Disclaimer - I don't own Final Fantasy VII or its characters.

Recovery plus Active equals Party Part 3:

A Small Walk to Midnight

At 9 o'clock, Cloud had finally reached the upper plate and he let out a relief sigh when he saw the fountain of Sector 8, because it's the closest place to Shinra Headquarter, which means he will be back into his room in no time and with at least an hour or two to spare without an over-protective bodyguard with him.

'Finally! Free at last!' The blond cried out happily as he stretched his arms.

'Indeed.' A distorted voice said aloud behind him. Cloud turned around and almost jumped in surprise when he saw the black phoenix hovering a few feet from the ground and stretching its wings.

'Moon! You can't come out like this! People will see you!' The young SOLDIER shouted in panic as he scanned the streets to see if somebody had seen the sudden appearance of the winged creature.

'Don't worry about me being seen. Since everyone will be in the LOVELESS Avenue for the Loveless Play, I doubted that someone else walked around here at this time of the night.' Moon explained to Cloud calmly.

Then Cloud started to look around them and what his winged friend said it's true, there is only the two of them at the Fountain Place, the only signs of life were at the distant LOVELESS Avenue, but still, if by any chance they were spotted by someone and they report to Shinra, then Moon will be in danger even if he kept him in the necklace.

'Anyway. Moon, you should just-' The last words trailed off as the blond stared in shock at the black phoenix enveloped by its own large wings with a red aura surrounding it.

When the crimson light faded and the wings dissipated into dozens of black feathers, Cloud gasped in surprised. A man with shoulder-length auburn hair with the tips tainted in black, a long tail wrapped in a black ribbon at the base of his hair or feathers, to be exact, stood at the place where Moon was. The stranger wore a tight black leather pants with knee-high black boots and a black t-shirt, his hands were covered by black leather gloves. The only thing that's left unchanged of the phoenix was the two red-orange eyes which the left one was covered by long bangs. The silver dagger-shaped pendant had turned into a earring attached to his left ear.

'It's been a while since I was in this form.' Moon said, his voice no longer distorted, but soft and melodious, as he flexed his fingers, then he turned his gaze towards the shock blond, whose eyes grew wider. 'Is something wrong?'

Cloud couldn't take his eyes off of Moon, not that something was wrong with his appearance, he is handsome, but it was his face that shocked him the most, Moon looked almost like Genesis Rhapsodos! Minus the tail and the feathers and the eyes were azure, he looked exactly like a twin of the crimson Commander.

After a minute or two, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and answered: 'Nothing really important. It's just that you-'

'Look like Genesis.' Moon finished and chuckled. 'Isn't it a good thing that I look like him? After all, you seemed scared of him this afternoon.'

'I'm not scared of him!' Cloud protested angrily. 'I just don't like how Zack used me to get Commander Rhapsodos out of his office.'

The auburn hair man smirked at the fuming teen before he offered his hand and asked: 'Well then, would you join me for a small walk at the LOVELESS Avenue?'

Glad for the change of subject, the blond quickly accepted and both of them walked towards the noisy street. The fool mood of the SOLDIER quickly brightened and Cloud turned back to his usual kind innocent self with a hint of curiosity in the deep blue shades of his eyes just like the ones of a child.

It was the first time, he had ever been to the LOVELESS Avenue, and people told him that this avenue was the place where people who enjoyed art and literature would go to. Most of the shops were bookstores, some small cafés and a theater for the Loveless play.

'Oh yeah! How did you know the Loveless' poems, Moon?' Cloud asked when he saw one of the Loveless posters on the wall.

'I guess you never heard that the Loveless was an ancient prophecy, have you?' Moon asked as they stopped abruptly.

'A prophecy? Of what?' The blond asked curiously.

'The future.' The man answered nonchalantly.

'The Planet told you that?' Now Cloud was really interested to what Moon had revealed about the Loveless.

'No, but the Loveless were engraved into stone tablets that laid hidden deep in the grounds near the Lifestreams. It is said that they predicted the future of Gaia's ever-lasting gift to the world.' The auburn hair man explained.

'So you had seen these tablets?' Cloud asked excitedly. It had been nearly seven long years since he had heard of a story as interesting as what Moon is telling him right now.

A sad smile was formed on the handsome man's face as he said: 'I had seen them a long, long time ago.'

'Oh, I'm sorry.' The blond offered.

'For what?' Moon asked surprised by the boy's words.

'It's just that, you seemed sad whenever I said or asked something about or link your past. I'm sorry for reminding you bad things... Even if I don't know if summons had memories about their past...' Cloud explained himself clumsily as he played with his fingers unconsciously.

Moon simply smiled and placed his hand over the unruly blond hair of the boy as he said: 'Thank you, but it's okay. You don't need to apologize whenever I seem sad.'

Cloud nodded his head as the man removed his hand from his hair and both of them exchanged warm smiles before they continued their walk. They walked passed bookstores and small shops, until a small café drew the attention of Moon.

'What is it?' The young blond asked and looked at the glass of the small café where a large poster with a purple and white apple-shape fruit on it said:

BIG SALE!

BANORA WHITE APPLE JUICE

&

DUMBAPPLES

A DELICACY YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO MISS!

'What's a Dumbapple?' Cloud asked after studying the image for a few seconds, but the word, Banora, sounded a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where did he heard it before.

'It is properly known as the White Banora, but the people from the Banora Village are so fond of them, that they called it the Stupid Apple or Dumbapple. These fruits could only pick once a year or maybe longer, that's why it is consider as a grant delicacy by many people.' The auburn hair man explained with a small bitter smile before he looked over the shoulder of the blond and spotted something. 'Cloud, wait here for second. I'll be right back.'

The SOLDIER nodded his head in acceptance as Moon left his sides, while he continued to stare at the poster, searching in his mind and thinking why the name sounded so familiar. Banora. Banora. Banora. I have heard of this name before, but where? Then a porcupine hair SOLDIER and his mentor appeared among his memories. Of course! Zack had told me and Kadaj that Angeal came from Banora while we're in the Infirmary. Hum... I wonder what a Dumbapple tastes like.

He opened door which hit a small bell hang above the entrance of the café and almost immediately, a young brunette came to welcomed him: 'How may I serve you, sir?'

'Euh... I saw the poster outside...' Cloud stuttered timidly as he pointed at the glass. He was never a social-type person, and usually, Kadaj was the one who does the talking, since he always seemed to lose his voice when he talked in public places.

'Oh. You are pretty lucky that we still have one. Most of the times, they are gone by the end of the day.' Waitress told the young blond as she moved to the back of the counter to retrieve the purple and white apple from a small refrigerator.

'You don't have one more?' Cloud asked as he took out his black wallet.

'No, sir. This is the only one left.' The young girl told him as she placed the fruit on the counter. 'And it would be a thousand gil please.'

'What?!' Cloud almost shouted disbelievingly as he stared at the apple. 'This costs a thousand gil?'

'Hey, it's not me who decide the price for these sweeties.' The girl answered and gave him a look that said take-it-or-leave-it-is-up-to-you. The blond paid for the little fruit while shouting curses in his mind, he is lucky to have enough gil left to buy the Dumbapple, then he walked out of the café angrily with the apple in his hand. First, I was force to confront Commander Rhapsodos, then I have to go and sing in front of a crowd, and now I have to pay a thousand gil just to taste a simple apple. What's next?

'Cloud?' The boy looked up to see who called him and saw Moon walking towards him with something white in his hand. Cloud's frustration almost vanished into thin air when his friend came back. 'Here, this for you.'

Moon showed him the object he was holding. It was a white leather bound book with a gold-colored title "LOVELESS". Cloud's eyes widen in shock at what he saw as he took the book in his hand and asked: 'Where did you get this?'

'They are giving them for free at the Theater.' The auburn hair man answered as the young blond flipped through the pages. 'Since I know you'll ask me many questions about Loveless, I thought that this should answer some of your questions.'

'Thanks Moon. Oh, and this is for you.' The boy said as he handed the Dumbapple to his friend, who took it from his hand gracefully, as if the apple was made of glass. Then he looked at it for a moment before he took a bite, his lips formed a genuine happy smile.

'It brings back great memories, doesn't it?' The young blond asked with a smile of his own. He had never seen Moon smiled like that before, like he had nothing to worry about or a burden he must bear for the sake of humanity. A smile of a normal and happy person or a phoenix perhaps, after all he is a summon creature.

'A little.' The man replied before he held the bitten fruit out for the boy. 'Why don't you try it?'

Cloud thanked his friend as he took the offered apple into his hands and studied the white area where Moon had bitten before he took an equally large bite. It tastes sweet, sweeter than anything he had eaten before, it's quite unique.

'How does it taste?' Moon asked as the blond continued to chew and savor the wonderful taste of the White Banora.

It's sweet and delicious. Cloud replied mentally, but he wondered at the same time, if the summon creature could still hear his thoughts, even though he is in a human form.

As usual, Moon, who seemed to receive them loud and clear, replied with his less-distorted voice in his mind. Then shall we continue our little walk? The night is still young.

The young blond nodded his head before they continued their small walk around the Loveless Avenue, sharing the apple occasionally. Both of them took small bite off of the tasty fruit until nothing was left.

'It's a pity that we can't see the stars here. If not, I think tonight is the most beautiful and enjoyable night that I have ever had, excluded the Zack's party of course.' Cloud said as he took a few steps away from the auburn hair man who stood near the fountain.

'No, I see a bright little star here.' Moon suddenly informed him.

'Huh? Really? Where?' The blond almost shouted in excitement as he looked up at the dark cloudy night sky, trying to catch a glimpse of the star that his friend had mentioned.

'It's right- Here.' The auburn hair man said as he placed his hand over the defy-gravity blond hair of a surprised Cloud.

Cloud took exactly ten seconds to register what his friend had just said before he removed Moon's hand off of his head and muttered a small "idiot" as he turned his face, flushed with embarrassment, away from the amber orbs.

'I'll take that as a "thank you".' Moon told the blond with a bright smile. Cloud tried to look as if he is mad at the summon creature, but it failed miserably as a smile crept onto his angelic face and giggled loudly.

'You should smile and laugh more sometimes.' The auburn hair man sighed as he brushed away a few stray of blond hair over the cerulean eyes. 'Your eyes look more beautiful when you do that.'

'Thank you.' Cloud breathed as he stared into those golden eyes. Those eyes looked more beautiful than they used to be, it's mesmerizing. Suddenly he felt a strange urge to kiss Moon, to feel those lips against his. So the young blond slowly leaned up and Moon reacted the same way he does, leaned down to close the tiny little distance between their lips, but before either of them could even brushed each others lips, a loud bell rang above them and they quickly pulled themselves away from the other. The spiky hair teen looked down at his feet shyly as his friend closed his eyes to recollect himself.

'You should go back now, it is midnight already.' Moon told Cloud, who simply nodded his head, as he looked up to the small clock over the Loveless Avenue.

Then the auburn hair man placed his gloved hand over the cheek of the blond and he leaned forward to place a soft kiss over his forehead before he whispered: 'Good night, Cloud.'

As soon as he had finished to pronounce those words, his body turned into dozens of red Lifestreams threads that were absorbed by the red orb hung over the boy's neck. Cloud stood there stunned for a moment, then his lips tilted upward and he bid Moon a good night before he walked towards the Shinra building with the "LOVELESS" in his hand.

Too much writer's blocks these days, so I'm sorry for the delay. Also please review and tell me what do you think about this chapter. I thought that the ending is a little... I don't know... Chessy maybe?

Author's note: And the look of Moon was inspired by the hair style of both Yuna of Final Fantasy X-2 and a little bit from Kuja of Final Fantasy IX, a little bit of a mix of both.