Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 11! We got so much more fun stuff for this chapter, so let's get to it.

Ch. 11

The next day had come around as Cloud finally got up from his bed, though he felt exhausted, both mentally and physically, upon waking. He recalled the dream that he had the previous night quite vividly, but unlike before, it did not bother him this time. He had found renewed vigor and his mind was not clouded by fear and doubt. Even though it had taken him some time to move past his problems, the goal was now clear once again: become a hero with his brother Zack.

Cloud took in several deep breaths before he started doing some morning exercises. Most of the exercise routines he did in the morning consisted of squats though. As he did them he kept reminded himself of his goal. He knew he had to keep going and that he had to keep training. He had a little less than a year now before he would leave for Midgar, and he needed to get in all he training he could.

After he finished his small morning training, he went out of his room and to the kitchen. His mother and father were already up and eating their breakfast at the table. Cloud looked and saw another plate with food on the table. He quietly took his seat at the table and began to eat his own food.

"Good morning Cloud, are you going to have another day of training?" his mother asked him.

Cloud glanced up from his plate with a mouthful of food, but he swallowed it first with a large gulp before speaking. "Yeah...that's what I want to do. I have to be strong like Zack is so that I can impress him," he said gently with a determined look on his face.

"Well it's good to see that you are feeling full of positive energy today," his mother said with a smile.

"Though I am sure Zack is already impressed with what you can do. Those five years you guys spent training together, Zack knows you've been trying your best," his father added.

Cloud smiled back at his father and mother. "Yeah, I hope so. I don't know if I can be as good as him, but I'm going to try. I'll probably take a jog through town as well since it's a nice day out too."

"Before you do that though, finish your breakfast first," his mother replied before going back to eating her own food.

Cloud just nodded and started to shovel the food into his mouth so that he could get started as soon as possible. Within less than a minute all of his food was gone, the only thing left an empty plate. "Okay I'm done now. Thanks for the food. I'm gonna be off now."

"Well hold on there," his mother interjected. "I need you to pick up some things for me since you're going around town," she declared as she handed him a large grocery list.

Cloud frown slightly as he looked to the grocery list. "But… do I have to? I just wanna do my training for today."

"Don't argue with your mother. Besides, just think of it as adding to your training since you'll be carrying heavy groceries back," his father said as he stifled a chuckle.

Cloud sighed slightly, but then picked back up and smiled at his parents. "Okay! I'll do that then!"

He took the grocery list and then was handed a small bag of Gil with enough to cover what he needed to buy. He then ran out the front door and started to head towards the town.

Cloud slowly made his way down the path into town from their house, making sure to keep a good jogging pace as he traveled. On the way, he thought about how long he would stay out of the house. He knew that his mother probably didn't need the groceries right away, so he thought to save those until last after he had done his training.

As he made his way, he came to the fork in the road and stopped for a moment. His attention turned toward the mako reactor that was there. It was one of the first places Zack had shown him upon him coming into Gongaga, and the place where they encountered the SOLDIERS. Both instances resulted in him having some sort of head pain, which was accompanied by strange visions. But, it was also where their dream had started when Zack had discovered more about the soldiers.

The memories and thoughts danced in Cloud's head as he stood there and stared. He felt like he was trying to remember something about the very spot upon which he was standing, almost like he had been there in that exact position before. However, he could not wrap his head around the thoughts and decided to press on.

He then moved his legs forward and started walking before breaking into a slow jog once again. Luckily, town was not that far away and he was there in about ten minutes. But he was not planning to stop yet. He wanted to make rounds around the entirety of the town just to test himself, so he kept his pace steady.

After a little while of running he stopped to do some stretches and other various exercises. He never really paid much attention to the time when he was doing all of this. He knew though once he got into the groove of things, time seemed to slip away faster and faster. After a while he decided that would go back to running, though he did stop to catch his breath first. He knew he wanted to keep up a steady pace, but also knew to not push himself too much.

Soon enough though he started his running again. Cloud moved past several buildings and stores, noting that those would be the ones he would have to go to for the groceries most likely. He rounded the corner to the right and started to head up the other small road when he heard someone's voice.

"Hey, it's the young chocobo head," the voice said with a cheerful laugh.

Cloud froze for a moment before he turned around to face where the voice had come from. A second later he saw a familiar sight. It was a yellow chocobo again and with it a face he had not seen in a while. "Hey chocobo butt!" Cloud said childishly as he waved at the young man and ran forward to him.

It almost looked liked Prompto frowned slightly, but then he ended up laughing again. "Yeah yeah I know. Everyone still says my hair looks like that." He then ruffled his short blond hair that still stuck out in every direction, as if trying to mess it up a little. "No matter if I grow it out or cut it short, it always spikes out."

Cloud chuckled at the attempt of the friendly chocobo owner trying to momentarily change his look. "Well apparently mine's never going to change either but it's okay. I guess that means we're both one of a kind right?"

Prompto looked upon Cloud's face, noticing that he was much older now as it had been four years since they had last seen one another. Cloud had matured a bit as well as grown a bit taller, but that wasn't what caught his attention. There was something that felt a bit familiar about Cloud's bright blue eyes. He had thought about it once before during the first time he had met Cloud, but he just shrugged it off back then. But now looking at Cloud again, he started to think about it once more.

There wasn't many people he knew, besides himself and Cloud who naturally had viverant blue eyes. He thought of Cloud's older brother, and from what he could remember, Zack's eyes were blue, but not as bright as Cloud's were. The more he thought on it, the more confused he felt, so he decided to brush off all of the thoughts on the subject.

"Yeah...one of a kind. That's one way to put it," he replied, his mind darting between thoughts as he tried to gather them for a moment. "Oh! So you're out here by yourself today then?"

Cloud knew what Prompto had meant upon asking that question, as he thought the man might wonder where Zack was. The question did not faze Cloud though as it would have before as he was able to remain calm. "Well, yeah I am. Zack is actually… away right now."

"Oh really? Where did your brother run off to if I may ask?"

Cloud hesitated for a moment as he looked up. "He, uh, left last year to join Shinra since he was old enough."

"Wait really? He left to go work for Shinra? Went to Midgar on his own and everything?" Prompto asked, clearly surprised by Cloud's reply.

Cloud sighed heavily. "Yeah he did. I knew it was coming of course. It was the plan, but it was still a big thing to have to do." He paused as collected more of his thoughts. "We… actually promised we would do it together. But, I just have to wait until next year when I'm old enough to go," Cloud said with an indifferent tone in his voice, attempting to withhold much emotion from his face.

"Wow, I never expected that you guys would want to work for Shinra. What job are you guys wanting to be there?" Prompto asked, now becoming more curious about the young child's plan.

Cloud rubbed his head a bit, but then perked up. "Well, we wanna become like the hero Sephiroth and be heroes. Well, Zack does for sure. And I want to follow him. So SOLDIER is the goal, which is why I am out here training."

"I gotta say that I am impressed. I never would have suspected that you and Zack would want to be in SOLDIER. But if you are determined enough I am sure you can make it," Prompto replied, giving an encouraging smile. "Though, don't you miss him?"

Cloud once again drew in breath and released a heavy sigh. "I do. Everyday. It used to get me down, but when he started writing to me, the stories he would tell were nice and made me excited to get there with him. So having the letters is kinda like having him encouraging me each day as I read them. So in a way, I guess it's missing him that drives me to want to be with him again."

"Well that is good that you have that drive. I wish I could have the determination to get things done like that, haha," Prompto replied as he laugh sheepishly. "Oh! Would you want to say hello to my chocobo again?"

Cloud looked behind Prompto to see that it was drinking water from a water trough next to one of the stores.

"Sure thing! It's been a while since I've seen her. I wonder if she remembers me," Cloud pondered as he drew closer to the chocobo.

The chocobo looked up and took a few steps closer to Cloud. Now that Cloud was a older, and a bit taller, the chocobo did not seem as large as he remembered. Though it was still rather tall and impressive. Cloud held out his hand towards the head of the chocobo and a moment later she leaned her head down and pressed it against Cloud's hand.

"Wark!" the chocobo exclaimed happily.

Prompto laughed. "Looks like she does remember you. And hey if I am still here after you finish your training, maybe you can have another ride. Now that you are older, you could ride her and go a bit faster."

"Oh really!?" Cloud exclaimed. "That would be great. I mean, I could do it right now if you wanted to."

"Well it's really up to you in the end. I got nothing else to do right now anyways," Prompto replied with a shrug.

Cloud never hesitated. "Well what are we waiting for then. Let's go then," he said excitedly as he waited for Prompto to ready the chocobo for him.

Prompto chuckled slightly and motioned for the chocobo to come over to his side. The chocobo listened immediately and strode over to her keeper, who then motioned for Cloud to come to him. "Okay now go ahead and hop in. You remember how to ride right?"

Cloud jumped shortly up onto the chocobo's back, making himself comfortable as he then grabbed the harness tightly. "Oh yeah, I remember," he quickly said before he kicked off and the chocobo started to move its scrawny legs forward.

He figured he would take the same route that he had taken before, but this time, he was going to make sure he could see what the chocobo could do. He pulled back on the reigns, which forced the yellow bird to increase its speed in retaliation as they were soon off racing with the wind wiping across Cloud's face.

"Wooooo!" he yelled loudly, never expecting that a chocobo could actually travel that fast.

The chocobo turned the corner and sped up the road quickly. Cloud struggled at first to maintain a proper grip as he did not want to fall off or hurt the chocobo, but he acclimated after a few seconds of adjusting. The only thing going through the boy's mind at the time was how much fun he was having with the chocobo. He only wished that Zack could be there to see it and experience it as well. Maybe there would be chocobos in Midgar.

A few more corners were rounded in almost no time when suddenly, he saw he was heading back towards Prompto and he let loose on the rope to allow the bird to slow its pace. After only a few seconds, it and Cloud came to a complete stop and he then hopped off the bird's back.

He then went up to its face and rested his hand on its head and petted it. "Thanks for the ride buddy."

"Wark!" it squawked in appreciation for the attention that was being given it.

"How was that then? You looked like you were going pretty fast there," Prompto said.

Cloud turned his attention from the chocobo, which he stopped petting finally, over to Prompto. "That was even more fun than the last time for sure. I can't believe they go so fast."

"Oh yeah you bet you can go fast on a chocobo. There are some chocobos even faster though. If you ever get the chance you should go to the Golden Saucer to see the races there," Prompto replied before petting his chocobo on the head. "It's a lot of fun."

"Ooh really? That sounds like lots of fun. Maybe when I have some free time after I get to Midgar, then I can do that then," Cloud smiled warmly. He then remembered what he had to do. "Oh umm, I'm supposed to pick up some groceries for my mom actually and take them back after while so I might need to try to get started."

"Ah well I won't keep you from doing that. Don't want you getting in trouble with your mother," Prompto replied.

"Yeah I guess so…" he trailed off before thinking of something. "Hey, you said you're not doing anything right? Wanna come eat with us this afternoon?"

"Huh?" Prompto asked as he gave Cloud a confused look. "Why would you ask something like that?

"Well it's the least I could do for you letting me ride the chocobo and all. Plus it'd be nice to have a friend over for once again," he replied, anticipation building in his voice.

Prompto couldn't help but laugh. He then pondered for a moment before he gave his answer. "Well if you think it would be all right. I guess I could."

Cloud smiled wide at the man. "Okay sounds good. I just need to pick up some of the food for her and then I can show you the way out to my house then," he said with a joyous tone as he turned and started to walk towards where some of the food stores were located.

Prompto chuckled as he watched the young blond head off to the stores. He decided to wait a few minutes until Cloud returned. Before he knew it Cloud was back, and he was carrying several large bags which he figured was filled with food.

"Do you need any help carrying any of that?" Prompto asked.

Cloud struggled for only a moment until he was able to hold the bags tightly. "No, don't worry about it. This is… my way of training too. I need to be able to do this," he uttered through a strained breath, his arms visibly shaking from the weight, but he stayed steady.

"If you say so. You're rather determined about all of that aren't you?"

"Yeah, I've gotta make sure I'm strong. Well… let's go. Follow me," Cloud stated with grin as he started to walk slowly towards the path that led to his house, making sure Prompto was following him as well.

Prompto nodded back as he started to follow behind while also having his chocobo come along as well. He followed right behind Cloud as he was lead to the outskirts of Gongaga. There he was lead towards a small house. Cloud ran up to the door and put one of the bags down before knocking on it.

"Mom I'm home!" Cloud yelled as he was near the door, excited to introduce his friend to them.

Yes we brought back everyone's favorite chocobo lover heh. Cause he is just a fun character to have random show up for random reasons XD

Thank you all for reading!