Forbidden Fantasy: Soulmates
Fantasy's Flight
By: NemesisStrife
Disclaimer: These Final Fantasy 7 characters are property of Squaresoft. This is an Alternate Universe epic saga pre-game fanfiction. As stated before, this is a Cloud and Sephiroth pairing, involving shounen-ai, and it is my take on what should have happened in the game. Respect my opinions, please. And I am an anti-Tifa person, so am warning all those Tifa&Cloud lovers out there. But if you are a pro-Tifa person, what are you doing reading a yaoi fiction, anyway?
" " Normal speech
' ' Thoughts
italics Emphasis
~ ~ Mental speech/ Telepathy
// // Flashback
Chapter 1
Attraction At First Sight
"Lots of potential in this batch," Zack's carefully low voice reached Sephiroth's ear. Sephiroth raised a silver brow, and rolled his Mako green eyes. Zack had been teasing him all morning, probably from boredom because of the monotony of President ShinRa's typical recruiting-slash-welcome speech. They, as well as several hundred other SOLDIERS, were watching the ceremony for the new recruits. ShinRa loved to flaunt their power, importance, prestige, and in general, show off, taking any and every excuse to dress up and deliver pompous speeches. Like, for instance, now.
'Zack and I have been standing here for…what, close to three hours? And having to put up with Zack's constant remarks and jokes about my lack of a partner.' He sighed and closed his eyes briefly, and could almost hear the conversation playing out before him.
Flashback //
"Sephiroth, I just don't get it. You are the General, First-Class SOLDIER, and ShinRa Co's most favourite warrior. Plus, you're almost as good-looking as me…" Zack started off.
"Thanks a lot," Sephiroth cut in, dryly.
"You have hundreds of starry-eyed female fans," Zack continued, blithely ignoring the sarcasm, "all of whom are longing to have the 'Great Sephiroth' look their way, but you don't even have a girlfriend yet?!"
"Not interested," was Sephiroth's reply.
"You haven't even gone on a date! It is almost as if…" Zack trailed off, then grinned, "so it's like that. Well, Sephiroth, in case you didn't know, you also have a considerable amount of male fans. Heck, most of the guys in SOLDIER lean that way, or do both. You can have practically whomever you want."
Sephiroth blinked at Zack, then answered, "Just because I'm not a womanising flirt like you, means I'm gay? Forget it. I'm not interested in anyone, female or male."
// End Flashback
"Zack, you don't know when to quit, do you?" was the weary reply. He glared at the other First-Class SOLDIER, his second-in-command. "I swear, after you found a steady girlfriend, you keep on trying to matchmake me. Either you want to see the whole world in love, or you want someone to inherit your mantle of 'ShinRa Flirt'." His friend simply grinned, running his hand through his black, spiked and waist-length hair. Grinning wickedly, Zack's grey eyes were full of mischief, as he attempted an innocent, 'wouldn't-dream-of-it look' on his ruggedly handsome face. Although he was quite tall, he had to look up to meet Sephiroth's annoyed gaze. He shrugged, then turned back to scan the faces of the crowd.
"Whoa!" Zack whistled slightly, eyes widening appreciatively, "Cute. Actually, he's damn pretty. If I wasn't already going with Aeris…" his voice trailed off thoughtfully. Sephiroth had to see this "pretty" guy who could make Zack stunned enough to shut up. Plus, he was even thinking of forgetting Aeris, the one girl he liked enough to date seriously, and "settled down" with. Sephiroth turned his cool Mako gaze towards the recruits, looking down from his slightly-raised platform at the side of the hall. He skimmed over the faces quickly, looking in the same general direction Zack was looking towards. Sephiroth stopped and stared. His first thought was that he had to be the boy Zack had been referring to, as there couldn't be two recruits who looked like that. His next thought was to wonder irrelevantly if the recruit had all the girls in the neighbourhood jealous of him.
Because he was incredibly pretty. And that was a complete understatement. "For once, Zack is actually right about something," Sephiroth said to himself. The recruit was rather short for his age, and looked to be about 14, the standard age for new SOLDIER recruits. The kid had unruly, spiky hair, rather like Zack's, which had golden highlights in the afternoon sun. Wisps of long, blond bangs drifted downwards, to trail across his face, and at the side, they framed a fine-boned, delicate face and a pointed chin. He had high cheekbones, and a sharp nose, as well as a flawlessly perfect light complexion, and pale pink, full lips. But it was his eyes that really caught Sephiroth's attention. They were large, and a sparkling, crystal-clear turquoise. Blue eyes glittered in the light, full of intelligence and alert, surrounded by long eyelashes. Sephiroth's eyes trailed down, nothing a slender neck and shoulders, a small, lean build with a well-proportioned, yet delicate frame.
'He has got a cute butt', Sephiroth thought, then mentally stopped when he realised what his response had been to the blond. Trying to control his quickened breathing and heart that was beating slightly faster, he reluctantly dragged his gaze from the gorgeous recruit back to the front of the stage.
"Hey, Sephiroth. Interested? He is probably going to be the closest thing you'll get to a girl," smirked Zack, while his friend restrained the urge to forcibly make Zack shut his big mouth. Big, but accurate, mouth.
"Careful, President ShinRa's glaring at you," replied Sephiroth, and was pleased to see Zack quickly turn towards the stage and pay attention. Sephiroth had half his mind on the proceedings, but the rest of his attention was spent on studying the pretty blond. The boy was not paying very close attention to the current speaker extolling the virtues of being in SOLDIER, and was instead having a conversation with some of the other recruits. He seemed to be relaxing, and was casually pushing back the tangle of spikes over his forehead. The uniform looked slightly loose on him, with the bagginess of the pants hiding his long, slender legs, and slim torso. The jacket's top button was undone, allowing a clear view of that gracefully bared, smooth neck. Sephiroth was startled when the boy, after listening to a comment made by one of his friends, spun around slightly to meet Sephiroth's gaze. He had a half-smile on his face, and those blue eyes were filled with wonder, respect, and a faint tinge of awe. Just then, President ShinRa announced that the ceremony was over, and Sephiroth left for his quarters, accompanied by Zack, wondering who the recruit was.
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Cloud Strife followed the rest of the recruits out of the room, mind still in a daze. 'I'm actually in SOLDIER. And I saw Sephiroth. This has got to be a dream.' He thought, then smiled cynically as the realist in him forced him to see the logical view of things. "I am only in the first stage. Who knows, I might end up dropping out or dead, by the first week. And besides, Sephiroth is probably the idol of every other person here. There is no chance he's going to waste his time on training a bunch of kids.' He resumed listening to the group talking in front of him, a mixture of boys from different hometowns, with some from Midgar, Kalm, Junon and Mideel, but thankfully, none from Nibelheim, like him. They had already been divided into training groups, and he seemed to have gotten into a friendly one. Cloud was relieved that no one he knew from Nibelheim was in his group. 'They probably would have had the whole group against me from the start, bullying me and jeering about my parentage… …or lack of one.' He exhaled, remembering how he had been branded as "outcast" and "alien" ever since young, because he did not know who his father was. 'Here, no one knows about that. And I'm going to keep it that way,' he silently vowed.
"Hey, Cloud, why so silent? Someone put "mute" or "silence" on you?" a voice intruded on his thoughts, and he looked up quickly. The speaker was a tall, grinning, bright-red haired, dark grey-eyed recruit named Reno Kielson.
"Reno, you've been talking for 5 hours straight. Doesn't your throat need a break?" Cloud quipped, mood instantly lightening. Reno had introduced himself on the train to the SOLDIER headquarters, and his outgoing nature had put Cloud, who was normally shy and reserved, at ease. 'He's a friend. I'm sure of it. My first real friend.' Cloud thought, as the rest of the recruits laughed at Reno acting as if he had laryngitis.
"Quit clowning around, troops!" Barked out their commander, "Everyone to the dormitory. You have 30 minutes before dinner. Quick, march!" They hurried, not wanting to be reprimanded on their first day there.
"Just our luck to get such an uptight leader," grumbled a black-haired recruit. 'Damien. At least that's what I think his name was,' thought Cloud, 'Franz. Skye. Gavin. Raven. Klint. Chas. Allan.' mentally going through the names of his fellow recruits.
"Don't you think you better keep it down?" asked Cloud.
"Yeah, unless you want to be like Reno, talking even throughout the welcoming ceremony," said Raven.
"I bet even Prez ShinRa noticed it! Heck, I know the General did!" snickered Skye, "off to a pretty bad start, huh, Reno?"
"Aw, stuff it!" replied Reno, "the General won't punish someone for merely being bored by some fossilized politician."
'The General. The Sephiroth, First-Class SOLDIER, war hero who defeated the uprising in Wutai. The only one able to kill a dragon single-handedly.' Cloud frowned, lost in thought. 'He was looking at us. Reno said he was behind us, so I turned around to check.' He could still remember his first glimpse of his childhood hero, the one he had looked up to, and had been partly influenced by that into joining SOLDIER. 'The one I wanted to be like. Powerful, strong and respected.' Sephiroth had been wearing his distinctive outfit, black pants, gloves and shirt, with a silvery-metallic coating of armour, and his trademark black cape fastened around his shoulders. With an incredibly tall, powerfully-built, muscular physique, as well as an almost uncannily-beautiful face, it was no wonder that Sephiroth had a legion of female fans. 'Including Tifa' was the bitter thought, quickly repressed. But Cloud couldn't blame her. Sephiroth's elegant features, high, straight nose, firm and almost proud set of his forehead and chin, thin lips fixed in a wry half-smile, together with a waist-length mane of glorious silver hair only added to the aura of cool, distant, detached power. 'But his eyes… …' Cloud shivered slightly, remembering meeting that cold, intimidating Mako gaze. Slightly slanted, exotic almond-shaped eyes, burning with that cold eerie green fire. 'He was staring at us. I don't know why, but I'm sure he was. Strange, the look was so…unreadable. Intense, but with no definite emotion or feelings…'
"Hey, Cloud! Yo, wake up!" yelled Reno, "stop zoning out on us, man!"
"Um…what? Oh, sorry guys," replied Cloud, blinking and trying to refocus on the conversation.
"You gonna daydream there for an hour? We've gotta go to the hall for dinner," asked Allan.
"I don't think I missed much anyway. You guys are always talking," retorted Cloud good-naturedly.
"Are you implying that we are big mouths?" said Damien in mock anger.
"Well, if the shoe fits…" began Cloud, and ducked to avoid his high punch.
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Read and Review, please. This is my first fic, so be kind! Comments and criticism welcomed.