Cloud was lying on his bed in the early morning, his mind used to sleeping short hours, even if his body wasn't. So he laid there, resting his limbs while thoughts raced through his head, thoughts such as 'Why isn't there a math or statistics course in cadet training?', 'Does Zack have to go back to Nibelheim to fix his mistake?' and last but really the most important, because last thoughts are always the most important because you're too distracted by them to think of anything else, 'That one locker had a black powder in it that was most definitely not gunpowder! It was probably… Should I tell Reno?'

After a few seconds Cloud decided that yes, he was going to tell Reno. The boy would surely find out somehow, and it was probably better for someone to act as damage control when he did whatever it was he was planning to do. He should probably tell him now when everyone else was sleeping; Reno was just on the bunk below after all. Well, maybe in five minutes.

Fifteen minutes later Cloud dragged himself out of bed, nearly falling on Reno's head on the way down from the top bunk. He landed in an ungraceful heap, making an annoying amount of noise in the quiet room. After lurching to his feet he tapped Reno's hand, somehow not surprised when the cadet didn't move. Cloud kept tapping his hand with increasing amounts of force until he finally stirred, blinking open his yes with drowsy confusion. He scowled when Cloud pulled the blankets off his partially clothed body, but luckily took his cues silently when the blond gestured him into the hallway.

Cloud mentally grinned at Reno's the teen's glower before commenting, "You sleep deeply for a Turk-to-be."

Reno's reaction was definitely not what Cloud expected of him. Instead smirking back at him and saying something sarcastic and/or insulting and defensive at the same time and sticking a 'yo' or two in there, he completely exploded. Before Cloud could react he had been pushed up against the wall with a forearm across his neck and a mouthful of teeth bared alarmingly close to his face. "Talk," was hissed quietly at him, with more pressure being applied every moment.

Act calm, even if you're not. That was the first rule of just about everything. While approaching animals you're not supposed to show fear. Scared people won't calm down if you yourself are not composed. Frantic people make mistakes. Cloud knew all this, yet it was amazingly hard to act unruffled right then, pushed up against a wall. He blamed it on the hormones. "In one of the- you said- the instructor. You said you would show him when you were a Turk. Therefore, you're planning on becoming a Turk. I don't know if there's a Turk Training Academy or something, but if there is you aren't guaranteed a job so that would probably be why you didn't want to risk possibly being 'retired' when you could catch their attention just as well from here." The force had been gradually eased off, and by now Reno had stepped away, his expression sagging as his mood changed from aggressive back to tired. Cloud hesitated before continuing, eventually deciding that Reno probably wouldn't mind him putting out his theories and it would get them closer to the topic he had dragged the sleepy cadet out here for. "Is that the real reason you're trying to find out if someone is taking anything? To impress them?" The redhead grimaced slightly, and Cloud took that as a yes. "Check the second locker from the door on the left, I saw something suspicious when I-" Cloud stopped and thought for a moment, not quite sure how to put it delicately, "was figuring out which locker was my own."

Reno snorted, his features twisting slightly in amusement. "I'm sure, yo. How 'bout this: ya don't get into anymore of my business, and I'll check it out during Punyard's class, he won't miss me. But until then, I'm gonna go back to sleep, yo. Ni-night."

The red haired cadet went back into the room, leaving Cloud standing out in the hallway in his pajamas thinking. Would Reno actually take a look at it? He hoped so. In his own timeline he became a Turk, probably quickly as Cloud couldn't remember him before Nibelheim, though with his memory, which was way spottier than a Dalmatian, they could've been brothers for all he knew.

When he was about to follow the Turk-to-be and head back, his ears caught the echoes of a soft pattering. A few moments later and he could tell they were the footsteps of someone walking surprisingly quickly, considering the time. Sure enough, a middle-aged woman soon turned the corner, stopping and blinking when she saw him. After a few seconds of them staring at each other, she glanced at the door behind him before asking, "Is this room 32C?"

Obviously, Cloud thought, but he didn't say it out loud as it was better to be polite to strangers, especially when you didn't know who they were or what they were there for. He just nodded instead, before inquiring who she was looking for.

"Could you get Cloud Strife for me please?" she requested. She looked nervous, and she kept peering around him at the door.

"That would be me," he replied cautiously. Surely anything they wanted him for this early in the morning wouldn't be good.

"Come with me," she commanded, turning around sharply and striding back the way she came, heels clicking on the tiled surface. He hurried after her, his apprehension growing with each step. "Where are we going?"

"There's a phone call for you. She said it was urgent, but even then I wouldn't normally put it through to you, it's against company policy, but apparently it's a matter of life and death. I still wasn't sure what to do at that point, but luckily Mr. Hewley came in and I asked him if it was possible to reach you. He got me your room number and here we are." After going down a flight of stairs they reached what Cloud assumed was her office. She opened the door and sure enough, there stood Commander Angeal Hewley, trying to calm down whoever was on the line, presumably his mom. But did Cloud's mom even have a phone? He wasn't sure. Nibelheim was pretty backwater, and the Strifes were near the bottom of the pecking order, so they would probably be the last to get anything technological.

Commander Hewley glanced over his shoulder at us and waved me closer before pulling the phone away from his ear and whispering, "It's a girl. She's hysterical, so it's hard to understand her, but I think her name's Tifa."

Tifa? What was Tifa doing calling me? Before Nibelheim they hardly talked, at least that he could remember. There was that one incident with the well, and he thought she visited his mom sometimes, but other than that she pretty much ignored him. Unless she had come back too? Despite his inner befuddlement, Cloud took the phone and held it up so he could hear her.

"-and I don't know what to do, and it's still on fire, and oh Planet, Dad!" Yep, she was hysterical all right. He could tell she was speaking through tears, and just barely holding it together enough to make any sense at all. Sadly, this made it less likely that it was the Tifa Cloud knew, but it's not like that would stop him from trying to help her.

"Tifa? Tifa, can you hear me?"

"I-, is that y-you Cloud? I don't know what do to! I know I wasn't really very nice to you at all, but you're the only one I could think of to call, but then I didn't think they would get you for me, because I guess it's still really early there too. I just wanted to fight some monsters, but my d-dad wouldn't let me because, well you know how he was, but the town's on fire, and there was a dragon, and- and my dad! He-, well he's, everyone's dead, Cloud!"

And just like that, he froze. Nibelheim. fire. Sephiroth? No, dragon. His mom! He would never even get to know her. That was pretty sad, that he doesn't remember his own mom. And Tifa… Tifa must have seen her dad's body. How old is she now, ten? No one that young should have to go through anything like that.

Zack. Zack hadn't gone to Nibelheim before, so someone else must have been sent to kill the dragons. They must've killed both of them, because Cloud knew for a fact that this had not happened the first time. And because it didn't happen the first time, that meant that Cloud had somehow caused Zack to go on that mission. Everyone but Tifa was dead because of him.

"Cloud?" Two voices jolted him out of his spiral of pessimism at the same time and he noticed his face was wet. He couldn't break down now, Tifa needed him. He took a moment to compose himself before waving the worried Commander Hewley off and returning to the task at hand: getting Tifa somewhere safe.

"It's okay Tifa, I'm here." Not that that would actually make her feel better. "You remember the Shinra Mansion? It's far enough away that the fire shouldn't spread there, and it's so creepy that even the dragon will stay away from it." More accurately that the more intelligent monsters could sense Vincent's demons, but that was beside the point. "It's not burned down too, is it?"

Cloud could hear through the phone that Tifa stumbled every few steps, but that was completely acceptable considering the circumstances. "N-no, it's s-still there. Are you sure it's safe in there?" she stuttered, probably not wanting to enter the 'haunted' building, especially after everything that had happened.

"Yeah, I've been in there tons of times." Truth, but the Cloud she thought he was would never have gone in there. "How were you doing with Zangan? Can you handle a wolf or two?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good." He would hate to send her to her death while trying to save her. "The gate should be unlocked, just walk in. Go up the stairs, and on the right should be a library. Do you follow?" There was no answer, but he heard steps creaking in the background and assumed she did. "The far wall of the library is a secret door. You have to be careful after this because there are monsters down there, alright?"

"'Kay." A slight creaking noise, then muffled footsteps again.

I hope Vincent doesn't hurt her, Cloud thought as he winced at what Tifa's reaction would probably be. "There will be a door that needs a key somewhere. I don't remember what it looks like, but you can probably just kick it down. Inside, there will be a few coffins. Talk to me when you get there."

A murmur of agreement, then a clack as her PHS presumably fell to the floor. After a short moment she picked it back up, breathing heavily, then there was a loud crack as she broke down a door. "Why am I down here Cloud?"

"There's someone there who can help you. Don't look at me like that, Teef, and I know you are, even if I can't actually see you. In one of the coffins there will be a guy who looks like a vampire wearing black leather, a red cape, and has a golden claw in place of his left arm. When he wakes up, he'll probably tell you to leave or something, but say that Lucrecia's son is still alive."

Some shifting around, lids being dragged off the coffins, and a small screech and the sound of wings later, and Tifa was back. "Cloud, are you sure this is the right place? I haven't found the guy you were talking about yet."

What? "Yeah, I'm sure. Check them all again. I think he was in the third on the left." A few seconds passed.

"One of the coffins was open when I came in, but there's definitely no one in here anymore, Cloud."

Dreams of the Morrow, Chapter Eleven: Third on the Left. Updated September 15, 2011. 2084 words.

Yes it was a long time, trust me, I know. I probably would have gotten it out last weekend, but it turns out they give out a lot more homework in the first two weeks of highschool than I am used to. Why oh why did I choose to do all honors classes in my freshmen year when I also have a sport two of three seasons, piano lessons, and the random urge to bake delicious food stuffs? Well, at least I'm learning a lot. Actually, I guess I'm a freshwoman, or freshgirl.

Special thanks to reviewers, and special special thanks to: Barranaca, Toki Mirage, Faery Mage, and anyone I may have missed who has updated more than once. For now, au revoir, and I'll be back soon. (I'm serious this time.)

Heheh. Sorry about that. This is the right one.