Genesis was dressing himself up, with a grin on his lips. This was a joyful day, everything was going as he planed. All those thoughts and desires merged together and made him accomplish what he wanted all along: Sephiroth's 100% attention to himself. But for some reason, his idol wasn't sharing the same feelings. He could tell, for Sephiroth wouldn't lift his eyes off the ground, dressing himself slowly. Could it be regret?
- But I did my best in pleasing him. I could see his eyes during his climax. He enjoyed it so much. He's obviously not frowning because of me. - Genesis thought, in contempt.
But the truth is that it was. Sephiroth felt a deep negativity inside him for what he had done. Regret and guilt filled his thoughts in a macabre dance haunting him. He knew Angeal was outside. He could feel him. He betrayed his friend and, most importantly, his beloved one.
As soon as he was done, he opened the door to leave, no matter if Genesis was ready or not. And there he was.
- Angeal.. - Sephiroth said, with a sad voice.
- Oh Angeal, you were there? - Genesis peeked from his room, already dressing his rouge coat. - Well it is great to see you! - he smirked.
Angeal didn't move. He was standing right in the hall, in front of the room, staring at them. His eyes were empty. Genesis walked up to him and smirked.
- Next time maybe you can join us.
He walked by him and left. Sephiroth was still standing at the door.
- I'm sorry...
- Don't..! - Angeal finally said, interrupting him.
This made Sephiroth look at him in the eyes. Angeal was looking down, holding his grip. You could see we was fighting his will to cry. He then turned his back on Sephiroth.
- If you excuse me, I have a mission to attend to.
Then he left. Sephiroth knew he was lying, but also knew how much he cherished Genesis, so he never said a word. Nor moved.
The days went by. Angeal was now busy training rookies. It was his way of keeping his mind busy. He didn't want to think about what happened. According to him, the best way to keep his honor was to keep his feelings to himself and to serve example to someone else. And these rookies worshipped him but, more importantly, looked up to him like a fatherly figure.
Genesis was also busy in missions. The Wutai War was not over yet and while Angeal trained the 3rds and 2nds for combat, Genesis would guide them through the battlefield. In a way, it's like they were working together, just like the good old times, but not knowing.
As for Sephiroth, it was one of those times Hojo requested his presence in the laboratories to test him for things Sephiroth wouldn't even know of and it would take days to finish. Mostly it was because of that that Sephiroth disliked Hojo so much. To top it all off, the guilt wouldn't fade and he couldn't get his mind off of what he have done. He wanted to fix things and yet he was trapped in there, with that bizarre man who wanted to stick numerous needles to his arm.
Eventually, the experiments finally ended and Sephiroth was free to go. But as he left the lab, the person he encountered was certainly not the one he wanted to see.
- Genesis... - said Sephiroth, with a bitter taste on his mouth.
- Oh look who we have here. What have you been up to? It's been a while. - Genesis said, notably cheered.
Sephiroth remained in silence. He feared for his own actions, if the conversation went any further. But Genesis wasn't ready to stop. He was glad to see his face. To Genesis's point of view, the reason they weren't speaking was because they've been busy.
- Still not in the best mood, I see. - he kept going.
- You have no idea what we've done, do you? - Sephiroth finally replied, but his tone was deep and intimidating.
- I don't understand... - Genesis was truly surprised. - What do you mean?
- We betrayed Angeal.
- Nonsense! Angeal was the one who betrayed me. From day one, he's been befriending with you and leaving me play a secondary role in his life. - said Genesis, lifting his head in arrogance.
- He loves you. He was the one who begged me to give you a chance! - Sephiroth raised his voice.
Genesis kept still. He was confused. Could it be that he has been wrong all this time? Angeal was not ignoring him, but helping his dreams become reality by playing behind the scenes? Sephiroth took a deep breath.
- If it wasn't for Angeal, I would've probably never speak to you again since that day we met. - he kept explaining, now more calm.
- Angeal... did that for me...?
- He did...
- I.. I should go talk to him. Excuse me. - Genesis said, turning his back and running to find Angeal.
Sephiroth could finally breathe without the heavy feeling on his chest. Like Angeal did before him, he sacrificed his feelings to make someone else happy. And this time, he did it the right way. And it felt good.
- Sephiroth! - Angeal called for him.
He was about to enter his room when Angeal caught him. Sephiroth was surprised to see him, specially sounding so cheerful.
- Angeal.. What are you doing here?
- I need to talk to you.
- Oh.. - he shivered, nervous.
- Can I... come in?
- Sure... - Sephiroth murmured and opened the door.
- Look, if you don't feel comfortable with me going inside your r...whoa!
Angeal as interrupted by the amazing sight that Sephiroth's room was. It had old styled furniture, the curtains were made out of velvet, everything was clean and elegant and, most wonderfully, it smelled like roses. Sephiroth stared at Angeal, wondering what went through his mind. It wasn't the first time he'd let someone inside, so he was used to the reactions, but somehow Angeal's was different.
- What..? - he asked him.
- Such luxury... - Angeal replied. But then looked back at him. - You live well, I see. - he said, laughing.
Sephiroth didn't reply. It was one of the reasons why he didn't like people in his room other than himself. This has been Sephiroth's home since he could remember, he had nowhere else to go, unlike the others. But it was Angeal after all. He knew he wasn't judging him like others would. They both sat on a couch.
- Genesis talked to me. - Angeal said. - He told me you said I was the reason you two became friends.
- He needed to know that. You spoil him too much...
Angeal laughed.
- I know I do. But sometimes I can't help it. I just wanna see him happy, you know?
- Hump.. I envy him.. - Sephiroth mumbled.
Angeal stared at him for a moment. His eyes showed he was surprised. Sephiroth had his face down, but followed Angeal with his eyes. He was leaning over him. Sephiroth's heart was bumping in his chest. It was then when Angeal grabbed his chin gently and made him face him. As he continued to lean over, so did him. He then felt his lips gently being pressed against Angeal's. Despite his confusion, Sephiroth closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. Then Angeal slowly broke the kiss and Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes again. Angeal was grinning.
- Has anyone ever told you you have very long eyelashes? - Angeal joked.
Sephiroth was caught off guard and blinked. But when he realised Angeal's joke, he let out a small laugh and shook his head.
- You know we won't go any further than this, right? - Angeal continued, now with a more serious tone.
- I know... I just don't know why you did it.
- Well.. consider it a gift for opening Genesis's eyes. And also for helping me.
- I see.
They both looked down, in silence. Then Angeal slowly looked up, to the ceiling and smiled.
- The great Sephiroth has feelings for me. I feel honored.
- Sephiroth kept his silence for a while, admiring Angeal with sad eyes.
- What's so honorable about this? It is pointless... - said Sephiroth, looking down. - We are soldiers in a war, pretending we're at peace. There shouldn't be any room for feelings. None at all! - he continued, raising his voice in frustration.
Angeal looked at him, surprised. Here was the man everyone called "hero" completely vulnerable. A side of Sephiroth he never thought was ever possible. Angeal wanted to comfort him, but by doing so, would probably only make it worse. So he stood up and looked Sephiroth in the eye.
- Well then, SOLDIER. Wanna go to the training room? - he said smiling, with his fists on his hips, in an almost heroic pose.
Sephiroth replied with a sad grin and got up from the couch. Anything would do to keep his mind busy.
After a few weeks, Genesis started to act strangely again. He started to challenge Sephiroth for more battles, craving for his attention again. But this time something was different about him. He wanted to feel superior and more powerful than Sephiroth. And yet he never took Angeal on a fight again. Almost as if he was protecting him.
A month after getting injured in one of these challenges and fully heal, Genesis was sent back to Wutai with a unit of 3rd and 2nd class SOLDIERs. Nobody ever heard from him again. Angeal was send to carry out his mission and to find him, along with his apprentice. Knowing this, Sephiroth insisted on going as well. He feared Genesis would come back for Angeal. Angeal loved Genesis and would never abandon him, even if it meant giving up on his dreams. Sephiroth tried his best to finish his mission as quick as he could so he could go check up on Angeal. But when he arrived, it was too late. No sight of him anywhere.
Sephiroth tried his best to hide his emotions on his way back to Shin-ra Headquarters. It came in handy the fact that he's a man of few words. But no matter how good he was at deceiving people, there was a thought that wouldn't leave his mind. A thought that for the first time in his life gave him a sense of loss.
He was all alone.