Selphie's POV:

As I listened to Axel telling me about his parents I couldn't help but feel the similarity between us. I was really young when my mother had passed away. She had been sick for a long time, so was often in hospital leaving my father alone to take care of me. After her death, my dad never managed to cope very well and began drinking to take his mind off of his problems. It hadn't taken long for my father had become a raging alcoholic; soon he lost his job and it became increasingly obvious that he was only vaguely aware that he had a daughter to take care of.

By my twelfth birthday, I was already completely self-sufficient. I began staying at either Squall's, or more frequently, Cloud's to get away from my father's drunken ravings. Being around a normal family atmosphere kept me well adjusted and it was only recently that he'd been seeking help. Still, I never liked being home longer than was absolutely necessary. As such, it wasn't odd that I would have been staying at Cloud's tonight irregardless but the offer for the others to stay was received with warm reception. The others readily agreed to stay the night.

The evening passed by rather quickly, we watched a few movies, had dinner and I watched as Cloud and Roxas played a game of chess. As it was getting late we headed off to bed the moment after they'd finished playing. Of course, everyone would be sleeping in separate rooms except Roxas and Axel. They took the room that, until recently, had been Squall and Seifer's. I had a rather fractured night's sleep though as I kept being woken up by silly things, an owl outside, the wind in the trees, Axel snoring in the room opposite mine. The last time I woke up, I had to go to the bathroom and as I stepped through my bedroom door into the hallway, I saw Seifer standing in Cloud's bedroom door.

I walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump in alarm. "Calm down, it's only me!" I whispered and he turned, looked at me and gave a nervous laugh. "Hey" he said a note of guilt in his voice. "What are you doing?" I asked without thinking, bobbing on my heels like normal. "Just checking on him…" I couldn't detect any guilt this time, so I took that to be the truth.

"Okay, you should probably get back to bed though… We're not waiting for you if you sleep in" I said mischievously and walked past him and closed the bathroom door behind me. I honestly didn't know what to make of this… Seifer was checking on Cloud in the middle of the night? I guess it didn't matter too much. I finished in the bathroom and when I left, Seifer was standing beside my bedroom door.

"Selphie… can I have a quick word?" his voice SOUNDED almost desperate. "Sure, come in" I walked past him through the bedroom door, with him following closely behind. "So what's really up?" I asked and he told me what he'd been thinking all day. I was glad it was dark because my face was plastered in shock. Managing to keep a level tone, I said that maybe he was only feeling that way because Cloud and Squall were similar but deep down, I doubted it.

I knew that Cloud and Squall were only seemed similar at first glance, as they had very similar mannerisms but past that, they acted completely different to each other. Cloud was a lot more outgoing and confident for starters; but still Seifer seemed relieved to think that he wasn't trying to rebound with Cloud. Heaving a great sigh of relief, the two of us chatted for a while longer about the situation with Squall and I assured Seifer that he'd come around eventually. Eventually, it became inevitable as sleep overtook us once more.

Imagine Quistis' surprise when she walked in to wake me up and found that her brother was lying beside me, one hand wrapped over mine and the other hand caressing my hair in his sleep. I woke up from her slight cry if surprise, looked at the situation and laughed. Seifer stirred at the sound and groggily said "How'd I get here?" which made Quissy laugh as well.

Explaining the situation to her (leaving the fact that her brother was convinced he was developing a crush on Cloud) as I went downstairs to the kitchen, we were greeted with the smell of breakfast wafting from the dinning room. Axel and Roxas were already there, yawning widely but still said polite greetings. Only Cloud had seemed really awake, indeed he'd already showered, dressed and made breakfast for us all.

I glanced quickly from Cloud to Seifer who was smiling widely as he spoke but otherwise there was no sign that Seifer was flirting. Thank Gods.

Cloud's POV:

Last night had been relaxing. In the past Selphie, Squall and I had done this hundreds of times, when we were kids, the three of us used to share a room. Back in those days Selphie used to keep Squall and I up all night. I smiled as I reminisced about those times. I enjoyed last night immensely but I still felt that it wasn't the same without Squall. It had only been one day but I did feel like a part of me was missing without him…

Still, as my guests poured into the dining room in pairs, I smiled. I did have a great time last night and I'd definitely be up for hosting something like it again if everyone agreed. I didn't even mind making breakfast for them despite having to get up a lot earlier to do so. As they all settled down and helped themselves I smiled. Breakfast for me was usually a hurried affair as I liked to get to school early, but having guests made it a lot more enjoyable.

One by one they all finished and thanked me "for the fantastic meal" to which I shook my head in disbelief and carried the dishes into the kitchen. I stacked the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on before heading outside and sitting on the porch. The morning sun was pouring softly through the oak tree in my yard, and I enjoyed watching the light dance as the trees swayed in the early morning breeze.

Not for the first time, I was glad that my home had two bathrooms because Selphie and Quistis (who had finished their breakfast first) had already showered and had now joined me on the porch. Roxas and Axel were now taking their turns showering so that left us waiting for Seifer. We sat talking for a while until the Roxas and Axel joined us. The five of us sat on the stairs or leant on the railings of my porch, discussing what today would be like as we waited. Seifer, it seemed, liked long showers.

Once everyone was showered and dressed, we walked the few blocks to school since there were too many of us to fit in Selphie's car and she refused to make multiple trips, a sentiment I thought was completely understandable. The walk was pleasant as the six of us conversed and made a few friendly jokes. It was amusing to see Seifer, Roxas and Axel since they obviously liked to tease each other as much as possible.

As we neared the gates I noticed Wakka and the rest of the thugs standing inside. Once we passed through them, I became aware of quite a lot of people whispering as we walked past them, no doubt regaling the fight from yesterday. I could feel the smile slide of my face as I saw the jerks watching me. Without realising, I shot them the most venomous glare I could muster, wishing for them to erupt into flames from the intensity of my gaze. I paid enough heed to see them walk away and then, turning my face away from them, made my way to Garden.

Whoa! Cloud, you looked kinda scary back there" I heard Axel say though I didn't turn to look at him immediately. I guess he wasn't the only person shocked by my behaviour as out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Roxas' jaw hanging open and Quistis looking at me cautiously. "Sorry, but if they try anything then they'll regret it. I am not going to let them try anything like yesterday again". Once I got that off my chest, I couldn't help smiling again though I noticed something in the distance which made me continue walking. I saw Lenne and Yuna though what bothered me was that Lenne was with Hayner.

Almost instinctively, I lowered my head and kept walking; wondering why was I so ashamed?

Squall's POV:

I had arrived home late last night as I had spent my afternoon hanging around with my new friends in a vain attempt at getting to know them better. Problem was that none of them seemed prepared to speak about themselves and indeed, trying to get any conversation out of Loz was impossible. I had dinner with my mom and claiming that I still wasn't feeling very well I headed to bed early. Though I tried to get some rest, I slept poorly that night, the feelings of guilt and self-loathing over what I was doing prevented me from resting peacefully and on more than one occasion I awoke from a nightmare involving Cloud, Selphie and to my surprise, Seifer. I swore to myself that I hated him for dumping me and for running off with his friends from Galbadia… At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

At breakfast, my mother asked why I had slept poorly, commenting that I looked pale. I couldn't offer any satisfactory reason and realising this she didn't press the point. I couldn't find any way to say that I felt uncomfortable being around the people I loved since look at what I did to Cloud and Selphie. Still breakfast proved to be remotely enjoyable. I was glad that I could still count on my mom, and I ignored my brain when it began repeating the names of the three people that had haunted my sleep.

As I was leaving she told me to tell Cloud to come over before kissing me and saying goodbye… I squirmed uncomfortably considering that I was too afraid to face him which made speaking to him exceedingly difficult. I turned down the drive way, and avoided looking at Selphie's house, just in case she came out the door. I guess she must have parked in the garage since I didn't see her car. Not for the first time in the last couple of days, I had to reprimand myself. I was thinking about Cloud and Selphie too much. If I wanted them to be rid of my pathetic existence, I had to stop otherwise I'd only fail. This was for their sake after all.

I sped up into a full blown run and didn't slow until I saw the hedge outside of Sephiroth's house. As I expected, he was standing outside waiting for me, accompanied by Loz and Yazoo. "Where's Kadaj?" I asked when I pulled up beside them. "We are getting him now" came Loz's silvery voice. I stood rooted to the spot gaping at him. That was actually the first time I'd ever heard him speak and I thought that the only other person with a voice that nice was Cloud. I had to mentally kick myself. Trying to forget people was a lot harder than I thought. I distracted myself by noting that out of the four, Kadaj and Yazoo spoke a lot but Sephiroth and Loz rarely spoke in "mixed company", preferring to remain silent and grim. I smiled at Loz slightly.

We continued to walk and on the way, we pulled up outside a house hidden in the shade of a small thicket of trees. Figuring that this must be where Kadaj lived, I took a brief look around the surrounding houses, taking notice that it was next door to a park until my attention was turned to a tall lithe figure walking down the stairs. Kadaj smiled softly at the rest of us and we proceeded to walk to school in silence. That was a trait that was definitely different from being with Cloud and Selphie and even though it seemed strange, I was starting to get used to the silence. I was actually enjoying it.

Walking through the school gates, I tentatively looked from side to side, in an almost paranoid manner. I was half expecting to spot someone and sure enough, I wasn't disappointed. Kefka was standing a little way away and he waved at me, a sinister smile plastered on his foul face. I lowered my face but still saw that Sephiroth was glaring at him with nothing short of murder in his eyes. The only reaction Kefka made was that he laughed as he walked away. For one short moment, I would have killed to know what was so funny but then thought the better of it.

Whatever it was, I knew it was bound to be bad for me if he were waiting to see me.

Seifer's POV:

The last couple of days I couldn't figure out what had come over me… Last night I kept thinking Cloud was cute… I even watched him sleep like a stalker and then this morning in the shower I… well… lets say I usually don't have long showers but this morning I had a rather pressing matter to deal with. Even as we were walking to school, I was distracted by the sight of Cloud walking in front of me… his golden hair, spiked as always, practically shone in the early morning light giving me an impression of a halo.

CUT IT OUT! I shouted to myself, and despite Selphie's reassurances, I was beginning to get afraid of what was going on. I managed to put all thoughts it out of my mind once we'd walked through the gates. I shivered slightly despite the ambient temperature since only a few meters away, Wakka stood with his followers… the same bastards that had attacked me yesterday were now watching us as if we were the most interesting thing in the world. Cloud stopped only long enough to shoot them a glare so icy that I thought could have frozen an ocean…

I actually stepped backward from the steely glint in Cloud's eyes as their usual sky blue colour seemed to have frozen to the harshness of an iceberg. Frozen and devoid of any other emotion but anger and to us it was quite obvious that he was angry, VERY angry. I'll admit that until then, I only ever thought a glare that frosty could come from Squall and maybe Sephiroth… his new lover I thought bitterly to myself. Tearing my mind away from that thought, I judged from the looks on their faces, the football team decided that Cloud wasn't to be messed with at present as they shot us one last look and stormed off.

"Whoa! Cloud, you looked kinda scary back there" Axel said in awe voicing my unspoken sentiment. The two of us weren't the only ones who seemed genuinely shocked by it either. Roxas' jaw was hanging open and Quistis was eyeing him cautiously. "Sorry, but if they try anything" he said, placing a delicate stress on the last word "then they'll regret it. I am not going to let them try anything like yesterday again" his face relaxed once he'd finished and smiled at us with his usual warmth.

Until he smiled again, the only person who didn't seem shocked at all was Selphie. She actually sported a similar expression to his at the time. Now she watched them as they walked away, the uncharacteristic glare still plastered on her face. Despite her size I recoiled just as I had done with Cloud. These two really were fiercely loyal and I felt relief mingled with gratitude course through me knowing that they were doing this for my sake. Again I couldn't help but feel like I was one lucky bastard.

When we arrived at Garden, we found the Turks waiting for us. "Cloud, it's been a long time" said Rufus as he walked toward us, a note in his hand. "Here, for you" he said, handing Cloud the letter as he walked past, the others following behind. "Watch your backs" Reno said as he pushed through the bushes and vanished. "Something's up" Rude said as he followed Reno. "All of us wish you the best of luck. We'll inform you of anything else as it comes up" Elena assured us as she and Tseng pushed their way out together. "Indeed. All the best!" Rufus reassured us and he too vanished.

Just what was going on?