28/06/2013 Edited 28/07/2013 (Omake added)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Title: A Mother's Love
Chapter: 4
Author: Jade Tatsu

There was a fringe benefit to Cloud's wolf that Raisa hadn't foreseen. In order to feed the growing puppy her son learned to hunt and sometimes he brought home more meat than the wolf could eat. They ate it then, or sold it, and the pelts of the animals were cured and sold. It didn't make that much difference to their daily income but any difference was welcome. Raisa knew she lived much closer to the edge than she needed but with what was coming she preferred the safety of savings.

Cloud never complained, and he became proficient at fixing things. Nothing too complicated but he could fix or at least successfully tinker with most of the equipment in the village. He was never allowed into the Brewery, that was sacred ground, but the well and almost all other common areas, he had patched up at some time. Raisa continued to work at the Mansion. The pay was meagre but she did her duties well and was now allowed to clean the whole mansion but never the basement. She wasn't sure if she was meant to know the basement existed so never mentioned it. The rest was enough and almost every day she gathered information, snippets that would be useful later from the glances at papers the scientists left strewn around haphazardly. She was filling in the blank spaces of her memory.

Cloud grew and his wolf grew and Raisa allowed herself one indulgence, paying for the use of a camera. It was a simple photo, taken in the full light of the summer sun; Cloud and his wolf, playing in a thin waterfall. It was a warm shot and Raisa smiled every time she looked at it. Her boy had grown so much! And his wolf cub was all gangly with its own growth. They were growing together and she had seen them hunting once. It was almost a foregone conclusion the way they moved together. Truly the wolf was a gift from the Planet but already Raisa knew she was going to have a hard time enforcing her rules.

After the thundersnow where Cloud had gained his furry companion, he had been confined to the village for two weeks. That had not been much of a punishment because he had the wolf cub to distract him but after that he had been forbidden from going to the high plains except at the height of the short mountain summer. That had been harder to enforce and except for one escorted visit to pick herbs the village needed Cloud had obeyed. But his wolf had been young then and able to be worn out in the surrounds of the village. The wolf was larger now, and needed more space and Raisa knew that obeying her rules was beginning to chafe against her son. He was not rebellious by nature but he did miss the mountain. She could see it in his eyes.

It was one thing she would have to deal with when the time came. What Raisa didn't know was that her son had been continuing his training, such as it was. The old master Zangan had passed through the village a few times and while Cloud had been obliquely praised in terms of his fitness, the master had not given him any training. No, that was all going towards the Mayor's Daughter. It had hurt, a little, but Cloud had seen how training with Zangan tied him down. He wouldn't have been able to see to his wolf, and he wouldn't have been able to roam the mountain fields. And so after spying on their training a few times he was content.

He had learned things though, just from watching and while he was confined closer to the village, he worked on agility. It was easy, he and his wolf played tag and chase and all sorts of silly games until Cloud was able to dodge in any direction, to jump and leap and sidle under obstacles. He came home covered in mud most days, his golden hair brown but with his Mother working so late at the Mansion, he could clean up before she saw it. And wolf always liked falling into the mountain streams and the way that Cloud would pat him all over cleaning away the mud on his coat.

They were good days but he yearned for the high plateau and the few days in summer when he got to go back to it were not enough. But his Mother had been clear and he would not disobey.

The seasons turned, and the short summer became autumn and then winter and Cloud was trapped closer to the village by the snow drifts. He and his wolf still played in the snow each day but Cloud was struck by a sense of waiting. It was as if the Planet was holding its breath and he grew anxious with the anticipation that he could taste in the air. His wolf was almost fully grown and was a magnificent specimen of Nibel Wolf and despite their usual savage nature, Cloud had trained his to be well behaved. In the evenings, in front of the little stove fire that warmed their house, he liked nothing more than to curl up with his wolf, and run his fingers through the thick but soft coat, tracing out the patterns. The wolf liked that too and rumbled low to show his content.

There was one small darkness in the light that was Cloud's life. One of the village children, jealous that Cloud got to have a wolf had taken to baiting them and once, when the wolf cub was much younger, had separated it from Cloud and had hurt the young pup. Cloud had rescued the wolf, but despite the fact that he had done nothing wrong, the village had punished him. He still felt bitter about it now and the bitterness exploded into rage when he remembered the taunts the next day from the smug boy who had gotten away with hurting Cloud's friend without any punishment. "It's just an animal. A dumb beast that doesn't even have a name."

Cloud had shouted back, his limbs still stinging from the beating he'd gotten the day before and he and his wolf had vanished before the others could chase them down. Even hurting, Cloud was faster than the other children and he knew the ways around the village better than they ever would. But the taunts had hurt in a different way than the beating. Wolf wasn't a beast, he was Cloud's friend… but it was true that wolf didn't have a name. That day Cloud had tried to come up with a name for his friend, but every suggestion he made was met with laid back ears and a show of teeth.

There was one name he considered but it seemed too grand and much too powerful for the then adolescent wolf and he'd held back on the name, 'Fenrir' but when he looked into the yellow eyes of his friend he thought perhaps that it would be his name. In time.

As he grew up, his Mother's stories changed. She always asked him who he was to kill before he fell asleep but one day, one very surprising day the answer to the second question was different.

"Who do you kill Cloud?"

"Jenova."

"Very good Cloud. You kill Jenova. You always kill Jenova, even if you have a choice, always Jenova. I don't know if I can save him Cloud, but if Jenova is dead, perhaps he won't need saving."

"Who is he?"

Cloud expected the answer to be the same as it always was: 'Not yet, my little Cloud, it's not yet time to know. I'll tell you when the path is clear.' But on that day, his Mother paused before answering and the words were different.

"His name is Sephiroth. He's a good boy, Cloud, just mislead but I don't know if I can save him."

Cloud smiled up as his Mother, repeating the name in his head 'Sephiroth'. "Don't worry," he whispered quietly, already falling asleep. "I'll save him."

Shocked blue eyes looked down at Cloud's sleeping form and he didn't feel it when his Mother reached out, pulling him up out from the covers to draw him close, rocking back and forth. "Oh Cloud," Raisa whispered, her voice sad and tears fell from her eyes as she held her son and she remembered another young man she could not comfort.

Work in the Mansion that day had been odd. It always was a bit odd in the days after a thundersnow, especially if she had been trapped in the Mansion as she had this time. But usually it wasn't this bad. It felt different somehow. She wasn't as attuned to the Planet as Cloud was but she could feel something. Surrounded by scientists Raisa did nothing to arouse curiosity. She could do nothing, especially as Hojo was in residence but even the scientists felt as if they were waiting. She didn't know why but there was an air of distraction at the Mansion and usually Raisa would have used that to take the opportunity to read more papers. This time, she kept strictly to her job, as if feeling a thousand eyes upon her.

She'd been resting in the kitchen with a blanket drawn around her when a noise had caused her to look up. What she'd seen… It was a boy… young man her mind corrected instantly but with the instant of correction, came the instant of recognition and she was drowned in an onslaught of memory.

Silver hair and green eyes. An impossibly long thin katana wielded with an ease that defied description. A fire ranging for eternity and the laugh of insanity. Black feathers and black wings and weird shambling figures robed in black. Motion, impossibly fast yet innocently slow. A woman stabbed through the back, smiling as she died. A scream, hatred echoing through time in that voice. Sickness and disease and more hair, carried on the wind, gently wafting, its silken length perfect. Another laugh, more controlled this time, saner but all the more frightening because of its control. And a woman with blue skin and glowing eyes, watching everything.

So many memories, all at once, and all screaming for her attention. Raisa whimpered softly, squeezing her eyes closed against the emotions that accompanied them. This was the boy… the man who had hurt her Cloud. The boy who had just appeared before her was the centre of it all. She hadn't agreed with her future self's suggestion to kill the boy who was Sephiroth, but now it didn't seem like such a bad idea. She should have known she wouldn't even be able to get close. Just seeing him incapacitated her. Raisa drew a shuddering breath, eyes still closed, but her conscious mind was screaming at her to regain control, to appear normal.

"Ma'am?" the voice was light, not yet broken with manhood.

"Ma'am?" The tentative call came again, and somehow Raisa could sense the movement towards her, a half step, hesitant but definitely taken.

Tentative? That made no sense. Sephiroth was not tentative. Nor was he hesitant.

That brought her memories crashing to a halt faster than a pail of frozen water.

Blue eyes blinked as they opened and Raisa saw for the first time the man who stood at the centre of it all with her Cloud. Green eyes met blue and for an instant there seemed to be recognition before everything shifted and once more took on the fog of the unknown. The man was not yet a man. He was young, on the verge of manhood but his features still had a roundness one associated with childhood and his voice was high and sweet. For a male, his hair was long, reaching down to his mid back but it was swept back and stayed in place and shone like the sheen on polished silver. His eyes were green, though they were almost impossibly wide and while Raisa wanted to see the innocent of childhood there, she knew that had been taken from him a long time ago. There was however, a sense of wonder about him and with a start she realised he was not meant to be here. Somehow, he had gotten out of the basement and was exploring. Her heart wept for his tiny rebellion and for the glow it gave him. He was not meant to be caged.

"Hello," she said, her voice dry from sleeping.

He didn't smile but he nodded his acknowledgement of her greeting and as if satisfied that she was not dead he continued to look around.

"This is the kitchen," Raisa answered the question that was never asked, suppressing a hint of fury that he did not even know such a simple thing like that. She could tell by the way his gaze lingered on everything. What boy grew up not knowing what a kitchen was?

"I know. I've seen…" He didn't finish the sentence and the blonde woman was thankful. She didn't want to know what he'd seen.

"I'm the Housekeeper, Raisa Strife," she introduced herself.

"Why were you sleeping?"

The question was innocent enough but it carried confusion. Why was she sleeping in the Kitchen? Why was she here? "Oh I don't live here," Raisa replied trying to keep her voice light. "I live in Nibelheim," she fervently hoped that he knew where he was. "And there was a thundersnow yesterday so I have to stay until that clears. Though all of that is unimportant because I bet you are hungry. Would you like something to eat, Sir?" For the rest of her life, Raisa wasn't sure what made her add the honourific but she did and in the long run that was for the best.

"I'm not a Sir," the not man replied, almost absently.

Raisa shook her head, rising and folding the blanket that had been around her haphazardly over one arm. "You are here, and are with Shinra?" she made the statement a question. A sharp nod was her reply. "I work for Shinra, but I'm only the Housekeeper which means if you are with Shinra, then you are a Sir to me," she finished with a smile. "Now, would you like something to eat? My son is always hungry." That wasn't quite true, Cloud hadn't yet reached that stage but she remembered the time so it wasn't that big a lie.

As she draped the half folded blanket over one simple chair instinct warred within her. Her memories screamed that this was the man responsible for everything but her present self held them back. This was not the man responsible. This boy was not yet a man and what did she ask Cloud every night? Who do you kill? Jenova. Even if she killed the boy now, it would not stop the future. She told her memories that and they quietened. Killing this boy now would just kill her Cloud because she could not see that Shinra would allow him to live.

"That would be nice," he finally replied and Raisa made sure to smile warmly at him, allowing no hint of her internal shouting match to show in her movements or gestures. Something must have shown though because he questioned her. "Why are you afraid?"

"Afraid, Sir?"

"You are afraid. I can sense it," the green eyes narrowed slightly and Raisa felt herself be weighed.

"Ah, you startled me," Raisa gives the answer, hoping it would cover the truth. It was itself the truth, just not the one he asked about. "What would you like in your sandwich, Sir?" She tried to change the subject.

The answer and the promise of food seemed to distract him enough and Raisa smiled gently. She wasn't meant to know he was a weapon, that he was not just a normal boy but she did, and the normalcy of the situation calmed her. The one winged angel could still be distracted, was still bound by such needs as food. He was, despite all the training Shinra had thrown at him, still human. At least for now.

"Anything."

Now that did not surprise her. Trained as a soldier, he would have been taught to eat whatever presented itself. "Is there anything you don't like?" Raisa pressed the question as she rummaged through the pantry, putting bread and various other items on to the middle table before moving to the absolutely huge fridge that dominated the place to pull out more items.

"No pickles," came the very soft reply, almost too softly to be heard but Raisa did and she was sure to turn back to the silver haired boy with a dazzling smile. No pickles made sense. To young taste buds they were probably too harsh so she made sure he could see her push the jar away.

That earned her the tiniest crease of one lip. If she hadn't been watching, she would have missed it but it was enough. "It's okay, my son doesn't like pickles either, Sir," she stage whispered.

"Your son?"

There was a moment there when Raisa didn't know what to do. This was the man who had fought Cloud, hurt Cloud, never giving him any peace and thus she didn't want to reveal her son to him. But this was the man who was central to it all, second only to Jenova and despite everything, the boy before her was still human.

"Ah, my son," Raisa replied, smiling again at the thought of her treasure. "He's younger than you and has blond hair and blue eyes. He takes after me that way, but he takes after his father in others." She began assembling the sandwich for the silver haired youth, careful to keep her hands where he could see them. For the life of her, Raisa didn't know if she was meant to know he was being trained as a S.O.L.D.I.E.R. or if at this point in time, Sephiroth was still just a random experiment but she deemed it safest to say nothing but act on the knowledge. If she was asked she would just say that she deemed it best given that the two of them were not known to each other.

For a few moments there was silence as Raisa continued making the sandwich and then it was done. Delftly she slipped it on to a plate she had placed in front of her earlier and slid it over the table towards the green eyed boy. He nodded his thanks and picked up one half of the sandwich biting into it and chewing thoughtfully. As the silence grew Raisa began packing away the ingredients but that didn't take her long and soon she was sitting at the table, watching as the young Sephiroth slowly ate the sandwich.

She almost laughed at herself when she realised something. She didn't know what to do.

Memories of the future came at her. So many possible ways she could change events, and now, sitting in the kitchen of the Shinra Mansion, with Sephiroth, she had no idea what she was meant to do.

"Your son," the silence was broken unexpectedly and Raisa looked over towards the young man again. He had finished half of the sandwich and was looking at her with curiously glowing eyes.

"Yes?" she prompted when it became obvious he was waiting for her to reply.

"What will he do when he is grown?"

A million questions entered Raisa's mind, screaming for attention, chasing each other around and around so noisily that she was surprised that the silver haired youth did not hear them. That single question revealed so much and her heart ached. But it ached because of the knowledge she had from the future and perhaps what had been considered Sephiroth's choice, was deemed that because most considered it a choice when in fact it should have been said to be Sephiroth's training. He knew no other way. And with one innocent question Raisa could see that. The monster of the future had been trained to be a S.O.L.D.I.E.R. and he simply knew no other way to live, could consider nothing else.

"I'm not sure," Raisa answered with a small smile. She didn't feel the way her eyes softened when she thought of Cloud and she didn't see the way green eyes watched the reaction fascinated and longing. "If he stays in Nibelheim, he will probably become a hunter," she continued…

"But you don't think he'll stay?" the observation interrupted her.

"No, I don't think he will. The world is too wide, and he wants to see it so much," Raisa said, quirking her lips in an odd smile. Her memories were not too clear but even if she changed the future, she knew her son's future was not in Nibelheim.

"I will be a Soldier," Sephiroth said suddenly. "That's what I was created for, and what I have been trained for."

She wanted to ask, oh she dearly wanted to ask if that was what he wanted, but such a question would reach Hojo too fast and on being a Soldier, there really was no choice for the green eyed boy. As he said himself, he had been created to be one, but there were soldiers and soldiers. He didn't have to be the soldier of the future her memories showed her. "Then Cloud and myself will be some of the people you protect," she said lightly, hinting towards other path a soldier could take.

"Cloud?"

"My son," Raisa said realising that she hadn't meant to tell the boy soldier her son's name. There was safety in the unknown but now he would be known. In the future, when Raisa remembered her time, there were some gestures she knew with absolute clarity why she had made them and then there were others that remained a mystery to her. What happened next was one of the deepest mysteries. Her mouth opened and the words fell out and maybe that moment changed everything… but maybe it didn't. Maybe it was just a gesture between two people trapped in a house. "I have a picture."

"May I see it?" The question was polite and Raisa, pre-occupied with her concern missed the note of hope in the voice.

"Of course, Sir," she had no choice but to reply. Denying him now would get her into trouble and she knew that young as he was he could probably spot it if she lied. Raisa reached under the apron she wore when working into her skirts to find the picture she carried everywhere. She glanced at it, smiling fondly at the sight of Cloud and his wolf playing in the water, the light catching them in such a way that they almost glowed before she slid it across the table.

She was pleased when Sephiroth put down the other half of the sandwich and wiped his fingers on the napkin before he reached for the picture, though the pleasure was tinged with sadness. She wasn't sure how old he was, but that gesture, that consideration was far too old for him when he could not be older than fourteen. No fourteen year old male should be that considerate!

But he was and from the look on the young face, he was fascinated. Raisa was fascinated when he smiled. Not the half crease of his lips she had seen earlier, but a full smile. It wasn't large but it warmed her heart when she realised it was genuine. It changed him. The cold exterior fell away almost instantly and he was warm. Even the glow from his green eyes changed somehow. It was infectious and Raisa felt herself smiling back at him.

"That is my son, Cloud and his wolf."

"Where are they?"

Typical question from someone militarily minded. Identify the personal, identify the location. In this case it didn't matter and from the hazy memories she had of Sephiroth's upbringing it might do him good to know that people could find happiness everywhere.

"On the mountain," Raisa replied, "Up near the plateau."

"It looks beautiful," Sephiroth said and Raisa was surprised at the way his fingers traced over the picture, almost caressing it gently.

"You should go up there sometime," she added, knowing full well that he was trapped and the only time he would even get close to the plateau was… was at time she'd rather not think about.

"I would like that," the green eyes changed slightly, taking on a thoughtful aspect and the blonde woman wondered what he could be thinking about. "Where will he go?"

"Sir?"

"Where will Cloud go when he leaves Nibelheim?"

"Oh," Raisa murmured in understanding. "I don't know… The world is so large. He'll…" She chuckled. "Actually I think he will join Shinra when he's old enough," she added, drawing from the memories of what had been. Cloud would never join Shinra, not in this world, not while she lived. The strength of her conviction seared into her mind.

"I'll look forward to meeting him," Sephiroth said, putting down the picture and picking up the other half of the sandwich and bitting into it.

"Oh, Sir?"

"I will be S.O.L.D.I.E.R.," the silver haired teen repeated and while he did not place any particular stress on the word 'soldier' Raisa could feel the letters spelt out in the acronym her future self had educated her about, stressing how important it was for the future.

"Like the army?" that seemed a safe enough thing to say for a mountain woman who was meant to have no idea about anything Shinra was doing and perhaps it would clarify the situation.

"Yes, like the army," Sephiroth replied, leaving out further details in an admiral show of discretion as he continued to eat the sandwich.

"Woman!"

The call startled them both and Raisa looked towards the doorway to see one of the Turks standing there, glaring at her. Behind her Sephiroth continued to eat the sandwich, downing the last bite with an exaggerated gulp as one hand swept over the table, collecting the picture and pushing it into his pocket. The appearance of the Turk was information enough for him to know that Hojo had not told them about his instructions to his creation and inwardly Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Hiding orders for the sake of hiding orders… so inefficient. He would be in charge soon and things would change. He would see to that.

"Did you want something?" He asked coming around the table and walking through the kitchen to stand equal to the Turk, looking straight into his eyes. At fourteen he was as tall as a full grown man and probably still not at his adult height. He knew how to use that to his advantage.

"No," the Turk replied, looking back and forth between Sephiroth and the blonde woman he knew was the housekeeper. This was the kitchen, the housekeeper was meant to be here… but Sephiroth… He was meant to be in the basement.

"Then you will accompany me back to the Professor," the silver haired teenager ordered, stepping around the Turk and walking back towards the Basement stairs without looking back.

"Ma'am," the Turk said by way of parting to Raisa, who was standing watching the entire scene with wide blue eyes, before disappearing into the darkened corridor.

Raisa never knew what happened to Sephiroth after he left her to return to the basement of the Mansion. If she had, it might have given her hope for the future.

Hojo was waiting for the young man and the instant he appeared the questions began. The Turks might have declared the woman safe, he was not so … casual with his greatest creation but he was not above using that creation to gather information.

"Well?" The question was snapped.

"She is the Housekeeper," Sephiroth replied with practiced military bearing.

"What did she say?" Hojo asked further, certain he could catch the woman by sending a child.

Sephiroth repeated the conversation he had had with Raisa verbatim. It was part of his training to memorise conversations, tactics… memorise life so that he could go through it. Even as he repeated her words he analysed them. He knew Hojo's suspicions but he also knew that Hojo liked having the Mansion cleaned. There was nothing in her words that sounded off. They were all normal and surely if she was an agent she'd have tried something to influence him.

"Bah! Is the woman retarded to go with illiterate?" Hojo eventually barked and Sephiroth hid a smile. As he suspected, there was nothing in what she had said to convict her and while her reactions had been odd at a few points, they were not that unusual… and she had smelt like… The young man wasn't sure exactly what she had smelt like, but he liked it. It had been… comforting though that was a word he was never allowed to use. He knew what he was meant to be, what he was meant to need, and comfort and companionship were not allowed.

Sephiroth stood there, waiting for Hojo to finish. "Give me it," the white coated scientist demanded eventually.

"Sir?"

"Give me the picture."

Almost reluctantly Sephiroth brought the photograph out of one pocket and handed it over. It was somehow abhorrent to see Hojo with that picture and the black beady eyes traced over the image, seeing it but not really seeing it. "Bah," came another derision and the picture was flicked on to the table. Sephiroth couldn't help himself and reached out to pick it up.

"What are you doing?" Hojo's voice was almost a shriek, as if he could detect some unwanted emotion in his creation, some spark of life.

"I thought I would keep it," Sephiroth said, using the coldest, most perfect voice he could muster. "A token of my first successful mission," he added the excuse, hoping that it would pacify the man who had created him, raised him, experimented on him and made him into a S.O.L.D.I.E.R. for Shinra.

"There will be a thousand such tokens," Hojo spat.

"But only one first mission," the green eyed teenager replied, not even knowing why he was arguing but wanting that picture to remain with him. There was something infinitely peaceful about it and from the first moment he had seen it, it called to him. The boy was not looking at the camera, rather his gaze was on the wolf, and it was so tender… it was a comfort, it was peaceful and the screaming in his mind had been quelled when he looked upon the image. It had been a relief so profound that he had almost fallen in front of the woman but he had remained composed, just as he had to remain composed here. Hojo could never know the effect this image had… If he did… Sephiroth didn't want to think what that would mean. The boy would dead… if he was lucky. If not he would be locked in the lab, screaming and that was not something Sephiroth wanted for him, even though he'd never met the boy.

He had been raised to know his feelings, to identify where each emotion came from and what was causing them, and then to control them. And on the trip down from the kitchen back to the basement he had thought about it, he had tried to work out where the feelings were coming from bit it eluded him and just for the moment, Sephiroth didn't care. It felt good and that was enough.

"Keep it if it makes you happy," Hojo spat before he stormed out, unhappy that he had nothing on the woman. There was something there… he could feel it and usually he'd have just taken her and pulled and poked and prodded until he found out what it was, but with Hollander's brats proving to be viable his influence, even in this backwater, just didn't extend that far.

Still, the woman was a matter of passing interest. Soon, in a month or so, he'd be able to show Shinra why his creation was the better. Just as soon as the Wutai acted on the insult they had been given. Oh that would be a glorious day when his creation was unleashed upon the world… But before that…

It still had a willful streak. But he would break it. That would take just a little bit more time and he had that time.

Two months after Raisa met Sephiroth, Shinra cleared out of the Mansion. That had happened before, they had been gone for months at a time in the past and it meant nothing to the villagers. It was permanent this time. Raisa knew that and she'd known it the instant one of the Turks had come to see her during work. They were polite, thanking her for her work before and giving her quite a generous severance package. But she was informed that once the scientist left, she was to close up the Mansion and that was that.

She accepted it. Of course she accepted it, thanking the Turk for the years of work she had done for them. To them it was menial but to her it was survival. She had saved, in all the years she had worked for them she now had quite a nest egg put away and if she was a simple mountain woman, then, assuming she re-married, she'd be quite comfortable for the rest of her life. That was not her intention and they would not know that until it was too late.

And then when Shinra had left she packed up the Mansion as if they were just leaving for a few months and she didn't attend to it for a month, just in case they had left watchers. Shinra never had before but they had never left permanently before either.

Somehow, when dealing with the rest of the village, Raisa accidentally forgot to mention to them that Shinra had left. Instead she explained her month absence from work as a holiday and no one knew anything more. Life went on as normal.

Shinra had left through the winter and spring was slowly warming the mountain community when Raisa returned to the Mansion. She made sure to complain that night about the amount of dust and debris she had to clean up and the villagers laughed. Cloud grinned at her and everything was okay.

Each day Raisa went back to the Mansion and each day she searched a little further. Her future self had learned many things, but not everything. Some of the secrets they needed were only in this Mansion and while those in the Lifestream had tried to help and had explained, as best as they could, were the information was likely to be hidden, to Raisa it sometimes felt like she was looking for a needle in a haystack… And time was running out. She felt that more intensely than she had ever felt that before. The hands of fate were turning.

Cloud continued obey, though he had managed to get to the high plateau twice in the early spring, with her permission since the village needed the herbs he could bring back. His wolf had run beside him, almost fully grown and terrifyingly huge to those who did not know the golden eyed animal's gentle nature.

Some nights, Raisa watched her son sleeping and she could almost hear the tick of a clock. It was frightening to know that so much rested upon her but she would do whatever it took, find whatever was needed and in the days after such a feeling she went to the Mansion especially early and searched especially hard.

The first thing she found, she almost didn't know what to do with it. It was a small vial, a stoppered test tube, labelled in scrawly hand writing she recognised as Hojo's. "Ancient Sample," said the label and Raisa had frowned at it before slipping the vial into one pocket. She knew what it should be, but this was Hojo… why would he have left that?

The next day she found a stack of notes hidden under a loose floor board under one of the beds. It was not Hojo's room. In all the years Raisa had been working in the Mansion, Hojo had never used that room so she took the notes to be genuine and began to read. It was not information she needed but it chilled her to the core, each detail of the experiments that had been run on Specimen S… Specimen Sephiroth. No child should have to undergo that. But it contained the truth, laid out in clear text, who his birth mother was, who his birth father was, and what exactly the entity Jenova was and how she was meant to interact with Hojo's creation. It was the clearest explanation of what they were trying to do, all written on Shinra watermarked paper.

Resolutely she packed the documents away, knowing the information was both important and useless. It would be important for the future, but it was useless for her now. It was not the information she sought and she began to think that the information was not here. Yet she knew it had to be. Which meant it had to be in the basement… the one place she had not yet been able to find.

And so she began looking for the basement entry with a vengeance, poking this, prodding that, pulling this and that, focusing especially on the areas that had been denied to her to clean. Not that there had been many… Any area she had not been allowed to clean were the first checked and all she found there was evidence of the Turks and a couple of porno mags. Boys would be boys, no matter what age they were.

A month passed, then two, and spring was fully upon them. The trees were fully green and the leaves rustled in the wind and Cloud was begging permission to return to the high plateau while the weather held. She gave reluctantly gave permission, knowing that even if she didn't, Cloud was just as likely to go slopes below the high plateau and thus could honestly answer her at night that he had not been where he was not allowed. Though she did set one stipulation on him. He was not to go near the reactor, ever. Cloud laughed and she knew he would obey.

And then, as spring turned into summer, she found it, the entrance to the Basement and shivering she descended the rickety stairs. That day, she did not look around much, merely confirmed that she had found the right place and what rooms it contained. It was enough, and she was tired by the time she emerged from the mansion, back into the thin light of the highland summer.

The sun was good on her skin but not matter its warmth she shivered as she made her way back into the village. Somehow, time had caught up with her but she didn't yet know what that meant.

The instant Raisa got to the Inn, she knew. The whole village had gathered and were all jostling to look at the paper. In the winter, it wasn't unusual for Nibelheim to not receive news from the outside world for the entire season. But this news, Shinra had made sure to transport to the world. This news suited them, and memories not her own arose, telling her what was to come. It was simple really, and she knew, the moment she saw the headline, time was up.

"WAR WITH WUTAI."

The watcher had awoken.

There is some Fanart! From Luria, who is incredibly talented. I've uploaded it to my photobucket account and hopefully the links will be in my profile, so go and have a lookie!

Also feel free to review, because I know you are there :P

Cheers for reading,

Jade

OMAKE!

This was not written by me! It was written by Mrs-Potter-Black-Riddle-Malfoy, user ID number 2375074, so credit where credit is due. It's very fluffy but fun and enjoyable. A different take on Raisa meets Sephiroth... an IMPORTANT DIFFERENT TAKE

Cloud pouted as he walked with his mother to Shinra's mansion. It was part of his punishment for being too far in the mountains. This way Raisa could keep an eye on him, easing her paranoia that she was going to lose him. He was to accompany Raisa to work for the next few days . She brought him to the kitchen and pointed at a chair.

"Sit there until I'm done in here. Be quiet, or it'll be even longer until you're allowed back up the mountains," Raise warned.

Cloud sighed but obeyed. His eyes jumped around the room, looking for something interesting. He almost gave up the search when a bit of floating light caught his eyes. Standing in the doorway was a young boy, somewhere in his teens. His hair was silver like moonlight and he seemed hesitant, unsure whether he should walk in.

"Hello," Cloud said waving.

Raisa jumped and froze at the sight of Sephiroth. 'He's just a child,' she reminded herself. "Hello sir. Do you need something to eat?"

"I'm not a sir," the teen mumbled back, but walked into a room. He stood by the table, looking unsure.

"Do you live here?" asked Cloud. Sephiroth nodded. "That's cool. I thought only adults lived here."

"What would you like in your sandwich, Sir?" asked Raisa as she began puttering around the kitchen.

"I'm not a Sir," Sephiroth replied again.

"You are here, and are with Shinra?" she made the statement a question. A sharp nod was her reply. "I work for Shinra, but I'm only the Housekeeper which means if you are with Shinra, then you are a Sir to me," Raisa insisted. "Now, what do you like on your sandwich?"

"Anything."

Now that did not surprise her. Trained as a soldier, he would have been taught to eat whatever presented itself. "Is there anything you don't like?" Raisa pressed the question

"No pickles," came the very soft reply

"I don't like pickles either," commented Cloud, making a face.

After a few moments, while she assembled the sandwiches from the ingredients she had collected Raisa handed them their food and watched as both ate in silence. Sephiroth broke it. "What will you do when you're grown?" he asked Cloud.

Her boy frowned before answering, thinking hard. "I'm not sure. Maybe a hunter or a courier or a mercenary," he said eventually.

"I will be a Soldier," Sephiroth said suddenly. "That's what I was created for, and what I have been trained for."

"Then Cloud and myself will be some of the people you protect," Raisa answered.

"And help protect you too!" Cloud promised.

"Your name is Cloud?" asked Sephiroth.

"Yeah, what's yours?" Cloud wondered aloud.

"Sephiroth."

Faster than an enhanced human should have been, Cloud jumped on Sephiroth. Sephiroth caught the child and stared at him in shock. No one had ever hugged him before.

"Don't worry Sephiroth! I'll save you!" Cloud promised with a yell, hugging the silver haired teen. Sephiroth stared at Cloud, wondering why he would need a child to save him.

Raisa had to suppress her giggles. Sephiroth was holding a cuddly Cloud with the most confused expression on his face, unsure how to respond to him. She wished she had a camera. Cloud slipped from Sephiroth's lap and went back to his own chair.

"Woman!"

The call startled them both and Raisa looked towards the doorway to see one of the Turks standing there, glaring at her and Cloud. Raisa's heart raced. Would this bring Cloud to Hojo's attention?

"Did you want something?" Sephiroth asked coming around the table and walking through the kitchen to stand equal to the Turk, looking straight into his eyes. At fourteen he was as tall as a full grown man and probably still not at his adult height. He knew how to use that to his advantage.

"No," the Turk replied, looking back and forth between Sephiroth and the blonde woman he knew was the housekeeper. The blond boy must have been her son, though she should have known better than to bring an unknown security risk into the house.

"Then you will accompany me back to the Professor," the silver haired teenager ordered, stepping around the Turk and walking back towards the Basement stairs without looking back.

When later interrogated by Hojo about Raisa and her son, he left out their hug and the fact the blond thought he needed saving. He wondered if that was what it was like to have a friend, and decided it must have been, which meant that he and Cloud must be friends. He would look back on that day for comfort and happiness often in the coming years. Even after meeting Angeal and Genesis, he remembered his first friend and hug. Though he still wondered what he needed to be saved from...

PM comments where they are due for the OMAKE please, though I will pass on stuff if necessary!