Mrs. Strife quickly sat up. She felt something roll and touch her left side. She picked up the cylindrical object, running her fingers down the length before finding a switch.

A stream of light hit the bed before Mrs. Strife turned the flashlight off. Cloud let out a heavy sigh and rolled a bit.

Mrs. Strife had everything she needed to leave. The sun was nearly gone for the day, a flashlight was in her hands, and Cloud was, surprisingly, still asleep. She stuck her head out the door, finding nobody in the hallway. After quickly checking downstairs, she saw nobody there, either.

Everything was perfect. Too perfect, her mind added. Mrs. Strife dismissed the thought and brought out the furs from the closet. She used most of the furs to make a crude sling, then put the rest on. Cloud was small enough to fit into the sling, which Mrs. Strife was very thankful for.

Preparations finished, Mrs. Strife grabbed the flashlight and felt her way down the stairs, turning the light on once she was outside.

Cloud stirred, stretching his arms and legs before rolling onto his side. He noticed that he was in Sephiroth's room without his mother for some reason. He immediately forgot about that as soon as he saw Sephiroth sitting at a desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper. Cloud slid off the bed and stuck his head under Sephiroth's arm to see.

"A chocobo!" Cloud exclaimed. The drawing was half finished, but Cloud easily recognized the huge beak, happy expression, and feathery body. "Can you make me one, too?"

"You can have this one when it's done," Sephiroth said. Cloud was overjoyed. Chocobos had become his favorite animal, surpassing anything fluffy. When he really thought about it, chocobos did look kind of fluffy. What he really liked most about chocobos, however, was how they always looked happy and their many colors. The different colors gave Cloud the freedom to give chocobo pictures any color he wanted without breaking the "rules" of coloring (number one being stay in the lines and two being that certain things have their own color, such as the sky always being blue and no other color).

"Are there rainbow chocobos?" Cloud had to know. He'd been wanting to find something to use all of his crayons on at once.

"No." Sephiroth worked on the chocobo's legs. He scooted backwards a little to let Cloud sit on his lap.

"Really?" Cloud leaned forward. He started to think about what color to use on the chocobo instead. Green or blue? Or what about yellow?

"Yes. You can still color it whatever you want, even if chocobos aren't really that color." One of the legs was almost done.

Cloud was slightly amazed. "So the grass doesn't have to be green? Snow doesn't have to be white?"

"Nope. You can do whatever you want with coloring. There aren't any rules for it, like most people say."

Cloud imagined a rainbow chocobo standing on purple snow with a light green sky and red clouds over it. That sounded great to him.

"Make it say, 'Wark!'," Cloud said. That was the sound that chocobos made, so this one had to make the same sound, too.

Sephiroth drew a speech bubble and wrote "Wark!" inside it.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Sephiroth asked.

Cloud was brimming with anticipation. "Yeah!"

"You're going to have to go back to sleep in a bit. We're leaving really early and it's a long walk."

Cloud was too excited to go to sleep. He wanted Sephiroth to take him out now.

"Are there chocobos outside?" Cloud wanted to see one in person. He wanted to pet it and and ride it. Maybe they could even keep it, since everybody had told him that chocobos were friendly.

"They're really, really far away." Sephiroth finished drawing both of the chocobo's legs and worked on the tail feathers. "I can find one for you, but not tomorrow."

But Cloud didn't want to wait for that, either. He wanted to see a real chocobo now.

"Why not tomorrow?" Cloud pouted. "Make clouds, too," he said when Sephiroth finished drawing the bird.

"It takes a really long time to get to where the chocobos are, and then I have to bring it all the way over here." Sephiroth quickly drew six clouds and put the pencil down. "I'd have to leave you here, too."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have any other way to find a chocobo besides walking." Cloud grabbed the paper and slid off of Sephiroth's lap.

"There are still lots of other things to see besides chocobos," Sephiroth said. He walked over to the bed and threw himself on it, letting one leg dangle over the edge.

"You'll show me tomorrow?" Cloud climbed up and sat next to Sephiroth's head. Cloud wasn't tired at all, but he liked spending time with Sephiroth whether they played or not.

"I will. Just like I promised."

Everything was going well so far. Mrs. Strife easily found her way to the Mako spring, which illuminated the whole cave enough to where she could see part of the tunnel leading to the area divided by stalactites and stalagmites. She turned off the flashlight to save the battery and checked on her son.

Cloud had been asleep for an abnormally long time. Mrs. Strife started to worry. He was always awake before or a short time after she was when they napped or actually slept. Cloud was breathing steadily and occasionally moved a bit. Mrs. Strife contemplated on whether to wake him up before deciding not to. It would be easier for both of them, especially Cloud. He wouldn't have to know that they were leaving everything: their possessions, "home", and his only friend. Cloud had been in that house almost his entire life; to him, it was home. Sephiroth was Cloud's only friend, the only one besides Mrs. Strife that seemed to actually care about him.

Mrs. Strife was sad to have to separate the two. She would have let Sephiroth know about her escape plan, but she didn't want to risk having Jenova find out. Mrs. Strife was willing to abandon all of her possessions, even her photo album which meant everything to her, for Cloud. Her son was more important than anything else.

Mrs. Strife turned her attention to the remaining part of the journey. She had stopped long enough. Walking to the tunnel and using her stick for some support, she turned the flashlight back on when it became too dark to see.

While it did offer some visuals, the flashlight barely helped at all with seeing. Mrs. Strife mainly kept her eyes on the rocky ground, but looked from wall to wall every few moments. She shined the light into a cave. Not seeing anything, she slowly and cautiously walked into it.

A dragon hissed and reared its head. Mrs. Strife stood petrified. The large reptile took a menacing step forward. Its dark green scales and purple underbelly blended into the darkness. The head was the only part of it that was visible due to Mrs. Strife training the small beam of light onto it. The dragon hissed again and whipped out its tail, attempting to trip Mrs. Strife who had snapped out of it and was slowly backing away. Mrs. Strife jumped over the limb, stumbling a bit after her feet touched the ground again. She moved faster, exiting the cave. She avoided the walls, not wanting to give the dragon a chance to corner her.

The dragon snarled and opened its mouth wide. Mrs. Strife realized that her simple weapon would be unable to do anything at all. Instead of trying to fight back, she turned and ran blindly, passing through the first opening she saw. The flames came very close to burning Cloud and Mrs. Strife quickly turned to the left, still running. The dragon followed, then stopped.

That opening was the one that led outside. The wind, colder now than it was earlier, blew against Mrs. Strife. The dragon eyed Mrs. Strife for a while before moving its large body back into the caves, apparently deciding that Mrs. Strife wasn't worth the trouble. Mrs. Strife leaned forward, hands on her knees, and panted. She looked back at Cloud, finding him asleep.

There had to be something wrong. Nobody could have slept through that.

Mrs. Strife undid the sling and gently shook Cloud. No response. She gave him a harder shake.

"So close, dragon. So, so close. It just wasn't your night, was it?"

Mrs. Strife froze and frantically waved the flashlight around, looking for the source of that horribly familiar voice.

"Poor little rabbit," the voice said mockingly. Mrs. Strife looked up. A large part of Mt. Nibel, about the same size as the one in front of the cave's mouth, jutted out above Mrs. Strife. Jenova dropped down from that ledge, landing a few feet away from Mrs. Strife.

"Surrounded by a single predator and its tricks, the rabbit runs..." Mrs. Strife noticed that Jenova wasn't wearing that cloak anymore. Replacing the cloak was a jumpsuit, but not a jumpsuit; it wasn't tight enough to really be considered one. What had warranted that change?

"Will it make it home? Will it live to see another day in freedom? Run, rabbit. Run." Mrs. Strife didn't like what that little story was saying. She shined the light onto Jenova's face. Jenova turned her head to the side, but did nothing else.

"If you really want to run, then run. I won't stop you."

It had to be a trap. Mrs. Strife didn't believe her.

"Go on, go home." Jenova stepped closer. "I was only looking for my kidney. Tricky little thing ran off again."

Mrs. Strife held Cloud close to herself. Jenova could spew nonsense all she wanted. There was no way Mrs. Strife was going to give Cloud up.

Mrs. Strife took a few steps backward. She kept her right had up, pointing both the stick and the light at Jenova. Cloud was draped over her left shoulder with Mrs. Strife's left hand supporting him.

"There it is!" Jenova exclaimed, moving forward again.

"Y-you can't have him!" Mrs. Strife couldn't comprehend why Jenova was calling Cloud a kidney.

"I don't see why you would want that old thing. Are your own organs not enough for you?"

"He's not a kidney!" Mrs. Strife moved back a little more.

Jenova moved forward again. Every step backward Mrs. Strife took was another step forward for Jenova.

"You can't have him!" Mrs. Strife repeated. "I'd rather die than let you take him!"

"Would you, really? It's a shame that I can't help you with that."

"W-what?" Mrs. Strife didn't understand.

"Isn't it obvious? I can't kill you. It would be going against The Deal, you know."

"How would that be going against it?" Mrs. Strife was confused. If being killed would result in Jenova going against The Deal, then why did those nights happen?

"And the terrible memory of a human kicks in." Mrs. Strife stopped and so did Jenova. "Allow me to remind you of what we agreed on nearly three years ago."

Mrs. Strife listened intently and tried to remember what she could.

"The Deal was that, in exchange for your son, I would allow you to take shelter up there –" Jenova gestured to the top of Mt. Nibel "– and raise him until his fourth birthday. Not only that, I had also said that both he and you would be safe. That included safety against anything I would do. Apparently, the part where you would have to give up your child was the only thing that stayed in your mind. As for those nights, you had caught me at a bad time."

That made sense, and it added up to what Mrs. Strife could remember. But then why was she threatened?

"Oh human, now you want to take my source of entertainment. It had happened very few times, yet each time was better than the last."

Jenova had said that like it was all a joke. Mrs. Strife was not amused at all.

"Wait... wasn't there more to The Deal than that?" Mrs. Strife decided to ignore that last statement. She faintly remembered a few more details.

"Very good, human," Jenova said, praising Mrs. Strife like she was a dog. "I had agreed to assist you in any way you needed once you returned to that town after the four year deadline. Whether you would need food or materials, I would provide them. There was also the reassurance that you would still be able to see Cloud every so often by then, too. And that's it."

That added up, too. But it did not matter anymore. Mrs. Strife was still going to get away, even if she died trying. Since Mrs. Strife was going against The Deal, Jenova wasn't restricted by it anymore. Mrs. Strife was still going to try no matter what.

"I have been standing idle with you for too long. I'll just take my kidney back and be on my way."

Mrs. Strife started to back away at that. She found herself on her back with an aching head and Cloud snatched away from her. Jenova held Cloud by one of his arms. Cloud still wasn't moving.

Mrs. Strife stood up as quickly as she could. Her head pounded from the impact against the rocky ground.

"I don't see why you want it so badly. I suppose I can let you borrow it." Jenova launched Cloud at Mrs. Strife. Mrs. Strife held out her arms to catch him when, suddenly, he changed.

A wet, squishy object collided with Mrs. Strife's face, bouncing off of her and landing on the ground. Mrs. Strife stared down at the organ in shock. If that was with her the whole time...

"Where's Cloud?" The shock started to wear off and she breathed frantically.

"Never would have thought that you would leave your own child so soon. You had eleven months and thirteen days left."

"I'm not going anywhere! What did you do to him?!" Mrs. Strife screeched. She kicked the kidney off the ledge.

"Absolutely nothing. He's in a safe place. But he doesn't really matter to you anymore, does he?" Jenova mocked.

"Cloud means everything to me! Tell me where he is!" Tears ran down Mrs. Strife's cheeks.

But Jenova said nothing. She instead jumped off the ledge.

Mrs. Strife ran desperately up the mountain, fearing the worst.

"Go to sleep, big butt." Sephiroth pulled Cloud by the toes, dragging him to a lying position. Cloud had been excitedly asking questions about tomorrow. Sephiroth was surprised that he wasn't running around like crazy.

"I'm not tired. And you're the big butt!" Cloud turned so his feet faced Sephiroth and wiggled his toes in Sephiroth's face, silently daring Sephiroth to pull them again.

"Get your cheesy feet out of my face." Sephiroth pushed Cloud's feet away.

"They don't smell like cheese!" Cloud pouted.

"Yes they do."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Sephiroth pulled Cloud by the legs and assaulted the boy with tickles. Cloud giggled and squealed. He stopped squirming and tried to push Sephiroth off.

"Don't get mad at me when I wake you up tomorrow," Sephiroth warned, releasing Cloud. "I'm telling you, it would be a good idea if you went to sleep now and not later."

Sephiroth sensed Jenova's return. He bombarded her with questions, refusing to let her weasel her way out of it.

Where were you? You still haven't explained why you left Cloud here.

He was being suffocated. Wouldn't you agree that staying with someone else for a short amount of time would be good for him?

Sephiroth did agree. But something didn't fit.

His mother would've woken up and started looking for him.

So she would. If she wasn't out trying to find the path to Nibelheim, that is.

Cloud jumped on Sephiroth.

"Can I stay with you?" Cloud asked, sticking his face in front of Sephiroth's.

"Hold on." What did you do?

Nothing.

What. Did. You. Do.

I kicked a little rock cat and sent it to the moon, then followed it after realizing the little bastard had stolen my kidney. Now I'm back, and toasters will fall out of the sky next week.

Sephiroth felt a headache coming on.

"Can I stay with you?" Cloud asked again. "Please?" he whined.

"Hold on a bit. I'm still trying to decide." You better not do anything to her.

Other than putting that human to sleep, I don't have anything planned.

Why put her to sleep?

Cloud needs to go out, get dirty, do what you kids used to do. Things like that.

Cloud was getting impatient. He used Sephiroth's chest as a drum.

I'll get you later, Sephiroth promised. He knew she was going to keep it up all night.

I look forward to it.

Sephiroth knocked Cloud off of himself and onto the bed. "You can stay if you get ready to sleep right now."

Cloud hastily buried himself under the covers.

"Will tomorrow be fun?"

"Cloud..."

"What?"

"I don't like you," Sephiroth said playfully. He hoped that Cloud understood that it was a joke.

Cloud did. "Too bad, 'cause I like you. You're my best friend."

Sephiroth couldn't help it. His heart melted a little.

"We'll have lots of fun tomorrow." Sephiroth stood and turned off the light, slipping under the covers with Cloud afterwards. Cloud snuggled into Sephiroth's side.

Sephiroth had a strange feeling. He felt complete, like a part of him had been missing. He stared up at the ceiling for a while, not knowing that Cloud felt the exact same way.

Jenova had finished the painful process of reinserting her kidney by the time she ended the mental conversation with Sephiroth. All she did now was wait.

Eventually, the human did return. Jenova waited for it to come up the stairs and plunged the area into darkness. Only the floor of the room the human stayed in was visible; even the walls were nonexistent.

The human warily looked from side to side.

"Where is Cloud?" it asked demandingly.

"Hmm... It appears that I've misplaced him." Jenova wanted to see how the human would react to that.

It was outraged. "Where is he?! What did you do to him?!" The exact same questions. Quite repetitive. The human didn't wait for an answer and simply ran in a random direction, soon coming back to the spot it started in.

"What a small world," Jenova commented. The human ran in a different direction only to have the same result. The human's reactions were hilarious. Running around in circles like a caged animal, expecting to actually get anywhere...

The human sobbed angrily. It sank to its knees and pounded the floor with its fists.

No more reactions came from the human. Jenova quickly grew bored.

"I think it's time you slept."

The human looked up with hurt, anger, and confusion in its eyes. Jenova stared into those eyes, prodding the human's mind with the need for sleep.

"Nemu," Jenova said. The human fell over completely. Jenova let the normal world return, leaving the human on the floor as it was.

Notes:

Started: 2013年3月12日 （火）

Finished: 2013年3月15日 （金）

Anybody who's played Silent Hill or at least watched a walkthrough of it (like I have) can probably get a better picture of Mrs. Strife's journey down and back up Mt. Nibel. Gah, that game was horrible! And by horrible, I mean horribly scary. o.o

Of all the voters in the poll, everybody (except for one person) voted for Cloud. Cloud would like to show his thanks by giving out a copy of the chocobo drawing he colored. :D

And so, a week from then, Nibelheim had a new holiday. It was Toaster Day, and everyone celebrated it by making lots and lots of toast. Getting free kitchen appliances is something to celebrate.

Mrs. Strife's a fighter. She really loves Cloud and won't give him up. There's no way she can get out of The Deal, but she'll still fight even then!

Next time: Cloud's tour of the outdoors. See ya then!

(Last thing: I'm thinking of writing another fic to tell about Sephiroth's childhood and more of how he grew up. I won't start on it until this one gets to where The Deal is carried out, though.)