Author's Note: It's really easy to let the time slip by when all you're doing is sleeping and working. It's also really hard to work up the motivation to do things that involve thinking when all you want to do is sleep. But I have prevailed. I have overcome this way. I am Sinbad the Sailor.

Uh, warning: I wrote half of this while sleep deprived. Especially the end. If I read back over it when I'm actually awake and realize it makes no sense, I'll fix it.

LEGACY

On Monday morning, an uncomfortable silence blanketed the locker room. Most of the Thirds had heard bits and pieces about what had happened on the mission, but Cloud, Jadak, Vivien, and Eve were the only ones who knew the whole story. Eve still wasn't well enough to attend classes, which only caused more unrest.

Cloud slipped on his uniform shirt more slowly than usual; he'd woken up with an upset stomach, and it only seemed to be getting worse as the morning wore on. Belle was giving him the cold-shoulder, and Renata would glance over at him every so often with an unreadable look in his eyes. Cloud tried to smile back at him the first few times until it felt too forced.

Grabbing his sword and materia, Cloud filed out the door after his classmates. The atmosphere in the training room shifted from quiet tension to confused whispers, and he glanced up to see what the problem was.

In the center of the room, in Noir's usual place, was Angeal Hewely.

Cloud hurried to join Vivien and Jadak. "What's Commander Hewely doing here?"

"I don't know," Jadak huffed. "Noir probably got in trouble for killing those Seconds."

"Do you know what happened to him?"

Jadak shook his head.

"This is bullshit," Vivien declared. "It's not like Noir ever tried to kill one of us."

Jadak rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should just accept that your boyfriend is a psychopath."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Then why do you care so much?"

Sighing sharply, Vivien folded his arms and looked away. "Am I not allowed to care? Or am I supposed to be too self-absorbed to think about anyone else, like you?"

Cloud quickly stepped between them before Jadak could lunge at Vivien. "Guys, I—" know who's responsible for this.

But he couldn't find it in him to say it.

"Let's just... get through this class," he said.

Angeal called everyone to attention and the Thirds hurried to line up. He was a much more physically imposing man than Noir, of course, but the lack of bloody rumors surrounding him made him significantly less terrifying. Besides that, Cloud knew the man more as Zack's mentor than just another First.

"Good morning," Angeal greeted. His tone, along with his face, was solemn. "As I'm sure most of you have gathered, some... unusual occurrences took place over the weekend. Instructor Décès is, unfortunately, indisposed at the moment, so I will be your substitute teacher until further notice."

Cloud recalled the cold sense of dread that had settled in his stomach the first time Noir ever looked at him, and reflected on the morose irony of missing him now. While he couldn't give any sort of definitive answer as to whether he liked the man or not, their relationship had almost begun to border on friendship, in Cloud's mind. The space he left was a hollow crevice.

It wasn't much, though, in comparison to the sick feeling he got whenever he thought about Genesis.

"I know Instructor Décès expects a lot of you, and I'll do my best to keep you all up to standard until his return." Something in Angeal's voice, though, was grave.

He doesn't think Noir will be back in time to see us graduate.

Angeal opened his mouth, then closed it again and sighed. His hands came to rest on his hips. "He's a difficult person, I know," he said, tone softening. "Difficult to understand, difficult to learn from. It's hard to look him in the eye, knowing the possibilities of what he could do to you. For most, it's death. You guys..." He chuckled. "You guys have it easy. The worst that can happen to you is failing this class. Or... perhaps that's worse, because it means you'll have to spend another semester under him."

While failing had been one of Cloud's biggest fears, he wondered if remaining under Noir's tutelage a little longer would really be so bad. A lump formed in his throat.

It was too soon to be thinking about replacing Genesis.

Replacing... Cloud shuddered. What a callous word.

"Point is, I'm working to impress him just as much as you all are," Angeal continued, jarring Cloud from his thoughts. "With your cooperation, I hope we can accomplish more than he expects. So, let's get to work."

Class flew by in a muddled blur. Cloud's attention was torn between mulling over whether or not to approach Genesis and get a straight answer out of him, and how Angeal's teaching style compared to Noir's. Noir valued efficiency, and pushed as hard as his students could take until they either succeeded or gave up. The students who gave up were always the ones who dropped the class. Angeal was also strict, but he possessed a greater amount of empathy. He was more than willing to allow students to rest when they failed too many times and work on other things. Cloud was unsure which method he preferred.

Genesis had always managed to catch a balance of both.

There was the predicament of Belle, too. Usually, Cloud partnered up with him for sparring sessions, but Belle chose to work with Renata instead. He didn't miss Renata's smug expression and a bit of his heart shriveled up. He hadn't asked to be "chosen" by Belle. The fact that there had to be a choice at all felt like a punch in the gut.

He was busy slogging through so many thoughts that he nearly missed Angeal calling for them to "hit the showers." He halted, not even realizing that he'd been walking, and stood for a good half-minute, utterly lost.

"...ife? Strife, is everything alright?"

Cloud looked up to see Angeal hovering in front of him. "...Sir?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm..." Cloud huffed out a tense breath. "I've just got a lot on my mind, sir."

"Anything in particular you'd like to unload?"

He'd heard plenty from Zack about Angeal's willingness to impart his wisdom, but Cloud wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know how much Angeal knew about the incident between Genesis and Noir, and he wasn't interested in broaching the topic if Angeal didn't happen to know.

"It's just been a long weekend," Cloud said quietly.

"Understandable. I don't know all of the details, but between Noir's suspension and what I've managed to get out of Genesis, it was much too hard on you. You weren't ready for that."

"...Will I ever be ready?"

Angeal shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. The best we can do here is try to prepare you for the worst."

"I suppose that's when having a teacher like Noir is beneficial." The moment the words left his mouth, Cloud glanced up at Angeal in horror. "I-I mean... I d-didn't mean it like that, sir, I just—"

Holding up a hand, Angeal shook his head. "You're absolutely right, Strife. Noir isn't afraid to be the kind of hard on his students that will help them get through the horrors of war. It isn't, obviously, for everyone. I'm actually surprised to see you here." He paused a moment, then chuckled.

"...Sir?"

"I was just thinking how ironic it would have been for Genesis to be the one to have requested this class for you. It seems to have been just a stroke of dumb luck, though."

"I guess someone somewhere thought I'd be worth something someday."

Angeal's eyes twinkled, just a little bit. "Maybe somebody somewhere thinks you're worth something right now." He clapped a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Get some rest, SOLDIER. You've got a long week ahead of you."

Back in the locker room, no one seemed to know what to say to each other. Everyone was still digesting Noir's sudden absence. It felt like an eternity until someone broke the silence.

"Hmm... I'm going to miss Instructor Décès."

It was Carthage who spoke. Most of his class tended to avoid the scrawny strawberry blond; he wasn't mean or vindictive, but the way he gleefully eviscerated his simulation opponents put everyone else on edge. He was like Noir in that way—killing things for the sake of killing things. And from what Cloud could tell, Carthage had always adored Noir. They probably understood each other in a way the rest of the class didn't.

The statement, however, finally broke the hazy spell they'd all been under and hushed conversation sparked in the locker room. Cloud caught a few comments about being relieved Angeal would be teaching, but most, to his surprise, were agreeing with Carthage. He hadn't realized so many people were fond of Noir.

...No. "Fond" wasn't the right word. They saw themselves benefiting from Noir's teaching. After all, without Noir, G1 was just another class of Thirds.

Cloud returned to his dorm, but found he couldn't settle. There was too much on his mind. He needed to go do something. Perhaps a walk was in order.

He left his room, aimlessly wandering the SOLDIER floor. Before he even realized it, his feet had taken him down the familiar path to Genesis' office. He stopped in front of the door, wondering if Genesis was in. It was the early afternoon; he didn't know where else Genesis would be. Unless he'd left on a mission and just hadn't said anything.

The thought made Cloud's throat constrict. That they'd managed to drift so far apart so quickly that Genesis wouldn't even let him know he was leaving. A panicked urge to check if he was there rose up inside of him, and he lifted a hand to knock before stopping himself.

Genesis wouldn't leave without telling him. Not over this.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, Cloud turned away from the door. He would visit Genesis eventually. He just needed more time to think.

His wanderings led him down past the training rooms. Most were empty, classes having finish for the day, but a couple were occupied by SOLDIERs doing one-on-one sparring. Cloud ignored them until a flash of blond, black, and white caught his attention. He stopped at the door, watching Noir through the glass. Being close to Genesis had its perks, and he'd had more than one chance to see the Trio spar. Genesis fought like a viper, while Sephiroth fought with the efficiency of a machine, and Angeal with the force of a behemoth. Without an opponent, Noir looked like he was dancing.

His feet barely seemed to touch the ground as he flitted from one motion to the next, moving with more fluidity and rhythm than Cloud had seen in any other SOLDIER. Perhaps it was the mako that made them tend to rely on their brute strength, rather than finessing their fighting techniques. Cloud found himself enraptured, wondering if he could ever learn to fight like that. He wondered if Noir knew he looked like that—a beautiful, deadly dancer.

Noir must've noticed him because he stopped abruptly and glanced toward the door. Cloud's breath hitched, but Noir didn't appear angry. Instead, the First inclined his head, inviting him in.

Cloud slipped inside the training room, feeling out of place wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Noir stripped off his coat, tossing it on the ground, before sliding down the wall to sit. Cloud sat down next to him. Up close, he could see the roots of Noir's hair were darkened with sweat. He looked... tired.

"How was class?" Noir asked.

Cloud shrugged. "It was okay. Angeal isn't a bad teacher."

"He isn't."

"It's not the same without you, though."

"I didn't imagine it would be."

"The reason you aren't teaching... isn't because of Genesis, is it?"

Noir shook his head. "Director Lazard made this decision. I'm sure he believes he has a handle on how to deal with me after all these years without Genesis' help."

"Does he?"

"I understand my error. I understood it before I killed anybody. But I also understand that in doing what I did, I just proved Lazard's safety precautions to be pointless. I know he thought with Turks and SOLDIER supervision, I would be forced under his control, and I let him believe that for years. Now I've gone and frightened him again, so he's decided to tighten the leash."

"Why have you gone along with it?"

"Physically overpowering me won't work because I'll fight until I die. But there is one thing... One thing I'll do anything to hear." Noir turned to him, a strange light in his eyes. "Tell me I've been good, Cloud."

Cloud stared at him like a chocobo in headlights. "E-Excuse me?"

"Say it. Please? Now that I've asked you, you have to say it. I'll do anything—"

"Okay, okay," Cloud said hurriedly. "Y-You've... You've been good."

A smile spread across Noir's face. "Have I? Say it again."

"Y-You've been good."

Noir let out a sigh heavy enough that Cloud could see the tension melting out of him. "Every time I came home bloody and bruised, my mother would always tell me that," he murmured. "I knew it was a lie, but I learned to believe it because facing my reality without it would've driven me insane. Genesis caught on pretty quickly that he could use it to his advantage."

The new information clicked. "...That's why you've been behaving for Lazard. You've been holding out for Genesis to say it again."

Noir's smile shifted into a smirk. "You catch on pretty quick too, Cloud," he said. "Lazard's said it a couple of times, but it isn't the same because I know it doesn't twist his gut to say it like it does for Genesis. When he admits to Lazard what really happened three years ago, I know he'll come to tell me I've been so good, quietly taking the fall for him."

"What will you do after that?"

"Well... After that, I'll have my puppet strings back. Perhaps I'll let Genesis keep them." Noir glanced over at him again. "Perhaps I'll choose a new master."

Cloud shifted uncomfortably. He didn't mean...? "Wh-Why not... Vivien?"

"Tch." Noir banged his head back against the wall. "Thinking about Vivien makes me angry. Vivien can't handle himself, let alone me. It doesn't even matter how fond I am of him anymore. I value him as a student and as a friend; he'll have to learn to be satisfied with that. I'd much rather be indebted to you."

"I-I don't thing... I'm not... anybody, really." Cloud rubbed the back of his head. "Why me?"

"Because I like you, Cloud."

Noir had alluded to that in the past, but to hear him say it out loud so effortlessly was still shocking. Cloud stared, mouth hanging open.

"You're a good person. A good person whose judgment hasn't been sullied by sins like mine and Genesis'. I think, with you, I could see the light while you see the darkness, and perhaps we could meet in the middle."

"I... but I... I'm still Genesis' student. A-And..." What else? There's something else, isn't there? "B-Belle! Belle's asked me if I'd be his partner. Wh-Whatever that means..."

Noir raised an eyebrow at the mention of Belle. "He has? How interesting. It isn't uncommon for SOLDIERs to favor working with one person in particular and stay together through their ranks. I didn't imagine Belle would ask anybody. Although, the two of you work together remarkably well."

"I don't know what to tell him," Cloud admitted. "But I'm afraid to tell him 'no.'"

"Why are you hesitating?"

"Because Belle is crazy."

He hadn't meant to say it like that, but thankfully, Noir laughed. "Belle has manufactured his own reality," he mused. "I don't doubt that spending time with you would drag him back to earth, but would you be willing to be pulled up to the stars?"

Cloud stared down at his hands. "Now that I think about it, there's... a lot of things, actually."

He wasn't sure how it had come down to him opening up to Noir, of all people, but his instructor had never been in a place to judge him.

"Both Renata and Vivien idolize Belle, and I don't want to take him away from them. It would be easier if we could just all stay friends, but... Belle doesn't... work like that."

"I've always found Renata a difficult student," Noir admitted. "I find his dependence on Belle to be very irritating. If you were to split them up, I would have no objections. Perhaps then Renata would focus more on his training than trying to keep Belle's attention."

"He doesn't have any other friends, though..."

"Are he and Belle the only two people in Midgar? He can make new ones."

"But—"

"If he can't handle loss, then he can't handle SOLDIER." Noir trailed his fingers along the blade of his sword. "I would kill Belle just to show him that."

Cloud shivered, fighting off the images of Noir's blood-soaked sword. "Even if I did partner with Belle, wouldn't that make me dependent on him?"

"The nature of cooperation is collaborative dependence. Only when there's an imbalance of power does it become a problem."

"Haven't I... been too dependent on other people already, though? Zack, Genesis, Yuza, Vivien, you..." Hanging his head, Cloud clenched his fists. "Wh-What if Eve is right and I can't do anything on my own?"

Noir was silent for a moment. "Eve said that to you?"

"Y-Yeah. That day... he wanted me to die. He thought I didn't deserve the attention I'd been getting."

"Eve is prone to overreacting. I wouldn't listen to him, if I were you." Noir suddenly stood up, collecting his sword, and held out a hand to help Cloud up. He slid his hand under Cloud's jaw, tilting his head to look him in the eye. "Now that I understand what you're capable of, I know you won't be letting us down anytime soon."

Cloud squeezed his eyes shut. "You mean that I'm capable of killing."

"Not everyone is." Noir's hand slipped away. "Genesis will be able to teach you perfectly."

The door suddenly slid open and Genesis walked in, as if Noir's words had summoned him. Cloud froze, torn between relief that he hadn't left Midgar and sick apprehension. Genesis' unreadable expression grew steadily stormier as he approached them with slow, measured steps.

"Are you finished?" he asked Noir.

"Yes. I was just having a chat with your lovely student."

Cloud flinched when Genesis' eyes darkened as Noir ran a hand through his unkempt spikes.

"Don't touch him."

"Don't be childish, Commander," Noir purred. "I have no ulterior motives because you've got me at every turn, remember?"

"Director Lazard should've kept you in isolation where you belonged."

"For your mistake?"

The mounting tension in the room suddenly snapped and Genesis stared in shock at Noir's outburst.

"There's no use denying what you did. Not here." Noir's voice shook, choked with emotion. "And the sooner you can admit it to yourself, the sooner all of us can move on. Don't you realize that I'm sick of this, too?"

Genesis numbly let Noir push past him on the way out of the training room. Cloud stared after him, just as stunned, until he realized that Noir had left him alone with Genesis.

The commander looked tired.

Exhausted.

He'd obviously been doing more thinking than either him or Noir gave him credit for.

"I'm glad you haven't left," Cloud said softly.

Genesis furrowed his brow. "Huh? Why would I leave?"

"I... thought you might've gone out on a mission and... not told me."

"Because I'm really going to pull that sort of passive-aggressive bullshit on you."

"Wouldn't you?"

Irritation sprang up in Genesis' eyes and he folded his arms tightly across his chest. "You haven't spoken to me since we got back from Nibelheim."

"You haven't spoken to me either," Cloud snapped. "Look, this is stupid. I know you made a mistake three years ago and I don't think it was killing those Turks. Honestly, I don't even care why you killed them anymore, since I know now there are people out there who would kill for fun or to prove a point. What I hate is that you're making someone else suffer what I assume would be a simple punishment for what you did."

Genesis stared at him for a long time. He was vulnerable, Cloud reflected, in a way the other Firsts weren't. He supposed that came from keeping so many secrets. Genesis had more valuable things that could be ripped away from him.

"I will tell you, Cloud, not as your superior officer, but as your friend."

Genesis closed his eyes.

"I blamed it on Noir because I was too afraid of being labeled the crazy one. I'd already seen how Lazard treated Noir like a second class citizen and the idea of being reduced to that made me sick."

"So you forced Noir to become prisoner in your stead?"

"If that's what you want me to admit to then, yes. I did. I ruined everything for him."

"You know what little he has left is on the line again."

"...I know."

"If that's the truth, then I know you already know what you have to do to fix it. And I think you've already decided what you're going to do, haven't you?"

Genesis' eyes snapped open again. "I..."

A/N: I am SO SORRY for my long absence. And the tragic thing is that we're rapidly approaching the end of Legacy, so theoretically, I could be done with this by now. However, with the revelation of the advent of the end, I'm still not quite willing to let the Legacy universe go, so you can expect to see more things in this 'verse. We'll go on some fun adventures. ^.^

Thank you for being patient with me, and thank you for reading~

RegenesisX