I idly twiddled my thumbs as I observed the boy who sat across the room from me. We were taking a break from his studies. The room was plain, with a linoleum floor that was cold to the bare foot, and plain white walls. A bed was set in the far right corner, blue linen sheets and a matching pillow. On the right side of the room was a large desk, which I had set my briefcase upon. Behind the desk was a large dry-erase board. Across from this, on the left side of the room, was a small school desk, clearly intended for the child. In the middle of the back wall, there was a counter, and above it, a round window facing a playground. There was a tall chair next to the counter, and the young boy who I was previously tutoring sat in the chair, intently watching the children playing outside.
"Professor Vahn... Did you enjoy playing outside when you were my age?" The question quietly stung me in the heart. It wasn't long ago I was assigned to educate the boy and quickly I found that I was the closest thing to a friend he had. He was isolated in a special care room located at the end of the children's wing in the ShinRa building, only venturing out to use the bathroom and perhaps ask for a drink or a snack in recent weeks.
I can't say I didn't feel awful for the boy. After previously working as an assistant to Professor Hojo and helping conduct many genetic experiments, including the successful Jenova Project which had spawned this boy, I was very out of touch with my human side. But being assigned to the one on one care of a child had reminded me of what it was like to feel again. I viewed the boy as a son, and endured every struggle and celebrated every triumph with him. This, was clearly another struggle.
"You'll be able to soon..." I felt ashamed, as I knew that was most likely a lie. The boy had prior experience with other children, but it didn't take much before something went wrong. Not aware of how to control his own strength during a simple game of tag and making a girl cry, or climbing too high in a tree for any of the kids to find him, and feeling asleep, inducing a building wide search and panic. He got along fairly well with them for the most part, and you could even say they accepted him. But there were taunts. His hair, for one. Currently cut neatly into a bowl, there was no denying that the abnormal color called for some of the bigger boys to poke fun at him. Luckily for both them and the child, he was unaware of how easily he could hurt them. There was also the fact that he was kept in the special care ward, which was usually designated for children with disabilities. This often led the children to question what was wrong with him.
"Do you really think so?" He looked at me, bright cyan eyes filled with a hope and childish naivety shining beneath platinum hair. I smiled at him. He smiled back at me, satisfied with that as a response before he turned his attention back to the window.
"Would you like a snack, Sephiroth? Perhaps an apple?" I tried to change the subject.
"Perhaps milk and cookies?" The boy asked excitedly, unaware of the sorrow building within me as it was yet another simple, childish indulgence that Sephiroth was never allowed.
"You know better." I sounded as authoritative as I could. His head dropped a little in response.
"No thank you. I'm not very hungry..." A lie, I knew, but there was little I could do about it.
What seemed like an eternity of silence passed between us before a blue jay landed on the ledge of the window. Sephiroth extended a finger and tapped the glass, alerting the bird of his presence. The bird took flight and descended upon an unsuspecting berry tree. The boy let out a soft laugh, which cause my lips to twitch upward slightly.
"Professor Vahn... Do you think I could ever grow wings...?" My smile left quickly and my throat grew dry at the question. His tiny voice sounded so empty and melancholic, I inwardly cursed ShinRa and Hojo for their inhumanity, along with myself for not having the power to do anything about it. I did all I could to repress these thoughts before giving a vague, albeit quite honest answer.
"Sephiroth, I firmly believe you are capable of anything with the proper training and education, growing wings included."
"Really? And when I fly, I can make people laugh and smile like birds do for me?" He turned back towards me, the childish innocence returning to his eyes as he smiled. I nodded, returning his smile with another.
"Good. I suppose this is all worth it then..." I knew what he meant. His isolation, his lack of real childhood experiences. He was exceptionally bright for his young age. The perfect weapon. The perfect soldier, concerned only with making people happy and smile.
"Then, let's return to our studies, shall we?" It wasn't really a question, and he understood that concept and returned to his desk.