Published on: 02/16/2016.

Chapter 15

Angeal and Genesis parted from the rest of them in Junon, vanishing in the city's shadows. The two other teams were left scrambling to find transportation to the West Continent in a town slowly slipping under Deepground's dominion. Thankfully, Tseng's contacts came through for them. It did mean that they travelled hidden in a ship's hold, but Sephiroth wasn't complaining.

He would have liked to talk to Cloud with the benefit of Zack and Valentine's presences, to test where they were now standing with each other. But the man spent the whole crossing sullen and withdrawn, only answering terse monosyllables to Zack's conversational overtures.

A belated reaction to what he had revealed to Sephiroth? He deemed more prudent to let him get it out of his system while they still had the opportunity of distance.

The second day after the launch of their operation dawned to find them in Costa del Sol. It was still too early for the tourists to be out, so they had no audience when they met with a shady redhead and his dark-skinned companion in a parking lot near the harbour.

"Good luck, yo," the redhead muttered, throwing car keys at Sephiroth and Angeal before slinking back from where he had come.

Despite the absence of black suits and sunglasses, the two men were familiar to Sephiroth.

Their two new vehicles were a dusty pickup truck and an old jeep. Having farther to travel in as little time as possible, team Wutai got the jeep. They gathered together for quick goodbyes.

"Don't make a detour to see your girlfriend, Zack," Sephiroth warned.

"I know, I know," Zack sighed, dejected. "It's just a shame, Cosmo Canyon is practically on the way! But I'll be good, promise. The hardest part will be crossing to Wutai. Commerce had barely been re-established after the war. Even the Turks didn't have enough time to burrow their talons over there."

"If all else fails," Cloud said, speaking up for the first time since they left Junon, "head to Rocket Town."

"What-Town now?"

Cloud appeared taken aback.

"Ah… It's not a town yet? On the plain west of the Nibel mountain, there should be a small settlement. Shinra scientists."

"That's not on the coast," Valentine said, frowning.

"No, but I know a man there. Cid Highwind. By now he'll have finished building a state of the art airship for Shinra."

"So what, we steal it?"

Cloud had a strange expression, somewhere between a wince and a smile.

"Uh, no. I wouldn't recommend it. But tell him that Deepground will confiscate it as soon as they get there. That should make him froth at the mouth enough to help you."

"And if it doesn't?" Valentine asked.

Cloud shrugged, unconcerned.

"Then add that Deepgroud will definitely cancel the Space Exploration program. You'll be in Wutai in the blink of an eye."

Zack and Valentine soon climbed into their car and departed. Sephiroth watched them until they disappeared in the street, bracing himself for the vast unknown that would be a few days spent exclusively in Cloud's company.

When he turned around, the man was right behind him.

"I'll drive," he said, extending an expectant hand for the keys.

Try as he might, Sephiroth couldn't stop himself from taking offence. He frowned.

"I don't know to whom you have been talking, but my driving is perfectly adequate, Cloud. If you can't even trust me with this, I hardly see how we'll be able to work together."

Cloud blinked. His lips curved up like he was genuinely amused, startling Sephiroth.

"I have motion sickness, Sephiroth. I feel better when I'm driving. You don't want me in a crabby mood for the rest of the journey."

"Oh," he said, feeling like an idiot. Of course he would have the same ailment as Strife, why hadn't he thought of that? It perfectly explained his behaviour in the boat.

He passed the keys without any more arguing and circled the truck to the passenger side. Cloud settled in the driver's seat, threw the car into gear and set them on their way with the obvious ease of long habit. This, too, surprised Sephiroth. He didn't know why. He remembered Strife mentioning his brother's skill with mechanics.

He found himself staring at the unconscious grace in Cloud's movements and had to force himself to look out the windshield.

Rain found himself unwinding the longer he drove. His stomach had ceased its boat-induced rolling and the familiarity of the dusty road and the engine's purr did wonders for his mood. He was so used to travelling that he inevitably grew tense when he was confined to one place for too long.

He hesitated a moment before cranking his window open. Sephiroth made no objection to the cold December air that drafted in the cabin. Rain relaxed further, letting the wind play with his hair. It felt nearly as good as being back on his bike. Sephiroth was a surprisingly pleasant companion. Even the silence between them was comfortable.

Rain had no doubt he would have felt much differently about the situation if it hadn't been for that last fateful talk.

He caught the curious glance the man was aiming at him. Sephiroth seemed to take it as permission to engage conversation.

"So, what did you mean when you said you've never been to Corel? Am I wrong in thinking there's a story here?"

Trust him to systematically catch what he was not saying.

"Corel was destroyed in the explosion of their Mako reactor a few years from now. Then a billionaire decided to build a giant amusement park on its ruins."

Sephiroth's eyebrows rose.

"Much as I'm sure everyone loves a good amusement park, that sounds like something we should try to change."

"Mako reactors sounds like something I want to change. Otherwise the Planet won't need Jenova to die."

Now Sephiroth's eyebrows really took flight.

"I didn't peg you as an eco-militant."

Rain glared at the wariness in his voice. He tried to remember that Sephiroth had been raised on nothing but Shinra's propaganda. Even when he had first joined AVALANCHE, openly caring about the Planet had been met with suspicion and accusations of eco-terrorism. There was no reason for the situation to be different now.

"It's not about the hippie life, Sephiroth," he said, exasperated. "You've seen the Planet heal Genesis with your own eyes. You know she's alive, at least in her own way. What makes you think sucking every last drop of her blood is going to go over well for us?"

"That sounds all well and good, but very impractical. Modern society can't function without Mako energy, Cloud."

A humourless smile.

"Yet we managed."

Sephiroth's eyes swivelled on him. Faced with the bright curiosity in them, Rain found himself talking about the consequences of the Meteor Fall, humanity's rushed struggle to revert to old energies and design new ones. Of course Sephiroth read between the lines. It was easy to see the moment he realized that to achieve this, Shinra must have collapsed; his eyes widened. Yet he didn't try to question it, only pursuing what little Rain knew of coal mining and energy sources research. He was better informed on the Mako reactors' dismantling process, as he had kept a close eye on Shinra's last remains.

Before Rain knew it, they were halfway to Corel and he had spent more than an hour discussing technical and political agendas with Sephiroth. His enhanced body was the only reason his throat didn't feel sore.

He was surprised at himself. His willingness to talk so much could only be explained by how eager he was to make Sephiroth understand where he was coming from. It was… troubling.

Sephiroth had settled back in his seat, seemingly digesting everything he had been told. Silence lasted them a few miles.

When Sephiroth broke it, the formality in his voice was startling after the easy conversation they had just had.

"May we talk about what you told me two days ago?"

Ah… Yeah, that would do it. Rain managed to limit his reaction to the tightening of his hand on the steering wheel.

"What about it?"

"Need we fear that Hojo will engage in similar experiments now that I am eschewing his control?"

He shifted restlessly. He couldn't pretend that the thought hadn't occurred to him… But what was he supposed to do about it?

"I don't know… He's been busy with these monsters he sent after you, plus he can't have that much J cells available that he could work on both projects at once…" Maybe. Guesses, all of this. Guesses were all he had. His voice hardened. "Sephiroth, if I'm ever in a position where I can't… Don't let Hojo get his hands on Cloud."

He should ask this of Zack and Vincent too. Cloud had to be out of harm's way in Cosmo Canyon for now, but better safe than sorry.

Sephiroth was scrutinizing him intently.

"Why would Hojo take any particular interest in Strife? Why did he take an interest in you?"

Because he couldn't fathom how a mere infantryman had gotten the drop on his perfect SOLDIER. But that wasn't the answer Sephiroth was looking for.

"Do you remember what I told you of Experiment S?"

Sephiroth didn't say a word. Of course he did.

"You were injected with both Mako and J cells while you were still an embryo. Angeal and Genesis, too… They were both put in contact with J cells before they were born. I don't know much about biology, but even I can tell that it's because an unborn child has no natural defences of its own. No way to fight that kind of intrusion…"

He drifted off, half-remembered flashes of green and glints of harsh light on scalpels stealing his breath for an instant.

"Cloud."

He jerked, nearly sending the truck careening off the thankfully empty road.

"Sorry," he said, trying not to pant too obviously. "Some rare persons are born with no natural defences against J cells. Persons like me, like Cloud. It's why I – we – never made the SOLDIER cut."

Sweat beaded on his brow. A short silence filled the cabin. He just about jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"I upset you. I'm sorry."

Rain stared. Too many thoughts whirled around in his brain, too many emotions roused by these simple words. Sephiroth seemed to understand. He squeezed his shoulder and released it, turning to look out the window. Something that could have been a scream or a sob burned in Rain's chest. To keep it silent, he bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.

He had never thought two sentences could be so powerful. They shone with so much meaning he was blinded.

The village Rain knew as Old Corel lay in the shadow of the mountain where its inhabitants used to mine coal before Shinra's Mako-propelled bid for power. The incomplete skeleton of the new Mako reactor peeked above the mountain range, farther away than he had expected. He frowned. How had the town been destroyed from such a distance? The setup reminded him of Nibelheim an awful lot and he suppressed a shiver of ill omen. This reeked of a patented Shinra cover-up story.

But for now, the village was still standing… and besieged by an entire military camp.

"They can't need that many troops to subdue such a small village," Sephiroth observed as they approached a barricade on the road, disguises firmly in place – hats, worker clothes and sunglasses to hide the glow of their eyes.

A Deepground sergeant gestured for them to stop the truck. Rain obeyed without any fuss and rolled down his window.

"Hey, officer, what's the problem here?" he said, thickening his natural countryside accent. "There a war or somethin'? We don't want trouble."

"Where do you think you're going?" he barked without answering.

"In town? We're just merchants looking for some business. Friend of ours told us to contact this man here, uh… Barret Wallace."

He hesitated before dropping Barret's name, afraid he was bringing trouble to his old friend. The sergeant hummed.

"Wallace, uh?"

He had his men search the back of the truck, but they only found boxes of odds and ends. Masamune and Rain's swords were carefully hidden in an invisible compartment behind the driver seat.

The sergeant threw open the passenger side door and heaved himself inside, forcing Sephiroth to scoot over so he could sit beside him.

"Drive, then. I'll show you the way."

He intended to check their story with Barret. Rain swore in his head and tried to ignore Sephiroth's shoulder where it brushed against his own, rigid with outrage.

They drove through the camp, four rows of tents and men milling around. It felt like walking into a trap and hearing the door slamming behind their backs. Finally they crossed a line of trees and entered the village proper. The sergeant directed them through unknown streets swimming with military presence and had them stop before a small house.

A man exited just as they climbed out. Despite the younger face and the two flesh arms, there was no mistaking that musculature or the thunderous frown that accompanied it.

"Somethin' wrong, sergeant?" Barret Wallace asked as they joined him.

"These men say they're here to see you, Wallace. That true?" It was barked in a strange mixture of accusation and half-assed politeness, like the officer was trying to be cordial but had neither the character nor any real urge to manage it.

Barret considered them with wariness. He seemed taken aback by the small but warm smile Rain addressed him before he could wrestle his expression back under control. He had not realized how pleased he would be to see another familiar face.

But it didn't erase their problem. According to everything he could dig out of his memory about Barret's past, as well as his friend and the sergeant's attitudes, Barret was currently cooperating with Shinra. He was probably even one of the company's biggest supporters in town.

He had no choice but to take a blind risk. He held out a hand.

"Barret Wallace? Yeah, we've been in contact with a guy named Dyne? He said to talk to you."

Dyne was Barret's old friend, Marlene's biological father. Surprise flashed in Barret's eyes. He grabbed Rain's hand in a firm grip, although to someone well-trained to his moods, his continued suspicion was obvious.

"Yeah, I was expectin' these guys," he nonetheless said to the officer. "Thanks for bringin' them."

The man huffed.

"Don't bring guests into town now. The situation is volatile enough as it is. We don't need the extra work."

"Sorry 'bout the trouble. Won't happen again."

"Make sure it doesn't."

With that charming farewell, he walked off.

"You might a' well come in," Barret said, turning his back without a glance at them.

Sephiroth caught Rain's eye, mutely questioning him. He communicated his doubts with a grimace before following Barret in.

He was unsurprised when the door slammed shut behind them. Barret's face had grown tight and angry. A woman, pale and tired-looking, peeked in the hall with a worried frown.

"Myrna, sweetie, you let me settle this, 'kay?"

After a moment of hesitation, she disappeared further in the house.

"I told Dyne I wanted nothin' to do with these terrorists clowns of his," Barret growled in barely-contained rage. "I gotta think of my wife, dammit! I don't care if these Deepground bastards are the worst assholes on the face of the damned Planet! I'm not gonna defy Shinra!"

"Terrorists?" Rain repeated.

"AVALANCHE," Sephiroth said with the tone of someone who had just realized something. "That's why there are so many troops here."

"What?" Rain stared at him, uncomprehending. AVALANCHE was Barret's organization, and it wasn't supposed to exist yet… Was it? "Oh." He remembered now. Barret had re-used the name of another eco-terrorist group. The first AVALANCHE movement had been much more destructive and its activities had started just a few months ago. Cloud had even had a mission against them before his departure from Shinra.

"Yeah, that's right! Damn AVALANCHE threatened the Mako reactor, and them troops are there to protect it. That reactor is Corel's future! We ain't gonna let it fly like that, and I don't care what Dyne say! AVALANCHE, Deepground, them's all the same to me. Bastards, all of them. But I gotta protect my own!"

Barret stopped suddenly.

"Hey wait. You ain't with AVALANCHE?"

"We aren't with Dyne either," Rain confessed. "I just needed an excuse so you'd let us in. I wanted to ask for your help, but…"

But he had forgotten about Barret's wife and her illness. Now it seemed obvious that Barret wouldn't want to take any risk to help them. He had even refused assistance to Dyne. He couldn't ask anything of him in these circumstances.

Yet without any contact in Corel, it would be very difficult to assess the situation and devise a workable plan.

"We won't trouble you any longer," Sephiroth said, seemingly sensing his change of mind. "But if you could tell us how to contact this Dyne, we would appreciate it."

Both Barret and Rain blinked at him.

"Why do I gotta do that?" Barret asked in suspicion. "I don't wanna help Dyne, but I don't wanna betray him neither. Helping you guys'd mean one or the other."

"Barret."

The mysterious Myrna had reappeared and was considering them with a kind smile.

"I don't think they mean any harm. Won't you let them in? At least stay for dinner," she said to Rain and Sephiroth. "Let us get to know you."

They exchanged a glance while Barret grumbled a protest that was mostly for show.

"We would be delighted," Rain answered for both of them. "Thank you."

Myrna waved them in the cosy dining room, Barret bringing the rear. However, once there, her warm expression turned stern.

"Now, won't you let us see your faces? It is a bit rude to keep these hats indoor."

The reprimand caused Rain's cheeks to burn. This woman somewhat reminded him of the Aerith of his past. He cleared his throat in embarrassment and shed the hat and the sunglasses. If his Mako eyes caused her to look taken aback, it was nothing to the viciousness of Barret's curses when Sephiroth followed his example and his telltale hair cascaded down his back.

"SOLDIER!"

"Ex, actually," Sephiroth said calmly.

"You don't have anything to fear from us," Rain was quick to reassure.

While Barret looked unconvinced, his wife merely nodded.

"We never had much to fear from SOLDIERs. They are a decent bunch, on the whole. It's that Deepground sort that…" She sighed. "Well, I'm Myrna."

They exchanged introductions, then, at her invitation, proceeded to share a simple but hearty meal. Conversation was a bit stilted on Rain's part, as he struggled to find anything uncompromising to say. Sephiroth mostly followed his lead, but Myrna was pleasant company. Even Barret seemed to unthaw somewhat as it became clear that they weren't a threat to his family.

Then Myrna attempted to pick up the heavy serving dish and tripped. Rain, having been searching for signs of her poor health all along, was there before Barret could even get out of his seat.

"Here, let me. I'll do it."

He helped her up and relieved her of the weight. She smiled at him in gratitude. Up close, he could see she had paled even more and was short of breath.

"Ah, thank you. I'm sorry, I'm very tired. I think I'll retire for the evening. It was a pleasure to meet you, Rain, Sephiroth."

They nodded back. Once she was gone and Rain had deposited the dish in the kitchen, Barret rose abruptly. He seemed to have made up his mind.

"Awright. I wanna believe you guys ain't here to mess things up for anyone. But if you do, well… you'll have me to answer to, you hear?"

Rain didn't answer. Whatever he could say now wouldn't appease him in the slightest. He wanted to help Barret, but stopping Deepground had to come first.

Barret gave them directions to a spot in the mountain where they could make contact with Dyne and his AVALANCHE allies. They thanked him, disguised themselves once more and went back to the truck.

"You intend for us to ally ourselves with AVALANCHE?" Rain asked once they were en route to the rendezvous point, the car's headlights painting their way on the dark trail.

He was careful to keep his voice neutral. While he didn't like the idea, it was probably their only option. Sephiroth shrugged.

"Do you have an objection? They share your convictions, do they not?"

He made a face.

"I don't know about that. I don't… remember much about them. I just heard stories… There is something fishy about their leading members. I don't really know what."

"Hmm. Then we'll keep our eyes open."

He nodded. It was all they could do.

AVALANCHE was understandably very interested in the jewel of the SOLDIER program falling in their lap. They were swiftly ushered in their temporary headquarters, a network of disaffected mines running deep in the mountain's bowels, and met their leader in under an hour.

She was a young girl named Elfé, who Sephiroth had apparently fought once before. His respect for her was obvious, which was enough to tell Rain that despite being unenhanced, she was more than she appeared. Her second introduced himself as Shears.

Elfé appeared reserved and almost lethargic, and Shears was openly wary of them. Yet they seemed at first glance to be good people, who genuinely believed in their cause and the necessity for Shinra to fall. Deepground's emergence had only cemented their conviction. Were Rain's doubts unfounded?

"The Restrictors, uh?" Shears said. "If we bring them down, Deepground is history?"

"It's going to be more complicated than that," Rain intervened, having let Sephiroth lead the negotiations until that point. "But it's a start."

"A start to what? What's your interest in this, anyway? Because getting rid of Deepground is good, but it's Shinra we're gunning for. If we do this and you end up stabbing us in the back to run back to your President…"

"Oh, no," Sephiroth said with a faint smirk. "I have no interest in returning at President Shinra's beck and call. Besides, these days I'm mostly following Rain's judgment, and his goals when it comes to Shinra are remarkably similar to yours."

Elfé and Shears turned to Rain, startled. They seemed to be reviewing their opinion of his importance in the pecking order. He shifted on his feet, embarrassed. Sephiroth was good on his word and made most of the decisions pertaining to their moves, but he obviously enjoyed surprising the people he talked to and putting Rain on the spot.

"So, we kill the Restrictor here in Corel," Elfé summarised. "But he's going to be well protected."

"Rain and I can take care of the Restrictor himself. We mostly need a distraction so we won't have to battle the rest of the army while doing so."

"We're guerrilla fighters," Shears reminded them. "Why do you think we're holed up here instead of fighting? We can't hold our own against all the men Shinra brought here, especially all the Mako enhanced ones. Our Ravens are good, but…"

He trailed off and gritted his teeth.

"Ravens?" Rain repeated.

"Super soldiers troops created by Fuhito, our scientist," Elfé said. "However, their humanity is…" She stopped. "Well. They are mostly under Fuhito's control. They'll help, but they won't be enough."

Fuhito. Rain carefully stored the name in his memory. There seemed to be some dissension here, and it may well be what he had been looking for.

"So we need something more," Sephiroth mused aloud. "A good strategy could make the difference. How well do you know the mountains?"

"We've got locals who agreed to join. They…"

A chirp from his pocket distracted Rain from the conversation. He took out his phone to see Cloud's daily checkup message. He was jokingly complaining about the spotty mobile coverage and how he would never manage to stay on top of his (non-existent, Rain knew from experience, unless you counted the newsletters) emails. His lips quirked as he answered in kind.

That's when it hit him.

He grabbed Sephiroth's arm, interrupting him mid-sentence.

"I know where we can find more troops," he said, and Sephiroth was clearly taken aback by the elation in his eyes.

"OK. Tseng says he's managed to hack the email address."

Cloud was pecking at his phone under the starlight, not glancing up to inform them of this seemingly important fact. Sephiroth turned away lest he glared at the top of his head. It had been a while since he had been a simple cog in the time traveller's scheming, and he had not missed the feeling.

"Does he intend to explain what we're doing here anytime soon?" Shears asked, impatient.

Sephiroth shrugged.

"I wouldn't hold my breath."

"We shouldn't stay here too long. It's not safe," their guide said.

Although a bit shorter, Dyne was nearly as burly as his friend Barret. He had claimed to know the mountains like the back of his hand and had agreed to lead them to a spot meeting Cloud's requirements. Shears had accompanied them. The four of them were now perched on a near invisible ledge just above one part of the Shinra encampment; specifically, the one housing the SOLDIERs.

They had been parked away from the rest of the army like so much cattle. He could see figures evolving like silent ghosts amongst the dark tents, following the paths lit by a rare lamp and the glow of their own eyes. It was a far cry from the well-lit, boisterous Deepground settlements.

Although he made sure to keep his face blank, it angered and saddened Sephiroth in turn. He had not been close to the Second and Third Class SOLDIERs, but he had often worked with them. They were good men, and didn't deserve this miserable treatment. What they endured during the day was probably even worse.

"You're up, Sephiroth," Cloud said, snapping him out of his musings.

He tore his attention from the sorry sight below.

"Oh?" he said, neutral.

"If you could pass them a message, what would you say to SOLDIERs?"

The abrupt demand stole the breath from his lungs. He stared in the faintly glowing blue eyes. They stared right back, burning; daring him to deny what they both knew had just been on his mind. Daring him to deny he cared.

"Here. Type it out."

Cloud held out his phone. Sephiroth took it to see a blank email open.

For a while he didn't move. At first he thought he had no words, nothing to say. But even as he was going to convince himself of it, they came, one after another, trickling to him as if he had been shaping them all along in a corner of his unconscious mind and they had only been waiting for a signal.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

It didn't matter what Cloud's game was this time. He owed them this.

So he wrote.

He wrote of his unplanned departure, of the regret he felt for everyone he left behind to deal with Shinra's sinister plotting. Of how honoured he was to have fought with each and every one of them, and of his belief that they were the best left in Shinra's rotten core. He urged them to stand tall against the malice and the humiliations and to never forget what SOLDIER really stood for. He swore to them that the day would soon come where they would once more be proud of what they did, even should that day bring Shinra's downfall.

He handed the phone back when he was done.

Cloud looked at the screen for a long moment. When he finally pressed some buttons, Sephiroth could have sworn his eyes glistened in the dark. Without a word, Cloud joined them at the ledge to gaze down at the camp.

"What are we looking for?" Sephiroth asked.

Cloud took a deep breath.

"Subscribers to the Silver Elite newsletter."

Before Sephiroth could turn to him in surprise, rings and chirps of all nature rang out in the night. The ground below suddenly lit with the glow of countless phone screens. The faint whisper of voices stopped. SOLDIERs froze where they stood, reading in reverent silence.

Sephiroth's breath froze in his throat. Dyne swore.

"What's that?"

"It's an army," Shears whispered fervently.

Cloud gave a breathless laughter.

"There are… way more than I expected. They'll follow you, Sephiroth. Lead them and they'll follow."

Pride seized his chest, pride the likes of which he had never known he was capable of feeling. Yes, it was an army.

His army.

Rain's idea turned out to be exactly the breakthrough they needed. Contact was made with the creators of Angeal, Genesis and Zack's fan clubs. Some of them openly wept when their respective hero called them in person. All of them were ready and eager to help.

SOLDIERs weren't the only subscribers. Regular troopers and even civilians received the emails. Those last were encouraged to stay strong and to cooperate with Deepground until such a time when a successful rebellion could be launched. The infantrymen were given the same instructions as the SOLDIERs: be alert. You might be called upon sooner than you think.

It was a gamble, broadcasting their message so widely. Any subscriber could be a spy or a turncoat. But the benefits far outweighed the risks.

So what if Deepground realized they were up to something? They didn't know where, when and what. Meanwhile, Kunsel reported that morale in the non-Deepground ranks had never been higher. Fan clubs inscriptions exploded and Tseng had to rig a server to reroute the massive amount of emails before Shinra's surveillance tripped all over them.

By the time the third Restrictor set foot in Wutai where Zack and Vincent were waiting for him, an army had been born all over the world.

They called themselves First Class.

Sitting by the sacred fire in Cosmo Canyon, Cloud sat staring at the numerous emails that had appeared on his phone over the course of the last two days. Only one was addressed to him specifically.

'Thanks for the idea, little brother,' it read.

Cloud wasn't ashamed to say he had cried like a baby when he had seen it. Never before had he realized that if he, a kid growing up in nowhere town with the support of a brother he looked up to, had felt the need to search for a role model in Sephiroth, Rain would have had it ten times worse.

Rain had thought of the Silver Elite because he had once been a member of it. And that man who had not so long ago refused to trust in anything Sephiroth said or did because his faith had been so utterly betrayed, that man was using that very same faith as a stepping stone to their future.

'I love you,' he typed. 'Stay safe.'

"Cloud?"

He glanced up and smiled as Tifa came to sit next to him. Nanaki, the strange talking feline Rain had recommended to them, circled back in that graceful stride of his to lay down on his other side. He had quickly become their friend and spent much of his time with them, helping alleviate the boredom of their stay. However, he was even closer to Aerith.

"Aerith is still with Bugenhagen," Tifa said as if guessing his thoughts. "They say she's making a lot of progress."

"That's great. She must be happy."

"What have you got here?" Nanaki asked, nosing his arm.

"Just messaging my brother."

He hesitated, but the warmth in his chest wouldn't be restrained.

'I'm First Class,' he wrote, before signing and sending the message.

"You look happy," Tifa remarked.

In a strike of boldness, he took her hand and grinned.

"That's because something awesome is happening out there."