Beginning Notes: Thanks everyone for your awesome reviews! And the top reviewer for chapter 3 is… PrettyArbitary! Kudos and cookies go to you for your comments and plane old smarts! Yes, "Isrea" is an anagram of "Aeris." I was wondering when someone would figure that one out. I actually didn't mean it to be. I was going to call her Isreal until I realized that if I took off the "L" it'd make Aeris. Hence why she is now called "Isrea" ^_^
Oh, and I fixed that little problem in this chapter. The one about Cloud's height? Yea, I fixed it up a reloaded the chapter. Sorry about that, my screw up. _
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the characters, yadda, yadda, yadda…
Chapter Warning: Language.
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---- Complicated Souls ----
---Written by: Isrea---
---- Chapter Four ----
--- Expect the Unexpected ---
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Cloud studied the assembled Turk group silently as they gazed back with various degrees of shock on each of their faces. It was to be expected, after all. The last time they had seen each other; one group had been trying to kill the other. That had been well over two years ago and he was hoping that it would not come to such a conflict this time around. Did the Turks hold grudges that long? Seemed so...
Elena fidgeted under his direct stare but held his gaze defiantly, extreme distrust very evident in her eyes. Meanwhile Rude stayed as impassive as ever. These were both expected reactions but he was, to say the least, surprised with Reno's behaviour. Normally the calmest of the group when shocked, the red head had instead dropped something in his surprise. The mug had shattered on contact with the unyielding cement beneath him with a resounding smash and even now he was staring at Cloud as though he'd grown a second head. What the hell was wrong with Reno?
Maybe it was his appearance? Maybe the Turk wasn't used to seeing the blond warrior in anything other then his SOLDIER uniform? The belt of the uniform still circled his waist but his pants were simple black khakis, his semi-tight muscle shirt was also black. Over the last few years Cloud had also grown several inches and presently stood at 6 foot, not including hair, though how that had happened even he couldn't tell. It had happened so gradually that he hadn't taken note of it until just recently. Had his body finally gotten to that much needed growth spurt?
Cloud's battle hardened SOLDIER body was shown off well in his choice of clothing, powerful arms and shoulders outlined against the dark material of his shirt; tanned skin against black, while equally powerful legs were framed in 'just loose enough' pants. Just to complete the outfit a black summer jacket that looked suspiciously like silk was tied around his slender waist.
Cloud had always been slim and graceful, not overly broad like most - something he had been tormented with while growing up. That coupled with his shortness had caused a weak hearted boy to crumble under society's belief that a bulky body made a strong fighter. But when he had understood enough about himself and the world around him to stand on his own, he had sworn that he would not conform to society so easily. He would get into SOLDIER on his own traits or he would not get in at all. It had been a wistful dream to enter SOLDIER and his rejection had only steeled his determination. It just hadn't made sense and even now he could not see the purpose in his rejection so long ago. He had been strong enough, fit enough, and what he lacked in complete physical strength he had definitely made up for in speed. Then why?…
Incompetent instructors much too high on conformity, he suspected…
It also seemed that Cloud had only had a closet for black in the last two years. Some would claim that the blonde's all black attire reflected his journeys against Sephiroth, seeing as the demigod had also favoured black. If you were to discover Cloud's inner motives you would be surprised to find out they weren't entirely wrong. Cloud wore black to mourn the passing of both Zack and Sephiroth, as well as to signify his journey was finally over. And in a sense it suited him -very well in fact. He looked better in black then he had in any other article of clothing he had ever owned. And this particular outfit proved it well.
And even now Reno was still staring at him…
But when the blond attempted to reach into the other's eyes to pry at what emotions he thought he saw there Reno retaliated instantly. As easily as Cloud himself could pull up mental barriers the red head slammed up a set of his own so fast it almost caused the blond to stagger. Now the Turk was as calm as he was. Their eyes met a second time and for a few seconds the leader of AVALANCHE exchanged a long glance with the Turk directly opposite him, steel blue meeting cold green. The rest of the group remained in a tense silence as the seconds stretched on awkwardly, unwilling to move an inch in fear their two leaders would suddenly lash out at each other.
And when finally eye contact was broken it was, surprisingly, by Reno. He raised a hand to rub the back of his head and slapped on another goofy grin, casting his eyes to the broken window. The tense moment passed and everyone watching simultaneously sighed in relief. "What, the window? Nah, nothing the townsfolk can't clean up after we're gone. Hooligans, the lot of them." The red head shrugged, catching a glimpse of Tifa out of the corner of his eye. She practically clung to the blonde's arm she was standing so close to him. There was a possessive air about the woman who obviously thought that the man standing next to her was hers.
Something akin to jealousy bubbled up in the red head but he stomped on that notion so thoroughly that it was instantly snuffed out. He took a kind of wicked delight in feeling that specific emotion break under his heel. "So Spike, what brings you out of hiding and into the rest of the world?"
"Business." was all he got as an answer. Figures.
There was a pause in commentary as the blond stared off into the distance, eyes scanning the horizon in the general direction of Neo-Midgar. What was he doing here, standing around talking to a group of Turks? Why had he bothered to stop by when he already knew that everything had been dealt with? It wasn't as though the Turks couldn't handle themselves...
He was so busy with his inner dialogue that he almost didn't catch the flicker in the distance. His eyes were drawn unexpectedly to something on the horizon and for a moment he swore he saw, just briefly, a tiny flash of green against the dark smudge in the sky that was trademark Midgar. He was sharply reminded of his dream a week previous. That had been the exact thing he had seen in the dream... Or had it been? It looked like it…
Cloud didn't have time to ponder this strange turn of events, however, when he realized that they were expecting him to say something more. As much as he hated putting something he felt was important aside, he did. And he spoke, if only to break the awkward silence. "I heard that you were all reinstated…"
But the image of the dream would not leave his mind. He remembered very clearly the pain and agony, the black abyss… Cloud had been disoriented for days afterward. It had been two whole days before he had managed to pull his scattered wits and memories together again. Two days of confusion to his identity and Tifa watching in fear that he would slip into a relapse of some sort. He almost had, truthfully. He'd caught himself more then once thinking of himself as Zackary Donovan instead of Cloud Strife.
And it was all the more painful because this time around he knew that it wasn't true.
In the end he had managed to shift everything into proper place again. He had his memories back where they belonged and the false ones of Zack had once more been pushed to a tiny corner of his mind where they could do no harm. He was Cloud Strife again and as long as he didn't have another one of those dreams he'd remain Cloud Strife. The only problem was that there were still a few of his memories that eluded him. Distant, minor things of his far away past that he had either blocked or deemed insignificant.
Oh well, give them some time and they would return to him as well.
But his dream had consumed his thoughts from then on. It had been a warning of some kind, he knew it had been, but of what exactly? He couldn't make heads or tales of the song Isrea had sung. He had recognized the name 'Sanaka' as being Wutainese, though, and had instantly thought of Reeve.
Not many knew that the famous President Reeve Tanakai was a Wutaian, or that he was a collector of the legends of his people. He had though that maybe Reeve could help him decipher it all, so he had called to let the man know he was stopping by on urgent business…
Reno shrugged at the comment, oblivious of his visitor's second long inner turmoil. "Just yesterday, in fact. Guess nothing gets by you Wonderboy." He indicated the door with a nudge of his head to get Elena's attention while Cloud pondered over that new nickname. "I'm going to get that box, then we'll leave." and the Turk disappeared into the depths of the empty house. With a blink Cloud thought he saw the red head actually embarrassed as he retreated through the door and out of sight. At least, he thought it was embarrassment. Reno's face had been red enough, anyway…
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Inside Reno stormed through the hallway trying to pull his tattered wits into some form of stability. What was Strife doing here? Today of all days, no less! Millions of questions rampaged through his head, one at the forefront ensnaring his thoughts. Had the blond seen him kicking the crude out of that guy? Reno felt his face go a little bit redder as he mentally fumed. This was not helping his rather delicate situation. First the miner guy had to push it; and then Strife himself appears out of nowhere!
And in that outfit! Planet, the man was beautiful with his soft blond hair swaying in the breeze like a nimbus of gold framing his beautiful face; his body outlined so well against his clothing, black accenting hair and eyes… He felt his face flush a little deeper scarlet. Just great. Just fucking great! What the hell was he supposed to do? He'd be thinking about Strife all day now! What was he to do about this stupid, troublesome lust?
'Gee Cloud; I have this strange infatuation with you. Do you think we could have sex so that I can stop fantasizing about you?... Yea, that's going to happen…'
Right… He could already see the smoking creator where his house was supposed to be, a pissed off Saviour wielding the Buster Sword and shouting for his blood like a madman.
"No thanks, I'll pass." He muttered to a not-listening hallway as he stepped into the kitchen to retrieve his belongings.
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Meanwhile outside, Cloud still couldn't decide what was wrong with Reno so he figured it best not to try. He raised one golden eyebrow as his calm gaze flickered over to the truck in the driveway. He took in the pile of boxes in the back and then the small cab of the vehicle in one swift glance. Three small people might be able to fit but with Rude's broad shoulders and Reno's long legs they'd have a hard time getting the three of them in there comfortably. Cloud couldn't help the barely contained snort of amusement that escaped him as the image of three squished Turks was abruptly brought to mind.
Unfortunately Elena caught it and she scowled at him. "What?" the other woman demanded harshly and Cloud merely shrugged and returned his gaze to her.
"Just observing," he stated and turned his gaze away from her yet again, scanning the yard.
But the blonde was persistent. She wasn't about to let Cloud Strife have a private joke at their expense. She had never been a 'forgive and forget' kind of person. "Observing what, Mr. High and Mighty? Got something to say?"
The brunette stiffened at his side and narrowed her eyes dangerously at the blonde across from her, crossing her arms over her chest. She let a deep scowl cross her features but that seemed to daunt the other little.
"Come on, Mr. Hero, you have something to say to me? Why not say it to my face! Just because you kicked Sephiroth's ass doesn't mean I'm going to sit here and take your shit." Elena continued, taking a threatening step forward. It seemed that Cloud's mere presence alone aggravated the woman. That and the fact that she was wound tighter then a coil produced potentially dangerous results. Perhaps she still thought Tseng's death had been his fault?...
"Elena..." Rude attempted to break in but the blonde would not be held back.
"Come on, speak up!" she did not even bothering to acknowledge her friend's plea to stop.
Tifa sucked in her breath and had been about to shout back, not one to sit around and let her friend be badmouthed, when a small hand motion from her companion quieted her. Obviously Cloud could handle it, loath as she was to remain silent, so Tifa settled into simply death-glaring the other woman.
Cloud looked back to Elena with one raised eyebrow. "I was just wondering how you planned on getting the three of you into that tiny truck and all the way to Midgar, is all..."
"We planned on squishing Elena in the middle, actually," Rude spoke up quite unexpectedly. It wasn't hard to miss the crinkles around the man's eyes over the edges of his sunglasses or the small smile that tugged at the dark skinned man's mouth. Cloud had always liked Rude, despite his repeated attempts to assassinate him. Rude seemed to be the only completely levelheaded one of the group -always calm, always reasonable. But upon closer inspection he had come to realize Reno was also fairly levelheaded when he needed to be. It was easy to admit that Cloud liked that particular attribute in people.
He was also thankful that the minor joke had startled Elena into re-thinking her position. She seemed to calm and regain her composure, if at least on the outside. "So what are you doing here, anyway?" the blonde huffed, eyeing the Saviour of the Planet with open distrust.
Cloud merely shrugged it off and replied with as much sarcasm as humanly possible. In fact, the way he said it might have even brought Reno to shame. "The most notorious group of assassins with particularly shot fused members had a mob at their gate. Tell me Elena, why am I over here?"
"That's not what I-"
"Cloud?" a voice suddenly interrupted Elena's sentence and the blond warrior turned to face Tifa, one golden eyebrow arching in question. Tifa only sighed and stated a fact. "We have business to take care of, remember? Reeve is waiting."
Cloud set a hand on his hip and shifted his weight onto one foot, adopting his ever-familiar stance. She was right, after all. They did have business to take care of that he thought was rather important and dallying with Turks was just a waste of his time... "Alright, let's go…"
It was just then that Reno decided to stumble out the door with a box in his arms, grinning wildly. He made his way over to the truck to set the item down with exaggerated movements, declaring loudly "Alright, that's the last of it! Lets get the hell out of here!" in a merry voice. For a moment the blond was startled into silence. That tone of voice, the glint in the other's green eyes... when was the last time he had heard the red head that happy? Never, he reminded himself slowly. He hadn't even met the Turk before the Meteor incident.
Wait, no... A distant memory came floating back of a carefree red head in a newly acquired Turk uniform, gloating to a younger blond about his acceptance into an elite fighting group. He was bragging that he was a Turk while the other was a lowly trooper. As he recalled, the blond hadn't known the red head and the other had just been looking for a chance to gloat…
And it was just then that Cloud's PHS decided to ring. As quickly as the memory came it vanished, leaving him before he could get a firm hold on it. Frustrated at having to put the memory aside he dug into his jacket pocket and raised the cellular device to his ear. With a click of a button he answered it, careful to let none of his hidden ire pass into his voice, "Hello?"
A familiar voice sounded on the other end, frantic and sketchy, "Cloud! You've got to get to Neo-Midgar right away!"
"Reeve? What the hell?" the blond questioned, forgetting for the moment about the dream or the memory. Without knowing it he was suddenly the main focus of everyone's attention as they picked up on the startled, concerned note in the blonde's voice. "What's happened?"
There was a crackling on the other end and the sound of shuffling as the President sorted through some papers. The constant buzz and static roared in his ears. Obviously the connection in Neo-Midgar was bad. What could have done that? The last time he had checked all the lines had been fully functional. Reeves voice answered a moment later in a near panic, "Cloud, Sector 2's reactor just blew sky high!"
He was suddenly and viciously reminded of his dream. The flicker on the horizon, the dread and the warning, the green flash against Midgar just a few minutes earlier...
The Leader of AVALANCHE paled considerably and Tifa blinked up at him with chocolate eyes. "What's going on Cloud!" she demanded, tugging lightly on his shirt in emphasis. The waiting was killing her and just about everyone else who was listening to the one sided conversation. But the look on the Saviours face was not reassuring.
"Where are you?" Reeve continued without missing a beat; there was more shuffling of papers.
"Kalm… I should get to Neo-Midgar in two hours. One and a half if I'm lucky."
"Right…" there was a momentary pause as the President considered something, then more shuffling, "The Turks are there too, unless they've left, I've-"
"-There here, standing next to me actually…" the warrior interrupted him and he was surprised to see how true that really was. All the Turks had gathered rather close around him during the short conversation and each was about arms reach away, anticipating news of the latest crisis.
"Good, tell them what is going on and bring them as soon as you can. If not all of them can make it at least bring Reno. He's an asshole, but he's our asshole. The best I've got, so I would like him in one piece if you can manage it," Came the reply from the other end, as well as a soft chuckle. Even with the man's apparent nervousness Cloud could appreciate the joke. "Just get here soon… There are some things you might want to see… I'm calling the others right after this."
"I'm on my way. See you when I get there." He needed no explanation on who the 'others' were. It was easy to determine that he meant AVALANCHE.
Hanging-up the PHS and shoving it back into his jacket's deep pockets he turned a grave stare on the four around him. "Sector 2's reactor just exploded," he informed them, already turning on his heel and walking away. Tifa gasped and Elena covered her mouth while Reno and Rude merely exchanged worried glances. "Reno, you're with me. There is no way you all can fit in that truck. Elena and Rude can catch up. Tifa lets go!" It was obvious that he expected his orders to be followed. A reactor blowing up was not something that could be delayed with petty fighting. Luckily, the Turks were smart enough to see that.
Most of them, anyway.
"I'm coming with you!" Elena suddenly shouted at the blond, causing Cloud to look over his shoulder and pause mid step.
"Why?"
She eyed Cloud and then Tifa, who had jumped at the blond man's order to leave, and then she looked at Reno. "Because I don't altogether trust you Strife, and Reno will be outnumbered, that's why."
Cloud was in no mood to argue and simply waved an okay. Reno was secretly relived and at the same time pissed with his friend, though he was unsure which one was his primary emotion -or, which one was logical, for that matter.
"Hurry up!" the blond shouted back. Both Turks looked at each other for a moment before swallowing their pride and sprinting to catch up with the fading backs of Cloud and Tifa even as they heard the engine of the truck roar to life behind them.
Reno was mentally screaming in frustration as he came to a hurried walk beside the leader of AVALANCHE. An hour and a half with Cloud Strife cramped in a car together? Oh yea, this was definitely going to help his situation… Note the sarcasm. Mentally the red head sighed. He got to sit in Cloud's car -did he even have a car? Or was it a truck? What kind of car was it? - for two hours staring out the window and trying to distract himself while Tifa bore holes in the back of his head with her eyes.
Speaking of sitting in Cloud's car... He couldn't help the word that escaped his mouth out of simple habit, gaping at himself when he realized just what he'd done.
"Shotgun!" 'Fuck…'
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And so it was that half an hour later the four of them were roaring down the highway in a metallic red 69' Camaro, its sun warmed black leather interior melding to his body. Reno couldn't help but marvel over the machine Cloud skilfully guided down the open stretch of road. It had a 396 cubic inch, V-8 engine with 379 horsepower behind it, a custom model - truly a king among cars.
The ride was smooth and would have been pleasant if it had not been for the screeching of Elena and Tifa directly behind them, both yelling at each other over a silly comment made in passing. It was reaching the ten-minute mark of their argument and it was easy to tell that both men were gradually beginning to get annoyed, though neither had dared stop the catfight in fear of their own ears getting assaulted by the madness.
"Is she always this loud?" the red head finally asked over the shouting, causing the argument to go up another octave. Even with the window rolled down it was hard to hear the wind that rushed through his ears and swept around his hair over the horrendous noise.
The sun beamed off his shades and cast light to dance across the windshield, the warmth of the sun and the breeze already heating his skin. It was definitely getting warmer as they got closer to Neo-Midgar. He suspected it had something to do with the explosion of the reactor, though he couldn't be sure. He wasn't an expert in Mako Sciences, after all. Rude was the one who favoured in that area and he was probably sixteen miles behind them by now. Reno was really beginning to miss that stupid truck.
Across from him Cloud shrugged, narrowing his eyes behind the reflective sunglasses that were planted firmly over his cerulean oculars. The shades were much the same as Reno's save they had silver frames instead of black ones. His hair rushed about his face and shoulders as the wind from the open window caught it, letting the red head note for the first time that the blonde's hair was longer then it should be. Obviously Strife was letting it grow out. "Tifa? Only when she's proven wrong." The other warrior shouted back over the noise, crinkling his nose as one of the two girls hit a high note that hurt his ears. "Is Elena always this stubborn?"
Reno grinned despite the noise. "Only when she feels like being a bitch." was his return reply. Both men couldn't help the smiles and the quick chuckles that managed to escape them in reply. In any other circumstance he might have been worried about one of the girls hearing their insulting conversation but he knew well and good that they were too far into their own fight to notice what the two males were saying. "God, I wish they would just shut up!"
"I'm with you there. At least we have something in common." the blond shouted back, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He didn't fully trust Reno, nor did he like him much, but they'd have to learn to get along some time. From the looks of things they may be spending a bit of time together until things got sorted out with the reactor. Besides, unlike the others Cloud was quite willing to forgive and forget. Not to mention Reno was turning out to be a better guy then he had previously thought. So, he grit his teeth and attempted to see past the annoying exterior that always managed to somehow tick him off. "Other then our love of cars, of course," he shouted a moment later.
When Reno merely gave him a puzzled look the blond openly grinned, mentally staggering the red head with his beaming smile. It was the first time he'd seen the blond show that much emotion past fury. Secretly, Reno hoped he'd smile more often... He has a nice smile…
'Shut up already!' he scolded his little voices.
Having Cloud this close to him wasn't nearly as bad as he had thought it would be. Of course, that was mostly due to the screeching from the backseat. It kept him from concentrating too long on one thing, let alone on Cloud himself for more then a little while. And yet, if he took any more of this punishment he thought his eardrums would burst.
"I saw you eyeing my girl. Nice isn't she?" and Cloud patted the dashboard lovingly. You didn't have to be a detective to know that Cloud loved his car, and seeing as this was a custom built model he obviously knew how to handle one. He was going well over forty over the speed limit of 100mph and showed no signs of slowing, yet he handled the beast beneath them with a skill and talent you couldn't find in the best of racers.
Perhaps there was more to Cloud Strife then met the eye…
"She's a beaut' all right!" Reno replied, settling back into his seat a little more relaxed. It seemed Reno and Cloud could get along better then they realized they could. That at least was a good thing. They had a love of cars in common, as well. Who knew, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to get to know the other man a little? If only the bastard would give up that frustrating air of calm and would pull the stick out of his ass a little more, they might even be able to have a civil conversation.
A few more minutes passed in silence between the two. Or, as silent as two screaming banshees could get.
It was only when the argument got out of control that Cloud decided to intervene. The moment the two started to throw fists he turned to Reno, gave him a warning glance and shouted "Get ready!" in a sharp voice -though to Reno it was more of a mouthing of the words. Instantly the red head stopped covering his ears and pushed as far back into his seat as humanly possible, gripping the arms of his seat like a vice. Instincts told him to get ready before questioning the man's intent -and he'd be glad he'd listened to them. He'd only managed to ask 'why?' when Cloud suddenly shouted "BREAK CHECK!!" at the top of his lungs and slammed his foot down on the breaks.
Hard.
Cloud wanted to get to Neo-Midgar as soon as possible and all, but he was NOT willing to drive with that going on in his back seat. That kind of commotion could get the lot of them killed.
The sound of screeching tires on cement resounded in a high pitched whine as rubber burned on stone, a long trail of black smearing the highway where the Camaro had created its skid marks. He'd have to get new tires in Neo-Midgar... Pity.
Even being prepared for it Reno had to hold himself in his seat when it happened to keep himself from buckling against his seatbelt. The sudden sharp force hadn't even rocked Cloud, being completely ready for it.
The two in the back weren't quite so lucky.
Both women were flung rather harshly into their seatbelts, hitting the locked pieces of leather hard as they were suddenly and unexpectedly thrown forward. Reno could feel Elena's hands thud against the back of his seat and he winced, knowing she'd have sore wrists later for her mistake. Across from her Tifa had done much the same thing.
As the car finally came to a stop Cloud turned in his seat and death glared both girls over his headrest. "Are we quite done now ladies?" he ground out, frustrated with their antics.
Reno, no less irritated with the women, turned in his seat and gave both an irritated glare. "You can always fucking walk you know." He snarled out, sounding just as angry as Cloud had but willing to voice it a bit more. "I don't think either of us wants to listen to you two howl it out the whole trip to Midgar, so just shut the hell up and enjoy the ride!"
Reno and Cloud exchanged a momentary, approving glance when both girls fell silent and turned back to their own seats, ignoring the pout on each of their companion's faces. "Much better." The blond sighed and was about to hit the gas again when suddenly Tifa's voice cried out once more.
"Oh my god Cloud! LOOK!!" and she pointed her finger wildly toward something out the window. Curious, both men glanced where indicated-
-And immediately jumped out of the car as fast as humanly possible. Tifa had turned to look out the window when something blue had caught her attention. Upon realizing what it was she had alerted the others. Down in the ditch was a person -a man from the looks of it. Sliding out of the car with just as much haste the three of them tracked down to where the man's body lay prone against the lush grass that now surrounded Neo-Midgar, as opposed to the dirt wasteland that had accompanied Old Midgar.
Cloud was the fist to reach him, taking note of the man's long, spiky black dreadlocks and the uniform that looked so very, very familiar. Slowly he kneeled down and rolled the man over, jumping to his feet again and taking a few steps back when he got an eyeful of the man's face. Cloud went deathly pale, muscles seizing up and cramping as every fibre in his body froze in mute shock.
"Strife? What the hell's wrong with you?" the red head shouted as the group trotted up to the blond. Tifa gasped as soon as she came in range of the man, doing something that sort of resembled Cloud's present state, though she had tears in her wide chocolate eyes. Cloud was simply numb, unable and unwilling to move his body or rend his fixed gaze from the form of the unconscious man. So, wondering what could have possibly rattled the Saviour of the Planet so much, Reno looked down.
And there, laying in the grass, was a man that Reno knew all to well -a man that was supposed to be dead. There, his chest gently rising and falling, was…
Zackary Donovan…
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--- To Be Continued ---
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Author's Notes:
(Sorry about the long wait once again. Like I said before, I don't know how often I'll get to actually work on the fic. My real life keeps me really busy. Some updates might be quick while some might take longer. Pray they I have a pretty free next couple of weeks. _)
1. Okay, I REAAAAALLY hate this chapter. Don't ask me why, but it's just something about the way I wrote it that disagrees with me. I think it was the beginning and where I sort of side tracked to get in a bit about what's been happening to Cloud the past two years. We all know what Reno was doing, but I figured we had to have some Cloud background info too. I couldn't fit it in any other way, though... so... I guess I'm going to have to deal with it. *sigh*...
2. Yea, you guys already know that I want reviews and you already know my e-mail, so I'm not going to waste my time typing it.... oh... wait... I just tricked myself into more work. Damnit!
3. To everyone who asked for Reno x Cloud fanfics! I said I'd get on it and I did. ^_^ I've found the great Reno x Cloud one I remembered reading. It's called "Golden Moments" and it's a Yaoi lemon. Those of you, who can't stand that stuff, don't read! You'll also find a lot of really good stories on there that may not be Reno x Cloud, but they are good! It won't let me show links in my file… So I can't give it to you here. E-mail me if you want it.
4. I hope Reno and Cloud were both in character. I tried to have a bit of tension between them but they strike me as the type who don't let past screw ups get to them. (Like Cloud's one to talk ^_^) I'm thinking they are both smart enough to know they don't have to hate each other. So, they will try to be nice to each other as long as their patience lasts. ^_^
And here are my responses! Weeeeeeeeeee!!!
Aimey: Thanks for giving my fiction a chance, even though you're a little unsure. ^_^ I appreciate it.
Katie: Yea, I was laughing just writing it. Even my boyfriend liked it the joking around and he can't stand FF7 or anything related to it. As for your questions about the story, I can't tell you! _ I hope you continue to read my story, I do enjoy reading your reviews!
PrettyArbitrary: Finally someone who has clued in to Isrea's name. I was waiting for that. J I'm glad you like her though; I was indeed going for the 'neat version of the mysterious know-it-all.' As for the updates, I can't promise anything on that because of my busy schedule, but I promise to work on the nest chapter as soon as I get time too, okay?
Kaze: I hope the Reno/Cloud interaction was suitable. I tried to keep them in character as much as possible! _ Hehehe, and yea, poor mug… the mug was cool. ^_^
RavensHaelo: Thank you Ravens, I hope that I do not disappoint. ^_^
udonluvr10: Thank you very much for giving it a chance, even though you may prefer CxS stuff. I like CxS when done right but EVERYONE does it, so I decided not too. I like all the 'out of the norm' stuff myself, like Reno x Cloud, Yuffie x Vincent (I've read an AMAZING Yuffie x Vincent fic, which also happens to be Seph x Cloud. Its one heck of a story!), Tifa x Reno… you know, the oddball stuff. Hehe… Hmmm… ^_^
Well, that about wraps things up! Stay tuned for my next chapter. Thanks goes to everyone who takes the extra few seconds to leave comments! I love you all! J
