Life as a SOLDIER
Disclaimer: Mistake and review response time, whee.
A/N: Go ahead, celebrate, I don't care. …Fine, go on. Anyway, here's the next installment of "Life as a SOLDIER"! …uh, wow, wait a minute, I need to thank a few people and clarify a few things…here we go…
Oh, "Daijoubu" means "it'll be all right" or "it's okay" or "I'm fine".
AAH! The stupid thing got rid the e-mail addresses!
Mario: Oh, no!
Me: Well, as to avoid confusion, here's what Tifa's e-mail was: fists underscore of underscore fury at-symbol yahoo dot com. And Cloud's e-mail was this: cs at-symbol yahoo dot com. Well, sorry it didn't work out, and sorry for any confusion I caused, it looked fine when I uploaded the fanfic and previewed it. And remember, these aren't real e-mail addresses (at least I don't think…), so don't send e-mail to those addresses, I don't want to cause a problem.
A fan art idea from chapter five? What, the part when Sephiroth cut the steak and scared Cloud? Or sometime before? I would like to see that! Thanks!
T T Forgive a girl for making a mistake… It's been a looong time since I last played FF7... And besides, I said there was no reference to the game, nor the movie. This is 100 percent fanfiction! If I say Nibelheim is somewhere close to Midgar, then by the goddess, it's near Midgar. The authoress has spoken! …I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't want any more corrections about this. Is that good? Good.
Let's read on now!
Chapter Five: The Chocobo Garden
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When Zack entered Cloud's room the next morning, Cloud was sitting cross-legged on the bed, bent over his laptop, clicking and scrolling on various things. "Oh, you're awake early this Sunday morning," remarked Zack. "What are you doing?"
"I'm rearranging my folders and files," Cloud answered.
"What kind of folders?" asked Zack. "I mean, it's not anything stupid like… I dunno, family photos and pictures of your hometown!" said Zack, laughing.
Cloud stopped, looking down at the bed with a mildly hurt expression, trying not to say anything.
Zack, however, stopped laughing and caught the expression. "Oh, my god, I'm sorry, Cloud! I--I had no idea!" exclaimed Zack. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't laugh at things like that!"
"N-No, it's all right!" said Cloud, smiling at Zack. "It's okay for you to think it's something like that. I guess I'm too sentimental for my own good."
"No, no, no, sentimental is good!" said Zack, waving his hands wildly. "Really!"
"That's okay," said Cloud. "What kind of files and stuff do you have on your computer?" asked Cloud.
"Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that," said Zack airily.
"At least you do have files up there, right? It's not like you have no family, or that you were created here or something," said Cloud with a laugh, turning back to the laptop.
Zack blinked, and looked down at the bed with a mild hurt expression, trying not to say anything.
Cloud, noticing the silence, glanced at Zack and saw the expression. "Oh, no! Zack, I'm--I'm sorry!" he exclaimed. "I had no idea!"
Zack shrugged. "Hey, don't worry about it," said Zack with a smile. "You had no idea."
"Oh, no, I hurt you pretty bad, didn't I?" asked Cloud with worry. "Really, I didn't mean to put it like that-- I mean, I didn't mean to say it like that…!"
"Cloud, calm down," said Zack, looking at Cloud. "Really, I'm okay. I get that all the time."
"But that just makes it worse!" fretted Cloud.
"No, coming from you, it makes me feel better!" said Zack. "It makes me think about what a good friend you are!"
"Zack…" started Cloud, looking sadly at the bed.
"Really," said Zack again, placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "I'm fine. Now, let's put those thoughts aside, and think about today! I'm going to give you a Chocobo!" said Zack happily.
"Huh?" asked Cloud, looking up at Zack. "You're gonna get me a Chocobo? Why?"
"As a sign of friendship! All the SOLDIERs here have a Chocobo; you deserve one, too! Come on!"
Cloud blinked, turned the laptop off, and followed Zack out of the room and down the stairs. "There's nothing to do today?" asked Cloud.
"Nope, today's a free Sunday. All Sundays are free. Come on!" Zack took Cloud's hand and led him outside of Shinra to a grassy plain with trees and fountains and benches. "The first time you came here, you were so surprised at all the Chocobo here, remember?"
"Yeah…" said Cloud slowly remembering that incident…
Flashback…first time visiting the Chocobo Garden…
"Zack, what are we doing here?" asked Cloud.
"This is the Chocobo Garden!" said Zack cheerfully. "See all those yellow feathery bird-chicken like things!" Cloud nodded. "Those are Chocobos. Go on, say hello to one!"
"Its…It's a chicken," said Cloud, pointing at a Chocobo.
"No, it's a Chocobo," corrected Zack. "Pick one up, they're soo cute!"
Cloud made a face, not picking a Chocobo up. "I don't… like these…" he said slowly.
"Why not?" asked Zack in astonishment. "You'll love them, really! Here, pick one up!" Zack picked up a small Chocobo and held him out for Cloud to hold. "Here, hold him! He's so fuzzy and sooo cute!"
Cloud hesitated, then took the Chocobo, holding it the way Zack did. "I…I guess they're kinda cute," admitted Cloud, stroking the Chocobo.
"See? I told you that you'd like them!"
Cloud put the Chocobo down and he trotted off. "Do they stay that small, or do they get bigger?"
"They get bigger," assured Zack. "Big enough that you can ride them! Like that one over there! And that group over there!" Zack pointed to two groups of Chocobo.
"You can ride them?" asked Cloud. "Won't we be too heavy for them?"
"Chocobo are the strongest animals in the world!" said Zack. "They carry many heavy loads! They can even carry a ton of lead if they wanted too!"
"Really!" asked Cloud. "That's amazing!"
"What full-grown Chocobo can do is amazing!" agreed Zack, staring fondly at all the Chocobo. "I love Chocobo. They're soo cute!"
"Are there any mean Chocobo?" asked Cloud. "Surely not all the Chocobo are all sweet and cute and cuddly."
"Yeah, there's Spikey!" said Zack. "She's the meanest Chocobo you ever did see!" Zack looked around. "But, I don't see Spikey here today…"
"Did you call Spikey a she?" asked Cloud.
"I sure did."
"Spikey is a she?"
"Yep."
Cloud blinked. "Is Spikey a big Chocobo? Is she your Chocobo?" asked Cloud.
"Nah, she's not mine," said Zack, still looking around for Spikey. "It's Sephiroth's Chocobo."
Cloud fell over anime-style, and got back up. "WHAT! Sephiroth has a Chocobo too!"
"That's right!" said Zack. "Even Sephiroth has a soft spot for cute adorable Chocobo!"
"Is that Spikey?" asked Cloud, pointing at a dark-yellow Chocobo with chicken legs and a spiked punk collar and mean evil, yet cutesy blue eyes.
"Yeah, how did you know?" asked Zack.
"…I didn't," said Cloud, watching Spikey. "I just guessed."
"That's some good guessing," remarked Zack.
"Hey, Spikey!" called Cloud. "Come here Spikey!"
"What are you doing?" asked Zack curiously as Spikey turned her head towards Cloud.
"I'm trying out talking to a Chocobo," said Cloud, walking toward Spikey slowly.
Spikey narrowed her eyes, and Zack said quietly, "I'm not sure this is the first Chocobo to befriend here… She's a ferocious temper, that one…"
"I'm sure Spikey will be a nice-- AAAH!" yelled Cloud suddenly, turning to run, as suddenly Spikey suddenly cawed menacingly and charged at Cloud. "Aieeeee!" screamed Cloud as he ran. "Help meeeeeeee!"
End flashback…
"Spikey's not here, right?" asked Cloud, looking around.
"Nope, Sephiroth took Spikey on a walk. We probably won't see them here today, Sephiroth has this habit of taking longer-then-necessary walks."
"Oh, okay," said Cloud with a slightly. "So even Sephy wants to care for his Chocobo," said Cloud with a smile.
Zack stared at Cloud. "What?"
"What?"
"Did you just call Sephiroth 'Sephy'?" asked Zack, staring at Cloud weirdly.
"Yeah, I did," answered Cloud. He stopped. Oh, no, no one else knows that I secretly call Sephiroth "Sephy"…
Zack laughed loudly. "Sephy!" he repeated. "That's a good one, Cloud! That could be our little secret nickname for him! Did you come up with 'Sephy' by yourself?"
Cloud nodded, feeling slightly flustered now. Great, of all people to find out my nickname for Sephy, it had to be Zack…!
"That's so cute! Anyway, come on!" Zack motioned for Cloud to follow him, and led Cloud to a small little nest. "There are a few eggs here, that are ready to hatch. Pick one."
Cloud looked at all the eggs. "Pick one?" he asked.
"Yep. As soon as it hatches, the Chocobo should see you, and become attached to you. You give that Chocobo a name, and that Chocobo will remember that name and your voice and learn to love you!"
"Hmm… okay…" Cloud looked at all of the eggs again, and selected an egg sitting on the edge of the nest. "I'll raise this one," said Cloud.
"Okay," said Zack. "Bring the egg over here. It'll hatch soon, and it'll probably feel better if it hatched on soft grass."
Cloud nodded and set the egg down on the soft grass, kneeling down beside it. "It'll hatch…soon?"
"Mm…" agreed Zack.
"…!" gasped Cloud as the egg started making cracking sounds. "Is it hatching!" he asked quietly. Zack nodded. Cloud watched in amazement as the egg made more cracking sounds, and the Chocobo stuck it's head out. "…" went Cloud, staring at the little Chocobo.
"Caw…" went the Chocobo baby, taking it's first breath.
"Aaw! Did you hear that?" asked Cloud softly, staring fondly at the baby Chocobo. "It cawed… Er, how can I tell what gender the Chocobo is?"
"The color of the feathers," answered Zack, smiling fondly. "If it has darker feathers, it's a girl. If the feathers are lighter, it's a guy."
"Hmm…" Cloud very carefully pulled the egg shell off of the Chocobo, cleaned it off, and checked the feathers. "Dark yellow feathers," he said to himself. "I get a girl Chocobo…" Cloud smiled again. "I'll take good care of you, little Chocobo…"
The Chocobo opened her eyes and saw Cloud's face. She cawed happily and snuggled his face.
"She likes me," said Cloud happily, petting the Chocobo with a finger. "What shall I name her…?"
"See, I told you you'd come to loving Chocobo," said Zack happily.
"Hmm… I'll call her Kumo," decided Cloud. "Yes, her name is Kumo!"
"Kumo?" asked Zack. "That's a pretty name."
"I know!" said Cloud happily, holding Kumo close to him. "I'll take very good care of Kumo…"
"Caw!" said Kumo with joy.
Zack watched Cloud for a few minutes, deep in thought. He's too nice and innocent, thought Zack sadly. Why would sachoo want tests put on him of all SOLDIERs here…? Whatever sachoo expects of Cloud, I hope he tells me soon… I'll never get over myself if these tests and programs hurt Cloud, or his mind…
Cloud looked up at Zack. "Zack, what's wrong? You look weird."
"Huh?" Zack shook his head of the thoughts. "No, it's nothing, Cloud. Just thinking about a few things. You really love Kumo, huh?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, wait here, I'll bring you some food for Kumo. Wait here!" Zack hurried off to get some food for Kumo.
Cloud gazed warmly at Kumo, stroking her all-ready-soft feathers. "…I feel a new softness," said Cloud to himself. "I guess this is how parents feel for children," decided Cloud as Kumo cawed happily again.
Zack arrived a few minutes later with some seeds and a bottle of water. "Here, Cloud, she'll feel safer when you feed her."
Cloud took the seeds and bottled water with thanks, bringing it down to Kumo.
Kumo sniffed the seeds curiously, and took a few pecks of the seed. "Caw!" she said happily, pecking at some more seeds.
Cloud laughed softly to himself. "I love you, Kumo," he said, stroking her feathers. "This really is a strange feeling. Isn't it, Zack?" asked Cloud, looking up at Zack.
"…Yes, it is," sad Zack with a smile. "I'm glad you'll be happy here."
Cloud nodded agreement, cuddling Kumo close to his cheek.
Off in the distance, Sephiroth stood with narrowed eyes, stroking the head of his own Chocobo, Spikey. "So you have a Chocobo all your own…? And that Chocobo is the only egg that Spikey laid… Was it a coincidence that Cloud chose that particular egg, or is it something else…? Whatever it is, I'll find out what similarities there are between the two of us," decided Sephiroth, patting Spikey on the head and turning around to walk back to Shinra.
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Whee! A sweet chapter, don't you think? Thanks as always for reviewing, and I'll see you next chapter! Bye!