Three months had passed since they had arrived at Wutai. Vincent had found his old master, Kai, at the same building just outside of Wutai. Vincent smirked as he remembered the shocked expression on Kai's elderly face when he had showed up.
That same shocked face was on Kai face when he had introduced Sephiroth as his son.
Vincent shook his head. He was worried about the effect he was having on Sephiroth. In some ways, Sephiroth was beyond many adults that Vincent had known. But on many emotional levels, he was a child. The smile on his face when Vincent had said that had raised these thoughts.
Sephiroth actually wanted Vincent to be his father. It boggled Vincent's mind. It was only supposed to be a cover, and he had thought that Sephiroth would have realized that. The other problem, though, was the fact that Vincent was starting to feel the same way.
"Thinking about the boy, are we?"
Vincent spun about without thinking and drew his gun. A flash of pain went through his arm as it was twisted behind his back. "I may be old, but I can still fight well, Vincent."
Vincent held out for a while before tapping with his metal claw. "I can see that."
The elder martial artist smiled at his former student. "Too much time working with the Shinra it would seem. Tell me what troubles you, Vincent. Perhaps I can help."
Vincent straightened himself out and placed his gun back in the holster. "It is my own concern."
Kai laughed, "Always keeping things to yourself. Especially when it concerns your son. You must think me foolish."
"Why would you say that?"
"That boy is easily not your son, Vincent. If you thought for one moment that I was that easily fooled, I would think you had lost respect for me."
Vincent was at a loss, "I...meant nothing by it, master."
"Simply call me Kai, Vincent. After hearing your explanation of what had happened, with the exception of Sephiroth, I think I understand. You want to be connected to the world again."
"I shouldn't be. I deserve to be punished."
"Always the same. Anytime you felt sorry for yourself you came to this cliff and would sit on that rock. You'd stare at the see for hours, tearing yourself up over something. You are so self-destructive." Kai sighed as he sat cross-legged on the ground. "Tell me about Sephiroth, then."
Vincent sat back against the rock, staring at the ocean. He debated within his mind about deceiving Kai, but it appeared that it hadn't worked in the first case. So he told Kai about everything.
Kai stood up, far quicker than any old man had any right to, and put a hand on Vincent's shoulder. "I know what you want, Vincent. You want what you thought that Hojo had. You wanted Lucrecia's son for yourself. You wanted to be Hojo, before you knew what they would do."
Vincent stared in silence at the sea. Kai sighed, patting Vincent's shoulder and started to walk away. "And now you want to give the boy what he hasn't had. What you didn't have. A father."
Vincent's eyes closed. "I shouldn't. What I have, or rather, haven't done is a sin. I allowed the woman I loved to be subjected to the whims of that thing, Hojo. She...It all happened because I did nothing."
"So, tell me then, Vincent. What will you do when you do nothing now?"
As the footsteps got farther and farther away, Vincent sighed. How was it that his master could read him so well? Vincent kept staring at the sea after the sun set. The darkness usually helped him think, and he had a lot to think about.
*
After the days training session, Sephiroth went over to what was dubbed 'his' corner.
He stood and watched as the other students went outside and played their games. They had never spoken to him, and he had never spoken to them. It was the way it was.
It did seem odd to Sephiroth that when he and Vincent arrived, Master Kai had taken on more students. Three more students his age, to be precise.
It didn't matter to Sephiroth, though. He knew that he as physically more than a match for them. As well as mentally, for the most part. Some things, however, they seemed to know.
One time, Master Kai had spoken about respect. Sephiroth understood respect. He respected Master Kai and he respected Vincent. And that was how he answered. The others had spoken of family and friends. It confused Sephiroth to no end about why having, let alone respecting, a friend was important. Master Kai had simply responded in a knowing voice that Sephiroth would understand one day.
Watching them play, Sephiroth did feel that he was missing something as he watched the three of them. "You should go out with them, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth turned to Vincent and smiled at him, "Hi, Vincent. Master Kai said you were out at your cliff. I didn't know you had your own cliff."
Vincent smirked a little, "I see. Why don't you go out there and play?"
Sephiroth crossed his arms, "I don't want to." Sephiroth watched as the girl caught a frog and showed it off to the two boys. They seemed a bit surprised about it. "You don't go off with other people, Vincent. You don't need other people. And neither do I."
"That is not entirely true, Sephiroth. You are around."
Sephiroth looked at Vincent, confused. "Of course I am. We don't count."
Vincent came down to a crouch and looked at Sephiroth face to face. "We do. I never had a father, Sephiroth. I was just with my mother until I was twelve. She got sick, and then she died." Vincent noticed the sad expression that Sephiroth got when he heard that. "Don't worry, it was a long while ago. But I never let anyone close. Not even Master Kai. When I finally met someone that I wanted to have close to me, I was quite far gone for something like that."
"That would be mother. Lucrecia, right?"
Vincent nodded. "That is right, Sephiroth. Do you understand, so far?"
Sephiroth nodded. "You think that I should go see them so I am happier. Right?"
Vincent nodded. Sephiroth shook his head, "I don't need anyone to be happy. Them and their silly games. I just need you. You are the one that took me from the lab. That's all I need."
Vincent looked down. "I want to tell you something, Sephiroth. This is something you really need to know. I am not something good, Sephiroth. I have demons within me. I am inherently a monster. And I am not your father." Vincent locked his eyes to Sephiroth's, "Hojo is your father."
Sephiroth stared at Vincent's red eyes. His fists tightened to the point where blood was being drawn from his nails digging into his palms. He didn't want to believe it, but he could tell that Vincent wasn't lying.
Vincent blinked slowly. "There is something else. Master Kai spoke with me. He made me see something. I would like to be your father if you'll let me. I want to help you with all this...strangeness. I-"
"That thing is my father?"
Vincent nodded, "Yes?"
Sephiroth let out a cold laugh; "He would do that to his own son?" Sephiroth fell to his knees. "I'm Hojo's son." He took all the rage he had felt in his small life and let out a mournful howl. He then drove his fist through the wooden floor.
"If you think you are more of a monster than Hojo, I think you're wrong." Sephiroth said, looking at Vincent. Tears started coming down Sephiroth's face "You saved me. You already are my father."
Vincent then did something he never thought he'd do to anyone. He hugged the poor young boy in front of him. When Vincent let him go he saw the three other students standing close to them. Sephiroth turned and looked at them as well.
Vincent took a step or so back. Regardless of what anyone told him, he still realized that he was quite intimidating.
The girl took a couple of small steps toward Sephiroth, "Are you okay? We heard a yell."
Sephiroth regarded the girl quizzically. She had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. The strange thing was, at least to Sephiroth that she actually seemed to care.
As Sephiroth stood up the girl's eyes went to his hand, which was cut and bleeding a bit. "You're hurt!" She quickly rushed to the medical chest in the main room. She came back with a bandage and a towel. Her hands were dripping slightly, having just been cleaned.
Sephiroth was quite surprised when she just took his hand and started looking at it. "This is gonna sting a bit, so don't get mad at me." Sephiroth had no reaction to the sting. It really wasn't that bad in comparison to the other 'treatments' he had. "I'm Kairi. Those are my friends Riku and Sora. Sora is the one with the brown hair and the blue eyes. Riku is the one that kinda looks like you." Kairi looked back and forth between Riku and Sephiroth. "Riku's hair is more grey than silver and your eye's glow and his don't." She laughed a little, "You look confused." She patted his hand and tossed the towel into a bin, "There ya go." Kairi took a step back and looked at Sephiroth expectantly.
Sephiroth examined his hand then looked back to Kairi. "My name is Sephiroth." Kairi giggled and clapped her hands.
"See, I told you he'd talk."
Sora waved a little, "Hiya, Sephrot."
Riku shook his head, "No, it's Seph-ir-oth."
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. You're not mad, are ya?" Sephiroth shook his head. Sora smiled, "Good. It's a funny name."
Kairi walked over and grabbed Sephiroth's good hand. "Come on, Seph! Let's go play. We're trying to find the frog I found. Riku lost it."
"I did not!" Riku huffed.
"Yes you did!" Kairi said laughingly as she dragged Sephiroth along. Sephiroth was still looking at her funny. "What?"
"You called me Seph."
Kairi smiled, "It's a nickname. You need it. Your name is way too long!"
Sephiroth started following along, then glanced back to where Vincent was. He was trying not to smile.
Riku nudged Sephiroth in the ribs, "Ya know, we all think your dad is pretty cool." Sephiroth smiled then and looked back to the rest of them.
"Yeah, he is. My dad is pretty cool."
A/N I know that Kairi, Riku and Sora are all from Kingdom Hearts and all that, I was just struggling for names and faces. This was the easy way. No real crossovers intended so don't hope for that.
Also, eventually everyone (Cloud, Tifa, Barret and the rest) will be in the fic, its just going to take some time. And I really need help with the summary.
Also, constructive criticism is always good. Looking forward to seeing more reviews. And thanks once again to my loyal reader Dee-whY-Cee-aRe for the continuing support.
If I get even just three reviews I might write more tonight!
That same shocked face was on Kai face when he had introduced Sephiroth as his son.
Vincent shook his head. He was worried about the effect he was having on Sephiroth. In some ways, Sephiroth was beyond many adults that Vincent had known. But on many emotional levels, he was a child. The smile on his face when Vincent had said that had raised these thoughts.
Sephiroth actually wanted Vincent to be his father. It boggled Vincent's mind. It was only supposed to be a cover, and he had thought that Sephiroth would have realized that. The other problem, though, was the fact that Vincent was starting to feel the same way.
"Thinking about the boy, are we?"
Vincent spun about without thinking and drew his gun. A flash of pain went through his arm as it was twisted behind his back. "I may be old, but I can still fight well, Vincent."
Vincent held out for a while before tapping with his metal claw. "I can see that."
The elder martial artist smiled at his former student. "Too much time working with the Shinra it would seem. Tell me what troubles you, Vincent. Perhaps I can help."
Vincent straightened himself out and placed his gun back in the holster. "It is my own concern."
Kai laughed, "Always keeping things to yourself. Especially when it concerns your son. You must think me foolish."
"Why would you say that?"
"That boy is easily not your son, Vincent. If you thought for one moment that I was that easily fooled, I would think you had lost respect for me."
Vincent was at a loss, "I...meant nothing by it, master."
"Simply call me Kai, Vincent. After hearing your explanation of what had happened, with the exception of Sephiroth, I think I understand. You want to be connected to the world again."
"I shouldn't be. I deserve to be punished."
"Always the same. Anytime you felt sorry for yourself you came to this cliff and would sit on that rock. You'd stare at the see for hours, tearing yourself up over something. You are so self-destructive." Kai sighed as he sat cross-legged on the ground. "Tell me about Sephiroth, then."
Vincent sat back against the rock, staring at the ocean. He debated within his mind about deceiving Kai, but it appeared that it hadn't worked in the first case. So he told Kai about everything.
Kai stood up, far quicker than any old man had any right to, and put a hand on Vincent's shoulder. "I know what you want, Vincent. You want what you thought that Hojo had. You wanted Lucrecia's son for yourself. You wanted to be Hojo, before you knew what they would do."
Vincent stared in silence at the sea. Kai sighed, patting Vincent's shoulder and started to walk away. "And now you want to give the boy what he hasn't had. What you didn't have. A father."
Vincent's eyes closed. "I shouldn't. What I have, or rather, haven't done is a sin. I allowed the woman I loved to be subjected to the whims of that thing, Hojo. She...It all happened because I did nothing."
"So, tell me then, Vincent. What will you do when you do nothing now?"
As the footsteps got farther and farther away, Vincent sighed. How was it that his master could read him so well? Vincent kept staring at the sea after the sun set. The darkness usually helped him think, and he had a lot to think about.
*
After the days training session, Sephiroth went over to what was dubbed 'his' corner.
He stood and watched as the other students went outside and played their games. They had never spoken to him, and he had never spoken to them. It was the way it was.
It did seem odd to Sephiroth that when he and Vincent arrived, Master Kai had taken on more students. Three more students his age, to be precise.
It didn't matter to Sephiroth, though. He knew that he as physically more than a match for them. As well as mentally, for the most part. Some things, however, they seemed to know.
One time, Master Kai had spoken about respect. Sephiroth understood respect. He respected Master Kai and he respected Vincent. And that was how he answered. The others had spoken of family and friends. It confused Sephiroth to no end about why having, let alone respecting, a friend was important. Master Kai had simply responded in a knowing voice that Sephiroth would understand one day.
Watching them play, Sephiroth did feel that he was missing something as he watched the three of them. "You should go out with them, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth turned to Vincent and smiled at him, "Hi, Vincent. Master Kai said you were out at your cliff. I didn't know you had your own cliff."
Vincent smirked a little, "I see. Why don't you go out there and play?"
Sephiroth crossed his arms, "I don't want to." Sephiroth watched as the girl caught a frog and showed it off to the two boys. They seemed a bit surprised about it. "You don't go off with other people, Vincent. You don't need other people. And neither do I."
"That is not entirely true, Sephiroth. You are around."
Sephiroth looked at Vincent, confused. "Of course I am. We don't count."
Vincent came down to a crouch and looked at Sephiroth face to face. "We do. I never had a father, Sephiroth. I was just with my mother until I was twelve. She got sick, and then she died." Vincent noticed the sad expression that Sephiroth got when he heard that. "Don't worry, it was a long while ago. But I never let anyone close. Not even Master Kai. When I finally met someone that I wanted to have close to me, I was quite far gone for something like that."
"That would be mother. Lucrecia, right?"
Vincent nodded. "That is right, Sephiroth. Do you understand, so far?"
Sephiroth nodded. "You think that I should go see them so I am happier. Right?"
Vincent nodded. Sephiroth shook his head, "I don't need anyone to be happy. Them and their silly games. I just need you. You are the one that took me from the lab. That's all I need."
Vincent looked down. "I want to tell you something, Sephiroth. This is something you really need to know. I am not something good, Sephiroth. I have demons within me. I am inherently a monster. And I am not your father." Vincent locked his eyes to Sephiroth's, "Hojo is your father."
Sephiroth stared at Vincent's red eyes. His fists tightened to the point where blood was being drawn from his nails digging into his palms. He didn't want to believe it, but he could tell that Vincent wasn't lying.
Vincent blinked slowly. "There is something else. Master Kai spoke with me. He made me see something. I would like to be your father if you'll let me. I want to help you with all this...strangeness. I-"
"That thing is my father?"
Vincent nodded, "Yes?"
Sephiroth let out a cold laugh; "He would do that to his own son?" Sephiroth fell to his knees. "I'm Hojo's son." He took all the rage he had felt in his small life and let out a mournful howl. He then drove his fist through the wooden floor.
"If you think you are more of a monster than Hojo, I think you're wrong." Sephiroth said, looking at Vincent. Tears started coming down Sephiroth's face "You saved me. You already are my father."
Vincent then did something he never thought he'd do to anyone. He hugged the poor young boy in front of him. When Vincent let him go he saw the three other students standing close to them. Sephiroth turned and looked at them as well.
Vincent took a step or so back. Regardless of what anyone told him, he still realized that he was quite intimidating.
The girl took a couple of small steps toward Sephiroth, "Are you okay? We heard a yell."
Sephiroth regarded the girl quizzically. She had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. The strange thing was, at least to Sephiroth that she actually seemed to care.
As Sephiroth stood up the girl's eyes went to his hand, which was cut and bleeding a bit. "You're hurt!" She quickly rushed to the medical chest in the main room. She came back with a bandage and a towel. Her hands were dripping slightly, having just been cleaned.
Sephiroth was quite surprised when she just took his hand and started looking at it. "This is gonna sting a bit, so don't get mad at me." Sephiroth had no reaction to the sting. It really wasn't that bad in comparison to the other 'treatments' he had. "I'm Kairi. Those are my friends Riku and Sora. Sora is the one with the brown hair and the blue eyes. Riku is the one that kinda looks like you." Kairi looked back and forth between Riku and Sephiroth. "Riku's hair is more grey than silver and your eye's glow and his don't." She laughed a little, "You look confused." She patted his hand and tossed the towel into a bin, "There ya go." Kairi took a step back and looked at Sephiroth expectantly.
Sephiroth examined his hand then looked back to Kairi. "My name is Sephiroth." Kairi giggled and clapped her hands.
"See, I told you he'd talk."
Sora waved a little, "Hiya, Sephrot."
Riku shook his head, "No, it's Seph-ir-oth."
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. You're not mad, are ya?" Sephiroth shook his head. Sora smiled, "Good. It's a funny name."
Kairi walked over and grabbed Sephiroth's good hand. "Come on, Seph! Let's go play. We're trying to find the frog I found. Riku lost it."
"I did not!" Riku huffed.
"Yes you did!" Kairi said laughingly as she dragged Sephiroth along. Sephiroth was still looking at her funny. "What?"
"You called me Seph."
Kairi smiled, "It's a nickname. You need it. Your name is way too long!"
Sephiroth started following along, then glanced back to where Vincent was. He was trying not to smile.
Riku nudged Sephiroth in the ribs, "Ya know, we all think your dad is pretty cool." Sephiroth smiled then and looked back to the rest of them.
"Yeah, he is. My dad is pretty cool."
A/N I know that Kairi, Riku and Sora are all from Kingdom Hearts and all that, I was just struggling for names and faces. This was the easy way. No real crossovers intended so don't hope for that.
Also, eventually everyone (Cloud, Tifa, Barret and the rest) will be in the fic, its just going to take some time. And I really need help with the summary.
Also, constructive criticism is always good. Looking forward to seeing more reviews. And thanks once again to my loyal reader Dee-whY-Cee-aRe for the continuing support.
If I get even just three reviews I might write more tonight!