Important Things

The images would not go away. He could still see his sword slicing through the body of another victim. He could almost feel the hot blood on his hands and smell the metallic odor of it, and he swore that if he looked down he would see it, too.

Zack forced himself to concentrate on his work, trying to still his trembling hand long enough to sign the bottom of the report. It didn't help anything that everything in his stack of papers seemed to be on Wutai. It didn't help one bit.

He set the pen down and took a deep breath. He needed to get himself under control if he was going to get anything done. He was the General's second-in-command now, so he had an image to uphold. It wouldn't reflect well on SOLDIER if the Lieutenant General looked like some sort of nut job.

He got up. "I'll be right back."

Sephiroth didn't even look up from his work, responding with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Zack went down the hall to the employee bathroom and was very relieved to find it completely empty. He turned the water on cold and splashed some on his face, before straightening and looking at himself in the mirror.

He gave a pathetic chuckle at his reflection. He looked perfectly normal; there was no indication on the outside of the turmoil that was going on inside him. That was just how he wanted it; if he was all smiles no one would notice that there was anything wrong with him.

He shut the water off, dried his hands and went back to the office. When he got back, he found Sephiroth wasn't at his own desk, but in front of his, leaning back against it with his arms crossed over his chest, and he did not look pleased.

"What's up?" Zack said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Sephiroth gestured to the pile of unfinished paperwork on the desk. "You have hardly done any work," he said. "Would you care to tell me what's going on?"

The last wasn't a simple question, it was an order, and Zack ignored it.

"Nothing," Zack said. "I'm just a little distracted today. That's all."

Sephiroth fixed him with a cool stare. "You're lying."

Sephiroth's eyes dared him to deny it. The next lie died before it reached his lips.

"Now, tell me what's going on," Sephiroth said.

Zack looked at the floor, feeling suddenly ashamed. "I…keep thinking about the war…all those people I killed…I can still see them."

Zack heard Sephiroth move away from his desk, but he didn't look up. That is, until Sephiroth came to stand directly in front of him.

"Are you alright?" Sephiroth said. Zack was surprised at how concerned he sounded.

Zack thought about lying, but figured that Sephiroth would see right through it like he had the last.

"I don't know…" he said.

Sephiroth watched him for a long moment, his eyes slightly narrowed, then his expression softened much more than usual. "Do you want to…talk about it?"

Zack stared at him, the anxiety he'd felt fading into the background to be replaced by shock. "Who are you and what have you done with Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth said nothing, almost as if he had not heard Zack's remark, waiting for an answer.

Zack sighed. "There's no point. You were there."

"Apparently I wasn't," Sephiroth said, "at least not in the capacity I should have been."

Sephiroth continued, seemingly ignoring the shocked look that Zack was sure he was sporting. "I was focused too much on the mission and neglected the…important things."

Zack realized that Sephiroth had just said in his own strange way that he cared and that made him feel better than he had in days. His shocked look formed into a small smile.

"I…" Sephiroth began, but Zack stopped him by laying a hand on his arm.

"No need," Zack said. "You don't need to say anything else."

Sephiroth nodded once, a slight smile on his lips. He returned to his desk and Zack took that as a cue to get back to his own work.

Just as he sat down, Sephiroth came over with a stack of paperwork. In one fluid motion, he picked up the stack from Zack's desk and replaced it with the one in his hands, before heading back to his desk as if nothing had happened.

Zack looked down at the new stack and saw that they were applications for SOLDIER. Sephiroth had taken the all reports and, with them, the reminders of Wutai.

He looked up and gave his already hard at work commander a smile.