Finally a day off of work! Roughly 50 hours in eight days (one of those being my last off day). Not bad at all. Though it explains why I'm so tired and haven't had too much time to work on this chapter until now.

I do hope to get at least one more chapter out this week since I still have a few days off (not sure how that happened), if I am really lucky (which I'm normally not) I might even get two more done, but I'm not going to rush or press my luck.

Thanks again to all of my wonderful reviewers and followers for sticking with me this far! I hope that I don't disappoint you.

Now, onward so that we can get closer to important things in this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Still.

Warning: lots of talking and not a lot of action


Chapter 4

Less than an hour after the two nekos have been found, a Third Class presents the unconscious body of Cloud to General Sephiroth and Commander Rhapsodos. While the two First Class SOLDIERS would never outwardly display their worry and anxiety that has been building every since Cloud disappeared, they nevertheless thank the Third Class members for their hard work before dismissing back to their normal duties.

The two First Classes struggle to retain their composure as they walk back to Sephiroth's apartment, wondering and yet marveling over the changes that have already happened to their small neko in only a matter of two days. The small cub that could easily fit in their arms is now much larger in size, even larger than a normal neko with a mako crystal, and yet obviously still growing. But they are most concerned with the small pained noises that are occasionally escaping the growing neko. For while they take turns carrying Cloud, they know that even the slightest movement seems to be sending even more pain wracking through his small frame.

Not knowing what to do to ease the pain themselves, the two suddenly change course, going to the only person that they know to have had a neko go through the same changes. This course of action is one that they have had planned many months ago when Zack finally grew, but they had hoped to never take this course of action. They know what happens to nekos that Shinra suddenly desides are useful, and they do not want their Little Cloud to have to go through any of that. They do not want to have to be the ones to send him to his death.

That is why they are taking Cloud to Angeal instead of to any of the doctors or the labs.

When they arrive at the door to Angeal's apartment, they continue on with their original plan, though they are finding it harder to do so as Cloud's pain filled whimpers are becoming more pronounced and more frequent. Sephiroth holds Cloud close, the neko's head resting on his shoulder as Genesis knocks on Angeal's door, preparing words that will make his dearest friend understand and respect their decision to bring Cloud to him.

Several tense moments later, the click of the lock is heard and the door swings inward revealing a rather disheveled looking Angeal. For all general appearances not a hair seems out of place on the swordsman, but the sadness that dulls his eyes tells a different story, one of loss and a feeling that he has betrayed someone very close to him.

He looks out at his friends, expecting them to come and try to reassure him yet again that his decision was ultimately the right one, however, seeing that they brought a very different looking Cloud with them, quickly changes his mind on the matter. He swings the door open wider and gestures for them to enter quickly, before prying eyes learn too much and decide to act too quickly. They enter the sparsely furnished apartment without delay.

Once inside Sephiroth decides to forgo the formalities and nonessentials that Genesis has no doubt been preparing since arriving at the door. He looks Angeal in the eye, mako blue meeting dazzling green. "Can you help him?"

Blue eyes look away, uncertainty drifting through them as Angeal extends his arms out to take Cloud from Sephiroth and see what is happening himself. Upon feeling just how hot Cloud is, he quickly lays the neko out on his couch and loosens the blanket so that he is more room to move and more skin is exposed to the cool air. Knowing that time is of the essence, he lets himself go on autopilot and take on his stricter roll of a commander. "When is the last time he had anything to drink?" Unsure looks are his only answer from the other two. "Has he had anything for the pain?" The looks grow uncomfortable. "How long has he been like this, I need it down to the most accurate time possible."

Seeing that he will not be able to get any answers from the two who are supposed to be in charge of the neko on his couch, Angeal leaves them in their thoughts while he searches through the bathroom's medicine cabinet for any supplies he has leftover from when Zack went through the same experience. Once he has everything that he can find at the moment, he brings it out to the living room and gets to work trying to help Cloud through the pain.

"Gen, hold his head and make sure that he swallows at least some of this water." He hands over a small cup of cool water to the red haired Commander. "Sephiroth, I need you to take his arm and carefully inject these painkillers. They should ease the growing pains and keep his mind more at ease, at least for a few more hours." As the two of them set about their assigned tasks while murmuring words of encouragement to Cloud, Angeal sets up a simple IV unit and carefully inserts the small needle into the arm that is not the one in Sephiroth's hands. He tapes the needle in place before backing off and letting the neko's owners worry about him.

Suddenly Cloud begins to cough and sputter as Genesis stops trying to get him to drink something, and instead the neko promptly throws up the slim contents of his stomach, but still managing to expel a large amount of a blackish substance that has faint green glowing specks imbedded within it. While Sephiroth and Genesis work on trying to calm Cloud down and encourage him to drink something once he has stopped vomiting, especially now with his stomach being completely empty and his throat burned by the vomit, Angeal begins to try to clean the vomit off of his carpet, but stops when he finally understands what he is seeing.

"Mako." Though said under his breath, the other two turn to look at their friend, surprised by the word.

" 'Geal, what is it?" Genesis stops the circles he was rubbing on Cloud's back and turns back to his long time friend. "What has mako got to do with any of this?"

Sephiroth's feline eyes practically become slits. "Mako poisoning. That is what is wrong with him."

Angeal gives a slight nod of the head. "It appears so, and it would make sense. With the mako crystal in his collar he would be under constant exposure, though I never thought that it would be enough to cause mako poisoning. I've seen it happen with some of the Third Classes when they start their rounds of mako injections, but I've never seen it in a neko before."

"You said that you've seen it before, so that must mean that it's only temporary and something that we can just wait out with time." Genesis allows some hope to be brought into the situation.

"But time is something that we do not have. No doubt by now the Director has been informed of the situation and has already given the order for Cloud to be taken by the Turks at any given moment." Sephiroth gravely reminds his comrade, knowing that even if everything turns out for now, the reality that Cloud will be leaving them soon is still something to consider.

"Well damn the Turks, it's not like anyone Cloud's size could really do anything worth while in Shinra anyway once this is all over. He just doesn't have the nature for it."

"Genesis," Angeal's voice has taken on a softer, more pained tone. "The Turks would have no problems with taking someone as innocent as Cloud and turning them into an unrecognizable person. You seem to forget that nekos are extremely smart and adaptable, making them excellent Turks if trained correctly."

Seeing Genesis's confused look, Sephiroth elaborates, his voice steady and even despite the circumstances. "Nearly half of all Turks in Shinra are nekos. Some are found wandering the streets, some are taken in like Cloud will be and stay within that group, and others are those taken in by Shinra as Midgar expands it's lands. They all go through the same training as all of the humans who are also in the Turk program, but once they complete it, their past is erased and they have no choice but to stay loyal to the Turks, the only place that will keep them like that."

"Like what Seph? What could possibly be so bad that they have to hide what they are? We work around Turks all of the time, and I've never seen a neko among their numbers."

Sephiroth's eyes become flat and he practically snarls the answer. "They steal their very identity by assuring that even if they tried to leave, even their own kind will never take them in. They amputate their tails and crop their ears close to their skulls so that all evidence will be covered up naturally by their hair. The changes they inflict greatly diminish their hearing to that of the lesser human level, and without a tail their balance becomes off and they often have difficulties simply walking down a hallway. Even in what little neko culture survives today these changes are still considered to be the ultimate disgrace and no one in their right mind would allow a neko like that to be seen near them. For usually anything like that was traditionally reserved for traitors and only the worst kind of criminals."

"My gods that's terrible! And to think that they would do something like that to Cloud." Genesis pulls Cloud onto his lap and holds the now silent neko close to him. "There must be something we can do to prevent that from happening to him. For he is beloved by the goddess and I will not see him be treated as anything less."

Angeal breaks in, his voice struggling to hold back his emotions as Zack comes to the forefront of his mind. "Unfortunately you do not have a say in what happens to this neko. The director will have his say and that will be that. No amount of convincing him otherwise will work. Believe me, I've tried, oh Gaia I've tried. But even the Director has those he has to answer to and it is ultimately out of his hands."

"But we still have a chance, I'm sure that if we plead our case just right, even the Director will be able to make an exception in this case. Or if all else fails, isn't Rufus Shinra supposed to be dropping by for a visit soon? I'm sure that an all clear from the two of them should be more than enough for something so trivial as this."

Angeal sighs, knowing that is friend does not want to face the facts, and is trying to make it all seem less serious than it really is. "If you want to try, go ahead Genesis, but I can't guarantee anything."

Silence settles between the three, no one wanting to say anything that might make the situation seem worse, but not wanting to give false hope either. The only sound that fills the room is the now steady, but slightly labored breathing coming from Cloud as he sleeps through the transformation thanks to the painkillers from Angeal.

One question burns in the back of Angeal's mind, one that he's not sure if he wants to hear the answer to or not. But in the end, he feels as though the answer might prove to be of some importance. "If I might ask, why did you two decided to remove his collar in the first place?"

"We did not remove the collar, the thought had honestly never crossed either of our minds that I am aware of. Rather it was that neko that is with the cadets." Sephiroth's tone is rather harsh and judging, as though he is restraining himself from doing some type of damage to said neko.

"Leon? You mean to tell me that the laziest neko around here is the one that took the collar off without anyone noticing?" Angeal is surprised and a bit amused at this. He knew that that neko must be more capable than he would leave people to think, but to pull of something like this is truly an accomplishment.

"Yes, apparently this 'Leon' took the two of them into the ventilation system using a vent behind the bleachers in the training room. Somewhere along the way he managed to cut through the collar, supposedly with the small knife that was found on his person. Where the collar is now we have no idea, but sometime after that they ended up in the storage room in one of the lower levels. In all somewhere in those two days that they were missing the collar came off, and the ended up in that storage room for an undetermined amount of time before being found and brought back. By the time that Cloud was returned, he had already grown considerably in height. And that is when Genesis and I left to find you." Sephiroth's answer is slim and precise considering that his words are biting.

Angeal considers those words for a moment before picking out a piece of missing information. "Did Leon ever say why exactly he took that collar off? Obviously he went through great lengths simply to get them into that storage room, but why did he stop there? If he got them that far without being detected, then what was stopping him from leaving all together?"

Genesis rolls his eyes. "Of course he didn't say anything. What more could he possibly confess to than what we already know happened. For all we know that storage room was a miscalculation on his part and that is why they didn't get out, or maybe he's just a neko who doesn't know anything and got lucky like the rest of them seem to do. The only thing that matters is that Cloud is back now, but because of that mongrel that is all going to change in a matter of days."

Angeal raises his hands in defeat for the moment, knowing that that fiery tone that Genesis is using is sure to escalate and his temper with it. And that is not something that any of them want to deal with at the moment.

He turns his attention back to Cloud whose face is beginning to contort with pain again. He wants to help the young neko, much like how he wanted to help Zack when he made the same face all those months ago, but he knows that there is simply nothing more that they can do for now besides wait and see. However, he does remind himself that if the mako poisoning becomes worse, he will have to go against his moral standing and convince Sephiroth and Genesis to bring him to a doctor so that he can get the treatment he truly needs.

He knows that by doing that he risks exposing the neko to the likes of Hojo down in the labs, but he knows that it is a risk that they may have to take.

….

Near the end of the week Cloud finally seems to have stopped growing. While he is still significantly larger than he was before, he is still a bit small compared to most nekos. When standing he might just be tall enough to have the top of his head rest just above Leon's chin, but that is not including his spiky hair which seems to have grown only in proportion to his new height and nothing extra. The change is simply astounding, and though he still sleeps, his entire life will change the moment he wakes.

Knowing that Cloud could wake at any moment, Sephiroth chooses to leave his side for a moment to go and ask a question that has been bothering him ever since Angeal had mentioned it. Why exactly did the other neko take off Cloud's collar and then seemingly fail to escape once that part was done?

To ease his mind, Sephiroth ventures down to the detention cell where the neko has been kept since the incident. With nothing to adequately charge him with, and with his current position within Shinra, there is nothing more that can be done to Leon at the moment.

When the door to the cell is opened, Sephiroth is unsurprised to find the neko stretched out as far as he can be on the small cot. Even though he has heard the door, Leon is still turned on his side so that he is facing the wall and his tail is falling towards the floor, the extra fuzzy tip resting just above it.

Sephiroth stares at him for a moment before choosing to speak. "Why did you take the collar off of Cloud? Since you are sure to know how the system works by now, I am sure that you know what will happen now that you have removed it. So I will ask you, why did you take it off?"

For a moment there is no reply, but then a very quiet voice manages to say, "Because it was killing him. The crystal was giving him mako poisoning, and if it had remained on any longer it would have killed him."

"Then why did you not tell anyone about it. Surely Kunsel would have listened to you and then this whole mess could have been avoided."

Silence is his only answer, and after a minute, Sephiroth accepts it and leaves the room. He calmly but quickly makes his way through the hallways hoping to make it back to Angeal's apartment before Cloud wakes up.

When he enters he sees Genesis hovering around the blond neko as the tip of his tail begins to twitch on the floor. Sephiroth walks closer, not wanting to miss the moment that Cloud awakes, but also not wanting to be too close as to startle the neko as Genesis seem intent on doing.

After what seems like forever, Cloud's eyelids begin to flutter and eventually his eyes open, lighting up the room with their dazzling blue that is now a shade darker and flecked with mako green.

He looks around for a moment, a small crease forming on his brow as he tries to figure out where he is. But after seeing his two masters there, Cloud uses his very scratchy voice to ask, "What happened?"


Alright well one major thing has happened, and now more things can happen!

Well it seems that my local storm is calming for the moment, so I should probably leave this alone for now.

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