Welcome back to another chapter! When we left off, Cloud was heading behind Sephiroth for a talk. What is going to happen and what will Sephiroth say? Let's find out!

Ch. 44

Cloud tailed behind Sephiroth without making a sound. He even tried to keep his footsteps as light as possible. He had no idea what was going to happen. Sephiroth was hard to read, so knowing whether he wants to praise Cloud more or actually scold him was all he could wonder. He only hoped that if it was scolding, that it would not be too harsh.

He almost had let himself break under the pressure of the captain yelling at him. He had shown a crack of weakness… and he knew Sephiroth wouldn't like that. He was supposed to be strong and not let his emotions get the best of him in cases like that. So now he could only assume that Sephiroth was going to tell him off for that.

Finally they had made it to a room on the SOLDIER floor that was sometimes used for small conferences. Sephiroth opened the door and walked inside without even a glance to see if Cloud was still behind him. But Cloud figured Sephiroth knew he was still there, so he continued to follow behind into the room.

Once they were both inside the room, Cloud instinctively closed the door behind him, figuring that is what Sephiroth would have him do anyways. Sephiroth then turned to Cloud slowly, giving him a deadpan look. Cloud was sure that he was about to get scolded even more.

"Cloud."

The simple utterance of his name from Sephiroth sent a chill down his spine as he worried about what could happen. The way he said it, the tone, the accent, the volume level… all of it made Cloud freeze. His heart rate increased as did his breathing. He began to fret even more that he was in severe trouble. He closed his eyes and waited for the bad news as he tried to calm himself.

"First of all, you have nothing to be ashamed of. What you did was the right call," Sephiroth uttered slowly.

Those were not the words that he expected to hear from Sephiroth. He opened his eyes towards his silver-haired mentor to see a relaxed expression coming from him. Or at least he assumed it was. Just hearing that was enough to help relax cloud's mind.

"Wait, so...y-you don't think I messed up? I thought for sure that I must have…" Cloud admitted with a defeated and nervous attitude.

"No you performed admirably. I told you that I would keep track of that mission. In fact, I knew what was going on the whole time unbeknownst to anyone else. I was curious how you would perform on your first leading role," he added in.

Cloud was surprised. He had not expected to hear such praise from Sephiroth. He almost didn't know what to say but he tried to speak.

"Wait you were there? But… the captain. He-"

"His words are meaningless as you heard earlier. What matters is my assessment. So listen well. You are the only one who needs to hear this."

With that, Cloud took that as a cue to try to pay more attention and shake off the cobwebs in his head. He didn't know what else to say as he stood there silently before Sephiroth continued.

"It's a SOLDIER's job to assess the situation and figure out the best way to handle it. Sometimes people get hurt, but you handled yourself properly, didn't freak out, and prioritized the safety of your men above your own."

Cloud was listening intently as Sephiroth paused. When cloud did not respond, he continued even more.

"I told you that I wanted to test you, and you passed. Your abilities have improved but you still have a long way to go."

After Sephiroth had finished with his words, he began to walk around slightly and looked away from Cloud. Seeing the movement in front of his eyes stirred him from the daze he was in.

"Oh, uh, thank you! I did try my best on it. I thought I had messed up but it's good that you think I did well enough," Cloud spoke quickly before words failed him.

Sephiroth then turned back to face him. "However that is the main issue. What you just did. You're unsure of yourself and doubt your abilities. You show your emotions too much as well when confronted. You must learn to be more transparent."

Cloud stood frozen again. There was the criticism that he had been expecting.

"Don't show your emotions too much when you are placed in a serious situation. That goes for your friends and your enemies. Control yourself. As your mentor, it's my job to help you with that, so I will. For now you can leave knowing that you have done a fine job today," Sephiroth concluded.

Every last bit of tension finally let go from Cloud. He knew that Sephiroth was going to give him criticism, but he had not expected the praise. He knew that Sephiroth had given him praise beforehand during training in the simulations, but it never felt quite like this.

On the first real big mission he had done, Cloud had made Sephiroth proud. That's what it seemed like anyways. Cloud ended up smiling, feeling happy that he had made Sephiroth proud of him.

And without even realizing it he reached forward to give Sephiroth a hug. "Thanks, Sephiroth."

It didn't even process in his mind what he was doing. He just went with what his first thought was, which was to thank Sephiroth with a hug. It's something that he would generally do to someone that had helped him out. It was just instinct.

As he stood there with his arms around his mentors waist, it finally clicked in his head what he was doing. He started to clam up, especially when he noticed that Sephiroth had not really budged much at all. "Uh, I uh… I wasn't thinking…"

"It's all right. I told you already to be more confident in what you say and do. This was just… unexpected. I'm not one that exhibits feelings or actions such as this. I do not understand such things like compassion, but," he let out a long and heavy sigh. "Good job for not letting me down."

Sephiroth patted Cloud on the back twice before gently moving back away from his student. Cloud was still slightly shaken, but tried to fight it off like Sephiroth had said. "Thanks again, then."

"You're free to go then. Go on home for the day after that mission. You need a break anyways to recover," Sephiroth ordered.

Cloud only nodded and then turned to quickly exit the room. But before he could, he heard Sephiroth clear his voice. Cloud stopped himself and turned back around to see what else Sephiroth had to say.

"Though perhaps there should be a reward for your efforts today."

Cloud blinked. He almost was confused, but then he remembered what Sephiroth could possibly mean. "Wait, you mean go and.. Uh I mean. Go to… that place?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, if you wanted to. You do deserve it after all."

Cloud quickly nodded. "Okay. That sounds nice after a tough mission anyways.

The two of them then exited the room and began their way out of Shinra headquarters. As they walked, Cloud started to let thoughts crossback into his mind. The reaction that he had gotten from Sephiroth was not one that he expected at all. The words of gratification may not have been standard, but Cloud slightly smiled at knowing that for Sephiroth it was probably something that fit him.

Soon enough they were out on the streets of Midgar. They were heading the way towards the secret location, but on the way Cloud let his eyes wander around to the people and places around him. Upon spacing out his eyes soon drifted enough to the many people walking around, until he noticed something.

He blinked a few times and nearly came to a stop. There was something that he had seen amongst the crowds that seemed familiar. He stood on his tiptoes to get a slightly better view and that's when he saw a familiar, spiky blond hairstyle that resembled a chocobo butt.

Cloud was about to break into a run towards the crowd to see if it was who he thought it was when he heard Sephiroth speak up.

"What are you doing? Did you not want to come with me for a treat?"

Cloud faced his mentor quickly. "Well, uh, it's not that. I do want to come. It's just…" he trailed off and turned back around. He tried following the path that he saw the person walking but they were gone. He couldn't find that familiar hair anymore.

"If something is on your mind, I implore you to speak up," Sephiroth suggested.

A sigh escaped from Cloud and he slumped his shoulders. "No it's fine. I… thought I saw someone that I knew. But I lost track of them."

"I see. Well, if they are here in Midgar, I am sure that you will see them some other time. Come on and let's go," Sephiroth added and then continued walking towards the center of town.

"Yes sir," Cloud mumbled as he started to follow Sephiroth again.

"I wonder if that was who I thought it was? I really wanted to find out. I haven't seen him in forever. With all the SOLDIER stuff going on, I nearly forgot that he was here in Midgar. I'll have to remind Zack about it maybe and we can go together."

He was pulled from his head by Sephiroth's voice having gotten louder. "Cloud!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"You're walking in the wrong direction."

He then noticed that he had been moving slowly away from Sephiroth. "Oh, sorry." He then strode back over behind the man as the two of them continued to walk forward.

"And Cloud…" Sephiroth continued. "What did I tell you the first day we met?"

"Huh?" Cloud asked, not understanding why Sephiroth had asked such a question.

Sephiroth sighed. "It seems your head has gotten too far into the fog. I told you before not to call me 'sir', or do you not recall?"

"Oh!" Cloud exclaimed. "Sorry about that! I didn't even realize that I said it. I guess you're right…" he ended up laughing sheepishly. "I must have gotten too lost in my thoughts back there. I'll make sure not to let it happen again."

"That would be preferable," Sephiroth replied.

Cloud did not say anything back to Sephiroth though as he could think of nothing. So they remained in silence until they got to the place they needed to be.

Sephiroth went through the same process they had done the first time and led him and Cloud down to the area where the ice cream was. After ordering the same thing as before, they each sat in silence and ate their ice cream. It was just as good as Cloud remembered from the last time. Once it was over, they headed back up and left the building.

Just as they were walking away from the pub area, a familiar voice ring out that Cloud immediately knew.

"Cloud! Oh there you are! I've been looking for you for a while now."

It was Zack. He ran up to Cloud and looked him over for a moment.

"I heard about the mission from some others, and I wanted to check on you. But everywhere I looked you weren't there. You weren't replying to my texts either, but I knew you were back so I wasn't too worried. But I'm glad to have found you."

Zack spoke so quickly but fortunately cloud was used to it. "I'm alright I think. Probably just need some rest. And sorry for not replying! I guess with everything that happened it just slipped my mind! But um…" Cloud ended suddenly as he pointed to his side.

Upon looking, Zack finally saw Sephiroth standing there. "Oh! How could I have missed you. Sephiroth! The great hero. It's good to meet you again."

Sephiroth almost gave a wry smile. "Likewise Zack. You needn't worry about your brother though. He's been doing quite well."

Cloud was surprised at hearing Sephiroth putting in a good word about him to someone else, but it made him happy to hear it. More especially that it was Zack who was hearing it. And from that he could see the surprise, and gleeful look on Zack's face. It was clear that he never expected to hear Sephiroth be so openly nice and friendly, but also he was complimenting Cloud!

"Wow! That's great to hear!" Zack beamed happily. "Glad to hear my little bro isn't causing you any trouble."

"Far from any trouble, he is a good and well behaved student, opposed to how you may be sometimes."

"Huuuh?! What do you mean by that? Has Angeal been saying things about me to you?" Zack asked quickly, a small childish pout forming on his face.

Sephiroth smirked. "Nothing of the sorts. He only told me that 'the puppy' has quite a lot of energy."

"What? 'The puppy'? He's calling me that?" Zack asked, his eyes widening slightly. The pout still seemed to be mixed into his face along with some confusion.

"If you cannot see the reason why, then that is not my problem," Sephiroth reported rather bluntly, though the smirk stayed.

Cloud couldn't help but snicker. He could clearly understand why Angeal had called Zack a 'puppy'. It was clear by Zack's amount of energy and attention span, which could be fairly short at times. Plus there was all the times that Zack got awfully excited about something. Cloud was sure if Zack had a tail, it would be wagging a mile a minute.

"Hey, come on Cloud, you don't believe that do you?" Zack asked, catching on to Cloud's amused face.

Cloud laughed. "Sorry Zack, but I think I get it. And it's funny."

"It is not," Zack mumbled shortly and looked down as his brother continued to laugh.

Sephiroth stood silent as he admired the banter between the two brothers. At seeing them embroiled in their childish antics, he decided to take his leave. As he turned around to go, the laughter had stopped.

"Oh you're leaving already?" Cloud called from behind.

"Yes, I will be off now. Have fun with, whatever you're doing," he stated as he turned around and started to walk away.

Before he was able to get much farther, Zack decided to speak up then. "There was actually something I was meaning to ask but it slipped my mind until now. Uh, you know what part of town this is right? What were you doing with bringing Cloud here?" Zack questioned the First Class SOLDIER.

Sephiroth looked at him curtly. "That, is business between Cloud and I. It is nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Suspicions arose in Zack, but he knew that he best not press his luck. It was Sephiroth after all, the person that he admired. He had some assuredity that Sephiroth would do nothing to put Cloud in danger. But he couldn't help it, being the older brother. He tried to look out for Cloud.

Cloud could feel the strict tone from that reply as Sephiroth shot him a glance. He knew that it meant that he better not say anything to even Zack about it. He gulped, but slowly nodded knowingly.

"Well, if there's nothing else then I leave you to it," Sephiroth said once again as he finally was able to depart.

"All right then. Come on Cloud, let's go home now since it's getting later," Zack said as Cloud followed behind him in the opposite direction towards the area their apartment was.

"I wonder if Cloud would tell me if I asked him. Surely he would trust me, his brother. It's just a bit odd though. Maybe it's mission related? I'm curious as to what it is though. I guess only time will tell," Zack thought to himself silently as the brothers made their way home.

Heh, building up some good bonding for Cloud and Sephiroth. The man must be so confused by that hug though lol.

Hope you all enjoyed!