Alrighty, here's my oneshot. This is for you misumisu84. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Disclaimer: All I own is a copy of Final Fantasy IV (it's a classic, don't say it isn't!!) See? I don't even own a copy of the game FF VII...what makes you think I'd own the characters?
Warning: There is mild yaoi in this story, a fair amount of angst (sorry misu), gross disuse of the words Shinra and SOLDIER, and some serious OoCness that will more than likely result in me getting mobbed and maimed by rabid FF fans...gimme a break, I haven't played any of the FF series (except IV) in forever!
Note: the sections in italics are flashbacks...just FYI...
--
"Why do you have to leave? Why can't you just stay?" He bent his head, hiding the tears streaming down his face. The distant rumble of thunder accompanied by the thrashing rain seemed to reflect the inner turmoil of the grieving child.
"It's not going to be forever…I'll come back for you. I promise."
Large, green eyes, translucent with tears, stared up through rain-soaked locks of pure silver. "But what if you never come back?"
His companion took his trembling hands, his skin surprisingly warm and soft…oh so soft. "Of course I'll come back. Nothing, living or dead, human or otherwise, will keep us apart."
After those words had been spoken, the two boys were separated, one sent off with a stranger, the other forced back into the looming building behind.
"No! Let go!" he broke free and ran towards the road, but they were already gone. "ZACK!" the storm drown out his anguished cry, as if even Nature herself were against a final goodbye.
--
Dropping his bloodied sword to the ground, Zack sighed, letting his weight fall heavily against a nearby stone. He was sick to death of fighting. He'd never wanted to be a SOLDIER, but sometimes, life just threw shit at you that you had no choice but to take. Like a birthright. His personal inheritance? Become an obedient puppet set loose upon an unsuspecting enemy and ordered to not return until said enemy was dispatched.
Closing his eyes tiredly, he brushed back several strands of sable hair. Despite the fact that he was exhausted, covered in blood, and injured, however superficially, a small smile curved his lips. This was his last assignment. Finally, after ten years, he could return home.
Could return to the one he'd left behind so long ago.
Even now, he could still see that pale face, housing a soft, shy smile. Silky smooth platinum hair and endlessly deep green eyes that reflected wisdom far beyond the keeper's age.
Zack slowly opened his eyes, turning them up to the clearing sky above. "I promised I'd come back for you…" he whispered, blue eyes closing once more. "Sephiroth…"
--
"We aren't supposed to be in here," Sephiroth cautioned as he followed Zack down the winding corridors of the only wing in the lab they weren't allowed to enter.
"But that's what's so fun about it!" Zack insisted with a grin. Sephiroth shook his head, casting nervous glances around as they continued onward. "Besides, we live here…we should be able to go wherever we want!"
Orphaned young, the boys living at Shinra Enterprises were collected from every town imaginable for genetic testing. Because nobody wanted them, they were essentially free guinea pigs.
Sephiroth jumped at a strange noise behind them. Eyes widened in alarm, the silver-haired boy hid behind Zack, his wings, one black, the other white, folding flat against his small back. A strange side effect of the tests they underwent as a group, Sephiroth was the only one who had sprouted the odd appendages, gaining him more attention from the scientists here. Zack thought they were cute, and had taken to calling Sephiroth his 'little angel', which was true even before the wings.
"Scardey-cat," Zack teased.
Glaring, Sephiroth grumbled back, "Porcupine head,"
Zack ran a hand through his hair. "It's not THAT spiky, jeez."
Seeing that the coast was still clear, Sephiroth relaxed and they went on with their investigation of the internal workings of the Shinra building.
Their adventure was short lived, however, as they were caught by none other than the head scientist, Dr. Hojo, himself.
His thin face and height on the young boys, along with his aura of malice, only intensified his frightening presence. Black eyes stared down at them from behind small spectacles, perched almost daintily on his angular nose. His long, dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, as usual. The floor length, white lab coat he always sported swished around his legs as he circled the two of them.
"Looks like I've got trespassers," he murmured. Zack stood his ground, refusing to be intimidated by the older man, while Sephiroth whimpered like a babe at the sound of Dr. Hojo's voice. "Care to explain?"
Zack opened his mouth to answer, when Sephiroth came out of hiding for the first time since the Doctor's appearance. "It was my fault, Master Hojo. I talked Zack into coming with me."
Hojo seemed a little too happy with the confession. A disturbing smile stretched across his face as he replied, "Oh, really?"
"No! It wasn't him, it was all—''
"He's lying!" Sephiroth interrupted, glaring over at a stunned Zack. "I figured we should be able to go where we wanted, since we live here."
The three stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at each other silently. Suddenly, Hojo reached out and, bracing one hand on Sephiroth's right shoulder, tore the white wing clean off.
Sephiroth let out an agonized scream as he fell to his knees, bright red blood spilling down his back and pooling on the floor, the splash of color stood out in a sickening brilliance against the pure, snow-white of the feathers fluttering about the small boy. Hojo chuckled darkly turning away from a sobbing Sephiroth and a gaping Zack, the white wing still clutched in his hand.
"Let that be a lesson to you. Nobody defies my orders."
--
Zack awoke with a start, blinking away the images still lingering in his mind. Images from the past. The past he'd shared with Sephiroth. That fateful day, when their relationship had surpassed friendly brothers to…more.
At the age of only twelve, the two of them had found in each other something they'd never before known.
Love.
Sitting up with a groan, Zack tossed his blankets aside and stared out the window. The sky was slowly brightening as dawn approached. After weeks of traveling, he'd finally made it back home. Well, what little home he'd known. Rubbing away the last of the nightmarish memory from his eyes, Zack forced himself to get dressed.
It had occurred to him only a few days ago that Sephiroth may not be here. Who knew what Hojo had done with him after the two had been separated? There was every possibility that he was long gone.
Every possibility that he was dead.
But Zack considered himself an optimist, and even if Sephiroth wasn't here, he would find out where he'd gone, and if he couldn't do that…well, he'd just have to start searching the world over. He wouldn't stop until they had been reunited.
After all, he'd made a promise, hadn't he?
--
Once Hojo was gone, Zack helped Sephiroth to his feet, leading the weakened, pain-stricken boy back down the corridor to the room they shared with a dozen others. He gently laid Sephiroth on his stomach on an empty bed, tearing away his blood-soaked shirt to reveal a gaping wound just beneath Sephiroth's right shoulder blade.
Zack set to cleaning the bloody hole, fighting not to gag at the pained cries Sephiroth made throughout. It was physically sickening to Zack that he was causing his best friend so much pain.
"W-why did you do that? You knew he'd do something…horrible," Zack's voice trembled slightly, though his hands remained steady as he began to suture the wound closed. "It was MY fault…it should have been MY punishment."
Hissing, Sephiroth fisted his hands in the sheets. He squeezed his eyes closed against the burning in his back. "I couldn't let him hurt you…" Sephiroth whispered thickly, fresh tears beginning to slide down his face.
Zack finished closing Sephiroth's injury, and he quickly cleaned up what he could before pressing a gauze pad gently on the fresh stitches. Another result of the genetic experimentation done on them was an amazing capability to regenerate at incredible speed, without the aid of healing magic. It wouldn't be long before Sephiroth was healed.
"Silly, he can't hurt me," Zack scoffed brushing aside silver-hair, several strands stained red. Sephiroth carefully shifted positions so his head rested in Zack's lap. Something odd stirred in Zack's chest at the action. All they had known was this place, the pain and fear, but they had always had each other. He and Sephiroth had bonded through the years, that brotherly care for one another had kept them somewhat sane throughout the torture they endured.
But now, something different, a new emotion, was filling him, and Zack couldn't quite figure out what it was.
"Yes he can…if he can hurt me, he can hurt you," Sephiroth countered weakly. "But he won't, not if I can help it."
"Why would you do that for me?" Zack asked, his curiosity peaked at the severity of Sephiroth's declaration.
Sitting up slowly, Sephiroth stared into Zack's eyes, some of his hair falling over his shoulders and covering his face. "Because…"
"That's not a reason," he teased, his smile faltering as that same emotion from before roared to life.
Sephiroth suddenly tackled him to the bed, and Zack's eyes went wide in surprise as warm, soft lips met his in an awkward, but still sweet, kiss.
As Sephiroth pulled away, Zack blinked up at his shadowed face. "Wha—''
"That's my reason," Sephiroth said before Zack could finish asking.
The silence stretched between them, and it was unnerving.
"Uh," Zack coughed, feeling his face grow hot. "Good reason, heh."
Green eyes met blue as they shared another moment of silence, before both of them erupted into laughter.
"Porcupine-head," Sephiroth joked, pushing Zack off the bed. Zack held tight, bringing Sephiroth to the floor with him. "Hey!"
"Anywhere I go, you're going too, Seph." Zack's laughter died off at the serious expression that settled on Sephiroth's face.
"Do you mean that, Zack?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Wouldn't be any fun without you, anyways."
The wide smile lit up Sephiroth's entire being and Zack couldn't help but smile back and bask in the warmth radiated from that rare show of happiness.
--
"Why am I not surprised?" Zack asked no one in particular as he gazed at the skeletal structure that was once the Shinra building. The remains were scorched and crumbling, leading him to believe that the almighty empire had lost to a pitiful fire.
Boots crunching through the fallen boards and debris, Zack peeked into every corner that still stood. So little was left, and he felt an absurd urge to laugh at the fact that he'd been afraid of a mere building, nothing more, growing up.
Then again, it was more the man who owned the building, than the building itself that had terrified him so. That had played a gigantic role into creating the man standing here now.
Kicking a solitary stone with a huff, Zack crossed his arms and glared up at the sky. "So much for raiding their computers to find Seph…" it had been the source he'd hoped to exploit, but it had gone up in flames, apparently five years ago. Five years too late. Damn it.
He bent down on one knee, plucking a random splinter of glass out of the ground with a grimace. Zack had no clue where to start looking for Sephiroth now. The only ones who knew he even existed were the people here, and now they were gone. He could ask around, but he doubted that would help much. If there was one thing Seph was good at, it was staying hidden. His stealth was unmatched. If his angel didn't want to be found, Zack wasn't going to find him.
Dropping the glass, Zack sighed and prepared to rise, just as something cool, hard, and sharp was pressed against his throat.
He held his hands up, slowly climbing to his feet. Whoever was holding him at sword-point obviously didn't know who they were dealing with.
Zack elbowed the person behind him in the chest, whirling around and drawing his sword at the same time, just barely managing to block the strike flying towards him in retaliation.
The force of the connecting swords traveled up his arms, but Zack grit his teeth and refused to let go as his arms stung briefly. Locked together in combat, just how he'd planned his homecoming…
"Listen buddy, I don't want to have to hurt—Sephiroth?!"
His opponent froze, green eyes widening slightly as he straightened. He kept his sword up, looking Zack up and down.
If this was Sephiroth, the years had changed him. And not for the better. His hair was longer, the color still the same, his face was sharper, and those big green eyes that once shone with warmth and laughter, were narrowed and hardened with spite, anger. His single black wing still sprouted from his back. Several feathers were missing, leaving wide gaps, only adding to his sinister, avenging angel appearance.
"Zack?" Sephiroth finally said hesitantly.
Nodding, Zack watched in amazement as Sephiroth dropped his sword and fell to his knees, hair falling forward to cover his hung head, a lot like that day when Sephiroth had lost his wing.
"I-I waited for you…you said you would come back…but you didn't and…" Zack knelt down, pulling Sephiroth into his arms.
"It's alright, I'm here now."
"I thought…thought you'd forgotten about me. Thought that—''
"Shh, I didn't forget. How could I?" Zack gently lifted Sephiroth's face, wiping away his tears. "You're all I thought about, you and everything we went through together. I never forgot."
Sephiroth tentatively pressed their lips together, and Zack tangled his fingers in silky silver hair, holding tight. They were finally back together again, after ten years, they were reunited at last.
--
They lay together that night, bodies entwined under the stars as they reveled in their love, in each other.
"I killed him,"
Zack started at the stark confession from Sephiroth. "Killed who?"
"Hojo…I killed him." Sephiroth turned his face away, unable to look into Zack's gentle blue eyes. "After you left, he only got worse. He wouldn't leave me alone, and I finally had enough. I walked into his office and killed him…I don't really remember how…all I know as that I killed him, then burned the building to the ground to make sure he never did to others what he did to us."
Silence settled between them like a cement block, and Zack strived to find some way to break through it.
"Well…at least one of us got the satisfaction, eh?" he tried to joke, but Sephiroth didn't reciprocate, just shook his head.
"I didn't enjoy it. I hated myself for killing him and who knows how many others that night. But as time went on, and I kept doing just that, killing people, it somehow got easier…and I lost myself."
Zack sighed and pulled Sephiroth close, kissing his forehead. "That, I can relate to. I didn't enjoy what I was doing, but it's hard to keep a heart when you take so many lives. After a while, you just have to let go of your emotions…otherwise, you'd go insane with guilt." He tenderly stroked Sephiroth's wing, smiling absently as it twitched. "But that doesn't make you a bad person…it just makes you human." Zack chuckled at that. "Well, what little humanity we can claim."
Sephiroth didn't seem to be listening, and Zack racked his brain to find something that would remove that stricken look from those emerald eyes.
"You kept me alive all these years, you know?" he whispered, suppressing a thrill as Sephiroth stared up at him. "You did. Whenever I was out there, sacrificing myself for my orders, I thought of you, thought about this moment…being back by your side, and somehow, it gave me the strength to go on." He scoffed. "Sappy, I know."
He was both pleased and surprised to see a familiar, wide smile radiating the warmth of love on Sephiroth's face. And just like before, Zack couldn't help but smile back.
"I love you," he murmured, leaning down to kiss his angel.
"And I love you,"
"You'd better," Zack threatened with mock severity.
Sephiroth rolled his eyes and fisted a hand in Zack's black spikes. "Porcupine-head,"
"Just as long as I'm your porcupine, I don't care." Zack laughed.
Smirking, Sephiroth yanked Zack back down for another kiss, feeling for the first time in years that he was home.
Aws, wasn't that just the sappiest thing you've ever read? Lolz. Anyways, I hope you liked it Misu, it IS for you, after all!
I'd like to thank the internet for having such an awesome collection of pictures that helped to refresh my memory with the characters (especially Hojo), my cat for refusing to leave my lap so I was forced to sit and finish, the smexy pic of Zack and Seph on my desktop for keeping me in the mindset, and Sonata Arctica for creating beautiful music that inspired me to keep going, even though I had a tough time getting this started.
But most of all, I'd like to thank misumisu84 for writing such wonderful, fluffy, hilarious stories and showing me a whole new world of yaoi/mpreg and Final Fantasy I'd never before known. Thanks for simply existing! (hugs)