I know we haven't really seen much of the Disney side of this world yet, but the other have to make sure Grace is alright before she starts traveling. Don't worry though, she will travel, just not yet. She needs some training first.


Chapter Seven

Over the next few days Zack had rarely left Grace's side. Only taking a break every now and then to sleep, but only when Aerith promised to be with her. It was during one such time when Leon quirked an eye brow and finally confronted Cloud about his friend's odd behavior.

The swordsman only shrugged. "Zack has a big brother complex and is very protective."

"I've noticed. Have you seen him treat anyone else that way?"

Cloud didn't even try to hide his smirk. "Me."

He made sure the girls couldn't hear them before taking on a more serious tone. "Has she had anymore nightmares since the other night?"

Leon shook his head, "Not that I know of, then again it may have something to do with her new weapon."

"What kind of weapon?"

"I'm not sure, it looks like a Keyblade, but it's not."

Cloud glanced over at Grace without looking like he was staring. Nothing seemed different about her and she wasn't exuding any kind of power. Still, it was something he was curious to see for himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by a shout of surprise followed by a commotion coming from upstairs. That commotion quickly traveled downstairs as a panicked Zachary Fair tumbled down the steps, tangled in a blanket while wrestling with...something.

Aerith had jumped up with a hand covering her mouth in worry while Grace was struggling between worry and laughter.

Muffled grunts and growls could be heard from under the folds of the blanket. It was Aerith who approached first. "Zack? What's going on?"

"Gotcha!" came Zack's triumphant voice from the blanket until another growl was heard. "Yeowch! It bit me!"

Suddenly a fuzzy blue ball rolled out from the blanket only to change shape into a little blue creature. It looked around only to glare at the other two men in the room.

Leon knew what that creature was, but Cloud raised a confused eye brow at it.

"No way! Stitch?!"

The creature blinked and turned to see Grace. He tilted his head. "Eh?" he asked. Grace only giggled.

Zack's messy black hair appeared from the blanket revealing he was in a grumpy mood. "What kind of name is Stitch?"

Stitch turned and growled at Zack. Again it was Grace who addressed the creature.

"Seeing you here is a pleasant surprise. Aren't you one of Sora's summons?"

"Meega Sora fren," he replied then blinked and tilted his head. "You Sora fren?"

Grace smiled. "Yep."

Stitch smiled back, revealing two rows of sharp teeth and repeated her to the best of his ability. "Yep!" It then bounded over to her and Grace was most inclined to agree with what she had heard. He really was as cute and fluffy in person.

Aerith had headed over to help Zack free his legs which were hopelessly tangled in the blanket. Zack just glared at the other two. "Oh sure, just leave a poor guy at the mercy of a little monster."

"Just be thankful it's not a touch me," replied Cloud with a hint of a tease clear in his voice.

Grace's eyes widened at that. Since when did Cloud ever tease? Not the swordsman she had seen. True, she knew he had a soft, nice guy side, but a teasing side?

"Eh?" Stitch asked, wondering if she was alright.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Stitch. Just a little confused."

"About what?" asked Leon.

"Well,..." she was quick to think on her feet, "my new power for one. I mean, that night was the first time I had ever seen it, let alone use it. I'm surprised I didn't kick the bucket to be honest. I'm not really the fighting type."

"But, you said you play fighting-style video games. Isn't that the same thing?" asked Zack.

"When you play video games, all you're really doing is pushing buttons. You're not actually swinging or firing anything. Not unless you have a Wii, but I like the Playstation better-. . .What?" grace glared at Zack who held a hand over his mouth trying not to laugh.

"Unless you have a what?"

Grace face-palmed. "A Wii, Zack. W-i-i. It's a type of game console. There's also the Playstation, the X-Box and the Gameboy, of course now they're called DS's, but it's still part of the Gameboy family." She then gave up with a sigh when she realized no one else in the room understood a single thing she was saying.

"The point is, No. I have never used a weapon before in my life. I didn't even think I had it in me until that night."

"What makes you say that?" asked Leon, who was having a hard time believing she had no prior battle experience after what he had seen.

Grace rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I once cornered a snitch who was trying to get some other boys to beat me up and I had the chance to slug him in the face, but...I..."

"But what?" asked Zack.

"I...lost all the strength in my arm. I just couldn't do it. It wasn't that I'd get in trouble, I really didn't care, but it just...felt wrong."

"You shouldn't feel bad about it, the kid wasn't worth the effort."

Grace looked over at Cloud and couldn't help but smile. why was it that he always made her feel better?

"Yeah," Zack chimed in, "snitch's usually get what they deserve in the end anyway. You didn't get beat up , did you?"

At this Grace smiled. "Well, no. I actually out-smarted them. They were trying to corner me in between class periods and I darted around a corner and hid in the girl's restroom until they passed. I could see them from my hiding spot and laughed when they looked confused and split up in different directions. I followed behind one of them and slipped into class with them none the wiser."

Zack laughed and Aerith giggled while the other two just smirked and Stitch just chuckled. "Hehehe, stupid heads."

"The blue rabbit's got a point," Zack added. "In a battle between brain over brawn, the brain always wins."

"That explains why you lose most of our sparring matches," Cloud replied.

"No, I lose because you're way too fast and I'm out of practice." Zack retorted with a pout.

If one were to look closely enough they could actually see the idea flash across Zack's eyes. "Grace, come with me, I'm gonna teach you how to fight."

Grace blinked in shock. One of the few things she knew about the dark-haired fighter was that he was once a First class Soldier. He was in the same rank as Sephiroth han been before he turned evil. This made her feel both humbled and nervous. However, nothing prepared her for what happened next.

Cloud placed a hand on Zack's shoulder before he charged out of the room. "We'll both teach her. Your style is more brute force and over-powering your opponents, she doesn't have that much power, so she'll need to favor speed."

"Oh really~," asked Zack, feeling a little insulted, "and you think you're qualified to teach her?"

"Just so happens, that's my specialty." With that he walked out of the room and out the front door leaving a very surprised Grace with her jaw hanging open.

Zack teaching her was amazing enough, but to have THEE Cloud Strife training her as well? This was one of the rare occasions that she was glad this wasn't a dream. Zack motioned for her to follow and she eagerly hurried to catch up, falling in step behind him while secretly thanking whatever high power had gifted her with this rare honor. She felt excited, cheerful and dare she say it, giddy? Hell with it. Grace didn't even try to hide her smile. This was the best day ever!

. . .

This was the worst day ever!

Grace had been training for the past hour and she felt dead by the first thirty minutes. Zack had been a great teacher, but Cloud was right. She was not suited for strength training. Sadly, she quickly found out she wasn't that fast either. Then again her second teacher just happened to be a fricking speed demon!

Cloud moved too fast for her to follow. One second he was ten feet in front of her and the next he was right behind her with his sword pressed against her back. Grace had seen him do that before, but it was in the movie where she could actually track his fast movements and he would always go for their neck. She was just glad he seemed to be going easy on her...sort of. It didn't take a genius to realize she was way out of her league.

"You're too tense," he told her from behind.

Grace turned to see he had his sword sheathed and his arms folded while standing a few feet away. She thought he was still right behind her. "Well, it's kinda hard to relax when you're moving too fast for me to follow. I am a beginner, remember?"

Grace didn't miss the amusement on his face. "I guess I could slow down a bit more, but if it makes you feel better, why don't you make the first move?"

Grace gulped. Her attack Cloud Strife? There were so many reasons why that was a bad idea and all of them ended with her getting flipped on her back.

"Not scared, are you?" asked the blonde soldier.

Grace was not about to admit how scared she really was, then again he could probably hear her heart racing from where he stood. she took a slow, deep breath to calm her nerves before raising her -still nameless- sword and charged him.

When she got close enough she swung out but he easily caught it and deflected her away as easily as if he was swatting at a fly. Grace went stumbling before falling to her knees. She turned to see Cloud glaring at her.

"Stop flinching and don't close your eyes! That's the easiest way to get yourself killed!"

Grace tried to keep positive, especially after how emotional she had been lately, but that stung. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm just a normal girl who can't fight. I told you I didn't have it in me!"

"But, you fought off those heartless the other night," Zack protested with a hint of a whimper in his voice.

"That was, just gut instinct and I was tired of feeling so useless. I doubt I'd be able to do it again and you guys are just wasting your time!"

"...Grace."

She looked up towards the blonde only to see him charging straight at her, sword drawn and poised to strike. She only had a second to react by jumping out of the way. He barely gave her a chance to get her footing before charging her again. Grace side-stepped and jumped back before rolling to the side, just missing the deadly blade of the fusion sword. He turned and swiped at her again. Grace's arm shot up with her sword and blocked the hit. It was then that Grace realized there was no power behind the swordsman's swings. This was still a test, but that didn't mean he wasn't serious.

He swung the blade low, forcing her to jump into the air as the sword swept under her feet. Grace had no idea how she was doing this, but she was not about to complain. It was only when she stepped to the side that she noticed a small opening. The instant he struck low, aiming to sweep at her feet again, she only raised one foot while stomping down on the blade with the other, after that she didn't expect what happened next as it surprised everyone.

Cloud stepped back and rubbed his cheek. Zack's jaw hung open and Grace's eyes were wide with shock.

She had just punched Cloud!

"You're stronger than you think," he replied, still rubbing the side of his face. Grace still just stood still as a statue, her sword clattered to the ground.

Zack howled with laughter while Cloud smirked at her. "I'm fine Grace, believe me, I've taken worse hits before."

"B-but, I...actually hit you!" she blurted out, still not believing what just happened.

Cloud just shrugged. "At least you proved you can fight."

Zack bounded up to them. "Did she ever! Seriously, where'd those moves come from?"

Grace looked down at her own weapon, her eyes blinking rapidly, still wide with shock. "I...don't know. I saw him coming and I just...reacted."

In truth, Grace had no idea how she did it. She had never been that agile before. Sure P.E. in high school could count for some of it, but nothing like this. She didn't go to a gym, she didn't work out, heck she didn't even jog in the morning...unless you counted running to catch the bus to work, but she was more than often early, so it was just a brisk walk. But even if she were fit, there was no was she should be able to go toe to toe with Cloud, whether he was taking ti easy on her or not.

The blonde seemed was the only calm one of the three. Zack was excited and Grace was on the verge of panic. "The answer is obvious. You've got good instincts. That's what was controlling your moves."

Grace looked at him. "But, I'm clumsy and my instincts have never saved me back home, at least not on this level."

Cloud resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If she only knew how he started out. It was Zack who answered her. "Maybe it's got something to do with your sword...it is a sword, right?"

Grace nodded. "I haven't thought of a name for it yet."

. . .

Later that night Grace was sitting on the roof of the cottage looking at her sword and swinging it. Ever since Zack had brought it up, Grace couldn't stop thinking about a possible name for her new weapon. According to the ex-SOLDIER naming a sword was just as important as naming a ship. It was considered bad luck to leave it without a name because it was that name that bonded a sword to its wielder.

Grace didn't exactly understand how that worked, but figured it was better to be safe than sorry, especially when she was stuck in a world where apparently anything was possible. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had punched Cloud in the face. She knew she hadn't hurt him in the least, but it was the shock itself that stunned her. In all honesty, she felt like she had been on the receiving end of that blow.

"You okay?"

Grace looked up to see Aerith standing behind her. "Yeah, just thinking about what happened earlier."

The flower girl only smiled warmly at her, "May I join you?"

Grace nodded with a smile and made room for her as she took a seat. "I heard what happened during your training. How are you feeling?"

"A bit shocked, I can't believe I hit him. I know I didn't hurt him, but It actually scared me a little. I didn't think I had the nerve to do that."

Aerith's smile never wavered. "Cloud's been complimenting you downstairs."

"He what?"

Aerith nodded, "He and Zack both. Cloud said you had potential to be a strong sword fighter."

Grace knew Aerith wasn't one to lie, but she had a hard time believing her, the flower girl continued. "Zack said you reminded him of Cloud when they first met."

"What? how? I am no where near like Cloud. He's so skilled."

"He wasn't always," she replied. "According to Zack he was a very clumsy cadet and he tripped a lot."

"I'm sorry, Aerith, but I find that hard to believe."

Aerith just shrugged. "I don't blame you, but if you're curious to find out, maybe you should ask him?"

Grace did want to know something about the swordsman, but it had nothing to do with his fighting skill. "Aerith, what happened to him? I've never known him to be so...upbeat. He definitely wasn't always this cheerful, what happened?"

She only smiled. "It was all thanks to Zack. Part of Cloud's darkness was caused by guilt for losing his best friend, but when he vanished with Sephiroth during their last fight Zack showed up and together they defeated Sephiroth."

Grace was amazed to hear that story, while she had never been able to beat the silver-haired villain in the game herself, she had seen what happens afterwards in a video online. Cloud and Sephiroth had vanished in a burst of light and you didn't see him after that. that was another reason why she didn't want to beat Sephiroth. She enjoyed strolling through the market area of the town and seeing the swordsman pacing in the square.

Aerith stood up and straightened out her dress before turning to head back in. "Leon wanted me to tell you that Sora will be back tomorrow. They found someone who knows you."

Grace blinked. "Someone who knows me? Who?"

the flower girl only shrugged. "They didn't say."


Next chapter we'll start to see some big changes and will Grace ever get off of Radiant Garden? Find out next chapter.