Author's Note: Well, I've felt the need to write a Sephiroth/Cloud fic for a while now. I'm sorry if you don't like the way that I portray Sephiroth. I don't see Sephiroth as this giant asshole who snaps at everyone that comes near him. I see him more as putting up a wall that makes him appear to be very cold and the wall only comes down when he's around certain people. Seph is more complex than he seems. If you don't like it, don't read it. Now for everybody else who just wants to read some damn Seph/Cloud luvin, I hope you enjoy it. psst whispers Sorry if I sound a bit mean, but I hate it when people bitch at you for not portraying a character a certain way. We all see these characters in different lights, so please try to be open-minded. ;;

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. So lawyers, you can fuck off. :P

Shiver

Chapter One

The Beginnings of a Wonderful Friendship

It was raining for the third time that day and Sephiroth was amazed at how calm it made him. He sat comfortably in the window seat in his room, just staring outside. He had nothing better to do since all the outside classes for that day were cancelled, meaning of course that he couldn't take his students out to train.

"Why does this always happen to me?" He put a hand to his forehead and sighed. Today was supposed to be important. He had his plan worked out and everything. He was going to make it so he was paired up with Cadet Strife. Yes, Cadet Strife. He had had his eye on the boy for a while now, waiting for the moment to make his move. No, it wasn't one of the smarter things he had done in his life, but Seph couldn't stop himself. The cadet was always in his dreams... in his thoughts... wherever he looked, pretty much.

A groan escaped from his thin lips, "No more of this nonsense..." He took the rain as a sign not to do it. It just wasn't meant to be. In all honesty, nothing was ever meant to be for him. From the moment he was born, ShinRa had control of his life. There was no way that he could get something like this so easily. And even if he did, ShinRa would somehow take it away.

He stood up when he heard the high-pitched whistle of his tea kettle in the kitchen. "A nice hot cup of honey-lemon tea will be good right now." His tea seemed to be the only thing that could calm him down at the moment. He chuckled at himself for a moment. There was no way people could imagine him, of all people, sitting down with a good cup of tea. He realized that he looked like a coffee person. Zack had even told him so. And Zack was "always" right. And people thought that he was arrogant?

But back to his current annoyance...

Had it not been raining, he would be doing his katas. Actually... he would be alone with Strife right now, watching over him as much as he could. But hello, rain! Nothing ever seemed to go his way. It was quite a pain in the ass, actually.

He shivered at the thought of his early childhood. The cold metal of the examining table and the sharp prick of the injection needles as the mako slid through his veins. Hojo was always in his nightmares. Sometimes he questioned that man's sanity. He may have been decent at what he did, but he had no compassion for any living thing. Anyone that got into that lunatic's hands might as well be dead anyways. It made him sick just thinking about it.

A sharp knock at his door made him stop what he was doing. He made his way to the door and opened it, not surprised at all by who was standing on the other side. He was bombarded with a giant hug and chuckled. No matter how many hugs he got from that man, it would still make him tense up.

Seph patted the man on the back and cocked an eyebrow, "Hey, Zack..."

"So how's the 'situation' going?" The chipper young man cheesed it and headed over to flop down on the couch.

The General sighed and joined his friend on the couch, "There is no 'situation', Zack."

Zack chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "What are you talking about, you pessimist!" He kicked a foot up and set it on the table in front of him, "It's impossible to not know who 'The General' is. Come on, man..."

"Well, that's my problem. Everyone always sees me as 'The General' and nothing else." Sephiroth rubbed at his forehead. "It's like I'm not allowed to think or have an identity of my own. I'm supposed to be some mindless machine that does everything that ShinRa says."

"Seph..." Zack reached out to pat his friend on the back, "Don't worry, okay? The best thing you can do is wait for him to come to you..."

Sephiroth just eyed Zack and nodded, "But the thing is... I don't even know if I want him to come to me." He sat there for a moment quietly. He simply had nothing more to say. He had this dreadful feeling that all of it would fall apart in the end...

A little miffed by the momentary silence, Zack's typical grin slid back on his face and he looked back to Sephiroth,"I think you need a vacation..."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes at his friend's suggestion, "And you need a life, yes." Sephiroth smirked at the pout on Zack's face, "Okay, okay." He cleared his throat and tried his best to sound curious, "How is that going to come about, almighty Zachary? ShinRa's working me to the bone, you know. You are completely nuts for thinking that ShinRa would be willing to give their General a vacation at this time."

"No fears, my dearest friend!" He stood up and pulled something out of his back pocket and slipped it into Sephiroth's palm. "And I'm not nuts, thank you. I am completely sane."

"...what's this?" Seph looked at the slips of paper, purposely ignoring his the other's protest, "Costa del Sol?"

The raven-haired joker nodded with a giant grin on his face, "Hell yes, Costa del Sol! I talked our way into a vacation, buddy!"

Seph's eyes narrowed, not trusting what the boy was saying, "There has to be a catch... Not once in all the time that I've known you have you ever 'talked' your way into anything. You may have talked your way into oh... deep shit, perhaps. But most definitely not into something of importance."

"You are a paranoid freak that likes to insult me. Strife might not like that. You better be nice to me." He tried to waggle his eyebrows, but failed miserably. His face turned slightly reddish and he scratched at the back of his head again, as if that would actually save him from his friend's wrath.

"What about Strife...?" A mental 'click' happened in that moment and Sephiroth put a gloved hand to his forehead, "For the love of all that is Holy, Zack. You didn't..."

"Well, Cloud looked like he need a vacation, too... The other boys never leave him alone, you know?" Zack's eyes softened, he truly did feel bad for Cloud. No matter how hard the cadet tried and how quiet he was, the others just wouldn't let him be.

Seph couldn't help but feel a bit jealous about how close Zack had been with Cloud lately. He knew he could trust his friend, but he was very wary when it came to this Cadet. The second statement sank through and he felt his eyes begin to turn red, "What boys?"

Zack stared, the look in Seph's eyes making him sick to his stomach. Oh yes, there was a way to make the boys leave Cloud alone, "I handled it, Seph. There's no reason to–" Sephiroth's glare made Zack stop mid-sentence, "I'll tell you who they are later..."

"I would think it would be wisest if you told me now, Zack." Sephiroth laid a hand on Zack's shoulder, damn near channeling his anger into the smaller man.

Zack stuttered as he tried to remember what had happened, "I-I ... W-W-Well... There are a few boys that are around Cloud's age... that tend to take a 'liking' to him, if you know what I mean..."

Red hot fury slid through Sephiroth's veins, making him clutch at the couch material. If those boys laid a single finger on Cloud... "Did they touch him?"

Zack gulped, feeling slightly bad for the second beating the boys would probably go through, but they deserved every bit of it, "They started to... When I got there, Cloud had taken care of most of them by himself." The raven-haired SOLDIER frowned. "Cloud would've taken care of all of them, but one boy caught him off guard and pinned him down..." He rubbed at his forehead, "I got there just in time to pull the last one off of him..."

Sephiroth slammed his hand against the coffee table and growled, "Is Cloud... is he alright?" The own concern in his voice made him sick. Sephiroth cared for no one. He was supposed to be completely indifferent to every situation. But everything seemed to turn upside down since the first time he laid eyes on the scrawny blonde. His instinct to take care of the boy, one that he had never known existed, took him over. He didn't know that those feelings existed in him. It made him very scared as well as curious. "What in the hell is going on with me?" He whispered so quietly that not even Zack's incredible hearing picked up on it.

Zack nodded, a warm feeling spread throughout his chest when he thought about Cloud. He would never act on it though... His friendship with Seph would keep him from ever admitting to his feelings for the cadet. Friendships were gold... relationships would come and go... and he'd much rather keep Cloud as a close friend. Anyways, he knew how Strife felt about Sephiroth... And he swore not to say anything... His situation was helpless, "He's fine... just in the infirmary now, getting some wounds cleaned."

Sephiroth felt his heart in his throat, "Wounds...?" He had to check on Cloud immediately...

"Wait, Seph!" Zack reached out to grab his friend's arm in a moment of panic, "When was the last time you even talked to Cloud? You're going to freak him out!"

Yes, Sephiroth didn't talk to the cadet much, but he had developed a small sort of... friendship with him. And who was Zack to keep him from checking on the cadet? Zack knew that if someone tried top stop him from doing something, it would only make him pursue it even more. "I'm going."

Zack sighed and let Sephiroth go, knowing full well that he couldn't stop him when it came to Cloud... And why did he feel... jealous?

Sephiroth headed towards the infirmary, his heart was beating wildly and all he could think about was how proud of Cloud he was. Cloud was a lot stronger than most people gave him credit for.

+-+++-+

Clutching onto a square, brown container, he slipped past the doors and into the infirmary. He really was more nervous than he had been in a long while. He doubted Cloud was too beat up, but the thought of anyone touching him when he didn't want it... They would pay, he swore it. The sick, medicine-coated smell of the infirmary wafted up into his nose and he made his way to the all too familiar cots. There was thick curtains surrounding one in particular and he figured that was where Cloud was.

"Cloud...?" He whispered softly and peeked into the curtains.

He smiled when he noticed that the smaller boy was curled up in the blankets, sleeping soundly. There were bandages wrapped around his chest and left arm, some spots were even spotted with blood. Sephiroth growled loudly at the thought of anybody harming the small angel. He couldn't claim Cloud, but he was still terribly protective of him.

"Nnn..." Cloud shifted on the cot and made a small noise of pain because of the tender wounds.

Sephiroth stood by the side of the bed, still watching over the smaller boy like a guardian angel. He wondered what Cloud dreamt about... Cloud shifted again, obvious movement beneath his eyelids as he slept. His face started to scrunch up and after a few more noises of pain, he gripped the sheets. The General had a small battle with himself. A battle of the heart versus the mind. He wanted desperately to calm the boy in any way, but his pride wouldn't let him go near him.

A piercing wail came from the smaller boy and in a matter of seconds, Sephiroth had made up his mind.

He bolted over to the side of the bed and sat down next to the distressed cadet, "Shhhh... Cloud... it's just a nightmare..." Sephiroth reached up to Cloud's sweaty forehead and brushed the soft, golden spikes out of his face. "Shhh..."

Immediately the cadet calmed, a soft noise of approval drifting past his chapped lips.

A genuine smile came to Seph's face, "And this is why I'm a mess." He chuckled a bit and wrapped the blankets around Cloud.

Sephiroth sat off to the side of the bed, his hand stroking the blonde's hair. Cloud looked completely peaceful in that moment, curled into the sterile sheets. His pale eyelashes casting small shadows on the smooth cheeks. He could picture Cloud's eyes completely in that moment. The soft blue of eyes untouched by mako. He hoped with all of his being that Cloud would never agree to the mako injections of a SOLDIER, but something told him that those soft blue eyes would soon have the eerie glow of mako. He sighed then, and carded his fingers through the boys hair one last time.

"Angels on your pillows..." He kissed the pale forehead, immediately blushing at his own actions.

Seph set the container down on the bedside table for Cloud whenever he woke up and straightened up. "I could get used to this, you know..." He smirked a bit, amused at how he was acting and made his way back towards his office to finish up his paperwork.

+-+++-+

"So there was a bowl of soup left on the counter?" Zack looked at Cloud like he was hallucinating.

Cloud nodded and shrugged, "Yeah... it was pretty good, too." He laughed a bit. Actually it was incredibly good. The old style vegetable soup reminded him of home and made him feel a little less homesick.

Zack cocked his head to the side as the two walked down the hallway, "I wonder who left it..."

That was such a lie. Zack knew exactly who had made it the moment Cloud told him what was in it. Vegetable soup was one of the only things Sephiroth could make that didn't involve chocolate or some sort of artery-clogging unhealthy slab of sugary crap. Seph's biggest weakness... had always been junk food.

The cadet shrugged again and shook his head, "Oh well... I don't need to know who it was. It was just kinda... nice... and I wanted to thank whoever made it." Cloud nudged Zack in the side, "I thought you had left it at first. You always seem to do weird things like that." He laughed.

"Weird!" Zack puffed up his chest. Cloud's statement had ruffled his feathers a bit too much, "What do I do that's weird!"

The blonde youth smiled and chuckled a bit, "Nevermind, Zack."

Zack immediately changed the subject, "So are you still up for the vacation to Costa del Sol?"

"I don't know..." He groaned a bit.

The thought of vacationing with the General made him terribly nervous. He had always admired Sephiroth and as soon as he saw the tall, graceful being go through his moves, he was completely head over heels. It was embarrassing at first, realizing that he wanted someone else of the same sex. But nothing could convince him that it was wrong to care about such a beautiful creature. He blinked when he realized that he was spacing out. His cheeks turned red and he spit out the first excuse that came to mind.

"Umm. The SOLDIER exam is coming up soon and I should be training as much as I can." That excuse was. so. pathetic.

"Oh come on. Look at you." Zack poked at Cloud's left arm, which happened to be heavily bandaged.

Cloud hissed and jerked away from the raven-haired SOLDIER, "Hey!"

"See." Zack arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "You need this vacation, Cloud... Anyways... it's only for a couple of days. Not like you'll be missing much." He ruffled Cloud's hair and chuckled.

"Grr... Zack!" The blonde batted away Zack's hands and rolled his eyes, "Fine. I'll go. Now when is it again?" It was so obvious that Zack was up to something. He always got all twitchy like a friggin' crack addict.

Zack puffed up and said in a singsong voice, "This Monday!"

"What! That's in three days! What in the hell did you do!" Cloud narrowed his eyes and stopped dead in his tracks.

Zack sweat-dropped, "Umm... well... eh..." He scratched the back of his head and took a deep breath, "IsentalettertothePresidentactinglikeSephanddemandedthatIgetavacation!"

Cloud's face went white, "...you do know... that Sephiroth will kill you, ...right?"

A picture of Zack with the masamune up his nose came to mind and caused him to snicker. Sometimes, he thought that Zack might actually have a death wish. Seeing as how he always does exactly what would make Sephiroth want to stab him in the jugular.

"He'll kill me if he finds out. IF, dear Cloud, IF." The older man winked.

"I hope you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting..."

Zack kept winking and Cloud rolled his eyes.

"No. I refuse to lie to Sephiroth." He crossed his arms, cringing at the movement in the left one.

"God dammit, Strife! Pleeeeeeeeease!" Zack frantically went into whine mode.

He smacked his forehead. "If Sephiroth asks if I know how you got the tickets... I'm telling him to talk to you about it."

Zack sulked, "Heeeeeey–"

"No! That's the bottom line." He stood up as tall as he could... which didn't happen to be much, but dammit! He could be intimidating, too!

"Fine." Zack waved it off and made his way towards Sephiroth's office. It was lunchtime... so that meant, of course, it was time to bug Seph! HOORAY! "Wanna go with me to Seph's office?" He batted his big, brown eyes at the Cadet, trying to look convincing.

Cloud's face turned red at the thought of going down there, "I-I don't know..."

"Come on!" Zack grabbed Cloud's good arm and dragged him towards Seph's office in glee.

Soon enough, the door to Seph's office came into view. Zack made a noise that sounded like a cross between a gurgle and a shout of joy. Cloud didn't want to even begin to think what that stood for.

Sephiroth opened the door to his office, fully prepared to greet his friend. There was never a day that Zack hadn't come to bug his superior officer. And eerily enough, he was always on time. This frightened Sephiroth greatly.

"Zack! You're going to pull my arm off, be–" Before Cloud could finish his sentence, he was 'accidentally' tossed directly into the General. "Ack–mmff!" A mouth full of leather coat. Mmm-mmm good!

"Oh shit! Sorry, man!" Zack slapped Cloud on the back, but drew his hand away quickly when he noticed the glare he was getting from Seph. "Ehehe."

"Are you ok?" Sephiroth's face turned red when he realized how close he was to the smaller boy.

Zack watched from the background, cat ears nearly sprouting from his head. He slipped out of the room quietly, a mischevious grin on his face.

"Mmoophheeehr." Cloud mumbled into the jacket and pushed back, "I mean 'super'." The younger boy blushed in turn and diverted his eyes. He hissed out when his arm throbbed a bit worse than normal.

Sephiroth reached out to Cloud's arm and pulled the sleeve up, inspecting the bandages. But the only thing that Cloud had noticed was how warm Seph's hand was. And how firm his grip was. And the way his eyes sort of sparkled when he–okay that's too much. Cloud's face began looking very similar to a tomato in that moment.

"You need these changed... I suggest that you go down to the infirmary before lunch's over and do that." The elder man said in a stern 'you better listen to me or I'm going to beat your ass and not in a good way' voice.

Cloud shivered at the loss of warmth and nodded. Oh boy.

"How are you doing?" Jade eyes softened a bit. Well, as much as those eyes could soften.

The small boy looked at the ground, ashamed, "I'm guessing you heard about it from Zack, right?"

Sephiroth nodded, then realized the boy couldn't see him, "Yes. I..." He thought for a moment. Should he really reveal that he was in the infirmary? Well, it was worth a shot, "I visited you in the infirmary after he told me, but you were sleeping soundly."

"He visited me?" Cloud thought. Perhaps Sephiroth had been the one to leave him soup! "Psh... right..." He shuffled his feet a bit and looked back up at those piercing green eyes, "You wouldn't happen to know who left me that soup, would you?"

Sephiroth seemed to choke and sputter for a moment, causing Cloud to blink at him, "Oh... the soup... ...was it vegetable soup, by any chance?" He tried to act calm and collected. But he was failing miserably!

"Heh. Yeah, it was." Cloud's face darkened another shade. Was it Seph?

"Oh, that was me." He laughed a bit, sounding nervous. "It's the only stuff I can make that doesn't risk heart attack. And I thought it'd be better than the stuff they feed you in the infirmary." Seph shivered at the thought.

Cloud nodded, still not able to believe Seph would do something so kind for him, "Well... thanks. It was really good. Reminded me of my Mom's cooking."

He smiled at the thought of his mother bustling around in the kitchen as if she was on some sort of time schedule before dinner. He missed her quite a bit and that soup helped him get a little bit closer to home.

"Well..." He scratched the back of his head, "You're welcome." He really wasn't used to "thank you"s.

"Where'd Zack go...?" Cloud looked around the office curiously.

Sephiroth reminded himself to strangle his best friend later, "He probably went to get some food. You know how his appetite is..."

"Yeah... well umm..." Cloud shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "It was nice talking to you again, General." He went to salute him, but Sephiroth's hand came up and gently moved Cloud's hand back to it's original place.

"There's no need for that here, Strife. You don't see Zack saluting me, do you? Oh, and just call me Sephiroth or Seph. Whatever you prefer." He nudged the boy towards the door and Cloud obeyed quite reluctantly. "You should probably get some food too before Zack eats it all. And don't forget to get those bandages changed."

Cloud let himself be nudged out the door and looked back, nodding slightly, "Okay... bye." He turned around to quickly jog to the cafeteria, replaying everything that had just happened in his mind.

"Bye.." Sephiroth watched until the boy disappeared down another hallway and slipped back into his office. He just couldn't seem to wipe that silly grin off his face. "...thanks Zack, I owe you one.."