Summary: On the way to Modeoheim, Zack and Cloud meet another country boy and become close friends. However, this backwater expert turns out to be a feisty girl with a personality to rival Zack's. They go through the trials and traumas that accompany Crisis Core and help each other through the good and bad. How will it all end?

I encourage you to read until at least chapter 4. Things get better as the story progresses.

The story centers around interactions between Zack, Cloud and Felicity, the OC. As the story is in Zack's POV, the most obvious romance is between him and Felicity, however Cloud seems to develop feelings for her as well. You'll need to read to the end to see the result between the three.

As usual, REVIEWS are greatly appreciated.

Enjoy.

"Yo!" I yell across the tundra to Tseng and the others. "Don't fall too far behind!" I turn to the infantryman keeping pace with me. I smile. "At least someone's keeping up."

He keeps his gaze forward as we continue trudging through the snow. "Well, I'm a country boy too."

My interest piques. He's caught my attention. "From where?"

He slows his pace and I pass him so we can talk face to face. "Nibelheim," he answers.

I scoff before laughing heartily, walking in a bemused circle subconsciously. I can barely hear him ask, "how about you?" I'm laughing so hard.

I turn back to face him. "Me?" I ask (rather pointlessly in retrospect), thrusting a thumb in my own direction as a huge grin spreads across my face "Gongaga." He starts laughing. "Hey," I start, feigning insult as he tries to cover his snickers with his glove, "what's so funny about that? You know Gongaga?"

"No," he sniggers lightheartedly, "but it's such a backwater name."

"Ditto Nibelheim!" I retort, turning back around.

He calls after me. "Like you've been there."

I come around again. "I haven't, but there's a reactor there, right?" He nods. "A mako reactor outside Midgar usually means…"

"Nothing else out there," we both chorus. Our eyes connect and we erupt into a bout of laughter.

"Good news, Tseng!" I point to the far off Turk and straggling infantryman as I shout. "Me and…" I look to the guy beside me, realizing I hadn't gotten his name.

He takes off his helmet to reveal a head of blonde, spiky hair. His blue eyes are bright as he introduces himself. "Cloud."

"Me and Cloud here are both backwater experts!" I yell, gesturing to the two of us before clenching my fists in enthusiasm. "Oh yeah!"

"Good. Carry on then." Tseng calls back. "Though I wouldn't call you experts. Experts would be leading the pack."

Cloud and I exchange confused glances. "We are leading."

"No, you were leading. An infantryman passed you about half an hour ago."

"What?"

"We should meet back up with him soon. Just carry on."

Cloud and I slowly about-face and continue walking. Our steps are less fervent than before. Finally I have to ask, "You didn't notice anyone pass us, did you?"

Cloud shakes his head. "No."

I frown. "I mean, it's not that big a deal, but I must really be losing my touch if I can't see an infantryman pass me."

"I didn't see him either. Don't worry about it."

I relax. I shouldn't even be concerned about something so trivial. "You're right." We walk a while longer. "Must be some infantryman though."

"Has to be a ninja." Cloud smiles. I return the gesture. We fall into a comfortable silence.

We're probably a couple of miles from Modeoheim when we see the amber glow of a fire. As we get closer, I notice someone sitting on a rock beside the fire in a Shinra uniform identical to Cloud's. "That'd gotta be him," I say to Cloud. He nods in agreement and we head towards him and the flames. My feet speed up with the prospect of a warm fire to defrost my frozen body.

The infantryman notices our approach. Once we were in earshot he yells at us. "About time you caught up! I thought I'd be waiting here all day!"

"Uh…sorry?" I reply.

"I suppose I shouldn't be complaining," he says. His voice sounds odd- raw and pitched- but I chalk it up to puberty and the frigid temperature. "I was the one who went ahead. Sorry about that by the way; I get antsy easily and the pace was a little too slow for me. I took the liberty to snag some food though," he gestures to a pile of cooked fish and hare sitting by the fire. "Help yourselves."

My eyes bulge. "You caught all this?"

He nods, trying to keep down a proud grin and failing. "Yup. I went through the tundra. There's a great fishing spot to the North and some forestry to the East. A fishing line and a couple traps later and voila!"

I look over the array of game. Now I knew what Tseng meant when he said Cloud and I weren't experts. "And you're sure we can eat all this?"

He grins ear to ear. "Of course. Don't want to get to Modeoheim on an empty stomach."

Cloud refrains from licking his lips as he looks from the food to his fellow infantryman. "And you?"

He waves him off. "Don't worry about it. I already had some."

Cloud nods and then starts eating a fish appreciatively.

I grab a hare and stare at it before I throw an incredulous look at the infantryman. "How are you this skilled? You live around here or something?"

"Nah," he says, stretching before inching closer to the fire. "I'm from Banora. When I wasn't out gathering and hunting for my family, I was working in the orchards. And when there isn't anything to do other than pick dumb-apples, the pickers tend to talk to each other. We usually share our knowledge and skills so everyone can improve. It's like a win-win-win." He smiles.

"You're from Banora?" I ask, pleasantly surprised. "Do you know Angeal?"

The guy perks. "You bet! Angeal's like my big brother!"

I beam. "No way! Same here! He's always looked after me at SOLDIER."

"He's the reason I joined. I thought it'd be awesome to fight with Angeal and Genesis." My face fell. This guy must not have heard about Genesis deserting. "It'd be just like when we were little. We used to fend off the wild animals that would wander into town."

Cloud senses my unease at the mention of Genesis and changes the subject. He knows I don't want to be the bearer of bad news. "Zack and I were impressed you passed us. We're both self-proclaimed backwater experts."

"Oh, you guys are from the country too?"

"Yup!" I say, happy the topic switched. "I'm Zack Fair, SOLDIER 2nd Class from Gongaga. Nice to meet ya!"

Cloud smiles. "Cloud Strife. Infantryman from Nibelheim."

"And you're from Banora." I gesture to the three of us. "I guess we're all country boys."

"Oh, I wouldn't call myself that," the infantryman says, reaching up to take off his helmet. A cascade of brown curls fell to his shoulders and delicate pale-blue eyes shone mischievously from his impish face. Only it was now very apparent that the infantryman wasn't a he. She smiled. "More like country girl. The name's Felicity White. Nice to meet cha!"

Hurray! Plot twist! ...or it would be if I hadn't included the part of the newcomer being a girl in the summary.

What do you think of Felicity's character? Is the story enjoyable? Any suggestions?

Let me know!

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