Riku: It's time for another chapter! (No longer has idea what to say anymore to start off authors note)

tmart: I'm finally saying something for the first time in 35 chapters!

Riku: Thanks to me writing it.

tmart: Yes, but I told you to write it. (I don't know lol). We hope that you all enjoy this interesting chapter :P

Ch.35

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly for Cloud. He talked more with Cissnei and along the way became more relaxed. By the time Cissnei was called off to go to work, he no longer felt flustered talking with her. He hoped from then on he would be able to keep it that way. He didn't want to embarrass himself anymore than he had.

That night when he waited for Zack to come, he wanted to surprise him. Tonight, Cloud decided to prepare dinner for his older brother. He knew he would have enough time anyways. And on top of that, he kept feeling better and better. He had almost forgotten the whole reason he was stuck at home was because of his head pain. That seemed so far away now and trivial. What mattered now was continuing to be better.

Soon, it had become darker outside, the night sky being illuminated by the bright moonlight that shone through the window. Cloud had finished up dinner not too long ago, but it seemed as though Zack was going to be later tonight. However, unlike before, that fact did not worry Cloud. He had gotten quite hungry though after cooking, so he was going to fix his food already instead of continuing to wait around. But just as he did, he heard the front door open, followed by the familiar voice of his brother.

"Yooo, I'm home finally. Gosh, it's been a long day. Hopefully you've been all right Cloud."

Cloud wanted to go to his brother, but he decided instead to go ahead and finish the plate that he had started working on, opting to give that one to Zack when he finally came into the kitchen. He knew he would go to check his room first, which passed right by the kitchen, so all Cloud had to do was wait. But soon, he heard Zack growing closer as he heard something else from him.

"Wow! Something smells really good. Did someone bring over some food? Cloud?" Zack's voice asked curiously, drawing closer now.

Cloud had just finished filling the first plate up when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a pair of black combat boots standing in the doorway as he had been staring downward. He already knew that it was Zack standing there, but before he could utter a word, Zack beat him to it.

"C-Cloud?! What are you doing out of bed? Are you doing better already?"

Turning to look at his brother, Cloud responded, with a slightly upbeat tone. "Yeah, I am actually. I'm glad that you had Cissnei to be here today. She really helped me feel a bit better."

Zack narrowed his eyes and cocked his head slightly. "Oh she did now?" he said slyly with a grin.

"Hey, don't go thinking like that! Or do you not want this food I've made for you?" Cloud threatened, pulling the food back.

Throwing up his hands in defense, Zack started. "No no, I'm just teasing. Don't take it so hard," he said before then looking proud. "I knew that she might be able to help though. See, that's what an older brother does is look out for you."

"Yeah, I suppose so. Well anyways, you want this?"

"Oh right! The food. I didn't know that you could cook this well Cloud. And surely didn't expect it with you having been hurt. Honestly after today I needed this. Thanks," Zack spoke to him before taking the food and then finding his way to the table.

"Yeah I wanted to surprise you a bit. So I hope that you like it at least," Cloud added as he then fixed his own plate and headed over to sit beside Zack at the table.

The two of them proceeded to eat their food. Zack scarfed his down quickly after the first taste, and then had thanked Cloud again for the meal. Cloud even thanked himself, surprised at how tasty the food was he had produced. Afterwards, the two finally started to catch up on things that had been happening, each of them filling the other in on the goings ons in their lives.

From Zack's stories of his missions, to Cloud's tellings of things with he and Cissnei, there had been nothing short to converse on. But the topic always ended up revolving back to work somehow.

"So, think you'll be back at work soon?"

"I believe so. I am feeling much better. Besides, I've got to try to catch up to you still. And get used to the training that Sephiroth is ready to put time through."

"Yeah… about that training. Angeal has been putting me through the ringer ever since I said I admired Sephiroth. Ugh… me and my big mouth…"

A loud chuckle emanated from Cloud, not being able to stifle his laughter at that revelation.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Zack protested.

"Oh nothing. Just you. Sounds like you're saying you can't cut the training that I am gonna be going through is all," Cloud jested at his brother, hoping to get under his skin a bit with that comment.

Apparently, it did ruffle Zack's feathers as he stood up out of his seat abruptly, trying to defend his words.

"So you're saying you think that I'm not cut out for that work then, huh?"

"Kinda sounds like it."

"Well then, looks like I'm just gonna have to show you better then."

"I guess you will." Though, internally Cloud was not so sure about Sephiroth's training himself. But he didn't want to say that out loud, as he was enjoying seeing his brother being a bit flustered. It did make him think of what was to come though. He just hoped that he could be ready for it.

Cloud huffed loudly as he swung his sword another time, slicing through a low level monster that had appeared in front of him. That made the fourth one that he had seen in only a few minutes. They seemed to be spawning more rapidly than the last time that he was there, but he tried to be better prepared to take them on. It was his first time back in the training room, since he had collapsed the last time. This time he was better, and not as nervous and unsure as before.

He had recovered from his issues and was back at work only a day after he and Cissnei had talked. Zack had been happy to see that Cloud was doing better, and encouraged him to get back in the field. Though, the two of them now were entangled in a friendly competition to see who could perform better in their training missions, neither one wanting to be outdone by the other. Besides, he wanted to try to impress Sephiroth too.

"Don't get distracted, Cloud," echoed a cold voice over the mic.

"Oh yeah, right. Sorry about that," Cloud replied, knowing that he was getting lost in his head again.

He didn't want what happened last time to occur again. He had told himself that he had to be better and focus more. As he readied his sword towards the next enemy that was barrelling towards him, the thought crossed his mind of how long he would be able to keep up this time. Once the monster was well within his range, Cloud swung his sword once at the monster, cutting it down swiftly.

"That's the fifth one now already. Though it's only been about fifteen minutes too. If it keeps up like this, I should be okay I think. I guess Sephiroth upped the rate of the enemy spawns maybe? But now, nothing seems to be happening."

Cloud searched around with his eyes for a little bit in each direction, but could not detect anything in the area. He hung his sword by his side, still clutched in his hand, and began to walk forward towards the next possible area. At least, he thought he was going in the right direction at least. It was the opposite side of where he entered, so he logically assumed it was correct. There was only one way to find out though, and he most likely would in just a few minutes.

He progressed to the next area and began fighting monsters once again, though this time, they seemed to be slightly stronger than before. Just like the first time he was there, the difficulty appeared to be increasing the farther he advanced. But he kept his focus better and stayed strong, fending off each attack and fighting as though his life depended on it.

The fighting was not the only thing that the training involved. It was the primary focus, but there were hidden meanings in the training that were made to sharpen Cloud's mind, as told to him by Sephiroth. These included: accurate enemy analysis, ability analysis of the enemy with appropriate countermeasures, overcoming other noises and distractions to enhance his focus, etc. There were bound to be others, but those were the things that Cloud had noticed in the current session just based on what he had been told by his mentor. Cloud only hoped that Sephiroth would be impressed with his handling of this training scenario this time.

The battles waged on as Cloud was fighting against his tenth enemy now, which was tougher than the others had been by far. In fact, it reminded him of that one strong creature he had to run from before, but the current one was nowhere near as powerful. Having to put some of the skills to use he had learned in that short time, Cloud attempted to get the upper hand on the beast, only to be swatted away a few times. He considered trying to run away again, starting to believe that he could not beat the creature. However, just as that thought entered his mind, he thought back to the promise he had made to himself. There was not much time to dwell, so he would have to ponder it another time.

He barely evaded a falling hand from the monster that had just attempted to make a chocobo-headed pancake out of him.

"I thought I said not to get distracted. Focus, Cloud."

There was no mistaking that cold voice of Sephiroth once again. Though, Cloud didn't have time to offer up a response, choosing just instead to internally nod in return. The creature lunged at him again, forcing Cloud into a series of dodge rolls to avoid injury. Cloud tried to think of a way to be able to gain the upperhand on this monster as he finally stopped rolling. He then began to trot around the creature's body, looking for anything that could give him the upperhand. Upon reaching the rear around the creature, Cloud noticed something.

There was what appeared to be an area on the lower back of the creature that seemed to be open and unprotected by the hard skin that was layered around the rest of its body. This was just the opening that Cloud needed to be able to hopefully win. However, first he had to dodge some more attempted strikes from the beast before being able to finally propel himself behind it without it being able to react in time. He wrenched his sword back, and then plunged it hard into the soft, skin-like area, causing a massive shriek to be heard for quite a few seconds.

Cloud hopped back as the monster started to writhe in pain, flailing its limbs wildly in every direction. The movements started to become slower and slower over the next little bit until it collapsed under its own weight. Then, just like all the others, it dematerialized into nothing but fragments of data.

"Whew, well that's a relief," Cloud admitted openly, glad that battle was over.

He exerted himself more than usual, and that fight took almost everything that he had to give. The fatigue had begun to set in earnest, with exasperating breaths emanating from the blond's mouth.

"That was impressive, Cloud," Sephiroth said, his voice coming from behind.

Cloud turned around and saw the tall man standing before him. "Uh thank you!" He made sure to reply quickly, not wanting to stare and stall too long.

"You are still exhausted from this, correct?" Sephiroth said, taking in how worn and tired Cloud looked.

Cloud nodded slowly, hoping this wasn't going to lead to Sephiroth being disappointed. "Just a little… Nothing I can't handle. I'll get used to it in no time."

Sephiroth looked at his protege with a narrowed vision, before then pulling out a flip phone and tapping a few buttons. After that happened, the world around them started to crumble into pieces of data, slowly dissolving until they were standing back in the actual training room.

Cloud removed his helmet and headset slowly, shaking his head to allow his hair to stand back in place as the spikes went in whatever direction they pleased. "So that's it then today?" he questioned, knowing the answer already because of what had happened.

"Yes, it is as I said. I can tell you are tired and I did tell you before during your first training session that a good SOLDIER needs to know when to just stop, right?" Sephiroth quizzed him.

Cloud gave another nod, still breathing in and out heavily. "Yeah that's what you said the other day. I remember."

"Good, at least your exhaustion from the other day did not black out the events from your mind. You still have a long way to go, but today was good progress. And with that, I suppose…" Sephiroth trailed off. He put his hand to his chin as he fell into a thoughtful look. "I suppose there should be some reward in that."

This made Cloud confused. He had not expected Sephiroth… to reward him? That sounded strange coming from the cold and serious 1st Class SOLDIER. What kind of reward would Sephiroth even give? These questions clouded Cloud's mind as he tried to think. But no matter what he thought, he could not find a proper answer to Sephiroth's statement. He figured the only way to find out would be to ask him.

"Uh what do you mean by that, Sephiroth?"

"I have heard that rewarding a student after they do a good job is a preferable way to prompt them to do better. Sweet things or chocolate especially make good motivators from what I've heard," Sephiroth said, not directly answering Cloud's question. He then went on before Cloud even had a chance to think over the new things that had been said. "Now Cloud, tell me… what is your opinion on ice cream?"

Cloud was still staring at him dumbfounded and perplexed. Why was Sephiroth asking him about sweet delicacies? This definitely did not fit in the mold that he had thought of the strongest 1st Class SOLDIER. Maybe there was more to Sephiroth than meets the eye.

He then noticed how much he was staring, and when he focused back to the silver-haired man in front of him, Cloud noticed that he was now the one being stared at. Sephiroth was still waiting for a response. "Um, right. Uh… It's good stuff. I don't get to have it often, but it's nice."

"I see. Very well then," Sephiroth said as he turned around. "We shall go get some ice cream as a reward for quick recovery and your efforts today."

Cloud could only stand there and stare. He was still completely caught off guard by all of it.

"Umm, okay then. That, uh, sounds good."

Sephiroth led the way out of the training room as Cloud followed right behind him. Cloud thought that he had seen every place to get ice cream in Midgar before, so he wondered silently to himself where exactly Sephiroth would go to eat his. He knew he would find out shortly though.

Riku: And of course, that wraps up that chapter. But what an ending, am I right? XD

tmart: Who would have guessed Sephiroth liked ice cream? Maybe he does have a sweet side.