Well that took a day longer than expected, but oh well, I finally got it done and now you can all read the new chapter! I hope you all enjoy.

Just as a heads up, my work schedule is really crazy right now, so I probably won't be updating for most of a week, but I'm still trying for the 'at least one chapter a week' theory for this summer (excluding weeks that I am out of town or have no access to a computer).

I want to thank all of the wonderful people who have left favorites, alerts, and reviews so far. You guys are great, thank you.

And now onward to a new chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything

Warning: Chapter is a big jumpy timeline wise

Chapter 3

One year later . . .

Cloud wakes slowly from his slumber. For the first time in many days the pain he has been feeling deep in his bones finally seems to have ebbed away long enough for him to catch a few minutes of desperately needed sleep. The pain initially started to become noticeable back while he was still at the kennel, but has only intensified since coming to Midgar.

And although he hasn't told anyone, or outwardly displayed how painful simply moving any part of himself is, he can tell that those around him are starting to take notice. Genesis has started to calm down when it comes to wanting to dress him up in some outlandish things, and has been much more reasonable in taking a hint when Cloud tells him to stop doing something, especially if it hurts. Sephiroth has been unconsciously moving things and bringing some necessary things down to Cloud's height, rather than just letting him climb up on other things to reach what he needs or wants.

As for Angeal, well Cloud has not seen that much of Angeal, not since Zack disappeared a few months back. After Angeal had come back from one of his longer missions, he and Zack pretty much kept to themselves in their apartment, but when he saw them again a few days later, Zack seemed exhausted, but fairly normal. Well as normal as he could be since he was now just slightly taller than Leon.

Seeing his first friend so big had disturbed Cloud a bit. He knows and understands that like everyone else, nekos are supposed to grow as well, but he cannot understand why he remains so small compared to everyone else around him.

The worst thing about Zack finally growing was that it was only one day later while Cloud, Zack, and Leon were watching the cadets in the training room that the Turks came. It all happened so fast that even now Cloud has doubts as too what really happened that day. All he remembers was Zack seeming somewhat less energetic than usual, that and for some reason he kept trying to hold Cloud closer than usual.

The Turks came in with no warning, there were three of them, the blond woman who seemed all business and looked annoyed to be there. Then there were they two males; the tall dark skinned one was silent through the whole thing, though he kept throwing cautious looks at the smaller red headed male. That one seemed to be the odd one out in the group, he looked rather sad to be there, as though resigning himself to something. His movements were stiff and a bit uncoordinated and for some reason he had multiple bandages wrapped around his head, though there were no obvious injuries.

The three climbed the bleachers and once they were facing the group of nekos the woman had demanded that Zack follow them. Zack had hesitated for a moment before setting Cloud down and patting his head while telling him to behave. He had then shared some type of look knowing with Leon before turning his back on them and walking silently towards the Turks.

Before the Turks left, the red head had turned around and gave Leon a sad look. To most people they would not have noticed it but Cloud did and he found it a bit odd, but he also quickly disregarded it as a feeling settled over him, one telling him that he may never see Zack again.

Disturbed by that feeling, Cloud had started to run after Zack, calling his name. He only made it a few steps before Leon caught him and lifted him up, preventing him from going after Zack. He had wiggled and squirmed, even daring to bite and scratch at Leon in an attempt to go after his friend, but nothing made Zack turn back. No amount of yelling or crying could stop him.

In that moment, Cloud felt a part of his heart be torn away. It is a wound that has not yet healed, even to this day.

Cloud sighs as he painfully drags himself into a sitting position, a slight sheen of sweat appearing with his efforts. He takes a moment to regain his composure before crawling out of the oversized dog bed that has served as his own bed for the last year. Initially Genesis had insisted that Cloud sleep with one of his two caregivers at night, but it was quickly discovered that Cloud was often accidently kicked out of the bed and with his height he did not have the means to get back up there resulting in many nights spent on the floor. Now Cloud has the large overstuffed dog bed that is more comfortable than most people would think, and with it in the corner of the living room of whomever's apartment he is staying at that night, it is one thing that is a constant with the moving between the two First Class's apartments.

Once he manages to pull himself away from the comfortable bed he wanders through the apartment, giving himself a moment to think about where exactly he is. He remembers that late the night before Genesis had been called away for urgent mission to an unknown location, and sometime in the early hours of the morning he had been dropped off at Sephiroth's apartment. After realizing that, Cloud decides on a destination and hurries to the guest bathroom that is located near the kitchen.

After a quick trip into the bathroom, and the time to put the stepstool that is in there for him to be able to use the sink back in a corner and out of the way, Cloud makes his way into the kitchen where he can hear Sephiroth working on making breakfast.

Once he enters, Sephiroth turns around and stares at him for a moment, as if searching for something off about the small neko. And when he does not find anything obvious, he turns back to the eggs that he was cooking previously. When Sephiroth turns his back, Cloud wanders over to the table and carefully works utilizing the rungs on the bottom of the tall stool to climb up so that he can sit at the table with is green eyed master for breakfast.

When he is nearly at the top his grip falters as a wave of pain that is stronger than normal goes through him. He looses his grip and manages to fall the few short feet to the ground, not having enough time to twist around to land on his feet, he manages to land on his lower back and tail before his head flies back and hits the solid wood floor.

Sephiroth turns around at the noise, and seeing Cloud's head bounce off the floor, he rushes over and gently picks Cloud up and sets him on the chair that he had been trying to climb. He silently feels Cloud's head to make sure that there is no bleeding before he leaves Cloud for a moment to get some ice from the freezer to place on the bump that he felt developing. He hands Cloud the ice and lets him place it where it hurts the most before turning back to their breakfast which is now starting to burn.

After breakfast is done and the dishes cleaned and put away, Sephiroth checks Cloud's head once again before attaching a leash to his collar and beginning the now familiar path to the cadet training rooms.

….

For the last few months Leon has been having an internal debate with himself. He had initially planned to have left Midgar far behind several months ago, having had a solid plan worked out to get himself and Zack out of the city unnoticed. But that all changed when Cloud appeared. Trying to escape undetected with one neko affected by a mako crystal was going to be a challenge as it was, but with two it would be impossible, especially with Cloud being as small as he is. And there was no thought about leaving either one of them behind. So Leon decided to try to come up with another plan and go from there, unfortunately things have not worked out in his favor.

With Zack now grown and hidden deep somewhere within Shinra, Leon feels the weight of his loss on his shoulders, feeling as though he should have been able to do something to keep him from having to suffer at the hands of Shinra. But now, it is too late to change anything.

Besides, he still has to worry about getting Cloud out of Midgar as well. While Leon has had several ideas on how to go about it, there is one thing that has been stopping him from taking action, the fact that Cloud has evidently been in a large amount of pain as of late and the pain does not seem to be going away, in fact it seems to be getting steadily worse with each passing day.

Leon has seen this before and knows that there is only one reason for it; Cloud is starting to experience mako poisoning from the mako crystal in his collar. It is a rare occurrence, and he has only seen it a handful of times before, but he knows that the crystal must be removed quickly before it completely destroys Cloud from the inside out.

But there in lies the problem. Leon knows of a way to be able to leave the city as soon as tonight, but it would require Cloud to stay as he is for a while longer, putting him at risk. Not to mention the fact that the crystal would have to be removed while they travel to Hallow Bastion, but that would require them to find someplace safe to hide for a few days while Cloud grows into the size he is supposed to be. The alternative is to worry about getting the collar off of Cloud while in Midgar in a more stable environment and then leaving once he has adjusted better.

While both plans have pros and cons, they both have one major factor that makes them more and more unlikely to succeed. Time.

Time is not something that Leon has a lot of, and it is something that he desperately needs. That is why he is now debating if he should take some type of action today, or if it would be wiser to wait until a later time.

Leon is pulled back from his musings as Kunsel comes up behind him and starts rustling his hair out of place, laughing the whole while. "You're doing it again." Leon raises an eyebrow at him. "Ever since Zack left you've been acting like an overprotective parent to Cloud whenever the two of you are together. You need to lighten up a bit. Sure he's small and acts childish, but when you consider the fact that he's really only a couple of years younger than you, it's a bit funny to watch."

Leon gives Kunsel a blank look. He knows that the human is right, that for no real reason he has the urge to constantly be around Cloud, to protect him even if there is nothing to protect him from. That is his greatest shortcoming about this whole decision. He wants to do what is best for both him and Cloud, the problem is that he will have to cause Cloud great amounts of physical, and possibly even mental pain to be able to achieve his ultimate goal.

"Oh come on Leon, it was just a simple observation. It's not like I meant anything by it." Kunsel laughs and messes up Leon's hair even further before waving the neko towards the door. "After all, it's kind of cute."

That is the last straw, Leon huffs past the Second Class and snarls under his breath, "I am not overprotective."

….

When Sephiroth leads Cloud into the training room, Cloud is surprised to discover that they are the first ones there today. Usually Kunsel and Leon are there by now, making sure that nothing slipped out of place since they locked up the night before, but they seem to be running a bit later than usual today. However, Sephiroth proceeds to go about their usual course of action as though nothing is out of place.

He unhooks the leash and picks up Cloud and looks him directly in the eye, ready to give an order that he has given Cloud in the past. "Stay."

One simple order, but one that Cloud has been hearing for the better part of a year and has no inclination to disobey, knowing from his few acts of rebellion that he does not want to incur the wrath of his master.

Satisfied that his order has been heard and will ultimately be obeyed as usual, Sephiroth places Cloud back on the ground and begins to exit the room. When his hand moves to open the door, it flies open before him as Kunsel and Leon begin to enter the room.

Upon seeing Sephiroth, Kunsel salutes the General while Leon wanders past and goes to pick up Cloud, knowing that he will be unnoticed.

With Cloud in his arms, Leon slips behind the bleachers and once he is sure that no one is following them, he slips a hand into his pants pocket. From there he takes out the small syringe he has stored there, and looks to make sure that the needle is still covered before popping the cap off and quickly sliding the needle into the back of Cloud's neck.

He feels the small neko tense in his arms, small hot tears fall onto his shoulder not long after. After a minute, the tears slow down and eventually stop as Cloud becomes completely limp in Leon's arms.

Knowing that he is now on borrowed time, Leon sets Cloud down, and removes a vent cover that he has been working on loosening for the last few weeks as a possible means of escape. With that done, he picks up Cloud once again before crawling inside, making sure to replace the vent cover behind them.

For nearly an hour Leon climbs through the dirty vents before stopping at an opening. Once there he lays Cloud down on the metal bottom of the vent before pulling a small pocketknife from another pant pocket. With the small knife free, he gently lifts the edge of Cloud's collar and begins to try to saw through the material to remove it. It takes a while, but after a few minutes the blue collar breaks off and clatters onto the metal below.

Leon stills for a moment, straining his hearing to tell if anyone heard that or was coming to investigate. When nothing comes to his attention, Leon picks up the broken collar and slips off the mako crystal. He glares at it for a moment before letting it slip through the vent, taking satisfaction when he hears it clatter against the unknown ground below.

Taking nothing to chance, Leon picks up Cloud once again and begins his journey through the ventilation system once again, leaving the collar behind.

….

Hours later, Leon finally climbs out of the vents and into what appears to be a little used storage area. He leaves the vent open in the event that they need to make a quick escape, and quickly proceeds to burry them deeper into the maze of cluttered objects in the room.

After a bit of searching, he manages to find a place he deems well enough hidden, and clears off space on the floor for the two of them. When that is done, he lies down on the floor with Cloud, surprised to find shudders wracking his small frame.

Concerned, Leon places a hand on Cloud's forehead and pulls it back in shock. Cloud's temperature is far greater than it should be for a simple cold or illness. No, this heat is something that was supposed to work up gradually over the next few days. The heat that comes with the body reacting to the absence of the mako crystal has come far earlier than Leon has ever heard about.

He quickly gathers Cloud back into his arms, knowing that sometimes a familiar touch can help to ease the coming pain.

As the hours grow longer and continue on, the shaking does not cease, and already Leon can see some visible changes in Cloud. His once too big clothing is slowly starting to fit him properly and the fur of his tail is starting to puff out more than usual.

Feeling a twinge of guilt at the scene, Leon does something he rarely allows himself to do, and something he has never done since being brought to Midgar.

….

All Cloud can feel is pain. Pain that feels as if it is a pure molten substance that fills his entire being. It seems to tear him apart as slowly and painfully as possible, all while slowly building him back up again, all before repeating the same agonizing process.

In one brief moment, the pain seems to ease up for a moment, and Cloud takes the opportunity to use one of the few functions he seems to have regained for the moment. He opens his eyes.

He knows now that he is dead. Why else would a majestic lion be sleeping so soundly next to him with it's great paw draped so carelessly over him.

Though Cloud figures that if he is dead, it could always be worse. After all, the lion is very warm and seems to be taking part of the pain away.

But just as the relief is unexpected, it is also very short lived and Cloud is pulled back into the terrible pain once more.

The last thing he sees before being consumed by the fiery pain are the lions stormy gray eyes looking down at him.

….

When Leon sees Clouds startling blue eyes, even though it was just for a moment, a part of him somewhere very deep inside knows that Cloud will survive this and will come out of the haze of pain with few consequences. Though how Cloud will react to it is something that he is still unsure of.

But it is something that Leon feels that they both will know soon enough. After all, three days have past since he removed the mako crystal and they have yet to be found, though he knows that his luck will not hold out for too much longer.

While Cloud has been steadily growing, so much so that Leon had to remove his clothes that were becoming too small for him and wrap him in a blanket he found in amongst the clutter of the room, he knows that this is hardly the beginning and that this could go on for many more days. Days that they do not have.

Leon would love nothing more than to be able to take Cloud with him as he is now and escape the city, but once he finally awakes and stops growing, he will need medical attention, food, and time to orientate himself with his new body. Leon's goal was never to escape as they are now, but rather to free Cloud from the crystal before it killed him, and before someone could force another one on him.

He knows that the best thing he can do now is wait it out and let someone find them. After all, no one would want to risk angering the great General Sephiroth and the Crimson Commander by failing to find their lost pet.

His musings are cut short as he hears the sound of metal screaming against metal, as the doors to the storage room are pulled apart. Footsteps quickly fill the room, echoing and bouncing off the metal walls of the room. Voices ring as the men filling the room call to one another, hoping that someone has found what they are looking for so that they can return to their duties.

Leon lets the men find them, he lets them run into the area he has cleared and circle the two of them, their guns trained on him. He complies as he is told to get on his knees with his hands behind his head. He allows the humans to cuff his hands while another of their squad radios to someone else, informing them that both Cloud and Leon have been found. He watches as one of the men reaches to pick up Cloud, and when he pulls back his hand when he feels how hot the small neko is.

Leon gives a small smile of satisfaction when he hears the men radio for immediate medical attention for Cloud, knowing that what has been started cannot be stopped.

However, when the man reaches out to touch Cloud again, and the young neko releases a blood-curdling scream of pain, Leon snaps and tries to pull away from the soldiers that are attempting to hold him down. He thrashes and hisses at anyone who dares to approach Cloud.

His actions scare even himself, and when he suddenly feels a sharp pain at the back of his neck sending him to his knees and his vision into darkness, he cannot help but be thankful that he has been stopped before he managed to hurt anyone, especially Cloud.

Sorry if this chapter seems a bit out of order or choppy, but I could not justify having a whole chapter about Zack's disappearance when it will be brought up again later.

Again, it might be a week or so before a new chapter is ready, but I am still working on it so please don't worry.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this story.

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