In an empty soil far from the downtown, in a distant suburb, tree boys were playing. Against his parents' wishes, because of the old holes of ruined buildings that had in the place. One of the boys was blonde and tall, the other two had black hair, and all of them were neighbors. Bobby had 11 years old, Mike and Stan, 10. They were playing what should be volleyball, when the ball coursed directly for the hole behind them.

Bobby - the blond - was running for Mike's ball when he heard the noise, coming from the deepest part of the hole.

"Did you hear, Mike? Stan?"

"Hear what Bobby?" Stan asked. "You're insane, pal!!"

"But I DID hear something!" Bobby walked close of the hole.

"No, Stop Bobby" said Mike, "It's dangerous!"

Bobby didn't hear the mates and kept on walking. Then he saw in.

Down in the first platform of the hole, not so hard to reach but still very dangerous for a kid, was a naked body, wrapped by silver - white long hair and completely dirt of blood. Bob stared there, he almost couldn't whisper:

"Oh my God...!"

"What is it Bobby?"

"Come back here guy!"

Even saying this, the other boys approached slowly, then they also could see the body. It wasn't visible enough, so Bobby started to go down as careful as he could.

"We gotta help the guy!"

The other two went right behind Bobby. Stan was moved by curiosity and Mike because of his wish to be a doctor some day.

It wasn't so hard to go down and soon they could see the body very closely.

"Ugh!!" said Stan. "Smells bad! This guy must be dead."

"No he's not. He's breathing." Said Bobby. He lowed by the body's side, who was with his face in the ground and the back upside.

"Look at this hair, he must be some crazy hermit or something."

"No pal", said Bobby. "With this body here he definitively is not an old man."

Bobby was the only one close enough to the body and saw when he opened his eyes. And when Bobby saw his eyes he felt all the blood in the body turn into ice.

"Oh MY GOD!!" Bobby whispered. "It's not happening, it can't be real, it can't be Sephiroth..."

Bobby couldn't move. Lots of thoughts crossed his mind in only a few seconds. Tell the buddies? Better don't, or Sephiroth could be dead as Jesus Christ was centuries ago. By the hands of the players. By the hands of those who created him. But he was there now...

Bobby covered Sephiroth's eyes with his hands in a real quick movement.

"Look, this guy is in comma, better call an ambulance or something. I'll tell Barbara to come here and help."

"You're crazy, if you call Barbara she will fuck our asses!!"

"She loves me Stan, more than everything. She will fight a bit, but never tell dad. Anyway this is an emergency. Barbara is adult, she will know what to do better than us. Please go call her, ask her to bring some of pop's old pants."

Mike agreed. "Yes, she is 18, she knows better than us. I'll call her."

Mike ran out to the hole, took his ball, his bike and went as fast as he could.

"Stan" Bob asked, "stay up there and warn me if someone else appears ok?"

"But no one never comes this way..."

"Do as I said!!" told bobby strongly.

As Stan reached the upper platform, Bobby touched Sephiroth's hair gently.

"Sephiroth... Sephiroth... Can you hear me?"

"Yes I can".

"He speaks!!", Thought Bobby almost screaming into his mind. He was exited and almost couldn't hold his pants. "Weird accent, but he speaks!!"

"Sephiroth, I will protect you ok?"

Sephiroth wished to laugh, but he was feeling pain. The pain of the cut. Cloud. He didn't want to remember it now, so he just waited.

"If someone asks your name, say it's Steven, ok?"

"Why?"

"Wanna die again?"

Sephiroth kept silence. Maybe hide himself for a while couldn't be so bad at all.

So after some time Mike and Barbara came.

"I hope it's a huge thing, Bobby. I was playing Final Fantasy VII", said Barbara.

She had red hair, green eyes, baby face, some freckles in her cheeks and a porno actress body. The most pretty girl in her college. And smart and intelligent.

Barbara came down the cliff, saying: "You two wait here, platform is not safe for lots of people".

Even curious, the other boys obeyed, because they were there against parent's permission, and Barbara could put an end in that calm situation with a word only.

When Barbara reached out the hole's platform, Bobby told her:

"I won't say a word. See with your own eyes."

Barbara lowered close of Sephiroth and gently turned his face to hers. Then the part of his body. Sephiroth felt the pain and opened his eyes, looking deep on hers, hitting inside.

Barbara left his head kick the ground.

"My God...!"

"Ouch!!", complained Sephiroth.

"You are not Sephiroth..."

Sephiroth looked at Bobby.

"Trust her."

"You can't be Sephiroth..."

"I'm Sephiroth. In flesh and bones... some Mako energy... and what else it can be."

Barbara felt the heaven for some seconds and then the hell. She knew all her dreams became truth, Sephiroth in flesh and bones, only for her, the dream of any FF7 fan. But then she realized if someone knew it, the whole word would kill him, stole him, or...

She had to do something. Not only to her selfish proposes - two loosing virginity at the same time, Sephiroth and her - but also for his own security.

"Tell your mates to go home. Tell them he's a kind of murder or something. I tell them I'm going to call the police. Seph... Seph, can you hear me?"

"Yes I can. Can I please leave this position now? It's aching!"

"Look, when we leave, count to ten then move to the best position you can find. I'll look for help. Ok?"

"Do I have any choice?"

"No you don't."

She turned to Bobby.

"Go home, bring the first aid, leave the house for the back door."

"Ok"

Barbara and Bobby went back to the upper side.

"Boys", she told them as scared to death ( The excitement helped a lot to pretend she was nervous.) "This guy is a murderer and police is looking for him.

I'm going to the police, you boys go home. If he recognizes one of you you're dead and also your whole family. Bob is going too"

"Why we can't go to the police?" Stan asked.

"Because the cops will never believe in some ten years old boy. Let's go fast before he awakes!"

The boys ran to their bikes and Barbara ran to a place that should be the road's direction. As soon as the bikes couldn't be seen no more she went back to Sephiroth's side.

"Seph?..."

He was laid down normally now, dirty of blood and some dust. Naked. But the hair, now all in front of his body, was hidden him well enough.

"You're naked. I brought you this."

She opened her handbag and dressed him with old flannelette pants, until his hips, when he dressed himself. The pair of pants was warming his body.

"Thanks miss..."

"My name is Barbara, Seph..."

"My name is Sephiroth, Barbara. Don't call me Seph."

"Ok!" She looked surprised.

She took a big wooden comb of her stuffs and started patiently to comb his hair, starting by the tips. It was thin and soft as silk, even dirty and with that dry blood smell. He closed his eyes and surround to the touch. When she reached his nape, he leaned a bit for her side to feel the chills that were up on his spine.

"Ohhh... I never... I never felt this before."

Barbara smiled.

"Ah, Sephiroth... I can make you fell too much more..."

Sephiroth jumped out of her reach, the best and faster way he could.

"This is very nice, miss. But I won't fell it anymore."

"Why not?"

"It makes me fell so..."

He lost the words in the air, but she knew the word somehow. The word was

"Vulnerable". She smiled for him, grabbed his hair strongly and pulled closer.

"Let me finish with your hair, Sephiroth. You can't be in this way so disheveled in the streets. Can't walk naked too. Such a pity, uh? You got a body that makes the girls..."

Sephiroth looked up in impatience.

"You're so immature..."

"And you're not that polite..."

"Who cares with a beautiful body? Children does."

"I'm making a commendation, can you please say thank you?"

"If it pleases you..."

Barbara pulled his hair again. Sephiroth reacted and pulled her hair too, and she hit her comb in his head.

"Stop it Sephiroth! Be quiet!!"

Sephiroth opened his mouth to give her an answer when Bobby came with the first aid. Looking at him with those short pants that left his ankles outside, he laughed.

"Hello everyone. Here is the first aid."

"Lay down, Sephiroth. We will finish your hair after the shower,"

Sephiroth laid down, she opened the box of first aid and started co clean the cut.

Bobby looked aside and then saw a black stuff in a place not so hard to reach. When he became closer he realized it was Sephiroth's clothes and his sword.

"I found Masamune here!!"

Fighting against its weight he brought it closer, but far from Sephiroth's hands.

"Thanks kid. I was wondering where it was..."

Suddenly Sephiroth felt the world turns over his head and the body burn and ache again. He became more pallid than he was and closed his eyes for a long time.

"Jesus, this medicine will kill him..."

"If he is in a human body now, unless he's allergic, it won't kill him"

"We're going to wait him to wake up?"

"What else we can do..."

To the Charpter 3 Hiding Things, Knowing Things