The next week proved me wrong, wonderfully wrong. Theo called me late one morning, and by early afternoon I was out the door. I did not return until well after midnight, but Cloud did not notice at all. He was on another delivery errand, this one to the Chocobo Ranch, though I bet that he stopped by the church at least once. My face was sore, not from unwanted attentions, but from smiling. Theo never joked, but there was something about his kindness that I found delightful. It was also wonderful to finally find some man other than Cloud reasonable enough to see I was more than just a rack and long legs. We met several more times over the following month.

I was bringing groceries home one day, when a girl darted out of Theo's house so blindly she knocked over one of my bags. Boxes of dried food spilled onto the badly paved sidewalk. My heart fluttered. I had changed my route so I would pass by Theo's house; it added a few extra steps but a little extra satisfaction, that I could say, "That's my friend's house."

"Are you okay?" Theo stood in his doorway

"Oh, I'm fine." I threw the boxes back into my bag

"I must apologize for Ishtar."

"Is she the student you keep talking about?"

"Yes. I hope you are not too much in a hurry. Would you like to stop in?"

I looked back and forth, just to assure myself that Cloud was not around, then nodded. I was only coming in as a friend, as I had so many times before.

His house had not changed since the last time I saw it, though that was only a week ago. Sparsely furnished, there were still a few attractions. There was his fireplace and the display case above it. The case contained the shattered remains of a sword. I could never figure out which blade it was. There was no placard, and many pieces were missing. Even the handle did not belong. Theo told me once that he purchased it from another collector, but much was lost in shipping.

I recognized as well the door to a spare room he converted to a practice room. Ishtar's name hung on a peg near the door next to some others. I had yet to set foot in the practice room, but I didn't care. I knew so much more very well. After setting my groceries by the door, I sat down on Theo's couch. The movie we watched the other day, Loveless, still lay on the coffee table. It was my idea to watch it, not his, but Theo had to admit at the end that Loveless was an enjoyable movie.

"I do not have any drinks ready. I hope you do not mind going without." Theo sat next to me.

"I don't mind. Hey, I've heard a lot of Ishtar, but what made her want to be your student?"

"Revenge."

"That's pretty dark. Did she ever say against who?"

"I doubt she knows specifically. Her father was a guard at the Shinra building. He was killed at work one day, stabbed in the back. They never caught the murderer, but she has been through a lot just for a chance to get vengeance, once she sees him."

"That's so admirable. Does she know what he looks like?"

"Spiky light-colored hair, well built… She knew little more. The security tapes were vague."

I was suddenly thankful that I hadn't had anything to drink. I would have choked.

"Sorry to hear that…" I said

"On another subject, how is the clinic going?"

"Oh, the clinic. Yes. Well-" I talked on, grateful for a change of subject. As we chatted, I felt something like a glow in my heart. I told myself we were only friends, we should only be friends, but…

I sidled over closer to Theo. His wonderful earthy smell, the salty scent of earth, became enlivened to me. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I sent my hand quivering over to his. It felt strange, knowing that perhaps now, for the first time since I met Theo, I would hold his hand. A mere glance at what was happening and Theo withdrew.

"Theo, do you like me?" I asked

"I care for you."

I leaned over to him, close to his face. "Then…"

Though I was already to kiss him, he pushed me back gently. I saw none of the offense I expected in his eyes. What I saw, I could not name, but perhaps it was regret?"Why won't you kiss me?" I asked. My cheek, my lips, my entire body longed for him.

"There is something I must tell you first."

"You won't even hold my hand…"

"I am not who you believe me to be."

"No one is. What's holding you back?"

"Tifa. Listen."

He grabbed my wrist. I gasped, bewildered, but everything in me drained when my eyes met his. He had that look again, the semblance of ageless wisdom. I gaped like a fish for a while, then realized that I had nothing to say. An empty fear slithered into a corner of my mind. It had the icy taste of oblivion, though I could not name what the fear was.

"I am not who you think I am, but please, try to not let that change your opinion of me."

"I can't imagine doing otherwise."

Theo shook his head slowly, "Do not scream."

Theo melted before my eyes. I lost his brown hair to a current of moonbeams; his tanned skin wanned to nearly ivory-white. The shape of the eyes stayed, though the cleft of his chin and the hook of his nose fled. His eyes, those eyes that pierced me with knowledge, burned off their blue and left me staring into green flames that filled me with terror.

Every fiber in my body wanted to scream, but I was too frightened to. My mind, it knew, though.

Sephiroth.