Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: Really excellent. Really. And sorry for the long wait.

A/N: Wow, thanks. I never knew I could do it, either! But I did:3 Let's go on and see what happens. And the long wait wasn't my fault, it was the people running ffdotnet! Don't throw blame on me! ...not that I'm blaming ffdotnet of course. -smiles innocently-

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Innocent Fugitive
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The next morning, the secretary came and knocked on shachoo's door, with a pot of coffee in her hands. She was just following routine. "Shachoo, I've brought your morning coffee," she said.

No answer.

She sighed, knocking on the door. "Shachoo," she said a bit louder. "I've brought your morning coffee."

Still no answer.

The secretary sighed. "I guess you're still asleep, huh?" she placed the coffee pot on the ground, pulled out a set of keys, and unlocked the door to shachoo's office. "Shachoo," she said. "I've brought you're…you're…" she trailed off at the sight in front of her.

Shachoo was slumped over his desk, his face buried in a pool of his own blood; a bloodstained dagger was nearby, along with a few scattered white feathers and some strands of blonde hair.

"Sha--Shachoo!" wailed the secretary dropping the coffee pot and backing up. She fell to her knees and let out a shrill, bloodcurdling scream. "He--He's been murdered!"

At the sound of the secretary's scream, a bunch of SOLDIERs and Turks had rushed over, their weapons drawn and everything. "What's the matter? Who's been murdered?" demanded a Turk.

"In--In there!" stammered the secretary, pointing fearfully into the room. "It's horrible!"

"Step aside, let me through," said Tseng, hearing the commotion. He walked into shachoo's office and stopped suddenly. "…!" he gasped in surprise. "What is this…!"

"What's going on here?" asked Zack, who had been awakened by the scream. "Did I hear someone mention murder?" Zack came to stand next to Tseng and stopped too. "Oh my god…!" he gasped suddenly.

"Exactly…" agreed Tseng, looking around the room. He spotted the dagger and feathers and hair and walked over to it. "What is this…?"

Zack stared in shock at the white feathers. It--It can't be…!

Tseng looked up at Zack. "You, bring Cloud in here. There'll be a reckoning for this…"

"Of--Of course," stammered Zack, hurrying out of shachoo's office. By now, almost all of Shinra was awake, and heard the news. Even the scientists had gathered to hear the news. Zack tried Cloud's room first, but he wasn't in here. "…Did he stay in the garden?" asked Zack, running to the garden. Sure enough, there was Cloud, asleep on the hill. He kneeled down to Cloud, shaking him awake. "Cloud! Cloud, wake up!"

"Awa-wa-wa!" started Cloud. He shook his head and looked up at Zack. "Zack?" he asked sleepily.

"Cloud, something terrible has happened," said Zack urgently. "Try to wake up! Shachoo has been assassinated!"

"He's been what?" asked Cloud in mild surprise, rubbing his eyes. "Am I still dreaming…?"

"No, Cloud, this is no dream. Tell me, where were you last night?"

Cloud blinked twice, trying to remember. "Uhm… After dinner, I came down here… I must have fell asleep…"

"Well, Tseng said he has to see you," said Zack, standing up with Cloud. "You'll have to see this…"

For some reason, Zack seemed to be avoiding Cloud's gaze. What's going on? thought Cloud in confusion as he followed Zack to where everyone had gathered.

"Very good, Zack, please bring Cloud over here," said Tseng. "We have to question him about this."

"Question me?" repeated Cloud, looking between Zack and Tseng. "About what? What's going on?"

"You don't know?" asked Tseng skeptically. "That's not something you'd be likely to say, is it? Not when you're the top suspect in this…"

"Shachoo was murdered last night," said Zack, pointing into the room.

"Murdered!" repeated Cloud in shock, looking to where Zack pointed. He gasped in even more shock, backing up a little. "You--You think I did it!"

"I have reason to believe that," said Tseng, lifting up several white feathers. "Did these come from you?"

"…! Ye-Yes, I-- But, no, I never visited shachoo last night, much less murdered him!"

"I discovered yesterday that you had written yourself an illegal program to grow yourself wings. Is that not true?"

Cloud didn't answer, looking helplessly at Zack.

Zack sighed deeply, lowering his head slightly. "You see, Tseng, I… I wrote that program for him."

"You did?" asked Tseng. "Why?"

"Because he asked me to," answered Zack. "He seemed to want to grow wings after hearing about Sephiroth's wing. I wrote the program for him, but I…"

"You can't think that I did it!" cried Cloud. "I never even touched shachoo!"

Zack looked away and didn't answer.

"The murderer's weapon is in the room," said Tseng. "I'll bet you're going to tell me that this didn't come from you either," he said, indicating the bloody dagger on the ground.

"It's true, I've never seen that before," said Cloud.

"Well… I'll have to investigate this," said Tseng. He turned to the Turks and ordered, "Get someone over here to get shachoo's body for burial. And go fetch Rufus."

"Yes, sir," said the Turks, hurrying off to obey orders.

Cloud tugged on Zack's glove. "You know I didn't do it, right? I could never kill anyone! You have to believe me, Zack!"

"…I…but what we saw in there…" said Zack.

"You're the only one I trust!" said Cloud. "Please don't suspect me for a crime I never committed!"

Zack looked Cloud in the eyes at last. There is truth and sincerity in his eyes… realized Zack. I want to believe him, but…

Tseng stood still in thought for a few moments as Rufus entered the scene. "What's this I hear?" he demanded to Tseng. "Has shachoo seriously been murdered?"

"I'm afraid so," said Tseng with a gesture to the body that the Turks were laying down on a body bag.

Rufus gasped. "Who found him like that? And who did this?"

"The secretary found him this morning," answered Tseng. "And right now, our suspect is Cloud. These were found at the crime scene."

"Oh, my…" said Rufus as Tseng showed him the feathers, hair strands, and dagger. "What a terrible tragedy…"

"It must be," said Tseng as the Turks carried out the body bag. "After all, shachoo was your father."

"Yes…" said Rufus with a slight evil grin when Tseng wasn't looking. "Was my father… I'm going to have to take his place, aren't I?"

"It would seem so," said Tseng. He turned to Cloud. "You're going to have to come with me," he said. "If you're found guilty, there's some serious punishment for a crime like that."

"But I didn't do it!"

"I said if," sighed Tseng. "Don't make this situation ay more difficult then it has to be."

He motioned for Cloud to follow him. Cloud gave one last desperate glance at Zack and followed disheartened behind Tseng.

Zack watched them walk away sadly. He trudged to the stairs slowly, sitting down on the bottom step. Zack's two SOLDIER friends spotted him. "Oh, Zack, there you are!" said the one SOLDIER. "Have you heard the news?"

"Yeah, I heard…" said Zack. "Everyone's heard of it by now…"

"Yeah, and they're saying that Cloud did it," said the other SOLDIER. "Do you think so?"

"I…I don't know…" said Zack quietly. "Part of me knows that Cloud would never kill anyone. But the other, more rational, part says that the evidence is staggering…"

"So you're in a bit of a bind," said the other SOLDIER.

"Why, do you think Cloud killed shachoo?" asked Zack.

The two SOLDIERs exchanged uneasy glances. "I'm sorry to say this, Zack, but we… We agree with the rational part of you."

"I thought you two would…" said Zack. "What would happen if this got back to Sephiroth…?"

"Too late," said one SOLDIER, watching Sephiroth walk out of his room and to Rufus, clearly asking what was going on. The look of half-surprise-half-delight on Sephiroth's face meant that he, too, thought Cloud did it, and was pretty impressed by it.

With a nod, Sephiroth walked over to Zack. "Rufus says that Cloud murdered the shachoo. The secretary discovered it earlier this morning."

"I know that…" said Zack, resting his chin on his hand.

"He doesn't believe that Cloud killed him with the emotional side of him," said one SOLDIER.

"But his more rational side says that Cloud must have killed shachoo," finished the other SOLDIER. "And we believe that side."

"Oh, even Zack suspects Cloud in this?" asked Sephiroth. "Well, believe what you want to believe. I'm pretty surprised, though… If Cloud indeed killed shachoo."

"If?" repeated Zack, looking up.

"It's highly unlikely, but maybe Cloud didn't kill shachoo." Sephiroth shrugged. "Then again, what do I know?"

Suddenly, the sounds of a window breaking were heard, and someone shouted, "He's escaping! He dived and flew out the window!"

"What!" asked Zack, hurrying to the source of the sound. "What do you mean!"

"Just now, he jumped!" yelled a Turk, pointing out the broken window.

Zack ran to the window, looking up and around.

"I'd try looking forward if I were you," said Sephiroth slowly, pointing forward.

Zack followed the point and saw indeed that Cloud had jumped out the window and flew off. "What happened?" asked Zack, turning to face the Turk. "What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything," said the Turk. "I told him to wait here for Tseng to get back with the rest of the Turks when suddenly he grabbed his sword and shattered the window."

"Is that so…?" asked Sephiroth. "Why would he want to escape?"

"Well, now I have to go get Tseng to report this," said the Turk. "You know procedure, of course? In the given circumstances such as these, if the suspect decides that he's going to escape, all the SOLDIERs have to go out and search for him. He had to go somewhere."

"Of--Of course…" stammered Zack. "I'll get them rounded up…" As he nodded to Sephiroth and hurried off to gather the rest of the SOLDIERs, Zack felt his trust for Cloud slip a little. He can't have done it, thought Zack. But if he didn't do it… Why did he run?

With Cloud…

The first place Cloud went to was Midgar. He hurried through the streets until he reached Aeris's church. The news would have been all over the news by now, but he knew one person who never really caught on to public events. He knocked on the door and called, "Aeris, open up! It's me!"

The sounds of hurried footsteps were heard, and Aeris opened the door curiously. "Cloud?" she asked in surprise. "What are you doing here? I'm not used to callers this early in the morning."

"Please let me come in," said Cloud, looking around. "I have to talk to you."

"…of course," said Aeris, letting Cloud come inside. She closed the door and walked to the front row benches, patting the spot next to her. "Sit down and tell me what happened. I'll try to help the best way I can."

Cloud sat down and hurriedly told her about what had happened, from the secretary discovering the shachoo to him being the suspect in the murder to him finally running away. "I know I didn't do it, but no-one else seems to believe me…not even Zack…"

"Yes, you didn't do it," said Aeris. "I can tell that by looking at you… But, why did you run?" she asked curiously.

"I… I guess I didn't want to be there for a while… I needed to get away, to find someone who does believe me… You do, right? You seriously believe me?"

"Yes, I do," said Aeris with a sad smile. "And I'm sure Zack will too. He must have been shocked. According to you, the shachoo was murdered by blood loss…"

"He was…"

"…well," said Aeris, standing up. "I'll let you stay here as long as you need to. Until you or Zack can come up with something that will clear your name."

"Really?" asked Cloud.

"Of course. If you being found is a bad thing, then we'll have to disguise you."

"How? I'm pretty recognizable, what with my hair and stature."

"Not when you're a Cetra," said Aeris with a wink. "I'll make you an outfit of some sorts, and the magic imbedded on it will only let those who truly think you innocent see you. Will that work?"

"…yes, it will," said Cloud. He sighed dejectedly. "I know I didn't murder the shachoo… But, who did?"

"We'll find out in due time, won't we?" asked Aeris. "Now wait here while I go get the supplies. And why not some breakfast? You must be hungry." Cloud nodded, and Aeris smiled. "Okay then. Wait here. If someone comes knocking, don't answer the door. Even if it's Tifa or Cid. Or Zack. I'm not sure what they'll think when they get the news, so don't show yourself yet."

"But if someone enters the church?" asked Cloud. "Where do I hide in here?"

"Oh… Well…" said Aeris slowly, looking around. "You could always hide there in the shadows. No-one ever checks there."

"Are you sure?" asked Cloud.

Aeris smiled in her secretive way. "I'm positive. Now wait here, okay? I'll be back in about 20 minutes."

"Okay…" said Cloud, looking down at Aeris's garden of lilies. I'll hide here then… decided Cloud. Until my name is cleared…Please let Zack believe me…It'll just destroy me if Zack doesn't believe me…
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Wow. Just uh…wow. Pretty good job, huh? Oh, BTW, I SOO TOTALLY AGREE! WHAT A B-beep-TARD! …but wow, Rufus sure is unpopular. Heh heh… See you next chapter!