him. He allowed his eyes to flutter open, and there, he saw a tall figure looming right above him.

Startled, Sephiroth jumped to his feet and quickly shifted into a fighting stance, which was followed by an enormous head rush that caused him to stagger back against the street lamp. The figure then took a hesitant step backwards.

"Easy, kid. I'm not asking for any trouble." They said.

Sephiroth looked over the stranger. It was…a boy. Sephiroth placed him to be in his mid-teens; a few years older than himself. His hair was dark, almost raven dark, and his eyes were a misty shade of blue. He wore an old dark green winter coat, which seemed a size or two too large on him, judging by how it fell well past his knees. In his hand he held the handle of a black umbrella. It was an old, worn-out thing. There were a couple of small holes torn in the canopy and one rib that was bent the wrong way.

He seemed to be examining Sepiroth as well, and this put him on edge. Once his head was clear enough, the silverette raised his fists into a warning stance. A warm grin spread across the boy's thin lips. "Will ya settle down, kid? If I was gonna jump you, I wouldn't be dumb enough to let you wake up first."

Sephiroth's expression softened, but he didn't let his guard down. "What do you want with me?"

"Just making sure you were still alive s'all. What, with how you had a head-on collision with a street light a while ago." The boy then started to snicker a little bit.

Sephiroth could feel his cheeks heating up slightly. "You…saw that?"

The boy nodded, still wearing a grin. "Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh, but I've just never seen anyone act that crazy on a whim before." He then pointed to the center of his forehead. "You're pretty lucky that thing don't look any worse, ya know."

Sephiroth lifted his hand over his forehead and winced slightly when he grazed a sensitive swell. He didn't have a mirror, but he didn't have to be a child prodigy to know how swollen and ugly it must've looked. He hastily ran his fingers through his bangs to make them cover the bruise.

The boy squinted at him as he watched. "I could've sworn that thing was bleeding a minute ago."

The silverette felt his heart falter upon remembering about his mako-enhanced healing capabilities. With the rate they worked at, his bruise would be gone by morning, unlike a normal humans', which would take a few days at least. The last thing he wanted was for these normal people to know anything that could trace him to ShinRa. Unsure of how to respond, he simply lowered his head so that his shoulder-length hair covered most of his face.

The boy cocked his head to the side, a look of curiosity spreading over his face. After what seemed like ages of staring at the silverette, he finally shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "Meh, I guess the rain could've washed it away." He then took a step toward Sephiroth and leaned in closer. "So, isn't there anywhere you need to be, kid?"

Sephiroth shrunk back slightly in response to the boy's approach, but spoke in a conservative tone. "What…makes you say that? It's none of your business."

The boy stood back again as he began to chuckle. "You sure are defensive, kid. I just thought you did, since you sort of look like the kind of kid with a home to get back to, you know, before it gets too late."

The silverette paused for a moment, reveling in a moment of uncertainty, before putting his defensive façade back on. "Well, don't you, then?"

All the humor suddenly drained from the boy's face. He gloomily looked down to his feet before quietly answering, "It's…it's complicated. I'd rather live…on the streets than go back there."

Sephiroth felt a small twinge in his chest after hearing the boy's words. He looked down to his feet as well, wondering if this was what it really was like to feel guilt. Or perhaps…empathy? A silence fell between them, and the rain began to make itself known again; though its downpour was now beginning to soften. As Sephiroth thought, a cold chill ran up his spine and through his arms. Goosebumps soon followed, and he realized that he was actually starting to feel a bit cold. He glanced up at the boy's umbrella, suddenly longing to be dry.

The boy glanced upward and noticed Sephiroth staring at his umbrella. Hesitantly, he held it out toward the silverette, in a silent invitation to stand underneath it with him.

Sephiroth looked back and forth between the boy and the umbrella's canopy, as if he were contemplating accepting the invitation. But at long last, he lowered his head again and slowly turned away. "I…should be leaving." He said before beginning to away.

The boy craned his neck as he watched Sephiroth walking. "Oh? Where are you going, then?"

Sephiroth hesitated in thought before flatly answering, "Somewhere." He could hear the boy's footsteps closing in on him now. He didn't need to turn around to know that he was now being followed closely behind.

"Really? Me too." The older teen said with an undertone of excitement.

This guy must have been a moron to not understand what Sephiroth wanted. He hated to have to spell it out. "Somewhere…alone."

The footsteps stopped. Sephiroth breathed a small sigh of relief, before hearing from behind, "You know, being alone won't get you 'somewhere' very fast, nor does it get you warm and dry."

The young silverette stopped, his annoyance beginning to boil higher. Yet, for some reason he wanted to humor the boy as well. He turned back around, a deadpan expression on his face. The older teen was holding his umbrella out again, and stroking the fuzzy rim of his hood with the other hand; tempting him to come closer. Sephiroth thought for a moment before answering, "Well, you are alone, and yet you've obtained both of those things."

The boy frowned at this. "You think I was alone when I got these?" Sephiroth felt his heart falter again, and the oncoming shame caused him to break eye contact. But what the boy said next only made it worse. "These belonged to my parents. They're…all I have left of them."

A light breeze blew by, but it was enough to make Sephiroth shiver again. He stood there for a while, hugging himself, and wondering why this stranger would ever want to share these things with him to begin with.

All at once, he suddenly began to feel like the most pathetic person in existence. He was a scrawny kid lost somewhere in the city, miserable, cold, wet, and had nothing left to loose now. Why would his sane self ever turn down the opportunity being presented? He supposed that it was all the more reason to believe that he had gone insane.

He looked back at the boy, who still held his umbrella out. But he was not frowning anymore. It was the same warm grin from before; the one that seemed to say, 'Trust me, I know everything will be okay'.

"Come on. Get under here." He beckoned.

Sephiroth took a hesitant step towards him, and soon found himself only a few paces away. The boy smiled before taking his coat off and holding it out to the silverette. "You probably want this, too." Without a word, Sephiroth put the large coat on himself and stepped under the cover of the umbrella. "So," the boy said after a little while. "Where exactly is 'somewhere'?"

"Anywhere." Sephiroth answered solemnly.

The older teen smiled. "Anywhere, huh? Well, I believe that's a few blocks and crosswalks away from here. We'll get to anywhere in no time, uh…what's your name?"

"What's yours?" Sephiroth asked, rather defensively.

A small chuckle was heard through the pouring rain. "I asked you first, kid. I'll tell you mine when you tell me yours."

The young silverette hesitated before answering, "It's…Sephiroth."

The boy smiled again. "Cool name. I like it a lot better than my own."

"What is it, then?"

The older teen took a deep breath before finally answering, "My name is Imber."