Konichiwa!

Damn plot bunny bit me right in the middle of school. This really is a pointless little drabble that just came to me. This is my first try at a Zack/Cloud pairing...I haven't read much of it but I like it. I'm rating it T just to be safe, even thought there's not much to object to...um... I'm still not done with FFVII yet, so if I make some kind of mistake, it's because of that. I've only ever watched AC.

I also took a little more creative liscence with my writing style...there's a big change (well, to me- I don't know if it's as obvious to you guys or not).

To Jumesyn, for always making my day a little bit better with your reviews or PMs. To Snickey, for putting up with me. To Katie, Shawna, and everybody else who's had to endure my Sephiroth ranting and my general insanity, and to everyone who leaves a review. You really do rock!

Um...it starts before the game, then it switches to Advent Children settings. 'Kay? I wasn't sure how to end it either... I'll just shut up and let you read now...

He never felt regret. Never. Not even as the bullets pierced his body, as he lay drowning in a crimson pool, fading into the arms of death. Regret was never in his thoughts. He'd done what he'd accomplished, hadn't he? He'd protected the one he loved to the very end. Didn't that count for something?

His breath seeped from his lungs, his eyes quickly dulling as he tried to search out for his love, just one last look before death took him. It was hard to see past the blood dripping across his face, but he could still glimpse it- that beautiful blonde head, lying face down in the dirt. Motionless.

Fear pricked his heart but it stilled, seeing gloved fingers clench as the blonde struggled to move. He smiled inwardly, because his lips were refusing to work anymore, and watched.

I love you. If only the blonde were telepathic, if only his lips would move, if only he could breathe, just to say those three little words…

His heart stopped beating- and that's when Cloud started screaming.

Was it really seven years ago that they'd first met? It never seemed that long ago- Shinra had robbed them of five precious years, so that really only made it two, didn't it? Five years that could never be reclaimed. He hoped for the sake of whatever sanity he had left that Cloud didn't remember it.

He watched Cloud as he sped over a dirt road that no one knew the name of anymore, the black metal of Fenrir's wheels glinting in the sun. Cloud was still as breathtakingly beautiful as he was at sixteen. That was the only thing that hadn't changed.

Watching Cloud change from the bright teenager he'd been to the stoic, distant warrior he was now hurt. It hurt a lot. So what if he'd died to protect the boy? To see him living like this made him ache inside.

"Hey, Cloud. You know what you have to do to get in Shinra?"

He cocked his head to the side, curious, like a puppy. It was criminally adorable. "What, Zack?"

"You've got to keep trying. And trying. And trying. No matter how many times you fail, you just have to get up and try it again. And sooner or later, you'll make it in." Pause. "It wouldn't hurt to bribe the higher-ups either…"

Snort. "Like I could afford a bribe."

"Well, then, quit standing around and try to lift that sword!"

Memories. That was all Zack had left. And even if Cloud didn't admit it, those memories were what drove him. He couldn't forgive himself- not yet.

He watched Cloud turn a corner in the road and blinked. The desert landscape had disappeared into white nothingness, with a bewildered Cloud standing in the center of it. His mako blue eyes looked around for something, anything, to see. Zack stood a little ways off, amused at the blonde's confusion, and stepped forward.

"You eating right, kid? You look like skin and bones," he joked.

Cloud jumped, startled, his eyes wide as he caught sight of the other SOLDIER. He gulped, even paler than normal, and uttered a single syllable.

"Zack."

The other man nodded, moving forward. "You didn't think I was done, did you? Aerith got to hog you and I wanted my turn to talk, so… here we are."

Cloud averted his eyes from Zack and turned away. "Zack…I…I'm-"

"Sorry?" he finished. Cloud nodded. Zack rolled his eyes.

"For what?"

Cloud turned back around to face Zack, surprised that he could ask that. "What do you mean, 'for what'? If it wasn't for me, you-"

"I would never have had the best times in my life," Zack interrupted swiftly, closing in on Cloud. He cupped the blonde's face with his hands, forcing him to look at his eyes.

"Cloud. The best memories I have are all with you," he said softly. "I never regretted saving you."

Cloud closed his eyes, trying his best not to let the tears spill out at Zack's words. "But if you hadn't saved me you would have made it!" he choked out.

"Cloud…" Zack whispered. He pulled Cloud closer and kissed his forehead gently. "If I hadn't taken you with me, I would never have forgiven myself. I told you- I don't regret it. But you need to learn that it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done. And if I had to choose again, then I would still choose to save you."

He felt hot tears drip against the skin on his neck where Cloud had rested his head, just like when he had a nightmare. He stroked the back of Cloud's head, rocking back and forth.

"Shhh. It's okay. It's okay."

Gloved fingers clutched at his shirt, almost desperately. "Zack?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Those three precious little words were delicately whispered into the crook of Zack's neck, but he heard them as clearly as if Cloud had shouted them. He smiled, pulling Cloud closer, giving him another gossamer kiss on his forehead.

"I love you too."

What is that little button down there?