~Cloud's POV~

Lightning kills another Gorgonopsid before sheathing her weapon and turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Want to go exploring? You're getting restless." I smile at her observation and stand from the rock I was sitting on.

"You know me so well." Rolling her eyes, she leads the way out of the narrow but natural passageway to the plains. The ground always has a small vibration to it due to the giant adamantoises walking around, and the shrieks of flying creatures and other animals comfort my homesick ears. This is what the area around Kalm always sounded like, not to mention the canyons.

"Is it strange for me to miss home already?" I mutter. She shakes her head.

"I wanted to go back the instant I wound up in yours, but I didn't want to leave toward the end."

"Nice to know you loved Gaia," I give her a teasing smile. She rolls her eyes and shoulder bumps me.

"Nice to know you love Pulse."

"I just got here," I shrug. "Mind showing me around?"

"No problem," she grabs my wrist and pulls me along to a large plateau in the middle of the plains. When she releases me, my jog slows to a walk as I look up in wonder. Lightning jumps the twenty five feet up as if it was nothing and smirks down at me.

"How am I..."

"There's less of a gravitational pull on Pulse than there is on Gaia. At least, that's what Sazh says. Just jump, it's easy."

"Um..." I frown, awkwardly bending my knees to jump up. She laughs and shakes her head.

"Just do it, don't even think."

I try to do as I'm told and feel myself launch into the air, though not quite as high as Light and end up catching the edge of the ledge she's on. Laughing again, she grabs my hand and pulls me up before I wipe the tan dust of my dark clothes.

"Easy, huh?"

"You're just not used to it," she rolls her eyes for the one millionth time since I've known her and jumps up to the next ledge. I groan and climb up like a normal person. It takes nearly five minutes just for me to get up, only to see Light smirking at me in amusement. "And here I was wondering if you'd decided to go ride a chocobo." I scoff and glare down at my dirt covered clothing.

"Please tell me you guys have showers."

"Cold ones," she shrugs. "We're still waiting for Sazh to come get the pipes fixed."

"Great," I groan.

"You're such a whiner," she sighs. "Here, sit down. I packed lunch before we left."

"You did?" I raise an eyebrow.

"What did you think this bag was for?" She pats the satchel at her waist.

"A purse?" I playfully shrug, knowing very well she isn't into things like that.

"Shut up and sit," she shoves me and I obey, somewhat fearing for my life. Then she plops down beside me and opens up her bag, revealing two sandwiches and one large can of what looks like an energy drink of some kind. "Here."

I bite into the kinda warm sandwich and try to hide my grimace. When I look away from the awesome view, I see that Lightings almost done with hers, studying the land carefully. Then she notices my picky eating and scoffs, finishing her food.

"You're so ungrateful."

"No I'm not, I'm just not hungry," I lie.

"Give," she holds out a hand. Sighing, I hand her the sandwich and watch her gobble that down before opening the can and taking a sip. Shoving it at me, she raises an eyebrow.

"Thirsty?"

"You sure know how to make a guy feel special," I chuckle, taking a sip and handing it back. "And that tasted like adamantoise crap."

"So is that what Tifa served me every night?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

We laugh at our stupid conversation before settling into a comfortable silence, Lightning hesitantly laying her head on my shoulder.

"Cloud?"

"Hm?"

"Am I the only one that gets to see you like this? I mean, without your walls and such?"

"I think so," I blink, trying to remember the last time I felt comfortable like this. Aeris maybe? Never Tifa. "What about me? Are you like this around everyone else?"

"Nah. Only Snow," she teases, obviously joking. "I've got a thing for blondes."

"Really?" I smirk, turning my head at her. "So that Snow guy... He hot?"

"Like a fire," she replies playfully.

"What about me? I bet I'm way better looking."

"Eh. You're cute, I guess."

"You guess?" I pretend to be offended.

"I'm in love with a moron in a trenchcoat, remember?" I scoff and brush my nose against hers.

"You sure about that?"

"Maybe." I turn my face away so that her lips brush against my cheek instead of my own.

"Hey, I don't want to taste that crap sandwich you just ate."

"I hate you," she huffs. Oh Lightning.

"I know."

~|~|~|~|~

"Hey Hope, where's Snow?" Lightning calls when when get back.

"He took Vincent to go see Fang," he says around a mouthful of food. Light sighs and shakes her head in disappointment before frowning at Tifa.

"He didn't force the guy, did he?"

"No, Vincent said he wanted to," Tifa shakes her head. I groan and flop back onto the couch.

"You're so whiny," Light scoffs, throwing her empty bag at me.

"You didn't know that?"

"Shut up."

The front door opens and there stands a tired looking Snow.

"Snow!" Tifa calls cheerfully. "What took so long?!"

"Let me see.... To put the whole thing short... Fang pinned Vincent, then we got into some huge battle between Oerba and all the Cei'th from the Tower, and then Vincent raised a little girl from the dead because Fang was being a stubborn pain in the butt. Anything new?"

"She punched him?" I raise an eyebrow. Light shakes her head at me.

"Hey, if she wasn't gonna give him a second chance deep down in her dark soul, she would be strangled him."

"True," Snow nods, pouring himself a cup of water. When he sits on the couch, Tifa lays her head on his lap.

"So, I more detail, spill." Snow furrows his eyebrows at her for a second before pouring half of his water on her face. She shrieks and sits up quickly, rubbing it away before scowling at him. He fights a grin.

"What? You said spill."

"I hate you," she growls before scooting to the other side if the couch. All I have do is face palm.

~Fang's POV~

Alec sighs and shakes his head.

"Why are you so grumpy today, Fang?"

"It's nothing," I snap as Vincent heals his arm. I think the kid broke his leg too. I need to stop calling him ''kid", he's almost as old as I am. "Just... Mind you're own business."

"Leg," Vincent demands softly. Alec groans and lifts his injured leg for him.

"It's got to be something. You're never like this, unless it's that time of the month."

"Alec," I hiss through my gritted teeth. Vincent tries to ignore us, but I can see his face growing redder at Alec's statement. "If I didn't like you, I would've punched you by now." Take Vinnie. Vincent tenses just a teeny bit as he works, his movements becoming less gentler.

"Ow! Chill out there Vincent, you just pinched me with your bear claw." Vince glares at him until he cowers.

"Oh give him a break, Vampy. Don't make him pee himself, or you're taking care of that too." Then I turn back to Lokir. "What about the wall they were building to keep these things out?"

"I haven't had a report in over eight days," he says with a stiff shake of his head. "The people you chose are very... Set in their ways."

"They were the only people around here that can do anything with architecture," I defend. "Why don't we just go check on then today?"

"Right now?" Alec whines.

"Unless you want to wait until the next attack," I shoot back, not looking at him. "How far is it?"

"Only a mile or so away. The Cei'th probably got over it, or around. We might have to stick to a force field."

"I thought that would mess up the waystone signal?"

"It would. But do we have much of a choice? We lost seven people out there today. How many more will we lose if you insist on this wall that might not even work?"

"If something terrible happens next battle," I scoff, "Then I'll consider it. Not when I don't have the resources for it and could have a perfectly cheap wall."

"Deal," Lokir narrows his eyes on me. "Are you almost done, Valentine? Alec is part of the city council too."

"He'll need crutches," Vincent sighs, backing away. "The cure is not leveled high enough."

"Great," I roll my eyes. "Ayana, go tell your grandma we need a pair of crutches." The little girl nods and runs off. I frown at Vincent. "I don't trust you enough to leave you here. You're coming too."

We set off after Ayana returns, Sonyeh in the back staring at the vial around her neck. People have come to recognize the four of us as a sort of leader group, despite Sonyeh's young age and her inability to speak. Vincent makes sure to keep his distance from here and nearly ends up bumping into me three times before I finally shove him away a good four feet and stomp ahead. Weirdo. Lokir glares back at him when I grumble something about annoying ex lovers and instinctively moves a little closer. He's always been my main man, so to speak, and he's always been on the protective side when it came to me. That's just the way it always was. And its definitely making Vampy Boy jealous, whether he shows it or not.

"Hey Fang!" Alec hobbles closer to the side that Lokir isn't trying to kill people on. "Do you think they'll be anywhere near done when we get there?"

"I don't know," I shrug. "Probably not. They just started three months ago."

"Exactly."

"You're an idiot," I laugh, ruffling his sand colored hair. He grins at me before dramatically groaning. "My armpits hurt."

"... Okay?" Lokir raises an eyebrow. I elbow him in the ribs.

"Don't be a jerk. That's my job."

"Then what's mine?" He frowns.

"You just stand there and look pretty!" Alec calls over my head. Lokir scowls at him before looking back down at me.

"Can you fire him?"

"I didn't hire him."

"Hey, are we rhyming for any particular reason?!" Alec yells.

"Are you yelling for any particular reason?" I cringe. That was right in my ear. Sonyeh catches my eyes and rolls hers. Like I said, she's weird and all, but she's a good friend. I wink at her before looking slightly up at Alec. "So you like Lokir, huh?"

"Not like that," he crinkles his nose. "He's just a ladies man."

"No I'm not," Lokir glares at him.

"You're cranky," the younger man sticks his tongue out. Have I made it obvious enough how immature this guy is?

"And you're about to lose a tooth."

"Hey now, you're both hot, now quit arguing," I smirk, clapping a hand down over Alec's mouth before he can say something that will lose him a tooth. Or three. Maybe twelve. Ooo, Vinnie's steaming now, I bet.

"I love this bridge," Lokir mutter sarcastically as we reach the long, rickety bridge that stretches across a barren canyon. After we cross, it's a five minute walk to the wall.

"Dude, if I don't rest soon I'll either fall off this thing or my arms will fall off," Alex whines.

"Good," Lokir fires back. I roll my eyes and push the general forward.

"You and Sonyeh go ahead. I'll sit here and babysit this kid for a few minutes."

"You want me to leave you alone with him?" Lokir nods toward Vincent.

"I know this guy. He knows I'll kick his butt if he tries anything funny."

"You sure?"

"Lokir, chill," I raise an eyebrow. "You know I can handle myself."

"I know, I just..." He shakes his head. "Forget it. Cmon Sonyeh." The teen sighs and flicks two fingers off her forehead playfully in my direction before following the general. Alec sighs happily and sits down in the dying on the grass.

"Y' know, Vince, I hate to point this out, but you're the youngest guy here."

"... I'm aware."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Sixty."

"Wait, so you just had a really short crystal sleep then?"

"Not exactly," I sit down beside him. "He's not exactly around here. Neither is Snow's little admirer or Light's stalker."

"Light has a stalker?" He laughs.

"Hey, they like each other," I smirk and roll my eyes. "They're from another planet."

"The one you guys went to?"

"Yep," I nod. He frowns at Vince.

"Gosh, you're nice for a dumper." Vincent blinks at him blankly and I chuckle.

"Alec, sometimes it's hard not to compare you to a five year old."

"Hey! I'm..."

"We know," I fluff his hair. "And the second we can't see Lokir's big ol' head, we're crossing."

He groans and flops onto his back tiredly. I turn to look at Vincent, but his eyes are locked on the bridge. Lost in thought, huh? Being me, I really want to pick on him, so I throw my bangle at his head. He jumps and holds his head where I hit him, scowling at me. I just smirk and cross my legs.

"So, anything interesting happen on Gaia?"

"... I don't know."

"How could you not know?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I have been asleep," he looks away.

"For fortyish years?!" Alex exclaims.

"One," Vincent mumbles.

"Oh, you mean in that freaky coffin of yours?" I cock my head to the side. His crimson eyes flicker to mine for a moment before he looks back at the bridge.

"Perhaps."

"You're so straightforward," I scoff before looking at Alec. "Ready to go?"

"I think."

"Cmon then." I yank my bangle back on before pulling Alec to his feet and handing him his crutches.

"Let's just hope I don't slip and die."

"Well someone's optimistic."

"Yeah yeah," he brushes me off before starting to cross.

"Cmon Vampy," I call back as I step on. I won't lie, this thing is nerve wracking. The boards are old and cracked, the split ropes that serve as a railing are ineffective if you slip under or trip over them, and the whole thing swings while you go. I guess that's why I pity the poor guy behind me when I turn around to check on him. But I think my pity is drowned out by the realization that hits me like a ton of bricks.

Vincent Valentine, the man who can take down dragons without blinking an eye, is afraid of heights.

He stiffly and slowly shuffles down the middle of the bridge, stiffening and pursing his lips together through every shake Alec causes. He finally looks up to see me watching and looks back down at the two hundred foot drop below us. Feeling the pity arise again, I walk toward him and grab his arm, leading him gently. Vanille's scared of heights too, but I usually just drag her. This different somehow. Dang it Vince. Why can't I just hate you? Alec doesn't even bother to care that I'm acting weird, whereas Lokir would've tackled and interrogated Vince for touching me by now. Silly general.