Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

Warnings: AU,OOC…blood/gore, language, and shounen-ai…'Tis all for now.

Note: Currently, I haven't moved into my dorm yet…About a week 'till then...I'm surprised at how popular this fic is, especially since the first 'chapter' was so ridiculously short. I had meant for it to be longer, but forgot and ran out of time before I had to upload everything on that particular computer or risk not being able to upload the story until next year. Also, I was going to wait until I was in my dorm to put the second chapter up, but all the lovely reviews changed my mind. X3 At any rate, I hope you readers enjoy this chapter because it's taken a slightly different turn from what I originally had planned…and don't forget to review and let me know how you feel about the story. :) (Forgive me for any grammar mistakes and such…This was typed up around 2 in the morning… X.x; )

Chapter 02: Fortunate Meetings

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With a great yawn to finish off my lazy stretch, I get up out of bed and pull on my clothing before heading outside to see what type of work the weather would allow me to do today. Who am I you ask? My name is Cloud Strife, twenty-one years old and I currently live out in the middle of nowhere. My occupation? Whatever I'm able to do, which is a bit of everything…So, I guess, I'm a jack of all trades. Though, since I live in the middle of a forest, I typically spend my day cutting firewood and such for the towns that have no trees left around them. No axes for me though, I only use my wonderful buster sword. Not the most powerful thing in existence, but it'll still pack a wallop.

A grin sneaks its way onto my face as I lift the sword and swing it, feeling it's wonderful weight. Today is nice and bright, which means I should be able to get today's requests done with a little free time to go into Kalm, the closest city to my home. I'm not exactly fond of cities, especially after my bad experiences while I was in the military, but going to at least one of them periodically allows me to get the knowledge of the world that I tend to be overly curious about. That's one of my problems; my curiosity. That's what got me into the military in the first place—a 'good way to see the world,' my ass. It's a good way to go horribly insane. I get odd looks from people who are near me, not only because of my clothing, eyes, and odd hair style…but I also tend to see things that people don't believe exist. Ghosts of the past often haunt me when I travel into a town with a bloody, forgotten past and sometime I've had them attack me. I usually pass out when touched by them, or I'll end up getting many stares when I begin to talk to them, not realizing what they are until the damage has been done. I don't know exactly why I am the way I am…I just…am.

"Whew! It's not even eleven and it's already so hot!" I complain to my sword as I sit on the freshly cut stump, taking a breather as my breathing had become more labored than necessary and sweat was trailing down my face. I glance at the decent pile of wood that I've chopped, "That should be enough for today. Not many people want wood since it's the middle of summer…" I hear footsteps approaching and look over as I hear, "Ah, but I am one of those people, Mr. Strife." I stand and give a polite smile as an old woman approaches the little clearing, "Good day Mrs. Sa—"

"I thought I told you to call me Ishtar, no?" I gave the woman a sheepish smile mumbling, "Sorry." The elderly woman gave a kind smile before saying in her soothing voice, "No harm done son, can I have my usual order, please?" I gave her a nod and ran back into my small cabin, returning with a pint container filled with water (from the hot spring that wasn't too far away from my home) and a basket identical to the one she had hung around her arm. I filled it with five logs of the wood I'd just cut and then slipped the container on top of it and traded the filled basket for her empty one, "Do you want me to help you carry it home, Ishtar?" She smiled upon me using her first name for once, but shook her head, "No, no, you've done enough for me." I nodded and she bowed, "Take care, Mr. Strife." I watched her turn around and begin to walk away before I glanced down at the basket she'd given me. My eyes widened in surprise and I called out, "Mrs. Ishtar—you gave me too much gil!" I trotted up to her as she had stopped and turned to glance at me. When I started to reach into the basket to retrieve the extra amount, she placed her hand upon mine, "Keep it. You work so hard for so little in all kinds of weather." She smiled before continuing to walk towards her home. I couldn't help but smile at her back, but her comment that she called over her back switched happiness for confusion. She called out, "You'll soon need that money to help feed an extra mouth," to me, without even stopping or looking back. I slowly headed back to my cabin, picking up my sword as I went by; as my mind tried to make restore order to the confusion she'd sent my thoughts into.

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'Ok, admit it, you're fucking lost.' I mentally kicked myself as I wandered from the grassy plains to the edge of a forest. 'This sure as hell doesn't look like Kalm,' my mind complained as my body continued to move forward. Doubling back would not only take longer, but I would also have a high chance of getting shot by the people there. I'd stayed there too long and they figured out that I am a vampire, thus I had no choice but to move on. I had to abandon my little apartment as well, which left me in a foul mood, on top of the fact that my craving didn't come only at 'opportune' times. There'd be no bloody human for many miles with my luck…and that would not spell good news for the next town I come across. "Damn it, either way I'm screwed!" I growled under my breath as I marched on. What else could I do? The longer it took for me to find someone to prey off of, the worse off that person, and anyone else near, would be. 'To top it all off, this cursed weather isn't helping…' Of course, if I didn't wear a red cape that covered the lower half of my face, black pants, boots, and a black shirt—I might be cooler. Whatever. I'm beginning to get a headache from the lack of blood…I stop dead in my tracks as I hear footsteps approaching my position and my heart leaps, 'I just might not end up going berserk this time!' I swiftly hide behind a tree and quietly wait. When I hear the footsteps reach the right position I jump out with fangs bared and arms outstretched to grab whomever had approached, but I let out a yelp as I am smacked on top of the head with a piece of cut wood, "No! Bad boy! I'm not what you want, despite what your stomach might tell you." My curses and pain were temporarily forgotten as I gawked at an elderly woman from where I was sitting down at her feet, subconsciously rubbing the spot where she'd beamed me. She let out a kind chuckle, "My name is Ishtar," she reached into a pocket and handed me a small bottle, "I expected to run into you, in that bottle is some enchanted blood that will sustain you a bit longer than a normal feed." At that, my shock only deepened and she gave me a kindly smile. "Sorry about hitting you like that, I wasn't sure what amount of force it would take to stop you," she turned towards the way she had come as she pointed, "Down that direction is a young man. He'll do almost any job for the right amount of gil—he's such a dear." I blinked at her sentimental comment, but she continued before I could say anything, "He'll be able to give you supplies to bandage that up, along with something for the pain, and he will probably let you lodge there for the night if you have enough gil." I just looked glumly at the ground as she turned back towards me. I have no gil, but a bed to sleep in sounded a lot better than sleeping outside in this forest. "Oh my, you are having a hard time aren't you?" I looked up at her in time to watch her slip a large amount of gil into my hand. I could only gawk at her once more as she smiled, "Use it wisely, dear." She began to walk off and my brain suddenly began to function again…sort of, "M-ma'm! Thank you!" I stuttered foolishly, unused to saying polite words or words of kindness, but she merely turned to smile and bow before walking off. I would've continued to stare after her with a mystified look on my face, but my craving surged within my stomach suddenly and I quickly uncapped the bottle she'd given me. The stuff tasted horrible, even in terms of blood, but just a few swallows completely filled up my craving and my stomach's hunger. Since it was bitter, and the craving was gone, I capped it once more and put it in my pocket. Obviously, the lady wasn't kidding about it being enchanted…Could she have been a witch? The bump on my head suddenly chose to make itself noticed once more as it began to throb with pain again, I groaned and placed a hand gingerly over it as I stood. Looking off in the direction the woman had pointed, I let out a sigh as I began to walk again, "What do I have to lose?"

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I let out a strained breath as I finished moving the last of the wood into a pile by my cabin, "This mess is so much easier in the winter…" I grumbled, but merely continued on to my other tasks, the next one being to gather more spring water for the few people who buy a few gallons of it every week. 'They should arrive sometime tomorrow if their schedule doesn't get disrupted…' I thought as I scooped up the hot water into about ten containers. When that was done, I began to haul one after the other back to my cabin, which was painfully hot. By the time I set down the last jug, I went down with it, panting for air as sweat trickled down my face and onto the floor. At times like this, I'm tempted to freeze that stupid spring with my ice materia to have a bit of relief from the heat. Air conditioning would be heavenly right about now, but I own no such thing. I was just lucky to have indoor plumbing out in this little cabin. "Ugh…I think…That's enough for today. I…don't think I'll be going to Kalm." After a few moments I mentally fussed at myself, 'Who are you talking to, idiot? You've spent too much time alone…' I gave a sigh as I stood, "Maybe I should search for a roommate, or a partner? Someone to talk to, damn, I'm going insane!" I uttered a groan and ran my hands through my hair before I pulled off my shirt as I readied for a nice, cold shower. Maybe that would help. Just before I could turn on the water, though, I heard a knock at my door. "Figures…" I mumbled before shouting, "Coming!" I wrapped a towel around my waist and opened the door to find a man, whose eyes widened at a man answering the door only in a towel, with black hair and red eyes, oddly enough. "Er…Can I help you?"

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The man's question pulled me out of the shock that had fallen upon me withhim answering his door in a towel—kind of on the short side to boot. "A-ah, yes…I think…I came across an old lady who told me you might be able to help me?" When he scrunched up his face slightly in confusion, I quickly added "…I think she said her name was Ishtar?" A light of realization came across his face, "Oh, yes, she left here not too long ago…So you have the right place…but what do you need from me?"

"She gave me quite a large bump on the head when…she mistook me for an attacker, and she said you could give me something for the pain—and a place to lodge for the night if I had enough gil…" I held my breath as he made a face. After a few tense moments, he slowly said, "I don't know what she's trying to do, she normally doesn't tell travelers to comehere…" he gave me a short smirk, "She must've really have given you a wallop to send you here." I nodded, only to wince slightly, and he continued, "Do you have 100 gil?"

"Yes…"

"Great! That's much more than what I get on a regular basis, so if you're willing to pay that, I'll let you stay." I rummaged through my pocket and handed him the amount and he stepped to the side, "I don't have air conditioning, but I do have indoor plumbing…" I walked in and began to look around. It wasn't exactly dirty…just…well lived in. "Sorry, I normally don't house company, so you'll have to give me a little while to get everything set up for you. You'll have to excuse the mess as well…" He disappeared into what I assume is a bathroom and reemerged with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin, "Here ya go. I'll be in the shower for a bit…Make yourself at home, I guess." With that, he disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. I heard the rushing sound of water not too long after I sat down on the edge of a comfortable little bed. Swallowing the correct dosage of the medicine without the water, I set the bottle down on a small wooden table, it appeared to be hand carved, and poured the water out in a sink. I sat down on the edge of the bed once more and began to look around once more. Soon my thoughts began to wander to the man who'd I be staying with for the night. He seemed quite unusual with his interesting hairstyle and glowing blue eyes…Why he'd want to live out here in a place like this was interesting as well…A faint click announced the opening of the bathroom door and I looked up to see the man still fairly damp. His hair was slightly more limp than it was before, but it was still very much spiked up in various directions, and beads of water trailed down his chest and back as he walked over towards a dresser. He bent over to rummage for clothes and I realized his towel was not only slightly loose, but awful short indeed. I quickly averted my eyes to the floor, feeling an unusual pull at my stomach when a few uncharacteristic thoughts popped into my head. "You're face is red—you must be awfully hot in that outfit…" My head snapped up to find him examining me with his clothing in one hand, and the other hand keeping a grip on his towel. He continued on, "I can lend you some clothing; mind you they may not fit perfectly…or at least a cold shower…" His brilliant blue eyes glanced over towards the bathroom then back at me. After a moments of silence I said, "A cold shower sounds nice." The blonde gave me a relieved smile and said, "Help yourself. There are a few more towels on the shelf behind the door." I gave him a nod and I walked into the room, shutting the door behind me.

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A sigh escaped my throat after the man had shut the door. He seemed to be an interesting guy, and alreadyI love having someone here with me. Exactly how lonelyI've been out here in this forest hadn't fully sunk in until now.I got dressed and began to become depressed whenI remembered the man was only staying for one night…then it'd be back to the company of me, myself, and I. A soft click catches my attention and pulls me out of my spiraling depression. I look up only to have an odd feeling flutter within my stomach upon seeing the man emerge with damp hair, holding his shirt and cape in his hand. He only had on his pants. His boots had been removed and were in the other hand, which was a gold claw that I had somehow managed to overlook before hand. "…Where can I set these?" he raised the objects slightly and his voice snapped me out of the trance I'd gone into and I pointed over to a shelf in the corner of the room, "Over there is fine."

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I looked to where he had pointed and walked over to place my things there as I tried to ignore his eyes that had resumed their inspection of me. I hated risking him realizing that I'm a vampire, but the weather here is just so damn hot…I turned back towards him, "So where will I sleep…"

"Er, Cloud. Cloud Strife. You'll sleep on my bed; I'll roll out a futon for myself." I gave a nod. Cloud…I'll be sure to remember that. His eyes were upon me again with a curious look within them and I answered one of the many possible questions that could lie behind those glowing blue orbs, "Vincent Valentine is my name." His face lit up in a kind smile, "Sorry, nice to meet you…" he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm afraid living alone for so long and being in SOLDIER have taken their toll…You'll have to excuse my odd behavior." I gave him a nod, oddly enough, that explained a lot of the questions I'd been wondering about him.

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(1) I could have ended the chapter here, almost did, but I decided to continue to make up for the short first chapter.

((AN: There ya go. A nice long (compared to my usual lengths) chapter to make up for the short first chapter. :3 Good? Bad? Reviews please! Let me know if you think the rating should be moved up…I'm not out to get in trouble with or anyone else. Also, Kalm was just a random town I chose…I don't care if it doesn't quite fit the FFVII map, this is an AU fic in the first place. :P ))