Crisis Core: The Female SOLDIER

28

It's been a few months since Angeal's passing, and Sera was at the SOLDIER wing once more. After the Modeoheim incident, both she and Zack had been put on standby. They did not know the reason why. But it seems that the company had gone into disarray. That was a month ago now but there was still no word of them being back on duty. Sera didn't mind though, she could use the vacation. Zack, on the other hand, looked as though he was punched in the gut.

She was heading towards the training room when she found that it was occupied, taken up by an infantryman with a visor over his eyes and swinging a training a sword around at a simulated monster before dodging another one coming at his back. And she noticed the trainee had spiky blonde hair.

She knew only one person with that kind of hair.

'Cloud?' Curiosity now peaked, she just stood outside the training room and watched through the clear glass as he fought off the simulation monsters coming at him. She analyzed his movements, watched as he twisted around to block a clawed swipe coming at him before taking the monster's head off. His stance was firm, but a bit jerky at some parts especially whenever he had to change abruptly in order to take on opponent behind him which shows he might have some kind of blind spot, and because of his stature he cannot take on those from a distance so he had to rush towards them which she can see causes some problems.

Then he made an amateur mistake of leaving himself open, giving the monster a chance to deal a fatal blow that could kill him if Sera hadn't stepped in and taken down the monster, thus ending the simulation.

"Sera!" Cloud quickly took off the visor from his face, revealing a pair of surprised blue eyes underneath the spiky blond hair as he looked at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this room was taken."

"It's not. I was just about to see if the training room was free so I could do some training for a bit when I saw you using it," Sera held out a hand for the visor and Cloud handed it over to her so she could take a look at it. "This is the simulation test practice for those who want to be in SOLDIER." Sera raised a brow at him in question.

A faint blush tinted his pale cheeks. "I...I wanted to see if I could get into SOLDIER. I've been trying for two years now, but as you can see..." Cloud slumped his shoulders as emphasis.

"Hn."

"Um... Sera?"

"What is it?"

"How did you... get accepted into SOLDIER?"

"...It wasn't by choice," Cloud's brow shot up in surprise. "I have... an ability, so to speak. A unique ability that got the higher ups and scientists interested and therefore they put me in SOLDIER. And since I'm under Sephiroth's custody, I was to be his student as well. I didn't have any other option so I just took it."

"Wait. Sephiroth's your dad??"

A snort escaped her and she shook her head. "No. Definitely not. But I'm under his tutelage. You could say he's my warden, or my guardian, since he was the one who found me and took me in when I was an orphan."

"How... how did that happen?"

"I rather not say."

Silence ensued.

"Cloud, why do you want to be in SOLDIER?"

Cloud was blushing again, the teenage cadet ducking his head shyly. "Sephiroth. I heard about him and I wanted to be in SOLDIER, because I wanted to be a hero like him. If I was a SOLDIER, then maybe the folks back home would finally accept me. And well, there's this girl..."

'Ah,' Sera could see where this was going. It was a typical story. "You want to impress her, is it?"

A shy nod was her answer. "And, I made a promise to her. I promised to protect her if she was ever in danger. I couldn't before so..."

"You want to be strong enough to protect her. That's why you want to be in SOLDIER," Sera finished for him, receiving another nod.

"Well, you're not getting anywhere at the rate you're going," Sera bluntly commented, looking at the statistics.

Cloud's shoulders seemed to slump even more, a dark cloud hanging over him, no pun intended.

"But, with the proper training and guidance, you might just make it."

Cloud's head then shot up at the statement, eyes widening in shock at Sera's implication. "You-Are you saying-y-you're willing to train me??" He spluttered.

Sera shrugged. "I have nothing better to do. And you seem to have a much better reason in wanting to become SOLDIER compared to the others who wanted to be in just for stupid reasons like fame and glory and girls flocking over to them. And your sword skills are pretty impressive for a regular infantryman but it still needs some work. So when I have time, I'll train you. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Cloud got a flick in the forehead as a response.

"None of that. I told you to just call me Sera," Cloud nodded, rubbing at where he got flicked at. "Now," Sera put the visor away and pulled out her sword. "Attack me," Sera raised her sword up.

"What?! But-"

"I need to see your combat skills, Cloud, so I'll know what needs work and what sucks," Sera cut him off. "Now, attack me," When he still did not move, Sera just sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Then defend yourself."

And with that, Sera dashed towards him, about to land a strike on the infantryman when she was quickly blocked by his sword. Sera smirked. 'Good, at least he's blocking rather than running.' And with that, their training began.

"We'll stop here for today," Sera spoke up an hour later, seeing Cloud with his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

"Wait," Cloud protested, still panting. "I can... still keep going."

"Cloud, you look like you're going to pass out. You need to rest. If you continue you're only going to injure yourself. You need to know when to stop and when you're still able to continue," Sera told him.

Cloud, seeing no way around, just sighed and nodded in disappointment. Sera noticed.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. There's no point in rushing. It'll only cause more mistakes. You'll get there when you get there. You just need to be patient. Gaia knows Zack could use some. Trust me, I've had to deal with Zack on missions and he's damn impatient. I dunno how many times I've had to save his ass just because he can't wait for the enemy patrol to leave," Cloud chuckled at her words and she smirked.

"So far, from what I've seen from you, your overall skills are rather impressive, coming from a regular patrol guard. But there a few kinks that need to be worked on, such as your sword, I can see it's heavy for you at the moment and it tires you out fast. Maybe a lighter sword would be better, like mine, then you can carry two."

"You mean dual blade wielding?" Sera nodded. "That or you can use one of them to throw at an opponent out of your reach to take it out."

"Is that why you have a gun?" Again, Sera nodded. "It helps me get rid of those too far for me to reach," and she grinned almost sinisterly. "And it's fun to scare the living shit out of my enemies -and comrades- when a gunshot goes off and someone suddenly drops to the ground."

Cloud almost shivered at the look in her eyes.

"Anyway, those are what we would need to working on. You can start by looking up on dual wielding but for now just rest up. We'll meet up here again tomorrow. Same timing," Cloud nodded, then he looked thoughtful.

"Um, Sera?" He got the female SOLDIER's attention. "Not to sound ungrateful but... why are you doing this? Willing to train me I mean."

"I thought I already told you."

"But, we just met. I just... I don't understand," and Sera saw the look, the look of self-doubt, the confusion, and the wondering if he was worth it.

It was the same look she herself had many years ago.

"It's because you remind me of myself," Cloud's head snapped up to her at that and she gave him a small smile before turning to walk out. "Get some sleep, soldier. I'll see you on our next training session."