Sleepless Nights

Dark- hey thanks for the review…I'm gonna try to update this as much as possible in between updating other stories.

D-Chan: Howdy ya'll! Updated sooner than I thought even though I had a crap load of homework. Math and History. Plus my niece came over, and then we went over Alyssa's. My niece stayed over the night and we watched Chicken Little and seabisquit.

H-Chan: I'm still all tuckered out.

Flacon: The girls don't own Final Fantasy VII.

Fenris: -nods and gives that sexy grin of his-

Flame: -just sighs- that niece of theirs is a handful.


"All the sleeping pills as well as valium, Tylenol pm, benadryl have not worked. How do you get over the insomnia? It is so hard for me to sleep at night. I toss and turn. Count sheep. It is absolutely horrible how the hours stretch. Then of course morning comes and I am totally exhausted."

From: Online forum

Written by: unknown


Cloud sighs as he rolls over once more, trying to get comfortable in the Shinra standard issue bed. He hears a sigh from one of the other beds "Cloud, shut up and go to sleep" Comes an irritated growl. Cloud lies still. Eventually the other cadets breathing evens out and Cloud shifts once again with an irate sigh of his own.

For the past few nights Cloud had, had a constant case of insomnia, nothing had worked. He had tried everything, warm milk, sleeping pills, counting sheep, following the cracks in the ceiling, tiring him self out before bed time. But all of that only seemed to exhaust him further, and prevent sleep from coming to him. He would just lie there until the early hours of the morning, he would probably still be there lying awake when the person Sephiroth sent to wake him up got there.

Cloud pulls the blankets off as the unbearable heat it creates gets to him. He lays spread eagle on top of the sheets. He growls and rolls onto his side, finally he sits up and pulls off the flimsy tank top before once again laying down. He brushes his bangs back, damp with perspiration created by the muggy room. Why was the room so warm on a cold winter's night? It's not like Shinra had heating systems. Cloud looked over at the digital red glowing clock, it read 2:38. Two hours before some on came to wake Cloud up.

He thought back to his meeting with the General. The General had treated him like a normal person. Not like some idiot little kid like the rest of them had. Cloud had always heard that the General was fierce combatant and harsh character. People had always told Cloud that the General was a mean man. Killed for fun, and grinned as he did it, had almost a permanent scowl on his smooth, pale features.

None of that seemed true now that he had met the General in person. Cloud would be training with the General, get to know him, maybe even the real him. Maybe the cold mask seen in pictures was just a façade? Maybe… Cloud's thoughts drifted off as his eye's closed. Soon he was asleep like the other cadets.

(Switch to Sephiroth) (An: not his point of view but to him)

Sephiroth yawns as he steps into Zax room (An: I know I spelled it with two x's last time, but I was debating how to spell it and decided Zaxx, then I was debating later and decided on Zax.) He walks moodily to the bed and flips the mattress up flipping the poor unsuspecting black haired man off and onto the floor. There's lots of sputtering before Zax head pops up "What the hell was that for Sephiroth?" Sephiroth glares at him "I need you to go wake up a cadet for me and bring him down to the breakfast hall."

Zax grumbles "Who and where?" Sephiroth yawns again and rubs some sleep from his eyes "2nd floor barracks, room B6, Cloud Strife, the only blonde in the room." Zax climbs to his feet and walks from the room grumbling the whole way. He finally makes it to the barracks and lets himself into the room. Zax walks over to the bed and shakes the young teen "Hey wake up, the General sent me to come get you." The boy frowns and rolls away from his hands.

Zax grunts "Hey now, I don't wanna get in trouble, wake up!" Something hits Zax from across the room and a grumpy "Shut up!" is heard. Zax growls and finally bright blue eyes look tiredly up at him. "I'm not getting up" Comes the tired voice. Zax sighs "Fine I'm joining you in there then." And he climbs into bed with the cadet.

A half hour goes by…

Sephiroth lets himself into the room with a growl. He had sent Zax to get Cloud over a half-hour ago and he still wasn't back. He was taken aback by the scene that greeted him. Zax and Cloud were cuddled together in the too small standard Shinra issued bed. He goes over and once again grabs hold of the mattress flipping them both off of it. He hears two protests and then a thud. "ow…" Cloud sits up rubbing his head. Zax also sits up "Damn kid yer bony."

Cloud glares over at him then looks up into curious, smiling mako green eyes. Sephiroth smirks "About time you two decide to wake up hmmm?" Both Zax and Cloud blush before getting to there feet. Sephiroth sighs "You both missed breakfast, get showered and eat in fifteen minutes and if your not done by then too bad." They both rush to get showers and are both eating within five minutes.

Luckily they finish eating within the time limit. Sephiroth nods "I know your excuse Zax, but Cloud, why weren't you awake?" Cloud grins sheepishly "I have insomnia; I didn't fall asleep until two hours before you sent him to come and get me." He rubs the back of his head. Sephiroth nods in understanding "I've found looking back on fond memories seems to help that the most." Cloud just nods looking slightly perplexed. Sephiroth stands straight "Now then, shall we get ready to train?"

Cloud nods vigorously and stands also. Zax stands "I'm just gonna come and watch." Sephiroth nods. They get up to the gym. Sephiroth looks Cloud over "Ok, let's work on your battle stance." Cloud gets into the complex looking stance that he calls his own, his sword wobbling as he fights to hold it's massive weight. Sephiroth's eyes narrow "Maybe we should work on weight lifting first…"

Cloud grins sheepishly again and places his sword over by Zax. Sephiroth picks up a pair of forty pound weights "Let's start with these shall we?" Cloud nods taking the weights. Sephiroth spends the next two hours teaching him different lifting and stretching strategies that will help him hold his sword. Then Sephiroth begins lecturing him on battle strategies and old war stories as a type of regular class. Cloud seems to absorb it all like a sponge, the brightness in his eyes giving away his fascination.