Authors Note: Well, hello there lovelies. It has been oh so very long. I hardly even remember where I was going with this story anymore, but there's still a vague enough idea that I'm still going to attempt to write it. Let us hope I can do this.

Chapter Ten

The following morning, I waved goodbye as I dropped Sephiroth off at school, hopeful that today the little silver haired boy would make some progress. We'd spent our time over breakfast talking, and trying to assure Sephiroth that if he did his best, and tried to be friendly, the whole experience would be much more enjoyable. The boy didn't believe me, but at least the boy had agreed to try his best.

Heading back towards the Shinra manor, I tried not to worry too much. Sephiroth was an intelligent child, far beyond others of his age; but he was of course, very stubborn, and if he didn't want to do something, he would fight tooth and nail to avoid doing it.

'He'll be fine. Perhaps, even do well. If only to make that blonde woman suffer.' The thought amused me, and I hid a small smile behind the collar of my cloak as I climbed the steps of the manor.

Entering the room that I shared with my son, I moved aside the bookshelf and descended the steps to the labs. It was dark down there, but my eyes adjusted quickly, and I didn't have any trouble finding my way through the labyrinth of tunnels.

Since Sephiroth refused to enter the labs, I decided that I should take anything that we would need up into the main manor. I moved about the labs, and tunnels, gathering anything that I thought could be useful. Anything from lost gil, to mostly empty notebooks, and folders, and even some tattered coats and other materials.

Examining the moth eaten material I began wondering if any of it would be salvageable enough to make Sephiroth some new clothes. His were beginning to wear from being frequently washed. I didn't have enough gil to buy new material, or clothes at that rate, but I could probably afford to have someone make Sephiroth a new pair of pants at least.

As I began making my way back through the tunnels a scratching sound made me pause. I remained frozen in the middle of the tunnel, before slipping into the shadows, and making my way as silently towards the stairs as I could. There were still monsters in the bowls of the manor, and some even locked away inside the mansion, but Vincent would rather not tangle with them if he could avoid it. It was always such a hassle.

Sephiroth stood from the table at recess, leaving his spelling homework behind for the teacher to check while the children played. He was about to move off to be by himself, but stopped short when Andromeda appeared in front of him. She was smiling brightly at him, and he looked at her uncomfortably.

"Hi Sephiroth,"

"Uh, Hi Andromeda." He scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot awkwardly.

"How did you do on your spelling test?"

"I, I don't know." He gave a slight shrug. "I tried, so hopefully I didn't do too badly." She giggled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, do you want to go over the list? I can help you if you'd like."

"Ok." He tried to offer a small smile, but it felt a little forced. She didn't seem to mind, and took his hand and lead him to a corner where they could sit and go over their vocabulary list.

Later that afternoon, when I returned to town to pick up Sephiroth, I was surprised to find the boy playing with a little girl outside the school building.

"Ah, Mr. Valentine." I inwardly groaned, turning my attention to the bubbly blonde woman as she approached. She seemed even more chipper than usual. "I'd just wanted to give you an update."

"Didn't we already do this?" I inquired, not bothering to keep the ice out of my voice. Her smile faltered only slightly, but the look she shot me proved that she was just as fond of me as I was of her.

"Yes well, I'd just thought you'd like to know that Sephiroth passed his spelling test. There are still some problems, but I'm beginning to think that he knows how to spell, but he may suffer from dyslexia."

"Dyslexia?" I quirked a brow. She nodded.

"Yes. I asked him a few verbal vocabulary words, and he did just fine. Are you dyslexic Mr. Valentine?"

"No." I stated, frowning. I began to wonder if any of my relatives had been dyslexic.

"Oh, well I think that maybe the problem. Also," She glanced towards Andromeda and Sephiroth, who were squatting down in the dirt poking at a bug. "He's made a friend. I don't know what you said to him, but he's improving so much already."

"I'm glad to hear it." I turned my attention towards the children. "Sephiroth, its time to go." I called, catching the silver haired boys attention.

"Oh, and Mr. Valentine, have you noticed the strange visitors who've been poking around town?"

I frowned and glanced back at the blond woman.

"Visitors?"

"Yes. Some strange fellows, not from around here. All quite strange, asking all sorts of questions around town apparently. They're staying at the Inn. No one seems to know what they want." She gave a shrug and a smiled widely. "Tourists are always so odd." She then turned and headed back towards the school house. I frowned, and shot a glance back towards the Inn, eyes scanning the windows. There were no figures that I could see, but uneasiness began to stir within me.

"Do we have to go home now?" Sephiroth inquired, stepping up beside me and glancing back at Andromeda who waved and smiled at him. He waved back. I rested a hand atop his head, drawing him a little closer to me.

"Yes. Come on. Now." I said, taking the boy's hand and leading him back to the manor as swiftly and as cautiously as I could. I didn't want to draw any more attention to us if I could avoid it, luckily, Sephiroth seemed completely unaware that anything was wrong.

As Sephiroth worked on his homework, and I sorted through some of the things I'd brought back up from the lab, I kept a look out through the study window. The sudden appearance of strangers in the town, dark strangers, brought some concern to me. It sounded like Turks, and Turks were not people that I wanted to deal with.

I should have known killing Hojo wouldn't have gone unnoticed for long; no matter how hated the man had been. Glancing from the window to Sephiroth, I began to wonder if perhaps Hojo wasn't the main objective. The boy hadn't revealed all that the scientist had done to him, but I could imagine that it was nasty, and possibly top secret.

"Sephiroth, would you like to go on a vacation?" I inquired, drawing the boy's attention. Dark silver brows furrowed as he looked at me.

"Vacation? But I've got school."

"Well, yes, but I'm sure if I talk to your teacher it will be fine." I said, moving some books off of my lap and sitting up. "Would you like to?"

"Yes!" Sephiroth beamed standing and crossing over to me. I drew him close, brushing a strand of silver hair behind an ear. I knew that he felt cooped up here. There was only so much for a young boy to do in the mansion, especially since there were monsters roaming around and Vincent wouldn't let him pick locks to continue his explorations.

"Good." I said smiling, hoping not to alarm him at all. "I'll pack up our things; we'll leave in the morning."

"Where are we going to go?" Sephiroth asked, peeking at one of the notebooks I'd brought up from the labs. It was empty, and he eyed me hopefully. Handing him a pen, I watched him as he moved to the other chair and began doodling and writing in the notebook.

"I'm not sure yet. How do you feel about the ocean?"

"I've never seen it."

"Well then, we'll go to the ocean." I leaned back in the chair gazing out the window again. We couldn't stay long in Costa de Sol, too many Shinra people coming and going, but we could go long enough to enjoy the sun, and then move onward. Running from Shinra wasn't an appealing notion for me, but I wouldn't let anyone take Sephiroth back there. Never. I would protect him, and not just for Lucrecia, but for me as well. I'd become fond of the boy, and use to his constant presence.