Chapter 9

oOoOo

Vincent Valentine could not determine what was taking Rufus and Tifa so long to join him for dinner.

"Wait a moment… did I even invite them to join me?" he wondered quietly to himself. He was fearful that he was becoming somewhat forgetful because despite his youthful appearance, he could not deny to himself his real age. He got hold of a shiny silver spoon and began to examine his complexion by looking at his reflection at the back of the spoon. "Hmm… I guess having Mako has its benefits…" he muttered upon realizing that no wrinkles or other signs of aging have surfaced.

He stared at the seafood pasta that he had to reheat and place in a more appropriate porcelain serving bowl (because Rufus used a plastic bowl for serving and storage). He wondered if he should start eating without them, but became suspicious again. The two seemed tense when he arrived as if something was wrong. Were they having a fight before he arrived?

Vincent thought that he would never care whether he would lose friendships or not, but at that moment, he felt worried that his newfound friendship with Rufus would be ruined if ever Tifa fought with him.

"What are the chances?" he muttered as he dropped the spoon on the table and carefully got up, suspecting that if the two were already killing each other in the room where he left them, he should be cautious in approaching them.

As he approached the room, he noticed that the door was closed. He tried to listen for any disturbances from inside, but there were none. Wondering if those two were still alive, he peeked through the keyhole and what he saw made him step back from the door and run back to the dining room.

He sat on his chair and stared wide-eyed into empty space, catching his breath. He just sat still for a few minutes before regaining his composure. "Oh well… I guess it was bound to happen one way or another…" he told himself out loud as his lips curved into a pleased smile, but then a wave of melancholy returned to his consciousness when the thought of Lucrecia entered his mind.

There was never a day that he failed to think or dream of her. But at that moment, he just wondered how different things could have been if she was still alive and they ended up together, married, and with children. He also imagined that if he was Sephiroth's father, would things have turned out better for the Planet in a way?

Taking a deep breath, he just decided to eat rather than sulk. Besides, he could sense that it would rain soon. "Rain?" he thought as he got up for a moment. "Food can wait. Better get the laundry inside…" he thought before rushing to the kitchen and exited through the back door to go to the laundry area where clothes and blankets were still hanging on the clotheslines.

As he was gathering the clothes and the blankets, he sensed that someone was approaching him from behind. He could already feel the few droplets of rain hitting his face so he hurried in gathering the clothes before turning around to face whoever it was approaching him. Vincent almost dropped the clothes and the blankets when he saw that it was a tall young man with spiky black hair wearing the clothes that Cloud used to wear. "Oh… hello. May I help you?" he asked.

The spiky-haired man smiled sheepishly. "Uh… I kinda got lost. Do you mind if I stay over for the night? There's a storm coming and I don't think I can make it to an inn on time before the rain pours down." He explained with a hesitant tone.

Vincent examined him, eyeing him from head to toe. "You from Shinra?" he asked curiously.

"Uh… yeah. I used to work for them before. Was from SOLDIER. First Class." The man answered.

Vincent looked up at the skies when he felt more droplets of rain. "No time to dilly-dally here. Follow me inside." He said before leading the way to the house. "Before anything else, what is your name?" he asked.

"Zack."

Vincent and Zack made it back into the house just in time when the rain started to pour down. Vincent checked the clock. It was 8:30 in the evening already. "Pardon the darkness." He apologized to Zack while hoping that his guest would not bump against anything that could break.

"Oh it's fine. I can see in the dark." Zack said. "I hope that doesn't freak you out…" he continued.

"No, not at all. Me too. I was from Shinra too… and I guess you were also exposed to Mako?" Vincent inquired as he placed the laundry on one of the chairs in the living room.

Zack smiled. "Yeah. I was. Not such a pretty damn good experience but hey, I guess it improved my eyesight. Haha." He said.

Vincent could sense that this young man had a lot of humor in him. "Maybe it's a change since Rufus is always sarcastic and Tifa hardly ever cracks jokes." He thought silently before motioning for his guest to follow him into the dining room. "Come along. I'm sure you haven't had dinner yet." He said.

Zack's face lit up with excitement. "Yeah! I'm really hungry now. The last meal I had was lunch. I was with my girlfriend and we didn't have enough money so we only ate a few in the market." He said.

Vincent and Zack sat down. "Oh you have a girlfriend? Where is she from?" the former asked.

"Well, she's originally from Wutai but she's staying over at her friend's house in Edge to help out with the financial and household concerns." The latter explained with a proud look on his face.

Vincent looked at him for a while. "Oh. That's nice of her." He remarked before handing him the bowl of pasta so that he could serve himself.

Zack took 5 spoonfuls of the seafood pasta, dumping each serving on his plate. "So, you live here alone, mister—?" he asked.

"Vincent." Vincent pointed out his name.

Zack nodded brightly. "Vincent." He repeated as he handed the serving bowl back to his newfound acquaintance.

Vincent scooped up 3 servings of pasta and dumped the food on his plate. "I actually live here with two other people but they're busy somewhere else in this house." He explained while trying to keep a straight face.

Zack blinked. "Chores?" he asked.

Vincent avoided his gaze. "Never you mind. Just eat." He said.

They were quiet for several minutes, concentrating on eating, until Zack broke the silence by asking, "You told me you're from Shinra too. From which division?"

Vincent was somewhat hesitant to answer but he did anyway, "…Peace Keepings."

"SOLDIER?" Zack inquired.

"Turks." Vincent answered quite stiffly.

Zack smiled. "Cool. But… I haven't seen you before." He said.

Vincent just kept quiet.

"You know Tseng?" Zack asked.

Vincent was surprised at him. "Y…yes." He answered. But he knew Tseng only when he joined Cloud and his gang, not when he was still working as a Turk.

Zack laughed lightheartedly. "I knew him. I guess you're a senior Turk?" he asked.

Vincent just blinked. "I guess you could put it that way, but I'm back on the job now." He answered.

"You sure look young to be a senior Turk." Zack remarked.

Vincent just kept quiet as he continued to eat. He was wondering where he would make Zack sleep. "Pardon me, Zack, but I hope you do not mind sleeping on the couch tonight?" he asked.

Zack smiled. "Not a problem with me." He answered.

Vincent was relieved that his guest did not turn out to be a picky and whiny person. "Alright. I'll just provide you with the pillows and blankets. I know this is a big house but we only have two beds. The two other people living here with me are sharing one room and one bed. I have my own room." He answered.

"Are they family?" Zack asked.

"No. I'm not related to them. They're… my friends." Vincent answered. Admitting that he actually has friends made him feel as if a chain that has been holding him together for so long has finally begun to detach itself from him.

Zack poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher situated to his left. "Cool. Must be fun living with your friends." He said.

Vincent reflected on what he said and smiled simply. "Well… yes. It is indeed fun." He said softly.

Zack smiled cheerfully before drinking some water while Vincent continued to eat. He put down his glass and eyed Vincent curiously. "Your friends had dinner yet?" he asked.

Vincent shook his head "I don't think they'll be eating dinner tonight. They're… pretty busy." He answered.

"Why? What are they doing?" Zack asked.

Vincent could feel his own cheeks getting warmer. Obviously he did not want to answer the question, but he just shrugged. "I'm not really sure… they're fixing a few springs on their bed, I guess." He fibbed.

"Maybe I can help. I'm quite the handyman myself!" Zack presented cheerfully.

"No, no, not a problem. They can handle such an easy task themselves. After all, I'm sure they're helping each other out very well. They're pretty close to each other." Vincent answered with an uneasy smile on his face.

Zack blinked and eyed Vincent strangely as if suspecting something. Vincent easily understood what he was thinking about so he explained, "They're... a young man and a young woman."

Zack raised his eyebrows and he seemed to have sighed in relief. "Well that's… great. They're siblings?" he asked.

"No. More like… lovers." Vincent explained quite hesitantly.

Zack smiled gently. "Gee. How sweet of them to be together in one roof." He said.

Vincent lowered his gaze to his food. "Yes, I guess so… we never even thought they'd end up together." He explained.

"Why?" Zack asked.

"Let me just put it simply like this: they're from different worlds." Vincent said.

Zack laughed lightheartedly. "Well I guess that's normal! I mean, everyone's from a different world! I mean, everyone's an opposite of everyone… am I making sense to you?" he asked.

Vincent breathed in. "Yes, I guess so." He just realized how talkative his guest is. "But at least he's talking. I won't be so bored…" he thought silently.

Zack continued to talk about anything under the sun while Vincent listened and commented every now and then. After dinner and after Vincent had washed the dishes, he showed Zack to the living room and made him sit on the couch. "That couch is clean. I've disinfected it enough to get rid of the mites." Vincent reassured.

Zack bounced up and down on the couch. "I don't really mind mites. I'm so used to having mites around me. Back in SOLDIER, when I was still in the lowest ranks, I'd sleep in bunk beds with bedbugs! But I got used to them." He explained lightheartedly.

"You sound like you're used to living even in the nastiest conditions life could offer." Vincent answered before heading for the hallway to the bedrooms. "I'll be back. I'll get your pillows and blankets." He said.

Zack just sat still on the couch while looking around with a faint smile on his face.

oOoOo

It was 5 in the morning when Cloud opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling of his dark room. He shivered slightly as he realized that the room was strangely cold. He wondered if winter was coming sooner than expected. Ever since Meteor, there had been many changes in the seasons and like the weather, the seasons became unpredictable. He turned to his side and he froze when he saw someone seated on the chair facing the bed…

And she was in pink.

His eyes widened but for some reason, he could not raise his gaze to look at her face; he could only gape at her abdomen with a disturbed look on his face. Her hands were on her lap. He was not sure but he could feel that she was smiling at him.

"Why… why can't I look at you?" he asked softly.

She just kept still.

The room was silent. Cloud felt uneasy. "Aerith," he began.

There was no movement from her.

"You didn't talk to me yesterday. I was worried about you. Where have you been?" he asked her.

He wondered why she was not even moving or speaking. Cloud could feel the tears welling in his eyes as he continued to stare at her abdomen. He smiled bitterly. "Did I do something wrong?" he whispered. He sounded like a guilty child.

She got up and walked to him. She knelt down on the floor by the bed. Now he could see her face. She had a gentle smile on her face.

He blinked and his tears fell.

She leaned her face closer to his and kissed his lips gently. "It will all be over soon." She told him gently as she moved away and sat down on the chair again.

He wondered what that meant, but he smiled anyway and remained lying on his bed, shivering in the cold under his blanket.

oOoOo

It was 8 in the morning when Elena decided to check on Cloud when she and the other Turks realized that he has not come out of his room for work yet. She knocked carefully, "Hey, uh… Mr. Strife?" she called out.

There was no answer.

Elena carefully opened the door and when she stepped inside the room, she stopped for a moment when she realized how cold it was inside. She shivered and hugged herself, rubbing her arms with her hands. "Brr… it's like, so cold in here." She muttered before turning her gaze towards the bed where she saw Cloud Strife lying still and staring blankly at the chair by the bed.

She stared at him curiously as she approached him. "Mr. Strife?" she called out his name carefully. She stopped by the bed when she received no response. She began to wonder if he was still alive, but then noticed that he was so pale and that his lips were almost blue. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed as she touched his forehead and withdrew her hand from him when she felt that he was too cold. She took a step backward and then ran to the door again. "Guys!" she called out in panic.

Reno was the first one to arrive, followed by Rude. "What's up?" the former asked, then shuddered as he got inside the room. "Damn! What's wrong with this room?" he exclaimed.

Rude approached Cloud upon noticing the dead expression on his face and touched his face. "He's cold." He thought before removing the blanket.

Their eyes widened when they realized that he was shivering lightly and his arms, hands, legs and feet were blue. "Oh crap!" Reno reacted in shock.

Elena stared horridly at Cloud. "What happened to him?" she asked.

"He's still alive. I think we need to bring him to a doctor." Rude suggested.

"Doctor?" she asked.

"Great. Where are we gonna get the funds to pay an MD?" Reno asked.

"No time to think of monetary concerns, we have to take him to a doctor now." Rude told them.

Elena nodded. "I'll… go get more blankets." She said before running out of the room.

oOoOo

Vincent Valentine, upon waking up, went straight to the living room to check on his guest; however, when he arrived at the living room, no one was there anymore. The pillows were neatly piled on one side of the couch while the blanket was neatly folded and placed on top of the pillows. He wondered where his guest went but as he neared the sofa, he saw a folded piece of paper on the coffee table. Immediately, he went to get it and read it upon getting his hands on it:

"Vincent, thanks for the food and for letting me spend the night here. You're such a nice person. I do hope we'd run into each other again in some other time and place. Zack. PS: Lucrecia is alright. You just have to be patient."

His eyes widened upon reading the postscript, but he immediately hid the letter in the pocket of his pants when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway where the bedrooms are located. He turned around to wait for the approaching person to appear by the doorway to the living room.

Rufus Shinra passed by, stopping in his tracks upon seeing Vincent in the living room. "You're up quite late," Vincent remarked.

Rufus kept a straight face. "Long night." He answered as he approached Vincent while staring at the pillows and the blanket on the couch. "You slept here last night?" he asked.

"No. We actually had a guest here last night. There was a storm so he asked if he could spend the night here. He seemed nice so I let him" Vincent explained.

Rufus eyed him curiously. "You let a stranger in without consulting me first?" he asked.

Vincent kept a straight face. "Well I figured you were busy so I just decided for myself. Besides, he turned out to be a kind young gentleman." He pointed out.

Rufus was taken aback by what he said but he acted like nothing was wrong—but of course he was aware that his new Turk knew what he was up to last night. "Must. Keep. Straight. Face…" Rufus was telling himself quietly.

Vincent cleared his throat. "Anyway," he turned away. "How is Tifa doing?" he asked before walking to the kitchen.

Rufus breathed in. "She's fine." He followed after Vincent. "Still asleep though." He continued. However, before Vincent could question him on why Tifa was still asleep, he already decided to speak up to change the subject, "Where is the guest now?"

"He left rather early. I guess he had something else to do." Vincent answered.

"Are you sure there is no missing furniture around here?" Rufus asked suspiciously.

"I can assure you, the young man is not a thief. He was from SOLDIER—First Class, if I remember it right…" Vincent told him reassuringly. They entered the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.

Rufus raised his eyebrows. "A First Class SOLDIER, huh? What's his name?" he asked.

"How can you be sure you can remember him? I'm sure there were too many First Class SOLDIERs back then." Vincent said as he brought out some bread from 2 days ago. He was thinking of making French toast.

Rufus frowned at him. "Of course I can remember everyone from First Class SOLDIER! I've reviewed their records from time to time when I was still Vice President, and I can assure you I can still remember every single one of them; most especially Sephiroth and Zack." He answered haughtily while taking out some raw bacon from the freezer.

Vincent heard the last name mentioned. "There you go. It's Zack." He answered.

Rufus stopped in his tracks, blinking. He walked over to the cupboard where Vincent stored the frying pan. "Zack?" he repeated.

Vincent brought out the other ingredients for making French toast. "Yes." He answered.

"The man's dead." Rufus pointed out.

Vincent looked at him ridiculously. "Maybe it's another Zack you're talking about. How many Zacks could there possibly be in First Class SOLDIER?" he asked, unconvinced.

"As far as I can remember, there was only one and he's from Gongaga. He had black spiky hair and he's tall… but not as tall as Sephiroth, I believe." Rufus mumbled as he lit up the stove and placed the frying pan over it. He poured cooking oil into the frying pan.

Vincent stared at him with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Rufus eyed him with a frown on his face. "Oh no, don't tell me he fits the description?" he demanded.

Vincent swallowed hard. "No, not at all." He fibbed, turning away. "Calm down, Vincent. That wasn't a phantom you encountered. You saw him eat and drink and he was very alive and he slept on the couch with those pillows and blanket." He was telling himself quietly as he proceeded to cook.

Rufus turned away. "That's good. Otherwise, I'd start believing you're all sixes-and-sevens because the Zack I was talking about died 8 years ago." He told him.

Vincent took a deep breath. "Really? How did he die?" he asked.

"Shot. Apparently my Turks were supposed to let him and Cloud reach Midgar and let them loose, however, some idiot SOLDIER who was sent there to serve as back-up couldn't hold his fire." Rufus answered.

"Why… Cloud?" Vincent asked, confused.

"Old Man claims that those two are traitors and were responsible for the murder of Sephiroth." Rufus answered, rolling his eyes.

oOoOo

Yuffie took a peek outside the door with a worried look on her face. She had to stay home and guard the house while the Turks had to take Cloud to the clinic. Marlene and Denzel were at home but she could not really leave the children alone in the house. Besides, she does not want to receive a good sermon from Tseng when he returns home and she is not.

She took a deep breath and frowned slightly. "Why does Cloud have to get sick?" she was thinking in annoyance. Because she was the house-sitter for that day, she could not go out and meet with Zack in their usual meeting place. She hoped, though, that he would not think that she stood him up. She shut the door and walked back inside the kitchen where Denzel was peeling potatoes. "Are these fine?" he asked her.

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah." She muttered.

"What are you making?" he asked as he moved away from the kitchen counter.

"Potato balls. We'll mash them, mold them into balls and then roll them into batter and bread crumbs." Yuffie explained.

"Cool." Denzel said blankly.

Yuffie wondered if the boy was being sincere or not but she just ignored him.

"What's wrong with Cloud?" he asked.

Yuffie shrugged. "I'll bet it's just hypothermia, but the Turks think that it could be something else." She answered mindlessly. She was worried about Cloud, though, but she was also worried about Zack. "Man, of all the times that he could get sick, why now?" she was thinking to herself. "Where's Marlene?" she asked.

"She's upstairs sweeping the rooms." Denzel answered.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get that." he presented.

"Look from the window first before opening the door. If you don't know who it is, yell." Yuffie instructed.

Denzel nodded before rushing to the window to take a peek on who it was. He blinked. "It's a big guy with flowers in his hands. He has black hair." He described.

Yuffie's eyes widened before rushing to the front door. She opened it and gaped unbelievably at Zack. "…You're here!" she exclaimed.

He smiled at her. "Yeah." He said, handing her the flowers. The same flowers from the Church.

She blushed as she took the flowers. "Thank you," she said.

Denzel arrived by Yuffie's side, staring up at Zack curiously.

Zack smiled kindly at the little boy and patted his head. "Well hello there! Denzel, right?" he asked.

Denzel frowned slightly, wondering who he was.

Yuffie looked at him. "Denzel, this is Zack." She said.

Denzel nodded, "Nice to meet you, sir." He said, although he was still wary of the stranger. He and Marlene once overheard Cloud and the Turks discussing about Yuffie and her imaginary boyfriend. Now seeing Zack made Denzel think. "Imaginary? I don't think so. Oh well. I won't tell on her. She's nice to me anyway." He decided quietly.

Marlene came down the stairs and stared strangely at Zack. "Oh. I thought you were Cloud wearing his old clothes." She said.

"You must be Marlene!" Zack said as he brought out two bags of candies and handed one to Denzel, and then waited for Marlene to approach him.

She smiled cheerfully at him. "Hello, mister!" she greeted. "How did you know my name?" she asked.

"Of course I know your name. Yuffie tells me a lot of great stuff about you and Denzel." Zack answered as he handed the other bag to her.

Marlene thanked Zack and then looked up at Yuffie strangely. "Who is he, Yuffie?" she asked.

"His name's Zack." Yuffie answered with a grin.

Denzel eyed the two adults. Both were smiling. He blinked. "Hmm… birds of the same feather flock together." He thought silently upon realizing that Yuffie and Zack have the same manner of grinning. "Well, thank you for the candy, Zack." He told him.

Zack nodded. "Not a problem." He said.

Yuffie stepped aside from the doorway to let him in. "Make yourself at home." She said.

"Where is everyone?" he asked as Denzel shut the door for him.

"Cloud is suddenly sick for some reason. The Turks brought him to the clinic. Barret is still in Corel. Vincent, Tifa and Rufus are still in Kalm." Yuffie explained, "Tell you what, can I leave you guys here for a while? I have to finish cooking lunch for the kids." She told him.

Now anyone who heard her last statement would have disagreed that she could say anything like that because everyone knew she was spoiled and unable to provide for others. But then she was concerned about the children and the household. Zack, however, was amused. "You could make a great wife and mother someday," he remarked with a wink before following Marlene over to the living room so that they can watch some TV, while Denzel went with Yuffie to the kitchen to help her with the cooking.

Yuffie was blushing all the way back to the kitchen.

oOoOo

Tseng stepped out of the doctor's clinic and went over to the waiting room where the rest of the Turks were waiting. He had a grim look on his face as he approached Reno, Elena and Rude.

The three were looking at him strangely. "You don't look too pleased." Reno pointed out, analyzing his facial expression.

Tseng took a deep breath and eyed Reno seriously. "He's fine now." He answered.

"But what happened to him?" Elena asked.

"The doctor says it's some type of hypothermia." Tseng answered quite hesitantly.

The Turks just gaped at him.

Tseng shook his head in confusion. "It's complicated. Even the doctor couldn't explain it. The doctor also found a lot of water in Cloud's lungs. It's as if he drowned. Did any of you notice if he bathed last night?" he asked.

The three just shook their heads in a "no". They were too speechless.

"I don't think he was even near any body of water for the past few days." Tseng told them.

Reno began to think. "Any lung complications from before?" he asked.

"None." Tseng answered.

"Heart problems?" Elena inquired.

"None."

Silence.

"Is he going to be alright? What did the doctor say?" Elena asked with a worried look on her face.

Tseng raised his eyebrows and swallowed hard. "Someone's gotta watch over Cloud. He would not even answer whenever we'd question him. And…" he moved closer to the Turks. "The doctor is also beginning to suspect that Cloud could be suffering from a mental disorder too…" he said in a low tone.

"Finally, someone confirmed it." Reno stated with a grin, rolling his eyes.

Elena nudged him in annoyance. "Reno!" she protested.

"I was kidding!" he argued.

"Why? What made the doctor say that?" Rude asked Tseng, ignoring the little argument between the two.

"Didn't you notice? Cloud talks to himself and then just today, he seems to be looking at something which we can't see. He told the doctor, 'move. I can't see her.' Now what do you think of that?" Tseng explained, crossing his arms.

The Turks fell silent. "Her?" Reno asked after a few moments of thinking things through.

"Who's the her?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rude swallowed hard. "…Aerith?" he suggested.

The doctor arrived by Tseng's side. It was a female doctor with long brown hair tied up on a high ponytail. "Mister Strife is perfectly fine now. I've managed to get all the water out of his lungs and his body temperature is back to normal. You just… have to watch him closely and as much as possible, make him rest at least for 2 months until he gets better. Fatigue is making him hallucinate, I think." she explained.

Tseng nodded. "Thank you, doctor. We'll keep a close eye on him." He said before turning to Elena. "Pay the bill. I've given you the money." He turned to Reno and Rude. "Get Cloud. I'll be outside to get a cab for all of us." He instructed before leaving.

Elena turned to the female doctor and smiled weakly. "Thank you for looking after Cloud too, Doctor Crescent." She said gratefully.

The doctor smiled pleasantly at Elena. She was also the one who attended to Elena when she was badly wounded and confined in that clinic for quite some time. "No need to pay me. I'm doing this for charity. There are a lot of sick people here in Edge and I just want to help them." She explained.

"Still it's embarrassing that we can't pay you for your services." Reno said sheepishly while scratching his head.

Elena looked around. "But you don't have much patients... Whenever we come here it seems like you're only attending to one patient at a time, and usually you're vacant." She remarked.

"Probably because since this place is too small and the outside seems unclean because of the chipped painting on the walls and the vines growing on them, people think this is a dirty place. But I don't mind." Dr. Crescent answered optimistically. She speaks in a soft-spoken yet firm manner. The Turks wondered how old she was and where she came from but they never bothered to ask. As for Reno and Elena who had known her for quite some time already, on the night that they were looking for a hospital, they ran into the said doctor who was strangely watering the flowers by her doorstep in the middle of the night. She immediately took Elena in her care and paid close attention to her until she finally healed.

Reno and Rude excused themselves from the conversation to get Cloud, leaving Elena and Dr. Crescent alone.

"So… where do you live, Doctor?" Elena began to probe.

"I live here. In the upstairs room. This is quite an old house though, but it's still sturdy." Dr. Crescent answered brightly.

"You live here alone?" Elena asked.

"Yes." Dr. Crescent answered.

"Don't you feel afraid of this old house?" Elena asked, frowning slightly as she looked up at the dark ceiling.

"I'm used to scary things. I've seen a lot during my day." Dr. Crescent answered, chuckling.

Elena blinked. "during my day." she thought, repeating the Doctor's last statement. Based on her observation, only old people say that. "But she looks like she's only 25!" she was thinking to herself. She just smiled kindly at the Doctor before turning her attention to Reno and Rude who were approaching them while assisting Cloud in walking.

Cloud was eyeing the doctor; his eyes were wide in suspicion as he continued to stare wide-eyed at her, but he never said anything. Ever since he got back to his senses and was able to recognize the people around him, he began to feel uncomfortable around the doctor.

Dr. Crescent just smiled knowingly, raising her eyebrows at him. "You'll be fine, Cloud." She said gently.

Cloud just stared at her.

Tseng arrived back inside. "The cab's here. We'd better go. Thank you again, Dr. Crescent." He said with a kind smile on his face as he shook hands with her. She just eagerly shook hands with him and smiled gratefully.

Inside the cab, as the vehicle began to drive away, Cloud looked back at the clinic.

"You alright now, dude?" Reno asked, nudging him gently.

Cloud blinked and looked away. "What's her name again?" he asked.

"Dr. Crescent." Elena answered.

"What's her first name?" Cloud asked, frowning.

She shrugged. "Dunno." She answered.

"Hell yeah, what's her first name?" Reno inquired, feeling confused.

"You've known her for quite some time now and you don't know her first name. That's nice." Tseng remarked with a dry laugh.

Cloud just kept quiet.

Reno grunted. "Well she never mentioned her real name anyway." He told Tseng.

Tseng took a deep breath. "Well, Cloud, I think you need a change of atmosphere." He said, changing the subject.

Cloud looked at him.

"What are you thinking, boss?" Reno asked Tseng.

"We're taking him to where the President is so that Tifa and Mr. Valentine can look after him too." Tseng decided.

Cloud's eyes widened. "No." he protested.

"You have to go there, Cloud. Don't worry about your business, we Turks are going to take care of it. Besides, Dr. Crescent advised a change of atmosphere." Reno pointed out.

"I didn't hear her say anything like that." Cloud pointed out.

"Well pretend she said something like that so that we can take you out of the city. You need to relax. She says you're fatigued." Reno said.

"Well what am I going to do in that farm?" Cloud demanded.

"I don't know… watch sheep?" Elena suggested lightheartedly.

"There aren't even any animals there. The whole place is barren." He pointed out.

"You'll find something amusing to do there. It's Kalm." Tseng reassured.

"Yeah. Like… watch the clouds…" Reno laughed.

Cloud grunted and crossed his arms. He still felt uneasy upon what happened to him and he still felt a little feverish especially after seeing Dr. Crescent. She looked very familiar to him, but he could not determine where he had seen her before.

Tseng began to instruct the cab driver to take them to Kalm.

oOoOo

Vincent was sitting on the front porch with Tifa and Rufus watching the clouds. It was 3 in the afternoon.

Vincent was already beginning to get a little bored because they had been sitting there ever since 1 in the afternoon, still he could not comment because his two friends seem to be enjoying their cloud-watching.

"Look! A bunny rabbit!" Tifa pointed towards the skies at a cloud shaped like a rabbit.

Rufus looked towards the direction where Tifa was pointing at. He smiled lightly before turning his gaze to Vincent. "Do we have scones today for afternoon tea?" he asked.

Vincent just nodded.

"You look bored." Rufus pointed out.

Vincent's face lit up when he noticed a cab arriving. "Who…" he began in curiosity as he got up.

Tifa and Rufus looked towards the direction where Vincent was looking and saw the cab approaching the front driveway of the house. The three of them got up and stared curiously at the vehicle.

When it stopped, the Turks came down from it, and Cloud was being assisted in walking by two of the Turks, Reno and Rude.

Rufus stared at Cloud curiously, wondering why he looked pale and disturbed. "Did anything happen?" he asked.

Vincent approached Tseng. "What's going on?" he asked.

"He got sick. Here's the medical report from a doctor in Edge. She's also the one who treated Elena when she was injured." Tseng answered as he handed Vincent an envelope containing 5 pages of written material done by Dr. Crescent regarding Cloud's condition.

Vincent stared at the handwriting at the back of the envelope. It looked familiar to him but he was too preoccupied with worrying about Cloud's condition to think about the handwriting at that moment. "Thank you." Vincent said.

"To sum it all up, Prez, he suffered from some sort of hypothermia and there was water in his lungs, and the doctor also said he needs rest or his mental disorder will worsen." Reno explained with a smug look on his face. The mental disorder part of the statement made him smile.

"Mental disorder?" Tifa asked, her eyes wide in awe.

"I don't have a mental disorder." Cloud muttered through his clenched jaw while eyeing everyone in a rather dark manner.

They were silent for a few moments before Rufus cleared his throat and said, "So that's why you brought him here so he can rest…"