A/N: Hey! Chapter two already! I'm so good! I fucking love Final Fantasy 7! It has to be my all time fave game! However...I haven't been able to finish it and I've been playing it over and over since it came out! Ah, I just don't have the heart to beat Sephiroth! I want him to win each time! He is the best bad guy ever created! My one winged angel! Anyway...enough of my rants...on with the story! (Oh! I must note that in the last chapter a made a boo boo! I misnamed Sephiroth's sword...i am so terribly sorry! It's Masamune! Sry guys.) Enjoy and please review...i love to know what you think!

Chapter 2

'Tifa was in a coma for seven days. We all thought she wouldn't make it. If only I could've saved her... I was so angry... Angry at myself for my weakness. Ever since then, I felt Tifa blamed me... I got out of control... I'd get into fights not even caring who it was. That was the first time I heard about Sephiroth. If I got strong like Sephiroth, then everyone might... If I could just get stronger... Then even Tifa would have to notice me...'

My eyes opened slowly. I realised I was lying in bed back in my barracks. I frowned slightly not quite sure how I had got there. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the low ceiling of my dorm. My body is stiff and sore but I can move. I sit up slowly running a hand through my spiky hair and searching the dorm for any sign of how I had managed to get from the training grounds to here. There is a bottle of pain killers on the bedside table and a glass of water. I remember having to run with cracked ribs and then collapsing. I remember Sephiroth being there...My cheeks go red. Twice now he has seen me lying on the floor. Well cloud, he'll really remember you now. I sigh and take some of the pain killers with the water. My room is tiny and the desk littered with letters from home, I try to write back but I have nothing to say. Not even my mother receives letters from me. They will probably forget all about me anyway. No one really took much notice. I slump back into bed listening to the sounds outside my door. Then I notice a note, someone had tucked it under the door. I slip off the bed and pick it up.

Yo! You missed dinner yesterday! I was worried, man. Then I had words with some guy's and they said you were suffering from severe exhaustion and those cracked ribs were playing up, I'm sorry to hear that. Hey, I'll be round later...after this mission. Then I'll bring some food. See ya.

Zack.

P.s. You ever been out of this place? Maybe when we next get leave we can take a tour of the city?

I smile and put the note to the side. So, he really had meant it when he said he wanted to be friends. I pick up a pen and sit at my desk. Should I write to Tifa? Maybe she was worrying? I sigh and start to write a letter.

When I had finished the dinner bell rang. I put the pen down just as my door burst open, startled I spin around to see Zack stood there smiling broadly. "Hey there, you hungry?" he holds up a box. "It's not much...but I managed to sneak into the kitchens and grab some stuff before everyone else got there...did you get my note?"

I nod holding it out. His eyes fall from his own note to the one I had just finished writing. "Hehe...what's this? A love letter?"

I grab it and hide it behind my back. "That is none of your business!" He grins and puts the food down before reaching his arms behind me and grabbing my wrists. I struggle and we fall back onto my bed. "Ah! Get off! I said I don't want you to read it! Please...Zack!"

"Wait! I'm not going to take the piss! I just wanna see it..."

I pause and gasp for breath looking up into his face. He grabs the note from my loosened fingers and drags it away from me turning his back and holding it out of reach. "Zack...please...just let me have it back! I'm probably not going to send it anyway..."

"Then, it doesn't matter if I read it." He opened it and I made one last grab before he pushed me back onto the bed. He started to read it out loud. "Dear Tifa, I know it's been a long time since I last wrote but I have been very busy. I got your last letter and I'm glad to hear that everyone's alright. I have been training very hard these past few months so that I will be able to keep our promise. That night has been on my mind for a while now..." he paused and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You need some lessons in romance. Your language is rubbish...hey, you want me to write it for you?"

I snatch it from his hands. "No. Definitely not...and anyway..." I look down at the crumpled paper. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to send it..." I sigh heavily. "I refuse to contact them...not until I succeed."

Zack sits beside me and puts his arm around my shoulders. "Hmmmm...well, you're not going to succeed if you're so sad all the time! Cheer up and eat."

After we had eaten we lie on my bed. Zack has his hands behind his head as he looks up at the ceiling and I sit propped up in the corner against the wall. I notice his wrist has been bandaged and a plaster covers one of cheeks. "Hey...what happened?" I ask indicating his wrist.

"What..? This? It's nothing really...just got into a bad fight with some monsters. They surprised our team while returning from a mission in Kalm...They weren't even that strong! Bloody things crept up on us...we lost a few men." I see the strange look in his eyes and decide it's probably best not to mention it again. I have not been on any dangerous missions yet but I will soon, there have been rumours of monsters appearing more and more often in the more populated areas. "You ever seen one?"

I look up at him again, "Seen what?"

"A battle...a real one, not the simulated one's you get here."

I shake my head. "Not yet...there hasn't been anything major like that yet. Not enough for me to be called anyway." I lift my leg up under my chin and wrap my arm around it.

"Well...you may soon have your chance. There are monsters attacking villages as far as Rocket town and mount Nibel."

I frown slightly at the mention of Mount Nibel. It's a bit too close to home for my liking.

Suddenly he sits up. "I got my exam next week..." he mutters running a hand through his long hair.

"Exam...?"

"Yeh, I'm gunna be first class!" I see the grin on his face.

"Wow! Do you reckon you can do it? I mean...I've heard it's really hard!"

"I know I can pass..." he muttered. "The exam won't be a problem."

"I...I wish I could have that kind of confidence." I mutter.

"Why? If you have confidence in yourself then nothing is impossible!"

I frown down at my knees. "I'm not...very good. Everything I do...it's always wrong. I can't be like you..." I look away and lean into the wall. "I'm pathetic."

Zack sat up suddenly and I saw the flash of anger in his eyes. His fist hits the wall by my head and I look up. "Cloud! What is with this attitude? Get a grip man! You have no self confidence! Let me ask you a question...why did you join SOLDIER in the first place?"

I look away, I am ashamed of the story but...i can't help but tell him. "Once...a long time ago, I let my friend get badly hurt. I...was too weak to stop it...I was too weak to prevent her hurting herself...I was devastated. ...I tried to stop her from falling but I was too weak...It was an old bridge, when we were playing in the mountains it broke...and she fell, I caught her hand but couldn't hold on...i fell with her but only came away with scraped knees...she was in a coma for day's and everyone blamed me. All I wanted was to be noticed. I thought if I got stronger, I could get someone to notice..." I pushed my hands into my hair and hid my face. "Always too weak! Why? I don't understand why!"

Zack's eyes widened slightly. "How did you manage to only come away with scraped knees from a fall that put the girl into hospital?" He muttered. I frowned at him.

"That's...not important! What is...is that I couldn't protect her! She was hurt...because of me. So...I made her a promise...that I would come to her rescue if she ever needed me." I sighed and leaned my head back.

"You know...I think you're just doing yourself down. You need to let up a bit, all this stress isn't good for you."

I feel his hand in my hair and I lean into it slightly. "I can't let up on myself. It's my responsibility to make sure that I can protect her...Plus...i made a promise." I close my eyes remembering the stars. The chill in the air and her soft hand covering mine...

"Hey, why don't we make a promise? Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind... You come save me, all right?"

"What?"

"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once."

"What?"

"Come on! Promise me!"

"All right... I promise."

I smile at the memory. I realise vaguely that my head is resting on Zack's shoulder. "Well...it sounds as if you really got it bad for this girl." He says.

I sit up suddenly whacking my head against the wall. "Ow! Why do you say that?"

"I can tell just by looking at your face." He grins. "I know...I've got a girl..." His eyes stare off into the distance for a moment. "She's a flower seller..."

"Flowers...in Midgar?" I reply with a frown.

"Yeh, she grows 'em herself. I thought it was strange too but when you meet her you'll understand."

"Hmmm? So you love her?"

He pauses looking sidelong at me. "Maybe...I've never thought about it."

"Love..." I whisper. "Strange word...I wander what it means...i mean, I know the dictionary meaning but...Is this what it feels like?" I don't realise I'm speaking aloud until Zack looks at me strangely.

"You feel like someone's set fire to your veins." He said suddenly. "When you touch it's as if you've been struck by lightning. When you see the person you love you get butterflies and the thrill is better than anything on the planet!"

I gaze at him. I think back to what it felt like to have Tifa touch my arm and swallow slightly...was I in love? I had no idea. I had never thought about it before. We were friends...could there be more to it? Could she love me, perhaps?

Zack stretched suddenly. "Man...I'm worn out..." He yawned. "I should get some rest. So should you...you need to heal those wounds."

I smile. "They don't hurt anymore."

He frowned. "They can't have just gone away! Lemme have a look!"

I lift my shirt over my head and indicate my once broken ribs. "See...nothing there. I'm just a bit stiff is all."

His frown deepened. "How?"

"Well...i dunno. I've always been a fast healer."

"Idiot. No one heals that fast." He put a finger to his lips thoughtfully. "Who brought you back to your room?"

I shake my head. "No idea. I last remember Sephiroth asking someone to help me when I collapsed...What is it?"

His eyes had sharpened slightly and he ran a hand through his hair. "Could it have been Sephiroth? I mean...that seems a bit out of character for him though...Why would he do something like that?"

"My thoughts exactly." I mutter. "I'm only a cadet so why would he take an interest in me? I mean...he's a god!"

"Wouldn't go that far." Zack said softly. "He's good...everyone knows that but everything has a weakness. No...maybe he got a healer to help you when you were unconscious?"

"That sounds more likely." I shudder as I remember his heartbeat. It had been so strong...the thud, thud, thud pounded in my head a moment until I shook it to clear it. "He's certainly magnetic." I mutter under my breath.

"Well, I'm wiped. I'll see you around, kid!" Zack turned and opened his door. "Train hard, Cloud...you have a promise to keep." He grinned over his shoulder and left me alone.