Two Letters and a Number

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He was drifting as his thoughts tangled around the new memories that were rising to the surface of his mind. Memories of his mother teaching him late at night with only the fire for illumination, her calm voice brushing over his ears as she drew symbols in the ashes as she told him the legacy of their family. Two symbols she drew over and over again, burning them into his memory. A circle quartered with “Gaia” whispered in a loving tone while the top of a triangle with a dot resting on the tip was identified with a hissed “False Ones”.

Soft green swept through him, nudging memories back where they belonged before smoothing his thoughts out with a gentle touch. He hummed and allowed the green light to coax him back to full awareness, feeling more things settle as he did. Slowly, Cloud opened his eyes, blinking a few times to find himself staring at the familiar ceiling of the Shera’s cabins.

“Welcome back Spike," a familiar voice greeted him and Cloud turned his head to find Zack grinning at him. “So, where'd you hide my sword?"

“It's at the cliff," Cloud automatically answered as he sat up to stare at Zack. Gentle hands helped him up, and he turned to find a smiling Aeris sitting next to him. “What’s going on? How are you here? Where’s Daniel?”

“I’m right here, Cloud,” replied Daniel and Zack moved out of the way to reveal Daniel sitting on a chair against the wall. He was wearing another one of his olive green uniforms, indicating that someone had retrieved their bags from the inn. Daniel offered a reassuring smile. “I’m fine if a bit enhanced. I didn’t realize how different everything was for you.”

“It’s a bit odd seeing the difference in colors, isn’t it?” verified Cloud, and Daniel nodded with a friendly smile. Cloud chuckled. “Just wait until meals. Then you’ll *really* see what I was talking about in the Forgotten City.” He glanced around, only seeing the four of them in the cabin. “Where’s everyone else?”

Zack chuckled. “Seph’s reorganizing the other lab while stripping it bare of any records about his own creation and the Ancients. Vincent’s with him as a safety precaution for everyone else’s nerves. Chang’s having fun with Donahue now that we’re aboard the Shera, and I think Jack’s entertaining thoughts about smuggling home a chocobo.”

There was a sudden distant rumble, and Cloud scrambled to his feet. “Who’s setting off the Quake?”

“That would be Chang,” announced Zack with a grin before frowning. “Or was it Donahue that had the Earth?” He shrugged. “Either way, Reeve gave ‘em free reign to wreck the lab. Seems Rufus signed a piece of paper...”

Cloud started laughing and waved off the rest of Zack’s explanation. “I was there when Rufus signed it,” he stated. “I witnessed it along with two other people so Rufus couldn’t claim that it was a forgery when Reeve used it against Rufus.”

“Rufus is not going to be happy that he has been blocked so easily,” remarked a new voice from the doorway, and everyone turned to find Sephiroth standing there with a small smirk on his face. Cloud automatically tensed before he realized that the smirk was one of amusement rather than cruelty. “It is quite possible for him to strand the Tau’ri here in a fit of stubbornness since the Stargate is in the remains of the Tower.”

Shaking his head, Cloud moved over to his bags that someone had dropped near a wall and started pulling clothes out. “No he can’t.”

The sure tone in his voice had them exchanging looks as he got dressed, and when he turned around, there were four sets of eyes staring at him.

“Um, not to question you, but how can you be so sure?” asked Daniel. “Jack can remind Rufus that to strand us here would be seen as an act of war.”

“Spike, what do you have up your sleeve?” drawled Zack, a grin spreading across his face. Aeris looked between the two before shaking her head, a smile on her face.

Cloud smirked and strapped his harness into place. “Rufus Shinra can’t strand the Tau’ri here because he doesn’t own the Gate.” He walked over to Daniel and picked up the jacket that had been tossed over the back of a chair. He turned it until a round patch was exposed, showing a two sided triangle with a circle balanced on the tip. The same as the one his mother use to draw in the ashes of the fireplace.

“I regained more of my memories this time with a bit of help from the Strife clan,” he explained with a nod to Daniel. “When they found out that you were there, they made certain that I remembered the lessons my mother taught me before I was sent to Midgar.”

“But I thought you ran away to join the military,” said Aeris with a slight frown. “Or was that what you remembered?”

“That was part of Zack’s memories,” clarified Cloud, tossing a smirk at the dark haired First. “My mother taught me two symbols that were the only ones I truly needed to know. A quartered circle and this one.” He held up the patch. “The False Ones’ symbol.”

“Your family used to be guardians of the gate, right?" asked Daniel, staring at Cloud with an understanding.

Cloud nodded in agreement and handed back the jacket. “One of the clans, yes.”

An excited look appeared on Daniel’s face, reminding him of their talk in the Forgotten City about the Ancients. “There are others then?”

“No. They were slaughtered by Shinra in an attempt to get control of the Gate,” admitted Cloud. “They succeeded for a while.”

“But, if Shinra took the Gate, doesn’t that mean that Rufus controls it?” asked Daniel, his enthusiasm cooling a bit. “Which brings us right back where we started, with the possibility of being stranded here by Rufus Shinra.”

Cloud slowly shook his head. “We were charged by the gods themselves to guard the Gate. Not even Rufus dare go against their wishes, no matter how long ago that was,” he stated. “As the last Strife, the Gate is essentially my property, and I have every right to reclaim it from the thieving murderers who stole it from us.” A cold smile stretched across his face. “After all, Rufus Shinra owes me a few favors.”

The sound of the Shera’s engines starting filled the air, and Cloud felt the massive ship lift off the ground. Now that he was paying attention to other things, his body decided to remind him that it had been a very long time since his last meal. “How long were we in those tubes anyway?”

“About a week,” replied Aeris, snagging his arm and pulling him out of the room with the others following. “Which means you both need something to eat.”

Cloud smiled as he let her drag him down to the galley before gesturing for Daniel to take a seat at the table. “I'll fix dinner, and let Aerith season to taste for herself. As always.”

That got a slight huff from the young woman but she was smiling as she got some drinks for them while maneuvering Zack and Sephiroth both to chairs situated around the table.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” inquired Cloud as he started pulling out ingredients to make enough stew for all of them. “You three are alive again, complete sane in the ways that count, and *not* in chains or under heavy guard.” His finger tightened on the spoon before relaxing at the creak of wood. He was surprised at how calm and reasonable he sounded when all he wanted to do was start demanding answers or throwing things. He wasn't quite sure why he wanted to throw things, but he supposed it would make him feel better.

“Kind of a funny story about that,” remarked Zack with an embarrassed laugh.”Reeve was meeting with Daniel’s friends in the Church, and we were there, listening in. We’d only made a couple of comments ourselves, well Aeris and I did at least, when Jack gets irritated at us and yells for us to come out.” He spread his hands as if to say ‘that’s that’.

“It was a bit more than that,” added Aeris with a whap on Zack’s arm, getting a flinch and a half hearted protest. “Jack is enough of an Ancient that Gaia returned us at what was seen as his request.”

“What?” squawked Daniel, his eyes huge as he stared at Aeris in disbelief. “How can Jack be an Ancient? None of them remained behind on Earth - Tau’ri.” He corrected at the faint flicker of confusion.

“It would not be that difficult if there remained a strain of their genes within the population,” stated Sephrioth, a bemused smile on his face, as if surprised that the information he had unconsciously soaked up in Hojo's lab was finally being used. “Eventually, when enough carriers of the gene bred with one another, it would revert back to its dominant state.”

Daniel frowned at that information, and Cloud shook his head as he got himself a glass of water from the sink, needing to get rid of the faint mako taste in his mouth. Taking a sip, he spit the water back out before stalking over to the galley door. He opened it and leaned out the doorway, a faint grin on his face. “Cid,, you cheap bastard! Your water filter’s crapped out again!”

There was swearing from farther in the ship before Cid was bellowing back. “If you weren’t so prissy ‘bout every gods damned thing, you wouldn’t notice, Strife! You know where the filters are! Fix it yerself!”

“I’ll be right back,” announced Cloud, laughter in his voice. “Keep an eye on the stew, Zack, and Aeris, no seasoning it for you.” Her laughter followed him out of the room.

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Stunned, Daniel watched Cloud walk out of the room. In his time of traveling with the blond, he had never seen him act like that, light hearted and joking. Cloud had always seemed so serious with more of a darker humor than the bright one he had just displayed, bellowing through the ship like a teenager.

"Can't say I remember Spike acting like that before," Zack mentioned as he walked over to stir the stew. "He was always a quiet one back at Shinra." He glanced over at Aeris, who shook her head.

"He was always so very serious after he fell through my roof," she confessed with a wry grin. "Especially after he had to rescue me from Reno and his troopers."

There was a polite knock on the door, and Daniel looked over to find Jack sticking his head in, a friendly smile on his face. “Hey. Mind if I join you?”

“Grab a chair,” invited Zack, waving towards the table, and Jack wandered over there, claiming Zack’s abandoned seat. “So what’s on your mind?”

That got a shrug from Jack. “Just trying to figure out what changes we need to make so Daniel’s comfortable,” he confessed with a smirk towards the archaeologist.

Daniel frowned even as he shifted, trying to get comfortable in his seat. His clothes were irritating for some reason, like they had been washed in itching powder. He didn’t think Jack would do that after the last time Teal’c had threatened to return the favor, Jaffa style. “I’ll be fine Jack. You don’t need to do anything special for me.”

“Nonsense! This is no different than being sure to pack some of that extra dark chocolate for Carter and extra coffee and allergy meds for you,” replied Jack with an easy grin on his face.

Daniel growled softly and started scratching his back. “What did you do to my clothes, Jack?”

“I didn’t do anything to ‘em,” protested Jack, his hands coming up to ward off the glare Daniel was turning his way. “Man, play a few pranks and you’re the first one blamed when something goes wrong.”

“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you Zack?” inquired Sephiroth with a smirk on his face.

Zack pointed the spoon at him. “Hey, I wasn't the only prankster in Shinra! There was also Reno, and you'd be surprised how often he talked Rude into helping.”

Sephiroth’s smirk only grew. “I doubt either of them had the chance to call down a rain of Touch Mes during a charity gala because they didn’t want to be there.”

“Touch mes?” asked Daniel, forgetting about the itching for a moment. The name sounded like a very bad pick up line or something extremely perverted.

“They’re a type of frog that are found around Gongaga, my hometown,” explained Zack with a huge grin. “Great for pranks and not *that* deadly.”

“If a person is provided the antidote in time to keep from being stepped upon after being frogged,” drawled Sephiroth with a raised brow.

Zack snorted and folded his arms as Cloud reentered the galley with a glass of water. “See? Harmless.”

Shaking his head, Cloud moved over to the stove, taking the spoon from Zack before shoving his friend towards the table. “Sit down, Zack, before I have to wonder what you added to the food while I was gone.”

“I didn’t do anything!” protested Zack, staggering over and dropping into an unoccupied chair. “Why am I being accused for not doing anything?”

“We know you Zack,” chorused Cloud, Aeris and Sephiroth causing Aeris to burst into giggles. Cloud had a strange look on his face before he turned back to the stew.

Growling softly, Daniel attacked his skin, itching and twisting to scratch every spot that irritated him. It was worse than itching powder and poison ivy combined. He yanked his shirt off and stared at the reddened skin that matched where his shirt had covered. “What the...”

There was a soft swear from Zack as he tugged Daniel to his feet. “Babe, go get a pair of Spike’s pants for Daniel to borrow,” he instructed, and Aeris nodded as she hurried out of the galley.

“What’s wrong with him?” demanded Jack, partially rising to his feet as he planted his fists on the table. He looked like he was a few seconds from throttling someone to get the answers to his question.

Sephiroth rose to his feet and shrugged out of his coat, leaving him clad in leather pants. He held out the coat to Daniel who swallowed at the sight of that flawless pale skin. He wasn’t sure why he was noticing Sephiroth now that his coat was off, but there was something about the silver haired man that made him seem so much *more* in just pants.

“It's a reaction to whatever soap your clothes were washed in," Sephiroth said, still holding out his jacket with a faint quirk to his lips. "SOLDIER uniforms were always washed with a detergent developed for us to prevent reactions. We'll find some for you to bring back with you, so you'll have something to wash your clothes and linens with from now on."

Daniel took the coat and slipped it on before skimming out of the rest of his clothes. He managed to avoid flashing anyone as he piled the rest of his uniform on a chair to be dealt with later, but a hot blush spread across his face as he gripped the leather coat shut. He felt like a flasher in just the long coat even as he tried to ignore how nice the butter soft leather felt against his skin.

Jack jabbed a finger at Daniel. “See? Stuff like that because you can't exactly negotiate for us if you’re wiggling like someone dropped ants down your pants.”

Just then, Aeris came back with a pair of black pants and held them out for Daniel. “Here, until you can get your own clothes washed right.”

“Thanks,” mumbled Daniel, taking the pants and slipping them on with his back to Aeris. He felt much better now that he had something to wear other than a long coat even if the pants were a bit short on him. He shrugged the coat off and held it out to Sephiroth who shook his head.

“Keep it for now. You will probably wish for something more than pants until you are use to the enhancements,” he remarked, his tone casual and matter of fact that it had Daniel pulling the coat back on before he was aware of the action.

Cloud brought the stew over and placed it on the table, distracting Daniel from anymore embarrassment, before fetching bowls and spoons. One last trip had the now familiar three jars of spices on the table as Zack started dishing out the stew. “Want some, Colonel? Spike’s a great cook.”

“Sure,” agreed Jack, grabbing a bowl before nodding at the pots. “What’s that?”

“Black pepper, mustard powder, and possibly cayenne spice,” Daniel said pointing to each pot. He grinned. “Cloud cooks to his taste and everyone else seasons to their preference.”

Jack nodded at that and Daniel reached for the pot of mustard powder only to be stopped by Cloud’s hand on his wrist. He looked up to find a small smile on the blond’s face.

“Taste it first and then decide,” advised Cloud before turning his attention to his own stew. Daniel glanced at the stew, debating on the wisdom of Cloud’s words when he remembered the way his clothes had itched like they never had before. Then he pulled his hand away from the jar and picked up his spoon.

Zack huffed and pouted. “You’re no fun, Cloud. No one warned me when I went First.”

That got a chuckling purr from Sephiroth. “Not all of us are as sadistic as your mentor ws.” He smirked and leaned an elbow on the table, fixing Zack with those cat-green eyes. “Puppy.”

“Not that again...” moaned Zack with a bigger pout as Aeris started giggling. The put upon look on Zack’s face got a chuckle from Daniel before he took a cautious bite of the soup. The explosion of flavors caused him to moan in delight as the mix of vegetables and meat mixed pleasantly, and he wondered how he could have ever thought this was dull. His moan of delight was echoed by Zack while there was an appreciative hum from Sephiroth at the taste.

“Um, what is the big thing?” asked Jack reaching for the pots of seasoning. “No offense, Cloud, but it’s a bit bland.” Aeris grinned as she reached for her own seasonings.

"Maybe to you, but you need to remember our senses are enhanced," Cloud remarked as he carefully ate his stew. "That includes our sense of taste."

"Okay, Spike's gonna be our cook from now on," Zack announced between mouthfuls. "No offense babe, but I haven't had anything this good since I left home."

Aeris giggled again. “None taken. I’m good with pastries, but meals like this are a bit more complicated.”

Daniel glanced over at Cloud, only to find him staring at his bowl with a faint blush on his cheeks and a delighted look in his glowing eyes for the compliment. Grinning, Daniel finished his bowl and paid the highest compliment he knew.

“May I please have seconds?”

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