Cell Division | By : Savaial Category: Final Fantasy VII > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 2025 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. It belongs to SquareEnix. I do not make any money from these writings, nor do I wish to. The original creators have all my respect, from game designers to voice actors. |
Three months. The baby showed now. I took to wearing long dresses to cover that fact. I wanted no prying questions.
I scheduled for prenatal care in a clinic far away from my office. The day I went, I wore a wig, dark glasses and a long coat. I wasn’t ashamed of my baby, but I needed to protect myself. If Sephiroth managed to see me…
I sat like a numb thing in the prep room, the two liters of water I’d swallowed for the test pushing uncomfortably in my bladder. I wished I had Hojo with me. Hell, Hojo was a brilliant doctor. I could imagine how carefully he would treat me and the baby, how excited he would be. I wanted to tell him so badly.
Barely listening to the prep nurse, I stretched out on the table. My eyes immediately went to the still dark monitor.
“Excited?” she asked cheerfully.
“Yes.” I managed to smile. “This is my first glimpse, of course.”
She proceeded with the pelvic scan, calling the doctor in as she flipped on the monitor. “Do you want the video recording?” she asked.
I hesitated. Evidence. Still, I wanted it. “Yes,” I answered.
The monitor got turned in her direction. I really had to go pee now.
I heard the nurse and doctor suck in a quick breath at the same time.
“What is it?” I asked fearfully. “Is my baby okay?”
The doctor smiled at me. “Everything’s fine, Miss Grey. We were surprised because…” He flipped the monitor over so I could look. “Twins are exceedingly rare for Wutainians.”
I stared at the screen in disbelief. “I’m not from Wutai,” I said faintly, watching the two children inside my womb move.
“You have the father down as Wutainian,” he replied. “They look very healthy, even larger and stronger than most at this stage, which is also rare for twins. Usually the fetus’ are smaller when a womb is shared.” He smiled at me. “And, they’re fraternal; they have separate placenta.” He pointed to a little lump on one image. “You have one boy and…” He pointed to the other. “And, one girl. It’s unusual to be able to tell the sexes this early.” He grinned. “Congratulations. I know many people who would kill to have one of each at the same time.”
I gave him a weak smile.
**********************************************************************************
I came home and just sat on my couch, feeling both elated and horrified. How could I raise two children by myself? I wanted Hojo with me so badly. He would be so supportive. He would hold me. He would protect me and the babies. He would love his children. I put my face in my hands and wept.
“Bad date?”
The sound of that voice made my head shoot up. Sephiroth sat behind my desk like he owned it, idly flipping through my mail. “You’re all dressed up,” he went on. “Wearing a wig, too. Trying to hide?”
“Maybe I want to be someone else,” I said, fear making my lips cold and rubbery. “Why are you here?”
“You’re my therapist,” he said, as if I asked a stupid question. Green eyes raked me. “You should take better care of yourself. You’ve lost weight.”
Incredulous, I just stared at him.
“So, I’m here for my session,” he announced.
“You’ll have to pay for it,” I snapped, getting up. “I don’t work for your father anymore.”
“Don’t be tiresome.” He dropped a bag on my desk, a bag that clinked heavily. “Aren’t you going to ask me how your beloved is doing?”
“Is he all right?” I asked, dread squeezing my heart.
“I shouldn’t tell you, you’ve been rude.” He leaned back, putting his arms behind his head.
“Please, tell me.” I didn’t care I begged.
“He’s fine, physically.” Sephiroth’s eyes floated around the room. “I took your letter; he never received it.”
“You have a reason for being cruel?” I clutched at my heart, feeling it would just stop. “You couldn’t even let me say goodbye to him?”
Sephiroth’s eyes began to glow a little. “You haven’t gotten over him yet, have you? You really should move on. I tell him that too, but I don’t think he listens. He just keeps looking at that ridiculous collar you used to wear.” He met my eyes. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me on returning to flesh?”
“My sincere congratulations,” I said, my voice hollow. Hope wormed its way into my soul a moment later. Hojo thought about me. He looked at my slave collar often enough to irritate Sephiroth. “Are you enjoying your third life?”
“It’s different.” Sephiroth picked up my paperweight and turned it idly in his hands. “I terrorize Rufus, of course. He deserves it. Sometimes that makes Hojo smile. He doesn’t smile much, though.” He looked at me again. “If I kill you, maybe he’ll finally move on. Perhaps I should have done that in the first place.” He sighed. “Still, I’ve killed a woman before. I didn’t like the way it made me feel, afterward. Your sex is particularly poor sport.”
“I would think everyone poor sport to you,” I said, coming closer.
“In general, yes,” he admitted. “I tried to get Cloud to play with me, thinking to find a decent challenge.”
“And?”
“He refused. He has a child now and wants to live for it.” Sephiroth put my paperweight down and picked up my sketch pad. He opened it up. “You’ve drawn my father,” he said, sounding surprised. “He draws you, too.”
“Would you give me a photograph?” I asked.
“I don’t take pictures. Ask that silly twat, Michael.”
“I’m allowed to contact Michael?”
“I don’t care what you do as long as you stay away from my father.” Sephiroth paged through the sketchbook, stopping suddenly. “You drew me, too?” He held the paper far away and then close. “Do I really look like that when I smile?”
God, he was so broken.
“I’m handsome. I didn’t expect that, you know. I was nine before I even saw a mirror.” He frowned, turning to the next sketch. This one displayed Jean and Alison, kissing. “I don’t understand this pressing of lips,” he announced. “What purpose does it serve?”
“Try it and find out. I can’t describe it to you.”
“No one would dare attempt it.” Sephiroth threw my sketch pad down. “No one gets close to me.”
“You can fathom why, I suppose?” My mind whirled. Sephiroth was a virgin. Little wonder he couldn’t understand why Hojo and I wanted to be together.
He shrugged, making his white pauldrons catch the light. “I’ve always frightened people. Only Hojo and Gast would have anything to do with me. Gast brought me candy sometimes. He always brought me more of it if I didn’t hurt anyone for a few weeks.”
I sat across from him, feeling an ache in my chest. I used to sit across from Hojo at his desk. This was my desk with an interloper in it, but I still drew the parallel. “Do you want to be happier, Sephiroth?” I asked softly.
“I’m not sure I know what happiness is, Miss Grey.” He looked away from me. “Describe what it’s like.”
I bit my lip. “Suppose I told you that you were loved worldwide?”
“That’s already happened.” A bored expression settled onto his fine features. “I don’t care what people think of me. The approval and censure of others is whimsical and fleeting.”
I drew a breath. “When I treat people with problems similar to yours,” I held up my hand, “and yes, there are others like you, I usually suggest pet therapy. To a degree, your father employed that very same therapy with his slaves.”
“I should take a slave?” Sephiroth’s lips formed a sneer. “I despise slavery. Death is preferable to servitude.”
“I’m not saying you should take a slave.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. “But, I think you could do with a dog, or a cat, or something that loves unconditionally. Animals are not like people. Animals, once you prove you care for them, will give that caring back without conditions.”
“Why?”
He sounded so much like a small child with that question and that tone that I felt my anger toward him fading a bit. Sephiroth was an emotional cripple.
“They aren’t all cluttered up with morals or the like,” I explained. “They have more simplistic needs. They want food, a safe place to sleep, and to be petted.”
He seemed to think for a moment, his eyes changing direction as he absorbed my words. “I like way cats look,” he said at last. “Dogs are so slobbery and undignified.”
I had to smile. “Yes, they aren’t at all concerned with dignity,” I agreed. “Can you hold your temper with a pet? They aren’t perfect creatures, cats. They pester for attention when they require it, and they need a sandbox to do their business in. They need very careful handling, being delicate, and they can be destructive when neglected.”
“I’ve never harmed an animal.” Sephiroth frowned. “Unless monsters count?”
That’s a philosophical pose that neither of us will ever successfully tackle.” I got up from my chair. “Would you like a drink, Sephiroth?”
“I wouldn’t mind a glass of water. It’s a long flight from Shin-Ra to Wutai.”
“You took a plane?”
“No, I flew.” Sephiroth flexed his spine. I heard a tearing noise and a single, black wing sprouted from his back. It was so large it knocked a vase off my table six feet away.
“You only have one?” I murmured. After tentacles, nothing surprised me.
“Yes.” Again he shrugged. “Hojo says I used to have two, but one disappeared. He says it means I’m crippled, somehow.”
“Do you feel crippled?” I poured his water.
Sephiroth sighed. “No,” he said at long last. “I feel incomplete.”
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