"Cloud, your mom is expecting us soon, right?" Sephiroth said wearily. Cloud agreed with an "Mmhm."

"Then please, for all that is good in the world, put on some clothes," Sephiroth begged. Cloud threw him a look over his shoulder and went back to his book.

Sephiroth growled. He wasn't sure if he liked this side of Cloud. It all started with an innocent comment (maybe... not quite innocent) that Cloud should take a shower. So he had (without Sephiroth) and after drying off, he plopped down on the bed. And proceeded to not move.

Gaia help him, he sort of missed the way Cloud used to obey his every word. After this thought he promptly damned himself to hell and back. It had taken work to make Cloud like this, he had to appreciate it for what it was.

"Where did your friend go?" he asked, pulling out some of Cloud's clothes.

"Oh, she went home. Her dad was being a prick," Cloud said casually, flipping the page of his book, only to be interrupted by Sephiroth roughly snatching him up and manhandling him. He cried out at the top of his lungs, telling him to stop, telling him not to, but Sephiroth didn't care.

Cloud wanted it, he convinced himself.

-o-o-

Angeal and Genesis retreated into the woods so Zack and Vincent could not hear them talking. Zack thought this was a very poor choice, given what he was likely to do to the man, but refrained from protesting.

"What are you thinking?" Vincent asked. Zack glanced at the man who was leaning against the tree so casually one would think he had just given them a weather forecast.

"How much I'd love to take a shot at you," Zack answered without really processing the question. He almost regretted the abrupt answer but he remembered this guy might have psychologically scarred Cloud and the regret sort of died where it was.

"I would love to let you, but there are other things I must do before dying. After I have completed those things, I am yours to do what you wish with," Vincent murmured.

Zack wasn't quite sure how to react to this so he settled on a scowl and a half hearted punch to the man's shoulder. He was positive he'd always hate him but he wasn't sure he'd ever get it in him to kill the man in cold blood.

He remembered what this guy did to Cloud. Then again...

Genesis stalked forward with a grim expression. Angeal's face behind him was stony.

"As much as I'd love to continue this interrogation, we have prior obligations. Cloud has invited us for dinner at his mother's house and we must make a good impression on her. We'll secure you in the room we have rented and determine how to deal with you tomorrow morning."

"Agreed," Vincent began moving towards the town. Zack shot him a withering glare but it went largely ignored. Angeal's hand fell on the back of his neck and he sighed, relaxing.

Their trip was short and quiet. Each of them had their own private thoughts, none the same. Angeal was so preoccupied that he didn't consider what was going on until he had opened the door and quiet groans came spilling out.

That jerked him out of his reflections. Cloud was naked and obviously turned on if the position of Sephiroth's mouth was any indication.

Angeal and Genesis both feasted on the sight, forgetting there was another behind them. Zack, however, did not. He pushed the man away from the door so he couldn't see and the noise startled the two lovers out of their passions. Sephiroth glanced up, disappointed. Cloud didn't so much as look up, going so red that they feared he would have no blood for the rest of his body.

Without a word, Sephiroth plucked the boy up and spirited him to the bathroom to finish. The others awkwardly brought Vincent in and sat him on the unused bed. They tried not to blush as they heard a soft moan echo from the bathroom. Zack cleared his throat to cover it as best he could.

A few minutes later, Sephiroth was striding out, still fully clothed surprisingly.

"You three should start getting ready. We need to be there in less than an hour. Cloud has finally consented to put on clothes so it doesn't seem like there will be any problems."

"Cloud 'consented to put on clothes'?" Genesis asked curious, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Zack didn't stay for the explanation, being too busy entering the bathroom for himself. Cloud was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, face in hands. He didn't have to look up to know it was Zack.

SOLDIER senses or no, he could tell it was Zack.

"So what the hell?" Zack asked, sounding deeply amused. Cloud peeked out with a crooked grin.

"I had a shower and didn't get dressed afterwards. I was talking and before I knew it, Seph had me in his arms... Making me feel really good..." Cloud trailed off, blushing again.

"Ohh," Zack grinned evilly. "Hope your mom can't smell the sex smell when we go over."

"Zaaaaaaaaack!"

-o-o-

About fifteen minutes later, both boys emerged from the bathroom, fully clean (again in Cloud's case). Not a one of them blinked at Cloud's position on Zack's waist. It was pretty normal. All of the SOLDIERs loved carrying and babying Cloud.

Vincent was restrained by some rope they had found around. He knew he could break it and they did too but they figured a commotion would be raised if he did. The town was small. They could be back before any damage was done.

Genesis and Angeal entered the bathroom immediately after they vacated it. Zack wasn't offended by that. They were on a time crunch after all.

"Hey Seph, you pretty much ready?" Zack asked cheerfully.

"I am. Are you? And you, Cloud?"

"Yep!" the two chorused, smiling at him. He returned the favor carefully and plucked Cloud out of Zack's grasp, pausing for a minute to adjust him on his waist before snatching up Zack as well.

"Then we only have to wait for Gen and Angeal," Sephiroth told them and strode to paw through their luggage, looking for clothing for the two. They automatically shifted their positions when he had to use a hand to extract clothing.

Within moments he assembled acceptable sets of clothing for his loves and let them down. He tossed a shirt over Vincent's head so he wouldn't be able to see and set to dressing his lovers quickly. When finished, he took the shirt off the ex-Turk's head.

"We'll meet Tifa on our way over, okay?" Cloud clarified. "If we don't see her on our way, her dad either stopped her from coming or she's already there."

"Okay, Cloud," Sephiroth hummed. Cloud beamed at him and Zack hooked an arm around his waist, pulling him to the bed. They collapsed on it and laughed.

They continued to laze about until Angeal and Genesis came out of the bathroom. Genesis grinned at them before looking in his bag and pulling out a materia. Within moments the room was hot and the two ex-SOLDIERs were completely dry. He then tossed the bright orb to the side and got dressed, heedless of Vincent being in the room. Angeal did the same. They weren't self-conscious after years of military life.

"Ready?" Genesis asked, grinning brighter. He could not wait to meet Cloud's mom. If she was anything like the little kitten, he would possibly consider becoming Cloud's new step-father. Not that he was advertising that.

"Yep!" the blonde affirmed, bouncing off the bed. He raced Zack (and lost) to the door and yanked it open. Zack darted down the stairs and Cloud stomped after him, pouting at his loss. Sephiroth shook his head and followed, leaving Angeal and Genesis to hastily lock up and catch up.

They were halfway across the square when they felt the full force of the eyes on them. They all fought the urge to squirm. Cloud just shrugged it off. It had been like that all his life, one more night wasn't gonna kill him.

"Cloud?" Angeal asked quietly, looping his fingers with the youngest's. He seemed to enjoy the contact and looked up questioningly. "Is it always like this?"

"Only when you're different," he answered promptly. "If anyone is different, then people stare. They either watch to condemn you or watch to judge you. There are never any happy endings when they decide to stare like that."

"I'm sorry, Cloud," Zack apologized, eyes bright even in the twilight. He received a silent smile. "You shouldn't have had to go through any of this."

"No," he said thoughtfully. "I used to think that... But now I know. It was wrong for them to treat me like that."

Zack grinned at that and heaved most of his body weight onto the shorter male when he half tackled, half hugged him. Cloud let out a long suffering sigh and wrapped his own arms around his quickly before trying to disentangle himself from the human turned octopus.

Genesis helped by pulling Cloud out of the grip and Angeal hauled Zack away by the scruff of the neck. They continued on like that until they got to the door. Cloud didn't bother knocking, just unlatched the door and entered, beckoning for the others to enter as well.

They all entered the cozy home and tried not to think of how small it was. There were only two beds and a connected kitchen. Sephiroth tried to wrap his mind around such a small thing and failed. He was a big city boy, through and through.

From the kitchen came two women. The unknown one seemed to be like a female Cloud but with darker eyes. Her blonde hair fell in tumbles down her back, held back by a tie. She was a bit shorter than Cloud and her eyes were dark grey as she cheerfully surveyed the group.

"Hello, I'm-" Sephiroth attempted to greet but was cut off by the woman.

"Shh!" she chirped in a light voice. It was pleasant, they all agreed without realizing. "I want to try and guess!"

Her voice had a slight country lilt. It was obvious that she had passed on some accent but Cloud's time in training seemed to have destroyed it. It was probably one of the things he was teased about.

"Okay," Angeal agreed, smiling. He wanted to see how well Cloud had described them to his mother.

"Well, Sephiroth," she began, pointing at the General. He tried not to feel too much pride in the fact that he was the first one to be recognized. "Genesis has reddish hair, so that's you. Angeal is the mature one so that's off the list. And... Oh, you."

Cloud laughed at his mother's tone. It sounded a little confused. Zack's expression was priceless. Cloud just laughed harder.

He kicked off the boots he had been wearing and flopped on one of the beds. His mother was laughing now and he decided to explain the odd sense of humor he shared with his mom.

"Oh relax, Zack. I told her all about you. She's just teasing," Cloud assured him. "Sorry about that if you thought she was serious."

"Oh, a joke?" Zack perked up.

"Never, Cloud, never. I am much too serious and mature for such things," she declared and went back to the kitchen. Tifa was grinning.

"She joking again," she explained to the SOLDIERs. "She doesn't like introducing herself. She's Emryth Strife but she doesn't like to go by Emryth. People call her Mom or Ms. Strife. I call her Mama Strife. She's like another mom to me. Mine died when I was younger."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Genesis surprised them by saying sympathetically.

"It's okay," Tifa smiled. "I'm just sad at what happened after it."

Without clarifying, she kicked off her own shoes and lay next to Cloud. She had only just arrived before they had and was in the middle of greeting the woman when they walked in.

"You guys can make yourself comfortable," Cloud said invitingly. They all hurried to obey, making sure they didn't track any mud or snow into the house. Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth chose to sit at the table and Zack flopped down next to Cloud.

They relaxed and made small talk as Emryth finished dinner. She dried her hands and turned to the room to sigh loudly, "All these guests and you would think that one would offer to help."

"Oh please," Cloud rolled his eyes, Tifa copying the action. "Like you would have let anyone. Last time I offered, I got chucked out into the snow. No thank you!"

"Yes," she answered expertly, "But I've grown so much more lenient these days."

"Fine then," he shot back, rolling to face her. "Would you like some help?"

"Cloud Strife, never ask me that again. Go outside until I finish setting the table," she demanded. He sighed and rolled his eyes, earning himself a sharp, "Now!"

When the door was safely shut behind him, Emryth chuckled. "Can one of you grab some dishes? I won't throw any of you out, just my idiot son."

Zack stood hesitantly and she grinned at him wickedly. He swallowed hard, hoping he wasn't about to be sent into the cold. Cloud or not, he hated snow will all his heart.

"Top shelf on the right," she informed him sweetly, pointing to the cabinets. Zack hustled to obey as she transferred the pan to the table. "Genesis darling, let Cloud in, would you?"

He also hopped to obey. He let Cloud in and the boy ambled in with a lazy smile. He enjoyed being back home, even if his mom drove him up the wall for it. "Whacha make?"

"Stew. Nothing fancy," she smoothly answered, dishing out portions to everyone. Cloud and Genesis took their seats. "Oh, none of you are allergic to mako right? Those dragons have way too much in them for the season but what can you do...?"

At the horrified looks she got, she laughed again. Cloud grunted and nudged her, "She's joking. It's just wolf. No, I'm not joking Zack, get the expression off your face!"

Zack did manage to withhold his disgust. He reminded himself that Cloud grew up on the stuff and he wasn't dead. He waited until Emryth announced they could eat and proved his bravery (in his mind) by being the first to take a bite. They all watched him intently.

"Did she poison it?" Cloud asked bluntly. Zack choked and Cloud's mother burst into peels of laughter, Tifa soon joining in. Even the SOLDIERs smiled.

"Is she in the habit of trying to kill guests?" he croaked out.

"Oh yes, especially since you took her baby away," Cloud claimed smugly.

"And ever since then I've found myself with a lot less stress," she shot at him. "So I'm still deciding if it's a bad thing."

"Thanks mom!"

-o-o-

"Dinner was delicious," Angeal complimented and he really meant it. The stew was filling and it seemed to be never-ending. Even if it was made from wolves. That was just the circle of life.

"Oh thank you," Emryth smiled at them and insisted she and Cloud take everybody's plates. She sent Tifa away and set Cloud to washing dishes and retook her seat in front of the SOLDIERs.

"So, you're dating my son," she began conversationally. Her eyes were bright with a wicked fire.

-o-o-

Sorry it's so short. Really busy these days but I promise the updates will be frequent from now on. We're drawing to a close, any suggestions, get them in now.

And sorry about Vincent. In one chapter I claimed mid-forties, in the other I claimed almost fifty. He is about 47 years old. Anyway, please review.