©Blood of Sephiroth 2001

Buried Past

Disclaimer: I own none of the FFVII Characters, but Gabe is mine! All mine, you hear me!!!!

Chapter Three: Biking on an open road

'Ah, good. We were just going to come and find you. Time for a bit of tutoring.' Zack grinned nastily at Cloud, who mock groaned. 'Cloud, you'll be with me, and Gabe, you are with Sephiroth. All to the gym, then!'

The four walked to the gym, joined by a couple of First and Second Class SOLDIERs, and the pairs broke off. Sephiroth disappeared into the weapons locker and brought out a sword that was similar to his Masamune. Handing it to her, Sephiroth watched as Gabe found the balance almost immediatly, almost instinctively. She held it parallel to the floor, frowning in concentration. Sephiroth drew his own sword.

'There are several ways of holding a Masamune sword. One is how you are holding it now. Another way, the way I prefer to hold it, is like this.' So saying, Sephiroth kept the sword parallel to the ground, bringing it up to eye level and bringing the hilt up past his ear, so his eyes were looking down the length of the blade. Gabe copied him, moving from position to position gracefully. Sephiroth lowered his sword and watched her, satisfied that she had it right. Then he went on to show her the different ways of handling it when attacking someone. By the end of the session, she knew enough to spar with Sephiroth to a certain degree. She confessed that she still preferred her shorter blades, but Sephiroth smiled and said that that was okay.

'You can keep hold of that Masamune, if you want. Keep practicing with it.' He told her. Gabe's eyes opened wide.

'You sure?'

Sephiroth found himself looking into those green eyes, lost for a moment. He shook himself mentally.

'Yes, of course I am. Now go. You and Cloud have a free period.' Sephiroth dismissed her. Gabe and Cloud joined up at the entrance.

'Let's take a walk.' Cloud suggested. Gabe nodded, the Masamune still out. She noticed that she didn't have a scabbard she could use.

'I need to get this sheathed, though.' She told Cloud, indicating the sword. Cloud nodded.

'You'll need a clip scabbard for that. Too long to draw.' Gabe looked at him.

'What's a clip scabbard?' She asked.

'A clip scabbard is where instead of a pouch of leather for the blade, the sword is held in by clips, so that you don't have to draw it. You just release the clips and take it out.' Cloud explained. Gabe grinned and nodded.

'You mean like the General's?' Gabe couldn't see herself with the replica of the Masamune on her back like her hero Sephiroth. Cloud looked at her.

'Yep. You worship Sephiroth too? And yet you don't want to be in SOLDIER?' He asked. Gabe shook her head.

'Didn't, Cloud. I'm not so sure now.'

The two friends went to the weapons master, who very quickly got down one of Sephiroth's old clip scabbards and handed it to her. He also gave her a scabbard for her bike. Gabe grinned as they walked out, the Masamune sitting comfortably on her back.

'Let's go for a ride!' She grinned at Cloud, gesturing to the motorbike shed, where she had her own personal bike. Her current mum and dad were rich, and while they didn't particaly like their daughter, they bought her a lot of expensive presents, the Ducati RR500 Ripwheel being one of them. Gabe also had another motorbike that she only used occasionaly, a Virago 250 that was a little small for her.

Cloud nodded, frowning.

'But I have to put up with the standard issue bikes. They really reek.' He complained. He knew Gabe had a bike; he had seen her out on it several times during free period.

Gabe's grin grew wider as she led the way to the shed. They walked deeper into the gloom until they reached the back, where Gabe flicked on a light switch, illuminating two shapes covered with a tarp. Gabe whisked the tarp off, revealing the sleek black Ripwheel, fitting the scabbard onto it, and the stormy grey Virago. Cloud fell in love with the Virago as soon as he saw it. He ran a reverant hand over the tank, whistling appreciativly.

'And your ma bought these for you?' He asked. Gabe shook her head, wiping her hands off on an oily cloth.

'Nah. Only the Virago. I saved up and bought the Ducati. You can have the Virago, if you want.' She added, waving Cloud's protests down. 'It would go rusty otherwise. I can't use it.'

Gabe got two helmets down off the rack, a grey one for Cloud with a jagged streak of blue lightning going down across the back, and a black one for her. Her helmet was plain, adorned only with two white angel wings painted on the sides.

'Nice helmet.' Cloud said as he strapped his on. He looked at his watch. 'We've got about an hour till free period's over. 'Kay?' Gabe nodded, tightening up her straps.

A few minutes later found them roaring down the road into down town Midgar. They didn't go to the slums, however, going in the opposite direction and biking through the lush if slightly artifical greenery that the richer sections were blessed with. The two had good fun, barrelling down the deserted streets at stupid speeds, arriving back at the SOLDIER training base breathless. They wheeled their bikes back in the shed, covered them up and walked back to the West dormatries.

They were cutting across the field when suddenly Cloud and Gabe found themselves surrounded by about ten people, both boys and girls from Gabe's and Cloud's old dorm.

'Well, look who it is.' One of the boys sneered as Gabe scanned the surrounding area. They were too far away from the buildings to call for help, and at this time of day, the field and training area were totally deserted.

'Oh bugger.' Cloud whispered, but Gabe wasn't listening. She was staring into space, her face absolutely expressionless as the gang muttered at them and laughed. Cloud nudged Gabe.

'So, er, when do we run?' He asked. Gabe looked at him. She was about to speak when she recieved a punch in the gut and a kick in her knee. She heard Cloud go down beside her, but she concentrated on blocking out the pain in her knee, rolling out from under the hand that pinned her down and springing back up, her Ninja blades almost seeming to leap into her hands. Gabe saw Cloud vainly trying to fight back, most of the gang pounding him into the ground. Gabe's eyes narrowed, and she leapt up in the air, screaming out a battle cry in a language only she understood.

'Karae manti kri!' (A/N I have no idea what that means. I'm pretty sure that it is no language spoken on Earth, and I am just making it up as I go along. )

The gang looked up at her as she landed in the middle of them, her green eyes blazing. Gabe stayed sane enough to remember not to stab them, giving them the full compliment of kicks and hits with the hilts of her swords. Five minutes later found her standing breathless, surrounded once again by a bunch of groaning bodies. Gabe sheathed her swords, the fire in her eyes burning out, and turned to Cloud. He was concious, and considering the pounding he took, he wasn't in too bad a shape. Gabe cast a Cure over him, watching as some of the cuts and bruises melted away.

She held a hand out to him, which he took.

'That was amazing!' Cloud managed to croak. Gabe smiled and shook her head.

'My form was off.'

'What was that you yelled?' Cloud asked.

'What, karae manti kri? It's Wutanise, I think, and it means 'death to the unholy' or something like that.' Gabe replied. Cloud looked at her for a long moment.

They reached the West dorm, late of course, with Gabe supporting Cloud. Sephiroth and Zack were stood outside, frowns on their faces until they saw the shape that Cloud was in. As Zack supported Cloud for the rest of the way, Gabe's knee no longer could be ignored. Her leg gave out from under her, and Sephiroth just managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

'You okay, Xavier?' He asked her as Gabe leant onto his shoulder. Gabe looked round into his eyes....and lost her breath.

His eyes were as green as hers, glowing with the same intensity, intelligence sparking and whirling behind the green glass.

Gabe suddenly realised he was looking into her eyes, and as much as she didn't want to, Gabe looked down at the ground, breaking the tangiable connection between the two. The world returned, bland, grey and boring as ever, Zack watching them in the distance.

'I'm fine, sir.' Gabe replied, not able to hide the tiny sigh that escaped her.

Sephiroth supported her the rest of the way in, his own feelings in a total muddle. Her eyes were just as intense as his, almost as if she had been given the SOLDIER dose of Mako already.

As Sephiroth and Gabe walked in, Cloud was recounting to Zack the things that Gabe did as Gabe was lowered onto the bed so that the doctor could check her knee. The knee was swollen, and an ugly blue colour. The doctor looked up at Gabe.

'The knee is badly bruised. Another step and you would've dislocated it. And you fought on this?' He asked Gabe, frowning. Gabe shrugged, then winced as the action pulled on her bruised stomach.

'I had to, or Cloud would be mincemeat.'

Zack whistled and the doctor shook his head. 'Then by all rights you should be in agony. How did you do it?' The doctor asked. Gabe looked confused.

'I blocked out the pain. I always block out any distractions before a fight. Doesn't anyone else in SOLDIER do that?' Gabe asked, looking totally confused as Sephiroth, Cloud and Zack shook their heads.

Then Cloud spoke up.

'Is that why you phased out before they hit you?'

Gabe nodded, then winced as the doctor finished dressing the knee.

'You won't be able to walk on that properly for at least a week, let alone fight on it.' He informed her, sounding slightly satisfied. Gabe sighed and nodded, glancing at Sephiroth before averting her eyes.

'I dunno, Gabe, your first day in and you are already in trouble.' Zack ruffled Gabe's now unruly black hair. Gabe gave him a half grin. Was that disappointment I saw on Sephiroth's face?

The doctor passed crutches to Gabe, showing her how to walk on them. Gabe walked back to the West gym with the group, Sephiroth walking beside her to catch her if she fell. The young Ninja awarded him a small smile.

'I'm sorry about this, sir.' She said, her eyes looking down at the ground as they walked through the doors. She seemed to be looking at the floor a lot more often these days.

Sephiroth dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

'It's not a problem, Gabe. And call me Sephiroth.'

Gabe looked up at Sephiroth, hardly believing that he would let her use his name rather then the more respectful 'sir'.

Gabe got totally bored as she sat and watched the three train. She fretted as Cloud walked with her to their rooms.

'Damn! My first bloody day being mentored by Sephiroth and I get injured!' She whined at Cloud. Cloud grinned as they reached her room.

'Y'know something, Gabe?'

Gabe turned to him, frowning slightly.

'I think you and Sephiroth will get on fine. He likes you already, and it took him about three weeks to like me.'

Gabe's eyes widened. 'You serious?'

Cloud nodded, his eyes sparkling. 'Now get to bed. If I remember you rightly, you'll be out of those crutches and training by tomorrow evening.' Cloud gave Gabe a gentle push into her room. Gabe grinned back.

Laying down to sleep, Gabe stared at the ceiling, thinking about the day and being in SOLDIER in general.

When she had first gone to the new family, she had been kicked out and forgotten so many times that she didn't care where she ended up. The Jacksons seemed nice enough, and for a month or so they got on well. But then they found that Gabe 'didn't live up to their expectations' as a daughter, that she was too cold, and 'didn't fit into today's society'. A loner, in other words. The family tried everything to make Gabe happy, but they found she was happiest when allowed to do her thing, when she had a good bike under her and an open road, and especially while she was practicing martial arts and fighting. They bought her the best tutors money could buy, but by the end of the year, she was far outstripping even the masters knowledge of the Ninja.

At last, totally fustrated with their 'daughter', they pushed her, against Gabe's will, into being a SOLDIER. Strange, that. She loved fighting, and her hero was a SOLDIER first class, but she didn't want to be in SOLDIER.

Gabe started to turn over when a pain in her knee reminded her that she couldn't. She sighed, thinking that she would never fall asleep, and five minutes later, she was snoring her head off.