Disclaimer: Final Fantasy Seven has been produced by Square Enix. I disclaim all intent to profit or other wise benefit from this fan fic.
There was something extremely satisfying in the word friendship.
A better word was brother.
The third most popular word by far the two of them agreed on was revenge. Especially when it involved short little moments, where they could re-enact the greatest scenario of all time thanks none so lightly to Tifa and Aerith. The best moment of their lives, well, since they came back from the Life stream.
Cloud's soft smile eclipsed only with Zack's smothered laughter as the two-watched Genesis's mouth work and Angeal's eyes turn nearly bug-eyed. Mostly, it was because the two of them had defied everything and with a little help from Cloud's buddy-mentor Turk, they had pulled it off.
It was incredibly worth every second of humiliation Cloud had suffered in the retelling.
Oh, was it worth it. Especially when Aerith gave them a sly nudge and handed Cloud the final peace of Sephiroth's burning damnation.
The cologne he had procured in the rescue of Tifa from Don Corneo.
"Think of it as the ultimate undercover mission, General." Cloud drawled evenly. Hell, he would always thank his other half for this very moment. Especially after Sephiroth's claims of being responsible for the personality changes and Cloud's former belief he was a SOLDIER first. Green eyes turned murderous as Genesis carefully slid between him and the Masamune least the blonde-haired person was skewered by their murderous former commander.
"Oh, man…" Zack finally gave in and collapsed with a howl of laughter. Mischief sparked to life as his eyes set upon the remaining two.
Quickly, Genesis began to attempt a move out of the way and was unfortunately caught by the shadow-ish Vincent Valentine.
"Dead men don't just come back to life." the Turk reminded him. Cloud's eyes turned nearly devilish at that statement.
"You're the very devil." Genesis snapped.
As for Angeal, he tried to remember just why this was a good idea and came up with his own code of ethics. It was coming back to bite him in the ass. Really, it was. Just desserts and all that for what Zack claimed to have put him through.
"So, why do we have to wear such outrageous outfits?"
"In order to work and live in the new world, the three of you have to become different people." Yuffie Kisaragi explained, tossing a piece of popcorn into her mouth when Tifa slid a box across the counter to Genesis. "It kind of helps if you do things outside of your personalities."
"I'm not wearing that." The red general snapped after looking into the container. "It's something you'd see Reeve wearing. Not me."
A shout interrupted his growing argument with the women when Angeal dashed over the counter and slid behind the bartender. Looking over her shoulder, Tifa sighed and planted her hands on her hips. "Zack Fair, what did you do?"
"It's not that bad. It's even reasonable. I had Cloud pick it out and everything."
Key word: Cloud Strife was well known amongst the group as a joker when the mood struck, the cleared out. It wasn't often thank the Life stream. All part and parcel of his absorption of Zack's memories and personality as it were…
In his hands, just barely peaking out of the box was the most brilliant shade of green that had ever been created. Her eye twitched when she noticed the sparkles along the sleeve edge.
"Cloud…" A tone he was quickly becoming familiar. "Just what were you thinking?" The youngest swordsman smirked at her.
"It's all Zack's fault. He's a very strong influence." Cloud claimed, tilting his head at the dark haired Soldier. "You know…cause of that stuff."
Sliding from his chair, Denzel howled with laughter forced into holding his ribs. It was just getting good when the blonde-haired person suddenly seemed to sober and reach down for the satchels he'd hidden at his feet. "Here." he said dejectedly. "Standard Strife Delivery uniform."
Sephiroth twitched. Genesis and Angeal twitched. Vincent smirked. Zack… Zack finally let loose with a dark chuckle, the S-cells in his body turning his eyes nearly green. Cloud's own soft laughter was a near match.
"You can't say you didn't deserve it." Cloud answered the growing anger on their behalf.
As for Sephiroth, the former lunatic had been completely decked out as a showgirl headed for a job at the Gold Saucer. Somewhere in the world of Gaia dragons shriveled up from the heat of his murderous eyes.
Moreover, it was concluded that the youngest members were indeed quite insane. All thanks to Sephiroth's own manic plans to take over and destroy the world.
How could they not be?