Final Fantasy VII

My White-Haired Angel

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This takes place in my Twilight and Dawn verse where Sephiroth sends everybody to Earth and ends up cured of insanity in the process. It picks up immediately after When All the Paths Are Overgrown, but will have a recap at the beginning for anyone who didn't read that one. At this point in the timeline, Sephiroth and Cloud are very close friends. I don't write for the Remake verse, but I wanted to bring in some elements from it, including Tifa's cat's expanded backstory. I wouldn't want to take Fluffy away from the nice lady who adopts her in Rebirth, but since this is not that verse, I want Tifa to have Fluffy again. This will probably be a quieter, domestic/slice-of-life fic, as there is so much fallout from the previous fic that needs tending to and everybody seriously needs a break from horrible things happening to them.

Chapter One

It had been such a long and horrific and nightmarish night.

Sephiroth and Cloud had been targeted by some nutcase who just liked destruction for the sake of destruction and had blocked Cloud's memories of Sephiroth alone. After several heartbreaking hours of that, the guy had shown up to fight Sephiroth for fun and their highly charged, superpowered fight had left them both fatally injured. Sephiroth had forced him through a portal before his body had given out.

Cloud had finally remembered him when he had lain dead—a formerly hated enemy who was now a dear friend. For hours he had struggled to call Sephiroth back through their mental bond, but to seemingly no avail. Then at last he had revived, saying both Cloud and Zack had called to him and guided him home.

They had all fallen asleep together on Sephiroth's king-sized bed. Even with him stuck in his modified Safer form with wings everywhere, they had somehow managed. Sephiroth was cradling both Zack and Cloud in his wings and they had snuggled close in their sleep, all wanting the sweet comfort of togetherness after their devastating experience.

Now Zack stirred, troubled, and looked over at Seph with shaken eyes. He was alive, thankfully, and seemed to still be asleep, arms and wings around both Zack and Cloud. But at Zack's movement, Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes and looked over at his old friend. "What is it?" he asked.

Zack gave him an awkward smile. "Probably just a bad dream or something," he said.

That wasn't surprising. "About what happened?" Sephiroth assumed.

But Zack shook his head. "It was something else. That nut who hurt you and Cloud was there, and a whole bunch of other people, and me and Angeal were trying to save you." He sighed. "You were just bonkers, trying to overthrow some gods or something and take over yourself."

Instead of brushing it off or assuring Zack it wasn't real, Sephiroth looked troubled. "I see."

Zack rose up with a frown. "Seph?"

Sephiroth sighed. "It sounds like something that happened in another realm, but . . . the situation with me was . . . complicated. No one was supposed to remember after leaving, but on Earth I've remembered all the misadventures in those realms. Cloud seems to as well. You were only there that one time, but I . . ."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Seph," Zack said. "Only . . . why didn't I remember until now?"

"I suppose seeing Kefka triggered it?" Sephiroth frowned. "I'll tell you about it. Rufus Shinra was conducting experiments and injected my cells into crystals. I suppose you could say he created several mes."

"What the . . . ?!" Zack gaped in shock. "So the Sephs in that world weren't you?"

"They were and they weren't," Sephiroth said. "I was back in our world, but I could see through their eyes and take control of them, just as I could with Jenova's body parts on Gaia."

"That's wild," Zack said. "Why the heck did Rufus do a crazy thing like that?!"

Sephiroth smirked darkly. "Because he's a fool meddling with things he should leave alone."

Zack sighed a bit. "I'm kinda glad he didn't get sent here with us . . . but I wonder what he's doing back on Gaia."

"I do as well," Sephiroth said.

Cloud stirred too. "What're we talking about?" he mumbled, looking up from where he was burrowed in the white Safer wings on Sephiroth's left side. Falling asleep on Sephiroth's bed had only happened one other time before. Cloud had felt awkward and embarrassed the first time it had happened, but not so much this time. The first time had been an accident. This time, Sephiroth had encouraged him to stay. Cloud loved Sephiroth dearly by now, and after the horror they had been through it seemed reasonable on some level to want the comfort of being with him and knowing he was alright.

Sephiroth definitely seemed comfortable with it. "When Rufus Shinra created multiple mes in another realm," he deadpanned.

Cloud sat straight up. "He did what?!"

Sephiroth explained again. Cloud rocked back, stunned. "I really don't remember this," he said. "I'm glad I don't."

"You'll probably remember in time," Sephiroth said tiredly. "Zack remembers now."

"Yeah." Zack frowned. "I hate remembering you acting like that, Seph. . . . But I'm glad to know me and Angeal didn't give up on you."

Sephiroth smiled a bit. "So am I."

Cloud sighed and glanced to the clock. ". . . It's morning," he said in surprise. "Late morning, even."

"Hm. And I don't have the strength to undo this form yet," Sephiroth said. "I won't be going in to work today."

"Probably none of us will," Cloud said. He certainly didn't feel like sitting up to his desk and plugging through tedious meetings and boring phone calls after last night. He was still badly shaken about everything. He had told Sephiroth he would never forget him, but he had. He still worried that maybe it was his fault Sephiroth had taken so long to make it back. If he had remembered sooner, maybe he could have called Sephiroth back almost immediately.

Logically he knew that Sephiroth's body had likely been too badly hurt for that, and really, that coming back to life after several hours of being dead was both miraculous and an amazing feat even for Sephiroth, but he still worried. It was always hard for Cloud not to blame himself when his loved ones were hurt. Zack was afraid that was something Cloud would always struggle with, and he was probably right.

Zack stretched. "Maybe Angeal's back," he said hopefully.

"He might be," Sephiroth said. "He likely wouldn't have woke us up if he saw us all asleep."

"I'm gonna go see." Zack got down from the bed, being careful of all the wings. Sephiroth drew them back to help Zack get up.

Cloud waited to speak again until Zack had left. "You were hurt when Angeal left, weren't you?"

Sephiroth sighed. "I understood why he did. He was willing to stay at first, and then once Genesis started appearing around town, but when Genesis seemed to leave town, naturally Angeal became worried and wanted to find him."

"I know Zack felt bad about it," Cloud said.

"We talked about it sometimes," Sephiroth said.

Cloud looked down. "Maybe it was my fault Genesis left. I asked Reno and Rude to look for him and that kicked off all that crazy trouble when we found out that weird restaurant was blocking everyone from finding out about Genesis for some reason. It seemed like Genesis left because of that."

Sephiroth frowned. "You were trying to help, Cloud. It wasn't your fault Genesis left. He could have decided to stop his foolish games of hide-and-seek and come back to us."

Cloud hesitated. ". . . Seemed like he was doing that because he didn't feel worthy to face you or something. Would you have ever done something like that?"

"That's really not my style," Sephiroth said.

"Didn't think so," Cloud said.

"I face my problems head-on. When I know I've already caused so much hurt, I wouldn't do something that would only cause more."

"I guess he thought not facing you would help instead of hurting more?" Cloud suggested.

Sephiroth sighed. "Yes, I think that is what he was thinking. But unfortunately, he was wrong that it wouldn't cause hurt. It hurt Angeal very much."

"And you too," Cloud said.

Sephiroth looked down. ". . . Yes." He looked up again. "And you saw that all along."

"Yeah," Cloud said.

Sephiroth smiled a bit. "That means a lot, Cloud."

Cloud blushed a bit but said, "We've come a long way, huh?"

Sephiroth eyed their positions and his wings still loosely around Cloud. "A long way," he agreed with a fond smile.

Cloud looked too. "I never would have allowed myself to do this before. I probably wouldn't have now if I hadn't been too tired to move." And if it hadn't been that I wanted the comfort of being with Sephiroth and knowing he's alive after those horrible hours of being with his dead body. . . .

"Heh." Sephiroth just smirked, seeming to know there was more to it even if Cloud wasn't willing to say. "I don't mind it."

"Well . . . I'm not planning on making a habit of it," Cloud said.

"It's fine either way," Sephiroth said. "Why deny it if it's something you enjoy?"

Cloud went a deeper red. "It's just . . . not my style," he said, echoing Sephiroth's words.

Sephiroth fell silent, pondering. There was more he could say, so much he had seen from Cloud's memories when he had been insane, but he didn't like to reveal all he knew and make Cloud uncomfortable. On the other hand, however, perhaps it would be better to be honest about it. If Cloud wasn't aware of that fact, Sephiroth didn't want to have such secrets between them now that he was sane and respected Cloud's space.

Finally he said, "I saw things in your memories in the past, when I shouldn't have been going through them."

Cloud stiffened a bit but said, "I figured as much. You probably know everything that happened to me all through my life, don't you?"

"No, I didn't take the time to look at everything," Sephiroth assured him. "But one thing I did see was that you refused to play with the other children in Nibelheim partially out of pride. You wanted it, yet you didn't want to admit you wanted it. There were so many missed opportunities. You're older and wiser now, and you're with people who know and love you, but sometimes you do the same thing again. There's no need for that. If you truly want something, admit it. Don't be ashamed; no one will judge you for it."

Cloud slowly nodded. "It's good advice. Thanks."

Sephiroth wasn't sure if Cloud would actually take it, but at least he had planted the seed. That was all he could do for now, so he nodded in response.

". . . I guess I feel like a kid, wanting to climb in bed with someone to get comfort," Cloud finally muttered.

Sephiroth leaned back with a smirk of amusement. "I enjoyed the comfort," he said.

"Sure, maybe you enjoyed it, but did you really want it?" Cloud wondered. "Would you have ever asked for it?"

"Even I need comfort sometimes," Sephiroth said quietly, serious now. "Last night was very difficult for me as well. I would not be inclined to ask for such comfort, so when you were willing on your own to stay, it made me happy."

Cloud blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Really," Sephiroth said.

Cloud shifted on the bed. "So . . . why wouldn't you ask?" he wondered.

"Pride, naturally," Sephiroth said with a dark smirk. "But not just that. I wouldn't want to bother anyone."

"You'd know it wouldn't bother Zack," Cloud said in surprise.

"I know," Sephiroth agreed with a nod. "And there have been rare occasions where I requested he stay with me."

"But . . . you think it would bother me?" Cloud asked.

"I wouldn't want to presume anything with you," Sephiroth said. "We haven't been close very long."

"Sephiroth . . ." Cloud hesitated, then touched the other's shoulder. "It wouldn't bother me. What you said about me . . . it goes for you too. If you want something, just say so. It's okay."

This brought a smile, soft and deeply moved. "Alright then," Sephiroth said.

"And if you want to talk . . ." Cloud shrugged awkwardly. "I know I'm not good at it, but I'd listen."

"That means a lot, Cloud," Sephiroth said. "I wouldn't want to hurt you by talking about what happened. You couldn't help that you didn't remember me."

"I know," Cloud said. "But if you want to talk about how it hurt, it's okay."

"I'll remember that," Sephiroth said with a nod. "Right now I'm just thankful everything has turned out well."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "Me too."

Zack came back into the room. "Angeal's here!" he reported. "He saw all of us sleeping and didn't want to bother us."

"That's about what I thought," Sephiroth said.

"He's coming to see you now, Seph!" Zack said.

Cloud got off the bed. "I'll let you have a private conversation after I say Hi," he said.

Angeal arrived at the doorway. "Good morning," he greeted.

"Morning," Cloud said. "I'll help Tifa with . . ." He glanced at the clock. "Lunch."

"Yeah! I'll help Aerith with it too!" Zack added.

Angeal gave him a mock stern look. "Just as long as you help with it and don't eat it yet."

Zack threw up his hands in a show of innocence. "I promise!"

Angeal chuckled, shaking his head, and looked back to Sephiroth when they were alone. "You really gave everyone a scare last night," he said. "Including me. Was there really no other way to beat that guy?"

Sephiroth averted his gaze. "We were fairly evenly matched, power-wise. I was afraid that anything other than what I did wouldn't be enough to stop him."

"Next time, maybe you should try one of those other ways first anyway," Angeal said. "You're not indestructible."

"So Cloud's mother told me." Sephiroth folded his arms over his bare chest. He had to admit, he had hoped he would have been able to hold out last night. He had underestimated what it would feel like to be hit with his own Supernova attack after already going through a knock-down, drag-out fight with Kefka. When they had been trapped in the bubble he had made and the attack had repeatedly ricocheted off of it to hit them again and again, it had been too much. But it had seemed the only way to stop Kefka from continuing to destroy his friends and beginning a quest to destroy the whole world.

Angeal finally cracked a bit of a smirk. "Even after all this, you still look like that antisocial kid when you're lectured."

"No one else ever dares lecture me," Sephiroth grunted. Except maybe Aerith.

"I go away for a few days and right away you and Zack and Cloud start getting into worse trouble." Angeal walked over closer to the bed.

"We were getting into fairly bad trouble with you as well," Sephiroth pointed out.

Angeal sat down next to the bed. Yes, he knew that all too well. The last time Sephiroth had been so badly injured he had been stranded in his Safer form—the other time he had died on this world—Angeal had been there. It was a memory he didn't care to dwell on.

Of the group of them, he was perhaps the worst at being willing to open up and express his true feelings, even moreso than Sephiroth or Cloud at this point in time. After the horrific night he had spent agonizing and worrying and praying for Sephiroth's life to be spared, he was instead just lecturing his old friend upon finally seeing him alive. And Sephiroth was closing himself off as he usually did during such lectures. He was still aloof in general but would start to open up if he felt it was alright to do so. He had opened up on the phone last night—when there had not been a lecture—but only because Angeal had drawn him out. He wouldn't have felt comfortable with it otherwise. Angeal, by contrast, continued to be aloof for the most part even so.

Angeal leaned forward, trying to see past the long bangs into Sephiroth's eyes. From the way he was just staring down at the quilt without seeing it, he felt very badly about what had happened. Not that Angeal wouldn't already know he would without needing to see his eyes first.

Finally taking pity on him, Angeal said, "Sephiroth, I know you weren't trying to kill yourself or hurt any of us."

"I underestimated the strength of my own power," Sephiroth said. "I've never used it at that level before, even against Cloud and the others."

"I'm glad you didn't use it against them," Angeal said.

"I only used it against Kefka because I thought that was the only way to beat him." Sephiroth sighed and leaned back into the pillows.

Angeal laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just thankful you're alright. You know that, right?"

Sephiroth finally nodded. "You never gave up on me. Now that I'm sane again, that means everything to me."

Angeal gave him a long look. "You mean what happened in that other realm?"

"Yes. Zack finally remembered it last night." Sephiroth looked up at him. "I wonder . . . if you and Zack had been able to get through to me there, would it have changed anything? You were fighting another me that Rufus Shinra created, but I was able to take control of him and speak through him."

"Was it you then?" Angeal asked.

"Sometimes it was." Sephiroth shook his head. "It's complicated."

"It sounds like it," Angeal agreed.

"Some of my abilities are very strange. Some of them I haven't even ever used."

"Abilities that you learned or ones the scientists gave you?" Angeal asked.

"Some of both," Sephiroth said. "I've never used my absolute full strength. While sane I didn't want to hurt anyone with it and while insane I was arrogant enough to believe I could win without tapping into it. The closest I've ever come to using all of it was against Kefka."

"But there's still more, huh?" Angeal said.

"Yes," Sephiroth said.

Angeal sighed. "Well, if you ever do end up having to use all of it, just try to make sure you'll come out of it alive, okay?"

Sephiroth nodded. "I will. I have no desire to repeat what happened last night."

"I'd hope not," Angeal said.

Sephiroth paused, then said, "Now, about Genesis. Are you really sure he's left the city at all? Maybe he's just gone underground after all that chaos happened. If he is truly trying to look after us, it seems strange he would just leave."

"I know," Angeal said. He sighed. "I don't want to think he's left. It seemed like everything was pointing to it, but on the other hand, maybe that's what he wanted it to look like."

"He's smart enough to do something like that," Sephiroth said. "After all this time, he knows all too well how to disappear successfully."

Angeal nodded. ". . . There's another possibility, though. And this is really why I've been so bent on finding him, to make sure this didn'thappen."

"Someone may have harmed him," Sephiroth said darkly.

"I hope they didn't and couldn't," Angeal said. "But it would be foolish to just ignore the possibility."

"You're right." Sephiroth gave a tired sigh. "If Genesis just hadn't decided that facing us wasn't the way to resolve his past sins, maybe everything would be different."

"I'm sure it would be," Angeal said. Lowering his voice, he added, "He might be here with us right now."

"I don't know if he would ever want that," Sephiroth had to admit. "Could he and I really live under the same roof?"

Angeal sighed. ". . . Probably not," he conceded.

"If we ever do find him, will you want to go with him?" Sephiroth asked.

Angeal stared out at the backyard. "I guess that might depend on what's happening with him," he said. "I want to stay here with you and Zack, but I'd still like to be with Genesis too." Finally he smiled. "I've got a good job here, though. I don't want to lose that."

"Well," Sephiroth said, "that's encouraging, at least." While he knew Angeal was saying that to try to reassure him, he felt the need to say, "You would still have your job if you chose to live with Genesis instead of us."

"I know," Angeal said. "It might make things more awkward, though, depending on how Genesis feels."

Sephiroth nodded. "He definitely seemed like he wanted to help us, though," he said. "He helped Zack get away from the Rakeshes and then apparently interfered several times for our sakes in that Diamond Rose Glass mess. Maybe there were even other times he helped as well that we don't know about. I don't want to think there would be trouble if you wanted to keep working at the company."

"There probably wouldn't be," Angeal said. "But we can't know much of anything until we can find him and talk to him."

Sephiroth sighed. "I don't know what else to do," he said. "I've run so many searches with the supercomputer and turned up nothing. It's incredible how completely he can disappear when he wants to."

"I didn't have any luck searching, either," Angeal said. "Only what we found initially that made it sound like he caught a flight out of town. And now I have to wonder if it's like you suggested and he only made it look like he left." He shook his head. "If he's still here, he could be anywhere."

"And if he's not, he could be anywhere," Sephiroth deadpanned. "What will you do?"

"I don't even know at this point," Angeal admitted. "I know you're probably right that he doesn't want to be found, so I shouldn't keep looking. Maybe he'll come out again if everything dies down and the attention isn't on him any longer. But then there's that nagging fear that maybe someone hurt him and he needs to be found."

"It's a problem," Sephiroth agreed. "If I thought he'd been hurt, I'd be just as panicked to find him."

"I know," Angeal assured him.

"I hope you'll find an answer that will feel right to you," Sephiroth continued. "I will respect your decision either way."

"Thanks," Angeal said with a nod.

Cloud suddenly re-entered the room, looking baffled. Zack was trailing after him, just as confused.

"What is it?" Sephiroth asked. "Surely breakfast wasn't that confusing to figure out."

"No, it's not that." Cloud held up his tablet. "I was just talking with Reno and there was a cat walking around in the background."

Sephiroth gave him an unimpressed look. "A cat is confusing?" Well, they were, but he doubted Cloud was thinking about that.

"It is if it looks like Tifa's cat," Cloud retorted.

". . . I didn't know Tifa had a cat," Sephiroth said in surprise.

"She had it at Nibelheim," Cloud said. "It was still there three years ago with a bunch of kittens. Now this cat at Reno's place looks like it. There were other cats there too."

"Did you ask him about it?" Sephiroth wondered.

"Yeah. He said Rude found them all wandering around their street together and he took them in recently to feed them." Cloud was still studying a screenshot he had made of their video conversation with the cats in the background.

"Are you planning to tell Tifa?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yeah," Cloud said again. "But . . . if it turns out it really is her cat and the cat's kittens grown up, would you be okay with them being here?"

Sephiroth fell silent. That was a legitimate question. "Are they well-behaved?" he asked.

"I don't know about the kittens," Cloud said. "Her cat was always running away and getting into everything. Seems like she's settled down now that she has kids, though."

Sephiroth slowly nodded. "That's . . . good to know." He sighed. "I wouldn't want to keep her from having her own cat. Especially since it was my fault they were separated in the first place."

Zack smiled sadly. "Seph . . ."

Cloud relaxed. "I'll go tell Tifa," he said, and hurried out of the room.

Angeal broke the ensuing silence in the room. "Well, this is an interesting development," he remarked. Although from his eyes, he wondered why they could find Tifa's cat and not Genesis.

"Isn't it," Sephiroth responded.