"Okay Cloud, move towards me. Slowly, slowly... That's it," Sephiroth encouraged.
"Stop," Genesis called out from the sidelines. "That right there, you're swinging out too much. This isn't the sword you're used to, you have to keep it close so you can defend. What if they opponent had two blades? You'd be wide open!"
Cloud grit his teeth and fixed the problem, doing the same move once slow and then again more quickly.
They had begun training as soon as they could after Cloud stopped retching. They seized control of a corner of town and sent Cloud through his paces. He tried to ignore that the other four were essentially picking his battle style apart for flaws so no other cadet could kill him. Thinking that would bring up a whole 'nother round of sickness out of sheer nervousness.
Also, he tried to not let nerves get to him as the young kids in town watched in fascination. One or two of the younger ones picked up sticks to try and imitate his movements. He kept his gaze trained on either his sword or Sephiroth because if he looked at them, they would drop the sticks and scatter.
It was cute, he had to admit.
But no matter how cute, he couldn't concentrate with them play fighting or Zack and Angeal whispering to eachother or Seph and Gen barking out things. The next time Genesis called out an order, Cloud snapped and threw his sword at the man before stalked off. He didn't hear a scream so he guessed he hadn't killed the man. Darn shame.
The three SOLDIERs stayed behind, it seemed, because they didn't come after him. Cloud was grateful for that, at least.
He wandered through the town until he had calmed down sufficiently. It was mid afternoon by this point so he bought himself something to eat and wandered to the edge of town while snacking.
There was a woman there and she looked startled to see him. He smiled at her and she hesitantly smiled back.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey there," he sat down on the grass not too far from her and began studying her from the corner of her eyes. She had light brown hair and brown eyes as well. Nothing really remarkable about her, except...
She looked to be about his age and her arms looked as if they were covered in almost-healed bruises. There was a bruise on her collar that Cloud thought looked a lot like a hand.
"What brings you to Kalm? I saw you arrive with those men, so you're part of Shinra, right?" she questioned hesitantly.
"Mmm!" Cloud hummed and swallowed the food in his mouth. Not wanting to seem rude, he offered the woman the other side of his sandwich. "Yeah, I am. I'm a cadet. Do you want some?"
"Oh, no, I couldn't," she said weakly. Cloud smiled and kept holding it out, as if insisting. After a moment, she took the sandwich and bit into it with a mumbled, "Thank you."
"It's no problem. I'm gonna be training again in a little while so I don't want too much on my stomach."
"What are you training for?" she inquired.
"I'm a cadet," Cloud said again. "There's going to be an assessment when I get back to Midgar, so I have to be at the top of my game."
"Oh my," she smiled. "It sounds pretty exciting. I'm heading to Midgar too."
"All on your own?"
"Well, no... I'm traveling with my husband..."
"Things not going so well?" Cloud asked, finishing off his sandwich.
"Ah, it's not that! He's really very sweet-"
"Is he the one who bruised you up so bad?" Cloud asked bluntly.
"What? Oh, oh..."
"Yeah. You probably can't tell what color your arms are supposed to be but I can. When you get to Midgar, you should dump him!"
"I can't..."
"You can! There are ways, you just have to find them!"
"I really wish I had your conviction..." she chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of her neck.
"You're too young to be acting like that!"
"Well, I only just turned eighteen..."
"See? Too young! You're only a few years older than me," Cloud pouted. He glanced at his watch and sighed. "It was nice talking to you, but I have to get back to my friends! They're helping me train."
"Oh, it was nice meeting you!"
"You too! When you're in Midgar, you should look me up! Name's Cloud Strife!"
"Oh, I'm Melanie!"
Cloud nodded sharply and ran off, presumably back to the square to meet up with his friends. She turned back to the view of the empty plains and noticed that Cloud left half of his lunch. She looked back and wondered if she should chase after him.
He wouldn't mind if she had some, right...?
-o-o-
Cloud ran back to the square and was greeted with the sight of four shirtless men. With swords. He stopped abruptly and observed until he was sure his brain was working right and he wouldn't do anything embarrassing when he approached.
Damn teenage hormones...
"Uh, hey," Cloud cleared his throat as he walked up to the group slowly. Sephiroth turned from his mock-battle with Genesis and smiled widely at his student. He strode over and stood closer. "Sorry for, uh, trying to kill you, Genesis."
"Apology under careful consideration."
"He means that he'll forgive you once he stops pouting," Angeal explained, joining Sephiroth to smile down at Cloud. "Are you ready to resume?"
"Yeah," Cloud nodded in determination.
"Wait! He should have lunch, we did afterall!" Zack protested, abandoning his position to run over and hug his squishy puppybo friend. Cloud returned the hug and buried his face in the crook of Zack's neck. He breathed in and found himself having to recite the Code of SOLDIER in his head. Uh... How did it go again...?
"It's, uh, okay, Zack. I already, um, ate. I got a sandwich. Shared it with this nice girl..."
There! Thinking of that helped! Cloud pulled away from Zack without fear that his body was reacting in an embarrassing way.
"Girl?" Sephiroth asked sharply. "What girl?"
"Oh for the love of..." Genesis heaved a huge sigh and trudged over. "Sephiroth, Cloud's gay. Let's revisit that point."
"I just wanted to know what my Cloud-"
"Our Cloud," Zack corrected.
"-was doing with a tramp-"
"Young woman," Angeal corrected.
"-while we weren't there."
"If all of those conservatives are right about the Goddess hating gays, it's because of people like you," Genesis deadpanned. "You need to take a step back, okay bitch?"
"What-"
"Anyway, it's nice to know you made a friend," Genesis continued on loudly. "Grab your sword, Cloud, and get ready. We can do mock combat."
"Okay!" he enthused and retrieved it from where someone must have said it. When he turned around, Sephiroth and Genesis looked as if they were about to resort to blows. "Oh..."
He struggled for a moment and then perked up as an idea hit him. He trotted over and pushed between the two men. They paused and looked down at him and he up at them.
"Oh, Kitten," Genesis said in surprise. "I know you're sorry and everything, but I had no idea this is how you wanted to show it."
"Huh?" Cloud asked cluelessly. Sephiroth made a face as he understood the poor innuendo.
"You have no idea what you being in between us like this does to me."
Cloud immediately got it and blushed a deep red. He pushed Genesis back and pouted.
"Just go fight with Angeal or Zack! I don't want to see you two fight! Sephiroth, come with me!"
"Ooh, bossy, I like that," Genesis whispered in his ear before stepping back to wink at him. Cloud stood there and blushed fervently as Sephiroth could only stare in mild fascination/worry at all the blood pooling in his cheeks.
After a moment, Cloud abruptly turned and dragged him off to a small alley between houses.
"Sephiroth, why do you always seem so jealous of girls?" Cloud asked. "I don't like them..."
Sephiroth stared at him for a moment before sighing and looking away.
"Sephiroth, look at me," Cloud begged. "I-I'll tell you a secret if you look at me!"
Sephiroth looked down and then very deliberately stared Cloud in the eye. Cloud blushed deeply and stepped closer. He motioned for Sephiroth to lean down and the older obeyed.
"Zack... Uh, back there, Zack made me... Um, I was... hard... and when I thought of the woman, it went away."
Cloud pulled away abruptly after that, squeezing his eyes shut. Sephiroth stared at him in amazement before his expression turned devious. He reached out and yanked Cloud up against his body. When the younger finally looked up at him, he smirked.
"Prove it."
Cloud's eyes widened as Sephiroth attacked him.
-o-o-
When they emerged from the alley, Cloud's face was pure red and he seemed to be having trouble walking. Like the great boyfriend he is, Zack decided to point it out. Angeal and Genesis looked at the pair and understood immediately from the satisfied smirk Sephiroth wore.
"Puppy, shut up," Angeal commanded. "Sephiroth, put that boy to bed."
"Already did," he practically purred. Then Zack got it.
"You... No fair! I wanted to be the one who got caught for public indecency with Cloud!" Zack hissed so the townspeople couldn't hear.
"You still can," Sephiroth reasoned. "After all, we didn't get caught."
Angeal rolled his eyes and left Zack and Sephiroth to their bickering in favor of approaching Cloud.
"Cloud? Did Sephiroth scar you? Do you need counseling?" Angeal asked cautiously. Genesis also approached.
"Did you want to report Sephiroth for rape?" Genesis grinned.
Cloud seemed to blush harder. "N-No. Can we just continue?"
"Not with you in that state," Angeal pointed out practically. "You can't see through your hands and with all the blood in your cheeks you may just pass out."
"Shut up!" Cloud squeaked. He lowered his hands to peek at them.
"Alright. There's going to be a few days when you get back, right? Just get Sephiroth to train you as much as possible then. We can stop for today," Angeal declared.
Genesis stuck his tongue out at him childishly. "Just don't forget, keep your sword close. We like you well enough now, no need to go losing any parts."
"Let's go," Angeal polled his eyes again and took Cloud's arm to steer him to the room. Even though they walked away, the arguing Sephiroth and Zack took no notice. Oh well.
As they walked, Cloud's blush finally faded until he looked almost normal again. Safely buffered between Genesis and Angeal, he didn't even worry about being embarrassed by the blush. Very few people were brave enough to look carefully at two SOLDIERs. If they were, they were die-hard fans. And if that was the case, they wouldn't spare a glance for scrawny Cloud anyway.
"It's nice here," Cloud commented.
"There's a reason they call it Kalm," Genesis snorted. He fell silent for a moment then let out a gasp. "They have a book store."
"Oh not again..." Angeal groaned. "Every time, Genesis, every time."
"What?" Cloud asked in confusion.
Genesis grabbed his hand and started towing him along after him. "Loveless!"
-o-o-
When they exited the shop, Genesis had at least five books more than necessary, which came to a total of ten. Angeal was not amused and Cloud was just glad he wasn't asked to carry any of the bags.
Angeal, however, was. That probably explained why he was so unamused.
Cloud was laughing at something Genesis said when it happened. He turned the corner and slammed into a larger body. Stumbling back, he turned to look at the person and apologize but the words were stuck in his throat.
The man before him had dirty blond hair and green eyes. They stared at Cloud with just as much surprise that Cloud's own eyes showed.
Behind him was the same woman he met earlier that day. Both parties were still, Genesis, Angeal and Melanie wondering what was going on as Cloud's mind turned and all the pieces fell into place.
He backed up a step, mind still whirling from the implications. He wasn't sure if he wanted to run and hide or scream at the bastard.
Aw, hell. Screw it.
Cloud threw a punch and it landed with deadly accuracy. The man recoiled in shock and howled. When he recovered from likely having his nose broken, he tried to retaliate and found his legs unstable under him after a swift kick between them. He went down, hissing in pain. Cloud kicked him once more for good measure.
"I can't deal with this!" he hissed. "This is a vacation, so screw you very much!"
"You fu-"
Cloud kicked him again and Genesis had to physically restrain him from kicking again.
"Cloud!"
"Let me go!"
Melanie was staring at him with a horrified expression but cloud couldn't bring himself to care. He was still seeing red from the appearance of the man. How dare he just show up? What the hell?
"What happened?" Cloud heard Sephiroth ask from behind him. He just listened and panted in rage as Angeal explained that he had just attacked this man out of no where. "Cloud...?"
The man was struggling to his feet now, hissing and spitting curses. He turned to Cloud with a deadly glare and opened his mouth - most likely to curse him directly - when he fell again, temple bloody. He still clung to consciousness stubbornly. But only barely.
Behind him was a redhead with bright emerald eyes. He looked pissed as he glared down at the man but his eyes turned adoring when he switched his gaze to Cloud.
"Heya, puppybo," Reno greeted, grinning and swinging his nightstick over his shoulder.
-o-o-
Kyeh! Reno's baaack!
Can any of you guess who the man was? It should be pretty obvious. And cheers for public indecency!
Please review!