A/N: Thanks to all of you have reviewed. The game has now begun, so there should be no more of these author's notes at the beginning of each chapter. I think it just flows better that way. You should all be jumping with joy right about... now! Good...

Disclaimer: Since I forgot about it last time: I do not own any characters from Final Fantasy VII or affiliated plot points. Sadly, Square created them and have placed a copyright on their polygon asses, making me feel very, very sad. But I'll get over it. This takes place before the events of Advent Children, but completely disregards the 30 minute anime special 'Last Order' so don't expect me to mention events that occured in it at all.

Everyone on the same page?

Good.

Two months had passed since I first met Zack and he was always around in those two months. I couldn't sneeze without him popping up behind me to say 'God bless you.' So when he began to disappear for hours at a time, I was concerned. He kept complaining about some mysterious guy, who wished to remain anonymous. I didn't really pay much attention to that part, seeing as I knew he wasn't cheating on his girlfriend and I thought that he could handle whatever it was that was going on himself.

Anyway, he'd also been pulled out of class a few times and when I inquired about his whereabouts, he blamed this same guy and muttered something about a promise not to tell.

So about a week passed in this fashion, and, I must admit, I was becoming curious as to where he was going and what he was doing in the times he wasn't practicing, hanging out with me, or going on dates with his girl. One day he appraoched me with a 'hint' as he called it, that I was to be meeting this mysterious man some time in the near future.

At this pointin time, I was beginning to get a better grip on reality. I'd now seen what I was up against when it came to getting into SOLDIER. I had fought against the men in my class on numerous occasions and had come out the loser in all battles. Some of the recruits, namely Zack, could afford to leave class and go gallavanting off into the sunset with some random guy. I, unfortunately, could not. The only that was allowing me to keep up hope was the Zack's sporradic training nights

He invited me to come with him the next time he was summoned from class, going to so far as to openly state that I was to be recieving a summon as well.

I told him that he could march his butt right back to whoever sent him and explain that I was not coming out of classes I desperately needed to come hang out with him.

"Even if it was the General himself doing the summoning?" he asked then. I looked him in the eye and laughed. I told him that there was no way in hell I was leaving class. Not even for the General.

And I'd meant it. Back then, Sephiroth was revered as a god in Midgar, but not in many other places. Sure, we knew of him and we knew of the victories he'd managed to scrounge up at the time, and we most likely would have been a tad nervous had he just appeared in our village one day. I knew he had never been deafeated, that he carried a sword of inhuman length, and that he was a very private person. Other than that, I was in the dark about pretty much everything.

So I could care less about him, really.

Little did I know, Zack wasn't kidding for once in his life, and, lo and behold, a note summoning Zack and I arrived for us in the middle of class the next day. I would have refused to go, just I had said I would, but our teacher wouldn't hear of it. Something about pulling rank and her getting fired if she ignored official summons.

"See, Spike." I despise that nickname by the way. He was the only one who could get away with it because I got tired of threatening him after awhile. "I told you that you'd be 'summoned' as you so elegantly put it. You're my best friend, man! I wouldn't want to leave you behind. Where's the fun in that?"

"Just shut up and keep walking."

We continued on like that for a ways. Zack would would act like his usual, idiotic self and I'd either ignore him completely or tell him to go screw himself. Eventually, however, I gave into my own sense of curiosity.

"I know you're desperate to know where we're going, Spike. I know these things about you. It's what makes me a great friend!"

"No, it's what makes you a pain in the ass. Now will you stop bouncing around like a brain dead monkey and tell me where the hell it's we're going?"

"Okay... Hey! Did you just ask me where we're going?"

"Are you deaf as well as being a bumbling fool? Of course that's what I asked. We have been walking in the same direction for ten minutes. I'd just wish to know how much longer I have to listen to you."

"Geeze. You and he will get along swimmingly. Always putting me down. I think you do it just to amuse yourselves. Don't you even care about poor, little old me?" At this point he threw his arms out in the air as though he was about to offer himself up to some malicious god or something.

"No, not really. And you still haven't answered my question."

Trust me, it was like this every time you wanted to get something out of him. It was actually quite humorous to me, and I know that he much preferred me going against him at every turn rather than me following behind him blindly just because he'd been nice to me. Zack was like that in a way.

So Zack was a little weird. That fact is going to come into play quite a bit from this point out. But it wasn't just his weirdness that drew people to him like flies. There was a certain gentleness underneath the facade of a happy-go-lucky demeanor. There had to be for Aries to even agree to go out with him in the first place, but that isn't until much later.

But he was first and formost, a ruthless ShinRa SOLDIER (albiet later on in life). Never forget that. His determination rival that of the General and mine combined.

And he wasn't going to be telling me where we were going at all, no matter how many times he teased me about wanting to know. I think he was going for me being shocked and surprised by our destination.

All I wanted was to get back to class and if you'd seen the chunks of mountains I was supposed to beat in the next test, you'd have been thinking the same thing.

But I couldn't help thinking.

Who on the Planet would want to meet me so badly, they would knowingly pull me out of a class they had to know I needed to do God knew what?

Who?