The Only One in My Heart
Chapter 5
"You must understand that you cannot and will not feel emotions," his wicked voice sounded in his ears. "You are not like the others. They are weak and useless but you are strong and powerful," Hojo's voice rang in his ears.
It had been years after he heard that statement and Sephiroth had believed his words. Sephiroth's meeting with Lana had proved Hojo's words to be an utter lie. Sephiroth may be just a commander of the SOLDIER but he could see the feelings around him. He found that others protected the ones they loved with their lives and would do anything in their power to lessen their loved ones' pain.
'The smile I gave Lana was the first smile that I have ever shown,' he told himself.
He left the research facility where Hojo was working a long time ago but now, he found himself standing at its door. He hated this place but he had to get the cells for Lana. Sephiroth opened the door and made his way to the place where JENOVA was kept.
After he extracted the cells with a syringe, Sephiroth began to turn to leave the room. A sudden movement by JENOVA made him turned back to face it.
"Sephiroth," her hoarse and robotic voice called out to him, "My son…"
"Who's there!?" a guard shouted. "Oh, Master Sephiroth, it's you," he stated when he saw Sephiroth staring at JENOVA. "Came here to see the ancient, eh?" he asked.
Sephiroth turned to the door and walked past the guard with JENOVA's words in his mind. With a shake of his head, he decided to dismiss the two words uttered by JENOVA that bothered him.
"Hang in there," Lana whispered to the three, "Big brother's getting the medicine for you." Lana stared at them. They have been in there for quite some time now and their hair had grown. Loz's almost bald head was now covered with two inches long hair, Yazoo's hair had now reached his chest and Kadaj's hair had reached his shoulders. But they still slept, unaware of their condition. The sound of an opening door made Lana turned to the door.
"Big brother!" Lana shouted with joy when she saw Sephiroth. He smiled at her and scooped her up for an embrace.
"Yes, I have returned. Did you worry about me, little sister?" he asked.
"Yes, I did!" she returned.
"Come on, let's go over to Richard and Robert," Sephiroth said which was agreed by Lana.
"Will something bad happen to them?" Lana asked as the two scientists made the preparations to insert the cells into the three brothers.
"I don't know," he answered, "They might become like me."
"Huh?" Lana looked at him.
"I have that medicine in me as well," he answered.
"I don't understand," Lana told him. Sephiroth wanted to explain everything to her but he kept quiet and watched the machines injected the cells into the three brothers. All three of them winced in pain for a moment before falling into unconsciousness again.
"Let them rest," Sephiroth said to Lana. Lana followed him reluctantly back to a comfortable room where she had slept for the past three months. "You can visit them tomorrow," he said before he entered his room which was beside hers.
Lana could not sleep that night and tossed and turned on the large bed. She couldn't help thinking about them now. Silently, she crept out of the bed and tiptoed out of the door. As she closed the door with a soft click, Sephiroth's eyes flung open. He got up from the couch he had fallen sleeping on and walked towards the door. As Lana disappeared behind a corner, Sephiroth slipped out of his room and tailed her.
"What are you doing?" Lana asked the scientists when she saw the same machine withdrawed from Kadaj's tank.
"That's none of your concern," Richard told her coldly.
"If Lana wishes to know," Sephiroth said behind her, "Tell her."
"Kadaj's is still too weak," Robert answered for his partner, "We gave him a second jab of its cells."
"You do realize that it would be dangerous for Kadaj," Sephiroth told Robert.
"The other two have shown drastic improvement after the jabs except Kadaj who had shown slight improvement," Robert stated.
"The second jab should be necessary," Richard interrupted.
"Should be?" Sephiroth questioned. "I will hold you responsible if anything wrong happens to him," he warned but the scientist ignored him. Sephiroth, who had been holding Lana's tiny hand, felt her tugging his hand. He looked down at her and followed her gaze.
Kadaj was struggling in the tank. Bubbles erupted from his breathing device and his whole body wriggled in pain. He could see Kadaj's hands were balled into fists as if he was fighting an enemy in his mind.
"Kadaj!" Lana cried as she released Sephiroth's hand and rushed in front of Kadaj's tank. "Kadaj," she called helplessly.
She looked up at him and a tear slipped from the corner of her eyes. When Kadaj had stopped moving, Lana stared at his face. Suddenly two green cat-like eyes sprang open and stared back at Lana. Lana shrieked and took a step back but she fell on her rear. Still captivated by the green eyes, Lana sat motionless staring back at Kadaj's eyes. Then, Kadaj closed his eyes and was unconscious again.
"Lana, is everything alright?" Sephiroth asked as he helped her up from the floor. "What's wrong?" he asked. Lana looked at the pale green tank and back at Sephiroth, who had knelt beside her. Lana put her hands on both sides of Sephiroth's face and stare into his eyes. Moments later, he broke the stare by calling her name.
"Kadaj's eyes weren't like yours," Lana stated, "His eyes looked scary but yours are kind and gentle."
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth asked her.
"Kadaj's eyes are like yours but his looked scarier than yours just now," Lana explained. He did not give his reply and kept his silence.
"Sir," Robert began, "The three of them are now stable enough to be taken out of the tank. Should we remove them to the hospital wing?" he asked. Sephiroth looked at Lana for an answer. She nodded at him.
"Very well," he told the scientist. A yawn from Lana made Sephiroth carried her back to her room for a sleep despite her struggles. "I'll make sure they're safe," Sephiroth told her as he pulled the cover over her. As he turned to leave, Lana's little hand thrust out and caught Sephiroth's gloved hand.
"Thank you, Big Brother," she said. Sephiroth turned to look at her. He smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Go to sleep," he said. Before he closed the room door, he saw Lana's eyes drooped and closed.
When Lana woke up late that morning, she sprang from her bed and flew out of her room to the hospital wing. She saw that Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz were placed in the same room and she stood still for a long time.
'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?' she asked herself when she realized that their hair was of silver colour and their skin had become paler than they used to be. 'Now they do look like Big Brother,' she said to herself.
"You woke up late," Sephiroth said behind her.
"They do look like you now," Lana said. "And if they will be as kind as you, I don't mind the change. But I do wonder if they mind," she mumbled.
"Don't worry," he assured her, "I'll talk to them when they wake up."
"Can I stay here and watch over them?" Lana asked Sephiroth.
"Of course you can," he said, "Just shout for me when you see anything wrong or right with them, okay?"
"I will!" Lana replied with a smile and a nod.
When Lana walked up to Yazoo later that evening, she saw his fingers moved. Lana quickly rushed out of the room and shouted for her Big Brother a few times before running back into the hospital room. Once in there, she saw Yazoo sat up on his bed with his hand rubbing his forehead.
Lana cried out his name and climbed onto the bed. When Yazoo heard the familiar voice, he looked up to find Lana flying at him with her arms wide open. In an instant, he found himself lying back on the bed with Lana lying on him; her arms were wrapped around his neck and she was crying.
"Hello to you too," Yazoo began. Sephiroth smiled to himself as he watched Lana embraced Yazoo. "Hey Lana, can you get off me for a moment? I'm still in a daze," Yazoo told her. Lana quickly scrambled down from the bed and watched Yazoo as he inspected himself.
"What happened to me?" he asked when he realized that his dirty blonde hair was now silver coloured and his skin was paler than usual. "Lana, what happened?" he asked again.
"That is the effect of the cells injected into your body," Sephiroth answered for Lana. "Lana wanted to save you," he continued. "I'll explain everything after your two brothers have awakened," he said before he left the room.
"Effects…," Yazoo repeated to himself.
"Yazoo, are you angry at me? For what I have done?" Lana asked.
With a smile, he replied, "No, Lana. You were trying to save us." "How can I be angry at you? I should be thanking you," he said as he ruffled Lana's brown hair.
"Will they be angry?" Lana asked as she looked at Loz and Kadaj.
"They'll understand," Yazoo replied. Lana smiled at him as he resumed investigating his new features.
'Judging by the length of my hair, I must have been in a coma for a long time,' he told himself. 'Three months at least,' he commented. At that moment, he heard a low groan from the bed on his left. Yazoo turned to see Loz turning on his side and slowly opened his eyes.
"Hello, brother," Yazoo greeted him while Lana smiled at him. Loz did not answer him but closed his eyes and went back to sleep. "Sleepy-head," Yazoo muttered under his breath and Lana gave him a mischievous smile.
"I heard that," Loz told Yazoo with his eyes closed. Suddenly, Loz felt something heavy landed on him.
"Wake up already!" Lana exclaimed to him. When Loz did not open his eyes, she began to shake him.
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm up," Loz said at last ass he sat up on his bed. Lana smiled and got down from his bed. She walked over to Kadaj's bed and called him.
"Kadaj," Lana began, "Hey, everyone's awake, you sleepy-head." But Kadaj laid still. He did not stir.
"He might not be awake yet," Sephiroth's deep voice said out of nowhere. "He needs more rest than the other two," he continued as he emerged from the shadows behind the door. Lana saw the two scientists behind Sephiroth and looked at Sephiroth for answers.
"They said that if your friends have awakened, they are allowed to stay in the guest rooms," Sephiroth answered Lana. "The guest rooms are right beside your room," he continued and a smile was lit on Lana's face.
After all the preparations have been made, both Yazoo and Loz retired for the night in their rooms. Lana stayed behind in the hospital room.
"I wanna wait for Kadaj to wake up," she said when Sephiroth asked for her reason of staying. The night wore on but Kadaj still did not wake up from his deep sleep. Lana watched over him but she fell asleep after midnight on a chair beside Kadaj's bed. She still waited for him.