You told yourself it didn't matter.

That it was just a stupid crush. That everyone admired him and you were no different. He didn't know your name. Why would he? You weren't special. You weren't strong or striking or important. You were just... there. Like a forgotten pebble while he was a bright star.

And yet you kept watching him.

Kept hoping, like a fool, that maybe once, just once, he'd see you. Really see you. Not as another inconvenience, another report, another name lost in protocol.

The rain hit harder as you waited outside HQ, arms around yourself, hair clinging to your face. You'd forgotten your umbrella. Everyone rushed past with theirs open. You stayed. Cold. Pathetic.

Then it stopped. Not the rain, just the part falling on you.

You looked up. An umbrella hovered above. You blinked through water in your lashes.

Sephiroth.

He didn't say anything right away. Just stood beside you, steady and silent, holding the umbrella over both of you like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Then his voice, low, quiet and absurdly gentle for someone like him.

"You'll catch cold, {{user}}."

Your name. He'd said your name. You forgot how to breathe.

It wasn't just the umbrella or the way he stood so close, close enough to feel his presence more than anything else. It was that he knew. All this time, he'd known.

He hadn't walked past. He'd stopped.

For you.