-Breathe-

02: Re-Introductions are Necessary

"You're tailored just to fit the changing season,

Baby, what is this? We are two star crossed bits of an equation..."

-December in New York by Thea Gilmore

The book slid back onto the shelf as he glared sullenly at the console and the little figures that ticked over and around each other, incomprehensible sometimes but familiar to him. He was still signed in, he remembered and tapped around idly as the tutor at the front of the class droned on and on with a voice that wouldn't have trouble putting hyperactive teenagers to sleep. He glanced up briefly through his pale golden hair with the fringe that he couldn't help but want to keep long, it kept the sun from his eyes after all, at the tutor, a pale slender man who wore his leather trousers and tight fitting tank top of dark red well, completely with zipped up leather sleeves, the left helpfully adjoined with golden armoured bits towards the hand. His hair, the colour of midnight, was unruly. How often had he been tempted to bring a brush into class and leave it on his desk as a helpful 'hint'? He wore those stupid glasses again. Nitwit. They made him look like a nervous myopic tweed wearing idiot.

His dull blue eyes moved across the room, the backs of people's heads greeting him - his own stupid fault for picking the back to sit at, trying to remain out of people's way and out of their reach. That girl, two seats in front, looked like she could do with some dandruff shampoo. A snort to the side made him cut his gaze across, to the man who lounged in his seat and grinned at him indolently.

Zack Almasy. How long had he and this buffoon pretended at being friends? He was such a jerk, acting like he was so cool and handing out his little 'penances' from that pathetic little huddle of teenagers who tried to call themselves the disciplinary committee. Apparently, according to Zack who wavered between friendship and rivalry with him, he was already blacklisted on some thing he referred to with incredible creativity as, "the list." Dun, dun duh!

Yeah... right.

He rolled his eyes and looked back at his monitor, picking out the two Guardian Forces which had been assigned to him after just pulling his skinny ass through that god forsaken test at the fire cavern. Now that was an exercise in futility. Pick a time limit, sure... he'd picked the ten minute one, being so badass cocky... He wished he could time travel back and stomp on his own toes and remind himself that ten minutes wasn't enough, not when his partner, their illustrious tutor who wavered back and forth at the front, still putting the front rows to sleep, had about as much direction as a deaf bat.

Fantastic. So by the time they'd stumbled in to Ifrit, which he'd tucked away inside his warm and comfortable jacket somewhere to junction later, they were battered, lost, confused and distressingly low on time. So he concentrated on smacking the GF (as they were loosely called) hard a few times with his weapon of choice whilst the leather clad tutor proceeded to fire off as many ice spells as he could. They'd done it by the skin of their teeth.

Needless to say, he remained less than enthused about just how spectacular his score might end up being in the end; he wasn't expecting fireworks, not after that performance. He brooded, wondering if he could ask for make up test on paper or something, he wasn't too bad at written tests, he had the memory for the figures and numbers if nothing else. Subconsciously he thumbed the deep cut running down his forehead, a present from the jackass in the white coat who was heading to the door - whose back he scowled at before blinking.

Class was over already!

Crap...

Hurriedly picking up the two discs with the GF info stored on them, he stood up and brushed a hand through his unruly pale locks and inwardly groaned as he saw the tutor coming his way. Vincent Trepe wasn't much older than himself really, a year older if that, and equally unsure about himself at times despite his often bossy and orderly personality. Up close, when he'd taken those daft glasses off, his eyes were ruby red and slightly circled underneath with signs of tiredness.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," the older man said in that dry, wispy sort of voice he had. "You looked very pale earlier and you've been stroking your cut slightly more than usual."

"I'm fine," was about all he could bear to say, looking up sullenly at Trepe, willing him to find something fascinating somewhere else than wherever he was.

"Good, good. You can always drop by Dr Hojo just so he can take a look over you?"

"Yeah." -Over my dead body. That guy gives me the damned creeps...-

"The field mission will be starting in an hour, get your things together and meet in the main foyer. I had your field uniforms sent to all your rooms in case you missed it earlier, whilst brooding to yourself."

He gave a start, did this man miss nothing? Mentally revising his opinions on the somewhat boring, dusty tutor stood before him he grudgingly nodded, whilst having some grace to look vaguely abashed. He hated this, being told off; especially when they tried to do it when no one else was around, like it was a kindness. From someone not much older than he was, to start with, made it all the more worse. "I'll be there."

Vincent quirked a smile, it looked really wrong on that pale thin face that seemed as though it had never been outside of a library before, and with a wave of his hand, went to his adoring little group of adolescent girls who seemed to flock about him no matter what he did, or where he went. Perhaps it was how he looked, perhaps it was because Vincent had been a prodigy, making it into the elusive SeeD ranks by the time he was just fifteen. Fifteen. At that age, he'd been busy trying to figure out how to put the blame of yet another failed escapade onto... onto... ah well, he didn't remember and it probably wasn't important either way. He hoisted his books into one arm and started for the doorway, as behind him the Trepies, as they sickeningly nicknamed themselves, chorused out;

"See you downstairs, Leonhart!"

He found himself figuring that saying nothing would be a blessing in this case. So he hurried through the sliding door and into the hallway. This place where he studied, it was a strange mechanical place called Balamb Garden. Sometimes, he was almost sure that he should see a big cannon and ruined grating dripping with green ichor that was good, not bad... something good about it... but those thoughts would be cast aside as soon as they started. It was large, in the sense that it housed hundreds of students, machines, cars, a refectory, and training centre for the students, magic halls, library, even a hospital. It had tiers... rare it was that anyone descended below the ground floor, but up above were the tutoring offices for the students and teachers alike and even higher, the faculty staff and Headmaster offices. He wasn't particularly curious about it, it was a home and they kept it fairly clean so he had no reason to argue. The fact they did his laundry for him was a bo-

He rebounded, startled for the third time that morning and discovered that someone was sprawled out on the floor before him. Colour rising in his cheeks, he realised not only had he almost mown down a girl that looked like she was made of skin and bone, but that her skirt (scandalously short) was hiked up to flash her knickers at him: he noted they were pink with little blue flowers before turning his eyes away in an alarmed hurry.

"Ow," the girl said, sitting up with a rustle, "Sorry about that, you alright?"

She was asking how -he- was, when she was almost knocked out by his own body weight (and really, given that he seemed underfed compared to the majority, which would have been an awe inspiring task unto itself). Amazing. He risked a glance back and found, to his relief that she'd covered up the frilly pink undies and was grinning ruefully up at him. Her hair was dark and bobbed to her shoulders and her eyes were dark too, a dark grey and a big grin seemed etched on her face.

"Fine," he said quietly.

"Oh, hey," she got up, she really was all leg, how did she stay standing? "Has the class over there finished!"

"Yeah."

"OH no!" the girl wailed, "I was supposed to register and damn it, you know today my radio would have chosen to stop working, today of all days and they say first appearances is so important and argh! They're gonna think I'm such a slacker now, what to do, what to do! Oh well, can't be helped and oh my goodness, isn't it the mission later? I need to get down... but I'M LOST!"

He stared. Did she realise she was talking to herself?

"Uh... I'll show you to the main observation board; it shows you how to get around."

She paused, books in arms and skirt half hitched at the back where a graze was starting from her fall, hair sticking out in ten different directions and eyes large as saucers, he was surprised he couldn't see his own reflection in them. "You will? How sweet!"

He hated himself.

"I'm Yuffie Tilmitt, new transfer, from Trabia Garden! Nice to meet...you...ah?" she offered her hand as they walked along.

"Cloud Leonhart," he scowled.

He didn't shake hands.

This was the uniform?

It was ghastly in the way that only uniforms can be rigidly and structurally horrible, with lapels and a button up collar to under his chin, fleshed out black and grey with pale streaks of blue and some red, the primary Balamb colours. Blue. He peered at it a few more minutes before deciding that he didn't really mind it, after all, poor Trabia had come worst off with blinding yellow as it's accent colours.

He changed as swiftly as he could before anyone came knocking. In the corridor outside of his room, he could hear people barging around, laughing and cajoling and hurrying on towards the final exam which would be the mission to Dollet. He paused and then picked up his gunblade and case, his specialised weapon that fired explosive rounds as well as cutting. He pocketed enough for a few fair fights and then checked over his mission form again, checking the boxes and tucking that into his jacket inner pocket. As he strode for the door with the protective case under his arm for the weapon, he paused long enough to poke at his unruly hair and then sighed. Bright yellow... maybe he should dye it brown?

-Idiot- he told himself and left.

He walked down the stairs to the wide foyer slowly, seeing the back of Vincent Trepe, decked out in his official SeeD uniform, all black with blue lapels and unusual zippered trousers, the same armoured glove on his left hand but his hair had been tamed back into a very girly ponytail.

Cloud said nothing, merely eyeing him. He supposed he didn't want to be the one to tell his tutor how stupid he looked.

Trepe, on the other hand, had noticed him, and trotted over with a smile, nervous one at that, "Cloud, you look good in that, like it was made for you."

"Thanks."

"I have the details of who else will be in your team," Those spectacles came out again, perching on his aquiline nose as he perused the lists and then smiled, turning, "...Tifa Dincht."

-Oh. Joy. Someone, cut my tongue out before I say something I'll regret.-

"..." -Good. Managed to stay quiet.-

Cloud looked weakly over to his left where there was a clatter of sound. Trepe called the name again and there was a whoop of excitement, followed by an enthusiastic voice calling, "Check this out!"

It was a girl of his age, with long black hair that was gathered into a curious long ponytail, the fringe swept in several different directions. Her face was heart shaped with eyes the colour of dark wine and her grin seemed to stretch her face and give her cheeky dimples. One the left side of her face, an elaborate tattoo in a tribal style smothered from jaw to temple, giving her a vaguely exotic look. Her body was slim and supple, long legged with an unfortunate tendency towards an ample bosom that did nothing to help her preventing innate clumsiness. So it was, in her short uniform skirt, heavy boots, tight jacket with short sleeves and really dangerous looking gauntlets, that Tifa Dincht back flipped, landed and gave what had to be the 'nice guy' pose.

Cloud stared emotionlessly as she then followed it up by tripping up a garden janitor and by leaning casually on the foyer menu, set off every alarm for the library. She went red, as red as Vincent's eyes and drew her hand back with a sheepish laugh and that rather embarrassed grin was large.

-Yep. Not looking good.-

"I'm Tifa. Wow, you're like, Cloud Leonhart... shake my hand, man!" She offered her hand, Cloud briefly thankful she wasn't close enough to trip and render him unable to reproduce ever.

He didn't shake hands.

Ever.

Tifa paused and then nervously brought her hand back, scrubbing it down on her skirt, "And who's the third?"

Trepe, who had been awfully silent during this exchange (if it could even be called that) eyed his flip board and then sighed, "Zack Almasy, he's your team leader."

"What!" Tifa cried, eyes cutting with a glare to where Zack was striding over with his short spiked hair and that lazy, confident grin.

Cloud noted absently that Zack clearly felt the rules about clothing were not to apply to him. Idiot.

"That's right," Almasy crowed, "I'm your team leader. Got that, Chicken-wuss Dincht?"

"I've got something for you," she retorted hotly, holding up her fist as Zack threw back his head and laughed.

-Yes. Long day... long, long, long day ahead of me...-

He'd gone up on deck if only to escape that tension in the room, not because he was ordered to.

Vincent and Jessie had watched in despair as Almasy and Dincht had almost come to blows, between cries of chicken-wuss and other useful little insults that made Tifa look as though steam should be pouring from her ears. It was when Almasy had started bringing their tutors into the little fracas that Cloud had decided he'd go feel seasick on the deck instead and stoically pretend he was trying to decipher this really useless map they'd given him. Like it mattered, he could see Dollet.

Oh, he could see it.

Pretty close then.

There was a sudden yell from below and he turned as another ship close by leapfrogged over a rock formation, spraying him with bits of sand and sea spray from where it had bellied back into the ocean. Bits of sand was now in his hair as all sound died out from below and with caution he crept closer to see that Jessie and Vincent had finally been forced to separate the two loudmouthed idiots. He sighed and went below decks to inspire them with the good news, and reassure his queasy stomach that they'd set foot on land soon enough...

Up to now, it had gone pretty damn well.

They'd filed from the ship after it had crashed (parked, as they tried to smooth over their poor piloting) onto the beach and from there, listened intently to what the tutors had advised. Not willing to cough up a GF to help Almasy, he instead gave Ifrit to Tifa, knowing it would boost her physical strength, something seriously required for a fist fighter. She'd fumbled a few times, but they'd eventually slotted the junction into place.

Then they'd hurried into town, the brash Almasy scurrying ahead with that silly white coat flaring and as a team (if three people being forced to work together could be loosely called that) cleared the Galbadian soldiers from the town streets. Then...

...well. Then they waited.

A dog took a liking to Zack, but the dark haired warrior didn't take a liking back and after trying to chase it off, the bell in the background had struck loudly, winding out the notes into the clarity that was the evening air. Then, one by one, as they all hid and watched, the Galbadian soldiers poured from a side street and started sneaking their way up a small mountain to a strange technical rig that overlooked the land scape.

So, bright sparks, what do we do?

No, we don't report it back.

We go AFTER it! YAY!

...really, he had to start being more authorial than saying 'whatever' when someone suggested a route of action.

So they'd gone after the soldiers up the mountain path where they watched a man get eaten by a massive snake thing. After watching it just wolf him down like he was some kind of hot dog in the Balamb canteen, they'd split the snake seven ways from Sunday and carried on, all of them trying to swallow their lunches for the second time that day. Further up the mountain, they'd encountered Soldiers going into the strange dish shaped structure and watched for a while.

It was there Zack had proclaimed his 'romantic dream' and threatened to tell him all about it sometime. Joys.

And that's how things stood now. Until then...

"HEY!"

He cringed and bent his head, as Tifa paused from growling and lifted a hand to her head, peering up against the sunshine. "Who's'at?" she said loudly.

"I'm fr- AH!"

-Unbelievable. -

The girl, he knew it was that Yuffie Tilmitt without even looking around, came crashing down the side of the mountain behind them to land in a heap at their feet, legs akimbo and skirt no doubt, up around her ears. He didn't look, listening as both girls giggled and the scraping sound of her getting to her feet. Instead he focused on the grim scenery, the half broken down and derelict tower and the rough mountain shrubbery.

"Sorry, where is the leader of your team?"

Tifa glanced at him and he wearily pointed at the far off doors where Zack's white coat was glimpsed, fluttering into. Yuffie's face fell about two inches and she sighed, bending over dramatically and clutching at her head. "Uh," Tifa said nervously, brushing down her own skirt.

"No, no, no - messing up! Wait, Captain, wait!"

...and then she flung herself off this cliff to the ground below. Cloud watched. He wasn't sure he was capable of much else that would help. Tifa shrieked, with good reason, the girl tumbled over her self and landed face down in the dirt. It was only when she moved slowly to her feet with a dazed stagger that either of them dared to breathe again. Then she waved for them come after her.

Tifa stepped back from the ledge. "I am not suicidal."

"Me neither, let's walk around..."

So they took the long way around, a strange curving path that took them five minutes to jog around and at the other end, the girl was hopping from foot to foot in agitation and a show lacking in patience. When they got close enough, she introduced herself again to Tifa.

Unfortunately, the news she had was for the Captain only... so as before, they were dragged with the little bundle of sugar fuelled -delight- and upwards.

Cloud made a note that so far, his actual team had comprised of hot heads and idiots as the lift whirred up, bringing them to the heights where strange sounds of fighting echoed. Tifa, she wasn't that bad, if klutzy as all hell and a little too quick tempered. Yuffie however seemed the instantly excitable and energetic sort, the kind which made his teeth set themselves on edge without realising it. But she meant well and her own severe lack of self preservation made him seriously stop and think about her own personal safety as a future SeeD if she made it through. No, better not think about it. The nickname "Yuffie 'Suicidal Mission' Tilmitt" kept flashing in his mind.

The lift clunked and whirred to a stop, the flashing of the levels faded into the pale light of twilight that was slowly settling over the town and the soldiers that Zack was standing over, sword pointed at their inert forms. Cloud frowned.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but I won't tolerate Galbadian scum," Zack mouthed off.

"Captain, Captain!"

Yuffie forced her way to the front and Zack lowered his own gunblade, peering at the scrawny girl with some surprise. Cloud sympathised, she acted so young that it was hard to believe she was of a similar level to them. "Yeah?"

"I have new orders; assemble on the beach at 18:00."

"18:00?" Tifa tilted her head, "Uh, what time is it now?"

"It's, 17:30... half an hour, guys!" Yuffie chirped, tucking hands behind her back.

"An half hour? Not enough..." Zack roughly brushed past them and to the lift. "Right then team, assemble at the beach!" And he thumbed the button, vanishing down on the lift.

Tifa clopped over the metal grate that allowed them to -see- under them (something he was trying very hard not to do) and shouted over the edge down to Zack, "You selfish bastard!"

Cloud raised his eyes instead, peering through the failing light at the dish which had opened above them during their slow lift ride to the top. It was large, possibly so massive a good enough gust of wind on the main face would tear the whole tower from the foundations in an uprooting manoeuvre. There was a strange prong like thing coming from the middle of it... what was it?

He didn't have too much time to mull it over, as Tifa quickly grabbed the galbadian reports scattered everywhere and he scooped up a GF that was left to the side of some other body. Then as the lift returned they all piled onto it, with not a single wisp of their notorious coward of a leader...

The fallen soldier crawled his way to the panel he'd been working on now those damned kids were gone.

Leaning over it, with the last of his feeble strength, he tapped in some codes and cackled. "Get them!" he shouted... as something heavy and spider like dropped like a stone from the sky...

This wasn't in the mission description.

Tifa stumbled for what had to be the tenth time and Yuffie was sprinting ahead of them with all of her youthful energy and exuberance, shouting to people orders as they screamed past. He cursed himself for choosing such a heavy damned weapon and risked a peek behind him at the monster which lumbered down after him still, all four legs pumping and spiking the cobbles, buckling them up with vicious force. Yes. A mechanical spider. His week was complete. A failed cavern test, a few inane galbadians, meeting his 'team', being called sweet, a cut on his face and now this. Complete.

So it was he knew, that when he tripped and completed a graceful arc in the downfall to the sand from the street, that this was one of those days. One of those days where they'd end up scraping him from the asphalt and putting him in a bucket, taking him home and giving him one of those closed casket funerals because basically, his smile was in seven pieces.

He watched the sand rush up to meet him.

And heard the clunk of the spider robot, it all seemed so familiar.

-It doesn't have a scorpion tail!

Wait...why should...

...oh shit, bit TOO close... can't... LEGS. MOVE

He commanded. He willed.

In defence of the legs, they did their best but it wasn't cutting the mustard - the spider soldiered on after him and then...

...he pulled a Dincht.

His foot snagged a small rock that was stuck from the dirt and before he knew it, he was tripping face first in true Yuffie style, to his face, where it would kiss the dirt. Oh. Shit.

bambambambambambam

He looked up after several moments of waiting for his crushing, agonised final moments and stared at the ship ahead where Vincent whirled the gun tower around and grinned. Then he got to his feet and ran like a demon possessed, like he had eaten something off and the only bathroom in existence was on that damned ship - he ran like the wind. And on getting inside, turned to see the last motions of the spider robot struggle, squish and fail. Then stop.

And inside, as Cloud slumped breathlessly on the docking bay wall, he realised that it was time to change his pants.

- Holy... shit.

That was close... what was this odd feeling? ...I feel like I've known my team-mates for years... but never seen a single one up close before. What is that?

-Tifa flashed her smile at him, her eyes bright and raised her hand.

"Alright, we can do it, right? We'll do it together! Let's shake heaven. Let's make history and save the world!"

But she didn't once mention the girl in the water, despite the aches in their hearts. Because their wounds were different... because his was no less deep, just differently cut... he didn't know how to say what he should say, so instead, he said nothing at all.

-"What are you going to do, when you get there?"

He was smiling gently, haloed by sunshine, but he knew Zack anywhere by that cocky, confident air he had about his, that spiked back black hair. He wore blue. He liked blue...

He didn't know, he just knew he was escaping. What memories? Who...was he again?

-The girl fell over and pretended like she'd meant to do it.

He laughed but she got up and brandished her large shuriken, energetic, bright and with a cry of, "Cough up your materia old guys!" and he was laughing hard.

How fun!

-...the water... glimmer...

...shimmer... her smile... she went... she went... the water...

He sat up, gasping for breath.

That dream again, it haunted him... but the ship bunk was quiet but for the snores of Zack. So he lay down again and in the cold after sweat, pretended he wasn't frightened. But he was.

...and all he could do was breathe, badly, shortly... in... out... in...