The Turk Called Cloudia

AN: /blah/ = thoughts/inner monologue

*blah* = PHS conversation

Three – Age 16

"Listen up cadets. Today you will all be evaluated. You will be called up individually and leave the room." Dugery announced as he glared at them. "As you hear your name, leave the room and follow all instructions."

Cloudia sighed as she leant back in her chair. /I wonder how they are going to choose who goes up?/ She glanced around and grinned as she relaxed. /So the evaluators are picking the panicking ones first... good strategy./

"Oi! Spiky!" Zack hissed in her ear.

"What?" She snapped back at him.

"Your friend wants to talk again."

Genesis grinned. "So what did you end up making? Those were rather enormous furs."

"Two coats, a pair of trews and a skirt. I figured I could wear them if I went somewhere cold."

"A skirt?" Genesis laughed. "Why would you make a skirt of all things?"

"I got used to making clothes for my mother when she became ill. I guess I just forgot about her death." Cloudia hissed at him. "Besides I can always sell it."

Genesis flinched at her expression. "Hey I'm sorry ok. I just thought it might have been for someone."

She just glared at him for a few moments before relenting. "One of the jackets and the trews are for you." At his confusion she continued. "You said that after the next set of evaluations you were being sent up north. You also said you hated being cold."

"Strife, Cloud."

Genesis sat dumbfounded as she left the room. He looked over at Zack. "He did that for me? But we only knew each other for four days. And he remembered things about me that even Angeal forgets at times."

Zack sighed. "How's Angeal been, anyway?"

"He's been depressed, Zack. Why the hell did you do that to him?" Genesis asked softly. "You should go and see him. He truly misses you."

Angeal sighed as he stared at the photos on his desk. There were not that many, only four. One of him and Genesis as kids, one of him, Sephiroth and Genesis after the Wutai War, another of him and Zack after Zack had become a SOLDIER Third Class, and the last was of him and the blonde girl from Nibelheim, which had been taken just before he left to return to Midgar.

"Excuse me, sir, you have a rather insistent visitor."

He looked up to see a sheepish Zack leaning on the doorframe, with an annoyed secretary standing behind him glaring.

"It's alright, I was kind of expecting him." Angeal smiled at her only to have her sneer at him. "Damn, so we're gonna need another secretary again..."

Zack frowned. "How many have there been?"

"Ten... since you left..."

Cloudia frowned as she aimed the shotgun the evaluator had given her. It was lighter than what she was used too. After she had fired the shots she had been assigned, the evaluator just shook his head and told her to move on to the next room.

It was the same for all of the physical courses. Either the weapon was different to what she was used or the evaluator had already decided against her based on her physique. The theory evaluations were different and she managed to pass those fairly easily.

The medical evaluation was simple. They were asked about where they grew up, whether they had gone without food for extended periods, any illnesses as children and what their family was like. Then they had prepared a syringe with a low dosage of Mako and injected it into her arm.

Cloudia sighed as she sat in her cubicle waiting to be released. /That was anticlimactic... I wonder how I transfer to the Turk program from here?/ She leant back with a groan.

She rubbed at her arm in frustration as the pain evolved from simply being an annoyance to outright pain. /Damn it. What the hell did they do to this stuff? I am fairly sure it should not burn like this./

After ten minutes the burning stopped abruptly, leaving her strangely bereft. She blinked as she stared down at her arm in shock. Shortly after that the nurse came back and told her that she was free to leave now.

Lazard Deusericus ran his eyes over the evaluation he had been given. "So Strife is obviously not ready to pass. Why bring his file to me?" He asked Genesis. "Well?"

"He wants to be a Turk, not a SOLDIER. Forward it to them." Genesis grinned as he waved his copy of Loveless in the air.

"Still doesn't explain why you want to help this kid achieve his dreams." Lazard said with a smirk. "Why Genesis?"

"Because he's a friend, and I want him to achieve his dream." Genesis looked away. "Besides, I don't think he has anywhere else to go if he gets kicked out of Shinra."

Lazard stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Cloud said that he buried his mother before heading to Midgar."

"So how many SOLDIER rejects are we getting this time?" Veld Leonhart asked as he watched Tseng Yue sort through files at his desk. "And were there any standouts?"

Tseng just nodded to a pile of folders sitting beside him on the desk. "Those are the ones that were recommended by the evaluators."

Veld nodded and picked up the small pile of folders.

"Oh and sir, Director Deusericus is in your office. He insisted on waiting." Tseng smirked as Veld groaned. "It seems as if there is another person recommending a recruit for us."

Veld just glared at Tseng before walking into his office. Tseng grinned as he sorted more of the files. /I wonder if any of them are worth training.../

Cloudia sighed as she flopped onto her bed. /Why was it so hard for me to complete the assessments? But no I had to go and fail everything no matter how easy they were./ She rolled over and stared at the wall. /Damn it, why did I even bother to try.../ She shut her eyes unaware of Zack opening the door behind her.

Zack frowned as he saw the defeated lump that was his student. /So he didn't pass so easily, it's not the end of the world./ He walked in only to receive a glare from the blonde in question. "You know it's not the end of the world that you scored bad on the evaluations. You can still become a SOLDIER..."

"It is not that, Zack. I do not care about being in the SOLDIER program, I wanted to become a Turk." Cloudia said without turning to face him. "I am fairly sure that this is going to be my last night here."

Zack sighed as he turned away. "I'll see you in the morning Spiky."

"So we will have eight people taking part in the evaluation tomorrow. Is there anything else we need to discuss?" Veld said as he looked around the table at the assembled Turks.

"The notes have been sent out and now all we need to do is wait." Tseng said as he fiddled with the papers in front of him. "You all know what you need to do tomorrow, correct?"

The Turks all nodded as they stood to leave the room.

"Yeah, we need to stop them before they get to the tower..."

AN: How do you like it so far? Review with ideas or criticisms I don't mind either way. (^_^) There is a poll on my profile page with a question for this fic, the person with the most votes by the time i post the next chapter... (or two weeks... which ever happens first) will be picked. And the most creative suggestion/s for how each of the choices discover her true identity/ gender I will try to work into the story somehow or write a one short about them... (^_^)