A/N: Ok so myeah, here is Zax's side of a point in time. I hope it is easy to figure out at what period in time it takes place. ; I noticed that these chapters I'm writing are really short… I'd love to make them louder, but I'm such an impatient person…. So I'm making em short but making a lot of em. Yay!

File003-Zax

Zax stood up from his bed, stretching and yawning. He went to the door of his room and opened it a crack. There was an exasperated yet amused sigh as he rubbed his eyes irritably.

"Do you Know what time it is, Zax?"

"Roxxie?" he grumbled, blinking away the sleep clogging his eyes. "Why does it matter? Wha's today?"

"Well, nothing seriously important today," Roxxie said. "'cept there is someone new applying to be a Turk. I was coming by to drop off the sword polish you let me borrow…"

"O-oeh.." he yawned, accepting the can of polis from her. "So you're gunna go watch or something?"

"I have to meet her. She's rooming with me," Roxxie explained, flipping her deep violet hair over her shoulder.

"Have fun…" he said, starting to close the door. Then Roxxie cleared her throat and raised her voice a little.

"Good luck on your mission in North Corel today!"

"Oh SNAP!" he yelped, suddenly fully awake as he dashed around the room, grabbing things to get ready to leave. "I completely forgot! Seriously, what time is- AUGH! Omigod, Roxxie -," he bolted out the door and skidded to a stop and gave her a quick one-armed hug. "I love you, thanks so much, Omigaaawd…"

He ran off down the hall, Roxxie laughing after him.

After turning several corners, he ran smack into Cloud, stumbling back against the wall.

"Ah, my bad!" Zax said, grabbing Cloud's arm before he could fall. "You commin to the mission today, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded quietly, rubbing his head embarrassedly. "Have you seen Roxxie?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, she's gone to observe some noob in training today. Someone joining the Turks."

"Oh.."

"Why you ask?" said Zax, starting to walk purposefully down the hall again.

"Oh," Cloud avoided eye contact. "Just wanted to ask her something."

"Yeah?"

"It's not important…" Cloud mumbled, starting to walk a little faster. "Come on, or we'll be late…"

"Yeah.."

Best friends as they were, Zax couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong with Cloud. Yeah, he has always been quiet and, well, not as strong as he'd like to be. But recently he had noticed a kind of change, like something was bothering him. Or scaring him.

And he sure seemed to talk to Roxxie a lot.

"Are you and Roxxie good friends?" Cloud asked abruptly out of the blue.

"More," Said Zax, watching the ground with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"O-oh, Really?" Cloud said, sounding mildly surprised.

Zax smiled. And realized his suspicions were correct. Cloud looked embarrassed, a little flushed, and looked like a kid whose birthday party had been cancelled. He had that kind of childlike innocence. But Zax had just realized just how interested he was in Roxxie.

He liked Roxxie just as much as he did.

"We're best buds!" Zax said happily, continuing his answer. "Closer than the sky to the sea."

"I see." Cloud said softly. "That's awesome."

Zax tried to watch for more suspicious reactions, but they had reached the end of their walk. Pushing a door open, they ended up outside of the building in front of a Truck, Sephiroth standing by off to the side with his arms crossed and his eyes closed in a concentrating way. He looked up as they approached.

"Yo, Seph!" Zax said, waving energetically. "What's today's wondrous adventure?"

Sephiroth didn't show any kind of annoyance or confusion at such a casual greeting. He just acted as emotionless as usual and went on explaining.

"We're being sent to the city of North Corel," he began. "Do you know what it's known for?" he said, looking at them. Zax already knew, but he didn't feel like explaining, and Cloud had never heard of it.

"It's a mining town," Sephiroth continued. "It's famous for the best coal mines ever known. We're being sent as bodyguards with some Shinra Company construction and land property representatives to inquire the people of North Corel about changing to Mako energy instead of coal fuel."

"Are they that dangerous?" Zax asked. He finally seemed to be taking every word seriously, looking at Sephiroth directly in the eyes with a stern look.

"It's not known whether the area has dangerous monsters or not," he said, closing his eyes sagely. "They could be as strong as us or weaker than flies. We're being sent as a precaution. We also need to be there in case the people of North Corel react violently to our proposition." He turned and headed for the truck, Cloud and Zax following behind.

A/N: Ok wow tiny chapter :P so I don't need to tell the story of North Corel, everyone already knows that – right? shifty eyes crickets chip WEYHLL ANYWEYZ, omg, yay Sephy! I wish I could write more about him. I want to do a chapter with his POV… but I am not worthy!!! bows lol, well that's kinda how I feel. I'm sure I'll do one. Whee! Myes, Vincent-Kun will come into the story sometime………. I hope.. XD coz he's so badass. And yeah. Uhm.. I feel like there is something I need to say here but I can't think of anything…. Err… BLARGHONK! runs off SAVE THE WHALES.