Healing

When Genesis woke, the first thing he felt was pain.

He curled onto his side as he pulled his arms and legs close to his body in something like a fetal position while gritting his teeth against it, praying the pain would stop soon. If that was how bad it was for him, how bad had it really been for Weiss?

Yes, Weiss...The younger man—the boy—had activated something, some sort of resonance between the two of them, but it couldn't be explained by shared cells, not even shared Jenova cells. After all, Minerva had changed and removed the genetic tie between them—originally, Genesis' cells had found their way into every member of Deepground, but his Goddess had stipulated that Weiss' cells had a different origin this time around. Though, maybe that form of communication was a result of Jenova cells in general, and Weiss' need had been all they needed to form the link?

Despite everything else he'd done in his first try, he had never tried to do what he had just tried to do for Weiss, and he hoped it helped the younger boy. The first thing he'd done at feeling the other's pain had been to try to take it away from him, but he was nothing like a true healer, or even a doctor. His body and energy had obviously compensated by transferring the damage to him rather than leaving it with Weiss, though he was pretty sure he'd only taken 'some' of the damage, not all of it. He had wanted to help Weiss so badly, though...

And the other thing he'd done was to leave an imprint of his Limit Break in Weiss' energy. At that moment, as he'd been trying to form it, he'd been making it more versatile—it would decide to heal, protect, or attack, or maybe something else, depending on the situation. Hopefully. And, because it was originating from Genesis, not Weiss directly, he hoped it would work no matter what kind of restrictions they put on the boy.

Finally, the pain eased enough that he realized his bodily functions were still working and he really needed to use the toilet.

Opening his eyes tiredly, he saw Sephiroth sitting beside him, gazing at him with an eerie intensity. He thought that the first thing which would come out of the silver haired man's mouth when he opened it would be questions or demands for answers, but instead, he just asked, "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

Giving his head a small shake, the red haired man tried to sit—only to realize he wasn't fit to do so yet. "Actually, I think I need a hand getting to the bathroom..." he muttered, turning red with shame.

Sephiroth rose from his seat and pulled one of Genesis' arms around his shoulder, using the other to support his weight at his waist. There was no sign of discomfort or disgust from the younger man as he helped to support Genesis to his bathroom, then let him brace himself on the counter to do what he needed to and left. When the red haired man finished, he stood in front of the mirror, leaning on the counter and the rim of the sink, as he examined himself.

He really looked like shit. There were a huge number of scabbed and slowly healing marks all over his body, and a ring like from a collar around his neck. His hands, his knuckles especially, were scabbed, too, and there were definitely bruises and faint signs of healed burns. Apparently, whoever had been there last night had managed to wash the worst of the blood off and changed him into clean clothes, though, otherwise he was sure he'd have opened all the scabs while trying to get his sleeping shorts down to do his business. There were dark bags under his eyes as well.

Thinking of the night, he was just as sure he remembered some of it as he was sure he had forgotten most of it. He was pretty sure Angeal and Kunzel had been there and given him healing...Hadn't they?

When he sighed heavily, Sephiroth called quietly through the door, "Do you think you can eat?"

"...Seph...Where's Kunzel?" he asked quietly in reply, noting the really obvious missing person.

"Angeal marched him down to his exams. If he does not take them, he will not be able to stay. The morning exams are the written ones. Hopefully you will be capable of attending his combat exams," Sephiroth replied evenly.

Releasing a relieved breath, he said, "Good, I'm glad one of you got him to take them. As for food...only something light."

"Will you need support to the table, or have you recovered enough to make the trek yourself?"

"...I can probably make it down the hall myself, but across an open space...Probably not."

Sephiroth pushed open the door partway and said, "You have truly matured. When you need me, I will assist you."

Genesis had to huff a small chuckle, then lifted one shaking hand off the rim of the sink. "You aren't asking."

"What about?"

"How I...got into that state. What that state even was..."

"I know marks of abuse and torture. How you came by them is a puzzle, but one which has no immediate need of an answer. You are obviously unwilling to share at this point."

"...Seph..."

"Yes?"

"Can you ever forgive me for not realizing what you suffered through in Hojo's labs?"

The silver haired man released a small sigh and moved over to clasp the older man's shaking hand in his own to steady it. "I have never blamed you, Genesis, for not realizing something which I worked extremely diligently to hide—from you, from Angeal, from anyone who may have taken exception to it. I did not want pity, I wanted to be as normal as it was possible for me to be." Genesis slowly looked up to meet the younger's cat-like, green eyes. "You have done nothing to require forgiveness for. All I would like is for nothing to change now that you realize some of my past."

A small smile formed on Genesis' face before he let his weight lean on the slightly taller man's chest. Sephiroth let him rest there for a few minutes, then Genesis said quietly, "The Restrictors did that to Weiss."

"The boy in Deepground who has Leviathan's Blessing?" Sephiroth asked in surprise.

"Yes."

"...How did it transfer to you?"

"He called to me, and I—couldn't leave him like that, knowing how much pain he was in. Usually, I'm pretty selfish, but I care about Weiss like he's my younger brother, and when he needed me, I couldn't go to him. I couldn't go to him...So I tried to think of some way I could help him, take away his pain..."

"And this was the result of your desire to do so."

Genesis nodded against Sephiroth's neck, still feeling very tired. Something about his behavior prompted Sephiroth to just reach down to pick him up in both arms to carry him to the kitchen table. There, he placed the red haired man gently in a chair, then moved to the stove to ladle some soup into a bowl and put the bowl on the table in front of Genesis. As he silently offered the spoon to the older man, Genesis managed to get his body moving enough to take it and begin eating small, slow mouthfuls. It was a chicken vegetable soup Angeal's mother had made for both boys on more than one occasion, causing him to give a faint smile.

After he finished, he felt somewhat better and managed to make it to his room for a change of clothes, then back to the bathroom on his own power. Usually, he'd have just had a shower, but that time, he wanted to sit in the warm water, so ran a bath to just soak in for awhile. Sephiroth was nearby but not in the room with him, and somehow, the care the younger man was showing him caused him to feel warm inside. Not the normal kind of warm which came from a sibling or relative taking care of him, but more like...The knowledge that Sephiroth could be saved if he was capable of showing so much care for him.

He wished he'd known the whole truth last time.

A good hour later, the water was uncomfortably cool and he felt a lot better, so he drained the tub and pulled on his uniform pants and shirt, leaving them loose rather than using the numerous buckles to fit them to his body. He then made his way to his living room to see Sephiroth—flipping absently through one of his photo albums.

"I thought photo albums were pointless to you?" Genesis asked in faint amusement.

Sephiroth looked up at him, then gave a small nod. "I am—beginning to see some use to them. You have changed so much that these memories have...become more precious than I had expected them to be. You will never be this person again, and while that is not necessarily bad, it does take some time to...adapt to."

"Sorry," the red haired man sighed.

Giving his head a shake, the younger of the two replied, "Do not apologize. Change happens to everyone over time. The only difference is that, to us, your fourteen years of change happened literally overnight." He paused, then asked, "Will you be well enough to attend Kunzel's combat exam?"

For a moment, Genesis didn't reply, then gave a small nod and said, "I'll go. I'm feeling a lot better now than I did before, so my healing has finally kicked in fully, and the damage is repairing faster. I still won't be much use to anyone, but..."

With a nod, the General set the photo album on the coffee table, then rose and made his way to the kitchen as he asked, "Only soup again, or do you feel up to something more substantial?"

Making a small face, Genesis offered, "I could try a couple slices of bread with my soup, but nothing else yet. I probably won't be able to start eating normally again until tomorrow."

Like the time before, Sephiroth prepared the soup and put it on the table for Genesis, then fetched a couple slices of bread for him as the red haired man ate slowly.

"Thank you," the Commander said quietly after he'd eaten about half of his meal.

The younger man just nodded.

When Genesis had finished, he headed back to his room to finish changing and pull on his trademark red leather coat. Once he was ready, he returned to the main room to see Sephiroth waiting near the door, so Genesis joined him, and together, the two stepped into the hall and headed for the Cadets' combat exam room. They arrived as the Cadets were filing into the room, and Kunzel saw them as they walked up. The younger man gave a small wave, his expression relieved, then turned back to Zack, who also gave them a wave. The two passed into the room, followed by the remainder of the Cadets, then by Genesis, Sephiroth, and any other observers of the exams. It was then when Angeal joined them, his gaze also relieved as he put his arm around the red haired man's shoulders.

It didn't take long for the three to find places to sit, but they were mildly surprised to see Kariya there, sitting beside Heidegger. They got the distinct impression that Kariya wasn't happy with the arrangement, but he kept his expression neutral and impassive as all of them waited for the exams to begin.

Several matches between Thirds and the Cadets had been arranged, four going on in the room at one time. The Cadets weren't expected to win, just to make reasonable headway against the Thirds, to effectively 'hold their own' for a minimum length of time. Many of the Cadets didn't make it, so another Third and Cadet would be called up as one of the previous matches ended. Kunzel was towards the end of the list, while Zack was closer to the beginning, and Zack actually not only lasted past the time limit, but nearly beat his opponent—without even being enhanced.

"That Cadet is actually quite good, isn't he?" Angeal asked with a raised brow.

"Sparring with a little Turk-in-training helped his skills quite a bit, since a tiny thirteen-year-old girl kicked his ass at least three times in five minutes before he decided he should be careful around her," Genesis replied in amusement.

The larger man chuckled at the words. "It paid off, then."

"It did," the smaller man agreed.

Finally, when Kunzel was called up, his sparring partner was—not a Third, but Second Essai Calloun, one of the ones who had helped Genesis with the Behemoth emergency. All three of their eyes widened, and Kunzel himself looked worried. As Angeal was about to rise and call foul, however, Genesis stopped him—and across the room, his and Kunzel's eyes met. As the Commander pulled the larger man beside him back down, he gave his Cadet a nod, and mouthed, "Neirine."

Kunzel blinked, then blinked again and turned to face Essai as his shoulders straightened and he stepped forward to the official match lines.

"Genesis, this can't be okay—a Second—" Angeal began urgently.

"Essai isn't a bully and won't seriously hurt him, but in terms of skill, Neirine could beat him, and Kunzel knows how to fight her," Genesis replied. "The match isn't actually as uneven as it appears, even though I'm sure Heidegger intended it to be."

"Who's Neirine?" Angeal asked in confusion as his—and everyone else's—eyes went to the match between the Second and the Cadet.

"The Turk-in-training Kunzel sparred with a few days ago," Sephiroth answered in mild amusement. "Yes, the match is, in fact, not unreasonable."

"If anything, holding his own for the time limit against Essai means he's doubly proven he belongs here, and in my care," Genesis added, relaxing into his seat.

Everyone watched as Kunzel adapted to his new opponent, using the tricks Genesis had taught him and what he'd learned from fighting Neirine. His motions were much more fluid and functional with his adapted style, and Essai landing a damaging blow on him was far more likely with magic than with his sword. Cadets had been allowed a selection of three Materia to take into the match with them, and Kunzel had gone with Lightning—Genesis smirked at that—Restore, and Barrier. Keeping himself protected with Barrier and MBarrier helped tremendously against attacks which reached him, but because he'd learned to fight in a more mobile style, he'd also gotten harder to hit.

Then came the shock, after almost half an hour of them fighting almost move-for-move—when Kunzel was thrown down, he also hit his Limit Break and expelled a massive bolt of lightning...shaped like a dragon.

The blow knocked Essai off his feet and forced him to pull off his helmet and toss it aside as he used healing spell after healing spell to heal the painful-looking burns on his face and head. Kunzel rushed over to him in alarm to help him—and with the support of his Limit Break still active, the effect was much stronger than Essai's attempts. After a couple casts of Cure, Kunzel's Limit Break dropped, but Essai looked a lot better by then, and actually seemed amused by the situation. He rose and offered a hand to the younger man, who took it and let the Second pull him up, then clapped him on the shoulder and walked over to where Heidegger—a rather stunned Heidegger—sat.

Loudly and clearly, Essai said, "You wanted me to put Cadet Tarins to the test on the assumption that Commander Rhapsodos was just creating problems again. If that's how skilled the Cadet is at this point, with or without Commander Rhapsodos' input, he deserves to be here. I'm of the opinion by his past records, however, that in all of four days, the Commander has tremendously improved the Cadet's skills. My advice is to let them do whatever they want, because it's obviously not detrimental to SOLDIER." He then gave Genesis a wave and walked out.

Kunzel was dismissed from the sparring mat then, so made his way over to where Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth sat. "How are you doing, Genesis?" he asked quietly as he sat down in the seat beside Genesis, which Sephiroth had vacated to allow him the space.

"Recovering," Genesis replied dryly. "Not up to par yet, though. Don't worry, Mako enhancements work wonders on regenerative abilities, so I'll be fine by tomorrow."

Slowly, the Cadet nodded, then drew in a small breath and asked, "Have you heard anything about Neirine's recovery yet? I mean, since you mentioned her..."

Genesis gave his head a shake as Angeal and Sephiroth both stared at him in surprise and confusion. "I haven't heard anything about her well-being yet. Once we have your results, we can check with Tseng about that."

"Then—" Kunzel began to say.

"Stupid, over-achieving, Wutain dogs!" Heidegger snarled, shoving himself to his feet and heading for the exit door. As Kariya rose to follow him, the black haired, large man rounded on the slender, orange haired Turk and snarled, "You! Stay! Here! Or go back to Veld! But don't! Follow! Me!" He then charged out of the room like a Behemoth on a rampage, leaving everyone staring after him in something like horror and lack of comprehension.

Kariya moved over to stand by the four of them and asked quietly, "You got any Wutain ancestors, Cadet?"

"Yes, I'm half Wutain on my mother's side," Kunzel replied, looking painfully confused. "Why should that matter?"

"Heidegger loathes Wutains," Kariya replied with a small sigh, causing puzzled frowns from all of the SOLDIERs. "He'll out-and-out torture you if he gets his hands on you, so just—make sure you never have to be alone with him, or with him and someone who shares his views."

"How do you know this?" Angeal asked with a sudden intense gaze.

"...Heidegger's gotten to Tseng once too often, and no one realized it until it had already fucked with his head," Kariya sighed. "We take his 'toy' away from him and he'll look for another. Don't let your Cadet become his next victim, Commander."

"I won't," Genesis replied harshly, the glare on his face shocking to Angeal and Kunzel.

Sephiroth gave a nod and said, "I shall warn our other SOLDIERs with some Wutain background as well."

Kariya gave a nod of his own and asked, "Anything else before I head back?"

"Do you know how Neirine is doing?" Kunzel asked suddenly as Genesis was about to tell him he could go.

"Not details, but she's going to make a full recovery save some scars, apparently," Kariya replied with a faint grin. "If you want anything more than that, you'll have to ask Tseng and Veld."

"Thanks," the Cadet told him gratefully. The Turk nodded, then walked away.

"Gen, what was that venom all about?" Angeal asked worriedly.

"Here isn't the place to discuss it," Genesis replied, pushing himself to his feet as an examiner walked over to them.

"Cadet Tarins has passed and will be in the first group getting his enhancements tomorrow, Commander," the examiner said, while offering a paper to Kunzel. The Cadet took it to read it—both his successful completion of the Cadet program and his injection time were listed on the paper.

"How come you know this already when paper exams take a long time to grade?" Genesis asked curiously.

"He and the top students in the class were fast-tracked since it was already known they would pass," the examiner replied. "We hadn't originally included Cadet Tarins in the fast-tracked list, but since you chose to Mentor him, it seemed feasible to place him with the other top students. I have no idea what you've been teaching him in the last few days, but we don't regret having done so." The man then walked away.

"...Uh..." Kunzel began, looking confused.

"So, were you aware your Limit Break manifested as a dragon of lightning?" the red haired man asked in amusement.

"That was a Limit Break?" the Cadet gaped in shock.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," the older man replied, still very amused. "I think you'll fit in well with SOLDIER if you can produce a Limit Break like that."

"Thanks..." Kunzel blinked, then gave a wryly amused look. "So, what now?"

"Now we go back to our apartment so I can rest while I tell you what your first Mako infusion is going to be like," Genesis replied in wry amusement.

With agreement from the others, they headed back to the two-bedroom apartment and settled in the living room to discuss things further.

Once they were there and safely away from prying ears, Sephiroth asked, "Perhaps the Cadet should rest first?"

"He knows about Leviathan's Blessing," Genesis replied as he made his way to his couch and collapsed face-first onto it. Angeal and Sephiroth traded surprised and puzzled looks as Kunzel slowly made his way to the seat across from Genesis.

"So your injuries have something to do with the Blessing?" the sixteen-year-old asked.

"In a roundabout way," Genesis sighed, laying still with his eyes closed. The trek had taken more out of him than he'd expected. "Four others also got the Blessing. Two of those are out in Nibelheim right now, one is Tseng, and one is a boy called Weiss. In the future I lived through, Weiss had been infused with my genes, effectively making him my brother, and he was the first person I seriously mentored as well. Right now, he's in a place called Deepground. Yesterday into last night, they tortured him so badly that when he was finally released from whatever they did to him, he called for me so strongly he tied our minds together for a few minutes. I could feel his pain and wanted so badly to help him that I—ended up transferring half or more of his injuries to myself."

"...Wow. Just...Wow..." Kunzel blinked. "I didn't know something like that was even possible. Is there any way you can get to him and get him—and anyone else being held captive there—out?"

"One of the ones in Nibelheim is the only one who can actually get in there," Genesis sighed. "I couldn't go to him when he needed me, so...this was the best I could do in place of that."

For a minute, Kunzel was silent, but then he commented, "As much as I can appreciate the sentiment, are you really helping anyone by crippling yourself?"

Genesis rolled onto his side with his back to the couch-back, and opened his eyes to meet Kunzel's gaze as he said, "Even Mako-enhanced people have a limit to how much damage they can take before even the Mako won't heal them anymore. Weiss had reached that limit, and his wounds weren't going to heal quickly enough to save his nerves. He'd have lost the ability to feel touch on about sixty percent of his body. This wasn't just some random whim—Weiss needed help. I gave it in the only way I could."

All three others' eyes widened in surprise at the words, then Angeal said, "Your reaction to what Kariya said was so vicious because this is your past experience with torture. That kind of implies you and Tseng were close."

The red haired man's lips quirked as he closed his eyes and said, "Not really. I knew of him more than I knew him. But Vincent shared with me and Weiss some of what had happened in the Forest of the Ancients outside the Forgotten Capital—the place where Tseng was tortured by three very...unusual teenagers. It's not a far cry to go from what I felt—and took—from Weiss to what Tseng would have suffered to what I must not let Kunzel suffer."

The sixteen-year-old's gaze was bemused by the statement, causing him to say, "It wouldn't really be your fault if Heidegger got his hands on me, though. You're not my keeper, even if you are my Mentor."

"You should ask Veld or Tseng sometime what kind of bond is forged between a Mentor and their mentee, because the bond never really goes away," Genesis replied with a shrug. "Now, about your Mako enhancements..."

"I'm going to be sick for a few days, and I'm going to have to adapt to enhanced senses, strength, and reflexes," Kunzel replied dryly. "I did my research, Commander."

With a chuckle, the red haired man said, "That's good. Don't take anything to the recovery room with you that you don't want broken. Not even clothes. Now, I'm going to take a nap..." He was asleep before the other three even realized it.