Hello everyone. I know some updates are long overdue. I've had to put a few on hold because of personal reasons. I have not dropped them entirely. I just need a teeny tiny break. I'm not stopping all my fics however, and there are a few one-shots and drabbles that I've been writing on the side, but I only haven't uploaded them because of the other stories I currently have going. Honestly, if you only knew how many stories are on my computer. Your heads would spin. _ ;

anyways, I wanted to upload this one-shot because I really enjoy Seph/Cloud friendship stories. Even if this one is mostly from Seph's pov. And it's also not limited to just his friendship with Cloud, but pretty much everyone in general. It is a tad bit AU, but not much. I hope you enjoy.

Oh, I've also set up a pole on my profile. Please, let me know which stories you'd like to see updated the most. It'll be helping me out a lot in deciding which ones to update more. :)

A Helping Hand

It all started out with a sudden urge to take a walk. The great General of Shinra had been working at his desk for nearly five hours straight and a short break was long overdue. He could have walked around his office, taken a walk around the floor, or stopped by the SOLDIER mess hall to grab something to eat, but instead he chose to take a walk outside. The first thing that greeted him as he stepped out of the sliding entrance doors to the lobby was the cold bite of winter. It had been unusually cold for Midgar this year. He was not bothered by it, instead he enjoyed the way the snow drifted down and blanketed the ground in a soft carpet of white. It was quite calming and more pleasant than the normally ugly brownish gray.

He saw a group of cadets that were returning from a night on the town. It was the weekend, so they were allowed some free time, however they still had to obey curfew. The group of six saw him coming and a few threw him a salute while the others simply lowered their gaze. He nodded back to them and they continued on their way back to their barracks.

The General chose to take the roads less traveled. Many people often ran up to him and asked for his autograph, mainly from his own fanclub, while others offered to buy the silver-haired man a drink, even if the General couldn't get drunk he'd always politely decline. He saw a group of people walking about and decided to take to the back ally-ways to get around. Any thugs that lingered here knew full well to stay out of his way. No one could best the General, nor the get the drop of him. He had ended the decade long war in Wutai. and he had done it almost single-handed. The only aide he had during those harsh battles were his friends, Commander Angeal Hewely and Commander Genesis Rhapsodos. both Second Class SOLDIERs at the time and he himself had quickly jumped in the ranks during the war.

When it started he was a mere Third Class. A lot was expected of him and he had been nervous and unsure if he could live up to what the military had planned for him. When the battle started he had fought like ten men, desperate to prove himself worthy. He had nearly worked himself into exhaustion and would have collapsed in a strong pair of hands hadn't caught him. Another pair of hands held something up to his lips.

"Hey man, take it easy. You'll kill yourself if you keep going like that," replied the one who had caught him.

"He looks half dead already," replied the second.

"Gen, be nice. It's obvious this is his first battle. He's bound to be shaken," the first replied.

"I'm not shaken," the silverette replied, struggling to his feet.

"Good, then we can leave you here and continue on with our mission, let's go Angeal."

"Genesis! What is the code of a SOLDIER?"

The red-head looked back at his friend and he shrugged, "To aide your fellow brother in arms and never leave a man behind. Pfft, like they really follow that code."

The first SOLDIER shook his head and smiled at the Third Class. "I'm Angeal, and my brooding friend over there is Genesis. Don't worry, his bark is worse than his bite,...mostly."

"I'm Sephiroth," the Third Class finally replied as he stood up.

Genesis snickered, "What kind of name is that?"

"It sounds better than your's," Sephiroth replied. Angeal laughed at the dumbstruck look on his friend's face. No one had ever dissed his name before and it was funny.

The red-head glared,bared his teeth and pointed a finger at him, "Listen here, you ignorant little twit! You had better learn to respect your betters or else I'm gonna have to-"

"WATCH OUT!"

Before Genesis could turn, Sephiroth had launched himself at him and tackled him to the ground as gunfire erupted and bullets sprayed the spot where Genesis had been standing just seconds before. From that moment on the three had been inseparable. the three SOLDIERs had plowed their way to victory in that battle and the several that followed, climbing the ranks along the way. Sephiroth was always in the lead while Angeal and Genesis had always backed him up. Their friendship was unbreakable and their bond eternally strong. As far as they were concerned they were brothers and would always watch out for one another, even if they did bicker and get on each other's nerves at times.

Sephiroth often thought back to that moment. Back when he had fallen to his knees and almost keeled over. If his friends hadn't appeared and offered their help, then how differently would his life had been? Killed on the battle field? Would he have been left behind? Or would he have been disciplined for being weak? He had always been taught that weakness was not allowed. If one was weak, one may as well be dead. There was no room in SOLDIER for weakness. If you weren't strong enough to make the cut you were kicked out. Sephiroth always hated that guideline, but he was forced to follow it as all SOLDIERs were.

The general shook his head and looked down at the snow in thought, only to blink as he realized the small droplets of red that stained the once perfect white snow. his strong senses didn't need to tell him twice that it was blood. Looking around him he could see more blood in the snow as it lead further down the ally-way. He followed it.

It could have been nothing. A poor animal that had been struck by a car, or a drunkard who had gotten to sloppy to not injure himself, but as the general kept walking he realized that he was slowly heading back towards Shinra. Odd. There weren't many houses or bars this close to the compound. that's when he turned a corner and the sight ahead of him stopped him cold.

It was a cadet. He was struggling to limp forward, one step at a time. He was leaning heavily against the wall for support, only to stumble and fall when he stepped on a frozen surface and land hard on his knees with a grunt.

Sephiroth watched for a moment as the cadet coughed painfully and slowly rose to his feet to continue slugging forward. This cadet was determined to get back and Sephiroth had mixed feelings about offering aide or letting him be. He knew how panicked cadets could get around him and he didn't want to aggravate the boy's injuries more. It was only when the cadet fell again and failed to rise that he approached.

The boy was panting as he tried to catch his breath. He managed to rise to his knees and tried to stand only to lose his strength and fall face-first into the snow. It numbed his bruises, but did little to ease his other injuries. He knew he was late for curfew, but he didn't want to give up and let others win if he didn't return to his bunk. Even if that's where the predators were waiting.

The sound of snow crunching next to him made him turn his gaze and look up only to blink in fear at the sight of the General of SOLDIER standing over him.

"I'm sorry sir,"

"Explain cadet," came the calm reply.

"For breaking curfew. I fell behind and as a result I'm late."

Sephiroth could hear the pain in the boy's voice, but something compelled him to want to know more. "Remove you're helmet, cadet."

The boy complied, though painfully. It was obvious the way his arm jerked that something wasn't right and it concerned the General and made him wonder what had happened. the helmet came off to reveal blonde hair, which was flat and stuck to his head. Sephiroth guessed that without the sweat keeping it flat it would be naturally spiky, but what caught his full attention were the blue eyes. It was like gazing into the skies above Mideel. With its lush forests the skies were always so blue, unlike the hazy skies surrounding Midgar. But even more than that. When the general looked into those eyes he saw fear. Not fear from him, but of the boy's own weakness. Sephiroth recognized that look and immediately thought back to that day on the battlefield, when he was struggling to rise from where he fell.

Sephiroth realized then, it was his turn to be that helping hand. With a slow blink, the general looked the cadet in the eye.

"Raise up your arm, Cadet."

The boy gulped and slowly obeyed the order.

Sephiroth took the arm with his own, grasping it just past the elbow and helped the teen to his feet. "Come on, let's get you to the medical wing."

"Wh-what?" the boy stuttered. "No, sir, I'm fine. Thanks, but I-I can make it back on my own." He tried to push out of the general's grip and moved forward, only to stumble and start to go down again. Only Sephiroth's strong grip stopped him.

"Relax cadet, you're injured."

"But, curfew-"

"You're excused, now stop arguing with a superior officer and follows orders."

The blonde stopped struggling and nodded as he let the older man help him, "Yes, sir."

Sephiroth helped to guide the teen out of the alley and towards the Shinra compound. As they began to climb the front steps the boy spoke again.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"For what, cadet?"

"For being so weak. I know you have much better things to do than help someone like me."

Sephiroth stopped and looked at him then, and seeing himself at that age. He had felt the same and now that he was stronger he felt no doubt in his next words.

"You're not weak, cadet. You just need someone to have your back."

"Sir?" asked the blonde, taken aback by the general's words.

"Everyone needs help sometimes. It's not weakness, in fact it can be one of your greatest srengths."

"I don't understand."

"Even I need help sometimes."

The cadet nearly stumbled again, "R-really?"

The general nodded. "What's your name, cadet?"

"C-Cloud sir, Cloud Strife."

"Well Strife, no SOLDIER ever made it far on their own. And if one tells you they did, don't believe it. SOLDIER is not an army of one. We are all in this together and if one of us stumbles, it's the other's responsibility to help them get back on their feet."

"That's not what the other cadets believe," Cloud replied before realizing too late what he had admitted. It also didn't Sephiroth long to realize what he had meant. He thought back to earlier that night. That group of cadets returning from the city. He remembered that some of them had looked nervous, but perhaps it was for a more sinister reason than just intimidation from the General. He'd have a word with them later. Right now Strife needed his aide to the medical wing.

"Then they won't make it far in the ranks."

As they neared the doors they slid open to reveal a Second Class SOLDIER with a relieved look on his face. "There you are, Seph! Angeal was wondering where you were since he couldn't find you in your office and you left your PHS on your desk." He blinked as his smile faded when he saw the injured cadet limping alongside him. "Whose that?"

Cloud swallowed, not sure what to say to another SOLDIER. He was still trying to digest what the General had said to him, so Sephiroth answered for the both of them. "Cadet Strife here was injured in battle. I'd like to request your aide in helping me get him to the infirmary."

"No prob, Seph!" The second replied with a smile as he made his way to the cadet's other side and threw the cadet's arm over his shoulder. "I'm Zack, by the way. I bet you gave as good as you got, if the General is helpin' ya. In fact, I bet this'll get the whole complex talkin'. Us two SOLDIERs helping out a cadet. I bet it'll be just the thing to help the other cadets approach Seph more easily. You guys are far too skittish around him. He's really a nice guy, he just has a sharp bark."

Sephiroth just ignored Zack's chattering. The Second Class could go on like that for hours. The cadet didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted to run and hide, but with two SOLDIERs moving him along escape was out of the question.

Later that night after he had made sure the cadet was well taken care of and he knew the names of every cadet that was in that group and planned to put them trough intense interrogation in the morning, Sephiroth finally returned to his office. Zack had refused to leave the cadet's side, even vowing to stay the night in the teen's hospital room and pouted and whined to Angeal until his mentor gave in and let him. Sephiroth felt a little better knowing that with Zack watching out for him, Strife would be alright and would finally have someone to watch his back. And who better than to have it be Angeal's own student?

He sat there in his chair for a while before pulling out an old scrapbook from his desk drawer. It was filled with pictures from the war. Mostly battle posters and newspaper clippings, but towards the back was a worn out picture of three young SOLDIERs. Two tired Seconds and one exhausted-looking Third. The two Seconds stood on either side. the ravenette on the right and the red-head on the left and the silverette in the middle. He looked ready to collapse, but he also looked proud - sharing a smile with the other two. It was their first victory together and one the ravenette insisted needed to be preserved and treasured. He was right of course, Angeal was hardly ever wrong. And Genesis rolled his eyes, but still agreed in the end. and Sephiroth well, he was just happy to be standing there at all. In that moment, he truly knew what it felt like to be strong.