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.

Queen's Quornor: Interference can mean the difference between life and death, even if there is absolutely nothing physically wrong with the person in question.

Chapter Four: I Wasn't There for Him!

"Is she coming or not? The shuttle is going to leave in less than an hour!"

"She hasn't come out of there since last Friday. I have no clue if she's leaving or not."

"She has to come back to Wutai. The funeral arrangements have to be made, and as his only daughter, they are her duty!"

"How do you know she even wants to go back to Wutai? Maybe she would rather not see her father when he's dead."

"But it's her duty!"

Jalei buried her face in the mattress, clapping the pillow down tighter over her head in an attempt to block out the sound of Sarn and Zack's voices. She had been crying in her bed ever since Sephiroth had brought her back to the dorms after her break-down in his car, unable to escape her grief and guilt. Her friends had periodically come by her apartment to try and talk to her, to find out what was wrong, but she had refused to let them in, resulting in several loud, through-the-door conversations that mainly consisted of "Are you ok?" and "Go AWAY!"

Now Sarn was out there again, trying to get past her self-appointed door-man to use his keycard and talk to her. But Zack was having none of it; he wouldn't let the Wutaian man get near her door. "Sarn, she doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, and she definitely doesn't need to be reminded that her beloved father is dead. Go away; leave her alone."

"But the shuttle…"

"Is not the only way to get back to Wutai," the black-haired SOLDIER finished firmly. "If she misses this one, she will get back another way. Now, get!" There was a yelp from Sarn, and Jalei assumed Zack had kicked him. And as there was no reply from the golden-eyed man, she guessed he had obeyed his superior and left.

A moment later, she heard the sound of a keycard being swiped through a reader, and the soft hissing of her door sliding into the wall. "'lei? You up for a visitor?"

She fisted her hands in the pillow a little tighter. "Go away, Zack. I'm not in the mood for talking."

She heard the thumping of his heavy boots approaching the bedroom, and then her bed sagged as something heavy settled on top of it beside her. "Are you under there? Or do I have to do some excavating?"

Jalei had buried herself under a massive pile of blankets in addition to the pillow sitting on top of her head. It was a wonder Zack even knew where her limbs were, so he wouldn't sit on them by mistake. "Go away."

"And leave you to wallow in misery? I don't think so." She felt someone tugging at her pillow, and before she could do anything about it, the shield was gone. She glared up at Zack, who was holding her pillow up before his face so his eyes peeked over the seams at her mischievously. "You've gotta get some air. I hear not breathing is very, very bad for you."

Jalei merely turned her head to face the wall. She wasn't in the mood for his teasing right now.

There was a sigh, and the sound of her pillow hitting the floor. "Jalei, you've got to stop doing this to yourself. You've got all of us really worried. I mean, even Reno's come by a few times to check up on you, and you know he doesn't have much spare time with all the work he's been doing lately. Will you at least talk about it?"

"Zack, this is my father we're talking about!" She sat up, her right fist flying fast for his face. He leaned out of its path, and his violet eyes no longer held the laughter she had glimpsed earlier.

"I know it's your father. But you can't just stay in here and act like your whole life is destroyed. Do you think he would want you to just waste away like this, mourning him? From what you've told me, he wouldn't."

"That's not the point, Zack!" She was crying again. It amazed her that she had any tears left to shed.

"Then what is the point?" he demanded.

She stared at him, tears streaming from her silver eyes. And suddenly, she was hitting him, as hard and fast as she could, unable to stop herself. It enraged her that he couldn't understand, infuriated her. And so she had landed several good hits on him before it dawned on her that he wasn't defending himself. He was just sitting there on the edge of her bed, letting her take out her anger, her sorrow, on his body.

And she knew he understood.

As quickly as her temper had risen, it was gone, leaving her crying in earnest. Zack put his arms around her, pulling her to him and letting her weep on his shoulder. He stroked her hair while she shook with sobs.

"I'm so sorry! Forgive me; I didn't mean to lose control! I'm sorry, Zack, I'm sorry!" she sobbed.

"It's all right," he soothed. "You couldn't help it. You needed it. Calm down, it's all right…"

At long last, she quieted, lying bonelessly against his chest and shoulder. "I wasn't there for him when he needed me, Zack. I should have been there when he got sick. That was my duty as his daughter, to care for him in his illness. And I failed him. Father is dead because of me!"

"That's not true, Jalei. There was not a thing you could have done that Sakura couldn't have thought of. You told me she is the most skilled healer in Wutai; if she couldn't heal him, then there is little you could have done."

"But I wasn't there for him!"

"What were you supposed to do? Hop a truck to Junon, commandeer an airship, and fly yourself to Wutai? There was no way you could've gotten there in time. Your duties at Shinra would have kept you here, no matter what."

She leaned back to glare at him. "That doesn't help much, Zack."

"But it's the truth." He pressed her head back to his shoulder, albeit gently. "There was nothing you could have done."

Her only reply was more quiet sobs.

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"Seph, this whole thing with her father is tearing her apart. Isn't there something we could do?"

Sephiroth sighed and looked up from the numerous stacks of mind-numbing paperwork in which he was currently buried. "How am I supposed to know, Zack? I have never suffered the loss of a family member before."

Zack rolled his eyes, continuing his pacing in front of the General's desk. He was the only person in all of Shinra who could get away with pacing in Sephiroth's office. Most other people would have been bodily thrown from the room ages ago. "You know what I mean, Seph. She's beating herself up with guilt, thinking that he got sick and died because she wasn't there to take care of him. All she does is cry; she won't leave her apartment at all. She hasn't eaten in days, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't been getting much sleep. She hasn't been reporting for her duties, that's for certain."

"I gave her leave when I found out how upset she was. She'll return to her duties, or to Wutai, when she is ready." Sephiroth reached for another form, sighing once he saw that it another request for weapons testers written by Scarlet. He had lost at least a dozen good SOLDIERs every time she put in one of these requests.

Zack's hand slapped down on the form, just barely missing Sephiroth's fingers. The older man glared at him, a look that had made several lesser men run away in terror. But his second-in-command held firm; he would not flee from his superior and friend. "Giving her leave is not enough," he gritted out, deadly serious. "Something has to be done, before she withers away and dies! I visited her earlier; she's getting pretty damn close to the brink. I used a Cure on her before I left, just to make sure she'd be ok. She's got all of us damn worried, and I know you're just as concerned about her as I am. She's your girlfriend, for Holy's sake!"

"How did you… Never mind. What do you mean, 'she's close to the brink?' It's only been three days since she heard the news!"

"If you would go to see her, you would see what I mean. She's wasting away, almost like she's lost the will to live or something. And she will die if we don't do something soon. I know she will."

"But she hasn't even said if she wants to stay here or return to Wutai yet!"

"What the hell does that matter? She's dying in there!"

Sephiroth had nothing to say to that.

"Look, let's assume she is going to stay here. There isn't really much for her back in Wutai now. So what would we do if she was going to remain in SOLDIER?"

"Send her down to the labs for psychological analysis and subsequent therapy."

Zack gave his superior a Look. "Seph, you and I both know you wouldn't send her down there. Hojo would have a heyday with her. So what else is there to do?"

"Read my lips, Zack. I. Do. Not. Know. I have no experience in this matter whatsoever!"

"I think we should take her back to Wutai, but not permanently. You are going with her."

"What?"

Zack sighed. Sephiroth was acknowledged as a genius, but sometimes he could be pretty slow when it came to emotional matters. "I think part of the reason she's like this is because she didn't have a chance to say goodbye. So, you should take her back to Wutai for the funeral, and stay with her because she needs the support. You have vacation time saved up; why not put it to good use and help Jalei?"

He flashed a quick grin at the silver-haired man. "Besides, if we let her go alone, you know Sarn won't be capable of leaving her alone. He'll see it as an opportunity to steal her from you."

Sephiroth was silent for a moment, then stood up. Zack watched him as he stalked over to the door, then straightened instinctively when he whirled back to him, eyes blazing.

"Pack your bags, Zack. If I'm taking Jalei to Wutai, you're coming too."

Zack couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he followed Sephiroth down the hall to the President's office, already anticipating the heated argument between the General and the temperamental head of Shinra.