Okay here it goes. I've been working on this one for a while now. It's a Alternate Universe thing so there will be some story line changes from the actual game. It's Cloti because let's face it I am totally addicted. Mostly romance, with a little humor, and a dash of angst.

Chapter 1

It started with a phone call. I was on a delivery to a giant dirty warehouse on the far side of town. I had just grabbed a large heavy box when my phone rang. It took some maneuvering but I managed to balance the box in one hand and fish out my phone with the other.

"Cloud, man where have you been?"

"Hey Zack." I say wedging the phone between my shoulder and my ear and shifting the box back to both hands.

"Dude I haven't heard from you in a month." He is almost yelling at me.

"I've been busy." I sigh; he always calls at the worst times.

"Yeah busy, right." He snorts.

"Working," I answer blandly.

"Man there's more to life than working. You need to get out once in a while you know."

"I don't have time."

"Really," Sarcasm practically drips off his voice. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Uh..." The truth is I don't have any plans. "I've got it off actually."

"Great, come out with me. I just heard about this awesome new club."

"I hate clubs."

"Come on, I guarantee you'll have fun."

I sigh and shift the heavy box in my arms. "You always say that and then you know what happens?"

"What?" He actually has no clue.

"You pick up on some cute girl and ditch me."

"What can I say, the ladies demand my attention." He's so full of himself.

"Whatever."

"Just come out tonight." I know he won't leave me alone until I say yes. "I'll find you a chick too."

I don't answer for a minute. Its true Zack can get a date just about anywhere and I haven't had a date in a little over six months so maybe... "Fine." I finally answer.

"Great, when do you get off?"

"Seven."

"Okay I'll pick you up at eight thirty… and wear some real clothes. You'll never get a chick in your regular stuff."

"Later," I say and hang up the phone juggling the box again. My arms are now almost numb from holding the box. Why the hell is someone putting something this heavy through the parcel post. I groan and knock on the door.

"Keep your shorts on I'm coming." A rough voice calls from inside. The door opens a crack and a sharp blue eye peers out at me. "What da ya want?" The man demands.

I look down at the paperwork. "Delivery for a Mr. Highwind."

"Bout fucking time." He throws the door open and snatches the box from my hands. "Been waiting for this all week." The door slams in my face.

I sigh and knock on the door again. I don't know why everyone has to be difficult.

It creaks open a fraction of an inch. "What?" He snaps.

"I need a signature from you, sir." I hold out the delivery slip and a pen

He glares at me for a moment then grabs the paper and pen and scribbles something. Then he shoves it back in my face. I examine it for a minute, trying to ignore his glare.

"Could you verify your first name for me sir?"

"Cid. Cid Highwind." He snaps. "Now get outta here, I'm busy." Then once again, the door is slammed in my face. What did I do wrong this time? I take a second to write the man's name in under his signature and head back to my bike.

A good half the people I deliver to react about the same way the man did. He was a little over the top but people are almost never polite to a delivery boy. It can't help that I don't look presentable either. My route takes me farther out than most so I usually ride my motorcycle. I love it but it means I make deliveries dirty and disheveled. The worst is when it rains. I don't get much protection on a bike and driving through the rain at fifty miles an hour stings like crazy.

I rev the engine on my bike and head for my next delivery. I don't know why I let Zack talk me into these things. I don't do well with social stuff; I hate people for the most part. Every month or so he calls me up and talks me into going out to a bar or a club with him. I never have fun. It goes just as I told him. He drags me out then takes off with some girl and leaves me behind. Then a month later when I've forgotten just how bad the experience was he does it again. Zack's the kind of guy girls just fawn over.

It's not like I don't like the guy. Hell he's probably my best friend. We met in the military. He was a couple years older than I was and I guess he felt like I was his little brother or something because he taught me everything about fighting I know. We went through some hairy shit together and he saved my butt too many times to count but he can be a real dip-shit sometimes.

I finish my deliveries for the day and finally go home. I have this little one room apartment in the slums. It's not great but it serves my needs. It's cheap and has a garage. Most of the money I earn goes into my bike really. It's my prized possession. It was my dad's before he died. That's probably why I ride it instead of getting a car. A car would be easier with my job but I like my bike.

I eat a quick meal and take a shower before Zack shows up but I don't dress up. I almost always dress the same and contrary to his belief my clothes are real. They may not be fancy but I like them. I have a closet full of sleeveless turtle-neck shirts and cargo pants. All of them in dark colors. Tonight it's dark blue for the top and black for the pants. I have no need of anything else really. It's comfortable and easy. That's all I ask for. I don't need to stand out; my hair already does that for me. It's bright almost pure blond and sticks up in spikes without my help. I couldn't get it to lie down if I wanted it to.

Also people have a tendency to avoid me when they see the green Mako ring in my blue eyes. It's the stigma of all soldiers. The effects of the bloody Mako treatment. Zack manages to catch girls with it and heroic war stories but for me it generally scares them off.

I hear a horn honking just as I finish tying my boots. I don't own anything but biking boots. Once again I don't need to. I grab my leather jacket and make sure the door is locked.

Zack just shakes his head at me when I get into his car. He's dressed to kill. He always is. A plain black short sleeve button up shirt and slacks. I know the girls will just flock to him.

"I thought I told you to wear real clothes." He grins at me and shifts the car into drive.

I just shrug. He can make me come out but he can't make me like it.

"This club is supposed to be really hot. I can't believe it's been around for a year and I haven't heard of it before."

"What is it?" I ask but I'm not really listening to him.

"I dunno Seven's or something. The girl I went home with last night told me about it. Supposed to be some live band there tonight." He smirks.

Great, so now I get to be bored and listen to some really crappy band too. How utterly thrilling. He keeps chattering at me but I tune it out. He's probably going to revert to talking about his conquests again. The last thing I need to hear is how much 'tail' he's getting.

So maybe I complain about it when he drags me out but each time he asks I come anyway. I guess it's because I have hope. I always hope that I'll meet some girl to hit it off with. Of course last time that happened it was Jessie. That was a disaster. I've gotten better about the whole war scars thing but she just couldn't deal with it.

The thing is I'm lonely. I don't make friends easy. I have three counting Zack. There are people at the delivery service that I've been working with for a year that I still can't really talk to. I'm just not social and most people get to freaked out by my eyes to approach me. The ones that don't get freaked out want to hear war stories and I am never willing to talk about the war.

Zack pulls up to the club. I don't even know where we are. Usually I would have paid exact attention to where we were going. One of those habits you develop when people shoot at you every day. It's only with Zack I can drop those habits. He's the only person I feel I can trust. This is probably the reason I let him drag me out like this.

"Cloud," Zack waves a hand in front of my face. "Anyone there."

I shake myself. It's too easy to let myself slip into memories. "Yeah." I answer him and get out of the car.

It's utter chaos inside. It would be a pretty nice place if it weren't for all the people. The walls are painted black and backlit with blinding white lights. There are a couple of booths but it's mostly dance floor. A blue lit bar extends across the back wall. The music is loud; I can feel the rumble of the bass in my collarbones. Zack immediately makes a beeline for the bar.

I don't know how he can handle drinking. I stay away from alcohol at almost any cost. It's one of the side effects of the Mako treatment all soldiers go through. Any kind of alcohol will make you sick as hell. The good side is my memories of the war will never make me an alcoholic.

I follow more slowly. It's too hot in here, I'm glad I left my jacket in the car.

"You want one?" Zack mouths pointing to the drink in his hand. He's probably shouting but in here who could tell.

I shake my head and dodge a group of girls. There must be over a hundred people in here.

"Let's go over there." Zack points as soon as I'm close enough to actually hear him in the noise. He doesn't give me a chance to answer before he takes off in the direction of a group of barely dressed girls. He throws his arm around one of their necks and she doesn't slap him so he must know her.

I follow once again.

"Girls, this is my buddy Cloud." He waves his hand at me trying to get me closer. "Cloud, this is Lynn, Kei, Julie, and Victoria." He points to each. It doesn't matter. I won't be able to tell the difference between the four of them in ten minutes. I don't understand why but sometimes it seems like all the girls in places like this are clones. Like a factory upstairs turns out one every ten minutes.

In unison the four inspect me. I can't figure out what they're looking for. Is there something wrong with me?

Zack goes back to talking to them and for the most part they stop looking at me. I just stand next to Zack and look over the crowd. The flashing lights make it hard to distinguish color. It's one of those things. Half the dancers appear to have neon green hair, while the other half has flame red. Then they switch, then blue and yellow, then green and purple. So on and so forth.

There is a burst of laughter next to me. I guess the girls think Zack is funny. The five of them head for the bar. I find a patch of empty wall and lean against it arms crossed. Zack may always ditch me but I always let him because the girls he picks up are pretty bad. He has no standards.

"Hey cutie," One of the girls walks over to me. Lynn or Julie I'm not sure which. "Wanna dance."

I look down at her. I can tell she's high, it's the dull eyes. "No." I answer her firmly I don't dance.

I don't know why but she seems offended. She glares at me. What, what did I do? She turns on her heel and stomps away from me. I shake my head. I really don't get what made her mad.

Zack and the other three wander over and all crash into the booth nearest me. They're all drunk, the pile of scantily clad girls and Zack writhes as they spill they're drinks.

"Cloud," He shouts over a smooth leg. "Come on, join us."

The girls giggle and call out to me too. Why does he do this? He knows I hate this kind of thing. I turn and walk away.

I search for any kind of open spot. Anything that isn't packed with bodies. This place is starting to make me claustrophobic. I really hate large groups of people they always set me on edge.

It takes a few minutes but I manage to steal the seat in the corner where the bar meets the wall. There aren't many people hanging out on this end, thank god. This is starting to get to me. Why oh why did I let Zack drive. If I had just followed him I would be able to leave on my bike.

I put my head in my hands and try to block out some of the weird atmosphere. If it gets any worse, I'm going to have to leave.

"What can I get you?" A cheery voice asks me. I look up to see the female bartender in front of me. She's not like the clones. The lighting is bad but she has long dark hair and dark eyes. She gives me a happy smile.

"Nothing." I shake my head.

She frowns a little, "You sure?"

"Yeah, thanks though." I'm trying not to stare. She's very attractive, in a real way instead of the fake way the girls with Zack are.

She tilts her head to the side a little. "Then why are you sitting at the bar?"

I'm trying to think of something to say to that when Lynn or Julie, whatever her name is, walks over and dumps her drink over my head. God damn it, this is worse than these nights usually are.

The bartender hides a smile behind her hand and hands me a towel.

"Thanks," I murmur. Why do these things always happen?

She gives a small laugh. It's surprisingly deep for her voice. "What did you do?"

"I didn't dance with her." I tell her trying to get a lime out of my hair. Tonight is a total bust. If my bike were here I would just leave. I'm contemplating just walking at this point.

"That's it?" She raises an eyebrow.

"As near as I can figure." I respond. She's easy to talk to.

"Here I'll make you a drink on the house." She smiles. "I'm sure I can make something you'll like."

I debate for a moment. Anything she makes will make me sick in a few hours but she's actually talking to me so... "Alright." I shrug

She looks at me for a moment. Then turns away and starts grabbing bottles. I watch amused. She flips a bottle behind her back and catches it mid air without looking. I'm impressed. I mean I've seen trick bartending before but she's really got the stuff down. She sets a drink down in front of me.

"Try it out. I'll be back." She gives me a small wink and hurries off to help some other people.

I consider just dumping the damn thing out. She's just trying to be nice. I bet she'll ask me how it was so I better have an answer. I try it. It's good, surprising so. It's slightly tangy with only the smallest burn of alcohol. I take another sip. Yeah it's really good. I have no idea what it is.

She comes back over after a couple of minutes. "So how is it?"

"It's good." I nod a little. "What is it?"

She tilts her head to the side. "I don't know. I don't have a name for it yet."

"You mean you just made it up?" I ask skeptical.

"No," She waves her hand at me. "I've been working on it for a while it just doesn't have a name yet."

"Reminds me of Cosmo Canyon." I say without really thinking.

"That's it." She snaps her fingers and smiles at me. "A Cosmo Comet."

"Sounds good." I manage and take another sip. I look down at the drink. I've had more than half of it already. I'm really going to regret this tomorrow.

She stares at me for a moment, and then leans on the bar. "So Mr. doesn't drink, doesn't dance, doesn't smile what do you do?"

Hey, I'm drinking right now aren't I. "I work for a mail service."

"What?" She shouts as the music suddenly gets louder.

"I'm a delivery boy." I shout back just as the music stops for a second. The words echo across the room and several people turn to stare. Great I'm so smooth.

She gives me a little smirk. "Delivery boy?"

She's laughing at me. Crap, what do I say? I'm saved by Zack.

"Hey," He shouts and falls into me one arm around my neck and nearly yanks me off the seat. "Where'd ya go?" He's slurring.

"I was just having a drink." I tell him. She's laughing at me again.

"A drink?" He wavers a little then goes limp. He's passed out. Good going Zack. We've been here for less than two hours and you're already plastered.

"I better get him home." I tell her standing up. "Thanks for the drink."

"You're welcome." She gives a little wave and watches as I hoist Zack up and try to navigate to the door.

I manage to get Zack to my apartment before I get sick. The Mako rejects the alcohol and thus I spend like four hours hugging my toilet. God I really hate drinking. I've only got three hours until I have to be at work by the time I stop throwing up. I wish I could call in sick but my boss thinks that the only excuse for missing work is being dead. I'll just have to suffer through it.

What a horrible night. I got dragged out by Zack, got a drink poured on my head, drank just because the bartender was cute and I didn't even get her name.

There's the first chapter. I'm actually pretty proud of this story, I've already got five chapters ready to post and more are coming.

Please review, I need constructive criticisim. Most of the people I know can't give it because they don't know the game or have no editing skills. Even if it's just to correct a grammar error I still need help.

Thanks bunches.