Okay, I know. I took forever to get this up. I'm sorry, please don't kill me! I've been working to try and do a million things at once lately, with school and church and my family...It's just been hetic. But! I got it done! I'm not quite sure this chapter is as good as it could be, but I did my best to go through and double check things.

So, if I did miss anything, I'll be mad at myself. But if you see something in need of fixing, please, please, pleaseeeee let me know! I'll gladly edit it.

Now! Onto the st---Disclaimer!

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue. Got it? Good.

Chapter II

Sephiroth had arrived to be half an hour late for their inspection's set start time, only to find that Rufus and Zack were just arriving as well. Ah, so this was what Angeal had meant when he said not to worry about being so late. Tseng didn't seemed fazed, either. That was good, Sephiroth doubted he could take a lecture from the Turk.

Tseng explained that he and Cissnei would drop them off at Junon on their way to Costa Del Sol, and it was agreed that they would take the boat from there after finished with the inspection. Zack proceeded to converse adamantly with the female turk the entire way there. Typical.

The inspection had passed by with few problems, a couple of discharges, and a few notes of people who could be promoted or demoted around the base. By the end of it, Sephiroth felt a striking reminder of just how young he was compared to many of the men in those notes.

And he was turning, what? Twenty-four? There was a part of him that felt strangely put out by this, guilty to the fact that he was making decisions for people who probably had far more experience then he did. It was quickly swept aside though and, as they finished, he noticed the others seemed to have the same thoughts.

That was a relief, he thought secretly to himself as they boarded onto the ship and set off for Costa Del Sol. At least he knew that it was normal to feel that way, to an extent. He decided not to report it to Hojo, like many other things he experienced while in the company of his friends.

"So, Sephy! What do you wanna do first when we get there?" The question came so suddenly Sephiroth thought he'd imagined it until Zack repeated himself, grinning.

"I...Don't know." For some reason, he couldn't imagine himself being able to do too much on a beach. Really, the idea felt so out there he hadn't even comprehended the idea of wearing the midnight black swim trunks that had been thrown at him by Genesis that morning to be packed in his bag that the two had taken with them.

"Not even a hint of an idea?" Zack pressed, tilting his head to the side in a way that reminded Sephiroth all too much of a puppy.

"Nope."

Rufus smiled slightly, glancing up from the book he had brought, "I'm sure the others will have something planned. After all, I don't think they really expect you to be able to come up with something fun to do."

Sephiroth made a grunt in acknowledgment before moving to lay across the eloquent couch he'd claimed as his own, closing his eyes. He figured it'd be okay to sleep the rest of the ride away...

ThisIsALineThisIsALineThisIsALineThisIsALineThisIsALine

When Sephiroth next opened his eyes, it was to an extremely startling picture. Zack's face, as well as two young unregistered faces, were less than an inch from his own. Sephiroth blinked quickly a few times in surprise, but otherwise didn't move. One of the younger faces, a blond boy, pouted.

"That wasn't much a reaction at all..."

"Nah, for Seph that was a huge reaction." Zack replied, grinning and quickly pulling away from the close proximity along with the other two. The second young face, a brunette female, hugged Zack, smiling at how quickly he had decided to get away from the now-irritated General.

"Zackary...Who are..." Sephiroth paused, and did a double take of the two people with his best friend. Now that he was able to think straight thanks to them not being so close, his brain matched names to faces. "Cloud, I didn't think..."

"Zack managed to get me cleared for the weekend at the last minute, me and Aerith arrived just before the boat launched. Lucky, huh?" Cloud smiled, before looking at him in concern, "It's okay, right?"

Sephiroth couldn't help but smile at the blond, nodding faintly. "It is a pleasant surprise." He just wasn't sure why Aerith was there. Agreeing to something like this was not something she would normally do, considering.

"Are you four coming?" Rufus' voice broke through the temporary silence of the room. "I told you to wake him up and let him know we're here, not get him sent back to Junon by wasting time."

Blinking as Zack called apologies to the brat prince, Sephiroth threw his legs over the side of the couch and stood up, picking up Masamune before heading for the exit of the ship with Rufus. Cloud followed behind, and he was sure Aerith would wait for Zack.

As they reached the private beach that they planned to stay at, Sephiroth found that he had to remind himself this was a vacation. Simply because he couldn't understand at first why Cissnei, Reno, and Rude were messing around in the water.

There wasn't much time to think on it, though, as Genesis bounded out of the mansion they would be staying at and tackled him into the ground. Sephiroth allowed an annoyed growl to escape, but it was promptly ignored and swept away when Genesis grinned down at him.

"Took you guys long enough. Hungry?" The question made him remember that he currently only had coffee in his system. The thought of whatever Genesis had cooked up was very appealing, and so he nodded in agreement with Zack and Cloud who had immediately chimed in a positive answer.

Laughing, Genesis stood, catching Sephiroth's hand and pulling him up in one swift movement. The General brushed the sand off as best he could, before following the others inside. He wasn't surprised when Rufus fell back to wait as he peeled off his leather coat and hung it up, the blond's white jacket joining it mere moments later. It was far too hot.

"Will you be able to relax, Seph?" He'd expected the question, Rufus knew better than most that Sephiroth had very little time in which he didn't have work to do, or plan out, or make time for.

He was faced with a weekend of absolutely no work. As a workaholic, he wasn't so sure how he'd fair. It wasn't as if he didn't know how to relax, he just...Didn't know how to relax for extended periods of time. "I'm sure...I'll learn, if I can't."

The Vice President laughed softly, before nodding and following him into the dining room where everyone had vanished earlier. The General found his hand reach out and grab a bread stick from a small basket that had been placed on the table before he could stop himself. Must be spaghetti for dinner.

He managed to take a small bite as Tseng entered the room with the three young turks. None of which were what he had expected, considering the three had just been tackling and fighting in the water outside. Cissnei was wearing shorts and a tank top over her bikini, while Reno and Rude had at some point changed back into their uniforms. Each of them were perfectly dry save their hair.

"How was the inspection?" Tseng's voice cut through his thoughts. Sephiroth frowned slightly and, swallowing, began to say something, but simply stopped and bit into the bread stick again. "I see...Hunger inducing. Surely, you didn't want to eat all of them?"

He choked on the food in surprise, struggling to swallow and breath. A glass of what he thought was water was shoved into his hand by a snickering Zack. He downed it quickly, becoming acutely aware of the burning of alcohol in the back of his throat.

He silently thanked Shiva that he was used to sudden changes, and proceeded to gasp for air, glaring at Tseng accusingly. It didn't hold for very long with everyone around him laughing, and the smile he was receiving that normally enraged him, only served to make his lips twitch up. "You did that on purpose."

"Of course, but you cannot say that you hadn't baited it." Chuckling, the raven-haired Turk slid into a seat at the table across from Seph, next to Rufus. Angeal and Genesis flanked Sephiroth as he sat himself, the entire group easily filling up most of the seats on one half of the vast table.

"Eat up." Genesis chirped needlessly, grinning as the others filled their plates to their appetite, then added some more for the hell of it. He must have missed the appreciation the others had for his cooking.

Piling his own plate carefully with the noodles, some salad, and quite a few bread sticks, Sephiroth glanced at the two on either side of him. "You're quite sure this is a good idea? You won't be seen?"

"Don't be so paranoid, Seph. Of course we're sure, no one's going to turn in reports to ShinRa." Angeal stated calmly, smiling in amusement at the concerned look he got in reply.

"You said no one would see you."

"We took measures to ensure nothing would happen, so relax." Genesis cut in smoothly, patting the General's shoulder, "And eat. I didn't make all those bread sticks so you could sit around worrying about us."

Rolling his eyes, Sephiroth turned his attention back to his food, listening to the other conversations going on around the table. Every so often he would add in, or ask about something he didn't comprehend. After all, he didn't know much about 'normal' things, despite his friends attempts to enlighten him.

After they finished dinner, Zack dragged Sephiroth outside to participate in a race across the beach while Genesis and Angeal cleaned up inside. He was astonished to discover that nearly everyone was going to take part, leaving Aerith and Rufus as the refs.

"Okay, here's the deal." Rufus stated, calmly, to the seven competitors. "You sprint down the beach to where Aerith is currently located on top of the large boulder there. You circle around the boulder, and come back here, circle around my boulder and repeat. The first to complete the two laps will be the victor."

There was a brief pause as everyone looked down the beach, trying to locate the boulder Rufus was speaking about. It was about half a mile down the beach. Two miles of running to complete the race, Sephiroth noted. It was a good medium for all of them, as uneven a group as they were.

"On your marks....Get Set..." Sephiroth and Tseng were the only ones of the group who kept their poses, doing nothing more then tensing slightly in preparation as Rufus flipped his shotgun to aim at the sky. A seconds pause, then....BANG!

Everyone but the two sprinted off, Seph exchanging a tell-tale glance with Tseng before they followed suit. A five second head start had been given to the others, and was quickly removed from mind as the two caught up.

Zack was in the lead, Sephiroth noted, closely followed by the others. It was evenly matched up, and he smiled a bit as he picked up pace and caught up to sprint right along Zack. His Second in Command shot him a glare, confirming that he knew about what Sephiroth and Tseng had done.

There wasn't much time for thinking on that, as Tseng soon past them both and circled around the boulder. Sephiroth frowned and slowed slightly to easy circle as well, before moving into a full sprint. He didn't like being outrun by a mere Turk, and he showed his distaste for it as he caught up with the Commander.

"You should be evening out your speed, don't you think?" He asked, calmly as they ran back towards Rufus and the starting point.

"It is. I believe you are the one who hasn't." Tseng replied with an amused glance towards the other. "I thought you ran during your free time? You should be far more adept then this."

"I am." Was the only reply given as they reached Rufus and circled the boulder he was resting against. They paused briefly, to check on the other five's progress. Neither were surprised to see Zack and Reno had ended up in a head to head as well.

And, without a word, the two were off again, dashing past the others on their way back to Aerith. Once they circled that boulder again, the two exchanged looks and set off at increasing speeds. First Tseng was ahead, then Sephiroth, then Tseng again, and back to Sephiroth.

Rufus was amazed that they weren't kicking up a whirlwind of sand with the speed that they were approaching. Without thought, he pulled himself up on top of the boulder he had been leaning against. He didn't feel like getting trampled by the two, honestly.

Sephiroth had to admit he was surprised that Tseng was keeping up so well, he was breathing harder, but so was Seph. Each time one of them upped the pace, the other topped them. So, it was with this thought, that they both slowed enough to round the boulder safely, and ended in what Rufus declared a tie.

Zack finished next, followed closely by Cissnei and Cloud, Reno and Rude were mere steps behind them. They were all out of breath, minus Zack who was simply breathing hard. Sephiroth smiled slightly, watching as Zack tackled Cloud straight into the water, much to the cadet's displeasure.

"So..." Tseng asked, softly, as the others went to join the two in the water and Rufus went to retrieve Aerith in Zack's stead, "Think you'll be able to put aside whatever has been worrying you and enjoy yourself?"

He gave it a moment's thought, turning and jumping up onto the abandoned boulder and looking up at the darkening sky. Tseng settled for leaning against it, staring out at the ocean as he waited. It was a good question, and Sephiroth felt it deserved a proper answer.

"I...Am not completely sure I can put everything aside." He started, carefully choosing his words as the Turk Commander turned to look up at him, "However, I do believe it will become easier to achieve....And I do think I may just enjoy this, even if I cannot forget all my worries."

Tseng smiled, nodding in acknowledgment, "A good response. I'm glad, everyone deserves a break every now and again. You, perhaps, most of all."

Sephiroth nodded, slowly, but didn't reply. His gaze wandered to the others in the water, laughing and yelling. He noted that Zack had ran off to catch up with Rufus. The three were walking back now, talking animately about something or other.

Genesis and Angeal soon joined him and Tseng. Angeal moving to sit at the base of the boulder Sephiroth was on, while Genesis settled on top of a slightly smaller one that was beside it, using the bigger of the two as something to lean against.

They were content, for the moment to sit in silence, watching the others, and trying not to think of what was to happen in the future. Sephiroth found it hard not to relax. Surrounded by all of those he considered close, perhaps for the last time, it was impossible not to let down his guard and simply enjoy it all.

And so, as the sun started to sink, and one by one the others in the group joined them, Zack took up the empty space beside him on the boulder and murmured, "Happy Birthday, Seph."

It would be a long weekend, but Sephiroth was looking forward to it.

That's it! I hope it wasn't too terrible. o.o And that you all enjoyed it! Review please?