7 September 1979

"Wake up."

"Don't wanna."

Sephiroth shook Cloud a little harder. "Wake up, cheesy feet."

"Nooooo," Cloud whined, trying to pull the covers over himself.

"Don't you want to go outside today?" Sephiroth gave Cloud that reminder as an incentive to get up.

"But I'm tired."

Sephiroth pulled the blanket off of Cloud and picked him up, positioning him over his shoulder. He slowly walked down the stairs and sat Cloud down at the table. Cloud lay his arms down and used them as a pillow. Poor kid couldn't handle waking up at five in the morning.

Sephiroth ruffled Cloud's hair before going into the kitchen to make breakfast. Some food should wake Cloud up a bit.

Cloud really wanted to go back to sleep with Sephiroth. Sephiroth was super warm, and Cloud had slept much better and more comfortably with him than with his own mother. Being awake so early made him very cranky and put him in a bad mood – nothing like the sweet-tempered and talkative boy he normally was.

Cloud let out an annoyed grunt when Sephiroth nudged his head with something. He whined unintelligibly when Sephiroth lifted his head, pushed his arms down, and slid a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.

"Here," Sephiroth said, handing Cloud a spoon.

"Don't want it." Cloud pushed Sephiroth's hand away. He wanted to go back to sleep!

"You have to eat, Cloud." Sephiroth pried Cloud's right hand open and made him hold the spoon.

Cloud wasn't happy. His mood was only getting worse.

"I don't wanna!"

"You should've gone to sleep earlier. I told you I was going to wake you up early."

Cloud sulked. Sephiroth did tell him that. But it was Sephiroth's fault for waking him up before the sun was even out. Couldn't they have gone later?

Sephiroth sighed, having heard Cloud's thoughts. "Just eat a little. It might help wake you up."

Cloud slowly and tiredly shoveled the eggs into his mouth and ate them. Sephiroth sat across from Cloud and practically inhaled his own food.

"I'm tired," Cloud whined again. His plate was half empty, bits of egg speckled all over it. He pushed the plate and spoon away, laying his head on the table again after the dish was a good distance away.

"I know, I know," Sephiroth said. He pushed Cloud's plate back towards him. "Finish it. I need to go get some things."

"What things?" Cloud picked the spoon up and looked down at his food. He wondered if eggs were really little white and yellow food pillows.

"Some snacks and your shoes. You can't go outside without your shoes." Sephiroth took his plate to the sink and left it there before heading towards the stairs.

Cloud turned to watch him leave. "Can you bring a bed, too?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Aww!"

Sephiroth chuckled to himself. He understood Cloud's crankiness and couldn't get upset. It was actually a little funny to discover another side of him just by doing something as minor as waking him up extra early. Cloud would cheer up soon. He never could stay angry for long.

Sephiroth opened the door to Cloud's room, intending to retrieve some of Cloud's things. He walked into the room and froze.

Cloud's mother was lying on the floor, her face crushed against it. Sephiroth rushed forward.

She was taking heavy breaths, but not making any other movement. Sephiroth shook his head, feeling sympathy for her. He hoisted her onto the bed and rearranged her body into a comfortable position. He peeled off the furs wrapped around her, wrinkling his nose at the scent of sweat. Mrs. Strife was completely drenched.

Sephiroth changed his mind. He wasn't going after his mother when he returned from Cloud's day out.

He was going after her right now.

Jenova was staring at the ceiling when he stormed in. She didn't acknowledge Sephiroth and held the bandersnatch down to prevent it from jumping at Sephiroth.

"What did you do to her?" Sephiroth asked slowly.

"Put it to sleep. Thought the evidence was obvious enough," Jenova said simply.

"What else?"

"Fluffed up my pillow and stayed how you see me now." Said 'pillow' growled when Sephiroth stepped close. Jenova shushed the wolf.

Sephiroth knew Jenova wasn't lying. It was very difficult to catch her when she did so, but Sephiroth didn't see even a hint of the signs.

"Before that?"

"Put it to sleep," Jenova repeated.

"And that?" Sephiroth was now right by her side.

"Found it traversing the mountain with my kidney. Never found out why it would want that nearly useless thing."

"Why would she be around the mountains?" His mother was intentionally omitting something.

"I went too far." Jenova sat up, this time staring at the wall. Sephiroth backed up a bit to give her some space. He waited.

Jenova turned and looked Sephiroth in the eyes. "I wonder... If I scare it badly enough for the second time, do you think it'll run again?" She laughed.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Don't call her an 'it'." He'd had enough of that.

"A human by any name is still a human," Jenova said with some contempt.

"She's more than what you say she is."

"Is it?"

"She is. You better not do anything else to her. Whatever happened last night won't be a repeat."

"Won't it?"

"It won't," Sephiroth said firmly. He would defend Mrs. Strife himself.

"We'll see..." Jenova said ominously.

Mrs. Strife was going to have to hang in there. Sephiroth vowed to do what he could to help her.

"I'll be watching you." Sephiroth turned to leave.

"Good to know," was the last thing he heard before he shut the door.

Sephiroth sighed. Jenova was unshakeable when there was information she didn't want to reveal. He shook his head, bringing his thoughts back to Cloud.

He rummaged through the closet, finding a pair of socks and shoes and Cloud's sweater. The bag of chocolates and other treats caught his eye. Peering through the bag, he discovered half of the chocolates gone. Sephiroth had only seen Cloud and his mother eat four or five, so that meant one thing.

The chocolate thief had struck. Crap. He'd have to deal with that later.

Sephiroth grabbed a handful and took a backpack from his room, stuffing the chocolates and some other candies inside. He was going to stuff Cloud full of junk food.

Cloud had fallen asleep at the table by the time Sephiroth came back down. Sephiroth poked his arm and Cloud quickly jumped to life, slowly opening his eyes.

"Wha too' so long?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry." Sephiroth set the backpack down. "I'm almost done. Just a few more things and we can go."

Cloud watched as Sephiroth made some sandwiches for later. He felt much more awake after Sephiroth had helped him brush his teeth, rubbed water onto his face, and got him ready to go outside.

"Can I bring chocolate milk?" he asked.

"I have something better." Sephiroth took a brown can out of the fridge. Cloud was never allowed to drink what was in the can. His mother wouldn't give a reason other than "It's not good for you."

"What is it?" It didn't look like there was any chocolate milk in there.

"Root beer."

"What's that?"

"It's a soda." Sephiroth stuffed the can and sandwiches into the backpack. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Cloud opened the front door himself and waited impatiently for Sephiroth to catch up. Sephiroth was going so slow! Cloud wanted him to hurry up so they could go see the grass and the blue sky (it was always gray up here) and the clouds and-and everything! He was going to explode if Sephiroth didn't hurry.

"Calm down, you crazy kid!" Sephiroth smiled down at him. He swung the backpack over one shoulder, closed the door, and picked Cloud up, sitting the boy on his shoulders.

Cloud's body instinctively grew limp, like he always did when Sephiroth held him, and he slumped forward a bit over Sephiroth's head.

"Why do you do that?" The small swaying motions Sephiroth made while walking hypnotized Cloud a little.

"I don't know," Cloud said truthfully. He eagerly looked from side to side, being on Sephiroth's shoulders granting him access to seeing everything. Was this how being tall was like?

"You're weird," Sephiroth said playfully.

Cloud smacked the top of Sephiroth's head. "You're weird!" he shot back. Sephiroth laughed at that.

The caves weren't very special; they looked exactly like the ground, except standing up. Cloud fidgeted a little. His bladder was complaining.

"I-I gotta pee."

"Why didn't you go before?" Sephiroth put Cloud down.

"'Cause I didn't have to go then!" Cloud put his hands on his peepee and frantically looked around. "Where's the bathroom?"

"There isn't one."

"What?!" Cloud looked up at Sephiroth. "Why?"

"Because there aren't any outside." Sephiroth looked like he wanted to laugh. Cloud didn't think it was funny. "Just pee right there." Sephiroth pointed at the cave wall.

"But – !" Was it really okay to pee outside? He remembered when his mother had him potty trained. She said that he was to use the bathroom only in a toilet.

"It's okay to pee outside. I do it sometimes." If Sephiroth did it, then it wouldn't be bad if Cloud did, too.

Cloud followed after Sephiroth when he finished his business. The rest of the trip was pretty boring until Sephiroth led Cloud out of the caves and to an edge of the mountain.

Cloud looked down the slope. It looked like a giant slide made out of rocks. Cloud was starting to think that anything could be made out of rocks. The mountain they were on was really one giant rock, Cloud realized. There was nothing but rocks, rocks, rocks!

Sephiroth lifted Cloud, holding him tightly with his arms before sliding down the giant rock (ROCKS! Nothing but rocks! Cloud sang to himself) slide.

It was scary. Cloud screamed a little. They were going too fast! It wasn't until they got towards the bottom that Cloud finally got used to the speed and started to enjoy himself. They were still going too fast. Cloud found himself on flat ground (which was made of something besides rocks) too soon.

"Let's do it again!" Cloud tried to climb up the slope only to slip. Sephiroth got him to his feet.

"You can't climb up there." Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's hand and led him through a long dirt path.

"Why not?"

"It's too steep. No matter how hard anybody tries, they'll keep slipping."

"But how will we go back up?" Cloud asked. It was fun so far, but, as much as Cloud didn't want to, they'd have to go back home eventually.

"There's another way," Sephiroth explained. "The slide was a shortcut. The normal way takes a lot longer to pass through." The biggest and longest wall Cloud had ever seen came into view. Sephiroth sat down against the wall and opened the backpack. Cloud sat next to him.

"I think now is a good time for a snack."

Cloud was starving. He hungrily munched on the ham sandwich Sephiroth gave him. Sandwiches never tasted any better than they did then.

Sephiroth opened a bag of chips. Cloud curiously reached into the bag, pulled out a chip, and ate it.

It tasted great. Cloud finished his sandwich and ate half of the chips. Sephiroth ate the other half and bulldozed through three sandwiches. Cloud was overjoyed when Sephiroth unwrapped a chocolate bar and let him have it. The slightly melted candy tasted as great as ever. There was no such thing as too much chocolate for Cloud. He ate two bars in a row.

"Chocolate face," Sephiroth said. He pulled out a napkin and rubbed Cloud's face with it.

"Is there more?"

"I'm saving them for later."

Cloud pouted. He really wanted more chocolate and said as much to Sephiroth.

"If you eat all of the chocolate now, there won't be any more later."

Cloud didn't care about that. He still wanted more chocolate. He was going to argue some more until Sephiroth pulled out the brown soda can.

Sephiroth knew that Cloud was going to keep on fighting for chocolate. The kid had eaten only a few in his short lifetime and he was already addicted. Sephiroth liked that Cloud wasn't easily taken down, but he didn't want to argue with him at the moment. He pulled out the can of root beer to redirect his attention.

Cloud's eyes were glued on the soda. Success!

Sephiroth held the can away from Cloud and himself (in case it exploded) and popped it open. The click and fizzy noises made Cloud jump a little. Sephiroth watched as Cloud slowly took a small sip. The little boy's face scrunched up and he coughed once. He took another drink, this time a bright expression taking over his features.

"The bubbles are good!" Cloud exclaimed. He downed the rest of the root beer in seconds and looked expectantly at Sephiroth.

"I don't have any more," Sephiroth said truthfully. Cloud pouted. "I can get more later. Don't tell your mother I let you drink root beer."

"I won't tell Mama," Cloud promised.

Sephiroth ruffled Cloud's hair and led him towards the plains, using an obscure road as a detour around Nibelheim. He didn't want Cloud to see the hate the townspeople had towards himself; he was too young.

Cloud's eyes wandered everywhere. He was amazed by the simple things: the sound of birds, the grass, the clouds. Hell, he even had fun with dirt! His hands and fingers were completely covered in dirt from the constant sifting he did. Sephiroth inwardly shook his head. It would have been so much better if Cloud had gotten the chance to explore the outdoors a lot sooner. Sephiroth pitied him.

Preventing Cloud from straying too far from Sephiroth was very difficult. Just as Cloud was amazed by everything, he was also excited by everything. Sephiroth made a mental note to himself.

Junk food was drugs to kids.

Sephiroth managed to burn off most of Cloud's energy by teaching him the old games he used to play. Cloud chased after Sephiroth when they played tag, rolled around with him on the grass, and numerous other things.

The two of sat on the plains, Sephiroth scanning the distance every few seconds for wolves. Cloud looked up at the sky.

"Clouds look fluffy. Do they ever come down?" he asked.

"They're called fog when they do."

"What's fog like?"

"Wet. And it's hard to see through it."

"Oh," Cloud said, disappointed.

Cloud asked various questions about nature, Sephiroth giving the best answers he could. Too soon, it seemed, Sephiroth caught the scent of rain.

"Time to go." He stood up and lifted Cloud onto his shoulders again. They had to move fast. No matter what the season, it never rained in Mt. Nibel (except near the base), the water droplets turning to ice and snow due to the high elevation. If Cloud got wet now, he would definitely be in a bad situation on the way home.

Sephiroth ignored Cloud's protests and ran towards the mountain, again taking the detours through Nibelheim.

Cloud had been having a wonderful time. He had learned so many things and Sephiroth's games were fun. Sephiroth had even let him pick up sticks, rocks, and grass to keep as 'souvenirs'. The only unpleasant thing Cloud felt were his aching feet from all the walking, running, and playing. Even so, he didn't want to go back home. Never ever ever.

"Don't go back home!" Cloud begged for the umpteenth time. Sephiroth didn't listen, just kept on running. Being on Sephiroth's shoulders and going at a fast speed would have been fun if they hadn't been going in the direction Cloud was dreading.

At first, the swaying motions had been very soothing, but now, as Sephiroth was moving very quickly, Cloud suddenly felt himself getting sick.

"I feel funny," Cloud whined. His stomach felt weird and the world was spinning too fast.

Sephiroth slowed down to a walk. "What's wrong?"

"It's spinning." The funny feeling was slowly going away.

"Are you okay?"

"No more spinning," Cloud said after a short while. The weird feeling in his stomach was almost completely gone, too.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Sephiroth sped up again, but he went at a much slower pace than that crazy blur speed. Cloud didn't feel weird at all with Sephiroth's current pacing, so he concluded that moving really, really fast made the world spin and made stomachs feel funny.

Cloud gave up on trying to get Sephiroth to turn around. The journey back up the mountain took much longer than going down. It got really cold and white things fell from the sky.

Sephiroth took off his jacket and wrapped it around Cloud. The jacket felt just as warm from Sephiroth's body heat as the blanket did that morning. Cloud nearly fell asleep until Sephiroth passed by a weird tree cave (as Cloud instantly named it) with a pretty glowing thing lighting it up. Cloud asked many questions about the two things, but Sephiroth didn't answer; he said he would explain when they got home.

And they did get home. That glowing thing was stuck in Cloud's head, drowning out any other thoughts, even when his feet ached and his stomach rumbled. However, one thing did catch Cloud's attention very quickly.

Mrs. Strife came down the stairs, sobbing. When she saw Cloud, she ran towards him, fell to her knees, and nearly squeezed the life out of him, crying even harder.

"What's wrong, Mama?"

Notes:

Started: 2013年3月19日 （火）

Finished: 2013年3月23日 （土）

I'm back! Sorry for the delay. The weather in my area has been extremely bipolar recently. Really hot weather makes me feel sick and exhausted (even more so when I'm outside for a long time), and the temperature had changed from a pleasantly cool 60-70-something degrees Fahrenheit to 98 degrees F in one single day. O_O I'm going to blame Spring Break a little, too, since going back to 'real life' isn't easy after having a whole week of laziness (and fanfic writing!). I'm not making any promises, but the updates should come a bit quicker.

I've been going back and editing the previous chapters. Other than chapters one and two, I haven't changed any details and just fixed up the typos. I don't really read a chapter before submitting it (my brain goes on hyperspeed no matter what I do), so when I went back and reread them, I found a typo. And another one. And another! And ANOTHER! GAH! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ The worst one was Chapter 14. I'll fix it soon.

Some of Cloud's funnest moments include the sentence "don't tell your mother." :3