...and they don't mind your past? Or they don't know of it?

[ Fell in with people. Would one of those be Aerith? When it comes to people who are from unique worlds, he's noticed that most of them seem to know each other. And Aerith's view on Shinra is less than sunny. She had been willing to share that much with him, a complete stranger at the time. ]

Or, I suppose, nothing affirms their beliefs quite as much as finding someone who was previously of their ranks who wound up fleeing. [ They turn the corner, deeper into the residential area where Sutoku's Lost Souls live. He can understand their position, in a matter of speaking. He can't help but think of his contract, written in stark black and white, the offer held tantalizingly above his head: a free Revachol. Out of the MoralIntern's control, their skies, their freedom, their destiny theirs once more. What had consumed him then wasn't longing, but panic: is that what he wants? And how did they know that?

Perhaps something similar is in Cloud's own contract. He doesn't know, and he won't ask. But he'll wonder. ]