A/N: Long chapter today, a few shorter stories from chapters 10-12 from doppelgangers, again, read that first. Some funny/cute short stories for Mary, plus some not so nice ones. I'll admit, I am not good at fight scenes, so bare with me. Let me know what you think! And check out the pictures for the doppelgangers with their mentors on my profile :)

Disclaimer: ff7 belongs entirely to square enix


(Chapter 10-Chapter 11)

Mary sat up in her bed. It was three in the morning, and she still couldn't sleep. She was angry, and had been for a week or two, and it was starting to wear on her. She was usually able to let her anger go quickly, but it didn't seem to be working this time. She tried to clear her head so she could fall asleep, but it wasn't working.

Her anger was first set off by Genesis. He had nearly killed Alanna in one of his training sessions. Mary had been furious, and barely left Alanna's side; and anytime Genesis was around she would glare at him until he left. She had wanted to go after him, yell at him, and maybe punch him in the face, but she knew better. Alanna would never forgive her if she was to do that. So instead, she would glare at him in warning, and it seemed to work.

Once Alanna was better again, she started training with Mary and Angeal. To Mary's dismay, he had given Alanna two swords to fight with. Mary hated when Alanna had two swords, she had no idea how to defend against them. And on top of that, Angeal got her dual Rune blades and then let her train with Genesis.

"Stupid Rune blades…" Mary muttered. Alanna stirred in her bed, and noticed that Mary was still awake. She got up and joined Mary on her bed.

"Are you okay, why aren't you asleep?" Alanna asked. Mary startled, she hadn't noticed Alanna get up.

"Fine. Just thinking." Mary said, with a tone that Alanna easily recognized.

"Are you mad at me?" Alanna asked.

"Not at you, it's not your fault. I'm just mad." Mary replied, looking out the window.

"It's about the dual blades, isn't it? I don't think he meant anything by it. He is just doing what he thinks is necessary for us to improve." Alanna said, while putting her hand around Mary's shoulder.

"I know but, I'm his student. He is supposed to get me a sword, not you." She said, leaning into Alanna.

"You don't need a new sword, you do plenty of damage with the buster jr. And I needed them; I wasn't doing well with the buster jrs."

"Whatever. And what was that crap about me depending on my strength too much? All he does is defending, he never really fights me. Of course I depend on my strength, all I do is attack a freaking concrete wall." Mary said, her voice becoming angrier. "It sucked that Genesis hurt you, but at least he will fight you. All Angeal does is send me through drills. How am I supposed to get better if he doesn't fight back?"

Alanna just sat there, rubbing Mary's back. She knew that there was nothing she could really say. After a few minutes, she could feel Mary start to relax. "Ready to go to sleep now?" She asked. Mary nodded her head as she spread out on her bed, while Alanna went back to her own bed. Within minutes, they were both sound asleep.

The next morning, Mary was exhausted, but she still got up and went for her run. It was slow and sluggish, but it was enough to wake her up and give her some energy for the rest of the day. Angeal had her training with Alanna again, and by the end Mary was exhausted. She didn't say anything to Angeal as she left the training room, and headed back to the apartment.

Mary went straight to her room, and removed her harness, paldrons, and boots. She decided food was more important than changing, so she went into the kitchen. When she had eaten her snack, she went to sit in the living room, and ran into Zack. As per usual, he picked her up in a hug, but to his surprise, when he went to set her down, she wouldn't let go.

"You gonna let go, Mary?" When he got no reply, he decided to just go sit in the living room with her. "Are you okay Mary?" Zack asked, as they sat on the couch, and Mary curled herself around Zack.

"Tired." Was all she said in reply. Zack was puzzled, but let it go and put his hand on Mary's shoulder. They had become like siblings, so he didn't see anything wrong with them cuddling together on the couch. With Mary curled around him, he became warm and comfortable, and with her there he was unable to get up and move around. After a few minutes, they were both asleep.

Angeal stood in the elevator, glad his day was finally over. After his training session, he had a lot of paperwork to go through. He usually had Mary with him to help, but she had left the training room before he could ask her to join him. –She has been very quiet the last few days- He thought to himself. He didn't realize it, but he enjoyed being around her. She liked to talk, though she wasn't quite as talkative as Zack. She was also very energetic, but was in control of her energy. She could train for hours without needing a break, and was very good at assisting with paperwork. He didn't notice how much he enjoyed her being around until she wasn't. He started to wonder if he had done something to upset her.

As he walked into the living room, he saw Zack and Mary curled up together on the couch, asleep. He paused for a second, and then decided to leave them alone, as he went to his room to tend to his plants.

-Is that why she has been quiet? Is she involved with Zack?- He thought to himself. He couldn't help the jealous feeling he started to get. He shouldn't be jealous; he had no claim to her. –Why shouldn't they be together? They are very similar, they get along well, and they are closer in age- He said to himself, but it didn't help get rid of the feeling that was gnawing at him. He decided to go talk to them both, and see what was going on.

When he re-entered the living room, he found that Cloud and Piper had joined the cuddling. Piper was curled around Mary, who had removed her arms from Zack and was now petting Piper in her sleep. Cloud was leaning on the other side of Zack. Neither Zack nor Mary seemed bothered by the addition of their friends.

-Maybe you were just overreacting- Angeal thought to himself, as he sat on the other end of the couch, and took out his book.

"Does Mary seem upset to you?" Zack asked Angeal as he sat down in his office.

"Why do you ask?" Angeal replied, though he had been wondering the same thing.

"I don't know. She was just acting weird yesterday. I've never seen her tired like that. She curled up and fell asleep on me. With Piper I'm used to it, but not Mary." He said. Angeal was relieved to hear that. It meant that the other day was an oddity, and he didn't have to worry about his students being together. Angeal shook his head.

"If she is upset, I don't know why. She doesn't seem to share her negative feelings the same way she does her positive ones." He replied.

"Well I hope she's okay." Zack said, as he got up from his chair. "Gotta go train with Piper puppy. See ya later." He said, as he left Angeal's office.

Later that evening, Mary was assisting Angeal with cooking dinner. Angeal appreciated the help, as he usually did, but he was still worried about her. She still hadn't said anything; she just went about washing and chopping vegetables.

"Are you okay, Mary?" Angeal finally turned around and asked her.

"Yeah. Just haven't been sleeping well." She replied. She was still upset with him, but she knew she had no reason to be, so she would keep it her herself. She had hoped that she hadn't been acting too out of the ordinary, but it seemed her feelings were apparent.

"Why haven't you been sleeping well?" Angeal asked. He had never known her to have trouble sleeping; she always seemed well rested and awake when they were training together.

"I'd rather not talk about it." She replied, looking down at the floor. She didn't like to express her feelings to others; she felt she could handle it on her own. "I'll be fine. I just need a good night's sleep, is all." She said, as she left the kitchen to sit in the living room, curling up between Zack and Cloud.

Angeal stood in the kitchen, thinking over what she had said. She didn't appear to be angry, or upset about anything. He decided to let it go. She seemed to be an emotionally stable person, and she said she would be okay. –She'll be okay, she'll figure it out.- He thought to himself, as he turned his attention back to preparing dinner.


(Chapter 11-Chapter 12)

"Okay, I'm tired. I'm heading to bed." Mary said, as she got up from the couch. "And don't be surprised if I don't get up tomorrow." She added.

"Mary. You will get up and train like you always do. It's just Valentine's Day, it won't kill you." Ryu yelled down the hall.

"You don't know that." Mary yelled back, as she closed the door to her room.

"What is Valentine's Day?" Zack asked, while tilting his head. The other SOLDIERs in the room also turned to Ryu, as they had never heard of it before.

"It's a day where people either reaffirm that they love someone, or let someone know that they like them. It is usually accompanied with flowers or chocolate." Ryu answered. Morgan snorted.

"Pretty much it's a day to give girls flowers and chocolate, and tell them they are pretty." Morgan said. Alanna and Piper laughed at his remark, while Ryu stuck her tongue out at him.

"So why is Mary so upset about that?" Zack asked.

"It's complicated." Ryu responded. "She's never really gotten anything for Valentine's Day, not seriously at least. She always feels left out on this day. I'm pretty sure it's her least favorite day of the year."

"So, if we were to buy her flowers, she would feel better?" Zack asked, tilting his head to the side. Ryu and Alanna shrugged their shoulders.

"It's possible." They both replied. The SOLDIERs all thought about that, while they got up and went back to their own rooms.

"Hey Angeal, is there any chance I could snip a flower from your greenhouse." Genesis asked his best friend.

"And why would you want to do that?" Angeal responded, raising an eyebrow.

"I just figured I should give one to Alanna. It sounds like it is something important in their world. And all of them deserve a flower." Genesis replied. "Hey Zack, you should get a flower for Piper." He added.

"Hey, that's a good idea. I was gonna try and find one for Mary, but I hadn't thought about Piper." Zack said, scratching the back of his head.

"I have plenty of flowers. We can each give one to each of the girls. That way, they all feel appreciated." Angeal said, as he opened his door, and headed to his greenhouse. He went about cutting the flowers off of his plants, and handing them out to the other SOLDIERs.

The next morning, when Mary went into the kitchen, she noticed four bouquets of flowers. She inspected them, and each had five flowers, and a card. Each card had one of the girls' names on it, and was signed on the back by each of the SOLDIERs. Mary couldn't help but smile. She took her bouquet and returned to her room, setting it on her bedside table, before heading out for her run.

When Mary returned from her run, she found Zack and Cloud in the kitchen. She ran up to each of them and hugged them.

"Thanks guys." She said.

"No problem, Mary. We wanted you to know how much we like you." Zack responded. Mary smiled, and went to change for training. When she returned, she found the remaining SOLDIERs in the kitchen, getting their coffee. She wanted to hug each of them, but she was very cautious about it. Sephiroth was not one for personal contact, and Mary was a bit scared of him. She was unsure about hugging Genesis, because of their history, and she was too nervous to hug Angeal. Before she could decide what to do, Angeal looked at her and got up from his chair.

"Happy Valentine's Day." He said simply, before giving her a small hug. The other two followed, suit, and each quickly hugged her. She stood there, surprised for a few moments, before shaking her head and going about finding her breakfast.

"Thank you, guys. It means a lot." She said, once she had sat down with her food.

"You're welcome." They all said.

"So, what are we doing for training today?" Mary asked Angeal after a few minutes.

"Actually, today I thought you could train with Sephiroth." Angeal replied. Mary almost choked on her toast. She was not expecting to hear that. "Don't worry. You won't be fighting him. You will be going with him on a mission, to observe. Sephiroth has a very different fighting style than I do, and I think you could learn a lot from watching him in action." Angeal explained.

"Okay." Mary said tentatively. "When do we leave?" She asked, turning to Sephiroth.

"In an hour. I need to stop by my office and finish up some paperwork. Then we can head out. I will meet at the helicopter." He replied, as he left the kitchen.

Mary sat in the helicopter, waiting for Sephiroth to arrive. She had arrived early, hoping that she could calm her nerves before they started flying. She knew it would be a quiet flight. Sephiroth was not one to converse unless it was necessary, and Rude was their pilot; he wasn't much for conversation either. When Sephiroth finally arrived, he sat down across from Mary, and crossed his leg over the other.

"All set?" Rude asked from the pilot's seat.

"Yes. We are all set. Let's head out." Sephiroth replied.

The flight wasn't very long, and Mary was okay with that. She felt uncomfortable sitting in the silence. She was pretty sure she had started humming half-way through, but she wasn't sure; her nerves were getting the best of her. If she had, neither of the two silent passengers said anything about it. When they finally landed, Mary let out a deep breath.

"Remember. You are just here to observe. Follow me, and I will find a place for you to watch." Sephiroth said, as they exited the helicopter. Mary did as she was told, and followed Sephiroth. She watched in awe as he gracefully fought the monsters. She couldn't understand how he had managed to move the way he did, or how he could wield the sword that was almost seven feet long. She was so caught up in the fight, that she didn't notice the storm that had rolled in.

Without warning, the wind picked up, and it started to downpour. Mary was glad that she was in her Turk uniform. She unzipped her jacket and threw it over her head. Sephiroth continued to fight, as if it wasn't happening, though the wind blew his hair in every direction and sometimes got in his way. Within minutes the storm was gone, and the monsters were slain. When it was finished, she followed Sephiroth back to the helicopter, noticing that his hair was covered in mud and was in knots.

As they sat in the helicopter on the ride back, Mary noticed Sephiroth fidgeting with his hair; the knots appeared to be irritating him. Mary cautiously moved to sit next to Sephiroth.

"May I?" She asked, as she pointed to his hair. He looked at her with a confused expression. No one ever touched his hair. "I will be gentle, I promise. I just want to get the knots out." Mary said, seeing the hesitation in his eyes.

"Fine, but no funny business." He replied, turning to give Mary better access to the knotted mess.

Mary took Sephiroth's hair in her left hand, and started working on the knots with her right. Within a few minutes, she had the knots out of his hair, and was running her hands along the length of the silver strands. She was impressed with how soft it was, even after being covered in mood and rained on.

"Alright. The knots are all out." She said finally. Sephiroth turned back to her.

"Already? I barely felt a thing." He said, surprised that she was done already.

"That's because I held the hair higher up. It makes it so you don't feel the pulling. I have worked on much worse hair than yours. I'm used to pulling mats out of dog's fur or burs out of horse's manes; your hair was much easier to deal with." Mary said, giving Seph a gentle smile.

Sephiroth gave Mary a slightly confused look. "What is a horse? Is it a creature in your world?" He asked her, he had never heard of a horse before. Mary giggled a little, and shook her head.

"A horse is almost the equivalent of a Chocobo, except, different." She replied. "We use them the same way you use Chocobos, and they have an important part of our world's history. But they aren't giant birds. They are more like, giant dogs, I guess. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. But in general, they are tall, have four legs, long backs, medium necks and a long face. Unlike Chocobos, which are like giant chickens." Mary said, as she let out a shudder, which Sephiroth felt go through her hands.

"Do you not like chickens?" He asked.

"No, never did. I was afraid of them for quite a long time. I grew up on a farm, loved the larger animals that most people feared, but I feared the little chickens. I got attacked once, and it took me a while to get over it. Those beaks hurt." She replied.

"Don't worry, most Chocobos are good tempered, at least the ones that SOLDIER usually works with." Sephiroth said. He wouldn't want her to fear Chocobos, since they would sometimes need to use them for missions.

"Well that's good. I was hoping there would be horses here, but if they are similar in temperament, I may actually like Chocobos." She said, smiling a little. "I haven't ridden in awhile; it would be nice to go sometime."

"You used to ride?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yeah, growing up on the farm and with my Aunts I learned to ride when I was very young. But, I learned on well trained horses, and they eventually got old and had to be put down. The new horses were not so well trained, and I was in school so I barely got to ride. One of them bucked me off and almost broke my tailbone once, and the other threw me and almost snapped my neck. I lost a lot of confidence, and stopped riding for a while." She said, remembering suddenly how much her tailbone had felt from that particular fall. "It didn't help that both horses were short and fat, so riding was uncomfortable anyway." She added.

"That must have hurt. I've never fallen before." Sephiroth said when Mary seemed like she was not going to say anymore.

"Yeah, I didn't fall very often, so it took me by surprise. But I felt a little better though, once it finally happened. I knew it was only a matter of time. One of the sayings among horse people is 'if you've never fallen, you aren't riding enough'." She said, trying to keep up the conversation. She was very surprised that the conversation was even happening between her and Sephiroth. "You know, one of those horses had hair quite similar to yours." Mary added.

"Oh really?" Sephiroth asked. "How so?"

"Well, horses have three sets of hair, typically. A tail that has long hair on it, a mane which covers their neck and typically falls to one side, and a forelock that is sorta like bangs. My Aunts horse is a Norwegian Fjord, so she had a particularly pretty type of hair. They have both black and white hair, instead of just one color; and they have three manes instead of one." Mary explained.

"That sounds interesting." Sephiroth replied, though he could not picture it, since he had never seen a horse.

"Yeah, well usually with that breed they keep the manes really short, but if you grow it out they have three manes. White on each side, and then a nice stripe of black; and then a stripe of black in the tail as well. My Aunt likes to let her horse's hair grow out, and when it was long, the white hair was quite similar to yours." She continued, "Except not as easy to handle, since it didn't get washed and conditioned every day." After that comment, the conversation stopped, but Mary was alright with that. She had never expected an impromptu conversation about horses, especially with Sephiroth. She just looked over and smiled at him.

Sephiroth smiled back to her, and turned again. He had actually enjoyed Mary brushing through his hair. Mary took the hint, and went back to taking care of Sephiroth's hair.

"I assume you want me to keep this between us?" Mary asked.

"That would be appreciated. I don't want my hair attacked every day." Sephiroth replied. There was a reason he usually never let people touch his hair.

"Got it. It'll be our little secret." Mary said. She laughed lightly to herself, remembering her little secret of playing with Angeal's hair in the helicopter. She suddenly remembered the flowers from earlier that morning, and the hugs she had received. She smiled even more. She hadn't expected to become so close to the SOLDIERs, but they were started to feel like close friends.


(Chapter 12)

"What is Mary doing?" Sephiroth asked, as he left the kitchen and into the living room, sitting on the couch.

"Spring cleaning, she does it every year. Just stay out of her way, and do anything she tells you to do. It's much safer that way." Ryu replied, without looking up from her book.

"Okay…" Sephiroth replied, not fully understanding what was meant by Ryu's comment. He reached over to the side table, and pulled out a book. He figured reading was a good way to stay out of Mary's way, as Ryu had advised.

"Well aren't you a good little housewife." Genesis said while walking into the kitchen, as Mary was moving items around the kitchen and scrubbing the counter. Mary promptly pulled out a steak knife and pointed it at him.

"Mind your tone with me, Genesis Rhapsodos." Mary snapped at him. Genesis raised his hands in a non-confrontational manner, as he backed out of the kitchen.

"I guess that's a touchy subject." He muttered, as he turned back to his room.

"What is a sensitive subject?" Angeal asked as he almost ran into his best friend.

"Don't call Mary a housewife; apparently she doesn't like the idea." Genesis said over his shoulder, as he opened the door to his room.

"Noted." Angeal said, as he went into the living room. He found it interesting that she would take such offense to that type of comment, since that is how she acted most of the time. She helped him with the cooking most nights, and he had heard she did most of the cooking while he was away. She was also the one who would clean the kitchen and do the dishes every day, as well as keep the common area relatively clean. He chucked softly and shook his head.

"Alright Cloud and Zack, go clean your rooms, and let me know when you are done. I need to wash your windows and vacuum your floors." Mary ordered the two young SOLDIERs.

"But I don't wanna clean my room." Zack whined, as Cloud turned and went straight to his room. Cloud's room wasn't as messy as Zack's, so he only had a small amount of work to do. He had learned early to listen to his mother when she told him to do something, and Mary was sporting the same tone his mother used to use on him; apparently Zack never got the memo.

"Go clean your room now, or I'll do it for you." Mary said sternly, pointing Zack to his room.

"I'd listen to her Zack; you don't want her to have to do it. She will, and she will throw out anything she deems unimportant. I've heard she threw out half of the stuff in her brother's room one of the times she had to clean his room." Ryu said from her permanent spot on the couch. She had turned tail and cleaned her room at the first sign of Mary cleaning, before grabbing a book and heading to the couch to relax for the day.

"Angeal…" Zack whined, giving his mentor puppy eyes, hoping he would save him.

"Don't look at me like that. I've told you to clean that room multiple times." Angeal said, giving Zack a stern look.

"Fine." Zack said, as he trudged to his room. Angeal laughed softly and shook his head. Mary turned to Angeal next.

"Your room is pretty clean already, but I still want to go through and clean it a bit." She said, as she turned towards the living room. "Once I get this room all set, that is." Angeal gave her a confused look.

"I assure you, my room is clean enough. You don't need to clean it for me." Angeal replied. Mary stopped her advance toward the living room and turned back to Angeal.

"I don't care if you think it's clean. It is spring cleaning, so I am cleaning this whole place. And trust me, your greenhouse could use a little cleaning; there is dirt all over that place, and you keep dragging it into your living room. Your floor needs vacuuming. And I'm sure your windows could be cleaned as well." Mary said to him, not backing down on the issue. "Don't worry, you have plenty of time to hide anything, I won't go through your stuff, if that is what you're worried about." Mary added, as she turned back to the task at hand. Ryu giggled at her comment, as she turned to the last page of her book. "Sorry firecracker, time to clean this room. You'll probably want to relocate." Mary said to her.

"On the last page, give me a sec." She replied. Once she finished the page, she got up and returned the book to her room, and then walked back through the living room. "I'm going to go find Morgan. Don't go invading people's privacy." She said, as she closed the door behind her. Mary laughed.

"Do you plan on cleaning my room as well?" Sephiroth asked her, hoping she was not.

"No. You actually have good cleaning habits. Angeal is organized, but he doesn't do much for actual cleaning. And the other two are teenage boys, so I know I need to force them. The rest of you do a pretty good job. Well, Genesis doesn't do it himself, but it does get done." Mary replied.

"Good. I wouldn't want to have to hurt you." Sephiroth said, looking back down to his book. Mary shook her head.

"But you will have to move soon, I have to vacuum in here, and clean the tables." Sephiroth nodded his head, and got up to return to his room.

"Is it over yet? I'm hungry." He heard from Matti and Piper's room. He was pretty sure it was Matti who said it.

"Not yet. But she is in the living room now. You may be able to manage, if you are sneaky." He replied.

"Oh, I can be sneaky." Matti replied. Sephiroth heard Piper giggle, as he continued to his room.

Matti was in fact sneaky enough, as he managed to get some food for himself and Piper from the kitchen without being noticed by Mary. He went back to the room, and sat on the bed next to Piper. They had heard Mary cleaning when they first got up, and had decided that it must be spring cleaning time. They had figured the safest thing would be to clean their room, before Mary got a chance to do it. They had finished, but after hearing Mary tell the boys to clean their rooms, they decided it may be best to just stay in there to protect their room and themselves. Mary seemed to be in a good mood while cleaning, but they knew that it could change any minute, and they did not want to be around if it did.

"Mmm, animal crackers." Piper said, as she took out the cracker and bit the head off. Matti just shook his head at her antics, as he started devouring his own snack.


(Chapter 12)

Mary sat in her room, trying to make herself read the book Angeal had given her on War Strategies. It was absolutely boring, and she was having a hard time staying awake. She went to shift positions, and found that hurt butt was still really sore. "Ouch." She said out loud, while rubbing her tailbone.

"What did you do now?" Alanna asked from just outside the door.

"Well, I… I made Angeal fight back today, and it didn't end well." She said, trying to find a comfortable position to sit on the bed. "I ended up being thrown on my butt." She continued.

"Good job. Now what would possess you to try something so stupid?" She asked, mocking her friend.

"I didn't think it would work. I just got frustrated, as usual, and thought about yelling at him in my head, and it worked. Totally surprised me, and him too, I'm sure. But luckily he just knocked me on my ass, no real harm done." She answered.

"Well I can see your butt hurts, what about your head?" Alanna asked, they could control their counterparts, but it usually created a headache.

"Um, fine I guess; didn't really notice it." Mary answered, trying to think back to when it happened. "I think I was too surprised to feel anything. Didn't even notice the other pain until a few hours later."
"Lucky. My head hurts like crazy after every time I try and make Genesis do anything. Maybe it's because he is so hard headed." She said, while turning to leave. Mary watched as Alanna left the room, and attempted to go back to her book. After a few more minutes, she finally gave up.

Instead of doing her reading, Mary decided to do some squats instead; a habit she had picked up from Zack. She enjoyed them, it was a good way to get rid of excess energy, and gave her time to think through things.

-It didn't really hurt that badly- She thought to herself. –Maybe, if I was actually expecting it, I would have been able to stand my ground and fight back. If I did that, and didn't get hurt, maybe Angeal would be more likely to actually fight against me-. She was still somewhat upset with Angeal, because he still refused to actually fight her.

Mary was pretty happy with her progress, but she felt like she could be doing much better. Angeal would put her through paces, and block against her, but he would never attack her. She did get practice with it though, through VR missions and fighting the other SOLDIER Turks. But she still felt like something was missing. Genesis would push Alanna in fights, and both Zack and Cloud would fight against Piper. Mary felt as though Angeal should be pushing her the same way, and he refused to.

She could understand where he was coming from, but she wasn't a fragile girl or a damsel in distress. She was a Turk training her way through the SOLDIER ranks. She needed to be pushed, and trained to fight. She felt it was obvious that she could be learning more, since it only took him a second to put her on her ass earlier that day.

In her mind, it was settled. She was going to try and make Angeal fight her again, but this time she would be prepared. She would show him that she could hold her own, and it would be okay for him to fight her, even if she was a girl. On top of being ready for the physical fight, she needed to be ready to make him fight her. She couldn't just force him with her mind again, he would get suspicious. They all wanted to be careful not make their other halves do anything too out of the ordinary, they would question it and they could lose the trust they had all been building. Mary had to think of a way to make Angeal fight her that he would believe.

Mary stopped in the middle of a squat, and decided she had had enough. She sat on the floor, and started doing some stretches. Then a thought came to her, she could fight like a Turk, and maybe with her mental push, he would forget who he was fighting. She could always chalk it up to practicing Turk fighting and it threw him off. It was not the best excuse, but it might work. Now she only had to figure out how to do that. After a few more stretches, she decided to keep it simple.

She got up, went to the mirror, and practiced her blank face. She had always learned to hide her emotions, but usually by putting up a mask of a more positive emotion. But when she was truly angry, she had a hard time putting on a happy face. Instead, she usually would put on a blank mask, and show no emotion at all. She had done it once to Alanna, and it had scared her beyond belief. Alanna was used to reading people; it was one of her skills. She hated when someone had no emotion on their face, it was very unnerving for her. After Mary had done it that one time, she had tried it a few times just to mess with Alanna. It worked once or twice, but she found it very hard to do, so Mary knew she would need to practice. She figured blanking out her face may make Angeal forget who she was, and if she combined that with fighting dirty like a Turk; his reflexes might kick in and weaken his mind. At least that was how she was going to explain it to him.

She practiced the look one more time, before heading back to the bed and picked the book back up. She decided to head out to the living room to try and read. She knew she wouldn't be able to read for long out there, she would get distracted, but she would appreciate the distraction. At least then she would have an excuse.

It was a few days after Mary had made her decision before she had a one-on-one with Angeal. She was okay with it though; it gave her more time to work on her plan, and gave her time to get over her bruised tailbone. They had started their session with an hour run, and another hour of push-ups and sit-ups and drills. Once that was done, they could finally get to the fighting. Mary took a few deep breaths, as she began the exercise of attacking Angeal as usual, and being blocked. She kept calm, and tried to act the same way she normally did, she did not want to give him any idea of her intentions.

"Good." Angeal said, as he blocked one of Mary's attacks. "Next time, use less force, and bring the sword a little higher." He instructed her. Mary nodded her head and tried again. "Better." Was all he said, even though he had still managed to block her easily.

Mary kept up the pace of attacks for about fifteen minutes, before she decided it was time to implement her plan. She looked down for a second, and then returned to eyes to Angeal, sporting her blank face. She could immediately see that it put him on edge. She then launched an attack on his side, and as he blocked it, she started moving around him, trying to stay out of his peripheral vision.

Angeal was starting to get nervous. He was not sure of what Mary was doing. She had looked at him with an emotionless face, and it set him on edge. He had never seen her like that. And now, she was running around avoiding his vision, trying to sneak attack him. He had never taught her to do that, it was something that would be learned later. He had always taught her head on attacks, and he was a little worried. He could not deduce why she would be acting this way. He blocked an attack to his left side, and then almost immediately saw something in his right peripheral vision. At the same time, he felt a tiny voice in his head scream 'FIGHT BACK'. Without hesitation, he did just that.

Mary continued attacking Angeal, with a blank face, and tried to stay out of his vision. She needed him to get anxious, and she could tell it was working on some level. She launched an attack on his left side, and moved her body to his right. She decided it was time, and mentally shouted at him to fight back, just as she had done the time before. Only this time, she was ready, or so she thought.

Angeal spun on her, and attacked with his own buster jr. Mary blocked the first swing, but with his second he sent her clear across the room. She hit the wall with her back with a loud thud, and her head followed with another loud thud. She slumped slightly to the floor, but looked up and stood as quickly as she could. Angeal was bearing down on her, still wielding his sword. She grabbed for hers, and blocked the first swing, slamming her left shoulder against the wall. Before she could register the pain, she put her arms up to block the next blow, and her right shoulder was slammed against the wall. She barely got her sword up in time to stop Angeal's blade for hitting her face, but now she was using all of her strength to keep it away.

The force Angeal was putting on the blade caused Mary to start to slide back towards the floor. She was slightly frightened, but tried to keep the emotionless mask on. If she wanted this to work, she had to prove that she could handle it, and so she resisted as long as she could. Once she was down on the floor, the blade was only an inch from her face. Mary pulled her legs under her, and was able to kick out her right leg and push Angeal off. Unfortunately, the motion forced her own blade to cut across her cheek, and it stung. She winced slightly, as she jumped up and readied herself for the next attack.

"Angeal." They both heard from the door to the training room, it was Genesis. "Sorry to interrupt, but Lazard wants to meet with us and Sephiroth. He sent me for you when you didn't answer your phone." He said calmly, though he could see the intensity in his friend, and was a bit worried.

"Of course. I will be right out." Angeal said, as he shook his head, snapping out of the state he was in. He suddenly turned to Mary, remembering what had just happened. She was standing in position, with her sword lifted, ready for another attack. When he looked at her, she slowly lowered her blade. "Are you alright?" He asked her simply, hoping he had not hurt her when he lost control.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied to him. She could already feel the pain in her back, and she was pretty sure her head was bleeding. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want him to feel guilty about hurting her. He would blame himself, but in reality it was her fault, so her pain was her own problem. "See, told you I could handle myself." She added, as walked to the wall and hung up her sword. She made sure to walk as evenly as she could; trying not to let on the pain she was beginning to feel. She could tell her face was bleeding a little, so she mentally repeated over and over 'it's just a scratch, it's just a scratch' and hoped that Angeal would let it go.

"Yes. I guess you can. We will talk about it later." Angeal said, as he walked to the door to leave with Genesis. "Sorry to cut this short, but duty calls. Are you sure you are alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I'll see you at dinner." She said casually, as they both turned and walked away. Once they were out of sight, Mary groaned and put her hand to the back of her head, pulling it back to inspect it. Sure enough, she was bleeding. Mary placed her hand back on her head, and made her way to the elevator.

-Sorry to cancel our training session, but Lazard has requested a meeting. You should check on Mary, she may be injured- Alanna read when she took out her PHS. She turned and got back into the elevator as she worked on a reply.

-What do you mean? What happened to her?- She sent to Genesis.

-I don't know exactly, but when I went to get Angeal, he had her against the wall. She said she was alright, but I saw the look in Angeal's eyes, he looked the way he does in battle.- He sent as a reply. He himself wasn't exactly sure what had happened. Alanna read the text as she exited the elevator and entered the apartment.

When Mary got out of the elevator, her head was spinning. She managed to make it into the apartment, and even to her own room. She took off her pauldrons and belt, and grabbed a towel, before placing it behind her head and sinking to the floor against the wall. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she felt the pain everywhere.

Things hadn't gone exactly as planned. She wasn't expecting him to go quite that hard on her. But she was proud of herself; she had managed to survive the attack, though she was not in good shape now. Her head was bleeding, she felt like she had a concussion, and her face was bleeding slightly from the cut. Also, her back hurt and felt like it was bruised, as well as both of her shoulders. Luckily her legs felt just fine. She was beginning to feel drowsy, when she heard Alanna say her name while entering their room.

"Mary? Are you okay?" She asked, bending down to look at Mary.

"Head is bleeding, maybe a concussion. And my back is sore, probably bruised. I just need a shower and sleep." She said, but she remained seated.

"I don't think sleep is the best idea, especially if you have a concussion. Let me look at your head." Alanna said, as she took the towel from Mary's hand. Luckily, the bleeding had stopped, but it didn't look good, though most of it would wash away with a shower. Alanna looked down and could see the deep bruising already appearing on Mary's shoulders, under where there pauldrons had been. "Take off your shirt, I want to check your back, and then maybe you can take a shower." She said, as she started to lean Mary forward. Mary groaned, but grabbed the bottom of her shirt and slowly lifted it off.

"Ouch. My shoulders are gonna be sore tomorrow." She said, as she felt the pain radiating from her arms. She dropped her shirt on the floor and rested her hands on her lap, allowing Alanna to look at her back.

"Mary, I think we need to get you to the infirmary." Alanna said, as she looked at the deep bruising along Mary's back, along with some other disturbing features.

"Why? I'm fine. I know how to handle some blood and a concussion. I don't need to go to the infirmary. I don't want Angeal to get worried, and you know he will." She said. She really didn't want him to find out she was hurt, he would blame himself, and she didn't want that.

"Because you aren't fine. One of your floating ribs is pierced through the skin, and it looks like you may have slipped one of your lumbar disks. It looks gross back here, and I don't have enough experience to fix it." Alanna replied, reaching for Mary's shirt.

"What? I think I would know if I slipped a disk." Mary said, not believing what she was hearing.

"Not if you had adrenaline pumping through you, which you did. And with your pain tolerance, I'm not really surprised you can't feel it. Now sit still, I'm gonna call someone to come get you, you shouldn't be walking right now." Alanna said, as she slipped the shirt back over Mary's head, and picked up her phone.

After she made the call, she sat down next to Mary. "Now, let me guess, you did that stupid thing again?" She asked knowingly.

"Yeah, but I did much better this time. Though, I didn't expect him to throw me against the wall like that. It was my fault though, so please don't let Angeal know." Mary pleaded.

"I'm sorry. You need to go to the infirmary. But we will try to keep Angeal away, and tell him it's just the concussion. That won't make him feel so bad." She offered.

"Thanks. So how are we getting there?" Mary asked, at this point she wasn't sure if she would be able to walk, with all the adrenaline gone from her body.

"That would be us." Morgan said, as he and Matti walked into the room. "So how are we doing this?" He then asked.

"Well, she has a rib sticking out, and maybe a slipped disk, so very carefully. I was thinking maybe we should throw her over Matti's shoulder, but her hips would have to be on the shoulder, not her stomach, we can't round the back too much." Alanna said, looking between Matti and Mary.

"No way, not gonna happen." Mary said, and Matti nodded in agreement.

"Fine. Then you two kneel on each side." She said, as she pointed to the two boys. Then she looked at Mary, "And you put an arm around each of them." She directed. "Now, carefully get up and we can walk her down. Go slow though, there is no rush." She said pointedly at Matti. He was known for going all big brother and rushing people to the hospital. Once the boys stood up, Mary was easily carried out of the apartment, into the elevator, and down to the infirmary.

It didn't take long for Mary to be healed and released. She had in fact slipped a disc, but they were able to push it back, along with pushing back the rib before healing the skin around it. It had hurt a lot, but Mary was glad it was over now. They had even healed most of the bruises on her back and shoulder, along with the cut on her face and the back of her head. She was told to take it easy, and given some pain killers for her head. Alanna was given the job of waking her up every two hours to check for signs of trauma from the concussion. Mary was glad that Angeal was in a meeting during that time period, he was going to be furious when he found out.

"There you are, Mary. Angeal's been looking for you." Zack said, as the group entered the apartment. Mary sighed heavily, and plopped on the couch. She was exhausted.

"Where is he now?" She asked. She didn't want to deal with him, but she knew avoiding it would not make it any better.

"He went to check the training room I think. He seemed really worried; he had no idea where you would be." Zack replied.

"I'll call him and let him know I'm back." Mary said, as she pulled out her phone. She realized she had never turned it back on after training, and saw that there were multiple missed calls. She gulped as she dialed Angeal's number.

"Mary, are you alright? Where are you?" Angeal answered, he sounded worried.

"I'm fine. I'm back at the apartment. Sorry, I forgot to turn on my phone." She said simply, hoping that he would not yell at her through the phone, her head hurt enough as it was.

"I was worried. We'll be up in a minute." Angeal said, before hanging up.

"We?" Mary asked questioningly.

"Yeah, he was freaking out so Seph and Gen went with him to calm him down. Did something happen today, he seems really on edge." Zack asked.

"Just a little training accident, he is probably feeling guilty. But I'm fine, just a concussion." She lied again, she didn't want to upset or worry Zack either. With a worried look, Zack hoped over to Mary and gently hugged her. "It's okay puppy. Things happen." She said, petting his head.

"I know, but I don't want you to get hurt." Zack said, as he pulled away from Mary. Before he could continue, the door opened and the three SOLDIERs walked through. Mary closed her eyes and prepared for what she thought was about to happen. But to her surprise, there was no yelling, and no lecture as of yet. Angeal was just standing in the middle of the room, looking relieved. Sephiroth continued past Angeal, with Genesis following.

"I told you she was alright. You shouldn't be such a worry wart." Genesis said coolly as he passed.

"Can I talk to you in private please, Mary." Angeal said with a stern voice. Mary nodded and got up to follow Angeal. Her head still hurt and she felt it immediately after standing up.

"Oh crap, head rush." She said, as she reached for her head. Once she no longer felt dizzy, she followed Angeal to his room, where she knew she was going to be lectured. It had happened many times before, she knew what to expect. Anytime he used that voice and said he wanted to speak in private, you were in for a lecture. She followed him into his room and slumped down on his couch.

There were a few minutes of silence, which worried Mary. She had hoped he didn't feel too guilty, or too worried about what had happened, but seeing his face she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Finally Angeal stopped pacing and looked at her.

"Why didn't you answer your phone? Do you know how worried we were?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I was in the infirmary. Don't worry; it's just a concussion, nothing to worry about. I must have forgotten to turn my phone back on after our training session. I'm sorry." She replied, looking down at her hands.

"I thought you said you were fine? A concussion does not make you fine. How could you hide this from me?" Angeal asked, his voice becoming a little louder.

"I am fine. Really, I've gotten many concussions before. I know I shouldn't have lied, but I didn't want you to feel bad." She admitted. "I'm sorry. But I want you to fight back, everyone else fights back, except for you. If you did it more often, I would be stronger and things like today wouldn't happen." Mary said, her voice also starting to get louder.

"Well I do feel bad. It is dishonorable for me to have acted that way with you earlier. I don't want to hurt you, and I did. That's why I don't fight you. I couldn't live with myself if I injured you." He said, a guilty tone finding its way into his voice.

"Angeal, please don't blame yourself. I'm a SOLDIER Turk; I'm bound to get injured from time to time. But as I get better and stronger, the chance of me getting hurt will decrease. And the best way for me to get stronger is for you to fight me. Really fight me, not just put me through the motions. Seriously Angeal, I'm not a damsel in distress, I can take a little pain every once in a while." Mary said, trying to make Angeal understand her side. Before he could answer, Angeal's phone rang, and he turned to answer it.

"Commander Hewley." He answered, and stood silently for a minute while the other person on the line talked. "Yes, thank you." He said, before hanging up. He turned to Mary. "So, you have a concussion. Is that the full extent of your injuries?" He asked.

"Yes. Well, my back hurts a little, and there was the cut, but you saw that before and it was very minor, so I didn't think to mention it." Mary replied. Angeal shook his head and let out a loud sigh.

"That was Tseng. He informed me of your trip to the infirmary. A slipped disk, protruding rib, and the other injuries as well. Why do you keep lying to me?" Angeal said, with a harsher tone. Mary's eyes widened and she sunk farther into the couch. She looked back down to her hands; she couldn't stand the disappointed look in his eyes. "These are serious injuries. You can't lie to me about these things. I need to know, and you need to be brought to the infirmary directly when these things happen. What would you have done if Alanna didn't find you when she did?" He said, raising his voice again.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. "I know it was stupid. But I didn't want you to feel guilty that you hurt me. It wasn't your fault and I know you would blame yourself. And I didn't know it was that bad until Alanna got there, I really couldn't feel the rib or the disk. I'm sorry." She explained. Angeal shook his head again, before he turned around.

"I think you should train with Cloud for a few days." He said quietly.

"Angeal, I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault, please don't blame yourself. I trust you; I know you won't hurt me, not again. It was my fault, I'm sorry." She pleaded with him.

"How is it your fault? I'm the one who lost control, and…" He paused. Mary jumped in the interrupt him.

"I manipulated you to make you attack me. I thought if I could get you to fight back, and hold my own, that you would be more willing to do it more often." She answered.

"You manipulated me? And you lied to me, multiple times. What happened to being honorable and honest? I know you are a Turk, but you are also a SOLDIER, and I expect better of you. I can't believe that you would behave this way." Angeal said, and Mary could hear the disappointment in his voice. "You should train with Cloud for a few days. You need to heal, and you should take some time to work on your materia."He said, as he began to walk to the door. "And no sword training. I am revoking your VR privileges until I feel as though I can trust you again. I'm going to go start dinner; you need to get some rest." He said as he left.

Mary sat there for a few more minutes. She felt horrible for lying to Angeal, especially since the plan didn't work. She also was upset that she wouldn't be able to pick up a sword for a few days, and wouldn't be allowed in the VR room. She let out a sigh and then got off the couch, and made her way to the living room. She found Alanna on the couch, and laid her head on her lap. Alanna ran her hands through Mary's hair as she started to fall asleep.