Disclaimer: I do not any of the canon characters, the places, or anything to do with the FFVII universe, the only thing that is mine is the writing.

The boy's voice was prattling off in his ear whilst he tried to figure things out, his blonde brow furrowed together as he tried to get some sort of resemblance of sanity into the current situation. He was shorter. He didn't have muscle. And his blonde hair was longer. In fact it was so long one would have almost been capable of pulling it into a ponytail and he couldn't help but wonder how quickly someone would be capable of making it shorter, easier for him to live with. Right now it was tickling his neck and that really irked him. Looking down at himself, cloud lifted his unbelieving eyes to the still prattling boy in the opposite bed, not quite sure what to do with himself, not sure what to say and all in all, his brain was having slight troubles trying to figure out just what had happened.

"Shut up, Alex! I'm trying to think!" He hissed, only to have himself faced with another problem. His voice was different, carrying no traces of the confidence it had gathered during the years. The one thing that irked him, however, wasn't in the slightest as deep as it had been and thus, he was yet again reminded of the one thing that had been his problem when he had been a teenager. He'd always looked far too feminine for his own good.

Becoming aware of the sudden silence that had taken reign over the whole room, he glanced over at the brunette who gave him an exasperated look before he huffed a 'whatever' and rolled onto his side, trying to go back to sleep. Cloud was glad for that small reprieve, the boy's voice having annoyed him to hell and back and that was also the moment in which he found the first anomaly. The boy he had been rooming with when in the Shinra Corps hadn't been named Alex. It'd been Marcus. His brow furrowed and he looked at his back, trying to remember and all he could remember were bits and pieces. It was starting to feel eerily similar to the time in which he had held Zack's memories as his own and simply remembered his own memories as flashbacks and small inconsistencies. Slowly he was realising that it was somewhat scary and with a hasty mumble of apology, he tugged on the standard SOLDIER-issued boots, the trousers and the sleeveless turtleneck and rushed out of the room. Closing the door behind him, he then realised what he had just put on and he had to lean on the closed door for support as his mind was reeling.

Three days ago, you passed with flying colors. A soft growl left the man as the small voice in the back of his head supplied him with the answer and he couldn't help but sigh. That meant that he had been tested with mako already and also that he would receive his first mako dosage the next day, as well as going through the first hellish classes. Or at least.. he thought they would be hell. After all, he hadn't exactly been on any of those before but at the same time, memories of classes fleeted through his mind that hadn't been there before, or at the least they hadn't been as clear. Yet again, confusion entered Cloud's mind and he couldn't help but growl in frustration.

Wrapped in his thoughts, he pushed himself away from the door and practically stalked his way through the corridors to the gym, needing something to do, something to balance himself and soon enough, he was standing in the empty hall. With annoyance, he realised he couldn't see all that well in the dark and as he listened, he couldn't even hear as well as he used to. It was all becoming quite annoying and frustrating, not to mention that the familiar weight of the First Tsurugi wasn't anywhere on his person. He wanted that sword, wanted all those six blades at his disposal but instead what was he left with? The swords that they would give here. Then again, it's not as if I could even lift up the main blade anymore, his thoughts happily supplied him and he let out a soft sigh before he breathed out a deep sigh, walking to the middle of the gym.

For a few moments, he stood there, simply breathing, gathering himself and trying to get himself to focus before he eased himself into a familiar pattern of katas. Except what his mind might have known, his muscles had forgotten and Cloud found himself fumbling and soon, he simply stopped, shaking slightly as his muscles couldn't take the strain, or the pace in which he wanted to complete every single move. It took a few deep breaths, a quick look around to check whether he was still alone before he started again, though this time he did not even think about the more difficult ones. Instead, he recalled easier katas that seemed relevant to his younger years and suddenly, things got easier. That did not, however, make Cloud any less disappointed with himself even as he flew through the easy katas with a higher speed than average, his movements precise and it was with the last move that there was a slight tremor and he let out a somewhat heavy breath, his chest heaving from the exertion even as he bowed to his imaginary oponent.

His frustration was clear, his shoulders tensed and his eyebrow ticking slightly, even if his mind felt just marginally calmer what with having found itself a goal. He had to improve himself and for once, he was actually looking forward to mako treatments. He wanted the added power so that he could feel like himself, could get his body to function like he wanted it to before it faded from his memory. A soft growl left his lips as he practically stalked his way out of the gym, seeming quite annoyed as he stalked through the empty halls and it wasn't until he saw a rather large figure standing in the hallway that he realised that the corridors were empty and that there most likely was some kind of a curfew. And if there was, traipsing around at three in the morning was most certainly outside it.

"It is past curfew, SOLDIER 3rd class," came a rather strict voice and Cloud simply thanked his lucky stars the voice didn't belong to the general. He wasn't quite sure how he would be able to cope through that confrontation this early on. And so, halting, he snapped himself into attention and looked up at the imposing figure, only to almost forget himself. Angeal Hewley.

"My apologies, sir." His reply was rather faint, what with the shock of seeing those stern features setting into his mind, even if the only things he could remember were quick flashes from the memories of Zack. And for some reason, those memories seemed a bit altered. He didn't quite have the time to figure out what was difficult, before someone walked up next to the man.

The sigh of those glowing sky-blue eyes and that black spiky hair, not to mention the strict expression covering up an amused look was something that threatened to break the blonde. He could have handled just seeing Angeal, but to see Angeal and Zack together... Before his eyes were pictures of him bloodied, pierced by bullets, lying on the wasteland around Midgar, telling him to live on and be his living legacy. And then the insanity, the loss of identity, the shock of everything that had happened to him settled and Cloud simply stood there, staring at the younger of the duo. He looked just the same, just like the puppy Angeal had said he had been. He must have shown some of this shock on his features, because Zack was suddenly looking very concerned, walking towards him past Angeal – the older man tried to tell him to stay back – and took hold of Cloud's shoulder, steadying him.

Not having realised he had swayed, the blonde looked up at him – Gaia, had he really been that short? - and realised that he did not cover up his emotions as well as he should have. Instead, his brain did the one thing it deemed fitting for such a situation and shut off, leaving the blonde crumbling into Zack's arms, his consciousness finally leaving him, letting him out of the situation.

"I swear, he was looking at us like he knew us!"

"We've been in possibly every newspaper ever printed in the last few weeks, Zack."

".. That's not what I meant! It's like he knew us!"

Woken up to the sound of bickering, the first thing that Cloud realised was that he had a killer headache and those voice sounded like they shouldn't have been there, like they should have been buried in some deep memory. A deep groan left him and the bickering stopped, with strong hands suddenly helping him sit up. Blinking his eyes open, the blonde found himself looking into eyes that were painfully familiar and he had to bite back a gasp, this time managing to cover up most of the recognition and surprise from his eyes, instead he looked at him with something akin to awe. Zack really was there, wasn't he? He was alive.

"Hey, you alright kid? You seemed to space out on me and I thought the exam's must've gotten to you but.. Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

Cloud wasn't even thinking about listening to him, not when he was taking in his surroundings, trying to figure out where the hell he was but the only thing he came to realise was that he simply had no recollection of this place. His brow furrowed, eyes noticing Angeal watching from further away in much more casual wear – he didn't have his the Buster Sword on his back (that was something, right?) - before he finally concentrated on the puppy infront of him, giving him a very annoyed look at being so blatantly ignored. A sheepish smile curled Cloud's lips and he looked down, rubbing the back of his neck apologetically, licking his lips as he glanced around yet again, trying to figure out what to say. Feeling shy was so new to him after all these years and thus, the fact that he felt his pale cheeks blushing quite brilliantly made him almost mortified.

".. I.. I'm alright. Thank you," he then finally managed to grind out, sounding pathetically weak if one asked him.

"Yeah, no problem or anything but you shouldn't wander around in the halls at night!" Zack was as excitable as ever and the fact that he was oblivious to just how wonderful it was for Cloud to hear his voice, simply made the sensation of listening to him even sweeter. "I mean, it's all cool and everything but the tight asses in HQ don't like their future weapons walking around when they should be resting and all!"

"I'm sorry," the blonde found himself saying softly, not raising his eyes. "I simply couldn't sleep and needed to work off some stress."

The situation was beyond bizarre. Cloud couldn't determine just what he was feeling, especially with Zack so close to him, acting like nothing bad had ever happened to him – well, it hadn't – and to him it was such a paradox that it was making the headache get stronger and his mind to start feeling a bit shaky again. Especially the fact that Angeal had said something and he and Zack were bickering – though he had to admit that it was Zack doing the bickering and the Commander was simply watching him with that amused expression, giving short and almost annoyed replies. Clutching to the cushions of the couch, he took it upon himself to yet again look around the room and he realised he was in some kind of large living room, with numerous doors leading out and he couldn't help but wonder what they were. But what was the greatest oddity of the situation? Why on earth was he there in the first place?

"Uhm.. e-excuse me.." Shiva, but he hated the way his voice quivered! Once he had the attention back to him, he swallowed and blushed slightly, feeling as if he had interrupted something.

"I simply.. I uh.. Why am I here? And where is here, exactly?" Zack blinked, looked at him like he was stupid before he let out a laugh.

"Well. You're in the apartment of the Commanders Hewley and Rhapsodos, the General and Lieuetenant Fair! Didn't think it'd be fair to leave you out in the corridors so we brought you back here."

The response was almost as he expected, however then his mind ground to a halt and his large blue eyes widened slightly. The General? As in.. Sephiroth? For a few moments, his mind hit a wall and he could not think straight. Hate started somewhere deep within him, but then it was crushed by silly hero-worship, only to be replaced by an adoration of sorts. The headache was becoming more and more intense, making the process of thinking quite painful and he didn't doubt that it was becoming quite obvious that he wasn't well.

"I.. I think I should leave, then," he said, making a move as to get up off the couch, only to have a strong hand pushing him back down.

"Nu-uh! You're staying here for the night in case you faint again. I mean.. you just had your mako reaction tested, right? Might be something wrong," he replied easily, not in the slightest seeing something wrong with keeping someone from their room. Cloud wanted to tell him that he would be fine with mako that he'd had worse but instead of that, he found his attention diverting to the sound of a door opening and closing and the sounds of two people walking in. The other one wasn't as familiar as the other one and even then, the one he recognised was so infinitely different from what he usually heard. From the foyer stepped in Genesis and followed by him, the tall figure of Sephiroth. Cloud's heart stopped as those cat eyes found his and in an instant, terror and hatred tore through him, a sharp pain going through his body as if the Masamune had yet again been impaling him before he fell into blissful oblivion.

"Oh come on! That's the second time in no more than an hour!"