The other children took no notice of him once he had closed the door behind himself. Nervously, Cloud walked forward towards the girl.

She was laughing at her two other friends, laughing at how they were frowning at her for throwing the ball to the dog. The dog, meanwhile, pawed at the ball and jumped back, as if wanting someone to throw the ball again.

Cloud was only a few feet away when the girl stopped and looked at him with a suspicious gaze. The boys looked at Cloud as well, one with narrowed eyes, the other with slight trepidation. Shyly, Cloud looked down at his feet, unsure of what to do.

"Are you that demon boy?" one of the boys blurted out.

Cloud quickly looked up in confusion. "Demon boy?"

"He talks! He's gonna put curses on us!" the other boy cried, backing away.

"I'm not a demon!" Cloud said loudly. "I'm Cloud!"

"Cloud?" the girl repeated with a puzzled look on her face. "Do I know you?"

The eight-year-old nodded. "I remember you from a long time ago when you were playing with grandpa dog. Do you remember me?"

The girl shook her head. "Not really." She didn't say anything else for a minute or two before she asked, "Were you the one who got called by one of the demons?"

"What demon? There are no demons here."

"Tifa, don't listen to him!" the boy that had backed away shouted. "He's one of them!"

"No I'm not!" Miserable, Cloud looked down at his feet. "I just wanted to play, too..."

The girl named Tifa – yes, that was her name; he'd forgotten – looked at Cloud, then back at her friends. She seemed very unsure, and Cloud could see her friends shaking their heads. Eventually, Tifa went over to pick up the ball from the ground. The dog, which had lost interest long ago, stood up from where it lay on the dirt and began to wag its tail.

Cloud caught the ball, nearly stumbling over in surprise. He threw it back to Tifa, and she threw it at him again. When Cloud threw it back, he was slightly surprised to see Tifa throw it to one of her friends instead. That boy, however, began to pass the ball between himself and the last boy, neither of them throwing the ball back towards Tifa or Cloud.

"Hey, I'm here, too!" Tifa protested. She caught the ball when it was thrown at her and began to run. Her friends chased after her, and Cloud joined in.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chasing after whoever had the ball in their hands, though one of them had to defend it from the dog from time to time. Cloud had lots of fun, though eventually, he started playing more with the dog than with the others.

It was inevitable, but Cloud was very reluctant to go when his mother called him in. He turned and said a quick goodbye before going home. He'd never noticed the entire time that Tifa and her friends had been moving farther and farther away from him as the day had dragged on.

Mrs. Strife was relieved when her son came back in. She'd been worried sick for the first few moments, though she had begun to calm down the longer Cloud had played with the village children without being harmed. However, she was still on edge, afraid that Jenova or any of her sons would come down from Mt. Nibel again.

"Did you have fun?" Mrs. Strife asked Cloud, moreso to distract herself from the bad memories.

The boy nodded. "Yeah. I liked playing with the dog and the ball."

"What do you think of your new friends?"

Cloud was silent for a short while, then said, "I like them. They're nice."

"Good. I'm glad." She pushed her child towards the bathroom. "Bath time for you. You're full of dust."

Cloud groaned, but left to pick out a change of clothes. Mrs. Strife went into the kitchen area to prepare dinner.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"My friends..." Cloud began, hesitating. "My friends are nice. But they kept calling me a demon boy. That's the only thing that wasn't nice about them. I don't know why they kept saying that."

Mrs. Strife stiffened. "That's not very nice of them. Ask them to stop, and if it keeps happening, tell me. Okay?"

Cloud nodded, then went into the bathroom.

Mrs. Strife's heart clenched. It was her fault. If it wasn't for her, none of that would happen. Now she had the fear of things getting even worse to deal with.

Are you awake?

Cloud yawned and shifted onto his other side, nearly falling asleep until he heard Sephiroth's voice.

Yeah.

I'm in Midgar now.

Really?

Yes. I got here last night.

What's it like?

I don't like it.

That doesn't tell me anything, Cloud grumbled.

Sorry. I'm still tired. I've been busy all day. How have you been doing?

I went outside and played with other kids today.

He heard no response from Sephiroth, which made Cloud a little nervous.

Mom called them my new friends, but... Cloud didn't really think of it that way. The thought of him having a friend other than Sephiroth was impossible. Playing with Tifa and her two friends was nothing like messing around with Sephiroth when he was still here. Calling them his friends was...weird.

...they kept calling me a demon boy. I don't know why.

Don't listen to them. They've been calling me and my family demons for years.

Why?

Because they're stupid.

How long have they been 'stupid'?

A very long time.

How long?

Long before you were even born.

Did you do anything to them?

We existed.

But I don't get it.

Don't worry about it. But if any of them do anything to you, tell your mother, and then tell me.

Okay... Cloud was still confused, but he dropped the subject. Sephiroth didn't seem too pleased about the subject, and the boy didn't like to see his friend upset about something. Can you tell me more about Midgar when you can?

Of course. I have things to do tomorrow, though.

What kind of things.

I don't know. I'll have to see.

You're going to become a SOLDIER, right? When I grow up, I want to go to Midgar, too. We can be SOLDIERs together.

I don't plan on being here for long, Cloud.

Come back soon then.

I will.

Promise?

I promise.

It didn't matter how many times he said that. He wanted Sephiroth to come back, wanted him to make and keep his promises.

Go to sleep, Cloud.

The boy rolled his eyes and turned over onto his stomach.

Good night, Sephiroth.

Good night.

Notes:

Started: 2014年5月14日（水）

Finished: 2014年5月19日（月）

Hnnngg, it's short, and I'm sorry for the long time with no update. Too many video games and too much doodling. ;_; Somebody come and kick my ass over fics. I really need it.

Seph's POV next chapter! I'll try to update this faster, but I've been stuck again. D: