Cloud tucked himself into the back of the cadet orientation group, trying to keep attention away from himself and remain relatively unnoticed. Admittedly, it wasn't too hard considering his height, but his hair always made it a little more difficult. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He could do this. He could. It was just that his memories of this time were shoddy at best and he had no idea what to expect. He needed time to figure out what he was going to do now that he was here.

A boisterous group of older boys burst into laughter a few feet from him and he glanced over. There were five of them, but the leader of them seemed to be a heavier set teen with short brown hair cropped up in spikes. He was gesturing wildly with his hands before he noticed Cloud's gaze.

"Take Blondie over here..." he said, nodding his head towards Cloud. "I give him a week before he's crawling home to his mom. SOLDIER is meant for real men, like us, not little girls like him" he sneered.

Cloud gave him a cold glare. He had to repeat to himself that he was not trying to draw attention to himself. Punching that jerk in the face and showing him what a 'little girl like him' could do to a guy his size most definitely would. On the other hand, it might be nice to get in some real hand-to-hand practice since he had taken to avoiding Tifa...

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Cloud wandered further away from the group with a neutral face, ignoring their sniggering. If they thought SOLDIER was only for men of certain physiques, they were in for a rude awakening. He was also sure that none of the SOLDIERs would take that attitude either, and his mood lightened considerably thinking about what a SOLDIER would do to them.

Before he could get too deep into his thoughts, a SOLDIER Second stepped out onto a stage in the front.

"ALRIGHT! Those of you hoping to make it through the SOLDIER program, SHUT UP and LISTEN UP!" An immediate hush fell over the room. The Second nodded after a moment and continued. "Before anyone can be admitted into a cadet dorm, and thus into this program, you must get a full physical done by one of ShinRa's medical personnel. After you receive the papers from them giving the all clear, you will find me again. I will be at a table with a few other officers and we will be giving you your bunker assignments." He then gestured behind him and a man wearing a white lab coat stepped up alongside him.

The man coughed nervously and fiddled with his tie. "I-If you would all follow me into the next room, multiple curtains have been set up to help make this process quick and easy. Please form a line in front of the curtain corresponding to the first letter of your last name, or first name if and only if a last name had not been provided by you during registration."

He had barely gotten the last sentence out before the group of almost-cadets began moving towards the double doors next to the stage, noise and chatter rising significantly. Cloud moved with them, pushing his way towards the curtains with a large 'S-V' sign out front. A line had already started forming and he made his way to the back, stepping behind a tall blonde.

As time slowly ticked by, he could feel himself tense the closer he got to the front. After Hojo, he had had no real reason to ever find himself needing a doctor of any sort. Aerith was one thing. She could heal him with materia, and BAM he'd be back to normal. And Barret and the members of AVALANCHE had only needed to give him the most rudimentary of field care in the event he was injured. Not to mention that with the amount of mako running through his veins thanks to Hojo's little intervention, he had no real cause to become ill. Because of this, Cloud had no cause to really think about something that was becoming very apparent to him at the moment.

Cloud really hated doctors.

Hating Hojo was a given, but he hadn't realized it extended to such an extent to other doctors until it was his turn to pull back the curtain and he saw the long white coat.

The doctor barely looked up from his clipboard. "Please hop onto the table and we'll begin."

Cloud blanked his face and did what he was told. Reluctantly. Very unhappily.

He tensed as the hand holding the stethoscope came nearer to him. Cloud wasn't very touchy-feely on a good day even amongst his old group, and he certainly wasn't okay with this guy so close to him. Cloud felt his mind drift slightly even as his body became hyper aware of the man in front of him.

Then Cloud mentally slapped himself and told himself to suck it up - even as a small part of him still wanted to tell the man to back the hell away. This man wasn't a threat to him, he was just doing some basics. His real challenge would be a doctor holding a mako-filled needle, and he had a while before that was even a possibility.

Despite this, Cloud knew he was holding himself stiffly throughout the exam. But he couldn't help it, and he couldn't make his muscles unlock. He decided that was probably a good thing. Really, he was doing the scientist a favor. If he could move, he would probably try to knock him out.

At the end of the exam, the doctor finished writing and tore the sheet from the pad.

"Not a fan of doctors, eh?" The man asked, handing the form to him. "It's pretty natural, actually. I've met a lot of people who have a fear of doctors."

Cloud nodded, resisted the urge to smack him, and took the form before walking out.


He watched the regulation officer- in charge of last names R through Z -blink a little bit at the sight of him even as he held his hand out for the form.

Cloud gazed stoically back at him. That look had seemed a bit skeptical and he felt a little judged. Cloud took a breath. Maybe he was reading into the guy's expression a little bit too much. He was probably just feeling a little too touchy from the doctor encounter.

The man's eyes looked over the form. "Strife...You in the right program?"

Cloud paused.

"Is this the SOLDIER program?" Cloud asked slowly.

The man's eyes narrowed in annoyance, knowing he was being subtly mocked. "Yes."

"Then 'Yes'." Cloud replied back flatly. People really needed to stop underestimating him.

The officer thrust a packet in his direction. "Right, then. Bunker assignment, map of the grounds - the areas in red are off limits, got it? - and course schedule. Course schedule includes meal times and time off - not that you'll be seeing much of that." Then Cloud was waved off as another cadet took his place.


Cloud laid on his bed and stared at the bunk above him.

Cloud only had vague flashes of what life was like as a cadet. Obviously, he wasn't missing much.

The biggest obstacle was the routine. He was used to roaming free and doing what he wanted. Here, as a cadet, everything was regulated. Almost every hour of every day had been mapped out for him, and it all revolved around eating, working out, fighting, and listening to ShinRa propaganda.

The hand-to-hand combat class would have been bearable, except they were expected to be novices to any type of fighting and were only using the very basics. There really was no 'combat'. They were only learning the different forms and proper ways to hit someone without getting injured, and it was agonizing to Cloud, having to go so slowly through the motions. He wasn't a master by any means, but he could hold his own in a fight if it came down to it - at least when it came to the other cadets, now. But to make matters worse, they wouldn't even catch a glimpse of a sword for another month or so.

He also kind of missed having personal space. The cadet bunkers were crowded with boys in close proximity and he could barely go twenty minutes before some kid was accidentally bumping into him. He was used to having people giving him a wide berth; at first because of the glow of his eyes and what he represented, and later because of his reputation. He also wouldn't mind never having to share a bathroom ever again. Privacy had been important to him, but here it was a foreign concept.

Surprisingly, it was the mako- or lack thereof- that was the least difficult to adjust to. In a weird way he couldn't really remember what it had been like to hear and smell and see so clearly anymore. When he had awoken in his younger body, the less enhanced senses had just seemed natural. He knew intellectually he had been able to do more, but it was like a hazy dream. It just didn't seem possible anymore with what his unenhanced senses were already relaying to him, and he couldn't bring himself to miss it all that much. At least for now.

Either way, it was confusing and he was giving himself a headache.

Cloud sighed and rolled over to face the wall. In any case, it had only been a little over a week and he was already feeling the itch to just break free and do something different, though he knew he couldn't get away with that. He was so screwed.


It was three weeks later that Cloud saw him.


The compound was built using the cafeteria as a central point, and the hallway leading to the cafeteria was intersected by multiple other hallways. Those hallways allowed access to several areas across the grounds, and the general army officers used them to get to the sections housing offices, classrooms, and training grounds. The stray SOLDIER or two who came onto the cadet grounds for demonstration purposes and to uplift morale could also be seen from time to time, but those were generally SOLDIER Thirds and seen from afar.

He and the rest of the cadets in his bunker were headed towards the cafeteria for breakfast before their first class of the day - some sort of tactics class. Cloud hadn't been paying too much attention, since ShinRa was teaching it.

As they were walking, it was the voice that got Cloud's attention first. It was loud and boisterous and rang with a vague feeling of familiarity that had him swiveling his head to find the source. It was a group of four high-ranking SOLDIERs, but he didn't understand his reaction - until he saw him.

Cloud almost didn't comprehend what he was seeing at first, but as soon as his mind caught up with him he could feel his body freeze in absolute shock.

Zack.

Zack, alive and whole, bumping shoulders with a SOLDIER second and making exaggerated hand motions.

Cloud knew that he was staring, startled and wide-eyed, but he couldn't get himself to stop. He knew he would eventually see Zack, but it hadn't even crossed his mind that he would come across him by accident; and that had to be the most jarring part besides seeing Zack alive - having no control over the situation.

He watched, still stunned, as Zack noticed the group of cadets. As he passed by them, he smiled wide and scanned their faces - and Cloud watched those eyes pass right over him, like he wasn't even there.

And it was with a jolt that Cloud realized what his face probably looked like. He glanced to his right and saw two other cadets staring with awestruck faces at Zack, and to his left he saw another who looked completely terrified to be in such close quarters with SOLDIERs. In fact, pretty much every cadet had stopped to watch as the SOLDIERs passed. As the group retreated down the hall, Cloud's eyes lingering on spiky black hair, he realized that to Zack, he was just another face in a crowd of cadets.

He couldn't help but feel a little angry and hurt. That wasn't at all how he had imagined their first meeting.

But- he suddenly hesitated - really, what had he expected? It was those horrible experiences at Hojo's hands that had created such a strong bond between them, but as far as Zack and the rest of the Planet knew, that hadn't happened. And now, nothing truly connected them. He really was just another cadet to Zack.

It was strange and horrible to think that such an important person to him was in reality a stranger.

Cloud felt cold. He turned on his heel and made his way back to the bunker.


Hey guys! Thanks for your reviews, I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it so far =)

The story from now on will be a bit more fleshed out with details (probably), I just didn't want to spend a WHOLE lot of time going over his return and Nibelheim. The faster pace just seemed to work for that section when I was writing it.

Also, this was a bit of a boring chapter but it will pick up soon and you'll be seeing some other characters making their appearance next chapter =) Plus, it will switch back to being a little more interactive and dialogue-centered.

I don't intend for this story to be too long, so it'll probably skip around a bit. And as you've probably guess, updates will most likely be a bit slow!