-'Watch Over You'-
-A 'Final Fantasy VII' songfic-
=^w^=
Sephiroth rather loved it when he didn't have to show up and make an intimidating appearance around Shinra. On those days, he loved to curl up in bed, sleep in until whenever he felt like it, then while away the time either reading or sleeping some more. Occasionally he did a little housework, such as cleaning the floors or doing a little laundry, and sometimes (this was a secret that those who knew would take to their graves) he did a little baking. More often than not his days off came during the cold season, when many people were struck with colds or other illnesses; it prevented him from catching the things himself. He wasn't dumb.
Today, however, things were a little different.
"Sephiroth! Get up, lazy bones!" Groaning, the General pulled his pillow over his head and rolled away from Tora's high-pitched call. Tora pouted and put her fists on her hips, staring at the lump in the bed and coming up with a plan to get him out of bed. A smirk suddenly split her face, and she dashed out of the room.
"Is she gone?" Sephiroth whispered to himself. When he couldn't hear anything, he sighed with relief and settled down again.
"Really Zack, there are huge piles of leaves outside!"
"Really?" There was a pause, "You're right, Tora! You know what that means?"
"Sure do! I'll meet you outside in ten minutes!" Sephiroth suddenly flew out of bed and skidded down the hall to the living room, where Tora was putting the phone back onto the charging station and laughing loudly. She looked over the arm of the couch when she saw a flash of silver hair swing past her eyes.
"Hi there Sephiroth," she said cheerily, "Zack's going to meet me outside so we can jump in the leaf piles."
"Not unless you're going outside in something warmer." the General replied, pointing to the Wutaiian's sleeping apparel. Tora clicked her tongue and giggled again.
"I know that, Sephiroth, but how else was I going to get you out of bed and outside with us? Angeal will probably be there too."
"You...planned this?"
"Well...not exactly. When I saw the leaves outside when I woke up I knew that I had to go jumping in them, but because Cloud's busy this morning with cadetting I can't go with him, so I rang Zack, put the phone on speaker and let him know about the leaves." Sephiroth had to give the girl credit; she was very resourceful when it came to getting what she wanted. He supposed that the Turks had some influence in that, but the rest had to be natural.
"Clever girl. Now go get into some warmer clothes." He pointed down the hall resolutely. Tora rolled her eyes and crawled off the couch, wrapping the General's waist in a hug before speeding away.
Sephiroth watched her hair flick around the corner into her bedroom and sank onto the couch, exhaling a long breath. Some days he just felt so old...
=^w^=
Leaves are on the ground, fall has come
Blue skies turning grey like my love
I tried to carry you and make you whole
But it was never enough; I must go
=^w^=
"New gloves, Tora?"
"Cloud got them for me last week. Come on, last one into the leaves is a Tonberry!" As the two younger ones ran toward the multicoloured leaves Sephiroth and Angeal relaxed against a tree, the silver-haired man reading and the black-haired man keeping an active eye on the two busy engaging in a furious leaf fight.
"You know, we were like that once." Angeal said after a while. Sephiroth gave a non-committal grunt and turned a page.
"All young and full of life..." Another grunt, another page turn.
"I wonder what's going to happen to the two of them when we go." The page ripped with a painful sound.
"I beg your pardon?" Green eyes suddenly gazed at the Commander, who chuckled with the General's reaction.
"Come on Sephiroth, we are still human," Angeal looked to the side at Sephiroth, "We will die eventually." The silver-haired man looked over at Zack and Tora, where he could see Zack had picked up Tora and dropped her into a large pile of leaves, Tora screaming with glee and surfacing with leaves stuck in her hair. She then grabbed Zack's hand and pulled him into the pile, further scattering the leaves all over the ground.
He'd never thought of himself out of Tora's life before. Not being able to watch her smile at everything that passed, not being able to offer up his time to teach her new words and phrases, not being able to console her when she came back from testing with Hojo...not being able to watch her grow up...
"I've never thought about it before," he admitted quietly, "Is everything I'm doing now enough?" Angeal remained quiet and waited for Sephiroth to steer his words down a direction.
"All the things I'll miss seeing...your transition into adulthood, your first heartache, your first driving lesson...I promised you I'd be there for you..." The black-haired man sighed and leaned back, listening to the silver-haired man ramble off a few more things. There were speculations around Shinra about the relationship between the intimidating General and the sunshine Wutaiian, but he hadn't quite realised that it could be labelled 'family'.
"Sephiroth," Sephiroth looked up from his monologue at Angeal, "You don't need to think about it right now. It will come inevitably, but for now focus on the important things."
"And what would you suggest I focus on?" he asked.
"Tora's just disappeared."
"What?" Scrambling to his feet, Sephiroth cast his eyes over the whole ground but only spying Zack everywhere he looked. A large pile of leaves stood beside him, the wind picking up some of the top ones every so often and blowing them away.
More leaves suddenly rained down on the two First Class SOLDIER. "Man, that was funny!" Both men looked up into the branches of the tree they were underneath, spying Tora on the thick branch above their heads laughing madly. She carefully flipped around the branch and landed in between the two of them, plopping onto the grass and taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Nice one, Tora!" Zack said as he strolled over, "I can't believe it worked."
"Neither can I. I thought for sure you would've heard me climbing the tree, Sephiroth." The silver-haired man sat back down and pulled the Wutaiian over his lap, her face toward the sky as she slowly came down from her adrenaline rush. Zack sat down on Angeal's other side and rested his head on the burly man's shoulder, closing his eyes almost instantly. The two First Class SOLDIER shared a knowing look over the younger ones' heads, said younger ones fast asleep and dreaming of more leaf fights.
=^w^=
And who is going to save you when I'm gone?
And who'll watch over you when I'm gone?
=^w^=
"Cloud!" The blond cadet turned when he heard his name being called out, catching the Wutaiian in a hug as she barrelled into him like a bull at a matador.
"You're all covered in leaves," he said, plucking one off his uniform, "Were you outside earlier?"
"Yep, with Zack. We somehow got Sephiroth and Angeal to go with us too." Tora replied.
"So where are they now?"
"Angeal went to go polish his sword, Zack went to go see Miss Gainsborough and Sephiroth went home because he'd used up all his energy watching out for me." Cloud chuckled and led the girl into the mess hall and to the food line, where other cadets were waiting impatiently to be served up whatever was on the menu today.
"This stuff stinks," Tora fought the urge to hold her nose as they passed something that bubbled unpleasantly, "What is it?"
"It's stew. Would you like some?" The smiling serving lady held out a bowl filled with the stew, the contents of the bowl still bubbling unpleasantly.
"No thanks, I'll stick to what my friend's having." Quickly grabbing a salad sandwich and a bottle of water, she followed Cloud to a free table and sat down opposite him, shuddering when they were out of the line of sight of the food line.
"That stuff looked horrible!" she gasped, "How can you guys eat that stuff?"
"You're too used to eating with Sephiroth." Cloud took a bite out of his own sandwich and chewed for a few moments, swallowing and looking at the Wutaiian, "So how were the leaves?"
"Dry, really dry. I thought Midgar autumn was supposed to be wet."
"Autumn? You mean fall?"
"Autumn, fall, it's the same season. Zack threw me into a large pile we'd made, so in revenge I dragged him in after me." Biting into her sandwich, Tora made a face but swallowed her mouthful, "I hate beetroot." Cloud laughed and took a swig from his juice bottle, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine. Turning his head slightly, he could've sworn he saw a pair of glowing green eyes at the entrance to the mess hall, but by the time he blinked they were gone.
"Cloud? Are you there, Cloud?" The cadet returned his attention back to Tora, who had picked out the beetroot from her sandwich and wrapped it up in the plastic that the sandwich had come in.
"Yeah Tora, I'm fine." As he resumed eating and talking, he couldn't help but feel that those eyes were looking at him for a reason...and it wasn't because they were angry or jealous.
=^w^=
You say you care for me and hide it well
How can you love someone and not yourself?
=^w^=
Leaves whipped past the living room window but both Sephiroth and Tora ignored it in favour of their current activities: Sephiroth was sprawled on the couch reading, Tora was lying on her stomach on the floor practising her English. As she scribbled out a paragraph, she handed the sheet of paper to the silver-haired man, who was waiting with a red pen to mark out her errors.
"You've been working on your words all afternoon," he commented finally, "When do you take a break?"
"When I get hungry or thirsty. Speaking of which..." Standing up, the Wutaiian stretched her arms above her head and moved into the kitchen, intent on finding something to sate her cravings. Sephiroth put his book on his chest, open at his page, and watched her go. A faint fluttering in his chest made the words Angeal said to him that morning replay in his head:
"Come on Sephiroth, we are still human...we will die eventually."
Death was inevitable, he knew that; hearing the latest reports from intelligence made him wince at how delicate human life really was. What he never found out was what happened to the families of those left behind: did they receive compensation (which sounded so minimal)? Did they receive anything at all? Those questions suddenly burned a hole in his heart, right to the very core. What if he were to die tomorrow; who would look after Tora then? Would she trust them as much as she trusted him? Would she like them?
"Okay, it took me a while, but I finally found the popcorn bag I know you keep hidden from me," Tora came back into the room, carrying a large bowl of popcorn, "Sephiroth, are you alright?"
"Hm?"
"You look like you're going to cry." Shaking his head, the silver-haired man put his book on the floor and beckoned for the Wutaiian to come closer. Tora complied with Sephiroth's request, putting the popcorn bowl on the glass coffee table and taking his hand. Sephiroth smiled lightly and gently pulled the girl into a hug, letting her get comfortable on his chest before releasing a sigh.
"What's wrong, Sephiroth?" Tora asked.
"There is nothing wrong, Tora. I just felt like being spontaneous, is all." Shrugging, Tora laid her head back down on his shoulder and kept stealing pieces of popcorn occasionally. Sephiroth gently ran his nose along the parting in the girl's hair and gently inhaled her scent, a combination of cinnamon and green tea. He didn't want to tell her he was scared for her future, a future he was uncertain of; that would just scare the poor child. Instead he settled for hugging her closer and feeling her heart beat against his chest.
"Sephiroth, I'm not going anywhere," Tora giggled as his arms tightened, "I can promise you that, above everything else that I say."
"I know." It's me who will be the one to go.
=^w^=
And who is going to save you when I'm gone?
And who'll watch over you when I'm gone?
=^w^=
When the night was quiet and the dim light from the street was the only thing that filtered through the curtains on the window, Sephiroth quietly climbed out of bed and padded down the hall toward Tora's bedroom. Pushing open the door, he spied the Wutaiian fast asleep, one arm curled under her head and the other holding onto a golden Chocobo plushie Zack had brought her back from the Gold Saucer when he was out on holiday. It was her right arm that bound the toy to her chest, her experiment scars trailing around her bicep and visible because she'd bathed before bed so she'd taken off the bandage.
Why she didn't put it back on made him curious.
"You are a strong girl, Tora..." Sephiroth sat down on the bed and looked at her sleeping face, "but I can tell that when you fall, you will fall hard. Your shadows will eat you alive." Tora gave no verbal response, instead shifting slightly to pull some of her hair out from underneath the pillow.
"Why can't I protect you forever? Gaia knows you deserve someone who will care for you the way you deserve to be cared for. You need someone who will be waiting for you at the end of every day with their arms open and their ears open ready to hear your stories.
"I know I won't last forever, but I do wonder who will take my place when I finally do leave your side. Know this, Tora: I will never willingly leave you. They would have to kill me first." Sephiroth leaned closer to the slumbering form of the Wutaiian, brushing stray sections of her hair from her cheek. His fingers then reached down to her scars, where they traced each one in a delicate fashion before lifting away and supporting him as he sat there, hoping that he would always be with her no matter what life threw at them.
Something dripped onto his cheek, and Sephiroth reached up to the small patch of wet. Was he...crying? The most revered General of the entirety of Shinra's forces, crying? As more droplets fell onto his cheeks, Sephiroth was suddenly hit with a startling realisation:
He was acting in Tora's best interest the way a father would protect his child.
"Maybe there is some good in our arrangement after all..." Casting his eyes to the window, the General watched as the first snow of the season fluttered down toward the ground, "But just like each season gives way for the other, so too I will give way for someone else." He looked down at Tora, "and you, Tora, shall take my place. Honour my memory." Brushing his lips over her pale olive cheek, Sephiroth stood and silently left the room, the small glittering bracelet around Tora's right wrist the only testament to his presence ever there.
=^w^=
And when I'm gone who'll break your fall?
Who will you blame?
I can't go on and let you lose it all
It's more than I can take
Who'll ease your pain? Ease your pain...
=^w^=
All that filled the air of Nibelheim was the crackling of flames and the dying cries of the townspeople, but Sephiroth paid that no mind as he strolled through the town square, Masamune in his left hand dripping slightly. A loud crack signalled the beam of a roof falling into the fire below, while somewhere to his right there was the cursing of an elderly woman before she could hold her head up no more.
"Come on kid, you need to get out of here now!"
"I'm not leaving them!"
"I'm not leaving you to burn here! Come on!" Turning his head, Sephiroth spied someone pulling a child out of the burning wreckage in a similar fashion one might pull a stubborn Chocobo to a water hole. The child kept trying to pull himself free but the grip on his arm was too strong.
"I'm not leaving my mom and dad!" he yelled at the someone, "I need to get them to safety."
"They stopped being your mother and father when they were killed! If you don't come with me then whatever did that to your parents will do the same to you, too!" the someone stubbornly retorted. Green eyes widened slightly; what was Tora doing here? His battle sense kicking in, Sephiroth changed direction and headed toward their voices.
"No..." The child finally let himself accept the death of his parents and collapsed into the Wutaiian's arms, sobbing his heart out. Tora gently stroked his head, but quickly pushed him behind her when she heard the silver-haired man's footsteps over the fire.
"Kid, get out of here," she growled, one hand going to the staff piece she held at the back of her waist, "Take this with you and get help." She pressed her cell phone into his hands, and the boy looked at her.
"But...what about you?" he asked, his brown eyes wide and on her opponent, "By the way, it's Ethan."
"I'll be alright, Ethan. Just get out of here!" Nodding, the boy did as he was told, fleeing from the area before the silver-haired man could get to him. Tora narrowed her eyes at Sephiroth and pulled out her three staff pieces, quickly assembling them in case he did decide to initiate an attack. She didn't have to wait long; Masamune executed a wide sweep aimed at her stomach, but she quickly dodged it and cast a Thunder spell as a countermeasure. Sephiroth merely stepped to the side and swung out with his sword again, the long blade blocked by the metal staff.
"You're fighting me," he smirked, "I thought you trusted me."
"The Sephiroth I trusted is no longer within that body. Whoever the hell you are, get away from me!" Another Thunder spell hit Sephiroth in the chest, sending him stumbling back a few paces. Tora saw her opportunity and swung her staff up as if it were a sword ready to bring it down, but Masamune was too fast; it pierced her right shoulder through, her blood slowly leaking from the wound.
"It seems that the proud tiger has fallen..." The Wutaiian growled as she was forced to her knees out of pain, "I'm sure that your captors will have plenty of fun when they find you here."
"I trusted you...with my life...you treated me like I was your daughter, and in return I gave you nothing but trust. What happened to 'honour my memory'?" Again, green eyes widened, "Yes, I heard you that night. I knew you were there but I pretended to be asleep to hear your thoughts. You were the one whom I felt closest to, but now I see that my trust was ill-placed." Tora allowed her torso to fall backward onto the cold ground, the long sword squelching out of her shoulder in the process. Gold eyes looked up toward the sky, where she could see tiny snowflakes trying to battle past the heat of the flames to rest on the ground, but their efforts were in vain, "Is that all I was to you? A snowflake to your fire?" The silver-haired man pulled Masamune back and walked forward, kneeling down and helping the dazed girl into a sitting position against a stone wall. He reached for her right wrist, the bracelet glimmering in the firelight.
"Every snowflake melts, but in turn it helps to create something bigger. Your time is coming, Tora," Pulling a small vial out of his jacket, Sephiroth opened the Wutaiian's mouth and gently coaxed it down her throat. As Tora's eyes slipped closed from fatigue and blood loss, the last thing she heard before darkness took her was, "Honour my memory."
=^w^=
And who is going to save you when I'm gone?
And who'll watch over you?
And who will be your strength when I'm not strong?
Who'll watch over you when I've gone away?
=^w^=
"Tora! Tora, wake up!"
"Shiva came last night! It's been snowing!" Groggily the orphanage owner sat up in bed, immediately regretting leaving the warmth of her blankets because, damn, it was freezing. Looking at her window, she saw that indeed there had been snow last night; the small snow piles came a third of the way up the window panes. More snow littered the orphanage grounds, the three Chocobos having disappeared inside their pens to escape the chill.
"Alright guys, go get organised for breakfast and we'll see who wants to play in the snow." Cheering, Justin and Nero ran out of the room and down the stairs, hollering for everyone to wake up and get ready for breakfast. Laughing quietly, Tora clambered out of bed and wrapped a fluffy purple dressing gown around herself and met all the children in the dining room, every single one of them fidgeting excitedly.
"So I assume you guys have all seen the snow?" she asked, earning her a chorus of 'Yes' from the children.
"Can we go play in it after breakfast?" asked Ryan.
"As long as you guys all wear your winter clothes." The loud cheer that came after the orphanage owner's response almost drowned out the sound of the knocking at the front door. Tora went to answer the knocks, discovering it to be several well-wrapped friends and two children that looked like they were wearing one of everything they owned.
"Hi Tora!" said Marlene, her voice muffled by the thick scarf tied around her neck.
"Morning, everyone. We were just about to have breakfast." As everyone shuffled inside to escape the cold, the orphanage dog Zack padded downstairs and into the dining room, sniffing around everyone's feet in the hope of scoring some kind of tidbit.
"Breakfast is over, let's go!" Ethan led the charge of children back upstairs so they could get their winter clothes on, leaving the adults to follow them and keep them in line.
"It was this time of year..." Tora whispered as everyone left, "The first snow of the season...and just like the changing of the seasons came the change in him." She looked out the window toward the Chocobo pen, almost envisioning it up in flames and her younger self and a silver-haired man exchanging blows, snowflakes desperately trying to ease the tension in the air.
"Tora?" She turned around to face Cloud, "Everyone's ready to go."
"Give me a few minutes and I'll go get my own clothes on." As she brushed past the blond, he reached out and touched her right shoulder, silently conveying unspoken words through the bond they shared. Tora looked back over her shoulder into bright blue eyes and merely nodded, placing her own hand over his.
"Want to talk about it?" asked Cloud.
"It has to do with Nibelheim...and Sephiroth..." Tora replied, "The memories have resurfaced and it's all I can do not to cry in front of everyone." Cloud stepped closer and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.
"Everything will be alright." he murmured. Nodding, the orphanage owner rubbed his hand as it moved and let a few tears fall, half-wishing that the silver-haired man she once knew from long ago would knock at her door and erase her bad memories.
Some days it felt like she was falling in Nibelheim all over again, but knowing that both Cloud and her memories of Sephiroth would be there to catch her made the falling all that easier.
=^w^=
Snow is on the ground, winter's come
You long to hear my voice but I'm long gone
=^w^=
DISCLAIMER: The disclaimer applies to the song 'Watch Over You' – Alter Bridge – the characters and settings of the 'Final Fantasy VII' series – SquareEnix – and Tora Altona and the Lost Pathways Orphanage – me.