Call me outdated, for using Internet Explorer, but it's getting difficult to actually go on this site now...

I don't own anything, anyone or anywhere you recognise. Sapphire, along with a few others who'll crop up every now and then, are mine.

Anyone else facing this problem? For months now I have only been able to view stories in mobile mode. It's a lot of extra hassle, but I like Internet Explorer for FanFiction as much as I like Chrome for, uh, everything else. So I'm going to stubbornly refuse to adapt to something else and stick to mobile mode on my laptop. Oh dear. This is my 2014, folks.

Hey, guess what? For the first time ever, I got 1,000+ views in a month! And we completely smashed my old record for views-of-update-on-the-day, with 245. How awesome is that? Also, uh, a quick math calculation (yay, practical use! not...) tells me that every 1 in 100 views will get me a review. 8,800 or more views and 88 reviews. Considering it's my first story and all, I'm thinking I've done pretty well, so yay! Keep it up, dudes, you're doing brilliantly.

I managed to see both the Hunger Games movies, and honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Sure they're not bad movies...
...Heh, alright. As much as I'd love to pretend to be the hipster, they're pretty fantastic. I liked the beardy man in the first one, naturally. And hey, guess what? It's Kim from Scrubs again! Sure, I know her name, but it's so much more fun just to call her that. Hey, and I saw the Croods as well - now that was a good movie! I wasn't expecting to like it that much, but from the moment I realised it was Nicholas Cage talking (with the first word that left his mouth) I had to watch. And I just loved it.

What else, what else...oh! Because of spring, lambs and daffodils are now my favourite things in the world, bar nothing. I happen to live in the countryside, with farms and all that stuff, so dogwalking lets you see some of the cutest sights ever. Plus Lambing Live was on TV, that certainly helped.

Now, it's time for me to point out the date. Yup, it's April. Meaning that next month is May, which is the dreaded month for any person receiving an education at present. Well, usually it's June, but I think most of my exams extend from 12th May to 13th June. Therefore, I'll try making chapter 26 a fun/interesting one, to tide you over while I have tons of fun. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to kill on writing when I fail all my exams! It's a pessimistic time of year, I'm afraid. Ugh, coursework. Ugh, school. Ugh, life. ;)

Enjoy chapter 25, all the same! I'd say it was a milestone, half-way to chapter 50, but...well, we'll see, but I very much doubt I can extend the story that far. Meh. No way of knowing at this point.

25 - Flash Fire

If I'd been asked, I'd have to say, I had no idea what the man was thinking.

After that fateful day, when Genesis had accidentally completely screwed my life over (hello? Remember the creepy scientist dude?) we had deliberately avoided all mentions of the evil crystal balls of mayhem and evilness and death. It just became one of those things; everyone who knows someone else knows that there's always one thing you never bring up.

For Ciara and me, it's my good friend Ash, because so far I have still neglected telling her who I am. For Nate and me, it's the extremely tense and uncomfortable and emotional subject of family, and what happened to us two years ago. For Tseng it's my background, which I think is less interesting than he's anticipating. I suspected today would become something I'd never mention to Michael, if I ever found myself in conversation with the twin. I believed Angeal had been deliberately evasive, managing to never mention the encounter he had with Sapphire before I arrived in Midgar. Zack, Kawi and I never mentioned the word 'chocolate' to each other in public, us wanting to keep our war games on the down low and continue the innocent messing about for fear of being told to stop by any important characters.

In the interest of full disclosure, I guess you could say that one of those was the massage I gave Sephiroth between him and myself, but I hadn't actually seen him since, so I guessed that didn't really count. And, unfortunately, Merowian thought the opposite about our night in the infirmary, and seemed to be encouraging the spreading rumours, even though they were far too ridiculous for people to believe anyway. He was insane, so it was a bit backwards, but the principle still stood for him.

But Genesis was neither of these mad people - and though he is insane in his own regard, our thing is that we never ever ever mention the word 'Materia'. Even if either of us were faced with death, we wouldn't consider going near the stuff, because of that day.

And yet, here was Genesis; breaking the unspoken rule, and it filled me with the same fear I'd felt when the Professor had made it clear I would be very welcome in his lab. Looking back on that day, I was amazed at how tough I had acted, because that meeting had to rank high in my rapidly growing list of most terrifying moments. I was shaken down to my core, goosebumps erupting on my arms like a rash, breaking out in a cold sweat and feeling my breathing speed up.

It took a lot of nerve for me to fight the urge to run away from my teacher, and away from the Materia he would inevitably be using. Nerve, and the persistent flashes of pain between numbness along my arms.

No consistent pain had settled in yet; just moments of teeth-gritting agony between nothing. I could still feel them shaking, though.

Slogging through my own muggy swamp of a thought pattern, I wasn't able to know for certain if Genesis had responded to my shaken question, "We're going to the Materia room?" It wasn't like I needed any confirmation anyway. In these situations, my body seemed to be an awful lot smarter than my head, and my own reaction told me plenty more than the Commander would need to.

Don't get me wrong. I knew the usefulness of Materia, because I was very active as a child. Every time I suffered a cut or a bruise - or a broken bone - Mum would rifle through her little box and pull out that Materia that got so much use in those days. And it wasn't just us, because once or twice I had been healed by other people who lived nearby; bandages and medication were somewhat falling out of use, or certainly weren't used nearly as much in recent times, because using Materia was so much more efficient.

But when I was a kid, I never once thought that the first time I would touch a Materia, it would send me to a laboratory with an insane professor inside. I suppose I thought it would probably do something bad - with my natural curiosity, my parents had to be very stern with the limits they set on me, and I followed them to a T, so my grubby accident-prone hands didn't get within miles of any Materia I could use.

And now...well, I could fight and defend myself without using the stuff. Yeah, let's say that's the reason for my lack of progress in 'Materia Training'. Merowian has not been pleased with 'Chocobo' in the last few weeks, that's all I'll say.

I felt like such a child when my stomach felt like it fell a few floors down, as we approached the door. My steps got even slower, and while I really didn't want them to, they rooted themselves to the ground, unmoving.

I rallied myself in my head, encouraging myself forwards (because looking down at my feet meant I couldn't see the door) but no matter what I did, my feet wouldn't budge; my knees were nearly knocking, they were shaking so bad.

...Wow. I didn't realise how much of a wimp I could be! Seriously!

I looked up, and Genesis was standing over me, looking a little bit amused but mostly annoyed. Another throb raced up my arms and down my spine, and when I reopened my eyes, I was on my knees.

"Cobalt," he uttered, tossing his head to get the hair out of his eyes. "You're not doing yourself any favours with your theatrics. I can see those burns are causing you pain. I won't let you use the Materia, and I won't...open fire on you again." From the way he cringed in that little pause, it seemed like he realised that his burning me probably wouldn't help with my fear of Materia; oddly, though, that didn't really bother me at all.

"I know," I replied quickly, completely serious. One cynical auburn eyebrow leapt up.

"What's keeping you, then?" the SOLDIER wanted to know. I pouted, meeting his gaze.

"My body doesn't," I answered honestly. Without moving my arms, I tried to lift myself up with my legs; it didn't matter anyway, the same white flash of intense pain interrupted any action I tried to carry out. I tried my best to carry on and get up, gritting my teeth to keep in any unwarranted yelps or grunts that might've escaped, but it felt like the pain was acting like an irritated child. The more I tried to move, against the will of the pain coursing through me, the flashes of excruciating agony would come more powerfully and more frequently, bugging me more and more.

I stopped moving altogether then, not wanting to collapse again and make sure that I'd never hear the word Materia without fainting in future. Genesis seemed displeased with my - heh - lack of effort, and I felt a heavy hand fall onto my helmet.

Nostalgia blew me away as I remembered the first, and last, time my teacher had grabbed and manoeuvred me by my helmet. Wow, but that was a long time ago. He was guiding me down to that virtual mission, that time!

But don't get me wrong, I don't like anyone near my helmet. Every time someone mentions the word or has any part of their body even remotely close to it, I have a heart attack. But it had proved to me time and time again that it was secure and to be trusted. You know...for a helmet.

He adjusted his grip slightly, and once he seemed to feel that he was secured to my head, he pulled. It was a little bit more sudden than I was expecting, and even if I had done it myself, I assured myself that my reaction would probably have remained the same.

Genesis' gloved hand flew from my helmet and he practically jumped away from me, backwards into the door of the room, as I let out a howl. The lovely, dark, metallic hallways of the Shinra building welcomed my sight, noticeably darker than the flashes of light, with pure black creeping in at the very edges of my vision. My teacher let out a hiss of a word that I couldn't make out. I presumed he had said something that would've had Ciara sternly correcting him with another, meaningless word.

I allowed myself to phase out of awareness for a second, and perked up when the red-coated SOLDIER Commander returned, his right hand balled into a fist. I stared at that one hand. If he had been carrying a stick of dynamite I don't think I could've been more frightened.

Genesis, as though I were a wild-eyed Chocobo, approached me carefully and cautiously. When he was stood a few feet from me, his knees faltered, before he bent over me slightly at the waist, his stance secure. Even in my dazed state, I could tell what that meant; he had instinctively made to crouch, making us at a friendly eye level, but stayed stern and cold and upright.

He had been demonstrating that hesitation since he first took me on, and the intelligent, analytical part of me that my mother had whipped into shape, helped me realise - that same tension was likely the route of the arguments, the anxiety, my need to constantly scamper around him on tenterhooks. And he expected me to call him by his first name...Funny.

I looked down and closed my eyes at the unpleasantly familiar feeling, being able to think of nothing but the queasy, dizzy feeling before when the very same type of crystal had nudged me into unconsciousness. "Better now?" the SOLDIER asked me gruffly, and when I failed to reply, he let out a breath. "Look."

With opening my eyes came a sense of relief, as I was feeling less woozy and had lost the dark spots. Holding my arms away from me, I examined where the burns had been. The fine hairs were obviously completely gone, and other than the worst patches remaining slightly red, my arms were just as they had been before the session.

It was very surreal; I felt the tiniest ache, or maybe it was my brain saying I should feel it, but it was nothing to what I had been feeling. The whole area felt very sensitive, and with my mind being unable to make sense of it all (I had been little, or knocked out, when I'd been cured with Materia before) I felt like I shouldn't come close to touching it, despite my desperate desire to.

Genesis let out a small, strained chuckle as one of my gloved fingers poked at the healed, red-tinged skin. Other than that, he stayed silent, spinning in place with his tail coats flapping behind him, and moved away from me back into the Materia room. I said nothing, didn't even react, mesmerised by the healed skin.

"You should probably consider wrapping up your arms, and putting on ointment," the Commander suggested, and I slowly rose to my feet as he spoke. "Materia does most of the work, but with injuries that can have long term effects or relapses, it's best to keep on the safe side."

I nodded, feeling a little more confident as I was now at full height. I was still an infant compared to Genesis, but that was normal. "You speak like you've had experience?" I observed, my curiosity pushing me forward yet again. And pushing my foot into my mouth.

My teacher stared at me carefully for a second, his mouth a fine line, and before I knew it, the man was halfway down the corridor. "You have a class," he tossed over his shoulder with a sharp look, and I felt my face fall as he turned to disappear to the left.

And just like that, we were at odds and ends again. Why couldn't I just have been content in Mideel? Why do I have to go searching for trouble, all the time?

I buried my head in my hands, frustration gripping me. What CLASS do I have?

I perked up at that, and my head jolted upwards; from the right, at the crossroads where Genesis disappeared in the opposite direction, stood the dark-red haired Second Class I had come to resent.

The teacher, slash SOLDIER, slash weirdo, propped a hand on his hip and grinned at me with narrowed, Mako-blue eyes. "Trouble in paradise, Chocobo-fast Cobalt?" he teased loudly, his boots 'clomping' as he approached; and I was struck with a sudden, interesting thought.

I wonder; is it because he's First Class, or just Genesis, that his voice carries so much better than anyone elses'? I could hear his murmur clearer than Merowian's announcement.

Before I knew it, Merowian was stood in front of me after jogging up the corridor; he was uncomfortably close, and his eyes were narrow, staring down at something beneath my head. The eccentric Materia user's tanned hand grabbed my arm and pulled, to get a better view. I could see that same smirk cover his face. "Ooh, well, this is interesting," he enthused, nearly bouncing at his discovery.

"I don't know why you had to spend all that time in the infirmary," I snapped, somewhat annoyed, pulling my arm back from him with the lame attempt of distracting him. I wasn't sure if my insinuation that he was insane was clear, but I was still too shaken to really care. He gave a wide smirk, and pranced into the room Genesis had just left. Awkwardly, and only partially recovered from my cowardly little panic-attack, I shakily followed him in.

The room was fairly big, and consisted mainly of cabinets, boxes, and tables. Some of the former had glass doors, so the strange glow from the crystals of Materia lit up the room in an ethereal, creepy way; every so often, I would be blinded by a beam of blue, green or red shining directly into my eyes from the reflective crystals. I remained by the door, quite uncomfortable, without any idea of what Merowian was looking for, rifling through some wooden cabinets. There was no clinking or clicking of two balls of Materia colliding or rubbing together, so I found some relief in that. After a very short time, he replied to my question with a loud, boisterous laugh, "The nurses, of course!"

I cringed, shifting from one foot to the other. The desire to leave had me taking small steps backward, every centimetre getting me closer to the exit.

"They're so bored all the time, bless them," he lamented tragically. "Most of them are out in Wutai, looking after our precious comrades, so those left behind have nothing to do. They'll do anything to have someone like me and keep me there as long as possible, for..." Looking over his shoulder, he grinned at me cheekily. "...company."

I exerted a large amount of effort, keeping my face carefully blank at this unwelcome information. "I'm not particularly interested in what you consider nurses to be," I coolly responded, turning to leave; he shouted for me to stay, and I turned again to see him continue to root, practically falling into the cabinet as he rifled through whatever was in there.

"Hold on, Chocobo...here we go!" he finally declared, standing upright and showing what he held in his hand. Something extremely familiar to me; a roll of bandages.

I didn't try very hard to keep in my grimace as the Second Class approached, and removed my gloves wordlessly as he stood slightly too close, wrapping the strip around my left arm. I was reluctant to observe that he wrapped them skilfully, he worked fast, and the pressure was strong, but bearable.

"I don't want you hurting yourself, Cadet. That's my job," he teased, his voice lower as he worked, barely letting the amusement show through. I found myself examining his eyes, sharp and focused on the job he was doing.

The extremely bright blue hue was so common that it was hard to find anything but, and yet it was still somewhat off-putting. The mysterious glow certainly wasn't helped by the Materia, giving way to many beautiful, but still creepy flashes of light, all the different colours of rainbows.

And that was going to happen to me. My eyes were already blue, but... not that blue. Oddly, it found me wanting the company of Tseng, even though I couldn't look at his dark-coloured eyes without the constant fear of death.

Merowian pulled back from me, a smile lighting his face, and I pulled on my gloves again; feeling ridiculously comfortable in the familiar material, despite the person who had given me the present. The door opened as I walked towards it, and a group of faces I recognised from my 'Materia Training' class stared back at me. Not the complete group, but I could see Zack's familiar porcupine-head of hair, and the three I had paired with in the first class. I could see that not everyone was actually present yet, though.

Maybe it was their frightened expressions, or the fact that they made a leap for either side of the door, but I got enough warning to jump out of the way and cover my head as a blast of artificial fire came from the doorway I had just been occupying, feeling another layer of sweat break out as the flame flew past, touched nothing but air - thankfully - and fizzed out as it hit the metallic wall. "I said hurting you was my job!" the frightening, demented, excitable voice hollered from inside the room, along with the tapping of approaching footsteps; and those were all I needed to launch myself upright and run in the opposite direction, a handful of my comrades doing the same.

...

Well...it had taken some time. Weeks of travelling, my teacher at my side, and I had finally found where months of meticulous planning on his part had led me. Or so I presumed. He had probably spent so long planning this entire, huge escapade to send me on, and had probably wondered if I would ever begin in the first place, with his dying thoughts. How morbid.

This whole, huge goose-chase had been sick. The idea that I would waste so much of Genesis' and my own time was bizarre, all to find out what the man had been hiding. If anything; I mean, I could pass the final obstacle and reach the end, and there could be nothing waiting for me there but a booby-trap and a note on the wall with 'Fooled ya!' written on it.

I could've died, chasing this man's last treasure. There were so many occasions where I put both myself and Genesis in actual mortal danger, and many of those it was Genesis who actually rescued me. We had come so far, so it was very strange to me, that I would happily turn around now and leave this secret treasure to remain in obscurity to never be found.

Of course, the horde of reasons why not to just leave were driving me on pretty effectively, and had been since we first set out. If I returned back to Shinra now, after weeks of chasing a legend and having nothing to show for wasting everyone's time, then I'd probably be killed; if Shinra didn't do it themselves, then Genesis would for me giving up at the last hurdle, and if not Genesis then I'd be killed by my own regret.

Plus, Genesis had been so fantastic on this trek, looking out for me and keeping me sane, so I couldn't let him down like that. And I knew how badly he wanted to find out what was at the end of this game of hide and seek. With what happened to the sword my father had made for me, I knew how guilty he'd feel if this quest failed.

And, well, I could not deny my own curiosity. I had put too much of myself into this journey; with everything I'd learned and experienced, I couldn't just let it remain unfinished, always on my mind. My first proper adventure, slaying monsters and living off the land, making friends out of strangers and exploring unknown lands...it was something out of a story, and even if it killed me, I knew I had to complete it.

But that feeling of reluctance washed over me every time I looked at Genesis, who looked very uncomfortable in his light sleep. Every so often, a leg would jerk or a hand would clench, and I knew he was restless, just as I knew he had been since the start of this adventure. He had never told me, but I was fully aware of the worry he felt after about a week.

I came to a decision, frowning as I examined the First Class SOLDIER. He would be far from happy, and likely my plan would not work, but I could probably kid myself into a few hours of relief, if I let him sleep and left him with a note advising him to return to Shinra, telling him that I'd see him there once my mission was complete.

I was wrong about that, as I often was when it came to the poetry-loving SOLDIER. I had settled back down on the log after retrieving a sheet of paper and a pen, and had been about to start scribbling a message when I saw the bright blue eyes gazing at me through the darkness of the night.

I didn't know how, but without fail Genesis would always be completely awake whenever he woke up. And I felt terrible, because he immediately knew what I was doing the second I had made a move to do it. How could he not? The First Class SOLDIER was more perceptive and more experienced than I could ever hope to be.

I hated myself at that moment, as I let the embarrassment and the shame show clearly, and those eyes narrowed, the blatant anger Genesis showed often clearly being in command of his actions.

The once peacefully-sleeping SOLDIER rose to his feet with no evidence of hesitation, and strode towards me. I could feel myself sinking into the log I was sitting on, hoping to be absorbed by it, or something - anything to avoid Genesis' wrath.

It didn't happen. His eyes, blazing with that familiar fury, sunk down over me, until I could see nothing but the rage contorting his face. He grabbed the notepad and tossed it forcefully into the undergrowth around us.

The SOLDIER in front of me began to reprimand me, his unbridled anger gushing out of him with each word, but for the life of me I could not focus enough to pay attention to what Genesis was saying. I stared into the bushes and the plants, where he had thrown the notepad, without a second thought in an effort to get his point across.

This terrible feeling of anticipation and caution suddenly made me sit upright on the log, putting me centimetres away from Genesis. He seemed to finally notice that I wasn't paying him any of my miniscule attention, my eyes rooted elsewhere, so with a frustrated huff he turned to look in the same direction.

My dread peaked in that moment, and my unawareness of everything that happened struck me as my vision turned to black. An echoed rendition of Genesis' voice spoke to me then from somewhere in front of me, "I'm still here because you need me here. If you had left half an hour ago, Sapphire, the guilt would not be on me."

I lay on the sofa in the living area of the apartment I shared with my three friends, likely all fast asleep in their 'comfortable' beds. I rubbed at my eyes, and all over my face. I stared at the ceiling, my hands folded beneath my head. I expelled a heavy sigh. I sat up, tapping out a fast beat with my sock-covered right foot. I rose to my feet and paced for a while. I did a shoulder stand in the middle of the floor. Eventually, I sat back down on the sofa, bent low with my elbows resting on my knees, my hands stuck in my scalp and beneath my helmet, my right index finger rubbing at Nate's bead.

That dream had me worried. Really, really worried. I would not be getting to sleep tonight.

Little did I know, I wasn't the only one beneath the Shinra roof that was having trouble getting their rest.

In spite of the late hour, he lay awake with thoughts and worries shooting through his head as he thought about the massive and growing list of things he made sure to concern himself with.

Yes, no one deserved a holiday more than Angeal Hewley. The poor man spent every waking hour working towards thousands of goals, some of which he knew could never be reached, and spent the nights concerning himself with the work that he hadn't got done during the day.

A good example of this was his Puppy, Zack; despite all the time he had put into training the excitable young Cadet, as was his duty when he thought up the idea, he didn't seem to be improving...at all. Angeal had been putting in so much effort in trying to think up a means of helping him along, but truthfully, he was getting nowhere. It was disheartening, but Angeal knew he'd never let the boy down; his enthusiasm alone showed how desperately he wanted to achieve his goal.

What that goal was? Angeal decided the boy, only sixteen, could do without such an intense thing to think about for a while. The SOLDIER knew he'd just say something similar to what he heard from everyone who joined ("I want to be like Sephiroth!" "I want to be a First Class SOLDIER!" "I want to show everyone how brave I can be!") but Zack didn't need that kind of responsibility just yet, let him focus on the now.

After all, with the struggles the Cadet was going through with little evidence of having improved over the past weeks, Angeal wanted to keep his thoughts away from his future; if he thought that he wasn't advancing, then he could lose all his hope for his goals, and Angeal would feel terrible if the Puppy's spirit was crushed.

Angeal could do nothing but hope that Zack would soon begin to improve under his patient tutelage. Perhaps he just needed the SOLDIER treatment first, before the training began to show and he began to improve.

Despite his outwardly patient demeanour, he was getting just slightly frustrated. From how Genesis spoke of Blue, their training seemed to be coming on in leaps and bounds. Of course, the Commander knew not to take his friend's words at face value - he had known him far too long to believe everything he said. If that sparring session among the Cadets proved anything, it would be that Cobalt had a history of training for fighting, and was adaptable and observant. He still found himself wondering if the young Cadet had garnered more interest than he let on, but he supposed that something was looking down on him with favour; after all, he was still around, wasn't he?

It was really quite strange, how the Cadet seemed to be attracting so much attention - and his sister, or so he heard! As soon as Angeal returned from his little holiday, Genesis had been more than boastful, retelling his adventures with Blue's curly-headed sister. Though he likely barely realised the fact himself, Genesis was in very deep with the Amell twins; Angeal knew he was likely the same, though perhaps not as much. Blue had made a fairly strong impression, so he garnered quite a number of interesting relationships with his colleague Cadets.

And as well as all these, there were plenty others; Ciara, the only woman in SOLDIER at present had befriended the boy easily, despite the apparent weirdness of that companionship. Merowian had dubbed the boy 'Chocobo-fast Cobalt' for something that happened in their first class, supposedly, and had been delightedly encouraging the blatantly untrue rumours that had been spreading like a virus through the whole building, regarding a night they had supposedly shared in each others' company. Cliff, despite that he had spent quite a long time away from Midgar recently, was very fond of the group Blue had ingrained himself at the heart of. There was also that very interesting encounter with Nate, who had called the boy 'Lola', so Angeal could tell that there was plenty of playful history behind the pair.

Tseng had once made it very clear that he was suspicious of the lad, particularly after his spar with Michael, believing that no ordinary candidate could have performed such a feat in the middle of the fight without a semblance of fairly intense training or experience. Oddly, though, Tseng had said very little about the Cadet since then. Sephiroth himself made it clear that he was less than interested in any of the Cadets, but Angeal had obtained a growing suspicion since the General had admitted, with some discomfort, that he had been too rough with Blue in that first 'Survival Training' class.

That was all that Angeal was aware of, and that was too large a number already. Angeal found himself shaking his head. The boy was a living anomaly. What other Cadet did he know had managed to have such an impact? Of course, he supposed that most of those were due to his and Genesis' input in their training.

Angeal stretched and yawned loudly, his bones cracking in several places. He decided to leave the topic of the Cadet who was far too popular, and moved backwards, to Zack. The SOLDIER heaved a sigh.

He had tried plenty. Granted, he was less concerned with his student learning absolutely everything in the quickest possible time than Genesis was, and while Zack was able to convey to him exactly how and when to do certain manoeuvres and attacks in battle, and where to fire them, it wasn't getting through to him properly.

How did he know this? Well, just recently, he had set up a virtual training session for the Cadet; nothing too drastic or elaborate, just a little practice to ease him into the idea of battling the types of enemies he would be battling for real when he entered SOLDIER.

Naturally, he tried to keep the sixteen-year-old as innocent as possible, and set him up against a few monsters, low in strength and in tactical ability. Angeal's bright, Mako-infused eyes had remained on Zack, examining how he handled himself in the situation.

And...well, he didn't. The silly, childish Cadet - at the sight of the monsters - immediately got excitable and couldn't stay in place. He enthusiastically launched himself at them, and started wildly hacking away at them with the SOLDIER issue sword (with a lack of anything better to give to him) taking a fairly long time and quite a few narrow misses to take down even one.

Angeal remembered heaving a sigh, shaking his head as the boy continued. At the mere sight of his opponents, all he wanted to do was fight them and demonstrate to his teacher how capable he was. Angeal could see what he needed to do, and it would be a fairly monumental task; getting all that he taught Zack so far to be instinctive when faced with opponents.

It would take some time, but hopefully, it would improve his fighting skills by quite a large way.

"Hmph, lucky Genesis," Angeal grumbled, turning over in his bed. "He got the one he doesn't even have to train."

It's really been too long since Saphie had a dream. And that one's much more interesting than her last one. Ooh, plot, plot, plot! Do you think it's one of her foretelling dreams, or just another one we forget the most of? After all, I never specified. ;)

And finally, we reintroduce Merowian! I have missed him, and I know he's a favourite for at least one of my reviewers, so why not?

Massive thanks to destinykeyblade, who I am slowly converting from Obsessive Sephiroth Addiction (yay Genesis!), grandshadowseal (thankfully, no Hojo this time!) and Black Dragon Mistress, who was completely justified in having to re-read Saphie's rant to get some vague sense of understanding.

Also, my thanks to the guest who reviewed chapter 14, and I agree: Sapphire was indeed a boss. In that chapter anyway - I think she reached her peak way back then. ;)

Plus, uh, I'd like to make an announcement. I am hugely lazy. I am also, at the moment, busy with school and stuff relating to my future, you know, just the next fifty years of life or so. Busyness and laziness don't go together, and that means that the other stuff I do has to suffer. The writing doesn't seem too badly affected, but I would like to make a huge apology to destinykeyblade. We have these huge long conversations going on right now and I cannot find the time to get around to replying within a week, and recently the gap has grown. Just want to say that I'm massively sorry, and hopefully you'll get a reply soon, since I'll be off for Easter holidays in a few days.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next update!