Summer vacation is over, and I return back to college. But writing can still happen! And here it is. Thank you all so much for your patience on this wait, hope you enjoy the newest chapter.

Ch. 39

"Hey so were you able to ask him yet?"

"Yeah, what did he say Cloud? I've gotta say, I'm really dying to know."

Cloud stared at his two friends nervously, knowing what they were expecting. He knew that when he finally went back to them about the situation, they would want to know what happened. Wei was more curious that Marcus was, though the latter still wanted to know anyways. Marcus and Wei were standing quite close to him, wide looks on their eyes that were just waiting for an answer. However, Cloud had nothing to give them.

"Well, you see," Cloud started, pausing to collect his thoughts. "To be frank with you, he didn't tell me anything."

The look of excitement slowly waned from his friends' faces and contorted into confusion.

"Wait, what!? You mean you didn't find out anything?" Wei protested, flailing his hands up.

"Hey, I never said that I would. I said that I would ask him. It's up to him if he wanted to tell me anything or not," Cloud retorted back to him.

"You didn't think of trying to press the issue? Sorry, we're just really curious," Marcus added in, making his opinion known.

Cloud looked between the both of them before narrowing his eyes. "Would you really want to try to pressure Sephiroth into telling you something he already refused?"

Marcus and Wei shared a look of nervousness with each other briefly. "Okay, that's a good point," Wei spoke up while Marcus nodded in agreement.

None of them in the room would want to get on Sephiroth's bad side or annoy him in any way. Nobody in their right mind would want to do that. The three of them knew that and could silently agree that discretion was the better part of valor when dealing with that man. Silence befell the trio for a few short moments, but it was eventually broken.

"Well it was worth a shot at least," Marcus admitted.

"Yeah, that's true. Maybe I'll find out some day about it," Wei added.

Cloud looked at the two of them. "Yeah…"

"Well," Cloud then continued. "The day's pretty much over now for me, so I'm gonna head out I suppose."

The two friends had bid him farewell for the day, stating that they still had some things they had to do at headquarters. Before Cloud left, however, they all made plans for a meetup a couple of days later since they had not had the time to do much lately. With that having been done, they went their separate ways for the time being.

Cloud had just woken up from a long nap. Nearly two weeks had passed and it was August finally. But more than that, it was the day of his birthday. With all of the events that had happened since he first arrived at Shinra, his birthday was the last thing he had thought about.

But now that it was on his mind, many thoughts begin to swirl inside of his young head. He couldn't believe he had already been a year since he had left his home in an effort to follow his brother and their dream. So much had happened in that brief time span, but Cloud had been able to grow stronger both mentally and physically and was better because of it.

The life of being SOLDIER was sometimes more than Cloud expected, but he was more resolved to face it head on. Even though there were trials, there were many good parts to where he was too. So many new friendships had been started, of which he was glad. He even had his first crush too.

"Cissnei… it's been awhile since I've seen her honestly. I guess she's been busy…" As he continued to get lost on that fact, he thought maybe he should try to message her. In one of their previous meetings, he had been able to obtain her contact information; however, she had been strict on not having things sent to her constantly unless it was urgent.

"Well it is my birthday after all. I'm sure that's important enough to be able to message her about." Cloud then proceeded to grab his flip phone from the nightstand and opened her contact. He thought long and hard about what he was going to say. He had never done something like this before, but after a few minutes he began to type away.

'Hey, it's Cloud. I know you said not to message here very much, but I haven't heard from you in a while and wanted to check up on you. So I hope you don't mind. It's my birthday today too. I wanted to tell you. If you're around maybe come by? I won't make this too long, but I'll just wait to hear from you. Bye.'

Cloud looked over the message one last time before hitting the send button. He earnestly hoped that he would hear something back, but he doubted it considering that she only really used it for business matters. Realistically, that's all that he was supposed to use it for as well. But one little occasion of a personal message shouldn't be a big deal.

He threw his feet off the bed and finally stood up on the hardwood floor. He honestly wished that he would not have to get ready for anything, as he wanted to take some time to relax. But it's not like he could just not show up to work. With a loud sigh, Cloud moved to his closet and grabbed his Shinra uniform. After a little while, he had gotten ready and then prepared to head out. Zack had already left earlier in the morning he assumed, so he made the trek there by himself.

The day pressed on slowly, or at least it seemed that way to Cloud as all he wanted to do was just leave and enjoy his special day. Though, he did know that being a SOLDIER meant there had to be some sacrifices, but he hoped that would not be one of them. He figured that he and Zack would be able to go out and celebrate tonight

Finally, it was time for some more training though with Sephiroth. Cloud went up to the simulation room and found Sephiroth like he usually did. He stood there looking over the computer, programming things in and checking other stats.

Cloud announced his arrival to his mentor and they began right away with a series of tests and small level simulation missions. It was just like they had been doing, and Cloud had been majorly improving on them. He could get farther though the mini missions and could last longer before his strength would give out.

But today something was different. He was only half way through a set of training when it ended. Cloud blinked in confusion when he saw the flashing words in ihs headset telling him the mission was finished.

Taking off the headset he turned to look at Sephiroth. He now stood only a few feet away from Cloud, his arms crossed with his usual serious expression over his face.

"Did I do something wrong?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth shook his head. "Not at all. You were doing rather well today."

"Then why did you stop the simulation?" Cloud asked, trying to figure out what the reason could be.

"It is because I chose to for your benefit," Sephiroth answered.

It was clear he was going to be vague as usual about what he was talking about. It would take Cloud a bit of pressing to figure it out.

"My benefit? What for?"

"It's your birthday, so I thought it would be considerate to let you off early for today."

"W-Wait really?" Cloud stuttered, surprised at what he was hearing.

Sephiroth of all people was actually telling him that? Sure, the man had some quirks that made him seem not as imposing. However, Cloud never really pictured him as someone who would grow lax on training or forego any mission for someone else, even with it being a celebratory occasion. Maybe there was still more to the silver-haired man than he yet knew.

"How did you know that it was my birthday?"

"I am your mentor," Sephiroth replied. A deadpan expression crossed his face. "I have seen your files. So I would not think that it is weird that I know that information."

"O-Oh."

Cloud lowered his head. He felt a small bit foolish for overthinking the situation. "Of course it made sense that Sephiroth would know that. But I guess him stating it to me is still the weird part…"

"Do you wish to leave early, correct?" Sephiroth asked, snapping Cloud from starting into a series of thoughts.

"Huh, oh yeah. I would like that."

"Then you can stop spacing out and leave. Go home. Take a break. Things will resume tomorrow," Sephiroth spoke curtly as if demanding Cloud's leave. "I can attend to other business. Have a good rest of your day."

Questions still rattled in Cloud's mind over the sudden change of pace, but now was not the time to ask them. "O-Okay then. Uh, thank you."

Cloud walked briskly towards Sephiroth and passed him, making his way towards the door. He could have sworn that he saw a slight smirk cross the face of Sephiroth, but he was not going to turn around to ask. He had wanted to have the day be easy, and this was his chance. So, he thought it best not to ruin the opportunity, especially if Sephiroth changed his mind.

He made his way through the hall and to the elevator, taking it down to the SOLDIER floor. Once he was there, he went to gather his belongings and leave for the day. Nobody else seemed to be around though, which made sense considering that it was just past the middle part of the day. Therefore, he was able to mindlessly wander out of the building with little thought going towards anything externally.

"I did want to be off early but what am I supposed to do now? It's not like there's anyone around to do anything with at the moment. I guess I'll just go home for the moment at least. Or maybe I could tour the town some during the day since I don't normally do that? But… I would prefer if someone was with me. It's still weird to go out on my own sometimes…"

He still had not decided what to do by the time he made it back home. He marched up the stairs and opened the door, taking a look 4around the apartment first before entering. There was no sign of Zack, which was expected. Cloud put his things down and just flopped down on the couch without a care in the world. He considered napping but he would prefer to not waste the good time he had doing nothing.

Though the more that he laid there, the heavier that his eyes became. "No, not sleep now. I can find something to do. But… I don't wanna get up either…" His blue eyes flickered a few times as he blinked off and on. Other thoughts began to soar through his mind. "Maybe a nap wouldn't be so bad after all…"

A loud knock at the door startled Cloud as he bolted awake and sat up from the couch swiftly. His head pivoted around, trying to find his bearings as he searched for the door. He then roused up I'm shuffle his feet over to the door and opened it without first checking to see who it might be. But luckily, there was no need to worry as the face that was on the other side of the door was a familiar one.

"Hello, Cloud."

"Cissnei?" he asked curiously.

The short and slender redhead had an empty yet relaxed look on her face, until she then curled her lips into an attempt of a small smile. She was currently still wearing her black Turk suit as per the usual, Cloud having never seen her don any other attire.

"Weren't you gone or something?"

"I was but just got back from a long mission. Now I have some time off," she explained, waltzing in and taking a seat on the couch before crossing her legs.

Cloud closed the door and then walked back over to her and sat down on the other end of the couch. Before he could say anything though, Cissnei started.

"Also, I thought I told you not to send personal messages on my phone, Cloud."

He was taken aback for a moment. "Uh, yeah, sorry. I know, it's just I… well…"

"Don't worry about it now," Cissnei began, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's not a problem. Besides, I didn't forget anyways what today was."

Cloud breathed easily upon hearing that. However, he had thought of something else. "Hey Cissnei, how did you even know that I would be here?"

"Heh, I saw you leaving the building as I was just getting back. I couldn't get away at the time so I figured I would stop by afterwards. So here I am," she explained solidly.

She paused for a moment before she continued. "So now let me ask you. What are you even doing off anyways? It's not normal usually."

Cloud stuttered for a moment, wondering if she would believe what he was about to tell her. "Well, Sephiroth kinda just told me to go early… because it was my birthday."

Cissnei raised her eyebrow at him. "Really? That seems… strange. Especially from what I know about the man."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. But he seemed adamant about it though."

"Weird," Cissnei replied as silence fell between the two. She soon recovered it though. "So, you want to get out some, and do something? Just like a walk maybe?"

Cloud felt the corner of his lips curl up. He didn't even have to think twice about the situation. He hadn't forgotten what Cissnei had told him, about them being too young to be thinking about love. But even with that, he still wanted to spend time with her. He knew that he had to wait on the feelings that wanted to show themselves, but he also wanted to respect what Cissnei had said.

He would wait until they were older. Then maybe… just maybe he could think about those feelings again. But for now at least he was happy to have her company as a friend. And he was glad Cissnei seemed to think the same thoughts as him for that matter. He knew that she must care for him as he did for her; otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered to see him or suggest going for a walk.

Cloud finally nodded. "I think we could do that. Where would we walk?"

A hum filled the air as Cissnei tilted her head up in thought. "Well, anywhere really is fine. I've got plenty of time anyways.'

"Okay, then let's go for a walk and see where we end up," Cloud suggested as he stood up. He held out a hand to Cissnei as an offer to help her up.

She instead stood up under her own power, making a slight notion towards Cloud's extended hand. The short smile she gave indicated she was fond of the gesture, but her actions showed that it was not needed.

Upon seeing this, Cloud gently lowered his hand. He could feel his hands becoming clammy. Nervous that he had made the wrong choice in trying to be polite. Now he was glad that she hadn't taken his hand at all. He wouldn't want to embarrass himself more by having her grab a sweaty hand.

Quickly he spoke up again, trying to divert any further thoughts on the subject. "Oh, uh right. I almost forgot. Let me get ready real quick."

Cissnei just nodded at his and crossed her arms as she stood waiting. Cloud hurriedly dashed to his room and closed the door. The first thing he did once he was alone in his room was breath. He had almost forgotten to breathe normally back there in those last few moments. He wished he could know what was the right thing to do. But he figured that he could always try and ask Zack later for advice.

But right now he had to push those thoughts aside. Right now he had to pick out a quick outfit for himself. He wanted to try to make himself look approachable, but he didn't want to go too far with his outfit. He also didn't have that much to choose from anyways, so after some deliberating, he found a nice pair of jeans mixed with a black chocobo shirt. He grabbed a black jacket off of a hook in his room and threw it on before darting out the door.

"All right, let's go," he said with some pep as he was now back at Cissnei, who was standing close to the door.

"Sounds good," she said simply as she allowed Cloud to lead the way.

They exited the apartment complex and then started to walk around Midgar aimlessly. Cloud had no idea where they were going, but he was glad that he was able to do something with his time off. And who better to spend it with than Cissnei. His birthday was really turning out to be quite good after all.

The start of Cloud's birthday has begun. What other things could be in store? Only one way to find out! Stick around till next time!