One Degree

They say everyone in the world is connected through six degrees of separation.

For AVALANCHE and the Turks, it's one.

Cid and Cloud (and Barret)

Cheating

Awkwardly, Cid Highwind entered one of the few churches in Midgar, St. Claudius's Catholic Church. Cid had been born and baptized a Catholic, but had long given up on the practice, skipping out of masses when he was ten to go look with at blueprints and books of flying machines, as well as the infamous Air and Space Museum. He had never been a religious man, but he'd been confirmed at thirteen and though he never set foot in a church after that, he found himself there again. He was young and full of dreams, hoping and fearing for this job.

That's what brought him here. A chance, a hope, a dream. A chance to be the Head of the Air and Space Program at ShinRa. That's what brought him here. Unsure of what to do, he looked around awkwardly, almost reaching into his pocket to pull out a cigarette. He grimaced and remembered the holy water, which he dipped his fingers into and made an awkward sign of the cross.

He looked around for a priest and saw none, but he did see a few people scattered through the pews. One was an elderly woman with a stern face veiled by a black cloth. He'd made no noise, but she looked up and glared at him. Not a good choice for help.

The next person was a blonde spiky haired kid. He looked just as awkward and misplaced as Cid so Cid shrugged and walked down the pew. Birds of a feather, right? And birds of a feather, Cid thought to himself, was the right phrase because the kid's spiky hair was highly reminiscent of a chocobo. So he sat down and the kid looked up at him, and his eyes were a clear blue, darker than Cid's own, and they reminded Cid of a fatal error screen, and just as blank.

"Hey, uh…" Cid whispered, and even that seemed too loud in the arching ceilings and empty silence of the church. "I haven't been here for a while and…uh…do you know if there's uh…confession and all that shi-" Cid stopped himself.

The kid lifted his head and looked from his folded hands in his lap to Cid and shrugged sheepishly. "We're in the same boat." He said.

"What? You trying to confess?"

"No." the spike haired kid said, looking back at his legs. "Just pray. But I'm cheating…"

Cid raised a brow. "Eh?"

Spike, as Cid had dubbed him, looked up again and his eyes were wider for a moment, before restoring to normal. "I mean, it feels like I'm cheating, you know?"

"Why?" Cid asked, and pulled out a cigarette. The kid eyed them and a nosy, stern looking women looked over disapprovingly from the pew across the aisle. He glared at her and fiddled with it, because he always smoked when he was nervous but wasn't about to do it in a house of God.

The kid gave a watery, sad smile. "I just came here to pray because I…I wanted something. But now it feels like I'm cheating. And all I can think of is what I need to make up for…but even then I…" he frowned. "I can't…"

And Cid knew exactly what he meant.

"I know what you mean." Cid nodded, tucking the cigarette behind his ear.

"And now I can't." Spike said. "I can't.."

Cid nodded, and he saw a black, bulky priest walk in and go to a little room that proclaimed it was confession. Cid stood and nodded to the kid before walking out of the pew and turning. He stopped and remembered to genuflect on one knee, and when he straightened and turned, a sudden curiosity came over him.

"Hey kid," Cid said, because he was really only a kid, and sure enough, Spike looked up.

"What was it you want, anyway?" Cid asked.

The kid gave that wavering, sad and uncertain smile again, brisk and fleeting, only just hitting the high point of the smile before falling. "I want to get into SOLDIER."

Cid nodded.

"What about you?" Spike asked, and Cid was surprised.

"I never said I wanted anything." Cid said, gruffly.

Spike looked at him with those fatal error eyes and the fleeting smile came again. "I can tell." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Takes one to know one, right?

Cid nodded. "I…I want to get this job." The boy looked at him with his blank, blue eyes. "Head of Space Program." Cid said, and even as he said it his heart welled with pride and fear.

The kid nodded. "Good luck."

"And you too, Spike."

The kid looked confused momentarily at the name, but Cid was walking to the door next to the one where he saw the bulky, black priest go into. Cid hesitantly opened the door.

He sat down, and he could faintly see the priest (though barely) through the wicker separating screen.

"Uh, hello." Cid said, and the priest jumped.

"Whatchu…What are you doing here?"

The man had an accent that Cid recognized as the speech of miners from Corel.

"I'm here to confess."

"Oh…." The priest looked down and frowned. "Well, eh, how long has it been since your last confession?"

"Long." Cid answered. Even through the screen he could see the wry smile.

"Well…er…go."

Cid peered at him with a curious look, despite the obscure view. "You're a priest, right?"

The man puffed up, straightened. "O' course I am!"

Cid raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Well…"

"What have you done, my son." He said, as though to prove his priesthood.

And Cid thought of the kid sitting outside, unable to pray, and this man across the screen who wasn't a priest, and he thought of the job and of ShinRa and of God and of the woman outside the little room who had glared at him for taking out a cigarette, and didn't she have family or someone to be with? He thought of the old woman, and why wasn't anyone taking care of her or with her and why did she wear that cloth over her face? And of the kid who wanted something, but now could only think of what he needed to make up for, and Cid felt guilty, and he thought of this man, and what he was trying to do.

"…I cheated," Cid said softly, and with that, he stood and left confession.

And as Cid walked out, he lifted his head and saw Fatal Error eyes looking at him.

The kid smiled.

--

A/N: I added Barret because that's who it was orginally supposed to be, and that's who is in the little thing. There will be another from Barret's POV, that has this little thing as a part of it. He's on a little AVALANCHE thing, by the way. I am probably twisting and screwing up timelines left and right ,so feel free to shout at me and say 'Oh no, no, you idiot, Barret was still in Corel when Cid got the job and Cloud wasn't trying out for SOLDIER then oh god what's wrong with you?' Haha.

So yea, this one went a totally different way then I wanted it to but...you know, whatever. I kinda like it. The end is iffy for me, but you know...

So leave a comment, I'd 'preciate it.

.K.i.t.K.a.t.