Roy awoke to being whacked in the face with a pillow and let out a muffled groan. Bringing his hands up, he pushed the pillow off and looked up through bleary eyes at where Davis stood above him, a devilish smirk on his face and a cup of water in his hand.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" Davis exclaimed, tilting his hand. Roy's eyes widened before squeezing shut tight in a split second. He let out a yell as cold water splashed onto his face from the cup Davis had been holding.

"Davis, you're going down!" Roy roared, pushing off his covers and jumping up. Davis back stepped quickly,chuckling.

"Bet you couldn't take me on!" Davis taunted.

"Bet I could!" Roy grinned and was about to begin his attack when the door opened and they both looked to see Zack standing there.

"He started it!" Davis said instantly, pointing at Roy.

"Huh?" Zack asked, scratching his head. "Um, the General wants to see Roy Peters." Roy's heart sank and he looked over at Davis with a worried expression.

"Ha! Serves you right." Davis laughed. "Fight's postponed 'til lunch, okay?"

"Sure. If I live that long." Roy replied, moving to grab his uniform together and then heading toward the door.

"Don't be long. Seph's not feeling too good this morning." Zack whispered. Roy nodded in acknowledgement of the advice and slipped past him, walking towards the bathrooms in order to get changed.

Once he was finished, he made his way slowly up to the SOLDIER floor via the elevator. Stepping out into the corridor, he waited for the doors behind him to slide shut before beginning to walk in the direction he remembered the General's office was.

It wasn't long before he was stopped by another SOLDIER who wanted to know just what he thought he was doing there when he should have been down eating breakfast with the other infantrymen.

"General Sephiroth asked to see me." Roy said softly.

"Yeah? I'll believe that when I see it. Come with me and I'll take you to him. Then we'll see if you're lying or not." the SOLDIER said smugly, gripping Roy's shoulder and steering him in the direction he had already been going. Roy didn't reply, knowing that the SOLDIER probably wouldn't care what he had to say anyway.

When they reached Sephiroth's office, the SOLDIER knocked and then entered, shoving Roy forward fiercely, as if bringing a prisoner for sentencing.

"Found this grunt wandering around on this floor. He said you asked to see him. Is that correct, Sir?" he asked. Sephiroth looked up, his hand poised above a report that was sitting on his desk and a pen gripped between his fingers.

"I thought he'd never show up. Thank you, I'll take it from here." Sephiroth returned his gaze to his report, continuing to write something as the other SOLDIER snapped to attention and saluted before walking out.

Davis sat down next to Rex in the cafeteria, sighing as he did so. He had a lazily-happy expression on his face as he thought about how he'd gotten Roy with water earlier.

"Roy seems to be sent to the General a lot, doesn't he?" Rex asked as he picked some food off his plate.

"He's probably gonna get congratulated on deciding not to go out to the bar with his friends. Stupid runt had to be wise, didn't he?" Davis grumbled, but he had a smile on his face. "Still, we got to meet Kayli."

"Oh yeah! Meeting Kayli was the best thing that ever happened to me!" Rex exclaimed.

"I thought we agreed she was mine?" Davis challenged. Just then, Cloud sat down at their table with his own tray of food.

"Spiky, who do you reckon deserves Kayli more? Me or him?" Rex asked, leaning over to speak to him. Cloud looked up, his eyes wide as he took in what he was being asked.

"Um," Cloud began.

"See?" Rex said, turning to Davis. "Even he agrees with me."

"He said 'um'." Davis said bluntly.

Rex stared at Davis for a few more seconds before turning back to Cloud and waiting, drumming his fingers on the table impatiently. Cloud swallowed and tried desperately to think of what he could say without offending either of them.

"I think," Cloud said slowly. "That Kayli probably already has a boyfriend."

"Answer the question!" Rex growled.

"You really get fired up about girls don't you?" Davis asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I thought I was the more obnoxious out of us two, but now? You take the cake."

Rex threw him an unimpressed glare.

"Hey look! It's Edvard!" Cloud said, eager to change the topic of conversation.

As Rex and Davis looked to where Cloud was pointing, they saw that he was telling the truth. Edvard had walked into the cafeteria and looked around cautiously, as if afraid someone was going to jump out and scare him.

"Same old Edvard," Rex sighed.

"I wanna know what he's been doing these past two weeks." Davis said, standing up. Rex nodded in agreement, joining Davis as he headed over to the small boy who was still only just past the doorway.

"Hey, Edvard!" Davis called out. Edvard snapped his head up to look at who was talking to him and gulped, shuffling his feet nervously.

"Er, hi." Edvard mumbled.

"Done anything interesting lately?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. They both knew what he was referring to.

"Well, actually," Edvard cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back to try and look more sophisticated. "Professor Hojo allowed me to train underneath him for a bit. He said that he'd get back to me in a couple of days with whether I'm good enough to become his permanent apprentice."

"Whoa! No kidding?" Rex asked, eyes wide. Edvard grinned slightly, feeling a bit bolder now.

"So you don't wanna be a SOLDIER or anything?" Davis asked, folding his arms.

"No," Edvard shook his head. "But I didn't know of any other way to get to ShinRa and ask Professor Hojo if I could work with him than to become an Infantryman."

"That's understandable." Rex nodded.

"No it's not. Why didn't you just go to reception and ask if you could train to be a scientist?" Davis asked, narrowing his eyebrows. Edvard shifted nervously, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, leave him alone." Rex laughed and then gestured at Edvard to follow him. "Come on, I bet you're hungry."

Once Edvard had gotten some food they sat down again and filled Cloud in on what he'd been doing.

"Did Hojo tell you any of his secrets?" Davis asked excitedly.

"No, he even sent me outside sometimes when he was doing something really important." Edvard explained. "I was only allowed to see and do the most simple of things."

"That must've sucked. Did you see anything interesting by accident? Witness anything peculiar that has no explanation?" Rex asked, forgetting all about his food as he gave Edvard his full attention.

"Um," Edvard paused and furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about all he'd seen the past two weeks. "General Sephiroth came to see Professor Hojo a lot, about once a day. But other than that there wasn't really anything..."

"Sephiroth? What was he doing seeing Hojo every day?" Davis asked.

"I don't know." Edvard shrugged.

"See any illegal substances or anything?" Rex asked, a grin on his face.

"No," Edvard said with a small shake of his head. "If he had any then they were hidden away securely."

"Dude, next time you go down there you have to have a snoop around and tell us what you find, alright?" Rex said slyly, grinning cheekily.

"I'd get in trouble, though! And then Professor Hojo would never trust me again." Edvard complained.

"Don't make him do it if he doesn't want to." Cloud defended him. Edvard gave him a small smile of thanks.

"Oh, I was just looking for some adventure." Rex whined. "Hey, when's Roy getting back? It's weird without him around."

"No idea. Maybe the General's having a full party for his good choice of not going with us last night." Davis sighed, obviously still put-out.

"Oh absolutely." Rex rolled his eyes. "Can you honestly picture that? Sephiroth giving Roy a party just because he didn't go to a bar with his friends?" Davis chuckled and shook his head, realising that what he had said sounded really stupid.

"I wonder what's taking so long, then." he said.

"Maybe Sephiroth's giving him another lecture about swimming or something." Rex shrugged. "I guess there's no point in waiting around for him or anything."

"Yeah," Davis agreed. "Crap, I need to check what I've got first today."

"Me too." Rex said, and promptly dumped the remaining food that was on his tray onto Davis'. "I'm done!" Standing with a cheeky grin, he ran off to dispose of his tray and then waited by the door.

"See you guys later, then." Davis said with a roll of his eyes, a small smile on his face. He too stood and went to get rid of all the food he now had on his tray before also getting rid of the tray and then joining Rex. They went straight to their dorm to grab their schedules.

"They could've asked me." Cloud muttered as he continued eating. Edvard looked up at him, slightly confused.

"Why could they have asked you?" he asked.

"Because last night I checked everything we had." Cloud sighed. "But it's okay." He smiled and shook his head slightly in amusement that Rex and Davis hadn't even thought to ask him.

Roy stood perfectly still and watched Sephiroth's expression as the man ignored him and went on with his writing. It was incredibly unnerving.

Finally, Sephiroth placed his pen down on his desk and laced his fingers together. He stared straight at Roy, his eyes betraying no emotion that he may have been feeling. The situation reminded Roy of when he had been sent to the General after their first training session out on the field.

"Excuse me Sir, may I ask a question?" Roy asked, envisioning himself standing on the edge of a cliff as he did so. The General's eyes narrowed and he stood up. Roy gulped.

"I will be asking the questions." Sephiroth said firmly.

"Yes, Sir." Roy said, his voice quivering slightly.

"Do your parents know where you are?" Sephiroth asked firmly. Roy's heartbeat increased as he realised this would probably be the day he would be sent home.

"No, Sir." he replied.

"I thought not." Sephiroth turned and faced the window at the back of the small room, appearing to be thinking about something. He then turned and faced Roy once more. "Where were you last night?"

"Sir?" Roy asked, eyes wide in fear.

"Answer the question." Sephiroth ordered firmly. Roy gulped and nodded.

"I was... at a bar." he said quietly.

"Are you aware that it is against regulation to consume any amount of alcohol during your training?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yes, Sir." Roy replied.

"Did you or did you not consume alcohol last night?"

"I didn't, Sir." Roy said honestly. Sephiroth frowned slightly and stared at him as if trying to decide whether he believed him or not.

"Is that your final answer?" he asked slowly.

"Yes, Sir."

"Were you at the bar with some others in your squad, Davis, Strife and Rance?" Sephiroth asked, folding his arms and tilting his head.

"I was with Davis and Strife, but I don't know who you mean by Rance, Sir." Roy said, wondering to himself who it could be. He didn't remember anyone in his squad by the name of Rance.

"Rex Rance. Were you with him last night as well?" Sephiroth asked.

"Oh, yes, Sir." Roy nodded. So Rance was Rex's last name... did that mean Davis was a last name as well? What was his first name then?

"Did any of the others in your squad whom you were with consume any alcohol?" Sephiroth asked.

"Not that I know of, Sir." Roy said with a small shake of his head.

"But they may have?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. Roy paused and thought hard about what he remembered of the previous night.

"I'm pretty certain they didn't, Sir." he said finally. "From what I saw they were only talking."

"I'll take your word for it. If their performance is not up to standard today then we may have to have another talk later on." Sephiroth said.

"Yes, Sir." Roy replied, hoping that Davis had gotten enough sleep and wouldn't be training with a migraine.

"I have one final question for you, Peters." Sephiroth said, clasping his hands together and sitting on the edge of his desk. "What is your reason for being here at ShinRa?"

"I want to be a SOLDIER, Sir." Roy said instantly.

"For what purpose?" Sephiroth challenged. Roy paused, wondering whether Sephiroth would know if he lied and feeling about 99.9% sure that he would. With a sigh, he knew he would simply have to tell the truth. Besides, he was sure Sephiroth knew he was a girl already anyway.

"Sir, I wish to prove that girls can become SOLDIERs as well as boys."