When the light of the next morning had just begun to illuminate the room, Angeal carefully climbed out of the bed in order not to disturb his friend's sleep. Of course it did not work. The slightest movement or the faintest sound was normally enough to wake him; and although Genesis still far from his usual state of awareness, his eyes immediately opened halfway. Angeal leaned down to whisper: "Duty calls. I have to go for the obligatory briefing now. But I will be back as soon as possible. Do you promise me to try and get some more sleep?"
Genesis only nodded dozily. Hesitating, Angeal placed another kiss on his cheek, before he left the room.
---
Two days later, only minutes after the doctor and the nurses had left the room, Sephiroth came around to pay his friend a visit.
"Major! What a surprise to see you," Genesis greeted him in a teasing tone, obviously to indicate that his overall condition had improved and there was no need to worry.
"At ease, Lieutenant," Sephiroth returned with the tiniest sign of a smile playing around his lips, while he took a chair to sit next to the bed.
Genesis examined his opposite's expression for a while, before he continued: "Obviously, you didn't just come here to check up on me. There's something else on your mind."
Sephiroth was once more surprised how well Genesis could read him, while he still had difficulties the other way around. "You are right, "he admitted, "I hate to bother you with this, given the fact that you are not in the best condition yet, but…"
"I'm ok. Just tell me."
"But you promise me to interrupt me at anytime if it gets too much for you?" After Genesis nodded, he continued: "Your accident. Have you any memories of the situation?"
"It's funny you ask. Yesterday, I tried very had to remember, but I just couldn't. And this morning, it was all back. Every single second." He looked at Sephiroth.
"It's because of the summon I used, isn't it?"
"Not so much the summoning, more the materia. The one you did not have."
"Guess I should have known this would get me in trouble, but – as Angeal would doubtlessly put it – I wasn't thinking that far in that specific moment….However, I can figure out what you concluded from the report file; but I have to disappoint you. I did not create any materia, not in the true sense of the word."
"Then what was it you did instead? Once again, I'm sorry for asking, but I need to know everything you remember."
Genesis just shook his head. "Stop apologizing. We are friends, aren't we? I'm going to tell you everything in a second. Could I have some water first?"
"Of course," Sephiroth handed him the water glass from the nightstand. Genesis' right hand was still staggering slightly, but he was relieved that he finally managed to hold the glass without dropping it.
"Thanks. Ok, I'm not going to tell you all the details. You have read the report, I guess. It was pretty much towards the end of the whole exercise. My group had reunited again and we were on the way to the designated finish point. I was pretty nervous, because I had done the maths and assumed I did not perform too well… According to my calculation, I would fail."
"You calculation was wrong, by the way… Never mind, just go on."
Genesis gave him a half-smile, before he continued: "You know me. I was devastated. Then we were confronted with a surprise attack, and I had the idea for this summon to save my whole group at once. Pretty exaggerated, I know, but my last chance to earn some credit points. Unfortunately, I was pretty out of materia. And then…" He paused.
"Then?" Sephiroth asked immediately. He did not want to apply pressure, but he guessed this was the critical point of the story; and he was desperate to learn what happened.
"I'm just wondering about myself. Must have been the sleep deprivation. Without really thinking about it, I took out the last piece left in my materia bag. It was a shard."
"A shard?"
"Exactly. You know, when materia is produced artificially, there can be shards. If they are tiny, they are called 'materia dust' and…"
"…used for exercising, mainly for beginners," Sephiroth completed the sentence. "You can't really do any magic with that, just something like illusions. I know, done that myself long ago."
"I still use to exercise with that stuff from time to time, unusual summons and so on. Somehow this shard must have been a left over. As I said, I don't really know why I did what I did. I took it out and concentrated. For a few seconds, I felt a really bad pain in the chest, as if my heart was exploding. And suddenly, the shard had turned into a proper materia ball. You see, I did not create it, I only extended it in a way."
"That's pretty much the same, if you ask me."
"Anyway, it was quite strange. The summoning worked, but the materia would not dissolve as usual. It continued to glow for a moment and then… well, it simply exploded in a way. The pieces vanished, but one of them must have hit me. I think that's where the cut is from." He absentmindedly touched the stitched wound over his right eyebrow.
Sephiroth frowned. "That explains a lot. If a piece hit you, it means that Mako energy seeped in through the cut. That's what messed up all your blood levels."
For some minutes, neither of them spoke. Then Sephiroth asked: "Are you aware of what you did? And what it means if the scientists got to know about it?"
"I still think it's not about Mako creation out of own life energy. It was not the real thing, but I agree that the scientists might see it differently…"
"That's exactly what I concluded. Never mind, I did push a few buttons and tired my best to cover it up. The official version is that you just overreached yourself, a slightly more critical case of normal fatigue."
"Are they going to buy that?" Genesis asked with a hint of concern.
"I hope so. Just promise me one thing: Don't do that again."
"I can assure you, I would not repeat that, not even if you forced me at gun point. The pain… it was really bad."
Sephiroth nodded. "And you better try to stay away from unnecessary Mako radiation, too. If something like that cut happens again…"
"I promise. I'm not interested in another hospital holiday."
"Glad to hear that. Now the most important thing is that you get well again soon. That should be your top priority now, got me, Lieutenant?"
Genesis replied with a slightly weak but heartfelt: "Yes, Sir."
Sephiroth gave him another one of his rare smiles. "Sorry to leave you now, but I need to terrorize some aspirants for SOLDIER. Although I don't see the sense behind it, they are the saddest bunch I have seen in my life."
"That's exactly what our instructor used to say about us. I think 'spineless pathetic lot' was another favourite term he had."
"Well, some things never change."
Sephiroth was already at the door, when Genesis called out to him: "Seph? I forgot the most important thing: Thank you. You are a real friend."
That sentence resulted in an even brighter smile from the famous SOLDIER.
---
"Well, done any reading yet?" Angeal asked, when he came for another visit in the afternoon. He had brought Genesis some of his books the day before.
"Not really. I tried, but everything blurs before my eyes after about five minutes."
"Poor honey."
To Angeal's surprise, Genesis did not react to that remark, but looked at him intensively, as if to convince him of something. "How about you read something to me?"
"Bad idea. I really suck at reading. If you hadn't been home-schooled, you would know that already our village teacher told me that I could read perfectly in the technical sense, but I totally lacked expression; so listening to me has always been a real pain."
"That's not true," Genesis immediately returned. "You have a beautiful voice. You could read the 'General Rules for Shinra Military Staff' and I would love to listen to it…"
Smiling at the obvious compliment, Angeal gave back: "That must have been the only book in your room that did not look like you read it a hundred times before. Along with 'Guideline for Higher Ranking Officers and Members of SOLDIER'."
His heart rose to see that Genesis smiled back. "Those two just happen to have a really boring storyline…"
---
Another two days later, Genesis insisted that he felt well enough to try and get up again.
Angeal initially did not like that idea at all, but in the end, he just murmured: "It's easier to beat a nail into a brick wall than to beat any sense into you, I guess…"
Genesis' first steps were terribly staggering and weak, but his condition improved from day to day.
About ten days after his accident, Genesis was up and standing at the window when Angeal came to visit. He turned around with a rather sheepish gaze as if he had been caught doing something inappropriate. "Don't be mad at me. I just felt like it."
With a grin, Angeal returned: "I'm not mad at you. But if you start doing sit ups next time, I personally tie you to your bed."
"It just feels weird lying around. And I might lose the results of all the training if I'm not careful."
"You're not an ordinary person, you're a SOLDIER. Your abilities don't wear of that fast." In fact, it made Angeal terribly happy to see that his friend's condition had improved so much.
Some days later he was allowed to leave then infirmary, but told to stay at his room and take it slowly; an order Genesis chose to ignore as far as possible. Angeal watched over him worriedly, although he could not nail down yet what caused his concern. Outwardly, it appeared that every day brought Genesis closer to his old self again. If he continued like this, the accident would soon be nothing but a faint memory. Angeal just couldn't help but to wonder if that was just the calm before the storm.
Author's Note:
Technically, the story ends here. The final short chapter is set a few years later (just before the events of 'Crisis Core') and was – in the first place - meant to make a connection to my other story, "Final Fiction". But even if you don't know any of my other writing, it will still make sense, so you can go on and read it anyway.
(For those of you who read "Final Fiction" – of course the 'do you trust me?'- question is another connection ;)
You might realize that the ending is pretty open here; that's because I am currently working on a kind-of-sequel to this story…
And did I mention I love reviews and comments? I really, really do… :)
