THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY TWO REVIEWERS! (^_^)

Gaminex, thank you for the lengthy review. I really appreciate those, and I'll see what I can do about the profanity. But there isn't any here, I promise ya that. :D

coca-cola1, thank you for your review too! I was thinking it could be HopexVanille, but I'm still not sure since the other (I love how I'm calling them this) "potentional significant others" haven't made an appearance yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own ANY Final Fantasy Characters of ANY game. NOT ONE.

Of all the places little baby chocobos like hiding in, Sahz Katzroy's hair seems to be the best place to conceal itself. It was like a mobile home with no doors and more windows, allowing the bird to reveal itself anytime it wants to. His hair was a place of warmth as well as comfort, saving Sahz money from buying a cage for the bird.

He just wondered what he'd do when it gets bigger.

Sell it? Dahj would never let that happen. Set it free? The chances of survival for domesticated chocobos are extremely thin. Sahz scratched the back of his neck and let the fan's air hit his face.

He didn't have to think about this now. The chocobo wouldn't grow that fast.

"Um, excuse me?"

Sahz whipped his head around, laying eyes on a sheepish looking boy with silverish-looking hair. The man smiled at the boy, who seemed a bit less awkward now. And a bit more familiar. "Yes?"

The boy became awkward again. "Well, I left my schedule at home…" he fiddled with his fingers, not daring to look up. "I was wondering if the school would have a copy of it."

Sahz blinked at him, looked at the floor, and then looked at the boy while scratching his chin. He squinted. The boy made a face.

Silverish hair. Green eyes. Pale skin. Kind of short (but some would say average height). Where have I seen you before?

Sahz Katzroy straightened up, and crossed his arms impatiently. But he smiled nonetheless. "Actually we do, in the Admissions Office. I'll do ya the favor," he leaned down a little and whispered, "We're not really supposed to give students their schedules when they forget 'em."

The kid grinned, giving him a sharp nod. "Gotcha."

He led the boy into a separate room, where man no younger than twenty-eight was typing away at a computer. His hair seemed to defy-gravity, (which wasn't really new to Sahz anymore), and was dyed blond.

At least that's what Sahz heard. "Hey Strife, ya busy?"

'Strife' didn't look away from his computer screen. "Define 'busy'."

He was typing away again, and with curiosity taking over him, Sahz walked over to see just what it was that held his attention so diligently. When he laid eyes on the screen, he sent the boy an annoyed look, and looked at the man again.

"Cloud, what the hell are you doin'?"

"Playin' 'The Hacker'," he replied nonchalantly, "what are you doing?"

Sahz crossed his arms. "Nothing, just decided to take a stroll down the park and visit my favorite Cloud." He replied sarcastically.

The young boy couldn't help but smile a little, but this 'Cloud' character just scoffed. "Ha-ha, very funny." He grabbed the mouse and clicked the 'X' button. He turned to see Sahz. "Anything ya need, boss?"

"Actually, I need a schedule for this young man." He gestured to the teen standing in front of Cloud's desk.

Cloud followed the hand to see a young boy, mostly likely a freshman (and oddly familiar at that), standing awkwardly in front of them. He let his eyes wander over the boy, finally letting his brilliant blue eyes rest onto his emerald green ones. "Name and homeroom, kid."

He didn't hesitate. "Hope Estheim, Class 1-2."

The two older men stopped half-way through their actions, glancing nervously at each other, then at Hope, then at each other, then at Hope again. Sahz spoke first.

"You're Hope Estheim?" The boy hesitated a bit before nodding his head, not knowing what to expect. But Sahz just had a goofy smile on his face, as if he were stupid for not realizing something that he should have. "Man, I knew I saw you somewhere! You're actually supposed to be—"

"In junior year," Cloud interrupted, earning Hope's attention, "But you wanted to take freshman year instead and just skip sophomore year, right?"

Cloud didn't seem excited, or like he was going to treat him any different because of his reputation, and Hope was silently grateful for that. "Y-yeah. I figured that I should at least start off like everyone else. Besides, it'd be pretty weird if I go into a year where everyone practically knows each other already."

Cloud nodded, typing something into his computer and hitting the enter button by the time Hope finished talking. "Well, you made a good choice, kid." He looked at his keyboard thoughtfully. "There's also another one, right, Katzroy?"

Sahz nodded. "That's right, Maqui's here too."

"Maqui Mancini's here?" Hope asked, gaining the undivided attention of the two men. When they both nodded, Hope smiled. "Awesome! He's taking freshman year first too, right?"

Cloud nodded, spinning his chair around and taking a paper that came out of the printer, bringing it over to his desk. He scanned the paper before giving it to Hope. "It seems that you and Maqui have a few classes together." Hope looked at his schedule and couldn't stop smiling. "You okay, kid?"

He looked up, "I'm fine. I'm just…now I have another good friend with me here. And that just makes me really happy."

Sahz gripped Cloud's shoulder. "Aw, wouldja look at that?" He made his way up to Hope and ruffled his hair, "The smiles a friend can put on your face," he smiled, "Priceless, eh?"

Hope laughed a little, "Yeah."

"Take care of 'em, ya hear?" Cloud spoke up. Hope looked at him, noticing his solemn expression. "These friends and the ones you'll make. Take care of 'em. I'm sure the ones you'll meet are all keepers." He smiled at him, as if the sudden gloom that took over him was never there, and then cocked his head to the clock. "You should start checking where your classes are, you've got about thirty-five minutes left."

At this, Hope quickly glanced at the clock, then at the two men. "I'll see ya around?"

Cloud shrugged. "Doesn't seem like we have much of a choice now, do we?"

Taking this as a yes, Hope felt his cheekbones rise up again, and he quickly walked down the hall with his schedule in hand. He had to make the most out of these thirty-five and counting minutes.

...sometimes I wonder if it was a good thing to add Cloud in it. Would that make it a cross-over? It IS Final Fantasy technically.

Eh.

What do YOU think? Is Cloud out of character? How was Sahz? How do you think it's going so far? :? (If possible, please point out any mistakes I have, or if I have any characters wrong in anyway).

Well, thank you for reading! Be kind to review, please! (^_^)