A/N: So many reviews! Thank you so much people! And just a quick note to Cherry – this fic's purely to do with the three brothers as children. That pairing's in my other fic, so don't worry!


Ame ni Matte

Wait in the Rain

Chapter 14: Promise

The first thing Yazoo saw the next morning was a small plate of two fried eggs and a bit of bacon, both equally burnt, with a fork speared in one of the unfortunate eggs. Neither of his brothers were in the living room, and on realising this, the middle brother was a little confused. Then, he remembered the day before, vague recollections of the bloodstained bathroom, Kadaj's crying and the gunshot.

The makeshift bed he sat on was unusually tidy and smooth on him, as though someone had tucked him in the blankets and wished for him to sleep longer. Yazoo got out of bed, dressing himself in his usual jumper and jeans before brushing his hair and pulling on a pair of socks.

As he walked into the small hallway, holding with him his breakfast of eggs and bacon, there was the faint sizzling sound of something cooking, and some hushed voices talking. It was only when Yazoo stuck his head round the kitchen door that he found that Kadaj was in fact, talking to himself. The youngest brother was stood on a dangerously wonky stool, looking over at the cooker with a tattered apron that came down to his ankles. A thin cloth had been wrapped around his injured hand, and listening hard enough, it was audible that Kadaj was describing the hissing food he was making.

Yazoo reached a hand up to rest on Kadaj's head whilst walking past. Kadaj flashed a grin at him, sticking his tongue out. He wobbled on the stool slightly, off balance, and for a moment, Yazoo thought he was going to fall.

"Have you eaten breakfast? You know, the eggs I cooked for you?" Kadaj stirred the soup in the cooking pot vigorously, as though he was trying to kill it, eyebrows knitted together and frowning with concentration. Yazoo snapped out of his thoughts.

"You made breakfast?"

"Kinda. Loz cracked the eggs and stuff because I couldn't do it." Kadaj gave him a sheepish look. "They kept breaking in my hands."

Yazoo could picture that quite easily. Already, the youngest brother had made a complete mess of the kitchen, his apron drenched in a thick mixture and the soup had managed to coat the tips of his fingers, and even settle on his chin. Kadaj was a walking disaster when it came to cooking, and by the looks of it, Kadaj was aware of this, and having the time of his life.

"Now, Loz says that a good accompaniment to soup is bread…" Kadaj took out a loaf of bread from its plastic wrapping, tossing the slices carelessly onto a waiting plate. "…Done. And Loz says that cooking's hard."

Yazoo smiled faintly, taking a mouthful of his blackened egg and keeping his face neutral so that Kadaj wouldn't notice how bad Yazoo thought his food really was.

"Did Loz let you take charge of the kitchen?" he asked. Kadaj responded with a light shrug.

"He said okay, helped me out a bit." A grin flashed across his face. "What do you think? Good breakfast? I'm doing your lunch as well."

Yazoo grimaced, but quickly hid it. The so-called eggs and bacon he was eating tasted more like ashes in his mouth, and he was in desperate need for some water to down it. Kadaj took Yazoo's contorted face as a good sign, and stirred his soup with more enthusiasm. Yazoo shuddered to think what Kadaj had chucked in that brew of his. Nevertheless, disinclined to lower his brother's good spirits, Yazoo wiped Kadaj's chin with a finger, putting it onto the filthy apron instead before asking where Loz was.

"He's taking the rubbish out, like a good little garbageman," Kadaj sang happily. And soon enough, the door to their hideout opened, bringing in a fresh, chilly wind as well as a soaked older brother.

"Absolutely tipping it down with rain out there," Loz grumbled, raking through his wet hair. He looked up to see Yazoo standing in the hallway to greet him, and though it was very slight, the hesitance Loz spoke with was noticeable to him.

"…Morning Yazoo. Well, afternoon really. You woke up quite late." Loz – for some odd reason, and Yazoo wasn't liking it – had grown a sudden tendency to talk to Yazoo's forehead than to his eyes. Although irritated, Yazoo wasn't someone to let it get to him, so he gestured with a weak smile to his breakfast.

"Someone's having fun in the kitchen."

Loz chuckled, looking towards the kitchen fondly. "Yeah, he's been at it all morning. We made eggs and bacon, crepes…" Loz began to count them on his fingers "…we also attempted a tryout casserole for tea, but we ran out of ingredients, so Kadaj has converted it into soup."

Yazoo didn't have a clue as to what a casserole was, but Kadaj converting it didn't sound appetizing at all. Loz noticed his face, and the two of them gave each other faint grins – it was a huge effort to keep at Kadaj's pace.

"That's something I was meant to ask you," Yazoo said as he headed back into the living room, "why didn't you wake me up? I…" he faltered a little, wondering whether he ought to continue "…I wouldn't've minded learning some cooking too."

Loz looked the most uncomfortable he had been in a while, fixing his gaze firmly on a cardboard box by his feet. Loz furrowed his eyebrows, struggling to find an answer to the question. Yazoo waited patiently.

"…Yazoo, I just needed to talk to Kadaj for a while." Loz was talking more to the floor than to his younger brother, yet the message was clear. Evidently, there was something about him, Yazoo, that Loz felt the urge to have to discuss.

"What about?"

Loz sat down on the tattered sofa behind him, offering a half-hearted smile that looked as though it actually caused him pain. Yazoo stood, staring.

"Yazoo, you've changed."

An impulsive rush of laughter bubbled through Yazoo, and it escaped his lips with unintended insensitivity.

"Niisan, what are you talking about? You're being melodramatic again." Yazoo chuckled quietly to himself, but stopped when he noticed Loz was not smiling at all. On the contrary, his eyes were wide, blinking furiously in an attempt to not let his threatening tears fall.

"No, listen Yazoo, you really have changed. Kadaj thinks so too." Loz swallowed, as though having to speak was causing him unnecessary pain. "Yesterday, when Kadaj was in the bathroom--"

"If you're talking about that gun again--"

"Yes I am," Loz snapped with his usual defensiveness, leaping to his feet. "You looked all the more eager to fire it!"

Yazoo stared at his brother.

"You didn't hesitate, you just fired. A-and that's not you at all."

Yazoo could feel his temper burbling inside of him, almost surfacing, but like on countless occasions, he repressed it. "Niisan, you gushed on and on about pile bunkers and the like, you have a fascination for weapons as much as I do…"

"We need protection, I agree with that," Loz said, and he stood up. Yazoo hadn't noticed the fury in Loz's watery eyes, but then again, he was very flustered and confused when having an argument with Loz, for arguing with his older brother was so rare. "Yazoo, even if I had a pile bunker, I wouldn't turn it onto a door which my younger brother was hiding behind."

Again, all Yazoo could do was stare. Loz gulped, forcing himself to conclude his argument with, "…The old you would've got Kadaj out by talking to him, not resorting to that…thing."

It was a hurtful comment to hear. But, as Yazoo repeated it in his head, he realised that Loz had a very fair point. If he had cleared his head during yesterday's situation, he would've talked to Kadaj through the door, asking him gently to open the door so that he could come in. Instead though, driven by an inexplicable sensation to draw and fire, Yazoo had shot off the lock. The real him wouldn't've done that, he was being controlled, he was sure of it. Was he going mad?

"…I'm g-going mad," Yazoo stuttered. Loz wiped his eyes, and gave a jerky nod. Yazoo could see his and Loz's hands trembling, and moving his gaze from the snivelling older brother to the doorway, his heart tightened to see another figure there.

Still dressed in the dirty apron and clutching close to him a tray of three bowls, Kadaj stood with awkwardness. The uneven part of his fringe swayed over one of his eyes, a haunting reminder of the incident. Loz had succumbed to his crying, curling up on the sofa whilst pushing a cookery book out of the way.

"Niisan," Yazoo muttered. Kadaj set his tray aside, and ambled over to Loz with difficulty, stumbling over the long apron as well as one of the loose laces of his trainers. He patted the coiled hair of his brother, murmuring words of reassurance. Yazoo fidgeted with his sleeve.

He really was losing it. His brothers could see it too. Even without telling them about his Mako treatment, the ghostly visits of Sephiroth, they could sense his change. He had become more laidback about violence, as though it was a routine thing, a natural thing.

But he was Yazoo. Nothing, not even Sephiroth, could change that. Surely Loz could understand that.

"…Whilst you were at the labs, we wondered if you'd be, you know, the same when we see you again." Loz's voice was croaky, and behind him, nearly hidden from view from the mop of silver hair and Loz's shoulder, Kadaj's eyes displayed agreement. "…We thought that maybe you'd become Sephiroth, a-and…I don't know, punish us for not coming back with you…"

Yazoo fiddled with several strands of his hair. Then, resolutely, looking at Loz square in the eye, he headed over to his brothers and knelt down.

"Listen, niisan. I would never do anything to hurt either of you. Never." He stared long and hard; he had to get this message across to them and himself. Loz's eyes were bloodshot, swollen and awful to look at. But, Yazoo smiled lightly, where Loz cried, there was always a small smile that followed soon afterwards.

"P-promise?" Loz stammered.

"Promise."

"I promise too," Kadaj chipped in. An impish grin came onto his face. "I promise I won't beat either of you up when I become stronger than you two put together."

Yazoo pushed back Kadaj's fringe affectionately. "You do that, Kadaj."


A/N: A bit sappy, this chapter, but it's necessary. You know, brotherly love and all that. I'm also sorry to say that the next chapter will be the last one :( Velvet Nightmare, Dual Hound and Souba will give a hopefully grand finale to this fic, so stay tuned please!

However, the remotely good news is that I will be doing a similar fic to this one, following on from it very vaguely. It centralises around Yazoo's weird personality and Kadaj as a stressy teenager.

As usual, I'm going to ask you to be so kind and send me a review – it'd be so nice if you did :)

Next Chapter: A conclusion to the fic...