Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or any of its characters -.- what I DO own is a copy of the movie and one of the game :P ...although CD1 doesn't work anymore ; ; wonder if it'll work on a PS3...? Anyway, enjoy :P
Haunted – Zack's feelings
by Arakune Yoru
"Wow! That was pretty fast, such a good service!" A man said from the door way as Cloud placed a small package in his hands. When he was turning away to climb his bike, he looked back over his shoulder and nodded.
"No problem" He froze, however, when he saw Zack looking back at him, blood pouring from a severe cut in his forehead and from his mouth (1); there were multiple bruises and injuries all over his body, making it seem imposible he was standing there in front of Cloud. The blonde man turned completely to look at him, gun shots on the taller man's chest drew his attention and glued his eyes to them, the Mako tinted orbs widening as much as physically possible.
"What is it? You look like you've just seen a ghost" Said the dark haired SOLDIER, chuckling lightly at his own joke as he rose his right arm to cover his grin, blood dripping from the abused member.
"Z-Zack?" Cloud asked stupidly as he lost his balance, stepping forward to keep from falling.
~Wh-what is this?~
He shook his head and brought his hand up to rub his forehead as a sharp noise rang through his ears, finally pulling him down to the ground to kneel while he kept holding his head in his hand.
"Hey, you doin' ok?" As he looked up and found Zack's face so close he could *smell* his blood, see it pouring from his wounds...and yet, there he was, bearing a worried look as he bent over to check on him.
"I'm sorry..." He let out as he looked down again, tears burning in his eyes as he squeezed them shut, effectively preventing them from spilling.
"...What do you mean?" The would-be SOLDIER heard Zack's voice and shook his head, not looking up or opening his eyes.
"I'm...I'm so sorry" The arm supporting his weight gave out and he fell face first, not feeling pain at all, his world blacked out completely. The man above him gasped as he shook the delivery boy to try and wake him up
"Oi, kid, wake up!" But the blue eyes didn't open, neither did the kid react. "Oh great..." He looked up and around to see if he could get some help moving the man, as he figured he wouldn't be as light as he looked but there was no one close enough to hear him. "What's wrong with you, kid?" He asked not unkind as he took the man's arm and half carried him inside his house. What had the blonde called him? Zack? And he said he was sorry... "Such a messed up boy, and heavy too." He wheezed as he lied the man rather roughly on his couch, but even then, he didn't wake up, he didn't even flinch or grunt in pain. "Well, let's see if I can find and ID" But as he searched the Cloud's pockets he didn't find anything, not even a mobile phone; the man looked up and noticed the black bike standing outside and he walked to it, looking it over in utter interest, whistling in appreciation. "Such a nice ride you got pal, I wonder if...?" The skinny guy climbed on it and smiled, caressing the surface gently and smiling when he spotted the mobile phone. "There we are...who should we call?" He checked the missed calls list, raising an eyebrow when he saw all of them were from '7th Heaven'; he shrugged and hit the call button. As he was placing the phone over his ear, someone took it from his hand and he gasped and jumped, looking up at the blonde delivery boy who frowned disaprovingly at him as he hung up. He was very pale, but was standing there as if nothing had happened.
"Get off." He said coldly, but with a tired stare, blinking twice as he stepped forward. The other man frowned, and even though he got off the bike he snorted.
"Hey don't get me wrong buddy, I was just trying to help you" But Cloud didn't even look at him, he just climbed his bike, started the engin and speeded off, putting his goggles absently with one hand.
~What the hell just happened?~
That was a dumb question with an easy answer: he'd seen Zack...or had he? He sighed as he drove back to his house, keeping an eye out for kids running around. That was the first time since last year's incident that he saw him...or Aerith for that matter (2).
"Look out!" He jerked his head up and stopped abruptly as he hit the brakes, leaning to his right to see what he had became close to killing; a dog jogged calmly onto the pavement and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly while he straightened and started driving again, going slow this time and keeping his mind on the road
Later, at 7th Heaven
"You're skipping dinner again?" Tifa half asked, half scolded as Cloud's dinner sat in front of him completely untouched. Unlike last night, the older of the two wasn't even pushing his food around the plate, he was just sitting there, with his elbow resting on the table as he supported his chin on it.
"I'm not hungry..." He answered simply as he looked toward the living room, Marlene and Denzel playing some random video game and gasping in delight whenever something cool flashed on the screen.
"Cloud..." He blinked twice and looked up at Tifa, finding worried brown orbs looking at him and the younger woman walked to sit by his side "What happened? You called earlier, but didn't pick up after I-" The former SOLDIER shook his head and looked away from her, bringing his hand up to rub his left arm.
"Sorry about that, nothing's wrong." He lied and stood up, walking toward the stairs even as Tifa called after him.
"Why don't you trust us, Cloud?" She whispered, and Cloud was sure she forgot he could still hear her. It wasn't like he didn't trust them, he just didn't want to worry them...after all, they thought he had gotten better after he beat Sephiroth for good.
~Sephiroth...~
He shook his head and sighed, closing the door to his room gently and resting his forehead against it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Why had he seen Zack today? What was his friend trying to tell him?
~Do you...hate me, Zack?~
Cloud wouldn't blame him if he did, back then, if only he'd been stronger, he would have been able to help his friend, keep him alive to see the bright future he had ahead of him, or at least he would've tried and he wouldn't feel so utterly...
~Useless~
The blonde SOLDIER woud-be straightened and opened his eyes, walking to his bed and throwing himself on it and grabbing a pillow to hug it close to his chest. If only he could change the past, keep Zack and Aerith from dying, stop Sephiroth from destroying Nibelheim.
"Cloud?" He almost jumped out of his skin and looked up, finding Marlene standing there by his side with a curious gleam in her eyes and a hair brush in her hand. The blonde man smiled slight, sitting up in his bed and leaving the pillow in its place as he petted the girl's hair.
"Yes?" He was started as Marlene suddenly flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
~It's...raining?~ (3)
He rose an eyebrow as the small girl stepped away from him and smiled brightly, running her fingers through her long hair to untangle it while she spoke.
"You should smile more often Cloud" The small girl said and he realized he'd been smirking as she showed off the shiny her with a look of longing in his eyes. Marlene's hair looked just like...
"I'll keep that in mind, mum" Marlene chuckled and walked towards the door, flashing him a smile before closing it gently with a soft sound. Cloud immediately wiped the smile from his face and looked down at his hands when he lifted them from his lap, frowning at them and shaking his head; he was worrying the others, even though it was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He walked to the window and looked into the distance as it poured outside, crystal blue eyes reflecting the droplets and all the time his mind came back to Zack, the vision he had had that day, and he kept searching his head for a reason. He shook his head again and walked to his desk, arranging a couple of medicine books he had been using before the 'Kadaj fiasco', as Rufus liked to call it, and pillowed his head on his arms, looking at the picture they had taken after the incident. He reached his hand towards it and caressed the soft surface gently, gloved fingers tracing his friends and the kids, his eyes turned heavy and he yawned deeply, fighting his drowzyness but losing miserably. In a matter of seconds he was sleeping soundly, his eyes moved slowly behind the lids, long lashes fluttering ever so slightly but the mako tinted orbs wouldn't open.
-Hey, you doin' ok?-
The blonde frowned and his lips parted slightly, letting out a long breath before he relaxed again, fingers twitching as if touching something but there was nothing in his grasp.
-Am I that scary, spikey?-
A low chuckle escaped a broad chest, and dark hair moved along with a taut body as the man leaned down to ruffle the blonde hair gently, a soft smile adorning the scarred, yet handsome face.
-I'd never haunt you like that, Cloud. Not my style-
The former SOLDIER operative sat on the desk by Cloud's side, looking down at his friend with sad eyes. He chuckled again and shook his head, looking up at the ceiling.
-We're friends, right? Trust me Cloud, I don't hate you-
"Zack..." Cloud sighed in his sleep and turned his head towards Zack, making the taller of the two place his hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture.
-Everything's ok Cloud, rest assured-
Mako tinted eyes flew open and the blond straightened on his chair, looking around with tired, but alert eyes. There was no one around the room, but for a second he had felt such a strong presence he'd been startled awake; he took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes tiredly, walking to his bed blindly as he kept rubbing his eyes gently.
"It's ok, Cloud..." An almost impercetible whisper said, and had it not been Cloud, he wouldn't have heard it, but he stopped dead in his tracks and tensed, his eyes opening wide even as he turned around, his hand flying to his shoulder to grasp a sword which wasn't even there. As he looked around his room with hard eyes, a warm feeling spread through his body and calmed him down, his muscles relaxed and he was left standing in the middle of his room with a lost look on his face.
"...What was that?" A small stone hit his window and he walked to it calmly, opening it and looking up and down the street, finding it completely empty.
Figures...it's midnight, what did you expect?
Just as he was closing the window, he spotted a lone figure standing at the end of the street, looking in his general direction; he leaned as far as he could and strained his eyes, his mouth opening in shock when he recognized the big sword in the person's hand.
"Night..." He heard a happy whisper and a second later the figure disappeared, leaving no trace that it had been there at all. Cloud pulled himself back into his room and closed the window with a soft sound, walking to his bed and falling on it rather heavily. The lost look vanished from his face and a small smile found it's way to his lips; blue eyes closed and opened again slowly (4).
"Night...Zack"
OWARI
(1) – From CC ; ; he made such a sad picture then v.v
(2) – Cloud isn't aware Aerith is haunting him...
(3) – No, he's not crying XD
(4) – Looks like the ending of AC...right? XD
Author's notes
Hi again ^^ well, um...this was supposed to be a one-shot, but I just thought of another chapter :P might upload some others if I feel creative enough and if this gets good reviews :P till then!
Thanks for reading =D please review?