Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: Now I can comment. We have reached CHAPTER THIRTY! Now thirty is a REALLY big number! Congrats, Fairy Red!

A/N: And congrats to you too, Disclaimer! And to you Muses!
Muses: Aaw, it was nothing, really!
Me: And you reviewers, all of you, congrats to you too! Without you all, I would have never made it this far! Give yourselves a big round of applause! You deserve it!
Readers: -give themselves a big round of applause-
Me: -grins happily- Now that that's settled, let's get down to chapter thirty! Lets-a go!

Chapter Thirty: An Evil Plot and a Bad Man's Thoughts
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It was early on a Saturday morning, like almost 5:00 AM. But Cloud and Zack were up and about nonetheless.

Cloud yawned loudly. "Zack, why did you get me up at 5:00 AM?" he asked groggily.

"Because everyone's asleep this early on a Saturday, so we can practice flying anywhere we want!" said Zack cheerfully.

"But I'm tired too," said Cloud, stifling another yawn. "Why can't we just go back to sleep and practice flying later?"

"It's good for your health, waking up early," said Zack, crossing his arms. "It's not good to stay up all night and sleep all day, even for a SOLDIER."

"You got as much sleep as I did, and yet your still full of energy," said Cloud, giving up and yawning loudly again. "How do you do that?"

"I eat a heartfelt breakfast everyday," said Zack with a proud nod. "And I do all that I can to make sure I get exactly 8 hours of sleep every night."

"Wow, you do all that?" asked Cloud, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, and you should be doing that too," said Zack. "Anyway, come on, sleepyhead," said Zack leading Cloud towards the cliffs.

"And what are we up to this morning?" asked a voice behind the two of them.

"…!" went Cloud and Zack, whirling around to see Sephiroth standing there.

"Oh, Sephiroth!" said Zack after a couple seconds. "Uhm, good morning!"

"Good morning!" added Cloud.

"How can anyone call it a good morning with all the racket you're making?" asked Sephiroth, who indeed looked pretty tired. "I was just jerked out of a good sleep with the two of you 'sneaking out' of Shinra early on a Saturday morning. May I inquire to the occasion?"

"Uh…" stalled Zack, exchanging glances with Cloud.

"We were going to watch the sunrise!" said Cloud hurriedly.

"We--? Oh, yes, we were!" said Zack.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "I doubt you'd see much of a sunrise in these cold, gray, unfeeling winter clouds, now is there?"

"The clouds might part," said Zack hopefully. "The weather forecast says it'll be sunny and warm today!"

"Did it now?" asked Sephiroth in mock surprise. "Gee, then that must mean that the weather report that I received from my trusty little radio network was wrong!"

"Exactly!" said Zack.

"Exactly!" echoed Cloud.

As if answering some unheard prayer, the gray, cold, unfeeling winter clouds began to part in the east, and the first rays of sun light reached across the mountains.

"Hah ha!" said Zack, "See, what did I--"

KABOOM! THUNDER, A BIG CLASH OF LIGHTING

All three looked up. "…well, what do you know," said Sephiroth. "We both were wrong. A thunderstorm during winter…"

"Yeah, what were the odds?" asked Zack, looking up.

"Well, could be worse," said Cloud with a shrug.

"Oh, yeah? How?" asked Zack.

"Could be raining," said Cloud with a smile.

clash of lightning again, downpour starts

Zack and Sephiroth exchanged glances and looked down at Cloud, who was blinking up at the rain and smiling cutely.

"…screw this, I'm going back inside," said Sephiroth, turning heel and walking back to Shinra.

When he was out of earshot, Zack leaned closer to Cloud and asked in undertone, "Still wanna go through those flying lessons?"

"…maybe later," said Cloud in undertone back.

Both stood in the rain for a couple seconds, and walked back to Shinra to continue those flying lessons later.

A few hours later…

Cloud sighed dejectedly, staring out the window. "It's still raining," he announced to Zack.

"Oh, really?" asked Zack. "What a shame, I guess that means the snows gonna melt early this year. How sad…"

"Yeah, it is," agreed Cloud.

Meanwhile…

"Rufus Shinra came back yesterday," announced Tseng to his Turks as he walked in the HQ. "With both the shachoo and vice president looking down out backs, we have to work twice as hard to try and get this research done," finished Tseng, reaching his desk. He turned around. "Are you ready?"

Elena was slumped on the couch, sleeping soundly; Reno had taken over the recliner, and was using his jacket as a blanket; Rude was snoring slightly loud, resting on the other sofa; and Vincent was on the other seat, a book open on his face, saying that he must have fell asleep reading.

Tseng sighed. "Come on, I don't work you all that hard, do I?"

The door opened and Rufus stuck his head in. "Ah, I see these are our proud -beeps- of Shinra. Good job, Tseng."

"This isn't my fault," said Tseng with an irritable gesture to the snoozing Turks.

"So you have no control over them whatsoever, and they themselves decide when to take days off or not?" asked Rufus.

"I would've hired others, but shachoo specifically ordered these four to work under me. I certainly didn't want such lazy bums working research for me."

"Of course you didn't," said Rufus.

"But I know the magic words to wake them up," said Tseng, turning to the group. He cleared his throat and said in a perfect imitation of shachoo's voice, "Well, Tseng, maybe you should tell your Turks that for every second they snooze on the job, they lose 500 gil off of their paycheck!"

"WHAAAAAA?" went all the Turks at once, standing up in their glory. "We weren't snoozing on the job, shachoo sir!" they said in unison.

Tseng made a "see?" gesture, and Rufus sighed and said, "I've been hearing many rumors amongst the Turks that this research on Jenova's problems started a little bit before a certain Mr. Cloud Strife came to join Shinra."

"That's what our research tells us," said Vincent, still standing in his glory.

"Is it true?" asked Rufus. "Does Strife have something to do with it?"

"We're not sure," said Elena. "That's what we've been trying to figure out."

"Hmm… I see…" said Rufus quietly. "Anyway, while you're at it, do make a sweep on all of the SOLDIERs. Word has reached me that a SOLDIER here is using an illegal program to grow wings and fly. I'd keep an eye open for that."

"Yes, sir," said the Turks simultaneously.

"Good. You have your orders. I'll see you again," said Rufus, leaving the room.

After the door closed, Tseng glared at all his Turks. "Well, that was nice of all of you! Trying to get me fired?"

"No, sir!" went all the Turks.

"From now on, we're working twice as hard!" said Tseng firmly. "As I have said earlier, we'll have to work much harder now that both the shachoo AND vice president are under the roof. Let's go!"

"Yes, sir," said all the Turks, and they followed Tseng to the research room.

With Rufus…

Rufus walked back to his office, more evil thoughts filling his mind. Of course… he thought to himself. It'll be very easy to pull off…It'll be just timing it all… Rufus felt a few strands of his hair, when a light clicked in his head. …I'll just see him in person, decided Rufus with an evil smile. In fact, why don't I see him right now…? The sooner, the better…

With Cloud and Zack…

Cloud sighed boredly, leaning his head against the windowsill. The rain had slowly turned into a mix of snow and hail. And seeing s he was sensitive to cold, he had to stay inside. Zack had offered to take care of Kumo and Fuzzy and was now at the Chocobo Garden. "The snow looks soo pretty…" he said to himself. "I want to go and play in the snow… Even if it's just for five minutes…"

The hail was slowing down, and beautiful snowflakes began to fall down. There was a slight breeze in the air, so it appeared that the snowflakes were dancing and twirling in the wind. The scene couldn't have been more inviting.

"…I want to go outside…" sighed Cloud. He stood up, when his mind returned to when he had a terrible flu. "Do I really want that terrible flu again?" asked Cloud. He thought about it for a few minutes. Terrible flu, bad. Zack taking care of him, good. Cloud blushed and shook his head. "No, no, I can't do that…" he looked out the window again.

The hail had completely stopped, and the gentle breeze had turned into a flurry of a snowstorm.

Cloud sighed dejectedly. "Never mind…" he sat back down and stared out the window. Zack should be back in a few minutes…

Indeed he was; no sooner had Cloud thought that Zack came into the room. "Phew, it's really cold outside," he remarked cheerfully. He took off his jacket, scarf, mittens, and snow boots, and came over to Cloud. "Still sitting here, lazy?" he asked playfully.

Cloud smiled up at him. "I'd go outside, but I might catch a cold or flu again, and I don't want to worry you too much."

"Oh, we could go outside," said Zack. "It just now occurred to me that you can wear a warm coat, boots, mittens, you'll be fine."

"Really?" asked Cloud. Something exciting was about to happen! "Let's do that!"

"Sure, if you don't mind sharing the scarf," said Zack sheepishly, indicating the long, woolly red scarf he left on the table.

Something even more exciting! "Su-Sure, I don't mind!" said Cloud, reddening slightly.

"All right, wait here!" said Zack. "We can continue those flying lessons outside! We need to practice in weather such as this anyway."

"Okay! I'll meet you at the doors?" asked Cloud.

"You do that then!" said Zack. "I'll go get the coats and stuff."

Cloud nodded and left the room, heading for the stairs as Zack headed for his room. Cloud was waited by the door, leaning against the wall. Sephiroth happened to be walking by and spotted Cloud. "What are you doing standing by the door?" he asked curiously.

"I'm waiting for Zack to show up, Sephy," answered Cloud. "He says I can go outside as long as I'm bundled up warmly."

"I see…" Sephiroth looked up the stairs. "…well, whatever suits you," he said. "It's too cold for my tastes…"

"But you came from here all the way to Midgar that Wednesday, remember?"

"I know, but I didn't enjoy it," said Sephiroth, making a face.

"Maybe you shouldn't wear leather during winter," suggested Cloud. Sephiroth glared at Cloud and stalked away. "…? What? What did I say?" he asked, watching Sephiroth go back to his room.

Zack came down the stairs, looking back at Sephiroth's room. "What did he say?" asked Zack curiously. "He seemed pretty angry."

"I don't think I said anything to make him angry," said Cloud, scratching his head. "I mean, he was telling me that he didn't like going outside during winter because it's cold. I figured that wearing leather made things difficult, so I suggested that he should wear something else during winter."

"Oh, well, you see, Sephiroth was never one to take advice from people," said Zack, looking slightly amused. "Remember what I once told you during your first days here? Sephiroth is used to being revered and feared at the same time. You can't be either if you give him advice."

"Oh… Well, let's go," said Cloud.

Zack nodded, but followed slowly. What I shouldn't mention is that Sephiroth would take advice from no one… except himself… And he and you are the only ones who don't know about what Hojo did…

Cloud buttoned the last buttons of the coat. "Well, it is warmer now," he said. Now how about that scarf, eh? thought Cloud to himself happily.

"Yep, we'll walk around to that area that had rivers and stuff," said Zack pulling out the scarf. "Your wings are nearing perfection," said Zack, leaning down slightly so he and Cloud could both comfortably share the scarf.

"I know, it's great," said Cloud. "By the way, where did you want me to take you when I can fly perfectly?" asked Cloud curiously.

Zack smiled, and looked upward. "Aeris once mentioned a place the Cetra all go sometime. She called it 'the promised land'. She wouldn't tell me in detail, so I looked it up. Apparently, 'the promised land' is a vast paradise kingdom somewhere in the skies. I'm not sure if the 'promised land' Aeris told me about and the one in the skies is the same one, but… I want to see it."

"Zack…" said Cloud quietly, feeling a mix of sadness that it was something Aeris mentioned to being happy that Zack wanted to see it together with Cloud.

"Sadly, Aeris told me that she can't take me there, that no one but the Cetra can get there…until it's time." Zack closed his eyes in the winter breeze. "But now that I have you with me, Cloud, I can see the promised land. Aeris doesn't have to hold the burden of knowing and hiding it alone anymore…"

Cloud looked upward at the mid-afternoon sky. A…promised land…A kingdom paradise… I wonder if something like that really exists… Cloud smiled. "Zack, I promise that once I can fly perfectly, we'll find the promised land together. I'll help you realize your dream, Zack."

Zack opened his eyes and smiled down at Cloud. "I…knew you'd say that," he said slowly. "Oh, Cloud, you're the bestest best friend ever!" he cried happily, giving Cloud a huge hug. "I could ask for nothing more from my little gift!"

Cloud gasped in surprise, and (blushing a little) returned the hug. "Of course, Zack… Thank you…"

Off in the distance, however, the man with a heart colder then ice and crueler then winter watched. I see… so that's how it works… I'll be the shachoo yet, thought Rufus to himself. Once the current shachoo is…dead.
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Ooh! Rufus has true evil in his heart! What could he possibly be planning? Find out in chapters to come! See you in a little bit, and don't forget to review.
Mario: They won't forget, Fairy Red, they ALWAYS review.
Zelda: Sometimes I think you worry too much.
…well, it's just a friendly reminder. What IF they forget to review? You never know, right?
Muses: …right. Whatever. -leaves-
…You won't forget to review, right? Of course you'll review:3 See you!