Decisions Between Love and War Chapter 1: Prologue, a final fantasy vii fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own any Final Fantasy VII characters.

Summary: AU. Jenova is the queen of half of the northern continent, taking Sephiroth as her prince. She believed that her other children (Cloud, Zack, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz) were too weak to become princes, so they became higher servants. What happens when young scrawny Cloud takes interest in the prince? Other main characters will be in here. R&R!

A/N: Hello, everyone, this is another story of mine that came to me overnight. I just made Jenova a female in this story. It'll be easier for me that way. The characters are around twelve years old in the prologue, and they are all wearing their normal clothes, unless I say different. Please enjoy…

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Decisions Between Love and War:

Prologue:

"Mother! Mother! We have a messenger from the Cetras!", cried a boy with short and almost curly silver hair as he ran through the walkway to the throne.

The walkway was one long, thin blue carpet that lead up to three huge and high chairs. This huge throne looked like one huge ballroom with eight windows on both left and right walls. As the boy ran up the walkway, he tightly grasped the hand of a black-haired and reddish brown eyed girl.

Once they finally reached the huge thrones, they were both out of breath. The silver-haired boy pushed the black-haired down on her knees so that she was bowing to the sinister looking woman who was sitting on top of the highest throne and a silver-haired teen who was sitting in the lowest throne.

"Mother, this is Tifa Lockhart. She's one of the princesses in the Cetra castle. She's came to talk to you", the silver-haired boy said.

The woman had long white hair that went way past her waist with red glowing eyes and very pale skin. She was dressed in one very long white dress that almost matched her pale skin. It was so long that it touched the floor. The woman held a smirk on her face as she turned her frightful gaze on the young girl.

"You're very brave to come here, young Tifa. What do you want?", the woman's voice rung throughout the room, scaring the girl a little.

"I've come here to tell you, Queen Jenova", she began nervously, "that my step-mother, Queen Ifalna, has a treaty a peace for you".

"And where is this treaty?", Jenova asked, irritated.

"She says that the treaty will be discuss at the ball she's inviting everyone in this castle to", Tifa said.

"When is it going to be held?", Jenova asked.

"Next year…", Tifa answered, giving the silver-haired prince at the throne a small glance.

"Hm…", Jenova said, thinking while smirking. "We shall attend this ball. Off you go".

"Yes, your majesty", Tifa said as she got up and dusted herself off.

"All of us are invited, young princess?", the silver-haired prince at the throne asked, making her jump a little.

"Um…yes, uh-…what's your name?", she asked stupidly.

"Sephiroth", the prince hissed, glaring at the girl's ludicrous behavior.

"Do you want me to send her away, Mother?", the younger silver-haired boy asked.

"Yes, Loz", Jenova answered shortly.

The young boy nodded and grabbed the girl's arm before taking off out of the room, dragging Tifa with him. Sephiroth turned his attention away from them and stared blankly at the wall nearest to him bored.

"My prince, what's the matter?", he heard his mother ask.

He could tell she really didn't care…she never cared about him.

"Why do we have to go to this juvenile ball for a treaty? You don't even want to make peace with the Cetras", Sephiroth said as he continued to stare at the wall.

"Oh, dear boy", she began as she ran her fingers through his long silver locks, "You'll understand soon".

Sephiroth said nothing else and hopped down on the ground. His long black trench coat blew out from under him as he landed on the ground gracefully. Pivoting his foot, he turned back to look at his mother, blankly.

"I'm retiring for the evening, mother", he said and started to walk off.

"Oh…Sephiroth…you do have to meet your other brothers. They've barely seen you, and you've never made yourself known to them", Jenova said.

"Maybe later…", Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked away and entered through the door to the dormitories.

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Young Tifa sped across the fields on her horse feeling an aching uneasiness. She knew it was a very, very bad idea to invite Jenova and her children over for a ball at the Cetra castle. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her horse's gray mane and sped up even more.

It was only when she heard a loud whine that she stopped her horse completely. She looked around the green hilly landscape and saw two boys on horses coming over to her. She leaned back to await the boy's approach. She noticed they both had silver hair and glowing eyes. Once they stopped in front of her, the younger-looking boy spoke.

"You're one of the princesses, aren't you?", he said.

"Yes, but who are you two?", she asked.

"You can call me Kadaj, and my brother is Yazoo", the same boy said.

"Nice to meet you", the other boy said.

She didn't like the tone of their voices and nervously nodded her head. She turned her horse around to get back to riding again, but a blunt blow to the head stopped that from happening. The boys grabbed her and put her Yazoo's horse with him.

"Now that that's taken care of…", Kadaj said with a smirk and slapped Tifa's horse on its butt.

The horse neighed loudly and took off quickly, disappearing amongst the green hills and into the brighter blue horizon. The boys chuckled and took off after the horse just so they could follow it to the Cetra castle.

"So, Kadaj, we're going to steal their riches from them?", Yazoo said without any emotion in his tone.

"Yup, that's the plan", Kadaj answered.

"Why did we attack the princess?", Yazoo asked.

"I don't know…just wanted to...I guess. Besides, that horse will lead us to the castle. Their horses always go back home…always…", Kadaj replied.

Kadaj was correct. After a couple of minutes of riding, they stumbled across a huge white marble castle with pretty blue skies, unlike theirs. Tifa's horse entered its stables, and Kadaj and Yazoo rode around the castle to find a back entrance.

Fortunately, they did find one, but it was very small. They left their horses right at the entrance so that if they were chased they'll be able to get the hell out of there. They left Tifa unconscious on Yazoo's horse. Kadaj was the first to enter, and Yazoo followed behind him. The silver-haired brothers noticed it was very dark and kind of moist, but they ran right through that and ran into a door.

Kadaj sighed, "We should've brought Loz along. He could've just blown us a pathway".

He felt the door to find a knob, and once he found it, he twisted it and opened it. The light that flashed on them was so bright that they had to take a couple of seconds to adjust their eyes to the light. They entered the huge room that almost looked like their throne room at home, but this room had white curtains, carpet, and a tapestry (on the throne).

"Mother, where are you?", came the voice of a little girl with long brown hair tied into one long braid in a pink bow.

The silver-haired boys gulped and ducked behind the huge pole beside them. The girl had a blonde female plushy doll in her arms as she strolled across the throne room. Her green eyes scanned everywhere she walked.

"Mother? Vincent?", she called.

"Aerith, what are you doing?", a voice came behind her.

Gasping, she turned around and saw an older-looking man who looked around twenty with long black hair and red eyes. He stared at her confusedly, and she gave him a huge smile and grabbed him in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Vinny! You're here!", she cried.

"Aerith, let me go and where are your siblings?", he asked.

"Hey, they're your siblings too, silly!", Aerith cried, giving him a playful hit on his stomach.

"Indeed…", he softly scoffed.

"Aw…Vincent…they're on their way here. I think, and so is Mommy", she said. "Stay here. They'll be here soon".

"Why?", he asked.

"We're having a meeting. Something about a ball with Queen Jenova and her children", she answered.

"What? Why?", Vincent instantly said.

"I don't know", she answered as she patted her doll's head.

Hearing loud footsteps, the two turned around and saw a woman with long wavy brown hair. Aerith smiled and instantly ran towards. Vincent just stood there, looking at the woman.

His red eyes caught yet three more people entered the throne room. It was another young girl with short black hair on top of a lion-like creature and a huge man who looked around his age with light brown skin and a black afro. Kadaj and Yazoo lurked in the shadow still behind the pole, wondering when they were going to get a chance to dash into the other rooms.

"Mommy you're here!", Aerith cried as she hugged the brunette woman.

"Mother, will you like to tell what the hell is going on?", said the light-skinned man.

"Hey, Barret, you can't talk to Mother like that!", the black-haired girl cried.

"Yuffie, you know Nanaki isn't suppose to be here!", the man named Barret said.

"Barret…", the brunette woman said calmly. "Why do you have an attitude today?".

"I don't know…", Barret sighed, calming down.

Kadaj and Yazoo gasped.

"Isn't that…?", Kadaj began.

"Queen Ifalna…", Yazoo finished.

"Let's get the treasure and QUICK!", Kadaj said.

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Tifa groaned loudly, rubbing her head. Her reddish brown eyes slowly opened as she got off the horse. She observed her surroundings, noticing she was home. Her fists clenched as she growled.

"Those boys! They knocked me! Ooo! I'll kill them if I see them again!", she cried.

She noticed the entrance door was opened and entered the dark room, hoping that she would find the boys responsible for her major headache in here.

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"Mother, Aerith tells me you're planning to throw a ball and inviting Queen Jenova?", Vincent asked.

"Yes, that's correct, Vincent", Ifalna answered.

"Why?", the girl on Nanaki, the lion-like creature, named Yuffie asked.

"To make peace. Sure we had many wars and battles with each other, but it's wearing us both down. We need to make peace to settle things", she answered.

"You think Jenova wants peace at all?", Vincent asked.

"It's your grandfather's dying wish, Vincent", Ifalna said.

"Shin-Ra isn't my grandfather", he slightly scowled.

"When is the ball?", Yuffie asked.

"A year from now, but we still need to get it ready. When Tifa comes, we'll all get started", Ifalna said.

Kadaj and Yazoo noticed they were all turned around facing away from them. Kadaj nodded to Yazoo, giving his brother the signal. They scurried across the room against the walls and ran through the nearest door. The people in the room suddenly heard a loud boom.

"OOOOO!", a loud voice shouted all around the huge room.

Tifa angrily approached her family members, pouting. Aerith had pulled away from Ifalna and looked at the girl confusedly. As Tifa stood before them, she stomped her foot down, making sure she got the attention of everyone in the room.

"Mommy, the princes from Jenova's castle knocked me out and took my horse!", Tifa whined.

"See, they don't want peace!", Barret butted in.

"They were probably just being playful. How old are they? Ten?", Ifalna said.

"Mother, they attack Tifa. I don't think that's playful", Vincent said.

"We'll discuss this later. Let's get ready", Ifalna said as she walked off.

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The wind was awfully breezy today, and young boy was wondering if the strong winds were going to blow his frail body away. He decided he was going to lie back on the grass so his blonde spikes wouldn't bother him so much.

The sky was darker than usual, making it a deep ocean blue. It wasn't even night yet. The blonde sighed, closing his sapphire blue eyes as he relaxed on the grassy hill. He wasn't near as peaceful as he wanted to be. All of his limbs were sore…very sore from all of the chores he had to do.

"Oh, Cloud. There you are", a voice said behind him.

He turned his blonde head to see a boy a little taller and more built than him. The older boy had black spiky hair with amber eyes that stared right into the blonde's blue ones. He had a huge smile on his face as he sat down beside the blonde.

"Well, Cloudy-boy, you've decided to dump your other activities for the day and watch this crappy black and blue horizon?", the black-haired boy asked.

"Yup", the blonde said. "Gotta a problem with it, Zack?".

"Nope…but I think Mother might", the boy named Zack answered.

"Oh, come on! I've been cleaning up in Sephiroth's room all day. I'm sure that he doesn't have one spec of dirt that room", Cloud said angrily. "Besides, I haven't even met him! I've just seen him in the halls and stuff".

"That's funny because it's the same with me. We have a very big castle though. He probably doesn't even want to talk to us", Zack sighed.

"What? Just because he's the prince, and we were made servants! He sounds arrogant!", Cloud yelled.

"I'll make you swallow those words, Cloud".

"That's funny because it's the same with me. We have a very big castle though. He probably doesn't even want to talk to us", Zack sighed.

"What? Just because he's the prince, and we were made servants! He sounds arrogant!", Cloud yelled.

"I'll make you swallow those words, Cloud".

Both Cloud's and Zack's hearts and bodies froze, and they gulped at the same time. Their hands clenched the dirt as they both slowly turned their heads and caught very angry bright emerald glowing eyes. They didn't know who this was, but they had a feeling that he was indeed the brother they were talking about.

"Seph…", Zack quietly began.

"Ir…", Cloud continued.

"Roth…", Zack ended.

"That is me", the silver-haired prince said with a small look of amusement.

"If you're Sephiroth, why does Mother have me clean your room?", Cloud snapped.

"Cloud…", Zack grabbed the blonde's arm to pull him down and keep him down on the ground. "Um…he's a little tired, Seph".

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, crossing his arms up to his muscular chest, and Cloud instantly regretted yelling at the silver-haired teen. A little of it was in plain view to both of the younger boy's eyes, and they both shudder at it. Zack's eyes shifted their gaze to Cloud, and Cloud looked at the silver-haired teen's feet.

"Because… moronic neonate…you're weak, and since you cannot fight, Mother graciously kept you and let you do chores instead", Sephiroth answered with a hiss.

How old was he really?

Cloud ripped himself away from Zack's arms to stand up. His blue eyes glared at Sephiroth, and he clenched his fists. The anger was pumping through his veins, but he tried to calm it down.

"I don't know what those stupid words mean, but I don't like them one bit", Cloud said.

"Come on, guys. It's our meeting with each other. Why can't we get along?", Zack said, giving both boys a disappointed look.

"I don't have time to fool around with weaklings. Next time, Cloud, learn how to clean my room much better than that failure you did today", Sephiroth said calmly as he turned to walk off.

"You big freaking meanie! I worked all day on that room! How do you know my name anyway?", Cloud said, turning red with anger.

"I know all of my half-brothers", the silver-haired prince answered, then walked off.

Cloud sighed, "Man, what a jerk".

He collapsed down on his butt on purpose along with Zack. His eyes went back to where Sephiroth was and found him glaring at him from one of the castle entrances. He stuck his tongue out, but the silver-haired prince was gone before he could see that. Zack looked confusedly back and forth, then finally looked at Cloud.

"Who are you sticking your tongue out to, Cloudy-boy?", Zack asked with a slight smile.

"That stupid jerk", Cloud said, pouting.

"You must not think he's too much of a jerk if you're blushing", Zack said, laughing.

"What?", the blonde shouted, looking frantic. "I'm blushing?".

"Yeah, but it's only a little…luckily for you", the black-haired boy said, and the blonde sighed. "Hey, Cloud, wanna mess with Reno and Rude for awhile?".

"Yeah…that'll be great…", the blonde said as he and Zack stood up and ran into the castle.

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Sephiroth wandered the halls. His arms were still securely crossed in front of his chest. His black boots clicked with his steps, and his cooling bright emerald eyes were looking in front of him.

He was frustrated because he couldn't figure out if he should be angry or calm. That encounter with the blonde and black-haired boys left a lasting affect on him, and that was what made him frustrated.

Usually, other people were scared of him, except for his mother, and now dead father, Hojo. The servants dashed past him whenever they so much as look at him. No one could hold a proper conversation with him.

That's why he wandered alone and didn't even bother to connect with his brothers. He was the oldest and the true prince of the whole castle, and that put a lot on his shoulders. He always knew he was different, but he couldn't figure out what exactly it was.

That blonde brother of his…

He was different from the rest. He stood out to him more, even if they had just met. He didn't shy away from his insults. In fact, he argued back with him. That has never happened to him before. Sighing and wiping the blonde out of his mind, he entered his room and slammed the door.

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Kadaj and Yazoo, after a lot of journeying through a lot of rooms without being caught, found the trophy room. It had little treasure, making both silver-haired brothers very angry and frustrated.

"This it? All that running, and this is what we get?", Kadaj yelled.

"Hush, brother. You don't what them to catch us now. Let's just take a little and show Loz when we get home to prove we went through it", Yazoo suggested.

"Fine by me then", Kadaj sighed as they took around five pounds of coins and stuffed it in their pockets. "Okay…let's go!".

The silver-haired brothers snuck out of the trophy room quickly only to bump into a rushing brunette girl. They yelped as they all hit the ground with a loud thud. Kadaj was on top with Yazoo and the girl on the bottom. Kadaj got up and help Yazoo up while shoving the coins back in their pockets. The brunette girl got up and pouted, brushing the dirt of her pink dress.

"Who are you and why'd you push me over?", she asked.

"We're uh…new servants. We just got assigned today, and we're going back home to our families, Princess Aerith", Kadaj lied.

"Hey, how'd you know my name?", Aerith asked, giving them disbelieving looks.

"Queen Ifalna told us all of the princesses' and princes' names of the castle", Yazoo continued as they both bowed.

"Well…next time say sorry when you bump into someone like that", Aerith suggested as she skipped away down the hall.

Kadaj and Yazoo shook their heads in disbelief.

"Man, she's easy to fool…", Kadaj said. "Let's get out of here before we really get caught!".

The boys scurried the extract pathway they came from, hiding in the shadows. As soon as they entered the throne, they saw that the coast was completely clear, and no one was in the room. Smiling, they dashed out in the open, rushing towards the door that they first entered the castle from. They knew they were going to escape now.

Except for one little thing…

As soon as they got to the door, it opened, and the boys ran right into a very strong chest. The man grunted, and the silver-haired brothers slowly looked up to see who it was. It was Vincent. He glared at the boys as he picked them up by their collars.

"Hey, let me go!", Kadaj cried as he kicked and punched air.

"You're from the Nibelheim castle, aren't you?", Vincent hissed.

"Yeah, why do you want to know?", Yazoo said calmly.

He didn't struggle at all, and Vincent was kind of confused as to why, but he shook it off. Kadaj was still being the very feisty teen that he was, kicking his shorts legs outwards. Vincent sighed and put the boys down.

"What are you two doing here?", he asked.

"We wanted to get Tifa back home safely", Kadaj lied.

"Hm…it seems that Tifa did get back home safely, but she was hit in the head before that happened", Vincent said, glaring at Kadaj.

"But Prince Vincent…if that is your name…Tifa got home safely, so why get angry at us?", Yazoo's voice was still calm as ever.

"Because I know you guys stole something. Give it back…now", Vincent said as he reached out his hand.

"Fine!", Kadaj cried as he shoved all of the coins in his pocket in Vincent's hand. "That's all we took".

"Leave…I don't want to see you here ever again, until the ball", Vincent hissed, and the boys scurried off and out of the castle.

They grabbed their horses and quickly took off towards their home.

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"Come on, Reno! Faster!", Cloud shouted at the red-haired teen whose back he was sitting on.

"Cloud, you're killing me! I can barely do one push-up!", the red-haired man replied as he tried to push himself up from the floor with the blonde on his back.

"Reno, you're seriously lacking, dude. Rude, here, is kicking your butt", Zack said as he crossed his legs Indian style while sitting on top of a bald-headed teen.

"1…2…3…", the bald-headed man counted as he pushed himself off the floor then back down with the black-haired teen on top of him.

"Hey, guys!", a voice called from the door.

They looked over and saw a boy with short silver-hair and worried bright emerald eyes. He was nervously shaking, and all of the other males in the room looked at him like he was nuts.

"Loz, what's the matter?", Zack asked.

"You've seen my brothers?", Loz asked.

"Which ones?", Cloud sighed.

"Kadaj and Yazoo…I haven't seen them in a while", Loz answered.

"They'll come…back soon, buddy", Reno, the red head, said with a grunt as he landed back on the ground painfully.

"You're all just a bunch of meanies! I'll find them myself!", Loz stomped his foot down and sniffled.

He glared at them and ran out of the room.

"Okay…how old is he again?", Zack asked.

"Who knows? He's barely your brother", Reno said with Cloud still sitting on his back.

Rude grunted as he dropped back to the ground and rolled over, making Zack fall on his back. The black-haired boy jumped back on his feet and looked at Rude who had a slightly frightened look on his face.

He turned his head to see Cloud and Reno frozen with astonishment as well. He looked at the door and saw no else but the silver-haired prince. His bright emerald eyes focused on his amber ones blankly.

"Hm…and here I thought I wasn't going to get to train today", he said.

"Prince Sephiroth…Cloud was just helping me do push-ups. That's all", Reno said as he removed himself from under the blonde.

Cloud fell backwards, but Reno caught him to help him up. He was the shortest of the group, and he felt a temporary awkwardness before glaring at the silver-haired teen. Rude and Reno bowed their heads down.

"It seems you've made no progress", Sephiroth said as he walked into the room.

The boys stood there as he brushed past them and stopped right in front of a long sword in its sheath on shelf. They all saw the sudden angry look on the prince's handsome face. He suddenly growled and grabbed the sword, pulling it to his side.

"Who put my Masamune on the shelf? It's supposed to be on its carrier", he hissed, turning around to glare at all of them.

"Don't blame us! The 'carrier' wasn't in here when we got here", Cloud said back.

The silver-haired prince growled and pulled out the very, very long sword, pressing it against the blonde's neck. The boy gasped and jumped back, and Zack stepped in front of him, shielding him from any other attack.

"What do you think you're doing, Seph? He's your brother for Christ's sake!", Zack said.

"Half-brother", Sephiroth corrected.

"Prince…he's not even armed", Reno said, controlling his rising rage.

"Well, then…", the silver-haired prince said as he sheathed his sword.

He smirked inwardly as he walked up to the red-haired servant. Reno stood up straight, but before he could open his mouth to apologize, he felt a sharp hit to his stomach. It knocked the wind right out of him, and he fell on his knees, clutching his stomach.

"Reno!", Cloud and Zack cried as Rude went to the red head's side.

Sephiroth turned to face Cloud and slowly took one step at a time towards the blonde, "He's fortunate that that's all I did to him".

Cloud glared at the prince, "You didn't have to hit him!".

The blonde charged for the silver-haired teen with his fists clenched and ready to attack. As soon as he got within arm range, he thrust his fists forward, but one of them missed. The older boy grabbed the other hand tightly in his fists, crushing down on him mercilessly. The blonde bit his lip as he felt his knuckles being crushed.

He jerked backwards over and over again, but he was met with a harsh punch to the stomach too. The blonde fell over on the silver-haired prince's chest, groaning loudly. The older boy grabbed him roughly by the back of his shirt and tossed him over to Zack who caught the blonde in his arms.

Rude helped Reno up, and Zack did the same with Cloud. Sephiroth unloosened his leather belt and tied his sword to his waist by the belt. Afterwards, he gracefully exited the room, and the blonde watched every moment of it. His blue eyes locked onto the older boy's retreating form unable to look away.

"What a bastard!", Reno cried, rubbing his sore stomach.

"He packs a pretty good punch though", Zack said as he patted Cloud's stomach just to watch him hiss in pain.

"Don't do that!", Cloud cried as he jumped back.

"Oh, that hurts, Cloudy-boy?", Zack teased as he poked his stomach again.

"Stop it!", Cloud punched Zack on his shoulder.

"Where is that 'carrier' anyway?", Rude suddenly blurted out.

"I don't know, but that cat was pretty angry that his sword wasn't on that thing", Reno answered as he looked over at Cloud. "Cloud, are you just angry or am I seeing a small blush there?".

"Huh…", the blonde said as he looked at Reno.

"Is our little blondie thinking about our bastard brother?", Zack said as he perked his lips playfully poking the blonde's sides.

"No…", the blonde began. "Zack, I'm going to bed…I need to think".

"Aw, Cloud, just admit it. We won't make fun of you for liking Sephiroth…much", Reno added.

"Thanks…see you guys tomorrow", the blonde muttered as he walked over to the door.

"Goodnight, snookums!", Zack waved before turning back to Reno and Rude. "Wanna wrestle?".

"Aw…I'm not too sure about that. How about I follow Cloud to see if he gets to his room safely?", Reno said, jerking away from Zack who had a big smile on his face.

"What could possibly happen to me?", Cloud said, grabbing everyone's attention.

"I thought you left…", the black-haired boy muttered teasingly.

"Well, there's a chance Sephiroth might catch you and beat you to a bloody purple pulp or I could follow you, and you won't get caught by the maniac. Plus, I won't get beat up by the hyper Zack if I follow you", Reno explained, and all of the guys nodded, agreeing.

"I'm not afraid of him. You've all seen that. I'll be fine by myself", Cloud said as he took a couple of steps out of the door before Reno called him again.

The red head was clutching the door as if or dear life and his expression looked frantic, "Are you sure? I could be your body guard, and Zack won't hit me anymore".

"I'm sure he won't hit you…hard", Cloud said with a smile as he walked off.

"Cloud, no!", Reno cried, feeling something grab his legs.

"Come on, Reno", Zack laughed as he ripped the red head away from the door.

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Loz sniffled at the entrance of the castle. He had searched everywhere for Kadaj and Yazoo, but there was no sign of the silver-haired brothers anywhere. Loz was starting to get worried.

He had taken a seat on a rock at the entrance of the castle, staring out onto the yellow green fields for them. He heard the thuds of horse hooves hit the dirt and jumped up. His bright emerald scanned the higher hills.

"Kadaj! Yazoo!", he cried.

The thuds got louder, and before he knew it, he saw two silver-haired boys riding up to him on horses. He smiled a big smile and jumped up and down. He waved his arms and laughed happily.

"Yazoo! Kadaj! Over here!", Loz cried.

The boys pulled up to their brother and jumped down from the horses. Loz instantly embrace them both tightly in his arms. He began to rock them in his arms, and Kadaj was growling loudly. He was the first to pull away.

"Okay, Loz, we get that you missed us", Kadaj said as he brushed himself off.

"Where did you guys go? And why did you leave me here by myself, meanies?", Loz cried as he wiped away his tears.

"Oh, god!", Kadaj sighed.

"Loz, we just went to the Cetra castle and stole some coins. We just thought it would've been a quieter trip if you didn't come", Yazoo explained.

"So you're saying I'm loud!", Loz shouted.

"Uh…yeah…", Kadaj said.

"Whatever…next time don't leave me behind. Let me see those coins", Loz said.

"Alright…alright", Kadaj sighed. "Yazoo, show him the coins".

Yazoo nodded and pulled out the coins he had in his pocket and dumped them in Loz's hands. Loz smiled and stuffed the ten coins in his pocket. Kadaj glared at Loz and reached his hand out.

"Give them back. We went throw a lot to steal them AND bring them back here without getting into trouble", Kadaj whined.

"I wouldn't say that…", a voice came behind them.

The silver-haired boys turned around and saw a blonde woman and man with black hair appeared the door.

"Who are you?", Kadaj asked.

"Kadaj, I'm sure you recognize us", the black-haired man said.

"You're Tseng and Elena, aren't you?", Yazoo asked.

"Yes, that would be us", the blonde answered.

"What brings you guys here?", Kadaj asked.

"Your mother wants to speak to you. She says that a messenger from the Cetra castle told her that you plundered some of their coins in their treasure room", Tseng answered.

"Oh, great! Come on, Yazoo and Loz", Kadaj as he stomped into the castle.

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Aerith and Tifa finally dusted off the three long mahogany tables in the dining room. The task was very hard to complete, but they completed it all by themselves. For the course of five hours, they had cleaned the whole gigantic room (it was as big as the throne room) enough so that they could see their reflexes everywhere except for the cloths.

"All done", Tifa said.

"Yup", Aerith said.

"I wonder what the other servants are doing. This was a lot of work", Tifa said.

"They're cleaning the other rooms from head to toe", Aerith answered.

"I'm going to my room. I'm tired, and my head still hurts", Tifa said.

"Go ask Mama to heal it for you", the brunette suggested.

"Yeah! I will!", the black-haired girl cheered as she ran out of the room.

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Yuffie, Nanaki, and Barret had just finished up cleaning the throne room. The black –haired girl collapsed on top of lion-like creature on her back. Barret handed her a towel to wipe her face off.

"Thanks…", she said as she wiped her forehead sweat off. "We sure are getting work a lot to be royalty/servants".

"Yeah… that makes me wonder whatever happened to Cid", Barret pondered.

"I guess Vincent didn't tell you. Cid got sent off to get food and supplies for the ball earlier this morning", Yuffie said.

"He wouldn't do any of this work anyway. He'd probably ditch it to go smoke some of the backward weeds", Barret said with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, but enough of this…I feel sorry for the lower Cetras who have to clean our rooms!", Yuffie said.

"Yeah…I'm going to go walk Nanaki", Barret said.

"About time one of you guys decides to walk me. Yuffie will never stay on my back all day long again", Nanaki groaned as Barret took the young girl off his back.

"Aw, quit complaining. You didn't say anything all day", she shot back.

Nanaki growled, and Barret snapped his fingers to get the creature's attention again, "Come on. It's starting to get dark, and I'm not about to get stuck outside with you".

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Queen Ifalna sat quietly in her room, looking over tons of papers. Vincent stood quietly in the corner. He leaned against it with his arms crossed firmly in front of his chest, and his eyes were closed as if he were meditating. The brunette didn't like the silence so much, so she started to make a conversation with her adopted son.

"Vincent, is the reason you're always so deathly quiet is that you miss that servant girl you sent off?", she asked.

She instantly regretted it when the black-haired man growled. She thought he would've gotten over it fifteen years later.

"Her name is Lucrecia, and it is none of your business", he replied sharply.

"I was just trying to help", Ifalna sighed.

"I don't need any help. I just need to be alone", Vincent said as he stepped out of the room.

"Poor boy…she betrayed him, and this is what happens…", she whispered out loud as she went back to reading her papers.

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A blonde man who looked like he was in his thirties pulled up his huge wagon up to the Cetra castle. He had a rolled up paper in his mouth and as soon as he stopped, he took it out and looked around for something.

"Damnit, I forgot! I need some fire! Where's a fire when you need it?", the blonde groaned as he got out of the wagon.

He went to the back of the wagon and started unloading the supplies in it right beside the back of the wagon. Once he done, he put the rolled up paper in his pocket and entered the castle entrance.

He looked everywhere for someone to help him in the first section of the castle. Once he was done searching, he came back outside and saw Barret picking up some of the boxes. He gave the light-skinned man a bright smile. He noticed Nanaki beside the man just standing there.

"About time I find someone who would come and help me", he said.

"Good to see you're alive and not burnt to death, Cid", Barret said as he put a couple of boxes on his shoulders.

"Yeah…you can take those boxes to the kitchen in the way back in the freezer", Cid said with a smirk.

Barret nodded, "Come on, Nanaki".

"Hello, Cid", Nanaki said as he was the first to the step to the entrance.

"Hiya, Nanaki", Cid waved.

"I'll meet up with ya in a minute", Cid said as he went over to grab some boxes.

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Cloud wandered the halls. It wasn't exactly night yet, and he didn't feel like returning to his room just yet. As he walked down the halls, he would occasionally look into the rooms he passed, noticing they were all dark. He stumbled across the one he spent all day cleaning up.

Sephiroth's room…

Curiosity got the better of him, and he entered the room cautiously. Upon entering the room, he caught a whiff of all the cleaning liquids he used to make the tables and windows shiny.

He saw the huge king-sized bed in the middle room. He remembered how extremely soft the sheets were and couldn't resist the urge to hop in the enormous bed. He did and let out a relaxed sigh as he lay on his back. Suddenly, he heard the door slam shut, making him jump up.

"Who's there?", he asked.

Luckily for him (in a way), the moonlight from the window above the bed was shining down on him, and he would be able to see who it was that entered the room. His blue eyes were fixed on the dark figure at the door, wondering who it was.

"Who are you?", he asked.

The figure stepped forward, and the blonde heard boots clicking. He blinked slowly, and when he opened them back up, he saw a very angry silver-haired prince leaning over him. His bright emerald eyes were glued on his blue ones in anger and there was a hint of craziness in them too. The prince grabbed the blonde's shirt and jerked him forward a little.

"Sephiroth…", the blonde muttered with his breath hitched in his throat.

"You argued with me twice in one day, but now that we're alone you're speechless", he said in a low growl.

"You can get off me. If you want an apology, then here it is…I'm sorry and stop being a jerk to me", he muttered the apology under his breath.

The silver-haired prince smirked, pushed the blond back onto bed, and began pacing back and forth across the room, "You intrigue me…Cloud".

"Intrigue?", the blonde repeated.

"You're not the type that likes girls?", he asked as he leaned over him again, making him jerk backwards and up the bed a little.

"Yeah, of course, I like girls", the blonde said.

Sephiroth smirked and leaned even closer so that his lips were mere millimeters away from Cloud's, "Knavishness is your profession, huh?".

"What do you mean?", the blonde asked, staring the older male's lips.

"What I mean is...are you lying?", he answered shortly.

Before the blonde could answer, the prince placed his lips on his. The blonde gasped, and the prince took advantage of his open mouth to slip his tongue inside of the youth's anxious mouth.

It didn't stay for long, since the silver-haired teen gave the blonde's tongue a small lick before retreating. The blonde groaned in disappointment, and the older boy laughed at his pleading blue eyes.

"I thought you said you liked girls", Sephiroth said.

"I do…but...", the blonde didn't feel like finishing his sentence.

In fact, he grabbed Sephiroth's chin pulling him down for another kiss. The silver-haired teen was taken by complete surprise as the blonde crushed his lips against his. The older boy wrapped his arms around Cloud's waist and pulled them both off the bed so that they were still standing.

Their lips were locked tongue, and their tongues were attacking each other hungrily. Cloud was so into the kiss he didn't notice that Sephiroth was leading him somewhere. The prince reached behind and twisted the doorknob behind him. He opened the door all the way and suddenly pulled away from the kiss, tugging the blonde away by the back of his shirt.

"Wha-?", the blonde began.

"Get your filthy weak body out of my room", Sephiroth growled, then threw the blonde out in the hall on his face.

Cloud landed on the floor with a loud thud, and he heard the man who he recently was exchanging saliva with slam the door loudly behind him. He felt slightly hurt and rejected. Picking up what little dignity he had left, he went running to his room.

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A/N: Sephiroth was a big meanie, wasn't he? Anyway, I added extra to the prologue because I accidentally forgot to add the other characters in the first attempt at the prologue. Anyway, please review for more. I plan to write more very soon. As for lilalou, thank you for answering my beta question and reviewing.