When will it rain

by Landarma

A year after Meteor Incident, some members of AVALANCHE and OCs found Mako-Poisoned Sephiroth. Well, I can't summarize it well... -One shot, mostly OC centric- PG for some language

When will it rain

Warning: Possible Grammatical errors.

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

------------------------------------------

No one ever sees you cry
You just keep it all inside
In a warm place, where you can hide

When will it rain
When will it rain
I saw you laugh the other day
But all too fast it went away

Now your sky's cloudy 'n' gray
Falling mainly on the plain

When will it rain
When will it rain
No water falls
Down your window pane

And when I look into your eyes
That window to your soul can't lie
There's water where the well went dry

So how long can there be a drought
When your dam's filled with doubt
No place to build your house
Let your cup runneth over and out
I said for crying out loud

When will it rain
When will it rain
No water falls
Down your window pane
When will it rain
When will it rain
A tear for fear is calling out your name

Rain on me.....

- 'When will it rain' by Extreme

------------------------------------------

Cloud watched a silver-haired man sleeping in the bed through glass wall silently. Once his idol, and arch-enemy, was now a broken, disabled man. Some weeks ago, they found him in the Northern Crater during the survey of the crater. Since then, he lay beyond this glass wall, almost motionless. No one knows how he survived. For a year since the Meteor incident, he, ex-general of Shin-ra Army, The Great Sephiroth, was regarded as dead, so his returning was, of course, very astonishing. Even Vincent, almost lost his usual coolness then.... Cloud thought, with his arms crossed. A nurse entered the room, greeting him with smile. He slightly nodded to reply her greeting.
"Good morning, how are you today?" Nurse spoke to her patient softly. Cloud could see the man opened his eyes, staring ceiling of his cell blankly. His pale, haggard face was blank as his eyes were. I always wondered if he ever cried once or showed other emotions, Cloud murmured.

"Oh, hi, Cloud. We meet you here every day." A red-brown haired young man entered the cell. Behind of him, a dark-brown haired young woman, a bit shorter than her friend, stood. Unlike the man's smiling face, her face was a stiff look.
"Oh, hello, Rayleigh." Cloud replied, then turned his eyes to the glass wall again.
"I didn't want to see him again, you know...." The dark-brown haired woman said. Her monotone voice was emotionless as her rigid face like always, but he could feel hatred from her voice now. Well, it is not surprising, is it? Everyone fears him, hates him since then... he thought again.
"Come on, Lena. I know how you feel, but......" Rayleigh tried to convince her, but she protested.
"But, I don't wanna see my nightmares again!" She spat it out, and bolted out. He shrugged, then turned to the glass wall.
"What nightmares?" Cloud asked, still fixing his gaze on certain silver-haired man.
"One night I heard she screaming, 'No! It's.... falling! No....! Do not let him....!'. When I ran to her, I saw she's crying. Seems it tortures her whenever she falls into her sleep, since that day...."
"Too bad." Rayleigh just nodded without any words.
"By the way, what makes you come to see him?" Cloud asked again.
"Well, I want to help him."
"Help......him?" He turned his eyes upon the brown-haired man.
"Yes. And I need someone to help him, with me."
"Someone to help him........"

When they found Sephiroth, he was badly wounded, as they expected. But more than those wounds, the worse thing was, his Mako Poisoning. The wounds, even his badly broken and distorted right arm, healed so fast, also as they expected. However, he couldn't get up, for his case was near-fatal, more serious than Cloud's. He lay on his bed all day, (almost) motionless, so if anyone doesn't keep watching him near, he/she will surely regard him as the dead.
"I wonder, who can help him with you?" Cloud asked to Rayleigh, still watching the patient.
"Maybe.... Vincent can help. And....." Rayleigh sighed.
"What about Lena, your girlfriend?"
"No,no,no.. She's not my girlfriend, you see. She's just my friend. Besides, if she heard that, she will try to kill you."
"Oh, really?" Cloud chuckled mometly, then soon put on a serious look.
"Well, caught between hatred and respect, she cannot decide what to do. She is... always like that. I don't want to force her."
"I can't, either. Back then, my only thought was stop him to save the planet.. or revenge. But... but not now. When we found him at the bottom of the crater, the very place we killed him, I.. I couldn't decide what to do. To kill him again, or... " He stopped, as they saw the patient turned his face to the glass wall, stared at them with dull, blank eyes.
"Did he hear our talking?"
"I don't think so.." Rayleigh's clear brown eyes met the silver-haired man's dull jade eyes. He gazed into the other man's eyes, then shook his head.
"Something's wrong?"
"No.... I wish I can read his mind...." He murmured. I wanna know what he's thinking. He couldn't find anything from those blank eyes. The eyes, and the face were totally blank, literally. A vegetable, he thought.
"It's time to work. I have to go. See you later." He slowly walk out of the room. Cloud gazed after him for a moment, then turned his eyes to Sephiroth. "I don't know if I can forgive you.." He uttered.

No one knows how he feels, nor what he's thinking. His blank face hid it all. After all, he was an empty shell, or a mere shadow of his former self. Or, we can call him a ghost of the past, whatever. He didn't react any knid of stimulus, as if his sensories didn't work at all.
"Feels better?" After bath, nurse asked him while putting on his cloths, he didn't react at all, remained passive. He just fixed his eyes on the ceiling, lying on his bed.

"Hello, This is Rayleigh. Is there Alexa?" That evening, after supper, he telephoned to someone. Lena was in her room, lying on her bed.
"This is I. What's up, Rayleigh?" A woman's deep, husky voice heard from the line.
"I need to ask something to you."
"Why me? What about your friend?"
"Er...... Well, she.... yeah, she's not in the mood.."
"Hmm? You argued against her, right?"
"Yeah, sort of."
"Can you tell me what kind of thing it is? Is it important?"
"Uh........ Would you like to come here now? I'll tell you when you're here."
"I see. I'll be right there soon. See ya."
"Okay. Thank you. Bye." As he hung up, a shout heard from the other side of door.
"Who was it? It was that whore, right? You bastard!" Lena's voice was filled with anger.
"Never call her whore!" He shouted back, and there was no reply. He sighed. Geez, She's so nervous.... Some minutes after, door bell rang. Rayleigh opened the door, and a black woman came in.
"Hi, Alexa." He greeted the woman.
"Oh, hi. I'm afraid I made your friend angry." She replied, smiling.
"No, she's not angry at you. She's....... anyway, I want to talk about something."

"I mean, I want you to help someone." He was sitting on couch, taking a can of beer. Alexa listened his words, also taking beer.
"Who's that person?"
"Maybe, you'll surprise you know who the person is."
"Well? What's the matter? I'm ready." She laughed.
"Sephiroth."
"What? Ya kidding? He's dead. Everyone knows."
"No, he's alive. But not the one we've known."
"What the......." Her smile was gone.
"Some weeks ago, some of AVANLANCHE members, Lena and I, investigated the Northern Crater to find out the cause of abnormal activity of Lifestream. When we reached the bottom, we could see something. It was...."
"Him, right?"
"Yeah. We were so surprised, not knowing what to say. Well...." Rayleigh sipped his beer. "he was lying by the pool of Mako, bleeding. He was badly wounded, especially his right arm. It was shattered, almost off from his body. No one knows how he could survive with those wounds.... Anyway, we had to do something."
"So you took him to Junon, right?"
"And reported it to Reeve." He put down the empty can on the table. "Sephiroth is alive, but can we call it 'alive'? Lying on the bed all day, staring upon the ceiling with dull eyes without focus... Doctor said it's the worst case ever seen."
"Oh, my......."
"So I'm asking you for help. I already talked to Vincent, and he accepted. I wish we can help him..."
"And I wish he's dead." A cold voice came from Lena's room. "If I could, I'd kill him there!"
"She heard us." Alexa said. "She seems to hate him so much. But, who doesn't hate him here since then?"
".............." An awkward silence hung for several minutes. Rayleigh kept silence, and she waited his answer.
"At least, Vince and I, don't hate him. No, can't." He uttered those words, shaking his head.
"I won't ask why. I just want to see him. Will you take me to him tomorrow?"
"I will. By the way, it's late. I'll take you to your home." He stood up, but Alexa took his hand.
"No, Can I sleep here tonight?"
"You mean, 'with me'?" Rayleigh grinned as he sat down again.
"Oh, you're so naughty!" She laughed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!" A scream woke them up.
"Oh....... Damn...." Alexa cursed that scream, and rose. "What is it?"
"Her nightmare." Rayleigh replied briefly, putting on his clothes. "I'll go and see her."
"No, I'll do it." She put on her clothes, slid out of the bed, opened the door.

"No....! Ray.....! Don't die....!" Lena cried in her dream, tears were falling from her closed eyes. Alexa embraced her, and whispered with soothing voice.
"Shh... Calm down. It's just a dream." Lena opened her eyes, shook her head.
"No....... You'll never understand, Alexa.... He's, he's............." She sobbed.
"I don't understand what your dream means, but it's only a dream. Don't worry, and sleep well." Alexa turned to door and walked out, but before she left the room, she asked Lena. "Do you..... still hate him?"
"Of course, you mean Sephiroth? If that, the answer is 'yes'. And it will never change." When she said that, Lena's voice was, usual cold, emotionless tone.
"No one can hate something or someone forever. Eventually, you will forgive him." She left the room, hearing Lena's words from behind of her.
"No, I'll never forgive him. I'll never forgive what he's done. If only I want, I can hate him forever....."
Alexa frowned. What kind of person is she? So stubborn! How can she say, 'I can hate him forever'? With these thoughts, she entered Rayleigh's room. She found him standing by the window, looking at outside.
"How is she?" He asked.
"It seems she's afraid of losing you. She cried your name out loud."
"I know. She've been afraid of that since that day." He sinked into the bed, sighing.
"And...... Alexa, do not blame her, please. She's torn between the hatred and the respect. The time when we found him, she could kill him, but she couldn't. Yes, although she was consumed with hatred.... Still she respects him." He laid himself on the bed, then closed his eyes.
"............." Alexa also closed her eyes, but she couldn't get to sleep.

"Hi, Seph. I brought my friends to you." The next morning, at the hospital, Rayleigh stood by the bed, with Vincent and Alexa. The silver-haired man was, as usual, staring upon ceiling blankly.
"Hello, I'm Alexa Dryhten." The charming black woman said, holding his limp hand firmly.
"And this is Vincent Valentine. Maybe you saw him already." At the very moment Rayleigh said that, they could see the patient raised his left hand.
"Oh, man......" Vincent uttered.
"Does he respond us?" But soon, the man's hand fell weakly. He turned his face to Vincent and moved his lips, but no words came out.
"What did he say?" Alexa asked surprisedly.
"I don't know, but he doesn't seem to want to be here." Vincent replied, his eyes were fixed on certain silver-haired man's face.
"We need to talk to doctor." Rayleigh said, then he called to somebody through interphone.

"Why Nibelheim?" Cloud opened his eyes wide, and stared Vincent. They knew what the place means to them. Of course, Vincent couldn't have forgot it. But why? Why there? Cloud couldn't see what Vincent thinking.
"I know, what it means to us, however, I want to show him something. There are....... so many things I want to tell him." The raven-haired man clutched his claw. Both kept silence for a while. I want to tell him how many things he missed, his crimson eyes looked as if they were saying like that. The blond man scratched his head, without any words.

Several months passed since Vincent and Alexa left Junon for Nibelheim with Sephiroth. Rayleigh visited them sometimes, but Lena, never visited them. It's not surprising, Alexa thought. She hates him so much yet... She looked down the patient sitting on wheelchair. He looked almost same as he was months ago, no sign of improvement. However, his eyes were not blank anymore. They seemed to try to tell something, something that he'd never told anyone. She crouched before him, looked into his blue-green eyes.
"I wonder what you are telling. You want to tell something, but I don't know....." She murmured.
"They will visit here tomorrow." A voice heard from behind her. She stood up, turned to the voice.
"Oh, Vince. You were here." Alexa made a weak smile. "And..... will Lena come this time?"
"Yes."
"I wonder if she finally change her mind..... you know." She turned her face to the wheelchair, looked at the silver-haired man's face. The face, still didn't show any feelings.
"You look tired. What about resting upstairs?" Vincent put his hand on her shoulder. She nodded, went up the stairs of Shin-ra Mansion.

They came at the next evening. Lena looked up cloudy sky with frowning face, then stepped Shin-ra Mansion porch. Behind her, Rayleigh and Cloud stood, carrying several luggages.
"So you finally changed your mind, right?" Cloud asked to her.
"Well, I don't know. What about you, Tifa?" Tifa just shrugged. With hasitation, Lena pressed a buzzer.
"Oh, hi. It's been a long time." Door opened, they saw Alexa stood, with her usual smile.
"Long time no see, Alexa. How's it doing?" Rayleigh kissed her cheek lightly. She blushed a while, but soon greeted visitors, smiling.

"Sir.......?" As entering the mansion, Lena saw a certain silver-haired man on wheelchair. She fixed her gaze on his statue-like, lifeless face for a while, then walked up the stairs, holding her suitcase.

When they eat dinner, Vincent stayed at the room to take care of Sephiroth, Lena didn't say anything while eating. Others were talking about how they were getting along and other things. After the meal, She walked down the stairs, headed to basement library.
"Everything began here." She murmured. About 6 years ago, when she was a staff of Shin-ra Inc., she was sent to Nibelheim to rebuild here. She couldn't believe what happened then. Did he do this? Why? Whole village burned to the ground, most of townspeople were killed. She couldn't see the dead bodies, because Hojo and troopers cleared the place already. When she asked Hojo where the bodies were, he said, "It's none of your business, miss. Just mind your job." Damn Hojo, she cursed. She'd never trusted him from the first. She wanted to know what happened really. While rebuilding the village, she thought she's an accomplice in this case. Shit, now I'm a part of his sin.. Before she knew where she was, she felt guilty.
And now, years after, she's here, the very place where everything began. She searched through the library, hoping to find something about him, and motive of his act.(She already heard about it, but she just wanted to find it for herself)

Meanwhile, Alexa was pushing the wheelchair slowly, while Rayleigh, Cloud and Vincent were fixing Cloud's buggy(which they used to trip) outside. Tifa sat on the couch, looking at the black woman and her patient uneasily.
"Something's wrong?" Alexa asked. Tifa shook her head.
"No, that's not..... It just reminds me something..." She chewed her lip.
"If you have something to tell, tell me. I'm listening."
"You've heard what he did in this village..... haven't you? It... feels so strange to see him being helpless, thinking about what he had done... And this situation, reminds me when I was at Mideel with Cloud.."
"He fell Mako Poisoning once, right?" Tifa nodded.
"Once you fell it, no one can guess when you will get back. Doctor said he was lucky(because he was so serious, however recovered very fast), but who knows?"
"I wish this man to be well, but... I'm afraid that he goes mad again. Well, Tifa, we cannot see what he will become. By the way, did you see Lena? I haven't seen her since the dinner."
"I haven't, either. Maybe she's in guest's room, or.... wait, perhaps she's in basement library?" Two women looked at each other.
"Wha....what the hell she's doing there?"

It's so hard to face your past nightmare. I know I have to face it, but I'm yet to prepare for it. Lena sighed, reading remained reports about Jenova Project. I hadn't liked Hojo, but it's not the reason I hate his son. Oh, shit, What am I thinking? I hate him because of his doing, like others, right? But what is this? What is this feeling? Sympathy? No... why do I feel it? Feel Sympathy to that......monster?
Monster? If there's any real monster, that could be Jenova. Oh.... God.... What should I do? She held her head between her hands.

The next day was also dark and cloudy, and yet rain didn't fall. Watching Rayleigh let the patient eat soup, Tifa felt uneasy. Cloud gazed them without any words. Lena wasn't there with them, seemed to read books or reports at basement library again.
"I wonder if you remember something." Rayleigh murmured, as his clear, vivid brown eyes looked into other's pale green eyes, full of pain and fear. "You have something you want to tell us, yet you're afraid of saying." The silver-haired man, remained still.

Damn, I hate dust. Lena coughed, and licked her dry lips. She placed the last report on the desk. What should I do? Tell him everything, and make him apologize? I cannot kill him here, no matter how much I hate him...... So I have to face it....... She stood up.
"So you determind to face it." Somebody's voice was heard from the door. She saw Rayleigh leaning against doorframe.
"Ray....... how did you know...?" Her voice was not usual emotionless tone. It was filled with confusing, and startlement. He just shrugged. "Well, It's just a guess." He approached the desk, picked one of the reports up.
"So, now you're satisfied? What did you find from these reports?"
"Everything you already told. However, I'm not satisfied yet. I should talk to him." With saying that, Lena walked out of the library.
"Lena........ wait, talk to him? What's she gonna do?" Rayleigh followed her, with hurry.

I always wondered if he ever expressed his feelings. Lena stared the patient's blank face again. Has he ever cried? I once saw him laughing, but it was cold, scornful.... Has he ever smiled? We only saw him smirking...... wait, what am I thinking? This is not the time to think about it! She looked into the man's eyes, which were full of pain and anguish. If you want to tell something, then tell us, sir.. I know you are aware of us. Just tell us. Suddenly, she grabbed the man's shoulders tightly, and spoke up. All eyes were turned upon them.

"Tell me, sir. Was it you? Was it... you who did massacre at Shin-ra Building? Was it you who killed President Shinra? Was it you who killed Tseng at the Temple of Ancients? Was it you.... was it you who killed Aerith Gainsborough at City of Ancients? Was it you who summoned meteor? Was it you who did it all? Tell me. Was it you who brought my nighmares back?" Lena shook Sephiroth by the shoulders violently.
"Lena!" Rayleigh ran to her, grabbed her by arm, but she didn't stop.
"I wanna know. Tell me, sir. Please!" She yelled out loud.
"Ah....ah........I,I..........." A hoarse voice came out from his lip. With tearful eyes, he stuttered out some words. Finally, he bursted into tears. Lena, without a word, embraced him softly. Her fingers ran through his silver strands. His tearful voice fell on her ears.

"I.....I'm... sorry........ sorry for....... everything..............."

It was raining outside.

----------------------------------------------------

Author's note:

Originally, I planned to write it as a songfic. But while writing, I gave up writing songfic, instead I wrote this.(And it took me several days.....)