Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or anything related to it... If I did, I probably wouldn't be on fanfiction writing about it =D

Cloud was deathly afraid of heights. It was something that he wasn't going to reveal to anyone, not even his best friend Zack. It didn't help that his bunk was on the 15th floor. Or that Zack always insisted on taking the glass elevator.

"Come on spiky!" Zack whined. "You wouldn't make me WALK all the way up to your apartment, would you?" Zack looked shocked at the thought. When Cloud didn't say anything, Zack did his best impression of a kicked puppy. He knew Cloud couldn't say no to that face. Cloud didn't see what the big problem was. If he, a cadet, was able to trek up the stairs then Zack, a SOLDIER, should be able to. What Cloud didn't factor in was Zack's laziness.

Cloud sighed, "Fine, Zack," he relented, "We'll take the elevator."

And that's what they did. Every time Zack was with Cloud (which was almost always) they would take the elevator. Cloud would stare at the doors, willing them to open so the torture would stop, and Zack would be staring out the glass walls at Midgar.

Every day Zack would try to get Cloud to look out at the view, and every day Cloud would decline. Not even Zack's kicked puppy look would get Cloud to look. Never in a million years, Cloud always thought. Looking down at Gaia from anything higher than 10 feet always managed to make him sick to his stomach. So, he avoided the view. He wasn't going to make his friend suffer with him.

However, one day Zack wasn't looking at the view. Not completely. He was also watching Cloud out of the corner of his eye. He had noticed how pale and shaky Cloud got when they were waiting for the elevator (even if it was barely noticeable), and he was concerned. Like usual, no one shared the elevator with them, because most didn't want to see the smog that covered Midgar. So Zack freely asked, "Spiky? Are you alright?" He poked his friend in the shoulder.

"I'm fine Zack," Cloud replied between clenched teeth, still staring at the doors.

"Are you sure?" Zack probed, unconvinced.

Cloud took a deep breath and sighed, "Yes Zack. I'm fine. Really I am."

"Ok," Zack replied, hesitantly. Then he tousled Cloud's spikes, "because you know you can tell me if something is wrong. Right?" Zack grinned.

Cloud risked glance towards Zack, "Of course. I know that." He smiled back, but he didn't want to reveal his fear to his friend. He didn't want to make himself seem any more pathetic in the SOLDIER'S eyes than he already did.

Zack's grin grew larger, "Great!"

Later, at Cloud's bunk, Zack noticed that Cloud looked fine. He was smiling and giggling and squeaking at his antics like usual. He had been watching Cloud, making sure the younger man truly was ok. Cloud liked to play down the situation when he wasn't feeling well, so Zack usually didn't take his word on it. But Cloud looked fine now, and Zack was a little bit confused. It's almost as if what i saw earlier never existed, Zack thought. He shrugged it off and continued to entertain Cloud with his antics. He would be keeping a close eye on his spiky haired friend for the next couple of days.

And so Zack did. When he was free, he watched Cloud. When the cadet was in class, he sat in the back of the room. After class, Zack watched him from the corner of his eye. He even watched when they were hanging out in Cloud's bunk when his bunk mate was gone. The only time Zack noticed his spiky haired friends wasn't looking good was when they were in the elevator. It was confusing him, as he couldn't see why the cadet would start looking like he was sick when they headed towards the elevator. Cloud must be afraid of heights! Zack concluded after some thought, while he was sitting on the couch in his own apartment. THAT'S why he won't enjoy the view of Midgar with me. Zack smiled at his ignorance. Not only did he now know the problem, but he had the perfect solution. He was going to help his friend. Then he was going to torture the blond for not telling him earlier, all in good fun of course. He smiled and got up off of the couch to gather the things he would need in order to put his plan into action.

The next day, Cloud didn't see much of Zack anywhere. He had seen the man in the cafeteria for breakfast that morning, but since then the SOLDIER had disappeared. Oh well, Cloud shrugged. At least I can use the stairs and avoid that blasted elevator. Cloud smiled at the thought. He should have been suspicious at Zack's sudden disappearance, but he had missions sometimes and couldn't always hang out with Cloud in the afternoon. The life of a SOLDIER was busy, and Cloud couldn't always expect his friend to be able to hang out with him.

Cloud opened the door to the stairs, mentally preparing himself for the workout ahead, to discover Zack was sitting on the bottom step. Waiting for him, it seemed and fiddling with something in his hand. Closer inspection marked the item as a roll of duct tape, of all things. Zack had looked up when the door opened, and he smiled when he saw his friend. "Hey spiky," Zack said exuberantly, standing up. "I figured I would find you here eventually."

"Hey Zack," Cloud replied a little confused. And wary. "Why were you waiting for me?" He eyed the tape before meeting his friend's gaze.

Zack grabbed Cloud's hand and led him back the way he'd come into the hallway, "I wanted to show you something." He grinned at his friend. Cloud had no clue where Zack was leading him, but the look on Zack's face told him he should be afraid. VERY afraid. Zack was probably planning something evil for his friend. The tape that was still in Zack's hand only freaked out Cloud more.

Please don't let it be Sephiroth. Please don't let it be Sephiroth, Cloud chanted to himself. Zack had an annoying tendency to lock Cloud in a small space with Sephiroth, like a janitors closet, and not let them out for a couple hours. Cloud usually only just barely managed to not have a heart attack by the time Zack released them. I just want you to realize Seph is a normal person, just like us! Zack would say when Cloud complained. All Zack's antics managed to do was embarrass Cloud, and he would rather not let it happen again.

Cloud sighed internally when he saw Zack's destination: the elevators. Whether he should be relieved or horrified, he couldn't tell. At least it will most likely not include Sephiroth. Cloud thought to himself. There's something to be grateful for. Cloud let his hand go limp in Zack's, his curiosity having drained away at the sight of the elevators. Maybe Zack had just gotten on duty and waited where he knew Cloud would show up eventually. But then, why not just wait at my last class? Cloud couldn't muster up the energy required to be suspicious. He was used to Zack's pranks by now, and he figured it was best to just go along with the man, instead of run from him.

Zack seemed to have intuitioned Cloud's response. "Don't worry, spiky. I said I had something to show ya, and I know you will like it." Zack put on a reassuring smile for his young friend. Cloud didn't believe him, not with Zack's previous track record of saying things like that, then managing to do something horrible.

Cloud tried to put on a happy face for Zack anyway. His smile ended up becoming more like a grimace though. "I am sure I will Zack." Cloud mumbled. Zack's enhancements allowed him to hear every word. He grinned his trademark goofy grin, not put out in any way at Cloud's unenthusiasm. He pushed the call button for the elevator and waited. When it reached their floor, three things happened: the elevator dinged, Zack's grin grew wider (if that was even possible), and Cloud flinched subtly.

At this point, Cloud was expecting almost anything to jump out and scare him. Like Genesis hanging on the outside of the elevator, which he had done before, in order to scare himself or Zack. He was even expecting Sephiroth to be in there, since Zack had been trying extra hard lately to get him to admit that he had a crush on the silver haired man. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone besides Zack (who figured it out on his own), especially not to the General's face. He even expected to find Reno in there with some rope, or something. When Zack played a prank, it was usually with the turk by his side. The one thing he was not expecting was chocobos.

There were chocobos everywhere. Yellow, red, blue, even a couple black. They were literally everywhere. All really tiny too, as if someone had cast mini on all of the chicks from the stables. It was super weird. With Zack being responsible (as he didn't respond to the odd sight, so was probably responsible), that really wasn't much of a surprise. Zack walked in and turned to smile shyly and Cloud. "So, what do you think Cloud?" His eyes were hopeful. It was almost really cute, in Cloud's opinion.

All Cloud did was stare dumbly at Zack for a minute. He couldn't seem to figure out how chocobos managed to get into the elevator. Then Cloud realized it was wallpaper, since the birds weren't actually moving. Chocobo wallpaper, covering the glass walls of the elevator. The same wallpaper Zack had used to wrap his birthday gift (chocobo towels for his bathroom) a couple of weeks ago. "Zack?" He walked into the elevator eyeing it suspiciously. "Why is there wallpaper—" he touched the wall, "on the outside of the elevator?"

A touch of pink rose to Zack's cheeks. "Well, I noticed that you didn't like the elevator." He smiled.

Cloud was still slightly confused. "And?"

Zack's blush grew a little redder. "Well, I figured that you were afraid of heights and I didn't like it." He took a huge deep breath, "SoIcoveredthewallssoyouwouldn'tfeelsick." The breath whooshed out of Zack (along with his jumbled up words) and he took another one. He then smiled at Cloud triumphantly.

Cloud surprised them both when he gave Zack a big hug. He didn't know why he did it, but he felt that it was the right thing to do. "Thank you, Zack." Cloud said with a smile, letting go of his raven haired friend. "I really appreciate it." He genuinely meant it. He thought it was thoughtful of Zack to do something to help him feel more comfortable.

Zack just chuckled and ruffled the blond's spikes. "You are very welcome spiky." With that, he pressed the button for Cloud's floor and the two of them rode up. Without Cloud feeling sick for once. He was touched that his friend would care so much about his well being. He smiled and almost giggled. He would have laughed had he not thought it would encourage Zack to do something decidedly evil to him. Zack still had the tape in his hand after all.

Angeal couldn't find his apprentice anywhere. It was like his puppy to skip training for the entire day. Usually he had to get Zack to stop bugging him for extra training. Zack's continued absence was making him suspicious. He had spent most of the day looking for Zack in the places he usually hung out at. The cafeteria, the Training room, he even went up to the Turk's floor to see if Zack was up to something with Reno. The red haired turk had only said that he hadn't seen Zack all day, and that Angeal should try Cadet Strife's bunk. Angeal was confused until Reno explained that Zack had befriended the young cadet, and could usually be seen irritating the cadet.

Now Angeal was making his way to the cadet's barracks. He took the stairs, since it was quicker than taking the usually packed elevators. He opened the door to the cadet's floor and heard a strange sound. It sounded like a really loud squeak. A strange thing to hear in the cadets' barracks, but Angeal shrugged it off. The cadets were strange, it was a fact and he wasn't going to be suspicious of a squeak. Angeal started walking down the hallway to Cadet Strife's room when he noticed the squeaking coming from the cadet's room, as well as Zack's evil laughter. Angeal pulled out his keycard and unlocked the door to a strange sight.

Zack was leaning over a tied up blond with spiky hair (whom he assumed was Cadet Strife). The blond looked familiar from somewhere, but he couldn't place him. Zack had taped the blond to a chair, using duct tape it looked like. The blond was struggling valiantly against the bonds, and wasn't wearing his shirt for some reason. Angeal saw a feather in his apprentice's hand, and concluded that Zack was probably tickling the poor cadet. Zack hadn't heard him come in, but Strife did. The cadet looked at him and begged for his help, "Sir! Please! Help me!"

Zack brought the feather closer to Cloud's exposed side when he heard Cloud exclaim, "Sir! Please! Help me!" Zack looked up at Cloud and saw that his gaze was fixed behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Angeal standing there with a confused expression on his face. "Zack?" Angeal started, "What are you doing?" Zack stood up and rubbed the back of his head, a nervous gesture he had picked up from Reno.

"Umm.. well... I'm just tickling Cloud here." He gestured towards the blond. He looked up sheepishly at his mentor, then continued. "He failed to tell me something important, and I was just reminding him how important it was to tell his best friend that he was afraid of heights." He heard Cloud huff in indignation.

Angeal just stared at him for a second longer, then shook his head and left. "Wait!" Cloud cried out. "Don't leave me with him! Please!"

Zack watched his mentor leave and the door shut behind him. Then he turned back towards Cloud, and evil glint in his eye. "Now, where were we?"

Cloud just squirmed, trying to get free. "Zack..." Cloud said slowly when Zack took a meaningful step in his direction, "What are you doing?"

"Well, my little chocobo," Zack grinned evilly. "I am getting payback for you not telling me you were afraid of heights. Especially since I convinced you to take the elevator every day." He took another step forward and placed the feather on Cloud's side.

"No!" the blond squeaked when Zack started tickling him. The blond started laughing, "Please!" Giggle. "Stop!" Giggle.

Angeal walked down the hall towards the glass elevator. It was rarely used, so it would be relatively empty. He heard the cadet start laughing again, and shook his head. At least Zack had found a new victim -friend- to torture.He stopped when he remembered where he had seen the Cadet before. It was the same cadet that was always being locked up with Sephiroth. He smiled and started walking with a new purpose. Angeal was going to look forward to the peace and quiet that would ensue from now on. He pressed the button for the elevator and it opened up to reveal chocobo wallpaper covering the exterior. He sighed and entered the elevator. Zack's doing most likely, not that it surprised him. Zack must have been more worried for the cadet then he originally thought. He hit the button for the Lobby and the elevator continued down. I must tell Sephiroth, he thought. I am sure he will be interested to know just how cute the blond looked shirtless. He grinned at the thought. Yep, this is going to be very interesting.

The elevator door opened to reveal the lobby and Sephiroth, who walked in and pushed the button for the floor to his office. He greeted Angeal and they both rode up in silence until Angeal saw that they were nearing the cadet's floor. "Sephiroth, I have some information I think you would be very interested in hearing."

The silver haired General raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What would that be?"

Angeal smirked, "Well you know that Cadet that was always being locked in the same room as you?"

Sephiroth nodded his head and said slowly, "Yes."

Angeal's smirk turned into a grin, "Well..."

Authors note:
Please, please don't kill me for ending it where i did... i figured the story was long enough =D
so i hope you all enjoyed this story =D i know i certainly did.
i wanted to thank my friend twilightvalentine for helping me finally upload this story... i've been wanting to for weeks, but i just haven't gotten around to it. =D i am lazy after all... so thanks a bunch! =D
please read and review and tell me what you think! =D