Okay, so this is probably cheesy, but, I don't care :P Shit is going down soon, so we could use a little cheesy, right?

Chapter 37

It was well past 1pm when I was awakened by yet another phone ringing. Only this time, it wasn't mine, it was Sephiroth's.

"Phone" I said to him, and he stirred. "Seph, phone." I nudged him and he sat up.

"Yes?" he answered. "Right away." he hung up and sighed.

"Was that Lazard?" I asked.

He nodded. "He wants to see me, but I already know why. This is getting out of hand, he'll surely want me to go after Angeal." he said it in such a way, it instantly made me feel like this wasn't a good thing.

"But...you don't want to?"

"I...This has become too personal. I don't want to fight them."

I didn't ask questions, I could see it troubled him greatly.

"Ask Zack to go, he'll be First soon anyway."

"He's involved too."

I laughed. "Trust me, that'll be the one reason he wants to go. He'll try and persuade them. Go to Lazard, talk to him, he'll understand."

"Hmpf"

He left ten minutes later and I had really wanted to go with him, but I hadn't been summoned, so I waited for his return impatiently. In the meantime, I took a shower, which I needed really bad, and got dressed. I made myself lunch, not being in the mood to go down to the caffeteria.

When I sat at my kitchen counter, he came back. He walked straight to the sofa and sat down. I looked at him in expectation, while munching on my sandwich.

"And?" I said after I swallowed.

"Zack will be going."

"Go where?"

"Genesis' hometown. Apparently he hasn't contacted his parents either, they say they haven't had word from him in a long time."

"And Lazard doesn't trust them."

"They're his parents, of course he doesnt't."

"Right..."

"Tseng of the Turks will be joining Zack, it seems Lazard has sent his staff over, but they haven't heard from them since. Tseng will be wanting his men back."

I let this information sink in for a while, as Sephiroth was deep in thought. I worried over why he didn't want to find Genesis and Angeal anymore, but I was under the impression he was torn between believing they had betrayed us, or something had happened to them.

"What are you going to do in the meantime?"

"Await their return."

"That's it?" I asked and he sighed.

"I have two pupils to attend to." he answered. "Now that Angeal is gone, the others will need training as well."

"Maybe I could help you?" I asked him.

"What could you do? You're not fit to teach anyone. You're Third."

"That's nice, Sephiroth."

"I apologize, I didn't mean it like that...I have recommended you Second to Lazard, now that Zack will soon be First."

"A step up the ladder, huh?"

"You're not pleased?"

"At the moment, I doubt there's anything that could please me. Exept maybe slicing some heads off, I could do with some anger management."

"Let's go then." he said and moved for the door.

I took my anger out on some monsters, while Sephiroth was overseeing. I doubted he was watching though, he still seemed to be deep in thought. He probably wouldn't even have noticed if I'd died right in front of him.

"It won't help, you know." I finally said to him, as I was surrounded by corpses.

He raised his eyes at me.

"This pondering, it's not going to change anything."

"I'm trying to understand."

"Well, you can't." I simply said. "Not until you have all the details."

"Are you asking me to let it drop?"

"No, I'm asking you to stop torturing yourself. They'll be back soon, and we'll know more."

"If they return at all..." he mumbled.

"Don't say things like that!" I snapped.

The door to TC opened, and Max walked in. "Uh...shall I wait outside until you're finished?" He obviously felt the tension in the room radiating.

"No, I'm done." I said to him.

"Oh, okay."

I walked over to Sephiroth who seemed to be very reluctant to be doing anything at all.

"Max needs training." I said to him.

"I'm not in the mood."

"Listen to me!" I snapped and hit the wall beside him, earning me a very disturbed look from Max. He must think I'm out of my mind to speak to the General in such a way.

I lowered my voice to a whisper. "You will buck up, and you will train this boy. You will teach him what he needs to know for the next two hours and when you're done, you will have dinner with me, or I swear I'll have your hide. Is that understood, SOLDIER?"

It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but something stirred behind his eyes, as if he had just returned to reality.

"Understood"

"Good" I smiled at him. "I'll just dismiss myself then."

I let my hand rest on his waist for a moment before I walked out the door.

I really needed something to do, and as everyone was either out or in TC, I just had to keep myself entertained.

So, I did something really weird, and decided to cook. I looked up something really tasty on the web and went out for groceries. I got some really strange looks on my way back to my room as I was carrying bags full of food. I had even bought desert.

I knew there was no special occasion for celebration, more like the exact opposite, but I really needed something to stop my mind from wandering off to Genesis and Angeal, or Zack for that matter.

I hoped maybe Sephiroth's mood would improve if I did something sweet and took care of him. I stressed really hard to get dinner done in time, and my kitchen was a real mess.

Before I was even done, he called. "Shit!" I whispered to myself, drying off my hands to pick up my phone. I pressed it to my ear and quickly continued. "Hey babe." I said without thinking, I was too focussed on not chopping off my fingers.

"Babe?" Sephiroth asked, confused.

"Uh...yeah, sorry, got distracted."

"By what? What are you doing?"

"Cleaning" I lied.

"Cleaning?" by now he sounded really suspicious at my strange behaviour.

"When will you be here?" I asked him, ignoring his question.

"Eden...is there something I should know?" his voice had turned from suspicious, to menacing in a second.

"Should? Not really." I replied absent-mindedly, while yanking a dish out of the oven and slamming it on the table.

"I'm on my way right now, and if-"

"You are?!" I squealed. "Shit"

"What-"

"I gotta go, sorry, I'll see you when you get here." I hung up the phone and hurried to get everything ready. I hadn't even set the table yet.

I was just setting wineglasses down when my door burst open and a very decomposed Sephiroth stalked in.

"Are you trying to break my door? That's okay, I need to repair the other one anyway."

The look in his eyes changed for murder to confusion. Then, he seemed to calm down as I smiled brightly at him. I felt really proud of myself and it was written on my face.

"You..." he started. "Made...dinner?"

I laughed at his face. "I thought I'd show you what an exellent housewife I can be. I'm not sure it worked out though...but I tried." I still stood smiling at him.

"Eden, you never fail to amaze me."

"Glad I could surprise you, that was my intention. Sit, please, do you want some wine?"

"Please."

I grinned as I filled up his glass. "You were concerned, weren't you?"

"You were acting strangely."

"I wasn't done when you called, I wanted it to be ready when you got here."

He inspected the table, shaking his head in disbelief. "I must thank you for today." he said. "I'm afraid I needed that push...you have managed to lift my mood greatly." he added.

"I'm glad I did. We all need a little push sometimes...Did you see the look on Max's face when I yelled at you?" I laughed. "That was priceless."

Sephiroth laughed with me.

"How's he doing so far?" I asked him.

We filled up our plates and started eating. It wasn't half bad, if I say so myself.

"He's...getting there."

"Did you go easy on him?"

"Not a chance." he grinned. "I didn't break his face today, is that an improvement?"

"It is." I chuckled.

When we were done, we sat talking for a while at the table, with a glass of wine.

"Eden" Sephiroth started. "This has turned into a great day, after all. And you made it so. I thank you."

I stood up from my chair and planted a kiss on his lips. "You are very welcome. Babe" I added with a grin.

"I think you need to be taught some manners." he suddenly stood and threw me over his shoulder, making me yelp in surprise.

"What about the dishes!?" I squealed, waving my arms at the kitchen sink.

"We have more urgent matters."

If he could have slammed the bedroom door behind us, he would have.