Lights and Shadows

' To those who loved this world

And knew friendly company therein:

This Reunion is for you. - FF VII AC

-------------------------------------

Disclaimer: FFVII and all its characters belong to Square Enix Co. Ltd, not me. I am simply using that world and its characters as muses and a writing exercise.

Author's Note: Well, this is a shounen ai so we were warned. I will depict Sephiroth as I see him and Zack as I see him. I own the characters Coatz, Rei, Erna, and Randsom so there. : P Anyway, the gibberish Sephiroth speaks at times will be Cetran, but he doesn't know that. It will be explained by him later. I know he isn't Cetran, but he is mock Cetran so I gave him some of their powers. And for my purposes Zack's last name will be Donovan. This fanfic takes place before the game. I am not sure as of Seph's age, but I estimate him around 16 to 25 at this time and I will be going with 18. Zack will be sixteen in the beginning.

Summary: All light must have a shadow, light cannot exist without a shadow and shadows are casted because of light. If one is present without the other it is only half complete. This takes place before the game and how Sephiroth found his light. SxZ

Italics - mental conversations

' ' - thoughts

" " - normal conversation

-----------------------------

Chapter One: The End of a Long Day

The war against Wutai had gone on long enough in Sephiroth's opinion. Everyday seemed to have blurred into one seamless battle to the next. The people of Wutai were not about to surrender to a power that was foreign, such as the nation of Shin-Ra. Five years had passed since this pointless war began. The President only wanted it for the prospect of achieving another location for mako reactors and materia mining. Many came to believe that Shin-Ra felt pressured by the Nation of Wutai and thought attacking would be the best way to eliminate the possibility of his precious company and nation being taken away from him.

It wasn't long into the war before the previous General, Calloway, had been killed in battle. Sephiroth had barely made it into the SOLDIER program when Shin-Ra set him loose on the Wutai Shinobi and warriors. With the advice of the 'great' Professor Hojo, Sephiroth quickly soared through the ranks and was chosen as the new General in less than four months of being dispatched. Many were left suspicious and outraged at having such a young man leading the entire army. There were gossips of Shin-ra losing his mind and the not-so-prodigious boy but, they stopped after the kid produced numerous victories with almost flawless results. He was receiving praise back in Midgar and had been elevated to the status of a hero. Shin-Ra now used him in their propaganda to promote the war and recruit more potential soldiers.

But what was Sephiroth to complain? His ranking and status were coveted all around, and his salary was nothing to laugh about. He had the finest clothing, made his own rules, and owned an apartment, but still he didn't seem complete or happy. He would brood in his tent when not directing SOLDIERS or engaging in battle. To his delight and dismay, this meant his men left him at peace. His temper was already a thing of legends.

For the past few hours he had been brooding, calculating in his mind the next course of action. Everything fell into place too quickly for him. His brain made connections and reasoned through situations far more swiftly than any SOLDIER or human. At times it startled him on how off he was compared to others, but it was one of those things he had to learn to get over, but at the current stage in time he was completely bored and tired no matter how fast his mind was able to reason through things. Everything was dragging on, and it had become hard to tell the days of the week apart.

He leaned back into his dark green chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. Papers were thrown about his makeshift desk, various reports that he would eventually have to sift through. He was fortunate enough to find out that in a week's time he would be pulled from this hell hole of sneaky ninja to the bleak, smog filled hell hole known as Midgar. The war had basically already been won so there was no need for Shin-Ra to keep his most valuable person in the heat of danger. Sephiroth understood he was special. He was made different than everyone else, but he didn't bother to delve any more into the details. All he understood was that Shin-Ra had invested a lot of money into Hojo so that he could modify Sephiroth. He went through a life long process of tests and experiments so that he could be a better version of the current SOLDIER. Unlike, the others who may have been flawed compared to him but, still normal, he was always odd compared to the other humans he'd been around. Hell, he grew up knowing Shin-Ra's labs most of his life, so he couldn't be normal, but one could always pretend, right...?

His thoughts were interrupted once more when Sergeant Coatz entered the tent. The man was of average height with sandy blonde hair and azure eyes. Something was always special about Coatz. The man never showed fear; either he was really brave or an complete idiot. He smiled slightly before saluting in respect. Not to mention the man had a problem with being trigger happy.

"We've just received the new Lieutenant that Major General Erna appointed a few weeks ago, sir," Coatz stated, keeping his words very selective. He smiled as if happy he was able to speak in that manner, "Do you wish for me to send him in?"

Sephiroth nodded and motioned for him to send the man in. He had already been briefed on his second-in-command. He was a prodigy among the SOLDIERS besides himself of course. It was as if he had possessed a natural talent for fighting and excelled at it. The man had defeated Major General Erna in battle posting him as the new Lieutenant General. Experience and tests mattered little to Shinra as far as getting Heidegger to assign rankings. Only if you were physically strong enough to fill the position did you get it. Heidegger had this religious belief that brains only got in the way of fighting. Needless to say the man lacked numerous brain cells himself.

Sephiroth looked up as the flaps of his tent were pushed open. He had been expecting a man, not the young teenage boy that just barged in. This had to be some sick joke of Coatz's. The boy in question was only slightly shorter than himself with spiky black hair that distinguished him from Gongaga. His eyes were a rare color of violet and were glowing, a characteristic common of all SOLDIERS. He wore a plain indigo sleeveless turtleneck with matching pants. On his shoulders were pauldrons and his belt gave away his rank, indeed, this boy was his second-in-command. Sephiroth could feel the beginnings of a massive migraine surfacing.

The boy stood almost perfectly straight. It was obvious by his posture that his personality wouldn't allow him to stand utterly erect. He gave a cursory salute before daring to approach Sephiroth any further. The boy didn't seem fazed by being in Sephiroth's presence which was a miracle within itself. The boy's eyes held curiosity, not the admiration Sephiroth was used to people staring him down with. "Lieutenant General Zachary Donovan reporting for duty," Zack finally spoke.

"I didn't realize that Shin-Ra was allowing them in this young," Sephiroth murmured under his breath. He stood up from his chair and waltzed over to Zack. He raised his eyebrow inspecting him from head to toe. Zack remained calm and gave him a smile in return. The boy was either really clueless or very friendly. "Very well, Zachary..." The boy visibly flinched at the name, but said nothing. "I suppose that Heidegger has briefed you on the situation here."

Zack nodded. His face taking on a serious air once more. His hand twitched as he unconsciously allowed it to run through his hair. He didn't stay in a straight military fashioned stance for long as he shifted his weight on one leg in a more casual pose. How this boy even made it passed training was beyond Sephiroth at the moment. This Zack character had problems obeying the protocol that had been laid down for the SOLDIERs.

"So… what are our objectives as of now, General?" Zack inquired.

Sephiroth scuffed. Zack apparently wasn't all about being rebellious as teenagers were so infamous for. "…We are not to do anything, but report the new orders at 0700 hours."

"Wonderful," Zack responded, taking a seat in the chair which Sephiroth had previously occupied. Sephiroth's eye twitched, unconsciously. Zachary was starting to remind him of a small child who had yet to learn his place in the world and had the mind set of 'ooooo must touch!'. The boy was completely foolish and downright… irritating. Less than five minutes of meeting him, and Zachary had already woven his way under Seph's skin and made it crawl with frustration. "You realize Shin-Ra won't keep us here for maybe another day? Said something about how its useless to keep you here when obviously Wutai will be surrendering in a few days at most." Zachary commented as if the man standing before him had been a childhood friend and not his superior.

"Then, would there really be a point in Shin-Ra sending you here to pester me and squander my time?" Sephiroth questioned.

Zack feigned hurt and then laughed at the words that were about to spill from his mouth. "Actually, Shinra thought it would be best that we get acquainted as soon as possible," Zack placed his finger on his chin, innocently, "He mentioned something along the lines of 'they'll be sharing an office so might as well let his high mighty Prince Sephiroth get used to you.'" Sephiroth's mood visibly darkened. "Well, that's how my mind translated it."

Sephiroth felt that migraine arrive in full force. Not only did he get the oh so lovely news of his lieutenant but the man was a talkative, loudmouth, and rather outspoken individual. Basically, Shin-Ra had just set loose a chocobo hyped on greens into the lair of a Midgar Zolom that just woke up. Then, expected the chocobo and Zolom to sit down, drink some tea, and share the same confined office space. Yes, the future was looking bright for him.

----------------------------------------

I think I've made them a little OOC so give me feedback to let me know what you think. I'm portraying Zack and Seph as I do in my rps. Anyway, yeah, here it is in all its glory.