To all of my readers concerned about the sudden drop in update rate, my muse has PMS and refuses to do anything. I haven't even picked up a pencil in three days. Bah. I think the honeymoon is over. Don't worry; I'm not going to put this story aside any time soon.

Interpretation

By the time Cloud finished his almost hour-long monologue Zack had given up even trying to eat his congealing food and was staring blankly at his friend.

"You were practically raised by that Turk Valentine -who happens to be Seph's mother not his girlfriend- who was experimented on by Hojo and doesn't age anymore or need to eat or sleep."

"Yes."

"Seph, Genesis and Angeal were also experimented on, the latter two by Hollander rather than Hojo, which is why Sephiroth has the eyes and the claws while Genesis has wings. Data and evidence of all this is what was on those disks Valentine brought in back in May."

"Yep."

"Which meant they needed confidential medical treatment to stay alive, so Valentine arranged for it to happen without the Science Department finding out."

"Uh-huh."

"Then Genesis found out they'd used his DNA to create kids in a secret lab somewhere, so he defected in order to rescue them alongside all the Dead Men -feral or otherwise- I've had to fight back in January. And the teenager I saw in Banora with Genesis is the oldest of those kids."

"That's right."

"Why did nobody TELL ME?"

Cloud winced. "You're Angeal's student; we all expected him to do it since out of those affected he was closest to you."

Zack scowled. "He said it was too dangerous for me to get involved with." The brunet second-class did not like it at all that his mentor thought him less mature and capable than Cloud was. Okay, so Cloud was very mature for a fourteen-year-old, but Zack wasn't that bad, was he?

"That was not a good idea; what you are unaware of is far more likely to get you killed than what you know might be a problem," the blond third-class said disgustedly. "Then again, Angeal's a mystery to me. I really do not understand how he thinks at all."

Zack paused, thinking about it. "He probably felt that telling me all of this would be an unnecessary burden on my heart, one that would force me to divide my loyalties. That's not true though: I'm a SOLDIER! I can deal with sordid details and make my own choices thank-you very much! I'd much rather have understood the reasons behind his doing a runner back when it happened rather than go through all the crippling uncertainty; the past few months have been hell!"

Cloud looked extremely apologetic as he nervously poked at the chilly remains of his rice.

"Wait a mo'," Zack said abruptly, raising a finger, "Genesis' siblings are technically his kids? Genesis Rhapsodos has teenage children?"

"Genetically speaking they should be considered his offspring but Vincent decided that any children created before the supposed parent was into puberty should be considered siblings," Cloud said. "Plus, There is the issue of degrees of similarity. For example, Sephiroth is similar enough to Vincent genetically to be her almost-identical twin brother in spite of the age difference. Similarly, Rosso is practically Genesis' twin -however much younger she is- while Weiss is the Crimson General's son and Nero is an almost even mix of Genesis, Vincent and the woman who gave birth to him."

"That is so weird."

The Turk-raised blond smirked. "You like Rosso, don't you."

"Wha? I, er, well," Zack stammered. The undeniable truth that he was completely smitten with a girl who was the infamously temperamental Crimson General's younger sister was not something he really wanted to look into the consequences of just yet. He liked living and if Genesis got wind of his intentions that state of affairs was unlikely to continue.

"I haven't met her yet but we've talked on the phone," Cloud went on, a wicked gleam in his eye that just confirmed to the second-class' mind that his blond friend had been raised by a blue-suit, "She had all sorts of questions about the SOLDIER who was in Banora. She thought he was cute and needed someone to talk to about it since Angeal was off on his own and Genesis is not dealing well with his precious baby sister having a crush."

Zack choked. She liked him back? And Genesis knew? He was totally screwed. But hey, at least she liked him back! "Have you got her PHS number?"

"She doesn't have a PHS yet; she stole Genesis' phone to make the call," cloud said with a smile. "Really knows her own mind, does Rosso. A bit hesitant now and then, but really, really determined when she sets her heart on something. Total drama queen and a great fighter to boot."

"How do you know that if you've never seen her before?"

Cloud gave the second-class a look. "They were in a ShinRa sponsored laboratory, Zack. Scientists document everything and I mean everything. I dug a few videoclips out of the depths of the company mainframe and had a gander. She uses a double-bladed glaive and is quite ridiculously quick with it. Could give you a run for your money very easily despite being two years younger and nearly a foot shorter."

"Snooping around again were you Spiky?" Zack teased, a little relieved to be back on slightly safer ground. The blond grinned at him.

"Now I've told you all the difficult and top-secret stuff that will get you killed if you divulge it to anyone, how about we move on to what I've been missing while out in the wilds of Wutai?"

"Sure thing!" Zack agreed exuberantly, much of his former good cheer restored. "First off was the Banora mission; Kunsel's kinda curious about that since it's a nowhere agricultural town with a massive Mako reactor two miles out. Weird, huh?"

"Sounds like Nibelheim," Cloud joked. "Middle of nowhere, humongous reactor, teeny-tiny village."

Zack snorted. "Yeah, now that you mention it Banora sounds just like Gonaga, too. Well I guess you know about how that fiasco went already, so moving on..."


So, Zack finds out. Don't think Cloud told him everything, just the mostly relevant bits. This is very short but hopefully the next one will be longer. Stupid body. Stupid hormones.