"Guess what you'll be today?"

"15…"

"Yep that's it, the big one-five! Aren't you so very excited!"

"Not really…"

"Come on, don't tell me you don't care that it's your birthday!"

"I don't…"

"Well, you better thank me, cause I have a great surprise for you."

"…"

"Come on Seph, don't be such a loser," a low, quiet voice interjected between the high tinkle of a female voice and the low, even teenage one. This one sounded younger, still not experienced the trials and tribulations of puberty. The female was older, in her twenties with long blonde hair and a curving body that bounced ever so slightly as they navigated the junk strewn on the street that never saw cars, or even the light of day for that matter, in Sector 4 of the greatest city on the planet, Midgar. She was wearing bright red lipstick that clashed with her creamy complexion and gaudy green and orange jumpsuit. Gold, ruby-encrusted earrings dangled from her ears, and many fashionable rings decorated her fingers, with nails so long and red they looked like claws.

"Don't talk to me," the teen spoke again, the one they call Sephiroth. He was tall and well built for his age, although his legs were about as big a round as wide PVC pipe and just as white, obviously from the ankles sticking out from his too-short black cargo pants. From his head sprouted the finest silver hair, more like liquid steel than anything else, pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his long and swanlike neck. It was long and silky, cascading down his arched black-clothed back, and coming to rest just past his backside. Eyes, more catlike than human and toned a green as pure as mako, were locked in a stare as he walked in the middle of the trio, who were quite a sight to behold. They glowed oddly in the dim, flickering yellow lights of the slums.

"Ms. Scarlett! He's being mean to me!" the childish voice whined again, originating from a kid of eleven or twelve with golden blond hair parted on the side and eyes as blue and cold as ice itself. He was wearing an expensive looking purple polo shirt and matching sweater set with khaki shorts that were rolled up past his knobby and bandaid-covered knees.

"Hush, Rufus! It's his birthday not yours!" the woman hissed, reaching over and giving the brat a quick smack on the forehead with her compact mirror. He whined for a while, then fell silent when he realized no one was paying any attention to him.

Sephiroth let out a long, drawn sigh as he eyed some street children picking through scrap metal and garbage in the alleyway. He really didn't want to come on this "Birthday Adventure," but his trainer, Ms. Scarlett, Head of Weapons at Shin-Ra Inc., insisted until he thought his ears were going to hemorrhage and spurt blood all over her designer clothes. And NO ONE bled on her clothes. She said she was taking him somewhere special, but she wouldn't say where because it was a surprise, and to make matters worse, the President's bratty little kid whined until he got to go along with them. A disgusted ball of hatred was already forming in the pit of his stomach, but on the surface the poised young SOLDIER showed no emotion. Sephiroth was starting to get a little suspicious about this trip because there was nowhere worth going below the plate, even if Reeve insisted otherwise. He always said that there were plenty of ordinary treasures waiting among the normal people that were just waiting to be discovered, but Sephiroth didn't believe it.

Finally, after a couple more fits from Rufus and a carefully avoided stubbed toe later, they came to the doors that separated Midgar from the outside world. The silvered hair boy paused for a second, his heart leaping into his throat. Were they actually going to go outside, into the open air where the monsters lived? He had left Masamune in the lab. His beloved katana was a birthday present last year, from the same lady who's sparking blue eyes were twinkling with that same mischievous look that she go when she was going to give the poor boy some extra reps.

"We're… not actually going out there are we?" Sephiroth gasped, his voice a mere whisper.

"You bet Mister! You'll love it!" she chuckled as she inserted the keycard and punched in the code to open the massive steel doors.

Rufus squealed and clapped as the doors creaked open, the massive pulleys and gears working their hardest to creak the slabs of steel open ever so slowly. A fine crack of pure white light appeared in between the doors, growing wider with every second. Sephiroth took a step back, shielding his eyes, since they were used to the darkness, blinded by the amazing and brilliant light flowing over him.

Then, all of a sudden, Scarlett pushed him out into the outside world, into the light of day that had so far eluded him. As he struggled against her pushes, his heels kicked up tufts of beige dust that floated off into the wind. Rufus squealed and ran out, leaping onto a boulder and sliding off it into a sobbing heap. Seemed like he had skinned his knees again, for like the fortieth time this month.

This distraction allowed Sephiroth to wriggle free of the woman's grasp and get his bearings. His strange catlike pupils snapped into mere slits as he became used to this new light. The boy stepped backwards, and then stumbled onto his hands and knees as he stared up at the towering double-decker city and the cloud that hovered over that enormous plate. He then rose to his feet, ignoring the red earth that clung to his hair and clothes, and tilted his head back, staring intently into the blazing noon sun.

The air was completely still, so still that the boy seemed like he was frozen in time. He drank in the stifling summer air, so different then the sanitary conditions in the lab. A wave of mixed, oppressed emotions overcame him, and Sephiroth couldn't figure out if he wanted to laugh, cry, sigh or just stare for hours and hours into the wonderful light. For the first time since he could remember, not one voice cried in his head, not one disembodied whisper sounded in his ears.

So, he did something that caused his companions to stare at him in awe, and that was to smile, a warm, genuine smile that spread over his elegant features until his face crinkled up in an expression of pure ecstasy.

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"Happy Birthday to Sephy-kuns! Happy Birthday to you!" screamed a raucous voice, who's raven haired owner's strong arm swung roughly around an older Sephiroth's broad shoulders.

"Zack, please, you're waking people up. It's 2:00."

"So, we had to stay up until the minute you were ACTUALLY born!"

The spiky-haired SOLDIER took a swig of beer and waved it under the General's upturned nose. Sephiroth only pushed it away, along with a foamy, beer-flavored kiss Zack was trying to give him.

"How do you actually know WHEN it is…?" he grumbled, lazily stirring his sake with one finger.

For the first time since he arrived, the small, mousey-faced blonde poked Zack on the shoulder and showed him the time on his mako-glo watch.

"WHOP! There it is! Thanks Cloud! Heh, you're the BIG 2-0 now, say it loud say it proud man!" he bellowed, almost knocking over a blonde who was sitting in the seat next to him.

"You're crushing Cloud…" the silver haired general muttered, shooting a sideways wink to the pouting blonde.

"Whatever man! Hey, remember that time when Scarlett took you outside and you stared at the sun for like two hours and got that HUGE sunburn! Your face was as red as a stop sign for like, two weeks!"

A slow smile crept onto the general's face as he took a sip of rice wine. Yes, in fact he was also peeling for weeks afterward.

"Yes… Wait, how did you know that?" he replied, cocking a slender silver brow.

Zack gave a knowing wink and elbowed the general roughly in the ribs, spilling the frothy, amber colored liquid all over Cloud's shirt and crotch. The blonde growled then pouted even more, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"The Birthday-Fairy told me!"

"The Birthday Fairy eh? Well, next time you see her, tell her Sephiroth said to keep her secrets to herself…"