Title: Playing It By Ear
Style: One-Shot
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: T for one bad word.
Warnings: If I go any farther with this, it'll be a heck of an AU.
Word Count: 1, 302
Summary: It seems that Gaia isn't done with Cloud, and he wakes up to a world where everybody's either out to get him or trying to have him remember a life that he, well, doesn't. Even through all the confusion, he knows one thing for sure: he's going to kill Zack slowly and painfullyfor this stupid stunt.

My first fic in FF7! *happy dance*

An FF7 idea that I've been playing with, where Cloud is tested by Gaia as she sees him as a WEAPON because of his messed up genes. It's pretty much just an excuse to get Cloud into an Alternate Universe and to confuse the shit out of him. =) Also a character-building exercise for me, hence the one-shot format.

If you do read it, please tell me what I can improve on, as it's my first fic.

Now that I've instilled a feeling of doubt, thank you for reading!

It was evening in Edge, and it was quiet.

That was the first thing that tipped him off that something wasn't quite right.

Cloud eyed his surroundings and dismounted his motorcycle, the swish of black leather loud in the empty space. He kicked Fenrir's stand out with a dirty boot and walked towards Seventh Heaven, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

Unlocking the side door marked 'employees' that lead to the dimly lit bar and locking it when he was inside, Cloud took note of the clean, dark wood counters and the chairs stacked on top of the tables that usually signified the end of the day. Tifa had kept the fans on in an attempt to move the stifling air of mid-summer Midgar heat, which were the only things that were making any kind of motion in the room… but there was nobody inside.

With a small frown and an uneasy feeling growing in his chest, Cloud paused in his assessment of the area, and stretched out his SOLIDER hearing, listening for any type of activity.

Now on the stairs, he could hear Marlene and Denzel's heartbeats and the deep breathing of sleep in their room, and allowed a small smile to escape, knowing that the minute motion was becoming easier with the time spent in his adopted family's circle. But where was Tifa? Maybe she was sleeping? It wasn't like she never closed the bar early, but it was unusual for her not to keep the bar open until at least two in the morning. That was the best time for business, after all.

Now at the end of the hallway, he could see that the door wasn't closed all the way. Frowning slightly, as he knocked and did not hear a response, he pushed the door gently with one hand and stepped inside the room.

Tifa was sleeping, her back to him. Moving closer, he could see that her mouth was hanging open about an inch, and a small amount of drool was slowly working itself out of the corner of her mouth and into her pillow.

"Well, this wasn't quite what I was expecting." He said softly. He kicked off one of his boots and took out his PHS to quickly snap a picture. Messing with the settings, he unlaced his other boot with one hand and arranged the picture to be his background with the other, the screensaver being a picture of Marlene and Denzel in the middle of a food fight. He grinned and plugged in his phone, leaving his other boot at the foot of the bed. When she saw his phone she'd no doubt be unpleased, but it would be worth it just to see the look on her face.

Leaving her to the bedroom, he ambled back down the stairs in his socks with a looseness he didn't really feel. Walking behind the bar, his eyes slowly swept over all the different labels, the newer bottles in the middle, and the yellowing labels and subsequently older bottles on the top of the shelves.

Standing on his tip toes – the shelves stretched from ceiling to floor which was about six and a half feet, which he was not – to grab a whiskey bottle up top; he swiftly corrected himself and grabbed a dark red bottle of Dragon's Breath up in the corner. He wanted something strong tonight. Swiping some drying shot glasses from the sink area, he finally sat down at the bar for a few hours of relaxing.

"I don't like this." Zack was upset. She knew that he would be when she told him the final decision, but she didn't know that he would be this upset.

"I know you don't, but what Gaia has planned-"

"And She thinks that he's a threat. A WEAPON. I get it, really, I do. I was there." Zack screwed his eyes shut and rubbed his head roughly, sending his dark hair into more disarray than it already was. She moved through the field of flowers to embrace him, and felt his warm arms wrap around her. "I just… he has an actual routine now, and it's been years since Meteor… and now She wants to test him? After all he's been through?"

"I didn't have a say in the matter either, Zack." She gently admonished him. "You know I can only suggest things to the Planet." She ran her fingers through his hair, and looked into his eyes. The violet was duller than she'd ever seen, and he was obviously concerned with what was going on. "I know you're worried. Gaia's worried too. That's why she's doing this." After all this time, she wasn't sure why she still felt the need to justify the Planet's actions.

"It's just… he doesn't have a say in the matter, and you know how he reacts when people decide stuff for him." He took a deep breath and broke away from her, frowning.

"You're worried." She repeated, kindly. "You need to calm down."

"I am calm."

"No, you're not." A brief battle of wills ensued as their eyes locked. Zack averted his eyes to look around, the ever-present whiteness of their future surrounding them.

"…You're right." He finally assented. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Neither do I." She reminded him. Once again, there was comfortable silence. Zack looked back at Aerith.

"Then we'll just have to be there for him." She returned the stare.

"Support him through all he'll go through." Her voice turned playful, and a wry grin stretched across her face to match Zack's.

"Catch him when he falls?"

"And laugh at him when he does something stupid." She laughed at the familiar exchange.

"Like always?"

"Like always." Aerith giggled, and swung her arms over his broad shoulders.

"I knew that there was a reason I loved you, silly." Zack grinned as his girlfriend gently kissed him before everything faded away to the green of the Lifestream.

At 2 o'clock in the morning, Cloud stumbled shit-faced drunk into his bed and fell asleep without bothering to get under the covers.

When he woke up, everything was white.