Note: So sorry this is late. Ugh, work. Ugh, life. Leave me alone and let me write, dammit. I'll try to get the next chapter out on May 15th. In the meantime, please enjoy watching these people be badasses.

Published on: 04/10/2016.

Chapter 16

AVALANCHE's Corel headquarters buzzed with the kind of nervous energy that could only come from a heady mix of anticipation and fear. Seeing people and Ravens alike bustling around made Rain even more jittery, though he clamped down on the feeling the best he could.

Sephiroth emerged from the room they had been given and joined him in the corridor. He had foregone any type of disguise and proudly wore his battle leathers. His hair trailed behind him like a pale banner.

"Ready?" he said at finding Rain waiting for him.

It was evidently a rhetorical question, as he was already moving away. Rain stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Why did you send my description in the last mass newsletter?"

Somehow, he didn't think Tseng had made that decision on his own. Sephiroth didn't seem bothered by his frown.

"We may be separated today, Cloud. Angeal, Genesis, Zack and I are well-known, but I needed everyone to know they could rally behind you too. I offered the same to Valentine, but his intent is to stick to the shadows."

"He got the choice, but I didn't?"

"Your desire to remain inconspicuous is much less practical than his."

He frowned harder, feeling defensive.

"You know Shinra'll have the info too by now. When did you intend to tell me they'll want my blood about as much as they want yours?"

"Oh, not quite that much, I should think," Sephiroth smirked. "But you and I both know this isn't what you have a problem with, Cloud. You don't like to lead. That's fine, in most circumstances I don't mind picking up the slack. But if something were to happen, you'll need all the resources you can get. And face it. You are a natural leader."

When Rain just crossed his arms and glared, his lips formed a more sincere smile.

"It'll be an honour to work with you today, Cloud."

The warmth in his voice took Rain aback about as much as the hand he held out. He found himself flustered.

"What's with you…" he stammered, though he did answer the gesture. Sephiroth's gloved grip was reassuringly firm in his.

"It's time," Elfé said as she approached them, Shears one step behind her.

They let go and Sephiroth nodded.

"We're ready."

The plan was for AVALANCHE to attack the reactor in as flashy a way as possible.

Hidden in the cliffs above the village, Sephiroth and Rain saw and heard an explosion go off in the mountains. Immediately, the camp down on the ground buzzed with activity. It didn't take long for trucks loaded with reinforcements to leave.

Sephiroth wordlessly passed a pair of binoculars to Rain and pointed the departing troops. He looked, and found the unmistakably huge silhouette of Azul the Cerulean among the uniforms.

He grunted in surprise. He had expected that each Restrictor would keep a Tsviet by their side for additional protection, but he had assumed that Corel's Restrictor wouldn't move from the camp's shelter. Either he or she was more battle-ready than he had thought, or they knew something was up.

"This is good," Sephiroth said.

He blinked at him.

"It's not what we had prepared for."

"It's better. It gives us an occasion to rally the troops at camp, cut the Restrictor's escape route and protect the town before confronting him. There is less risk of civilian casualties."

He had a point, but still…

"What about AVALANCHE? Even with Elfé, they won't be able to hold up against Azul on top of Deepground."

"So, warn them," he said without much care. "They knew the risks, Cloud," he added in answer to his dark look.

"This is why I hate leading," he muttered even as he took his radio.

"This one is on me."

Like it changed in any way how many persons were going to die today. Still, if it came to a choice between AVALANCHE and Corel's defenceless inhabitants… He called Shears.

A few minutes later, a second explosion shook the mountain. It was their signal: the reinforcements were halfway to the reactor. It was also a flawless way to have everyone look in the same direction at the same time.

Sephiroth straightened and climbed the highest rock overlooking the camp. Masamune sang an eager note as he drew it and pointed it at the sky. Its steel caught the sun like a miniature star.

"First Class," he screamed. "To me!"

"When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end, the goddess descends from the sky," Genesis declaimed, arms flung out and head tipped back.

The surveillance booth of Shinra's Junon HQ was empty around them, apart from the bodies of a few Deepground soldiers and two technicians staring awestruck at the two ex-SOLDIERs gracing them with their presence. Angeal smiled at his friend, adrenaline already running through his veins.

"Shall we bring about the war of the beasts?"

"Let's," Genesis replied, an eager spark in his eyes as he lowered his arms.

Angeal turned to the microphone and nodded to the technicians. They were quick to engage the building-wide announcement system.

"Attention, First Class! This is SOLDIER Angeal Hewley talking. Today is the day we retake our honour!"

"First Class! Let's kick their asses!" Zack yelled in the megaphone a tiny Wutaian girl named Yuffie had procured for him.

He had barely finished talking before the Wutaian rebels rushed past him towards the battle starting below. A man followed them, spear eagerly cutting down the first enemies coming his way.

"#%& yeah!" Cid Highwind screamed.

"Man, talk about enthusiasm, huh?" Zack told the ex-Turk next to him even as he drew his sword. "Hope we don't lose our pilot today, that would suck!"

"I'll keep an eye on him," Vincent said in what passed for a long-suffering tone for him.

His red cape flew down the dusty hill. Gunshots unerringly found their marks. Grinning, Zack hacked his way to the closest group of SOLDIERs. They saluted him with bright eyes.

"With me, guys!"

If Shinra didn't want Rain's death half as much as they wanted Sephiroth's, he was happy not to be in his shoes.

Ever since he had stepped foot on the battlefield, Deepground's own brand of SOLDIERs had been launching themselves at him at a frightening pace. He had been separated from Sephiroth a long time ago. The only thing that kept him from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers was providential help appearing as often as new enemies. Regular SOLDIERs and troopers kept stepping in for him, running interference and protecting his flanks.

He thought Sephiroth would be smug about being right. Then again, Rain would be quick to point out that he wouldn't have needed help if he wasn't being systematically recognized on sight. (And he stopped there, because since when was he running imaginary conversations with Sephiroth in his head?)

Still, he could grudgingly recognize the merits of the idea. It was impossible to know which SOLDIERs and infantrymen were on their side unless they took a clear stand. The battle would have been complete chaos without Sephiroth and him to serve as figureheads. They were the two eyes of the storm, concentrating much of the violence of the conflict around them. The pressure was staggering, but Rain was good enough to withstand it.

That didn't prevent him from being very grateful when the pace finally slowed down enough for him to get his bearings. A thin layer of sweat stuck to his skin, sprinkled with dust and blood. He had a few scratches, nothing major.

The battle seemed on its last legs. From what he could see, they had mostly managed to keep it away from Corel's boundaries. Curtains and shutters moved as frightened villagers peeked from behind them. He couldn't spot Barret's house from where he stood, but he had to trust it was okay.

The men milling around turned to him when it became evident that the last pockets of enemy resistance were being overrun.

"Sir!" one of them said, saluting.

It was a Second Class SOLDIER, judging by the uniform. Having one of them defer to him was surreal. Hit by an unwelcome feeling of inadequacy, he searched for Sephiroth. He couldn't see him anywhere. He turned to his radio.

"Sephiroth, this is Rain. Come in."

A few seconds of static. Before he could believe the worst, Sephiroth's voice rang out. By the rhythm of his breath, he was still in the middle of a fight.

"This is Sephiroth. Are you done with the camp?"

Rain frowned.

"Yes. Where are you?"

"On the mountain trail to the reactor. I ducked out as soon as the battle seemed ours. Finish there and join me."

He signed off without any more fanfare. Rain glared at the radio. So he had been worried about their allies' chances of survival. This new evidence that Sephiroth cared should have been reassuring, but he was too annoyed to deal with it right now.

Buckle up, Cloud.

"Alright!" he called to anyone who would hear. "You know your usual hierarchy better than I do. We need surveillance for the prisoners, healing for the wounded and a security perimeter around the town to protect the civilians. And then anyone who can be spared here is coming with me."

It was fifteen long minutes before the men rearranged themselves according to his orders. The villagers started to come out of their houses when the wounded were moved in Corel, behind the forming defensive perimeter. Rain was nicely surprised to see most of them bringing bandages, food and water. It seemed Deepground was hated wherever it went.

"Hey you!"

He was less surprised to see a furious Barret striding up to him. Two SOLDIERs stopped him before he could reach Rain.

"What the hell!" he yelled. "I help you and this is the thanks I get? What're you filthy savages doin' to the reactor?!"

Rain reached out and intercepted a medic.

"Get that man a Restore Materia and teach him how to use it."

The medic nodded. To an astonished Barret, Rain said:

"Cure spells will only relieve Myrna's symptoms and make sure the sickness doesn't progress any more. She'll still need proper treatment, but believe me, you weren't going to get that from Shinra."

"You…"

"Help treat our wounded and you can keep the Materia. It was good seeing you, Barret."

He turned away, leaving Barret to stare at his back in bafflement. This was taking too long. He knew Sephiroth was a capable fighter, literally the best in existence, but the longer he waited, the more worry gnawed at his insides.

He called for whoever would follow him to assemble now. They came swiftly, a force of twelve SOLDIERs and a handful of supporting troopers. He led them towards the reactor at a brisk pace, taking the path Dyne had showed him. It was too narrow for vehicles, but a considerable shortcut.

The first part of the trek was spent in silence. However, as they were cutting through the abandoned coal mines, one of the troopers spoke up.

"Uh… Sir?"

Rain glanced at him, causing him to shift nervously.

"Did you see something?"

The explosions seemed to have prompted the monsters that lived in the mines to hide in the deeper levels, but it paid to be careful.

"Uh, no sir. I was just wondering… There's this guy I used to work with. You look a lot like him? Corporal Cloud Strife. He, uh, disappeared at about the same time as First Class Sephiroth and Fair."

His lips twitched in the ghost of a smile. Cloud would be pleased to know that some of his colleagues worried for him.

"My brother. He's with us. He's on… another mission right now."

The sergeant shared a relieved look with the man walking next to him. Emboldened, he smiled at Rain.

"I didn't know Strife had a SOLDIER brother. He never said."

Rain felt a pang of panic. He forced himself to keep walking even as he turned away. It's only when the men started fidgeting that he realized how attentive they were to his moods. He was an unknown quantity to them. They had begun to relax when he had seemed open to conversation, but his clamming up made them nervous. Too bad the only thing he could say wouldn't help; but he had to go forward with Sephiroth's plan, and they would hear about it sooner or later.

"I'm not SOLDIER. I'm a Deepground renegade."

This effectively doused any further attempt at creating camaraderie. At least they were disciplined enough not to talk behind his back. The rest of the mines passed in an icy silence.

They emerged to open air just above the part of the mountain road where the Shinra troops had parked their trucks. They drew their weapons and picked up the pace. Battle sounds echoed between the cliffs, but there were far less of them than there should have been. Rain's heart gave a twinge in his chest.

They rounded a bend in the road and stopped short, gasping.

The half-built reactor towered over a plateau littered with corpses. Most of them wore SOLDIER or trooper uniforms, but there were also Ravens and even Deepground infantry. Every single one of them bore bullet wounds.

It hadn't been a fight. It had been a massacre.

And in the epicentre of the chaos, standing on the reactor's steps, Azul the Cerulean laughed madly as Elfé fought him with despair-fuelled moves.

"Strife!"

Shears' voice snapped him out of his shock. The rebel, a makeshift bandage on his thigh already soaked with blood, was attempting to lead what remained of AVALANCHE in a retreat, but their way was barred by Deepground troops. Even though they were visibly afraid of being caught in another one of Azul's indiscriminate slaughters, Deepground fought on. That was how strong their compulsion to obey the Restrictor stood.

"Cover AVALANCHE!" Rain ordered his men.

He fought his way to Shears and bowled over the man's enemies.

"Sephiroth?"

"Followed the Restrictor inside," Shears said with a nod to the reactor. "Listen, Elfé won't hold out much longer!"

Without warning, one of the reactor towers collapsed.

This was when Rain understood that he had underestimated the Restrictors. Sephiroth was genuinely fighting in there.

Meanwhile, Elfé was indeed in a bad position. He had thought her strong, but although he could see no wound on her, the more she battled, the more she seemed to weaken. It looked like her body was failing her.

Rain gritted his teeth and launched himself forward.

"Azul!"

The Tsviet countered his sword strike with the broad side of his cannon. He laughed as Rain bounded back to a safe distance.

"Another lamb to the slaughter! Ah, I remember you. You are that non-SOLDIER that fought Nero with Sephiroth. You wouldn't happen to know how he escaped Nero's darkness, would you? I was really surprised to see he had."

"Fall back," Rain said to Elfé.

No misplaced pride in her. She simply nodded and ran to help her men fight their way back to the safety of the mountains.

"Why kill all these men?" he asked Azul.

"Why not? All Shinra troops were potential spies and turncoats. That was thanks to you, wasn't it? The Restrictor gave me permission to deal with the situation here as I saw fit."

Rain's gloves creaked as he clenched his fists on his swords' hilts.

"And the Deepground men?"

"Pah! Why should I care about the weaklings who couldn't avoid such a simple attack?"

It was too much. He threw himself at Azul, but stumbled as the Tsviet punched the earth, unleashing a veritable shockwave. By the time he regained his feet under him, Azul's machine gun was pointed at him and he had no choice but to run away from the spray of bullets. He charged his only Materia and unleashed an Ice spell. Azul grunted and recoiled.

Rain seized the opportunity and rushed through the distance separating them. Azul tried to use the shockwave again, but he was ready and jumped over it. He landed in a flying attack and followed with a rapid-fire volley that had the Tsviet sway back. Azul's skin was ridiculously thick and his pain threshold much too high. But his strong point was distance attacks, and though he tried to throw his opponent away by swinging his canon and his thick arms around, Rain was nimble enough to avoid the strikes and slip back under his defences. He was slow on his feet, too, which was a definite advantage to Rain.

He was just about to end the fight when a nearby part of the reactor exploded outwards. Rain and Azul were both sent hurtling away.

From the wreckage emerged a cloaked figure. Azul immediately struggled to his feet.

"Sir!"

The Restrictor held an ornate spear. He raised his free hand in Azul's direction.

"Azul the Cerulean. You will—"

The dust cloud behind him parted as if cleaved in two by a hairbreadth-thin gale. Masamune pierced his chest.

Sephiroth had appeared behind him between one blink and the next. He was unusually dishevelled and blood shone wetly on his biceps where his coat sported a long rip, but it was his only visible wound.

The Restrictor's spear clanged to the ground. He tried to reach for the blade in his chest, but collapsed before he could, dead.

The difference was immediate. After a second of incredulity, the Deepground troops turned and ran. The men Rain had brought and the AVALANCHE survivors gave a tired cheer.

Rain didn't share their relief. Alarmed, he turned to Azul just as the Tsviet began a deep and booming laugh. The shock in his eyes was dying, already replaced with a greedy spark that bordered on madness.

"Free at last!" he screamed. "Now… let me show you my true strength!"

He let his weapon fall. His form started to stretch in grotesque ways, limbs contorting with sickening cracks. Sephiroth started to raise Masamune again, but Rain stopped him.

"Nice timing," he scoffed when the SOLDIER looked at him in askance.

"Cloud…" Sephiroth said with a long-suffering expression.

Rain rolled his eyes.

"I'll take care of it."

He got a raised eyebrow for his trouble.

"You wanted the men to follow me as they would follow you?" Rain said with sharp irritation. "I've got a lot to prove for that. Let me take care of this, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth ducked his head in acceptance, although it didn't prevent Rain from spotting the smirk on his lips. Then, to the confusion of their onlookers, he openly turned his back to the enemy and strode away.

Rain readied his stance and raised his swords. Azul's transformation was ending. In place of the giant of a man now stood a Behemoth-like creature: four-legged, with a long and thick tail, curved horns and armoured skin. This form would be a much better fit for melee attacks.

He had barely thought so that it rushed at him, attempting to skewer him with wickedly sharp horns that he only just escaped. Damn, it was quicker too. The tail smashed into him just he was rolling to his feet, sending him crashing to the ground some twenty feet away. One of his swords flew out of his hand. Of course, it was the one with his Ice Materia in the hilt.

He had expected Azul to be running to him, but when he struggled upright, the creature was still in the same place… preparing what appeared to be energy crystals. The projectiles flew at him and he parried them the best he could, gaining a few scratches for his trouble.

Then came another charge. Rain waited until the last moment to jump above him. Too heavy to stop, Azul slammed through the reactor wall as Rain swiped his blade along his spinal cord. As he had feared, the hide was so thick a normal strike barely left a mark.

This fight was not going well. He had to regain some kind of advantage. He spotted scaffolding against another side of the reactor. He bounded up to it while the Behemoth was shaking its head to get rid of the debris its horns had gotten stuck through. It didn't take long before he heard the beast following behind him. The wooden frame shook and groaned under its weight as it heaved himself up. Rain turned and battled it even as they jumped ever higher.

Soon they reached the top of the unfinished walls, uneven and scattered with tools. The field hindered Azul's devastating charges and Rain soon had him recoiling under his strikes. Yet he was unable to score a single wound on his enemy and if he kept this way, his sword would dull. He needed to get that Materia back.

Just as he was making his decision and angling his body to rush back down the scaffolding, Azul recovered long enough to swing that damn tail. Not about to be bested by the same trick twice, Rain crouched and angled the flat of his sword so the attack would glance off it. It still reverberated in his wrist with great power. Just then the ground dropped under their feet as a great chunk of the wall detached and took them with it on its fall. His grip failed completely and he lost his last weapon.

From very far below, he heard Sephiroth call his name.

His birth name again, that bastard, he took the time to think. Wasn't he at least trying to use his official name when there were strangers around?

The long drop didn't worry him. The way Azul was already reaching for him with teeth and claws, ready to tear him apart and crush him under his weight when they landed… that was more of a problem.

He wouldn't survive six hundred pounds slamming into him from that height.

A burst of adrenaline flooded his veins. Hyper-awareness coated every single one of his nerves with fire and the world became brilliantly clear.

He needed weapons. Now.

The sword spiralling to the ground not far from him lit with the same blue corona haloing his body. Another tug came from further away. He focused on both of them and heaved. The hilts slapped in his palms and the energy thrumming under his skin burst out. He turned in midair, slid through space and was before his enemy. Omnislash slammed into the beast, an onslaught of attacks too swift for the naked eye to see.

The last, vertical strike had Azul meet the ground with enough force to shake it. Both swords were embedded up to the hilts in the unmoving corpse.

Rain landed neatly nearby. The last remains of his Limit Break flickered out on his skin. He caught his breath and heaved his weapons out with a grunt.

When he turned, Sephiroth was approaching him with ground-eating strides.

"I am starting to get the feeling pushing you into an airborne battle is a bad idea."

The words were out before he could censor them.

"I do have a lot of practice with winged enemies."

Instead of being offended, Sephiroth smiled.

"I suppose so."

Rain frowned at him, then down at his weapons. The blades had answered to him magnificently. He hadn't felt this much resonance since his beloved Fusion Swords.

"Where did you say you got these?"

"I didn't say," Sephiroth replied flippantly.

With that he turned away, heading back to the ring of onlookers that had foregone their retreat to huddle at the base of the cliffs and watch the fight. Rain glared at his back. He never did say, did he? He had just let him assume they had been found in some second-rate weapons shop in nowhere town.

Why hadn't he asked earlier? He had been uncomfortable with the idea of owing something of monetary value to Sephiroth. But now that he knew the swords had been a much more precious gift than he had first assumed, what was he supposed to think? Didn't it make things worse?

He tore the hem of his shirt off and cleaned them both thoroughly. He examined them with a keener eye than before. He had known they were of good craftsmanship, but now that he was looking for it, he could see the signs of a long history in the subtle details of the hilts and blades. Swords like these had to have names. Would Sephiroth know them? No, he would have said. If anything, Masamune was proof that he understood a weapon's importance.

These blades were his now. He wouldn't forsake them any more than he would have chosen to lose the Fusion Swords. Yet their origin mattered. There was some powerful symbolism in the fact that they had come from Sephiroth of all people.

He forced a long breath out.

Remus and Romulus. That would be their names.

Sheathing the newly christened swords, he joined the conversation taking place between Sephiroth, Elfé and a few of the SOLDIERs.

"… reinforcements?" one SOLDIER was saying.

"We'll soon know if Shinra can afford it, but it seems unlikely," Sephiroth answered.

His lack of concern made the SOLDIERs shift in confusion. In an example of splendid timing, Sephiroth and Rain's phones chirped in their pockets. They dug them out in unison. Sephiroth smirked at reading Zack's exclamation marks-filled message. Rain acquired the sudden, unsettling certainty that his smugness also masked relief.

"Wutai is ours."

The SOLDIERs gaped and a few infantrymen hedged closer to listen, eager.

"O-ours?"

Sephiroth's phone rang. He accepted the call.

"Genesis?"

With their enhanced hearing, Rain and the SOLDIERs could hear both sides of the conversation.

"So you're not dead."

"And neither are you, it seems."

A snort, then Angeal's voice replaced Genesis'. "Junon's Restrictor is no longer a problem, Sephiroth."

"Then that makes three of them. Congratulations, everyone. First Class now holds three continents."

Despite everyone's exhaustion, the atmosphere in the camp that evening was merry bordering on giddy. After months of Deepground's tyranny, most of the troops weren't even bothering to think of their betrayal of Shinra or the uncertainty of their future. For that night at least, they wanted to savour their recovered freedom.

Fires burned high, laughter rang between the tents. Some of Corel's inhabitants willingly shared alcohol and good food and even joined the celebrations. AVALANCHE members made appearances, though at first they hedged nervously around the SOLDIERs and troopers, unsure of their welcome. But for tonight, only their allegiance under the First Class flag, however temporary it might turn out to be, seemed to matter.

Sephiroth spent the first two hours surrounded by a gaggle of admirers. It's probably for this reason that Elfé and Shears deemed more prudent to find Rain; although the story of his "origin" and his prowess in battle had travelled through camp at the speed of light and most now regarded him with respect, they were still wary and kept their distance. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the two AVALANCHE leaders approaching him. They exchanged stilted thanks.

"What are you going to do, now?" Elfé asked. "Will you still pursue Deepground?"

"All remaining troops will be recalled to Midgar to defend their stronghold there… Yes. One way or another, we'll go after them."

"I see. And afterwards?"

Rain's lips tilted minutely.

"You mean, Shinra as a whole? The Mako reactors? I don't know. I know what I want to see happen… Maybe we'll be in a position to really change things. Maybe not. There is no telling how things will go."

Elfé exchanged glances with Shears.

"AVALANCHE has to think of the Planet before anything else. That is our goal. I will talk to Fuhito… decide if we want to join you in battle once more."

If AVALANCHE followed them and Sephiroth and the others decided to rebuild Shinra instead of toppling it once and for all, it would place the militants in an awkward situation. That much he could understand. Rain narrowed his eyes.

"Fuhito… I have yet to meet him. Is he here tonight?"

"No. He prefers his labs to this kind of gathering."

A hint of steel had slipped into Elfé's voice. The scientist was an integral part of AVALANCHE's operations, as he gathered it, and the fragile agreement between them was not enough to convince her Rain could be fully trusted. He backed off.

They separated shortly after and he went back to his crossing of the camp. However, he was soon interrupted once more.

"Rain! Yo, hey, man!"

Barret waved at him enthusiastically and he veered of course to accept an energetic handshake. Although his friend must have cleaned up, there was still some blood under his fingernails from the day he had spent doggedly assisting medics. His arm was looped around Myrna's waist. She appeared a little less pale than the last time they had met and she was smiling, cheeks lit with a rosy tint by the fires. She insisted in thanking him profusely and Rain scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

He left them some ten minutes later, declining to have a drink with them.

He finally made it to the part of the camp where they had corralled their prisoners. The partying made him nervous and he couldn't help wanting to make sure that there would be no rebelling from their left-over enemies. But here, away from the celebrations, everything was calm. Under the watchful eyes of a handful of SOLDIERs, a few dozen men slept or hunched over in silence. Most of them were troopers who hadn't cared whether Shinra or Deepground gave the orders. The vast majority of Deepground soldiers had fought to the death. Those who had survived the battle looked lost, so unused were they to not having a Restrictor's will smothering their own. They wouldn't revolt tonight.

Still, he stayed.

Sephiroth found him there some indeterminate time later, pensive gaze glossing over the prisoners without really seeing them.

"One would think you would look happier. Doesn't our success today please you?"

Rain turned to him. He propped his hip against a nearby barrel of water.

"Of course it does. I'm just…"

He trailed off, not really knowing how he had intended to finish that sentence. He sighed.

"There is still so much to do. What's left of Deepground will hole up in Midgar. Taking the city back will be a huge problem, especially with their underground fortress. There is one Restrictor left and the strongest Tsviet yet… Well, two of them, since Nero managed to escape Angeal and Genesis."

And they hadn't heard from Hojo in a while, which was worrying. Add his undefined suspicions about Fuhito to the lot… And he was certain he was forgetting some other concerns that should have been just as pressing. How could he not? There were so many things to keep track of and he was only one man.

Sephiroth took a step forward, cutting through his depressing musings. Another step placed them firmly in each other's personal bubbles. Rain straightened, flustered, but the move just brought them closer. This far from the fires, the glow from Sephiroth's eyes was visible, but the half-light had a strange softening effect on it.

"I know for a fact you weren't born such a pessimist, Cloud. Please don't worry so much. You aren't alone."

He wasn't referring to the army behind them.

"Together, we can accomplish anything. I truly believe that."

Rain felt heat suffuse his face. Sephiroth smiled. He put an ungloved hand on his forearm and squeezed gently.

Never before had their bare skins touched. With the shoddy state his mental shields were in, he tensed instinctively, waiting for the intrusive surge of J cells in his mind.

Nothing came. He was left with only an impression of lingering warmth as Sephiroth moved away.

He stared at the backlit silhouette as it returned to the camp, wondering what had just happened.