Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise. I am not Tetsuya Nomura or Squeenix.
He'd met Zack first. Sort of. The dark-haired Third Class ran into him –literally!– in the hall to the Mess. He was running out of it and knocked the little blond cadet over. Cloud got a flash of dark spikes and violet eyes before the SOLDIER was running off again, a yelled "Sorry!" trailing behind him. Shaking his head, he continued on to get his lunch. As he ate alone at his table, he briefly wondered who it was that had run him down before disregarding it in favor of dreaming about becoming a SOLDIER himself. He had Tactics and Materia Theory after lunch, then it was off for some self-training. It was almost a week before he even thought of the darker man again. And that was only because he was run over again. This time on his way to the outdoor training grounds.
"Sorry kid!" the man called over her shoulder, running off once again.
"Again?" Cloud muttered, continuing on until he heard laughter behind him. Turning slowly, defensively, he expected the usual bullies. Instead, he was shocked nearly senseless when he saw Commander Hewley watching him.
"Sir!" Cloud snapped a salute to his superior.
"At ease, Cadet," the Commander said. "By your remark, am I to understand that Zack has bowled you over before?" A spark of amusement shone in those blue eyes.
"It's okay, Sir. No harm done."
"Indeed, however, he needs to learn better manners. I'll see what I can do to keep you from getting bruised anymore." The man smiled –smiled! At him!– and took his leave, Cloud watching him go until he turned the corner.
So it was that Cloud Strife, ShinRa Cadet, met Commander Angeal Hewley, First Class SOLDIER.
Zackary Fair, Third Class SOLDIER, bounced into the cadet Training Center during their swordplay class. A quick sweep of the room with violet eyes found his target. Blond, spiky hair, blue eyes so big you could drown in them, and the smallest one there. He pounced on the kid, grabbing him up and spinning him around like long-lost brothers.
"Spiky! Thanks for not getting me in trouble! I mean, Angeal was all 'You have to be aware of your surroundings at all times' and 'I know you didn't grow up in the wastes... where are your manners?' and stuff, but he said you didn't complain at all about me running you over and whew! You don't know what kind of punishment I would have gotten if I'd hurt you! So I'm really sorry, man! I didn't mean to knock you over. I get to work with you on your swordplay, though. Angeal thinks it will teach me patience, you know?"
Big blue eyes blinked at him in wary confusion. "Umm... can you put me down now, Sir?" the little cadet asked.
Zack grinned and set him back on his feet, noticing the stares they were getting. "Well, c'mon then! Grab your things. I've got you for the rest of the week."
It was Monday. The little blond beside him groaned softly.
Next up was the Red Commander. He supposed it was only fitting that he meet them in order of importance in the military hierarchy, but this was ridiculous. He was just leaving the barracks, trying to get away when he took his turn to run into somebody. He offered a soft apology as he knelt to help the man he ran into pick up his papers. A brief glance up as he passed them to red gloved hands made his eyes widen impossibly while he jerked to attention, a salute thrown up immediately.
A soft, oddly gentle laugh echoed in his ears as his cheeks reddened. "At ease." One red gloved hand came up and grasped his chin, tilting his face this way and that. Cloud could nearly feel the bruising spread over his face, his eye swelling shut where a meaty fist had landed. He couldn't believe he was meeting this Commander, the one renowned for eating little cadets for a snack, and he looked like he'd been in a brawl. His eyes dropped from soft blue to the yellowed tiles of the hall floor.
Genesis Rhapsodos had been watching this boy since the Puppy began training him. At first he was amused with the SOLDIER's punishment, and later he saw the potential in the blond. As he assumed Zackary and Angeal did also, for the young man to take the cadet under his wing. He was lurking around the cadet barracks, watching and learning. He was not impressed by what he'd so far gleaned, and was going to confront the blond about being bullied when he heard a commotion from the blond's own bunk. He was moving before he thought about it, the paperwork he'd been perusing clutched in one fist when the blond bolted from the room and ran straight into him, his papers going everywhere. He softened when the cadet apologized and helped him, never even noticing whom it was he was helping. As he considered how the blond met the Puppy, he couldn't stop his laughter at the irony of it all. As well as the shock Cadet Strife showed when he finally realized.
He grew concerned when he saw the bruises beginning to blossom. Apparently, the little mountain boy had just gotten away from yet another bullying session. Reaching for his ever present Cure materia, the Commander gestured the cadet into a rarely used office.
Mere hours after meeting Genesis Rhapsodos, Cloud found himself in the small training room he used with Zack, waiting for the older boy to get there. When he did, the dark-haired SOLDIER was looking more serious than he'd ever seen him. He knew there was no sign of the bruising that Commander Rhapsodos had so nicely healed for him, so he couldn't figure out what was stressing the man that always had a happy smile and uncontrollable energy. Those solemn violet eyes settled on his own cerulean ones, and he cocked his head slightly.
"What happened today, Spike?" he asked.
"Nothing," Cloud answered, dropping his gaze. It really was nothing to him. Nothing new, at least.
"Cloud," Zack sighed. "Look, I spoke to Genesis before coming down today. So do you wanna tell me why you were so bruised up, when not one of your bunkmates were?"
Cloud didn't know how to answer that. He didn't know that the Commander had gone to his bunk after the blond left him. He was also unaware of the things he'd learned while there, and consequently shared with Zack. The blond didn't know that the Crimson Commander found out that the newest beating was due to Zack working with him, and the attention he was gaining from the SOLDIER training him. Because everybody knew that little Cloud Strife was a nobody, so why was the student of Commander Angeal Hewley so interested in him? He must be doing something for the SOLDIER Third during their 'training' time. But since he didn't know, he was blissful in his ignorance.
"Honest, Zack. It's nothing. I can deal with it."
Zack sighed again, then dropped it for the moment, taking up a training sword instead. He didn't bother telling his younger friend that Genesis and Angeal were upstairs in the observation room. But he knew they were going to be disappointed. He just wasn't sure who they'd be more disappointed in; Cloud for taking the bullying, or Zack for not pushing harder.
The day Cloud met the Silver General was a bit surreal for him. He was in his bunk, working on class assignments. A throat clearing at the door had all the cadets currently in there jumping to attention and saluting. A simple "at ease!" had most of them standing next to beds, gaping at the men who entered. Cloud, having seen Genesis, flopped back onto his mattress, pulling his Materia Theory book closer.
"Cloud."
"Hello, Commander." Things had been better since the redhead had befriended the young man. At least, superficially. There were no longer bruises left where the man could see them at a glance. That was something, right? And the others were careful to only bother him towards the beginning of the week. Cloud looked up into blue eyes, tilting his head with his question, "What can I do for you?"
"Lift your shirt."
Cloud blinked, then slowly lifted a bit of his top. He was attempting to not show the fresh bruises he'd gotten that morning, and it appeared Genesis knew this. He reached over and simply tore the top in half from the neck down. A swiftly indrawn hiss had blue eyes flying to the doorway, meeting angry green. Mortified, his face turned bright red as he looked down at his fingers.
"Gather whatever you need to take with you. I'll try to have you back for morning drill, but in case I don't, grab what you'll need for classes tomorrow, too." The man turned to the General. "Sephiroth, if you could take Cloud up, I would appreciate it."
The silver-haired man nodded, contempt written all over his face as he looked to the far corner where a few of the boys were discussing how Cloud was going to please the older men that night. He was beyond furious that this sort of thing happened and that it took a SOLDIER Third, two Commanders and a cadet to bring it to his attention. He was disgusted with himself for not knowing more about his own cadets, even if it was a bit unrealistic to expect him to concern himself with the lowest of the ranks.
He led the boy up to Genesis' apartments, using his master key-card to open the door. Ushering the cadet into the room, he told him to take a seat as he went about making tea. The ritual itself calmed him, and he needed that calm right then. From what he'd seen, the boy was a promising recruit, but he couldn't understand how he could let these children bully him. So he asked.
The boy didn't even seem to think as he replied, "It doesn't matter, Sir. They haven't broken anything, and whatever else they do just doesn't matter. I'm not here to make friends or anything. I'm here to become SOLDIER. They have no bearing on anything, except making me work harder to get stronger. They don't matter."
Sephiroth understood this, but he had to point out a few flaws in the child's reasoning. "You may not be here to make friends, but you do have to learn to work with others. If you can't depend on your teammates during a battle, then you will be severely handicapped. They have to trust you, as well. And bullies are notoriously untrustworthy, and I don't want them in my ranks. If they're not reported and manage to pass all the exams and observations, then a SOLDIER could die because of them. And it is hard enough to pass those exams without injuries. Do you really want to walk into them already disadvantaged?"
Cloud considered the man's words and realized he was right. Damn but he hated having to acknowledge that he was wrong, but the General had a point. While fighting through the pain maybe made him stronger, it wouldn't help him in the long run. Not when his whole world revolved around getting into SOLDIER. And then Cloud's thoughts were interrupted by tea being handed to him. Tea! If he ever thought about meeting Sephiroth –and face it, of course he did... who didn't?– tea never entered into it. But Sephiroth served him tea, and it was pretty damned good tea, too. Not up to his mother's standards, of course, but then he might have been biased in that regard.
He couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to the man, though. He figured he'd be the hardest to ever open up to, actually. But it seemed that both being unacquainted with the General and the man having a very professional way about him made him the perfect candidate to lay things out to. He didn't have to worry about hurting his feelings like with Zack, or bruising his honor like with Angeal or setting Genesis' temper off. He could just tell it like he saw it, and the man would calmly and rationally discuss it with him. He liked that. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice what the silver-haired man was doing until he felt the cooling tingle of a Cure washing over him.
"Thank you, Sir," he said softly, fiddling with his teacup.
"It's no problem, Strife."
Genesis entered then, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
Standing atop the cliffs overlooking Midgar, Cloud Strife looked back on his life and the men who made his time in ShinRa bearable. Losing Genesis had devastated him. Genesis was his special friend. They had an odd relationship. Nothing sexual, but they understood each other better than the others did. They were both insecure in themselves and where they stood in terms of their friends.
Losing Angeal had hurt him more for Zack's sake than his own. He loved the man as an older brother, of course, but it hurt worse to see Zack's pain.
Zack's death had torn him apart in ways he was still recovering from. From finding out just who Zack was again, to gaining his own memories back, he was crushed. But the one that hurt the worst was the last.
Sephiroth. He had been Cloud's idol, hero, friend and lover. He had been who Cloud turned to when his world was crumbling after failing to make SOLDIER. He was the one Cloud had confided in about how returning to Nibelheim was not something he was looking forward to. He couldn't believe at first that he had killed this paragon of virtue, but then he had more important things to think about. Like why Gaia had forsaken him, leaving he and Zack at the mercies of Hojo. And then they escaped, and Cloud forgot who he was. Became Zack. Zack, who had no romantic attachment to Sephiroth. Then he had to kill the man he loved. And he had to do it again, two years later. What were the odds that he, little Cloud Strife, failed SOLDIER applicant, failed experiment... that he would be the last one standing?
A/N: So what do you think? I have to thank x-YaoiWolf-x and her story It's an FFVII Advent Shuffle 2011! for planting the glimmer that became this. Hope you enjoyed it!
CT.