Hi, all!

Yes, it's been forever. I'm sorry. On the plus side, this part's a teeny bit longer than usual and more will be forthcoming shortly. Really. I swear. Actually, this was going to be up sooner, but then Dirge of Cerberus came out… Yeah, I wasn't writing much. I beat it Saturday morning (12:38 AM, in fact), took a breather, and now, here I am, writing author's notes and posting the next chapter of my baby! I really hope you all enjoy it!

Special thanks to my beta, who's still sticking with me after even this absence—Allanon! Reviewer of the Chapter award goes to (cue drum roll) Inu Hanyou for a very long, question-riddled review that encouraged me that people were noticing some of the right things! Thanks, Inu Hanyou!

Now, on to the story! More notes follow!

SECTION BREAK

Cloud peered around the ruins of Mideel. It hadn't changed much since he was here last. Big hole in the ground filled with Lifestream: check. Ramshackle huts scattered around the hole: check. Crazy ass white pygmy Chocobo begging greens off him: check.

Although, perhaps the place had grown a bit. The buildings seemed to extend a bit further into the trees, though maybe that was due more to the voracity of the semi-tropical jungle. One side of the Lifestream hole had crumbled a bit, leaving a small peninsula of collapsed material protruding toward the center of the hole, partially submerged to about ankle depth. The shopkeepers had edged a little farther from the apparently unstable banks, too, but that was pretty much the only change. The air was still permeated with the sharp smell of Lifestream, and the people were still stubbornly determined to make the best out of their situation. Was it possible to be upbeat and depressed at the same time? Apparently so, because Cloud was seeing that peculiar combination of emotions all over the place, of late. Midgar was the same, now—everyone there had lost everything, but they were determined and even happy.

Cloud turned at the sudden sneeze beside him. Reno rubbed irritably at his nose, eyeing the pool of standing Lifestream warily.

"Shit, I hate this town," the redhead grumbled, nose crinkling as if he was going to sneeze again. He got the impulse under control and looked at Cloud. "Doesn't the smell bother you?"

Cloud shrugged. "Not so much. Mako used to bug me when we used it in lab, but then I got to spend almost five years suspended in the stuff. Got used to it. And Lifestream's not as bad as Mako."

Reno shrugged back, turning his pale eyes on the glowing pool. "I guess." He paused and looked out over the town. "Must be pretty at night."

"Must be," Cloud returned noncommittally. They stood together for another couple moments, then Reno shook himself.

"Well, let's find Tseng."

Cloud trailed after the redhead as they picked their way down the somewhat perilous road into town, Rude and Elena tagging along at a slight distance. Cloud was still somewhat surprised that all the TURKs had come along. On the one hand, Tseng was their leader, much beloved by his men—the TURKs were small enough, especially the mainline ones, that they had always been close-knit. And Tseng was charismatic, capable, and had a good reputation for taking care of his people. Their loyalty was understandable. Still, they were also charged with protecting the President, even if he was only the interim President, and the TURKs seemed fond enough of Reeve.

That they had all left him seemed…odd. Elena had stepped so fully into the position of Reeve's primary aide that Cloud would have expected her to stay—of course, she'd been more than a bit in love with Tseng. Cloud wondered if she knew about Tseng and Reno. Then there was Rude. Surely, he would have stayed with Reeve in the absence of all the others. Yet, Rude seemed to be providing some sort of moral support for Reno, which could only be a good thing. Cloud really hoped that they found Tseng. Reno was looking pale and strained, having worn himself to the bone looking for his lover. A resolution was needed, and it was needed now.

Entering the village itself, they all paused to look around. Some of the villagers gave the suited TURKs anxious glances, but they all knew Cloud. He'd used the jungles around here to hone his skills and AVALANCHE's teamwork prior to Meteor, so Mideel—especially the free clinic—had become a major base for them. Not to mention the time Cloud had spent in a Mako-clouded haze, unable to make sense of sight or sound, locked in fragmented hallucinations of Aeris, Sephiroth, and Jenova.

"That way." Cloud jerked his chin toward the clinic.

Reno nodded and clambered up the steep incline to the noticeably more stable ground of the clinic, the others following. Cloud smiled at the nurse, bobbing a small bow in greeting. She smiled back at him, bowing in return.

"Mister Cloud! Welcome! Did you need healing?" Her eyes trailed over his companions, a small frown appearing as she registered the uniforms. "What's going on?"

Cloud smiled. "Don't worry. No problems."

Reno smiled his best smile, looking as sincere as Cloud had ever seen him. "We're just looking for a friend. Do you have anybody Wutaian, male, about five inches taller than me, probably with an injury to the midsection."

The nurse's face registered surprise for a split second, before shuttering abruptly. Her face was professionally blank, but her eyes were alight with suspicion. Reno, however, was not fooled by the façade.

"He's here? He's here!" The redhead looked like he would jump out of his skin with excitement. "Tseng! Tseng!" he cried.

The nurse's face pinched. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask that you quiet down. It may not look like much, but this is a hospital!" Reno continued to call, and she turned to Cloud. "Mister Cloud! Please, contain your friend!"

"That won't be necessary," a soft voice said. Tseng, pale but alive, wheeled out of an adjacent tent room. Reno launched himself at the other TURK, kneeling at his feet and burying his face in his lap. Elena burst into tears, tossing her arms around the wheelchair-bound man's neck, her mascara running on his hospital gown. Even Rude stumped close to the little TURK huddle, resting one big hand on his boss's shoulder.

Cloud felt a little uncomfortable watching them—it was a TURK moment, and Cloud was not a TURK. He didn't know Tseng that well, and the last time they'd met, they'd been enemies, even if Tseng had given AVALANCHE some information in the Temple of the Ancients. Worse, Tseng had given quiet greetings to Rude and Elena, then turned his attention to Reno, stroking his hair and speaking in a quiet, comforting tone, as though to a small child—or to a lover. Cloud felt bitter envy rise in his throat like bile. Reno wept unashamedly, messily, and Tseng just held him, never judging, only offering comfort and support. It made Cloud ache for Sephiroth and the easy affection that had once been between them. He shifted uneasily, then froze as Tseng's grey-black eyes pinned him in place. Cloud shrugged slightly in apology, then deliberately turned his back on the scene.

"So, Wendy," he said to the nurse, effortlessly drawing her attention from the bizarre sight of all the senior TURKs having emotional breakdowns. "How have things been here? Is Doctor Marshall still seeing that floozy from Costa del Sol?"

SECTION BREAK

It was late. The sun had long since fallen from its zenith, and the red light of the dying day filtered through the thick vegetation at a nearly horizontal angle. On the rise the clinic was situated upon, the light made it through a little better. The tent flaps in the main area were flung wide open to make the most of the dim light, before they had to switch over to electric lighting, powered by the noisy and fuel-hungry generator down the way.

The TURKs had finally calmed. Rude stood impassively at Tseng's shoulder, while Elena vanished into the washroom for nearly ten minutes, before coming out as impeccably done up as always. Reno had splashed a little water on his face, but returned directly to Tseng's feet as soon as he was done. He wasn't crying anymore, but one hand was fisted in the blanket tucked around his legs.

"So," Tseng said levelly. "Was someone going to fill me in? Why is a known member of AVALANCHE standing completely unconcerned in a room full of Shinra personnel? And who is guarding the President?"

Elena shifted uneasily, glancing at Rude and Reno for support. Rude just shrugged, and Reno didn't lift his head, so she straightened her jacket and took charge as she had been doing the last several months.

"Sir, Shinra no longer exists, as such." At Tseng's calmly raised brow, she hurried on. "Sephiroth succeeded in summoning Meteor to destroy the Planet. In response, the Planet activated these huge monsters called Weapons that went around destroying everything. One of them launched a…well, sort of like a missile strike against Midgar." She hesitated, then looked Tseng right in the face. "It killed Rufus."

The skin around Tseng's eyes pinched, and what color he had ran right out of his face. "I see," he said very quietly, though the lack of volume could never be interpreted as calm. One hand clenched in Reno's hair, but relaxed quickly. "So, the Company's gone?"

"No," Reno said quietly against Tseng's knee. "Reeve is President. Scarlet and Heidegger got themselves killed trying to stop AVALANCHE from entering Midgar and stopping the Mako cannon from firing. Hojo was in league with Sephiroth and using the Mako cannon to give him energy, so AVALANCHE killed him, too. Reeve orchestrated the efforts to evacuate Midgar and keep the populace safe, so after Meteor was stopped, he just stayed in charge."

Elena laughed. "There's no one else left, really. Palmer, maybe, though the miserable coward hasn't shown his face in months—we'd all die if he were in charge. Besides, the people would probably riot if anyone tried to depose Reeve. They love him. Even Godo in Wutai is willing to sit at a table with him and discuss a treaty. Besides, he's an engineer, a city planner; he knows more about building, rebuilding, and supplying construction efforts than anyone else on the Planet, right now."

Tseng looked thoughtful. "Reeve, is it? He was always competent, if a little too timid and kind-spirited for Shinra. He doesn't like the TURKs, though."

Elena shook her head. "We did more or less force him to spy on AVALANCHE and hold a little girl hostage; he's every right to dislike us. Still, he's working well with us. He knows he can't afford to throw away resources."

"Actually," Cloud said mildly. "Elena has sort of stepped into the role of lead TURK and primary aide."

Tseng sent a narrow glance at Cloud, then looked up at Elena for confirmation. She blushed slightly, but bobbed her head in the affirmative. "It's true, sir. Reno was missing for a long time after Meteor, and Rude…" She smiled apologetically at the quiet man. "Well, he's never had any aptitude for paperwork, and everybody had to be working hard just to get the necessities for survival in place. Being the closest person to the President so I could guard him, I just sort of…took over some of the work. There was just too much to be done to bother Reeve with every little detail."

A real expression crossed Tseng's features. "Good work, Elena. I'm glad you are doing well." The blonde puffed up with pride at what was obviously a rare compliment from the TURK leader. But Tseng's expression changed again, this time to concern. "Are things that bad?"

Rude spoke for the first time. "Yes. Worse."

"It's a war zone," Cloud said solemnly. Tseng focused on him and he continued, knowing that the senior TURK was weighing everything he said—doubly so, since he was undoubtedly still 'the enemy' in his mind. "The city isn't even standing, anymore. Part of the Plate is still up—most of the SOLDIER sector, really—but much of the rest either collapsed, was torn away, or has been shattered and tossed all over the towns below. Over eighty percent of the population of Midgar is dead or presumed dead. Most of the rest of the Planet is doing better, now, but for nearly a month there, the whole world was seriously in disarray."

Tseng nodded slowly. "I tried to contact Midgar using the equipment here in Mideel a couple months ago, and when that failed, I tried all the other Shinra outposts I could think of—Junon, Costa del Sol, Rocket Town, even a couple places in Wutai."

"Good thing you did, sir," Elena said. "A partial transmission made it into Kari-Sarhat—Shinra's largest base in Wutai since the agreement President Reeve made with Lord Godo three months ago. We'd already been over Mideel a couple times since your, um, disappearance, but we focused mostly on the area immediately surrounding the Temple of the Ancients. That transmission made us redouble our efforts. Well, that and Reno coming back, insisting you were alive. We were unable to triangulate the source of the signal, but Reno did…something…that let him know where you were down to somewhere in this archipelago. We decided we'd try here first because of the clinic—if you were injured, it was more likely you'd be here than anywhere else."

Tseng frowned and glanced down at Reno. Cloud suddenly heard a low murmur in the back of his mind, the words indistinct, but the tone worried and questioning. It felt like nothing so much as a tickle on the inside of his skull, and he shivered.

"Oh, jeeze, could you not do that? Please?"

Tseng looked up at him, eyes hard and lit with a dangerous light, but Reno put his hand over his and shook his head. "He knows. Most of AVALANCHE does. With Shinra gone, there's not a heck of a lot of reason to keep hiding. Just because we're Cetra, AVALANCHE is willing to protect us, pretty much against all comers."

Tseng's hand relaxed slightly, and he again gave Cloud a narrow stare. Cloud nodded in response to the unspoken question.

"The Cetra can communicate with the Planet, learn where it's hurt, what it needs. Given the current condition of the Planet and of society, that knowledge is more valuable than ever before. The last thing we need is to inadvertently harm the Planet and activate the Weapons again. They were more than hard enough to beat the first time. Aeris would do her best to intercede for us, but the Weapons activated despite her before. And there's no telling how they would react if Sephiroth took the field against them—hell, I think Tifa'd try to kill him if he looked cross-eyed at Masamune."

Tseng, once again outwardly calm, crooked a brow. "Is there any particular reason why she should not harm him? It seems he came perilously close to destroying the Planet."

Cloud clapped a hand to his brow. He'd forgotten Tseng would have no way of knowing about Sephiroth. "Man, I so don't want to explain this again," he muttered to himself, not quietly enough since Tseng's other brow popped up to join its partner. "Look," Cloud continued. "In short. Hojo used parts of Jenova—who tried to wipe out the Cetra millennia ago—to make Sephiroth. He went crazy and burned Nibelheim, for which I tossed him into the Mt. Nibel Reactor. Hojo then attempted to use Jenova cells' mimicking powers to recreate Sephiroth using human subjects, myself included. One of those Clones took on enough of Sephiroth's personality to consider himself Sephiroth and to demand the obedience of the other Clones. That Clone called down Meteor at Jenova's behest. We—AVALANCHE, that is—killed that Clone, which freed Holy and the Lifestream to destroy Meteor, saving the Planet, though the damage to the surface was substantial, especially at Midgar, which is where the Meteor would have fallen. Then I became aware that the first Sephiroth was alive and retrieved him—with Reno's help—from the Mt. Nibel Reactor. Jenova is aware of his presence, too. Now he's on our side, researching ways to kill Jenova, but no one trusts him as far as they can spit into the wind in the Corel Desert. Got it?"

Tseng frowned. "You don't look much like Sephiroth. Though you don't sound quite like yourself anymore, either."

Cloud choked. Only Tseng would have picked up on the one bit of information Cloud hadn't explained, and linked it to his changed voice—something Cloud himself was growing so used to as to not think of it. Cloud shrugged. "Yeah, well, I was the failed Clone. The prototype, sorta. Jenova caught us on Mt. Nibel and tried to make me into Sephiroth when the others wouldn't give her the real deal. The voice sorta stuck. I'm told I resembled him closely for a few minutes, there."

Reno snorted and finally looked up from Tseng's legs, a smirk spreading across his face. "Dead ringer, more like. Right down to the length of the hair and the crazy vows to destroy us all."

Cloud grimaced. "Yeah, yeah, hush up, Reno. At least I didn't spend a month sleeping off the end of the world. Slugabed."

Reno snorted, but couldn't make any reply to that. Instead, he turned to Tseng. "Taka's well. He misses you, of course. He's staying with my little brothers, for now."

"And the President?" Tseng asked. Mentally, Cloud sighed in relief—if Tseng was already worrying over Reeve's safety, clearly he had no problem with the executive taking over what remained of Shinra.

"Some of the junior TURKs are on it, sir," Elena said. "And Yuffie. She wants to see the Shinra-Wutai peace hold more than anyone. Not to mention she won't let anything happen to the only person on the Planet with her cracked sense of humor."

"Yuffie?" Tseng asked. "Kisaragi?" He shook his head. "Things have changed."

"Speaking of which," Elena began hesitantly. "If you don't mind my asking, sir…where've you been? And what's with the chair? Sir."

Tseng smiled at her. "Relax, Elena. It's a legitimate question." He frowned, gazing into the middle distance, appearing to gather his thoughts. "As you know, Sephiroth—or the Sephiroth Clone, apparently—attacked me in the Temple of the Ancients. I was severely injured. I remember telling you," he looked at Cloud. "How to use the Keystone. Then…" his gaze went distant once more. "I'm not sure why, but I felt compelled to leave the Temple. Once out, I became lost in the forest. I passed out.

"When next I became fully aware, I was in a little hut elsewhere on the island, inhabited by an old couple. I had spent almost three weeks delirious with fever and weak with blood loss. The couple did what they could for me, helping me to regain my strength. They made monthly trips here for supplies they could not obtain on their island. When I was finally strong enough to go with them on one such trip, I came along. I knew of the clinic here as one of the best clinics in the world, and I thought I would have a better chance of making contact, or at least being found, in Mideel than a solitary hut amongst the trees.

"When I came here, the town was decimated, overtaken by the pool of Lifestream energy out there." He nodded to the glowing pool of Lifestream whose ghostly green light was overtaking the red glow of the evening sun. "No communication devices were operable, and all anyone could seem to speak of was the great red orb that had fallen from the sky, and the bright blue light that raced to meet it. Or perhaps of the whole pool there rising up in a pillar of swirling liquid and flowing north, like a river in the sky. I think this must have happened while I was still delirious, since I remember nothing like that.

"Anyway, the clinic was still functioning. They checked me over, healed what they could, all that time after the injury was inflicted. They say I'll walk again, in time. I'm just very weak, and the scarring is thick and extensive. Some internal organs were injured, too, which is slowing my recovery. Until I am stronger, I need the chair to get around—right now, I can stagger only a few steps."

Elena smiled bravely at him. "I'm glad you're alright then, sir. We've been doing alright without you, but it would be nice if you could come back soon." The others nodded in agreement.

Tseng smiled slightly at them, then frowned slightly. "What use would Reeve, of all people—probably the gentlest person to ever make it into the upper echelons of Shinra—have for TURKs?"

"It's not so much TURKs," Cloud commented. "More like every able-bodied person. Since you were the leader of the TURKs, and acknowledged by the company as one of the best, clearly you're an excellent fighter and quite an organizer, too. Organization is important, right now."

"Hmm." Tseng glanced thoughtfully over the faces of his TURKs. He held Reno's gaze the longest, and Cloud felt the tickle in the back of his mind that signified one of their conversations. He grimaced and tried to block out the feeling—it felt too much like Jenova's power for him to be comfortable with it. After a long—and for Cloud, uncomfortable—moment, Tseng looked up again, the voices fading away.

"We would not be required to fight?"

Cloud shrugged, mentally rejoicing that the TURK was considering it, because if he left, there was no doubt in Cloud's mind that Reno would follow. "Required? I don't think so. Reeve's of the opinion that if there's fighting to be done, people have to choose to do it. We've got no conscripted military, now, only what was around before and decided to stick it out. Most of the people of Midgar are willing to work in teams to restore the city, or at least make it livable, so the rebuilding effort doesn't need conscripts. There are some other places that are having less luck with their populations helping out, but they're also less severely damaged, so it's not really an issue, right now."

"So I could stop killing," Tseng murmured contemplatively. "I don't know what else I have in the way of job skills though. I can organize, but almost anyone can do that. I'll help as I can, of course, but confined to this chair, there's really not a whole lot I can do."

"Bullshit!" Cloud and Reno exclaimed together.

"Just because you're stuck in that chair," Reno continued. "Doesn't mean you're useless. Maybe almost anyone can organize, but you organize well, and you know how to lead people, and how to command their respect, even when they don't like you. Furthermore, you're our boss, and since we've made ourselves useful to the rebuilding effort, that makes you useful, too. And you know Shinra. You know where the bodies are buried—literally and figuratively. Who knows the kind of shit we'll run into in reconstruction? Having you around would be really beneficial to all the people in Midgar, even if you decide to never make your involvement public."

"Reno's right," Elena chimed. "Two weeks ago, one of the clean-up crews happened across a facility we didn't know about, and the automated defenses killed a third of them before they could even tell us what was happening. The total death toll was close to two thirds. I know you don't know everything there is to know about Shinra, and I doubt anybody knows where all of Hojo's facilities are, but you can help."

"Plus, you and Reno are Cetra," Cloud said, seeing that the TURK leader was almost convinced. "There is a desperate need for energy among the survivors. Some places had transitioned so completely to Mako that they can't function at all anymore without it. Reeve has ordered all Mako reactors onto their lowest possible settings, and is shutting down all those in Midgar as soon as it becomes safe to do so. So where are people going to get their energy? We've got people on it right now—my friend Barrett is using coal as a stopgap, but we all know that's a pollutant. Another friend, Red XIII, is looking into alternative energy sources, and he's one of the smartest people I know, with a background in Planet Science, too! But having Cetra around who can tell us 'don't do that, it will harm the Planet,' or better still, 'do this, it will help…'" Cloud shook his head. "Do you have any idea how valuable that is? The Planet already called the Weapons down on us once. Anything we can do to escape further self-defensive measures by the Planet is a good thing."

Tseng frowned. "Well, I'm not exactly the strongest of the People around," and his eyes drifted to Reno. "But I could probably help a little there. I don't want to see the Planet suffer any further."

Cloud smiled, happy the TURK had come down in favor of helping out, but Elena squeaked and actually threw her arms around him. The startled expression on the typically unflappable TURK's face was precious.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" the blonde chanted.

"Hey!" Reno said with mock indignation. "Hands off my man!"

Elena stuck out her tongue at him. "If all you hot men are gonna go around hogging each other, then you're just gonna have to get used to us poor women taking what we can get!" she said sassily.

Reno gave a sly smile. "Oh, yeah? Seems you girls might have to depend on each other, ne? And how's Yuffie these days, anyway? Since the two of you've been in each other's pockets the past few months, you should know. You still tie her up at night?"

Elena turned a very becoming pink, while Tseng turned his head to look at her with raised brows.

"There's nothing going on!"

"Suuuuure."

"Reeenoooo!"

The redhead dissolved into laughter, and even Rude cracked a smile. Once again feeling a little left out, Cloud nonetheless recognized that he'd done his job here. He helped Reno get Tseng back, and he'd netted the Wutaian Cetra for the rebuilding effort. Now, though, he really wanted to go home and see Sephiroth. Watching Reno and Tseng interact, even literally sharing thoughts, made him ache for the way things were Before Nibelheim. Even if things could never be that way again, it still felt good to be in the older man's company, despite the conflicting tangle his feelings always became when near him.

Before he'd left, things between them were settling down a little, finally. They each had their habits, and Sephiroth's especially hadn't changed much from Before. Cloud knew how to deal with Sephiroth in most of his moods—anger, frustration, amusement, weariness, chronic insomnia. Before, it had been more or less Cloud's business to determine Sephiroth's mood and help keep him on an even keel. Of course, he could no longer simply seduce the other man into a nicer temper, but Cloud knew numerous ways around that.

Though, he'd kind of like to just throw himself into Sephiroth's bed and deal with the relationship after. This tiptoeing around what had been was wearing.

Sephiroth was showing signs of interest, though, which was heartening. Though Cloud didn't know why that should surprise him—for Sephiroth, the gap between Before and Now was pretty short, and not nearly as traumatic as for Cloud. The poor man was probably confused by Cloud's on again-off again attitude. Hell, Cloud was confused. He wanted Sephiroth back—not to mention, just plain wanting him—but something in him was resisting. Partially, he knew he was afraid to commit himself again, in case Sephiroth flew off the deep end, again. He was also scared of what his friends would think—though knowing Vincent knew and more or less approved was comforting. Reno, too.

Unconsciously, Cloud began to twist the ring around his finger. His eyes caught again on Reno and Tseng. Tseng had a Mona Lisa smile flickering around his lips, and Reno was gazing up at him with open adoration. Once upon a time, he had been like that, had had that. Maybe they would have it again. Longing to be with Sephiroth welled up in him. He could practically feel his one-time lover's skin under his hands…

No, that was wrong. Cloud stared in horror down into Tseng's face, finding his hands wrapped around the Wutaian man's neck. He couldn't let go and promptly panicked. Sibilant laughter echoed in his ears as the other TURKs started shouting at him, blows beginning to fall.

"How quickly they turn on you," hissed Jenova's familiar voice, feeling like she was leaning right over his shoulder to pour her poisonous words directly into his ear. He shuddered, but his hands remained firm around Tseng's windpipe. He could feel the cold of tranquilizers being injected into him as the medical staff got involved, but they had no effect.

/What do you want from me/ Cloud demanded.

Again came that awful laughter. "Why, haven't you figured it out, yet? You are and always will be a puppet. When I say dance, you dance. I have long known there was a Cetra there—they are difficult to miss. They exert such a pull on the Lifestream, and with an open pool of it right there… However, I did not know who exactly it was. And I had no agent of sufficient strength to ensure the thing was killed. But then you came.

"You may be strong enough to hold me off much of the time, but near the Lifestream, where I can reach you more easily? No. Even your defenses must crumble before me. Reactors, Lifestream, Mako fountains…in these places and others, you are vulnerable. Even should you have a poor night's sleep…

"Poor child. Now you begin to understand what it is to be part of Me."

Revolted, Cloud gave an almighty jerk with his mind, breaking free of her control. He didn't even register throwing Tseng aside or crumpling into a corner, shaking like a leaf. The heavy doses of tranquilizers and the aftereffects of three very pissed off TURKs beating on him were probably the only things that kept him from bolting.

Had he been more aware of his surroundings, he would have been touched by the way the TURKs immediately closed ranks around him as the nurses advanced with more drugs. He might even have taken comfort in Reno crouching beside him and rubbing random patterns on his back, murmuring soothing words. As it was, he quickly descended into a grey unawareness—too terrified to relinquish control enough to sleep, but exhausted and unwilling to face the world, just now.

SECTION BREAK

Hi, again!

So, Cloud's finally fulfilled his promise to Reno to help him find Tseng. Yay! Too bad Jenova went and interfered in their happy ending, ne? Sucks to be Cloud right now! Things will be looking way up next part, then crash again, then pick back up, so don't worry that it's going to be only downers.

Well, I've graduated, moved, and begun a job search. Joy. So right now I'm at my parents' house, and my computer has no internet access. I have to jump on my mother's just to check my email. Sucks big time. So, between all that craziness, limited internet access, and a new game…yeah, I'm really slow about getting stuff done, right now. Still send me comments or questions, though! I will read them eventually, and address direct questions as necessary.

So, yes! Questions, comments, and chocolate accepted at my email addy or by clicking that cute little button below to submit a review. I'd love to hear from everyone! See you again soon!

--Akuma no Tsubasa