Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: That was a long chapter.

A/N: I know, wasn't it? …huh, so will this chapter…bah, whatever.

You think my au-ness is weird… So many different opinions. Well, as I have said many, many chapters ago, this fanfic is in now way affiliated with the game, nor the movie. Not at all. I might take ideas from both, like the Advent Children outfit (cause I liked it a lot), adding Fenrir (it was by request), Tifa liking Cloud (-shifty-eye glare), Cid being Shinra's (ex)Finest Astronomer (Cid's funny by himself), Sephiroth's one wing thing, Vincent being a Turk once (he was a Turk), Rufus being the vice president before his father (the current shachoo)… I hope I didn't leave anything out.

Yes, I might take some ideas from the game/movie, but a majority of this fanfic is all original ideas. At least 80 percent is my original ideas. Maybe a few of these ideas came from that Final Fantasy VII Anime I've been hearing about… I think it was called "Last Order". Is it gonna be a real anime? …we're getting off the subject.

It was pretty obvious that this wasn't going to take from the game/movie at all, seeing as Cloud never actually made it in SOLDIER in the game. In this fanfic, he did, hence the title "Life as a SOLDIER". This was a perspective on, and I quote from my summary, "A look at what the world would've been like if Shinra was a good company", un-quote. Shinra is NOT using mako as energy here. It's…uh, something else, but it's not mako.

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Party Invitation
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The rest of that day had been something of a blur to Cloud, and when he woke up the next morning, he was still feeling a bit unwell. He lifted his head slightly, and even then his vision was slightly blurred. "…ugh…" he uttered, falling back onto the pillow. "I feel worse then yesterday…"

Zack, who was sitting at the table, looked back. "Oh! You're awake. But you feel worse?" he hurried over to Cloud, putting a wrist over his forehead. "Wow, you're boiling."

"I am?" asked Cloud. "No wonder I feel so awful…"

"Oh, poor Cloud…" said Zack, sitting down on the bed. "And we have to do those four DeadlyRANDOMs today… And you still have the flu… I wish there was something I could do to help," said Zack sadly, placing a cool cloth on Cloud's forehead.

"What are you doing?" asked Cloud, feeling the cloth curiously.

"Old tricks are the best tricks," said Zack with a smile. "Apparently, you aren't the only SOLDIER with a flu. There were at least twenty others with a cold, and two more have a flu too. The infirmary's filled up, so I decided I'd take care of you here manually. The cool cloth is to try to cool your fever down."

"Oh…Okay," said Cloud. "I'm gonna have to get up eventually… I should try to stand up now…"

"Are you sure?" asked Zack. "You shouldn't push yourself, Cloud. If you need to rest the whole morning, then do so."

"No, I-I'll try," said Cloud, sitting up shakily. "I can't let a little flu hold me down…"

"This is considerably more then 'a little flu'," said Zack concernedly. "I just took your temperature before you woke up, it went from 108 degrees to 111 degrees! It's a wonder you're still conscious!"

"111 is a bad?" asked Cloud while rubbing his eyes.

"It's near fatal!" exclaimed Zack.

"It is? But I… I'm fine, really," said Cloud, hopping off of the bed. He started for the door, but stumbled suddenly and fell to the ground, coughing heavily.

"That's not fine, Cloud," said Zack, rushing over to help Cloud up. "You have a terrible flu, Cloud. You should attempt to rest the entire morning…"

"No, I can't," said Cloud, standing up. "I have to overcome this…"

"Not if you kill yourself first," said Zack in worry. "Please, Cloud, don't try to be tough now, not when you need rest."

"But I can't become stronger if I can't tough this out," said Cloud, putting a hand on his head. "Tifa never cared if she was sick or not, she was always strong, always carrying out her day, even is she had a flu. I want to be like that too…"

Zack saddened a little. "I guess it's easy to be outshined by friends, huh?" he asked. "But Cloud, Tifa is…" What should I say? Stronger? More mature? Female? Zack sighed. "If you say so, Cloud… But if you stumble and fall again, it's back to bed for you!"

Cloud smiled at Zack. "Thanks for understanding…" together they walked down the stairs to breakfast. "I hope we have something yummy for breakfast," said Cloud as he sat down.

Zack nodded, sitting down too. "I haven't heard what they were announcing for breakfast this morning…"

"Don't worry, Zack, we have!" said a voice, and Zack's two SOLDIER friends arrived. "It's cinnamon rolls, sausage, and waffles," said the other SOLDIER.

"Oh, thanks guys," said Zack.

"Is something wrong with Cloud?" asked one SOLIDER, pointing at Cloud, who was lying his head on the table. "His face looks red."

"Cloud has a flu," said Zack sadly.

"But I feel fine," insisted Cloud, even though he himself felt woozy and his vision was still slightly blurred.

"Wow, a lot of people are catching colds and flus," commented the other SOLDIER. "So Cloud caught it too?"

"I guess so," said Zack. "And on top of that, we have to finish those DeadlyRANDOM tests today…"

"Dude, we heard about that," said one SOLDIER. "I heard that Rufus had developed a new program, but I had no idea he would test it on you!"

"It seems that using blondes for guinea pigs run in the family," remarked the other SOLIDER. "I overheard a bunch of Turks talking about shachoo and the whereabouts of his wife. I didn't hear it all, but from what I heard, shachoo's wife, who was referred to as 'Miss Shinra', was used in some kind of experiment ordered by shachoo himself. That's all I heard."

"That's really reassuring," muttered Cloud sarcastically.

Zack, however, seemed interested. "Is that really all you heard?"

"Yeah, that's about it," said the other SOLDIER. "Ooh, breakfast is ready!" he ran up to go get some, one SOLDIER behind him.

"Hey, wait!" called Zack, chasing after them.

Cloud sat up for a second, then changed his mind. Nah, I don't feel like having breakfast this morning… he rested his head on the table again and sighed.

The three came back five minutes later with full plates of cinnamon rolls, sausages, and waffles. "Yum! This looks good!" said one SOLDIER.

"Yeah, it is!" agreed the other SOLDIER.

Zack was about to agree too when he realized that Cloud was sitting down still. "Cloud, you didn't go get breakfast?" asked Zack. "Is your flu that bad?"

"No, nothing like that," said Cloud, "I'm just not hungry this morning…"

"Are you sure?" asked one SOLDIER.

"Breakfast is good this morning," said the other SOLDIER, munching on a waffle. "I mean, the cinnamon roll's fresh, straight from the oven, and the sausage tastes ripe and fresh…"

"I'm not hungry," repeated Cloud.

"If you say so," shrugged one SOLDIER, unwrapping his cinnamon roll.

Zack ate his breakfast quickly, keeping an eye on Cloud. I hope to cure him soon, he thought as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Are you done?" asked Cloud. "Let's get ready for those tests…"

"We don't have to get ready right away," said Zack hurriedly. "We have to be there by 1:30, and its only 8:49 AM. We can just hang out until then, huh?"

"If we get there early, can we get it over and done with early?" asked Cloud.

"No, shachoo is all about punctuality. If he says a testing occurs at 1:30 sharp, then by gum, the testing starts at 1:30! He's pretty strict about it."

"…then what can I do until 1:30?"

"We could check e-mail, practice flying, see our Chocobo…"

"Then I'll check my e-mail, and meet you outside for flying practice, okay?" asked Cloud.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked Zack. "I wouldn't want to leave you alone if you not feeling well…"

"I'll be fine," promised Cloud, smiling up at Zack. "Really."

"…fine. I'll meet you outside in thirty minutes. Be careful," called Zack as he went outside.

Cloud waved to him and trudged up the stairs, heading for his room. "Man, I feel so dizzy…" he muttered as he opened the door to his room. "I had a flu this bad before… but that was a long time ago…" Cloud slumped onto his bed, coughing a little. "I hope this passes soon…" he sat up and pulled out his laptop from under the bed, and opened up his e-mail. Yep, there was one unread e-mail from Tifa.

To: cs (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com

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

All the trouble is over, and everyone here in Midgar is just fine. I hope you're feeling better now. I'm sorry I haven't e-mailed in a while, but my e-mail was down, and it took a while to get it working again.

I'm doing brilliantly, and Cid is just great. We're making great business with the bar, and we're even thinking about expanding the bar. Hah, wishful thinking. Maybe you could come by this weekend? It's Thanksgiving this Thursday! I do hope you can come, it'll be so great! Bring your friend if you decide to come, all right?

Tifa Lockhart

Cloud smiled to himself. I'd love to go top the bar for Thanksgiving weekend… Hopefully, we get to have another one of this visits to see our friends and family…

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

From: cs (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com

I'm doing good, too, even though I have a terrible flu right now… But don't worry about me, I'll be just fine, I have Zack with me, and to me, that's more reassuring then anything else!

I want to come over for Thanksgiving dinner too, but I'm not sure if we can go anywhere for Thanksgiving… I'll see what I can do for Zack and I to make it to the dinner, okay? It'll be great to see you again! Cloud Strife

Cloud hit the send button, signed out, and closed his laptop. If I'm feeling better by Thanksgiving, then I'll certainly eat a lot this year… He hopped of his bed and hurried down stairs, outside to meet Zack. "Zack, I'm here!"

Zack looked around at Cloud. "Oh, Cloud! That's good, I thought for a second that you…. Never mind. Let's get started."

"What are we gonna do first?" asked Cloud.

"We're gonna practice flying today!" said Zack happily. "At that same cliff. Are you ready?"

Cloud looked own the 112 feet high cliff, then slowly nodded. "Sure, anytime you are ready."

"All righty!" said Zack, giving Cloud a push off of the cliff.

"AWAAAAAAAaaaaaaa…" Cloud's yell became more fainter as he fell down.

Zack looked down the cliff, wincing slightly. "Maybe we need to work on that one…" he muttered slightly after hearing a crash that indicated that Cloud met the ground.

Four hours later…

Cloud climbed up the cliff wearily, dusty all over. "Wah…" he muttered, pulling himself up. "I'm not very good at this flying thing yet, am I?"

"No, not really," said Zack truthfully. "But your getting better! All we need is practice! Practice makes perfect after all."

Cloud nodded, dusting himself off. "Yeah, we should try to practice every single day. I'll get better at flying, one day…"

"But right now, I think we've had enough," said Zack, checking the clock inside the laptop. "Whoa, I didn't know we were practicing that long! It's already 12:30 PM!"

"It is!" asked Cloud, running to the laptop. "Oh, no! That means we have only one hour to get ready for the tests! And only thirty minute to spend with our Chocobo!"

"We'd better hurry!" added Zack. The two of them hurried towards the Chocobo Garden, spending time with their Chocobo. "Man, only thirty minutes to enjoy with you two," said Zack sadly, scratching the back of Fuzzy's head.

"It should be longer," agreed Cloud, cuddling Kumo. "But as long as I can see Kumo today," he said to Kumo happily.

"Caw," agreed Kumo.

Fuzzy, though thoroughly enjoying being scratched on the head, was giving Cloud a shifty-eyed glare.

Cloud looked up at the sky. "No matter what the weather is elsewhere, the weather here is always fair and calm… I wonder why that is?"

"It must be because of Shinra," said Zack. "According to some rumors, shachoo has a soft spot for Chocobo. Maybe he has a furnace hidden in this garden to keep it all grassy and snow-and-rain-free."

"I guess he does…" said Cloud quietly.

"Caw!" squawked Fuzzy suddenly, glaring at Cloud angrily.

"What's that? You think Cloud's gonna 'try to steal me'?" asked Zack, smiling at Fuzzy. "Honestly, Fuzzy, you say the weirdest things."

"Caw, caw, caw! Caw!" hissed Fuzzy.

Cloud blinked in surprise at Fuzzy. "What--What does Fuzzy mean by 'try to steal you'! I don't want to steal anyone!"

"Caw!" growled Fuzzy angrily.

"Fuzzy, calm down," said Zack, patting Fuzzy's head. "I think Fuzzy is just a little cranky this afternoon."

"What is Fuzzy saying?" asked Cloud nervously, hiding Kumo away from the angry Chocobo.

"Caw," said Kumo sadly.

"Caw!" agreed Fuzzy.

"How funny. Fuzzy says that you like me as in more then just friends," smiled Zack. "And Kumo agrees too. Fuzzy thinks that you'll start liking me, and that you'll make me like you too, and that I'll forget about Fuzzy."

Cloud gaped at Zack, Fuzzy, and Kumo. What Fuzzy had said was so close to the truth that Cloud was caught off guard. "Do-Does he now?"

"But Fuzzy always says crazy things," laughed Zack, patting Fuzzy's head. "Because you told me you like Tifa, right?"

"I--Yeah, I do," said Cloud quickly.

"See, Fuzzy? Cloud likes me as a friend."

"Caw caw!" argued Fuzzy.

"I know he's a little bi, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to be his friend," said Zack kindly, smiling at Cloud. "After all, I think you have a little infatuation with Sephiroth, don't you?"

"Wha--! No, no I don't!" stammered Cloud.

Zack looked up at the sky, chuckling to himself slightly. "Methinks Cloud's a little red in the face."

"I--I have a flu!" reminded Cloud, glancing away hurriedly. "Anyway, we should get going now!"

"How right you are!" said Zack. "Fuzzy, we'll see you later, hmm?"

"Caw!" said Fuzzy angrily, glaring at Cloud.

"No, he'll be there too, Fuzzy. Don't be so rude to Cloud, Fuzzy," scolded Zack. "Come on, Cloud."

"Bye, Kumo," said Cloud, setting Kumo onto the grass. "See you later."

"Caw!" called Kumo, waving a wing.

"See you," added Zack again, and the two of them hurried back to Shinra. "Man, I hope we're not late!" said Zack. "You'd better hurry into that waiting room."

"Ok-Okay," said Cloud, now feeling slightly anxious. When they say "DeadlyRANDOM", thought Cloud suddenly, do they mean deadly for me, or deadly for someone else? He entered the room, and wasn't surprised to see Rude and Reno already awaiting. "…"

"Hey, Cloud," said Rude.

"Shachoo asked us to wait in here again," said Reno. "As long as I can get away from researching endless hours again, I don't mind… As long as you don't kiss me again," he added warningly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I won't," muttered Cloud, sitting down on the couch, looking down at the table.

"We have about five minutes before shachoo arrives," said Rude. "Maybe we could make conversation, what say you?"

Cloud didn't answer.

"Rude, remember he doesn't like to talk," reminded Reno. "He's that shy and quiet little SOLDIER."

"Oh, yeah, the one who, before he came to Shinra, had one of Jenova's cells inside of him. But still, even he would know how to talk."

"He doesn't like talking to people," said Reno.

"No, I do, I just don't talk very much," said Cloud quietly. "Sometimes it's just better to listen to people, otherwise you miss something you should've heard."

"But its good to let yourself be heard too," said Rude. "What if you too have something that should be heard, but you're too busy listening to others?"

Cloud didn't say anything.

"I guess that means he doesn't think highly of himself at all," whispered Reno to Rude.

"Maybe one of us need to learn that lesson too," whispered Rude back. Reno was about to agree, then he realized what Rude meant and scowled at Rude, not responding.

With Zack…

Zack looked around. "Oh? Shachoo isn't here yet…? Strange, I thought he'd be here to tell me about these DeadlyRANDOMs…"

"What? I'm here," said shachoo, entering the room.

"Ah! Oh, of course, there you are, shachoo. We gonna begin the tests now?"

"Sure, why not?" asked shachoo, sitting down at his spot. "I don't need to explain it, as well see how it's done, won't we?"

"I…guess…" said Zack slowly, opening the laptop. "I hope this doesn't kill anyone…" said Zack.

"With a name like 'deadly', tell me what you think."

Zack sighed. "Whatever…" he typed up "DeadlyRANDOM 1".
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Ooh! What will the DeadlyRANDOMs do? Find out next chapter!