I don't own Final Fantasy 7.

Hello and welcome to my first Final Fantasy story ever. I had the idea for this story after reading another FF7 story called "The Difference One Life Makes" by Irish-Brigid. Its an awesome story and one that I've enjoyed immensely. I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't already.

Anyways, this story will be an AU because of one simple fact. Cloud actually does make Soldier. It takes place right after Angeal's death when he becomes a monster and Zack must kill him. If you've played FF7 Crisis Core then you know what I'm talking about.

The main reason I'm writing this is because as a fan of FF7, I always wondered why Soldier was so…down played. Sure, we got to see Zack in action and Cloud thought he was in soldeir but that was it. Soldier are suppose to be the best of the best. An elite fighting force of the Shinra company. We see Zack in action but not much else. So I decided to see how far I could go with this project.

This will be a test to see if I can write FF7 stories. For now, the only pairing that will be mentioned will be Zack/Aeris. Yes, I know that her name is spelled Aerith but I played the original FF7 game back in the day and it was Aeris back then so I'm sticking with it.

I don't want to spoil too much but while this does and will involve the same plot of FF7 and Crises Core, it will be different. I'm not just going to follow the game to a T. I'm making changes and I'm doing things my way. I want to be as original as I can while keeping the characters as real as I possibly can. Hopefully you will all like this.

Well on with the story.

Soldier

Chapter 1: Who Was That Guy?

A group of young men stood in attendance as their superior officer came into view. His name was Zack Fair, Soldier First Class. He was a tall man, standing over 6 feet tall with well groomed but spiky black hair. He wore the Soldier First Class uniform which consisted of a black sleeveless turtle-neck and black baggy pants, with leather accents that held his armor in place as well as the large sword on his back.

With a kind smile, Zack look at the many heads that were facing him. This was one of his duties now that his mentor was no longer with them. Angeal…the former Soldier First class, mentor of many Soldier First Class Hopefuls. That especially held true with Zack since Angeal had trained him since he first joined Soldier.

"So you're all rookies, huh?" he asked them.

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" the new recruits said at once.

There were 30 new Soldier Third Class operatives, all wearing the Soldier uniform. The Uniform for 3rd was the same as for 1rst except that the color was blue instead of black. They were also issued grey helmets and a Soldier standard sword.

"A piece of advice…no, an order…" Zack said as he looked at them all. "Embrace your dreams…and no matter what, always protect your Soldier honor…"

"Sir!" they all called out again.

"We're call coming back here alive, you got that?" Zack asked them.

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" they rang out again.

"Dismissed!" Zack said with a wave of his arm.

As the recruits started filing out, two third class members walked up to him. One was confident in his walk while the other seemed a bit nervous. With their helmets on, Zack couldn't see who they were.

"Sir, permission to speak, sir?" the confident of the two asked.

"Go ahead…" Zack nodded.

"Sir, my friend and I would just like to say that we won't let you down. We will uphold our Soldier Honor no matter what." the Soldier said. Then he nudged his buddy before saying. "Isn't that right, Cloud?"

"Cloud? Is that really you?" Zack asked in disbelief.

With a shy nod, Cloud raised the visor from his helmet and revealed his face to his friend. "H-Hi Zack…" he said sheepishly.

"Wait…if you were here…then who was that guy I told to hang in there…?" Zack asked as he looked over their heads toward the Infantry barracks.

"You know him?" the Soldier asked Cloud, surprised that he hadn't known before. "How come you didn't tell me this before?"

"Um…I don't know…" Cloud said, his head hanging a bit.

"Its okay…mind introducing me then?" the Soldier said.

With a nod, Cloud began the introductions. "Zack, this is my friend, Zhane, Zhane, this is my friend Zack."

"Nice to meet you, Zhane. Any friend of Cloud's is a friend of mine." Zack said as he shook Zhane's hand.

"Like wise. Though I have to ask, how did you guys meet?" Zhane asked. "I met him last month when we tried to pass the exam for the fourth time in a row."

"How about we have a few drinks to get to know each other better?" Zack asked them.

"I'm down…" Zhane said.

"Okay…" Cloud agreed.

"So I have to ask…what's it like being a first…" Zhane asked as they headed toward the bar.

End of chapter.

Well what did you think? Did any of you catch the joke near the end there? If you played the game then you know what I mean. if not, well look it up. As for the Zhane character, I'm going be expanding the roster of known Soldier members so that we can see a wider range of them. Kunsel will be in this story as well as other members that are seen throughout the game. Eventually Sephiroth will make an appearance. But for now, we're going to get to know the main characters of this story. But that's for the next chapter. Zhane is going to be Cloud's friend during their missions together since Zack will probably be busy hunting down Genesis.

The next chapter will be longer with some more character development and some humor. The fighting won't start until chapter 3 where Cloud gets assigned his first mission. Well till next time.