It is time once again for another chapter of this story! Thank you all again for reading. We hope you all are enjoying of course! Now let's get on with it!

Ch.24

After a few more weeks, the third month had finally arrived, which meant that spring time was fast approaching. During that time, events had continued on like normal and work continued to stay stead for Cloud and his brother as it had been for that entire year so far. Not much had changed yet either, except for some facets of Cloud's everyday life.

He and Marcus were best of friends now. They each relying on each other more now when on missions together. Of course, Zack was still Cloud's best friend and brother, and nothing could take that away. But Cloud finally had someone else in his life that seemed special to him. It was someone that he could count on, someone that he could hang out with, and someone that he could confide in.

As he laid there in the bed after waking, all of those thoughts raced through his mind. He no longer felt stressed or worried or anxious about things. For once again, Cloud felt at ease. He was happy that he finally managed to get outside of his comfort zone. Now with another friend, it did truly make the days easier. Though while he had two friends, he still wasn't sure if he could do it again.

"Marcus was the one who started talking to me originally. That's how we ended up talking more. I'm still not sure… that I could go out of my way to really start talking with others. Not yet at least…" Cloud thought to himself as he started getting ready for the work day. "I know Zack would want me to. He does it all the time. Maybe I should ask him sometime how he can be so friendly right off the bat with others."

Cloud wished that he could have gone to Zack at that moment to ask him that. However, he knew there was not time to do that since Zack had already left for work earlier than him that morning, and he doubted that he would see him that day either. Cloud had been told there was an important assignment he was to meet up for today anyways. He could feel it was going to be a long, busy day.

He headed out of the apartment as soon as he finished getting everything he needed and walked towards Shinra Headquarters. He looked around every hall way through on his way to get informed on his mission. He hoped that he would see Zack or Marcus, but so far he didn't see either of them.

Cloud sighed slightly as he walked into the elevator and rode up to the proper floor. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Cloud strolled out and continued walking quietly to the area he always went to for his mission briefings.

As he entered, he noticed that he was not the first one there this time, but there were several other people already there. In fact, it seems as though everyone had been waiting on him. At first glance, he saw that among those in the room were quite a few 2nd class SOLDIERs numbering about four. But the other people in the room were not SOLDIER at all. They all wore a suit that was highlighted by the black coat and pants, along with black shoes. The shirts they wore behind the coat were white, the only thing different about their attire. With a quick headcount, Cloud thought he saw about five of those people… the Turks.

"Good it looks like we are all present now," one of the Turks said. He appeared to be a tall and broad man with dark complected skin. He was also bald and to Cloud's surprise, was wearing glasses indoors. His presence made him seem like he was the head of this outfit.

He started to wonder what the Turks were doing here, or rather what he was doing going on a mission with the Turks. Not only that, but there seemed to be no other 3rd class SOLDIERs in the room at the time, as well as no infantrymen. Cloud felt out of place, but he was not going to admit it. He was trying to be stronger so he tried to keep his emotions in check.

As he scanned over all of the other people, he took note of all of them that he could see, save for the SOLDIERs whose faces were mostly covered by helmets of course. But then, his eyes landed on one of the Turks, and the composure that he had been keeping the entire time almost faded away as easily as a hot knife through butter.

He began to just stare at her, his gaze never dropping, though she was not paying attention to him as her attention was off to the side. She was a shorter girl than all of the rest. Or maybe she was a woman. Cloud was unsure since he had never met her before.

His eyes then started at the bottom as he made his way upwards, noticing how she stood with her weight on one leg in the back. She had her arms folded and placed across her chest, which usually indicated being partially closed off. As he made his way to her face, he noticed that she looked almost around his age, at least in his eyes. She had medium length red-orange hair that curled slightly, stopping just above her slender shoulders. Then, he met her soft, amber eyes eyes and continued to just stare, dropping every care he had at the moment as he paid no attention to anything around him.

"So, are you going to just continue to stare or what?" the girl said bluntly towards Cloud, which shook him from the trance he had found himself in.

He had not even realized he was gawking the entire time, and had no idea how long had passed. As he surveyed the room once again, he noticed most of the eyes in the room were now on him because of that comment. "Well, so much for keeping myself in check," he thought to himself, slightly reddening at his cheeks from embarrassment.

He lowered his head slightly, now averting his eyes from the girl. "A-Ah… Sorry. I didn't m-mean…I just… " Cloud trailed off, biting his tongue. He for some reason, couldn't get his words together. He thought it would be best to just stop talking than continue stumbling like a fool.

"You better watch out Cissnei," the man with the glasses spoke again, but this time with a more humorous tone. "Might be love at first sight from that one over there." His finger was pointed at Cloud's direction, who was still standing in the doorframe, never fully entering the room.

There were some slight chuckles from the others in the room, but there was no amusement to be found on the face of the girl known as Cissnei. "Whatever Rude. Just don't lose focus on what we're here for," she replied with an indifferent tone.

Cloud felt his entire body tense up. He was not too keen being the center of attention, but now he was, and it only further fueled his embarrassment. He shifted slightly as he shuffled into the room, now keeping his head down and away from all the eyes that could have still been on him. He didn't even understand it, why had he just stopped and stared at her? Sure he had never met her before… but he just ended up staring. Even though he never had intended to ever say anything to her, he wondered how if this messed up her first impression of him.

Eventually, everyone calmed down after the short show as the bald-headed man cleared his throat. They all looked towards him, even Cloud as he slightly raised his head so his eyes could meet the man.

"All right, it's time to get some things going now. The name's Rude. I guess you could say I'm leading this escapade here," he spoke with authority.

"Yeah, sure you are. And I've gotta keep you in check," Cissnei replied snarkily.

Rude eyed her for a moment. "I know you may have grown up with Shinra, but you're still not above me right now. Just, listen to what I say for once," he said, almost as if he was trying to reason with her.

Cloud noticed this exchange as the two eyed each other for a moment, neither one wanting to budge. Cissnei was clearly much younger than the man called Rude, but she was stern and seemed to be very disciplined as well. Cloud kept quiet though as the man known as Rude went on to explain the mission. Though every once and a while he would take a quick side glance over towards Cissnei. He knew that he should keep staring at her, but he found himself a slight bit curious about her. But everytime he looked at her, he would turn away quickly if he thought Cissnei was noticing his staring.

After some time and sorting through all of the details, Rude had fully laid out the mission ahead for all of them. "Just to make sure we're clear. We're going to Junon. We're spending a few days there to investigate some missing persons from Shinra. There is foul play believed. Everyone got it?"

They all nodded, including Cloud. This was going to be the first time that Cloud would be away for more than a few days on one singular mission. He had not expected it to be that long of a process, though it sounded quite important. He also would not be around Zack or his new friend Marcus at all. He didn't think he would even have the chance to tell Zack bye. Even though it was only going to be a few days, he still worried about being away. However, he knew there was nothing he could do about it as it was his job, so he just remained quiet as he had been. That was, until Rude spoke.

"Cloud. I suppose you've noticed you're the only lower class on this mission. So the deal is the higher ups have noticed your potential and this mission is going to be a slight test for you as well as a job. So, stay sharp and focused. Don't let me down."

"Uh, o-okay then. Yes I will do my best," he stammered in reply, still not quite recovered from the ordeal earlier.

Now that the fine details had been planned out, they all headed out to their mission at hand. Cloud was last, following behind all the others on the way out. But, in front of him was Cissnei, who now that she could not see him would not realize that his eyes were boring a hole through her as he still could not look away. He wanted to figure her out more, but he also knew he had to keep himself focused on the mission now that he knew he was being tested. He tried to clear his head as they boarded the chopper to take off.

Cloud was tired and exhausted after four long days as he stepped back into the Shinra headquarters. He and the others had not too long since gotten back from their long mission. He didn't even want to think about what had happened while they were in Junon. After a few more steps, he let out a long-winded sigh. "Geez, that was quite rough. I guess Zack wasn't kidding when he said those missions can be quite a lot of work."

He had thought he was alone to himself to speak until a soft, higher-pitched voice broke through to his ears. "Yeah, it's tough. You sure you're cut out for it?"

Cloud turned to his side to see Cissnei standing there, having just walked out of the door she was leaning against. She had no expression on her face as she just stared at him. Cloud stumbled to stand straight as he tried to hold some sort of calm posture. "A-Ah… Yeah I can do it. J-Just gotta get use to it." He tried to speak to her with keeping eye contact, but halfway through his sentence he lost it and averted his eyes to the side.

Cissnei kept a sharp glance fixated on Cloud so much that Cloud could feel it without him even needing to look. "Yeah, sure. It will be like that sometimes. To be honest though, you didn't do too bad out there. Don't doubt yourself too much," she said as she continued to just keep her eyes on him as if demanding he look back at her.

Cloud nodded slowly, though he did not return his gaze back to her. "I try not to… Th-Thanks though." After a moment he took in a long deep breath and tried to look up at her. He tensed slightly from her serious gaze, but he wanted to try and look at her and he spoke again. "A-And sorry for before… The first day… F-For staring…"

"What? Oh, that. Don't worry about it. Surely you can handle a bit of teasing. I guess you were… nervous or something," she trailed off as she paused and looked away.

She then began to walk and moved right next to Cloud, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "You're a good SOLDIER. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." With those words, Cissnei started to walk away from Cloud.

Cloud tried to gather his words to form a sentence but almost choked up. He could only stare as he watched her head off to some other area of the building. He gripped his hands slightly as he finally remembered to let out a breath. He didn't even realize that he had been holding one in. Once his finally was breathing normally again he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He didn't understand why he felt so shy around her compared to just his usually shy. But he figured that the best thing to do was to ask Zack. Maybe he would know. Just another question to add to the list.

We have now introduce Cissnei into the story! And poor little shy Cloud heh. But what will happen from this? Only one way to find out! Tune in next time! And thanks for reading!