Chapter Eleven: Shinra Divided
I decided to take a little of my time with my brother to write this quickly, because I love you all and I am amazed that your still reading this.
Pairing: SephirothxZackxCloud, TsengxReno, Eventual TsengxRufusxReno
If I owned Final Fantasy VII, I would be rich and living the high life. *Looks around messy cramped room.* Nope. No high life for me.
-o-o-
Why did it hurt so badly? Why did it feel like a part of him had died?
He was only a cadet afterall. Sephiroth, the mighty General, shouldn't care that a cadet ran away, but when Cloud left, he was in agony. Pain greater than when his best friends had died wore deep, deep in his mind.
But knowing that Cloud loved him -like he loved him back- made Sephiroth so sad and lonely. Sephiroth only had to share Cloud's love with Zack. Sephiroth felt delirious with joy and heavy with pain.
Zack was still crying on Cloud's bed, face mashed into the pillow that still smelled like the cadet. It was hard to believe it had only been an hour since they discovered the note.
Sephiorth awoke that morning with no smell of potential breakfast cooking and checked on Cloud, only to find a letter addressed to him. He was calm still. He opened the letter, tuning out the sounds of Tseng and Reno in the background.
The Turks came running when they heard a sharp crash. They found Sephiroth reading the letter on the floor. His legs had given out.
Immediately, Reno called up Zack to help, though Tseng was still disapproving. When he arrived and read the letter, he dissolved into hysterical sobs that scared the Turks. Sephiroth didn't seem to be registering anything. He was like a zombie.
Tseng had to pry the letter from Zack's immoble, numb hands. When he read it, he swept out of the room, pulling the confused Reno with him.
Now Sephiroth sat against the wall by the bed, legs pulled up with arms around them. He looked on with dead eyes as Zack's sobs rose in intensity.
When the tears finally stopped running down Zack's beautiful, unhappy face, he curled up in a tight ball. He clutched one pillow to his torso tightly. "Sephiroth?" he asked forlornly. "Sephiroth, we have to find him."
Sephiroth's deadened green eyes took a little life into their depths. "I love you," he said abruptly. "I love Cloud."
Zack's eyes began to water anew and he had to sniff awhile before answering. "I love you both too... We need him back..."
Sephiroth nodded, but his words were bleak. "He won't stay. He's a very damaged child. He believes he has no point in exsisting. He automatically pushes away people before they can hurt him. No matter what, no matter how much love we give him, it won't be enough to cover all the years of emotional and physical abuse he has endured at the hands of his home."
"We won't let him run away. He can change, we can fix him. We can heal him. He just needs to know we won't give up on him... And that damned village can rot in hell."
They were silent for a little longer, then...
"Sephiroth," Zack mewled sadly. "Seph," he mewled again, softer this time. Within moments he was asleep.
Sephiroth only looked on.
-o-o-
Tseng cursed himself, staring at Reno looking so broken and lost from across his desk. He wanted to comfort the young man, but it was all his fault. He had been sleeping on the cursed couch, for Gaia's sake!
Of course, Cloud didn't go through Sephiroth's door to the elevator hall, chosing instead to use his own door, but still... If had woken up, Cloud would be there and Reno wouldn't have lost his little brother.
The second they had reached Tseng's office with the letter, he put all available Turks on tracking down Cloud. He nearly screamed with frustration when they asked if this was a locate and kill mission. As soon as it was asked, Reno's sad eyes glazed over with tears, waiting for and dreading the answer. He snapped back that Cloud was a valuable target and needed to be brought back alive at all costs. Reno nearly fainted with relief. Tseng proceed to pull Reno off the mission. He was too close to the problem, and would act irrasionally.
Reno protested and Tseng was forced to point out that Cloud would recognize and run from him. Then Reno merely pouted.
Reno was talking now and he had to make himself focus and not continue letting his mind wander.
"...I mean, I get where he's comin' from an' all an' I relate, but there musta been better options. I dunno, like not runnin' away? If it was anyone else, I'd call 'em a coward an' be done wit it, but he's different. He wasn't afraid, he jus' thought they din't love him back... Can you even imagine how he must have felt? Havin' all those emotions bottled up in that tiny lil body? I mean, I knew he loved 'em, but he wasn't as careful wit me. Seph and Zack had absolutely no idea Cloud loved 'em. Of course they knew they loved eachother, but they both fell for Cloud and got guilty, so they couldn't do nothing about their love. They should have been more observent though! If you had someone absolutely in love with you, you'd know right? Right, Tseng?" Reno babbled, tripping over his words in the rush to get them out. He looked anxiously up at his boss.
Tseng stared at him for a minute before vacating his seat and moving around the desk to kneel by the red-head, who kept his eyes on his lap. To his intense shock, Tseng put his arms around him and guided his head to the strong shoulder. "Let it out Reno. You can cry. No one will hold it against you," he calmly whispered in the new Turk's ear.
Those simple, caring words broke the floodgates. Reno threw his arms around Tseng and buried his face in the crook of his neck, crying hard. "I'm s'posed to be a Turk now. I shouldn't cry!"
Tseng was a wonderfully solid rock for Reno as he let himself go in all of his fears and regrets. "Reno, everyone has moments when they aren't as strong as they wish they were."
"Do you?"
A moments hesistation. "Yes, Reno, I do."
-o-o-
"We shouldn't be wasting resources on a cadet that has zero potential!" Scarlet voiced.
"I agree. There is not much shinra can do with a defective cadet. He may please the SOLDIERs as a decoration and a toy, but he has very little real ability," Hojo agreed.
"The resources we are wasting could be applied much more affectively. Let the child go if he wants," Heidegger answered.
"To the contrary, Sephiroth has voiced his own opinions and said that Strife would make an excellent addition to SOLDIER. He has confidence issues, but he has talent and the willingness to work hard. I believe that we should get him back," Lazard implored.
"I think this whole thing is silly," Palmer sulked.
"I was well within my rights to send my men after Cloud. His absense has devistated SOLDIER. The General and his Second in Command have both become depressed and withdrawn. They have geniune feeling for him," Tseng told the room.
"Buy them a whore. They'll forget the cadet in a hurry then," Scarlet threw out impatiently.
"If a whore would solve their problems, I'd send you up there myself, but they don't want the sex. They want Cloud," he snapped back.
"I agree with Tseng and Lazard. Sephiroth and Fair are both strong men that Shinra needs, and if they are distracted by the disappearence of the object of their affections, then they're usefulness with decrease," Rufus Shinra noted.
All eyes turned to the President and they waited for his decision. They didn't have to wait long. He cleared his throat and addressed them. "We shouldn't waste anything, and a cadet isn't worth anything. Find a new cadet to apprentice to the General and tell him and his Second in Command that they're productivity must stay the same, or even improve, or they will recieve consequences."
Tseng was a calm man that kept himself in control. Tseng was a man loyal to his friends. Sephiroth and Zack were friends, dispite last night's misunderstanding. "If I may be so bold as to say that they won't heed your warnings. You have never punished any higher ranking SOLDIER, and they dole out their own justice amongst their ranks. If you do punish either one of them, you would be looking at a mass desertion, and they know this."
"Do as I say. They will listen, I guarentee it. They are reasonable men, afterall."
"That shows what you know about SOLDIER," Rufus commented.
-o-o-
Sephiroth couldn't believe his ears. The President was refusing to let even one Turk look for Cloud.
Zack was growling savagely, most likely thinking of what he would like to do to the stupid man.
Tseng stood in the middle of the pale blue room that had belonged to Cloud. Neither man had left it, preferring to stay where Cloud's fading presense was strongest.
"I refuse to be bullied by a man that can't see his own shoes," Zack hissed.
Sephiroth nodded. "Tseng, do you have any leads on where Cloud might be? Your Turks were out for a while before being called back in."
"There was a possible sighting in Sector 6."
The SOLDIERs faces took identical disgusted, but worried looks. There was a lot of bad things going down there, and they didn't want Cloud around that. As one they got a thoughtful look, then Sephiroth's face smoothed out and Zack smiled.
"Thank you, Tseng. That is all," Sephiroth dismissed, turning to face Zack.
"Wait! I didn't tell you this so you could desert! Use your head and think of it. What good would you do Cloud by finding him and confessing your love, only to be snatched away by Shinra?"
They looked at him. Zack seemed to be thinking it over. Sephiroth's face didn't loose any of it's serenity. "Tseng, you are a smart man. But in this you don't seem to be thinking. Your assuming I would let them anywhere near us alive. I plan to enjoy myself when I find Cloud. I may come back, I may not. But I am going. No matter what anyone tries to to do."
"Cloud is the center of our love, Tseng. We can't go on without him. It's like... Reno with no evil pranks up his sleeves. It's not right."
Tseng was quiet for a moment. "You will be missed." He left.
The small comfortable room seemed to get much bigger. The quiet echoed through their skulls. The gravity of their situation had finally hit them. They shared a look. "Ready Seph?" Zack was proud of himself. His voice only shook a little bit.
"Yes, Zack."
Together they left Cloud's room without looking back.
-o-o-
As brave and foolish as this was, it was also boring and dull. Zack had to ask people they came across about Cloud because no one in the slums was going to speak to General Sephiroth. Trying not to sulk, he let Zack buy him a slushie. He had never had one before and Zack saw it as a valuable learing opportunity.
He was surprised to find that he liked it. So while Zack asked about Cloud, Sephiroth lurked in the alleys, nursing his cherry slushie. He wasn't hiding his impatience well.
Eventually, Zack was forced to admit a temporary defeat and find some food. When Sephiroth asked why he stopped, Zack gave an interesting reply.
"The rabid garden gnomes in my stomach require a ritual sacrifice."
"How did they get in there?" Sephiroth played along.
"I ate them. Now I have to eat for a horde, I'm worse than a pregnant woman. Anyway, we'll look along the way."
Zack got some piles of grease that he claimed was pizza. He offered Sephiroth a slice. Sephiroth ordered him to go get him another slushie.
Sephiroth waited (im)patiently on a park bench, watching the people go by. They glared at him, or gawked at him, but he didn't care. He was looking for his youngest love.
Zack returned at a dead run. "Seph! Someone saw a person fitting Cloud's description a little ways away! Let's go!"
They ran as fast as they could to the abandoned house Zack directed them to. There were yells coming from. Sephiroth slowed, intending to stop and climb the porch stairs like a sane man. Zack threw himself over the stairs altogether, prefering to jump to the front door and rip it open. Sephiroth sped up and followed Zack's less than conventional route.
Zack hurtled into the room and cast a panicked glance around. There were two muscled men. One of them held a struggling Cloud. Sephiroth quickly followed and they men were dealt with before they could react.
Zack tried to pick up Cloud, but he fought him just as fiercely as he fought the man that was holding him. Sephiroth held him still and tilted up his face. Blank blue eyes stared up at them. Around the fringes of the eyes were chemical burns. Cloud was blind.
Zack's fingers immediately went for the cure materia he carried, and tried to cast cure on Cloud. Some scratches healed and a few bruises, but the eyes weren't any better. Cloud whimpered, having no idea who was cradling him and healing him.
"Your such a blond, Spike, thinking we didn't love you," Zack said, voice husky with suppressed emotion.
Cloud's head turned toward the direction of his voice. "Zack? What? Why are you-"
Sephiroth scooped him up in his arms and kissed his cheek delicately. "We needed to tell you that we love you too."
Cloud flinched. "You don't need to lie, I can live here. You two should be happy!"
"That aint gonna happen without you!"
"Reno?" Cloud asked weakly.
"Reno?" Zack repeated. "When did you get here?"
"I followed you. Puppybo," he began and Cloud's eyes welled up at the concerned, brotherly tone Reno adopted. "You need a little faith and courage. You could have confided in me if you didn't want to tell them. Then I could have told you that they felt just as strongly about you. They loved eachother before, but had nothing to unite them and make them face it. Then you came and they found a task they could bond over; training and helping you. and they began to love you as well."
Zack walked over and hugged Cloud, giving him cover from all sides. The sheer force of love all around him made the tears in his eyes spill over. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. We should have been more careful with you." Zack mashed his face in the sunny spikes he so loved. He finally got as opportunity to inhale some of Cloud's scent from the source, rather than the pillow he had been clinging to.
"Cloud, love, where did you get these burns? What happned?" Sephiroth rubbed some dirt from Cloud's cheek tenderly.
"I..." he closed his eyes. He had a look of pain on his face. Someone took my stuff and threw something in my eyes. It hurt and now I can't see. I'm sorry."
"We'll get you fixed up," Zack hurriedly assured him.
"Are we going back to Shinra?"
Zack and Sephiroth shared wide eyed, panicked looks. They hadn't planned anything to tell the boy and he would blame himself and get more depressed. "Well... About that..."
"Of course they are." The voice sounded from the door way and all attention turned to the speaker. Sephiroth hurriedly gathered Cloud in a small ball and tucked his hair and leather coat over him.
Rufus Shina and Tseng stood in the doorway, surveying the scene. Tseng tossed a light purplr bottle to Zack. "This should counteract the acid thrown in his eyes."
Zack caught it without taking his pale eyes off the heir. "You've got some nerve. We should kill you for the sole reason of taking the Turks off Cloud's case."
"I voted for the Turks to remain in pursuit, it was my father that told the Turks they couldn't look for him and you couldn't take your time to find him yourselves. I told him you wouldn't listen, but..." he shrugged. "There is no lasting damage. You have your cadet back. My father was going to give you another one, but I think you can keep the one you have."
He walked forward, causing Sephiroth to tighten his grip. "I only want to meet the cadet that managed to capture your affections so thouroughly."
A light tug on his coat made Sephiroth look down. Unseeing blue eyes gazed up at him and blond spikes nodded. Sephiroth untucked Cloud and set him on his feet. One of Cloud's small hands grasped a sleeve so he wouldn't get turned around and he shyly looked at the ground.
Rufus eyes traveled up and down Cloud, probably undressing him with his eyes. Not that there was much clothing. Just a torn white shirt and loose jeans. Zack stepped up and wrapped an arm around the waist of the young boy, who looked up instinctively, trying to see.
"Tseng, how do I apply this stuff?"
"Cloud, close your eyes. Good. Zack, rub some on his eyelids and around his eyes. It has a diluted strain of mako that boosts the body's healing properties. Mix that with some common eye medicine and you have very effective eye drops. How does that feel, Cloud? Don't open your eyes yet, let it absorb."
"It feels weird," he whispered.
Reno glared at the heir to Shinra. He still hadn't stopped staring at Cloud. He was going to have to do something about all the dirty guys lusting after Cloud...