They were at a shore. Exactly where he did not know. Some island, far off from the mainland. He studied the map but it made no sense.
There was no island. At least not there, not where he was standing, with a troop of SOLDIERs lined up behind him. All looking utterly lost and confused.
The airship needed to be repaired, until then they were stuck. Where ever they were. All he could see were trees, a lot of trees. And a road, small and uneven, snaking it’s way into the forest.
Sephiroth sighed and tucked away the map, realizing it’s uselessness. He turned, facing his second in command.
“Any ideas, sir?” the young man asked as he saw the General’s attention being drawn to him.
“We’ll follow that road, it must lead somewhere. Get the men ready, Zack”
“Yes sir.”
*****
They eventually found a small village, right in the middle of the forest. They had walked for hours and the moon was slowly climbing the azure sky.
“An inn, sir.”
It was a house, carried up by poles. It reminded Sephiroth very much of one of those huts people who were ship-wrecked always built in the movies he’d watched when he was a kid. He feared for a moment that they’d ended up in a village built by a group of castaways. A bunch of people with absolutely no clue where they were or how to get out of there was the last thing he needed right now.
Although the sign saying “TreeTop Inn” assured him they were closer to civilization than he’d expected.
“Go check it out, Zack.”
Sephiroth looked around, etching every part of the small town into his memory. We don’t know anything about these people, they might be enemies of Shinra.
“Sir,” Zack appeared by his side again.
“Well?”
“They didn’t have room for all of us. They did say however, that there’s an empty barn which we can use.”
“Very well then. You pick out who gets to sleep in a comfortable room and who gets to sleep in the hay.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ll go over to that tavern and get something to eat. Join me as soon as you’re finished.”
*****
He sat down by one of the tables. The tavern was filled with people and the owner apologized and told him that he might have to wait for a while before that food was done.
“That’s alright,” Sephiroth said, “I’m in no hurry. But I might just as well order something for my friend too then.”
Sephiroth observed the people and everything that was going on around him as he waited for Zack. Most of them looked like villagers out to have some fun on a Friday night. But there was one party at the bar, they all stood silently, drinking whatever it was that they were drinking. The man in the middle of the group caught Sephiroth’s eye.
His hair reflected in blue in the light of the candles, although it’s real color was silver. Just like Sephiroth’s. But it was the clothes that really interested the General. Thin, exotic clothes which didn’t leave much to imagination. Even though they seemed to belong on a woman, they looked almost natural on the young man.
So beautiful, Sephiroth thought.
Suddenly he could hint something underneath the thin cape. A tail? What was this stranger?
Their eyes locked. Emerald green starred into deep pools of blueish grey. The color his might have been if he’d not been infused with Mako.
None of them looked away. Both unwilling to break the contact, or maybe to surrender.
“Sir.”
Sephiroth flinched, more for actually flinching than being scared. The spell that had hung between him and the stranger was broken.
“Everything is taken care of, sir.” Zack joined him at the table.
“I ordered for you too,” Sephiroth informed him.
“Thanks,” he reached for the pitcher of beer and filled his glass. “Boy, we sure were lucky to find this place, or we could have been running around in the forest all night.”
Sephiroth shrugged gracefully. “We would have managed. Seems to be a pretty peaceful island. And I noticed there’s no protection on the houses against monsters so I guess we were never really in any danger.” His eyes refused to stay focused on Zack and returned to the stranger.
“Yeah, but still, I like to sleep with a roof over my head.”
“What do you think about them?” Sephiroth asked, indicating the small group at the bar.
“Clearly outsiders, no doubt about that. Just look at them, there’s no way they’re from this place.”
“Hm,” Sephiroth nodded thoughtfully.
“Besides,” Zack continued, “the owner of the inn told me something about some travellers who arrived yesterday. Must be them.”
“Did he say what they were doing here?” Sephiroth’s eyes darted between Zack and the young man.
“Just passing through I suppose. One of them...” he turned a little in his chair to get a good look at the party, “the one with grey hair and funny clothes I suppose; he is a magician of some kind.”
“Magician? Interesting...”
“Sorry, sirs,” a waitress put down two plates infront of them, both steaming with cooked vegetables and fish.
“Fish,” Zack grunted and wrinkled his nose a little.
“It’s good for you, so shut up and eat.”
They ate in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
“You know anything else about hi... them?” Sephiroth asked just as he finished off his meal.
“The magician’s name is Kuja.” He looked up at Sephiroth. “Why don’t you ask them over if you’re so interested?”
“I’m just wondering. Making sure they’re not enemies or anything.” He paused briefly. “What am I supposed to say to him anyway?”
Zack shrugged. “I don’t know, how about ‘I like your hair’?”
Sephiroth glared at him.
“Sorry, sir. The resemblance’s just kinda remarking.”
For a moment Sephiroth’s heart stopped beating. The stranger was nowhere to be seen. He was gone, and so was the men he’d been with. All that were left of them were the empty glasses on the bar.
*****
He’d said goodnight to Zack almost two hours earlier when he finally returned to the inn. He’d walked around town, perhaps because he enjoyed the midnight air, or perhaps because he wanted to catch another glimpse of the stranger, of Kuja, as he assumed the man’s name was.
But there had been no sign of Kuja, or his men, and finally Sephiroth had decided that it was time to head back to the inn.
He went up the stairs to the strange house, for the first time he noticed that it was actually built so that the trees supported it. At least I won’t have to worry about those poles breaking and the house crashing down on to the ground in the middle of the night, he thought.
The girl in the reception smiled at him and handed over the key to his room.
“Goodnight, sir.”
He nodded and gave her a tired smile. His room was on the second floor. As far from the ground as possible, he silently cursed to himself, great.
The key unwillingly fit into the lock and the door to his room slid open. The presence of someone else immediatly became clear to him. His hand reached for the hilt of Masamune.
A low chuckle greeted him. He could see a form in the darkness, slowly rising from the side of the bed where the intruder had been sitting, lazily waiting for him to step in through the door.
“Close the door,” the voice was gentle and soft, yet demanding.
Sephiroth froze for a moment, still with his hand on his sword. He kicked the door shut behind him with his heel.
There was a small table by the door with a lamp on it. He reached for it and the room was filled with dimmed light.
Kuja stood by his bed, watching him with a smirk on his lips.
Sephiroth wasn’t surprised, not at all. Somehow he’d known. He did notice his lack of usual instincts though. An intruder in his room would normally alert him, being ready to attack at the slightest movement.
But right now he felt completely relaxed. His body wasn’t quite so tense anymore, the grip on the sword hilt began to loosen.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Kuja slowly started walking towards him, his hips softly swaying with every step he took. Sephiroth watched, as if bound under a spell.
“I saw you, at the bar. You were watching me.”
“Yes,” Sephiroth’s said, his voice husky. As if momentarily snapped out of the trance, he asked,
“Who are you?”
“I’m Kuja,” Kuja said, resting his hands on Sephiroth’s chest, his eyes seeking out those burning green ones. “You’re Sephiroth, one of your men told me.”
“What do you want, Kuja?” Sephiroth stood motionless, even though Kuja’s touch sparked a wild lust deep within him.
“Can’t you see, Sephiroth, we are the same. I knew it the moment I saw you over at the tavern.”
Sephiroth just continued staring at him, feeling utterly incapable of any action at all.
Kuja rested his head against his hands which were still pressed against the taller man’s chest.
“Know me, Sephiroth, for no one else can. Know me, feel me,” he tipped his head back to look into Sephiroth’s eyes again. “Love me, but just for tonight.”
“Yes,” Sephiroth whispered as his hand trailed up along Kuja’s neck, resting at the nape, his fingers tangling in silver hair. “Yes,” he repeated, “I will love you.”
He leaned down to taste the porcelain lips with his own.
“Then I will love you too,” Kuja mumbled against the warm mouth. He shivered as Sephiroth’s hand
traversed over the naked skin of his back. Gently he tugged at the buckles of the other man’s armor, moaning everytime Sephiroth’s palm brushed over a sensitive spot, interrupting him in his work.
Finally the black cape fell to the floor. Kuja circled his arms around Sephiroth’s body, briefly pressing himself close to the warm flesh of the SOLDIERs torso. Then he backed away, slowly slipping out of his own clothes as he walked over to the bed.
Sephiroth followed, watching as Kuja lay down on the soft mattress. The rest of his own clothes were soon scattered over the floor and he leaned down over the delicate body. His whole being ached with wanting. He claimed the pale lips once again, just as a hand rose to push silver hair over his shoulder. Sephiroth caught the hand and pressed a soft kiss into the palm before he brought his lips back to Kuja’s.
*****
“Sephiroth,” Kuja gasped, his back arching up to meet with Sephiroth’s thrusts. His nails dug into the other’s back as he clung onto him with a violent need.
Sephiroth let out a desperate moan as the last of his intense passion was unshackled, knowing it meant the end for the two of them. He felt Kuja’s body sag underneath him as he slipped out of him. He stayed as he were for a moment longer, hovering on his hands and knees over the other man. Just one last moment to admire the beauty of the stranger in his bed.
Kuja looked up at him, smiling. “Come,” he held out his arms and Sephiroth laid down, resting his head on Kuja’s shoulder.
“Are you leaving?” he asked.
“I’ll stay till the sun rises, then I will leave.”
Sephiroth took his face in his hands and kissed him. “My beautiful Kuja,” he mumbled, “I will always remember you, never will I forget this night.”
“No,” Kuja agreed. “We will always have this night. The night we were in love. The night we were loved.”
“Will you think of me sometime?” Sephiroth asked.
“Always.”
Sephiroth sighed. “I think I’ll miss you.”
“But I will never really leave you, Sephiroth. As I told you, we are the same.”
“But it will never be like this, we will never be together again.”
“Just look to the sky, I might be there, riding my silver dragon.” Kuja laughed as Sephiroth gave him a curious look.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.
“No,” Kuja seemed to suddenly turn sad, “and it’s a shame you’ll never find out. But there’s no time for us. Things will be left unsaid, deeds left undone. Therefore we must remember this night. Promise me that.”
“Yes, I promise,” Sephiroth mumbled against Kuja’s chest, his eyelids fluttered slightly, there was a sleepy drawl in his voice. A soft kiss was placed on his forehead.
“Sleep, my beloved Sephiroth, we will talk more when you wake up.”
Sephiroth claimed Kuja’s lips for one last time before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
*****
When he woke up the sun had risen. And Kuja was gone. There was no sign of him ever being there.
He hadn’t expected to feel so lonely.
Sephiroth got up and walked over to the window, opening it to let the wind brush over his naked skin.
Something caught his eye, there, up in the clouds, a streak of silver.
He smiled, the wind ruffling his hair as he placed his palms on the sill, leaning out just slightly, his eyes fixed on the sky, following the movement in it.
“I’ll never forget you Kuja,” he vowed silently.
why we’re frozen,
forever beautiful,
forever lost
inside ourselves
the night has come
to hold us young.
Thru the eyes of ruby
~The Smashing Pumpkins
The End
Disclaimer: FFVII and FFIX belongs to Squaresoft. This is all very non-profit.
Author’s Note: My first FFIX fic. Well, kinda FFIX anyways, a crossover really I suppose. Anyways, I’ve never even played Final Fantasy 9 so
therefore I have no idea how Kuja’s character really is, so if this was very OOC, then that’s the explaination.
I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t look at any FFIX website, read any fanfics or anything before I’d played the game. I have no idea what the name of the other character’s in the game are. Zidane I know, and VIVI, but that’s about it. I saw a pic of Kuja a couple of days ago, and it took me approximately three seconds to fall in love with him. *Sigh* I’m so weak for villains. All I knew about him when I wrote this was that he was one of the bad guys, had a tail, was a magician or something and rode a silver dragon. Based on those facts I created the Kuja you’ve just read about. Just so you know...
Anyways, I’m not really a big fan of crossovers but it was kinda fun writing one, hope you all enjoyed it.