Thanks to purefoysgirl for betaing this chapter!

Enjoy!


14

"Hey, you already asleep?" Zack carefully peeked inside the dark room that had just a second ago been lit, as the warm light shining beneath the door had indicated.

A pale nose poking out from under the sheets and a suspicious cat eye glancing at him made the soldier scratch his head, "Guess I should have knocked first, eh?"

Even though it didn't elicit the intended smile, Kadaj sat up in his bed and quietly said, "It's alright. You can come in, I think…"

"Thanks." Closing the door behind him, Zack walked towards the bed, where Kadaj had already switched on the nightstand lamp. The soldier grabbed a chair and put it a respectable distance from to the bed so as not to invade the child's private space.

"Dinner was quite strange, huh?" he asked softly, folding his hands between his slightly spread legs.

Kadaj nodded, a mischievous gleam twinkling in his eyes. "Yeah…"

"Is it always like this?" the black haired man asked stunned.

"Nah, normally we don't eat together," Kadaj made a dismissive gesture with his hand, but then looked a little stiff suddenly and quickly added, "Because the general has to work real late and most of the time we've already gone to bed when he comes home. He's really busy, you know."

"Yeah," the other sighed, looking a little desperate. "That's what bothers me most about the job… Whatever you do after you've grown up, don't go to the army, they're such slave drivers!" he made a funny, scandalized face that made the boy snicker a little.

"Don't worry, I won't go there," he assured, looking convinced.

"Oh, really? So what do you want to become then?" Zack asked, interested, leaning forward.

Kadaj looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged, "Dunno. A teacher maybe."

"Hm," the soldier nodded approvingly. "That sounds great."

"Ah well..." the boy glanced at his hands, a little embarrassed by the praise, but then looked up again with an eager smile. "You know what Yazzy wants to become?" Not feeling patient enough to wait for Zack's guesses, he announced proudly, "A frenzy pathos!"

Stifling the laugh welling up in his stomach, Zack looked at the boy with a straight face, only saying, "That's great, too."

The boy nodded eagerly, asking "Yeah, isn't it?"

He shuffled on the mattress, eliciting the dry sound of something rustling. Alarmed, Kadaj looked under the blanket and pulled out a paper, totally forgetting the other's presence.

Curiously Zack eyed the occupied boy, asking, "What do you have there?"

Startled, Kadaj held the paper away, looking unsure and licking his lips. "No-nothing… just…something I painted."

"Oh! Care to show me?" The soldier looked at him with earnest interest, making the boy frown and contemplate the possibility. He finally nodded hesitantly and pulled the picture out from behind him.

Zack sat next to him on the bed to get a better view, taking the paper into both hand and holding it into the light.

It depictured a bright, smiling sun and little blue clouds. The lower part was covered with green lines that Zack recognized as grass with an occasional flower here and there. The middle was occupied by two figures who looked fairly similar to each other, the only difference being that one was larger and had longer hair than the other. Both boys were smiling and they held hands, looking genuinely happy. A small ball with ears and black whiskers that vaguely resembled Bernhard was strolling around the boys' feet.

"That's you and your brother?"

"Yes. That's Yazoo," Kadaj pointed at the larger figure, "and the other is me. We're about to have a picnic."

"Sounds nice," the soldier smiled, still observing the childish picture. "You like your brother a lot, uh?"

"Yeah…" Kadaj smiled faintly too.

"Man, you must be lucky. I always wanted a big brother, too," Zack retorted, looking a little wistful.

"I am!" the boy stated matter-of-factly "He's just perfect!"

"Mh mh," the soldier said, brows furrowing, and softly saying, "A little too perfect sometimes, mh?"

Kadaj's eyes narrowed suspiciously at this, as he apparently couldn't share the others opinion. "I don't know what you mean by that. He's just fine like he is."

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean anything, don't listen," Zack laughed, ruffling the boy's fairly appeased head and looking back at the picture.

"So where's the rest of your family?"

Kadaj looked at him blankly for a moment as if he didn't comprehend the question, but then he shrugged, mumbling, "Dunno. At work or something. Loz's probably with Tifa."

"I see," the soldier said thoughtfully.

"I made it for Yazzy´s birthday," the boy hastily explained, taking the picture out of the other's hands and carefully rolling it up into a tube.

"Ah, I bet he'll be happy about it."

Kadaj nodded, wrapping a red ribbon around his picture and hiding it under the bed, explaining, "Actually I wanted to give it to him yesterday because it was his birthday, but then things intervened."

Zack looked a little surprised and then troubled, saying, "I'm sorry! Did I mess up your party or anything?"

Shaking his head, the boy hugged his knees, answering "Nah… There was just no opportunity to give it to him."

They remained silent for awhile until eventually Zack spoke again, voicing the reason why he had come to the boy's room in the first place.

"You know… about Sephiroth. I don't know what had gotten into him tonight but he wasn't always like this, actually."

Kadaj looked very uncomfortable as he quietly declared, "It's all right. I know that he's under a lot of stress and that he is not used to having children around him yet. I hold no grudge against him whatsoever."

A faint, sad smile graced the soldier's features as he benignly said, "You're a good boy, Kadaj. I'd be glad if I had a child like you. Honestly."

The boy just looked at his hands then faked a yawn and rubbed his eyes. Zack got the silent message and, ruffling the boy's hair one last time, he rose from the chair and put it back where he'd gotten it from..

"Well then I wish you a good night and sweet dreams. See you tomorrow."

He earned himself a shy smile and a mumbled, "Good night," and with a last wave closed the door behind him.

sareyva: Hehe, yes, Sephy really needs someone to keep his ego in check sometimes;)Or maybe... most of the times... Anyway, Zack´s there now and as became apparent, things are slowly changing (at least for Kadaj). Let´s see if for the best or the worst... ;)

Xyleel: Hui, in der Tat: das waren ja einige Fragen :D Zu manchen weiß, ehrlich gesagt, nicht mal ich die Antwort (zumindest jetzt noch nicht. Obwohl sich die Story langsam zusammenfügt). Aber Reno wird auf jeden Fall noch vorkommen, ich habe einfach zuviel Freude mit den beiden (Yay für rumkeifen). Und das it dem happy end ist ja immer ansichtssache ;)

Valitiel: Heh, maybe Zack should write some guidebook! I just doubt that Sephiroth would read it let alone take it to heart... But, one never knows :)

Oztan: Loz will have a strong moment in the next chapter, I promise!

YinYangWhiteTiger: Later chapters will take a closer look on the relationship of Zack and Sephiroth, so I can´t spoil too much now ;) Yes, Loz had it hard in the last chapters... But let´s see if he won´t be a bit better after the next chapter!

Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone, it really means a lot!