A take on how Seven and Sice met as kids when they were under Arecia's supervision.

When Mother told them to train, they trained.
When Mother told them to eat, they ate.
When Mother told them to sleep, they slept.

It was a daily cycle that repeated itself over and over with no exception. Getting used to it was hard, some did it faster than others, and some took quite a while. But they had to, they had no choice.

The first days were always the hardest.

Seven was the last one to go to bed; she always checked on everyone else first before she thought of herself and sleep. She wanted to make sure if they were alright – she was the first one here and was used to the new circumstances and daily routine already, so she knew what they all had to live through. For a 7-year-old it was impressive what she understood already, but she learned fast and quick to know that she needed to be there for them. "Them" being other children like her, almost the same age as her – she was still the oldest though – but they were all quite different in character, even though Mother raised them together and wanted them to be together. It was hard, but they managed it and tried to avoid conflict not to disappoint Mother.

She saved them, gave them a new life, and in return they wanted to show her how grateful they were for that and gave her full trust and consent.

-x-

When Seven entered the sleeping hall she only heard a faint sob coming from the right corner – she barely noticed anything in the dark room, but the noise was clearly understandable and alarmed Seven's instincts. Sobbing was never good, especially not when you are supposed to sleep and needed strength for the next day. It stole sleep time and every minute sleep was very precious.

Her curiosity was always strong and if somebody wasn't able to sleep, she had to make sure to at least know why it was that case. And maybe solve the problem the person had.

She slowly walked over to the noise, tip-toeing around the mattresses of other children who already were in a deep slumber, and made her way over to the mattress that lied directly in the corner of the room. A blanket was dragged over almost the whole place and Seven could only point out some white hair sticking out.

White hair? That must be the new girl then.

The "mean looking girl" - how the others have called her – only arrived two days ago and Seven hadn't seen her yet from close. Mother merely said there was someone new and that she was shy and reserved, didn't talk much and glared a lot, so it would take a while to fully introduce her to the group, but apparently she let her already sleep in the room with the others, maybe to slowly get her used to the new situation.

The sobbing came from under the blanket, Seven noticed, and when she knew one thing then it was that sobbing was a bad sign and so she must be sad. And if someone was sad they needed a hug, she figured out over the course of time. It always helped with the others, why not try it on her?

She leaned down and sat herself right beside the mattress, reaching out to her to pat over the blanket, but the moment she first touched it the girl jerked and the sobbing suddenly stopped, the blanket still over her whole body. It wasn't the reaction Seven imagined, but at least the sobbing stopped. That was something, right?

She nudged her again – Seven wasn't satisfied with only stopping the sobbing, she wanted to know the reason for that - and now the girl pulled the blanket away from her head to figure out who was the cause of her trouble, narrowing her eyes to get a good picture of her. Which wasn't easy considering it was night time.

These eyes watched Seven intensely as if she did something wrong, but Seven was sure she didn't do something wrong, she just wanted to know what was going on and that isn't bad, right? It was her nature to know what trouble others had and often she figured it out way before the person knew it. Seven didn't know the girl though and so she couldn't know what was going on in her head, but if Mother took her in they had to get used to it anyways and so it was only a matter of time until they met.

Seven moved closer to her to give her a bit comfort, sitting on the edge of the mattress now to have her in reach, but the girl only shifted away from her to keep distance between them and held on tight the blanket around her shoulders, giving her a mean look.

This must be why they call her "the mean looking girl" …

She didn't understand. She wanted to help her, why can't she see it? The others who arrived after Seven were more open and Seven got to know them fast, this girl apparently wasn't like that.

I guess she needs more time …

Now that she knew that she kept the distance between them she moved a bit back again to give her the feeling of safety. The girl still watched her irritated, but at least now she knew that she understood that she didn't like someone near her.

Seven still didn't know why she was sobbing, and there was only one way to find that out.

"Are you sad?" Seven whispered and only got a glare at response.

Well, it wasn't as easy as she thought it will be.

"You're not sad then?" Seven tried again and still got no verbal response from her, the glaring only got more intense.

She sighed and scratched her scalp, running out of ideas what she could do. The girl didn't like closeness and so she couldn't give her a hug, she didn't answer her questions and didn't want to talk. For Seven this was a hard situation and it made her sad, she felt helpless.

"But … if you are not sad, why were you sobbing then?" It was the last thing Seven could do; if this didn't succeed then she had to give up and go to bed without helping the girl.

The girl clutched the blanket again, even tighter than before and buried her face in the material.

" … I'm not sad. If you are sad then you are weak. I'm not weak."

It was mumbled and Seven almost couldn't understand what she said, but she finally said something and for Seven it was a huge success.

She can talk!

"I don't think you are weak. Mother always tells us that we are all strong. And you live with us now, so you are strong, too."

"Mh."

A silence occurred and Seven didn't want to push her further now – it was getting late and both were tired. She might not figure out why she was sad, but at least she got a first picture of her and that was something. She could work from there and maybe try to ask her about that tomorrow, now that she got to know her.

The girl snuggled herself in the blanket again when Seven didn't speak further, indicating that she was done with this conversation and honestly she was getting really sleepy now.

Seven seemed to notice that and backed away, wanting to get to her own sleeping place to make herself ready for the night.

"Hey?" The girl lifted her head when Seven stood up. "What … What is your name?"

"Huh? Oh." She turned around to her again. "Um, it's Seven. And yours?"

" …Sice."

"Okay … Sice. I um, I go to bed now. Good night then."

"No!" Sice reached out to her with an arm and caught her hand. "I mean … wait."

Seven was taken aback by the sudden change of her behavior and shuddered by the unforeseen touch, she almost jerked away out of instinct.

"Huh?"

"Can you … can you stay here? You … seem nice and … yeah."

The words were stuttered and mumbled in the blanket, as if Sice was embarrassed to say them.

Seven blinked a few times to realize what she just said and nodded when Sice released the hand again.

Well, what should go wrong?

"Okay. I get my blanket."

A few seconds later Seven returned with her blanket and lied herself beside Sice who made room for her on the mattress. They were both small and fit perfectly together on the place. Sice seemed suddenly more comfortable now when she released the tight grip from her blanket the moment Seven occupied the provided space.

"You okay?" Seven asked carefully when she made herself comfortable and ready to go to sleep.

"I am … always when Boko is here."

Seven raised an eyebrow.

"Boko?"

"He protects me in the night." Sice said and shifted her arms under her blanket, revealing a stuffed animal – a white chocobo - in her arms. It was small and fit perfectly in her chubby fingers. "When I hold him like this I never get a nightmare."

Seven smiled at her, envious that Sice had such a companion. She had a lot nightmares in the past and would definitely had a good use for a lucky charm – the nightmares weren't that regular anymore, but still there.

"I wish I had one, too. He looks cute."

For the first time Sice's mean look vanished and a small smile took place, releasing the stuffed animal from her arms to set it right between them.

"He can protect you too."

"Thank you, Boko." Seven reached out to the plushy and ran a finger through its soft fur. " … Goodnight then, Sice. And Boko."

"Goodnight, Seven."

It didn't take long for Sice to fall asleep, the sobbing from earlier long forgotten. Somehow she felt safe and that wasn't only because of Boko; Seven had this a calm aura around her that made Sice feel like home, like she finally found a place to be. Or maybe it was because she found her first friend here in this new setting. And maybe it will end up in a great friendship, she didn't know yet, but she could dream of it.

Seven was almost out, too, when she felt something ticking at her nose. She opened her eyes and saw Sice's hair right in front of her face and felt her arms around her, the plushy pressed between them in an uncomfortable angle. It took her a few seconds to realize what was going on and wiggled the chocobo carefully out, placing him right above their heads to let them watch over them. She had to admit that Sice was cuddly and actually it didn't bother her at all. It was a strange and new feeling, but it was alright and if Sice could sleep that way then be it.

Tilting her head a bit so Sice's hair wouldn't tickle her anymore, she closed her eyes and embraced to warmth Sice brought with her, making her fall asleep fast.