Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros or any of the characters involved in it. I am earning no profit from this story, other than the enjoyment of writing it and sharing it with others! I hope you all enjoy reading it!

Sure enough, the next morning, Cloud felt a lot better. He sat up without too much difficulty, dizziness assaulting him almost immediately. He still needed water. He was dehydrated. But nobody was here, and he didn't trust himself enough to walk on his own yet.

Shall I bring you some water? Mewtwo's voice asked him.

"Mewtwo," Cloud breathed. In all the chaos yesterday, he'd forgotten the psychic Pokemon. "You're alright."

I am fine. Now. Yesterday, I was in pain.

"Sephiroth pushed you out of my head really hard."

He did. I apologize for not being more useful.

Cloud shrugged. "We all did what we could."

So, would you like a glass of water?

Cloud nodded.

Mewtwo terminated the connection, and Cloud trusted that he would be upstairs as soon as he obtained some water. Cloud was content to wait patiently until then. He examined the wound on his chest carefully. The arrow had torn a hole in his usual outfit, exposing his newest scar to the outside world. Jenova might be a good healer, but she certainly did a messy job of it. Just like his four scars from his stab wounds, this thing was raised, bumpy, and ugly. The skin had sewn itself together haphazardly, and a mangled mass of soft, baby skin and scar tissue now covered the injury. It was sore, and as Cloud arched his back to test its mobility, he grunted in pain.

A knock on his door shook him out of his experimentation. "Come in!"

Mewtwo pushed the door open, a floating glass of water surrounded by violet magic following after him. Mewtwo gestured toward Cloud, and the glass floated over to him. Cloud picked the cup out of the air and pressed it to his lips, drinking it slowly. "Thanks," he said between sips.

Mewtwo just nodded.

Cloud finished his water, and his dizziness subsided. He'd need to drink a lot of water today.

You should eat too.

"I'm not hungry."

You have not eaten in almost twelve hours.

Cloud glanced at his clock. It was almost noon. He truly had been exhausted. He moved to stand up, and though it was difficult, he could now support his own weight.

Would you like help down the stairs?

"Let me try by myself."

Mewtwo stepped aside and let Cloud shakily make his way to the hallway. He leaned against the wall the entire way down it. He reached the staircase and heard somebody else's footsteps approaching, so he paused to let them pass, knowing that this trip was going to take a while.

Sephiroth was walking up the stairs. He held a book in his hand and his wing was not there for now, which meant nobody had been aggravating him. He paused, noticing Cloud leaning pathetically against the stairwell's door frame. "Well, well. You look much better than you did yesterday."

"No thanks to you," Cloud spit. Mewtwo cowered behind him. The Pokemon was powerful, but Sephiroth was more so, and that frightened Mewtwo greatly.

Sephiroth shrugged. "If you hadn't resisted, things might have happened differently."

"You would've killed Toon Link!"

"The child was not my main target. Try using your head a little, Cloud. The boy's suffering brought you pain. Which is much more important. I could have easily killed him. Don't pretend you haven't got the strength to crush his windpipe."

"Whatever," Cloud muttered. "You going to keep walking or not?"

"I'm simply trying to have a conversation. From what I understand, we're stuck here with each other for all eternity. Might as well get used to it."

Cloud clenched his jaw.

Sephiroth held up the book he had in his left hand. Loveless, it was called. "Perhaps you should try reading sometime. I assume you'll be on bed rest for a few days. Loveless is one of my favorites. I recommend it."

"Get out," Cloud muttered. "Just get out."

Sephiroth continued on his way, and Cloud pathetically dragged himself down the stairs. He needed the wall badly, and Mewtwo caught him with magic when he stumbled more than once.

But the two of them managed to get downstairs without Cloud killing himself. He reached the doorway to the main room and Pit spotted him almost immediately. Mewtwo let Cloud lean on him as the ex-mercenary made his way towards the angel. This room was too big for him to be hugging the wall all day, so Cloud would probably have to make due with needing a human crutch constantly.

"What're you doing up?" Pit demanded, nodding to Mewtwo.

"...I'm hungry?"

Oh, so now you want to eat?

Cloud didn't reply. That trip down the stairs had taken a lot out of him. He felt tired again, and also hungry.

"You should be upstairs! In bed!" Pit said with exasperation, his wings flaring out to emphasize his point.

"I'm fine," Cloud insisted.

Mewtwo let him go, and he stumbled, failing to regain his balance until the psychic Pokemon caught him. You are not fine.

"Then why did you let me down the stairs?"

You must eat. And then back to bed.

"Come on, not you too."

"Cloud, you shouldn't be downstairs," Shulk said, also joining them. Within a few moments, Cloud's entire friend group surrounded him. Samus and Sheik both locked eyes with him and gestured for him to get back upstairs. He was in no condition to be out and about like this.

Cloud sighed heavily. "Mewtwo decided I need breakfast. Then I'll go back to bed, I guess."

"He really should eat something," Robin agreed. "Excellent judgement, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo nodded in response.

"He also needs water," Palutena added. "All that blood needs to be replaced."

"Yeah, we'll take good care of you today," Young Link promised. "Just be good and stay put, alright?"

Cloud crossed his arms over his chest, then immediately dropped them back to his side as the pressure against his wound caused it to protest.

"Here. Come sit down," Shulk said, leading Cloud to the table. "Pit, go get him something to eat."

"Something decently healthy!" Palutena added hurriedly as Pit almost ran to the refrigerator.

"Do we know how Link and Zelda are doing?" Cloud asked, resisting the urge to rest his head on the table.

Shulk shook his head. "I haven't had any visions."

"Anything else about Sephiroth?" Toon Link asked quietly.

"We saw him on our way downstairs," Cloud said.

"You did?" Young Link demanded. "Are you alright?"

"Just fine."

Will you be taking him up on his book recommendation?

Cloud just glared at Mewtwo. "No."

He is not wrong. You two must coexist for now.

"Which I'm willing to do. He isn't."

His desire for revenge has been satiated. I cannot read his mind entirely, but his general intentions do not involve anything sinister for now. Mostly he feels content and patient.

Cloud nodded slowly. That was...almost unsurprising. Yesterday, Sephiroth had probably gotten everything he wanted out of his confrontation. First and foremost, he got to watch Cloud suffer both physically and emotionally. He'd nearly succeeded in taking away the one thing that Cloud cherished most here; his friends. And second, he'd proved to Master Hand that he was no ordinary prisoner, and no pushover. And, Cloud supposed, it was probably nice being alive again.

Now, Sephiroth was happy to wait. For what, Cloud wasn't sure. An eventual return to Edge? A chance to properly murder Cloud? An escape to one of the other fighter's worlds? Whatever it was he wanted, Cloud knew it wasn't good. But for now, it didn't really involve him-it couldn't, not with Master Hand's new rule-so he didn't exactly care at the moment.

In the meantime, Cloud could ensure that he made a full recovery. Link and Zelda would be out of the toture room by the end of the week. And then, their plan to get out of this place would go on. The only thing really missing from that plan was Sephiroth's assured cooperation.

"I'm sure he made his point yesterday," Shulk was saying. "He's probably just waiting around now."

"We need to get him on our side for certain," Robin replied. "Cloud, know any way we could perhaps bribe him?"

"He isn't one for money."

"What else could we give him?" Palutena asked.

"Trust me, what he wants, we can't promise him."

"And what is it he wants?" Young Link asked.

"Let Cloud rest, guys," Toon Link interrupted. "He's tired."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are! I can see it in your eyes. So take it easy, okay?"

Cloud couldn't help but smile softly. "Alright, alright."

"Speaking of, I'm glad those are back to normal," Young Link jumped in. "I've seen a lot of disturbing things in my life, but your weird eyes yesterday are definitely in like the top ten."

Cloud shrugged. "No different than Sephiroth's."

"Yeah, but Sephiroth is bad," Toon Link argued. "It was scary on you. You're nice."

"Okay, here, I've got your breakfast!" Pit announced, placing a plate of food in front of Cloud. "The robots just finished restocking."

Cloud just nodded, grabbing the provided fork and beginning to eat. His stomach growled as soon as he took the first bite. He really had been hungry, but he'd been refusing to admit it.

"And did you get him water?" Palutena chided.

Pit nodded. "Right here!" He set down a tall glass of ice water.

"Let's not just stare at him while he eats," Shulk suggested after a moment.

"What are we doing today?" Palutena asked.

"We can't really advance the plan without Zelda," Robin admitted. "And Cloud will probably need to be part of the Sephiroth discussion anyway."

"So, nothing important," Young Link concluded.

"I mean, there's basketball set up outside," Pit said. "I wouldn't mind playing that."

"Sure, I'll play," Young Link decided.

"Somebody needs to babysit Cloud," Palutena reminded them.

"You do it," Young Link suggested.

"I'll take care of it," Shulk promised. Mewtwo stepped up, nodding to the visionary. "Er, Mewtwo and I will take care of it," Shulk amended.

"It's not like I'm dying," Cloud protested.

"No arguing," Pit insisted. "You're the one who got shot yesterday."

Cloud gave it up, sighing heavily and returning to slowly eating his breakfast.

"I'll stay with you, Toon Link," Palutena decided.

Toon Link nodded. "...I miss Zelda."

Palutena's expression softened. "She'll be alright. She and Link are strong, yeah?"

Toon Link nodded. "I hope they're okay right now."

Silence enveloped them now. With Cloud's injuries as a distraction from their tormented comrades, it simply hadn't been brought up until this moment. But since Toon Link had...well, Cloud knew that they probably were not okay right now. Both of them were doubtlessly trapped within the throes of their own mind, enduring painful and personal visions designed by Master Hand to break them. Link was strong. It hadn't taken him that long to get over being in the torture room the first time. He'd be just fine.

But Zelda...Cloud couldn't remember if Zelda had ever been in the torture room. She hadn't since Cloud had gotten to the mansion, which was over two years ago now, but had she ever? Well, she'd be alright too. The princess of Hyrule was no weakling either. She might be a little quiet and generally perceived as naive, but she had a strong will. Time and time again she had developed plans to overthrow Master Hand. Failure didn't discourage her. She took every loss as a chance to learn for next time. She'd take this time in the torture room as even further motivation to get herself and everyone else back to their rightful homes.

"Zelda will be fine," Young Link said firmly. "And so will Link. If anything, they'll both work even harder to get out now."

"Nothing like a desire for revenge to get you going," Shulk agreed.

Toon Link sighed.

"They'll be alright," Palutena said gently. "We'll take good care of them. But we can't help them right now. We just have to wait until Master Hand is done with them."

"Then I want to take care of Cloud!" Toon Link decided. He wanted...he needed...to be doing something helpful. He was young, and he knew that a lot of people saw him as weak. Well, right now one of his friends was hurt. And he could help them get better. That's what a hero did, right?

"I'll take all the help I can get," Cloud decided. He was reminded of Marlene's resolve to tend to Denzel. Marlene and Denzel...they didn't have to wait much longer. Just a few more weeks. Then Cloud would be home.

But for now, Palutena was right. The only thing they could do in this exact moment was tend to Cloud. He needed his strength back if they were going to properly oppose Master Hand. So there really was no point in resisting his treatment.

Young Link and Pit left to go outside. Palutena excused herself and went to go watch the boys play. Robin made his way to Chrom and engaged in a conversation. Which left Shulk, Toon Link, and Mewtwo with Cloud.

The ex-mercenary finished eating and then he leaned on Mewtwo as they walked back to his room. Toon Link refilled the glass of water and Shulk went down to the bar to grab another potion.

Cloud climbed into his bed and sat upright with his back against the headrest. Toon Link set the water on his bedside table and then climbed into Cloud's lap. "I'm really happy you're okay," he said quietly.

Do not hesitate to call if you need anything, Mewtwo said from the doorway. I shall leave you both alone for now.

"Thanks, Mewtwo. And thanks, Toon." Cloud took a long drink from his glass of water.

"Can you read me a story?"

"...Why?"

"So you won't get bored!"

"So I won't get bored?"

Toon Link nodded.

Cloud sighed. "Fine. Go get a book and I'll read it."

Toon Link got up off the bed and ran out Cloud's door, likely heading to either his own room or Zelda's room to retrieve something to read. Cloud didn't have any books in his room. Like most things at the mansion, they were readily available. There was a certain robot you needed to talk to down in the main room in order to get books, and there was even a corner of the room set up for reading, but it was rarely used. Zelda and Toon Link had each acquired their own selection over the course of their entrapment. And Sephiroth had started to read here too. Which meant that he had asked someone where to get a book. Which meant he was getting along with someone. Cloud narrowed his eyes. That was probably a bad thing. The only people that came to mind were Ganondorf or Ridley, neither of whom would help get Sephiroth onto their side whenever they dared approach him about attacking Master Hand.

Toon Link returned, and Cloud pushed the matter from his mind. He was injured for now. He could worry about all that later. "Okay, I've got a book!" Toon Link announced, pushing it into Cloud's hands. He got up into Cloud's bed and sat next to him, realizing that leaning against his chest for a long time was probably a bad plan, then glanced up at him and cocked his head. "You promise you won't cry this time?"

"What? Why would I...oh. You mean when we played pretend?"

Toon Link nodded.

Cloud sighed. "Yeah. I won't cry this time."

"What made you so sad?"

"Nothing."

"I'd never seen you cry before. Nothing doesn't make people like you sad."

"Just let it go."

Toon Link remained silent.

Cloud opened the book, and began to read. It was some mindless story about a hero that needed to go slay a dragon for some reason that wasn't really explained. Cloud read every word without much enthusiasm, but Toon Link didn't complain. The kid seemed to enjoy it. For a while, he paid close attention to everything, running his fingers over the drawings and adding his own sound effects whenever something particularly interesting happened. But after a while, he got quiet. Cloud read for about five more minutes before he realized that the Hero of Winds had fallen asleep. Leaning against him. Which meant that he couldn't move or he'd wake the kid up.

He sighed to himself, closed the book, and stared at the wall for a few minutes. He was thirsty again. His water glass had run out while he was reading.

I will bring you more water.

Cloud didn't verbally reply.

The Hero of Winds is very fond of you.

Cloud still refused to reply. He didn't want to wake Toon Link up by being loud. He stared down at the little Hylian's form. His head was leaned against Cloud's waist, and his hands were resting in his lap. He was so still now. So small too. And yet this kid had saved the world. It was kind of hard to believe sometimes.

You two have a special relationship. You each fill a void for the other.

Cloud cocked his head.

You miss your children. Marlene and Denzel. You see them both in him.

Cloud couldn't deny that.

And he sees a parental figure he's simply never had. He has his grandma, yes, but he's never had a parent. Zelda is his older sister, in his mind. Young Link, his older brother. But you… you act so mature that he sees you as a father.

Cloud shook his head to himself. He was only 25. He wasn't fit to be a father. Tifa's words floated through his mind. 'We can help each other, I know we can!...I guess that only works for…real families.'

Mewtwo got upstairs and gave Cloud another glass of water. Just something to think about. He treasures you more than you could possibly know.

He'd love a monster if it was kind to him, Cloud thought to himself.

Isn't that an attitude that most people should have? Who says you and I aren't monsters? We're no different from Sephiroth, biologically speaking. All of us, failed experiments.

Cloud sighed heavily. That was true. The differing factor was his and Mewtwo's desire to help versus Sephiroth's desire to hurt.

Cloud's door opened again. Shulk came inside, the promised potion in his hand. "Sorry for taking so long-" he began, then he noticed Toon Link asleep against Cloud's body and immediately shut up. "Sorry for taking so long," he repeated, whispering this time. "The robots were pretty combative about giving me one."

"Master Hand knows I'm injured," Cloud whispered back. "He knows I need medicine."

Shulk nodded. He grinned at the closed book in Cloud's lap, as well as Toon Link's spontaneous napping position. "You're a good friend, Cloud."

Cloud just shrugged. He drank all of his water while he had people here, and then handed it off to Shulk to get refilled.

"I'll be right back," Shulk promised.

"I'll be here," Cloud replied.

The rest of the day dragged on. Toon Link slept for a long while. Shulk got back upstairs and informed Cloud that the Hylian had barely slept the night before. He was too worried about Cloud, Link, and Zelda to have gotten any rest. "Up tossing and turning, all night long," Shulk had said quietly, shaking his head. "I'm glad he's sleeping now."

Toon Link slept until dinnertime. Cloud let him rest, since he really couldn't get out of his bed anyway. To pass the hours, he had Mewtwo bring him another book. There wasn't anything else he could do. But it was still boring. Cloud didn't like reading.

When dinnertime rolled around, Palutena came upstairs and woke Toon Link. He woke up slowly, his eyes half-closed until he realized where he was and how he'd fallen asleep. He stuttered out an apology, but Cloud promised him it was alright, he hadn't minded, he was glad the kid could get some kind of sleep. Mewtwo helped Cloud back downstairs. It wasn't nearly as difficult this time. By drinking water constantly all day, he felt a lot less light-headed. His chest was still sore, but everything else felt much better.

The next day, Cloud continued to recover. Toon Link took over bringing him water. The two of them played board games on Cloud's bed between refills. It wasn't a bad day.

The day after that, Shulk cleared Cloud to get out of bed. Somehow, he was just fine. The visionary almost couldn't believe it. But he checked Cloud's pulse, listened to his breathing, and made him walk around without any support, and all signs pointed to him being fine. "Your regenerative abilities are remarkable," Shulk said. "If I was back in my lab...I'd take a sample of your blood and study the cells. Maybe we could find some way to replicate Jenova's better qualities without carrying over the parasitic tendencies."

Cloud reminded him that they were not in a lab, and that Master Hand would not be giving them the tools for such a potentially-helpful study.

Shulk nodded slowly, but it was clear he was beyond fascinated.

Cloud resumed normal activities that day. With him healthy, the party's worries turned again towards Link and Zelda. This was day three. How much longer would they be in the torture room?

Cloud had a fight the next day. Nobody was surprised, but Cloud was still irritated. He didn't have to wear a dress, just his SOLDIER uniform, but he still didn't want to fight. His opponent was Rosalina. They'd never really talked, so they both sat in the lobby silently until Master Hand came and drugged them both.

Cloud woke up in his bed, in pain, absolutely furious, with a bunch of broken bones. Jenova wasn't going to help him with such widespread injuries, so he let a potion do the job for him.

Sephiroth hadn't been seen by anyone over the past three days. He tended to stick to his room, was the general observation. He came downstairs at meal times, collected his plate, and walked back upstairs. He had to be getting along with someone in order to have gotten himself a book, but who? Nobody acknowledged him when he came downstairs, Cloud noticed. Everyone in his group focused their attention elsewhere. Fox and his gang glared at him. Ganondorf stared at him with interest. No doubt the King of Evil was impressed by Sephiroth's malicious acts against Cloud. And Bayonetta too constantly watched him. But nobody ever said a word to him. He himself kept his mouth shut, his eyes most often on the pages of the book he brought downstairs. It was strange. Cloud had never seen him so withdrawn.

But Zack had, Cloud remembered. This was what had happened in Nibelheim before Sephiroth lost his mind. Well, more like during the process of Sephiroth losing his mind. Spending hours and hours down in that basement alone, reading book after book after book about Jenova and Projects S and G and what exactly that all meant about him. And when he couldn't take anymore of it, when he finally just snapped...Nibelheim burned that day. Cloud still saw those flames when he went to sleep sometimes.

So was that what was going on here? It couldn't be. Not exactly. Loveless was a play. Cloud had never seen it, he didn't know much about it, but it wasn't a scientific study about anything devious. It was just...a play. Was Sephiroth biding his time for something? Or did he simply have no desire to get along with anyone else and simply used the book as an excuse to be quiet all the time?

Cloud wasn't sure. Shulk hadn't seen anything about it. Robin had no suggestions. Perhaps Zelda would have an idea. But she was still stuck. When she got out, once she and Link were feeling better, Cloud resolved to bring Sephiroth up. He couldn't help but be unnerved by his nemesis's seemingly peaceful demeanor. There had to be some kind of bigger game being played here.