Switched

Revelations

The next morning Sephiroth woke feeling less sore than he had been. The sleep had finally refreshed him. He sat up and listened for any other movements nearby. When he heard nothing, he decided to get up and look around a little. He knew it was highly probable that the others had already gotten up and moved downstairs.

He took the opportunity to look out the one window in the room. He had not had time last night to look around much and was surprised to see the large square full of people in front of the building he was in. As he looked about, he began to wonder if he would be able to find a place to exercise. From the looks of the crowds and the other buildings so close by, it didn't seem like that would be an easy thing to do.

He sighed with a little bit of disappointment at that fact. He enjoyed moving through his katas each morning since it served to center him and get him ready to face the day. The fact that it had been more years than he cared to count since he had been able to, only made the disappointment that much more acute.

The humming that had been present since the previous day was still in the back of his mind. He was doing his best to ignore it, but it was making its presence known. To get it off his mind, he decided to look for the other occupants of the apartment. He only hoped Tifa was not as distraught as she had been the night before.

When he made his way into the small sitting room he found Vincent still seated on the couch and apparently watching television. The sight seemed a little odd, given what Sephiroth knew of the older man, but he wasn't surprised to see him. He knew Vincent was set to keep an eye on him and would only have been surprised if he had not been there. He still had a long way to go before any of these people trusted him enough to not watch his every movement, if they ever did.

Before he had a chance to call out a greeting, Vincent was up and facing him. "Tifa asked me to bring you to her as soon as you were up. I believe she wants to speak with you. If you are ready for the day, then we need to head downstairs."

Sephiroth paused. He hadn't expected anyone to be friendly, but Vincent's brusque manner caught him off guard anyway. He quickly pushed back his uncomfortableness and gave the older man a nod to indicate he was ready to follow.

Silently the two made their way back to the bar and then into the back. They were in a small kitchen area, but Tifa was not to be seen. A brief assessment of the room brought a stairwell down into view. As soon as Sephiroth noted its location he found Tifa coming up them with an armload of boxes.

His first instinct was to help her as she couldn't see over the top her armload. As soon as he started to move, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Vincent shaking his head. He didn't like it, but he understood what Vincent had been trying to say and stood down.

Her face showed the strain of her load but was otherwise unblemished, at least until she saw Sephiroth standing in her kitchen. Her expression instantly transformed into a scowl. She moved past them and put her load down before turning back to them. Pointing her scowl directly at Sephiroth, she finally spoke up. "Look, I honestly don't know what to do about this situation, and I will not even think about forgiveness, but I know wishing this never came up isn't an option anymore."

Sephiroth only stood and watched her. He had not been expecting anything less. Instead of worrying about things he couldn't presently change, he focused on listening to her, as it was obvious she was not done talking. "For now, I will tell you that I don't plan on letting any of the others know. Don't think I'm being nice, but I don't want anyone else dealing with the pain of this mess. The only exception to that will be Reeve. I am sure you remember Reeve Tuesti, correct?"

"Yes, I have worked with him previously." Sephiroth wasn't sure how Tifa knew Reeve or what part he had to play in this but figured he would find out shortly.