Chapter three

Cloud sat up in bed. Rubbing his eyes and his sore shoulder, he smiled contentedly. His thick blond hair was sticking up more energetically than usual, seeming to mirror his moods.

Yesterday he had managed to: hold up against a forty-five minute battle with Sephiroth, learn to handle two new kinds of materia, get Zack safely off on his date and get a good night's sleep. Quite the accomplishments.

Cloud placed one foot on the middle rung of the ladder and nimbly jumped down from his bunk. He glanced at the clock.

It was exactly the time that is should be; fifteen minutes before breakfast. There was just enough time for him to dress, do those annoying stretches which were designed to tone his muscles and get to the mess hall on time.

Cloud quickly dressed, he could already hear the shuffling and voices of everyone else getting up.

That was when he saw...that was when he remembered…

Cloud moaned. His punishment for helping Zack stay up all night was waking him up in the morning…

Zack was hanging over the edge of the bed, his left hand lying on the floor and his face completely buried in the pillow, leaving nothing exposed but a mess of dark hair.

He wondered how Zack could breathe like that.

Cloud knew what he was in for. He sank to his knees and dug in. Grabbing Zack by the shoulders he shook him, hard.

That elicited a 'hmmm…..' sound. Then nothing.

Cloud continued the jarring and got more of the same. Zack was getting used to him already and was falling deeper into sleep.

Cloud pulled the pillow out from under his head and considered beating him with it…No, that would be immature. Instead, he rolled the heavier man over, exposing his face to the light.

Zack's eyes clamped shut tighter and he scowled.

"Zack!" Cloud tried, sensing the trace of a conscious response from Zack. He grabbed Zack's jaw and shook him by the head.

"Cloud…I'm gonna die…"

"No you're not. Now get up! It's ten minutes till breakfast." Cloud continued jerking his arm.

"I'm not gonna make it…you'll have to leave me behind…"

Cloud considered it. Zack had never actually asked him for help waking up, it was his won fault if he went to the trouble…but he knew that someone was going to kill Zack if he was late for his lecture again.

"I feel like hell…"

"Buck up!" Cloud shouted. "You're supposed to be a SOLDIER! You have responsibilities. Remember that advanced tactics thing you were supposed to do this morning?"

Zack shook his head. He didn't remember anything. "You know I don't do well without sleep…"

"Humft." Cloud sat back on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know why you do this to yourself."

"You don't know why?" Zack managed to raise his eyebrows over closed eyes and smirk before seeming to fall back asleep.

Cloud glanced at the clock again; five minutes.

"Damnit Zack, you always make me late!" Cloud yelled at the sleeping man.

Zack's lashes flickered and his mouth moved. "You'll have to hit me…"

"I'm not supposed to hit you." Cloud wasn't feeling cooperative.

"It's the only…hmm…that works…" Zack trailed off, unsuccessful at completing a sentence.

Cloud frowned and punched him in the ribs relatively hard.

Zack's eyes finally opened half way. "Hmm, that was a pretty good punch Spiky…" But he still wasn't moving.

Cloud was getting annoyed over missing breakfast and smacked the unsuspecting Zack on the jaw. This time he moved.

"Ouch!" Zack braced himself up on one elbow, away form Cloud. "You didn't have to hit me in the face!"

"It worked."

"Twerp." Zack locked his arm around Cloud's neck and shoved his face into the mattress in a suffocation attempt.

Cloud calculated his advantage. He wrapped an arm around the other's shoulder and pulled.

Zack had nothing to hang on to and sprawled out on the floor where Cloud had thrown him, releasing hold of his neck.

Cloud pounced to Zack's stomach. "There! How do you like it?"

"Um, Cloud…" Zack was laughing again for some inexplicable reason. "…you don't actually weigh enough to use the tactic well."

Cloud was just pulling back his fist to land the unresisting Zack another punch when…

…No… Fate was not this cruel…it shouldn't be believed...it was unnatural…

Regardless of nature Cloud heard an eerily familiar voice be hind him. "What the bloody hell?"

Cloud almost faded into another world.

"Strife! What is this?! Attacking your superior in his bed???"

"Um…uh…hmm…" For once Cloud was neither prompt nor punctual.

Zack decided that this would be a bad time to burst into a fit of laughter, no matter how terribly he was tempted.

"Major, Sir." Zack pushed the stunned Cloud off of his stomach and stood to address the Major, who had stopped in the hall outside the doorway.

"I was merely explaining a hand-to-hand combat maneuver to the young SOLDIER, Cloud here." Zack patted Cloud on the head a little over dramatically.

The Major stared blankly for a second, muttering, "Merciful Angles above, what is this army coming to?" and walked off without farther comment.

"I swear that man is stalking us!" Zack yelled a little too loud for Cloud's comfort.

Zack changed clothes faster than was previously believed possible.

"Come on Spikes." He grabbed Cloud's arm and began pulling him out the door after him. "I've never technically made you late for anything yet, and I'm not going to start right now. We've got seven seconds left!"

0.5 seconds to spare.

……………..

Hope you liked it!!

ReViEw and make a writer happy:D :D :D -Being starving, and clothed entirely in black robes in order to keep up my writerly visage, it is all the more important to have other things to raise my endorphin levels!-