Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: Whee, I love fanfic when they get upgraded often… Hey, this fanfic is as far as "TWW"! Sweet, this fanfic will be bigger then "The Wind Waker" soon!

A/N: Will it? -checks fanfic status- Cool. I just wish this fanfic would pull up as many reviews too... -sighs- anyway, let's carry on.

Chapter Ten: Research and Daydreams

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"We're halfway through the week!" cheered Zack. It was mid-morning the next day, and they were leaving the last class to go to go to the library for research. "And then after research, it'll be lunch time, and we get the rest of the day off!"

"We do?" asked Cloud.

"Yep! Wednesday and Saturday are half-days!" said Sephiroth. "A pretty reasonable schedule of you asked me."

"True that!" agreed Zack.

"So we're going to the library for research?" asked Cloud. "What do we research?"

"Oh, anything you like," replied Zack. "It's a free Wednesday, so we can research whatever we like!"

"What are you gonna research, Cloud?" asked Sephiroth. "I'm going to look up the different wars of all the worlds. What about you?"

"Uh… I don't know," admitted Cloud as the group walked to the library. I was thinking about looking up Jenova, but… On second thought, maybe I shouldn't…

"I'm at a wall too in my research," said Zack. "I don't know what to research next. I looked up everything I know about Chocobo…"

"Why not research Moogles next?" asked Cloud.

"…Yes!" agreed Zack. "I'll research Moogles! You're so smart, Cloud!"

"I'm--I'm not that brilliant," said Cloud shyly, looking down at the ground. "But thank you… that means a lot coming from you."

Sephiroth glanced at Cloud shrewdly, but he didn't say anything except, "We're here at the library."

Cloud looked around, and blinked in confusion. This place was greatly unlike any library he had ever seen before.

The library was three stories big; the first floor was like a that of a regular library, with numerous bookshelves crammed with books. There was a snug comfortable reading area in the center of the room. The second floor was something like a media center, with many recording devices and radio techs, all for recording and testing voices. There was even a few shelves with CDS on them, all containing voice recordings and songs. The third floor was chock full of many computers and flat-screens. The computers were all on and ready to go.

"This is an unusual library," commented Cloud, looking around. "This is my first time here…"

"Unusual? This is the most advanced library for the world!" said Zack. "In all the worlds! Many different people from other worlds come here to research. Shinra's library is the best!"

"Well, we have to research," said Sephiroth matter-of-factly. "I'll be upstairs on the third floor researching other-worldly wars and stuff. How about you, Zack?"

"I'll be on the second floor researching Moogle sounds! I want to speak the Moogle language, just like I speak the Chocobo language!" said Zack excitedly.

Cloud thought for a few minutes. I'll research something…"Okay, I'll think of something to research here on the ground floor," said Cloud. "Is that okay?"

"Sure," said Zack. "We'll meet here in about 2 hours, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Sephiroth, going up the stairs to the third floor while Zack went up to the second floor.

Cloud was left alone at the foot of the stairs. I know what I'll research… thought Cloud, walking towards a bookshelf with many legends and myths and the like. Ever since I heard that Sephy had a wing… I wanted to find out how… you could get…wings… Cloud pulled out a random book called "Winged Beings: A Collection of Legends". Intrigued, Cloud opened the book and read:

Those with wings are considered to be angelic, ethereal, or even demonic, considering what kind of wings they have. Anyone with wings is revered to be godlike, being absolutely perfect in everything that they do.

The usual standard of wings are feathery and white, with a wingspan of about 4-5 feet long. You can will them to come out on your own, or they come out when needed. There are many races of winged beings, all with different styles of flying and wings. This book explains all the different winged folks of the different worlds.

Chapter One: The Wings of the Atlantis People on Gaea.
Chapter Two: The Rito and their Wings
Chapter Three: Ah! The Wings of Goddesses
Chapter Four: Angels Against the Gods
Chapter Five: Angelic Layers
Chapter Six: Angel Police and Galaxy Angels
Chapter Seven: The Yukes Wings-Flyable or Not?
Chapter Eight: Cute Round Wings
Chapter Nine: Demon Wings
Chapter Ten: The Earth Angels Who Fled To The Sky
Chapter Eleven: Winged Caps and Capes
Chapter Twelve: God-how He made Angels

Cloud blinked. "Interesting…" He flipped open to the first chapter.

The winged people of Atlantis, a.k.a Gaea, were considered demonic and evil by the common folk, but in truth, they were a peaceful and advanced civilization. You are born with your wings, but you have to mature them as well as yourself. When you master the ability to fly, you can easily camouflage with your surroundings when you fly. All though the wings can't be given; you have to be born with them.

Cloud blinked again. "Oh, Atlantis people can fly… I wonder what world the Atlantians live in..?" He flipped to the end of the chapter, and read aloud, "Hmm… 'the Atlantians come from the world of Escaflowne'… Escaflowne. That's a pretty world name." Cloud flipped to the next chapter.

The Rito-jin are a curious race of winged elves. Unlike other wined tribes, in which the wings come from their back, their arms become their wings when they fly. Capable of flying long distances, the Rito-jin are proud mail-carriers in the ocean called "The Great Sea". The Rito-jin are very distinguished from other elves: they have dark skin and red eyes, with white and brown hair. Their noses are that of beaks rather then regular noses, and are quite useful as javelins sometimes. One such Rito was named Medli, and she had the sharpest beak of all the Rito-jin; sharper then that of the Rito chief!

"Hmm… Rito-jin," repeated Cloud to himself, going to the end of the chapter to see that the Rito were from a world-within-a-world called "The Great Sea", that was within the world of "Hyrule". "Cool," he said, flipping to the next chapter.

There are three main Goddesses in this realm. They were sent to Earth to help a man in collage to help his education. The Goddesses each represented something: one represented the past, one represented the present, and the last represented the future. The Goddess that represented the present had a more important mission: her planet was under attack, so she went down to earth to find someone who could help her. Her wings were beautiful and white; they could fly incredible distances and never be tired.

Cloud raised an eyebrow and flipped to the end of the chapter. "That's an odd world name… 'Ah! Megami-Sama'? Huh…"

Cloud flipped through the whole book, and put it back. "That doesn't tell me how I can get my own wings," he said, taking another book entitled "Wings, And Why You Should Grow Some!".

You've always wanted wings. Don't deny it, everyone who has ever heard of wings always wanted some. That is why I am here to tell you how to grow wings!

Really intrigued, Cloud opened the book to the first part.

Growing wings is really simple! First you have to…

The book then went on into a huge scientific discussion about growing wings that it gave cloud a headache. He put it back. "That was…boring," he said. Cloud was about to take another book when he saw the title of another book. It was called "The Know-It-All Book". "That's in the wrong section," muttered Cloud, picking it up. He dropped it. "Oops…" Cloud bent down to pick it up, but he saw the first words on the page.

Cloud Strife! Yoo-hoo, read this book!

Cloud paused. Is… Did that book just say my name?

That's right, Cloud, I did! Pick me up, and I'll tell you what you have to do to get wings! It's not complicated at all! It's all in your genes! Trust me, I know everything!

Cloud hesitated for a second, and picked the book up, flipping to the next page of the book.

Good! Now we're getting acquainted! So, first things first, get comfortable, we're gonna be together for quite awhile!

Cloud took the book and found a comfy seat in the middle of the library. He curled upon the sofa and opened to the next page.

Comfortable? You feeling all snug and warm? Good! Now, all you have to do to get wings is fix your genetic programming! If you go upstairs to where Zack is right now, you'll see his laptop there. You can go fix your programming yourself right now if you wanted!

"I can't do that," Cloud whispered to the book, knowing that you shouldn't talk loud in a library. "I have no experience in programming."

Then wait for the end of the lesson, and have Zack change it for you.

"No!" hissed Cloud. "I can't do that! He'd laugh at me!"

Oh, he would, wouldn't he? Ah, well, that sucks…Uh, then tell him about it, and make those puppy-pouty-blue-eyed look you do to get your way, and you'll get wings! Aren't you lucky?

"Will it be that easy?" asked Cloud.

Easy? I never said easy.

"Huh? But, you said…?"

No, no, no, I said it wasn't going to be complicated. That doesn't mean that I said it was going to be easy.

Cloud sighed. "Okay…"

2 hours later…

"Yay! The rest of today is off!" cheered Zack as he led Sephiroth and Cloud out of the library. "And I learned how to say 'hello' in the Moogle language," announced Zack proudly.

"It took you a whole two hours to learn it?" asked Sephiroth.

"Hey, the language is pretty complicated," retorted Zack. "Can you say 'hello' in the Moogle language?"

"Kupo Ku," said Sephiroth.

Zack gave Sephiroth the shifty-eyes. "Huh. I forgot, 'Moogle' is one of the fifty-eight languages you can speak."

"What about you, Cloud?" asked Sephiroth, ignoring Zack's mutterings.

"I…just read random books," muttered Cloud. "I couldn't find anything to research."

"Hmm… if you say so. I wonder what's for lunch?" asked Sephiroth.

"It smells like… steamed corn and stuffing! Whee!" Zack charged into the cafeteria.

"Zack's very cheerful today," remarked Cloud. "I wonder what got him in such a good mood?"

"We get to leave Shinra this weekend and go back to our hometowns or whatever, or go off to visit whom we like."

"Eh? We're leaving Shinra this weekend?"

"Yep. For first-class SOLDIERs. I plan on going to Midgar, how about you? You gonna go to your hometown?"

"Uh…maybe. It depends on where Tifa goes. She said she might visit Midgar when I go to Shinra, so she might be there… I'll check my e-mail later." Cloud sat down next to Zack. "So, is it ready yet? Lunch, I mean."

"Nearly," answered Zack, looking towards the serving table. "Over steamed corn and stuffing!"

"Cloud notices that you're really cheerful," said Sephiroth.

"Cause I'm!" said Zack cheerfully. "We're going to leave Shinra for this weekend, and I'm gonna go to Midgar!"

"You are? So is Sephiroth," answered Cloud. "I might too, but that depends son where Tifa's going…"

"Why?" asked Zack.

"It'd be nice to see Tifa again," said Cloud. "But if she's moved to Midgar, I'd want to know…"

"Why don't you check your e-mail now?" asked Zack. "Here, I'll let you borrow my laptop."

"Thanks," said Cloud.

"If we go to Midgar together, what are we gong to do? I'll be doing my usual, just exploring and training, what about you two?"

"Uh, same old same old," said Zack. "I'm gonna go see my friend!"

"The one you mentioned once?" asked Cloud. "What was her name, I never got her name."

"Her name is Aeris! Aeris Gainsborough! She's a Cetra, and the last one at that! But shh, you didn't hear it form me," whispered Zack.

"Shinra has been trying to pursue her for a while, but it seems that they've given up. Aeris is very hard to find," said Sephiroth.

"Why would Shinra want to catch Aeris?" asked Cloud curiously. "And what's a Cetra?"

"To tell you the truth, I have absolutely no idea," laughed Zack. "She wouldn't tell me when I asked her. She would prefer not to go into detail about the Cetra. Which is sad, cause I wanna know. I don't know much about the Cetra, or why Shinra wanted her, but I guess I'll find out later."

"Okay…" said Cloud.

"Ooh, lunch is served!" said Zack happily. "I'll get you guys lunch, okay!" Zack stood up and hurried off to the serving table without awaiting an answer.

"..he likes Aeris?" asked Cloud. He saddened slightly. That's right, he said that his girlfriend was Aeris… so he wouldn't like me like I do him anyway…

Sephiroth stared at Cloud weirdly. "What do you care if Zack likes Aeris?" he asked. Cloud stared up at him. Was that a shrewd gleam in Sephiroth's eyes?

"I don't care if Zack likes someone," said Cloud. "He can like whomever he likes…"

"Okay…" said Sephiroth in an unconvinced voice as Zack came back with three plates.

'You guys don't mind if my two friends join us, do you?" asked Zack.

"Hey, Cloud!" said one SOLIDER cheerfully.

"And look! Sephiroth's joined you too! Amazing," cried the other SOLDIER.

"This is just temporary," said Sephiroth. "I need to foster friendships like this…"

"If you say so," said the other SOLDIER.

"Aren't you gonna check your e-mail?" asked Zack.

"…! Oh, right, thanks," said Cloud. He opened Zack's laptop and saw that Zack had a lot of files. Wow, I wonder what he does with these, thought Cloud as he looked at the screen. The whole desktop is covered in files… he shrugged it off and opened the e-mail, and checked his e-mail. He had one unread message from Tifa.

To: cs (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com
From: fist (underscore) of (underscore) fury (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com

Lol, if you want chocolate, just say so! I'll send you as much chocolate as you want! You're so cute like that sometimes, when you act so childish in wanting chocolate. But remember to share with your new friend. He probably like chocolate too if he reminds me of you. :3

Cloud, remember to tell me if anything goes wrong! I still have this feeling that something will happen… I've been having that feeling ever since you left for Shinra. But I'm sure it's just me. Whatever's going on in your life, you'll be fine. I know it. Don't ever change! And always eat your greens!

Tifa Lockhart

Cloud smiled to himself. "Eat your greens," he repeated to himself, pointing to the screen. Cloud typed up a response quickly.

To: fists (underscore) of (underscore) fury (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com
From: cs (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com

I'm fine, Tifa. Really. And I eat my greens. You need not worry, I have friends here to do that.

Also, we get to leave Shinra this weekend. I was wondering if you were going to be in Nibelheim, or if you were really going to Midgar like you said you would. I'm not sure. So tell me whee you'll be, okay, so I can see you this weekend! I can't wait to see you! Cloud Strife

Cloud signed out andslid the laptop back to Zack. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem," said Zack cheerfully with a full mouth.

Cloud ate the corn and stuffing, and stood up. "I'll be out visiting Kumo. I'll see you later?"

"Sure," said Zack. "I'm gonna go get seconds!" he and his two friends joined him.

Sephiroth stood up too and said, "Knock yourself out, I'm gonna go enjoy the rest of my libre."

"Libre?" asked Cloud.

"Yes, my libre… my break time today." Sephiroth walked away with a wave of his hand.

Cloud blinked. "Libre," he repeated to himself. "That's cute." He walked outside Shinra and went to the Chocobo Garden. "Hey, Kumo!" he called cheerfully, running towards his Chocobo.

Kumo looked up with an excited caw and ran to Cloud.

"Kumo, it's weird," he said, sitting down next to Kumo. "You'd think the only one I could ever love was Tifa, right?"

"Caw," said Kumo.

"I know…" sighed Cloud. He leaned back in the grassy fields with a sigh, shielding his eyes from the sun, looking at the sky. "But now I… feel different…"

"Caw?" inquired Kumo, walking next to Cloud's face, giving him a curious peck.

"Yes, it's a great feeling, Kumo… I'm sure you'll understand when you're older…" Cloud smiled to the sky with a slight blush to his face. "Kumo," he said, stroking Kumo wit the other hand, "it really is a great feeling…"

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Hem hem. I couldn't resist a bit of romantic daydreaming at the end of this chapter… Uh, glad you're still reading this if you're seeing this. You don't mind shonen-ai, do you? I got the idea of shonen-ai in this fanfic after this really hot picture with shonen-ai in it with Cloud, Zack, and Sephy in it… the pic was soo hot… -sighs dreamily- uh, yeah, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! Bye!