Disclaimer: I don't own. I make no money and have very little. Don't sue. The god-awful poetry is mine tho'.
Thursday
Sephiroth sighed, sitting at his lunch table. It was still a week until Valentine's Day, but he was already recieving Valentines from what seemed to be the entire student body. Yes, he knew he was popular and it was to be expected, but it was damn annoying to have to dispose of each Valentine by himself.
And his best friend- Zack- was no help either. He thought it was awesome and gobbled up all the chocolate that Sephiroth was going to toss away. Currently, that's what the brown-haired man was doing.
"If you're just going to waste it, why not?" Zack rationalized, shoving a handful of the small Hershey Kisses that an admirer had sent Sephiroth into his mouth.
"I don't know why people send me these things." Sephiroth said, eyeing the foot-tall pile of red and pink hearts with distaste. "And they all look the same. Every year, and nothing changes."
"The candy gets better though- the best candy is from the ones that most want your attention." Zack said, happily spotting a card with a Belguim chocolate ball taped to it. He ripped off the tape and wrapping, happily shoving the gourmet chocolate into his already full mouth. Sephiroth looked disgusted.
"Can't you at least eat slower?" he asked. Zack shook his head, smiling cheekily.
"Nope!" Swallowing the now-melted chocolate, Zack picked up the closest card. "Now, my favorite part of this holiday!" Zack eagerly scanned the card, laughing at whatever mush the person had written and tossing it aside. Sephiroth sighed again. Ever since sophmore year, Zack had insisted on reading all of the Valentines that Sephiroth recieved and read aloud any that he felt were hysterical enough.
"Ohh, ohh! I found one!" Zack crowed triumphantly, holding up a pink heart with lace around the edges, and... was that glitter?
"'To my dearest Sephiroth- You are so incredibly PERFECT! I LOVE YOU! My phone number is XXX-XXXX and my name is Shirely!'" Zack said, chuckling. "Probably a senior who won't get another chance at you so she figures it's her last-ditch attempt."
"Glitter...?" Sephiroth said, irritatedly plucking the small specks of glitter that had fallen into his hair and on his uniform. "Must they put glitter on every single damn Valentine to make it stand out?" Zack laughed, going back to the pile of Valentines. He read a few more out loud, cackling when he found a really stupid one. After a few moments, however, Zack stopped making noise completely. This immediately alarmed Sephiroth- Zack rarely, if ever, shut up. When he did, it was a bad sign.
"Zack?" he questioned, looking at what his friend was holding. In his hand was a small, white Valentine with black edging. Sephiroth was instantly intigued- this was the first Valentine he had recieved of any color other than pink or red.
"What does it say?" he asked, wondering why Zack had stopped on this particular Valentine. Other than the color, there was nothing noteworthy about it. Or at least, so it seemed.
"Seph- you should read this, man." Zack said, carefully handing the paper heart to the silver-haired man. Sephiroth was surprised when he saw the front.
It was obviously a poem, written in the shape of a heart and ending neatly in the center.
''Your hair seems as soft and as silvery as spider's silk,
Your eyes seem to be glowing emeralds,
And the moon has yet to match,
The majesty of your face.
You have grace a cat would dream to possess,
And skill the likes of which has never been seen,
Hidden skills- you have many,
You're the man of so many dreams.
Angels couldn't match your voice,
And Hell's fire doesn't burn,
As hot as your emotions.
Cold fire with hate; Warm sun with love.
You are everything and more to me,
No amount of poetry can give you credit,
Your grace and beauty are that of a god,
Fallen from heaven to grace our world.''
Sephiroth read silently. He was very intrigued now. He flipped it over, expecting to find a name. Nothing. He flipped it back, looking for a name in any place the poem didn't cover. Nothing.
"Whoever wrote this didn't sign it." Sephiroth said. That was another unusual thing- everyone signed their Valentine't to him- any chance to get noticed.
"Yeah- and you usually don't get complimented like that, eh?" Zack said, a knowing smile in his eyes. Seph was a sucker for decent poetry- most never pictured him as the romantic type, but Sephiroth often read books of poetry- he had even written a few himself. Zack had tried to read them, but his attention span didn't allow for it.
"True..." Sephiroth said thoughtfully, then carefully placed the Valentine in a folder. Zack actually seemed surprised at this.
"You're keeping it?" Sephiroth nodded.
"It's... interesting. The first decent Valentine I've recieved here- and the only one with any originality." Just then, the bell rang to signal the end of the period. Sephiroth unceremoniously grabbed the rest of the Valentines and stuffed them into a trash bin on his way out. He did not want to be late for his next class, and so only spared enough time for a quick wave over his shoulder at Zack as he headed for world history. He knew Zack would understand.
Two minutes before the final bell rang, Sephiroth was seated in his chair at the back of the classroom and being bombarded by most of the girls and even a few guys with Valentines for the school's most popular student. He graciously accepted the Valentines, being given little choice, and breathed a sigh of relief when the teacher- a boring man called Professor Binns- began his daily lecture.
He always enjoyed this class, and he had never missed or been late to this class. No, he didn't like history, though hearing about the Meteor Crisis and historical villians like Jenova was interesting. No, he didn't enjoy lectures and taking notes. He didn't like the professor.
Why, then, did he like class so much?
It had to do with a certain blonde in the front row, third from the door. They had been allowed to choose seats at the beginning of the year, and Sephiroth had managed to get himself a perfect view of the blonde.
'Cloud Strife.' Sephiroth thought, allowing his mind to drift as he watched the blonde man take notes on whatever the lecture was on today. Sephiroth could see Cloud's profile and his gorgeous eyes fairly well when the blonde leaned over his desk like that, and he quite enjoyed the sight.
He had long ago accepted the fact that he was in love with Cloud. It hadn't been a 'love-at-first-sight' kind of movie magic, but more of a 'lust-at-first-sight' turning into love even though he and the blonde didn't speak much. Cloud had surprised many people when he tried out for the kendo team- of which Sephiroth was president and Zack vice- and had made it. He seemed delicate with his slim, almost feminine frame, but he was muscular and strong. He had made a wonderful additon to the team, and was a hard worker. It was an added bonus for Sephiroth that Cloud had made it because now Sephiroth could see Cloud's beautiful blue eyes almost every day, and not just from afar. (Part of the reason that Cloud had tried out was his friendship with Zack- Zack had convinced him to come for which Sephiroth was ever grateful. Sephiroth had never really conversed with Cloud because he feared he might let something slip, even though Zack was a friend to both of them.)
Zack had found out about his love for the blonde by accident, but didn't pester him about it or tell the entire school. He accepted it and didn't care. That was the great thing about Zack- he accepted and didn't hold anything against you unless you tried to hurt one of his friends or pick on someone weaker than yourself. If you pissed him off, then you got hurt. End of story.
Sephiroth watched Cloud contentedly, glancing away whenever Cloud felt Sephiroth's eyes on his back and turned to locate the source. All too soon, the bell rang and Cloud packed up, slinging his heavy backpack onto his shoulder and quickly exiting.
Sephiroth quickly followed suit, not wanting to be hit with all the Valentines his fellow classmates had spent the hour creating.
Thursday Night
Sephiroth sighed as he collapsed onto his bed. It had been a long day, and he had homework to get to, but not quite yet.
He sat up and opened his backpack, digging for his folder. He found it a second later and opened it, taking out the Valentine and rereading it.
'Who wrote this?' he wondered. Nothing gave a clue as to the person's identity- not even their gender. He couldn't tell if his admirer was male or female.
He kept turning it over in his hands, looking for some sign of who it was.
Nothing. The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He rolled over and grabbed the reciever.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Seph? Yeah- we still have kendo practice tomorrow morning at six thirty, right?" Zack asked.
"Yes- why?" Sephiroth responded. Zack breathed a sigh of relief.
"Cloud called and asked me if we still had practice- I told him yes. I wouldn't want him to go way early and be stuck there while the custodians are getting ready for the day."
"Yes, we still have practice. Anything else?" Sephiroth asked, wanting to get back to deciphering the Valentine.
"No- you sound tense. Whatcha up to?" Zack asked, curios.
"I'm just trying to figure out who sent me that Valentine earlier." Sephiroth replied, glancing down at the innocent piece of paper.
"Good luck- I looked over it before you read it and there didn't seem to be a name." A small, distant beeping sounded.
"Gotta go- Aeris is on the other line!" Zack apologized, quickly managing to say 'bye' before he switched lines.
Sephiroth sighed and turned off the phone, grabbing his backpack and unpacking his homework. The Valentine analysis could wait, he supposed.
Friday
Sephiroth dragged himself out of bed at five-thirty, stepping right into the shower and quickly washing up before grabbing breakfast and heading to the school. He had the mysterious Valentine in his pocket, folded neatly.
He frowned as he walked. He had looked at the Valentine for an hour last night and hadn't seen anything that could give the writer away. Even the handwriting could have belonged to a male or female- he was still puzzled.
He opened the school gates, heading quickly to the locker room and changing into his kendo uniform. He grabbed his bokken- his practice sword- and immediately went to the training room. Unsurprisingly, Zack was already there.
"Good morning Seph!" Zack said cheerfully, waving. Seph just stared.
"I will probably never know how you manage to be so cheerful so early in the morning." Sephiroth said, finding a spot on the wall and settling down for his usual before-practice meditation.
"Did you get any more of the Valentine figured out?" Zack asked, curious.
"No." Sephiroth answered. "Why? Do you know something?"
"No, but- Man Spike, you look awful!" Zack exclaimed, turning and seeing the next person to arrive- Cloud.
"Couldn't sleep." Cloud replied, a hint of a smile in his voice.
"Why not? Nervous? Got a girl you like that you'll talk to on Valentines Day?" Zack asked. Sephiroth decided to stop his attempts to calm his mind and listen- intently.
"No. Nothing like that. I was just... busy." Cloud said evasively. Sephiroth nearly frowned and almost blew his camoflauge of being in deep meditation. Cloud had said that a bit too quickly- was he lying?
"With what?" Cloud never got a chance to answer- loud noises signaled the rest of the kendo team's arrival. Sighing, Sephiroth stood up and began the practice, carefully glancing at Cloud as he did so.
Zack was right- Cloud looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept at all.
'Why?' Sephiroth questioned. 'Why does he look so tired?'
He touched the Valentine in his pocket, deciding to think about it another time.
After kendo, the day went by in a blur. It was Friday, so no one- even the teachers- felt like doing much work. Even his boring history teacher seemed a bit more lively this close to the weekend, and used two tones instead of one to drone on and on and on about the Turks and their importance in history. Sephiroth used this time to study his Valentine a bit more and read the poem again. No matter how many times he read it, it brought a smile to his face.
He completely missed the glowing pair of eyes watching him as he studied the poem. The owner of the eyes smiled, then turned back to the notes that would be needed to study for the test.
The bell rang for the end of class, startling Sephiroth out of his Valentine-induced trance. By the time he had packed up, Cloud was already gone and he didn't have a chance to follow the blonde for a few minutes before he had to go to a different room for class.
He was in such a hurry, he forgot to pick up the small Valentine that had kept him occupied the entire hour. As he left out the door to allow the next set of students inside, the white and black heart still sat innocently on his desk.
Sephiroth slid into his seat for math just as the bell rang. They had a test that day- good. That meant that he could study his Valentine as soon as he finished. The math teacher began handing out the tests, telling the class to be quiet. Sephiroth quickly grabbed a pencil and his calculator. He almost laughed when he got his test- it was ridiculously easy. Within ten minutes, he was done and he handed the paper into the teacher. Quietly- as none of his classmates were done with their tests yet- he went back to his seat and reached into his pocket for the Valentine.
Nothing. He checked his other pocket. Still nothing. With mounting dread, he checked his folders and his books, hoping he had stuck it into one of them. Nothing. He realized that he must have left it in his last class. Muffling a curse, he walked back up to the teacher and requested a pass for his previous class, saying only that he had left something in that room. His request was quickly granted, and he left the math room, striding quickly to the history room.
Once there, he knocked loud enough to be heard over the drone of the teacher's voice.
"Come in." he heard. Not needing to be told twice, he opened the door and stepped in.
"So sorry to interrupt-" he said, not feeling it one bit. He heard whispers and the sound of girl's swooning at his appearence, but ignored it as he turned to address the class. "- but have any of you seen a white heart with a black border?" More whispers broke out at this.
"Sephiroth actually-"
"-he likes a Valentine?"
"Who wrote it?"
"Ohmigod, it's actually him-"
Sephiroth almost wrinkled his nose in disgust at the shallow girls who were swooning over his appearence and attempting to make themselves appear more... attractive by leaning over and propping themselves up on their arms to try to attract his attention. Some girls were openily staring at him and doing lewd things with their pencils and pens, trying to make eye contact.
"I have it- it's here." A boy said- sitting in Sephiroth's old seat. The boy held up a crumpled piece of paper that had obviously been the Valentine. Sephiroth glared at the boy that had obviously done the damage to his property. The boy was smart enough to look afraid for his life before futilely attempting to straighten the Valentine as Sephiroth slowly walked towards him. Before the boy could do much, Sephiroth grabbed his wrist and gently pried the Valentine from his hand. Holding it carefully, he thanked the boy for returning it to him and he left. The room was dead silent for all of three seconds before the girls in the class turned on the who had held the Valentine and began questioning him. The teacher attempted to restore order, but it was in vain. The girls ignored him.
"How could you do that to HIS Valentine?"
"How was it written?"
"What was written on it?"
"Tell us!"
"Okay, okay!" the boy said in exasperation. "It was just some dumb poem thing written in the shape of the stupid heart. Happy?" The girls all nodded. After another ten minutes, it was quiet again and the teacher resumed his lecture, hesitant at first in case the class got rowdy again but quickly moved back to his 'exciting' monotone.
News travels fast in a school- by the end of the day the word had spread that Sephiroth had recieved a Valentine that he had liked so much he had gone back and retrieved it. As rumours do, the story got more warped until it featured Sephiroth come in the classroom with a death glare and demand his Valentine back, go ballistic when he found it damaged and beat up the kid so badly he had ended up in the hospital. None of this had actually happened, but it was so much more interesting that way.
It was no surprise when the convenience store sold out of black construction paper and books of poetry that weekend.
Monday
Three days until Valentines Day. Sephiroth had been recieving Valentines in his mailbox for the entire weekend, and almost all of them had been white hearts with a black border and bad poetry. All had been cheap imitations, easily given away by the fact that all of them had been signed and written in different handwriting.
Sephiroth opened his locker, groaning in exasperation as what seemed to be a hundred Valentines fell out of his locker. Every single one of them was a white heart and black border. Sephiroth scooped them all up and shoved them in a bag he carried especially for this purpose.
The first half of the day floated by, Sephiroth going through the Valentines and checking any ones he recieved throughout the day. By the time lunch came, he only had half a bag and no new Valentine from his admirerer. He was frustrated- perhaps the person hadn't written another one? He had seen a few that came close, but it just never seemed to be from the same person. In some cases, he was even getting light-headed from reading the Valentines because the writing was illedgible and the girls who had written them had sprayed what seemed to be a bottle's worth of perfume on it. Those he tossed immediately.
"There doesn't seem to be another one." Sephiroth said, aggravated as he sunk into his lunch chair. Zack shrugged, biting into his sandwich. He didn't even have to ask what Sephiroth meant.
"Maybe they didn't write another one?"
"I've considered that." Sephiroth said, dumping the rest of the Valentines out and methodically shifting through them. "But if that was true I'd be sorely disappointed." Zack shrugged again and put down his sandwich.
"I'll help you look, if you want." he offered, glancing at the pile of little white hearts. Sephiroth nodded, distracted. Zack nodded and began to search.
Sephiroth put down the Valentine he had been looking at- not it. Not even close. He grabbed another out of the pile, heart speeding up when he saw the neat handwriting, written exactly the same way as the last Valentine he had recieved. Eagerly, he flipped it over and checked for a name. Nothing. He flipped it back. Nothing.
"I found it- they did write me another one!" Sephiroth said triumphantly as he began reading the poem written, his triumphant expression melting to one of shock and joy. The poem seemed to have touched his heart.
"What is it?" Zack asked, dropping the Valentines in his hand and reading over his friend's shoulder.
''I have not yet found the words,
To tell you how I feel,
No word seems strong enough,
To convey my emotions to you.
I watch you from afar and hope,
That you will look my way,
When you do I am ecstatic,
And pray you won't look away.
Forever isn't long enough,
To spend my time with you,
And even if I only had a few days left,
I'd share them all with you.
I'd like to say 'I love you,
But it just doesn't describe,
The way I feel about you,
And I hope you understand.''
Zack felt a smile steal over his face at the poem. It was sweet, actually, and it seemed that Sephiroth was right. The style of the poem was exactly like the last one.
"That's sweet." Zack commented. Sephiroth nodded, a soft look in his eye as he carefully folded the poem and put it in his pocket with the first one he had recieved. He swept the rest of the Valentines into his arms and dumped them into the garbage can, unaware of the eyes following his movements.
Sephiroth felt like he was walking on cloud nine for the rest of the day. He didn't know what it was about the poem, but it touched a place in his heart. It was so sweet and innocent- the writer expected nothing back and wouldn't even give their name.
Sephiroth slid into his seat for history, sighing
'I still love Cloud.' he thought, watching the blonde as he sat down and pulled out his books. For some reason, Cloud seemed to be smiling as well.
'...but I think the writer of these poems had also captured my interest.' Sephiroth finished the thought, touching his pocket and listening to the teacher as the bell rang for the start of class. He barely noticed the rest of the day, floating through kendo practice before floating home and rereading both Valentines.
'Who wrote these?' he wondered. 'I hope I get to meet them.'
Tuesday and Wednesday
Tuesday passed with no more Valentine's from the mysterious writer, but on Wednesday Sephiroth got a very pleasent surprise.
Sephiroth opened his locker to find out that someone had seemingly found out his locker combination and had deposited roses- beautiful red roses- on the small shelf in his locker. Sephiroth had a feeling he knew who the flower-giver was- his unknown Valentine. He was proven right when he read the small heart attached to one of the roses.
''If my feelings are returned,
And I do so hope they are,
I pray you'll come to meet me,
And tell me how you feel.
Tell me true and tell me straight,
When we first meet face-to-face,
No lies to spare my feelings,
Just a simple 'yes' or 'no'.''
Sephiroth could easily recognize the writing style of his favorite Valentine and knew this to be a true message, not one made up by his fans. To confirm his suspiscions, he checked the Valentine all over for any identifying marks. None.
In the middle of the heart was a time and a place- when and where he was supposed to meet his admirerer.
'3:00 after school on Valentines Day, the fountain in ShinRa Park.'
"I'll be there." Sephiroth whispered, drawing the card out and carefully shutting his locker after grabbing his schoolbooks.
He was again unaware of the nervous eyes that watched him.
'I hope he likes me- or at least likes my poems.' the owner of the eyes thought, gulping nervously as Sephiroth read the last poem.
'Well, everything ends tomorrow- for better or for worse.' Thinking that, the owner of the eyes turned and left to get to class.
It was lunch before Sephiroth remembered that he had to attend kendo the next day- Valentines Day.
"Zack, is it too late to cancel practice tomorrow?" Sephiroth asked. Zack shook his head.
"We can still cancel- why? Something wrong?" Sephiroth shook his head, smiling.
"I recieved another Valentine." Sephiroth carefully pulled the latest Valentine out of his pocket and showed it to Zack. Zack quickly read it and smiled.
"So that's why. You going to meet them at three?"
"Yes. The writer should be there- and I want to meet them." Sephiroth said warmly. Zack studied him for a moment.
"You've changed."
"Hmm?"
"Well, before you wouldn't even look at Valentines, and here you are obssessed with one." Zack shrugged. "You're even going so far as to meet someone you don't know at ShinRa Park at three- rigth after school. You've softened a bit." Zack grinned and elbowed the silver-haired man. "It's what love does to ya, eh?"
"I guess so." Sephiroth acknowledged quietly.
Too bad neither of them had been paying attention to their surroundings. Someone had overheard Sephiroth's plans for the next day.
With an evil smirk, she scampered off and told her friends. By the end of the day, plans had been canceled and there wasn't a single girl in school not planning on being at ShinRa Park at three in the afternoon on Valentine's Day- even those already with boyfriends.
After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Thursday
Valentines Day. Sephiroth ignored the whispers that followed him more than usual that day. He had woken up a bit earlier than usual to clean himslf up a bit more than he usually bothered with. Now, he looked drop-dead gorgeous instead of simply drool-worthy. The day seemed to fly by until the bell rang at two forty-five. The teachers- who had heard the gossip and knew what was happening on Valentine's Day- weren't surprised when the entire female student body found the quickest way out of school and ran, all desperate to be at ShinRa Park at three to try to convince Sephiroth that they were his 'admirer'. The boys dragged their feet, disgusted by the way their girlfriends were acting- and those that weren't dragging their feet were running with the girls to ShinRa Park.
Only one student acted the same as always, in no rush for the three o'clock appointment at ShinRa Park. This student knew exactly how much time it would take to get there from school- that's why that spot had been chosen.
Quietly, the student slipped out of school and began walking, nervous beyond belief.
The next hour would either make or break the year- perhaps this students' entire life.
Sephiroth was surprised when he arrived- five minutes before three, having dropped his things off at his house- to find ShinRa Park mobbed by people.
'How am I supposed to find my Valentine in this?' he wondered, realizing what most of the people were there for. He got out of his car only to be surrounded by girls tearfully declaring their love for him and how they had worked so hard on those poems, showing him some white paper and black paper as 'evidence'. He ignored them, heading for the fountain and looking around for... well, he wasn't sure.
Five minutes passed, girls literally throwing themselves at his feet and proclaiming that they had written the Valentines. It was all very noisey and annoying, and Sephiroth began to lose hope. He had no clue how to identify his Valentine, and he had no clue if his Valentine could even make it to him with the crowd.
Suddenly, he heard his cell phone ring. The noise seemed out of place and he almost didn't answer it, but his hand reached for it and he pressed 'talk' before he realized what he was doing. Unhappily, he held the phone to his ear, covering his other ear with his other hand to block out some of the noise.
"Hello?" he asked, tired and realizing it showed in his voice. The person on the other end was silent for a moment, drawing a deep breath.
"I'm thankful for you coming to meet me,
And tell me how you feel,
I hope that you have figured it out,
And I hope you know that my feelings for you are real."
Sephiroth gasped at the familiar style of poetry.
The caller was his Valentine.
"I'm not in love with you for your power,
Your position or your money,
But I'm in love with you for you,
It took me a while to say,
And now I hope you understand,
Please tell me your answer truthfully,
Because Sephiroth-" the voice choked a bit on the words here, but continued. "-I love you."
Sephiroth felt his heart melt. He thought he recognized the voice- it was masculine, and he hoped he was right when he thought it belonged to...
"Where are you?" Sephiroth asked, voice almost breaking with the force of his emotions.
"...Look behind you." He heard it through his phone as well through his other ear. Distantly, he realized that the entire park had gone silent as he turned around.
Cloud stood there, looking extremely nervous as well as hopeful. Cloud still held his cell phone up to his ear, slowly lowering it when Sephiroth's eyes met his. Sephiroth lowered his cell phone as well, shutting it off and sliding it back into its case out of habit.
"Cloud..." he said softly, surprised but nearly bursting with joy. He had been right- he had recognized that voice, that beloved voice...
Cloud smiled, nervous and a bit sheepish.
"Wasn't expecting me, huh?" he asked, looking down. Sephiroth shook his head, moving towards the blonde.
"No, I wasn't expecting you, and I must say I've never been happier about being surprised in my life." Cloud jerked his head back up in surprise, opening his mouth to say something. Sephiroth cut his off with a gentle kiss, not caring who saw as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man. Cloud- after freezing in shock- melted and returned the kiss with equal passion, linking his arms behind Sephiroth's neck to pull that silver-haired man deeper into the kiss.
They finally broke apart for air, smiling gently, practically glowing with happiness.
"Love you." Cloud finally said, not moving away- apparently he didn't care who saw either.
"I love you too, Cloud." Sephiroth bent down and captured his blonde's lips again. Cloud was his now, and he wasn't letting go. Faintly, he heard a few moans of disappointment and a few of absolute disgust, but ignored them and concentrated on the blonde in his arms.
Nothing would tear them apart.
Nothing.
Present Day
Sephiroth awoke suddenly, unaware of what had awoken him until he noticed the cold seeping underneath the bedcovers because the other occupant of the bed had awoken and left. He smiled, getting out of bed and dressing in his black silk robe that had been given to him for his and his beloved's exchange of vows. As they weren't allowed to legally marry, they had exchanged vows in front of friends instead and had celebrated it just like a real wedding. Sephiroth fingered the small golden band on his left ring finger, smiling as he headed down the stairs of his home. He smelled something wonderful cooking.
He paused at the entrance to the kitchen, just staring at his beloved, standing over the stove and making- by the smell of it- eggs and sausage. Silently, Sephiroth creapt up behind him blue-robed lover and hugged him from behind. The blonde didn't even jump- he had come to expect that sort of thing from Sephiroth after a decade of living with and being married to the man.
"I see you're awake." Cloud said, smiling. "I didn't want to wake you- you seemed to be having a good dream." Sephiroth nodded, nuzzling Cloud's neck.
"I was remembering that Valentines Day when you first told me you loved me." Sephiroth said, squeezing Cloud a little tighter. "It was a very good dream indeed..."
"Mmm." Cloud acknowledged, leaning back into Sephiroth's embrace as he turned off the stove- breakfast was now done anyways. He let it sit as he enjoyed the comfort of his lover's arms. "I remember that." He chuckled and turned to face the silver-haired man, smiling hugely. "I still can't believe the 'Great Sephiroth of Midgar High' actually liked for such bad poetry..."
"Believe it." Sephiroth said, lightly kissing Cloud. "And it wasn't that bad..."
"True- anything that brought us together can't be that bad." Cloud agreed, resting the side of his head against Sephiroth's chest. Even though it had been years, it still felt like they were newlyweds, the spark never having left their relationship.
"If this were a fairy tale, this would be our 'happily ever after', huh?" Sephiroth commented, kissing the top of Cloud's head affectionately. Cloud shook his head.
"We still have the rest of the fairy tale to live out- it doesn't end yet." Cloud smiled. "And I'll see to it that it never does."
"I'd like that- I think I'll help." Sephiroth replied, grinning. "I love you."
"I love you too."
END
AN: Sap- sweet enough to melt the teeth! Sorry it was a bit long... but there is a serious lack of SephCloud fics on the net, so I just had to add to the sorrowfully sad number.
Please, tell me what you think! Flames will be used to fuel my muse and she'll force me to write more of these, and kind reviews will help my muse think of good ideas quicker.