Twelve Days 'til Christmas

Part Four: Blush

A/N: For anyone who read this story before this chapter was reposted, the chocobos Draugr and Skadi did not belong to me. At the time I originally wrote this chapter, I was under the impression that they were canonical Square Enix creations. However, they were actually created by an amazing writer by the name of Ciceqi. You can find her on livejournal, and you really should. Her stuff's awesome. Anyway, Ciceqi's chocobos are no longer featured in this fic, and I apologize to all for the confusion.

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"You are!"

Cloud blushed. "I am not!"

"Don't lie to me, Spikey! I can tell you are!"

"Oh, you can, can you? But who's the one who's been making him little paper bunny rabbits?"

"Hey!" It was Zack's turn to blush. "That was purely a friendship thing!"

"You kissed him!"

"On the cheek!"

"Doesn't matter, Zack! A kiss is a kiss, and you definitely kissed him!"

"How do you know? You weren't even there!"

"And who was it that showed me how to get to the vent in the ceiling?"

Zack gasped. "You were spying on him?"

"No!" Cloud was indignant. "I was spying on you!"

"I can't believe you were spying on him—"

"I can't believe you were kissing him—"

They both finished their sentences at the same time, "—when I'm the one who…" They trailed off at the same time as well, staring at one another, faces flushed and sheepish.

Zack cleared his throat, running a hand through his unruly hair. "So you…"

Cloud bit his lip. "Yeah. And you?"

"Yeah." Zack nodded. They stared at one another warily for a few minutes, neither one of them exactly sure what to do or say. They couldn't exactly battle it out, after all. It was no contest who would win in a brawl or a duel, and the only one they had to judge any sort of intellectual contest was Sephiroth himself, and that obviously wasn't possible at the moment, considering. Zack coughed. "So…what should we do?"

Cloud gave a helpless shrug. "Set up present number four?"

"Yeah…okay," Zack nodded, his face still red.

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Sephiroth popped a bubble and leaned back against the wall that had kept him safely hidden from Zack and Cloud's view. This was his last piece of gum, and he definitely needed it right now. He'd only learned one thing from that entire conversation—Cloud had been spying on him the previous day. The boy had definitely been spending too much time with Zack.

But as for the rest of the conversation…he hadn't meant to overhear it. He'd just been on the grounds, after all, walking past the walled off practice arena on his way to the stables to saddle Kaedryn. Zack and Cloud had apparently been out on the practice field, for some reason, and he'd caught the tail end of their conversation. It hadn't been intentional, but it had certainly been interesting. If confusing. And he didn't feel too bad. After all, Cloud had been spying on him. Still, the rest of it obviously meant something, and he knew it involved him. He just couldn't figure out how.Or what. Come to think of it, Sephiroth wasn't entirely certain that they'd known what they were talking about.

Sephiroth continued walking, blowing another bubble as he made his way over to the stables in which the chocobos were kept. It didn't really matter. He would figure it out eventually. He always did. Until then he'd chalk it up to something Zack must be responsible for. The grounds were practically abandoned right now, with most of the trainees off on overnight expeditions and the remaining classes—except for Cloud, evidently—studying indoors. There wasn't much going on outside. There were a few sentries, and a couple of off duty Soldiers prowling around, but, for the most part, Sephiroth was alone.

He preferred it that way. He scowled as he drew close to the stables. There were people inside. He could hear them talking. It was a pity, really. He would rather they'd been empty. The chocobos didn't need 24/7 tending, after all, so there wasn't an attendant on hand every moment of the day, especially since all Soldiers were capable of saddling their own mounts, and a lot of the chocobos were out right now anyway, patrolling with their riders. Sephiroth sighed. This was obviously not this day. But as he drew up to the shadowed doorway of the stable, his scowl turned to an expression of curiosity. He knew those voices. It was Cloud and Zack again. Somehow, he felt, he should have expected that.

Sephiroth poked his head through the doorway at the sound of Kaedryn's indignant squawk.

"Whose bright idea was this, anyway?!" Zack was standing at the door of Kaedryn's stall, sticking his arm inside for the chocobo's inspection. Kaedryn, a gloriously vain black chocobo, was obviously quite offended by this intrusion into his personal domain.

Cloud sounded smug. "Yours."

"Yeah, well…how was I supposed to know he was a demon?!"

Cloud laughed. "Come on, Zack! Kaedryn is General Sephiroth's chocobo. Did you really expect him to act like a duckling?"

"Well…no…but Jaena's no princess, and she likes me just fine!"

"That's because she's your chocobo!"

Sephiroth stood in the doorway, watching from a distance. He wasn't sure whether he felt more angry, confused, or intrigued about the whole situation. What in the name of the Cetra were Cloud Strife and Zackary Fair planning to do to his mount?

"Even so…" Zack stuck his arm farther into the stall, wishing hopefully that Kaedryn would come closer, get his scent, and decide he wasn't so bad after all. But the chocobo only snapped at him, his closing viciously just as Zack pulled his hand back, glaring ruefully at the bird and muttering to himself.

Cloud cleared his throat. "Zack…are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean…Sephiroth might not even want us messing with Kaedryn."

Zack scoffed. "Like anyone can mess with a chocobo. They're too damn smart for that kind of shit. We're just…making improvements."

Cloud bit his lip. "Yeah, but…what if the General doesn't want any improvements? I mean…this isn't exactly the same as dropping off silly little gifts in his office. This is personal."

"Well, shit, Spike! Of course it's personal! This is Christmas. It's supposed to be personal!"

"That's not what I meant, Zack! The whole point of this is to make him happy, not to make him mad, and this…" He gestured at a stack of…of something Sephiroth couldn't quite see. "It could be seen as an insult."

Zack glared. "How?"

"Well," Cloud licked his lips. "What if he thinks we're saying that what he has right now isn't good enough? Or…what if he thinks we think his ego's so pumped up that he thinks the stuff everyone else has isn't good enough for him? Or…what if he thinks we're trying to suck up?"

Zack continued to glare as he spoke through gritted teeth. "Why didn't you mention any of this before?"

"I didn't think about it before! The whole thing seemed like a great idea! But…" Cloud bit his lip. "We can't even get Kaedryn to come to the door and…I just don't know. I…I just want him to be happy."

"Yeah." Zack ran a hand through his hair. "Me too."

"Here," Cloud slid down from the stack of crates he'd been perching on. "Let me try."

Sephiroth stepped through the doorway, watching from the shadows, intrigued, as Cloud slid his hand over the edge of the rather low stall door. Kaedryn didn't squawk this time. He snorted slightly and scratched savagely at the ground by the sound of it, but Cloud didn't get intimidated as most people would have. Kaedryn seemed to like the innocent calm that hung around Cloud better than he liked Zack's brash confidence. He probably thought Zack needed to be taken down a rung or two. Sephiroth practically held his breath as Cloud and Kaedryn practically faced off against one another. He knew better than anyone just how intelligent the beast was and how vicious he could be. Cloud could get seriously hurt, but…no. Finally, Kaedryn snorted again and stepped forward to sniff at Cloud's outstretched hand.

Cloud smiled. "See, Kaedryn. I'm not so bad. I'm definitely not the General, but I'm not stupid enough to try riding you. I just want to do something for the both of you. Will you let me in for a minute?"

Kaedryn snorted again and stepped back from the door.

Flipping the latch back, Cloud pulled the door open and stepped inside, extending his arm out once again. Kaedryn sniffed, and Sephiroth smiled. The boy was a natural with chocobos, even finicky ones who would only accept a single rider, like Kaedryn.

Cloud was running his hand along Kaedryn's neck now, and the chocobo had his eyes half-closed, leaning into the caress. Cloud cleared his throat. "All right, Zack. Hand me the equipment."

Zack passed over a saddle blanket, a soft black with silver trim around the edges, and, when Cloud had settled it into place over Kaedryn's back, he handed over a saddle, a deep, glisteningly black saddle of tough, expensive leather. It had silver tooling and buckles, and it was an incredible piece of work, obviously designed with Kaedryn in mind. Sephiroth swallowed down the lump that threatened to rise in his throat. It was beautiful, and it suited the two of them much better than the drab, Shinra-issue equipment they'd been using. He walked silently through the stable, making his way past the other stalls and over to Kaedryn's as Cloud cinched the saddle and halter into place. He stopped just behind Zack and cleared his throat. "Thank you," he murmured. "I do like it."

"Sir!" "Seph!" Cloud and Zack sputtered in unison, spinning around to face the General. Zack coughed. "We didn't expect you to get here quite so soon."

Sephiroth nodded. He examined the impeccable cut of the halter's leather before casting a glance at Cloud. "No. I don't feel insulted in the least, cadet."

Zack and Cloud both blushed a furious red, but it was Cloud who finally looked up, a muted gleam in his eyes. "Only eight more days 'til Christmas."