Chapter Text
The first time Sephiroth hears about Project E is when he meets the First Child.
He cares less for the details of the project when he meets it– her , when he meets her. It was an accident, something that the ones in Science had meant to keep away from him based on how they reacted to his presence at the time.
With the benefit of hindsight, he knows he probably should have looked into that more. At the time, however, he just couldn’t wrap his mind around. There were too many words for too many things, and the so-called Silver General of SOLDIER was a lot of things, but steady when it came to Science was not one of them.
Outwardly, maybe. He put on a good show, Hojo had hammered that into him at an early age–far earlier than any should hope to think of. Both cruelly and unusually, even though it mattered so little now.
Hojo wasn’t involved with this project, but based on what he heard before being ushered out; he might as well have been.
Their eyes met before he allowed himself to be led away, and something struck him–deep down in his soul, he knew this wasn’t the last time he’d be seeing the girl.
Δ
When he and the First Child next meet, it is, somehow once again, an accident.
If Sephiroth didn’t know any better, he’d say fate was aligning to bring them into contact with one another. Although, with every passing look the two shared, he was beginning to consider that a more plausible option.
After all, she was just… sitting there, in the hall, outside of an office in the Science department that he didn’t usually end up in. Most times, he was more than inclined to simply vanish whenever his own tests and procedures were finished.
This time, however, he had felt a bit different.
It was a minor inclination, a subtle drag down an unknown hall, then another, and then another. Until he arrived where he stood now, looking down at the small, blue-haired child that barely reached his waist.
He barely understands basic social interaction, let alone how one is supposed to address a child. After all, he very much doubts that the little one would be interested in a six-foot odachi.
Not knowing how else to fill the void of silence and curious stares, he simply throws out the first thing that comes to mind.
“…Do you like swords?”
Gaia dammit.
Δ
Genesis was laughing.
At him.
“Oh, my friend–” He stopped, too busy wheezing and almost doubling over as he pointed at Sephiroth. “The Illustrious General, so-called hero, defender of the innocent, can’t even talk to a single, normal child?!”
“…I’d hardly call blue hair ‘normal’.”
Genesis just howled louder.
“My friend, the fates are cruel,” Genesis attempts to recover, nearly doubling over again. “But a conversation with you is even crueler.”
“Hilarious,” The taller of the two men rolls his eyes, sifting through the papers on his desk with the patience of a saint. “Remind me why you must insist on bothering me while I do my work?”
Genesis rolls his eyes, leaning on the man’s desk with a mock scowl.
“Because Angeal is busy with his puppy , and the mission roster is full ,” Genesis commented, though he hardly sounds bitter over either of those statements. “You, on the other hand, could file paperwork under gunfire.”
“Perhaps,” Sephiroth allows, a slight tug pulling at the edge of his lips. “But hearing you speak is far worse than even that.”
“I’m insulted,” Genesis puts a hand over his heart. “Truly, I am. Seph, we’ve been friends for how long?”
“We’re friends?”
Genesis gasps.
“Cruel, too cruel,” He mutters, feigning misery. “Angeal would never say such things to me…”
Sephiroth chuckles, although it is so low, and so near silent, that only a SOLDIER First could hope to even hear it. By the prick of his fellow comrades' ear, however, it seems that it was received loud and clear.
They fall into an amiable silence, although brief as Genesis is quick to turn it around once more.
“So, this child?” Genesis prompts, earning a grunt from Sephiroth, but ultimately no words are shared. He huffs, turning fully to the man with a raised brow. “You were drawn to her?”
“I can’t say for certain…”
“Pulled down a myriad of halls that you’ve never walked down only to reach the same child you witnessed months ago in the depths of Science?” Genesis scoffs. “Fate is fickle, my friend, but that is as clear a sign as you could ask for.”
Sephiroth hums, not necessarily disagreeing.
“A sign for what, though?” He asks.
Genesis, for all his witty wordplay, has no answer.
Neither wants to voice the thoughts that may linger in the back of their minds.
Δ
The next meeting is met with pure, unadulterated rage.
For now, the soft blue that once flowed from the child's head, has begun to take on a sheen of silver.
It’s impossible to be hidden from him any longer, as high up in the chain of command as he is now. The Evangelions, and those who would pilot them. He knows there’s more, more he isn’t being told simply because of who he is.
He knows of Second Impact, the event that scattered the world before he was even born. The event that had led Midgar to become a place with no seasons and no greenery, a place only hurt further by the Mako reactors.
A place that could not heal.
He and this child are linked.
He just doesn’t know how or why.
A fact that he wishes to quickly remedy. A fact that, not regrettably, requires the enlistment of one Zack Fair .
“I still don’t understand what I’m doing here,” The sixteen-year-old states as he follows behind the SOLDIER First. “I mean, not that I’m complaining, even if it wasn’t Angeal that asked, I still woulda helped, but some clarification would have been–”
“I hardly understand what I’m doing either, or why ,” A rare admittance for Sephiroth. “But a certain division of Science has something I want . Your scheduled visit is just the perfect cover to get closer to it.”
Half of that is a lie, he does have an idea for why he’s willing to do this.
He just hopes it turns out to be wrong.
Zack studies him for a moment with wide eyes. He shouldn’t be surprised, the younger members of SOLDIER practically idolize him; it makes sense that Zack would be no different.
“You really are just like Angeal said.”
That makes Sephiroth nearly stop in his tracks.
“Pardon?”
“Don’t worry about,” Zack says with a sudden and wide grin, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder . “It’s all good things, promise.”
And then he saunters ahead, entering Science just before his superior could, with the taller man being forced to just stare after the boy for a few long moments. Watching his back and shoulders as his stride held steady, even as he descended into the jaws of the beast.
Sephiroth decided that maybe he should give those promotion papers another look over.
Δ
A week.
It takes a week to actually extract enough readable data for him to piece together what he’s looking at.
When he finally does, his gut reaction is to call his only friends. Of which, one brings a puppy, but he can’t bring himself to care too much. After all, he’s far too busy trying not to look like he’s on the verge of murder and a mental breakdown.
Rei Ayanami–a clone made up of two particular people.
One, Yui Ikari, deceased as of a decade ago, and covered up with far more black ink than he had time to deal with.
The other, by some mix of cosmic jokes, was himself.
The girl held up in Science, the one who hadn’t even spoken to him as of yet, was practically his child.
His child, who was, apparently , being subjected to things that made him downright homicidal.
Angeal and Genesis weren't far behind.
Zack was halfway to the door of his office–hand dangerously close to the hilt of his sword–before Angeal was able to snap out of his own spiralling thoughts and grab him.
“ Lemme go!”
“Not if your intention is to fight through Science to get to that girl,” The larger man is practically lifting the younger off his feet. “It’s one thing to throw yourself in front of a bullet to save someone–it’s another to put yourself under the scalpel.”
“We can’t just sit here!” Zack refuted, his voice coming out as a hiss. “There are three of them, Angeal! Three pilots! One of them is already here, and who knows what they’ll do when the other two get here!”
Yes, that was true. An adjacent, although incomplete and mostly unsalvageable, file revealed the existence of the ‘ Second and Third Child’. There were no pictures or other data to glean–Sephiroth’s work had been interrupted before he could get a complete copy of what he was looking for. He was lucky to have gotten any at all, but now he wished he’d tried harder, stalled more when that lab member had stumbled upon him.
He needed to know if they were like her.
“And we won’t , Puppy,” Angeal's term of endearment came quickly, placatingly. “But we can’t just do it –not like that.”
“We could,” Genesis finally commented, his tone low and his words icy. “We could just go in there and spatter the guts of this… ‘Gendo Ikari’ across the walls. What could they do to stop us?”
“And possibly get all of SOLDIER thrown under the bus with us?” Angeal scowled, a rare sight for the man. “They would follow us to the Northern Continent and back, with nothing but their underwear if we simply asked them to. What do you think they’d do if we took on Science?”
Genesis scowled, crossing his arms and looking away. He said nothing more, as the answer was clear; none of them would have a single reservation. Employees were loyal to Shinra, the Infantry was loyal to Shinra, Turks were loyal to Shinra.
SOLDIERS were loyal to SOLDIERS.
“Then what can we do?”
It took Sephiroth a moment to realize that Zack had been talking to him . The question caught him in a loop, a destructive one that he couldn’t stop by simply swinging a sword at it. He was a smart man, everyone said so, at least. Right now, though, he didn’t particularly feel as if that were true.
He sits back in his chair, feeling the weight of his potential words on his tongue. Staring at the screen feels like all he can do. There’s so much information there, but not enough to inform him of the correct path.
So, they sit, stewing in silence and wondering where to go from there.
Scarily enough, it is Genesis who offers the first idea, and possibly the only idea.
“Gentleman, I dare not say this lightly,” A contemplative look crosses his face, which then quickly gives way to a crooked grin. “But what say we put our little fanclubs to use?”
A shiver startles Sephiroth's spine as Genesis continues with his idea.
It’s stupid.
Inane.
Asinine.
The kind of plan that would make Hojo scoff and sneer in disgust.
…He rather quickly decides that he likes this plan.
Δ
It’s not even a week later when rumors begin to spread that Sephiroth has a secret love child.
Not the cleanest of rumors, but it works nonetheless.
It helps that Rei’s hair has become almost completely silver at this point in time.
“I can assure you, Sephiroth–”
“Do not presume to speak to me so plainly, as if to belittle me,” Sephiroth cuts the shorter man off. He supposes the one known as Gendo Ikari would be an intimidating man, but Sephiroth is nothing if not more so. “I have heard the rumors, I have seen the truth behind these words. Even more than this, I have seen the girl wandering the halls. Look at her–did you really think that nobody would notice?”
The Commander of this Science branch, known to him now as NERV, continues to peer at him over his clasped hands. The glasses hide much, even from this angle, but it’s not hard to tell that the man’s patience is waning.
“A coincidence, surely those aren’t things that you believe?”
“Then you’d be fine admitting her for a few simple tests then?” Sephiroth asks, already knowing the answer.
“No, there is no need,” Gendo answers. “Rei is a valuable asset, I cannot allow–”
Sephiroth’s gloved hand comes down on the man’s desk, both silencing him and cracking its shell. It seems, as if for just a moment, that the world grows dimmer as his eyes glow brighter.
“She is a child ,” He spits out, more venom in his voice than he had intended. Angeal had coached him on the right things to say, the correct way to proceed, even the best faces to show. However, he could only remember his own childhood memories. He could only see the scalpel–above both himself and his friends.
“You were a child when you went to war with Wutai, were you not?” Gendo mused. “You saved a nation from a war that would have devastated its shores; Rei could do the same.”
Sephiroth sneered .
“You think yourself more clever than you are, or perhaps you play the fool so that others might ignore your trickery,” He leaned back, resuming his full height with crossed arms. “You speak of things you know nothing about, and hope to equate events that come from completely different sides of two separate stories.”
“...What is your goal, General?”
“I want custody.”
That wasn’t the plan–
“Absolutely n–”
"Do you think there aren’t other eyes on this?” Sephiroth asked, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “You got careless, Gendo Ikari, thinking that this little bubble would remain hidden forever. Your project isn’t a secret to most… but that doesn’t mean other people haven’t gone digging. ”
Gendo was on his feet now, finally looking like the irate man that Sephiroth was beginning to see underneath.
“ What do you want? ”
“I seem to understand that she is one of only three children that can pilot your Evangelions against these… Angels ,” Sephiroth said coolly, letting his arms loosen just a little. The plan had turned askew, but being quick on his feet was something he was used to. “Tests, procedures, anything of the sort–from now on; I shall be present for them. I will look after her, and in return, I won’t expose you to the world.”
It was more generous of an offer than he should have given–one that all three of his friends would disapprove of. Briefly, he wondered when he had begun to consider Zack a friend, but pushed the thought to the side. His friends could hound him for their own reasons later, right now, this was the best course he could take.
“…How do you know these things?” Gendo asked after a moment, not yet refusing, but neither agreeing.
Sephiroth’s lips twitch minutely.
“You’d be amazed at the idea of how much Professor Hojo is willing to give to someone if it might topple the one who keeps him from undiscovered secrets,” Sephiroth grinned, a predatory thing that seemed to root Gendo in place. “That man… secrets are his thing , as a friend would say, and your branch keeps many in the closet.”
Of course, that wasn’t all strictly true. The files and reading material hadn’t been given to him by Hojo. However, the idea that Hojo would do something of that nature was a proven fact. The man was petty by nature, and disliked being told no . In fact, he almost always took it personally.
A fact that had cost many a life.
“Who do you think you are?” The man said through gnashing teeth. His control was crumbling, and quickly. Sephiroth had seen many men like this one; a person who could only keep up their facade as long as they held control.
This one had no honor.
“A father, by none other than your own hand,” Sephiroth says with a quick turn of his heel, leaving the room behind him and hopefully as nothing more than a memory. “Gaia only knows if I’ll turn out to be a better one than you ended up being.”
The last one was definitely Genesis’ influence, as he himself would never usually say such a thing. It elicits the proper reaction, though, as the door closes behind him, and something can be heard shattering against a wall.
He doesn’t smile, not yet.
But he knows the conversation was won.
Δ
Rei turns up at his apartment not even an hour later, with nothing but a singular bag and the clothes on her back.
He hadn’t expected her so soon, otherwise he would have kicked his fellow SOLDIERs out far sooner. As it currently stood, they were still inside and… he was fairly certain that Genesis was trying to murder Zackary, but it was hard to say for certain.
Again, he is not certain on how to address this child–his child?
Perhaps it is best to see how things go before he starts handing out titles.
“Commander Ikari informed me of my new arrangement,” Rei said first, her voice so soft that it made something in Sephiroth’s chest ache. He didn’t want to think of what it reminded him of, he was better than that, especially when in front of a child.
Well, that aside, best to start with the simple things.
“Did the Commander tell you why things have changed?”
Rei shook her head.
“No sir.”
Sephiroth feels his brows wrinkle just a smidge.
“None of that,” He waves his hand, acutely aware that his apartment has grown oddly silent in the past fifteen seconds. Frowning, he puts the idea of the three stooges of SOLDIER from his mind. “I am… you can call me Sephiroth, or some shortening of it, as I know it’s a mouthful.”
He beckons her inside, as talking in the hallway seems counterproductive now that his home has quieted to a dull whisper. Rei looks around, scanning the new environment that she’s found herself in as Sephiroth closes the door behind them. It’d be cute–it still sort of is , but with her coloration and the way she behaves…
Best not to think about it now.
“Apologies, Rei,” Sephiroth announces as he passes her, hoping to shield her from his friends. “I wasn't aware your arrival would be so soon, and I was having guests over just as you arrived.”
“Apologies are not necessary,” The girl answers, though her words are stilted in a manner that he can’t quite understand. “I will make do.”
He opens his mouth to say something, to make a comment about how her comfort is
important
, but the words are stopped as soon as he sees the state of his living room. Actually, a more apt term would be the state of his friends.
Genesis is reading a book, although not Loveless, which is surprising enough. What catches him further off guard, however, is that Zackary and Angeal are doing the same.
With monocles.
And…
“Zackary, where did you find a pipe?” Sephiroth questions the very idea that he’s said those words, in the same sentence, and in that order, almost makes him have a heart attack.
…Can he even have a heart attack?
“I don’t know what you mean,” Zack says, pulling the apparently empty pipe away from his mouth as he holds up his copy of A Hundred Ways to Solve a Murder . “I’ve always had this.”
“...Do I even wish to ask about the monocle ?”
“Best not to say,” Angeal nods, flipping through his own novel. “We must be the perfect example of honor for the little lady.”
Sephiroth looks at Rei, who, like him, somehow manages to make a flat look appear more confused than anything.
“Ignore these idiots, they’re trying,” He says, which seems to break the spell of oddity as Genesis indignantly shouts out ‘Oi!’ before he’s unceremoniously dragged off by Angeal. Only Zack remains, and he’s still…
“Zackary, you can drop the pipe now.”
“Nah, I kinda like it,” He grins, offering it up to view. “I think I’ll keep it.”
It takes everything he has within him not to facepalm.
“...Fine,” He allows, turning away with a shake of his head. “Follow me, Rei, I’ll show you to your room.”
So, he does just that. The only reason he knows she’s following is because of his enhanced hearing, as her footsteps are nearly too quiet to hear. He hums, shuffling that information away for later.
He stops just a little down the hall adjacent to the main room, opening a door just like all the others to show a large, but uniform room.
“It’s meant to act as a guest room, of sorts,” Sephiroth comments as Rei steps inside. “Seeing as I never have guests, I think it would better fit your needs now, after all; every room needs an occupant.”
Rei says nothing.
Sephiroth begins to fret a bit at the silence, far from sure on how he should handle a child of any kind, let alone his own.
“If it’s inadequate–”
“It is adequate,” Rei says before he can finish, saving him the embarrassment of not knowing what to say. “Apologies, I am simply…”
“I understand,” Sephiroth nods, hand lingering on the doorframe as he turns. “I'll give you a bit to settle in, take all the time you need.”
He's about to leave when the idea of something stops him. It's around that time, so, in a few hours…
“I think I'll be making dinner tonight,” He says, full well knowing that he'll need to borrow the other three for his services. “Do you have any preferences?”
Rei simply stares again, mouth opening and closing ever so slightly that anyone else would say that he imagined it.
Sephiroth has to keep his face straight while thinking of his own difficulty grasping the concept of choice .
“…I don't eat meat,” She finally says, though it seems with great difficulty.
He nods, offering a small, unsteady smile.
“Then I shall endeavor to accommodate,” He nods, closing the door softly behind him.
It takes mere seconds for all the air to vacate his lungs and leave him sliding down the length of that same door. He doesn't even allow himself to think until he's touched the ground.
He really didn't think this through.
Δ
“I think I should buy a parenting book,” Sephiroth comments idly, and more to himself than anything, as he works idly alongside Angeal to prepare dinner for the four–five of them. Genesis could have been helping, but seeing as his forte involved everything that Rei didn’t eat, they figured it’d be better for him to sit this one out.
Zackary was simply too busy messing with his PHS to be of any help.
Angeal, in response, chuckles quietly as he salts the water and begins the wait for it to boil. It’s a calming thing, the chopping of vegetables and the preparation of noodles, accompanied by warm silence and large portions.
“The Silver General, a concerned parent?” He chuckles. “Next you’ll be showing up at PTA meetings, trying to fit into those damnably small chairs.”
Sephiroth tilts his head, considering.
“Oh, Gaia, please don’t actually do that,” Angeal laughs again, shaking his head slowly. “The last thing we need is you trying to fight one of the other parents.”
“I wouldn’t fight a civilian,” Sephiroth says, noticing the smug look he’s getting from Angeal. “ I wouldn’t .”
“Right, right,” Angeal allows. “And you wouldn’t pout either, yet here we are.”
“I don’t pout. ”
“Sure,” He agrees in jest. “Seriously, though, you’re taking this much better than I would have thought.”
“She’s my responsibility,” Sephiroth mumbled, brushing the vegetables he’d cut onto a nearby plate. “If I’m going to be responsible for her, then that means it’s my job to put in the effort to be a parent.”
Unlike Hojo goes unsaid.
There’s something about those words, something final . Like a piece of the planet has settled in shifted, or a weight-bearing thread had been cut. It sits upon his shoulders, heavy, but not unwelcome, pushing back a fog that had settled over his mind quite some time ago–since the war with Wutai.
For the first time, he’s thinking past the next battle.
“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear those words, Sephiroth,” Angeal claps the man on the shoulder, a genuine look of joy plastered across his features. He almost needs to look away, unused to the praise that came without strings. “It may not have been the plan, and it might have been a tad impulsive; but I genuinely think you and this girl will do wonders for each other.”
Sephiroth hums, unconvinced as of yet.
“She reminds me of you, when the three of us first met,” Angeal continues, speaking on a time from long ago. “It’s a near thing, because if she was a bit taller, I’d think you were one and the same.”
Sephiroth rolls his eyes, not unkindly, but not necessarily receptive.
It’s not unappreciated either. Knowing that they seem to have a similar starting point is one thing, a boon to himself, but it's only half the journey. There are so many things he just doesn’t know, too many things that he suspects but is too afraid to ask after.
Afraid.
When has he ever experienced such a thing before? The poster boy of SOLDIER, of Shinra, a hero with no fear in their footsteps. He simply wasn’t allowed to show fear, let alone feel it.
If he was without fear, then what was it that made him feel dread now?
“There is something else to note,” He claims, focusing on the bubbles rising to the top of the water as it begins to boil. “A feeling I have when close to her.”
“The formings of a parental bond, perhaps?” Angeal muses, nudging Sephiroth lightly.
“No, something else,” He denies, thinking back to their first few encounters, the pull he had felt, and the buzz that hopped between his ears when she had spoken to him for the first time. “I don’t have a word for it yet.”
“…Is it worth worrying about?”
Sephiroth finds that he doesn’t really know the answer.
Δ
The next time Rei reports for an appointment in NERVs branch of Science, Sephiroth is with her. He knows he doesn’t need to be there, and he’s well aware of the fact that he isn’t welcome.
He’s also aware that no one is going to dare to turn him away.
It’s also the day he meets Dr. Ritsuko Akagi.
His initial opinions aren’t good.
She’s not careless, per se. Not in the way that would indicate malpractice or hate, but a disposition more akin to wishing she could be anywhere else than there. She speaks in monotone, ignoring Sephiroth in his entirety as he stands with his arms crossed. If not for the situation, he might be impressed at her will.
Still, he could see the fleeting amounts of unease that colored her eyes every now and then.
It turns out that this appointment is a quick one, meant only to reassess the doses of the hefty medication she’s currently taking. A little fact that he’d seen himself a few days ago when he took dinner to her room. It took everything he had in him not to march into NERV and demand an explanation via the business end of Masamune.
‘For mood swings and emotional stability’ his arse .
He recognized suppressants when he saw them.
An objection is something he refuses to raise, however, as he doesn’t actually know what they’re for. He would have no idea on what to do if he did , and was well aware of the consequences of quitting such doses like a stone old drop. So, for now, he’d watch and wait.
Something that earns him a boon as Rei is dismissed by Dr. Akagi. He’s quick to stand and follow, but is stopped by her words.
“You’re different from how I expected,” She says, not even bothering to look up from whatever date flits across the screen of her monitor.
Sephiroth casts a glance back over his shoulders, a raised brow his only comment. She continues on, without prompt, and oh-so matter of factly.
“I never expected someone like you would try and be a father–especially not with the complications .”
Sephiroth says nothing.
Finally, she turns to him with narrowed eyes.
“You know this isn’t as simple as you make it out to be, right?”
“Someone needs to treat her like the human that she is,” Sephiroth mumbled, pulling his gaze away as he began to leave. “Everyone deserves a childhood, even those who don’t know how to live them.”
And then he’s gone, door swishing shut behind him with a slight hiss of air, leaving the doctor alone with her own thoughts. Sighing, she turns her stare to the ceiling, wishing above all else that she had something to smoke.
“‘like the human that she is’,” She repeats, a frown marring her features before she turns back to her work.
“As if.”
Not too far away, just a small stretch down the hall, Rei and Sephiroth walk in tandem. It’s a sight to behold, the skyscraper of a man next to the much smaller child. One is barely a teenager, the other as veteran of war, both products of madder men.
If given the option, Sephiroth would never pay it any mind.
It would seem, however, that fate had bigger plans.
“Why are you here?”
Sephiroth stops, having been a few steps ahead of Rei, to turn and acknowledge the girl. She simply stands there, eyes drawn upward to focus on his own. A piercing red meets cat-like slits, neither natural, but all too familiar.
Sephiroth sighs, “Is it wrong for your guardian to accompany you to such a place?” His reasoning is sound, but Rei doesn’t seem to find the logic in his words.
“Commander Ikari was my guardian, yet he never accompanied me to things such as this,” Rei says while a small frown adorns her features. “And I still don’t know why I am in your care now, instead of his.”
Sephiroth pursed his lips, the first point would be easy to dispute, criminally so. However, that didn’t mean Rei would accept it. In the small amount of talking they’d done in the past few days, he’d pieced together the idea that she held the Commander of NERV in high regard. He didn’t know why , and he knew it might be a long time, possibly forever, before he learned the truth.
As for the second point of hers, well, she wasn’t wrong. He had simply failed to bring it up, despite his wishes to do so.
How do you just go up to someone and tell them of your relation? How do you distinguish the truth from a test? For he knew better than most how quickly those things could turn for the worse.
So, he chose the coward's way out–the simplest option to avoid his truth. “That man was unfit to be your guardian, Shinra has determined as much–” Which was true , in a sense. After the beginnings of the PR nightmare spread by Genesis and his fanclub, they’d been quick for damage control and a tighter leash around NERVs neck. It would seem that even they didn’t know how Rei had come to be.
They didn’t dare try and vanish her, however, not with how many ties she now held to the outside world.
“–With all the duties he fulfilled, you were left to your own devices–” Another truth, which might have been fine for one in the infantry, but Rei clearly wasn’t. “–and with insufficient care. I have seen your old quarters, they were not up to my standards.”
He would not tell her that it had taken all of an hour for him to regain control over himself, lest he burn the entire tower to the ground and then some. He was no stranger to a rogue emotion or two, even Hojo’s lessons couldn’t beat that out of him, because despite it all; he was still a human being.
Rei looked torn between barely hidden annoyance and just giving up on the conversation. It was a look that came out to some semblance of what could only be called an ‘angry pout’. He wished she would voice her opinions, truly, he did. At this age, according to the parenting books that he’d gotten his hands on out in Midgar–a sight that had made many men and women faint as he walked through a myriad of stores–she should be testing all sorts of boundaries.
But that was the nature of a parent and a child, not two experiments who barely knew one another. It couldn’t be helped, but it did nothing to sate the pang of sadness that gripped his chest.
In hindsight, knowing what he would later know, he was almost certain that she would have slapped him then and there if she could have reached his face.
Rei eventually schooled her features, “That still does not explain why they chose you in his stead.”
Ah, it seems he wouldn’t be so lucky after all.
He sighs again before glancing around as discreetly as he can. They haven’t been stopped for long, but he knows that eyes and ears are most definitely turned their way now, and it’s within their best interest that they don’t hear anymore than they need to.
“It’d be best if we continued this elsewhere, without prying ears to hear.”
He can only hope that he’ll work up the nerve to speak in the time it takes for them to get back home.
Δ
Rei falls asleep on the couch that night, having been so engrossed in the first movie she’d ever been allowed to watch, that she didn’t even consider the need to go to bed.
Sephiroth carries her there, barely daring to hope that her life can be something more than his ever was.
Δ
The first time he witnesses an Angel attack is from behind a screen, just a day after he had to save Rei from an “Activation test” gone completely wrong. He still has the faded burns to prove it, and the bandages that Rei now wore.
He refused to let her pilot in her current state.
There’s technical jargon being thrown about, things he knows he should be paying attention to. Strictly speaking, he’s not sure if he should be allowed here with the attack ongoing. But it seems that his presence is a balm to some, and a pillar of protection for Rei.
Ikari is nowhere to be seen, in his place a woman he later learns is known as Misato Katsuragi , commands the bridge with varying degrees of success. She’s a spitfire, Sephiroth will give her that. She knows what she wants, and is focused on her goal. He wishes half the men in Shinra’s infantry were like her, alas, most of the officers are spineless.
His attention is turned back to the Angel, noting how unreal it appears to be. Its uneven gait, coupled with its odd shape, makes it seem like it’s straight out of a child's coloring book. It saunters toward the City of Midgar at a brisk pace, moving through the waste without a care in the world.
His PHS has been ringing nonstop since it touched down, most likely due to the combined efforts of his three friends, and possibly a few others.
This is also the first time he learns that the Second and Third Child have been sent for prior to this attack.
The Second, apparently, was requested after he had… acquired guardianship over Rei. Most likely they could have another puppet in their pocket, even if this one wasn’t created by their own hands. While the Third had apparently been living in Kalm for some years, while not too interesting, the fact that he was the Commander's son raised some questions. Such as his possible relation to Rei, and what that meant.
Despite the varying time between when the two had been called upon, it seemed the boy would arrive first.
Then, and only because of a small slip up from Katsuragi as she left to retrieve the boy, Sephiroth heard that this child had no combat experience to speak of. To make matters even worse , there was a solid chance he didn’t even know what it was his father did here, as they’d been estranged for the better part of a decade .
He clenched his fists, willing himself to be calm as he turned to Rei, who had taken her spot alongside him. She sat in a wheelchair, still looking a bit fatigued from the events of the past day. Despite that, she had her eyes focused on the PHS resting in her lap–something he had gotten for her almost immediately after she had moved in.
“Does Zackary have you wrapped up in his antics again?” He hummed, watching, but not reading, as he saw various messages flit across the screen in quick succession.
“He is currently trying to rope Cloud into raiding the supply station for a new pair of boots, as his are worn and falling apart,” She says, as if this is a normal occurrence for a Second Class SOLDIER and an infantryman. “Though he still insists you call him Zack. ”
The last word is delivered with a pointed look, one that earns a rare smile from the man. It seems that Angeal’s suggestions of introducing her to someone closer to her age was having a marginally positive effect.
Cloud Strife was an anomaly–one that he was investigating slightly on the side–as, according to Zack, he aspired to be a SOLDIER, but lacked the conditioning to do so. It was a meeting of fate, according to the younger man, and the two had hit it off. Though, knowing Zack, Cloud was most likely less enthusiastic about it all at first.
Still, when he had broached the idea of introducing the blonde to Rei, it had seemed like a good idea.
Now, despite Cloud seemingly being just as quiet as Rei on a good day, they were both trying to loop Rei, of all people, into their shenanigans.
If things continued like this, he truly would never know peace.
He was shocked from his thoughts when a very sudden increase in noise seemed to blare through some hidden speakers. Screens above them flared to life, seemingly showing a camera feed of what was going on in the Evangelions “cage”.
The conversation meant little to him, not because the anguish was clear on the boy’s face, or because Gendo Ikari seemed such an abysmal man. No, no, no, it was none of that–he almost wished it was, because what he was seeing was far worse.
It was almost impossible to see with the quality of the camera, combined with the distance at which it sat. But he was a SOLDIER , his eyes were better than any other, and he knew what he was seeing.
The boy’s hair was streaked silver.
Just as Rei’s had been when they had first encountered one another.
He didn’t know when Masamune appeared in his hands, or when a couple concerned shouts began, he only knew the feeling of another hand upon his own just before he took a single step forward. It was enough to draw him back to the present, away from the burning flames he saw in his nightmares, away from it all.
It was Rei, her hand laid atop his own, looking at him with something that he couldn’t quite describe.
He cursed himself for letting go of his self-control, for letting Rei see him like that, or anyone for that matter. Someone had to pay –to answer for what they had done here. He didn’t know all the facts, not even close, but he didn’t like what he was being presented with, not in the least.
Exhaling deeply, the man dismisses his weapon, ignoring the concerned looks from all those on the bridge as he looks back to Rei. Her hand hasn’t left his, and her eyes are still trained on his own.
“I’m all right,” He says, and he means it. “I’m sorry.”
He only hopes that he can continue to stay that way.
Δ
Does NERV know no bounds?
He watches two children bicker in front of him, with another firmly planted at his side. One is Shinji Ikari, The Third Child and victor over the First Angel, it’s an impressive feat, and if not for the situation, and his lacking physique, he might have considered scouting him for SOLDIER in the future.
The other was the Second Child, Asuka Langley-Soryu, a mountain of trouble and unrefined spirit if he’s ever seen one.
That’s not the problem, though.
The problem is those damnable silver streaks.
He refuses to believe the three are all clones–he knows Asuka and Shinji are not . He doesn’t feel them in the same way he does Rei. There’s a minor tug, a little connection, but not nearly as strong. They are connected, but not drawn to one another.
He doesn’t even turn to Captain Katsuragi before addressing her, “Captain, I find the state of these three pilots to be lacking –” He says in a tone usually reserved for those working under him. It’s necessary, even if something dies in him when he feels Rei flinch beside him. He doesn’t mean it– not like that , and knows he will need to have words with her later. “I will be overseeing their training from here on out.”
There’s a mix of reactions to that statement. Confusion and wariness from Shinji Ikari, a considering hum and unhidden studying from Misato Katsuragi, a squeal of joy and shock from Asuka Langley-Soryu–she must know who he is, he can only hope she isn’t a member of his fanclub, and dropped jaws from everyone else present.
It’s not surprising, after all, he’s the pinnacle of SOLDIER, not a member of NERV.
He inclines his head slightly, looking directly where he knows at least one camera to be.
“If there is a problem with that…” He smiles, feeling cruel for the first time in his life. “Then they can take it up with me.”
If Shinra and NERV would so willingly throw more children into the crucible, then he will do his best to forge them into unbreakable blades. If he cannot save them from the wheel of fate, then he is not the hero that people know him as.
If another were in his shoes–Zackary, Angeal, even Genesis, they would not let such a thing come to pass.
And no longer would he.
“Come with me,” He commands the other two children, stepping around Rei’s wheelchair to maneuver her out of the room before casting a glance back at the Captain. “Are their living quarters established yet?”
“Well, no, but–”
“It can’t be helped,” He sighs, as if it’s an annoyance to him. “They shall stay with me, then, I have more than enough room, and it shall help me instill better habits into their routine.”
He walks off without another word, one child eagerly following behind, and the other a bit more warily. It’s a start, but he knows he can do better. In the meantime, he can’t help but smile to himself as he imagines how much hair a certain Commander must be pulling out behind closed doors.
No matter what his plans are; that man shall not have his way.
“So,” He says as they enter the elevator together. “What shall we be having for dinner?”
Δ
In place far off, yet always near, a certain someone watches on with a furrowed brow.
“It’s so… different than before.”
Is that not a good thing?
A shrug is the response.
“As long as he doesn’t go crazy again, then I guess it’s alright…” They trail off, features softening just a bit beneath the green hues.
“Kinda wish things coulda been different before…”
SIlence.
“Whatever, I’ll keep watching, if he goes crazy again…”
A ringing of steel.
“Then I’ll be there to stop him.”
Δ
If the Turks are busy doing damage control the next day, after seeing the Silver General of SOLDIER and three children, with varying degrees of silver in their hair, eating ramen at a local stall, then it’s really no one’s business.
Just as it’s no one’s business if Sephiroth has a picture of this supposed event framed upon his desk. If anyone else has seen it; no, they haven’t. And if anyone sees the man going through Midgar multiple times over the next few days, gathering all manner of inane objects…
Well, it’s really no one’s business, is it?