He feinted to the left before swinging a fist at the kid. It was headed straight towards his ribcage before it was impossibly dodged. The kid would have been no where near fast enough to dodge that before, Reno thought. Everything about him's been changed. Reno decided to settle back on the defensive, see what the other cadet knew about attacking. Strife lunged towards him, but the blonde stumbled and Reno slipped to the side. The kid's expression was priceless as he over extended his arm. Reno grabbed his wrist and threw him, watching as he rolled and got back to his feet. It was strange, like he knew what to do, just that he wasn't used to it or something. He couldn't even do a basic block without being off a little. Not enough to really make a difference, just as though he thought he was at a different angle or something. It was weird.

"That's enough, yo." Reno panted. The kid obviously wasn't fit, but that would soon change with all the training they'll be doing. "So," the Turk questioned, "do you know what's going wrong?"

Cloud just shook his head, but Reno doubted he didn't know for some reason. "You're overextending everything, yo. You're angles are also off, like you're expecting to be a different height or whatever, but I doubt you had a growth spurt recently 'cause you're, like, two feet tall. Yo, you're also way more aware than most of the cadets are, which is a good thing, but makes everything that much more complicated. I just don't get it, yo." Reno paced around the room not quite oblivious to the still heavily breathing cadet's uneasy looks. Yep, the kid was hiding something, and the junior Turk would find out what it was if it was the last thing he did. Not that it would be.

Reno turned back to the cadet, restraining a sigh. "It's almost curfew, yo. We better be gettin' back." He led Strife back to their room, lost in his thoughts. Being a cadet is so boring. I hope the mission's over soon. But what if I spend all this time figuring out Strife then it's not him? I won't be able to stand a whole month of relearning this stuff.

"Reno."

But then again, something's up with him. If he's a spy or something and I catch him I'll be promoted to a real Turk and get my own partner! I hope whoever I get's not some by-the-book guy like Tseng. Then I wouldn't be able to sneak up onto the roof anymore, or mess up all the science department's paperwork, or paint chibi Rufus's and Sephiroth's or President's or all of the other head's on the outside of the building. Actually, I don't think I'll be doing that anyways, all those stairs…

"Reno."

The redhead whipped around. "What, yo?"

The real cadet hesitated, probably unsure what to make of his snappish response. "Do you know a SOLDIER with a red trench coat and hair?"

Reno paled. "Genesis? Where was he? Was he by our room, yo?"

Strife was staring at him. Reno yelped and grabbed his ponytail to bring it around to his front, searching through it desperately. "No, it wasn't anything like that, I just saw him from a distance and he seemed familiar."

Reno glanced back up at him, still fingering his hair. "You sure?" Strife nodded. "Well, tell me if you see him 'gain, yo."

The cadet nodded slowly, still giving him a strange look. Reno grinned widely at him. "Thanks for that, yo. Anyways, that guy's a First Class, best friend of 'Geal and Sephiroth. I'd stay away from him if I was you, nasty temper." Strife nodded in agreement, and Reno danced around in his head. One down, six more to go. No one threatens my hair and gets away with it. Especially not some jealous jerk like him.

"He's friends with Sephiroth?"

Reno sighed. So much for one down. Hearing that, he'll probably beg to do the guy's every whim. "Yeah, them and Angeal, yo. Seph's the General and they're the Commanders." The cadet was obviously confused, but there was no way that was getting.' any clearer.

"I guess I just didn't realize the General ever had friends." And with that Strife faded out again, headed off to dreamland or whatever.

"You thought Sephiroth didn't have friends?" Reno snorted, "Everyone needs friends, yo, even generals."

Not bothering to wait for an answer the older boy quickened his pace. Everyone does need a friend, right? And everyone has one, mostly. At least someone they can talk to without them walking away or insulting them or whatever. So why would he think Sephiroth doesn't have friends? Maybe, maybe he doesn't have a friend? Now that I think about it, everyone was pretty mean to him. But surely he has someone who likes him at home, right? Surely a teacher or someone is fond of him, at least. But if he doesn't… If he doesn't he's gonna go crazy!

Yeah, but who cares if he's crazy? A different side of his thoughts asked. Not me, that's for sure. Get a hold of yourself, Reno. You're a Turk, and Turks don't care.

"Stop it!" he growled, earning another look from the kid. I think I'm the one going crazy, talking to myself it my head. I cross bridges when I come to them and burn them if I don't want anyone to follow. I don't decide to take time building them for other people!

"Move."

Reno spun around. "What?"

Blue eyes met his levelly. "You're in the way. Move."

Then Reno realized he was standing in the doorway. "Sor-ry, yo," he drawled dully, "I figure if you get to go cloudy all the time I should be able to get lost once and a while." Strife scowled, and Reno grinned in triumph. "Don't like name jokes, yo? You better get used to them, Cloud."

Strife glowered at him. "Just move, will you?"

The red head stepped aside to allow the kid room. "Wonder what's got him all worked up, yo," Reno muttered as he followed the cadet back to their bunks. "'Suppose I wouldn't want my memory gone either, but he doesn't have to be all huffy about it."

"Go 'way, yo."

Cloud blinked open his eyes and looked around blearily. Was Reno talking to him? That didn't make any sense. Must be talking to a different cadet.

"What?"

Okay, he was pretty sure no one in the room had answered, so either Reno talked in his sleep, or he was on a PHS in the middle of the night. Both semi-unlikely options, but more way more impossible things had happened. Say, Sephiroth getting possessed by an alien and bringing down a meteor to destroy the world.

"'Night, yo."

He heard a small click, then some rustling noises as the cadet rolled over to go back to sleep. A PHS it was. He made sure not to move until the breathing below him steadied out and slowed down.

Cloud stared at the spotted ceiling above. Reno had a phone? They were still pretty expensive if he remembered correctly, and he wasn't even sure if cadets were allowed to have one. They very well could be, he supposed, but even if they weren't Reno wasn't one to follow the rules.

The time traveler rolled over slowly, careful not to make any loud noises. He probably should go back to sleep, but his mind was still set to getting little rest, not to mention he was a bit of an insomniac. Dreams bring up memories cleared than you could do on purpose, and they were rarely good ones.

But maybe… maybe he could change things this time. If he could become a SOLDIER, or at least get Mako somehow, maybe he could stop Sephiroth from ever getting to Nibelheim. He would kill Jenova, that was for sure, but would that be enough to stop Sephiroth from going crazy? He doubted it. There were Jenova cells in all the SOLDIERs now, so he didn't think that was a risk he wanted to take.

And Genesis. Genesis ended up the same way as Angeal, right? No, he got involved in Deepground, didn't he. So there is a cure then. If he found it in time, Zack wouldn't have to kill his mentor. Maybe if Sephiroth hadn't lost his friends, there would've been hope for him.

But if Sephiroth was still in the picture, Shinra would be a lot harder to take down. And Shinra had to go because it really was killing the planet.

I should go see Aerith, he thought, maybe she'll be the Aerith I'm used to, or she might know something at least. I also need to get used to fighting again.

Cloud had learned a lot from the match with Reno. For one, he was really slow. Compared to the other cadets he was probably about average, but because he was used to being faster he tried to do things he couldn't pull off anymore. He also had to be careful not to try moves too advanced than what he should know. More than a few times he would have to let himself be hit if he wanted to keep his cove. The thing that most disturbed him though, was that his body didn't do exactly what he told it to. Not only was there a complete lack of muscle memory, but he was used to moving at a different height and limb length, so he was no where near as smooth in his movements and gave openings when his motions got more choppy.

He thought for a while longer, mapping out possible plans in his head. What could he do? He needed Mako to beat Sephiroth, and the only efficient way of getting that was to be a SOLDIER. But working under Sephiroth… he would have to. The only chance he had of killing the General was becoming First Class. He had four years to do. He was pretty sure Zack made it in less than that, and he didn't have memories of the future to help him. In the meantime he would try to find the cure to degradation, maybe Bugenhagen could help with that. Nanaki would need to be warned or freed, and he would probably have to prove himself trustworthy to get their help. If he didn't make SOLDIER he would move back to Nibelheim, kill Jenova and burn all the books and research, fake or not, in the mansion. Doubtless Hojo had made copies, but it would at least delay the inevitable. The only question in Nibelheim was what to do with Vincent. I won't wake him unless necessary, Cloud decided. Everyone he used to know is dead, and living forever is painful, to say the least.

If there was one thing he was the most unsure about, it was what would happen with Zack. He wasn't sure if he could just ignore his once and future friend, for it seemed like his only true friend ever. Most of the time it felt like the others had just befriended him for his fame, strength, Materia, or even just so they could all live through the end of the week. Even with Vincent, who had obviously been the closest as he had been the only one still living, it was probably more that they had no other options. If people had found out they were immortal, they would've been hounded for their secret, and with the more advanced technology they might've been able to find it. While that would've led to more companions, it would've brought back the use of Mako, and they might've been able to reproduce a Jenova. That was the last thing they needed.

Reno stirred below him. Cloud looked at the glowing clock and saw that it was almost five. What time are we supposed to get up? I guess I'll find out, but in the meantime, I'll look around a bit. He leapt to the floor almost silently and started around the room. There room was just big enough to fit all the beds and a walkway in the middle, except halfway down on the left side there was a gap between the beds and another door. He opened it slowly and stepped out onto the cold floor.

It was obviously supposed to be the bath/shower room, with eight shower heads in the middle and four stalls on either side, along with a few sinks opposite them. The door on the other side of the long room presumably connected to another room of cadets, so that would mean only half of them could take a shower at a time. There wasn't anything really interesting about the room besides that the lights were dimmed, not shut off., so he slunk back into the darker room and softly shut the door behind him.

He climbed up the flimsy ladder to his bunk and climbed in, prepared for a few more hours of pretending to be asleep before heading off to learn things he probably already knew.

Dreams of the Morrow: Chapter Six, Crazy. Updated June 25, 2011. 2,400 words.

Yeah... this one took a little more time, well the last half did. I lost the note book I was writing in, so I didn't write anymore while I was looking for that, but there wasn't much I hadn't typed up yet in it so I gave up eventually and just retyped the ending. But I don't like giving excuses here, so you can definitely blame me for being late because the week before I lost my notebook I didn't do anything.

Last but not least, thanks to Barranca, my most frequent reviewer. I appreciate your support!