Zack threw his hands up cheering.

"Woo-hoo! I hated that guy."

"You're not alone on that account," Sephiroth glowered. Zack cringed in his hands like he'd been socked in the stomach.

"Ahhhh, I feel like such an ant-farm! I'm a total jerk!"

"You'll have a lot to talk about with her when you get back then."

Zack threw his hands out harmless.

"I love this girl, she's my hero! The first thing I do when I meet her, I'm giving her a hug. I don't care if she yells, screams, and punches me in the face, she's got a brother for life. Forget rock-climbing, I can spar with this girl! She'd help me level up, I'm totally hitting a wall just by myself in the VR room anyway."

"She'll be glad to know that, but again, she won't believe it coming from me."

"I'll tell her myself, don't even worry. I can't wait to meet her!"

"That makes me happy to hear, and relieved. She needs more friends, it's one of our areas of tension."

"Really? You guys fight?"

Sephiroth shot him a flat stare. That was a stupid question. His eyes rolled back in their sockets.

"I encourage her, I move mountains to make her happy, I sit there and listen to her complain when she sets herself up to fail. I tell her that in order to meet people, she has to go talk to people."

"And what's she say to you about that?"

Then his eyes peeled to slits as he did his best impression of the girl who currently occupied a massive space in his life.

"You first."

Zack lost it. He and her were totally on the same page and had the same horrible humor. She was Zack's soul mate!

"Ahaha! Man, she's a riot!"

"Well, at least someone finds her amusing."

Zack could tell Sephiroth had been with her for a while now. You don't stick with a girl that long if she doesn't truly own a piece of your heart. However, you don't stick with a girl that long without learning to hate her in some twisted way either.

"You guys probably have arguing down to an art form, don't you?"

"More like a martial-art form. It is a good thing that you and your mentor had such a good relationship when he was alive. My student, on the other hand, wishes I were dead."

"How do you know?"

"She tells me every other minute. We started out at she hopes I choke on a chicken bone and now I believe we're at she hopes I fall into a reactor. I'm afraid to know what's next, probably go get hit by a meteor."

"Aw, that just means she cares."

"Indeed, the sardonic little shit."

Oh man, he loved her. Zack got the hint that Sephiroth wasn't the most emotional guy in the world. But despite their seeming mutual hatred, Sephiroth's student knew all his darkest issues and health problems. No holding back, she knew everything embarrassing and heart-warming about him, and Zack couldn't help but think that she took care of Sephrioth as much as he took care of her.

He was right about that fact too. She was there when he'd wake up screaming in the middle of the night from a cluster headache, and she'd have to inject his Imitrex Rx straight into the back of his neck and rub his head until the pain subsided. The FDA claimed Mako-Infusion had no long-term adverse side-effects, Sephiroth spat in their general direction. She had to answer his phone half the time as a dead line would send him into a paranoid black-out, and they'd end up huddling in a corner waiting for his anxiety to die down. He'd say he would understand if she left him. Years later, she was still there.

Now Zack pursed his lips, thinking about how he could relate to Sephiroth in many more ways than he thought.

"After that little stunt with Lazarus, I guess you're not going after Genesis the way I was going after Angeal?" he asked, to which Sephiroth's eyes darkened.

"You see that water-tower in the middle of town? That's where I'm going to hang Genesis' body. When your own brother comes after the woman in your life…well, he's no longer your brother anymore."

Zack's crossed his arms. He and Sephiroth really did have more in common than he thought. That horrible cold feeling of losing someone precious to a person he dearly loved conflicted in his subconscious as he reminisced. He'd never felt more helpless in his life at Modeoheim. He saw the same reminiscent look in Sephiroth's eyes, the resounding horror in the back of both their minds, the what if?

"I guess all three apprentices had it rough," Zack muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

Aw shoot, Zack did it again, said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet. Why did he always do that?

"Well…it's just…everything you've been telling me about Genesis, I believe it, but it's not meshing with the Genesis I remember."

"Did you know him?"

"No, I never met him before Banora. But…I did meet his student, once…"

Angeal headed to the training room with his young student Zack in tow.

"You're sure you're up for this now?" Angeal checked him, while Zack trotted at his heels.

"Yeah yeah totally! I got this like a rebound shot! Like a three-from-downtown! I'm pretty good at basketball. My team lost last night in the play-offs. If they would have upped their offense they'd have won hook-line-and-sinker! I'm not into fishing. I think it's boring. I can go for some seafood right about now—"

"Alright Zack, calm down. We're going for a friendly sparring match with another apprentice. He's a 1st but hasn't been training much longer than you have. His mentor is a friend of mine."

Zack bounced on the balls of his feet. "I got this. I totally got this!"

They entered the training room where Genesis waited for them. When he moved aside, they saw his student.

His hair was a mottled mess, with bangs that draped his eyes like he'd stopped caring a long time ago, hued in the dark tinge of abysmal blue. His Mako eyes might have once been the classic vibrant neon, but now were dark, clouded ultramarine. He carried a luminite-steel vibrosword, he didn't mess around with showing off. A shiver ran up Zack's spine that he forced away.

Genesis flipped his hand in that annoyingly-familiar theatric flourish, reciting that grating verse of his.

"Infinite in mystery is the Gift of the Goddess. We seek it thus and take to the sky…"

But something changed in his student. His eyes became droopy, closing altogether, and his whole body seemed to slump—as if entranced.

Zack thought poetry was stupid but making friends was fun. He drew his own longsword, bounding up to introduce himself before they got to it.

"Hiya! I'm Zack, SOLDIER 2nd Cl—"

But in a flash the boy grabbed his outstretched arm and threw him into a wall. A luminite sword slammed into the place Zack darted away from. Holy hell, so much for introductions…and sportsmanship!

Genesis' student sprang across ten feet to his opponent, bashing his sword on Zack's blade. He dropped in a deceptive spin, forcing Zack into a dive-somersault over that slitting strike. Zack hit the ground with a soft thud and popped to his feet, but another slam-hit threw him back. This time his ankle hurt bad.

There was no letting up. Genesis' student ran in to finish the fight. Zack cast Cure on himself to numb his ankle and dive-rolled to the side to gain distance, but found the guy already in front of him as if teleported.

Dash Materia, what a cheater!

Zack cut in a high-low down-slice at his opponent's shoulder only to meet air once again, and the blur of blue hair where he'd stood. Before Zack could about-face, a hard boot slammed into his back, sending him toppling again.

This was embarrassing. Zack was getting owned! And if he didn't get himself together, he was set to get seriously hurt.

The luminite blade sheered down on him, but Zack crossed his own sword over his body just in time. He threw the blade aside and kicked up to his feet, whirling to deflect rushing bat-hits from the driven student. The guy held his sword in one hand. Angeal had taught never to do that for a reason and Zack saw his opening. The next down-slash, Zack grabbed the kid's wrist throwing him over his shoulder. He landed flat on the ground with a hard thud as Zack leapt back.

He could have kept on him, but he let him get back up. Zack had honor, unlike some people.

The boy shot to his feet in a fury, dashing for Zack in a streak that bashed him back again. Zack swung his sword in a desperate whirl to keep the guy from slamming into him again, lest he slam straight into a sword tip. But instead, a wrestler's shot took his legs out from under him, and Zack scrambled to stay on his knees. The student shot in, kicking his sword away, the point of his own luminite blade singeing at Zack's throat. The fight was over, or was it…?

Well, shoot, can't win'em all. Zack put his hands up in defeat…but the student kept on, pressing his blade forward toward Zack's diaphragm. He didn't stop, like he hadn't been trained to stop.

"Okay! Uncle! I give up!" Zack complained. The sword tip leered for his throat, driving him down to the ground. Zack glared up at his opponent, splayed out helpless on the cold training room floor. "...Real hero man."

"Enough! We yield!" Angeal stepped in, his own hand clutched the hilt of his Buster Sword.

Zack could feel a nervous tension in the air, like this display was more than hubris and pride, more than a show of intimidation…the kid's eyes didn't track light.

Hypnotized?

When the vibrosword raised for a killshot, a streak of Thundara bashed him away. Angeal picked an enraged Zack up by the arm.

"Cheater—"

"I know…" Angeal consoled him.

"He was trying to kill me! He was really trying to kill me! Wow, no honor!"

"And you have preserved yours."

He put his hands on Zack's shoulders, calming his inner storm.

Meanwhile Zack's opponent picked himself up blinking and shaking his head out. He saw Angeal's hands on Zack's shoulders and cocked an eyebrow. Zack had lost and his mentor was consoling him? Angeal stood dusting his student off while Zack bore into his opponent's whirling eyes.

Yeah! That's right! My mentor LOVES me. Doesn't yours?

Right as Zack finished his thought, a vicious backhand from Genesis sent the boy flying across the floor. The impact echoed off the training room, making Zack jump.

"You slipped!" Genesis snarled.

His student popped back to his feet, blood trickling from his nose that he didn't dare wipe away. You do not stay down with Genesis. If you're going to bleed out and die, do it on your feet. He knew this all too well as his mentor bore into him like an executioner, towering over him with an aura of eclipsing darkness.

"You are royalty. You don't have the luxury of honor. If you fall, an entire city falls with you! Your task is to not fail at whatever cost, and now I am ashamed to call you my student. I would not call you a man much less a warrior. You are a disgrace to the SOLDIER name!"

Zack stared aghast at this horrific scene unfolding before him, while stone eyes of ultramarine stared dazed and hard back into his. The boy took it all in, every word absorbed into his psyche like he was used to it.

Zack's eyes flew to Angeal.

"Step in!" he mouthed, but his mentor bowed his head in humbled shame.

"Direct orders…from the President."

Zack whirled in a frenzy to wrap his mind around this seriously screwed up situation, not realizing that in a sick way this was also part of his training, exposure to the cruelties of the world.

Genesis grunted in disgust at his young ward, and stormed off without him. As he turned to follow, Zack felt himself seized by an urge and forced his way past Angeal. He bounced up to the kid with a huge smile on his face, but the guy shrunk back. He'd just utterly humiliated Zack in an unfair fight. Would he retaliate? Strike back in anger now that his guard was down? Instead, Zack held out his hand.

"Hey! Great fight. I learned an awful lot and gained some really good experience. I hope we can do it again sometime!"

The boy gazed at Zack with a guarded look of fear, like he just couldn't understand what was going on here. But the beaming ray of sunlight who stood in front of him assured him, their altercation never happened.

He seized Zack's hand and bowed low over it, like Zack had just named his first-born after him. Moments like this, years down the line, would teach Zack his virtue: Friendship.

The booming voice of Genesis shattered their moment, and in a flash the boy flowed with quick paces to his master's call.

Zack watched him go, a knot of nausea welling in his core. He knew what it was like to be treated like a puppy, but that's what it meant to be treated like a dog.

"Angeal…is that what it takes to be a 1st?"

"No Zack," Angeal went to his student's side, watching the illusive SOLDIER's take their leave. "That's what it takes to be a prince."

Sephiroth shook his head with a terrible groan, while Zack remained deep in thought.

"I still don't know why he didn't step in," Zack spoke to the floor.

"I do. I received the same threat. If we took Genesis' student away from him, they would take ours away from us."

Zack looked up, the color rushing from his face.

"That's one hell of an ultimatum. Do you know where he is now?"

"Probably with his family or…dead…" Sephiroth waved his hand to speculate.

The rumor mill was pretty resourceful in SOLDIER. People had seen him around a couple times, always in tow behind his mentor—never in front or at his side. They wondered who the illusive young 1st was, and wondered even more when he disappeared. Theories emerged, everything from alien abductions to being experimented on by the R&D Department, but Luxiere knew a guy in Networking who'd broken OPSEC to give him the scoop…allegations of sexual abuse.

Now Zack's mood was shot. How many uppercuts could life throw? He was anxious to get off the subject, but nothing would bring the light-hearted air back when serious matters wound their way into their world like party-crashers. His mind wandered to those matters in a vein of responsibility.

"Can I ask a question about your student again?"

Sephiroth's eyes gave him permission, and Zack leaned forward.

"I think we both know why they send SOLDIER's to Costa del Sol. When I saw her there, she didn't look too good. I've been really worried about her…Is she alright?"

Sephiroth took his time, his eyes becoming sad. He stared at the floor for a long moment before sighing to someone who wasn't there.

"…Every day is little steps. Little victories. I fear that she will never trust me again. I feel like I have failed, as a mentor, as a man. Now, all I can do, for what I have broken, is try to put it back together again the best way I know how, with patience and all my heart."

He seemed to zone out into himself, and Zack recognized that lonely thousand-yard stare. He missed her. This lack of cell reception was killing him more than it killed Zack. They both knew what it was like to sleep alone after sharing so much of their lives with someone, the pining ache that drove them to pace and to panic. Zack could only hope that he was providing the man with some comfort in these dark and trying times.

"Do you mind if I ask?" They both knew the answer to that by now. "What happened?"

But Sephiroth's eyes froze. A cataclysm of welling emotion held stable in cerulean irises, struggling to come to terms with Zack's request this time.

"…She took it very hard…when I came out of that data room…and went away for a while…"

Now Zack stopped breathing, feeling the fear that swirled in Sephrioth's eyes. It was right there, on the table in front of them. Sephiroth had placed Pandora's Box right within Zack's reach, and for the life of him he couldn't open it. He made it Zack's decision, all the power over the man now rested fastidiously in Zack's hands…an honor.

How long did they sit there in silence, a minute? An hour? An entire lifetime? Zack sat slumped forward on his knees like in silent prayer, whirling in his heart, fighting in his mind. After an immeasurable amount of time, Sephiroth flashed a grin to break the spell.

"It's getting late, we should probably turn in."

And the air of tension eased to vanishing null. Zack and Sephiroth both stood as if a weight had fallen from their shoulders and walked with lighter steps to the door. There, Zack stopped, a playful thought streaking across his eyes.

"Hey. Uh, how do I say goodnight?"

Sephiroth smiled. He knew what he meant. He showed Zack how to say it in sign-language, and Zack tried it out for himself.

"Close enough," the big man laughed, and held out his hand.

Zack tensed. Everyone who'd ever shaken his hand had betrayed him in the most sadistic way imaginable. He hesitated, took a breath, and clasped the man's hand. But Sephiroth pulled Zack in for a hug, wrapping him up in a strong embrace. He held him like Angeal's arms, a protective lunar ring engulfing him like a sable wing. Zack gasped, and after a moment, let his own arm wrap around him in turn.

When they pulled away after a short while, they stood facing each other on equal ground. Zack stood up as straight and tall as Sephiroth. So many things he wanted to say that didn't need to be spoken, Sephiroth already knew. With a coy grin, a smart smirk, Zack pointed a cool finger at him—don't do anything I wouldn't do—and left the room.

He strolled outside to take a walk, get some air before bed. A sudden urge, and he turned back to gaze at the Inn, thinking about someone who was more human now than he ever was as the shining hero of Shinra.

Zack resolved with himself to never leave the man's side, to fight with him through whatever battles he'd face within himself or otherwise. Forget the medication, Zack could be his medicine, he was old enough now to understand. For where he'd failed with his dearly departed mentor, he would not fail again.

A slight smile back toward the Inn, midnight stars dancing in his delicate eyes, he went for a walk feeling like all was right in the world.

.

[Sephiroth is added to the DMW]