'Oh come on Sephiroth! At least go in and see the aspirant!' Genesis Rhapsodos´ aggravating voice echoed all around the dingy lit office and inside the walls of the silver haired General´s head.

Can't that bastard ever shut up? Sephiroth thought irritatedly, his face forced into an impenetrable mask as determined to ignore his comrade as good as he could, he rigidly fixed his gaze on the paperwork infront of him.

He knows I'm busy. And he knows how much I hate being interrupted...

'...our new challenge. A competition. Yes... This will be great – I know it!' the redhead chirped and it was only then that he managed to catch his grumpy fellow first class´s attention.

Challenge? What was that moron even talking about?

'Kindly excuse me Genesis...', the so far quiet man finally spoke up.

'As much as I enjoy listening to your glorious voice... Unlike other people I have work to do. As I am sure you Must. Have. Realized. By now.'

His voice lowering dangerously at the last part, those words carrying a certain hue of finality, General Sephiroth Crescent turned his attention back to his papers, determined to continue his doings.

But no.

There was no way a few meager words could possibly discourage the almighty, intolerable, always cheerful jerk Genesis Rhapsodos. It would require for him to shut up and listen in the first place, a feat the red haired first class didn´t seem to have mastered yet, and probably never would.

Funny how there was just a narrow line between courage and stupidity. Between genious and insantiy.

His gaze burning holes now into the thin whitish sheets on his desk, the silver haired first class found it impossible to block out the other man's words.

His colleague´s voice droning on and on without any end in sight, Sephiroth turned back to him impatiently, a frown now appearing on his usually marble forhead.

'Really! Think about it!' The other was saying. 'Each of us takes on an apprentice! Well, Angeal already has the pup... But we could take somebody on as well! You know?! We could train them separately and have them fight against each other to see who´s done the best job! Besides... Shin-Ra wants us to pick apprentices anyway!'

The words kept babbling from his mouth like water from a merry spring.

General Sephiroth Crescent felt his patience slip away with every tiny syllable.

'What. The. Fuck. Are you talking about?!' he spat, disdain clearly evident in every note of his voice.

'Apprentices!' Genesis eleborated eagerly. 'When each of us takes someone in...'

The silver haired man had his fellow first class´ voice tuned out again within seconds.

Apprentices? What would he need an apprentice for?! Hell might as well freeze over before he´d sacrifice his precious time to show some idiot how to hold their sword. No... He definitely wouldn´t do it.

No way.

It was typical for Genesis to get all excited about crap like that. Challenge... As if the redhead could ever beat him!

Trying to pick things the redhead knew Sephiroth would be no use at was typical for Genesis too. He´d probably stop infront of nothing to finally experience the pleasure of besting his comrade.

Annoyed, the silver haired man shook his head.

'You can do what you want, but leave me out of this nonsense.' he begged.

'Besides... If you are so eager to take on an apprentice then why don´t you go in there and accept that candidate whom you are so fond of?!' he added at a second thought, jerking his head into the direction of the briefing room where he knew the aspirant was being questioned at the very moment.

'I really would love to do just that, you know...' the airy redhead answered theatrically.

'But sadly I cannot.'

Huh?

'What´s fucking wrong with you?!' The silver haired General snapped as he jumped to his feet, nearly knocking his desk over and sending his neatly stacked pile of papers flying everywhere.

Drawn up to his full hight he finally faced his talkative comrade, his mako green eyes glowering dangerously at his opposite, a vein pulsing angrily now at his temple.

This ridiculous conversation had lasted long enough for him. He wouldn't put up with this nonsense for much longer.

The murderous expression he was displaying on his face must have encouraged the redhead to go on though.

'It just happens that in this candidate I have found the perfect apprentice for you!' Genesis revealed in an excited voice, causing the pulsing at the General´s temple to quicken it´s pace.

'You can´t possibly find anyone better suited! She´s right in there...' The man clad in the red and black cloak assured, enthusiastically gesturing at the closed briefing room doors just visible through the open doorway of the tiny office.

'You really should give her a chance...'

It took a few moments for General Sephiroth Crescent to actually process the meaning of the words just tossed at him.

'Wait... HER?!' he spat at his comrade irritatedly, vigurously shaking his head to try and emphasize his point.

'Now you expect me to train girls too?!'

'Come on... Don´t be like that.' Genesis cooed. 'Not all girls are 'plush´n pink' you know... Came here to make some money to support her family or something. Besides... She scored 98% on the SOLDIER entrance test. Neither Angeal nor I made more than 85!'

'So some girl bested you at the SOLDIER entrance test and you wet your pants – I bet I´d have scored 200% on that damn thing had I ever taken it and-' the silver haired man started, his temper steadily rising, when General Rhapsodos had the audacity to interrupt again.

'She reminds me a lof of you, you know.' He said in a sincere voice, his eyes meeting Sephiroth´s with a look of utmost pity.

'All cold and calculating... S´got a stick up her arse just like you,' he teased.

Choosing to ignore that last comment in favour of his comrade´s safety, something else came to the General´s mind. Something that would finally put an end to this ridiculous discussion.

'They´d never let a woman into SOLDIER. It´s something unheard of.' he stated in a somewhat triumphant voice, looking at Genesis expectantly.

There was no way the insufferable know it all could deny this one.

But to Sephiroth´s horror, there was a tiny smile now, tugging at those plump red lips.

'Then she´ll be the first.' the redhead replied knowingly.

'When you choose to take her under your wing who would possibly dare to complain? Right... Noone!'

Well... He definitely had a point there.

'You know... When you don´t think you´re up to this challenge just admit it and I won't bother you any further...' A wicked grin now forming on the boyish face, in that moment Sephiroth desired nothing more than to wipe it away with one of his leather gloved fists.

Exhaling a deep drawn breath to try and calm his flaring temper, the silver haired General briskly walked around the desk and started picking up his research now scattered all across the floor. He continued to shuffle the papers back into a neatly stacked pile, careful to send murderous glares at the insufferable being right behind him from time to time as if to warn him not to open his mouth ever again.

'Come on... At least go in there and see her. That´s all I ask from you.' Genesis finally said somewhat imploringly.

'If you don´t take her on as apprentice you could at least ask her out on a date...'

Right... You´ve got to be kidding me...

'You know, that bitch in there might as well be your match.'


The heavy breifing room doors opened once more as the red and black clad man returned from wherever he might have gone and despite the fact that after hours of interrogations, filling out papers and taking ridiculous tests, she was still bombarded with even more questions, Claire Farron couldn´t help but notice the fact that he looked somewhat disshevelled.

His flaming red hair so neat and combed just minutes before now slightly mussed up, there was an angry red mark decorating his jawline that certainly hadn´t been there the last time she´d seen him. She was already wondering whether he´d had a run in with a lost thought lover when the door swung open again and another person entered the room.

A tall lean man in a black leather coat with long silver-

Wait.

For a second Claire Farron forgot how to breathe.

She knew who he was.

Everyone knew who he was.

In all of Gaia, even back in Bodhum where she´d come from, everybody knew his name.

General Sephiroth Crescent. Decorated war hero, SOLDIER First Class and flagship of the Shin-Ra defense forces.

What the fuck was he doing here?!

Was it common for somebody in his rank to witness an ordinary job interview like this?!

Lightning felt her heartbeat quicken.

Oh no... Something must be wrong... Something must be terribly wrong...

The door closed with a soft thud and for the first time since he had entered the room the man in the black leather coat looked up.

Their gazes locked immediately.

Intimidating mako eyes staring into icy blue ones.

Claire Farron felt a shiver running down her spine, felt her hands starting to tremble just from the intensity of his stare and for a second she was paralyzed, unable to form a single coherent thought, a current of inexpicable fear rippling through her entire body, through her soul, her very being.

It took her just a moment to recover and compose herself, to snap out of it and force herself back into the calm controlled facade she had donned the second she had entered the Shin-Ra headquarters. She wouldn´t let her looks betray her.

Is he having this effect on everyone?, she couldn't help but wonder.

The pink haired woman was spared the opportunity to ponder on the nature of this strange occurence any longer as just a second later the newcomer mercifully shifted his gaze to the person next to her.

Lazard Deusericus, who had been conducting her interview, was honoured with a small nod. A guesture the director returned courteously before turning back to the aspirant, eager to continue his relentless grilling.

It was only reluctantly that Claire Farron tore her gaze away from the living legend now casually leaning with his back against the wall somewhere next to the somewhat disgruntled looking redhead. And it was only from the corner of her eyes that she found those mako green eyes watching her intently.

'As I already said, Miss Farron, I realize your test results are amazing and you seem to meet almost all the requirements we usually ask for when somebody´s applying for a position as third class SOLDIER in training...'

Her attention snapping back to Director Lazard, Lightning drew a tiny hopeful breath.

'However, I need to inform you that Shin-Ra does not accept females into SOLDIER.'

Oh.

Sitting on the small uncomfortable chair a Shin-Ra secretary had provided her with, Claire Farron felt her heart plummet and her stomach clench uncomfortably.

This was it then.

What had they been running all those tests for?!

Why had they asked her all those stupid questions?!

Had they secretly been hoping she´d be sprouting a dick in the meantime?

Averting her eyes to her feet, she felt the famous General´s gaze linger on her skinny frame. It almost felt like needles prickling her soft pale skin.

Overpowering the urge to just break down and cry, Claire Farron fought hard to resume her pokerface.

No... She wouldn´t show them how desperate she was. Wouldn´t give them the pleasure of seeing her break. She would thank them for their time, get up and leave, just like she´d come, calm and calculated.

There would be plenty of time to break down in tears later.

Lightning carefully lifted her head and immediately their gazes locked again.

Mako green killer eyes studying her intently, the pink haired female felt her palms grow sweaty, felt her pulse speed up, felt like prey, about to get ripped to pieces.

Oh, she needed to get out of there.

And fast!

The presence of the first class General, it was upsetting her to no end, was unnerving to say the very least.

She was on the edge of her seat, every muscle ready for flight when suddenly the hero with the long silver hair spoke up and for the very first time she heard his deep intimidating voice.

'What would you do to be able to join SOLDIER?' the man before her asked, his voice, his face, his look, everything, completely devoid of emotion.

'Whatever it takes, Sir!' The aspirant replied without hesitation. Her voice smooth and determined, it didn´t betray a hint of any of her insecurities.

Those cold mako eyes narrowing slightly, the silver haired General gave a quick tight nod.

'Meet me at my office 6:30 tomorrow, Miss Farron. I´m taking you on as my apprentice.'


The remainder of the day passed in a blur.

There were a few more awkward questions and there were papers thrust in front of her to sign. She was given a keycard that granted her access to the SOLDIER floor and the training facilities and a plain black company cellphone.

After what seemed only minutes Lightning was ushered out of the briefing room and led to the elevators and up to a deserted corridor where a door was opened for her to led her into her new quarters.

It was a huge white walled room built for at least six people judging from the number of bunks and lockers, all of them uninhabited.

She had only taken a few steps inside the room when the door behind her closed and she was left alone in the semi darkness of what was now to be her home.

Looking around the room Lightning decided on occupying the bunk closest to the small barred window.

Setting her bag down on her new bed she started stowing all her stuff into her brand new locker.

It wasn´t much. A few more shirts, underwear and socks, a toothbrush and some soap... She hadn´t brought a lot with her in the first place. She wouldn´t need a lot here, would she?

Once she finished stowing everything away she sat back down on her sheets, trying to figure out what to do next. Her eyes scanning the room, they lingered at the other beds, all of them vacated, a fact that wasn´t going to change, assuming that General Sephiroth Crescent wasn´t going to take on any other female apprentices anytime soon.

It didn´t help to lift her mood.

Getting up from her bunk, just to have something to do, she opened the only other door in the room to inspect her private `only for her´ three sink and three showers bathroom. She felt more and more lonely by the second.

Staring at her reflection in the huge new mirror sitting there behind the sinks, the pink haired girl found a single tiny tear making it´s way down her cheek, the same image she had seen so often since the day her mother had died. But her reflection, it looked stronger now. More collected. More composed. The tear making it´s way down her jaw, she didn´t bother to wipe it away.

There´d been no use in crying then. There was no use in crying now.

She had reached everything she could have hoped for. She had made it into SOLDIER. And even more. She´d become General Sephiroth Crescent's apprentice.

Now that was something to be proud of, wasn't it?

Getting trained by the legendary hero himself, it was an honour really.

A lot of people had to envy her for that lucky opportunity. But however, Lightning didn´t feel too happy about it. No. Not at all.

The thought of it, of him, it kind of scared her. He kind of scared her.

Everything about him. His looks, the way he spoke and moved, his posture, his dead cold killer eyes, everything was screaming danger at her. It was eerie, that effect he had on her. But then again... Wasn´t it his job to intimidate people?


That night, her first night in SOLDIER, Lightning couldn´t sleep. (Something that wasn´t going to happen again anytime soon.) There was too much on her mind for her to close her eyes.

Still she got up early the next day to make it to her meeting with the General at 06:30.

Summoning the power to get up from her bed, feeling sluggish and tired, Lightning finally made it to her feet and started to get herself dressed, the emptiness of the room pressing onto her from every side, pressing onto her mind. The emptiness of the room, the loneliness, it had begun to take form ever since she had moved into that room, felt like a real solid thing, felt like water surrounding her, absorbing her, drowning her.

See it as a privilege, she kept telling herself.You have all that for yourself. You have a lot of privacy... Something all the other third class soldiers probably wish for, can only dream of.

But no matter what she told herself, the loneliness kept bothering her, kept pushing onto her, kept scaring her.

She wasn´t used to feeling lonely.

Come on Light... Being alone is nothing to be scared of... It means there´s noone there to harm you.

The truth was she just wanted to go home.

It was overwhelming now, the feeling of homesickness.

Her skin was longing to feel the warm rays of the Bodhum summer sun, the gentle salty breeze of the sea, her heart was longing to see her friends, her family. Serah.

But she could not. And she would not.

She hadn´t received her third class uniform yet so she just put on the best clothes she had available, which were pretty much the ones she had worn to the interview the day before.

Then there was the enourmous task of finding the correct room itself. With it' s 70 floors, 5 departments, 8 main elevators and over 1000 rooms, locating the General's office before her time was up was not exactly an easy feat.

The prospect of her new instructor's wrath setting her pace, against all odds, Claire Farron actually made it there in time.

Her first meeting with General Sephiroth Crescent was brief. He filled her in on her schedule, those cold mako eyes observing her with disapproval over the edge of her timetable.

It didn´t make her feel any better. But somehow she understood. To him – First Class General Sephiroth Crescent – she had to look pathetic.

A scawny young girl, weak, with no skills or special powers. Cowering in front of him in just a plain civil shirt and a pair of washed out jeans.

She probably looked a lot of work. A lost cause maybe.

Lightning couldn´t explain why he had accepted her as his apprentice in the first place. She had no idea. Maybe he had felt pity for her? Then again... He didn´t seem to be one to have much pity for anyone.

Well. She was not stupid enough to ask. She wouldn't want to make him angry the very first day. And the General didn't elaborate.

He didn't say much at all in fact, as if he didn't want to waste his time.

It was only a few minutes after she had entered that she found herself outside in the empty corridors again.

All in all she was relieved to be dismissed.

The remainder of her first day as a SOLDIER third class in training passed rather uneventful.

After grabbing herself a snack from the cafeteria she was shown the most important institutions of the building by one of the Shin-Ra front desk ladies.

There were the SOLDIER quarters of course on floor 49 and the training rooms, tons of offices, the dining hall and the cafeteria with it's common room and the recreation area with a huge TV screen, Director Lazard's office and the briefing room, the lobby and the exhibition rooms, the kitchens, a laundry, and the natatorium plus sauna, a parking lot and gigantic supply storages in the below ground levels.

But there were also the rooms above level 59. Those one couldn't access with the standard elevators, that could only be reached via the glass elevators and very special keycards. Those were for the high-level employees's eyes only and weren't part of Lightnings tour.

In addition to the 70 stories of the main building, there were the adjoining facilities like the Shin-Ra-run Sector 1 hospital, the hangars, tons of Shin-Ra warehouses, the outdoor training grounds and Etro knew what else there was that Lightning didn't even know of.

It was easy to loose track.

And then there was the city of Midgar itself with it's 9 sectors, train stations, buzzing highways, tons of streets and infinite small alleys. Lightning would leave exploring those for later.

Back at the main building the freshly baken third class in training was shown to the company taylor's to get herself her uniform.

It was something she had been looking forward to ever since she had arrived.

Wandering the building in her normal clothes all day, it had made her feel like an outsider even more. Wearing her third class uniform instead of her jeans would finally make her look like a member of SOLDIER, not like a tourist, would make her fit in. Or so she thought.

It was full of anticipation therefore that she entered the fitting room, just to find another person already there.

It was a lanky young man, probably younger than herself even, with spiky blonde hair that seemed the defy gravity, posing infront of a stand alone mirror in a set of neatly ironed combat fatigues.

The pink haired girl entering shily, she took a seat near the entrance to patiently await her turn as a balding man in his sixties hurried forward to make changes to the young man´s pants which hung loosely on his slender frame.

Once the tailor noticed Lightning's presence he handed her the smallest sized uniform and shooed her into a cabin to change.

The pink haired female seemed lucky for once. Studying herself in the giant mirror next to her fellow SOLDIER a few minutes later she found that her clothes almost fitted. The dark blue sleeveless turtle-neck sweater fit her snugly and the thick baggy pant reached comfortably to her ankles. The old man would only have to change that minor part of the trousers where... Well... She was female after all.

Observing her reflection from every possible direction, admiring her brand new SOLDIER looks Lightning waited patiently for the tailor to finish whatever he was doing to the younger guy's pants.

Blondie however seemed intent on starting a conversation.

'You must be Sephiroth's girl then...' he said as a meager excuse for an introduction.

His voice was serious and his expression self important. Arrogant almost.

Lightning instantly found a strong feeling of dislike forming somewhere deep inside her.

Claire Farron was no one's girl. And she definitely wasn't Sephiroth's. Was that how people thought of her?

'I am Cloud. Cloud Strife. SOLDIER first class.' the blond boy added quickly as if he hadn't noticed the insult at all.

Icy blue eyes studying her colleague's appearance, Lightning let her gaze roam the young man's body freely, from the top of his unruly hairstyle to his narrow shoulders and over his skinny arms to stop at his scrawny midsection where his blue third class fatigues hung loosely on his lanky frame.

She couldn't help but arch a brow.

'Well... In the making...' Cloud Strife murmured.

'Either way, I´ve been looking forward to meeting you!' he continued.

'General Rhapsodos hired me just today! As his own apprentice, can you imagine?! He is a great man. Genesis I mean. It´s such an honor, don´t you think?! I mean we are going to be trained by the best members of SOLDIER there have ever been!'

He said all this very slowly. And with utmost faithfulness. That guy was a fanatic clearly. And in a creepy way.

It was at that very moment that mercifully the tailor finished with his pants and the blond boy was dismissed.

Lightning couldn´t help but feel relieved.

Her first encounter with a fellow member of SOLDIER, her meeting with Cloud Strife, it wasn't something she found herself looking forward to repeating anytime soon.