The next day, when Cloud returned from his rounds outside Costa del Sol, he was surprised to see a man in a touristy beach shirt with swaying palm trees and falling coconuts in front of his villa, apparently waiting for him. Upon closer inspection, he realised it was Reeve. He stared at him for a while, trying to find the right words to say.

Thankfully for him, Reeve spoke up first. "There you are," he said. "I was wondering if I might have to turn into a lobster first, before you finally show up."

"Sora..." Cloud began, but was stopped short by said Sora suddenly sliding into the porch from across the bridge. "...was out doing deliveries. Right."

"Heya Cloud, Mr. Tuesti!" Sora greeted as he kicked his skateboard up into the air and grabbed it. "Riku's still getting all the groceries. He should be back soon. What's up?"

"Something certainly is up, but it may not exactly be very appropriate to discuss this matter while we're standing out in the open and in every passer-by's earshot," commented Reeve, and Cloud could tell he was trying to keep his tone as bland as possible.

"You have something I want, I take it?" Cloud was already unlocking the door and ushering Reeve and Sora inside. "Sora, go to your room," Cloud instructed the boy, who was goggling at the both of them.

"It's all right, Cloud, he can watch it as well," Reeve shrugged. "After all, I doubt my people can keep it under wraps for much longer than a day or two at most."

"What's... going on?" asked Sora, very carefully. They had all entered the sitting room by now, where Reeve whipped out a mobile device and set it on the table.

"This is what's going on," said Reeve. He pressed a button on the device, and it began to project a video onto the walls of the room.

It was a fuzzy, monochrome video of Midgar, likely taken from one of the WRO's monitoring drones that had been flying over the area. It looked as destroyed as it had been when Meteor left it in shambles, so Cloud failed to see what was so important about the video to warrant Reeve's attention. Then the camera shifted angles, and it was now facing the sky above Midgar.

Nothing happened for a while. Then a splotch of darkness suddenly appeared in the clear sky. Cloud frowned and leaned forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of it again. He did. The darkness reappeared, but in a different place. It stayed longer this time. Something dropped out of it. Then the darkness blinked and flickered out of sight as suddenly as it had appeared.

Cloud turned to look at Reeve, who, after turning the mobile device off, looked up at his friend as well. "Is this the strange thing in the sky you were looking for?" asked Reeve.

"I'm not sure," Cloud resisted the urge to look at Sora right now, "but what was it, anyway?"

"My men are still checking," Reeve sighed. "For now, I can only hope it's nothing dangerous."

The door to the sitting room burst open. It was Riku, and he was holding a copy of the local papers. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself when he noticed all the occupants of the room. "Have any of you read today's papers yet?" he eventually asked, neutrally.

Sora, who had not spoken a word since the start of the video, blurted out, "Yeah, actually! And Reeve was just showing us a video of that picture!"

"Picture?" Reeve frowned. "Costa del Sol has a local newspaper?"

"Just started about a month ago," Cloud furnished. He held a hand out to Riku. "Let me see that picture."

Riku handed the papers over without a word, and Cloud spread it out on the table so that it was within everyone's view.

It was a picture of the dark spot they had just seen in the Midgar video. Although blurry, it was nevertheless of a much clearer quality than the drone video Reeve had showed them. It looked even more menacing up close. Cloud could see that the dark spot was shaped like a vortex. Skimming through the article, he found out that it was a picture taken by some backpackers who were climbing the mountains overlooking Midgar. The picture had also, apparently, been shared all around the world since this morning.

"There goes my grand scheme to cover this up, I suppose," Reeve chuckled, not sounding displeased in the least.

"Something dropped out of that vortex in the video, didn't it?" asked Cloud. "Did your men manage to find out what it was?"

"They're on it."

"What video?" asked Riku abruptly.

Reeve looked at the boy for a quick second, then wordlessly played the video onto the wall again.

"The quality is too poor to see clearly," Reeve said, as all of them watched the video again, "but we're trying to collect the pictures people are sharing amongst themselves to see if we can piece something together."

"Keep me updated," said Cloud, his eyes affixed on the video. He was pretty sure this wasn't the exact thing the boys were looking for, since it didn't resemble a keyhole in the slightest. Yet he couldn't shake off the feeling that it had something to do with it.

"Of course," Reeve muttered, switching the device off and keeping it, after the video had finished playing. "This isn't just your problem anymore, Cloud."

"You think it may be a precursor to something bigger?"

"I don't think, Cloud, I know. Call it a gut instinct of a seasoned crisis survivor, if you will."

ooxxooxxoo

When Cloud returned to the sitting room from seeing Reeve out of the door, he saw that the boys were still poring over the picture on the newspaper.

"It looks like it," Sora was saying, "but I can't tell for sure."

"Looks like what?" Cloud took the opportunity to announce his presence.

The boys looked up. "It looks like what happens just before a Heartless appears," Sora was the first to reply.

"And it kind of looks like a Door to Darkness too," Riku added.

Cloud had heard them say those phrases not a few times during their narrative, all linked to things that were not so good. "So it has something to do with the keyhole you're looking for?"

"I really don't know..." Sora was frowning - a rare occurrence in itself. "I have to see it myself first, but... I have a feeling... it's related."

In his mind, Cloud was evaluating all possible methods he could use to bring the boys to Midgar without anyone (especially not Reeve) knowing.

He decided that it would probably be faster and less painful to just ask Reeve to bring them all there.

The problem was, though, if the hole would reappear in the Midgar sky. If it didn't, they would have wasted a trip and he would now owe Reeve a big favour. He wasn't sure if he wanted to owe the man any favours, considering the organisation he was currently running.

"You know, that thing that fell out of the hole? It kinda looked like a gummi block," Sora's remark drew Cloud out of his thoughts and back into reality.

"Hmm..." Riku was considering that. "I guess you may be right..."

Cloud sort of remembered what a gummi block was. It was that thing they used to build ships that could traverse worlds. It became available when barriers between worlds were torn down by Heartlesses, or something like that. "Does that mean the barrier to our world has been torn down?" Cloud asked.

Sora looked up at that. "I don't know! Gummi blocks don't usually appear like that. This is all very strange."

"We don't know for sure if that's really a gummi block yet," Riku reminded the both of them.

"Well, I don't think it was a Heartless, at least."

"That, I do agree."

Cloud folded his arms across his chest and thought about it. "There's nothing else for today, so go ahead and do what you want," he eventually told them. "At any rate, I think we'll have more information tomorrow, whether we like it or not."

It turned out that Cloud was right, because Reeve showed up the next day in the morning, still dressed in his vacation clothes and with a margarita in hand this time.

"Are you still on vacation?" asked Cloud dubiously.

"Of course I am," Reeve scoffed. He stirred his margarita and continued, "Well, we've recovered that thing that fell from the hole in the sky. Our scientists have been looking at it, but it's completely out of their league at the moment."

The two of them had been walking towards the sitting room as they talked, when Sora's head popped out of the window to the side garden. "Cloud! We were just wondering... oh. Hi Mr. Tuesti," he waved at the guest, who waved back.

"Yes, Sora?" Cloud sighed, wondering what new caravan upgrade they were going to wax lyrical about this time. The previous one involved some very badly applied laws of aerodynamics. Cloud wasn't sure if he could ever look at chicken wings the same way again.

"Um... so anyway... we were wondering if we could borrow some wine...?"

"Wine?" Cloud thought he might have heard wrongly. "You need wine? For the caravan?"

"Not... really..." Sora glanced to a side, where Riku probably was standing. They seemingly communicated telepathically for a few seconds. Then Sora turned back to look at Cloud. "It's for a private project of ours." The sentence ended with the biggest grin Sora could flash.

Cloud knew at once something else was up. "You guys are underaged."

"Yeah..." Sora's face fell. "That's why we're asking for your permission!"

"No."

"Oh, come on!" Sora was about to climb into the house via the window. "We're not planning anything stupid or dangerous, I swear!"

"Still, no," Cloud repeated.

Sora was about to protest again when Reeve interrupted. "Are you going to drink this alcohol you're asking for, young man?" he directed his question to Sora, who stared at him with his mouth open for a second before shaking his head. "Very well," the man walked over and handed the boy his glass of margarita. "It has a little bit of lemon and lime in it, but it's mostly alcohol, really," he smiled knowingly at the boy. "Don't worry, I haven't touched it yet!"

"Wow, Mr. Tuesti, you're the best!" Sora exclaimed. "Thanks, Cloud!" he grinned at his employer, just for good measure, and disappeared back into the side garden.

"Reeve!" Cloud finally found an opening to speak out. "They're not old enough to be handling alcohol!"

"They said they're not going to drink it," Reeve waved Cloud's objection aside. "Now, about that thing that fell from the hole in the sky..."

"You'd better not let me catch you stumbling into the house drunk!" Cloud ignored Reeve in favour of shouting out of the window, to which Sora and Riku shouted something that sounded like an agreement back.

When Cloud and Reeve finally made it to the sitting room, Reeve took the opportunity to burst out laughing in the privacy of the room. "One would've thought you've changed occupations, Cloud," Reeve managed, between polite guffaws. "When had your delivery service morphed into a full-time daycare centre?"

"It has not," retorted Cloud, though in retrospect he did agree that he sounded somewhat like an agitated kindergarten teacher. Dealing with Sora on a daily basis did that to you. "What were you going to say about that thing that fell from the sky again?"

Reeve cleared his throat. "It appears to be a block of rubber at first glance. Highly-elastic, smooth texture, lightweight, and easily malleable. The scientists are conducting further experiments on it, to see if they can duplicate its properties. It is like nothing we have ever seen before, and may come in very handy for our ultimate objective."

"Doesn't seem like it's anything dangerous to me, then," Cloud remarked.

"It doesn't seem to be anything dangerous by itself, yes, but what I fear is the implications it comes with." A shadow fell over Reeve's eyes. "It's like nothing we have ever seen before, Cloud. Nothing native to this planet. What do you think that means? What do you think that darkness in the sky that it fell from represents?"

Cloud looked at Reeve, trying to read the man from his demeanour. "You're afraid of another crisis from the sky."

Reeve shook his head. "It's not another 'crisis' I'm worried about, Cloud, but the 'entity' who may be behind it."

"You have an idea?"

"That is just the thing," Reeve sighed. "I haven't the slightest clue who it could be."

Cloud tried to consider things from Reeve's point of view. "Why are you so sure someone's behind it? For all we know, it could be just a natural phenomenon."

"That no one has made records of in a few thousand years?" Reeve's question was rhetorical. "I hardly think that's possible, although I wouldn't say it's improbable. However, all told, I'm rather fond of aiming for the worst case scenario nowadays. And I'm getting quite used to it, if I do say so myself."

"Let's say," Cloud gestured, "let's say someone is really behind this, then. What should we do, then?"

"We wait," Reeve slumped and sank slightly into his seat. "Because there's always a point to an action. There'll be a message, a demand, a warning - something will happen. Until then, our hands are tied."

Cloud hesitated to ask his next question, but eventually did. "And what if nothing comes?"

Reeve smiled wistfully. "We'll talk about it then," was all he would say.

"Well," Cloud shrugged, "this is just my opinion, but I think... This isn't as serious as you're making it out to be. I know it's your job to deal with such things, but you know... gut instinct of a crisis survivor?"

The older man looked long and hard at his friend. "Interestingly, I do... feel that way, too. Like this isn't a problem that threatens the very well-being of the planet on a global scale. And I find it eerily strange to be thinking in this manner. That's probably part of why I'm trying so hard to figure out if something - anything - is going to happen."

Cloud was about to say something, when he heard rapidly approaching footsteps. They were so loud, even Reeve noticed after a while.

"And tea is served!" Sora burst into the room announcing. He was balancing a tea set on a tray, which he quickly set down on the table between the couches. It was a miracle he hadn't broken anything in his bouncing. Behind him, Riku walked in normally and put down another tray with a cover. He glanced at Cloud and Reeve, then wordlessly lifted the cover.

"Well, well!" Reeve was the first to react, clapping his hands together. "That cake looks absolutely delicious! May I?" he asked.

Cloud was still unsure of what was happening. "What?" was all he could say at the moment.

"Cos you know, you're always making the food for us," Sora explained excitedly, "so we were thinking we should be doing something, really, since we're all staying in the same house. And yeah, we wanted to say thank you for taking us in, basically," he finished with a grin.

Riku had handed Reeve a spoon in the meantime, and the man was already tasting the cake. "So that's what you needed the alcohol for!" he remarked.

"I make the food because the both of you can only make sandwiches," Cloud interjected, belatedly. He looked at the cake. It looked like a cake. He scooped off a corner and ate it. It tasted like a cake. With generous sprinkles of margarita. "Thanks," he mumbled under his breath. "I appreciate the gesture."

Sora and Riku exchanged looks of happy approval between themselves. "Okay, that's all for us!" Sora waved. "Keep doing whatever it was you were doing before we interrupted!"

Without waiting for a reply, he dashed out of the room.

"Sorry, we were working on the caravan actually, when he suddenly got that cake idea," Riku ruefully apologised. He bowed slightly and made his exit as well, in a quieter manner.

"I like those boys," said Reeve immediately upon the closing of the door. "Where can I find more of them?"

Cloud wanted to sigh, but a thought surfaced in his mind that stopped him from doing it. This would be the perfect opportunity to insinuate the boys into Reeve's future plans. He decided to try. "You don't need new employees."

"On the contrary, I'm always looking for new staff who can lend a hand."

"Okay, you don't need to poach my new employees."

"Such a change of stance," Reeve chuckled. "I remember that big fight you had with Denzel when you refused to bring him along to Costa del Sol."

Trust Reeve to open up such an old wound. "He is barely 12 years old, Reeve."

"Of course, of course, but you know what I mean," the man was looking positively self-satisfied. "Don't worry, I'm not eyeing your new boys. In fact, I am of the opinion that they should stay with you."

Cloud was slightly curious about that. "I'm sure they'll have more a career path if they did go with you, though," he said, and meant it. Even if they were from another world, it didn't mean they couldn't give life here their best shot in the meantime, did it?

"Perhaps," Reeve agreed, "but they'll be happier here." He finished sipping his cup of tea, set it down, and stood up. "I'm afraid I must go, for my vacation still awaits. I'll be checking in again, once I have new information. Thank you for the tea and the dessert."

Cloud saw Reeve out, then returned to the sitting room to tidy things up. He smiled slightly at the sight of the half-eaten cake. Sora did have the tendency to randomly present him with small gifts (mostly candy or ice-cream he couldn't finish by himself), but this one really took the figurative cake. He put the leftovers into the fridge, washed the tea set, and was preparing to return to the basement when he heard Reeve's voice, drifting in from the window to the side garden.

He groaned.

Sticking his head out of the window, he saw that it was indeed Reeve, and he was inspecting the caravan as Sora prattled on about all its unnecessary additions and accessories. Riku stood off to a side, staring at them with a look of fond exasperation on his face. Needless to say, it was he who noticed Cloud first. He glanced upwards, then shook his head slightly while indicating at Sora and Reeve's general direction.

"I thought your vacation was waiting for you, Reeve?" Cloud finally opened his mouth to ask.

Both Sora and Reeve stopped in the middle of their conversation and looked up at the window where Cloud was standing by. "That's the thing about vacations, my friend! They have the nasty habit of changing plans when you least expect it."

"Mr. Tuesti is really good with such things, apparently!" Sora added cheerily. "He makes robots or something, in his spare time."

"You mean, all the time," Cloud mumbled under his breath. "I take it as your vacation has officially moved into my villa as of now?"

Reeve laughed heartily. "Well, if you're offering..."

"Reeve, you know this mansion is always open to you. All of you."

"Of course we do," Reeve smiled up at his friend. "We also happen to know that you value your privacy. And of course, that you're running a business here after all."

"Whatever you say," Cloud waved it aside. "Get one of the boys to lend you their keys for the time being. And now I really need to go back to work."

The boys and Reeve waved Cloud goodbye, and as he trotted back down to the basement, he couldn't help but wonder how his life had taken such a sudden turn in the mere span of a few weeks.

The most sudden turn was probably that he wasn't unhappy about it at all.

ooxxooxxoo

Having Reeve around turned out to be a blessing in disguise, Cloud figured, as he could now leave Costa del Sol to go as far as Gongaga to deliver some very, very late parcels. The journey to and fro would take at least two days as he would be visiting some other towns in the meantime, and he wasn't sure he trusted the boys to not destroy the villa while he was gone yet. That was where Reeve came in.

"You want me to babysit?" Reeve sounded amused, when Cloud asked him to look after the house (and its inhabitants) while he was out. "I'm on vacation, you know?"

Cloud gave him the best you-must-kidding-me glare he could manage. Then he put on his goggles, turned Fenrir's engine on, and sped away into the sunset.

As he went about his business, Reeve kept him updated on the status in Costa del Sol via phone messages. The first one went something like this:

Dear Cloud, what have you done to these poor boys? They were positively spooked when I told them you had gone off by yourself to deliver parcels to Gongaga. They were so sure you were going to be gobbled up by dangerous monsters. I had to fight to keep my face poker. That was good training. Anyway, I have managed to convince them that you knew your way around, since you've been doing this for years, after all. Is it just me, or are they under the impression that you cannot fight at all?

The lengthy message ended there. Cloud raised his eyebrows, mostly to himself. Did he never mention anything about his sideline to the boys?

Oh yeah, he never did.

The day passed in a whirl and he forgot to reply Reeve. The next message came.

No, it's not just me. They really don't think you can defend yourself.

Cloud had no idea what to reply to that, so he didn't.

Are you keeping this a secret on purpose? Not that I blame you, but it's so heartrending to see them worry about you like that. :)

Of course, Cloud knew by the smiley face at the end that Reeve was joking. He found some time in between driving from place to place to reply. I'm not doing it on purpose. It's just not something that comes up in normal conversation.

Some time later, when Cloud was alone with his thoughts at night, it got him thinking about how that particular misunderstanding could have ever happened. After Reeve had formed WRO, he disclosed as much information about the Meteor tragedy without revealing any of their participations, besides the fact that some people had gone in there to stop Sephiroth. Only a handful of people actually knew about Cloud and company's sojourn to the Northern Crater. In the eyes of the world, the Meteor affair was something that was gone and done. It was no surprise that the boys had never come across his name or adventures when doing their homework about this world.

And it occurred to him that they had never really seen his sword before. His room in the basement was off-limits to them, as was the interconnected garage in the backyard. Those were the two places he usually took the sword to, although he kept it in Fenrir virtually all the time nowadays.

No wonder they had been so adamant about those monsters in North Corel.

Though Cloud now knew the current misunderstanding was almost entirely his fault, he really couldn't bring himself to care.

The next day, as he was preparing to return to Costa del Sol, Reeve sent him a message again.

Drop by Cosmo Canyon on your way back. Nanaki is back and may have something you need.

Which meant Nanaki had information about the dark spot in the sky. Not surprising, considering the giant observatory in Bugenhagen's house. The detour to Cosmo Canyon took less than the better half of a day. He had barely secured Fenrir in a safe lot that the townspeople had reserved specially for him when the phone notified him he had a few new messages.

The first one was from Reeve. I find it appalling that you have yet to bestow mobile phones upon your two employees. How on the planet can they contact you like that? I have taken it upon myself to give them each a set of the latest model on the market. I have left the invoice on your desk in the basement. And of course, I gave them your number. By the way, just tell Nanaki you're collecting something for me, and he won't pry. That is, if you don't want him to know you somehow have an interest in that hole in the sky.

What Cloud wanted to do was to groan. He looked at the other messages.

Hi cloud are you safe? This is sora by the way read the first one.

Reeve gave us new phones, and this is my number, for your reference. -Riku read the other.

The final one read, And do something about that incorrigible unresponsiveness of yours, please. It was from Reeve.

So for the new few minutes, Cloud painstakedly typed out brief replies to his two new employees and one old comrade.

I'm fine, don't worry.

Thanks.

Yes, Mr. Tuesti.

Then he went to look for Nanaki. Finally.

He found him in the planetarium, observing the movements of the stars around the planet. Nanaki was quick to notice Cloud, and he bounded over to his old friend happily. "Hello, Cloud!" The lion-like beast greeted. "I wasn't expecting you for another month or so. Have you got a delivery for me?"

Cloud shook his head. "I'm here because Reeve told me to collect something from you."

"Oh," Nanaki's ears flopped slightly, making Cloud feel slightly guilty that he hadn't brought anything for his friend. The ears perked up after a short while, though, and Nanaki turned to walk into the archive room. "I was hoping he could come see for himself, but I guess the backup video will have to do."

Cloud followed him. "What is it, exactly?" he couldn't help but ask.

Nanaki went to a table, and held a slim package in between his mouth. After Cloud retrieved it, Nanaki answered him, saying, "It's a video file of the recordings we've been making with the main and minor telescopes around Cosmo Canyon. I asked the people in the Canyon to see to it after I noticed something in the sky during my travels, and I've just gotten back to... actually, I think you should probably see the real thing too," Nanaki walked over to the apparatus that would lift them up closer to the planetarium roof. "Come on!"

Cloud stepped into the area as well, still holding onto the package. Nanaki tripped the mechanism that would lift them upward. In a matter of a few seconds, they were staring at the simulation of the planet and the stars around it in close proximity.

"Watch," Nanaki said, as he pressed a button, and the simulation zoomed in to the planet they were on. Closer and closer they went, until they were hovering just above the globe.

"What are you trying to show me?" asked Cloud.

Nanaki didn't reply. Instead, he turned the planet around, until they were standing on top of Midgar.

Then Cloud saw it.

The dark patch in the sky, appearing in the exact same way it had in the video Reeve had showed him.

"This is a simulated playback of what happened on that day," Nanaki informed him, before he could ask. "I guess you should know about this, since it was all over the news?" he asked. Cloud nodded. "What many people didn't know, however," Nanaki turned the globe and now they were on top of the Ancient Forest, "was that there were a few other places where it happened as well." Even as he spoke, a dark hole opened up in the sky above the Ancient Forest, flickered for a while, then disappeared.

For a while, Nanaki showed him all the other locations where the dark holes appeared - Bone Village, south of the Wutai continent, Mideel, Cactus Island, and some area above the ocean. All of them eventually disappeared, except the one above the Cactus Island.

"That one's still there, by the way," Nanaki informed.

Cloud was already considering if he could go to Cactus Island on Fenrir right after this. Unfortunately, Fenrir didn't swim very well. "Did anything drop out of any of the holes?" he asked.

"Only the one in Midgar."

"Hmm... and the video of all this is in this package?"

Nanaki nodded. "Is something going to happen, Cloud?" the beast asked, the worry in his voice evident.

"I don't know," said Cloud in all honesty. "We'll just have to wait and see. How long will you be staying in Cosmo Canyon this time?"

"I'll be observing those black holes in the planetarium, until I know for sure they aren't trouble," was the reply. "I'll be ready to help whenever you need me, Cloud."

"Thanks," Cloud gave Nanaki a slight smile of gratitude. "I hope I won't have to cash in on that favour."

Although Nanaki offered to let Cloud stay the night, he politely refused. He wanted to get the video back to Costa del Sol as soon as possible. Not just because Reeve was there, but because he wanted Sora and Riku to have a look at it. Right now, it seemed like if there was really anything happening, they would be the ones who could tell for sure.

As Cloud was pushing Fenrir out to the dusty roads of the canyon, a movement in the sidecar (he hadn't bothered to dismantle that yet) put him on the alert. He was about to grab his sword from its compartment when out popped the source of the movement - a gray cat in a red cape.

"Greetings!" Cait Sith landed on the hood of the sidecar and shouted into his megaphone. "I have come to hitch a ride!"

"Reeve?" Cloud made a face. "What're you doing here?"

"No, no! There is only one Cait Sith!" the robotic cat said, pointing a finger at Cloud. "I was passing by, and Reeve decided it would be a good idea for me to hop on your bike for a ride. Due for some maintenance, he says."

Cloud doubted it. "You were supposed to get that video for him, weren't you?"

The cat's ears flattened on its head. "How astute! Well, it would've taken me a good week to reach him with the video at the rate I was going, so it was a good thing you were passing by, too!"

"Where's your moogle?" Cloud sighed, resigning himself to bringing the cat back together. He put on his goggles.

"Aye! I lost him in the wilderness of my mind. That is to say, I forgot to take him when I came from where I came from."

Cloud just shook his head. "Hang on tight," he warned the cat.

Immediately, Cait Sith complied, sitting in the sidecar chair and hanging onto the hood for dear life. "I know how you ride, Mr. Cloud! I'll have you know that if you were in Edge, you'd be booked for a ticket you couldn't possibly affooooooooooooorrrrd-"

The rest of Cait Sith's complaint was blown away by the noise of the wind and Fenrir's rumbling engine.

12 May 2013