Green

by: Albedosreqium / Soyna

Setting: Before Crisis Coreish /Dirge of Cerbius in nature

Rating, Genre and Warnings: PG, Sephiroth Childhood fiction, it will pull at your heart strings.

Characters: Child!Sephiroth and Gast Faremis.

Disclaimer: All related Final Fantasy names and characters are copyrighted by the almighty Square Enix©. I do not profit from this endeavour.

Summary and Additional Information: Thanks for the lovely beta work from Beruthielscat

For an art trade. They wanted a story dealing with Sephiroth with the keyword birthday.
The first Birthday that Sephiroth can remember.

Sephiroth knew what the colours meant, but not the words.

Green meant he got to outside and play with chocobos. One of the nurses would take him. Sometimes there weren't any chocobos around and then he got to play in the grass or the sand and get all dirty. It was nice being outside and allowed to run around without worrying about anyone bothering him. It was fun. The baths weren't very much fun after, but it was worth it.

Blue meant he had to do stuff with pictures and pens. He didn't mind if all he had to do was colour a picture or draw something, but he hated it when they wanted him to do words. He knew how to write his name and that was all he wanted to learn. They were always trying to get him to look at words and compare them to pictures and that was boring and tedious and he would rather draw pictures.

Everyone around him was always writing or reading and they never looked happy about it, so he didn't know why he needed to learn it if it wasn't fun.

He was not allowed to draw on the White board that was outside his room. He got in trouble for that but he had other things he could colour, so it wasn't that big of a deal anymore.

Black was when he got to do things with Doctor Gast. They were sometimes hard to do, but Gast was always nice and patient with him. They sometimes got to do puzzles together, so Black was a good colour.

Red was different, though. He hated Red. That was when Hojo wanted him to do something or to do something to him. There were times they did the same things Gast made him do but he would get smacked or yelled at if he did them wrong. Sometimes he had to fight things that had sharp teeth or claws to make Hojo happy and he always got hurt. Hojo always had needles and poky things and awful tasting syrups that had to be taken.

Hojo wasn't nice to him and he didn't like him and he hated the colour Red because of it.

Usually there wasn't much Red on the board. There were only two or three spots of Red a week and no more than five, so he endured it knowing that there would usually be Black time afterwards.

But then he woke up one morning and on his way to go get breakfast, he saw that there was a whole day written in Red, with his name in large block letters.

A whole day of Red.

He didn't like that idea at all and his stomach started to churn as he looked at his name written there. It was only two days away and he knew he couldn't handle a whole day of Red.

"Breakfast, Sephiroth," one of the nurses called from the kitchen.

The thought of eating made his stomach churn and he ran to the bathroom in his room where he threw up until there was nothing left in him. The aides and nurses tried to comfort him but he didn't want anything to do with anyone. He crawled back into his bed and grabbed his Mar-Mar and held onto it as tightly as possible. He didn't play with his Mar-Mar very often but when he was upset it was nice to hold the large green body close to his chest. He chewed on the cotton tentacles of the stuffed Marboro, even though he knew that it was going to get him in trouble.

He wasn't supposed to put anything but food or the nasty medicine Hojo gave him into his mouth.

He had his temperature taken and other medical tests as well and heard them say that there was nothing wrong with him.

He could have told them that. He didn't understand why he needed to do a whole day of Red if there was nothing wrong with him.

He hid in his bed as the nicer nurses asked him what was wrong and tried to comfort him. He didn't want to answer them and so he didn't. He stayed in his bed and chewed on the tentacles until they got soggy and moved on to a dry one.

Two spaces on the board meant only two days away. Two days until a whole day of Red … with Hojo. The thought of it made his eyes water and he couldn't hold back the tears that had threatened to take him all morning.

The last time there was a full day of Red, he ended up in a tube that felt like a cold bath for the whole time. He didn't like it. He didn't want to be in that tube again for a full day.

He started to cry. He knew that he shouldn't. Big boys didn't cry but he held his Mar-Mar close and sobbed into the mass of eyeballs and yarn tentacles and ignored the people that were trying to comfort him and figure out why he was crying.

He knew they were talking about him, outside in the hallway. He heard his name and it made him even more scared.

Sometimes when he cried, they gave him needles. He didn't like how he felt after those needles. He tried to make himself stop, but deep breaths just made his stomach hurt worse and made him want to throw up again, even though he hadn't eaten all day.

"Maybe we should hold off until he gets over whatever is wrong with him," a frustrated female voice said outside his door. "He won't tell any of us what's wrong. If he keeps this up, we are going to have to sedate him."

He held his Mar-Mar tighter to his chest and resumed chewing on a dry tendril.

"I will talk with him," a deep voice he recognized said and that made him look up. He was so happy to see Gast as the door opened and the doctor walked in.

He dropped Mar-Mar and ran for the door and clung to the doctor's legs, his sobs intensifying.

Gast had been gone for a couple of weeks and he'd missed him so much. The others were not fun to do puzzles with. He was so happy that Gast was back and he was sure that once he showed him all the Red on the board, he would stop Hojo from putting him in that tube again.

Gast's soft, comforting arms surrounded him, pried him off of his legs and picked him up. Gast was the only one who ever picked him up anymore. Everyone else made him walk. He wrapped his arms around Gast's neck and tried to talk to him but was only able to sob and babble.

He couldn't hear what Gast was saying to him over his own cries. Gast's hand rubbed up and down his back until he was finally able to calm down.

Gast moved to the bed and sat down. Sephiroth found himself positioned in his lap and being held away from his chest. Hands wiped tears off his cheeks and Sephiroth was finally able to hear what Gast was saying.

"You need to calm down, Sephiroth," Gast said in a way Sephiroth always found comforting. "Take a deep breath and calm down. Do what I'm doing."

Sephrioth watched as Gast's chest rose up and down and he tried to copy him. His breaths were shaky at first but they eventually evened out until he wasn't crying anymore.

"There we go. That's a good boy," Gast said and Sephiroth smiled a bit. He was handed a tissue and instructed to blow and so he did, honking loudly into it and handing it back wet. He was pleased when Gast reached over and grabbed Mar-Mar and placed it on his lap. Sephiroth eagerly pulled it to his chest and tangled his hands in its tentacles.

"Now, can you tell me what has got you so upset?" Gast's voice was soft and laced with concern. But the thought of all that Red on the White board made tears fill up his green eyes again.

Sephiroth only got one word out before he broke down into sobs again. "Red!"

He buried his face into Gast's chest again, grateful for the comforting arms that surrounded him. He felt those hands gently soothing him again until he was able to get himself under control and Gast once more held him away from his chest and made Sephiroth look at him.

After instructing him to blow his nose again, Gast stroked his hair and whispered gently, "Sephiroth. What does 'red' mean?"

"Red!" Sephiroth said and pointed at the door. "I don't like Red!"

Gast blinked with a confused look at the door Sephiroth was pointing at. Gast was supposed to know. "Was there someone wearing red that upset you?"

Sephiroth shook his head violently and hugged Mar-Mar tighter. "No! Red day!"

Gast's brow was still furrowed in confusion. "I'm afraid that I am not understanding, son."

Sephiroth huffed and glared up at the doctor. "Red! Red!" He yelled and pointed at his bedroom door. "Red!"

"Can you show me?" Gast said after a moment of contemplation. Sephiroth nodded and climbed off Gast's lap, grabbing his hand firmly in his and tugging while keeping Mar-Mar clutched tight under his other arm.

Gast got off his bed and followed after him but he was being too slow and Sephiroth had to pull him. He walked out his door and showed Gast the wall board. "Red!" He pointed to the offending day with his name written in bright Red letters; he didn't know what the other words were, but it couldn't be good.

It was in Red, after all.

Gast still looked confused. Sephiroth tugged harder on the doctor's hand and smacked his own hand against the board on the offending day. "Red!"

"Yes, it is written in red." Gast was frowning now and he didn't like that. He wasn't understanding why Sephiroth was upset. He felt his eyes start to water and he let go of Gast's hand to show him another Red day on the chart.

"Red! Don't like Red!" He yelled and held Mar-Mar to his mouth and sat on the floor in sadness. Why didn't Gast see that Red was bad? He couldn't look up at the doctor as he stared at the green mass of yarn of his Marboro and sniffled.

He didn't want to start crying, but the tears were coming again. "I don't want tube again." Sephiroth whispered and started to chew on a tentacle close to his mouth.

There was silence around him.

"Oh!" Gast said. "Oh, you think …" then he started to laugh.

Sephiroth looked up with a furious frown at the laughing man. There was nothing funny about the Red day.

"Not funny," he sniffled, speaking around the yarn in his mouth.

Gast knelt down and moved to pick him up. He tried to squirm out of his grasp at first, but ended up giving in. He didn't put his arms out to Gast, keeping them firmly wrapped around Mar-Mar.

"Do you see here?" Gast asked gently as he pointed at the board and the Red writing.

"Red," Sephiroth whispered.

"Don't you see what it says?" Gast asked with a chuckle. Sephiroth didn't like being laughed at.

"Red," Sephiroth answered.

"No, not the colour, what do the words say?" Gast asked as he pointed at the Red letters and the large arrow that meant they took over the whole day.

He shrugged and looked at the scribbles. He recognized some of the shapes but that was only because the letters were part of his name.

"This is a very important word for that day," Gast said and again made Sephiroth look at him. Sephiroth didn't want to look at him. The doctor was smiling at his misery and that wasn't very nice of him.

"Red are not nice days," Sephiroth said.

"Oh, but this is a very good day. You are going to be three that day!" Gast said with a large smile. "We blocked off the whole day for your birthday, Sephiroth."

"Birthday?" Sephiroth squinted at the words on the board. He guessed one of the letters could be a 'b' but he wasn't sure.

"Yes. Birthday! You get to do whatever you want on this day," Gast said as he pointed to the slots. "We are going to have a picnic outside and play games. Liza, you remember her, right?"

He nodded. Liza was hardly around anymore and he missed her. She used to always be around when he was sleeping. "Well, she will be coming and she is bringing your favourite cake."

He perked up at that. "Chocolate?" he asked hopefully. "With sprinkles?"

Gast laughed again and this time Sephiroth wasn't annoyed. Gast pointed at the Red words. "I knew you would say that. Yes, she is bringing chocolate cake and we are going to have burgers for supper and if the weather's good, maybe we can go for a ride on the chocobos. The rancher brought them down from the mountains and there are some new chicks, too."

Sephiorth grinned. "So, my day?"

"Yes. You can do whatever you want on that day," Gast replied. "So, are you okay now?"

Sephiroth nodded but looked back at the board and pointed to the day that was his birthday. "Green!"

"Pardon?" Gast asked and Sephiroth frowned at him. Adults were supposed to be smart.

"Make it Green," Sephiroth said and leaned away from his grasp a bit to put his hand on the board and scrub off the Red. "Green is better."

Gast laughed again and set him down.

Sephiroth watched with delight, chewing on the tentacles of Mar-Mar as the Red was erased from the board and the words were replaced with Green. He was very pleased with the final result.

Green was a much better colour.