Occasion: Friendship contest by CloudStrifeClub on deviantart
Setting: After Advent Children, flashbacks during Crisis Core time. Slightly AU because I'm pretending Zack and Cloud met before the modeoheim mission. And slight other changes here and there.
Key Friendship: Zack and Cloud

Quote that inspired this story:

"Sometimes you pick your friends, sometimes they pick you." -Anonymous

Because I don't think Cloud ever had a choice ;)

Cloud shuffled around his study slowly, moving things into piles and trying to get everything cleaned up. This job was far overdue as he hadn't attended to the mess ever since he first began his delivery job. Over time the papers had stacked up to create a huge job which finally, today, he had chosen to tackle. Tifa had taken the kids out to the park and he was using the moment of peace to get it done.

He was honestly quite surprised at how many things there were to be thrown out. So many of the papers were old and not needed any more so he was able to shove them into the bin without a second thought. Other more important documents had to be filed away, taking slightly more time as Cloud had to figure out where exactly to put them so they were in order.

Opening the drawers of his desk, Cloud winced. Clearly he had been lazy as all the papers in there were sprawled out in no order what-so-ever. This would take a while to sort what he needed to keep and what could go out, so he started pulling the papers out right away and lay them on his already-cleaned desk top. As he went, something that had been covered up suddenly caught his attention and he reached down to pick it up.

It was a photograph that had been taken a long time ago and Cloud couldn't help but smile as he laid eyes on it. His and Zack's faces took up most of the image and they were grinning widely, obviously enjoying themselves.

He remembered that day as if it were yesterday. Zack had invited him to hang out with some of his other SOLDIER friends and Cloud had been overjoyed to be included in the group. To be honest, not many of the other SOLDIERs really spoke to him that much, but it had been enough just to be able to walk around with them.

Zack had always been such a great friend to him, even back when Cloud didn't know him well enough to want to be friends. Cloud had first known Zack as the bouncy SOLDIER who was good at what he did and loved playing practical jokes. He had never intended to become friends with him, but for some reason a friendship just bloomed when they hung around each other.

Of course, the reason for them spending time together was Zack's persistence. Zack was just the kind of guy who liked to be friends with everyone he knew, and once he'd passed Cloud a couple of times in the corridors he had decided to make it his mission to be friends with him as well. It didn't matter that Cloud was just a grunt at the time. Cloud was fun to hang out with.

Cloud shook his head as he mused quietly to himself and tucked the photo into his pocket. He and Zack had become such close friends so quickly that there was never really time to think about it. The only decision that had been made was by Zack when he first chose to start inviting Cloud to hang with his friends.

The blond hadn't known it back then, but Zack was one of those rare, irreplaceable friends who only came by once in a blue moon. He was gone now, but Cloud would always have his memories.

"Hey, Cloud!" came a voice from behind. Cloud turned and frowned as he saw Zack walking towards him with a grin on his face. He couldn't recall telling the SOLDIER his name but let the thought slide, knowing he must have at some time.

"What's up?" Cloud asked.

"Just passing by and thought I'd say hello," Zack grinned, patting Cloud's shoulder as he reached him. "How are your classes going?"

"Fine, really good actually," Cloud responded with a grin of his own.

"That's good," Zack beamed. "You're gonna be a great SOLDIER one day."

The two spoke a bit longer about how things were going for both until they were interrupted by Zack's PHS ringing. Answering it, his eyes slowly lit up with excitement.

"Sorry Cloud, I gotta go," Zack told Cloud after a moment. "We'll catch up later, yeah?"

Cloud nodded and then Zack ruffled his hair before walking off, not seeing Cloud's look of utter hatred as he hurriedly went about fixing his spikes. Watching Zack's retreating back, Cloud shook his head. Then he laughed.

"Come here!"

Cloud was roughly pulled by the shoulder and found himself stuck beside Zack as the dark-haired man whipped out a camera and attempted to take a picture of the both of them standing together. When they heard the click, Zack quickly brought it back to see how it had turned out, grumbling under his breath.

Laughing, Cloud allowed himself to be held in place as Zack tried to take another photo since the previous one wasn't good enough.

"Hurry up, Zack," he complained jokingly after a moment. "I want to see what's over there!"

The rest of the group had moved over to a small shop and were crowded around something, talking excitedly. Cloud had been about to find out what the fuss was about when Zack chose to take a photo.

"Alright, good enough," Zack announced, promptly grabbing Cloud's arm and dragging him over to the others.

Cloud sighed, but there was a smile on his face. Sometimes he wondered why he was friends with Zack. He couldn't remember ever agreeing to be friends with the SOLDIER, either, so how had it happened?

Stepping into the group of SOLDIERs, Cloud felt his chest swell with pride. Even though he was still just a grunt, he was part of their group. Zack looked over and grinned at him and he returned it immediately.

Thanks, Zack.

Cloud sat on his bed with a letter in his lap, smiling as he read it. He'd gotten it a few days ago but hadn't opened it until today because it was his birthday and he wanted something to look forward to on his special day. He was now fifteen.

The letter was from Tifa, telling him she missed him and couldn't wait to see him again. He couldn't wait to see her again either, knowing she'd be really proud of everything he'd accomplished so far at ShinRa. He wasn't a SOLDIER yet, but there was still time to reach that goal.

Tifa had also said 'happy early birthday' in the letter and Cloud laughed when he read that, amused since it was his birthday when he was reading it.

The door suddenly bursting open surprised him and he jumped up, wondering if it was one of his instructor's coming to yell at him for something he'd done wrong. He should have known that wasn't the case, but in the moment of surprise it had been the first thing to come to his mind.

"Spiky!" Zack exclaimed, bouncing over to him and ruffling his hair. He was the only one who got away with that. "Happy birthday!"

"How did you know it was my birthday?" Cloud asked with a grin, happy that someone else had remembered.

"You told me, you idiot," Zack laughed. "Got any presents yet?"

"Nah," Cloud shook his head. "It costs too much to send gifts here from home. But I got a letter from Tifa."

"Tifa? Is she your girlfriend?" Zack asked cheekily, reaching for the letter. He had grabbed it before Cloud could react and the blond promptly went bright red in embarrassment. At least Tifa hadn't written anything embarrassing in her letter so it was okay for Zack to read, because he knew he wouldn't be able to snatch it back until the SOLDIER was finished.

"Just a friend," Cloud replied.

"Aww, she misses you!" Zack teased lightly. "You should ask her out if you like her, Spike, I'm sure she'll say yes. Who could say no to you?"

Cloud went even redder and laughed in response to the compliment. He then waited for Zack to finish reading before taking the letter back and folding it up.

"Okay, well have a good day Spiky!" Zack said, grinning and then heading for the door.

Cloud frowned slightly, a bit upset that Zack was already leaving. He had hoped that he'd be able to spend more time with his friend on his birthday but he knew the SOLDIER probably had a lot of things to attend to.

However, just as Cloud was turning to put the letter away, Zack raced back towards him and tackled him to the ground, letting out a sound that made Cloud think of a war-cry. Cloud laughed as Zack then rolled to the side and handed him a slightly crushed gift.

"As if I'd leave you like that!" Zack exclaimed. "You poor thing, you looked so upset when I turned away."

Cloud rolled his eyes and accepted the gift, pulling himself into a sitting position to open it.

Trust Zack to trick him like that. It was great to have a friend who cared enough to do such a thing.

Much to Zack's confusion and surprise, Cloud snorted at that thought.

Cloud went downstairs once he had finished tidying up his study, smiling as he heard the sounds of Tifa and the kids arriving home from their trip to the park. The laughter signalled that they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and Cloud was glad.

Entering the kitchen, he pulled out the photo of him and Zack from his pocket and grabbed a magnet off the fridge before sticking the photo in place with it. He looked a lot younger in the photo and it was strange to remember back to then, but it was also nice. And after so long he definitely needed more reminders of the good times he'd had with his friends in the past.

Tifa walked into the room behind him and he turned to face her, a faint smile still on his lips. She glanced past him curiously, and when she saw the photo her own face lit up with a smile. Their eyes connected again but they didn't speak. They understood each other without needing words, which was a benefit of being such close friends.

He had been like that with Zack once, as well. In fact, Zack had been the first friend to get so close to Cloud since the other kids in Cloud's hometown hadn't been very friendly towards him. He hadn't gotten as close to Tifa back then either because his nerves kept him at a slight distance.

But being friends with Zack had shown him how to reach out and get to know others, trusting them and allowing them to discover more about him also. He needed more friends over the years, he came to realise, and he was blessed with them.

A lot of them reminded him of Zack. Stubborn and willing to do anything to remain friends even when he tried to shut them out and deal with his problems on his own.

He would always remember Zack.