Sorry for the wait! But we have returned with another chapter! Woo! When we last left off Cloud had made it to 2nd class finally! Now let's see what happens next.


Ch.29

Clou's mouth dropped open after hearing the words from the Director. He though just making it to SOLDIER was a big enough shock, but now this was the next step. Even though he had heard it right there in front of him, it was still almost hard to believe. Just like when he had come to Midgar, and then also made it to SOLDIER, it all felt so surreal.

2nd class… he actually had made it to 2nd class. He was now a 2nd class SOLDIER, just like Zack was. Cloud felt a mix of emotions surging inside him, ranging of shock to wanting to feel overjoyed with happiness. But he was at least able to remember that he was still in the room with the Director. There was no way that he could verbally express his excitement right in front of him, unless he wanted to look childish. Cloud took in a slow deep breath though as he managed to keep his emotions in check as he finally thought to reply to him.

"Thank you sir. Thank you very much."

The Director looked pleased. "Good, it sounds like you're understanding."

Cloud looked on and then spoke without even thinking. "So what do I do now?"

"Well, since you are now 2nd class, are are more assignments that you can go on. And for today, there is one that I will be sending you on. It's similar to your other missions recently, so you should be familiar with the people you will be going with and the tasks expected of you," he spoke with authority.

Thoughts entered his mind of the Turks that he had gone with before, as those were most likely the ones that the Director was talking about. Before his mind could drift any further, he tried to refocus himself as he knew that he would have to try to prove himself. After all, this was the opportunity that he had been waiting for. He was nervous still, but slightly happy to soon commence his work as a 2nd class.

"So, uh, when do I have my first mission then?" he asked, wanting to be able to get a plan in his head.

"Right now."

Had he just heard the Director right? He was going to have to leave on a mission at that very moment. It was true he wanted to start his work to see what it was like, but he had hoped to have a breather before he started. Suddenly, his mind flooded with thoughts of Zack's birthday and their planned celebration later; though, now he was wondering if he would be able to make it at all.

He almost began to protest, but he figured the best thing was to keep those thoughts to himself. He didn't want to look lazy as well. Though, he probably could not defy those orders even if he wanted to. He thought back to the first day that Zack had become a 2nd class. Zack had not mentioned going on a mission on his first day, but he did mention there was a lot of stuff that he had to do. Though the more Cloud thought about it, he started to figure that it was maybe different for each person who reached 2nd class.

Sighing internally, Cloud breathed deeply and responded. "Okay, sir. I will get ready to leave then."

Lazard smiled. "Good. Then our business is concluded. I've had your new outfit made already as well as your new cell phone, so go collect it over there and then you'll be on your way," he concluded as he pointed towards the back wall of the room.

After going to collect his outfit as well as cell phone, he exited through the sliding door. Once Cloud was on the other side of it, he exhaled sharply as he was holding in much of his breath. He had been so nervous but since it was the Director, he did his best to be on good behavior. He still couldn't believe what had happened though. 2nd class… he finally had made it.

"So how did it go in there Cloud?"

"Ah! Uh, who, what… " he exclaimed with a startled expression as he fumbled his belongings in his hands. After finding the source of the voice, he saw that it was Kunsel, who apparently was still waiting outside of the door. "Oh, uh, sorry Kunsel. You kinda surprised me."

"Sorry about that. I was just curious to see what happened in there," he said as he caught a glance at what Cloud was picking up, and then it clicked. "Oh I see now! You finally made 2nd class. Congrats!"

"Yeah, I'm, uh, still kinda shocked I guess. But, I'm so glad too… it's the dream Zack and I have had since we were growing up. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Speaking of Zack, I bet he will be a bit jealous since you made it to 2nd class faster than he did," Kunsel teased as he gave Cloud a nude.

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Cloud explained. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about that. "I'm still only thirteen, and he made it when he was fifteen. Wow, I can't wait to see his expression when I tell him the news."

"You got that right," Kunsel replied with a small chuckle. "You know, I think you may be the youngest kid to ever get to 2nd class, not counting Sephiroth who… as they say, made it to 1st class at only twelve years old."

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah, I don't know if I fully believe the story, but seeing what Sephiroth can do, it sounds plausible."

"I still haven't even seen the guy before," Cloud said before the two of then started walking. Even though he had never seen the greatest of all SOLDIERS before… there was still something that sounded familiar about him… but those were thoughts for another time.

"Most 3rd class usually wouldn't. You may have a better chance of seeing now that you are a 2nd," Kunsel explained as they headed down the hallway.

"Have you seen him before?" Cloud asked, a slight bit curious now.

Kunsel shook his head. "Nope, haven't yet, but I have at least seen Genesis and ANgeal before. I guess Sephiroth is just harder to spot. Though he is rather cold and standoffish from what everyone says."

Cloud nodded as they headed into the elevator. He tried to think of more things he could say on the subject as they started down the elevator to the SOLDIER floor. But at the time being he was drawing a blank. As strange as it was that Sephiroth seemed to bring a faint sense… of something… he couldn't think how he would ever explain that to anyone. After a little bit of thought, he decided to change the subject to something else.

"So I guess this is all that I get then so far huh?"

Kunsel nodded. "Yup that's right! And then a special training mission for the day to get you a good start of what it's like to be a 2nd class. You've already probably heard from Zack though that it is rather tough at times."

"Yeah… he's told me before about it. I wasn't sure if it was really that hard, but I guess I'll find out," Cloud stated as the elevator then dinged for him.

"Well, best get going man," Kunsel suggested.

Cloud nodded and stepped from the elevator onto the SOLDIER floor and watched as the doors closed behind him, taking Kunsel with them. After stepping out, Cloud made his way through the SOLDIER floor and into a rest area so that he could change properly. It took him only a few minutes to switch into the new uniform, but then it was done. He walked over to the closet mirror and peered at himself.

As expected he looked the exact same all expect now the SOLDIER uniform he wore was a different color. It was now a red color compared to before. Cloud wasn't sure that the color was the most flattering, but it still meant a lot to him. It was a symbol that he had made it into 2nd class. A way of showing he had worked hard to climb the ladder to get to where he was now. It was still a bit of shocker to him, but he knew that it was real.

Now the other thing he started to think about was his new cell phone. He took it out of his pocket and looked at it carefully. It was a basic flip phone, but every 2nd class as well as 1st class had one. Even Zack had one, but Cloud had not thought much about that fact before. It never really mattered to him since he himself did not have his own cell phone, but now he finally had one.

"Hopefully I get to see Zack later today after all. He'd have a surprise for sure, and on his birthday no less. Though… " he paused and remembered. "I don't know how long this mission is going to take either though."

He knew that he should not be worrying like that. He clasped his hands together on each of his cheeks a few times, trying to adjust his mind to better focus. Once he was finally ready, he left the room. Though, he was unsure of where he actually needed to go, but he figured that he would be close the the same places where the missions were held before.

After stepping around the corner, he then found his way to the landing area that he had been to several times before. The Turks were there already, and it almost seemed as though they were waiting on him. Or rather, Rude was waiting.

"There you are, Mr. 2nd Class. Now come on and let's get going," he motioned for Cloud to advance.

"O-Oh yeah, of course. Any idea how long this will take?"

"Come on, you should know that answer by now. Just whenever we get done," he replied casually. "What, you got some place to be?"

Cloud wanted to say yes, but he knew he probably shouldn't. "Uh, no no. I just was wondering is all… "

"All right then. Load out then Cloud."

He made his way onto the helicopter, along with Rude following behind him. Once on board, he saw a few familiar faces, and one of them made him blush almost instantly. Despite the news of the promotion, seeing Cissnei still would make him flustered as he remembered the events that had transpired, though things were not as awkward as they were before. He did, however, notice that she was eyeing him heavily.

After looking him up and down, she finally spoke. "Now, let's focus on the work."

He was surprised at the response. Trying to not show that he was too flustered, he regained his composure slightly. "Yeah. I'm ready."


It was late into the evening when Cloud finally made it back to headquarters. It was far later than he had expected it to be, but thankfully it was still early evening time. The first thing he did though was head off to the showers to clean up and relax. While he wasn't completely exhausted from the mission, it did end up using a lot of his energy.

Cloud took out his new phone and checked the time. It was currently half past eight in the evening. He had hoped that Zack would still be waiting by the door, even though it was pretty late. He entered into the elevator and punched the button to the main floor. After a few seconds, he heard a ding and the door opened as he then ran out and looked around quickly.

The lobby seemed to be quite empty at the time, save for the person at the front desk. "I guess Zack probably already went home… I can't really blame him. I did the same thing," he spoke to himself as he took another look around in each direction. Upon his second glance to the left towards the entrance, he thought he saw something moving from somewhere from behind a wall. He walked a bit closer and was finally able to see who it was.

"Hey! Zack!"

The black, spiky-haired man turned around. "Oh, Cloud, you're still here. I was just about to come out here and wait," he said as he approached his brother. "I had waited for a little bit, and then decided to just go train since I figured you might have gotten caught up somewh-..."

His voice trailed off as he looked at Cloud more intently. He started moving his eyes up and down his brother's body, as it looked as though he was looking for something.

"So Zack... You notice anything then?" Cloud slyly smiled towards his brother. His nervousness that he did have seemed to disappear upon being with his brother.

Zack finally was able to look him in the face again, eyes widening at his sudden realization. "Cloud! You did it! You're a 2nd class now! I knew something was different but I was not sure what, but wow. So that's where you were."

"Yeah, sorry about being delayed so much. I know we had pl-..."

Zack cut him off. "No no, don't worry about it. This is a pleasant surprise. And on my birthday too. This is great! I'm proud of you Cloud," he exclaimed excitedly as he gripped his brother in a large bearhug, squeezing him tightly.

"Uh, t-that's good to... hear Zack. But... would you not squeeze... so tight."

"Oh, sorry sorry. I guess I got carried away there," Zack admitted as he relinquished his hold on Cloud, allowing him to be able to breath properly again.

After standing in place for a few seconds, Cloud decided to try to get something started. "So um, are you ready to go?"

Zack eyed him curiously. "Where are we gonna go?"

"Well, to celebrate of course! It's your birthday after all."

"Yeah, and let's not forget about your promotion too. We have two things to be thankful for," Zack smiled infectiously as Cloud was able to return it.

"Yeah, you're right I guess. I mean, I can't really think of too much right now. What about the usual?" he questioned.

After mulling it over for a few seconds based on the look across his face, Zack finally seemed to agree. "Yeah, that sounds good!" He then wrapped his arm around Cloud and strung his younger brother along. "Let's get going then."

At least there was not many people in the lobby at that point, but at that moment, Cloud found that he would not have cared anyways. Everything else had left his mind, with the promotion being fresh and taking over most of his thoughts, along with trying to do something for Zack. He was content with just spending the time they had right now. Everything else could wait.


It had been a week since Cloud was now 2nd class, and each day he had seen one mission after another as his workload continued to increase. He barely had any time to himself now, but he at least was able to stay busy and not thinking about certain things.

His mind would drift to thoughts of Cissnei every now and again. He had wandering thoughts now about her and what she would think now that he was 2nd class. She had briefly talk to him before before, but there wasn't anything else but that. She never actually gave him a proper congrats on the subject and he would wonder if she ever would. But in the ned he would end up too busy to dwell on them for long, which was all for the better in his opinion.

It was mid afternoon and he was on break when he was greeted by a familiar face again. "Oh, hey Kunsel. What's up?"

"Well, I actually came because the Director wanted to see you again. No idea for what, but it's true," he stated directly, taking his time with his words.

Cloud almost sighed. He didn't really want to see the Director at the moment as he was finally enjoying some down time from the workload he's been under. Though, after mulling it over for a second, he realized this was what he asked for anyways.

"Well, okay then. I guess since I know where it is I'll head up there. Thanks."

With that, Cloud walked off towards the elevator once again. Within a few minutes, he was at the Director's floor. He stepped out and entered into the office. "Uh, you wanted to see me, sir?"

"Ah Cloud. Yes yes, I have some news for you," Lazard started. "Just give me a moment."

The Director then picked up his phone and started a conversation that Cloud was not even paying attention to. After a minute or two, it finally ended. The man then strode around and sat down at his desk in front of where Cloud was standing.

"All right, I could dance around the topic but I'll get right to it. Your strength and determination you've shown since becoming SOLDIER is remarkable. There's been some bumps here and there but overall it's been good. So good, in fact, that it's caught the attention of one of our 1st class SOLDIERS." He paused for a moment to catch his breath.

Cloud stared wide-eyed. "R-Really? I mean…I appreciate the-"

"I'm not quite done yet," the Director stated sharply.

"R-Right, sorry."

"Anyways, because of this, he requested to have you. So as of now, just like your brother who also showed promise, you will be mentored personally by a 1st class SOLDIER."

Did Cloud just hear him correctly? He would be mentored by a 1st class? He almost couldn't believe what he had heard. His mind was a mix of surprise and excitement all at the same time, so much that he could not really figure out a proper response. But he did want to know something at least.

"W-Wow. For real?! Well, um, who is it then?"

Just then Cloud heard the door open behind him.

"Ah, right on time as always," Lazard spoke confidently with a grin.

Cloud slowly craned his head around to see who it was that had entered into their presence. Though upon looking, his whole body froze up as he stared at the tall, silver-haired man who now was staring him with cold, serious eyes.


The pace is picking up now and Cloud has gotten the attention of the certain silver-haired man. What could happen next!? Find out next time! Thank you all for reading!