A/N: This chapter, some new characters are introduced. Also, it is Silvia's first day on the job. Her mission...well, you will just have to read to find out. Hope you enjoy my newest chapter of Beyond The Sands of Time!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy 7 characters from either the games, the short anime, or the movie. I do, however, proudly own Silvia and Shadow and all ideas pretaining to them except for anything pretaining directly to Deepground.

Chapter 5: Paper Cuts

The next morning dawned faster than Silvia would have liked. The alarm clock on the night stand blared insistently. Scowling she rolled over and turned it off and sat up in bed. She would have to get used to getting up early again and it was something she was not looking forward to. Silvia had taken for granted her ability to wake up when she wanted. With a finally forlorn glance at the warm bed, the young teen made her way to the bathroom with her clothes for the day. Shadow raised opened one eye to watch her progress but quickly closed his eye in favor of going back to sleep again.

Her dark brown, straight hair was easily combed from its bedraggled appearance to its customary appearance. Blue-gray eyes watched her from the mirror as she brushed her teeth, splashed some water on her face and donned her clothes. Silvia had been happy when Tseng had pointed her in the direction of a tailor who had been more than happy to make her a couple more sets of her clothes, as well as some normal civilian clothes to wear. It had surprised her to return to her apartment last night and find several sets of outfits hanging on her door.

Once she was finished getting dressed, she returned to the bedroom and grabbed her weapons from their positions on hooks on the walls. Then together Shadow and Silvia made their way out of her apartment and made their way to the Shinra building.

"What do you think our jobs will entail? Do you think they will be the same?" Shadow asked softly while they walked.

Silvia hadn't really thought about that. She had already changed some things from her past, even though they were quite insignificant from what she had seen. Then again, it was impossible to tell until things continued to progress.

"I guess we just have to wait and find out. The Waiting Game, it would appear, has begun." She answered solemnly.

A small grin stole across the wolf's muzzle. He said nothing else but Silvia could tell he was thinking about what she had said, and she could tell he agreed. They had lived together for years and both knew the other like the back of their hand.

The girl and wolf arrived at the entrance to the Shinra Building and walked inside. Silvia showed the guard and the receptionist at the entrance her I.D and then continued on toward the elevator. She was a little surprised to find Tseng waiting for her at the elevator doors. But all he did was nod in greeting and enter the elevator with her.

"Today will be your first day acting as Rufus's guard. You will do whatever task he deems requires your skills and talents. But, as usually, certain things you may decline as well." Tseng explained to the Ex-Tsviet.

Silvia knew what he meant. "Yes, sir." She replied.

Tseng glanced at her. "You may also be given tasks, such as errands or the delivery of documents to specific individuals. If these come up and you do not know where they are located, do not hesitate to ask either myself, Rufus or another Turk."

"I understand." She answered. "And I will make sure Shadow stays in line as well."

Shadow growled softly at Silvia's statement. It almost made Silvia laugh but Silvia just grinned cheekily down at him.

Tseng ignored their antics. After a short ride the elevator stopped and the doors opened. The Turk second-in command exited the elevator. Silvia noticed several people walking about the floor wearing black suits. It didn't take a scientist to figure out that this was the Turk floor. Tseng said nothing to the pair. He quietly made his way down the hallway and disappeared out of sight. The click of his Turk shoes echoed around them as the Elevator door slowly slid shut and continued its accent.

They arrived at Rufus's office a few minutes later after a short elevator switch on floor 59. Silva was amazed at how big the office was. She had forgotten how big it had been. Then again, he was the V.P of Shinra Power and Electric Company. The man himself sat behind his desk looking over some paper work. He looked up, hearing the door to his office slid open. Silvia and Shadow made their wait over to his desk and, after he motioned fro them to take the seats sitting in front of his desk, they sat down. Silvia sat in one chair, while Shadow jumped into the other.

"I see you made it here without incident. I assume Tseng told you the guidelines on your way up?" He asked. Silvia nodded. "Good. Today I thought it would be good for you to get to know the other areas here in the Shinra building. I want you to take this stack of folders and deliver them to their designated areas."

Bending down, Rufus grabbed something from beside his desk and lifted it on to his desk. There were, indeed, a stack of folders. But, it was quite a large stack as well. At least fifteen folders of all varying sizes sat in the stack upon the desk. This would definitely be a long day, but at least Silvia got a chance to re-explore the Shinra building and familiarize herself with the building once again.

Getting up from her seat, Silvia approached the desk and the large stack of folders. "Where exactly do I find the areas I need to drop them off at?" She asked.

"I was prepared for just this occasion. I attached a sticky note to each folder giving detailed directions to each location. You shouldn't have any problems. Also, since I expect it will take you most of the day to deliver these folders, you may do as you please with what time you have left. Tseng has agreed with me. But, this is the last time you will be allowed the day off unless it is urgent." Rufus explained patiently to the young girl.

Silvia smiled slightly. "I see. I better get started then if this will take awhile. Thank you sir, for the sticky notes. I will definitely need them."

Rufus said nothing more; he only went back to the paperwork he had been working on before Silvia and Shadow's arrival. Taking her leave, she hefted the large stack into her arms and made her way to the exit. She stopped outside the door and looked over the folders with their sticky notes. Spreading them out on the floor, the Ex-Tsviet systematically sorted them out from the highest floor to the lowest floor to help her find her way easier. This way she could just stop at the floor she needed and not have to worry about back-tracking. Once satisfied, she picked up her now ordered stack and made her way to the elevator.

The first sticky note directed her to the sixty-fifth floor. Silvia was relieved to see she did not have to face Hojo just yet. She wasn't even sure how she would react in such a meeting. She rode the elevator down to the sixty-fifth floor and exited. Very few people worked on this floor. A few employees walked around from room to room. A few stood next to a coffee machine at the end of the hallway. The place seemed to be a little out of date but it seemed cozy. Taking a deep breath, Silvia began to walk down the hallway toward her destination with Shadow at her heels.

After a few turns, she started to notice that as she passed people they stopped and stared at her. But, once she had continued on her way, they went back to their work. It puzzled her at first, until she realized Shadow was following behind her and wolves didn't usually walk in the open like he did. She almost laughed out loud.

Finally, ahead of her the door she was looking for came into view. She stopped in front of it and knocked. "Come in." A voice answered from the other side. Silvia turned the door knob and entered the room and came face to face with a large scale model of Midgar. It was very detailed and she could tell the person who made it put a lot of effort into building it. A voice chuckled to her right snapping her out of her daze.

"I have never met another person who took such an interest in the construction of Midgar before." A man walked out from behind the model, his eyes danced with amusement. He wore a blue one piece jacket and a pair of black boots. His short, black hair was pushed away from his forehead in a style that looked pretty good on the man. She had never met the man but she felt she had recognized him from somewhere.

"Sorry. The model is just so detailed. It looks like some took a painstaking long amount of time to create the model. "She answered honestly.

"This model did take a long time to build. But it helps a lot with our departments work." He explained. Silvia could see a proud glint in the man's eyes. It was easy to tell this man enjoyed his work. "By the way, my name is Reeve Tuesti, department manager of the Urban Development Department." He held out a hand for her to shake as he spoke.

Now she knew where she had seen this man before. He was the leader of the World Regensis Organization. Silvia had never met the man face to face, but now she wished she had.

Silvia smiled at the man and shook his hand. "I'm Silvia Lark. It's nice

to meet you."

"Who is your little friend here, if I may ask?" Reeve asked, seeing Shadow sitting next to Silvia.

"Mr. Reeve this is Shadow, my friend and partner." She replied honestly. Shadow stared up at her a few moments before understanding what Silvia had done by introducing him to Reeve the way she had. She didn't want to draw attention to the fact Shadow could speak the human language, so she answered for him.

Reeve smiled at her answer. "It is good to have such a friend on your side."

Both Silvia and Reeve began to talk about the model in detail. Reeve pointed out details that most people would over look and Silvia asked questions about sectors. Reeve even explained some of the ideas he had to improve conditions below the plate.

It made Silvia feel happy to see the man talking so enthusiastically about the model of Midgar. It would seem the man cared deeply for the city. She remembered Reeve when he ran the WRO. The man was quite smart and always had an idea to help better living conditions. Now she wished more than ever that she had met him before.

"Ah! Will you look at the time! I would love to talk more about my ideas to someone who actually cares but I am supposed to be at a meeting shortly." Reeve suddenly looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I never asked why you came to visit."

Silvia laughed softly. "Well, I came to drop these papers off to you but it seems I got a little distracted as well."

Reeve chuckled and took the folder she held out for him from the top of the stack. Both said their good-byes and made their way to their designated destination. Silvia was surprised she had spent two hours speaking to Reeve. Shadow said nothing about the time she had wasted but she could tell he found it amusing. Together they retraced their steps and waited for the elevator to return to their floor.

"You could have reminded me." Silvia muttered under her breath. She made sure to keep her voice low enough that anyone on the floor couldn't hear but Shadow. The only answer she got was a low laugh from her friend.

It took most of the day to deliver the rest of the folders to their rightful floors. Silvia was only glad that she didn't have to go anywhere near the science department. Most of the folders just went to normal Shinra employees. The last folder was delivered successfully, and Silvia glanced down to see where the last folder needed to be delivered. The name and directions on the folder completely surprised the dark haired teen. The last folder was to be delivered to General Sephiroth on the SOLDIER floor. Thinking back, Silvia realized that on her first day as a bodyguard to Rufus he had her act as his guard in his office and do regular secretary work. She had never delivered folders to people throughout the Shinra building. Had she already changed something already?

Shaking her head, Silvia boarded the elevator once again and made her way down to the SOLDIER floor. Shadow sat next to her in the elevator but the wolf-like creature didn't say anything about the revelation. Peering down at her friend she realized he had a look of deep concentration on his face. Curious, the Ex-Tsviet was about to ask what he was thinking when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

Both stepped out of the elevator and made their way to their destination. Silvia decided to ask Shadow what he was thinking about later. Both had never met the General of SOLDIER before and she hoped he wasn't crazy like his fans. Then again, his Fan Club was probably crazy stalkers.

The Ex-Tsviet was a little surprised to see the halls so empty. But, with a glance at the clock, she knew why. Most of the cadets and other SOLDIER's were probably in class at three in the afternoon. The teen was also relieved.

It Silvia and Shadow a few minutes to find the Generals office. The SOLDIER floor was easy to navigate, it was just the fact both kept getting distracted by the sights on the floor itself. Finally both stood outside the Great General's office. She was just about to knock when she noticed Shadow sit down to the left of the door and curl up to sleep. Sending a scowl his way she mouthed the word "traitor." He ignored her and closed his eyes. Silvia rolled her blue-gray eyes in response and knocked on the door.

"Enter." A smooth, baritone voice called from the other side of the door. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped inside.

The General Sephiroth of SOLDIER sat behind his desk. His trademark black leather jacket hung on a coat rack next to the door and Masamune sat in a sword rack behind the man. The man's, long silver hair cascaded down his back, not one hair out of place. It was a little strange. His cat-like eyes looked up when she entered.

"I am sorry to intrude, sir, but I have this folder that I was given to deliver to you." For the first time Silvia noticed the rather large stack of papers, at least three feet high, resting a top the General's desk. It made her feel a little sorry for the General.

The General motioned gracefully towards the stack next to him. Taking his soundless directions, she walked over and sat the folder on the stack. She was careful to make sure it was positioned so the large stack wouldn't fall. Looking over, she noticed Sephiroth had gone back to his earlier work. The rustle of paper from the far side of the room cause her to turn to see what made the sound. Across the office, lounging on a couch against the wall, sat a man dressed all in red. His red duster and infamous Rapier made the man stand out like a sore thumb. His auburn, red hair was cut in a fashionable style and a silver earring hung in his left ear. As always, a book was held open in his hand. The auburn haired man said nothing to her presence. Deciding both men weren't going to dismiss her she turned to leave and began to make her way to the door. However, pausing at the door, the Ex-Tsviets conscious began to make her feel sorry for the man. 'Damn you conscious!' Turning back around, the approached the General's desk once again.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Sir, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to help you finish your paperwork." Silvia replied staring steadily back at him and not flinching.

"I see. Don't you have other work to do than help me finish this paperwork. Probably something much more…entertaining." Sephiroth replied evenly.

Silvia smiled slightly. "Actually, you are the last person I had to drop off paperwork to today. Tseng and Rufus have given me the day off once I finished delivering the paperwork assigned to me." She answered, trying to appear professional. "Plus, I don't really have anything to do for the rest of the day anyway and I hate just sitting around doing nothing."

The General's eyebrow's quirked and a look of amusement crossed his face. "In that case, I would very much appreciate the help." He motioned to the chair in front of his desk.

Silvia took the offered seat. "So, what would you like me to do to help?" She asked politely.

Grabbing the stack, Sephiroth dragged it over and sat the stack in front of her. She was amazed that the man did so without even tittering the stack one bit. "Will you read through this, and summarize them for me when you hand them to me. It will save time."

Silvia was completely surprised the man even accepted her offer, but shaking her head mentally she got to work. It was a good thing she was a quick reader and was able to read the papers, summarize them for Sephiroth and hand them to him to sign.

"This one sounds quite promising for the SOLDIER program. It says that more funds will be sent to the SOLDIER program but, in fine print, it adds that the extra funds will be taken out of those for the Cadets and the regulation Shinra army." Silvia told the General quietly as she handed over the fifteen page packet.

Sephiroth said nothing but he set the paper over to the side without signing it. For hours the only sound was Silvia's summarization, the rustle of turning pages from the auburn haired man and Sephiroth's pen scratching over the paper. Silvia smirked lightly when the door to the office cracked open after the first hour of helping the General with his paperwork and Shadow slipped in. The silver haired man said nothing to the wolf creature's presence; he just watched with a raised eyebrow as the wolf creature walk over and lay down next to Silvia's chair. The rest of the time continued in complete silence.

Finally, Silvia reached for the final folder left in the enormous stack and began to read it. Meanwhile, the General signed a small packet of paper at different intervals. Once finished Silvia summarized the last packet and handed it to Sephiroth to sign. He nodded as she handed it to him and began to sign his name.

At first, Silvia had thought the man would be cool, and very unsociable, even border lining on rude. She was very surprised to find that the famous General really didn't live up to a lot of the rumors she had heard about him. To her, he just seemed to be a little socially awkward from what she had seen today.

"Thank you for your time miss…" The General began.

"Oh! Sorry, I never introduced myself. My name is Silvia Lark. And the wolf is my friend Shadow." Silvia replied shyly. She couldn't believe she had forgotten to introduce herself again! She really needed to fix that.

Sephiroth smiled minutely. "Miss Silvia, thank you for your help. If you hadn't helped me I would be stuck in this office till very late into the night. Is there something you would like for your trouble?"

XxXxXxXxX

The General of the Shinra army studied the girl in front of him. She seemed sincere in her offer to help, but he knew a lot of his 'fans' always started out that way. Sadly, soon after they turned into, what did Angeal and Genesis call them? Ah, yes, 'Stalkers.' The young girl stood up from her seat and the wolf sat up as well from its position next to her chair. That was another thing that confused the General. The wolf seemed so tame but yet he couldn't help but notice something in its eyes that said otherwise.

"No thank you, sir. I helped you because I just felt like doing so. I don't need anything for doing something I volunteered to do." The girl answered.

For the second time that day, since the girl had entered his office, he was confused by her words. He didn't let it outwardly show but he was intrigued by the girl in front of him. Someone who had 'voluntarily' helped him finish his paperwork hours in advance and wanted nothing in return.

Sephiroth watched the young dark haired girl say her good-byes and leave the office, the wolf, Shadow, following in her wake.

For the first time in a long while, Sephiroth realized that the girl, Silvia, didn't stare at him with star-struck eyes or admiration. Instead, all he saw was someone who seemed to look past his titles and see the man underneath. It was a little unnerving to see such a look from someone so young. But, the look was one he remembered led to the friendship between himself, Genesis and Angeal.

But there was one thing that really struck him as odd. If he wasn't mistaken, Sephiroth could have sworn he saw the undeniable eyes of one who had been unmistakingly exposed to mako injections. How much could the girl been exposed to he did not know. Looking over to his auburn haired friend, he asked a silent question with his eyes that only the other man would understand. The auburn haired man smirked and nodded. He had seen the exchange between the two as well. Sephiroth decided that maybe they should ask Angeal's opinion on the matter as well.

XxXxXxXxX

"What is on your mind, my friend?" Silvia asked Shadow after they returned to the apartment. She had been wondering what was on her friends mind since before they had entered the General's office. Shadow had looked like something was seriously on his mind and it was a puzzle Silvia wished he would share with her.

"Silvia, did you notice as well the change that took place today?" Shadow finally asked once the apartment door was closed and Silvia sat on the couch.

"Yes, I did." She answered. "Before, we never delivered folders on our first day of work. Instead, we had stayed in Rufus's office and did small tasks for him."

Jumping onto the couch, Shadow laid down next to her, but his red eyes stared intently at her. "Doesn't that mean we have already changed something?"

Caught off guard, the Ex-Tsviet stared at her friend in awe. Shadow was right. Had they already changed something without meaning too? But, what had they actually changed already? Everything seemed to have gone the same way as before, accept the deliver job they had done today. Silvia's look turned thoughtful as she tried to think back to see what could have changed. Suddenly, her eyes brightened. She knew what had changed. Looking over to Shadow she realized he had came to the same conclusion.

"Before, we acted like we didn't care at all. When we first met Tseng and Rufus we acted like everything was boring. We didn't thank them for anything. And when Tseng gave us the tour we never asked question, we just followed him while not saying anything. And the trip to the Slums was totally uneventful." Silvia said triumphantly.

Shadow chuckled quietly. "It would seem we will have to thank Reno and Rude sometime."

A/N: Silvia and Shadow tend to compliment each other. Shadow points things out that Silvia thinks way to much about and misses. And, I am slowly explaining her personality bit by bit. I will be also posting another side fic to this one that are events that happen inbetween some of the chapters. The side fic is mostly being created because the chapters that I will be posting in it are one-shots dealing with certain characters in my main fic. It will be called Normal Days Within Shinra, so keep an eye out for it. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Read and Review please!