A/N: Another chapter! The end draws ever closer, doesn't it? Well, I'd just like to say that I'm still aiming for 40 total chapters. Although as it is happening, it will probably be 39 chapters plus an epilogue. So I hope you enjoy this chapter a lot and leave a review! The more reviews the better since the end is near, right? Haha XD

"Are you listening to me, Rex?"

The boy being spoken to sighed and turned back to the counsellor who sat on a chair beside the bed.

"Yeah."

The counsellor frowned but accepted the answer, folding his arms. He had been with Rex for only ten minutes so far today and already the boy looked frustrated by his presence. It was going to be a difficult process.

So far, the counsellor had established a few things about Rex. Firstly, he could be incredibly stubborn when he wanted to. Secondly, the loss of his arm affected him more than he let on considering the darkness that came over his eyes whenever it was mentioned. Thirdly, the counsellor was positive that Rex was determined to fight him every step of the way.

"When was the last time one of your friends came to visit you?" the counsellor asked lightly, trying to sound helpful and not at all demanding.

"Uh," Rex's eyebrows furrowed. "About an hour ago?"

"Yes? Who was it?" The man enquired, lifting his eyebrows to show he was genuinely interested.

"Davis." Rex said, his gaze dropping to his lap. His right hand was curled into a fist and gently resting on his legs.

"Did you talk about anything in particular? The mission? Girls? What's been happening in classes that you've missed?" The question was simple enough and it seemed to be the right thing to ask as Rex's eyes lightened somewhat and his eyes rose to the counsellor's again. There was an almost-smile on his face.

"There's a girl I like," he admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and she's finally come to visit again." Rex nodded before sighing in defeat and looking down at his hand again. "But how am I supposed to flirt with only one arm?"

The counsellor raised his eyebrows, "I didn't realise flirting involved your arms."

Rex scowled over at him, annoyed at the sarcastic statement which was probably meant to make him laugh. He didn't think it was funny, though. Not at all.

"I'm sorry, Rex," the counsellor said gently. "Would you like to talk about something else?"

"Yeah," Rex's eyes focused on the man's face and he nodded firmly. Obviously there was something on his mind and the counsellor leant forward slightly. "Can I still be a Turk?"

Leaning back again, the man sighed. "I told you before, we have to assess your situation before making any decisions about that."

"But you already know my situation!" Rex protested angrily. "It's kind of obvious, isn't it? Or hadn't you noticed the lack of a left arm?"

"Rex, calm down-"

"I don't want to calm down! I want you to tell me if I can be a Turk or not so that I know whether there's any point actually staying here!" Rex spat.

"No matter the answer to that you won't be leaving until your doctors say you've fully recovered!" the counsellor said. Rex flopped back against his pillow and turned to face the wall, blocking the counsellor out and refusing to respond any more.

"Rex, you have to understand I'm only trying to help you. All of ShinRa only wants what's best for you but in order for that to happen you need to cooperate with me! I'll be back again tomorrow, alright?" Receiving no answer, the counsellor stood and left the room, almost running into someone on the way out.

"Whoa, sorry Sir!" Zack said, stepping back and allowing the counsellor to go first. Once he was gone, Zack bounded into Rex's room and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

"What do you want?" Rex mumbled in annoyance, not turning to look at him.

"I brought you something!" Zack announced. "Surprise!"

Rex flinched as he felt something placed on his bed and turned his head slowly to see what it was. A dog sat there, wagging its tail and panting excitedly.

"You got me a dog?" he asked, shocked.

"Well..." Zack scratched the back of his head. "It was a puppy, but it grew up. And Angeal already wanted me to get rid of it when it was smaller so when he saw how big it is now he practically went into a rage. Um, but anyway! He told me to give it to someone else and I thought you could use some cheering up!"

"We're not allowed pets at ShinRa," Rex said quietly, although he was slowly reaching over with his right hand to stroke the dog and a small smile was on his lips.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Zack grinned. "Is there anyone who could mind him for you while you're here? Family? Friends?"

"I don't know if they'd like to have to look after a dog... Wait! Maybe there is someone!" Rex exclaimed, sitting up and looking over at Zack. He was grinning widely now and Zack returned it.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! And she's visiting right now so I can ask her straight out!" Rex exclaimed. "If she really likes dogs... I might just give him to her! You wouldn't mind would you?"

"We're talking about a girl?" Zack asked, gasping. "Of course I don't mind! Go forth young man, and woo your lady!"

Rex chuckled and went a bit red, patting the dog again.

"Does he have a name?"

"Angeal told me that if I named him I'd grow too attached, so there's nothing official. But he answers to 'Pup'." Zack explained.

"Pup," Rex said thoughtfully and the dog's ears pricked up, making his tail wag faster than before. Rex laughed.

"That's all I came for. Do you want me to mind him for now or are you good to keep him occupied in your room?" Zack asked.

"It should be okay," Rex shrugged. "I'm just not gonna be able to restrain him very well if he decides he wants to run off. I don't know when I'm gonna see Gemma, either, so it could be a while before she gets him."

"That's fine with me," Zack said. "How 'bout I come back in half an hour to see how you're doing and if you want me to take him then?"

"Sounds good." Rex nodded.

"Awesome. See you then!" Zack waved, stood up and left.

But only a few seconds later he returned with a big grin on his face, making Rex raise his eyebrows curiously.

"There's someone here to see you," Zack said in a singsong voice before stepping aside to reveal Kayli and Gemma. "Enjoy your stay ladies- I mean lady and boy. Ahem. I'm going now. Yep. I am."

Zack vanished quickly and Rex blinked in shock.

"Hey," Kayli said with a grin. "How are you?"

"Um, alright." Rex said nervously, still patting the dog as he glanced from Kayli to Gemma.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Gemma said suddenly, moving over to pat the dog as well and smiling happily. "What's his name?"

"Pup," Rex said, smiling as well and not feeling as nervous anymore as he prepared to take the plunge. "Zack gave him to me but since we're not allowed pets at ShinRa I was wondering if you wanted to take him."

Gemma paused and her mouth fell open in shock as she stared over at him in surprise. Kayli turned away to hide her amusement and Rex just looked back at Gemma calmly, the question in his eyes appearing innocent enough.

"Well, sure!" Gemma said finally. "I love dogs!"

"Great!" Rex said happily. "I was hoping you would."

Gemma smiled and glanced over at Kayli before looking back at Rex. She was feeling a bit nervous since she found Rex very attractive but she didn't know what to do about it. At least Rex seemed pretty confident in himself.

"I heard Davis came to visit you earlier," Kayli said with a grin. "Did you get my message?"

Rex blushed and nodded, "Yeah, I did."

"Can you tell me yet?" Gemma whined.

"No!" Kayli and Rex both said, although Rex's was much louder and stronger. Coughing awkwardly, Rex looked away and tried to pretend nothing had happened.

"Don't worry about it," Kayli said with a secretive smile. "It's a ShinRa thing."

Rolling her eyes, Gemma agreed to let it slide for the moment and folded her arms.

"So how come you're still here when Kayli's been released now?" Gemma asked curiously then, addressing Rex. "I thought they would have used materia as soon as possible."

"Materia's a last resort," Rex said. "So they did as much as they could to help my body heal normally before giving me materia to finish it properly. And uh, a gunshot to the leg in Kayli's case takes less time to heal than a..."

"In any case," Kayli said casually as she noticed how Rex was still unable to say aloud to his friends what had happened to him. "He should be up again soon, good as new!"

"I'm glad," Gemma said sincerely. "It must suck being bed-ridden for so long."

"Yeah," Rex agreed fervently. "Especially when they all go back to class and there's no one to visit me for hours at a time. It... gets pretty lonely."

"Oh my gosh!" Kayli suddenly exclaimed, slapping a hand across her mouth and her eyes widening instantly.

"What's wrong?" Gemma asked, turning to her with a frown.

"I have to get to class! If I run now I'll make it." Kayli moved over to Rex and looked down at him sadly. "I'm so sorry, I'll come back and see you again as soon as I can, okay? I promise."

"Don't worry about it," Rex said with a smile. "I was exaggerating anyway when I said that."

"Well... if you're sure." Kayli turned to Gemma and hugged her friend. "I'll see you again soon, okay?"

"Of course! I think I'll stay and talk to Rex a bit more before I meet up with my parents though," Gemma said with an innocent shrug, looking over at him and smiling. "Might talk about how I'm meant to be looking after Pup."

"Well, have fun kiddos!" Kayli grinned, waving at them one last time and then dashing out the door faster than she'd ever run before – or so she liked to think. However, as she had been leaving she was sure she'd seen Gemma and Rex smile shyly at each other before Gemma moved closer to him. How exciting!

When she pulled up to the classroom, Kunsel was just letting the others inside and glanced over at her questioningly before walking inside to get things ready. Davis moved over to her with a grin.

"You look like you just ran a marathon," he teased.

"You would too if you'd forgotten about class and only realised it five minutes before starting time!" Kayli whispered with a laugh as they walked in and took their seats. Cloud was on the other side of Kayli and she smiled at him, although the smile that he returned didn't seem very heartfelt. She wondered sadly if he'd found out he could never be a SOLDIER.

"Alright," Kunsel said as he addressed the class, hooking up the overhead projector and flicking it on to show a picture of some soldiers crouched behind a fort, holding their guns. "Quick test of everything I've been teaching you! Focus on this image. Who can tell me who's in charge?"

Propping her head up in the palm of her hand, Kayli hoped he wouldn't ask her to answer the question. As it was, she didn't think any of them were in charge. They all looked like they were the same rank!

"The guy on the left?" a boy from the back of the room called out hesitantly. Kunsel pointed to make sure they were both talking about the same person and when the boy nodded in confirmation Kunsel shook his head.

"Nope."

Kayli sighed and changed hands.

"Roy? Got any idea?"

Grumbling in her head, she straightened slightly and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Um, well to be honest I don't think any of them are in charge."

Kunsel was silent for a moment as he stared at her and she felt the urge to sink low in her seat. Finally, he grinned.

"You're right! None of them are in charge." The class grumbled loudly and Davis whacked Kayli on the back, obviously impressed.

"That's stupid! Why show us a picture with no one in charge?" Kayli said, agreeing with the majority of the class that it was unfair.

"I wanted to see if anyone would be able to pick up on it!" Kunsel said.

"That's still stupid." Kayli mumbled.

"Alright," Kunsel said with a grin. "I'll show you one that definitely has someone in charge and you can tell me who you think it is."

Shifting awkwardly, Kayli asked, "Me? Like, just me?"

"Yes, you!" Kunsel chuckled and went about changing the image while Davis covered his mouth to keep his laughs in and cringed when Kayli hit him in a 'not-funny' gesture.

When the new image was up, Kayli snorted. The man in charge was so obvious she just knew Kunsel was trying to be funny. Although, as she looked at it closer, she noticed something. There was a man standing further in the background who looked like he had an air of superiority about him.

"What do you think?" Kunsel asked, suddenly leaning on Kayli's desk right in front of her and smirking.

Squaring her shoulders and deciding Kunsel really was trying to catch her out, she stared back at him defiantly and said, "The man at the back."

Kunsel's eyebrows raised and he stepped back, glancing at the image before looking back at her again. "Really? You think it's the guy at the back?"

A few other students snickered, apparently thinking she had to be dumb for not noticing the 'obvious' choice. Kayli narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, despite the fact that she could feel Davis' eyes on her.

"Yes, I do."

Kunsel promptly grinned and clapped his hands together.

"Correct!"

As quickly as that happened, Kunsel moved towards the back and fixed his gaze on another kid, staring intimidatingly for a while before demanding to know who was the second-in-command in the picture.

And the lesson progressed in a similar way. Kunsel managed to single out each and every one of them before the time was up and they practically ran for the door. Davis and Kayli left with Cloud, making their way back to their room in a slightly calmer fashion than the others.

"Cloud, you okay?" Kayli asked gently as they walked. He was drooping a bit today but as soon as she asked he straightened up again.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he nodded. "Just a bit annoyed I guess."

"Annoyed?" Davis asked.

"Apparently... apparently since I can't cope with mako I'm not allowed to be a SOLDIER." he said in a bit of a rush, clenching his hands into fists.

"Cloud, that sucks!" Kayli announced emphatically.

"That's so stupid," Davis said. "They should test us all way before we even become Infantrymen if that's the case."

"It's not that bad," Cloud admitted with a small shrug. "I spoke to Professor Hojo about it a few days ago and he said if I go for another check-up he might be able to figure out why my body was rejecting it and work out a way to eliminate the problem."

They reached their room then and walked in to find Alec reading a textbook. Kayli turned to Cloud with a frown.

"You mean you're gonna be tested on?" she asked.

"I dunno," Cloud shrugged. "If I have to I will. I- I have to become a SOLDIER."

Kayli shrugged it off and nodded to him, smiling to try and seem reassuring before moving over to her bed and sitting down. Lazard had made it sound like Cloud would never get a chance to be a SOLDIER, not that there was a slim chance something could be done about it. It was odd.

"Did you see Rex?" Davis asked, sitting beside her.

"Yeah, I did! He gave Gemma a dog!" she informed him. Davis' eyebrows shot up in surprise and she giggled at his response.

"What?" Alec asked, moving over.

"Zack gave him a dog and then when we arrived he offered it to Gemma," Kayli explained. "I left them alone together since I had to get to class."

"You left my sister alone with Rex?" Alec asked slowly.

Kayli grinned and inched away from him, bumping into Davis. "Maybe? Come on, you know Rex! He's a great guy! I figured he could do with some cheering up."

Alec hesitated and then sighed, giving in. "Fine, I guess you're right."

They continued talking for a while and Davis told Alec how Kayli had gone in their last class, resulting in Alec teasing her since she had complained about how stupid it was to him earlier.

"I don't know," Kayli said in defence with a small shrug. "It just seemed pretty obvious this time."

"They've got a look about them, don't they?" Alec asked and Kayli agreed with a nod.

"You two are so weird," Davis laughed. "I still don't get it at all."

As Kayli reached into her bag and pulled out her book about guns – she needed to read up about them some more since she still couldn't identify each part – she tried to figure out how she had known which of the men was in charge of the rest, especially when she had dismissed her first choice.

Flicking the book open, she suddenly found herself thinking back on the way Liam had acted around his men when she'd been held captive by them. For some strange reason he was reminding her of the obvious choice in the image. Had there been someone else who was making decision from in the background?

A sudden crash sounded from outside and she jumped, looking up as everyone else in the room also looked, all staring at the door. What was happening outside?

"Sounded like someone getting overly excited," Davis chuckled.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was," Kayli agreed, about to go back to her book when the door was flung open and Jinx stood there. He was grinning and about to say something when he noticed the looks he was getting and took a step back.

"Gaia!" Davis shouted. "What happened to your hair?"

Instantly covering his head with his arms, Jinx whimpered.

"It's none of your business!" he snapped sadly. "Can I just tell you what I came here for, please?"

"Wow, yeah," Alec shrugged. "Go ahead."

Unfortunately for Jinx, his audience were far too captivated by the Mohawk-less top of his head and weren't listening to what he had to say at all.

"Oh come on!" Jinx said, finally dropping his arms back to his sides. "You're really gonna wanna know what I know!"

"Was it Reno?" Alec suddenly asked, a small grin on his face.

Jinx glared at him and said slowly, "Why on earth would you think that?"

"Well, he came looking for you a while ago and told me he was planning your death. So, I guess for you this is as bad as dying, right?" Alec shrugged.

"Can we not talk about this please?" Jinx said angrily. "Now, check your PHS's!"

Kayli frowned and pulled hers out, surprised to find that there was a message she hadn't noticed before. Glancing around, she surmised that Davis, Alec and Cloud had all found the same thing from the looks on their faces.

Clicking the message open, she tried to read while Jinx started talking again.

"They've said that the first seven people to accept will get to go on the mission and that's all they're taking! I've already accepted, of course. But it's a mission to Corel! That's my hometown for goodness sake! I'm gonna see my Ma!"

Sure enough, the message contained details of a mission to Corel to kill some monsters that had been seen around. Kayli had never been there before and it sounded like a good chance to get extra hands-on experience with fighting monsters, so she grinned and quickly accepted. Hopefully she'd be one of the first seven.

Davis continued looking down at it for a while before sighing and snapping his PHS shut. Kayli looked at him curiously and he shrugged.

"I'm not gonna go."

"Why not? It'll be awesome!" Kayli exclaimed.

"I'm gonna stay here and keep Rex company as much as possible," he explained. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about me-" Kayli began to laugh that off when Jinx interrupted.

"You two seem incredibly close today, don't you think?" he asked, folding his arms and raising his eyebrows. "Are you sure you'll be able to survive if one goes on the mission and the other stays behind?"

"I'll make do," Kayli laughed, before the laugh went cold and died a sad death. How could she have been so stupid? Jinx didn't know she was a girl!

Davis was pale and staring at her like she'd just sealed his fate.

"So it's true?" Jinx asked smugly.

"What?" Kayli asked, deciding to play dumb and turning to look at Jinx again, trying to ignore the stare Davis still had fixed on her.

"That you and Davis are together." Jinx said simply.

"Well..." Kayli fumbled in the dark for something she could say. She didn't want to lie to him since they'd been getting closer lately and he was actually an okay guy, but was it really a good idea to just keep telling people she was a girl when the situation got awkward? At this rate she'd be telling Lazard she was a girl, too!

"Yeah," Davis suddenly spoke up and grabbed her hand, surprising everyone. "We are."