#it may be a different daughter but Sephiroth's child will always be star themed

[holly-fixation]

The Perfect Voice

Summary: Genesis did not consider the consequences of using his reading voice as a sleep aid to the silver soldier himself. 

Inspired by this ask to @altocat 

…

This life was more than they ever hoped for, years after they abandoned Shinra. Neither one of them expected to be so happy in a small home of the Sector 5 slums, yet here they were, joyful and content. Former SOLDIER First Class: Sephiroth and former SOLDIER First Class: Genesis Rhapsodos, who escaped together on an old mission. 

They certainly didn’t expect to be raising a child, but Genesis, of all people, wanted one. He wanted a chance to continue his legacy, and he did it with his greatest and closest friend. They adopted from an orphanage in the slums to stay off Shinra’s radar and give the child a good life. Though Genesis wanted a warrior or a mini him, Sephiroth instantly bonded with a sickly, weak little girl all the way in the back of the building. She was young, maybe five years old, and pale with brown hair and blue eyes. And her name… well, that solidified his decision completely. He always liked astronomy, his eyes saucers whenever he talked about the stars. It took enough convincing to get Sephiroth to even attempt walking into an orphanage, so Genesis accepted that this child, though not what he expected, would be perfect if they made Sephiroth so happy. 

Which turned out to be more perfect, because while Sephiroth began training her and teaching her, Genesis showed her Loveless and she loved it. The themes, the story, the tragedy, the different portrayals in movies and plays, all the theories; she was almost as attached as he was. She happily read the poem on her own, occasionally told to read out loud so her adoptive parents could gauge what she was learning and how she was improving. 

Today was not one of those days. Today was a normal day with a new discovery. 

Genesis was busy cooking and tending to their dinner as Sephiroth helped their daughter with her homework. 

She stared intensely at the words on the page, glaring and analyzing the meaning of the passage against the questions the teacher assigned. She slowly dragged her finger along the passage, attempting to read carefully, but to no avail. She huffed and sat back. “I don’t get this, Father…”

Sephiroth immediately skimmed through the passage and the questions. They weren’t too complicated, only simple questions for reading comprehension. She was only seven years old, but she should be able to answer these without issues. Surely there was some way for her to realize that. “Hmm…”

She gave her father a tired look. This was the third and final passage in the assignment. She just wanted to stop. She knew enough by now, right? “Dad?” She turned and called across the room. “Do I have to finish this right now?”

Ah, yes. Of course she asked Genesis, the fun dad, if she could procrastinate her homework. Sephiroth gave her a soft but stern look that she clearly tried to avoid for the possible input in her favor. 

“No, Nova,” Genesis scolded smoothly as he kept his eyes on the pot he stirred, and she looked down while puffing her cheeks. “You can’t just ask me to get out of your homework. You’ll be much happier if you finish it now than having to think about it through dinner. Is that fair?”

Nova gave him a small glare, but she was the spitting image of Genesis in that moment, all her features exactly the same as when he gave his frustrated little reactions to things. 

Sephiroth had to hide a chuckle, but he was also grateful that Genesis decided to parent today. 

“Okay…” She groaned sadly, attempting to understand the paragraph once again. 

His eyes narrowed curiously as he watched her. “Would you be able to answer these questions if they were about Loveless?” His tone gave away that he meant no disrespect. He was truly curious. 

She shrugged. “Well, yeah. But Loveless starts to make sense. There's so much more to explain everything. There's just not enough here to say what this theme is.”

“When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end

The goddess descends from the sky” 

Genesis began quoting the poem without any further prompting, simply reciting it to himself as others would hum songs to pass the time. He only continued cooking, his eyes on the stove, cutting board, and sink. 

“Wings of light and dark spread afar

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting”

He had no idea what that voice did to his best friend, at least in that moment. He spoke cleanly, calmly, as if reading the pages themselves rather than reciting from memory, which usually had a different tone. Whenever Sephiroth was sick, or Genesis thought he needed rest, Genesis would bundle him up and read to him. His practiced and expert reading voice would always, after enough time, completely soothe him to sleep. It was an effective tactic, but extremely short sighted. Now, after much conditioning, it took little more than the third act to force his eyes closed peacefully. 

Sephiroth shook away the unintentional thoughts of sleepiness and focused on their child’s assignment. 

“Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess

We seek it thus, and take to the sky”

The girl slowly placed her pencil down, supporting her head with her hand as she tried to read, but she was slowed. Sephiroth noticed immediately and caught her eyes. 

“Ripples form on the water's surface

The wandering soul knows no rest.”

Oh. Uh oh. Of course. That made sense. Genesis read to her every night, and every time she was sick, he read to keep her company until she fell asleep. She loved the poem. She read it all the time. But that didn't change what her red headed dad taught her. 

Genesis had absolutely no consequential thinking. 

“Three friends go into battle.

One is captured

One flies away

The one that is left becomes a hero.”

Nova’s breathing slowed as her weighted eyelids closed slowly. 

“Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul

Pride is lost

Wings stripped away, the end is nigh”

Her arm started to slip just as Sephiroth's blinks began to slow. Still, he caught her, carefully holding her by her far shoulder. She jolted awake long enough to catch her balance and take her arm off the table. 

Is he really going to quote the whole thing right now? 

“Father…”

“There is no hate, only joy

For you are beloved by the goddess

Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds”

“It’s okay.” Sephiroth pulled her to his chest, and she stopped fighting it. She was already exhausted from the homework and the long day before Genesis opened his mouth. She curled up against him and fell asleep almost instantly, warm and comfortable and safe. 

“My friend, do you fly away now?

To a world that abhors you and I?

All that awaits you is a somber morrow

No matter where the winds may blow”

He kept his arm wrapped around her so she wouldn’t fall off the chair, but his oblivious friend continued the world’s most effective sleep spell against the world’s strongest soldier. 

“My soul, corrupted by vengeance

Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey

In my own salvation

And your eternal slumber”

Maybe he could close his eyes for just a moment, just long enough to get his strength back and wake the child before the meal finished cooking. 

“My friend, the fates are cruel

There are no dreams, no honor remains

The arrow has left the bow of the goddess

My friend, your desire…

Is to completely pass out doing children’s homework while listening to a masterpiece.” Genesis tossed the now unneeded cutting board in the sink, the clanking and crashing against other unclean utensils waking both his friend and their child. Though his friend was much more attentive, pupils sharp immediately, their child rubbed her eyes and squinted helplessly at the lights. 

Sephiroth looked away, blocking his eyes with his bangs and letting the child go. 

She looked down, small guilt in her eyes as she stayed silent. 

As punishment, Genesis forced them both to sit in the uncomfortable silence for a solid thirty seconds. Then he scoffed. “Am I so boring to you?”

Sephiroth spoke as the little girl shook her head, “It’s not like that.” 

“Oh of course not. Why would it be?” He crossed his arms. “Pray tell why you’re both so rude to the man cooking you dinner.”

The silver haired man adjusted in his seat as the child tried to hide in her own hair. “...well…” He did not want to admit something so childish, but he didn’t want his daughter punished for this infraction. “You…”

The redhead tapped incessantly against his arm. “I?”

Nova grabbed her father’s arm, trying to admit what she knew was true. “I’m just really tired, and I…-”

“No. What were you going to say, Sephiroth?”

He curled slightly, attempting to avoid the gaze and tone, terribly embarrassed. “...your reading voice…”

His tapping stopped. He stared at his friend, taking a moment before connecting the dots. Then, he chuckled lowly, and the unsettling response glued both offenders to their seats. “Are you trying to tell me, me, that you physically cannot handle hearing me talk?”

“You have a very different tone when you’re reading,” Sephiroth defended. 

“I read Loveless all the time!”

“You quote Loveless and you speak differently when you do.”

Their child nodded shyly in agreement. 

He scoffed, throwing a hand in the air in defeat. “Well if you two can’t handle my recitations, then I guess we’ll just have to do them together.”

They both stared in confusion, but Genesis thought it was a fine idea. 

“Yes, we’ll rotate per stanza and make Loveless a family activity.”

“Absolutely not.” Sephiroth immediately countered.

“But I don’t know Loveless by heart…” Their little girl mumbled at the same time. 

“No ‘buts’ on this. It’s the least you can do for being so disrespectful.”

“But, Dad-” 

The silver father actually stood up, and the daughter silenced. “Genesis, this is ridiculous. You brought this upon yourself.”

“Oh so for helping you two I have to suffer now. Is that it?”

“How are you suffering from this?”

“Apparently now I can’t quote my favorite story because someone can’t handle it.”

“You can quote all you wish, but now you’ve seen the coming result.”

“Yes, and to prevent the same result, you two will join me.”

“Genesis, I don’t know Loveless either.”

“Well now seems like the perfect time to learn.”

This was going nowhere, and he would no longer waste time on this. “Nova, grab your coat. We’re leaving.”

She nodded and took the opportunity to ditch her homework immediately.

“Don’t you dare!”

“I apologize for our reaction, but I refuse to participate in your poem readings.”

“All I’m asking is for some kind of prevention for this!”

“And if I think of one, I’ll let you know.”

“Sephiroth!”

He felt a tug at the side of his black coat. 

“Father, I’m ready.”

Sephiroth immediately lifted her into his arms and carried her out the door as Genesis yelled at him for his disrespect. About twenty minutes later, they both returned from a simple walk around the neighborhood. Genesis, now a bit cooled off, only made angry muttered comments that made their daughter struggle not to laugh. 

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Thanks for reading!

Author’s Note: As amusing as shoving Genesis in a cupboard is, that’s a bit too comedic for this situation. I tried my best with what I could reasonably do! (Genesis would absolutely break out of the cupboard anyway!)