Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

The Path to Redemption	By : Nakkinomiko Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1095 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. SquareEnix does. I make no money from this…I just like to play with them.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. SquareEnix does. I make no money from this…I just like to play with them.
A/N: The only warning I can think of for this one is Sephiroth and Kadaj SAP. :-D Muci, glad you’re still reading, even though you don’t like Vincent or Tseng/Elena. There’s plenty more Rufus/Kadaj and Seph/Maggie scenes coming!
*****
Chapter 10
“Kadaj, thank you for coming here today.”
Sephiroth watched a smile curl the lips of the man he now considered his brother and couldn’t help but return it. They’d talked a lot today, and asked many questions of one another, and Sephiroth had answered every question asked of him. Some of the answers had hurt to give, but he didn’t want to lie to this young man. As a rule, one didn’t lie to family, did they? In return, Kadaj had told him much of the events leading up to his battle with Cloud, and of how much it had hurt when Jenova had chosen Sephiroth over him. Of course, Kadaj didn’t remember much of anything after he had absorbed the last of Jenova. Sephiroth had filled in the blanks for him.
“I’m glad I came,” Kadaj offered. “I . . . I hated you so much . . . I don’t think it was very good for me.”
“No,” Sephiroth said gently. He reached out to touch Kadaj’s face. He still could not get over how much this man looked like him. He found himself praying to all the Ancients that Kadaj’s life would be far better now, and that all the pain and anguish was a thing of the past. “What will you do now?”
“I don’t know,” Kadaj admitted. His pale skin flushed slightly with a blush. “I’ve not thought about it much. I think it will be easier to think about now. I just . . . I just don’t know. I mean, the only purpose I thought I had was to serve Jenova. Now . . . it’s almost scary, how many choices I have.”
Sephiroth swallowed a smile. Sometime during their conversation Kadaj had ceased using the title ‘mother’ when speaking of Jenova.
“You are intelligent and in excellent health,” Sephiroth told him. “Once you decide, I doubt very much there will be anything that you can’t do, if you set your mind to it.”
“The same for you,” Kadaj said with a shy smile. “What will you do?”
Sephiroth sighed and let his hand drop to the bed again. Kadaj frowned and took it in his own and held it tight.
“Most likely, I will work for Shinra again,” Sephiroth finally answered. “I do not think there is any other place for me in this world. Most of the world probably doesn’t know the things that I’ve done, but I know. I remember. And I will always have a fear that it will happen again.”
“So you will work for Shinra, just to stay close to the people strong enough to stop you?” Kadaj asked.
“Yes.” Sephiroth squeezed the hand holding his. “I don’t think it will be a bad thing, Kadaj. I thought about it a lot last night. Maggie was right when she told me that Rufus was not his father. It’s obvious that he’s a far better man . . . I think he honestly wants to heal the planet and make amends for the things that his father and Hojo did.”
“Yeah. He is a good man.” Kadaj ducked his head, and Sephiroth caught a blush on those cheeks before his view was obscured by Kadaj’s silver hair. “He’s been very kind to me.”
Sephiroth felt a smirk pulling on the corners of his mouth. He wasn’t blind, and while he himself had never truly been in love, he knew enough about it to know the signs. He hadn’t missed the way Rufus’ eyes never left Kadaj when he was in the room, and vice versa. When Kadaj had first walked into his room, Rufus had been very close behind, and the president’s entire demeanor had been protective and watchful.
“And how much do you like him?” Sephiroth asked, thinking that they might as well get it all out in the open.
Kadaj gasped quietly and looked up from beneath his bangs. He was blushing again.
“I . . .”
“Don’t try to deny it,” Sephiroth said with a puff of laughter. “I’m trained to be very observant, you know.”
Kadaj’s blush deepened. “I didn’t think I was that obvious. I was trying not to be.”
Sephiroth squeezed the hand holding his and smiled slightly. “It’s okay. I’m not condemning you for it. I’m glad he’s taking good care of you . . . I’d have to hurt him if he wasn’t.”
“You wouldn’t!” Kadaj looked terrified now, and Sephiroth couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh, Kadaj! I’m just joking!” He released Kadaj’s hand and reached up to brush silver bangs away from Kadaj’s jade eyes. “If you are happy, what does it matter what I or anyone else thinks?”
Kadaj’s eyes grew glassy, and a moment later a few tears escaped their corners. Sephiroth caught them as they fell.
“You’re really much nicer than everyone gives you credit for,” Kadaj managed. He reached up to wipe the remaining tears away and tried to smile at him. “I really am glad I came today!” And with that, he fell forward to wrap his arms around Sephiroth in a fierce hug.
Sephiroth made a surprised noise, but once he was over the shock, he wrapped his arms around his brother and held him tight. It occurred to him in that instant that he adored this man, his younger brother, even though they’d only really known each other for a few hours. Perhaps it was like calling to like, or just the fact that having family was deeply appealing. Whatever it was, Sephiroth knew he would cease thinking about the wreck his life was and concentrate on strengthening the tentative bond he’d formed with Kadaj over the past few hours.
“Well, it looks like Maggie was right. You are getting along well, aren’t you?” Rufus Shinra leaned against the wall next to the door and smiled slightly in their direction.
Kadaj pulled away hastily, and Sephiroth saw him blushing again.
“Rufus!” Kadaj sounded flustered.
Sephiroth knew what the kid was thinking, and he met Rufus’ gaze across the room. The amusement in the Shinra President’s gaze was enough to tell Sephiroth that Rufus knew it, too.
“Relax, Kadaj,” Sephiroth soothed.
Rufus chuckled. “You’ve been talking about me.”
“Yes,” Kadaj admitted. His cheeks were now aflame, and he pointed at Sephiroth. “He brought it up.”
“Did he, now?” Rufus met Sephiroth’s gaze again, and Sephiroth could see the challenge in his eyes.
“I did,” Sephiroth said. He smirked at Rufus. “I was curious.”
“And?” Rufus asked. “Did you get the answer you were expecting?”
“Yes,” Sephiroth said.   Rufus was starting to tense, so Sephiroth decided to let him off the hook early. “I’ve already told Kadaj that what I think about the matter isn’t important, as long as he is happy.”
Rufus relaxed visibly and gave Sephiroth a weak, albeit grateful, smile. He turned his attention back to Kadaj and the smile became something stronger. Sephiroth felt a pang of envy at the obvious fondness in Rufus’ gaze as he looked at Kadaj. He’d never had anything like that in his life, ever, and found himself wondering if he ever would. Sephiroth knew he had a lot of emotional baggage, and his past was a string of events that most people would classify as nightmarish. It would take someone just this side of amazing to accept everything he’d ever done, and the arrogance that Sephiroth knew he’d never truly be rid of. It was too much a part of him, and he’d cultivated it just to protect himself from getting too close to anyone.
Rufus’ voice cut through his personal musings.
“You’re allowed to touch your friends and family, Kadaj. I’ve no right to say otherwise,” Rufus said quietly.
“But . . .”
“But nothing,” Rufus said firmly.   “We can talk more about that later. Right now . . .” His voice trailed off and he pushed himself away from the wall. Sephiroth noticed the file folder Rufus held, then, and reached out to take it when Rufus offered it to him.
“What is this?” Sephiroth asked. He opened the file and recognized the photo on the top of the stack instantly. Hojo stared up at him from the glossy paper, his lips set in the permanent sneer that Sephiroth remembered all too well. It sent a cold shiver down his spine and made his stomach turn slightly. He forced the memories that tried to surface down and away.
“It’s either good news or bad news,” Rufus said. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Kadaj. “I rather think it is good news, but then again, I’m not you. And I guess it involves Kadaj, too.”
“What is it?” Kadaj asked.
“These are med files,” Sephiroth said as he lifted Hojo’s photo out of the way and found his own information beneath it. “Gene coding, blood work . . . everything Shinra has on file about either of us, I would imagine.”
“Yes,” Rufus said. “And an interesting thing occurred when Dr. Graham ran a analysis on your genetic information this morning. Please understand, I had it done only because I wanted to make sure there were no more nasty surprises in store for you--Hojo’s experiments were extensive and myriad, and I just wanted to make sure. You understand that, right?”
Sephiroth thought about it for a moment. He was slowly starting to trust this man and his intentions. It was hard to do--outside of Hojo, Rufus’ father had been one of the creepiest people Sephiroth had ever known. And Rufus looked so much like his father--devastatingly handsome and radiating a charisma that most people were defenseless against--but the eyes were different. Shinra, Sr.‘s eyes had been cold and calculating, and when the man had smiled, it had never reached his eyes. Rufus though . . . Rufus’s eyes were genuine as Sephiroth gazed into them now, and he could see the fear that perhaps Sephiroth would not believe his intentions had been good.
“Yes, I understand that,” Sephiroth finally replied.
“Good,” Rufus said. The Shinra President didn’t bother to hide his relief.
“But, what did you find?” Kadaj asked.
“The analysis Dr. Graham did compared your genome to that of all of Hojo’s test subjects on file in the database. The computer was told to look for similarities. Dr. Graham and I had both forgotten that Hojo had experimented on himself, as well. The computer cross-checked your information against his and found that one assumption we’ve all had for years was grossly incorrect.”
“And that being?” For some reason he couldn’t explain, Sephiroth felt his heart rate elevate slightly. Something in his gut told him that Rufus’ next words would mark a change in his life.
“Hojo was not your father.”
He heard the words, but it took Sephiroth several moments to fully comprehend what Rufus was telling him. Hojo was not your father.
“Then what am I? A full genetic construct?” Sephiroth whispered. The thought was horrifying, so much worse than if Hojo were his father. He’d spent the better part of the last 24 hours trying to convince himself that he wasn’t a monster. And now? He made a distressed sound in the back of his throat and met Rufus’ gaze, silently begging the man with his eyes to tell him that it wasn’t the case.
“No!” Rufus exclaimed, his expression horrified. He reached into his pocket and fished another picture out of his suit jacket. He handed it to Sephiroth.
Sephiroth looked down at the picture, and found himself looking into a pair of green eyes so like his own that he knew instantly the pictured woman was his mother. Sudden relief flooded through him, and he gasped as a soft sob suddenly wrenched itself from his chest. He ignored the sudden tears he was shedding and met Rufus’ gaze.
“My mother?” he managed.
“Yes, your mother,” Rufus said. “Her name was Lucrecia, and she was married to Hojo.”
Sephiroth looked at the picture again. His mother had been a beautiful woman with green eyes, raven hair, and a smile that was so like his own. He found himself chuckling through his tears and looked up to meet Kadaj’s gaze. He handed the younger man the picture and managed to smile at him.
“You look like her, too,” Sephiroth said. “Your nose and chin, and of course, the eyes.”
Kadaj looked at the picture for a moment before a sad smile stretched his lips and he nodded. “She was pretty,” he whispered before handing the picture back to Sephiroth.
“What happened?” Sephiroth asked. He looked at Rufus again. “I’m assuming you know.”
“Yes,” Rufus said. “I researched the history, and there was actually quite a bit to find.   It helped that your real father was a Turk.”
“What?” Sephiroth felt his heart rate speed again. A Turk? Was it possible, then, that he might still have a father somewhere?
“Your father . . . we know who he is, and he’s still alive,” Rufus said.
“Who?” Sephiroth demanded.
“Vincent Valentine.”
Sephiroth felt his eyes go wide, and he shifted through the papers in the file until he found the picture he knew would be there. Yes, there he was, Vincent Valentine. The picture was taken after Hojo’s experiments, and the eyes that stared out from the picture were molten crimson.
“That . . . that’s not possible, is it?” Sephiroth whispered. Even as he spoke the words, he found the similarities in the photo--the bridge of the nose, the angle of the jaw, and the overall shape of his face.
“Actually, it’s very likely,” Rufus said quietly. “Lucrecia was married to Hojo, but she wasn’t happy. From what I’ve read and heard, it was an arranged marriage, and Hojo spent more time in the labs than he did with her. She was very lonely--they lived in Shinra Headquarters, and she wasn’t allowed to leave the building very often, and only then if escorted.”
Sephiroth frowned, not liking the sound of that. He tried to imagine the woman in the picture locked in the depths of the old Shinra headquarters and felt a slow burning anger ignite in the pit of his stomach.
“Yes, it was horrible,” Rufus said in response to his expression. “Was it any wonder that she sought company elsewhere? She must have met Vincent in the building somewhere. They established a friendship, and that quickly became something more. How Hojo found out is unclear…either your mother’s pregnancy tipped him off, or he wasn’t as ignorant of Lucrecia’s comings and goings as she thought. At any rate, once he discovered who she was having an affair with, he imprisoned Vincent, and you know the rest. You’ve seen the results.”
“I’ve been on the receiving end of it,” Sephiroth said with a dark laugh. Vincent had helped to destroy him the first time around. Had he known? Had he even known that he fought his own son?
“It’s not my business how you feel about this,” Rufus said quietly. “However, I think you should keep in mind that even if Vincent had known about you--and I’m not entirely sure that he did--it wouldn’t have mattered much. Vincent was already under Hojo’s knife when he started to experiment on you in your mother’s womb, and there was no way he could have helped either of you.”
“I know,” Sephiroth said softly. He felt more tears well in his eyes, and when he blinked, they fell in hot trails. “Gods, how many more lies will we uncover before this is all over?”
“I can’t say,” Rufus said. “But . . . I’m glad we uncovered this one.”
Sephiroth nodded and managed a weak smile. He was, too. It was the first time in his life that he could remember feeling anything but angst over his existence. He wasn’t a monster, and that knowledge was precious to him. He felt more emotion swelling in his chest, relief and what he thought might have been joy. He had parents, real parents.
“I’ve got Tseng and Elena looking for Vincent,” Rufus continued. “Whether he knew about you or not, I suspect that once he is found and told, you will have a visitor soon after.”
Sephiroth nodded, not trusting his voice anymore. He gazed down at the picture of his father, and couldn’t help but feel sorrow mingle with the joy. Sephiroth had endured so much in Hojo’s labs, but he suspected that Vincent had endured much worse. He couldn’t find it in his heart to hate the man at all, even if he had known about him. Rufus had been right. Hojo had come between them and stripped Vincent of his freedom and imprisoned him out of sheer spite, and Vincent had been helpless to change anything.
“Rufus, thank you,” Sephiroth said, and he let his tone convey just how grateful he was.
“As I’ve already told Cloud and Kadaj, I am going to set all the wrongs my father and his company ever did to rights, one step at time,” Rufus said. “This is just part of it.”
“None the less, I am grateful,” Sephiroth said. He shifted his attention back to Kadaj. “You’ll want to meet him too, right?”
“Yeah,” Kadaj said. His smile was tentative. “I guess, in a way, he’s my father too, right?”
“Yes.” Sephiroth leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Kadaj’s forehead. It was so unlike him, he knew, but he couldn‘t help himself. This man was his brother, and he was only just beginning to understand how wonderful that was. “I’ll have someone call when he arrives.”
“I’ll know,” Rufus reminded him. “It’s my people out there looking for him, after all.”
“Good,” Sephiroth said.    “I’m sorry, Kadaj, but I think . . . I think I need some time alone now.”
“I understand,” Kadaj said. He leaned forward and hugged Sephiroth again before he stood from the bed.
“Get some rest,” Rufus said. “If you need anything, Maggie’s going to be on duty for the rest of the day. And if you need anything from me, Maggie has my private number. Just ask her for it.”
“And I’ll get someone to bring me back tomorrow,” Kadaj promised.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Sephiroth said with a smile. Kadaj gave him a tentative smile before he and Rufus exited the room and left him alone.
He was alone for all of ten minutes before someone else was knocking on his door. He looked up from Vincent’s picture to find Penelope Winterfell standing in the doorway.
“Good afternoon, Sephiroth,” she said. “May I come in?”
“Of course,” Sephiroth said. “I suppose Dr. Graham called you.”
“Yes.” She crossed the room and sat in the chair next to his bed. “He figured the news might be a tad shocking.”
“A tad?” Sephiroth laughed. “You always did understate things, doctor.”
Penelope only smiled. It was the same smile Sephiroth remembered--kind, not at all condescending and as always, non-judgmental.
“I think . . . I think this is okay,” he said.
“You’re not angry with him?” Penelope asked.
“I wanted to be,” Sephiroth admitted slowly. “But then Rufus reminded me of Vincent’s predicament. He was being tortured the entire time my mother was pregnant. There really was nothing he could have done to help us. He couldn’t have helped himself at that point . . . and there’s nothing saying that he even was aware of me at the time. This could be just as big a shock for him as it was for me.”
“It could be, yes, and I suspect that it very well may be. Hojo most likely imprisoned him before Lucrecia had a chance to tell him he was a father.” Penelope smiled. “What will you do, when you see him again?”
Sephiroth looked down at the second picture he held. His mother’s countenance smiled back at him. To just see the picture, Sephiroth would have never guessed the terrors the woman endured. She was half smiling in the picture, her green eyes dancing with some hidden amusement. What had she been like? What things had she liked?
He smiled and met Penelope’s gaze again. “I’m going to ask him to tell me about my mother.”
*****
TBC
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Path to Redemption