Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch69 - Attack on Edge Pt.1

She didn't know what time it was when she heard her phone ringing. It must've been at the earliest hours of the morning. There wasn't any light coming from the windows of their room and there was still that cool morning breeze bypassing the curtains of their opened window.

Hester heard a groan coming from Sephiroth who shifted on the bed beside her. Her hand reached for her bedside table where her phone rang and buzzed loudly. She grabbed the phone and flipped it open seeing Cid's name on the screen. She groaned and answered the call.

"Cid, what the hell?! It's..." she pulled the phone back to look at the hour. The screen's ruthless light hit her sensitive-from-sleep eyes as she looked at the time and then she pressed it back against her ear "...5 am for fuck's sake-"

"We leavin' for Edge in about an hour. Thought ya kids might wanna see yo momma,"

Hester groaned and buried her face in her pillow "No," the sound came out muffled.

"Did ya ask Sephy or you're being a hardass bitch?"

She groaned irritatingly. Damn you, Cid. She turned and looked at Sephiroth who stared at her questionably. She sighed "Cid's offering a ride back to Edge. We could check up on mom,"

At that, Sephiroth nodded "Good idea,"

"Alright, pick us up in about an hour, will you?"

"Aye!"

Hester flipped the phone closed and she placed it back on her bedside table. She turned and looked at Sephiroth who had closed his eyes, savouring every little bit of the sleep that he had just interrupted. The faint, blue morning light came from the window, painting his hair in a pale brown. His thick eyelids rested on top of each other and his breathing got rhythmical once again.

He looked so peaceful. His bangs fell messily on his face but they didn't seem to bother him. His hand was fitted beneath his pillow and his cheek rested on top. Sephiroth never wore a shirt when he'd go to sleep. Half of his chest was covered beneath the light green bed covers. Some of his scars were visible on his chest and she didn't care the least.

She shifted her body close to him. He noticed her immediately, and his hands slipped around her almost automatically. He felt her fingers tracing over the bulging veins of the muscles of his arm. His own fingers sneaked beneath her shirt, touching warmly the small of her back. He felt the tip of her nose barely brushing over his and he was unable to fight a smile that curled over his lips. He felt her small rhythmical breaths hitting his chin.

He pressed a kiss on top of her forehead and she let out a small hum that made his heart flutter. Her one hand pressed against his chest, the other around his shoulders. Her fingers buried in his hair and he pressed his lips on top of her head, drawing in her scent.

He felt so content. A feeling that he'd never experienced so intensely before. He'd spent thirty years as an alien being's puppet doing stuff against his will and now... Now he was there, with the woman that he loved for so long, and he was there because he wanted to. It wasn't because someone else was forcing him. He had no manipulative whispers in his mind, telling him what to do. Telling him to kill, to torture, to burn, to destroy.

He had taken the chance to live like every person should. Happy. She made him happy and he knew it was so much more than what he deserved, after everything he'd done. If anything -or, anyone- ever harmed her, he was going to do everything to make them pay. He still remembered her crying the night before. He had noted to himself to ask again, but maybe not yet. They'd have to wake up first and get dressed. But maybe not yet either. He'd never get enough of that moment.