For Honor or Glory

Resolution

Chapter 88

Alex watched Vincent's retreating form for a few seconds before she turned back to the rest and said, "I guess that means Q and A is over for now?"

Angeal laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed as he gave her a smile. "Don't worry, it is just a lot to take in. I trust you, and you weren't wrong. No matter what else, we still have clear goals, and you will need to not be distracted if you plan to achieve them."

Alex let out a long sigh and watched as Bugenhagen and Nanaki excused themselves. Genesis was watching them all with a frown, but thankfully, whatever Sephiroth had told him earlier was enough for him to hold his tongue. At least about the talk. He waved off with another quote before he turned and left as well.

Once he was gone, Angeal gave her shoulder another squeeze before he let go. His voice was pitched for her ears only when he said, "I won't tell you what to do, but try not to stay up all night. After last night and today, I'm sure you need the rest."

Alex gave her a brother a wry smile as she nodded. As soon as he was out of the room, an awkward silence descended. It was nearly a minute before Alex was able to find the words to say, "I promised that we would talk as soon as we got the chance, but I'd rather not do it here. Do you mind going up to one of the rooms?"

Sephiroth's head snapped up from where he had been looking down in introspection. His brow furrowed for a moment before it was erased, and he nodded. "Of course. The room I have been using is in the west wing, away from the others. It should provide us enough privacy."

Alex felt a bit of a blush creeping in at the thought of being alone with Sephiroth again, but it was tempered by everything that had happened that day. She gave him a smile and nodded before he led her up and to his room.

Once inside, Alex sat on the edge of the bed, and Sephiroth sat in the one chair. Silence reigned once again for several moments before the general finally said, "What we heard today brings up many questions, and I would like to speak of them some time, but not tonight. I believe that would be best discussed with the others. Not to mention, I think your brother is correct. We should take time to come to terms with the truth before we discuss anything else."

Alex twisted her hands in her lap for several seconds instead of responding. She was glad he didn't want to tackle the rest of it tonight, but that didn't mean he didn't deserve some explanation. Finally, she sighed as she said, "I want to make sure you understand that all that is separate from what I feel—from this, whatever it is. What I feel for you is only due to the time we spent together and what I got to know of you, not anything else."

Alex didn't look up from where she had her hands clasped together. At least not until she felt the bed dip beside her. She stared at Sephiroth's hands as they covered hers and only looked up when he said, "I will admit that I questioned several things after all we have heard today, but that was not one of them. I trust that you would not lie."

He paused and looked away for a moment, and Alex gave him the time to find the words. He was still looking at the spot on the floor in front of him as he said, "Honestly, I expected you to reconsider after we spoke to Genesis."

There—that was the response she had expected first. She swallowed a sigh as she brought his hand back into her lap and waited until he was looking in her eyes as she said, "If you do trust me, then you can trust this too—I will never say something that I don't mean. I told you last night that I am tired of trying to hide the fact that I care. This—I can't deny that it isn't exactly fair to Genesis, but I'm not suggesting that we flaunt anything in front of him. I don't want to hurt him, but Geal was right. I can't keep living like his opinion is the only one that matters. I know this won't be easy, but I will reiterate right now—I want you in my life. Even after all this is done and over. These circumstances are far from ideal, but that doesn't mean we can't explore this."