A short piece I worked on for a Mother's Day contest in the deviant art remnant fanclub! I think it's honestly the least evil thing I've ever written for them. It's almost nice. At any rate, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII

Mother's Day Before the Fall

Kadaj let out a roar of frustration worthy of a dragon. For the past hour he'd been growing more and more agitated, and had finally reached the boiling point. He punched the wall ahead of him, cracking the wood and buckling the entire facing, though he didn't quite lose control enough to break it open and ruin the purpose of a house entirely. He whirled away from the wall again, appearing no calmer than he had been before lashing out.

"Kadaj," Yazoo drawled in weary tones, "If you don't stop pacing, I think you'll wear a hole in the floor."

"Is everything okay?" Loz asked, watching his little brother with worry.

"Of course everything's not okay!" Kadaj screamed, whirling on them both with a snarl and stalking towards them.

Yazoo barely blinked at the approach, but Loz scooched back on the bed he'd claimed to press against the wall. Kadaj may have been small, but his rages were much much bigger than even Loz was.

"Don't you know what tomorrow is?" He yelled, hair swinging in front of his face as he leaned forward, trying to intimidate the ever-relaxed Yazoo.

"Saturday," Yazoo answered calmly, his face only inches from Kadaj's snarling one, but still as impassive and calm as ever. "I don't see why that is relevant."

"Idiot!" Kadaj yelled. "Didn't you hear what the President was talking about before we jumped him? Tomorrow is Mother's Day."

The house they were inhabiting fell silent after the proclamation. His final two words hung heavy in the air around them. Even Yazoo's eyes got a little wider as he processed what he'd just heard. Loz let out a little whimper, not entirely sure what 'Mother's Day' was, but very certain they were unprepared for it. They never seemed to be prepared for anything Mother wanted.

"I see," Yazoo finally breathed. "What do we need to do?"

Kadaj straightened, smirking just a little at his success before he face fell back into strained worried lines. He crossed his arms, pacing back out into the center of the room, where both his brothers could see him well as he fretted. He never liked worrying without a proper audience.

"I think I remember that people give their Mother a gift," he muttered, "but I'm not positive."

"It's a working theory," Yazoo mused. "A gift would at least show that we remembered. But what can we give to our mother? She is already all powerful and all knowing."

"And we haven't actually found her yet..." Loz muttered as he scooted forward on the bed again.

Kadaj whirled on him with a snarl of rage and frustration that sent Loz skittering back against the wall with a little sniffle and a muttered apology.

"Don't get mad at Loz," Yazoo scolded mildly. "For once he was saying something sensible. It's an occasion worth celebrating."

"Hey," Loz muttered in annoyance.

"It's worth taking into account," Yazoo continued, ignoring Loz's argument. "Whatever we get her, it must be something of a less physical nature."

"Hn," Kadaj muttered, turning away from them both. "She already has our love, so we can't give her that..."

Loz and Yazoo exchanged a quick glance behind Kadaj's back, but didn't argue out loud. After all, they owed Mother their lives. If they were a little less than in love of how she jerked their baby brother around, it wasn't their place to say it.

"I suppose we could kill some of her enemies," Kadaj mused aloud, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling. "I'm almost certain she'd notice and be pleased..."

"No offense, Kadaj," Yazoo purred, "But we've been trying to kill the only enemy she cares about for quite a while, and have not gotten terribly far."

Kadaj cast a heated glare over his shoulder at Yazoo, and seriously considered beating him into the ground. Unfortunately, the last time Kadaj hurt him, it hadn't been any good. There was nothing fun about beating someone into the ground while they gave you a bored look and refused to struggle.

"Okay, fine," he huffed, turning away again, walking over to the window and running his fingers along the ledge. "Killing brother wouldn't do anyway, since that's something we're going to do for her anyhow, whether it's Mother's Day or not."

"So," Loz said softly, wary to enter the conversation again, "what else does Mother like that we can give her?"

"She likes Sephiroth," Kadaj whispered, his voice only just audible from the window.

"No," Yazoo said firmly. "Not yet."

"It has to happen eventually," Kadaj muttered. "She'll never be happy otherwise."

"But-" Loz took a breath, trying to calm himself down enough that he'd make sense, "but that makes it like big brother. You know, something we're already going to give her anyhow."

"Hn," Kadaj muttered, his hand sliding over the windowsill again."I suppose that's true."

It escaped neither of his brothers how their little one's shoulders drooped in relief once that option had been removed. Yazoo tried to calm his heartbeat, and glanced over to see Loz wiping tears out of his eyes. They were going to have to come up with a way to change Kadaj's mind eventually, to save him from his own piety and love, but it was never the right time to start, and now was definitely not a good opening.

"Maybe we can destroy something for her," Yazoo said after a long moment of silence. "Some physical sign of her imprisonment, or reminder of Sephiroth's defeat."

"Like the statue in Edge!" Loz added happily, a new enthusiasm dawning in him once the topic of destruction came up. "The one they built after Meteor stopped! That would be good, don't you think?"

Kadaj tilted his head, considering. Yazoo watched the gears turn in his mind, and wondered exactly what he was thinking. It was hard to tell. He was never entirely sure how much of Kadaj's silences were actual thought, and how much were Jenova channeling herself into his head.

"That's...Good," Kadaj muttered. "But that statue... It's one of the places they might have hidden her, I think. And if we're going to destroy it we'd need—"

He trailed off again, and turned back towards his brothers slowly, a wide smile crossing his lips. It was not an evil smile—it was a smile of delight and realization, and it made Loz want to cuddle his little brother for hours at a time. He looked so young when he was smiling.

"An army," Kadaj whispered. "More children. Mother loves her children. And there are so many in the city fighting her gift."

"The ones with the stigma?" Yazoo asked. "They aren't true brothers and sisters, though, are they."

"They can be," Kadaj insisted, striding forward to meet Loz, knowing full well his bigger brother was more likely to agree. "I can change them. You'd like that, wouldn't you Loz? More friends and family for you?"

"I," Loz muttered, to busy watching Kadaj's smiling eyes to notice what Yazoo thought of the plan, "I do like kids..."

"Yazoo?" Kadaj asked, whirling on his pretty impassive brother. "You'll bring them to me, won't you? You'll help me give Mother a good gift, won't you?"

Yazoo considered. He wasn't as easily swayed as Loz, and part of him was very uncomfortable with this. Not the kidnapping, or the possible damage to the children, of course. But this would mean making Kadaj even further from himself and Loz. If Kadaj could turn regular children into their brothers, it was one more thing that set him apart from his true family. The people who really loved him, and would someday have to save him from himself and Mother.

Still, he weighed his options, looking Kadaj up and down.

"I'll need a distraction," He murmured at long last. "Something to keep our hero friends busy while I comb the streets."

"I can do that," Loz proclaimed proudly. "I wanted to check the church for mother anyhow, and there's always one of them there now. I'll just start a little fight, cause a little mayhem... Maybe I'll even get to kill someone!"

"And break the church a little," Kadaj chuckled, looking distinctly pleased. "Mother would like that too."

"Alright then," Yazoo murmured. "I suppose the old truck out front will do. I doubt the owner will be missing it. I just hope it's not a stick shift. I do hate stick shifts."

Kadaj walked over to him from Loz's side, and dropped into Yazoo's lap with a satisfied smile. Yazoo rolled his eyes and looped an arm around Kadaj's waist to keep him out of danger of sliding to the floor. The little hellion snuggled up closer, thanking him with nuzzles and kisses pressed to his neck and cheek. Yazoo sighed softly and smiled. After all, pleasing his brother was what he lived to do.

"Hey," Loz said from his bed, rising and moving over. "No fair! I want cuddles."

"Too bad," Yazoo purred, stroking Kadaj's hair with his free hand.

Loz scowled, and Yazoo was not at all surprised when both he and Kadaj were lifted easily into the air and resettled on Loz's lap. Kadaj didn't even bother objecting, and Yazoo himself only let out the faintest huff of aggravation. So long as Loz didn't mess his hair up this time, he could deal with the indignity of being snuggled.

"Where do you want us to come when we're done?" Loz asked Kadaj as their little brother nuzzled in between them both.

"The Forgotten City," Kadaj sighed in pleasure. "Where big brother's precious Ancient was laid to rest. We'll pervert the place he holds dearest. Just like we did when we kicked Buster Sword over."

"So clever," Yazoo praised softly, stroking his brother's hair gently. "We'll be there. I'll bring as many children as will come."

"You mean as many as you can catch," Loz corrected.

"No, as many as will come," Yazoo restated, tilting his chin up a little. "I don't do brute force, Loz. That's your thing. We will catch far more with honey than with vinegar. Promise them a cure, and they'll flock to me."

"Now who's clever," Kadaj chuckled, settling in their combined hold. "Tomorrow. We'll make it happen tomorrow. For tonight, rest. Both of you are tired."

"So are you," Loz muttered, dropping a kiss to their little one's forehead.

Kadaj gave him a weary hiss, but didn't argue as Loz shifted them all, tilting them over to lie on the bed instead of pile in each other's laps. Yazoo grunted in frustration when Kadaj landed on top of him, but dropped it, unwilling to start a fight with Kadaj so close to an actual rest for the first time in days. The little sylph snuggled in between him and Loz, worming his way in between them so there was not an inch separating the three.

Yazoo and Loz both sighed in quiet pleasure. This close, they could feel their hearts beating together, and pick up on one another's breathing. It was unspeakably calming to feel at one with the other pieces of themselves. Kadaj fell asleep first, and Yazoo stroked his hair lightly while Loz watched them both, propped up on one elbow even as he snuggled as close as he could.

"Yaz?" He asked quietly, drawing his brother's attention. "We're not really gunna let him turn into Sephiroth, are we?"

"Shh," Yazoo scolded, checking to make sure Kadaj had slept through Loz's stupid question. Kadaj slept like a rock between them, breathing deep and even. If he had noticed, he was doing a remarkable job of acting like he had not.

"Of course not, you moron," Yazoo finally hissed once he was satisfied Kadaj would not awaken. "He'd never actually leave us. He speaks of love for Mother, and how good Sephiroth is, but he says it because he thinks he is supposed to. He loves us. More than anything. When the time comes, he'll figure that out."

"Yeah," Loz murmured, looking back to their baby brother. "Yeah, of course."

"So go to sleep," Yazoo muttered, closing his eyes and snuggling in beside Kadaj. "We have a long day ahead of us."

Loz bedded down on Kadaj's other side, wrapping a big arm around both his slender brothers, his hand resting lightly on Yazoo's back. Yazoo allowed himself a pleased sigh and closed his eyes. All the worry and possible problems aside, tomorrow was going to be a very exciting Mother's Day.