Title: Three SOLDIERs and a Lady
Author: CrisisChild
Summary: AU Angeal always considered himself to be quite responsible and honourable and his mettle is put to the test when an unexpected turn of events leaves him a father. And Genesis and Sephiroth as the unwitting uncles.
Rated: T
Prompt: Birth
Disclaimer: I do not own Crisis Core. Enough said.
016. Birth
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
My name is Naomi Mitsurugi-Redfield, wife to William I. Redfield. We have been married for a year now and have been contemplating having our first child. I worry for the welfare of our child, because the war against my homeland has begun in earnest. What kind of world would our child be raised in when they arrived? I honestly do not know. William assures me that everything will be all right and I cannot help, but to believe in him. I hope for the sake our child's future that the war would end soon.
Still, I shall keep this journal in the hopes of keeping track of the pregnancy as it eventually comes.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
It has been a year since the beginning of our trials, for that was what conception means to us at this point. Forever, our resolve never faltered and William often says that making the baby is the most fun part. I do not understand where his confidence comes from, but I believe we can do it. And William really seems to want a child with me. Most of all, he wishes for a little girl to spoil and raise. I can imagine that our little girl would never want for anything, if William had any say in things.
We shall continue to try. I will keep trying, if only for William's sake.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
No signs of pregnancy yet, however, we did have a few close calls before when I missed my period once or twice. Unfortunately, with all the stress of the war my body has not been particularly receptive. Professsor Hojo, of whom I work under, says I should take a vacation before I become completely useless to him. I have been mapping the genetic material of the SOLDIERs in the SOLDIER program this last year, a job that the good doctor should have taken up on himself, had he not delegated the work to myself. It is interesting work, but a misuse of my abilities and knowledge. To what ends does he need these samples mapped, I cannot say, but I map them and label them accordingly and then place then in our cryogenic stasis containment units.
However, this has given me an idea. What I have in mind would require some finesse, but I am sure that my plan will be successful with as little emotional damage as possible. Acquiring the necessary samples I need would be simple enough.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
Today I found out the reason why my husband and I have not been able to conceive for the past three years of our marriage: Simply, my beloved husband, William, is incapable of fathering children.
I took a sample of his sperm for testing in my own lab and after extensive examination and re-examination, I came to the desolate conclusion that my dearest husband was sterile. The thought never occurred to either of us that this was the problem, for infertility is a common problem in my own family. The very idea that William couldn't father children had never even come up!
But what to do? William and I really want children of our own. This is a great dilemma and one I must resolve.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
After much contemplation, I decided to artificially inseminate myself. While the idea of adoption is viable, the wistful, dreamy look on William's face speaks volumes of his wishes for the future. As is, I cannot give him his own child, but at least I could give him the illusion of that happiness he so desperately wants. Of course, my sources are few and far in between. And going to clinics left a paper trail that, after some time, could easily be accidentally stumbled upon by my husband. He lost his parents recently to pneumonia in Modeoheim recently. I cannot reveal to him the truth of his impotence. It would break him in a way he could not possibly recover.
Once again, I am left to planning on my own, but for my husband's happiness I would walk into the lion's den alone.
Perhaps there would be a way to settle things neatly and with little repercussion.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
Thanks to my work mapping out the genomes within each and every SOLDIER under Shinra's payroll, I was able to come up with a plan of action. By taking one of their genetic samples I would be able to conceive a healthy child. Considering I know each ends of the proverbial gene pool, selecting the appropriate candidate would be child's play.
My husband is a man with brown hair and brown eyes – easily obtainable human pigmentation, but in order to have a higher probability of having a child that would resemble both William and I, I quickly cast away thoughts of choosing any of the fair-haired SOLDIERs as the donator to my cause. Anyone who had the recessive gene for red hair was also left out of my search. If I came across blue eyes, green eyes or even grey, I immediately erased them from the list of possible candidates.
That left me with very few choices that would not have me arrested for stealing company property. I plan to 'accidentally' destroy a few specimen samples by spilling some 'poorly placed' liquids nearby, rendering them entirely useless in the end. A small price to pay and it wasn't as if they could ask for more, later on, to replace the lost samples.
I had only wished that I could have been allowed to know the names of each SOLDIER, but then again, perhaps it is best for me to only know their genetic codes and who they were. I could feign ignorance, if it ever comes up in the future.
I eventually found the perfect match. It was almost frightening how perfect this sample was. According to what I had in my database, this specimen was of partial Wutai heritage. Mixed with my own genes, the Wutai heritage would surely be more present in the child. On top of that, the child would most likely have a B blood type, the same as my husband. It was almost too perfect. Looking at all the characteristics of the sample, it was a perfect match to William, so I went ahead and took the sample.
And so, tonight, after I make love to my husband, I will begin the process of artificial conception.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
It has been almost two months since my plan was set into motion. I tested myself today to see the fruit of my labours.
After a two minute wait, my test told me that I was in fact with child.
William had never been so thrilled, except on our wedding day when we both said, 'I do'.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
It is my third month of pregnancy and I could be doing better. William has been a very doting husband, never straying far from me, if he could help it, especially with how Hojo has been eyeing me, as of late. It is no secret that the man has no qualms about using anything and anyone he wants to further his own research; William expressed his wish for me to take maternity leave, but I told him I wasn't that far along yet. I certainly feel all right. I do believe that I am one of the lucky few who don't experience morning sickness during pregnancy, although my appetite has doubled. Appropriate as I am eating for two, now.
I met Sephiroth for the first time today. He is a good young man, though a little brusque and cold. Very well mannered, I found. And curious. Apart from myself there are very few female lab technicians or scientists; even odder than that, I was obviously showing signs of being pregnant. He asked about the child growing in me and I felt compelled to answer whatever questions he had. The boy was no older than sixteen, however, he showed a maturity that was rare in others his age.
Somehow, I felt saddened by this, because I know that this maturity came not from his own choice, but rather, how Professor Hojo had thought to raise him in the labs. It made me wonder if my baby would wind up like that one day.
As if he had sensed my unease, he spoke almost reassuringly to me, "She'll be well cared for."
What an odd youth. I did not know what the gender of the child will be as of yet. He assumed the child will be a girl. Well, I could only hope for a little girl for William to love.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
It has been a week since I met young Sephiroth and I have been besieged by strange, wonderful and yet, also terrifying dreams. There are times when everything is at peace and the world seems to be well. There was no war and just fields upon fields of flowers, growing peacefully. I could see a girl running through them, her laughter floating through the air. Her embrace is wonderful and her kisses so sweet. There was much light within those dreams and she would sing so beautifully.
But then, there were times when that darling, beautiful child would do something awful. And those nightmares often outweighed the good dreams that I have become afraid of falling asleep. Nearly almost every time I've closed my eyes, I see visions of fire and blood. There is gunfire and screaming and an eerie green, swirling light that encompasses all. I see three swords, never clashing against one another, but turned against others.
I've told William about these dreams, but he tells me it's just anxiety caused by the pregnancy. For the sake of our child, he told me, I should try to find a way towards sleep, lest the stress hurt the baby. I cannot help, but think that something awful is on the horizon. Perhaps it is just some kind of chemical imbalance caused by my current state. I must look through things rationally.
Everything will be fine.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
The dreams persist, but the pain I once suffered through them have dulled in intensity. They are still frightening and make me apprehensive, but I awake having lived through the tragedy in them. It has been another few weeks and I am in the beginnings of my fourth month of pregnancy.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
Today, William wondered what our unborn child look like. Without really thinking, I told him that she was going to be beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that he would have to beat them down with a stick to keep them away from her. William laughed at me for being so sure, but said he would love nothing more than a beautiful little girl who looked just like her mother. He expressly wished for her to be like a traditional Wutai beauty with pale skin and dark hair. I couldn't help, but wish for him to have that perfect child.
That day William was asked to transfer to a new facility, but he held off giving his answer straight away, for which I was grateful. He was not the kind of man who would leave his pregnant wife behind and alone. He said as such. He also asked me, if I wanted to come along. In the end I agreed, but only after assessing our options. The baby might not take well to travel just yet.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
This day in particular I sought sanctuary from the lab and its fumes. Oddly enough, my feet had brought me to the SOLDIER floor without even thinking about it. I had never been to this floor before and when I realized where I was, I felt incredibly lost.
Rescue came in the form of young Sephiroth who had just finished training in the newly minted VR room. I am well enough along at this point and walking can be a bit of a chore. He helped me back to the laboratories, once again asking about the child. His eyes never strayed far from my belly, which was round. Almost six months now and the baby was developing quicker than I could ever imagine. Was it because of the genetic code of a SOLDIER's seed that had done this? Who knew, but I often worried.
I felt another one of my baby's kicks then and made a sound of surprise. Sephiroth had looked a bit shocked himself, wondering what was wrong. Because he seemed so alarmed, I calmed him down, telling him it was the baby kicking. He had made such a strange face then, almost pained. I heard rumours that his mother died while giving birth to him. Perhaps he was harbouring thoughts of her now, though they did not know one another. What could he be thinking though? About the pain he had caused her, during her pregnancy? I did not know. But I took his hands and placed them on my belly, as my child moved and kicked within me.
He was anxious at first, wanting to pull away. But when he felt that first bit of movement, he stilled. When the baby kicked again, there came an expression of wonder and the tiniest of smiles entered his face. He looked so serene then, feeling the baby's kicking. His hands were still unsure and had a tendency to hover, but he moved with the baby, almost anticipating where her feet would meet his hands. I could feel his inner turmoil ebb and all seemed right in the world.
It was about right then that I had a terrible vision of flames and burning that I ended up collapsing. I write this entry now, in the safety of my home, wondering what had brought it on. Never once had those awful dreams surfaced while I was awake. What had triggered it?
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
We are to be transferred to the new facility in Wutai. I am not sure how comfortable I am with being so close to the war. However, I have this strange feeling that I had made a terrible mistake with my pregnancy. I do not know why, but, perhaps, I had made something of a mistake when I chose the genetic material of a SOLDIER. I had not checked to know it belonged to which tier of SOLDIER, although I now suspect whose child this truly is and I fear for it.
Perhaps going to Wutai would be a good thing for my baby, whose life I had ruined by conceiving this plan of giving my husband the child he wanted. I am a fool, but to abort this baby now for any reason feels wrong. Not just for me or for William even. The baby is blameless in all of this, even though she has caused me nothing, but grief. I have carried her to this point already and I shall bring her to this world.
I just hope that Hojo never finds out that Sephiroth has a child.
XX-Day XX-Month XXXX-Year
I lay here now in a white room, body weak and weary, but I somehow still find the strength to write. It is hard, because tears still fill my eyes, my heart weak with emotion.
I held her for the first time today.
William and I had to take a boat to Wutai, because it was advised that going by air would cause undue stress on the baby. However, my water broke before we hit shore and I went into labour in the sterile infirmary of the ship. The baby was a month early, but my mind was so wracked with pain I cold barely wrap my mind around this fact. But when she arrived…when I held her for the first time, I never knew I could love such a little thing so much.
She was so small and fragile and warm. My little miracle child. My gift of the goddess.
William and I have decided to call her Persephone. A fitting name for our child. It is July 22, at four in the morning when she came into this world. Our precious little girl…
x XThree SOLDIERs and a LadyX x
Angeal did not know what to think. If this was some kind of prank on his old friend's part it was insensitive and cruel; he was not laughing one bit. However, he knew, deep down, that something had been off. More than once, he thought she had looked familiar when they had first been acquainted. They were so similar in more than just looks, but he had been so blind in the role of 'father' that he neglected to see the truth of things.
He wanted so much to be that girl's father that he didn't know she was around her real parent this whole time.
Angeal had not been ready to read the journal.
What was he to do? What could he do? The most honourable thing to do was to reveal the truth to Sephiroth. He deserved to know. He had to know.
And what of little Persephone? Could he stand to uproot her just when she got settled finally?
Angeal stared at the book on the desk, knowing there was more to the journal; it must contain more entries about Persephone as she grew from a baby to a small child. A blameless child, who did not realize what her existence meant in this world. A child borne of a mother's desperate love…
"Mother in Banora," he muttered to himself, "what am I going to do?"