"Have you seen Cloud recently?" Sephiroth asked Tifa when she came running back to him with yet another handful of flowers. Johnny was catching crickets, and he wasn't terribly concerned about the older two, but he hadn't seen Cloud in a while, which usually meant trouble.

"Um, I think he's with Ricky and Sheryl," Tifa said. "Ricky said he wanted to see the bridge."

"All right." Sephiroth frowned and put the flowers in the mug of water he had filled to use as a vase. "I should go check on him, just in case. Want to come with me? I'll hold your hand." Holding Tifa's hand was the best way to get her to do anything when Sheryl wasn't around.

Tifa smiled widely and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Johnny, let's go for a walk. Do you two know where the bridge is?"

Tifa's smile dropped off her face, and she and Johnny exchanged a nervous glance.

"What is it?" Sephiroth asked. "Tifa, I need to find Cloud. Do you know where the bridge is? Johnny, do you?"

"We're not supposed to go there," Johnny said, looking away from his eyes.

"It's dangerous," Tifa added.

"But Ricky and Sheryl went? Which way is it? I need to know."

Tifa squirmed a bit, but finally pointed to the north towards Mount Nibel. "We know the way. Don't tell on us, please?"

Sephiroth just tightened his grip on her hand and grabbed onto Johnny as well, dragging them with him. What the hell were Ricky and Sheryl thinking taking Cloud to a place that they obviously knew was dangerous? He didn't doubt for a second that Cloud would be stupid enough to go along with it. Or, he considered after a moment, perhaps it wasn't a matter of stupidity, but wanting to fit in and be accepted.

Tifa and Johnny had him following a rarely used path, though Sephiroth saw signs that indicated people had recently been through. They eventually came out near the edge of a large gorge, with a rickety-looking bridge spanned across it. He noticed Ricky and Sheryl standing at the near edge shouting encouragement first, and seconds later, he saw Cloud two-thirds of the way across the bridge and heading to the far side.

"Just a little bit farther!" Ricky shouted.

"Don't look down!" Sheryl added.

"Cloud!" Sephiroth let go of Tifa and Johnny and sprinted for the bridge. "Cloud, get back here, right now!"

"Oh, come on, he's nearly there. He can do it."

"You idiots!" He turned on Ricky, who had the good sense to quail and shut his mouth. Cloud had stopped and was looking back at him. Sephiroth stepped out onto the bridge, feeling his stomach lurch when it creaked under him. On his third step, the plank cracked beneath his foot and it was only his quick reflexes that kept his leg from going through the hole. He immediately thought better of trying to go out after Cloud; most of the planks were rotten, and there was no way they'd bear his weight and Cloud's.

"Sephiroth, look, I'm almost there!" The pride Cloud felt at his accomplishment rang clearly through the air.

"Cloud," Sephiroth said, trying for a calm tone, "I want you to come back to this side. Please?"

"But I'm so close. I've just got to touch the other edge and then I can come back."

Sephiroth fought with himself to stay where he was when Cloud took another step away from him. "I know you're close, but you've gone far enough. Turn around and come back now."

Cloud hesitated a moment, then sighed. "Oh, all right." He turned and began walking back.

"Carefully, now. Watch your step and hold onto the ropes as tight as you can."

"I'm not going to fall."

He wished he could believe that, but the bridge swayed in the wind, and he could hear the ropes groaning under just Cloud's weight. He could barely breathe while he watched Cloud's confident steps, as though he believed he was immortal. Finally, Cloud got close enough for Sephiroth to lean out and grab him, hauling him onto the solid ground.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he yelled, and Cloud took a step back from him, looking confused.

"Are you mad? Everybody does it, Ricky said so."

"Mad?" Sephiroth exploded, making Cloud take another step back. "Yes I'm mad! I was terrified!"

Cloud's eyes went wide for a moment, and it looked like he was about to speak, but Ricky interrupted.

"C'mon, Sephiroth, no one's fallen before. It's just a stupid test of courage."

"Stupid is exactly what it was," Sephiroth snapped. He grabbed Cloud's arm and swept Tifa and Johnny in front of him. "We're going back. No arguments."

The group was far quieter on the way home. Tifa and Johnny chatted a bit, but the other three remained silent while Sephiroth marched them down the trail. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Informing Bob of what had happened was probably the appropriate course of action, but he didn't want it to reflect badly on him. When he let the kids stop for a break, Cloud came over and sat beside him on a log, though he wouldn't look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he whispered. "I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't," Sephiroth sighed. "You know why I was scared, right?"

"I wouldn't have fallen."

He gave his head a small shake as he took the top off Cloud's water bottle and held it out to him. "You could have. Very easily. That bridge isn't safe for anyone to go on."

"But everyone else does it," Cloud protested, ignoring the water. "I didn't want to be the only one who didn't. I'm really brave."

"You are brave," Sephiroth agreed, "but you don't have to prove that to anyone by doing something stupid. There's a big difference between being brave and being reckless." As he spoke, Sephiroth found himself thinking back to a very similar talk he had sat through with Colonel Taisha. "You know, someone said something just like that to me not too long ago. I was trying to prove that I was strong."

"You don't need to prove that!" Cloud said. "You can carry all sorts of things and run really fast for a really long time."

"That's true. And you can pick up big bugs and go to the outhouse by yourself at night. So even though neither one of us needed to prove anything, we tried to anyway by doing something stupid."

"You did too?"

"I did." Now that it wasn't quite so immediate, and no one was yelling at him, he could acknowledge that it had been incredibly reckless to charge into that compound without waiting for backup. He had known he'd be fine—much like Cloud had been certain of his own safety. "Taisha must have been terrified," he murmured to himself.

"Did you say you were sorry?"

"No, but I should. You're a lot nicer to other people than I am."

Cloud nodded thoughtfully. "You're kind of grumpy."

"And yet, I haven't been able to make you leave me alone." Sephiroth reached over and ruffled Cloud's hair. "Drink some water. Does anybody need a snack?" he called out to the rest of the group.

When they started down the trail again, Ricky fell back to walk beside him.

"Are you going to tell my dad about the bridge?" he asked.

"Do you think I shouldn't?"

"Well, I guess ..." Ricky shrugged. "I guess we pretty much deserve to get in trouble. I really didn't think the bridge was that rotten—it's been a long time since I was on it. But don't get Sheryl in trouble, please? It was my idea."

"Your idea or not, she still participated," Sephiroth said coldly.

"Yeah, but ..."

"Cloud could have died, Ricky. If the wind had picked up, or if he stepped on the wrong spot on a plank, he would have fallen. I know you guys don't like him very much, but do you want him dead?"

"No! Look, I'm sorry, I really am. I know it was stupid, but we didn't do it to pick on Cloud, honest. I thought if he did it, and we told Tifa, she'd like him better."

Sephiroth sighed and shook his head. "Something needs to be done about that bridge, but I don't necessarily have to mention your idiocy. Do something like that again, however, and I'll make you regret it."

"If it helps," Ricky said, "I already do."

"It helps."