A/N:

Well, you all managed to sucker me into writing a part two to this bundle of fluff. And guess what? Now you have my mind all busy with thinking up stuff and there is going to be a part three. Hopefully that will be the end of this supposed to be oneshot. So enjoy the cuteness and sarcasm that is teenage Cloud.

Any comments, reviews and the like are loved. I thrive off feedback.

Disclaimer: This was for fun, not for profit. I own nothing FF7 related….blah blah blah. To quote another writer: "These are not my characters, I'm just abusing them".

Summary: Everyone knows that Sephiroth was the hero of the War with Wutai. What happens when the first battle occurs suddenly in the sleepy town of Nibelheim and he's the only SOLDIER there? And how does a little blond boy play a part? AU. Young!Seph & Young!Cloud

Words: 5,945

Rating: T

The Battle of Nibelheim

By Catsitta

Part Two: A boy among wolves

Three years later; Midgar:

Standing before the new recruits, Sephiroth felt like an animal on display. True, he was a dangerous animal such as a tiger or wolf, but still, he was caged, trapped, forced to be the entertainment and icon of the proverbial circus that was ShinRa. And here, at this moment, he was feeling particularly abused and humiliated.

Why on Gaia's fucking planet did he have to make a show of himself? Why did he have to be cold and aloof, looking down upon those bright young faces as they stared at him with awe? Why did he have to be reminded that he was a monster? A freak. A subject in a lunatic's lab whose sole purpose was to kill and lead others down that path.

Life was not fair.

He wished that someone, anyone, would stop looking at him like a General and as a friend. A companion. True, he had Zack and the nineteen-year-old was willing to show plenty of affection…but ever since he found that girl in the slums, all he could prattle on about was how in love he was. Sephiroth did not want to sit around and listen to a lovesick teenager talk about his girlfriend.

He did not even like girls!

Okay, no one knew that, and he surprised himself a few years back with the admission…but still. Even if he was straight, he doubted that hearing one of his closest friends jabber nonstop about how pretty his girlfriend's eyes were and how silky her hair was, would be any more of a tolerable topic.

He tried to find comfort in Angeal but the man was distracted by a love interest of his own. The man would not admit who it was, but judging by the way Genesis recently started clinging to the Commander, it did not take much guesswork.

So, here he was, bored out of his mind, feeling friendless and alone, all the while trying to scare the piddle out of the new recruits.

Could life be any worse?

His mind wandered backwards about nine years to that sleepy town of Nibelheim. He thought of that fearless blue-eyed child who befriended Nibel wolves because he could. They were his friends. They were not monsters… he was Sephiroth's friend… did that mean he was simply misunderstood? If people saw the real him, the part of himself he did not realize even existed, could he finally find happiness?

Such pointless hopes.

He would never be happy.

As the last of his speech ended, he looked out one last time over the recruits. Something made him pause and then nearly lose his composure.

Two fearless blue eyes met those of mako green.

Cloud.

Gaia, was fate truly being kind to him or was this some sick joke?

But if this was a joke, someone put some real effort into it. Those features were so familiar, older and finer in shape and cut, but still distinctly Cloud. And that wild, almost unnaturally blond hair. The gravity-defying spikes were longer and wilder, but he would recognize it anywhere. And again, those eyes. Those big, beautiful, fearless eyes that never judged only glittered with curiosity and the desire to understand.

Intelligent. Beautiful. Courageous.

No other recruit looked more promising ever in the history of ShinRa, not even himself.

This child…no, teenager, Cloud would be fifteen by now, was everything that SOLDIER wanted and needed. Well, except stature and strength, he noted with a degree of surprise when the cadets stood and began to file out, murmuring to each other.

The little hero took strongly after his mother, but he had his father's friendly smile.

And that smile remained even as the thick of the crowd cleared, leaving mostly SOLDIERs and executives in the gym turned auditorium. Soon, he was the only cadet remaining in the room.

"Hello again," Cloud said cheerily, the barest hint of the Nibelheim accent in his voice, causing the room to grow silent and for all eyes to fall on him.

Sephiroth took in slow, calming breaths before asking warily,"Cloud…is that…you?"

The blond stepped forwards, ignoring the stares and came to stand a few feet away from the temporary staging area,"The one and only. I mean, honestly, how many mothers would name their child Cloud?"

"I have to admit, not many." The General replied, trying not to completely break down upon reuniting with his long ago friend.

Suddenly, Cloud looked disappointed and cocked his head to the side, much like one of his wolf friends would do when confused. "What, no hug? I know you're the almighty General Sephiroth and all, but sheesh, I came all the way from Nibelheim and the only greeting I get is—" He was cut short when the silver-haired man hopped off the stage and gathered him up in his arms. "Okay, easy there buddy, can't breathe."

Sephiroth released him quickly,"I sort of forgot myself there…" He admitted with slight flush to his pale complexion. He…he never broke character like that. What happened to calm, composed Sephiroth who was indifferent to everything? For the moment, he was…glad that side of him was making himself scarce.

"Hey, no biggie...Hm, can you tell me why everyone looks so...surprised?"

The General glanced around, remembering that they were in a room still full of people. Most of said people stood around looking like goldfish, their mouths hanging open, whatever they were doing forgotten. He smirked, "They're merely shocked to see the real hero of Nibelheim." Sephiroth was sure to make his words heard clearly. If they were skeptical about Zack's claim in the essay, well, there was no doubt now.

Cloud laughed,"Me? Hero? Aw, Sephiroth, all I did was throw a few sticks at the troopers. My friends did most of the work. If it wasn't for Fenrir and his pack, I don't think I could have held their attention very long."

"Fenrir?" The General asked.

"Ah yes, the alpha wolf, y'know, the big one that you tried to chop in half on the day we met. Yeah, that one. I named him Fenrir after the great wolf in local legend that was said to be sire of all Nibel wolves and stood over ten feet tall at the shoulder." Cloud replied rather factually and with another smile. "I don't think I ever told you their names, did I? In all that time I left you thinking they were just nameless creatures I called friends." His hand went to his throat and the leather cord that hung from it. A sad expression crossed his features,"I miss them."

There, now dancing between his fingers was a wolf tooth. Something about it sent shivers down Sephiroth's spine…as if it held significance of some sort.

"Does that belong to one of your friends?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah. It belonged to Fenrir before he died."

That hit the General like a brick wall.

"I'm sorry…" He offered but the blond only smiled again.

"It's okay, it really is. He lived a long life and died peacefully in his sleep. It was nice to be with him when he passed into the lifestream though. A shower of green rain…I was surprised that this was left behind…So I think of it as a thank you gift for being his friend for all those years."

A peaceful silence fell between them.

"Well, I should probably find my room. See you around, Sephiroth." Cloud said after a while, and in flash of blond spikes and blue eyes, he was gone, the door sliding shut behind him, leaving Sephiroth alone to explain the exchange.

Well, he felt the happiest he had in years and damn it if he did not deserve some time to himself. Grinning at the still gawking men and women, he walked out as well, a slight bounce to his step. Perhaps things would get better.

000X000

Zack did not know what to think.

One second, the General was all I'm-high-and-mighty-and-could-squish-you-without-blinking, the next, he was staring off into space looking dazed. As the room cleared out and he managed to get away from the executive that were asking him questions about Sephiroth, one of the recruits walked up to the silver-haired man and said hello. Literally!

There was nothing shy or reserved about his manner. There was no blushing or rapid questions. No enthusiastic fanboy behavior… Just a smile. The blond was small, feminine and stood maybe five and half feet at the most. Certainly not the typical type drawn into the military…then again, if he was bold enough to walk up to Sephiroth he had to give the kid credit, he had guts.

Waiting for the typical reactions to start, Zack found himself floored by the friendly exchange between the two…Wait, did he hear the name Cloud? That meant…Gaia, it was him. Cloud Strife, the little blond from Nibelheim!

The messy spikes that stuck up at every odd angle…the pale skin…the clear-blue eyes. It could not be anyone else.

No wonder Sephiroth grabbed the kid up into a hug. It was almost enough to make Zack jealous. The General did not hug anyone, not even his best friends!

Not wanting to intrude on their little moment, the First watched with amusement and glee as the pair reunited. Then, Cloud gave one final wave and a smile before jogging out of the room, relaxed and apparently happy…Speaking of happy. Sephiroth was glowing. There was a sleepy smile of absolute contentment on his face that Zack was sure he had never seen before. Then, the man simply walked off, no one intercepted him… Not even Zack.

How was it that talking with a kid he had not seen for over nine years made him so relaxed and calm?

Zack narrowed his eyes and smirked. He would just have to find out, now wouldn't he? So who to ask first, Sephiroth or Cloud? Knowing the General's private nature, the First decided to approach the newly made cadet. Honestly, who could resist talking to him? He was Zack Fair, master of the irresistible puppy pout of doom.

000X000

Cloud sat down on his new bed and looked around.

His roommates were already settled in and talking amongst themselves. They looked nice enough. Reno had this smugness about him, but hey, nothing too bad. He was rather attractive, with bright crimson hair that could not be natural and deep green eyes. Even the scars underneath his eyes and the rough slur to his speech that signaled him as being from the slums did not really make Cloud think of him negatively. Then again, he was a positive person.

The other two boys, a slightly overweight carrot-colored kid named Michal, and an athletic brown-eyed brunet named Aspen, seemed like they could be good friends if he put in a little effort. To be honest, people were easier to read than wolves. After all the time he spent with his furry friends, it could not take long for him to figure out what made these boys tick.

Well, with Reno it did not take long at all…

"Hey look, blondie's our roomie." The redhead said with a smirk before walking over and holding out his hand for Cloud to shake. "Nice to meet'cha kid. Say, what took yah so long; get lost or did some sexy SOLDIER catch your eye?" The way he purred out the last of that sentence paired with the suggestive way he smiled told the blond immediately that Reno was flirting with him. His mother called him oblivious when it came to someone being interested while, in reality, it was simply best to feign ignorance, that way people's feelings did not get hurt when he turned them down.

Really, he was not interested in having a relationship with anyone just yet. He was fifteen, why worry himself with finding someone special?

He tried telling his mother that when he complained about Tifa's insistence that he come home and marry her once he became a SOLDIER and she looked him straight in the eye and asked if he was gay. What kind of mother asked their hormonally awkward teenage son that? Well, let no one tell you that Aubrey Strife was one to dance around a subject.

Laughing, he informed his mother that he liked girls.

She asked if he was so certain about that.

Cloud took a moment to think before asking why.

She informed him that there were very few women in the ShinRa military and none in the SOLDIER program. Which meant, he was likely to have advances made on him by men due to his looks…Cloud knew he was pretty. But that did not mean he was gay… well, he had to amend that statement. Not entirely. He was fairly sure that if either a girl or a guy walked up to him and asked him on a date, he would consider saying yes. It was no crime to keep one's options open for the future, no?

So, one could say he was bisexual. He just had not tested that theory yet. There was not exactly a whole lot of eligible anything in Nibelheim other than Tifa and she was a couple years younger than him and a brat. Ah well, again, now was not the time to think about such things… Now was the time to figure out how to respond to Reno's obvious advances….

The redhead squeezed his hand before releasing it.

"Hm, oh, I was catching up with an old friend of mine." Cloud replied with a shrug.

"So yah were eyeing some sexy SOLDIER. Hmm, competition. But I don't mind. Who's the lucky man?" Reno continued to grin, now raking his gaze up and down. "Seriously, you're a small scrap but you look…built." Now how would the obnoxious kid know that? Well, since Reno looked about four years older than himself that was an inaccurate statement, but still… "And I think that's sexy."

Cloud crossed his arms.

"I'm from Nibelheim, a mountain town," he told him without gracing his initial question with an answer,"You don't live in that kind of place your entire life and end up a skinny, little wimp. I mean, we hunt for our meals. We chop wood. We haul water up from wells. We cut ice to get to fish. We do all sorts of physical labor. I may not be your typical mountain bred kid, but I did walk away from there stronger and more used to exercise than most of the recruits here."

Aspen spoke before Reno had a chance to make another lewd comment,"Your name is Cloud, right? Cloud Strife."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

The brown-eyed boy tilted his head a bit and said,"Let's just say I read it somewhere."

Cloud caught the hint.

"Cool, hey, do you think we could continue this conversation after I'm done unpacking?"

The three other boys nodded and Reno, albeit reluctantly, did not make another flirtatious remark before walking away and having an animated conversation with the others.

Shaking his head, Cloud pulled the duffle bag from off his shoulder (he had completely forgotten about it) and dropped it on the bed. Soon, all his belongs were spread on the sheets and finding their place within the room. An extra blanket, a package of photographs, spare civilian clothes and such ended up in his issued trunk. Toothbrush and other, related items were placed in the bathroom. His CDs and mini stereo found their way under his bed. His special memory box was the only thing left on the mattress when all else was put away.

Glancing around the room to make sure no one was looking; Cloud gave one of his secretive smiles and opened the plain wooden box. On the outside, it looked like nothing special. Stained wood and tarnished silver joints. It was like a little chest that one would find in their attic that an old woman would keep photographs or letters in to remember that husband they lost in a war long since passed.

Lifting the lid revealed it to be very special.

The inside was lined with black felt and kept safe his prized treasures… most of which involved a certain silver-haired General. Carefully, he shuffled through the contents. Newspaper clippings. Magazine photographs. A rolled up recruitment poster. A map with the major battles of the Wutai War marked. A Barrier materia and a Cure(cadet's were not supposed to have the crystals, but hey, who was to know?). His parents' wedding picture. And a silver cuff bracelet with two materia slots…the twin to the one he gave Sephiroth nine years ago.

He picked it up and sighed.

Did the General keep the other? Was it lost in the war? Did it matter?

Cloud chuckled softly. No it didn't. But it was nice to believe that the great General Sephiroth would keep a gift from a six year old after all that has happened. Then again, if he remembered his name and with such fondness, maybe he kept the bracelet as a token… a memory.

"You remembered me…" He murmured, considering what to do with the piece. Wear it? Put it away? After a long, drawn out pause, he slipped the cuff on his wrist beneath the sleeve of his new, light gray cadet uniform. No one could see it but he would know it was there…Nice. Though, he knew that it would be smart to change out of said uniform in a little while…

With that done, he shut the box and slid it under his bed. Hopefully, his roommates would not go rummaging under there any time soon.

000X000

Zack, after doing some research via flirting with one of the female Turks, learned a couple things about this Cloud Strife kid that Sephiroth praised so highly. One, he was staying in room 315. And two, he passed his entrance exams with ease. Apparently, for all the kid was small and delicate, he was not weak. He outran a majority of the other recruits and could do more sit ups, pushups and the like than most of them. And, Cloud was smart as Sephiroth was strong. Zack did not realize one could get perfect scores on those written tests; he thought that they were rigged to be impossible.

But no…

How did a mountain boy like Cloud learn so much?

Hmmm, mysteries to solve.

At least the subject of said mystery was freaking adorable! For some reason. Zack just wanted to grab the boy up and squeeze him. But that would be inappropriate… Ah, who was he kidding? He would hug the cadet whether he liked it or not because that is what someone gets for being that darn cute. No wonder Sephiroth broke from his cold persona and cuddled the kid. Who couldn't?

Skipping and humming under his breath, the SOLDIER pondered all these things on the way to room 315.

Cadets he passed watched him pass with wide eyes filled with admiration and awe. He was used to it. Honestly, how often did a SOLDIER First Class grace the lower ranking barracks, much less with a broad grin and a bounce to his step? Low murmurs began to ripple through the wide-eyed recruits as they gossiped with each other.

Why was the fourth most well-known SOLDIER in the military here? Who was he looking for? Was he really only nineteen? Was he here to kick someone out? Was he here to merely say hello? Was he actually friendly or was that smile he wore a mask for a sadistic inner demon?

At his destination, Zack knocked on the door and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet as he waited for it to be answered.

A redhead opened the door with a smug grin but the expression faltered when he saw who stood before him.

With raven spikes and unmistakable aquamarine eyes, the First had no doubt that his appearance sent flags of recognition up within the cadet's mind. Green eyes went wide then narrow and rather than asking what Zack wanted or jumping into a salute, he turned and shouted back into the room.

"Hey Blondie, I think your sexy, SOLDIER followed yah home. Why didn't yah tell me who it was?"

A shuffled of movement could be hear from within the room before a soft voice called back in reply,"I told you Reno, I was not eyeing any SOLDIER. Whoever it is, you should probably salute or something."

"Riiight, so you're tellin' me that THE Zack Fair is at our door for another reason?" Reno teased back, his gaze flicking back to the First occasionally. Apparently he was unfazed by his own blatant display of disrespect.

A pause.

"Did you say…Zack Fair?" Came a curious reply.

"Yah."

"Hold on a second, I'll be right there…" Then, Reno stepped to the side to reveal the delicate blond. Cloud Strife. Except, no longer was he wearing a baggy uniform, instead he wore civilian attire. Faded, once dark-blue, low-slung jeans with frayed cuffs framed toned legs. A black (obviously new) athletic T-shirt with the ShinRa logo on the shoulder displayed his lean (not fragile) build. These were complimented with rustic leather belt with a wide gold buckle; plain black, low gloss "cowboy" boots with threaded designs and little silver chains looped behind the heels; a silver cuff bracelet; and a leather cord with a wolf's tooth hanging from it like a pendant.

In short, Cloud looked like a country boy.

Also, he was sexy.

Zack had to resist the urge to comment on this. He had a girlfriend but he was a shameless flirt by nature. True, he had no sexual interest in other males, but damn was it hard not to say when he thought someone was hot. Man, who knew that the stubborn little kid from Sephiroth's story would grow up into this?

"Sir," Cloud seemed relatively at ease with the First's presence though he was offering a polite salute.

"Hello, would you happen to be Cloud Strife?"

The blond nodded.

"At ease cadet, I just want to talk."

Cloud lowered his hand and quirked his head to the side, "So you're Zack Fair…? Were you the one who wrote about the Battle of Nibelheim about three years ago?"

The First grinned,"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Reno popped his head into the doorway,"The Battle of what?"

"Nibelheim," both Zack and Cloud replied at the same time, much to the redhead's amusement.

"Get outta here, Blondie. Have fun talkin' with your SOLDIER friend." Reno urged with a suggestive smirk before shoving the blond out and slamming the door shut. After a near collision with the First, Cloud shuffled backwards and frowned at the closed entryway behind him.

"Great. My roommate already thinks I'm an easy lay." The blond grumbled under his breath,"I'm never going to hear the end of it…Ah well, could be worse I guess…" He shook his head and smiled up at Zack,"You said you wanted to talk to me?"

The SOLDIER nodded,"Yeah. Hey, come with me. We can talk in my office."

"So what did you want to know?"

000X000

"So that all really happened, huh?" Zack asked after a long conversation with the new cadet he had quickly deemed 'chocobo', 'Spike' and a few other fitting nicknames. Resisting the urge to cuddle and squeeze the daylights out of the blond, he managed to act somewhat professional as he inquired about some of the events that occurred that fateful day in Nibelheim.

Cloud nodded and his gaze fell to the silver cuff on his wrist, absently, he began to toy with it.

"I wonder if he kept it…" The boy murmured his voice silky and full of emotion.

"Kept what, Spike?" The raven-haired First leaned forwards to prop his elbow on the desk. Acting all serious and stuff was giving him a serious cramp in his lower back. It took all of his control not to stand up and start doing squats right there in the middle of the 'interview'. He was not affectionately named 'Puppy' by his mentor for no reason. Zack Fair would be the first to admit he had lots of energy and always felt the need to wiggle and move.

A small laugh drew his attention away from his minor aches.

"Oh, nothing. Just a memory, is all." Cloud said before yawning. "Hmm, sorry 'bout that. Must be more tired than I thought."

Zack glanced up at the clock behind him on the wall (when did he get a clock and why had he never noticed it before now? What amazing things one discovered when sitting still for—oh! Five hours straight.). It was well past curfew and after a long bus ride into Midgar, it was amazing that Cloud was keeping his eyes open. What a trooper.

Smiling affectionately, as he had a tendency to do, the First rose from his seat and wandered closer to the blond cadet. After ruffling the spikes with his hand he said,"C'mon, Cloud. Let's get you to the barracks and into bed. I'll walk with you so that you don't get in trouble. This is my fault, after all."

"Sure, thanks." Cloud mumbled with a sleepy smile.

The spiky-haired pair left the office, one dead asleep on his feet and the other still brimming with energy. After staggering twice on their way down the hall, Zack deemed Cloud incapable of walking on his own and insisted that the blond use him to lean on. Oddly enough, the cadet seemed to have no qualms about doing so and gave the better part of his weight to his superior officer. How was the kid so relaxed around SOLDIERS? Honestly, normal recruits were a bunch of flustered, scatterbrains when around one of the Firsts.

It was just one more thing to love about the chocobo head. How could someone wrap you around their finger so quickly? After talking to the kid for only a few hours, Zack felt like he had known Cloud all his life like a little brother of sorts.

Sleepy-eyed and content to use Zack as a post, Cloud was softly snoring during their trip down the elevator. It took all of the SOLDIER's self-restraint not to pick up the cadet and carry him to barracks like a little kid. Instead, he prodded the blond softly, causing him to yawn and totter forwards with a mumbled apology. Really, this kid needed to get to bed and get some rest.

A long walk later, they arrived at the correct room, and after peeling the sleeping cadet from his arm, Zack opened the door with his universal key card and let Cloud inside.

"Go to sleep, Spike." The raven-haired SOLDIER whispered with a playful smile.

Cloud stretched and nodded in agreement, "Sounds good." Then, he flashed the most dazzling smile Zack had ever seen. It was such a bright and innocent expression. Those sleep heavy eyes glittered above softly flushed cheeks. How many people saw the blond smile that way? He hoped those who did appreciated it. Such a smile was enough to melt his heart even more and it was already a puddle of goo.

Feeling weightless, Zack padded backwards out of the room, watching with a lingering gaze as the little blond strolled over to his bottom bunk bed and kick off his shoes. At last, he closed the door.

000X000

Cloud stripped down to his boxers and was tempted to leave his clothes on the floor and his teeth un-brushed, but old habits were darn hard to kick, so despite his tiredness, he went about his evening routine. Dirty clothes were folded and tucked under the bed until laundry night, his boots sat beside his issued trunk and soon his face and teeth were nice and clean.

Exhausted, Cloud made his way to bed at last, collapsing on top of the sheets and lying there for a while before at last pulling the cover over his mostly bare body. As he finally closed his eyes to get some sleep, an unwelcome hand began to prod at his face. Cloud twitched, turning over to ignore whoever it was. Then, said whoever, slapped a hand over his mouth and proceeded to shake him until he woke.

Startled, the blond reacted to the assault in the only way he knew how. He balled a fist and hit whoever it was as hard as he could wherever the blow landed. Judging by the way bone crunched beneath his knuckles, his assailant had a broken nose, though said person did not remove the hand covering Cloud's mouth. At last opening his eyes, the blond saw who it was that so idiotically woke him up in such a way.

Reno. Of course.

Cloud quirked a brow, pointed at the hand over his mouth and waited. The redhead, occupied with his bleeding nose, did not notice the gesture. Slowly, so as not to startle him, Cloud gripped the older teen's wrist and ease the hand away from his face. Reno gave no resistance, though he did turn to look at Cloud, surprise and annoyance in his green gaze.

"Yes, Reno?" Cloud inquired with a smirk.

"Shit you're strong, Blondie, and fast!" Reno complained, he had since pulled off the tank top he was wearing and was holding it against his injury. "I just wanted to talk, yo."

"It couldn't have waited until morning," Cloud paused, before adding with a smirk,"yo?"

The redhead snorted and eyed Cloud with amusement,"Yah sound like a country git tryin' to be a city boy when yah say that."

Cloud shrugged,"I admit that my accent is strong when I am tired, or have just woken up."

"Strong aint halfway to describing it, Blondie." Reno replied sarcasticly,"I can barely understand yah."

"Welcome to my world, in which, I must translate half of whatever spouts out of your mouth."

The pair watched each other for a minute, before matching grins broke out on their faces.

"I like yah, Blondie. Yah got moxy, that's for sure."

"Is 'moxy' the word their using now a days to describe smart ass blonds?" Cloud was matching Reno for every ounce of sarcasm dripped in his tone.

"Ha, you wish." The redhead grunted, his eyes practically crossing when he pulled the shirt away from his still bleeding nose. Though, inwardly, Cloud refrained from mentioning that no matter how hard Reno tried, he was not going to be able to see his own nose without a mirror.

"So, back to my initial question. Whatever you had to say could not have waited until morning?"

Reno shook his head and flinched when he pressed the cloth back against his face.

"Well, I guess it coulda, but still… I wanna know how yer date with Fair went. All that talk of some battle gotta have been some sort of cover story. So spill."

Cloud rolled his eyes,"Seriously. You woke me up to know how my not-date with Zack went? I'll be honest with you Reno, it wasn't date, so, there's nothing to spill. We talked about Nibelheim and I filled him in on some the gaps in his essay. Though, after all these years I was surprised that Sephiroth remembered that day well enough to recount it with such accuracy for Zack."

When Reno's eyes started to bug out a bit, Cloud tilted his head in confusion,"What?"

"Yah just said the General's name like he was some sort of old friend."

"Yes, and?"

"Do yah actually know THE General, like, personally?"

"Sort of…and?"

"Shit, yo, how?"

"Um. We met nine years ago. Didn't you ever read Zack's essay, 'A Boy Among Wolves'?"

"No…"

"Well, if you had you would know that the Battle of Nibelheim happened in my hometown. Before such, we met. He wasn't even a SOLDIER then, just, a teenager. A bit moody and odd, but otherwise like anyone else. One day he was out in the forest and he tried to kill one of my friendly Nibel Wolves, Fenrir. I jumped between them and well, it's history in the making from there." Cloud explained, shrugging afterwards as if it were nothing important or special.

"You gotta be the luckiest kid ever," Reno mumbled.

"No, just in the right places at the right time… Now, if there are no more questions, I'm going to sleep now."

A few more complaints later and the redhead disappeared somewhere in the darkened room. With a chuckle and slight shake of his head, Cloud finally went to sleep.

000X000

The next day, Zack was determined to talk to Sephiroth. After his conversation with Cloud, he was now curious as to how the General was feeling about the boy being in Midgar.

Strolling into the man's office like usual, the raven-haired First expected to find the silver General leaned over a pile of paper work, a cup of cold coffee sitting forgotten on the corner. Instead, he found the room empty, the inbox filled with documents that needed his signature. Knowing Sephiroth to neither be a late riser or one to shirk work, Zack decided to hunt the man down.

He had to be in the building somewhere.

Following his instincts, the First made his way to the observation deck. Standing there, hands crossed behind his back, watching the cadet training with unusual interest, was Sephiroth.

"Seph…?" Zack approached quietly and placed a hand on the General's shoulder,"You okay?"

A smile cracked the cold façade he normally held. Sephiroth almost never showed any emotion towards anyone. "Quite alright, Zackary. In fact, I'm feeling better than I have in years."

The First looked through the one-way glass into the gym. All the cadets were learning drill. Sergeant Collins, wielding a whistle and an outrageously loud voice, barked out commands and insults as they were due. Many of the green recruits cringed away from the man, others attempted to make smart remarks, but a few merely did as they were told, no hesitation or question crossing their minds. Ones of these levelheaded few was none other than Cloud Strife.

"He's quite a kid,"Zack murmured,"Real special."

"Very…" Sephiroth's voice was quiet.

"What's on your mind, Seph?"

"I am merely pondering how quickly he took away all the question…all the wonder. Before today, I was considering an early retirement. I've nearly served my ten years, it's about time I had a life of my own. But…"

"—but then Cloud walked in and you wanted nothing more than to stay?" Zack finished for him.

Sephiroth glanced towards the raven-haired SOLDIER and nodded, he looked slightly guilty.

"I understand, Seph. Something about the kid just makes you feel warm inside. If anyone out there could make you happy, I think he could." Zack said with a grin,"Give it some time. Let him find himself in this world. When he becomes a SOLDIER, no one will question you two being friends."

"Until then?" Sephiroth asked.

"Until then, keep watching, Seph."

"What if he does not make it? I would have wasted six months of time I could have been happy, just to watch him disappear."

"That won't happen, Seph. Don't worry."

A pause,"Keep him safe, Zackary. Please."

"You didn't have to ask." Was Zack's only reply, before he turned and walked away, leaving the silver General to his quiet observations.

Only time would tell if Cloud would make it into SOLDIER or if the strange blond would be the person to finally melt the General's cold heart. But if the way those green eyes were seeking those blue, Zack knew that there was only one thing he could do.

Wait.

A/N: ( As you have no doubt noticed, this chapter is shorter and ends similar to the last. Why? Well, to answer the first question, I felt like this was a logical place to stop. And to answer the second, I rather enjoy playing with a continued theme or motif. The next part will likely have a similar ending. It's kind of interesting how you can take different routes and end up making a complete circle, isn't it? Anywho, there is a part three coming up, so yeah… Please review. It makes me ever so warm and fuzzy feeling. Also, check out my other stories. And I'll stop talking now 'cause a great deal of you probably don't care. Hehe. )