Written for Cloud's birthday, 2010.

Just Another Day

It didn't get any easier.

In fact it only got harder the longer they travelled. Zack's muscles screamed for him to rest, to slow things down…but they were on the run. The two most wanted men on the planet. They didn't exactly have the luxury of checking in to a five start hotel and sipping cocktails by the pool for a week while getting relaxing massages.

There was nobody to help them or take care of them. There was only Zack.

They'd been on the run for a little over a month now. Cloud was as unresponsive as the day they'd broken out of the lab so Zack had to all but carry him every step of the way. As light as Cloud was, Zack wasn't in the best condition to start off with and walking every spare minute of every day got really old, really fast. And then there were the extra activities…

Cloud was catatonic, yes, but he was still alive. It was hard enough to attend to personal matters for yourself while on the run and unable to stay anywhere and always having to cover your identity…but dragging around a body raised more than a few eyebrows. And the old 'my friend had too much to drink' line got old really fast.

They'd managed to stay at inns occasionally, in towns so far out of the way that they didn't listen to the news so wouldn't recognise them or in places so shady that nobody asked questions because everybody had a story and was wanted by someone for one reason or another.

The latter was where Zack found himself now, making it up a set of stairs into a bedroom so filthy it was probably a health hazard. He lowered Cloud gently on to the bed and then lay down next to him. There was no point getting two rooms or the expense of a twin room. Cloud was too far gone to care about the lack of personal space and Zack…preferred to have Cloud close. In case he missed that vital moment. Because he was sure that any day now Cloud would wake up. He knew it would be only small noises at first, and he wanted to pick up as soon as possible. He needed that ray of hope, to know that Cloud really was going to be okay after all of this.

"What am I thinking, huh Spiky? Of course you're okay! A little bit of mako never did anyone any harm" Zack informed his friend, playfully ruffling lank dirty blonde hair. Everything about Cloud was dirty, he realised. He'd had to drop his poor friend rather suddenly when they'd been attacked in a forest by some of the wildlife that hadn't taken kindly to their presence.

"You look like you got dragged through a hedge backwards! Let's get you fixed up, yeah? You'll feel better once you're clean." Zack promised, getting up and heading towards the small bathroom. There was a sink, toilet and, blessedly, a tiny tub with leaking shower head barely attached to the wall. "We're in luck, Cloud! I'll go first and then we can get you sorted out, okay?"

As was customary Zack left a pause where Cloud would have answered if he could. In his mind he filled in the blonde's words for him. It felt more polite to actually include Cloud in the conversation rather than just talk at him. Zack hurriedly took his shower, hating that he had to dress back in the same dirty clothing but feeling marginally better anyway. Then he came back through to the bedroom and smiled at the prone blonde. "Sorry Cloud." He breathed as he started to take off the younger man's clothing. He always felt terrible for having to do this, but it had to be done. He chuckled picturing the different shades of red Cloud would turn if he knew that Zack had undressed and washed him countless times. His laugh was cut off as he looked down at Clouds scarred body. At just what Hojo had done to him. He'd taken a fresh faced teenager and stolen his life. Extinguished that bright light that had once been an overly eager cadet, just wanting to follow in the footsteps of his heroes. Now he'd missed his late teens years, spent them swimming in Mako and being cut open to satisfy a mad scientists curiosity.

Zack trailed the back of his fingertips along Cloud's cheekbone. "What the fuck did he do to you…?" Zack whispered. He presumed he'd never truly know. Even if (not if, when, his mind stubbornly corrected) Cloud woke up, it was likely he'd block it out of his memory. Zack knew that he'd blocked out the worst. He hadn't been with Cloud all of the time, and knew that Hojo had much preferred the untainted cadet over him. It made Zack feel physically sick that he hadn't been able to protect his younger officer. No. His friend.

But he'd fix that now. In any small way he could, even if it was just helping with a shower. Lifting the now nude blonde in his arms, Zack carried him to the bathroom and set him in the bath. Turning on the shower he let it run warm before starting to clean his friend. "I know it's embarrassing, but you'll feel better after this, I swear."

Grabbing the bottle of very cheap and generic body wash that had been left near the bath, Zack gently rubbed soap into Cloud's skin and hair, hoping to breathe life back into the dull spikes. Risning the soap of gently, Zack's fingers ran over some of the scars, sighing again. Cloud had been pure, innocent… "Okay Spikey, let's get you dry before you catch a cold!" Zack wasn't sure if with as much mako that Cloud had he was even able to catch a cold anymore, but he didn't really want to test fate. With a fever Cloud wouldn't be fit to travel in the conditions they were moving in.

Carrying Cloud back to the bedroom Zack gently covered him with a towel and dried him off before smiling. "Almost forgot! Don't say I never get you anything…" Zack rummaged through the small bag they carried, and pulled out the items he'd managed to steal from a market stall the day before. He hadn't had space in the bag to steal a set for each of them, but figured today of all days, Cloud deserved to be the one to get a fresh change of clothing. "You'll feel much better once you've got these on. I promise." They were also a lot less conspicuous than the SOLDIER uniform that Cloud was currently sporting.

Gently Zack manoeuvred limp arms through the sleeves of a black shirt, and legs through a clean pair of boxers and a pair of jeans. "You look gorgeous, little chocobo." Zack admired, running fingers through the damp blonde locks, attempting to make them stand up like they used to. They were too long now, finding a hairdresser hadn't been high on their list of priorities.

Zack's gaze fell to Cloud's eyes. They were blank, staring out at nothing and unblinking. It was eerie to meet them, but Zack was judging them, trying to work out if the glow was dimming slightly. He was sure it was; on the first day of their escape Clouds eyes were so bright it was painful to look at them. He'd quickly stolen sunglasses for the blonde so that they could enter towns without people staring and asking questions. Now the glow was dulling and though not the same as the normal population, the glow was definitely less noticeable. Which gave Zack hope that the mako levels in Cloud's body were dropping. All the poor boy needed was time and he'd be fine.

"Okay bright eyes? You're going to get through this. Soon you won't need me for all of this crap. But until then…dinner time! Managed to get some pretty good stuff, I haven't had a pear for years! Found a really nice one at the market this morning, remember we went shopping? Also some soup for you, know how much you love it!" It was a pre-packaged tomato soup, that you were supposed to heat up but their room came sans stove, so Cloud would be eating it cold. As usual. It couldn't be helped, and Cloud never complained.

Firstly Zack went about eating his pear, savouring the sweet taste, and then the pack of sandwiches he'd bought at the same time as the soup, before sitting Cloud up against the headboard of the bed.

Fortunately the soup came with a plastic spoon, which he detached from the lid and stirred the mixture with. "Smells good! Open up Spiky!"

This was the tricky part. Washing involved no effort from the blonde, but eating…Zack had found out was rather hit and miss. It had to be a smooth soup; Zack had tried chicken vegetable to try and get some nutrients into his friend, but the blonde had been unable to chew and had nearly choked on a carrot. The trick was to place the spoon in Cloud's mouth and leave it there until natural reflexes kicked it and Cloud took the soup. Sometimes it could take a while, but it wasn't like the soup was going cold so it didn't matter too much. And once Cloud took the offered food it made Zack smile, a little spark of hope that there was still someone in there.

Today was a miss day. Zack was having trouble even getting Cloud's mouth to open. He pushed the spoon against closed lips until finally they parted and allowed the spoon in, but then Cloud just sat, staring past Zack's shoulder to the dirty hotel room wall, not really seeing anything.

"Come on, Cloud. We don't get too much food so you have to take it while you can! If you don't eat there's going to be nothing left of you by the time we get to Midgar!"Zack forced a small laugh, but it was a real worry. Cloud was living on a few spoonfuls of tomato soup as and when they could get it. Zack carried him every day and could feel the change in his body, the difference in weight…Cloud wasn't getting the nourishment needed and there was really not too much Zack could do about it. First thing when Cloud woke up was to get him a proper meal.

After what felt like hours, Cloud finally swallowed the spoonful of soup. Zack smiled and got another spoonful ready. "That's it, Cloud. I know you're not burning much energy, but you still need food to help you get over this sickness. Your body is fighting the mako, trying to get free. You're doing a great job so far, I'm really proud of you. Really proud." Zack fell silent, then, concentrating on helping Cloud eat. By the time Cloud stopped swallowing, the soup was nearly gone. "Okay I'll let you off the last bit. Especially since I've got you something else…"

Zack's smile brightened as he fished out a small box from the bag. It was a bit squashed but inside the cake was perfect. It was a small thing, with lots of creamy icing on top. "Figured I'd splash out today! You deserve it! I know you can't eat the cake, but you can have icing!"Zack decided, scooping a finger of icing and pressing it to Cloud's lips. It took a second but a delicate pink tongue lapped up the icing.

Zack grinned, imagining Cloud's smile. "Is it good?" Zack took a bite of icing and cake and nodded. "Mmn, really good! The lady said she made the best cakes in Corel and she wasn't kidding! Here, have some more." He offered another bit of icing which was taken within seconds. For the next few minutes they shared the cake, before Zack chucked the empty box on the floor and then lay Cloud down on the bed properly and then lay next to him, arms around the blonde pulling him close. Zack breathe din the scent of the soap and Cloud's hair, just nuzzling the still damp hair for a moment.

"You're probably wondering why I'm going to so much trouble today, yeah? Staying at a hotel, the bath, the new clothes, the cake…I doubt you're keeping track of time, you need to be worrying about fixing that pretty little head of yours instead of dates. But that's why I'm here, yeah? I nearly didn't realise myself, we spent a long time in that forest…but I saw the date the other day and knew it was coming up. And I knew that after all of the shit you've been through I had to make this day special. I know…when you think about it, it's pretty shit. The room is filthy. You couldn't even eat your cake! But…Cloud…for what it's worth…happy birthday."

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