The kids make progress; Heights are discussed; Divided resources; An early hunt;

Airships are not meant to be hit with motorcycles; Moseying

The next week and a half seemed to both fly by and crawl at the same time. They spent some of the time testing out their new smaller bodies. To everyone's surprise, they were stronger than before. Reeve had suggested that their smaller size condensed their power, like fleas or ants compared to an adamantaimai. Adamantaimai were immense, but they couldn't even hop, let alone jump, were slow-moving, and their strength relative to an ant's was pretty sad. The only thing that had truly changed for the party that they couldn't find a way to compensate for was their shortened reach. Nanaki in particular had the hardest time, reduced from four hundred pounds pure predatory muscle to being a forty-four pound cub.

During that time they also worked to get the Shera's computers and their PHSs hooked up to the network, but thankfully the expansive cave system seemed to have been used by Shinra in the not-too-distant past, and the Company had left behind a variety of useful material. Once on the network, Vincent had set to work finding out where Jenova and Hojo were currently located. Hojo would most likely want to keep Jenova close, in Midgar rather than in Nibelheim, but with the war he might have decided it was too risky to move her from the mountain town.

In the meantime, Tifa had been coaching Marlene, Shera, and Denzel on materia, working on casting speed, reliability, stamina, and control, as well as familiarizing them with the different types. Marlene's stamina wasn't very good, but Tifa had told her that it was because she was only ten, and that it would improve as she got older. She did have good control, nearly always hitting her target. At this moment, that was a stack of old boxes with the Shinra logo serving as the bullseye. Concentrating, the girl could feel the cold energy of the ice materia slotted into Fairy Tale, the staff she'd been given. Focusing on her target, Marlene released the spell, a level two Ice. She was sure she could cast the higher spells too, but Tifa wasn't letting her, saying she didn't want Marlene tiring herself out too quickly.

"That's my girl!" Marlene looked over to see her dad grinning proudly at her, just his head showing as he peered over a panel off the walls of the Shera's hold. She smiled happily back, and returned to practice.

Barret was currently working on getting a large dent out of the panel, from where Cloud had crashed into it with Fenrir when he had first arrived. Cid had been furious when he found out. Cloud hadn't been too happy either. Marlene hadn't been able to hear the whole tirade, because her daddy had taken her and Denzel to explore the cave, probably so she wouldn't hear Cid swear. Her daddy tried very hard not to say bad words when she was around. That was one reason she loved him so much.

After casting another ice spell she stepped back to give Shera and Denzel a turn. Denzel had a fire materia slotted into Enhance Sword. It was one of Cloud's old swords, one of the few that didn't dwarf Denzel. The air heated up for a moment, then fire blossomed in front of Denzel. He was a little slower than her, but he could keep casting for longer, so Tifa was letting him cast level three spells.

"Good job!" She smiled at him, and he returned it.

Next up was Shera. She was better than both of them, but she had used materia before. For her, this practice was more like a refresher course than anything. She cast a stop spell, but since her target was a stationary pile of boxes, it didn't make much difference. Shera didn't really like casting offensive magic, so she was working mostly with status and support materia.

"Alright, let's stop for now," Tifa said, stepping up behind Marlene and squeezing her shoulder. She let go of Marlene and started walking toward the Shera's ramp, but stopped as Cloud came down it. "Cloud. Your turn," she called out, and the blond turned towards them. "They've been doing really well. I think tomorrow I'll take them out monster hunting. They need work with moving targets and real combat," she informed him.

"Right. I'll go with you," Cloud said, and Tifa smiled at him. "Work hard!" she ordered the kids, and went into the airship.

Cloud had been teaching them how to fight, as well as strategy on how to deal with different types of opponents: when to fight, when to retreat, how to use terrain to your advantage, and how to read your opponent. Marlene had to admit she wasn't very good at it, but Cloud told her that in the end, it came down to experience, so not to worry too much, and just focus on getting better.

Cloud would often have one or two of them run through some hand to hand katas that Tifa had taught them while he taught new weapons katas to or sparred with the other. He would also pair her and Denzel up to spar, and sometimes she and Denzel would team up against Cloud so they could learn how to work as a Unit. Shera only did the hand to hand katas, not the sparring, because her chosen weapon was one of Vincent's old guns, 'Outsider'. She did spend a lot of time on target practice though, and the bang of the gun going off echoing around the cave had made Marlene jump when they first started practicing. Now they didn't bother her and she was able to concentrate on her staff work.

By the time they where done she was thoroughly exhausted, her muscles were sore, and she really needed a shower. She headed into the airship, but before she could go to her room, she heard Reeve calling for her and Denzel. When she got to the observation deck where Reeve waited, she saw a huge pile of bulging grocery bags.

"Have you finished your training for the day?" Reeve asked, taking his long blue coat off and laying it over one of the computer consoles.

"Yeah! I'm getting lots better. I can almost cast ten spells in a row now before I need an ether." Though she was tired, she was very happy with how much she had improved.

From behind her, Denzel asked, "What are all the bags for?"

"Ah, yes. Cid and I just got back from Banora. We picked up some rations for the upcoming missions and I was wondering if you would help me sort them?" Saying this, Reeve went over to a corner of the room and picked up some light canvas packs.

Marlene started picking through the bags. There were juice boxes, protein bars, granola bars, fruit bars, breakfast bars and chocolate bars. She grinned delightedly at Denzel, who smiled broadly back, and began to stuff a chocolate bar into his pocket.

"This is to tide you over when you can't get any fresh food," Reeve explained, sounding a little reproving. The kids giggled guiltily and Denzel returned the chocolate to the pile. "Right," the boy answered. He knelt and started to count out the different bars, setting each type in its own pile. Marlene joined him and soon the piles were evenly shuffled and dispersed into the different packs. Once finished, she stood and smoothed out her white skirt, her blossoming calluses catching on the eyelets.

"Tifa said she would take us out monster hunting tomorrow." Marlene knew Reeve wasn't very happy about them fighting, but he and Cait Sith had still helped them train during the last week so that they could get used to different sorts of opponents. She thought that was really nice of him.

Reeve's smile was a little sad. "Is that so? I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yeah, you go give them monsters hell." Cid came in, wiping his greasy hands on the denim jacket tied round his waist. "Come on, Reeve, give Barret n' me a hand. We're gonna put back that panel our punk-assed leader ran into, now the dent's out."

Reeve shook his head with a resigned sigh. To the kids he said, "Thank you for your help", before following Cid out.

Marlene commented, "I don't know about you, but I need a shower and a nap."

"A shower sounds good." Denzel agreed. " But I think I'll skip the nap. I want to go explore the caves some more."

She and Denzel had already explored a lot of the cave, with and without adult supervision, now that most the monsters had been taken care of, but there were still loads of unexplored tunnels. They'd found all sorts of weird stuff. They had found what looked like EMERALD WEAPON asleep in one part, plaques with etchings of the poem LOVELESS, and seven strange materia. Those materia were the key to a special door hiding the largest materia any of them had ever seen, trapped in the twisting branches of a white tree. It was bigger than she and Denzel combined! A red materia that big had to house a powerful summon, but it couldn't be removed from the tree. In order to keep it safe from Shinra, they had taken the seven materia that opened the door and stowed them on the Shera. Most recently, they had also found a Shinra-built collection of cement cells, like a prison. It gave her the creeps - the sounds of dripping water bounced oddly off the cement walls, and a mist clung along the ground. She and Denzel avoided that area now, though the adults occasionally went in to look for items or information.

She thought about whether or not to skip the nap and go exploring too, but she was really too tired. "Alright then. Tell me what you find!" She waved good-bye, and turned and headed for that shower she desperately wanted.

Barret grunted as he wrenched the last bolt into place. Damn, but he'd forgotten what it was like to be a teen. Younger meant he had more energy with fewer aches and pains, but it also meant he was shorter. Repairing the Shera had never been easy, damn big ship after all. But with no hoist, and nothing but the most basic equipment, his usual size would've come in handy. It was a lot easier bein' thirty-eight years old and 6'6", then being fourteen and 5'9". Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he stepped back to look over his work. Not bad. You could hardly tell that a motorcycle the size of Fenrir had slammed into it from the inside. Then again, it hadn't been the full sized Fenrir.

As he picked up his discarded vest, Barret cursed whatever idiot had shrunk them. The time travel thing was weird enough, but why the hell did they have to be mini? It had been a long time since Barret had been shorter than anyone. He still towered over most of the party, except for Vincent. The man hadn't said anything about it, but Barret couldn't shake the feeling that the former Turk was in some way amused by looking down at him.

"Damn guy got lucky, tha's all", he complained to the air.

"Bitching about Vincent again?"

"Huh?!" Barret was startled by the voice from above, not-quite readying his gun arm, but relaxed as Yuffie dropped from the top of the airship, sending up a splash of water as she landed. "What bitchin'?" he muttered. "And whassup with that 'again', huh?"

Yuffie sighed exaggeratedly. "You know, your voice carries real well in here, and you sorta air your thoughts aloud a lot." She peered up. "He was the oldest out of all of us, even if he didn't look it. It makes sense that he'd still be the oldest. What I don't like -" she spun away from him, hands on hips, "is that I was eighteen and got shrunk to eleven-ish, and now here he is at seventeen-ish. I mean, where's the point in that!? That's a difference of a year! And if it's about size, then even at eighteen I was smaller than he is now! And our ages don't match up with the timeline - I should be six! What's with the total randomness?"

Barret winced. Yuffie's childish voice was way high, and it reverberated off the dome ceiling and grew louder instead of dyin' away properly.

"Ya don't need to yell my ear off, I get ya just fine." Barret crossed his arms and stared at the little Wutaian girl in front of him. "I'm bothered by it too, yunno. What is it ya want anyway?"

With a little hop, Yuffie spun herself round to face him.

"Oh, that's right. Vincent thinks he'll have the locations soon, so Cloud wants to divide up the equipment now, so we can leave as soon as we get the word." Message delivered, Yuffie started to run off, but only a few yards away she called back. "I'm going to tell the others. You head for the armory." Then she was gone.

'Bout time, Spiky, Barret thought. I'm tired of sitting on my ass. It's time to do things.

When Barret got to the armory, Marlene, Cloud, Tifa, Denzel, and Vincent were already there.

"Daddy!" His little girl rushed over to him.

He picked her up and swung her around. She laughed delightedly, his favorite sound in the world. "Hey! And how's my little angel doin', huh?"

"I took a nap and I feel wide awake now", she said with a laugh as he set her back down.

For Barret it was like listenin' to music. Part of him was glad to be taking her with him. The other part just wanted to keep her safe and away from danger. He gripped her hand tightly, torn between the two emotions.

Nanaki came in, followed immediately by Shera. Less than a minute later, Yuffie came bounding in with Reeve and Cid in tow.

Cloud got right down to business. "All right, we'll divide the materia first. Everyone gets at least one summon."

The next hour was taken up with sorting and arguing about who got what materia and armor. Shera only wanted support and status materia, and that was all Barret wanted Marlene to have, but they were in the same group, which would leave them tactically disadvantaged. Tifa finally insisted on both Shera and Marlene taking a couple of elemental spells apiece. Reeve and Cait Sith took most of the Shinra manufactured materia, but Vincent and Yuffie ended up with some as well, leaving the rest with naturally-formed crystals. In the end they each had about ten materia, give or take.

As for accessories, all of them had a Ribbon, so at least they all had some protection from status spells. Cloud and Vincent hadn't taken any accessories other than the Ribbons. Denzel had a Protect Ring, which would let him start every battle with Barrier and Magic Barrier, as did Reeve. Marlene and Shera had Reflect Rings that would protect them from damn near everything. Tifa chose a Tetra Elemental, making her immune to all elemental spells. Yuffie, the little kleptomaniac, had also taken a Tetra Elemental, along with the Sneak Gloves, which paired with her Steal, Sneak Attack and Preemptive Strike materia would make her even more sticky fingered than normal. Nanaki was wearing a Circlet that would help with casting around his neck like a collar. Cait was given an Amulet for good luck. (Everyone knew the robot cat needed it.) Cid had a Protect Vest, and Barret himself had taken the Power Wrist to make up for his lost muscle mass.

Armor was pretty simple. Both he and Vincent had Mythril Arm Bands. Yuffie and Shera had Minerva Bands to nullify fire, ice, holy and gravity spells. Nanaki and Marlene were wearing Dragon Armlets that halved basic elemental spells. Denzel had the Escort Guard, nullifying lightning, water, poison, and earth spells. Cid had the Edincoat that he'd won off his former boss Palmer, one-time head of Shinra's Space Division. ("And," Barret thought sourly, "now occupying that position again".) Cait Sith had been given the Chocobracelet, again for luck, and Reeve had taken a simple Gold Watch with eight materia slots. Tifa took the Warrior Bangle. Cloud took Ziedrich, not that he needed it, since he was already their heaviest hitter. The bracelet upped strength and magic by twenty percent, as well halving fire, ice, lightning, earth, poison, gravity, water, wind, holy, and all physical damage. Barret rolled his eyes. It was too bad Ziedrich was one of a kind, or they would all have one.

After everyone had their individual equipment they started to sort out the Potions, Ethers, Elixirs, Remedies, Phoenix Downs, Vaccines, as well as Speed and Hero drinks, into the canvas packs. The groups who were going into more dangerous areas got more items. They also made up grab bags of all sorts of useful items like smoke bombs, grenades, S-mines, stardust, T/S bombs, graviballs, dream powder, ghost hands, swift bolts and fire veils. Again, the groups who were headed into more dangerous fights got more of a selection.

Looking round at the bare shelves, Barret said, "Don't know bout y'all, but I think we must look like a walking armory, 'cause there ain't much left in here."

True to what he said, the once stockpiled room now only housed a few weak weapons, the scant remains of their armor collection, some miscellaneous odds n' ends that no one could find a use for, and almost no materia to speak of.

"It seems we are all packed. Vincent, any ideas for when we shall depart?" Reeve asked, as he finished securing a pack onto the back of Cait's Moogle.

Vincent, already halfway out the door, replied, "I believe I will have Hojo's location late tomorrow. Yuffie may have told you that Jenova, or at least a highly classified item belonging to the science department, is being housed in the reactor on Mt. Nibel." Not wasting time, he left to continuing hunting for the reclusive scientist's electronic trail.

Dew clung to the leaves of the Banora White trees and soaked the hems of Cloud's pants. The sun was just a bare suggestion of pink and purple above the hills. The monsters in the tunnels were too strong for beginners, and the party had already disposed of many of them, so Cloud and Tifa had woken their students up early to hunt monsters in the hills surrounding Banora, intending to finish the hunt before the local farmers came out into the orchards. Marlene and Denzel were bleary-eyed, and Shera was yawning. Despite that, all three looked eager, and had gotten up without any complaints.

Cloud stopped for a better look at some small moisture-free patches in the grass. It looked like the paw prints of a small pack of hounds of some sort, nothing too powerful. Even more importantly, they were recent. He considered working with Denzel, Marlene and Shera on tracking but decided that time was of the essence. Still, he should take the time to let them know what they were up against.

"Here, take a look at these. Hound tracks. There's probably five, maybe seven. I want you to be ready, so start warming up your materia. Tifa, take rear guard." Tifa nodded and dropped back. They would want an experienced fighter in the back if they were ambushed from the rear. The other three did as they were told, looking alert and hopeful for whatever came their way.

As the group of kids made their way through the trees it didn't take long for Cloud's enhanced hearing to pick up the panting of breath ahead on the right.

"Ready?" he asked the three new fighters.

Denzel was the first to speak up. "Yeah, let's do this." The brown haired boy's eyes shone with determination and excitement.

Marlene nodded and gripped her staff tightly, a look of concentration on her face. Shera only gave a brief hesitant nod before removing the safety on Outsider.

Cloud couldn't help smile a little at their responses. "Here we go."

The group crept through the brush, and quickly came within sight of the six hounds. Cloud identified them as guard hounds - easy enough for well-equipped beginners.

Shera was the first to act, casting a Barrier around herself and firing three shots in quick succession. Two of the shots hit the closest guard hound, but the last shot went wide, missing its target. Good for her first time, and her casting time was praiseworthy, even if Cloud thought the Barrier was probably overkill. Better safe than sorry, he guessed.

Denzel was only a heartbeat behind the engineer. He tossed out a level two thunder spell, hitting the hound on the far left, effectively stunning it. The boy was able to rush in, his sword glowing red-hot from the fire-elemental materia equipped to it, and open a large gash on the hound's right shoulder.

In the meantime, Marlene had hit the next closest with a time spell, halting it right as it started to lunge for her and Shera. Shera disposed of it with a well placed bullet right in the eye. Two down, four to go. The hound Denzel had wounded was back on its feet and was cautiously circling the boy when another lunged at Denzel from behind. Tifa, watching closely, managed to grab it by the whip-like tentacle that protruded from between its shoulder blades and throw it against a nearby tree. Not hard enough to kill, but enough to slow it down and give Denzel some breathing room. Denzel turned, alarmed by the yelp so close to his back.

Cloud yelled a quick warning as the one Denzel had turned his back on leapt forward. Denzel reacted quickly, whipping around with his sword held out, and the hound impaled itself upon the blade. The youth seemed a little panicked, eyes wide, and taking short, fast breaths as he withdrew the sword. "Keep calm, Denzel", Cloud said, and Tifa added a shout of direction. "Denzel, Marlene, to your left!"

Another hound was charging at the boy. It leapt, only to be hit by Marlene's ice spell, giving the boy enough time to readjust his grip on his sword, ramming it into the monsters ribcage, nicking the heart. Another set of shots rang out to kill the fifth hound. The hound that Tifa had wounded limped forward, snarling. Marlene and Denzel nailed it with a one-two combo of ice and fire spells. It collapsed, the green sparkle of the lifestream shimmering around it and the corpses of its pack mates.

"Not bad, you guys. Good job," Tifa congratulated the group as they stood panting, half elated, half terrified.

Cloud agreed, but silently. He was proud of them, but there was plenty of room for improvement.

"Marlene, you did well covering Denzel's back," he said, and Marlene smiled happily. Denzel gave her a high five. "Shera, your aim has improved, but something both of you should work on is to not root yourselves to one spot. If a hound had gotten past your defenses you probably would have fallen over instead of moving." Shera nodded seriously, and Marlene's eyes grew huge as she nodded too. "Remember to not lock up, no matter how nervous you are."

"Denzel," Cloud continued, and the boy winced in anticipation of the criticism. "You need to remember your surroundings and keep an eye on where your enemies and allies are. Don't get too focused on one enemy." Denzel nodded, swallowing, and looked at the ground. Cloud hoped he took the lesson to heart. That second hound could have severely injured him, if not worse, if Tifa hadn't intervened.

"You'll get better with experience," Tifa said encouragingly. "That was your first real battle, after all, so you should be proud of yourselves. Right now, we better get back to the Shera, before any locals show up and wonder what a kid-sized monster-killing party is doing in their town."

As they walked, Tifa in front, Cloud in back, the SOLDIER cast an eye over their students. Shera was listening indulgently to Marlene as the young girl waved her staff around, chattering excitedly. Denzel's trailed behind them, his eyes on the ground, and shoulders slumped. He thought for a moment about what best to say, and what advice had worked for him when he was a newbie SOLDIER cadet.

"Denzel." The boy looked over as Cloud came up beside him. Right now, they were almost eye level with one another, Denzel just slightly taller. "It's alright to need help. Nobody starts out like -" Like Sephiroth, he almost said, hearing the echo of the Shinra lieutenant who'd been his first commanding officer. "Like a one man army. When I was a cadet, they had us do holomissions for half a year before letting us into the field. I'd have died twenty times on my first few field missions if other people hadn't helped me out. I've worked with you a little bit over the last few years, but it's only been serious training for the past week and a half. You're already doing better than I did."

Cloud fell silent after that, hoping that Denzel would feel better about how he had done. It was true the boy needed a lot more work, but they didn't have the time. He would need to learn on the go, and it was Cloud's job to help him and keep him safe during that process.

"Thank you, Cloud... for everything." Denzel's words were quiet but the smile on his face was genuine and his whole demeanor had changed from someone who believed themselves a failure to someone looking ahead towards improving.

Later that evening, as the party sat around the passenger bay eating the dry rations that counted as their dinner, they went over the map. Barret and Cid planned to get on a ferry at Mideel. After arriving on the eastern continent, they would head for Fort Condor and pick up a jeep or buggy and drive the rest of the way to Midgar. Reeve and Nanaki planed to catch a boat from a small fishing village on a peninsula at the tip of the island, head to the western continent, then, once on dry land, head for Cosmo Canyon. Cloud's group also intended to go to the western part of that peninsula and catch some of the good chocobos that could be found there. Tifa, Yuffie, and Denzel would ride the birds, and Cloud would take Fenrir. They'd get passage on a cargo ship that ran the route between Mideel, Junon, and Costa del Sol. From Costa del Sol, they would head for Nibelheim and take out Jenova. When they were finished with that, they would leave the mountains and head for wherever Hojo was holed up.

Vincent came in just then. Reading expressions on his pale, still face was a tricky science, but Cloud thought that he looked pretty self-satisfied. "Hojo has just returned to Midgar, after spending the last two weeks touring Shinra sponsored third-party labs. My tip says he intends to spend at least a month at Head Quarters, and the amount of supplies that the Science Department just purchased also seems to indicate a stay of about that duration."

Everyone looked to Cloud, barely repressed grins on many of their faces. "We leave before dawn," Cloud said, standing and folding the map away. Barret and Cid whooped and hollered, and Yuffie turned an exuberant cartwheel. The others were more restrained, but there was a palpable aura of excitement. Cloud raised his voice to be heard over the din. "Check over your gear, then get some rest."

He left the bay, heading for the loading dock to check on Fenrir. He knew how everyone felt. Despite their bizarre circumstances, they had a real chance here to prevent a lot of destruction and heartache, and while everyone had kept their impatience in check surprisingly well, they were all eager to stop sitting around and finally take some action.

He flicked on the lights in the loading bay, examining the wall he'd dented as he walked to his bike. You couldn't tell anymore that it had suffered from a mass of nearly a thousand pounds crashing into it at 60 mph. Hopefully Cid would quit crawling up his butt about it now. Cloud, ticked off by Cid's constant nagging, had finally told the pilot that his ship was lucky. Cloud had been slowing down as he neared his destination when he was transported; his normal cruising speed was well over 100 mph out in the wastes. Cloud was thankful for that timing. Even a bike as durable as Fenrir would have suffered damage from a crash at 130 mph, and the Shera would probably have a hole in its side. As it was, the airship had come away with a dent in the armored siding, and some of Fenrir's paint had chipped.

Even if it annoyed him, Cloud could understand Cid's protectiveness. If someone had run into Fenrir and left a big dent in it, even if it had been due to events beyond their control, Cloud would have been upset. He looked fondly at his bike. He'd gotten the frame work of the bike from a man out near Kalm and then added to it in fits and starts as pieces became available, and had occasionally had a better idea and started over. He gave it a quick once-over - he'd killed several hours this afternoon giving it a more thorough inspection.

Next he headed for his bunk and disassembled First Tsurugi. He'd oiled and sharpened the six blades that combined to form the large buster style sword this morning before the hunt. He hadn't even drawn any of the blades today, but he checked anyway. Partly, he wanted to set a good example, ever mindful of the way Denzel looked up to him, but mostly it was because the very last thing he wanted was a nasty surprise in combat. You couldn't control very many variables in battle, so anything you could prepare for, you had better do so. Lastly, he looked over everything that went into his pack. It was all in order, so with nothing left to check, he got ready for bed. Sleep wasn't easy. He wasn't very tired, and his mind buzzed with everything that needed to be done to save everyone and everything he cared about. Finally, he drifted off.

Cloud awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat. He took shaky breaths, forcing his muscles to relax. Ever since finding himself in the past, his nightmares had become more vivid and regular. The worst years of his life now lay ahead of him, after all. Not all of his dreams were drawn from his memories, though. A new and horrible subject had appeared - they failed to affect anything, and had to watch it all happen again, unable to change fate. In the most disturbing dreams, their interference only served to make things worse.

Swinging his legs off the bunk, Cloud made for the bathrooms. After washing his face, he peered at his reflection. The fluorescent lighting did him no favors, but even discounting that, there were bags under his glowing blue eyes. No surprises there. Even without the nightmares, he was a light sleeper. Add getting up early several days in a row, and you had a recipe for tiredness. As he headed back to his bunk he ran into Shera, who was just heading back into the room she shared with Cid, the only two person bedroom on the airship. She nodded sleepily at him, and gestured down the hall with the hand that wasn't clutching two coffee mugs.

"Good morning, Cloud. There's coffee and hot water for tea in the galley, if you want any."

Cloud just nodded, not up for talking this early, and slipped past, back to his room. Once dressed, he gathered up his gear and quietly made his way to the galley, where he found Vincent brooding over a cup of coffee. Considering the man's morbidity, Cloud had expected him to drink his coffee black, and it never stopped being startling that Vincent filled half the mug with cream or milk before adding coffee. Cloud poured a cup of tea - caffeine didn't do much for him, and tea tasted better- and grabbed a dumbapple danish, before sitting down a few seats away from the table's other occupant.

They sat in silence for several minutes, but it wasn't a peaceful silence. Cloud could see the storm cloud over Vincent's head, and sighed. "What's the bad news?"

Vincent looked up from his minute examinations of the table. As far as Cloud could discern, the man seemed surprised that Cloud had noticed any discontent. Vincent considered his words before speaking. "I know that what I will be doing is vital, though I am not pleased at taking such a passive role. I would rather be the one to kill Hojo." Vincent held up his clawed hand to stop Cloud from speaking. "I know that it is not possible, barring some unexpected and unlikely occurrence that would bring him within my reach.

"You harbor as much hate as I for that man. I ask that, if possible, you be the one to kill him, and not one of the others." Vincent's eyes glowed an eerie red, and his clawed hand was tense on the table, sharp talons piercing tiny holes in the laminated wood. Cloud understood what Vincent was asking of him, and recognizing in him. In truth, if Cloud was the one who had to stay behind, he would have asked the same of Vincent, for the same reasons. They both knew what it was like to be an experiment, reduced to nothing more than a mere specimen, their humanity completely denied, at the nonexistent mercy of the mad scientist's hands. No one who hadn't experienced that could understand the catharthis causing Hojo's death would bring. He nodded solemnly, holding Vincent's gaze. "I swear."

Since this seemed to be the moment for serious conversations, Cloud brought up something that had been bothering him a lot, and that he hadn't been sure how to broach. "Vincent, when we reach Nibelheim, what should we do with y-" Cloud faltered, brows crinkled in thought, not quite sure how to continue.

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "I assume you are speaking of my younger self." Cloud just nodded. It left an odd feeling thinking about it. Should they wake up Vincent? Having a second ex-Turk around would be helpful, but trying to convince him to help... It had been hard enough the first time, and it wasn't likely that he would believe time travel. Not to mention, how would their Vincent feel about having his doppelgänger awoken, or working alongside him? The silence stretched 'til Cloud was about ready to voice his opinion of the pros and cons on the subject when Vincent replied, "Do what you must."

Before Cloud could respond, a commotion over by the door caught their attention as Reeve's Moogle ambled into the room with Cait Sith riding on its shoulders, followed by Reeve himself. Upon seeing the two fighters the robot cat called out a cheery good morning to them, unbothered by how loud its voice was in the early morning stillness.

"Good morning," Reeve said more quietly, selecting a cup of tea and a breakfast bar, then settling down across from them. Privately, Cloud thought it was unnatural for someone to look that polished and relaxed this early in the day. "When do you plan to leave?" the dark eyed teen asked. Behind him Cait Sith examined the boxes of tea, lifting them to its robotic nose and mugging furiously at the different smells of each variety.

Cloud ignored the cat's antics, and answered Reeve. "Soon."

"I see. Well, Nanaki and I have no reason to rush, as our ship won't be leaving until the late afternoon, but I would like to be at the port in plenty of time. We'll depart at the same time as everyone else."

Next to show was Nanaki, who asked Cait to pour him some tea in a bowl. Tifa came in with Denzel, followed shortly by Cid and Shera. Barret brought a nodding Marlene, who almost fell asleep in her cereal. Cloud had to go wake up Yuffie, who was cranky when woken as a teen, and ten times worse as a child. They poured black tea by the gallon into the little ninja as they headed out through the tunnels, and by the time she was properly awake, they were at the cave mouth, just in time to see the sun peep over the horizon.

"Well that's it. We're goin' to Midgar." Barret watched the sunrise for a moment before turning to face the group of unlikely friends. "You take care now, ya' hear. I don't wanna have Vincent call me saying I got to come save any of your skinny white asses, aight?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "See you again once we've destroyed Jenova."

"Best of luck to ye, lads and lasses!" Cait Sith called out as the groups parted ways.