Disclaimer: I do not own CCFF7, Sephiroth, Genesis, Loveless, Zack, or any of that stuff. I do, however, own this story. Yep. Oh, Crisis Core spoilers, which I should have been warning for this entire time, but keep forgetting. The dialogue in this section comes from an actual scene in Crisis Core. The thoughts and emotions in between are mine, as is the dialogue after that section ends with Zack going away.
Warning: this is a yaoi story, start to finish. You no like, you leave me alone, k? Yeah. Dark themes, I guess. For this section… sad fluff?
Music: "Dedicate (A Place For Me)" –VAST, "Take Me With You" –VAST
THE MEMORY OF FALLING
Epilogue: Take Me With You
"Mission failed. This goes on your permanent record." Sephiroth watched as Hollander went. That doctor was probably their last chance at getting any answers, any closure. Hollander was flying away, held by two copies. Those answers would not come now.
"Sephiroth!" Zack looked more irritated than anything, despite the surprise in his voice. "Long time no see!"
"Let the Turks take care of the rest." Easy strides carried him closer to the edge of the dock, gaze centered out over the sparkling water of Junon. "I was on my way to Modeoheim, but heard you were in the area." It was easy to keep a cold tone to his voice now, especially with Zack. It was all too easy.
"Lucky me."
"The situation was not resolved. Genesis copies have been sighted around the world." Sephiroth forced himself to give a report, a cold and unfeeling report. He had never learned another way to cope.
"That can't be! We wiped out those Genesis copies."
"Did Genesis really die?" There was hope in his eyes, despite how he tried to blot it out. His voice was not as cold when he asked, despite the attitude Zack had taken after the whole event. That was why Sephiroth was going to Modeoheim, to check for signs that Genesis somehow survived that fall. Sephiroth knew it was a wild, futile chase, but could not help himself. He needed closure.
"Uh…"
Sephiroth turned away. He could feel Genesis near by. Was it just the copies? No. Sephiroth knew what a copy felt like. This was different. This was much, much different. "They've been sighted in Midgar as well." Sephiroth needed to get Zack away from Junon, lest he sense it too. He still blamed Zack.
"I see…"
"The Slums, too." Sephiroth had been reading more than just medical records since the incident at Modeoheim. He knew Zack had a girlfriend in the Slums. Sephiroth would use that information to his advantage now. "Permission to return… granted." He offered a smile, as fake as it must have seemed.
"Uh… uh yeah…"
"Take care." He turned back to the water.
"You too."
Was that confusion Sephiroth heard in that voice? Was Zack expecting him to be entirely unfeeling? Sephiroth could do that. All too easily. Zack had killed Genesis. Even if Genesis was the one to jump, Sephiroth knew the redhead, his redhead, would not have done so if he had any other option.
"Hey, what's going on in Modeoheim?"
He almost slipped and let out a sigh. No. He would have to deal with this, then he could be free of the murderer. "The device Hollander was using has been stolen."
"Genesis?"
Tilting his head upward, Sephiroth did let out a sigh, its barely seething through his lips. His mako green eyes, half crescents, could only see the glittering horizon. iI hope so/i is what he wanted to say. "Probably." Was what came out. Self control was paramount, especially for him. The media was probably lurking a few platforms away, looking for any snippet of information they could put on the airwaves. Zack was still hesitating, though, acting like he had something else to say, but was afraid to. "We'll meet again soon."
At that Zack nodded, walking backwards. He pointed a black gloved hand at Sephiroth. "I'll hold you to that." Sephiroth's gaze hardened the moment Zack turned his back and went off, back to Midgar, back to his girlfriend, back to a somewhat happy life.
He couldn't just go back to something like that, not anymore. Sephiroth could feel it, up on the canon. He waited until the Turks were further away to even glance up in that direction. Genesis… He closed his eyes, letting the salt breeze wash over him, comb through his hair. Genesis was up there, on the canon. He could feel it.
"Take me with you…" The words escaped his lips somehow, despite the cold, reserved expression he had so masterfully schooled onto his features. There was only so much he could hide, the Great General Sephiroth or not.
All Genesis had to do was ask, and he would find a way up on top of the canon, fly away with him.
Until he asked, Sephiroth would be waiting.
Author's Note: You guys voted for the epilogue, so I wrote it! It's short, but sweet, and wraps up the story. Before anyone complains, "Photographs" has the first section up, so there will be more of this tragic couple. "Lying is a Dance for Two" with Lazard and Tseng is also up.
If this was a movie, it would have music playing during the ending credits. So just imagine that the credits are rolling, and the songs below are playing during it. I'll give you a digital cookie if you're the first to figure out which song goes to which character. (It shouldn't be hard)
"Take Me With You" by V.A.S.T. (Video Audio Sensory Theater)
All these failures form your walls
I'm standing by your bed
In a palace by the sea
I'll give you anything
Drapes are moving in the breeze
I'm standing by your bed
In a palace by the sea
I will save you
If you save me
Take me with you
Take me with you
Wherever you will go
I will go there with you
And I will love you
All these failures form your walls
I'm standing by a room
In a town that no one knows
And I live the mourning by myself
I will save you
If you save me
Take me with you
Take me with you
Wherever you will go
I will go there with you
And I will love you
If you love me, too
Take me with you
Take me with you
Take me with you
Take me with you
"Dedicate (A Place for Me)" –V.A.S.T. (Visual Audio Sensory Theater)
People say that I loved you too much
Because I think about you now
And it's been two years
Images of you with him
Play again and again inside my head
I hope you fall
I hope you fail
If you ever loved me
If you ever knew me
You should know that I am gone
If you ever loved me
If you ever knew me
Dedicate a place for me
Thoughts of you
Flow into me like poison
No one can see
No one can feel
I'm too small
I'm too big
Too blind to see you're shining
Way over head
I hope you fall
If you ever loved me
If you ever knew me
You should know that I am gone
If you ever loved me
If you ever knew me
Dedicate a place for me
I'm gone and forgotten
I'm gone like I never existed at all
If you ever loved me
If you ever knew me
You should know that I am gone
Have you ever needed
Have you ever needed
Dedicate a place for me
Dedicate a place for me