InsaneJournal

Fic: Guardians


A little change of pace here.
Title: Guardians: Memory
Series: FFVII OGC (Marriage!verse AU)
Characters: Sephiroth, Aeris, OCs (the kids).
Rating PG
Word Count: 708

Previous Chapters:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Dinner was a quiet affair. There were peas. Peas and onions and ham, with salad and a mixture of roasted potatoes, russet and sweet. It was better than the cafeteria food, or even his mother's, but all Ocean could remember of it thinking back was the mix of colors on his plate and the twin at his side spilling the grape juice in a well-meaning attempt at a refill.

“Uh oh, spillage,” the General murmured, reaching for a rag.

“Let me get that, Rei,” the General's wife said, taking the bottle to carefully fill Ocean's glass. “Would you like some more ham?”

Ocean declined graciously, struggling with what was already on his plate. Beside him the twins chattered, breaking off into occasionally into unintelligible sounds. Ocean kept enough of a mind about him to answer Mrs. Sephiroth's (Dr. Gast's, he reminded himself) questions. He'd been in cadet training for a year. Yes, he liked it. No, he wasn't sure what division he wanted to apply for yet, but he liked engineering. Or navigation. Or aeronautics.

Plenty of time to choose yet, no need to worry and did he mind very much that the curtains in the guest room were currently yellow and flower-patterned? They could be changed out for something more to his taste tomorrow.

The General busied himself with eating, legendary SOLDIER appetite at work. He seemed content enough to leave the small talk to his wife. He recruited the boys for cleanup afterwards. The girl barely said a word the whole time except to consent to show him upstairs.

“Bathroom's next door and you have to hold the handle down a bit to flush,” she said. Ocean said his thanks to her back and stepped inside. His bag had already been set on the bed and he wondered who had done it. He tested the bed and found it just right, the mattress thick and plushy with a fair amount of spring. He caught sight of his bouncing spikes in the mirror of the dresser and sighed again. It was no use trying to flatten them and it took a mighty load of gel and spray to get them to really stand tall. Tough luck having a name one could neither live up or down to. What was Mom thinking?

Ocean pulled himself away and began digging through his bag. He found his comb and his standard issue cadet jammies, complete with the stylized 'O' he had ironed on 'for laundry identification'. “Stupid toothbrush,” he mumbled. Of course it had to go straight to the bottom. Ocean plunged his arm into the depths and tried to yank a towel up out of the way.

A framed photo tumbled out. It hit the hardwood with a distinctive crackle and toppled over face down. Ocean sat wearily on the bed and stretched to scoop it up. Just his luck, the family photo, taken at some restaurant when he had been a toddler.

His father had loved this shot but Ocean couldn't understand why. The lighting was terrible and camera flash had been caught in the mirror behind them. The only really clear thing was Ocean himself, staring wide-eyed into the camera. His mother's smile was brilliant and straightforward. His father had been caught at the exact moment he glanced down to coax his son to look up. The tops of their heads were an overexposed blur.

The frame shook and a square chip of glass fell out of into Ocean's lap. Ocean gathered it up and turned the frame face down on the nightstand. He curled up on top of the comforter and thought about how much he really needed to find his toothbrush.