A/N: I think this chapter is maybe only the first or second time I use the perspectives of people NOT one of the five with Minerva's Blessing, too. O.O All chapter...It didn't seem right to do anything else.

Mentors and Mentees

Sephiroth was very, very annoyed with the pressure the President was putting on him to choose a mentee—the man was sure nearly all the rest of the Firsts (which was still at least two thirds of their number) would choose mentees if their General would just do so. The problem wasn't that Sephiroth hadn't tried to find a Second or Third to train (the new round of Cadets was too fresh for him to choose from), but that they all had so much hero worship of him they'd never learn anything if he chose them. Even Weiss, Argento, and Azul had managed to bring their number of options down to two or three and just needed to pick one, while he still couldn't find someone worth the effort. The one he'd seen with the most combat promise, he'd pointed out to Argento, so he was now seriously in her running of choices.

Which was why he was wandering the city—and getting annoyed by all the passers-by stopping to stare at him in awe or people asking him for autographs—instead of at the Shinra building. Well, admittedly, he was still avoiding Hojo, since the man was unpleasant when angry, even when he couldn't force him into more testing. In the meantime, at least these people weren't asking him for anything unreasonable, they just weren't really leaving him alone. Having wandered into the Sector 1 shopping district had maybe not been the best place to go, even if it was on the Upper Plate, because there were still an awful lot of people there.

Suddenly, as he came to a corner to an alley, someone slammed into him from that same alley, yelped, and pulled back in alarm—

Only to blink hazel eyes at him, then turn back the way she'd come—

And raise a standard longsword to block a katana.

Looking past the two blades, he could see a Wutain man in the Crescent Unit uniform. The woman who had run into him, who had her brown hair in a short, high ponytail with flyaway bangs, was very obviously skilled with a sword in her hands, and she was fit and toned. In all likelihood, she made her living as a mercenary. As she shoved away from him to fight her attacker, her skill became clear, and that was from someone who was un-enhanced and looked to be about eighteen years old. In fact, her sword reminded him a great deal of Genesis', but it was just a mass-produced weapon.

Movement and sparks of blue further down the alley drew his attention, and he looked past her to see two others from Crescent Unit apparently being blocked off by...a circle of white-blue flames? Yes, there was indeed a circle of white-blue flames around them, and they apparently weren't willing to try bypassing them. Since the woman seemed able to handle the one she was fighting on her own—Wutains weren't weak, and Crescent Unit were their strongest warriors, which said even more for her skills—he tried to find the source of the flames.

As it turned out, the flames' source quickly became the least of his worries as someone dressed in a fully-covering, dark uniform he'd only seen once before jumped over the circle of flames, aiming to attack the woman (1), as thought he, the "Demon of Wutai," wasn't standing just beside her! One of the Wutains in the Infantry had told him men dressed like those were Imperial Assassins—heartless men who were above and beyond the skills of even Crescent Unit, programmed to kill only on the Emperor's orders from a very young age. And for some reason, one was now attacking the mercenary.

He didn't think, just threw himself in the way of the man's blade, his own sheathed one raised to catch the blow. As the Assassin's feet dropped to the ground and he jumped back, Sephiroth unsheathed his blade—he never went anywhere without it for a reason—and dropped the sheathe so he could fight the man, shifting into a combat stance. The Assassin knew he wouldn't just be able to get past him, so responded to the challenge with an answering stance, and attacked first. As he remembered, these ones were truly powerful warriors, and a normal person likely wouldn't be able to take them on. He, on the other hand, could stand against them, and they knew it too.

Their exchange was furious, and he was only just aware enough of his surroundings to notice the man the woman was fighting yelp in pain. He also, around the blows he was exchanging with the Assassin, noticed the circle of flames fade, so the other two Wutains headed for the woman—and while the one in the lead was able to progress, the other was again blocked off. Sephiroth and the Assassin were actually damaging the street, sidewalk, vehicles, and nearby walls and streetlamps with their battle, and he was beginning to wonder how much complaining he'd get from the President for the repairs.

Then, to his surprise, a rather powerful Fire 3 spell hit both Wutains in active combat just then, making them both scream in pain—until then, the Assassin had been utterly silent. A glance around for Genesis (the only one he knew who could have done that) showed no trace of him, though the silver haired SOLDIER noticed a red fox (2) standing beside the woman—until the woman charged forward to kill the second of her attackers. The Assassin tried to bypass Sephiroth again, so he twisted to the side and launched himself at the Assassin's open back, forcing the Assassin to turn back to face him.

Suddenly, the fox was biting into one of the Assassin's arms—even as waves of fire rippled over the man, apparently originating from the collar the fox wore, which had the glow of Materia on it.

He blinked in surprise. She had taught the fox to cast magic?

Turning his mind back to the Assassin just in time to block a blow aimed at the fox, he used the moment of the distraction to kill the man, leaving the last man in the alley—who was dead a moment later, as the woman killed him. She then stood there for a minute, panting, as the fox joined her to lean on her leg. It didn't take long for her to reach down to scratch it behind the ears before petting its head. In the meantime, he decided to call in to Shinra Headquarters so they could send people to clean up the mess, and by the time he was done, she had turned to face him.

Her gaze was—odd—as she said, "Thank you for your help, General. You wouldn't happen to know who, or what, your opponent was, would you?"

"I had been told when I encountered one in Wutai that they are Imperial Assassins, who are limited in number, but who are the most powerful of the Wutain combat force. Why would they be chasing you?" he asked in reply, and she blinked.

Then, she pointed down at the fox and said, "Because of him." His brow quirked questioningly, so she sighed and elaborated, "I was born and raised as a mercenary, and was completing a job in Wutai when there was an explosion from behind the wall of a Lord's manor. This fellow as a kit came flying over the wall with a yelp, and I caught him instinctively, so he attached himself to me. Then, I realized just how intelligent he is, so I named him Akira. I'd say he's just about on par with a human for intelligence, and I know he understands a lot more of what I say than any so-called animal tangibly should. I found out much later that those guys are probably chasing me because this is one of the foxes they train for intelligence-gathering and pre-scouting—not something they want in 'the enemy's' hands."

"I see," he commented thoughtfully, then realized something. "...You speak to me as though I am a normal person."

"Yes?" she asked with a furrowed brow. "You are one, aren't you, General?"

For the first time in days, Sephiroth smiled and agreed, "Yes, though shockingly few see that. The President has been pushing me to take a 'mentee' in the hopes that more Firsts will do so as well, but they see me as far too...deity-like...to learn anything from me were I to teach them. As you do not have such an issue, I would very much like to mentor you—if you are willing to join SOLDIER? With Akira, of course."

"Women can't join SOLDIER, though," she pointed out in a dry tone, crossing her arms.

"I can force the President's hand on that, especially with Deepground having women, and they are now a branch of SOLDIER," he answered.

Her brow rose. "Would he listen to you?"

"Hojo was the only reason he did not allow women into SOLDIER, because Hojo is misogynistic. Women have always been in every other branch of Shinra Company, including the combat ones. With you, I have the power to simply say 'it is you or no one,' and if the President so badly wishes me to be a Mentor, then he will change the regulation. I believe the only issue for you would be increased difficulty in child-bearing," he explained in amusement.

"I don't care about children. Wait—I mean, I don't care about having any myself. I care plenty about my niece and nephews, and other children," she said, and he just gave her an amused look. After a minute of just gazing at him evenly, she looked down at the fox and asked, "What do you think, Akira?" He gave a yip and looked pointedly around at all the bodies, then returned his gaze to her, head tipped to the side. Sephiroth had to admit the fox seemed to have been following the discussion to have effectively 'replied' with the point of their pursuers. Her gaze returned to him as she asked, "Will I be safer with SOLDIER than on my own?"

"No one in SOLDIER will just allow them to kill you, if that is what you mean," he pointed out dryly, moving over to retrieve his sheath and return Masamune to it. "But being a SOLDIER would increase not only your ability to fight, but also your ability to survive and recover from damage. Though, Akira will likely need to re-familiarize himself with things like your scent, because it is highly likely it will change by being given the SOLDIER infusions."

For a long minute, she was quiet, but then she gave a wry grin and commented, "I was raised by mercenaries, but I remember really wanting to join SOLDIER, only to find they didn't take women. If you're sure you can get me in, I—still would like to be one."

With a nod, the silver haired man agreed, "I am certain. Your name?"

"Kallana Bethune, but I go by Kal," she agreed, smiling. "Could I also ask you to get a friend and fellow mercenary in? She's fought them with me before, and she also wanted to join SOLDIER."

"Are you able to reach her quickly from here? If she can meet us outside the Shinra building, I could do it now. Otherwise, it will have to wait until you have been established and the restriction lifted," he offered.

"I can call her," Kal grinned, pulling out her PHS and putting through the call to someone she called 'Tabby' (3). Why that made Sephiroth think of a tabby cat, he wasn't sure, but he'd learned not to underestimate felines of any sort. The Turks were once again a prime example of why he didn't.

By the time she'd secured her friend's agreement, the people from Headquarters had gotten there, so the two headed back to the building. Outside the front doors, Kal greeted a woman slightly younger than her who had auburn hair and green eyes (thankfully different colors from Genesis'), and dressed in similar combat gear. Since that largely meant dark leather for them both, their only real difference was in Tabby's blue, sleeveless shirt to Kal's long-sleeved red. It didn't take them long to reach the elevators, where a curious Rosso and Nero joined them while they waited for it to arrive.

"So, who are these two women?" Rosso asked curiously.

"Our first two official women in SOLDIER," Sephiroth replied in vague amusement. "Kal—the one with brown hair and a fox attached to her side—is also going to become my mentee."

"Ooooh," the younger, red haired woman almost hummed, then grinned. "Then, I get the other!"

"Rosso! You can't just do that!" Nero gaped at her, but Sephiroth gave an amused huff as Kel and Tabby both looked bemused. The discussion paused as they all stepped into the elevator, which had just arrived.

"Can she?" Kal asked curiously, having heard the man huff.

"I could claim you directly because I have seen your skills personally. It is highly likely that, should Rosso take her on a mission or task with the intent to see her skills, she could justify doing the same with your friend. If—Tabby—has skills similar to yours, which I suspect is true if she has been assisting you against Crescent Unit, then the President would have nothing to complain about," Sephiroth answered, which resulted in a collective, thoughtful 'oh'.

They let Sephiroth lead them to the President's office, where the man in question looked up from his papers to ask, "What have you come to bother me for this time?"

The General's brow rose as he asked, "Busy day, Sir?"

"Very," the man replied. "Get on with it. I'm already behind."

"I have finally found a suitable mentee. The only difficulties are in the fact that she has not been through the Cadet program, and she is a woman. Both of those are things only you have the executive power to overturn so I might begin her training as soon as possible," the silver haired man explained plainly.

"How do you even know this mysterious woman would make it through the Cadet program?" the President asked in an annoyed tone.

"She fought three members of Crescent Unit with only help from her pet while I fought an Imperial Assassin. Yes, here in Midgar," the General answered. "She was able to kill all three in the time it took me to defeat the Assassin. That is her skill when un-enhanced and using sub-par gear. I have no doubt she would be able to begin as a Third, with my training."

At the words, the President became thoughtful, but then apparently changed the topic to ask, "And, as there are two unfamiliar women here, what did you want to ask about the other?"

"That she also be allowed entrance to the Cadet program, or should she prove as skilled as my chosen mentee, Rosso has already offered to test her and take her as her mentee," he answered, sounding almost smug.

Raising a brow, the President turned to Rosso and asked, "Is that true, Rosso the Crimson?"

"It is," she agreed. "Nero and I were about to leave for an acquisitions task from the Science Department, so she could join us as her test. As we need to visit the Great Glacier, that should be sufficient, yes, Sir?"

He paused for a long moment, then sighed faintly and asked them both, "And the two of you will be happy with this result if I give agreement and change the rules for SOLDIER to officially allow women entrance?"

"Yes," both said, Sephiroth evenly and Rosso with a grin.

"Fine," the man sighed at last, and everyone smiled. "I need the names of both women, one which will be immediately fast-tracked, and the other which will be on hold until Rosso and her choice return from this task. Once those are done, I'll arrange a meeting to go over the change of regulation and corresponding advertising for the next round of Cadets. If Rosso's choice ends up not meeting her standards, she will be assigned automatically to the Cadet program for the coming round. Names?"

"Kallana Bethune, the General's choice," Kal readily offered. "Did you need my fox's name, too?"

"No," the President waved her off. "That's just a 'pet' note which will go to the Director of SOLDIER so he can be sure it has the facilities it will need. The other?"

"Tabina Roe," the other woman offered with a smile.

After the President had written both down, he said, "Fine, Rosso, Nero, and—Miss Roe—can head out. I'll call the Science Department to have the injections for the Thirds made ready. Sephiroth, Miss Bethune, you can head there right now—someone will meet you to let you in, and Sephiroth knows very well where the recovery rooms are, so he can see you to one. After that, the rest is in his hands."

Everyone left the office as the man picked up his phone, Sephiroth just feeling relieved and the others happy—or overjoyed, in the women's cases.

MB

Angeal had just sat down in the cafeteria after getting back from his last mission, for once without his new mentee (how did anyone put up with someone who had the attention, energy, and cheer of a puppy for any length of time?) when a Turk sat down across from him. Looking up in mild surprise, he saw Kariya, so asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know," the Turk sighed, then shook his head. "Well, yes, but I'm not sure it can be fixed because Genesis got too used to believing his birth family never wanted him. Cloud said I should ask you about him before deciding it's hopeless, though, and I assume he—Genesis, I mean—told you about—the bond between us?"

"He did," Angeal agreed. "But Kariya, 'family' was never really something good to him unless it was one he built himself—me, my mother, Sephiroth, Kunzel, Weiss. His parents never really wanted a child, but he was forced on them, so they spent most of his life treating him like an unwanted guest. Since he'd already guessed his birth family wasn't dead, his assumption was that they hadn't wanted him either. If you're talking to me now, I'm sure that's not true, but it's a learning curve for him."

For a few long moments, Kariya was silent and thoughtful, but then asked, "Cloud said Jenova made a habit of calling herself 'mother' to those who have her cells, including him. Is that true?"

"I wasn't sent back, but when we met Jenova—in a way—at the Mount Nibel Reactor, she definitely tried to get control of me by trying to call herself my 'mother'. I had been forewarned, though, so even though I didn't know she'd go that route, I was ready for it and she ended up resorting to forcibly trying to take over my body," Angeal told him. "If that was anything like what Genesis suffered in that other life, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find he had a strong aversion to family, and a lot of wariness in approaching one."

Again, Kariya was quiet for a minute before saying, "Then, it pretty much is hopeless."

"If you were expecting a quick fix, it was," Angeal agreed dryly, and Kariya blinked at him. "The reality isn't so simple or so defined. Try just approaching him as a friend, as someone you want to get to know, first. He's not ready to face blood family as blood family because he doesn't know you and doesn't know he can trust you to be different from the ones who didn't want him and just used him for their own ends. If he can first get to know you as a friend, he can see what kind of person you really are, and as he gets to know you, he may even offer you that family. If not, then at least you'll be friends and still have a way to be part of his life, help him with things, and so on. I would think that would be preferable to nothing, wouldn't it?"

Sitting back in his seat, the older man tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling for a minute before asking, "You think he'd be more receptive to that if I already approached him about the family aspect?"

"I'd have been surprised if you hadn't. But, he's been thinking about what you said, you know. It meant a lot to him to know what had happened from your side. He just can't trust you right away."

"Heh...'Once burned, twice shy'," Kariya quipped sadly. "But Angeal...was he really just 'a stranger' to his family, or was there more to it? I keep...getting this strange undertone of something deeper happening, and as a Turk, I'm usually right."

For a few moments, Angeal just stared at him in surprise, then shook his head and said, "His parents were harsh and expected perfection. His punishments weren't all that nice, but..." He paused for a minute, then sighed and went on, "I often thought something else had happened, too. Something he never told me or my mother, but led to him climbing in through my window in the middle of the night. I asked, but he just deflected. I don't know what it would take to get him to say it, and I'm honestly no good at mind games and word games and things, so I have no way to get at it. If you could get him to trust you, maybe you'd be able to find out. All I know is that, whatever it was—when he was actually twenty, it was eating at him, but it's not anymore. I just doubt it would be pleasant discussion material."

"No, most likely not," Kariya agreed, gaze a cross between troubled and thoughtful. "He's certainly sure of himself now, and I have no doubt it's very real, not false bravado. I guess I would have to assume he really has set that aside in the extra time he earned himself, but if 'family' had been the ones to do him whatever harm it was, it would be another reason to approach anyone with that 'title' warily, no matter how healed he was."

"Definitely," Angeal agreed.

"I'll try again, then, and make it clear this time that I was never expecting him to jump for joy and call me 'Dad', if he even ever got that far. I just want to get to know him, because regardless of blood, I know very well we're strangers and would have to start at zero," the Turk replied, and rose. "Thanks for clearing that up."

The younger man just waved him away, and a few minutes after he left, Genesis and Kunzel joined him at the table, looking like they were ready to head out. "Mission?" he asked in vague amusement at their timing. "Did you, like, just wait outside the door for Kariya to leave or something?"

"He was here?" Genesis blinked in surprise, and Kunzel just looked puzzled. "And yes. To the forest outside Mideel."

"We never stopped when we walked up," the younger man added.

"Good luck, then," Angeal offered, then sighed faintly. "Did you really completely shut him out when he talked to you?"

"I said I wasn't sure I had it in me to either need or want another family now," Genesis replied flatly. "It's not my fault he took it as complete denial. The asshole."

"I don't think you should be calling Turks names like that," Kunzel sighed.

"Genesis actually has the right to swear at him, though," Angeal answered in amusement. "I think it was more than just your words causing it to come across like that, Gen. And it really wasn't fair to him to do it. I wonder how he missed such obvious open wording, though, that he pretty much went right into depression."

"When did that even happen?" Kunzel asked in surprise.

"Back when you got your kitten," Genesis answered tiredly. "And I think it may just be because he's feeling over-extended with everything else he has to do. Where's Seph?"

Blinking, the other man asked, "Didn't he send you a message not too long ago?"

"It just said he'd be busy today and tomorrow for sure," the red haired man replied.

"Isn't that enough?" Angeal asked in amusement.

"Why would that be enough?" Genesis returned in irritation. "He didn't even say if it was for work, or something personal, or a trip, or—what!"

"Some of my friends have said they've seen him with a woman who is being followed by a fox. The fox appears to have a collar on with Materia in it," Kunzel put in, lifting his eyes from his PHS screen. "They went to the Science Department, then left, and no one really knows where they are now. Should I ask if someone can find out?"

"No, it's not that urgent. He just needs to learn to communicate better," the red haired man replied. In that time, he and Kunzel had finished eating, so he rose and said, "If you're done, we'd better go—our flight is already waiting for us."

"Sure," Kunzel agreed as he also rose. "See you later, Angeal." Again, Angeal just waved them off, wondering what he was supposed to do next. Or rather, who would join him next.

As it so happened, that was Argento and Azul joining him at the table with their new mentees, one who had been made a Third in the same round as Zack and Kunzel and one who had been stuck at Third for awhile because something hadn't been adding up for him. Argento's pick had been a man named Riven Triban (4) (one of the ones Sephiroth had looked at), who had dark brown hair cut to be flyaway while Azul's was Brent Solvin (5), with blond hair cut so short it was more like fuzz. Both had Mako-blue eyes as Thirds, and the difference between them was obvious—Riven was a muscular man, but much more toned than Brent, who was massive and muscular. He was pretty sure they were good picks for each of the two, so prepared himself to get to know them.

Notes:

All of these OC's introduced here will be appearing again later, probably a fair bit. How much their characters will be actively developed is debatable, but they'll be present.

(1) This is actually a major timeline change (despite this woman being an OC). If Sephiroth hadn't been in town at this time on this day (which he wasn't in the original), this woman would have died in this attack on her. Since she's now not, there are new possibilities.

(2) This fox is just a 'normal' fox bred for a specific purpose, and is my creation. Since he was bred in Wutai, I gave him a couple fire-based abilities from Pokémon, one as-is and one modified (thanks for the list, Phoenix!), because of the correlation with Japan's myths about fox demons. Whether the names of the skills ever actually come up, who knows, and I won't be detailing them here—they'll only get named in-story, if the story requires it. Otherwise, he can cast with any Materia Kal puts in his collar (yes, this means his 'collar' is an 'armored' bracer, made as large as it can be).

(3) Tabby, like Kal, is an entirely fresh creation, as I would assume some combat-minded women always wanted to join SOLDIER, even when it was closed to them. Because she's 17 to Rosso's 13, it's not as far of a gap, and Tabby not saying anything just then has a lot to do with just being fast-tracked into SOLDIER. By the time she gets back with Rosso, she'll have realized she can actually learn something from a girl four years younger than her.

(4) Riven is obviously a SOLDIER OC, and has a good tactical mind as well as agility-based combat skills. For those who read Dimensions, he also appeared a few times there; like Dante, he's being reused because it's easier to take a character I already created and drop them in rather than make a new one for something like this.

(5) Brent is completely new as an OC, but like Azul, he's a strength fighter. While he can used a broadsword, he tends towards buster swords and his bare fists, since he prefers single, big-damage hits to prolonged battles. This is primarily what makes him such a good match for Azul, and is the only reason Azul can put up with him.