Why Zack?

By Kris
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
Note: Made the tone more conversational; updated language. Written without Crisis Core in mind.
Comments and critiques are welcome; favorites are much appreciated.
Cloud had marveled at it for a while. He couldn't quite place it, which was really beginning to bug him, but most importantly was that he didn't know why it was even there. He was so aggravated with it that it had kept him awake when he was supposed to be sleeping, causing him to toss and turn while his comrades slept peacefully.

Cloud quietly cursed them.

Sighing, he found a comfortable position on his bed and stayed like that, staring up at the ceiling as if it held all the answers. But ceilings generally don't. He grumbled, cursing the very thing that had his mind all wound up.

He didn't know why he had an infatuation with that jerk-for-a-lieutenant named Zack Fair.

Zack was a complete moron, always pulling pranks with that stupid smile of his plastered across his face. He was always tormenting the poor blonde who only wanted to survive training. Always embarrassing him, always dragging him along on his dumb plots of half-hearted revenge on the Turks, and always forcing him into awkward situations with the General. With all that, why did he still like him?

Cloud growled slightly at the memory of what had happened in the cafeteria a few weeks prior when Zack had proclaimed that Cloud was his and that all others needed to 'back off.' The younger boy was sure he was redder than a tomato could ever possibly get. Gods, did he hate Zack after that.

Not to mention all those times training with the buffoon.

Zack had humiliated him more than enough, so why did Cloud like him so much?

Hero worship. At least, that's what Cloud first thought. Now, however, he knew that wasn't the case. Perhaps it was because Zack had what he himself lacked? What did he lack?

Confidence, for one. Courage, for another.

The list went on and on in Cloud's mind, filling in ever more defects that he found in himself. Finally getting exhausted with it, he started focusing on his good qualities. That was when his mind drew a blank. Was there anything good about him?

Zack seemed to think so.

Cloud shook his head. The idiot found the good in everybody. Growling again, he cursed the man's name. Why did he like him? Zack was everything he was not.

Zack was confident, sure of himself, and strong. He was optimistic and inviting and . . . Loving. Cloud knew that the lieutenant would never hurt him in anyway, never capture his heart only to shatter it to pieces. Zack knew how to handle Cloud's fragile outlook on the world, nurturing it and gently leading him out of his self-built shell. Deep down, Cloud knew that he really needed the guidance; the love.

Cloud needed Zack, plain and simple.

That was all there was to the matter. Cloud loved Zack because the man was what he needed to become his true self again, the person he was before all the kids teased him. The person that actually had hope in the world and its people.

Thus Cloud decided that Zack was not as moronic as he had first originally thought. That didn't stop him from classifying the older man as an idiot, however, but now he could tolerate him. Maybe he would tell him his feelings? On second thought. . .

Yawning, Cloud curled up into a tight ball and cuddled his blankets. Tomorrow promised to be an adventure, as it always was with Zack. There was never a dull moment. Closing his eyes, he snuggled into his pillow and drifted off to sleep. Someday he would tell Zack his feelings, he just was not ready for that now.

But someday. . .