Arinna wasn't sure what compelled her to go talk to the infantryman. After Zack and Angeal ate breakfast it took Arinna half an hour to clean up the mess, but she was glad to do it. She missed the company of her brother and family. And it seemed like Angeal and Zack hadn't even stayed but for a few moments, however it turned out that those few moments were actually three hours of joyous laughing and teasing. True, she'd flush every time she'd glance over in Angeal's direction, but more often than not she's laughing at the silly stories Angeal had to share about Zack's crazy antics. Then they left and she was alone.
She could have re-swept the floors, after all Zack's boots weren't completely dirt free, but she hated sweeping. She could have dusted Genesis's outrageously large collection of LOVELESS, but she dusted them yesterday and highly doubted that they accumulated enough dust to be re-dusted. She could have gone and organized her bedroom/storage room, but she really didn't feel like digging through the boxes just yet. Leaving the TV to watch or the Infantryman to annoy. The choice was simple. She craved human interaction.
"Hi, there!" She said peering out the door to the uniformed teen, at least she was sure it was a teen. Someone that short and lanky, had to be either a kid or a teen and she was sure they didn't allow children under the age of ten to join the army unless they were desperate. "You're the new guard, huh?"
She pulled open the door and leaned against the wall so she'd have a clear view of the young trooper, he silently nodded while she smiled with a tilt of her head. "My name's Arinna, by the way. What about you?"
"I'm Cloud."
Arinna's heart nearly stopped at the sound of the name. It took everything she had not to jump through the door way and tackle Cloud in the biggest embrace she could manage. She settled for the biggest smile she could manage then resorted to scooting closer to the door, while managing to stay inside the apartment.
"Nice to meetcha, Cloud!" She said excitedly as she tried to get a better view of the young boy's face. "So where ya from? "
The younger teen shifted from one foot to the other nervously before addressing the sixteen year old. He shrugged with a shake of his head as Arinna caught sight of his reddening cheeks. "Nibelheim."
"Aw, sounds like a quaint little town. Country boy, I'm guessing?" She said eager to hear more from the blue eyed boy who in turn just nodded shyly, slightly turning in her direction to address properly.
"Ah-huh. Its…nice, I guess." Arinna couldn't help but hear the embarrassment in his voice and she instantly knew why and how to help with a future encounter with a certain dark haired puppy.
"Good. Don't let anyone make fun of your hometown, no matter who they are!" She said firmly earning a gaping look from Cloud which caused her to press further. "Ah-huh! You should be proud of where you came from and trust me. Standing up for what you care about will definitely earn the higher-ups respect!"
"R-Really?" He asked as Arinna nodded at him while another idea began to nag at her. And she had to act on it.
"Totally! Hey, why don'tcha come inside for a bit?" She suggested as Cloud stumbled back with a shake of his head then glanced up and down the halls fearfully.
"I-I don't know if that'd be a good idea."
"Why not?" Arinna asked with a frown then peered out the door, wondering what had scared the young boy so badly, but when she saw nothing she was even more confused than before. Cloud in return tilted his head with a sigh then glanced inside the apartment.
"W-Well, I'm on duty…although its more like punishment."
"Punishment?"
"Y-Yeah." He said staring at the zipper on his boots. " I was late to class."
"Why were you late?"
"…there were some Third Class SOLDIERs…"
"Ah-huh? And?"
"They…didn't like me…and wanted to pick a fight." Arinna's eyes widened at the horrible confession she had dragged out of the poor boy, it was then she knew what she was going to do next.
"That's terrible! Come inside with me for a bit, okay? Technically, you're on guard duty and you'll still be guarding me inside the apartment. Like a body guard!" Arinna said as she leapt to her feet and nudged the door open even more so the infantryman could step inside. Cloud hesitated a moment then one last time looked down the hall, hoping that no one saw what he was doing. He knew this isn't what Sergeant Lawrence meant by guard duty…but it was terribly boring out in the hall. Besides He thought to himself it'll only be for a few minutes. No one will even notice I'm gone. Not like anyone's ever really cared before.
"O-Okay. Sure." He said following Arinna inside the apartment as the girl was literally jumping from one foot to the other. She just couldn't believe it. Cloud Strife. The Cloud Strife was in her apartment- Well technically, it was Genesis's apartment, but in a way hers too. She quickly shut the door then reached out and took Cloud's hand in hers as she led him towards her territory, the kitchen.
"Why don't you take off your helmet? It must be stuffy wearing that all the time! And the helmet hair!" She exclaimed knowing that the hair underneath the infantryman helmet wouldn't be at all flat, and she was just dying to see the infamous golden spikes. Cloud, who was more than happy to comply, took off the helmet releasing the blond hair that defied gravity. A moment later he realized what he had done and instantly flushed red once more. His hair was one of the main reasons why he was picked on such a daily basis.
"Nice hair!" That wasn't what Cloud had expected nor what Arinna said next. "You know I tried to do that once with my hair…didn't work out well with long hair. It looks great on you though!" Cloud blinked at Arinna as she dashed to the pantry and pulled out a small container, moved back to the counter where he stood and popped open the lid for him to see.
"Here! Take one! I made it yesterday, luckily our local puppy didn't sniff them out this morning!" She giggled placing the container on the counter as she dashed to the refrigerator to get milk. It was the only thing she could do from doing what every fan girl wanted to do… Glomp the poor unsuspecting teenage cutie, and ruffle his hair to death.
"You're not allergic to milk are you?"
"N-No, I don't think so-"
"Great! I don't like milk by itself, but stuff like chocolate milk or even regular milk to dunk cookies in are pretty good."
"Y-Yeah." Arinna frowned at the short timid answers. She nudged the glass of milk towards him and leaned closer to him, silently gesturing him to sit down and eat the cookies sitting before him.
"What's the matter?"
"N-Nothing."
"There's something the matter."
"I just…"
"Cloud?" She said moving closer to the blond as she began to worry about her new found friend… well, her self-proclaimed-friend. "What is it? I know we just met and all, but I'm always here to lend an ear, you know? Whether its problems with the other troops, homesick or even girl troubles-"
"It just that…nobody's…ever really nice to me." He murmured as his chin dropped down to his chest dejectedly and in Arinna's eyes rather cutely. She couldn't help herself. She really couldn't. Poor Cloud never stood a chance. Before the young trooper could even blink, Arinna was by his side and had her arms wrapped around him tightly in a warm embrace.
"Well, we'll just have to fix that, huh?" She said holding him in a vise like grip while Cloud just went ridged in her arms then after a few moments, he slowly began to relax. In fact…he almost liked it. Almost, as in he didn't like looking like a one of those bug-eyed-chocobo plushies as his oxygen was cut off. Luckily help came in the form of one of his future best friends-
"Arinna! Arinna! Arinna I gotta-" Zack shouted out as he ran into the apartment then paused in mid-shout when he saw the two teenagers hugging. A very mischievous smile spread across the Second Class's face as he eyed the two of them. "Oh-ho, ho! Sorry to barge in on you two!"
"Whoa! Whoa! We're not! I mean- we're just friends! Right, Clou-" Arinna yelped out jumping away from Cloud to explain to Zack, however when she turned to confirm it with said infantryman, she found that he was gone and sound of a door slamming echoed in the hallway. "Aww! Zack, why'd you go and have to do that! Now you've scared him off!"
Arinna pouted as Zack snickered then began to slightly inch towards the unsuspecting canister of cookies while Arinna glared at the door, silently willing Cloud to step back into the apartment. "Sorry, Ari. Couldn't help myself. Anyways, I'm here to take you to see your brother. He's down in the infirmary and-"
"What? The infirmary? What is he doing in the infirmary? Why is he in there? How did Genesis let this happen? Is he badly hurt? Will he recognize me? Oh my god, what if he doesn't recognize me?" Arinna rambled fearfully as she paced up and down the kitchen floor, almost rambling faster than Zack could ever hope to. She was frozen in her tracks when Zack had held out his hand in front of her face, instantly stopping her from wearing ruts into the very expensive tile floors Genesis had custom ordered.
"Relax, Ari! He's okay, just a little exhausted-"
"Oh thank god! But we still have one teeny-tiny problem."
"What's that?"
"I can't leave the apartment! If I take one step out them I'm roasted faster than you could say Shinra Shakes Sector Seven!" She yelped out then clamped a hand over her mouth at the sudden prediction of the future, however luck was with her because our dear Zack had no idea what that was supposed to mean and a certain dark haired SOLDIER First Class entered the scene as well.
"If Zack had stayed with Aaron longer then he'd know that I just had Lazard disable the monitor, Arinna. You're free to go see your brother but I'm afraid you'll have to have an adult accompany you-" Angeal said as Arinna's eyes lit up in utter happiness as she moved to hug her next victim when Zack cut in once more.
"I'd be more than happy to accompany Arinna!"
"I said an adult, Zack." Angeal corrected as Arinna froze in mid-glomp while Zack frowned.
"But I thought you said I was an adult!"
"I said you eat like an adult!" Angeal frowned as his muscled arms were crossed against his chest. "Secondly, you're the same age as Arinna. So you wouldn't have even been considered a candidate."
"Awww!"
"That doesn't mean you can't tag along-"
"Great! Come on, Ari! Your brother's awaitin!" Zack said taking Arinna's hand and dragging her out of the apartment, past Cloud, down the hall and to the elevator. Arinna glanced back to see Angeal speaking to Cloud, who in turn saluted the SOLDIER and glanced in her direction too. The girl silently mouthed out 'I'm sorry.' while Zack continued to ramble on about his abnormally large appetite and something to do with getting thrown out of a buffet when they ran out of food. It was then that Arinna saw the handful of sweets Zack was carefully holding.
"Zack?"
"Yeah?"
"Who said you could eat those cookies?"
"You mean they weren't meant for me?"
"Get the heck off me!" Aaron snarled out as he tried to push his sister away, while she continued to cling to her long lost brother. She held him tighter than she had ever held anything as she clung to him wanting nothing more than to stay by his side.
"I missed you so much! I was so scared and-"
"I'm fine, sis!"
"No you're not! You're hurt!" She argued when she finally pulled away from him then looked over his injuries, there was no broken bones just major bruising, which was covered up by his sun burnt skin and a few scratches that needed stitches, but other wise he was fine. However that did nothing to calm Arinna's ebbing fury-
"Didn't I tell you to be careful!" She snapped lightly smacking her brother on the back of his head, he bit back a low curse as his head throbbed then glared up at his sister.
"Watch it! God, this is how you treat someone in the hospital?"
"You're not in the hospital, you're in the infirmary! And you wouldn't be in here if you'd been more careful!"
"Its kinda hard to be careful when you're fighting for your life!"
"You were in a simulation!"
"The effects are still the same! I thought you knew that!"
"…oh…I forgot." She said shifting from one foot to the other as she stared at the tiles beneath her feet. Sighing she looked up at her brother and sent him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, chocobo. I just worry about you. You're my little brother, I have to worry and nag you."
"Ah-huh. Just like its my job to annoy you."
"And that's why we get along so well."
"Yeah, sure. If you can call it that." Arinna just smiled at her brother's curt remark then reached across and lightly ruffled her hair, and just like always he let her know with that small twinkle in his eye, he'd get her back for the hair ruffle. Angeal was leaning against the far wall watching over the two siblings, while Zack went down to the cafeteria to get some food for Aaron. He was glad to see brother and sister together again, like how things should be. However he didn't understand why, Genesis was keeping them apart and he was sure it was more than simply Arinna being a distraction. But what?
As much as he hated it. He completely trusted Genesis's reasoning, he found it a bit cruel to keep the two apart for so long. But Genesis did have a habit of looking deeper into things and the deeper he looked the more he found. That was why he was one of the best SOLDIERs in program. He could spot abnormalities in a heartbeat and even Angeal had a hunch that something was a bit…odd about the siblings. They were normal enough but the way they reacted to everything so coolly was a bit unsettling.
He had instantly taken a liking to Arinna. He admired her loyalty and adoration for her brother, just like every sister should be. He could understand why she'd always get flustered when he was around her. After all he wasn't …normal. But when he would finally get her to speak to him clearly, it always seemed like she was holding something back or that she knew more than he did about certain things. And at other times, it was like she was from a completely different planet, due to her lack of knowing some commonly known things.
Aaron was…different. An exact opposite of Zack in almost every way. Angeal liked how dedicated Aaron was to improving himself, his drive to push himself to the limit and hardly ever questioned authority. He took orders well, but rarely spoke and only if spoken to. Perhaps, Angeal, had spent too much time with Zack, but he found it disturbing how quiet the younger teen was. When questioned about his dreams and goals, he'd simply reply to protect his sister. That it was the only reason he agreed to be in the SOLDIER program. And frankly, it bothered Angeal that the teen didn't even want to be in SOLDIER. After all if he wasn't fighting for his place among the First Class SOLDIERs, what was he fighting for?
"I'm back! Don't worry buddy, I made sure to save some of the cookies Arinna baked!" Zack announced as he bounded into the room carrying a tray for Aaron, who in turn glared at the Second Class.
"I'm not your, buddy." Aaron growled then yelped out as Arinna slapped him on the back of his head again.
"Oh quit being so moody!"
"He can't help it!" Zack said as he placed the tray on a collapsible table before wheeling it over to Aaron. "It's the Mako. Throws you completely off your rocker for a few days. I wouldn't worry though, he'll be up and att'em by tomorrow evening!"
"Zack?"
"Yeah, Aaron?"
"Shut up and-" Aaron snapped about to tell him to go jump off a cliff when he stopped and abruptly looked to Arinna and back to Zack anxiously as his eyes darted to the rounded pastry in Zack's palm. "Wait! Did you say cookies?"
Aaand here's Cloudy! Yays! Love the Crisis Core Cloud, he was sooo sweet and shy and so...cute! So much fun to write! Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews! Please! Please! Please keep them up! It makes me want to update a whole lot faster!
~God Bless!~