Are You An Angel?

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and its characters, events, etcetera; all belong to Square-Enix. All original characters belong to me. Stealing is wrong.

Author's note: I had an epiphany and I'm bored… This is a short Sephiroth one-shot, told from a little girl's point of view. She isn't Marlene or anyone in particular; just a random little nugget. Please read and review.

I had nothing to do in my room. My toys couldn't hold any interest for me; my stuffed animals and dolls were all bundled together on my bed limply, almost looking as though they didn't want to play. Perhaps it was too gray outside and that made them feel bad. My mother told me that the weather could do that to a person. I bit my lip as I wondered if it was the same for toys.

I glanced over my shoulder towards Joey's bed. He lay on his back with his legs crossed—he was just playing with some hand-held video game with his tongue sticking out between his lips and his brow furrowing in concentration. That couldn't help me much, I decided. He probably wouldn't notice me even if I made ridiculous faces at him. I wish I had a sister or something…

With a heavy sigh at my lack of success with my brother, I looked back at my bed and snatched my favorite doll, a beautiful dark haired one with a porcelain face and luminous ocean-colored eyes. I had named her Serafina, because that was my mother's name. She wore a lacy, pretty light blue gown, matching well with her round eyes. She was smiling too, not like my other toys.

Sometimes I wished I looked like her, because my eyes were a boring gray and my hair was blonde and straight, and I didn't think that I could be beautiful like my doll. I lovingly petted her smooth dark hair and then turned on my heel to head out the door.

Mommy and Daddy sat at the kitchen table, talking about some agency called Shin-ra, a subject that I probably would never understand but I listened closely anyway, as though I might figure something out if I heard more.

"…And all this recent talk about Mako has got me so confused," my daddy muttered, shaking his blonde head. "I don't know whether to be irritated or pleased with Shin-ra's progress…"

Mommy lowered her eyes to the tablecloth thoughtfully. "Yes… and I'm worried about Joey… He's going to be a man soon, and I'm worried..."

Daddy nodded. "Soldier," he said, apparently able to read mommy's thoughts. "They might recruit him if things get ugly…"

I shook my head, uncomprehending, but I still patted Serafina's smooth hair again, to comfort her. For some reason, my parents' discussion made me nervous. I figured that Serafina would be unsettled too.

I stepped outside—Mommy didn't really like it when I did that on my own, but I didn't think it would be dangerous. I stayed close to the house, so she could see me from the kitchen window.

There weren't too many people outside today. A few walked across the street to go about their daily errands, but they probably just didn't think it was a nice enough day to be working too hard.

Maybe they just happened to see that tall, long-haired man, wearing all black, standing in the center of town with three soldiers dressed in blue standing by.

My hand stilled on Serafina's pretty head as I instinctively drew her closer to my chest. I comforted her; she comforted me. We worked well together, I thought.

My lips parted and I held my breath as I observed the four strange men, but my eyes wouldn't stay on the blue-clad men for very long. I was drawn to the tall figure with straight, long, silver hair. It fell down his back and almost touched the ground. For some reason, it reminded me of feathers; it looked so soft and silky. He had a long, slightly curved sword attached to his back. Perhaps he was an avenging angel… or a dark angel. One that my brother told me stories about.

I blinked at him as I watched him talk to his companions. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could hear the deep timbre of his voice, and it gave me chills.

Uncertain, I looked over my shoulder, as though my parents or Joey would be standing there, gaping at the sight before them, but didn't see anything except the house. I didn't feel compelled to go back inside. Not yet.

I turned my head back to look at the strange men. I noticed that a few passer-bys avoided them. Probably because of the sword the man carried. Or perhaps these were the Shin-ra people that my daddy kept talking about.

The three men dressed in blue saluted to the man in black, and then left his side. The man lowered his head and sank down onto the bench in the town square. Suddenly, he drew out a small phone from his pocket and began talking into it.

I swallowed and glanced down at my doll's face. Her bright eyes gazed right back at me.

"Should I go talk to him, Serafina?" I asked her.

She didn't say anything, but I answered, "You think so? He looks dangerous to me…"

More silence. "…What's that? He looks nice?" I skeptically raised my eyes to the man on the bench, and then back down to the doll. "I guess I could go talk to him then… And you'll be with me to protect me anyway."

I gave her a single nod and then held her tightly against me again as I made my way across the street to the strange man sitting at the end of the square.

I slowed my pace once I was three feet away from him, and then I slowed to a complete stop at the end of the bench. The man didn't notice me at first. He looked irritated at the person on the other end of the phone, though.

"I told you that there's nothing here. Once my men rest up, we're leaving," he said firmly. "Out…" And then he switched off the device and returned it to his pocket.

And, feeling another's presence, he lifted his head and pinned me where I was with his bright, blue-green eyes. Eyes like my doll.

But I still gripped Serafina so tightly that my hands shook.

He eyed me up and down, his lips curling in something that I wouldn't call a smile. And then he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want?" he demanded coldly.

I swallowed hard and shrugged. "I don't know…" Then I looked up at him and tilted my head to a side. "Are you an angel?"

He quirked an elegant, snowy eyebrow at me. "A what?"

"An angel," I repeated, and dug my shoes into the ground as I fought for courage to speak.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back, letting his head tilt back and draping his arms over the support of the bench.

"Are you tired?" I asked impulsively. "…Because if you are, you should be resting with your friends instead of sitting on a bench. It must be uncomfortable."

He lifted his head and glared at me balefully. "You're still here?" he muttered.

I lowered my eyes to my doll and frowned, my lower lip jutting out uncooperatively. Serafina was wrong about this man. He wasn't very nice at all.

"I was just trying to give you company," I chided softly.

I heard him groan in exasperation, and then I chanced a look up at his face again, into his ocean-colored eyes.

"Fine," he said icily.

He rose to his feet and looked down at me. I tilted my head back so far that I hurt my neck to look at the tall man. Then I took a step back, and another, until I could look up at him without hurting my neck too badly. When I was in mid-step, he must've realized our extreme differences in heights, and so he lowered himself down to one knee, drawing an arm across his knee as he watched me impassively.

My eyes widened and I smiled. "My name is Tara," I introduced myself cheerily, and then I thrust my doll outward so he could get a good look at her face. "And this is Serafina."

He gave the doll a brief nod and so I returned her to my secure embrace against my chest.

"Nice to meet you, Tara and Serafina, I guess," he muttered noncommittally.

I pursed my lips at his uninterested behavior, and then asked, "What's your name?"

"…Sephiroth."

"That's a nice name. Reminds me of my doll… You have her eyes too."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "You are comparing me to a doll?"

I shrugged and lowered my eyes. "She has prettier hair than you do, but boys don't have pretty hair anyway. Only girls. Your hair looks soft though," I offered.

He sighed, and I concluded that he was just barely tolerating my presence. He must've been pretty important or something.

I looked at the sword on his back. "Why do you have a sword like that?"

His eyelashes fluttered down for a moment as he considered my question. "It is part of my job," he informed me.

"Mommy says that swords are dangerous, and you could hurt yourself very easily with them," I explained. "You shouldn't have one of those."

The aqua eyes flashed with amusement. "I know how to use it, little one," he said flatly, "and your mother is right. Swords are very dangerous."

"…Do you hurt people?" I asked.

He nodded slowly. "Sometimes," he said cryptically.

I frowned in disapproval. "Well, that's not really nice. Why do you do that?"

"Because it's part of my job."

His job must have been pretty important too if he thought it necessary to mention it twice when I asked him my questions. Or maybe he was tired of giving a different answer so he just repeated himself…

"What's your job?"

"I am a general of Shin-ra soldiers," he answered, in a tone that sounded rather arrogant.

"General?" I repeated in disbelief. "Where's your hat?"

"Huh?" He crinkled his forehead in confusion.

"All army guys wear hats. My brother showed me pictures from one of his movies... and he said that army guys have hats…"

"…I don't have a hat."

"That's too bad… Your friends do though. Maybe one will let you borrow it."

He bowed his head and abruptly rose to his feet. "Perhaps," he replied belatedly. Maybe he didn't really care about the hat.

He was so… so… impossibly—

"You're tall," I pointed out to the general.

He glanced down at me briefly and then looked away, towards the inn. "So I've been told," he replied inattentively.

Then he looked down at me once more. "What's your name again?"

"Tara!" I said, beaming at his sudden display of interest. I guess it was a very short-lived interest, though, since he was already walking away.

"I see. Well, Tara… It was nice talking to you, but I must go now."

I frowned. "Is it because of your job?"

"Yes…"

"…Oh… Okay." My frown deepened while I watched his hair flow behind him as he left me. I supposed that my boring conversation couldn't compete with his awesome job.

He abruptly stopped and looked over his shoulder at me, the luminous eyes piercing mine coldly, mercilessly.

"You should hurry and go home, Tara," he advised me. "It is getting late."

I nodded obediently. "Yes, Mommy would be worried about me," I thought aloud.

He nodded in reply and then continued to walk away.

"Does your mommy worry about you too?" I asked his back.

He didn't give me a response, and I was about to run after the long-legged man, but a raindrop suddenly landed on my nose and I looked up at the sky.

Dark clouds loomed overhead. It would probably storm soon. I never liked storms, or rain, and I didn't care to stay around here all alone with Serafina, so I walked towards my house.

I saw General Sephiroth stepping into the inn. He had to duck in the doorway so he could get through because he was so tall.

His black outfit was a strange contrast to his long, snowdrift-colored hair, I thought. And his sword too…

He can't be an angel. Angels are nicer than that…

I looked down at Serafina briefly and kissed her nose lovingly. "Let's get inside, Serafina," I suggested. Then I nodded her head and hesitated on my doorstep.

I gave one last look towards the inn, but the door was closed and the dark-clad man was gone. A bit disappointedly, but also strangely relieved, I stepped in my house and closed the door softly behind me.

A/N: Well, there you have it. Please don't laugh at this attempt, especially since it's not really meant to be funny… I was just bored, and I thought it would be an adventure to write Sephiroth, even though he's not insane yet (in this story). He didn't go to the library to read any books about his mommy, anyway. Hopefully he's not too OOC.