By: Mouse-chan

: K-chan

Standard Disclaimer: The characters used this fanfic are owned and copyright by Squaresoft. The characters are used without permission. This series is only made for entertainment use and does not make any profits of any kind. Any original characters are copyrighted to the authors. Changes in this fanfic can occur without any warning. Please bear in mind that the story contains yaoi, violence and adult language for that matter.

"-" conversations
{-} personal thoughts
italic flashbacks

[CHAPTER 3: A WALK IN THE DARK]

[PART 2: COLORLESS DREAMS]

The sun was just peeking over the horizon; it's golden rays slowly stealing over the ocean waters. Night withdrew, allowing day to bring in the pale blueness in the sky. Clouds regained their whiteness along with the added colors that were borrowed from the rising fiery globe. Stars were lost in the lightening background. They twinkled for one last time before retreating to their homes to wait for the next nightfall. Pink and yellow tones spilled on the pale blues like water seeping into the thin paper.

Highwind's gray surface reflected the gorgeous scenery while it's windows glinted yellow as the airship easily sliced through the air.

"Blegh," Cloud made a face after taking a sip of the steaming black liquid that swirled lazily in his mug.

He lowered the warm ceramic and stared at the scene beyond the thick glass. Blue eyes watched a flock of birds drift across the morning skies. Their white feathers black against the growing light. The graceful fluttering of wings and undisturbed flight created an illusion of serenity. The blonde ex-trooper found it ironic that it could be so peaceful considering what was happening all around them. Screwing up his nose, he searched for the phrase that he had heard a long time ago.

An hour before chaos, he thought.

The blonde ex-trooper smiled, amused at his own thoughts. The person who created the particular phrase must have been indeed very wise. He scanned the passing view, taking note of the subtle changes as the morning crept into the new day. A worried expression fleeted past his face as his gaze collided with the greenish tinge that had invaded the blue sky. Even though they were a few thousand kilometers away from North Crater, Cloud could still make out the Lifestream gushing out in a never-ending flow. The green glow made the streaks of white more luminous.

His fingers tapped against the warm ceramic and his brow knotted.

His wonderful gut feeling had recently expanded over the handful of days. Every single incident seemed to have increased his apprehensiveness. That and the utterly disturbing dreams he was having, Cloud was rather surprised that he was not jumping in terror at every small sound. He had tried to sleep that night but a particularly bloody dream that caused him to wake up with cold sweat made it rather impossible to coax himself to go back to La-la land. Dead bodies littered all over Nibelhiem and the scent of burning flesh was not a very nice thing to imagine much less dream about.

He swore, if all these madness lead to another mission to save the world, he would gladly jump off Highwind right now and happily drown himself.

Cloud made a wryly grin.

One day I am going to wake up and find out that I have aged overnight, the blonde ex-trooper chuckled dryly.

Turning away from the window, he glanced at the flickering screen that was directly connected to the control panel in the control room. Blinking numbers crossed the screen in torrents. Not a second was wasted as the digits rapidly entered and disappeared from view. A digital map showing Highwind's position and a chart that held the several colored lines sat in a small corner of the screen. With his humble knowledge of flying machines, Cloud could summarize everything was going as planned. Blue eyes darkened slightly remembering the damaged equipment. Cloud made a swift calculation on how long Highwind could remain in the air.

The odds were on their side.

We can make it…..if nothing happens, he unconsciously chanted in his head, if nothing happens…

The engines hummed reassuringly below his feet. He mentally crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

….we can make it.

Unthinkingly, the blonde ex-trooper swallowed a generous mouthful of coffee. The bitterness made him stick out his tongue in disgust. He glared at the mug, wondering if he should add more cream into the mixture to lower the bitterness. Sighing as he remembered there was no cream or sugar available on the ship, Cloud lamented internally on the down sides of having a sweet tooth.

"Cloud?"

The said youth blinked and turned around.

"Cloud? Why do you drink coffee when you don't like it?" Tifa asked catching his mildly disgusted expression that was directed at the insulted mug as she walked into the small room. Her brown eyes swept through the narrow bunk and the equally narrow desk that was shoved to one side while the room's occupant stood near the glass window staring at the computer screen embedded on the metal wall.

Two golden eyebrows lifted upwards but Cloud made no comment on her unannounced intrusion. They weren't childhood friends for nothing. So instead, the blonde ex-trooper shrugged. "Keeps me awake…well sort of."

"Sort of?"

"When I first started my training in Shinra, I had a problem with the sudden change in my sleep patterns."

"What sort of changes?" Tifa's brown eyes looked curiously at the blonde ex-trooper.

"Mostly it was the lack of sleep. We start our training before daybreak and end really late. Add that with the mock real-time practice our sergeants kept making us do during our sleep hours; rest time was pretty null," Cloud took another mouthful of the dark liquid.

"So you resorted to coffee?"

"Yeah, I don't think I need it anymore since I am pretty used to getting little sleep. The mako in my blood helps quite a lot in adapting to change," he offered her a sheepish grin. "Perhaps I grown so used to drinking it every morning that I forget that I don't need it anymore."

"And you don't even like it."

"There were odder people in Shinra's SOLDIER recruits," Cloud told her, his face amused. Bits of memories of his younger days came back as soon as the sentence left his lips. For a split second, his years spent in training flashed past his eyes. Some details a little too blurry to make out but others he recalled as clear as day. Somewhere within himself, he felt something liken to the peace that he had not felt since the chaos started. There was a tiny prick of awkwardness since he was not entirely used to talking about his past. But the blonde ex-trooper was more than content with the soothing calmness that quelled the waves of confusion. He made a slight sound, allowing the conversation to continue.

"For example, Cloud?" There was a teasing lilt in her voice.

"There was a guy who had to wear a pair of socks into the showers," he answered promptly.

"What?!"

"Don't know why he insisted in wearing them while he was taking his bath though," the blonde ex-trooper tilted his head thoughtfully. His mind gladly picking up the forgotten information that the darkness shielded away from. He paused trying to recall the name of the peculiar recruit. "For some reason, he always wore this pair of purple striped socks."

"That's weird" Tifa shook her head in disbelief.

"If you say that is weird, you have no idea what stories Zack tells me sometimes," Cloud shrugged in his usual non-committed manner.

"You and Zack were friends?" Tifa questioned. "You never told me much about your training in Shinra before."

"Details are quite foggy," he confessed. "I don't remember much but Zack and I were pretty close. Best friends, I suppose. We hung out a lot. He was the one that hinted that coffee was a life saver for a new recruit."

"First class SOLDIER advice?"

"More like general knowledge," Cloud laughed and the dark liquid in his mug sloshed at the sides of the ceramic. Blue eyes looked down at the liquid. "Sephiroth and Zack were the only ones that I know that actually enjoyed drinking this stuff."

"Huh?" Tifa paused, shocked at the mention of Sephiroth's name.

"Perhaps not Zack," Cloud distractedly continued, correcting himself. "Zack always prefered beer or anything that contained alcohol to coffee."

"Cloud?"

"Yes?"

"How did you know Sephiroth drank….? I thought you never met him before during your training. You only mentioned him when Niblehiem…." Tifa stopped abruptly, realizing she had stepped into a taboo topic. The blonde ex-trooper did talked about what had happened years back but he always tried to avoid mentioning it if it was possible. Now the memory of flames were added with the smell of recently killed bodies made it all the more unbearable.

Brown eyes flickered nervously into the blue ones.

There was a short silence. The room suddenly lapsed into a curious sort of quiet. Nothing whispered through the air save the faint hum of the rumbling engines that lay below the metal floors. There was a slight awkward shuffle of feet from the dark haired woman.

Cloud carefully cradled his mug between his two hands. The warmth radiating from the hard surface was quite soothing but he was not paying attention to the pleasant sensation. He was busy conducting a swift check through the thing he called his brain. A frown marred his features as he dug out all the facts that he had managed to remember. The blonde ex-trooper instinctively knew that Sephiroth had somehow fit into his life somewhere in the past.

But where? He questioned himself, ignoring the haunting hurt that crept up whenever he thought about the past.

The shadows in his mind shifted restlessly for a moment. Gently, a single silver trace of a memory glimmered.

Cloud racked his fingers through his hair while wishing that his face wouldn't feel like it was on fire. He found the old conversation incredibly amusing but befuddling at the same time. From the start, he had remembered Zack as a best friend. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to add Sephiroth to his lists of friends. Somehow it didn't seem right since the silver haired man was supposed to be his arch-nemesis. Not after all the hate and grief that he had caused.

He -was- my enemy. Wait , he was my friend first before he was my enemy, Cloud pondered, but now? He has amnesia. So is he still my enemy? When he recovers, will he be my enemy again? Or will he be my friend?

His thoughts kept running in circles. Different questions but all leading to the same confusing answer.

"We used to hang out together….all three of us..sometimes..," the blonde ex-trooper slowly replied, his mind still struggling to comprehend the whole concept.

"It's a little hard to imagine, Cloud," Tifa's voice uncertain.

Cloud couldn't blame her. If he did not remember it so vividly, he would have trouble trying to imagine it too. Mental fingers reached out, stretching over the newly uncovered detail of his history once more. This time, to his surprise, he found it a little easier to accept.

Just a little easier.

Okay, he told himself firmly, if Sephiroth tries to destroy the world again then he is an enemy. If he doesn't……then we just treat him as we are treating him now. Nothing confusing, he was a friend long ago then an enemy…and now….a…-neutral- person. Right, checked.

"You have changed," the dark haired woman told him suddenly. Her expression bordering on concern. "You normally turn angry and frustrated when we talk about Sephiroth. Now you just…..act like everything is normal…like he never killed your mother."

"If I don't accept the past, I am going to drive myself up the wall," Cloud reasoned, detecting a hint of anger under the concern. "Besides, he is suffering from amnesia. Like I told the gang before…it just wouldn't be right…"

"I know, but…you have changed," Tifa repeated.

"I….I suppose so," the blonde ex-trooper shrugged again. He had never liked hitting anybody who was vulnerable. Sephiroth, he supposed, fell into that category since the silver haired man was injured. Cloud expertly hid a wince. Mental injuries were a major pain. He had first hand experience.

There was a polite knock on the steel door before it slid open. A head, half hidden under a blue cap, popped around the door.

"We are reaching North Corel," the co-pilot informed them. "Landing in 5 minutes."

With that, the head disappeared again and the door silently closed.

"I better wake up Yuffie. She is still sleeping. Meet you after we land, okay?," Tifa lifted her head up and smiled.

"Sure," Cloud waved absently, hardly noticing the dark haired woman as she exited the room. His head was still pottering around the many realms of thoughts. There was so much to think about. Turning the Niblehiem incident over and over in his mind, Cloud tried to see what did the mad killing spree that happened in the quiet village had in connection to the stolen documents from Reeve's desk. Questions moved once more, rearranging themselves but there were no answers. Not yet.

He sighed, lifting the mug to his lips.

The blonde ex-trooper smiled at the particular memory. He had missed the warm friendship he and the First Class SOLDIER had shared. Zack was the closest thing he had to a brother and a family during his life in Shinra.

Cloud looked back at the window again. He could see the tips of Gold Saucer in the faint light. Thousands of colored lights cheerfully winked back at him. The orange hues of the edge of the dessert began to make itself known.

Suddenly, crimson washed over his vision. Unbearable pain wreaked his head causing him to stumble. Hands grasped each side of his forehead, trying to physically tear the source of hurt out of himself. His shoulders shook in effort of suppressing the sharp pain that was slicing through his brain. Fingers gripped at the tanned skin, leaving angry red marks. Nerve wracking pain coiled itself tightly around him, blocking out the rest of the world. Distantly he heard the sound of glass shattering.

"Cloud? Hey, Cloud? Are you alright?"

Something soft fell onto his shoulder.

"Wha-what?"

Looking up, the blonde ex-trooper blinked once then blinked again. Red slowly faded away from his vision and the pain retreated. He stared at the blurry white mess that was directly in front of him. Blue eyes narrowed into a frown as their owner tried to focus. He felt the cool steel wall against his back. The glass window had curiously traveled to the other side of the room during his short lapse. Closing his eyes, the blonde ex-trooper tried to remember when did he move away from his previous position.

"Cait Sith?" Cloud muttered, trying to even out his ragged breathing.

"Are you okay?" the little cat repeated. "You looked kinda strange just a few seconds ago."

"Looked strange? What do you mean?" the blonde ex-trooper unsteadily got to his feet and winced.

"Your eyes…they looked almost…," a short pause ,"….never mind that…you are bleeding."

"I am?"

Blue eyes stared at his own hand. Sure enough, there were trails of crimson running down the pale exposed skin. Leather glove had been torn apart just above the steel bands that kept the thick material together. A dark stain grew on the smooth brown surface as the thin stream continued to trickle from the single cut.

"Oh," the blonde ex-trooper automatically applied pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.

"What happened?" the little cat asked. "Did you cut yourself?"

Cut myself?

The slight reflection of light from the broken glass at his feet caught his attention. The blonde ex-trooper pushed the remains of his mug with one foot. He noticed the red tinge on the edge of one particularly large shard. A little part of him felt faint regret for the smashed mug; he had always liked that particular ceramic tool.

Cloud's mind cleared just enough for him to construct a reply.

"Yeah, accidentally slipped," he heard himself say, "I am fine. It's just a small cut."
"Looks deep though. Better get it healed."

"You are as bad as Tifa," the blonde ex-trooper told the white mog as the green light began to fold itself over the gash. In an instant, the skin was whole once again. Cloud offered a grateful grin to his friend before he wiped off the rest of the red liquid. The newly healed skin still felt a little raw but the healing spell did not even leave a trace of a scar. "Thanks"

"No problem."

"So you were looking for me?"

"Actually I was looking for Cid. One of his co-pilots needs him in the control room."

"Need any help?" Cloud cocked his head to one side.

The little cat that was sitting on the mog's enormous head nodded.

"I will go look. I think he is still in his room"

The blonde ex-trooper pressed his palm against the door causing it to slide open. He took one step out of the room before Cait Sith's high-pitched voice stopped him. Blinking, he turned around.

"What is it, Reeve?"

"Cloud, you know…….the blood samples?"

"Yeah," the feeling of dread swelled in his stomach. From the tone in his friend's statement, there was no need to guess the results. Fingers curled up into a tight fist. His voice turned flat. "It was a match, wasn't it?"

"Aa, a perfect match with Hojo's."

"Things are beginning to make some sense now."

"Yes, it is."

Cloud forced a smile before he exited the room.

The words haunted him all the way down the corridor. They pressed against his head giving him one big headache. Cloud could hear his footsteps echoing down the passage. Half of his attention was lost in thought while the other half was intent on looking for Cid. He passed a handful of doors, vaguely knowing that he was heading towards the blonde Highwind captain's room.

Hojo was back from the dead.

The group had expected it to happen ever since Reeve had sent them the video last night. But the fact that the mad scientist was still alive brought a shiver down his spine. Faint recollections of what Hojo had done to Zack and himself after the Nibelhiem burning was enough to want each limb belonging to Hojo torn painfully out of their sockets. If Hojo was to blame for the new deaths that had occurred in Nihelhiem, surely even hell would be considered too light a punishment. Cloud stifled an entirely inappropriate laugh.

Sephiroth -was- alive and so were all the WEAPONs the group had destroyed.

Now that Hojo was also among the living, Cloud was sure that he wouldn't be surprised if someone came over and informed him that Jenova was planning on another attempt on world domination.

He shook his head, pushing out all the pessimistic thoughts.

Don't tempt fate, Cloud dryly thought, we have more than enough to deal with right now.

His feet stopped when he realized that he was standing outside Cid's bedroom. His hand raised up to knock on the steel door but unfortunately for one blonde ex-trooper, his thoughts had dominated his attention so much that he accidentally hit the panel that cause the door to open. Blinking, Cloud's mouth started out the first words of apology for entering the Highwind captain's room without knocking first. Sky blue eyes widened, catching sight of something inside the room. The words that tumbled from his lips turned into something that suspiciously sounded like a choked splutter.

His mind turned blank as his face began to turn into the exact shade of tomato.

No need to worry about the fate of the world or anything now, he thought inanely, Cid's going to kill me anyway.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Green eyes opened.

There was a slight rustle of cloth before Sephiroth pulled himself into a sitting position. His fingers trailed through the long silver hair and pushed it over his shoulders. His mind alert as it always was as soon as he was awake. One hand stole over to his arm, pulling up the long sleeve to reveal the pale skin that lay beneath it. His face expressionless when he noted the black number that was tattooed into the flesh.

So it wasn't just a dream, he thought grimly.

The silver haired man got up from his bunk. Expertly, he tilted his head a tad bit to one side avoiding the steel bar that held the bunk above his own. Hitting the same bar twice on the same night was a good enough reason to remember how to not endure another bruise on the head. The silver haired man rubbed his forehead, wryly remembering the painful collision with the extremely hard steel bar.

He absently straightened the white cuffs, his mind still on the dream.

Then a slightly muffled sound diverted his attention.

It sounded like a cross between a gasp and a low startled cry. A frown appeared when his mind noted that the voice was rather familiar. Immediately the name of its owner came to him.

Cloud, he thought.

Quickly, he opened the door and was about to step out into the passage when a warm body bumped into him.

Sephiroth looked down to see the very boy he was thinking about. Cloud did not even seem to sense the silver haired man's presence. Instead, the blonde ex-trooper continued staring straight into another opened door while looking perfectly mortified. Sephiroth frowned. Wondering what had caused such a reaction, he followed the other's gaze. The green eyes blinked once. Then he saw the source of embarrassment.

Cid, if he remembered correctly, was currently engaged in an extremely intimate 'activity' with a dark haired man.

Vincent, his mind helpfully supplied him.

The two were so involved with each other that they had completely failed to realize that they had an audience. Sephiroth felt the tips of the lips twitched a little in response to the amusement of finding himself in such an awkward situation. His blonde companion however failed to see anything funny about the scenario.

Cloud was still looking incredibly flustered.

In fact, it seemed as though the young blonde ex-trooper had never seen two men coupling before. Sephiroth mused over the fact for a moment. Then he glanced at the brilliantly red cheeks once again. The younger boy looked as if he was quite willing to start a one-second dash to the other end of the corridor. The silver haired man could have sworn that Cloud was already quite used to such matters since the blonde did not look at all frazzled when Barret had loudly commented on a similar subject just a day ago. A moan came from the other room causing Cloud to turn a shade redder.

Perhaps not, he concluded more than a little of amusement.

Thanking the engineer for building such narrow passages, Sephiroth reached over and pressed his palm over the panel. It was a little uncomfortable, but he vaguely remembered doing much more complex maneuvers before.

Silently the door slid shut, shielding the other two from view.

There was a very relieved sigh before Cloud leaned heavily against the silver haired man. After a long period of silence, the blonde ex-trooper stiffened. Suspicious blue eyes glanced up at him. The smaller body took a few steps away, distancing him from the other.

"I heard you in the hallway so I came out to see what was going on," the silver haired man explained calmly.

"It was…..unintentional," Cloud's face was still a perfect shade of red. "I didn't know that they were…..were…doing….anything. Well, we will be landing soon."

"Gold Saucer?" Sephiroth asked, remembering their previous conversation.

"No, we land at North Corel. After that we will get to Gold Saucer using the Ropeway," the blonde ex-trooper answered rather absently.

Blue eyes gazed thoughtfully at the speakers. Cloud's fingers hesitated over the tiny button for a second before firmly pressing it. Internally he winced and made a solemn promise that he would not, in the future, accidentally walk into a room without knocking. Sometimes it was best not to know what his friends were doing especially when it was such private activities. He tentatively spoke into the speaker as if he was trying to figure out the way to stop a nuclear bomb.

Perhaps in some ways he was.

"Cid, you are needed at the control room. Immediately."

Sephiroth glanced at the blonde ex-trooper for a moment before a loud curse could be heard from the other room. A noise that could only be made by one very pissed off Highwind captain broke into the air. A silver eyebrow rose upwards as he listened to the fluent words from the other side of the wall. There were quite a few from the selection that he had never even heard before. That and the fact that the Highwind captain had been at it for a full minute and had not repeated himself once.

Within several minutes, a very rumpled and annoyed looking Cid stomped out of the room. He had discarded cursing in favor of describing several creative methods of inflicting pain and death to the person who caused the interruption. For once, Cloud was immensely glad that Cid was not holding Venus Gospel.

"This betta be important," the Highwind captain growled before stalking off.

The duo watched Cid disappear into another doorway which lead to the hangar.

"That went pretty well," Cloud commented, racking his fingers through his blonde bangs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blonde ex-trooper took a glance at North Corel. He had never failed to feel amazement when he noted the rapidly rebuilding town's progress. The sweet scent of blossoms tickled his noise. Cloud turned around when a movement from the town's entrance caught his eye. A small figure darted swiftly from the tall gates. A warm laugh floated towards them. Grass rustled as a pair of tiny feet slapped against the ground.

"Marlene!"

Cloud smiled as he watched Barret scooping the little girl off her feet and swinging her around. The gold pendant around her neck shone brightly in the sunlight but it did not dim the fatherly love that the broad shouldered man had for the petite girl. Elmyra stood patiently at the entrance of North Corel, her hands folded in front of her. Cloud brushed away the dust that had settled on his shirt. No doubt, the older woman would hurry them off into the house for a meal and a hot bath. His smile turned a little sheepish as he pondered why on earth did he not make use of the showers that could be found in Highwind.

Too many things to handle, he thought ruefully, I am becoming as bad as a new SOLDIER recruit.

One by one the group got off from Highwind. The loud hum from the ship's engines died down. Cloud inhaled the fresh air and felt rather glad that he was standing on firm ground. It had been too long since they last slept in proper beds. Lifting his arms over his head, the blonde ex-trooper leisurely stretched his back. He made a contented sigh after hearing his joints pop.

"Woah!" Cid's blue eyes wide with disbelief, "Holy shit! How the hell…?!"

The blonde ex-trooper blinked at the metal sides of Highwind and hid a wince.

The left side of the airship was badly damaged. A long jagged gash ran along the scorched surface, allowing a peak of the working machines that were inside the ship. Numerous scratches marred the silver while traces of oil stains colored several spots. Flecks of dirt were caught under the bent metal causing the once gleaming metal to look dull and old. There were stray pieces of leaves poking out from the blackened holes.

We must have hit a boulder to cause such damage, Cloud thought pressing a hand onto his forehead.

Patching the gash up would take a whole day.

A group of men wearing Shinra uniforms approached the group. A few of them gazed at the damaged ship while others were unloading large crates from a handful of trucks. One, holding a clipboard, walked up to Cloud as though sensing he was the leader.

"Cloud sir?"

"Yes?" the blonde ex-trooper blinked at the man wondering how did he get a hold of his name.

"We are the Shinra engineers. Reeve, president of Shinra, sent us to help fix your ship," the man's words were short and too the point, "We can start the repairs immediately. Though it might take a while. Your airship looks like she is in a bad shape."

"I know," Cloud sighed mentally and surrendered to the inevitable. The group was stuck in North Corel for one day unless they could find any other transportation. He paused thoughtfully. "Just do what you can. I need it everything to be running as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," the man replied with a smart click of his heels.

"Yo, Cloud" Cid tapped him on his shoulder, oblivious to the conversation that he was intruding. "I am going to stay here. Don't want any weird crap to happen."

The blonde ex-trooper nodded unable to suppress a grin. He knew how concern Cid could be about his beloved ship. If anything, the Highwind captain would happily drink a jug of mako poison before he would even think about allowing strangers to tamper with his ship without his supervision. The engineer, who was standing next to Cloud, to his credit, did not make any protest against the remark.

"Right," Cloud cocked his head at the rest of his friends, "I guess everyone can take a time off for the moment. Meet back here when the sun sets"

"Spike, I am gonna be at m' house. If ya want ta find me, ya know where I am," Barret informed him before gently placing Marlene onto his shoulders. The dark skinned man walked into the town, followed by Emylra.

"Shucks, they don't sell materia any more," Yuffie muttered and disappeared into a nearby shop.

The blonde ex-trooper grinned, amused by his friend's actions. He adjusted the leather strap that held his Buster Sword so that the weight would be fairly distributed. Wondering when would he reclaim his Ultima weapon, Cloud absently fiddled with his gloves. His fingers brushed against the neat cut on the thick material. Sky blue eyes glanced down at the pale skin that was hiding beneath the leather glove. His mind wandered to the incident that had just happened during the trip to North Corel.

How did I cut myself? He wondered, …and why?

"Umm, Cloud?"

"What is it, Tifa?" the said youth tilted his head to one side, breaking away from his thoughts.

"Well….since we are here……Gold Saucer…," the dark haired woman made another shuffle with her feet. She halted abruptly and looked expectantly at him as though he could fill the gaps in her sentence.

"Eh?" the blonde ex-trooper blinked at her, his face puzzled.

"I thought we could…..that time….I asked…never mind," Tifa's face was brilliant scarlet when she spun around sharply on her heel. "I will be at Barret's if you want me. Have to talk to Emlyra. It's been a long time since we chatted."

"…what?" Cloud muttered under his breath as he watched the dark haired woman fled over the fields and into the growing town.

Shrugging, he strictly controlled the laughter bubbling up in his chest while one Cid Highwind yelled some technical terms mixed with well-chosen obscenities at the poor engineers. His attention was distracted by a slight signal from the tall silent man who was standing just a few feet away. Vincent inclined his head towards the Highwind captain, wordlessly informing Cloud that he would be with Cid during the repairs. The blonde ex-trooper nodded and Vincent gave him a faint smile. Determinedly, Cloud stirred his mind away from the scene that involved Cid, Vincent and a bed. He felt guilty for intruding on such a private moment but was thanking all the gods that were watching since the duo had not found out. Cid would have skinned him alive and hung him on Highwind to dry.

Cloud stifled an embarrassed chuckle.

"Hey, Cloud" Cait Sith slowly hopped up.

"Hey yourself. Aren't you going into town too? Perhaps go up Gold Saucer?" Cloud asked casually. He squatted and picked at a few blades of grass. Green slipped through his fingers and traveled with the wind to through the wide field.

"Nah, I have some stuff to take care of…."

"What is it, Reeve? What stuff are you talking about?" Blue eyes sharpened at the distracted tone in the sentence.

"That is….." the little cat made a unneeded correction to his little crown, "That is….would you mind terribly if I asked the Turks…"

"Ask the Turks for what?" Cloud's voice was guarded. He had harbored a small feeling of unease since the destruction of Sector Seven. And there was also Barret's and Tifa's grudge to take note of. The cause of a friend's death was never easy to forget let alone forgive. The blonde ex-trooper made an empty smile. Guilt made its appearance once more as soon as he thought of Zack's death.

My fault.

"Ever since the results for the blood samples came out, I been feeling like all these incidents are just the tips of the iceberg," Cait Sith admitted.

Cloud nodded. He had been having the same feeling right after he first stepped into Nibelhiem. Unconsciously, his hand drifted up to his arm. He frowned; wondering why was there a dull ache emanating from the particular limb. He had not injured it in any of the fights unless he recounted the encounter with the monster during the second burning of Nibelhiem.

"Anyway, I would feel better if we had another pair of eyes and hands to help."

"Are they trustworthy?" the blonde ex-trooper asked, getting to his feet.

"They have been loyal to Shinra for many years. I don't see why they would stop now," Cait Sith made a light chuckle. "Besides, I am the person who has to sign their checks at the end of the month."

"Fine, I guess we -could- do with some help," Cloud racked his fingers through his hair. "But Barret and Tifa isn't going to like this."

"I know," there was a little discomfort in the little cat's high pitch voice.

"So what kind of jobs do you intend to give them?"
"Just a clean up job….," Caith Sith replied, "I need them to remove all the equipment in the laboratory under the Nibelhiem reactor. I think our scientists can piece everything together faster if they had a look at the machinery. Progress in unearthing the meanings of those papers we found had suddenly slowed down. It seems that Hojo took the main documents."

"And the information we have now?"

"It's like having a long blank line with only two letters in it."

"Another guessing game," Cloud shook his head, mentally cursing the now green colored scientist. It was crucial to know what the madman was up to. Dead bodies with their vital organs ripped out were not an entirely good sign. The blonde ex-trooper made a faint grin.

Perhaps Hojo had decided to join an occult.

Nothing complex, just human sacrifices to some unknown god. Nothing concerning the destruction of the world.

The blonde ex-trooper snorted.

He couldn't imagine the scientist believing in anything that could not be proven with scientific facts.

"We -know- that he is conducting a large experiment that needs huge amounts of mako energy. The next question is where is he tapping the energy from," the mog made a little irritated gesture in the air, "My guess would be the reactors."

"Then the search is narrowed down to Gongaga, Midgar ,Niblehiem and Junon." Cloud's blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Midgar and Gongaga is out of the list because those reactors are practically destroyed. There might be other areas that housed reactors too. I will try to find out."

"That would help a lot," the blonde ex-trooper wondered aloud, "Find the place, we'll find Hojo."

"Very true,"

"You think Hojo would return to his lab at Nibelhiem?"

"Perhaps. But I doubt it."

"One thing bothers me though,"

"What does?"

"Why are the WEAPONs resurrected? What new threat is the planet aware of that we are not?"

"I don't know, Cloud" Cait Sith replied. "But I will work on that. I will go park somewhere in Highwind and switch the mog off. Maybe I can find out something when the ship is repaired. Who knows, miracles do happen sometimes."

"Who knows," Cloud answered with a smile.

"I will inform you on how the Turks are doing. Just keep your fingers crossed," Cait Sith waved a furry arm before heading off to Highwind.

The blonde ex-trooper impatiently pushed away the bangs that were falling into his eyes. His sudden exhaustion in Cosmo Canyon had long since bled away but he was still a little puzzled on why was he so tired then. He was not exactly an easy target for tiredness and sleep. Pondering a little more on that subject, Cloud shifted again feeling his buster sword scrap against his back. The exposed metal was warm in the morning sunlight.

"Cloud?"

"Red….Sephiroth," the blonde ex-trooper acknowledged a little stiffly. Although he had consideringly more conversations with the silver haired man than the rest of the group put together, he still couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Of course there was the one time where they had actually talked on a somewhat 'almost friends term' but that moment shattered as soon as Aerith was mentioned. He forced himself to relax.

The silver haired man nodded but continued keeping silent.

"Where is Cait Sith going?" Red questioned, his gold eyes curious.

"Digging out some data that might be some help to us," Cloud answered with a casual shrug. He blinked. "So where are you two off to?"

"I am about to visit Barret…there are some books in his study that I want to check though," Red stated calmly.

"Oh,….the both of you?" A hint of disbelief colored his expression. The blonde ex-trooper was suddenly assaulted with images of a broad shouldered man growling at every move Sephiroth made once inside his house.

"No, only me," from the tone of Red's voice, it was evident that he also could imagine what would happen. "What are you planning to do, Cloud?"

"I don't know…"

"Why don't you accompany Sephiroth up to Gold Saucer," There was a rare kind of mischievous glint in the beast's eyes as Red turned to leave. "You can show him the sights."

The intelligent beast did not offer any spare time for a polite 'no thank you'.

Stuck was the only word that Cloud could think of at the moment. He pondered for a second on what his furry friend had in mind when he asked the blonde ex-trooper to drag Sephiroth all over the huge amusement park then mentally shook his head in surrender. His head hurt too much for another bout of pondering. Besides, the silver haired man definitely would ask another handful of question that probably will steal the remaining wits the blonde ex-trooper had left. And at the same time give him one nasty headache as well.

Stuck.

Cloud resignedly lifted up his head to meet the green eyes.

"Well, shall we go then?"

The end of Part 2 of Chapter 3

NOTE TO ALL READERS

Please be noted that the story takes place 6 months after the game. There is also a YAOI content. So to all readers who do not approve to such pairing or dislike the idea, do not proceed reading. The authors will not entertain any flames or complains concerning the yaoi pairing/pairings involved in the fanfic.

Thankyou