Chapter Sixty: Illness

The first months of their marriage had passed in bliss. Aralyn leapt on the opportunity to make Faramir from a house into a home, and Sephiroth, while he didn't share her zeal for painting, was more than willing to work beside her on projects that required more strength. Sometimes, however, he would paint and decorate alongside her, if only to be with his new bride.

The house wasn't a mansion, but it was two floors, and more than Aralyn could have dreamed of, especially as a newlywed. The outside paint had originally been a light chocolate brown, but Aralyn had painted it a subtle off-white and Sephiroth had helped to add some stonework. Aralyn had taken great care to nurse a young garden from the otherwise flat landscape.

Both looked forward to the retreat to their haven after work, but it seemed that Aralyn had to return a little more than usual.

Sephiroth first got a call from Zack in the middle of a meeting. Assuming it was something trivial and annoyed that he would have the audacity to interrupt such a vital meeting, he snapped at his junior over the speakerphone. Zack had stuttered, unwilling to reveal the cause of his calling in front of the board of directors at Shinra.

"Uh…Seph…your uh…a friend…I mean…one of our men…yeah! That sounds good. One of our men is really hurt and uh…needs you…like rightnow."

Sephiroth played along because somewhere along the line he had figured that this "man" who he was referring to was Aralyn.

Zack had transported her to the couch in his apartment and covered her with blankets, a large glass of water within her easy reach. "She was fine one moment, then she just doubled over," Zack explained as he led him to her. "She was awfully pale, she's a little better now but still…she scared me pretty bad."

Sephiroth removed his glove as he knelt beside her, placing his hand on her forehead. "Aralyn," he said. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Ah…Seph," she breathed, opening her eyes. "Just a little…tired, I guess. I want to go back to work."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I just felt…drained, and I got really dizzy."

Sephiroth frowned, but helped her to her feet at her adamant request.

The next morning, he awoke to find that Aralyn was not beside him. Worried, he wandered the house until he found her lying on the floor of the bathroom, too weak to move.

He laid her in bed and pulled the covers around her, this time paying more attention to her pulse, her breathing, and the color of her skin. While he carefully examined her, he rubbed her back firmly but gently, an action that he found never failed to soothe her.

"You gotta work…" she rasped through dry lips.

"No." He went briefly into the other room, changing out of his black leather and silver pauldrons and into more casual clothes. This being done, he sat down on the bed and continued his vigil, helping her to sip water and medicines between the frequent naps she took.

She went back to Shinra the next day, but he hadn't been there an hour when another call from Zack came.

"I'm really worried, Seph," he said as he lifted her into the car and handed Sephiroth the keys. "This isn't just a stomach flu."

"She needs to see a doctor." Sephiroth agreed.

She slept the entire day, only waking to rush to the bathroom to be violently sick.

At four-thirty in the morning, Sephiroth was called in for an urgent mission. He cursed the timing, but could do nothing. Not wanting to wake her, he wrote a note and left it where she wouldn't have to move to see it. He kissed her gently on her forehead and silently left, calling Zack to come in and keep an eye on her.

When he got home, Aralyn was standing in the doorway, waiting for him.

"You're up," he said, embracing her warmly for several minutes. "You had me worried."

Aralyn didn't respond, but smiled cunningly and pulled away, fingering his bangs.

"What's on your mind?" Sephiroth asked, knowing that shining look in her eyes to be the presence of a secret.

"Sephiroth," she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Unable to hold it any longer, she smiled brightly and began to laugh. "Oh Sephiroth, I found out why I'm sick!"

Sephiroth wasn't sure why she was so happy, but smiled and played along. "That's…wonderful," he said, not wanting to ruin her mood.

Unexpectedly, she kissed him long and hard. When she pulled away, she graced him with the secret.

"Sephiroth, I'm pregnant."