Dinner had been a nice affair. Genesis decided that he liked rabbit stew, it wasn't something he had had back in Banora, since rabbit was for the poor. All through dinner, his mother had looked between him and Cloud with those loving eyes, happy to have her two sons together at the dinner table.

She still couldn't believe it, after all these years her son was alive. There had been a deep ache down inside that she had caused his death. Now though she has a plethora of questions. Why had they told her that her son was dead? She supposed it was time to tell her story.

With a sigh she sat her spoon down and crossed her arms. "I haven't told anyone what happened in near 20 years."

Genesis looked up at her and reached out, taking her hand, Cloud stood and cleared the table. He could wash dishes later however.

"You don't have to tell me now, I've found you, that's what matters." Genesis said softly when he realized that the tale was causing her pain.

"No, you and Cloud deserve to know." She said, forging on.

Cloud simply sat back down at the table and remained silent.

"It was nearly 26 years ago. I had just met your father and had just finished my studies. I was accepted as a lab assistant, working for Shinra's science department under Professor Hollander." Genesis nearly gasped at the name, but let his mother continue. "I was a foolish young woman in love and I got pregnant. Your father and I weren't married yet and he had been sent out on his first deployment to Wutai. I didn't know what to do." She looked away.

"Hollander came to me, explaining that he needed a pregnant woman for a small experiment and that, if I agreed, Shinra would cover the costs of my pregnancy. He promised me that the experiment was harmless and I agreed. It was the only thing I could think of to survive and provide for you. Lab work didn't pay very highly. He promised you would be safe and even let me look over the details of the experiment. From what I understood, it seemed harmless enough."

"Then you were born and I blamed myself for agreeing to the experiment. My friend tried to tell me that it wasn't my fault, that this happens even in normal pregnancies, but I knew it had to be my fault.

Your father came back from war and pulled me out of my depression. We married and that's when we moved here. I was reassigned to work under Doctor Hojo and, when he left, I remained here. Your father and I had Cloud, but he was sent away again while I was pregnant and killed in action. I still technically work for Shinra. Cloud's been all I've had for so long." She finished, though the stipend they sent her barely kept her and her son afloat.

Cloud just moved and hugged his mother. Genesis sat in stunned silence. Hollander, Hojo, these were people he had known. He had trusted Hollander almost all of his life. He had been the one to take Genesis away from his mother? His fist tightened in anger.

"The experiment, Genesis, maybe..." Cloud started and trailed off. Genesis wing was gone for the moment, but would it stay that way?

"What was the experiment?" Genesis asked, catching Cloud's thought process.

"It involved taking the DNA of a Cetra and placing it inside you to see the effect. There was none throughout the pregnancy." She said softly.

"Cetra, like the ancients?" Genesis asked stunned. He had researched them while studying materia. They had been said to have had strong command over magic. Was that the cause for his own abilities? For the wing?

She nodded. "Yes."

"Did the Cetra have wings?" Genesis asked.

"I don't know." She said confusedly. "Why?"

Cloud and Genesis looked at each other before Genesis tried concentrating to make his wing appear again.

Slowly a large black wing unfurled from his back.

"Oh my." She said, covering her mouth.

"It's why we originally came here. I was hoping you could tell us more." Genesis said, still self conscious.

"What did that man do to you." She whispered, before moving to touch her son's wing.

"I don't know, he told me the problem was genetic." Genesis answered.

"Which means it likely is a result of the experiment." Cloud had never seen his mother swear before now. It made him blush a bit. "I was a stupid woman."

"I don't blame you." Genesis said, hugging her. She hugged him back as he relaxed. Having someone love you no matter what, was a new but wonderful feeling for him. He couldn't hold her decisions against her, not when he had made several mistakes himself.

"I don't know it if will help, but Hojo was running a similar experiment. Most of his notes are still in the old Shinra mansion." She said, still holding her son.

"It's worth a try and sounds better than talking to Hollander. I don't think I could see him right now and not run him through with Rapier." Genesis said, moving back a bit.

"If Hojo was running a similar experiment, then is there someone else out there who's going to grow a wing like Genesis?" Cloud asked concerned.

"I don't know, but we should probably contact them." Miss Strife said softly. "I haven't seen them since they were a small child though."

"Who?" Genesis asked.

"Sephiroth." She said, looking away. She knew her youngest son had idolized the man.

"Sephiroth?" Genesis said in shock. Though it made a horrible amount of sense. Cloud was frozen.

She nodded. "Yes, he grew up here in the mansion. He was just a small boy when Hojo took him to Midgar. It always made me sick what they wanted him to do."

"I'll call Angeal, I trust him to not to turn me in the moment he hears from me. He can get Sephiroth here discreetly, I'm sure." Genesis said.

"Commander Hewley? I thought you didn't want to get him involved." Cloud said, looking to his brother.

"I didn't, but it's better than straight up calling Sephiroth. He's too loyal and he wouldn't sit and listen." Genesis explained, though his mother had a curious expression on her face.

"Did you say Hewley?" She asked, it couldn't be true.

"Yes, Angeal Hewley, he was my best friend growing up in Banora." Genesis said, looking to his mother.

"The woman who was my friend. Who let me know that you had died. She was Hollander's secretary . A woman by the name of Gillian Hewley." Miss Strife said, looking almost furious.

"Gillian. That's Angeal's mom's name." Genesis said with shock. Had Miss Hewely known? She was the one who told him that his parents had died. She couldn't have betrayed him all these years, could she? He had almost killed himself over it. She knew how desperate he had been. She had comforted him. She had known all that time? He felt sick.

"I think I have someone to contact myself." If Gillian had had a hand in taking her son away, then the woman would pay dearly for it.

Genesis just nodded, still a bit numb. "Are you alright?" Cloud asked, placing a hand on Genesis's arm.

"I don't know." Genesis said feeling a bit hollow. Had Angeal know too? Had Miss Hewley told him? "Angeal..."

"You need to call him. He can come with Sephiroth. I don't think he would have..." Cloud trailed off.

Genesis just nodded. "Excuse me." he said taking his cloak and heading outside. This was not a conversation he wanted to have around his mom or his brother. He concentrated for a moment trying to hide his wing again and was pleased to see it gone when he looked behind him.

Cloud just watched his brother go, a sad look in his eyes. He glanced over at his mother who as pacing staring at the phone. At this moment Cloud was happy for the first time in his life that he didn't have any friends. He didn't have anyone to betray him.


Genesis walked outside of the town a bit. He wasn't worried about any of the surrounding monsters. He had taken out a dragon on his way up here after all.

He pulled out his phone and stared at it. Doubts about Angeal assaulted him, but he had trusted the man his whole life. If he couldn't trust Angeal, then he didn't know what he'd do. Steeling his resolve, he dialed the number he knew by heart.

It rang twice before the call was answered. "Dear Gaia, Genesis, where have you been?" Angeal's panicked voice came through the phone.

Genesis sighed heavily, "It's a long story, Angeal, and I can't talk long. I know the Turks will be tracing this call. Just please, I need you to trust me. I want you to grab Sephiroth and meet me at home. I've gone to see mother. Just please come only with Sephiroth or not at all." With that he hung up.

It was short enough that the Turk's wouldn't be able to trace the call, now he just needed to trust Angeal to do the rest.


Angeal just stared at his phone as the line went dead. He looked over at Sephiroth, who had been recalled from Wutai after Genesis had disappeared.

Sephiroth had heard everything with his enhanced hearing. Genesis had been lucky that Zack wasn't around.

"He went to Banora?" Sephiroth asked, crossing his arms. They were currently sitting in Sephiroth's apartment.

Angeal shook his head. "I don't think that's what he meant. He said he'd gone to see his mother, not his parents. I think he's gone to Cloud's hometown Nibelheim."

"What do you want to do?" Sephiroth asked cautiously.

"I don't know. Something's happened, there's no reason of him to have run off like this, scared of the Turks finding him and requesting us. Something's wrong." Angeal said.

Sephiroth knew that he should probably be reporting this to the Turks right now, but part of him wanted answers, too. He was certain that this had something to do with the little blonde cadet Genesis had claimed as his brother. Sephiroth still couldn't shake the familiar feeling the blonde had given him.

"Let's go." Sephiroth said finally

Angeal looked over at him, surprised. "I didn't think you would agree so quickly."

"You're right, there is something wrong about all of this. Something happened out in Wutai and it has to do with Genesis's little blonde brother." Sephiroth said.

Angeal nodded, but how were they to get away without attracting more attention to themselves and to Genesis?


Cloud had disappeared up to his room. Frantically, he tore down the references to Sephiroth in his room and stuffed them all under his bed. He doubted very much that Genesis would want to see the man plastered to Cloud's walls. Lastly, he took the poster over his bed down and carefully rolled it up, stuffing it into his closet.

Once that was done, he did a bit more minor straightening before going and retrieving the old cot his mother kept 'just in case'. Cloud would let Genesis have his bed for now until things could be further straightened out.

When he was satisfied with the shape of his room, he went downstairs to find that Genesis had reentered the house and Cloud visibly relaxed. Miss Strife was still pacing in front of the phone. Finally she threw her hands up in the air. "I haven't spoken to the woman in nearly 5 years and I don't know if I could keep the anger out of my voice long enough to get anything out of her."

"I don't know if I want to know the truth now." Genesis said, looking away. Miss Hewley had been the closest thing to a mother he'd had before now.

"We'll head up to the mansion in the morning. Hopefully we can find something there to help you." Miss Strife said, moving away from the phone.

"Will this happen to Cloud?" Genesis finally asked as his brother's eyes turned to him.

"If it's part of the experiment, I don't know. I don't think so, though." Miss Strife said, shaking her head.

Genesis sighed in relief. He'd been so worried about Cloud eventually going through the same thing that he hadn't really thought much about himself. Knowing his brother was likely saved from the same fate made him feel a bit lighter.

"I cleaned my room a bit and pulled out a cot. You can have my bed." Cloud said softly.

Genesis went to argue that he wasn't tired, when a yawn betrayed him. "You can have your bed, I'll take the cot."

"No, it's alright, besides, if we end up staying here, we can get another bed." Cloud said.

Genesis looked at him for a moment. He hadn't thought about what he would do once he had his answers. When this began, he had thought about trying to get back in to Shinra, to SOLDIER. But now, knowing how deeply he'd been betrayed by the very company he worked for. Well, going back to Shinra made his stomach sour. Staying here in Nibelheim with Cloud and his mother did seem rather preferable.

He just shook his head and decided to sort out his feelings in the morning. "I'm taking the cot." Genesis said, pushing past Cloud and laying down on the old thing. It wasn't too bad, not worse than the hammocks he used to pass out in, back in his family's orchard.

Cloud just sighed as he walked over to his own bed and turned out the light.


Two hours after their initial conversation, Angeal and Sephiroth stood just outside the Shinra building, tickets to Costa del Sol in hand. They had concocted the crazy idea that they were going on vacation and had all but forced Lazard to approve them for 3 weeks leave. It hadn't been an easy task and he was rather suspicious, but, if things worked out right, they at least wouldn't be listed as AWOL themselves.

They would spend a day in Costa del Sol and then move on to Nibelheim. Even Turks weren't good enough to follow Sephiroth if he didn't want them to and, if they tried, the 1st would just loose them along the way.

No one at Shinra besides the doctor that had treated Cloud knew that the two were brothers. It was a risk, but Angeal just left him be. He had thought about going to the man and explaining things to him, asking him to keep quiet. Likely though, doing so would have caused him to go straight to the Turks. No, it was safer this way.

Zack had been another matter. He had been upset that he wasn't brought along. It wasn't fair that Sephiroth and Angeal were going to Costa del Sol without him. Angeal had sighed and said that he just really needed to get away and that Zack was needed here.

Putting a bit of faith and giving him the responsibility of 'holding the fort down' had at least placated Zack for now. He couldn't think of Zack now, knowing he might be leaving his student behind for good, depending on what Genesis said. Whatever had caused the man to abandon his life's dream had to be huge.


Hollander was beyond angry. Genesis Rhapsodos had been officially announced AWOL over a week ago and he had yet to hear from the man. He knew the Commander had no one else to turn to. He had made sure of it. Where had his wayward experiment gone?

He slammed his book shut and stalked around his lab. Maybe it was time to take matters into his own hands. Hollander would go find Genesis himself. He had worked too hard for all this to fall apart now.


Cloud lay awake in bed, listening to Genesis sleep. Learning that his mother had once worked for Shinra's science department and technically still did had startled him. It made him realize how little about his mother he actually knew. The science department had always scared him and imagining his mother working alongside those people. Well, he didn't really want to think about that anymore right now. And there was the mystery of his father. He hadn't really even learned anything new about the man, not even his name.

His mother had told him long ago that she didn't have anything of his, not even a picture. With all the other secrets she had been keeping though, he wondered if Genesis and his father was just another. Maybe all the revelations and betrayal had shaken him more than it should have. His mother and Genesis had both seem extremely hurt by the information. It was clear that people close to them had deliberately done this.

With one last glance at Genesis, Cloud rolled over and tried to will himself to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day and he would need all the energy he could muster.


Its over *collapses* this was the hardest chapter to write so far. I hope you enjoyed it. I realize how similar this sounds to Sephiroth and Lucrecia's story, it didn't dawn on me until I had already got deep into the plot. Don't hold it against me to much please? haha.

Please Review-DHT