Summary: Based off a poem I wrote for class, this is the untold story of a woman from Wutai, the woman who captured the General's heart before he ever knew of Jenova... The woman who refuses to leave him, even after she was forced to move on...
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, I don't own Sephiroth, Zack, Cloud, or any of the other canon characters mentioned herein. Jalei and any other original characters, as well as this whole damn idea, are wholly my own. No excuse for it. I also claim the right to calling Zack 'Blackspike.' That name belongs to me.
Queen's Quornor: I swear, it is next to impossible to find the promotion chart for SOLDIER. I found a few sites that detail how it works for the US, Nazi German, and Japanese armies, but not for Shinra. Have any of you figured out how it works? I know I saw a list of positions on the various classes of SOLIDIER somewhere on Wikipedia, but I have been unable to find it since then. So I'm going to be taking creative liberties (dun dun DUN!) on how I'm going to get Jalei into third-in-command to Sephiroth, second to Zack. Sorry if I mangle the SOLDIER positions here! I'm basing my system off the US Army ranking. And shame on me, there is already a lemon! Well, I guess I had to get around to one sooner or later. I haven't written one on the FFVII charts yet. This isn't going to be a smut-fic, but up to a certain point there will be sex at various points. Sephiroth has never struck me as a man who has kept his distance from the dirty, after all.
Chapter Two: Congratulations, Sephiroth Style
Jalei sheathed her sword at her side, taking in the exhausted, beaten man across from her with a certain satisfaction. Colonel Jothan Riglas, SOLDIER First Class, had been a thorn in her side for years on end, ever since he had beaten her out for the promotion into Second Class. Now that both of them were in First Class, they couldn't avoid each other. And that inevitably resulted in fights, which always resulted in her kicking his ass across the room. Colonel Riglas may have had more muscle mass than the Wutain woman, but she definitely knew how to use hers better.
As always, they had had an audience. Riglas' cronies were huddled against the bleachers ringing the gym, casting her dark looks while they encouraged him to go after her one more time, not to give in to the 'slant-eyed bitch.' Jalei didn't have that many followers, but the ones she had cheering for her were at least loyal. Her best friend Sarn tossed her a bottle of water with an enthusiastic warning. She caught it in one hand and took a long gulp of the cool liquid, silver eyes roaming over her friends. There was Sarn, but there was also a few more sitting in the bleachers, watching her. There was Yashira, the dark-skinned Corellian woman who had been her room-mate prior to her promotion into First Class, the red-haired Turk she sometimes went out drinking with, Reno, and Akane, another of the people she had been shipped to Midgar with nine years ago. In addition to all of them was a newcomer Yashira had introduced her to, another First Class SOLDIER named Zack. He had gone out drinking with them a few times, and Jalei had always found him an amusing and easy-going companion. A little gropey when he was shit-faced, but otherwise a good friend. He was leaning against the bleachers with his arms crossed, a manila envelope in his hand where she could see it.
Tossing the bottle back to Sarn, Jalei walked over to him. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked, re-coiling her whip and hanging it back on the clip on her belt.
"Yep." Zack handed it to her with a flourish, flashing her a grin. "Your promotion to Major General of SOLDIER First Class. Which means you answer to me now, 'cause I'm the Lieutenant General."
"Third-in-command to the General himself," Jalei mused, opening the envelope and reading over the papers within. "So I can add a star to my uniform, and I don't have to deal with that bastard again." She jerked her thumb at Riglas, who was now conversing with his buddies and letting one of them use a Cure materia on him. "You know, one of these days, I'll be taking your position and becoming his second-in-command."
He grinned at her again, this time teasing. "Of course you will." He patted her on the head condescendingly. She mock-scowled at him before swatting at his hand.
"Don't patronize me, Zack. Respect your elders and all that."
"Is the old maid getting jealous of the young buck? Well, that's a switch."
"I'm only ten years older than you. So's the General, actually."
Zack laughed. "Jalei, do you have any idea how many women your age are married and settled down by now? Even the lady SOLDIERs have husbands outside or inside the company."
"Maybe I'm just holding out for Mr. Right."
"Mr. Right's gonna get away scott-free if you don't go after him soon." There was a twinkle in his violet eyes now. "I mean, Seph's never really let himself get tied down before…"
"Zack!" Jalei slapped a hand across his mouth, blushing furiously. Her relationship with the General was supposed to be a secret. "How did you find out about that?"
"Mm mai meem mmeemph?"
"Ok, you can speak. Now spill."
He crossed his arms again and leaned back against the bleachers, a smug smile gracing his lips. "It was pretty easy to figure out, actually. You two just act like a couple, even when you don't mean to. And when I saw you having dinner with him at that new fancy place the other night, it was all the confirmation I needed. Especially after you went kissy-face with him and he did you up against the wall…"
"Zack!" Now she was the color of lobsters freshly pulled out of the pot.
"It's ok, 'lei. I'm pretty sure no-one else knows about it. It really isn't that obvious; I only saw that he treats you a little differently because I'm his best friend, and know what he's like. Seph's pretty hard to read if you don't know what you're looking for, after all."
Her color began fading back to normal as she gave him a rueful smile. "Yeah, I know. I guess that's why it took me seven years before I realized that he liked me."
"Well, you can be assured of one thing."
"What's that?"
"He's guaranteed to be faithful."
"Small blessing, considering how many women would throw themselves at him, given the chance."
"Well, Seph's not stupid. He knows the difference between you and sex-crazed hussies like that."
"Thank Holy for that, at least."
"Hey, what's goin' on over here, yo?" Reno's head suddenly appeared above them, hanging from the bleachers upside down. "You two having a make-out session or something?"
"No way, Reno! You know I've got better taste in women than Short-stuff here!" Zack declared, glaring playfully up at the dangling redhead.
"Don't you know that we short people have our uses? We're about the right size for blowjobs on certain men." Jalei reached up and tugged at Reno's ponytail. "Besides, I'm not all that short."
"You call 4'9 tall?" Zack snorted.
"It's 5'2, thank you very much." She sniffed haughtily, then yanked on the red rope again. "C'mon down here, Reno. For teasing me about playing tonsil hockey with Zack here, you've earned yourself a one-way ticket to the floor."
"No!" The Turk struggled, but then Zack joined in, aiding Jalei in her endeavor by grabbing him under his chin and yanking hard. Reno had a good grip on the bleachers, but it was not enough to withstand the combined muscle of two First Class SOLDIERs. Inevitably, he came crashing down on the tiled floor.
Sitting up and rubbing his head, Reno glared at them. "You could've cracked my head open, you know."
"We'd need a few more tons of force for that, Red. A sledgehammer couldn't crack open that skull of yours!" Jalei offered him a hand, and he accepted it, making her haul him to his feet with no help from him. She managed it with little trouble, then walked out to the rest of her friends, followed closely by Reno and Zack. "Hey guys, guess what? I got the promotion!"
"What?"
"No way!" Yashira grabbed the papers out of her hand, reading over them feverishly. "Wow! You really are Major General now! Congratulations, Jalei!" She tackled the Wutain woman, wrapping her in a fierce hug.
"No-one deserved it more, after that uprising in Sector Five. Congratulations." Akane smiled happily at her friend.
Sarn approached her with a smile on his face, pulling Yashira off her and taking her place. "Congratulations, Jalei. Shall we go out to dinner to celebrate, just you and me?" he whispered into her ear.
"How about all of us go out together tomorrow? We don't have to train on weekends, after all," she proposed, sidestepping the question. Sarn had been making it perfectly obvious that he had feelings for her for several years now, and she just couldn't see him as anything more than a good friend.
Besides, she was not about to betray Sephiroth with another man. She just didn't have it in her.
"That sounds great, as long as you're payin,' yo," Reno replied, throwing his arm around Yashira. "Wanna get drunk again, baby?"
"Maaaayybe. If you're a good boy, that is." It was no secret that Yashira habitually went home with Reno when they went out drinking.
"Sorry. I promised I'd practice my swordsmanship with Maddock," Akane apologized. "I'll just get you something instead, ok Jalei?"
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Akane. I know you don't have much spare gil."
"I want to. A promotion like this should get some kind of reward."
"Well, I think it's a great idea." Zack clapped her on the shoulder companionably. "Think I should try and get the General to come out with us for once?"
"Zack! You wouldn't dare!" Jalei hissed, sneaking a glance at the others.
"Aww, c'mon Jalei! You know he could use a day off, an excuse to get away from all that paperwork. When I got those papers from him earlier, he looked like he was drowning in it all." The younger man leaned closer to her, lowering his voice to a whisper. "He also said he wants to see you as soon as possible."
"What for?"
"Beats me. Maybe he just wants to…you know…" He flashed her a naughty grin.
"You've got a one-track mind, Blackspike. A one-track mind." But she couldn't deny that sex was probably what Sephiroth had in mind. Ever since she had agreed to sleep with him on their fifth date, he had taken every opportunity he could find to get into her pants. "Anyway, so it's settled. We're going out to the bar tomorrow."
"And we're gonna paint the town red in honor of Jalei's promotion to Major General!" Reno howled.
"WHAT promotion?" The group collectively turned their heads to the other side of the gym, where Riglas had heaved himself up and stomped closer to them, followed by his huddle of cronies. "Do you mean that promotion to Major General I was up for?"
"In case you forgot, we both were up for it, Riglas. And I got it."
"There must be some mistake!"
"There is no mistake, Riglas. The name on the papers says 'Jalei Nerugasi,' not 'Jothan Riglas.' And I saw General Sephiroth sign them myself, so I know there was no mistake," Zack said, glaring at the bald annoyance. The colonel was not one of his favorite people, either.
Riglas turned red with anger, his fists tightly clenched and shaking. "I contest this promotion. That pair of stars belongs to me, not that bitch!"
Sarn narrowed his eyes. "I'd be careful about how I address her, Colonel. That 'bitch' has the power to get your ass court-martialed for something like that now."
"A power that does not rightly belong to her!" Riglas crossed his arms across his broad chest, egged on by the croakings of his followers. "I demand to see the General. He must realize that he has made a mistake and signed the wrong name on that promotion!"
"The General is never wrong, Colonel," Yashira pointed out.
"There's a first time for everything, Lieutenant. Now take me to see him!"
Zack started to say something, then sighed. "Fine, Colonel. C'mon. You too, Jalei. The rest of you, stay here while we get this sorted out."
As the three of them exited the gym, Jalei couldn't help but crow inwardly at the verbal beat-down her nemesis was about to receive.
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"…And that's why I am better qualified to be Major General, General. My list of accomplishments in the field is far greater than hers." Riglas gave her a baleful glare. "Besides, I am native to Midgar, not a foreign cast-off like her. That promotion is rightfully mine!"
Sephiroth did not raise his gaze, merely continuing to gaze upon his folded hands rather than the SOLDIERs standing around his desk. He took his time before answering, as Jalei had known he would. "Colonel, before I answer, I would like to point out that racism has no part in this discourse. Shinra promotes its employees based on their own merits, not where they came from or from which lifestyle they hail. Colonel Nerugasi has fewer accomplishments to her name, that is true. However, they are all of extreme note."
The General stood up from his desk and paced over to the window, hands folded behind his back, as tall and imposing as she had ever seen him. "Apart from that, I have observed you both in the field on many separate occasions. Colonel Nerugasi has always fought with courage and skill, displaying intelligence and wisdom far beyond her years. I have always admired her assessment of the enemy's strength, and how any squad under her command always returns with minimal casualties. Very few of the commanding officers can manage to pull off something like that on consecutive occasions, but she does.
"As for you, Colonel Riglas, don't think I haven't noticed that you always hang back, hiding behind the ranks where it is more difficult for the enemy to get at you. And when forced into hand-to-hand combat, you always display a disturbing lack of skill with the blade, as well as a certain tendency to scream like a young girl-child when suffering the tiniest cut."
Riglas flushed, casting an infuriated glance at the smirking Jalei and Zack. "General, I…"
"Be quiet, Colonel. I am not yet finished."
He quieted, glaring balefully at the taller man's back. Jalei had a sudden image of a flea glaring up at a tiger, and had to smother a giggle before it escaped the confines of her throat.
"In addition to these faults, there is also a certain frequency of the deaths of SOLDIERs under your command. Several promising cadets have perished while under your watch, and you have never successfully pulled off a single objective by yourself. Whenever you do, it is always because whoever you were attached to succeeded in accomplishing their goal. Shinra left this promotion up to my judgment, and it is my belief that Colonel Nerugasi deserves it, and is far better suited for the position in question, than you." Sephiroth turned around, his expression cool and final. "Colonel Nerugasi is now Major General Nerugasi. And that is final."
Riglas lost his temper then. He slammed his hands down on Sephiroth's desk, visibly struggling to prevent himself from lashing out at the man himself. That would be instant court-martial, if not a death wish, and Jalei knew he valued the privileges that came with being a member of the elite First Class too much to risk that. "General, I cannot believe that you would give this promotion to a slant-eyed, mountain-bred, moon-faced little bitch like that over a qualified SOLDIER such as myself. She does not… Urk!"
Riglas was suddenly dangling in midair, supported only by a black-gloved fist around his throat. He clawed at the wrist attached to the hand before realizing who had hold of him, then his eyes widened in sudden terror. Sephiroth glared at him, citrine eyes full of tightly-leashed rage. "I told you before, Major, that racism has no place in this discourse. I would also like to point out that I myself am half-Wutaian, so I take offense to comments such as this. I should have you court-martialed for this…
"But I won't. At least, not this time. But if I hear that you have been saying such things ever again, rest assured that I will have your ass kicked out of SOLDIER. Understand?"
The major nodded vigorously, eyes wider than dinner plates.
"Good." Sephiroth let him drop to the ground, coughing hard with a hand to his throat. "Now get out of my office."
As soon as he had scrambled out the door, tripping almost every step of the way, Zack collapsed against the wall in a burst of laughter, holding his ribs as if they would break.
"Did you see the look on his face, Seph? I think he thought you were going to eat him or something!"
"I'm surprised he didn't piss himself. You can be pretty damn intimidating when you want to be," Jalei commented with a smirk.
The tall man with the silver hair accepted their comments with a modest smile, returning to his place behind the desk. "I am not overly fond of Major Riglas. To be honest, I wish that he would say something like that again, just so I can have him court-martialed. I still have no idea how he passed his entrance exams, or how he managed to get this high up the ladder. He's more useless than most cadets."
"We are in agreement on that point." Jalei went to the desk and stood before it. "Also… You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes, I did." The General turned his gaze to his second-in-command. "Lieutenant, you are dismissed."
Zack pouted briefly, then saluted and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Sephiroth waited until the echo of his boots on the floor faded away, then stood back up and came around the desk to stand in front of the Wutaian woman.
"Let's drop the formalities, shall we?" he suggested, reaching out to take her into his arms. "I wanted to congratulate you on your promotion, Jalei."
"Thank you, Sephiroth." She laid her hands delicately on his chest, softly stroking her fingers across the smooth leather. "Out of curiosity, was there an ulterior motive to your choice?"
He offered her a knowing smirk. "Of course there was. In addition to all the points I listed during the discussion with Riglas, there is the not-so-minor point that this promotion would mean that you would be spending more time with me. For that alone, I might have been willing to give you the promotion, even if you were not so qualified for it. And speaking of ulterior motives…" He bent his head to hers, and claimed her mouth in a heated kiss.
When it broke, Jalei pushed back slightly, keeping their pelvises tight together but putting some space between their chests. "Office sex, Sephiroth? I had somehow believed you to be above such a thing. Not that I'm complaining, of course."
"You believed me to be above office sex after I took you against a damp brick wall in an alleyway? It never ceases to surprise me, the way your mind works." He slid his hand into her hair, feasting at her neck with hot, moist kisses. "However, I know perfectly well how your body works."
The heat flashed through her, pooling immediately in her groin. "Sephiroth…" she moaned, gripping the fastenings of his long coat.
"Sshhh. I know how to take care of you." He turned and lay her on the desk, knocking the carefully-stacked piles of paperwork to the floor carelessly and going to the door, locking it and returning to her a moment later, already shedding his coat and letting it lay where it fell. Jalei reached up to pull him down on top of her, hands roaming appreciatively across the well-defined muscles of his back and sides and tangling in the silver silk of his hair.
Kissing her again, Sephiroth began removing the scratchy upper half of her uniform, making certain to tease her with gentle strokes of his fingers as more and more of her creamy flesh was revealed. The shirt was soon tossed to the far corner of the room, followed soon after by her lacy black bra. Jalei threaded her fingers through his hair again when his hot mouth settled at her breasts.
Before long, their pants were on the floor, his around his ankles and hers completely separate of her body. Now the only thing separating them was a tiny scrap of silk known as a 'thong.' Sephiroth looked down at it, then back into her lust-flushed face.
"I thought I told you to never wear underwear again."
"Well…Uhh…" Jalei let her head fall back against the desk with a solid thunk. "All the blood has gone south. I can't think anymore."
"Exactly how I like it." The General ran his finger under the fabric that rested against her right hip, tugging at it gently. "This, however, has to go."
It was torn off her and away a second later, so quickly that Jalei didn't have time to protest. Not that she would have, anyway. He was back at her lips in the next instant, already moving between her thighs and hooking them behind his back.
"How fast does this have to be?" the woman gasped out when he pressed against her. It wasn't that she needed more foreplay. It was just that he normally indulged in more than this before moving on to intercourse.
"Fast. I have to report to Hojo for my weekly physical in ten minutes."
"Well, you know what gets me off the quickest."
"Oh, I don't want it that quick. Hojo expects me to be late. I always am." Then he was inside her, and moving quickly at an angle that he knew drove her out of her mind.
Jalei dragged her nails down his back, instinctively searching for something to hold onto. Making love with Sephiroth was always a mind-shattering experience, one that sorely tested her ability to remain quiet when they were in a less-than-appropriate location. He took pride in his ability to make her scream, and her resisting that desperate urge when they were fucking outside a bedroom had turned into a sort of game for them.
"You're going to scream this time, Jalei." His lips, his teeth, found her shoulder while he ground into her hard.
"N-No! Not in here!" she gasped. Being in SOLDIER had stripped her of the greater majority of her Wutaian properness, but she still found it mortifying when someone heard them fucking.
He reached down between them, forcefully massaging her clit. "Yes, you are."
"Nurgh!" Her teeth grit together as her back arched high, her nails digging hard into his back. "No!"
"Yes!" His hiss vibrated up her spine and he grabbed her hair, pulling it so that her back stayed in that position and her breasts were easily accessible.
"No!" Her breath left her as his tongue scraped roughly across her left nipple.
"Yes!" This one was punctuated by a particularly forceful thrust.
"Nooo!" Jalei felt her orgasm building, and used her grip to haul her way upright. When he finally brought her, she did indeed scream…
But nobody could have heard it, seeing as how she muffled it against the sweaty flesh of his shoulder, her teeth clamped so hard they broke the skin.
But Sephiroth heard it, and he inwardly crowed as this reminder of his prowess was handed to him. Since she had given in to him, he decided to reward her. A few more forceful thrusts, and then he was there too, groaning his release into her hair and holding her tightly against his body as it took on a mind of its own.
Once they both had figured out how to move again, they separated and began redressing. "Do you really have to go to Hojo again?" she asked.
"Unfortunately. The President won't hear of anyone other than him handling my examinations."
"And the experiments that come with them," Jalei spat. Sliding her shirt back over her head, she cast him a glance of her shoulder. "I hate the fact that he hurts you so much, Sephiroth."
Seconds later, she felt warm, leather-clad arms slide around her waist, a rock-hard chest and a pounding heart against her back. "I don't like it either, Jalei. But I don't exactly have much of a choice. Shinra is all I have, and all I've ever known. If I don't go to Hojo, he could very well get me kicked out."
Closing her eyes, she reached up and hooked her nails into his shoulders to pull his head down a bit closer. There were definite disadvantages to such a difference of height between them. "I know. Want me to rescue you if he keeps you too long again?"
"You don't have to ask that anymore."
"No problem, Sephiroth."
They shared one more kiss, then parted ways, as always.
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Back in her own room, Jalei couldn't help but wonder what she was going to do with her heart, when her time at Shinra was over in a few months. She had a father to return to, a life she had left behind. What she had in Midgar was a satisfactory life, but…
SOLDIER was not what was making her hesitate to return to Wutai.
It was her feelings for Sephiroth.
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Queen: No comments this time. Seph and Zack are out and about, and I have Things To Do. Sorry!
(transmission ended)