Author's Note: Hello all. This is another snippet I wanted to add to this story, but it revolves around another theory I have. I won't include it here yet, but I definitely will later on.

Sora still couldn't believe it. He, Cloud and Fait were all sitting by the fountain in Radiant Garden in a more pleasant atmosphere than before. He nervously looked at Cloud who had his eyes closed as he stood in a strange, comfortable silence. It wasn't strange like it was tense, but strange because he seemed relaxed and almost happy. He wasn't smiling or anything, but his mouth wasn't set in a frown or emotionless line. His lips almost looked like they were puckering. Sora normally saw Fait do the pucker thing, and that's what made him realize that Cloud had to have been close to Fait in order to pick up some of her habits. Was he a teaser like Fait was? Speaking of the freckled newcomer, Fait definitely looked different now: white lab coat, loose tie, a button-up shirt held together by a single button around her waist, a t-shirt that said "Science Is A Chore", and red-lens goggles that made those violet-purple eyes look like a calming magenta. Her form-fitting leather pants were changed to shredded jeans, too. Her dirty blonde hair was tied in a messy bun, but it didn't do anything to hide her beauty. Had she actually been a male, Sora was sure girls would have flocked to Fait like a bear to honey. She pretty much looked like the kind of guy a parent would dread their kids being around because of this school dropout look, but there was this air of intelligence that Fait still seemed to possess even with the appearance.

Even through his observation of the two, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Cloud knew Vulture. No, he knew Fait! And on a personal level! After the short duel between Cloud and Fait, Sora was almost startled for the man. He had never seen Cloud truly riddled with such a flurry of emotions. He was sad, above all else, but he was also relieved and desperate. Sora didn't expect Cloud to formally beg for his help in finding Fait, but the man gripped his shoulders with a need he couldn't easily say no to and pleaded with him in a shaken voice. If he had to guess when he truly started to worry about Cloud, it had to have been when Tifa whispered lightly for Cloud to follow him even if Sora thought against it. He wasn't sure what Tifa said after they left.

Fait hummed lightly as she leaned back a bit, reaching into her pocket for one of those galaxy pops that Sora remembered she made from scratch at home, and started a conversation to erase the unnerving silence that seemed to develop among the trio.

"Hey, Fait," Sora called, placing his hands between the space of his parted thighs, "is there something you ever wanted to do in life? Like go on an adventure or hang out with your friends?"

Fait pushed up her goggles, unwrapped the lollipop, and answered, "Yeah, but it wouldn't interest you."

Cloud opened his eyes a little bit then and said, "May as well tell him. He's not gonna leave you alone 'til you do. Besides, you're waiting on information, right?"

Sora was surprised at Cloud's eagerness, though gradual at first, to talk about anything miscellaneous. He was even more surprised by him knowing about Fait's situation in detail. Is that why she was disguised as this... dropout? To get information on something? Fait sure could move around fast. Then again, this conversation could have been Cloud's way of trying to get Fait to remember him. Apparently, something happened in their past to make him so adamant about regaining her memories. It must have been something big.

Fait sucked on her lollipop for a minute, probably thinking of an answer, and took the candy out of her mouth to reply, "Yeah... Well, there's this legend about a grand treasure hidden within the eight silver stars. My dream is to find it and make a wish. Haven't decided on what to wish for yet, but I never outgrew that dream. I found two stars so far. Six more to go. As far as friends go, looks like I had quite a few once. I just don't remember 'em..." She then turned to Cloud and said, "but I'm glad they remember me. That means if I ever forget who I was because of some darkness that consumed me or screwed with my memories, I have someone who can help me start over. I won't be alone putting the pieces together even if I don't know where the pieces start or end."

Sora's eyes widened when Cloud gasped at her words and then produced a warm but very small smile. He was happy! Cloud was smiling! Sora then smiled brightly at this and nodded, "Yeah. That's what true friends are for."

Abruptly, a violent gurgling disrupted the sentimentality of the moment. At first, everyone started looking around for the source of the noise until it rumbled again and Fait looked down at her stomach. When it growled again, she placed a hand on her stomach and then took a big crunch out of her lollipop. Even with the candy in her stomach, it wasn't enough to appease the beast living inside her. She sighed in frustration then took out her digital pocket watch to check the time.

Fait stood up and then turned to Sora and said, "Let me know when the old man gets back. I'm hungry."

"There's no need," Cloud said, stopping Fait from leaving. She had forgotten that he led her into town for a while to deliver a few packages and make something in secret. He was carrying around that tote bag for a while now and had it resting at his feet ever since they met up at the fountain. Cloud dug in the bag for a second, producing some kind of paper-wrapped gift, and handed it to Fait while saying with an unusual confidence, "Here."

Fait took the wrapped bundle, feeling warmth in her hand, and immediately recognized a familiar smell when she sniffed it. Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly before saying, "No way! You didn't."

"Didn't what?" Sora asked curiously, watching Fait quickly unwrap the mystery present. When he saw it was a loaded sandwich, he questioned, "Huh?"

Fait pulled a crunchy slice of meat, moaned in pleasure, and said, "Sweet pepper bacon! Yes!"

Cloud smirked at Fait's reaction and said, "I had a friend make the sauce."

Fait swallowed her chewed bacon slice quickly and produced an even bigger smile when she looked at Cloud. She said excitedly, "Shut up. No, you didn't!"

Inelegantly, Fait took a monstrous bite into the sandwich and tasted that magic sauce that only she knew before meeting Cloud. No one could ever get the special ingredient of her favorite food right in her world, but somehow this guy knew it well enough to produce it within a few hours between him running errands. She moaned from satisfaction and teared up at the corners of her eyes, making Cloud shake his head at her reaction but a strong sense of pride was beginning to bubble up in his chest. That sauce was hard to make! Good thing she had no idea what kind of hell he really went through to make it.

Fait then opened her arms out of nowhere and waved her fingers inward to say, "Get in here."

Cloud's pride was immediately broken from the words. She wanted... a hug? Because of a sandwich? Even Sora was a bit startled at the request as Fait took slow steps toward her fellow blonde, but he could see from the stars and playful skip towards the man that she was just happy. Because of that, he wanted to see where this would go.

"Bring it in," Fait said, waving her fingers again but still holding the sandwich without spilling a single ingredient.

Cloud took a step back and waved a hand at her before saying, "I don't want your sandwich on my shirt. I just cleaned it."

Fait stopped walking to him and said with a straight face but a mischievous smirk, "Come on, man, you've been following me around since I've been in this world. Bring it in!"

Cloud looked to his side, sighed, and then stiffened at the sudden embrace he found himself in. When he looked down and saw that teenage girl back at the training grounds who always gave him unwanted hugs, he couldn't help but relax into the hug and slowly return the hug with a single arm. Sora gasped, jumped to his feet, and gawked at the exchange.

Fait didn't even notice either of the two males' reaction to her hug when she released Cloud and just said, "Yay! Okay, I'm eatin'. He got the pickles. We had to be best friends once. No one gets close to this!"

"That's why he wanted her to remember," Sora whispered to himself. "He missed her."

"At least chew it, ya piglet," Cloud remarked when Fait took another bite as she plopped back down on the rim of the fountain. "I can't make another one that fast."

"But it's good!" Fait whined through chews.

That's when Sora saw it. A strong bond tied together by threads of light like a knot in a rope. A small smile on Cloud's lips and a cheerful smile on Fait's even though her cheeks were full of food. It was something that hadn't been taken away. Something that reunited them at last through the long years spent near darkness. Sora was almost jealous of them. Not because of their friendship. Of course, Sora had his own friends. But because Fait didn't see Cloud as an enemy and could easily be his friend. She couldn't do the same thing for Sora. She even said it herself that as long as Maleficent saw him as her enemy so would she, but Fait didn't deserve to be taken away from her friends or her family. There were people who loved her, and he didn't want to hurt her if it meant destroying the relationships she's developed with others.

"How'd you make that, Cloud?" Sora asked, trying not to think so much.

Cloud hummed and then grumbled, "With a lot of patience... and burning... and lectures."

Fait nodded with understanding and then said, "I know the feeling."

Sora sat back down next to Fait and told Cloud, "Oh yeah! Fait's a mom now. Do you remember her having kids when you were friends?"

Cloud snapped his head at his former friend with widened eyes and a slight blush to his face. She had kids before he did? How? With who? He vowed to kill whoever hooked up with his best friend later but responded, "No. We were younger when we met. How's that life?"

Fait swallowed one of her bites and looked up at Cloud to reply, "Y'know, it makes me question my own sanity sometimes. I got what I need and what they need. We got a house. It's a very nice house... that gets set on fire with amazingly a granola bar, three toothpicks, a piece of chocolate, and a little bit of a magic. I'm not even mad at that. What's impressive is the fact that they don't use fire to set the house on fire."

"Really?" Cloud questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup," Fait replied with an annoyed expression on her face. She changed it to her usual mellow expression and said with a shrug, "It's all good, though. The fire department in my world? Top notch. They make miracles with two cheddar biscuits and a dream. It's beautiful... until the house gets flooded because they use too much water. We get free replacements on furniture, though. After I come home to a triple tearful apology, I let the movers clean out the house and stop by the firehouse to pick up a sub. Once I get the sandwich of patience, I drop by the Leaky Bottle and order an elixir of forgiveness to go. No ice please. Got me a sub, a cool drink, and all that's missing is the picturesque pie slice of justice."

"Pie?" Cloud questioned. He whispered an 'oh' before returning to the almost forgotten bag and pulled out a triangular box and plastic fork. He then handed it to Fait, who was floating on air right now, and said, "Like lemon meringue?"

Fait took the box, opened it to confirm her dream was in fact coming true, and then asked, "Are you sure we're not related? You know my favorite pie flavor?"

Cloud then took out a bottle that was dripping from the condensation that managed to form on its surface and handed it to Fait before saying, "I know your favorite food combo."

Sora was stunned at this point. All he could say was, "Wow. You must've hung out a lot. Unless she just eats that much."

"Well, that is a thing," Fait responded, popping off the bottle cap and taking a swig out of it. She took a sharp intake of breath and opened her arms again with that finger wave signaling for another hug.

Cloud took another step back, not anticipating another hug coming for him, and warned, "I have a strict 'no hugging' policy."

Fait then said with a mischievous glint in her eyes and a small smile, "You gotta get this in, bro. You can't fight it!"

Cloud raised his eyebrow and replied, "Is that a bet?" When Fait showed a more toothy grin, Cloud recognized it as her accepting the challenge but accepted another glomping from her with an added light punch to her shoulder. While she may not remember him, Cloud was okay with just seeing that she hadn't changed much since the last time he saw her. Almost seven years had passed since then and she still gives him unwanted but appreciated hugs. He then said with some hope and some relief, "Consider this the beginning of a renewed friendship."

Fait winked and responded, "Or a really interesting chapter in a cheesy book. That's a thing."

Sora looked at Cloud and noticed a more gentle smile on his lips. He whispered not realizing that it was loud enough for the two former friends to hear it, "Cloud... you're smiling..."

Cloud quickly stopped and tried to cover up by saying, "I just remembered how many birthday presents she owes me."

Fait scoffed, heard a ringing from her phone, checked it to see Lord Ansem calling her, and said, "I'll buy you a Chocobo when I hit a munny jackpot. See ya."

With that, Cloud watched fondly as his friend took his cooking in her arms and walked away while eating it. Sora was about to follow her, but Cloud put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"But Cloud," Sora started.

"If she's ever in a jam, or if she ever remembers me, she'll know where to go," Cloud said quietly. "That's what made her a hero once upon a time... That's what made her my friend..."