Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Where the lost ones go ❯ Until death do us part ( Chapter 18 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

18. Until death do us part

Aeris wrung her hands nervously, having spent the last hours reassuring Tifa that a second Meteor wouldn't strike during the wedding and ruin everything, that tension was bound to be contagious!
Glancing around around, she saw all the people milling about aimlessly in claimed search of their respective places and managed to give Shera a little wave where the brunette was dragging a sullen Cid with her. Even Rain had managed to persuade Vincent to honour them with his looming presence! Cloud was currently talking to Tifa, while Jessie and Yuffie was talking to Seto. Yes, the huge cat-beast had arrived, but there was no sign of a certain silver haired man!
Whining silently, Aeris got up on her tip-toes and scouted hopefully towards the entrance. He'd promised to be there! He said he'd be right along!
That was now two hours ago, and the ceremony would start in 30 minutes!
Aeris swallowed down her disappointment and sagged slightly. He wasn't going to show, was he? Sephiroth had muttered something about big crowds making him uneasy, but she asked him in her sweetest tone for his support and he'd agreed.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Aeris drew a shivering breath. She couldn't really blame him. Wherever he went, people was always staring at him in awe-inspired fear. No wonder that he didn't want to be put on display in a wedding that involved people that were her friends, who had tried to kill him once.
She just had to make up a plausible excuse to serve Cloud to avoid any more arguing between the two.
"What's with the glum look?" A voice asked from behind her, and there was no doubt as to the owner of that voice.
Gasping, Aeris spun around with a burst of joy. "Sephiroth!"
She froze at the sight of the man who smiled carefully at her and held out his arms for her judgement.
Sephiroth's formal uniform simply took her breath away, and Aeris slowly raised a hand to her mouth to keep back unintelligent blubbering from escaping. All black, with shining gold shoulderpads, and gold twice circling his cuffs, Sephiroth's silver hair seemed to gleam and his eyes burning with the colour of the very Lifestream.
But before Aeris managed to kick her brain into forming sentences for her mouth to speak, Sephiroth took a step back and motioned towards her dress. "You look beautiful, Aeris...!"
Still mute, Aeris glanced down at her dress. Strap-less, it showed a lot of back and Aeris had no idea what was really holding it up, but prayed whatever did it kept working! The soft pink colour complimented her skin, and long gloves of the same colour slithered up to her upper arms. Wearing a sparkling silver necklace, combining it with silver bracelets over the gloves and silver earrings, Aeris smiled shyly as she felt more dolled up than she'd ever been. Even her hair was styled differently, silver glittering where her hair was set up, while most of it was free to dance down her back with her movements. Only a few curls were allowed to frame her blushing face, and Aeris avoided Sephiroth's eyes embarrassed. "Thank you..." Drawing a deep breath, she forced herself to look at him once more and to become even more flustered. "Sephiroth... Wow!"
Laughing sheepishly, Sephiroth offered his hand to her. "Thanks. Shall we?"
Aeris slipped her hand into his and was relieved to have him guide her towards their places. "I... I was afraid you wouldn't show up."
"I said I would, didn't I?" Sephiroth said lightly, giving her a gentle smile.
Nodding, Aeris was slightly worried that the blush would now never leave her face. "You did. But I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be paraded in front of all these people..."
Sephiroth didn't reply for a few seconds, then he gave her hand a soft squeeze. "And leave you to face the mob alone? Never!"
Aeris giggled softly, inching slightly closer to him. "I'm glad you came." Then, as they'd found their places, Aeris bit her lower lip impishly before adding; "Sephiroth, remind me to show you just how grateful I am later, ok?"
Starting, Sephiroth gazed quickly over at her and made an incredulous sound. "And now you expect me to keep patiently still throughout this entire ordeal?"
"Ok," Aeris laughed silently, "I wont show you my gratitude then. Don't worry about it."
"That is not what I meant!" Sephiroth hissed, a tension to his spine. "And you know it!"
Aeris turned slightly, leaned up as she tugged on his hand and placed a soft kiss on Sephiroth's cheek. "There. Now, behave! Ok?"
Shoulders sagging, Sephiroth sighed deeply with a suffering look. "Yeah, ok."

Cloud was leaning against the door with his arms crossed as the woman was doing the final touches on Tifa's veil before stepping back with a satisfied sigh.
Tifa was currently looking at herself in the huge mirror in front of her with a dazed look in her deep wine coloured eyes. Was it possible? Was it really her in that snow white and breath-takingly beautiful dress? Was it really her that was going to marry the man that made her heart thunder and her knees melt?
There was nothing in the world that could ruin things now!
"Tifa..." Cloud slowly straightened and walked over to her. "You ok?"
Nodding, Tifa bit back tears. This was so silly! Why was she crying? There was no reason for her to be crying! It was just... She was so damn happy, that's why! Tifa had to smile at her own silliness, but she'd never been this happy before!
Cloud halted beside her, seeing their combined reflection with a concerned look. Something just didn't feel right. The sight of his Tifa in a wedding dress, ready to marry a ShinRa. It was no secret that not a single one of the ShinRa wives had lead happy lives, and very short ones at that. "Tifa... are you really sure about this?"
Glancing over at him, Tifa sniffled a smile. "Of course I am." Then her smile faded and she tilted her head with a worried frown. "What's wrong, Cloud?"
"It's just..." Cloud turned away and rubbed his neck. "I don't know..."
Tifa reached out and placed a light hand on his shoulder. "Cloud... Tell me what's wrong?"
Cloud turned his face slightly, seeing their reflection once more in the mirror. Tifa in a wedding dress, even more beautiful than before, with her hand reaching out for him. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be? He remembered Barret telling him to do something before it was too late when they'd been gathered the final time after the defeat of Sephiroth. That Cloud had to open his eyes and realise how amazing Tifa was. How she was waiting for the chance she'd missed out on when they'd been nothing but children. He hadn't done anything then. The memory of Aeris still too sore and his heart still heavy with loss. When Rufus had left for Midgar without Tifa, Cloud had asked her to come with him. She knew he only asked her because he hoped it would take away a little of the sadness in her eyes, and so she had refused. Cloud didn't really fight her decision. He'd been so tired back then.
Cloud closed his eyes. All he wanted was to have Aeris return to him, only to find that having your wish granted doesn't always mean you get what you want. Tifa had always been his cliff. His pillar that he could always rely on. A part of him realised she only was trying to repay him for the way she had treated him when they were children, and perhaps that was why he never really could fall in love with her. He would forever remember the look of cold indifference in the wine coloured eyes when they'd gazed upon him. It was a long time ago, and he didn't resent her for it. He'd just been unable to forget that look.
But the thought of loosing Tifa to another man.
"Cloud?" Tifa's gentle voice pulled him back to reality, and she was looking uncertainly at him.
"I don't want to loose you..." Cloud whispered, reaching up to place a hand over hers.
The world came to a screeching halt and Tifa almost forgot to breathe. A year ago, she might have been so happy to hear those words, but all they did now was drive a sharp pain through her. Her eyes were open now. "You don't love me, Cloud. You never did. You never will."
Starting at her softly spoken words, Cloud gazed hastily over at her. "Tifa, I..."
Tifa placed a gentle finger to his lips, halting the words that would only hurt them both. "You're not going to loose me, Cloud. You never will. But Rufus loves me. And I love him. He makes me happy, and I want to spend the rest of my days making him happy." She managed a trembling smile, letting her hand slide over to let her fingertips trail along his jawline. "You have to let go of the past, Cloud."
Cloud closed his eyes in defeat. "It's not that easy..."
"No, it's not," Tifa agreed softly. "But you need to let go, and open your eyes as to what is right in front of you."
Frowning confused, Cloud sent her a quizzical look.
Tifa gave a final gentle smile, then turned back to her reflection. Once Cloud let go of Aeris as well, then maybe he could see the woman who loved him more than anything. Yes, maybe then Cloud would see Jessie.

Rufus lifted a hand to loosen his collar slightly, fighting against the notion that the damn thing was getting tighter by each second in an effort to strangle him.
It wasn't unlikely that one of the anti-ShinRa groups had infiltrated and planted a suffocating-collar shirt, was it?
"Nervous, sir?" Reeve asked smoothly, obviously trying to keep a smile off his face.
"Of course not!" Rufus snapped, his already frayed nerves sizzling dangerously. All he could focus on was everything that could go wrong!
"Looks about ready to wet his pants!" Reno declared loudly from his slouched position in a nearby chair, an annoying grin plastered on his face.
Rufus twitched.
Reeve sighed and sent a correcting look over at the Turk. "Watch your mouth, Reno. Unless you want to loose your precious job, that is."
The red head snorted, sitting up slightly. "And then who would do all his dirty work, eh?"
Rufus' eyes narrowed slightly and he glanced over without turning his face. "Reno?"
The Turk tensed and the smile wavered. "Yeah?"
"Shut up." Rufus returned to the devious weapon trying to tighten around his throat again, ignoring the Turk who fell back into his previous position to keep quiet. He also made a point of ignoring Reno poking his tongue out to Rude, who had raised a smug eyebrow. Clearing his throat, Rufus flicked back his hair. "Reeve, you know nothing is to go wrong today?"
Smiling, Reeve held up Rufus' jacket to help him slide into it. "Affirmative, sir. I've personally made sure that everything will work out perfectly!"
Rufus sighed, adjusting the jacket slightly. Why was he so damn nervous?
Rufus ShinRa was the most powerful man on the planet, maybe not counting Sephiroth and his overgrown toothpick, but in money and armies ShinRa was the strongest! He's heard from reliable rumours that his looks were pretty good to the female eye, and he was slightly inclined to agree. He had everything he wanted, and the woman that brought him to his knees had agreed to marry him!
So why did he feel like running in to the bathroom, lock the door and refuse to come out?
Rufus managed a faint smile, wondering if anyone would believe that he too was capable of feeling jitters?
Probably not.
Drawing a deep breath, Rufus lifted his chin. Ready or not...
Turning around, he walked out of the room and out to bind himself to the world's most beautiful woman.
And the second Tifa appeared, the nanosecond second his eyes fell on her, Rufus exhaled and felt calm settle over him.
It could almost seem like the world calmed as well, the tension and anxiousness vanished from the air as Cloud lead his childhood friend down the aisle. Even the blonde managed a weak smile as they reached the end, and he let Rufus take Tifa's hand before stepping back.
Aeris glanced over at Sephiroth, smiling happily, and giggled silently at the colour that crept over his cheekbones. She decided to let him suffer a little longer, not worried herself as she knew the time would eventually come for herself and the silver haired general.
Shera hugged Cid's hand a little tighter, but was too embarrassed to meet the amused look he sent her. Weddings always made her sentimental, and the pilot simply loved to tease her for it. Most likely to make sure that she didn't see that weddings made his eyes suspiciously moist as well.
Beside them, Yuffie was finally able to smile for real since the news of Wutai. It was good to see her friend happy again. Her heart was still filled with sorrow and the need for revenge, but this wedding helped prove to her that there was some good in the world still. It was still things worth fighting for.
Rain was careful not to look over at Vincent, knowing he would see the longing in her eyes and that was certain to push him away. Being with Vincent Valentine was not easy, but it was worth it. Instead she focused on Tifa and Rufus, letting their happiness warm her for now.
As the talking began, Cloud swallowed hard and tried to be happy for Tifa. It wasn't easy, and he knew she deserved better than the brat prince, but if this was what she wanted then he was going to support her in any way her could. Cloud knew he'd had his chance with Tifa, and like an idiot, he'd ruined it. Unknowingly, his mako eyes wandered over to a certain flower girl. Aeris was smiling, her face flustered with excitement, and her green eyes filled with that kindness that had thawed his heart. Cloud closed his eyes as he saw her give that smile and her kindness to Sephiroth.
In his undecidedness, he'd lost them both, hadn't he? First Tifa. And now Aeris.
It was most likely life's sense of irony that the man who'd been unable to hurt either of them would end up alone.
A hand tentatively touched by his, and Cloud glanced over to see Jessie smiling carefully to him.
Cloud smiled warmly, taking her hand in his to give it a gentle squeeze and didn't let go.

Man and wife.
The words kept repeating inside Tifa's head, like she was afraid it would all prove to be a dream, and she had to wrap both her arms around Rufus' neck as he kissed her to keep from sinking to her knees. The crowd's cheer sounded distant, and all she could register was Rufus and her own thundering heart.
Barely lifting his lips from hers, Rufus saw the dazed look in Tifa's eyes and smiled. "Why, hello there, Mrs ShinRa..."
Tifa trembled, but managed to gather herself. "Hello yourself, Mr Tifa..."
Laughing, Rufus turned her so they could walk down the aisle and towards their future.
They had taken two step out of the building when the first loud bang was heard and Rufus quickly gazed over at Reeve.
Shrugging, Reeve gave a wide smile. "You never said I couldn't order fireworks, sir."
The crowd gasped delightedly as a second rocket exploded into a huge star in the sky, and Rufus shook his head with a smile. "I told you I didn't want this turned into a circus, Reeve..."
Tifa tugged on his arm, gazing up at the sky with shining eyes. "Oh, Rufus! It's beautiful!"
Glancing up, Rufus saw the displays of green and purple stars that followed. "Yeah... I guess it is..."
The amazing display continued even after they had entered the grand hall and the music was swimming through the air.
Watching Tifa and Rufus dance for a little while, Aeris then went in search of a silver haired general.
Giving instructions to the security officers, Sephiroth spun around with an annoyed look when someone tapped his shoulder lightly. His look quickly turned into one of delighted surprise when he was finding himself face to face with Aeris. "Aeris? Something wrong?"
"I just remembered something..." Aeris smiled as she took a hold of his hand and pulled him along towards the dance floor.
Sephiroth frowned slightly as he reluctantly let her lead him through the crowd. "And what was that?"
Halting just about in the middle of the dance floor, Aeris placed one of his arms around her waist while taking his remaining hand in hers, as her other hand came up to rest on his shoulder. "I wondered what it would be like to dance with you with actual music..." She gave him a tender smile, her heart thundering at his close presence.
The first moments of hesitation vanished and Sephiroth returned her smile. He'd almost forgotten. It seemed almost like a lifetime ago when he'd been under Jenova's control and Aeris had asked him to dance under the northern light. Just the two of them, the brilliant colours of the northern light dancing above them and glittering on the snow. How he missed the time when it had been just him and Aeris, but for now he was given the chance to pretend.
Aeris knew Sephiroth was a good dancer, but she was still amazed when he lead her into the dance and wondered if Cinderella had felt like this. Dancing with the world's most handsome prince at the ball. Who said fairy tales didn't come true?
"When all of this is over and Cid is safe again, can we return to Icicle?" Sephiroth asked softly, holding her close against him. "I miss you. Miss when it was just the two of us."
Nodding, Aeris was almost ashamed to admit it. "I miss being alone with you too." Some friend she was. But it was the truth, and Aeris couldn't lie. Especially not to Sephiroth. The flower girl had promised to show the world to Sephiroth. She had vowed to demonstrate all the good things it could offer him. But in reality, Aeris wanted nothing more than for them to return to their little house, where she could revel in the man that was Sephiroth without any restraints.
Feeling a shiver run down his spine, Sephiroth leaned slightly closer to place a warm kiss by her temple, reptilian eyes catching the angry glare sent by Cloud and the general smiled.

Tifa was smiling in her sleep, face nuzzled into her pillow, as the constant knocking on the door woke up Rufus.
Sighing, the young man reluctantly untangled himself from the woman that was now his wife and he rubbed his face before pulling on a pair of pants. Dragging his feet out to answer the door, Rufus leaned against the doorframe with an annoyed and sleepy look on his face as he yanked open the door. "What?" After carrying Tifa over the famous threshold, it hadn't been much sleep on either of them, and they were supposed to go on their honeymoon, dammit!
Reeve blinked wide-eyed, swallowing down his embarrassment to find his superior in only a semi-dressed state. "I'm dreadfully sorry, sir, but..."
Rufus rubbed his face again, feeling like someone had poured sand into his eyes. "Reeve... This had better be important, or you WILL be real sorry!"
"It's Costa del Sol, sir!" Reeve blurted out, clutching a file to his chest in a defensive motion. "It's under attack! Sources seem to imply it's the same army that destroyed Wutai!"
Instantly awake, Rufus straightened abruptly and stepped into the hall to close the door behind him. He didn't want Tifa to hear this. Not yet. "Send out the troops. I want that attack stopped at all costs! Drive them back! I wont tolerate failure!"
Reeve nodded and backed away. "I will give the order immediately!"
"Send Sephiroth," Rufus declared sharply. "Take prisoners if possible, but don't risk any of our men. We need information, but we need our firepower more. Tell Scarlet to meet me in my office in 15 minutes, and alert Strife as well!" He turned to enter the room again, but paused to glance over at Reeve. "Something else?"
Starting to life, Reeve held out a file quickly. "The report on Jinrei, sir!"
Stalking over to take it, Rufus nodded at Reeve. "Get going!" He didn't bother to watch as the other man ran down the hall, but entered the room again and closed the door silently behind him. No, it would seem that things had been going a little too well. Tifa was going to be devastated.
Rufus sighed as he watched the dark haired woman sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of what was happening. "I'm sorry, " Rufus whispered, sitting down to stroke a featherlight hand over her hair. Then he turned and walked out into the bathroom.
Scarlet was already waiting for him when Rufus arrived at his office, and he gave her a slight nod before he slid into his chair.
"Tifa?" Scarlet asked, trying hard to make her voice sound neutral.
Rufus tensed slightly, frowning. "I decided to let her sleep a little longer. She's going to be disappointed soon enough. Let her dream a little while longer." He glanced over as Reeve entered the office as well. "The troops ready for departure soon?"
"Yes, sir!" Reeve shifted uneasily, "General Sephiroth will lead them out in half an hour."
Rufus nodded and leaned back. "So what do we know?"
"Annoyingly little," Scarlet sneered. "It appears that the attack came out of nowhere, but there is not reported any amphibian troops, though. No demands has been made, and it gives cause to believe that they're only out to destroy this town like they did Wutai."
"That's not going to happen," Rufus declared in a steel voice. Then he glanced down at the file on his desk, having not had the chance to read it. "So give me the basics on Jinrei."
Reeve stepped forward and cleared his throat nervously. "Yes, well, we know that he was... 'is' Professor Gast's brother, and was working for ShinRa. I did a little digging about his projects, and most were research about materia. In fact, his latest project was called Quondam. I don't know how much you know about the legend of the four materia's given to the humans from the depths of the planet itself?"
"The huge materia?" Scarlet asked, studying a blood-red nail.
"No, that's a common mistake," Reeve declared gently. "After the Cetra's downfall, the humans were granted four great materias. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. Four warriors claimed a materia and humans were divided into four kingdoms. And to stabilize the power struggle between them, the kingdom in the north, the fire tribe, possessed the Earth materia. The kingdom in the south, the earth tribe, possessed the Fire materia. The wind tribe in the west possessed the Water materia, while the water tribe in the east had the Wind materia."
Rufus shook his head. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"Legend said these materias had great powers. The Earth materia could create earth quakes to shatter continents to islands, while the Wind materia could lay fields bare as deserts with it's storms. The Quondam project was researching wether or not there was any facts to these legends." Reeve glanced down at the file with an uneasy look. "And it appears that Jinrei found a lot to support the hypothesis that it might just not be mere legends after all..."

Rufus found it hard to believe, even as he had the notes by his side and was staring at the world map spread over his desk.
Cloud had finally arrived as well, and was currently being updated by Reeve.
"Then what happened?" Rufus interrupted, ignoring the annoyed look Cloud sent him.
Clearing his throat, Reeve walked over to gaze down at the map as well, followed by the blonde. "Apparently, a war broke out when the earth tribe and the water tribe combined forces to steal the Earth materia from the fire kingdom in the north."
"Their attack failed..." Rufus concluded, knowing the lands in the north were nothing but ice covered plains.
"Yes, and no," Reeve said vaguely. "There are different stories as to what happened, but it looks like the fires died out in north as the Fire materia was destroyed. The continent of the earth tribe was shattered when the Earth materia was destroyed, thus leaving the small islands and Mideel as we know it. The water tribe was destroyed in the battles between the fire and earth tribes, storms from the broken Wind materia reducing the thick forests in the east to plains."
"What about the last one?" Cloud asked, rubbing his neck while trying to keep up with everything. "You said there were four tribes, right?"
Reeve nodded, tapping a finger on the west continent. "The wind tribe is the only one who is not accounted for in the legends. I believe Jinrei found some clues as to that the tribe survived, but hid their materia from outsiders and later it was handed down the generations."
Rubbing his temples as he felt a head ache comming on, Rufus sighed. "Ok, so this Jinrei guy is insane. We already know that. Why is he so obsessed with Cid Highwind?"
"Well, I took the liberty of doing a little research myself, based upon Jinrei's notes," Reeve admitted sheepishly. "According to his research, there are a couple of historical figures that might stem from the wind tribe due to unexplainable powers and odd incidents. I tracked down their offspring and found three persons with direct bloodline to these. A girl, who was mystically murdered 3 months ago, and a man who died in Midgar under the Meteor incident. The last one is..."
"Cid," Cloud declared absently, finding it hard to believe. "Jinrei wants to kill Cid because he thinks he is of some ancient family? That makes no sense!"
Scarlet frowned as she crossed her arms. "Jinrei thinks Cid knows where the materia is?"
"Probably," Rufus agreed, knowing the odds just got worse. It was difficult enough to deal with a mad man, but even harder to deal with a fanatic mad man.
Cloud shook his head, not understanding how they could be so calm about it. "But that doesn't make any sense! If he thinks Cid has this materia, why kill him? If he kills Cid, there is no way for him to find the damn materia, is there?"
"The man is insane, Strife!" Rufus snapped annoyed, not needing the blonde's whining at that moment. "Who the hell knows what kind of logic goes on inside that twisted mind! But all of this is just going to have to wait! Right now, we got to focus on Costa del Sol!"
Cloud fell silent, but the uneasiness was not fading at all. There was still too many questions not answered...

General Lee motioned the men to step back, and the door to the tank slammed shut.
Only then did he dare to exhale and he lowered his gun. "Mission accomplished, men. Report back tomorrow at 6 am. Dismissed!"
The soldiers exited the room only too happily, several of their fellow soldiers dead or wounded by the creature they had risked their lives to capture and return to the base. It was a creature of utter death and destruction, and yet they feared a fate even worse than death by disobeying orders from the boss himself, Doctor Jinrei.
"Well done," Jinrei smirked as he sauntered into the hall where the tank was slowly winched up to be placed on a elevator for vehicles. He'd known that his order would be carried out or none of the soldiers would return, but he was pleased to have not lost his second best general.
Lee bowed tensely, but started slightly as the tank was put down and the loud clang echoed through the hall. "Permission to speak, sir?"
Jinrei's eyes were locked on the tank, barely keeping from walking over and peer into the small window he'd ordered to be installed in it. "Permission granted, general."
"What is that creature? What is it's use, sir?" Lee could see nothing of value in that shapeless monstrosity, but knew the boss loved to play with all kinds of tests.
Chuckling softly, Jinrei glanced over at the young man by his side. Sometimes it was almost easy to forget that General Lee was in fact nothing but a boy, no more than 19 years old. "That creature, as you put it, is the beautiful Jenova. You should show her some respect, Lee. It was she who summoned the Meteor, you know."
Paling, Lee glanced quickly over at the tank again as it was descending down into their base. That was Jenova? The crisis from the sky? The one who merely existed to kill? "You intend to use her, sir?"
Jinrei hummed thoughtfully, taking off his glasses to polish them with a flick of his lab coat. "Jenova is nothing like the creatures we have used up til now, General. She's a cunning one. Intelligent. After all, she was the downfall of the great Hojo. I didn't think anyone could pierce the armour of that man, but Jenova played him like a marionette! Yes, I think Jenova will be of great use to us, but we're going to have to be careful!"
With that, Lee could only watch as Jinrei placed his glasses back on and walked over to the staff elevator with a cheerful whistle. Sometimes, though he loathed to admit it, Lee suddenly had an eerie notion that Jinrei had more than a flicker of insanity in his genuineness. Shaking his head, Lee told himself to stop it and marched off to the communication room. He wanted to know how General Joy's attack on Costa del Sol went. It wasn't fair that the older man always got the exciting missions!
Meanwhile, Jinrei stepped out of the elevator in time to see the crew leave the lab where the tank was now installed.
Walking over and entering the room, Jinrei was still humming as he walked over to stand in front of the tank. "Jenova. We meet at last."
There was no motion inside the tank, and he could only see vague glimpses of pink flesh with violet veins.
Jinrei took a step closer, telling himself his quickening pulse was not fear but curiosity. "I never pictured you for the shy type, Jenova..." Still no response, so he dared to step up to gaze in through the small window. His first thought was that he could understand why young Lee had mistakenly assumed that Jenova was merely a mass of unshapely destruction, but ignorance usually stood in the way of appreciating beauty.
Placing a hand on the tank, Jinrei rested his forhead against the upper frame of the window. "You helped Hojo create Sephiroth, didn't you? A creature beyond compare and no one has ever managed to create his equal, but you're going to help me too, right?"
He frowned as there was still no response whatsoever. "Hojo was nothing compared to me! I'm twice the genius he was! Are you listening to me?"
Slamming a hand against the metal, Jinrei took a step back. When Lee had found her, Jenova had been very active. Killing and wounding 27 men before they managed to trap her. Why was she silent now? She wasn't silent with Hojo!
Jinrei sneered angrily, turning to storm out. "Fine! I can wait! I have time, and there are countless tests I can preform on you while you play hard to get! Don't you dare look down on me, you alien freak! No one is going to outsmart me!"
As the door slammed shut behind him, a tentacle slowly raised inside the tank and tried pushing at the door. It didn't budge at all.
The tentacle slowly lowered itself again, and didn't move again as silence was thick in the air.
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