Chapter Twelve

AN - I really haven't made much progress on this story. But it's now August and it seems like it's been a while since I last updated, so here is a new chapter!

Cloud watched on while Tifa packed supplies up into their bags, having been told firmly to stay out of her way when he had tried to help her. Eventually she was done and the packs were allocated out, freshly replenished with the stores that they had found stashed away in the rear cupboard.

The morning had dawned bright but cool and with dark clouds building in the west. With a sigh, Cloud realised that they would probably be getting wet before the day was through.

His attention was diverted away from the sky when he heard Red call his name.

"As Cloud is the unofficial leader of the group, should we not ask him which route he would prefer to take?"

Cloud let his eyes pass over the group that were huddled together just outside the door. Red had turned to face him, his yellow eye waiting patiently for him to come over and join them. Next to him Genesis scowled, whilst Angeal rubbed his forehead in a gesture that Cloud had learnt signalled frustration on Red's other side. Barret was frowning at them all.

"If we're headin' to Junon, then we should go straight there. We don't wanna be pissin' around out here." Barret had his good hand propped on his hip, his gun arm lying loosely at his side.

"But Tseng told us to find a different route, and as Sephiroth said he is probably trying to help us stay away from Shinra's notice." Angeal was obviously trying to keep calm, but his tone had an edge to it.

"Yeah, but can you really believe anything he says?" Barret waved his gun arm in the air for emphasis.

Cloud really didn't want to get involved in this argument but Red was still looking at him beseechingly so he reluctantly started to move in their direction.

"I have to agree with Barret on this one," Genesis was saying as he got there. "Not necessarily just about Tseng, although given what we saw in Sector Seven I am not inclined to believe that he is advising us from the benevolence of his own heart. But there is sufficient cover on the road between here and Junon to travel unnoticed, at least once you reach the edges of the forests, and taking the longer route just adds unnecessary delays. Need I remind you that we are actually trying to chase someone down?"

Genesis was correct in that further delays when they were already so far behind did mean that they would struggle to follow the trail onwards when they did get to Junon. But at that thought, something niggled at the edge of Cloud's mind. The other Sephiroth had left a clear trail so far, encountering a rare traveller on the road out of Kalm and allowing himself to be sighted enough that there were rumours about his destination. It was almost as though…

"He wants us to follow him." Sephiroth's voice echoed Cloud's thoughts, causing Cloud to stifle the sharp movement he made in surprise. "We do not need to fear that we will lose the trail."

"And how in the Goddess's name can you know that?" Genesis asked incredulously.

"He is me, after all. I have some insight into how he operates." Cloud felt Sephiroth's presence behind him, so close that he could feel the warmth the SOLDIER was emitting creeping up his back and neck. He was thankful that the turtleneck he wore would cover any flush arising from it.

"And so what recourse would you suggest, oh all-knowing one?" Genesis retorted sarcastically. Angeal frowned at him, obviously unhappy with Genesis's tone.

Cloud could feel Sephiroth tense, even though he still wasn't in the blonde's field of view. "We should do as Angeal suggests, find an alternative route to Junon which keeps us away from the main thoroughfare. If I remember correctly, there is a river to the north of these plains that empties into an estuary close to the Junon peninsula."

Genesis threw up his hands. "I can see when you are all against me! Fine, but if we are too late then do not lay it on my shoulders!" He pushed past Cloud and Sephiroth back into the ruined building that they had spent the night in. Angeal rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"I should make sure he's ok," he said to the others apologetically, before following suit.

Cloud tilted his head to one side, catching a glimpse of Sephiroth. "You sure of all that?"

Sephiroth moved slightly to the side, allowing Cloud to look at him properly although he was still so close that Cloud could feel the man's arm brush up against his back. "As sure as I can be."

"So we travel north to the river and follow that." Cloud said decisively. "It keeps us off the main road at least."

"How much additional time will it add to our journey?" Red queried, his tongue darting out to lick his muzzle.

"A day at most."

"Well, ain't no good standing around here then." Barret turned to Tifa and Aerith, who had finished packing bags and were having a quiet discussion at the bottom of the mountain, some distance away. "Tifa!" he hollered. "We're headin' north!"

With a wave, Tifa started to head along the road still chatting to Aerith. Barret started down the hill towards them, followed by Red. Cloud paused for a moment when he realised that Sephiroth hadn't moved.

"You coming?" He asked quietly, noticing that Sephiroth was looking back to the derelict inn.

"In a moment," came the reply. "I will ensure that Genesis and Angeal are aware that we are leaving."

Cloud nodded and left Sephiroth standing by himself, the morning sun causing his silver hair to glow golden.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Route confirmed, the day started pleasantly enough as they rounded the edge of the mountains and struck north across grassland. It was warm but not too hot and they made good progress, talking amongst themselves as they walked along. Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth had caught up with them not long after they started, although it was clear that Genesis was still annoyed. Angeal left him to his mood and moved forwards, soon engaging Tifa in a discussion on hand-to-hand combat. Cloud, walking just behind them, listened with interest to their conversation. Up ahead, Aerith was talking animatedly to Red. Her hands were flying around as she was using them to describe something – from the snippets Cloud caught, he thought she was talking about her home in the sector five slums. Barret strode along on Red's other side, listening intently. Cloud smothered the smile that was threatening to break at the level of enthusiasm the brunette radiated.

"Is something humorous?"

Cloud's eyes flicked to the side, where Sephiroth had come up alongside him. Cloud shook his head a little, schooling his face back into something impassive. "Not really."

Sephiroth only hummed slightly and moved forwards. Cloud took a moment to admire his striking figure as he quickly covered ground to reach the head of the group. The SOLDIER was tall, towering over even Barret. He was also slim but toned, except for his broad shoulders that gave him such a powerful strike. As he walked the long leather coat he wore swung behind him and leant him a powerful aura. His long sword, completely impractical for anyone else but for Sephiroth simply an extension of his already long arms, was holstered on his right hip. It reached a long way behind him and Cloud wondered idly if Sephiroth routinely knocked it against things when turning corners.

"If you take a photo it will last longer," a voice to his left said snidely. Cloud jumped and looked over at Genesis. For the first time in a few days he really looked at the SOLDIER First Class, noticing the furrow in his brow and the tension in the lines of his body. Genesis looked tired. His face was pinched and drawn, leading Cloud to believe he was probably in much more pain than he was letting on. Whilst he was keeping up with the group, his gait was rigid and he still favoured his left side.

"You ok?" Cloud asked him eventually.

As expected Genesis bristled at the question, before sighing and giving his head a little shake. "All that awaits is a sombre morrow… I am as well as can be expected." He seemed to set aside his haughty demeanour for a moment and quirked his lips up at Cloud in a rueful smile. "I fear despite Aerith's best work, I am not as I should be. Unfortunately, it is affecting my emotions somewhat." In other words, he was feeling cranky. Cloud thought that it was probably the closest thing to an apology he was going to get, and he acknowledged it as such with a tilt of his head.

They walked alongside each other in silence for a while as they continued through the grasslands. Sometimes the plains gave way for farmed fields that they had to skirt around the edges of, but more often than not they found themselves crossing fields that had obviously been left fallow and that were slowly being reclaimed by the grasses.

"The downsides of urbanisation," Genesis commented eventually, kicking at a small plant idly. "Everyone moves to the city for a better way of life, but who is going to grow the food?" He stooped down and pulled the plant he'd kicked, easily pulling it out by the root. "Crops like this corn just can't compete against the native flora; they lose out on nutrients, light and water. Eventually they aren't strong enough to bear fruit." He tossed the plant to one side disdainfully and looked around at the barren ground. "But this land should be fruitful, should be productive. The arrow has left the bow of the Goddess."

"Shinra wanted workers to build the city." Barret called back to them. The big man had turned around to face Genesis and Cloud and was walking backwards. "They offered money to help people get there, promised 'em jobs. When the jobs ran out, they was stranded with no way to get home."

"A familiar tale." Genesis murmured. "Tell me Cloud, you left the country to go to the big city. Was it all you dreamed of?"

Cloud snorted. "I don't know." The truth was that his memories of first going to Midgar were fractured and broken, interspersed with flashes of SOLDIER training that he knew he hadn't taken part in. Most of his younger years were lost to the green haze of Mako. "How about you? Were you from Midgar before you joined SOLDIER?"

"No. Angeal and I grew up in the same small village on one of the southern islands. You may have heard of Banora, it became famous for its dumbapple juice when I was younger."

"Oh, I used to love that!" Tifa swung around to beam at Genesis, who being on the receiving end of the smile seemed to stumble over his feet before smoothly righting himself. "It was my favourite as a child, but then they seemed to stop making it. Several years ago, now. I tried to get some for the bar but you just can't buy it anywhere anymore."

"You know, it was Genesis who invented-"

"Hold on, Angeal. It stopped production? When?" Genesis stopped walking suddenly, forcing everyone else to stop and face him.

"Really?" Angeal sounded surprised. "Genesis's parents used to own the factory… I wonder what happened?"

"Do you know when it became harder to find?" Genesis asked Tifa, who frowned in thought.

"A little after Cloud left Nibelheim, I think. So what was that… winter to spring of "

"That aligns with the time that we are supposedly killed in action, according to Shinra's databases." Genesis looked up and his gaze connected with Sephiroth's though the significance was lost on Cloud as he looked between then.

"Maybe your parents decided to shut down the factory when you went missing?" Angeal speculated, though he sounded unconvinced.

Genesis scoffed. "I find that unlikely, they always cared more about money than me." He dropped his head pensively "My friend, the fates are cruel. This is just one more mystery we have yet to uncover."

"We'll get to the bottom of it." Tifa had walked back to them and she now placed a hand on Genesis's arm. "There is probably a simple explanation."

Genesis patted her hand with his own in a silent thanks for her comfort. Cloud turned away awkwardly and moved up in line with Sephiroth at the front of the party. Catching Cloud's gaze briefly the SOLDIER continued onwards as before.

But the discussion had tainted the bright mood of the day. Now they walked in silence, other than occasional observations on the land they were travelling through. Due to the lack of humans, there were a lot of monsters around – small reptiles that seemed to travel in small packs that weren't particularly difficult to defeat but wore down on their nerves. In the distance they occasionally saw the lumbering zemzeletts, but the large and unwieldy bird-like monsters were easy to avoid.

And then, mid-afternoon, the weather turned to match their mood.

The dark clouds had been lurking all day to the west of their position, but Cloud had begun to believe they might hold off. However, that turned out to be a futile hope and when they did arrive they brought torrential rain showers and worse – at one point even a hailstorm that pelted them with ice pellets the size of luchille nuts.

Tifa and Aerith were both huddling underneath borrowed coats. Tifa had been leant Genesis's again, whilst Sephiroth had donated his to Aerith. This left Sephiroth bare chested, reminiscent of when he had come across Cloud dressed as a girl in the sewers underneath Wall Market and given him his jacket. Just the thought of that memory brought the blush back to Cloud's face and he carefully kept his eyes averted from Sephiroth's muscled back, visible periodically as his hair swung from side to side when he walked.

The rain continued well into the night. They eventually found a derelict barn to rest in, but it only kept off the worst of the weather and there was no dry wood for cooking. Luckily, even the monsters weren't prepared to venture out into the storm so they were able to rest peacefully.

Tempers were frayed the next morning and it was a sullen and silent group that continued on their journey. Within a couple of hours of daybreak, the rain shifted and the clouds eventually drifted away over the mountains to the east.

Unfortunately, once the sun came out it was almost unbearably hot. Cloud was distinctly uncomfortable as he strode along, the rain and mud now dried on his SOLDIER uniform making it as stiff as a board. His sword was beginning to show signs of rust and he knew he would be forced to clean it later. In front of him, Red strode along dejectedly. His nose and tail were drooping almost to the ground, although the fire on the end of his tail had somehow managed to keep alight despite the weather.

"You ok?"

A large yellow eye looked up at him balefully. "I am not used to this rain. My home is dry, and when the rains do come we have sufficient warning not to be caught out in it. We do not decide to blindly continue onwards regardless of our health and sanity." He shook his head and sighed deeply. "Forgive me, Cloud, that was uncalled for. I am merely finding this a trial. Hopefully from now on it will become easier."

Cloud gave him a small smile to show that he wasn't offended by his words.

"Hear, hear!" Genesis called from up ahead, craning his head around to look down at Red. "Do not apologise, we should have found shelter to wait out the storm." He faced forwards again to continue walking, his red leather coat slung over his right shoulder now that Tifa had returned it. From his position, Cloud had a clear view of his injured left shoulder – and the dark lines that wove their way jaggedly down his left arm spreading out from the edge of his sleeveless top. There was also a rip in the top running down his back near his shoulder blade, an uncomfortable reminder of the wing that had sprung forth.

"You had worse in Wutai," Angeal told him with a smile. Genesis huffed at him.

"But then it was orders, not by choice."

"I can give you orders if you'd like?" Cloud asked blandly, earning a guffaw from Barret.

"Ha! I knew you'd let bein' voted leader go to ya head."

Sephiroth, who had climbed a small rise close to their position, interrupted their banter by calling back to them. "I can see the river up ahead." He stood with his hair blowing away from him in the breeze, the sun glinting off the muscles of his chest as he too was carrying his coat on one arm now. Cloud scowled and looked away.

"My friend, your desire is the bringer of life." Genesis murmured reverently, something Cloud took to mean that he was relieved. With a good-natured eyeroll Angeal continued walking, Aerith falling into step beside him and continuing a quiet discussion about the plants they had seen on their travels so far.

It still took a couple of hours to reach the river's edge given the slow pace they were moving. Genesis walked stiffly, his limp noticeable. Angeal had taken to fussing over him, which hadn't helped the volatile SOLDIER's mood. Barret was also puffing away, his large frame making the hike more difficult for him than the others. When they did finally stand beside the water, watching it tumble merrily over small stones and collect in large pools further from the shoreline, the whole group decided it was time to take a break for the night. On the far side of the river the ground climbed steeply, soon turning into a rocky mountainside that towered over them to the north, but the side they were on was flat and had a good view of the surrounding area making it a good place to set up a camp.

Nevertheless, as the others started to unpack their equipment Cloud decided to scout the area to make sure nothing was lurking that shouldn't be. He waded across the river, swimming the deepest sections, as he aimed to climb up the rocks on the far side. He also appreciated the momentary solitude after spending so long in the company of others.

The elevated position on the rocks gave him a clear view of the countryside around them. He could see their camp easily on the sloping far bank, but it was too far for sound to travel up to his position. Beyond to the south lay the grassy plains and to his right he could just about see a shining line that denoted the sea through a gap in the mountain peaks. The air here was crisp and clean, the smog of Midgar nothing but a distant memory now.

Cloud took a deep breath in, relishing the quiet. All he could hear were the distant calls of eagles and running water from the river below. Travelling in a group was great, but he liked his own space from time to time.

Except…

"What are you doing here?"

His Sephiroth-shaped shadow stepped out from behind a boulder. Anyone else might have looked guilty at being called out, but Sephiroth was as serene as ever. "I was curious as to where you were going." He had obviously abandoned his leather coat at the campsite, his pale skin almost glowing in the afternoon sun. His hair hung wetly down his back, evidence that he had followed Cloud's route exactly and forded the river behind him. It turned the silver a darker grey and the added weight made it sway even more as he walked.

Cloud pursed his lips and turned to look at the view again. "I was just checking out these rocks, make sure that nothing was going to crawl out of them."

"Then it makes sense for you to have backup."

The way Sephiroth said it, so smugly as though he knew he was in the right, really irritated Cloud in that moment. The only possible response was to stalk away with a scowl.

Sephiroth followed, of course.

Eventually Cloud sighed, turning to face the SOLDIER. "You don't have to come everywhere with me."

Sephiroth looked at him, confusion in his green eyes. "I know."

Cloud rolled his eyes at him and leant back against the rock he was standing by. Sephiroth took another couple of steps closer, now standing directly in front of Cloud. His eyes were searching Cloud's face. "Do you object to my presence?"

Cloud placed his hand up to ruffle the hair at the base of his skull, before realising with a huff that it was a Zack gesture and throwing it down irritably instead.

"I don't know." He ground out, fighting back the irritation. He turned and kicked a stone away from him, surprised at the sound of water when it bounced off the rock and out of sight. Investigating, Cloud found that the sound of running water was closer than expected. A small stream tumbled over the edge of a rounded boulder, dropping a couple of metres into a deep pool at its base. Another small stream led away from the pool, presumably heading towards the much large river down below.

The urge to take advantage of the setting to wash away the lingering grime from the rain and the subsequent sweat was almost overpowering, but he hesitated as he realised Sephiroth was still there watching him closely.

"This is a good location to bathe." The SOLDIER noted, echoing Cloud's thoughts once again. Cloud shifted uneasily.

"Right."

Not having a good enough reason not to, Cloud started to remove his armour. As he did so, he blinked away flashbacks that didn't belong to him, of laughing and joking in communal showers after missions. Right, this was something SOLDIERs did a lot. And it was likely that Cloud had done this before as well, in a time between arriving in Midgar and the Mako when he was just a trooper working for Shinra. But he didn't remember that, and even so he had certainly never bathed with Sephiroth anywhere in his vicinity before.

He resolutely ignored the SOLDIER as he scrubbed the dirt out of his outfit and placed it on a rock to dry in the sun. He even ignored him when he shuffled over to the waterfall and used it as a shower, the cold water jolting him out of his thoughts momentarily as it washed away the accumulated grime from the days of travelling and gave him the chance to wash his hair. He certainly didn't look at the way that Sephiroth's long silver hair darkened even further as it became saturated in the water, or that his back was like smooth marble as he bent over to remove his harness. And he closed his eyes tightly when Sephiroth started to remove his trousers.

Whilst Sephiroth took his turn under the waterfall, Cloud pulled his wet outfit back on in a bid to get away more quickly. He was about to tell Sephiroth that he was heading back down to the camp when he made the mistake of looking back over at the other man. Suddenly, all of his words seemed to desert him.

Sephiroth was standing underneath the fall, water cascading down onto his hair. His face was upturned to keep it out of the spray as his fingers combed through the silver strands. It was difficult to tell where the water ended and his hair began, such was its liquid nature.

As he was standing with the waterfall behind him, Cloud was presented with a full view of his front. Cloud's eyes trailed lower, chasing a droplet of water that slowly ran down from his collarbone, pausing momentarily at the hollow in his throat before it started to make its way down between his pectoral muscles. Cloud's mouth felt dry and his stomach tight and uncomfortable. In fact, all of him became hot and uncomfortable – perhaps a sign of fever? He knew he should just go back down to the camp but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away.

"Cloud?" Sephiroth's voice slowly broke through his reverie and his gaze shot back upwards. Sephiroth was now looking at him directly with a concerned gaze. The bright green eyes bored into his own, pinning him where he stood.

Cloud's vision flickered and a second pair of eyes interlaid with Sephiroth's. The same shape and colour, but these filled with malice and reflecting the fires of Nibelheim. Suddenly he wasn't standing on a mountainside, but in the centre of a burning village. The sound of tumbling water morphed into the sound of roaring flames.

"That which binds us together would be no more. And I would be loath to live in such a world.

"Do not forget what I am to you, Cloud."

"Cloud?" Cloud blinked and the image flickered, replacing the Sephiroth from his memories with the one in front of him. He staggered backwards a step, his hand reaching up to grasp at his aching head. "Are you ok?" Sephiroth asked in concern, disregarding his own nudity as he was suddenly standing directly in front of Cloud. One hand reached out as though to grasp Cloud's arm, but he flinched away before it could touch him.

"I… have to go." He turned on his heel and fled both the waterfall and Sephiroth, leaving the SOLDIER alone on the mountainside as he all but ran back to the camp.