Sephiroth's soul redemption

Part three; Separation


a/n: a borronix is an animal that exists in my other original storyline, it is a very large creature, looking something like a cross between a cow and an antilope, with very big horns. ( I just realized i never explained, oops)

for all you people who are brave enough to plow through, i have posted some artwork of my own characters in the fanart section, under sephiroth soul redemption. i hope it makes the read more enjoyable when you have some visual idea of my home made characters.

You make the water warm
You taste foreign
And I know you can see
The cord break away
Cause tonight I feel like more
Tonight I feel like more
Feel like more
Tonight…
Digital Bath, Deftones

The novices and pupils had been invited to invade the barracks of the cadets, and where having the time of their lives jumping from bunk to bunk, with their new play mates. Some mock fights broke out, but where quickly extinguished by Enak who kept a close eye on them all.

At one stage grabbing one or two by the scruff of the neck, lifting them clean off their feet, and then sending them to their own room. They did so sulking, apparently having had just a little too much fun. Enak saw what the plan was and frowned slightly with disapproval. Maybe what they where in the mood for, was a bit inappropriate, and he told Jeh-ri so, but he just answered with a decided “Sod them all!”

Erik and Ian entered the grounds, pushing a very large wooden trunk on wheels. Out they pulled several different sized drums, rattles made form Borronix horns, and long wooden pipes. Erik selected one, put the soft waxy collar around the mouthpiece to his lips, and blew a massive tone, low and guttural. Immediately every one emerged from the barracks , eager to see what had produced this sound. Erik grinned widely, he would become unstoppable with such a captivating audience.

While he blew he chose another pipe, quickly blowing another blast, and liking it, threw that at his twin, his pipe being a perfect fifth to Erik’s, and started into a deep slow rhythm, growling and breathing into each other. They lifted the pipes into the air, circling around outward, back to back as they had done to quiet the young ones a couple of nights ago.

Now Siona, Hazel, and Leisa where straddling their drums, and started beating a rhythm to accompany and accentuate the pulse of the twins. Others raised their voices in an easy chant, so every one there could pick up on it. The older Shinra officers pulled out large empty barrels and started fires inside them, and soon the training grounds where dotted by warm pools of light.

They had caught on the earthy, elemental feel we were producing, and seemed to relax a bit but always keeping a close eye on their troops. Zack had joined some of our unit members, wrapping his arms around their waist as he had seen us do before, falling in time with the beat they made in the steps on the ground. He seemed to enjoy him self immensely.
After the dance had finished, he walked over to Jeh-ri, and handed him a bottle of beer, as the more older ones had been allowed some alcohol, but not too much.

“How did you manage to swing this?” Zach asked, and he could feel how surprised he was, this being in such stark contrast to the usual way thing went around here.
“We just suggested it. It was Nathan who did the convincing. The General has his strengths, and so does the Commander.” Knowing what it was that Nathan had done, he had managed to slip an impression into the General’s mind, telling it would be just fine.
“Why isn’t he here, I think it would make him see that it is alright, to relax a little. He cant be a stiff all the time.”

Zach just stood beside him, with his arms crossed, his eyes distant. Jeh-ri followed his gaze and saw him looking at a smallish blond boy, who was standing close to one of the groups of young people talking, but seemed reluctant to join them. Then he and Zach caught sight of each other, and the older man motioned for him to come over.

“Say hello to my little friend, Cloud Strife.” He said, wrapping his arm around the smaller young man’s neck.

“Hello Cloud, I’m Jeh-ri” he introduced himself, holding out a hand to the boy who took it hesitantly, then broke into a warm smile. As their hands touched, he got a pulse. His mind got zapped forward, seeing a few images too fast and fleeting to get a good hold of, but this one was different from the others here. He just didn’t belong somehow, no matter how badly he wanted to.
“You enjoying your self?” The redhead asked.

“It is nice, every one being so friendly with each other.” He said.

“Where you in the simulations?’ The older man asked, not being able to remember him.

“I was, but I got tagged out after about two rounds.” He said a little embarrassed.

“I noticed something in the way your younger people move, Zach.” Jeh-ri said, having noticed something Leisa and Ian had pointed out to him. “They lack rhythm.”

“We do Kata exercises using drums, it is really helpful with people who have trouble making the movements come naturally.”

Zach looked at several of the P.A.A.people, who where now performing a different kind of dance, the movements they made consisted of short, sharp swings and jabs, punching fists, striking at their chests, then making downward pulling motions stomping the beat the drums made with one foot. It had a lot of similarities to the Kata movements but al together a lot more violent in intent and energy.

“What was that?” Cloud asked, his blue eyes large.
“That is a war dance taught to us by the Sea people tribe.” Jeh-ri explained. You get a whole group of them as your enemy, and them performing that before battle, just want to pack your things and forget about it.”

Zach nodded. “I’d think twice about fighting them too, I think.”

Jeh-ri felt a chill run down his spine ever so briefly, a fit of joy as the music they where making struck a chord into his ghost, and he wanted to dance.. he ran over to Hazel and took her hand, easily pulling her into him, twisting and turning around her, making her move with him, Her fingers on his forehead, making him bend and move to her will in turn. Leisa and Ian join in too as some of the Shinra men had taken over their drums, and where easily keeping the flow up.
All the night they spend dancing and playing with each other, both groups happily mingling and sharing.

* * * *

It was one of the strangest things he had ever seen.. He knew he had agreed to this, and he shouldn’t be grumpy about it. He stood at the window of the Shinra boardroom, Commander Nathan at his side and looked down on the crowd below on the exercise ground. Nathan stood there smiling broadly. He could clearly sense the energy form down below, coursing up. But then President Shinra walked in, and the meeting began.

Nathan briefly leant over to the silver haired man and just as they where taking place.
“Wouldn’t you rather be down there, General?” The commander asked, just loud enough to be heard only by the man sitting next to him.

“You and I are the same, cut the same but from slightly different materials. We don’t belong here with these people and their mind numbing industrial politics.”
In that Sephiroth totally agreed. He never would have dreamed that entering into the academy and reaching the rank of General would result in being forced into doing infuriating tasks like paperwork and keeping personnel files.

He actually enjoyed spending time with the older man. He seemed to touch certain areas he had never previously had given thought to. This man loved and lived for the hunt, having chosen the life of a soldier of his own free will and gathering a clan around him that shared his blood and his purpose. Ever since Nathan’s visit that first night, he somehow was able to feel the collective mind, how they seemed to effortlessly cue into each other’s movements, anticipating where they would be needed most. Him drawing on their various talents, putting them to use to serve the good of all. The trust that rested in the bond they shared had to be immense and consuming.

He mused at his own situation, and saw the stark contrast to his life. How he had been moulded into the man he was today, the decisions made by his father, who kept pursuing his own hidden agenda despite the Shinra’s board of directors illusion that they had that sick little man on a leash. They didn't really care as long as he kept delivering the goods, and Sephiroth being his greatest achievement. Here to serve the interest of the Shinra Power Company.

President Shinra had entered the large room now, a rather short fat man in an expensive suit, a man named Tseng and some other cronies in his wake. He had wanted them there that evening was to discuss a matter of interest to them both, him wanting to leave a very small detachment of officers here at the Shinra Academy, to adapt certain areas in training of new cadets. Him and Nathan having had an interesting discussion about the difference in development skills between them and the novices had laid the foundation for this suggestion.

At first Nathan had seemed reluctant, not wanting to leave several of his best reconnaissance officers behind, but finally caving in at the offer of giving them a better firearms training they had received at the Project Ark Academy, which was after all largely a scientific organisation, only having received basic combat training to make them more defensible.

It seemed like a fair trade, but he had to make sure that sudden needs of his people where being met, realising that being locked up in a city complex with little to no natural elements present, they would soon start to suffer from something like cabin fever, but President Shinra assured that they would be allowed to enter the practice fields surrounding Midgar when on leave.

After those details of the transfer where completed, the Commander left to join his people, being aware that certain parts of the meeting where to be discussed between the suits across the table and their ferocious pet.

He realised all to well that this situation was temporary. As long as the status quo remained in place, this Sephiroth would do as he was told, but how long would it take for him to realize his full potential, things would take a dramatic turn for the worst. One thing he knew for sure is that he would not, could not do anything to prevent that eventual meltdown. Al he could do was to stay the hell out of his way. He thought it to be poetic justice. It would teach them to fuck with Mother Nature.

He gratefully left the presence of those bureaucratic numbskulls, wondering how important all that paperwork would be when their world was burning and reduced to rubble. He made his way down to where his people and the Shinra troops where having a great time together.

He revelled in this energy, it pulsed through him as he positioned himself between the twins, his arms resting around their shoulders, letting the vibrations of the pipes reverberate through him, thrumming the strings of his entire being. Then he joined in one of the chants of the ancestors, as it was as old as his family line, and as deeply imbedded in his existence as his coarse reddish blonde hair and fierce blue eyes.

Jeh-ri walked up to his Commander, and laid his hand against his chest, just under his arm, and so could feel what he felt, the vibrations amplified and retuned to match his unique energy pattern. It filled him with joy, to be able to partake in this strength, to be part of him again.

Then a sudden shudder went through the crowd as General Sephiroth had managed to tear himself loose from the ones holding his leash. Nathan looked over his shoulder, and called him to come closer. Not wanting to show any kind of timidity, the younger man approached.

Nathan moved over, and motioned for him to put his hands on the shoulders of the two men, to feel.
As he did, a very noticeable shudder went through the twins, and their rhythm faltered, but only briefly, then it changed somewhat. It seemed to shift, to accommodate the Generals energy. Then he stood there, his head low, eyes closed. He seemed to enjoy the raw guttural roar the twins where now producing.

Jeh-ri stood there watching, quite amazed. He had been allowed to enter that so very intimate energy field that the two brothers where able to produce.

About three years ago, the three of them had spend the night sleeping in the forests surrounding the citadel once, after a bomb threat had forced them to evacuate. Jeh-rica carrying a second set of Nathan’s twins at the time had spend the night wedged between their bodies, them feeling extremely protective of her. It had been like being wrapped in a very safe warm cocoon, and she knew nothing would ever touch her as long as they where near. She remembered how Enak had slid his hand under the thick coat she was wearing, feeling the tiny lives inside her, bumping and moving to meet his touch. He had smiled then, one of the rare sincere ones she had seen of him.

He watched as one of the Generals hands shifted ever so slightly, the fingertips of the black gloves he always wore, slide along the collar of Enak’s Yukata, trailing ever so slowly up the younger man’s neck. Enak tilted his head into that touch, accepting it. This was certainly an interesting development. Then he let them go, and moved off to Zack and he where standing.

“You enjoy that, Seph? Zach asked, the older man just leant back against the wall, his face a mystery, but Zach saw a very distinct glint in his friends eye that spoke volumes.

“He’s a good man, that Nathan, isn’t he?” Zach asked. Sephiroth nodded in agreement.
Indeed he was. He seemed to let him have just a little taste of what it was like, to be in his circle, part of the collective. But his entire being had rebuked, fighting the pulling pulsing feeling in the middle of his chest, finding the heat too much to bear, to restraining, it meant having so many so close, the fear of losing ones self, having so many depend on you. It was totally impossible and his mind revolted at even the slightest touch, cringing and becoming violent just at the thought. I know you mean well, Nathan, but this is not for me.

“He has got kids, doesn’t he?” Zach asked.

“He has three boys and one girl.” Jeh-ri answered.

“What is he like, as a father? Sephiroth asked, and he was quite surprised at the question, not being aware that he was interested in that sort of thing.

“Very warm, very tender.” The shorter man mused, having seen the tears run down his face as he delivered them. “You look at him, like that, you’d think he was a loudmouth and a big hairy brute, but as soon as he starts to speak, as he looks into your eyes, you feel at home.”
Suddenly realized something, he reached into the opening at the side of his Hakama, and pulled out a wallet.

After briefly rummaging through small bits of paper he had in there, he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small black and white picture of Nathan, cradling two tiny babies against his naked chest, their little fuzzy heads tucked under his chin, his eyes closed as a soft smile played about his slightly parted lips. I gave it to the General who looked at it, slightly frowning.

“These are his, I take it?” he asked.

“No. His kids are three and one year old. The ones you see there are here, tonight.” he pointed at one of the babies, the one with a large tuft of black downy hair on its head, and pointed.
“That is Enak, and that is Erik. Then pointed at the brothers, who now had Ian stand between them.

Zach snatched the picture out of the General’s hand and looked at it sucked in his breath
through his wide open mouth.

“AAAAhh How cuuuute!!” he cooed, together with Cloud, who also looked at the photo, giggling at first, but then looking back and forth, his face pensive.

“Everything is cute when it’s little, even them.” Jeh-ri said, gesturing with his head toward the two who where now trying to crush Ian between their backs.
“He is their father?” Zach asked, being confused as the information contained in their personal files contradicted that assumption.

“He is their godfather. The Admiral and him are related, but from different branches of family.”

“Aaaahhh, the plot thickens!” Zach said.
Jeh-ri took the photo back from Zach and tucked it away, feeling he had revealed enough.

Several people where disappearing into their barracks, tired and quite spent. Jeh-ri looked a Hazel who had managed to perch herself on Nathan’s lap and was blushing wildly. The sun started to cast its first rays over the mountains in the distance. They all packed up and headed off to bed for just a couple of hours. Sometime at the end of the morning we where bound to head back to the Astronef and then home.

He was glad to be away from here, from this cage of steel and concrete. To be in the silence of the temple again, the feel the fog on his face, hear the birds sing as the sun rose. The constant roar of the waterfalls not too far off. Just as he drifted off to sleep, the image of the General standing between the twins jolted him awake again. He still wanted to spar with him, and was just glad he didn’t drink the beer Zach had offered him. It would be an absolute disgrace to my order if he hadn’t able to face up to a challenge because of a hangover. He decided it was more important to just rest for a bit.

When they where all told to get up, Nathan briefly gesture to Ian, Leisa and Erik and Enak to stay behind, saying that they would remain here for several months, adding their experience to the combat instructors here, and that they would receive additional fire arms training. At first they seemed a bit apprehensive, but then the boys soon warmed to the idea, that they would get to shoot things. Leisa rolled her eyes, shaking her head. At least she would remain to keep a check on them.

They all entered the canteen, and ate a simple breakfast. That was another thing that wouldn’t be missed either. Not that the food at the temple was that more spectacular, but it tasted like something that had been grown in the earth, alive and wholesome, instead of produced by machinery.
Zach came bounding into the room, and took place between Erik and Jeh-ri, looking very wild about the eyes.

“What is the matter with you?” Ian asked, as he saw Zach’s hair standing out in all directions, and he still carried the vague smell of alcohol about him.

“Our beloved president has sprung a surprise on the General, he wasn’t happy.”

“He took it out on you, then?” Leisa asked.

“No, thank goodness he didn’t. He just took it out on every one he could find, then viciously re-filed everything in his cabinets.” His eyes still wide and startled.

“What is so bad about that.? Jeh-ri asked.

“He used his Masamune to do it!” he said. Now they could understand the look on his face, the imagine of him rampaging through his office with that seven foot sword of his.
“There are papers everywhere..” Zach said resting his head in his hands, shaking his head in despair.

“What? Really?” Ian asked now filled with curiosity “What did they do to make Mister Icicle loose it?”

“They told him they where giving him a new computer.”
Ian stared at him with a look of total disbelief.

“What? Those assholes! How dare they!” he yelled, in mock anger “Remember the last time they did that to Nate? He destroyed half the citadel!” he continued, his voice lilting in theatrical disgust. Al of them where roaring with laughter now. Jeh-ri looked at Zach who still looked helpless, but smiled non the less.

“What’s the big deal?” He asked, wiping the tears from his face.

“Seph really dislikes paperwork, I mean he just hates it!” Zach explained.

“Well, he hasn’t improved the situation, now has he?” Ian observed dryly.

“Its just that the software is so different, it looks nothing like what we have been using for years. It means that we have to change every file stored, digitalize it and stuff. It is going to take months to update everything.” Zach sighed getting a bit annoyed at their lack of understanding.

“What system is it?” Leisa asked, trying to get a clearer picture of what had caused this man who always seemed so in control to take a sword to defenceless filing cabinets.

“Ehh Trenn Omega.. something.”

“Huh? I thought that was what Jacco was working on? So he had finally finished it.” Ian said.
“He finished it at least two years ago, Ian.” Leisa said a bit annoyed at the lack of interest Ian had shown for his best friends program, which he had stuck so much time in writing when they where all till at the Project Ark Academy.

”It has been up and running at the Althea Citadel for about a year and a half. I helped install it there and also to support the data base at Josea’s clinic.” Jeh-ri said.

He saw Ian’s mind search his memories. “Oh that’s why you disappeared into the citadel for all those months!” Ian said, faking that he actually remembered why he was there, being in fact pregnant with Nathan’s second set of twins, and hoped desperately that he wouldn’t give that fact away. Jeh-rica had just been helping Jacco out at the time as she had to take things easy and enjoyed his company.

“Wait a minute, you where-“ at that point Leisa poked him hard in his ribs and said;

“sa te et, Iate !
-shut up, stupid-

But Zach had no interest in what was going on between Ian and Leisa and just looked at me.
“You know how to work the program?” Zach asked, suddenly his eyes filled with hope.
“I helped install it in the citadel and I helped write some parts of it, so it is capable of making the stored data more applicable to different situations.”

Zach took off like a rocket.

“Looks like your about to be shanghai-ed into service , Jehr.” Ian said.

“I’m sure they have people here that can handle things a lot better than me, Ian.” He said, not really caring. “It isn’t my problem that he had decided to behave like an ill tempered brute.”

Moments later Nathan appeared into to canteen, and gestured for Jeh-ri to come forward.
His mood fell, as he was going home today, and the last thing he was interested in was spending days in an office.

Ian watched him go, smiling wickedly.

He came to Nathan’s side, who put his hand on his shoulder, and lead on to a corridor he hadn’t been to before, to a hall with elevators all with encrypted access panels.
Zach stood there, hopping from one foot to the other, and quickly entered a code, jabbing at the keys. On door opened and the three of them got in. They moved up quickly to the highest levels of Midgar, and where led through another few corridors, until they entered a wide hall, where they passed several office doors with nameplates, all open as people where buzzing in and out of rooms, giving them curious looks. Apparently, the news of the Generals outburst of random violence had spread far and wide through the floor.

Then they stopped by a door, which had been torn off its hinges and just stood against the wall. Jeh-ri carefully ventured in, as the overhead lights had been damaged too and flickered on and off, adding to the already nervous energy of every one around. When the light did briefly work, he could get a brief glance of the carnage inside. There where long gashes that his Masamune had made on the metal doors of the filing cabinets, a couple having been torn completely away leaving the endless stacks of folders unprotected, and Zach hadn’t exaggerated one bit, in fact he had downplayed the destruction that had taken place.

“Where is-“ he started to ask where the one had stalked off to, who had been the cause of all this, but a sudden tingle struck him that started at the crown of his head and then worked its cold fingers down his spine. It was like having ice dropped into the collar of his Yukata, as Ian frequently did when the snow had arrived again on the temple grounds.

“What is the matter?” Zach asked, as he saw the shorter man grow feint.

“I think president Shinra is putting Sephiroth over his knee, Zach. I’d better steer clear of him for a while. His mood isn’t likely to improve very fast.” he recommended.

“Oh. I see.”

“So why am I here anyway, Zach? The redhead asked.

Suddenly one of the suits appeared out of one the adjoined offices. Nathan recognised him as one a side branch organisation of Shinra called Turks, his name was Tseng.

“President Shinra has asked your commander if you would be so kind to install Trenn Omega, and help digitalise the files, Graduate Seng.” Tseng said. “And he said you would be happy to.”

“Nah bu te at ne whe ut nao oit ta whe fon nik, Nate”
-Did you now, that is very presumptuous of you, Nate.-

whi te at she ne it ki at sho, Jeh-ri?
-Would you do it as a personal favour to me, Jehri?-

the et nu sha mut ne ke shet it na faia eth. The sah na ket te maia de re hum?
- It is not my problem that he has a bad temper. I don’t find him exactly pleasurable company, and now you want me to spend weeks on end here with him breathing down my neck?-

“May I remind you that it is extremely rude to speak in code in front of your hosts, Commander?” The man in the suit said, trying to sound authoritive.

“May I remind you that I am not under your command, and that I will speak to my men any way I see fit, Mister Tseng.” Nathan spat at him through his teeth. “And further more, it is also considered extremely rude to listen in on private conversations.” he added, with such a chill in his voice, it made the suit cringe and retreat to the entrance of his office, out of earshot.
Jeh-ri had trouble repressing a shiver himself.

Nu et ke tsha kat ne up ta ith ne Leisa, Ian, Erik, and Enak., Nu et sha kuh et ?
-you won’t be alone, Leisa, Ian, Erik, and Enak are here too. That isn’t too bad is it?-

“Let Hazel stay too, and I’ll help that overgrown child of yours, Tseng.” he said, loud enough so he would be able to hear. Feeling strong with Nathan in his corner. “Leisa can’t sustain all of us for so long, Nate.” He whispered. “It is all about balance, you taught me that.”

“The deal was that only one woman was allowed to stay. I had to talk long and fast to let them agree to let Leisa stay, leave alone another woman, Jehri. I will leave extra Nutria with you, so you wont need to impose on your friends. Consider Erik or Enak instead.” I nodded. .
“Ill make it up to you.” He said.

He made a decision then, it had been long coming, but now seemed the time to put things in motion, feeling very sad as he made himself say the words, knowing he would be losing someone very dear to him.

“Hazel wants to be trained as reconnaissance scout, Nate. Let her enter the program at Project Ark, and we’ll call it even.” He said.

Nathan smiled. “You should be in politics, Jeh-ri.” He said.

“Nah, I’m no good at selling lies for a living, Nate.” he replied, looking over my shoulder at Tseng who now again had gathered enough courage to venture out of his office.

“That would be an ironic change of occupation for a human lie detector, Graduate Seng.” Nathan said loud enough so the suit would hear.
He briefly reached up to cup his chin in his hand, but remembered where he was and who was watching, and stopped himself.

Zach had been watching the whole time, and he came up to him. “So your staying then?” He said his eyes large with anticipation.

He nodded. “You’d better get Technical Service to fix the lights, Zach. I have a feeling we are going to spend a lot of time in there.”

“Great!” He said, heaving a sigh of relief, and pulled his phone from his pocket.

* * * * *

A couple of hours later all that would go home, had gathered their things and made ready to leave. All of them gathered in the great dome to say farewell to our hosts, and to thank them for their hospitality. At first the whole population seemed to have merged, the browns and greys of our people with the dark blue and purple of the Shinra troops. Then reluctantly the two separated, and moved to opposite sides of the Dome.

They now stood the same way we had about three days ago, only then Jeh-ri had been filled with excitement, now feeling quite empty. Hazel would return to the temple, and wouldn’t be there anymore when he returned from cleaning up the mess the General had made. She would become a reconnaissance scout like him, and would spend several years at the Project Ark academy before he would see her again.

Realizing it was unfair for him to try to tie her down, her totally changing surroundings and people around her, and had to let her go. They had wept, quietly, sad at their parting, but she had realised from the beginning of their affair, just as he had, that what we had wasn’t supposed to last forever.

He would not be able to sustain the change he had made, and she deserved someone who genuinely loved her, and would make her his sim partner. He had thanked her from the bottom of his heart, she had been exactly what he needed, at the time, and she now felt confident enough to move on. A whole new life waited for her on the Cara Maximes, the flag ship of the Project Ark fleet, and having been there himself, and knew she would soar.

The General entered the hall closely followed by Zach and more of his senior officers, and President Shinra, who walked up to Nathan and said some kind of farewell to ‘Commander Charrander and his people’, having greatly enjoyed their accomplishments.

Jeh-ri shook his head in disgust at that remark, as the arrogant fat man had never shown his face during the entire combat competition. The General seemed to share this sentiment, as he slowly turned toward the man, giving him a stare of such undisguised hatred, it would have burned him to a crisp. The man didn’t catch it however, and blurted on in total ignorance.

Sephiroth and the commander clasped their hands together, now also taking each others shoulder with the other hand, and as they thanked one another, exchanged something, a glimmer of understanding, having found someone they could see as an equal, a worthy opponent. Then the Project Ark Academy group stood up, and bowed deeply, which the Sinra group answered, then they turned around, lightly padding on the balls of their once again bared feet, making almost no noise except the soft rustling of their clothes. Hazel managed to hang back, and briefly turned, raising her hand to her former lover.

“Fly, my little Sparrow, fly.” Was the thought he send her, as the link between their spirits already slowly began to fade. She stopped, bowed at him, which he returned. Then she turned and sped away after the others.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, as Leisa pulled him toward her, resting her chin against his upper arm.
“You did good, Jeh-ri. I have never seen her so happy.” She said softly in his ear.
He was just a little sad that he couldn’t have been that what had made her that way.

Erik pulled them into a circle, and their heads rested against each other. Being in this enclosed circle felt good, safe. He felt his sadness fade, knowing his friends where here, it would almost be like the Project Ark days, the only ones missing where Admiral Stone, and Jacco Trenn.

“Enak, lets go teach these snotty-nosed brats to dance, shall we?” he said, his savage grin met by the softer but matching expression of his brother. The two of them walked up to the instructor they would be working with, joined by Ian and Leisa, and Zach motioned for him to follow him. He felt nervous knots rise in his bowels. The thought of being at the scrutiny of the General made him very unhappy indeed.

Thank goodness Zach would be there. He gave the shorter man a small piece of paper with an access code, so he could use the elevators and go up of his own accord.
He also handed him a dark blue sweater, like most of the Shinra officers wore. It had insignia on the shoulder signifying him of the same rank as Zach, allowing him to move more freely. As he pulled over his head, he noticed it didn’t have the slightly chemical smell of a new garment, but carried Zach’s scent.

“This is yours.” he said. “Thank you.”

“It’s okay. I like dark grey better.” He said gently tugging at the one he was wearing.
As we approached the General’s office, they encountered the man Nathan and him had seen before, and couldn’t help but feel there was something off about him.
He came up to him with a little smile playing about his thin lips.

“New addition to the General’s administrative staff, Zach?” he said, his voice quite smooth, friendly even.

“Give me a call when this assignment is over. I could give you a review to join my department instead.” He handed me a business card. Looking at it briefly, but didn’t read it, as he wasn’t remotely interested in what that man had to offer.

“I think your special talents will come to very good use in my branch of the Shinra Company and given the amount of time the Generals usual staff lasts, it won’t be very long, right Zach?” He sneered at the SOLDIER, who shot the man a warning glance.

“I finish what I start, Mister Tseng, you’ll just have to wait your turn.” He said, leaving everything in the middle.

At that he just smiled briefly, and left us alone. The technical department had worked fast, replacing the office door and the dismembered filing cabinets. He first went over to the desk, where the new equipment still sat in its boxes. All the files that had been spilled out over the ground, had been stacked into crates.

Jeh-ri decided it would be better get the new equipment up and running, and started to check out what they had been working with previously.
“We’d better clean out his desk, and get set up. I don’t know if there is any sensitive info in there, you’d better get it out.” Zach nodded, liking that plan. “I’m just going to head back to my room and get my laptop.”

He headed back down stairs, and passed the dome, where his friends where standing opposite a group of frighteningly young looking cadets. Leisa straddling her drum while Erik and Ian demonstrated Kata exercises to the beat she was giving. Then the cadets got up, and bit by bit tried to imitate what Erik and Ian just had shown to them. He realized then how much he would miss his training, the early morning swims with Ian. Dragged himself away, trying to get himself psyched up for the daunting task at hand.

* * * * *

Sephiroth entered the now somewhat restored office. Zach was in there, alone. He was cleaning out his desk, putting restricted files in metal boxes that could be locked.
“Where is Seng?” He asked, irritated at the fact he wasn’t here, when he expected him to be.
“He went to get his laptop and stuff. He suggested that I should remove anything he wasn’t supposed to see.” Zach shrugged.

There was a loft shifting of feet behind him as the redhead had returned.
“Good morning, Sir.” He said softly, inclining his head as he walked passed him and placed a large flat black leather bag on his desk. He wasn’t wearing those weird wide falling pants he usually had on, but dark grey standard army issued pants with large pockets on the sides of his thighs, and simple black leather boots. He also wore a Shinra armed forces sweater he recognised as one of Zach’s. Noticing that he was eyeing him up, he turned to face him.

“Sir, you’re staring.” He observed.

“You have changed. Why?” he asked, wandering at the sudden change.

”I though it was better to fit in a bit more, as I have to move around in areas visitors usually have no access to. I don’t like having to explain my presence all the time.”

“I don’t approve of this though.” He said not agreeing on him carrying the same ranking insignia as Zach.

“That was my doing, I didn’t see any harm in it.” Zach cut in.
The young man lifted his hand, letting Zach know it was alright.

“At the Project Ark forces I hold the rank of Scout Captain, Sir. It is very much alike to Zach’s level.

Really, that’s nice, he thought. “And I am supposed to take your word for that?”

“The rank of Scout Captain isn’t easily given, Sir. I have worked long and very hard to earn it, and to get my own reconnaissance craft.” The redhead had some fire in him, he had to admit. He started to wander how easy it would be to get him to lose his patience. It was something to be explored.
“If you think I am unworthy of your trust, then why do you have me go through your entire filing system?” There was a slight edge in his voice now. He was getting annoyed. Good.

“That wasn’t my idea, it was something the President and your Commander concocted together.” He said, sounding more sarcastic then he had meant to. It wasn’t after all the Graduate’s fault that he got roped into this assignment. He was still extremely aggravated at the reprimand he had received from that fat prick who was still in charge of him, and he needed someone to take it out on. This touchy feely young man served the purpose just fine.

“I don’t like having a perfect stranger sticking his nose into things that don’t concern him.”
Zach cleared his throat, drawing his gaze, and frowned at him.

The young man’s eyes hardened, ready to give another retort, but suddenly softened, and he smiled. What had caused that sudden shift? The young man lifted up his hands in surrender. He had seen something, and now he had closed himself off, no longer sensitive to his provocations.

“Sir, I am here to do a job, will you excuse me?” he said, his voice low, not one hint of anger or sarcasm to be detected. He continued to stare straight into the much taller man’s eyes, and he felt the need to tear into someone bleed away, becoming quite calm.

“Sure, go ahead.” He said, now getting curious.
He turned toward the bag he had placed on the desk and unzipped the top. Then he pulled out a flat black rectangle, about the size of an A 4 sheet of paper, and about two inches thick. He pressed his thumb into a circular patch on the top, and the lid popped open.
The screen flashed green briefly, then the program started up. The redhead continued to pull cables and other little pieces of equipment out of the bag, finding power outlets and setting things up, then placed a small receiver on one of the office windows, securing it with some suction cups, and pressed a series of buttons on the laptop after the little receiver started turning, and finally settled in position. Then clicking on several execution orders and running tests. He also placed fitted an earpiece to his ear, and settled cross legged, placing the laptop on his thighs.

“The connection is great. We have real good reception here.” He said, sounding pleased.
“Your boss must have very powerful friends to be able to shunt the Diana this easily.”
He didn’t like it when people talked about things he didn’t understand, but he was in no mood to ask for explanations. He shot a glance at Zach, who understood.

“What’s the Diana?” Zach asked, now having finished emptying the desk, and sat down beside the Graduate, who shifted slightly so the General could look in over his shoulder. He leant in, resting his elbows on his knees, to look at the vivid pictograms and program files that now ran across the screen.

“The Diana is a very powerful communications satellite. It is so efficient because it exists of several different arrays working together. It is usually only used for government purposes, but I just patched in no problem.

“What do you need the link for?” Sephiroth wanted to know, not being happy at the thought data would soon be broadcasted over the whole planet.
“I need to contact Jacco Trenn, the writer of the program. He is going to talk me through the installation and how to customise the control system.”

“I thought you could do that?” Zach asked, now his turn to be confused.

“I know how to run it, and make small adjustments. I don’t know about the core programming. I need Jacco’s help for that. Hence the link. ” He said, tapping the earpiece.

“Won’t he be asleep now?” Zach asked, thinking of the time difference.

“Jacco seldom sleeps.” He answered.

“When will you be able to start transferring the files, Graduate?” he asked, not wanting to be faced with the mess he had made the previous evening.

“I will need to assemble the hardware first, that will take the rest of the day. We could start tomorrow.” He answered, closing the lid, and putting it back in its bag.

“I will expect you to be here at 7.00 hours, is that going to be a problem?” he asked, hoping that there would be, it would be a good reason to try and pick another argument, but the man just smiled softly, as he told that he was used to rising with the sun, which was about 6.00 am.. He stalked out of the office, leaving the two of them to sort things out.

* * * *

He watched as the general left the office, not happy about not succeeding in trying to provoke him. He let out an explosive breath as the General walked out. Zach saw this and started to laugh.
“Bit abrasive, wasn’t he?” he asked, knowing the answer, having seen this kind of behaviour frequently.
“Is he always like this?” Jeh-ri asked, now more than ever dreading of being locked away with him in here, no way to escape.

“You mean hostile and sarcastic?” Zach supplied.

“That too, but looking for someone to take things out on.” he said. “He was trying to piss me off, but I’m just glad to have caught on in time, before I lost my temper.”

“You, lose your temper?” Zach asked. “That seems very uncharacteristic, Jehr.”

“You don’t know me very well yet, do you?” he said, stating a fact.

“I just hope that General of yours has a sense of humour, otherwise you are going to be in for a lot of fireworks, Zach”

Jeh-ri decided to lighten the work we had to do, pulling a large folder filled with disks, and several pliers and weird shaped screwdrivers, he would need to assemble the new machine, and opened the media program on my laptop. He had endured the silent rigidity long enough. And after having shut the door, he let every piece of aggressive piece of noise he had stored there tear through the stale office. Zach was happily bouncing around with him, revelling at his rebellion.

“What are we going to do with all the files still in here, Jehr? Zach asked now looking at the old machine, that now sat on the floor beside the desk, looking sad and redundant.

“I can convert everything in there to suit the new software easy enough, I just need to download it into my laptop and reconfigure it.”

“Seph is the only one who knows the passwords.” He said.

“Well, then Mister Grumpy will have to rise to the occasion and co-op-er-ate!” He said through clenched teeth, punching at the keys of the new keyboard to emphasize that he didn’t care much for his bad moods.

“I’ll give him a shout.” He said, pulling his phone from his pocket while the other placed my laptop so he could connect the old machine with mine. After giving it some power and having checked the link, he folded all the packing material and boxes into a pile, and stuck them outside the door.

“Here” He said, and he gave me a card with his cell phone number on it.
“Ah does this mean were dating now?” Jeh-ri said, eyes wide, smiling.
“No but it does mean you can call me up in the middle of the night for a hefty helping of phone sex, if you want.”

“You’re a terrible tease, Zach.”

“So, you have managed to be finished ahead of schedule, have you?” The General said as he entered the office again, which now had returned to some level of its former tidiness.

Jeh-ri nodded. “Yes Sir. We can make the first transfers now, but well need your access codes.” He explained, as he sat on his knees behind the desk, then made room for General to take up his seat. Being this close to him made him quiver with nervous energy, his stomach churned.

“Report, Graduate.” He ordered as he sat back looking at the screen.

“Jacco and I are linked by V.D.U. only, he can monitor what is going on in here, but not physically do anything. It is up to us to press the right buttons.” He connected the earpiece to a speaker, so he could listen in.

“What must I do?” he asked looking at the screen which now looked just like the old program he was used to, but had a box in the middle, asking for codes to open the files.

“Jacco, you ready?” he asked.

“Yep, what encryption code are they using?”
He opened the window that analysed encryptions. “Standard military, version 11.a” He said.

“Click on that.” Jacco said, so he did, the outer framing of the screen that at first had been red, now turned to green.

“Just enter your code and hit execute.” He said, sliding the laptop over to the General.
He hesitated, and he could see his problem. The General pulled his gloves off and typed in the codes with the tips of his fingers, and he spotted the tattoo on the back of his hand.

“We are ready, Jac, now what?”

“Drag the files to the conversion program.” he took the mouse, and did what Jacco told him.

“It should say: ’Data transfer commencing’”

“What is happening?” Jacco’s voice sounded tinny through the little speaker.

“Nothing, it is just sitting there.” He said as a small box appeared that read: “Now awaiting access.’ The outer screen had turned red again too.

“Huh? Now what?” Jacco asked as he could watch our progress that now a box appeared that
read: ‘Primary access denied, commencing system shutdown due to unauthorised access attempt.”

“What happened, Graduate?” Sephiroth asked, his voice humourless.

“I have no idea, I’m sorry Sir.”

“What happened, Jehri, the link went dead.” Jacco said.

“We got kicked out, and it shut down.”

“Before or after you clicked on the encryption code?”

“After” he said.

“Then it had been arranged externally. Was the old computer part on an internal network?

“Yes.” he said “I remembered pulling out cables that ran from the back, through the inside of the desk, through one of the desk legs, and into the floor. I re-plugged them automatically when we wanted to restart the old one for the data transfer.”

“Pull them out, and restart the computer.” Jacco said, and he did as instructed.

“Anything happening, Sir?’ He asked as the General had taken place behind the laptop again.
“It appears to be up and running again, but I cant open anything.” He said, sounding slightly concerned.
He turned the laptop around, and showed what he meant. Nothing responded when the mouse pointer slid over the buttons. He hit reboot, and started up in the primary core program.

“Can you see what is going on, Jac?” he asked, resting my chin on the surface of the desk.

“The primary information is still there, so it starts up just fine. Click on the properties of the hard drive.” he did, and could see that only about ten procent of it was currently in use “Ah, I was afraid of that. It has been cleaned out.” Jacco said.

“Jacco, did we kill it?” He asked quietly.

“So what went wrong?” The General asked, his irritation rising at the thought that they managed to loose every stored piece of information that was in the old drive. The hairs at the back of his neck stood on end as for one minute he was afraid he was going to fly into another fit of rage.

“The system self destructed at detecting an intruder in its network. It has either erased the data on the hard drive, or dumped it somewhere externally. In the case of it having erased the data, there is a backup somewhere, all we have to do is find it.” Jacco explained.

“Where would that be, Jacco?” he asked.

“No idea, could be anywhere in the building even on another continent.”
He looked at the General, who just sat there glaring at the black screen.

“I don’t think it would have gone that far. The Shinra building’s systems are a closed system.” Zach offered. It made sense for their internal network to be like the rest of the company. Jealously guarded and protected from the outside world.

Then Jeh-ri got an idea. He pulled the surgical gloves off that he had been wearing when assembling the computer, and started to touch the carpet with his bare hands, searching for clues. Then started thumping the floor with his fist, and found what he had been looking for, discovering a hollow space under the General’s desk.

“Here is something here, a hidden compartment.” He looked at the General, who’s face betrayed nothing, but he suddenly got up fast, his chair flew backwards, and smashed into the wall just behind him. He grabbed one side of the desk and lifted it, pivoting it around the point where the wires entered the ground.

Jeh-ri cringed at seeing the raw display of brute strength with which the man managed to heave the solid hard wood desk several feet away. He realized that if he pushed matters too much, he would easily be thrown through a wall.

Now Zach and him found a seam in the carpet that had carefully been brushed into place, almost making it impossible to see. They wriggled at it and carefully began to tear it away, removing a piece of about one square metre. They found a small access panel, which came to life as it was touched.

“Try one of your codes, Sir.” He said, moving over so he could reach. His fingers moved so quickly he could barely see what he punched in, but the panel changed from pink to green, and a part of the floor popped up, releasing gasses into the office. He pulled the lid open and we could now see several rectangular shapes like a series of linked hard drives suspended in a transparent casing.

“I think we have found what caused the data transfer to fail.” He said to Jacco. “There is a whole secondary system under here, that is wired directly into the mainframe. The hardware up top is just a slave system. It sensed my computer trying to decode the encrypted files, and shut the access down to protect itself.”

“Big brother is watching you, General.” Jacco said.

“Is there a way you can pull the data straight out of here?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. Those systems are usually designed to be one-way traffic. You’d have to get at the master system, where all stored data gets dumped off to on occasion.

“Any suggestions, Graduate?” The General asked, his face quite stony. He quickly looked around for that huge sword of his, afraid he might fall into another fit of rage at this new trick his boss had played on him.

“No Sir, not at this very moment. You are just going to let me chew on this for a moment.”

“Your dismissed, Graduate. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow.” He said, his voice low and tight. He was very glad to be out of the office. After gathering up his things, he left, and went to see what his friends where up to.

* * * *

“What the hell are you up to?” Zach asked, after the redhead had closed the door.

“What do you mean?” the General asked, his voice flat.

“He has volunteered to do this for you, to help us out to get the mess you made sorted out, and you’re behaving like a complete prick. Why?” Zach snapped.

“He irritated me.” Just something about the way he talks, the way he moves, light and fast. Different from what he was used to here. He just couldn’t place it.
“He’s just so.. I don’t know, soft. It was getting on my nerves”

“That’s called friendly, Seph. You wanted me to find someone who would talk about stuff, now you are getting him thrown into your lap. If you don’t play nice tomorrow, you can grill him yourself, Seph, because I wont play that game anymore.” He said, pointing out the lack in social skills his friend had.

“You like him, don’t you.” The older man asked.

“Yeah, sure. He’s friendly, flexible, understanding and caring.”

I see, he is everything that I am not, Sephiroth thought. It would be a very accurate description that they where each other’s opposites in character. The days ahead would be interesting, that was for sure.

“If you don’t need me any further, I think I will go check on how the new instructors are doing.” He said then, but didn’t wait for an answer and left the office, leaving his friend to stew in his own juices.

* * * *

They had worked several classes over that day, and where now experimenting with a more experienced group. He spotted Cloud’s blond spiky head bouncing around with Erik who had taken him aside and was teaching him how to move more tightly, so he would be more efficient with his energy.

Then the wild looking man spotted him, and motioned to come over. He handed him one of the practice swords and shoved him opposite the wide-eyed Cloud.
Cloud started slowly, going through the motions swiping at him with easily blockable blows, Then Jeh-ri feigned catching one of his swings, and sidestepped the weight he put into it, and him having over extended, fell over forward, as he quickly retreated his sword and placed it in his neck. “Don’t be to eager to attack, you tend to over extend, and you’re vulnerable.” He said, helping him up. “Show me what Erik wants you to practice.”

He showed him the movements, but was still using his entire body to do it.
This wasn’t working. “Come here a minute.” He moved behind him, taking his wrist.
Jeh-ri being a couple of sizes bigger, managed to make him move without having to let go of his arm.

He moved him around, letting the sword swing around slowly. Then taking the sword off him, letting him hold on to his wrist, feeling the movements of his muscles. Erik came over, and he caught on what we where doing, came at us slowly, executing the moves he was trying to make Cloud block.

After repeating it a couple of times, Cloud got his sword back, and only holding his shoulders, letting his energy guide him. He managed to block perfectly, then lunged to the point where Jeh-ri pulled him back, to illustrate the mistake he had made before, knowing what
Erik would do.

Erik having taught him that move, swinging their sword up and across to catch the blow that would have taken his head off. Jeh-ri let go of him, and he did do just as Erik just taught him, getting more confident. One of the Shinra instructors then called out, signalling the end of the training. The Cadets let out a moan of disappointment, but headed for the showers bouncy and exited. Enak came over to Erik, his energy glowing. He was enjoying teaching again and now some of the tension had eased between him and his brother, he seemed a lot happier.

Leisa came up to Jeh-ri and planted a kiss on his cheek. “How was your day at the office, dear?” she asked.

“Interesting, I think there will be a bad storm in President Shinra’s office tonight.”

“How come?” Ian asked.

“We found a whole second system under the General’s desk. He is spied on by his superiors.”

“That sucks!” Erik said. “I can’t ever imagine Nathan pulling something like that on one of us.”

“That is because he trusts us. President Shinra obviously hasn’t got a lot of faith in his tamed predator.” Leisa said.

“He is tame only because they have some kind of power over him, they lie to him. I could sense it in the board room the other day. The atmosphere here is thick with lies.” Enak said.

“What happened that you had to go tearing up the floor in his office?” Ian asked.
Jeh-ri explained what happened when we attempted the data transfer.

“Is that all? All you need to do is recreate the identity code of the old computer, and redirect the data dump back into your laptop. You will need to first make sure there is no alarm on the hardware before you pull out any plugs.” Erik said. Jeh-ri pulled his phone out of my pocket, and dialled Zach’s number.

“Yes, Jeh-ri, what is it?” the tension in his voice struck home in his stomach.
Why was he making him feel so damn jumpy?

“Has the General spoken to the president yet? “ He asked, and could hear how he walked into another room as he closed a door and couldn’t hear anyone talking in the background now.

“He is still working himself up to it, he is ready to kill someone.”

“Stop him. I have a solution that will make him happy. He will get his files back and will have the pleasure of having outsmarted his boss.”

“Are you serious?” he said, and he could hear his voice lighten.

“I will see you tomorrow morning, Zach, you have a good night.”

“You too, Jeh-ri.”

“You look weird dressed like that, soldier boy.” Erik said, looking at the shorter man’s clothes.

“Your one to talk, haven’t you got any mirrors in that tree you where last living in, you animated leather clad mop?” He snapped, not in the mood for his harassment.

“Hurray for testosterone!! You tell him, Jehr” Ian yelled.
A whole scala of emotions wormed across his face, before grinning at him. “He gave you a hard time, didn’t he?”

“He’s got problems, that’s for sure.” He said,

“Come on then give me all you got!” Erik suggested, gesturing with this fists.

He didn’t need a second invitation for that as he flew at him, trying to punch him in the face, letting all the pent up anger out, Erik easily dodging and blocking the punches and kicks. After about twenty minutes he was soaked in sweat and badly out of breath.

“Feel better now?” Erik asked. He nodded.

“Fuck me?” he asked.

“That would be a definite ‘no’, Erik.”

..What is with the change of gender anyway, Jehr. Your’e no man. You where always very tom boyish, but your energy field still has woman written all over it… He said, straight into the redhead’s mind..
.. You might have managed to give yourself a dick, and by the looks of Hazel you have learned to use it, but you still carry yourself like a girl, still thinking like one. Sephiroth is no fool, he senses something is off, that’s why he was giving you shit today…so why did you change? ..

.. I found out one day I could…

.. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should..

.. That has never stopped you from not doing anything ..

.. That is no answer..

.. Maybe I did it to stop you from hounding be about sleeping with you..

.. I never said anything about sleeping, I just want to fuck you..

.. whatever, the answer is still no ..

Erik shrugged, and trotted off after the cadets.

Jeh-ri took hold of Enak’s arm as they where walking to their room to shower and change. He watched as every one including his brother had disappeared under the streaming hot water, and Jeh-ri pulled him into one of the corners of the room.

“Silver Hairs is attracted to you, and you like that, don’t you?” He said, and watched his eyes become jittery, trying to avoid looking into his.

“The others might be too occupied with other things right now, not having noticed how you look at him, but I have had my doubts about you since we where at the academy, Enak. I have seen you with girls, you like them well enough, but you never commit. You always stay aloof.” Enak dropped his gaze, frowning.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Jehr.” He said, a pained look twitched at the corners of his eyes.

“You have been hiding this for so long, expending all your energy to prove the contrary. Why did you never get it out of your system, Enak?”

“Erik.” He said, then he dropped his head even lower.

“You are afraid of his opinion on this matter?” he asked, trying to make him see that his preference was his own business and had nothing to do with his brother.

“The fact that he is insecure in his masculinity had nothing to do with you.” He said.

“You don’t understand, he’ll know, he’ll be there with me. Feeling everything that I feel. His disapproval choking the life out of me.” He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, regaining control, calming down. “Why can the just leave me the hell alone.”

“Because, you are all he has, dear.” He said and as put his arms around him he buried his head against the other’s chest. “There where some guys interested in you back home, you surely have noticed.”

“Not my type, too.. faggety, you know?”

“You mean limp wristed and stuff?” he asked.
He nodded, and Jeh-ri understood. Their insecurity and taking on female aspects always annoyed him too. If you preferred your own gender, fine, but don’t go behaving like the opposite sex, becoming some twisted idea of how they thought a woman must behave.

“If you’re a man, be a man about it, if you’re a woman, be a woman about it.” He said, and Enak nodded in agreement.

In that instant he realised what Erik was getting at. He must seem faggetish to Sephiroth too. It would be something for him to think about, something to change in the way he liked to express himself, the way he moved.
“Will you hold me?” He asked quietly. “I want to try, and feel.”

He actually felt like being safe and tucked away with him too, and agreed.

“Jeh-ri Seng, front and centre!” He heard Erik bellow from the shower, and he went in to see what he wanted.
He was still dry, and looked in the mirror with a very unsatisfied scowl on his face.
He grabbed hold of his unruly mop of hair, and pulled it outward.
“I need a haircut!” he said.

“No really!” Leisa gasped, in mock surprise.

“At last!” Ian yelled, “You actually looked into a mirror.” He quickly ran over, touching the smooth glass surface, and said: ”It is still in one piece! Amazing!”

Jeh-ri went and got a chair from the canteen, and rummaged in his luggage for a couple of combs and a pair of scissors.

Erik had wrapped a towel around his waist and sat down as Jeh-ri gave Leisa one of the combs. He cut away the matted hair at ones side around his ear and temples, and did the same to the other side. In the mean while was Leisa combing the knots and snarls from a wide trip beginning at his forehead to his neck. Not being able to find a trimmer, he rubbed a layer of shaving cream along the sides of his head, and Enak handed Jeh-ri the cut-throat razor from Erik’s luggage.

“Wow, that is just so butch of you , Jehr!” Ian jibed, watching as he carefully scraped the edge over Erik’s scalp. Then he went into the shower, and stripped the accumulated grease out of the stripe he now had running over his head. Having combed it all out he now had a light red clean hair stream down over his shoulders, still reaching down to his waist. Then he came out, and dried himself off.

“That would look cool braided down, Erik.” Leisa said, and held up a comb at him
and got him to take his seat again.

Jeh-ri had always fussed over Erik’s hair at the Academy, but now he decided it was one of those things he needed to refrain from doing.

Erik looked at him, a look of puzzlement across his face.

“You made your point, I think it is wise to start acting on it.”

He smiled, nodding his head. Leisa braided his hair down, tying it at the nape of his neck.

“Very nice, all clean.” Leisa said, and Erik tried to kiss her, but she slapped him lightly across his cheek. Then she handed him a broom, letting him tidy up the mess.

“Maybe your should sell bits of that stuff, you have quite a lot of admirers amongst the boys here, you know.” Ian suggested, pointing at the garbage bag now filled with his hair.

“That’s not a good idea. Erik’s hair has been labelled an illegal substance in four known star systems, you know.” Enak said, smiling as Jeh-ri settled behind him, having just come out of the shower himself, and letting him rest against the smaller man’s chest, who wrapped his legs around him and gave him a loud noisy kiss in the nape of his neck.
“Don’t get any ideas, Nakky, Jehri is a boy now.” Erik said, sarcastically.

Enak looked at him from over his shoulder, and let his hand slide between his legs.
“If that is the case, how come you still have a pussy, Jehr?” He whispered, so that only he could hear, gently trailing the tip of his finger just over the opening, tickling the soft hairs there.
…Just wait for everyone to be asleep.. he said, effortless sinking into his mind
..I can hardly wait.. He breathed into the redhead’s ear, his eyes glowing ambers in the dark, as everyone was settling down and Leisa had turned off the lights.

Thankful that everyone was used to falling asleep as soon as the sun went down, he saw Enak kneel beside each one of their little family, ensuring them to fall into a deep first state of sleep, giving them some privacy. Jeh-ri’s breathing already accelerating, anticipating what would come. He had a brief crush on the dark haired man at the academy, but had discarded it, as he had sensed his preference.

It made the pain of losing Hazel dim somewhat, but he couldn’t help but feel a little sour afterwards. It made him consider if this was a typical guy thing, to be able to move on so fast. But then again, Hazel, he had really been in love with, and he doubted that this night with Enak would be repeated.

He was tender enough though, and him with his soft skin, almond shaped eyes and jet black hair was very breathtaking. Jeh-ri was fascinated with Enak's mouth, as he insisted at kissing him slowly, their toungues caressing, building their exitement.

His body lean and muscular, but comforting as he relaxed over him and into him, his hair sliding over his skin, making him shiver. If he where to be with him only once, he decided to go as far as he could, allowing boundaries to shift, allowing the dark haired man to explore the tiny tight opening at the back, easing it to relax.

He looked at the man over him, his expression screwed up in a painful frown, a if in deep concentration, as he slowly started to work his way in. As Jeh-ri adapted and allowed him to sink in deeper, he reached up to touch his face. Jeh-ri's mind started to reel as emotions rose withing the dark haired man, spilling out of his eyes as he buried his face in the redhead's hands. Not being able to contain himself any longer, he started to push in harder, increasing his movements into a rhythm that would allow him his release. Then pouring himself out, and feeding, closing the circle, then breaking it again to reverse it on him.

He rolled off him, pulling the smaller frame Of Jeh-ri on top of him. First using his fingers to enter him, finding it easy as his satiation had left him relaxed and ready. using some of his own fluids as he carefully started, digging in slowly, looking for the g spot hidden inside.

He could feel Enak’s energy shifting, glad the door had finally been opened for him, as Jeh-ri slowly sank into him, as the boundries so long kept in place where finally breached, deeper and deeper, trying to be kind as he had been, but Enak wrapped his legs around the others waist and dug his heels into his buttocks, forcing him in all the way.

“Don’t be kind, Jehr, he won’t be either.” He groaned as he tightened around him.
His whole being strained to maintain control, his mouth pressed against his heaving chest, not being able to make too much noise was torture, having to hold back. He bit into the hard muscle, feeling he wouldn’t last long against this force, and had to release, break free again.

As he came he pressed his mouth against his shoulder, and could feel the vein pulsing there, begging to be pierced. he fed on him, feeling himself bleed back into lucidity. The throbbing behind his ears easing as became himself again.

He felt so utterly spent he couldn’t place the soft poking of the water of the shower rain down upon them as he held him up and gently cleaned him off, kissing his shoulders and mouth. His mind whispering into his.. ‘thank you.. thank you.. for showing me..” He must have carried him off to bed, as he woke some time during the night, entwined in his arms, but not being able to remember how he got there.

*teaser for next chapter: Still remains.
Sephiroth gets his files back, Zach and Jeh-ri spend a moment.
Cloud twist his ankle and he and Zach spend the night in the P.A.A. room


A/n, pff my first yaoi scene is out.. in this storyline anyway. for all you ones disappointed at cutting off the sephXnathan smut, it took me a while to give birth to that event. i have placed in a flashback in a further chapter, dont worry more smut is due! please be patient!
Y.E.S.