Final Fantasy VII; Sephiroth/Cloud; Theme 10 - Harem "In the Harem of the Empress Part 1"
Title: In the Harem of the Empress Part 1 Author: jessara40k Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Pairing: Yuffie/Sephiroth Rating: PG-13 Warnings: Implied slavery, implied matriarchy, implied het Theme: 10 harem Notes: I meant this to be a one-shot, but I realised I wouldn't be able to fit it into one post anyway, so here's part 1. I will be putting the Sephiroth/Cloud bit in the second part, but I need to build up to it, for a change.
“Sephiroth, come here”
The Empress called for him as she entered the harem, but so quietly that none of the other concubines would hear her, even with the relative quiet her presence brought. He could feel the others staring at him as he walked over to attend her; it would help him keep their respect, whatever it was his mistress wanted. Not that he really cared how the other concubines felt about him, but he found it easier to keep them at an appropriate distance if they respected him, and preferably feared him at least a little too.
“My Empress?” He knelt, focusing on Yuffie, but noting the blond boy standing beside her from beneath his eyelashes as he bowed his head.
“Sephiroth. You know I don’t like you to kneel for me.” He took the hand she was offering to help him up, and she used that to pull him to her for a deep kiss. He’d never tried to resist her, and he never would; his Empress would never know how much of the power she held over him existed only because he allowed it, in case it hurt her. She’d made his sacrifice in accepting her father’s offer to protect his SOLDIERs into something that was even pleasurable at times, and he could never forget that.
“But I want to show you my respect properly.” They had this...near argument every time, but Yuffie never ordered him to stop kneeling to her, and he never used his ‘childhood’ as a weapon against her, and by now it had been pared down to a single sentence each.
“Your last servant deserted you, didn’t he? So, you don’t have a servant now, do you?”
“No, my Empress.” Sephiroth didn’t know what it was about him that drove his servants off, made them look for another concubine to claim them, or even left the harem altogether when he knew they’d fought to be appointed to it, but he was grateful for it. He hated the way the servants fussed over him, and he didn’t want anyone but his Empress to know that the wounds her mother had inflicted on him in the duel that killed her; the wounds that he was convinced came from his adolescent arrogance, that had kept him from battle for almost a year and that he believed had won the war for Wutai; had healed without leaving so much as a single scar.
“It isn’t fitting that my favourite concubine doesn’t have a servant.” Yuffie’s voice was louder now, it would carry to every concubine in earshot, and this story was certain to be retold accurately. “And it is near an insult that so many of your servants have betrayed you. So, I have decided to change that.” She pulled the boy forward from the spot he’d stepped back to while they talked, presenting him to Sephiroth. “This is Cloud. He was a gift to me, and now I’m giving him to you.”
“Thank you, my Empress.” He couldn’t refuse her gift, not in front of the rest of the harem, so he accepted as graciously as he could, taking Cloud by the hand and pulling him closer, lifting his face to inspect him, using two fingers under his chin. “He’s pretty, but he looks...fragile. Would you care to see him settled in with me?”
“Yes. Then you can entertain me for a while.” She ran a casually possessive hand over his arm as they walked to Sephiroth’s quarters. “And I need to explain a few things about Cloud when we’ve got some privacy.” She could have told him without waiting, by pitching her voice low, the way she was now, but the Empress didn’t like using that trick for more than a sentence or two.
“Cloud, your quarters are through there.” The boy just looked at him blankly, instead of taking the hint and leaving, and Sephiroth frowned in confusion - he could tell that it wasn’t deliberate disobedience, but he didn’t know what it was. And Yuffie just laughed at him, while he looked at her in faint hurt.
“He doesn’t speak Wutaian Seph, just Continental.” Sephiroth should have thought of that for himself, but it had been so long since he’d spoken Continental except to his Empress, who needed to be bilingual that he’d forgotten that Wutaian was only the first language for people born in Wutai, and he’d always assumed it was normal to speak more than one language. But from Yuffie’s attitude the opposite was true.
“I’ll teach you to speak Wutaian then. You sleep in there.” He pointed at the door to the left again, and this time Cloud nodded with a small smile.
“Yes sir. And...thank you. For promising to teach me.” Cloud left the room before Sephiroth could say anything in response, but the Empress was patting the seat beside her, so he let it go, and joined her on the couch. When she leaned against him he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, despite his surprise, and waited until she was ready to speak to him.
“The Nibel Ranges sent Cloud to me as a gift, part of the negotiations we’ve got going with them now.” In other words the...Nibel Ranges was trying to curry favour with the Empress by offering her a new concubine. It made sense, Wutai was the larger of the two countries that hadn’t been taken over by ShinRa and been wrecked by its destruction, and this Nibel Ranges was probably a new country that had only just gotten organised. “But he doesn’t have the self-confidence it would take to cope as one of my concubines.” So she thought he’d be abused if she’d accepted him as a concubine. Sephiroth could see how that could happen.
“But as my servant he’s under my protection, and if you ever do want to play with him then you have easy access. I understand.” Yuffie didn’t look happy with his conclusion, but she didn’t tell him that he was wrong either, and he could see the tension in the set of her shoulders. “Would you like to take a bath now?”
“Yes, to start with.” She took a deep breath, clearly steeling herself for something, although Sephiroth couldn’t imagine why. “Then there’s something I need to talk about before we do anything else.”
“As my Empress wishes.” There was a flicker of discomfort across her face, but surely she knew that she had only to ask and he would do whatever she wanted.
“Seph, I’ve told you that you’re allowed to use my name before, so why won’t you do it until we’re making love?” Yuffie was nearly whining as she continued speaking. “You used to use my name before the other concubines arrived.”
“That’s the point Yuffie. You don’t let them use your name, and I don’t want to seem to flaunt how much you favour me.” He shrugged, he knew that the clans didn’t like it that Yuffie preferred him to the men they’d given to her, and he wasn’t going to make it harder for her by providing those concubines with things to complain about when they wrote to their families.
“Thank you then.” From the look on her face she hadn’t considered that. “But you don’t need to be so discreet when it’s just us.”
“I understand, and if it bothers you that much then I’ll use your name when we’re alone together.” He hadn’t wanted to get into the habit, in case he forgot himself in public, but Yuffie looked happy about his promise. “Shall I have Cloud run our bath, while I wash you?”
“Yes.” So he called for Cloud, and told him how to prepare the bath when Yuffie was there while she used the toilet and got undressed.
“When you’ve finished that go and wait in the lounge and Joto will measure you for some better clothes Cloud.” Sephiroth smiled to see Yuffie walking into the bathroom naked as she spoke, and stripped himself as Cloud responded, offering a nod of approval when Cloud used Wutaian to address her as ‘Empress’, an anxious look on his face.
“You can take these into my bedroom as you go, just put them on a chair for now, I’ll show you what to do with them later.”
“Yes sir.” That response, in Continental, it brought back memories for Sephiroth, not particularly good ones, but...he’d deal with that later, for now it was enough that Cloud was showing him respect. He focused on Yuffie, washing her clean, starting at her throat and working down, keeping his touch platonic, rather than sensual, and then let her do the same for him. Cloud had finished filling the bath by then, and left, so Sephiroth helped Yuffie climb into it before joining her.
“Ahhh.” The sound Yuffie made as she sank into the hot water was half a sigh, and half a moan of pleasure. “That’s good. Hotter than you usually run for me too.”
“Not too hot then? I told Cloud to run the bath as hot as he’d be able to stand it, but I always erred on the side of caution with you.”
“Because I can’t stand as much heat as you can, I know, and I wasn’t really complaining, just...”
“At least I know one thing Cloud can do for me better than my previous servants ever did. They couldn’t believe you’d really want a bath even as hot as those I used to run for you, let alone this hot.” And he’d never once managed to convince one of his servants to run a bath as hot as he’d prefer. They relaxed together, talking about things that didn’t really matter, until the water had cooled, then Yuffie climbed out of the bath and Sephiroth followed her through to his bedroom. He stretched out on the bed beside her, and waited to hear what it was she felt he had to speak with him about as she played with his hair.
“My advisors have been dropping hints about how I need to start trying for an heir.” And what did this have to do with him? Sephiroth didn’t ask the obvious question, but Yuffie fell silent instead of continuing, so he offered her the answer that made sense to him.
“And you wanted to let me know why you’d have less time for us now that you’re taking a consort? Thank you for being so considerate of my feelings.”
“What? No!” Even Sephiroth could hear the outrage in her voice as she sat up. “I want you to be the father. I...you won’t be allowed to really act as the father, but...you’d give me the strongest daughters I could ever have.”
“Ah...I am honoured, but...it won’t cause problems? Choosing me to sire your first child over your other concubines?” One of those who came from the major clans might expect the honour, and he knew that Wutaians cared a lot about bloodlines, his ‘tainted blood’ was one of the things the native concubines held against him most.
“No.” Yuffie smiled as she shook her head. “No-one will expect me to say who the father of my daughter is, and even if it’s obvious no-one is allowed to comment on her parentage. And if it’s the whole blood purity thing you’re worried about, don’t be. That doesn’t matter for me - since I’m considered to be semi-divine in my own right it compensates for any ‘impurity’ in the father, especially if the father’s a war prize.” Which Sephiroth was, technically speaking. She was calm now, and she ran a hand gently down the side of his face. “And besides, you’ve probably got some Wutaian blood, from the shape of your eyes.” That was news to Sephiroth, but whoever his parents were they’d left him to Hojo, and so meant nothing to him. “Sephiroth, if you are unhappy about this, if you don’t want to father my daughters, just say so. I’ll understand.”
Except she clearly wouldn’t, not really, leaving Sephiroth only one way to answer her. “So long as you are confident it will not harm you, or our child, will not affect your authority, or, when the time comes, hers, I am willing. But...I might not be fertile, I’m not entirely sure of everything Hojo did to me.”
“We’ll try for a year, and if I’m not pregnant by the end of the year I’ll try someone else then.” She hadn’t really addressed Sephiroth’s concerns, but he knew he couldn’t press her any further.
“Thank you for honouring me so Yuffie.” He hesitated, then pushed up to kiss her, a kiss she only responded to briefly before pushing away, reluctantly.
“I ordered a meal for us; it should be delivered around now. And Cloud can serve us, unless you object?”
“No, why would I?” He helped Yuffie to put a robe on before they made their way to his dinning room.
~~()~~
Better clothes? Cloud had already been given better clothes than he’d ever had at Nibelheim in the three days since he’d been handed over to the Empress. He shouldn’t be letting his thoughts wander like this, and he quickly bowed to the Empress.
“Yes jotei-sama.” He hoped that meant ‘Empress’, and when he looked at Sephiroth to see if he’d got it right the man nodded, a faint look of approval on his face, before he gave Cloud another order.
“You can take these into my bedroom as you go, just put them on a chair for now, I’ll show you what to do with them later.”
“Yes sir.” Sephiroth didn’t seem very happy about being addressed as ‘sir’, and Cloud finished running the bath, then quickly gathered up the clothes he’d discarded, carrying them through to the bedroom. He folded the slippery clothes up before leaving them on a chair, and then went back into the lounge to wait for this Joto.
“Cloud Strife?” The man who spoke as he entered the room had to be Joto. Cloud made a swift assessment of him as he stood; the same height as Cloud, perhaps an inch shorter, but broader across the shoulders, with heavy muscles that Cloud doubted he’d ever achieve.
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Strip.” Cloud blinked in surprise at the blunt command, but he obeyed without question - he knew better than to defy his betters. “I will just be measuring you now.” As he spoke Joto matched action to word, taking Cloud’s measurements and writing them down. “The final decision about how you will be dressed lies with Sephiroth-dono, but is there anything you would like me to consider?”
“Ah...please, nothing that...shows too much skin.” Like the indecent things he’d seen on some of the men here in this harem. “And...nothing fancy. Comfortable? And practical?”
“Hmmm...that shouldn’t be much of a problem. How does something like the clothes Sephiroth-dono wears, only in cotton and a single colour, sound?”
“Perfect! Thank you.” Sephiroth seemed to like loose trousers and tunics with long sleeves, a style Cloud liked, especially if he wouldn’t have to wear those patterns. “Please sir, why do you call him Sephiroth-dono?”
“Ah...dono is an honorific, indicating someone of higher status, usually at least a minor noble. We add them to the end of people’s names, generally not using an honorific is a sign of rudeness or intimacy.” And Joto hadn’t used one for Cloud...so why was he being rude? The man seemed to read his mind. “I forgot that you would be living among us, one of the exceptions is outsiders, they tend to be uncomfortable with honorifics, so we don’t use them for outsiders, Strife-san.”
“I see...Joto-san?” He hoped that was the right honorific to use, and Joto didn’t look angry to hear it. “Is -sama one of these honorifics?”
“Yes, but you should only ever use it for the Empress. You’re not likely to ever meet the clan matriarchs, and they’re the only other people with the right to be addressed as -sama.”
“Thank you for the advice Joto-san.” Cloud would follow it as fully as he could. “If I might ask, what does -san indicate?”
“It’s a...neutral honorific, indicating respect, without implying any particular ranking.” Joto stepped back then, closing his notebook. “That’s it, you can get dressed now.”
“Thank you.” He was saying that a lot, but the people here were giving him more help than he’d ever had before, enough help to make him suspicious even if he couldn’t do anything about that. He dressed quickly, looking back at his new bedroom wistfully - he hadn’t had the chance to put his clothes away, or do more than glance into the attached shower and toilet rooms.
“Go ahead.” He sounded amused as he pretty much dismissed Cloud. “You probably haven’t had time to settle in yet. I’ll call you when they come out.”
“Thank you again Joto-san.” Cloud didn’t want to impose on the man’s kindness though, so he only took the time to put his clothes away, before going back out into the lounge to wait for the Empress and his new master.
“You didn’t need to hurry back out Strife-san.”
“I appreciate your generosity Joto-san, but I didn’t have that much to put away, and that was what I really wanted to do. I...didn’t expect to have a shower attached to my bedroom here.” He was just a servant after all, the Empress had made that clear to him - and it had been a great comfort to know she wasn’t interested in him - she was too intimidating.
“Sephiroth-dono is the Empress’ favourite after all.” Reason enough for his quarters to be luxurious, but Cloud hadn’t expected that luxury to extend to his own room. But he didn’t say anything, just sat and waited, mentally listing all the reasons he was lucky to have been sent as tribute to the Empress of Wutai.
When Sephiroth and the Empress came out of the bedroom Cloud was so lost in thought that it surprised him, but he stood up just a second or so after Joto did, and neither of them seemed offended. Joto immediately went to speak with Sephiroth, while the Empress beckoned to him.
“Yes jotei-sama?”
“A meal will be delivered shortly, and we want you to serve it to us. Wait in the dining room until it arrives.”
“As you wish jotei-sama. Through there?” The door opposite his bedroom was the only one he hadn’t explored to some extent, so once the Empress nodded he bowed as deeply as he could and left, thanking her quietly.
~~()~~
Sephiroth supposed he should start explaining his duties to Cloud at once, as well as making sure he understood that Sephiroth didn’t want anyone to know that he didn’t scar. He’d been careful never to undress in front of his previous servants, since he didn’t trust them, and expected to lose them, and it had given him a reputation for modesty of all things. But, from what Yuffie had said when she presented Cloud to him, his new servant was effectively a slave, and he was likely to remain almost as much of an outsider among the harem servants as Sephiroth was in the harem itself.
“Follow me Cloud.” He led the boy into his bedroom, letting his robe fall to the floor as he moved. “I’ll show you where everything goes later, so you can keep my quarters tidy, but first there are a few things you need to understand.”
“Yes, Sephiroth-dono.” Cloud’s respectful response reminded him that he really should start using some sort of suffix for his servant, he was sure part of the reason he was such an outsider was that he didn’t automatically add some sort of suffix to everyone’s names.
“You are never to mention anything about what I look like naked. It is commonly believed that I have terrible scars from my life before I entered the harem, and I do not want that belief disproved.” He waited for Cloud to nod, indicating his understanding before continuing. “Outside of my quarters I will only ever speak to you in Wutaian. You are young enough that you should be able to learn the language by hearing it, and from the context, but in here I am willing to explain what particular words or phrases mean.”
“Yes Sephiroth-dono, but...I won’t be able to talk to anyone out in the main harem then, so how do I explain that? I don’t want to be rude.” That was a more intelligent question than he’d expected, and Sephiroth smiled at the boy, just a little.
“Before you leave my quarters I intend to see that you have one phrase down perfectly Cloud-kun. Now repeat after me.” He paused, thinking about the simplest way to get the point across and pronounced each Wutaian word with a care he’d last used when he was learning the language. “Forgive me. I do not speak Wutaian yet.” Cloud only got through the first sentence before making a mistake, but he managed to pronounce it acceptably after five attempts, and if he had a poor accent it would be additional proof of his inability to really speak Wutaian.
“Sephiroth-dono, what does -kun mean?”
“An inferior, but an inferior you respect enough to be polite to.” Sephiroth warned Cloud never to touch his weapons, then quickly showed him where to put his clean clothes, the tunics and trousers folded away into trunks and the robes hanging in his one wardrobe.
“Here. Laundry is done centrally. I do not expect you to have the specialised knowledge you would need to wash my clothes correctly or to repair them when they need it.” He understood that silk had to be washed differently to normal cloth, and all the fancy dying and embroidery on his outfits made for extra work as well. “All you need to do is put my used clothes into one of these bags and take it to the laundry area, handing it over to one of the workers there. You can put your dirty clothes in as well.”
“Thank you Sephiroth-dono. Shall I put these in my room then?”
“Not yet. You can do that while I’m bathing.” He shifted back to Wutaian to give his next command. “Run me a hot bath.”
“Ahh...Sephiroth-dono, do you want it as hot as it was yesterday?”
He switched back to Cloud’s language to explain. “No. I asked for a hot bath, meaning I want you to just use the hot water tap. If I want it the same as it was yesterday I’ll ask for ‘a warm bath for the Empress’, or just ‘a warm bath’ - although that’s unlikely.” He’d used Wutaian for the two phrases he would probably use to describe what he wanted, and he could see the understanding grow in Cloud’s eyes - the boy was more intelligent than he’d expected.
“I don’t think I’ll have a problem remembering what sort of bath you want when the Empress is here, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to distinguish the other two commands.”
“You’ll hear me asking for a ‘hot bath’ most often, so if it sounds different I just want a ‘warm bath’, but you can ask if you’re uncertain.”
“Thank you Sephiroth-dono.” Cloud bowed before he left for the bathroom, and Sephiroth glanced over his room before following, wondering what else he could have Cloud do. He lived simply enough that not having a servant had never been a problem for him before, except that it upset Yuffie that he didn’t have all the status symbols he merited as her favourite concubine.
Cloud was busy running his bath when he reached the bathroom and Sephiroth decided that his hair needed washing today, taking care of that at the shower while he cleaned himself thoroughly before soaking properly. He just shut his eyes, and let his mind go blank, blocking the world and everything else out, not worrying about what he was going to do with a servant or about how it would affect Yuffie’s power base to have a child with him. It took him a while, and he had to resort to counting breaths in the end, but eventually he was relaxed, and he stayed in the bath until the water was cool.
He wrapped one towel around his hair, and a second one around his body before moving through to his bedroom and calling for Cloud when he realised the boy had finished working some time earlier.
“Yes Sephiroth-dono?”
“Dry my hair for me please. There are more towels in the cupboard in the bathroom for when this one is too wet to use.”
“Yes, sir.” Sephiroth must have flinched, or shown some sort of reaction to that as he sat down, because Cloud went still, and visibly considered what to do next. “You...don’t like it when I call you ‘sir’, do you Sephiroth-dono?”
“No, I don’t.” Should he elaborate? Cloud might not ask...but he probably would, better to settle his curiosity quickly. “It reminds me of my life before I belonged to the Empress.”
“Ah, see.” And Sephiroth almost thought the boy did understand why he didn’t want those reminders, with his next words giving weight to that idea. “I’m not sure exactly how to dry your hair fully.”
“Divide it up into sections, as small as you can manage. There’s a wide-toothed comb on the bedside table you can use for that. Work on each section individually, and comb through it while you work.”
“I understand Sephiroth-dono.” Cloud unwrapped the towel from his hair, and used it to vigorously rub it partly dry before draping it over Sephiroth’s shoulders and pulling his hair out to lie on top of it. “Let me get some more towels and the comb please.” Sephiroth was pleased to learn that wasn’t actually a question, as Cloud didn’t wait for permission, the boy would need to have some initiative, which his previous servants sometimes hadn’t dared use. Cloud did a remarkably good job of drying his hair for him, showing more patience than any of his previous servants had, and more than he tended to have himself - Sephiroth didn’t have any problem with going out into the rest of the harem with wet hair, but the other concubines seemed to think there was something wrong with him for doing that.
He was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of Cloud’s stomach rumbling, and he twisted around in his seat to look at the boy.
“Have you eaten today Cloud-kun?”
“No Sephiroth-dono.”
“Why not?” Was he missing something here? He usually had a selection of cold breakfast foods delivered in the morning, before most of the other concubines woke up, but Yuffie had ordered a hot breakfast delivered this morning for the two of them to eat together.
“Because no one brought me anything to eat, and I didn’t know where to look for something I’d be allowed to eat.”
“Did you have anything to eat last evening then?” He hadn’t thought to ask about whether a meal was delivered for Cloud this morning, just assumed the Empress would have given the appropriate orders, and maybe she’d neglected him at dinner last night as well. Sephiroth had the unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling that he’d been negligent about his new servant’s welfare, and he didn’t like it.
“Yes. You didn’t eat everything on the serving plates, I ate from those afterwards.” Cloud sounded as if he thought that was normal, even a good thing, and Sephiroth wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Cloud smiled at him and shrugged casually. “It’s one of the perks of serving at the Empress’ table, eating the same food served to her and her guests, and it wasn’t as if you didn’t leave enough for my meal.” But their breakfast had been brought on a tray that he could take to the Empress in bed, the way he always did when she stayed overnight.
“I see. I’ll show you where you can get food at any time of the day - although there’s usually more choice between midday and two. And I’ll show you to the laundry area on the way there.”
“Thank you Sephiroth-dono.” Cloud left, presumably to pick up the bag with their laundry, and Sephiroth dressed quickly before joining him in the lounge.
“Ah...should I have stayed to help you dress?”
“No. I’m not helpless, and I don’t wear anything complicated enough to required assistance to put it on.” Except for formal kimono on the rare occasions Yuffie felt the need to have her concubines attend her at court, and even then Yuffie sent one of her servants to help him and he managed the first layers himself, hiding his lack of scars. But he had to wear those, and he despised the elaborate confections most of the other concubines seemed to prefer. Cloud didn’t say anything in response and Sephiroth led him first to the laundry area, then to the servants’ break room. When he reached the concubine’s dinning room he selected his own meal, and ordered dinner for the two of them for that evening, since he knew Yuffie wouldn’t be coming to see him again for another week.
~~()~~
Cloud still couldn’t quite believe how well Sephiroth-dono was treating him, even after three months belonging to the older man. He knew for a fact that none of the other servants were allowed to eat with their masters, for instance, and he’d seen some of the things that Kouri-sempai had to wear to keep Ryoga-dono happy. And his workload was relatively light too, Sephiroth-dono didn’t seem to expect more than light cleaning and running errands from him - as well as studying whatever Sephiroth-dono set him to learn, but even there his master was always willing to help and explain things to him. Most of the other ‘important’ concubines, the ones with little suites like Sephiroth-dono had were much higher maintenance than he was, and cared a lot more about showing off their status than he did. They reminded him a bit of the way Mayor Lockheart had acted in Nibelheim, throwing their weight around, and making sure their inferiors knew their places - Ryoga-dono had actually wanted Cloud to address him as -sama the way Kouri-sempai did!
But he’d backed down when Cloud had made it clear that Sephiroth-dono approved of his refusal to use -sama for anyone but the Empress, and perhaps when he realised that Cloud used the exact same honorific for his master that he was willing to use for Ryoga-dono. Cloud had half expected that he’d need Sephiroth-dono to back him up, the way the man had promised to do if anyone tried to bully him when he’d learned enough of the language to communicate, even slowly and with difficulty, but the simple mention of Sephiroth-dono’s name had been enough. When he’d mentioned it later that day Sephiroth-dono had laughed, and said that a lot of the way the other ‘important’ concubines acted came from insecurity, that they flaunted their power to remind everyone that they had it, out of fear of their inferiors.
That conversation had given him a lot to think about, even if he didn’t believe the mayor could have ever felt threatened by him in any way his mother might have scared the men of Nibelheim, and they could have treated him the way they did because they wanted to hurt her. He could easily believe that the traditionalists in Nibelheim had been intimidated by a woman who insisted on all the rights of a man, who lived by herself after her husband died, instead of moving back to her family, or joining his. She’d never really let her pain show, but thinking back on it, the way her face always hardened when he came back to her with injuries had to mean she was hiding something, and they’d started to ignore him after she died.
Cloud shook his head, dismissing his recollections - this wasn’t the time for wool-gathering - he had to put all the clothes the Empress had left on Sephiroth-dono’s bed away and get some clean towels delivered. He wasn’t sure why they always seemed to be running low on towels for Sephiroth-dono and the Empress - he took them in to the laundry on the same schedule that he took Sephiroth-dono’s clothes, and his own, but he never got them back in time. It gave him something else to do at least, but first he began folding away Sephiroth-dono’s clothes. He didn’t know why the Empress had rejected all of Sephiroth-dono’s kimono as inadequate, but she had, and he was relieved to see that at least they hadn’t become creased from the pile she’d left them in.
After collecting some fresh towels and putting them away Cloud realised he had some time to amuse himself, and it was probably long enough for him to indulge in his secret pleasure. Sephiroth-dono’s weapons were beautiful, especially the long daggers - they reminded him of the daggers his mother had owned, and stated to teach him to use before she died, only these looked much more expensive. He’d wanted to keep his mother’s daggers after she died, but he hadn’t been able to find them - she hadn’t been wearing them in the hidden sheathes she’d always carried them in when her body was returned to him, and they hadn’t been in the house. He’d tried to get them back a few weeks later when he’d seen two of the biggest bullies - and self-proclaimed ‘hunters’ - wearing them, but they’d denied stealing them, and no-one would admit to knowing they’d belonged to his mother.
“What precisely are you doing, Cloud?” Sephiroth-dono was angry, and Cloud found the cold tone in his voice a lot scarier than he’d have found it if Sephiroth-dono had shouted. He was used to shouting, or he had been at least.
“I...just looking Sephiroth-dono. I haven’t touched them, I wouldn’t!” Cloud scooted back, away from the chest, still on his knees. Something in Sephiroth-dono’s face softened then, and he tilted his head to one side, coming to crouch in front of him.
“You open the chest when I’m not here and then just kneel there looking at my weapons?” Sephiroth-dono’s voice had softened to match his expression, and Cloud thought he could hear the faintest hint of curiosity there. “You do realise how ridiculous that sounds Cloud-kun?”
“Yes Sephiroth-dono, I know.” He’d used -kun; that had to mean he believed Cloud. “But I wouldn’t touch them, I just wanted to look at them. They’re all so beautiful.”
“I...see. Come here then and tell me which ones you like best.”
“The paired long daggers. I...they remind me of my mother.”
“Your mother? Why?” There was a look of total confusion on Sephiroth-dono’s face now, which didn’t make much sense. He belonged to the Empress, and Cloud had seen that she had women as her guards, so it couldn’t be too odd for women to be fighters here in Wutai.
“Because she had a pair like them.” The confusion was shifting to curiosity as Cloud spoke, and he much preferred that. “Not as good I guess, but they looked the same. She said that her grandmother gave them to her.”
“Did she know how to use them then?”
“Yes, Sephiroth-dono.” Should he expand on that? Yes, he probably should. “She was teaching me to use them before she died and they were stolen.”
“I see.” Sephiroth stood then, and Cloud knew that this conversation was over. “Run me a hot bath.”