In case you are slightly confused as to why both this chapter and the other one says prologue, that means you didn't read the note I put on the other one. Oh well, I'll just repeat it again. This is the second part of the prologue, as viewed in the eyes of the other main character. Enjoy!

Just as a little note, I first thought about posting both of the chapters together as one; but it looked more like I was trying to stretch out the chapter. That and they really were two separate events that could hold their own by themselves, so they were separated. Just a little trivia there. Anyway, enjoy the story and please leave a review!

Prologue: Zack

"I'm telling you," an agitated voice nearly shouted inside what looked to be like a room that was meant for holding private meetings, with a long table at the center of the room and chairs surrounding it, "the cadets we've been receiving as of late have been nothing but failures! About half decide to drop the training regimen every year, although that is unfortunately to be expected. Out of the other half that does end up staying, half of them don't seem to be trying hard enough in their workouts! If this keeps up, the Shinra army is going to become one gigantic, disgraceful mess."

"And what do you propose we do about this problem, Major Clamont?" a man with shimmering green eyes that held very faint tones of blue and was donning a long black trench coat asked in an emotionless tone as his long flowing silver hair moved a bit when he turned to look at the man. "If you have any suggestions on how to remedy the situation, I would gladly hear of it. What is it that you think we should be doing in order to fix this unfortunate problem lying before us?"

"Well, I say that we should be stricter on how we present the written tests to them," the man known as Clamont replied to the silver haired man as he fiddled with some of the papers in front of him. "Obviously, we've made it way too easy for them and those with no backbone are able to pass it without as much as a hitch. We need to start imposing only the most advanced questions on the tests so we can then really see who's truly up for the challenge of being a part of the army."

"Oh, come on, Clamont," another person sporting black hair that was naturally spiked without any aid from hair gel products and stunning dark blue eyes spoke up with a nonchalant sigh. "If we end up doing that, we're not going to have many cadets to train. We're already barely above the recommended number of cadets this year as it is. If we do what you're suggesting us to do, then we're going to end up having a lot less SOLDIER hopefuls on our list next year. Combine that with the low enrollment rate that we had this year and it's just a recipe for total disaster. We might as well just send all our enemies an invite to go ahead and invade us."

"Although I do not personally agree with his lack of properness and the way he sums up the situation, I must side with the Lieutenant-General on this, as well," the silver haired man acknowledged with a barely noticeable shifted eye at said man, who looked more like a teenage no older than seventeen, sitting beside him as he slowly got up from his seat. As he noiselessly pushed in his chair, he added, "If the numbers are crunched down to size any more than they currently are now, this building will not be as adequately protected against any possible invasions. Even if we had all the 1st Class SOLDIERs here, I doubt that it would be an easy fight to protect this building from assaulters. I suggest that we leave the test papers as they currently are and deal with the dwindling numbers in a more appropriate manner. We should consider an alternative, one in better taste and measure, in regards to the cadets and their steady decline in strength and discipline before resorting to such a brazen tactic."

"But General Sephiroth, sir!" Clamont retorted while trying to keep a calm voice as he stood up from his seat, causing a couple of his papers to move slightly on the table. He ignored them as he continued to try and get his argument across to the General. "If we don't do that, then we won't have any suitable candid dates to train for such a proud and prestigious position as SOLDIER. We can't make weaklings like them with no backbone in them move into such high of a rank."

"It matters not if they are 'weaklings', as you so bluntly put it," the General replied as he walked towards the door without once turning around and facing the Major. "What really matters is how the cadets will be exposed to the dangers of warfare through their training. Now if you will all excuse me, I have some pressing matters that I must attend to before the night is out. Good night, everybody."

And with that, the General left the room and shut the door behind him without hearing or saying another word. Everybody stayed where they were and were silent for a few seconds, amazed at how the man was able to so calmly give them a piece of his mind on the subject and just walk away as if their discussion was not all that important. Then again, they knew that was how he normally acted on a daily basis, so it was not much of a surprise to them all, especially to the Lieutenant-General.

"Well, at least we now have the General's standpoint on the matter at hand," Clamont replied with a small sigh and a shrug of his shoulders as he sat back down and reshuffled some of the papers in front of him that were disorganized due to his sudden rise from his chair. After bending down to capture a piece of paper that was fluttering to the ground and clearing of his throat a bit, he addressed the rest of the people who were still present in the conference room. "How about everybody else in this room? How do you all feel on this proposal?"

"I thought I already told you guys my stand on this," the spiky raven haired man reminded them as he followed Sephiroth's lead and made for the door himself. "Provided that you're planning on keeping the physical portion of the entrance exam the same, heightening the difficulty of the written entrance exams will only result in the decrease of cadets. That, in turn, will no doubt lessen the soldier head count, and thus, the overall protection for the Shinra building. This will, as the General said earlier, put a notable dent in our security defenses here. It is for this reason, along with a few others that I do not wish to discuss in here that I am against this idea."

"Oh, come on, Lieutenant-General Zack," the man nearly whined before he caught himself after remembering who he was addressing and where they were currently at. "I'm sure not even you are that dense to see how our cadets have been turning out to be the whole of last year. They're becoming more inadequate in their overall performance on the battlefield and are unnecessarily getting themselves killed. This is a result of poorly executed training programs."

"I can see that," the man known as Zack replied as he opened the door and paused for a few seconds. "That's why I'm going to do everything that I can this time around to try and train one of the bests SOLDIER hopefuls you've ever seen. Oh, and as a little side note, you can make weaklings into great SOLDIERs. Take it from me; I was once a pitifully weak cadet myself before I made it all the way here to 1st Class and Lieutenant-General. Now, if I may be excused? As with the General, I have something important that I have to do. Goodbye."

Following the General's lead, Zack left the room and the rest of the people in the meeting were to figure out this problem for themselves. He also left them thinking about the comment that he made about himself, hoping that it would help them come to their senses and show that otherwise weak cadets can be built up into something great, but only if they are given the proper chance to do so. That was something that they were discussing on taking away, whether they were aware of it or not.

"Geez, those people really like to make it harder for the cadets to become a part of the SOLDIER program," Zack sighed as he immediately dropped the serious demeanor that he had held during the meeting. "They must really not want any more SOLDIER 1st Class in their ranks."

"Heh, that's actually quite the opposite, Zackary," a familiar voice coming from nearby answered calmly.

Turning his head in a knowing fashion to see the owner of the voice, he saw Sephiroth standing casually in front of a wall a few feet away from him. He had his arms slightly crossed and had a stoic look on his face, which he usually had on even when he was around those he felt familiar with.

"'Opposite', as in they want to have more 1st Class SOLDIERs in their ranks and are desperate to make it as hard as they can?" Zack asked as he gave off mild facial disgust at the use of his full name. However, the General paid it no mind as he continued to give off that stoic aura. "Please tell me that that's not exactly what you're trying to say to me because it just doesn't make sense."

"That is not what I was trying to say," the General replied passively in a nearly monotonic voice as he uncrossed his arms and looked at the Lieutenant-General with his unnaturally glowing green eyes; eyes that every member in SOLDIER should have had, yet something that the young teen apparently seemed to be lacking for some unknown reason. "I do not know how you managed to get that idea embedded into your head. Anyway, have you noticed how poorly some of the cadets and a few of the 3rd Class SOLDIER members, along with the occasional 2nd Class, acted during certain parts of the Wutai War almost a year ago? We lost some good people in our ranks due to inadequate training on our part and, quite possibly, the lack of discipline on their part. If we did not have a couple of 1st Class SOLDIERs there, the loss would have been greater."

"Well, making the written parts of the initialization test isn't going to be making it any easier. It's just going to deject the cadets even more, if you ask me. We just need to train the cadets better than we have been and make sure that they have the drive to become as great as they can be. I mean, jacking up the difficulty of the written tests is a really bad way to instill that into them. I don't know about you, but I think what they're trying to do is nothing short from stupid."

"Yes, well, I will let you keep your opinion of that to yourself while I go ahead and jump into another subject," Sephiroth said in a somewhat random fashion, catching Zack off guard momentarily at the sudden change in topic. "I did not wait for you out here just because I wanted to talk to you about the meeting. I wanted to talk to you about the selection for the 1st Class members and the cadets that they will be mentoring, and I would rather do it while I still have the time."

"Um, okay… What about it, Seph?" Zack asked as he used the casual nickname he came up for the General after making sure that nobody was around to hear it. "What's so important that you need to talk to me about it?"

"I trust that you remember that I am the General of the SOLDIER program, right?" the silver haired man reminded him as he pretended that he did not hear the nickname that he did not thought highly of. "As such, I have been given permission by President Shinra to assign all 1st Class SOLDIERs the cadets that they will be mentoring for the duration of their training."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that they allowed you to do stuff like that," the raven haired teen replied with a small nod of his head. "Then again, this is only my second year working here as a member of SOLDIER, 1st Class, so I'm not really familiar with the entire procedure yet. But why are you telling me about it? I don't see how that would really be of much importance to me."

"Well, seeing as you are not only a fellow confidant but also a good friend, I thought that you would no mind if I did you a little favor. I am thinking about letting you choose who you want to have train under you; let you have a personal look at who it is that you would find most enjoyable to work with."

"Um, isn't that what you would call 'favoritism', my dear General? It's funny, because that's kind of how I'm seeing this as right now."

"I suppose you could call it that if you so want to. However, I personally see this more as an opportunity that only you would have the privilege of being graced with, being that you are my second-in-command, a position that you managed to obtain within your first year as a 1st Class SOLDIER, a feat once thought impossible to muster.

Besides, if I remember correctly, I do happen to owe you for taking on a mission in my stead when I was unable to do so myself some time ago," the silver haired man added with a hint of a smirk reflecting off on his eyes. "I have not had the chance to thank you properly for that as of yet."

"Do you honestly still have that floating around in your head? Let it go already; that happened six months ago. I told you that you didn't have to worry about feeling like you owed me."

"In the three years that you have come to know me Zackary, you should already know that I do not like the feeling of owing someone something and not doing anything to repay it," Sephiroth reminded him with a hint of a smile breaking through his monotonous voice. "Consider this as one of those very moments. And before you say anything, I will not take no for an answer here."

"I suppose I really don't have a choice then," Zack replied with a defeated sigh as he shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the urge to correct Sephiroth about his name again, knowing that he could care less about it. "You can be a real stubborn guy when you want to be, you know that, Seph? Anyway, when do you want me to start choosing which cadet I want to have train under me?"

"I was hoping that you would be able to do it now," the man replied as he led the young 1st Class SOLDIER to a small lounge area nearby. "After all, the data clerks who maintain these records would like for me to have the choosing finished and tuned in to them by tomorrow morning. Plus, my secretary is in need of something to do since she has a lot of free time on her hands and tends to roam away from her desk from time to time. It tends to get rather annoying when she's constantly not there when you really need her."

As he made to sit down on a brown couch situated beside a small table with a lamp on it, he motioned with his hand to the coffee table in front of him where a couple of manila folders were stationed side by side, each one looking to be carrying a healthy amount of papers. Sighing at their size, Zack sat in the next available couch, right across the table from the general. Just as he was about to pick up one of them, though, he suddenly remembered hearing something about this whole thing.

"Wait a minute," the teen said as he eyed the folders with a raised eyebrow. "I thought that the cadets were supposed to have drawn a card after their assembly was over in order to see who gets to train under whom. That's what I heard some people say before the meeting. Besides, I don't remember ever having a cadet training under me last year when I first became a 1st Class SOLDIER."

"That was because you were still new to the system," the General replied as he picked up one of the folders. "Protocol dictated that you were to have at least one year's exposure to the 1st Class lifestyle before you were eligible to become a mentor. And as to the cadets choosing cards that tells them who they will be paired up with, it is rarely ever going to be the person they picked that is going to mentor them. The cards are just a way to bring up their hopes. It is a slightly underhanded way to teach them that they should not believe everything that they see or hear. Basically, it is just a cruel way to teach them such a lesson before they even get into the training itself. I am sure the same thing happened to you when you were once a cadet."

"Well, I wouldn't say that my experience with the system was cruel," Zack said with a smile as he brought his hand under his chin thoughtfully and remembered full well what had happened when he first became a cadet a few years ago. "Actually, I think it ended up being a lucky break for me."

Back when he had first started out as a cadet for the army, he had to go through the same procedure the new cadets were facing. At the time, he had ended up picking a card that belonged to a 1st Class SOLDIER who was in his early fifties. He looked like an old grouch with wrinkles lining his forehead and his comments said that he only wanted to drill everything into the recipient's head; no room for any casual talk or anything of the like that would potentially be a waste of precious training time. Basically, the card he chose said that he was going to be having probably the worst time of his life training under this fun-deprived old geezer.

When he had to meet his mentor for the first time, though, he was completely taken aback at who was in front of him. Instead of seeing the old grouch that was on the card he had picked, he saw that it was actually a young man who looked to be in his early thirties instead with black hair a big sword on resting on his back. He was also not as serious as the other man that was described on his card, as he had figured out when they had gotten to know each other better, and that was what really made Zack happy when he had first saw his mentor. He was both relieved and happy that he ended up having such a cool and laid back person as a mentor.

"I tell you, you could not have had a better mentor than Angeal Hewley," Sephiroth said with a slight reminiscent tone breaking through his stoic voice. "You know what he told me about you the first time he started training you? He said that you were practically a human version of a restless puppy; so full of energy and a tendency to be overconfident in your own abilities. He had quite a few interesting things to say about you, including how he could not help but imagine you with puppy ears and a tail whenever you gave him the sad puppy look; and the list grew somewhat more over the course of your training."

"That sounds a lot like something he would have talked about," Zack said with a sad smile as he took the other folder left on the table into his hands. "It sounds exactly like something he would've said."

"Despite these interesting comments and complaints," the General continued as he began to peruse the contents of his folder, "he said that you were probably the greatest thing that's ever happened to him. He said that he saw you more as a son rather than a cadet training under him; just as you told me one time that you saw him as a second father rather than just a mentor."

"Did Angeal… Did he really say that?" the young SOLDIER teen asked with a small sniffle.

"Not exactly word for word, but that was the general meaning of it. I'm sure he'll be sorely missed in the years to come. He was a very good friend and probably and even better mentor."

For a moment, the two of them were silent as they remembered Angeal, whom had been reported MIA during the Wutai War a few months ago and has not been heard from since. Because of that and the situation at Wutai at the time, that changed to KIA. Of course, Zack had the news at the time; even now, he still did not believe that his mentor, the strongest person he knew of aside from Sephiroth, was dead. All of a sudden, he snapped out of his thoughts and started to sift through the many papers containing the information of the cadets that were to become SOLDIER hopefuls this year.

"Anyway, if you wouldn't mind keeping your mind focused on choosing a cadet, Zackary," Sephiroth reminded, his stoic tone now back in full force. "I really need to get these done by tonight before my secretary has to leave."

"Yeah, Seph, just give me another minute or so," the young Lieutenant-General replied after clearing his throat a bit. "I need to at least read these papers so I can know what I'm going to be getting myself into. Do I feel sorry, though, for your poor secretary," he added with a small hitch of his breath that constituted for soft chuckling. "Sounds like she's going to have a long night tonight."

With a subtle roll of his eyes and a well hidden smirk, the General pulled out a sheet from his folder and started to intently read it. Zack, on the other hand, was still half-reading/half-skimming the contents of his, already through with half of the papers in it. Soon, he came to a stop on a particular one. He took it out so he could get a better look at what was written on it. His eyes skimmed the neat, computerized print as they described the cadet whose picture was placed on the top-left corner of the page, which he had chosen to ignore for the time being, regardless that it was the thing that caught his eye in the first place.

Name: Cloud Strife

Age: 16

Height: 5'7"

Blood type: AB

Date of Birth: August 19th

Birthplace: Nibelheim

Current army status: Grunt/Cadet

Weapons of interests: Swords and Guns

"What the…? This looks a lot like a personal record of the cadet," Zack mused as he looked up from his paper and stared at Sephiroth.

"That is because they are personal records," the General stated plainly as he took his eyes off the records for a small moment to look at the teen before bringing them back to the paper. "Rather, they are the nearly complete versions of each of the cadets' personal record meant for filing into the Shinra database. The only thing missing from them is the signature of the cadet's assigned mentor and the signature of approval from me, the General.

"Normally, I would put all these papers through a machine and have it randomly decide which cadet gets which SOLDIER before handing it to the SOLDIER himself to sign. That is usually how we manage to get the job done all these years, including the time when you were still a cadet. This is why I am saying that what I am doing for you right now is a favor. You get to choose of your own free will, something that the others don't have the privilege of doing."

"Well, I guess it's good to know that I'm not going to be getting some random guy who might end up being a complete creep to train," the teen replied in a tone strong with sarcasm as he continued to read what was on the report. "Thanks for showing me mercy on this front, Seph."

Notes and Comments: Cloud Strife is a young teenage boy who has passed his written exam with almost no noticeable flaws. His knowledge about the many things surrounding the army, including offensive, defensive, and evasive tactics along with the proper use of weapons, have made him one of the top five cadets in terms of mental standards. Upon filling out a survey given to him before testing, he mentions that he would like to have practice with guns and swords; the practice with swords was highly stressed. A very interesting cadet, this one.

When given a physical check-up to see if he would fit all the SOLDIER requirements, all his stats barely met the necessary requirements. His weight, height, and build all barely fit the recommended standards of the Shinra Army. The barely passing marks are more than enough to raise concerns about him actually being able to meet the physical standards. Because of this information, it is recommended that his training should start out somewhat easy and gradually work up to the regular training standards of SOLDIER. However, we are not suggesting that you should coddle the teen; just make sure to not overexert his limits.

Overall, in terms of his mental attributes, we suspect he'll be ready in about a month or two. It truly is something that you do not see everyday in a teen like him. However, in terms of his physical attributes, it should take roughly about six to nine months for him to become a SOLDIER, 3rd Class, provided that he can even handle the training regimen, that is. However, for the sake of recording the opinion of an expert, I do not believe that he will make the cut for SOLDIER.

"Jeez, the last part of the comments makes it sound like they don't have any faith in the kid," Zack said as he finished reading the record and decided to take a better look at the picture that was on it. "Don't they ever learn to not judge others by what they look like?"

The person that was posted on the picture was unlike anybody he had ever seen before. The teen, whose name was Cloud, had stunning bright blue eyes that could have probably given his own a run for his money. His hair was almost the same in style as the SOLDIER's, although it was light blond instead of raven black and possibly even spikier than his own. He also noted that it was naturally done without the telltale sign of gel reflecting off of the camera flash. And to top it all off, the young cadet's face was the near perfect depiction of innocence; a cute, unblemished baby face with somewhat pale skin that gave off both a cute and sheepish smile. His eyes were clearly burning with such great passion that reflected his strong desire to do whatever it took to become a member of SOLDIER. It was basically a great picture that seemed to capture the young cadet's attitude and natural beauty all at the same time while reflecting the slight hesitancy shining in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, this army is quite picky in who it wants to recruit into its ranks," Sephiroth stated as he placed his folder back onto the table and watched the Lieutenant-General stare at the picture dreamily. "They only want the best of the best situated within their ranks. I believe that it is more of a publicity thing rather than fighting standards if you ask me. The Shinra Company wants to gain the full trust of the general public by showing how reliable their army is. And in order to do so, they want to have only the best fighting alongside them."

"Yeah, well, you'd think they'd learn from a few years ago when I became a cadet that that's not really a good route to be following," the young SOLDIER sighed as he placed Cloud's record on the table and the folder on top of the others that the General had placed to the side. "Anyway, I've chosen who I want to have training under me! It's this guy right here, Cloud Strife!"

"This cadet, huh?" the General said as he picked up the paper and quickly perused its contents. "Hmm, he does seem like the perfect cadet for you. He almost looks exactly like you when you first started out as a new cadet a few years ago. Are you sure this is who you want to have train under you?"

"More than anything," he replied with a big smile.

"You are sure that this has absolutely nothing to do with your own personal gain or reasons?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"My own personal gain or reasons? Of course not. I mean, I admit that the kid looks cute, what with that innocent-looking baby face and hair as the color of golden Chocobo feathers, but the only thing I have that would be personal would be to prove the others in the meeting wrong on how they think weaklings can't become a part of SOLDIER. If they're not convinced with me and my successes, then I'll make them convinced with this kid's success."

"That is good to hear. I was afraid that, judging from what I know about you and whatever bit of tidbit you indulged to me about your personal lifestyle, you might take a step right off of the professional path. In other words, I want you to try and keep this relationship strictly cadet and mentor; nothing more than that."

"Geez Seph, you sound like you're being a bit overprotective over me," Zack huffed in annoyance as he rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I am just giving you a bit of friendly advice as well as a warning. Do not forget how the army views those in your shoes."

For a moment, Zack just sat there looking at the General with a quiet stare. Of course he knew what the man was talking about. Heck, he had this conversation before when he first indulged to his late mentor, Angeal, about his sexual preference and how Sephiroth just happened to step into the picture at that exact time. Talk about your seriously awkward moments there.

At least Angeal wasn't quick to jump the gun on me when I told him, he thought as the memory came back to him, the vividness still strong even after three years since the event came to be. In fact, he was so supportive of me and went on saying how brave I was to tell him that. I really wasn't expecting that. Then again, I really wasn't expecting old Seph to actually walk in on us right at the exact moment I said "I'm gay." Man, that was the scariest moment I have ever came across with in my entire life. It was even worse than the time I nearly got crushed by a falling tree and eaten by a monster at the same time back home. I thought old Seph here was going to go nuts on me when he walked in on me saying that. Scariest moment ever.

"I do not know why you were so scared back then," Sephiroth said as if he had read the young teen's mind. "I have never seen you so frightened and flustered in your entire life. You should have known that I am not the type to judge another so quickly due to his personal beliefs and lifestyle. Then again, you barely even knew me at the time, being that you were still just a cadet. And whatever little you did know about me, it was most likely only through Angeal."

"Yeah, I was so relieved and surprised at the same time when you just simply shrugged off what you heard me say as if it were nothing," Zack said with a small smile as he scratched the back of his head a bit.

"Well, you were a really good cadet then," the General replied with a small nod as his eyes betrayed his stoic features and showed that he was inwardly smiling. "Not only that, but you were also very talented, too. Only a fool would have chosen to kick you out of the army without any regard of your strength and talent. You are just really lucky that it was only me who happened to stumble upon you making your confession to Angeal. Otherwise, things would have gone a lot more differently."

"Yeah, that's something that I don't really want to think about. I'll just stay happy that it was only you who walked in that day.

"Anyway," the young SOLDIER shifted quickly onto another subject, "let's get back onto the main track now. This cadet, Cloud, is who I want to have train under me," the raven haired teen said as he pointed his finger at the piece of paper that had been resting on the coffee table for the past couple of minutes.

"Alright then," the silver haired SOLDIER answered as he moved the paper closer to him. "Just give me a moment to retrieve my pen here and officiate it with my signature. I'll need yours after mines is done."

Once he found a pen inside his trench coat pocket, he placed the paper flat on the desk and began to put his signature on the bottom of the paper. After he did so, he shifted both items across the table where Zack was sitting at.

"All you have to do now is to sign your name and everything else will be taken care of accordingly," Sephiroth instructed the young Lieutenant-General. "Just make sure you do not breathe a word about this to anyone. If you do, then people might think that I am committing to what I believe you called, 'favoritism.'"

"Oh, I wouldn't say a thing about it even if I wanted to," Zack assured him with a big smile as he picked up the pen and signed his name on the line marked, "SOLDIER mentor signature". "This is too good of an opportunity to pass up to have my loud voice announcing it to everybody and ruining it."

"Why do I not feel assured after hearing that?" the General asked with a ghost of a grin breaking his stoic face as he stood up and picked up the folders from the coffee table. "Anyway, if you are done with the signing, would you please give the record back to me now? I have to start working on them now if I ever plan on giving them to my secretary before she leaves."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that you're planning to sic all of these papers on the poor woman," the young SOLDIER replied with a small half-grin as he handed the paper to Sephiroth. "Well, when you go and give them all to your secretary, tell her that I feel really sorry for her."

"As if I will ever tell her that. Goodnight now, Zackary. I suggest you get some sleep now. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, after all."

"True enough. See you tomorrow, Sephiroth."

And with that, Zack got up from his seat and the both of them started to walk in opposite directions towards their intended destinations. However, not even a couple of seconds later, the General turned around and was looking at the Lieutenant-General's quickly retreating back.

"Oh, Zackary," he called out to the teen, seeing him stop and turn around on the spot, "I believe that you have something that belongs to me."

"I do?" the raven haired teen asked as he gave the General a small questioning look.

"Yes, you do. If you would be so kind as to return my pen that I believe to still be on your personage, that would be most appreciated."

"Oh, that!" he exclaimed as he looked at his hand which was still gripping the pen. "Sorry about that, Seph."

With that quick apology, Zack tossed the black pen back at Sephiroth, who caught it with excellent reflexes and quickly stowed it back into his trench coat pocket. He then gave an apologetic smile at the older man.

"Thank you," he stated as he turned around once more and continued on his way. "Goodnight to you now."

"Yeah, goodnight," Zack replied half-heartedly as he continued on his route back to his room with nothing and nobody stopping or distracting him on his way there.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the past couple of chapters. Sorry that I didn't put any names for the cadets that Cloud was talking to in the last one, but their only appearance was in that chapter. The man, Clamont, in this chapter is also only here for this one chapter. I just gave him a name because he was a part of the meeting. That and Sephiroth was talking to him, which means he usually states the person's name when he speaks to them.

Anyway, hoped you like the story so far. I'll see what I can do about continuing on with it. Don't forget to leave me a review after this. Until the next update!