A/N: Apologies again to all who have kept up with me so far, (Two days, haha). I know I have said that I would consider putting up a second chapter yesterday but something came up so I had to put it off. I hope posting it today upped the suspense at least.

Terribly sorry for the short chapter.

And, on a side note, I must thank Wintersheart1766 for some fascinating editing advices and shall be re-uploading some of my previous chapters.

Chapter 5

No matter how tired he was, Cloud woke up early. He sat up to find the others still asleep and slipped out after washing up a bit. He sighed and slunk towards the café area of the building where he would be able to buy a cup of something warm. This early in the morning, there was no one awake to roam around and crowd the halls, except the occasional early riser for work, but there weren't many of those and he was thankful for that lack of a hassle.

Entering the lounge where a couple people lounged around over the latest papers on Shinra, Cloud bought a steaming mug of coffee and took a seat at one of the many tables. It was a wide area so that those off work could sit, relax, and chat away. Of course, he didn't have many people to chat with, not then, not now, so he relished in his solitude and sipped at his drink.

Several minutes went by and Cloud's cup was now more than half empty. He wondered if he should read a book or check the post to see if any mail came by. Cloud blinked. He should check his posts; Red might have sent a reply. Quickly rushing out of his seat, Cloud dumped the cup in the bin on the way out and headed for the office. He arrived not shortly after and was curious about what he would find. There was a lady at the counter who handled all the mail for the cadets and she sat quietly, looking over her computer, in the early morning.

"Excuse me…" Cloud entered the room. "Is there anything addressed to Cloud Strife?"

The lady at the counter looked up. She smiled. "Just give me a moment. I'll check right away." She typed away at her computer until she saw what she was looking for. "Yes, there are three." She looked back up at him. "Would you like them right away?"

Cloud was slightly surprised. He hadn't been expecting anyone else's besides Red. "Yes, please. Thank you." She handed him his letters and he looked through them.

"Have a nice day." She waved as he was heading out the door.

He looked back. "You, too." He smiled.

There were three letters. One was from his mother, the other from Cid, and the last was a reply from Red. He smiled. Everything was falling into place so far. Putting the other two behind the reply, Cloud ripped open the letter and read what it said.

Dear Cloud,

I am relieved to find that our adventures together were not merely a dream. Strangely, Grandpa Bugenhagen seems to remember our meeting as well, that day in Cosmo Canyon. If you ever require my aid, do not hesitate to call upon me. I shall always fight by your side, and thank you for the warning about Hojo. I shall see to it I am never detained again. My strength and will is still with me.

From: Nanaki (Red XIII) &

Bugenhagen

P.S. Since I am unable to write, Grandpa has written for me.

Cloud smiled at the letter but frowned at the thought that Bugenhagen had remembered as well. Didn't Aerith say that no one else would remember? Though, Bugenhagen remembering was a better situation than him not. Otherwise, Red might not have had a way to reply.

He set the thought aside for later and opened the letter from Cid. It indicated that he had snatched the Highwind and was now heading back to Rocket town for some supplies. The people employed on the plane, he said, came as willingly with him as before and that there was no fighting or fussing about the taking of the plane besides Shinra. He was going to travel around a bit and catch some chocobos for a hobby so that Shinra didn't catch up to them and try to reclaim the aircraft. Then they would start working on fixing the rocket secretly so that it wouldn't turn up curious eyes. He stated that the whole town would agree to help if he had anything to say about it. They were all bored anyway. He would come whenever Cloud called so there was nothing to worry about.

The third letter was from his mother. Cloud didn't remember ever receiving this letter in the past and wondered if he had simply missed it before. He opened it. A picture fell out and landed face-up onto the floor. Cloud crouched to pick it up but froze mid-motion. The picture was of his mother…but the only thing he could focus on in the picture was the man standing behind her. Genesis Rhapsodos!

He quickly tore up the rest of the envelope and read the letter…letters…that came with it. His mother mentioned that a friend of his had come to visit recently and that Genesis was a very nice man. She described how Genesis had said some interesting things about a Goddess named Minerva and that she replied how Cloud's father looked very similar to her. He seemed very interested. She told him how they had gotten to know each other better and that he had paid and offered her a vacation someplace, which was a surprise. She couldn't wait to get there and have some fun and promised to buy some souvenirs for him. She bid him good luck and to never give up.

Cloud gritted his teeth in anger and worry. Rhapsodos had really done it this time. He had to find his mother and rescue her from the 1st class Soldier. But, of course, since she didn't know where she was going, he didn't either. He glared at the other letter in his hands. It was from Genesis.

In neatly written script it relayed that he needn't worry about his mother, that she would never see this letter, and that she was safe…if only for the moment. He had paid for a month of vacation for his mother somewhere far from Midgar and that she would remain safe as long as Cloud listened to what he had to say, a mere suggestion. It stated that perhaps he could indeed help him and that he would seek him out later that week. If everything went well and Cloud succeeded in helping him he wouldn't bother his mother again, but if not… well, he would think of that then. He bid Cloud farewell until then and signed Genesis.

Cloud was seething in anger. How could he not? His mother was being held captive without her ever knowing she was and it was up to him to see that she remained unawares. He supposed Genesis considered the idea about his helping him earlier but wasn't sure how Genesis was going to go about it. What was he thinking? Cloud was actually worried. Before, he hadn't exactly told Genesis HOW he had planned to help him and now…he wasn't too sure what Genesis had in mind. Maybe, perhaps, he could tell Genesis his initial idea on using his cells before the man did anything drastic. But, for now, he would have to wait. Genesis had to come to him first.

He picked up the picture off the floor and stacked them in the pile of letters before carrying them down the hall and into his room. He would hide the letters and make sure no one else would find them before anything else happened. Sighing, he figured this was going to be a rough day.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Sephiroth sat at his desk in thought, the pen in his hand hanging in the air as if frozen in time. His thoughts had strayed from his work to the schedule blinking on his monitor indicating today's events. It was to be a makeshift battle competition with all of them competing. It was from cadets to Soldier 1sts and that the first three winners would receive a prize worth their while. That meant that he had to participate as well. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

The last couple of days hadn't gone quite as smoothly as he would have liked. He had neither been able to locate the apparently aloof cadet nor had he had a chance to find him through anybody else to give him the missions report on going to Wutai. This was becoming troublesome.

He looked back up at the blinking computer screen and sighed. Maybe the cadet would be at the competition since it was mandatory and he would then be able to catch him before he escaped. Sephiroth felt as though he were hunting for some rare animal that escaped his grasp at the last second of every single time he attempted to actually catch it. It was ridiculous. And, besides that, he could no longer stop thinking about that damn cadet. Perhaps he had dreamt it all and the boy didn't really exist. It was starting to feel very close to a dream anyhow.

Giving up, he started stacking the papers together into a neat file then placed them inside his desk. His thoughts traveled back to the competition. This year neither Genesis nor Angeal would show up, probably, so that would give others a chance at trying to win a spot at the top for once. That and this way he could assess Strife's capabilities more closely if he ever did decide to show up. Making up his mind, he set out to find Zack and to see if there was any news on whether the lower classes would be allowed to use the weapons of their choice this year. Though, in his opinion, when most of the cadets usually chose their preferred weapon they usually made a fool of themselves. Perhaps they were thinking they would look fearsome with a weapon that looked dangerous and try to utilize it enough, but most times they had no idea on how to use that particular weapon and fumbled with a loss. In the end, they had only chosen it because they liked how it looked….

Well, in either case, he thought it only fair that the others had a chance to try another weapon for a change in actual combat. It would add to the learning experience….He slightly wondered what weapon Strife would choose to use when the time came. He gave a slight smile. Oh, how he wondered.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Zack was running around all over the place. If one were to ask someone, on any floor and in any place in Shinra, if they had seen Zack the 1st class Soldier then they would all answer with a 'yes'. He was frantic. He had been running around trying to find the one person in the entire building that could fix this problem.

"Sephiroth! Where are you?" he tumbled down through a couple floors desperately looking for the one man he knew had to be somewhere. "Sephiroth!" he yelled again. He ran out onto the floor where the Soldiers usually trained in their free time. It was nearly empty but he ran across it to the other side anyway. Maybe Sephiroth was here. He burst through the doors of an office situated for the commanding officers when they were testing or personally watching a particular Soldier. It was also a place where they had discussions about upcoming events. He rushed headlong into the room, not paying any attention to where he was going.

"Umph!" There was a grunt from a man as Zack ran straight into him and they both fell to the floor. "Soldier Fair!" the man barked. Zack groggily sat up and started rubbing his temples. He had hit his head on something hard. He looked around and when his vision cleared he saw the man he had been looking for standing peacefully near a wall with a quirked brow.

"Sephiroth!" Zack scrambled towards him on all fours, completely ignoring the man he had scrambled over to get to him. "Sephiroth," he jumped up, "I finally found you."

"Soldier Fair!" The man that had been knocked to the floor stood. His gruff features in a fury frenzy. The man was burly but in a round way and he sported an eye patch on his left eye. He had wild hair that only matched his beard and a grimace that was unforgiving. "Explain yourself!" he demanded.

Zack didn't falter but waved his hands around wildly. "There's no time for that! Some of the cadets made off with some of the weapons for the competition except these were only for the use of the Soldier 2nds and higher!" he paced around, jittery, "We've got to stop them before the competition starts, otherwise someone might be killed!" There were no fatalities allowed during the competition and everyone was expected to behave and not take it a step further than necessary. It was up to the Soldier 1sts and Commanding officers to see that no one got hurt too badly, if possible. "Someone recently saw them around the cadet bunks."

Sephiroth was already out the door and headed towards the area when Zack caught up to him. "Is there anyone else informed of the situation?"

"Huh? Yeah." Zack looked concerned. "Actually, I just ran into Cloud. He seemed like something was bothering him but I was too anxious that I just told him to watch out for them before I left to find you." Sephiroth was surprised. The cadet had actually showed and that meant that he was participating in the competition. He smirked inwardly but didn't let anything show on the outside. This may prove to be more interesting than he had thought initially.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Cloud couldn't believe it. Here he was walking out of the bunks when Zack suddenly ran into him…well, over him…. Zack had been in a frenzy of distress and Cloud barely made out enough words to know that there was some trouble concerning something about weapons and cadets, and something about watching out for them. He hadn't been able to question Zack further because as soon as he turned to ask, Zack was already catapulting away down the hall. He had just shrugged it off and started down the hall again when he bumped into another three people. He was really cursing his luck now but upon a second look he found he couldn't believe what he had found. The three cadets in front of him were holding some dangerous looking weapons he was sure they weren't allowed to touch and sighed as he stood to dust his pants off. It was just his luck.

The other three all groaned at the sudden impact before scrambling around, grabbing all the weapons, and trying to flee. Cloud stood in front of them in the narrow hallway. There was no way to go but forward or backwards and he was betting they weren't willing to risk going back. He straightened and frowned. "You guys going somewhere?"

"Get out of our way, Strife, we're in a hurry." One of the boys snarled, gripping what looked like a spear and a bow in a death grip. Pretty expensive equipment.

Another boy nervously glanced back down the way they came before looking at Strife in a fight-or-flee response. "Seriously, Strife, move aside. Otherwise we'll have to make you." He gripped the handle of a sword and pulled it halfway from its sheath. A threat.

Cloud looked at all three of them then, including the boy who hadn't spoken up as of yet. He looked especially dangerous when cornered and seemed like the type to do something really drastic. And soon, he was proven right. The boy had drawn an especially large sword and yelled while charging his way. Cloud dodged out of the way. Cloud sighed again. This just wasn't his day.

The boy with the bow had dropped the spear and opted to try and shoot him with a couple of arrows. It was obvious that they had never before used these weapons before so dodging them was no problem. He swung under the sword the second boy had aimed and quickly jabbed his gut. He doubled over and Cloud knew the boy wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, now for the other two. The boy with the larger sword had gone wild, swinging his sword this way and that and forgetting all of his previous training in his panic. Cloud ignored him for the moment and rushed towards the boy with the bow. The boy squeaked in surprise before aiming blindly towards Cloud's torso. He twisted and jumped, using the side wall as leverage he kicked off the wall with one foot and flipped behind him. He hit the pressure point on the boy's neck that knocked him out cold.

The last of the three was probably the most dangerous. In his rush of panic he had built up a blind rage, at not being able to hit him. Cloud carefully contemplated how he would deal with him but everything else besides him taking up a weapon himself would be dangerous. So he sighed yet again before bending down, always keeping an eye on his opponent, and picking up the sword the first boy had dropped. He twisted it in his hands to get a feel for the weight and swung it around a couple times just for good measure. The boy rushed at him like a mad bull and tried for a jabbing motion with the sword. Cloud easily parried. To him, this was child's play. He had years of experience with a much heavier blade and this boy had nothing but his rage. It didn't take very long to disarm him.

Cloud held the blade steadily at the boy's neck once he had disarmed him. The boy had fallen to the floor with the force and was now up against the wall. "Give up. If you can't even beat me you'd stand no chance against anyone for long." He said, which of course was a lie, but he wanted to make sure just how much in trouble they would have been in if they had run into someone else besides him, like a Soldier.

The boy only glared at him. "You think you're stronger than I am? You only got lucky, Strife. Next time I get the chance, I'll kill you myself." Cloud frowned. How could he casually talk about killing someone he merely held a little grudge against? He feared what the boy would turn out to be.

"Why did you steal the weapons?" Cloud changed the subject.

"Like I'd tell you." He spat with disgust. "You think you're all that because you beat me? I'll kill you the next time, I swear it." This boy had a serious problem and Cloud deduced it was a mental problem. Perhaps he suffered from head injury or major obsessive compulsive disorders. He had to resist the urge to just shrug and walk away. Cloud looked around. There was no one around to help him with this mess and he just felt disheartened. What was he supposed to do, just stand there all day and take insults until somebody finally came by? He shook his head.

He looked at the clock hanging above a far wall. "The competition will be starting soon…" he whispered more to himself than to any other.

"Yeah, and just you wait. Any chance I get, I'll take you down and rub it in your pretty little face." He smirked, "Maybe if I get lucky, I can kill you before the overseers come to your rescue." Cloud was seriously getting irritated by this kid now.

"That won't be necessary." A cool voice came from down the hall and Cloud whipped his head around at the sound of it. He was downcast. Could this day get any better? It was Sephiroth, the last person he wanted to see right now. Luckily, Zack was hyperactively trotting behind him. Cloud looked back at the boy to find that his face had gone pale. He nearly snorted, go figure. He dropped the sword's edge and backed away. There was no need for him to hold him now and he dropped his arm.

"Cloud!" Zack rushed up to him. "You okay?" Cloud merely nodded. Zack looked around and whistled. "Wow, Cloud, you really did a number on them didn't you. I'm impressed." He smiled broad and proud before patting Cloud on the shoulder.

"Zack," Cloud let out his breath. "Are these the guys you were looking for?"

He nodded. "Yup, that's them. But, how did you catch them so fast?"

Cloud nearly grimaced. "They bumped into me right after you left, and then they started attacking me because I was standing in the way." He shrugged and rubbed his head.

"Some luck, huh Cloud?" He laughed. "But man, the others will be glad to get their weapons back."

Sephiroth hadn't said a single word besides the first couple and was found leaning against the wall. He shrugged himself up and walked towards them. "Perhaps it would be best to get the weapons back first." He suggested.

"Oh, right!" Zack started scrambling around and gathering all the weapons in one place.

"Zack," Cloud started, "I'm going to go on ahead and get ready for the competition. I'll see you later." He started walking away.

"Yeah, sure!" Zack was now hugging all the weapons under one arm and dragging the three boys by the shirt in the other. Only the one conscious boy was struggling in his grip.

Sephiroth had watched in curiosity. How had Strife managed to defeat all three boys without a weapon of his own in a narrow hallway in just a short time? He looked back at Zack and wondered if he had also found this situation curious…apparently not. He held back his urge to rub his head in irritation. Perhaps he should have just confronted Strife about where he had been the last couple of days and see if there was anything else amiss in his behavior.

Zack shifted from one side to the other. "Hey, Sephiroth, I'm going to go ahead and put the weapons back then send these three to their commanding officer. I'll see you later." He grinned before loping down the hall in a chipper manner. Apparently, he was still impressed with Cloud's unknown capabilities to knock all three boys out…. He would see to the competition. He smiled. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he may even go up against Strife so that he could determine his abilities for himself. His reactions by his weapon would prove to be interesting, and it didn't hurt that gut reactions tell so much about that particular person. This time, he may end up enjoying the games after all.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Cloud had completely forgotten about the scheduled competition today. It was only until he saw the actual weapons and thought about Zack's jumbled message that he finally recalled the darn event, and the last thing he wanted to do was participate. Who knew how much trouble he could get into if he managed to defeat a lot of the people he hadn't been able to beat the previous year? He remembered that particular year much to his dismay. The high jump in his abilities would be too suspicious to ignore. But, there was also the matter that the competition was mandatory. He supposed he could tone it down a bit but it would look extremely suspicious to those of them that would notice the change, Sephiroth included. Cloud sighed. That and the fact that he hadn't held back in a fight in years…

He walked down the hall towards the auditorium where everyone was gathering to listen to the officers that would announce the rules. He nearly groaned when he walked through the doors and spotted all the jittery happiness in them all. They were all pumped to get the show on the road and it seemed the other higher officers, who had to participate as well, were no different. They probably wanted a chance to show how weak the lower classes were and to demand attention and respect when attending their classes. This would be interesting. He took a seat at the corner of the room.

"Attention! Attention, please!" Commander Gyshal, Cloud only remembered him because his name was similar to the chocobo feed gysahl greens, boomed into the microphone at the front of the room. "Attention, please!" he cleared his throat when they all settled down. "As you were all informed," the gruff looking man began, "today is the day of the battle competition in which all of you are required to attend. All of the commanding officers will be assessing your performance when it is your turn to battle. Each and every one of you must demonstrate enough skill to be recommended into the Soldier program. That is, if you fail to impress even a single commanding officer, you shall fail and have to try again next year. Now, all of you understand that this is a tournament based competition and the winners will advance to the next level. Be aware that as you go higher, your opponents will become more experienced and even more so difficult to overcome. Cadets, you must all remember that you shall be pitted against Soldiers as well. It is a difficult competition with many fatalities at risk. Your commanding officers and I shall be watching to stop the battle if necessary. Good luck to all of you and let the competition begin!" The crowd cheered with bursting energy as Commander Gyshal left the stand. His booming voice with his striking green trademark uniform with gold embroidery and sharp eyes captured everyone's attention until the end. Cloud leaned further back in his chair. He had no desire to get up and go "advance to the next level". He remembered that he had failed to impress any of the officers in all the years he had competed, losing worse than the last every time, but this year was going to be different. He might even get into Soldier this time…but then again…perhaps being a Soldier would put him into a better position for making demands of Shinra, like forcing them to stop using the Planet for a power source or looking for another, safer, source of energy they can use. Maybe, this time, he wouldn't have to destroy Shinra. Maybe this time….

He smiled with the thought, his plans might just come together a little better this time and, with Cid working on the rocket at this moment, he might sooner save the Planet and everyone in it more quickly and efficiently. That was a nice thought. He stretched before getting up and heading out the door everyone else had already gone through a long time ago. Perhaps this tournament was worth giving a shot at after all.

xxx xxx