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Ch. 46

When Cloud woke up the next morning, he realized that he had forgotten to mention something last night. He sat straight up in his bed, rubbing his eyes while he tried to process everything. He knew last night he wanted to tell Zack about who he thought he saw yesterday, but with spilling about the ice cream it had completely slipped his mind.

"Ah… I could tell him before we leave for work, or even on our way," Cloud thought as he went to get ready for the day.

He got dressed as fast as he could before heading out of his room and into the kitchen area to grab some food. Zack was already up and it looked like he had eaten by the sign of the new dishes sitting in the sink. Luckily, Zack was still sitting there at the table and was just about to stand up as he saw Cloud enter.

"Well you're up earlier than normal," he chimed in towards Cloud.

"Oh, yeah I actually had forgotten something. That I was gonna ask you," Cloud added.

"Well let's hear it then. You can tell me as we walk to work, but eat your food first. I'll let you do that while I go do my morning exercises in the meantime."

Zack walked off to the side out of Cloud's way. Cloud then shuffled around the kitchen and grabbed a bagel quickly and begin to munch on it. While he ate, he tried to think of the best ways to try to tell Zack about Prompto. He was sure that his brother would remember him still, but he did not know how he would react. He only knew that he wanted to figure out where he was at now that he was reminded that he was in Midgar.

After Cloud ate, the two of them headed out and started to walk to work. Though now Cloud was ready to explain what he needed to say.

"So, about what I needed to tell you," Cloud started.

"Oh yeah, you were going to say something. So what's up?"

"Well, when Sephiroth and I were out the other evening, I thought that I saw someone that I knew. That we both knew. Do you remember Prompto? The guy who gave us a ride on his chocobo several years ago back home?" Cloud asked, knowing that Zack most likely remembered but he wanted to make sure anyways.

Zack stopped in his tracks. "What?! Prompto really? Oh man I totally forgot that you said in a letter that he was in Midgar, and I've been here this long!"

"Yeah, I guess with work we kind of forgot about that. But I think I did really see him yesterday!"

"Well I think next time we get some free time, we should go looking for him. I think it would be cool to see him again after all this time."

"That's for sure. It would be nice to catch up with him. I just hope that there's time though," Cloud lamented.

"Ah don't worry, we'll figure it out," Zack assured him with a toothy grin.

After that the two of them reached Shinra headquarters. They said goodbye to one another before heading off their own ways once they reached the training floor. Cloud wandered down the area until he found Sephiroth waiting by one of the simulation rooms.

"Good morning, Cloud. Are you ready for the full rundown of your mission from yesterday?"

He almost spoke, but found that he was still finding his words. He cleared his throat and remembered what Sephiroth had said about him being more confident. "Yes, I am. I'm ready to go over it all now."

"Good. Then follow me in here. It will just be you and me," the silver-haired man said as he turned on a dime and walked into the training room.

"The training room? We're starting with that already?"

"Not immediately, but it is a secure place to talk at least," Sephiroth replied as Cloud followed him in and the door closed behind them.

"Oh, okay. That makes sense. So is it just telling me how I did or will there be training after that?"

"We shall see when it comes to that point. But for right now we are going to go over your mission and break it down for the best results."

Cloud nodded and prepared himself to listen to what Sephiroth had to say. It was what he expected and just what Sephiroth said it would be. He showed Cloud some notes that had been made, covering each thing that Cloud did. Most of it was on the battles that he had gone through. Sephiroth did have a few pointers on how Cloud could have fought the monsters better, but other than that he had done fairly well. Cloud was actually surprised by how much he had done properly throughout the fight, but he started to figure that Sephiroth's training really paid off.

"Now that we have your prior mission out of the way, we can begin the simulation. And because of your progress shown from your mission, todays simulation is going to be two levels harder than what you had last."

"Awww really?" Cloud complained aloud.

"Would you prefer it be four levels?" Sephiroth threatened with a smirk.

Cloud waved his arms in deferrance. "Uh, no no, that's fine. I guess I'm just not used to something like that yet. If you think I'm ready then I guess I'll try it."

"Well that is for you to prove to me if you are ready. And I would like to hope that you are," Sephiroth replied as he walked over to the computer to program in what was needed for the simulation. "Prepare yourself Cloud, and we shall see if you can be as good as you were yesterday. Or perhaps it was all but a fluke."

Cloud stiffened up. Was Sephiroth… trying to provoke him? Or make him doubt himself? "No… he wouldn't try to make me feel that way. He is just wanting to make sure that I didn't get lucky yesterday. I guess that means I really gotta be ready for what he gives me."

Cloud picked up the headset and placed it on his head as he waited for Sephiroth to set up the environment. "I know I can do this. It was no fluke yesterday, it couldn't have been. I've grown stronger than I ever expected, so I am not going to let myself think it was a fluke!"

"We are ready to begin, let us see how well you do now," Sephiroth said over the speakers.

Cloud readied himself, preparing for anything to start off. He was going to go into this with determination and not fear or worry. He was going to be like how he was yesterday and handle the situation as he saw fit, but this time he wasn't going to let any fear hold him up. Or at least he was going to try as hard as he could to do that.

The training continued for the next couple days, each day with Cloud going through most of the same routines. Originally, it was harder than he had anticipated and he was not sure if he would be able to do it. But the thought of letting himself down, as well as Sephiroth, kept him going beyond his normal limits. Cloud knew that if he kept training at that rate, he would become much stronger in no time at all.

The current simulation battle had him testing in the battle between Shinra and Wutai, which is the war that had been ongoing for some time now. Because of that, this mission was going to be different, as it was something that was far more dangerous than the other instances that he had been dispatched on.

It wasn't that he would most definitely be sent out there to the war, but it seemed Sephiroth wanted to use it as a test if the need ended up happening. And having a simulation of a real war was rather frightening to Cloud. He had only been on simulations where he was alone and fighting monsters. He had fought other people before, but never had it been so dark and dire. Never before had he actually had to kill another. He had injured and knocked out enemies before but never killed.

Through the current training regiment, he fought several soldiers, apparently from Wutai based on the different clothes. Though, Cloud did notice something else as he was going that seemed rather strange.

"Why are there Shinra troops here too?" He wondered aloud.

"What reason do you think that could be Cloud? Think about it, and give me your answer," Sephiroth said, speaking to him through the headset.

"Hmm…" Cloud hummed as he rolled out of the way of an attack. "They are Shinra… yet they are attacking on the same side as the Wutai soldiers… did they defect over to their side?"

"That could be one possibilty. But there is still another. What is the best way for an enemy to infiltrate the other side's base? A way that won't make them look suspicious."

"Oh! They are Wutai soldiers disguise as Shinra troops?"

"Correct. So regardless of their clothes, pay attention to who they are fighting. You must take them out either way," Sephiroth replied.

"Right. I'm on it then," Cloud replied with a more confident tone now that he was aware of the situation.

This would be what he would face out on the actual battlefield. Even though Cloud was unsure if he was prepared in full for it, he also knew that it was something that had to be done. Each day had been a different experience, so it always required him to think. "Hopefully this will make me better though," he thought silently as he proceeded with the task at hand.

When the simulation was over Cloud, sighed several times and took off his headset. This by far was the hardest of all the ones he had done, and it really had worn him out. He flopped to the floor, for his legs were far too tired to support him anymore.

"You won't be able to do that on the battlefield Cloud. Your enemies will give you no time to rest," Sephiroth stated as he looked down at his protege.

"But the simulation was over, I finished it," Cloud said, trying to catch his breath.

"It was over because I finished it. You would not have continued much farther unfortunately."

Cloud lowered his head, frowning slightly. He started to wonder if that meant he didn't do as good as Sephiroth had hoped for. "I'm sorry… I'll try harder next time."

"Good. I would expect no less of you for that," Sephiroth replied. "Your training has concluded for the day since you are unable to continue at the time."

"Okay," Cloud nodded before pushing himself to stand up. He was definitely going to need a nice long rest after this. Despite it only being a simulation, it always felt just as real, and it really did use a lot of his energy today. "I'll get going then."

"Not just yet. There is another matter that we need to talk about. While I do expect well of you during training, apparently I was wrong to expect that same level for your trustworthiness as well," Sephiroth said coldly.

Cloud tensed up, his heart started to pound against his chest. The coldness of Sephiroth's tone was making the room a whole lot colder, which only made Cloud more nervous about whatever it could be. "H-Huh? What do you mean?"

The white-haired man began to pace around the room slowly. "This is something that I recently found out. But, do you recall a certain something that I wanted you to keep to yourself?"

Cloud tried to think what Sephiroth meant. He thought back to each training day and everything Sephiroth had taught him so far. But he could not recall anything that was like that. He kept trying to think about it though, knowing it would be foolish to have to ask Sephiroth, especially since he seemed disappointed.

But then it hit him. Cloud gasped as he finally realized what the one secret was. It was nothing to do with his training or anything like that. It was far from that in all of its entirety. Cloud could feel his stomach twisting into knots as he tried to confirm his thought on the subject. "You mean… the ice cream?"

"It seems that you do remember that at least. But now, what did I tell you about it?"

"Uh, to keep it a secret and tell nobody."

"Yes. But you did anyways. To your brother no less. Though, the only damage that caused was having to hear Angeal complain about it, but I'm still disappointed."

Cloud almost wondered how that Sephiroth had found it out, but what he had just said made it all click in place. "Zack did say something about that Angeal never does anything for him. Maybe… maybe he bugged him about it. Then Angeal told Sephiroth? Oh man, I was hoping he wouldn't find out…"

He almost didn't know what to say, but he didn't want Sephiroth to be too upset. "Well I wouldn't have said anything if Zack had not constantly kept wanting to know what we were both doing in town that night."

"Hmm, well you're right that Zack can be quite… eccentric about things," Sephiroth began, giving Cloud the hope that he would understand. "But… nonetheless, you made me a promise."

The small hope Cloud had slipped away, now replaced by a feeling of unknowing.

"To be honest with you though, the ice cream is not my concern here. It may be something that I don't want others to know about, but it's just that," Sephiroth commented again.

"Wait, it's not?" Cloud curiously asked, confused by the words his mentor spoke.

"Correct. Let me ask though. If the information I gave you was something more important, such as intel related to this job… would you just willingly give it over, even if someone annoyed you?"

Cloud had a feeling of guilt now. He had never thought of that possibility with knowing the ice cream secret. He always assumed it was just some weird quirk about Sephiroth. But what his mentor was saying to him did make sense. Had he failed Sephiroth? Had he failed himself? Would he be demoted? So many questions swirled in his head without an answer as he tried to figure out what to say to the question he had just been asked.

A hand clasped on his shoulder. "I'm sure you're overthinking this again, but an answer would be preferable," Sephiroth stated as he made eye contact with Cloud.

Cloud never noticed before the way that Sephiroth's eyes were. The deep, aqua color of his eyes were not even the highlight. That honor was taken by the slit that was in the place of normal pupils in the center, almost making him look like he had snake eyes. They nearly pierced his soul the way they were staring at him and he gulped.

"Well… I would not want to give over information like that. No. You're right…" he muttered as he trailed off his words.

"I'm glad you understand that, and I would hope you learn from this. I do not wish to hear you making the same mistake again. And that doesn't mean you are off the hook, I still am disappointed that you revealed that secret."

"I'm sorry…"

"Well, I think it's time to leave now. That's all for today. As one last note, just be thankful that it was only your brother that found out this instance. But do not let it happen again. Go," Sephiroth stated as he stood straight up and turned away.

Cloud took the opportunity to stand up quickly and exit, not wanting to stick around for another lecture. He had already messed up twice now recently. He did not want to do anything like that again. As he made his way out, a feeling of slight contempt formed in his gut. "I TOLD Zack not to tell anyone…" He was determined to let his brother know just how he felt about it all too once he was back home.

We are still nearing the start of CC, one day we will get there haha. But eventually! Thanks for sticking with us!