Cue Sparkles~

The hike up the mountain had been long and hard. Even through all her TURK training, Cissnei had never experienced anything so difficult before. It seemed every single sharp rock on the mountain she had stabbed herself with, every loose pebble had bounced off her head, and her uniform was the only one getting visibly dirty.

I will never do this again if I can avoid it. She gritted her teeth and hoisted herself up onto another ledge. Her SOLDIER escorts had been well ahead of her the entire time. If she didn't know better she'd say the First Classes and their Puppy were showing off. Huh.

It was about Noon now, she reckoned. Her suspicions were confirmed when her belly growled. Her stomach was always prompt, she thought with a tiny blush spreading over her cheeks. This was both good and bad. When it was a bad idea to check the time on her PHS, like now when he was so close to the edge of a tall peak, her belly-alarm came in handy. But when you are sitting in a meeting with the President, it can be pretty embarrassing to hear the distinct rumble.

I wonder when we will reach the summit. She dusted her pants off half-heartedly, knowing they would only get dirty again. I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to make TURKs wear suits. I suppose the black hides the blood stains, but killing isn't our main job. Cissnei mused as she looked into the sky, her hand on her forehead shading her ocher eyes. She averted her attention to the SOLDIERs in front of her, sighing softly. They were still heading forward. No lunch? Cissnei giggled softly to herself. You know you hang around Reno too much when you start to think like him.

"Cissnei!" Zack Fair popped up in front of her so suddenly she had to jerk back to keep herself from colliding with him. "We are going to eat lunch on the next ledge up. Thank Gaia we don't have to do any climbing this time." He rubbed a hand through his un-tamable spikes.

"That's fine by me." Her stomach rumbled again. She smiled sheepishly when Zack laughed.

"At least I'm not the only one dying a slow death of starvation out here! Seph, Gen, and 'Geal think it's crazy that I'm already craving lunch!" Zack smiled goofily.

"What it must be like to be so full of Mako that you don't need to eat so much." Cissnei replied, smiling at Zack's enthusiasm. He calls the General "Seph"? He's braver then people give him credit for. I don't think Tseng would even brave that.

Zack grinned. "Heh, yeah. I can't wait until I'm First Class!" He pumped his fist into the air. Not watching where he was going, he teetered on the edge of the ledge. Flailing his arms backwards, he regained his balance. "Oops." He grinned innocently and tilted his head to the side while clasping his hands together like he was praying.

Cissnei snorted. He's hard to hate. "Smooth move, SOLDIER." She winked playfully and ran to catch up with the others; they were so far ahead she could hardly see them.

What Zack had said was true; they did stop for a brief lunch on the next level up. The auburn-haired TURK gulped down her sandwich quickly then prepared herself for the rest of the hike. Cissnei took this chance to look around and see what she could see. It's beautiful up here. You don't see this kind of scenery in Midgar.

"Enjoying the view?" Cissnei broke from her thoughts, turning to face Angeal who was smiling pleasantly and looking out like she was.

"Yes. I haven't seen anything like it." She admitted.

"You grew up in Midgar? I guess it isn't too often you come across something like this." Angeal's mako infused eyes can probably see farther than mine.

"Mmm-hmm." She glanced one more time before spinning on her heel. "I suppose we should get moving."

"Zack's not done eating yet. Enjoy the view while you can." Angeal passed by her, going to re-join his friends who were seated leaning against the mountain.

That was odd. Cissnei took his advice though. I knew grass grew like this, but it seems so weird to see it in person. So…grass-y. She frowned at her own thoughts. How would I describe this to someone who has never seen it before? How would one describe the feel of being miles up in the air, climbing a mountain? She peered out of the corner of her eye at the First Class SOLDIERs. How would you describe flying through the air on wings of freedom?

She cleared her head when it was announced that the party would be moving on. Back to climbing.

Two hours passed. The group was nearly to the plateau located near the peak where the Shinra helicopter would be waiting to fly them back to Midgar where mounds of paperwork awaited for each to do. Cissnei was behind again, but she persevered.

She almost let go of the side of the mountain when Angeal dropped back beside her. "Doing okay?" For Shiva's sakes, don't do that! Stupid SOLDIERs and their mako…

"I'm doing just fine." She smiled sweetly. Angeal nodded before jetting back up the mountain-side. Cissnei allowed herself a miniscule blush. He's really nice and respectful.

"I saw that!" Zack teased, seeming to appear out of no where. "The great Cissnei, "the Sephiroth of the TURKs", just blushed. This moment will live on forever in history."

"Shuddup." Cissnei playfully smacked Zack's arm.

"Ow!" Zack stuck his tongue out. "That hurt. For a TURK anyways."

"Of course it did. I'm the great Cissnei, remember?"

"Touché."

"I'm surprised you know what the means."

"Hey!" Zack tried to look offended but only ended up laughing. "Race ya to the top! See you later TURK-ey!"

Cissnei gritted her teeth and pulled up on the next ledge. Zack was already a good minute ahead of her. What she needed was a miracle.

"Hey Puppy!" A purple apple-purple?-dropped from SOLDIER First Class Genesis's hand. "Go fetch!"

Cissnei allowed herself a giggled as Zack backtracked down the mountain to catch the dumbapple. She pulled herself up on the final ledge, smiling victoriously when she spotted the helicopter.

"Awww, that's not fair!" Zack whined, collapsing on the ground next to Cissnei.

Cissnei playfully stuck out her tongue before jumping up and sprinting to the awaiting copter. Zack beat her to it though, bounding up into the now barely hovering helicopter, and tossing the apple to Genesis, who tossed it to Angeal.

It's Angeal's? He met her confused gaze with a smile. Cissnei felt heat rise to the top of her cheeks so she looked away hastily.

"This is Reno, your captain for this evening. We will be arriving in Midgar maybe shortly. Depends. If you look to your right you see grass. If you look down you see mountain. If you look around you see a blushing Cissy. I hope you enjoy your flight!"

"Reno!"

FIN! Finally! This took me forever and a day to write. This is 8/50, and the word was Splendor. Look forward to a crack pairing shortly (The hint is it involves Cissnei, yet again) and some plain ol' SOLDIER fun and maybe a teeny bit of yaoi? See you soon!

Disclaimer: No own. D:

Love and Rockets,

TornAngelWings