The Gentle Blade

"(...) Masamune's sword respects life and won't ever kill needlessly. It's a gentle blade that protects and spares the innocent. A blade that likes to fight, but doesn't like killing."

Summary: Lucrecia decided to fight for the future of her child, but she did not manage to free Sephiroth from Shin-Ra. With Gast's blessing, she convinced the President that she, not Hojo, is the best possible choice to take care of the important Project S…

It felt like selling her own son to the Company. Painful enough even without Jenova's cells messing with Lucrecia's mind. And Hojo was not going to give up so easily.

The silver-haired boy seemed to grow healthy and as happily as possible in such conditions. Then he was sent to Wutai, where he found much more than his famous sword.

And that changed everything.

Chapter 1: What Exactly Happened in Wutai?

Cloud was sure that he shouldn't have come here, but… a lot of 'buts' happened.

Zack insisted. 'You won't regret it, I promise!' – the First class SOLDIER had said with a wide smile. Cloud could have been wiser, he knew well this kind of expression, a dangerous one, a sign of a very stupid joke or a serious problem. 'I have a surprise for you for passing the first exam, something reeeeeally special, you know…'

Well, Cloud did pass somehow, and it was hard enough that he could actually feel the need to celebrate it. A good drink or two with Zack would be enough.

'But.'

Instead of a quiet toast, Zack offered Cloud an escapade to the Midgar slums. They were walking through endlessly long, dark alleys, like escaping some unknown spies, to the most dingy pub Cloud had ever seen.

And full of Turks, he noticed at the entrance. He spent enough time in Shin-Ra to recognize a Turk at first, maybe second glance. There was just something around them, a strange aura impossible to confuse with anything else.

"If you wanted me to spend the evening among the Turks, we should rather stay in…"

"Relax, Spiky." Zack was strangely content, evidently having an ace up his sleeve. "Just take a closer look, your surprise is waiting over there."

He meant a suspicious person, who was sitting in the corner, clearly enjoying an unusual drink. As far as Cloud knew, it was a rare alcohol from Wutai, made from rice, that supposed to be served warm and was barely edible in such state.

The customer looked strangely familiar, but also so different from his usual style, that Cloud blinked several times, doubting his first guess on his identity. There was a Mako glow in the green eyes of the stranger, and his face looked unhealthy pale even in the shadowy room, but the rest...

A simple grey hoodie, not a famous black leather coat, was confusing enough. How did he managed to hide such long silver hair under his clothes? If not alarmed by the eyes, Cloud would most likely ignore the man passing him by on the street. No, not really, he was too tall to be simply ignored in the crowd, but Cloud would give him probably nothing more than a curious glance.

Is this man really…?

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Sephy, this is Cloud." Zack's words brought Cloud back to the reality. "He's a big fan of you, so I took him along. He worked hard enough during exams to deserve a reward, don't you think?"

Wait… Did he say 'Sephy'?

"Hello, Cloud." Sephiroth mechanically ended one cup and poured another one. He did not seem surprised or bothered at all. "So you've brought him here to ruin his dreams, Zack? How do you think this kid will feel if he sees his idol drunken on the floor?"

"Nah, impossible." Zack ignored General's halfhearted complaints. "You can't get drunk."

"That's even worse," Sephiroth murmured with a faint smile.

"But you do sleep on the floor…"

"Just an old habit from Wutai. You won't understand."

"Sure. And you keep saying that I'm a dog here. What's wrong, Spiky? Relax, take a seat."

Cloud swallowed. How could he just sit normally and have a drink with his hero? 'Hello, Cloud'? The great Silver General himself had said it just now? Is this even reality?

What Cloud expected anyway – that Sephiroth would ignore him or throw him out of the pub? Or that he would wake up back in his bed in Nibelheim?

It looked like a crazy fanboy's dream, to be honest. Especially when Sephiroth moved right to make some space, so Cloud could sit comfortably.

"Zack decided that I'm your present today," Sephiroth explained with a thin smile. "So… congratulations. Now you may ask any question you want, Cloud. I'm all yours."

He said it so naturally and politely that Cloud really believed that he had been rewarded. It can be a nice evening, he thought at last and tried to relax. A strong drink ordered by Zack helped him a lot.

"Is… it true that you can just manifest Masamune out of thin air?" Strange for the first question, Cloud knew that, but he was really curious about it.

"Like that?" Sephiroth made a quick movement, gentle enough to not disturb anyone in the room - there were mostly Turks inside anyway, they've must have seen it countless times before – and it just was there: long, magnificent blade, pure like the silver starlight, inseparably connected with the owner. "So it seems."

"Its name means anything?"

"It's a name of a blacksmith who forged it."

"Wutaian blacksmith," Zack added meaningfully. "And before you'll ask, Spiky, the blade is so long because no man should wield it. This sword was forged as a gift for the Goddess."

"Oh?" Sephiroth smiled, strangely pleased by Zack's explanation. "So you listen to my 'Wutaian babbling' sometimes? I'm honored."

"Your babbling is still more interesting than Genesis and his 'Loveless' rampage. He just keeps saying the same quotes and you're… evolving."

The Silver General chuckled and Cloud had to admit that it was a strangely soft, pleasant sound. He did not expect the hero of SOLDIER to be like this privately, but… he could like him even more now. As a person, flesh and blood, not a cool-looking figure from propaganda poster.

"You have a point here, Zack. But it looks like we lost Cloud somewhere between our crazy digressions. You have more questions, am I right?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind… H-how you're doing this? Is it a form of Materia manipulation?"

"I wouldn't say that. It's… complicated. Let's just say that there's a legend…"

"Wutaian legend," Zack pointed out with a mocking smirk and laughed when Sephiroth rolled his eyes in response.

"…or rather a common belief, that a warrior's soul resides in his sword. At least part of it. I understand it as some kind of spiritual connection, but can't really explain this in more scientific manner without touching the topic of the Ancients and the Lifestream. Trust me, I would bore you to death with all that weird terminology."

"So you have spiritual connection to a sacred sword of Wutai? That's just… wow." Cloud shook his head in disbelief. "How did you find out?"

"It happened when I was first time in Wutai, about eight years ago," Sephiroth answered quickly. Too bad that something, that sounded like a beginning of a great story, died with the next breath. General did not continue, he seemed to think of something intensively.

"So… What exactly happened in Wutai?" – Cloud wanted to know more.

Both First class SOLDIERs laughed at this innocent question, although Sephiroth was not really in the mood. He heard it too many times before and still had no answer. His hand moved involuntarily to a pendant on his neck, a figure of winged sea serpent…

…

"I don't understand," the boy said, frowning. "Why am I allowed to be here? I killed many of your people."

"But you're not killing now, right?" The priestess was making tea again, a ritual Sephiroth strangely enjoyed. He, too, was attracted to small ceremonies, which require precision in repeating the same elegant movements. Just like his training with sword, the Wutaian tea ceremony could bring him peace of mind. "You want to kill me, Sephiroth?"

"No," he replied, slowly but honestly. "I like to fight, but I don't like killing. Not if I don't have to."

"As long as you stay here you don't have to kill anyone. So there's no problem, right?"

With her usual, calm smile, the priestess gave him a small cup. Sephiroth accepted, captivated by the smell and beauty of her gentle movements.

"It means you imprisoned me so I will not kill your troops and let Shin-Ra win the war?"

"Sephiroth… do you feel like a prisoner here?"

"I… don't know."

…

I'd like to know myself what really happened there, Sephiroth thought, but only said calmly:

"If you don't change your mind, reach First class and start to work as my trusted Lieutenant, I'll tell you, Cloud."

"That's… a lot of 'ifs'," the blond noticed, pretending to be focused on the glass in his hand, only to hide his embarrassment.

"Yeah, but… wait! It's not fair, Sephy!" Zack made one of his 'offended puppy' faces. "You've never wanted to tell me about Wutai, but you promised that to Spiky just like that?"

Sephiroth gave him a suspiciously warm smile.

"Let's say that he reminds me of an old friend."

"Oh? Friend, you say? A man?" Zack winked mockingly. "A woman?'

But Sephiroth only chuckled, glancing at Cloud from behind his glass.

"No. A white chocobo."

Wutai, 8 years ago

How long has it been? Two weeks, maybe. But somehow it seemed like ages.

Humans were really fragile creatures, their flesh and bones shattered under Sephiroth's strikes as easily as during VR training. He should have been well prepared for war. He WAS well prepared.

Still…

The look in their eyes when they die. The smell of fear and smashed intestines. The feeling of hot blood of his victims on Sephiroth's skin. Can anyone be prepared for that?

They were dying so easily it felt almost unfair. Like their lives meant nothing. But were everything they had. And he was the one to take them away. Was he even allowed to?

He was ordered to. Only orders matter. No thinking. No doubts. Just following orders - that's what his SOLDIER teachers said. They repeated it so many times, Sephiroth could now recite the rules even awakened in the middle of the night.

A SOLDIER is a weapon, he'd been told once, and now he really could feel like one. Sephiroth wasn't officially a member of SOLDIER yet, but the Special Operation Unit S – their experimental party, mostly of Turks and scientists – was a part of Shin-Ra's forces and often cooperated with bigger units. There were usually six fully armed men around, theoretically to guard Sephiroth's back during battles, but actually rather to pacify him if he starts rampaging someday.

The boy was not sure why they feared him so much, but he knew that six men were not enough to stop him. Not that he was planning something, but the thought itself was strangely heartening. He would survive, he promised Mom to come back safely. Sephiroth liked to fight, apparently, but he liked many other things, too. And war was… not one of the most pleasurable activities he could imagine.

First he was shaken, he'd been told that even adults were. Fortunately Mom called him from Midgar, helped him to calm down, although he did not understand why she felt the need to apologize. She did nothing wrong, it was Company's fault.

Or maybe the world itself was crazy?

Anyway, two weeks should be enough to get used to death, noise, fatigue and constant stress. Sephiroth could not tell he became accustomed to the situation, he rather felt numb or apathetic. It was better this way. Pretending that he had not memorized faces of every single fallen comrade was just easier. He could do nothing to bring them back to life. He could only try to save as many others as possible.

Unlike members of his own unit, common troopers liked Sephiroth. They were nice to him, some even thought of the boy as of Shin-Ra's army mascot. Others as of their savior. Few must have seen in the silver-haired child a resolute younger brother. They called him 'Sephy' and he had nothing against it – Turks in the labs used that name almost all the time.

But their kindness made everything much harder for Sephiroth. Watching them die later on the battlefield was simply unbearable.

The boy sighed, trying to focus on the current mission. He was staring blankly through the helicopter's window, fighting the urge to call Mom, just to hear her calm voice again. The troopers would laugh at him, maybe even call him 'a crybaby'. He smiled, remembering what Mom used to say in such situations: 'No one would dare to laugh at you, SOLDIERs love their mothers. They would be jealous that you CAN call me, nothing more'.

"Sephiroth, get ready." His commanding officer for this mission winked, probably trying to cheer the boy up. "No need to be nervous, we cover you."

I'm not nervous, just tired, Sephiroth thought. But it would be… rude, right?... to say it to someone who tried to be nice. They may never see each other again and, although Sephiroth didn't care for small pleasantries, he had learned that other people do. So he only nodded and stood up, readying for the jump.

He'd been told that Wutaians cut off the entire street by demolishing few buildings. Probably an important commander had been gathering men for counterattack there, so Shin-Ra needed to act quickly and as discreetly as possible. Sephiroth had been fighting almost constantly for the last three days, but he was the best for the task. Approach from above, scan the surroundings, kill the commanders, return to the base. Then get some rest as reward.

The sword seemed too heavy in his hand, when Sephiroth crouched in the entrance, ready to jump. He did not like this blade, too broad and unwieldy. Using it felt like throwing a wooden board, not a swordplay. It was not compatible with his speed, but could withstand the power of his strikes, so, after breaking so many good weapons, he was not really in the position to complain.

"At least take some Materia with you, boy!" The officer assisted Sephiroth for the first time, so he could not even imagine that someone can jump out of the helicopter just like that.

"I…" 'I don't need it!' – Sephiroth wanted to say, but remembered that he supposed to be polite. "I almost forgot. Thank you."

He reached out his hand for a shining orb, but did not make it in the end. A violent turbulence shook the helicopter, turning it around in the air, and the boy, despite his inhuman reflex, simply fell out of the vehicle. He did not even had time to catch a breath before hitting the ground.

Sephiroth was standing – barely – on the pile of rubble, analyzing his current situation. He was wounded, alone, his communicator crushed to pieces and sword broken, stuck in the dead body of a strange Wutaian monster.

So… what had exactly happened just a moment ago?

Till now the boy operated purely on instinct. He needed to calm down and think what to do next.

It was not a turbulence, but an attack. Sephiroth considered himself lucky that he fell to the street. Probably no one inside the helicopter survived the explosion.

Again, people who were kind to him died. Just like that. Like their lives mattered nothing.

Enduring the impact was not really a big deal. Sephiroth was good at falling. His body, like cat's, could always naturally find the best position to land relatively safely. A twisted ankle it's not a high price for his life after all.

The most serious problem was the creature that had smashed the helicopter, then charged at Sephiroth to finish the job. It was not a summon, but a real dragon, probably some kind of local species the boy had never heard of. It looked like a brown flying serpent, was surprisingly intelligent, certainly able to cut off the entire district by smashing the buildings with his tail.

And – last but not least – it was a venomous species.

Sephiroth was sure that the creature did not manage to bite him during the fight, yet he must have been scratched by a strange spike on the monster's tail. The boy was immune to most poisons, but still felt dizzy. Maybe he was just exhausted and needed more time to fight the harmful substance in his circulatory system? He should examine the corpse for any piece of knowledge that may help him quickly recover.

It was really the worst possible moment to be surrounded by the enemy troops. They did not kill him immediately, though; he even managed to free the remnants of his sword from the dragon's corpse. Their commander must have felt confident in his territory, because he decided to speak to Sephiroth first.

"Shin-Ra must be really desperate to send children to war."

"I'm not a chil… Well, I guess I still am." The boy tried hard to stand straight, but his arms went limp. He was so tired, with all his energy focused on the poison in his veins... "But it doesn't mean that I can't defeat you now."

Captain's eyes widened in surprise. What a bold thing to say in front of an enemy army. What's wrong with this child? Maybe he's the one of Company's genetically modified monsters? He looked like a miserable teenager with a broken sword, too big for him to wield, but the air around him was highly suspicious.

"Boy, you must have noticed all these guns pointed at your head, right?"

"Of course. And the snipers, there and there." Sephiroth sounded bored, when he showed them snipers' hideouts. "And two… no, three of your assassins, there, in the shadows. You must be an important person to have them with you."

Soldiers murmured something in disbelief, their commander seemed impressed as well.

"How…?"

"These ninjas… that's how you call them here? They're almost undetectable, I must admit," Sephiroth explained, his voice emotionless. "But they can't hide their body temperature."

His adversaries tensed visibly, Sephiroth could sense their fear, but didn't care this time. He didn't come here to make friends.

"Boy, if you really can kill us at any moment, why don't you?"

Words like 'tactical disadvantage' crossed Sephiroth's mind. He had already analyzed the possibilities and was sure that he would survive eventual battle, but it was not worth the effort. Dragon's poison slowed him down, he would probably receive two or three bullets… Risking a shot in the head was not a good idea with a twisted ankle and two broken ribs.

No, he promised to care more of himself. If Mom finds out what's he been thinking, she will be angry.

Sorry, Mom.

Anyway, it was too risky to start a fight now, but he would not hesitate to defend himself if necessary.

"I wasn't ordered to," he replied at last, then focused on something behind's enemy's back. "So you've been waiting for someone?" – he asked, raising an eyebrow at the most uncommon intruder he would ever imagine to meet on the battlefield.

First a strange, but surprisingly pleasant scent hit his nostrils – some kind of exotic perfume, perhaps. Then a tall, slim figure in a white robe emerged from the shadows behind commander's back. It was a woman with long, black hair and the gentlest smile Sephiroth had ever seen.

She's important, the boy thought, observing the reaction of the Wutaian troops. All soldiers would probably fell on their knees before the mysterious woman if not the order to observe Sephiroth. She's the reason why they destroyed the street, the dragon was also here to keep her safe.

This woman is THE TARGET.

The boy tensed visibly at this sudden realization. This was it, one death to save many lives. One death to end this stupid war and go back home to Mom. All of this within his reach… if he only wasn't so battered and tired right now.

"Izayoi-sama, you shouldn't…" Captain tried to say something, but the woman shook her head, making him stop immediately.

"All I do is following the voice of the Goddess, Captain. And the Goddess wants this child to be safe in the Temple of Leviathan." She turned to Sephiroth and asked him directly: "Will you come with me?"

The boy blinked, not really understanding what's happening. Her request seemed irrational at first, but he quickly calculated all the options he had and… it was really the best one at the moment. He must survive, recover from the poison, regenerate broken bones. After that he would think about targets and returning to the base. One task at time, top priority first. The Turks were probably already on the move, so...

"As your prisoner?" – he asked, his gaze cold and suspicious.

"As my guest."

The priestess did not try to deceive him, Sephiroth just knew it. Even without any weapon, he still was able to free himself, they risked much more than him by taking him to their base. Did they not fear that he would betray and kill them anyway?

He nodded and dropped the remnants of his sword, then blushed a little, remembering about manners.

"I... gladly accept your offer."

The woman smiled again as she reached out her hand to the boy, inviting him into the new, unknown world.

This story is quite old (originally was published at AO3 - 2 more chapters are already there, but they need rewriting; I will add them here as well when they're ready, so I recommend You to wait).

And, of course, characters etc. belong to their respective owners.