Ardwynna Morrigu: See? It's already changed to PG. =snicker=
Dopehatanima: That's what happens when you spell a word right but it's the wrong one. I should find myself a beta.
Spiffiness: I'm getting there!

You know the drill. 1 Review = 1 Mention!

A/N: This chapter gets me all caught up to where the story was before I quit writing it. That means all new material from here on out! Woo!

Five days left. That's all there were. Five days left. Not even a full week. Nothing. Just five days. The boys who were graduating laid down their swords to go to the most grueling practice of all…they were going to learn how to dance. Put a sharp, pointy instrument of possible destruction in a boy's hand and he'll start hacking at everything in sight with incredible ease. Tell him he's going to learn how to waltz or do the fox trot, however, and he'll start to sweat and generally become a clumsy git.

The boys were all herded into a large ballroom and stood opposite a group of 1st Class, laughing and making jokes. There were only twenty graduating, so the same number was standing across from them. The hall itself, the very one they would be graduating it, could hold up to three hundred people comfortably. There wasn't much to it at the current moment, but decorated, it would rival the private ballroom of the Shin-RA corporation itself. A domed ceiling arced high above the heads of recruits and SOLIDER alike, and it was only when the room was fully lit could you actually see the top.

Amongst the SOLDIER gathered was Zack himself. Loud laughter sounded from the knot of students around him, and there was no doubt he had regaled yet another fabulous story or equally inane joke. If he kept this up, there would come a day that Zack's popularity amongst the troops could rival the General's own. At least he actually chatted with others, even those who were below him. When the laughter died, his head came up and he snickered quietly. Immediately ran over and grabbed Cloud, clutching his hand and pressing it into the air.. "I call him!" Boos and hisses followed, accompanied by Zack's boisterous laughter.

Cloud looked at him in horror, confusion, and embarrassment. A red flush, darker than the skin of a cherry, immediately enveloped his face. This was positively horrendous. Eyes on both sides of the ballroom were on him; amusement in the eyes of the SOLDIER in attendance, confusion in the cadets'. He dropped his voice to talk confidentially to Zack, a slight, uncertain waver in it as he did so. "What in blazes are you talking about?"

The grin on the older man's face grew wider. This was all just too rich. Far, far too rich. "Why, Cloud. Don't you want to be my dance partner?" He put on a mocking hurt face and made a show of sniffing quietly. "Oh, Cloud! Why must you break my heart so? All I wish from you is to dance the dance of one in love!"

"Will you shut up?!" Cloud's voice cracked as he said this, and any conversations that had restarted around them stopped once more. With an undignified 'eep,' he quickly ducked behind a pillar. Zack was about to follow him, no doubt to increase his embarrassment, when a voice echoed around them and saved him from such a fate.

"Good morning, gentlemen." The owner of the voice finally appeared, belonging to the Turk, Reno. He stood on a balcony above them, microphone in hand. "In just two days time, you recruits will join the ranks of SOLDIER 5th Class. From that point on, you will be eligible for out-of-city assignments. Not to mention the fact that you will have the privilege of being able to take weekend trips into Midgard." This statement was followed by loud cheers before being silenced by Reno's raised hand. "You have one more task before graduation, however, and it will be the most dangerous mission you undertake. You need to learn how to dance."

A stunned silence followed, broken by abrupt laughter from the SOLDIER elite. Cloud looked at Zack in bewilderment, especially when he was grabbed by the arm and dragged onto the dance floor. "Zack, what are you…let go…I don't…gods be damned!" Looking around, Cloud noticed the rest of the grads in similar predicaments, all of them trying to get away.

Reno's voice called out once again. "All right, SOLDIER 1st Class. Let's teach these children how to dance!" The sounds of a waltz poured into the room, echoed by a chorus of groans.

After a few hours of dancing (which went fairly well…there was only one broken toe), the graduates were again herded into another room, this time to be fitted for their outfits. Classic tuxedos with gold trimming on the lapels, to signify who was graduate from those were there merely to congratulate them. Cloud stood patiently, arms opened wide, as he was measured. It was dreadfully uncomfortable, having to stay in the same position for that long. He began fidgeting a bit and was smacked in the thigh by the tailor. The man stopped when he was done, looking up at Cloud oddly. "You know, you are nearly the same size as the General when he graduated. A little shorter, and not as broad in the shoulders, but it's pretty close to an exact fit."

Commotion ceased as everyone stared at Cloud, who looked almost horrified. The tailor leaned back on his legs, scratching his head in puzzlement. "Isn't that just the damnedest thing?"

Cloud stepped off the pedestal he had been standing on and retrieved his clothes. Dressing quickly, he slipped out of the room while the rest of the grads got measured. He stood in the hallway, gulping a deep breath of air, leaning heavily against the wall. He closed his eyes and slipped to the floor, his arms resting on his bent knees. His head came back to lean against the wall behind him and he opened his eyes once more, staring blankly up at the ceiling. They narrowed slightly, in something that could almost be considered a scowl, if it weren't for the exasperation, and he seemed to be glaring a hole straight through the ceiling. "You are a vengeful God, aren't you?"

"You know, some people think when you're talking to a ceiling, that you might be crazy." The silken voice that sounded like the sweetest, thickest honey reached his ears and caused an involuntary shudder to race through the blonde's body. Silver hair fell into Cloud's line of vision, his sapphire eyes widening quickly. There was only one person that belonged to hair that perfect. He rose to his feet as fast as possible, while trying to retain some semblance of dignity, coming to attention.

"General, sir…"

Sephiroth waved a hand slightly, looking annoyed. "At ease, cadet." He eyed the young blonde critically, his eyes roving over the body at a leisurely pace. He finally stopped when he rested back on the face. "It's my understanding that you shall be graduating this year. Congratulations. The road is going to be harder from this point out." His crystalline emerald eyes scanned Cloud once more before he turned, stalking back into the shadows of the hallway.

Cloud stared dumbly at the spot where Sephiroth had stood. That was the first encounter he'd ever actually had with the General, and it left him more than a little uncomfortable, in more ways than one. All he could see now were those jade eyes as they scanned over his body, almost like Sephiroth were sizing him up as an equal. That wasn't possible, but it did manage to give Cloud a giddy little thrill that ripped all the way up and down his spine. Shivering, he slowly slunk back down to the ground, gazing upward. "But I'll be damned if that man doesn't have the most brilliant eyes…"

He was back in his dorm, gazing at the ceiling and still reeling from his brief encounter when Zack entered the room. He paused just inside the doorway and eyed Cloud critically, raising a slow brow. "Jesus, Cloud. You look like you had a vision from an angel." He snickered quietly and began winding his way through the mess that was their dorm and over to his own bed when the other's reply almost startled him.

"Not from an angel, Zack. Of an angel." The reverent tone in his voice caused Zack to pause in what he was doing and turn back around once more. This certainly wasn't the blushing and stumbling cadet he'd left in the ballroom.

Zack approached the bed slowly and leaned his head to the side as he peered at him. So he had a vision of an angel? Well, there wasn't exactly a large amount of people around here that it could be said of them that they look like an angel, so he was automatically drawn to the only plausible conclusion. "You have a run-in with the General, eh?"

The blush that came to the young blonde's face was the only answer he needed to inform him that, yes, that was in fact what had happened. A satisfied grin on his own face, he whistled and departed, leaving Cloud to try and recollect himself and pick his drooling jaw up off the floor.