A/N: I'm back again. I've been working on this chapter all day; it took me forever to do. I would like to thank Zyte, Fallen Angel X and edenblack18 for their reviews. Thanks very much. Here's Chapter 8.

Summary – Squall hasn't been sleeping well so he decides to wear himself out by training. At the forest, however, he meets Cloud. Squall explains what has happened to them and makes a startling discovery. The monsters in Cloud's time don't have magic to draw. Cloud decides to teach Squall how to use materia, and Squall accepts the offer.

Chapter 8 – The Ways Of The Materia

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The rest of the day past without incident. It was soon dinner time. Tifa had cooked up another fabulous meal, along with a glass of her popular Final Heaven drink. Squall finished his meal and listened to the others talking.

Irvine, Selphie and Zell sat to the left of Squall. They were laughing at the joke Irvine had just told. Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Quistis sat talking just opposite Squall. He could hear the conversation over the laughter.

 "Gold Saucer?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, this Saturday. Everything's free." Cloud answered

"They have the promotion once a year. We were at the promotion last year." Barret explained

"You wanna go?" Quistis asked them, "I think my friends would like i."

"Sure, how 'bout you Tif?" Barret asked her

"Yeah." She answered

"So it's settled then," Cloud said, "We'll leave on Friday, it'll take us at least a whole day to reach there. We can cross on the ships that are leaving from Junon."

They all nodded. A split second before they turned round, Squall looked somewhere else. He didn't want to be caught eavesdropping. He stood up and went into the living room. He saw Rinoa and Marlene on the floor stroking Angelo, who was lying on her back. Rinoa noticed him when he sat down and she joined him.

"What's wrong Squally?" she asked him. "You look exhausted."

"I am." He replied "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I don't blame you. You must be worried. Why don't you just relax." she said as she leaned forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She drew her lips away from his and he spoke again.

"I want to but…" he was cut off as Rinoa kissed him again. He kissed back and wrapped his hands around her waist. They sat kissing passionately before they heard the slam of a door shutting. The broke their kiss and looked around, a few seconds later Tifa came into the room.

"Who left?" Squall asked

"It was Cloud. He said he was going to train. There was something weird. He took extra materia and an Iron Bangle." Tifa answered

Squall suddenly remembered. Cloud wanted them to meet in the forest. He was going to teach Squall how to use materia.

"I think I'll join him. I want to try and get a decent sleep tonight, a few hours training might help." With that he picked up his gunblade, gave Rinoa a peck on the cheek and walked out.

It only took him about 20 minutes to get to the forest. He went to the opening where he had seen Cloud earlier. Cloud was sitting down sorting the materia on his sword and armour. He saw Squall and stood up. He threw the Iron Bangle at Squall, who caught it easily.

"Put it on." He said simply.

Squall did what he was told. He slipped it on and looked at it. There was a single materia slot in it. The materia had 'Bolt' written on it. Squall figured that it was the lightning spell Cloud had fired at Rinoa.

Cloud stood a few feet away from Squall and started explaining how materia worked.

"Alright. Materia can be quite hard to use at first but once you learn how, it'll be easy with almost every other materia. First, you need to focus on drawing the magic out of the materia, picking your target then releasing the magic. Second, you need to keep the magic under control. If you don't it was backfire and there's a high chance of the spell attacking itself and exploding. Third, once you've mastered how to control the magic, you need to learn to change the power of your attacks. You can make it stronger or weaker. I could fire a very weak ice spell at you and it wouldn't faze you in the slightest."

"Okay." Squall said, showing that he understood. It sounded very difficult but he was willing to give it a go.

"You ready to give it a shot?" Cloud asked

"Yeah, definitely." Squall answered confidently.

"Okay, now start off by focusing on the materia and start drawing the magic out. If you're successful, the materia should start glowing."

Squall nodded and started to focus. He figured that drawing the magic from materia was the same as drawing magic from an enemy. He started to feel the energy build up, he then saw the materia glow faintly. He drew more of the magic and the materia grew brighter. He felt the energy surge through his body. A glow at his other hand started to form. Cloud smiled.

"That's good. Now, draw more of the magic to make the energy stronger, but keep it under control. You'll start to feel slightly weaker but that's normal."

Squall nodded again and drew more of the magic out. The glow at his palm grew brighter and brighter. He suddenly felt weak, very weak. His energy was being drained and he started gasping for breathe. The energy at his palm went back into his body, instantly making Squall yell in pain. There was a small explosion as the magic backfired. The blast knocked him off his feet and he landed hard on his back. He stared to become drowsy before he felt his energy return. Cloud finished casting cure and Squall shakily stood up. Cloud looked impressed.

"Well done. You almost had it. A few more tries and you might actually cast it properly."

"Why did I suddenly feel so weak? It felt like my energy was being sucked out of me."

"When we cast materia, we have to use up our energy to cast the spell. That's one of the side effects of using materia. It tires you out. C'mon, try again."

Squall stood up and readied himself. He focused and started to draw the magic out again.

* * * * *

"Guys, can I have your attention."

Everyone looked round at Tifa. She sounded like a teacher. Barret was standing behind her

"Okay," she started, "According to Squall, you're going to be here for a while, so you might as well get to know our world. Me, Cloud and Barret have decided to take you to Gold Saucer. It's a large theme park sort of place. There are arcades, battle arenas and Chocobo races."

"Cool!" Zell gasped. He wanted to see the Chocobo races, and maybe take part in it himself. The others looked excited.

"This Saturday is the Annual Promotion, where everything you try is free. But it's for one night only. If you want to come, we're leaving tomorrow. It will take just under a day to get there. We can use the rooms in the ghost hotel until nightfall, that's when the promotion starts."

"Does Squall know about this?" Rinoa asked.

"Yes, according to Cloud. He was listening to us when we discussed it."

Rinoa was taken aback. How did Cloud know these things?

Tifa looked at the clock. It was 10:30.

"Okay guys, up to bed. You're going to need plenty of sleep; we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

* * * * *

Squall felt his energy return as he recovered from the backfire, for the fifth time.

"Why can't I do it!? He yelled.

Cloud was starting to feel tired himself. The constant casting of spells was taking its toll.

"I think I know why," he said. Squall stood up. "You're focusing too much on making the magic stronger. You need to focus more on controlling it."

Squall nodded and readied himself. He started to focus again. He had easily mastered drawing the magic out so it only took in a few seconds to do so. Soon, the energy was once again glowing at his hand. This was it. He was going to do it this time. He slowly drew out the magic, concentrating more on keeping it under control. The spell got stronger and Squall felt a strange sensation in his body. He felt his energy slip again but only slightly. He felt his body tense up as he aimed the magic for Cloud. The magic started to take his energy again. He could feel it begging to be cast. He started to sweat. He tried to release the magic but it was straining his mind. Cloud noticed this.

"DO IT!"

Squall let the magic go, and fell to his knees. The lightning spell struck Cloud in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He quickly cured himself and Squall and they both stood up.

"That was very good. It takes most people a day or two to actually cast the spell." He looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark; it took nightfall longer to set in here. "We should head back. You're going to need some rest for tomorrow."

Squall didn't want Cloud to know he had listened to their conversation at dinner, so he acted as if he didn't know what Cloud was talking about.

"What's happening tomorrow?"

Cloud looked at him, and smiled almost sarcastically. "Don't play dumb Squall. I know you were listening to us at dinner."

He picked up his sword and started to head up to Kalm. Squall followed close behind.

They reached Kalm just as nightfall sank in. As they entered the bar, Squall decided to ask Cloud something.

"Cloud, how do you know things like that?"

Cloud knew what he was talking about but didn't answer the question.

"Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight." He said as he put his sword and armour away. "You're going to need it."

With that he headed upstairs to his bedroom, leaving a suspicious Squall downstairs.

Cloud was hiding something, Squall knew that. But what was it? Squall didn't know, but he was going to find out. He headed up to his bedroom and walked in. Rinoa looked fast asleep. Trying not to wake her, Squall got undressed and slipped into the bed next to her. She was obviously still awake. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his chest, like she usually did. Squall felt exhausted. He put his head down on the soft pillow and closed is eyes. He fell asleep moments later.

A/N: Well hoped you liked that. I found it really hard to explain how materia works but this was the best I could come up with. Be kind and review. Thanks.