"You're just trying to make me fat, aren't you," Cloud said softly, his lips very nearly forming a pout.
Zack smiled as he shook his head. "It's for the babies, Cloud. You're going to need to eat more than you used to in order to keep them healthy."
Cloud continued to stare at the large, crowded plate of food in front of him. He hated how good it smelled and how much sense Zack's argument made.
"I didn't make it, so it's not overcooked or anything," Zack explained, getting down on his knees next to Cloud. "It's from Tseng."
The younger of the two nodded slowly and reached his hand forward, taking a palm-sized bun and biting into it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Zack's smile had returned. Once he swallowed, he lowered his head, eyes inevitably focused on the roundness of his stomach. "It's good," he commented in nothing louder than a whisper.
"Great," Zack said and pat Cloud's head before standing up. "Well, I'll go keep watch, then. Be sure to eat it all, okay? I don't want the little ones starving on us."
Cloud's chest became tight when Zack presented his back to him and started walking away. "Zack," he called, his hand gripping his thigh tightly.
The former first class SOLDIER turned around smoothly as if he had been expecting Cloud's reaction all along. "What's up?"
Cloud hesitated for a moment. "What are you going to eat?"
Zack's eyebrows raised but he recovered quickly. "Me? Ah, I don't need anything. When you've spent time stuck in the mountains by Gongaga, you learn to go for a while without food."
Cloud nodded his understanding and suddenly wasn't sure what else to say. Zack sensed his partner's discomfort and walked back to him, placing a hand on his cheek before leaning in to kiss him gently. The blond boy's shoulders went slack after a moment and Zack took that as his cue to stop. "Just eat, alright? Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Cloud didn't want to agree but he did anyway. Just as he thought Zack's warmth was about to pull away from him, it moved in closer and wrapped around the underside of his growing belly bulge. His lover's hand slid across the firmness he felt there, fingers seeking out – and finding – the little bit of skin that was peeking out from underneath Cloud's sweater. "I want to see you outgrow this, Cloud," he whispered, coming to sit behind him without moving his hand. His free hand reached over and grabbed another bun, bringing it to his smaller lover's lips, pleased when he bit into it.
"I don't need to be babied, Zack," Cloud argued halfheartedly once he had swallowed.
"You sure?" Zack asked with a chuckle, his hand slipping up and rubbing across Cloud's rounded skin. The blond boy blushed as he always did when Zack touched his middle. The babies growing inside of him were proof of many things, including their love for each other and the fact that he belonged to Zack. They had come a long way to get to where they were, seeking shelter in a cave and running from Shinra.
--
Cloud lay on Zack's discarded clothing, naked as the day he was born as the moonlight shined in through a small window in the basement of Shinra Manor. Zack's hands were roaming everywhere as he tried to imprint the feeling of Cloud's soft skin onto his mind. During their years of confinement in that hellish place, Cloud had grown; his legs were longer, his frame leaner and his traces of baby fat gone. A part of Zack had wanted to lick and kiss and touch Cloud all over but he had never really been one for patience and holding back. He indulged himself before long, stretching the former infantryman. The best lubrication he had had to offer was saliva, but they had made do. Cloud insisted that he didn't want to stop even despite the pain and was determined.
"He told me… that because of your injections this week… you've changed… you'll be able to conceive," Zack said, holding back as best he could from slamming into Cloud in one single thrust.
"Zack," Cloud breathed, having trouble focusing on the other's words with all the sensations he was being attacked with. His back arched as Zack's hand rubbed his stomach, just barely avoiding his straining arousal.
Zack tried for once, like Angeal had tried to teach him, to focus. "If you… have a baby inside of you, Cloud… they'll have to take good care of you. They'll be too fascinated to risk hurting you anymore."
The younger boy's eyes widened. "But…" Cloud's mouth formed words but nothing else came out. He looked as though he wasn't certain which thought he wanted to voice.
Fortunately, Zack helped choose for him when he pushed himself all the way in and lowered his head to Cloud's ear. "I'll protect the both of you. I swear it. Let me protect you, Cloud."
After experiencing so much fear and hatred from Hojo's treatment, Zack was offering protection and love and Cloud found he couldn't refuse.
"Yes. Zack, please," he breathed, pushing himself against his larger lover's warmth.
"You got it," Zack returned before the greatest pleasure Cloud had ever known filled his body and senses, bringing him to completion as he looked into smiling eyes, eyes the color of freedom.
--
The next time Cloud remembered being conscious, his torso was enveloped in Zack's arms and his head rested on the SOLDIER's shoulder. Cloud blinked his eyes open, but everything looked fuzzy, a bunch of indiscernible shapes and colors blending together. It was a good thing that Zack had been holding him since his body was not responding well to his will to move.
The dark haired man's large, warm hand slid over Cloud's middle and the former infantryman felt himself shiver when his damp skin was exposed to the air. He heard as well as felt Zack's gasp and the way his lover's fingers lightly caressed his stomach. Cloud did the only thing he could; he nuzzled the warm neck his face rested beside. He had no idea what Zack was reacting to. Was something wrong with him?
Little did Cloud know, it appeared as though things had finally gone their way. His middle was a little thicker than it had been when Zack last saw him, the slightest hint of muscle having been replaced by a firm but gentle swelling.
--
What immediately followed that in Cloud's memory was very vague. He remembered throwing up until he felt completely empty, but there had been a warm hand rubbing his back. Everything was blurry and so he had decided to keep his eyes closed. He remembered soft kisses being planted on his face, his hands, his stomach. He was tired and slept a lot. As the days and nights blended together, Cloud felt increasingly disoriented.
But one day, everything began to feel clear again.
Zack's cheerful voice rang through his ears. "Cloud, you won't believe what Tseng told me. He said your illness will go away. The high amount of mako inside of you has made you feel sick but it'll either work its way out of you or you'll adjust to it soon."
There was a pause. "But that's not the best part. You're pregnant with twins!"
Cloud, a little anxious but elated at the news, opened his eyes. Everything was still fuzzy but he could just make out Zack's broad smile and long spiky hair. With little effort, he was pulled to his lover's muscled chest.
"It's gonna be all right. We're getting out of here."
--
"… It's going to smell, but don't complain, okay?"
Cloud's fingers flexed; it was one of the few motions he could manage. He wasn't sure how Zack understood what he meant when his speech was slurred and he could barely make gestures, but he did. Briefly, Cloud thought of his mother's words about how he should date an older girl, one who could take care of him. But what if it was a guy?
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his shirt being lifted up and eventually pulled off. Zack's hands gently rubbed over Cloud's chest, drawing a soft moan from him when his nipples were passed over.
"Sorry about that. I can't help myself," Zack's deep voice rang and then became quieter. "I promise I won't go far until I'm positive I have your consent."
Cloud's fingers clenched in the bed sheet. He wouldn't have minded, though what he really wanted was to be able to see Zack clearly. His lover expressed a lot through his voice, however. For example, Cloud could nearly hear his smile whenever he --
"You're really starting to get a bump now, Cloud. Here."
-- talked about their babies. Through Zack's guidance, he came to feel the way his skin was stretching, how the new lives were forming inside of him. He hoped he would get over his mako illness soon; he'd had enough of his blurry vision and frequent periods of vomiting, not to mention his inability to express his appreciation to Zack.
His lover changed him into clothing that was soft, warm and roomy. "I know it's kind of big, but I think you'll grow into it," Zack explained, sounding pleased. Cloud heard the sound of the light switch being flipped off before the warmth of a larger body and a gentle rubbing of his belly carried him off to sleep.
--
Cloud finished off the last bit of food on his plate and leaned more fully against Zack, appreciating his solid strength. They had been on the run ever since that night they had left Shinra Manor. In his second trimester, Cloud's belly was expanding quickly and he was pretty sure that by the end of the next week or two he would look unmistakingly pregnant. Hiding his condition from here on out would only get harder, but the more concerned Cloud became, the stronger Zack became to balance them out.
Cloud hated feeling weak, but for the babies, he was resigned to do what he could. His strength had to go toward protecting them. He remembered what Zack once told him:
"Just take care of them, okay? Don't worry about trying to pay me back. Just give us two healthy babies and you'll have done more than enough."
Cloud sighed. That would be easier said than done, but he wasn't about to give up.
"We're gonna make it through this, Cloud. Stay strong," Zack whispered into his ear, interrupting his thoughts.
Cloud placed his hand on top of the bigger one that rested protectively on his belly. "Just… stay with me, and I will."
"I'm not going anywhere, babe," Zack assured, and placed a kiss at Cloud's neck. "You and me, we're going to have a cozy home filled with kids. I'll bring in the money being a jack-of-all-trades and help you raise—Hey, don't laugh!"
Cloud was unable to stifle his chuckling. "I don't know how you do it, Zack."
"Do what?" the former SOLDIER asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Make everything all right."
--
[So this was a fic that I started a long time ago as just a way of throwing a bunch of plot bunny-related thoughts into a word file. When I eventually reread them I realized I could probably do something with them if I just organized my thoughts a little better, and this is the result (of… one of those plot bunnies, anyway). But enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoyed!]