I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.

Questioning

Cody stared at the ceiling in silence, tossing one of his Prayer materia into the air and catching it over and over. They had come to a small village called Kalm where Cloud had told them his story. The one about him having been Sephiroth's partner, and about going to Nibelheim with him in order to investigate an old Mako reactor. Then of finding pods filled with Hojo's experimental monsters made from soaking humans in mako. He told them about Sephiroth becoming possessed by the theory, the fear, that he was somehow the same as those monsters, then locking himself away in the Shinra Mansion at Nibelheim, an abandoned home that once was occupied by some of Shinra's leaders. He explained Sephiroth spending days locked in a secret basement in the mansion, pouring over old books and reports by Professor Gast, Hojo's predecessor. Then, he described Sephiroth going insane, slaughtering the inhabitants of Nibelheim, and going to the reactor. He described Sephiroth wounding Tifa, though she was lucky enough to survive, obviously, then described going after Sephiroth, Sephiroth claiming to be chosen by the Cetra to rule the planet. And then he had stopped, saying he didn't remember the rest. He acknowledged that there was no way he'd beat Sephiroth in a fight, but that Shinra's official report was that Sephiroth had died there. However, they were also confused about Jenova, the headless corpse they'd seen in the Shinra Building, which Cloud had said was in Nibelheim's reactor, and which was missing on their second trip up through Hojo's lab. Finally, Barret had left, deciding to leave the thinking to them, in his own words. Throughout the story, Tifa and Cody had remained silent. If they told Cloud the truth, both knew there was no telling what would happen to him. For now, it was best to leave it as it was.

Cloud's fragile and warped state of mind wasn't the only thing on Cody's mind, however. There was also getting to say goodbye to Cissnei one last time. And the information about his parents he'd learned. That one was taking some major adjusting to swallow. They'd been in Kalm for three days now, with Cloud's story being on day one, and he'd done nothing but lay in the room he'd gotten for himself and think. He was starting to feel like maybe he could sympathize with Sephiroth for locking himself up for days, then going nuts.

Cody sighed, catching his Prayer materia and putting it back in his bangle just as Jessie dropped onto the bed beside him, draping an arm across his chest and smiling up at him.

"You've been thinking pretty hard since Cloud's story," Jessie said. "Is everything alright?"

Cody was silent for a moment before shaking his head slowly. "Not really, no. My parents weren't...what I thought they were. They were..."

Jessie frowned, watching him, but he simply shook his head. "Well, whatever they were, they did one thing right. They made you."

"Yeah, and they fucked that up pretty bad too," Cody snorted derisively. "I'm allergic to the thing I need to breathe in order to survive. How's that for a shit dose of irony."

Jessie frown, then reached up, pulling his mask down before kissing him. Cody kissed her back, holding his breath so that he wouldn't need to pull his mask up. After a couple of seconds, Jessie pulled back, smiling down at him.

"Oxygen allergy or not, I'll always be happy I met you," Jessie smiled. "You saved my life on that tower. And you've saved my life a dozen times since. And life debts aside, being with you has been among the happiest I've been in years."

Cody smiled. "Me too."

Her smile widened, her eyes growing watery before she kissed him again. Finally, she pulled away and stood, Cody pulling his mask up as she walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open. Cody laid where he was for a few minutes as he heard the bathroom sink running. She wasn't using the bathroom, so he was pretty sure she was either doing or fixing her makeup. He looked over, able to just see her back as she bent forward in front of the sink to inspect her reflection in the mirror up close. She was still wearing one of Cissnei's suits. It looked great on her, but he had figured out why she was wearing it about the first morning he woke up in Kalm and saw her wearing one again. Just like she'd been wearing her hair down. And when she'd told him she couldn't find Cissnei's civilian clothes, he'd wanted to call her out on it. He knew how meticulous Cissnei was about organizing. There would have been both suits and civilian clothes laid out already. Taking a suit had ended up saving them, but it had still been intentional.

He sighed softly before finally standing and walking into the bathroom, leaving his mask around his neck. He stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the side of her neck, Jessie smiling and tilting her head aside. He looked at her reflection in the mirror, his mind replacing her with Cissnei for a moment before allowing him to see her properly. They really were alike in some ways. But Jessie wasn't Cissnei. She never would be. And she shouldn't be trying to be.

Jessie smiled at him in the mirror, and his eyes softened slightly as his arms began to slid up the outsides of her arms. She frowned in confusion as he gathered her hair up, leaving her bangs, and quickly and easily bound her hair into a ponytail again with a hair tie as she usually wore it. Then, he smiled, hands dropping back to her sides.

"There," he said, resting his chin on her shoulder. "There's the girl I fell in love with."

Jessie's eyes widened instantly and she twisted around to stare at him, Cody kissing her as soon as she was facing him.

After a few seconds, he pulled away, cupping her face and looking into her eyes. "Listen to me, Jessie. I will always love Cissnei. No one in the world will ever replace her, and I would never want anyone to. You shouldn't waste your energy or your time trying to replace her. You will never have to. I don't love you because you're like Cissnei. I love you because you're you. You were able to pull me out of the darkness by being you, not her. I will never want you to be anyone else."

Jessie's eyes widened and she lifted his mask to his face for him. "Breathe."

He smiled behind his mask, taking a deep breath before she let his mask fall and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him desperately. He returned the kiss with all the passion he was receiving, guiding her out of the bathroom and back to the bed. Within seconds, she had shoved his coat off his shoulders and he tossed it aside before she sat up, dropping her own. As he pressed her into the bed again, his hands tugged at the sides of her shirt, popping the buttons open easily without breaking any before finally moving to cup her breasts, Jessie moaning as he massaged and kneaded them. Their tongues slid against each other's as he pressed his thigh into her, Jessie beginning to grind against it instantly. However, just as he slid her braw up out of the way, someone pounded on the door three times, Cody and Jessie stopping. Cody narrowed his eyes irritably, picking up his mask and holding it to his face.

"What?" he asked.

"Cloud says he wants to talk," Barret's voice said.

"Tell him I'm busy," Cody said.

"He said now," Barret said. "He says it's urgent."

Cody growled in annoyance before sitting back on his knees and tugging his mask's strap up into place. Jessie sighed, adjusting her bra before buttoning her shirt as both retrieved their jackets, Jessie tugging her tie back into place. Finally, Cody opened the door and Barret glance between their scowls before clearing his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh, he's in his room with Tifa," Barret said.

Cody shoved past Barret, Jessie doing the same after him, and both walked to Cloud's room, shoving the door open and leveling Cloud with a pair of annoyed stares. Tifa looked between the two in confusion before her eyes widened.

"Oh my God!" she gasped. "We're so sorry! Aren't we?"

"I don't care," Cloud grumbled. "You and I need to have a chat, Cody. No matter how I slice it, we shouldn't have been able to get away that easily. Especially from Roche. it made no sense for him to just let us go like that."

"Oh so we're back to this again," Cody said. "Right. Well, I'm heading back to my room. Let me know when you decide to tell me to take a hike or decide to trust me again."

"You're not going anywhere until you explain yourself," Cloud said.

"EXPLAIN MYSELF!?" Cody thundered, wheeling around on him. "For what!? For a psychopath who's obsessed with fighting a challenging opponent didn't try to stop u from escaping!? Or maybe for Hojo having sleeping gas in his cell!? What do I have to explain myself to you for this time!?"

"Explain why you've been locked away in your room for the last three days," Cloud said.

"That's none of your Goddamn business!" Cody snapped. "I needed time alone to think! I'm sorry that I don't know for sure that I want to devote my whole life to trying to find Sephiroth when we don't even know where he went! I'm sorry that I have my own problems to deal with, not just your grudge!"

"Sephiroth is a threat to the planet!" Cloud snapped.

"And what a useful coincidence that excuse is!" Cody snapped, then sighed heavily. "Fuck this. If you don't trust me, feel free to leave without me. I'm going to finish working through my problems in my head, then figure out what to do next. Who knows. Maybe I'll go back to take Rufus Shinra's head."

He turned, walking out of the room and back to his, dropping onto the bed on his left side, glaring at the wall. He didn't understand what he'd done wrong. No matter what he did, someone was always accusing him of being a spy. Of being a traitor. He couldn't understand it. He was trusted more when he was openly opposed to everything the group he worked for did, and was openly searching for a way to take them down. Now that he was openly an ally of a group he was working with, and in love with one of its members, suddenly everything he did, or everything the people around him did, was cause for suspicion of his motives and allegiance.

Jessie sat behind him on the bed, gently combing her left hand's fingers through his hair, her right hand resting on top of his right shoulder. "He's just being an ass. We all know you're our friend. He'll calm down."

Cody sighed, reaching his left hand up to rest it on top of her right hand, staring at the wall. "I'm just trying to make everything I've done wrong right. Why is it that now that I'm trying to do the right thing I'm suddenly trusted less than when I was openly look for a way to destroy Shinra while doing all manner of unspeakable things for them?"

Jessie was silent for a while before laying down behind him and wrapping her arms around him, kissing the back of his neck. "No matter what the others think, you'll always have me. I'll always trust you."

Cody smiled, resting his hand over hers. "I know. It just annoys me. I'll be okay."

Jessie smiles and nods against his back. "Nap time now. Then when we wake up, it's time for you to start teaching me to use that sword we stole."

Cody chuckled and nodded. "Alright. Deal."

Jessie smiled, squeezing him lightly before they both closed their eyes, drifting off to sleep within a few minutes.

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