I just have to say sorry to you all. I'm sorry these chapters are taking so long, but I have writer's block frequently. And also, I can't post from school anymore. I'm taking Honors classes, so they keep much stricter internet observations. Anything unrelated to school results in loss of computer privileges for a few weeks. I will be posting this from home, so wish me luck and hope I don't get caught.
Ok, I made my excuses.
Oh, enough people reviewed and told they wanted to see Vin, so he's gonna be appearing after the Gongaga vacation.
Pairings: SephxGenxAngxVinxZackxCloud, TsengxReno, Eventual TsengxRufusxReno
-o-o-
Cloud sighed again, continuing to gaze out the window without seeing. Once again, Sephiroth and Zack looked at him with concern, and then looked at eachother helplessly. This had been going on all afternoon.
Angeal and Genesis had left to go exploring the jungles around Gongaga with a promise to be back by dinner time. Zack had gone out for a bit and brought back food Cloud was familiar with cooking, and Cloud gave him a vague smile for his troubles. Zack accepted the smile gladly, seeing as how it was the first real reaction to anything Cloud had given since breakfast. Sephiroth had then tried to engage the cadet in a conversation, but was met with one syllable answers, or if he had to say more than that, he would drift off in the middle of his sentences.
Nothing either of them could do would bring Cloud's mind back from wherever it had wandered, so they had to settle for watching his carefully and hoping that his thoughts were happy.
Zack waited as long as he could with his limited attention span, and then began to feel anxious and bored, willing something to happen. Sephiroth, seeing the potential for destructive pranks, sent Zack off to visit with his old friends and family.
"I can take care of Cloud," Sephiroth assured Zack almost silently, not wanting Cloud to overhear. "You shouldn't be bored in your hometown, so go!"
Once Zack was gently urged from the room, Sephiroth pulled another chair over to the window so he could sit with Cloud and hold his hand. They sat peacefully for a few more minutes before Cloud turned to him.
"Sephiroth?" he asked, sounding tired.
"Yes, Cloud?" Sephiroth acknowledged, turning away from the window. Cloud looked tired and sad, and it broke Sephiroth's heart to see.
"Zack said... My father is alive..." Cloud began hesitantly. "And... He has another woman he..."
Seeing Cloud struggle for words, Sephiroth leaned in and gently hugged him. "Do you want the whole story?"
Cloud hesitated a moment. Did he want to know? Did he want to know how another child was going to grow up like he did?"
"Yes," Cloud whispered into Sephiroth's ear. Sephiroth nodded and carried Cloud to the bed and retrieved a box of tissues, just in case. Setting the tissues next to Cloud's knee, he searched for where to begin.
"Do you remember when I first became your mentor and I was asking about your father? After you told me a little bit about your past, I decided I should ask Tseng to investigate you to spare you the trouble of telling me. A few weeks later, Reno reported back to me. He told me that you were born premature and sick. You were constantly on the brink of death until you were four. You were... physically abused until just after your seventh birthday when your father left your mother. Since then, you stayed with your mother and you slowly got healthier. When you turned fifteen, you left home to come to Shinra. And for you that, as they say, is that."
Cloud laughed a little without humor. Before Sephiroth could continue, Cloud decided to come clean about everything.
"But that's not all. My father hit me a lot, but sometimes... he did more than that," Cloud began, and he took a tissue, knowing that talking about the painful subject would bring out more tears to add to the oceans he had already cried.
Sephiroth looked at Cloud sharply. "What more did he do?" he asked, trying to keep his voice soft.
"Sometimes he would... touch me," Cloud admitted.
Sephiroth's throat tightened. "He... He did what?"
"He touched me. Whenever he did it, I knew it was wrong and it felt wrong... So I ran away from him a lot of time. I hid in the forests and snow, which probably didn't help my health now that I think about it."
"Cloud!" Sephiroth said helplessly. "How can you act so calm about it?"
"I can act calm because I am calm," Cloud said simply. "I've come to terms with the fact my father isn't the best father out there and he doesn't deserve to be a father again. I'd like the rest of the story now, please."
Sephiroth growled in frustration, but complied. "Reno himself went to investigate your sire. He found him in a place called Rocket Town. He is living with a young woman of almost seventeen years old."
Cloud shook his head in disbelief, disgusted. "Sleaze," he muttered.
"The woman's name is Melanie Hart and she is abused frequently and Reno suspects her to be pregnant," Sephiroth finished.
Cloud looked thoughtful and he shifted uneasily. "I... I want to help her, because my mom was just like she is now, except without the abuse. And she's pregnant with my father's kid, so if the baby survives, it'll be related to me, Sephiroth..."
"We'll wait a while and I'll ask Tseng to send a Turk to keep an eye on her. If it turns out that she is pregnant, then we'll intervene. All right?" Sephiroth reasoned.
"Okay," Cloud said, relieved. A few moments passed and Cloud smiled a little. "I didn't cry this time."
"Good, it's very sad to see you cry," Sephiroth smiled back at him. "So now what?"
"Huh?"
"Zack's not going to be back for awhile, he's visiting around and Genesis and Angeal are probably lost in the jungle. So what do we do with ourselves until they come back?"
Hmm," Cloud considered the options. He would probably have chosen sex, but after talking about his childhood, he wasn't exactly in the mood. "Let's try and hit eachother with sharpened bits of metal."
"That would be fun, but you'd probably pass out again. I had something a little different in mind."
"Oh really? And what would that be?"
"Materia. I haven't had the chance to actually sit down and teach you how to use it. I bet you'll be good at it," Sephiroth smiled.
"If you say so," Cloud agreed dubiously.
-o-o-
When Zack wandered home, he found Cloud and Sephiroth at the table staring at a bracelet and a fire materia between them. Before he could comment, Cloud sighed.
"It's mocking me, Sephiroth," he whined. Cloud kicked the leg on the table and the materia began rolling towards the edge and they both just watched it as it went over the edge. "But it's okay, I killed it."
Sephiroth buried his face in his hands, reluctantly chuckling at his youngest lover. "Cloud, you have to try to equip the materia before you can use it."
"Can't you equip it and then I can try and use it?" he asked hopefully.
"No, you have to learn to equip it yourself. Zack," Sephiroth called, motioning for him to come over. "Can you try and help us?"
"No," Zack said promptly. "Materia is awesome, but I'm more of a brute strength kind of guy. Sorry Seph. But there's a place that sells weapons we can check out. You did say you wanted to train Cloud in more than one kind of weapon, didn't you? He's already good with a sword and since materia is out, we need something else."
Sephiroth sighed and nodded. He retrieved the materia and helped Cloud put on the bracelet. When Cloud stood, Sephiroth scooped him up and held him close.
"Cloud, I'm not angry with you. I'm just frustrated..." Sephiroth sighed into Cloud's ear.
"I'm sorry for being so frustrating," Cloud hugged Sephiroth as hard as he could. Sephiroth squeezed back as tightly as he dared. The gap in their strengths was incomprehensible, even with Sephiroth's advanced intelligence.
"Would you like to go look at shiny weapons now?" Sephiroth asked, pulling back to look Cloud in the eye. Cloud thought about it and shook his head. "We'll do that tomorrow, then. What would you like to do now?"
"Well, it's Zack's home, he should get to choose," Cloud reasoned.
"That is true," Sephiroth conceded and looked over to Zack to see him smiling at them with the most loving smile either of them had ever seen. "Zack...?"
"Just remembering why I love you both so much," Zack said simply, coming over to take Cloud from Sephiroth. He hugged Cloud tightly and set the dazed cadet on one of the chairs, then gave Sephiroth the same treatment. Once Zack pulled away, he felt a tugging on his wrist and looked down to see the most beautiful eyes in the world.
"We love you too," Cloud smiled up at him. Zack looked down at him and had to blink rapidly to keep the tears at bay as he felt his heart swell with admiration for the shy boy.
"You've both grown up so well," Zack said, voice trembling. "You both have come such a long way."
"What do you mean?" Sephiroth inquired, drawing closer at the sight of tears in his lover's eyes. He absently began to stroke the messing black spikes in hopes of soothing him.
"What I mean is that Cloud used to hate himself and he never thought he was worth anybody's time, and now look at him. He's still shy, but he's so much stronger in will than he was. And you, Sephiroth, you used to refuse that you had emotions. You never did anything for yourself, but you put every moment into working for Shinra, and now you're running away on vacation. And seeing how much we've helped eachother makes me happy and proud," Zack admitted, leaning into Sephiroth's chest.
Sephiroth wrapped his arms around the man and steered him to the bed where they could all sit down, trusting Cloud to follow like the puppy Zack once proclaimed him to be. When Sephiroth pushed him gently onto the bed, he was abruptly surrounded as Sephiroth lay on one side and Cloud the other. Cloud squirmed until he was comfortable with his head resting on Zack's chest, and he began to stroke the bright hair.
"Cloud?" Sephiroth murmured.
"Mmm?"
"Should I tell Zack what you told me earlier?"
"Mmhmm."
"It's astounding that I can understand you, you're aware of that, yes?" Sephiroth asked with mock annoyance.
"Mmhmm."
Zack and Sephiroth laughed lightly and were quiet as Cloud began to doze, but Sephiroth couldn't keep it from Zack any longer.
"Cloud's father used to try and touch him, but Cloud ran away a lot, so his health worsened, but he escaped the worse," Sephiroth breathed into Zack's ear, quiet enough that Cloud couldn't hear. Zack's hands stopped moving in the yellow spikes and Cloud looked up at him with sad eyes, thinking of how Zack might reject him.
"Cloud, you are a miracle," Zack told him. "Everyone wanted you, but you managed to save yourself for us. You're a miracle and I love you." Cloud looked down, blushing a little as he thanked Zack.
"Zack, what was your childhood like?" Sephiroth asked curiously.
"Eh, nothing special. Two parents that wished they could drown me in the river for being so obnoxious. A dad that wished I was more manly, a mom that wished I'd be happy, the usual. It's pretty standard stuff everywhere except with you two."
"Nu uh," Cloud disagreed, absently tracing invisible patterns on Zack's chest. "Reno's childhood was worse than mine."
Zack and Sephiroth traded shocked looks. Turks almost never talked about their past, it was dangerous, and Tseng had told them that Reno was particularly sensitive. They had never seen him give up the slightest detail about how he grew up.
"Reno... Spoke with you about this?" Sephiroth asked slowly.
"Yeah, he just needed to talk and I was blind and listening was really the only thing I could do at that time," Cloud said easily, obviously not realizing how much trust Reno showed to do such a thing.
"Cloud... Tseng told us that Reno had never talked about his past with anyone before," Zack told the blonde.
Cloud looked up with confusion. "But... Reno told me."
"Reno loves you, Cloud," Sephiroth assured him. "He doesn't love you like we do, but he loves you just as much. He trusts you."
"He... He trusts... Me?"
"Of course, why not?" Zack asked. "When I first introduced you both, I thought Reno wanted... um, and intimate relationship. I told him he could too, because I thought he didn't want to make a move because he was afraid of losing our friendship or something."
"Me date Reno?" Cloud asked skeptically.
"Well yeah, now it sounds stupid, but at the time it didn't..."
Silence prevailed as Cloud thought over this new revelation. Sephiroth and Zack were content to just lay beside eachother, heedless of the heat that was smothering them.
"Sephiroth, how did you grow up?" Cloud asked abruptly. When he saw the hesitation on Sephiroth's face, he tried again. "I told you everything about me; it's only fair that you do the same."
"You're right," Sephiroth sighed. "I was born somewhere other than Midgar and I spent the first few years of my life wherever that was. I was... Born how I am. I was enhanced even in the womb. I was raised in Shinra labs. The first scientist in charge of my file was Dr. Gast. He was very competent, but he died unexpectedly by Hojo's hands. Hojo is the scientist currently in charge of my file, and he..." Sephiroth tried to find the words, but drew a blank.
"He is cruel. He inflicts pain on his subjects to see their reactions. He... Does not like that I have begun to resist him and he attributes it to my gaining friends and companions. I worry that he might take a special interest to you because you're a cadet and much easier to access for a scientist like him. But I swear, if he attempts to approach you, tell me and I will finally deal with him."
Cloud was silent and Sephiroth didn't want to look at him. He feared that maybe Cloud wouldn't want a specimen and would reject him for it. When he drew up the courage, he saw a steady gaze of content.
"I hate that you had to go through that, but I won't pity you. My opinion won't changed because you were hurt in your past, don't worry."
"Thank you," Sephiroth said simply, realizing he had absolutely nothing to hide from either of them because they both loved him unconditionally. The thought made him want to act, to do something to show them they were loved. Slowly and idea formed in his head and he didn't hesitate as he acted on it.
He flattened himself against Zack's back and slowly began to rub himself on his thigh. Zack laughed and pulled Cloud close so he could do the same.
-o-o-
"That was fun," Zack panted, sweat dripping off of him. Sephiroth, similarly as heated, nodded in agreement. Cloud just made a sound that could be taken as agreement.
Cloud tried to sit up, which was unusual for him. After sex he usually liked to stay in bed for a while. Even stranger, he couldn't seem pull himself into a sitting position. Zack, concerned, brushed against his arm and with a jolt realized that Cloud wasn't sweating.
"I don't feel..." Cloud whispered fearfully.
Zack cussed with a ferocity he hadn't know he was capable of and picked Cloud up and had him in the bathroom before Cloud could pass out. He felt Sephiroth behind him as he turned the bath faucets on cold and splashed some water on Cloud, who was still blinking like he was trying to clear his eyes.
As Zack waited for the water to fill the tub, he tried to engage Cloud in a conversation, but failed. "Seph, he's overheated, we gotta cool him down."
Sephiroth nodded and threw a towel in the sink and turned on the cold water until the towel was soaked, then covered Cloud's head with it, causing the cadet to gasp sharply at the cold.
"I-I'm... Okay... Just dizzy..." Cloud tried to assure them, but was ignored. Zack turned the water off and slowly dipped Cloud in the cold water. Zack felt Sephiroth's arms around him and the next thing he knew, he was gasping for air as his skin was jolted by the same cold water as he splashed into the bath.
"I thought he looked a little lonely," Sephiroth chuckled. "Is there anything else we should do?"
Zack had to wait for his brain to clear before answering. "We need water to rehydrate him. Cloud, how are you feeling?" Zack was dimly aware of Sephiroth ducking out of the room while he focused on the younger man.
Cloud sunk down, enjoying the chill of the water. "M'fine. Sorry. It's really hot here."
"Yeah, Gongaga can be pretty hot, and with all that, um, exertion, it was even hotter. Sorry, Spike, I forgot that you're not enhanced like us and that you're a cold weather kind of guy."
Sephiroth came back with a glass of water and set it on the edge of the bath while taking a seat on the floor.
"Yeah, Nibelheim can get really cold sometimes. I don't really like hot places if I have to stay in them for too long," Cloud said quietly, tilting his head down and running his hands through the water absently.
"Cloud, we don't mind that you were overheated," Sephiroth soothed. "Actually, we do mind, but that's because we should have known better. You're not at fault here, you've done nothing wrong. Please look at me."
Cloud looked up unhappily. "I'm always such a burden," he whispered, looking down again, unable to meet their eyes.
"No you aren't," Zack told him firmly. "You're amazing. You aren't a burden, but you need to keep reminding us that you aren't as enhanced as us yet. Someday you'll be as strong, and then we can happily go on doing stupid things. But for now we have to take it easy, get it?"
"Yeah," Cloud answered before sinking so the water covered his mouth. Sephiroth leaned over and offered him the glass of water, but Cloud shook his head. He set the glass back in its previous position as he heard a knock on the door and rose to answer it.
When Sephiroth left, Zack pulled Cloud close and hugged him tightly. He swore to himself to be more careful with Cloud and feared the consequences of neglecting him.
-o-o-
No afternotes other than: "Have a freakin' wonderful day."