Vanya squirmed and shifted in her seat. Why was she forced to sit beside Sephiroth out of all people? Yes, he's handsome and everything, but he was just way to creepy and uncomfortable to be around. To her, anyway. The man unfortunately noticed the blonde's strange behaviour.
"Is there something wrong?" Sephiroth asked.
"No," Vanya simply stated as she looked out the window of the helicopter.
"I see... Could it be that I'm so close to you?" he teased, leaning closer to the blonde.
"Ever heard the term 'personal space'?" she replied, ignoring the man's question. Sephiroth put on his signature smirk and emitted a low chuckle.
"I take that as a yes." Vanya frowned. She silently prayed that the ride would be over very soon. After a short while, the machine landed in front of the Shinra manor. There to greet the two SOLDIERs was President Shinra and fellow SOLDIER, Zack Fair.
"Hey, guys!" Zack welcomed cheerfully with a wave and smile.
"Hey," Vanya greeted back, happy to finally have some space from the tall, cat-eyed silverette.
"About time you folks got here," the president spat while smoking a cigar. Vanya despised her boss, but worked for him nonetheless. Hopefully his son, Rufus, would be better. "We've no time to play around. All three of you come to my office." The man then turned and walked inside. He didn't even bother to thank the butler who opened the door for him.
"Charming, isn't he?" Sephiroth remarked sarcastically as he went inside as well.
"Yeah, charming," Zack replied in the same tone while nudging Vanya's arm. She chuckled and rolled her eyes.
***
"Man, that discussion was brutal," Zack whined as he put his hands on his hips and stretched his back.
"You got that right," Vanya agreed as she patted the boy's shoulder.
"You two puppies are really over-dramatic," Sephiroth said as he passed them.
"Hey!" the two shouted in unison. Both of them hated being called 'puppies', which was the nickname that their mentor, Angeal, gave them.
***
Night had come and everyone in the manor had fallen asleep. Well... except one...
Boom! Boom!
Crash!
The flash of lightning lit up the entire room, causing everything in it to be utterly terrifying. Vanya yelped in pure fright and pulled the covers over her head. Yes, she was a SOLDIER, but she was also human and had emotions, such as fear. She hated storms, especially thunder/lightning storms. She was always afraid that a bolt would zap her or the thunder would cause the world to collapse. Both could happen.
BOOM! BOOM!
CRASH!! CRASH!!
At that, the shaking and brightness of the room became so intense, it caused Vanya to shake violently and soon, a sob slid out from her throat. It was too much for her to handle. She couldn't go out and sleep in someone else's room as she was frozen in place.
Zack was walking down the hall, heading to his room which was right between Vanya and Sephiroth's. However, just as he put his and on the doorknob, he could hear the sobs of the girl in the next room over. Right then, he remembered that Vanya's worst fear was lightning storms. He walked over to her door and knocked. When there was no reply, he quietly opened it and peeked in.
"Van?" Zack asked. Then, another powerful flash of lightning filled the room, causing the girl to curl up and whimper. Zack put on a sympathetic smile towards his friend. He shut the door behind him and made his way to the trembling blonde. "Vanya, it's okay. I'm here now." He gently got into the covers and wrapped an arm around the girl's slim, yet muscular frame. Vanya sniffed as she emerged from the covers, revealing her green eyes to be clouded and hazy from the tears glazed over them. The raven-haired boy whipped the droplets off her cheeks, causing a blush to spread with his touch. Yet again, another loud bolt shot down, causing the girl to tense up and snuggle closer to Zack. He held her close, his embrace giving off a warming comfort. Vanya calmed down after a few moments.
"It's okay, Van," Zack repeated. He put a chaste kiss on her forehead and relaxed on the bed. "Goodnight." Vanya smiled.
"Good night," she replied, fluttering her eyes closed. As she drifted off, she could sense an infatuation start to rise from her heart towards her friend.
END