#I was going to lean in more to the mother angle but fsr the idea of the fiery attack on a village seemed much more important in my brain

[prismaticpichu]

Zack and Sephiroth watch Kung Fu Panda 2 (Zack completely forgot about that one scene with Po’s mom). Sephiroth just assumes it’s going to be a silly kids movie. What’s the reaction

Sephiroth, sitting stagnant on the couch, has a hollow, almost ghostly look consuming his once steely eyes. It feels as if something has been gouged out of him—catching him off-guard, striking him where he’s weak. Like an all too raw piece of his soul has been ruthlessly pried from its fragile structure. The movie has been paused for several seconds now, Zack having noticed the way his friend has seemingly left his body. He sets the remote down and glances worriedly at his friend.

“Seph…? You okay, bud?”

Sephiroth doesn’t respond for several beats. He can only stare at the paused screen, silent, unable to tear his gaze away from the frozen frame before him. Unable to look away from the snapshot of roaring flames, of a village trapped in the famished talons of fire and smoke and burning wood.

Of a mother panda, running away, about to be mercilessly slaughtered by the command of a madman.

“How could… anyone… do this?”

Zack pauses for a moment, saddened by his friend’s saddened voice, and taken aback by how genuinely struck Seph was by Shen’s attack on the panda village. He considers joking, chuckling—perhaps saying something about the history of evil peacocks. But he doesn’t. It doesn’t feel right. Instead, he just scoots closer to his friend.

“I dunno, bud. When bad people, y’know, when they want something… they do bad things.”

There’s another beat, another reign of silence. And the next set of words slash Sephiroth’s throat as they leave it.

“He… the bird…” The syllables are jagged, taut. “He killed his…”

Sephiroth doesn’t need to finish the sentence for Zack to understand it. To understand everything. And like a tidal wave of acid, the realization of what he has inadvertently subjected his friend to comes toxically crashing down on him.

Zack’s gaze darts between the screen and Seph. “Oh my god… buddy… what is wrong with—Gaia, I’m so sorry….!”

He wraps his arm around his wounded friend, kicking himself a thousand times for his insensitivity and blindness. Out of all the movies they could have chosen….

Sephiroth dips his chin, resting it on Zack’s hair, a momentary relief from the horror portrayed on his screen. Never did he expect to be struck so viscerally by one of his friend’s favorite films. Never did he expect to be at a loss for words amid their playful banter and commentary. Never did he expect an innocuous, colorful, loving movie to be a mere veneer for something much darker.

“ I know…. I know this prolly hurts real bad…” Zack solaces, continuing to hug his pal. “I promised to never…. I’m sorry, Seph…. Gaia I’m sorry… We can stop now, if you want, maybe play a game inste—“

“….Wutai.”

Zack blinks, confused by the sudden shift.

“….Wutai?” he echoes puzzledly.

Sephiroth’s eyes strain, his muscles stiffening. “I… I’ve done this…” he admits bitterly, painfully, like the words scraped against his tongue in serrated, poisonous blades. “In Wutai… I’ve razed villages. Killed countless. I… I probably have slaughtered a child’s…” He struggles to finish that sentence, the brutal scene from the movie still raw in his mind.

“I… I am like Shen.”

Zack’s heart twists, a full jagged knot tethering in his chest as he digests Seph’s words—the pain, the guilt, the self-loathing… He shakes his head, pulling back slightly from the embrace.

“That’s not true,” he says firmly, kindly. “That’s not true, bud.”

Sephiroth opens his eyes, ready to protest. “I… I’ve razed…”

“it was a war, Seph… you know that. I know you do. ShinRa ordered for those villages to be burned. From what I can tell—and learned… you didn’t have a choice.”

Sephiroth closes his eyes again, riding too many turbulent memories and emotions to think of a proper response. Zack returns his head to Seph’s shoulder.

“You would never do what Shen did, bud…” Zack says quietly. “You would never kill out of hate. I know you wouldn’t.”

For a long swath of time, Sephiroth remains locked in the other’s arms, silent, listening to the unwavering sincerity of his best friend’s words. Letting them sink into him, letting them assuage him. Gauze him. Heal him. He sinks deeper into the embrace, clinging to Zack’s heartfelt hope in him. To his trust. To his beliefs.

And there he makes a vow to never prove Zack wrong.

KUNG FU PANDA 2 SAVES NIBELHEIM, Y’ALL!!!!

#sephiroth #ffvii #zack fair #crisis core #ff7 #asks #ty!! #randomness #pichu writing #ok ok ok HEAR ME OUT #I was going to lean in more to the mother angle but fsr the idea of the fiery attack on a village seemed much more important in my brain #and so I took the Wutai route <3 #hopefully the ask is still more or less fulfilled!