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.

40. Catching Up

Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 40: Catching Up

Summary: Cloud gets some new assignments, and an unexpected call.

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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Cloud and Reno were walking down the hallways after Cloud had gotten his pass out of 'Bed Rest' from the infirmary. Reno had tucked his recently acquired magazine somewhere under the back of his jacket, … a detail the blond didn't want to investigate too thoroughly into, but habitually made a note of for future reference. They both spent the next while checking in on all of Cloud's instructors and supervisors to pass on his new orders from the infirmary, and receive whatever new instructions he might have for his resultant 'light duty'. All of the instructors had offices within the Shinra Building, most of which were a floor or two above the training and class rooms. Sergeant Kerring, his instructor for his Weapons Training, was the first stop. Since the Sergeant taught class in the mornings, he was generally in his office in the afternoons and it took them no more than a few minutes to make the journey from the infirmary to the offices, the hallways almost serene with the lack of cadets racing through. As they reached their destination, it seemed as though the Sergeant had been waiting for them, his door was conspicuously open, and he barely looked up before he was holding out his hand for Cloud's paperwork. The instructions were patiently looked over, the teacher nodding to himself as he read. When he finished, he turned back to Cloud,

"All right son, everything seems to be in order, you're on light duty it says, well I don't care how ya shake a stick at it, but sword training just ain't light duty. You passed out of Calisthenics correct? I'm sure you remember all those exercises yeah? All right, then I'm givin' ya some homework." As he spoke, the Sergeant efficiently dragged a blank sheet of paper across his desk, scribbling on it. "I want you to do these exercises, in this order, if you feel you can do more without more than the usual workout pains, after a few days you can increase it. But I don't want you to push yourself, you have plenty of time for your classes, it'll put you more behind to exacerbate your injury. So just take it easy." Cloud nodded and smiled at the gruff instructor. The wizened Sergeant just narrowed his eyes and huffed before flicking his gaze to Reno, "I'm sure your Turk Partner can keep ya in line. Don't let him hurt himself ya hear? Or I'll see to it you both get the workout of your young lives when he recovers."

"I can take care 'a ma parn'er yo! Don'cha worry 'bout anythin' here." Reno returned with a cocky smirk, and a sloppy salute. Sergeant Kerring grunted, and waved them both out briskly.

Their next stop was Professor Doyle, Cloud's instructor for his Marksmanship class. This particular instructor was much younger than Sergeant Kerring, with short-cropped black hair and pale blue eyes. He hastily invited the two teenagers in when Cloud knocked on his office door. After a short greeting, he got straight to the point.

"I heard you're on light duty Cadet Strife, so I'll be brief, you're not to be using any weapons or firearms until your shoulder has had a chance to completely recover, your Partner Reno has already passed my class, so your basic priority is to keep yourself familiarized with your weapon, I'm going to put him in charge of overseeing your work. I want you to be ahead of your classmates when it comes to dissembling, cleaning and reassembling your gun. Now I don't want you to overstress yourself, so remember to take it easy, and prioritize your recovery."

Cloud nodded quickly, he was surprised that both of his instructors had 'home-work' for him so far. He'd expected to have to attend his regular classes once he was off of bed rest.

"Have you already spoken to Sergeant Kerring?" the Professor continued,

"Yes Sir, I have."

"Alright, then I was asked to have you report to Director Newat once you had spoken to both of us, he should have some further instruction for you."

"Yes Sir." Cloud returned again, before both he and Reno were dismissed.

"Feels like s'gonna be one 'a those days yo." His red-headed partner murmured as they made their way to the SOLDIER Prep. Director's office.

Cloud chuckled, and was still smiling as he knocked on the office door.

"Come In." came the steady voice the blond remembered from his disciplinary hearing.

As he stepped into the room, the older man was watching him steadily. After a few moments the Director raised his eyebrow. "Feeling better Cadet-Captain Strife?"

"Yes sir…" Cloud replied blinking a little in surprise at the title, Captain? … oh right, they had given him Squad Captaincy. He'd nearly forgotten the brief mention from the hearing. "Cadet-Captain is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it sir? Cadet Strife is fine."

Director Newat's mouth twitched into a smile, and Cloud suddenly had the feeling he'd passed some test, "Cadet Strife then, I realize you must be a tad confused by your self-study assignments, since it's Shinra policy that SOLDIER Prep. Cadets must be in classes." Cloud nodded when the older man paused. "Normally, in a case such as yours, you would be given a tutor, who would keep an eye on your physical classes, and help keep you up to speed in your academics. But since you have already excelled in the academics, and both of your physical classes are taxing. It has been decided that you'll be boosted into the Leadership Classes, to give you a head start. In allowing this, we are trusting that an intelligent youth such as yourself will be able to pace your physical activity. Those classes will be particularly intensive to catch up on, so the more ahead you are in your Leadership classes, the easier it will be to focus on catching up in Weapons Training, and Marksmanship."

That made a lot of sense actually, Cloud decided as he thought about it, and he said as much to the Director, the old man smiled wryly and nodded, handing the young blond a few sheets of paper.

"Here's your new schedule, keep in mind that you have free-time where you would have Weapons Training and Marksmanship."

Cloud nodded again as he glanced it over, his first class of the day was still listed as "Weapons Training" but the time-slot was smaller, it was followed by "Advanced Magic and Fusion" and "Practical Applications of Guerrilla Warfare" his "Marksmanship" Class had moved to after lunch, which was followed by "Turk Internship". Reno, who was glancing over his shoulder, immediately grumbled about the decrease in time allotted to the 'Internship' section. And also looked up at Newat with a frown.

"Whazzit mean 'practical application' yo? Cloudy's gotta take it easy 'n all that."

"Practical Applications class does not start with actual battles, a little misleading I understand, so it will be safe enough for the few weeks Strife will be on Light Duty, provided of course, that Cadet-Captain Strife remembers to head his Doctor's Instructions, and take it easy physically while he is recovering."

Take it easy… Cloud smirked slightly, and verbally acknowledged his intention to do just that. Everyone had said that so far… those same three words, Cloud had to wonder if they'd had a problem with that before?

After a quick reiteration of Cloud's instructions from his previous two teachers, the Director bid them to report to Tseng, reminding the Cadet as he left to remain quiet about his Captaincy to the other Squads.

The report to Tseng was quite brief, the head Turk barely glanced at Cloud's paperwork before briskly informing the intern what 'Light Duty' entailed for his department. Cloud was quite relieved to realize that he would be allowed to perform normal Turk duties, but rather less enthused when he was informed those duties would be limited to the paperwork, deliveries, and general 'scutt-work' he'd started out doing on his internship, instead of the missions he had been enjoying. Apparently, Turks getting injured wasn't all that uncommon, and they had rather standard procedures for it.

Tseng then handed Cloud back his paperwork, with instructions to report to the Turk Secretary for assignments during the week, but he halted the pair before they could leave his office,

"One more thing Cloud, there's a message I've been holding from the Communications Department for you. Your mother has been calling while you were on temporary leave."

Cloud froze, blinking rapidly for several stunned moments, his mother? "My mother?" he blurted, he couldn't remember getting any phone calls from home before, … long distant calls like that were expensive… "What did she call about? Has something happened?"

Tseng shook his head, holding up a forestalling hand as he continued, "As far as I can tell, nothing out of the ordinary has occurred at your hometown, but it is standard procedure to contact family in regards to injuries that result in overnight infirmary visits. Your mother was called the day you were placed on leave, and has been calling back ever since."

"Oh… um… I guess I should call her back?" Cloud fidgeted, long distance calls were expensive from Midgar too, and he didn't have a cell-phone yet, not that they really worked well to or from Nibelheim.

"I assumed you might wish to. I've made arrangements to set up a call for you when you returned to active duty. If you'd like to go now, I will accompany you and authorize the connection."

Cloud's eyes widened, "Really? But, … isn't that really expensive?"

"Do not worry about that Cloud, such expenditure is funded through the Turks resources."

"But I'm not a full Turk…" Cloud protested lightly,

"All the more incentive for you to become one," Tseng returned with a smirk, "Shall we go now? Or would you prefer to make the phone call later?"

Cloud returned the smirk wryly, Sly old dog… well… not that old yet, but slyer than a fox that one. "I think I'd like to call her back as soon as possible, thank you very much sir."

"As I've mentioned before Cloud, please call me 'Tseng'."

Cloud almost responded with another 'Yes sir,' as he'd gotten in the habit of, but… Tseng was doing him a favor, a bigger favor than the Turk probably realized, the blond grimaced, he couldn't be quite so flippant with that in mind. "Tseng then…"

Reno, who had been relatively quiet, and visibly bored until now suddenly crowed, "YES! I KNEW ya'd relax eventually!" he draped himself heavily over Cloud's shoulders, beaming in triumph. "jus' one more step ta pure Turk awesomeness Cloudy!"

Cloud managed to return the red-head's smile, but he was afraid it came across rather sickly this time.

"Shall we proceed Cloud?" Tseng gestured to the door, apparently ignoring Reno's boisterous outburst.

"Y-yeah…" Cloud turned, trying and failing to shrug off his partner as he proceeded the Turk second in command out of the offices. After a few moments of awkwardly walking down the hallways, Reno finally released the blond, content to just whistle idly behind him.

The Communications Department wasn't one that Cloud was quite so familiar with, there hadn't really been Sociopaths or Psychopaths coming out of Communications, and it wasn't really a high profile department either. So when they reached the set of offices dedicated to that particular group Cloud looked around curiously.

There was a middle-aged man sitting behind the main desk, who looked up as they entered, nodding at Tseng immediately. "Sir, what can I do for you?"

"You should have a pending long-distance request from my department, I would like to initiate that connection now."

The gentleman nodded, turning briefly to the computer next to him. "Yes sir, I do have a pending request, Nibelheim correct? Will you be taking this call yourself sir?"

"Actually the request is for Cloud Strife. I am here to authorize his use in this matter. Credit the charge to the standard account."

As Tseng gestured, Cloud stepped forward, nodding at the man before him.

"As you wish sir, I'll have him patched through on line 17 as soon as possible."

As the older man turned to make the call, Tseng turned to Cloud once more, "Please take as long as you need with your phone call Cloud, don't concern yourself with the expense, Shinra will be picking up this tab, one of the standard perks of working with the Turks. Now, I will leave you here, I have a few more things to take care of."

With another smirk, the black haired man turned to leave, walking out the door and proceeding further down the hallways before he disappeared from view.

After Tseng left, Cloud found himself agitated, he had to stop himself tapping his foot, and barely resisted the urge to start doing squats, Zack was a terrible influence… the thought flashed through his head as he sighed. Not that his current distress had anything to do with his SOLDIER friend, but with the idea of speaking to his mother… he couldn't even remember the last time he'd spoken to his mother! But in this world… she would certainly remember the last time she'd spoken to him! He remembered as he removed his hand from the belt-loop he'd been nervously playing with. What was he going to say? Surely she would realize there was something wrong with him… and then what? Hastily he took a deep breath, expelling it slowly to try and release some of the tension. He was startled out of his reverie by a tentative hand on his arm. Looking up, he found Reno regarding him with uncharacteristic concern.

"Hey, Cloud, ya alright? Ya don' hafta talk to yer mom if you don' wanna."

Cloud slowly breathed out again, "It's not that Reno, … Just nervous… I mean, my mother is probably pretty worried you know? Not sure what I should say…"

"Ah, yeah I getcha, moms can be kin'a over motherin' and all tha', no worries yo! Jus' tell 'er yer all righ' an' I'm sure she'll jus' fuss a bit or somethin' an' if tha' don' work I'll use awesome Turk diplomacy stuff on 'er." Reno winked saucily at the earnest proclamation.

Cloud huffed a startled laugh in response. He felt some of the stress leave as he did, and smiled genuinely at his partner. He thought Reno might have expounded on that statement even more if they hadn't been interrupted by the older man behind the desk.

"Mr. Strife? The call has connected properly, here you go." The gentleman handed Cloud a shiny black LAN phone.

As Cloud reached for the receiver he released one final breath and put his ear up to the device, voicing his first tentative, "Hi, … Mom?" that he'd had the opportunity for in over 80 years.

As he heard the first answering, "Cloud? Is that you?" he realized that even though he'd been unable to recall the sound of his mom's voice for decades, that he'd never really forgotten it all the same. "Hi Mom." He repeated more firmly, an irresistible smile spreading across his face. "I got your letters, I haven't had a chance to write back yet though,"

"Oh Cloud," His mom interjected, "I'm not worried about the letters, I know you're busy, but I heard you were hurt! Something about a concussion? Are you alright? Do you need to come home? You know I wouldn't be disappointed if you have to come back early, you'll always be my little SOLDIER either way."

"I'm alright Mom, they healed me up here,…" After a second he remembered that Nibelheim didn't have much access to potions or Materia. "They have lots of potions here, they took good care of me, I'll be fine Mom, no need to worry."

"…Are you sure you don't want to come home?" Came one last tentatively worried inquiry,

"I'm fine, I'm doing good. I'm in the SOLDIER Preparation classes, I'll be a SOLDIER before you know it mom."

"Oh, I'm so proud of you honey, I -"

"OI!" Came a startled squawk in Cloud's ear, making him jump, and his mother's voice die off suddenly. "What'cha mean gonna be a SOLDIER soon yo? Yer gonna be a TURK! S'no doubt abou' it!"

"Reno!" the blond hissed, "I'm talking to my MOTHER!" darting a scolding glare at the red-head. Unrepentant, the young Turk leaned forward until he was inches away from the phone receiver.

"He's gonna be a Turk Missus Strife! Take my bet on it! He's way too awesome to be a measly SOLDIER."

"RENO!" Cloud yelped, ducking away from his persistent partner.

"Sorry mom, that's just Reno." He cringed, apologetic at the unsolicited interruption. Any further apologies were forgotten however, as Cloud realized his mom was laughing on the other end. "… mom?"

"And here I thought you'd never make friends Cloud!" His mother giggled, "So you're going to be a Turk then? You know even though they don't have the best reputation… I wouldn't be upset about that dear, I've never seen them behave anything but politely myself." the blond felt his cheeks warming.

"it's not that… um. I'm still going for SOLDIER, …"

"What's wrong with the Turks yo? Ya'd be an awesome Turk." Reno piped in loudly again. Sensing him moving closer Cloud pressed a hand to his chest to hold him back, and glowered.

"Well, your friend, Reno was it? Does seem awfully upset that you don't want to be a Turk." His mother's voice sweetly input from the other end, "Does he want to be a Turk then?"

"Reno's already a Turk mom, I was given a Turk internship, so … uh we're partners, and… roommates." The giggling from the other side continued,

"Oh how sweet! He sounds like such a nice boy, how old is he?" Sweet? Cloud hesitated a moment, his mother certainly didn't seem the least bit perturbed that he was involved with the Turks, something that would have horrified the Tifa Lockheart of his association. … but then, Tifa had distrusted everything Shinra for a long time. With good reason! He reminded himself. "Cloud?" came the prompt from the phone.

"Oh! Sorry, was thinking, he's sixteen."

"Still thinking a lot I see, you haven't changed a bit Cloud!" WHAT? Cloud was stunned, not even a little? Came a surprisingly petulant thought just after. "So he's a little older than you, do you get along alright?" his mother continued.

"Yeah, we get along just fine. He's a very considerate roommate for the most part."

"Yer talkin' 'bout me ain'cha?" Reno leaned forwards, trying to twist past Cloud's restraining arm.

"This is a private conversation," Cloud grumbled,

"Yer TALKIN' 'bout me!"

"It's NOT your conversation Reno!" Cloud scolded,

"Is so, if yer talkin' 'bout me!" the sixteen year old tossed back.

"Definitely a teenager that one." Cloud's mother chimed in cheerfully.

"Tell me about it." The blond youth mumbled back, to which he was answered with more giggles.

The weight on his arm suddenly disappeared and Cloud glanced up in surprise to see Reno moving away. Slightly confused he turned back to his phone in mild relief. The feeling was short-lived however; he only had a second to register and recognize a familiar clomping footstep, when the object of Reno's distraction bounded in into the room like the puppy he was nicknamed after. Cloud could only wince at the teenager's exuberant shout,

"Momma Chocobo's on the phone? Can I talk to her? I bet she's real proud to have a SOLDIER in the family!"

"ZACK!" Cloud yelped as the larger, boisterous teen fell on him with all the grace of a sack of hugging potatoes.

"More Friends Cloud?" his mother's voice, tinned from the sudden distance of his ear from the receiver after Zack's impromptu attack.

"Hi Cloud's Mom! I'm Zack! SOLDIER 2nd Class and Cloudy's best friend!"

"OI!" Reno hastily interjected, "He is NOT! I'm way better friends with Cloud!" the red-head protested haughtily at the phone, Cloud struggled to shove the black-haired SOLDIER off him, grimacing as his friend gleefully struggled back, and gripped his arm to keep his voice in range of the phone. He didn't want to HURT Zack! And he grunted with the effort of trying to wrangle the heavier teen gently.

"He takes me out for ice-cream when I'm feeling bad," Zack continued,

"An' I take 'im for Pizza when HE is!" Reno retorted, suddenly taking advantage of Cloud's preoccupation to grab the phone itself, wresting it from Cloud's grasp and Zack's range in one swoop. "Heya! How're ya doin' Mrs. Strife? Name's Reno, as Cloud tol' ya, I'm his frien' an' roomie, nice ta meetcha!"

"RENO!" Cloud snarled, "This is MY phone call! Give it back!"

Noting that the game had changed, Zack hastily released Cloud and leaped over to the red-head taking advantage of his superior strength to snatch the phone away for himself. "Hi Momma Chocobo, I mean, Cloud's Mom, this is Zack again, nice to meet you! I teach one of Cloud's classes did he tell you? He's doing wonderfully! Very smart and fast-learning!" the raven-haired teen was grinning broadly even as he held one of Reno's arms to restrain the Turk. He only had one free hand however, and was unprepared for Cloud to bodily charge into his midriff. Despite being knocked back with a yelp, he hastily clutched the stolen receiver with both hands, "I'm sixteen too! But my birthday is coming up!"

"Give me back the phone Zack!" Cloud growled, as he found himself in the undignified position of trying to scramble up the larger frame of his friend.

"We hang out loads!" the young SOLDIER hastily continued, "I spend all my time with him, well, when I'm not with my mentor Angeal. He likes Cloud too! He even gave him a get-well kitty! He-eaAAAAHH" the raven-haired second class jolted as Cloud grabbed a tiny pinch of skin from under his left bicep pinching it in frustration. He knew from experiences with Yuffie that the move was disproportionately painful.

Reno's deft fingers snatched up the phone seconds before Cloud's reaching fingers. "Heya Mrs. Strife, Reno here again yo! I spend way more time with Cloudy than Zack! He spends more'n halfa his day with me! We do all sortsa top-secret Turk missions an' he sleeps at my apartmen' an' I feed his cat for 'im an' everythin'!"

"I already FED her Reno!" Cloud protested from the floor, in retaliation for his 'pinch'. Zack had decided to attempt a headlock on the blond, both were huffing from their brief wrestle. "Quit double-feeding my cat! You're going to make her FAT!"

"Ya were s'possed ta be on 'Bed-Rest' no' exertin' yerself onna pet!" the red-head retorted,

"Opening a can of food is NOT exertion Reno! I used more energy making sandwiches! And LET ME GO Zack! Or I'm going to PINCH you again!"

"Naw he's alrigh' now Mrs. Strife, doctor cleared 'im an' everythin', I made sure he rested an' all that at my apartment! He's gonna , HEY! I was TALKIN'!"

"SO WAS I!" Cloud argued back as he yanked the phone out of Reno's grasp. "WHAT part of 'PRIVATE CONVERSATION' didn't you UNDERSTAND?" Clutching the phone to himself and glaring death at the two teenagers he tucked it to his ear once more. "I'm sorry about that Mom, they don't have any manners…"

But his apology was met with gales of laughter, he couldn't remember his mother ever laughing like that. Admittedly… his memories of his childhood were still rather fuzzy… "Oh! Good Heavens Cloud! You sure are popular in Midgar! If this is how the boys are treating you, you must be beating the girls off with a stick!"

Cloud hadn't realized he could blush so hard, his face heated until it actually hurt. "Mo-om!" He protested in mortification, "We are not talking about girls!" he couldn't restrain a shudder, he did NOT want to talk about anything like that with his MOTHER!

"Awwww, are you sure?" his mother's voice teased.

"Yes! No girls!"

"Oh,… well that's too bad, … you know, because it just so happens… I have Tifa here, and she wanted to talk to you…"

"T-Tifa?" the blond yelped.

"Yes, don't you want to talk to her?"

"B-but… I … I don't… what should…" Cloud stammered, his thoughts stuttering just as badly as his speech. Tifa? What would he say? Wouldn't she realize there was something wrong with him? His mother hadn't, … how could he talk to her? How different would she be? He barely remembered snippets of childhood Tifa, hadn't remembered the promise on the well until she prompted him, she certainly wasn't the Tifa he knew…

"Here, I'll put her on for you." His mother said with glib cheer.

"But I,… I…!"

"Cloud? Is that you?" Oh Cetra! She sounded so young! So innocent…more like Marlene than Tifa…

"Tifa?" he choked out, "H-hi…."

"Tifa? Who's that?" Came the rapt voice of Zack behind him.

"think it'sa girl." Reno mused aloud.

Zack gasped, "Cloud's got a girlfriend?"

"How are you Cloud?" young Tifa responded on the other end, "Your mom says you're a SOLDIER? Or a Turk?… almost?"

"I… ah… yeah… kind of." Cloud mumbled in reply, glaring over his shoulder at the two teenaged boys that were curiously slinking closer again.

"So which is it?" she asked in confusion.

"Ummm… both?" his nerves still hadn't calmed, part of his mind was yelling that he was going to screw this up, and another part of him distracted trying to keep an eye on his two 'friends'.

"um, … I don't get it." Young Tifa complained softly, "How can you be both? Isn't it one or the other?"

"Well… I… um… I'm in SOLDIER Preparation class… and um, I also got a Turk Internship? So …"

"Oh… well … is it fun? Aren't the Turks kind of … Scary?"

"Hey Cloudy! Can I talk ta her?" Reno queried belatedly as he reached for the phone,

Cloud hissed wordlessly as he furiously shook his head, ducking further out of reach. "Not that scary…" he mumbled into the phone.

"Who was that?" Tifa asked sharply,

"Reno, … Don't mind him."

"I'm Cloud's Turk Partner Tifa!" Reno chirped at the phone,

"He's a Turk?" She sounded startled,

"Y-yeah…" Cloud nervously returned,

"… hmmm… I guess he doesn't sound too scary!" She giggled, startling the blond again with just how young she sounded, "Are you going to be a Turk Cloud?"

"I wasn't planning on it?"

"Wasn' plannin' on what?" Reno interrupted again, "Yer talkin' 'bout tha Turks again ain'cha? Ya totally gotta be a Turk yo! Someone as talented as you shouldn' be a SOLDIER!"

"HEY! SOLDIER's are plenty talented!" Zack protested loudly,

"Izzat why Turks get better pay?" Reno retorted smugly.

Tifa giggled again, "Your friends are kind of funny Cloud. I didn't think people in Midgar were so silly!"

"MOST of them aren't…" the blond argued with another glare at his friends, "these two are just more immature than most."

"OI!", "HEY!" Came the simultaneous protests.

"Do you still remember your promise?"

Cloud smiled suddenly, "Of Course, that's why I'm going to be a SOLDIER. Can't break a promise after all, … that would be dishonorable…"

"That's right!" Zack chimed in, "And SOLDIER's have to have Honor!"

She giggled again, "You're kind of strange yourself." The blond froze at the comment, he was? Had he said something wrong? "But I think I like it, you sound more confident… Midgar must be good for you."

"Uh… y-yeah… good for me." He parroted suddenly nervous again.

"What is?" Reno interjected, "Me? I know I'm good for ya, 's'why ya gotta stay a Turk!"

"I gotta go Cloud, my dad's calling. Maybe if you send me a letter, I'll write you back!"

"Er… But I…"

"Don't be a stranger Cloud!"

"I… Tifa I…" but he already heard the rustling on the other end that meant she was handing off the phone.

"Cloud?"

"Hi mom…"

"It was great to talk to you honey, I'm so glad you're alright, you take care of yourself okay?"

"I will…"

"I have to go too sweetheart, I hope you'll answer a letter or two so I know more about all the fun stuff you must be learning."

"I… I'll try mom… bye."

"goodbye Cloud, take care of yourself!" she repeated, the blond grunted something in the affirmative just moments before the phone clicked dead. he sighed to himself, but before he took the phone away from his ear he heard another 'click'. Hesitating for a moment, he listened, but heard nothing else. How odd… I wonder if it's the long-distance? He mused to himself, maybe the older phones took longer to disconnect both ends? But he couldn't remember hearing them disconnect twice like that before. Strange thoughts aside he handed the phone back to the patient gentleman behind the counter. At the moment, he had more pressing matters to deal with. After the device had been relinquished, he turned with a furious glare on his two friends, both sixteen year olds visibly paled. Cloud had disciplined more than a few rambunctious youths in his time, and he wasn't about to lose his touch now!

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((Author's Note: Even More Overnights! Actually despite what some of you might think… I actually PREFER overnight shifts. … so feel free to hope for more of them… I know I do!

But to the point of this A.N. … there are a couple of recurring review comments that I wanted to address, first off, I find it quite baffling, when I get mentions of my recent chapters being 'particularly short' or 'short chapter this time' … now I DO understand that I don't write the longest chapters in the world, but my earlier chapters tended to average 1,500 – 2,000 words, and my current ones have been over 4,000 each. Often each one a bit longer than it's predecessors, now just to clarify, I'm not OFFENDED by mentions of 'short chapters' I understand exactly what that feels like. But I am a tad puzzled sometimes in reference to my OWN previous chapters. XD maybe it just seems like it?

Another one I get a lot, is something along the lines of 'the story seems to be rambling', Or wondering if I've lost track or gone off on tangent. … These reviews, I must admit, actually amuse me greatly. I have to very carefully detail out each chapter progression, to make sure I get in the scenes I need where and when I need them for my storyline. So I can actually PROMISE, that there's a reason for every little scene I put in, no matter how superfluous it may seem at the time. Now sometimes, it's just character progression, so that later actions from a character are understandable, but often it's my secret plot twists that you'll learn more about as the story goes on…As I often mentally comment in the wake of such reviews, "Patience my readers… there's a method to my madness."

Anyways, I'm sure there are more I'll try to address later, I do read every single review I get, and I try to answer important ones when I can. I thoroughly appreciate the effort of reading my story, and hope you guys continue to enjoy it!

-Jianre M. A.K.A … Illusor Meaneld.))