"So you were in that simulation thing too, with Angeal. He told me about it. Said he...Met a few of my friends there. That they're doing okay." Aerith, Tifa, and Red, to be precise. Cloud had a suspicion these three Firsts stuck together- after all, even in SOLDIER they were nigh inseparable- but hearing Sephiroth speak from his heart like this is something genuinely stunning for Cloud to hear and experience. There is no questioning the feelings he carries for both Angeal and Genesis, so strong that he wants to keep on in the face of endless, horrific guilt. Sephiroth- this one- is capable of so much more than the torture and monstrous acts Cloud experienced firsthand.

Cloud wonders- how did any of his friends respond to this Sephiroth, who seems just tired, and hurt? Did they have the same experience as he is having right now? A crisis? It even seems there were other friends Sephiroth had there too, that he's missing. It is so achingly human.

"I've been...Worried, leaving them behind."

A small flicker of the Cloud beneath the baggage and damage shows with those simple, soft words. A glimpse of a Cloud Sephiroth knows more than the blond has any clue of. More than he knows himself.