I own nothing from this story. Only Jeanne, Jena, Sienna, Renee/Yuie, Zeke and Claire are mine. Unfortunately.
Chapter Thirteen
Memories
It made Sienna furious. She and Sephiroth finally leave the Data Room just to receive the announcement that Angeal was dead. Jeanne called after her as she stormed away, but Sienna was deaf to everything else. It only took her two minutes to force a Turk to fly a helicopter for her, and she was soon on her way to Modeoheim.
They had left Angeal's body there. She…she wanted, no needed, to see him at least one last time.
Sienna's phone went off several times, messages telling her to come back to Midgar, but she ignored them. Let ShinRa get mad at her. There was nothing that he could do. If he fired her he would be doing her a favor. If he tried to punish her, whoever raised a hand to her or someone she cared for would be dead. Or worse.
As the trip continued, memories of Angeal and Genesis rose up in her mind, dragging her away from life.
"Sienna," Angeal, with a face and a grin of a young, 18-year-old, leaned over the face of the 21-year-old woman. "Get up! It's time for the mission! C'mon! Let's go!"
Rolling over to face her clock, Sienna began to grumble at her roommate. "It's 5 in the morning, Angeal," She groaned. "I still have 3 hours to sleep before even thinking about getting up!" Sienna tried to pull her blanket over her head but Angeal pulled it off.
"Nah-ah-ah," He waggled a finger. "
You gotta get up! Genesis and Sephiroth are waiting for us in the training room! Let's go!"
"Are you crazy?" She demanded, shielding her eyes from the light. "The three of you keep me up until 2 and then expect me to get up and train with you at 5? I don't think so!" She rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head. "You'll have to carry me there!"
Angeal snickered.
"Pink Pajamas, Sienna?"
Sienna now sat cross-legged on the floor of the Lvl. 49 Training Room, arms crossed, teeth grinding, and an anger mark beginning to grow as the three men around her all stared.
"Yes, Sephiroth, pink," She growled, eyes narrowed as she stared at her 22-year-old partner. "I am a girl, you know. I can wear the color pink."
"I like that color on you," A 19-year-old Genesis gave her a smile as she shut his book, brushing his hair from his face. "You should wear it more often." He told her as he stripped his red jacket off and held it out to her.
Angeal continued to laugh at her as she stood. "Thank you, Genesis. At least one of you is a gentleman." She replied as she took his jacket and pulled it on and zipped it up. Damn. If only she had worn socks to bed last night. Sienna then turned and slapped the still laughing Angeal upside the head. "Shut up, you!" She then cracked her knuckles. "I might normally take it easy on you during training but not today, little man! Today I'm going all out on you like Genesis does to Sephiroth!"
Angeal smirked. "About time! Let's just see who's stronger; me or you!"
~Of course, we really didn't do so~ Sienna grinned at the memory. ~We fought, yes, but in the end we stopped to watch Genesis and Sephiroth in their fight for a while before we had to pull them apart. Just like always.~
"Damn it!"
Genesis stormed around the Training Room later that evening. They had already returned from their mission, Sephiroth once again being the winner of the attention. Genesis had disappeared from them all and Sienna knew exactly where he would go. He always came to the training room.
"You let it get to you too much," Sienna leaned against the wall; arms crossed as she watched the red-haired man.
He shot a look at her. "Does it not bother you that he gets all the glory?"
She shrugged. "Not really. Glory's not what I'm here for."
"Then what are you here for?" Genesis snarled. "What else could you b here for?"
Sienna gave a sad smile. "I, I'm not sure. The first thing I even remembered was Professor Gast bringing me here and my training began. It wasn't too long after that that I met Sephiroth and then you and Angeal." She shrugged. "I only get the glory because I'm Sephiroth's partner. But trust me," She grinned. "It annoys the hell out of him." Genesis stopped pacing and stared at her. "Even more that it does me. He might not show it, but he hates being at the end of everyone's praise. He hates being called the hero."
~And that was true. Sephiroth hated being the public's hero. He still does. So do I~
"Then why doesn't he let me beat him?" Genesis demanded. "Why doesn't he let me win? "
Sienna shrugged. "It's a man thing, I suppose. No man can stand being beaten in a fight. At least, not any man I've ever met. It's their foolish pride," She shot Genesis a look. "And you have that exact same problem, my dear. If he just let you win, would you just let that fly?"
Knowing that she was right, the man in red scoffed and gazed at her in silence for a moment. "Say, if I beat Sephiroth in a battle, do you think that I could have you as my partner?"
If she had been drinking something she would have chocked. "What am I? A prize? And what about Angeal? That's a mean thing to do to him, Genesis."
"I didn't mean as a fighting partner, Sienna." Genesis took steps closer to her.
Getting what he meant, Sienna couldn't help but flush. I mean, sure she had a little crush on her partner going on and Sephiroth was completely protective of her during battles and missions, but she never saw herself labeled as 'Sephiroth Property;. No matter how much she wouldn't mind the idea…
"I will train, Sienna," Genesis was saying. "And train until I beat Sephiroth and then, you'll be mine. Mine at last."
~What was I supposed to say to that?~ Sienna shook her head, grinning sadly to herself as she began to wander through Modeoheim. ~At first I thought that it was a joke. But I quickly learned that it wasn't~
"All right. That's it!" 23-year-old Sienna pushed herself to her feet before stomping towards the two fighting men.
"I wouldn't, Sienna," A now 20-year-old Angeal called after her. "You know how those two are."
The now 21-year-old Genesis was fighting the now 24-year-old Sephiroth. They had been constantly doing this for the last two years, since that little experience with Genesis in the Training Room, even more fierce than their fights had been before that day. Sienna had endured it for as long as she could, but now, enough was enough.
Ignoring the man she continued towards the other 2, waiting. As they both began to fall back to the ground, still going at it, she struck, glazing the ground over with a sheet of ice. The two men slid away from each other, unstable on the ice and surprise on their faces.
"Sienna…" Sephiroth simply said.
The way he said her name made Genesis' skin curl. "Why do you get in the way?" He demanded.
Sienna crossed her arms as she glared at the two of them. "You two are just idiots!" Sephiroth gave a silent sigh. She only called them that when she was truly enraged and tired with their fighting. "Do you always have to fight? Can't the four of us just…I don't know…go eat a nice dinner together and relax and not fight while we enjoy each other's company?"
Sephiroth's sword lowered, but it was raised again. Grabbing Sienna's arm, Sephiroth pulled his partner into his chest in time to block Genesis' sword.
"No," The man in red snarled. "Not until I win!"
Sienna glared at both the men. "You're unbelievable," she pulled away from Sephiroth. "Angeal and I will go get something to eat ourselves while the two of you stay here and continue fighting."
Grabbing Angeal's arm, Sienna led him out of the room.
~Of course Sephiroth and Genesis both followed us after a little while. But not before Angeal and I had a little talk.~
"You're acting strange, Angeal," Sienna leaned her elbows up on the table as they waited for their food.
"Strange?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, strange. I don't get to see you as much as I used to."
"That's because we got our own houses, remember?" He chuckled.
"No, it's not that," She began to tap her finger on her chin. "It's something else. You seem…occupied with something. Tell me," She smiled. "What is it?"
Angeal smiled, taking a sip of his drink. "Nothing get's past you, does it?"
"Nope, nothing." She agreed. "So, come on. Tell me!"
He sighed and set his glass down. "Well, I have found a young 3rd Class Man that, shall we say, interests me."
"Oh?"
He nodded. "Yes. His name is Zack Fair. He's a loud little puppy, but he's got great potential. I feel that he can accomplish something."
Sienna smiled at her friend. "Well, have you grabbed hold of him yet?"
Angeal nodded again. "Yes. For the last month or so now." He smirked as if remembering something. "As I said before. He shows great potential. Loud, but potential."
"Well, you are partners with Genesis, so you should be used to that." Sienna told him.
"I'd like for you to meet him, but at his stage I think that he'd be too overexcited and do something…foolish. So, give me a little longer with him, okay?"
Sienna grinned. "Of course. He'd best be strong by the time that I do get to meet him though, especially if you're the one that's training him. I'm sure that he'll be a 1st Class SOLDIER in no time."
Angeal grinned. "At least you believe in me. I appreciate that, Sienna."
"Come on, Angeal. You're like my brother. Of course I believe in you. I always will."
"Finally arrived?"
Sienna glanced up as she passed into the room from the Boiler Room and sighed. Sephiroth. How he had gotten here before she had was a question that she never asked. He was always first.
Gazing past the silver-haired man, she found what she was looking for.
Angeal still looked the same, the wings gone. But his hair…it was graying out.
She moved past the standing man, and kneeled down beside the other, silence resting through the room. Sephiroth only watched, not moving as his partner stroked the dead man's hair.
"I…If I ever had a problem," Her voice was stiff. "If I ever needed someone, Angeal was there. I could talk to him just about everything, and he never judged. Not once. He always understood and gave me his honest opinions. He was the support that I could lean on when everything else was tumbling. Now," Her voice didn't break but Sephiroth could sense the pain in it. "With him gone, completely gone, what am I going to do now? Who can I lean back on now, Sephiroth?"
He didn't know what to say. Normally he didn't say anything on occasions like this, but he knew what to do.
Crouching down behind the woman that was tumbling apart, Sephiroth slid his arms around her shoulders and her waist in silence and held her tightly. They stayed there in that position for what seemed to be forever. He felt her tremble as she fought back tears. He gave a sad smile. Angeal meant a lot to him, too, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't feel tears. He couldn't really feel anything.
It just proved that this woman was more of a human than he was.
Thinking quietly for a few more moments he finally decided what to say.
"Me," Sephiroth whispered in her ear. "You still have me."