Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 28: A Little Puzzling
Summary: An entire night with Cloud, gives Sephiroth a lot of food for thought…
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sephiroth was pleased to note the haste with which the young nurse returned, Cloud's potion in hand. The silver-haired general restrained a smirk at the all too predictable inquiry from the blonde as to his 'possible concussion'. The humor quickly faded however, as he took a moment to consider the possible long-term complications of such head trauma.
"So he knows he has a concussion." The nurse mused aloud, as she held Cloud's head to administer the potion, "Did you tell him?"
Sephiroth quickly shook his head, "He determined that for himself actually."
"Really? … It's rather uncommon for a concussion patient to be aware of their injuries… He's a lot more cognizant than I expected…Hopefully that means he'll recover faster." Sephiroth nodded, a very slight, but grateful smile twitching his lips, The nurse returned his smile before continuing, checking Cloud over one more time as she spoke, "I've given him one potion now, and that should bring down the swelling, and start healing the major damage, he will, however, still be rather dazed for some time yet. Keep talking to him, try to help him remember as much as possible, when the first two hours are up, we can give him another potion before he goes to sleep. That should mostly do the trick." She smiled encouragingly at the General, when she was certain Sephiroth understood her instructions, the nurse bowed slightly and turned to leave.
Sephiroth waited until she had drifted out of sight and earshot, before turning back to Cloud. The boy had relaxed after receiving the potion, and now lay quiet, his eyes gazing about the room. True to the nurse's expectations, the small blond still appeared rather confused.
"Cloud?" Sephiroth prompted softly,
The boy shifted to look at him, "Huh?"
For a moment Sephiroth hesitated, wondering what to try and talk about, and then he smirked, "Do you know who I am?"
Cloud blinked and frowned at him, "You're General Sephiroth, … Also known as 'the Silver General', … 'Hero of Wutai'…. 'Legendary SOLDIER first class'…" Hastily the general waved the boy quiet, …apparently he was finally lucid. … then he paused at another thought, Hero of Wutai? … Did they really call him that? Shrugging it off for a moment he turned his attention back to the Cadet before him.
"Cloud, …" He began,
"How do you know my name?" The boy blurted suddenly,
"Cadet Strife," Sephiroth returned, a little more forcibly, "What do you remember?"
"Remember? … um…." Blue eyes flicked around the room once more, "Oh… right… um… well I was …" and then the boy fell silent, his eyes slowly unfocusing as he fought to recall the nights events.
"You were training?" The general prompted,
"Yeah, … I was training…" the boy quietly agreed, "but I was interrupted, the other boys, … We fought…" his blue eyes suddenly snapped up to meet Sephiroth's green ones, "Are the other boys okay? Are they hurt?? Did I hurt them?" When Cloud moved as if to rise Sephiroth hastily placed a restraining hand on his uninjured shoulder, he filed away the sudden flinch at his touch to think about later.
"Calm yourself Cadet." Sephiroth murmured, "The other boys will all be fine, you are by far the most grievously injured."
Shifting away from the General's hand, the blond laid back down with a sigh. "I don't remember how the fight ended." He admitted after a moment, "But I guess I lost…"
"That would be a fairly accurate assessment," Sephiroth nodded, and then his lips twitched again, and he couldn't resist adding, "I think you received a concussion."
Cloud blinked, "You think? … did I have the symptoms?"
"I had the opportunity to witness a little of the fight Cloud," Sephiroth admitted, blatantly changing the subject. "And unless I am vastly over-estimating you, … it appeared as though you were holding back."
Cloud paused, smiling a little ruefully, "Yeah,… a little."
"Why?"
The boy frowned at that question, gazing up at Sephiroth as though the answer should be obvious, "They're just boys." He muttered, "I didn't want to maim or cripple them."
One silver eyebrow slowly rose, they're just boys? … As though Cloud didn't include himself in that statement… "Surely four larger, older boys would be more than an equal match." Cloud hesitated again, frowning as he considered Sephiroth's words, it certainly appeared as though the boy were having more than the usual difficulty arranging his thoughts.
"I know how to kill, … and maim…" Cloud admitted slowly,
"More than them?"
"…. Yeah."
"Where did you learn these… skills… then?" Sephiroth was almost hesitant to ask, … but the opportunity was more than he could resist.
"I … uh…" Cloud's brow furrowed further, "…I read a lot of books…" he finished finally. One more tally for the 'genius' theory. Sephiroth thought to himself smugly, but before he could ponder more on the boy's statement, Cloud looked up at him sharply, suspicion glittering in his eyes, "How did you know we were in there?"
Sephiroth paused, his mind quickly running over the plausible reasons, unfortunately most of the truthful ones compromised Operation Weatherman. So Sephiroth finally settled on the most 'realistic'. "One of the maintenance staff noticed the activity, it was then reported to me to deal with."
Cloud seemed to consider this for a few moments before nodding, "That makes sense… but…"
"But?"
"Why are you still here?"
Sephiroth smirked, this was a much easier question, "The infirmary staff was short-handed, so I offered to stay, and before you ask, it is not an imposition." Cloud still frowned, opening his mouth to speak, but Sephiroth hastily cut him off, "Since you had a concussion, it's important that you remain awake, and attentive."
Cloud's mouth shut, and he pondered that, "Oh… that's right… Concussion… hmmm…" His eyes flicked back up to Sephiroth's face, "Aren't you… I mean… you're the General and all…don't you…?"
Catching on to Cloud's drift the SOLDIER 1st obligingly answered his unfinished question, "I am not required to stay busy every hour of every day, even as a General. I can make the time for emergencies as I see fit. The War with Wutai does not take up that much of my time at the moment."
"Oh…" Cloud muttered, he sighed and shook his head softly, as if to clear it, "That's right… the war… how's that going?"
Sephiroth mentally perked, much as he wished Tseng's theory were not true… "The War?" He repeated, one eyebrow slightly raised,
"Yeah… I mean,… I haven't been keeping up with it, I don't really watch television… I don't really remember how it's going right now." Cloud grinned a little sheepishly. Sephiroth paused for a second at the boy's strange phrasing; he doesn't remember how it's going? That didn't really make sense… perhaps he'd meant to say he didn't remember to watch TV… shrugging the puzzle off for later, Sephiroth carefully answered the question.
"Currently there's a lull in actual fighting, we're attempting to negotiate a peace-treaty at the moment. So there's no need for SOLDIERs to be in the field, … if the negotiations fail, then that will change, of course."
"Ah." Cloud nodded, his eyes closing for a moment, "Okay, yeah… I remember now, … Don't want her to die, gotta work on that."
A long slow blink from Sephiroth, Well THAT made absolutely NO sense… he wondered if Cloud's alertness was waning… With a brief shake of his own head, he changed the subject again.
"I understand you acquired a sword, as part of your Turk Internship."
The blue eyes snapped back open, "My sword!" The boy yelped, Once more Sephiroth's gloved hand pressed against his uninjured shoulder, and once again the blond flinched backwards into the bed.
"Your sword is fine," Sephiroth hastily reassured him, "I confiscated it from the hands of the youth who had, 'borrowed' it from you, … along with your other belongings. They will be returned to you when you are more recovered."
"Oh…" Cloud relaxed again, much to Sephiroth's relief.
"It's a beautiful blade…" Sephiroth continued, allowing the boy to assume he'd looked at it after 'confiscating' it, … and not from watching Cloud use it. "Wutaian I believe… is that your preference?"
"Oh…" Cloud repeated, "Well… actually… I prefer something a little bigger, …"
"Ah, … bigger?" the General prompted,
"Yeah… I like a sword more like the Buster Sword." Cloud murmured, his eyes started to get that far off look Sephiroth was far too familiar with on young men, "The Buster is pretty close… but I really want… MY sword…"
"Your sword?"
"It's like the Buster sword, … but different." Cloud half-shrugged, as if he didn't have the words to explain it, "I designed it myself." Again Sephiroth was at a loss, Cloud spoke as if he was intimately familiar with the aforementioned weapons. The nurse really wasn't kidding when she'd said he'd be dazed…
"You want to be a SOLDIER then?"
"Yeah." Cloud smiled, still looking dreamily off into space, an expression that was just a little worrying to the great General.
"Not a Turk?"
"Huh?" Cloud's eyes finally focused again, "Naw… I really need to be in SOLDIER."
Need to… not want to… ? "So what's your favorite place in Midgar?" Sephiroth was running out of promising subjects…
"My favorite…" Cloud hmm'd, "about Midgar, … not Edge…" Sephiroth began eyeing the second potion the nurse had left on the side table, Cloud was making less and less sense the more he spoke, "Probably the Train Graveyard."
An odd choice… Sephiroth had half been expecting him to mention a restaurant or the Shinra building itself. "Any reason in particular?"
Cloud slowly looked Sephiroth in the eyes, and then began to snicker, "Turk secret!"
Stifling the urge to glare, Sephiroth changed topics again, "What's your favorite place in N-… your hometown." Sephiroth had just barely caught himself before saying 'Nibelheim', … which by all rights he shouldn't know yet.
"Ah, … Nibelheim…" Cloud muttered softly, "My favorite place?" His eyes closed again and he sighed, "If you climb up into the mountains, past the trails and the… the … well… if you go high enough, there's this beautiful place where you can see down into the valley, … in the mornings the mist covers everything…"
Past the what? Sephiroth's curiosity perked again at the left out details. But he didn't press the issue. When Cloud fell silent again, the General glanced up at the clock. It had very nearly been the full two hours he was supposed to keep the boy awake… Cloud seemed fairly lucid, if a little confused in his speech. Deciding the potion was more important than a few more minutes; The SOLDIER gently administered the softly glowing drink, and instructed Cloud to sleep. He wished he'd actually kept his book as he focused away from the boy, watching from the corner of his eye as the rise and fall of the youth's chest slowed and his breathing deepened. It was both relieving and frustrating to have the boy silent. His bizarre statements had left Sephiroth more confused than anything, and yet, the more the puzzle complicated… the more fascinated Sephiroth became in it.
Shaking his head at his own thoughts, Sephiroth chuckled softly, before turning his mind to other matters. He pulled out his PHS device from his pocket, and settled back into the chair, deftly flicking his thumbs over the keys in practiced motions. In short order, he had a neatly typed out message displayed on the screen.
-Urgent: Op. Weatherman meeting scheduled at 0900 hours. Attendance Mandatory.-
Sephiroth sent it quickly to each of the individuals involved in Operation Weatherman. Satisfied that the information had been passed on, he set an alarm on his PHS for two hours, and began wiling away the time typing up a more detailed report on the nights events. He was interrupted briefly, but expectedly by the replies for his text-message.
-Understood, I will see you then.- : Tseng.
The prompt response from the Turk twitched a smile at the corners of Sephiroth's mouth, no doubt the Wutaian was still awake and tending to business.
-WHOO! Cool!!! Ill b ther cant wait whats it about? Cn I know?- : Zackary.
One silver eyebrow delicately rose, when Zack's message popped up on his screen, and Sephiroth shook his head with a sigh, ignoring the message to continue typing his report. It several minutes more before the next message pinged,
-2am? Seriously, there has got to be a better time to send me text messages, … well if you say it's urgent, I will be there of course, did you tell Zack yet?- : Angeal.
With an amused sigh, Sephiroth quickly typed back that he'd informed Zack already. and before he could even finish sending that response, a brief ping sound announced another missive.
-It had better be important.- : Genesis.
Sephiroth finished sending his message to Angeal, and grinned. He didn't bother to answer the others, confident that they would all attend the meeting.
The two hours passed in a blur, the lengthy report was mostly finished when the soft alarm buzzed the PHS in his hands. With a sigh the General rose and stretched, listening to the gentle creak of leather from his coat and boots. He almost wished he could change into something else for the night, but he'd agreed to stay. It wouldn't be the first time he'd worn the coat for more than 24 hours straight, but frequency never made the experience more pleasant. Looking over at the slumbering blonde, Sephiroth regarded the boy silently for another moment, before reaching out one gloved hand and gently grasping the boy's good shoulder.
Cloud hadn't so much as twitched at the noise from Sephiroth's PHS, he'd been out cold from the moment he first drifted off. For a moment, Sephiroth wondered if the boy always slept this deeply, or if it were just his sustained injuries that made him so oblivious to the world.
"Cloud?" Sephiroth murmured, gripping the boy's shoulder a little more firmly, … There was still no response. Leaning forward Sephiroth shook the boy slightly, trying not to jar the youth's injuries, but still trying to wake him.
"Cloud?" He repeated, a little louder now. Finally the blonde shifted and groaned, mumbling something under his breath before falling silent once more. A little exasperated now, Sephiroth shook him harder,
"Cloud!" He barked, and this time the blue eyes snapped open, for a brief instant they stared at nothing, and then the eyes focused on Sephiroth's face, and widened. Sephiroth felt a familiar twinge, settling into a shiver up his spine, and he instinctively jerked back as his warrior's sense screamed.
With a yell, Cloud's fist shot up, so fast and reflexively that had Sephiroth not been Mako enhanced it would have struck him. As it was he felt the movement of air from its passing, and his bangs whipped aside where Cloud's knuckles brushed them.
Sephiroth quickly took another step back, but already recognition was dawning in Cloud's eyes,
"S-Sir?... Oh.. Sorry Sir…" The blonde mumbled, settling back into the bed with a slight wince.
Wow. Was Sephiroth's first thought, followed shortly after by, What a SOLDIER he'll be! With reflexes like THAT! … The General was hard pressed to keep a grin off his face at the prospect. He quickly distracted himself with more important matters, he quickly asked Cloud the obligatory questions pertaining to his head and other injuries, and in a few minutes he allowed the boy to settle back into sleep.
When the next two hour mark rolled around, Sephiroth was careful to keep his distance a bit more from the injured teen. Though the boy still woke with a jolt, and a distinct tensing when his eyes landed on the General's form.
It persisted throughout the night, each time Sephiroth had to wake Cloud. He pondered that reaction for a while, wondering what specifically provoked the reaction.
One more puzzle piece, … he thought in amusement,… I'll find them all eventually….
--------------------------
