Axel gave Sephiroth the room down the hall from ours. We let him sleep the day off. Axel and I went to the mall to buy him clothes. He had nothing when he came to us. We went from mall to mall buying him stuff. We were gone for nearly ten hours and when we got home, Sephiroth was still sleeping. Zexion had already started dinner by the time we got home. We put the zillions of bags in our room. I changed into my house clothes and went into the kitchen. Demyx was sitting at the table drinking Mountain Dew and watching Zexion cook.
"What is that?" Axel asked, pulling his shirt down over his head.
"I don't know but it smells good." I said trying to get a look at whatever Zexion was stirring in the pot.
"This isn't for you. This is for your brother. The food in the oven is for you." Zexion said.
"Well what's in the oven?" Axel questioned.
"It's lasagna."
"What kind of lasagna?" I said wrinkling my nose as I peered through the glass of the oven door.
"Don't worry. I made meat lasagna and a vegetable."
"Good. I cannot stand meat in lasagna." I said, wrinkling my nose again.
"Which is still so weird." Axel said, kissing me.
Demyx made fake puking sounds. Axel shot him a bird. Zexion stopped stirring and added something else to the pot.
"What is that anyway?" Demyx said before taking a sip of his drink.
"It is a remedy of sorts. It'll reverse the effects of anything they gave him. The sleeping happens to be one of those effects."
"Speaking of, I'm going to go check on him."
I kissed Axel one more time and walked toward Sephiroth's room. I knocked on the door and I heard snoring coming from the other side. I opened the door slowly and the light shined on the back of his head.
"Seph…" I whispered.
He rolled over and I saw tears in his eyes. I walked over to him and sat at his side. He rolled over the rest of the way and sat up. I moved to sit behind him and he laid back on me. I ran my hand down now unbraided hair.
"What were mother and father like?" he muttered.
"They were great. Dad, he made a great effort to protect after you were taken. There wasn't a day that passed where either of them waited for you. They loved me enough for the both of us. Mom used to say that she was glad we were fraternal otherwise she wouldn't have gone a day without crying."
He took my hand in his and played with my fingers.
"What of the rest of our family?"
"Well, I don't much about what happened to Dad. He left when I was nine. Mom died a couple years ago. When I was twelve, she was diagnosed with liver cancer. I suppose we have some living family but I don't know where to find them."
He looked up at me, "Then you're all I have left?"
"Yes unless you include Axel and everyone. Which reminds me, Zexion cooked something for you. He says it'll reverse any effects of what those people did to you."
He looked at our hands and smiled.
"I've gone almost eighteen years thinking that our parents didn't want me. That's what my adoptive parents said. They told me that my real parents only wanted my sister."
"Trust me. Our parents wanted us both. Sometimes it seemed like they wanted you more than me. After you were first taken, it was as if I didn't exist. Mom sulked around the house holding onto your blanket and crying. Dad was calling people all the time asking if they'd seen you. Even I fell into the depression of you being gone. I had nightmares for years. I slept in your bed almost every night. After Dad left, Mom took up drinking."
"Which explains the liver cancer."
"Yeah, after she died, I was alone. Then one day I was walking down the street and Axel and found me. He was sent to protect me actually. Mom actually told me about him before I knew he existed. I thought it was just her medication acting up. Now I have him forever."
"I won't have to kill him them?"
I laughed, "No, you won't have to kill him. He loves me. I love him."
"You're lucky, I guess. I don't even know if I'll find anyone. I've lived a sheltered life. I was home-schooled so I never got the chance to meet girls. I mean, how do I know I'm not gay?"
"Well, we could throw a party. Our birthday is in a week. We could just have it a few days early."
He smiled up at me. I kissed his forehead and we sat there. I savored the time I had with him. I had missed almost eighteen years of his life.
"So what happened after you were taken?"
"They gave me to this family. I didn't care for them much. I hated them actually. They put me in karate and martial arts classes. I learned how to fight. They, uh, raised me as their own but I knew they weren't my parents. I was taught everything from home. Then out of nowhere all of the people come and they kill my so-called parents. Then they take me and start experimenting with my blood. I was only allowed to remember certain things. Little did I know, it was some sort of drug they put in everything I ate or drank."
"Time for dinner." Zexion called.
Sephiroth sat up and got out of bed. He was a little unstable at first but eventually caught himself. I followed him from the room and to the kitchen. The table was set and everyone else had already taken a seat. I sat down next to Axel and Sephiroth sat on my other side. Zexion put our plates of lasagna in front of us and put a bowl of the "soup" in front of Sephiroth. His nose wrinkled as he breathed in the scent of it.
"Why can't I have real food?"
"Because the narcotics they gave you do not support solid food. It'll only be for three meals: dinner tonight then lunch and dinner tomorrow."
"How we do it this way: dinner tonight, then breakfast and lunch tomorrow? That way I can eat real food for dinner."
"Whatever floats your boat, Sephy." Demyx said before shoving a fork full of lasagna in his mouth.
"Do not call me Sephy."
Demyx stuck his tongue out at him.
"Now," I said before a fight could erupt, "how did things go when you got him?"
"Demyx led me to his room and I showed him the picture. He was more than willing to come with us. The others stayed behind to fight. Getting in was the easy part. Getting out was tricky. There's a code to get in but once you get caught they cut the power, meaning the automatic motion-sensing gate doesn't open."
"But we got out." Zexion said glaring at Axel.
"What are you not telling me?"
"Zex, she has the right to know." Demyx said, putting his hand on Zexion's shoulder.
"In order for them release us, we had to give them something in return." Zexion said somberly, his gaze locking with mine.
"And what was that?"
"Every three months, if you all don't win the battle against Roxas, I have to go back there for further experimentation." Sephiroth said, his eyes glazing over. "If I don't go, they come here for me."
"Can't we just leave? If we're not here, they can't take him."
"We gave our word. This deal is unbreakable." Axel said, holding his arm out.
I took his arm on my hand and looked at his wrist. There was a fresh-looking cut that was just beginning to close. I ran my finger over the wound and looked up at him.
"We gave our blood to seal our word, all of us did."
"Axel, you should have told me this." I pushed my plate away from me and stood up, "I seem to have lost my appetite."
I went outside and walked to the lake. I stripped down to my underwear and jumped in. I stayed under the water for a little while and then broke the surface when I heard my name being called. I looked at the backdoor and saw Sephiroth scanning the darkness. He looked over at the lake and saw my clothes first then me. Axel handed him something before he ran over to the water and I ducked back under.
"Come out of there. We need to talk."
I swam to where he was sitting and pulled myself out of the water. He handed me a towel.
"Axel said you would react this way."
"I don't like that they've practically given you back to them."
"You have to understand that it was either me or you. I told them to do it. I see how you are with Axel. I saw his face when they presented the option. He was hurting just thinking about them taking you. I'd rather it be me going back and just re-experiencing what I've already been through."
"But four times a year?"
"It used to be every day. What's four times a year compared to that?"
I stared at him and thought about it.
"To be free and then to go back?"
"I'm going back to save you. The thing is I won't have to go back if we can beat Roxas."
I nodded and he stood up. He went back inside and I sat by the water, thinking. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to see a man in black. I opened my mouth the scream but he put his finger to his lips. I closed my mouth and looked up at him.
"You will not scream. I am here to help."
