Genre: AU, fantasy

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Memory loss, peril, action violence

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words

He knew it probably wasn't a good idea to leave the shelter of the house. With the Aura of Light still in place, he was safe there from Heartless. But he wasn't afraid of them, and he needed some time to do some serious thinking.

Ten years ago, Sephiroth had left Heaven. Ten years ago the foundation of Sora's life had been shaken to the core. Sephiroth, someone he loved and trusted, had nearly killed him, abandoning all he believed in. At least, all he claimed to believe in. Cloud had followed him, disappearing from Sora's life for almost as long. Aerith and Tifa had only brought him back just over a year ago, but Sora's life had not been the same since.

Sure, learning to use his power as Key of Heaven had taken up a lot of his time. It was easy to focus on that and nothing else, to bask in the seemingly endless love of God, his uncle and protector.

"Why did my mother leave Heaven?"

It was an innocent question he'd posed eleven years ago. His uncle had never really given him an answer. Sora stopped walking and leaned against a wide tree. His head hurt. Worse, his heart hurt. Absently rubbing his chest, he tried to sort through everything rushing around in his mind.

"Why did my mother leave Heaven?"

Darkness. What a hideous entity. Cold and hateful, it seemed to exist only to cause pain. Having experienced its evil firsthand, Sora knew it could not be reasoned with. The Heartless were just mindless manifestations of the Dark. That was what God had told him.

So then why had he heard voices when falling into the Dark? Why had he felt such intense pain coming from the Dark? How were the Heartless formed? Why were they formed?

"Why do you hate Heaven?"

That question was posed to Sephiroth. Shortly after Sora had been chosen as the new Key. Sephiroth could not hide his displeasure from Sora, though at the time Sora could not identify it. He'd wondered if Sephiroth was bothered at being replaced by someone so obviously inexperienced.

"Why do you hate Heaven?"

Now, he wasn't so sure. Now, he wasn't sure what to believe. He knew Sephiroth. He wasn't the kind of person to harbor shallow feelings. It wasn't possible to lie to an Angel, so Sora just knew. It made his betrayal impossible to accept or understand.

Why do you hate Heaven?

"Didn't I tell you not to look at me like that?"

For some reason, the familiar voice didn't make Sora jump. It did make his heart twist painfully, though. There, standing beyond the break in the trees, right on a steep rise, stood Sephiroth. Bathed in the dying light of day with black wings spilling down his back, Sora still loved to see him.

"Sephiroth," he whispered.

o0o

"Where's Sora?" Cloud demanded, bright blue eyes glaring down at the two human children.

Both of them looked worried and guilty. "We don't know," Kairi replied, shifting. "He just disappeared."

Trying hard not to take his anger out on them, Cloud whirled and stalked toward the door. "When I get back, I'll finish with you two." He could see neither of them liked that ominous wording. They weren't his problem.

Somehow, he just knew something terrible was going to happen.

o0o

"Why do you hate Heaven?" he blurted.

For a moment, Sephiroth actually looked taken aback. Just for a moment. Then he smiled. It was a dark, mirthless smile. "Still innocent," he murmured, "even after all I've done. You should ask your brother, little Angel. He knows."

"Sephiroth," Sora begged, feeling desperate without knowing why.

The dark Angel laughed. In a flash his long sword was extended, its point digging into Sora's throat. "Don't be like them, Sora," he said in a deathly still voice. "I would hate to have to destroy you."

Swallowing erratically, Sora resisted the urge to step back. "I don't know what you mean," he asked in a raspy voice.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Coming from you, I could almost believe that. Do you even know what 'Key of Heaven' means, Sora?"

Now thoroughly confused, Sora shook his head, regretting it when the sword pierced his skin and drew blood. Sucking in a shallow breath, he backed up. Not surprisingly, Sephiroth followed him.

"You had the right question a long time ago," the dark Angel said in that still voice again. "Why did your mother leave Heaven?"

Blink. Feeling like they weren't on the same wavelength, Sora tried to marshal his thoughts into coherency. "Do . . . do you know?" he asked.

"Then? No," Sephiroth mused, his eyes focusing inward. Then flaring again. "Now? Yes. Because she could. And because she saw what I see."

The blade dug deeper. Unable to stop the reaction, Sora reached up and grabbed it, cutting his fingers, trying to relieve the pressure on his throat. "Wh-what do you see?" he gasped, starting to feel vaguely panicky.

Sephiroth smiled. An unbearably black smile. "A god who only pretends to be all-loving." The blade sank into Sora's throat.

"Sephiroth!"

o0o

He didn't have to turn much to locate the source of that angered, pained cry. Sliding his blade free with practiced ease, he didn't watch Sora fall without a sound. Nor did he have to look to know Cloud's own sword was drawn and descending on him with alarming speed. He whipped his sword around to block the downward slash.

Eyes nearly the same shade of blue met. Gold and silver. White and black. Two men who could not be more different, who could not be more similar. Sephiroth looked at the only being in this existence who understood him, knew his reasoning, knew his mind.

"Don't worry," he said, voice smoother than wet silk, "he's not dead. Not yet."

Only Cloud could look at someone like that—a mixture of pain and acceptance, hatred and longing. A perfect contradiction in a glance, things that should not belong together moving side-by-side through his eyes. There was everything in his gaze . . . and yet, nothing at all.

"I won't let you take him!" Cloud snarled, his wings beating for altitude even as he once more slammed his sword down.

Anyone lesser would have crumpled under the sheer force of that blow. Sephiroth was not lesser. In all of Heaven only he had been more powerful than Cloud. That had not changed.

Swords clashed as Sephiroth spread his own wings and leaped at his adversary. "Still the same Cloud," he mused, mirth colored with darkness. "You still lack conviction."

In an epic clash Dark Angel and Arch Angel met in battle, swords flashing spectacularly in the slowly fading sunlight. So fast a mortal would have had trouble following the pair wove through the sky, faces determined and focused solely on each other.

"You can't defeat me, Cloud," Sephiroth said with a ghost of a smile. "Especially with that doubt in your heart." Steel met steel and Cloud's sword fell from the sky.

Sephiroth's slash had Cloud following it. As soon as Cloud hit the ground he rolled, narrowly missing the downward plunge of Sephiroth's sword. The next one he wasn't so lucky. It buried itself in his shoulder, pinning him to the ground. Only a thin hiss of pain escaped the Arch Angel as Sephiroth bore down on him.

"And we both know why the doubt is there," Sephiroth said, his dark smile coming back. "I know you're not too stupid to ignore it, Cloud. So why are you ignoring it?"

Cloud glared up at Sephiroth, his eyes giving nothing away. "You don't get it," he hissed. "You never did get it. I'm not like you!"

Snorting, Sephiroth wrenched his sword free, holding it pointed right at Cloud's heart. "No. But that light of yours will go out, one way or another." He plunged it back down.

"NO!"

Sephiroth aborted the downward plunge just in time to avoid skewering Sora. The young Angel had thrown himself across his brother, shielding him with his body, like he had done years ago.

"Sora," Sephiroth spat. "You're blind, just like them. You refuse to open your eyes. Your god is deceiving you!"

Sora turned his head to glare at Sephiroth, and there were tears in his eyes. "I don't care about that! But you two shouldn't be fighting each other!"

Momentarily stilled, Sephiroth gazed down at the boy. How strange that a simple statement could so easily put things into perspective. Not that he didn't agree. But Sora was still blind. Still too damn innocent.

"I'll make you see," he said quietly, "if I have to destroy you!" Leaning down, he grabbed one of Sora's wings and jerked him upright, hauling him off Cloud easily.

Cloud rose to a sitting position, his wound already mostly healed. Sora's throat was completely healed by now. Well, then how about an injury that may never heal? His sword flashed again, slicing through muscle and tendon like a hot knife through butter.

Sora screamed. Sephiroth had never heard the boy utter such an agonized sound. Obviously neither had Cloud as he stared at his brother, who fell to his hands and knees. In Sephiroth's hand the severed wing vanished in a haze of glimmering white, a few feathers falling lightly to the ground.

Sephiroth met Cloud's eye as the Arch Angel moved to his brother's side. Blood poured down Sora's back, soaking his shirt instantly. It was hard to say whether Cloud's gaze was more hateful or stricken.

How could I have come to this if our god were the loving god he claims to be? Sephiroth's eyes demanded. His black wings curled around him, and he disappeared.