I'M BACK, PEOPLE! I'm back with a new weird, cracked out story for you. This is an AU/What if scenario, and for the purposes of this story, Sephiroth is much older than in canon.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII

Bound by Blood

Ch I: Claudia

The fact that I'd just rescued an entire village from a monster attack didn't really matter much in the grand scheme. What really mattered was the life of the single young woman directly involved in the incident.

I held her in my arms as we descended the mountain. She trembled terribly as she clung to me, but the longer I held her, the calmer she became. Her frantic heartbeat slowed to match my own, and her breathing relaxed before she could hyperventilate. Lifting her head from where she'd buried her face in my neck, she looked me in the eyes.

The woman wasn't what I'd have called captivatingly beautiful, but she was fine looking, and there was an allure about the way she smiled at me as she pushed a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, her gray-blue eyes sparkling.

I nodded at her, eliciting a deep blush to spread across her cheeks.

Before long, we'd made it to the base of the mountain where we were met by a huge crowd. Undoubtedly, they'd been watching as I slayed the monster, saving the damsel in distress. This story would be spun a thousand different ways before the day was out, but I cared little.

Dropping the woman to her feet, I glanced away for only a moment to shake hands with some of my admirers, but when I looked back in her direction, she was gone. A strange sensation nagged at my stomach as I searched for her.

Towering above most of the people in the crowd, I should have been able to find her again, but she vanished as though she never was.

"Mr. Sephiroth! Thank you, thank you so much for saving our village!" The mayor grabbed my hand, shaking it vigorously. I set my jaw, putting on a smile as I continued to tolerate the onslaught of praise and gratitude.

"It was nothing, really," I said, hoping to take my hand back without offending him.

"No, it was everything! How can we possibly repay you?"

I shook my head to refuse, but as I was about to speak, the woman's face reentered my mind.

"Actually, if you wish to repay me, you can tell me the name of the young lady I rescued."

"Oh, that's my niece, Claudia!"

"Claudia?" A lovely name. "I'd like to meet her formally."

"Is that all you want?" The mayor's face lit up.

"Yes, please."

"Of course, you can meet her. Actually, I'll do you one better! Come to my home for dinner tonight, you can meet her then."

I winced at the thought. I wasn't exactly one for company, but it was a chance to meet that lovely woman. "Alright, I'll join you."

"Excellent! Dinner will be served at six o'clock." He gave my hand another firm shake and then whipped around and ran away with remarkable agility for such an old, rotund man.

Moving through the crowd, I waved at my admirers, posing for some photos and signed a handful of autographs. Little by little, I waded through the throng, eventually making my way to the inn. It seemed to take forever, but I finally made it up the stairs. But as I rounded the corner and approached my door, I halted.

There she was. She was standing in front of my door, her face red, her hands clasped together in a white knuckled clutch.

"H-hello." Her voice was but a mousy whimper.

"Hello."

"I um…my name is Claudia."

"It's nice to meet you, Claudia. I'm Sephiroth."

She met my gaze with that sweet, sheepish grin.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to thank you. But the crowd was making me nervous."

"I understand, I'm not exactly comfortable around crowds either. Are you unharmed?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

"It was nothing, I'm just glad to see you weren't injured."

Could her face turn any redder? Dropping her gaze to the floor, she raked another bit of hair behind her ear. My mouth went dry and my heart skipped a beat. Tearing my eyes from her, I looked longingly toward the door of my room.

"Your uncle has invited me to dinner this evening. Will I be seeing you then?"

"Oh, yes…I assumed he probably would."

"Then why did you wait for me here? Why not wait until tonight?"

"I don't know. Are you angry with me?"

I closed my eyes, my lips, for some reason, curving into a slight smile. "Of course not. I'm actually glad I ran into you again. Somehow, I don't think we'll get to talk much with your uncle around."

She snapped her head up. "Yeah, he can be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes. But that's what the village loves about him."

I nodded, reaching for the door latch. "Do you want to come in?"

Her breath caught - audible to my ears. "Are you sure?"

"I don't do anything I'm unsure of, Miss."

"C-claudia."

"Claudia."

I opened the door for her, allowing her to enter first. She walked to the center of the room, looking around at the home like furnishings, and slowly turned around to face me.

"Is something wrong?" I noticed her eyes pinned to the door as I snapped the lock in place.

"Why'd you lock it?" She gulped.

"I don't want anyone coming in and disturbing us."

Her eyes lit up with something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Don't be alarmed, I have no intention of doing anything untoward. Please." I motioned to the table that had been laid out with fruit, cheese and bread; a bottle of wine stood to the side. "This place is very accommodating."

"Only the best for the best."

"Even with my appetite, I can't eat it all on my own. Besides, dinner isn't for several more hours."

The blush ever present on her cheeks, she once more brushed that incessant hair behind her ear and sat down. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." I sat across from her, pouring us both some wine. "So, Claudia, how old are you?"

"23."

"Oh, you're my age."

"You're only 23? I assumed you were older."

"I get that a lot. It's my gray hair."

"Actually, I was thinking of your rank in Soldier rather than your looks. I didn't think you could be a general at such a young age."

"Normally not, assuming the Soldier enlisted as an adult. But I became a Soldier when I was 10."

"Wait, you were only 10?"

"Yes."

Tilting my head to the side, I found a smile as I watched her face shift from various expressions as she tried to process this information.

"But you were just a child," she breathed, biting her lip.

"True, but you see, it's what I was born and bred for. I don't know anything else."

"So, all you've ever done is train for war?"

I nodded. She was visibly affected, but I remained apathetic to my own plight - if one could call my success a 'plight'.

"You missed out on being a kid then. Did you get to go to school and make friends?"

"I had a successful academic career, and I have two close comrades."

"No, I mean, you didn't get to be a kid."

"If you're asking if I wasted my time playing, injuring myself unnecessarily, or getting involved with useless people and their useless endeavors, then no."

"You don't regret not being able to just have fun with no worries?"

"Training with my comrades is fun. Were it not for such, you'd be dead right now."

She dropped her head, biting her lip so hard I thought she'd draw blood. "Thank you for talking with me, but I have to go."

"So soon?" A strange tightness took my chest as she stood up.

"My uncle will be wondering where I am. I'll see you tonight."

As she left the room, the tightness in my chest turned into a peculiar pressure that rolled through my body before settling in my stomach with a heaviness I'd never felt before.

I winced at the bitter taste of the wine and opted to pour it down the sink. I was never one for drinking anyway it was best to keep my wits about me.

Glancing back at the door, my stomach tensed again. What was this strange feeling? Was I actually disappointed she ran away? Nonsense.