Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.

A/N: To my reviewers, I am soooo sorry that I didn't respond to you. With Christmas and my oldest son being here for the holidays, I just lost track of time and completely forgot until last night when I was answering the anonymous reviews. I promise that I will not neglect you again! Thanks to all of you who PMed me with well wishes!

Reviews, critiques and flames are welcome. I absolutely love all reviews about the story as it gives me motivation, I use good constructive criticism to help my writing improve and I feed the flames to the fires of my imagination.

Thanks to my before posting betaQueen of Jokers and my after posting beta SubZeroChimera!

"I recommend you take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves." –Earl of Chesterfield

Chapter 52

After they left the restaurant, Sephiroth and Cloud walked down one of the main streets. Cloud let the night air attempt to heal some of his restlessness. Sephiroth looked around and noticed an old faded poster off to one side of a building, elbowing Cloud, he pointed, "Did I really look that impressive?" Sephiroth had to smile at the picture.

Cloud approached the poster and then looked back at Sephiroth, "Yeah, I grew up wanting to be just like you." He punched him in the arm in jest, "Now look at you, short brown hair and on the run from the law."

Sephiroth reached back and rubbed the back of his neck, "I didn't really ever think about it."

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows for a second at seeing Sephiroth's uneasiness. They turned and looked at the people as they walked by and Cloud observed, "Everyone is oblivious to the goings on out there. Do you think if they knew, things would change?"

"It is hard to say. One thing is for sure, Shinra would still be the biggest thing around. To bring it down completely would be near impossible."

Cloud noticed a two man patrol of soldiers walking down the street toward them, he turned toward Sephiroth and whispered, "We've got some company."

"They should not recognize me, but we should move along anyway," They both started walking and the soldiers fell in behind them and quickened their pace.

Cloud whispered, "It's not you I'm worried about them recognizing." Sephiroth glanced over to Cloud as he explained, "They are a couple of guys that I knew. Don't tell me that you don't know, I mean hell we know too much about each other as it is." Cloud pointed to his head as Sephiroth took the hint that he was talking about their connection.

Sephiroth whispered back, "Some things. Only some things, not everything is known. This is one thing that I do not know about you." Sephiroth sighed, "Some things I would really rather not know." Even though his expression hadn't changed, Sephiroth's tone was teasing so Cloud smirked back at him. The taller man finished, "There is an empty building up ahead. I think we can take care of this situation in there." Cloud nodded.

Sephiroth nodded toward an alley and then down to a large wooden weather worn door. Leaving the door open just a crack, they split up and rounded some pillars that held up part of the balcony of the old theater. The soldiers stepped in cautiously and they stood there in place for a moment. The shorter of the two said, "I think we need to go get back up. This isn't a good idea."

"Shh! If we bag these two, just think of the bonus we get. If we get back up, we have to split it with more guys," The taller one swept his rifle across the lobby and he had to squint in the dark, "There." He pointed toward the back where he saw some foot prints in the layers of dust, "Let's go." They slowly made their way toward the back.

Springing the trap, Sephiroth and Cloud had them surrounded. Cloud took his surprised quarry into a well-placed punch to the nose. Not sure if it was the surprise or the pain but the guy screamed and he fell to the floor. His rifle went skidding and he scrambled for it. Another punch to the back of his neck and a kick to his ribs had him down. Cloud planted his knee in his throat as he recounted calmly, "I suggest you stop struggling." The guy's hands went to Cloud's knee and tried to push it off his neck. When Cloud looked up at Sephiroth, the guy took that opportunity to flail his fist up into blonde's crotch. Gasping and grabbed himself, but he didn't move from the man's neck. Taking a few deep breaths and grunting in frustration Cloud looked down at the guy and grabbed his nose between his fingers and pulled. The guy let out a scream and stopped moving.

Just as Cloud sprung his surprise, Sephiroth did as well, reaching around the corner and grabbing a handful of the front of his target's uniform. He pulled the guy in and slammed his elbow into his face with the other arm. Letting go of his uniform, he rammed a tight fist into his ribs, knocking him to the ground. He turned the guy over to his stomach and dropped down and landed his weight on his back, holding him down he questioned, "Why are you following us?"

From the floor that his face was firmly attached to, the guy who Sephiroth was holding said, "We recognized you, we just wanted the reward."

Cloud dug his knee into the neck of the guy under him, "Jason, what the hell is your problem?"

Sephiroth shot a look at Cloud, "You mean that is the boy who tormented you in Nibelheim?"

Cloud nodded to Sephiroth and then asked the guy he held down, "Why can't you just leave me… umm, us... alone? Why did you hate me so much? I never did anything to you to make you hate me."

From under a firm knee, the defiant man spoke through gritted teeth, "Fuck you, bitch! You wanna want to hear what I heard about you? It just confirmed what I always knew about you."

Cloud dug his knee harder, "What? What could you possibly know about me?"

A smile crossed Jason's face, "Just that sucking dick suits you."

Anger filled Cloud's eyes and Sephiroth put his hand on his shoulder. Shrugging the hand off, he lifted himself off Jason as he asked Jason angrily, "Sucking dick suits me huh?" He lifted the other by the front of his shirt. The blonde's jaw clenched and through his teeth he spat out, "How about you suck my dick?" Cloud brought a knee up and got Conners in the stomach dropping him to the floor. When Cloud went back to finish him off, Sephiroth got a hold of his arm.

"Cloud!" Sephiroth spun him around and tried to stare him down, but the blond was deep in his rage.

Cloud threw a punch at Sephiroth, "Fuck off Seph!" Sephiroth ducked under it.

Sephiroth sternly asked, "Is it me you really want to fight? Save it for trying to find Zack."

Cloud flinched, paused and took a deep breath. He took a step back and straightened his shirt, "You're right. Sorry."

Conners rolled over to his side and tried to sit up as he asked both of them, "Are you fucking him, or is he fucking you?" He laughed and spit out a mouth full of blood. Cloud bristled and his hands went back into tight fists as Jason continued, "Davis told anyone who would listen how good you were. So tell me Cloud, how bad does it hurt the first time you get an ass full?" Another laugh came from him as Cloud took a step forward and Sephiroth put his arm up in front of him to stop him from doing something he might regret later.

Sephiroth asked the man on the floor, "You are not very intelligent are you?"

With a scoff, Conners answered, "Cloud won't kill me. He may be a fruit, but he's not a killer."

Pushing against Sephiroth's arm, Cloud spoke firmly, "You don't know me anymore."

Jason looked up at Sephiroth and smirked, "Before you destroyed Nibelheim, Cloud was a little bitch and now he's doing your dirty work?"

Sephiroth took a step forward and punched him out. When his head hit the floor, the sound was a thick thud.

Cloud stepped toward Sephiroth and shoved him, "What the hell was that? I don't need you to protect me!"

"Sorry," Sephiroth straightened himself up, "What are we going to do with these guys?"

Cloud stepped over to Rodgers, "Brett, should I just kill you now?"

He looked over at an unconscious Conners, "No, dude! I ain't gonna tell no one I saw you! I swear!" He sat up and got on his knees in front of Cloud, grabbing the bottom of his shirt that had come un-tucked, "Please? I am sorry about everything. Really man! I'll do anything you want."

Cloud bent his knee and pushed him back, "Get off of me." He turned to Sephiroth, "It's up to you. I don't care about any one of these guys." He looked down at Brett, "I just assume tie them up in here and let them starve to death."

Sephiroth put a finger up in the air, "I have an idea."

As they left the theater, they both had a small smile on their face and Cloud dropped an envelope in the closest mail box.

Back inside the theater, Jason woke up to a weight on his back. He wiggled and he heard Brett painfully moan as he regained consciousness, "What the fuck?" Jason looked around and a mirror had been moved around to where he could see exactly what was on him. The blood was cleaned off their faces, their injuries were healed and both were stripped naked and Brett was lying on top of him in a very provocative position. On the mirror was written in the dust, "Enjoy your reward."

Two days later, when the morning edition of the 'Junon Times' ran, a story with their military pictures were on the front page with the caption, "Shinra soldiers to be disciplined for public indiscretion." With a smile firmly planted on his face, Cloud bought a copy of the paper just before they boarded the ship.

After finding parking for their truck and motorcycles among the several other pedestrian cars and utility vehicles on the ship, Sephiroth let out a sigh of relief at the ship's quarters were bigger than they were when they'd been on the run. The thought of sharing a room the size that they had to share after they escaped was not something he was looking forward to. They still had to double up, as there were only two rooms left.

Raising his hand, Harding announced, "Whatever room assignments you come up with, I don't want to be with Barret."

"What? Like I want to be in the same room with you either," Barret crossed his arms and glared at him.

Cloud did a time out with his hands, "Fine. Barret, Yuffie, you bunk with me and Tifa. Harding can bunk with Seph and Aerith. Is that okay with everyone?"

"Fine!" Harding turned and took his things into the room. Then from inside the room, Harding yelled, "Hey guys, there's only one bed."

Sephiroth patted him on the back, "That's right, you get the floor." A smile crossed Sephiroth's lips and Harding's neck strained in anger as he threw his things on the floor.

Harding announced as he passed Aerith, "I'm going for a walk."

Aerith came up behind the former General and put her arms around him as she moved to look in his eyes, she smiled, "Be nice."

He bent down for a kiss and then he said, "Oh, I'm just having a bit of fun. Growing up in Shinra, I never got to have much fun. Now that I have a certain amount of freedom-"

"I know. Let's get ready for bed, I'm tired," She turned and began pulling out her pajamas.

Stepping up behind her, he slowly rubbed his hands up and down her arms, "Aerith, I know this must be difficult for you and I am sorry."

Without looking up from her bag, "Seph, we all love Zack, we all want to get him back and in one piece." She turned and went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Sitting down on the toilet lid, she began to cry. It wasn't that she wanted to be with Zack anymore, she wanted Sephiroth, but she couldn't stand the thought of the brunette out there, in pain and needing help.

Later that night when everyone had fallen asleep, Cloud found that he wasn't able to sleep. He looked up from the big chair in their room. Tifa and Yuffie slept quietly in the bed and Barret was sawing some serious logs on the floor. Pulling the blanket off and standing, he adjusted his sleep pants and stretched his arms, he thought that maybe taking a walk would tire him out.

Walking down one of the main cabin corridors he ran his fingers along the walls. The feel of the steel then the softer wooden doors, then the steel and then doors had a calming rhythm. 'Where is he and where is he going?' He knew deep down where he was going. The thought of going back there made goose bumps pop up on his bare chest. He wondered if Hojo would be there, or was he still in Midgar? Before long he found himself on the other end of the ship. Entering the cargo area where the vehicles were parked, he got in the truck and lay down, "Zack I hope we get to you in time."

Lying on his back, he had one arm lying across his forehead and the other down at his side. The gearshift was digging into his thigh, but he still managed to drift off. In his sleep, he rolled over and fell to the floorboard. Dust that had settled on the floor billowed around his head and shoulders, his left leg was still on the seat and his right leg was stuck between the dash board and gearshift. He coughed when he inhaled some of the dust.

Struggling his way from his side to his back, the ceiling of the truck became his focus as he tried to understand things happening again. The thought of Zack being alone, sick, and it being his fault, got his thoughts tangled.

The next morning, Tifa was surprised that Cloud was gone. The big chair was empty except for his blanket and the pillow on the floor, "Barret, have you seen Cloud?"

Barret looked over his shoulder from the floor, "No. I ain't 'is mother."

Yuffie looked up from her pillow next to Tifa, "Is it morning already?"

Tifa decided to get up and see about getting something to eat. As she walked toward where the truck was parked, she saw Cloud and Aerith walking back from where the vehicles were. Wearing just a pair of dark green sleep pants, he had his arm around the ancient's shoulders. Aerith was in a nightgown and robe and had her arm around his waist. Resting her head on his shoulder, they walked slowly toward the cabins.

Tifa ducked off to the side and watched. They were talking and then he kissed her. The martial artist's blood began to boil. It was only a quick kiss, maybe just one shared between friends. Aerith's hands rounded his face and she put her face close to his. He hugged her tightly and then she gave him another little kiss. The skin on her knuckles whitened and blood flowed heavily toward her face. They both disappeared and she couldn't move. Wrinkles lined themselves out between her eyebrows.

"What are you doing?"

Tifa jumped at the voice, "S-Seph! I-I… was… Do you know what I just saw?!"

"Calm down first."

The link between her mouth and brain seemed to stop working, forming words was difficult, "Cloud, Aerith, kissing." Seeing the confused look on Sephiroth's face, she took a deep breath, "I saw Cloud and Aerith kissing."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "Really?" He got a little concerned, but the calm grown-up in him said, "There has to be a good reason."

A laugh of disbelief came out as she said, "Oh, yeah, and it better be a good one!"

All the dock workers and the ship's crew were busy and Zack was able to slip past them. Davis pointed him in the direction to the pass toward Coral, "We have to hurry, if you want to get there. Cloud will be waiting."

The brunette began to run. After a couple of days, Davis let up on him long enough for him to get some sleep.

Zack curled up on his side chanting, "Protect Cloud… save Cloud… love Cloud…" He fell asleep as he spoke and Davis sat next to him enforcing the chant into every cell in Zack's body.

Davis sighed contently and smiled, he kept his hand resting on Zack's ribs, "You're almost there my little specimen."

A/N 2: If you don't like the story, or there is something wrong that you want to point out, it really isn't necessary to review anonymously. It really takes a lot to upset me, and if there is a real problem, I need to know so that I can fix it, so please don't think that you have to hide who you are. With that said, if you really feel that the story isn't up to what you find entertaining, then you have the freedom to move along to another story that is more to your liking. On another note, I would appreciate it if all reviews left were about the story and not another review or reviewer. Thanks!

To answer the question about why I leave all the reviews up when I can just as easily remove the anonymous ones, well the answer is not very simple but I will make it as short an explanation as I can. There are some authors (and I can give you a huge laundry list of names), that take off the undesirable reviews that are anonymous simply because they didn't like what they had to say. Some of the authors that remove them have a legitimate reason because they are just plain mean or are harsh beyond reason, and those I don't see why they wouldn't take them off. However, other authors take them off only because they don't fall into their ideal that they have and because they disagree with what the reviewer says. They take it off because they aren't comfortable enough, or confident enough, to handle any kind of criticism, whether it is a troll or not. I feel strongly that everyone has an opinion, and I want those opinions. Just so that I'm clear, I'm not advocating trolling just for trolling sake, I just feel that if you aren't confident enough in your opinion, and you feel that an anonymous review is your only avenue, then go for it, just do it respectfully ;)

Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

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