Quick note: If you like to listen to music while reading, I recommend listening to Judgement Day by Nobuo Uematsu for this chapter.
19 August 1980
Today was finally here. Today, the day which she had been dreading from the very marrow of her bones.
The day which her son was to be taken away from her forever.
To Mrs. Strife, everything started to go downhill at the beginning of the month. Slowly, one by one, each of her possessions were disappearing from the room she had resided in for four years. At first, she was able to deny that the inevitable was coming, that everything was going to be all right, but she could no longer pretend otherwise.
Only the clothes on her back and Cloud's own possessions were left. There was nothing she could do anymore.
Swallowing, Mrs. Strife put on a smile, masking the dread, horror, and depression plaguing her mind, preventing it from breaking through for all to see. She served a bowl of oatmeal for her son, hiding her wince when she accidentally brushed against the table.
Jenova had been at it again. Mrs. Strife only had to worry about scare attempts, but it soon escalated to physical abuse. She quickly learned that no one would help her, so instead of crying out, she kept as silent as she possibly could, not wanting Cloud to ever find out what was going on. Thankfully, Cloud remained oblivious to it all, not knowing that his own mother was being attacked periodically. However, as the final day grew closer and closer, Jenova seemed to lose more and more interest in Mrs. Strife. The two day old bruise on her leg was still sensitive, but it wasn't as bad as previous marks she'd had.
Bringing herself back to the present, Mrs. Strife listened to the cheerful chatter Cloud excitedly made about his birthday.
She so desperately wanted to cry.
Today was finally here. Today, the day which all of the long years of waiting were to be rewarded.
The day she would finally have Cloud.
Gleefully, Jenova enjoyed the human's denial, its anxiety, its suffering, its misery. She no longer had to see it ever again, except in passing, and she no longer had to deal with a stranger in the house. Though Cloud was an outsider, he had been raised with them almost since the day he was born, and he was going to stay with them for the rest of his days. Now that Jenova thought about it, maybe it was better that things had deviated from the original plan.
Now was not the time to focus on past troubles. Now was the time to look forward to the near future, to the evening dinner and dessert...
Sephiroth was already out of bed by the time Cloud came to wake him up. He had spent most of the night awake, thinking about the next day, and his thoughts still plagued him this morning.
Cloud was leaving. It was his birthday, and he was leaving. He was leaving.
That was the one thing that stood out from everything else: he was leaving.
He was leaving. Today. As in, a few hours from now, possibly in the afternoon. That wasn't too early or too late, was it? No, it wasn't.
As Sephiroth climbed down the stairs with Cloud, he realized something.
He loved Cloud. Loved him like another brother. Never in Sephiroth's life did he think he would ever become close enough to an outsider to have a friend, much less have a relationship that was like kin.
Cloud was almost bouncing off the walls, eager for cake, which was only ever served on his birthdays. Saddened, Sephiroth found it hard to break it to him, but he had to. He had said to himself that he would do it.
"Hey," Sephiroth called. Cloud stopped bouncing excitedly on the couch and looked at Sephiroth while leaning forward on the cushions standing upwards.
"Come here." Sephiroth gestured with his hand.
Cloud smiled shyly and shook his head.
"Get over here."
Cloud slid off the couch and ran for the dining room, squeezing through the chairs. Sephiroth squatted in front of the spot Cloud was stuck in.
"Come here," Sephiroth said firmly.
"No," Cloud said playfully, shaking his head again.
"Please come out from under the table, Cloud," Mrs. Strife said, sounding like she was under a lot of stress.
Cloud pouted, but did as he was told, wiggling his small body through the confined space. Sephiroth pulled him by the legs to help him out.
Mrs. Strife was hovering closer to Cloud than usual, and more frequently, too. Sephiroth saved his wondering for later. It would be better and easier if he told Cloud what would happen if she wasn't around to overreact over it. But even as Cloud made his way back to the couch and asked Sephiroth to turn the TV on, Mrs. Strife was still hovering, keeping an eye on her son. Now that was where Sephiroth was confused, but he didn't question it for the time being.
The more time flew by, the less Sephiroth wanted to tell Cloud that he was going to leave, and soon he dismissed the idea altogether. Thinking about it wasn't going to make him do it, and once it was late enough for his brothers to come downstairs, he knew that he wasn't going to do it. He didn't want to ruin Cloud's happiness, nor did he want to somehow cause something that would ruin the peace that he painstakingly recreated with his brothers over the past few months.
Sephiroth helped prepare the night's dinner, wondering why his mother hadn't taken Cloud and Mrs. Strife back to Nibelheim. She had brought them up here, so she was going to take them back, too. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something strange was going to happen.
Jenova was acting far too giddy.
Cloud swung his legs while sitting in his chair, eagerly waiting to stuff his half-full stomach with cake. He didn't notice that nearly everybody was as excited as he was, especially Kadaj. He didn't notice Sephiroth's dread or Mrs. Strife's anxiety, either. What he did notice was that Jenova was bringing him a cake, one that looked extra extra big compared to what Cloud remembered of his past birthday. He didn't mind at all. He only got treats like this once a year, and he preferred real cakes to cupcakes.
"Happy fourth year, Cloud," Jenova said.
"Happy birthday, Cloud," Sephiroth said.
"Happy birthday," Yazoo murmured.
"Happy birthday," Loz said, eying the cake.
Kadaj said nothing.
"Happy birthday, Cloud," Mrs. Strife said with a fearful tone in her voice. Cloud wondered why his mother sounded strange and wanted to ask why, but the cake was cut and served.
Cloud stuffed his mouth with cake, savoring the chocolate flavor. He cut off a smaller piece of his slice with his fork and ate it, feeling frosting and small chunks of cake sticking to his lips. Cloud licked off the dessert as best as he could before his mother swooped in and wiped his mouth.
Not a single word was said. Not even when Jenova gathered all the dishes and put them in the sink. Everybody was still sitting at the table and not going off to watch TV. Cloud sat awkwardly, watching Jenova when she returned to her seat.
More silence. Then...
"Time is up, human," Jenova said, looking like she wanted to laugh.
Cloud felt his mother tense beside him, and he was squeezed tightly.
Something was wrong. He could feel it in the way his mother held him, could hear it in the way she spoke, could see it in the expressions of Sephiroth and his brothers.
"Just-just a little longer! Please!" Mrs. Strife cried.
Something was wrong, something was wrong. What was wrong? Why were they acting like this? What did Jenova and Mrs. Strife mean when they were talking about time? Cloud's confusion grew, and so did an urge.
"You had your time. Four years worth of it. Say your goodbyes."
Goodbye? What—
"I can't!"
Jenova rose and roughly yanked Mrs. Strife, forcefully separating her from Cloud. She dragged Mrs. Strife out the door. Cloud and Sephiroth sped towards them.
"Stay," Jenova said to Cloud. To Sephiroth, she said, "Keep him here."
"Why?" Sephiroth asked coldly.
Jenova didn't reply, instead giving Sephiroth a knowing look, to which Sephiroth reacted to with pure shock.
Out the door Jenova went, dragging Mrs. Strife with her. Cloud ran and fought to get out of Sephiroth's grip, pleading for Sephiroth to let him go.
"Mama!" Cloud screamed. "MAMA!"
Mrs. Strife thrashed and struggled to break Jenova's hold. She heard a loud noise, and she didn't realize that she had been struck until a hand tightened around her neck, slowly cutting off more and more of her air. She felt a rush, and then she saw that they were now near the slope.
Not paying much mind to the unnatural speed it took to get them there, Mrs. Strife resorted to negotiation.
"Please," Mrs. Strife begged uselessly, her request falling on deaf ears. "Please," she repeated through her tears.
"You only have yourself to blame. In the end, you were the one that had agreed."
Mrs. Strife could not deny that. She felt like a monster.
"Why?" she asked weakly, feeling faint from lack of air. "Why do you want him?"
"That," she heard, "is a reason you shall not know."
Her neck was released, but before Mrs. Strife was able to react, she was turned around and kicked hard on her lower back. She fell head-first on the slope, the rocks scraping against her skin as she rolled all the way down.
Sephiroth tried to take a minute to take in what had just happened. He was still in shock over the fact that Cloud's mother would do such a thing. To give up her one and only son... But a part of him was secretly glad that Cloud was indeed staying, and he felt terrible for it. Even thinking about it as he held the sobbing boy made him feel horrible.
But there was nothing he could do. If anybody were to blame, it would have to be Mrs. Strife. While Jenova only told him that Cloud had to stay here because of the Deal Mrs. Strife made, he was positive that his mother had informed the woman of the consequences beforehand.
Yazoo looked down at Cloud, disturbed. Loz was utterly confused. Kadaj hadn't moved from the table, and he looked like he expected to wake up from a dream very soon.
"Mama..." Cloud sniffled, exhausted. Sephiroth shifted him so that Cloud was resting his head on Sephiroth's shoulder. He silently soothed the boy, sending him comforting waves through their link to dispel the hurt, confusion, and anger emanating from him.
It wasn't long before Jenova returned. Immediately, Sephiroth asked, "Why? What did you want Cloud for?"
"He is for you," came the answer. "He is your doll."
Notes:
Started: 2013年8月27日（火）
Finished: 2013年9月2日（月）
Apologies for the delay! I had run into some technical problems right before I started on this.
To state the obvious, this is where the title comes in!
Before anybody freaks out (I'm pretty sure that at least one person might), hear me out. If Sephiroth loved Cloud romantically at this point, it would be CREEPY. But just because Sephiroth sees Cloud as a brother right now doesn't mean that he'll feel that way about him forever. Things change over time-feelings, thoughts, etc. Plus, the lowest I'll go in fanfiction is fourteen.
Next chapter: Explain, Jenova! EXPLAAAAAIIIINNNN!