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Chapter 5

It was the end of her last day. Meia had beaten her final ghost, Genesis was happy with her swordplay and Sephiroth was...satisfied...with her unarmed progress. Genesis and Angeal sat down with her in the conference room again, giving tips and advice on how to carry on without them. Sephiroth was there too, but he sat silently, working on the report he would be submitting to Verdot. He did say goodbye however when she left for her evening meal, standing up to shake her hand before she left the room.

"She's sweet" Genesis said when the conference room door closed, "Like a sister we never had" He laughed and sat down. Angeal agreed and did likewise. Sephiroth stopped typing, the statement distracting him. He thought for a moment before sighing through his nose and carrying on with his report.

Meia sat alone in the canteen, playing with her meal. Although very pleased with herself she couldn't help the twinge of sadness that accompanied her success. It was refreshing and enjoyable spending two weeks with competent people that taught her things, rather than two idiots who could only teach her the meaning of patience. She chased a cherry tomato around her plate with her fork half heartedly. Part of her wanted to stay with SOLDIER, the other part wanted to return to the Turks. But she wondered what she was more attracted too; the feeling of success or the company of her SOLDIER mentors…

She left her dinner half eaten and headed downstairs to take a walk. The evening was crisp and chilly but she was wearing a long sleeved roll neck so she figured the walk would warm her up. She wandered down in to sector 8. Merchants had set up small stalls peddling handmade gifts and treats; the Winter festival of Light was defiantly approaching now, she thought. She passed a stand selling various different sizes of evergreen fir trees and next to that several stands selling decorations and adornments. If only real trees were allowed in my room, Meia thought. Employees in studio rooms had to settle for fake plastic ones, decorated with a year's worth of dust. Real ones smelled lovely; resin and the fresh scent of pine oil. Reminded her of her grandfather's house.

A twinge of sadness pulled at her heart; she'd lost him young after he fell ill one summer. Her mother took him to a doctor but they were told he didn't have very long to live at all. A silent illness that eventually consumed him. All her memories of him were happy ones. Endless days playing in the fields, sliding down grass hills; The dirtier she came home, the more sweets she would get as a reward. It was healthy to have fun, he told her, so play, get dirty and live. Meia smiled and blinked away the tears in her eyes.

By now the cold had seeped through the sweater she was wearing and Meia found herself chilled to the bone. Rubbing her arms for warmth, she made her way back to Shin-Ra headquarters, unable to stop thinking of her Grandfather. It happened every winter, it was inevitable. Her favourite thing to do when she was a child was spending time with her family at festival time. The food, the smells, the snow and the joy. Meia sighed and looked up at the blotted sky. She missed those times.

Sephiroth had finished the report he needed to send to Verdot, all he needed to do was proof read it before it was passed on, but he could do that in his apartment. He stepped out into the chilly evening air and inhaled deeply. The air wasn't really fresh, but at least it wasn't dry from the result of air-conditioning. As he made his way to the residential block, he noticed someone in front of him. A woman with her hair down but it was a little too gloomy to tell if he knew her or not...

As usual, a massive amount of water had collected in various puddles around the entrance to the residential tower; Meia noticed a delicate lattice of ice had begun to form on their surfaces as she negotiated a dry path through them. She realised just how cold she was now; her fingers were sluggish and frozen and she fumbled around in her pocket, trying to grip her ID card with numb digits. She grasped it and pulled at it but it snagged on the way out and it fell from her hand straight into a puddle under the reader. She uttered a mild curse and bent to pick it up, her dead fingers fumbling uselessly around it. Now they were cold AND wet, she thought as she straightened and made an attempt to line it up right. But then a black arm, accompanied by the smell of leather and a hint of apple-mint, reached past her shoulder and opened the door for her,

"Hello again Meia" Came the rich, unmistakable sound of Sephiroth's voice.

Meia's heart jumped but she managed to utter a 'thank you' as she stepped through the doors in front of him and jammed her card back into her pocket. He stepped through behind her and strode past, heading to the elevators. Something had been bugging her ever since she shook his hand on the first day of her training assignment. Something she found herself thinking about again now she was reminiscing about old times,

"Hey, can I ask you something?" she called after Sephiroth, rubbing her hands together to try to regain some feeling again. The SOLDIER stopped and looked over his shoulder,

"What is it?" He replied.

She took a breath, "Have we..met before..? Before the past month I mean…"

Sephiroth paused a few paces from the lift and regarded her question a moment. It struck him as an odd enquiry, and why ask now? She has had the past two weeks. He surmised she was apprehensive talking to him about matters that were outside of the companies, and therefor their mutual, interests. As most people were.

Sephiroth thought for a moment longer. Then his mind regurgitated the dream he'd had; It just kept coming but now Meia had asked the question, suddenly dots were joining in his head, lacing together into coherence. It was if his memories had suddenly broken free from some prison. Something was linking it to Meia. But it was just a dream, wasn't it?

He finally turned to face her. Now he studied her closely...the image of the little girl was coming back to him. The jet black hair, the genuine smile, the bright, milky blue eyes, that laugh…

"But how?" He replied, his voice barely a murmur, "It was just…" Sephiroth didn't finish and shook his head.

Meia's eyebrows drew together with concern, had she said something wrong?

Sephiroth finally composed himself and regarded the Turk for a moment before speaking again, "I'm not sure, it must have been a long time ago" He replied finally.

Meia sighed and gave a small, apologetic shrug; It was only a nagging feeling after all. But there was no denying now that there was something about the SOLDER that she found oddly familiar. A lost memory that only existed in nuances; familiar scents or feelings. Unable to manifest it fully yet unable to forget it either.

Sephiroth dismissed himself and rode the lift up to his apartment, his mind reeling with possibilities. He realised leaving her like that was a little cold but he wasn't thinking straight. He didn't know what to make of what had just happened. It was only a dream, but why did it come flooding back when Meia asked her question?

Sephiroth let himself into his apartment, changed and moved too his living area, noticing his phone was blinking red. Which meant a voice mail. He frowned; He hardly ever got internal voice mail on his phone, the only people who needed to get hold of him all had his mobile number. The only people who were permitted to call his apartment directly were the companies secretaries and even then only in matters of great urgency. He grabbed the phone from its cradle and sat down on his sofa,

"One new message; Good evening Sephiroth this is Klaire from the front desk. I know you don't like being disturbed but a call came through to you a few minutes ago and, well…the man sounded quite flustered. He insisted I pass on this message…ah..where now- 'Mr Sephiroth I apologise from the intrusion into your privacy but it is urgent we speak. Please call me back'…"

Sephiroth listened, half amused, half indignant, as he took down the number before ending the call and erasing it from the memory. He stared at the phone for a moment before deciding to call the number. He had a feeling it was important somehow, though he had no idea why…

"Benedict Chambers senior, how may I help?" Came the polite, well spoken reply.

Sephiroth explained the situation, noting the man was becoming more interested as he went on until finally,

"Thank goodness you called back" Benedict said, sounding relieved, "It's regarding the necklace you sold us"

Forty minutes later, Sephiroth turned back into the small alley he'd visited not three weeks past and made his way into the shop at the end. Benedict was ready to greet him as soon as he arrived. He surmised this was the man who made all the jewellery. The father of the salesman he'd met originally.

"Thank you so much for coming, I realise you have more important things to do"

Sephiroth simply nodded his reply. Usually he would have ignored all of this. But the necklace business, strange dreams and whatever was going on with Meia felt like it demanded his attention. That he needed to see it through.

Benedict reached under the glass counter and produced the same necklace Sephiroth had sold to him and gestured for the tall SOLDIER to sit,

"My son tells me you found this" He started, waiting for Sephiroth's acknowledgement before continuing, "I wish to return it…"

"But it has nothing to do with me…" Sephiroth replied, though he couldn't take his eyes off the thing now,

"That may be, but I made a promise when I crafted this particular piece Mr Sephiroth, a promise to the man who had it commissioned"

Sephiroth looked up, his curiosity very much piqued. Benedict continued,

"This necklace belongs to a girl…well, she'd be a young woman now, and it needs to be returned to her"

Sephiroth realised this was getting a little bizarre, "Who?"

"A lady name Meia LeSait"

Sephiroth didn't bother to hide the shock and confusion that manifested on his face, "Meia? But.."

"You know her?" Benedict cut Sephiroth off and threw his hands up in relief, "Oh thank goodness. I only hoped that you would be able to use your Shin-Ra's database to locate her but if you know her, well…" The man carried on, looking much happier now.

Sephiroth was still reeling. None of this made any sense. Unless…he never dreamed any of it.

Unless it actually happened.

"Please make sure she gets this back" Benedict continued, "I don't know the details but the man, her Grandfather I do believe, was adamant that if it were ever lost, if I were ever to come across it again that I was to find her and return it"

Her Grandfather…

"Ah! That's my Granddaddy!"

Sephiroth shook his head gently as the little girls voice echoed in his mind, forcing himself to regain his composure before finally replying, "I do know her yes, I'll make sure she gets it"

Meia sat on her bed, legs crossed and not paying attention at all to the cheesy soap opera that her television happened to be playing when she'd turned it on. She was thinking about her encounter with Sephiroth earlier, how he seemed to become distracted when she asked him if they had met. Meia sighed and reached for her tv remote but grabbed her phone instead when it began to ring; Unknown number,

"Hello, Meia LeSait speaking"

"Hello Meia…"

"Sephiroth..?"

"Correct. I want to apologise for earlier; I was distracted…could you meet me at the lobby in thirty minutes?"

Meia was momentarily stunned, "I…of course, is everything alright?" She asked, concern creeping into her voice.

She heard Sephiroth chuckle softly, "Yes, it's nothing to worry about"

Meia acknowledged him and then hung up.

Thirty minutes later she was sat in the lobby waiting, perched on a sofa looking out over the city. She didn't have to wait long; She had learned during her training that Sephiroth was always punctual, this evening being no exception. She rose when he approached her and she managed a small, but hesitant smile,

"Hey, what did you want to see me about?" She asked, figuring she'd keep it formal considering she still hardly knew the man.

Sephiroth looked slightly bemused, studying her a moment before a small smile played across his lips,

"I've been thinking about your question earlier…" He began, walking past her to look out of the window, "Truth be told I'm very confused, a lot has happened lately that I don't really understand…" He trailed off, his eyes flicking over the scenery outside. It had begun to snow…"Especially concerning a random find on my last mission"

Meia listened intently; This was the most he'd ever said to her in one go. Plus it wasn't company related. It was honestly a little bizarre, he sounded so…normal…

Sephiroth's eyes lingered a moment on the scenery, then flicked to Meia's reflection in the glass, "Meia, did you loose a necklace when you were a little girl?"

Meia gasped and brought a hand to her mouth too late to stifle it, her heart skipping a beat as she was caught completely off guard. Sephiroth closed his eyes a moment and smiled,

"Then it wasn't just a dream…" He said, turning to face her now.

Meia's pale blue eyes flickered a moment before what he'd said to her finally sunk in, "Did…did you find it…?" She asked, her voice betraying the emotion she felt. Sephiroth studied her a moment before nodding, pulling a plush velvet pouch out of his pocket and holding it out for her to take. Meia hesitated before taking the bag from him, unable to completely stop her fingers from trembling as she loosened the drawstring and pulled the necklace out.

Sephiroth watched with curiosity; She was obviously very moved and working hard to keep it contained. He watched her drape the now cleaned and polished piece over her palm and brush the pendant with her thumb. She didn't speak for a good few moments, until she looked up him, her eyes glistening,

"So we have met before…You kept it all these years?" She asked. She fought back tears; she remembered the horrible day her Grandfather was taken ill and then realising she'd lost the necklace as well. She cried all day and all night. Her Mother went back to the town to look for it, but there was no sign of it anywhere.

"Not exactly..." He replied softly. He could see she was struggling. He thought for a moment, before deciding to do something very unlike him;

"Why don't you meet me tomorrow in the evening? I can explain then"

Did She just hear that right?

"Sure" Meia sniffed and looked at him properly this time; he was smiling at her. The first soft, gentle smile she had ever seen from him. Maybe the Hero was human after all…

Sephiroth bade her goodnight and moved away, heading to the lifts in the centre of the floor, leaving her standing there alone. For the first time in a very long while, Meia allowed herself to cry.

Sephiroth listened as he moved away. Was this happiness? Or pain...he couldn't tell. Maybe it was both. He thought what it must feel like to allow yourself to let go of your emotions like that, to not care what anyone thought of you and to just let it out. He sighed. It just wasn't like him. Everything he felt he contained; only hints of what he was feeling made it to the surface. Once in the lift, He watched Meia compose herself, taking a seat on the sofa and turning her head to gaze out of the window, the pouch with the necklace inside held close to her chest.

Meia spent most of the following day checking her phone, but no messages arrived. Verdot called her in first thing and was very happy with the reports handed to him from SOLDIER. Angeal praised her, said she was a breath of fresh air to train and was looking forward to meeting her again. Genesis mentioned he would be happy to continue coaching her any time she needed it. Sephiroth noted she had a unique ability to learn and apply herself to any given task and that she had a solid jaw. Meia couldn't help a knowing smile when Verdot read this, a puzzled look crossing his face. He also informed her, to her complete relief, that for now she wouldn't be sent on any missions alongside Reno and Rude.

She had no assignments, so spent most of the day training. Her ghost data had been shared with the Turks training facilities, so she practiced with that. But it wasn't the same without her mentors there to help her. After lunch she headed to the pool early, but she still hadn't received anything through on her phone and she was beginning to loose heart. Had he forgotten? Doubtful...maybe he'd changed his mind, she thought.

It wasn't until she'd finished her swim, showered and was getting dressed again that her phone blipped. The girl she was talking too looked at her in a 'are you going to check that?' kinda way. She wasn't sure if she should...she was surrounded by the pack of wolves after all. Meia sat down on the bench and her friend started talking again as if nothing happened, so she figured it would be safe to check;

I'll meet you in the lobby in an hour. Wear something warm this time.

S

"S? Who's 'S' Meia?"

Meia jumped and snapped the handset shut,

"None of your business! You're so nosy..." She huffed. Her friend laughed,

"It's about time you saw some action, honestly. You're in the Turks. You're surrounded by hot guys in suits. What I'd give to be in that position…"

"Maybe you should join then" Meia replied, pulling on a vest.

"Tch! Puh-lease. You know how much I spend on my nails Honey?" Meia shook her head. "Besides...it's SOLDIER I really want to be surrounded by..." and her friend walked out, leaving Meia questioning the woman's intentions on seeking Shin-Ra employment.

Sephiroth stood alone in the lobby, waiting patiently for Meia. He was early, as usual. He flexed his fingers gently inside his warm fleece lined leather gloves. Weather reports showed temperatures below freezing this evening and although the cold didn't really bother him, he opted for gloves and a thigh length wool jacket with a hood. And a scarf. Maybe he was slightly bothered after all.

Meia arrived right on time, trotting down the stairs from the elevators. He was glad to see she'd followed his instructions and worn a coat and gloves this time. She spotted him before the last flight and smiled; he nodded in response and moved to meet her.

They walked from the Shin-Ra building into sector 8 where the stalls from the previous night were set up again. Sephiroth walked slightly ahead of her and stayed mostly silent, seemingly taking her somewhere rather than walking and talking.

They turned down into Loveless Avenue which was busier than usual. Quite a lot of bright stalls were set up here, taking advantage of the popular spot to tout for business. The smell of roasted chestnuts and donuts filled her nostrils. He led her quite a way down and stopped at a small but rather cute cafe and selected a table out front in the street. She was surprised when he politely pulled out a chair for her to sit on and then seated himself opposite.

The little things he did now he was outside his role as Shin-Ra's most elite fighter were starting to give Meia an idea of what Sephiroth was like as a person. Not just a SOLDIER. An energetic waitress bounded out of the cafe, eager to take their orders; Meia requested an oversized latte and Sephiroth refused anything. He waited until Meia's drink had been delivered before he started to talk.

He explained how he found the necklace in a desk in Wutai and had brought it with him when he returned home. He left out the part where he'd almost binned it and when he told her he'd taken it to a specialist, he certainly didn't tell her that he'd sold it. Sephiroth realised this necklace was more to her than simply a nice piece of jewellery and realised talking about it as if it were something to be discarded might be disrespectful of her feelings.

Meia nodded sedately while she listened and sipped her drink, containing the memories for now. She wouldn't cry again, not here. People might think Sephiroth was upsetting her intentionally which would result in an embarrassing scene. He picked up on her discomfort however and paused a moment, observing her with unblinking eyes; She was good at hiding her emotions when she had too, he thought to himself,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stir old memories again" He said gently,

"Its fine" She replied with a genuine smile, her cup halfway to her lips, "So…" She began after taking a sip, but paused a moment before composing her question, "How much do you remember? About us meeting as children…"

The Turk had been thinking since the previous night. Her memory was frighteningly good; A massive help if you were an intelligence based operative such as she was. Realising it was the thought of her grandfather than had provoked her to ask Sephiroth about them meeting, she had plumbed her mind. When she was little she had met a boy who had tumbled down the hill outside his house. Now she focused she found she could recall almost all of that particular meeting with eerie accuracy. Though nothing surrounded it. It was an island in her consciousness that refused to be swallowed up thanks to it's significance, she presumed. But only now did the boy in the memory leap out at her. Only now did she remember the details; The soft silver hair, the teal eyes, the pale skin. Only now did she realise who it was.

But why didn't he remember? Perhaps his mind worked differently? Perhaps he was so focused on being an exemplary SOLDIER there was no room in his head for insignificant memories. But Meia had a feeling Sephiroth wasn't nearly so cold. By now she'd had a glimpse, the smallest fraction, into his actually personality and she concluded he was just as human as every body else.

Sephiroth frowned slightly and looked away a moment, leaning back and tucking his hands in his pockets, "Truth be told…I thought it was just a dream I had" He replied, finally bringing his focus back to Meia, "After I had found the necklace"

Meia nodded, pursing her lips slightly in thought, "Well it was a long time ago, you probably have a million and one things on your mind now" She replied with a small dismissive shrug.

Meia didn't expect him to remember as she did in all fairness. He didn't know how significant the moment was. To him, it was just a chance meeting. To her, well…

Sephiroth watched as Meia swallowed down a lump and took a steadying breath. He knew she was moved but didn't want to pry. Meia was quite a private person, he had concluded, and from what he could determine this was a deeply personal matter. He didn't know her well enough to feel justified in prying.

"Thank you again, by the way" She said finally, her thoughts back under solid control, "The necklace means a lot to me...Thank you, for keeping hold of it. Probably not worth much anyway" She laughed.

"Well, actually..." And Sephiroth proceeded to tell her exactly what it was worth, though he still left out the details regarding how he came to know.

Meia simply stared at him in disbelief; it was worth that much...and he'd kept it?

"I...I really don't know what to say" She mumbled and cast her gaze down, "I can pay for the appraisals and repairs...I really had no idea" She began to fumble about in her jacket for her wallet but a soft chuckle stopped her,

"Please, don't worry about it. You can owe me one instead, how does that sound?" He smiled genuinely again. Meia wondered how often he did that…

"Sure, ok then" She didn't want to argue, even if it wasn't something serious or work related, he just didn't seem the type of person you'd disagree with.

She watched as he lent back in his chair and exhaled a big puff of vapour and watched it drift upwards, was he uncomfortable? Bored? She couldn't tell…

"Meia, have you ever thought of joining SOLDIER?" Sephiroth said suddenly. The question caught her off guard and she thought a moment before replying,

"I guess I have yea, but I don't know...I like being in the Turks. I really don't think I have what it takes to be a SOLDIER…"

Her reply puzzled him, "But you did so well with us, and you showed a lot of confidence. Why do you think that?"

Meia began to feel uncomfortable all of a sudden. It was a valid question…what could she say without revealing too much,

"I guess...I really don't know. I haven't thought it through properly to be honest. I'm happy where I am at the moment"

Sephiroth blinked and looked away. Ah...he didn't look impressed Meia thought and sipped her coffee to steady her nerves.

"Well. That's a shame" He said finally, rising out of his seat as he did so. He reached into his pocket and placed a few coins in front of her,

"For the coffee. Good night Meia, take care of yourself" And without another word, he walked past her and left. Meia stared at the space he was sitting in not moments before. So that was it, her evening with Sephiroth was over. She turned quickly, hoping to catch a glimpse of him walking through the crowds but he was already gone. As she finished her coffee and paid the waitress, she knew that all she could have expected was a short chat. But she felt like the façade was finally cracking and she yearned to know more.

Last edited; 19/03/2016