Riku: 40 chapters? How in the world did this happen?

tmart: I suppose we just kept rambling, but here we are. So many chapters.

Riku: Yes, so thank you all SO MUCH. It wouldn't be here if it wasn't for all of you reading this story!

Ch. 40

After a few hours being out, Cloud and Cissnei were about ready to head back. Most of the time had been spent just traversing through the city, the two of them talking to each other in stride as they went.

Their conversation was lively and entertaining for both of them. Some subjects talked about were simple things about work. But others were various thoughts on the sights and there were even some jokes told by Cloud. He found himself glad that his jokes worked when he saw Cissnei smiling, trying to contain her laughter.

"I don't think I've really seen you laugh before," Cloud commented as they walked.

Cissnei slowed her pace and stared at Cloud. It was clear from the look on her face that she was surprised by Cloud's words. She blinked slowly, trying to think of what she was going to say back. Never before could she recall anyone ever saying that to her, or even something like that.

"Oh um… thank you?"

Cloud suddenly feared that he had said the wrong thing. He waved his hands in front of his face. "Ah! Um… I didn't mean it like that! I didn't mean it was like really weird or something to see you laugh. I just can't remember if I had seen you laughing before. You know… just making a statement. I didn't mean to be rude! You're laugh is really nice by the way!"

By the time Cloud finished his mini rushed rant, his cheeks were bright red. Cissnei started to snicker at first, but it quickly morphed into a full laugh. There was no hiding this one or even trying to contain it.

Cloud rolled in his lip as his cheeks puffed up, his embarrassment growing as she continued to laugh. The longer he looked at her though, the more relaxed that he started to become. He noticed her wide smile adorning her laughing face, and it just looked so natural to him. Slowly, he started to want to chuckle as well, and before long, he too was in hysterical laughter. He had no idea if he was laughing at himself, or with Cissnei, but it was nearly uncontrollable.

She noticed this and nearly stopped as she glanced at Cloud, but then continued laughing again anyways. Finally though, the noise had started to dissipate, Cissnei stopping first. She marched up to Cloud and clasped a hand on his shoulder, which caused the boy to stutter as he ceased his laughter finally. She was about to say something to him when suddenly, her phone began to ring.

She opened the phone and answered it. "Hello."

After a few seconds, she placed the phone on mute as she directed her attention to Cloud. "I've gotta take this real quick," she spoke quickly.

"Uh, okay then," Cloud replied, not really knowing what to say.

Cissnei just nodded and began to walk off a little bit away out of earshot of Cloud, around the corner of a building. Cloud stood still as he waited. But he let the thoughts of what just happened flow over his mind.

"Cissnei was laughing… probably at me. She probably thought I was being too embarrassed or something. But she didn't seem annoyed by it either… Maybe it's actually a good thing she laughed."

Cloud sighed as he leaned against the wall of the building he stood near. "Ah… I wish I could understand girls…"

Before Cloud could get too comfortable, Cissnei came back and smiled at him. "Sorry about that. But it was an important call."

"Oh okay. So back to our walk then?"

"If it's all right, how about we head back to your apartment? It's getting a little late anyways and I should be heading back to headquarters eventually."

Cloud almost looked disappointed, but as he looked around, he could tell that the sun had started to dwindle lower on the horizon. "Yeah, okay, we can do that I suppose. Though, I thought you said that you were off for a couple days now?" he inquired as they started to walk back.

Cissnei followed besides him. "Ah yeah… I thought so too. But… you know… the call and everything. Just need to help out with a small thing."

"Yeah, I understand. I, um… just am glad you're here now," he said nervously. He had to accept it, even though he did want more time for himself and Cissnei.

'Maybe Zack will be back by the time we return. It's probably getting close to that time. If so, then we might be able to do something I hope.'

His thoughts only lingered on that hope for a moment as Cissnei grabbed his attention. "So, any plans for your birthday this evening then?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. Probably hangout with Zack like I did for his birthday. Maybe we will go and eat at some cool restaurant or something."

She smiled at Cloud, almost smirking. "Hmm, I guess you'll just have to see what happens then."

"Yeah I guess so," Cloud murmured as he noticed the smile coming from Cissnei. He couldn't help but smile back to her. He knew that they were still young, but he knew one thing; he really liked the way Cissnei smiled at him.

After just a few more minutes, they had finally arrived back to the apartment complex where Cloud assumed that Cissnei would be leaving. But surprisingly, she followed him up the stairs. He almost started to ask her why since she said she had to head back, but elected not to so at that time. They finally reached the door of the apartment and Cloud fiddled with his keys to try to get the door unlocked. Cloud's mind couldn't hold him back anymore, as he wanted to make sure they parted well. Though, he was still almost sad about it.

"I guess you'll have to go now…" Cloud directed the downtrodden words to the girl behind him with a side glance.

Cissnei spoke up. "Well, I can stick around for a few minutes. I didn't mean I had to leave immediately. Why don't you just go ahead and open the door and I'll be right behind you."

Upon hearing that, Cloud seemed to be relieved. "All right then. Sounds good"

"SURPRISE!"

A chorus of voices greeted Cloud once he swung the door open. He tensed up and turned to see who had made the noise. And what he saw made him forget he was sad seconds ago.

Standing dead center in the room room was Zack. But it wasn't only Zack. Marcus, Wei, and even Kunsel were there too!

Little streamers lined the wall behind them and a small banner was pinned up that read, 'Happy Birthday.'

Cloud stared, trying to process what he was seeing. He finally remembered to look to his side and saw Cissnei was smiling at him again.

He opened his mouth to ask a series of questions that were coming in, but all he could manage was one word.

"Huh?"

Zack laughed. "Look at that. I think we completely shocked him."

"Come on man, don't just stand there gawking," Marcus added.

Cloud still didn't move. What he saw before him was still such a surprise. It was a surprise party… for him. And it wasn't just his brother that was there to wish him a happy birthday. His friends were there too, which wasn't what Cloud was expecting at all.

Cloud looked at the group and then to Cissnei. There was still something that he was trying to connect together. "Wait, Cissnei, did you know about this?"

Cissnei continued to hold her smile while she nodded. "Yes. I knew about the whole idea. When Zack told me, I was happy to help out."

"So wanting to go out for a walk…"

"It was a way to get you out of the house so Zack could set everything up," Cissnei casually responded.

"Oh… I see," Cloud replied quietly.

"Does that mean it was all fake? She was just hanging out with me to keep me from being here? Just a lie to get me to come with her?"

Cloud started to frown. He wasn't sure what to really think. He had thought Cissnei really wanted to go hangout with him, but he now felt uncertain. If she was only hanging out with him to keep him away from the house, did she really want to spend time with him in the first place?

"I still enjoyed our time together," Cissnei added, as if she had read Cloud's inner thoughts.

Cloud's fears and worries faded and he found himself slowly forming a smile again. Before he could say anything, Zack walked over and pulled Cloud into the apartment.

"I think that's enough standing around for now. We gotta get this party started!"

Cloud was pulled into the room, with Cissnei following behind him. Right away he saw more than just streamers and a banner. There was a nice looking cake set up on the kitchen counter. At the table there was a hot pizza open and ready to be eaten. And off by the couch Cloud could see that there was a small stack of presents.

"You really planned all of this?" Cloud asked his brother.

"Of course I did. You doubt my party planning abilities? I had this idea for weeks now!" Zack exclaimed, clearly happy about how it turned out.

"Wow, that's awesome. Thanks Zack," Cloud said before looking to the other three SOLIDERs in the room. "So you guys knew about this?"

Wei nodded first. "Yup, Zack found us one day and asked if we wanted to come and help make up the party. Though I think some party of any size should be more for a 16th birthday."

"I told you guys already," Zack started to say. "Cloud and I grew up in Gongaga, we didn't really get big party, or even a small one with friends. So I wanted to try it with Cloud and have a first party with friends and everything! Plus, this marks his first year here in Midgar too!"

"Hey, I say a party is a party, no matter the number of people. As long as there is good cake, I'm good," Marcus said with a laugh.

"Yeah, cake is the best. But I like being around familiar faces too," Kunsel added in.

Cloud was still overwhelmed with the situation and dumbfounded on what to say next. He wanted to join in on the conversation at least. He focused on what everyone was talking about though: the cake. It was the best looking cake that he had ever seen. It was chocolate with some white icing decorating the sides and the top of it. It was a two layer cake as well, with the number '14' on the top in candles.

After staring at it, he finally looked back up to everyone. "This cake… really looks amazing. Thanks you guys," he added as he shared a look with everyone.

"You're welcome Cloud," Marcus replied. "So does this mean we can start eating?"

"Yeah, before the pizza gets cold," Wei added.

"Come on Cloud, why don't we gather around then. I'm hungry myself," Cissnei added in as she tried to budge Cloud to move.

"All right, all right, let's do that then. I was getting there as well, after the training earlier today and then all that walking… I haven't eaten since earlier," Cloud admitted to himself and everyone else.

He finally went to take a seat at the table around the pizza as everyone else joined him there. Cissnei sat down to the left of him, and picked up her own plate with a slice of pizza. Cloud smiled to her once again.

"I'm glad you get to stay for the party. I'm guessing you don't actually have a thing to do for work?"

Cissnei shook her head. "Nope, it was just a small lie so you wouldn't know what the real call was about."

"Ah, I get it now," Cloud replied before taking a bit of his pizza.

The remainder of the dinner was fun and amusing. Cloud never had so many friends in once place before, but he enjoyed every moment. He thought back to Gongaga when he was younger and how he never made any other friends. Zack on the other hand made friends, but it was rare for them to come over and play. But Cloud would be around and join them at least when Zack did go to play. And even with that, there never was any large group of friends that Zack or Cloud actively hung out with.

It was a new experience for Cloud. Not only to have multiple friends, but to have them all together celebrating his birthday. He smiled happily as he continued to eat his food and talk amongst everyone, wanting to savor every moment.

"You know what I was thinking before I came here today?" Wei asked after he finished another slice. "I thought, with this being Cloud's birthday, that Sephiroth was going to show up."

Everyone stopped eating and turned to look at him. Each person, even Cloud, looked at him with different levels of confusion. Wei looked back to them, keeping a serious expression, though he seemed baffled why everyone was looking at him in the way they were.

"What? None of you thought about it? Cloud is Sephiroth's student. So I thought that Sephiroth would want to come to the party."

"I don't know…" Marcus said, being the first of the others to speak up. "Sephiroth doesn't really seem like a party guy, even if it is a small gathering."

Cloud looked around, as he noticed that a couple of them were staring at him. After all, he did know Sephiroth the best out of them all. He cleared his throat.

"Well, I mean… he does sorta like stuff like that… sometimes. I mean, you should this ic-"

Cloud stopped abruptly and clasped his hands against his mouth.

"Huh? What were you going to say?" Kunsel asked.

"Nothing!" Cloud shouted a little too quickly.

"Doesn't sound like it was nothing. Sounds like you had something to say about Sephiroth," Marcus said.

"Yeah. You got something interesting to say about Sephiroth?" Wei added in. "If you said he sort of likes that stuff, that means you know something."

Cloud shook his head. "I said it was nothing. Just wasn't thinking. Never mind about it."

"Aw come on Cloud," Zack pouted. "You can tell us. If you got a fun tidbit on Sephiroth, you just gotta tell us!"

"Not if I want Sephiroth to come after me," Cloud replied. Internally he was screaming. He was only making it worse for himself. "Can we just forget about it and move on? To the cake? I'd really like some cake now!"

Suddenly Cissnei laughed, drawing the attention of everyone. When she noticed that they were looking at her, she regained her composer. "Sorry. It's just so funny when Cloud gets overly flustered. I think it's cute."

Cloud stared with wide-eyes. Had he heard her right? Did she really just say that? He turned to look around the table and then he felt his face heat up. All the guys were staring at Cloud, all with a similar smug look.

Cloud let out an exasperated sound of frustration. He jumped up from the table and held his head in his hands. "Ahh! Don't any of you guys start up about that! Can we please just get to the cake? Please?"

Zack laughed. "Ah ha, all right we can do that. You don't have to get so worked up about it. Though it was pretty amusing."

Cloud sighed with relief as he dropped back into his chair. In the corner of his eye he saw Cissnei was still looking at him. When he glanced over to her, she winked quickly. Cloud was surprised yet again.

"Did she help me divert the conversation? I guess I gotta thank her for that later... but at least we can move on to the cake."

Riku: I still cannot believe we got 40 chapters on this.

tmart: We'll be around for another 40 as well probably. Lol

Riku: Oh my, that will be some time though, but it will be interesting!