A/N: Thanks to kellyj17 for betaing!

"So this is the Plaza..."

Zeph looked up at Cloud. "I've been here before."

Cloud looked down at him. "Oh." He coughed into his free hand. "Well, you just follow this road, the memorial stone faces it, see?" He pointed at the Meteorfall monument's memorial face, then back at the road they had just come from.

Zeph looked back and forth from both the road and the monument. "I got it."

Barret chuckled. "It's not so bad. The bar isn't off on some side road, we chose a damn fine place to build!" He put his hands on his hips.

Cloud nodded and continued on his way with the other two in tow. Zeph couldn't stop staring at the gleaming metal of the gigantic sword on his back; he used that to kill Valdt. Nothing could possibly be cooler to the young boy.

Barret would loudly speak about a road and what was on it while pointing, and Cloud would quietly correct him, telling Zeph the actual stores on the street. "Barret doesn't live here, after all," Cloud said with a smirk.

"Right..." Zeph remembered that Barret had to go back to Junon soon. He would stay until a little after the Full Moon hunt, and he had been trying to convince Cloud to join. The blond warrior had been strangely indecisive on the subject, and it made him slightly anxious.

He had seen up close what those monsters do. Why was he hesitant, especially after brashly raiding Valdt's den? It seemed strange. Maybe he was thinking it over, he had a family to watch over, after all. That was probably the logical conclusion, he didn't want to stray away from his family that night.

Zeph was now part of that family.

"Hey, you wanna grab an ice cream?" Barret asked Zeph.

He scratched his arm sheepishly. "I dunno."

Barret ushered them towards the ice cream shop, his hands pushing them towards their destination. "What kinda kid don't want ice cream?!"

"It's not that, I-"

"You deserve a lil' ice cream!"

Cloud rolled his eyes as Barret pushed his metal hand into his sword. "I got legs."

Barret stopped pushing him. "Start usin' 'em, then."

"What about Marlene and Denzel?" Zeph asked as he looked up at Barret.

"I'm plannin' on takin them out after you're acquainted with the neighborhood. C'mon now!"

They reached the little shop quickly and Zeph took a look at the colorful treats offered. There were eight flavors, and Zeph had tried none of them except vanilla. Once a year on his birthday his mother used to buy he and his sister prepackaged ice cream cones, covered in chocolate and nuts. He loved those cones.

"They have a lot of different flavors this year," Cloud commented.

Barret nodded. "Imports into Edge've been up."

Zeph wasn't really paying attention to their boring talk about imports. His eyes focused on a light green ice cream. It looked pretty good. "I wanna try that one," he said as he pointed at it.

Cloud looked down at the glass. "Mint chocolate? Suit yourself."

Zeph turned around and furrowed his brow. "It's not good?"

He shrugged. "See for yourself." He motioned back at the glass with his head.

The child turned back and the employee was holding a tiny wooden spoon with a glob of green ice cream on it. Zeph took it, then examined the cold treat before cautiously putting it into his mouth.

"So what d'you think?" Barret asked.

Zeph looked back as he took the tiny spoon out of his mouth. "I like it," he said sheepishly. It tasted refreshing.

Barret turned to Cloud. "What about you, Spiky?"

Cloud wrinkled his nose and brow. "I dunno..." He came closer to the display, looking over the flavors. He hummed, then pointed at a tub filled with a pale reddish brown ice cream. "That one." He paid for their ice creams and handed Zeph his, then slowly headed back towards the bar.

"What flavor you get?" Barret asked the spiky haired warrior.

Cloud licked his scoop. "Bacon."

"Bacon?" Barret wrinkled his nose. "Tryin' a new flavor for once, huh? Your skinny ass always gets plain ol' vanilla."

The warrior smirked. "Never too late to try new things."

"Is it any good? Sounds like a weird combination."

Cloud licked it again, eyes closed as he focused on the flavor. "A little salty, but I like it."

Barret grunted. "You askin' Tifa for bacon at breakfast every chance you get. Now you gettin' bacon ice cream."

The warrior blushed. Zeph found it odd how easily his cheeks turned pink. Cloud didn't seem like a hardened warrior most of the time; when he thought of powerful fighters he thought of tough, aloof, muscled men. Cloud was skinny, usually quiet, and a little awkward. If it weren't for the sword, Zeph would have never taken him for a swordsman.

"I'm just on a bacon kick, I guess."

Barret snorted. "Must be some kick if you gonna have bacon ice cream. I get a man wantin' bacon for breakfast, but not dessert!"

Cloud narrowed his eyes as he looked at Barret. "It just tastes good, alright?"

"No need to get all defensive over some salty ass ice cream, Spiky." Barret chuckled and Cloud rolled his eyes.

"I'm not bein' defensive..."

"Yeh, sure you ain't."

They arrived home as the last bit of cone fell into Zeph's mouth, and Barret took Marlene and Denzel out next. Zeph wondered why he didn't take them all together, but noticed the big guy slap Cloud's shoulder, mumble something, then pointed at Zeph. The blond swordsman nodded before tossing his cone, then walked towards Zeph as Barret left.

Cloud scratched the back of his head. "Uh, you wanna do something?"

Do something? Zeph hadn't had the opportunity to hang out with Cloud by himself yet. He was either doing deliveries, making routes on his maps, keeping records on his business or spending time with the rest of the family when he got home. He had bonded more with Tifa and Barret and the two kids than with Cloud.

He glanced at Cloud's sword hanging off of his back. "I wanna see your sword."

Cloud grinned and motioned towards the back of the bar. Zeph walked behind Cloud and both said hello to Tifa before entering the garage; Zeph hadn't had the chance to go in here yet. It was low lit, the floor was concrete and there were boxes stored along one wall and a large metal shelf on another. It was filled with this or that, toolboxes and bottles of various chemicals. Near the boxes was a large wooden table with a big bottle of mineral oil and a few rags gathered in a pile next to it.

In front of the sliding door was a sleek black motorcycle, and next to it were a couple of wheels laying about and a large gasoline container. Zeph had never seen a bike quite like this before.

"That's Fenrir," Cloud said as he came up to the motorcycle. He glided a hand over it, then touched something that made the sides of the bike open up. The warrior smiled smugly at Zeph's surprised expression. "It's a custom motorcycle. I had some engineers work on it to suit my needs."

"What goes in there?" Zeph asked.

"My swords."

He took out his sword from behind his back, then Zeph heard a clicking sound. Suddenly, Cloud had two swords. "This is custom, too. It's six swords in one. I call it the Fusion Sword." He put the slimmer sword into his sheath, then took off an even smaller sword. It looked more like a dagger in his hand to Zeph.

To his surprise, Cloud held out the handle of the small blade towards him. Hesitantly and almost reverently Zeph took it; this was a piece of the sword that killed a werewolf. "This is so cool..."

It was a little heavy for its size, and he gingerly turned it over and touched the cool metal of the blade. He looked up as Cloud chuckled. "I don't use the little ones all that much, but sometimes I need something smaller to fight with."

"When?" His Fusion Sword should just cut everything in two.

"Maybe if I'm in a place where I can't swing my sword. I've had to fight in a ravine with these...My larger swords wouldn't have helped at all," Cloud said.

Zeph frowned. "What if you had to fight a werewolf with just these? Wouldn't it get you?"

Cloud looked a little uncomfortable. Maybe he hadn't thought of that, Zeph pondered. Then again, he probably didn't know they existed until very recently, so the risk of being turned into one wouldn't have crossed his mind.

Zeph would hate it if something like that happened to someone like Cloud. He was selfless enough to risk his life for a bunch of kids, him warping into some hideous, bloodthirsty monster wasn't something he deserved.

"Well, I'll just have to make sure I don't get stuck in a narrow space with a werewolf," Cloud said simply. He walked up to the wooden table and unlocked his other swords, placing them in order around each other on its surface. "That's all the swords."

Zeph placed the sword he was holding on the table. "D'you use them a lot when you do deliveries?" Yesterday Cloud had come home with a little bit of blood on his face and arms, thin streaks or smears of red that faded where perhaps his hand had brushed it. He couldn't tell if any was on his clothing, it was all black or very close to black.

Cloud chuckled. "In monster infested areas." He motioned towards his bike. "They fit into those side compartments, so I can get them easily while I'm on the road."

Zeph looked at Fenrir, then the swords. Cloud pointed at them, then the bottle of mineral oil. "I rub them down with oil to keep them in working order. There's a shop owner with a large sharpening stone I visit every couple of months to keep them sharp." He picked up the bottle and a rag, then very cautiously dabbed the white fabric in oil. He picked up one of the thinner swords on the table and demonstrated how one keeps a sword rust free.

"People think keeping a sword is simple, that all you have to do is keep it in a sheath and it'll be as good as the day you bought it," Cloud said as he rubbed in the oil. "But they need to be cared for, or they won't be very useful." He finished his work on the blade, and moved it in his hand to show off the new shine on the metal.

Zeph could see his face staring back at him. "Do you have to do it a lot?"

Cloud turned away and walked towards Fenrir, then placed the sword into one of the open side compartments. He looked back. "It depends. In the Summer I have to do it every week. In the Winter, maybe twice a month. It really depends on the humidity. Or if I had to use them a lot."

Zeph nodded. So if he eventually wanted to keep a weapon with him, he would have to care for the blade as well as knowing how to use it. He wanted a weapon of his own someday, too. He wondered if they'd let him have one down the road, but didn't bring it up yet. Still too soon.

"So...Do you enjoy it here?" Cloud was looking down at him with a raised brow.

Zeph bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah." Fiore came to mind almost instantly. She wasn't around to enjoy this, just him. It made him sad and angry, but he refused to show it on his face. He turned around to look at the swords some more.

He heard a sniffle behind him, making him turn around again. "Are you alright?" Cloud asked. "You sm-seem a little tense." He motioned towards Zeph's tightly curled fists.

"I...guess I'm still coping with everything," Zeph said with downcast eyes.

Cloud bent down until he was nearly eye level with him, and Zeph's jade eyes flickered up. "Just take it one day at a time. That's all you really can do, anyway."

"That's what everyone tells me," Zeph groused. He brought his eyes down again.

Cloud sniffled again, then rubbed his nose. "I guess that gets tiresome."

He wanted to feel better but he couldn't. His recent past would eventually come to pester his thoughts or his dreams, or the guilt of making it out of there alive and into a family would tug at him. He knew it wasn't his fault, Nanaki convinced him, but his heart would have none of it. Not yet, anyway.

He felt Cloud put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up. "Wanna see some moves I can do with my swords?"

Zeph grinned as his mind came to the present, eager to see what Cloud could do with his blades. If anything, this new family of his liked to distract his negative thoughts every chance it got.

As he watched Cloud assemble the Fusion Sword and twirl it around before splitting it and twirling them around without somehow slicing himself up. He had the most smug smile on his face, too. Zeph couldn't help but grin as he watched his guardian's swordplay. He supposed that if everyone insisted the pain of the past would fade with time, he should probably fill that time with good memories.