Once More, With Feeling

by Illusor Meaneld

If you could start your life over, knowing how things could turn out, what would you do differently? Cloud is offered this chance, and tries to change the future, but he quickly discovers that fate and destiny play a high stakes game.

6. Night Class

Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 6: Night Class

Summary: too many eyes, and not enough time. Things are speeding up in SOLDIER Prep. these days.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.

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Over the course of the next two days, Sephiroth spent his every extra moment testing his theories. He'd memorized Cadet Strife's schedule, and would, at the very least glance in on his classes in passing. Often he'd sit in the upper room observation lounge and test how sensitive Cloud's instincts were. The least interfering method had seemed to be when Sephiroth had settled in one of the large cushioned chairs to read, and merely watched the vague movements of the blonde from the corner of one eye. And of course the most effective had been when the Silver-haired general stared directly at the boy. But after Cloud had nearly dislocated his own shoulder while Sephiroth stared, the General discontinued that method.

Later the next day found Sephiroth lounging on a grassy hill under the shade of dense trees and bushes. In his hands were all of the files and information he could find on Cloud Strife, and he perused them with mild interest. It was both fascinating and frustrating the SOLDIER decided, his files were a whole new mystery all-together. If he hadn't seen the boy himself he would have assumed this "Cloud Strife" was the intellectual type. His written scores were off the charts! But his physical stats were scraping by with the skin of his teeth. In Sephiroth's experience, personnel who relied solely on their brains had about as much Battle Instinct as a drowned cat. Yet Cloud's instincts were as attuned as a battle-hardened veteran, everything Sephiroth had seen from the boy seemed to indicate a Well-Balanced Warrior. … except for the warrior part… and the balance. He flipped through the papers again, willing them to give up their secrets… He lied about his age? … another peculiarity… soft footfalls on the grass caused Sephiroth to glance up.

"New Hobby?" Angeal muttered as he walked towards him, the two 1st Class SOLDIERs were on a Stake-Out mission, … but the chances of them catching sight of Lord Godo from here were slim. Never-the-less, Shinra had ordered it. Sephiroth didn't mind too much, it was actually quite relaxing out here.

"Mmm." Sephiroth grunted in reply, "Something like that." Angeal dropped to the ground next to him, glancing at the stack of wrinkled forms, waiting pointedly for further explanation. "I found a kid who might have promise."

Angeal raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Someone I know?"

"A Cadet really." Sephiroth shook his head; Angeal frowned a little and then nodded slowly,

"Need any help?" Sephiroth paused to glance at his stoic friend, and then back at the papers he held. Finally his lips twitched in a slow smirk. He sat up,

"Yeah, I think so… Another pair of eyes might be just the thing."

"What should I be looking for?" Angeal grinned back,

Sephiroth chuckled, "A pair of unbiased eyes would be better!"

Angeal glanced at the photo on the papers in Sephiroth's hand, noting the scrawny, small boy with wide blue eyes, "Hmm… Squad Sekhmet, eh?" Both men shared a chuckle.

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Cloud sat up in his History class, rubbed the back of his neck, and sighed. For the first time in almost half a week he wasn't getting that horrible twitch between his shoulder-blades, that feeling like someone was watching him. There was never anyone in the room looking his direction when those instinctive tenses occurred, but it had aggravated him constantly. Now that it was gone he might be able to get some decent sleep, then put his personal-training plans in motion. He hadn't dared while there was the slightest chance someone actually WAS watching him.

He was incredibly grateful for the timing though, he finally had a chance to really focus, and today was the assessment exam for his History Class. Even short on sleep as he was, he had no difficulty with the test. He answered the questions with confident efficiency, and turned it in to the teacher at the front of the class with a smile. The salt-and-pepper haired instructor smiled back, patting him on the shoulder as he accepted the papers.

"Good luck Private Strife, I know you passed to test out, I hope you do just as well in the next class they give you."

And with those encouraging words Cloud was dismissed. The other boys in his squad were still testing, and though he didn't know if any of the others would "test out" Cloud had never-the-less finished before them, Giving him a rare few moments to himself during the day. He wandered the halls leisurely, passing his Squad's rooms and continuing onward just to walk for the sake of it. The entire building had excellent temperature control, and the walk was pleasant. As he paced, Cloud took this opportunity to reflect back on the life he'd left behind. Was he happier here? … It was certainly more challenging, and that in itself was invigorating, he had to admit he felt more ALIVE when things weren't easy, it had always been that way for him. Though it hadn't even been 2 months yet since he'd left, he found he missed his old comrades. He may have only seen Shelke, Vincent, and Nanaki rarely … but without the pending visit to anticipate, Cloud had found a small ache that settled in his heart. He missed reminiscing with them. He missed Aeris and Zack too, the spectral figures that popped up in his dreams, it had been very comfortable. He could still hear Zack's laugh, it was so infectious it made him smile. Heck, he could practically SEE Zack, his back turned for a moment so he could share some secret with the half-ancient. It made Cloud feel warm… and yes… kinda fuzzy with happiness to see it.

"Hey Zack! How's it goin?" He called on sheer habit, something looked different about his old friend but it took him a moment to realize what, "Did you cut your hair?" Cloud blurted, it was ridiculous of course, the Dead never changed… He frowned in confusion, just a fraction of a second before reality smacked him in the face. He hadn't been DAYDREAMING that Zack was there, … Cloud felt his body turn cold as he froze, stricken with horror at his herculean slip. The black-haired teen never turned, it wasn't Aeris he had been speaking to, … but some nameless Shinra employee, Zack was trying to flirt… though judging by the patiently amused look on the girl's face it wasn't going well. When he heard the childish voice behind him, Zack had cocked his head slightly, still determined to woo the petite secretary.

"Um… Do I know you?" Zack asked distractedly, not recognizing the voice he heard.

"Um… ah.. No! … uh… you don't… ah… I'm just a fan is all…" Cloud stammered uselessly, Crap, this is bad… before he could ruin anything more, he took off the way he'd come, squeaking out a halfhearted, "Gotta Go!" before he skidded down the hall and around the first corner he found. A brief glance behind him as he turned almost caused the blonde to choke with dread. Zack's head had snapped up and his eyes widened.

"A … FAN??" The black-haired SOLDIER gasped, Cloud was out of view when he heard Zack whirl, booted feet quickly skittering on the ground as the youth took off after Cloud. "I have a fan?!" Zack shouted,

CRAP!! Cloud bit his lip to keep from shouting aloud, and rounded a second corner just a smidgeon of a second before he heard Zack skid around the first one he'd turned. CrapCrapCrapCrapCrapCrap!! … He growled the mental litany,

"WAIT!!" Zack cried almost desperately, "Wait! Come Back!! I like fans!"

Dashing through an empty room, and past a closed Classroom door, Cloud practically crashed into the elevator in his rush, he could barely breathe past the ice in his chest, as he pounded the button frantically, the doors opened with agonizing slowness, and only Cloud's slim frame allowed him to slide inside before Zack came into view down the hall. The blond pounded on the button to close the doors. He couldn't hear past his own heartbeat anymore and stared in terror as the doors inched closed. He caught a flash of Mako-blue eyes just before they sealed, and the pounding outside reverberated through the entire elevator shaft.

"No!! Wait!! Come back please!!" His heart twisted at the sound of begging, but Cloud was still catching his breath, sweat cooling stickily to his forehead in the chill air-conditioned elevator, Zack's voice echoed as the car moved slowly downwards, "How many fans do I have? Do I have a fanclub? Are you the president? Please come back! I won't bite!" each word was punctuated by the thump of fists on the elevator doors. When his door chimed and opened, only the thought that Zack was probably pressing the button for the elevator car on his end got Cloud moving from the elevator, his legs shook from the adrenalin and he gasped painfully from his run. How exactly he'd outrun a Mako-infused SOLIDER 3rd class, WITHOUT tripping, … he could only surmise desperation, now his body complained loudly as he limped hastily to the exterior staircase, agonizingly making his way up to his own floor.

By the time he made it back to his squad's room via the least-used hallways and shortcuts, the rest of his bunk-mates had finished History class, and were heading to the mess-hall. Cloud didn't join them, instead opting to take a shower and try to calm his nerves. Had Zack seen him? Cloud didn't think so, he was sure that Zack would have called his name, or come looking for him if the SOLDIER 3rd had gotten a good look at Cloud's retreating form. The blond sighed, feeling sick with dread and exhausted as the flight instinct faded. He briefly debated skipping his Calisthenics workout, but decided that might draw the wrong kind of attention.

Cloud cursed into the empty room as he settled back onto his bunk, his hair still damp from his wash. He'd come so close to ruining everything and for what? A daydream?? … He couldn't wander around blindly reminiscing about the past as he used to do. Sure it had been a great hobby when he was A hundred and five, and the retired savior of the world! But he was a Fourteen year old nobody! And people he shouldn't know yet, SHOULDN'T KNOW HIM YET! Furious at himself, Cloud neatened and went to his next class early, despite his over-worked body he let his frustrations fuel him, and managed a workout that was only SLIGHTLY below his unremarkable average.

He was beyond exhausted that night, but he was determined, and while he jumped in his bunk at the earliest possible moment. He lay merely dozing. He waited until the other boys settled, he had to listen carefully to their breathing patterns to ensure they were asleep, his hearing wasn't what it used to be… hmmm…. Cloud paused wondering for a moment, Could he train his hearing to be better? Yuffie had… ninja's frequently did. It was one thing that helped them face SOLDIERs better. With that intriguing thought on his mind, Cloud slid out of bed. He wasn't rushing, so he managed to move with almost complete silence, boots in hand and socked feet touching softly on the ground he eased himself from the room. He padded quietly down the hallways, and up through the stairs, he didn't use his own keycards, but instead tapped in a simple access code, he wasn't going into any restricted sections so there shouldn't be any suspicious records, just an employee who forgot his card in his cubicle or something.

He slinked down the nearly silent hallways, listening hard over the gentle hum of the AC and the buzzing of the electric lights. Nothing. He let himself into the Training room he'd chosen the same way he'd gotten onto the floor. Nothing suspicious. Once inside, he put on his boots, lacing them up completely. Plucking a practice sword from the wall he slowly moved through the stances he was supposed to be learning. With agonizing slowness and precision he tested his movements. It was hard, balance was tricky moving this slow, but he knew it would be worth it! Already feeling less tired and more eager with the thoughts of actually being DECENT during Class, Cloud whiled away half the night in slow-motion training.

From that point onward Cloud spent at least every other night training himself in secret half of the night. During meals he used his other senses, hearing in particular but eventually smell and touch, sensing what was happening around him, improving his subconscious spatial awareness and honing his senses. He was tired, but satisfied, look out Hojo! Here comes Strife!

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