Warning: Warnings: Extremely cute Cloud, slightly less mild Zack x Seph relationship.
Disclaimer: FFVII characters don't belong to me. Or else the Nibelheim incident would never have happened! *Whaps Hojo over the head* Don't own Lord of the Rings, Hildalgo or Pirates of the Caribbean either. Please consider it as free advertisement and don't sue me.
Chapter 6: Discussions and Explanations
"Can we get out of here? This place gives me the creeps," Cloud asked. His guardians nodded. Zack scooped up the still slumbering girl and they headed down the mountain. They stopped at the material fountain. Cloud explained how he had heard Hojo talking about Nibelheim and had stolen away on the ship. Then he explained how he had followed them and helped the town.
"Since when do you have any materia?" Zack asked in surprise.
Cloud fidgeted nervously. He picked up a piece of material from the ground. "See, Hojo's been working with me. It seems I can," the material glowed in his hand and then vanished, "absorb material. He said something about a time materia. Whatever it did changed my metabolism. I already have practically all of the greens. We were working on blues when I left. I have a couple Alls already."
Sephiroth raised his eyebrows at that. If Cloud was absorbing material then he was also gaining the 'knowledge of the ancients' according to common reports. It could explain some of his unusual intelligence.
As if in response to his thought Cloud elaborated. "I do absorb the materia but I also…um…decode it? Decipher it? I don't know how to explain it. But I actually know how to cast a fire spell instead of just asking the materia to do it. Normally you just put so much power into a materia and it gives you a spell. Because I actually know the spells I can alter them to do different things. I can combine information from different types of materia too."
Zack and Sephiroth looked rather impressed. "So basically you're an expert on spells and the Ancients." Cloud nodded. "Well at least that mess is cleaned up."
"We'll still have to explain the damage to the town," Zack pointed out.
"Say there was a fire and ShinRa put it out!" Cloud responded sounding exasperated. "Do I have to think of everything?"
A soft moan interrupted him. "I think she's waking up,' Zack said bending over the girl next to him.
"Who is she anyway?" Cloud asked.
"Our guide, Tifa," Zack replied. As the girl stirred again Sephiroth pulled away from Cloud and put on his 'General' face. Cloud sighed. He hated that look.
"Where am I?" Tifa murmured as the slowly sat up. Her eyes fell on Sephiroth. "You!"
"You okay? You took a nasty fall," Cloud quickly interrupted.
"Fall?" Tifa asked in confusion.
"Yup!" Cloud said cheerfully. 'We healed you all up but it sounded like you were having a nasty dream. You went into shock when your town caught on fire and ran all the way up here then you slipped."
Tifa's brow tightened as she concentrated. Suddenly her eyes focused on Cloud really seeing him for the first time. "Cloud? Cloud is it you? What happened? Why do you look like a kid?"
Now it was Cloud's turn to be confused. "Do we know each other?"
"Yes!" Tifa shouted. The word echoed in the cave. "Don't you remember? You promised you'd become a member of SOLDIER and come to my rescue!"
Cloud blink and turned to Zack. "I thought we healed her head."
Zack leaned over and carefully checked Tifa's head. "I think she's fine." He exchanged a look with Sephiroth. Clearly Tifa knew Clod before his little 'accident' with Hojo.
"We need to go," Sephiroth said abruptly. He stood. Cloud scrabbled up to follow. Zack helped Tifa stand and the made their way down Mount Nibel.
*~*
"I don't know was to do with you," Sephiroth said with a sigh. They were back on the Glinka after cleaning up the town and finishing their mission. "You disobeyed a direct order but in doing so you saved Zack's lie and the lives of the entire town. I don't know whether to reward you or punish you."
"I'm sorry," Cloud said softly. He wrapped his arms around his knees.
"It's alright," Sephiroth replied as he placed his hand on Cloud's down turned head. The blond shifted so he leaned against the silver haired man. "We'll make a compromise. If you find something out next time you come right to Zack or I. And when we get back we'll get you a movie, hmmm?"
"Alright," Cloud said happily. Seph?
"The General's eyes widened. Cloud?
I just wanted to try it. I could hear that thing and so could you so I thought we could talk to each other, Cloud thought happily.
"Jenova," Sephiroth murmured aloud. "That's what that thing was. Hojo told me it was my mother, year ago."
"Hojo's idea of a mother is someone who he uses genetic material from. He was trying to slice together human and dragon cells and called the DRAGON a mother. Didn't work of course. I don't think he can do much without having some one else's work to start with."
"Exactly how much do you watch in that lab?" Sephiroth asked raising an eyebrow.
Cloud shrugged. "Hojo doesn't realize how much I understand what he says. He blathers on all the time. I've learned a lot from him." He frowned. "It's odd though. Hojo hasn't taught me much on purpose. But I can read and write and know a bunch of other stuff. I can't figure it out."
Sephiroth sighed. They hadn't told Cloud what exactly had happened with Hojo and the time materia. "Cloud, I'll tell you that eventually."
"Okay," Cloud said sounding annoyed.
*~*
"So spike," Zack asked as they wandered through Midgar. "What movie are you going to get?"
"Don't know," Cloud said softly. He looked around as they entered the store. Cloud wandered over to the adventure section. "Something with sword fighting and funny…" He flipped through the DVDs.
"Well, you like the Lord of the Rings – anything else by Jackson?" Zack asked.
"This one has Aragorn in it," Cloud murmured picking up a copy of Hildalgo. The DVD behind it caught his attention. "Hey, look at this!"
Zack picked it up. "I don't know Spike. It's rated a bit high for you…"
"It's the same as the Lord of the Rings," Cloud counted. "Besides, it's by Disney! I mean, how bad can it be?"
"True Zack murmured. "Alright. Seph shouldn't mid too much." He grabbed the movie and took it to the cash register. "Really Spike, I had no idea you liked pirates."
*~*
Sephiroth didn't exactly approve of their choice but he gave up once they both started to argue for it. The three made quite a cute picture. Zack and Sephiroth were on the coach their arms interlaced. Cloud was curled up on the General's lap, one hand intertwined with Zack's. The blond's blue eyes widened with excitement as he watched the film. Zack and Sephiroth exchanged glances. "Does this mean you're going to want a pirate hat Cloud?" Zack teased.
"I'd never get my hair flat enough to wear one," Cloud replied. He yawned. Sephiroth smiled faintly and scooped the child up. After carefully tucking him in bed he returned to Zack. "Did you get through to Airi?"
His lover nodded. "She said we could bring Cloud in first thing tomorrow." He sighed. "I'm worried Seph. With what Hojo's doing to Cloud…ShinRa won't let him go. You know that." After all, the company would never let Sephiroth resign for the same reason.
"I'm more worried that they'll try and separate him from us. If they try to control him…"
Zack snickered. "They'd be stupid to even think about it! Come on, from what we've seen Cloud can definitely spell cast and he said he'd already absorbed all of the green material He could probably blow up the building if he wanted to!"
"True," Sephiroth replied. He wrung his hand in an unusual expression of nervousness.
"Seph, stop mother henning him! Sooner or later Cloud's going to grow up. What happened at Nibelheim makes me thing we've both been insulting his intelligence. He may be five physically but he acts a great deal older. Whether he is taping old experience or it's due to Hojo's meddling is beside the point." He started pacing. "I know how you feel. So much of this is out of our hands. Everything is slipping out of control. I don't know what to do anymore."
"Now who's worrying?" Sephiroth gently stopped his friend's pacing.
"We should introduce him around the base you know," Zack said as he laid his head on Sephiroth's shoulder. "Rumors are already flying all over." His expression turned thoughtful. "Might not even be a bad idea actually. The boy certainly is a charmer. If most of SOLDIER was on the look out for him, he'd be safer."
"True," Sephiroth replied. His eyes gleamed. "But that's later. I suggest we take advantage of Cloud's exhaustion." Zack's eyes widened as Sephiroth dragged him off to the bed room. He hadn't been this direct in a very long time!"
End Chapter 6
Can you tell I watched Pirates of the Caribbean when I wrote this chapter? Expect the occasional reference to it in the future.
Miss Ayanami: Yeah, no SephxCloud but there won't be ANYONE with Cloud in this arc at least. My evil mind keeps shoving the three of them together in the third arc. Cloud's not old enough for anything at the moment!
For anyone who cares here's the basic break down: Arc 1: A Little Twist in Time: Cloud infant-9; Arc 2: A Little Shift in Space: Cloud 9-9 (that's just a few months); Arc 3: A Little Return to Reality: Cloud 14
Author of the Update: Yasai-chan for her regularly updated SephxCloud FFVII fic Final Reunion.