Here comes the next chapter nice and ready for all of you! I still have no idea what to say half the time up here anymore, but as always enjoy!

Ch. 47

"I told you not to tell anyone Zack!"

"Hey hey Cloud. Don't yell at me. What's the matter?"

The two of them were back in the apartment. The day had ended the and boys had finished up their dinner. Cloud had to wait as patiently as he could before he felt the moment was right to confront Zacl about it. "You said you wouldn't mention it to Angeal! You know… the thing I told you not to mention to anyone."

"What are you… Oh! You mean the ice cre-"

Cloud covered Zack's mouth. "Shh! I said not to talk about it. And you did it anyways. Now Sephiroth is really mad at me because I wasn't supposed to tell."

"Why didn't you say-" Zack tried to say as he pried Cloud's hand off his mouths.

"I did! But you weren't listening," Cloud retorted.

Zack sighed, lowering his eyes. "I'm sorry Cloud, I guess I got carried away with being too curious. I hope Sephiroth wasn't too upset at you."

Cloud stared at Zack with a deadpan expression. "Too upset? Maybe you should experience it for yourself. It's not just about the ice cream. It's about me being trusted as well. And now he can't trust me because of all this. I'm just ...UGHH!"

"I don't know what else to say Cloud. I really did just want to find out about what was going on. But… I was also looking out for you. I didn't want anyone talking you into anything you didn't feel comfortable doing…" Zack trailed off, feeling a tinge of guilt over the situation.

"I'm really worried now I've messed things up. What… what if Sephiroth doesn't want me as his student anymore cause he can't trust me? What if I've failed and that's it? What am I going to do…?"

Zack rose up from his seat and went around to Cloud. He grabbed his brother by the shoulders and turned him towards himself. "Cloud, I still am so sorry about causing you so much trouble. But do not give up on yourself. I know that you're better than a couple mistakes. You know it too."

Cloud looked at Zack. He knew his brother was doing what he could, and it did help him feel a little better. But there was still one major thing on his mind. "But what about Sephiroth?"

"Hmm…" Zack thought aloud. "I'm not as familiar with him as you are. Maybe he'll come around though?"

"Maybe," Cloud said shortly before just staring off.

Zack wanted to press on, to tell Cloud about some other topics as well. But he figured it was not the best time. He thought that the best option was to leave Cloud alone for a bit. "Well, uh, I'm gonna go and take a rest or something. If you need me you know where I am."

With that, Cloud was left alone in the kitchen, after Zack had kindly cleaned up everything before he had left off. Cloud only sat there, just starting off into space inside his mind, thinking about everything that had happened.

"Was it right to get mad at Zack like that? I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do. Maybe he's right though. I just have to keep going and work hard to prove myself. I mean, it's not like anyone else will ever know about the issue, but still… it's so frustrating…"

He went back and forth inside of his own head for quite some time, before deciding that Zack's plan was not a bad idea for himself as well. He walked over to his room and closed the door before getting himself ready for bed. He hoped some extended rest would make things easier. At least he wouldn't have to think about all of the issues whilst sleeping.

The next day had come and Cloud prepared himself for work like usual. After he had gotten out of bed and dressed himself, he figured he would go get some food. As he began to walk out of the door, he thought about what had happened before with Zack. He flinched at the thoughts that entered his mind. "Ah… I hope that he's not mad at me. I know he said he was sorry… but what if he still feels a bit annoyed that I yelled at him so much?"

As he marched into the kitchen, he saw that Zack was sitting at the table quietly eating. His brother was already prepared for the day and seemed to be engrossed in what he was eating.

"Uh, good morning Zack."

Cloud received no answer. Zack didn't even bother to turn his head towards his brother. Cloud gulped. Maybe Zack just didn't hear him? He wasn't sure but it made him slightly nervous.

He decided to go ahead and get some food and then hopefully try again. Once he had done that and sit down at the table, he looked at his brother directly. "So did you hear me?"

A small grunt came from Zack, nothing definite in the way it was made. Something was clawing at him to make him feel eased by this. It didn't feel right… Zack wouldn't give him the cold shoulder. He never did that before.

"Hey… Zack, you tired or something?"

Zack still did not turn to face Cloud, warranting only more concern. The feeling became worse in him, now turning from clawing to knot-tying uneasiness.

There was silence between the two the rest of the morning while they ate. Cloud didn't know what he could do to get Zack's attention and he didn't want to annoy his brother any more than he thought he already had. Soon, Zack was done and he got up and left for work, leaving cloud there alone.

Once the door closed, a sigh escaped from Cloud's mouth. He couldn't even process many thoughts based on what happened. He only slumped his shoulders and then got up to leave, not having the desire to finish his meal.

"I'm not sure what's wrong… maybe it won't last long. I'll just hope work keeps me busy. Keeps my mind off things. At least I hope…"

1 hour later…

After Cloud had gotten to work, he went right to where he needed to meet up with Sephiroth. He waited patiently for the man to come in, his nervousness rising. He knew he wasn't supposed to be nervous, but he was still worried. Finally, the man came through the door.

"Cloud, it's time to start the training. We will be going for an extended session today. I hope you're ready," the man said in his usual cold tone.

"Right, okay then," Cloud replied.

He followed Sephiroth until they were at the training room once again and they entered. No conversation was held between the two of them, which wasn't unusual, but cloud had hoped for something brief at the least.

Once they were in, Cloud moved to grab the virtual headset and prepared himself for the coming simulation. Sephiroth stood at the machines and readied the program for him.

"All right. Time to begin," Sephiroth stated as everything faded and Cloud soon found himself in a familiar setting outside of the city.

He went through everything as he usually did, fighting off monsters and the occasional people that would show up, which were Wutai origin. As he went along though, things began to change. The enemies began to hit harder and seemed tougher to take down. Cloud continued to exert himself more and more, taking some hits along the way.

"This is tougher than I have ever had to face. I don't know how much more of this I can take," he thought to himself.

One encounter after another, cuts became adorned across Cloud's body as he couldn't avoid the hits. Soon enough, his stamina was completely drained as he laid on the ground nearly helpless. The mission was not over yet though, and as he tried to get back to his feet to face the adversary that remain, a black coat whisked in front of him quickly, followed by a long, white mane of hair.

"S-Sephiroth?" he questioned.

It was unlike his mentor to intervene in a mission unless he knew that Cloud could not handle it. Had he increased the difficulty because of what happened with him revealing the secret? Cloud wondered if that's why he was failing. Many thoughts raced through his mind at that moment, but were cut away by the quick single slash from Sephiroth.

No more enemies remained and it was just him and his mentor now. Sephiroth turned around to face cloud and stared down at him with his cold blue eyes, the snake-like irises piercing his being again. After staring for a moment, Cloud regained his composure.

"Uh, thanks Sephi-"

"I did not come to help you. I should not have to do that. You have failed this mission as well. I'm quite disappointed in you," the cold voice said.

Cloud didn't know quite what to say as he gawked in silence.

"Your repeated failures have gotten on my nerves. I am a patient man but my patience has run out. You showed promise, but apparently it was just a flicker, nothing more. You don't deserve to be in SOLDIER."

"B-But I-"

"And," Sephiroth cut him off. " you won't be after this point. Your mind nor your body capable of handling this. This is the end of the road for you."

Cloud stared in shock. He was unable to move, unable to speak, as he looked at his mentor. He wanted to refute what had been said, but part of him believed what he had just heard as well. But he didn't have time to think much more as Sephiroth inches closer to him.

"W-What are y-you-" he stuttered.

The elongated sword rose backwards in preparation. But faster than he could think it came hustling towards Cloud as he saw nothing but darkness.

"AHHHHH!"

Cloud quickly sat up out of bed. He could feel the sweat perforating from his body and the cold, near numbness in his hands. Slowly, he raised them and wrapped them around himself, trying to stop any shaking that they were trying to do.

He continued to breath deeply as he focused on where he was. It only took a few moments to see the familiar walls that were his room. The tension started to loosen a little but he still kept a firm grip on himself. But slowly one hand moved to his chest and he felt around, as if checking if something were to be there.

"I'm in my room. Everything's okay… I'm not… Sephiroth didn't… It was a dream. That's all it is."

The door unclicked a moment later and Zack swung it open. "Cloud!? You okay? I heard you scream."

Cloud turned his head and sighed with relief at the sight of his brother. "And Zack still cares, He'd never stay mad at me like I dreamt. I guess… I must have been really worried about all of it."

"I'm fine," Cloud finally answered. "Just a rather… vivid nightmare. But I'm okay now."

Zack immediately sat down on the bed next to Cloud and pulled him onto a hug. "I'm sorry, if you don't want to talk about it that's okay, but I am going to take a guess and say it had something to do with what happened earlier?"

Cloud nodded as the rest of his worries and tensions melted away in his brother's arms. To be able to feel the warmth of his brother's body felt nice and comforting as he closed his eyes. Cloud opted to stay there for a good few minutes, just taking in the fact that nothing had changed and that he was all right.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Zack pulled back. "All right. Well you seem to be handling it okay now at least. I'm gonna go grab some food and then head out so make sure you're right behind me. And hey, you know despite it being a nightmare, it was fairly good timing. It woke you up just before you would normally wake up."

Cloud couldn't help but laugh, it was just like his brother to make a joke to turn a situation around. Zack then stood up from the bed and walked towards the door. As he exited the door, Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that things were normal. Well, as normal as they could get considering everything that was going on.

"Ha, okay then. Thanks," Cloud said, though Zack was already out of earshot.

Following suit, Cloud then stood up and did the exact same thing, after getting himself ready of course. After a few minutes of preparation, he was finally done and went to get some breakfast before heading to work. Zack apparently had decided to wait on him this morning, which was unusual. But Cloud was happy for it. A small smile came to his face at noticing the gesture.

Shortly, Cloud had finished and was ready to go. He spoke a few more words with Zack while they were on the way to headquarters. Cloud also had a lot of time to think to himself. "Well, at least things were not as they seemed. I just was worried over nothing. I need to stop that… hopefully it will get better. No, not hopefully, they will get better. I am going to make sure of it."

One thought though he spoke aloud without even realizing it. "I wonder if things will be all right today with work…"

"Don't worry about it Cloud," Zack assured him as he heard what was said. "I'm sure it'll all be fine. Remember, just don't worry so much."

He knew that Sephiroth had spoken similar words to him before, which he wanted to try to take to heart. But there was just something about hearing it from Zack that made those words have more impact. He wanted to listen the best he could, hoping that things would work out. And he was planning to keep on trying until he got it right.

Cloud is getting better and recovering much faster now! And soon CC can finally start! Woo!