Sokira landed in the Forgotten City, furious tears blurring her eyes. Why did he run from her, after all that she had done to be with him again? She limply sat down, leaning against a tree.
'He has betrayed us,' Jenova's sweet voice chimed in her head. She shook her head violently. "No, he wouldn't,"
'He has betrayed us, and now we must destroy him.' Jenova commanded. "No!" Sokira screamed. "I will not kill my brother!"
'He is not your brother any more. He betrayed you.' Jenova said sweetly. Sokira steadied her breathing and focused on her heartbeat. "He betrayed me."
'But soon, he will know the consequences for his mistake.' Jenova ordered once again. Sokira nodded and looked up at the full moon, speaking in unison with the voice in her head. "Soon, Sephiroth will die."
"Did you rest well?" Genesis asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Zack stood up, tossing the remains of his dumb apple into the water. "You should know better than me, shouldn't you?" Genesis chuckled. Zack rolled his eyes. Marlene attempted to stand up, and had to lean on the tree for support. Frustration flitted through her mind. Since when was she so weak? "No, I believe that you know just as well as I. After all, you were the one that insisted upon waking up." Genesis coolly commented. "You try being stuck in that thing for most of your life, and see how much you like it." Zack answered, sounding angry.
"I know what it is like to sleep for a long time," Genesis practically growled. "And my awakening was not something that I would've chosen." Zack stepped back. Marlene stepped up to stand next to him. "What are you two talking about?" Genesis shook his head. "Just a little reminiscing,"
Marlene huffed and rolled her eyes. "Obviously." Zack clenched his fists for a split second. She looked over at him, and saw his fingers twitch anxiously. "Ok, seriously. What's going on?" Genesis took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll tell you. Your new friend here," He gestured towards Zack, "Is a copy." "A copy?" Marlene asked, and then realized what he meant. "You mean, a clone?" Genesis nodded.
"No! I'm more than that!" Zack screamed. "I remember, I remember what my life was like in SOLDIER, I remember Angeal, my parents . . ." He trailed off for a second, then gave Genesis an ice cold glare. "And I remember you." Genesis shook his head, waving off Zack's glare. Then he thought for a moment. "I suppose you are more than a regular copy when I think it through, after all, most copies don't inherit the original's memory.
"In a way, you are very much a sixteen year old Zack Fair." Genesis said, casually taking steps closer to the tree. "But still, you are only a copy of the man I knew." Zack watched him as he jumped up to get an apple, and flew off once again.
Marlene turned to look at Zack, who still stood with his hands clenched. She had never met a clone before, and it hadn't even crossed her mind that he might be one. He just seemed so real. His eyes and his smile alone were enough to convince her that he was his own unique person.
"Are you really a clone?" She asked quietly. He nodded. "I guess so." He reached up and ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "So," She said, clearing her throat. He turned to face her. "So, nothing." A sad smile played through his features. "Tell me more about you."
She turned around to sit against the tree. "Like what?" He sat down next to her. "Well, whatever you feel like." She thought of a place to start, and began telling him about herself.
"Damn," Reno commented as Sephiroth walked into the W.R.O. Headquarters. Sephiroth turned a weary head in his direction, and Reno immediately shut his gaping mouth. Someone in the room chuckled, and oddly enough, it sounded like Cloud.
"So, you are Sephiroth." A man with dark hair said, holding out a hand to the stressed man. Sephiroth shook his hand. "Yes, and you must be Reeve." Reeve nodded. They both sat down. "Cloud told me your story," Reeve said coolly, "It's quite remarkable."
"Almost unbelievable." Reno said, crossing his arms. Reeve and Tseng cast a weary glance in his direction. "We find it hard to accept what you have said to be the truth," Tseng said while clasping his hands together.
"You see Sephiroth, the problem is not so much that we can't find any evidence to deny your claim, but that we can't find any evidence to support it." Reeve leaned back in his chair. "I can understand your skepticism." Sephiroth replied. "But what about my sister? Do you know anything about Sokira?"
The room stiffened, and Sephiroth knew that they did. "Please, tell me what happened to her," He almost pleaded. "You won't like the answer." Cloud answered. "I want to know." He insisted. "She found out how she was created, and Jenova seized control of her mind. Much like what happened to the original Sephiroth." Reeve replied.
"Just how was she created?" Sephiroth asked. Reeve shook his head sadly. "The Deep Ground scientists took the corpse of Sokira, who had been killed in action, and fused parts of Jenova onto where her own limbs had been blown off. Soon after the pieces had fully attached, the will of Jenova brought her back to life."
"So that's what happened," Sephiroth murmured, and leaned back in his chair.
Denzel and Mai burst through the door, and all eyes in the room turned to them. Denzel gave a slight wave. "Sorry we're late,"
"That's all right," Reeve smiled. "Find a place to sit." The teenagers nodded and did as he said.
"Well, Sephiroth, turning back to the matters at hand," Reeve started, "I'm afraid we're going to have to hold you here for the time being." He gave an apologetic smile. "But just until we know we can trust you, not any longer." Sephiroth nodded.
Reeve turned to Cloud, Barrett, Vincent, and Denzel, who were conveniently seated relatively close to each other. "As for the four of you, I think it's time you got back to finding Marlene." They nodded in agreement.
"Well, I believe that's everything." Reeve said, standing up. He shook Sephiroth's hand again. "It was a pleasure to meet you." But his smile was slightly forced, and Sephiroth knew that that was far from the truth.
What had he done to these people?
Marlene took a deep breath, refusing to wake up. Strangely, she had actually slept well that night. She snuggled closer to the warmth she had slept against.
She heard a heart beating, steady and strong. Shortly after she heard the heart beat, she realized that the warmth was moving up and down, in strong and steady breaths.
She opened her eyes, and looked up to see Zack's sleeping face. She didn't remember falling asleep with him the night before, she could only recall talking for hours. He muttered something in his sleep, but it was too slurred for her to make anything out.
She gently moved away, not wanting to wake him up. His eyes flew open, and she almost jumped. He smiled and yawned. "Good morning," She smiled back. "Good morning." He lifted his arm from around her shoulders to rub his eyes.
She took the chance to move away from him and stand up. She walked over to the water and knelt down, splashing it over her face. She breathed deeply, starting to fully wake up. She took another handful of water and brought it up to her face.
Zack knelt down next to her to feel the water. "Hm," He sighed, and stood back up. She looked up at him just in time to see him take off his shirt. She immediately jerked her head back down. He slowly waded into the water.
He turned to face her. "Would you like to join me?" She shook her head. "No, I think I'm fine." He started to pout. "Aw come on, please?" She shook her head a second time. "No." He waded back up to extend a wet hand towards her.
Marlene sighed. He wasn't going to give up, was he? She begrudgingly stood up. "Fine." She started walking into the cool water, ignoring his hand. He shrugged and followed her back into the water. "Do you always go swimming right after you wake up?" She asked.
He shook his head. "Nope." She raised a brow as the water reached her neck and she stopped moving forward. He noticed her expression as he waded farther down. "What? I haven't exactly bathed in a few years." She felt her eyes widen as that sank in. "Oh."
He dove under, coming back up after a few seconds, shaking out his hair. "The water's really nice, you should come all the way under," He commented. She shook her head. "I didn't even want to come out into the water in the first place."
"Aw come on," He said again. He swam closer to her, and tried to find some footing. After a few steps, he slipped, and she instinctively reached out to catch him. She realized that was a big mistake as he pulled her underneath with him.
She brought her head back up above the surface; he quickly followed, laughing. "Gotcha!" She opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it, and pushed him back underneath. He came back up quickly, sputtering. She laughed, and he threw a splash in her direction. "That's not funny," He complained. Marlene pulled wet locks of hair out of her face. "Yes, it is."
"Alright then!" He yelled, and pulled her with him as he swam into the deeper water. She futilely resisted, and splashed him after he finally released her. "You want to have a splashing war?" He asked, laughing. She laughed along with him, splashing him again. He spat out the water that had gotten in his mouth. "Okay, you asked for it!"
A few hours later they were sleeping again, waiting to dry off.
