Even Demons Can Be Saved

Epilogue (Or Five Years Later)

Sephiroth was on his way to his wife's office. He wore a slight frown as his thoughts were consumed with the security nightmare they were about to get into. It was the first annual Environmental Summit, and of course, Midgar had to host it. It wasn't that any of the visiting dignitaries hadn't been there before, but not all at the same time. As head of the security forces inside and outside the city, he had been having problems for weeks.

Those problems were not why he was frowning, though. As one of the few known Cetra left alive, Eve was expected to attend. Aerith was as well, but the younger woman wasn't in quite the same position.

He only paused for a moment outside her office door to make sure he didn't hear any other voices. She had cut her hours, but she still saw patients occasionally. That took up the bulk of her work these days. Aerith was the one in the field.

Once he was sure no one else was in the room with her, he opened the door and almost called out, but stopped himself at what he found. He slipped into the room silently and stood there for a moment smiling at the sight of his wife asleep on the couch in her office. She had been getting tired in the afternoons often enough, but he doubted this was a luxury she allowed herself often. Which made it all the sweeter that he had been able to see it. He still felt a rush of caring during moments like this. Life was not perfect, and he doubted it ever would be, but he had learned to find joy in the everyday imperfections.

A bolt of inspiration hit him, and he quietly rummaged around on her desk until he found one of the notepads she always had on hand. He flipped to a blank page and pulled a chair a little closer to her before the pencil in his hand started flying over the paper. Every detail was captured in stunning clarity, from the way her hair tumbled where she had taken it from her clip, and one strand fell in her face, to the way she had positioned the pillows around her. One was between her knees, one under her arm, and the smallest helped to prop up her extended stomach to help alleviate the back pain she sometimes had to deal with.

Sephiroth's breath caught as she stirred, and the light hit her burnished strands as she turned over. She was even more lovely now than she had been on the day they married.

He grinned at her when she peeked an eye open in his direction and frowned. "What are you doing?"

He raised a brow and smirked. "Like any good General, I am taking tactical advantage of an opportunity to discover and annotate new territory."

She frowned, but it didn't last long before she laughed. Her laughter died to breathy chuckles as she pushed herself up with some effort. Once she was seated, she shook her head with a grin. "It's not as though you haven't seen me sleeping before."

He moved to sit beside her and kissed her forehead. "It's not the same. No two times ever are."

Had he not already seen it at least once a day for the last several months, he might have been worried by her tears. But he had been assured by many people that pregnant women cried often, and it didn't mean anything was wrong. Still, he had a handkerchief on hand so she could blot her eyes.

She shook her head at her own wayward emotions before she caught sight of the drawing in his hand. She didn't ask before she reached out for it. She gasped at the lifelike picture and looked at him with tears in her eyes again. "Is this how you see me?"

His eyes softened, and he brushed that one wayward strand off her face. "That is how you look. You are beautiful."

She frowned slightly, and he grasped her chin so she wouldn't look away. He grinned as he put a hand on her belly. "More so now than ever before."

It looked like she wanted to frown at him, but it got lost in a silly smile. She could see the truth in his eyes, and it made her feel gooey inside. He could have that effect on her any time he wanted to. Now was not the time for those thoughts, though, so she changed the subject. "I doubt you came here just to try and catch me napping."