Chapter 12: A Very Rude Awakening
Disclaimer: Well, here I am…again…telling everyone that I don't own ff7…again.
Hello my fabulous reviewers that are probably all going at my throat because it has taken me so long to update! A billion pardons for being so late! I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, but I had really bad writer's block. Please forgive me for taking so long! Ok, this chapter may be borderline between PG13 and rated R because of blood, but it isn't that bad really.
Oh and I'd like to thank you Frank Verderosa for the wonderful e-mail you sent me! I greatly appreciated it and your helpful comments. Thank you very much!
It was closing in on 4 p.m. when we finally reached the outskirts of what we thought to be Nibelheim. One would have seen the village easily if it weren't for the hail of rain that was beating on us relentlessly. A thick layer of hazy fog had wrapped itself around us limiting my vision to just about 6 feet in front of me.
The road ahead had long since turned into a giant mud hole, slowing our progress down considerably. Blade was getting tired from the constant struggle with the insistent muck at his feet, and was forced to stop a number of times to catch his breath before moving on.
I lifted my gaze to the sky, shielding my face as best I could from the pelting drops of water, and tried to find any hint of an improvement in the weather. A bright smile lit my face as I spied a single ray of sunshine peeking through the gray thunderclouds that crowded the sky. The fog, however, still remained and was making it all the more difficult to find our way to Nibelheim.
Sephiroth let out a loud groan of annoyance as Blade hunched forward in exhaustion and came to a sharp halt. My ears picked up the sound of angry muttering as Sephiroth jumped off the saddle and into the mess below. Upon landing, sludge and water sprayed everywhere including on his face.
He sucked in a quick breath and let out a string of curses loud enough to be heard on the other side of the world, even with the rain. I bit my lip almost too hard in astonishment at his uncharacteristic outburst and held back to urge to laugh. He certainly was a sight to see, knee deep in muck, his hair drenched with water and mud rolling down the sides of his still handsome face.
"Yes?" He inquired through gritted teeth, his eyes ablaze and set firmly on mine.
"Nothing." I answered, trying to sound as honest as possible while doing so.
He scowled and roughly swiped away a smudge of soil from his face. "I suppose you think it's funny!" He hissed. "Well you're not the one who's got to walk in it." He grumbled and tugged aggressively on Blade's reins.
The bird paused briefly and finally started forward in response to Sephiroth's insistent pulling.
After a good 20 yards Blade stopped again and this time refused to take another step forward. At this rate we'd never reach Nibelheim and for all we knew we could be heading in the wrong direction. The rain was receding however, as well as the fog, making the going a little easier.
Now it was my turn to abandon ship though and enter the perilous slime below. I cringed as I landed, sinking to my calves. At least it wasn't quite as deep as it was a ways back I thought, and trudged on ahead.
Blade was still quite reluctant to move, but after a bit of urging Sephiroth was able to get him going again.
From here we made for higher ground and hopefully better walking. Sephiroth signaled to halt at the top of a small hill in order to rest our weary legs.
I squinted my eyes at the receding wall of fog and found that I could see the tops of buildings in the distance. "Look!" I exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down with newfound joy.
Sephiroth stole a glance in the direction I pointed and nodded in acknowledgment. "Like I said, we were perfectly on course." He growled and swept passed me, his shoulder bumping into mine. Blade followed closely behind him.
I wrinkled my nose, refusing to admit defeat. "Oh fine, you were right." I muttered and started off down the hill after him. "I still say it was luck though!"
"You would." He mumbled.
The remainder of the trip was easy going and the rain had quit completely when we arrived at the gates. Not a single soul could be seen wondering the wet streets as we cautiously entered. The silence was overbearing and brought nervous jitters to my bones. I found my eyes darting here and there, as if expecting some horrible beast or person to jump out of nowhere and attack. Surely there would be someone in the streets in midda,y rain or no rain? Besides, it had stopped, where was everyone?
From the corner of my eye Sephiroth was also looking about the village curiously, the emptiness arousing suspicion in him as well. His fingers tapped rhythmically against the butt of his sword, completely aware of anything that might be amiss.
We stopped at the center of town and strained our ears to the eerie silence that encompassed the entire area. The sudden sound of swift wing beats approaching causing both Sephiroth and myself to spin around.
My eyes widened on Chaos just before I was thrust backwards by an enormous burst of power as he flew pass. I rolled across the muddy ground and slammed against a door, coming to a halt.
I pushed myself to my feet, prepared to face the worst only to find Sephiroth and Chaos already in heated battle, and a glorious fight it was.
Decades elapsed while I sat in complete awe, staring at the most remarkable scene I'd ever seen in my life. The speed at which they moved was simply remarkable.
Of all things, Chaos never struck me as a creature that would be all that great hand-to-hand fighting. After all, his claws were his only real physical weapons, but the beast was truly gifted with them, to say the least.
Chaos proved to be a formidable opponent obviously by staying alive this long, but would he be able to withstand Sephiroth's will and determination? I didn't think so. In fact it looked as if Chaos was searching for an opportunity to run already, but because of Sephiroth's speed it was nearly impossibly for him to do so. Several times Chaos attempted to take flight only to be caught by the blade of the masamune and brought back down.
After watching for a good 10 minutes I decided to make myself a little more useful and get up. By now I noticed that several people were huddling in their windows to watch the dramatic duel raging in the street.
I made my way to where Blade huddled, his feathers ruffled up in terror, and tried to calm him down a little. Together we waited for something to happen. Wounds decorated Chaos's thin body and oozed a dark, purple liquid.
It would have been nice if I could help, but this was far beyond me as I well knew and if I were to even attempt helping I'd simply be getting in Sephiroth's way.
My heart stopped momentarily as one of Chaos' claws penetrated Sephiroth's defense and caught him in the stomach, drawing a small amount of blood. Sephiroth, who was taken off guard by the attack, stumbled back and grasped at the wound with his free hand. This gave Chaos a chance to flee and he wasted no time. Despite the exhaustion obvious in his weakly looking body, he could still fly at a good pace.
I was about to go to Sephiroth's side when I realized he was already next to me, wrenching Blade's reins from my hands. "I'll be back." He snarled with only the smallest hint of fatigue in his voice.
"What!" I shrieked and felt my entire body go rigid with fear. "You can't be serious!" I cried. "He'll be long gone by now and Blade's exhausted!"
Sephiroth paid me no heed and leapt up into the saddle. "Call the others and get them over here."
"But-"
"Do it!" He snapped and gave Blade a hard kick in the flanks.
"Be careful!" I shouted as they sped off towards the mountain path where Chaos had been heading and vanished behind the trees.
A scowl drifted onto my face and I shook my head. "He just can't stand it, can he? He has to finish it." I sighed and trudged in the direction of my house. It was probably best though and Sephiroth might even be able to catch him.
Chaos had been severely injured in their skirmish and probably wasn't capable of going too far with out a rest, although he was a demon so who knows?
I dug into my pockets in search of my key as I came up to my door. My lips curled in agitation when I'd discovered nothing that resembled what I was looking for after a good thorough examination of all my pockets and pouches. "Oh isn't this just great?" I groaned.
This pretty much left me with only one option. I took a step back, focusing on the lock of the door and unleashed a sidekick. The door burst open, the lock breaking upon impact. Splinters of wood fell to the floor as I stepped inside.
Everything was the same, just as I had left it. The same cold, loneliness hung in the stale air and the silent cries of those who'd died here years ago still vibrated the walls of the house. Sometimes being here alone could be very unnerving, how I'd gotten used to it I don't know.
I bit my lip and looked around the rather plain room that was already collecting a layer of dust on its sad inhabitants. The wooden floorboards creaked beneath my feet as I approached the counter where my PHS happened to be sitting.
My hand slithered across the plastic surfaced counter and slipped around the PHS. I gaped at it for a long time wondering all the while if I remembered any of my friend's numbers. That was poor planning on my part, but there was a number on the top of my head and I was pretty sure it belonged to Cid. With a simple shrug of my shoulders I punched in the number and brought the phone to my ear.
After about 5 rings I was beginning to lose my patience when someone answered it, followed by the usual string of curses that only Cid was so well known for using.
"Hi Cid!" I said cheerfully.
"Tifa?" He echoed.
"None other."
"Oh, hey! I was just about to call ya! Nanaki and the others just arrived at Mideel and it turns out Vincent is there, although his condition isn't all that great."
"Yeah, I know. Lucrecia told us." I answered.
"Wait a second, ain't she dead?"
"Was dead. Not anymore though. It's a long story." I explained.
"Oh…" There was a long pause. "So, is she still at the cave then?"
"Yeah, I was hoping you could pick her up on your way here."
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? I don't have a golden chocobo!" Cid exclaimed.
"Well, there is a rope ladder on the Highwind. Can't you just let it down to the path that leads behind the waterfall?" I asked.
Cid mumbled to himself for a bit before answering. "Yeah, yeah, I suppose we could try that, but who knows if the Highwind will fit. It'll be a while before we get there regardless. Anything else happenin?"
"We ran into Chaos. Sephiroth went after him a minute ago and left me here alone." I answered.
"What! That dumbass left you there alone!" Cid bellowed.
"Cid, you know I'm quite capable of taking care of myself."
"Yeah, yeah I know, but still…" He trailed off. "Evan and Scarlet weren't at Rocket Town, we don't know where they are. They might end up in Nibelheim so be careful and keep your eyes open."
"I will Cid, don't worry."
"Ok then, we'll be there in around 6 hours or so, weather permitting. Looks like there's a storm headin this way, might slow us down a bit."
"Alright then, we'll be waiting here. Take care!"
"Same to you, bye." Cid answered and the conversation ended.
I sighed tiredly and glanced down at my soaked clothes, caked with mud and grass. It'd be nice to change into something more comfortable I thought and headed up the stairs to my room.
The door stood ajar revealing the corner of my piano as I approached. I stepped inside and headed for my dresser that rested against the wall next to my window.
Movement in the street caught my attention as I opened the first drawer and I abandoned my search for clothes in order to peer outside. My eyes narrowed on a suspicious looking character garbed in a long trench coat and carrying an umbrella. Was it just me or was there something extremely odd about a person wearing high heels in conditions like this?
I looked a little closer and tried to see beneath the umbrella, catching only a glimpse of blonde hair. "Scarlet." The word rolled off my tongue like acid. Behind her were three burly men slouching horribly as they walked. Where was Evan I wondered?
"Doesn't matter." I said out loud and threw open the window.
They were disappearing up the mountain path, no doubt to search the mako fountain in hopes of finding the black materia. They, however, would not be getting that far. Without hesitation I leapt out the window and landed lightly on the muddy ground.
I pursued them through the forest, soundlessly tracing their path and then mistakenly set foot on a stick. The snapping sound immediately alerted my presence and the four of them spun around.
"You!" Scarlet snarled venomously. Her eyes flamed with animosity and she looked towards her bodyguards. "Well!" She cried while glaring at her idiotic henchmen. "Get her!"
The three men looked at each other uncertainly at first, but soon replaced their fear with wide, toothless grins.
I cringed in disgust and held my ground as they approached, my fists raised. As far as I could tell this was going to be a blow out of large proportions. It wouldn't even be a challenge.
The first lunged forward for some odd reason, leaving his face completely open and unprotected, allowing me to let loose a fatal side kick that snapped his neck the moment it landed.
Well, that's one down. Two more to go! The remaining two weren't quite as stupid as their deceased friend, but they certainly didn't rank high on the intelligence scale. Both rippled with muscles, but it was clear that their overall skills were lacking considerably. When one of them finally mustered up the courage to attack he missed so badly his momentum sent him flying passed and into a nearby tree without me ever touching him.
The last man had pulled out a chain and believing that he'd discovered an opportunity to make his move, swung it in the direction of my head. Unfortunately for him he'd not worked up much speed on his swing and the attack failed miserably.
I caught the weapon easily in my hand and jerked it hard, wrenching it from the dumbstruck man's hands. This time I took the initiative and dealt my own punishment. He lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood when I finally finished.
Very suddenly the man who'd previously run himself into a tree grabbed me from behind, or at least I was guessing that's whom it was. His grip hardened and caused me to cry out in pain as my arm was twisted painfully.
I immediately relaxed, feigning defeat. His grip loosened in response, another sign of extreme stupidity, and he started to drag me in Scarlet's direction, but I had not intention of going near her just yet and yanked myself from his unsuspecting hands.
I spun around and caught him in the jaw with an elbow followed up by punch to his oversized gut and a knee in the balls. As he fell to the ground in immense pain I kneed him in the face, knocking him unconscious. My concern immediately skipped to dealing with Scarlet as I turned to face her. "You're next."
All of a sudden Scarlet didn't look near so arrogant and almighty. Then she smirked. "What? Are you going to kill me?" She chuckled and produced a gun from her pocket. "Tsk, tsk, tsk."
My hands clenched into fist as the adrenaline flow in my body intensified.
Scarlet broke in to hilarious laughter. "Looks like you're out of options my dear. Time is up for you. I'm tired of seeing your face anyways."
A chill ran up my spine and fear clenched tightly at my soul. Was this it?
The silent tension in the air was suddenly shattered by a battle cry sounding out from the trees and out from ran a young, blond haired woman. Scarlet was so discombobulated by the sudden appearance of another person that she wasn't at all ready to be tackled by the frail young woman I knew to be Anna. The two crashed to the ground and proceeded rolling around in the mud with their hands around each other's throats.
Luckily Scarlet had dropped the gun upon impact and it lay on the ground several feet away from their battle. As I went for it though a fist slammed into my back and knocked me down. I rolled over quickly, ignoring the pain as best I could, to find Evan looking down at me, an amused gleam in his gray eyes.
"Long time no see Lockheart." He grinned. "You didn't think I'd just disappear did you?"
I clenched my teeth in attempt to control my steadily rising anger. Behind Evan were 2 men, both wearing the silver suites that resembled Turk uniforms. My gaze darted to where Anna was currently clawing at Scarlet's face.
Evan sighed in repulsion. "Alex, Jacob, please remove the maid from our idiotic boss." He ordered and turned back to me. "You move, they kill her."
The situation was looking quite bleak to say the least. I watched helplessly as my friend was slugged in the stomach and dropped to her knees. I shook my head quietly. "Oh Anna, why didn't you just stay out of this?" I whispered sadly. How could I've made such a mistake? I hadn't even heard him coming.
"I would have thought you'd be more aware than that." Evan grinned. "That was a rather foolish mistake."
Desperation set in as I looked from Anna to Evan. There had to be something I could do!
Scarlet stumbled to her feet and promptly slapped Anna harshly across the face. "Stupid wench! This isn't your affair." She hissed. "Get rid of her." She growled.
The two men holding Anna nodded and commenced dragging her away from the scene. Just as long as they didn't harm her, I was happy. Now it was my own neck that I had to worry about, but without the two Turks my odds were a lot better.
Evan crossed his arms and gave Scarlet a look of extreme agitation. "How did you manage to lose all three of your men!" He growled. "You do realize that Sephiroth is bound to be around somewhere?"
"Shut up!" She snapped. "If you're so worried about it than grab her and let's go. Maybe if you three idiots hadn't fallen behind we could have avoided this entirely." She muttered and strut passed, glaring at me with enmity. "Better yet, just kill her."
My cheeks flushed red with furry and I threw out my leg, knocking her feet out from under her. I punched with all my power at the blonde's face and broke her nose with the blow. Shortly afterwards I was flung to the side by Evan and narrowly missed being kneed in the face.
I rolled over and got to my feet quickly. I could feel my limit break craving to be let loose, but I was not quite ready to execute it. Another couple hard hits received and Evan was a dead man.
He snickered and circled me with anticipation. The bastard thought he had the battle won already, well he was up for a rude awakening. My gaze slipped absentmindedly to the two Turks, who'd just returned and decided that they too would join in the battle. Just when things are going your way it all comes crumbling down.
In my folly Evan lurched forward and caught me off guard executing a brutal undercut that had me stumbling backwards. I just barely caught sight of one of the two Turks as he lunged forward with a dagger. Though it did inflict damage, it was not near as bad as it would have been had I not noticed him in the last minute, and it had brought me to my limit break.
I quickly dodged the third Turk's fists and spun around to face the three of them. Scarlet was currently weeping over her broken nose and showing no interest in the current battle, so I automatically excluded her from the opponents list.
My lips curved into a smile and I focused on Evan. "Final Heaven!" I shouted, feeling my body surge with energy and power. Evan brought up his arms in defense, but my assault easily penetrated it.
He lasted a while, but my anger and hatred drove me over the top. As the end of my limit neared I came to a sudden stop as Evan fell to his knees, his body soaked in blood from the many wounds I'd inflicted upon him. "It's over." I said quietly and a roundhouse kick finished him off, leaving his neck broken. The moment his body dropped to the ground I was facing the two remaining opponents.
For a time it seemed like this might never end. They were good fighters, which resulted in a stalemate that had been going on for 5 very long minutes. It seemed that neither they nor I could come up with a way of hurting the other. Then the weaker of the two made a mistake and got too close, allowing me to use my speed against him and finish him off before the other could counter.
"You idiot!" Scarlet shrieked as another one of her men fell, or rather Evan's men.
I took a step back, my breathing ragged and heavy. The Turk also appeared quite fatigued and chose this time to rest his weary muscles, using only a minimal amount energy to keep an eye on me as best he could.
My mind focused on the mastered Ice materia that sat in one of my slots and the spell was summoned before he could react.
It killed him easily, but my energy was at an all time low and I could barely stand. I'd completely forgotten that Scarlet was even there and didn't notice her picking up the gun that lay on the ground until it was too late.
She held it tightly in her hands as she approached, the barrel pointed at my chest. "I've wanted so long to kill you." She snarled. Blood still flowed from her broken nose and one small droplet found its way into her mouth. She immediately began spitting out the foul liquid.
Taking advantage of the short opening, stepped forward, kicked up and disarmed her, flinging the gun into the bushes. She staggered backwards in terror and looked around frantically for a weapon.
I saw her eyes narrow on the knife that lay nearby one of the fallen Turks and in an instant we were both racing for it. I had to get to my feet first, giving her the advantage at the start, but her heels limited her speed considerably allowing me pass in the last second. Her nails dug into my skin as I went by and she attempted to shove me away, but I kept my balance.
We both dove for the dagger at the same time and as our bodies slammed into the ground, mud was flung in every direction. Amidst the disarray I found the knife and swung it around, ready to deal the finishing blow. Scarlet, in one last frantic attempt to stop me threw her self on top of me and basically brought on her own death as she landed right on the dagger held securely in my hands.
Her eyes flared wide as the blade drove through her chest, over come by sudden trauma as death looked her in the eyes and laughed. A cry escaped her lips, her face contorted in pain and she rolled over beside me.
I watched her for a while, looking for any sign of life and finaly place two fingers on her motionless neck to make sure. When there was no heartbeat I flopped onto my back and let out a long, agonizing groan. My body was literally drenched with mud and blood, not all of it belonging to me thankfully.
I looked up at the sky, now revealing small pieces of blue here and there, and sighed peacefully. At least they were out of the way now, I thought. I'd have to deal with my own condition soon though or I might not be around to enjoy the aftermath of victory.
It wasn't long before the sound of footsteps sloshing through the mud breached my ears. Overcome with the sudden dread that someone else was sneaking up behind me to kill me, I tired in vain to sit up. "Ugh…shit." I moaned.
I was showered with relief as a very familiar and handsome face appeared above me, looking down on me with concern. Did you catch him?" I croaked and this time managed to get up to a sitting position without collapsing.
Sephiroth kneeled down beside me. "No." He said quietly and looked around curiously, his eyes pausing on the bodies that were scattered about the forest floor. "You've been busy."
"Yeah." I said and winced as his hand gently brushed against the wound in my side.
"Can you walk?" He asked.
I tapped my fingers lightly against the muddy ground thoughtfully. "I don't know." I answered. "I'll try."
"I'll help you." He said and pulled me to my feet.
Blade waited patiently behind him looking rather perky oddly enough.
"It isn't far to go, unless you want to ride Blade?" Sephiroth asked.
My legs felt like jelly, but they weren't quite as tired as I had first thought. "No, I can walk." I answered. Sephiroth placed an arm around my waist to steady me and we slowly made our way back to the village with Blade following closely behind us.
There were several people crowding the streets when we arrived and I could just barely make out Anna in the center. She appeared to be ok to my ultimate delight. She'd certainly surprised me today. Of all the people to come to my rescue, Anna was the last person I expected to see.
She caught sight of us as instantly and pushed her way through the crowd. "Tifa!" She exclaimed worriedly and completely ignored the fact that Sephiroth, the world's former enemy, was currently helping me. "Are you ok?" She asked, placing herself between the door to my house and us.
"Yeah, I'm ok." I assured her. "Are you?"
"I've been better." She said, obviously quite shaken by the incident, but bravely putting aside her fear. She smiled shyly and glanced at Sephiroth. Her eyes widened momentarily. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "Aren't you…?"
"Yes." He said dryly. "Now would kindly step aside so that we can get inside?"
"Of course!" She said sternly and hurried through the door.
Sephiroth frowned. "I don't recall saying go inside the house."
Anna spun around, her hands set firmly on her hips. "Don't you even try it buster! I risked my neck for her! There's no way I'm going to sit outside and not help. Now quit standing there like an old goat and get in here!"
My jaw dropped in astonishment.
Anna simply grinned and held the door open for us.
Sephiroth glared at her with hostility and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when my elbow jabbed him lightly in the side.
"Anna?" I called once inside, remembering that Blade was standing in the middle of the street currently.
"Yes?"
"Can you get Jonathan or someone to take care of Blade for the moment?" I asked.
"Oh sure!" She smiled and disappeared out the door.
Sephiroth brought me over to the couch where I collapsed and curled up into the cushions wanting nothing more, but to sleep.
A familiar green light encircled me and gradually the wound in my side healed as well as a few bruises and soar spots.
"That's about all that can be done." Sephiroth said.
"Thank you." I murmured. "I feel a lot better than before, that's for sure."
Sephiroth smirked. "No doubt. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."
I yawned and stretched my arms out. "I had everything under control." I said. "You don't have to come to my rescue every time. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't fight like everyone else."
"I know." He replied. "And that is one of the many reasons I admire you. You can hold your own as well as any men when it comes to fighting. It's not every day I come across a woman like yourself that I know I can depend on in a battle without having to rescue all the time. You're one of a kind and certainly the only female on this earth that I can stand."
"I hope that's a compliment." I said and smiled.
Just then Anna returned and after looking me over from head to toe, frowned. "I'm going to run a bath for you, you're a mess." She said.
I laughed and nodded. "Please! I must be a hideous sigh, all covered in mud and blood. It's a wonder how you recognized me."
Sephiroth squinted his eyes and titled his head to study me. "I think I can see someone who vaguely resembles Tifa." He said, his eyes glimmering with sarcasm.
"I suppose that's a good sign." I said and stood up, watching Anna as she entered the bathroom. She'd been in my house before and knew here way around pretty well. "If you don't mind I'm going to get some clean clothes." I announced and slipped pass Sephiroth, the stairs my destination.
"And if I do?" He challenged.
I stopped momentarily and glanced over my shoulder at him. "I'd like to see you try and stop me." I said and winked playfully.
"It would be much too easy." He called as I started up the stairs.
After dragging out something new to wear I headed back downstairs and into the bathroom where Anna was running hot water in the bath. "How much longer?" I asked while tugging off my dirty boots.
"It's almost ready." She answered and poured in some of my bubble bath soap. She turned off the faucet and stood up. "Well, it's finished. I better let you wash up. Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm fine. Go on." I said and waved as she disappeared out the door.
It felt wonderful to finally rid myself of my grimy clothes and slip into the hot water. My aching muscles welcomed the soothing warmth that surrounded them.
I rested my head back against the edge of the tub and smiled. A good 5 inches of foam rested on the surface of the water. There was nothing like a hot bubble bath.
My eyes closed and I drifted off into a light doze, letting my strained muscles loosen up and rest. Minutes later there was a nock on the door, startling me out of my tranquil moment and causing me to snort soap my nose. "Who is it!" I snapped and tried in a mad frenzy to dull the searing pain in my nostrils.
"Me." Came Sephiroth's voice.
The door began to open and my hand closed around a block of soap. As his head peeked through the opening I hurled the object at his head and he swiftly dodged behind the protection of the door.
"Jerk!" I shouted.
"What the hell did I do?" He demanded.
"You made me get soap up my nose!" I whined and huddled further beneath the foam. "And who invited you in anyway? If you hadn't noticed, I'm taking a bath!"
Again the door opened and Sephiroth slipped inside, closing it behind him. "What are you going to do about it? Jump out and attack me in the nude?" He chuckled.
My teeth clenched and I glared at him. "There went all of your good manners." I mumbled and began scrubbing my legs with a bath sponge. "So, do you have a reason for barging in here during my bath?"
"To tell you that you're friend Anna left and to ask if you'd talked to the others yet." He responded.
"Yeah, I talked to Cid." I answered and began explaining all that Cid had told me during our conversation.
Sephiroth sighed and leaned against the sink. "No word of Jenova then?"
"No." I answered and dunked my head beneath the water to wash my hair. When I was sure that I'd done a thorough enough job I resurfaced to find that Sephiroth had left. I frowned slightly and finished the rest of my bath in record time.
It only took me 5 minutes to dress into another pair of shorts and a black sports top. I dried my hair with a towel and grabbed a brush on my way out.
Sephiroth was standing quietly by the window when I entered the living room.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
He looked away from the window for only a moment "No, I'm fine." He answered. "Maybe later."
"Ok." I answered. "You can take a bath if you want. There are towels and wash cloths in the cupboard by the sink." I lowered my gaze to the hideously dirty clothing he wore. "I'll clean your clothes too."
Sephiroth turned away from his station by the window and nodded. "If you would, I'd appreciate it, but I'll need something temporary to wear."
"No problem." I smiled. "There's, uh, bubble bath stuff too if you like lots of foam. Something tells me that isn't your thing though, but, just incase."
He nodded and headed down the hall, closing the door behind him with a click.
Meanwhile I bounded into the kitchen and went on a voyage through the pantry seeking out a cup of noodles for dinner, for I was hungry. After completing my mission I put on the kettle, and sprinted up the stairs to find a pair of sweat pants and shirt for Sephiroth.
There were loads of old clothing in my parent's room, or the room that duplicated my parent's room. All of it was put there by Shin-Ra of course, to make it seem like the original. I'd never done much searching through it, but there was plenty of clothing suitable for a man of Sephiroth's size.
It didn't take me long to fetch out a pair of black sweat pants. The insides were extremely fuzzy making me want to get a pair of my own. There was nothing in the world more comfortable than sweats, but they weren't really meant to make a fashion statement. Sephiroth didn't care besides.
Now for a shirt… There was plenty to choose from, but at the moment I was feeling very naughty not to mention the kettle was whistling. I grinned evilly, grabbed the sweats and raced back down the stairs to turn off my water. Why should he need a shirt around here? It was only the two of us after all.
I set my cup of noodles aside to let them set after pouring the water and headed down the hall towards the bathroom. As my hand rose to knock, Sephiroth's voice rang out from the room.
"You can come in. I'm not prone to throwing soap blocks at people." He hollered.
As I walked through the door I jerked to a halt upon seeing Sephiroth almost completely submerged in what looked like a tub full of foam and nothing else. A giggle burst forth from my chest and I covered my mouth to restrain from losing control.
"Something wrong?" He growled and flicked a piece of foam across the room in my general vicinity.
"N-n-no." I stammered, biting back the grin that pulled insistently at my lips. "H-having fun?"
"Thrilled." He mumbled and sunk deeper into the water till all that was visible were his eyes, which were currently on me.
Having time to recover from the sudden laughing attack, I placed the Sephiroth's 'temporary clothing' on the table top of the sink and was enthralled to find that he'd put all of his things in a neat pile rather then spread them all over the floor.
I lifted the stack of clothing off the floor, a bit startled by the heaviness of it all. "Holy shit! Is this stuff lined with lead?" I gasped.
"Mud." Sephiroth replied crisply. "Lots of mud."
"I guess." I said and curled my foot around the edge of the partly closed door to open it. "I'll come back and close the door." I said and made my way the washroom that sat across the hall. My tired arms were quite relieved to be rid of the burden that was Sephiroth's muddy clothes and I returned to close the door.
I glanced inside. "Is everything satisfactory?"
"Aside from the fact that you seemed to have not brought me a shirt, yes." He replied.
"Oh, really?" I asked, trying to sound baffled. "Must have slipped my mind."
"Must have." He replied, quite unconvinced that it was an accident.
My stomach grumbled reminding me that I'd food waiting for me and I closed the door without another word.
Author's Notes: At last. This is a huge burden that has finally been lifted from my shoulders (I've been trying to write this thing for two weeks). I hope it turned out alright. Thanks everyone!