Cloud shuddered feeling chilled although no drafts seemed present in the room. On instinct, the little blonde pulled his sheet up to cover his knees, chin settled on his shaking hands. Ocean irises glanced toward his roommate, fearful his restless sleep might have woken the other boy. But no, Jason snored dreamily in the bed opposite of the shivering cadet, his body resting peacefully in the mess of blankets.

Those dreams...they were so vivid, so daunting, so...painfully familiar they shook the blonde to his core. Commander Hewley had seemed so deathly ill, his handsome face drenched in perspiration and ghostly pale; his vibrantly colored mako blue irises, usually so alive with determination and strength, had been hollow and dull...the eyes of a man long dead. His hair had been lax gray, brittle and cracking. The man had a wing...

"I'm sorry Cloud, tell Zack I'm sorry as well..."

"Sorry about what...?" The words left the youth's parched lips in a choked whisper. Cloud understood apologizing to Lieutenant Fair, but he was nobody. Why would the Commander feel the need to apologize to him? Cautiously, as though he thought the whole of Shinra would be watching, Cloud allowed his gaze to travel from the lifeless wall before him to the nightstand beside him. His phone sat on the edge of the table, charger dangling from one end as though holding on for dear life.

Commander Hewley had said to call him...but Cloud knew it was late. He wasn't about to bother the man over something as trivial as a stupid dream. Determined to get the strange images from his mind, Cloud pushed himself out of bed and shuffled about until he found a relatively clean pair of pants. In a few short minutes the blonde was dressed and lacing up his boots.

'A good walk should help to clear my mind.' With that thought replaying like a rerun of a popular show, Cloud made his way out of his dorm and into the chilled halls of the Shinra Tower. The halls of the cadet floor were eerily desolate as the blonde walked through, clutching his jacket more tightly around his nimble frame. The air was bitterly frigid as drafts nipped at the milky skin of the youth's ears, turning it from pale cream to a burning pink.

Sephiroth never spoke of it and only a handful of people knew, but the General had horrible insomnia. He would go weeks without sleeping, so his pacing of the entire Shinra Tower was something most were used to by now. It was rare that anyone besides himself and the night guards were awake, so the foreign sound of boots clapping the floor had the SOLDIER's interests piqued. With carefully concealed footsteps, the man made his way toward the soft sounds.

'Whoever it is,' the man thought. 'It was most certainly not a SOLDIER. The footsteps are much too gentle.' The silver elite arched an eyebrow as pools of liquid jade came to rest on the youthful blonde cadet.

"What are you doing up at this hour cadet?" The words hit Cloud like rain hitting the pavement. Ocean colored irises widened as the youth jumped into a salute.

"Sir I couldn't sleep sir!" Cloud blinked as he watched the man in front of him. For a second it looked as though the man had almost smiled…

"So you chose to walk around the cadet dormitories instead?" Cloud blinked, shifting from side to side. His blue orbs glistened in the moon light that shone through the bay windows. Jade green bore curious holes into the cadet's head, watching as blonde bangs far spikier than humanly possible framed the boy's flushed cheeks.

Cloud chose his words carefully, nervous that he would say the wrong thing and upset the General. "Well…." The youth struggled to find the right words for what brought him into the halls that night. "I…my mind wouldn't shut down sir. So I just thought it would be better to take a walk than to sit and stare at the ceiling."

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow; it wasn't uncommon for cadets to lose sleep worrying over their training, however a seldom few were willing to risk taking a walk through deserted halls were one could easily be scooped up by one of Hojo's lackeys. It was even rarer for pretty ones like this little blonde to…

The General paused. Where had that thought come from? Jade oceans narrowed as he observed the blonde before him. Never had he thought any cadet was "pretty." That was Genesis's job. The mere fact that some part of him was attracted to the boy sent jolts of vibrant warnings throughout his entire being.

"Go back to your dorm Cadet Strife." The words burned like acid in Cloud's ears and the blonde nodded weakly. Black pupils narrowed until a miniscule slit was left in the sea of green. The words left the youth feeling….strangely hollow.

"Y-Yes sir…I apologize for any inconvenience I might have caused." Cloud supplied, forcing strength into his voice. The youth turned, marching back down the hall and leaving the General with his thoughts.

Sephiroth watched the blonde shuffle back down the hall, the blue wind breaker billowing in the breeze behind his limber form. Something had sparked inside the silver elite, something dangerous, something intoxicating….something lethally beautiful. As the air cleared of the blonde's rain-like scent the General turned to recede back to his own apartment; his insomnia cured for the night.

Zack lifted himself from the shattered concrete, groggily watching the somber swirling clouds above the metal skyline. Screams and thunderous explosions sounded from around the town he stood in. "Where…" His words sounded ghostly, drifting on the wind as he struggled to breathe in the pollution.

"Wait… kid, look over there." The vibrant SOLDIER whipped his head around, eyes landing on the muscular frame of…himself? The man in front of him looked different though, his hair longer and brushed away from his tanned skin; a scar adorned his jawline and he wore a First Class uniform. The most daunting thing to the young Second however, was the intense fire that burned behind the mako infused sapphires. It was brighter than any light the Zack had come across, showed such fierce determination the Second Class felt his breath catch in his throat, held such wisdom the Lieutenant felt unhinged sadness welling inside his soul.

"Hey," The younger Zack reached for his older self just as the sky morphed into blackness darker than oblivion. "What is this?"

The older hero smiled at the man, his innocence, and motioned to the scene playing out atop the world above Edge. "He's a hero ya know." The electric blue gleamed as the dead First Class watched the blonde male. "He's a real hero…My…living legacy." Crystal tears slipped down his cheeks as he turned to the confused eyes of the Second Class. "He's our legacy… our last chance." The tears fell freely now, though his voice never wavered and the smile never faltered.

"What…" Zack could never remember being like this before, so broken yet full of hope. His eyes strayed to the fight and a gasp forced its way past cracked lips. "S-Sephiroth?"

With tear streaked cheeks, the older Zack nodded, one hand going to rest on his old self's shoulder. "Our last chance kid. We can live, we can fix the future in the past."

The Lieutenant bolted up from his bed, sheets saturated in sweat and chest heaving erratically. A fleeting image of the blonde cadet from before passed through his mind and the man reached up, placing a hand over his wild heartbeat. "Our last chance…" The words drifted through the silence of the room.

Cloud let out a string of obscenities as he dashed through the halls, shoving past SOLDIER and secretary alike. How the hells did he oversleep!? Damn Jason for shutting off his phone! Damn the classes for being so far away! And damn all of these people for just standing around the halls!

As Cloud rounded a corner, eyes focusing on the notes clutched in his palm, he didn't recognize the figure rushing in his very direction.

"Hey slow down Spike!" Two muscled arms closed around the lithe body, pulling the blonde into his chest with one gloved hand intertwined in silken blonde locks.

"Oh…uh sorry Zack. I wasn't watching where I was going and I'm running late." Zack chuckled, ruffling the blonde's hair and pinching his cheeks.

The older teen threw the blonde over his shoulder, jogging off down the hall and barreling through the crowds. "I'll get you there Spiky!" Several minutes later Cloud was sitting in one of the first desks in his materia class, Zack laughing as he strutted out the door.

"See ya later Spike!"

It was several months ago that Zack had made his presence known to the blonde; and it all started with him talking about some dream he'd had; something about legacies and Sephiroth. Ever since, the Second Class had been making appearances in all of Cloud's classes, taking the blonde out for lunch, spending time with him, essentially being his sole source of comfort for anything at all. Even things as trivial as nightmares weren't criticized by Zack, instead the older teen would pull the Cadet from his bunker and drag him up to the apartment the energetic Second shared with his mentor for the night.

Imagine Angeal's surprise to find the very cadet he had offered assistance to forging such a strong bond with his own apprentice. Not that the man was complaining; it was adorable that the Second Class had taken such a liking to the little blonde in Angeal's eyes. Plus the youth showed promise in all of his classes. All it seemed to take was a little nudging from Zack and the cadet would take down a boy three times his size in a matter of minutes.

"Cadet Strife!" Cloud jolted, looking up at his instructor. "You have been requested for early dismissal. Go directly to the training room B4 after leaving here!"

Cloud yelped, the booming voice had the blonde hastily packing his equipment and charging out of the room. His thoughts trailed to who might want him in the training room right now…Zack? Most likely. With that comforting thought Cloud quickened his pace.

A lone figure stood on the blue matting in the training room, arms crossed over his chest and eyes locked on the door. One hand rose to absentmindedly brush at a few strands of…

Chapter 102: Silver silk

Chapter 103: Sable locks

Stats:

Materia: 15

Intelligence: 64

Compassion: 96

Trustworthy: 87

Strength: 50

Sword skill: 50

Innocence: 93

Honor: 67

Relationships:

Zack: 70

Angeal: 60

Genesis: 12

Sephiroth: 10

Reno: 9