Mother, Mother

By generalquistis

oOoOo

Looking around the cave behind a waterfall, Yazoo was already thinking that maybe what they were looking for was not even in that area; yet he did not have the courage to speak up to his younger brother who was still enthusiastic in searching for something…

Loz, however, was the one who was easier to taunt or mock for Yazoo's tastes, so he just turned to his older brother and smiled calmly as he spoke, "Looks like you won't find mommy here, Loz." It was a mocking tone, and immediately, Loz began to cry.

Kadaj turned his gaze sharply towards Yazoo. He hated it when Loz would cry because his sobs could get too loud if he did not calm down. Yazoo raised his eyebrows at Kadaj and turned to Loz with an annoyed frown. "I hate being the middle child…" he was thinking to himself.

But Loz did not stop crying.

Kadaj stomped his way towards Loz who was standing by a big rock. "Will you stop crying?" he demanded impatiently.

Loz has been afraid of his youngest brother, even though he himself is older, because even as a young boy, Kadaj had proven himself to be an authority figure to his siblings—and he would not let anybody stand in his way. "I said stop crying!!!" Kadaj shouted angrily at him.

Loz sniffed one last time and tried to suppress more of his tears.

Yazoo breathed in and rolled his eyes. "There, there, Loz," He said, trying to sound concerned.

Kadaj turned to Yazoo with a warning look. "And stop making him cry." He said.

Yazoo flipped his hair. "Really, Kadaj, I think we should get out of here now. I don't think Mother is here." He pointed out.

Kadaj cringed. "No. Mother is here! I can feel her here!" he whined.

Loz was still trying to fight back tears when he noticed movement coming from behind the rock. He curiously inspected the area behind the rock and to his surprise, he saw a lady lying there. "Hey, there's someone here!" he called out to his brothers.

The two immediately rushed to his side to see who it was, but Kadaj was the one who had already drawn his sword just in case that "someone" happened to be an enemy. He stared suspiciously at the lady who appears to be in her mid-twenties. She appeared to have just awakened from slumber. She was wearing a blue top with white ruffles at the front, a black asymmetrical skirt and maroon heeled shoes. Her hair was long, brown and tied up in a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon.

Kadaj narrowed his gaze at her, "Who are you, woman?" he demanded harshly.

Loz stared hard at the woman and his facial expression seemed to have softened as he gazed at her curiously. "…Mother?" he asked.

The woman instantly looked up at him as her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing his silver hair and green eyes.

Kadaj slapped Loz's chest with the back of his hand to warn him. "That's not mother." He said sternly.

Loz's lower lip trembled. "…but… I… can remember Mother! She looks like her!" he said.

Kadaj turned to him with an angry glare. "Well your memory is lame anyway so why should I trust it? I know how Mother looks like and this woman isn't our mother!" he snapped impatiently before turning to Yazoo. "Could you take him away from this woman for a while? I'm going to interrogate her." He instructed.

Yazoo was looking at the woman who was already looking at him too, as if studying his features. The woman smiled gently at him as she reached out a hand to him but he moved away as if fearing to be touched by a strange being. Yazoo grabbed Loz by the arm and dragged him away from the rock.

The woman then turned to Kadaj who was still looking at her rather scornfully. She kept her eyes at him, staring at him as if she knew him so well… "…Son…" she said softly.

Kadaj raised his eyebrows at her.

She slowly got up, her knees wobbling as she did so, but she never took her gaze away from him. She reached out a trembling hand to him as she smiled softly. "My son…" she said softly.

Kadaj took a few steps away from her in disgust. "Argh! Stay away from me, woman!" he said in annoyance as he pointed the tip of his sword towards her to prevent her from coming closer to him.

She just stared at him in awe. She could feel her heart shattering. "…Don't you recognize me, son?" she asked, her voice trembling with every word.

"I don't even know you!" Kadaj snapped back at her rather harshly. He could feel his heart racing, although he was not sure whether it is out of anger or confusion.

She tried to maintain her balance, preventing herself from falling as she staggered from side to side. Her gaze never left Kadaj's young face even as tears filled her sad but smiling eyes. "…I'm Lucrecia, your mother! I'm your mother," she attempted to come closer but Kadaj moved away further from her. To him, she was a crazy woman who must have mistaken him for her son, but he froze when she uttered the name he had hated: "…Sephiroth,"

Yazoo and Loz stared at them from where they were stationed.

Kadaj cringed. "…Sephiroth?" he demanded as he lowered his sword.

Lucrecia slowly approached him. "But of course you won't remember me! Silly me!" she said lightheartedly as she playfully slapped her own face and chuckled lightly. "But believe me, I'm your mother, Sephiroth, my dear Sephiroth. Oh let me hold you! I didn't get the chance to hold you when you were born!" she said as she reached out to Kadaj with open arms.

Kadaj, on the other hand, was in shock that he was not able to move at first. Lucrecia was able to embrace him while he was still in shock, but anger was slowly building up in his consciousness. He clenched his fists as he pushed her away and pointed his sword towards her. "How dare you mistake me for him! You are not my mother!" he snarled in disgust.

Lucrecia stared at him in surprise, but she was speechless. "…are you denying me as your mother?" she asked softly with a mortified look on her face.

"Like, duh! You're not even my mother!" Kadaj said airily as he put down his sword and smiled evilly at her. "So, you are indeed that Sephiroth's mother, huh? But how come our Mother likes him more? He disgusts me. Shame on you for bringing him to this world." He said mockingly.

Lucrecia was taken aback by his words. His last sentence continued to echo in her head for several moments, rendering her more speechless: "Shame on you for bringing him to this world." More tears filled her eyes as her lower lip trembled. She could feel her heart breaking and she just collapsed on her knees, remembering her sin. "…Sephiroth…" she whispered. "I'm… sorry. Sephiroth." She said as she cried.

Yazoo stared at her, his facial expression softening as he did so. Loz felt bad for her and he started to weep for her too—for some reason that he could not understand. Yazoo slowly walked over to where Lucrecia was kneeling down and weeping for her son, and when he got past Kadaj, he ran to her. He knelt down beside her and grabbed her by the shoulders, taking a good look at her face.

Lucrecia stared into Yazoo's eyes with a loving look on her face. "My Sephiroth… handsome as ever," she said softly.

Yazoo felt his heart sinking. The woman's words and the name that she kept on mentioning ever since she saw them triggered something in him.

Kadaj approached Yazoo angrily. "Hey, let go of her! Don't tell me you believe that she is our mother? She's not our mother, damn it!" he said impatiently as he pulled them apart, causing Lucrecia to fall to the ground on her back, while Yazoo fell on a sitting position.

"Listen, you idiots, this crazy woman could just be a trap set by the President. If we fall for her tricks, we won't be able to find Mother and I can't let that happen!" Kadaj scolded his two older brothers.

Loz sniffed, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. "She…she's not Mother?" he asked with a shaky tone from where he was still standing.

"Of course not!" Kadaj answered immediately.

Yazoo just stared at Lucrecia with confusion in his eyes, but he did not say anything.

Lucrecia eyed Kadaj with a disappointed smile on her face as tears continued to fall down from her eyes. "Sephiroth," she said softly before crawling towards him to embrace him tightly. "Sephiroth, I don't know what that bastard Hojo told you but don't believe him! I'm your mother!" she said sternly, although her voice was shaking.

Kadaj was mortified. "What are you talking about? Weren't you listening awhile ago, woman? I said don't touch me!" he completely pushed her away in a harsh manner, causing her to crash against the solid wall some 5 feet away from where they were standing. He approached her with a cruel glint in his green eyes as he gripped the handle of his sword tightly. "That Sephiroth… I hate him!" he screamed angrily as he raised his sword at her.

Yazoo and Loz just remained in their places as they watched their younger brother push the woman hard against one of the big rocks with the back of her head hitting it, rendering her unconscious. Kadaj stared scornfully at her unmoving form before backing away, panting, yet feeling victorious. A demented smile graced Kadaj's lips and mocking laughter escaped his mouth.

Yazoo slowly got up as he stared curiously at the unconscious woman. He and Loz felt sorry for her… and for Kadaj too.

Kadaj narrowed his gaze at the woman he just hurt out of anger. "You were asking for it. I don't like the feeling you're giving me anyway; I don't want to feel drawn to someone who isn't really Mother…" he was thinking silently before he decided to face his brothers and grinned. "Well then, brothers, shall we go and look for Mother?" he asked before leading the way out of the cave.

Loz followed after him, while Yazoo took one last look at Lucrecia before following after his brothers; but as he was on his way out of the cave, he thought he heard her voice again: "My sons…"

And he turned around to look at her again, but when he did so, he realized that there wasn't anyone there anymore.

Yazoo stared wide-eyed at the spot where he last saw her; but she was gone. A sound escaped his lips, which eventually turned out to be a word: "…Mother?" He did not know what was making him feel drawn to her, although somewhere in his mind, he could remember feeling her warmth all around him. He was certain that Loz felt it too that's why he was crying for her; but what about Kadaj? Didn't he feel that?

But he was interrupted when he heard Kadaj call for him. "Yazoo, hurry up!"

Yazoo blinked and he relaxed a bit as images of a certain tall and silver-haired First Class Soldier entered his mind. "…whoever Sephiroth is…" he thought silently to himself. Before turning away to leave; yet he could not dismiss the fact that he could still hear the lady weeping—her sobs and desperate sighs echoing all throughout the walls of the cave.

oOoOo

-End-

Author's Note: …A one shot. Inspired by the FF7 Advent Children Reunion Files—the part where it was mentioned that Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj are the physical manifestations of Sephiroth's spirit: Loz is his strength, Yazoo is his allure, and Kadaj is his cruelty. Thanks also to Zhakeena for the suggestion; although her suggestion involved Vincent in it, I just changed some stuff and omitted Vincent—because this is supposed to be a multi-chaptered fic with Vincent in it.