Chapter 21

That afternoon, I had lunch with Zack and Angeal, and we talked about their mission. It hadn't been too exiting. It had turned mostly into a spying matter and they had been accompanied by the Turks. I had never worked with the Turks, I wondered what they were like. Zack said he had had a ball with Reno, one of the youngest Turks, he was around our age, so they had gotten along fine.

We laughed for a while until Angeal decided lunchtime was over, and he sent Zack off to TC.

"How about some good ol' dancing tonight, huh, Eden?" Zack said to me before he left.

"Sure thing, meet you there at eight?"

"You got it." He winked and left.

Angeal sat studying me for a while.

"Something wrong?" I asked him.

"It seems a lot has happened since we left." he simply replied.

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Just be careful, Eden." He stood and walked off.

I blinked after him. Had Sephiroth told him something? It didn't seem strange, if he would tell anyone, I would be Angeal. I made a mental note to ask him later.

I did absolutely nothing that afternoon, and it was bliss. I slept, actually.

Close to dinnertime, my phone rang. I read the called ID, Sephiroth.

"Hey" I answered.

"Sleep well?"

"How would you even know? Are you spying on me again?"

I heard him chuckle on the other end. "You dissapeared from sight, what else would you be doing?"

"Going on a date with some really hot guy from the slums?" I was in a mischievous mood.

He was silent for a moment, but then he finally replied. "If that is your wish."

"Why would it be?" I didn't understand his reaction, I wasn't being serious.

"I understand if you would want someone…more spontaneous and sociable."

I laughed. "You're not a people person, are you? No guy from the slums would arrange a monsterhunt for me, or be able to handle me, for that matter. Nah…wouldn't want a guy to be afraid of me."

Finally, he seemed to be picking up on my mood and I heard him snigger.

"Was there a reason you called, Sephiroth? As much as I appreciate your efforts, I do hope you aren't calling to send my ass to TC again?"

"I wanted to ask you to join us for dinner. But it's alright if you want to go with your slum guy."

Wow, look at that. The great Sephiroth, all humorous and all.

"Just this once, I'll cancel him for you. But don't expect me to always turn down my admirers for you."

"Noted" he simply said before he hung up.

Okay….

I made my way down to the caffeteria at five and apologised to Max and the others for abandoning them. They pretended to be greatly hurt and I pretented to be greatly sorry.

Zack had also joined the SOLDIER table, he usually ate with his friends as well.

"Arranged a special dinner for me, boys?" I asked as I sat down next to Angeal.

"Ask the cook." Angeal said, making me laugh.

The table was set for us, as SOLDIERs surely wouldn't set their own table and it was a really tasty dinner.

I noticed Genesis trying to steal a glance from me, and he was occasionally narrowing his eyes at Sephiroth when I spoke to him.

I kept my distance from the General though, I didn't want to raise any suspicion, especially not when I wasn't even sure what was going on yet. I felt I missed being able to talk to him openly, and I caught myself wishing we were alone.

"Eden, how's our General treating you?" Genesis suddenly said to me.

"I'm alive, as you can see. Though barely, at times."

"Are you trying to wear her out, my friend?" Genesis asked Sephiroth.

It seemed like an honest question, but I was aware of the meaning behind it. He was trying to protect me from him.

"She complains a lot, but she can take it." Sephiroth grinned.

"As long as you don't actually try to kill her." Genesis replied. "Like before."

Sephiroth let it go, but Angeal didn't. "Sephiroth wouldn't do that, he has no reason to. He knows none of us would appreciate it if he did." He winked at me and I smiled back.

I really enjoyed myself the rest of dinner, as the guys kept mocking and bullying each other in the most bizarre ways. At times, you would almost forget they were only twenty-seven years old, but right then, they acted their age, if not a few years below, somewhere at Zack's level.

I had promised Zack I would train with him that night, but I didn't feel like waiting anymore. So, at seven-thirty I made my way down to TC after having changed into my uniform, to do some training on my own. What I saw when I opened the door, was not what I had in mind.

Sephiroth and Genesis were right in the middle of battle, their surroundings, a chopped up Junon cannon.

Angeal was on the floor, and Sephiroth and Genesis were flying at each other, all reservations lost. If I hadn't known any better, I'd think they were trying to kill each other. Maybe they were, and my fears had finally come true.

I ran over to Angeal, to try and revive him. He stirred slightly as the fight went on behind me. I had to make sure to stay out of the way, they were clashing all over the place.

I couldn't get Angeal to wake up, so, I slapped him in the face real hard.

He opened his eyes. "Get up, Angeal! They're killing each other!"

Angeal moved without hesitation, jumping in between them, blocking both deadly swords on each side. "Enough!" he shouted.

"Angeal" Sephiroth said.

"Out of my way!" Genesis growled, and it scared me beyond anything I had ever seen.

Then, he conjured an energy ball from his free hand and broke Angeals blade. It exploded, sending a piece of the blade right in his direction. He groaned and stumbled backwards.

"Genesis!" Angeal called with worry.

Genesis clutched his arm and sunk on his knee.

Only now that the simulation ended, I saw that the room was completely distroyed.

Anger started building up at the foolishnes of these grown men.

"Just a scrape." Genesis said as he rose up. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

We stood around him, staring as he held on to his shoulder. He bent down to pick up his Rapier. He slowly moved towards the door. "Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return." With that, he left us standing.

"What the hell are you doing?" I suddenly snapped. "Can you please get a hold of yourselves?"

"It was nothing." Sephiroth replied.

"You call that nothing?! Do you think I'm blind?! I'm not some treasure you need to fight over like bloody savages!"

"It's not the first time he's challenged me."

"You could've killed each other!" I argued.

"I'd like to see him try."

I turned cold with him. "You're not invincible, Sephiroth. And neither is he. I don't want this…I refuse to be the cause of this. Get your act together." With that, I stalked out of the demolished room, leaving Sephiroth and a very confused Angeal behind.

"Leave her be." I heard Angeal say as I stormed down the corridor.