Title: SOLDIER

Disclaimer: Yes, I own Final Fantasy VII, just like I own Microsoft, the state of Oklahoma, and the Sweedish break-dancing team.

Summary: Just a little fic about Cloud's training for SOLDIER. I know it didn't happen this way, but hey...

Warning: Rated for later yaoi, possible lemons. If you haven't got a scoobie of what I'm talking about, go find out before you read, I will not be held responsible for the damage to your mental health. Flames will be laughed at hysterically, since you obviously didn't read this.

Oh yeah, and theres some violent language too... heh

And a word of warning, I can't get my microsoft Word to work, so there's been no spell check... so put up with the bad spelling... lol!

Shit! I'm late! I'm late! I'm LATE! Oh hell I'm gonna be the laughing-stock of the group... Oh shit...

When the slim boy arrived at the huge double doors, his heart sank, he'd hoped that he wouldn't be the only one who was late, so he wouldn't have to face the embarassament of walking in way beyond the designated time alone. But, he'd just have to face it. He pressed his palm on the huge door and pushed it open, flinching as it creaked loudly.

He found himself standing in a large, luxuriously furnished foyrer, a desk on one side and some chairs on the other. Leaning on the wall next to the door leading to the lecture hall, was a young man in - what the boy thought - his early twentys. He was dressed in a plain white shirt, two of which the buttons were fastened, and a pair of faded black jeans, simple yet understated. His midnight hair was wildly spiked at the back, croped at the nape of his neck and a few bangs falling into his violet eyes. His ears were decorated with piercings, two hoops in the lobe of his left ear and a cuff half way up it, and three hoops in the lobe of the other and one at the top of his ear. The hoop at the top and the third in his lobe were connected by a silver chain. A pair of thin, silver framed glasses sat lazily on the bridge of his nose. On the whole, he looked quite cool, but rather scruffy.

He must of felt the boys eyes on him, as he looked up from his arms that were folded over his chest and walked over.

"Hey! You one of the kids selected for the SOLDIER privite tutoring?" the man asked.

The boy nodded shyly.

"Well c'mon! You're late! This way." and he led the boy through the door he was leaning next to into a large hall with a stage at one end, about half a dozen chairs set infront of it, five of wich were occupied. The dark haired man led him to the empty seat on which the boy sat.

"Don't worry." the man said reasurringly, "You're not that late. B'sides, Sephiroth only just arrived himself. Speaking of which, gotta go, see ya kid!"

And then he was gone.

The boy sighed in relief, glad that he wasn't too late. No sooner had he opened his eyes again the curtains on the stage had opened and a tall man stood behind a lecturn, dressed entirely in black, green eyes glowing and silver hair flowing, the boy knew exactly who he was...

"General Sephiroth..." He breathed.

Standing behind him were six young SOLDIERs, dressed smartly in white shirts, black pants and black ties... all with the exception of one rather scruffy looking fellow...

He's a SOLDIER?

"Good afternoon gentlemen." Sephiroth began, "I'm sure you all know why you're here, but just incase...

"You are the lucky few who passed the entrance exam for the SOLDIER privite tutoring. Over the past few days, we've been looking over your answers, the kind of answers you gave and how you answered them, and your personal statements. Looking at these, we have been able to determine which of our elite SOLDIERs are best for your personal tutor. All of which are fist class. Today, we will asign you to your tutor and the two of you can decide amoungst yourselves what times are best for your classes.

"But before I do, I want to talk more about your training. It will be difficult, but it will be worth your while. Your tutors are there to help you, support you, and make a SOLDIER out of you. They will be your teachers, your trainers, but, above all, your companion. Do not be afraid to approach them with a problem that may not be strictly training related."

The scruffy looking man smiled all the way through Sephiroth's speach, nodding his head now and then at some points that the General made, and giving a knowing wink to the boy

"Now then, lets asign you to your trainers. Derren Garlyle?"

One of the boys got to his feet.

"You are with Karl Nighthawk."

A SOLDIER with chocolate coloured hair walked over to the boy and stood behind Derren's seat as Derren sat down again.

"Lyam Jarak?"

Another boy got to his feet, a little more bold than the last, "Yes sir!"

"Ryan Shranock is your tutor."

Another SOLDIER took his place behind his pupil, hands held behind his back in the proper fasion.

"Thomas Leeran? Garath Egan. Irvine Norrington? Jarad Lunos." he looked down at his sheet, "And Cloud Strfie?"

The boy got to his feet, feeling extremely self conscious now. Not only was he at least a whole head smaller than the shortest of the other five, but his golden blonde hair was spiked in such a wild style that it made him stick out half a mile.

"You've got Zackary Roughknight."

The scruffy SOLDIER stopped leaning against the wall and made his way over to Cloud, then stood behind the blonde with his hands resting on the boys shoulders.

I've got him! Why couldn't I get one fo the one who actually acted like a SOLDIER?

"I'd like to wish you all the best of luck. You are all dismissed to discuss your class times." and he left the stage.

"Cloud huh?" Zack asked, and the boy nodded, "Well, I guess we should go do some talking then. C'mon." And he led him out of the hall, then out of the building entirely. They walked around to the back of the building where Zack fished around in his pocket for a while, then pulled out a set of keys and pointed them at a bright red Skyline GTR, pressing a button and unlocking the doors.

"Can you drive kid?"

Cloud shook his head.

"Shame, this baby's a dream to drive." He opened the driver's door and gestured for Cloud to get in the passenger side. The boy slipped into the seat, which he found much too low to the ground. He straped the seatbelt and waited for Zack to start the ignition.

"You like?" Zack asked.

"Umm... Isn't it a little low?"

"Heh, yeah, speed ramps are a bitch in this thing, but isn't she gorgeous?"

Cloud had to agree, it was a beautiful car.

Zack turned the key and the engine roared into life, the SOLDIER took a pair of sunglasses that he had left sitting on the shelf above the dashboard and swapped them for his normal specs.

"There's some gum in the glove box if you want any."

Cloud shook his haed, "No thank you sir."

Zack shrugged and took some for himself, chewing slowly at it as he manuvered out of the car park, being careful not to damage 'his baby' on the speed ramps. Then, as soon as he was clear of the car park, he sped off down the street. Cloud was pressed into the back of his seat as Zack continued to excelarate, the other cars seeming to be nothing more than a blur as they passed. He slowed as thay neared some traffic lights, stopping just before them.

"Heh, never goet tired of that..." He turned to Cloud, who was actively trying to keep his stomach under control. "Hey, you alright kid?"

Cloud gave him a weak smile, "I'll be fine." he said, "Motion sickness." he added when Zack gave him a look that said "explain?"

"Ah, sorry kiddo, you should have said earlier! I wouldn't have gone so fast."

The lights turned green and the two were off again, going a lot slower this time.

"Where are we going sir?" Cloud asked as Zack pulled into another car park, thankfully absent of speed ramps.

"Some café restaurant thingy. Aren't you hungry?" Zack answered.

"Well, yeah but, aren't we supposed to be talking about classes and stuff."

"We will," Zack told him, "Over lunch. C'mon."

They entered the restuarant and sat at an empty table. Waiting for a waiter to come over to take their order, Zack picked up the menu, "Lessee, what we got... Macaroni cheese... pizza... burgers... fish... Yup! Decided what I'm having. What about you Cloud."

Cloud leaned over and looked at the menu, "A cheese burger will do."

Zack looked up at him, "Not the best choice if you wanna be a SOLDIER kid. Think again."

Cloud frowned, was this a test? "Uhh... Pizza?"

"Nope."

"Chips?"

"Hell no! Come one, you're a bright kid! I read your entrance exam, think."

"I dunno, either something high in protein or carbohydrate." Cloud answered.

"Yup. So what you gonna have?"

Cloud looked at the menu again, "Is the fish deep fat fried?"

Zack shook his head, "No, it's smoked salmon."

"I'll have that then." Cloud decided.

Zack smiled at him. "Drink?"

"Um... Fresh orage please sir."

Zack nodded again. He called over the waiter and gave him the order, then leaned his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers and resting his chin on them.

"So Cloud. Talk to me, tell me about yourself."

Cloud frowned, where should he start? "Well... "

Zack laughed, obviously noticing Cloud's shyness, "Where ya from Cloud?"

"A village called Nibelheim, I doubt you've heard of it..."

"Nibelheim?" Zack began, "North of Cosmo Canyon right? There's a mako reactor up in the mountains?"

Cloud nodded, "You have heard of it then?"

Zack nodded, "Yeah, never been there though. I didn't live too far from there, tiny village called Gongaga, just south of Cosmo."

Cloud shook his head just as their drinks arrived, sipping at his orange juice innocently, "Never heard of it."

Zack laughed again, "Didn't think you would have. Hardly anyone has. What about family, any brothers or sisters?"

Cloud shook his head again, "No, just me."

Zack raised an eyebrow just as their food arrived. He picked up his fork and dug into his baked potato filled with cheese, scooped up a large amount of the stuff and shoved it into his mouth. "What about your parents?" he asked through a mouthful of potato, cutting a circular-like shape in the air with his fork, "Do they live here in Midgar too?"

Cloud shook his head, "No, mother lives back home in Nibelhiem, I came to live here myself." he cut a small portion off his salmon and popped it in his mouth.

Zack swallowed his mouthfull before talking again, "What about your dad?"

Cloud pushed his food around his plate a little, suddenly losing his appetite, "He died... A long time ago."

"Oh." He looked forward at Cloud, who was looking down at his plate, a few bangs of blonde hair obscuring his face as he played with his food a little, "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Cloud shook his head again, still not looking up, "It's okay."

Zack could tell it obviously wasn't. But he could aslo tell that the boy didn't like talking about it, and as much as Zack wanted the kid to trust him, he couldn't get too attatched, after all, Cloud did want to be a SOLDIER after all, being too soft on him would not be a good idea. So he dropped the subject.

"So, anyway," Zack began, shoving more baked potato in his mouth, "what time would be best for you?"

"...I'm... Not following sir..."

Zack sighed and shook his head, strands of midnight hair falling in his eyes, "Kid, drop it with the 'sir' will ya?"

"As long as you drop it with the 'kid'."

Zack blinked. Now that was unexpected. Seemed like the kid had some backbone after all! He seemed so timid when they met...

Cloud watched almost in fear as Zack watched him in complete surprise. He'd just back-chated a SOLDIER! One of the very people he aspired to be! One of the people who were known for their strength and speed and could break every bone in his slight body in a blink of an eye if he wanted to. And he'd just back-chated one! He could see the Mako swirling in Zack's eyes, making them unreadable. Cloud was always able to gauge someones mood by their eyes, and know whether he should stand his ground or run away, but he had no idea what the SOLDIER was thinking, and that frightened him...

He clasped his knife and fork tightly, ready to take the row that was sure to come. What had he been thinking? Zack was surely going to... Laugh?

Sure enough, Zack had thrown his head back, eyes squinched closed as he laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke ever. Cloud merely blinked owlishly at him. Had he said something funny?

"Heh heh, I'm sorry Cloud..." Zack said, still half laughing, "I'm sorry but that was so unexpected. Not such a timid little thing after all, are ya?" a sly wink acomponying his words. "Lighten up Cloud. I'm not gonna get mad at ya for talking back to me. Personally, I think it's great that you've got a bit of backbone. As long as you don't react like that to every order, but I doubt you will." He coughed down the rest of his laughter and looked at the blonde seriously. "To be honest, I was hoping you'd pick up on it. You wanna be a SOLDIER and you should be treated like a SOLDIER candidate, not a kid. If you didn't have enough confidence to tell someone, even a SOLDIER, not to call you a kid, you'd have no hope."

Cloud heaved a sigh of relief, so it was a test was it? Seemed like Zack is a lot more serious about his work than his appearance let on. He'd have to be more careful...

"So," Zack began again, "Where were we? Oh yeah! What time would be best for you?"

"For what...? Uh..." he hesitated for a second, "If I'm not to call you 'sir', then what should I call you?"

Zack smiled at the boy warmly, "Well, alot of my friends call me moron, idiot and asshole, But I'd prefer it if you called me Zack." he laughed a little, "Although feel free to call me asshole if I'm acting like one."

Cloud snorted a laugh at that, "I'll stick with Zack."

"Good, now then, as I was saying. Lesson times. When would be best for you?"

Now he knew what Zack was talking about, "Anytime during the day would be fine. I have a part-time job, but as long as we don't work past eight-thirty then it should be fine."

Zack nodded, "Hmmm... how about Tuesday, Wednesday and Tursday at eleven?"

Cloud nodded also, "Yeah, that should be fine. Tomorrow at eleven then?"

Zack smiled, "Yep!" he fished in his poket for the money to pay for their meal, "C'mon, I'll give you a ride home."

Cloud followed his tutor to the check-out where the taller man paid, then out to the car. He slipped into the passenger side again and directed Zack to his apartment, thoughts of how he dreamed of SOLDIER when he was younger filled his head. Now those dreams seemed so much closer.

Well, whaddaya think? should I continue? lemme know!