Tiny Dancer

Title: Tiny Dancer
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Author: Lynsey
Website/Mailing List: See links under user information
Beta: None
Chapter: 16/?
Pairings: Sephiroth/Cloud
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Warnings: Very AU, language
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Do not sue, all I got are college loans, and this isn’t helping to pay them off.
Summary: Opening night for Midgar Dance Company’s newest show may be the beginning of something more than just a hot new act.


Gingerly, Sephiroth opened the door to him and Cloud’s shared room. It was dark inside, and he could hear the sound of Cloud’s slow, whispering breathing. Assured that the blond was asleep, Sephiroth quietly entered and closed the door behind him. He easily shed his clothes and forwent any pajamas as he slid into the bed.

Instinctively, Cloud turned over and snuggled into the larger man without even waking up. Sephiroth curled around the smaller body in a protective way, although the things Cloud needed to be protected from were on the inside and Sephiroth couldn’t do jack shit to shield the blond from himself. The body was so small in his arms, nothing but skin stretched over sinew and bone.

By the Goddess what would he do if he couldn’t save Cloud from this? He’d never failed at anything in his life. He’d survived Hojo. He’d conquered an entire nation. He’d lead armies through all manner of terrible battles against monsters and humans alike. But he couldn’t save one beautiful, amazing person from himself.

Sephiroth caught his breath on a sob and held it in. He didn’t want to wake Cloud, not by bawling like the little kid he’d never been. Never before in his life had Sephiroth been afraid. He had learned to over the years to identify his emotions. Rage, anger, irritation, annoyance, and disappointment he knew. But fear had never been in the cards. Not even when he was a child in the labs. His youth had been filled with a haze of rampant fury that didn’t clear until his first tour of Wutai with his new friends. Angeal and Genesis had taught him that life could be more than pain and anger.

And then…then he’d seen Cloud on stage for the first time three years ago.

*******Three years ago, Junon********

It was the day Sephiroth would fall in love with Cloud Strife, but he didn’t know that yet. The supposed meetings he was attending were nothing but an irritating farce that made him want to kill everyone wearing a suit. Besides Genesis, that is. He actually looked rather nice in the suits he was wearing to the meetings in a rather dashing, mocking kind of way.

Thankfully, he had his evenings to himself. Even more thankfully, a ballet was playing at the beautiful theater near the hotel he was staying in. He’d seen it twice now and hurriedly making his way through the streets to see it for a third time. It was one of his favorites, the wonderful classic Swan Lake. He’d always believed it was one of the most beautiful ballets he’d ever seen, and it was a wonderful way to distract him from killing people he probably shouldn’t.

Most everyone was in their seats by the time he arrived, and the lobby was almost empty except for stragglers and, of course, those that had been waylaid by people that had been so close to the edge of the Masamune they should have seen their lives flash before their eyes.

The silver haired man took the proffered program, even though he already had two others. He couldn’t decide what made him save the flimsy pieces of paper, but they somehow made their way into a box that lived on the bottom of his closet.

Because really, Genesis might see and then it would be all over.

He climbed the stairs to his private box as he heard the applause that signaled the dimming of the lights and beginning of the show. He sighed, thankful he had made it in time. The general slipped into his box just as the music came up. He casually flipped through the program, and caught the slip of paper that denoted any substitutions in the evening’s performance.

Scanning through the names, he frowned in disappointment as he saw that the male lead was being replaced. He’d actually quite enjoyed the previous dancer, and he was not sure he’d like this…Cloud Strife. He’d never heard of him, anyway.

He flipped to the back of the program and took a look at the biography for the understudy. The kid was only…thirteen? Were they serious? What thirteen year old could possibly…

And then he’d looked up.

And didn’t look away for the entire performance.

The child was brilliant. Sephiroth had seen dozens of performances of this particular ballet, and none of them had ever been quite so beautiful.

The general had returned night after night, even extending his stay in Junon to watch the last two performances by the up-and-coming Cloud Strife. The seemingly inadvertent substitution had caused a wave of conversation through the high-class communities. The ballet was inundated by patrons who had already seen this particular show, but the hype about the prodigy child had everyone who was anyone returning to the theater.

On the last night, Sephiroth sat in his reserved box and debated with himself for the entire performance.

Should he request an audience?

Of all things the silver demon, the General of the Shinra Army, the greatest warrior to ever live felt…inadequate. How could he stand in the presence of perfection and possibly feel anything but…lacking.

He’d debated until it was too late, and the final bows were over, the curtains drawn, and everyone had emptied out of the theater.

On his walk back to the hotel, Sephiroth had stared at the little black and white picture in the back of his program. A young, beautiful face stared back at him. The smile was a little hesitant and even embarrassed, and Sephiroth knew that the pale grey eyes in the fuzzy picture were actually the most beautiful blue.

Sephiroth ducked into an alley and clutched the program to his chest. He didn’t know what love was, but if anything Genesis said was even remotely right…

He might very well be in love with Cloud Strife.

…and he felt a little dirty.

Well, more than a little dirty. The dancer was only thirteen, and Sephiroth was…much too old to be thinking about a thirteen year old that way.

But…Gaia his heart hurt, and he longed for the next time he could see the perfect and beautiful Cloud.

What was he going to do?

*************************

What he did was ache and long and stalk until he’d finally managed to gather enough courage to ask for an audience with the dancer on the opening night of Cloud’s big debut. Zack hadn’t known and probably didn’t care that 7th Heaven was the first performance that had been specifically tailored to Cloud’s abilities. The blond was the showcase, the center of attention, and Sephiroth knew that he couldn’t wait one more moment before he came face to face with the star of his dreams.

What no-one knew when the general and Zack had entered the little dressing room was that inside, Sephiroth was an absolute mess. He could hardly talk, his hands were shaking, and he felt like he would throw up any second.

And Cloud…Cloud had been everything he’d ever imagined. He was even more stunning up close than he was on the stage. And…he was so sweet and demure and…and…he was even more in love than he’d ever been.

And now, the most perfect person in the world was lying in his arms, and Sephiroth knew without a doubt that Cloud wasn’t so perfect. Yet, somehow being imperfect made him even more perfect if that made any sense.

Didn’t the universe owe him something? Anything? Hadn’t he been through enough? Couldn’t he just have one, tiny, precious thing that was good in his life?

For the first time in his life, Sephiroth cried silently into his pillow.

***************************

Cloud woke up slowly, the light shining through the window enough to wake him but not enough to annoy him. His head ached already this morning, and the nausea he’d been fighting was pummeling him with full force. He sat up quickly and gagged a little with his hand over his mouth. Head spinning from moving so fast and he almost fell back to the bed when a strong, warm body embraced him from behind.

Grateful for the support, Cloud closed his eyes and fought back the urge to vomit. Strong hands stroked his arms and smoothed back his hair. After what felt like an eternity, Cloud collapsed back into his…his boyfriend. His talk with Zack yesterday had been good, and when the brunet had left Cloud felt like he finally understood himself and even Sephiroth a little bit better.

But…he was afraid. Cloud felt like he was failing Sephiroth in some horrible way, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. How could the blond ever live up to someone like Sephiroth? The man was a legend, a hero from literature come to life. How could a poor, insignificant, fucked up kid like him be anything that a great man like Sephiroth needed or even wanted?

The silver haired man kissed his temple and cheek gently and full of such love that it almost made Cloud cry.

“I don’t want to fight,” Sephiroth said quietly, hugging Cloud closer to him. “I just want to do what’s right for you. I guess…I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. My entire life has been the military, quite literally. In the military, there’s yelling and yelling and more yelling. If you want something done right, you yell at someone to do it. I talked to Zack,” at this Cloud’s eyes widened and he turned so he could look at Sephiroth directly. Sephiroth kissed his cheek and continued, “I’m sorry that I thought yelling at you would help you in any way. I fucked up. Can you forgive me?”

“Me…forgive…you?” Cloud puzzled out. “But…I’m the one that’s caused all the problems.”

Sephiroth shook his head. “That’s not the issue. I handled everything wrong. I should be…helping you. Not yelling at you.”

Cloud leaned so his head rested on Sephiroth’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, too.”

“What for?”

“For not listening to you. For not being…right.”

“Oh, Cloud,” Sephiroth said, holding the smaller body tight. “If you knew how seriously messed up my head was you wouldn’t say that.”

Cloud smiled a little and closed his eyes. “I’m still tired.”

“Would you please drink some water before you go back to sleep? It would make me feel better.”

Cloud nodded, sleepy and willing.

Feeling as if he had just won a huge battle, Sephiroth reached for the glass sitting on the side table and gave it to Cloud. As the blond emptied the entire thing, Sephiroth felt an elation he’d never felt, even after winning the war.

He had Cloud back in bed in short order; the blond snuggled to his side. Sephiroth buried his face in blond hair and inhaled the scent of Cloud.

He needed to talk to Zack some more.

********************

Zack sighed as he knocked on the door to Tifa’s apartment. He needed to get more of Cloud’s things by Sephiroth’s request, and he didn’t have a key. He hoped the busty brunette was home because, besides boobs, he needed to get that crap before Sephiroth went Enter the Dragon on his ass.

A few moments later, the door opened so the burglar-chain stretched taunt across the little opening. A big, doe-like eye stared out at him for a moment before the door was shut again. He heard the clink of the chain being removed before the door opened again to reveal a very despondent looking Tifa Lockheart.

“What do you need?” she asked as she crossed her arms across her boobs.

Zack stared for a moment before coughing and scratching his head. “I need to get into Cloud’s apartment to get some more stuff. I thought you might have a key…”

Tifa sighed and turned back into her apartment. Zack entered behind her and looked around. It was the same as Cloud’s with a few different pieces of old, probably discarded furniture she had rummaged off the street. The jeans she wore stretched nicely over her ass as she bent to go through her purse. Some men liked a little meat to their women, and Zack was one of them. She had a nice, rounded ass and strong looking thighs. The brunette wasn’t the kind of woman with fake, plastic breasts implanted into a body of skin and bones that made them look out of balance and lopsided. She was very much a real woman, and she was wearing the kind of jeans that had been worn into a buttery softness. He could only imagine what it would be like to run his hands down that ass and then over…

She turned around and shoved a key into his face.

“Here,” she said in a clipped sort of way.

“Thanks,” Zack said, pocketing the key and showing no signs of leaving.

Tifa frowned a little and moved around the large man to shut the door he had left open. “So,” she said in a confused voice, “how is Cloud today?”

Zack shrugged and sat himself on the bed. He leaned back on his hands in a way that made him look perfectly at home. “He was still sleeping when I left this morning. I didn’t want to wake him up.”

Tifa sat down on the one chair in the room and put her head in her hands. “Do you think he’ll be alright?”

Zack shrugged again. “I can’t be sure. He’s got a lot to fight against.”

Tifa nodded, then lifted her head to smile a little cynically. “You know, we were going to move in together. We had this whole thing planned to be roomies in some swank apartment with the money Sephiroth gave him. You know what he did when I went to see him two days ago?”

Zack shook his head and watched as Tifa started tearing up. “He gave me a check. I could tell he made it out himself because he spelled my name wrong,” she laughed a little then clenched her eyes shut. “But…he got the numbers right, even the spelling. He gave me enough to pay off all of my student loans and buy a condo or something. It was everything that Sephiroth gave him. He said,” she choked up and had to take a second before she could continue. “He said that, just in case he…he didn’t make it, that he wanted me to…to have,” she couldn’t finish. It hurt too much to think of her best friend dying.

Zack moved from the bed to kneel in front of the distraught girl. He took her hands and pulled them away from her face. “Hey,” he said softly. “I’d be scared too, if my best friend was as sick as Cloud is. Hell, I’m afraid for Cloud and I haven’t known him more than a couple of weeks.”

“There’s nothing I can do,” Tifa said, feeling lost. “He even thinks he’s going to die, and I feel so fucking useless.”

Zack reached up and cupped her face. “You kept him going for this long, didn’t you?”

Tifa shook her head, and Zack could feel more tears coursing down her cheek under his palm. “I never said anything to him. I just thought if I ignored it, it would go away. I didn’t know what to do, or what to say. How could I possibly tell him he’s sick when he has to be that way to stay in a production?”

Zack didn’t have an answer for her, so what he said was, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“No, but I could have done something. Did you know he almost died from this before?”

Zack shook his head mutely.

“When he was like…ten. I didn’t even know the word for it then. He stopped eating so he could get into the advanced classes. They required certain weight requirements at certain heights. We talked on the phone a lot, and he was telling me all about it. He was so excited, and what the fuck did I know? I was ten. Then, he didn’t call me for like, a month. I called the school, and they said he was in the hospital. I begged my dad to let me go see him, and luckily he took me. You should have seen him. He was worse than he was now. They didn’t think he was going to live. Then, I told him that if he just ate a little bit, I’d convince my dad to let me go the same boarding school he was at. I couldn’t believe it when he did what I asked. He started eating again, a little bit anyway. So I did what I promised and had my dad send me to Cloud’s school. I think he let me go mostly to get me out of his hair. Having a ten year old bugging him constantly couldn’t have been easy.” She shrugged. “I was a shitty dancer,” she smiled.

Zack smiled back at her. “Unless you count how awesome my Macarena is, I’m a shitty dancer too.”

Tifa laughed and wiped at her eyes. “Look at me, shoving my life story in your face like you want to hear it.”

“Maybe I do,” Zack said as his hand moved from her face to hold her hand. “I’d like to get to know you better.”

Tifa’s face went tomato red with the force of her blush. “Really?”

“Ya, really.”

“This isn’t because you’re doing a favor for Cloud or anything?”

Zack shook his head. “It’s mostly because I like your boobs.”

Tifa’s eyes went wide with shock and then she punched Zack’s arm and screamed in outrage. “You’re a pervert!”

Smiling devilishly, Zack leaned forward and asked, “And don’t you think it’s cute?”

“…maybe a little,” Tifa admitted with a guilty smile.

“Well,” Zack said, “Let’s get some of Cloud’s crap and then go get something to eat, on me.”

Tifa blushed again but nodded.

“Well, let’s skedaddle then.” Zack stood and held out his hand.

Tifa took that large, strong hand and let him pull her to her feet. She grabbed her purse as they exited and as she turned to lock the door behind her, she thought, Maybe my knight in perverted armor showed up after all.

TBC…