A Soldier's Wedding.

By Sephiroth

Sephiroth@map.com

Fandom: Final Fantasy 7 (AU)

Pairing: Cloud/Sephiroth

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. I ain't gettin' paid.

Author's note: This fic is an Alternate Universe fic which takes place at the time of the Nibelheim Disaster.

"Let me be alone." Sephiroth said, darkly. He felt angry and confused at the moment. His left hand was clenched around the hilt of his sword so tightly that had it not been gloved and not extremely pale, Cloud might have seen his knuckles turning white.

Cloud almost turned and left, but something stopped him.

"No."

Sephiroth blinked. "You dare disobey me?!" he spun around, swinging his sword at Cloud.

Cloud, who had anticipated that Sephiroth might do something like that, blocked the blow with his own sword.

Sephiroth struck again and again, but Cloud blocked him each time.

"I learned from the best."

The words were barely heard over the din of steel on steel. But they were heard and Sephiroth smiled, briefly, at the compliment.

"Sephiroth, please stop this," Cloud pleaded. "Look, I don't care how you were created or what anyone says. You're still the Sephiroth I've always loved." He went very pale. He'd meant to say 'admired'. He did love Sephiroth, but he hadn't meant to blurt it out like that.

Sephiroth turned in surprise. "You... *love* me?"

Cloud nodded.

~Here it comes,~ he thought to himself. ~This is where he kicks me out and has me booted from SOLDIER.~

"Cloud," Sephiroth's voice wavered a little. A tremor of rage was Cloud's guess.

Cloud was shaking his head. "Look, I know it was stupid of me to admit that, and I'm sorry, but its true and I can't do a thing about it. And since you're about to throw me out of SOLDIER, may I go and pack please?"

"I love you, too."

Cloud blinked. Had the General just said...?

"Sir?" Cloud was very nonplussed. "But I'm..."

"Just a grunt?" Sephiroth knew where this was going already. Why would a high rank officer fall in love with a newly recruited grunt?

Cloud nodded. "And you're a..."

"General?" Sephiroth supplied again.

Another nod from Cloud.

"And that means what?" Sephiroth asked. He'd never really cared about titles so Cloud being a 'mere' grunt didn't phase him.

"So it doesn't bother you?" Cloud could feel his heart thumping in his chest. "What about what the others will say?"

"It's just talk," Sephiroth shrugged.

Cloud's heart was beating so fast now, he thought it would come out of his chest. Sephiroth loved him! But did he dare ask.

"What's on your mind?" Sephiroth inquired as he sheathed Masamune and headed for the door.

"I have a question I want to ask you." Cloud told Sephiroth.

"Go ahead."

They were crossing the town square when Cloud, realizing that if he waited he would lose the courage, suddenly asked,

"Will you marry me?"

Everyone within earshot turned to face them. Cloud turned beet red. He hadn't meant for others to hear him. For a moment he was terrified that Sephiroth might be angered by Cloud's public proposal; then he heard Sephiroth's laughter. At first he was relieved, then he felt a little upset. Did Sephiroth think the whole thing had been a joke?

"I'm not joking, Seph'." Cloud told him.

"I know." Sephiroth replied. "I'm laughing because I'm so incredibly happy right now."

The others that were still around them were listening intently to the exchange, hanging on every word uttered between the two men from SOLDIER.

"What's going on?" A woman asked a friend as she arrived and saw everyone staring at Cloud and Sephiroth.

"That blond kid just proposed to General Sephiroth," the friend explained. "We're just waiting to see what the General's answer wil

be."

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes." he told Cloud, elliciting a cheer from the crowd that had gathered around them.

-Chapter 2-

Several reporters were in the crowd that had gathered around and they went into an instant flurry of activity as soon as they heard Sephiroth's answer. There were too many to keep track of and they were in a jumble so it was hard to tell which reporter was asking which question.

"So, what's it like to be engaged to the greatest SOLDIER ever known?" a male voice wanted to know.

Cloud nudged Sephiroth, "Hey, they just asked you a question."

Sephiroth laughed and Cloud and the others joined in. "You keep *that* up, dearest, and you're going to be sleeping in the hall on our wedding night."

"Actually," Cloud quickly amended, "I'm very honored that Sephiroth said 'yes.'"

"Were you surprised at the proposal, sir?" a female voice asked.

"Yes." Sephiroth agreed.

"How do you think Shinra will react to this engagement?" another female voice wanted to know.

Sephiroth eyes gleamed dangerously and there was a dark edge to his voice as he spoke. "They had *better* like it."

"But, sir," a female voice called out, "sir, what if Shinra doesn't like it?"

"Listen, lady," Sephiroth told her, "this is the first time in my life that I've been truly happy and I'm not letting anyone take that away from me. Now if you'll excuse us."

The reporters and the rest of the crowd watched as Sephiroth and Cloud made their way back to the Inn. The couple-to-be spoke to the innkeeper at the door, then went inside.

"Please, please." the innkeeper told the throng of reporters, "General Sephiroth and his fiance would like a bit of privacy. Please do not crowd the door. Please, sirs, I must insist that you please

clear my door so that my customers may come and go as they wish."

After nearly thirty minutes, the last of the reporters finally gave up and went home. Just as he was rounding the corner, he heard Sephiroth's voice on the porch.

"Hmm.. I was just about to tell some reporter some really interesting things," the voice teased, "oh well..." then the door closed.

The reporter, realizing that Sephiroth had been watching him and knew he was waiting for Sephiroth to do just that, realized that the General was poking fun at him. With a scream of annoyance, the stomped off home.

-Chapter 3-

Sephiroth and Cloud walked into their room at the Inn and collapsed onto their respective beds.

"I thought we'd never get away from those reporters." Cloud panted.

"Tell me about it." Sephiroth agreed. "Hey, you think we should quit?"

"You mean not get married?" Cloud felt a lump in his throat. Was Sephiroth rejecting him?

"No." Sephiroth shook his head. "I was serious when I said that about that being the happiest moment of my life to date. I mean, do you think we should quit SOLDIER?"

"I don't know." Cloud admitted. "I do know that if they say we can't marry, I will leave. I love you, Seph." He went over to the window and looked out at his home town. "I won't be able to work with you if we can't marry. It'll just be too painful to see you every day and know I can't have you."

"I feel the same way." Sephiroth agreed. "So, if they say they won't permit us to marry, then we will leave. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Cloud gave a firm nod. "Now, how do we tell them?"

"There's a formal dinner ceremony being held in my honor next weekend that President Shinra and all the other high-ranking SOLDIERs will be attending." Sephiroth informed Cloud. "I suggest we tell them then. That way, we can let everyone know at once and it will save time."

"But what will we say?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth smiled. "Leave that to me."

-Chapter 4a-

"Sir," a security guard informed Cloud, "I'm very sorry, but this gathering is for high-ranking members of SOLDIER only. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I happen to be a close friend of General Sephiroth." Cloud pointed out.

"Everyone is a close friend of the General." the guard remarked, tiredly. "Now kindly return to..." he stopped and snapped to attention as General Sephiroth walked up to them.

Sephiroth leaned over and exchanged a chaste kiss with Cloud. "Problem?"

Cloud nodded then looked back at the doorguard who was suddenly feeling a *lot* less sure of himself.

"Um... sirs...?" the guard squeaked.

"You didn't know Cloud and I are madly in love, right?" Sephiroth asked.

The guard was so shocked by this that he couldn't speak. He shook his head, rapidly.

"And you were just trying to protect me, right?" Sephiroth went on.

The guard nodded, still speechless.

"Well, then, I don't see anything wrong with that, do you, Cloud?" Sephiroth asked Cloud as he wrapped an arm around the blond SOLDIER's waist and led him through the door.

Cloud shook his head. "No, he's doing a fine job, Seph'."

"You think we should recommend him for a promotion?" Sephiroth suggested.

"I don't know." Cloud mused as they moved out of the guard's hearing range, "It's so hard to find a good security guard these days..."

-Chapter 4b-

"Good point." Sephiroth agreed as they made their way over to the main table. Another general was sitting in a chair next to a vacant seat that had been reserved for Sephiroth.

Sephiroth cleared his throat and the man looked up. "Stand up, please, sir." Sephiroth said, in a firm but polite tone.

The man stood up. He had a number of years' seniority over Sephiroth, but Sephiroth was Shinra's pride and he knew that if anyone said anything against Sephiroth, the rest of SOLDIER would probably simultaneously shoot him through the lungs.

"Cloud," Sephiroth said, "go ahead and sit down."

"Seph'," Cloud looked at the seat that had recently been vacated, then at the recently deprived other General.

"It's okay." the man insisted. "Really. I've been sitting behind a desk all day. I don't mind standing a bit. It'll give me a chance to stretch my legs.

Sephiroth sat down in his own seat and turned to Cloud. "These meetings are always so tedious. Its always a bunch of stuffy old Generals."

"And one handsome young General." Cloud offered.

"...who has to listen to them!" they both burst out laughing, leaning on each other as they patted each other's shoulders in that way that dear friends do when they just can't stop laughing.

"Well, this is something different," President Shinra remarked as he took his place at the head of the table. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile before, General Sephiroth. I assume this grunt has somehow manaaged to make you happy."

Sephiroth nodded. "That's why I love him so much." he replied.

Professor Hojo, who had been sipping the glass of ice-water placed before him, ended spraying most of what he'd been drinking on a General across the table from him. He spun around and glared at Sephiroth. "WHAT?!"

Sephiroth drew his sword and pointed the tip at Hojo's throat. "I said, I love him. Got a problem with that?"

Hojo shook his head and Sephiroth sheathed the sword.

"Good." Sephiroth said with a voice that said that the matter was closed. He turned to Cloud and was about to say something when the MC mentioned his name. "Oops, gotta go give one of those speeches these old brass-types seem to love so much."

"Maybe the just love the sound of your voice?" Cloud offered. "I know I do."

Sephiroth took the stage, to thunderous applause.

"I'd like to thank each and every one of you for honoring me tonight. And a special thank you to everyone at my table including President Shinra, Professor Hojo, and my fiance, Cloud Strife."

A hush permeated the room as everyone stared at the General in shock.

"And since I seem to have just put you all into a state of shock, I guess I don't have to give this long-winded speech that was written for me." Setting it down on the podium, he returned to his table, exchanged a kiss with Cloud, and sat down in the chair he'd earlier vacated.

All at once, people started to chat. The sound of voices discussing the unexpected engagement could be heard filling the room.

-Chapter 5-

"General Sephiroth," President Shinra inquired, "would you tell me why you chose to ask a grunt for his hand in marriage?"

"I didn't," Sephiroth replied, taking a sip of his ice-water.

"So, that was just a joke?" President Shinra asked.

"No." Sephiroth replied.

"But you just said there wasn't a proposal." President Shinra looked up as the waiter arrived with everyone's food.

"Congratulations on your engagement, sir." the man told Sephiroth.

"Thank you," Sephiroth smiled. "Perhaps your staff would like to cater the reception afterword?"

The waiter couldn't believe his fortune. He was being asked to cater what would surely turn out to be the wedding of the century!

"We would be honored, sir." he nodded.

"Well, that takes care of part of the reception," Cloud remarked.

"Yes," Sephiroth agreed. "at least we know the food will be good."

The waiter politely excused himself, and went to serve the other attendees, smiling all the while.

"Sephiroth?" President Shinra began again, returning them to his earlier question.

"Cloud proposed to me." Sephiroth explained. "By then we'd made it very clear that we loved each other so I accepted. I don't know what I would've done if he hadn't been there to support me there. I'm afraid I had a bad moment. There was some information there which upset me pretty badly. We found a room that was related to something called the 'Jenova Project'. What I'd like to know is what was it, and why does it have the same name as my mother?"

"It doesn't."

The voice came from the doorway and everyone turned to see a man standing there. He was dressed in black pants and a black shirt with a red cloak, red bandanna, and red-tipped black boots. At his side, he carried a silver gun in a black holster.

"How did you get past security?" Hojo demanded.

"Must I remind you," the man asked as he approached the table, "that I was the founder and first leader of the Turks?" he turned to Sephiroth. "Sephiroth, your mother's name was Lucrecia. She was a scientist working under Dr. Gast on a project, the Jenova Project, which was named after a specimen we found that had been buried in a geological strata for over two thousand years. Gast named the specimen-"

"Jenova?" Sephiroth realized.

"Correct." the man had reached the table and now leaned on it."When they discovered Lucrecia was with child, Professor Hojo elected to attempted an experiment to see what the results would be if mako and Jenova injections were given to an unborn child."

"Secu-" Hojo began, only to find Masamune's tip pressed against his adam's apple.

"I want to hear this." Sephiroth warned.

"How do you know all this?" Cloud asked the man.

"My name is Vincent Valentine. " the man told Cloud. "I was Lucrecia's lover. And I am Sephiroth's father."

"LIAR!" Hojo sprang to his feet. "Lucrecia was my wife!"

"He's still not yours, Hojo." Vincent shook his head. "Let's face it, you're too scrawny, too weak, too pathetic... and you could count your sperm on a one-fingered hand."

When Sephiroth burst out laughing, Hojo snapped. With a fury that he'd never displayed before, the scientist violently slapped Sephiroth across the face.

Before Sephiroth could react, Vincent grabbed Hojo and slammed him up against the wall.

"If you ever touch my son again," the former Turk warned. "I'll kill you."

END PART 5

(tbc...)