Author's Note – If I use names to refer to Cloud's swords, please know that I got the names from a reputable forum, but there's never been any confirmation from Square-Enix themselves. I just like the names so that's why I'm using them. The main sword is called Apocalypse, although First Tsurugi is a name known to be used a lot. The impact blade that fits at the bottom of Apocalypse is called Organics. The two back blades with the serrated edges are called Butterfly Edge. The two side blades with the folding handles are called Rune. When all the pieces are together, some have called it First Tsurugi or sometimes Ultimate Weapon. I'm going with First Tsurugi. And that concludes our lesson in Weapon Shop 101.

Also, many thanks for the reviews. I'm glad everyone likes this fic so far.


Chapter 3 – Light Sleeper

It was bad enough I'd have to be her shadow for an indefinite about of time, but I almost forgot I'd be sharing a room with her. If I hadn't been so adamant and forceful with Warden Redgrave about putting me in Tifa's room in the first place, I would have had the crazy witch put me somewhere else. But I wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of thinking I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was going to kill Rufus for not telling me his kid sister wasn't a kid anymore. I could deal with sleeping in the same room with a kid, but not a grown woman. I had been stubborn and impatient with my demands and I probably should have waited to meet the girl before negotiating the right accommodations. It was too late now. Besides, how could I protect her if she wasn't always in my sights?

I had to leave things the way they were. Why? Because I was a sucker, with a capital S. I prayed to whatever God would listen, that Rufus Shinra's investigators, hitmen, whatever, would quickly find the guy threatening him so I could get the hell out and go back to Edge where I belonged. And be tortured by a woman who didn't share my feelings.

I didn't need to make nice or be Tifa's bestfriend. This was just another job which happened to pay enough gils for me to live an above average lifestyle for the rest of my life. I could get my own place with a big garage for Fenrir. I could have more weapons made, buy 'mastered' materia from the guy I could never afford to buy from. Or I'd bribe Aeris and give it all to her if she dumped Reno. Yeah…that's what I'd do.

I stayed out of Lockhart's way for the rest of the day. Mainly because I wanted nothing to distract me from trying to figure out how she knew me. I mean, there was the occasional news story about me on TV…because I had a habit of saving people from attacking monsters. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. And there the stories in the newspapers. But Tifa made it seem like she knew me on a personal level. Hopefully whatever I did to her wasn't something that could land me in prison, even though I knew it wasn't in my nature to force myself on any girl. But the gaps in my memory worried me sometimes.

Later that night, I sat by myself in the dining hall and literally shoveled the food into my mouth. I didn't even know what the hell I was eating, I just wanted to get out of there, away from the eyes. I figured these girls didn't get the chance to see the opposite sex too often…except for the male teachers. I could understand the knowing looks I was getting from the older girls, but the glances I got from the younger ones…like Marlene's age…like I was some movie or musical icon, they were freaking me out. I felt like a piece of meat hanging in a den full of wolves.

So I left there in a big hurry. As I made my way down the hallway in the east wing, I continued to receive the stares. It got to a point where I seriously wanted to pretend I was an unpredictable psycho so they'd scatter when I came around. I'd have to come up with a plan later.

After turning a corner, I glanced at the numbers on the doors I passed and stopped in front of the one with a 314 on it. No sound came from the other side, which made me wonder if maybe Lockhart had gone to sleep. At 7:30? I knocked.

"It's open," came the response.

I turned the knob and poked my head in first. "Can I come in?"

"Do you see me stopping you?" She was sitting cross-legged on one of the twin beds, hugging a teddy bear.

I came in the rest of the way and closed the door. "Think fast." I tossed a green apple in her direction, having taken it from a basket in the dining hall. She had to be hungry.

She caught it and gave me a suspicious look. "Thanks." But she didn't bite into it and put it on a nightstand between the beds. Her suspicious look didn't go away. "Are you responsible for Sara moving out?"

Oh, right. I forgot about the roommate. "Had to be done."

"Why?"

"I told you before. The less people know your connection with Shinra, the better."

"Sara knows me better than my own brother."

"Well, I don't trust anybody in this place, especially Warden Redgrave."

"Hm. At least we agree on one thing. We both dislike her."

I suddenly realized I had been wandering around the room, checking things out and opening drawers. It was sort of an automatic thing sometimes, a residual from my days in AVALANCHE when we were chasing after Sephiroth and snooping around places, looking for clues to his whereabouts. The drawer I just opened was full of lacy things and I quickly slammed it shut.

"What're you looking for?" she asked in annoyance.

Busted. So what excuse did I have to look through her drawers without making myself sound like a pervert? "Just checking for listening devices." Yeah, I was a real genius. It wasn't like Tifa was under surveillance by the bad guys.

"In my underwear drawer?"

"That'd be the first place I'd put one." It was the only response I could think of on such short notice. I never said I was a rocket scientist.

"I'm not surprised," she replied.

I turned toward her, now that my face wasn't as red as it felt ten seconds ago. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, just something I saw in the paper about you the other day."

"What paper?" I could have been smart and dropped the subject before it even got started, but I had a thing for torturing myself.

"I read you had quite a party with six hookers at a Strip Club. So tell me, Cloud, how many skirts are you planning to chase around here?"

I stared at her with a frown. Why did everyone in the world think I was some kind of player? "I don't have to explain myself to you. But, just for the record, I made a delivery to that place. There was no party."

"You might fool some people with that story. I'm not that stupid."

"Who needs hookers? I have a girlfriend."

Her eyes narrowed even more. "A girlfriend!"

What was wrong with this girl? Lots of guys had girlfriends. Why was she trying to make me feel like I was the biggest asshole in the world for having one? Even though Aeris really wasn't my girlfriend.

"I'm sure your girlfriend must have been thrilled to see the story in the paper."

"Aeris trusts me."

She laughed coldly as she looked away. "Then she's dumber than you."

"You think I can't be trusted?"

"That's right. I happen to know first hand how you don't keep your promises."

Now I was really pissed because she was making accusations without me even knowing what I was being accused of. "What the fuck is your problem with me?"

Her face changed and the fiery eyes came back. "You stupid jerk! If you can't figure it out, then why should I tell you?"

It had to be bad, otherwise she wouldn't act like she hated the very sight of me. "You wanna play it this way? Fine by me." I walked to the nightstand and took back my apple. Just to spite her I took a bite out of it. "Just so you know, I'm not taking a bullet for you." I plopped myself down on the other bed.

"Now what're you doing?" she asked in surprise.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Get out!"

"No."

"Fine, then I'll have to call security."

"Go ahead. See if I care."

Her jaw nearly hit the bed. "You aren't…you can't stay in my…" Then she frowned. "Redgrave didn't throw a fit about this?"

"Oh, she threw a fit, alright. But I let her see things my way."

"And what's your way?"

"How am I supposed to watch over you from another room?"

"Well, how can I have any privacy if you're around all the time?"

"Hey, I like my privacy, too. We'll just have to take turns in the bathroom."

She made a disgusted sound. "I can't believe Rufus hired you. I thought he was smarter than that."

"He knows what I'm capable of, which is something you don't know anything about."

"You think you're such a bad-ass. Ha! After everything you've supposedly done, you're not very hero-looking to me at all."

This chick was brutal. She literally rendered me speechless. If she had been a guy, my fist would have connected with her face an hour ago and she would have landed in Icicle Village up the mountain. I didn't need this kind of abuse. If I wanted to be ridiculed, I'd spend a day with Reno. Hell, he was better company than Rufus's whacked out half-sister.

I decided to just ignore her because I didn't know what to say to her anymore, much less how to handle her harsh attitude. Not that I couldn't take it. I had broad shoulders. I just wasn't sure I could trust myself to not cut off my own hand and slap her with it.


Pacing inside the room wasn't burning off any of my energy, nor was it helping my bladder. Lockhart got me so worked up, I needed a tranquilizer to calm me down. Except I forgot to grab some before I left home this morning. And I had no liquor to drown myself in, so now I was stuck.

She had been in the bathroom for over an hour and my back teeth were floating so bad, I was ready to piss out the window.

I walked to the bed and reclined on it. The ceiling had several cracks in…and I found myself counting them. "This sucks."

My cellphone rang.

I grabbed it off the nightstand and saw Aeris's name on the display. Normally when she called I let it go to voicemail because there were times I just didn't feel like listening to all the domestic crap she thought I liked hearing. I quickly flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Oh…Cloud." She sounded surprised. "I didn't expect you to pick up. I was just going to leave you a message like I always do."

I closed my eyes and savored the sound of her voice. "Is everything okay back home?"

"Yes, everything's fine. I was just calling to see how things were going with you."

"Fine. The people around here are nice. This place is great. They've got books, too."

"Books?"

"Yeah, you know, cuz it's a school." I was stammering like a fucking idiot.

"I know that, Cloud."

"Oah, who am I kidding? This place is the pits. The principle is a lunatic. And everyone's always staring. I can't scratch my nose without them looking at me like I was some animal in a zoo."

"I feel so bad."

"You could come and keep me company."

"Cloud, you know I can't. I have the bar to take care of. And what about Marlene and Denzel? Who's going to feed them and help them with their homework?"

I sighed heavily and stared up at the ceiling again. "Yeah, I guess." I heard a lot of her excuses before, but this time they were legitimate. She couldn't just pick up and leave.

"I'm sorry, Cloud. I just can't understand why Shinra had to send you instead of his own people. If he can't even trust them, how can he trust you?"

"I don't know."

"Well, anyway, how's his little sister? Hopefully she's not too much of a spoiled brat."

"No, she's not spoiled, she's just a brat."

"Most thirteen year olds are."

I pondered whether I should tell Aeris that Tifa was actually nearly six years older than that. Better to be honest now than regret it later. "Actually, she's older than that."

"You mean like fourteen or fifteen?"

"She's eighteen."

"But the picture…"

"Yeah, I know and I have a few choice words for Rufus for making me think she was just a kid. Funny thing is, I think I know her from somewhere, but I just can't remember."

"The gaps in your memory again?"

"And for some reason she really seems to hate me."

"She probably doesn't like the idea of someone watching over her all the time."

I decided it was probably not a good idea to tell Aeris I was sharing a room with Tifa on top of it all. "Yeah, maybe that's it."

"Hang on, Cloud. Reno wants to say hi."

"No, Aeris, don't put him on the…" I whined.

"Yo, bro, staying out of trouble at that all-girl school?" He snickered.

"Yeah, cuz I'm not a jerk off like you."

"Ouch, that's cold. Speaking of cold, I heard you haven't gotten laid in a really long time."

"I'm hanging up now. Tell Aeris I said good-bye." I shut my phone and growled. It irked me that Aeris would tell Reno something so personal about me. But then again, I didn't remember ever telling her I hadn't been with anyone in awhile. Where was Reno getting his information, if not Aeris? Couldn't be Barrett or Cid because they couldn't stand Reno anymore than I could. The only one I ever confided in was Vincent and I couldn't imagine my sex life coming up in a conversation between him and Reno.

I flipped my phone open and punched in Rufus's number.

He answered after the third ring. "Hello, Cloud. Is Redgrave still giving you a hard time?"

"Yeah, but that's not why I'm calling. I have a bone to pick with you."

"Is there a problem?"

"You said your sister was like thirteen and that's not the case at all."

"I never said she was thirteen. I just gave you a picture."

"Well, you could have told me she didn't look like that anymore. I'm expecting some buck-toothed brat to walk in the door and instead she's…she's…" I stopped myself because I remembered this was his sister I was talking about. It's not like I could have said, 'she's really hot and she's legal'.

"I apologize for not setting the proper expectations and misleading you, Cloud."

"I don't like being tricked, Shinra."

"I have no tricks up my sleeve. Honestly, I feared you wouldn't accept the job if you knew she was an adult."

Oh, I so wanted to reach my hand through the phone and poke him in the eyes. "I can still refuse."

"Very well. I'll send Reno with the chopper in the morning, if you wish."

"Forget it. I'll drive myself back."

"Can you at least do me the favor of waiting until I can send someone else to watch over Tifa?"

I sighed and punched the mattress. Why was I such a sucker? "No, I'll still do it."

"Thank you, Cloud. You don't know how much I appreciate what you're doing for me."

"You'd better let me know the second your would-be assassin is dealt with."

"I promise, you will be the first one I call."

Somehow I doubted it. "And I want my money wired by the end of this week." I shut my phone without saying good-bye. He didn't deserve it.

The bathroom door finally opened and Lockhart stepped out, wearing a small pink tank top and incredibly short shorts.

I would have taken the time to really appreciate all the skin if I didn't have to take a leak so bad. Instead I grabbed my duffle bag and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

While I was taking care of business, my eyes wandered around the small space. The flowered wallpaper, the white toothbrush in a cup, the makeup on a shelf. I glanced at the top of the toilet tank and found some feminine products. Lucky for me I was used to stuff like this, living with Aeris. In addition to the rubber duckies and submarine toys Marlene and Denzel played with in the tub.

I flushed the toilet and proceeded to change out of my clothes and into my pajamas. As I brushed my teeth, I emptied a few things out of my duffle. I had to shove Tifa's makeup over on the shelf to make room for my hair gel and shaving stuff.

Just because I was nosey, I opened the mirrored cabinet door to see what was inside. Perfume bottles, pill bottles, more makeup. I picked up one of the prescription pill bottles with Tifa's name on the label and read further. Take two every four hours as needed for migraine headache. I put the bottle back and noticed several packets on the last shelf. After picking one up I realized it was a condom. I quickly tossed it back and closed the mirrored door.

A smile crept up on my face as I continued to brush. What were the condoms for, Tifa? Looking for a little action? I decided it could be good blackmail material, if she really got out of line with me.

After rinsing my toothbrush, I looked for a spot to put it. Since there wasn't one, I tossed it in the cup with hers. That probably wouldn't earn me any points, but I didn't care.

I came out of the bathroom after awhile and tossed my duffle down next to my bed. If I wanted to be a real asshole I could demand she emptied a drawer for my stuff, but I decided I'd just live out of the duffle. I didn't have that much anyway. Hopefully they had laundry service around here and not just a bunch of washers and dryers. I didn't have a clue how to wash clothes. Aeris did all that for me back home.

Lockhart was curled up under her covers, probably pretending to be asleep.

I slid under my own covers and turned off the lamp on the nightstand. "Don't think about sneaking out or try to smother me with a pillow, cuz I'll hear you. I'm a very light sleeper."

No response.


Something was shaking me. Was it an earthquake?

"Wake up, Cloud."

No, it couldn't be morning already. "Leave me alone," I mumbled, hoping whoever was trying to get me up would just go away and let me sleep.

The hand persisted to rattle my shoulder. "Wake up, you idiot!"

I pulled the pillow over my head, but it was immediately yanked out of my hand. Before I had a chance to protest, the pillow came at me and clocked me in the face. When it came again, I blocked the blow and sat up, coming face to face with a set of fiery eyes. "What the fuck!" I yelled before I realized I wasn't at home like I thought I was. Damn, I thought it had all been a dream. I couldn't be so lucky.

Tifa straightened up and put her hands on her hips. "Light sleeper, my foot. I've been trying to wake you up for the last fifteen minutes. I could have been attacked by a screaming banshee and you wouldn't have heard it." She walked away from my bed with a disgusted snort.

I reached under the covers to make a major adjustment to my morning wood before I tossed the covers aside and got out of bed. When she grabbed her books, I realized she was already dressed. "Don't go anywhere. Wait for me." After grabbing a clean teeshirt and jeans, I went into the bathroom. But then I heard a sound in the other room. When I opened the door, Tifa was gone. "Dammit!"


I'll try and update every 2-3 days, only because I have most of this story already done. Keep the reviews coming, please.