Tifa woke up nestled in Sephiroth's arms as he was spooned up to her, she studied him, with his face relaxed in his slumber and his long lashes kissing his cheeks, he looked much younger than his thirty four years old. It was like she was seeing him for the first time, this wasn't the sword wielding maniac who razed her village to the ground and attempted to make a puppet of the man Tifa loved. Or the cold as General she previously met when he first stepped from the helicopter into her town that she had been attracted to. This was a careful, guarded man who felt it necessary to mask his kindness and show it only to those he deemed worthy, like herself. He cared about her and she doubted he even knew it.
Gently she got up and put on her robe, surprised he didn't stir but gently tucked the blankets around him and he sighed and rolled onto his side. Her grief was still there over Cloud's dismissal of her but she felt slightly better to know that the man she married was more than just a name on a paper. She paused to find a bouquet of dead roses on a side table in the hall and smiled at what he had intended for her; there were so many facets of him to explore she thought as she sniffed one of the lolling heads and whimsically put the limp bouquet into water and went to start breakfast.
Sephiroth sat up, surprised to himself alone in bed and was equally surprised that her leaving the bed hadn't caused him to startle awake at the very least, he was a trained soldier who had known only war most of his life and normally woke ready for combat at just the the weight of someone's eyes on him. Let alone someone leaving his arms and the room itself. Was he getting too used to her?
He thought about the night before and realized that something had changed between the two of them, so many things he would never had suspected he would never do had occurred with Tifa and things were constantly shifting to make him accommodate this new chapter of his life: being someone's husband. His first kiss, that had been quickly followed by his first coitus, then his emotional reaction to that. Finally his first time comforting a heart broken female. The night before had been...odd but at the same time it felt...special, he decided as he got up to look for Tifa.
He found her cracking eggs into a bowl and she smiled in greeting, that he returned, not realizing his smile was endearingly shy. "How did you sleep?" he asked her.
"Just fine" she said giving him a hug that he blushingly returned, the night before had seemed like a dream and in the light of day he felt a little self conscious about it and he blushed further to see she had discovered the roses he had bought her and put the now dead roses in water.
"Would you like breakfast?" she asked him.
"I have time for that and then I have to pack to go meet Angeal, I didn't have time to tell you last night. Rufus agreed to our terms, we will be working together on secret covert operations" Sephiroth explained.
"But I thought you wanted nothing to do with Rufus" she said in confusion.
"I can't just sit around here watching petunias grown. I'm a man of action" he said.
"But after all that Shinra meant to you" Tifa said in confusion.
"When Aerith brought us all back, we had to make a living, so Zack, Aerith and Angeal agreed to work for Rufus and were assigned living quarters and various tasks all over Gaia. I was the only one who refused to have anything to do with them, hence how I ended up living with Dexter and having to depend on his hospitality. I wanted nothing to do with Shinra. However, now that my accounts are unfrozen and we have all of this. I now have the luxury to examine what he had to offer and I like the program he has arranged. We won't be in the limelight like before, we shall be little more than space janitors who take out the trash, rid Gaia of pests so to speak. I shall be working with my friend and second in command. I couldn't ask for a nicer arrangement" he explained.
"So you have to leave today?" Tifa asked him, feeling oddly sad to be separated from him.
"I'll be gone for three weeks, I can contact you if you want me to" he offered. "I shall have a secure PHS phone" he said.
"You'll call me every night" she insisted and was surprised when he laughed.
"You truly wish me to?" he asked her in surprise.
"I want to know that you're okay" she said with a frown.
"I-I'm touched" he said, not sure how to phase it, not used to having someone worrying about his well being.
"Don't be touched, just do it, I'm become rather fond of your prickly curmudgeon ways" she said. "Why don't you go get ready for the day while I finish breakfast?" she said as she slapped him on his rock solid rear.
"What did I tell you about groping me?" he said with a grin, feeling oddly elated that she had admitted she was fond of him.
"I can touch your ass as much as I want; I married it and it's not my fault you have such a nice one" she teased him.
She laughed as he left wiggling his hips in an exaggerated way.
He quickly showered and got into his new "uniform" which was just a fitted black shirt, plain black combat pants and army boots, trying to make both enhanced men look as discreet as possible. Sephiroth appreciated how plain it was, nothing to really draw attention to themselves. He approved of Rufus's choice as he dried and braided his hair and rejoined Tifa, after discreetly sending someone a text.
"Now that's a new look; I like it" she said, in approval. "And its washable" she said.
He checked his PHS when he got a return text. "Well you have plans for tonight, Yuffie is rounding up the girls and they are coming over for a girl's night."
"But why?" she asked him.
"After last night, you need some cheering up and I'm sorry to spring my leaving on you like this. It's the least I can do. She sent me a list of what you need, I shall forward a copy to our local grocery store and have everything delivered on time" he assured her.
"Look at you playing husband" she said but with no heat in her voice.
"I'm trying, let me know when I do something right" he said, comically rolling his eyes.
"What you said about giving up this place to free me. Was that true?" she asked him.
"I've been a slave most of my life, I would never allow myself to keep someone who wanted rid of me no matter how desperate I was. I'm fine now, I don't care about having a title or a mansion or wealth. I don't want you to be chained to me. I would pay your dowry back to the estate myself. You need only say the word" he promised her.
"What if I chose to remain?" she asked him.
"Then I shall remain with you as long as you are able tolerate me" he answered her in promise.
"It's a deal" she said and they ate breakfast in comfortable silence together and then she went to help him pack. "Three weeks, where are you going?" she asked him.
"I can't tell you that" he said as he studied her wearing jeans and a black mock turtleneck sweater. Remembering for some reason how she wore a dress that matched the dark garnet of her eyes on their first date at a fine dining restaurant. He doubted that she had worn any makeup and her only jewelry a simple gold chain without even a pendant and he had felt every man staring at them and at first he thought they were staring at him, then he realized they were staring at her. It was then he realized how attractive she was, as if sensing he was feeling a bit uncomfortable, she had suggested they leave the restaurant and they ended up at a little hole in the wall Italian restaurant that the staff seemed to know her very well at, the more relaxed atmosphere suited him better and they had had a nice time. "But I shall call you" he promised.
"You had better" she said.
His phone rang and he answered it. "The car is here to collect me" he told her.
"You're going to call me?" she demanded.
"Every night" he promised they walked onto their driveway and then he went to kiss her on the cheek in goodbye, however she had other ideas and turned it into a heated kiss right as the discreet black car pulled up their never ending driveway.
"Bye" Tifa said with an ear to ear grin on her face at how Sephiroth flustered looked as Angeal got out to greet the couple, he was grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Well I must say that I'm envious of Sephiroth that he gets such a sweet kiss goodbye. It makes me sad for my own status as a bachelor" he teased him. Their driver got out, "this gentleman shall be handling our transportation, I'm sorry I never got your name, sir" Angeal said and Tifa and Sephiroth both snickered at the figure the tan jumpsuit revealed.
"I'm Elena" she said taking off her cap to reveal her short, yet flattering hairstyle.
"You're a woman?" Angeal said with a frown.
"I'm a TURK, there isn't any kind of weapon I can't handle or form of transportation I can't navigate, can you say the same? I bet you just wield that over compensator of a sword around like all other SOLDIERS I've ever met. You all must have miniature dicks, I tell you" she said as she bristled with anger. "Oh hi Tifa" she greeted the other woman. "Sorry I can't make it tonight" she said in a friendlier tone of voice.
"Why is a TURK accompanying us on this mission?" Angeal demanded.
"Rufus needed someone who could fly a helicopter and I can" she explained.
"I didn't know you could, that's impressive" Tifa said to her friend.
"Reno taught me how, he's already on a mission so I was recruited for this one" Elena explained.
"We shall have to share a safe house with a female? That is unseemly" Angeal groused.
"I doubt you have anything on your body I haven't seen before, you brainless lump of beefcake" she shot back.
"I know this TURK, she is adequate" Sephiroth supplied.
"Why thank you, Sephiroth" Elena said in sarcastic irritation.
"What if we want to walk around naked?" Angeal said.
"Go right ahead" Elena said, "you won't find me making any objections," leering at him and stripping searched him with her eyes in a way that made him blush and get the absurd urge to cover his genitals as if she truly had x-ray vision, he still retained the old prejudice against the TURKS that SOLDIERS had had back in the day.
"Goodbye" Sephiroth said to Tifa, only to be pulled into another toe curling heated kiss.
"Bye" she said.
Angeal could only sit in the backseat with Sephiroth as with Elena's help, he placed a sizable order to be delivered to his mansion for the night he had arranged for his wife. "I never thought I would ever see you look like this" he observed when he concluded his call.
"Like what?" he asked him.
"You're practically glowing, did something else happen between yourself and Tifa?" he asked him.
"I arranged this night as a way to cheer her up. I found out the true story why she needed the dowry money," he said and explained.
"I know that Zack liked that guy, but I always found him annoying" Angeal said in outrage. "So what did you do?" he asked him.
"I cuddled her most of the evening and then we slept in each other's arms" he admitted with a blush.
"That's amazing!" Angeal said.
"Amazing how?" Sephiroth asked him, crinkling his brow in confusion.
"That are you growing emotionally enough to be able to do that for her. You're adapting really well" Angeal encouraged him.
"To be able to adapt is necessary for survival" he said dismissively. "I saw her need and felt compelled to provide it for her."
"Because that is what a husband who cares about his wife does" Angeal explained.
Tifa's girl's night had emptied half of her bar to the point that Marlene finally closed up for the night and joined the festivities as the girls danced and drank, save for a girl wearing a pink dress and a frown. Tifa had cried bitter tears over repeating the story of Cloud and then got the girls all misty eyed with how Sephiroth stepped in to comfort her.
Aerith was already in a bad mood from dealing with Zack.
Flashback
"Zack, I thought you loved me. When I brought you back, I thought we would be together" she sadly said.
"I do love you but I died so young and never really got to experience life. We will be together if you will be patient" he said giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"You mean you never got to experience other girls" she said with barely controlled rage in her voice.
"You're saving yourself for marriage and I'm not, fair is fair" he said.
"One day you shall come home and I will be gone" she said walking towards her room in the house they shared.
"One day I shall come home and marry you, but until then; don't wait up" he said as he walked out the door.
End Flashback
Yuffie hadn't been drinking very much and caught Aerith's glare at Tifa and followed her into a little used palour. "You okay?" she asked her.
"What? Am I just supposed to sit there and let Tifa spin tall tales about Sephiroth suddenly acting all soft towards her when she just married him for money?" Aerith spat at her.
"That's not the whole truth, no one really knows that and Tifa has even lost friends over it, but refuses to tell everyone the whole truth because it makes Cloud look bad. She would be selling her ass in Don Corneo's brothel if she hadn't marry Sephiroth because Cloud owes him a lot of money and used her bar and herself as security. You know Tifa isn't materialistic like that. True feelings are blossoming between the two and anyone can see that" Yuffie said.
"That's so not true" Aerith insisted thinking of all those times getting to know the real Sephiroth, able to see each and everything that had been done to him and feeling first pity that made her attempt to get closer to the man, which he finally allowed. Telling her of himself and her knowing from reading in between the lines, that he longed for love, understanding and acceptance of what he was now; for someone not to judge what he had once been. She had waived in her love for Zack and for the developing love for the much more subdued Sephiroth. It was without the slightest of hesitation that she included him in their return.
Zack had disappointed her by dating other girls while Sephiroth refused to have anything to do with Shinra and had splintered off from the rest. Rufus had promptly assigned them to various tasks while still trying to woo the reluctant Sephiroth.
Aerith had been halfway around the world on the Agricultural mission Rufus had asked her to go on to help people garden in desolate conditions, when she had learned of his marriage in a local paper and couldn't believe it until she looked it up online. A call to Vincent had confirmed how it had come about. Her own invitation had been found in her mailbox upon her return.
This made her feel bitter towards Tifa, that she had captured one of the males who held her heart, but she knew Sephiroth. He was destined to be with Aerith, they had bonded over knowing how it was to be not quite human in a human world. Aerith could give him the love he wanted and bear his children who would be just as beautifully unique as he himself. There was no way he felt anything but simple friendship at best for Tifa.
"Where's Sephiroth?" Elena asked Angeal from where he was ladling spaghetti sauce onto noodles and getting garlic bread out of the oven.
"Where else? Talking to his wife. Wow I never thought I would say that" he said.
Elena grinned and accepted the bowl from the tall, brash man she had found herself drawn to in a way she hadn't for a long time since Tseng was taken off the market by Vincent...and Yuffie.
"I think it's sweet" she said.
"When I met him he could barely be persuaded to string two words together and now he's gabbing on inane topics for about an hour each night. What is the world coming to?" Angeal said as he took off his apron and sat next to Elena, noting she wore tight black jeans and an ice blue pullover, she looked really good.
"She's just asking for a recipe. She texted me about it. He's supposed to be a good cook" she explained. "Speaking of which, this is great!" she enthused.
"Who do you think taught him everything he knows?" he said quirking one eyebrow at her. "Hey Sephiroth, if you can stop prattling on like a hormonal teenager and come and eat, that would be good. Your dinner is getting cold" he called to him.
Sephiroth took the phone from his ear "I'll be there soon" he promised and went back to talking to Tifa, finding himself enjoying that he had someone who was missing him and worrying about him. It was refreshing to talk about what was going on at home while he was away and found himself oddly missing her as well and anxious to get home. He had really come to relish his daily chats wth her.
"Would you care for some wine?" he asked Elena, admiring her wholesome, almost sweet looks. It was sometimes hard to believe she was a trained assassin. It had been a long time since he had been with a woman, even before lifestream and he found himself undeniably attracted to the blonde woman. It was too bad she was a TURK.
Tifa flew to the door on Sephiroth's return and could only stand there surprised when Angeal cradled the sleeping man in his arms. "Is he okay?" she asked him with concern.
"He's just worn out, his adrenaline when he gets into battle, goes through the roof and it can take days for it to come down, so he hasn't slept that much since we've been gone. He just needs a proper night's sleep and to relax for the next few days and he'll be fine. Even we have limits and he's always been taught to press his, he can't help himself" Angeal explained. "Where can I put him?"
"Oh sorry, this way" she said, leading the way to his room.
"He's bathed and been fed, we just have to undress him and put him to bed" Angeal joked.
"Lay him down" Tifa said, drawing back the covers, between the two people, they soon got the barely conscious man into bed, foregoing night attire and Tifa tucked him in and showed Angeal out. She gazed at the man she had missed, gently stroking his bangs back from his face. He opened one eye "Tifa am I home?" he said in a groggy sounding voice.
"Yes" she said.
"Good, will you sleep with me? I missed holding you" he said, so tired he was barely conscious of the request he was making of her.
"Let me get ready for bed, I'll be right back" she assured him.
Angeal had chosen to sit in the front seat with Elena as she drove him in the direction of his home. "I hope you don't mind, sir. I have to patrol the submarine races" she said.
"Submarine races?" he asked, not even sure what a submarine was.
"Aquatic vehicles" she explained. "If you don't mind a slight detour, they can get really out of control if not monitored. It won't take long."
"Very well" he agreed but would rather go home, yet found himself curious about seeing these submarines.
His curiosity deepened when she turned into abandoned laneway beside a river, yet he didn't think the narrow channel and shallow looking river would be large enough for aquatic vehicles of any description. "I don't see anything" he said, eyeing the dark water.
"We can see them easier from the backseat" she ventured and both people moved there.
"I still don't see anything..." he said and then she soundly kissed him. He sat up a few minutes later with his hair wildly disheveled and his face seemed to practically glow in the dark when he registered that somehow his shirt had been removed and his pants undone.
"We should go, it's most improper for us to be alone together like this, I don't wish to compromise your honour. We must think of your reputation. I'm a gentleman." he objected breathing heavily.
"Think about this" Elena said, pulling down the zipper that terminated at the groin of her flight suit. Angeal groaned aloud at the sight of her softly feminine, yet toned curvy body. His eyes fogged over with lust, that matched the windows around them as he took in her unbound breasts and the glint of the blonde curls of her pubic hair in the soft light. Elena smiled at him invitation and both heads sank from view into the surprisingly spacious backseat of her transportation vehicle and the car started rocking, testing its shocks and suspension to the limits.
