Love

Act 1

That morning, Sether had agreed reluctantly to wake up some time past dawn so that they might get to their destination by mid-morning.

He slept terrible. Every little sound Katai made woke him up. He was not used to sleeping in the same room with anyone else.

Still, his ego would not let him show that he suffering and he proceeded as planned.

".Happy Holy Day." Sether said while they were eating their breakfast silently.

"Huh?" Katai, who was staring into her food, deep in thought, looked at Sether.

"H. Happy Holy Day." She replied, finding this Holy Day to be more depressing than she was used to. What with the mob beating Sether up and all only two nights before, she felt as if the spirit of Holy Day was missed this year. To cheer the mood she said,

"Isn't it funny that Holy Day isn't even close to the day Avalanche destroyed Meteor?"

Sether looked at her shortly,

"I heard it was exactly nine months after Meteor that Magic returned. That's why it was decided to celebrate it today- The day the Planet decided to keep Humans alive."

It was still pretty early when they reached the hem of a great big mountain range.

They stopped at it's bottom and looked up.

"So," Katai gave Sether a sideways glance as he studied the steep cliff side, "What now? We don't have any chocobo capable of crossing this, you know." She was looking at him with a smug look. He probably forgot that they had no way of going any further.

"We don't need a chocobo." He said with his lopsided grin. Before Katai could remark anything, he swung one hand under her feet and carried her in his arms. She blinked in surprise and then yelped as Sether started leaping up the mountain.

It seemed as easy to him to leap up ten feet at a time, as it would have been for Katai to play hopscotch. He was pouncing from rock to rock- some of those crumbled with the unexpected weight- but by the time they were gone, so was he.

It took them approximately ten minutes to get all the way to the peak. Katai was amazed.

"I'm amazed!" She exclaimed. Sether gave her another crooked smile. He thought she was talking about the view.

It was breathtaking: Below them was a small valley, completely surrounded by mountains, except for a small stream that gushed through a parting in the aloof cliffs about.

A magnificent waterfall created a rainbow as bright as paint as it tumbled down to the small pond.

".Lucrecia's Waterfall.!" Katai mumbled in awe. She had never seen it from this angle before.

"You've been here?" Sether inquired. Katai nodded. She was feeling pretty silly, there in his arms. "It's our winter house."

Sether raised his brows,

"It's our summer house." He smiled.

"Now put me down!" She squirmed in his grip.

"Hold on tight," He said, still smiling. He removed one hand from supporting her, and was now holding her from around her waist and under his arm, "It's not over yet." And with that, he started down the mountain.

Katai screamed.

He was skidding and sliding down the mountain with an agility that surpassed any goat, cat and definitely, any Human Katai had ever seen.

"Stooooop!!!" She yelped, hitting his chest with fisted hands. She was used to the falling feeling of descent from her travels on the Highwind- but not at such speeds, and not when the only thing stopping her from tumbling down a mountain was one arm.

Sether's other hand was used to stabilize himself.

"Let me down!!" She screamed in fright.

"S. Stop squirming!" He demanded. Their speed, by now, was amazing, and there were only a few dozen feet till they reached the bottom.

At that point, because Sether's attention was on the squirming person under his arm, he tripped.

Katai fell silent the moment she felt they were in the air. Fear gripping he heart so fiercely she couldn't even react.

Sether, on the other hand, released Katai from his grip, and twisted his body in mid air.

This resulted in him doing a magnificent feat of aerobatics and he landed dramatically on his feet, down on the grassy plain by the lake.

He spread his hands forward nonchalantly and caught Katai.

She was shaking with fear and staring blankly ahead.

Hmm. Maybe he should have warmed her.

He placed her gently on her feet, a look of slight worry on his face.

Katai didn't seem to have any plans on reacting to the environment for a while, so he took a few steps ahead to check if everything was okay around the lake. He noticed a chocobo saddle some feet away and wondered briefly of its origin.

That's about when a boot hit the back of his head.

"Ouch!"

"Baka!!"

Katai was back to her normal self quicker than he expected. He turned to her, innerved.

She took her boot back and put it on and then she bounced to her feet, fists raised to her face. She bounced lightly from foot to foot, punching air,

"C'mon, c'mon!" She glared at him, trying to suppress her smile under an angry face, "You deserve a good walloping for what you just did! Let's see you against me! C'mon!"

Sether rolled his eyes, but couldn't repress a smile,

"You're stance's all wrong."

He accepted the challenge (If it could be called a 'challenge') and stepped up to her.

She punched air about her, trying to look intimidating and trying to remember how she saw those people on TV do it. She tried to punch him, but he dodged with ease.

"Do you really want to fight me?" He asked with a vicious smile.

Katai wasn't going to let him frighten her, and she punched again and missed,

"You coward!" She squeaked with a grin, "You couldn't beat me even if you tried!"

He actually chuckled at this. Since he was closing his eyes, she used the opportunity to clubber him in the nose.

At least, that's what she planned to do.

When she thought she would feel impact, Sether's head wasn't there anymore. He had bent back, nothing moving but his back, and grabbed her extended fist. Then, with great pleasure, he swept both of her feet from under her with one swift motion of his leg.

She fell, but since he did not let go of her fist, he slowed her fall made it so she would land softly on her back. He then released her hand and stood there, looking at her with curiosity.

"You were saying?"

"This isn't over yet!" She pounced to her feet and started to advance at him, punching about.

He retreated back with nimble steps and dodged her raging, if somewhat petit, punches with a big smile,

"Your stance is wrong!" He repeated again, "How can you hope to topple your enemy if your legs don't have grip on the ground?"

"Shuddap!" She snapped, punching high and low. He was still doing that little dance with his feet while retreating. He seemed to enjoy this, Katai thought, and it only made her angrier. She wanted to clobber him!

"Knuckles first, not the fingers!" He said, "You'll break your fingers if you hit like that!"

"Shuddaaap!" She tried harder to hit him to no avail, "I don't want to learn how to fight- I just want to beat you up! I'm a pacifist!"

Sether thought that there was absolutely no logic in that sentence, but he let it slide.

"You're wide open to attacks!" He continued to coach her as they made their way around the small lake, "What about your defense?" Just to prove his point, he poked her forehead between one punch and the next.

"Hey!" She yelped and attacked harder. She still could not catch him. Her punches flew fast, but never fast enough to catch up with Sether's nose, which was her ultimate target.

Unfortunately for Sether, in his retreat and teasing, he failed to notice the chocobo saddle on the grass behind him and tripped back with a surprised grunt.

"Haha!" Katai triumphantly laughed, placing her hands on her hips and looking smug again as if she was the one who tripped him, "How do you like that, Mr. High-and-mighty?"

Sether wondered that there was probably a chocobo around before he returned his attention to Katai. With swift and precise motions, he leaned on his hands and clamped both of his legs on hers like a pair scissors, and tripped her. She screamed as she fell on her behind. Before she could do anything, Sether was above her, pinning both her wrists to the grass.

He had a big smile on his face, and eventually, so did she. She started laughing and Sether joined with his chuckling.

Then there was a moment of silence.

Sether still had her pinned underneath him, and they were starring into each other's eyes a long moment.

The world seemed to stop and hold it's breath for just a short moment.

Sether snapped out of it first, quickly withdrawing and sitting on the grass, his back to her so she wouldn't see the irrational blush that tainted his cheeks.

".Baka." She mumbled and sat up. Then she pounced on his back and tried to choke him with an arm across his neck.

Sether, totally oblivious to her attempts, got up. Katai was hanging from his neck, making little noises as she tried to beat him.

"Katai, what are you doing?" He turned his head to look at her, dangling like a cape behind him. He was taller than her by enough so that she wasn't touching the ground.

"Umm. Strangling you? And I'd appreciate it if you cooperated!" She gave him a mean glare.

"Hack. Cough. Gasp. Happy?"

Then, with one hand, he reached up and grabbed her tiny wrist. She gave a small squeak at the ease he removed her hand from his neck even though she was trying very hard to resist. He didn't hurt her, in fact, it would seem he tried to unwrap her with as much gentleness he could. She plopped back down to her feet.

".You're no fun!" She smiled at him through her mock pout.

Sether was about to say something when a new voice bellowed,

"Sether Cid Valentine, are you harassing this lady?" The voice was much like Sether's, and he swirled around with shock all over his face.

"D. Dad?!"

1 Act 2

Vincent Valentine was now around his 80's, yet did not look a day over 30. He was more handsome than Shera described him to her daughter.

Katai stared at him.

At the moment, he was standing with his hands crossed over chest and was giving his son a reproachful look. He had a black turtleneck sweater and matching pants. His boots were black and pointy and the bronze claw that he had for a left hand gleamed as if it were new. A worn red bandanna was wrapped around his head to keep the tumbling locks of ebony black hair from his lean face.

"Dad! You're okay!!!" Sether took a step towards his father when the later reached out and grabbed Sether's ear firmly,

"Don't try to change the subject, young man- I would not let a Valentine pick on a lady!"

Sether was being dragged by the ear into the cave.

Katai blinked in astonishment.

Was this the same man who had just beaten her?

"Ow, ow! Ow! Ow! Daad!" He whined. "Da~d! Cut it out! Owwww!" Katai never thought Sether was capable of such a whiney voice.

She followed quickly.

Upon entering the cave, she saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

"Sethy! Okaeri!" Welcome. Her voice was slightly too cheerful.

Lucrecia.

She, too, was supposed to be in her 80's, and she too didn't look much older than Sether himself. She had thin glasses and brown hair tied in a tight pony-tail. She also had two bang-like strands bouncing in front of her face. They weren't as thick and didn't have the presence of Sether's, but Katai didn't really know a lot of people who did have bangs like Sether's. Her face was small and round, and when her eyes were open, they twinkled with warmth, somewhere behind the slightly happy insane gleam.

Katai was surprised by the fact that Lucrecia was even shorter than herself. Compared to her husband and son, she seemed out of proportion. She reached Sether's mid-chest, while Katai was only about a head shorter than Sether.

Vincent let go of his son's ear and studied him, "Sether," He asked, "Are you okay? You seem a little paler than usual."

Sether was gawking at him,

"Eh. Am I okay?! Dad! When did you wake up? What are you guys doing here?" His excitement showed on his face and he seemed on the verge of happy tears.

Vincent smiled happily as well,

"I woke up the day before yesterday. We tried to call you, but we could not reach you."

"I accidentally broke the PHS." He shrugged, dropping the events of that night, "How are you feeling?" Sether asked with enthusiasm, and then, as his mother came and latched herself to his chest with a big hug, he repeated, "What are you doing here?"

"After I woke up, we discovered that we forgot one of your mother's favorite frying pans here at summer, so we came to get it."

"You came all the way for a frying pan?" Katai asked with shock.

Vincent gave her a surprised look, as if he had forgotten she was there,

"And who might you be, pretty lady?"

Katai actually blushed at this. She had been watching the conversation all this time and she was feeling totally in awe to be in the presence of the Mr. Valentine.

As she fumbled for words, Sether pointed at her.

"That's Katai." He said.

Vincent frowned down at her with a narrowing of his keen red eyes.

"She seems familiar. Have we met, Miss?"

"N. N. No, sir." She mumbled meekly, and Sether couldn't help but raise his brows at this change of mood.

"Well," Vincent seemed a little embarrassed as he returned his attention to his son, "You know how much I love pancakes, and they do tend to turn out best with that pan. Anyway," He continued, "I was not feeling very good yesterday, and we stayed today as well. Then guess who popped in?"

He gestured towards one of the 'rooms' around the main hall. The rooms were actually small caverns that connected to the main hall from various directions.

"What's all the %^@$% commotion?" A slightly gruff voice asked, and Cid emerged from the room Vincent was pointing towards.

In a blink, Katai was in her dad's arms.

"Dad!!!" She shrieked with glee.

"Oh, so she is your daughter?" Vincent smiled at Cid, "I thought she looked familiar; She is so beautiful! How lucky for her she got her mother's looks." His smile turned evil.

"Ha," Cid scoffed, still holding his daughter tightly, "Same with you- your kid doesn't look much like a certain vampire I know- are you sure he's your kid?"

Vincent straightened with pride.

"He is my son, alright."

Sether was somewhere is seventh heaven.

His dad was okay, his mother was still latched to his chest and Katai was happily in her father's arms. Luckily, everyone's attention was on the exchange between Cid and Vincent, so Sether could wipe the single tear from his cheek before anyone could notice.

Shera came out of the same room as Cid has, drawn by the commotion.

"Mom! You're okay too!"

Shera hugged her daughter as well,

"Why wouldn't we be okay, dearest?"

Katai told them what had happened to their home, and the two were pretty shocked. She noticed a coffee table that had the world map on it as a cover. She sat down on her knees besides it and told them what had happened; showing them the path the weapon took. They seemed very alarmed at first, but she also told them of the scientists' theories.

They recuperated some time later with help of Lucrecia's pancakes.

"The time is now!" She sang when they were ready. With her eyes closed with happiness, she pranced into the main hall. In her hands she was holding a plate with a tower of pancakes.

No one could resist the way the maple dripped to the plate from atop the tower.

The pancakes were gone within moments.

The main hall was arranged in the following way:

In the center was a great vacancy, covered with thick carpet. Along the walls were various cabinets and closets for storage. By the northern wall were some couches; A triple sofa against the wall, a loveseat at the side and a single-seat on the other side. All the couches were facing the center, where the small coffee table stood.

"Man," Cid announced after a while, "I can't believe you haven't changed, Vince! I bet you're wearing tons of makeup or something.!"

Sether gave Cid a strange look; He had never, in his life, heard his dad let anyone call him 'Vince'. Not in his face, anyway.

Cid was squinting at Vincent, trying to see if it was as he said. After a moment of this Cid got up and decided to take a closer look. This made Vincent very uncomfortable. Cid was standing next to him, studying him closely as the later was trying to eat his last pancake.

"Cid," Vincent growled after a short moment.

"Yeah?"

"I really cannot eat properly while you are staring at me like that."

Sether and Katai exchanged worried glances between them before they both started laughing. Well, Katai laughed and Sether chuckled.

Cid and Vincent gave the two a strange look.

Katai was on the floor, holding her stomach and laughing her head off. Sether himself found it hard to contain his laughter. Luckily, both his parents clamped their hands over their son's mouth just as a laughter managed to escape. The Highwinds were giving them a weird look.

After Sether and Katai had calmed down, his parents removed their hands and he actually thanked them for gagging him.

"Huh? What's the deal with the kid?"

Sether hated it when people addressed him as 'kid' or 'boy', but since it was the honorable Cid Highwind doing it, he didn't mind that much.

Vincent scratched the back of his head while Sether looked away. He didn't want to discuss his various oddities.

"It is just that our son was blessed with a very unique kind of laughter that certain molecular structures do not approve of."

Sether gave his father a strange look. What a strange way of saying it.

Cid, knowing Vincent and knowing that his son had to be at least as complicated as Vincent himself, let the issue pass with a shrug of his shoulders.

Sether liked that.

".Would you like to see my room?" Sether asked Katai meekly, feeling uncomfortable around so many people. 'So many' being only five, two of which were his parents and one of which was his traveling companion. Still, more than two people beside himself always made him nervous.

"Sure!" She chirped and they both got up and walked to the other side of the hall.

"I've been to most of the caverns when we were here last year, and I didn't see any room that had much stuff in it."

Sether smiled at her and reached to one of the carpets that hung on the walls.

It is a good time to mention that the cavern was not like it used to be. Over the years, both the Highwinds and the Valentines had decorated it and added a lot to it. It looked more like a modernly designed house with a round ceiling than a cave in the middle of nowhere.

Katai was certain that those carpets were just there for decorations, and was very much surprised when Sether moved one of them to reveal another doorway.

Katai went in.

It was a nice room.

"You've got a nice son." Cid nodded his head to Vincent and Lucrecia once the kids left.

"Thank you." Vincent smiled "Your daughter seems to be a very nice person as well."

Cid beamed with pride,

"She's a great kid- Smarter than her old man ever will be."

Vincent smiled at this, "It's not that hard, you know."

Vincent just leaned back and actually enjoyed the string of curses that ensued. He missed Cid dearly.

Eventually Lucrecia interfered,

"Do you think 'Katai Valentine' sounds nice?"

There was a long pause after that.

It wasn't because Lucrecia had just arbitrarily decided that they belong together: Cid was wondering whether to have the wedding outside or indoors, Shera was thinking how beautiful Katai will be in a wedding dress, and Vincent was impressed that Lucrecia actually made sense.

"This is where I stay when we're here." Sether said, "It's not much, but it keeps me occupied."

Every wall around the room had book shelves on it. Once the shelves ran out, books were piled on the floor in stacks that reached Katai's waist.

"Wow." She said, looking around.

"As I said, it's not much. I have the books I already read here. Most of them anyway, some I still keep at home."

"You actually read all this?!" She picked up a random book and flipped through it. "Ack!" She whined, "It's in Wutian!"

Sether then produced the book he had bought in Corel from his Store Materia and placed it on a specific shelf. It was a small one, compared to the others, and had only a few books on it.

"This is the section which is not Wutian."

Katai glared at him,

"Amazing!" She threw her hands in the air, and Sether didn't understand whether she said it with annoyance or excitement.

"That Seth of yours reminds me of someone." Cid was scratching the back of his head with thought. Vincent didn't understand what he meant.

"That's odd," He said, "Not a lot of people look like him. Not since Sephiroth, at least."

Then Cid's eyes widened,

"That's it!" He exclaimed, "He looks a bit like Sephiroth!"

Vincent gave his friend a strange look,

"You did not notice?" Vincent blinked.

Cid seemed rather embarrassed,

"Aaahh. Weeeell." He intoned, "We didn't get a really good look at him. Before he ran off with our daughter." Then something else struck him, "Waidaminute! That means that Sephiroth was your son?!"

Vincent smiled and simply said, "Yes."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

Here Vincent seemed apologetic,

"Until Sether was born, I did not know it myself."

Katai was sitting on the only place where there weren't books; on the bed. Sether, in the meanwhile, tidied his room a little- bringing books with certain Wutian titles here and other titles there. Katai could not read the intricate calligraphy.

"You have such nice parents!" She beamed at him, and he smiled warmly,

"Thanks." There was a tinge of sadness in his voice. Then, after a short pause he said, "Our parents seem to be getting along exceptionally well, don't you think?"

Katai nodded,

"It's just like the stories mom used to tell! It's so so so so so so so cooool!"

Sether smiled,

"Let's go join them."

"Happy Holy Day!"

They toasted a drink over lunch. Sether classified Cid and Katai as the Highwind males, and they were toasting with alcohol, while the others toasted with Apple juice.

"May Aeris watch over us all!" Vincent raised his glass.

"May the world never need crazy people like us no-more!" Cid laughed.

"Kupo!" Lucrecia smiled.

Ignoring her, Katai raised her mug, "May the future hold more joy than pain!"

"May Katai and Sether's wedding be a great one!" That was Shera's wish. Both Sether and Katai were starring at her.

"Mo~m!?" Katai hissed through clenched teeth. Sether just blushed.

"Sether," Vincent looked at his son, "What is your wish?"

Sether looked down a long moment, thinking of the various wishes he had. Finally he raised his glass and said quietly,

"I wish peace for wondering souls."

All but Katai nodded with approval and drank for that. Katai couldn't help but feel a great dread regarding that solemn desire. Sether, noticing her look, looked at her and smiled, shrugging as if saying 'That's the truth' and drank his Apple juice.

"So!" Shera turned to Lucrecia, though talking to Lucrecia most of the time turned out just strange, "When do you think will be a good time for the wedding?"

"MOM!" Katai bounced to her feet and glared at her mother, face red.

"What is it, dearest?" Shera could genuinely not understand her daughter's distress.

"We-"

Here Vincent interfered,

"I think we should wait for spring."

Katai was now glaring with disbelief at Vincent.

"What?" Shera looked back to her daughter, "Aren't you in love with him?"

Katai's face grew even redder. Four faces looked at her curiously.

She opened her mouth, but Sether stood up abruptly and left the hall for his room.

"Moody, ain't he?" Cid glanced at Vincent. Vincent only shrugged.

There was a soft thud on the cloth of his room, as if someone tried to knock on it.

"Who is it?" Sether asked rather gruffly.

"Me." Without waiting for an invitation, Cid came in the room. Sether was laying on the bed, reading the book he had bought in Corel.

"Whatcha reading?" Cid sat on the bed and studied the book, "Oooo." He said after reading the title, "'The Avalanche Chronicles'. I heard it was good." Sether glanced over the book at him with a rather cold look and said, "I have read the Wutian version, but I heard this one was the original, and so was the better of the two." After a moment of silence Sether added, "I do not like the way they portray Sephiroth in both versions."

Cid smiled and asked,

"What do you think of Sephiroth?" he tilted his head, and Sether wondered why the pilot was bothering to talk with him. Still, since he was his father's oldest and dearest friend, and not to mention Sether's own middle namesake, he tried to be nice.

"I think Sephiroth was misunderstood. I do not say his actions were justified or legitimate on any level, but I do not think he had that evilness about him he is so feared for. It was Jenova using his name, and not himself who was evil."

Cid nodded thoughtfully. Then Sether ventured gently,

"You. Raised Katai to hate him?" He recalled that Katai had said that she was raised to hate the 'One Winged Angel'.

"Nope, not us." Cid shook his head, "Public schools. I never had problems with the sonova. Person." He chuckled to himself, and Sether frowned slightly, "She always had her own ideas and thoughts- nothing we old folks could say to persuade her otherwise from anything she ever decided."

"She is stubborn, eh?" Sether smiled his lopsided grin, and Cid started laughing,

"Sure is! Nothing more stubborn than her exists!"

They both chuckled at this.

"Katai is." Sether started, discarding the book aside and crossing his hands behind his head, "She's so. Conflicting." He was so terrible at expressing himself. Especially to strangers. Still, he felt an obligation to his father to at least try and be open and sociable to the honorable Cid Highwind. "I never know what to expect with her."

Cid smiled,

"You see, Katai has two problems;" He paused to reflect upon that statement before correcting himself, "Katai has many problems, just like anybody else, but only two of them are related to what I'm trying to ^&@# say."

Sether smiled and listened.

"You see, Katai is really an adventurer in her spirit, but she's also a tight-assed, down to earth kinda person, and those two parts are always fighting in her. Also she's a ^&#$$ logical, smart person, but she's also a women, and we know that women are never logical."

Sether raised his brows at this.

"My mother is not really a good example." He said.

Here Cid laughed, "Your mama is one meteorava person!"

Sether only smiled.

Cid than gave Sether a long look, looking him up and down. Sether sat up and flung his legs to the floor. He sat beside Cid and tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.

"Just like your old man." Cid mused out loud with a sigh.

"Pardon?" Sether didn't understand what he meant.

"I can see a lot of your old man in you." Cid placed a hand over Sether's shoulder, and the later hoped he wasn't going to squeeze it, since the stab wound was still under his shirt. Still, he was curious what Cid was about to say and kept silent and stiff,

"I can also see some of your mother's finer traits in ya." He patted Sether softly on the head as if he were a little boy before getting up and starting towards the doorway,

"But you're too damn cold, kid."

Sether blinked at him. He was trying to be nice to the honorable Mr. Highwind, and didn't want to accidentally offend him. He thought he was being talkative just now.

"But I-" Sether began, but Cid cut in,

"You have expressions, and that's more than your daddy used to have, but you never say what you feel. I can sense it."

Sether was staring at him. He had only known him for a few hours and he comes out and analyses him? Sether was about to argue, but, when he thought about it, there could be something in the pilot's words.

"Somethings," Cid stood before Sether and placed his hands on his hips, "Somethings you just can't say by expressions alone." Sether looked aside, not knowing how to react or what to say.

"But!"

Sether looked back at Cid.

"But, somethings you can say. Like asking this:" Cid then proceeded to give Sether a blood-chilling stare. He lowered his head and glared at the silver haired warrior from the top of his eyes. The hands on his hips clenched into fits and Cid growled, "What am I asking you with this expression?"

Sether swallowed hard before replying meekly,

".If. I. was nice. t. to Katai.?"

Cid gave Sether a short smile before yanking the later up from the collar of his shirt,

"Were ya?!"

Sether pondered this a long moment. He could say that they had kissed once, and of course, subsequently die from Cid's beating. He could say that he was nice, but that would be a lie. He was mean to her at times. He could say that she had turned tomato red on many occasions, and die.

"I tried." He finally said. It wasn't a lie.! It wasn't that he wanted to lie; it's just that he wanted to live in order to help Sephiroth, and not be killed by his father's best friend.

Cid let go of Sether's collar with a 'Good enough for me' shrug and left. After a moment to exhale with relief Sether followed Cid to the main hall.

Besides, he already worked out his embarrassment over the earlier conversation.

Marrying her? Both of their parents seemed certain that they should be together.

Ack! What was he thinking about?! He didn't have time for this! He had to. Had to.

Whatever he had to do in order to get his life back to normal, it didn't involve thinking of stupid things like 'Girls'!

2 Act 3

In the meanwhile, Katai was seating and talking to Vincent. She had a million questions to ask him!

They were both sitting on a couch in the main hall.

"Now I know where Sether got his looks from!" She chirped happily.

Her mind kicked her, and she tried to correct herself, "Not that I think he's handsome or anything!" Now her mind kicked her again, and she added quickly, "Not that I think you're ugly!" She then covered her face with her hands and wanted to die.

Vincent just smiled at her and didn't seem to mind her fumbling.

"You said you wanted to ask me something?" He changed the subject so she would not feel so bad.

"What was Sether like when he was a kid?" She inquired, lifting her head and forsaking all embarrassment. She had originally meant to ask questions for her research, but the question just popped right out of her mouth.

"He wanted to be normal." He said with slight sadness. Or was it regret? "He. Never thought of himself as different from other kids until."

"Ryuto?" The name slipped her tongue. She didn't want to tell him she knew exactly what had happened, but she couldn't contain her curiosity.

Vincent looked at her with surprise,

"He told you what happened?"

Katai fidgeted in her seat, not knowing what to say,

".Sorta." She mumbled. Does she tell him that Sephiroth showed her? She doesn't. She hardly found it logical herself, let alone to tell it to Sephiroth's father.

Vincent nodded solemnly,

"Sether is a very sensitive boy."

Katai wanted to burst out with laughter at this, but it didn't seem like the right thing to do at the moment. Vincent continued,

"The Ryuto incident really killed his spirit, and it truly brakes my heart that he continues to blame himself for it."

Katai chewed on her lower lip a long moment.

"Why.? He. How can he not know it was an accident.?"

Vincent gave her a leveled look,

"Because he thinks he should have known his own abilities."

"What?" She looked up to meet Vincent's red eyes.

They reminded her a lot of Sether's, but they were very different.

"When Sether was little, the good doctor from Medeel thought it would be interesting to see what are Sether's abilities. It was obvious from day one that Sether wasn't a normal child. The doctor said that we needed to know what Sether could do for ours, and his, protection."

Katai listened intensely. And Vincent looked at the ceiling of the cave, recalling those days.

"But Sether wouldn't have it. He kept insisting that he was normal, that he had nothing strange about him. He knew he couldn't harm anyone with malice intent, and had confidence in himself." Vincent's voice was low and sad and he said, "He kept saying that he was normal just like any other kid, that except from his limit brakes, he was totally, utterly and without a doubt normal."

They were silent a long moment. Then Katai said quietly,

"But it's only normal to want to be. Normal. Not to be a 'freak' or an outcast."

Vincent smiled,

".Just like your father." He mused with a sigh.

"Huh?" She looked up at him.

"You look young, and you talk carefree- but inside you're much smarter than you let on."

"My father- smart?" She laughed, and Vincent joined her after a moment.

"Vinni-woony-poo?" They both heard Lucrecia's song from the cavern that was used as a kitchen, "Gabloogy-woogy-woo?"

Vincent gave Katai a slightly apologetic look mixed with embarrassment,

"It is my turn to wash the dishes." He explained and left towards the kitchen with a, "I am coming, love."

Vincent went in and Lucrecia came out. She stood some distance away from Katai and looked her over.

Katai, to be frank, was somewhat scared of Lucrecia. Apart from being stunningly beautiful, she was also surprisingly unpredictable. One moment she could be making no-sense whatsoever, and the next she was remarking something smart or other.

Well, she remarked something that made no-sense whatsoever, and Vincent would translate it to something that was actually intelligible. Katai did not have a clue how to deal with her.

Sure, she admired her- she was, literally as well as figuratively, the mother of all the Jenova related researches.

Katai, in a rare moment of profound realization, got to the conclusion that Lucrecia had to be insane all along. She had to be insane in order to almost kill the man she loved and give her only son for experimentation. Maybe she snapped because of the Jenova project, maybe even born insane, or maybe it was something in the fall of Sephiroth and Jenova- either way, she had to have had some insanity in her to do what she had done.

Katai thought it was beautiful that Vincent loved her still, though.

"Would you like to see pictures of Sethy as a little boyo?" She asked. Katai snapped out of her thoughts with an enthusiastic nod of her head.

Lucrecia started to waddle to a bookcase near one of the walls,

"Only Sethy's future bride is allowed to see these." She smiled wider as she fingered the massive books on a shelf, "Which year do you wanna see?"

Katai blinked in astonishment,

"All those books are photo books of Sether?!"

Lucrecia only nodded,

"One for each year!"

Katai counted that there were only about 18 or 19 of them. They must have stopped this obsessive behavior after the Ryuto incident.

Probably Sether himself didn't allow them to take any more pictures of him.

"I don't mind!" Katai shrugged and deliberately ignored the 'bride' remark.

Lucrecia produced the third volume, then came and sat beside Katai. She opened the massive book so that one side of it leaned on her thigh and the other was on Katai's. They looked inside together.

The first thing Sether heard when he came out of his room was,

"HOW CUTE!!!" The shriek pierced the otherwise tranquil air of the cave. Several birds outside the cave flew off with fright.

He was shocked to discover his own mother showing Katai the photo albums.

"Oh, that's just too precious!"

Sether's jaw fell,

"Mom! You said you'd show those only to the girl who'll be my-Wait a minute!"

He was holding his hands stiffly by his sides and closing his eyes with annoyance as Katai crooned over the pictures.

Cid patted Sether fondly on the back as he, too, joined them on the couch. Even he thought Sether was cute when he was little.

"Oh, lookit!"

Seth-ken, at the age of three or four, mouth open with happiness and holding a butterfly in his slightly cupped hands.

"What a great picture!"

Seth-kun and Ryu-chan dressed as cowboys in the Masque holiday.

"Awww. Now that's cute."

The same butterfly, now on Seth-kun's nose, and he is looking at it cross- eyed with confusion.

"How adorable!"

Seth-kun; just sitting and doing nothing in particular.

"Awwww!"

Seth-kun sitting and doing nothing in particular, but from a different angle and different background.

Sether was turning slightly red.

Then Vincent came out of the kitchen and noticed the gathering. He also noticed Sether stalking towards the book in order to probably take it from the crooning people.

Sether actually really did intend to take it away from them, at least from Katai, when a pair of arms locked his own. From under the armpit to behind the head.

Sether understood the challenge and bent kneeled with a swift movement. This made his arms slip from the hold and he quickly, from this bent position, proceeded to swipe his leg on the floor towards his attacker's feet. Vincent did a marvelous backflip and landed a few feet back, arms raised in a martial arts position.

With a smile plastered on both their faces, they began to exchange blows at a dazzling speed.

The 'aww's and 'oohhh's were paused to view this astonishing fight.

Both of them were amazingly good, and they also knew each other's abilities exactly, and so could fight with incredible confidence.

There were jabs, blows, parries and kicks. There were backflips, summersaults, and cartwheels.

It was a pretty short fight, though.

Sether was faster, younger, stronger and it would seem that he was also the more skilled of the two.

Nonetheless, the fight ended with Sether face down into the ground, and Vincent sitting on his lower back and twisting his son's arm backwards. Sether struggled a little before slamming the ground with his free hand in a gesture that meant in certain martial arts that you yield. Actually, it always ended like that.

Vincent immediately let go of his son, and the later got up painfully.

Katai was impressed- someone who could actually beat Sether! She then remembered that Sether had said that the only person who could defeat Vincent in un-armed combat was her own father. So if her own father was stronger than Vincent, and Vincent could make it look so easy to defeat Sether.!

Both men got panted. Vincent had only woken up from a week or so of coma, and Sether was still slightly wounded and not to mention, ill. He got up from the floor and held a hand to his shoulder, where Katai knew was his stab wound.

"Is everyony okay-e?" Lucrecia pranced happily to the two men and checked them for injuries. They sometimes got a little carried away in their games.

"I see you're not so outta shape as you look." Cid produced a cigarette from his pocket and was about to light it when Vincent took a single Gil from his pocket and flung it like a shurikan at Cid's cigarette. It was knocked clean out of Cid's hand and lodged itself perfectly in the wall of the opposite side.

"Don't smoke in the cave, old man."

Cid and Vincent started one of their arguments again.

"Were they always like that?" Sether asked Shera with a grin. She smiled at him and nodded her head,

"You should have seen the argument about the melting ice-cream cones." Then she added with a sly grin, "These kind of fights can only occur between real friends," Then with a wink, "Or real lovers."

Sether took a step back,

"Dad?!"

"That's not what I meant!" Shera was quick to yell, blushing furiously.

Lucrecia, in the meanwhile, looked at Sether up and down, and then frowned. This worried Sether, since his mom rarely expressed displeasure with anything.

He knew that she was the leading mind in the Jenova research field, and his heart skipped a beat that she might discover what was happening to him.

She then proceeded to poke Sether repeatedly. Each poke was exactly where he got a hit or still had a wound.

Sether flinched at first, but, for the sake of not worrying his parents, attempted to resist the other pokes. The last poke was his wounded shoulder, and he flinched.

"Sethy!" Lucrecia pouted, "Are you okay?"

Sether blinked at her a long moment. He could never lie to his mother. Not in the face and not when she was expressing any other emotion besides happy- go-lucky-ness.

"I. I."

"He's fine." Katai interjected, smiling reassuringly at Lucrecia, "There was this really big Iguana that attacked us and Sether got a little beaten- I checked and he's fine."

Lucrecia nodded happily and returned to the photo album beside Katai.

"What the?!" Katai pointed at one particular picture.

It didn't have Sether, Vincent or Lucrecia in it, and that by itself was strange.

Instead, it had a strange gray cat. It wasn't exactly a cat, but more like a kitten-demon. It was silvery-gray and had human like proportions. It had shimmering, big and innocent red eyes that gave the camera a quizzical look. It seemed, as cat-demons go, to be a very young child. Its limbs seemed slightly out of proportion for it's rather small body, and, surprisingly enough, it also had a dipper with a gray tail sticking out of it.

Sether peeked over Katai's shoulder and said,

"Oh, that's Whatthe."

"What?"

"Whatthe."

"What?"

Sether rolled his eyes,

"Whatthe, my first limit brake."

"What the?" Katai blinked at Sether.

"It's a cat-demon-thingie." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head with embarrassment.

"You had your first limit brake at the age of three?!" Katai was still staring at him.

He seemed embarrassed to think of it.

"It's much more impressive now, that I'm older."

"Why did you transform to it at the age of three? What kind of death defying-"

"Mikado pulled my hair." Sether mumbled in a petty tone.

Katai rubbed her temples,

"You wanna tell me," She said slowly, "That you went Limit Brake because a kid pulled your hair?!"

"Hey, it hurt!" Sether turned around, his back to her.

Vincent smiled,

"The kindergarten teacher called us, hysterical, saying that our child became a demon." He laughed softly.

Sether did not find this as amusing, "I have sensitive hair, okay?!" He grumbled.