Ch.5

After they had eaten, Cloud asked to see more of the building, but the hour was already late when Sephiroth glanced at the clock. "Perhaps tomorrow. For now we should get ready to sleep for the night."

"Aw… already?"

"Yes."

Sephiroth stood up and started to head out of the room with Cloud trailing right besides him. "But then what will we do tomorrow?"

"We will help you to get more adjusted to being here as well as start what training we can with using your wing," Sephiroth answered.

"Oh! That sounds fun!"

"I suppose you could say that…" Sephiroth never really thought it was all too fun. They were stuck in the building all day and night. They had no freedom to do anything that they truly would get to do out in the outside world. So many restrictions and confinements… so little freedom. But Cloud did not understand any of that yet… he was too young to truly understand. But in time perhaps he would…

"Come, this way."

Sephiroth started to lead him out of the area and just as they edited the one room, Cloud reached out and grabbed hold of Sephiroth's hand. When Sephiroth turned to look at him, Cloud just grinned widely.

Sephiroth thought to remind him about not holding on to his hand, he had refused to do it before. But then he figured since he promised Cloud that he would be his friend and watch over it, he knew that it probably would make sense to just let him do so.

After walking down a couple of hallways they came down to one door which Sephiroth opened. Right away Cloud let go of Sephiroth and moved forward to explore the new room. It was strange to see a child so easily curious about everything, but Sephiroth reminded himself that every child was different. Some were more curious than others, others far different than himself.

The room itself was very basic. It had a dresser that was opposite of the door, and up against each side wall was a bunk bed. Just left of the main doorway was another door that led into a small bathroom. But Cloud wasn't focused on that part, instead he looked to see Genesis and Angeal were already on the left side with Angeal sitting up on the top bunk and Genesis on the lower one. Both of them now wore basic sleepwear clothing rather than the uniforms they had been in before.

"You're here too?" Cloud asked as he walked over to them.

Genesis gave a small nod. "Yes. Though there are many rooms, we can bunk with one another if we prefer."

"Ooh! I get it! But that sounds fun. It's like a big sleepover or something, but like all the time."

"I suppose that is a simple way of phrasing it," Genesis replied. "So how was Seph? Did he apologize?"

"Uh-huh! He did and then we went to eat and he told me about how all the others got wings too. Then we met um… I think his name was Vin… Vin something."

"Vincent," Angeal answered.

"Yeah! That was his name. He was kind of quiet but then he went somewhere else. Then we came here."

"Sounds like your evening went fairly well."

"I guess. But… now I gotta stay here right? That's what Seph was saying. We all just say here or something? Right Seph?" Cloud turned around but he saw that Sephiroth wasn't behind him. He wondered for a moment where he could have gone but then he noticed that the bathroom door was closed.

"Sadly that is the case for our kind. To be confined in these walls is what the humans have deemed to be out fate," Genesis replied.

"It's really sad… and still really scary…" Cloud frowned slightly as he stared down at the ground.

Angeal and Genesis looked to one another. They could completely understand how Cloud felt. After all, they were his age once too and went through the exact same thing. But at the same time they had spent seven years in this facility and they had grown accustomed to it. It almost was surprising that they thought of it this way, but it just was how they were growing up. There was no other way around it or other way they could even think about it.

But either way they knew that something would have to be sad to the young child before them. Genesis was the one to speak first after that. "This place may give off that vibe, but we have lived this long without much struggle. Only if you seek to cause trouble will things then be difficult for you."

Cloud pouted. "I don't wanna cause trouble though."

"Then you will have no issues, but it still will take you time," Angeal added.

Sephiroth headed out of the bathroom, now dressed in sleepwear, and made his way over to the lower bunk on the right. Right away Cloud turned to him and ran over, standing next to the edge of the bed. "Do I get the top bunk?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes"

"Wow!" Cloud said as his eyes lit up. "I never slept on a bunk bed before or even the top bunk of one! But…" Cloud glanced to the wing that still stuck out on his side. "How am I going to sleep with this?"

"On your side or stomach is the best option. It will come easier to you than you realize. But once you learn to hide your wing then there will be no problem."

"Ooh! Okay!" Cloud suddenly moved forward, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth. "Goodnight Seph!"

Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly even though he knew he should have expected something like this from Cloud. Yet it still somehow surprised him and he had a feeling he wasn't going to get used to it right away… but at the same time it felt nice… almost familiar. But before he could dwell on it he shook away those thoughts and waited for Cloud to finish his hug.

"Goodnight," Sephiroth replied softly after Cloud finally let go.

Cloud smiled at him before he went to climb up the ladder to the top bunk. Once he was up there Sephiroth turned to see Angeal and Genesis grinning smugly at him. He gave a smear in return before going to crawl under his sheets. He made sure to face the opposite of them so he wouldn't have to deal with their anxious stares. The last thing he needed right now was for them to taunt or tell him off about his actions.

When morning came, which was indicated by the alarm clock going off, Sephiroth groggily opened up his eyes. What he did not expect to see in front of him was Cloud, staring curiously. He smiled right away once he saw that Sephiroth was staring back at him. "Good morning Seph!"

"What do you think you are doing?" Sephiroth asked as he slowly sat up.

"Waiting for you to wake up."

"But… why?"

"Cause. I was waiting."

Behind Cloud, Sephiroth could hear the light snickers coming from the other two. Sighing Sephiroth finally pushed off the covers and stood up from the bed. "There's no need to just sit and wait for me to wake up. There are other things you could be doing."

"Like what?" Cloud asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"I.. I don't know, but I am sure we will find something."

After that Sephiroth went to get changed into the uniform and once he was finished he headed right outside of the room, not waiting for any of the other three. It wasn't long though before Cloud was running up to be by his side. "What are we going to do today?"

"First breakfast, then we see how the day goes. Most likely we can work on hiding your wing," Sephiroth answered.

"But what about flying?"

"That comes later."

"Aw…" Cloud frowned while lowering his head. "Okay… but I can't wait! It will be a lot of fun I bet! And you get to show me your wing again!"

"Why are you so interested in seeing my wing?" Sephiroth asked as they entered the cafeteria.

"Cause it looked really, really cool! Plus you said that only you and Genesis have wings with that color! So it makes it extra cool for sure!" Cloud said, his expression beaming with excitement.

Sighing Sephiroth kept walking. The unending energy that came from Cloud was still a bit too much for him to handle at the moment. He wanted his personal space but he knew that Cloud would not understand the concept. Soon enough he turned around and faced Cloud just as he saw Angeal and Genesis catch up to them.

"Why don't you find a table with Angeal and Genesis? I will gather food for the four of us."

"Okay," Cloud said before turning to the other two.

Angeal and Genesis smirked again towards Sephiroth who just let out a huff of air before walking into the kitchen area. Cloud didn't understand it though. He thought that Angeal and Genesis were just being friendly, so why was Sephiroth acting all grumpy? It confused him… but maybe he could ask Angeal and Genesis. Maybe they knew cause they were friends with Sephiroth longer than he had been.

"All right, let's see where we have room to sit," Angeal said as he started to scan the room for the most open tables. "Over there, come on."

Cloud walked between the two of them as they walked, and then he finally asked what was on his mind. "Is Seph just grumpy when he wakes up? Cause he really seems grumpy today."

Genesis was the first to laugh. "I wouldn't call him grumpy… well maybe a slight bit. But I think he may just be overwhelmed."

Cloud tilted his head to the side. "Over… whelmed?"

"He isn't used to a little child hanging around him so much. Since Seph is a fairly quiet guy who enjoys his personal space, this is all just a bit new to him," Genesis answered.

"Especially since he has agreed to watch over you. I honestly am surprised that he would actually do it," Angeal added. "But I suppose this will be rather interesting to see him adjust."

Genesis smiled. "Agreed."

Now that they were nearing their table, Cloud finally had a better chance to look around. There were more people in the room today than there were last night. It wasn't a crazy amount of people, but there was still probably more than he could count. Though at the table the two older boys chose to sit at, one half of the table already had a couple people sitting there.

He only knew one of them though, with it being one of the kids he had been brought in with. It was the other boy who was named Tyler. Just like Cloud he has his wing still sticking out of his back. He sat across from a young woman who had light pink hair and wore the black colored uniform.

When the boys took a seat and Cloud followed after, the woman looked to them and smiled. "Hello boys, how are you today? I see you have Cloud with you. It's nice to meet you."

Cloud shrunk back a bit, feeling a little shy and nervous. But then he remembered what Sephiroth had told him. Everyone here had a wing, which meant this lady did too. Though that left Cloud to wonder just what color it must have been. He was already very curious because she had a unique hair color too.

"Hi. What's your name?"

"You can call me Lightning," the woman replied.

"Ooh! That's a really cool name!"

Lightning smiled again. "Thank you. So I heard from Rinoa that Sephiroth is the one who is taking care of you?"

Cloud nodded quickly. "Yup!"

"It's quite surprising to think that he would actually take a task such as this," Lightning replied. She then looked over to Genesis and Angeal. "Who would have thought he had a soft side to him."

"I agree, it makes you wonder if he always has had this side," Genesis said.

"Or maybe Cloud is just someone really special," Angeal said adding on to the conversation.

Cloud didn't really get what they were talking about. Sure Sephiroth was a bit grumpy at times, but he was really nice and caring. Was he not always like that? Maybe he was different before Cloud actually met him. He wasn't too sure about that though. But it did give him a thought to think about. "Maybe it's cause of my wing? Cause he stood up for me?"

Lightning hummed softly. "Hmm, that could very well be a reason for it. You are the first to have a wing like that."

"Yeah!" Tyler suddenly interjected. "Why do you have a wing like that?"

"I don't know…" Cloud frowned slightly. "Seph just told me we all got wings, but you all got feathery ones, but I got this one."

"Well there are always new developments we seem to find about our kind." Lightning looked back at Cloud once more. "Do you know what color most of our wings are?"

Cloud quickly shook his head, but found himself feeling very eager to know.

"Most range from white to various shades of grey. Only Genesis and Spehiroth have black wings. But there are other unique qualities that some of us have. Myself included."

"Wow, really? How so?" Cloud asked.

Tyler nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I wanna know too. You haven't told me yet about your wing."

Suddenly a white wing appeared on Lightning's right side. From what Cloud had seen so far, this wing looked different than how Angeal's looked. This looked more like a regular wing, like the shapes that Genesis and Sephiroth had for theirs. But of course it was still different in its shape and style overall. Though the longer that Cloud looked, he noticed this wing was not fully white. There was the lightest tint of pink to the feathers.

"Wow! That's really pretty!" Tyler replied.

"It's got pink like your hair! That is super cool!" Cloud complemented.

"Thank you, both of you. But you see? We all have unique traits. So Cloud, I think that just makes you extra special."

Cloud grinned, feeling even better than he did before. He was the only one to have a wing like his. Even though it did scare him at first and wasn't as pretty as the rest he had seen, it was still his wing. Sephiroth seemed to like it cause he stood up and defended him, and now was friends with him. Cloud thought that it really must have meant something because of that. But now he was super curious to find out more about the wings… more about his kind, and he hoped that Sephiroth could tell him all he wanted to know.

So yeah I did get a bit stuck on this, but hey I did get to it finally. So yeah all the minor OCs that will appear here and there all got someone watching out for them. All FF characters of course, so you will see more around.