The small blond boy hurried through staircases and hallways, staircases and doors, staircases and passageways, staircases and chambers, staircases and rooms, and finally, down the steps to the front gate.
"So...many...steps..." he gasped.
He ran down to the city market, avoiding bigger bodies, such as horses, carriages and practically everyone, considering he was so small. The blond tuft of hair was barely recognizable, due to height and the constant ducking for protection. Turning a corner, he was thrown back by a drunken man.
"Watch where you're going!" the man yelled.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
He entered the street with a little less difficulty now. A few doors on, he entered the pie shop.
"Good morning, Cloud. How are you today?" the chubby owner of the shop asked him.
She was very nice to him, as most vendors and salespeople were. Sometimes he could even charm a small treat with his adorable shy attitude.
He of course chose the shops he went to with utmost care. Not that anything he bought was for him. Lord Lazard, the keeper of the keys back at the castle, gave him money to buy anything the king sent him off to. And of course he had to have only the best. If that were not the case, then Cloud was at fault. He had learned that the hard way.
Lord Lazard was nice to him too and would occasionally require an errand or two for himself, but Cloud never had the courage to speak to the man more than necessary.
"Fine, Mrs. Beckett, thank you. I am in a hurry today, the king has rushed me. I have come for these, please help me." Cloud huffed and extended a list to her.
"Oh my. The king has asked for many pies today, hasn't he?" She remarked, before taking the list from him with her short, thick, but thankfully clean fingers. "Do you need help taking them back?"
Cloud put the basket on top of the counter for her to fill with the king's delights.
"That's alright, ma'am. I can take care of it!"
"Oh, what wouldn't I give for my boys to be so strong..." She sighed while accepting the gil. "They take after his father, you see. Always eating... Oh, but what is an old woman like me taking your time for? Here, a little snack." She handed him one of the small strawberry pies.
"Mrs. Beckett! Thank you!" Cloud reached for his pouch for gil, but she waved it off.
"That's alright, dear, this one is for you."
Cloud thanked her again and quickly stuffed the small pie in his mouth as he left. Heaving the basket, now towering with pies and sweet bread, was even more difficult through the mass of people. He had to dodge other people, animals, merchants' baskets, and occasionally a street boy or two trying to steal one of the pies. Whilst swerving around an extremely pissy salesman brandishing a fish towards a thief, Cloud felt his heel hit one of the pavement's uneven stones. As if in slow motion, the basket flew up in the air, sending pies everywhere. Meanwhile, Cloud's body made its way down to meet the very hard ground. He shut his eyes tightly and prepared for the impact, but it never came. He cracked an eye open. Violet ones stared back at him. He opened the other one, and a beautiful, tanned, smiling man met his confused expression.
"Almost had a little accident there, didn't we?" the man laughed. The sound rolled off his tongue so easily.
Cloud smiled shyly. Then it hit him like the street would have, had he not been caught. 'The pies!' he thought. He scrambled upright, to find that only two of the pies had met the ground. Of course, there were only crumbs left, the street children having eaten them already. The basket, however, was safely tucked under the arm of his saviour.
"You alright, kid?" the man asked.
"Y-yes, sir, thank you." Cloud was helped upright. He noticed the man wore the uniform of the royal army and blushed. "Sir! Gosh, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to..."
"Don't worry about it!" the man interrupted him, "And don't call me 'sir'. It makes me feel old. My name is Zack! It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Cloud." He answered. Then something clicked in his mind.
"Z-Zack? Zackary Fair?" Cloud blurted out before he could think. The pink tinge on his cheeks became darker. 'Holy crap, this is the generals' apprentice!' he thought.
There were three generals in the Shin-Ra Royal Army. Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth. Zack was their second in command.
Genesis had so many rumours going around about him that Cloud didn't even know which ones to believe. Some of them were downright ridiculous. Angeal was the fatherly type. He was said to be seen around donating to orphanages and helping the homeless find an honourable job. Sephiroth had even more rumours than Genesis floating around, and sometimes Cloud even wondered if the man was real. As for Zack, he was apparently always in the market. Cloud had seen him there many times, but of course never had the audacity to speak to him. Sometimes Angeal or Genesis were with him, but that was just one more reason for Cloud to steer from their path.
Although he had seen them plenty of times, it had always been from behind and at a great distance. He had only recognized the uniform, never seen their faces. Especially not up close. Especially not like this.
"I know, kiddo, I know." Zack chuckled. Cloud blushed even more at the sound. "I was heading back to the castle. Need help?" Zack asked, already leading the way, pie basket securely under his arm.
"Sir! Please, don't, there is no need to..." Cloud was cut off again. Zack had wheeled around to face him, and bent over so that they were level. He raised a finger to Cloud's nose and tapped it.
"It's Zack, got it?" and abruptly turned again to lead the way. Cloud hurried behind him, feeling like a tomato would be envious of his colour.
They walked in comfortable silence (at least for Zack, who was humming softly to himself), until a few streets later, they were at the main gate. The guards saluted and Zack waved them off. They made their way through the many corridors, and then stopped. Zack handed the basket over to Cloud.
"I suppose you better get this to the king, right?" Zack asked.
"R-right, sir. Thank you very much again, sir" Cloud took the basket with a little bow.
Zack leaned over again. This time their noses almost touched. Cloud looked into violet eyes and gulped soundly.
"How many times do I have to say it's Zack?" he whispered.
"S-sir, I..."
"Zack."
"But..."
"Zack. Say it"
"I..."
"Zack."
"Z-Zack..." Cloud whispered very quietly and blushed.
Zack grinned triumphantly and straightened up.
"I'll see you around, Cloud." He waved, as he took a turn down another hall.
Cloud touched the tip of his nose. Then his lungs started screaming for air. He took a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in, and sent the much needed oxygen to his brain. He then remembered there was no time for fawning over the Generals' Second in Com...'No…Zack...' he thought. Reality hit him again. He had a job to do, or it would be his head on the table.
Cloud bolted to the king's study. As he entered the room, he was met by the king pouring over a book. Cloud set the basket on top of one of the desks and turned to the king.
"Is there anything else you would like me to do for you, my lord?" he asked.
"Give this to my son," The king held up an envelope, not even looking up from the book, "Do not read it, it is none of your business."
"Yes, my lord" Cloud took the envelope. It's not like he could read it...even if he wanted to.
"You may leave." The king said disdainfully, picking up one of the pies.
'Fatass' Cloud thought. Instead of voicing his mind, he bowed and retreated out of the room. He made a beeline for the prince's quarters, seven halls away. When he arrived there, the two guards by his door informed him that the prince had gone to the library. Again, a beeline; this time to the library. Three floors up, one hall down. Cloud knocked on the large door and entered.
The walls were covered with mahogany shelves bursting with books. Big ones, small ones, thick ones, thin ones, old ones, new ones...that was all Cloud could decipher. He sometimes wished he could read. Then again, the king chose him as a messenger boy exactly because of that. That and the debts he had to pay.
Flashback
His family had died with the last major epidemic, leaving him alone with the crops. He couldn't take care of it all alone, and the older farmers were stealing his land. When the tax collector, a weird looking redhead with a rather long ponytail (making him remind Cloud of a rat) and strange tattoos under his eyes, came personally to plunder his house and forcefully make him pay, Cloud begged for an opportunity to pay off the debts. He had then become the king's messenger boy.
"The last one was so stupid he got himself killed, yo!" the redhead had said whilst taking him to the castle.
Cloud had gulped soundly.
End of flashback
Cloud walked over to the varieties of sofas, to find the prince sprawled over the armrest of an armchair. You would think that the prince would have more class, but he looked like a big fat bear, hibernating in his cave made of books. Cloud plucked the open book from the prince's chest, successfully waking him up. Sort of.
"Two more minutes…" the prince murmured.
"Sire, your father sent me to…"
"Nooo…don't wanna…"
"Prince Rufus."
Tseng, the head of royal personal guard appeared from behind a bookshelf. Cloud took a step back from the prince. He, in turn, snatched the book back from Cloud and made an honest attempt to appear awake and reading. Tseng sighed and put a book he was currently holding open in his palm, back on its shelf. He lazily walked over to the group of sofas. When he reached the prince, he leaned over the back of the armchair and turned the book in Rufus' grasp.
"This is the right side up." He said softly.
"I knew that!" Rufus blushed furiously.
Cloud shifted, making himself known.
"Um…"
"Cloud!" Rufus acknowledged him, "How nice to see you!"
Cloud smiled. He had always liked the king's son; he was polite, funny and always treated him better than the scum he was. Sometimes, Cloud sat by the prince's feet (he wasn't allowed anywhere near the sofas; the king had forbidden his 'filthy excuse of a body' to touch anything their guests might be using) and listened as the man read stories, or scientific books, or explain maps to him. Those were Cloud's favourites. The maps. At least he could understand them. He would point to a red dot, and Rufus would read the name of the town, village, or military post it was signalizing. He then would proceed to show the mountains, rivers and plains around those little red dots, explaining the geography and famous battles to how they were conquered. Cloud had never been outside the capital, Midgar, but if the chance arose, he could make it all the way to Wutai without getting lost.
"It is nice to see you too, my lord." Cloud then bowed slightly.
"How many times have I told you not to bow like that?" Rufus frowned.
"But, sire, I'm not worthy of…"
"When we're alone you're my friend, Cloud." Rufus' eyebrows turned up. "Can't you be my friend for five fucking minutes?"
"Language." Tseng muttered.
"You too, Tseng. You can be the commander when my father is looking, but you two are the only ones that take some time to actually listen to me! Stop this bullshit when we're alone!"
"I'm so sorry, my lo…Rufus." Cloud sat on the floor, "It's just so hard for me not to look at you and see the king's son. But I am so glad you think of me as a friend, I've never had any either."
That was true; Cloud never was the social butterfly he wanted to be. And Rufus was the only one who had taken time for Cloud.
"May I call you my friend too?" Cloud asked, before quickly adding, "Not in public, of course I wouldn't want to…"
"Oh, Cloud!" Rufus cried, throwing himself onto the floor and hugging the messenger, "Of course you can! You can tell it to the whole world!"
Cloud smiled, and awkwardly patted his back. When Rufus let him go and sat on the sofa again, Cloud handed him the envelope and excused himself, as he had errands to run for the kitchen.
"Will you come back today? I've read this wonderful story about..."
While Rufus rattled off about the story, Cloud smiled. He had a friend.
"I will try to come back before it is dark."
"Then hurry, Cloud!" Rufus hugged him goodbye.
Cloud was about to close the library door behind him, when Tseng exited.
"Cloud."
"Commander?"
Tseng smiled. Cloud looked into those piercing brown eyes.
"I would like a word, if you please."
"Of course, sir!"
"You have quite an effect on the prince. I would like to thank you for making him so happy. His joy has been cut short by the king, but I'm sure he has his reasons. You see, Rufus feels like the most beautiful bird, in the most beautiful golden cage. But that still means he is a free spirit that is trapped. You make him forget that, even if it is for the smallest amount of time. His studies have even improved because he is waiting for the hour that you come by the library to listen to him."
"S-sir, I don't know what to say!"
"But also," Tseng continued, an eerie glint in his eyes, "I will warn you. If you in any way betray the prince's…friendship...as he calls it…I will personally make sure that you pay dearly for your mistake. Did I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir. Sir…May I speak?"
Tseng nodded.
"I have never thought about doing such thing. The prince is the only one that has made me forget my fears too. And…"
"What?" Tseng urged when Cloud hesitated.
"Please do not be angered by the words I speak now, Commander, but it is the truth as I see it."
Tseng nodded again.
"The prince seems to think higher of you than you might notice, Commander. I may be wrong, I have no business in such matters, but the way he looks at you, the way he behaves around you…it seems to me that he is trying to…capture your attention."
"That is ridiculous, it is my job to pay attention to the prince's every move."
Cloud smiled.
"As I said, I have no business in such matters. But it also seems to me that you do your job perfectly, indeed."
Tseng looked thoughtfully at Cloud. After a few moments, he asked quietly.
"Have you mentioned this to anyone? The prince?"
"No, Commander. And I do not intend to."
"Thank you, Cloud."
"If you would permit me, Commander, I need to be on my way."
"Certainly. And Cloud?"
"Yes, Commander?"
Tseng was at the door, looking back at him.
"You may call me Tseng." He said as he closed the door behind him.
