Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One

Genesis’s day started as he expected considering that he, of all people, managed to get assigned a mission to some backwater ‘village’ out in the middle of nowhere. The only reason he accepted it was because the mission was to investigate the appearance of random mako springs, which sometimes meant new materia. It didn’t preclude any grumbling on his part involving how backwater the collection of houses and buildings which had the lofty ideas that it was more than it was by calling itself a village was.

However, he learned just how quickly his day could take a turn for the confusing when he was about to pass by the mansion owned by the Company and heard a ruckus involving four small voices.

“Phoenix? GIMME!” a small voice demanded as another small voice screamed in fury, “I AM GUNNA KILL YOU SEPHIWOTH!!”

“What will you do? Gum me to death?” a third child’s voice asked calmly but exceedingly smugly.

“EVERYONE STOP!” the fourth voice commanded, shouting above the din which sounded like a fire.

“I’LL STOP WHEN HE’S DEAD!”

“NO ONE IS KILLING ANYONE!”

“I refuse to cow to the demands of a pathetic human who doesn’t know its place.”

It was then that his path reached the point where he was in sight of the whole scene. A bird made of fire was having a blast setting fire to the mansion as a mob of four children appeared to be in the middle of a fight. Three of the four looked like much younger versions of himself and his two friends plus a blond chocobo-haired child. The eldest looked no older than ten if that, and looked just like someone had figured out how to turn his best friend into a boy. 

The smaller Angeal had managed to shove his very oversized uniform shirt into his equally oversized uniform trousers which were secured in place by simply tying the top belt in a knot. The only reason the small Angeal wasn’t tripping over the legs to his trousers was because they appeared to have been cut off at the ankles. The much younger Angeal was clearly trying to break up the fight between the blond child and a similarly much younger Sephiroth who he swore looked to be the second youngest of the group.

The miniature Sephiroth had similarly altered his trousers, which was the only scrap of clothing on the pale child and looked like he was having balance issues from holding what he swore was the Masamune. Sephiroth was also apparently the shortest of the children as well and was quite intent to make his way around or through the younger-than-he-should-be Angeal to get to his foe.

Then there was the chocobo-haired child who was dressed all in black, merely wearing a sleeveless black knit pullover with a zipper in the front which only extended barely past the collar. The child was clearly the youngest, appearing to be no older than six if that and had pierced ears with a metal stud of some kind and looked just as intent as the child Sephiroth was about fighting, except that he had more than just a smaller version of Angeal to contend with but...a smaller version of him?

That was the child that caught his attention the most. The child had much longer hair than expected, having abandoned the red leather coat like the child Sephiroth had likewise abandoned his own black leather coat and otherwise modified his outfit just like the child Angeal had. The child version of himself was tugging on the chocobo-haired child, focused on something that was clearly important.

He took a step towards the melee of children and the snow underfoot must have crunched loud enough for the children’s hearing to pick up because the ruckus immediately died and he found himself getting stared at with four pairs of mako-infused eyes.

“I’m outta here!” the blond exclaimed before trying to run off.

“No you’re not,” the small Angeal announced, grabbing the back of the blond boy’s shirt, a move he’d witnessed Angeal doing to his student and having also been victim of such tactics in his youth.

The mini-Sephiroth wordlessly tried to move away as well, only to have gotten hit by a sleep spell from mini-Genesis and passed out like a light. 

“LEGGO ME!” the chocobo haired child screamed, struggling against mini-Angeal’s grip on the child’s shirt.

Following the lead of mini-him, he hit the remaining three with a sleep spell, figuring that it was just best to snatch the children away and throw them in the car and get them somewhere safe before contacting his best friends for what was shaping up to be the weirdest phone call ever. However, an unforeseen flaw with that plan appeared when the blond child remained awake while the other two children passed out. 

Unfortunately, both he and the blond child had discovered this fact at the same time and clearly decided to have a staring contest. Fortunately for him but not the child, another red clad man had crept up on said child. 

“Are they yours?” he asked the man, who was dressed in a tattered red cape which had a high collar that hid the bottom portion of his face and was otherwise dressed in black except for the golden gauntlet on one hand and golden plates covering his shoes.

“They are now,” Genesis responded as the man placed his gauntleted hand on the blond’s right shoulder.

“I would like to offer my assistance,” the man said.

“And why should I accept? What’s your angle?” he asked cautiously as the child looked like he was trying to struggle under the stranger’s grasp.

“The blond child knew where I was sleeping and ensured my escape before setting the mansion on fire. Also the white haired boy looks like someone I knew and I want to verify his identity,” the man explained in a deep voice.

“You know Sephiroth?” he asked, eyeing the man cautiously as the child stopped struggling.

“I knew his mother, Lucrecia,” the man said with a frown.

“How do I know you’re not lying?” he asked.

“Lucwetcia’s cave isn’t vewy faw,” the blond said.

“Which direction is this cave in?” he asked before the strange man could speak.

The blond child pointed towards a location on the other side of the “village”, which meant that they’d have to pass by the vehicle he was given for the mission. That would give him a place to stash the sleeping children while carrying the smaller child off to this cave to verify if the woman was indeed Sephiroth’s mother, entirely because he knew that his friend would love to get more information. He knew that as long as he bundled the three enhanced children in blankets and stowed them away in the trunk, they would be safe.

Which proved to be short work after purchasing some quilts from the local store and having someone to keep an eye on the chocobo head. He made sure to position the three boys in a way that was comfortable before hiding them from view in the trunk. All the villagers saw was he and a strange man with a blond boy placing three quilt-wrapped bundles in the trunk of a car. He knew better than to give the rumor mill more to work with in a way that would counter his current mission.

The kid wasn’t lying when he said that the cave was nearby and led them right to a cave where a crystal took up the center of the cave and in the center of the crystal was a brown haired woman whose bangs were very similar to Sephiroth’s. The more he took in the woman’s appearance, the more he saw a resemblance to Sephiroth and the more he believed she was Sephiroth’s mother.

“Lucrecia…” the man, he learned had the name of Vincent, said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” a woman’s voice echoed throughout the cave.

“Is Sephiroth your son?” he asked, wanting to verify things further.

“Yes. Hojo took him from me right after he was born,” the woman’s voice said, her voice quiet and sorrowful, “do you know my son?”

“I’m one of the few he clearly considers a friend,” he stated after a moment’s contemplation. 

“He doesn’t have the ability to have fwiends!” the small blond shouted angrily.

He would have words with the blond later.

“How is he?” Lucrecia’s voice asked, echoing through the cave.

How was Sephiroth? A smug bastard who always gloated that he was the best and couldn’t be beaten. And yet… he remembered seeing Sephiroth’s expression subtly change whenever someone mentioned family or celebrations. How awkward Sephiroth was as a teen when they’d met and had assumed that when the topic of Angeal’s surprise birthday party was mentioned, the teen had believed that he wasn’t even invited until he had to tell the silver haired idiot that as one of Angeal’s friends, it was practically mandatory that he attend. Followed by a long series of questions from Sephiroth pertaining to how birthday parties are supposed to be like and the social norms of such things. The guy doesn’t even know when he was even born.

“He’s a menace and is gonna destwoy the Planet if we let him live!” the blond shouted again, clearly to get attention.

“He’s alright,” Genesis stated with a frown, ignoring the child’s outburst, “I don’t think Hojo has said much about his past or even lets him be a person. He’s got it rough.”

“It’s all because of me. If only I had stopped Hojo...,” Lucrecia’s voice echoed forlornly, “if my son ever wants to see me… he is welcome to… assuming it’s not too late… I too, had visions of Sephiroth as an adult destroying so much...”

“I doubt he would,” Genesis stated, “property damage, I could see him cause. However, he’s not the sort to go destroy the planet.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

Weird phone calls and equally weird days weren’t terribly uncommon if one was a SOLDIER First Class, however, this one topped Sephiroth’s list of weird occurrences which took a lot.

The first weird thing to make the day go towards weird was when Genesis called him, adding him to a call that had already started with Angeal. He knew that Genesis did such things when he was certain that both of them needed to know something and weren’t in the same room. He glanced at the clock and frowned, knowing that it was far earlier than he was used to starting his day but if it was important for Genesis to call him in the middle of the night, he may as well start his day.

“What is it?” he asked once he answered and immediately heard a ruckus occurring in the background of the call.

“You would not believe me if I told you. Both of you are going to need to come to the house before it has the chance to burn-- I TOLD YOU NO FIGHTING!” he had to jerk the PHS away from his ear as Genesis shouted as he heard the sounds of metal meeting metal.

“HE STAWTED IT!!” a small voice screeched.

“I DON’T CARE! YOU DO NOT USE ANGEAL’S KNIFE SET TO STAB ANYONE! He is going to murder you if he finds out!” Genesis shouted, “Vincent, help!”

“It’s not my fault you have such a choleric disposition, puppet,” a child’s voice said calmly.

“I’M NOT A PUPPET!” the small voice screeched again, “DIE SEPHIWOTH!!”

“...Did the child just say ‘Sephiroth’?” Angeal asked over the phone.

“Just… you two… get here and I’ll explain everything…” Genesis said in the most tired voice Sephiroth had ever heard from the man before Genesis hung up.

“I’ll be ready in ten,” Angeal stated with a tired sigh before he also hung up.

A few hours later, Sephiroth quickly learned precisely why Genesis had said that they wouldn’t believe it if he’d explained because he was seeing the scene before him and he was having trouble believing it himself. The only explanation that came to his mind was that somehow Hojo had cloned him and the cloned child was absolutely feral and needed to be stopped. Another point that had caught his attention was that the child somehow managed to sprout a single black plumed wing on his right side, opposite the child’s dominant hand.

Said child was stalking over a younger but somehow taller blond haired child who held nothing but murder in their eyes. Their blue mako-infused eyes. Which promptly widened the moment they saw him. 

“SHIT! THERE’S TWO!” the blond child shouted as they changed their stance, holding one of Angeal’s boning knives. The blond appeared unaware as a child with shoulder length dark hair and a murderous expression approached from behind them, looking very much like a particularly angry and tiny Angeal.

“ENOUGH!” the child who appeared to be a smaller Angeal commanded as he grabbed the blond child’s arm, “boning knives are not weapons! Stay out of my kitchen knives!” The child rounded on the smaller version of himself, shouting, “and stop antagonizing him, Sephiroth! I have no idea what gotten into you but whatever it is, it needs to stop. NOW.”

“I have no reason nor desire to care for the whims of lesser beings,” the small Sephiroth said with a frown, holding what he swore was Masamune.

There was definitely something wrong with that clone. Apart from the fact that it existed.

Angeal had clearly gotten over his initial shock and moved to pull the knife from the restrained blond’s grip, making eye contact with the child who looked so much like him. 

A cold chill ran down his spine as he realized that if there was a cloned child version of himself and Angeal running about, where is the smaller and younger Genesis? And did those two have adult supervision? Probably not since Genesis had gone off on the mission alone. It was indeed a miracle that the whole town wasn’t burning.

“I’ll look for Genesis and put this back,” Angeal stated.

“I’ll try and keep Cloud from killing anyone,” the smaller Angeal said with a heavy sigh, “I can’t make any promises.”

The small silver haired boy stared at him with a smirk that he was certain he never showed and it didn’t change his earlier assessment that there was something absolutely wrong. 

“Don’t lower yourself to their level by associating with such lowly creatures such as them. They’ll only hurt you like all the rest,” the child warned.

“I’m not lowering myself. I find that the opposite happens,” he stated with a frown, “what’s your name?”

“Considering that we’re more or less the same person, we share the same name,” the child said with some amusement.

“I find that difficult to believe. I think Hojo found a way to clone me and shoved some of my own memories into you,” he said with a frown.

“That pathetic hack who is nothing more than a walking mass of complexes?” the child sneered derisively, “we both know he has his position entirely because of us and stealing credit.”

The cold chill returned, dancing up and down his spine as he realized that this child was voicing thoughts he never voiced. He found himself wondering just what happened to this child to make him turn out so… wrong. 

“True but it’s clear that whatever process isn’t perfect considering your current state,” he said with a slight frown, “for starters, I don’t consider everyone inferior like Hojo does.” 

As his brain latched onto that comparison, he saw the boy become furious.

“I am nothing like that vile insect!” the boy exclaimed in fury, actually taking a swing at him with Masamune.

He managed to dodge the attack, seeing the child succumb to the laws of physics as the inertia of the attack and was pulled into the direction of the swing. It was like the child wasn’t familiar with how to wield the weapon. He merely let out a sigh as he summoned his own Masamune as the child righted himself and actually flew at him with a furious snarl. He just barely managed to duck out of the way of the attack, forcing the child to fly out of the door. And nearly flew right into the palm tree out in the front yard, just to the left of the path to the door.

The child let out a growl of fury before charging at him again and he decided he may as well see precisely how skilled the child was at wielding Masamune.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

“You can’t keep trying to kill Sephiroth - either of them,” the boy the two redheads had called Angeal chided as he followed Cloud through the house as he went looking for the back door - he really should have scoped out the place earlier.

Cloud had long since gotten tired of how bossy the boy was and this was reaching the point that he just couldn’t take it anymore. He turned to face the elder boy that was in the clear running for eldest between the four children. The boy had a deep, disappointed frown on his face and it triggered a glimpse of memory that was definitely not his but Zack’s. 

“And why’s dat? He’s gonna bun my home and kill my Ma again if I don’t!” Cloud exclaimed, feeling tears run down his face as he stopped in his tracks so he could turn and level a glare at the boy.

His anger only increased in the face of everything - Zack’s memories being triggered by this boy he didn’t care to know, his own memories being triggered by the pint-sized Sephiroth only to get triggered harder at the sight of the adult Sephiroth, and this boy clearly going to become a hurdle on his anti-Sephiroth crusade. 

“He wasn’t always like that, Cloud,” Angeal said with clear sadness in his eyes as he continued, “The pint-sized one is a problem I admit, but the adult one is clearly not the same. Likely never will if Gen and I have any say in it. We’re not going to make the same mistakes a second time.”

“Can’t make a mistake if he’s dead,” Cloud said with a frown as he tried to slip away from the other child, “just stay outta my way.”

“If someone was out to murder your best friend, would you let them?” Angeal asked, blocking his path, “because that’s who Sephiroth is to Gen and I.”

“Neithah of you stopped me any of the oddah times I killed him befoah,” Cloud growled at the elder child, “so why stard now?”

There was a clear wave of pain and sadness on the raven haired boy’s features before he quietly said, “in my defense, I was dead at the time.”

“Sephiwoth?” Cloud asked with a frown.

“No,” Angeal said, shaking his head before letting out a sigh, “it’s a long story. Gen, Seph, and I were all results of experimentation using Jenova cells on fetuses. Except that I wasn’t exactly planned,” Angeal said with a frown, “I felt that only monsters could result in such experimentation and that it meant I was a monster. I forced my student, Zack, to kill me. I gave him my sword with my last breath. The same sword Zack gave you.”

“Then why are you even here if you hate yourself so much?” Cloud asked with a frown, taking in the summary.

A sort of sad smile crossed the slightly older boy’s features, one which also held fondness, “Zack asked me to try to save Seph and a version of myself. He can be quite persuasive if he wants to be. Especially when Aerith is helping him to convince me to go along with their idea.” 

Cloud could just see exactly how Zack and Aerith had managed to talk Angeal into this. He’d been on the receiving end of either of their pleading pouts. He’d never faced down the sheer horror that would be both of them inflicting the same expression on him. He doubted that Angeal was capable of withstanding such an onslaught for longer than a second at most. He still doubted whether Angeal could be trusted, especially that Zack would want to save Sephiroth. 

Who was he kidding? Of course Zack would want to try to save Sephiroth. Zack would try to save Sephiroth up to the point that Nibelheim was a burned husk all over again, up to the point where Sephiroth was beyond his reach once again. He supposed that it must be a part of his actual personality that he wasn’t going to let it all happen all over again. Sephiroth was destined to go bad, it was obvious to him. Because if there was anything good within Sephiroth, things would have played out differently.

“It’s not going to succeed,” he said with a frown, “there’s nothing redeemable there.”

“I doubt you even knew him well enough before the incident to know that,” Angeal said with a hard look before letting out a sigh, “at least give me a chance to try to save him. Please.”

“You have until I kill him,” Cloud stated before pushing his way past the elder boy to head towards one of the windows which should give him a view of the fight.

The moment he saw the adult Sephiroth, he found himself remembering things he wished he could forget. As the adult Sephiroth fended off an attack from a flying pint-sized version of himself, he found himself remembering how it felt both times to have been run through by Masamune. When he saw the adult Sephiroth say something to the child that was his future self, his mind filled in the gaps by telling him that the adult was likely insulting the child - especially by how the child charged at the adult in clear indignation.

He resisted the urge to charge at the two Sephiroths with the knife he had hidden on his person if only because the two weren’t tired enough. He wanted to see if they would fight to the death or to exhaustion. Either would work just as well. If both were exhausted, it was going to be much easier to kill them. If one was the last one standing alive, the one left would obviously also be exhausted and also easier to dispatch. He knew that he could kill one Sephiroth but it was a fight. Two Sephiroths required a lot more than brute strength to deal with.

Then he saw something he never thought he’d see.

The child Sephiroth faltered while the adult had just started to lightly sweat. The child Sephiroth was clearly exhausted but the adult looked like he was in the midst of a light workout. The child Sephiroth kept charging and obviously wasn’t going to accept defeat easily - which sounded exactly like the Sephiroth he knew. The guy didn’t even know when to quit and stay dead.

That meant that the child Sephiroth would be easily dealt with. The problem was that the adult Sephiroth was likely to defend his future self. He’d never fought two Sephiroths before and the idea did not sound like fun. But he couldn’t pass up this opportunity to rid himself of at least one Sephiroth. After all, he’d defeated an adult Sephiroth three times before.

How hard could it be to do so as a child?

He had enough sense to open the window before charging through, focused entirely on the child Sephiroth who was now standing on the ground, his black wing loosely folded at his back as if he barely had enough energy to keep the thing folded. The child moved a little slower than normal, just managing to turn to face him as he pulled out the knife he’d been hiding.

He expected to feel their smaller bodies collide as he stabbed the silver haired boy and likely feeling a much smaller Masamune impale him if not cut him in half. Both injured horribly and hopefully only the silver haired demon child would die.

But that wasn’t what happened.

He leaped in a lunge, hoping to stab the exhausted silver haired boy but found that his momentum was killed halfway in his leap. Why wasn’t he falling?

“I can’t allow this to continue,” the familiar deep voice said nearby, almost over him as his brain told him that a gloved hand was holding him by the back of his neck, “Cloud, was it?”

There was something about this whole situation which flipped a few switches in his brain before realizing that he still had the knife in his hand and Sephiroth’s fingers were at a very reachable spot. 

He heard Sephiroth let out a hiss as the fingers let go of him and he dropped the rest of the way to the ground, moving just the right way to land on his feet. Sephiroth was clearly intelligent enough to take a few steps, looking down at his right hand where there was a cut that went through the leather gloves and drew blood. He momentarily forgot about the child Sephiroth as he saw the adult Sephiroth frown at him.

“I suppose I should exhaust you as well,” Sephiroth stated with a slight sigh, “I do not enjoy fighting children.”

“I am not a child!” Cloud screamed before charging at the adult Sephiroth while the adult had gotten into a defensive stance.

“And yet your appearance says otherwise,” Sephiroth had the gall to say lightly with some amusement as he blocked the knife with clear ease, clearly having always been a smug bastard.

“I’m gonna KILL YOU!” Cloud screamed as he lunged again, trying to leap high enough to at least stab Sephiroth in the chest.

“That would be quite the feat. I doubt a child with a paring knife can do little more than draw miniscule amounts of blood,” Sephiroth said with what was clearly a very smug tone as he lifted a leg and pushed him back during Cloud’s leap.

Clearly the child Sephiroth had been watching the fight and saw him being at the mercy of physics as the best time to attack. He could hear the knife give out a terrifying sound as he blocked the child Sephiroth’s attack. Of course a kitchen implement was never designed to fend off something like the Masamune and he was without options as his feet skidded on the ground as he continued to block the torrent of slices aimed his way.

He knew that the knife was on the verge of breaking as the child Sephiroth pulled back for one last assault. All he could do was hold the knife in a way to block as much of the next wave as it could, knowing that he was likely going to die if he were lucky. The smirk on the silver haired child’s lips grew before the boy lunged at him. Knowing his luck, the other boy wouldn’t kill him but toy with him as long as he could. Because of course that smug snake would.

The attack came and he heard the knife break in one last stroke of the smaller Masamune.

“Pathetic, thinking a kitchen implement like that could protect you, Cloud,” the boy said with amusement, which did not sound right coming from a voice that high and clearly lacked the purr he’d come to expect from the boy’s adult self.

He hadn’t heard the silver haired boy speak at length and definitely not after recently hearing his adult self’s voice. The difference was wide enough and sudden enough that his mind was not contemplating the danger he was in. His mind was comparing the two voices. Especially since the boy lacked the threatening purring quality his adult voice gave him.

Instead, he sounded like a schoolyard bully with more attitude than intelligence whose voice sounded like his adult self had tried to overdose on helium.

He didn’t know why it hit him as something completely hilarious, whether it was a case of temporary insanity, a complete lack of regard for his physical well-being, or a childish mood swing. All he knew was that the juxtaposition and the mere sound of the boy’s voice while trying to sound all intimidating and threatening while failing completely hit him as the funniest thing he’d encountered in a long time, to the point that he was starting to laugh.

His laughter increased when he saw the silver haired boy look completely dumbfounded.

“What is so amusing?” the boy asked, his tone demanding.

“Your voice!” he managed to shout out between bouts of laughter, “it sounds hilawious!”

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with my voice other than it matching this pathetically short form,” the boy said with a clear pout.

“Exactly how much helium did you use to get that high?” Cloud asked, still laughing, “maybe that’s how you can float in the air!”

Cloud couldn’t help but to laugh so hard he was crying when he saw how incredibly indignant the child looked, the expression looking far more hilarious and not as frightening as it would have been on his adult face. The boy looked like a wet kitten.

“How dare you laugh at me!” the boy exclaimed, looking ever more like a wet kitten.

“Not my fault you look like a kitten who managed to get drenched!” he exclaimed.

“You will pay for that insult!” the boy exclaimed, looking like he was getting ready to charge as a large shadow crept up behind the silver haired boy.

As the boy charged, he saw a gloved hand seemingly effortlessly lift him by the back of the half naked boy’s neck, the same way the same hand had grabbed him minutes earlier. He stared, watching as the adult Sephiroth looked… was that tiredness - as he merely shook his head at his child self. 

“I have told you that you are done fighting for the day,” the adult Sephiroth stated, “if you keep going, you will collapse from exhaustion.”

The child Sephiroth merely stared at his much bigger adult self in shock for a split second before giving the man a glare.

“You dare order me around? Despite my appearance, I am older and wiser than you are,” the child spoke in a demanding tone which came off as whiny due to his high voice.

“I doubt that you are wiser than I am considering that I have the wisdom to hold back my own strength and know not to overexert myself,” the adult Sephiroth stated with what sounded like he was gloating over the child, “please disarm yourself before I disarm you myself.”

“How are you wiser when all you are is Hojo’s puppet and Shinra’s poster boy to trot out for the public like some prized Chocobo. When you allow yourself to become attached to those who will just take advantage of your kindness but never cared. They never care. You think you are loved or accepted? They will all disappear and the world will turn you into a monster like it did to me!”

With that proclamation, the child’s form changed. The child’s right arm appeared to merge with the black wing which appeared to grow larger as the child’s tattered looking pants tore along the seams as the legs split into three wings each. As he watched the transformation, he found himself remembering back to the fight in the Northern Crater near the end of the Meteor crisis. 

He glanced over to the adult Sephiroth, seeing an unfamiliar expression on the man’s face. Was that shock? Sadness? He had no idea what it was and that could only be something terrible. Between seeing the pint sized Sephiroth becoming the monster he had vanquished in the Northern Crater and the huge adult Sephiroth who could easily kill him by stepping on him since he was certain his head reached the man’s kneecaps at least.

The adult Sephiroth moved almost too fast for him to track, changing his grip on the child so he was holding the child by wrapping an arm around the child before briskly walking into the house. He did not like the idea of the two Sephiroth being together like this so he followed in the adult Sephiroth’s wake.

“Angeal!” Sephiroth called out, “your assistance is required.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

Angeal didn’t know whether it was a good thing or not when he found Genesis at the dining room table just outside the kitchen. What made him question whether it was good or not was due to two facts: the first being that Genesis had his miniature version standing on the table as he worked to hem up the baggy clothing. The second was the fact that both Genesises looked grim. He knew Genesis long enough to know that when the man started to look grim, it was time to pull out the Water materia.

“Okay, what’s going on now?” Angeal asked with a sigh, feeling as though the situation was growing closer to spinning out of his control, assuming if it already wasn’t.

“According to mini-me here,” Genesis said, giving a nod towards the child who looked very much like Genesis had at around the age of ten plus sporting what looked to be a more grown out version of Genesis’s current haircut, “all the children are from the future, sent back to prevent what they’re referring to as the end of the Planet. Well, all of them except for mini-Sephiroth who apparently invited himself to the party.”

“Time travel? Really, Gen?” Angeal asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Please! Do you really think I’d come up with something that pedestrian if I wanted to spin a tale?” the smaller Genesis asked with enough bite to his words that he was fairly convinced that someone had at least managed to create a child clone and shoved Genesis’s personality into the child.

“Do you have any better ideas as to how these children came to be? Because I sure don’t!” Genesis exclaimed.

“Who knows what Science gets up to,” Angeal said with a frown, “I don’t fully understand what they’re capable of outside of what we’ve seen with Sephiroth. For all we know, they have the capability to clone the three of us. It explains why the small Sephiroth is so different.”

“The small Sephiroth is so different because… it’s my fault,” the small Genesis said quietly, looking away, “I was so consumed by desperation and my own inadequacies that... my actions led to my version of Angeal dying and Sephiroth…”

Genesis knew to stop his work on hemming up the child’s clothing as the child started to cry, the tears coming with only quiet hiccups which told him that he couldn’t help the tears. Due to having known Genesis practically their whole lives, Angeal knew the difference between his best friend’s overly dramatic wails over something ridiculous and his honest tears. And that child was Genesis enough for him to want to grab the boy and hold him close and try to soothe him.

“Regardless, I’m here now,” Angeal said quietly, doing his best to soothe what he was convinced was a young clone of one of his best friends, “I’m here and there’s even a version of me around your age too. For all we know, none of that really happened.”

“We can’t rule out the possibility that he was telling the truth, as pedestrian of a tale as it is. Not unless we discover something that proves that it’s not possible,” Genesis said with a frown, “Infinite in mystery, indeed.”

“It did happen, it will happen unless we change things,” the small Genesis all but sobbed into the embrace, “and I refuse to do nothing and allow things to play out again. To… to… lose everything that truly mattered to me.”

“One thing’s for certain,” Genesis all but scoffed, “he certainly is as dramatic as I am.”

“Gen, it’s not dramatics,” Angeal stated with a frown, “you may not see it but the kid’s hurt and needs our help.” 

He gently started to rub the child’s back as he saw his own child clone walk into the room, frowning and shaking his head.

“I should probably take up hugging duties since you’ll need to deal with the situation in the front yard,” the child clone said with a frown, “the two Sephiroths are fighting which is likely not going to be an issue since the adult one is going to hold back and tire the younger one out. What is going to be an issue is the fact that I don’t think Cloud’s going to stop trying to kill both of them.”

“Why is Cloud so eager to attempt the impossible and try to defeat Sephiroth? Doesn’t he know that I and I alone are Sephiroth's sole rival?” Genesis asked with derision.

“Gen,” the smaller version of him sighed tiredly, “Cloud witnessed Sephiroth killing his mother and razing his hometown to the ground. Along with attempting to destroy the Planet in a bid to become a god by absorbing the Lifestream. And somehow managed to come back specifically to torment him two years later. Unless we can knock some sense into the smaller Sephiroth and get Cloud to see that the big Sephiroth is different, this whole situation is not going to go away.”

“Yeah, not buying that yarn,” Genesis said dismissively, “there is no way that I would allow Sephiroth to see anyone but me as his rival.”

Angeal felt the child in his arms stiffen before pulling away to glare at the larger Genesis, the child’s expression full of not just pain but fury as fire started to form in the child’s clenched fist.

“It’s quite hard to do anything when you’re trapped underground in one of Hojo’s facilities!” the child exclaimed, “now get your head out of your own ass before I set said ass on fire!”

“Gen! Remember that you look maybe ten years old. People hate it when children swear like SOLDIERs. If you’re not careful, you might get acquainted with the taste of soap,” the smaller version of him exclaimed, clearly giving him the opening to head outside to deal with that situation with Cloud. “I’ll keep the two Gens in line,” the boy said with a slight smile, “I don’t envy you for the mess you’ll need to deal with.”

Angeal doubted that it was a good sign when he heard Sephiroth call out for his assistance and saw that the small Sephiroth had become quite… monstrous for the lack of a better term. The boy’s legs had become three pairs of white plumed wings while his right arm had become a big black plumed wing. There were also what looked to be two glowing metal halos behind the boy’s back. And said boy was clearly held against Sephiroth’s chest by a single arm against the boy’s trunk.

“What happened to him?” Angeal asked, staring at the squirming boy.

“Unhand me!” the squirming and struggling boy exclaimed in a demanding tone in his rather high pitched voice which Angeal couldn’t help but to think of as cute.

“He proclaimed that he has never known love and acceptance and that as a result, he was made into a monster before altering his appearance,” Sephiroth stated, “I believe that he requires to be shown how inaccurate his proclamation is.”

He crouched down to look at the boy at his level, seeing anger and rage, but it clouded any deeper emotions as the boy struggled.

“It’s going to be okay now, kiddo,” Angeal said gently, reaching out to touch the boy’s face, “you might not have been shown the love and acceptance you deserve in the past, but you’re here now and we’ll make sure that your life is going to be different from what it’s been.”

“I don’t require such things from lowly pathetic humans,” the boy growled, continuing to struggle against Sephiroth’s hold to no avail since he knew that Sephiroth would have little issue holding the boy like this long after the boy’s strength would give out.

“Are you sure? It sounds to me like you’re trying to convince yourself of that rather than trying to convince me,” he said gently with a smile, hoping to calm the boy.

“Why would I be trying to convince myself of what I know to be true?” the boy questioned, still sounding quite demanding.

He saw Sephiroth look away, clearly remembering the same incident which came to his own mind and smiled at the memory. He remembered how standoffish Sephiroth had been during the early days, not quite believing that he and Gen were his friends and wouldn’t leave him like he’d claimed everyone but Hojo had. Hojo, who they had learned had tortured Sephiroth all his life based on Sephiroth’s behavior patterns and clear trauma. 

“Defense mechanism,” Sephiroth supplied quietly, “you’re afraid of the possibility that your initial preconceptions are incorrect.”

“How would you know?!” the child exclaimed defensively, his struggling lessening. 

“Because I believed similarly at one point that I was… unable to be accepted and unworthy of anyone’s compassion or affection,” Sephiroth said quietly with a frown, “until I learned that I was incorrect and it had been merely the kind of people in my environment, thanks to Angeal and Genesis.”

“They’ll leave. They always do. Humans are so fragile and easily broken. We are different and so much greater than they are,” the child proclaimed with a frown, “and you are a fool to believe otherwise.”

“Then I’m a fool,” Sephiroth stated simply as he knew what he was going to need to do.

He moved his arms so that his hands gripped the boy with a hand on each of the boy’s flanks before giving a nod to Sephiroth. Sephiroth relaxed his hold on the boy as he pulled the boy into a tight hug.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the boy all but screeched defiantly before his arms fully locked around the boy.

He felt the boy struggle against him with the strength that had the boy been older and thus had more muscle mass to work with, he wouldn’t have been able to keep ahold of the boy. The struggling ended with a sound which was a mix of bliss, anger, and revulsion before he started to stroke the winged child’s back gently and in a slow rhythm. He wasn’t sure how bothered he was when he noticed that the child’s chest felt like it was vibrating before he realized that the child was purring. Was it something that came with whatever Science had clearly done to the child or was it something that even the adult Sephiroth was capable of? He was going to have to figure that out later. What mattered now was keeping this mini Sephiroth calm and helping the children with their traumas.

He could just feel some hairs turn grey at the very idea of the work that lay ahead of them.

“What the fuck?” a small voice asked in clear puzzled confusion.

He saw Sephiroth look down at the small chocobo-haired blond boy who looked incredulously at the scene, blue eyes moving between him and the two Sephiroths obviously trying to make sense of the whole situation. He felt the boy slowly move as he noticed that the wing that was the boy’s right arm became an arm again as he moved to cling to him, clearly not wanting to let go.

“What did you do?” the small blond child asked with a frown.

“I’m simply giving him a hug,” Angeal said with some amusement, “he acted like he needed one and he clearly did. You could be next if you want, assuming that you can stop swearing.”

He felt the child shaped Sephiroth in his arms shift again, this time to rest his head against Angeal’s chest in a completely cute and endearing manner. 

“I’ve never seen him so peaceful,” Cloud stated in a mix of confusion and awe, “are you sure that all you’re doing is giving him a hug?”

“It’s possible that he’s just touch starved,” Angeal said with a smile, “you wouldn’t believe how touch starved Sephiroth here was when we met when he was still a teenager.”

He had to keep himself from laughing at the sight of Sephiroth’s sour expression at being reminded of what had transpired the first time he’d given his friend a hug. 

“Exactly how many more times do you intend to mention that event?” Sephiroth asked with a sour expression.

“There’s nothing wrong with relaxing in hugs, Sephiroth,” Angeal stated with a smile, “just as this little you is doing.”

“Hmm. Perhaps if we remain private with such occurrences,” Sephiroth conceded with a slight nod, “I do doubt that Hojo would be pleased with discovering his so-called ‘perfect specimen’ going absolutely catatonic when given physical affection.”

“We need to discuss things once the children go to bed tonight,” Angeal stated with a frown, knowing that there were a lot of things that required discussion and not in the presence of any of the children as he started to notice that the smaller Sephiroth in his arms was starting to breathe more deeply as the purring became quieter. “Though, I have to ask a personal question.”

Sephiroth merely tilted his head in his usual curious manner, giving him clear permission to ask.

“Were you this cute when you were this age?” Angeal asked with a smile.

“HE IS NOT CUTE! HE IS A MUW.. KILLER AND TRIED TO DESTWOY THE PLANET!” Cloud screeched.

“Screeching like a banshee does not befit you, puppet,” the little Sephiroth murmured just loud enough for those with enhanced hearing to make out.

“I AM NOT A PUPPET!” Cloud screeched in response.

“Sephiroth,” Angeal said with a sigh, “it’s rude to keep calling someone by a name they don’t like to be called. Apologize to Cloud.”

“No,” the boy murmured, “regardless of whether he likes it or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it is what he is. My puppet.”

“Sephiroth,” he said in a warning tone, “apologize to Cloud now or I will stop hugging you and have you stand in a corner until you do.”

“I’ve never apologized to lesser beings before and I don’t intend to start,” the boy said.

“We’ll see about that,” he stated before carrying the boy into the living room.

“You can’t be serious,” the boy muttered as Angeal stopped right by an open corner.

“I am quite serious,” Angeal stated as he started to peel the boy off of his chest, noticing that the boy’s legs were still wings.

“I can’t quite stand in a corner if I don’t have legs,” the boy proclaimed with a smirk.

“No but you can hover,” Angeal responded as he simply spun the boy around and kept a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “and I can keep you in place this way.”

“You’ll get tired eventually,” the boy said rather smugly.

“That is true, but I wasn’t the one who went a round with Sephiroth recently and isn’t clearly still exhausted from it,” Angeal commented, seeing how slowly and lazilly the boy’s wings were moving.

“I’m not exhausted!” the boy exclaimed defiantly.

“Like you weren’t moments away from falling asleep just now?” he asked quite skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

“I wasn’t. I have no idea what you are talking about,” the boy said with a clear frown in his voice.

“Whatever you say,” he responded, still skeptical, “are you going to apologize to Cloud now?”

“Why should I apologize to such a lowly human?” the boy asked in a demanding tone.

“This whole ‘lowly humans’ and your superiority complex needs to stop. Right now. You may be different, but that doesn’t make you any better or worse than everyone else,” he stated with a frown, “I don’t care what the Science Department did to you, but you’re no longer there and you have new rules to obey. The sooner you understand this, the better off everyone will be.”

“I’m more than different. You’d know this if you weren’t so inferior that your brain can’t comprehend the truth,” the boy proclaimed.

It was clear that his words weren’t just getting through the boy’s superiority complex and sheer stubbornness. So he decided to merely give the boy the silent treatment and wait the kid out. Eventually, he’d crumble. 

“I’ll take your silence as confirmation,” the boy stated.

“No, I just know that nothing I can say will make it into your thick skull right now so I’m done talking to you until you come to your senses and apologize to Cloud,” he stated.

“Sounds like surrender to me,” the boy said smugly.

He felt the boy move like he was getting ready to try to bolt out of his grasp and moved to block the boy’s route of escape. A few moments later, the boy tried to fly out by flying lower to the floor. Obviously the whole flying thing was new to the boy due to the fact that without Angeal doing anything, the boy crashed. Apparently, the boy wasn’t all that experienced with his wings which was a good thing to know. Within moments, the six wings joined up to form two legs with a small wing covering the outer sides of the boy’s legs which appeared to have some sort of metal webbing across them. The boy let out a sigh as he stood up and continued to face the corner, standing on his feet. He stopped holding the boy’s shoulder and moved back just enough that he wasn’t looming over but would be in position to keep the child from escaping the corner.

“How much longer do you plan on keeping me here like this?” the boy asked with a sigh.

“Until you properly apologize to Cloud for calling him something he doesn’t like and promising to stop doing so,” he responded sternly.

“You clearly don’t understand,” the boy said, “he is my puppet. He was altered to be my plaything. Before he got so stubborn, I was able to bend him to my will. He will never not be my puppet.”

“He’s a person, Sephiroth. How would you feel like if someone had that kind of power over you and did what you just said to you?” Angeal asked with a sigh.

“That is impossible. No one exists that could do such a thing,” the boy said smugly, “not even my younger self would be able to assuming he knows how to use such an ability.”

“Regardless of the impossibility, how would you feel if someone did that to you, hypothetically speaking?” Angeal said, pushing the topic.

“I would be outraged and kill them as soon as I regain agency,” the boy stated matter-of-factly.

“So why inflict something you wouldn’t like on someone else?” Angeal asked.

“Because it’s my right! Is it not the law of the world that the strong conquer over the weak and quash them like the insects they are?” the child asked.

“No. No it isn’t. It is up to the strong to act with honor and protect and defend those who are weaker. That is my duty as a SOLDIER,” he said sternly.

“Angeal, I require your assistance again,” the adult Sephiroth said, approaching him, “Cloud has decided that since he lacks a blade to attack me with, that materia is a good substitute. He requires your help.”

“Mind taking over keeping him standing in the corner until he apologizes?” Angeal asked with a sigh.

“I do not mind,” Sephiroth stated with a nod as they swapped positions.

He just hoped that he wasn’t making a massive mistake in doing so as he approached a furious looking Cloud.

“I think I got a bit of an idea as to why you’re acting this way,” Angeal said gently, “but the bigger Sephiroth isn’t at fault. Just because he shares his name and appearance with yours, it doesn’t make him your enemy.”

“Twue,” Cloud said before frowning, “why can’t I speak pwop--wite--AUGH!”

“It’s okay,” he said, trying to console the boy, “you will in time. It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.”

“I will nevah be safe as long as Sephiwoth exists,” Cloud said with a sigh, “even yours will eventually become… that.”

“I find that hard to believe, Cloud. You don’t know my Sephiroth as well as I do,” Angeal stated.

“And you don’t undahstand his twue nate-cha,” Cloud said before groaning.

“I’d like to think that I do. He is one of my best friends, after all,” he said with a smile, “I can say that he’s not the kind to do to you what yours did to you with trying to control you. He was never allowed any kind of freedoms most people take for granted so he takes immense pleasure in the freedoms he does have. When he learns what I know about how your Sephiroth treated you, I know he’ll be disgusted and terrified that he could be capable of such things.”

“I find that hawd to believe,” Cloud said skeptically, “you only know him as your fwiend.”

“We’re talking about two different Sephiroths, Cloud. I don’t know what made the kid one be like this,” Angeal said with a sigh.

“Jenova and Hojo, mostly,” Cloud stated with a clear shiver, “he could have chosen to be something else that wasn’t what they wanted him to be. But he didn’t.”

“And you think that my Sephiroth will make the same choice,” Angeal stated.

“I won’t let him,” Cloud stated, “I will kill him before he can.”

“So because your Sephiroth took away your freedom once, you will try to take away the freedom of an innocent man?” Angeal asked with a frown.

“He’ll just make the same choice. They aww the same pawson,” Cloud said with a frown.

“Let’s make a deal. I bet you that you can be convinced that they may look the same and have the same name but they’re two different people. If I win, you give them both a chance - mine that he’d make a different choice and yours that he could choose a new path,” he said with a smile.

“Depends on how long you want it to last. The soonah boff Sephiwoth die, the mo-ah lives are saved,” Cloud stated with a frown, “assuming that it takes. This is the foaff time I’ve had to kill him.”

Angeal couldn’t help but to raise his eyebrows at that statement, “four? You’ve killed him three times?”

“It’s almost becoming as much of a choah as taking out the twash,” Cloud said with a frown, “but infinitely moah annoying.” Cloud sighed before asking, “how long do you want me to give your fwiend a chance?”

“A month,” Angeal offered.

“What yeah is it?” Cloud asked.

“1998,” he answered, wondering if Gen might have had it right about the kids.

“I can wait a month,” Cloud said with a sigh, “but if the kid one twies something, I will weact accahdingly.”

“Just leave the kid Sephiroth to me,” Angeal said with a smile.

“What makes you think I can twust you wif him?” Cloud asked.

“He’s in a time out corner, isn’t he?” he asked with a smile.

“Weally?” Cloud asked, getting up to peer into the living room and he also looked over, seeing Sephiroth stand behind his smaller self, his arms crossed in front of him and watching over the boy very closely. “Considah me impahessed.”

“I’ve had to train some behaviors out of my Sephiroth after a while, so I know how to handle him if he didn’t have his superiority complex getting in the way,” he said with a frown, “which I don’t understand why he has that particular issue.”

“He chose to take up Jenova’s legacy,” Cloud said with a frown, “he thinks it’s his wight to take over the Planet like Jenova attempted to thousands of yeahs ago. Once he wealized that Jenova wasn’t a Cetwah like he had been told.”

He frowned as he started to try to piece together everything he knew, which wasn’t much. Gen was convinced that there was the possibility that the kids were from the future. If so, the future couldn’t be that great considering the state of the child Sephiroth and the bits that Cloud had shared. Who knows what other bits Gen and Sephiroth had managed to discover, but that would have to be a discussion for when all the children were put to bed. While Cloud was certain that neither Sephiroth were capable of changing or choosing another path, he was quite certain of the opposite. That with time, the child Sephiroth’s god complex would shatter and he’d understand things better. And that they could find out the exact details of the children’s stories and prevent the adult Sephiroth from making the same choices, assuming that it was even possible. 

“Are you feeling better about everything now?” he asked the boy gently.

“I won’t feel bettah until both Sephiwoths are dead. But I will give the big one a chance. Foah now,” Cloud said before stalking off.

At least that was one situation resolved. He was certainly not going to allow the child Sephiroth to be without adult supervision, entirely because of how the child acted once he had his arms around the boy. It was as if that boy had never experienced physical affection or even physical contact outside of combat. And that was something he was certain was going to change immediately.

He glanced over at the clock and sighed. It was just about time to get started making dinner. He started to feel a sense of dread at the idea of getting the four kids sat down for dinner and the chaos that was clearly going to be inevitable. Maybe if he made dinner, someone else could deal with keeping the kids from killing each other. 

Who was he kidding? Between himself, Genesis, and Sephiroth, he was the one most skilled in keeping the peace.

Chapter Text

Genesis knew that if anyone had asked him days ago if he knew why the Goddess had healed him of his degradation and tossed him back into the world, he would have simply said ‘because the Goddess must have some kind of plan set in mind for me, likely to be a hero in Sephiroth’s absence.’ But he knew it was more of a question than an actual answer. He didn’t think it was so he could see what his foolishness and desperation had wrought and then throw him back in time and turn him into a child in order to prevent such foolishness and to save his friends. He supposed that Cloud had been thrown back due to whatever connection he had with the clearly insane Sephiroth that had also been thrown back with them. 

He didn’t know what hurt more - seeing the insanity in Sephiroth’s eyes with the knowledge that it had been the result of his actions or seeing the lack of familiarity in the now-boy in reference to him and Angeal. It had been the result of all he had done and all he could think was that he deserved it. He deserved to be forgotten by the only friend his actions hadn’t killed. He deserved to feel the pain and hurt born from the consequences of his idiocy. 

After all, he’d failed in the two things that he thought he was or had wanted to be. He thought he was Angeal and Sephiroth’s friend, but what kind of friend led one to his death and led the other straight into a mental breakdown and complete insanity? For that matter, what kind of hero sacrificed their friends in the attempt to stave off their own mortality? In the end, he was just a vain and selfish idiot with delusions of grandeur. 

And he had the opportunity to prevent it all from happening. 

It just happened to involve his much younger and far more idiotic, vain, and selfish past self.

Goddess help him.

“Let’s go over your story again just to make sure that I’ve got all the salient details,” his past self said with a bit of a frown once the past’s Angeal had gone off to deal with the chaos elsewhere as said past self worked to alter his clothes in a way to make them fit better.

Honestly, asking his past self to alter his clothes for him was merely an excuse to pull his younger self away for a private enough chat. He wasn’t that attached to the clothes - he could simply wear clothes actually made for children his size off the rack and it wouldn’t bruise his ego. Given that it didn’t clash too terribly or didn’t have a disgusting design. 

“I can start it off if you don’t want to. I was there too, at the beginning,” Angeal said with a frown as he moved to sit down at the table, his child height meant that he was almost eye-level with the surface of the table.

“I’m fine talking about it. After all, it was a result of my idiotic delusions of grandeur,” he said with a frown, “things would have been different if I hadn’t been so deluded to allow my own faults to get in the way like that. I suppose that it was purely my own hubris that during a spar, I failed to listen to Angeal’s words to back off and stop going after Sephiroth.”

And so, with minimal input from Angeal and equally minimal prodding by his past self, he weaved the tale that unfolded centered around the time that he was degrading and then abducted and held in one of Hojo’s facilities which turned out to be under Midgar and the horrors that had transpired during the short time he’d been under Hojo’s scalpel until he managed to escape and went off to dwell in a cave, contemplating the full extent of his idiocy and decided that he should stand by until the world needed a hero. By then, he would be able to at least try to be a hero once again. 

He saw his past self absorb the story once again, this time clearly picking out important details until he was done telling his tale.

“And all this because you got injured?” his past self asked, “I’ve been injured before - it’s an impossibility not to be - and I’ve been just fine. Clearly it must have been caused by the fact that you are clearly an imperfect copy or clone fed with quite the tale.”

“What happened to not ruling out time travel?” he asked with a frown.

“There’s nothing I said that ruled out time travel. Just that I find it ridiculous that you started degrading after an injury yet I’ve been injured many times and have yet to degrade. Assuming, of course, that your tale is even accurate that I was created by Hollander,” his past self said with a frown.

“I’m aware at the ridiculousness of that one injury being the one to lead to degradation. It was even on my shoulder and I’ve been injured there before,” he said with a frown.

“I wonder… do you have a scar from it?” his past self asked with a bit of a frown.

“I know I did before I got turned into a kid,” he commented, pulling the knit shirt over his head.

He saw how his past self stared before uttering “holy crap.” 

He felt his past self poked at half faded scars which he knew would not be nowhere as faded on his body at this point. That should toss the whole ‘imperfect copy’ theory of his younger self’s out the window. It was a rather ridiculous theory, but he had to admit that his tale could have been seen as rather ridiculous itself. 

“How did you get these?” he heard his younger self demand, “I remember getting some of these.”

“How do you think?” he scoffed with a roll of his eyes, “evidence enough for you that I’m from the future?”

“Then how did you get turned into a kid?” his past self asked.

“Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess,” he responded with a smirk, “do you believe me or not?”

“I believe that you believe that happened,” his past self said, “I still doubt that Sephiroth would ever go the way of the smaller one. I hardly see anything of the Sephiroth I know in the kid.”

“He did and I know,” he said, looking away, “it’s like he doesn’t remember anyone from his past except for Cloud.”

“And who the hell is Cloud anyways?” his past self asked, sounding bitter.

“Not telling,” he said with a frown.

“And why is that?”

“If I were to tell you, you’d have a fit and either take it out on Cloud or challenge Sephiroth to a duel to massage your ego and you wouldn’t be thinking clearly and would likely get yourself injured or force your degradation to happen earlier,” he said with a frown.

He found himself bending away from his past self being far too close while glaring severely. “Tell. Me.”

He couldn’t help the grin as he realized that his past self would simply go insane with not knowing. He idly wondered just how far this would go before deciding that it would be quite entertaining to see his past self squirm and go insane. 

“Make. Me,” he challenged in the same tone, leaning forward with a wide grin.

“I will make you regret ever challenging me, pipqueak,” his past self declared with a grin of his own.

“My Gen, stop riling up your past self,” pint-sized Angeal chided from where he sat, “and big Gen, don’t go too far with your shenanigans. Your Angeal’s likely overly stressed dealing with Sephiroths and Cloud and you shouldn’t add your usual shenanigans to the pile.”

“You’re just as fun as my Angeal,” past Genesis said with a scowl, “and his amount of fun routinely leaves much to be desired.”

Something clearly had occurred to past Genesis as he hurried up with the last of the hemming of the knit shirt and started to put away his sewing kit. 

“It would be simpler to just get all of you kids' clothing rather than take ages hemming them all up,” his younger yet adult version said with a sigh before giving him a look, “and I assume you know the measurements I’d require for the task.”

“What makes you think I’ll listen to such an egotistical and delusional idiot such as yourself?” he asked with a frown, wanting to make things as difficult as possible for his past self.

It likely had a lot to do with the crimes that he had committed against his friends of all people back when he was just like the man he was staring at. All he knew was that seeing his past self being uncomfortable or annoyed amused him immensely. It amused him to the point that he had more reason to make his past self miserable while saving Angeal and Sephiroth than make the man’s life more pleasant. The man deserved to suffer some for his egotism and delusions, after all.

“Since we appear to be the same person, you are aware that you’re also insulting yourself as well, right pipsqueak?” his past self said with one of his smirks that made him want to throw something heavy at the man’s face.

“I’m more insulting who I used to be than insulting who I am now,” he said, giving his past self a glare.

“Do you want actual clothing that fits you or not?” the man asked with a heavy sigh, clearly done with the bickering. 

“Good luck trying to get actual clothing on the small Sephiroth,” he responded with a smirk.

“Well, he can suck it up,” the other Genesis said with a smirk.

“If you can get his measurements, I’ll get the others’,” he agreed, deciding that it was now time to offer a compromise.

“Deal,” the bigger him said with a confident smile.

Of course, he was going to watch the chaos. After all, he was the one who set up the whole scene. It only made sense that he would watch the drama unfold. He was still Genesis Rhapsodos and he couldn’t resist watching the drama.

He watched with amusement as his much bigger and far more idiotic self strode into the living room with a rolled up measuring tape in a hand, clearly walking a direct path to where the adult Sephiroth was monitoring the smaller and more broken and insane Sephiroth.

“I’ve decided it would be best if we purchase proper clothing for the children and that would require measuring him,” the adult Genesis explained.

He knew Sephiroth well enough to read the concern. Why was the adult Sephiroth concerned about something like… he stopped in his thoughts as he remembered his experience during his stay in Deepground. Where Hojo reigned supreme and had nothing holding him back. That experience made him understand more about his more stoic friend than anything else had. He found himself yearning for his adult body so he could give Sephiroth a proper hug. The guy deserved it considering that he’d grown up in Hojo’s lab.

Maybe that would be enough to save his friends? It was worth a try.

“I don’t know how he’ll handle it,” he heard the taller Sephiroth say with a clear tiny frown and a thoughtful tilt of his head, “up until now, he likely only experienced Hojo’s lab and whatever passes for his memories.”

“I barely even remember the lab,” the child admitted quietly, “I will deign to allow you to take my measurements in order to garb me befitting my position as who will soon become a god.”

He’d expected more of a fight, but to be honest, the apotheosis obsession and megalomania wasn’t a surprise either. It fit what he had learned about the events that had transpired while he’d been locked away in Deepground.

He also wondered how Sephiroth - the adult Sephiroth - would take finding out that he was merely the first life Hojo had engineered from the earliest stage of life. He knew that the man had a now very understandable penchant for killing escaped experiments that he’d been tasked to return to Hojo alive. It was the only action that was merciful.

Once his bigger self started measuring the small container for an impossibly large superiority complex, he went about getting the other’s measurements. He decided to start with Angeal since he knew his other close friend would allow getting measured while complaining about how it was a waste to not just put in the effort to hem all of the clothing while also offering up his services to assist the hemming. But he would still acquiesce before too long. After all, Angeal almost always caved in before too long. With one awful exception.

And he’d been correct in his knowledge of one of his close friends.

He was surprised when Cloud merely gave him a long, hard stare but then sighed and shook his head.

“Just nothing too terribly childish, okay?” Cloud asked before simply caving in, giving him less of a fight than Angeal had.

“I’m not the one doing the shopping. I will, however, promise that whatever is obtained for you will look good on you. Likely cute,” he admitted with a smile as he started measuring the chocobo head.

“I don’t do cute,” the blond said in a deadpan.

“Well, too bad. You’re already doing it,” he said with a grin as he continued to take the other kid’s measurements, “with your chocobo hair and chubby cheeks. You’re practically as cute as a chocobo chick.”

“Am not!” the smaller child exclaimed defensively.

“Let’s settle this with the most objective opinion we can find in this house,” he stated before screaming, “Sephiroth! I need your help over here!”

“What are you doing?” Cloud hissed angrily.

“Just what I said. Getting the most objective opinion we can find in this house,” he explained with a grin as he could tell that the larger Sephiroth was approaching in what appeared to be a hurry.

At least before appearing rather confused. The guy likely expected a fight or dramatics. Instead of participating in a fight or anything he’d consider dramatic, Genesis merely spun Cloud around and hoisted him up towards the taller and not any less confused Sephiroth.

“Tell him if you think he’s cute or not!” Genesis exclaimed with a huge grin.

He could just see the gears in his friend’s brain starting to spin as the overly logical man started to compute the situation. The adult and much saner Sephiroth clearly looked for escape routes before frowning, clearly still processing.

“If you have any of the original Genesis’s memories, you would know that asking my input on aesthetics has been stated to be a ‘pointless venture’ according to him,” Sephiroth stated evenly.

“Yes, but this isn’t about what colors you want your apartment done up in, which by the way, I still think you need more colors than black, white, and sixteen different shades of gray,” he sarcastically responded, “this is a basic human opinion. Do. You. Think. Cloud. Is. Cute?”

He saw his friend’s feline eyes go from him to Cloud and then up and down before returning to him with a thoughtful micro-expression.

“I can’t say that he does or not considering I do not know what constitutes as ‘cute’,” he responded, “but I do admit that there’s something rather… charming about him.”

“Charming how?” he heard Cloud ask with nothing but ice.

“You’re stronger than you appear to be and your movements denote some level of combat experience beyond what you should be capable of. I find it rather intriguing,” Sephiroth responded with a small smile he knew was meant to calm the kid.

“Sephiroth, think in terms outside of combat for once,” Genesis groaned with a heavy sigh as Cloud started to struggle against his grip, “does he make you want to give him hugs and protect him and keep him safe?”

“I do not feel any inclination to give hugs, but I do wish to protect him and ensure his safety as I feel towards everyone else in this house,” Sephiroth admitted before turning around and stalking away.

“You do know that was a lie. He is incapable of wanting to protect anyone but Jenova,” Cloud stated as he set the blond boy down.

“That’s your Sephiroth. My Sephiroth is far more honest,” he said quietly, “now stand still. I have a few more measurements to take.”

As soon as he gave his younger, more idiotic self the measurements and then had himself get measured, he was free to do whatever he wished. Outside of burning down the house or encouraging a fight between Cloud and his more insane mini-Seph. But there was something he’d been itching to do since he saw the adult and younger Sephiroth. 

“You see, I am the one with the tactical advantage,” he heard the younger and adult Sephiroth say in a low, purring tone as he entered the living room, “I know what you like and what you don’t. After all, you did say that we are the same person. I can always call Genesis up and ask for an extra helping of General Tso's chicken on his way back with clothes for you and the rest of the children.”

“Except that I don’t require sustenance like you do,” the small boy with wings in places he shouldn't have said haughtily, “in that way, I am superior to you.”

“Are you? Really?” the larger and more human Sephiroth asked, “I find meals to be some of the best times of the day. Especially when I’m not dining alone.”

That hurt. That really hurt. He couldn’t help but to imagine Sephiroth, alone in his quarters on Thursday nights because he and Angeal had left him behind. Sephiroth, alone without any other friends, returning to the lonely existence that he and Angeal had promised their friend that he would never know again. He had done more than abandon his “rival” and friend, but broke all the promises they had made, and allowed Sephiroth to deal with Hojo on his own without hope for the usual post-Hojo movie night afterwards.

“How trite,” the near monstrous child said, dismissing the taller Sephiroth’s words.

The weight of his past mistakes dropped on him and he knew that he couldn’t change his personal past. However, there might still be hope for the future from here on out. And he knew that it required him to do something his younger self would never - could ever- do. All he had to do was stare a hole into the floor and enunciate the best he could as he forced the words out.

“Sephiroth…” he said, hoping to get both of their attention, “I owe you an apology. It is up to you as to whether you accept or not. Whether you hate me or not. I was oblivious as to how much you were being hurt by Hojo because you always wore that damned brave smile you always did and you always came out of the labs barely even able to walk. And I was selfish and stupid for leaving you behind in Midgar instead of inviting you to come with us and help us. Angeal had been right, but only partially. He believed that we needed you. I understand that you needed us. And I’m sorry for the pain and everything my actions had caused.”

Mini-Seph merely stared unblinkingly at him, showing nothing but cold indifference, as if he was nothing to the other boy. When, in another far-away time, they had been friends. It was as if those memories didn’t matter to the winged boy. 

“And you think I care how a pitiful human feels?” the boy asked icily.

“We were friends, once,” he stated, feeling as if his heart was breaking.

“Friends are unimportant. They’ll always leave. But Mother won’t. She will never turn her back on me. She freed me from the pain of the memories of all who have hurt me,” the boy stated.

He glanced up at the taller Sephiroth, who looked more horrified than he’d ever seen his friend. Not that he blamed Sephiroth considering that the man was getting a good, long look at a potential future self. Not that Sephiroth had figured that bit out since it was hard to believe. The two were almost completely different people who only looked like each other on the surface. 

“And who is this ‘Mother’ you’re talking about?” the taller Sephiroth asked, pushing his horror aside for the sake of his curiosity.

“Jenova, of course. Can’t you hear her calling you?” the smaller Sephiroth asked with a smirk, “pulling at you?”

“What do you know of her?” the taller Sephiroth asked, clearly now wanting to know everything the child knew.

“Everything,” the smaller Sephiroth responded with what looked like a demonic smile to Genesis. “She is a goddess who seeks to use this planet as a vessel to travel the cosmos.”

He couldn’t help but to scoff before saying, “hardly a goddess. She’s a monster that has warped you, short stuff. I wouldn’t be too surprised if she had some sway over Angeal and I when I was degrading. I doubt she could affect me now that I’ve been blessed with the Gift of the Goddess.”

“Your knowledge of Mother is lacking, much like the so-called scientists who have left their research lying around the basement of the mansion in Nibelheim for me to find and discover my true purpose as well as the love and loyalty that only Mother can provide,” the smaller Sephiroth proclaimed. “The same she offers you with open arms. All you have to do is accept her.”

“If she uses the Planet as a vessel, what happens to those who live on it?” the taller Sephiroth asked.

“For my… our grand ascension to godhood, we’d have to absorb the entire Lifestream. To do that, we’d have to injure the Planet enough. What does it matter? Outside of us and Mother, everyone else is insignificant,” the child explained.

“It matters to me. There are people I care about on this Planet. I refuse to allow you nor Jenova to harm them,” the adult Sephiroth said with a frown.

“But she’s our Mother,” the child said with a deep frown, “and you’d turn your back on her?”

“Even if you are correct and she did give birth to us, I was told that she died while she gave birth to me. And you are nothing but a flawed copy of me. A deeply flawed copy,” the adult Sephiroth stated with a deep frown, “so how could she use the Planet as a vessel?”

Genesis was rather impressed at the fact that the non-him man clad in red showed up in perfectly dramatic fashion. The man had quietly strode in, betraying clear training, likely Turk, and had been silent until now. He only chose that moment to speak and betray his presence.

“Because Jenova is both not quite dead and not your true mother, Sephiroth,” the man in red stated, “I suppose now is the time for introductions. My name is Vincent Valentine and I know Lucrecia Crescent, your real mother. Perhaps it is time we sit down and have a chat.”

“Before you do,” Genesis interjected, looking up at the adult Sephiroth, “there’s one thing I’ve been wanting to do, Sephiroth.”

“And what is that, Genesis?” Sephiroth asked, clearly uncertain as to whether he was going to need to defend himself.

“Relax, this is hardly the best place and time for a spar,” he scoffed before reaching up with arms wide, “I just want to give you a hug.”

He saw the man clearly contemplating for a moment before bending down and gathering him up in his arms in a soft hug.

“I’m sorry, Sephiroth,” he whispered into the man’s ear, “I didn’t know what you were and are going through in regards to Hojo. I got a good idea now and if you ever want that bastard to die horribly, you only have to tell me. Assuming I haven’t already killed him myself.”