Christmas Flower

Chapter 6: Sephiroth

Sephiroth dialed as he waited impatiently for the elevator. He finished the number and hit the Send button, then lifted the cell phone to his ear. It rang three times before it picked up, by which time he had boarded the elevator. As a mutual agreement between him, Cloud and Tifa, the trio closed the office on Christmas Eve until the new year, giving their employees a week-long holiday. Today was the twenty-third, and Sephiroth had business that couldn't wait for tomorrow.

"Hello?" The phone clicked.

"Hello, Aunt Elmyra," Sephiroth replied, pushing the button for the lobby on the elevator panel. "It's Sephiroth."

"Oh good, I was just thinking of you," Elmyra said. "Sephiroth, tell me, do you still wear your hair long?"

"Yes, why?"

"No reason, just making sure you could use my gift," Elmyra said coyly. Sephiroth frowned. His aunt had bizarre taste in gifts. Whatever gift she got him that required long hair, he was sure would end up stowed in a box in his closet. His mother's sister was nothing if not unorthodox. Sephiroth silently thanked God that Lucrecia had not been so strange.

"Good. Aunt Elmyra, I don't have time to socialize, I am calling on a matter of great importance," Sephiroth said.

"Oh dear. When you say it's important, it must be bad. Is it bad?" Elmyra asked, all traces of humor in her voice gone.

"I've not yet decided if this is bad or good," Sephiroth replied, stepping off the elevator. "I'm afraid my childhood memories are lacking, so I need your help. Do you recall when mother and father had their…ah, 'rough patch'?"

"Oh…yes, I do," Elmyra replied.

"Good. I need to know her name and all you know about her."

"Which 'her' would that be?"

"You know the one."

"…oh, that her."

"Yes, that one."

Cloud rapped his fingers against the wood of the table as he waited. He looked at his watch and let out a small growl. Six minutes now. He looked back up at the clock, and it gave the same result. Cloud rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair as he waited for Rufus. Tifa was busy meeting with another client before the office closed for the holidays tomorrow, and Sephiroth said he had family business to take care of. So he once again was left alone to handle the Shinra vice-president and his enormous ego and wallet.

The door clicked open, and Cloud lifted cerulean eyes to meet colder, darker ones. Rufus smiled at him as he threw his coat over the back of the chair opposite Cloud and set a briefcase on the table.

"Good afternoon," Rufus said, sitting down.

"And you are nearly seven minutes late for our meeting because…?" Cloud asked, irritated.

"Traffic," Rufus shrugged innocently. "My apologies." He sat down and clicked open his briefcase as Cloud waited. The day was almost done and he was eager to get home. He had gifts for his friends and family to wrap that evening. Come to think of it, he'd been meaning to get Aerith a gift, but his spare time and searches through the city had not been successful. Cloud made a mental note to find something tomorrow as Rufus slid a stack of papers towards him.

"I hope this is to your liking," Rufus said as Cloud took the papers. "Extensive documentation of all land deeds Shinra has bought, including names, the price paid, and the date of the transaction, among other details."

"It's suitable," Cloud nodded, looking over the list. "I simply wish to investigate Shinra's business practices thoroughly before we take on your case."

"Oh, please," Rufus snorted. "If you wanted to know that, you could have just asked. Shinra Inc. supplies the owner of the land it buys with considerable settlement fees. We also pay for the owner to move to a new residence and…"

Cloud silently tuned Rufus out as he read the list. He had to admit, he had been looking for a crack in Shinra's armor to deny them, but they seemed legitimate after all. The names were real, the sums were presumably real, and the dates went back to when Shinra had started. Cloud looked over the names, wondering if any of them were people he knew. Rosa Farrell, Edgar Figaro, Ilfana Gainsborough, Kuja Genome, Ingus…

"What?" Cloud hissed, his eyes widening. Rufus, not realizing Cloud wasn't listening to him, huffed.

"I said, we consider the placement for our plants with the utmost caution and attention to local business…" Rufus repeated. Cloud looked back up at the list and re-read the name and the information tabbed under it.

Ilfana Gainsborough. The sale of her property was finalized on April 23, 1993. The sale went for two hundred and fifty thousand gil. Cloud read the name once more to make sure it said what he thought it said.

"They offered mom a good settlement and to pay for moving expenses if she sold the home to them. We were going to lose the house anyway, so mom took the offer…the company didn't give her the settlement, found a legal loophole or something. Whatever they did, mom didn't get a cent, and when we couldn't pay for the house we had to leave…"

"Aerith…" Cloud whispered, the flower girl's words circling his head like some bird of ill omen. Cloud's hand shook slightly as he carefully set the paper back on top of the stack and slid it back across the table.

"There was one occasion, in Wutai, when they didn't want Shinra to open a plant, but negotiations went quite-"

"No," Cloud muttered, lifting his eyes to glare at Rufus.

"Excuse me?" the Shinra vice-president replied, confused. "Did you just interrupt me, Mr. Strife?"

"Yes, to inform you that you have nothing to say I want to hear," Cloud said coldly. "Mr. Shinra, I strongly suggest you collect your belonging and leave now. F.S.L. will have no dealings in any court case with Shinra, unless we become prosecutors."

"I beg your pardon?" Rufus growled, standing up.

"Are you deaf as well as a liar?" Cloud shot back. "Leave, now. We will not be taking your case, not now or ever. Get out of my office."

"I will not be spoken to in such a manner!" Rufus snarled, slamming a fist on the desk.

"And I will remind you, Mr. Shinra, this building does have security," Cloud said, standing up. "You found your way here alright, but perhaps you need help to find your way out?" Rufus gritted his teeth, and let out a grunt as he snatched the paperwork from the desk and stuffed it unceremoniously in the briefcase, clicking it shut.

"You have made a grave error in crossing me today, Mr. Strife," Rufus said, sweeping his coat through the air and over his shoulders. "Be sure I shall not forget this insult."

"I'd have it no other way," Cloud nodded curtly. Rufus gave him a final sneer before spinning and marching out of the room.

Aerith flipped the page of her book, furrowing her brow. She tried to concentrate on the words, but it wasn't working and she closed the book in frustration. Cid had let her have the day and tomorrow off for the Christmas season since she had done a good job with the store, and she had planned to spend the day shopping for a gift for Cloud. It wasn't going well, she had no idea what to buy him. Sure they lived together, but when it came to gift ideas, Aerith was coming up short. She had already bought something for Yuffie, but had no clue what Cloud would want.

There was a knock on the apartment door, and Aerith lifted her head. Yuffie had her own key, and Cloud didn't usually get visitors during the day. Who would it be? She stood up and crossed to the door, peering through the peephole. Aerith frowned as she saw who it was and slid the chain back from the door.

"Hello?" Aerith asked, confused.

"Hello, Aerith," Sephiroth returned the greeting, nodding slightly. "Are you busy at the moment?"

"Not particularly, why?" Aerith said.

"Please, put on your shoes and coat. There is something I must show you right away," Sephiroth said. "My car is waiting downstairs."

"What is it, is Cloud hurt?" Aerith asked urgently.

"No, he's fine. But all the same it is important you come with me. You must see this."

Aerith nodded after a moment and went back inside the apartment to grab her coat. She had only met Sephiroth and Tifa on two occasions thus far, but Cloud had told her about them. Sephiroth rarely joked around or said anything he didn't mean. If he had something important to show her, it had to be big. Aerith pulled her coat over her pink sweater and blue jeans, and then shoved her feet into her boots. She went back to the door and looked up at Sephiroth.

"Alright, let's go."

Aerith looked out the window of Sephiroth's car as trees zoomed by. The lawyer's light silver 2008 M-Zolom had left the city that she knew about five minutes ago, leading them into the countryside. She glanced back at Sephiroth, trying to figure out what he was doing. Sephiroth was stone-faced, staring ahead and keeping his eyes on the road. After a few moments he seemed to notice her attention and turned a slim green eye towards her.

"Where are we going?" Aerith asked. Sephiroth kept watching her for a moment before turning back to the road.

"East Midgar Cemetery," he said. Aerith sat back, and resumed looking out the window, confused. Sephiroth's hand on the steering wheel tightened, and he looked back at her.

"Aerith, what do you know about your father?" he asked. Aerith gave him a strange look.

"Well, my mom said he died while she was pregnant with me," she started. "She said he was a brilliant and loving man, and she loved him deeply. But she didn't talk about him much, said it hurt."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed slightly as he slowed down and clicked on his blinker, turning off the road and onto the gravel road that lead into East Midgar Cemetery. Aerith looked over the rows of gravestones as Sephiroth drove, noting that he seemed to know exactly where he was going. Finally, he slowed to a stop and removed his keys from the ignition.

"We're here," he said simply, removing his seatbelt. Aerith followed suit and swung her door open, stepping from the car. Sephiroth slammed his door and lifted a hand to wave Aerith forward. She walked around the car and followed as Sephiroth began walking into the field of graves.

"My father, Aerith, was many things. He was a thinker, a philosopher, a scientist, and a loving father and husband. However, he was strong only in his mind, in his heart, he was considerably weaker." Sephiroth spoke quietly as he led Aerith to the destination only he knew, the flower girl following behind him and listening intently.

"When I was a child, only three or four years old, my parents were in a car accident. My father emerged unharmed, but my mother had a broken leg. She was rehabilitated and healed in time. But the following months were hard on them both, or so my aunt tells me. My mother openly blamed my father for her injury, and in his guilt and frustration he became distant from her."

"Sephiroth, why are you telling me these things?" Aerith asked. Sephiroth stopped walking and turned to face her.

"My father, in his time of anxiety, did something that continues to shame me, as his son. He began courting another woman while with my mother. Their courtship only lasted a month, or so he told my family, but during that time he felt an emotional kinship with this woman he no longer felt with my mother. He eventually realized what he was doing and broke it off, and he and my mother attended counseling. However, the month he spent with that woman…well, that is why I've brought you here."

Sephiroth watched Aerith, then turned his head and looked at something to the side. Aerith turned to see where he was looking, and her breath hitched. Sephiroth's eyes turned back to her as Aerith slowly stepped forward, her eyes transfixed on the large gravestone a few feet away, two names carved on it in large font. The female name, Aerith knew had to be Sephiroth's mother; Lucrecia Crescent Faremis. And, beside her name…

Here lies Gast James Faremis.

"Tha…that's…that's my…" Aerith gasped, falling to her knees before the stone. Sephiroth stepped behind her and shook his head.

"No, Aerith," he corrected gently. "That's my father."

Aerith's head whirled around, and she stared at Sephiroth wide-eyed. She slowly climbed to her feet.

"But…then…you're my, my broth…"

"Half-brother, to be exact," Sephiroth said, nodding his head. "Your mother did tell the truth Aerith. Our father is dead, now, but he was alive when you were born. According to my aunt, she agreed to raise you alone, so as not to interfere with father's marriage. The family never heard from her again after she told us she was pregnant."

Aerith continued staring at him, then lunged forward. Sephiroth grunted as she impacted his chest and wrapped her arms around him, tears leaking onto his coat. He sighed and looked down at her.

"I am not one to take public displays of affection well," he warned. Aerith smiled between sobs and patted a hand on his back.

"That's okay, we'll work on that," she replied, sniffing.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Sephiroth said sharply. Aerith didn't respond. Sephiroth settled for another sigh and let it slide. For a few moments, the cemetery was silent save for a few small sobs and sniffs.

"Seriously, that's enough, stop it."