Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or Square Enix and I don't make any money with this writing.

Chapter 3

Sephiroth crossed the large yard wich divided his private lodge from the other officials. His head was aching. Much more than a hangover caused by his 'busy' night life, this was caused by the need to deal with Kadaj. The point was: Kadaj was involved in an ideological suspicion of disorder in the army. He was attached to a rebel cadet who had the balls to promote meetings confronting the goals of Shinra Army about the base in the city of Nibelhein.

A cadet! How in the name of Gaia, a boy, merely out of his diapers, went inside his army, insufflated revolutionary ideas in his cadets under his nose!? And the worse, dragged his brother, his innocent baby brother into this! A brother he loved as a son. Of couse, a behavior like that would be punished by Sephiroth with great amusement. First he thought about confinement in prison, followed by a properly punishment, but then, Sephiroth thought better and banishment would be the best thing. Better nip it in the root.

He doesn't want Cloud Strife in HIS Army, let alone inside HIS brother's life.

Sephiroth joined his fingers on his forehead and sighed, before open the large wooden door. When he entered in the room, he saw his baby brother, standing close to the window, looking at outside without focusing at anything. Kadaj turned his head to look at his big brother, his eyes were blurred, his body was leaned in the glass as if he was too tired to stand up.

" Did you want to see me Kadaj?"

" Are you so mad with me that you are calling me by my first name?" Kadaj said in a hoarse and weak voice. He shifted his position and sat in the chair in front of the General. He was stiffened.

" Not with you. Do you know how official my decision are and you also know that I had to clean your image with the council."

" I read the note…thank you."

" Don't. It's a shame a Jenova in the middle of a military inquiry."

Kadaj lowered his head and foght against the need to cry. He had made his big brother upset and disappointed with him. Sephiroth sat in the couch in front of his brother, his eyes were glimmering with the possibility of an insurgence from Kadaj. If that blond bastard had twisted his brother's mind against him, Sephiroth would kill him with bare hands.

" I have only a question, nissan. Can I make it?" Sephiroth waved to Kadaj continue.

" Cloud made attempts to show his idea about what he thinks over Nibelhein's case. This is his hometown. His family and friends live there and they will be affected by Shinra's invasion and the consequent habitation of their lands. I'm aware about what Shinra would pay back for them."

Kadaj paused and took a deep breath to continue his point, while scrutinizingly green eyes stared at him.

"And I can assure you that the amounts paid to each of them are overestimated, given the site conditions. We are not killing and conquering, Kadaj. Shinra Energy purchased the land."

Kadaj squirmed in his chair and nodded at Sephiroth. He wondered where his brother was intending to go with this discussion and prayed that again, this wouldn't turned into a desvalorization of himself as a person. Kadaj was tired of Sephiroth and Mother all time saying that people only got close of him because he was a Jenova. Even if they were right, Kadaj wanted to believe that he was liked by himself, not by his family's name.

More than ever, he wanted Cloud Strife truly loving him.

" I agree nissan. But if our family was in this same position, would you not tried to fight? To make something to give them hope? Even if it was tell people your dissatisfaction with the agreement? Brother, Cloud's dream was to be a soldier. He could learn how to behave, how to understand the stablishment of the politics envolving the rules of our world. A banishment of the army means a life with few expectations about career…it will a mark for life."

Sephiroth watched carefully how Kadaj chose the words to defend his first love. Sephiroth, was like that in the past, but now as a man settled by the horrors of life he was doing what he judged as right. He was protecting his family, his business. He stood up from the couch, with elegant movements and walked towards the wooden shelter, full of books. In the lower part, it had a drawer with a security code to open it. Sephiroth dialed a code and the drawer instantly opened. He took a file from there and handed to Kadaj, who frowned because of the blue plastic cover. That meant it were confidential files.

"Read these papers and then call me. Go to home Daj. Just to clarify one point, part of Nibelhein lands, belongs to Jenova's Reactors now. Does your friend has this information?"

Kadaj stared at Sephiroth with suspicious eyes. In the bottom of his heart he knew his brother was just protecting him, but in other hand Kadaj wanted so much another chance for Cloud. With Cloud.

" I will brother, but please think about my words. Cloud is not that bad. I'm sure he didn't had the idea that his meetings would cause at all of this problems. Cloud told me that you would probably banish him and he asked me to stay by your side. Because above all things, you are my brother."

" Please read those files Kadaj. I won't tell you nothing and I will let you find your own conclusions. And if your friend said this, at least he is not as stupid as I was thinking."

After he had said that, Sephiroth walked towards his baby brother and kissed the top of his head. Kadaj closed his eyes and in an instinctive motion, he tugged a lock of the long silver hair of his nissan and caressed it on his face. The boy winced with the kiss and then he rose from his chair, opened the door and walked away without looking at his brother.

After a week, when the deliberation regarding Cloud Strife's banishment should be done, Sephiroth received a note with the Presidencial's seal. The rage of the general was so intense that his punch on his table made the wooden cracked. A note, written by the presidencial's councelor, Mr Gainsbourgh. His request for banishment was politely 'exchanged' to suspension. Cloud G. Strife would be suspended from the military services for a month. And Sephiroth had never thought the 'G.' was related to the house of the nobles cetrans…

Cloud Gainsborough Strife definitly was a rebel, but not an underplate farmer. And Sephiroth would do his best to keep Kadaj away from this boy.