Writer's Note: Again, for those of you rereading, the Sephiroth scenes in this chapter have been reworked a lot. Something about his character is awfully hard to grasp, so hopefully I'm doing it justice.

Green Dreams

Chapter Twenty-Six: What We Know

Cloud followed the woods on the fringe of Nibelheim as he made his way to the mansion, being careful to stay out of sight. He walked through the night to get here, and it was morning now, perhaps an hour after dawn, and the air crisp and bitterly cold. He could just make out the shapes of the chimneys of the main center of town where the inn and Tifa's home were, though it was mostly blocked by the smaller homes out here. He deliberately didn't think about his own house and what his mother might be doing right now.

Although he only had foggy memories of his childhood, everything seemed to be the same. The Tudor-style houses were two stories at their highest, with simple wooden designs carved into them, dormer windows peeking into bedrooms, and tall his cover he could see several women gossiping together, probably having just sent their children off to the local schoolhouse.

He'd been forced to stop when the woman drifted closer lest he catch their attention. Nibelheim could be a fairly dangerous place to live, and people who lived near the forest had grown use to keeping an eye out for movement. Cloud could remember a wolf attack as a child that had taken a man's leg.

The women were talking about travelers to the town, three mercenaries who had passed through from the sounds of it. Cloud held perfectly still behind a thick tree trunk as the women walked by, making comments on the men's exotic looks and outfits. The blond managed not to roll his eyes. He had never realized how far removed Nibelheim was from everyone else until he'd reached Midgar and seen his first redhead—everyone in Nibelheim was a brunette or a blonde. This isolation created a sense of "us and them" that has caused the scorn towards his mother for marrying an "outsider". He'd never had much tolerance for that kind of narrow-thinking because of that.

When they finally turned the corner moving back into town, Cloud crept onward, up a small slope following a narrow winding road that led to the side of the Shinra Mansion.

He could already see the brick wall surrounding the building, crumbling at most spots with ivy creeping up the sides. He scaled the wall easily and landed in a tough patch of bushes in the front yard. Cloud crossed the grounds quickly, the grass knee-high and full of garbage, until he came to the rotting, once grand, wooden double doors. Glancing behind him he could see the wrought iron gate, the stairs that led directly into town, and the roof of Tifa's house, smoke rising in spirals from it.

Cloud pushed back any memories of this moment in a different time, and pushed open the doors.

Through the foyer the main hall was exactly as he remembered. A piano lay off to the far left, and the only light was through the dusty and broken windows at the back of the house. The place looked like a haunted mansion with cobwebs everywhere, cracks and holes in the wall, and even a little graffiti from adventurous kids. Much of the furniture was broken and decayed, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

He could see the footprints of monsters on the floor that hadn't been swept in decades and just make out their shapes in the shadows. Only one made to attack him, but his supercharged magic was more than enough for it, and the rest got the hint.

There were two things he needed to do, both in the basement, which was only accessible from the second floor. The first was the files concerning Jenova and Sephiroth's birth and early childhood. Those had to be destroyed, along with the lab there that had later imprisoned him and Zack. Everything had to go. In fact, the whole mansion would probably be better off gone. Then there was Vincent of course. The burning of the place would have to be done after he'd gotten the man out.

Cloud weighed whether to destroy the files or retrieve Vincent first. If he burned the files first, it would send the secret and all the proof to the grave with only Hojo and Cloud knowing. Otherwise he could let Vincent see them to know what happened to his lover and Sephiroth. Would that create more problems for the man, or less? In the end, Cloud knew what it was like to have information withheld from him. Let Vincent see it and make a decision for himself, he determined. He certainly owed the man that much.

Cloud remembered basically the process of freeing Vincent from before. Unfortunately, the combination for the lockbox that had the Basement Key had long since been forgotten. He scoured the balcony of the second floor for the notes Yuffie had first spotted before, then followed their clues to figure out the numbers. It was lucky too because as he went digging around the house he found a couple small treasures, including some equipment and a couple extra materia.

All and all it took him about half an hour to put the whole puzzle back together. Jotted on to the back of one of the notes was the combination. It sounded right to Cloud, so he loosened the strap of his sword and pushed the Lightning materia into the slot on it. The rest he'd have to use by hand since this cheap sword only had one materia slot. Cloud remembered the safe and the battle from before, but he knew what to expect this time, which would make it much easier. He felt pretty confident going in, but he also vividly recalled that brawl he and Reno had gotten into with the other cadets. It was best to keep a realistic mindset in something that could spell his death if it went bad.

Upstairs he input the combination, and with the final click of the lock threw the door open.

"Zackary."

"Yeah, Seph?"

"There's something I wish to discuss with you."

Zack nodded, putting his drink down and excusing himself from the conversation with the Seconds. Following Sephiroth's smooth gait, they went up the stairs of the Rocket Town inn and into the General's private room.

"What's up?" Zack asked, passing through the small living area and straight into the bedroom, flopping down on the bed. He could tell it was something fairly serious by the way Sephiroth followed him, grim-faced and still wearing his armor. He'd been off a little recently, but Zack hadn't been sure if it was just the exams and Hojo or something more. It was shaping up to be something bigger though.

"It's Strife."

"I knew this was going to come up," Zack said. "Alright," he clapped his hands, "let's get to it."

Sephiroth settled into the desk chair of the bedroom. "I merely meant to discuss the… inconsistencies of cadet Strife."

Zack waved his words away. Personal feelings aside they did need to have this conversation. "You and I both know Cloud's a little funny. Between us I'm sure we can come up with something." He scooted back on the bed until he was resting against the wall and toed his boots off. He wiggled his socked feet and sighed. "Okay, so we'll start at the beginning."

Zack didn't immediately start talking though. "You met Strife first," Sephiroth provided.

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't notice anything weird until I really first talked to him though. I remember asking him about his sword techniques. You remember we talked about it right before I pulled him out of dinner? Yeah, he didn't really talk much…" Zack drifted for a moment, obviously recalling the conversation, "I remember how neat his bed was."

Sephiroth's eyebrows rose a little, thinking of his own pressed sheets. "You find a neat bed to be strange?"

"Cloud's seventeen!"

Sephiroth just shook his head. "Cloud, as far as a basic psychological profile offers, is much more mature than an average seventeen-year-old. Considering he also has no father according to records, he probably shouldered more responsibility as a child, thereby contributing to his introverted personality. This may also account for his self-control, leadership qualities, and lack of sociability."

Zack mused on that for a couple moments as Sephiroth fell silent. "Psychology all aside, yeah he's mature for a teenager, but it's kind of weird how Cloud just suddenly came up on the radar. That's what bothers me the most."

"Mm."

Zack rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little pained as he thought about it. Sephiroth knew it frustrated him to no end sometimes. Something about Cloud had just… popped up, where he'd been easily relegated to the background before. Zack seemed unable to pin down the moment though or why.

"I believe," Sephiroth said abruptly, "you brought him to my office not long after you initiated contact."

"Yeah, but sheesh, you make it sound like a mission. Cloud's not some monster I ran into in a mercenary base." Zack rolled his eyes, but Sephiroth was more interested in the details of that first meeting.

"That was an… odd encounter."

"Oh yeah," Zack said, starting to smile as he remembered it. "He'd taken what, two steps and then looked like he might bolt?"

"I recall that meeting distinctly because it didn't end that way."

"He just… You could actually see him screw his courage up." Zack said, clearly remembering the moment with as much clarity as Sephiroth. "Never seen something quite like that before."

Sephiroth leaned back again from where he'd moved to rest his elbow on his knee. "It showed a backbone I would not have guessed at. He did not seem a cadet then."

"I often forget he is. He seems a lot older and he's so serious. You got a psychological answer to explain that?" Zack said laughingly.

"Perhaps."

When Sephiroth didn't elucidate, Zack groaned. "You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"Not yet."

"Fine, let's hurry this up then. Dinner's soon."

Sephiroth ignored the comment as Zack shifted on the bed. "Well I started training Cloud, and he's pretty damn talented. Don't know why it didn't show in class, but maybe the atmosphere or teaching methods or something don't work for him—I have no idea. He picked it up really fast, never really complained, practically already knew…the…stuff." Zack's eyes went comically wide before he narrowed them at the General. "You think he already knew it. Really knew it."

Sephiroth's sharp eyes met Zack's. "At least the same basic swordplay training all SOLDIERs get, yes, if not more."

"I figured he'd had informal training or something, but… he didn't tell me."

Sephiroth's tone had a harder edge to it as he spoke. "Ideally there is a good reason for that, but you must remember, he is obviously deft at concealing things. It took half a year for anyone to realize his potential. As you noted, his obvious talent was completely overlooked in the cadet classes. Perhaps we are only noticing now because he realized his reliance on the shadows would jeopardize his chances at SOLDIER."

Zack looked like he instantly wanted to defend his trust in Cloud, but with a harder look from Sephiroth, refrained. "I won't say it," he sighed, looking away, "but you know how I feel about it."

"Your loyalty is what makes you an admirable SOLDIER, Zack."

"Uh huh, I'm not going to be swayed by flattery, Seph. Not even from you."

Sephiroth squished the impulse to roll his eyes and decided to move on. "There was the materia incident where he burned a hole in a metal door,and I believe you've now indicated two instances where his behavior was…similar to mine on occasion, in your own words."There was something rueful in Sephiroth's tone.

Zack sighed and rubbed the top of his head, shooting a look at Sephiroth who ignored it. "Well, the materia thing never happened again so I figure it was a one-time thing. I did offer to practice with him on it, especially if he managed something like that, but he said he didn't really have much interest in materia, and that move drained him dry for two days."

Sephiroth nodded, and Zack just shrugged. The Lieutenant General didn't have much talent for materia, so it was questionable what he would have been able to learn about Strife anyway.

"As for the Seph-moments," and the General narrowed his eyes slightly, but Zack just winked at him, "that first one was on his birthday. He was just angry—hotly angry, like you wouldn't believe. I didn't find out what caused it though. Sly bastard got me talking about Aeris over dinner, and somehow he got away before I could pry the rest out. I brought it up again later, but he really didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't want to push him too far."

Zack shrugged again, but he was definitely chewing on something. Sephiroth waited it out, knowing that Zack's friendship with Strife was warring with his desire to understand the cadet too. Any lightheartedness disappeared from the conversation though as the seconds dragged.

"The second was with Kunsel." Zack let that hang for a moment, because they both knew what he was referring to. "What makes it possible for a seventeen year old kid to turn to stone like that? I swear, you could have murdered a kitten in front of him and he wouldn't have twitched. I've seen guys try to be impassive in the face of adversity, but nothing like that. Nothing like that. It's not normal."

Zack shook his head, and that last statement summed Cloud up really. It wasn't normal. Strife had moments where he didn't conform to any idea of normal for his age group, background, and personality. Sephiroth had reviewed all the other interviews, and not one boy had been half as composed as Cloud had been. Not to mention Kunsel was often called in to interrogate Third Class SOLDIERs and up, and many of them didn't hold up well for long. That spoke of experience; Sephiroth would have leaned towards abuse, if he hadn't seen Cloud's reaction first hand beside that helicopter that morning. Strife had seen something, lived something.

They sat like that for a couple of minutes turning over ideas silently, and eventually Zack spoke again. "There's one more thing. I… I think someone died." Zack murmured softly. Talking about death had always been hard for the First, especially recently. "Someone important to him."

Sephiroth didn't outwardly react, but he wasn't sure what angle Zack was coming from. Grief did a lot of things to people, but teaching someone to be unemotional under extreme stress? Not likely. "It is obvious there is a slim chance it is anyone we know."

"It was when I showed him Galatine. Just two days after his… livid Seph-moment." It was a weak joke, and Sephiroth watched Zack carefully. The First seemed to be spilling out his real thoughts after several weeks of silence following Kunsel's declaration of suspicion. "He looked really shocked and…upset. Just a flash, but after working with you, well, it was enough."

"Because of the sword?"

"No, no. I told him I might give it to him if something happened to me. He looked… horrified at the thought. Really… horrified." Sephiroth turned back to the window after a moment, and Zack remained silent for several long seconds before speaking again. "When he found out I was being deployed that time to fight AVALANCHE, he was worried for me. Which, you know, is normal too." However, Zack's brows were drawn down, and he seemed to be thinking of something more, but he didn't say what.

"You think the person who taught him… died? And there's more to it than that?"

Sephiroth stood up from the chair to pace. "Yes."

Cloud panted and stumbled into the wall, slumping down it in exhaustion. Thank the Planet for the magic ability, because he'd forgotten what a totally one-sided fight felt like from the losing side, especially in a cramped room.

He'd managed to kill the half of Lost Number that was a physical fighter with materia, but the magic-using side of it was highly resistant. In the end he'd had to resort to locking the beast inside the room and barricading the door. The room was sealed to prevent the monster from using magic to burn down the building or escaping, but Cloud didn't hold his breath—that sealing was at least twenty years old.

Cloud remained sitting on the floor, waiting for his heart rate to slow back down. He'd barely managed to paralyze the creature long enough to get the Odin materia and the Basement Key out of the box before it began to shake off the effects. He tucked the materia into his bag now, since a summon was better to use out in the open and he wasn't sure how his super-magic would affect it.

When he was sufficiently recovered, Cloud crossed the second floor into the bedroom and unlocked the secret passageway down to the basement. This was the most difficult part of this entire venture, and one he had been trying and failing to mentally prepare himself for.

The gaping maw of the basement was cold and dusty, the stairs creaking and popping under his feet. When he descended to the bottom he could just make out the faint glow at the end of the stone hallway—sickly green. Cloud's skin began to crawl and burn, but outwardly he refused to show it. He could only wish his impassivity would quell the turning of his stomach.

Sword out, taking each step at a time, Cloud drew towards the door on the left that led to Vincent. His eyes were drawn to the pale light in the library and attached lab, but after fumbling in the dark with the Basement Key, Cloud pulled his eyes away and slid the key into the tumbler. The room beyond was stuffy with mold and dust, frigidly cold and eerie. Coffins were piled up all over the room, leaning against the wall and stacked up on one another. The center coffin drew Cloud's eyes.

The lid was quite snug, but with some leverage from another coffin against the wall, Cloud managed to shove it off. It clattered to the floor, but Cloud only heard it distantly as his eyes locked with Vincent's.

Zack snapped back to the conversation, no doubt trying to stop thinking about his own mentor. "Anything else strange you can think of?" Zack began to tick things off his fingers. "We have training, his birthday—still can't believe he didn't tell me—the office, the interrogation—we'll get to that one—and apparently the neat bed."

"There was an incident at a vending machine."

"Oh?" Zack sat up, losing all sense of the solemn mood, looking quite curious and maybe even a little devious. That expression never bode well for Sephiroth. "What were you doing down by the cadet's barracks' vending machine?"

"It was the training stalls one, and quite late. When I surprised him he instinctively attacked me." Sephiroth didn't seem all that perturbed by it, but Zack's whole expression turned from humor to near outrage.

"He attacked you?! And you didn't tell me?"

"Relatively. It was a reflexive punch. Frankly, I wasn't surprised given that you had already intimated suspicions about his prior training. He, however, was surprised by it and… embarrassed."

Zack sat back. "Huh."

"He recovered, but remained tense and on high alert throughout the exchange."

Zack seemed to sense the words that weren't coming forth. "However…" he prodded.

Sephiroth looked at him directly, "You are withholding something from me, so I will do the same."

"You're kidding, right?" Zack sounded shocked. Planet, the General could be such a kid sometimes. Zack liked to think he had something to do with it when it wasn't annoying him.

"Your first meeting with him." Sephiroth stated.

Zack winced. "Well, there are some personal things I don't think I should share without his permission…"

"Zack-" Sephiroth tried before he was cut off.

"It's not related, really."

Sephiroth looked disbelieving, but after a beat rolled his eyes. "As I said before, Fair, your loyalty is what makes you such an admirable SOLDIER."

Zack waved away anything else Sephiroth might have said, ignoring the General's somewhat backhanded compliment. "If there's anyone hiding something, it's Cloud."

"Indeed. I spoke with him after the interrogation also."

Zack sat up sharply. "What? You didn't tell me that."

Sephiroth sighed at Zack's alarm and resisted the urge to pinch his nose to stem the oncoming headache. He'd reviewed that entire short interview over and over in his head. He couldn't remember why he'd let the boy go or what he'd been thinking when he'd leaned over him like that. It was a highly intimate and personal intimidation method Sephiroth had rarely employed before.

He knew why, but he hated to think he'd given in to his emotions like that.

"He said he didn't know what he was hiding," Sephiroth admitted. "He was highly embarrassed and tense throughout the interview."

Zack frowned, his brow pulled together like he wanted to say something but couldn't. Sephiroth had a nasty feeling he and Zack were both hiding the same thing about Cloud.

Vincent's eyes were sharp as ever in the gloom of the basement, even glowing slightly. Cloud sat back on his heels as Vincent sat up in the coffin.

"Your name is Vincent Valentine," he began, his skin starting to prickle at the harsh glare Vincent was shooting him. Or maybe it was just the dust settling on his skin. "You were a Turk shot by Hojo and used for experimentation. You've been crossed with several demons and have locked yourself into this room and slept in that coffin to punish yourself for failing to protect someone you loved."

Vincent showed no confusion, and Cloud hadn't been expecting any. "It's been twenty-five years since you went to sleep in this coffin. Sephiroth, Lucrecia's son, is still alive."

At that there was a strange fleeting emotion behind Vincent's eyes but Cloud couldn't identify it before it passed.

"I'm Cloud Strife. I need your help."

The sunlight was just breaking into the trees when Aaron stirred awake. He blearily looked around the campsite, catching sight of John rousing slowly and Reno still asleep. Aaron was about to shut his eyes again when he realized he didn't see Dan or Cloud.

He sat up abruptly and took stock of the campsite. Two of their members were missing. "John, do you know where Cloud or Dan is?"

John blinked a couple of times before he seemed to realize what Aaron was saying. Looking around too, he cursed and struggled to stand up. "They had to have left. Or something happened to them."

Aaron and John quickly found Dan's bag, tucked beside some leaves where he'd been sleeping, but Cloud's things were all gone. John began to pack up as Aaron went to wake Reno. They needed to figure out a plan for what to do about their two missing members.

"Is there anything else? I can't remember anything more." Zack was sniffing the air like a dog, the warm scent of chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes wafting up the stairs to them. "Oh wait, I think he's flown before." Sephiroth cocked his head a little bit. "He didn't look too bothered by the helicopter."

"Perhaps he simply wasn't afraid."

"Okay, fine, maybe that's a little weak. But I remember the first time I got into one of those things. Scared me."

Sephiroth shook his head, but dutifully tucked the information away in his brain. "I have two more instances."

"Two? Sheesh, Seph, it sounds like you talk to Cloud almost as much as I do."

"Before getting on the helicopters this morning I spoke with him. I wanted to…see if he might slip something. It was clear he was hung-over and completely unprepared."

"Since we're discussing this, I guess he didn't tell you anything."

"No, though I will admit that I was… not myself this morning. It may have bled into the encounter, but it led to the next one.

"The next one? If that was this morning, then you mean before the second test started?" Zack asked carefully, watching Sephiroth stop pacing finally and stand by the window.

"When we landed, I cornered Strife. My intention was to remind him that I am expecting an answer to all these questions—and to do so in an alternate method from prior meetings. Strife is… resilient to cajoling, direct questioning, and gentle prying." Sephiroth's eyes slid over to Zack, who was looking hesitantly at Sephiroth.

"Well?"

Sephiroth sharpened his look at Zack. "I believe we both know a point of Cloud's weakness."

Zack blinked.

"However, I do not want to take advantage of it unless it becomes absolutely necessary. It would be unfair, not to mention in poor taste."

Zack's expression became suspicious. "What did you do to him?"

Sephiroth turned away, and this time he did pinch the bridge of his nose. "Intimidated him with size, forwardness, aggressive posture, and implied threats."

Now Zack just looked confused. "But he didn't tell you anything."

"I simply meant to show him his time was running short. The effect was stronger than anticipated and his reaction genuine."

"So… what's this weakness we both mutually know that I don't think I actually know?"

Sephiroth released his nose and exhaled. "Basic psychological profile: High levels of responsibility and pressure all his life forcing him to grow up quickly. Likely bullied as a child contributing to a need to prove himself along with an emotionless façade to protect a fragile self-esteem—this is not to be confused with what occurred in the interview, as that goes far beyond a façade. Major loss early in life, most likely never fully accepted, that led to general mistrust of others and/or outright rejection of them causing issues with sociability. This does not, however, explain his ability to totally shut down emotion under duress, as the variables for how that came to be are too numerous at the moment, even if the theory of his mentor's unresolved death is true." He rattled off the list of attributes to describe Cloud like he was reading it from a textbook, and there was stunned silence from his audience as he paused to take a breath.

Zack honestly didn't know what to think except Sephiroth and Cloud probably shared a lot more than a few meaningless conversations. He wasn't sure what to think of that, since this was Sephiroth and the man didn't converse normally at all.

The General wasn't done though. "What attracts people like this is power because they've lacked it in childhood or adolescence, acknowledgement from someone held in respect as a means of boosting they're lacking self-esteem, and either someone to control or to be controlled by—either because they fear losing control or prefer trusted others to be in control, presumably because they feel unworthy, inept, or afraid when shouldering large responsibility."

Zack was slack-jawed, staring at Sephiroth who looked completely calm.

"He is attracted to me."

Zack snorted suddenly, waving away all shock, the General's clearly defined psychological profile, and Cloud's aforementioned 'weakness'. "Anyone with eyes is attracted to you, Seph. I am, practically everyone in SOLDIER is. Sure, some of it is because people want to play with fire but that's inevitable. It only bothers you now because it's Cloud."

Sephiroth looked like he was about to interject with more book rhetoric but Zack stood up quickly.

"No. I think Cloud doesn't like you for those reasons; they're superficial. So you're powerful, respected, he's got some kind of complex from childhood, blah blah blah. Everyone gets a hard-on from that, and we've all got problems. But, you know, the first time I really talked to Cloud, I could tell there was more to it than that. He remembered you're human."

Sephiroth didn't move, but Zack just plowed on, this time pointing and waving his finger at him. There was no rank between them at the moment, just stubborn friendship. "You're denying it because you don't know how to deal with it. You find him intriguing, and you can't lie and say it doesn't turn you on a bit. I know how puzzles are with you, Seph. Cloud's defying any attempt to make sense and you like it. Nothing gives you a challenge now, so when you find one you go berserk. There's psychology for you."

Zack was just winding up when Sephiroth slowly turned to the window, not in dismissal, but resignation. Sighing, Zack came up behind his friend and kept talking, his voice quieter now.

"Come on, Seph. There's nothing wrong with it." Zack didn't move any closer or touch him, just remained a steady presence there. Sephiroth would not be swayed, but he'd come around in his own time. "Hey, he asked me that first day if you were sleeping enough," Zack suddenly added, remembering that detail. "Everyone knows what an insomniac you are sometimes, and he bothered to ask. It's gotta mean something. If anything, that Cloud's more than some groupie, and you already knew that."

"It's inappropriate," Sephiroth tried after a prolonged moment of silence. It was a token argument and they both knew it.

"Bullshit. He'll be a SOLDIER in hours and age won't matter; he's of consent anyway."

Zack didn't get to continue proving his point when the clumping of boots on the stairs began and the sounds of a Second approaching.

"This isn't over," Zack said, a warning in his voice. He knew this chance wasn't going to come around for a while again.

Sephiroth turned to Zack as there was a polite knock on the door and a call for dinner. "That's what I told Cloud."