Ceaseless Oblivion

I own nothing. *breaks into Square-Enix with the copyright of Final Fantasy VII* I do now though, muahaha!


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Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. ~Henry Ford

Never in Sephiroth's imagination did he think he would be getting along with Cloud Strife, his worst enemy. He had been nothing but a nuisance to his schemes, killing him twice and preventing him from taking over the Planet for Mother's purposes.

Though, all of that had been a part of his delusion, something he wished he could take back. If he could take back Nibelheim, the death, and his own polluted sanity, then he would not hesitate to do so. So much had happened all because he had been foolish and had not looked into the matter seriously enough. A scientist did not proclaim to the world that a seeming fruitful hypothesis worked after one trial and success. They should have dedicated much of their time and effort to finding out if that was all real or not, not telling the world anything until they were absolutely positive. The same could be said for him. If he had really been Jenova's son, then he should not have taken the ravings of a mad scientist for truth. He should have found old scientists, looked into the matter more. Then, if it turned out to be real, then he would never had acted so…rashly. That was all he had done, lived a mistake that many on Gaia had to deal with every single day for the rest of their lives. That could not be taken back, all because of his caprice.

Nevertheless, Strife insisted on that truce, as did he. He would have plenty of time for self chastisement later, but right then, they had to cover more ground. Which was insanity in itself, traveling with, and attempting to get along with Cloud. Before, they had been bickering, throwing the other to the ground, in rivers, hurling dirt at the other...countless meanderings that would get them nowhere. No. What they needed was progress, for both of them wanted to leave this place. That was their common bond: wanting to leave, so that they could finally move on.

Currently, both had cleared through the forest they were in, and they were walking on flat land, avoiding large boulders and small sharp stones that jutted out from the ground. Sephiroth stepped over a large group of pointed rocks, and looked to where Cloud was jumping over them with ease, using his wings to rocket him above the earth. Sephiroth looked to him, and could not help but feel jealous. He got to have fun with this, and he was suffering below like a commoner, watching some King get all of the riches and the easy ride, while he could do more than look longingly at rubles.

He heard Cloud laugh once, and he felt his ears flatten to the back of his head. Despite their truce and all of his own self improvement, he could not help but look on this in envy. Cloud was actually having fun with this, whereas he had to watch his step lest his foot get impaled by those damned rocks. He sighed and continued walking, knowing that this petty jealousy would not help anything, or himself succeed. If he simply walked on, he would be fine.

"Want a boost?" Cloud appeared at his side suddenly, and Sephiroth was startled out of his reverie. He saw nothing but the want to help on Cloud's face, and the rarity of the emotion in his eyes as well. Ever the pure one. Sephiroth shook his head, thinking that he would have to do this on his own.

"No." He continued moving, and in his blind haste, he stumbled, nearly impaling his hand on one of the jagged splinters. He gasped and shook his head, thinking he really had to focus. His mind couldn't wander the way it had been when he was walking through a forest. This place was more dangerous with the terrain, and since they were out in the open with no trees to disguise their bodies, there was no saying that there were not monsters out there that longed for their demise. They would have to be on their highest guard.

Cloud sighed. "Come on. Let me help you. We'll cover more ground if you let me pick you up." His face scrunched up in thought. "Come to think of it…I'll fly you out of this…"

"No." Sephiroth knew that he could say nothing more than a refusal, lest his breath catch in his throat. How could he be allowed to fly? If Cloud picked him up, then he would think of what he once had, and what he did not have any more. His power, his force. His wing, true flight and freedom. All he had now was his wits and his past strength. He was nothing more than a mere human.

And Cloud? Cloud was now a god among men, someone who men should have parted their ways for. For now…Strife was better than him. As pitiful as it was to say, it was true. Cloud would be the victor here, and he was nothing more than a tag along, one who was there out of necessity, not because he brought something important to the group.

'Wings of light and dark spread afar. He guides us to bliss, everlasting.' Sephiroth felt himself stop dead in his tracks. He leaned in to his left and right, wondering who was speaking to him. The voice…was so familiar, as if he had spent a past life listening to nothing more than that voice. Then it hit him. Who else would quote the first act of LOVELESS?

'Genesis.' He was speaking to him from the Promised Land, no doubt spying on how far he and Cloud had gotten in their "relationship." They had a truce, and they were…opening up to the other in some degree. Sephiroth pictured the red head chuckling, flipping through his own copy of the play.

Something else made Sephiroth question if that was Genesis. He had said "He guides us to bliss everlasting" whereas the real quote was "She guides us to bliss everlasting." What significance was it that he would butcher the line? It was important somehow…then, once again, it hit him. Cloud. Cloud was the "He" he was referring to, saying that Cloud could guide him to eternal bliss. It was a thought to shake him to his inner core, and to make him repeat his past maniacal laughter. Cloud? Giving him happiness?

Someone touched his shoulder, and Sephiroth looked to his right, seeing Cloud with a perturbed look on his face.

"Why not? And…are you okay?" Sepiroth looked to him, and in his eyes, he peeled Strife apart. He wondered what his motive was for asking him if he was alright, and asking him why he would refuse the offer for help, for flight. It was simple. If he took the offer, he would be reminded of what he did not have. Also, he was perfectly fine…sort of. He was alright, just curious as to why Genesis was talking to him from the great hereafter, telling him that Cloud could be the one to make him happy. As if anyone could fill that chasm.

Sephiroth gently shrugged Cloud off. "I don't want to…think of what I once had." He looked behind himself, thinking vainly that his black wing was on his right shoulder, that great looming shadow that he had so severely relied on. It was no more, and there was not even a phantom ache to remind him it existed. It just…ceased to be, falling into oblivion the way he had.

Cloud opened his mouth once, and then closed it. He seemed to be struggling for the right words, grappling with a sentence that would soothe his companion, his almost acquaintance. Sephiroth sighed aloud, knowing that nothing the other man could say would help him right then. Granted, Cloud's words had helped before. But if he knew one thing to be true, it was that nothing was permanent. What worked yesterday would not necessarily work the day after. There was no guarantee of anything. Brevity was the only real thing.

He began walking again, paying careful attention to the path, lifting his feet at the proper time. Genesis's words thrummed in his head, and he wondered why he would do such a thing, talk with him. Didn't the man hate him? He had been the cause for his decadence and degradation after all, hurting his shoulder and leaving him to "decay" as he had once said. Angeal might hate him as well, for he had turned him and his lover away with his arrogance. Pride was not a luxury here, in the dark.

Sephiroth heard Cloud run up to him, and grip his shoulder again. "Hey. Hear me out." The words were not spoken softly, not were they a command. It was the tone of a man who wished for someone to listen to what he had to say, even if it was entirely silly. Brave man. The silver haired male sighed and turned on his heel, crossing his arms.

Mako eyes looked at the glowing male in front of him, and he was struck by how…powerful he appeared right then. With his almost translucent skin, he emitted an aura of force, of utter might. His wings were long and they were well-built from being used so often, along with muscles of his arms. The man was one huge muscle. Sephiroth had a sudden flash of Cloud in old medieval armor, equipped with a mace in one hand and a shield with a Fenrir on it, a fierce look in his eyes. A warrior. That was what he was in this place.

Sephiroth nodded, but longed to get back to his duty of avoiding rocks. "Speak." Cloud nodded, and looked directly at him, not avoiding his gaze like he had used to do.

"I didn't think anything of it when the Goddess told me to not fear my abilities, much less thinking that flying is not hard. And look what happened." He motioned to his body, and his wings, which moved and shifted of their own accord, as if they were a separate existence on his back. "I gained abilities and wings. Also…what makes you think you wont get the wing back?" Sephiroth looked at the man, and he wondered how he had managed to talk to him without getting annoyed. Was it really just the truce that held this man's words so well? Or was it…something else entirely. Did Cloud really long to understand him?

He snorted. "And what makes you think I deserve such a thing?" Sephiroth wished he could cut off his own tongue with those sharp rocks that littered the earth. There was a time for words, and there was a time for silence. This time, he had said far too much, whereas he should have just remained quiet. He was nothing but a fool. Cloud's eyes opened wide in surprise, as if he had expected something much worse to come out of his mouth, words filled with pride. No. There was no such thing as pride anymore.

Cloud stepped forward and shook his head. "Sephiroth…why'd you tell me that?" Sephiroth was also shocked. He had expected Cloud to scoff at him and to continue flying, leaping up from the earth like he had been enjoying before. He had not thought that Cloud would have asked him why he had been so honest with him. Sephiroth sighed and gestured to Cloud once again.

"I've been through this with you a hundred times, Strife. You have led the purer life, thus you get the reward. You get wings and power, whereas I get nothing. It seems fair, does it not?" Cloud looked at him, his eyes unwavering. They were stones of sapphire, stalagmites that were lit up from the ocean's light. Hard. Unflinching.

"I…don't think so. I hated you. I hated you so much…my heart was destroyed." Sephiroth raised his brow. What was Strife babbling about now? Cloud turned around and motioned for Sephrioth to sit down on a patch of earth that did not have any of those damned spikes there. He wanted to explain something to him it seemed.

Sephiroth figured he had nothing more to lose from gaining more truth. The first bout of truth he had been given nearly killed him. But the way a virus made ones body more susceptible, Sephiroth thought he would be able to handle this. Cloud looked him dead in the eye, and began.

"The Goddess…rebuilt my heart. And yours." Sephiroth gave him a look that gave him a look that stated he had some weird body part growing out of his shoulder, another head or arm. Cloud nodded, though Sephiroth looked confused. "It's true. She showed me a heart, what it really looks like. It's a red organ normally. But when hatred consumes it…" he stopped talking, almost as if the memory were too much for him to bear "…it looks…gross. It shrivels up, and it's black, a festering thing. That was my heart. It was destroyed, turning to ash when we fought that final time. And the Goddess…rebuilt my heart."

He looked to his chest then, and Sephiroth wondered if he were attempting to avoid his gaze. Cloud placed a hand on his chest, right around the place where his heart beat. "It's…new. But it hadn't been before. I was not pure, or "unadulterated" as you put it. If I was…I would have tried to help you more when we were on Gaia. So don't go thinking that I am better than you because of my abilities." Sephiroth understood where he was coming from, which was a miracle in itself. He felt that many emotions were flashing through his face right then, and he was showing Strife that he believed him. Sephiroth nodded.

"Hmm. Interesting. Is my heart…" Cloud nodded.

"Yes. She told me that she rebuilt yours as well. Me and you…we really were given a chance at something other than…hatred." Cloud stood up, and held out his hand to Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked to it, and wondered what he would have to gain if he placed his palm in the other mans hand. But the real question was, what would he lose?

Vividly, he pictured the cliff that he and Cloud had fought on, that memorable place that had wound them up in such a crazy and wild predicament. He saw it in its rocky glory, whole, seeming impenetrable. That had been him. The ocean tore at its side and took away parts of himself with it, whole stones and fragments that had once made him him. Parts of him where gone, never to return or come back again. That he would have to accept: that in this pitch black world, there were more important things than pride, and holding onto memories of power. What was important…was what was left of that cliff, what was left of him.

Cloud had said so himself: his heart was rebuilt, and it was up to him to decide if it eroded into that black mass again, leaving it a disgusting heap in his chest. Or, if it would be healthy, something without hatred, delusion, or desperation. Sephiroth looked to Cloud's hand, and took it. Cloud pulled him up from where he had been sitting, and both men exchanged a long look, one that said that for the moment, they say eye to eye.

Sephiroth felt his heart throb healthily and wholly in his body, and he nodded to Cloud. "Good. Then…let's fly." Cloud nodded and in a move that he would not have been able to accomplish on Gaia, picked Sephiroth up by his legs and shoulders. He flapped his wings once, twice, and then a third time, and then took off, leaving the rocky terrain behind them.

The silver haired male felt a gasp slip through his lips, for he had flown before and that was nothing new. But he had never been one to accept flight from another. He smirked. He really was changing. Sephiroth looked to the sky, thinking foolishly that if he reached out his hand, his fingertips would be able to caress the pitch black darkness. From this height, he could touch oblivion.

Cloud's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Amazing, isn't it?" Sephiroth had to agree. The fact that he had left the ground was a feat, for he thought that he was stuck on the earth forever, doomed to be watching Cloud soar into the heaven's, leaving him behind to his Hell on earth. Sephrioth blinked twice, wondering where that came from. He would be alright if that happened…wouldn't he? If Cloud left him, he would be able to bear solitude. At least…that's what he suspected.

"Yes…I didn't think I'd fly again." Cloud chuckled and began picking up speed, moving his wings to coast through the small breeze.

"We might not for awhile. You're heavy." Sephiroth scoffed, and just when he was about to reply with a witty retort, Cloud laughed.

"I'm kidding. You're not that heavy. Besides…you're taller than me. Obviously you would weight more." That's right. Cloud was shorter than him by a good three feet. Lately it seemed that Cloud towered over him, the taller one by a long shot. He seemed so small in comparison to what Cloud was now, to what he had become within this time in this world. It was unreal. And yet, very real.

Sephiroth shrugged. "My weight is perfect. And…you seem taller than me." Cloud looked down to him once and then looked dead ahead.

"What do you mean?" Sephiroth had a feeling this would be his life now: a continuous game of confession and admittance, of opening up wounds of the past and letting the air hit them. Though, to get poison out of said wounds, it had to be reopened. After pain was inevitable healing. He sighed and decided just to speak.

"You seemed to be taller than me. You loom over things now…because of your power and abilities." Cloud looked down at him, and then began spiraling downward, ready to hit the ground again. Sephiroth looked down, and saw that in the expanse of a minute. Cloud had flown over the spiky terrain that would have taken a full day and a half to cross. He really was strong.

They landed with a few flaps of his wings, and Cloud released him quickly. He looked up at him, but Sephiroth still felt small in comparison to the winged man. Cloud shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"Damn. I should not be saying this…but you are way taller than me. I went on missions with you, remember. You were the one looming over me. You're what, 6'1?" Sephiroth nodded, failing to understand. "Exactly. I'm 5'7. There are taller females who I've been friends with." Sephiroth looked to Cloud, and then chuckled, picturing his female friend, Tifa something, as being the taller one. What began as a brief chuckle erupted into a small laugh. Cloud glared at him, and Sephiroth knew he had offended him by laughing.

Cloud sighed and looked up at him. "Even now. I'm looking up at you. If I were the taller one, I would be looking down on you." Cloud opened his mouth, and then closed it, as if even he knew the hidden meaning in his words. Sephiroth saw the metaphor clearly: Cloud, for the moment, was not looking down on him for what he had done. He saw them in equal height, as if they once again, saw eye to eye the way they had before Sephiroth accepted flight from him. Right then…he was willing to accept him, in all of his flaws and obvious imperfections. Sephiroth decided to see if this was true, and not just a trick of his mind. Was Cloud so willing to do that?

"And now? Do you, in your height, look down on me?" Both men stood their ground as if they were awaiting for either of them to make the first move, the first blow to the other. If that happened they knew any shot of a truce between them was over, before it had the chance to leave infancy. Cloud looked him square in the eye, and shook his head.

"No. You are taller, and I am shorter. But…I don't look down on you, nor up at you. And I ask you to do the same." Sephiroth was surprised by the man's answer. He knew that without a doubt if they were on Gaia, Cloud would have been screaming at him, telling him that never in a hundred million years could they see eye to eye. But from all they had already gone through together, both men were willing to give understanding a chance. After all, their hearts were anew and were ready to feel again, something other than the tantalizing flame of hatred.

Sephiroth felt himself begin a slow nod. "If that's what you want, then consider it yours." Cloud looked to him, and a small smile flashed to his features. It was gone in an instant, but Sephiroth was struck by it. It was…beautiful. It was as if he were watching a dead flower miraculously unfurl its petals again, to sunlight, to a steady flame. Life from something that had once been in a graveyard. He knew his mouth was open, and he was staring at Strife like he was the strangest thing he had ever seen. But for the moment, he didn't care. They had gone from square one to square…one and a half. Maybe three quarters. It was a start, and they were going to have to stay there if they were going to be anything more to the other.

The silver haired man felt his mind fill with turmoil then. Men should not admire other men's smiles, nor think that just because they had a good conversation, that they could be anything to the other. He accepted this with a bitter gall in his mouth, and nodded to Cloud. He stuck out his hand, and Cloud looked at it for a moment, then shook it.

"Consider us…acquaintances. Who are the same height." Cloud nodded, and his eyes were smiling then, twinkling like aquatic gemstones in his skull. They were a lovely color, the shade of the ocean that had torn him apart, just to leave him with what mattered. Genesis's words came through his mind once again: "He guides us to bliss, everlasting." Could Cloud…make him happy?

Both men shook on their new volition, but he found Cloud looking at him with an odd question in his eyes. He looked to their hands, as if he had expected Sephiroth to let go a long time ago. Sephiroth saw this, and released his hand immediately. Shit. This was not good. Once again, he told himself that what he had just thought about Cloud's smile and eyes was nothing more than a fancy of the mind, something for his mind to do while he was wandering through an oblivion with a now acquaintance. Yes, that was it.

"Let's go. I think we have to walk now, I can't carry your two hundred and eighty pounds in my arms. My wings would fall off." Sephiroth opened his mouth in an appalling manner before he heard Cloud's laughter. The silver haired man growled and hurled a small stone at his head. Cloud shook his head, and his laughter ceased.

"Hmm. I was actually…enjoying that. It would have been something Zack and I would have done." Sephiroth felt his breath catch in his throat, and suddenly, hurling a stone at the other man seemed foolish. Cloud shook his head. "Let's do it again sometime." Sephiroth saw something else in Cloud's eyes, something that told him that for the moment, they were not men who once stood on the opposite side of the battlefield, fire in their eyes and hatred in their hearts. They were men who were trying to get to know the other, and in doing so, share a good time or two. The concept of that was ludicrous. Or, it had been before. If that's what Cloud wanted, to enjoy this…then maybe, he would too. Maybe…this world was not punishment.

Before he could further that thought, he decided to speak. "Very well. And what makes you think I want to be carried? And for your information, Cloud I do not weigh that much." Sephiroth had gotten in Cloud's face for that, and both men looked so serious, Cloud began laughing. Sephiroth managed a small chuckle as well, and he couldn't believe this was happening. He was laughing! With someone who used to be his enemy! What a strange day this was.

"This is…weird." Sephiroth nodded, and both men looked away, at a loss as to what to say. Words had the potential to shatter things, or to break a silence that had long since been overdue.

"To say the least. I mean…I'm laughing with you." Cloud shook his head.

"Never thought it would happen either." He smiled once more, and shrugged. "It's what Zack would have wanted, us getting along. If that's what…we're doing." Sephiroth shrugged back, and looked into the distance. For a moment, he thought he saw a small twinkle of white light, almost if a star had lived and died, getting sucked up in a black hole within the intake of a breath. How strange.

"I suppose…we are." He began walking. "Come on. This heifer needs to shed a few pounds." Cloud laughed once and nodded, running to take his place to lead Sephiroth.

Sephiroth knew that this was a beginning, this day. They had a truce, and now, they were beginning to joke with the other, even if it was to something as stupid as his weight. Anything was possible, even if was something beyond his wildest dreams.


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"A sight for sore eyes, don't you think?"

"It has been a few years."

Sephiroth awoke to a place filled with white lilies. He shot up when he heard the voices, and he saw that on either side of him, Genesis and Angeal were there. They looked as real as they had been on Gaia, though right then, they were merely visiting him in his sleep. Just like Zack had. More friendly haunts, and ghostly comrades to tell him about his progress in this world.

The silver haired man looked to Genesis first, and saw that he was in a pure red outfit, red pants, shirt, with a ruby necklace flashing around his neck. He held in his hand a red lily, despite being in a meadow surrounded by white ones. He smiled to Sephiroth, a smile without the old bitterness and envy it once held. This was the man that craved the respect Sephrioth had once held when he was a top SOLDIER. Those days were gone.

He turned to Angeal and saw that he was in a pure white outfit, and held in his fingers a white lily. White and red, on opposite ends of the color wheel. He nodded to Sephiroth, and Sephiroth wondered how the man could look him in the eye. How could Angeal look at him when he had not bothered to tell him he was nothing other than human?

Genesis sighed and began to talk. "Tell me. What do you think we're here for?" Sephiroth started and jumped a little. Genesis stood up and Angeal did as well, as if they were the same person, gravitation leading them to act the same. They stood, exchanged a look that let Sephiroth know they were extremely intimate, and sat down to where they could face Sephiroth.

Angeal spoke then. "Don't be scared. We're not here to kill you." Sephiroth nodded slowly, for if Zack was not angry at him, who was to say his former friends were?

"I believe you. Now…you are here to give me a lesson of some sort, correct?" Genesis smiled and nodded his head, and his face brimmed with youth, with health. There were no white streaks in his hair, nor was his skin flaking off into pieces. Angeal looked the same, as if no such word as "misery" had ever touched his soul. These were happy, carefree souls from the hereafter.

"There you go, not as stubborn as I once remembered you." He elbowed Angeal. "He is changing." Angeal nodded and both men looked him in the eye, as if they were taking in the differences in his form and mind. For all Sephiroth knew, they were psychic. "Come now, is there anything you want to ask us before we begin our lesson?"

Sephiroth started, and found he had many things to ask. "You're outfits. You contrast the other." Genesis perked an eyebrow, looked to Angeal, and they both dissolved into laughter. Sephiroth failed to see what was so funny, but the sound was musical to his ears. They seemed to be angels, bright with light on their skin, in a radiance all their own. And their voices were melodic, their laughter a symphony and wave of angelic sound.

"Leave it to old Sephiroth to point out the most obvious thing." Genesis wiped his eyes and nodded. "Alright, yes, me and my Angel have opposite color schemes. Anything else?" Sephrioth figured the pet name, taking out the "a" in Angeal's name was something intimate the two shared, something he should not mention. They were together after all.

"Aren't you two…angry. At me?" Angeal shook his head, as did Genesis.

"Explain to me why we should be mad at you. We'll go from there." Sephiroth sighed and massaged his temples. He felt as if he were dealing with two intuitive twins, twins who knew the others thoughts. Needless to say, he felt out of the loop.

"I let you two die." Genesis opened his eyes wide, and Angeal's brow furrowed. Where they had once been angels of music, they were now mourning seraph's.

Angeal spoke first. "You didn't know what to do. You were under Jenova's control. Besides…you thought we betrayed SOLDIER, so you were willing to accept that. All those who were not weak enough to persevere may as well flee, right?" Sephiroth understood that that was how he had once thought, thinking that all the weak ones should be eradicated.

Genesis spoke next. "Besides, you offered me your blood. That was kind of you." Sephiroth sighed aloud, and he felt as if a great gaping hole had been torn in his chest. He was with his friends again, and yet not. He was forced to relive and examine his chaotic past, the life he had led in the name of destruction. That was the worst pain of all.

"I'm not kind. And you should be furious at me. I gave up on you both. Friends…shouldn't do that." He had no knowledge that he had been lowering his face, covering his visage with his hair. Both men clapped him on the back, and he felt Genesis grip one side of him and Angeal the other. They gave him an awkward bear hug, and Sephiroth felt moisture prick his eyes. Once again, he had no knowledge that they might have been tears.

"Shut-up, you big idiot. It all worked out for the best. Both Angeal and I…were redeemed. And you are on the path to redemption as well. We're not mad at you, or twisting in our graves at the thought of revenge." They let Sephiroth go and they motioned that they wanted Sephiroth to stand up. He stood and watched at Angeal and Genesis placed the lilies they held in their hands upwards, toward the white sunlight.

"Sephiroth…repeat after me: I am forgiven by my friends Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos." Sephiroth felt as if he were in school again, forced to repeat chants. Though, this was meant to be constructive therapy.

"I am forgiven by my friends Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos." Angeal nodded, and then gestured to the flower he held in his hand.

"Good. Now watch what happens when we place opposites together." He placed his lily next to Genesis's, and the flowers began to come together, as if they were opposite sides of a magnet, pulsing and pounding against the force that held them separate. Both men released the flowers and instantly, they combined in an explosion of scarlet and white, becoming one separate thing. Where there had once been two different things, there was now a light pink lily, one that floated down to where Sephiroth was standing.

He was certain he looked like a real fool, his jaw opening as a flower combined. Though, how often did that happen? Sephiroth gripped the flower in his hand, and saw that it was quite pretty, white stripes lining the inner petals.

"What have you learned?" Sephrioth raised his head to Genesis's words.

"Opposites…can be one separate thing?" Genesis nodded and turned to Angeal.

"See my Angel? He wasn't a lost cause after all." Angeal paled and faced his lover.

"I never said he was!" Genesis laughed and batted the man playfully on the shoulder.

"Ever the angry one!" He shook his head and looked at Sephiroth then, his light eyes brimming with wisdom. "Now do you see? Cloud and you…can be good for the other. Remember the words I told you?" How could he forget?

"He guides us to bliss, everlasting?" Genesis nodded.

"So, you do remember the play I "beat into your head." That was something he had said, right before the fight that injured his friend beyond repair. "Good. Yes. Cloud can help you. Let him in. Tell him things that we don't even know. And don't deny yourself anything." His eyes sparkled intuitively, as if he knew something Sephiroth was destined to never know.

Angeal looked to the sky, and within a moment, white wings shot out of his back. They were identical to the one he had on his right shoulder on Gaia, the one he thought made him a monster. But here, he had one on both shoulder, four wings total. They were beautiful. Genesis looked to the sky as well, and two black wings emerged from his shoulders, wings that he undoubtedly earned.

"We're not angry with you, Sephiroth. Consider us friends forever. You wont get rid of us that easily." Genesis smiled so bright, Sephrioth had to chuckle.

"If you say so. But if you think Cloud can help me…then, so be it." Angeal nodded, and a flash of wisdom showed itself.

"Sephiroth, if I have learned one thing, it doesn't matter who you care for, be it man or woman. If you let someone into your life that makes you happy, and better than what you once were…" he gestured to Genesis "then it doesn't matter. Let yourself feel, and deny yourself nothing." Wise words from a wise and moral man.

Genesis tilted his head upwards and smiled to Sephrioth. "We will be back. But we must leave you now. "Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall our return." Angeal nodded to Sephiroth, gripped his lovers hand, and both men took to the skies, swirling until their outfits of white and crimson became one. He gripped the lily and for the moment, felt at peace.

Sephiroth woke up to Cloud shaking his shoulder and he was up instantly. He threw cold water on his face, and turned to face his companion.

"You were really out. I had to try five times to get you up." Sephiroth felt sheepish.

"I was dreaming." Cloud nodded, as if he understood long and meaningful dreams.

"Good. Are you ready to go? I guess I could fly with you for a bit." Sephiroth scoffed, but he could not ignore the thrill of being up and away from everything. He nodded and Cloud picked him, beating his wings twice to take to the skies. Sephiroth felt Cloud tighten his grip on him, as if he would not let him go, plummeting to the earth the way a meteor would, causing destruction to all. He was the orbit who would hold him in place.

Sephiroth felt a shiver run up and down his spine when Cloud tightened his hold on him, and he wondered why his body reacted that way. It was just Cloud, his almost friend, barfely acquaintance touching him. It was no big deal.

That sounded like denial. 'Let yourself feel, and deny yourself nothing.' The silver haired male knew Angeal had a point. But for now, he would not let himself be haunted by anything. How could he when he was in the skies?

"Look for breakfast!" Sephiroth chuckled and scanned the ground, feeling very much…at ease with this man. How odd, considering their back ground. But for the moment, they were not plaguing the other. It was merely a friendly haunt.

"There! Some…deer thing." Cloud nodded and swooped down like a rocket, tearing a pointed stick from a tree, and before the creature had a chance to react, Cloud speared him right in between the eyes. The animal fell and both men landed on their feet.

Sephiroth looked to Cloud, and he rose from his feet, looking very much a warrior. His heart rate sped up, and for the moment, he saw someone he was very much attracted to: someone stronger than him, one who could best him in battle and bring down prey from the skies. Shit. What the Hell was he thinking?

So, he simply stopped. He dragged the stag like thing with Cloud to the river, and they skinned it together, and devoured on it until both were so full, they could barely move. They dried some of the meat and they carried it in their pockets for dinner, for it was more than enough for their evening meal.

Cloud picked his teeth with some bone, and he turned to Sephiroth. "Not bad, is it?" Sephiroth shook his head, thinking it was one of the best things he had ever tasted.

"One of the best. Cloud…thanks." Cloud stopped, and the small bone fell from his hand. He looked to Sephiroth as if he had never expected to hear those words coming out of his mouth.

"For what?" Sephiroth caught his eye, and managed the smallest smile.

"As if you didn't know." He rose and gestured to the blank horizon. "Come on, if we linger, we'll fall asleep." Cloud nodded and ran to the front, directing Sephiroth with his light.

"You're welcome, for whatever it is." Sephiroth saw a hidden smile, and once again, he was struck by the beauty of it. Whatever this feeling was…he would let it grow. Denial was petty anyhow.

'Thanks, my friends.'

Somewhere, a red haired man and his lover, along with a black spiky haired man and a once Cetra were celebrating, for they knew that this was the true beginning in their friends journey.


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