Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Outside World

Sephiroth stopped at the threshold of the front entrance to the Shinra Electric Power Company, staring at the invisible line between the building he was chained to and the rest of the world. It felt so strange, going where he had so long been forbidden to go, and going there without scheming of any kind. He'd tried more times than he could count, but no matter what path he took (fire exits, elevators, the ventilation system, and the laundry chutes were only some of the ways he had tried), it was a long, long way from the science department to the exit, and the time it took to cross that distance was his very worst enemy.

He prodded the dividing line with his toe, hesitant to cross it. It was too easy, and it made him nervous. What was the catch?

"Come along, Sephiroth," Gast urged. "We don't have much time."

Sephiroth finally stepped through the doorway, and felt an almost physical difference immediately.

I'm out…for the first time in my life…

Gast took Sephiroth by the hand and led the stupefied boy through the streets of Midgar. He walked slowly, letting the boy's keen eyes take in everything. The professor mentioned the names of simple things – shops, cars, the fountain, billboards – and patiently explained the function of each. Sephiroth's scrutinizing gaze was shifting all over, in every direction except backwards.

"There's so many people," the awed boy said.

"Midgar is a big city."

Sephiroth ground to a halt as his eyes traveled upwards, to the sky. Gast let him linger motionless for a while and let the boy be swept up in the full grandeur of a sunset.

"I didn't know the sky turned so many colors," Sephiroth said.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Is that where mother is? In the sky?"

Gast winced, not sure how to answer. He noticed that Sephiroth's single wing was beginning to stir, as if awakening from its slumber. The professor knew he had to distract him if he was to keep the boy earth-bound. "The city takes on a different beauty at night. Loveless Avenue is lit up."

Gast led Sephiroth around the long way; despite being pressed for time, this was an opportunity that meant the world to the boy. The professor eyed the silver collar around the boy's neck and watched a tiny red light blink several times, sending messages back to Shinra to show the boy's exact whereabouts. Sephiroth despised it, and even tugged on it a few times, but accepted on some level that this was the price to be paid for the trip.

The fact that they had been allowed at all had been a miracle. Hojo was gone, and several of the lab technicians owed Gast some favors. When Sephiroth had come to him about leaving Shinra to "see diamonds and flowers", Gast felt that it was high time the boy saw the city. They were given three hours, and it was only under the conditions that Sephiroth consent to wear the collar.

"Try to ignore it," Gast urged. "Look at the city instead."

"I want to go inside now." Sephiroth sounded a little queasy.

Gast thought the request more than a little strange. Sephiroth had been inside all his life. He reasoned that the boy might be a little more than intimidated by the vastness of the city and even the chaos of everyday life outside the rigidly structured company.

"We're almost to the store. You can hold my hand, if it will make you feel better."

Sephiroth crossed his arms tightly and continued ahead on his own.

Stubborn child, Gast thought with a fond smile.

"This is the diamond store?" Sephiroth asked, looking at the lavish building.

"Well, they sell more than diamonds. It's a jewelry shop; they have all kinds of gemstones. You are not to touch anything, am I understood?"

Sephiroth hummed an affirmative but Gast wasn't convinced that he'd even heard. "I want you to wait out here, Gast."

"Whatever mischief you're scheming, this is not the place to do it."

"I'm not scheming!" Sephiroth insisted, his face red. "I just…wanna go in a shop alone. Like an adult. Okay?"

Gast held up his hands in defeat. "Fine," he relented. But when the boy slipped inside he moved to the window to keep a close watch.

Sephiroth looked very out of place amid the finery. His hair was unkempt (he had resisted Gast's attempts to tidy it), and he was still dressed in hospital slacks, though he had been allowed a pair of pants instead of his usual gown. Gast could tell that Sephiroth knew he was different; he moved timidly, and kept his head down. The boy came from an entirely different world than the workers did.

He wandered amid the cases for a while, looking very lost, until he found a woman's ring that struck his eye. Grinning, he made his way up to the sales clerk, standing on tip-toe to slide a small bag with a few gil over the counter as he gestured excitedly to the ring that he liked.

Gast's heart broke for Sephiroth as the sales clerk laughed and dropped the money bag at the boy's feet.

He came out with his head drooping.

"Sephiroth," Gast tried. "Diamonds are expensive. If I had known you actually wanted to buy one, I could have told you that. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Sephiroth toyed with the pieces of money in his hands. From the looks of it, he had managed to scrape together about 50 gil.

"Why did you want a diamond ring?" Gast asked.

"For Aralyn," he said simply. "To say sorry."

"Gaia, child! What in the world gave you the idea that you needed diamonds to do that?"

"I asked Joyce and she said that girls fell for diamonds and flowers."

Gast was utterly at a loss for how to respond to that.

"You think this will buy me some flowers, at least?" Sephiroth asked.

"Maybe a daisy or two," Gast said. "But Sephiroth, flowers die quickly. Are you sure that's exactly what you want?"

Sephiroth became angry. "What am I supposed to do, then? If I can't get diamonds or flowers, how am I supposed to tell her that I'm really, really, really sorry?"

Gast waited for him to calm a bit. "You could do exactly that: tell her."

Sephiroth made a face. "Yeah," he conceded. "I know."

Gast knew that Sephiroth was trying the best way he knew how to make things right, and he felt bad that he worked so hard for so little money only to have his efforts put to waste.

"Do you still want to pick out a small gift for her?"

Sephiroth nodded.

"Let's go to the supermarket. They have small toys and girl's jewelry there. You should be able to get her something."

"What about the flowers, though?" Sephiroth asked.

"I have an idea, Seph. She'll love it much better than a bouquet."

"Are you sure?"

Gast smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "I've been around the block enough times to know how to apologize to a girl. Trust me on this one."