The file you are reading is not meant for your eyes; put it down and walk away or I Tseng Director of the Turks, or my successor, will find you and silently and effectively remove you from society, to then slowly starve and torture you to your breaking point. It is as this point that we will bring you do the absolute middle of nowhere where you will be given your freedom of choosing how you would like to die. Should you ever make it back to society the Turks will take this is as you rejecting our kindness of letting you choose your own death, and will be subject to a death at either my, or my successor's, discretion. This is the record of six of my most extraordinary Turks. They came from another world, a world where Final Fantasy 7 is owned by Square Enix but this is their story and theirs alone. For the sake of the future I left a record of their adventures locked deep in the Turk Archives but only if the fate of the world is threatened should this file be opened. You have been warned. Read at your own risk.

-Tseng Akira, Director of the General Affairs Department, Shinra Electric Power Company

Chapter 22: World's End

Things remained tense between Genesis and Tseng, and even worse between Alanna and Genesis. Genesis took to spending time away from everyone else, brooding. And no one could convince Alanna to talk to him.

Morgan sighed as Ryu tied a tie over his eyes.

"What are you maniacs up to?" He asked. Ryu laughed.

"You'll just have to find out won't you?" She teased. He snorted.

"You know I hate surprises." He reminded her. She patted him on the back as she led him from the room.

"Whoa Ryu, what did you do to him?" Reno teased as they came into the living room. Behind the blindfold Morgan rolled his eyes, as Ryu giggled.

"Nothing" She said sweetly. Rude snorted softly as Morgan flushed faintly.

"Well it looks like..." Reno started.

"It looks like what?" Matti asked confused. He too had a tie over his eyes.

"Um" Cloud said. "I'm not really sure."Reno snorted.

"You've been with Tseng and you're still this innocent? Bossman what have you been doing with him?"Reno asked. Cloud blushed as Tseng cleared his throat, ignoring Reno.

"Can I take this off yet?" Morgan asked dryly.

"No. I kinda like it when you're blindfolded. I'm less likely to get shot." Alanna noted. He flipped her off.

"Oh all right." Ryu said as she moved away from him. Both of them ripped the tie blocking their vision off. Sitting on the table were two ice cream cakes.

"If you don't hurry up, I'm gonna eat them both." Zack told them. Both of them glared at him.

"Just try it." Matti said threateningly.

"Bossman really likes his ice cream." Mary said. Zack pouted.

"But I really want ice cream," he protested. Gen snorted from where he stood in a corner. To celebrate their birthdays, an uneasy truce had been called between SOLDIERs and Turks, but it was fragile and threatened to break at any minute.

Matti and Morgan glared at him. Angeal sighed as Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Gen not today." Seph said quietly. Gen sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I should be mean and say you have to come over to get your cake, but I suspect you'd splat it on my head." Morgan said. Matti laughed.

"While you are bald it would still be messy." Matti told him. Morgan self consciously touched his freshly shaved head. Ryu rubbed her hand over his head.

"It's even freshly waxed so the ice cream would slide right off." She teased. Morgan let his hand rest over his face. Ryu moved away.

"Ahem." Mary said as the other girls joined her, except Chloe who stood behind Reno and Tseng watching. Morgan groaned when he saw the mischievous grin on Ryu's face.

"Don't." He begged. He had to at least try. Ryu grinned at him.

"At least it's us." she told him. Matti just sighed and resigned to it.

"I had hoped we'd outgrown this but apparently not." He said, giving the girls a pointed look. Piper grinned and giggled evilly.

"Not a chance." She told him.

"If we may?" Alanna asked. Morgan waved one hand at them even as he covered his face with the other.

"I dislike birthday parties." he muttered as the girls started singing. Once they were done they returned to their seats. Ryu perched on the arm of Morgan's chair.

"10 gils says by the end of night he's using her as a shield." Mary said to Alanna, who laughed.

"I'm not taking that bet because I think the same thing." She said. Morgan shot her a glare as he dished up a huge piece of cake for himself.

"And that's why we need two cakes."Ryu said as the other guys followed Matti and Morgan's example.

"That's all you're going to eat?" Morgan asked her as he saw her small portion.

"You know me, tiny tummy" She said, waving with her fork to her stomach. He snorted.

"Which is funny; you eat twice as much you used to."

"Presents!" Piper said excitedly.

"If Genesis got Morgan LOVELESS he will throw it at him." Ryu muttered to Alanna as they got the stack of the presents. Alanna grinned, as Genesis rolled his eyes. Ryu stood and grabbed a present and handed it to Morgan.

"Here." She told him kissing his cheek. She handed another to Matti.

"I'm not kissing you." She told him, he grinned.

"I can live with that." he told her.

"Can I open it?" Morgan asked. Ryu rolled her eyes.

"No, you can only stare at it." She told them.

"Aww you're mean Ryu." Morgan protested. Ryu grinned.

"I'm teasing." She told them, waving her hands at them to open them. Morgan ripped open the wrapping paper and shredding it far more than was necessary. Matti followed his example a little less enthusiastically.

Morgan held up the black shirt with a sniper's cross hair between the shoulders of the back of the shirt, as well as a line of game hearts all full over the heart. He grinned at her.

"Very funny." He told her. Ryu grinned and gestured towards Matti who was holding a dark gray shirt up with a snarling jaguar face on the front. He gave her a slightly disgruntled look.

"We're welcome." She told them both.

"Catch." Mary said, throwing small boxes at them. Both of them caught them and ripped off the paper.

"Oh goody, more puzzles" Matti groaned. Morgan shrugged and shoved the small metal puzzle into his pocket.

"I'll figure it out later." He said.

"Here, here." Piper said, excitedly handing them packages. Matti's package was large and squishy while Morgan's was smaller. Matti's present was a large blanket in shades of black and orange. Matti grinned and promptly wrapped himself up in it.

"I have missed this." he said, grinning happily.

"Uhhh..." Morgan said looking at the crocheted Tyrannosaurus Rex, "Why?"

"You're a boy, I didn't know what to make so I made you a dinosaur. Rawr!" Piper told him. Ryu grinned and draped an arm over Piper's shoulder.

"Ya shoulda made him an army man; he always was playing with toy soldiers when he was little. Or so I heard." Ryu said grinning at him mischievously.

"Is that why he wanted to join the Marines?" Mary asked. Morgan sighed and slapped his hand over his face.

"What's a Marine?" Zack asked curiously.

"Part of our county's military; one of the elite groups." Matti told him.

"You were gonna join SOLDIER?" Zack asked, surprised. Morgan groaned.

"Why are we discussing my career choice?" He asked.

"Because it makes such a wonderful discussion." Ryu told him.

"As if someone like you could make SOLDIER." Genesis snorted. Before anyone else could respond Ryu whirled around to face him.

"I'll have you know Genesis fuckin' Rhapsodos that people in our military earn their rank, they don't get hand outs like Mako baths. And any marine could probably put your scrawny little ass in the ground. Do not EVER disrespect an American soldier. I can grantee it is the last thing you'll do." She hissed at him, her eyes flaring blue. Morgan reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist and gently tugged until she was sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her to prevent her from flying at the commander.

"You obviously didn't get the memo about Ryu's parents both servin' in the military, nor her family's long history of service. An' ya obviously missed the one 'bout Morgan's family, yo." Reno drawled from where he leaned against the wall next to Rude. Genesis glared at him.

"What Reno is trying to say is that all of them care strongly about the men and women who serve their homeland. It would be wise to not disrespect them." Rude said softly. Reno nodded curtly as Ryu continued to glare at the crimson commander. Alanna sighed as Gen opened his mouth to argue.

"Gen just let it go. You will never win against Ryu's stubbornness on this. Trust me. I gave up years ago." She told him.

"Spare me from the stubbornness of dwarfs." Matti muttered to Morgan. He grinned and nodded his head. Ryu glared at him and then giggled. She leaned back and gently head-butted Morgan.

"Ow." He protested Alanna and Mary smirked.

"I am not a dwarf." Ryu protested as she attempted to get free.

"Oh sorry I forgot; you're a hobbit." Matti corrected himself. Ryu glared at him.

"I am not a hobbit. I am far too tall and I don't have hairy feet." She pointed out.

"She does have a point." Morgan told him. Matti grinned.

"What exactly is a hobbit?" Cloud asked. They all traded a look, even Piper who was known amongst the group for her dislike of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and burst out laughing.

"It's far too complicated to explain chocobo." Alanna told him. "My turn." She added and stepped forward to give them their presents.

"Uh, it's my belt." Morgan said once he'd opened it. It was in fact his plain web belt.

"Yep. The belt is yours the buckle is new." She told him grinning.

"Uh thanks?" He said unsure.

"Thank me when the hidden blade saves your life." She told him smugly. Morgan bent closer to examine the tiny hidden blade concealed in the buckle.

"So that's why you were in our room yesterday." Ryu said. Alanna grinned.

"How does this work Alanna?" Matti asked, eying the tooled leather wrist band. Alanna came over and showed him the blade rested on the outside of the arm, and how to slide it out quickly. Unlike some arm guards with blades along the inside, it was impossible to see this one unless you knew where to look.

"Here."Morgan and Matti said, at the same time handing each other plain cards. They grinned.

"Gaming?" Matti guessed. Morgan nodded.

"You?"

"The same." They nodded and set the cards aside.

Tseng stepped forward with two small boxes in his hands. He gave each of them one. Nestled in each box was a materia. Morgan picked up the red summons materia carefully. He'd played around with darkness, fire and slow materia, and failed miserably with cure; but Rude had never let him play with a summons before. He seemed to fear Morgan would destroy part of the Shinra building, which might have been fair.

"What type is it?" He asked.

"Ifrit." Tseng told him. Alanna leaned over to look at it.

"That's a decent fire summons, and it doesn't require much mana to cast." She told him, since Genesis was not going to offer any information on the matter; particularly since Morgan was riling the commander up today. Morgan nodded, still examining the materia.

Mary leaning back against the couch watching them all, and eyed the back of Morgan's head. It wasn't like him to rile Genesis up, she mused. Morgan was a watcher, a thinker, an observer and a plotter. It's what made him such a good sniper. He was patient, he would wait a day or a month for his prey to walk into his trap and never get restless. He was quiet, never speaking unless he had to, and it was an eerie quiet, unlike when Ryu or Alanna fell into daydreams. His quiet wasn't restful to others, it made you worry what he had planned; well all but Ryu, she seemed to not mind at all. The other thing about Morgan was that along with his patience was the fact that he could stand still for hours not moving. He'd barely breathe or blink, and he'd find the best spot to blend in and make others forget about his presence. Ryu claimed it was something he always did, citing their time together in high school and something about him lurking just out of sight to scare people.

Mary's lips quirked up at a memory of Morgan waiting patiently for Ryu to come home one time he had visited; hiding, waiting for her. She didn't even care when he popped out and grabbed her from behind when her back was turned, although he did get a solid elbow to the gut for his trouble. Mary turned her attention back to the group, letting her thoughts go. She was sure Ryu would figure out, or already knew, why Morgan was intentionally antagonizing the crimson commander.

Matti opened his present and picked the green materia resting inside. He looked at Tseng.

"Destruction." He told him. Alanna ooed and leaned in close to look at it. Matti took a firmer grip on it and leaned away.

"With destruction you can de-spell, de-barrier, and cast death." She told him. Matti grinned.

"That sounds very handy indeed." He admitted.

Piper, sitting on the floor by his feet, looked up at him. His hair was still blonde, as he'd yet to have cause to dye it black; but it was still long, longer than she liked. She grinned to herself as she let her eyes rest on him. He'd filled out a bit since coming to Gaia, not as much as Morgan had, but he'd gotten back into shape. And now Tseng had kicked his butt into better shape than when he played football.

She remembered when he'd asked her out. He'd spent months becoming friends first, trying to worm his way into her friend group, trying to get to know her. It had taken over two and a half years for him to finally get her to go out. A small giggle slipped from her as she remembered the first time they'd met. She'd been the strongest person in the class when he'd moved there. Due to his size everyone had wanted to see if she'd still be the strongest, so they had made them arm wrestle. Matti had won; it had been a foregone conclusion. It was hard to beat a guy who was a football player, and had no fear of working hard.

He'd always been thoughtful, methodical, and unafraid of speaking his mind. And as far she remembered he'd always been so tall; although she'd never thought to call him Bigfoot as Ryu did for his huge feet. She scowled slightly. Ryu and Alanna had a habit of getting him engrossed in playing games. The three, no four, Morgan was just as bad but until Gaia hadn't been around often, were always gaming. Whether it was on computers or on the TV, it didn't matter, they could play all day and she didn't understand it one bit. But Matti had always been a gamer, even in high school.

He'd been a football player, a defensive and offensive lineman, and unafraid of taking hits in the game. He'd also done the 1 mile sprint, long jump and shot-put on the track team. Matti could hand in five minute miles with ease back then. Of course now, thanks to Reno and Tseng, he could run even faster than that. Even Ryu and Alanna, who loathed running, were handing in six and five minute miles. And Ryu for short races against Reno could sprint at speeds twice that.

Piper's grin faded as her thoughts turned to Matti's recent mission in Wutai. Unfortunately, his all around good ol' American boy nature made him a perfect spy. He appeared to honest and straight forward; in fact he appeared slightly shy and awkward around people. Unlike Morgan, who's face and unnatural stillness gave away his lethality, Matti's slightly boyish expressions and way of holding himself hid the sharp intellect and ruthlessness from the unsuspecting.

Reno stepped forward, breaking Piper's walk down memory lane as he handed two small packages to the boys. Morgan held up the small chip and eyed it; he looked at the card with it and grinned. Reno shrugged.

"Thought you might like it, yo." He said. Morgan nodded his head. Matti's was a pair of sunglasses much like Morgan's and Rude's.

"Are these?" He asked. Reno nodded.

"They don't got all the bells and whistles, but hey, they're better'n most."Reno said with an off-hand shrug. Matti slipped them on over his face.

"Oo cool." He murmured. Morgan had slipped the chip into his pocket.

"Here." Rude said handing them each a flat present. The girls grinned, guessing what was inside them. They both ripped the wrapping paper off and held up the canvases.

Morgan's was of him and Ryu. They were up on the helipad, the chopper in the background. They were standing side by side, holding hands; Ryu had her bag slung over her shoulder, and her goggles pulled down around his neck. Morgan was carrying a brief case, his rifle in its case slung on his back. His glasses were tucked into his suit pocket for once. Their clothes and Ryu's hair were being tugged by the wind; Morgan's tie had escaped his jacket to flap in the strong gust. Ryu's head was turned slightly to him as they talked. He was looking right at her as Ryu smiled at him.

"Wow, I forgot that day."Ryu said, looking at the picture. Morgan nodded his head. That was the day they'd almost been blown off the roof; the wind had been so strong. Anyone on the roof that day had had to hold onto another for fear of being blown off the roof.

Matti's picture was of him and Piper. They were walking along the street just outside the Shinra building. Piper was holding her huge stuffed chocobo gleefully as she buried her head in it. Matti was laughing at her antics, with one arm over her shoulders. His hair was shorter then, it had just begun to grow out. It was clear in the picture the affection they had for each other. Piper was wearing a cute shirt and slacks and Matti was casually dressed in jeans and nice shirt.

"How on earth?" Matti muttered. Rude grinned.

"I happened to be heading home when you guys were returning." He told them. Matti frowned, a bit upset that he couldn't remember seeing the Turk that night, although he had been distracted by Piper's happy antics.

"Here." Chloe said shyly. This was the first time she'd been included in the birthdays, but Tseng needed her there to keep the peace. And since the VR room Ryu, Morgan and Matti had all gotten to know her a bit more. She truly was a good Turk and she had a sweet nature, but was deadly with any kind of blade, but throwing knives were her specialty.

Chloe had given each of them a set of throwing weapons. Morgan she'd given throwing knives. He'd shown some ability with knifes and had accurate aim. To Matti she gave a set of throwing stars, the clip holding them attached to his belt under his jacket for easy reach.

"I suggest practicing with them before you throw them. But if nothing else you can tuck the blades between your fingers and use them much like Alanna's hidden blade." She told him. The blade Alanna had made had been designed to fit between his fingers and brace against his palm.

The SOLDIERS all traded glances, all except Genesis. He didn't care. Cloud went first offering them each a gaming gift card. Zack followed his example scratching the back of his head nervously and offering them gaming cards as well. Angeal stepped forward and gave Matti a potted plant, Matti grinned. Of the whole group he and Angeal were the only ones with true green thumbs. To Morgan Angeal gave a tool kit. Morgan grinned as he opened it and eyed the electrician's tools inside. He'd picked up some tools here and there but he'd yet to actually get a kit. Angeal nodded, pleased as Morgan eagerly explored the kit. Ryu grinned at Angeal and gave him a thumbs up. He'd cornered her a few weeks ago and asked what Morgan would like.

Seph came forward and gave them each a present. To Morgan he gave a materia charm for his rifle.

"Vincent said you needed one." He told him with a shrug. Morgan grinned. Ryu laughed.

"You know he's either going to put his fire or the summons in there." She told him. Seph shrugged uncaring, as Morgan grinned ruefully as the others laughed. To Matti Seph gave an action adventure movie. Matti grinned as Piper groaned; she didn't like that kind of movie.

After a solid nudge from Angeal in the ribs Genesis stepped forward and handed each of them a card. Inside Morgan's was two tickets to see the LOVELESS play in LOVELESS Theater. Morgan showed them to Ryu who grinned excitedly. He shrugged, he didn't mind all that much. Ryu loved the theater and he didn't mind it, and he loved listening to Ryu talk excitedly about it.

Genesis looked puzzled, he'd hoped to annoy the silent Turk, but he'd appeared to miss the mark. He knew the tickets would please Ryu and he'd hoped she'd take Alanna, but it appeared he accidentally supplied date night for them instead. Matti received a gift card to a clothing store.

"I can take a hint." Matti muttered. Gen smiled pleased, at least one of his plans had worked. Alanna grinned.

"What Gen, jeans and tee shirts not good enough for you?" She asked as Piper rolled her eyes. Genesis scowled at his doppelganger.

"It won't hurt him to have some nice non-work related clothing." Gen told her firmly. Matti grinned. He was known for preferring wind pants or jeans, tee shirt and sweatshirt to anything else. If the occasion called for more he would dress appropriately, but for lounging around he preferred comfy over style.

Seph gave a small sigh of relief as everyone settled down to watch Matti's new movie. So far everything had gone better than he'd hoped. Perhaps mending the rift wasn't impossible. He glanced over at Tseng and Cloud, the young SOLDIER was sticking it out, risking Genesis's anger by continuing to see Tseng. And Tseng for his part was doing his best to shield the younger from any harm or anger. Seph glanced at Reno, who was sitting between Ryu and Rude, Tseng's fosterling. Reno seemed absolutely at ease with the relationship. He'd heard that the young Turk was prone to running gold diggers away. Seph blinked and then smiled as Reno, unaware he was begin watched, curled up and decided Morgan would be displeased if Ryu was used as a leaning post, promptly snuggled against Rude's side. Rude, whose arm rest on the back of the couch, didn't even spare him a glance. It seemed he was used to the red head's antics.

Seph continued to let his eyes wander around the room. Genesis's eyes lingered on Alanna, who was leaning on Mary getting her head petted. Angeal's eyes also drifted toward the two of them. Seph turned his head when he felt a small hand rest on his arm. Chloe sitting next to him smiled reassuringly at him. She too had seen the two SOLDIER's longing, and seemed to know more than he did. Seph felt his cheeks flame slightly. This was the first time he'd seen Chloe since Gen's birthday, and he'd suddenly remembered their dancing. She smiled at him and then rested her head on his arm to watch the movie. Seph knew she was trying to regain the easy camaraderie they'd had that night, but all he could do was sit there awkwardly, trying to best figure out how to handle it all.

It was well into August, and there was no change. In fact, things would have stayed that way it looked well into the New Year, when a mission changed everything.

When Director Lazard asked Tseng, Reno, Rude, Elena, Ryu, Morgan and Matti to accompany the 1sts and their doppelgangers on yet another mission; Tseng professionally agreed to the request. That was why they were all sitting silently in a troop transporter together. They were on their way to the Mythril Mines, to deal with an infestation of Madouge, Casenets, and Crawlers; that were threatening Fort Conder and the Chocobo Ranch.

Ryu held her head in her hands, bummed by the strained silence. She sighed. She wished the fight that morning had never happened. Things would have been so much better. Chloe had refused to work with Genesis, and so Elena was with them. And quite frankly Ryu preferred Chloe, with her sensitivity to other's emotions, and her somewhat clumsy nature to Elena's arrogant, haughty holier than thou attitude. Both were good Turks, she knew, but Chloe would have already cracked the ice between the Turks and the SOLDIERs, she was good at it. Even the doppelgangers were separated from both camps. They congregated around Alanna, and all of them believed that both of them had started the fight. The only ones still talking were Ryu and Reno, and Zack and Piper.

Ryu reached out and kicked Matti in the ankle lightly. He looked up at her.

"Do something." She mouthed to him. He rolled his eyes at her.

"I have been." He mouthed back. Ryu sighed again.

"Stop whispering." Elena said to her, "It's not very Turk like." Ryu rolled her eyes and imagined punching Elena. Reno saw the look on Ryu's face.

"Leave her be Elena." He said, yawning.

"Why don't all the Turks shut up?" Genesis said sullenly.

"Why don't…?" Elena started.

"Shut up, Elena!" Reno and the doppelgangers yelled. Ryu let the back of her head thump into the wall behind her.

"This is going to be a long flight." She muttered.

"You have no idea." Seph muttered, from where he was curled in the corner. He'd tried to stay neutral in the argument, seeing as he was the General and had to deal with Tseng regularly. It hadn't earned him points with either Cloud or Genesis. He was in the proverbial dog house. Angeal and Zack had made a diplomatic retreat from the fight that had not earned them banishment. It had something to do with honor and pride.

Finally, they landed at the mines. They all piled out of the transporter as quickly as they could, still in eerie silence. The Turks, the SOLDIERs and the doppelgangers gravitated together into groups.

"Alright." Tseng said, as he and Seph stepped forward. Genesis rolled his eyes.

"Oh for the love of God's Green Apples!" Ryu snapped, "Hang on a sec Tseng, Sephy." She said to them. They both watched her wide-eyed. She marched over to both Cloud and Genesis, and Gibb slapped them.

"Get your fucking acts together! You're on a mission; personal disagreements have no place here. So get over yourselves ladies! Are you SOLDIERs, the pride of Shinra's army, or not? If you are, prove it!" She snapped at them drill, sergeant style. She walked over the Tseng and gave him an equally sound slap on the back of the head.

"That goes for you too." She told him, before she walked over to the doppelgangers.

"Carry on Director, General." She said. Seph smiled at her.

"Our main objective is to clear the infestation from the mines."

"So why are the Turks here?" Zack asked, "No offense meant, but last time there was the threat of rebels."He said.

"We are here partially to ensure that the rest of humanity stays away from you. But we are also the experts in crammed quarter fighting, in the mines we'll have a bit of an advantage that you don't. Director Lazard wants us to work together on this mission, proving what our doppelgangers proved in the VR room; that Turks and SOLDIERs can work together effectively." Tseng explained.

"Oh cool. I call Piper Puppy." Zack said, waving his hand in the air.

"Every SOLDIER will have two Turks partnered with them." Seph said. Tseng cleared his throat.

"Reno and Rude, you go with Cloud." The two nodded their heads and moved to stand next to him.

"Hey Chocobo." Reno said, ruffling his hair. Cloud gave them a glum smile.

"Piper and Mary, with Zack." Zack pumped his fist in the air, excited, and hugged them both.

"Ryu and Elena, with Angeal." Ryu and Elena eyed each other and shrugged. They went and stood next to Angeal.

"Morgan and Matti, go with Genesis." They both groaned.

"Oh, kill me now." Morgan muttered.

"Better yet, kill him." Matti told him.

"I like that idea." Morgan said thoughtfully. Tseng cleared his throat. They both met his reproving glare.

"Fine, no killing him." Matti said.

"Alanna and myself will be with Sephiroth." Tseng concluded.

"Move out." Seph snapped. The five groups scattered into the mine.

"Oh, this is like walking through berry bushes." Morgan muttered. Genesis' sour silence had both Matti and Morgan bummed out. Matti nodded his head.

"Do you think another Gibb slap would help?" He asked.

"Try it, and I'll toss you both off the side of this path." Genesis threatened. They were inching their way along a narrow path, cut into the side a deep shaft in the ground.

"No, I don't think it will help." Morgan told him, glumly.

"Although, I wish I could knock the sense in him to go and talk to 'Lanna." He muttered.

"Why? She won't talk to him." Matti said. Morgan rolled his eyes.

"Of course she won't. She's a girl. They never make the first move. The guy has to at least try if he wants to relationship to last. Haven't you learned this yet, Matti?" He said. Matti grinned.

"I remember, but I didn't realize they were in a relationship."

"According to Ryu, they might as well have been. That's part of the reason she was so mad at him when he got into that fight. Well, that and he forgot to you know, ask her. But they were holding hands and being all super gooey." Morgan said.

"Would you two shut up?" Genesis snapped.

"Oh jeez, someone is in a foul mood." Morgan muttered.

"He's been in one for weeks." Matti replied. Genesis' snarl echoed in the shaft. Wisely, they both shut up.

"Yo, why so glum Chocobo?" Reno asked, as they trudged through yet another shaft. Cloud shrugged.

"I thought after Tseng and I were…" He trailed off.

"Together?" Reno asked. Cloud nodded his head.

"Yeah, together, things would be better, not worse."He said.

"Cloud, there will always be some kind of problem to confront, that is the nature of our species." Rude said. Reno elbowed him in the side.

"You are not helping him, yo." He said. Reno slung his arm around Cloud's shoulder.

"I'll let you in on a secret." Reno said. Cloud looked up at him, anxious.

"Back when I'd first started living with Tseng, I'd been there for maybe a week; his girlfriend came over to surprise him when he came home. She found me instead. She flew into a fit of rage and beat the crap out of me, broke several of my ribs, my arm, cracked my skull pretty bad and then she left. He came home and found me like that. He took me to the hospital, the Shinra hospital, and when he finally wrangled from me what had happened to me, he broke up with her on the spot."

"Why are you telling me this?" Cloud asked.

"Shhhh. I am getting to my point, which is that after her, he stopped dating and threw himself into raising me. And trust me, I was a handful. But he never once complained about it. You're the first person he's dated in fifteen years Cloud. It means not only are you special enough for him to risk getting his heart broken, and, despite the differences, age, job, culture; he really wants to try. He's the happiest I've ever seen him, when he's with you and I." Reno paused, "We'll love you for that, but not that way." He assured him. Cloud laughed.

"Ryu calls you a womanizer, not a manizer." He told him. Reno laughed.

"True, but don't worry about it Cloud. So long as they two of you trust each other, you can get through anything. I believe that." Reno told him. Cloud smiled.

"You know him best Reno. He talks so little about himself, and he seems so mature." Cloud murmured. Reno looked at him sharply as Rude tactfully turned his back. Reno grabbed the young SOLDIER's chin and forced him to look at him.

"Don't you go thinking like that Cloud." Reno began seriously dropping all pretext of an accent. "You've stuck it out this far with Genesis breathing down your neck about it all. You know Tseng's done what he could to protect you, but he can't do all that much. Standing up to Genesis, his royal ass himself; that was all you Cloud. And you and I both know Tseng not only appreciates it, but understands how much it cost you. If he's not talking about himself, it's because he doesn't know what to say or how to say it. I'm sure he would tell you; after all, you just have to ask him. He told me when I asked."

"But I heard Wutainese hate personal questions." Cloud whispered, blushing. Reno shrugged.

"Most do yeah, but you don't have to outright ask him. If you want you could talk about yourself and then ask him what it was like for him." Reno told him.

"But he already knows all about, me it's in my file!" Cloud all but shrieked, panicked. Reno snickered softly.

"Not everything is in your file Cloud. And whether he knows or not; he wants to hear it from you. Sure he knows about the bullies in Nibelheim, but he wants you to tell him because it means you trust him. And if admit about the bullying in cadet, that we all know happened Cloud," Reno added sternly, to which Cloud blushed and opened his mouth to deny, but Reno forcefully closed his mouth and shook his head.

"We know it happened Cloud, but we'll let you keep denying it for now." Reno told him. Cloud blushed even more.

"My point is," Reno stressed, "Is that if you open up to him, he'll open up to you Cloud. He wants to hear it from you, not read about it. And none of the important stuff is in those files; not the stuff you can bet he wants to know. Like when you were sick did your mom sing to you or not, those kinds of things. And as for him seeming more mature, that's nothing to worry about. If he wanted mature he would have paired up with Elena or someone like her." Reno told him firmly.

"You have some depth to you, don't you Reno?" Cloud said. Reno shushed him.

"Don't be saying that, you'll ruin my reputation, yo." He said, an easy grin and his accent returning. The sounds of scratching echoed in the shaft.

"Look, something to fight, yo." Reno said, dropping his arm from around Cloud and drawing his EMR.

"Zack slow down, this isn't a race!" Piper called after him. He turned to look at her over his shoulder, grinning.

"But I am so excited!" He exclaimed. Mary shook her head.

"Slow down, Puppies." She sighed. Zack plowed to a stop and looked at her, his head cocked to the side.

"I know you'd rather be with Angeal, but I'm not that bad. Come on, admit it." He said, throwing his arm around her shoulders. Mary sighed.

"I think you're too hyper to keep up with." She said.

"But you were the one singing after we'd all gone drinking." He protested. Mary sighed.

"Don't bring up that day, Zack. It's best if we all bury it six feet down, and plant a tree on it." She told him.

"What does that expression mean?" He asked.

"It means give it a funeral, Zack. Lay it to rest." Piper explained.

"You plant trees on dead people?" He asked shuddering.

"You do if you want to hide the body." Mary muttered.

"Why would you hide a body?" Zack asked.

"Because you murdered the person." Mary said dryly.

"Ew." Zack said.

"But the fight didn't murder anybody, so there's no body to hide." Zack said, running to catch up with Mary as she walked through the tunnel.

"There's the murder of the friendship between the Turks and the SOLDIERs." Piper told him glumly.

"Oh." Zack said, seeing their point.

"ANGEAL!" Piper and Mary heard Ryu scream through their earpieces.

"No…" Mary whispered, her legs collapsing under her. Zack caught her on instinct, before he too crumpled to the ground, shocked.

"ANGEAL!" Seph, Tseng, and Alanna all winced, as Ryu's scream hurt their sensitive ears.

"Elena! Ryu! Report." Tseng snapped. Silence echoed back.

"Damn it, one of your report!" Tseng snapped. Still, only silence answered him.

A/N: So, here you go, lovelies. Hate to just leave it here and not tell you what's going on… hehe. We are at a Con all weekend, so who knows when the next chapter will go up, and the funeral is taking longer to set up then expected :'( Feel free to leave any comments or reviews. We always love to read them.