Uuuuum... Don't hate me...
This just came to mind while I was trying to write, and I decided to type it out. Follows 'Understanding', but can be read alone. *shrug*
If anyone has actually been following my LJ then they'll know that I'm still working on my other stuff, I'm just struggling a little. Chapter 6 of 'Unwound' is really long...
"Is Cloud your daddy?" a little Zachary Fair inquired curiously to his new silver haired playmate. Both boys were crouched in the sand drawing aimless little doodles with sticks.
"No, I don't have a father," a young Sephiroth told his new little friend. Cloud had saved him from Shin-Ra, taken down the entire HQ building; killed the President, most of the board members, and Professor Hojo. He was Sephiroth's savior.
"If he's not your daddy, then who is he?" Zack asked, ever curious.
Sephiroth thought hard on the question. Cloud had told him not to say anything about Shin-Ra, or about Hojo. There was only one real way of thinking about it, "He's a hero," he told Zack softly.
Both children, the younger and the older, looked up from their spot in the sand, watching Cloud talk to Mr. and Mrs. Fair over tea. The blonde seemed more relaxed than Sephiroth had seen him in a long time, and it made the boy smile.
"What's a 'hero'?" Zack inquired again, already preoccupied with his drawing in the sand.
"A hero is," Sephiroth hesitated, remembering what he could of the battle waged on his behalf, "someone willing to put their life on the line for the safety of others. Someone who will do everything in their power to make sure that you're safe and away from harm. They go through terrible pains for you, and never tell you it's your fault… Kind of, like, a martyr… A hero is someone that people look up to." Catlike green eyes glazed over as he recalled the blood soaked blonde carrying him away from the rubble. Away from a life of torture and pain.
Zack, being a child, didn't understand Sephiroth's lengthy explanation. He gave Sephiroth an odd look before seeing the look of admiration and adoration on the older boys face. He might never understand what a hero truly was, at least not in the way that Sephiroth did, but he could tell that they were important.
"Maybe you'll understand one day, Zack," Sephiroth breathed absently as he watched his guardian.
