Disclaimer: Final Fantasy is owned by Square Enix and I make no profit from this from this writing

A/N: I feel like I'm being lazy. I have also started watching House of Cards on Netflix. You can blame further delays on Kevin Spacey for being so evil.

"Do you know how long?" Cass asked. Sephiroth had been able to stay a month and news that he was being shipped out had just come in.

"No," he replied, "The guerrilla forces have retaken our 39th parallel so at least until we get that back."

"When do you go?" she asked.

"A week," he said. She nodded sadly.

"I get to stay for our birthday," he said, "I still need to get you something."

"You don't need to get me anything," she said. He merely smiled instead of continuing their annual argument.

Sephiroth blinked once at the order.

"I'm sorry sir?" he said.

"I know you have an in with the Turks," his cranky, yet reliable colonel said, "use it to get us materia. Beg if you have to, but we need it. We need it bad." Sephiroth didn't argue. Apparently their request for funds had been denied. It wasn't the first time the new department found itself floundering, despite numerous fights by both military personnel and a very persuasive Lazard (If you wanted SOLDIER to win you a war you have to at least give them weapons and armor. Otherwise all they will be is cannon fodder).

Sephiroth nodded and moved off. It was bad enough he didn't know what he was going to give Mom as a birthday/goodbye present, now he was going to use her to get materia. It felt...wrong.

Still he didn't let it show when he stepped off on the Turk floor. According to Mom, when taking part in an interdepartmental trade, the best place to begin was at the top. Except he never sought out Director Veld, Veld found you.

"She's not here," Tseng said. That made Sephiroth feel better for some reason.

"I'm not looking for her," Sephiroth said. Tseng nodded.

"Veld's office is over there," he said with a small gesture. Sephiroth gave a nod. He wouldn't be surprised if Veld was expecting him already. He still knocked just in case.

"Come in," Veld's voice said. Sephiroth entered. Sure enough, nary a blink at his appearance. Sephiroth did blink at Veld's office. He had never been there before, but it looked achingly familiar.

It looked like Mom's office did all those years ago, when all Mom did was Math.

"What can I do for you?" Veld asked taking a seat behind a desk that only housed a small computer. Sephiroth was only used to interacting with Turks who knew what he was like. Veld was on the cusp of that at best. Sephiroth took his best guess and treated the situation like he would with someone like Tseng.

"I need Materia," Sephiroth asked. Not a blink at his bluntness. Veld had been waiting for this.

"I take it the request for funding has been denied," Veld said, "pity."

"Yes," Sephiroth said, "SOLDIER needs Materia."

"I thought this would happen sooner or later," Veld said, "at what point can I make you go away?"

"I've been told to beg if necessary," Sephiroth replied, "so I suppose when you give me Materia."

"You're just as shitty a negotiator as you were ten years ago," Veld said.

"Yes," Sephiroth said, "May I please have Materia?"

"Why do you need Materia?" Veld asked.

"Because we are at war and the SOLDIER divisions don't have enough," Sephiroth said, "So some assistance with that would be appreciated."

"And what would I get in return for your appreciation?" Veld asked, "I can't give you what you need every time you beg."

"I don't know," Sephrioth asked, "That's up to Lazard I suppose."

"What about you?" Veld asked, "What if I asked you personally to work with Turks on their missions."

"Haven't I technically done that already?" Sephiroth asked, "I did that blackout mission three months ago when M-Cass asked."

"Touché," Veld said.

"For the love of Minerva give the kid a break and pass on some Materia," Mom's voice said from the door, "That's why you put me in charge of it isn't it?" Sephiroth turned around, trying not to show that he was both glad and embarrassed to see her. Veld cracked a rare grin.

"How else am I supposed to get revenge?" Veld said, "Have your commanding officer send invoices for what he needs and it will be delivered tomorrow." Sephiroth nodded and stood.

"Oh and Sephiroth?" Veld said. Sephiroth paused. "For some reason, interdepartmental competition is encouraged. SOLDIER and the Turks are meant to be at odds with each other. Don't let it out that I like you guys." Sephiroth nodded.

"Of course not," Sephiroth said, "How else can I get revenge for making me beg?"

"See, I totally did improve his social skills," Cass said.

"Unless you blew something up get the hell out of my office," Veld said as he turned away.

"Reno, don't" Tseng said.

"What?" the redhead drawled, "I work with her. Why can't I get her a birthday present. You did it."

"More often than not Cass and I are partnered together," Tseng said, "I have known her for almost ten years. I know her well enough for both of us to feel comfortable to exchange gifts."

"I know Cass," Reno said.

"No," Tseng said, "you don't. You only know what she's told you." Reno rolled his eyes.

"What's her favorite color?" Tseng asked. Reno took a pause.

"...I don't know," Reno admitted.

"Her favorite food? Drink? Song? Book? Movie?" Tseng asked, "Can you tell me one thing about her that is not work related?"

"Her favorite thing in the whole world is her kid," Reno said.

"Technically work related, but I will allow that," Tseng said, "Anything else?" Reno shook his head.

"Turks are good at finding and keeping secrets," Tseng said, "but I've never met anyone who can keep them like she does. No one knows what goes on in her head, not even me or Sephiroth. We may see her on a daily basis, but do we really know anything about her?"

"You do," Reno pointed out.

"And it took ten years to get my foot in the door of her trust," Tseng said, "Sephiroth is the only person she's confided fully in, and even he doesn't know everything about her."

"How do you know that?" Reno asked.

"I've watched her avoid questions," Tseng said, "she does it so well most people don't even notice it. She's done it to everyone including me, you, and even Sephiroth. She is an incredibly private person, no matter how open and charismatic she may seem."

"...So...what about a generic sort of gift?" Reno said. Tseng inwardly groaned, but made no response.

All three of them were making the final preparations. Angeal debated heavily and finally decided that he would have to go home and visit his mother. He invited Sephiroth and Genesis to go along, but both declined politely. They had their own things to finish up and this was the sort of trip to make alone.

Genesis trained. He trained until it hurt to drag himself back up to the barracks. He trained with everyone and anyone. He christened every new program in the V.R. room. It wasn't that he was afraid of dying. He was just afraid of what would happen when he got there.

Sephiroth spent the time he wasn't pounding Genesis into the floor (gently and lovingly as he could, of course) wandering listlessly around. None of the stores he looked at had anything that caught his eye. Everything seemed useless, clichéd. He wanted to give something that would pass as a final goodbye if worst came to worst.

All of them knew one thing for a fact: this would not be a there and back again operation. This would be long and hard, six months minimum. It could take over a year.

Cass slid into Veld's office without a word. He looked up at her and waited.

"You need to put me back on the training roster," she said.

"I thought you hated training," Veld said.

"Cut the crap," Cass said. Veld stopped.

"You might be the only person who can talk to me like that, but I don't advise using it," he said. Cass rolled her eyes.

"Mass collection of men, weapons, and materia," she said, "this is the big one. You know they're not coming back until the war is over or they reach another stalemate. Wars take years. This one has just barely started and you know it."

Veld neither confirmed or denied this. That was as good as a yes.

"I can't pine away for a year," Cass said, "how long will everyone else let me...distract myself before-"

"Your presence is necessary," Veld said, "so long as Sephiroth is happy-"

"Sephiroth isn't going to be here," Cass interrupted, "That's the bottom line. So you will put me on the most grueling, horrible work roster possible and if Sephiroth comes back-"

"When," Veld corrected, "don't get me wrong, he'll be shot, stabbed, and pushed beyond any limit a human can handle, but he will come back to you. If he doesn't I'll pay your pension out of my own wallet."

"No one retires from this job," Cass scoffed.

"Not yet," Veld admitted, "there's a first time for everything. Like right now I've decided you will handle both Materia distribution and training on top of your regular duties." Cass nodded with relief.

"And you have to start writing things down," Veld said, "no more of this doing it in your head nonsense."

"I can do it," Cass argued.

"I know you can, but when you forget all of us get screwed over," Veld said, "you're disorganized."

"I know," Cass said.

"So you will write down your reports properly," Veld said, "and file them. If I catch Tseng covering your ass one more time I will put you on desk work." Cass winced and nodded.

"Then we have an agreement," Veld said. Cass knew a dismissal when she saw one. She made her leave.

"I'll keep you updated if something should happen," Veld said. Cass paused.

"Thank you sir."

"Tseng wanted to bang his head on his desk. Did Reno ever listen to his directions. No, he didn't. It wasn't fair that Cass could read his face so well.

"Relax Tseng," she said, "I know what it is."

"No you don't," Reno argued. His wrapping job was kind of shitty, but he thought he had made a decent attempt at secrecy.

"If it's not booze I'm going to be very disappointed," Cass said.

"Oh..." Reno said, "then I guess you do know then." Sure enough, Cass pulled out a bottle.

"Oooh," she cooed, "you got the hard stuff."

"It's all I know," Reno drawled.

"I'm not going to share Reno," Cass said, "you know that."

"I can always hope though," Reno said, "Does this put me higher on your love and hate list?"

"Rude is still ahead of you," Cass said as she read the label.

"Dammit," Reno said.

"But you're still my first pick for an under-plate mission," Cass said.

"I got yo back," Reno said.

"You can come, Genesis," Sephiroth said. Genesis seemed ready to say yes, then shook his head.

"I have other things to do," Genesis said.

"Genesis, no amount of training you can do in the next two days will make any difference," Sephiroth said. But I'm not as good as you, Genesis thought bitterly.

"She'll want to tell you goodbye," Sephiroth said. Genesis shook his head before his mouth could make a reply.

Fortunately, Angeal came back that afternoon. He had been traveling for six hours, but he was still willing to drop everything else for a few hours more. He dragged Genesis by the back of his collar until he finally gave in.

"Tell your friends goodbye," Angeal chastised him, "you'll want to say goodbye just in case it's the last words you get to tell them."

"So full of wisdom," Genesis said, but not spitefully. Angeal did have first-hand experience with that sort of regret after all.

It was much like the year before, except for a dark pall hanging over them. Cass was always happy to see any and all of them. She gave them everything she had to give (mostly food, but there was some motherly advice tucked in there as well). Genesis had only intended for just a few minutes, but it turned into an hour, then two, until he finally gave in and tried to drag out the evening with the rest of them.

He didn't regret that.

They didn't talk of the future or the past, just the now: Their current round of cards, stories of the day, small things that made them laugh.

They couldn't drag it out any longer. Sephiroth gave first. It was a small package, it fit into Cass's hand easily. She tore off the paper. It was a PHS.

"It has a camera," Sephiroth said, "for video and pictures. With a decent connection, we could talk face to face. I bought one for myself too." Cass didn't say anything at all, but Sephiroth knew he had made the right choice of gift. It wasn't a goodbye, just a see you later, which is what Cass wanted all along.

Sephiroth's gift was a coat, exactly the same as his current one.

"You are going to toss that one," Cass said, "It's too small. I got this one sized specifically for you to grow into it." The sad truth was that when Sephiroth did come back he would fill it out perfectly.

Angeal and Genesis were surprised by the hug Cass wrapped them in before she allowed them to leave.

"This is the same thing I told Sephiroth the first time he left," she said into their ears, "If you die out there, I will kill you." Both of them doubled over laughing as if it were the funniest thing they had heard all day.

Sephiroth hadn't intended to look back. He'd read it in enough awful books to know it was rather pointless. He had said good-bye enough, looking back would just drag it out more.

He still did it.

He didn't know what he expected to see. What he did see was Mom with one hand pressed against the window in a facsimile of a wave goodbye. Then she curled down two fingers and a silent and clear sign.

I love you

She smiled.

He smiled back.

Suddenly, the campaign seemed like a piece of cake.