When the boat landed at Costa del Sol, the group got off the boat.

"Thank GAWD! I thought that trip would never end!" Yuffie exclaimed when she got off.

"Damn right brat. If you threw up anymore, the ship would have sunk," Barret said in a jest.

"I can't help it! I get motion sickness."

"Alright you two, enough," Cloud interrupted. "We'll stay here for a day or two before going on. During that time, doing whatever you think will help you rest up."

Sephiroth smiled, his mind momentarily visualizing the three women in the group on the beach, in bikinis, sun bathing or swimming. He quickly banished the thought from his mind and face but not before Yuffie noticed it.

The point of her Shuriken touched the underside of his jaw, "What are you thinking of?"

"Just the thought of getting this coat off and going swimming," he replied hastily.

"Uh-huh, right. What were you really thinking of?" Yuffie asked.

"Just the beach, that's all!" Sephiroth said, hurriedly.

Yuffie glared at him for a moment, then shrugged and put the throwing star away. "Alright then, let's go." She grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her.

"…You don't suppose he was thinking…" Barret started.

"About the same thing I was. Probably, except with Yuffie." Cloud finished as the two women he had fallen in love with walked away, talking amongst them.

"…How can he stand that coat? I live in mine and I can't take much more of this heat." Red XIII said.

"You either come out or I'll go in and drag you out." Yuffie said into the changing room.

"How many times do I have to tell you," Sephiroth said in reply, "this doesn't fit. And it takes time to get all this off and back on."

"Then leaving it off," Yuffie said in exasperation.

"Wait, why do you even care?" Sephiroth asked out of the blue.

Yuffie tried to make something up but he came out, fully clothed, and put the swimming trunks back and picked up a larger pair. The size on the trunks and his pants were different, with the shorts larger on the tag. But clothing in this town is naturally smaller. And he refused to walk around in a one of those male thongs, the only things correctly labeled.

He grabbed another pair, checked them against his leg, and went back in. "If you're so bored, why don't you try something on? That turtle neck is nice but not exactly beach wear."

"Fine," she grabbed something and went in the next booth.

The shorts fit this time, with out being to tight, and Sephiroth liked the design on it so he decided to get it. When he walked out, Yuffie was there again. Only this time, she was wearing a two piece sky-blue bikini with a shawl around her hips, going over her left leg. It took everything he had to keep those shorts from getting tighter.

Yuffie's jaw nearly dropped. Sephiroth walked out only wearing the semi skin-tight shorts, revealing his fine, chiseled stomach and chest. While he wasn't a muscle bound idiot like those that walking around there, thinking that was all it took to get a girl, he wasn't a light weight either and was without a single ouch of fat. His long white hair was pulled back and tied about half-way down. He looked like an avatar for a god.

"Wow. I, I mean…wow." Sephiroth said, giving her a look over.

Yuffie gave herself a little shake and said, "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Outside, the two walked down the short road to the steps to the beach. Stopping at the hotel to drop off their clothes, they went to the steps. Below them, the beach, with a huge number of lovely women in a single or two piece bikini, spread out before them.

"Well, get going." Yuffie said behind him.

"You're not coming with me?"

"Maybe later, I have things to do."

Sephiroth frowned and looked past her at the surf. But instead he saw a man that he hated passionately. "That's okay, so do I."

He walked down the steps with his left hand tightening on the sheath of his blade. He came to a group of women that surrounded the man. "Excuse me ladies, I need through."

"Go around," the man said.

"No, I need to talk to you, Hojo. And these women, no matter the how or why, won't keep me from you."

Hojo finally turned his head from the chest in front of him to look at Sephiroth. "Who are you to be threatening me, much less anyone at all?"

"Sephiroth Valentine."

"…Ladies, can you leave me alone for a minute? Thank you. So, what do you want with me?"

"Truthfully, to kill you and I could do it without anyone seeing my sword drawn. I had a run in with my counter part, your 'son'."

"Ah, Ganglere, how's he doing?"

"He's a psychotic murderer. How do you think? The reason I wanted to talk to you is to ask what you would have done to my mother if she had become your experiment."

"I think we both know what would have happened to her, and you." Hojo replied.

"Then you're lucky my father doesn't know."

"Discover all this on your own? Impressive. I've heard of you and you're skills, Sephiroth. I believe that you would have been a hell of an experiment. That your skills would have been equal if not greater than that of Ganglere."

The Dragon's Claw was out of its sheath in an instant and bit into the sand, through the towel, and pulling a sliver of blood from Hojo's neck.

"Never say that again. I am not nor ever will be your experiment. And I will surpass Ganglere. Without your experiments!" Sephiroth said it, so full of hate that when he was bringing his sword down, he had to force it from slicing through the neck of this monster.

"No, if you can't even kill me, I doubt that you could kill him." Hojo said before dismissing him.

Sephiroth pulled the Dragon's Claw out and put it back in its sheath. As he walked away and the women started back for Hojo, he said, "Ladies, there's something you should know about him. The last woman who fell in love with him was experimented on while she was pregnant. She was put through hell by him, for him before dieing in child birth. He didn't even lift a finger to help her while he was watching. Her son was turned into a monster even before Hojo there got his hands on him. I just thought you should know that before you throw yourselves at his feet."

That stopped them and got a glare from him. "And Hojo, make no mistake, I will be the one to end your life. On this sword or some other one, your blood will be shed and left to sink into the ground."

Yuffie watched the exchange and gasped when she thought the he killed him. But when he left him alive, she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Not because she didn't want Hojo dead, she didn't even know of him, but because for the time being, he was innocent.

. "Ladies, there's something you should know about him. The last woman who fell in love with him was experimented on while she was pregnant. She was put through hell by him, for him before dieing in child birth. He didn't even lift a finger to help her while he was watching. Her son was turned into a monster even before Hojo there got his hands on him. I just thought you should know that before you throw yourselves at his feet. And Hojo, make no mistake, I will be the one to end your life. On this sword or some other one, your blood will be shed and left to sink into the ground."

Okay, now he deserves to die, she thought.

As Sephiroth walked back up the steps, suddenly not wanting to swim, he saw Yuffie sitting at a table at the café. "May I join you?"

"Go ahead."

As he sat down, he saw her eyes dart between him and the beach. "I take it you heard me."

"Yes, barely."

"That was Hojo, head of the Shin-Ra Science Department. Has been since after his research on this creature called Jenova. My parents at one point were forced to work under him. But when they married, he wanted someone new. The same woman I was talking about."

"Wait, then does that mean that your mother was supposed to be his test subject and that would mean…"

"That instead of me searching to kill Ganglere, you guys would be searching to kill me."

Yuffie couldn't say anything. And, for a moment, neither could Sephiroth. After a minute, when a waiter went by, he asked for green tea and some egg rolls.

"Egg rolls?" Yuffie asked.

"I love Wutian food. In part because my mother is Wutian, in another, because it's good."

She didn't say anything for a moment then smiled. "Cheers."

Author's Notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7