This is part of the Clorith drabble challenge that me and my friend Tina(TinaK.Number1) are doing

Drabble #1: Envy

Summary: When Cloud, Aeris and Tifa hear about Zack, Cloud feels a strange emotion.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Cloud blinked as the door slammed shut, leaving him alone with the elderly couple in front of him. He made his apologies for not knowing their son and left after the girls who had stormed out.

He glanced between them both as they stood at opposite ends of the village. Aeris looked as if she was about to cry so he thought he should leave her alone and walked towards Tifa.

The raven-haired girl seemed lost in thought, her eyes focussed on the ground with a small frown creasing her brow. She made no sign that she knew he was approaching until his boots were in her line of view. She looked up at him then with a sigh.

"Zack…" she whispered softly.

"You knew him?" he asked in surprise. She locked eyes with him, making no answer for a long time.

"No…" she whispered giving a small smile before her expression turned sad again.

"Cloud, you're not going to change are you?" she asked.

The Soldier tilted his head in confusion before he straightened up and scratched his hair, something he had been doing a lot recently and he couldn't understand how he had suddenly picked it up.

"What do you mean?" he asked but she just shook her head, her smile returning.

She turned her back to him, signalling that the conversation was over so Cloud walked over to Aeris. She also had her back to him, her arms crossed and her right hand over her mouth. Her eyes were hidden behind her bangs so she couldn't see whether she was crying or not.

"Aeris?" he whispered, his hand moving up but hovering in midair. He had intended to touch her arm gently in a gesture of comfort but stopped at the last moment. She turned to him, giving him a reassuring smile but he noticed that it hadn't reached her eyes.

"Zack…" she sighed, looking down at the ground. Cloud was getting a little fed up of everyone knowing this Zack guy. Who the hell was he?

"You knew him too?"

"He was my first boyfriend," she replied sadly, still not looking at him.

Cloud felt something constrict in his chest as he was reminded of that day in Midgar, when he and Aeris had went to save Tifa and ended up having a seat on the slide in the park. She had told him about her first boyfriend then and Cloud had felt a strange feeling, similar to what he was feeling now except this time, it was stronger.

"I wonder if he's dead…" she mused, her eyes turning towards the sky. Cloud watched her actions in silence, hating the way her voice sounded quiet and soft as if full of pain. He hated the way her eyes, the most beautiful and expressive eyes he had ever seen were dull and full of unshed tears.

"I always assumed that he had found another girl…he was a bit of a ladies man…" she explained, giving a small smile as she turned her eyes to him. She suddenly grinned, her eyes regaining their natural sparkle as she tilted her head to the side and stepped closer to him. Cloud blinked and took a step back, feeling a blush hit his cheeks at her thorough inspection of him.

"Cloud, are you…jealous?" she teased lightly, giving a small giggle.

Feeling the heat rise faster to his cheeks, Cloud scowled and turned around, determined to keep his dignity. Yes, he was jealous but he didn't know why it was so hard for him to admit that. A relationship was the furthest thing from his mind right now. He had to find and stop Sephiroth before he could do anything else.

"I was only teasing Cloud," she whispered, putting her hands on his shoulders and rubbing them gently a couple of times before she walked off.

"We should get going," she whispered softly, giving a small flick of her head.

Cloud had hardly paid attention to her words, only catching them at the last minute. He nodded in agreement, looking over to where Tifa was approaching them with an unreadable look on her face but Cloud didn't bother to ask what was troubling her. Instead, he just signalled for them to catch up with the rest of the group.

Looking back in later years, that look would show he was not the only one suffering from envy.