Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 10: Stalkers
Summary: Zack finally finds what he has been looking for… Sephiroth and Angeal's experiment goes awry.
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.
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Today was Monday again, Zack had bounced out of bed showered and dressed and jaunted down the hallway happily before he'd remembered he was 2 hours early for his class. Now he sat in one of the SOLDIER lunch-rooms, nibbling absent-mindedly on some grapes and bouncing his knee under the table impatiently. His eyes darted to the wall clock frequently, but it barely seemed to move.
That was how Angeal found him, and the SOLDIER 1st had raised one inquiring eyebrow before chuckling at his young protégé. Zack frowned petulantly, but shifted his seat to allow his mentor to move a chair next to him.
"Having fun teaching?" the SOLDIER 1st inquired with a grin,
Zack brightened immediately, "Yes! Very much! They all try so hard, its fun to watch!" he enthused, bouncing in his seat again with eagerness,
Angeal chuckled, "I've got another test for you kid."
Zack hesitated, his hyper-activity slowing for a few moments, "A test? … What kind of test?" he asked reluctantly, remembering when Angeal had sat in on one of his classes,
"I want to see how observant you can be, …" Angeal gave a slow smile, "I want you to watch your students closely today Zack,"
"Huh?" Zack interrupted in confusion, "Don't I watch my students every week?"
"Closer, Zack… after class today tell me about them, where is each student struggling? What are they good at? What do they like to do?"
"Oh, so you want me to make friends with them?" Zack grinned at the prospect,
"Don't just ASK them Zack, … observe and tell me what YOU think."
Zack nodded enthusiastically, "I can do that! … but uh,… how will you know if I get it right?"
Angeal chuckled again, standing from his seat and turning, "Follow me Zack, I want to show you something." Zack sprang from his seat jogging to catch up with his Mentor.
A short walk later, Zack found himself in a room almost directly above the Training Room he was supposed to teach in shortly. The SOLDIER 3rd was stunned, he'd had no idea there was an observation room! It made him suddenly feel self-conscious.
"You've been SPYING on me?" Zack yelped indignantly,
Angeal snickered, "This room was built for assessments Zack, … but if I wanted to "spy" on you I'd just sit in on your lesson again."
"Um… well … why are you using this place now?"
"I make your students nervous … if I sit in on your lesson, they won't perform as well. So in order for me to watch you, I can't be in there."
"Oh…" Zack scratched at the back of his head as he thought about it, "I guess that makes sense."
Angeal shook his head and smiled ruefully, "Don't worry about it Zack, … just be yourself and you'll be fine."
The black-haired SOLDIER 3rd brightened, his usually goofy grin popping up on his face, "You bet! That's what I'm best at right?" and with a jaunty wave he whirled and dashed from of the room.
With the distraction from Angeal, Zack was only slightly early to his class, and waited eagerly as Squad Sekhmet filed in and took their customary positions. He beamed at the lot of them, almost forgetting Angeal's instructions as he started the class on their workouts. When it finally did occur to him that he needed to give the students a little more personal attention they were already into their sparring sets.
"Alright kids, we're going to try something different today, … I want you to keep your own count and I'll walk around and help alright?" Zack grinned despite some of the cringes from the Cadets at being referred to as "kids". After a few false starts he got them going on their own and walked amongst the groups, offering advice here and there, trying to note where they struggled, everything Angeal had asked for.
Young Gavin was paired with Ethan, both boys were lanky and on the tall side, but Gavin was a lot more hesitant and tended not to strike hard enough for Ethan to block. Zack watched the two for a bit, offering his advice and plenty of encouragement, … Gavin took to it well, Grinning back and striking with more gusto.
Pleased by his results, Zack continued on to the next group, This one had two blond boys, one was Cyril, he was very good, and Zack instinctively knew that he'd be great with the sword, but his social skills were somewhat lacking, he didn't take well to Zack's suggestions, Angeal had once pointed out that perhaps it was because Zack and Cyril were the same age… The other boy, was the "runt" of the class, smaller and younger than his peers, never-the-less he was amazingly determined, and Zack had NEVER heard him complain about anything! … actually, Zack hadn't really heard the boy say much at all, and he frowned as he worried about the child's reclusive nature.
"Hey guys! How's it going?" Zack asked brightly,
Cyril paused barely long enough to glance irritatedly at his instructor, muttering a single "Fine." Before turning back to young Cloud, Zack's gaze flitted to the smaller blond, and he waited,
Cloud glanced up just as briefly, and uttered a non-committal grunt.
"Oh come on! I need more than that!" Zack stepped closer intercepting the two practice swords with ease and pushing the two teens apart. He turned first to Cyril, "You're doing really well kid, you're picking it up quickly, but you also seem to leave yourself open when you attack! Gotta keep up defense too." Zack explained deftly, mimicking sword work with his arms.
He turned back to Cloud and paused, what about him? … hmmm… Zack eyed the colorful bruise that striped the small boy's face "You're doin' pretty good too Cloud, but don't get distracted all right? You never know when your opponent's gonna get sneaky." The blue eyes flickered a little and the boy frowned, mumbling something under his breath. Zack, not catching what he'd said, leaned in closer,
"Hmm? What was that Cloud?"
"m, fine, Zack…" The child grunted, Zack froze, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember ever hearing Cloud speak before, … that voice was familiar!
"What? What did you just say?" Zack asked, slightly stunned, it couldn't be… he must have imagined it…
Cloud glanced up, his eyes a mixture of amusement and irritation, "I said, I'm FINE Zack!" The blond sighed and flicked his gaze back to Cyril.
Zack was floored, his jaw dropped in amazement, he'd FOUND him! It was definitely the same voice! With a sudden whoop of unbridled glee Zack leaped in place, "I FOUND YOU!" Cloud jolted like he'd been punched,
"Wha?"
"You're my FAN!!" Zack cried, in a bound he hugged the small blond to himself, he wasn't going to let the boy run away again! But Zack was just so excited! He'd found his FAN! And the boy was in ZACK'S CLASS!! He never even noticed the terrified look on the boy's face, laughing happily he hoisted Cloud easily over his head, He was so SMALL and light-weight! But he was Zack's FAN! … "Oh!" Zack yelped as a thought suddenly occurred to him, He should tell ANGEAL!! His mentor had never believed his fan-claim. "I found my FAN!" Zack cheered, and with Cloud still held over his head the SOLDIER bolted from the room. The blond gave a horrified squeak,
"PUT ME DOWN ZACK!!! LEGGO!!" and he thrashed futilely, Zack, with his Mako-infusions, had no problem holding onto the small boy, but he relented and dropped Cloud to one shoulder instead,
"I finally have a Fan!" Zack continued, as he raced through the hall and up the stairs,
"ZA-AACK!!!!" Cloud pounded on his back, gasping for breath as his head swung upside down, "STOP!! PLEASE!!" Zack was at the top of the stairs in a flash, and bolted to the observation room with no hesitancy, the door slammed against the far wall as the SOLDIER 3rd tossed it open.
"ANGEAL!" He hollered unnecessarily, "I found my FAN!! I TOLD you I had a Fan! He's the president of my fanclub or something isn't it awesome! He…." Zack's enthusiastic explanation trailed off as he realized there were two people in the room. The young blond over his shoulder was panting for breath between protests,
"Zack! … Please! … Let go! … Put me down!..."
"Oh… Hi, … um… I didn't realize," Zack sputtered, his eyes wide as they took in the relaxed form of General Sephiroth himself, the green-eyed SOLDIER was lounging comfortably in one of the chairs, a book held loosely in one hand, "General Sephiroth Sir!" Zack squeaked, stiffening and flushing as he realized what kind of impression he must have made on his hero, the blonde on his shoulder went rigid, yelping as Zack's arm around him tightened.
Both the SOLDIER 1st's were staring, Angeal sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, shaking his head, Sephiroth's green eyes met Zack's and one silver eyebrow rose eloquently,
"SOLDIER," Sephiroth's voice betrayed only mild curiosity, "Why are you molesting that Cadet?"
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Angeal sat down slowly in one of the lounge chairs, he had just dismissed his protégé Zack Fair, and watched the young SOLDIER 3rd prance eagerly out the door to begin teaching his class. Angeal pulled a small piece of wood from one pocket, and his pocket-knife from the other, dragging one of the small waist-bins over he began carefully chipping away to pass the time. A few minutes after Zack's class started below, the door to the Observation room opened, and Angeal looked up with a lazy smile.
"Did you give him the instructions?" Sephiroth asked, glancing down into the room below,
"I asked him to pay more attention." Angeal coughed lightly to catch the older man's attention and gestured to the other lounge chair. Sephiroth frowned slightly before taking his seat. They had agreed not to stare at the blonde cadet today; this was supposed to be a different experiment.
Thus began their session of "watching-without-watching". Angeal went back to carving, occasionally glancing up when Zack walked up to a particular group of boys. Sephiroth fidgeted once, and then began tapping the arm of his chair with one finger as he made an effort not to look at Cloud. Angeal was just finishing his carving of a small wooden puppy, smiling as he carefully carved "Zack" onto the name tag, when suddenly Sephiroth leaped from his seat, pressing both hands to the window and staring, Angeal looked up at his superior with a glare,
"Sephiroth, what the he-"
"WHAT is he DOING??" The General snapped in outright shock, "ANGEAL! What is he doing?!"
In a second the raven-haired SOLDIER 1st was on his feet and next to his Silver-haired cohort. His eyes darted to the room below, and for a moment he choked, "Planet! What is he?..." Angeal trailed off, both men watched open-mouthed as Zack, standing in the room below, lifted Cloud Strife over his head and with a cry of jubilation bolted from the room and out of their view. For the barest of seconds the two men just stared, first at the room, then at each other,
"Is he? …" Sephiroth's voice was oddly strained,
"He isn't… He wouldn't…" Angeal tried to reason, oh blast… he would…When Angeal's eyes widened in dawning horror, Sephiroth frowned,
"Where did he go?"
"He's coming here!" Angeal instantaneously jolted into action, he raced across the room to the light-switch panel, "We gotta hide the windows!" He yelped as he pressed the switch to change the lighting quality, Sephiroth picked up the panic quickly, and pressed the buttons near his side that slid a filter into place, the "windows" suddenly faded to look like pale wall-panels.
"Now what?" Sephiroth turned, Zack would be here any second!
"Act Natural! Angeal snapped, dashing back to his chair, he scooped up his wood-working materials and almost cut himself on the knife as he went.
"WHAT?" Sephiroth stared at him, "what do you mean 'Act Natural'??"
"SIT!" Angeal commanded with a hiss, they could hear Zack's feet reach the top of the stairs, in an eye blink Sephiroth was sitting, Angeal looked around frantically, and picked up a book that had been left on the side table, "Here! Pretend to read this!" he chucked the novel at Sephiroth, who deftly caught it, opened it randomly and pressed it in front of his face, "Relax!" Angeal insistently growled, Sephiroth leaned back into the chair, and managed to look slightly less ridged, and not half a second before the door slammed open,
"ANGEAL!" Came Zack's enthusiastic yelp, as the boy continued on detailing something or other involving a "fan" the two SOLDIER 1st's just stared, Angeal was torn between exasperation and amusement, the boy had no idea what he'd just done! Angeal's gaze darted to the young blond hanging like a sack of potatoes over his enthusiastic protégé's shoulder, it was the most expression Angeal had ever seen on the young blonde's face, he looked absolutely terrified, and positively furious all at the same time. About this time Zack finally noticed the General, his face paled and his chatter came to a grinding halt. Angeal bit his lip to keep from laughing, he calmed quickly as he realized his student was about to squeeze their prize Cadet to death. Sephiroth intervened first,
"SOLDIER, Why are you molesting that Cadet?"
Angeal very carefully schooled his own face, so that was the game they were playing eh? "I didn't realize Zack… I thought you liked … well… girls." Zack blinked at them both, staring in incomprehension for a second before his face abruptly turned red,
"NO!!! No, No, it's not like THAT!" Zack spluttered, shifting uncomfortably and hastily lowering Cloud to the ground in front of him, the blonde's face was a similar color as Zack's but more due to being held upside-down. Cloud's blue eyes flickered around the room in alarm, his face quickly paling as he took in Angeal and, more particularly, Sephiroth. He cringed backward, but Zack's hands held him steady.
"I didn't ask you to harass your students Zack," Angeal continued relentlessly,
"I wasn't!" Zack protested, "I didn't! … I mean… He's my fan! I'm not molesting him!" as if to disprove his own statement the SOLDIER 3rd hugged Cloud to him protectively, petting the blond spikes and ignoring the indignant yelp from his captive,
"You seem overtly friendly with the Cadet." Sephiroth murmured,
"NOO!!!" Zack cried, "It ISN'T LIKE THAT!" and he suddenly released the boy and waved his hands frantically, "I'm not! I'm … he's… I… He's my FAN!!" Zack glanced at Angeal in mild panic, While the boy floundered Angeal noticed the white-faced blond in front of him shake slightly, his pale-blue eyes locked on Sephiroth, slowly he stepped backwards, sliding quietly behind Zack before whirling and bolting from the room, Angeal's eyes widened a fraction, they boy made no sound in his hasty retreat. The SOLDIER 1st managed to restrain commenting on it, save for sparing a quick glance at Sephiroth, who nodded fractionally to indicate he'd seen it too…
"I only HAVE one fan!" Zack continued, unaware of the silent exchange between his superiors, Zack's gaze flickered to Sephiroth who still looked amused, "I wasn't trying to… I … he just…" Zack's hand lowered to where his student should have been, and, finding nothing his eyes followed, then darted around the room in alarm, "Where'd he go?" It wasn't until the teen made as if to race after the escaped Trainee that Angeal stood and put a hand on the boy's shoulder,
"Zack, …" Angeal interrupted his protégé's thoughts, "You can't DO that to your students, Zack!"
"But!... But he's my FAN!" Zack protested, looking wounded,
Now Sephiroth stood, "Zackary Fair is it?" Zack's eyes bugged for a moment and he nodded mutely, "Zack,…" Sephiroth paused until the SOLDIER 3rd started breathing again, "You say this boy is a fan correct?" another silent nod, "There is a certain protocol to dealing with fans." Sephiroth set down his book "prop" and paced to put himself squarely in front of the raptly attentive youth. "Fans are there to admire from a distance, One does not speak to, or acknowledge one's fans, they are not to be seen or heard. To do so would ruin the delicate balance that exists between fans and the subjects of their worship."
Zack gaped, "… Not seen?"
Angeal had a hard time not choking, but he managed to keep a mostly straight face, despite the twitching at the corner of his mouth, "That's right Zack, you can't go running off with your fans, you'll scare them away."
"But,…" Zack slowly deflated under the pressure of their gazes, "You sure?"
Sephiroth nodded seriously, "Yes. If you acknowledge your fans, they cease to hold the same status."
"Same Status?"
"They become Stalk-"
Angeal hastily cut off the General, "They won't be your fans anymore Zack." He shot a glance at Sephiroth, who raised one eyebrow and shrugged minutely,
"That's right, … they won't be … 'fans'."
"Oh." Zack sighed unhappily, "Well I don't want that… I guess I can try to leave him alone."
"There is no 'try' Zack," Angeal continued, "You need to ignore him." He almost felt bad as his protégé hunched with disappointment, staring at his feet and scuffing the ground with one shoe, "I'm going to go find your fan, and let him back downstairs." Angeal stepped past his student even as the boy frowned,
"Huh? Whaddya mean?"
It was Sephiroth who explained even as Angeal left, "This floor is inaccessible to SOLDIER Preparation Cadets."
Sephiroth eyed the boy in front of him, they'd managed to smooth over this problem quite nicely, but it had startled the daylights out of him when the Angeal's unpredictable apprentice had come barging in. "A SOLDIER Prep. keycard is not sufficient rank, we do not want the boys to know about this floor and its facilities." He gestured behind him to the now-hidden windows, and the young SOLDIER 3rd nodded, speaking of fans…Sephiroth thought as he noted the admiring gleam in the bright blue eyes. Zack nodded, his eyes held a mass of questions, but for once the boy seemed too nervous to speak, Sephiroth internally sighed,
"Was there something else SOLDIER?"
"Um…" Zack fidgeted, and then grinned broadly, "It's just a real honor to meet you General Sephiroth! You're my hero!" The General bit back a groan, yep… it was another fan. But before he could comment further Angeal walked back in, a deep frown marring his face,
"Zack." The Raven-haired SOLDIER 1st began slowly, "Did you leave the door open when you ran up here?" Sephiroth blinked at the question,
Zack seemed equally confused, "What? … um… no?"
"What happened?" Sephiroth turned to his Lieutenant,
"I can't find C-… the boy." Angeal rubbed one hand along his jaw in thought, "He's not on this floor, I checked thoroughly."
Sephiroth frowned, a strange idea forming in his mind, "You don't suppose…" Without finishing his thought he strode to the switch on the wall. Angeal picked up the idea in a moment and they hit both switches almost simultaneously, The room darkened and the opaque tinting vanished from the large windows. Down below all three SOLDIERs could clearly see one small figure with bright blonde hair sheepishly skittering past his curious Squad-mates.
"How did he get down there?" Angeal gawked,
Sephiroth simply shrugged, "I have no idea, … but he did."
Zack stared in amazement, "Wow! That's amazing! … but I KNOW I didn't leave the door open!"
Angeal sighed, before turning away from the new puzzle, "Come Zack, … we need to dismiss your class, I'm sure they're far to wound up to get any training done by this point."
"Oops…" The teen muttered, looking suddenly guilty, "Eh-heh… sorry… I didn't mean to." Angeal led him out, and despite the boy's impulsive attitude, Sephiroth could tell he was regretting his actions.
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