Sorry for the wait, and many thanks to all those that reviewed and added this to their favourites and alerts! *huggles* I love you guys!

"Spiky!" Truffles came running down the hall. "Zack wants to have lunch!" he slipped on the polished floor and skidded over until he hit Sephiroth's boot. "Meirei! Let's have lunch!"

"Why are you so loud?" she made herself comfortable on Sephiroth's hand.

"Come down! Let's play!" Truffles started jumping, trying to reach her.

Meirei closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Go away."

Sephiroth bent down and picked Truffles up. He gave him to Cloud.

"Are you hungry?" he asked the Cadet.

Before Cloud could answer, his stomach made a loud grumbling noise. Cloud blushed.

"I suppose you are." Sephiroth started walking to the cafeteria. "You can eat here too, now. Give me your card."

Sephiroth took Cloud's school badge and swiped it at the cafeteria door, then swiped his own. Green letters spelled 'clearance accepted' on the small screen. Sephiroth gave Cloud his badge back and entered the cafeteria with the Cadet in tow.

Truffles found Zack sitting with some other SOLDIERs and immediately started yelling:

"DADDY! DADDY! DADDYDADDYDADDYDADDYYY!"

Zack looked back and leapt from his seat.

"Where were you, I got so worried!" While Zack kept cooing over Truffles, Sephiroth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Cloud looked up at him with a smile on his face. Then it vanished, and his eyes showed concern.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

Sephiroth looked down to those blue eyes. They were clearer than Meirei's, and seemed deeper too.

"Sir?"

Sephiroth snapped out of his trance and blinked.

"I'm fine, Cadet, thank you for your concern."

Cloud smiled and turned back to Zack. He started lecturing his friend about not leaving his puppy alone. Zack dragged Cloud to one of the vending machines and bought him a McPlate HappyMeal.

"Zack, how am I supposed to eat all this?" Cloud stared at the dinosaur burger in his tray.

"Stick it in your mouth and chew." Zack bought an even bigger one for himself.

"No shit, Sherlock." Cloud grumbled and sat down at the table with SOLDIERs. Everyone at the table greeted him as if it were normal to see a Cadet in the SOLDIER cafeteria.

"Have you ever been here before?" Sephiroth sat down with his own tray in front of Cloud.

"Zack drags me here now and again." Cloud swallowed a mouthful and took a sip of his juice.

"I do not drag, I invite you to break bread." Zack defended himself.

"Swallow before you speak, Zackary." Sephiroth picked at his salad and gave some leaves to Meirei. She ate them slowly, unlike Truffles next to her, that was wolfing down a small hamburger. Meirei scoffed at his manners.

"When is the first growth spurt?" Cloud wondered.

"Don't even think about it, Spike, Truffles eats enough as it is…" Zack grumbled.

"You're the one that eats like it's your last meal." Cloud put his half finished 'dinosaur' burger down and pushed it to Zack, who gobbled it up greedily.

"It could be." Zack swallowed. "What if I die on my next mission, Cloud? What will you do?"

"Can I have your vinyl collection when you die?" Cloud dipped a French fry in mustard and popped it in his mouth.

"I have had my eyes on them for much longer than you. Pick something else." Sephiroth started eating his spaghetti, putting some on the salad dish for Meirei.

"You guys are mean…" Zack pouted.

Sephiroth watched Cloud bicker with Zack a little more while he ate. Meirei finished licking her lips and looked at Sephiroth. He started to pet her head.

"I get the feeling that you feel different about this boy." Meirei whispered so that only Sephiroth could hear. He looked down at her and pondered.

"I don't know." He said. When he looked up, Zack was leaving with Truffles and Cloud was wiping his mouth with a napkin. The blond smiled at him.

"Should I continue, sir?" he asked, motioning to Meirei.

"Yes, let's go back."

For the next few weeks, Cloud kept going to Sephiroth's office, handling files and folders for Meirei, having lunch with Zack and his friends, then going back to the office. At six o'clock every day, Sephiroth entered the file room and said he could go. On weekends, Zack would wake him up at the crack of dawn, drag him to one of the SOLDIER training rooms, and make him have a week's worth of physical classes and then some more. On Sundays, he was free, but Zack still dragged him around the plate to restaurants, fairs, and once to meet his girlfriend, a girl who sold flowers under the plate.

One day, when he was coming back from lunch, he found Meirei and Truffles in the hall. Meirei had her back arched, and Truffles was trying to make himself as small as possible, lying on a corner.

"What's wrong?" Cloud stopped in his tracks.

"Filthy mutt." Meirei hissed at Truffles.

"I said I was sorry…" Truffles whined.

"Truffles!" Zack's voice came from behind Cloud. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Cloud turned around. "What's going on?"

"Truffles ripped Meirei's catbed." Zack explained in a low tone as he picked Truffles up and left with him.

"He didn't rip it, he destroyed it." Meirei still had all her fur standing.

"I'm sure he was just playing." Cloud crouched down next to her. "Christmas is coming soon, I'll get you a new bed."

"You don't have to, Cloud, I was growing out of it anyway…" Meirei calmed down and sat. Indeed, she was already as big as a lion cub, no wonder she grew out of it. "Should we go back? We're almost finished with the files."

Cloud nodded and picked her up. He tried to do so as much as possible, because, one, she was growing so fast, he wouldn't be able to do so anymore, and two, like she said, they were almost finished with the files, soon, he would go back to his life as a cadet.

Sephiroth didn't even look up when Cloud knocked softly and entered his office, he was so nervous. His desk looked like a copy machine had puked on it, and Zack barging in all the time to apologize for Truffles was making him stab something. Preferably Zack. He continued quick reading the documents, denying some, signing others, and shredding some others.

"Sir?" he heard the soft voice of Cloud call him. He looked up and behind him, where Cadet Strife was poking his head out of the file room door.

"Yes, cadet?" he rubbed his eyes. Damn, they hurt.

"Um…It's nine o'clock already, an—"

"Nine o'clock?" Sephiroth looked at the watch on his wall. "Hm, indeed. I apologize for keeping you so long, Cadet, you may go."

"S-sir? May I ask you a question?" the shy blond stepped out of the room and closed the door after Meirei.

"You just did, Cloud." She jumped on Sephiroth's lap.

"Um…" Cloud blushed. Sephiroth fought back the urge to smile.

"Yes, Cadet?"

"Well…Christmas is just around the corner, and…I was wondering…would…would you mind if I took Meirei to do some Christmas shopping?" he fidgeted with the hem of his jacket. "Sir?" he hastily added.

Sephiroth looked down at his lap at Meirei.

"Actually…" she hopped on his desk and promptly sat on the file he was reading. "I was hoping you would leave this office too. You work too much and that's not healthy."

"So this was your idea?" he asked her. When she nodded, he sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Alright. But I want to eat later, too." He watched as Meitei pulled her lips back, exposing her sharp little teeth, but not in a menacing way. He learned it was the closest she could manage to a smile.

"Where, oh dear Sephiroth, are you going?" Genesis was leaning his shoulder on the door frame. He was holding a dark red fox in his arms, the only other color of it being a white tuft on the end of its tail and another one on its chest and belly.

"Would you care to come?" Sephiroth stood up and adjusted his coat, knowing Genesis heard the conversation.

"No, no, no, you're not going like that." Genesis put his fox down and tsked at Sephiroth. "You need to change into more comfortable clothes."

"I am comfortable." Sephiroth frowned.

As they bickered about Sephiroth's choice of attire, Cloud crouched down and watched the fox walk over to Meirei. It was much smaller than her. They touched noses and sniffed each other. Then the fox sniffed Cloud's hand.

"Hello…" he said softly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Akane. Who are you?" she asked and sat down.

"I'm Meirei. This is Cloud." She sat down, forming a triangle. "Who is that man?" she motioned to Genesis."

"That's my master, Genesis Rhapsodos. I know he wasn't originally invited, but do you mind us tagging along?"

"Of course not." She turned to Cloud. "Do you?"

"You know I don't." he smiled at her.

"Well, then, let's go!" she stood up and started rubbing herself on Genesis' leg. Meirei did the same to Sephiroth.

Cloud stood up and followed them to the elevator.

"Where are your manners, Sephiroth, who do we have here?" Genesis smiled at Cloud.

"Cloud Strife, sir." He saluted.

"No need for that, Cloud, I'm only your superior when we're working." Genesis waved him off.

"Where are we going?" Sephiroth asked.

"The mall!" Genesis said matter-of-factly. "Where else?"

They got off the elevator at the garage. Genesis led them to one of Shin-Ra's smaller trucks and they drove off, Meirei and Akane in the back seat with Cloud, much to his delight. It turned out they quickly became friends, and were tumbling around across the seat and on Cloud's lap.

"I feel like a father to her." Genesis looked in the back mirror at Akane. "Don't you?" he asked Sephiroth.

"I'm glad she liked Akane." He nodded. "She's not going along well with the others."

"Who has she met so far?"

"Truffles and Numnum." Sephiroth chuckled. "You would think they'd choose better names."

"Knowing who the owners are, they're lucky with the names they got." Genesis entered the Plate Mall's parking lot. He stopped next to the valet. "First I need to stop by Armani for those leather pants they have in your size," Genesis was saying to Sephiroth as they entered the Mall. "oh, and I saw this wonderful coat in Gucci that would look fantastic on Angeal, then we'll go to Swarovski for a double collar for Akane and Meirei, since they're friends now, an—"

"We'll leave as soon as he enters the first store, he won't notice we're gone." Sephiroth said out of the corner of his mouth to Cloud, who stifled a laugh.

"Can I go too?" Akane asked. "It's extremely boring having to go to the mall with him." She sighed. Sephiroth chuckled and nodded at her.

True to his word, Sephiroth Grabbed Cloud's arm when they lost Genesis in Armani's men's section, and dragged him out of the store. Akane and Meirei sprinted after them from under clothing racks.

"There." Sephiroth released Cloud. "Now, where would you like to go?" he turned to the cadet and frowned. "Why are you laughing?" he asked.

Cloud tried to control his breathing and looked at Sephiroth.

"I'm sorry, sir, it's just…haha…I've never pictured you in this kind of situation." He continued explaining when he saw Sephiroth's puzzled look. "I've only ever seen you in your office, it's hard to imagine you're anything but the General."

"I get that a lot." Sephiroth sighed and started walking. "You'd think I was some robot. I know I'm too serious, and everyone thinks I don't have a life outside of the military, but it's not true. I do have friends, I like coming to the mall, I have hobbies and things that annoy me, I'm as normal s the next person."

Cloud stared at him.

"What?"

"I think that's the most I've heard you talk at once, sir." He said.

"Oh." Sephiroth looked back forward. "Well…where would you like to go first?"

"I already did my Christmas shopping, sir, I just asked because Meirei said you needed some fresh air." Cloud watched Meirei and Akane run forward and start playing around a potted plant in the hall.

"I see." Sephiroth pondered on what to do. "I don't want to go back to Genesis, and he might find us. We need to go somewhere."

"Sephiroth, what's that?" Meirei and Akane were looking at the movie posters.

"That's a cinema." A light bulb went off on top of Sephiroth's head. "Would you like to watch a movie, Cloud?"

"Yes, yes! A movie!" Meirei and Akane began jumping around them. Cloud laughed. Sephiroth thought the sound reminded him of bells. Then he shook his head slightly. That's ridiculous.

"I guess it's settled then." Sephiroth said. "Which one?"

"There's more than one movie?" Akane stared wide eyes at Sephiroth.

"I think we should explain better." Cloud laughed. "A movie shows moving pictures that tell a story. Every movie's different from the other. By looking at these," he pointed to the posters "You can guess what the movie is about. Which one do you like best?"

"That one! That one looks like Ylva!" Akane jumped up and down in front of a poster.

"Surviving with wolves." Sephiroth read. "It's good, I've watched it before."

"Who's Ylva?" Meirei asked.

"She's with Angeal Hewley." Akane explained.

Sephiroth bought the tickets while Cloud bought popcorn, soda and candy bars. Meirei and Akane followed them to movie theatre number two and ran up the stairs. Sephiroth chuckled and led them to their seats. They were fairly early, so there were few people sitting. They sat with Meirei and Akane in the middle and started eating.

"What's this?" Akane asked, eying the popcorn.

"Popcorn." Cloud put the smaller bucket of popcorn between them. They curiously sniffed at it, then tried it.

"Yum!" Meirei went for more.

"It's funny!" Akane giggled at the crunching noises.

"They're just like children!" Cloud laughed and sipped his soda. Sephiroth watched him. Why was he watching him?

"Well, they are." He averted his eyes to his own bucket of popcorn.

They kept a light conversation, explaining things to Meirei and Akane, until the lights dimmed and they began watching the previews. Meirei and Akane behaved and kept quiet throughout the whole movie.

Genesis was fuming. He stormed through the halls of the mall over laden with shopping bags, and still no sight of them.

"I'm going to kill them!" he yelled, making many passersby flee into stores.

I kinda think Sephirtoh and Cloud are a bit too couple-y for my taste, but I'll let you decide that. Maybe next chapter I'll put them in a restaurant after the movie, or something like that. Does anyone have any ideas for more pets? Pictures, maybe? Please review!