The Beginning is the End...

Beta’d by CaseyAnn’sPrecious!

AN: I hope you guys didn’t get bored with that intro *scratches head*
Oh, and a FYI. I have the Shinra soldiers based on ranks: the recruits (basically the ones who are deciding what area they want to get into at Shinra), the cadets (ones who are learning to fight), foot soldiers (soldiers for short; ones that are ready to fight, yet unenhanced), and SOLDIERs (mako enhanced, and in ranks of 1, 2, and 3 depending on how good they are). SOLDIER Firsts are the ones who are given titles (Officer, Sergeant, etc).
Well, let’s get to the story now. To those still reading this, please enjoy!

Rating, Disclaimer, and iWarnings! are still the same.

This Life
(By: Drowning Pool)
Chapter 1

General Sephiroth was sitting in the back of Shinra’s recruitment building in Midgar. The auditorium was filled with the noise of new recruits as Heidegger, the Vice President, finished his speech, and a few SOLDIERs and Turks were there to be made examples of what the youngsters could one day become if they put their minds to it.

One of the scientists stepped up to the podium and began his speech to the mass crowd.

Sephiroth had perfect stature in his chair while he focused on whoever was on the raised surface, but his eyes were half lidded as he dozed off from boredom. The only times in which he was forced into awareness were when sharp movements came from the two women to his left. Usually the General would be secluded in the back or shared a closed off space with Genesis and Angeal, but this time the area was crowded and he couldn’t sleep to pass the time.

“It’s a shame it’s storming outside.” The two females started their short bursts of whispered conversation again.

“Yes, I know. I hate doing career day inside. With all these brats breathing it gets stuffy,” the brunette said as quietly as she could to the other. He sighed in exasperation. No matter how quiet they tried to be, those two women were easily the loudest whisperers that he’d ever had the misfortune of sitting next to.

A few minutes passed by and the scientist was still doing his ‘brief’ explanation that informed the recruits what would be expected of them if they wanted to apply in the Research Department.

It was Career Day; a day which was annoying to any Shinra employee and exciting to those signing up. There were many options to choose from at Shinra, and each field had more specific areas of study that one could get into upon gaining more knowledge and promotions: Research, Military, Office, Maintenance, Transporter, and the list continued. Gaining enough knowledge in the field of Research could open up areas of Science, Weapons Development, and Medicine. Military brought you from a cadet to foot soldier, and then you could path off differently to either head into SOLDIER or join Shinra’s personal security - the Turks. Office jobs granted desk and secretary work and, if lucky, could promote to Shinra Executive Staff. Maintenance was the least favorite seeing as how the name just meant ‘glorified janitor’. Transportation taught how to operate vehicles of any type and deliver anything from mako wiring to carrying SOLDIERs to war.

After the department heads made their speeches, the men waiting nearby would take their place behind the Shinra desks and the recruits would sign up if they were interested in the field.

Sephiroth’s job: make an appearance. At least it was his only job until a moment ago.

There were a few particular close crashes of lightning during the scientist’s speech. It was odd when the power never seemed to go out, because if it did then the lights would have dimmed right before the generator kicked in. It had taken half an hour for the electricians to learn that something was peculiar with the power. One of the workers that came in late said they’d been caught in the storm and mentioned that the block’s power went out and never came back on. The electricians rushed to the newer generator to confirm if it was running, only it wasn’t. Now they wondered why this building had power when no one else in the area did.

So here the General was, in the dreary auditorium basement of a Shinra recruitment building overseeing the problem of why they had power when the main generator wasn’t working. He couldn’t help but wonder why. He had experience with tech. support, but his skill wasn’t nearly good enough as say… an electrician’s. The General felt a small twinge of annoyance from the lack of competence Shinra’s paid workers had.

His black boots sloshed in the one-inch water covering the cement as he turned the corner and into a heated argument. One man was holding the instruction manual as the other was acting hysterical and rhythmically pointing to the generator and the metal in his hands. As soon as they saw the military’s leader the argument came to an abrupt halt.

“Please, don’t stop under my account,” Sephiroth sarcastically spoke.

“Sir!” the one holding the blueprints exclaimed as the second stuttered “G-General!”

“Sir,” the one with the blueprints began again, “this old generator was supposed to be shut off when the newer one took its place.”

“Then shut it off.”

“It’s not as simple as that, sir,” the man looked uneasy. The other held up the broken rusted piece of metal up. “This is the switch, sir…” he spoke softly.

“Why not just leave the device as it is until after the storm?”

“Sir, this generator is hooked up by someone who didn’t know what they were doing, or maybe they did know what they were doing but wanted to cut corners. It’s hooked up to the whole sector. We got the new one put up because it works to power this building on its own. This one here is running on other people’s backup power, sir!”

“Including the hospital’s…” the quieter one added, “and at this moment their machines are most likely running on old spare batteries, and there’s never been that much juice in them… sir. The people that are currently dependent on the machines… we don’t know how much longer they have.”

Sephiroth walked by the two smaller men and looked closer at the design. The generator looked to be an older model and was the same type that was hooked up in his apartment. He now knew why he was asked to come down here; he had to fix his own device all the time, but it was a wonder how other people knew of it. Damn fanclub, he thought.

“Oh! These are the blueprints, but this generator is different from them and we don’t know which ones… to…” the electrician trailed off as his superior herded them to the stairs on the other side of the room and motioned for them to get out of the water. Sephiroth took off his leather jacket and handed it to the confused men.

'They better not get that wet. It’s my last one… this is going to hurt.' He fisted his left hand and charged the machine.

‘Sir!’ and ‘NO!’ were the last two things he heard as his gloved hand crashed through the generator and ripped at its wires. It took everything he had to hold back a yell as enough electricity to power the whole 1st section of Midgar flew through him, and he fell as everything went dark. A few moments later the lights came back as the new backup generator clicked on, and the two electricians stared in shocked silence at the silver-haired man who was collapsed on the ground.

--

Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…

Sephiroth felt different when he first regained consciousness. His head was pounding as a headache made itself known, but it felt decidedly clearer since… well, he didn’t know when the last time that was.

Beep… beep… beep… resounded throughout the room. Oh, Gaia. Was he caught by the Wutai? Is this their new method of torturing someone until they started talking? Beep… beep… because it’s working. Wait, I was fighting with Cloud… No, I was fixing a generator… Beep… beep… That bastard killed me twice!! Beep… I lost a battle? Beep… Where’s my SiC? Beep… beep… beep… Arg… the beeping.

He let out an audible groan after a sizable throb attacked his head and he sat up in the small bed.

“And he awakes,” a deep melodious voice beside him spoke. Sephiroth snapped his head around to see an unfamiliar… familiar redheaded male sitting on one of the visitor’s chairs reading a book. The man changed tones to his usual bored drawl. “Thrilled to see you too,” the other said as he got up, straightened his red leather jacket, and made his way to the door. “Anyways, I’ll go tell Angeal you’re up.”

'I know… his name…' Sephiroth thought as he tried to place where from. “Though I can’t say for certain if you’re all there or not,” the redhead teased, then took on a more serious tone. “We didn’t want to leave you alone like that with Hojo around.”

'His name…'

“Genesis.” The name came to him so suddenly that he spoke it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Yes?” the man turned around, ready to either walk out the door or stay in the room.

“Nothing…” 'I can’t think straight.' “It’s nothing. You may leave.” 'This feels too familiar. I know him, trust him?' The redhead nodded and casually walked out of the room. Before he left, Sephiroth noted the masked look of worry in the other’s eyes. 'I trust him.'

Round, green eyes looked confusedly around the room and spotted many variations of flowers and ‘thank you’ cards. To his right was a small table that was cleared of everything except a single green leaf. He picked it up and smelled it. Peppermint… Angeal must’ve been here too.

Memories came together.

Genesis and Angeal were simultaneously brought into Shinra. The two were from the same village so they’d already known one another, were closer in age, and had already developed ties before they had met him. The three of them had been told by their professors that they were being introduced to each other to promote healthy competition. But even back then he heard the hidden words behind the dialogue: which boy was going to surpass the others? At first, Genesis and Angeal had always found ways to pick on him, but as they grew into their late teens they’d somehow developed a bond from their shared military circumstances.

Genesis and Loveless, Angeal and his puppy, his death, their deaths, her death.

The anger toward humanity! Betrayal of the Ancients!! Mother!!... Mother? Sequences tried to flood into his mind, and if it weren’t for that one word he’d probably try to grasp onto everything.

Mother. He remembered how she’d coo at him. Told him of his greatness and screamed in rage as she told her story on being wrongly accused of murders, how the planet and the Ancients had cruelly taken away her freedom. She had made him fight for her as she told him of her diabolical plans for sweet revenge, but now… he didn’t feel her fury, the revenge, or the homicidal outlook on things. The reason his head was so painfully clear was because she wasn’t in there anymore, she wasn’t in it, and he realized…

'I was being controlled by an emotionally unbalanced space alien that claimed a birthright over me when she must have been dead centuries prior to my birth. How in Gaia’s name did that happen?'

Sephiroth couldn’t remember the moment when his thoughts started to turn into plans of destruction, or even when he stopped caring about others’ lives. He couldn’t he remember how, or why, he went insane…

He jumped when a knock at the door brought him from his thoughts. A nurse came in, checked the machines, and asked him some questions. Soon after she left, a doctor came in to recheck and said he could leave.

-

It had been two weeks since Sephiroth was discharged from the hospital and given military leave to recuperate, and during that time Angeal and Genesis had gone on a spoof mission to test Zack and see if the kid was ready for the SOLDIER 1st test. It really only needed Angeal (as he was the kid’s instructor) and one other officer overseeing how the nineteen-year-old worked, but the kid was so friendly that it was hard keep an unbiased eye. This is where Genesis came in. The man had a knack for cutting off all ties for the person he was critiquing, and he was good at it… he made a kid cry once.

Time apart allowed Sephiroth the space to recollect and think of this strange situation. It was a give-in that, during the battle, he’d gotten to the Materia first because he was the only one with memories from before the time-lapse. This vacation of sorts also gave him the opportunity to try and theorize how Jenova had gotten into his mind. The alien had been in Nibelheim, so it might have been because of the range. Maybe she had control over him because he’d been close by? It would also explain why she wasn’t in control now. It was the only logical deduction that he could come up with, and it worked when using the distance theory.

Whatever it was, he knew he needed to be cautious and avoid her in the future. Seeing as how he’d snapped at Nibelheim, he figured that it was the last place he needed to be. Jenova wouldn’t control him this time. He would be careful of that.

Then there was Cloud, who hadn’t been seen or talked about in the SOLDIER ranks. Sephiroth had never brought it up either since he was ‘The General’, but he was interested in what the other was doing. Last time they fought, the blond had been on the same level as him, and in his mid twenties, no less. It made him wonder what the swordsman was like as a young SOLDIER, a SOLDIER that… over-killed him. A bitter feeling slowly rose up, and Sephiroth wasn’t sure if it was self-directed for losing those battles or because of the way the other warrior had done the fighting.

A cry of “Sephiroth!” was all the warning he had before he sidestepped and let a black spiky head of hair crash to the floor. The General gracefully turned as the one who made the sneak attack got up and rubbed his nose.

“Zackary, welcome back,” he said fondly and earned a bright smile from the young SOLDIER.

“Good to be back!” bright blue eyes shone as the kid recapped his days spent fighting random enemies on the field. “…and Genesis said ‘with all that energy I’m sure you could-hmph!” a gloved hand appeared and covered the kid’s mouth to prevent any further communication.

“No need to tell the General every. single. thing.” Genesis warned as he gave Zack an obvious death glare. Sephiroth was certain that whatever it was that Genesis had told the boy wasn’t for innocent ears, and the young and usually naive Zack would be like a tape recorder if he thought it seemed funny.

“Oh, General Sephiroth,” Zack said as he moved the offending hand away, “may I be excused to go to the recruitment building? One of my buddies is still a cadet, and he’s getting a promotion to foot soldier today!”

“You may,” he nodded for the kid to leave, but then Zack grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him along.

“Angeal’s gonna be waiting on us too. I told him we’d meet him there. C’mon Genesis!”

Sephiroth turned his head and gave an amused smile at the stoned expression given by the First. “C’mon, Genesis!” he teasingly echoed as he was dragged along by the eager kid and headed to the other building. He internally laughed at the secretaries and co-workers who all stared in astonishment as a Second Class SOLDIER dragged him around by the elbow.

He could get used to this again.

--

The military building stationed in Midgar was for public displays and ‘feel good’ shows, but here in Junon most activities weren’t for random outsiders and the military rarely allowed the media to come in. This promoted a higher degree of secrecy, military bonding, and open seating.

One of the habits Sephiroth was glad he slipped back into was his ability to look like he was listening… without really listening.

Their row was completely void of anyone and there seemed to be an invisible barrier that consisted of a twelve foot radius that no one wanted to try and pass. Plus, with Angeal and Genesis by his side, Sephiroth could lower his barriers enough to get in the mental mood for a long, calming sit-and-stare. Angeal called them power naps and learned that if he was too focused on one person talking then he was most likely asleep. Genesis told him that it was creepy how he could have his eyes open and nod at the right times, yet still be half comatose. Both only hoped that Zack never learned how to do it.

--

'Oh, Goddess, he’s doing it again.' The redhead thought as he looked over to his green-eyed friend and saw him a little too focused on the man at the podium. Sephiroth was leaning back in the chair, and had a false attentive look that was somehow completed with perfect posture. The other’s body was on autopilot, so when the people around them clapped then the leather clad hands clapped too.

“Starker, Kyle.” Genesis had to tear his eyes away from the disturbing sight to watch as the new foot soldier took off his helmet and held it by his right hip. “Thank you, sir!” the boy took his piece of paper declaring him a new foot soldier and went to the left side of the room with the others. Everyone clapped.

“Stonson, Guy.”

“Thank you, sir!” Everyone clapped.

Angeal tried to hide a yawn that came out while his protégé sat at the edge of his seat. 'Finally, his friend must be up soon,' he thought while he released the yawn he caught from Angeal.

“Strider, Gibbs.”

“Thank you, sir!” Everyone clapped and the boy moved left.

“Strife, Cloud,” the smallest cadet went to the podium and took off his helmet. Genesis groaned in annoyance at the boy’s appearance. It seemed like it was every other year when there was one underage kid to slip by the recruiters.

“Thank you, sir!” Everyone clapped and Zack even gave out a couple of wolf whistles as the boy took the paper and went to the left of the room. Genesis rolled his eyes; even if he did find the kid’s birth certificate, Shinra would still keep him on bored just because he’d made it into soldier. He gave a brief glance over to his sleeping friend to see if the other’s eyes had begun to close yet, but was surprised as he looked upon the frowning face. Sephiroth was wide awake, not clapping, and very focused.

--

What was he thinking about before Zack charged him? Hmn… Sephiroth started to doze off as the speaker started his hour long speech before the names of the promoted were called, and then another half hour speech would be given after. Shinra loved their speeches.

The General was currently remembering the fights that the SOLDIER and he had over the years. Oh, he remembered getting stabbed in the back by that little shit quite vividly. It was when they were inside the reactor near Nibelheim. Sure, he was on the brink of insanity and the memories leading up to that moment were somewhat blurred, but that was still a cheap shot… and it hurt.

The second time wasn’t as vivid, but he remembered that it was located inside the Northern Crater. He was doing… something; he’d taken on some kind of mission from the alien. Yes, if he completed what he was sent out to do then the planet would have been defenseless and that would have been bad, but the other was in charge of a group and had made it their big plan to charge him all at once. Of course, if you can’t win a one-on-one match fairly then do it with numbers… a little unfair perhaps?

He didn’t recall much of the third time. Actually, he couldn’t even remember how he’d gotten to the unfamiliar area, but he knew that he had not been at his full strength. What he did remember was that the smaller man had taken the advantage of striking first as he was still taking in his surroundings. Multiple blades had swung at him in rapid succession… multiple… painful times. That was over-kill. Oh, yes, those three fights were fought dirty.

The fourth time they fought Sephiroth couldn’t remember any of the details at all, only that he was there and must have (obviously) gotten to the Materia before the other did.

'He might be a SOLDIER 3rd Class since I haven’t heard of him in the 1st or 2nd ranks, but when I see him I’m going to make his life miserable. I’ll pound it into his head the right way to take someone on. Then I’ll sick Angeal on him and teach him honor in battle. I’ll make him help Genesis carry all his damn books around to teach him discipline!'

As he was lost in his thoughts he was only vaguely aware of his hands clapping with the crowd’s.

'He’s probably using dirty tactics now too and thinks he can get away with it because no one’s called him on it. I know he has the skill, and I’ll make sure he uses it this time. Stabbing an opponent in the back is for the Turks, not SOLDIERs. I’ll be sure he works twice as hard as those aiming for the upper ranks; I’ll make him run two hundred miles in half the time, I’ll keep him in the ocean twice as long… while it’s storming.'

The noise of the crowd brought him back to semi-awareness just as he heard a familiar name being called out, and he watched as a helmet came off to reveal familiar blond hair framing a much too young face.

'You have got to be joking.'

“Thank you, sir!” The crowd clapped, and Zack whistled and clapped overzealously. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

--

An hour after promotions, Genesis and Angeal were called in to see Professor Hollander to take their scheduled health examinations.

"The blood tests will take a few minutes, so if you two will wait right there for a moment?" the doctor informed as he took the tray of tape and syringes out to the back room.

"What are you thinking about?" Angeal asked as he put on his sleeveless shirt.

"What makes you so sure I'm thinking about something?" the redhead replied as he mimicked his friend.

"The fact that you've been more broody than you usually are?" The both of them strapped up their buckles and put their weapons in place. "You've been like this since the cadets got their promotion. Did you see someone with potential?"

Genesis hesitated in buckling his belt and pondered. "The Hertini kid might get into 2nd, but other than that… no."

"Is that all?" The older man leaned against the wall, solid arms crossed and one leg in front of the other.

"Seph might have picked up on something that I missed," Genesis grumbled, clearly annoyed. He hated it when Sephiroth could spot things out better because there was a time in which he wasn’t weaker than his friend in any aspect, but now that there was so little left that Angeal and he had that put them on equal footing with the General. Genesis could feel it; their improvements were slowing down as they were close to reaching their fighting potential, but Sephiroth was still growing, still getting stronger. Soon, their three-way spar wouldn’t even make the other break a sweat.

To keep their conversation discreet, the talk ended as soon as the doctor came in.

"Looks good, looks good." Hollander seemed to be mumbling to himself as he looked at the sheets and went to the computer to record his data. "It looks good," he told them. "No changes, everything is normal, and you're both still as healthy as ever. You may leave."

-

Sephiroth watched from his office window as Zack and Cloud walked on the dark, dank street below. The air was heavy from the recent rain, such as it was during Junon's storm season. Zack had the other in a playful, one armed hug. Every now and then he'd get the other boy in a head lock, which was easy since the height of the blond was quite short in comparison. The taller gave the kid a light punch on the arm to knock him away, only to reach out and start all over again.

'This isn't right.' Green eyes gazed at the friendly banter below. 'This isn't right at all.' The blond seemed to grow a little bolder as he began hit back. Zack jumped away to hiked up his leggings, bent his knees, and brought up his fists in what looked like a mock battle stance. The smaller one did the same.

The fight didn't last two minutes before Zack knocked away the blonds’ punch and made the motion work against his opponent. The taller of the two took that chance and threw the smaller boy’s body over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The blonds’ face flushed a darker hue and tried to get away. It proved to be futile; the other’s hold was too strong, and he seemed content to walk to the soldier barracks with the small male struggling over his shoulders.

Sephiroth had a hand over his mouth while waves of disappointment crashed through him. Why did that blond kid have to be so weak?

-

"Zack!" Cloud started to voice his distress. "Put me down, please!"

"Nu-uh!" Zack gave a childish shake of the head, "I need to restrain you from hitting me!"

"You started it!"

"But we SOLDIERs are very delicate, and we need to stop people like you from discovering the points of weakness to our very delicated delicatiness."

"Zack, those aren't even words."

"Besides," the raven-haired male continued, "I noticed that Sephiroth was looking at you."

"What?" Cloud spoke in a silent, disbelieving voice.

"Yeah! The only time he does that is when he sees people with potential! So, we gotta toughen you up and get some meat on those bones!” The only thing that the SOLDIER got from his long time friend was silence and he, being the great and terrific friend that he is, didn’t particularly like it when Cloud became like this.

They first met a little over a year and a half ago when they were both cadets. Back then Cloud was a little chatterbox, and it was easy talking to another guy that had been raised from the same type of place. Well, actually the areas were completely different. He was from Gongaga, and their seasons consisted of heat, humidity, and more heat that was thought to spontaneously birth poisonous frogs. Cloud was from Nibelheim and told him that the town was dry and almost always cold, and they killed wolves for their furs! The only similarities between the two towns were their small population and the fact that there was nothing out there besides mako reactors.

At the time he was happy being just a plain old cadet, especially since it kept him out of trouble. He didn’t particularly care about the promotions or the titles, but Cloud had the dream of becoming the best and it somehow rubbed off on him.

So they worked their asses off to try and make it to foot soldier. He got the promotion on the first try, but Cloud didn’t. That wasn’t even the reason Cloud became more withheld than when the guy first joined Shinra, because afterward he was still smiling and saying that he’d catch up soon. Yet, after failing several tries while listening to others’ ridicule and watching as those same peers succeed… well, that would bring anyone’s spirits down.

But now he was pretty sure he’d found a way to get Cloud back to his old self again, and like hell he wasn’t going to use it!

"I bet you can make it into SOLDIER-"

"Zack," Cloud growled out.

"-in no time at all!" he continued, not caring about the other's warning tone.

"Zack, what about your own training?"

"I'll be like… your mentor for a while, ok?"

"… Zack."

"We'll start off with the workouts and stretches the SOLDIER 3rds use."

"…"

He frowned at the lack of response he was getting. Cloud should be saying something at least. The SOLDIER gave an evil grin as he raised his hand and brought it down hard upon the other’s backside. “OW! ZACK!" the blond yelped.

"Yeah?" he asked, innocently looking back at his friend.

"Why did you slap my ass?” Cloud yelled in frustration and renewed his attempts to get back on the ground.

"Oh, good game!"

-

The lab inside Shinra’s Scientific Research building was quiet. The room would have smelt too clean from the powerful odor of anesthetics if the distinct stench of blood and mako hadn’t accompanied it. The patients were spread out in the area and on their own sanitized surface, and each one was covered with tubes that kept them alive, yet unconscious. The doctors in the room were each assigned to a specimen and had assistants to accompany them with their work, and the assistants were scattered throughout the area as they checked and rechecked their data sheets on the information that they had gathered.

The Head Professor had taken the best spot to oversee the others' work. Latex covered hands jotted notes on both patient and doctor alike. For the doctors and assistants he wrote down whether they were moving too slowly, if each group had proper silent communication, if they kept their areas cleaned, and so-forth, and he took tabs on the specimen’s conditions.

"Professor Hojo," the man politely bowed to him, "these are the reports for today's work."

He frowned as he scanned through the papers. "I was expecting better results than this."

"My apologies, Professor."

"Project S isn't in the reports. Why?" he demanded to know.

"The subject hasn't reported to the test lab since the last scheduled appointment, Professor. That was a month ago."

"Very well. I'll contact him and remind him of his belated engagement." Hojo gave the files back to his personal assistant and left the room.

-

It had been a rather disturbing week for the great General Sephiroth. First, there was Cloud. He didn't think that the young blond would be so… scrawny, and just the thought of losing to someone like that was upsetting. Sure, in a few years the kid would grow, but where was the potential? It wasn't there. The second thing was the fact that Genesis had to go back out on a solo mission to Wutai. Sephiroth assumed the President might have felt the need to intimidate the Wutai government a little more.

'But anymore than this and the Wutai are going to snap.' Sephiroth sat down in his chair and hid his face with his hands as he tried to think.

The last thing that made the week so unpleasant was the call from Hojo himself. How could he have forgotten about the endless bi-monthly tests he had to endure? Last night gave him a wake-up call on exactly what hatred felt like in the form of the Professor. The General was in the lab room, he remembered the pungent smell of those rooms, and felt like a pincushion with the way they poked him. He was sure that Hojo made the stay unbearable in his own special way. The man had personally done most of the tests, piercing him multiple times with the needle. At the end of the session, the man had given him an extra dosage of mako; darker, more concentrated… the experimental kind.

His sleep was restless, and at 6 am the contents of the injection still throbbed in his veins. A ringing came and he had to force himself out of his grogginess to pick it up. He grumbled, crawled to the other side of his bed, and picked up the phone on its third ring. "Who's calling?" he growled out.

"As fresh as a drop of dew sitting atop mountain peaks, I see."

"Genesis," he acknowledged while he rolled onto his back and covered his face with an arm in attempt to block out the morning light.

"The mako effects should have worn off by now. Did he do something new?"

"No, I just got the treatment last night."

"Yesterday?" He could almost hear the questions going through the other man's head.

"Yes, I forgot to go last week, so we planned it for last night."

There was a pause at the other end of the line. They never saw eye to eye when talking about Hojo. The Commander was always on about some company conspiracy that the scientist was helping with. He called it paranoia. It was an unspoken agreement that Genesis wouldn’t talk of company theories or mad scientists (Hojo in particular), and he wouldn’t compare Loveless to old children’s books.

"I'll be in Wutai for about another week." It was an obvious subject change. "The people here are short." There was heavy silence in the air, the two of them content to just have a connection again.

"Sephiroth..."

"Hmn?" silence again, and whatever his friend was going to ask was lost to another change of subject.

"I need to call Angeal too. He snuck something in my bags that the searchers… well, they didn't seem to be in a joking mood."

“Alright. Goodnight, Genesis."

"Good morning, Sephiroth." He heard the hidden annoyance in the voice, but chose to ignore it in favor of hanging up. Genesis never did get use to the drastic changes in sleeping patterns when entering a new time zone. He turned back over to his original spot and worked his way under the covers. He really wanted to use the last hour he had for sleep, and he would just as soon as he got comfortable.

'Dumb blond.'

-

Cloud was currently on lunch break. Carrying his food tray, he walked to one of the tables that his roommates picked and sat somewhere in between them and another group. The cafeteria at the base reminded him of the one at his old school in Nibelheim. The only difference was that in Nibelheim there was the popular area and the area where everyone else sat, but in this place everyone sat in friendly clusters and chatted amongst themselves while the failures were alienated. Cloud was one of those failures because of how long he’d been there as a cadet. The others either had been promoted or had left Shinra.

He used his plastic spoon to move his mystery meat around on the plate. Ever since Zack had been giving him lessons, the guys he shared a room with had been giving him a cold shoulder. He could hear the whispers even now. They said that a SOLDIER 2nd was giving him special treatment, but he could see why they were gossiping about that. Zack had been giving him special treatment: going through extra stretches and workouts, even running around the track with him, and when they both had free time they'd head to the gym and do extra pull-ups and make use of the weights.

The only thing that gave Cloud motivation to keep going was his dream to be in SOLDIER. Strong, respected, someone who protects others even at the cost of their own lives. If he worked hard enough, then one day he’d make it… someday…

-

"C'mon, Cloud, keep up!" Zack yelled out as he jumped over a beam on the track. He quickly looked back and saw that the blond was two beams behind him.

"I'm trying!" Cloud panted before taking another jump. The beams were something new to their routine.

"One more lap and we're gonna head to the gym and get some stretches in! But we gotta hurry cause Angeal told me to meet him in an hour."

"Ok!" Cloud called back and just tried to keep up until they were done.

In the gym they stretched out their arms and legs to get cooled off, and Cloud did some chin-ups on the bar.

"They're going to hold SOLDIER exams in a week. Think you wanna try out for it?" he asked from the floor, reaching his hands to his feet.

"You think I can?" Cloud pessimistically replied.

"Well, I don't know, but you've definitely improved since the foot soldier exams. Never hurts to try, right?"

The other dropped from the bar and shook out his arms. "You really think I'm ready for it?"

He paused and pretended to give a thoughtful look. He knew that Cloud was physically ready. In fact, he was sure the other could have passed the previous time, but failed due to overanalyzing and over worrying. He just hopped that he wouldn’t regret this if his friend failed again. "Well, you look ready. The next SOLDIER exam won't be for another six months, but they’re gonna be changed from the usual ones cause the Commander is going to be directing them for a while. So, if you go now you don't have to worry about passing. You can just go to see how it is and be ready for his next one, and by the time it's going again you'll be well trained and ready for it, and you'll kick ass!" That brought out a smile from his small friend and he reached out a hand.

"Yeah… that sounds like a plan!" Cloud said and helped him up from the ground.

"Oh, shit!" he stated as he glanced at his watch. "I'm gonna be late!”

To be continued…

AN: That's the first chapter! XD If anyone is confused about what happened in the beginning here's my explanation. I think that if someone did go back to their bodies it would be easier for their self consciousness to 'float' through time and grab hold of their bodies while a stronger presence of mind didn't inhabit it.
IE: like being unconscious…!!

To those who might be confused as to what happened to Sephiroth; his future self sort of merged in with his past self. So memories of the past (the generator scene from earlier) and his future (the battle from the intro) seemed like they happened at the same time. His head was a little messed up, but clearly he's thinking on his own without Jenova’s assistance.
Oh, and Career Day was placed in Midgar since that's where the Shinra Company base is located. The Shinra Military base is located in Junon. So the new recruits and company workers that are military are back in the Junon area, and that's where Sephiroth woke up at.
And sorry for the ass slapping with Zack, but it just yelled to be put it. My friend and I are under the impression that slapping someone’s ass that’s a member of the same sex isn’t considered gay as long as ‘Good game!’ is yelled out right after. Yeay for logic!

Anyone have any questions? I might have matching answers!

Please Review! (Criticism accepted as long as it's constructive…)