A/N - There you have it, chapter 23. Let's just say I was ecstatic with your reactions - namely concerning the kiss of the last chapter. I am glad you liked it and, for those who enjoy this extreme tension between Seph/Sora, don't you worry, because there will be more. A lot more. Oh and I hope you all - who want to - may join the challenge and the contest - namely, "First-kiss challenge" and the "Dreamcatcher FF comic contest". Info: my Dart account/or my website. Can't wait for you to e-mail me!

ANyway, concerning the fic, my deep thanks to all of you who faithfully reviewed, you are all awesome and your supportive words do breathe happyness to me. I felt very touched with most of your comments and my ego is swelling. ANd not to mention my muse - it's pouring inspiration into me. And mostly thanks to all of you.

Also, For the Fav's, for the alerts, my sincere thank you's. For those who read but don't comment... and also to Tasha and Liet Alleianna, I couldn't answer you 'cause the system did not allow it but I must confess your words did touch me. Tasha, ff didn't show your e-mail - if you want, e-mail me directly. Check it in my profile. Oh and you should create an account here... Give yourself a chance:D

Ikuni Hattori, my Beta and patient you for everything.

Ok, I'll stop rambling. Enjoy.

Disclaimer - As always.

Chapter 23.

Sephiroth's POV

Fuck!

I couldn't believe this. What was I thinking?

I should have killed her, I should have lacerated her into pieces after the offenses she proffered towards me. I should have… but I didn't.

Her sudden request to free her from me affected me. Her unexpected reference to "my feelings" softened my killing desire. Her fair, hurt face in front of me, so despaired, so childishly raged with my attitudes compelled me to do the unthinkable.

How could I have lost my control like this, losing it into… kissing this woman?

I didn't recognize myself. This wasn't me. I wasn't like this. Never had I wanted someone to the point of…

Shit, what had I done?

Lost in thinking, I stood against the door of my bedroom. I could hear her breathing, I could feel her puzzling and her desire of questioning me. Yes, that was a good point to consider. Why had I done that? Truthfully, I didn't know the answer myself.

I had to get out of here, clear my mind, my brain. I wasn't capable of giving her answers. I had to answer my own, first.

Without thinking twice, I got out of the bedroom, exiting through the window door. I didn't even bother to close it. I didn't care. All I wanted was to get to an isolated place and be at peace with myself, confront my thinking, my strange attitudes. I flew swiftly under the protection of the shadows of the night, until I reached a high peak in one of the mountains. I landed calmly and I let myself wander for a while, with no concrete direction. The night was ice cold and the air was thick in this altitude. I looked around but I couldn't see the landscape; my eyes couldn't focus; I was very, very disturbed with my actions of late to be capable of admiring the view.

I sat in a nearby massive rock.

With my eyes focused on nothing, all I could see was her. All I could feel was her. All I could remember was her taste.

And… the way she responded. I had been bold, I had invaded her space, her privacy and she welcomed me, my touch in her face, my sudden curiosity of knowing how tasty she was and how comfortable it felt when our lips met.

Honestly, I didn't know what bothered me the most… If the fact that I had, actually, enjoyed kissing her, or the fact that she had responded me with equal fervor.

However, all this was completely misplaced. How could I ever sustain a relation-ship, if I never had one? At least, a real one, like those I saw so many engage in. I never had the interest to engage in something like… that. My mind was always too busy, my interests constantly diverted to military matters. In my life there had been no place for feelings whatsoever.

Only war. Training. The Lab. Comply superior orders.

And that was it. There hadn't been space in me for anything else. I had no time. I had no opportunity. I had no motivation.

Except for now.

Now I had a very pretty, teasing, tasty motive living with me, teasing my senses and driving my control astray.

Truth was… I didn't regret what I had done. I enjoyed every bit of that kiss and I had to put some considerate effort within my mental strength not to grab her and hold her tighter against me. This was a very strong emotion. And I… didn't know how to handle it… yet.

Anyway, what triggered this?

All I could remember was the panic inside myself, running through every cell, every corner of my body, when I didn't find her at home. The thinking of her eventual departure had elicited strange emotions in me and all I could think was that I wanted her with me, at home. All I could think was that I had to get her back, because I couldn't… handle without her presence. Not anymore.

So I flew, following her recent scent through the woods. She had gone southwest, towards the river.

And all my mind concocted was "What was she thinking?", "Did she want to leave me?". Deep down inside, I knew she did. But, deep down inside, I also knew she wouldn't. Deep down inside… I didn't want her to.

I saw her next to the river, lost and scared. She didn't know what to do and she was afraid. Most likely, of me, of my actions and angry words I would tell her soon.

So I took her and brought her home, half-raged and half-relieved for finding her.

Our argument had been terrible. Her words were true about her motives. She really only had wanted to take a walk. But the reminiscences of my old-self prevailed for the most part of our conversation. I provoked her, and she fought back. She told me things I knew she felt but she had never dared to say. She accused me… and she was right, at some point. But this was me, all I ever learnt of how to be, how to behave, how to deal with people, was this.

This was who I was and she couldn't stand me.

So she opened her heart to me, she said nervously all those angry words, filled with hurt and sadness… and all I could do was stare, incite her to tell me more and more, until she would beg me to leave her alone.

To my surprise, events took another route. It all ended up with her asking me… to let her go, to free herself from me.

She didn't know, but she had touched a tender spot in my mental anatomy. I wasn't capable of letting her go. Not anymore. She was needed in my daily life, I wanted her next to me, close by. And I couldn't explain her why. There was no way of explaining it. It was the way things were.

I felt that she was, somehow, mine.

It was an obsessive, weird feeling, totally unfamiliar to me. But I felt it, so intensely, so desperately, taking over me.

Before I noticed, I was touching her. Before I could do anything against it, my mouth was on hers. And then, it all broke loose, and I couldn't restrain myself even if I wanted.

Luckily, my control did come back, triggered by her hand on my face. Yes, it was strange, but it allowed me, somehow, to regain the courage I needed to step away from her.

And that was exactly what happened. Swiftly, I left her, her lips, her face, her… contact. And I ran. Cowardly.

I knew, however, what would follow.

She, evidently, would have questions. She, obviously, will want to know why I did what I did. And the meaning hidden behind such… attitude.

I knew this, not because I was able to understand women accurately – truth was, I wasn't. I knew this, because her questions were also my questions… and I didn't know what to tell her in response.

How could I justify myself for kissing her thoughtfully?

It was almost dawn when I got home.

She was awake. I wondered if she had slept something. I knew I didn't. And I also knew she was expecting me.

Stepping calmly across the porch, I reached the kitchen door and I stepped inside. She was in the hall, hidden from me, but I could hear her. Her breathing, her anxiety.

Why are you so nervous, Sora, if I was the one misbehaving shamelessly? I couldn't help but to think that. Why was her heartbeat so accelerated?

I closed the door and I remained there, waiting for her to approach me. I knew she would, eventually. Her desire to question me was enormous and it filled the space between us like thick fog.

Finally, she moved, slowly, silently. She approached the kitchen door and opened it, only to find me standing next to the window, my back to her.

I couldn't face her. Not yet.

Since when did you get to behave this cowardly, Sephiroth?, my mind chastised me.

"I…" Her voice sounded, undecided, fearful, embarrassed. She wanted to ask me so many things, but words didn't come out of her mouth.

Her soft lips, her appetizing mouth.

"I know you have questions." I said, my stare fixed somewhere in the details of the landscape outside.

She answered me with silence, which was exactly the contrary of what she would like to do or say in that moment. Her nervousness was overwhelming.

"Why-"

"Tomorrow. Please." I said, interrupting her. "I cannot offer you an answer right now."

I knew I was postponing the inevitable, but I needed time to think. There was no point in telling her random things about what I felt, if I still hadn't understood my reasons yet.

She left the kitchen, closing the door behind her and went back to her room. For the next hour, I didn't hear anything. Probably, she was so silent she had fallen asleep. Most likely, she hadn't slept last night, just like me.

I sighed in relief, and I finally got the strength to eat something. I was starving.

Sora's POV

No answers… for now. That's what he had said. I laid in my bed, tired, sleep-deprived and anxious like a teenager, while processed the contents of those last moments of scarce dialogue we had shared. A conversation taken without eye-contact, filled with discomfort and… shame. I could feel the embarrassment flowing from him.

I had a feeling something was terribly wrong.

He hid his eyes, his face from me and even though I could guess how distorted his complexion was, mirroring the worry inside himself.

What had I done wrong?

Nothing, my mind answered back, concluding the inevitable. There was nothing wrong with me… or him.

We had kissed, it was a fact and… we both had enjoyed it. At least I had… immensely.

We couldn't take that fact back. It had happened and… now it was time to face the consequences. Consequences that seemed to bother him terribly.

I didn't know what to think. He wasn't an ordinary man. Even in his kissing, he was so out of the ordinary. In fact, he was so simply out of the ordinary that… I couldn't even imagine how could I, from now on, live without his touch, without his contact… on me, holding me and grabbing me like he did, like… he genuinely cared for me.

My deepest desires were mangling with fantasy. Something was telling me he wasn't going to tell me "Sora, do you want to be my girlfriend?". Or something.

Truthfully, I didn't know what to expect.

But the certainty of knowing that he would eventually had a final word about it… made my heart constrict inside my chest.

I slept for what it seemed like ages.

However, when I woke up, it was still day time.

And the silence was overwhelming. A clear sign that he wasn't at home, for a change. I did miss him, I did miss his touch. I wanted him to tell me he liked me, that he cared and that he wanted me to be with me.

Although, I didn't know if my thoughts would become real or not.

Lazily, I got up from the bed and went to the kitchen. I was hungry and my head seemed like I had been drinking like a crazy teenager in a prom night or something. Literally, I felt my head pulsing. It was the stress… it had been the whole situation since last night. The returning home, the argument, the… kissing. Then, his words and my silly embarrassment.

This was too much to handle. This was killing me with anxiety.

For I-don't-know-how-long, I randomly walked around the house, expecting him. Soon, it would be night-time; twilight was close. I sat next to my bedroom window, and I waited. I waited, whilst I let my mind roam in probable scenarios. Some more realistic than others.

Time went by for what it seemed like forever.

Footsteps did wake me up from my daily reverie.

I stood, immediately, automatically, my heartbeat rising. It was him. It could only be him.

Automatically, I left my room and went to the hall… and I waited.

I heard the outer door, the one that led to the porch, open, then close. Afterward, footsteps - but those were somehow different. What, did he change from his usual boots? It was odd.

The kitchen door finally did open. I was almost dying with expectation. What would he tell me? What would he say? What would be his first words? What would I see in his eyes?

However I didn't see any of it, because the person coming out of that kitchen wasn't him, the General.

It was someone different. It was someone my eyes recognized at once. It was someone that used to be my tormentor for so many years.

It was my ex-boyfriend.

For an eternal second, all I could think was… How on Earth did he find me here? How could he find this place, if I don't even know where I am? How could he be here? He is real?

"Finally, my dear." I heard him say. Yeah, he was real all right. It was his voice. His form. It was really him. Oh. My. God.

"How did you find me…" I said, my voice barely a whisper. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was really here… for me.

"You underestimate me." He said, standing in the hall, five meters from me. "I knew you would run. I knew you would try to escape, as always. So I had to stop that."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mobile was bugged, Sora. I've always known where you were, since you ran away the first time."

"Always?" I felt confused and scared. How could he have bugged my phone and how did I didn't noticed it? Was this even possible? Talking about being a psychopath…

"Yes, my dear, always. But this time I must confess you tested my patience. You had your mobile off for a long time… but I knew that, eventually, you would falter. You always do."

The image of Sephiroth shredding my phone to pieces filled my mind. Oh, how I wished I hadn't found the damn phone. Why didn't he destroy it without me knowing? Why didn't he throw it away?

Oh my God… what am I going to do now?

"What do you want?"

He started laughing at me. His laugh, deviant as ever, held a tone I didn't like.

"You're so naïve." He said, in between laughs. "Where is he?"

Now his question was suddenly serious. Oh-uh.

"Who?" I asked, trying to reveal some fake surprise.

"Oh, don't play that game with me, Sora. I know you're not here alone."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, knowing he knew too much already.

"Oh you do know. You know very well what I'm talking about…" He said, approaching me lazily. "So, where is your knight in shiny armor, to save you from imminent peril?"

I didn't have an answer to that. I didn't know where he was, nor when he would be back. If he eventually got back tonight. God, I was so screwed.

"He's not here, isn't he?" He said, smiling deviously. "I'll take you with me tonight, Sora. Permanently." He added, and my heart constricted at his words.

No. Not that living nightmare again. Not him, using me and beating me constantly. No way.

"No..." I said, my tone low.

"You don't have any saying in this Sora. You will come home with me, where you belong. Not here, not this place lost in the Northern Continent."

Oh. So, a little information about where I was. Not that it was of great help, but it was something. His slow pace in my direction did wake me up from my reverie. I wasn't willing to let him have it his way.

"I belong here." I said, not realizing the truth behind my words.

"You belong with ME!" He snarled, and I knew in that instant our civilized dialogue had ended. He would not be kind, he would not be gentle. He would take me with him with all his will, and I couldn't do anything to prevent him.

Or could I?

"Who else knows you're here?" I said, suddenly.

He smiled back at me.

"I work alone, Sora. I wouldn't engage a search for you with the authorities' help. You were kind enough to stain my record multiple times." Irony imbibed his speech.

Great, no one else knew he was here. So this place, this hide-out was safe. Or so I thought. I had no way to know he was lying to me or not.

"He will kill you." I said, not knowing where I got those words from. I felt it as a certainty, as something very obvious to say.

"Maybe. But you won't be alive to see it." He smiled, now stepping in my direction faster. I felt a shiver running all over me. So this was it. Go with him or die, at his mercy.

The hunt was about to begin.

"You'll have to catch me first." I said, and then I ran.

The adrenaline inside me was pumping and all I felt was the air, the wind hitting my face. I left the house using my bedroom window, with him in my tail. I reached the outside, the thick vegetation and I ran, ran like I was being chased by a lion, headed nowhere, just wanting to escape from the grasp of the one that would deliver me death, whilst I screamed at the top of my lungs:

"SEPHIROTH!"

A/N - I know, it's a cruel cliff. But it has a point. And this subject had to be solved. Don't you think?