F
Literature
FFVII Sterling Silver (Pilot Part 1) It was a blustery winter night in the city of Edge. At three in the morning, two special toddlers were up far past their bedtime: two-year-old twins, Sterling and Silver Strife. They were special because they inherited mako and Jenova cells from their father, but they were at an alarming high level. The boy, Sterling, possessed great intelligence and awareness. From being a fetus, the Jenova cells incorporated memories and knowledge of both his parents. The girl, Silver, possessed great physical ability and flexibility.  Having a higher concentration of mako, she had been born with a series of mutations outer and inner. She underwent many surgeries from infancy to give her a normal human appearance: a scar on the left side of her neck where a second mouth once sat, scar tissue on the top tips of her ears after being trimmed down, a ring scar from when teeth were removed from her belly button, and two parallel scars shaped like tiny beads on the back of her neck aligned with her spine where two teeny eyes once blinked. Her internal organs were significantly altered, having two hearts instead of one as an example. Her bones can shift and bend in any way imaginable, encouraging her hyperactivity and bravery. She easily scaled her crib bars and stuck the landing. As she trotted towards her brother, Sterling laid wide awake, blankly staring at the ceiling. His thoughts were consumed with memories of his mother being shot with a mako infused bullet; the bullet piercing the womb containing Silver; a voice offering his aid to save her in exchange for becoming a part of him; coming into the world; being brought to his comatose mother for the first time... The poor little boy knew too much and had no one to tell. He feared disappointing his father after hearing him say he wanted his kids to live a normal life, so he abstained from speaking to the fullest. "Psssst," Silver whispered. "Steeeewiiiing."  Silver's voice pulled him back into reality. Though startled, he turned on his side to face her. "Yeah?" Silver grabbed his crib bars and hopped happily on her little feet. "It snowing outside!" she squeed. "Come see!" Sterling sat up to view the window with the curtains folded open for them. The snow twirled and performed a glistening waltz. However, one detail stood out to Sterling. "It's still nighttime," he said. "What time is it?" "I dunno," Silver said innocently. She stood on her toes. "But come on! Let's build a snowman!" "Right now?" "Yeah, yeah! Deh gonna be mountains and mountains!" Sterling sat up and stretched drowsily. "If it's JUST snowing, there won't be mountains and mountains. We'll have a better chance in the morning." "But dad will be gone away on his vroom vroom in the morning!" Silver whined. "I wanna supise him nooooow!" Sterling blinked in perplexion. "Surprise?" Silver toddler sprinted to their door. With her strengthened legs, she squatted and hopped, successfully grabbed hold of the knob and turned it.  "Aw, geez," Sterling mouthed. He knew that without him, great peril could befall his unheeding sister. He used his inherited strength to climb out of his crib and cried out, "Wait for me, Sil!" However, his scrambled brain prevented him from a coordinated landing; he stumbled and belly flopped instead. "Ouch…."  Silver, though impulsive, still put her brother first. She hurried to his side, helped him onto his feet, and said, "You okay? That looked like big ouch." "I'll be okay," Sterling reassured her. "Thank you." "Okay!" Silver grabbed Sterling's hand and led him out into the hall. "Let's go!"  Sterling could only follow and entertain her fanatic imagination. Then, together, they stood at the top of the stairs. "We this much steps to be gwown ups!" Silver declared. "Follow me!" She let go of Sterling to lead by example. "One step." One little foot down, followed by the other. "Two step." "You're not using the rails," Sterling said shakily as he looked on with fertilizing anxiety. "Daddy doesn't use the rails," Silver retorted, eyes peeled forward as she marched on. "Thee step. Five step." "You skipped four again." Silver responded with a sound fart. Sterling furrowed his brows. "I know that one was on purpose," he vexed. "Ya," Silver said shamelessly. Sterling's nose wrinkled upon picking up Silver's reply. "Ewwww," he grimaced. "You better not have been eating any more garbage."  Another of Silver's mutations included being able to consume anything without harmful affliction.  "We eat cheesy peppewooni pizza tonight, remember?" she told him. "And eating gabage is fee ceaning service and colletive contibootion to socytee." "It's still bad for you," Sterling argued. "Daddy says too much candy, too, but I fine thee more of Denny's candy wappers today." Silver hopped down from the last step. Her feet balleted, propelling her to face her brother in her triumph. "It your turn!!"  Sterling gulped; Silver had gotten lucky, but one slip from the top to the bottom meant certain death to a baby. He looked behind him, wondering why their dad and Denzel haven't come to stop them by now. "Steeewiiiiing!"  Once again, Silver's clinging vocals tugged him along. "Yikes, I'm coming…." Taking caution, he sat on the top stair and scooted to the next one. "Why you come down that way?"  Sterling pondered for an appropriate response to please his rapidly curious sister. "My, uh, butt itches," he replied sheepishly.  "Diaper rash?" "I dunno. Maybe?"  "Tell me how it feels! I wanna scatch my butt that way, too!" Sterling blushed. Silver was only behaving as a normal two-year-old should. In Cloud's absence, he felt responsible for setting an example while playing the toddler role."It's not really working. It doesn't get in the right spot." "Booooooo." At last, Sterling's tush touched the main floor. He stood himself up. "All that's left is to go outside, right?"  "Yeah, yeah, yeah!!" Silver raced to the door and leapt to the knob, only it wouldn't turn like the last one did. She tried multiple times while dangling. "Whaaaa?"  "Of course," Sterling said, nodding. "It's locked." "Looooocked???" Silver let go of the knob and plopped down on her back. "Waaaaah!!" she cried as she flung her limbs about. "I want to go outside and supise Daddy!! Ahaaaaaaawaaaah!"  Sterling panicked. Instinctively, he hated seeing his beloved sister cry and wanted to do something. "Aw, don't cry!" he pleaded. "We can…. uh…. draw a snowman!" "I want a REAL snowman! I wanna supise Daddy and make him happy!! Waaaaaaahaaaaah!!" Sterling felt a lump rise in his throat; he realized that his sister truly wanted the same thing he did. Their dad would give them soft smiles, but never exuberant, jolly ones that told them he was filled with glee. Sterling knew the burden of memories Cloud carried with him and yearned to alleviate them. He yearned to give him that spark that had been missing throughout the life he'd seen him live: two children and their father frolicking in the winter wonderland in their yard….  "Hey, sis…."  He knelt down to her level and held her hands firm. "There's a way to get outside." Silver stopped flailing. "T-There is?" she hiccuped. Sterling pointed to the lock dial below the knob. "Do you see that gold sideways diamond thingy?" "Yeah…."  "All we have to do is turn it right side up and turn the knob after."  "R-Really?" "Really." Silver sat up, sniffling lightly. "Hey, Stewing?" "Yeah?" "How are you so smart? And why do you sound like a gwown up? And why do you never talk around Daddy?" Sterling tensed; he wasn't prepared for his sister to ask him so suddenly. "Well, I…."  Silver got on her knees and leaned deeply into Sterling's personal space. Sterling struggled to keep from making eye contact, feeling all to tell she would not stop asking, or worse: ask him in front of their dad. "You see, I'm…. not normal…. and Dad wants me to be. If he heard me talking like this, he'd be sad."  "Boooooooooo." Silver's face became a crumpled piece of paper in the moment. "What even is nohmal? Sounds bowing. I like you betteh this way."  "But Dad–" "Why Daddy be sad? Why Daddy be sad when you talk and play?" "It's not that." "Then wat?" Sterling scratched his chin; how to best approach this that would be acceptable to Silver and protect his secret? Secret… "It's a secret," he answered with a cute smile. "Do you like secrets?" Silver's eyes sparkled like party lights for a special occasion. "Ya, ya!" "It's a special secret that only you can know about. No telling anybody or else it won't be a special secret anymore. Okay?" "Okay!" "That's a good girl."  "We have supah special secwet cub!" "Yes, we do!" "Yaay! Now we make ar supah special secwet cub house outside!" "I thought we were building a snowman." "We bild ar snowman in cub house!"  Toddler logic made next to no sense, but it mattered little to Sterling as it warmed his heart seeing his sister have fun. She leapt for the lock handle, but it was too small for her fingers to latch on. She stubbornly hopped and attempted several more times. Sterling came up behind her and lifted her by the waist.  "Here," he said. "Try turning it to the left, now."  Mimicking an excited puppy, she panted and squealed as she succeeded in her task. She quivered with glee as she turned the knob next and pulled the door open. Little droplets of snow trickled their way in. She cheered, "We did it!"  As soon as Sterling set her down, Silver threw the door further open and zoomed outside. Sterling followed, watching as she pranced and skipped merrily. He took his first step into the snow bank; swiftly rose up to his knees. "Oh my," he breathed, taken aback. "There was more snow than I thought…." 
