"Paper, scissors, rock!"

"Paper, scissors, rock!"

"Hah! That's done! Storm's on our side!" Erratic exclaimed."That leaves you and Runner now!"

"Dammit, a paper-scissors-rock game is NOT the way to choose a team!" Simon argued.

"Yes, it is!"

"It is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

The sound of giggling from above their heads distracted the men from their argument, if it could be called that. The tightropes were at a floor above, and they were stretched across... the floor. Resembling a link fence, the ropes were a feet away from each other, crossing. The empty spaces were one square feet among the wires, and it took a nimble person familiar with that 'ground' to actually leap about as the girls were doing.

"Free for all," Politesse announced, leaping and sending a few shurikens into Magdalena's direction. The pilot swiftly leapt another direction, a spear in her hand which she tried to swipe at Politesse. They seems suspended in the air, trying to gain some more ground and advantage. Lucrecia quietly entered the fray, the tail end of her whip entangling about Politesse's and Magdalena's legs and jerking them off track.

"Lucrecia!" Magdalena landed on a foot and leapt again, spear leading for Lucrecia. Lucrecia held up a hand blocking Magdalena with a defensive shield. Magdalena, however, swiftly cut through it, while Politesse headed towards them with knives between her fingers. Nimbly, Lucrecia dodged a nearly fatal blow, while Politesse threw the knives, holding on tightly to the thin wire-like strings that were attached to the hilts. Magdalena quickly swirled away, her feet moving across the tightropes with dexterity enchanced over the years.

They looked like angels, their movements like a dance in the sky, Sephiroth thought as he observed from below where he had joined the young men. Then he turned his attention back to the ground. "Is this a training session or something else?" he inquired the gawking men.

"A training session," Runner quickly said, tearing his eyes away from Politesse. "We were just deciding who goes on whose team."

Sephiroth nodded. "I see. And what have you decided so far?"

"Simon and me on one side, Blazer, Storm and Erratic on the other."

"Not quite a fair split, is it, three against two?" Sephiroth considered the split carefully. Erratic and Blazer could hold their own by themselves as a team, while a duo with Runner and either Storm or Simon would do just as well. However, Storm was obviously the most powerful of them all, and most likely to be able to go against any of the others, whether they teamed up or not. Sephiroth himself could fight all of them without much difficulty; only Storm and Lucrecia as a team would pose a real problem. "Let's see your weapon routines," he told them.

"Storm and Runner use swords. Erratic uses a rod while Blazer and I use rifles," Simon explained. "But the two of us aren't averse to spears and rods, either. Actually, the Turks use guns most of the time, just that whenever we train close combat we've got to use some conventional weapons."

Erratic held out his weapon, a steel rod about seven feet long and an inch in width. No ordinary weapon, Sephiroth mentally told himself as he noted the materia slots at the ends. Still, it looked quite evil in its grayness. Blazer was leaning on a spear, the spearhead dangerously above his head. Runner was holding onto a large sword that resembled the Buster Sword that Zack once owned. Sephiroth felt a pang when he thought of his friend. Simon was polishing the head of his spear.

"Very well. Erratic, what can you do with your rod?"

Erratic nodded sharply before performing a swift routine, swiping his rod right, left before swing around to deliver a kick and rolling to the side and up to strike an imaginary opponent in front of him. Cartwheeling to his right, he literally bounced back into a defensive stance, kicked up sharply and swiped the rod one last time.

Sephiroth clapped his hands. Erratic bowed to him and went off to the side. "Blazer?" He didn't know them well, therefore wanted to see for himself exactly what they could do. Blazer's perfomance was just as good as Erratic's, his movements precise and his thrusts strong. Simon went next with a routine similar to Blazer's, but he was less athletic and focused more on his strength. Storm fought like his father, and Sephiroth almost thought he was looking at Cloud himself, the movements were so similar.

Runner reminded the ex-general of Tseng in the way he carried himself while fighting. Tseng had been in SOLDIER for a short time, and Sephiroth had once dueled with the former leader of the Turks. Tseng had been very competent with the Buster Sword Zack had lent him for the duration. If he had had a sword in the Temple of the Ancients when Sephiroth had encountered him, more or less he would be alive still. But he hadn't, and Sephiroth had cut him down easily.

Like a reincarnation of Tseng, Sephiroth said to himself. And Politesse a young version of her mother, Elena. Everyone knew of the feelings between Elena and Tseng which never could have been played out. Sephiroth remembered smirking over it as he made his way to the City of the Ancients.

"That was good," he told the young man. Runner smiled like a little boy receiving praise. Despite his mature look, he looked so uncertain like a teenager entering the world. Long ago, Sephiroth reflected, he had been like that once, but the world had turned a cold shoulder to him. It still hurt to think about it. It wasn't long before the young men decided to have a free for all like the girls.

Sephiroth decided to join them. It was thrilling to do so, their backstabs and brittle alliances obviously reinforced by comradeship. Runner and Storm faced him off as Simon, Blazer and Erratic sparred among themselves, trying to outdo one another. Runner was even more dangerous than he first seemed performing the simple katana movement. Underneath the shy charm was a deadly fighter that had no qualms at dealing blows that could kill with one swipe. Althought Sephiroth was stronger, he realized that he had underestimated the young Turk.

Together, Storm and Runner made a good team, each understanding the other's next moves and moving in, making decisions as if they were connected by telepathy of some sort. But Storm's moves were hauntingly familiar... not because they were like Cloud's moves. Sephiroth thought at first how much Storm resembled Zack. Zack, the only man in SOLDIER who had offered to be his friend. The only man who had been his window the the rest of the world. The only man who cared. Those memories rose like ghosts in Sephiroth's mind.

But he finally figured out what it was that was so consternating about the way Storm fought. Everytime Sephiroth chose his next parry, Storm would be striking out with the very same move he had planned. Like combat with one's self...

The feel of it was disturbing. Sephiroth had so many personal demons it was hard dealing with the fact that he had a mirror in front of him, fighting him.

But how do you know this is a demon? a voice within him asked. He could easily be your saviour angel.

The voice distracted him and Storm managed to pin him down, the Ultima Sword tip at his throat. Runner's large sword also was against his neck and both young men grinned at him, delighted to have had that oppurtunity. Sephiroth smiled wryly, bowing and acceding to defeat. Simon, Blazer and Erratic were already panting off the side. Simon was gently hitting Blazer with the butt of his spear, Blazer was hitting Erratic with the butt of his spear and Erratic was hitting Simon with his rod. Obviously they were still trying to keep up the fight, but it looked rather ridiculous.

"Are we done?" Sephiroth asked. He didn't feel tired, but he was different. Runner looked out of breath, but still could grin as he bent over, hands on his knees. Storm looked fine. Sephiroth supposed it was due to his father's genes.

"Can we... can we go now? I really could use a drink..." Blazer panted. He glared tiredly at Simon. "Quit that."

"Then tell Erratic to quit thumping me," Simon slurred tiredly.

"Erratic, quit thumping Sim-"

"Then you quit thumping me, dammit!!" Erratic snapped wearily.

"Oh, okay." Blazer didn't put down his spear. "Sorry. Too tired to even drop the spear."

"You're hopeless."

"Gee. Never noticed that."

Runner rolled his eyes, walked over to them and took their weapons away.

"Appreciate that, Runner," Erratic said gratefully. "Blazer here was about to carve a hole into my shoulder."

"Get the girls down and we'll see about lunch," Storm told them, calmly helping Runner put away the weapons into the cabinets at the side of the training ground.

"Lita! Maggie! Lu!!" Simon yelled to the girls, still sparring above them. "Maggie we can see up your skirt!!"

"(*&# it," came the reply as Magdalena swiped another blow at Lucrecia, who responded with a shove of her lower palm onto the blond girl's jaw. Magdalena cringed at the pain as Politesse fell from above to pin the smaller, youngest member of Avalanche. She bounced off a shield instead.

"Lu, it's not fair to keep on using magic, you know," Politesse complained.

Lucrecia only nodded in reply and a knife went flying towards sunglasses. Politesse got out of the way and caught the hilt. She was about to throw it back when Simon and Blazer hollered again for them to come down.

"What the #*$( is wrong with you?" Magdalena snapped at them, clearly irritated at having the play cut short.

"Get down," Blazer half-heartedly yelled.

The girls checked their watches. "Looks like we missed practice," Lucrecia said in surprise. They had been so caught up in combat they hadn't noticed. Magdalena immediately felt her sore muscles. Lucrecia, too, felt the tiredness but she didn't show it. Politesse looked as blank as her father, but beads of sweat rolled down her face.

"Knowing the guys, they're calling us down 'cos they're hungry," Magdalena said.

"Or dog-tired," Politesse put in, looking down. "You okay, bro?" she called.

Erratic rolled his eyes upwards at her. "I... think so."

"You think so?"

In reply, Erratic fell to the floor and refused to get up.

"Yeap," Politesse sighed. "C'mon, let's go. We'll have our singing practice after lunch."

"Your brother's ()#*$ing hopeless," Magdalena commented as they reached the ground floor. They approached the young men. "What're your plans for the rest of the day?"

"We'll decide over lunch," Blazer said non-commitedly. "Althought watching you guys at practise wouldn't hurt." He grinned and winked at them.

"Again?!" Simon exclaimed when out of the corner of his eye he saw Storm and Lucrecia exchanging a kiss. They ignored him, however, smiling warmly at each other. "Man, they're getting worse than my parents!"

"I doubt anyone could do that," Runner said dryly. "Their noise after the wars are phenomenal."

The others snickered, except Sephiroth. "Am I missing something here?" he asked.

"President Reeve and Vice-President Scarlet can get pretty loud when they argue in his office," Erratic managed to drawl from the floor. "But they can get even louder in her office, where they, urm, kiss and make up."

"Veiled statement, veiled statement," Magdalena said, helping Erratic up from the floor. "C'mon, Erratic, get your ass from the floor. You're sweating all over it."

"I'll get lunch ready," Politesse said as she walked out the door. "Lucrecia? Are you and Storm going to kiss each other all day?"

Lucrecia squealed as she pulled away from Storm, blushing furiously. "I'm coming," she mumbled, following the young Turk out.

There was a long silence hanging over the training hall, until Storm finally snapped, "Quit grinning at me, dammit!!" and he stalked out of the room.

Sephiroth could not help smiling at little at their childishness. He could remember a time when children were encouraged to grow up and mature faster, not to waste their time on such silliness. But here these young men were, chortling with good humour, eyes sparkling as if they'd drunk from the Fountain of Youth and were born just yesterday once more.

"And tonight, at the Gold Saucer..." Blazer pretended to announce. "The Angels of the Sky will sing, and all of Midgar will come to a standstill as Magdalena Highwind, Lucrecia Kisaragi and Turk Politesse make music soar!"

"Quit that," Magdalena softly chuckled, playfully hitting his shoulder.

"But it is true," Runner said to Politesse.

"You don't have to ask to watch us practise, you know," the blond Turk returned with a smile.

Angels of the Sky... Fitting name, Sephiroth thought. The entire group were like angels, wild, rogue angels that went as they pleased. Even Storm didn't show his discontent at his parents' leaving.

They will help, a voice from the back of his mind said. They won't let you down... not these angels.

He felt much better. After thirty years of demons and hell, the presence of these spirit lifters were a welcome change.