Title: A Song built of Sand. Author: Shaded Mazoku.
Email:
Part: 1/1.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Square Enix, or whatever they call themselves these days. If they were mine, Sephiroth wouldn't have died. Or they both would have, depending on my mood.
Warnings: Yaoi, weirdness.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Sometimes, when he feels alone, Cloud still talks to Sephiroth.
Pairing(s): SephirothxCloud.
Fandom: FFVII.

Sometimes, when he feels alone, Cloud still talks to Sephiroth. He knows it is silly, but he can't help himself. He is alone now. Tifa has gotten married and is a mother of two, Nanaki is the leader of Cosmo Canyon, Barret has moved to North Corel to help rebuild the town, Yuffie has gone back to Wutai, and Cid and Vincent are living together in Rocket Town. They have all offered to let him live with them, but that isn't what he wants. He doesn't know what he wants anymore, but he knows it isn't pity.

He lives in Nibelheim now. At first, he wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but he is convinced by now. He lives in the ShinRa Mansion, all alone. At night, he can feel Sephiroth's presence in the house like a sort of lingering change in temperature. That is when he speaks to him. He doesn't know if it's real or if his insanity has reached a new level, but sometimes Sephiroth responds. Sometimes he can hear Sephiroth's voice, feel a mental touch on his arms and back. Once, he had felt something brush over his face. "Even in death, you still play games with me," he says one night, sitting in the library.

Sephiroth chuckles in Cloud's head. "Who said anything about dying?" He asks, and Cloud swears he can feel someone standing next to him. He turns to look at the empty space. "I saw you die," he points out. The presence is quiet for a while. "Dying isn't exactly the right word for it," it finally says, sounding fainter and further away than usual. "It was more a change in the way I existed." Cloud blinks and tilts his head. "But you failed your goal. Failed in becoming a god…" He says. He bites his lip. By now, he's getting desperate to win the underlying argument.

Sephiroth laughs. His presence is getting stronger. "Whoever gave you that idea, Cloud?" He asks. "I am always with you now, am I not?" Cloud can feel him smile, and he shivers. "I have become your god, haven't I?" Cloud realizes the truth in this, and it frightens him. He has grown dependant on someone who nearly destroyed the world once. Tears are running down his face no, as he realizes the despair he feels now. And though Sephiroth whispers in his ears, he can't reach out and touch him. Ghostly touches run over his face, his neck, his chest, and he wants to be able to return them, but he can't. He feels so alone, now.