A/N: Phoenix: Thanks for the review!

Mischief

Tifa had gone out to place more orders for her new restaurant about a week after meeting Aeris at Haruna and Hokuto's, something she'd done before and had no trouble with (other than Vincent showing her to the right places the first time). However, a very wryly amused Reno was walking with her this time, and she kept giving him sidelong looks because—she didn't need a babysitter! It was just a normal shopping trip in a normal city, not a trip out into the wilderness, and even the latter she'd be able to handle around Midgar. After all, she was used to dealing with the Nibel area creatures, and those were a lot stronger than the ones found in the milder climate around Midgar and Kalm.

Finally, after her second stop, she asked, "Why?" They were heading leisurely for her third and last stop that day—the last place she got products from wouldn't be able to take her order for two more days.

"Why what, Darlin'?" Reno asked in mild surprise.

She made a face at the nickname, knowing he'd never stop calling her that (she'd tried to get him to already), and clarified, "Why are you here with me? I don't need help to place orders for food."

"Yeah," he agreed. "If that's all it was, sure. But some o' the guys who attacked us down in tha Slums a few weeks back had powerful buddies. 'N' at least one of them 'powerful buddies' decided attackin' random Turks is a great idea, yo."

"So? I can fight," Tifa answered in annoyance. "And they're in the Slums."

"Nope," the red haired Turk answered, popping the 'p', but he didn't elaborate.

"No to which part?" she blinked.

"Both, Darlin'," he clarified flatly, and she gave him a confused and annoyed look. "Look, ya got some memories of how ta fight from your future self, but you've got no real trainin', yo. Ya try goin' against any o' the current Turks who're trained an' you'll get creamed. First, train yerself up, then you could say ya know how to fight. The talent's there, but it needs practice ta make good on it in a real fight. As for the 'powerful buddies', there are three o' them. One's only in the Slums, but the other two're based up here, an' their buddies've already attacked two Turks right here in the upper city, yo."

For a long minute, Tifa thought about what he was saying, then asked, "Won't they be even more likely to attack me if you're the one with me? I mean, since you're the reason their guys are dead?"

"They proved they don't give a damn which Turk they hit, yo. 'N' no one's goin' ta risk you, Darlin'."

"...But a Turk still training is the best they could send with me?"

"I'm a Slummer, not a well-raised city boy. If I fight, I aim ta kill, no remorse, no holdin' back just 'cause I see a kid. That kid's aimin' ta attack me—or you—with a knife in hand, he's fair game, yo."

Blinking in surprise, Tifa realized she'd somehow had a false impression of who and what Reno was, despite the Slum accent. Somehow, she'd thought he was a 'nice guy' sort, and she supposed he was, for a Slummer. They obviously had a different definition of what 'nice' was and didn't shy away from the things most normal people did. Even if she had Turk training, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to kill a child (unless the child was maybe just about an adult anyway), and the child attacking her with a knife wouldn't really make a difference.

Apparently sensing her thoughts, Reno commented, "Darlin', livin' in the Slums is hard, yo. There's two Sectors which ain't so bad, but outside those, ya may as well be livin' in the Great Glacier. I grew up in the worst of 'em, an' that leaves marks, big ones. Ta save my Ma, I had ta kill my Da, 'n' Ma only lasted two more years before O.D.'in' on some Mako drug shit. Out on the streets, ya kill or be killed, 'cause someone wants everythin' ya own, even your rags of clothin', 'cause someone's always got worse rags they want ta replace. Age don't matter when yer starvin', got no clothes, and got no roof, yo."

Tifa, on the other hand, went cross-eyed with the completely incompatible information dump he'd just given her, and she wondered how he could be so matter-of-fact about having grown up that way. It horrified her in a way nothing else did, and made her wonder how he could have any kind of decency at all—and he did. Actually, he had shit-loads of it, given how he'd grown up. And he was somehow clean of addictions, too, other than regular smoking and drinking, those even just in mild forms. That the worst of the Slums could even turn out a half-decent human being was almost as mind-boggling as being bluntly told what life in the Slums was actually like.

Now she knew why President Shinra eventually had to go—he obviously cared nothing for improving life for the people in the Slums, for people like Reno.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Reno suddenly spun and raised his EMR to block a steel pipe aimed for her, creating a huge 'clang' that made her ears ring. It only took a few moments for three more men to join them, for two to be knocked out (or dead), one to be stuck in Pyramid (it was a pyramid-shaped energy box which prevented all action for a certain amount of time), and the last—

Tifa gaped as Reno smacked his arm upwards with his EMR, only for a gun to go with it—and go off with a loud bang.

Moments later, the sign on the second story of the shop they'd been passing fell straight down, crashing to the ground just beside her and knocking them all flat with the shock wave (and she was pretty sure she had 'shrapnel wounds', too). Something landed on her chest and bounced to somewhere past her, and something else landed on her belly before bouncing to land on her neck. It was furry and moving, so she dazedly reached for it and picked it up—then stopped to stare at the small creature she was holding.

It had some similarity to a cat, she thought, but she was sure it wasn't one because it looked too different. Mostly shades of brown and black—its tail was striped, but the rest of it was more uniform—its most distinctive feature was the bandit-like mask in black surrounding its eyes. It also wasn't really very big, though the amount of fluffy fur it was covered in made it look bigger. The paws grasping the tops of her hands as it stared back at her with brown eyes were more like hands than paws, too. Was it a raccoon? She'd never seen one in person before.

"All right, Darlin'?" Reno asked as he leaned over her, and she saw that he was holding a second one of the strange creatures in one of his arms, his gaze a cross between bemused and worried. The first one to have bounced off her?

"...What just happened?" she asked, lowering the creature to her chest and letting it go. To her surprise, rather than bolting, it stayed where she'd set it down.

"That was an attack by one o' the 'powerful buddies'. Same as the others—four guys aimin' ta kill, yo. They still ain't figured out that four guys at that level can't take on a Turk. An' this is why you need an escort 'til ya learn ta fight properly. 'Cause, I mean, you didn't even try ta defend yerself."

"That happened way too fast," she whined.

"That's battle for ya," he answered bluntly, then leaned down to put the creature in his arm on the ground. "Think ya can get up so we can—well, probably go get changed before placin' your last order today?"

Sighing, she lifted the creature off her chest to set it beside the other, then slowly sat and stood, Reno offering her a hand to her feet. "Are those raccoons? I've never personally seen one before."

"They are, 'n' it looks like they're babies still—old enough to be weaned, but not much more. Guess they were on the sign when it fell, yo," the red haired man offered. "C'mon, then. We'll make sure there's no injuries, get changed, an' finish up for today."

As she took a few steps, she winced and looked down at her legs—her pant legs had several holes in them, and some were showing bloody cuts. "That's probably a good idea. I didn't even realize I was injured until I tried to walk."

"...Sounds like ya went inta shock," he commented, tone apprehensive. "You got a Restore Materia on ya? Might be better ta heal some o' that 'til we can get back to the buildin'..."

"It's not that bad—they've mostly stopped bleeding," she told him, tone amused. "Besides, what are you going to do, carry me back to the building?"

His brow rose and he said, "If yer havin' too much trouble walkin', yeah, Darlin'."

She pointed her finger at him warningly, glaring at him as she said, "Not unless I fall over."

Reno's brow rose higher. "No. Yer in shock 'n' can't tell how bad your injuries actually are. If I think yer pushin' it, I'm carryin' you, yo. That's not negotiable. C'mon."

He put a hand on her shoulder to lead her back in the direction of the Shinra building, moving more slowly than he'd normally have walked under the circumstances. To both of their surprise, however, the two raccoon kits (1) followed them for about a block—then suddenly rushed them and climbed their clothes up to their shoulders, where they perched to look around curiously.

"Um?" Tifa asked as she glanced at the furry head beside hers.

"...I guess they adopted us?" Reno asked slowly, his gaze as puzzled as hers.

The two traded looks, then sighed and returned to the first order of business—getting back to the Shinra building.

MB

Cloud was finally finished his new weapon (even Scarlet looked impressed by the completed work), and he needed to test how it worked, so took it to the training rooms to find someone to spar with. The Turks had a couple of their own, but they also often used the main training rooms for various reasons—facilities, sparring partners, change of scenery, and others. It surprised him to see Sephiroth in the room with a young woman who apparently had a fox beside her, unless she told it to stay on the sidelines, and Weiss and Nero were both there as well, Weiss with a young man in the uniform of a third and Nero...with a Shadow Monk (2)?

A Shadow Monk was exclusive to the Northern Cave, and not just to any part of the Cave, but to a branching side he'd only found long after Zack's death. It was a relative of a Dorky Face (or Funny Face), but the Shadow Monk instead had a purple head and a black and purple 'skirt' with a black bow. They had an eerie sort of cackle, and some of their abilities included fading into shadows and mind-controlling others. Nero's expression was somewhat dazed, but Cloud blinked when the younger, black haired boy generated a very small void bubble above his hand—and the Shadow Monk literally ate it, making noises like it was absolutely delighted (like a chuckling cheer).

It was Fenrir asking into his mind in confusion, :Shadow Monks aren't pet material. What the fuck is that all about?: which caused him to snap out of his own shock and walk over to join them.

Weiss turned to look as he approached, then greeted him with, "Cloud. What's that?" The white haired boy's head tipped in the direction of the combat star in his hands.

"The first combat trial of my new weapon," Cloud replied in wry amusement. "What's with the Shadow Monk? And your new Third, apparently?"

"This is Inder Herian—I finally decided on him to mentor because he actually wants to learn to dual wield properly," Weiss explained. "Nero's new...hanger-on, I guess...is from the Northern Cave from a task he was sent there to do. He told me it had been laying on the ground where he'd found his target, so he'd thought it was already dead, but when he used his void power, it woke up and started siphoning it off. It healed almost instantly, and it's been following him since." The white haired boy paused, then grinned and added, "Seeing it treat Nero's void power like candy is hilarious, though." Inder laughed and Nero managed a small, wry smile, still looking dazed.

"...It eats void energy?" Cloud blinked. "It really does eat void energy, that wasn't just a fluke?"

"It really eats void energy," Nero said quietly, making Cloud blink at him. "And it's way easier to control it now that this thing is eating some of it."

"Okay...That's good?" the blond blinked again. Nero nodded, expression bemused that time. "How can you be sure it won't hurt anyone?"

"I just told it I'll kill it if it hurts anyone without my say," the younger boy answered, back to mostly dazed. "They're smart enough to get it, and as long as I feed it, it's happy. I already trained today, so I'll only give it small amounts until the next time. I don't know if it even has 'hungry' or 'full' levels because it never turns down a chance to eat some."

"...So...It's sort of a pet, but not, and it's going to be here for the rest of its life?" Cloud clarified as Fenrir laughed into his mind, murmuring about how great a joke that was.

"I guess so?" Nero agreed.

"...Then, what's its name?" the blond asked.

"Name?" both Weiss and Nero asked in surprise.

"If it's here for the long haul, it needs a name," Cloud explained patiently. "And Lazard probably needs to know it's here, too."

"Oh," Nero blinked, then looked thoughtfully at the floating, purple and black monster. "Sin," he then said—and the monster cackled. All four humans blinked at it, then Nero said, "I guess it likes Sin as a name, then." The monster cackled again, so Inder, Weiss, and Cloud just sighed.

"Sin it is," Weiss agreed. He then looked at Cloud. "So, your new weapon? Think you want to risk sparring with me?"

"If you're sparring, you're not trying to kill anyone. And for what it's worth, your mentee should be interested in seeing us spar," Cloud answered in some amusement. "Just give me a couple minutes to familiarize myself with the combat star form, because it's only after that when things will get interesting."

"Okay," Weiss agreed, rising. "You're not familiar with a combat star?"

"I had a friend who used them almost exclusively, so I learned some about how to handle them. I'm no expert, though, so I have to figure out my pattern," the blond explained as the two stepped onto an empty mat and to the starting markers for a match.

"We'll see how it goes, then," Weiss agreed, and their match began.

At first, they were pacing themselves as Cloud learned how to use the combat star to fight, block, and shield, and he was suddenly very, very thankful he'd remade the star with Adamantaimai shell so it was much lighter than it normally would be. Then, the pace began picking up, and fighting a dual wielder with just the star wasn't working well—it was a single weapon, after all. As such, he chose a blade to pull free and used it to block one of Weiss' swings—

And Weiss just froze for a moment to stare in shock, first at the blade Cloud held, then at the combat star, and his gaze morphed to amazed realization. Then, he grinned and began attacking hard and fast. Cloud, to keep up with him, slipped the combat star onto his arm like a shield and drew a second blade to fight with—then began switching blades out, testing each size for the feel and ease of use, making sure they latched and un-latched properly. It actually surprised him to find that using the longest blade with a mid-length one was the best combination to fight Weiss with, but they were pretty much both fighting all-out by the time he'd decided that and stuck with it.

Suddenly, another blade cut into the sparring match, a very long, very familiar one—Masamune, Sephiroth's sword. The Nightmare's sword. He turned on instinct and lashed out at blade and wielder, and a very shocked Sephiroth blocked him, but didn't retaliate. That lack of retaliation broke through Cloud's haze of panic and he suddenly froze, then stepped back. A sudden exhaustion hit him and he swayed, then steadied himself and turned to look around the room. Everyone who had been there to train was watching them.

To draw attention from Cloud's behavior, Weiss asked, "Why did you stop us, General?"

Sephiroth turned to Weiss and said pointedly, "You both have been sparring for over an hour, and as impressive as your match was, the Turk needs to rest. His body is not trained for that level of combat, even with Mako enhancements."

Weiss frowned in puzzlement for a moment as he eyed Cloud, then he blinked and said, "I'll have to watch for those signs in the future. Thank you for alerting me."

"I'm fine," Cloud answered petulantly.

It shocked him when Weiss sighed. "You're not. You're exhausted, Cloud, even if you kept up with me for that long. I should have paid more attention because you weren't raised in a combat role."

Cloud could tell his muscles were weighed down with the strain he'd put on them, so it looked like both Sephiroth and Weiss were right and he'd have to train himself up to his previous level of skill. So, ceding the point, he returned his blades to the combat star, then nodded and agreed, "I'll go rest, then. Thanks for helping me test my weapon."

Weiss grinned. "I do like it. Good job on that. If you ever want to spar again, just let me know."

"Sure, thanks," the blond agreed, and with a last glance, and a courtesy parting nod at Sephiroth, he turned and left the room.

As he sluggishly headed for the Turks' cafeteria for something to eat, he sighed tiredly and pondered his reaction to Sephiroth and the older man's response. It was strange, but Sephiroth's intervention showed him tangibly that the man hadn't always been the Nightmare he'd know—he'd truly been a good leader and General. He'd been a good person who had been far too isolated from others, first by Hojo, then by his reputation as a 'hero'. To realize that tangibly...

"A moment, Cloud, if I may?" the silver haired man's voice came from behind him as he was reaching the elevators. With a violent start, he spun to face the man, whose gaze was thoughtful and shrewd. "Genesis has been refusing to tell me who I attacked in that time. Could I hazard a guess and say it was you?"

For a moment, Cloud froze, then forcibly closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. "I was one of them. You attacked me more than once, actually." He opened his eyes to meet the man's sad, horrified gaze. "But you were never able to kill me. It was others you killed who Genesis isn't telling you. There's a reason he's not, so I'm not going to tell you anything further. Just remember—I'm standing here now because you failed to kill me three times. Don't become that monster, that 'Nightmare', and I'll eventually get over my reactions to you."

Sephiroth's gaze widened in shock as he breathed, "You became more powerful than me, to such an extent? And you were not raised by Hojo in his labs?"

Cloud's lips quirked in a half-smile, half-frown. "This isn't the place to discuss any of that. If you really want to know, you'll have to come with me, and allow one of the Turks to cast Blind on you so you can see our cafeteria. Don't you have a mentee to get back to, though?"

The older man looked faintly amused as he said, "She realized there was something odd about your reaction to me, and that I would want to speak with you, so offered to occupy herself for a few hours. I am finding Kal was a very good choice of mentee. It also forced the President to allow women into SOLDIER."

"...Well...Okay," Cloud agreed, facing the elevators again to call one to that floor. "But I was serious about you having to be Blind, and since I'm starving, I'm not going to wait until later."

"We could go to the normal cafeteria."

"No. Just...No. You'll see why when you see what Tifa makes for us. Also, all the Turks know the situation, so unless Rufus is there, we can talk freely. We can't in the regular cafeteria."

The sliver haired man paused, then inclined his head as he agreed, "Fair."

:That's me!: Fenrir quipped, then amended, :At least, I used to be.: Cloud had to chuckle in spite of himself, which just produced a curious look from the General.

Shaking his head as the elevator arrived and some people stepped off, Cloud just offered, "Sorry, funny thought. That's a vast improvement over fear, so I'll take it."

"Are you quite certain it was not Zack Fair you thought of just then?" the other man asked in amusement, and Cloud and Fenrir both chuckled at that.

"That was part of it," Cloud agreed.

They got on the elevator in silence, and in the silence, Fenrir became more serious as he asked, :Are you sure you should tell Sephiroth anything?:

:I have to tell him something to clear up my own situation,: Cloud replied. :If anything, it would be another reason for him to hate Hojo. I just hope Vincent can off him soon.:

:Did he tell you why he hasn't yet?: Fenrir asked curiously. :I sort of thought he'd have done so within a day of that whole Deepground thing and the following meeting...:

:There are complications, just one of which being high suspicion regarding the timing. Now...I think there was something about his arm?:

:...What arm?:

:One of his arms is a cybernetic implant.:

:Oooohhhh...:

When Cloud led Sephiroth into the Turks' main office, every Turk there froze to stare at them in surprise, but when Cloud looked at Lakis, he shook off the surprise and rose to ask, "I'm guessing you need a Blind and removal?"

"Yes, please," Cloud agreed. "Is Rufus in the cafeteria right now?"

"No, he's training. He'll be there later, though," Lakis explained as he cast Blind on the silver haired man, then took his arm. "He's usually here for supper with us. Why?"

"Just to be sure how long I have to talk freely," the blond answered, following Lakis and Sephiroth into the hidden area. Veld, sitting at his desk, stared at them in shock, though the boy paused to note the paper on top on the man's desk and ask him, "Is it really so hard to find a reason to heavy-hand it which the President will accept?"

"He doesn't want to lose money," Veld replied.

"So remind him of the land's resources, the fact that they have a very nice resort climate which he could make money on, and the fact that he has enough powerful people now to actually successfully heavy-hand it. As long as Heidegger isn't the commander, since Heidegger refused to use Tseng's data to by-pass Tamblin last time," Cloud replied in something which was somehow both flat and amused. "Oh, and the sooner it ends, the sooner he can stop putting money into it entirely." He then hurried to catch up to Lakis and Sephiroth.

Just as Lakis was removing Blind from the other man, Cloud joined them, stepping past him to go to the counter separating the kitchen from the seating area to say, "Teef, I really need something to eat—is that a raccoon?" He blinked and stared at the animal as it sat in a corner of the counter with some food samples of various sorts in front of it...as it apparently played with some of Tifa's Materia.

"She's got a brother who decided to move in with Reno, and she seems to be staying with me," Tifa answered. "I'll make something, go sit down. Seriously, though—Sephiroth?"

"He decided we needed to talk," Cloud answered.

"Fine, but not until after you've been served," she glared at him. "It won't take long, so just wait until then."

He held his hands up in a surrender position and agreed, "Will do." Since she'd decided that was the way it was going to be, he went to a smaller table with only four seats and sat, so the sliver haired man sat across from him, still peering around the room in curious amazement.

"This place is truly incredible," Sephiroth offered. "About our discussion..."

"Tifa said we're not to talk until we've been served, and since this is her kitchen, it's her rules," Cloud informed him. "She said it wouldn't take long, which usually means less than ten minutes."

"I see..." the man blinked. "We shall wait, then." Cloud just nodded.

Notes:

(1) Yes, these raccoons...Eventually to be named Hex and Sly. Just wait for it...In the meantime, though, these two have been really fun for me to write, and are my creations. Other than biting or clawing something (which doesn't do much damage as raccoons), their main 'combat' skill is...well, Hex will show that soon. Though, it's Sly who shows their actual use first (unfortunately not by doing anything especially useful, it ends up being the opposite of useful), for anyone who knows nothing about raccoons...

(2) Sin the Shadow Monk was Anasazi Darkmoon's suggestion, and it happened to fit, otherwise Nero wouldn't have a 'pet' at all. It's really not one in that sense because even if it follows Nero around and eats his void energy, Nero doesn't actually 'take care' of it in any way. Though, because of the stipulation he gave it, this actually ends up having a use later, also because eating Nero's void power is changing its skills...