A/N:

It's really hard to write in the perspective of a five-year-old. You think it wouldn't be, but it is. Make the five-year-old a popular video game villain and it's even harder. I tried. Good thing I don't own Sephiroth or any of the other characters that are owned by Square Enix. I just have one that I'm in charge of. Enjoy.


Sephiroth followed closely behind Professor Gast. He seemed more agitated than usual, but he was like this a lot after talking to Hojo. Sephiroth had to hurry to catch up with him. His legs were too short to match the bigger man's steps. He was used to it though. Most people just expected him to keep up.

"What Cassiopia has offered to do is very generous," Gast said, "She keeps herself very busy and has a lot of things to do. Remember to thank her before you leave." Sephiroth didn't reply. Why was he allowed to be with Cassiopia again? Hojo and Gast had told him not to before. Now they were going to spend a lot of time together.

This change of mind had started when Sephiroth had gotten upset when a familiar technician had mangled his arm again. Hojo had to do the sample himself and was not happy about it. Hojo didn't want to do as many of the smaller tests himself anymore. The others didn't like to come near him as much and he didn't really prefer to be near them either. Sephiroth often felt himself being brushed aside, which, he had to admit, was a little relieving. Hojo tended to keep a very sharp eye on him, and having it lifted, if just a little, made him feel...lighter.

He started to wander a little, and apparently that was not right. It started long ago with his need to see the rain, but now he just didn't like being cooped up in exam rooms anymore. He didn't want to be dragged here and there to wait to be poked and prodded, but he had to anyway. Gast tried to explain it to him, but he heard the speech so many times, he stopped paying attention.

Of course, a five-year-old couldn't explain it that well. Sephiroth didn't explain it at all, because no one really cared about what he wanted.

Gast stopped and stooped down to Sephiroth's level.

"Please behave for her," Gast said, "I know that this isn't really what you want. I'm not mad at you for running away from me. I had you cooped up for far too long. But please don't do that to Cassiopia. Please do what she asks you to do." Sephiroth blinked once and nodded. Gast gave him a faint smile. He stood up and knocked on the door.

"It's open," Cass's muffled voice said. Gast opened the door. Cass was sitting, cross legged, in a chair, staring up at her window. She spared a glance back.

"I have a guest for you," Gast said.

"Welcome, dear guest," she replied. Gast knelt down again.

"Be good," he said. Sephiroth nodded and Gast closed the door as he left. Sephiroth stared at the door and felt the urge to walk out.

"You don't have to stand there," Cass said, "You can have a seat. They gave me a lot of chairs." Sephiroth picked one out and climbed into it. He let his legs swing and watched the movement blur. Cass stared back up at her window. It was the cleanest he had ever seen it. There was only one line on it. Not that he could make any sense of it. Cass seemed rather interested in it. So much so, that she wasn't really paying attention to him. He glanced back at the door. As quietly as he could he slid off the chair and crept over towards it.

"Where ya going?" Cass said. Sephiroth felt himself jump in surprise.

"Nowhere," he said.

"Why are you moving towards the door?" she asked.

"I'm not," Sephiroth said, even though it was a lie.

"Yes you are," Cass said, "I can hear you." She could hear him? Hojo once did a test on Sephiroth's hearing and had told Gast that his hearing was quite superb. Cass's hearing must be the same. She turned away from her window.

"Do you have to use the bathroom or something?" she asked. Sephiroth shook his head. Cass unfolded herself and stood up. She walked over to Sephiroth.

"Want to go with me to the vending machines?" she asked. Sephiroth looked up at her and nodded.

Sephiroth was not accustomed to having someone move at his pace, as Cass did. She didn't seem to be in any particular hurry, like everyone else was. Sephiroth wondered how she could be ahead of everyone else if she merely meandered here and there, sometimes slowing to give out a greeting that was seldom reciprocated.

That was strange, but not necessarily unwelcome.

She stopped at the vending machines and inspected them for a moment. She bought herself a bottle of water.

"Do you want anything?" she asked. Sephiroth shook his head. Gast had once gotten him a chocolate bar, but Sephiroth hadn't particularly enjoyed the taste. None of the other brightly colored options seemed appealing either. Cass glanced down at him. Sephiroth had never seen the look she gave him before. It wasn't annoyed or amused. He had no idea what it meant.

She bought something out of the machine and they started back, at Sephiroth's pace again. They were starting to get some strange looks in the hallway now.

"How's the babysitting gig going?" someone asked.

"Better than your job security ass wipe," Cass said back. He laughed as they passed and Cass shook her head. Sephiroth looked up. Had Cass just cursed? Some of the technicians muttered things under their breath that Hojo couldn't hear and Sephiroth didn't understand. Gast had told him it was swearing or cursing and not really the politest thing to do. Sephiroth had a sudden sneaking suspicion that Cass was very good at that sort of thing.

"Please don't tell Professor Gast that I said that in front of you," Cass said, "He's told me enough times to clean up my language."

"What does that mean?" Sephiroth asked, "what you told him?"

"It's an insult," she said, "and a rather weak one at that. It doesn't really have to mean anything so long as it stings." She opened the door and let him go in first. He got back in his chair and stared at his feet again. Why did they want to move so much? He found himself glancing at the door again.

He waited until Cass seemed preoccupied with her window again, before sliding off the chair and moving towards the door again.

"Restless today, aren't you?" Cass said without turning around. Sephiroth stopped. How did she do that? She stood up again. She didn't look angry at him.

"Do you want to go walk around for a bit?" she asked. She'd asked him what he wanted again and almost like flipping a switch he suddenly didn't know what he wanted. He stared at his feet, unable to find an answer.

"Do your feet want to walk around for a bit?" she asked. That he could answer because they most certainly did. He nodded. "All right, let's go make your feet happy," she said. Sephiroth looked back at her window.

"It will still be here when we get back," she said, "It can wait." How did she know what he was thinking? The wandered down the hall again. Sephiroth kept glancing up at her, he couldn't help it. When he had tried doing that before and had gotten caught, he'd been chastised. Cass caught him, and...it was okay? She was confusing.

"She does things differently," a memory of Professor Gast said, "and that's not always a bad thing."

They stopped at the same time. The hallway branched off in three different directions.

"Which way to do you want to go?" Cass asked. Sephiroth didn't reply.

"We can go straight, which will lead us to the main lab, we can go left, which is where Professor Hollander works most often, we can go right, which is where Professor Gast and Professor Hojo are working today, or we can go back," Cass said, "It's up to you." She waited for his response.

"Right?" he said. She nodded.

"Right it is then," she said. They took the right hallway. Sephiroth could see them working, Gast, Hojo and some other people in lab coats, but he wasn't very interested in them. He could hear Hojo saying something. Cass could too, because she made a noise in her throat. She rolled her eyes, a gesture that Sephiroth guessed meant annoyance. He looked up at her and she glanced down. She smiled at him.

"Sometimes, I feel the urge to wrap up Professor Hojo's head in duct tape," she said, "Somehow I think that might make him a little more pleasant." Sephiroth thought about it and decided he agreed, but did not say so. The hall ended in a dead end and they started back. They reached the main fork again.

"Left, Straight, Right again, or back?" she asked. Sephiroth looked up at her.

"I don't know," he said. Cass bit her lip and looked around.

"I know something I can show you," she said quietly, "but you have to be very quiet." Sephiroth nodded. His interest was peaked. What did she know that he didn't? They went left. Sephiroth looked around. He didn't see anything different. What was she talking about?

"What are you doing here?" A man's voice said. Sephiroth looked over and saw Professor Hollander. Cass met the accusation passively.

"Taking a walk," she said, "that a problem?" Hollander glared down at Sephiroth. Hollander never seemed to like Sephiroth all that much. Hollander didn't like Hojo either.

"I thought the math freak was too busy with Hojo's brat to do anything," Hollander said.

"Nonsense," Cass said, "I'm a woman. I can multitask." Hollander grunted. Sephiroth watched the confrontation with interest. Cass was very good at it, he thought.

"So why are you down here?" Hollander asked.

"No reason," Cass said, "just taking a walk."

"May I ask why you felt the need to walk this way?" Hollander said.

"Certainly," Cass said, "as you can see, my companion here, is five. Five-year-olds need some sort of exercise or else they get all cranky and insufferable. Kind of like you and Hojo with your dick measuring contest." Hollander glared back up at Cass. He opened his mouth.

"Save it," Cass said, "My opinion on the both of you is about the same and I can assure you that it is very poor. My interest lies elsewhere. Sephiroth and I are stretching our legs and don't care about hearing a lecture right now. Good day Professor." Sephiroth felt a hand on his back gently but firmly usher him around Hollander and down the hall.

"Fine, run back to your chalkboard," Hollander said to her back.

"At least the chalkboard is getting more action than you are," Cass tossed over her shoulder. She and Sephiroth turned around a corner. She checked one more time to make sure no one was around, then opened a nearby closet door. She stepped inside and started fiddling with a grate. Sephiroth cocked his head. What was so interesting in the closet?

"When they first designed this place," Cass started explaining, "they had a catwalk in the main laboratory. Then they hired less people to work, so they closed it off. I found one of the old schematics while I was still in my old office. They just covered the catwalk entrance with a grate, but the whole thing is still here. It's been awhile since they closed it off, but they built this thing to last. You have to be very quiet, or else we'll get caught. No one is supposed to be up here and they won't look unless they hear something." Sephiroth nodded. She pulled off the grating and set it aside. As a safe measure she shut the door.

"It will get brighter as you go through it," Cass's voice said. Another firm and gentle hand pushed him through. He kept walking. He could hear Cass behind him.

"We should reach some steps right about now." Sephiroth felt around and sure, enough found a set of stairs. He started climbing. It wasn't really that dark. He could see where he was going pretty well. A quick glance behind him revealed Cass climbing a lot more cautiously than he was. She couldn't see as well as he could.

He reached the end and paused to wait for Cass to meet him. She nearly stumbled when the steps ended, but recovered quickly.

"The catwalk should be just ahead of us," she whispered. Her voice carried and echoed a little anyway. He understood the need for silence. Sephiroth nodded and started forward again.

Just like Cass had said, they were on a bridge above the main laboratory. Sephiroth had been there a lot, but had never seen it like this. People milled about busily beneath them and Sephiroth found himself watching avidly. He and Cass walked to the middle and just stood there. Not one person bothered to glance up as they moved.

He didn't know how long they stood there, it felt both long and short at the same time, but he knew it was probably time for them to leave before they got caught. He followed Cass back. She hesitated at the thinking, Sephiroth took her hand and started guiding her down. He could see them clearly. They took them one at a time.

"Last one," Sephiroth said at the bottom.

"Thank you Sephiroth," she said, "I nearly fell down them when I came by myself." Sephiroth didn't reply. "That was the hiding place I was going to show you," Cass said, "the one where they would take forever to find you, the one I was talking about a few weeks ago when I drew blood. Nobody ever thinks to look up." They moved back to the closet. Cass fitted the grate back up, as if they were never here. They stepped out of the closet as if nothing was unusual and made their way back to Cass's office.

Sephiroth slid back into his chair and Cass into hers. They resumed their quiet contemplations. Sephiroth no longer felt like going to the door. He found himself staring at Cass. She kept looking up at her line on the window.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. When Sephiroth didn't answer right away she turned to look at him. He shook his head. She gave him that strange look again.

"Oh really?" she said. Sephiroth didn't know what to make of that. She apparently found the face he made amusing and laughed at him.

"Well, then," she said, "do you mind if I eat?" Sephiroth blinked at her. "I expect an answer Sephiroth, it wasn't rhetorical."

"I don't mind," Sephiroth said. She nodded and got up. She moved over to one of the desks and pulled out a paper sack. It didn't look like she ate a lot. She had a few bags of cut up fruits and vegetables. He stared at her for a minute.

"You can come over here if you want," she said. She liked to ask him about what he wanted a lot. He got up and moved over. He came closer to food and realized that perhaps he was hungry. She pushed over one of the bags.

"I packed some extra in case you wanted any," she said. She knew he was coming?

"You knew I would be coming today?" Sephiroth asked.

"No," Cass said, "but I have a feeling that you and I will be seeing a lot of each other. This was simply to be sure."

"What if I hadn't come?" Sephiroth asked.

"Then I would have eaten it or saved it for a day when you would be here," she said, "As it is..." she gave a nod towards the bag. He picked it up.

"What is it?" he asked.

"An apple," she said, "I cut it up. I like to eat apples like that." He looked at it for a moment.

"Do you not like apples?" she asked.

"I don't like the taste of things that are sweet," Sephiroth said.

"So I was told," Cass said, "Sweetness depends on the type of apple. Some are sweet, some are bitter, some are nearly sour. You won't know you don't like it unless you try it. If you don't like it, I won't make you finish it." He opened the bag and picked up a slice. He nibbled on it carefully.

It wasn't that sweet after all. Enough to be edible. He really liked how the apple was firm and broke apart with a snap. The crunch was satisfying, but the flavor wasn't really his favorite. It was decent, better than chocolate.

"Not the best?" Cass asked.

"It's...okay," Sephiroth said. He hoped he used the word correctly. He'd never used it before. Cass dug around and pulled out another bag. She handed him soft square of something yellow.

"What is that?" Sephiroth asked.

"Cheese," she said, "try it with the apple." He placed it on a new slice and took a tentative bite. That was...good. The apple was still sweet, but the cheese was not. It was stronger than the apple was and dulled the sweetness some more. He finished it more enthusiastically. She put the bag with the cheese between them and started on her own bag of apples the same way. His apples were gone very quickly.

"Still hungry?" Cass asked. He nodded. She passed over the bag of...something she had gotten earlier at the vending machines. "Try these." He opened it carefully.

It wasn't chocolate, he was relieved to see. They looked like small dried sticks. He picked one up and tested it. It was dry and salty, but he liked it.

"What are these?" he asked.

"Pretzels," she said. He finished them too. She packed up their trash and threw it away. Her own leftovers went into a small refrigerator. Sephiroth got up and moved back to his old chair. He folded his legs up the same way that Cass did. He felt...content right where he was.

"Cassiopia?" Sephiroth asked, "May I ask a question?"

"Yes you may," Cass replied, "and please don't call me Cassiopia. It makes me cringe."

"What does rhetorical mean?" Sephiroth asked.

"As in, what is a rhetorical question?" Cass asked. Sephiroth nodded. "A rhetorical question is a question you ask, but don't expect an answer to. It's asked to prove a point, not to inquire. Sometimes it's used to gather attention or interest. An example would be, if I wanted to talk about...let's say you, I would ask 'who's the boy with the silver hair?'. We all know it is you so no one would answer, but I would start to talk about you. Does that make sense?" Sephiroth nodded. He fell quiet again and amused himself by trying to make sense of the line Cass had drawn on the window. She looked like she was doing the same. He remembered Gast saying she was busy and decided to leave her alone so maybe she could get something done today.

Some time later, there was a knock on the door.

"It's open," Cass called back. Gast opened the door.

"It's time for Sephiroth to go back now," Gast said. He tried not to notice how Sephiroth was copying Cass's sitting position. Then again, maybe she had a good idea there too.

"I'll bid you a good evening then, Sephiroth," Cass said. Sephiroth nodded and started back. He stopped and turned.

"Thank you," Sephiroth said.

"Mmm-hmm," Cass replied. Gast started out with Sephiroth, then paused.

"He didn't give you any trouble did he?" Gast asked. Cass looked up.

"No," she said, "why would he?"