Chapter 5

Rufus dreamed of angels. Beautiful angels, each with its own beauty, purity, each singing its' own song. Some angels sang loudly, boldly, proudly, and some sang softly, sorrowfully, pitifully.

The most beautiful of the angels stood alone, his radiance extraordinary but his song soft. Tears glistened like liquid silver from his eyes, and one massive, beautiful wing drooped at his side. Rufus whispered to him, telling him his one wing was more beautiful than all the other angel's wings combined. The angel ignored him.

Rufus reached for him, caressing his wing, then hair, then his face, but the angel did not react. Rufus ached, from the pit of his stomach up to his throat, feeling the pain the angel felt, but not understanding.

The angel whispered a quiet reply, but Rufus could not hear it. He reached forward and kissed the angel. The angel's tears fell to Rufus' face and he disappeared, wisping away as if wind took him off. All was silent except for the soft weeping transferred to Rufus.

He woke up with tears on his face, not remembering his dream, but understanding nonetheless. He pushed aside his covers and ran out of his room, down the hall, the stairs, and stopped only when he arrived at Sephiroth's room.

He knocked softly.

"General?" he whispered.

Silence.

He knocked again.

"General?"

Rufus heard footsteps. After a few moments, the door opened.

"General, I - I had to apologize about last week. It wasn't right of me to get so upset - hey, are you alright?" Rufus stopped. Sephiroth was wearing a black wife-beater and boxer-shorts. Bandages and bruises swathed his arms from his wrists to the end of his forearm at his biceps. His eyes looked tired.

"What happened?"

"Had to go in for testing. Hojo, you know. But It's all right."

"Bruises - "

"Shots."

Rufus furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips. Sephiroth was holding something back.

"Shots?"

"Yes, but it's fine now."

"Oh. Well, I just wanted to apologize."

"No need."

Rufus looked into Sephiroths eyes. They held something icy and cold that Rufus had only seen at crucial times before this.

Something was very wrong.