11 August 1985

Mrs. Strife sat outside her porch, drinking her tea to help calm her nerves. The cool wind was silent, though the breeze was still there. Her right hand unconsciously trembled, the shaking growing in intensity as she used her other hand to adjust the collar of her sweater.

Two days. She had spent two days under the cold, dark floorboards. Two days of listening to what went on in the house. Two days of laying stiffly, two days living with little air, no food, and no water.

The blonde woman still hadn't entirely recovered. She didn't know how she'd even survived.

Before she could think any more on the matter or on her son, two people began to walk in her direction. No, she realized, not towards her. They were going next door.

Leaning to the side and craning her neck, she tried to peek. The two villagers approached the Lockheart home, knocked on the door, and were immediately ushered inside. Mrs. Strife was unable to recognize either of them, and that only further ignited her curiosity.

Trying not to appear too interested, Mrs. Strife sat back in her chair, drinking her tea again.

She didn't have to wait very long. Very soon, she heard exclamations coming from inside the Lockheart house, and the Mayor rushed outside, making his way to a neighbor's home. Then and there, the commotion grew. The word began to spread, slowly at first, then quicker, like wildfire.

Tifa was awake. Relieved, but only somewhat, Mrs. Strife relaxed a little, her thoughts returning to Cloud again. Tifa was safe now, and Mrs. Strife was happy for her only living parent, but—

"That demon boy didn't get her this time," Mrs. Strife overheard suddenly.

Demon boy? Cloud?

The mayor turned and finally acknowledged Mrs. Strife. "You better keep a close eye on that boy of yours."

Mrs. Strife unconciously tightened her hands around her tea cup and said, "Cloud had nothing to do with this."

"He was taking her to the mountain," Lockheart said accusingly. "Pherson's and Dawkins's boys were there."

"Then why are you blaming Cloud for everything? If they were there, and he was there, and you're blaming somebody, why can't you blame them, too?" Mrs. Strife argued.

"They haven't been cursed by those demons, Strife," Lockheart said with contempt. "Your family has been cursed since the day you joined that Demon Woman's side."

Mrs. Strife's usually never-ending patience with the major was quickly running thin. She was beyond tired of Nibelheim's very old-fashioned and close-minded ideals. Carefully doing her best not to offend the other man, the blonde said, "I never joined any sides. I needed help, and she was the only one who would help me. I did it for the sake of my son, and I had no other choice."

The major would have none of it. "Keep your demon boy away from my daughter. I don't want to see him near her ever again." He turned his attention away from Mrs. Strife and entered his home.

The blonde pursed her lips. So Cloud had been on Mt. Nibel first... Mrs. Strife didn't know exactly how to react. On one hand, she was more worried. She had absolutely no time at all to check if Cloud was hurt before Jenova whisked him away. On the other hand, in a way, Jenova had helped...somewhat. Even so, whether Cloud was on the mountain or in the town, nothing had changed. Her son was still with Jenova's family. Frustrated now, Mrs. Strife took a deep breath, trying to calm down and keep the wave of tears from coming out.

She hated it. She really did. There were many times where she wished for a normal life for both her and Cloud. This was no exception.

29 August 1985

Cloud roamed about outside of the house, not straying too far. Numerous failed escape attempts quickly taught him that Jenova always remained vigilant. The boy dragged his stick across the rocks.

Sephiroth had not spoken to him since the incident, and Cloud was beginning to lose hope in getting back to his mother. The boy gradually became more lonely and depressed. He had nobody to talk to or confide in anymore. Kadaj's taunts were getting to him, and he couldn't try to be strong and brush them off.

He was tired. He wanted to go home. His real home.

The boy tightened his hold around the stick and picked it up so it was no longer dragging. He looked at it with disinterest, jumping when he suddenly felt a nudge from behind.

Turning around, Cloud found himself facing Jenova. By this point, he couldn't really be surprised to see her anymore.

"Leave me alone," Cloud mumbled. He became irritated when Jenova did the exact opposite and instead invaded more of his personal space.

"You want to be one of them, don't you?" Jenova asked quietly. "One of the Shinra; a SOLDIER?"

Cloud stepped back and nodded, looking down at his feet.

"It is to see Sephiroth again, correct?"

The boy nodded again.

"How do you expect to get there?"

"...I don't know," Cloud mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I don't know," Cloud repeated, this time a little louder.

"Speak up. You can't expect to be heard this way."

"I. Don't. Know," Cloud said through clenched teeth, on the verge of yelling now.

"Better. If you honestly do not know, then how will you find out?"

Cloud didn't answer. He had no idea.

"I will tell you."

The boy looked up.

"You will not make it. You are weak. Insignificant in their are unable to stand up to even the flies in the village. They are strong over there. Very strong compared to those here. I am telling you right now to get that silly dream out of your head."

Tears began to well up in Cloud's eyes. "No..." he said, his voice cracking. "You're wrong."

"So you say. Prove it."

Cloud sniffed, holding back his sobs. He had nothing he could say against Jenova.

Jenova kept silent as well. She wrenched Cloud's stick out of his hand and whipped his leg. The boy screamed, feeling the sting burn his thigh. He bent over and placed his hands over the hurting spot. Jenova then whacked him on the side, knocking the wind out of the boy.

Sobbing now, Cloud continued to scream as the woman struck him. He quickly tried to hobble away, heading downwards since nobody else would help him if he tried to run into the house, and cried out again as a foot kicked his lower back and propelled him forward.

"The Shinra is toxic. You are weak. You won't last a day in that horrid place."

Cloud could only whimper in pain and sniffle, aching everywhere as tears poured from his face.

She was wrong. Jenova was wrong.

17 October 1985

A small group of squads grouped up together, standing at attention next to the helicopter. Sephiroth held his standard-issue machine gun in the position commanded of him and the other infantrymen, also using that pose to hold onto Masamune.

His stomach churned with dread. The silver-haired man attempted to look around without turning his head, despising how much of his vision was obscured by the helmet all infantrymen were required to wear. He couldn't understand for the life of him the point in wearing those helmets if they were dangerous for the soldiers. Not that he cared about the lives of the other men; he simply couldn't see the logic behind it. Shinra expected to win their wars and keep their army alive, didn't they?

Unwillingly, Sephiroth saluted along with the other soldier grunts, throwing the old, annoying thought out of his head. Ignoring the speech and pep talk, he put right hand back on his gun when the salute was over, and, in an orderly fashion, marched behind along with his squad into their designated helicopter. The silver-haired man strapped himself into his seat, keeping his weapons on his lap. The helicopter's noise soon became deafening, and Sephiroth – who still wasn't completely used to so much noise at once – visibly cringed. Vaguely, he could feel himself moving upwards, though he couldn't pay attention due to the agony his ears were in. Thankfully, the others were also negatively affected by the racket, though Sephiroth hardly felt any better. He was no fan of pain whatsoever.

He lost track of time after a while. He was completely unsure on how long he was in that helicopter, on how long it took to finally arrive at Wutai. But he could no longer care anymore. Once his feet touched solid ground and that horrible noise was finally gone, he was happy. No, happy was not the way to describe it. As he shrugged his gun over his shoulder and kept his precious sword by his side, he found he really had no word to describe it. He was far from happy, but he certainly was feeling better.

Then came their meal and rest in their new living quarters. Four men had to share a small tent, much to Sephiroth's annoyance. He spent that night far more uncomfortably than any night he'd ever had, hating the idea and action of being so physically close with strangers.

The came morning, breakfast, and their instructions. Sephiroth's squad was to report to the west. There, they would stay at the defensive camp to provide reinforcements for the nearby Wutai fort. The journey there was fairly short. Though it gave Sephiroth time to study his surroundings (without that damn helmet on his head), he could not find much usable information. Wutai was completely foreign to him. He could not recall a single memory of the exotic land, though it was similar to the many forests he'd been in before. Even so, the creatures were different, and he found himself having to learn their behavior as he and the squad defended themselves and fought them off. Those, he discovered, were very, very different.

Arriving at their destination yielded no special fanfare. In fact, almost as soon as they got to camp, half of Sephiroth's squad was sent to the fort, Sephiroth included. Each soldier split off from the squad, going about their own ways to enter the fort. Cautiously, Sephiroth pressed himself against a stone wall, leaning forward to sneak a glance around the corner.

Shots fired in his direction, and Sephiroth quickly stood back to avoid injury. Suddenly, he heard a scream, but could not tell whether it was a soldier of Shinra or Wutai. Clenching his teeth and taking a deep breath, Sephiroth leaped around the corner and ran, hearing the rapid firing of bullets. Making it towards a Wutai soldier, Sephiroth jabbed the man's stomach and took his bayonet, tossing it out of reach.

One disarmed and coughing up blood, three more with their weapons aimed directly at him. He had to act fast.

In a situation where Sephiroth went armed, he never went anywhere without Masamune. Before being deployed, he had fought for the right to be able to take his sword with him, satisfied when he got his way. Here, he was four times as glad to have his beloved blade with him.

Throwing his gun aside, having absolutely no reason to use the useless thing, Sephiroth unsheathed Masamune, using its long reach to his advantage and catching the nearest Wutai soldier by surprise and slashing his thigh open. Sephiroth didn't give the others much time to react before he rushed towards them. One fled, but the other stood his ground. It didn't matter, anyway, as Sephiroth continued to run at an alarming speed, piercing one of the man's vital organs. Sephiroth quickly pulled the bloodied sword out, looking down at his handiwork after the man slumped over, dead. A Shinra grunt saw the action and snapped out of his trance long enough to signal the rest in. The entire squad ran past Sephiroth.

He'd done it. He had killed a human. It was far from his first.

But he had killed a man in the name of the enemy, to help the enemy. Sephiroth was utterly sickened.

2 November 1985

Cloud slipped out of the house again, the afternoon sun shining brightly down on him as he continued to walk down the mountain, feeling relieved when nobody followed him. The boy managed to reach Nibelheim undisturbed, entering the town limits when the other villagers were out and about. He made his way towards his home, stopping when he heard a scream.

A girl, one he couldn't recognize, shouted, "It's the demon boy!" She picked up a rock, but her mother stopped her from throwing it. A boy ran towards him, fists in the air, but, like the girl, he was stopped by his parents.

"Don't go near him!" the girl's mother scolded harshly.

"But mom, I was gonna beat him up!" the girl whined.

Beat him up? Why? Was it because of Tifa?

Tifa. She wasn't dead, was she? Quickly, Cloud scurried away, hearing more threats against him and receiving some of the ugliest looks he'd ever seen.

Jenova had been relentless in attacking him. To know the town hated him as well was almost enough to break him.

Notes:

Started: 2014年11月8日（土）

Finished: 2014年12月22日（月）

Long time no see. Should I even apologize for the lateness anymore? It all seems like a bunch of excuses anyways. Even so, I'm sorry. I've had a bunch of issues going on, and another brush with the dreaded depression. It's been a few years since that's happened. Don't worry, it's all gone for now. It's just... It's been a trying few months. And the next few are only going to be harder.

Enough about me, I don't matter. Don't let me get you down anyways. :P I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday. Don't hold your breath for the next chapter, but rest assured I won't give up on you guys.