Title: Fair Skies
Author: Shadow Rebirth
Rating: K+
Word Count: 443
First Written: July 9, 2009
Last Edited: July 10, 2009
Posted: July 9, 2009
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This work has not been endorsed by Square Enix or any of the others holding copyright or license to the Final Fantasy games, movies, and products. No connection is implied or should be inferred. Other names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author receives no financial gain from its production or distribution.
Summary: One-shot. Drabble. Zack was the man who wanted to be a hero. Cloud was the boy who had no choice in the matter. They were polar opposites. They were one and the same.
A/N: Random musings. Not much else to say about this one, really. I kind of feeling like expanding upon it, but...Meh, it is just a drabble, so I'll leave it as it is for now. On a more random note, this is the fourth one-shot I've written in the past month. Yay for procrastination!
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Fair Skies
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Zack was unique because he was one of very few people capable of seeing only the best in people without being naïve.
That was really the only way to put it. Exactly why and how this made Zack so atypical was almost impossible to put in words. He was just...different. He was bright and cheerful without being annoying, optimistic while simultaneously realistic, and honest and compassionate while still a SOLDIER—a killer. He was, quite simply, Zack.
Cloud looked up to Zack because he was everything that he was not. Where Cloud was weak, Zack was strong; where Cloud saw darkness, Zack saw shadows cast by the sun; where Cloud gave up hope, Zack just laughed and pushed onward. Cloud was Strife. Zack was Fair.
They were polar opposites.
Perhaps that was what drew them to each other, against all odds. Perhaps they somehow unconsciously saw how different they were—and also realized that, while they were so different, they were also exactly the same.
They both lived for the people around them.
For Zack it was to protect anyone and everyone; to be a hero. For Cloud it was to be acknowledged; to know that he had the strength to accomplish his dreams. Dissimilar though these reasons were, they were identical at the core of the matter.
They both faced their problems head on.
Zack did it with a smile and a cocky laugh. Cloud did it with a weary resignation. Neither backed down. Neither looked away.
They both had eyes that captured the viewer, stripping their soul bare.
People tended to have difficulty holding Zack's gaze for extended periods of time; it was like staring into the sun. Nor could people stare at Cloud for too long; it was like being swallowed by the night.
They both had the best and worst of luck.
For Zack it would mean being thrust into the middle of things. It would mean struggling to hold everything together and watching as it slipped through his fingers like smoke. It would mean dying when he wanted to live. For Cloud it would mean trying to stay away, but being drawn in anyway. It would mean shutting his eyes on the world, only to have his heart torn open. It would mean living when he wanted to die.
Zack was the sun that outshined everything around it. Cloud was the sky that encompassed everything.
Zack was the man who wanted to be a hero. Cloud was the boy who had no choice in the matter.
Separate and one and the same.
Some say opposites attract. Some like attracts like.
They're both right.
"There's nothing I don't cherish."