Author's Note: Ok. Now I really am spoiling you. I'm warning you, though. Don't get too comfortable with these frequent updates. It's an anomaly. Trust me. I wish I could always post them this often but, unfortunately, my writing and my brain don't work that way. On another note, many thanks to all who have taken the time to leave reviews. I go through bouts of self-doubt and those messages help pull me out of them. So, thank you again! Um, a little information for you, in case you were curious. Aside from taking creative liberties with Sephiroth's height, I have also done so with his hair. Don't panic! I've simply made his fringe longer (to his chest) than where it is during Crisis Core, since my AU coincides with that time frame. The main length touches just above his knees. Also, another tidbit, when I'm writing dialogue for him, I hear George Newburn.

Sleep Over

Moreau takes advantage of the full two hours to not only gather a few things and change her clothes, but grab a quick shower. She's dressed in joggers and an oversized sweatshirt. She's brought along a thermos filled with coffee, a mug, two spoons, two bowls, four bananas, a thermal container full of oatmeal, and a package of saltines, all neatly arranged in a wicker picnic basket. She sets it outside the unit along with a tote bag containing a novel and two refillable bottles filled with water. Pulling her book from the tote bag, she quietly steps inside. He's asleep in the same position she left him in. Judging from the rise and fall of his chest, his breathing has returned to normal. The fact that he is able to sleep is a good sign. It means that whatever was in that serum is providing pain relief. She pulls the blanket up under his chin before getting settled. She props the second pillow against the curved wall of the unit, and makes herself comfortable. She opens her novel, thumbs to the correct page, and begins to read.

Sybelline manages to last a half an hour or so before the mild aggravation in her hip blossoms into painful pinches. She now understands why Shai abandoned the bedroom floor for the comfort of Sephiroth's luxury mattress. No such option for her here. She does need to stand and move around, though. Stretching her arms over her head, she walks toward the main lab, weaving in and out of the equipment positioned around the table. She notices a red light on one of the video cameras and realizes they are all still recording. Positive the research team does not want footage of an empty exam table, she switches them off one by one. She's about to return to the unit when her curiosity gets the better of her. Against her better judgment, Sybelline removes a digital camcorder from its tripod and rewinds the footage to the moment the team files out the door and Hojo is alone with Sephiroth. She adjusts the volume, but not so loud that it echoes throughout the she sees and hears next horrifies her.

She blindly reaches behind her for the nearest surface to sit down on, her eyes never leaving the LCD display. She grabs hold of the backrest of an office chair and sits, her legs shaking uncontrollably. Sybelline has known Hojo for 24 years. His genius has always stood on a precarious ledge, but never did she think he would jump off and fall into the abyss. What he has done borders on attempted murder! No, no, he must have had some intimation that Sephiroth would survive. If President Shinra were to lose his company's greatest scientific achievement due to negligence, he would punish the person responsible, internally and with nefarious methods. Deep down, Hojo is too much of a coward to risk that happening. But Hojo is not the worst part of the video.

Sybelline snaps the display shut and hurls the camcorder across the room. It impacts a wall with a crunch then drops to the floor. She rests her elbows on her knees, covers her face with her hands, and lets the tears come. What were you thinking, you old fool! Why did you watch?! Why did you listen?! Why do you always arrive too late?! The clock ticking over the doors marks the seconds passing by into minutes. She sits up and wipes the tears from her eyes, thankful she removed her make-up before she returned to the lab. She stands, giving her legs a test and, when she is sure she's on sound footing. she walks back to the SCU. This time when she steps into the unit, Sephiroth stirs in his sleep, turning his head to face Sybelline. His brow is furrowed and his eyes move beneath his eyelids. Nightmares, most likely. During and after treatments is the only time he has them. Sybelline fluffs the pillow and parks herself against the wall again. She feels exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sephiroth can't know she watched the footage. If he knew, he would be furious, and not because of wounded pride, but because he knows how it makes her feel, how seeing him in pain tears at her heart and soul. She leans into the pillow and closes her eyes.

"...Shai." Her eyes snap open.

"...stay away...her..." Sybelline is flabbergasted. Sephiroth hasn't talked in his sleep since he was in early adolescence. She sits up straight and watches him closely as he body begins to react as the nightmare takes him further into the darker recesses of his unconscious. The place where his deepest fears lie in wait.

"...leave...alone." His breathing borders on hyperventilation. His hands are tightly balled into fists, the muscles in his arms and shoulders are contracting, his legs shift underneath the blanket. Damn this place! There isn't an aspect of his life that is safe from its corruption.

"No!" He sits bolt upright, scaring the hell out of Sybelline. She places her hand over her heart and takes a few deep breaths. He searches his surroundings, the unit, the lab, turning every which way, until his eyes finally rest on Moreau. They are luminescent, but slowly pale as he realizes the only threat is the one conceived in his mind.

"Sybelline?"

"You almost sent me into cardiac arrest!"

"How long have I been asleep?" He rubs at his eyes with the tips of his fingers.

"Not nearly long enough. About three hours." He inches his way back down onto the padded floor.

"That was quite the nightmare you were having. Do you remember any of it?"

"Fragments."

"You were talking in your sleep." Despite the obvious discomfort it brings him, he sits back up again. He looks at Sybelline incredulously.

"That's not possible. I haven't talked in my sleep since I was twelve."

"Well, you did. Just now."

"What did I say?"

"Shai." A slow burn ignites in his eyes.

"Is that all?"

"No. You also said stay, away, her, leave, alone." He's silent. Sybelline is tempted to ask him if he wants to talk about it, but knows the last thing he needs right now is to be psychoanalyzed. Previously, when she has expounded on the benefits of dream analysis, he told her she sounded like a graduate student defending their thesis. Instead, she tries a different approach.

"I'm not surprised, really."

"About what?"

"That you are dreaming about Shai."

"Why?"

"She's been in close contact with you since last night. Literally. She hasn't left your side."

"I've spent entire days with you and haven't dreamt about you."

"Our relationship is very different from the one you have with Shai."

"I don't think I have the strength for this conversation." He carefully lies back down and closes his eyes. Sybelline stands and brings in the basket and the tote.

"You're right. Now may not be the best time to be talking about such matters. Are you hungry? I brought food with me. A veritable feast." Sephiroth opens his eyes. He pulls the blanket from his legs, lifts himself back up, and sits with his legs crossed. Sybelline cannot help but notice the faltering way he moves, the involuntary muscular twitches due to fatigue and pain. She reaches for his blanket and drapes it over his shoulders. He wraps it around himself.

"What is on the menu?"

"Oatmeal and crackers for our entrée. Bananas for dessert, two for each of us. Coffee for me. Water for you."

"What? No Wagyu steak? No truffle risotto? No caviar?"

"Do you think you could keep any of that down?" She hands him a bottle of water.

"No. Pass the crackers, please." Sybelline is having a strong sense of déjà vu as she watches him bite a saltine in half; Sephiroth and her, together in the SCU when he was ten. He's sitting cross-legged in the center of the unit in blue and white striped pyjama bottoms, part of a set Sybelline bought him to replace the hospital gown he was always given to wear. A full-size blanket covers his shoulders, back, and arms. It's so large on his frame, it fans out around him like a superhero's cape. His hair isn't nearly as long as it is now, but it is well on its way; those long black lashes outlining those beautiful eyes. She is sitting across from him like she is now, drinking her coffee and reading aloud from a book of his choosing, and for a brief time, that prison becomes their own little world away from the white coats and that madman. Sybelline opens the thermos filled with coffee and pours herself a cup. She sighs before taking a sip, her thoughts still adrift fifteen years in the past.

"Stop."

"What?"

"Whatever you are thinking about. Stop. I'm fine."

"It's not what you think." He raises a silver brow.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I will admit, I was thinking about you, but it was in regards to your actions this morning."

"What about them?"

"I want to commend you on your restraint with the aides. Had it been me, I would have ripped his arm from his socket."

"You do have a tendency to overreact."

"But they forced their way into your home. Got rough with Shai. You're telling me the thought didn't cross your mind?"

"I'm a SOLDIER, Sybelline. We are trained to control such impulses."

"So, you would never, say, threaten someone in the heat of the moment?" He sighs and removes another cracker from the wrapper.

"Shai told you?"

"I wanted the whole story, not the abridged edition."

"As you said, it was in the heat of the moment."

"Naturally. You saw someone you care about-"

"What?"

"-being assaulted and you acted on instinct. You behaved no differently than if it had been me."

"You're making outrageous assumptions, Sybelline."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"Says the man who has a handwritten note from a certain someone folded neatly in his front pocket."

"I have my reasons for taking it."

"To remind you that someone other than me cares about you?" A flash among the smoldering embers. Bingo.

"Don't be absurd."

"Then why?"

"My reasons are my own."

"Why are you so hesitant to talk about her?" Sephiroth takes a long drag from the water bottle.

He wants to tell Moreau he doesn't know why, but it would be one more lie he has concocted of late. Most of them are told to himself, to keep him in denial. The knot that has recently started to form in his chest whenever his thoughts focus on Shai has nothing to do with her; he's overworked. His inability to control his ocular emotional response at the sound of her name? Why, that's from overexertion as well. Just a few among many.

The real reason he does not like to talk about her, even to Sybelline? Talking about her means he might let his guard down, reveal to others what he has yet to acknowledge to himself; the strong, unfamiliar feelings he's developing for her. Because if he acknowledges them, that will make them invincible and they will tear down the mental and emotional fortifications he has spent years building. Someone else will have power over him, and that terrifies him. So, he concocts another lie.

"I'm uncomfortable talking about people behind their backs." He silently chastises himself for not thinking of something original.

"But we're not saying anything disparaging about her. Besides, it never stopped you from talking about Hojo or Genesis or Rufus."

"It's not the same."

"How so?"

"It just isn't."

"Fair enough." Sybelline continues to sip from her mug. Sephiroth swallows another saltine, rinsing it down with water. He pauses before biting down on another cracker.

"How is she?" he asks, "What did the doctor say?" Sybelline keeps her smile shining on the inside.

"No fracture. Bruising around the impacted area shows severe trauma, though. Standard course of treatment: PT and hot/cold packs. With time and persistence, she should be healed in four to six weeks."

"Stubborn woman. How can someone exhibit common sense throughout the night and completely disregard it come morning?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about her behind her back."

"I don't." Sephiroth presses his knuckles into his chest to prevent the knot from growing any larger.

"Then we'll stop."

"After you answer my question." Sybelline sighs.

"Her only thought was to protect that perfect head of yours from cracking open like a chocobo egg."

"At a risk to herself."

"She said it was worth it if it meant saving you from anymore pain. Should I break out her note to remind you?"

"No."

"Alright then." Sybelline pours herself more coffee. "Does that answer satisfy you?"

"I have a feeling no answer will." Sephiroth wraps the remaining crackers in their packaging and hands them back to Sybelline. She puts them in the basket and unpacks the thermal container.

"Want to try something heartier?"

"I've never been very fond of rolled oats." He reaches over and grabs a banana. Sybelline removes the lid from the container, forgoes spooning the oatmeal into a bowl, and takes a bite from the whole. She chuckles softly.

"What's so funny?"

"Just thinking what a far cry this is from Shai's cooking." She peeks up at Sephiroth as she takes another spoonful. He says nothing, but has a hint of a smile on his lips.

"My first meal with her," says Sybelline, "was sautéed chicken on focaccia bread with a creamy rosemary spread. Oh! It was so delicious! I was blown away." She takes another bite of oatmeal and mumbles about it being tastier sprinkled with cinnamon. Sephiroth finishes off his banana, tosses the peel in the basket, and takes another one. Sybelline's praise goes on.

"I know she follows recipes, but still, she makes them to perfection. I couldn't follow a recipe if my life depended on it."

"I know."

"And how would you know? Whenever we dine together, you insist on ordering takeout."

"I have a long memory from dinners past."

"Oh! Well, I was a workaholic back then. What did I know about the inner workings of a kitchen?"

"Apparently, nothing."

"Ok! Enough! Next topic, please." The unit goes quiet. Sybelline finishes off her portion of oatmeal, seals the container, and returns it to the basket. She picks up a banana and peels it.

"What was the first meal Shai cooked for you?"

"You mean that I was home for?"

"Of course." Sephiroth sighs resignedly, ignoring the pressure against his sternum.

"Cordon bleu."

"Wow! I've always wanted to try that. How was it?"

"Excellent."

"I knew it! Maybe I'll ask her to make it for me for my next birthday."

"She seems like the type of person who would be more than happy to fulfill your wish."

"She seems? Sephiroth, you should have fostered some relationship with her by now. She's been in your employ for almost four weeks."

"And of those four weeks, I have spent four evenings, a handful of afternoons, and a weekend with her. How is that enough time to, in your words, foster a relationship with her?"

"It's not the quantity, it's the quality. Some people spend a day with one another and know by nightfall that they have met their soul mate."

"Nonsense." Sephiroth reaches for the third banana and Sybelline slaps his hand.

"It's not nonsense. Don't be so cynical. You're too young." She caves and hands it to him.

"Are you saying that I should know by now whether Shai is my soul mate or not?"

"No! You're twisting my words. I'm just saying it doesn't take months or years to develop a rapport with someone.

"A connection."

"Yes."

"Even if I have developed a connection with her, I have already doomed it to fail."

"How?"

"Isn't trust integral to a relationship? I've been dishonest with her. To protect her from the horrors of my past and present, I will continue to be dishonest with her. I have betrayed her trust." Sybelline shakes her head. She leans toward him and takes one of his hands in both of hers.

"I still think you are underestimating her. Look how well she handled last night and this morning, hm? Be straightforward with her from now on. She will understand your, our, actions." They stare at one another for several tense seconds, and for a millisecond Sybelline believes she may have convinced him, but his brow dips in a scowl and he yanks his hand away from hers.

"What you suggest is impossible. Shinra would never permit her to have access to classified information. The company would make her life a living hell. Or worse."

"It may already be too late." In his eyes, a fire kindles from the embers.

"What do you mean?"

"The aides mentioned something about the treatment."

"She told you?"

"It's what she didn't say. While eating lunch this afternoon, I asked her about them. She was extremely evasive, kept changing the subject."

"My absence in the clinic could not have helped matters."

"They took her to radiology. She would have walked right past the SSC unit and seen the empty beds. She must suspect that you and I are withholding information from her."

"That doesn't mean I have to divulge my entire life to her."

"I never said that! Will you stop twisting what I say! I meant only what relates to your life now."

"But to do that, I must tell her about my past. You really think I should burden her with that?"

"I think you should let her decide."

"It's too dangerous."

"Hojo knows about her confrontation with his men. If he knows, chances are others do too. He is not the only one who closely monitors those surveillance cameras in the lab. There is Tseng and Heidegger to consider. The run-in with the aides also means they know you were home recovering from the treatment. They are going to assume Shai knew you were home too."

"But Shai knows nothing. All she has are suspicions. And that is based on our speculations."

"If they suspect Shai of knowing classified information, Tseng will pay a visit to the condo to see how much she knows. If she knows nothing, and doesn't ask questions, he will clear her."

"All the more reason not to tell her anything about the treatments or my life, outside of what she needs to know."

"I disagree."

"How can you?! After everything you just said!"

"What better person to keep secrets than someone who cannot speak."

"Sybelline-"

"Tell me you will at least give my advice some consideration and not disregard it completely. You yourself said, not that long ago I might add, that you didn't want to lie to her, that you didn't want to give her a reason to distrust you."

"I also said I didn't want her to fear me."

"She won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I trust my instincts and they tell me I can trust her. Will you think about it? What we have discussed here tonight?"

"...Yes."

"Thank you. Now, I have a book with me. Would you like me to read to you?" He pulls the blanket from his shoulders, hands it to Sybelline, and lies down. She drapes the blanket over him from nose to toes. Unamused, he folds it down to his waist.

"What's it about?"

"It's historical fiction."

"I'd rather be unconscious."

"It's about a swordsman."

"This is what happens when you choose the book." Sybelline fluffs up her pillow and places it on the floor. She unfolds the blanket and snaps it into the air so it billows down beside the pillow.

"What are you doing?"

"Making my bed. Now, do you want me to read to you or not?"

"Sybelline, you really don't need to stay."

"Shush. Just lie there and relax. Should I fill you in on what has happened in the story thus far?"

"No."

"Fine. Chapter seven..." Sybelline glances over at Sephiroth to see if he is actually listening, not that she would be able to tell. He's lying in a macabre pose with his eyes closed and his hands clasped over his stomach. His breathing is slow and steady. Still, she keeps reading, though her thoughts are only partially on the page. They are remembering their conversation, the words said and words left unsaid, the emotions plain as day and the ones concealed in shadow. But what they are remembering the most is the smoldering burn that never left his eyes, kindled by the sound of her name.