Once a month, the cadets were allowed to wander under the plate, though Cloud could vaguely remember never having taken advantage of it when he was a cadet. Cloud had been shy, and the city was a very overwhelming place for a country boy like he had been. He had always preferred to stay within the safety of the campus.

Cloud was distracted from his thoughts by a flash of red out of the corner of his eye, and he watched wide-eyed as a red head in a blue suit wandered past him on the opposite side of the street.

"The Turks must have sunk their claws into him early..."

Drew, a boy from his bunker, gave him a weird look from where he was walking next to him. "You do realize you mumble to yourself a lot, right? Do you know it's weird when you do that? It's a sign of a crazy person. "

Having been so wrapped up in looking around, Cloud had almost forgotten that he was still with the group from his bunker. They had traveled in a pack down under the plate because of the 'power in numbers' mentality. Their instructors had gleefully told them all horror stories of what happened to stray cadets under the plate - which, honestly, were embellished but not completely out of realm of possibilities from what Cloud remembered.

Cloud squinted back at him. "Who said I wasn't a crazy person?"

Drew full out scowled at him. Admittedly, Cloud was getting along pretty well with the others. It was fun to bitch about the instructors and the coursework together, and it made the days more bearable to have people to talk to. And, nobody underestimated him after he showed he wasn't a pushover during their hand-to-hand class which was a definite plus.

Cloud clapped Drew on the back. "Well, gonna see a lady about some flowers" he said dryly. He slipped away from the group and into the crowds, leaving Drew blinking after him in confusion.

Despite what he said, Cloud had another errand to run first. He slowed down to a slow jog as he turned a corner into an alley. He was sure this was the place; it was at the edge of the sector and rarely inhabited, even during his time - and sure enough, a glint of gold shone from the shadows.

Cloud nodded towards the speck. "Vincent. It's good to see you." And it really, really was. It was stressful having to pretend to be as clueless as all the others.

Vincent stepped forward fully into his line of sight and nodded back. "As it is you. Especially since it seems you are not as insane as I had first thought."

Cloud snorted. And hadn't that been a fun process. There was only so much he could show Vincent from Nibelheim, and only so much credit that could be given to the words of a sixteen year old. After telling his version of events, he had shown Vincent the labs and faked journals and then had (eventually) convinced Vincent to do his own investigation.

They (as in Vincent) had lured one of the monsters capable of using spells into the section of the library containing the journals and trapped it there, letting it wreak havoc. The journals, and much of the room, had been destroyed. Cloud had wanted to burn the whole death trap to the ground, but he couldn't afford to attract attention. But Cloud knew that the journals had to go; they had been a huge catalyst to Sephiroth's transformation from respected General to psychopath. This way, they got rid of one possible threat without leaving evidence of tampering. JENOVA hadn't been where it should have been -that would have been too easy, Cloud thought bitterly- and hopefully this way Hojo wouldn't be spooked if he arrived with it and found the room destroyed. Unfortunately, that meant they had to leave the labs intact as well.

Vincent had left for Midgar shortly after to find more evidence to confirm Cloud's story, and Cloud had joined ShinRa three months later.

"Yeah, well, I can forgive you for freaking out a little when I first uncovered your coffin." Cloud responded.

Vincent remained silent and Cloud scowled. "Oh please. Just admit that you freaked out a bit. It's not every day you find out about time travel. Not to mention the multiple world-ending events."

Crimson eyes stared back impassively.

"C'mon! Your eye had twitched. That's the equivalent of a freak out for anyone else." Then Cloud realized he had gotten off topic. "Anyway, you must have found something that convinced you I was telling the truth or you wouldn't have met me here."

Vincent shifted, tucking the metal at his side more fully into his cloak. "I did. There was too much coincidence with your story and that which I found here."

Cloud's eyebrow rose. "And...?"

"And I will help you in any way I am able. However, information is... difficult... to obtain at the moment. The Turks' guard is impressive and their ways have changed since I had last been one of them."

The blonde scratched his head before shrugging. "I know things have changed and technology has probably advanced since you've been gone, but you're a smart guy. You'll catch up in no time and I'll try to help with that aspect. Just, do what you can. If you can find any mention of Hojo and his projects -hell, or any information at all, really, whether it be from the Turks or from rumor - that would help me out a lot. I don't really know much about the situation as it stands right now. There's only so much a cadet can get away with, and any questions I ask now would be highly suspicious."

Nodding, Vincent turned away. "I will look for you here next month." And then he was gone.

Cloud rolled his shoulders and sighegd. Enough stalling. He really did have to see a lady about some flowers.

Cloud weaved his way through Sector 5 until he got to the worn church doors. They creaked as they opened and he stepped through, following the aisle until his boots brushed against the very edges of the grass.

Aerith stood from her position tending to a white flower, wiping the dirt from her hands onto her dress, and smiling brilliantly when she caught sight of her visitor.

"Cloud..." She said fondly.

Cloud warred with himself for a second, but in the end he stepped carefully into the flowers. Aerith held her arms open with a smile and gladly accepted a hug.

"I'm really angry with you." He mumbled into her hair. She sighed, patting his blonde locks before wrapping her arm back around him.

"It wasn't my decision, you know. You can't just blame me."

Cloud stayed silent.

Aerith squeezed him harder. "Look, if I had the chance I can't say that I wouldn't have wanted to send you back, but I would have found a way to ask you first. And I didn't exactly choose to come back either - it was a shock to me as well. To see my mother again... well, I guess you know exactly how that feels. But, this is a gift, Cloud."

He sighed and pulled back a bit so he could look at her. "I know. Believe me, I know. But I don't know where to start. And Zack..." he trailed off.

"Zack worried about you." She interrupted. She could feel him give a start, but she merely smiled and continued. "I think he would have been glad to have met you earlier, and under less...stressful... conditions. He really was very fond of you. He always watched over you when he got the chance, and you should have heard the BRAGGING that went on whenever you saved the Planet."

Cloud could feel his cheeks warm with embarrassment, but he couldn't have stopped the smile growing on his face if he had tried.

"I admit, I got a little insecure when I saw him and he looked right through me. I began to wonder if we even would have been friends if we hadn't gotten captured. And I realized that, overall, I really knew very little about him."

Aerith nodded. "You knew the most important aspects of him though. Maybe you didn't know the 'little things', but I think that's just because you weren't given enough time. Things happened too quickly."

Suddenly, Aerith grinned, lightening the gloomy mood that had fallen. "But, well, if this time-traveling nonsense isn't good for anything else, at least you can change that. And find out what his most embarrassing memory is for me. I couldn't get that out of him, even in the Lifestream."

Cloud nodded, giving her a small grin. "I really missed you, Aerith." He cocked his head. "And I know this sounds strange, but looking at you now, it feels as though you never left."

She patted his cheek. "Maybe that's just your way of dealing. But I know what you mean."

Her grin widened, cupping his face in her hands. "And look at you! You were so cute as a sixteen year old! Though you'll be seventeen in a couple months, right? August?"

Cloud gave up and pulled her into another hug.

Far above the pair, a man in a blue suit dialed a number. "Boss, looks like the Cetra has a new friend."

Tseng's eyebrows rose. He tapped a pen against the form sitting on his desk in thought. It wasn't too often that he received a call about the Cetra. The girl was usually very predictable in her routine, and it almost always revolved around her flowers. But this, this was new.

"Have you seen him before?"

"Never. Can't hear what they're sayin' but it looks like they're real cozy like. And he's wearin' part of a cadet uniform."

Tseng swiveled in his chair to swing around to his computer. New, and very interesting. "Is that so. Think you could identify him from a picture?"

The Turk glanced at the gravity-defying bright blonde hair. "Yeah Boss, real easy."

So... yeah. Sorry about the slow update, but real life and all that ;)

Thanks for the reviews, hope you all enjoyed!