Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Family ❯ Meetings ( Chapter 18 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Family
Disclaimer: We do not own any characters of Final Fantasy. They are the property of Square Enix and Sony. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud
W A R N I N G: This is about male pregnancy (possibly) and male/male relationships. We are letting you know now what the relationships WILL contain. So, if you are AGAINST such pairings, please find something else more to your liking, you have been WARNED.

Flames will be ignored.

Special thanks to: those who have read and didn't review thanks for reading thus far. We hope you enjoyed it.

oOoOoOo

Chapter 18: Meetings

Upon Vincent's return back at 7th Heaven, he noticed that the building was in darkness. He walked into the bar-room, smiling to himself when he found it empty. He was grateful for that. He didn't think he would be able to handle all the questions about where he had been.

He realized he didn't hear anything, or anyone, in the upstairs rooms above—all was silent. Tifa and the others must have gone out to dinner with that boy, Cloud, her childhood friend. He vaguely remembered some talk about it. But he wasn't going to worry about missing out. He felt tired. He needed to rest.

Finding his room in the dark was not a problem for him. Neither was finding his worn out shabby bed an issue either. It was his comfort zone….his safe haven… Away from everyone… Away from him.

Vincent went inside his room. Closing the door behind him, he promptly threw himself onto the bed. It enfolded him, encasing his body within its familiar bulk. Vincent felt himself beginning to relax almost immediately.

The low hum of the lamp light above him brought an extra bit of comfort to Vincent. It had taken him well over a day to walk to Mount Nibel, and another day to walk back. And he still felt slightly numb, after being in the ice cold cave. He ached, inside and out. Now, the only thing that he wanted to do, was close his eyes, and rest.

However, his rest was to be interrupted.

For, each time Vincent closed his scarlet orbs, the handsome visage of Cid's face popped into his head. Stolen moments of their encounter would not leave him in peace.

Seemingly, they needed to talk about what had transpired between them.

oOoOoOo

Another hour passed, before the group of friends finally finished with their meal. It took longer than anticipated because of the unexpected news they were privy to, when Sephiroth and Cloud returned to them and told everyone of their engagement.

Much congratulating was done, with the men back slapping and the women crowding to see the ring, now proudly adorning Cloud's finger.

The only ones who weren't really surprised by the couple's announcement were Mrs. Strife, Aerith, and Zack. The dark haired man sat and smiled to himself. He knew all along, that his tall, silver headed friend had found his life-partner in the little blond. He'd known, from the very start of Cloud and Sephiroth's relationship, that it was going to lead up to this point. And he was happy for them both.

Now, if he could only take a page out of Sephiroth's book, and find the courage to ask Aerith to marry him… Then….. Zack would be in heaven too.

Mrs. Strife wiped a tear of joy from her old eyes. She knew Cloud would be well looked after by this man. Sephiroth might well give the outside world the impression of impenetrable emotions….but she knew better. This man loved her son, it showed in every essence of his being. She had nothing to worry about.

The members of AVALANCHE wished them well, and everyone raised their glass of champagne high up into the air, as a toast was made to the happy couple.

All glasses extended in cheer, except one—Tifa's. The dark haired girl was not as pleased, or as happy, as the others were over Cloud's `supposed' engagement. And why should she be? Cloud hadn't exactly told her much about his `boyfriend'….

She knew next to nothing about the guy and his friend, other than the fact that they worked for the Shin-Ra military facility as SOLIDERs. There had to be some way to convince Cloud that he was making a huge mistake by marrying this man.

On the car ride home from the restaurant, amongst all the good natured banter and teasing going on, the martial artist sulked. She was determined that, when she got home, she was going to find out exactly if Sephiroth and Zack were who they said they were.

oOoOoOo

While everyone thought it would be a brilliant idea to give Sephiroth and Cloud a bachelor party together, Mrs. Strife had other ideas. She wanted them to celebrate their last night being bachelors as traditionally as possible. If the men wanted to go out for drinks with Cloud's intended….fine. But she was determined her son was going to have a bridal shower.

Everything to do with Cloud's wedding had already been meticulously planned by his mother, much to Tifa's chagrin. She had it scheduled for the following Saturday. The woman was nothing, if not perfect at organizing, as Sephiroth knew to his cost, since he had witnessed the petite blond at work.

Mrs. Strife was so excited, telling everyone all about the day, and how she expected it to run….. What flowers would adorn the room, what food would be served afterwards. So excited in fact, she hardly realized it had become so late.

Although Tifa had listened grudgingly to all that the older woman had said about her son's forth coming wedding day, she still remembered her manners, and insisted that the woman stay the night.

“There are plenty of spare rooms here, Mrs. Strife,” she argued, when Cloud's mother began to object. “And besides, it'll be nice to have some extra feminine company…right Aerith?”

The other young girl nodded in agreement. “And if you prefer, Mrs. Strife,” Aerith chipped in, “You can always sleep in my room, with me.”

Blue eyes sparkled, as the elderly woman hugged them both tightly. “I'd like to stay…..I'd like to, very much…..Thank-you.”

oOoOoOo

THUMP

ZING

“Ahh-hh!”

CLANK

“Huh!”

SWOOSH

The noise of fighting woke the ex-Turk instantly. Jumping up out of bed, Vincent made a grab for Cerberus, his heart suddenly pounding, his senses fully alert to the danger in his room. Slowly, he came to realize that there was no immediate threat to him. He relaxed his body and lowered his weapon.

The sounds of the blows were coming from outside. Re-holstering the triple barreled revolver, Vincent went to the open window, to see who it was making all the racket.

Leaning out he could see, in the yard below him, two men, stripped naked to the waist. Both were bathed in the glow of the early morning sunlight, which reflected off the sweat on their bodies.

Vincent studied them as they continued to practice sparring.

One was holding a buster sword, wielding the gigantic blade as easily as if it were a child's toy. He seemed to be young. Looking at the man's face, Vincent guessed him to be in his early to mid-twenties, although, the dark spiked hair he sported belied his youth, giving him the impression of an older, more mature appearance.

Even though the second male's back was facing towards Vincent, the gunman could tell that this man was huge in comparison to the much shorter male he was fighting against. Knee length silver hair danced around his agile form, as he easily avoided the cut and thrust of the other's lunges.

His tight denim blue jeans fitted his form perfectly, and showed off his physique to perfection. Vincent caught a glimpse of a tattoo on the man's right arm, a Roman numeral—a number one.

But when the larger male spun about on his heels to block a lethal strike, Vincent's breath caught in his throat. He would recognize that face and long split fringe mane from anywhere.

Although he was staring, Vincent couldn't help it. He couldn't take his eyes off the majestic figure of the man below him. For he knew, without a doubt, who it was that he was looking at.

The combination of the nose and mouth, blended together so well with the slightly smooth pale feminine face. His overly bright green eyes, shining like jewels, were the mirror image of the ultramarine orbs that Vincent had fallen in love with… so many years ago.

He had found the one called Sephiroth.

He had found his son.

oOoOoOo

As Vincent stared from his window, watching the two men duel with each other, another pair of eyes was also watching as well.

Tifa couldn't help but admire the flawless physiques of Zack and Sephiroth—much to her distaste. She wouldn't admit to anyone, much less herself, that she found them both physically attractive. And the early morning display they were putting on……

She felt herself getting wet between her legs.

With an annoyed sigh, she dragged her gaze off the two men and returned her eyes back to the screen in front of her. She had stayed up really late last night, pounding away at her computer, trying to get into the personal file system of Shin-Ra's mainframe. Without success. Now, this morning, she was trying again.

So far, all Tifa had been able to find was Cloud's name and rank. She could find nothing on the other two. And apparently, asking for information on anyone exceeding a 3rd Class SOLDIER was highly classified, no outside access permitted.

This meant that Zack and Sephiroth had to be either 1st or 2nd Class SOLDIERs.

She now realized that tapping into Shin-Ra's computers were a dead end, unless there was some way for her to access it from inside the base. But she didn't think her chances of that were very high.

She tried to recall something that Cloud had said before about his… lover? What was it? If she could only remember, it might help her in her quest.

The sounds of the continuing fighting outside drew her attention once again to the window. Tifa found herself focusing on the high speed sword duel. The two men were both fast, and deadly.

She watched, impressed, as the dark haired man raised his sword….and brought it down to cleave Sephiroth in two. It would be a perfect hit, she thought, the silver haired man would lose. She couldn't help a small smile of satisfaction creeping onto her lips…. a smile that froze, as she saw Sephiroth leap into the sky, and seemingly float, suspended in mid-air, for several seconds.

The dark haired man was yelling something, but through the closed window, Tifa couldn't quite catch what it was he said. Glancing back across at Sephiroth, who was now back down on the ground and reaching for a cloth to wipe his upper body with, she saw that he was smirking.

Tifa hated that smug look.

And if it was the last thing she did, she was going to wipe that look off his holier-than-thou face, forever.

oOoOoOo

“Goddamn it, Seph! You're not playing fair!” Zack had shouted, pitching his sword into the ground, unable to pursue his friend, who had floated gracefully up high into the air above his head.

“You should learn how to fly, Zack, otherwise you'll never be able to catch me,” Sephiroth had replied, amusement lacing his soft baritone voice. He began to slowly descend to the ground, collapsing from over balancing as his feet touched the ground.

He fell to his knees, and cursed his own ineptness, his bad language causing Zack to fall about laughing.

“Yeah, show off….You can certainly go up…but your coming downs need a bit more practice.”

“Loser,” Sephiroth laughed, picking himself up off the ground, dusting off his jeans. “At least I can do it!”

He was still smiling as he bent and reached for a towel. Reaching back to rub his shoulders dry, his one black feathered wing popped out unexpectedly. Usually, his trench coat would hide the appendage…..the tough leather material the only thing strong enough to keep it folded and contained. He had gone through four dusters because of the blasted thing! Now he eased it carefully back into his body, before wrapping the matching denim coat back around him.

Zack's playful laughter abated once Sephiroth was back on his feet, coated and with Masamune hid out of sight.

“Man, you have got to tell me how you do that,” the dark haired man said in awe, as the seven foot blade disappeared. “How do you make it come and go like that? And where the heck did you get such a formidable blade?”

Masamune was a beautiful, but deadly sword…. crafted unlike any other weapon. Although it was beyond any normal man's ability to weld it, because of its impractical length, Sephiroth made it look easy, when he fought with it, the weapon virtually weightless in his hand.

“I—I really don't know how I do it. And, to be honest, I don't even know where I got it from…..It just appeared to me one day when I was training. I nearly killed my instructor with it. I didn't even know it was in my hand until he hit the floor,” Sephiroth explained, retelling how Masamune came to be in his possession. “Of course,” he continued, laughing, “Hojo got a massive hard-on when I cut off my instructor's arm with it.”

“Too much information, man. Too much information,” Zack replied, laughing along with his friend.

A door opened, and a head popped out. “Zack! Sephiroth! Breakfast is ready!” Mrs. Strife called out to them. Holding the door open wide, she smiled, as her son's dark haired friend made a mad dash towards her, whooping with joy that his stomach was to be fed.

Sephiroth took his time going back inside. He wasn't a big eater, unlike Zack, who he was sure would have taken all the pancakes by the time anyone else had even managed to sit down.

The dining area was on the other side of the bar. Walking past there, the General noticed a new face. He openly started at the handsome dark haired man sitting there, taking note of the form fitting black leather pants and black shirt the man wore.

The red cloak that was draped around his shoulders had a collar that was pulled up, shielding the lower half of his face. A red head band swept his long dark hair to one side of his face, covering half his features, leaving just one eye showing.

A vivid, crimson red eye.

And Sephiroth was amazed….he had never seen anyone with such a strange type of eye coloring.

“You're staring, Seph, sit down,” Cloud hissed. The seat next to him was vacant, and he didn't want Tifa to go sitting by him just yet. He was still feeling hurt that she hadn't congratulated him on his engagement.

As if acting on auto-pilot, Sephiroth did as he was told, taking the seat next to his beloved, and accepting the glass of orange juice that was pressed into his hand. But still he felt his eyes drawn back to the mysterious stranger.

“Do I know you?” he finally asked.

Cid put his plate down, and stood up to make the introductions. “Sephiroth this is Vincent…..Vincent Valentine. And Vincent, this is Seph-”

Before Cid could finish the introduction of Vincent to Sephiroth, the glass in the General's hand broke, the shattered pieces falling onto the table.

Everyone watched speechlessly as Sephiroth's hand remained tightly gripped in a fist shape….even though it was obvious he had cut himself on the glass shards. Blood was spilling out through his tightly clenched fingers.

Cloud and his mother hastened to clean up the contents of juice and blood, fetching clean cloths to wipe up the mess Sephiroth had unwittingly made.

Aerith quickly skirted around Cloud, and wrapped the General's bleeding hand to staunch the flow. But to the young woman's surprise, the jagged cut had already begun healing itself.

“Seph?” Cloud said gently, placing a hand on his lovers shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. But the silver haired man ignored him.

“I… uh… please, excuse me.”

Sephiroth stood quickly, and left without another word, leaving everyone, including Cloud, staring after him.

oOoOoOo

Some time later, Vincent found Sephiroth far away from town. The silver haired General stood alone, staring out across the border that led into Edge.

Those at the breakfast table had been shocked at Sephiroth's reaction, and in a bold move which shocked even him, Vincent had volunteered to search for Cloud's fiancé and promised to bring him back.

Now that he had found the man, what could Vincent possibly say to him? “Hi there, Sephiroth….I'm your father?” Or maybe… “I know you may not want to hear this, but…..”

Deciding to stay on safe ground for now, Vincent simply said, “Cloud sent me to check on you.”

He didn't receive a reply. The tall man still stood immobile, staring out over the horizon, his back stiff and rigid.

“Look, Sephiroth-”

“Do you know…?” Sephiroth suddenly said, his voice low, almost as if he were talking to himself. “You have the most unusual color of eyes I have ever seen. And I thought mine were different.” He turned now to face the long dark haired man.

Vincent smiled, but it was hidden behind the collar of his cloak. His red eyes sparkled as he answered.

“It's a family trait. Only the males are gifted with ruby jeweled spheres.”

Now that the ice had been broken between them, he dared to go and stand at Sephiroth's side. He glanced across at him, taking pleasure in looking at his son's face, his features so much like his mother's.

“I'm sorry that my arrival upset you,” he said, genuine concern in his voice. It had never been his intention to meet his son in such an unorthodox way.

“I must admit that your presence astonished me,” Sephiroth said. “Please forgive me for my rude behavior.”

Silence fell upon them. But it was a comfortable silence. And Vincent was enjoying spending time alone with his son, even if Sephiroth was unaware that he was such. But after a few minutes, Vincent knew he had to keep his promise to Cloud. The boy would be out of his mind with worry.

“Come on. I'm sure your friend Zack is getting ready for your stag party,” Vincent ventured.

“Hmm….. If I know him, and I do, he's probably already cleaned out Tifa's entire liquor supply,” Sephiroth joked.

“Well, if he hasn't, then we can finish the rest,” Vincent laughed back.

“I'm not usually one for drinking, but I bet I can drink you under the table,” Sephiroth challenged, finding it fairly easy to banter with this mysterious man.

“I'm not one for drinking either. But well….. You know…I might take you up on that.”

Together, they walked back to the bar. It didn't bother them that they were in each other's company. Sephiroth was only too glad of the man's easy companionship. And the only thing that mattered to Vincent was that he was getting along with his son….. and that Sephiroth had made a new friend.

oOo TBC oOo

A/N: So, finally, Sephiroth and Vincent met. But Vincent didn't tell him that they are related. What's up with that? Will Vincent tell the General that he is really his father? Or will Vincent keep that information to himself? And what's the deal with Tifa? She's going to be a pain in Cloud's side for a minute. Is going to give up on him now that he and Sephiroth is engaged or will she try to break them up? Don't know? Well, stay tuned for the next chapter.

Mitts & ArchNemesis

oOoOo Teaser for Chapter 19 oOoOo

“Tifa, for once could you be happy for me? It's not like he's just marrying me for the baby,” Cloud blurted out.

Tifa started laughing. “You don't actually believe that you're having a baby Cloud, do you?”