(![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
icedark_elf Mar. 2nd, 2007 10:20 pm)
icedark_elf Mar. 2nd, 2007 10:20 pm)Title: Forgotten Times
Author: GW Katrina aka![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
icedark_elf
Beta:forgottenlover, any mistakes are my own.
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters/Pairing: Cast, Cloud/Aeris/Sephiroth/Zack
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 5,332
Warning: Angst, and it's been dubbed the wibble fic.
A/N: This is forartimusdin for her pretty femmeRoth, which I'm getting in color once I post this. And a ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mercverseCloud pic as well.
Look at the first comment to this to see the shiny that is the colored femmeRoth picture.
Yeah, my playlist for writing this was the following:
Angels-Within Temptation
One Winged Angel-Advent Children OST
Underground Army-Anastacia
Cloud Smiles-Advent Children OST
Aeris no Theme-Advent Children OST
Excuse me why I go hide away from the wibbling muses now.
Forgotten Times
Elmyra sighed as she watched Cloud speed away again. It had taken so long for him to make that first visit, to let her know that her daughter wasn’t coming home again. Though she had already known that. Had known it since the dream, where Aeris had apologized and hoped she’d stay happy. She had wanted it to just be a dream, a mother’s overactive imagination, but the look on Marlene’s face the next morning had made that a fragile hope.
Then Cloud had come by, with the others, Barrett to collect his daughter, the others most likely for support and to give their own apologies.
It hadn’t even taken not spotting Aeris to know that the dream had been real. All she had had to do was to look at the boy’s face, to see the apology there that he had stumbled over saying. He hadn’t been able to bring her baby home, and it was killing him.
She had hugged him. It surprised him, and that saddened her. He seemed so skittish around touch, and that made her wonder if Aeris had perhaps had the right idea in the beginning.
It was a day still fresh in her mind. Aeris had come home, crying, and simply clung to her. Something she hadn’t done for a while. When Elmyra finally got the information from her, it had made her cold to realize that one of her daughter’s boyfriends had returned, only… he had not remembered her. So Aeris planned to help him remember, but not force it.
Never fond of them anyway, all three being Shinra dogs and the gods only knew what Shinra wanted to do to her daughter, but Elmyra was sure that Cloud’s lack of memory hadn’t been right. The night he walked Aeris home, he hadn’t recognized her either. Unsure how these men kept falling into Aeris’s life, she did her best to steer him away. He wore Shinra’s mark and his eyes glowed. That was enough for her to fear what he would do.
And then he took her daughter away. Away to die.
That was how she had felt. For a while, at least. Until she had seen his face, seen the hurt, and she wondered if he had really forgotten everything after all. Or if something told him that something was so very, very wrong.
He was the last of the four, and she thought it was better for everyone if he didn’t remember.
So she never said anything, though he did stop by on a semi-regular basis. If the calls from Marlene were to be believed, she saw the boy more than Tifa and the children did. That wasn’t right. He was earning a living, true, but for all that they weren’t in any type of permanent arrangement, those four were a family, and they needed him.
Maybe it was time for all of them to move on.
Moving into the small spare room she had, where she would make Cloud stay the night if it was late and she could convince him to do so, she walked to the closet. Pulling it open, she felt her chest tighten.
They hadn’t had much, not really. But what they had was theirs.
Pulling out the first box, Elmyra settled down and started to go through her daughter’s things. Time for the past to be let go.
It would be her last gift to her baby.
///
It had been a surprise for Tifa when Elmyra had shown up on her doorstep early one morning. When she had heard the soft knocking, she had almost assumed it was someone who was waiting for the bar to open. But they were usually much louder than that, so she had gone to check. It had been such a shock to see her there that Tifa had stared for a minute before inviting her in.
Marlene still visited Elmyra often, Denzel going with her most of the time. She didn’t live far, but it was outside of Edge, and definitely away from Midgar’s remains. Tifa had always assumed it hurt to go back to the place where the woman had lived with her daughter. Not that Tifa blamed her. It still hurt to go to the church at times, though now she knew that was where she could still find Cloud most of the time.
But Elmyra was here now, and holding a box. “Oh, Tifa,” she said calmly, with a smile on her face. “I’m so happy I caught you. Tell me, are the children around?” As she asked, she stepped in, passing the box to Tifa. “Hadn’t realized how heavy that was going to get.”
It was surprisingly heavy, but nothing that Tifa couldn’t handle easily. “They’re out playing with some of their friends,” she said, following Elmyra to a table, where the older woman sat with a sigh.
“I…finally sorted through Aeris’s things. Some of them were better given to the rightful owners than me keeping them for reminders of my daughter.” Her voice was quiet and tired. Tifa felt her chest tighten again, even though she knew for a fact that Aeris was watching.
Tifa glanced at the box, wondering what could be in it and who it was going to go to. But she didn’t ask. Instead she offered an invitation.
“The group is getting together today,” she said, looking at Elmyra. “Since everyone was in town for the situation just a few days ago, we arranged a reunion. Even Reeve is going to stop by. Would you like to join us? I’m sure the others would love to see you. Especially Barrett. You know you’re a favorite of his for taking care of Marlene when everything was happening.”
Elmyra smiled. “No, no, thank you, though. I just wanted to stop by and deliver the box. I thought it might do you all some good. A reminder of the past, and maybe it would help everyone move on.”
Tifa looked at the box again. “What’s inside?” she asked, curious. “Who’s it for?”
A small pat on the top, and Elmyra smiled softly. “Mostly for Cloud, but…I think it would do everyone good to at least see some of the things. I’d say leave the smaller box in here alone.” There was an odd tone to the woman’s voice, and Tifa was sure that Elmyra was blushing.
“Elmyra?”
She shook her head. “Yes, the smaller box is most definitely Cloud’s. If he chooses to share with you, that is his business. But the rest of the box…. There are photos and video discs. I’m sure you can play them, and I’ve already watched them. It will explain a lot about your friend, Tifa. And I think that it would be best for him, and the rest of you, to understand things better than you do now.”
Tifa was beyond confused. “Elmyra…?”
She found herself pinned by the woman’s eyes. Tifa was tough, and a better fighter than most people she knew, but even she couldn’t escape the whole “freeze” reaction when the mother-glare was turned on her.
“I know Cloud lost a lot of things during that time he was gone,” Elmyra said softly. “A lot. And I want to give you all a chance to learn more about how it was like before.” She stood, and brushed a lock of hair out of Tifa’s face. “It will be all right, dear, but I think everyone needs to realize how much was lost.”
While Tifa was still trying to form words, Elmyra nodded at her and walked for the door. “I’ll stop by and visit soon, if that will be all right. I would like a chance to catch up with the children. Before I do, I’ll give you a call.”
Then she was gone. Tifa decided it was some type of motherly superpower and stared at the door, gaping.
After a few minutes, she sat there and looked at the box, contemplating it. What could Elmyra have been talking about? The way she had spoke it…it sounded like she had known Cloud before. That didn’t make any sense, though. If Cloud had known Elmyra and Aeris from before, wouldn’t he have said something?
Oh, she had forgotten who she was talking about for a moment. She knew that Cloud had blank spots at times, though he and she both did their best to pretend they didn’t exist.
Well, she supposed there was only one way to find out what her guest had been talking about. Reaching for the box, she worked at opening it.
She saw the smaller box right away, and the first thing she did was pick it up and took it upstairs to Cloud’s office. No point in leaving it there for someone else to snoop through. Elmyra had said it was for Cloud, and so she would make sure that Cloud was the only one who got to see it. She knew most of who was expected to show up today, but knowing the Turks, she half expected at least Reno and Rude to poke their noses into the party. And if they did, she didn’t want to leave the box around for them to poke at if it was as private as it was implied to be.
With that done, Tifa returned downstairs. There was a small player downstairs, she kept it under the bar just in case. Not so many signals going out anymore, but it was nice to be able to pull it out and play things on it for the kids, or for the occasional private party.
It only took a few minutes to set up, and then she looked in the box again. Photo album or discs first?
Grabbing a disc, she sat down by the player and slid the disc into place. Watching as the player started up, she nodded. Now, time to see what all of this was about.
The view was wobbly and a bit blurry, as if someone was moving it.
“Zack, don’t record this. It’s stupid.” Familiar voice, though a lot younger than it was now.
The view cleared, and Cloud came into focus on the screen, looking young and a bit scraggly. He was also glaring at the camera holder like he was plotting how to shove it someplace it would hurt. “I still don’t get why you guys are so obsessed.”
“Cause we can’t grow it. And Aeris hasn’t ever gotten a chance to see this little quirk of Seph’s, so it’s part of the birthday present.” The voice of the one holding the camera said male, also young, and also familiar. It took a long moment for Tifa to realize that it was the other SOLDIER, what was his name?
Zack?
“Zack….” Oh, it seemed she was right.
“Cloud, stop letting him distract you. The sooner we do this, the sooner he will take that device out of our faces.”
Another familiar voice and Tifa had to fight down the urge to shiver. Hopefully, one day, her reaction wouldn’t be so bad, but right now, the sound of that man was enough to make anger flare up in her once again.
Sure enough, the camera moved to focus on the second speaker. Sephiroth. Who…looked none too pleased to being recorded, though he didn’t actually seem to be doing anything about it other than glaring.
“Zachary, I do decide what assignments you go on. Do not make me send you north. Again.”
Another quick move of the camera, and it looked at the mirror, foggy with steam. A hand reached out and wiped away the fog, revealing spiky black hair, a cheerful grin, and bright violet eyes. “Hear that, babe? Seph wants to keep you and Spike all to himself. I’m not sure if that’s fair, you know? I started dating all you guys first.”
A wadded up towel smacked him in the side of the head, and he cheerfully yelped and fended off a few other rolled up items. Then he moved to focus the camera on Sephiroth and Cloud again, and she could feel things go tense as she realized that Cloud was sitting on Sephiroth’s lap, looking calm to be there, and allowing the man to spread shaving foam on his face.
Sephiroth…looked very young without the jacket and armor he always wore, clad in just his pants and bare foot. Very young and very wrong. It just didn’t mesh with her idea of the man at all.
Still, she watched as Sephiroth continued to carefully smooth the stuff on Cloud’s face, looking very intent, so much so that she shivered again. But on the recording, Cloud was making faces at the man, cheered on by Zack. He also looked very comfortable, straddling Sephiroth’s lap, and Tifa almost found herself wondering….
Her brain refused to process that idea, though, and she shut down that line of thought and simply focused on watching the video.
It didn’t take Sephiroth long to get the foam as he liked it, dabbing a bit on the end of Cloud’s nose after some face or another. Once it was settled, he reached and found a straight razor. That almost caused a flinch, but obviously nothing bad had happened to Cloud then, as he was still around today, so she continued to watch.
With an intensity of focus that she had never seen in any of their fights, Tifa watched as Sephiroth shaved Cloud’s face, removing almost invisible stubble with sure, careful swipes of sharp steel. And Cloud…sitting there, absolute trust on his face, no fear at all, not even when Sephiroth was working along the line of his throat.
This…no matter what she had expected, this was not it, and Tifa watched, entranced.
///
He had been able to get everything settled on the ship a lot faster than he had expected, which was good. Cid liked having people who were competent on his crew, and he trusted them to do their job. So, collecting tall, pasty, and cloaked, he headed for the bar. Maybe if they were lucky, Tifa would let them have a beer for a ‘welcome to the party, glad you got Vincent to come’ reward.
When they got there, though, the place was quiet, and when he and Vincent walked in, they found Tifa fixated on whatever she was watching. Cid was about to say something when he heard a familiar voice.
What the hell could that girl be watching with Sephiroth’s voice on it?
Not content to wonder and not find out, he stalked right over, and wasn’t sure if he liked the fact that Tifa was completely ignoring him or not. But she was, and he leaned over her shoulder to watch the screen.
It took a few minutes for his mind to process what it was he was seeing.
“Is that…. With who I think…. What the hell is going on?”
Tifa jumped, and Cid mentally thanked Vincent for yanking him back from the girl’s fists. Cid could hold his own against anything she or the blond brat could toss at him, but he’d like a chance to have a weapon at hand. The idea of a broken nose didn’t appeal to him, either. That had happened enough times in his life that he really didn’t want to repeat it.
“Hey, HEY!” he growled out sharply, defending himself once he had the room to do it, giving a small nod of thanks to Vincent. “Calm down. What the hell are you watching that’s got you so jumpy?” He leaned a bit and looked over Tifa’s shoulder.
For a moment, Tifa shifted, as if she was going to get in Cid’s way, hand drifting towards the player’s controls. Then she paused, attention caught by the sound of laughter. Carefree laughter.
Cid was staring at the screen, eyes wide as he saw Sephiroth, of all people, making a younger version of Cloud laugh by doing something to his throat. “Is he…chewing on him?” Cid couldn’t help but ask eyes slightly wide.
It certainly looked like it to him. There were bits of white here and there on Cloud’s face, but his head was tilted back and he was laughing as Sephiroth, face hidden by his hair and by Cloud, apparently gnawed on his throat.
“Hey you two,” came an unfamiliar voice, “if you keep this up, I won’t feel like sharing it with Aeris. Well, maybe I will, but I’ll be bringing it home with me instead of leaving it with her.” It was a cheerful voice, but what caught Cid’s attention most was the mention of Aeris’s name.
“Zack,” Cloud growled, tossing what looked like a shirt at the one holding the camera, “shut up.”
There was laughter, and the camera swung around to a mirror that was wiped off hastily, for what looked like the second time, and a face Cid had never seen before smiled back out of it. “Looks like I got some interesting things to take care of here, babe. We’ll see you later today. Love ya, see you then.”
Then the screen went fuzzy, just for a moment, as if it had been turned off, and Tifa was quick to pause it. Behind him, Vincent was silent, and so Cid asked the only question he could. “What,” he said calmly, “is that?”
A moment of quiet, then Tifa pointed at the box on the table. “Elmyra stopped by a bit ago. She…said she had finally sorted through Aeris’s things, and that these were things that we should watch. See what was lost, I think. I…didn’t know Cloud had known Sephiroth like that. Or that he had known Aeris at all.” She looked a bit shaky, not that Cid could blame her. The idea that blond and mopey had apparently been knocking boots with Sephiroth at one point was a bit much to take in.
Cid, after a moment, nodded. “So she left the stuff here. For us to watch?” He doubted Tifa had just been snooping, but the idea of learning things that had happened before would be a tempting one. And he was just as curious, but he wanted to make sure that they weren’t going to be breaking anymore trust than they were already.
Nodding, Tifa sighed and looked at it again. “She already said the stuff we shouldn’t see was boxed separate, and I already moved it to Cloud’s rooms, so no temptation there. These were things she almost blatantly said “watch it and figure things out”. Only in Elmyra, kinda motherly terms.” She suddenly eyed Cid. “Do mothers have some type of superpowers? Just out of curiosity.”
The man blinked at her. “Why are you asking me?” he said finally, ignoring the slight, almost cough of amusement coming from Vincent. “Shut it, Vincent. You’re the oldest of us, you should know if anyone does.”
The man just irritated him by looking at him calmly with that “I am more mysterious than you” expression on his face. Goddamn Turk. Ex-Turk. Whatever the fuck he was. Muttering, Cid reached out and grabbed a chair, settling it next to Tifa even as he reached over and pushed the play button once again.
“If we’re going to do this, “he muttered, “can we at least get some beer? I think we’re going to need it.”
///
After Tifa had paused the player again, even before it had really started back up, and collected drinks for all of them, Vincent had moved to stand behind the other two. He didn’t feel like sitting just yet, and was feeling slightly off about watching something as private as this. It wasn’t that he didn’t know they shouldn’t, but the chance to see more of Sephiroth’s life before everything had gone wrong intrigued him and he couldn’t help but want to see it. Hypocritical of him, given his own reluctance to share details of his past, but he did wonder what it had been like. And it seemed that this might explain some of Cloud and Sephiroth’s obsessions with each other. Even when the first battles had happened, there had been a tie that was more than the Jenova, and now they had some idea as to what.
Sephiroth and Cloud had been lovers at some point, apparently. Possibly with Aeris as well, if the one called Zack spoke the truth. It sounded so odd, and he was trying to wrap his mind around the idea, even as Tifa and Cid were doing the same.
Once the drinks were handed out, Tifa had settled again, and turned the video back on. Another few moments of fuzz, then the screen lit back up, displaying Sephiroth, Cloud, and the one he thought was Zack. It was easy to see the relaxed nature of their posture, and Vincent was not surprised to see flowers in the background. The church was their location, it appeared.
“There you go, Aeris,” Cloud said, currently holding Zack in a headlock. “I thought this idiot was never going to give it to you. He’s been playing with it all morning, so who knows what else he’s recorded.” His words were cut off when Zack started to poke him in the side and it quickly degraded into a one-sided wrestling match, though Cloud did try his hardest.
It wasn’t hard to see that Cloud was not yet enhanced, his eyes bright, but not Mako bright, while Sephiroth and Zack both had the glow that said they were SOLDIERs. Sephiroth was watched the pair next to him with a small smile on his face, nudging them with this foot when they rolled too close to him and it didn’t take long for the pair to separate to leap at him.
As the two on one match started, it wasn’t hard to hear the female giggling that Vincent recognized as Aeris. It was strange to hear her recorded voice after all this time. He had not known her as long as he would have liked before she had died, but she was such a distinct person that he couldn’t help but recognize her for her.
The camera lifted and padded over to a pew near the three men, and Aeris started speaking. “And as you can see here, the sparkly kitty is playing teasingly with the roof-crasher and the chocobo-hair. The sparkly kitty will be irked later at the mussing of his hair, but it’s a pile of pretty boys wrestling around, so we’ll deal with it so that I can enjoy the pretty.”
“Notta chocobo,” came a muffled yelp, and Zack just laughed and turned on Cloud as well as Sephiroth, ruffling the blond’s hair.
“We know, Spike, but you’re all chocobo fluffy. And sparkly kitty. Aeris, I love it.”
The other two men, without a word exchanged, both ganged up on Zack, and the dark haired man gave a laughing yell as he suddenly ended up on the bottom of the pile. “Hey, get her, she’s the one who called you that,” he protested, trying to give as good as he was getting.
“Yes,” Sephiroth said, voice actually sounding amused, and it wasn’t the smug amusement that Vincent was used to hearing. It was genuine happiness. “However, she is not the one who I know will continue to use it every day simply to attempt to agitate me.”
“You need more friendly poking, Seph. At least the kind we can do in the office.” There was an amused sound. “Unless we’re going to start having office sex, which is fine by me. I encourage it, actually.” The leer was clear in his voice, and Vincent shook his head. Somehow, he just could not picture someone as cheerful and lighthearted as that man sounded with Sephiroth.
Though he did not expect Cloud to have been with him before, either.
Something he doubted Cloud remembered, though it did make a few things clearer. And Vincent wondered if it would be the best thing to remind the younger man of what he had lost. Loss of that nature was always hard to deal with. All three of his apparent lovers dead, one repeatedly by his own hand. It would be a hard thing to accept and deal with.
It seemed like fate was not going to let things lie anymore, though, and so it had moved to bring Cloud back part of his past. Vincent remembered talking with the other man, where he mentioned, almost off handedly, that he really was missing a chunk of time. He remembered the burning of his town, he remembered the last time he had been there before that. But most of the time in the Shinra military and the time in the labs were gone. It was better left forgotten, Vincent supposed, but here was a chance to remember that he had been cared for.
Even if it was by a madman and the dead.
He watched as Sephiroth leaned down and simply kissed the man, and then he watched as both Tifa and Cid twitched a bit in reaction. He did not think it was the fact they were both male, at least not from Cid’s perspective, but there was something odd about seeing the insane man they were used to fighting acting so…human.
Sephiroth and Zack were both rather focused on each other, so Cloud wiggled free from the pile and padded over to where Aeris was holding the camera, and there was a bit of shifting. After a moment, it stilled, and the angle was from a slightly higher point of view. Vincent assumed she had ended up on Cloud’s lap, as it was not tall enough for her to be standing, yet still higher than she had started out at.
The giggles and protests of “Not my ear,” seemed to help with that theory.
“Why don’t you stop the camera for a bit,” Cloud suggested cheerfully. “You can record them having sex later. It is your birthday. Shouldn’t let them have all the fun, now should we?” The suggestion in his voice was just as obvious as the leer had been in Zack’s earlier, and Aeris giggled again. After a moment, the camera went fuzzy again.
This time Tifa was faster at hitting the pause button.
“I think,” she said calmly, standing. “We’re going to need a lot more alcohol than just a beer.”
///
The small group continued to grow. Next was Barrett and he managed to show up with Yuffie, Cait, and Nanaki. Reeve, given what he was getting from Cait, showed up not long after. He found all of them gathered around the player, though at least Vincent and Nanaki looked at him. Both of them wore a slightly unsure expression. Well, as unsure as either of them would show. Damn them and their ability to hide their thoughts. It was only through sheer exposure that he got that much from them.
“What…?” he started, and then fell silent and simply moved closer. It was easier to just see what it was they were watching rather than try to get questions answered from the fascinated crowd.
Looking over Yuffie’s shoulder, the girl absolutely wide eyed as she watched the screen, he paused and blinked. After a moment, he rubbed his eyes, and focused again. That could not be what he through it was.
“Elmyra apparently brought them over,” Vincent said softly, face blank again. “She thought it would do everyone good to see what had been lost.” He paused. “I am not sure if this is the best way to go about it, but I think that they would object if I attempted to end it. Though it is something odd to see, someone we have fought so often acting so…innocent.”
Innocent. That was a good word for it. Reeve watched the screen a moment, still a bit stunned at what he saw. Sephiroth stretched out on grass, shirtless, laying on his jacket instead of wearing it. Using his stomach for a pillow was Aeris, and using her stomach for the same purpose was Cloud. What was this?
“You guys are just too lazy, you know?” Reeve…recognized that voice.
“Zack?” he asked, shocked. Several sets of eyes moved to settle on him. “I knew him,” he explained without having to be asked. “He was Sephiroth’s SiC, and most of us had to deal with him often. He was the one we all liked, as he was much less likely to stab you if you got on his bad side.”
“Shh,” Yuffie said, watching the screen intensely, drawing the others’ attention back to it.
Cloud was flipping the camera person off, as Aeris played with his hair. Sephiroth simply smirked at the camera. “I am surprised you have so much energy,” he said simply, but something in his tone made Reeve almost want to squirm. Sephiroth wasn’t supposed to sound like that. It just seemed wrong somehow to hear that kind of…desire in his voice. The man was a cold-blooded killing machine, and was raised to be that way by Shinra and Hojo.
To see that kind of humanity on his face made Reeve wonder what else the great General Sephiroth had hidden from the world.
“Hey, Cloud, what are you doing?”
Denzel’s words caught everyone’s attention, and they jerked as a whole.
In the doorway, far, far paler than normal, was Cloud.
Oh, this wasn’t going to be good, Reeve could just feel it in his bones.
///
He stared at the screen, not really seeing anyone else. Just staring as things that he had forgotten started to click into place.
He had forgotten them.
How could he have forgotten them? What kind of horrible person was he to forget the three people he had cared so much for?
And he kept killing Sephiroth. Though at least he had reason for that, but suddenly remembering more made it hurt. Well, it had always hurt in a way to kill the man, but now it was explained and compounded.
He wasn’t sure if he could breathe.
“Cloud?”
A voice, one he recognized, and he looked up, eyes wide, at Tifa. It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion, and he couldn’t make it make sense.
“Cloud,” she said again, standing and moving almost tentatively towards the man. “Elmyra brought these over. She had other things, but there’s a box in your office she said was private.”
Private. Privateprivateprivate. “This was private, too,” he rasped out, throat tight, the words almost hurting. He waved at the screen. “Aeris’s seventeen birthday. We…we had a party. She wanted one, with all three of us there with her. Gods, we were so young. Young and stupid and now it’s….
“It was ours. Our private time. Seph never got enough of it.” Things were clicking into place faster and faster as he spoke, and he couldn’t breathe, and it just kept getting harder and harder. He took a deep breathe, feeling his hands shake. “Not him, not Zack. Aeris had to hide from Shinra, though they knew she was there. Had to hide us even more. If they had known she had contact with Seph….”
His chest burned and he couldn’t focus. Everything was almost spinning as things he had forgotten, that he had wanted to forget, forced their way back into place.
Gone. They were all gone.
The smile he had had for Aeris just a few days ago seemed hollow and false, and he couldn’t stand it anymore. Turning, he fled.
The church.
Ignoring the burning of his eyes, he ignored Tifa’s call to wait as he took off.
This was too much. All of it.
Why would anyone want to be reminded that the ones they loved were dead?
Wanting to break something, Cloud just ran instead.
Later, he would deal with the others.
For now, he had to mourn for people he had lost once, and now was losing all over again.
Author: GW Katrina aka
icedark_elfBeta:
forgottenlover, any mistakes are my own.Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters/Pairing: Cast, Cloud/Aeris/Sephiroth/Zack
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 5,332
Warning: Angst, and it's been dubbed the wibble fic.
A/N: This is for
artimusdin for her pretty femmeRoth, which I'm getting in color once I post this. And a mercverseCloud pic as well.Look at the first comment to this to see the shiny that is the colored femmeRoth picture.
Yeah, my playlist for writing this was the following:
Angels-Within Temptation
One Winged Angel-Advent Children OST
Underground Army-Anastacia
Cloud Smiles-Advent Children OST
Aeris no Theme-Advent Children OST
Excuse me why I go hide away from the wibbling muses now.
Forgotten Times
Elmyra sighed as she watched Cloud speed away again. It had taken so long for him to make that first visit, to let her know that her daughter wasn’t coming home again. Though she had already known that. Had known it since the dream, where Aeris had apologized and hoped she’d stay happy. She had wanted it to just be a dream, a mother’s overactive imagination, but the look on Marlene’s face the next morning had made that a fragile hope.
Then Cloud had come by, with the others, Barrett to collect his daughter, the others most likely for support and to give their own apologies.
It hadn’t even taken not spotting Aeris to know that the dream had been real. All she had had to do was to look at the boy’s face, to see the apology there that he had stumbled over saying. He hadn’t been able to bring her baby home, and it was killing him.
She had hugged him. It surprised him, and that saddened her. He seemed so skittish around touch, and that made her wonder if Aeris had perhaps had the right idea in the beginning.
It was a day still fresh in her mind. Aeris had come home, crying, and simply clung to her. Something she hadn’t done for a while. When Elmyra finally got the information from her, it had made her cold to realize that one of her daughter’s boyfriends had returned, only… he had not remembered her. So Aeris planned to help him remember, but not force it.
Never fond of them anyway, all three being Shinra dogs and the gods only knew what Shinra wanted to do to her daughter, but Elmyra was sure that Cloud’s lack of memory hadn’t been right. The night he walked Aeris home, he hadn’t recognized her either. Unsure how these men kept falling into Aeris’s life, she did her best to steer him away. He wore Shinra’s mark and his eyes glowed. That was enough for her to fear what he would do.
And then he took her daughter away. Away to die.
That was how she had felt. For a while, at least. Until she had seen his face, seen the hurt, and she wondered if he had really forgotten everything after all. Or if something told him that something was so very, very wrong.
He was the last of the four, and she thought it was better for everyone if he didn’t remember.
So she never said anything, though he did stop by on a semi-regular basis. If the calls from Marlene were to be believed, she saw the boy more than Tifa and the children did. That wasn’t right. He was earning a living, true, but for all that they weren’t in any type of permanent arrangement, those four were a family, and they needed him.
Maybe it was time for all of them to move on.
Moving into the small spare room she had, where she would make Cloud stay the night if it was late and she could convince him to do so, she walked to the closet. Pulling it open, she felt her chest tighten.
They hadn’t had much, not really. But what they had was theirs.
Pulling out the first box, Elmyra settled down and started to go through her daughter’s things. Time for the past to be let go.
It would be her last gift to her baby.
It had been a surprise for Tifa when Elmyra had shown up on her doorstep early one morning. When she had heard the soft knocking, she had almost assumed it was someone who was waiting for the bar to open. But they were usually much louder than that, so she had gone to check. It had been such a shock to see her there that Tifa had stared for a minute before inviting her in.
Marlene still visited Elmyra often, Denzel going with her most of the time. She didn’t live far, but it was outside of Edge, and definitely away from Midgar’s remains. Tifa had always assumed it hurt to go back to the place where the woman had lived with her daughter. Not that Tifa blamed her. It still hurt to go to the church at times, though now she knew that was where she could still find Cloud most of the time.
But Elmyra was here now, and holding a box. “Oh, Tifa,” she said calmly, with a smile on her face. “I’m so happy I caught you. Tell me, are the children around?” As she asked, she stepped in, passing the box to Tifa. “Hadn’t realized how heavy that was going to get.”
It was surprisingly heavy, but nothing that Tifa couldn’t handle easily. “They’re out playing with some of their friends,” she said, following Elmyra to a table, where the older woman sat with a sigh.
“I…finally sorted through Aeris’s things. Some of them were better given to the rightful owners than me keeping them for reminders of my daughter.” Her voice was quiet and tired. Tifa felt her chest tighten again, even though she knew for a fact that Aeris was watching.
Tifa glanced at the box, wondering what could be in it and who it was going to go to. But she didn’t ask. Instead she offered an invitation.
“The group is getting together today,” she said, looking at Elmyra. “Since everyone was in town for the situation just a few days ago, we arranged a reunion. Even Reeve is going to stop by. Would you like to join us? I’m sure the others would love to see you. Especially Barrett. You know you’re a favorite of his for taking care of Marlene when everything was happening.”
Elmyra smiled. “No, no, thank you, though. I just wanted to stop by and deliver the box. I thought it might do you all some good. A reminder of the past, and maybe it would help everyone move on.”
Tifa looked at the box again. “What’s inside?” she asked, curious. “Who’s it for?”
A small pat on the top, and Elmyra smiled softly. “Mostly for Cloud, but…I think it would do everyone good to at least see some of the things. I’d say leave the smaller box in here alone.” There was an odd tone to the woman’s voice, and Tifa was sure that Elmyra was blushing.
“Elmyra?”
She shook her head. “Yes, the smaller box is most definitely Cloud’s. If he chooses to share with you, that is his business. But the rest of the box…. There are photos and video discs. I’m sure you can play them, and I’ve already watched them. It will explain a lot about your friend, Tifa. And I think that it would be best for him, and the rest of you, to understand things better than you do now.”
Tifa was beyond confused. “Elmyra…?”
She found herself pinned by the woman’s eyes. Tifa was tough, and a better fighter than most people she knew, but even she couldn’t escape the whole “freeze” reaction when the mother-glare was turned on her.
“I know Cloud lost a lot of things during that time he was gone,” Elmyra said softly. “A lot. And I want to give you all a chance to learn more about how it was like before.” She stood, and brushed a lock of hair out of Tifa’s face. “It will be all right, dear, but I think everyone needs to realize how much was lost.”
While Tifa was still trying to form words, Elmyra nodded at her and walked for the door. “I’ll stop by and visit soon, if that will be all right. I would like a chance to catch up with the children. Before I do, I’ll give you a call.”
Then she was gone. Tifa decided it was some type of motherly superpower and stared at the door, gaping.
After a few minutes, she sat there and looked at the box, contemplating it. What could Elmyra have been talking about? The way she had spoke it…it sounded like she had known Cloud before. That didn’t make any sense, though. If Cloud had known Elmyra and Aeris from before, wouldn’t he have said something?
Oh, she had forgotten who she was talking about for a moment. She knew that Cloud had blank spots at times, though he and she both did their best to pretend they didn’t exist.
Well, she supposed there was only one way to find out what her guest had been talking about. Reaching for the box, she worked at opening it.
She saw the smaller box right away, and the first thing she did was pick it up and took it upstairs to Cloud’s office. No point in leaving it there for someone else to snoop through. Elmyra had said it was for Cloud, and so she would make sure that Cloud was the only one who got to see it. She knew most of who was expected to show up today, but knowing the Turks, she half expected at least Reno and Rude to poke their noses into the party. And if they did, she didn’t want to leave the box around for them to poke at if it was as private as it was implied to be.
With that done, Tifa returned downstairs. There was a small player downstairs, she kept it under the bar just in case. Not so many signals going out anymore, but it was nice to be able to pull it out and play things on it for the kids, or for the occasional private party.
It only took a few minutes to set up, and then she looked in the box again. Photo album or discs first?
Grabbing a disc, she sat down by the player and slid the disc into place. Watching as the player started up, she nodded. Now, time to see what all of this was about.
The view was wobbly and a bit blurry, as if someone was moving it.
“Zack, don’t record this. It’s stupid.” Familiar voice, though a lot younger than it was now.
The view cleared, and Cloud came into focus on the screen, looking young and a bit scraggly. He was also glaring at the camera holder like he was plotting how to shove it someplace it would hurt. “I still don’t get why you guys are so obsessed.”
“Cause we can’t grow it. And Aeris hasn’t ever gotten a chance to see this little quirk of Seph’s, so it’s part of the birthday present.” The voice of the one holding the camera said male, also young, and also familiar. It took a long moment for Tifa to realize that it was the other SOLDIER, what was his name?
Zack?
“Zack….” Oh, it seemed she was right.
“Cloud, stop letting him distract you. The sooner we do this, the sooner he will take that device out of our faces.”
Another familiar voice and Tifa had to fight down the urge to shiver. Hopefully, one day, her reaction wouldn’t be so bad, but right now, the sound of that man was enough to make anger flare up in her once again.
Sure enough, the camera moved to focus on the second speaker. Sephiroth. Who…looked none too pleased to being recorded, though he didn’t actually seem to be doing anything about it other than glaring.
“Zachary, I do decide what assignments you go on. Do not make me send you north. Again.”
Another quick move of the camera, and it looked at the mirror, foggy with steam. A hand reached out and wiped away the fog, revealing spiky black hair, a cheerful grin, and bright violet eyes. “Hear that, babe? Seph wants to keep you and Spike all to himself. I’m not sure if that’s fair, you know? I started dating all you guys first.”
A wadded up towel smacked him in the side of the head, and he cheerfully yelped and fended off a few other rolled up items. Then he moved to focus the camera on Sephiroth and Cloud again, and she could feel things go tense as she realized that Cloud was sitting on Sephiroth’s lap, looking calm to be there, and allowing the man to spread shaving foam on his face.
Sephiroth…looked very young without the jacket and armor he always wore, clad in just his pants and bare foot. Very young and very wrong. It just didn’t mesh with her idea of the man at all.
Still, she watched as Sephiroth continued to carefully smooth the stuff on Cloud’s face, looking very intent, so much so that she shivered again. But on the recording, Cloud was making faces at the man, cheered on by Zack. He also looked very comfortable, straddling Sephiroth’s lap, and Tifa almost found herself wondering….
Her brain refused to process that idea, though, and she shut down that line of thought and simply focused on watching the video.
It didn’t take Sephiroth long to get the foam as he liked it, dabbing a bit on the end of Cloud’s nose after some face or another. Once it was settled, he reached and found a straight razor. That almost caused a flinch, but obviously nothing bad had happened to Cloud then, as he was still around today, so she continued to watch.
With an intensity of focus that she had never seen in any of their fights, Tifa watched as Sephiroth shaved Cloud’s face, removing almost invisible stubble with sure, careful swipes of sharp steel. And Cloud…sitting there, absolute trust on his face, no fear at all, not even when Sephiroth was working along the line of his throat.
This…no matter what she had expected, this was not it, and Tifa watched, entranced.
He had been able to get everything settled on the ship a lot faster than he had expected, which was good. Cid liked having people who were competent on his crew, and he trusted them to do their job. So, collecting tall, pasty, and cloaked, he headed for the bar. Maybe if they were lucky, Tifa would let them have a beer for a ‘welcome to the party, glad you got Vincent to come’ reward.
When they got there, though, the place was quiet, and when he and Vincent walked in, they found Tifa fixated on whatever she was watching. Cid was about to say something when he heard a familiar voice.
What the hell could that girl be watching with Sephiroth’s voice on it?
Not content to wonder and not find out, he stalked right over, and wasn’t sure if he liked the fact that Tifa was completely ignoring him or not. But she was, and he leaned over her shoulder to watch the screen.
It took a few minutes for his mind to process what it was he was seeing.
“Is that…. With who I think…. What the hell is going on?”
Tifa jumped, and Cid mentally thanked Vincent for yanking him back from the girl’s fists. Cid could hold his own against anything she or the blond brat could toss at him, but he’d like a chance to have a weapon at hand. The idea of a broken nose didn’t appeal to him, either. That had happened enough times in his life that he really didn’t want to repeat it.
“Hey, HEY!” he growled out sharply, defending himself once he had the room to do it, giving a small nod of thanks to Vincent. “Calm down. What the hell are you watching that’s got you so jumpy?” He leaned a bit and looked over Tifa’s shoulder.
For a moment, Tifa shifted, as if she was going to get in Cid’s way, hand drifting towards the player’s controls. Then she paused, attention caught by the sound of laughter. Carefree laughter.
Cid was staring at the screen, eyes wide as he saw Sephiroth, of all people, making a younger version of Cloud laugh by doing something to his throat. “Is he…chewing on him?” Cid couldn’t help but ask eyes slightly wide.
It certainly looked like it to him. There were bits of white here and there on Cloud’s face, but his head was tilted back and he was laughing as Sephiroth, face hidden by his hair and by Cloud, apparently gnawed on his throat.
“Hey you two,” came an unfamiliar voice, “if you keep this up, I won’t feel like sharing it with Aeris. Well, maybe I will, but I’ll be bringing it home with me instead of leaving it with her.” It was a cheerful voice, but what caught Cid’s attention most was the mention of Aeris’s name.
“Zack,” Cloud growled, tossing what looked like a shirt at the one holding the camera, “shut up.”
There was laughter, and the camera swung around to a mirror that was wiped off hastily, for what looked like the second time, and a face Cid had never seen before smiled back out of it. “Looks like I got some interesting things to take care of here, babe. We’ll see you later today. Love ya, see you then.”
Then the screen went fuzzy, just for a moment, as if it had been turned off, and Tifa was quick to pause it. Behind him, Vincent was silent, and so Cid asked the only question he could. “What,” he said calmly, “is that?”
A moment of quiet, then Tifa pointed at the box on the table. “Elmyra stopped by a bit ago. She…said she had finally sorted through Aeris’s things, and that these were things that we should watch. See what was lost, I think. I…didn’t know Cloud had known Sephiroth like that. Or that he had known Aeris at all.” She looked a bit shaky, not that Cid could blame her. The idea that blond and mopey had apparently been knocking boots with Sephiroth at one point was a bit much to take in.
Cid, after a moment, nodded. “So she left the stuff here. For us to watch?” He doubted Tifa had just been snooping, but the idea of learning things that had happened before would be a tempting one. And he was just as curious, but he wanted to make sure that they weren’t going to be breaking anymore trust than they were already.
Nodding, Tifa sighed and looked at it again. “She already said the stuff we shouldn’t see was boxed separate, and I already moved it to Cloud’s rooms, so no temptation there. These were things she almost blatantly said “watch it and figure things out”. Only in Elmyra, kinda motherly terms.” She suddenly eyed Cid. “Do mothers have some type of superpowers? Just out of curiosity.”
The man blinked at her. “Why are you asking me?” he said finally, ignoring the slight, almost cough of amusement coming from Vincent. “Shut it, Vincent. You’re the oldest of us, you should know if anyone does.”
The man just irritated him by looking at him calmly with that “I am more mysterious than you” expression on his face. Goddamn Turk. Ex-Turk. Whatever the fuck he was. Muttering, Cid reached out and grabbed a chair, settling it next to Tifa even as he reached over and pushed the play button once again.
“If we’re going to do this, “he muttered, “can we at least get some beer? I think we’re going to need it.”
After Tifa had paused the player again, even before it had really started back up, and collected drinks for all of them, Vincent had moved to stand behind the other two. He didn’t feel like sitting just yet, and was feeling slightly off about watching something as private as this. It wasn’t that he didn’t know they shouldn’t, but the chance to see more of Sephiroth’s life before everything had gone wrong intrigued him and he couldn’t help but want to see it. Hypocritical of him, given his own reluctance to share details of his past, but he did wonder what it had been like. And it seemed that this might explain some of Cloud and Sephiroth’s obsessions with each other. Even when the first battles had happened, there had been a tie that was more than the Jenova, and now they had some idea as to what.
Sephiroth and Cloud had been lovers at some point, apparently. Possibly with Aeris as well, if the one called Zack spoke the truth. It sounded so odd, and he was trying to wrap his mind around the idea, even as Tifa and Cid were doing the same.
Once the drinks were handed out, Tifa had settled again, and turned the video back on. Another few moments of fuzz, then the screen lit back up, displaying Sephiroth, Cloud, and the one he thought was Zack. It was easy to see the relaxed nature of their posture, and Vincent was not surprised to see flowers in the background. The church was their location, it appeared.
“There you go, Aeris,” Cloud said, currently holding Zack in a headlock. “I thought this idiot was never going to give it to you. He’s been playing with it all morning, so who knows what else he’s recorded.” His words were cut off when Zack started to poke him in the side and it quickly degraded into a one-sided wrestling match, though Cloud did try his hardest.
It wasn’t hard to see that Cloud was not yet enhanced, his eyes bright, but not Mako bright, while Sephiroth and Zack both had the glow that said they were SOLDIERs. Sephiroth was watched the pair next to him with a small smile on his face, nudging them with this foot when they rolled too close to him and it didn’t take long for the pair to separate to leap at him.
As the two on one match started, it wasn’t hard to hear the female giggling that Vincent recognized as Aeris. It was strange to hear her recorded voice after all this time. He had not known her as long as he would have liked before she had died, but she was such a distinct person that he couldn’t help but recognize her for her.
The camera lifted and padded over to a pew near the three men, and Aeris started speaking. “And as you can see here, the sparkly kitty is playing teasingly with the roof-crasher and the chocobo-hair. The sparkly kitty will be irked later at the mussing of his hair, but it’s a pile of pretty boys wrestling around, so we’ll deal with it so that I can enjoy the pretty.”
“Notta chocobo,” came a muffled yelp, and Zack just laughed and turned on Cloud as well as Sephiroth, ruffling the blond’s hair.
“We know, Spike, but you’re all chocobo fluffy. And sparkly kitty. Aeris, I love it.”
The other two men, without a word exchanged, both ganged up on Zack, and the dark haired man gave a laughing yell as he suddenly ended up on the bottom of the pile. “Hey, get her, she’s the one who called you that,” he protested, trying to give as good as he was getting.
“Yes,” Sephiroth said, voice actually sounding amused, and it wasn’t the smug amusement that Vincent was used to hearing. It was genuine happiness. “However, she is not the one who I know will continue to use it every day simply to attempt to agitate me.”
“You need more friendly poking, Seph. At least the kind we can do in the office.” There was an amused sound. “Unless we’re going to start having office sex, which is fine by me. I encourage it, actually.” The leer was clear in his voice, and Vincent shook his head. Somehow, he just could not picture someone as cheerful and lighthearted as that man sounded with Sephiroth.
Though he did not expect Cloud to have been with him before, either.
Something he doubted Cloud remembered, though it did make a few things clearer. And Vincent wondered if it would be the best thing to remind the younger man of what he had lost. Loss of that nature was always hard to deal with. All three of his apparent lovers dead, one repeatedly by his own hand. It would be a hard thing to accept and deal with.
It seemed like fate was not going to let things lie anymore, though, and so it had moved to bring Cloud back part of his past. Vincent remembered talking with the other man, where he mentioned, almost off handedly, that he really was missing a chunk of time. He remembered the burning of his town, he remembered the last time he had been there before that. But most of the time in the Shinra military and the time in the labs were gone. It was better left forgotten, Vincent supposed, but here was a chance to remember that he had been cared for.
Even if it was by a madman and the dead.
He watched as Sephiroth leaned down and simply kissed the man, and then he watched as both Tifa and Cid twitched a bit in reaction. He did not think it was the fact they were both male, at least not from Cid’s perspective, but there was something odd about seeing the insane man they were used to fighting acting so…human.
Sephiroth and Zack were both rather focused on each other, so Cloud wiggled free from the pile and padded over to where Aeris was holding the camera, and there was a bit of shifting. After a moment, it stilled, and the angle was from a slightly higher point of view. Vincent assumed she had ended up on Cloud’s lap, as it was not tall enough for her to be standing, yet still higher than she had started out at.
The giggles and protests of “Not my ear,” seemed to help with that theory.
“Why don’t you stop the camera for a bit,” Cloud suggested cheerfully. “You can record them having sex later. It is your birthday. Shouldn’t let them have all the fun, now should we?” The suggestion in his voice was just as obvious as the leer had been in Zack’s earlier, and Aeris giggled again. After a moment, the camera went fuzzy again.
This time Tifa was faster at hitting the pause button.
“I think,” she said calmly, standing. “We’re going to need a lot more alcohol than just a beer.”
The small group continued to grow. Next was Barrett and he managed to show up with Yuffie, Cait, and Nanaki. Reeve, given what he was getting from Cait, showed up not long after. He found all of them gathered around the player, though at least Vincent and Nanaki looked at him. Both of them wore a slightly unsure expression. Well, as unsure as either of them would show. Damn them and their ability to hide their thoughts. It was only through sheer exposure that he got that much from them.
“What…?” he started, and then fell silent and simply moved closer. It was easier to just see what it was they were watching rather than try to get questions answered from the fascinated crowd.
Looking over Yuffie’s shoulder, the girl absolutely wide eyed as she watched the screen, he paused and blinked. After a moment, he rubbed his eyes, and focused again. That could not be what he through it was.
“Elmyra apparently brought them over,” Vincent said softly, face blank again. “She thought it would do everyone good to see what had been lost.” He paused. “I am not sure if this is the best way to go about it, but I think that they would object if I attempted to end it. Though it is something odd to see, someone we have fought so often acting so…innocent.”
Innocent. That was a good word for it. Reeve watched the screen a moment, still a bit stunned at what he saw. Sephiroth stretched out on grass, shirtless, laying on his jacket instead of wearing it. Using his stomach for a pillow was Aeris, and using her stomach for the same purpose was Cloud. What was this?
“You guys are just too lazy, you know?” Reeve…recognized that voice.
“Zack?” he asked, shocked. Several sets of eyes moved to settle on him. “I knew him,” he explained without having to be asked. “He was Sephiroth’s SiC, and most of us had to deal with him often. He was the one we all liked, as he was much less likely to stab you if you got on his bad side.”
“Shh,” Yuffie said, watching the screen intensely, drawing the others’ attention back to it.
Cloud was flipping the camera person off, as Aeris played with his hair. Sephiroth simply smirked at the camera. “I am surprised you have so much energy,” he said simply, but something in his tone made Reeve almost want to squirm. Sephiroth wasn’t supposed to sound like that. It just seemed wrong somehow to hear that kind of…desire in his voice. The man was a cold-blooded killing machine, and was raised to be that way by Shinra and Hojo.
To see that kind of humanity on his face made Reeve wonder what else the great General Sephiroth had hidden from the world.
“Hey, Cloud, what are you doing?”
Denzel’s words caught everyone’s attention, and they jerked as a whole.
In the doorway, far, far paler than normal, was Cloud.
Oh, this wasn’t going to be good, Reeve could just feel it in his bones.
He stared at the screen, not really seeing anyone else. Just staring as things that he had forgotten started to click into place.
He had forgotten them.
How could he have forgotten them? What kind of horrible person was he to forget the three people he had cared so much for?
And he kept killing Sephiroth. Though at least he had reason for that, but suddenly remembering more made it hurt. Well, it had always hurt in a way to kill the man, but now it was explained and compounded.
He wasn’t sure if he could breathe.
“Cloud?”
A voice, one he recognized, and he looked up, eyes wide, at Tifa. It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion, and he couldn’t make it make sense.
“Cloud,” she said again, standing and moving almost tentatively towards the man. “Elmyra brought these over. She had other things, but there’s a box in your office she said was private.”
Private. Privateprivateprivate. “This was private, too,” he rasped out, throat tight, the words almost hurting. He waved at the screen. “Aeris’s seventeen birthday. We…we had a party. She wanted one, with all three of us there with her. Gods, we were so young. Young and stupid and now it’s….
“It was ours. Our private time. Seph never got enough of it.” Things were clicking into place faster and faster as he spoke, and he couldn’t breathe, and it just kept getting harder and harder. He took a deep breathe, feeling his hands shake. “Not him, not Zack. Aeris had to hide from Shinra, though they knew she was there. Had to hide us even more. If they had known she had contact with Seph….”
His chest burned and he couldn’t focus. Everything was almost spinning as things he had forgotten, that he had wanted to forget, forced their way back into place.
Gone. They were all gone.
The smile he had had for Aeris just a few days ago seemed hollow and false, and he couldn’t stand it anymore. Turning, he fled.
The church.
Ignoring the burning of his eyes, he ignored Tifa’s call to wait as he took off.
This was too much. All of it.
Why would anyone want to be reminded that the ones they loved were dead?
Wanting to break something, Cloud just ran instead.
Later, he would deal with the others.
For now, he had to mourn for people he had lost once, and now was losing all over again.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject